#ok bye I’ll polish more art in a but

[leafatlaw]

Introducing Gem and the Scotts !!!!!!!

[btsqualityy]

BTS Second Pregnancy Series #12: Quality Time

34, or 8 and a half months, pregnant 

Kim Seokjin

“Can I have that color Mommy?” Kaiden asked and you nodded at him, reaching over to grab the purple crayon before handing it off to him. With your due date rapidly approaching, you had felt an intense need to spend more one on one time with Kaiden because you knew that you weren’t going to be able to once the baby was born.

“What are you drawing Mommy?” Kaiden wondered as he leaned over, looking at the sheet of construction paper that you had been working on for the last 10 minutes. “It looks funky.”

“That’s because it’s abstract,” you chuckled.

“What’s abstick?” Kaiden asked and you had to contain yourself in order to not full out laugh at him.

“You know the art that Uncle Tae Tae makes sometimes, and how it doesn’t always really look like anything?” You told him and he nodded. “It’s like that.”

“Ohh,” he drawled, looking at the paper for a few more seconds before looking up at you. “I like it.”

“Thanks Kade,” you smiled. “What about you? What did you draw?”

“Look,” he said, sliding his own piece of paper over towards you. You looked down at the sheet, immediately realizing that he had drawn a picture of your family. He had drawn Jin to be super tall, himself next to his father, and you on the other side with your large bump. Something that caught your attention though, was that Kaiden had drawn a little squiggly line on your baby bump.

“Kade, what’s this?” You asked him, pointing to the squiggle. 

“Oh, that’s the baby,” he replied easily.

“They’re not a squiggly line though sweetie,” you pointed out with a giggle.

“I know but we don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl and I didn’t want to leave them out of the picture, so I just did a squiggle,” he explained, and you couldn’t help but to smile at him. 

“Well, I love it,” you told him, leaning over and kissing the top of his head. 

Min Yoongi

“Alright you two,” Yoongi said as he leaned over the bed, smiling down at you. “I’m heading to the studio for a few hours.”

“Mm, ok,” you nodded, yawning loudly as you stretched out in the bed. Yoongi leaned down and kissed your lips twice before leaning up again. 

“I’ll call if I’m late,” he said before looking next to you at Kinsley, who was sprawled out next to you. “See you later baby girl.”

“Bye Daddy,” she whispered.

“Love you two,” Yoongi said before standing up straight and walking out of the bedroom. You then looked over at Kinsley, who was sleepily smiling at you.

“Come over here sweetheart,” you called, opening your arms and Kinsley moved over and snuggled into your chest. 

“Mommy?” 

“Yes baby?”

“When is sissy coming?” Kinsley asked, referring to Kamryn.

“Uh, in about a month,” you told her. “Hopefully.”

“Daddy said sissy is gonna be tiny,” Kinsley murmured and you smiled as you looked down at her.

“She is, just like you were.”

“How tiny?”

“Well, we aren’t completely sure about Kammie yet but I know that you were tiny enough that your whole body used to fit in Daddy’s hands,” you said. 

“Really?” She whispered in awe and you nodded. “Is she gonna be too tiny to nap with us?”

“No, I think she’s gonna like to nap too sweetheart,” you laughed, leaning over and kissing Kinsley’s nose. “Sleep baby.” You told her and she nodded, shutting her eyes and laying her head on your chest, drifting off to sleep.

Kim Namjoon

“Oh Mommy, look at that!” Mason shouted as he ran over to the fence that held small goats inside of it. You followed behind him, watching with a smile on your face as he pressed his face up against the fence to get a better look at the goats. You had brought Mason to the zoo in order to spend some time with him while Namjoon worked, and the zoo had a small section full of animals that essentially acted as a petting zoo.  

“They’re cool, huh?” You said and he nodded rapidly before looking up at you. 

“They have food for them, can I go get some and feed them?” Mason asked and you wearily looked over at the employee who was handing out goat feed to the different visitors. 

“I don’t know buddy,” you told him but he grabbed your hand and looked up at you with a pronounced pout on his face.

“Please Mommy,” he pleaded and the look on his face broke you down.

“Alright, come on,” you relented, making him squeal in excitement. The two of you walked over to the the employee who was handing out the feed and after you paid him a dollar, he handed a small bag of the feed to Mason. 

“Come watch Mommy,” Mason giggled and you nodded before walking back over to the fence. You watched as Mason got the open the bag himself, and he poured some into his hand before reaching through the fence and holding it out to one of the goats.

“Oh, he must’ve been hungry,” you smiled, watching as Mason giggled happily at the goat eating out of his hand.

“It feels funny,” he laughed, pouring more of the feed into his hand for the goat. Once all of the feed was gone and the goat had ambled away, you helped Mason squirt some hand sanitizer on his hands before the two of you walked away.

“That was so cool,” Mason said excitedly as he reached up and held your hand. “I wish Daddy could’ve been here too.”

“You can tell him all about it when he gets home tonight, ok?” You told him and he nodded as the two of you continued throughout the zoo.

Jung Hoseok

“I want mint choco Mommy,” Lennox requested giddily, hopping from one foot to the other as he, you, and Berkeley stood in line at an ice cream place.

“Ok, we’ll get it Lenny,” you told him, a smile on your face at how he was hopping around. “What about you Berk? What do you want?”

“I don’t know if I want vanilla or choco,” Berkeley replied as she looked up at you. 

“How about if you get two scoops for one of each?” You told her and she looked up at you in shock.

“Can I?”

“Why not? But don’t tell Daddy, ok?” You smiled and Berkeley nodded rapidly. Your turn to order came and you stepped up, ordering Lennox’s mint chocolate, Berkeley’s vanilla and chocolate, and your own strawberry ice cream cones. After you received them, the three of you went and sat down at a small table to eat your ice cream.

“Should we take ice cream to Daddy?” Lennox asked.

“Yeah, can we Mommy?” Berkeley added.

“We could but I think it would melt by the time that we got it to him,” you told them and they both simultaneously pouted at that. 

“Do you think Hendrix is gonna like ice cream?” Lennox wondered.

“Yeah he will, who doesn’t? Don’t be stupid,” Berkeley said.

“Berk, what did we say about calling each other stupid?” You said sternly and Berkeley nodded immediately. “But I think he’ll like ice cream too and when he gets big enough, we can bring him with us to get some.”

“His favorite flavor is gonna be mint choco,” Lennox said.

“No, it’s gonna be regular choco or vanilla,” Berkeley shot back. 

“And it never ends,” you muttered to yourself before eating another spoonful of ice cream. 

Park Jimin 

“Mommy, can I help you?” Noah asked and you looked up from your spot on the floor before smiling at him. You had been sitting in the living room, doing your regular routine of adding more photos to your family photo albums. 

“Sure Noey, come here,” you motioned next to you and Noah rushed over, settling himself down next to you. You handed him some photos and a glue stick and he immediately set to work.

“Can I put it here Mommy?” Noah wondered and you looked over, your eyes widening when you say the blank page that he was pointing at.

“Oh no baby, those are the pages for the new baby,” you told him.

“But it’s not here yet,” he said and you chuckled while nodding your head.

“No, I know but once they are here, we’re going to fill this album up with pictures of them too. Just like we did for you,” you said. 

“Can we look at my pictures Mommy?” Noah asked and you nodded, reaching over and grabbing the album that exclusively held Noah’s photos from his first year of life and opened it up to show him.

“Look, this is you when you were first born,” you said as you pointed to a photo of you laying in the hospital bed, with Noah on top of your chest and Jimin smiling up at the camera with his hand on Noah’s back. 

“Is my brother or sister gonna be small like that? Like I was?” Noah wondered. 

“Basically, yeah,” you nodded. “I miss it when you used to be that small. You’re all grown up now.”

“I’m a big boy Mommy,” he announced proudly and you smiled sadly. 

“You are, but you’re always be my first baby,” you said, leaning over and kissing his cheek.

Kim Taehyung

“What color do you think you might want Spence?” You asked her as the two of you looked at the large display of nail polish colors that hung on the wall in front of you. As a small little treat for Spencer and as a way to squeeze in more quality time with her, you decided to take her with you to get a pedicure.

“Um, can I get that color Mommy?” Spencer asked, pointing up towards a bottle of soft baby pink polish. 

“Sure Spence,” you nodded, reaching up and grabbing the bottle before handing it off to her. Once you had picked out a bottle of dark blue polish for yourself, you and Spence walked over to the massage chairs that were set up for pedicures and after making sure that she could climb up into the chair herself, you settled down in the one right next to her. 

“Just two regular pedicures?” The employee that was going to be working on your feet asked and you nodded before looking over at Spencer.

“Remember, try and stay really still, ok?” You told her and she nodded in agreement. The two employees then began your respective pedicures, making quick work of cleaning your feet and cutting your toenails before moving on to your massages.

“Ah, it tickles Mommy,” Spencer squealed, which made the employees laugh and you couldn’t help but to smile at her.

“I know, it feels pretty funny huh?” You said and she nodded. The employees wrapped up quickly after that, painting your toenails and leaving them to dry afterwards.

“Mommy, look,” Spencer grinned, patting your arm until you looked over at her and she pointed to her toes. “It’s so pretty.”

“It is pretty Spence,” you smiled. “Stay still though, so that they can dry.”

“Ok. I can’t wait to show them to Daddy,” she told you and you couldn’t help to laugh at how she always wanted to show Taehyung anything that she found exciting.

“I think he’s going to like them,” you said and she looked up at you with a big smile that looked like her father’s.

Jeon Jungkook

“Come on Angel,” you called, waiting for Ava to catch up to you before you opened the door to the boutique and walked inside, Ava following close behind you. Jungkook had been working more often in order to prepare for the group’s comeback, which left you and Ava alone to spend a lot of quality time together before the baby came.

“Oh Mommy, look,” Ava squealed, rushing over to a rack that was filled with dresses for girls her age. You smiled and followed behind her, looking through the rack to make sure that they carried her size before she became too excited. 

“Do you want one Ave?” You asked her and she looked up at you and nodded rapidly. You looked through the rack and found a few different dresses in her size before holding them up for her and letting her pick one out. She ended up choosing a dark green one that had sparkles on it, which you knew was going to happen.

“Wanna go try it on?” You wondered and she nodded in agreement. Once the two of you had stepped into a free dressing room, you helped her take her clothes off before putting the dress on her.

“Mommy, it’s so pretty,” Ava sighed in awe as she looked at herself in the mirror. 

“I think so too baby. Here, turn around for a picture and I’ll send it to Daddy,” you told her. She turned around to face you and put her hands on her hips, her big bunny smile that mirrored Jungkook’s on her face as you snapped the picture. You quickly sent it to Jungkook before helping Ava change back into her shirt and jeans. 

“Mommy?” Ava called as the two of you walked out of the dressing room. 

“Yes Ave?”

“Can we see if they have a dress like this for Aria?” She asked and you paused, looking down at her in slight disbelief.

“You think we should?” You said.

“Yeah! We could match!” She smiled excitedly and you couldn’t help but to smile as well.

“Alright, let’s go look,” you nodded and the two of you headed back over to the clothing racks. 

[blankdblank]

Brother Dearest Pt 15

Called off to meet up with some old school buddies Eddie was off for the day and with an early start you bought some flowers from Mrs Peppers stand and made your way to the cemetery. Right past the bustling city you found the zone of silence where the lost were laid to rest. Following the familiar path you found the trio of stones and already tearing up you nodded at Victor’s saying, “We have a friend a few lines over so we can give you a bit, Pipsqueak.” The pair of them kindly greeted your parents and uttered Steve’s name flatly and walked off saying, “If you need us we’re a call away.”

You nodded after passing them each a flower they kissed your cheeks in receiving and watched them go. Alone again your gaze dropped to the stone and in your green dress you lowered to crouch and set a single flower on your dad’s grave already feeling your face scrunch up.

The sniffle following in the drop of a tear down your cheek turned the heads of the guys seeing you wipe your cheek and look up trying to calm down reading the name etched in the polished stone. In a slightly squeaking whisper you said, “Hey Daddy.” Sniffling again. I’ve been away a while, I haven’t just been ignoring you. Got roped into nursing, Mom. But um,” weakly you squeaked out, “I’m ok. I’m back now.” Glancing down again leaving a flower for your mom too. “I, got medals. And my picture in the papers.” You sniffled again eyeing the final two flowers, “Daddy I don’t know if you could do what I can, but I can do so many things. But I swear I don’t use them unless I have to. And, I met Edie, she has a son few years younger than me. They were sent to these death camps. Broke out and we met in Paris, right after this big battle, it was huge. I think, even if I was a son you’d be proud of it…” hastily you wet your lips not knowing how deeply the words were hitting the men on the verge of tears staring at a practical stranger’s headstone they had helped bring home from the Civil War.

“And daddy I got my high school diploma, and all these schools have given me tours. Just visited Brown, going to Barnard next. You took those summer courses in Columbia that last year we had. And even President Truman invited us all out to the White House for a garden party, not sure what that entails. We met these brothers, we’re gonna be a family, me and Eddie spent the winter in Canada with them in their cabin. Got to see tons of animals and fish and hunt and even learn to cut down trees and make a bird feeder and little houses for them.” Again the guys were grinning.

“I’m not sure how school is going to go, or what’s going to happen. They’re not Catholic, or Jewish, so, who knows what some of the neighbors will say, but they’ve always been there and it really doesn’t matter. Because we’re safe now, and you’d love them Mom, you would too Dad. They bought our old building and we’re gonna fix it up, and maybe get a dog. Hopefully a huge fluffy one that loves to laze around and snuggle.” Sharply inhaling you wiped your other cheek dry, “We’re gonna do great things, you’ll see. And I’m not just going to be some housewife. I’m gonna work so hard, you’ll see, and I won’t ever forget what you both taught me.” Turning your head you said, “I just wish Steve, you could see it. Maybe then you wouldn’t have hated me so much. If you could have seen me grown up and know that I wasn’t your hassle anymore. Maybe you could have been an uncle, come around to talk, play charades or cards, helped to teach the kids the trumpet you could never get just right with those little lungs of yours.”

A flower was set down on his grave and James and Victor paced a lap through that row of stones to keep from racing back to you, “I think you could have been happy, after all this. We could have been friends. Heard you found a gal while you were in camp, our kids could have had a whole gaggle of cousins.” Again your voice cracked, “And you could have told me why-,” standing up you sniffled again holding the last flower you carried closer to the guys now turned to meet you that flanked you to see where you were going.

Victor’s arm wrapped around your back and he asked wiping away a stray tear, “You Alright?”

You nodded saying, “The Barnes’ are just over here.”

James, “Bucky then?”

You nodded, “Me and Eddie used to joke they might end up in lovers plots, side by side to the end of the line.”

James leaned over kissing your forehead, “They didn’t deserve you, you know.”

“The idiots still earned flowers at least. Never had any bodies to bury. Just stones. Bucky’s dad died hearing about him, his mom and sisters are still a few blocks over.”

Victor, “How old are they?”

“I think they were four when we left town.”

James, “How were his parents with you?”

“Not like Bucky. His dad owed money to the Brocks, drank a lot, used to play cards with them in the locked basement club.”

Victor, “Ah, so he knew who he was messing with when it came to you.”

You shrugged, “Stayed to himself most days, then he’d just show up, looking, mangled. Like he’d been drug around town and he’d come to the pool hall but he’d always swing at anyone but he wouldn’t touch me. One time I was in the back and he broke the door down and I was so scared but he saw me and turned away, started shouting for Dave breaking the other doors till he got thrown out. Used to think maybe, like my head zings. Maybe I did something to keep him away.”

Down the proper row you went and stopped at Bucky’s stone unsure of what to say just laying the flower on top of the stone. “I wish we could have known each other better, and you had more than just Steve to come after you in that camp. Bye Bucky.”

The pair eyed the picture of him left at the stone and turned with you. Warmly Victor’s lips met your forehead and he hummed out, “Come on, museum tour. Let’s go see what this state has to offer since our last visits.”

Museum of natural history, Museum of modern art, Brooklyn museum, New York historical society, Metropolitan museum of art three full days dedicated to soaking up all you could while Eddie relaxed enjoying time with his friends.

Each one opened for you and in a near grueling path through the city you managed simple tours of each. Including sections where the guys shared their own additions of events they had lived through with even a portrait they were both odd blob like figures in the back of they recalled exactly what had occurred while the artist was painting nearly making you burst out laughing. The last place being your safe haven, the crowning glory of your childhood, the New York Public Library.

“Ooh, lions.” Victor hummed snapping a picture of the one you were walking towards.

“This one’s Fortitude.” They glanced at you and you added, “The other one is named Patience.”

James, “So sweet.” Making you roll your eyes in his palm pressing to yours and fingers weaving together.

“Oh, good Lord…” Victor said tilting his head back inspecting the front hall of the library, “I should have expected this, but I didn’t… wow..”

Smirking to yourself you led the way in as the pair of architecture nerds adored each book and cranny of this place. You didn’t have long before it closed and there was just one stop you had to make. Straight to the office you went and were spotted right away by the little lady behind the counter who grinned widely. “Oh, there you are!” Giggling softly you approached the desk and James releases your hand so her hands on the counter between you could cradle yours in her loving gaze, “You’ve grown. Why the last time you were here you could barely see over the counter.” Making you smirk again. “Let’s get you a new library card, Miss Pear.”

After a step back her hands released yours and she said, “I will have you know it was stunning to have just stopped seeing you. Thought you might have been moved out of the city to relatives but then one day your face just popped up in the papers, receiving medals of valor and for service. Even out here there was an article President Truman himself was quoted in that you were among the most stunning of our returned heroes. Shot three times in service,” Her eyes focused on you while her hands continued to move through the task of making your card she filled out by memory. “Why I nearly choked on my breakfast reading that, but here you are intact and fully grown now. And that face, I could have known that face and smile anywhere. Welcome home my dear, to the state and the library.”

She looked at the men, “Why there wasn’t a weekend through school we wouldn’t find her curled up with a mountain of books just grinning as she blew through them. Wasn’t the same without you.” She said with her eyes on you again in her move to bring you the new card she folded into your palm, “Oh, I kept a list of all the new books for the sections you read through.”

Victor chuckled, “Sections?”

The woman nodded, “Any school would be thrilled to have such a mind among their alumni.”

Victor nodded, “We’re set to tour Barnard next week.”

She gasped, “Oh that is a great school! Well done!” Then she looked to the men sliding them two slips of paper, “Of you’ll fill these out I’ll have your cards out in a jiffy.” A stolen glimpse of the endless books and the hall of tables the men admired was all you were able before they had to lock up stirring grins on the faces of the guards recognizing you and welcoming you back again.

.

“I’m going to go make some meatloaf, loudly.” Victor said in a smirk earning an eye roll from you on your way up to the bedroom to change. James behind you smirked in removing his shoes he left by the door only to follow after you in Victor’s push to steal some time alone with you.

“I have a library card.” The words deepened the already spreading grin on his face in easing the door shut eyeing your excited twisting stance in the steps out of your heels unhooked in a backwards lift of each one to undo behind your back. It was a simple fact but the joy and pride in it had you as the most attractive person on the planet to him even more so than the rest of your days he utterly adored you.

“I noticed.” He hummed mirroring your steps closer. “It suits you, all those books…”

In the tracing of your fingers up his tie while you rose up on your toes he leaned in melting into the kiss clearly coming and a low hum left him in the hand stroking across his jaw, cheek and then into his hair. A dip of his later and at his side your legs were curled through his lifting you off the ground carrying to the bed. Over you he stretched out blindly weaving his legs with yours adoringly refusing to be the one to end the deepening lip lock. Under the vest you had undone muscles flexed against your palm sliding over the shirt covering his torso to clench on his back melting him even more against you. Sharply the phone by the bed rang making you flinch and break the kiss only to weakly chuckle. “Never did get used to phones. We never had one.”

Victor answered downstairs, and in a dip of James’ hand into his back pocket he pulled out his kerchief to wipe the lipstick off your face making you giggle again. “We don’t have to have one if you don’t like them.”

“We should have one. Just in case.” You said taking the cloth to wipe off his own face that when clean was stealing another kiss from you.

“Whatever you say,” stroking the side of your cheek in an adoring gaze, “I’m gonna build you an incredible library.”

“Careful, I may just take that as a proposal,” he wanted to smile, every muscle in his face wanted to shift into the biggest dopiest grin only to lose focus halfway in the warm lingering hold of your lips to his.

Again your lips broke and teasingly his nose stroked the side of yours in a ghost of his lips across yours, “I’m gonna build you that library and pack it with as many odd books as I can find that wouldn’t seem like a library would have them. All for you.”

Tracing a finger down his cheek his lips met the tip of your nose and your eyes eased from his blurry nose up to his refocusing adoring gaze, “What do you get out of it?”

“I get to build you a library, fill it and then watch you enjoy it.”

“That’s all?”

“It’s so much more than that, and you know it, My Darling.”

All at once in a moment his gaze flickered from unending adoration to something else in the press of his palm to mold against your cheek, “You’re doing it again.”

“Doing what?” he hummed back brushing a thumb across your cheek tenderly.

“Looking at me like I’m leaving.” Over you it washed again his lifetime of loss before he had met you, up you leaned to close the distance closing his eyes again with a tender kiss. Down on the pillow your head laid again and his eyes scanned over your face puzzled at what to say, what could be the right thing to say knowing he could be facing that agonizing loss and betrayal of time again to be with you. “I read once before the big bang that created the universe there were millions of atoms just floating around together.”

“Really now,” he smirked melting into what he assumed to be you changing the subject.

“All the atoms in the universe were pressed together in this one cluster until it all exploded.” His brows inched up in amusement through a creeping grin at your soft blush prickling across your cheeks. “For 13.7 billion years we’ve been bumping around this universe,” Instantly his grin split into a wide smile, “The moment you opened that door I knew you. You bumped into me once and you hit me again, I felt like I’d been looking for you everywhere. You’re mine, I’m-,” Firmly his lips melted onto yours into a seemingly endless kiss leaving you breathless and him barely able to whisper.

“You are the most stunning creature on the planet with that endless mind of yours. One day there’s going to be billions of books available with a flick of your adorable finger and I’m gonna make sure we live to see it. I give you my word on that if I have to build it myself.”

“You are skirting dangerously close to-,”

“Oh trust me, I am going to propose, but it certainly won’t be in a room with clowns on the wallpaper in the john.” Unable to help it you melted into giggles through his own chuckles, nuzzling into his chest to just hold each other close sharing hopes for the future you would see shape together through the rest of your lives.

“Excited?” He rumbled in your move to sit up, his hand trailing down your back with fingers locking into your curled ponytail when he sat up in a gentle guiding hint to turn your head allowing him to kiss you again.

“About the clowns?” You teased making him chuckle again and drop his arm to rest around your side.

“Visiting Barnard. I do hope it’s better than Brown was.”

With a sigh your head tilted to rest against his shoulder, “Who knows. Maybe all I’ll end up as is a wife-,”

James scoffed, “You are not. No matter what you want we will make certain you get it. No matter how many etiquette blunder heads we have to sift through.”

Giggling softly you parroted back, “Blunder heads?”

He gave a curt nod, “Can’t think of a better insult right now without being rude. They’re just ladies following the path they’re allowed, we just need to break that path wide open. We can do it.”

“If I don’t kill anyone first.” Tilting your head back you said, “Oh, Momma Brock wanted us to go to Mass Sunday. Father Thomas wanted to speak with us. Did the same for all the boys coming home afterwards.”

James locked eyes with you in your shift back and he asked, “Did you want us to go?”

“You don’t have to. Not the most entertaining way to spend your Sunday.”

“It never is. I know our church used to last hours, tiny cramped with no heat or air circulation long before modern soaps and dental hygiene.”

“Oh, poor teddy bear.” That had you giggling in his scooping you up onto his lap smiling to himself at your forehead pressing to his, adoring the feel of your arms circling his shoulders. “What horrors you must have faced.”

“You have no idea. You think I smelled bad you should be glad you didn’t know half of my friends and neighbors. I am glad you did not have to live then with this adorably powerful nose of yours.”

“I would have lived in the woods.” Making him chuckle again in his next peck on your nose.

“I would have followed you there. No doubt you’d still smell like apples.” Kissing your nose again stirring another giggle from you.

.

With a wiggle of your shoulders your dress fell to the ground and a reach under your slip had your bra off and laying on the chair soon joined by your stockings and garter belt. Onto the bed you climbed and settled against the pillows brushing the covers down in a glance your way James smirked seeing your arms circling your legs pulled up to your chest. “I know that look.” He said tossing the tank top he threw on top of your clothes.

“Do you now?”

Undoing his belt he walked to the chair dropping his pants he added to the pile along with his socks then crossed to the bed to settle down beside you sliding his arm behind your back, “We have an early train.”

Sliding down on the bed as he did you turned onto your side, “I know that. There’s no look.”

Smirking through a chuckle he rumbled back shifting his head to face you brushing his nose against yours, “My mistake.” Planting his lips on yours in a loving kiss.

Afterwards he shifted with his free arm used to shut off the lamp by the bed then glanced your way in his adjusting the covers higher over you both smiling at your peck on his cheek. Tenderly your hand settled on top of his chest and deeply he exhaled in your fingertips gliding across his skin through the dark patch of hair. “My Dad had this picture, one I found in his book of favorite quotes. He had me on his chest, right here.” You said circling your fingers on that spot, “Used to say I wouldn’t sleep unless I was here. Do you think-,”

When your voice broke off his arm tightened around your back and he pressed a warm kiss to your forehead, “When we have children we can photograph them wherever you like on me.”

Softly you replied nestling your head against his cheek, “Thank you.”

“Victor wouldn’t let a moment go by undocumented. No doubt we’ll have ample with him as well. We will get through this together when the time comes.”

“How long did you want to wait?”

“For babies?” You nodded and he snuggled more around you after another kiss on your forehead, “After the wedding, few years at least if nature allows, so we can get you a firm footing. There’s no rush for all of that. We’ll get there, no pressure, just sleep.”

..

Lost in the middle of a ‘fun’ questionnaire at a club you had been somehow wrangled into once they had realized your name was the same as that of one of the potential students to woo James’ eyes turned to the den mother in charge of this side of the room’s sparse gentleman guests. “Miss Pear is quite the catch. Will she be moving close by?”

Eddie nodded saying, “We’ve got a place we’re going to fix up over the summer in Brooklyn, bit of a ride but it’s worth it.”

She nodded and forced a grin stating, “The four of you.” Again she forced a grin and asked, “Now, Mr Pear, clearly you two are related, but I am curious how, you two gentlemen are related to Miss Pear. We do have strict moral guidelines we wish from our pupils.”

James shifted a bit closer making her a bit nervous at first until she caught his gossiping grin, “If you can keep it a secret, a family ring is being resized. We’re an item now, but by September we’ll be engaged. And my brother Victor is gonna help us set up the house. Plenty of space.”

Eddie nodded, “Ample room, to grow into.”

She caught the hints and they could tell the silently tarnished reputation she had assumed that was also rippling through those you had met so far and withholding her gleeful gasp she said lowly, “Well that is just wonderful. And no doubt we will be honored to have her among the masses of minds to mold until situations change, that is.”

James smirked saying, “Call me a bit out of fashion, but, I admire her fire more than anything. Just that spunk to face anything. I wouldn’t dare try to smother that. For now family can wait, we all want to see how far she can go, and we can go, together.” She was stunned for a moment and he added, “This is a great school, it would be a shame to keep her here for just six months. Her father left funds for her schooling and we want to honor that, a sort of way to get his blessing for us.” Sentimentally her grin twitched wider and she turned to glance over the room allowing her a moment to keep from tearing up at the kind gesture from a man assumed to want to rule over his spouse.

Across the room however the brunette charged with guiding you around asked, “So, when are you and your fiancé settling down? It would be nice to know how soon we will be losing you.”

“You won’t be.” Her brow inched up, “We’re not engaged,” in her shifting expression you added, “It’s only been half a year,” her expression switched in confusion and you said, “But we’ve talked about families and James and Victor bought the building my family used to live in,”

That made her gasp, “The building?”

You nodded, “We’re going to remodel it before school starts and I’ll commute from there.”

“What does he do?”

“Well he was a Colonel, how we met,”

“Aww, I love a man in uniform.”

Smirking for a moment you paused then said, “Back in Canada there’s a lumber mill they work for.”

“Ooh, well we can’t wait to hear more about them when you join us.”

The female Professors were more of the same, all asking about the guys and how you would restore your honor in their eyes, with each of them calming at the rippled rumor of plans to come. The male Professors however, the few that there were, each held little interest in teaching just another future housewife wasting their time by taking up a seat.

Yet their smug grins faded when in the physics classroom you wiped away a word in the quote written across the board. Two of them got upset until you quoted it back to them word for word finding the book and correct spot stirring up a round of questioning leading to their realizing you had memorized more than half of the books they had set out on display in the classroom and had a vague knowledge of what the others held. Science clearly was your chosen field and they were uncertain of how long you would stay but all of them held a shared curiosity for what the next semester would bring. One class you had considered but nearly brushed aside was Mythology, mainly focused on Norse Mythology by a Professor Elliot Randolph.

The short man just barely your height with your heels grinned at you in the sea of young women practically ignoring the men around you. “Miss Pear,” his hand remained at his side but with a nod of his head had you looking him over a bit confused at his almost eager greeting. “My name is Elliot Randolph. This would be my first semester here. And I heard you might be considering this school. Are you interested in Mythology?”

“I haven’t really touched on it yet.”

“Ah,” his eyes lit up and he stepped aside allowing a group past. “Well then I don’t doubt you wouldn’t enjoy it. Everyone loves a good story. Grand deeds, sinister motives and plots. Centuries of stigma and history all tangled in these magnificent creatures who could do spectacular things, heirs to the Gods.”

A motion of his hand to his classroom had him showing you a brief intro on what was around the room. Subtly it seemed he was wooing you in with hints of stories on these stunning creatures and lands from long ago and as another string of ladies came in you said, “I think you might have just convinced me to give Mythology a shot.”

At that his grin split widely into a smile, “Oh that is wonderful news. I have seen your record and I can tell you will be a marvelous student. I shall dust off my best in anticipation of granting you a challenge on learning past what is in the text.”

“I look forward to it, Mr Randolph.” The women swooped in and swarmed him causing your slip away. Hushed conversation on the eager Professor in the bunch ended at another aid coming to guide you to your next set of courses to meet those Professors as well.

Nearly all your classes would be on the women’s campus, but three of the ones you would want to take guided your tour to the men’s campus. There the men in your group were drawn forward and boasted to endlessly on the benefits of the campus until the Professor came to greet James with his hand extended, “And am I to assume I have another group of boys in blue to join my ranks of minds to mold?”

James shook his head, “No, we’re here with my girl,” his head nodded your way turning his head to the stack of books on his desk you were reading the titles of. “Moral support and all that. She wasn’t in blue, neither were we, Canadian Forces.”

The Professor nodded, “Ah, yes, another Nurse, lo-,”

Victor cut him off, “Corporal,” that turned the heads of the potential students and Professor, “Corporal Pear, Medic of the Canadian Forces, first woman to have earned an officers position and to earn the Medic patch.”

The Professor asked, “How’d she manage Corporal? That’s what, E-4?”

“I got shot,” his head turned to you and you flashed him a wide grin, “Three of your books have been discredited. I hope they’re not on the syllabus.”

His brow inched up and he moved closer as you named them and the man who disproved their theories making him scoff, “Communist rhetoric.”

“He’s Swedish,”

“My point exactly, I don’t bend to foreigners opinions in my classroom.”

You nodded, “Then I suppose all Greek and Roman Philosophers would be banned as well, leaving, well, not much really once you drop all the books from Eastern Europe.”

His eyes narrowed, “Clearly you do not understand just how vast this subject is and I doubt you could begin to comprehend-,”

“Mr Crane, I could fill a naval carrier with all the doubts people have had about me. You don’t have to like me, but I do suppose we will have to wait until the first lecture to see which one of us wins on grounds of competency.” His mouth dropped open, “Because I’ve read two thirds of the books on physics in the New York Public Library so far, and I do hope with that big brain of yours you might be able to see past the dress and try not to talk to me like I’m some idiot waiting on my pot roast to bake.”

“For competency’s sake, I do, hope, you do arrive ready for a battle of wits.”

Smirking to his back in his turn away you fired back, “I’m not the one who’s unarmed.” The phrase halting him in his tracks making him turn only to see you walking with your smirking men around you on the way to your next class a few hallways over, “Clearly we’ll be best friends.”

James chuckled lowly easing his hand across your back through the sea of staring men looking you over from head to toe. “Once he licks his wounds.”

Victor, “Sweden is Communist,” your group chuckled, “Who’d have thunk.”

Again you giggled saying, “Hopefully the Philosophy Professor won’t have negated his syllabus as well.”

James rumbled back, “If he has it would be a very glum class. Glum and dull.”

This one at least spoke to you and seemed eager to have another woman in the class, sharing that his own daughter would be attending one day hopefully. It did seem word got around that he was more respectful of a Professor for female students leading to their taking his course over the other male Professor. The day wasn’t a complete failure in your self esteem as you left the joint campus closing ceremony looping James’ arm around your back by swinging your joined hands over your head drawing a smile from him to you. Clearly for the men this wasn’t the same education the men would be getting but no doubt you could get the degrees you wanted and fill in the blanks. Against his side you slumped slightly anxious for all of this, wanting to forget the lingering male students staring your way.

All the way to the station you stayed under his arm only to end up seated by Eddie on the train on the seat across from the brothers, who got pulled into a conversation with the little girl beside Victor that lasted until she got off the train a few stops before yours. Smiles came from the pair and when the people around you left they jumped at the chance to sit beside you. Victoriously James slung his arm around you again making you giggle in his splitting grin and peck on your forehead.

A stop at the markets came with mingling people in town all glad to see you at mass the following morning and followed with a jumble of arms in the kitchen to make dinner. As if you blinked you were laid out on your side in bed feeling yourself drift off in the warm body easing up behind you to fold around you tightly.

…

In a floral white blouse tucked into your navy skirt you adjusted the waistband turning in front of the mirror on your toes spotting James in the mirror holding up your black heels he bent to help you into. Gently kissing each knee in buckling the strap around your ankle while you secured the side of your hair back with a pink petal coated pin that would be seen under the navy bowknot fascinator of your mother’s the Brocks had brought over from storage. “You look very beautiful, in a modest and religiously respectful sort of way.”

Giggles escaped you and your hands smoothed over his vest deepening his grin, “You can put down the shovel, and thank you.”

When your hands moved to the tie he left slung over his chest he smoothed his hands around your hips and asked, “I’m not going to have to sit across the room from you am I?”

“No. Just unfortunately can’t hold hands through it.”

Lowly he chuckled, “Kind of figured that part.” His eyes lovingly inspecting your expression while you tied his tie for him and tucked it into his vest smoothing your hands over it again.

“You don’t have to go.”

“I know,” Leaning in his lips tenderly pressed to yours and he said, “This is a part of your life. They are all Catholic and welcoming you home. If it helps, I suppose you could call me lapsed. Hard to have religion if you can’t die and have spikes jutting out of your fists. Wars didn’t help either.”

After wetting your lips you asked, “What happens if I don’t die?”

Deeply inhaling his eyes locked on yours again and he answered, “We’ll be here for you. Always.”

You nodded and said, “We should go.” Turning to grab the white gloves and your purse holding your mother’s rosary. Down you went and with the others and into the sidewalk you went joining the other families on the way to the gothic church seeming more ominous than when you were little. From the walk in past the bowl of holy water used for people to mark a cross over their head, shoulders and chest to claiming your seat on one of the rows the Brocks usually took up you settled after a rusty step back through all the tiny details.

The lengthy mass and words after flooded into the group pot luck in the hall and gardens behind the church for the returned soldiers upon the looming anniversaries of certain battles. Yet alone you walked inside with Father Thomas after his time speaking with Eddie alone, “I am glad you were able to come home to us. You have been a steady fixture on our prayer lists.”

“Thank you, Father.”

His hand motioned and inside his office you stepped and stood in front of one of the leather chairs as he closed the door behind himself. Straight to his chair on the other side of the desk he asked, “I know it has been some time since you have attended our services,” you nodded still keeping the rosary tucked in your palm with your thumb stroking one of the beads in a subtle way. “I have offered a sort of counseling session with each of the boys returned home, I wished to offer that to you. War, war is a very troubling time on the soul. Are you finding any difficulty in your return?”

“To be perfectly frank,” he nodded, “I was 15 when we got moved to Canada, 16 when our Hospital was attacked. I was terrified, but I was a kid and now I’m almost 21. The men all looked after me, kept me safe, never treated me like I was beneath them. And I come back here, and it’s dresses, heels, make up, all these lessons and back to a world where the best thing I could ever hope to achieve is get married and have babies.” He nodded again, “Please don’t get me wrong I know the birth of woman and their roles in the gospel is to serve their father’s and then husbands, just, I have a brain, and opinions, and I want to do great things. We went to Barnard college yesterday and even there the male Professors just look at us like we’re cattle, wasting his time because all we will ever be is someone’s wife.”

Lowly he chuckled, “It is troubling. I know my niece had a hard time last Spring with a project her teacher demanded a boy handle even though she was the best juggler in the theater group. I also know you, I never saw you without a book, or pile of them. They will bend to your stubborn will.” Slowly he let out a breath and said, “I would like to offer my sincerest condolences for your brother, Steve.” It was your turn to nod, “I understand he wasn’t the best guardian, but he did serve honorably. You will always have family here, even if you are tied to marry a Canadian. Is he Catholic?”

“Lapsed, his family was. He’s faced a lot of loss, but he’s supportive of my coming here, if that is what you are worried about.”

He shook his head, “No doubt. We have heard great things. We all look forward to getting to know him better. You will be down the block after your old building is rebuilt.”

Anxiously you wet your lower lip and said, “I have a question,”

“Of course, ask away.”

“When we were going through Paris, a bit after Normandy, I ran into a cousin and aunt of mine I didn’t know I had.” His brow inched up, “They had broken out of a death camp,” parting his lips, “Turns out my father’s family was Jewish, he came to New  York to be safe. My question is, if he was Jewish does that mean I have to be too?”

Shaking his head he said patting his hand on the table in a comforting way, “Truly if his intention was to protect himself and his family by not telling you or forcing your mother to change her religion it would not be mandatory for you to convert. And I can say this truthfully, none of us would turn you or your relatives away for not being Catholic. Truly they have been through harsh faces of the world and we will pray for them to find comfort, are they still in Paris?”

You shook your head, “No, James and Victor helped Eddie set up travel to get them to Canada. Erik’s in a great school now, Edie’s got a good job. They’re finding comfort again.”

“That is good news. Marvelous news.” He looked you over again in your glance at the rosary in your hands.

“I’m sorry, I’m trying to get comfortable. But, I feel so out of place. I killed a lot of people. I won medals, but, that doesn’t change anything. I’ve done terrible things, and I’m just supposed, to come to mass…”

Onto his feet he stood and walked around the desk to sit in the chair beside yours drawing your attention to him in his hand patting the arm of your chair, “Absolution comes in time. I can tell you have repented, truly remorseful. Peace will find you.”

“In time.”

He nodded, “Yes, more troubling than helpful right now. Until then, we should eat.” You nodded and joined him on your feet again walking with him out to rejoin everyone else taking up the seat Eddie saved for you and the plate Victor had filled for you while James fetched drinks wading through the women trying to talk to him.

Pt 16

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[simplylegilimenss]

Yule Ball Number Two (Or Another Reason for Hermione to Fangirl)

 The Decorating Committee had done a fine job, Hermione thought as she stepped through the doorway. The white marble stairs had been polished to perfection, the lanterns were glowing brighter than ever, and even the colors of the stained glass in the windows shone brightly. They had also added a special glowing magical shield that prevented anyone from seeing into the ballroom and from seeing anyone outside. A useful piece of work really.

    Hermione wiped her hands on her ice blue dress nervously. She wanted everything to go perfectly tonight. It was hard work, setting up for another Yule Ball in their eighth year. It was her idea of course, just another way to promote house unity. She even managed to get Harry to join the decorating committee, but let Ron be because she knew he was very busy with something he was doing this year. She was happy to see Harry so happy again, she knew how lost he had been after the war. She reckoned that a bit of work would take his mind off of things and make him happy even. And it had worked. Harry was eating more, his face was more flushed and he was almost always smiling now. She knew that another part of the reason he was happy was because he was seeing someone as well. And she thought she knew who it was already. But Harry promised her she’d find out tonight, so she was still itching to know if she was right or not.

       She wondered where Ron was as she passed people on the stairway staring at her. She knew Harry was going to help him dress up tonight, but she was still worried, because her best friend didn’t exactly have a blast fashion sense now did he? She quickly looked down at her ice dress, which had a sweetheart neckline and sleeves that weren’t quite on her shoulders. She had been patiently working on her appearance for tonight because this was a night she wanted to remember always. Today, her hair was up in an elegant twist, with a lock of hair dangling down by the side of her face and a few strands of hair peeking out from her bun and dangling at the nape of her neck. Her lips were a deep red, and to say so herself, she was proud of how she’d done with her appearance tonight.

      She stopped at the edge of the stairs, only one step down and took in the room. It was big and spacious, perfect for a night of dancing and fun. To add more inter-house unity to the night, she had invited the other eighth years to the Gryffindor common room when it got late for some fun games she had planned out with Seamus and Dean. There were already people dancing on the dance floor and some were sitting by the tables in a corner. But still no sign of Harry or Ron. She walked down the stairs, her plain black flats clacking against marble. Just as she got to the bottom-

“‘Mione!” A very familiar voice called to her and she turned around, grinning.

“Harry!” She called back, waving.

Harry ran to her and gave her a quick hug. “Hey, you sure do clean up nice ‘Mione.”

“So do you,” She said, smiling. “Waiting for someone?” Harry was wearing deep green wizarding formal dress robes with a gold embroidery. They certainly looked expensive and brought out Harry’s eyes, she noticed. She tried scanning the room for someone wearing something similar, but nothing. She turned back to him and placed her hands on her hips, expecting an answer.

He smiled at her and shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Where’s Ron?” She asked, smiling.

Harry laughed. “Well, someone told him to make a ‘dramatic entrance’, so he won’t be here for a few minutes.” He shook his head fondly, and she laughed.

“Who told him to make a ‘dramatic entrance’? I’m sure it wasn’t you.” Harry looked at her and then started laughing.

“Merlin, ‘Mione, just how well do you know me? When have I ever told anyone to make a dramatic entrance?”

“Ugh, where is he? I swear if he doesn’t show up in the next thirty seconds, I’m dancing with you.”

Harry’s eyes glittered mischievously. “Sorry, but I’m spoken for tonight.”

“Great, then I should just find someone to dance with then? Maybe punish Ron for not getting here on time?”

Harry laughed and pretended to look disgusted. “Ew, keep you and your kinky fantasies away from me!”

“Fine, I guess since you’re not willing to dance with me, then Neville’s over there looking lonely. I think Hannah hasn’t shown up yet, that’s why. Ok, bye Harry!”

“I don’t think that will be necessary.” Another voice cuts in and she whips around, elated to see the sight of red hair and freckles.

“Ron!” She yelled happily and launched herself into his welcoming arms. “What kept you?”

“Well, someone wanted me to make a dramatic entrance that will, and I quote, ‘impress that girlfriend of yours’.” Ron was wearing a jet black muggle suit and an ice blue tie to match her dress. He looked so handsome tonight. Who had dressed him up?

“Come on, tell me,” She smiled at him and batted her eyelashes. “Who is it?”

“Sorry,” Ron pretended to zip his lips. “but I swore to Harry that I wouldn’t tell you.”

“Come on, please?” She tried.

“Uh, he made me do an Unbreakable Vow.”

“Wait, what?” Hermione was shocked.

“No, but with....er...different consequences.” His face turned red and she smiled at him.

“That’s okay, I’ll find out tonight anyway. Wanna dance?”

“Why would I ever say no?” 

                                                        ————

  It was probably almost ten o’ clock, and Hermione still didn’t find out who Harry was with yet. “Come on Harry.” She muttered under her breath. She took a sip of her punch and watched Harry, who was currently drinking water. She had mostly seen him dancing alone, but sometimes she saw him dancing with Luna, and then Ginny. But the two girls were together, so that didn’t make any sense unless.....were they in a threesome?

  Then someone walked up to Harry. Malfoy? Draco had been extremely quiet this year, and she knew he was also on the Decorating Committee as well. He seemed very lonely this year, but now he wore his trademark smirk as he approached Harry. What was he going to do? Hermione was so focused on the blond head, that she completely forgot about her punch.

  “Hey, Potter. Want to dance?” Draco smirked at Harry and she could practically feel the sparks flying. It had to be Malfoy, it had to be.

  “Sorry, but I’m already spoken for tonight.” Harry said, also smirking now. Hermione was shocked. She was so sure it was Malfoy, even before the dance. Maybe it wasn’t him. But then who could it be?

   “Well, they must be an absolute saint to put up with you, Potter.”

   “Ah, well, that they are. But you know me. This person is...special.”

   Malfoy’s eyes softened a bit, but he kept the smirk on. “What are they like?”

   “Well,” Harry said, evidently thinking, “they are extremely infuriating and annoying. They are about this tall.” His hand went up to the top of Malfoy’s head, and Hermione’s heart seemed to stop beating. “I swear, they’re like this big prickly cactus, but you know what Malfoy? They’re so beautiful and kind and I think I’m in love with them. No, scratch that. I know I’m in love with them.”

   Ron came up behind Hermione. “Watcha looking at?”

   Malfoy stepped closer to Harry. “You say you love them?” Hermione’s kept staring, ignoring Ron’s question.

   Harry smiled that huge smile that always made others smile, and Malfoy did smile then. “I do. I do love them so much it hurts.”

   Malfoy smiled at Harry. “So, if you’re done ranting about your lover, then care to dance?”

   Harry smiled. “Actually, I think I’m going to kiss my lover right now.” And took another step closer to Malfoy. Hermione was practically screaming kiss kiss kiss in her head. The two were nose to nose now.

   For one moment, Harry turned around. “You watching this ‘Mione?” And then he turned around and with one swift movement, kissed Malfoy in front of everyone. Ron cheered behind her while she let herself smile in giddy happiness. Wow, the two were in love! She kept staring at the entwined couple. What could be better than this?

   She turned at a tap on her shoulder and then saw Ron looking at her with so much love in his eyes that she practically melted right there.

   “Hermione? You know I love you, right?”

   “Yes, and I love you as well Ron, but-”

   He held up a hand to stop her. “Hermione Jean Granger, I love you so much. More than you can ever know. And you know a lot.” He dropped to one knee and Hermione gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth. This couldn’t be happening. Was it some kind of dream?

   “Hermione, I’ve known you for so long. And I don’t want to make my speech that long because I definitely don’t want to make you fall asleep. So, will you marry me?”

    “Ron,” she said, smiling from ear to ear, “why in the whole world would I ever say no?”

    He jumped up and placed the gorgeous sapphire ring on her finger, complete with diamonds. It was beautiful. She looked at him. “I love you,” she told him.

    “And you know I love you as well, Hermione.” And then he kissed her and everyone was whooping and cheering for them while the fireworks exploded behind her closed eyelids.

    Best Yule Ball ever.

——————

 I also thought I should draw art for this and so after about three days of fixing hair, dresses, and the whole background in general, here it is: Yule Ball Number Two Art. I feel like I might make a continuation of this fic and do more art for it, so the post will constantly change, so get ready for that! 

[curly-q-reviews]

ROAD TO THE OSCAR MAYER WIENER AWARDS 2K19

Cold War (original title Zimna wojna), 2018 (dir. Pawel Pawlikowski)

Nominated for: Best Foreign Language Film, Best Director, Best Cinematography

TW SUICIDE MENTION

SPOILER WARNING IM GONNA GIVE AWAY THE ENDING IN THIS REVIEW DONT READ THIS SHIT IF U WANNA WATCH THIS MOVIE OK BYE LOVE U

well shit the oscars is only a week away!!!  and ive only seen like half of the movies i wanted to see!!!  how does this keep happening to me!!!!!!!!!!!

ok well no use crying over spilled milk im just gonna have to go on a massive movie-watching spree this week and try and consume as many films as possible, and in the meantime lets talk about the movie i saw last night.  this is probably the first year ive seen more than one movie in the foreign language film oscar category, mainly just because the foreign language films are typically harder to find unless a local movie theater happens to be playing them as part of an oscars season special event or something.  but now that two of our nominees this year have american distributors it makes watching them a lot easier. 

going into Cold War i had absolutely no idea what it was about except that its set in Poland during the, well, Cold War.  the trailers for this movie didnt really reveal much about the plot or characters, which honestly i kinda prefer with trailers.  sometimes they just give away waaaayyy too much and then whats the point of going to see the movie??  i did know beforehand that its a romance so i at least had that expectation.

and well yeah its a romance all right!!  its a very romeo and juliet star-crossed lovers kinda situation where a student who gets accepted into a state-run polish music academy becomes close with one of the instructors and they fall in love, however life circumstances keep pulling them away from each other over and over again.  the movie spans over a timeline of about a decade and a half, and in this time the two of them find other lovers, get married, travel from country to country, but always end up managing to find each other before theyre separated again by circumstances that usually involve the polish communist state.  so basically communism is a total cock block. 

acting in this movie is overall very solid with not really a weak link in the bunch, except for maybe tomasz kot who played wiktor cause he just felt a lil stiff to me.  however joanna kulig steals the fuckin show for me as zula, shes utterly captivating on screen and really takes advantage of all of the close-up shots of her face throughout this film.  it also helps that shes given a fantastic character to play in zula, shes a spitfire and strong-willed and will not take any mans bullshit but near the end of the film you do get to see her struggle as well.  the shit she has to put up with gets very harrowing at times and u do feel for her

and wiktor goes through his fair share of shitty situations as well, i mean damn he ends up in jail when he goes back to poland for zula and they mangle his hands so badly he’ll never be able to play piano again which was his livelihood.  its pretty tragic how these two people are just like little puppets for the communist state to toss around and play with to their hearts content until theyre both almost destroyed.  and really the whole underlying backdrop of communist poland is really what elevates this story from being just another romeo and juliet clone to something a little more profound. 

ill come back to the story in a bit cause there are a few things i took issue with but i wanna take a moment to praise the music in this film cause holy SHIT its so good.  im honestly really surprised it didnt get any music-related noms cause the music was probably my favorite part of Cold War.  the beginning is full of polish folk music with a full womens choir that sounds just delightful, and then we transition into classic jazz when our lovers end up in paris together in the early 1950′s, and then some american classic rock n’ roll music is thrown into the mix in a few scenes, and then at the end we have a performace thats like a weird polish version of mariachi music??  such a wide and complex musical palette that ebbs and flows with the story, and we also get to see performers doing their thing which is just the icing on the cake. 

so the movie sounds fantastic, and i mean i gotta say it looks fantastic too!  like Roma, Cold War is shot in black and white, which definitely fits the time period its set in and fits especially well with the jazz scenes.  we get a lot of close-up shots of peoples faces, but theyre balanced out well with wide shots that tend to put the focal points in the bottom third of the screen which i thought was an interesting touch.  gave it a very art house feel.  from what i could tell there were mostly still shots except for a few dance scenes, which kept the movie very grounded and kinda added a sense of realism.

so i think thats all the good shit i have to say and i wanna touch on the ending for the last part of this review, cause to be frank, this movie ended so abruptly it gave me whiplash.  i was going into this film expecting it to be like 2 hours long but the run time clocks in at just under an hour and thirty minutes.  usually this isnt a bad thing at all especially for quieter movies like this that take their time, but in this case it couldve used AT LEAST another ten to twenty minutes.  so wiktor is let out of prison early because his commie friend pulled some strings (probably due to zulas insistence) and we find out that zula has married this commie state official and had a kid with him.  and she now works as a performer (probably working for the state like she did when she was with the music academy) singing weird polish mariachi music.  shes clearly drunk off her ass when she sees that wiktor is out, runs to the bathroom to puke, and then he finds her in there and they decide to run away together again.  but its implied that this time its more of an uuhhh permanent escape.  like, PERMANENT permanent.  like no-longer-living permanent.  and this is the point of the movie where im like “oh god really theyre gonna keep THIS part of the romeo and juliet story they really think thats a good idea”

and then the next scene we see them going to an abandoned run-down church that was shown in the beginning of the movie, and they both have what looks like a shit ton of pills out in front of them.  they say wedding vows, then each take half of the giant pile of pills, and then go to watch the sunset.  and then thats where the movie ends.  it just like cuts to credits and thats it. 

idk man it just doesnt have the amount of emotional gravitas that i feel like a scene like that should have.  and it escalates so quickly too, like one minute theyre in a bathroom and the next theyre on a bus and the next theyre at the church with the pills in front of them.  its hard to explain how abrupt it all felt watching it, u have to see it for urself to get what i mean.  the pacing was just really off in the last third of this film, and with the severity of the act theyre committing u’d think the director would wanna spend more time on it.

so other than that i’d say if u like foreign films and good period pieces this is one to check out, i’d give it like a 7/10.  if anything go see it just to listen to the music cause good god its so gorgeous im gettin my hands on this soundtrack. 

OK Y’ALL i got lots of reviewing to do in the next few days so u’ll be seeing a log of long-ass posts from me soon!  i think The Favorite is on amazon video now so ill watch that for sure sometime this week, and then god knows what else i’ll watch i’ll just have to play it by ear.  have a relaxing fun and fresh sunday y’all try not to let the idea of having to go to school/work tomorrow fill u with too much existential dread  ;)

[otisoverturf]

Glenn Danzig: ‘We’re Not Gonna Do Many More’ Misfits Shows

Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Glenn Danzig was the guest on Full Metal Jackie’s weekend radio show. It’s been a busy time for the musician of late, as he’s directed a dark new film called Verotika while also polishing off his long anticipated Elvis covers album, Danzig Sings Elvis.

Jackie spoke with Glenn about both projects, as well as his continued run of Misfits reunion shows, his thoughts on touring and also gets a positive message from the rocker on mortality. Check out the chat in full below.

Let’s talk about your directorial debut premiering at Cinepocalypse. What similarly, though telling stories through songs, do you notice while making a movie?

It’s not a lot. It’s much different. Doing a feature film is a lot of work. So, if you do a feature film, you really gotta love doing films because it’s a lot of work, and it’s a big chunk outta your life. So, pretty much, since last July, I’ve been working on this film.

Wow, nonstop?

Well, yeah. Doing all the pre-production and then filming it. We filmed for about three weeks, and then it’s all the editing after that, and then the effects, and then going in to post and doing color and sound and all the other stuff. It’s just a long process.

Now that you’ve gone through all of it and it’s at this point would you do it again? Did you enjoy it?

There are things I enjoyed about it, and there are things I didn’t enjoy about it. But, I said I think I’m gonna do three movies and then decide if I want to keep doing it.

So you’re not going to take it from just the first one that you’re doing.

I’m gonna do three. I’m already getting ready to do my next one which is a vampire spaghetti western. Everybody’s vampires in it. So after that I’ll see what I wanna do. Then I’m gonna sit and decide if I wanna keep doing it or not.

Glenn, visual arts have always been an important part of what you do. What aspects of that background were helpful in making Verotika?

I started out doing art and then doing photography when I was a kid and then just moved into eventually directing music videos and documentary kinda stuff. So it was always there, but eventually, I got the opportunity to do it. A lot of the movies I like are very visual movies and it’s a story being told besides what the dialogue is doing, so that’s important to me. Visual is really important. I don’t think there’s enough importance placed on visuals in a lot of new movies. Lighting is important in effect. Lighting can create an effect in your mind when you look at it, so it’s a lot of that.

Rather than doing a tour, Glenn, Misfits shows are happening more selectively. Why is it important to you to keep them standalone events?

Well, I don’t tour anymore anyway. Maybe I’ll put together like a week or two shows here on the West Coast, or maybe on the East Coast and that’s it. With the Misfits thing, we just kinda got back together and just decided we’d do it here or there, and just not make it a grind kinda tour. We just want to make each event special. We’re not gonna do many more. I know we just announced Seattle and Denver, but I’m pretty sure there’s not gonna be many more of them.

So people should see it while they can because, I know, next year I go out with Danzig again for Europe and may do some dates here in the States. I gotta do a Danzig Sings Elvis thing – select shows maybe around the country. Those will be more special. There’s no seating. It’s all tables. It’s gonna be a very cool kind of old school vibe. This year I’ve got some time off in between working on the movie, so we decided to do a couple extra shows. Then, that’ll be it I think for a while.

The Misfits were a part of the second wave of punk back in New York City. What’s different about the way people react to those songs now?

I don’t know. Our shows were pretty violent. You said we were part of the second wave, and I didn’t really know what to call it. It was fast and it was angry, and it was violent, and people didn’t know what to call it. So, eventually it became called hardcore, and then a lot of people started lifting stuff that we had done. So, I think if it wasn’t for those bands, you wouldn’t have speed metal for sure. I know I’m right. I don’t think I’m right. I know I’m right.

We touched on the Elvis covers. The album is due out later this year, correct?

Yeah, in the fall.

Can you talk about what impact Elvis made on you as a kid, and how it still effects you now?

Yeah, I’m still a big Elvis fan. I still like discovering Elvis stuff I haven’t heard before cause he recorded so much, and then all the outtakes that they released now on his label are great. I don’t have a screechy high metal voice. I have a deeper voice. So the stuff that I like listening to a lot of times was that kinda stuff. I’ve said it before, but after seeing Jailhouse Rock when I cut school, ’cause school was boring for me. I’d just stay home and watch movies. I saw Jailhouse Rock, and I was like, that’s what I wanna do. It ended up working out okay.

So that was the defining moment?

Yeah, that was where I was like this is what I wanna do. If I could do something like this, that’ll be cool.

So the album is coming out later this year and then you said that the tour or few dates would happen early next year?

Yeah, not gonna do a tour. We’ll probably do like L.A. or San Francisco, or New York, or maybe we’ll go to Austin or maybe we’ll go to Houston or something like that. I’m not gonna hop on a bus and do a bunch of Elvis dates. It’s not gonna happen, you know.

That’ll make it more special.

Yeah, so we’ll probably do Vegas, for sure, and that’s what I have slated for 2020 is Danzig going to Europe, and some of these Danzig Elvis shows here and there and working on this next film. So, I don’t think there’ll be much time for any OG Misfits shows.

So get out to those shows until there are no more.

And you never know … look how crazy the world is right now. It’s just so …

What are you getting at Glenn, are you getting morbid about life?

I’m not morbid about it. If it happens, it happens. I just live my life every day and enjoy it.

I like that, but you are right. We all could die two weeks from now.

Just in the last year, so many crazy things with people I know and things that have happened. It’s like you never know what’s gonna happen tomorrow, so enjoy today.

Those are words to live by. Positive words to live by, just unexpected.

Is it positive? Yeah.

It is. I think it is. Live your life, enjoy it, you don’t know how long you’ve got left.

Yeah, get off the computer and go out and experience the real world.

Speaking of computers, I have to say, if it wasn’t possible for me to love Glenn Danzig any more, but now I do because he has a flip phone and that brings it all full circle and I just love that.

Yeah, the phone tracking, and listening in and everything and all the hacking. I don’t need it. I don’t really want the flip phone. I don’t want people to get in touch with me when I’m out and about.

What if you’re out and about and your car breaks down?

Well, probably, your cell phone’s not gonna work in the middle of the desert anyway. [laughs]

Also, what if you’re someplace and you need an excuse to have to go and you call your friend and say, “Hey make the call so I can get out of here?”

I don’t do that. I just say, “I’m getting out of here, bye.” [laughs]

Glenn, your career continues to be extremely prolific. What’s been the biggest sacrifice you’ve made to be able to do everything that you’ve done?

A personal life.

You don’t feel like you have one?

Not as much as I would like to. I mean, I’m always working and always doing stuff. It’s a lot of responsibility sometimes.

Do you say, “OK I’m only going to work until 11PM tonight.” Or when you feel inspired, you just …

No, part of that. When I get inspired I’ll do it until I am exhausted. But other times I’ll know I have to do stuff and I make sure I will get it done. If something good is happening, I’ll just drop and just burn the candle and finish it later.

Do you find yourself having to cancel plans a lot because you’re inspired and you don’t want to stop what you’re doing?

Sometimes, yeah.

That’s a good excuse. Who can say, “But Glenn, you promised”?

I explain it to them and if they understand, great. And if they don’t, then that’s life.

Get out and see these shows because you might not live long enough to see if they happen again. [laughs]

Thanks to Glenn Danzig for the interview. Keep an eye out for the ‘Danzig Sings Elvis’ album coming this fall and stay tuned for future ‘Verotika’ screenings following its recent Cinepocalypse premiere. As for the Misfits, get ticket info on their Los Angeles, Denver and Seattle stops here, and stay up to date on all Glenn Danzig’s happenings here. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie’s weekend show here. 

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