#very very excited to dive back into it tomorrow and FINALLY pick the right row of tears to erase with the crest

[incaseofspace]

Started playing In Stars and Time by @insertdisc5 and emerged eight hours and seven timeloops later, with five physical pages of notes & maps, having not made it to the king even once. 10/10 game.

[raindownforme]

“I love you” in Comic Sans (pt2!)

Charlie Slimecicle x reader [they/them used](CW: slightly sexist content)

Schlatt shoved y/n through the door way. The first person they looked for was Charlie, who was staring at them with wide eyes.

Of course Charlie was angry; he was angry and worried and quite honestly pissed off! Only moments ago Traves and Cooper had run in to tell him that Schlatt was holding y/n outside the front door. He had wanted so desperately to go out there and whisk them away from whatever Schlatt was planning, but before he could actualise a thought process they had both stumbled through the door. Watching y/n stand there, dressed to marry him, he felt his heart leave his chest and soar high up above him. The hood resting gently on their head and the cape swirling around their feet was pretty of course, but the second they made eye contact with Charlie, y/n smiled so wide that he felt invincible. He stood at the altar, watching as someone handed them the bouquet of flowers. He watched as they smiled, staring at the bright blue cornflowers, then smiling back to him. They mouth thank you and he felt his face burn bright pink.

He heard Schlatt mutter “come on” and shove y/n forward. As Schlatt slowly walked them towards the altar, Charlie felt anger boil from deep inside of himself. He saw Schlatt continue to whisper in their ear, and after what felt like ages (even though it was probably ten seconds) y/n and Schlatt now stood across from him at the altar.

“Thank you Schlatt, that will be all from you.” Ted did his best to excuse the man from the scene, but he didn’t seem to want to let go without a final word.

Schlatt turned to Charlie, poison dripping from each word. “Every bit as real as you think this is, the day this is over is the same day I put a bounty on both of your heads.”

Everyone watched as Schlatt walked towards the back few rows of the church and took the seat next to Connor.

Ted cleared his throat. “Dearly beloved, we have gathered here today....”

Charlie zoned out as Ted continued the speech. He stared at y/n, who kept glancing between either Ted or their conjoined hands. Charlie looked down at their hands, too. Ever so gently, he ran his thumb over the back of their hand, smiling to himself. y/n squeezed his hand and he looked back up to them. They silently mouthed to him, this is real.

Charlie smiled, unsure of how to feel. Off of basic instinct he was elated. The idea that the person he was in love with wanted to marry him set his soul on fire, but knowing that all of this was just political confused him. They must mean real for Schlatt, right? Real for him? Because Charlie was convinced there was no way this would be real like he wanted it to be real.

“Do you have rings?” Ted’s voice cut through Charlie’s thoughts and he came to the quick realization of-

“Oh my god I forgot the rings.” Charlie huffed in frustration. “I am so sorry-“

“Hey it’s okay. We’ll go get some tomorrow. We can pick out ones we like. Together.” y/n smiled at Charlie and then looked back to Ted. “We have no rings.”

Ted nodded, a small smirk on his face. “Any vows then?”

“Oh I’ve got this one covered.” Charlie let go of y/n to reach into his breast pocket and pull out a set of hot pink flash cards. “Here watch this.”

Charlie made a gesture to clear his throat and y/n let out a laugh. “Oh god I might divorce you now.”

Charlie laughed, adjusting his glasses a bit before diving into the speech. “y/n, I’ve only known you for probably a year. Maybe two. But I know that I can say with all of my heart that I will love you through thick and thin, especially through the slime of it all. But I love you and I’m excited to spend my life with you.”

He slipped away the cards to see y/n stifling a laugh. He went to grab their hand and they did their best to swallow the smile. “Alright. My turn. Uhm. Unfortunately, I didn’t have anything special prepared like you but I can tell you that every single day you find some way to make me smile and every single day I seem to find some way to make you smile. And putting together everything I know, that makes me feel like you are who I am supposed to spend the rest of my life with, which is such a relief because I love you so, so much Charlie.”

The couple stared at each other, smiling, until Ted brought them back to the ceremony. He held out a small book and a quill dipped in blue ink. “With no objections, would you both please sign this?”

y/n went to sign the certificate in the book first, ending with a swirly flourish. Charlie signed the line underneath, but his looked closer to chicken scratch.

Ted closed the book and held it with both hands. “I pronounce you two, married!”

Charlie wrapped his arms around y/n’s waist, expecting a hug, but instead they grabbed his face and kissed him. Charlie could feel them smiling against his lips and he felt like fire works. He felt like sparks were running under his skin from everywhere they were touching; the hands on his cheeks, their lips against his, his hands against their back. He picked them up, arms still around their waist and spun them in a circle.

y/n stopped kissing Charlie to laugh and bury their face in the crook of his neck, but they didn’t want to. When they kissed Charlie it felt electrifying. It felt whole, like something that had been missing.

Charlie pulled apart from them, still keeping hands on their waist, still smiling wide enough to make sure his face hurt for the rest of the week. “Hey,” he whispered just loud enough for y/n and Ted to hear. “If we give Ted those flowers we can take the book and book it.”

y/n giggled and nodded. They quickly exchanged the items with Ted. And then, hand in hand, the two ran down the aisles of the church and out into the open air.

———

Three weeks had passed since the wedding. In that time, they’d been able to move all of y/n’s stuff to a new house buried in a forested hill. Their house and home garden were well-hidden, but even if something were to happen, Charlie’s home was a three-minute horse ride away.

It had only taken a week to dig out the hill side and build the house, but even after that Charlie had offered to stay with y/n to make sure they felt safe. So for the past three weeks, Charlie had spent every waking day and night at y/n’s house, save for the very few times he had something to attend to.

Today was one of those days. It was late in the afternoon. The sun was about to set, so y/n waited patiently next to the window until their husband came home. It wasn’t unusual for Charlie to be more late than he had originally said. The boy got distracted quite often, whether it was some antics one of his friends had gotten stuck in or something new someone made. But y/n still couldn’t help the anxious feeling that itched beneath their skin.

They sat in their obsessive thoughts for a while longer before they heard the familiar knock at the door. He always knocked the same way, and he would wait for y/n to knock the same way back, which they happily ran to the door to do, then they turned the deadbolt.

Charlie burst through the door, holding his arms out wide as if he were addressing a large crowd. “Hey!”

“Hey! Why are you breathing so hard?”

“Oh. Right.” Charlie shut the door behind himself and set a box from his back pocket on the table near the door. “Well I was in town and I’m not sure who it was but someone built the coolest thing! It’s this big planet and there’s a ring around it like that one planet-“

“Saturn?”

“-yeah Saturn! Which Is why I ran here to tell you because I had the perfect thing to say.”

Charlie opened the box he had set down earlier and pulled out two smaller black velvet boxes. y/n gasped, trying not to hold their breath. “Charlie, what is this?”

“I told you I’d get you a ring! And now you can be saturn! Or we could be Saturn!” Charlie opened the small box and inside was a simple silver band ring engraved with twisting vines and cornflowers to decorate the outside, but on the inside of the band, the wedding date was engraved in comic sans. y/n laughed at the gift, taking it out of the box and slipping it onto their ring finger. Somehow, it fit perfectly. Charlie started explaining something, but all y/n could focus on was not crying. They were gently snapped back into focus when Charlie placed his hand gently on their face and brushed their cheek with his thumb. “Are you okay? You look like you’re crying.”

“Yeah. No I’m fine.”

“Is it the ring? Because I can return them if you want. You don’t even have to pay me back.”

“Charlie its not the rings-“

“Is it something I can fix? At least tell me that-“

“Charlie I love you.” He released his hold on their face and stared in shock. “I’ve been in love with you forever now. That’s why I didn’t want to marry you. I knew you’d be too good of a guy and you’d make it so much harder to not say anything but I’m really worried now that whenever you leave me to marry someone else it’s going to kill me.” Charlie stared at y/n softly. They glanced to see the ring sitting in the box in his other hand and they groaned. “I just embarrassed myself didn’t I?”

“No, y/n-“

“No it’s okay I know you were being nice but you can leave-“

Charlie, with one hand against their cheek and the other wrapped around their waist, pulled y/n in for a kiss. His glasses pushed against their brow and they gasped before they could appropriately react, but Charlie melted at the feeling of y/n smiling against him and the fire works going off under his skin, and y/n smiled as the electricity raced through them.

Charlie pulled the two of them apart, but still rested his forehead against y/n’s. “When you kissed me, it was like fireworks went off everywhere. I wanted to do it every single day. I want to hold your hand every single day, and come home to you at night, and tell you about the wild shit I find in town, and maybe start a store or something so we don’t go broke, and I want to wake up with you. And I want to do all those things because I have loved you for so long. So when you told me it was real I was ecstatic. And you telling me this now makes me happier than I was then.”

“Charlie?”

“Yes?”

“I want the store with you. And the hand holding. And the coming home at night. And everything else you said.”

“Good. Now can you actually tell me if you like the rings? Because you didn’t before.”

y/n laughed, pulling Charlie into a full hug. “Did it have to be comic sans?”

He mumbled intoto the crook of their neck. “I love you too.”

————

Tags: @rosefreckles06 @short-potato

[jumpship90]

wip whenever

cheers for the tag @damejudyhench. This (quite long) excerpt is kind of cheating because it’s actually being removed from my next chapter (and just referred to briefly by Jaq instead) but here is something from Felix’s POV as he attempts to watch a tossball match and is instead distracted by having to convince Jaq to go for it with Phineas.

I think most people have been tagged but just in case, tagging in @antoncrane @lamiahypnosia and @saltunafish

“I call shotgun on the shower!” Felix yelled, bounding up the stairs of the Unreliable two at a time.

The boss made an irritable noise but they didn’t argue and he heard the familiar sound of the captain’s chair creaking as they settled into it. They were probably going to contact the Doc anyway, he thought. They usually did whenever they returned from a mission.

They’d been on Monarch almost a week, beating back the bandits who were attacking the supply routes and delaying the rations making it out from Stellar Bay to rest of the settlements. It had been heavy going, but with the support of the Iconoclasts they had eventually cleared the route. Felix had hoped they’d have been due some sort of reward on return to the city but instead Jaq had spent several hours in meetings with Mr Nandi and Zora, and rather than hang around listening to them talk politics he had drifted over to Left Field to catch up on the tossball league. There were games on tonight he didn’t want to miss.

He stripped off rapidly and dove under the showerhead before the water had finished warming up. He shivered and puffed out his cheeks, working to scrub the marauder blood from his skin. The pressure wasn’t as good as he’d gotten used to on the Hope but it would suffice in washing out the stains and the smell of sulphur from his hair.

By the time the steam had started to rise in the bathroom and obscure the mirror, he was done and out, wrapping himself in a thread-bare towel before darting down the corridor with soggy feet. SAM would get to the puddles before Jaq was done chatting, he could still hear their voice echoing up from the cockpit, and very faintly in the background, the familiar laugh of Doc Welles.

He was glad to be back aboard the Unreliable but Felix did miss the Hope, more than he’d expected. At first he’d been disappointed when Jaq had told him he was staying behind and missing out on the adventures they were having but he’d discovered it was actually pretty good fun getting to rebuild the abandoned facility and help out with experiments. That and it was nice hanging with the younger lab techs and watching tossball with them.

Oh, shit! If he was quick he might catch the end of the Hammers game before Rangers v Backers kicked off.

Felix bounded down the hallway and into the mess, snagging a case of zero-gees from the fridge and a bag of spacer-chips. It sounded like Jaq was still finishing up their conversation so he flicked on the aetherwave and flopped down on the sofa.

It was nearing the end of the first quarter when Jaq finally emerged from their room. They dropped down beside him and Felix passed them a bottle of zero-gee that had grown lukewarm in the time it had taken them to freshen up.

“Everything ok with the Doc?”

He sure hoped so. The old man was surprisingly fun to be around, always ushering Felix over when he had a cool new chemical to show him or something really weird happened with an experiment. And Phineas never made him feel stupid, even when he had to ask for the super long science words to be explained. The Doc would get all excited and break it down for him so he could understand and Felix was starting to get a grasp on some of the processes that went on in the lab.

“Yeah, he’s fine,” Jaq replied taking a long swig on their drink. “One of the door mechanisms had jammed in the crew quarters and apparently the team of four bio-chemists he sent to fix it couldn’t figure out the wiring.”

Yeah, Felix could imagine that all too well. In his time aboard the Hope he’d discovered half those lab-coated so-called geniuses couldn’t figure out how to build a bunk or salvage the workable bits from an old air-scrubber.

Jaq snorted and took another swig. “Anyway, Phin wanted me to talk him through the electrics whilst he had the panel open. He’s fixed it now.”

“That’s good. He’ll be disappointed he missed the Hammer’s game though.”

Jaq gave him a confused look.

“Phin watches tossball? I thought he hated it,” they said, as a crunching tackle sent a chorus of cheers up from the crowd watching in the stands and Felix punched the air.

He reached for the chips and stuffed down a handful before nodding. “I’ve been teaching him the rules. He seemed real surprised how much maths is involved. I never really thought of it like that, but anyway, he’s kinda starting to get the plays. I think.”

“Huh. And he supports the Hammers?”

Felix frowned. “Well, yeah, obviously. I said he had to pick a team and he asked who your team was and I said you backed the Hammers but that was a real bad choice because their twenty-eighth back has been injured all season and they don’t have a good defensive play and – oh come on, ref!”

The replay showed the towering Rizzo’s fifth back hurling the Backers forward off the ball.

“Anyway. I did warn him but I guess it makes sense he’d pick them, to avoid rows and stuff. I mean, I could never date anyone who didn’t support the Rangers. No offense, boss.”

There was a sudden spluttering noise from beside him and when Felix finally dragged his eyes away from the aetherwave Jaq was wiping frothy suds from their mouth with a damp sleeve. They gave another cough before taking a tentative sip.

“We’re not . . . dating,” they said eventually and Felix didn’t miss the red glow to the back of their neck.

“Oh, really?” That didn’t make any sense. “But you talk over the secure transmission all the time and he’s always real happy afterward, like bobbing around the lab and humming and stuff.” Felix scratched his head and turned back to the game in time to see a two man tackle go in on a forward who’d begun a promising darting run at goal. He winced as the player hit the deck with a thud picked up clearly by the mics.

“Really?”

Jaq didn’t seem to be paying attention to the game and Felix really wanted to concentrate on it but they were being kind of weird so he nodded. “Yeah, and he talks about you all the time. It’s always, ‘Jaq did this’ and ‘Jaq said that’ and ‘Jaq’s a big hero.’”

It was kind of fun actually. Phineas always wanted to hear all the cool adventures the crew had been on and he never seemed to get tired of Felix talking about what life used to be like aboard the Unreliable. He’d always listen intently and chuckle at things or ask questions about the boss and the others. Well, mostly the boss, now he really thought about it.

“You really aren’t . . . like . . . a thing? But didn’t he stay in your bed that time?” he asked with a grimace. He liked the two of them and it was nice to think they might be happy together but he really, really didn’t want to think about them smashing asteroids. Gross.

Jaq’s neck was about as red as a landing beacon at this point and Felix decided it was best not to look in their direction.

“I told you before, the camp bed is uncomfortable,” they muttered.

Felix shrugged and went in for another handful of chips. Jaq really didn’t seem interested in the food and they’d finished their beer but were still picking at the label on the empty bottle, swilling the last of the dregs.

“So, you think . . ?

The Rangers’ forward pack were beating their way through the Wednesday zone now, repelling backs left right and centre. He fidgeted in his seat, gripping the edge of the sofa as they battered through the last defensive line on the way to the goal . . .

“You think he might be interested in me?”

Felix whooped, diving out of his seat and spraying crumbs across the floor. “What a shot!”

He punched the air, grinning with elation before dropping back onto the sofa. Jaq didn’t seem very excited about the goal.

“Sure, boss. Trust me, I’ve watched loads of serials, I know what a proper romance looks like.”

Felix drained the last of his zero-gee whilst the teams set up for the restart. If Rangers kept this up then he would be collecting his winnings from Left Field tomorrow morning before they got back to work. He was contemplating whether he might be able to afford a new souvenir jersey when a sudden thought occurred to him.

“Wait, hang on,” he said, turning to Jaq who was staring into space. “If you and the Doc weren’t busy raising profits that night then Ellie owes me 20 bits!”

[lizartgurl]

"The Little Atlantean" (Kaldur x OC)

(part one) (part two) (part three) (part four) (part five) (part six) (part seven) (part eight) (part nine) PART TEN

Tula was glad that Princess Emma appreciated the water. That gave her and La'gaan a chance to catch up with Garth and play matchmaker for Kaldur.

Emma rowed the boat out to the middle of the hidden lagoon, separated from the beach by the hills that were so tall they were almost mountains. The moon shone on the still waters, disturbed only by their little boat. "My parents used to take me and Richard out here when we were little. It's private and quiet. No one else has ever found it."

Kaldur dipped his hand in the water. It was cool and soothing. He made the sign to Emma again.

"Yes," she said, her eyes not leaving him, "Yes it is."

"Why haven't they kissed yet?" La'gaan whined. "Kaldur's only got one more sunset!"

"She doesn't even know his name," Tula sighed.

"And how is she supposed to? He sold his voice for a pair of dunt legs!" That was still a sore spot for Garth. Of course he would be more upset over Kaldur losing his voice than he was the possibility of Kaldur losing his soul. Tula loved her cousin dearly, he was her closest friend. She wouldn't be able to bear it if she lost him to the Ocean Master.

If it came down to that, Tula would be willing to trade her life for his.

Garth's constant complaining gave Vulko an idea. "That's it! What they need's a serenade! A little romantic music!"

"I appreciate the sentiment, Vulko, but I am completely without my orchestra at the moment." Garth huffed.

Vulko had no intention of using Garth's traditional orchestra. He flew over to a branch sticking out over the lagoon and began to sing. Loudly, and very, very poorly.

Tula and La'gaan dove under the water, but that only amplified the noise. 

Garth had enough of everyone else botching things up more than they already were. Vulko's attempts to help made poor Kaldur cringe, and Emma was ready to turn around and go home. Back to her legion of nosy, noisy siblings, and back to that chef that was fully intent on chopping him up and serving him to the royal family. He'd much prefer to stay away from the palace as long as possible. 

A sudden breeze picked up, humming through the reeds at the lagoon's edge, and several of the lagoon natives- some turtles and ducks- peered out to see what was causing the ruckus this late.

Garth got an idea.

Thinking quickly, he scurried up the tree and clamped his claw over Vulko's beak.

"Please. We've got to create the right mood." He snapped off a nearby twig and tapped it on the branch to make sure it was sturdy enough.

Kaldur and Emma had both relaxed now that the screeching had been silenced, but they were still far from any romantic mood.

Garth hopped down to a log and waved the ducks and turtles forward. "Percussion?" He whispered. 

The turtles had been watching the strange sea creatures since they arrived, and were eager to help. They offered their shells to the ducks, who began to create a smooth beat.

"Strings!" Garth invited the crickets to join. As they began humming along, Garth snapped off the tops of some of the reds, whistling in the wind. Now this was something he could help with.

Emma rested her oars as the sounds of night began to replace the cacophony. "You know," she twisted the fabric of her skirt in her hands, "I feel really bad that I don't know your name," she chuckled lamely.

"Thank you," Tula whispered, surfacing behind some lilypads as Garth continued to lead his makeshift orchestra.

"Let me try and see if I can guess it," She leaned back on her bench, tapping her cheek.  "Is it Malcolm?"

He involuntarily made a face, and Emma had to laugh.

"Okay not that, not that," she held up her hands in surrender, "What about Bartholomew?"

He shook his head.

"Garfield?" Kaldur thought she was purposely guessing terrible names just for his reactions.

"Kaldur, his name is Kaldur!" Tula's tail splashed loudly.

Emma looked around, searching for what had made the sound, but Tula had dived again. "Kaldur?" She asked.

Surprised, he nodded, leaning forward.

"Kaldur," Emma repeated, "That's a beautiful name."

Kaldur smiled. He had been named after his father.

"Okay," Emma took his hand, leaning forward to meet him, "Kaldur."

Garth held his breath. The music of nature began to swell from his excited motions. Kaldur and Princess Emma were moving closer together. Their eyes met, and their lips were nearly touching. Vulko opened his mouth to sing again, but Garth clamped it shut.

And then the boat tipped over.

Emma and Kaldur splashed into the water. Kaldur wanted desperately to cry out her name, would he be able to pull Emma back to the surface again if they started to drown?

"Kaldur!" Emma grabbed him by the shoulder. He looked up. She was standing on the water.

"Don't worry, it's shallow here," Kaldur latched onto her arm and let her pull him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked. "I have no idea how it happened, but it was probably my fault. Now where are those oars?" Emma splashed about, searching for the oars around the overturned boat. Garth's little orchestra had scattered. The moment was over. Soaking wet, the two rowed back to shore.

-

Stephanie burst into laughter as they entered the ballroom, dripping muddy lagoon water on the otherwise pristinely clean marble floor. The blue banners were strung through the room, and the lily vases stood on either side of the columns. It looked perfect.

"I thought I told you to stay safe?" Duke teased.

"We did! We just decided to go for a swim instead." Emma jutted out her chin.

Talia sighed and took two of the leftover banners, wrapping one around each of them in an attempt to dry them off somewhat. 

"Alfred is still watching the twins. Richard? Would you and Jason be so kind as to help our friend back to his rooms?"

"It's Kaldur," Emma said as Talia spun her towards the ballroom doors.

"How'd you find out his name?" Mara asked.

Emma shrugged, "I guessed."

Kaldur nodded.

"Very well then. Boys, take- Kaldur, was it?- To his rooms please." Talia hurried Emma out of the Ballroom, whispering to her urgently.

"We fell out of the rowboat and into the lagoon," Emma said, "Nothing scandalous, I promise."

"Good." Talia said.

"I mean, even if there was, with the way you've been throwing us at each other I would have thought you wouldn't mind-"

"Emma!" Talia scolded, "Tomorrow you will be queen. I have encouraged your friendship with Kaldur because I thought it would make you happy and cement your claim as Queen, not break it to pieces!"

"If you doubt me that much, why not let Bella be queen? Or wait for Damian to be old enough? That's obviously what your father would prefer."

Talia's lips thinned. "My father is not the king of Gotham, Emma. And I hope that he never will be. The last thing I want to do is give him that opportunity. I will not let Damian and Athanasia be manipulated the way I was."

"But it's okay for me, because I'm not your blood daughter, right?"

"Emma," Talia shut the door to Emma's suite and gripped her shoulder, "You could tell right away what Ra's was up to. You had Bruce to teach you and to look up to. Damian and Athanasia will have none of that."

Talia had Emma sit on the bed with her. "Bruce adopted you, rather than simply take you on as a ward, because he knew you could be a great queen. He wanted you to be Queen of Gotham after him. You are stubborn, you are passionate, and you are kind. You won't let yourself be told what to do or how to do it by anyone, even Bruce or myself."

Emma's throat was tight as Talia spoke of Bruce. As she thought of everything he had taught her, from self-defense to courtly politics. 

"I miss him." She finally whispered.

Talia hugged her, wet dress and all. "I do as well, my dear.

"He wanted nothing but the best for you. We both do."

Emma's voice caught in her throat as she thought back over her day. "Talia?"

"Hmm?" Talia sat back, brushing Emma's hair back behind her ear.

Emma took a deep breath. "I think I am in love with Kaldur."

-

Cassandra sat on the bed in front of Kaldur, holding up her fist.

"That's an 'A'." Mara said. She and Kaldur copied the symbols that Cass made with her hands, slowly leading Kaldur through the signs to spell out his name. Cass nodded with a small smile as he succeeded.

Tim sat on the chair, still reading his book. Though the boys had been the ones asked to help Kaldur to his room, with nothing else to do, the girls soon followed. Usually they would all help each other prepare for bed, but since Talia and Emma were having a lengthy mother-daughter heart-to-heart, they settled for the next most exciting thing. Duke and Richard helped Kaldur place all the trinkets they had purchased from the market around the room, whether hanging the suncatcher in the window or folding the scarf in the drawer. 

"It's a lot of fun having you here, Kal. Can I call you Kal?" Stephanie asked, stretching across Cass's lap like a cat. She didn't look for an answer. 

The door swung open, and Talia swept into the room like a hurricane. 

"Bedtime, my dears. I need to speak with Kaldur. Alone."

Though reluctant, the children left one by one. Kaldur stood, and bowed to greet the Queen Mother.

"How was your day, Kaldur? I trust you enjoyed your time with Emma?"

Kaldur nodded, unable to conceal his smile. Talia smiled in return.

"I am certain you know that Emma will be crowned Queen tomorrow, and with that comes certain...responsibilities."

Kaldur's legs felt like jelly. He didn't like where this was going.

Talia stopped at the window, and looked down into the gardens. She gave a soft chuckle, and then noticed the suncatcher.

"My husband gave me one of these when we began courting," she said softly, losing her train of thought.

She saw Kaldur watching her intently, and cleared her throat. 

"Emma will be queen. Her father and I made sure of that. The only thing we cannot ensure is that her claim to the throne will stay secure, or that she will have the support that she needs when we are no longer here to help her."

She looked at Kaldur with a sadness he did not understand. 

"I have to know, if I allow you to court Emma, that you will be prepared for the pressures of ruling the Kingdom of Gotham. That you will commit to stay by her side for better or worse."

Kaldur's heart began to beat so fast that he lost track of the individual beats. He tried to take deep breaths and clear his mind. Cassandra and Mara had begun to teach him signs, but nothing that would clearly communicate "I am a prince of Atlantis. I have been training for this since birth. And I will go to the ends of the seven seas to make sure that Queen Emma has the support that she needs."

He gestured to the window, pointing out at the water.

"The sea?" Talia asked, not quite understanding. 

Kaldur shook his head, and pointed again.

"Across the sea?" Talia had helped raise eleven children. She could be patient with Kaldur for ten minutes.

Kaldur looked around the room for anything else he could use to explain himself. He pointed to the crown carved in the back of the chair Tim had coveted, and to his own head.

Talia's eyes went wide. "You are a Prince?" She gasped. Her eyes darted back out the window, "your kingdom must be across the sea."

Not quite what he was going for, but he'd take it. At last he saw what Talia had been watching outside. Emma was in the garden below, wrapped in a cloak, pacing back and forth.

Talia placed a hand on his shoulder, "She will be fine, she is simply nervous for tomorrow. But it will bring her great joy to know that you would like to court her."

Kaldur's heart soared. He still had one more sunset.

He would be able to stay human forever.

[fromstraykids]

trust | school series 9

characters: you x minhyun

summary: awkward moments with a quiet Minhyun

quote: “what are we?”

warning(s): mentions of alcohol

school series: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 

9:30 am – cafeteria

Hwang Minhyun was not the type to smile a lot. At least, not around you. You weren’t sure how you even became friends with the quiet boy. If it weren’t for your friends, you weren’t sure if you would even be near him. He sat across from you at the cafeteria table as you studied for your calculus exam tomorrow.

“Eat.” A plate of food replaces your book as you look up and see Jonghyun’s smiling face. He takes a seat next to you as your other friends shuffle in, finished from their morning classes. You thank him quietly, moving your book off the table.

“So,” your friend begins, “Spring break is next month, where should we plan our trip?”

“Oh!” Daniel speaks up. “We should go to Paju.”

“We went there for winter break, already.” your other friend complains.

“What about Jeju?” you ask. 

“Jeju does have nice beaches,” Jonghyun states.

“And their meat tastes amazing, or so what I’ve heard,” your other friend speaks up. 

“Jeju, it is then.” The whole time, you noticed Minhyun kept quiet and you nudged your foot against his, making him look up.

“Do you agree with where we’re going?” you ask. He gives you a nonchalant look.

“Sure.” And that was the end of your conversation with Minhyun.

7:00 am – beginning of spring break

Your whole morning consisted of you dragging yourself out of bed to get ready and head to the airport. You waited outside your dorm and got a text after a couple of minutes.

woke up late! minhyun will drive you to the airport instead! – jonghyun

As you finished reading the text, a white mid-sized car pulls up on the curb and the window slides down. It was Minhyun. He gets out of the car and takes your luggage from your hand, placing it neatly next to his navy blue suitcase. He was dressed as if he had a runway to walk right after he picked you up, opposed to your sweatpants and hoodie combination. 

“I wasn’t sure if you liked coffee, so I got you an iced tea instead, is that alright?” Minhyun asks when you get into the car. That’s when you notice the cup of melting iced tea in the cup holder. 

“Yeah, I’m probably going to be sleeping on the plane, so coffee is probably what I don’t need,” you reply, taking a sip of the sweet tea. The ride to the airport was silent before Minhyun switched on the radio. 

“They’re probably going to get here later, so let’s just check in first and we could meet them at the gate,” Minhyun says as he takes the suitcases out of the trunk. You sling your backpack onto your back as you enter the airport and find your airline. Minhyun follows behind you as you stand in line. He tells you to go first when you reach the kiosk.

“I just got a text from Daniel and he said that they’re running late because Jaehwan didn’t wake up early enough, so I guess we’ll go through security first,” Minhyun explains, putting his phone in his back pocket. Your tickets print out and you checked the seating. He was seated at 12A while you sat at 12B. What a coincidence. 

When you two finally get through security, he offers to buy you a drink since the all the airplane gives is a small cup. There was plenty of time to wait since your flight was at 9:30 and it was only 8:00. Before you knew it, Minhyun came back with a cup of green tea latte and a cup of iced americano, along with two cinnamon muffins. 

“Just in case we get hungry,” Minhyun explains as he hands you the green tea latte. Soon, your friends arrive one by one as you wait for the plane to arrive.

Finally, your flight is called and you all began to board. Unfortunately, there was a lot of people on your flight, which resulted in you waiting in a long line. However, you did finally reach your seat, but you weren’t tall enough to place your suitcase in the overhead bin.

“I got it,” a voice says, taking your luggage and placing it next to his navy blue one. Minhyun takes his window seat and you sit in the seat next to him. Luckily, all six of you managed to all sat in the 17th row. When the plane begins to fly, you take out your earbuds and try to sleep in the one hour of flying.

Halfway through the flight, you unknowingly leaned your head on Minhyun’s shoulder, making the boy stiffen in shock as he tries his best to get you off his shoulder without waking you up. However, he fails and your head was on his shoulder for the rest of the flight.

“We’re here.” Someone taps your shoulder and you wake up, not knowing about what you did during the flight. You groggily stretched and checked your phone. It was only 10:00 am, but you felt like going to the hotel and sleeping for the rest of the day. Minhyun helps you take your suitcase from the overhead bin as you exit.

10:14 am – Jeju

As the six of you begin to feel less tired from the plane ride, you all start to get excited and started to plan your night activities.

“Night market,” your friend suggests.

“Clubbing!” Daniel suggests. 

“We should do that tomorrow night,” Minhyun says from the backseat. Daniel pouts in reply. 

“I say we go to the beach,” you suggest. The others agree as Jonghyun drives into the hotel. 

The hotel you guys stayed in was your regular beach resort, an ocean view seen from every window. You split into three rooms of two and you roomed with your friend. 

As night falls, you all head to the beach, feeling the sea breeze in your hair. As the boys dived into the ocean, you and your friends stayed back, walking along the shoreline. 

“y/n!” you hear a voice shout your name before a splash of water overcomes you. You felt yourself being pushed into the water as others join in, splashing each other. 

When the sun sets, all of you headed back to the hotel with wet clothes and sandy feet. And with that, your first day at Jeju was gone.

8:46 pm – club

Minhyun doesn’t drink. That was the first thing you noticed when Daniel began to pour the shots. Instead, Minhyun had a can of soda in the place of the soju.

“To spring break!” Daniel cheers, holding up his shot glass with you all following, except for Minhyun. 

You wouldn’t say you had a high alcohol tolerance, no, you started to be tipsy by the third glass. Your friends told you to stop before you could be full on drunk, but you opposed.

“One more glass,” you plead, already pouring the cheap soju into your shot glass and drinking it in one go. You feel yourself getting more energized as you headed to the dance floor, catching sight of Minhyun at the other side at of the club and you grabbed his wrist. He looks at you with confused eyes before you lean in, grabbing his cheeks as you kiss him. And that was the last thing you remembered from that night.

9:57 am – hotel room

The sun glares at you through the curtains, making you turn away. You open your eyes slightly and catch sight of your jacket on the floor of the room. You panicked, immediately checking if you had your clothes on — and thankfully, you did. But who’s room was this? It was definitely way too neat to call it yours.

“You’re finally awake.” A voice interrupts your internal conversation as your turn around, catching sight of Minhyun sitting on top of the desk. You groan quietly, wondering what in the world you did last night. “You know, alcohol isn’t very good for you,” he scolds. 

You were having a full on hangover and he was lecturing you about drinking too much alcohol? 

“Anyways, all of them are pretty hungover now, so I guess you have some time before they wake up. But,” you noticed the top few buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned, making you cringe again, “if you want, you can stay here until you feel better.”

He seemed pretty sober, probably because he didn’t drink last night. Oh man, that means he knew what you did last night. “We didn’t do anything last night, right?” you ask.

“If you don’t count the making out part or the part where you almost ripped off the buttons on my shirt, then no, we didn’t do anything. At least not anything you might regret,” he explains. He hops off the desk and grabs a pile of room keys. “I made you some tea that’s on top of the fridge and I asked the housekeeping for an extra bathrobe, so make sure to drink the tea and take a shower. I’ll be back after I check in the others.” He waves goodbye as you groan into your pillow. At least nothing bad happened, right?

12:00 pm — your hotel room

“You want me to what?” you ask again, making sure you were hearing right. You had already left Minhyun’s room and went back to yours after you began to feel better.

“Can you please switch with Daniel?” your friend pleads again.

“I heard that part but who’s he rooming with again?”

“Minhyun.” You sigh, why must life be so complicated? You wonder if Minhyun was going through the same thing.

The next thing you knew you were dragging your luggage into the room two doors down, lightly tapping the door. Minhyun opens the door, letting you in. The room was the same as it was this morning, neat and clean. That was a thing you noticed about Minhyun, he was probably the most organized and clean person you have known.

“So I guess we’re sharing a bed together now,” he says awkwardly, avoiding your eyes.

“I guess so.” It was only four more days before the trip ended and you hoped things wouldn’t become even more awkward.

9:02 pm – night

Night falls sooner than you expected and after you all went to the beach to watch the sunset again, and you were begging to get some sleep. After taking your shower, you immediately crawled into bed, shutting your eyes. You heard the bathroom door being quietly shut before the lights were turned off, feeling a dip in the bed as Minhyun takes the other side. Soon, soft snores erupted from him and you couldn’t help but turn around. He slept so peacefully and you wondered how he could fall asleep so fast. Soon, you felt your eyes drooping as you drifted into sleep.

When you awoke, you felt a hand on your waist and caught sight of Minhyun’s still sleeping face. Unable to bring yourself to wake him up, you pretended to sleep until you felt his arm quickly leaving your waist, leaving you feeling empty. He sighs deeply before turning around and facing the other direction. You took this as the cue to wake up.

“You’re awake already?” you ask, faking a yawn. He nods, a blush unable to leave his face. A lock of hair falls into his eyes and before he could react, you slightly push the strands of hair away, fingers lightly grazing his soft forehead. He blushes again as he gets up from the bed, saying something about having to take a shower.

10:56 pm

The next night, you managed to make a conversation with him. He told you about his fears and aspirations, and soon, you felt your eyes closing. You didn’t mean to, you just had a really tiring day walking around and his voice just lulls you to sleep. He noticed your closed eyes and reached to turn off the lamp. He wondered if you could hear the sound of his heart beating as he, too, drifts off into a deep slumber.

When you wake up, you were inches from his face and admired his features up close. Once again, his arm was slung over your waist, pulling you closer to him.

You decided to visit the beach again that night, walking along the shore as waves washed up on your feet. The others were doing their own thing — clubbing, drinking, going to parks, or eating at a nearby restaurant, but you wanted to visit the beach again since it was just so beautiful. When will you ever visit this place again? You take a seat close to the shore, pulling your knees to your body as you watch the dipping sun. You felt another person next to you and saw that it was Minhyun.

“I guess we both liked the beach,” he says as he watched the sunset.

“It’s quite beautiful, isn’t it?” You turn towards him. Your lips curve into a smile as he fixes his eyes on your lips, leaning closer. 

“But not as beautiful as you.” You met him halfway as he caresses your cheek, softly kissing you until you both have to gasp for air. The short moment left your light headed as he smiles at you and this time you initiated the kiss, wrapping your arms around his neck and his arms around your waist as the sun slowly leaves the beach.

8:49 am

“Good morning,” he chirps when you open your eyes. His lips curve into a bright smile as he pulls you closer and pecks your lips softly. You pull away as you get up from the bed.

“It’s our last day already,” you pout as he slowly pulls you back into the bed, ruffling your hair.

“Our spring break might have ended, but our relationship has more days to come.” You smile as he kisses your forehead.

7:06 pm – a week after spring break ends

You wanted to hope that you’d be with Minhyun more after the trip. But he would always be saying that he was busy and was never in his dorm.

Jaehwan texts you, notifying you that Minhyun was his room tonight as you get into the elevator and pressed the floor above you. You knock on the door lightly and enter.

“We need to talk.” Jaehwan takes this as a sign to leaves and exits the room with his guitar.

“Hey, y/n. What do you want to talk about?” he asks, his eyes not leaving the textbook in front of him.

“Us.”

“What about us?”

“‘What about us?’ Did you forget what happened in Jeju?” He stays quiet. “We kissed. But that wasn’t all. You said that we were in a relationship but after we came back, you’ve been with your textbook more than you’ve been with me.”

Minhyun closes his textbook. “y/n–”

“So what are we? Were we just a spring break fling? Did you actually mean it when you said that you wanted to be in a relationship with me? Just tell me so that I won’t be spending my night wondering if we’re dating or not.”

“We weren’t just a fling, I promise. I meant everything I said, y/n, trust me.”

“Make me trust you. Because I don’t believe a word you’re saying.” He stands up, taking bold steps at you as you back up until your back is on the door.

He rests his arm over your head, leaning down closely. “I know I haven’t been communicative as much as I should, trust me. I know. But I’m not lying when I say that I am in love with you. Even before Jeju. Please trust me.” You snake your arms around his waist as you pull him into a hug, him kissing the crown of your head softly.

“I trust you.”

9:45 am – a few months later

“Eat.” A plate of food enters your line of sight as you put down the notebook you were studying from. Minhyun gestures to the plate as he takes a seat across from you. “So how’s your day going?”

You take a bite of food as your answer. “Great, my literature professor just bumped by 89% to an A, so that’s the highlight of my day.” You notice Minhyun leaning on his palm as he stared at you with a smile on his face.

“What? Is there any food on my face?” You hand reaches up to feel your face before he shakes his head.

“Nothing. Just admiring your beauty because you’re so pretty,” he remarks. You blush at his compliment. 

Dating Minhyun was going to be great.

[wrestlinghasmelike-blog]

Monday Night Raw Review- February 26th, 2018: First Half

Oh hey wow I’m back so soon. Raw is finally on for the West Coast, thank god. Let’s see if the Raw after Chamber starts setting up for Mania at all, or if it’s a flop, like that Roman win last night.

Please let me know your thoughts on the show, and your thoughts on this review. Any type of feedback is welcomed. Thanks for checking out the blog. Please read and share!

Ronda Rousey Recap

So Raw opened with a recap of what happened with the Ronda signing last night at Chamber. I’ve said my thoughts on the Rousey situation already, but to sum it up, I hate it. It looks as though the segment from last night is going to possibly set up a tag match with Kurt Angle and Ronda Rousey against Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. Interesting, and thank god she’s not going to be in a title match.

Alexa Bliss with Mickie James

Michael Cole made it clear that at Wrestlemania it will be Alexa vs. Asuka for the Women’s championship, and that it will not be a triple threat after Nia lost to Asuka last night.

Alexa and Mickie James are in the ring now, and Alexa is recapping her victory from the chamber match last night. Alexa is owning the goddess thing and her in-ring promos are phenomenal. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bad Alexa promo, except for that “This is Your Life” thing she did a little bit ago. Alexa was there to give props to Mickie, and to also shit on everyone else in the match. 

Alexa called out Asuka and how that even though she beat Nia last night, Asuka is going to lose at Mania. I mean, Asuka’s going to win at Mania, there’s no doubt about it, but Alexa is selling this so well. Alexa set up for an attack from Nia, but after being able to knock out Mickie and Alexa, she is able to lock in an arm bar on Nia. Bayley and Sasha came down to the ring to help out Asuka. Alexa, Mickie, and Nia decided they were done, and they headed backstage. A pretty good opening, I wonder if this will turn into a match?

6 Woman Tag Team Match- Alexa, Mickie, and Nia vs. Bayley, Asuka, and Sasha

I knew this was going to be a match. Another tag team match for the women.

Bayley and Mickie start out the match, so does this signify a heel turn for Mickie? Mickie knocks Bayley down and tags in Nia, who keeps up the attack on Bayley. Alexa gets tagged in and throws Bayley into the corner and kicks her until the ref pulls her away. Bayley was able to slip past Alexa and throw her in the corner and deliver some kicks of her own. 

Bayley drags Alexa into her team’s corner, and Sasha slaps Bayley on the back to tag herself into the match. Corey Graves is mad at Sasha for her treatment of Bayley as of late, and this is why Corey is the best commentator right now. Corey gets so into it, and he’s validating my own dislike of Sasha. Sasha tries to bridge pin Alexa, and they both end up out of the ring, which allows Nia to knock Sasha down. Sasha’s head bounced off the mats, and the show cut to commercial as a fan yells “WHY ARE YOU SUCH A BAD FRIEND?!” Hilarious.

The show returns and Sasha is trapped in Nia’s grasp. Sasha is being isolated by Nia’s team, which is a smart strategy because Sasha is probably the best out of her team. Mickie gets tagged in and she traps Sasha in a lock as well. Alexa in the match now and she stomps on Sasha’s head. Alexa hits Asuka, which allowed Sasha to catch her breath and get away from Alexa. Sasha tries to tag in Bayley, but Bayley ducks out of Sasha’s tag, much to the excitement of the crowd! Mickie gets tagged in, and so does Asuka. Bayley comes back into the match to help Asuka, NOT SASHA, and Alexa gets a Bayley to Belly, which will allow Asuka to get Mickie to tap out to an armbar. Coachman is not happy with Bayley’s diss on Sasha, but it adds drama and I’m all for that.

John Cena

John Cena suuuucckkkkssss. He’s probably in a low place right now after his loss last night, but we have yet to see if the rumors about Cena and Taker are true. That’s the only thing that I imagine Cena doing at this point. He used his proposal card last year at Mania. What else could he do?

An emotional Cena tonight as he admits he failed. He says he felt “demoralized” being put on Raw Talk after chamber last night. He was sad to have to speak on the mic, but WWE posted videos of other members from the chamber speaking about the match, so John can shut up now.

John said he only felt sorry for himself for 5 minutes after Raw Talk, and that he’s more determined now than ever. John admits that this is his own fault, and that’s very brave of John to say, and I think that his statement on failure is relatable and a good message.

John called out the Undertaker. He got the crowd excited about it, and he called Taker out. 

And then he said the match is not going to happen, that the match is “too impossible” to make happen. John doesn’t make the matches, and he wanted the crowd to feel that disappointment. Good move, John. He also announced that he will be at Smackdown tomorrow night to search for an opportunity to fight at Mania.

Bray Wyatt vs. Heath Slater

This is what we would call a squash match, and a waste of time. Bray immediately attacked Rhyno and knocked him out, then he took Slater out. Bray grabbed a microphone and instantly blamed Matt Hardy for the destruction he caused. The crowd badly wants Matt to come out, but it doesn’t look like he’s going to show. Bray calls for another match between him and Matt. As long as no beach balls are involved, this is fine with me. 

The Miz

Who’s going to face Miz for the IC title at Mania? More importantly, is Miz going to make Mania before his baby is born? In a recent interview, the Miz said he wasn’t going to miss the birth of his child, he just wouldn’t. It raises the question that if Miz’s baby is born, does the WWE have a backup plan for the IC title at Mania?

MIz is heated tonight after his loss in the chamber last night. He’s mad that he lost, he’s mad he doesn’t have any new merch yet, he’s mad at Kurt for giving Seth and Finn an opportunity last night, and he’s mad at pretty much everything else. The Miz has been around for a while, and he deserves more respect. He’s a great wrestler and I think he’s just amazing. I want him to be in a bigger picture. 

Miz brings up a good point in his tantrum. He has made the IC title more relevant in the past year than Brock has with the Universal title. It’s very true, actually. Miz has done more with his title than Brock has done with “his”. Miz asks who will be his opponent tonight, and it’s none other than Burning Pants himself, Seth Rollins.

The Miz vs. Seth Rollins

Could Seth and Miz face off at Mania? I hope not because Finn deserves this spot, but Seth does as well. I’m gonna call for a triple threat at Mania for the title now, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Seth and Miz lock up in the corner, and Seth charges towards Miz with a hard shoulder to pick up the pace of the match. Seth knocks Miz out of the ring and tries to suicide dive on Miz and his crew, but they all run away. Bo Dallas runs an interference and Miz knocks Seth off the apron, and he bounces off the barricade. Miz drags Seth back in and goes for the pin, but Seth kicks out at two. 

Knee to the mid-section on Seth, and Miz has taken control of the match. The It kicks nail Seth right in the chest, and he’s selling them so well it’s great. Seth ducks and rolls Miz up, but he kicks out at two. Seth and Miz exchange chops, and Miz takes the momentum away from Seth and vaults him over the ropes to take a breather. Commercial.

Seth and Miz are both back in the ring when the show comes back, and Rollins is rallying after being knocked down by the Miz. Seth hits a huge blockbuster on Miz from the top rope and tries to pin, but Miz kicks out at two. Seth goes back to the top rope, but Miz rolls out of the way and plants Seth with a DDT, and Seth kicks out at two.

Seth is trapped in the corner of the ring, and Miz delivers two awesome dropkicks in a row to Seth and then nails him with an elbow. Miz tries for a top rope move, but Seth knocks him down and wants to hit Miz with a superplex. They end up going through with the plex and into the falcon arrow, one of my new favorite moves, and Miz is able to kick out at two. 

The Miztourage tried to get involved again, but Seth was able to not get distracted and tries again for the suicide dive, and he nails it this time. Seth and Miz are back in the ring, and SETH HITS THIS GREAT FROG SPLASH ON MIZ WHO WAS ALL THE WAY ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RING!! Seth with a nice win.

AND SETH CAN’T ENJOY HIS MOMENT BECAUSE MY BOY HAS TAKEN IT FROM HIM. 

FINN BALOR IS HERE

That’ll do it for the first half of the show! What does Finn have in mind now? What will happen between Roman and Brock? Check out my review for the next half of the show to find out!

Casey

[xoleahbeanxo]

Figurine of Memory

Okay, so my wife’s birthday is tomorrow and I decided to write her a story. Now she hasn’t had a chance to sit down and read it yet because she’s been so busy today. But I wanted to post it on here anyway because I hope that she’s scrolling along and see it and remembers that I wrote it for her LOL. Anyway, I posted it below the cut. I’m not going to post tags just yet because I want her to be surprised. Anyway, if you do read it, don’t spoil it for her.

           Hateno was beautiful this time of year. The rustling of the leaves in the cool breeze reminded him of the ocean. He’d frequented so many times since he became king. There was comfort to be had there, memories that weren’t so easily forgotten. A soothing touch of when he was younger lingered in the warm sand and salty air.

The young king spared himself a moment to glimpse back there. To the time of the blonde champion in the cornflower colored tunic snatching crabs straight from the water and dropping then right into the pot to cook. The hero had such peculiar mannerisms that were so much a part of him that even when he saw another do them in passing, he remembered the hero as plain as day. Whether they shared love or maybe it was just youthful infatuation, it didn’t matter. All that did was the time they spent together was real and some of the finest memories the young king possessed.

“Your highness?”

“He said ‘I’ll see you tomorrow’, I’m sure of it?” The young king whispered the statement as more of a question.

“What was that, Sidon?”

It wasn’t until that moment that king Sidon even realized he said anything at all. He spared a glance to the slender Rito that sat nearby. She’d since finished strumming her lute and sat forward.

“Oh, Cree,” The king smiled sheepishly. “It was nothing, some light musing from the past.”

“You were thinking about him again, weren’t you?” Cree got up from where she sat and delicately adjusted her tail feathers.

“You know me so well.”

“No, but I do know my father and he often times had that look about him when he remembered the hero.” Cree snickered and ran a feathered finger along her black hooked beak. “When I met him, I was but a chick. But he left quite the impression on me. He had a way of getting things done.”

“Very inspiring, I know.” Sidon smiled so wide that it showed both rows of spiked teeth.

“He’s the reason I became guardian of the village. I figured if he could do the impossible, if he could take down Calamity Ganon, then I should, at the very least, be able to keep safe what he worked so hard to free for my people.” There was a determination in her voice that made Sidon happy, yet sad at the same time.

“When you became a guard, your father was so proud of you.” Sidon’s smile was chased away fully this time. “I miss him so,”

“As do I. My father was a great Rito and one of the best mentors I could ever have.” Just then her azure feathers ruffled all around. “The wind is picking up! Here he comes.”

Sidon was on his feet in a second, grabbing a shimmering silver-scale trident. The handle was wrapped tight in a springy black fabric.

“Same plan as last year?” Cree asked.

“No, that was way too dangerous.”

“Yes but even as I was pulled from the water, I never doubted you for a second.”

“You’re too reckless.”

“So was he and you never would have stayed his hand.” Cree’s sharp eyes glanced beyond the tall king. “Besides, we’re out of time.”

Sidon snapped around to see the snout of a great green dragon coming over the rise. The wind started whipping around them, nearly freezing Sidon’s moist skin and ruffling Cree’s feathers. They shared a look and before Sidon could talk her out of it, she opened her wings and let the updraft carry her into the sky.

“Reckless!” Sidon yelled up to her with a laugh in his voice.

He immediately dove into the water, angling himself towards the great falls. The head of the trident cut through the waters, his legs worked to propel him forward. He didn’t look up, he didn’t have too. He knew all too well that Cree was already hard at work on her part of the plan.

And she was. Cree teetered back and forth on the uneven gusts of wind but she never lost sight of her goal. The shimmering golden horn of the great green dragon, Faron, called to her but first she’d have to dodge the glowing electrical current that was coming in fast, faster than last year, almost too fast. One passed by so closely that it ruffled her cheek feather with static. Another bolt was moving in faster than she liked.

           Sidon hit the bottom of the falls and propelled himself up the current so fast that he felt his body streamline like an oversized raindrop and then he was free, air born like that of his friend’s daughter and for a brief moment they were as one of the same species.

           Cree could hear the silly, yet telltale laughter of her friend as he gracefully tumbled into a roll before stretching out with his trident held aloft. Suddenly, all the electric bolts jetted out towards the shimmering metal head of Sidon’s weapon. While the head of the trident absorbed the electric current, the rubber wrapping kept him from being electrocuted and even more importantly kept Cree from being electrocuted as well.

           Sidon rolled again, this time he held the Trident back and flung it as hard as he could so that it stuck in the ground like a lightening bolt. It was followed by a loud snap of thunder that barely covered up the young king’s joyous laughter.

Lastly, he did one final roll into a dive to the water below. “Now, Cree!” He called to her.

Cree scoffed at his bravado and did her own acrobatics. With a quick barrel roll, she slipped her bow from her back and knocked an arrow. Once it snapped free from the string, it gleamed in the sunlight. Cree could hear the soft ting of the pronged metal striking its target as it did last year, as it did every year since she’d promised her father that she would take up the tradition he’d leave behind. The shard broke free of the horn and fell.

Cree did a slow flip, tucking her bow into the holder on her back before entering into a steep dive towards the glowing shard.

“Pull up, you fool!” Sidon called up to her but she ignored him.

The shard was nearly in her feathered hand and she wasn’t about to let it slip away now. By the time she caught it, she was falling more than flying and correcting herself only managed to hurt more than slow her down. The gaping mouth of the basin opened to her and was quickly reaching up for her. Cree attempted one final time to slow herself down, if it worked, she’d not noticed. Just then, she remembered what Sidon had told her once, a long time ago.

“When diving into water, make yourself into an arrow. That way no harm shall come to you.”

Thus she did. She put both of her clawed feet together and straightened her whole body out with her hands gripping the shard above her head. She snatched a quick breath and felt the icy water envelop her as she sunk down.

The force from which she struck the water numbed her toes and racked her leg with a dull ache. It forced the air from her lungs the deeper she plummeted. The world around her was black but she was not afraid. She knew, just as last year, she’d be safe. Cree felt a strong arm wrap around her, just above her hips. The force of King Sidon’s swimming folded her over him and soon she was free of the water and he gently laid her on the grass next to the pool.

“You’re absolutely insane, you know that?” Sidon was nearly on top of her.

Sidon’s hands gripped her shoulders as he shook her. Water sloshed out from between the folds in her feathers. It dripped down her face and rolled off of her beak. When she looked at him, his face was bent in a smile but his eyes overflowed with concern.

Cree started to laugh and gave his stomach a gentle punch. “You worry too much, old boy. I’m fine.”

“You might not have been!” Sidon gasped at her dismissive attitude.

“I knew you had me, I’ve never lost faith in you and I never will.”

Sidon pulled her close, placing a kiss on her beak. Her blue eyes went wide for a moment but softened. She let the shard slip from her hand to settle in her lap as she touched his chest. The kiss lingered for only a moment longer until they parted, Sidon pressed his face to hers.

“I’ve loved and lost him as I’ve loved and lost my sister, my father too. My sweet Kass and my wife were taken all too soon.” Sidon sighed. “I cannot lose you too.”

Cree’s face softened as she caressed a feathered finger down the center of his chest. “I’m not going anywhere, my sweet. One day soon I’ll make that trip to Zora domain and be so charmed that I’ll never leave. Then we’ll be together forever. Until that day, I will always enjoy these traditions, our meetings, and our time spent together.”

Sidon smiled widely, his eyes misty from the thoughts that plagued him. “Yes, perhaps I hold too tightly to past.”

“You do but that just one of the many things I love about you. Though my life is a fraction of yours, even in my passing, I know I’ll never be forgotten.” Cree wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Never.”

The two lingered on the shore together for the better part of the day. Cree let her feathers dry in the warm sun, while Sidon swam around recounting tales of Kass, the champion, and even a few of his sister’s misadventures. Never did Cree lose her smile as she listen to him ramble on. If anything, her heart fluttered a time or two at the glisten that came to his eyes when he was engulfed by excitement at the memories he shared.

When the sun painted the sky orange and dusk was upon them. Cree passed the shard of Faron’s horn to him and kissed his cheek.

“Same time next year then?” She looked back at him from over her shoulder.

“Yes,” Sidon followed with another step or two behind her, much like puppy wanting just one more second of her attention. “May I see you before then?”

“Of course,” Cree giggled. “I’ll send a messenger of when and where we can meet again.”

“Maybe then, I can show you my collection!”

“I’d love that.”

Cree knew that if she stayed even a moment longer, she’d never leave. So, before another word could be spoken, she took to the sky, flying off towards the setting sun to the west. Sidon watched her until she was no longer in sight. He returned to the water for the lonely swim home.

             When Sidon reached the cool domain of his home, it was late. Only the guards were still awake to greet him. They knew just by the soft glowing sight of the shard, what he’d been up too. That day, after all, was the King’s only holiday. They greeted him with a nod which he returned in kind.

Sidon wasted no time heading to his workshop and getting to work on his task. He unrolled his tool kit out on the marble table. He plucked a few of the delicate silver-scale tools free of the treated leather and started to work on the horn shard. He already had a vision in his mind of what he wanted to carve. He always did.

As delicate as a leaf falling upon the surface of the water, his fingers new how to shape and form the hard material perfectly. Each piece he carved was precisely accurate to who it was to represent and there was no questioning the likeness.

The muscles in his arms ached. His fingers stung from the thousands of tiny cuts that always came from working with the delicate tools and the strong material. As always, he felt none of once he finished the masterpiece. He held in his hand a lounging figure of Cree while she played her lute. It was so lifelike that even Sidon could feel the warmth of the smile on her beak.

Carefully he set the figuring on the shelf above his work station in its own little niche. When he stepped back he looked at all the figures he carved over the years. There were easily several dozen of them, enough that he lost count. Each one different, special in their own ways and each were carved from shards from Faron’s horn.

There was one of Mipha binding his skinned knee when he was young. Then there was one of his father, the king, teaching him how to throw a spear when he was younger. One for Revali, the guardian who taught him that confidence was something to be proud of and not shy away from. Then there were the statues of the ever lovable Kass, who went on to the great winds in the sky.

Sidon paused on the ever stoic hero. There were several figures of him in different outfits, masterfully using the many weapons from his arsenal. The sight of his figure caused the young king’s heart to ache. For the loss of the hero was different than the others. He’d just disappeared into the folds of time and space, never to be seen again.

There were several figurines of his wife that he’d carved over the course of time that they’d known each other. Her loss was still the freshest in his mind. A birth illness that was passed down from her mother and her mother’s mother made their blood line burn furiously but dim so fast. It was a fate he accepted when they first kissed and though he was sad now, he would not trade those years he’d spent with her. For without her, there would never be…

“Dad?”

Sidon’s misty eyes cleared almost instantly from the sound of a lad’s voice. He wheeled around and saw a small dark purple Zora leaning against the door frame. He was rubbing his crystal blue eyes before belting out a long yawn.

“Link!” Sidon chuckled. “You’re up early.”

“Early, dad? It’s near mid-morning.” The boy’s eyes went to the figurines placed in the wall. “Wow, you have toys too?”

Sidon loosed a big belly laugh. “No, no these are not toys. These are…memories of all those that I’ve love.”

“Really!?”

“Yes, see, here’s one of you.” Sidon pointed to the small figurine of his boy, holding up a fishing pole with a fish dangling from the line.

“That’s when I caught my first fish,” The boy rested his hand on the shelf in front of it.

“It’s one of my happiest memories.”

“Who’s this?” Link looked at the Rito statue next to his.

“That’s Cree, she’s my…friend.”

“She’s awfully pretty.” The young Zora gave his dad a smile that mirrored one of his own.

“She is and I care for her very much.” Sidon thumbed his chin nonchalantly.

“Can I meet her?”

“Someday I suppose.”

“Wow, who is that?!” The boy’s eyes found the figurine of the hero in mid spin attack.

Sidon snickered and rubbed the back of his neck. “That, my boy, is the hero of Hyrule. He’s my dearest…friend and the one who you earned your namesake from.”

“I’m named after him?”

Sidon nodded. “Because when I look at you, I see the same fire in your eyes as I saw in his.”

“He looks so neat!”

“He was, my son.”

“Was? What happened to him?” The boy looked up at his father and cocked his head.

“Well, one day,” Sidon thought for a moment as to how he should respond. “He was summoned to a land far away from ours, maybe even another time.”

“Why?” Link’s eyes went wide.

“To help them right the wrongs that had been thrust upon them by wicked men or women.” Sidon felt his heart start to pound as if he could almost see the hero clad in blue, maybe green or even red this time, fighting off Ganon for the safety of all in the land.

“Will he win, dad?”

“Oh yes, because there’s nothing that can keep Link down. You see, he will rally all of his allies to his side and we will see him to victory no matter the cost.” Sidon chuckled.

“Me too?”

“Certainly, my boy.”

“Then I want to be just like him when I grow up.” The boy pumped his fist and smiled wide.

“That’s my boy. Come, training will start immediately.” Sidon swept the boy up in his arms and raced out of the room. “We shall be the guardians of Hyrule and shall never fear from calamity, Ganon or otherwise.”

[thorne93]

Decisions, Decisions (Part 5)

Prompt: Imagine Tom Hiddleston has a crush on you and he is feeling jealous of James McAvoy on “The Graham Norton Show” because James talks about how great the chemistry was between you, his co-star, and him in your latest film.

Warnings: language, sexual content, adult content…?

Word Count: 5007

Note: Beta’d by @like-a-bag-of-potatoes​ - This fic would NOT be possible without you, and @amarvelouswritings​ - who let me badger the hell out of her. Thank you both a million! Used @theartofimagining13​ imagine

Also, some of the timelines are going to be off in this, to make stuff fit, and James’ wife and child are nonexistent - nothing against them, just easier to write if he didn’t have an ex wife and child. Texts are in italics

Tags: @wordacadabra   @frenchfrostpudding @lisssays @cocosierra94  @staceycasey123 @lucianightwolker @tacohead13

~~~~~~~~~~

Friday night you went to a few stores for some dresses. You found one thing you liked, and you reserved it for the “other” dress. But for the main dress to go to the premiere with Tom, you needed something dazzling. You spoke with Trish, your stylist, and asked her if she could work with Versace on a design you had in mind. She said she would work on it.

Tom was texting and calling quite frequently, sending you two more bouquets of flowers with another poem on each card. The calls became more familiar, a little more flirty, and you sent him a new watch to his hotel and some chocolates - since you knew they were his guilty pleasure.

James had contacted you a few times but he had a couple of interviews related to Split coming out soon so he was rather busy. But in a way it was good because you were able to spend more time and attention on Tom - that was a good thing, right? You weren’t so sure, you were already in so deep with both of these men, you didn’t need to have the decision be any harder than it was.

The premiere was tonight, Tuesday night and you were getting ready while Skyping with Ida.

“How is life going, secret agent?” she asked with a laugh.

“It’s good,” you answered as you grabbed the Versace gown that was one of a kind, pulling it out and grabbing the matching accessories Trish had picked for you.

“So….do they know yet?”

“No,” you said shrugging, taking your tablet into the bathroom while you curled your hair at your vanity and began applying makeup in your cute Victoria’s Secret robe that you got while being a guest model on the annual fashion show.

“But haven’t they seen the tabloids?”

“Yes, and I told them it was just dinner.”

“So you lied,” she surmised.

“No. We did have dinner.”

She sighed. “Alright. I can see you aren’t going to be honest with them.”

“Ida, how can I? If I come out and say ‘I’m dating both of you because I don’t know who I like more’, they are going to make the decision for me and I don’t want that. Let’s get of this topic please. How is the article coming?”

“I meet with MTV in an hour. So far so good. I got some good material from Guns n Roses.”

“Nice. I bet that was fun. Where are you, anyway?”

“For today and tomorrow I’m in New Orleans.”

“Cool. Have I shown you the gown?” you questioned.

“You haven’t! Let me see, let me see!” she demanded excitedly. You opened the garment bag and showed her the red velvet long sleeve dress that had a neckline that plunged with diamond strings between the cleavage, and opened on the sides with more rows of diamonds and a slit that was only knee high.

“My god, woman, you’re going to give poor Tom a heart attack in that!” she exclaimed, admiring the dress.

“You think?” you questioned, unsure.

“Oh yeah. Those are going to show off the girls very nicely. You’re going to be stunning! I can’t wait to see all of the shots of you two together. Oh, how are you going to keep this a secret from James?”

You shrugged as you put the dress back up and finished with your make up. “If he asks about it, I’ll just say Tom asked me to come as a friend. You really needn’t worry about this,” you said.

She threw up her hands in a surrender. “Alright, alright. I’ll leave it be. I’m just jealous, I suppose,” she informed and stuck her tongue out. “Oh, I gotta go. Have fun! Lots of love!”

“Bye, sweetie.” You hung up the call and finished getting ready. You slid the dress on, put on the black velvet peep toe pumps to match, a diamond choker and matching earrings, grabbed your satin clutch and went to the kitchen to wait on your date. You were actually early for once.

James texted you.

“Just thinking about you, hoping you’re having a good night.”

“I am,” you responded, a smile coming across your face, as his words sunk in. “And you?”

“It would be better if I was with you.”

“You’ll see me on set tomorrow,” you reminded, ignoring how that comment made you feel.

“Not soon enough. Can I see you tonight?”

“I already have plans. I’m sorry. What about tomorrow night?”

“Aye aye, mate, that will work. See you tomorrow then.”

“au revoir pour le moment”

The doorbell rang and you happily skipped over to it.

“Tom!” you greeted, throwing the door open.

“Mademoiselle,” he greeted with a wide grin. “You look absolutely stunning. I see your stylist put my money to good use,” he remarked.

“This is actually a custom design I made,” you informed.

“Oh? It becomes you. It’s rather...daring,” he noted with a gulp.

You shrugged delicately. “Yes, well when you’re this good looking, why hide it all?”

“Indeed. Shall we?” he offered, gesturing to a car waiting for us.

“Absolutely.” You grabbed your clutch from the counter and locked the front door. You two got inside the luxury sedan and headed on your way to the premiere.

“Are you excited?” you asked.

“I’m nervous, to be frank. I always feel uneasy seeing films I’m in for the first time.”

“Why is that?”

“I feel like I’m my worst critic. I feel like I will critique every little thing I do.”

“And do you?” you wondered.

“Most of the time no, but then I do and I sit there wondering if everyone else noticed the blunder as well.”

You shook your head with a gentle laugh. “Tom, you’re a wonderful actor. Everyone loves you, and hell even if you have one miniscule facial cue that was off, so what? The directors and producers must’ve liked it,” you said. “I know you and I know how hard you work and how good you are, don't let anyone persuade you differently.”

“That’s very sweet,” he said before suddenly leaning in to kiss you, taking you by surprise, but to be honest, kissing him felt amazing after not seeing him for so long. When he pulled away from the loving kiss, he was still rather close. In a low voice, he said,  “Thank you for accompanying me, I know you’re busy.”

“Oh please, I’m happy to come. I’m just blessed you chose me over about a million women who would kill for this opportunity.”

Tilting your head up with his fingers on your chin, he looked into your eyes and said, “Yes, but they aren’t you.” He planted a few more kisses on your ruby red lips before pulling himself away. “I’m sorry, if we keep going we’ll smudge your makeup, and we can’t have that.”

You cleared your throat, just then realizing your arousal. “Mmm, no we can't have that.”

Finally, you made it to the premiere and you joined the line of cars that was letting celebrities out onto the teal carpet.

“You ready?” you asked, trying to get Tom spirited for his debut.

“So long as you’re by my side,” he breathed, gazing at you with that lost-in-the-moment look. He was swimming in your eyes and you couldn’t help but dive right into his grey-blues, the moment was cut short as Tom’s door was opened and he was greeted by Luke, Tom’s agent.

Luke bent down and leaned his head in. “Hey, Tom, you can go ahead. Oh, hey Y/N, how are you?” He waved slightly at you.

You smiled warmly at him. “I’m fine, Luke, how have you been?”

“I’m on my toes with this one here,” he informed, gesturing to Tom. “You look amazing.”

“Thank you. So do you. New suit?”

“Why yes it is.” He looked up and then bent back down. “Okay, it’s your turn.”

Tom climbed out then helped you out, immediately the flashes from dozens of cameras were blinding you. You never understood how the other celebs didn’t get dizzy as hell with all the flashing and shouting and chaos. People were calling to Tom for questions about Kong, Thor, other projects, and you… To dodge the question about you, he simply said you were there as a friend, thankfully. You hadn’t discussed the whole “Do we confirm or deny us dating?” PR bullshit yet, and the general rule in Hollywood was - if you haven’t discussed it, you deny it. The last thing anyone wanted in this business was for their secret lover to be outed when they didn’t want to be.

You took several photos together as Tom had his hand on your waist and your hand around his. While Tom was being asked about his films, you were pulled by a few people to ask about Juxtaposition and Renegades, the one you just got signed onto. Tom stepped away from you only a few times when he was asked to photograph with Sam and Brie. Brie and you complimented each other’s dresses and hugged, promising to talk after the movie.  

After what seemed like a million questions, hugs, familiar faces, new faces, autographs, photos, you made it to the end of the teal carpet and into the theater where you sat with Tom, Brie, Sam, John, and then all around you were the directors, producers, and editing team. The movie was absolutely incredible and you leaned over and whispered little compliments to Tom each time his acting was so on point you wanted to just scream. As much as you were an actress, you were a huge fan of films. You couldn't help but forget you knew half of these people as they transformed into their roles. It’s a stunning and surreal experience to say the least.

Once the film was done, you were lead to a private room for the after party which was huge. Music was playing songs from the soundtrack of the movie, so many guests were already dancing, colleagues of the trade were greeting each other, a few photos were being snapped. You and Tom walked in and soon Brie found you two.

“There you are, hey guys!” she greeted, coming up and hugging each of you. “Y/N, I haven’t seen you in like a year. How are you? I hear you’re working on...Juxtaposition, is that right?”

“Yep,” you replied nodding. “I’m fine. You did wonderfully, by the way! Excellent work in Kong.”

“Oh,” she said lightly, waving you off. “He’s the real star, the stud on your arm,” she insisted, motioning to Tom standing next to you who was blushing now.

Tom smiled and offered, “I’ll go get us some drinks. Brie, anything?”

“Champagne, please,” she requested kindly. She turned back to you as he left. “So, Tom, huh? Is it serious?”

“We don’t know yet,” you said honestly. “We’re just...going with it for now.” You shrugged as you both eyed him walking across the room.

“Well he’s an amazing man. He’d be a hard one to let go. Unless you’ve got someone on the side…” she insinuated.

Your eyes flickered to her and they said more than your words could.

“Gotcha, I’m not saying anything. Not my place to judge or say anything,” she said.

“Thank you,” you breathed. “And you? Anyone new?”

“Not that anyone knows about,” she informed with a devious expression.

“You scandalous girl, you,” you teased nudging her with your arm.

Tom came back with champagne for everyone.

“A toast,” you said, raising your glass. “To your successful, wonderfully acted, amazing movie, may it blockbust until the cows come home!” All of you laughing as you clinked glasses.

Brie excused herself as you and Tom sipped on your drinks for a few minutes, talking about the movie and your comments on it. He got pulled away by another director and said he would be right back. While you waited, you texted Ida about the movie and your night thus far.

You were so busy Tweeting, Facebooking, and checking Instagram, and being approached by a few other colleagues, that you hadn’t noticed Tom was gone for thirty minutes. Finally, he returned.

“I am so sorry about that, every chance I had to come back I got pulled another direction.”

“It’s fine,” you assured kindly, you knew just how that could happen at functions like these.

“Let me make it up to you. Would you care for a dance?”

“Yes, I’ve been dying to!” He grabbed your hand and led you to the dance floor. The song that was currently playing was rather upbeat and allowed you to dance almost a tango sort of a dance. You were dancing so well that a crowd began to form. Tom had several dancing lessons through his career and was an excellent partner and a terrific leader. Your feet swept across the dance floor as you glided. Somewhere in your bones you knew you two looked marvelous as the crowd of friends and stars watched you two move about the floor, making it your own. Too soon, the song ended but then it went into a perfect waltzing song and you thought you would squeal from delight. He took you in the proper frame and you began waltzing. Again, the crowd watched, mesmerized by every move you two made.

His hand in yours and his hand on your waist gave you a wave of butterflies as he led you across the floor, staring into your eyes and you staring back. The intimacy was so thick between you two it made your knees weak. If you didn’t know any better, you’d say this was a scene for a romance movie. The dancing continued for the rest of the evening, you knew your feet would be sore as all hell tomorrow, but you didn’t care.

The after party ended and some people were going to the “after-after parties” but Tom knew you had to work in the morning so you two piled into the car and set for your home.

It was quiet and dark in the car, the perfect atmosphere for you to play with his hands, lacing your fingers around his, tracing little patterns.

“I had a lot of fun tonight,” Tom informed in a low voice in your ear.

“Me too,” you said as you peered up through thick lashes. Like someone flicked on the electricity, the lust erupted between you two and Tom was leaning over you, his mouth on yours as your hands moved to his curls and pulled slightly on them, causing him to bite your lip as a sexy laugh escaped both of you. It took a hell of a lot of willpower to not practically jump him there in the backseat, so much so that you found yourself a few times slightly grinding in your seat. You continued to kiss, nip, bite until you were at your house.

Watching Tom on screen for Kong was incredibly sexy, and you just happened to be dating him. Needless to say, you had a scratch that needed itching after watching him handle a gun and be incredibly masculine.

Courage capturing you for a moment, you asked quietly, “Would you like to come inside?”

“I’d love to.”

He got out and helped you out and you lead him inside by his hand, a giant grin painted on your faces. As soon as the door closed, he grabbed your face in his hands and began kissing you heatedly as he pushed you against the door, his hips and arousal pressing against you, making you melt into his arms. You couldn’t help but pick your legs up suddenly and wrap them around his waist. This seemed to launch him into a full blown frenzy as he carried you like that to the bedroom and had his way with you. He was better than you’d ever imagined.

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

The next morning, you woke up earlier than your alarm, kissed Tom on his back, and went out and make coffee, a frittata and some homemade fruit waffles in your silk, short robe.

“Smells good,” Tom said, his boxers hanging low on his waist as he came into the kitchen, making that familiar throb appear between your legs.

“Thank you, it’s almost ready.”

“You looked damned sexy with after-sex hair, in nothing but a robe,” he complimented as he came up behind you while you cooked, rubbing all over your body. You got lost in the sensation quickly and turned around and started kissing him over and over again. He picked you up, turned off the stove, and put you on the counter and took you again, amazingly well. Your name on his lips sounded like heaven as he thrust into you until you both found release. As well for him, shouting “Tom” over and over, seemed to bring him closer each time you screamed it.

When you were done, you ran and got ready, eating quickly as you were dressing, Tom following suit. Your cars rolled up, ready to take you both to your destinations.

“I had a really great time last night,” you said as you walked out together into the cool morning air. “Thank you for the dresses, so much.”

“My pleasure. When can we see each other again?” he asked fervently.

You bit your lip. “I don’t know. I think filming is about to pick up some more. I’ll check my calendar and let you know, will that work?” None of that was a lie, thankfully. A lot of interviews were about to take place soon.

“Sure.” He smiled and kissed your forehead then climbed into his car as you made your way over to yours, ready to head to the set.

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

A little over a week had passed and Tom was keeping in contact most every day, sending sweet notes that made your day brighter, while James worked on set with you to make you laugh and feel sexy and vibrant and strong. They both ended up sending more gifts to your house. Tom sent a book, one of your favorite authors and it was a book you didn’t own yet. James sent you a locket with a note that said, “Fill it with memories to keep close to your heart.” He must’ve remembered you saying you missed your parents back home and how sometimes you felt a little homesick and lonely out here.

It seemed like life couldn’t get any more perfect, except now there was only one problem - who do you choose? You thought after the first two dates it would be easier, simple, but it wasn’t. They both possessed qualities that women craved in men, and more often than not, went above and beyond to make you feel special, not to mention you were attracted to both. This was supposed to be a quick experiment, two or three dates and then you’d leave one, but you found yourself unable to choose between your Brit and your Scot.

It was Friday and you had an show with Jimmy Kimmel and decided to wear the pink lacey dress that you bought with Tom’s generosity. It was cut short and made you look almost like a modern day princess, prim and proper.

When the show was over, you were in your hotel room, hoping to catch some sleep before your red-eye flight back to LA when James called.

“Hey, there,” he greeted, your favorite accent coming at you through the phone, immediately relieving you of all stress.

“Hey,” you greeted back softly.

“I saw the show. You were wonderful.”

“Yeah? You think?”

“Yeah, absolutely marvelous. The dress looked beautiful on you too, the pink really brought our your eyes.”

Without thinking, you replied, “Oh thanks, Tom bought it for me.” Shit. What did you just say?

“Tom, as in Tom Hiddleston?” he said carefully.

“Yeah,” you said innocently, trying to disbar any concern or suspicion, as you closed your eyes and you bit your lip.

A bit of silence passed on the phone as you anxiously awaited any response from him.

“I see. Are you sure there isn’t anything going on with him? He seems to be around a lot lately,” he said, a bit of annoyance in his voice.

“He’s just a friend,” you asserted and left it at that.

He laughed lightly on the other end of the line as he said, “I suppose I’m being a bit jealous, aren’t I? I’m sorry. Well it looks beautiful on you. Say, I was wondering if when you got back tomorrow if you’d like to run lines again?”

You chuckled seductively. “Run lines like we did last time where we got nothing done? Or run lines where we actually work?” you teased.

“We’ll see where the night takes us,” he flirted.

“Sounds like a plan to me.”

“See you when you get back, Y/N, I’ll be counting the minutes.”

“Au Revoir,” you quietly said.

“Bonsoir ma fleur de minuit,” he responded beautifully. From what you remembered of your gathered French, he just told you, “Goodnight, my midnight flower.”

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

Saturday night, you made dinner and set the table and told James that you had made food so you could focus on work rather than pigging out on junk food like last time. You got wine chilled, made a quiche, some roasted potatoes, and made a dark chocolate cake for dessert. One thing you really missed from Oklahoma was all the home cooking, all the big meals, the family events….

James knocked on the door precisely at 6 and you welcomed him happily. You ate food, thanking him for his gifts, telling him you missed him and he returned the warmth. He said he was happy to do those things, he complimented your cooking, and was happy to see you again as well.

“Well, should we get through some of this scene for Monday?” you offered.

“Let’s. And hopefully we can get through it this time without someone distracting me,” he chastised.

You both stood from the dining room table as you made your way into the living room with your glasses of wine.

“I distracted you?” you asked.

“Well, I wasn’t the one to bring up Narnia,” he mentioned, shrugging with a playful expression.

“You’re just lucky I didn’t put on X-Men,” you warned, sticking your tongue as he sat on your couch.

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

You blushed as you turned your head away to sit your wine down on the coffee table.

“I...I-uh...I sort of...Have a crush on your character,” you blurted out so fast and mumbled you weren’t sure if he heard you.

“What was that?” he demanded through a small bout of laughter as he leaned up, trying to look at you.

“I...Have a crush on your character,” you said again, but slower and less mumbled.

He laughed as he leaned back and clapped, throwing his head back. “Oh that’s amazing. So you have a mutant kink? Or is it purely a Chuck kink?”

You took a sofa pillow and hit him with it. “Shut up,” you warned with a tease. “Can we just read our lines?”

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry,” he offered, throwing his hands up in an apologetic manner. He grabbed his script book and you grabbed yours. At first it was easy to get into character and you both read the lines seriously for about forty five minutes, a few times over before you moved on, and suddenly it was the makeout and sex scene that you had yet to shoot. You’d done two makeout scenes so far but this was the final one between your characters.

“Oh, we can skip over this if you want,” you said, shrugging, a blush creeping into your face. “I don’t think we need to rehearse that if you don’t want to.”

You looked up from your script to see what he wanted to do and you would’ve sworn someone put him under a lust spell. He was eyeing you hungrily, his pupils dilated as he alternated between biting his lip and licking it.

Your mouth and throat ran dry as you squeaked, “James?”

“Let’s rehearse it, if you don't mind.”

“I don’t mind,” you breathed, eyeing him.

You read your cues and started the kissing, gentle at first but then it was supposed to become more forceful, and James did just that. He pushed you with his hands on your shoulders onto the couch, his mouth molding with yours as you ran your hands long his back, your legs automatically coming to rest beneath him. His hands were rubbing your shoulders, then glided up to your hair as he pulled your head to the side and bit your neck, this wasn’t in the script at all but you weren’t about to stop it.

Eventually, you found your legs open and he was cradled between you as the kissing deepened, you pulled at the hem of his shirt and tugged it off, he was opening your blouse when your phone rang.

Between kisses, he asked, “Do you need to get that?”

You almost answered no, but then you realized it could be your family.

“Uh, maybe, it could be my family.”

“Ah,” he said as he climbed off of you and you jumped up and grabbed your phone from the counter. You saw Tom’s name across the screen and dashed into your bedroom and closed the door quietly.

“Hey, you,” you said, half hoping he would make this a quick call so you could return to what you were doing.

“Hey, how are you? Having a good weekend?”

“Terrific, how’s yours?”

“The usual. I had the London premiere today, then tomorrow I meet with Chris for something on Thor.”

“Ah, yeah, yeah.”

“Are you okay? You sound a little...busy?” he wondered.

“Oh, no, I was just...studying my lines.”

“Right, right! I’ll let you get back to it then, I should start getting ready anyhow. It was nice to hear you.”

“You too.”

“Well goodbye,” he said kindly.

“Bye.”

You hung up and rushed back out to the living room where James was waiting for you.

“Was it family?” he questioned nonchalantly.

“Uh, no, it was Tom,” you answered honestly. You were going to try being as honest as you could with them, even if a few lies got sprinkled in, it was killing you to do this to them but...you were selfish.

James scoffed as he grabbed his shirt and pulled it back on. “For a guy who’s just your friend, he sure is around a lot,” he noted with an annoyed tone.

“James, please. He just--”

“Just what?” he demanded as he got up. “Y/N, we were in the middle of a moment there and you stomped on it for a friend. I don't mind if it was your family, I get it, you want to talk to them whenever you can or if it’s an emergency, that’s fine. But when I’m in between your legs, it would be nice if your attention was on me and not that British bastard,” he spat at you.

“No, James, I--”

But he ignored you as he went to the door, wrenched it open, then slammed it shut. You stood there, stunned. What were you going to do? You considered calling Ida, but your phone rang in your hand and you nearly jumped out of your skin. This time, it really was your family. Sighing, you answered.

“Hey, Mom,” you greeted, faking some cheer. You weren’t unhappy to hear from her, you were just distraught from James’ outburst.

“Hey, bubbles,” your mom replied with your nickname. You earned it growing up because you were constantly blowing bubbles and loved bubble baths. “How’s my celebrity daughter doing?”

“I’m doing,” you said simply as you started to clean up dinner. “How’re you, Mom?”

“Oh, I’m alright. I saw you in the news.”

“Yeah? What’d it say?”

“It says your dating those two European boys,” she informed. You groaned internally. You did not need this on top of what else was happening.

“Something like that.”

“Hmm, well be careful. Your daddy says those boys are only after one thing,” she warned.

“Lucky for me I’m after the same thing,” you said back, teasing in your tone.

“Y/N!” your mom responded and you could just see her shaking her head as you laughed.

“Oh, Mom, calm down. I’m just having fun. I’m dating some men, what’s the big deal?” you asked as you finished loading the dishwasher.

“Well, nothing I guess. They’re saying awful things about you though and it just makes me madder than a wet hen.”

“Eh, you can’t let it affect you. I don’t even read that stuff and when I do, I remind myself that no matter what I do, I’m going to have those comments happen,” you reminded.

She sighed. “I know, but you’re my daughter and the things they’re saying….”

“I know,” you said quietly. “They’re idiots, Mom, don’t listen to them.”

“I saw you on Jimmy Kimmel too! I recorded it and I’m going to show Bethany.”

Bethany was your next door neighbor back home and your mom’s best friend.

“Oh, good. Did you like it?”

“I loved it sweetie. I also saw you on that Graham Norton show.”

“Oh…” You laughed uneasily. “That was...uh...well that was just…”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, dear, I was your age too once, remember?”

“Momma, you scandalous devil,” you teased with a grin.

“Hey, you’ve got it sweetheart, you need to flaunt it before age takes it away like mine.”

“You’re still beautiful.”

“Well thank you dear. Well I won’t hold you up, baby, I just wanted to check in. I love you, I’m going to go to bed.”

“I love you too. Tell Daddy I told him I love him too and tell everyone back home I said hi.”

“I will.”

You bid each other goodnight and hung up.

[taytayize123]

New Story! Hope you guy’s enjoy!

A Spark Can Lead To A Connection

Carrie looked at her two friends, Amy and Zoe, who were walking down the trash filled streets that stunk of alcohol and piss. What the hell were three newly 21-year-old girls doing walking in the seedy part of town at 11pm on a Friday night? Well, all of them were going to see a new band play at some bar. It was this band’s first American tour since they’re originally from London England. They were playing small clubs and dive bars since this was their first tour from across the pond. The girl’s had arrived just as the band was warming up on their instruments. When Carrie saw Jamie, the lead singer, turn around, she couldn't help but think that he had just came out of a Burberry magazine ad. He had blonde hair as golden as a pile of sun-kissed hay, eyes as blue as tropical island waters, and a jaw that looked like it could have been carved out of stone. Carrie was stunned by this man and longed to know more. Amy choose to go straight to the bar with her shiny new legal ID in hand to order some drinks for herself and her friends. While she was waiting, some old dude hit on her, slobbering the world’s worst pick up lines. All she could was roll her eyes and grab the drinks that were now ready. Then walked back to where Carrie and Zoe were standing and handed them their drinks. Zoe had this look of pure fear in her eyes. She had always been the most well-behaved in the group. When taking her first sip, it burned her throat and she almost gagged. As the first song of the set started up, Carrie’s ears were met with sounds of thumping drums, a pounding bass, and howling guitars. As Jamie sang a few verses, he clutched his bare chest, which was sprinkled with two tattoos one of which was a skull on his left and blood dripping heart with two butterflies one above the heart and one under on his right. Jamie fell to his knees as the club filled with silence. For about two minutes there was this haunting silence throughout the whole bar. Carrie was shocked as he hit the ground, still clutching his naked chest. She saw the look in his eyes go from amusement to the look of being unsure and a fog washed over him, turning those icy blue orbs Carrie was starting to fall for were now a cloudy blue-grey color. The premarket sexy smirk that formed on his plump pink lips when singing a suggestive song was long gone. Zoe, being the most responsible in the moment, started shouting at people to call 911. She had jumped on stage and started checking his pulse and if he had a concussion from hitting his head on his guitar amp. Luckily, Zoe was a pre-med student, so her mind went straight to how to save this man’s life. As for Amy, she stood there dumbfounded because she thought that Jamie was just being a crazy frontman of a rock band and did the drop as part of the shows performance. Finally, the paramedics had came and immediately put Jamie on the stretcher. While they were asking Zoe and Amy questions about what had happened, Carrie and Jamie made eye contact again, and, to her delight, he smiled at her then whispered something in one of the paramedics ear’s. Carrie saw the same paramedic walking up to her, telling her that Jamie had requested she come with him to the hospital. She agreed, climbing up into the ambulance. Immediately, she sat down next to him, only for him to clutch her hand out of comfort.  At that moment in time, they both knew they had created a lifelong connection with each other.   During the ride to the hospital, Carrie was very quiet as she nervously playing with the bottom of her shirt until Jamie said her name. She looked up only for her blue-green eyes to meet his perfectly clear blue ones, easing her nerves. Jamie started speaking. “Love, I’m sorry for scaring you. Isn’t there some myth about being in the front row of a rock show? You never know what’s going to happen.” Carrie giggled a little, knowing he was trying to lighten the mood. When he called her love, it made her insides flutter. She knew it was just how British people spoke, but it still made her feel special. Once they had arrived, the paramedics wheeled him into a waiting room where a doctor did some tests to see what would cause him to collapse. As both Jamie and Carrie sat awkwardly in the room, Carrie decided to start talking. “So, other than what happened tonight, how’s the tour going? Do you guys like America so far?” Jamie cleared his throat. “Yes, I do like America. Many of my favorite bands are American so it has been really fun to play in some of the bars and clubs they had gotten their start at such as The Roxy in Los Angeles or Bowery Ballroom in New York.” Carrie’s mouth dropped open with a shocked and excited grin on her face. “Oh my god! Those clubs are legendary! I’ve always dreamed of getting to go see a gig at The Roxy! The history in that place is just amazing, from Billy Idol, The Ramones, and where John Lennon wrote “Lost Weekend”. I’d kill to go there one day!” Carrie exclaimed, making Jamie’s face brighten. Listening to Carrie get so passionate about the roxy made his heart swell. He thought it was really cool to meet a girl who liked rock music as much as he did. He couldn't get over how refreshing it was compared to how past experiences went with other girls. He also had to admit it’s very sexy that her and I have the same taste in music. The doctor had walked in and looked Jamie over, discovering that he was dehydrated, not to mention he was drinking and that his body was exhausted. The fact that he was drinking only worsened the symptoms. The nurse handed him a shirt to throw on since he came in without one. He needed that, given it was a cold November night.  He was told that he would need an IV to rehydrate his system, then he was free to go. It wasn't until about 1 am that Jamie and Carrie could leave the hospital. He could finally go back to the hotel he was staying at. As Jamie and Carrie wait for their rides, Jamie speaks, making Carrie look at him. “I’m in town till late tomorrow night, and I’d love to hang out with you in a much nicer chilled out setting. Plus, I would love to see the city more as well.” He suggests, smiling at Carrie. She smiles in response, taking Jamie’s phone to put her number into it before handing it back to him. Carrie hears a car horn go off, making her look around before spotting Zoe’s black land rover pulling up to the curb. She says goodbye to Jamie, receiving a hug from him as he thanked her for staying with him while he was in the hospital. Her senses filled with the sweet smell of smoke from a cigarette he had just lit as well as the scent of his Dior cologne. She couldn't help but feel intoxicated by the aruma. Carrie get’s into her friend's car, excitedly telling her friends every detail of the rest of her night. Once she got back to her house, she decided to take a steamy hot shower. It wasn't until 2:30am when she climbed into bed, hearing her phone buzz on the bedside table. Turning over, she couldn't help but be surprised to see a message from Jamie. “Message Received: (Jamie)- Just wanted to say I can’t wait for tomorrow. Wishing beautiful dreams to a beautiful girl :)” “Message Sent: (Carrie)- Thank you! That was very sweet thing to say. I can’t wait as well goodnight!” The next day, Carrie was elated that it turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun was shining, yet it was very chilly outside. Carrie decided to wear black skinny jeans, a blush colored sweater, a leather jacket all paired with black tall riding boots. She drove to the hotel that Jamie was staying at, pulled up to where he was standing. He was in black skinny jeans, a ripped and faded Led Zeppelin band tee, and a jean jacket. His accessories included a grey beanie, a nose ring and a vintage metal ring.  He got in the car, shut the door and buckled up before Carrie started driving. She decided that since they both shared such a strong love for music, she should take him to her favorite record shop in downtown Portland, Music Millennium. As she opened the door, he followed after her. She couldn't help but smile at how amazed Jamie was at the sight of the store. Records were wall to wall, filled with every record from every band you could name. Posters hung from the ceiling, some of which included Bob Dylan, KISS, and Motley Crue. Carried smiled and waved at the two older men working the cash registers. They had known her for a solid four or five years now since she found this cosmic hideout from all things that sucked in life such as Family Issues, A sucky student job, and Endless amounts of term papers. Jamie started going through a box of records that was sitting along the wall so Carrie sat down next to him, starting in on her own box of records, just in case she wanted to add to her collection of  Vinyls. Nothing sounded as magical as vinyl does because it’s like sitting in on a recording session: one could hear every grunt, breath, and note. It’s very personal to share vinyl with somebody.  Carrie looked over at Jamie, who was holding up in perfect condition a Appetite For Destruction album by Guns N Roses. Carrie couldn't help but think back to when that album was what got her through her high school years when she felt like a total misfit within the hierarchy of the high school food chain. He handed the album to Carrie. As he did it, his hand brushed against her arm and she flinched and pulled her arm away. Carried looked back up at Jamie’s face, gulping as she realized she had to explain why she pulled away. “Sorry I know that was weird. People touching me just brings up some difficult memories.” Carried shyly looked down at the 70’s colored carpet. Jamie responded, “Oh I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to it was just an accident. I wasn’t paying attention.” Carrie instantly felt horrible for making the sweetest guy she had ever met feel guilty about touching her. Once again, her anxiety was kicking her ass. She knew she had to explain why a simple touch turned a fun loving girl into a scared, timid mess of a girl. With a deep breath she started to explain. “In high school, I had a boyfriend my junior year who was the total opposite of myself. He was popular, a two sport athlete, and very well-liked by students and teachers. About four months after we got together, I noticed he had very bad anger issues. He’d snap and turn into a horrific monster. The smallest argument would throw him into a rage. He would ask me where I wanted to eat, for example, and when I said I didn’t know and ask him what he felt like having. He’d begin yelling at me, telling me that I was a no good worthless bitch and that I was lucky that he even gave me the time of day. I swear to god that he called me every name in the book from whore, slut, bitch, and even the c word once. That was the first time he physically grabbed me by the arm so tight he left huge bruises on my body. It had happened four more times before I couldn’t take it anymore and told my best friend who then got me the help I needed to escape that abusive downward spiral of a relationship I was in. I can even remember the last thing I said to him. I told him I hated him as hot tears welled up in my eyes.”   As soon as Carrie stopped speaking, Jamie engulfed her into a tight hug, allowing her to cry on his shoulder. He then released her from his comforting and warm embrace and cupped her face, which was now tear stained. He said; “Don’t ever think for one minute that you are worthless, because, trust me, only knowing you for twenty four hours, I know that you are an empathic, passionate, creative soul, who I find very interesting and attractive. I find you so beautiful, Carrie,” He breathed, looking down at his left hand at the vintage ring on his finger. He remembered when he got it:  a fashion shop in the Oxford Circus area in London, known for their retail stores. In that moment, he decided to pull it off his finger, only to slip it on Carrie’s finger, telling her that he wanted her to be his girlfriend, even though he left that night to go onto the next tour stop. He assured her that they would make it work, even if they were across an ocean from each other. This would just be until Carrie could finish her degree and move to England to be with him. He knew this girl was the one for him.  

[hellosaltysaladcollectionstuff]

Back to Sundance we go for another year of discovery. What's on the line-up this year? Out of the 110+ films showing at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, I've chosen 10 that I'm looking forward to seeing the most. To keep things well balanced, I've chosen 5 feature films and 5 documentaries from the line-up. There are so many films playing at the fest, and so many I'll end up seeing (30+), that this is a quick list to get everyone acquainted with some of the work premiering in 2019 (I just want to go see everything). There are new films from filmmakers like Ritesh Batra and Lulu Wang, and incredible documentaries that are also worthy of our attention, plus many other films. You never really know what will good or bad, but here's my first few picks.

This is my 13th year in a row returning to Sundance, starting back in 2007. I'm so excited to be attending Sundance once again, and can't wait to dive into the films more than anything. There's so many I am curious to watch from this year's line-up. For now, here's my Top 10 most anticipated films before the fest begins.

Alex's Most Anticipated \Sundance 2019/ Feature Films:

Hala Directed by Minhal Baig

I've been following filmmaker Minhal Baig (mostly on Twitter @minhalbaig) for a while now, and she is ready to finally break out big and show everyone how talented she really is. Hala is her second feature film following her debut 1 Night, and it's much more personal this time. The story is about a Muslim teenager named Hala - played by Geraldine Viswanathan - who lives in Chicago with her immigrant parents from Pakistan. There she copes with the unraveling of her family as she comes into her own. It's a coming-of-age story but told from an entirely different angle that we rarely see, as Sundance explains that Baig "brings a vital and layered female perspective to the coming-of-age genre." They add that she "crafts a character and story with immense relatability and unexpected consequence." I've been looking forward to seeing this ever since I first heard about it, and I'm excited that it's finally ready to premiere at Sundance. Congrats, Minhal.

Photograph Directed by Ritesh Batra

Back in 2013, I fell in love with a little film called The Lunchbox, starring Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur. After making two other English-language films, Our Souls at Night and The Sense of an Ending (both from 2017), filmmaker Ritesh Batra returns to his roots and his hometown in India with Photograph. Set in Mumbai, the film is about a struggling street photographer, pressured to marry by his grandmother, who convinces a shy stranger to pose as his fiancée. The pair develops a connection that transforms them in ways that they could not expect. As a photographer myself, I'm already intrigued. But I've also got a good feeling this might be a magical, lovely new film from Ritesh Batra and I'm looking forward to seeing where he takes us. If it's anywhere close to as sweet and as honest as The Lunchbox was, it will be another instant favorite.

Little Monsters Directed by Abe Forsythe

There's always one or two films in the Midnight section that I have to see, just because they sound so crazy and fun. Little Monsters is exactly one of those that I'm going to stay up late to watch. Described as a "film dedicated to all the kindergarten teachers who motivate children to learn, instill them with confidence, and stop them from being devoured by zombies." The massively talented Lupita Nyong'o stars as that teacher, taking on an extra bloody role that will hopefully allow her to show off more of her badass side. Plus there's always room for more zombies movies, right? Why not, they're always entertaining. "Armed only with the resourcefulness of kindergartners, [they] must work together to keep the monsters at bay and carve a way out with their guts intact." I'm fairly certain this will be a good one, especially with the late night audience.

I Am Mother Directed by Grant Sputore

One of the few sci-fi films playing at Sundance, which means I have to see it no matter what. But it also looks and sounds compelling. I Am Mother features a robot designed by Weta Workshop in New Zealand, and marks the directorial debut of an award-winning commercials director from Australia named Grant Sputore. And yes, the story seems quite promising. A teenage girl is raised underground by a kindly robot "Mother" - designed to repopulate the earth following the extinction of humankind. But their unique bond is threatened when an inexplicable stranger arrives with alarming news. This reminds me a bit of Moon (which premiered at Sundance 2009) mashed up with other sci-fi concepts. The robot's design is familiar but sleek, and the handful of images they've released so far all look better than expected. Don't let me down, Sputore.

Velvet Buzzsaw Directed by Dan Gilroy

So, this looks awesome! And totally insane! And weird, and captivating, and funny, and twisted, and sly, and wicked, and frightening. Velvet Buzzsaw is the latest film written & directed by Dan Gilroy, a screenwriter who turned director (or perhaps became a true auteur) making his debut with Nightcrawler in 2014, and following that up with Roman J. Israel, Esq. in 2017. This time he attacks the art world, with a film that seems to be about pieces of art coming to life and killing people. Something like that. The cast also is quite impressive: Jake Gyllenhaal, John Malkovich, Toni Collette, Rene Russo, Daveed Diggs. And this looks like the perfect follow-up to Ruben Östlund's Palme d'Or winning film The Square, with both films mocking and lambasting the absurdity of the modern art world. I'm so there. Watch the official trailer here.

More Feature Films I'm Looking Forward To Seeing: Lulu Wang's The Farewell, Rashid Johnson's Native Son, Paul Downs Colaizzo's Brittany Runs A Marathon, Nisha Ganatra's Late Night, David Wnendt's The Sunlit Night, Makoto Nagahisa's funky We Are Little Zombies, Noble Jones' The Tomorrow Man, Bert&Bertie's Troop Zero, JD Dillard's Sweetheart, Patrick Brice's Corporate Animals, Tayarisha Poe's Selah and the Spades, Daniel Scheinert's The Death of Dick Long, and May el-Toukhy's Queen of Hearts.

Alex's Most Anticipated \Sundance 2019/ Documentaries:

Memory: The Origins of Alien Directed by Alexandre O. Philippe

A documentary about the making of Ridley Scott's original Alien! Say no more, I'm already there, I wouldn't miss this for anything. This is the latest doc film made by Swiss filmmaker Alexandre O. Philippe, who has been making docs about cinema and filmmaking for a while - including The People vs. George Lucas, and 78/52: Hitchcock's Shower Scene just before. I'm curious how much this will cover and how much it will uncover. It seems to focus more on how they came up with the original ideas and designs for the film, less so the filming or release. "Philippe's real interest lies in the deep resonance of myths and our collective unconscious. The strange symbiotic collaboration between Alien creators [Dan] O'Bannon, Scott, and H.R. Giger suggests a greater synchronicity across history, art, and storytelling, a synchronicity that gives us the Furies, creatures of Renaissance painting, and even chest-bursting aliens." Sounds damn good, right?

Moonlight Sonata: Deafness in Three Movements Directed by Irene Taylor Brodsky

Another documentary that sounds exceptionally unique. The short Sundance description grabbed me right away: "A deeply personal portrait of three lives, and the discoveries that lie beyond loss: a deaf boy growing up, his deaf grandfather growing old, and Beethoven the year he was blindsided by deafness and wrote his iconic sonata." It's a multi-generational portrait of people dealing with deafness, capturing the complexity of silence and hearing. And I am more than intrigued to find out how filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky (of Hear and Now previously) examines these themes and weaves these three stories together. Sundance talks it up even more in their description of the film: "Brodsky explores the meaning of deafness, loss, and the power of silence as her son discovers his unique voice and her parents confront a new chapter of their lives," adding that it's "buoyed by a perceptive soundscape and luminous animation." I really want to see this doc.

Midnight Traveler Directed by Hassan Fazili

There's always a remarkable doc discovery, or two, hidden in the Sundance line-up telling an unforgettable story from somewhere else around the world. Read about this film and you'll instantly get a feeling that it's going to be something special. Midnight Traveler is a documentary made by a filmmaker from Afghanistan, Hassan Fazili, who flees his home country and takes us on a perilous journey with his wife and two young daughters as they travel as refugees across Europe searching for a new home. It seems to be a very personal, inside look at the life of a family just trying to surviving on the run from certain death. "Chronicling every step from inside the action", Fazili's camera captures "not only the danger and desperation but also the exuberance and tenderness of this irresistible, loving family." Just look at that shot of them all in the snow above! They seem so loving, wonderful, and authentic. I want to see this just to meet and learn about them.

Apollo 11 Directed by Todd Douglas Miller

I'm a space nerd. I'm a big time fan of NASA. I'm surprised we haven't seen a documentary like this before, but I guess In the Shadow of the Moon is close (focusing on all of the Apollo missions). And I loved Damien Chazelle's First Man, which is also about Apollo 11, so I'm totally ready for this next. The documentary is purported to be an exhilarating cinematic experience, something that demands to be seen on the big screen. NASA has been digging out old footage and photographs and other artifacts from the vaults, putting all of the original footage from the Apollo 11 mission online + uncut audio recordings and more. Produced by CNN Films and Statement Pictures, this film "features never-before-seen, large-format film footage of one of humanity's greatest accomplishments." Oh yes. Can't wait to experience this. Watch the teaser trailer here.

Hail Satan? Directed by Penny Lane

A documentary about the rise of the Satanic Temple religious movement? I'm certainly curious. And it's the latest doc film made by Penny Lane - a quietly talented, quirky, fun filmmaker behind other fantastically weird documentaries like Our Nixon, The Pain of Others, and Nuts! (about a guy who sold people a goat-testicle impotence cure - it premiered at Sundance 2016). I don't know how deep this is going to go, but I am intrigued to find out. Sundance references this eye-brow-raising part of the Satanic Temple's history in their description: "Through their dogged campaign to place a nine-foot, bronze Satanic monument smack dab next to the statue of the Ten Commandments on the Arkansas State Capitol lawn, the leaders of the temple force us to consider the true meaning of the separation of church and state." Sounds like something I have to see for myself, at the very least because no one else is making films about this fascinating topic anyway.

More Documentaries I'm Looking Forward To Seeing: Kenneth Paul Rosenberg's Bedlam, Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert's American Factory, Ben Berman's Amazing Johnathan Documentary, Ljubomir Stefanov & Tamara Kotevska's Honeyland, Petra Costa's Edge of Democracy, Garret Price's Love Antosha, Hepi Mita's Merata: How Mum Decolonised The Screen, Karim Amer & Jehane Noujaim's The Great Hack, Ursula Macfarlane's Untouchable, and Alex Gibney's latest The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley.

For all of Alex's Sundance 2019 reviews and updates: Follow @firstshowing

For more Sundance 2019 previews around the web, highlighting early picks and potential breakouts, see: The Film Stage's 20 Most-Anticipated Premieres, and Indiewire's 21 Must-See Films At This Year's Festival. You never know what might be a big hit, and it's vital to have a pulse on the buzz – even before the festival starts. There's plenty of exciting and hopefully superb gems hidden in the 2019 line-up, bring on the films.

You can follow our Sundance 2019 coverage and updates in this category. The festival kicks off January 24th and runs until February 3rd, with lots of films to see every day. Let's jump right in and start watching.

from FirstShowing.net http://bit.ly/2FGN8w1