#it looked like a deleted scene from the perfect storm for only a minute

[writingquestionsanswered]

how should i go about writing if i keep deleting and restarting everything I have every few minutes ??

The first thing to do is figure out why you feel the need to delete. Here are some things to consider...

1 - Do you know what you're trying to write? It's easy to imagine a writer as sitting down at the keyboard with an empty mind, and then--like turning on a faucet--a story simply flows out of them. But that's not really how writing works. Even the most organic writer sits down with a premise in mind, not to mention a basic grasp of how stories work--or at least they type of story they want to tell. If you sit down without these things and try to write a story, you're pretty much just snatching random ideas out of the air and hoping they take root, and it can be really hard to write a story that way. The solution is to spend some time learning about how stories work, then spend some time thinking up a premise, characters, and a story goal.

2 - Do you need a more solid plan? Not all writers can sit down with only a premise, characters, and story goal and create a story from that. Some of us need to do more planning. Some of us need to do a lot more planning. If you're trying to write a novelette/novella/novel, you might take a look at some different story structure templates to get an idea of the kind of structure that would work well for the story you want to tell. Story structure templates can be a helpful guide in figuring out what beats you need to hit, and you can use elements from different ones. Whatever works for your story. You might also consider doing a plot summary, timeline, scene list, scene cards, or any number of other things to help plan and plot your story.

3 - Are you focusing too much on quality? To (badly) paraphrase Ira Glass, the thing that got you into writing in the first place is your taste... you have good taste in stories, and you know what makes a story good. But if you're just starting out, or if you don't have a large volume of work under your belt, what you're putting out is probably not as good as you want it to be. That can be really, really frustrating, because we know what kind of writing we want to put out there, but when we feel like it's not happening, we want to backspace over it all. The thing is, though, writing is a craft. Like any other craft, the only way to get better at it is to practice, and practice means cranking out the less good stuff and accepting that it's a necessary part of the journey. If dancers watched the choreography for a performance one time and instantly did it perfectly, there would be no such thing as dance practice. If people took one piano lesson and could play a perfect concerto, we wouldn't have piano lessons or practice. So, even when the writing doesn't feel as good as you want it to be--or maybe feels downright awful--you have to push past the urge to backspace over it and get caught up on quality. You have to keep writing forward. And hey... editing and revision exists because there's always room to take the "rough draft" and make it better.

4 - Are you letting yourself get distracted? Few things make writing more difficult than distractions. If you know how stories work, know your premise, have done the planning you need to do, and aren't stressing about quality, but you still find yourself backspacing and starting over every few minutes, it could be due to distractions. If your phone is buzzing every minute, your sister is playing loud music in her room across the hall, the neighbor's dog is barking up a storm, or you can't stop thinking about something that happened at work--those interruptions are going jam up your momentum, and when you're constantly jerking to a stop like that, frustration makes you cranky and you're liable to backspace over something even if it's not a problem. So, if you can, try to eliminate distractions as much as possible when you sit down to write.

5 - Other possibilities... Even if none of the above situations seem to fit, it's still worth taking some time to consider what else might be going on. Can you find a pattern in what you're deleting and why? If you dig deep, and you maybe figure out what the issue is? What are some potential solutions?

I hope something here will help you get to where you're moving forward with your writing again.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[konako]

After seeing the latest "marvel girfset" you reblogged, i wanted to ask, have you been able to see "The Marvels"? Are you planning to if you haven't? or... what did you think about it if you didi? ^^ I personally loved it tbh, haven't enjoyed a marvel movie in a long time sadly, but this was REALLY good. 💖

OOOOH YEAH, BABEEEY! ✨

Oh, my god. I was counting the days for it!! That was what my year was all about, essentially. No other month mattered. I just wanted to survive until November, any extra life after that was a sweet bonus, I was that excited— I watched it on the opening day here, the 9th. I was there an hour and a half too early. Had to wait outside the movie theater. Then I was the first one to walk in, first to sit down. I was READY. Dramatically so.

And... I love it so much. I loved it so, so much! I'm weak just thinking about it.

The first film got me truly invested in Carol's character. More so than any other MCU character. (Yeah, even Nebula, gasp!). Everything about her character worked wonderfully for me, every tiny bit of her, a perfect glowing storm in my eyes. (It also helped that I admire and respect the hell out of Brie Larson, her stance on a lot of things and her many efforts to better the industry and world we live in. So that carried over to the character, enriched the story, and elevated the entire work.)

Every storyline in the first movie had me permanently hooked: her deep, defining relationship with Maria, her charming friendship with Fury, how she was a parent figure in Monica's life; the background to her strength, her bravery, her sacrifice; her abuse at the hands of the Kree and what that brainwashing did to her, what was stolen from her mind and the parts of her heart that could never be changed; the crushing weight of her responsibilities with such massive power. All of it! I was READY to see it develop further in her second movie.

And I was FED.

As soon as they started sharing the promo photos of the movie, early in the year, I already knew I wouldn't be the same after I watched it. Shit, even before then! In WandaVision, and the introduction of Adult Monica! The tension they hinted at, in Monica's relationship to Carol. The resentment, the hurt, the sadness; Even Kamala's part to play in Carol's inhuman responsibilities, adding to her struggles to be vulnerable, fallible, human. Oh, god, what a feast for her character!!

I won't go into excruciating detail into every little single thing that I loved about this movie (I'll save that for another time), but just know there is a lot.

My only unfulfilled wish (and it's insane that an MCU movie, in 2023, managed to fulfill, like, 90% of my wild fan desires....) was that... we could have had more time with them. Those extra 15 minutes missing from the 2 hour mark? I wanted them, selfishly. (No, not for action scenes, those were perfect as they were.) I wanted to see much more of the Trio's dynamic, how they grew closer and overcame their conflicts and struggles. Most importantly, I wanted that conversation between Monica and Carol — the one that was the true start to healing their broken relationship — to be longer. I wanted them to really dig into the difficult feelings buried deep. Monica's disappointment and hurt, and Carol's guilt and regret. Monica's expectations and Carol's responsibilities. And how much the two of them missed Maria. </3

For that reason, I'm desperately hoping for bonus features and deleted scenes in the future! Who knows? From the looks of it, it's okay to dream!

Anyway, that's it. For now.

[mabelsguidetolife]

uhhhh..... there was a crazy microburst just now and my neighbor’s shed just got yanked off the ground and crashed into our house by the wind

nobody got hurt but the man is at work right now and he’s in for a surprise in the morning

[mlovesstories]

His Guitar

Summary: YN has always been close to Jensen, but not her mom, Kayla.  Noticing this, Jensen tries to fix it, but it only stirs up more of a divide between YN and her mom, leading to a big discovery. 

AN: Shout out to @cherryblossomflowers for letting me bounce ideas off of her and editing it! Love you! 

Warnings: Cheating, sabotage, blackmail, cussing

Words: 3000

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Jensen walked onto the set of Ten Inch Hero with YN in tow.  

“You remember the rules, right?”

“Yes, Daddy.  I’ll be good, I promise.” She smiled at him as she was trying to keep up. She practically took three steps for each step he took.  

“Hey, Dee,” Jensen smiled. He hugged the lady in front of him and introduced her to YN. “This is YN. YN, this is Danneel.”

“Hi, Miss Danneel,” she smiled.  

“Hi, YN. How old are you? You look pretty big.” Danneel tickled the girl’s belly.  

“Seven!” YN grinned.  

Danneel gasped, “Wow! Such a big girl!”

“That she is.  I told her to stop growing, but she doesn’t listen.” Jensen playfully messed with YN’s hair.  

“DADDY! Mommy did my hair all nice, and you messed it up!” She pushed her father’s hand away.  

“Jensen, you know not to mess up a girl’s hair!  Would you like me to fix it, YN?”

“Please?” YN looked to her dad.  

“That’s fine with me,” Jensen laughed. “But I didn’t mess up your hair.”

“Yes, you did! Come on, Danneel.” The girl took her hand over to a chair, and YN plopped herself down. "It’s all messed up on the top," YN pouted, "Can you redo my braid?”

“Absolutely.  Let’s do it.”

Within two minutes, the girls were back, and YN was happy with her appearance.  

“That was fast! Looks nice!” Jensen stroked her braid.  

“I like her.  She's good at hair."

“Well, thanks, YN.  I’ll take it. Where’s Kayla?” asked Danneel.

YN was shocked, “You know my mommy?”

“I’ve met her before. I like her a lot. After all, you’re pretty cool!” Danneel gave the girl a high five.  

That night, YN raved to her mom about her new friend.  

“That’s very nice, honey. Eat your dinner, please.”

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

“Daddy?” A few years later, YN asked, “can I spend the night at Dee’s?” She skipped to stand in front of her father. The two ladies had become very close since they met on set the first time.

“I’m fine with it. Ask your mom though.”

“SWEET! She already said yes.” YN started to leave the room.

“Stop.” Jensen watched as she froze in her spot. “Did she, or are you fibbing to get your way?”

YN turned to face her dad.

“Mom said it was okay, promise,” she shrugged.

“Fine. Your mom will have to take you though. I’m meeting up with Uncle Jared tonight.”

“Okay.”

The next day, Kayla didn’t talk to YN. YN gave glances to her dad wondering why her mom was acting so funny.

“What was up with you today?” Jensen asked his wife as they climbed into bed.

“What do you mean?”

“You didn’t give YN the time of day. She asked to do things with you, but it seemed like you ignored her.”

“Don’t tell me I ignore my own daughter-“

“No, no, I’m just asking if you’re okay or if something happened today, that’s all,” Jensen wrapped his arm over his wife.

“It’s nothing, and it’s nothing I want to talk about tonight. Maybe we can talk about it tomorrow when the kiddo isn’t around.”  

“Sure, babe,” her husband agreed. “Anything you need.”

The next morning, Jensen and Kayla discussed what was bothering her before YN woke up.  

“I don’t like that she goes to Danneel for things.  She should be coming to us.” Kayla huffed.  

“Oh,” Jensen tightened his lips.  “I didn’t know that bothered you.”

“It does bother me, that’s why I’m telling you, shithead!” Kayla outraged.  

“Whoa, hey,” Jensen crossed the room and sat next to her. “YN doesn’t have any siblings, I just thought of their relationship as like sisters or something.”

“YN went to Danneel before she came to me about almost everything. And with her getting older-"

“Honey, you’re gone a lot and-”

“DO NOT BLAME ME!"

“Will you listen to me?” Jensen shot off the couch.  “You are gone a lot because of work, and maybe she feels ignored.  I don’t know, but maybe.  Danneel is probably just more available.”

“How dare you.” Kayla growled.  She stood and stomped out of the house.  

YN walked into the living room.  

“What happened?”

“I made her upset.” Jensen blamed himself, hiding his frustration.  

“She was probably being a bitch.” YN said offhandedly.

Jensen's eyes went wide, “EXCUSE ME?” He walked in front of her. “You do not EVER call her that.”

YN sucked in a breath.  

“I’m sorry, Daddy.” She whispered.  

He retracted and guided her to sit down.  

“Do you not like your mom?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t really hang out with her.”

“It’s fine. Leave it alone.” YN practically ran out of the room.

Jensen knew there was a lack of relationship.  He didn’t really know why.

Jensen watched over the next few years how they interacted and didn’t seek out time together. He noticed they didn’t mind each other, but they didn’t joke or be silly.  Jensen tried to fix it as much as he could, but both were stubborn and very much the same.  He would not state that to either one of them though.  

YN hung up the phone with Jensen. With him being on Supernatural, they were apart a lot of the time.

She walked into the kitchen to get a water bottle from the refrigerator when she heard her mom talking.

YN came to a halt when  fed the corner and saw her mom kissing a man who was not Jensen.

She retreated so that her mom and the man couldn’t see her. In shock, YN stood still and took in the scene.

Coming back to reality, YN pulled out her phone and took a picture. Not realizing that her sound was on, the sound of the camera went off. Her eyes went wide.

The couple separated.

“YN!” Kayla looked alarmed, seeing her daughter and the phone in her hands. “Get over here!”

YN’s eyes went wide and she shuffled her feet to stand in front of her mom.

“Give me your phone.” Kayla snatched the phone out of YN’s hands. “This picture will never be seen by your dad’s eyes. Nice try though.” After deleting the picture, Kayla shoved the phone back into her daughter’s chest.

Shocked by the events in front of her, YN left the room to escape the situation.

Kayla stormed after her. Before YN was able to shut her door, the mom entered her room.

“You are not going to tell Jensen about this, you hear me? And if you do, I’ll tell him you broke his favorite guitar that grandpa gave him.” Kayla crosses her arms, eyes narrowing. “Do we have an understanding?”

Kayla got in YN’s face. The daughter gasped. She swallowed slowly.

“Yes,” YN looked away.

Kayla walked out of her room and slammed the door.

YN crawled onto her bed, wrapped her arms around her moose stuffed animal and cried as quietly as she could.

YN stayed away from her mom as much as possible until her dad came home for the weekend.

She hated that at the drop of a hat, she could be in big trouble with her dad. She loved him, and they were so close.

He was the perfect dad. He always took her calls no matter what he was doing.

She didn’t ever want to disappoint him, she loved him too much. She would stay silent as long as she had to. That was just the way it had to be.

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

“Homework,” Jensen pointed to the piece of paper in front of YN’s face.  His daughter refused to complete her math assignment.

She huffed, “Now?”

He smiled. “You can do it, booger.”

Just then, Kayla walked through the door.

YN immediately got to work.

"Hi, honey,” Jensen smiled, relief and pleasure covering his face.  

“Hi, babe,” Kayla smiled. "Hello, YN,” she looked past her husband.  

“Hi,” YN didn’t look away from her homework.  

“I gotta clean up, and then we can’t have some dinner, okay?” Kayla smiled.  

“Sounds good, I”m going to take the trash out.” Jensen hugged her as she passed him.  

“What’s going on with you, kid?” He walked over to his daughter as Kayla left the room.

“Nothing. I need to finish this.” She shrugged him off of her shoulder.  

“Alrighty then,” Jensen sighed. “Glad you’re able to focus.  Be right back.”

When Jensen came back, Kayla was starting dinner.

“What are you making for dinner?” Jensen wrapped his arms around Kayla.  

“Tacos.”

“Awesome, sounds delicious.  YN, you want a taco?” Jensen turned to face YN.

“Yes, please,” she tiredly looked up at him.  

Jensen narrowed his eyes at her.  

“Move your homework to the couch so we can eat, please,” he smiled at his daughter.  

“Yes, Daddy,” she ducked her head and moved quickly.  

The last few days, he’d noticed her withdrawing.

Jensen knew she was a teenager now, but even for her, she was acting funny.  YN did everything he asked and didn’t look at her mom.  She did everything without comment other than a ‘yes’ or ‘no’.  

“What is going on with her?” Jensen pulled his wife into bed with him that night.

“What do you mean?” Kayla looked over to him.

“She is keeping to herself.  Did something happen at school?”

“I don’t think so,” Kayla responded. “Maybe it’s that time of the month for her or something,” his wife shrugged.  

“No, that was two weeks ago.” Jensen shook his head.

“You keep track of her period?” Kayla raised a brow.

“Saw some blood in the trash can.  Not hard to figure out. Let’s get to bed, sweetheart.” Jensen kissed his wife and turned off the light.  

The next morning, Jensen saw the same behavior from his daughter as the night before.  He saw her quickly finish her breakfast with no conversation.  

“Honey,” he caught her attention.  “I want to talk to you when you get home, okay?  You’re not in trouble or anything, I just want to ask you something.”

“Okay, Dad.”

She stood and grabbed her backpack.  

“Can you take me to school now?”

Jensen looked to her confused, “Sure, but you’ll be early-”

“Gotta talk to my math teacher anyway. Let’s go.”

———-

“Honey, what I wanted to talk to you about was that you seem so quiet. When I call you or I ask you a question, you answer with yes or no, and that’s it. Where’s my baby girl gone?” He stroked her braid as he faced her sitting on the ottoman, her on the couch.

“I’m fine, Dad.” YN stiffened.

“Uh huh.” Jensen smiled. “You lie about as well as I do. You’ve been so quiet, and it’s scaring me. Did something happen? You can tell me.”

“No, Daddy. Nothing, I promise.” She eyed his prized guitar hanging on the wall with the note framed next to it.

Work hard, have fun, and don’t forget where you came from.

“What are you looking at?” Jensen turned, looking the same direction as his daughter. “Gramps’ guitar?”

“No, daydreaming. Sorry.” YN said,  “I’m fine.”

“The guitar?” Jensen walked over to it and took it off the wall.  Kayla walked back in.  YN’s eyes went wide.  

“You told him, didn’t you?” Kayla walked over to her daughter and raised her voice.  “You told him.  I told you what would happen if you did!”

“Dad, hang on to it!” YN screamed to her dad.  Kayla tried to take the guitar out of Jensen’s hands.  “She told me she would break it!”

“What?” Jensen moved it out of the way and tossed it lightly to the side.  He took his wife by the shoulders as she struggled to go after it. “What is going on?” Jensen looked over to his daughter who was in tears, standing there.

His wife continued to fight aimlessly and then stopped.  

Seeing the defeated look on her face, Jensen turned toward his daughter.

“She’s cheating on you.” YN gasped for air.  “She said she would break Grandpa’s guitar if I told you, but I didn't tell him, Mom.  We were just talking about the guitar, that’s all, Mom.” YN rambled all of her words out.  “I saw her kissing a guy in the kitchen, and I had to not tell you or she would destroy the guitar!”

Jensen let go of his wife. YN saw his face change from confusion to anger.

“Get. Out.” He seethed.  Jensen stared at her until his wife moved.

“Fine.  If I can’t break your heart with the guitar, I’ll let you in on a little secret, husband of mine. YN’s not yours."

A silence washed over the room.

Kayla continued, "I’ve cheated the whole time we’ve been married and you were too clueless to notice. “

Jensen and YN looked at each other.

“I never wanted kids.  But you got your wish.  Here ya go, there’s a kid for you, Jensen.” She emphasized the last word.

YN ran out of the room.

“GET THE HELL OUT.” Jensen ordered his wife. “Your things will be on the porch tonight. Goodbye.” He took her purse from a side table and threw it so that she could catch it.  “Leave.”

Jensen passed her and went up the stairs to catch up to his daughter. Hearing her wails and sobs, he opened her door.

Showing tears of his own, he engulfed her.  Not knowing if it was her mom or her dad, she fought back, flailing.  “It’s me. Calm down, it’s me.” Jensen calmed her. "I got you, baby. Daddy's got you.”

They both cried for a long time.

After a while, YN asked, “Do you still love me?” and looked up at him.

“What?” Jensen backed away to see her face.  “I love you always. Don’t you worry.” He stroked her back.

Hours later,  Jensen made sure YN was asleep in her room before he called his friend.  

“Jared, I-I need you to come over.”

Jared heard the uneasiness in his voice.  Without question, Jared agreed and came as soon as he could.

The two men stayed up all night talking, Jared supporting Jensen with whatever he needed.  

“You need to go to bed.  I’ll take care of her.  She and I will be fine.  Go rest.” Jared nodded toward the hallway.

“I can’t sleep in that bed, Jared.”

“So sleep in the guest room.  You need to sleep.  I’ll drag you there if I have to.” He nudged his friend.

“Okay, okay.”

“I’ll crash on the couch.  I’m sure as hell not as tired as you.  Go.”

“Fine, see you in a bit.”

A few minutes later, YN saw Jared from the steps.  

“Uncle Jared!” YN gasped.  She ran down the stairs and into his arms.  Jared turned the TV off.

“I know, I know.” He whispered.  “Your dad told me,” he tried to calm her.  

She was about to start crying again when he looked at her in the eyes.  

“No.  You can do this.  No crying.”

YN whined into his shirt.  

“I know, I know,” he affirmed her. “You’re still ours no matter what.”

Still being exhausted from the previous day’s events, YN fell asleep against her uncle’s chest.  

“Hey, YN.” Jared woke her up.  “Look who came over.”  YN turned toward the door to see Danneel taking off her shoes.  

“Dee!” YN smiled.  Having her friend there was a relief.

“Hi, sweetie. Jared called me, he thought having a few friends around might help a little bit.”

“Yeah,” she sighed.  With Jared on one side and Danneel on the other side, the three leaned into each other.

The two adults let YN snuggle with them until she was calm again.  

“Do you want to talk about it?” Danneel said after some time.

“Mom hated me.  I didn’t know she didn’t want to have kids.  I feel so bad.  And Dad isn’t my dad? What am I supposed to do with that?” YN looked to the woman.  

“You live your life. He is still your dad. He doesn’t love you any less.”

“I hate my mom.” YN sighed.  “She hurt my dad.”

“She hurt you too,” Jared joined in.  “Don’t worry about him, we’ll take care of your dad.” He smiled down at her.  

“It’s already the afternoon.  Let’s get something to eat" said Danneel, standing up, "YN, go wake up your dad, he needs to eat too.”

"Okay,” YN agreed.

“Come on, Jared.  Let’s go.” Danneel took the man’s arm and led him to the kitchen.

Looking back, Jensen could recognize the warning signs of what had happened between his wife and the rest of them.  YN had seen it too, but she couldn’t express it like Jensen could.  

Having spent so much time together and consoling YN, Danneel and Jensen became closer.  

Kayla deserted her daughter and husband with the occasional mean phone call to her husband when she felt extra angry.  

After their divorce was final, Danneel and Jensen sat down with YN to discuss their new relationship.

“We have something to tell you,” Jensen started.

“Are you guys dating?”

The two adults froze.

“Finally. I won the bet,” YN clapped with glee.

“What?” Danneel asked confused.  

“Jared and I had a bet about when you guys would get together.” YN beamed. “He owes me dinner now.”

“So you’re okay with it?” Jensen grinned.  

“Of course!” She ran into his arms.

“I know your birthday was a few weeks ago, and I hope you won’t be upset with me…” Jensen slowed.

“Umm. Okay?”

“It seems like your mom hasn’t been very nice lately, and I thought she may be pulling our legs about something," said a nervous Jensen.

YN gave him a questionable look.

He sighed and continued, "So, I got a paternity test, and it turns out that I am your biological dad.” He beamed.  

“Wait, what? But Mom said-”

“Your mom was upset, sweetie.  She used something against me to make me not like you, but it didn’t work. You’re mine, okay? You always were, are, and will be.”

YN grinned. “REALLY?”

“Promise.” 

_________

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[sweetchup]

Hi!! If your ask box is open, could I get a fluffy kurapika x reader? Just something very gentle and soft and maybe some cuddles bc kurapika deserves lots of loving!! Thank you so much!!

Wild Berry Pie

Type: Kurapika x Reader

Au?: None

Word Count: 2,300+

Warnings: None

“Hold on what?!?” You shout; surprise. Hold up, Why should you be surprised? This was Kurapika you were talking about. But seriously? You were going to scold your boyfriend so hard for only sleeping a total of 15 hours this whole week, getting himself injured (thankfully he could heal himself but still), working himself to death and, on top of that, this was all after recovering from a really bad sickness.

Melody hushes you as the other patrons of the cafe turn and glare at you. You let out a small squeak of an apology at them before returning to sipping on your drink, all the while mumbling, “Kurapika… what the heck were you thinking...”

“I’m sorry (y/n)-Chan. I didn’t mean to get you worked up, I just wanted to let you know.”

You look at Melody in front of you, the woman was looking down at her drink in shame. She knew it wasn’t her fault that Kurapika wasn’t taking care of himself but she felt bad for not telling one of her closest friends and Kurapika’s girlfriend, (y/n), sooner. You shake your head, giving a small smile. “Please It’s not your fault he’s acting this way. I’ve been gone for a while and I shouldn’t have left in the first place, I mean I kind of expected this. He’s practically been out of it since York New. Plus, on top of that, he has the amount of stress Nostrade is putting on him due to Neon losing her Nen.”

Melody gives a smile at the girl in front of her. No wonder Kurapika was in love with her. (Y/n) was not only pretty on the outside but also on the inside. Her voice was so soft and heartwarming, it could calm the harshest of storms and also act like a nice warm campfire on a cold bitter night. The smile (y/n) produced, even the smallest of ones, was practically contagious and definitely lit up a room. And her heart, oh her heart, produced such a loving melody. It sung with all her compassion for her comrades, friends and even the well-being of some strangers.

She practically was the light of hope in Kurapika’s life. The small thing that he knew could give him some purpose after all his revenge plans were done. Sure, it would be hard for him, very hard in fact, to figure something out when everything’s all done. But he knew that (y/n) would be there right next to him, never ever thinking of leaving him behind.

“Oh, (y/n)-Chan are you okay?” Melody says concerned as you suddenly stand up. You look at the women in the eyes, yours gleaming with determination.

“I know exactly what to do! Kurapika has an early shift tonight and a late one tomorrow so I’ll make him something special tonight. To get him to relax.”

Melody giggles. Oh how kind you were. “That would be perfect (y/n)-Chan.”

Ecstatic, (y/n) pays for their drinks, giving melody a small ‘thank you' and waves as she rushes out the door. Melody waves back before returning to her drink. Looking at the tea cup, she starts thinking back, back to York New, back to the Nostrade Mansion, Back to the hunter exam, back to that one tragic night and finally thinking of now, on how thankful she was of (y/n) and —

Melody is suddenly startled out of her thoughts as (y/n) slides to the table, almost slipping past her. The girl is clearly tired since she is sweaty and out of breath. Melody blinks a couple of times, unsure of what happened to (y/n).

“M-melody? Do you happen—happen to have the keys to the dorms-s”

Melody blinks some more before breaking out in laughter. Oh how silly (y/n) could be.

—————————

“And…. Done!”

You let out a sigh and stretch your back. It was hard work getting all this done but it was definitely worth it. Putting your hand on your hips you take in the living room in front of you. The Tv was on with a classic comedy movie, ready to be started. Part of the floor and coach was covered head to toe in different blankets, stuffed animals and pillows to lounge on. Then there was the coffee table, which held many sweets, snacks and drinks and finally the main course of it all….

“(Y-y/n)?” A voice says behind you. Spinning around you see Kurapika taking his shoes off with his bag dropped on the floor. He looked amazed as he looked at the set up in front of him.

“Surprise!” You shout, running up to your boyfriend and giving him a hug. Pulling away you boop his nose, “I thought you needed it especially after I heard you weren’t taking care of yourself. Hmph! How many times do I have to tell you to get a good amount of sleep?!”

Kurapika lets out a small smile at you. “Sorry I’ve been very bus—“

“No buts Mister kurapika” you say, poking his chest. “You're so stubborn sometimes. That’s why I have to come and make you chillax~.”

He lets out a small chuckle as you pull him towards the pile of pillows. Though he soon takes your hand off his arm before you can make him sit. “I’m sorry you had to go through so much trouble but I actually have to get some work done.”

“W-What? Did you not hear what I just said?!” You say. Kurapika looks away from you. This idiot. You bring your hands up to his face, forcing him to look at you. “Kurapika you need to rest. You—“

“(Y/n) I’m sorry I need to get this done.” He says in a firm voice, pulling your hands off his face as he walks away. He was longer playing around and you knew if you continued you could anger him. Clenching your teeth you raised your voice a little bit.

“Kurapika if this is about the spiders it can wait!”

He snaps his head around.

“Excuse me?” He says with a dangerous low voice.

“I said if this is about the spiders it can w—“

“What do you know? Huh?!” Kurapika says furious. He stalks towards you and backs you up against the wall. You choke up as you lock eyes with his scarlet ones, “You still have everything! Your family! Your childhood! Your best friend! I got mine all taken away. What do—“

“I DON’T!” You shout. Stopping him dead in his tracks as he sees a tear go down your face. He was so exhausted and out of it that he had taken his anger out on you. This wasn’t right and he knew he needed to calm down. Wiping the tears off your face you continue, “I don’t understand. I don’t think I ever will but I don’t want you to end up destroying yourself!”

“That’s not your job (y/n). It’s non—“

“It is because I love you. It’s my job as your girlfriend, your lover, to look after your well being Kurapika! I would be a horrible one if I didn’t ever try.”

Both of you are silent for a second after your final outburst. A thick awkward silence. You and Kurapika like to deal with your problems through discussions so this was quite rare for you two to have an argument. Even if this one was small, you didn’t know how to react or feel. When you gulped or took a breath too long you felt like you were adding to the tension by making too much noise. You go to apologize but Kurapika cuts you off by giving you a small kiss on the forehead. “I know you do. I just... you know it’s my goal to avenge them, you know?”

Wrapping his arms around you, Kurapika pulls you into a hug. The soft scent of cologne on him fills your senses, making you relax.

After a couple of minutes you two pull away and both give each other a small smile.

“We both lost our cool huh?” Kurapika says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yeah.” You say quietly, “Can you take a small break though? Just for tonight? I’m just concerned you’ll get hurt or sick again.”

Kurapika sighs and thinks for a second. He decides it was ok to take a break for just one night, he nods his head in affirmation. Smiling, you mischievously tackle him onto the coach. Kurapika groans as you land and peck his cheek.

“Ugh you are heavy. Get off” He says; jokingly.

Your mouth falls open in surprise. “Excuse me?!”

Determined to get back at him for the insult you cuddle him closer and attack his face with kisses. Kurapika, his face bright red, tries to move away from your barrage of affection. You let out a giggle as you pull away, you had completely forgotten you had put on a little lipstick so he had many stained kiss marks all over him. Even one smudge on the corner of his lips.

He raises an eyebrow as you use a phone and take a picture of him. Laughing you turn it around, showing him. Letting out a groan he covers his face, embarrassed.

“(Y/n)!” Kurapika whines, “Delete that!”

“No~~” You whine back, leaning yourself onto his chest.

For the next hour, you two enjoyed each other's presence. Laughing with mouths full of popcorn at the cheeky comedy. Creating small talk, well attempting, while chewing on some toffee. Sharing sweet small kisses and loving stares in between the movie scenes. It was a wonderful and perfect night.

Lightly, you groom your fingers through Kurapika’s soft golden locks as he lays asleep on your stomach. You felt relieved that the Kurta male is sleeping and will hopefully no longer be exhausted when he wakes up. Speaking of Kurta, you look at the covered dish in the center of the table. You didn’t reveal the main course of tonight to him. You sigh. Oh well, you can’t do much about it now.

“What’s wrong, habib albi?” Kurapika mumbles into your shirt.

“O-oh I thought you were asleep.” You say, blushing. You were a sucker for Kurapika talking in his native tongue, even though you only understood some of the simple things. It especially made you melt when it came to him calling you pet names or giving you small compliments. He once told you your pet name ‘habib albi’ roughly translated to ‘love of my heart’.

He hums and sits up. “Don’t change the subject.”

You sigh, standing up. Walking over to the coffee table. “Ok but don’t freak out, ok?”

Grabbing a hold of the cover, you lift it up. Revealing a pie underneath.

“(Y-y/n) is that-t?”

“I know you don’t like me looking through your stuff from your village but I remember you mentioning that your mother used to make you your favorite Wild Berry Pie whenever you were stressed. So I thought It counted as an exception.”

You suddenly feel Kurapika pull you into his lap. Looking up you see Kurapika with a small smile along with a couple of stray tears rolling down his face.

“K-kurapika I’m sorry! I didn’t mean for you to be upset.” You reach up and carefully wipe the tears off his face. He soon stops you.

“I’m not. Don’t worry habib albi, I’m not.” He squeezes you closer to him, “I’m actually happy. How did you do it though?”

“Oh! Umm I took one of the old dictionaries you had and looked through the Kurta recipe books until I found the Wild Berry Pie. It’s not exact since we don’t have the same ingredients as the Lukso Province but I got it as close as I could.”

“Ah I see. That sounds very hard to do.” Kurapika says chuckling.

“Yeah it was” You say, leaning over and sighing as you remember the grueling three hours it took to figure out and make. You suddenly sit up, “A-ah do you want me to grab you a slice?”

Kurapika nods his head and you excitedly get up and cut a slice. You had taken so much time in it you wanted it to be perfect. As you lifted it and put it on a plate you sighed, relieved. It had come out perfect. Due to the cover, the pie was still warm and fresh, the right time to eat it at. The crust was a perfect golden color and thankfully not soggy. The wild assortment of berries you added had started to ooze out onto the plate, leaving a nice purple-reddish trail and a pleasant aroma.

You felt proud of your accomplishment and sat back in kurapika’s lap. Now was the ultimate test. Handing him a fork, you watch in grueling anticipation as he takes a bite. Blankly he slowly chews and swallows, causing you to gulp. You messed it up didn’t you? He finally turns and looks at you. Finally, he gives you a wide smile, the first big smile in a while.

“My 'um would be proud.”

You let out a loud ‘yay’ in happiness and kurapika holds you close. You were beyond the moon in happiness that he had said his mom would be proud of your pie. Your pie!

“(Y/n)” You look towards Kurapika’s call to see a fork in front of your face, holding a piece of the pie, “Say ahh~”

You open your mouth and he feeds you the piece. Chewing, you moan at the taste. It was absolutely delicious. Each berry was exploding with a unique flavor. Which ends up creating a sweet blend with the right bit of tartness.

Looking up at Kurapika, you watch as he takes another bite. All the while still smiling. Tonight and every other date were amazing but nothing and you mean nothing was as perfect as seeing this. Kurapika with a wide smile on his face.

You would definitely have to make this pie again.

[hoedameron]

but before i go looking in the tags, let’s talk about my latest gifsets!

what a worker bee i was both yesterday and today with prodigal son AND loki <3 never have i created so many gifs in a short amount of time it’s a damn miracle that my photoshop didn’t straight up cough up blood and keel over. alas, us bitches are stronger than that! if this post gets flagged because of the scenes i included....that would just mean that i made the right decision to exclude those scenes ajsdksajkldsa

malcolm stabbing martin

when the episode finally downloaded, i took a peek at the ending before it aired to see how it all ends (just in case it doesn’t get renewed </3). GOSH, was i just in a TIZZY when i saw this happen and i couldn’t tell my dad what i saw because we were straight up watching the show as it aired. anyways, keeping my secret knowledge, i got to work on making this gifset. i missed a huge chunk of the episode bc it took me over TWO hours to make the six gif set. i was really torn on the “artistic” approach aka which scene to gif and which to leave out. because i saw the ending before anything else, i couldn’t play it out loud and i didn’t have my headphones to listen so i was like FREE FORMING THE SUBTITLES. plus the captions weren’t synced up so it was really hard to decipher what was being said :( 

i really thought i would be able to create the set before 9 but i was running into unforeseen issues such as the subtitle problem, which on top of that, like i said earlier, my photoshop is c/racked and janky so....you catch my drift. i was actually going to gif the bisexual moment in the cafe which i think would’ve been MUCH easier but i jumped the gun and wanted to make the gifs of the shocking ending. funny part about that is the shocking part wasn’t even included in my set (malcolm driving the knife into martin) because i felt like the scene was too short...anyways, let’s talk about the positives:

i really do like the coloring of this one. i used a psd that i’ve used before and luckily it’s meant for outdoor scenes with greenery so the gif really popped. sharpening, buddy ole pal, love you sm. the caption was kinda last minute but i hoped to save it with the gradient. cropping was a bitch because for some reason, it takes forever when you’ve made multiple gifs beforehand (cache innit) pero we pulled through! i actually started not saving the psd files to try and save time which is very unusual for me pero i was getting frustrated with photoshop so i was like y’know what....so i just gave up entirely and stopped saving. i do save when i’m taking my time but jeez, it’s a bad habit. i like saving the psd file because i never know if there is a mistake i missed in post and when i go to publish it, it’s blatant and it needs to be fixed. please, save your psd files idc if it takes up space u can just delete them later. IT HELPS !! TRUST ME!!

first & “last” appearance

i actually premade gifs for this gifset! unfortunately, i didn’t realize that three of the five gifs were the wrong size (pictured above) because i flipped the ratio. instead of 268 x 250, i made them 250 x 268. i don’t know HOW i managed to fuck that up but luckily i saved the psd files (wink, wink) so the coloring was still intact. i think i had to restart photoshop or it was getting too late so i picked it back up in the morning. sucks that i had to remake the entire gif from scratch but we will take some wins xx

coloring is the same with the previous gifset (listen....it’s a good coloring) and i actually did have an alternative coloring that was very warm pero i didn’t end up using it. almost melted the two with the “last” appearance of gil but ultimately didn’t go through with it. also i was thinking of using baby malcolm as the first appearance because technically, that IS his first appearance in the show but i was like...just use adult malcolm lol. also i know that scene of dani isn’t the “first” but the first scene she has goes really quick and she is planked by gil so there isn’t much of a solo (even though this scene isn’t much of a solo either pero it’s better than the former). the lighting is weird in this episode and my coloring tried their best :/ i know gifmakers make each gif a diff coloring pero i’m lazy okay and looking to be time effiencent. another slight tangent is that i actually queued the post for the morning but since i woke up to a storm, i was like, i’m here so i’ll publish it myself.

other than that...i didn’t run into any other problem. i was actually hesitant to make the caption that because i wasn’t sure how to really describe the team. i have poor memory so if there was ever an official name, i do not remember it. i did a quick google search pero it turned up nothing. i stuck with “dream team” because, well, that’s what they are. plus i didn’t want to tarnish the gifset with any mentions of p/olice (i was thinking about putting sumn along the lines of ‘the nypd team’) so DREAM TEAM IT IS because it’s true! you cannot have the show without these five! also, i should’ve used quotations on “last” because there is a bunch of talk about a renewal pero...just in case... sorry y’all :/

odinson brothers parallels

this was made in the spur of the moment. i saw that the teaser trailer with shirtless loki dropped in hd, i came A-RUNNING! it was posted like 47 minutes after the fact and i was like...somebody probably already made a gifset of the scene so i was like...gosh, to make the gifset or not all the while i was trying to download the video. trying because again, this was in the middle of a storm so my wifi was acting up and wasn’t at its strongest (whatever that may be). so i was getting frustrated because neither cc nor 4kdownloader was downloading this small one minute clip. that’s when i knew i was gonna be too late to make the loki gifset so i was like whatever ig...

then i had an idea.

i love parallels so luckily it hit me that this paralleled with thor and how his hair got chopped off. so, i knew i had ragnarok downloaded and got to work <3 wasn’t sure what dimensions to use so i went with 268 x 268 to make perfect squares. because the loki scene was short, i could only make three so i was like..okay, i can work with this. three for loki, three for thor, they’re brothers and they share! i wasn’t planning to add subtitles but i had written them down for the plain gifset so i was like alright, we’re going all in. i didn’t take that long to make since again, they’re small gifs and i did have a coloring in mind that i always use for ragnarok (it’s my fave for non-marvel edits as well). there was a slight adjustment to the final loki gif because i realized the gif had that dark fade into the scene which i didn’t know if it was an artistic choice for the show itself or was added for the trailer only (it happens when companies cut a bunch of scenes together and it’s not at all how it actually plays out). i didn’t want to take any chances so i cut those parts out. i know the gifs are short on the loki side pero...that’s just how it is in show business.

thank you so much for listening and hearing me out! i like discussing my work and i try to have pride in them even if the numbers don’t reflect what i hope they would. either way, still learning, still growing, still thinking about buying p.s. like deadass this shit is RIDICULOUS -_- imagine opening up ps and like...it opens up in less than two minutes...shivers

[burgers-and-french-fries]

Taking Chances: Chapter Seven.

WARNING: Do not read this if you are easily triggered by the mention of alcohol assumption, smoking of any kind and/ or parental harshness such as shouting and abuse.

I also want to note that I do not know Taron personally and this chapter is purely fiction to the best of my knowledge. 

Do NOT leave any nasty comments as they will be ignored and deleted. I have warned you and I stand by this warning.

Note: I know this took so long to put up but I had been sick and needed time to heal. I tried to make this longer and I hope that you like this.

Enjoy!

===

A week later, things at home were getting tougher and tougher as Mikey and Kate’s birthdays drew closer.

“Mikey, what would you like for your birthday?” Tina asked as Mikey finished his sip of pre cooled tea.

Mikey looked at his father who looked away from him.

Tina caught that little move her son made toward her grandson and felt bad for Mikey. Of course she knew that it was tough for Taron around this time but now that Mikey was getting older, her heart went out to the little boy.

“Daddy said I could have a party.” Mikey said excitedly.

“Can we come?” Mari asked with a wide smile.

“Can they?” Mikey asked as he looked at his father with hope in his eyes.

Taron painted on a smile and nodded.

“Why don’t we have the party here.” Taron suggested and Tina nodded happily.

“That sounds perfect. Mikey can even invite his friends if he wants to so that it’s not all family.” Tina replied.

Taron looked at his mother and offered her a small smile.

“Sounds good. If you’re sure that is.” He replied.

Everyone that sat at the dining table, kept throwing ideas out on how to make this a special birthday. Mikey was super excited.

=

“What do you want to watch Michael?” Taron called from the bottom of the stairs with slight annoyance to his tone.

It wasn’t that Mikey was doing anything to upset his father, he was simply getting his cuddle blanket and a toy so that he could cuddle them while watching a movie.

Mikey held the banister as he hurried down the stairs before Taron got cross with him.

“Michael.” Taron snapped, not realizing that his son was almost in front of him.

The little boy stopped and looked at his father with wide eyes.

“I’m right here.” The little boy said carefully.

“What do you want to watch?” Taron asked, picking his son up and kissing his cheek.

“Can we watch mama?” Mikey asked, wanting to see Taron and Kate’s wedding video.

“No buddy, not tonight. What about a cartoon instead.” Taron suggested.

“Ok.” Mikey said sadly.

He really wanted to see his mum and hear her voice. Even though he was a baby when Kate died, Mikey really missed the vibrations that her voice would give when she held him close. He missed the feel of her heart beating. So yes he was little, but a little boy such as Mikey doesn’t forget a connection like that.

“Tell you what, why don’t we watch one of mama’s favorites.” Taron suggested, softening his tone at the sight of his son’s disappointment.

“Sorry I made you mad.” Mikey said, leaning into his father more.

“I’m not mad. I’m the one that should be sorry for making you feel bad. I’m just tired.” Taron apologized.

“It’s ok daddy.” Mikey whispered as he tried to wrap his full arms around his father’s neck in a hug.

=

A few days later, things got harder for Taron especially since Mikey had upped his game in asking to hear stories about his mum and see old videos of her. Taron was almost at the end of his rope with everything and was debating about dropping his son off with his grandmother for a while.

“I’m gonna be late.” Mikey called as he bounced nervously by the front door, with his shoes evidently on the wrong feet.

“First of all, no you’re not and second of all, we need to switch your shoes around kiddo.” Taron said with an amused smile on his face.

Mikey looked at his feet and giggled when he realized that he put them on wrong.

Taron quickly helped the boy and before long, Taron was standing outside of Mikey’s classroom saying goodbye.

As Mikey ran toward the sandbox, Taron’s eyes landed on a woman that looked alot like the woman from the shops that day.He knew he had to make a break for it if he didn’t want to talk to her. Not that she knew it was him from how focused she was on little Jasmine and then there was the fact that he was wearing his twenty-two cap and sunglasses. Then again, he was wearing the same thing when he met her.

Just before he turned to leave, he saw his son bolt toward Jasmine. Taron stopped and watched the scene before him with a smile. His son was definitely smitten with the girl.

He watched as his son hugged Jasmine and then watched as Mikey hugged that woman. That broke Taron. How dare she think she had a right to touch his son. That wasn’t her place at all, if anything it should be kate hugging his son, not that woman.

Taron took a deep breath and stormed off toward his car.

=

“Pickles.” Taron called as he walked through the front door.

The feline was napping on his little kitty bed that Mikey picked out when he and Taron got him.

Taron smiled to himself and flopped down on the sofa with his head going back to lean on the back of the furniture. He closed his eyes and tried to get the image of Mikey hugging that woman out of his head.

“What’s wrong Taz?” Kate asked softly.

“He was hugging that woman. He should be hugging you, not her.” Taron replied as he opened his eyes and turned to face his wife who sat next to him.

He took in how she looked. Her blonde hair hung just above her shoulders in loose tousled waves the way it did the morning she left to meet up with Richard. Her dark brown eyes sparkled just the way he liked. Her smile was as bright and beautiful as he remembered.

She still wore the striped robe that he knew she’d want to buried in. It was her favorite one and it was the one she wore in the hospital when Mikey made his entrance into the world.

Kate smiled at him.

“Michael’s a very huggy person. He gets that from you.” The woman stated.

Taron looked at her with tears in his eyes.

“I miss you so much Kate. You’d be so proud of our boy.” He said, his voice cracking.

She laid her hand on his cheek and stroked along his cheekbone

“Amore, I don’t need to be here to be proud of both of my boys and besides Pickles is my lookout.” Kate responded.

“I’m really struggling.” The man admitted, finally letting his tears fall.

“I know it’s hard baby but you are doing such a good job with him.” Kate complimented.

“I love you so much, my darling.” Taron replied.

Before Kate could say anything else, there was a knock on the front door. He glanced in it’s direction and when he looked back at where Kate was, she was gone. Taron’s heart shattered all over again.

He got up and answered the door.

“Hi mam.” Taron greeted with as much happiness as he could.

“What’s happened?” She asked, taking in her son’s red and slightly puffy eyes.

“Nothing. Just having a cry I guess.” He shrugged.

“Need a cuddle?” Tina asked, knowing why he was crying.

He nodded and let his mum in before throwing his arms around her and sobbing into her. He really needed a mama cuddle.

They stayed like that for a while before he had to go and get Mikey from school and Tina had to do the same for the girls.

“Did you have a good day my boy?” Taron asked as he picked his son up.

“It was fun. I coloured this for you.” Mikey said as he handed the drawing from a couple weeks ago to his father.

“Is this what you drew when I came to pick you for our boys day?” Taron asked.

Mikey nodded and walked ahead of his father, making sure to step on every crack in concrete.

“Can we watch mam tonight?” Mikey asked as Taron caught up with him.

Taron groaned and rolled his eyes.

“We talked about this, Michael. No.” He said, unaware that he kept breaking his son’s heart by saying no.

Mikey’s eyes stayed on the ground as he tried not to cry. He desperately wanted to see her and hear her voice because he felt like he was forgetting her. It wasn’t fair.

The car ride home was silent and as soon as they got home, Mikey went to find Pickles so that he could hug his best friend. He needed some form of comfort but he didn’t want Taron’s.

“You’re being too harsh Taron.” Richard said through the phone.

“I’m not trying to be. It just hurts and I can’t talk about it. The last thing I want to do is hear her voice.” The man explained. “Hold on Rich.” He said before pulling the phone away from his ear.

“Mikey, I need your lunch box.” Taron called, loud enough for his son to hear.

Mikey put pickles down and wiped his eyes.

“I don’t want Mikey.” Taron started before he spotted his son in the doorway of the kitchen holding his lunch box.

Hearing his father say he didn’t want him hurt him like nothing ever had. He thought his dad loved him but he was obviously wrong. His little heart had just been shattered beyond repair.

“Thanks kiddo.” Taron said as he took the lunch box from the boy's hand.

Again, Taron wasn’t aware that he had broken his son’s heart.

“I’ll make dinner in a minute, why don’t you go and play.” Taron said, too focused on the red box to see the tears falling from Mikey’s eyes.

The little boy hung his head and walked away slowly.

=

Saturday was finally here and it was the day that taron was dreading. Kate and Mikey’s birthday.

“Why are you still in here? You should be making Mikey a special breakfast.” Kate said as she laid next to her husband on her side of the bed.

“It’s too early.” Taron replied sleepily.

“Taron, it’s his birthday. I bet you that he’s already up and waiting for you to go wish him a happy birthday.” Kate said.

“He’ll be fine.” Taron snapped.

Kate rolled her eyes and got up.

“Where are you going?” He asked as he looked at the door where she stood.

“Taron, go be with our son please. He only has one parent left and you’re acting like an ass.” She replied a matter-of-factly.

“No. He’s fine.” Taron argued.

Kate didn’t reply. She just looked at her husband and took in the way his shoulders were slumped, even if he was laying down. She could see that he was hurting. It was time to bring Nicola back in his path.

“Right.” Kate said to herself with determination.

Taron laid in his spot and toyed with his wedding band. Today was definitely going to be hard.

All of a sudden Taron heard a crash from down stairs and bolted down the stairs.

“Pickles can you shut up.” Taron snapped.

“Taron, don’t be mad. It’s just Mikey.” Kate whispered in his ear.

“Michael, why are you up?” Taron said, a little less angry.

“I wanted to make food for you but I broke it.” The little boy said with big sad glossy eyes.

“Broke what?” The father asked.

“Mama's hands and mine.” Mikey said, scared that Taron would yell at him. He was right to be scared.

Taron rushed forward and saw the shattered pottery.

“Michael Kade Egerton, what is wrong with you? Why can’t you keep your hands to yourself!” Taron shouted angrier than he ever had.

Mikey’s bottom lip trembled as he tried not to cry.

“It was a accident.” Mikey tried.

“Everything you do is always an accident.” Taron shouted once again, picking the pieces up off the ground.

It was silent for a couple seconds and Mikey took that as a good thing and tried to hug his father.

Taron shrugged the boy off and slightly moved him away.

“It was a accident.” Mikey said as his voice cracked.

“No it wasn’t.” Taron snapped harshly.

His son jumped and started crying.

“I’ve had enough of you and your lies, go to your room and think about what you’ve done.” The man said, pointing to the stairs.

Mikey didn’t need to be told twice. He ran to his room crying loudly.

“You shouldn’t have done that.” Kate said as she sat on the counter.

“He’s always doing things like this.” Taron said angrily.

“No he’s not Taron and you know that.” Kate snapped back.

Taron released a growl and went back to cleaning and muttering under his breath.

“You always act before you think.” Kate stated with disappointment.

Taron ignored her comment.

“I’ve always loved that cup. I remember when you saw it and wanted to buy it for our future children to use.” Kate said when her eyes landed on the Buzz Lightyear cup that Mikey used for his breakfast.

Taron’s eyes wandered up and saw two cups on the stepping stool. He knew then that Mikey was telling the truth and wanted to surprise him.

“It was an accident wasn’t it?” Taron asked, guilt now lacing his tone.

“He was standing in the doorway when you were talking to Richard about having a guy’s night. He heard you say that you ‘didn’t want him’. He took that as an ‘I don’t want him anymore’.” Kate explained.

“He did?” Taron asked, feeling like an utter prick.

“He was trying to make you breakfast to show you that he can be useful. You really hurt him you know.” Kate replied.

“Make him that special Egerton birthday breakfast and apologize.” Kate instructed softly.

Taron nodded and sniffled.

By the time that Taron had finished cleaning and had a sulk, he decided that it was time to go and talk to his son.

The conversation with Mikey only led to more begging from Mikey and an early nap time given out by Taron who didn’t want to hear anymore about his wife.

“Why can’t we watch mama?” Mikey asked for the billionth time.

“Michael that’s enough. I’ve told you why so please shut up about it and go to sleep.” Taron snapped as he put his son down for a nap.

Taron walked away from his son’s room and sauntered to his own room.

“No breakfast, no stories about me? That’s harsh.” Kate said as she walked past Taron.

“Shut up Kate.” He spat through gritted teeth.

“Someone has their period, geeze.” Kate mocked.

Taron sighed with frustration before going to his room and hiding under his covers for a while.

Kate stood in the hallway looking at the pictures that hung on the wall. Her eyes landed on a family picture that was taken just before Kate died. They looked so happy and Mikey was so tiny as he slept in Taron’s arms.

She stood there for a few minutes before she heard her son’s slight whimpers.

The mother walked into his room and sat beside Mikey’s bed and watched as he slept. She would give anything to hold her little boy close, breathe him in and tell him that everything was going to be ok. It broke her that she couldn’t.

“Happy birthday baby. Mummy loves you so much.” Kate whispered as she ran her fingers through his blonde locks and kissed his forehead.

“My beautiful boy.” She said before tucking him in and kissing him one last time.

Mikey smiled. He knew that his mum was with him.

Kate smiled and walked to where her husband, who was having a cry.

“Move over, baby.” Kate said as she laid beside her husband.

Taron moved over and Kate got under the covers with him.

“What’s the matter and why is it so hard for you to let him watch videos of me?” Kate wondered out loud.

“Just leave me alone, please.” Taron said through his tears.

“Take him to the park please, let him run off steam. It will give you a chance to breathe and relax.” The woman said.

She laid her hand over his heart and watched him let out a choked sob. Taron felt her touch and it killed him that it was all in his head and that it wasn’t real.

=

“Please daddy? I asked nicely.” Mikey asked, wanting to hear his mum’s voice.

“You know what, no I’m not doing this again. Go get your shoes on.” Taron barked, finally giving in and taking his son far away from any reminders of his wife for now.

Mikey jumped but ran to get his shoes and jacket.

“Where are we going?” The boy asked with hope in his voice, knowing that his grandma was throwing a small party for him.

“The park.” Taron replied simply.

“Oh.” Mikey replied sadly.

He knew Taron had forgotten about his birthday.

Taron got his son settled in his car seat before getting in the car himself and heading in the direction of the park.

Unfortunately for him, he saw ‘the woman’ sitting at a picnic table keeping an eye on Jasmine.

“Right, go play.” Taron said to Mikey as he took him out of his car seat and set him down on the ground.

Mikey ran off and started playing.

Taron locked the car and took a deep breath.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Nicola snapped harshly when she saw who was approaching.

“It’s none of your damn business.” Taron spat back.

“Well if your moody ass is going to be here then yes, it is my business.” Nicola sassed.

Taron scoffed and sat down on the same seat as she and removed his sunglasses.

Nicola glanced at him and really took him in. He wasn’t bad looking, he had nice eyes and a sharp jaw. He was pretty cute.

“Take a fucking picture.” Taron seethed, making Nicola jump.

“Excuse me?” She questioned.

“Stop staring.” Taron said, locking eyes with her.

Nicola swallowed harshly. His eyes had turned an almost black shade and he looked like he was thirsty for blood.

“Staring and trying to figure someone out are two very different things.” Nicola replied with a raised brow.

“And what exactly are you trying to figure out?” He said dangerously low.

“What an asshole like you gets out of hanging around parks like this. I’ll call the police you know.” She said, not realizing that he had come here with Mikey.

“You’re a bitch, you know that.” Taron countered before turning to look at Mikey, who was happily playing with Jasmine.

“Yup, definitely a Taz.” Nicola smirked.

Taron’s heart stopped. No one besides Kate had called him that, not even his mum. Only Kate was allowed to call him that.

“Shut the fuck up.” The man said, slamming his fists on the table.

“Since I met you, all you’ve done is piss me off. You’ve insulted me and I think it’s my turn to insult you. Why is a woman like you in a park like this anyway? Is it because no one wants a self centered, condescending slag like you? You feel better surrounding yourself with others like you? Or is it because no one wants to get between those legs and this is where you come to sulk to yourself about it?” Taron said, eerily calm.

This didn’t phase Nicola in the slightest as all she was focused on were his lips, which is funny because normally she’d slap the shit out of him but there was just something about him that spoke to her.

Before she could think of what she was doing, her hand went to the back of his neck and she pulled him forward, crashing her lips onto Taron’s.

His lips were soft and the kiss was magical but for Taron, he felt awful. How could something feel so right and so wrong at the same time?

Meanwhile from the top of the play fort, Mikey watched as the two adults kissed.

The little boy crouched down so that he was hidden and started crying.

“What’s wrong?” Jasmine asked as she finally looked up from her rock collection.

“I hate my dad.” Mikey whimpered.

Jasmine looked toward Taron, covered her mouth and started giggling.

“They’re kissing.” She said through her giggles.

Mikey hid his face, making Jasmin stop giggling.

The little girl attempted to hug her friend but Mikey got up and ran over to his father.

“Mikey stop!” Jasmin called but Mikey wasn’t listening.

Mikey quickly reached his father.

“That’s my daddy!” Mikey shouted as he pushed Nicola away from Taron.

Despite the fact that Taron had massively hurt his son, Mikey wasn’t willing to share Taron just yet.

Nicola looked at the man she’d just kissed and saw the hurt, confusion and sadness in his eyes.

Taron sat frozen in place as Mikey climbed up into his father’s lap.

Absentmindedly, Taron wrapped his right arm around his son and held him protectively.

“Mine.” Mikey said as he wrapped his small arms around Taron’s neck and glared daggers at the woman.

It was evident to Nicola that Mikey was definitely this man’s son and that she had just made a huge mistake.

Her cheeks went bright red and she bit her lower lip in embarrassment.

Taron finally rejoined reality and realized what had just happened.

“Kate.” He whispered as he touched his lips with his left hand, displaying the fact that he was wearing a ring.

Nicola’s eyes landed on the gold band on his ring finger and she sucked in a breath. Of course he was married and she’d just kissed a married man. Fuck!

=

Taron drove home with a very angry Mikey in the back.

“Meanie.” Mikey said, making sure his father could hear him.

Taron couldn’t disagree with him. He felt like a meanie for kissing Nicola and for betraying Kate like that.

“Don’t call me names.” Taron lectured.

Mikey locked eyes with his father in the rear view mirror and stuck his tongue out at him.

“Michael, that’s enough.” The father warned.

“You’re not the boss of me.” The boy challenged. Instead of replying, Taron ignored him.

When taron and Mikey got home, Mikey ran straight to his room and slammed his door shut as loud and as hard as he could.

“Stop slamming your door!” Taron yelled.

“I hate you.” Mikey screamed at the top of his lungs.

“I hate me too, my boy.” Taron said to himself softly, tears falling from his eyes.

The man slumped on the couch and closed his eyes before he heard his son throwing things.

He stood up and hurried upstairs.

“Michael, quit throwing things. You know that you’re not supposed to be doing that.” Taron yelled as he opened the door harshly.

“No.” Mikey cried, throwing toy after toy at the wall.

“Ok child. I’m serious, you have been a pain in my ass the whole day and I’m sick of your stupid attitude. Either you stop on your own or I’ll make you stop.” Taron said, grabbing hold of Mikey’s wrists.

The now 4 year old tried to free himself but Taron wasn’t letting go and the more Mikey fought, the more Taron squeezed his wrists, trying to stop his son from throwing things.

At one point, Taron squeezed harder and Mikey started crying even more.

Recognizing that he was hurting his son, Taron let Mikey go and moved back to the door in a daze.

“I’m sorry.” Taron choked out but Mikey wasn’t having it.

“Go away.” The boy said as he gave his father a swift kick to the shin.

Taron was far too shocked to care that he’d just been kicked.

The father stood unmoving in his spot. He was brought back to earth when a toy hit him square in the face. He looked at Mikey’s Sheriff woody doll laying on the floor. No doubt he’d have a bruise on his cheek.

He backed out of the room, shut the door and fell to the ground in sobs.

Taron never hurt his son and seeing the fear in Mikey’s eyes hurt him deeply. He felt sick with guilt. He knew that once his mother found out, she’d kill him for hurting her grandson.

=

Tina knocked on the front door at 9:00pm hoping that Taron would answer the door. When he didn’t, she took her spare key out and let herself in.The smell of alcohol and cigarettes filling her nose, she became angry. Angrier than she’d probably ever been.

Before she could say anything, Taron stumbled out of the kitchen with a whiskey bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She was definitely seeing red.

“I was wondering where you were and now I know.” The mother said, reaching for the alcohol.

Taron moved his body away from her and whimpered.

“Mine.” He said, shielding the paraphernalia he was holding.

“Taron enough! You look and smell like shit. You have a little boy upstairs who is seeing all of this and it’s disgusting.” Tina lectured.

“I know he’s upstairs.” Taron slurred, making Tina roll her eyes.

“Did you forget that today was his birthday and that we had a party planned for him at the house? Or did you simply not care to celebrate the fact that your son was here?” She asked, very quickly losing her calm with her own son.

“All I’ve heard today was that kid moaning and groaning about not getting to see his mother but what about my feelings eh? Don’t my feelings matter, oh no, it’s always whatever the baby wants, whatever the baby likes. It’s always him and never me. When do I matter!” Taron yelled at the top of his lungs.

“That little boy depends on you Taron, you are all he has left. How do you think he feels not having a mother to turn to when you are acting like a prick? He loves you and seeing you like this all the time is not helping him. You are damaging him and I swear to god, I will take him from you if you don’t pull your head out of your ass and realize that he misses Kate just as much as you if not more.” Tina spat back, having had more than enough of her son’s moping.

“Take him then.” Taron said before throwing the bottle of amber liquid at the wall.

Tina’s hand connected harshly with Taron’s already injured cheek.

“Enough! You’re a bloody disgrace Taron. Kate would be disgusted with your behaviour.” Tina hollered.

“I know and I hate myself for it.” Taron said, breaking down and falling to his knees.

“You can fix this and you had better do it now before it’s too late.” Tina replied as she crouched in front of her son and hugged him.

“I hurt him. He needs better.” Taron bawled. The mother held her broken son and let him cry.

Unbeknownst to them, Mikey was holding his woody doll and sat on the steps listening.  

“Please take him for a while. I need to know that he’s safe.” Taron asked once he’d calmed down a little bit.

“Grandma?” Mikey asked as he peeked around the corner.

Tina’s eyes softened and she gave him a sad smile.

“Are you ok, my darling?” She asked.

Mikey shook his head.

“My arms hurt.” The little boy admitted, making Taron start crying again.

“What did you do?” The woman asked cautiously.

“He hurt me.” He responded before putting Woody's arm in his mouth and showed Tina his arms.

“Taron, what the hell did you do? His wrists are bruised.” Tina said with shock.

“He was throwing his toys and I lost it. I grabbed too hard.” Taron sobbed.

“How could you?” Tina said incredulously.

Taron couldn’t say anything, he was already beating himself up over his actions. Actions that were normally not him.

Tina could see that both her boys were hurting and she made the decision to stay with Taron for a few days while he got over this. Her boys needed her.

“Right, this house is far too depressing for my liking. Taron, you are going to go and have a shower while I put your son to bed.” Tina said as she picked Mikey up and helped taron upstairs.

“Right, are you ok to shower or do you need me to help you?” Tina asked as the three of them reached taron’s room.

“I should be ok mam. Thank you though.” Taron said through his sniffles.

“Cheer up. All things can be fixed. I’ll make you some coffee once Mikey’s in bed.” Tina responded.

Taron nodded and stood up carefully.

“Night night daddy, I love you.” Mikey said as he watched his father walk into the bathroom.

Taron turned around and walked back to his mother and son.

“Can I hug you please?” Taron asked Mikey.

Mikey catapulted himself into his father’s arms and hugged him tight.

“I’m so sorry for hurting you. I honestly didn’t mean to.” Taron said, trying not to cry.

“I’m sorry I threw my toys.” Mikey whispered.

They hugged for a few minutes before Mikey yawned.

“I’ll make it up to you. I promise you.” Taron said, kissing the top of his son’s head.

===

Tag List: @sarahegerton96 @softeggsy @hitmeonmytspot @holdmeclosertinytaron @aberystwythboy @stronglyobsessed @dogmom2014 @jobanan23 @cilldaracailin @fuseburner @rocknrollmadden @hauntedflamingo @superthiccthighssavelives

[nadjaofstatenisland]

What do you like the most about Halice?

I loved their dynamic in s1 so much. Loud, extroverted Alice who can't let anything go and semi-passive, introverted Hal always there to tone her down. Opposite personalities who balance each other out. They actually share so many of the same ideas and morals, but Hal keeps most of that stuff to private talk while Alice has zero problem voicing her unpopular opinions to the world.

High school sweethearts? Homecoming king and queen? Suburbanites with deep dark secrets, some they share and others they keep from one another? How is that not good? This family putting on a "perfect" facade when they know damn well they have plenty to hide. That's amazing.

And on a more positive note, these two were partners through and through. Do you have any idea how hard it is to work with your spouse? I could never do it but these two literally owned a business together. Ran a whole damn newspaper where they seemed to be the only employees.

They had so many little touchy moments too. Whenever they shared a scene together they're almost almost in arms length of each other. And when Hal was away from Alice for a minute at the Taste of Riverdale she got slapped... and Hal was still back at her side instantly to comfort her. There was also a deleted scene from 1x07 where they walk through the woods arm in arm and talk about how looking for Polly here is a waste of time and its cute.

Even when they broke up you could see they were both hurt by it. But please, I will gladly take a little angst with any of my ships, especially when both of their reunions warmed me so. Them storming Thornhill together and Hal showing up before Carrie and they two of them finally talking about that unsaid thing between them. (dont even remind me of the time Chic asks where Hal is and then the shady guy knocks on the door and Alice's face lights up and shes like "oh there he is!")

They were cute. They looked good together. And I'll be damned if this show is ever going to convince me Alice never loved him.

[zachsreaderinserts]

Opening Night

the supporting parents: marcel x teen! female! reader x fourzeroseven (not really centered around them tho, theyre just your gay dads)

location: high school theatre important info: reader is a lead role!

"I'm gonna shit myself," I whispered, tugging on the scarf around my neck. My hands shook as I paced around backstage, nervous and worried.

"Calm down, L/n." My castmate, Kiana, called out to me. She wore her Heather Chandler costume with pride, smiling at me with red lips. "Stress will only make your acting worse." She rose a perfect eyebrow in my direction.

Tonight is where my life changes. Our high school theatre was doing a production into a musical called Heathers. Based off the 80s movie, and is just as hilarious.

And tonight, I will be starring as Veronica Sawyer.

"Y/n?" I heard a familiar voice whisper. Whipping my head around, I saw my legal guardian, Marcel, and my favorite of his friends, Scotty.

"Look at her!" Marcel squealed, shaking Scotty's arm. "She looks ready for Broadway!" Scotty laughs, as he wraps his arms around me. I squeezed him back, relishing in his hug.

"You ready, Miss Sawyer?" He asks, stepping back. My hands were shaking as I also hugged Marcel. But, as my head rested on his shoulder, I saw he was holding something.

"What's that?" Marcel pulled away, his excitement skyrocketing.

"Well," He began, looking over at Scotty for encouragement, "These are the legal papers that state that I can legally adopt you as my daughter." I gasped, tears hitting me faster than red shells hit Craig in Mario Kart.

"No way." I breathed, making Marcel tear up as well.

"Way." He replied, making the sentimental moment shatter. I punched him in the arm, making the duo laugh at me.

"We can finish this up after the show. Let's leave her be." Scotty ushered my now father out of the backstage area, winking at me for good luck. I smiled, nerves gone and replaced by happiness.

"Y/n! Curtains rise in a minute! We need onstage now." Letting out a yelp, I ran onstage, just as the orchestra were tuning their instruments. After thirty seconds of tuning was over, the curtains opened up, revealing me in center stage, staring at the crowd.

In a quick five seconds, I saw my dad and Scotty sitting closest to the stage, phones ready to record. Around them were Craig, Sami, Lucas, Tyler, Kelly, and Anthony, looking more than happy to see me front and center.

Taking in one more breath, I began the show.

"September 1st, 1989. Dear diary," The band joined in with a big bang of noise. I held back a grin that wanted to come out, staying in character. "I believe I'm a good person. Y'know, I think that there's good in everyone. But, here we are," Lifting up my arms in effect, I heard the ensemble come out, prepared to sing. "First day of senior year! And uh, I look around at these kids I've known my whole life and I ask myself, what happened?" I got some laughs from my deadpan, making me smile a little.

Going through "Beautiful" was amazing since everything was perfect. And when the Heathers entered, everything was spot on. Heather McNamara did her over the top motions. Heather Duke's part was my personal favorite.

"Heather Duke! Runs the yearbook. No discernable personality, but her mom did pay for implants." And then, I grabbed her boob.

Tyler let out a horrific wheeze, making others around him laugh. It took my everything just not to laugh along with them.

After we were done with the first song, the show itself was a hit. "Candy Store" received a wild applause as did "Fight For Me", and songs like "Freeze Your Brain" and "Big Fun" were really good.

But then came the song I dreaded the most.

Dead Girl Walking.

The song that will ensure my new dad will never let me onstage ever again after this show.

"The demon of high school has decreed it," I sung, looking upset and terrified. I truly was terrified, especially on the audience's reaction to this song in particular. "She says Monday, 8 AM, I will be deleted."

Going through the song was a breeze, I could easily fake being distressed, since, y'know, I'm a teenager.

But then it came.

"But I don't own a motorbike." I paused, looking Marcel dead in the eye. "Wait." Feeling a huge grin coming in, I decided to say "Fuck it" to my worries. "Here's an option that I like!"

Backing up so I was center stage once more, I kept my eyes on the whole group of people I knew.

"Spend these thirty hours getting freaky!" Marcel's jaw dropped faster than a bullet. I saw Craig beginning to laugh, leaning into Anthony, who was in the same state. "I need it hard! I'm a dead girl walking!" Tyler soon joined the laughter, as did most of the audience.

The further into the song we got, the more clothing I lost, which almost made me break character when I glanced back over at Marcel, who looked like he was about to faint.

The actor who played JD looked just as amused, covering it up easily, but I saw it in his eyes that he was trying hard not to laugh.

"No sleep tonight for you! Better chug that Mountain Dew!"

"Okay, okay?" Smiling as I straddled him, I hovered over his crotch, praying that I wouldn't give him an actual boner. By now, I didn't dare look at Marcel, fearing for both my life and JD's.

"Get your ass in gear! Make this whole town disappear!"

"Okay, okay!"

"Slap me," I pretended to smack JD, trying not to actually hurt him, "Pull my hair!" He grabbed my short/long hair, pulling my head back with it. "Touch me there, there, and there!" Getting more "handsy" with one another, I snuck a glance towards Marcel.

He looked absolutely livid, staring in horror as I faked sex with a boy.

"And no more talking!"

"No-o-oh!" And for a grand finale,

JD ripped open my shirt.

Exposing my tiddies.

My tiddies that had a blue bra over them, thankfully.

"Love this dead girl walking!" AND THEN COMES THE GRINDING.

Trying not to laugh, the both of us made it through the song, with a final note that surely will make this song one to remember.

The rest of Act I was a blur, as we finished it with "Our Love is God", a morbid song really. I walked straight into my dressing room, not daring to leave it until Act II started.

Act II was my favorite, with bangers like "Shine a Light" and "Seventeen". But who can forget the song that fucking slaps.

"Dead Girl Walking Reprise".

"I wanted someone strong who could protect me." Determination shone through my face, preparing me for the largest high note of the entire show. "I let his anger fester and infect me!" I motioned to my chest, showing I was done with JD. Holding the croquet mallet in the opposite hand, I continued.

"His solution is a lie! No one here deserves to die! Except for me and the monster I created!" Taking a step forward, instead of back like how I did for most of the show, I took in a large breath.

"Yeah, YEAH!" The high note smashed through the air, coming out just the way I wanted it to. For a second, time slowed down, allowing me to feel the moment I had created.

Scotty looked at me with the proudest grin I've ever seen on a man. Marcel was tearing up, probably from the previous scene, where I had committed suicide. But my high note made the waterworks come back again.

Craig and Sami held onto one another, looking like a couple at a sports game. Anthony looked like he would kill the world for me, while Tyler looked just about ready to scream for me as if it were some type of football game.

And then time sped up again.

"Heads up, JD! I'm a dead girl walking!" Storming to my right, I've never felt so alive in my entire life. "Can't hide from me! I'm a dead girl walking!"

Stopping my pacing, I got ready for the minor high note, which would be my last for the night.

"And there's your final bell! It's one more dance, and then farewell! Cheek to cheek in hell with a dead girl walking!" The audience applauded, preparing me for the final few scenes of the show.

And just like that, it was curtain call.

First, the ensemble. Then, minor characters with names. after that, Kurt and Ram. Martha. JD. Heather, Heather, and of course, Heather.

Then me.

Running into the center, the crowd screeched as I bowed. I started tearing up at the love and support I got, looking at my family, who screamed the loudest.

Seeing Marcel and Scotty cheering for me, both looking more than happy to see me, I felt my heart flutter.

I think I found out what I wanna pursue in college.

[the-quiet-winds]

Cathedrals in My Heart (part 1)

so this posted earlier, and i went to make a tiny edit and the whole post got deleted so... it’s me, it’s @ichlugebulletsandcornnuts, we wrote a thing. like, reblog, do what you all do. part one of three.

[Part 1: Come Out of the Things Unsaid]

It was small to start off with. katherine was just getting used to being able to say she had a mum again, that she had someone to look out for her, and she was loving it. It was just tiny things that caught in her brain and made her frown slightly. jane fussing over boleyn’s hair, or helping patch up cleves’ horse riding injury, or even the way she exasperatedly told boleyn off for hiding aragon’s bible. it all felt a little bit too much like everyone else was trying to push into her space, and katherine doesn’t exactly know how she feels but she isn’t happy about any of it.

jane, conversely, is following her maternal instincts where it leads. she may not be as old as the other queens (cleves and aragon were, at least when they died, over ten years her senior) but she has all of this willingness to nurture and care and no where to use it. so, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on your point of view, she uses it on on the five women in her life

jane doesn’t even notice the glare katherine gives boleyn after jane finally gets her to stay still long enough to sort out the fact that one of anne’s space buns had been falling out for the last half an hour. to her, it doesn’t diminish the relationship she has with katherine to care for the others too. but katherine was still young, her brain was full of complicated emotions she wasn’t quite able to handle because of her past trauma, and sometimes she had a very childish habit of being jealous, which turned into the even more childish habit of kicking boleyn under the table and pretending it was an accident (katherine wasn’t proud of that particular immature move but she’d be lying if she didn’t get a tiny bit of satisfaction from the way boleyn yelped when she’d kicked her)

boleyn recognized at this point that the kicks under the table, the missing brushes and pins from her dressing room table, the opened and flat sodas, and the micro-small tears in in her costume all come from one particular source: katherine. boleyn doesn’t understand why she’s out to get her, but then it spreads. pages in aragon’s bible are ripped out. one of parr’s notebooks is soaked. one of cleve’s bottles of wine is shattered in the yard. even one of jane’s homemade pillows has a corner cut off and stuffing threatening to spill out. katherine is reckless yet retreating into herself, and no one can figure out why. katherine even cuts into one of her own blankets, trying to convince everyone that she is most definitely not the culprit

boleyn has seen how it escalated, but she can’t work out why. there’s no point asking katherine about it - she’d deny it was her in the first place. jane was another non-starter, all the queens (except katherine herself) knew at this point that unless there was evidence, jane would take katherine’s side. she finally decides to talk to parr about it, and finds her wearily drying the pages of her soaked notebook over the empty bath.

“I think I know who’s responsible,” boleyn begins. “It’s-“

“katherine, I know,” parr says tiredly. “I just can’t work out why.” she pulls two sodden pages apart and sighs. “i’d like to find out soon though.”

boleyn’s about to reply, but is interrupted by aragon loudly proclaiming from outside the door that whoever broke her rosary was going to pay, possibly with their life

she comes storming into the bathroom, shattered white, yellow, and red beads filling her hands, slamming the door with her foot. “i’ve had it up to here with the bullshit in this house.” with a heavy sigh, she deposits the broken pieces in the garbage can. “whoever is doing all of this is getting kicked out,” she says murderously. “it’s howard,” parr and boleyn say in a quiet perfect unison. “we don’t know why, though,” parr adds quietly

“maybe because she’s a little bitch,” aragon says, glaring at the door as if imagining katherine on the other side. parr raises an eyebrow and aragon backtracks just a little. “okay, so howard’s not a little bitch. but whatever temper tantrum she’s throwing is getting really old. she knows how important my rosary is to me.” she sits down on the side of the bath and groans in frustration.

“but we can’t work out how to get her to stop if we don’t know why she’s acting out in the first place,” boleyn points out.

“for once boleyn makes a good point,” aragon nods. boleyn makes a face.

“rude.”

parr looks at her mischievously. “sorry not sorry”. “ladies,” aragon interrupts, “we need to figure out what is causing this god-forsaken attitude. suddenly and without warning, cleves enters, fists clenched around one of her gold chains, drenched in blue paint. “some bitch is going to die tonight,” she hisses as she futilely tries to clean the paint off. “cleves, you’re not allowed to kill howard,” parr says patiently after closing the door once again (and locking it this time). parr and aragon sit on the side of the tub, boleyn on the floor, and cleves stands at the sink as they all wait for another to have some brilliant revelation or epiphany

“ladies? any ideas?” parr prompts.

“we ask her nicely to stop?” boleyn suggests. she almost keeps a straight face too but cracks when cleves snorts with laughter.

aragon glares at them both.

“how about we wreck some of her stuff?” she suggests. parr shoots her a look.

“that’s definitely a no.” all four of them stay in silence for a few more moments.

“maybe we need to catch her in the act so she can’t deny she’s doing it. then we show the evidence to her and ask her why,” cleves suggests. parr nods, but thinks for a second.

“or we could show the evidence to jane,” she decides. “if anyone’s going to get the truth out of her, it’s going to be jane.”

they all murmur in agreement. "how do we do it?" boleyn asks. a devilish grin makes its way onto cleves' face. "we set a trap." and that's how, later that evening, "aragon's" bible (which is really just a new one they bought at a second-hand bookstore for a whopping £5) is laying inconspicuously on aragon's bed, with boleyn's phone tucked behind a picture frame directed straight at what would soon be a crime scene, taking everything in in glorious high definition

aragon announces loudly that she’s heading out to the evening sermon, and jane calls back from the laundry room to make sure she stays safe when she walks home. boleyn, pretending to be reading a magazine, notices katherine shooting daggers at aragon’s back as she leaves and she grins to herself. looks like howard has fallen for it. katherine goes up the stairs, apparently to go to her room, but she stops at the sight of aragon’s door slightly ajar, the bible resting innocently on top of the bed visible from the hallway. she glances around, making sure nobody can see her, before she darts into aragon’s room

boleyn's pricked ears hear kitten-light feet go into aragon's room, and she smirks behind her reading. cleves, in the bedroom next to aragon's, pauses in her cleaning at the poorly concealed sound of ripping paper, and she, too, chuckles to herself. howard is going down and they know it. she quickly puts some low music on and pretends not not to notice as katherine skirts past her room and heads into her own.

aragon gets home from the sermon and, as she expected, the bible is ripped up. she quickly ends the recording on boleyn’s phone and then makes the scene that katherine would expect her to make, walking into her room to find that her bible was destroyed. she screams and shouts and blames everyone, and in the chaos boleyn slips into the room and grabs her phone. parr plays her part and pretends to calm aragon down, while cleves notes katherine’s tiny smile as she pokes her head around the door of her room to watch the chaos before disappearing again. half an hour later they reconvene in aragon’s room. boleyn plays them the footage and they all smile to each other: katherine was caught right on tape tearing the pages out.

"we need to show this to jane," aragon states, and the others agree. "but how?" questions boleyn. "we would have to get jane alone with all of us, and that is easier said than done." no one could argue with that. jane spent the most time with katherine out of any of them. getting them apart for long enough to show jane the tape would take another genius plan, so they sat in silence and contemplated

“the easiest way,” parr says slowly, “would be to get howard out of the house for a while. a couple of hours maximum.”

“but how?” aragon asks. “she doesn’t go anywhere regularly enough for us to be able to work out if we have enough time.”

“one of us could take her somewhere?” boleyn suggests. “like, shopping or something. and then once we’ve spoken to jane then we text whoever’s with her that it’s safe to bring her home.”

“is she gonna want to go anywhere with one of us after how she’s been treating us though?” cleves frowns. parr sighs and shrugs.

“it’s worth a try asking, I guess. unless anyone has any other ideas?”

cleves' eyes light up mischievously. "ladies, I have a brilliant idea." she explained her plan, complete with a few ideas she got while watching something called "youtube", and all the queens agreed wholeheartedly. and that's how katherine got a mysterious and random call saying she won a free dance class at a studio thirty minutes away. only there was no class, and the caller, a woman with a thick cockney accent, was actually just boleyn from upstairs, using a random number that cleves had somehow put in the phone. the four crept towards the top of the stairs at the sound of katherine and jane's conversation. something suddenly turned bitter, with katherine spitting something along the lines of "can't you just be happy for me for once" before she stomped towards the stairs. the queens scattered into their respective rooms at the sound, followed by howard roughly slamming her door. no one heard jane's quiet and pained sigh downstairs.

boleyn sends a group text to the other three, listening carefully through the wall to katherine’s room next door as katherine slams drawers and sighs dramatically to herself.

“she took the bait on the phone. dunno what’s got her so upset now but she was up for it when I rang”

aragon texts back first "hook, line, sinker". cleves next "this will be great ;)" parr finally texts rationally "everyone be ready tomorrow. she will leave around 2:30, come back around 3:30". a second later, she sends another text "we need to be gracious, ladies. we can't hurt jane. this will hurt her enough as is."

the other three have the decency to feel slightly less excited about revealing katherine’s destruction to jane, but one look at their own ruined belongings does make them eager to see justice served. parr makes a good point though: they have to be careful with how they present the evidence to jane, and with what they say to her about katherine. none of them want to hurt jane at all. she’s always so kind and caring to all of them, and they really do love her a lot. the evening passes with each of the four thinking about how to break the news to jane.

the next afternoon, chaos is reigning in the house. jane is trying to persuade katherine to stay home, to not trust the random phone call, that it could be a trap. katherine, swirling full of jealousy and anger, grabs the keys to the car, looks at jane with hatred in her eyes, and spits out "you're not my mother!" before taking the car and driving away.

parr sighs and grabs her phone. “is now really a good time to do this?” she texts the others.

“it could be our only chance” aragon replies.

“I know, just... let’s all be kind, ladies”

[blueyesandleatherjacket]

The summertime of our lives, 5/6

Volume: 1.

Number of parts: 5/6.

Pairings: Ninetoo x Rose.

A/N: Written for @doctorroseprompts summer bingo. Five summer-themed words: Party, Lights, Ice-Cream, Fair, Music (BINGO!). Tagging @thebookster on her demand.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” - William Shakespeare.

CHAPTER 5:

The Doctor woke up with a pounding headache and a sore body. He was lying flat on his stomach. His position was similar to those silhouettes you could see on crime scenes. He was very alive and very dehydrated, very hot and very unwell. If he was asked, he would say that all of his limbs had been cut off his torso, that they were scattered all around him and refusing to his brain’s orders. Brain? What brain? His head only contained a puddle of brain cells in the middle of a raging battlefield. His fingers scratched the hard surface he was currently embracing. Wood. Definitely wood. His face was crushed against a surface made of varnished wood. A table? No. It looked more like a ground. A ground that was moving. Like a boat rolling on the sea. A sudden rise of bile burnt his oesophagus and he struggled to compel all his limbs to move and pull his body up. He never realised how much you can tangle a body before he messed up with his limbs that weren’t quite obeying to him. It ended up with him crashing back down to the ground. His nausea was forgotten, replaced by the pain caused by the fall. He moaned, more of annoyance than of pain. What the hell was going on? He rolled on his back. The sun was stroking his skin. He was outside. He tried to focus on his surroundings despite the whole nightclub partying in his head. Last time he had felt this awful, he was drunk. The thought made him twitch. Drunk. That was it. He had drunk too much during the pool party and he was suffering from a terrible hangover. Drunk until the blackout What a stupid idea! Why hadn’t Rose stopped him? Had she been as drunk as him? No. She wouldn’t. Would she? She had come back to the TARDIS in a more than wasted condition numerous times when she was accompanying Jack to those parties on foreign planets. He should have gone with them instead of pretending he had better things to do. He was only worrying about her in the end. Where was she now? Was she worrying about him? They were both at that party. He remembered them both walking in the swimming pool hand in hand. They had gone to the bar, ordered soft drinks… He frowned. Soft drinks. No alcohol. They hadn’t wanted to get wasted. They had just wanted to have some fun before going back home to cuddle. What could have gone wrong? Forcing his brain to retrieve missing memories was increasing his headache. Even if he wanted to known where his Rose was, he had to focus on something simpler. A goal he could achieve in this condition. First, he had to find the strength to move and drink some water. Or he could just lay here and list all the types of pain he was in. It would be quite long. There were a lot of them. There were burns and even those burns could be categorised. Stomach burns because of the excess of alcohol, irritation of the throat because of the dehydration, his neck, face and legs were hurting. If he had been there for hours, he probably sunburnt. And then, there were his wrists. This kind of burns was unusual to him. It was nothing he had ever experienced in 900 years of life. It was burning and itching at the same time. The thrill of mystery snapped him out of the numbness induced by the alcohol he had drunk last night. He was certain to have drunk alcohol though he couldn’t remember it. He obliged his whole body to move and sat up. He stretched his neck with a grumble of pain. Glanced at his wrist. Knitted his brow. There was a bandage on both his wrists and a ribbon was fastened around his left arm. What had happened last night? He caught a corner of the plaster and pulled on it. He quickly got rid of the first bandage. His frowned expression turned into one of utter surprise. There, on his unusually red skin, a black ribbon was tattooed around his wrist. It was continuing on his other wrist. It was a fine piece of art but it clearly wasn’t his style. He was no man to get tattooed. He hadn’t done this willingly. And what could it mean? Staring at those lovely lines swirling on his wrists brought a daydreaming thought he had had a long time ago, when he was travelling with Rose. Of course, he wasn’t wearing this face when he had had the thought but the memory was still there. It was during a day on Chlopović, a town of the planet Pochlović that was known for its landscapes and gardens and parks. Many of them had love for theme and were the witnesses of numerous marriages. Or, as they called it, the fastening hands ceremony. And yes, one day, he had daydreamt of going through this ceremony with Rose. Back then, he would never have admitted it. Now… It wasn’t like he would refuse if there was a chance. He was against domestics but he wanted his forever with the woman he loved. Well, if he could find her. And who was he engaged to? Where the hell was he? What had freaking happened last night? “Spitz? Spitz, do you hear me?” The Doctor opened in eyes in response to the name he had been given to be acceptable on the civic field – another human norm he hated: you had to have a ‘normal’ name to be socially accepted, and just ‘The Doctor’ wasn’t an acceptable name – and was struck by the confusion. When had he lost it again? He blinked. How long had he been there? Someone called out for an ambulance. Or for a doctor. He was a doctor. He was the Doctor. But the words didn’t get past his lips. They said he was confused, badly dehydrated and his sunburnt were serious. Someone palpated his arm. There was a pinch and a sting. The sun was still high in the sky. He closed his eyes again. They carried him, placed him on a soft comfortable surface. It would have been perfect without the loud noise of a rotor, of a motor roaring somewhere above him. A helicopter. It was the first time he was traveling in helicopter. He thought. He wasn’t sure. Next time he woke up from this alcohol induced situation, he felt much better. His head wasn’t pounding anymore and his skin was fresh, as if a layer of cold ointment had been rubbed in. He recognised the place he was in immediately. A hospital. Damn. He couldn’t be in a hospital. They would… He sat up, took the needle of the drip off his hand, took the plier on his finger off. The machine beeped loudly. “Going somewhere?” He turned his head so violently that he winced at the pop he heard. He could easily have blocked a nerve or caused himself a neck stiff. That would be the last of his worries. He had to find Rose. She wasn’t with him in that room but the Detective Inspector Alec Hardy – or the man who saved his life hours ago – was. That was the Scottish accent that gave him away. “How did you find me?” He marked a pause. “Why were you looking for me?” “You were on the list of the persons present at the pool party two days ago.” Two days ago? Whatever he had drunk that night, it was strong enough to have made him forget a whole day in totality. A familiar feeling of adrenaline rushed through his veins. Danger. Mystery. Everything he loved. Hardy turned off the beeping monitor and dismissed the nurse who had just come in. “I was there with Rose.” “I know.” “Have you found her?” “Yes.” “How is she?” “Worried about you. I called to reassure her.” “What happened at that party?” “That’s the question I was gonna ask you.” The Doctor raised an eyebrow. If Alec Hardy was seeking for answers from him, he would be disappointed. His brain had completely deleted this party from his memory. He didn’t even know where he was when he was found and brought here. “The party started at 8pm. Around 10pm, the station got calls informing us that it was going wrong. Drugs have been added to the recipe and have caused a whole mess. Fights, arguments, robberies and it goes on and on.” “I know nothing of this. I don’t even remember any of the party.” “The contrary would have surprising. You ingested quite a dose. So did Rose.” “But she’s fine.” “You both had the good sense of leaving before it became unmanageable. You’ve wandered in town, met with other people who fled from the party. We have you on CCTV recordings until 5am. After that, nothing anymore. You were missing. Like dozens of people. Their talk came to an end with the brutal opening of the door and the storming in of a blonde tornado who wrapped the Doctor into a tight and painful embrace. Rose. He hugged her back, let her examine him and hug him again while fully aware that Hardy had a full view on his naked arse. “We’re gonna go back to our house. We’ll stay there. Together. I’ll take care of you.” She glanced at the detective behind them. “We can go?” “He’s got the green light from me.” He wasn’t a suspect, just a witness, and the doctors said he could go home. He was in the clear. They hadn’t found anything abnormal about him. He didn’t know if he should be relieved or not to be human. It was quite insulting. And comforting somehow. Nothing to fear. Nothing to hide.

x

“Is it me or the lights are brighter and more colourful?” Rose giggled, “You’re drunk.” “I’m not.” “You are.” “I’d know if I was.” Rose sniggered. He played offended. He thought she was lying but she knew better than him on this point. The weirder was that they hadn’t drunk alcohol. At all. It was just the beginning of the party. They wanted to enjoy it, not get wasted. So why was she too feeling tipsy? She left the Doctor alone a couple minutes to use the loo. There was a time when being alone for a while wouldn’t have bothered him. He used to be chatty, turned toward people and today, the crowd was terrifying him. Even with a numb mind that made him feel stupid. How were normal people handling such a slow brain? He grabbed another drink at the bar, and another when this one was empty. What was taking so much time to Rose? He was the silent witness of people getting drunker and drunker, of the atmosphere changing. Himself was having troubles. He couldn’t keep his balance; the sounds were coming to his ears as if he was underwater – maybe he was? – his sight was blurry. He was convinced not to have drunk alcohol and yet, he truly was drunk. He couldn’t deny it anymore as he was awkwardly reeling on the edge of the pool. “What are you doing?” It was a voice he knew very well. Even with ears that didn’t work well, he would recognise his Rose. He turned around and gave her a gleeful grin. His fifth fruit juice had eliminated all tension and fear. He was relaxed. Happy. Maybe too much. Rose didn’t think it was normal. He could see it on her face despite the blur. “Enjoying the party! What about you?” “We should go home.” “No, we should step in the deep end.” On that, he let himself fall in the pool and drag her with him. He was an excellent swimmer and he was back to the water quickly. Rose was yelling at him for being the stupidest idiot ever. Her fist connected with his shoulder and he was laughing heartily. If he had been sober, he would have noticed the danger, but his faculties were off. He would regret it later.

x

The Doctor woke up abruptly and sat up straight. His heart was racing and he was panting. The dream in itself hadn’t been scary. It was just a memory he had forgotten. His doctor at the hospital said it could happen. The memories could come back through dreams and flashbacks, or they could remain in the dark. “You okay?” He turned his head. Rose was laid on her side and watching him. No sign of sleep on her face. Had she been watching over him all this time? All the while he was gone, she had been looking for him and worrying. She had been less exposed to the drugs contrarily to him but she had had enough to let him go with a mysterious person at 5am. And none of them could remember who it was. He lay back down, stared at the ceiling. He was trying to bring his heart rate and breathing to normal. Rose put her hand on his cheek and stroked it gently to give him comfort. “’s nothing. Just a memory from the party. Nothing helpful unfortunately.” He sighed, closed his eyes. If only he could have a glimpse at the face of the person he had followed… The inquiry wasn’t going anywhere. This guy wasn’t findable. His acts had caused a huge mess, hurt lots of people. There was no obvious mobile. Maybe just someone who never left high school, someone who wanted the too serious to have fun. But there were consequences and this person had to pay for this. “You’re peeling.” She was amused by the situation. She took a bit of peeling skin between her fingers and pulled on it. He protested and slapped her hand away. His body was rejecting the damaged skin and replacing it by a fresh new one. If they pulled on the skin, it could cause more damages than there already were. They had to leave it like this. “We’ve stayed locked in here for days.” “I don’t want to go outside.” “Doctor…” “I’m not scared. I just… I don’t want to.” It wasn’t entirely the truth and they both knew it but the Doctor would never say out loud that he was terrified. Someone had drugged him without him knowing and he had followed that someone. He would have died if Alec Hardy hadn’t found him. It wasn’t something that was pleasing him but it was the truth and he hadn’t even thanked him properly. It really was annoying him but he wasn’t an ungrateful man. He had to do something for him. “Your friend saved my life.” “I’m glad he did.” “I have to thank him.” “But you’re too proud to just say thanks to him.” “Oi! Watch it, blondie!” The nickname earned him a slap on his shoulder immediately followed by an apology. Even if his skin was peeling in some places, there were still others that were sensitive, especially when the touch was violent. Well, violent. It was a way to say it. Rose would never hurt him willingly unless he did something really stupid. Like standing too close to the edge of a mountain. Or betraying her in some ways. Which would never happen. He would never forgive himself if he did. “So you wanna thank him the red bicycle way.” He sighed, “I shouldn’t have told you that.” She grinned one of those grins he liked so much on her face and he became oblivious of her mockery. Instead, he stole a kiss from her and got up from bed. He needed a good shower to clear his mind and feel better. He had had sponge baths in the past few days. It was the only thing he could bear on his burnt skin, and bearing this was a huge euphemism. Rose had had the benefit of doing this as if she was a nurse and he was a patient. She had pretty much enjoyed it but now he could take care of himself. He looked terrific in the mirror, and so he avoided it carefully. Rose was sat on the toilet lid when he came out of the shower. He had a towel around his waist and was using another to dry his hair. He stopped in his tracks. “You know I don’t like it.” “What don’t you like?” “We talked about that already.” “I remember.” He used his second towel to hide his torso but it was too late and vain. Her eyes had already taken every single bruise and cut into consideration. If she wanted answers, he had none, and the hospital already listed all the wounds they had found on him. They also tried to convince him to see a therapist. That was the last of his troubles at the moment. All these wounds were self-inflicted and they had thought he had done this to himself. It might have come up to his mind a few times but never to that point. And he wasn’t smoking… Was he? He ignored her, turned his back on her but she wouldn’t just stay there and say nothing. She was behind him in two swift steps. Her warm and gentle hands unwrapped his torso, put the towel aside. She was facing his back. Her fingers delicately slid down his arm. A shiver ran down his back. Her hand found his, she slipped her fingers between his, squeezed his hand. He heaved a shaky sigh. He wouldn’t win this round, even if he was pleading. And he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t go so low. He had his proudness. She didn’t compel him to turn around, didn’t even come around to face him. Instead, she grabbed the white T-shirt on the top of the pile of clean clothes he had prepared for today. An unexpected side of him. He was planning things. The pile of clothes was only one of those things. A small one. He must have inherited this trait from Donna. She unfolded the shirt, delicately passed his head in the hole made for the head. As an automatism, he passed his arms in the sleeves. “We could invite him over for dinner.” “In the house he’s renting to us?” “Yeah, I see your point.” “Dinners are private. For me. I only want to share them with you. You’re my family.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. She kept her embrace loose for him not to be uncomfortable. She placed her head on his back. Just the comforting embrace he needed. And his words moved her. He was a man without family and she had lost her bond with hers. They only had each other. A little family of two. Better than nothing at all. Better with two. “Maybe for lunch then?” “It doesn’t solve the whole ‘he’s renting the house to us’ thing.” “We could go in town.” “Is there any restaurant around?” “Of course. Small town but civilised.” “But…” “It doesn’t have to be today or tomorrow. We can wait until you’re better.” He got free from her embrace, pulled on his boxers and jeans. He didn’t face her immediately. First, he straightened his shirt, rubbed his face. He had to think about shaving. Or should he keep the stubble? He didn’t think Rose would like the full beard, but she might like the T-shirt. He had bought it for himself when he was out for shopping. Before the pool party happened. “Do you want me to shave you?” He raised an eyebrow. That was the first time she was making an offer like this to him, but they had crossed a line on that mountain, had unlocked the next stage in their relationship. Her hand was certain. She wouldn’t tremble. But did she really want to do that for him? “What?” “I can shave you. I was doing it sometimes for Mickey.” “You’re kidding.” “Nope.” “Rickey never had facial hair.” Rose chuckled but he was being mean to Mickey again. Sometimes, she was missing her best friend and regretting the time they had had together. She should have treated him much better. He deserved better and hopefully he would find the happiness she hadn’t been able to give him. “Come on, sit down on the toilet lid.” He shrugged and obeyed while she was filling the sink with warm water and gathered the razor, the shaving foam and a towel. She faced him and almost dropped the shaving stuff. First, there was astonishment. Then, she burst out laughing. It was so unexpected to see him wearing a white shirt with a large smile and a wink. He glanced at the pattern. “Don’t like my shirt?” “Yes. Yes, I do. That’s just surprising.” “I should have taken the banana shorts to go with it. You would have loved it.” “Sure I would. We can still go and get it if you’re up from this.” “And then, we’ll go to the fair?” “What made you change your mind about going out?” “If you can shave me without trembling, I can go outside without fear.” She grinned her signature tongue-touching smile and he grinned back at her. The fair had settled down behind their rented house last weekend and the music of the attractions were resounding every day and every night. It was driving him insane. But it could be fun to go and try to impress Rose. For now, he closed his eyes and appreciated her expert hands shaving the light stubble on his face. She delicately cleaned his face when she was done. “You’d like it if I had a beard?” “I wouldn’t mind if you liked it.” “And a moustache?” “No way.” “Sure about that?” “Certain. I’m okay with the stubble and a full beard but not with the moustache. It’s awful.” He smiled again and she sat on his lap for a short hug. She put some aftershave on his face and neck. There, he was all ready and looking awesome with that peeling skin, that smile and that outfit. She would get him that banana shorts if he really wanted them. It would be a private joke between them. But right now, she was betting on him really wanting a banana flavoured ice-cream. It was time to make their first appearance outside…

A suivre

The summertime of our lives © | 2019 | Tous droits réservés.

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English version:

AO3 ||TS.

[sakurachoi2096]

What is Love? [ Chapter 7 ]

Title: What is love?  Chapt 1 | Chapt 2 |  Chapt 3 | Chapt 4 |  Chapt 5 | Chapt 6

Genre: Fluff | Angst | Smut

Characters: Im Jaebum | Got7 | Reader

Warning/s: swearing

Summary: Jaebum was your childhood friend. Both of you had a beautiful, strong bond. Like sister and brother after all your families practically saw each other every day. However, he entered in JYP to be a trainee and you was preparing for medical school. Since then both were only able to talk trough kakao talk, after a few years once he was stable as an Idol and you as Doctor, you guys decided that it was finally time to meet again. Having no idea what was about to come next.

Author: Sakura Choi (me)

A/N: I dont know, I will probably delete this one and write again

New house, new furniture, new life; everything was set. Thankfully with Jaebum’s help you bought everything you needed and wanted, the only thing left was to clean the house a little bit and get things ready to Saturday little welcoming party. Friday night you started making sandwiches, jello shots, you tried to make some homemade pizzas for the next day, you put one in the oven to try it and they turned out delicious; ‘’should I make some side dishes?’’ you murmured, you were not used to this kind of things so you decided to make then, because at the end you would have a little of everything and no one would not enjoy it, kind of thing. You grabbed two of the few pizzas you make and went to the boys dorm to give to them, it was kind of late but you realized they were not the type to sleep early because of their crazy schedule, so one of them had to be awake. Knocking the door, Jackson opened greeting with happiness

‘’Sunna~ sorry to bother but I made some homemade pizzas and I brought two pizzas, you can put in the oven for like 30/45 min in 150 degrees and ready~’’

‘’What?! Really? Then come on in lets eat together Y/A’’

‘’Nono I already ate one besides is too late I just came to give you guys this~’’

‘’but wait, no they are all awake’’

You smiled and started to leaving hurried ‘’If I stay I will stay too long so, not today see you Sunna~’’ you left leaving Jackson with his jaw open, he didn’t expect you to be so blunt.

‘’Hyung who was it ? you bought pizza?’’ said Yugyeom

‘’No, it was Y/A! She made those pizzas and she came to bring some for us’’

‘’She made them ? Wow, she is really impressive but she didn’t stay to eat with us ?’’

‘’Yeah why didn’t stay ?’’ said Jaebum in the back kind of upset and you could see it because of his jaw

‘’Not sure, maybe she is busy she said that if she stayed she would be here for too long besides is late kind of’’ Jackson laughed ‘’can we eat, this is making me hungry’’

Next day came through like a blink; your body was aching from making all the food for this party you were going to have. A few friends already confirmed that they were coming; you had little friends but good one. You preferred to be around few people than a lot of fake people trying to get advantage of you. The only thing that was left was to organize the garden for the party. The day went by quickly and it was time to get ready, a good cold shower was much needed; ‘’what should I wear?’’ you murmured. Since the night was kind of hot you decided to wear a light pink dress with cross straps it was not that revealing but it certainly had a sexy vibe to it, a base nude makeup w and chunky black heels. It was perfect. Within a few minutes later people started to arrive, you friends from college were the first ones, they brought you presents for the new house and talked to you for a bit after the boys with Jaebum arrived, and your other friend just went to the garden to talk.

‘’Whoa! Y/N Nonna? Is that you?’’ Said Bambam, the boys after hearing that immediately entered in the house to look what Bambam was so excited about, their Jaws dropped looking at you; it was the first time they looking at you kind of dressed up and with so much skin revealing;

You laughed ‘’What? Its not that much’’

‘’Its not that much ? Man, you look like a snack’’ Said Jackson laughing his ass off, Jaebum glanced over Jackson and he stopped

‘’thanks I guess’’ you said shyly

’’Aren’t you revealing a little bit too much? Why don’t you go change?’’ said Jaebum in an angry tone

‘’Excuse me? What is wrong with you Jae?’’

‘’Well if you want to look like a hoe I don’t care do the fuck you want’’ he left angrily to the garden and immediately grabbed a bear to him, you looked at him in shock with his words and looked at the boys who were just like you in shock, you started tearing up a little bit but you shake it off, it was the night of celebration for your new house you didn’t had time to play around with Jaebum bullshit

‘’What the fuck is wrong with him? Did I made a mistake or something, he never said something like that to me before ? I feel really angry but I will let it pass because I have another guests here and another coming’’ you said really fast, angrily, sad

‘’Y/A-ah don’t cry and don’t be like that, we will talk to him. Don’t worry too much about it and just have fun okay?’’ said Mark

‘’I feel bad for you for him saying those things but don’t let that bring you down ok?’’ said Jinyoung

‘’Jinyoung Oppa, Markie thank you’’ you said sighing heavily ‘’Well you guys can come inside, there is bear, jello shots, sandwiches, sides dishes, pizza and if you want the bathroom is down the stairs’’ you finished forcing a smile. However, you heard someone calling you from outside the house since the door was half open, the boys went in and you went to see who was calling you. Jooheon, was in front of the gate with a bouquet of flowers and other presents.

‘’Yo mam~ I am here’’ he said cheerfully making all the other things that just happen disappear, you laughed as you opened the gate

In between giggles ‘’Stop talking like that Jooheon-ah also those are for me?’’

‘’Of course~ and OH MY GOD you look stunning’’ he gave you a slight kiss on your cheeks

‘’Stop! I have people here!!’’ you said nervously, making his smile even more big

Jooheon made his entrance in the house and you went to present him to the boys, you could notice that they were not please with Jooheon and especially Jaebum, who had his face completely red plus few drinks he already that. They saw you being a lot more friendly with Jooheon and more smiley than with them, and since you were upset with what Jaebum did earlier you were not hanging around them too much, but their glance towards you and Jooheon was intense and you were unable to even look at them, you knew if you looked you lose whatever game they were trying to play. Whatever, you wanted to enjoy.

A few hours later your friends from college left, you went with Jooheon over to the front door to say goodbye to them. However, Jooheon back hugged while you both waved to them you felt is was like he was trying to say to the ones left that were looking at you both in the entire party ‘’this is mine’’, you quickly left from Jooheon arms and give the look, only making him smile and make the ‘’it not my fault kind of pose’’, you glanced over to the garden and the boys definitely saw what just happened, and they went inside the house.

‘’Nonna we are leaving too, we have something to film tomorrow~’’ said Yugyeom

’’Thank you for having us and for everything’’ said Youngjae

‘’No problem, I hope you liked the pizza of last night we didn’t talk much today Sunshine’’

‘’Oh man they were incredible, you have to make more! Do you know how to make doughnuts too?’’

‘’Of course, just tell me when you want I will make~’’

‘’it’s a promise’’ Youngjae laughs ‘’We are leaving now~’’ they slowly started to leaving but then suddenly Jaebum stops

‘’Jooheon, right? Arent you leaving too?’’ Jaebum said with a cold expression

‘’I am but later’’ Jooheon said standing in front of you, you pushed Jooheon back from where he was

‘’He is going to help me clean everything, you should go now Jae’’

‘’I am talking to him not you Y/A’’ the boys heard Jaebum talking and come over inside again

‘’Look you already had a few drink and have things to do tomorrow ok? I am trying to not make a scene, so can you just please’’

‘’Please what ? you want me to leave ? me? Are fucking kidding me Y/A, I didn’t know you were like this, what a filthy-‘’

‘’FILTHY WHAT ? ARE YOU FUCKING OUT OF YOUR MIND?’’ you stoped for a moment to lower you voice since you startled everyone ‘’So you are just come inside my house and insult me ? this is the second time Jaebum I am not having your fucking bullshit you fucking jerk’’ the boys got scared with you reaction, Jooheon who never saw you like this was also susprised, he trieded holding you hand to calm you

‘’Why the fuck are you holding his hand?’’ Jaebum said making his voice louder

‘’Dude we are dating what is wrong with you? Can you please just leave like she said ?’’ said Jooheon

Everyone looked at you surprised ‘’We are just seeing how everything goes but-‘’ However before you could even finish your sentence Jaebum stormed out of your house directly to his dorm, the boys bowed to you quickly and followed Jaebum, you felt horrible, what was wrong with him

‘’Jooheon you better go home, I will clean this alone’’ you said forcing a smile ‘’I am sorry you had to see this, I don’t know what got into him today’’

‘’Are you sure you want me to leave? I can stay if you want’’ he said in a serious tone to you

‘’Yeah I am sure, I am going to call you tomorrow’’ you gave him a kiss on the cheeks since you felt bad for what just happened, but you were not going to leave things like that. As soon as Jooheon left, you went to change to some comfy clothes grabbed your phone, car and house keys. You left your house and went directly to the dorm, since you knew Jaebum he had never talked to you like that or even disrespected you in any way, every step you made closes to the dorm your heart was beating faster. You knock on the door and Youngjae opened, you passed through him; excusing yourself and seeing Jaebum siting on the leaving room with the boys. At this point, you didn’t care that they were looking, but you had to make things clear, when he saw you his eyes opened for a moment surprised with your presence but his expression was cold despite it

‘’In my 25 years of life NO ONE has ever said such things about me and the worst part was that my best friend for the entire life thinks like that’’ your eye sand face started getting red

‘’Y/A I am sorry I was a little drunk’’ he said standing up to go near you

‘’don’t you fucking dare to come near me, I was happy today I wanted to introduce Jooheon to you because oh my fucking stupid ass thought it was a good idea, you better than anyone know that I never had this kind of relationship with anyone’’ you were holding your tear, as everyone looked at you surprised ‘’besides since you entered in the fucking house you insulted me, who do you think I am Im Jaebum ?’’

‘’It was not my intention Y/A, I am an idiot … please, I never saw you like this before’’ he said still expressionless

‘’Whatever man, the shit is already done if you want you can go to you mother house tomorrow alone’’ you look at the boys who had their jaws open ‘’I am sorry for making a scene have a good night I already said everything I had to say’’ you gave you back to Jaebum and started leaving, but he grabbed your arm; he wanted to say something but just stood there looking at your eyes, you knew he was feeling sorry, you knew that he knew that he fucked up, he knew. However, besides saying anything he just stood there. You pushed your arm back, and left.

[sicccnick-blog]

Richie and Eddie break up and moving on is hard.

A/n: very brief mentions of child abuse, self harm and eating disorders.

----

He never expected the fight to get this bad. He didn't know how it got to this point.

Well, that's not true.

Him and Richie had been growing apart for weeks.

At first Eddie tried justifying it.

Richie was busy. He was a straight A student, he worked part time at a run down thrift shop downtown and it was basketball season. Between practices, covering his shitty coworkers shifts and the schoolwork that drowned him, he'd just assumed that Richie didn't need to add 'clingy boyfriend' to his list of to do's.

He'd missed him, of course he did, Richie was his entire world. He loved him so much he ached sometimes and until recently he didn't doubt Richie loved him just as much.

And then basketball season ended. His boss fired his unreliable coworker. Richie's life slowed down enough that their relationship didn't need to ride backseat to his boyfriends long list of responsibilities.

But Richie still cancelled plans. Richie didn't answer his calls often enough and then about a week ago he saw Richie hanging out with Charlie.

Charlie was a pretty girl, she shared a few classes with Richie and she was a cheerleader.

And she definitely had a thing for his boyfriend.

Suddenly Richie was all over her social media, she posted pictures of them hanging out almost daily, sometimes it was just pictures of Richie driving his volkswagen, sometimes of them grabbing gross fast food at early hours of the morning.

Eddie tried not to think to hard about it.

He'd never been bothered by Richie being bisexual, because he'd never showed any interest in anyone but Eddie, the years of sexual tension mounting until finally they'd caved and officially started their relationship.

But why did he have no time for Eddie but whenever Charlie wanted anything he was right there?

God, Eddie couldn't even remember the last time they'd kissed, much less anything else.

That wasn't what they were fighting about at first though. Richie had finally decided to climb through his bedroom window to spend the night, the first time they'd seen each other in days.

He couldn't remember what started it but within what seemed like minutes they were at each others throats. They'd never been big on fighting, mostly because Eddie got teary eyed whenever Richie raised his voice at him. They'd bicker occasionally, they always had, but they never screamed like this at each other.

"I can't do this, get out." Eddie said shoving Richie's jacket into his arms.

"Eddie," Richie started.

"No! I don't see you for weeks, you ditch me for some random girl and you seriously expect it just to be fine? I'm done! We are done." He spit venomously.

Richie's almost heartbroken expression just served to piss him off more.

------

Richie tried calling him the next day. And the next day. And the next day.

But Eddie never answered.

He wiped every inch of Richie from his social media, not quite having the heart to delete all the silly pictures off his phone. Or tear down any of the cute polaroids he had pinned up by his desk.

It wasn't so easy to wipe away the years and years he'd spent loving Richie. He'd always loved Richie, he was pretty sure.

Back when they were ten and Richie was briefly taken from his parents custody and placed in a home on the other side of town but still biked to Eddie's to climb through his window he'd loved him.

He loved him when they were thirteen and Eddie's teacher saw him have a panic attack to bad she thought it was some kind of allergic reaction and called the ambulance and when the paramedics saw his faded scars and his lack of fat, earned him a three day stay at a psychiatric facility, and when he was released the nurse told him to give that 'rude boy with the big glasses' a call because he'd visited twice a day and gave the nurses a hard time.

It wasn't until they were sixteen that he'd ever done anything about it.

They were driving around at three in the morning just after Richie had gotten his car, his blown speakers blaring Bohemian Rhapsody so loud Eddie was surprised they didn't just give out, and Richie was yelling the lyrics giving the most dramatic performance of his life, and Eddie just couldn't stop himself from leaning over kissing him.  

"I know I'm hot, Ed's, but you could have at least waited for me to pull over." Richie'd laughed obnoxiously.

Things had been easy then, the transition between friend to boyfriend was almost nonexistent, they'd always been just a little too close, just a little too tactile to really be just friends.

The two years they'd spent together were damn near perfect. Richie was perfect.

But none of that mattered now.

Now him and Richie didn't look at each other. Now they didn't text or acknowledge the others existence. How could they when they were both so damn heartbroken?

-----------

Eddie had never really hooked up with anyone, because he'd always had Richie, so he wasn't sure what exactly Anthony meant when head asked him if he wanted to chill at his house alone.

He'd known Anthony for a while and seemed nice so if he wanted to hang out and binge watch Sons of Anarchy with Eddie, why not?

He found out pretty soon after he got there that Anthony had absolutely no intentions of actually watching TV.

But for the first time in months, with Anthony's lips pressed against his in a way that felt so astonishingly different to what he was used to, he wasn't thinking about Richie.

He wasn't thinking about Richie's warm hands on his skin, or the way his hair smelled or how he bounced his leg up and down when he had been sitting too long.

He wasn't thinking at all.

Eddie and Richie still had the same group of friends, and they both still hung out with them, still participated in movie night and still spent Friday nights hanging out with Bill while he babysat Georgie, just like the rest of their friends.

It didn't have to inconvenience anyone else so they didn't let it.

It was hard to see Richie, especially now that he was even skinnier, now that he wasn't cracking quite as many jokes, now that he always reeked like pot because he couldn't get up in the morning without it.

It was hard because he loved him and he wanted to fix this but he couldn't look him in the eye and every time he tried talking to him the words caught in his throat.

It got harder when he showed up to movie night only late by a few minutes with a hickey that was mostly covered up by his shirt collar, but Richie noticed almost immediately.

His hands were clenched tightly, his expression cold.

Stan gave him a sternly disappointed face and followed Richie as he left the room.

"Jesus Christ, Eddie, you need to get it together."

He expected that from Bev, Stan or even Bill, but he was taken aback as the words fell from Mikes lips.

"Its been months, Mike, I'm just trying to move on."

"Why? Why can't you just put both of you out of your misery?"He asked shaking his head.

"I don't understand why everybody thinks I need to just drop everything and get back with Richie! Its not the only fucking option!" Eddie was careful not to raise his voice but he knew it didn't matter when Richie, having heard most of their conversation, stormed passed Eddie and out the front door.

After that movie night was officially cancelled.

It took a few days for things to go back to normal, even if Stan hadn't forgiven him for shitting on his best friends heart.

Stan was one of the only people that knew just how deep Richie felt things, and he was fiercely protective over him.

Hurting Richie was completely unforgivable, and boy had Eddie hurt him.

It wasn't like Eddie wasn't hurt too, he was, but whenever he thought of Richie he remembered the cancelled plans, how some girl he'd never showed interest in was suddenly more important than his boyfriend that he claimed to love,  he remembered how good it felt to have someone like Richie love him so much he could feel it with his every breath and then suddenly Eddie was left high and dry, feeling so insignificant for weeks.

Weeks spent laying in bed waiting for a call that never came, wondering just what it was about him that made Richie lose interest so fast.

Richie always told him that one day they'd get out of this shit hole town and get married. He didn't see a future without Eddie.

But for a minute there Eddie thought maybe he'd seen that he didn't need Eddie to have a future, he could have it with whoever he wanted.

Because, honestly, he could.

Richie was beautiful. His long, pale limbs, his faded denim jackets with grungy band tees tucked underneath, his high cheek bones and big brown eyes.

He was the kind unattainable, effortless beauty that was hard not to notice.

And he chose Eddie, out of everyone he could have had, to love.

Richie's small emotional outburst wouldn't leave the back of his mind. He knew Richie really had to be hurting to cause any sort of scene.

But why hadn't Richie moved on? Why didn't he start seeing Charlie or one of his many admirers?

Why was he so heartbroken about a boy he ignored for the last few fleeting moments of their relationship?

The nagging in the back of his head didn't stop, it was always there.

He needed to know.

Before he could think better of it he'd already pressed 'call'.

"........Eddie?"

God he sounded so small that the tears prickled his eyes before he could collect himself.

"I need too see you." His voice sounded teary, even to him.

"Don't cry, baby, please? I can't stand it when you cry." He heard the faint jingle of Richie's keys.

"My windows unlocked." He sniffed before hanging up.

Richie must have drove like a manic because he was there not five minutes later, crawling through the window like he'd done a million times, and he barely had time to plant both feet on the ground before Eddie launched himself into his arms.

He breathed in the smell of stale cigarettes, strawberry gum and something sweet but masculine that was completely Richie.

And then they were kissing.

Richie's mouth moved enthusiastically against Eddie's, his hands gripping his hips while Eddie's wound into his hair.

He got lost in it, just kissing Richie, his beautiful boy he loved with his very being.

But this sad sort of wail built up in the back of Richie's throat and soon enough he was shoved away.

"You can't do this, Eddie! You left me! You can't make me think that you still love me, not with that!" He gestured to Eddie's neck and the almost completely faded mark.

"I do love you, Richie!"

"You broke up with me, you broke every promise we ever made to each other and you want me to believe you'd fucking break me like this if you still gave a shit about me?"

"You left way before I did! I wanted to be with you for the rest of my life, Richie, I wanted to marry you and get out of this stupid fucking town and then you just fucking disappeared! You decided some stupid girl you barely knew was more important than us!" He practically screamed.

"What? I can't even have friends without you breaking up with me?"

"I don't care about your friends, Richie, I care about you ignoring me for weeks because you're 'too busy' but having all the time in the world to hang out with someone you have never mentioned! What the hell was I supposed to think, Richie?"

"I was going through something-"

"You're supposed to let me help you with shit like that! I was your boyfriend, what was so important that I wasn't allowed to know?"

"Nothing, I was just being stupid -"

"We are standing here, completely fucking heartbroken, screaming at each other because you were 'being stupid'" Eddie wanted to pull his hair out. "Get out, Richie, I can't deal with this right now."

"....you can do better." He whispered.

"WHAT?" Eddie spun around to face him so quick he was sure he'd get whiplash.

"I just.. I don't think you should just settle for me because we've known each other so long. I thought maybe you wanted someone else, someone better,  I knew it would hurt to see you with someone else, I knew it'd kill me, I couldn't do it baby, I needed you that's why I came and saw you that night but we go into that fight and you broke up with me. Ed's, I'm sorry I love you so much and if I could take it-"

"Fuck you! Why do you think you can make those kind of decisions for me? It doesn't matter if you think I deserve someone better, I wanted you! I loved you so much and you fucked it up." Eddie was seething and he saw Richie's face fall but he was too pissed to care."I don't even know if we can fix this, Richie. Its all so fucked up and god I fucking hate you for doing this to us! I needed you!"

He saw tears starting to well up in Richie's eyes but he kept going.

"Maybe we should both just move on, I can't keep feeling bad for you when this never should have happened in the first place! I spent weeks wondering what was so wrong with me that you just suddenly didn't want me anymore after years of being so fucking happy with you-"

"There is nothing wrong with you." Richie said in thick voice, tears openly running down his face. "And if you want to move on from me I can't stop you but Ed's I really think you're it for me. I don't think I'll ever feel as much for anyone as I feel for you."

And just like that Eddies anger just disappeared. Now he was just exhausted. He was tired of fighting with Richie, he was tired of being heartbroken and simultaneously hating Richie but loving his every breath. He couldn't trust him anymore but what was he to do?

He spent a good minute just looking at this beautiful boy, with slightly red cheeks and tear streaks down his face, watching his chest fall unevenly every time he took a breath. He looked at the prominent bags under his eyes and the way his cheeks were sunken in only slightly, how his skin was just a few shades paler and it made his freckles more noticeable.

"I love you, Richie, I just do. I fucking hate you too, maybe even more." He whispered inching closer to Richie even as he spoke.

"Forgive me, love. Please forgive me? I miss you so much.." Richie was inching closer too and they were almost touching.

And they were kissing again. This time more aggressive than the last time and they were both making up for lost time and punishing each other for fucking each other up so badly. Eddie wrapped his legs around Richie's waist and he felt Richie's big hands needing at his ass.

"I can't promise you anything."Eddie's whispered against Richie's lips.

" I'll just have to live with that." He whispered back shakily.

And when Richie's lips started moving down his neck he told him he loved him, not that it meant much anyway.

[fairskyabove]

What's wrong with the edmonton version of hadestown?

i have a Lot to say so i’m putting a full list of all the changes under the cut but tl;dr: a lot of the most important moments of the show are different and it’s really unclear what the messages of the show even are now, and it’s honestly hard to imagine this version going anywhere near broadway

first a note about the cast. this is of course subject to opinion (and i’m only going on audio, i have no idea if the staging and visual acting would change my opinion at all), but i thought this cast was overall weaker than the nytw cast. tv and reeve didn’t seem to have much chemistry, and both were weaker than nabiyah and damon vocally. kingsley as hermes is very different, his voice doesn’t have the same raspy quality and doesn’t seem to carry the same weight as the narrator, it doesn’t feel like he has the same knowledge of the direction of the story. i like the expanded chorus and hades’s workers, and i like the new fates. amber and patrick seem like they’re pretty much carrying the show, they have amazing chemistry and both are really strong vocally. it’s definitely possible that the cast got more comfortable after this audio, since all i’ve heard is the second preview, but from what i did hear the nytw cast was much stronger.

this list is really long but i’m sure i missed some stuff, so this isn’t like Officially all the changes. also if you don’t read the whole thing i understand bc it’s a lot but the most important part is the part about promises so i would look at that if i were you! also a lot of this discussion came from conversation with maya @davey-jacobsofficial so this is not all my own thoughts! ok here’s a (mostly) comprehensive list of things that were changed:

a shortened and slightly changed version any way the wind blows was moved to after road to hell, which is a little jarring in the flow of the story. i liked any way the wind blows as a sort of prologue, setting the mood before we get into the story. it established the fates as having knowledge and control, and it felt a little dream-like before we got thrown into meeting the characters. it doesn’t make a ton of sense to me to move it after but anyways

road to hell:

some minor lyric changes in the beginning

hermes introduces orpheus and eurydice differently (orpheus is described as singing to himself on the tracks waiting for someone like eurydice)

any way the wind blows:

there’s a man singing with the fates on some lines, i’m not sure who it is or what the point is (might be orpheus, and the intent might be more clear with visuals)

sister’s gone/brother’s gone verse is changed to “wind comes up, ooh do you hear that sound? wind comes up, move to another town”

hermes comes in after this verse and narrates, he explains eurydice’s character a little and there’s a new part where she asks if anyone has a match and then grabs something from someone, probably meant to show us that she can fend for herself and add a litttle context for all i’ve ever known

come home with me:

initial dialogue is different, eurydice seems more aggressive/closed off, orpheus asks her to make a home right there, she says it’s in the middle of nowhere. he claims spring is coming any day, she says it’s late, they go into “a singer, is that what you are?” and then into the song normally

lyrics from there on are almost the same, a few words changed every once in a while

epic i is completely cut, which i don’t understand at all because it’s kind of important for people who don’t know persephone’s story, and makes the epics less of a recurring thing through the whole story, and it ruins the element of orpheus singing about persephone and hades each separately and then finally together in epic iii

livin’ it up on top:

nothing is changed except the last line of orpheus’s toast, which is changed to “to the world we dream about, and the one we live in now,” which kind of changes his whole world view. in the old version, he showed his idealism, believing they could live in a perfect world that they dream of, which fits with his act 1 characterization. in this version he’s just stating that they don’t live in the world they want to, there’s no optimism and it takes away the whole significance of his toast

all i’ve ever known

no changes

way down hadestown

no changes

wind theme

some new dialogue where eurydice sees everyone else leaving and wants to do the same, orpheus doesn’t want to leave his home, and says it’s her home too. short reprise of the “wind comes up” section from any way the wind blows

epic ii

no changes

chant

added line for eurydice before “all the pretty songs you sing ain’t gonna shelter us” where she is getting caught in the storm, singing about the wind surrounding her and how orpheus promised the wind would never change which would be great build up for promises if they hadn’t ruined it

small lyric change in between verses, orpheus sings “a mighty king, a mighty queen” and hermes sings “this year their fighting made/the mightiest storm you’ve ever seen”

after the next verse eurydice sings “love, can you hear me now/answer if you can somehow/orpheus in all my years/never seen a storm like this” and then back into the normal “now i see/all the pretty songs you sing ain’t gonna harbor me…”

right after that hermes sings “eurydice was a hungry young girl/she was no stranger to the wind/but she had not seen nothing/like the mighty storm she got caught in. only took a minute/but the wrath of the gods was in it”

persephone’s verse after this has some lyric changes, mostly talking about how she doesn’t recognize hades anymore as the man she married

hey, little songbird

a couple words changed here and there, hades’s last part is changed to “hey, little songbird, look all around you/see how the vipers and vultures surround you/they’ll take you down/they’ll pick you clean/if you stick around such a desperate scene/see, people get mean/when the chips are down”

when the chips are down

no changes

gone, i’m gone

no changes

wait for me

no changes

why we build the wall

tempo is slightly faster, not sure why

the larger chorus sounds good, it’s more powerful

no lyric changes

our lady of the underground

no changes. thank god for amber gray

way down hadestown ii

no changes

flowers

no changes and honestly i’m surprised they didn’t screw this up too

come home with me ii

they cut “are you always this confident?/when i look at you i am” which was significant wrt doubt comes in and the fact that orpheus loses his confidence because he can’t see eurydice (creds to maya on this one)

papers

no changes

nothing changes

no changes

if it’s true

added a section where hades’s workers repeat orpheus’s message, then orpheus directly addresses the workers like a rebel leader with some added lyrics (i actually like this part, it shows the workers taking an interest and makes hades’s dilemna clearer)

how long

no changes, amber and patrick are trying their best to save the show

chant ii

added section for the workers before hades enters, after hermes’s introduction, wondering what will happen to orpheus, workers sing small parts throughout the song

there are no other changes on the audio i have, but apparently a section was deleted for later performances

epic iii

no changes

lover’s desire

no changes

alright some big structural changes here. right after lover’s desire there’s a new section of dialogue where eurydice tells orpheus to take her home, and says everything he said in act 1 was true (about spring coming etc), pretty much the opposite of what she says at nytw. orpheus says not everything he said was true, he said the wind would never change, etc, he basically takes eurydice’s lines from the first verse of promises and they’re spoken instead of sung. orpheus says he can’t promise the wind won’t change, eurydice says “don’t [promise], just take me home.” orpheus launches into the second half of promises, starting with “i have no ring for your finger.” orpheus sings his verse, eurydice sings hers, then they have another new section of dialogue. they agree to leave, eurydice asks how, orpheus suggests that they walk. eurydice asks about hades, orpheus says hades won’t be able to tell them no, and he isn’t going back alone. they sing their duet verse.

this change is the one i have the biggest issue with. by changing the order of the songs, we lose the moment where hermes tells them they have to trust each other completely and they realize they don’t. we lose a really important part of eurydice’s character, that she was able to speak up and tell orpheus what’s wrong. in this version she has no complaints, he has to tell her that he he isn’t perfect and he couldn’t keep his promises while she acts like he has no flaws. it takes away her agency in the relationship and makes it seem like she got lost and ended up in hadestown and had to wait patiently for orpheus to come save her, when there is So Much More to it than that. we also lose the entire part where they discuss all the ways they’ve let each other down and how they promise to move forward and do better. we lose the resolution of the issues that have been haunting in their relationship since chant, where they both grow up and they both realize that they can’t have the perfect relationship they talked about in wedding song, but they love each other enough that they’re ok with a realistic relationship (maya’s point). we’ve lost the feeling of hopelessness they had at nytw, from the fact that eurydice had literally sold her soul and believed she would be stuck in hell forever. in this version they act like all of the sudden they can just walk out. ultimately what we have in this version is an empty resolution with no build up. all the tension is gone, they never acknowledge anything that’s wrong in their relationship. instead they make empty promises to be together forever despite the fact that they made those promises before, and in this version nothing has changed since then. in the old version, promises added to the heartbreak of doubt comes in, because there’s a moment of clarity between them and they trust each other, they’re ready to move forward just in time to lose each other forever. taking promises away changes the flow of the whole show and makes orpheus and eurydice’s relationship a lot emptier and less mature, taking away from the tragedy of their story. thanks for coming to my TED talk.

word to the wise

no changes

his kiss the riot

no changes

wait for me ii

still starts with hermes giving the good and bad news (same basic meaning, just with slightly different words)

eurydice asks why orpheus can’t look at her, hermes tells her it’s the gods testing them, connecting the “divide and conquer” method to the wall. hermes asks them if they trust each other and themselves. they say they do without any reflection on their relationship or honestly any proof that they even love each other but it’s fine

orpheus asks if it’s a trick, hermes says it’s a test. the song continues like normal from there and we all pretend this part of the show carries the same weight as it did before even though everything’s wrong

doubt comes in

some lyric changes for the fates. now instead of orpheus and the fates singing “where are you, where are you now” it’s just the fates singing “where is she, where is she now” which is cool when you think about it as them planting doubt in orpheus’s head

orpheus sings an added section about how he can see his future with eurydice, one of the fates responds that his story sounds the same as the day eurydice left him for hadestown, there’s some more back and forth along these lines

eurydice’s comfort has some lyric changes but it’s mostly along the same lines

it’s hard to hear what they say when orpheus turns around, but they 100% took out “you’re early/i missed you” which i don’t even see the point of. it took like 5 seconds of the show and fit so well with the situation, it contrasted the relationships between orpheus and eurydice and hades and persephone, and it showed so perfectly their relationship dynamic! going back to maya’s point from earlier, it was so perfect in showing how much orpheus relies on eurydice for his confidence and how he can’t succeed without her! but i guess we’re taking out all the development of their relationship so we can focus on other things

road to hell

this now starts with hermes saying “alright…” and then taking a deep breath and saying it again as if he needs a minute or he’s trying to calm the audience or something? which i feel like is kind of out of character for him. at nytw, he definitely showed emotion when things weren’t going well for orpheus and eurydice, but i felt like his vibe was more “it sucks but this is how the world is” which is one of the big discussions in the show (does the song “nothing changes” ring a bell?) and it makes more sense for a god who’s been around since the beginning of time and seen all the other greek myths and how they end. i don’t think he would be shocked or panicked or whatever kingsley is doing here. especially considering that he obviously knows the end of the story way the whole time, so he always knows where we’re headed (that’s the whole point of “it’s an old song/it’s a tragedy/we’re gonna sing it again/it’s a sad song but we sing it anyway”), so i don’t know what this choice is supposed to tell us.

there are some lyric changes beyond that, mostly saying “that’s how it goes/that’s how it is” which contradicts his opening but it’s mostly along the same lines. he literally sings “we know how it ends, but still we sing it again” so what was he doing??

there’s an added line at the end where eurydice sings between hermes’s lines “orpheus was a poor boy but he had a gift to give,” asking if anyone has a match and grabbing something from someone exactly like in road to hell which maya thought might be like a flashback? which seems like the most likely thing but i don’t really understand why they added it there, it doesn’t seem like it fits, if anything it should be a flashback to orpheus at the beginning. unless that’s when orpheus and eurydice first see each other or something that’s only visual and we can’t hear it

i raise my cup

no changes, but apparently they moved this song to after the curtain call after this audio was recorded, which is honestly just stupid

if you made it through this i’m very impressed. in conclusion the edmonton version is trash and i have no idea what the creative team is thinking. 

[eenefangirlanalysis]

Just then a familiar squeal is heard.

“Wilfred? Is that you?” Rolf asks, sitting up from the ground. He has been separated from his beloved pig for a whole day. Has he been given time to think about his out of character behavior while his head was trapped in that meat grinder? 

Rolf’s character is better at the beginning and ending stages of the movie. His scenes are more filler then anything. Why the writers decided to have Rolf go alone is beyond me. Rolf’s character is better interacting with others then just himself. We learn about ourselves through social interaction. Although being alone is worth experimenting we should not be alone our whole lives. It’s not healthy. That could be the lesson he learns in all this. 

I love how Ed immediately smiles. It’s like he senses that Sarah is going to be with Wilfred. Either that or the sound of a pig makes him happy. He loves animals.

I love scenes in eene where the characters are all together. Artists have to pay attention to each character’s different personality. That’s quite hard to do honestly. Still, it’s my favorite part when it comes to writing or drawing out a scene with multiple characters. Always challenge yourself because the more you do it you’ll get better. 

Also, I love how the whale house looms over the kids. It’s a sign that things are out of place. It’s supposed to look intimidating. These kids are all alone without any adult supervision. This is the first time they’be left the cul-de-sac to explore what’s outside of it.

Sarah storms into the scene having had it with Wilfred eating corn dogs off the ground.

Where did Jimmy get the popcorn? Is there a stand already open? Bro confirms that the park doesn’t open until noon. 

This kid is adorable! Seeing this makes me giggle. This little moment is one of my favorites because it’s so random.

I still don’t understand why Jimmy is hated among the fan base. People are still angry over what he did to the Eds in If It Smells Like an Ed. I don’t think I have ever disliked Jimmy. That episode monumented his growth. He devised a whole Agatha Christie scheme which had the Eds and even viewers baffled. Jimmy has gone from a whimpy kid to a conniving schemer who can look out for himself.

Jimmy and Ed have similarities. The two are always playing around, eating random food they find, and try to make the people around them laugh. If Sarah had a different relationship with Ed Jimmy would be much closer with Ed. He wants to get to know him better. He’s always tagging along with Sarah agreeing with her opinions so Sarah won’t snap at him.

The Kanker’s are first to call out the children.

I wonder if these were different circumstances the girls would have gone after Sarah and Jimmy to get their revenge. Lee sure wants it.

Ed is ecstactic to see his baby sister that he is adapted the ability to fly again. This is the first time Ed mentions his sister throughout the whole movie. He would have mentioned how much he misses her in a deleted scene. 

Ed knows that Sarah is a different person deep down. They’re facing the same neglect from their parents. Ed loves Sarah because she’s the only family member he can look up to and feel that every day is worth living for. Sarah too.

May is the only one out of her sisters who is not angry to see Sarah and Jimmy.

Look at her face. She didn’t realize this was Ed’s sister. Now she’s going to worry about how this will affect their possible relationship. Will Sarah tell Ed what the Kanker’s did to them? 

EdMay is such a cute ship. Ed and May are longing to be independent from their friends. Edd and Eddy and Lee and Marie are obviously more close with another. Post BPS Ed and May could wander into each other and talk about the events.

Sarah is annoyed that Ed is still in one piece while Jimmy fears that they’ve missed the Eds beating.

Sarah can rant off how ever much she wants about how she dislikes Ed all she wants. Remember how I pointed out the difference in personalities within their eyes? One eye reflects the mask while the other shows their true personality they don’t want others to see. Examine her eyes carefully.

Wow, even with the Kanker’s standing a few feet away they walk towards them.

The other kids are here to protect them. And Ed too.

So, they’re still here to see the Eds get beat up. As I have questioned before is it just Eddy they want to see get beat up? Eddy has always been the least likeable of the trio. 

Sidenote: ‘Mermaid Burgers’

Kevin proudly states that they have not missed any action as he grabs Eddy by the ankle.

Keep in mind this is the leg that will be horrifically tortured in a few short minutes.

Eddy briefly panics but then realizes he has a free card.

“In your dreams, shovel chin. Tell yah what, why don’t you talk to my Bro?”

Sidenote: Is that Ed calmly standing with the Kankers??

Eddy, you’re adorable!

Eddy finally gets revenge on Kevin after he stomped on his head in Ready, Set, Ed!

“[Bro] lives here yah know.”

The scene is slightly reminiscent of Ed... Pass it On.

First, the look Edd gives Eddy.

In Ed... Pass it On Edd was trying to encourage Eddy to tell the truth to everyone saying that his brother wasn’t going to show up. Eddy had the perfect moment to reveal that  Bro was not the person he let on. Instead he kept on lying. That’s where Edd and Eddy’s deterioration in their friendship started.

They have gone through an entire journey where they’ve opened up and saw one another in a different and powerful light. Is all that going to go away?

Each character has a different reaction at the possibility that Bro is the owner of this whale shaped house.

Kevin and Rolf are in disbelief. They both share feelings of legitimate terror whenever Eddy’s brother is mentioned.

It’s implied that Eddy’s brother must have done something quite terrible to Rolf’s chickens. I have a head canon that on the infamous day when Bro’s final scam went awry it caused Rolf’s chickens to go insane. Remember how Eddy hates birds?

As for Kevin it’s suggested that he has only heard horror stories and never met Bro.

I have talked about the divorced parents theory before and may the reason for why his mom left is because of Eddy’s brother. That’s why Kevin holds a grudge towards Eddy.

Nazz is immediately alerted. She has expressed how awesome and cool Eddy’s brother sounds. The kids were very young if they were living in the neighborhood at the same time as Bro.

Sarah and Jimmy do look surprised. Sarah was not interested in the possibility that Bro may show up in Ed.. Pass it On. Jimmy has always been intrigued.

The Kanker’s are the only character who were not present during Ed... Pass it On. Surprisingly Lee is the one Kanker who is interested to meet this figure behind the door. May and, in a rare moment, Marie are unsure. Marie is holding her hands together as if she’s nervous. There is a whole different side to her character.

I guess I should also mention Wilfred too. The writers kept him part of this scene and made sure that he had a motivation to be here. Good on the writers part for not letting him drift off and never be seen again.

Jonny was never been present to witness the possible encounter with Bro in Ed.. Pass it On. And he misses out on everything here. Totally unfair! Jonny should have showed up in his bus now rather then after all these events have occurred. Why did the writers have to outcast his character like that? He’s a member of the cul-de-sac who has hung out with the kids and been in on their schemes in almost every episode.

I have a theory that Big Picture Show takes places one year later from Ed... Pass it On. Everyone, minus Jonny and the Kanker’s, were present in Kevin’s house asking questions about Eddy’s brother whereabouts and true nature. Eddy has been faced with the conflict of being true to himself or denying his past regarding his brother.

A lot can change within a year.

"Yeah. So tell him how you're gonna beat up his little bro,” Eddy remarks turning back to the door.

[ahouseoflies]

Best Films of 2017, Part IV

We’re getting closer. Part I, Part II, Part III. GOOD MOVIES 42. A Quiet Passion (Terence Davies)- I think the biggest strength of this film, a pretty conventional one by Davies's standards, is a drive inward that is steady but not judgmental. Dickinson's retreat isn't treated as tragedy, but as a natural trajectory that was there in the first scene. (A lot of the heavy lifting is done by Emma Bell, the actress who plays young Emily with constancy.) The life of the mind is a lonely one, but there isn't much choice in the matter. The film moves along in a leisurely way, matching the long days of such privileged people, and it's funny until the bon mots drift into Frank Underwood territory that doesn't make sense. And the parts of the movie that don't work, the ones that succumb to the biopic mold, feel like that: told in the cadence of a joke but a bit empty. 41. Stronger (David Gordon Green)- For most of its running time, Stronger is a raw film bolstered by searing, sharply felt lead performances. It doesn't take the easy way out or succumb to cliche, suggesting that, gasp, maybe being a symbol for an entire city could be exhausting and frustrating. Then, quite quickly, it gives in to all of the cliches. The conversation with Carlos would have been an awesome deleted scene. 40. Split (M. Night Shyamalan)- Shyamalan flat-out knows how to make this kind of movie. It's not without its faults--can you even complain about his tendency to cast himself anymore?--but his cross-cutting game hasn't slipped a beat. The film is composed and patient, but it doesn't trespass the self-indulgent line the way that some of his earlier work does. Some of the abuse stuff is handled clumsily, but I suppose it has to match the touch of the psychology material, which can only be breezy and flippant. Here's what's different about the filmmaker's approach: Shyamalan hasn't guided many actors to great performances. (I guess Haley Joel Osment is still number one.) But this movie is James McAvoy's performance. He gets to have fun technically by switching back and forth among the personas, but the serious business is the fact that the whole thing's tone rests on his shoulders. Like many successful B movies, it has a fluidity that allows the audience to laugh at it, laugh with it, or be genuinely scared--sometimes in a span of minutes. If McAvoy hadn't gone all the way, the movie wouldn't have been able to.

39. Molly’s Game (Aaron Sorkin)- This movie has a lot of the things that make me love movies. A scene in which someone flushes drugs down the toilet and hides valuables because the feds are coming. Self-effacing but rousing speeches that reference classic literature. An "I'm good for it" sequence dedicated to someone's gambling downward spiral. Cleavage. But all of the things I'm describing are window dressing, and this is maybe the first Aaron Sorkin screenplay that has more fat than meat, as tasty as that fat may be. The film's thesis shines in Idris Elba's strangely-accented monologue, the one that starts with "Is this what a RICO suspect looks like?" It seems to suggest that the world is indeed rigged against women, but it might be because they have more integrity than men, which makes it more difficult for them to succeed. It's an interesting notion, and the figure at the center of the film might be perfect to prove it, but there are so many flashbacks and scenes that feel obligatory to get us there. 38. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Rian Johnson)- Good, if micro-managed in the way that a film-as-shareholder-commodity has to be. It's interesting to me that, though there are only nine movies that take place in this universe, the storytelling is more codified than any other genre I can think of. Even though it's less clinical than The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi has to jump through an inordinate number of hoops to be "a Star Wars movie." No matter how these are sold, they all have the same beats. That history is a gift in some ways. Even though we haven't heard from him in thirty-plus years, Jedi Master Luke's personality tracks in every way. It makes total sense how he would hold people up as symbols instead of personalities, and the movie benefits from the archetypes its predecessors have created. On the other hand, I think we spend thirty minutes on a mission that fails, and the movie hangs Finn out to dry. It's a sort of Empire mandate that the characters have to be separated from one another for the majority of the running time, and that makes for a strained middle section. I get that people like these movies because they're engineered and manicured for maximum pleasure, and I cherish the goofy bits like the drunk creature thinking BB-8 is a slot machine. Maybe these just aren't for me. Until I cry at the end. 37. Win It All (Joe Swanberg)- It ends abruptly and doesn't get as psychological as it could, but Win It All is designed for maximum pleasure. There are a few inventive gestures that make for a jaunty hang--I loved the superimposed counter that showed how up or down Eddie's bankroll was. Jake Johnson, who co-wrote, has real rakish chops. 36. American Made (Doug Liman)- It's helpful to compare this movie to T.C.'s summer disaster The Mummy, which cast him as a static rake. Doug Liman presents the same smiling mug, but he punches a few holes into the persona, letting us see the shortcomings of T.C.'s Barry Seal if not the delusional quality that the actual man must have had. (The movie tries to sell us on boredom as the main motivation for a near-suicide mission, but it was probably more complex than that.) The actor is at his best when he lets himself seems slightly dumb, when the audience is a few steps ahead of him. Luckily, that's the whole film. It helps that this is the first Liman movie since the original Bourne Identity to have a vibrant "stolen" quality to its visuals. American Made careens through its beats at a breakneck pace, and the biggest flaw of the movie is that it remains that fast at the end, when we need more answers. 35. Mudbound (Dee Rees)- A true ensemble, Mudbound has a deft hand with its own emotional effects. Dee Rees knows the moments that matter--the reunion of father and son after the War is unforgettable--and she nails them. The ending is a poignant culmination of a lot of momentum. Much of the film's success comes from real Movie Stars, Jason Mitchell chief among them, elevating their characters past types though. And some of them don't get there all the way. Jason Clarke's Henry is pretty much Unfeeling Man's Man Farmer and Jonathan Banks is totally Racist Pappy. (Not a joke: His character is actually called Pappy.) In the end, I can't help but suspect that similar characters and situations--he drinks to forget what he's seen!--haven't been staged better elsewhere.

34. Raw (Julia Ducournau)- These types of movies--by that I mean late New French Extremity, I guess--have to go too far. If they didn't, they would lose the perverse aesthetic high ground that they're all so smug about. So it goes too far, but I would like to show Raw to someone making, say, an X-Men movie because Julia Ducournau crafts more immersive world-building in twenty minutes than some of those movies do in multiple entries. The beginning was jagged, but when the storytelling settled into itself, it reminded me of Repulsion because the taboo that guides Raw starts out as a metaphor, then becomes a device, then becomes literal, and then it circles back around to metaphor. Maybe that journey is the reason it exists.  33. Get Out (Jordan Peele)- I saw this movie twice. The first time I was kind of cavalier about it. The line I said at parties was: “I personally prefer genre movies that let you attach social commentary to them. The subtext is the text here.”  Knowing the film's secrets the second time around helped me to appreciate the performances better, especially in the powerhouse hypnotism scene. Kaluuya has to play an everyman but also, for obvious reasons, an everyman who stands out. The balance of vulnerability and heroism that he pulls off is impressive, armed with a fake-smile that is perfect for the micro-aggressions he has to stand and take. Chris embodies a civility that lets him stay in the house past his level of comfort, but he’s smart enough to insist on leaving when some horror protagonists would get illogical. I still think the film escalates a bit too quickly from suspicion to actual danger, and, man, I don't know what that TSA investigation tangent is doing at such a crucial moment. But I'll admit that I didn't give the film enough credit in February. Comedies of manners are common; horrors of manners are rare. 32. Logan Lucky (Steven Soderbergh)- From a screenwriting perspective, there are probably two schools of thought for heist movies. Approach A outlines every detail of the plan; that way, when the characters overcome their challenges, we are more impressed because we were warned of the dangers in advance. Approach B leaves the viewer in suspense, and the hurdles pop up for the viewer in a way that mirrors the characters' surprise. I prefer Approach A, and I think there's a degree of difficulty that can't be discounted there. In fact, there's a sort of joy of exposition that is unique to the heist genre and jives with Approach A. Logan Lucky operates mostly on plane B, and it frustrated me at first in what seems like a sterile, straight first act. But then, as I try to avoid spoilers, it goes so far past what we thought the heist would be, and it branches out into Soderberghian "what was actually happening during that time" territory. I had to re-evaluate my prejudices as I joined in on the fun. Despite the inevitable "What It Did Wrong" YouTubes that some killjoy will make, I didn't notice any narrative cheating. Daniel Craig is the eye in the zany storm. 31. The Big Sick (Michael Showalter)- I feel slightly diminishing returns with each super-autobiographical portrait of a comedian. As heart-wrenching as this one gets, it follows the beats that we're used to, right down to the rock-bottom argument with a fast food cashier. Cue the twenty different endings and the uninspired visual style. But why be a sour-puss when faced with a movie so sincere and eager to please? Besides keeping all of the subplot plates spinning, besides being fair to the female character, the film offers original moments and ideas. The triangle that emerges among Nanjiani, Romano, and Hunter authentically captures the way decorum frost melts once two generations realize their common ground. And "the movie that a guy shows a girl to test her taste on a third date" is something that I myself am guilty of, but I haven't seen it portrayed in a film. What isn't unique in the big structural picture is completely unique in certain moments. 30. The Belko Experiment (Greg McLean)- Its ending is only "good enough," but The Belko Experiment is my kind of ultraviolent trash. I would be perfectly happy if we could get the White Stripes of Experiment movies on odd years and alternate them with The Strokes of Purge movies on even years. For one reason or another, empathy machine John Gallagher, Jr. is still in his Hi, Mom! or Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight phase. When he gets his Taxi Driver, watch out.

29. The Lego Batman Movie (Chris McKay)- I laughed twice during the opening production logos. Of course it devolves into everyone teaming up to save the city, as the straight versions of these movies do, but The Lego Batman Movie, especially in its lower stakes first half, was one of the funniest films of the year. I'm kind of thrilled that the satirizing of tropes I cherished from the margins in the '90s is now de rigeur, sponsored by the same studio that has shoved cliches down our throats. Will Arnett deserves special mention for inhabiting this specific version of Batman so well that he makes you rethink 70+ years of the character's make-up. It's no small feat. This movie, yes, probably counts as a slip-up of my superhero ban. I didn’t realize that until I was halfway through.

28. A Cure for Wellness (Gore Verbinski)- This is a difficult film to recommend because, if the person you're talking to cares only about story, he won't like it. It's strained and sometimes illogical, a "you can never leave" story that has been around the block a few times. But look out for the Miami Viceans on here when this film gets reconsidered for its visuals because, I'm telling you now, A Cure for Wellness has the most stately and controlled images this side of Kubrick. It's a perfect reference Blu-Ray if you still care about such things. Verbinski is credited with the story, and I doubt he told the screenwriter much more than "water, wrinkled faces, the color white," but he does some things with that sandbox that I haven't seen before. 27. It Comes at Night (Trey Edward Shults)- It Comes at Night never completely explains its own horror conceit of encroaching "sickness"; even by the end, there's a lot that we don't know about the apparently apocalyptic event that has singled out the characters. That presence of an absence is the film's greatest strength--it allows us to attach to the human frailty at the center without distraction. However, it's the film's greatest weakness as well because it's what keeps the proceedings small, like a cost-cutting measure. In capturing bleak human frailty, Trey Edward Shults knows exactly what he's doing. He uses literal darkness to suggest emotional darkness, and his script guides the viewer along character arcs without holding anyone's hand. A character uses the word "brother-in-law" instead of "brother" and, because of the context, it produces as much of a gasp as a gunshot would. I didn't recognize Riley Keough at first, which is an excellent sign for a young actress. There's a moment when her character catches another character eyeing her breasts, and she tugs her shirt with a unique mixture of flattery and shame. I can't wait to see what she does next. 26. Wind River (Taylor Sheridan)- If a movie has a scene of #RennerSeason making his own bullets, then my fingers won't let me give it lower than three stars. He's amazing/hilarious in this as the know-it-all spirit warrior--basically Steven Seagal in a better actor's body. He's perfect for squinting and selling lines like, "You keep looking for clues...but you're missing all the signs." Taylor Sheridan's screenplay is tight and meticulous in a way that we used to get all the time but feels special now. The backstory is doled out with care, and every character is rich enough to get a moment to shine. He shoots his own material with less visceral impact than someone like Denis Villeneuve did, but he does lend a specific sense of place to the film.There's a crucial late scene that sort of solves the mystery for us, making everything that comes after seem like falling action baggage. Your mileage may vary, but I'm not sure there are other ways to get across the information. I was okay with it. 25. The Post (Steven Spielberg)- The Post is a great time at the movies, but it's ultimately a bit too much of a movie for me. It has a hand-held lightness to its look, an energy that belies how quickly it was made. Streep's Kate Graham has a satisfying arc that eschews a lot of the grandstanding that this type of picture would normally lend her. Her lesson in confidence is laid on thickly, but Streep doesn't play it that way. Unfortunately some of the brusqueness I like in the filmmaking carries over to the screenplay. It offers few of the laughs-in-crisis that make individual Spielberg scenes so good, and most of the conflicts resolve themselves just a little too easily. ("I wonder if the guy I think has the papers actually has them...yep, after a few calls, I found out he does.") The less said about the cartoonish Vietnam protestors and the CCR needle-drop, the better. Overall, do I prefer the lean, realistic version of this story over the more belabored, showy version? Sure.

24. The Work (Jairus McLeary, Gethin Aldous)- The Work is undeniably raw, pure, and effective in the emotion it documents and generates. The access given to the filmmakers as they capture a group therapy program in Folsom State Prison is unbelievable. But for that reason, there's something on the margins of the film that feels exploitative and violating to me. I'm interested in how Bloods and Aryans console each other, not to mention how the most damaged figure is not a prisoner at all. But I get the sense I shouldn't be watching any of this. 23. Marjorie Prime (Michael Almereyda)- I like everything that this chamber piece specifies and everything that it decides to leave vague. The film is unsentimental, considering how sentimental this premise could be. It seems bent on reminding us, sometimes tragically, about how we shape our own memories until the original moment is gone in every way. I'll admit that it seems a little slight by the end, despite the weight suggested by what I just described. Even when it's surprising you, the film never writes in capital letters, and part of that feeling comes from bland visuals. But that's a small complaint for a film that is grappling so palpably with the challenges of authenticity in modern life.