Idea I don’t wanna write but has been eating my brain for days:

Contrary to popular belief, Danny cannot get along with every spirit he meets, even after a round or two of fighting. Sometimes a spirit is too old, too physically far gone, too corrupted to see sense. Spirits like these are sick. They hoard curses like it’s gold and haven’t seen the green sky of the Zone in centuries. These spirits become the worst kind of ghosts; ones that are barely hanging onto their sanity by a thread and who actively seek to harm the living.

These are also the spirits that won’t respond to the King, no matter who it is. As such, it is the King’s duty to hunt down these spirits and either get them help by returning them to the Zone, or exterminate them.

Well, Danny is now the King. And the next ghost on his list is the Spirit of Gotham City.

HETTIE DRAYTON | THE LAST 5 YEARS

important facts:

when hettie went to university, her parents ended up kicking her out. they didn’t approve of what she wanted to do and so refused to support her. her entire life changed over night and when her relationship with scott ended, she had to look after herself. hettie found herself a job in a bar - one that was pretty flexible so she was able to still go to her auditions - and had to find herself a little apartment on the outskirts of london. she had a 45 minute journey into the city centre any time that she had to be there.

after hettie left drama school, she got cast in the ensemble of grease as the understudy for rizzo. it was a dream role and she couldn’t believe that she had gotten it straight off of the bat. she then went on to be in the ensemble and the understudy for fantine in les miserables. 

it was during grease that hettie met jack goodwin. he was playing danny in the production and was someone that she quickly found herself being drawn too. he was funny and he was equally as charming. the pair were dating before the show even got to the stage and he asked her to officially be his girlfriend on her first show as rizzo. hettie so hard and quick for him and had moved in with him by the end of the year. there was nothing, she thought, that told her that he shouldn’t be trusted. when he proposed, after a year of the two of them living together, she instantly said yes. it was then, though, that the girls started coming out of the woodwork. within the space of a couple months after their engagement, three girls had told hettie that he had cheated on her with them. when she confronted him, he denied it but she could tell be the look on his face. she just knew that he had done it. she left him then and there. 

hettie had, had nowhere to go and so found herself on the doorstep of her oldest and best friend, amber mcguinness. she was there for her through her darkest days and let her stay with her and her family for a few months while hettie pulled herself together. it was a few months later when amber and hettie decided to get an apartment on their own and hettie doesn’t think that she has ever felt happier and more at home than she does whenever she enters that apartment. 

to hetties surprise, her first principle role on the west end didn’t come in a musical but in a production of romeo and juliet. the casting directors had seen her when she was on for fantine and had gotten in touch with her agent - telling them that they thought she should audition. she decided to give it a shot and was thrilled to be offered the part after a few rounds. 

since then, hettie has gone on to be the understudy cathy in the last five years and, mostly recently, she has been cast as heather chandler in heathers. she’s so excited to finally play a principle musical theatre role on the west end. 

Rise Above Myself

Prompt: Danny is off to college, leaving Vlad in charge of keeping ghosts out of Amity park. Prompt by: @going-dead Word count: 3,532

[AO3][FFnet][more Phic Phight fics]

“You wanted to speak with me?”

Danny hummed an affirmative, patting the rooftop next to him. Vlad rolled his eyes, but sat down regardless. It wasn’t like anyone would see him up here, anyway. Besides, he didn’t want to drive the boy to anger any sooner than necessary.

In the years since they had first met, their relationship had become… complicated. They had surpassed the fighting, the whole ‘arch-nemesis’ thing, and had come to a truce of sorts. They were still in no way friends. Nor had he taken any sort of important role in the boy’s life, to his continuing disappointment.

But Danny would never join him. Vlad knew that, now. It was better not to fight, to be able to hold a conversation with the only person who would know what existence as a halfa was like. The only one who would be able to understand.

Besides, Vlad was no fool. He knew darn well that Danny had surpassed him in strength. And, for all the years of experience he had over the boy, he couldn’t beat the sheer combat experience Danny had, either. Even mentorship was a chance long lost – Danny seemed content with the mentors he could find for himself in the Ghost Zone.

“So, uhm.” Danny fidgeted, having finally broken the silence that had come over them. He started pulling on the edge of his glove – a nervous gesture he had taken up in his ghost form, Vlad knew. “I’m… leaving for college. This weekend.”

Vlad perked up at this. “Really? That’s excellent news, my boy!” And it was. He had long encouraged Danny to focus on his own life over Amity Park’s safety. He already sacrificed so much for this thankless city – he shouldn’t give up on college, too. To throw away his future, the remainder of his life, for people who would never appreciate what he had done for them.

“Heh, yeah.” Danny huffed out a laugh, a smile lingering afterwards. “I got my acceptance letter already – big fancy university a couple states away. Even at my current speed, it’s a few hours flying away.”

“Finally leaving the ghost hunting to the professionals then? Good for you.” Vlad noticed that Danny didn’t mention which university, or where. Still keeping secrets from him? Not surprising, but… a little disappointing.

“Something like that.” And now the smile turned a little malicious, a smirk instead. “You were part of the ghost hunting club, after all. And you study ghosts.”

“Me?” Vlad asked, incredulous. The boy was out of his mind if he thought that Vlad would take over for him. He had spend the past 4 years encouraging Danny to stop, after all.

“Well, yeah.” Danny’s posture remained loose, casual. Like he had no stake in this conversation – like he had already won the discussion. “You’re the only other half-ghost in the city. The only person who can fight the ghosts on their own terms – in the air, and without the need for technology.”

Then he leaned in closer, and added in a conspiring tone, “Unless you think you’re not up for it? I know that I’m stronger than you, but you should still outclass most ghosts that come here. And surely your incredible intellect will allow you to beat such pathetic enemies?”

Vlad sneered, baring his fangs in an automatic response. “Of course it’s not a matter of not being able to do it! But I am above such despicable, thankless work. To protect a city – a people – who would rather hate their protector than cheer him on. Please.”

“If that’s how you see it,” Danny responded with a shrug. “But just imagine what would happen if no one stopped the ghosts. You know that my parents will pick up the slack instead. Do you really trust my dad to keep Amity Park safe? To keep Mom safe?” He cocked his head at Vlad, that awful smirk still on his face. “After all, Valerie has already left for college. So has Jazz, and Sam and Tucker. It’s just my parents. And you.”

Vlad remained silent now. The boy, unfortunately, had a point. All capable ghost hunters had left the city – or would leave it soon enough. The Fentons really would be the only ones left – and as capable as Maddie was, Jack had an awful habit of getting in her way. There was… quite a risk of her getting hurt.

And while he knew he wouldn’t – couldn’t – have her, he still didn’t want anything to happen to her. Damn that boy for still knowing exactly which buttons to press.

But… perhaps he could make it manageable. Many of Danny’s enemies were humanoid – or at very least, somewhat intelligent. Surely he could get most of them to stay away by using his resources, rather than his fists? And being harsher than Danny against the ones that did come through would surely discourage them, too.

“Fine,” he finally hissed at the boy, glaring at him to drive the point home. “Fine, I will do it. But not for this accursed city – I’ll do it for Maddie.”

“Of course you will, Fruitloop,” Danny laughed back, grinning widely.

He shook his head, already making plans. If he arranged things correctly, it wouldn’t be much of a bother to take over for Danny. After all, how much time did the teen really spend on ghost hunting?

Unfortunately, as he soon discovered, Danny actually spend a lot of time hunting ghosts. Because while his most noticeable enemies tended to be the humanoid ghosts, the majority of his enemies were actually non-sentient. And while Vlad might’ve been able to sway some of the intelligent ghosts to stay away, it was the feral animals that took up so much of his time, now. They were neither strong nor threatening – to a ghost as powerful as him, at least – but they were common enough to be a bother.

A good number of Danny’s rogues gallery showed up as well. Skulker, once told that Vlad had taken over, seemed disappointed but left without resistance. Technus put up a decent fight, but could afterwards be convinced to stay in the Ghost Zone if Vlad paid him with bits of technology. He was sure that Technus would eventually assemble this into a mech before returning – which is why he only send the worst bits he could find.

One of the more notable encounters ended up being Ember, of all ghosts. She had put on quite a show – as she tended to do. When Vlad showed up instead of Danny, she had frowned at him and crossed her arms.

Before he could open his mouth to ask her to leave, she had irritably asked him, “Where’s the dipstick?”

He quickly connected the dots – and the less than stellar nickname – and answered. “Daniel has left for college. I’ve taken over for him.”

After this, she willingly left for the Portal. Vlad had felt accomplished over scaring off a ghost that Daniel usually fought – until he had heard her mutter, “Old man isn’t any fun compared to the kid.”

Really, all things considered, Vlad thought that he was doing a fairly good job. And perhaps Amity’s residents weren’t as happy about him as they had been about Daniel – surprising considering how badly they tended to think of Phantom – but that mattered little to him. Maddie was safe. Anything else was a lucky coincidence.

But of course, disaster always struck when life appears to be going well. And this case was no different.

The ghost of the days – or ghosts, this time – were known by Vlad. He had never faced off against them, but he was sure that he could handle it. The first, the weaker, was an easy catch. Bertrand, despite being a shapeshifter, was predictable.

Unfortunately, in catching the green blob first, Vlad had offered Spectra an opening.

Vlad knew how she worked, what she did. He was sure that he could deal with her. As another manipulative soul, surely she wouldn’t be able to do much to him?

But oh, he was so wrong about her. Her black wispy tail wrapped around him, sharp claws digging into his shoulders, and immediately all strength sapped from him.

“Oh, what’s this?” the specter hissed, her voice overly sweet and dripping with malicious intent. “Another little do-gooder, hmm?”

Vlad opened his mouth to answer, to retort – but the ghost dug her nails in even deeper and suddenly he just felt so tired.

“And you’re not even a real hero, are you? Just trying to impress someone who could never love you!” She laughed, but it was sharp and cutting and cold. “Just a sick old man desperate for things he will never get. Can never get!”

She shifted, angling herself so she was looking him right in the eyes. Faintly, he could see himself reflected in her empty red eyes – somehow hers looked even more soulless than his own. “And the only one who knows what you feel, who might understand, left you! And now there’s no one left to care about you, is there?”

He wanted to protest, but… she was right. Jack never cared – he was responsible for this whole thing, after all. Maddie had never reciprocated on his feelings – and she never would, now.

And Daniel… The only one like him… The boy had left him. Had dumped this miserable responsibility on him and left.

“This sickness of yours is your body talking to you, Vladdie.” The ghost leaned in even closer, her claws shifting from his shoulders and further up his body. Faintly, Vlad was aware of blood leaking down his neck – but he made no move to stop her from hurting him further.

Maybe… Maybe he did deserve this.

“You know what it’s telling you?” Her tone was conversational, honey-sweet. “It’s telling you that you should finish what you started and die!��

Her talon-like claw swung down. Vlad closed his eyes, waiting for the impact.

A whiz, like an ectoblast flying past. Hair-raising shrieking as Spectra released him, finally.

Vlad fell to the floor, looking bleary-eyed at the dark specter in front of him. Green smoke still spiraled away from her chest, where the blast must’ve landed.

Now that he was away from her constricting touch, Vlad’s mind started to clear. While Spectra had spoken the truth, she had twisted it – turned his own thoughts against him. She had only told him things he already knew – and things that simply weren’t true. Daniel hadn’t just left. Vlad himself had encouraged the boy!

And now the boy must’ve returned. As Spectra swiped away the last lingering smoke, Vlad realized this. Someone had fired at her, using green ectoplasm. That could only be a Fenton – either Danny, or one of his parents’ guns. And the parents wouldn’t have aimed for Spectra. Wouldn’t have saved him, at least.

He pushed himself upright, a retort fresh on his tongue. A tease to the boy, about how he could never stop his hero-work, no matter how much he might’ve wanted to. How he always protected everyone, no matter how bad they were.

And floating there was certainly a Phantom. Messy white hair, vibrant green eyes. Black and white jumpsuit – although this one a tad looser than the one usually seen.

“Leave him alone!” Dani snapped, green energy whirling around her clenched fists.

“Oh, and who’s this?” Spectra hummed, floating back a step or two. Her eyes were set on the clone now – she knew that Vlad was still weakened. “Another little failure who thinks she can stand up to me?”

Rather than take the words to heart, however, Dani smiled back. All teeth and no joy. “I don’t just think, lady.” She underlined the statement with a shot, a blast of superheated ectoplasm aimed straight at Spectra.

The shadowy ghost dodged, barely. “Is that so?” she purred, still eyeing up her new enemy.

Then suddenly she launched herself towards Dani. The clone wasn’t fast enough to evade her, and the two collided. Spectra pressed her into the dirt of the park, baring her teeth. “Do you really think that you can stand up to me? A little failed clone like you?”

Vlad had finally struggled himself back onto his feet, feeling his energy come back to him. But he hadn’t even recovered far enough for an ectoblast. Not yet.

An explosion of green, and Spectra was launched away. Dani pushed herself off of the ground, green energy still coiling in her aura. “Less talking and more butt-kicking!”

Spectra snarled, evading the follow-up blasts that Dani send her way. “And you really think that you can succeed where your original failed?”

She pinned the clone to a tree, leaning in close. “You really think that you can win, if more powerful ghosts, more experienced ghosts, couldn’t?”

Finally, finally, Vlad’s energy was back to a respectable level. Not one to be left out, he shot a blast of pink ectoplasm at the soul-sucking ghost. “It’s not polite to ignore your guests, Spectra,” he quipped.

She snarled, but Dani took this opportunity to blast the ghost as well. Confident that Spectra was finally pinned, Vlad used his telekinesis to draw the Thermos back to him. He had lost it earlier in the fight – although he wasn’t sure when.

The Thermos was an imitation, of course, but no less powerful for the fact.

“Goodbye,” he snarked at the ghost as he uncapped it. Dani gave her a short wave, as well. With a last shriek, Spectra was drawn into the ghost-catching device.

The fight was over.

And as little as Vlad wanted to admit it, the little clone had been an integral part of the fight. Without her contribution, Spectra would’ve killed him. And as much as he disliked her – her, and everything she stood for – he wasn’t enough of a jerk to ignore such a thing.

“I… thank you, Danielle,” he managed, finally. He could tell from her expression that she doubted the genuineness of his statement, so he added, “Without your help, she surely would’ve killed me.”

“Probably,” Dani agreed with a shrug. She looked away from him, her gaze turned downwards – she was kicking around a rock. “You were getting your butt handed to you pretty badly.”

“I– Yes, I’m afraid I was.” He frowned, confused by her blase attitude. And, now that he thought about it, her immunity to Spectra’s abilities. “Spectra’s insults have a way to… dig into one’s skin. Yet they didn’t seem to trouble you.”

Dani nodded, clearly catching on to his silent question. “Yeah, well. She didn’t say anything I haven’t heard before.” And now she looked back up again, her large green eyes locking onto his own. “After all, she didn’t say anything you haven’t said before. And your words were worse, because unlike Spectra, I actually cared about you!”

Her fists clenched, her eyes starting to look wet – but Dani was blinking away the tears before they could form. “You actually meant something to me! And yet you kicked me to the ground, like trash! Like I didn’t matter!”

He paused, taking in her emotional rant. He supposed that she had a point. He had cast her aside – she hadn’t mattered, because she wasn’t Daniel. “But then why did you save me?”

Shrugging, Dani offered him a wry smile. She swept a hand past her eyes – wiping away tears she hadn’t shed. “I’m not you,” she said. “I’m better than that. I won’t just let you die – especially if you’re trying to do the right thing for once.”

Then her smile turned a little more genuine. She added, with a joking tone, “But maybe you should leave the actual hero-work for younger ghosts, old man.”

“Maybe I should.” He looked at her, thoughtful. Sure, Danny had instructed him to keep Amity Park safe. But if he could convince Dani to take over instead… As long as Amity was safe, it would be fine, yes? “Perhaps we can come to an agreement, hm?”

The clone eyed him, now. She seemed to consider this. “What kind of agreement?”

“We can work together to protect Amity Park in Daniel’s stead,” he started to explain, folding his hands together. He was in his element now – the negotiation of tough deals. “You can take care of most of the ghosts, but we’ll work together against the stronger ones. In return for your efforts, I will pay you – both with money, and with a safe place to stay and food to eat. There is plenty of room in my mansion, after all.”

Then he quirked an eyebrow at her. “And, of course, I can offer training – guidance with your powers. Daniel never accepted – but you are not Daniel, are you?”

She rolled her eyes with a huff. “Now you’re getting it.” Then she fell quiet again as she thought over his proposal.

“Fine,” she finally said, nodding. “But the training won’t be set thing – only when I want to. All the other stuff sounds alright, but only if I get paid per ghost captured and for the amount of time it takes.”

“Very well.” He offered her his hand, and they shook on it. “Then I welcome you to Amity Park, Danielle. May it treat you better than it treated your cousin.”

He had initially seen it like hiring a professional ghost hunter. It was no different than when he had hired Valerie, after all. But that girl had been paid in equipment – this one was paid with food and a roof above her head, instead.

And it worked surprisingly well. Danielle, now that she was older and well-fed for once in her life, was a powerful ghost. She was intelligent and a quick-thinker – and had creative solutions to problems. The girl was a very capable defender – and Amity Park was glad to see a Phantom as their protector again, even if it wasn’t the same one.

Of course, Vlad had had a part in this. As mayor, he had announced the presence of the new ghostly protector of the town. Dani Phantom, he had explained, was a close relative of the Phantom that used to haunt Amity. And he assured the townspeople, that this ghost was certainly a good one. She would keep them safe.

Valerie dropping by didn’t hurt Danielle’s image, either. Her reputation as the Red Huntress was a shaky one, as the people who liked Phantom tended to distrust her, and vice-versa. But when she had announced that she was leaving Amity Park, many had mourned the loss of an excellent ghost hunter. Their only capable human protector.

So when the Red Huntress was spotted conversing with the new Phantom, people were quite curious. They were too high in the skies to overhear, but it was clear from their postures that they knew each other. They chattered on for quite a bit of time before Phantom flew off and Red lowered herself to the ground. She, too, announced that the new ghost was a good one.

The next few months passed with surprising ease. By the time Christmas rolled around, Danny returned to Amity Park to celebrate the holidays. The two of them met at the Christmas Truce party in the Ghost Zone, separating from the crowd so they could talk in private.

Vlad smirked at the boy – the young man, really. “Annoyed that I’ve found a loophole in our agreement, Daniel?” he asked, a taunting tone to his voice.

“What, do you think you somehow cheated our deal?” But Danny simply laughed, shaking his head. “No way. You did like, the complete opposite of that.”

Frowning, Vlad turned to face the boy properly. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Dude, you did all I wanted from you and more. I asked you to protect Amity Park for me, right? And not only have you done that, beyond what I asked for – you even helped Dani along the way.” He grinned at Vlad, expression brighter than Vlad had ever seen it before. “I just wanted to give you a second chance – I didn’t expect much from you except maybe the barest little bit of effort. And instead I find out that you’ve given Dani another shot, too. A roof, food, money – love.”

Vlad opened his mouth to protest this – he had only done what was necessary. Then he shut it again.

Because he hadn’t done just the necessary. He could’ve just offered Danielle money – she could’ve paid for food and a place to stay on her own. He hadn’t had to offer her his own house. But he did.

And… Danielle had grown on him. There were things about her, good things, that he had previously overlooked.

“I suppose that you’re right,” he finally grumbled.

Maybe… Maybe this whole ‘doing nice things’ thing… wasn’t as bad as he had thought.

(Hollywood) HILLS AND (Yorkshire) DALES

Today marks a year since I arrived in England.  I arrived a day after my son Jarvis started his first day at school (I was waiting for my visa - obtained by having an English wife).  As I sent him off today for his first day of Year One (*kindergarten), I was of course teary eyed at how much my little guy has grown up - but mostly I was acutely aware of what a HUGE change we made by leaving Hollywood and moving to England.

We had planned to live in London and be close to “the action” but we have settled in a country house near Leeds in Yorkshire (where my wife grew up.) They call it “God’s own Country” and sure…I get it.

I am happy about the move for a bunch of reasons…

Schools! As I saw what Jarvis’ life was going to be like in L.A. with Debbie and I going to parties to be vetted by elite preschools that were going to cost us more than my state university tuition or staying up all night to get in line for enrollment or being concerned when a guy was picked up in front of one of the schools with a car packed with assault rifles - I decided it wasn’t how I wanted his education to start. I won’t go into my experiences being a nanny in L.A. but it was much different than then my mid-west upbringing. Mostly, I got real tired of driving twenty minutes to a safe park. His school here is awesome - it’s free - as are breakfast and lunch. We get photo updates on an app, he goes to school with an eclectic group of kids from Pakistan, Syria, India and economically diverse kids from the council estate. As a bonus, he looks great in an English school uniform.

Kid friendlier in general! I loved Griffith Park and explored a lot of it but it was always rounding up past the creeps and the dog shit. Here we are surrounded by fields and parks (and even pubs) that are great for children. Like for real - some pubs have indoor play-lands and a lot have playgrounds. We are a couple hours from London - but even in Yorkshire there are local family festivals ALL the time and tons of kids museums and railways etc… Yes, we had Travel Town in L.A.  - but I had to keep rounding up on that graveyard of sadly eroding engines - here they are oiled, pristine and have freakishly large faces on the front of their boilers.

So on a very base level, I am assured that Jarvis has had a major upgrade in his quality of life - not just in the atmosphere but also by having parents who aren’t stressed every day immersed in a “hustle” mentality. I just heard Danny Mcbride on a podcast talking about how moving his family to Charleston freed him of the pressures of things as small as seeing peers on billboards and having his kids ride bikes on the street. It articulated life outside L.A. really well. So we are more relaxed - and partially because when we go to dinner we aren’t surrounded by people discussing their screenplays.

Happy wife, happy life.  Debbie is the happiest I have seen her in our ten years of marriage. She came to L.A. to be with me and follow my endeavors - which was a sacrifice I probably could have checked in more about… but we were close to the beach and weather!. Of course she is happy to be back home and closer to her parents and now she can eat weirdly flavoured (*flavored) crisps that we had no access to in the USA. She has also expressed how happy she is that she isn’t competing with women at parties for attention or status. She doesn’t have to endure “bits” that masked social insecurity. People here have banter and it’s like bits but with less voices and more self deprecation. She also just got a killer job.

So my family is happier and that’s what it’s about really.

That should be the win fullstop (*period) right?

But.... then there’s my personal stuff -

I left a hefty twenty year career in L.A. - some people responded with a disbelieving HOLY SHIT when I said I was going - which I won’t lie was nice to hear.  But, I had taken stock of some stuff...

Happiness. I got to be around A LOT of famous people in my time in Hollywood. My access was phenomenal, from working at the Chateau Marmont to being included in ridiculous friend groups and working on shows with plenty of “successful” people. Ever since I moved to town -  I was very aware of the success to happiness ratio.  I once interviewed a celeb for a DVD special edition who had been in a few films I loved. He was sat in a one bedroom a recliner in the valley recounting his awesome anecdotes underneath movie posters from films he’d starred in. He had no one, his whole life was in this one room and next to him was a jar of his own urine. Extreme example - but it was a cautionary tale I needed of never wanting to be waiting for the phone to ring.

Depreciation. The work changed - as actors we may have lost about 70% of our union work and I definitely lost 70% of my income - and to pretend the bulk of my work wasn’t commercial would be an insult - I logged over 80 spots. I am extremely grateful for the handful of series I got to do and the pilots that never went - but when it gets down to it - Nestle Water bought my condo. When the work dried up a lot of the joy that brought us to this job went with it. Every audition (that there were 70% less of) was met with waiting rooms full of long faces or irritated rants of how terrible things had gotten. I wasn’t even blindsided - I saw the change coming,  I got into directing and more into writing and making content - but that was ultimately just more hustle to try and make the same money.  So many of us turned to Lyft or Uber. My last ride in LA was with my buddy who once shared top bliing with me on a call sheet for a TV series - it was poetic. It was also really depressing.


What keeps us in LA? When I posted about leaving, J.D. Walsh said “Wait, we can leave?” And every actor I’ve told that to laughs - HARD. Because we feel like we have a duty to it - I think it’s probably predicated on guilt - like we can’t leave or we have “given up” on ourselves - OR if we are true artists “we could never do anything else” or everyone said it was a “dumb choice” and leaving it would be admitting they were right. I thought about who I was supposed to be appeasing. We have to stay because the only outlet for creatively is in L.A.? I left L.A. ten years ago after yet another breakup for not being “successful enough” (true stories) I left for a year and did cruise ships with Second City and it was one of the most notable years of my career - it was out of L.A. and no one even knew I had been gone. So, I have always been a fan of taking some space and of trusting my instincts of when to move my cheese. Just happens, this time the cheese was a Wensleydale (*local cheese)

I also knew staying in L.A. meant fighting even harder -  the battle to keep jobs union is the biggest fight of our careers and I knew that where I was in my life I didn’t have the emotional resources to be on the front lines every day. If I didn’t have that, I didn’t deserve to be reaping the benefits of a union that took great care of my family.  I pushed all of my students to stay union strong and had no time for those who went fi-core. I flipped internet jobs I produced and directed but I knew it needed to be bigger. I love the fight that is being fought and have so much respect for the people waving the flag and showing up.

The other reason we stay is because of the “ground we’ve gained.” Which is never enough. I was quick to rifle off my resume to anyone who would listen but I never saw myself as a success. My therapist worked with me for months after I left just to be able to say (without shakiness of the voice or avoiding eye contact) that I was successful. We aren’t allowed to say it out loud - everyone will hate you - or decide that you’ve had enough and don’t need anymore. Most importantly, we have to be able to say it ourselves. So, what’s our barometer for success? - cause I bet some of the people we’d consider tipping the needle are MISERABLE.  At the end of the day I was able to do it for years on stage, small and big screens and afford a modest home in the hills. When I stopped being happy  - it was time. That was my barometer.

Life is too short. This planet is huge and full of amazing experiences. When we got to England I had no designs on singularly pursuing an acting career. I have been applying for all kinds of work, ALL KINDS and yes my resume is met with a lot of furrowed brows. But, a funny thing happened -  since I’ve been here I’ve booked commercials, voice-over and even gotten to audition for a West End musical (if you know me at all - you know that is a dream come true.) I have also been teaching comedy and acting for the camera in London and Dublin. I directed a show that ran for three months. I even taught in Covent Garden - and when I walked out after teaching a seven hour intensive in the heart of the West End - I kinda lost my breath for a second. I thought about the last three years in L.A. and how they were all the same in terms of the Sisyphean rock roll of anxiety and reward - and here I was in the center of London doing something I loved and had no idea I’d get to do more of. Then I took the tube home.

And that’s just work stuff - we have gotten to see so much of the UK. From Brighton to the Edinburgh Fringe Fest and dozens of cities in-between.  I’ve gotten to stay after-hours in the Tower of London drinking with Beefeaters, we did the Beatles tour of Liverpool with my Parents and we’ve seen where Dracula, Wuthering Heights and Peter Rabbit were all written. I’ve seen friends at the London Podcast Festival, in West End shows, in comedy shows and film festivals. Been to private soho late-night clubs I used to read about in NME. I’ve flown to Ireland and France for $60 round trip each. Jarvis talks with a cute accent and sees knights fighting each other - way more often than I thought was possible.

Sure, I miss stuff. I was a magnanimous people person in h’wood and the solitude of our country cottage is nice, but can get awfully lonely - especially when anyone you want to talk to won’t be awake until mid-afternoon. That said, I do have some great friends in London and my Scottish neighbour (*neighbor) Gavin is a good laugh and always down for a pint at my corner pub. I miss a lot of foods but can craft a decent facsimile of most things. I flew with four pounds of frozen chorizo and chihuahua cheese when we came back this summer because they have nothing remotely close.  And the “Kentucky bourbon” made in France and Germany is… passable.

I have no idea what the hell any of this means - I spent decades trying to relate any headway in this business to peers and students and the one thing I stressed most was - “It’s your own journey no one gets successful like anyone else.” I used to roll my eyes when people went to celebrities for advice and I’d overhear something along the lines of  “First, get discovered when your 16…then, sign with CAA”  So, the only insight I want to share is in regards to the fact I know a lot of people struggle with when to “cut and run.”  Was this the right move? can’t say yet,  but I do know we were happier this year than the last three in L.A. and we have A LOT of new experiences (*and phrases) to show for it.

Cheers!

I left out the political stuff - because it’s just the same here now :(

Top Ten Tuesday 15 December 2020

Welcome to this weeks Top Ten Tuesday. Originally created by The Broke & The Bookish, which is now hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week it features a book or literary themed category. This weeks prompt is:

Books On My Winter 2020-2021 TBR:

The Trials of Koli Rampart Trilogy Part 2 by M R Carey

The journey through M. R. Carey’s “immersive, impeccably rendered world” (Kirkus) — a world in which nature has turned against us — continues in The Trials of Koli, book two of the Rampart Trilogy.The earth wants to swallow us whole…Koli has been cast out from Mythen Rood. Behind him are his family and the safety of the known. Ahead, the embrace of the deadly forests awaits. But Koli heard a story, once. A story about lost London, where the tech of old times was so plentiful it was just lying on the streets. And if he can safely lead Ursula, Cup and Monono to this sparkling city, maybe he can save the rest of humanity, too. In a world where a journey of two miles is an odyssey, he’s going to walk two hundred. But the city is not what it once was…and around him, Ingland is facing something it hasn’t seen in three centuries: war. The Rampart Trilogy The Book of Koli, The Trials of Koli, The Fall of Koli For more from M. R. Carey, check out:The Girl With All the Gifts, Fell side, The Boy on the Bridge, Someone Like Me By the same author, writing as Mike Carey:The Devil You Know, Vicious Circle, Dead Men’s Boots, Thicker Than Water, The Naming of the Beasts

Reflect Reclaim Trilogy Book 1 by Jesse Booth & Joanna Reeder

Their romance only lasted a short few months… but that was more than 100 years ago.

Ever since his fiancé, Gemma MacLugh, was killed at the hands of a dragon shifter, vampire Leif Villers has mourned his loss. Still, a part of him never gave up on her. He could hear her voice, feel her love even through the grave, relive her memories over and over until they were stripped from him.

Now Leif has discovered the final piece to bring her back from death’s clutches. He carried her brooch, never knowing it held the key to resurrecting his love.

Too bad it’s now in the hands of the formidable kraken shifter who nearly destroyed the Shifter Academy in the recent vampire/shifter war and then slithered away, never to be seen again.

————

Across time, powerful selkie Gemma MacLugh–a magic user who can shape-shift into a seal–should have a wonderful, comfortable existence at her home in New York in 1897. But jealous sisters target her with their cruelty, making life miserable. If not for her Grandmother and her best friend and fellow selkie, Frederick, things might have been truly unbearable.

But when a mermaid seer foretells her upcoming death and opportunity arises to leave her home and travel across the country to a boarding house in Washington, she takes it.

To get away from her cruel sisters.

To escape her destiny.

But is it luck or fate’s final joke when she meets a tall, dark and handsome man by the name of Leif Villers?

Their love will challenge time and death itself, but can Leif get Gemma back? Can Gemma truly escape her fate?

**Reflect is the first book in the Reclaim Trilogy within the Shifter Academy Universe written by USA Today Bestselling Authors, Jesse Booth and Joanna Reeder**

The Dictionary of Lost Word by Pip Williams

In 1901, the word ‘Bondmaid’ was discovered missing from the Oxford English Dictionary. This is the story of the girl who stole it.

Esme is born into a world of words. Motherless and irrepressibly curious, she spends her childhood in the ‘Scriptorium’, a garden shed in Oxford where her father and a team of dedicated lexicographers are collecting words for the very first Oxford English Dictionary. Esme’s place is beneath the sorting table, unseen and unheard. One day a slip of paper containing the word ‘bondmaid’ flutters to the floor. Esme rescues the slip and stashes it in an old wooden case that belongs to her friend, Lizzie, a young servant in the big house. Esme begins to collect other words from the Scriptorium that are misplaced, discarded or have been neglected by the dictionary men. They help her make sense of the world.

Over time, Esme realises that some words are considered more important than others, and that words and meanings relating to women’s experiences often go unrecorded. While she dedicates her life to the Oxford English Dictionary, secretly, she begins to collect words for another dictionary: The Dictionary of Lost Words.

Set when the women’s suffrage movement was at its height and the Great War loomed, The Dictionary of Lost Words reveals a lost narrative, hidden between the lines of a history written by men. It’s a delightful, lyrical and deeply thought-provoking celebration of words, and the power of language to shape the world and our experience of it. 

Friends and Strangers by J Courtney Sullivan

An insightful, hilarious, and compulsively readable novel about a complicated friendship between two women who are at two very different stages in life, from the best-selling author of Maine and Saints for All Occasions (named one of the Washington Post‘s Ten Best Books of the Year and a New York Times Critics’ Pick).

Elisabeth, an accomplished journalist and new mother, is struggling to adjust to life in a small town after nearly twenty years in New York City. Alone in the house with her infant son all day (and awake with him much of the night), she feels uneasy, adrift. She neglects her work, losing untold hours to her Brooklyn moms’ Facebook group, her “influencer” sister’s Instagram feed, and text messages with the best friend she never sees anymore.

Enter Sam, a senior at the local women’s college, whom Elisabeth hires to babysit. Sam is struggling to decide between the path she’s always planned on and a romantic entanglement that threatens her ambition. She’s worried about student loan debt and what the future holds. In short order, they grow close. But when Sam finds an unlikely kindred spirit in Elisabeth’s father-in-law, the true differences between the women’s lives become starkly revealed and a betrayal has devastating consequences.

A masterful exploration of motherhood, power dynamics, and privilege in its many forms, Friends and Strangers reveals how a single year can shape the course of a life.

The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

‘At first glance they’re magnificent, yet the more she looks, the more she realizes how sinister the mountains appear: raw, jagged spikes. It’s not hard to imagine, she thinks, looking out; this place somehow consuming someone, swallowing them whole.’

An imposing, isolated hotel, high up in the Swiss Alps, is the last place Elin Warner wants to be. But she’s taken time off from her job as a detective, so when she receives an invitation out of the blue to celebrate her estranged brother’s recent engagement, she has no choice but to accept.

Arriving in the midst of a threatening storm, Elin immediately feels on edge. Though it’s beautiful, something about the hotel, recently converted from an abandoned sanatorium, makes her nervous – as does her brother, Isaac.

And when they wake the following morning to discover his fiancée Laure has vanished without a trace, Elin’s unease grows. With the storm cutting off access to and from the hotel, the longer Laure stays missing, the more the remaining guests start to panic.

But no-one has realized yet that another woman has gone missing. And she’s the only one who could have warned them just how much danger they’re all in . . .

Book of Yeshua by Francis Chapman

The dual time-line conspiracy thriller that will make you question everything

Did you ever ponder the sheer absurdity of the story told in the New Testament? That humanity’s redemption lay in the execution of God’s only son?’

Elliot Ambrose is one of the few souls on Earth who knows the truth about Yeshua of Nazareth. His determination to expose this truth throws him into conflict with an ancient and powerful foe, who will stop at nothing to protect their secrets. Elliot must undertake a violent journey, and a war started in Judea two thousand years ago culminates in a final battle in the twenty-first century.

This dark, gripping, dual time-line conspiracy thriller will appeal to fans of Dan Brown, S. J Parris, and Raymond Khoury.

Dances & Dreams on Diamond Street by Craig Revel Horwood

An offbeat, funny and heartwarming romantic novel from the fabulous King of Strictly, Craig Revel Horwood.

Set against the colourful boho backdrop of London’s Camden in the 1990s, Craig Revel Horwood’s first novel, Dances and Dreams on Diamond Street, tells the story of an unlikely family of friends who each rent a room in a ramshackle six-bedroom, four-storey townhouse. Like any family, the residents of Diamond Street sometimes fights and often act up but when the chips are down, they’re there for each other in an instant – usually brandishing a cheap bottle of booze, and the offer of an impromptu kitchen disco.

Presided over by the wise-cracking but warm-hearted patriarch of the family, Danny Hall, a professional dancer turned choreographer, the novel follows a year in the life of the inhabitants of Diamond Street, rough diamonds one and all, as they try to achieve their dreams – with unexpected, heart-warming and sometimes hilarious results.

Tomorrow Will Be A Good Day by Captain Sir Tom Moore

Who is Captain Sir Tom Moore? You’ve seen him on the television walking the length of his garden. A frail elderly man, doing his bit at a time of crisis. But he wasn’t always like this.

From a childhood in the foothills of the Yorkshire Dales, Tom Moore grew up in a loving family, which wasn’t without its share of tragedy. It was a time of plenty and of want. When the storm clouds of the Second World War threatened, he raised his hand and, like many of his generation, joined up to fight.

His war would take him from a country he had never left to a place which would steal his heart, India, and the Far East, to which he would return many years later to view the sight he had missed first time around: the distant peak of Everest.

Captain Tom’s story is our story. It is the story of our past hundred years here in Britain. It’s a time which has seen so much change, yet when so much has stayed the same: the national spirit, the can-do attitude, the belief in doing your best for others.

The Diary of Bink Cumming Vol 3 by Bink Cummings

Must read: The Diary of Bink Cummings Vol 1 & 2 previously.

Tests, life is full of them. The world is constantly trying see how much you can take before you break. Before you’re no longer you. Before your world dissolves into nothing. How long you can preserver and overcome the endless obstacles. It’s no secret that Big and I butt heads. It’s no secret that I not only dislike my mother, I hate her, because she hates me. Can these people break me? Can they push me to the edge of insanity, ready to jump? Having moved in with Big, I was living the life I never even knew I wanted. Every day was filled with hope and love. Until it wasn’t. Until it all changed and I was forced to learn what I’m made of. It took a single day for my world to never be the same. One day to change me forever. A day of revelations. Twenty-four hours I’ll never forget…

Steamy Adult romance Warning: Contains Mature scenarios, and mass quantities of profanity. For Ages 18+

-This is not a Stand alone.

Satan’s Fury MC Box Set by L Wilder

From the New York Times and USA Today Best Seller L Wilder comes the complete Satan’s Fury MC series with this limited time offer. The boxed set will only be available through the Thanksgiving Holiday, and then it will be gone forever. Grab yours quick while you can.

Maverick- The sergeant at arms finds his silver lining.

Stitch- With this enforcer, there are no limits to his brutality, no lines drawn in the sand … until Wren.

Cotton- The president of Satan’s Fury gives in to his carnal desires.

Clutch- Sometimes closing one door, opens another.

Smokey- Chance brought them together. Circumstance tore them apart.

Big- Hacker verses hacker in the most intriguing way.

Two Bit- Where she was his weakness, he was her strength.

Diesel- He may look like the boy next door, but if you mess with someone he cares about, he’ll become your worst nightmare.

*The Satan’s Fury MC series continues with the Memphis Chapter. Be sure to check out Blaze, Shadow, and the latest addition, Riggs. All are standalone romances with no cheating and no cliffhanger.

Until next week.

#JustForFun, #Top Ten Tuesday, #TopTenTuesday, #TTT

CANTLON: PACK BEGIN TO MARCH TOWARD THE POSTSEASON

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings CROMWELL, CT - The trade deadline has come and gone. The roster of the Hartford Wolf Pack is intact and now the next goal for the New York Rangers' AHL affiliates is making the Calder Cup playoffs. “We have 21 games left before the playoffs. 12 of them are on the road. We still have our work cut out for us,” remarked Pack Head Coach, Kris Knoblauch. The lineup he has, with few exceptions, will be the one the team will have when they head into the playoffs for the first time in five years. “This is our group. We have had a few changes, but will have some more, maybe later on, but this group will have,”  Knoblauch said stoically. “Our goal is always to have Hartford Wolf Pack players play for the Rangers whether it was Phil (Di Giuseppe), Lindy (Ryan Lindgren), Igor (Shesterkin) or (Filip) Chytil that’s our job here. Make the best environment for them to play in. One of the reasons (for the development success) is the veterans brought in here such as Danny O’Regan, Phil Di Guiseppe, Mason (Geersten), and Vincent LoVerde. Can’t say enough how well he has played. They all have made their mark with this team." Knoblauch loves to talk about O’Regan. “He’s not a loud guy, but a quiet, effective leader. He works very well with a player like Patrick Newell. On the ice or just hanging out together. He’s a natural person to gravitate toward. There is an extra step when he is paired with Danny.” The Pack begins a second three-games-in-three-days with two on the road. They visit Binghamton to play the Devils on Friday, then travel to Bridgeport on Saturday against the Sound Tigers, and then Sunday afternoon they'll have a crucial meeting with the Providence Bruins at 3 PM at the XL Center. From the good news department comes word that centerman, Boo Nieves, is close to returning to the lineup. He was in practice for a third straight day sporting a green jersey, not the non-contact yellow he'd been wearing lately. “Right now, he is day-to-day, (but) questionable for the weekend. He looks fantastic. Our best player the last three practices. We're very eager to get him back. However, it has to remain day-to-day until he gets (medical) clearance.” For team captain, Steven Fogarty, he can jokingly celebrate that he was not traded at the deadline. Fogarty staying breaks the "Captain Trade Jinx" which saw the team's captain being traded the last five consecutive years. “I wasn’t too worried about it,” Fogarty said with a laugh. Now, with all the distractions behind them, for the team, the march to the postseason is everything. “We put ourselves in a good spot. We like who we have, so it’s a matter of doing what we have been doing and clean up the things we need to.” The strong finish on Sunday in the solid effort in the 4-1 win over Bridgeport is what they want to carry into the start of the weekend in Binghamton. “Two points is all we got out of it last week. We didn’t play well Friday. We did well, but not enough on Saturday. We want to help ourselves down the road. We're still in a battle.“ Fogarty has been just as effective in getting offense while the team is shorthanded as he has been while playing five-on-five. There is an art form to playing shorthanded. He has a very quick stick, but a player needs to know when to be careful and when to use it. “You gotta know when the right time to jump on it to make the play is. I got a long stick and it helps sometimes. You can get too deep trying to fish one on a play and use your body more sometimes. So, we’ve got important meaningful games in the last ten. It's something we haven’t had in the last few years looking forward to it.” His linemates have changed throughout the year, which happens, but nothing tends to change, “You start to hunker down a bit, get all four lines going. That’s gonna be important to us.” Playing for something after several miserable years is certainly something Fogarty relishes. “The last few years certainly didn’t end the way anyone wanted. Playing for something this year is something we've worked for all year." The chase for the Calder Cup is fully under way and picks up in earnest this weekend. NOTES: On the Rangers "paper" assignments of Julien Gauthier and Brett Howden for the postseason, Knoblauch steered clear of that one. “That’s way off in the future. I don’t have control of those decisions. Till the playoffs are here, and those players are sent here, I can’t really think that far ahead. We'll have some bodies here and we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.” No decision has been made, publicly anyway, on the weekend's goaltending rotation between Adam Huska and J.F. Berube. Congrats to Fogarty who's heading to the Hall of Fame….the BC (British Columbia) Hall of Fame. The 2011-12 BCHL Penticton Vees team is among inductees. The team went 54-4-2 and won the BCHL Fred Page Cup, the regional Junior A Doyle Cup, and the national Junior A RBC Cup. “That was a special team. I haven’t been back there since. Several of us will be going with the ceremony in the summer. I'm very much looking forward to it. That was a special year and I'm very honored that our team was selected.” With 81 points, Fogarty was the sixth-leading scorer on the team. His teammates included current Sound Tiger, and former Quinnipiac University Bobcat, Travis St. Denis. The other player of local note was one of St. Denis’s collegiate teammates at QU, goalie Michael Garteig, who's now playing in Finland. “It's been something playing him (St. Denis) the last four years,” Fogarty said. Fogarty explained how he wound up in Penticton, BC, saying, “I knew a couple of guys I played with who were going up there to play. Why would anyone go there to play? Usually, kids from Minnesota. You're off to the USHL and then college. The USHL draft didn’t go as planned. Notre Dame wanted me to go there, get a little seasoning. It looked like a good opportunity. So, I went for a visit and fell in love with the place. Penticton is one of the most beautiful spots in Canada, just gorgeous. It was first-class. They treated us very well. Fans were out every night, cheering us and made it great every night. It was one of the best years of my life. We won 42 games in a row. We had everyone following us around like TSN. It was a wild, fun time.” They almost lost everything. “We lost our first two games in the RBC Cup (National Junior A Championships) and we're down in the third. We're almost eliminated. We tied it and won in overtime. We won the rest of the games. It wasn’t so easy. It wasn’t what looks it on paper, but we had our moments.” Interestingly, current Wolf Pack, Ryan Gropp, played his first two Junior A games that same year with Penticton where he notched a goal. The BCHL announced it's reducing its schedule starting next season from 58 to 54 games, plus they're starting later in September. The league will go now to two nine-team conferences based on BC geography for teams on the mainland and Inland locations. In Montreal, not only was Pack radio voice, Bob Crawford, in the Bell Centre. For the second time, Lindgren got to be on the same ice with his brother Charles, but this time in the NHL. The two met earlier in the season in Hartford with both brothers still playing in the American League. Charles was in goal for the Laval Rocket. The two brothers got their pictures taken at center ice before the game. Gauthier, a Montreal native from the east end of the city in Pointe-aux-Trembles, had plenty of family and friends in attendance. He was interviewed by his uncle Denis Gauthier, a former NHL defenseman, who is now an analyst on RDS (the French language sports station). It was also the 30th anniversary of the last NHL hat trick by Canadiens' legend, Guy Lafluer. The "Hattie" wasn't tallied for the Habs. It came while Lafleur played with the Rangers against the LA Kings. A few more names have been added to the Wolf Pack Calder Cup championship reunion that will take place on Friday, April 10th. Daniel Goneau and Jason Dawe will also be on the ice. Read the full article

The Daily 30th: Oklahoma City Thunder

Mood: Waking up with a surprisingly manageable hangover after an epic night of partying, and ultimately deciding they regret nothing.

Best thing going: Paul George and Russell Westbrook will be on their team this year

Best player: Russell Westbrook

Worst player: Doug McDermott

1-year core: Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Steven Adams

5-year core: Hopefully all of the same people?

Not to dampen the much-justified excitement, but the Thunder acquiring Paul George shows us all just how wide the gap is in the NBA between the NBA and the Warriors. The Thunder just added a top 10 player in the league to a roster that has the reigning MVP and won 47 games last year. They should win maybe even 10 more this season. Still, they may be 10 games off the Warriors’ pace. That is a lot of games! For Oklahoma City, the organizational infrastructure remains thin. George and Westbrook are a very intriguing duo with an enormous ceiling. Even so, their third best player is Steven Adams. Adams is great, he’s a fine center and a great competitor. He’s no Klay Thompson or Kevin Love, however. The minimum star count for contending teams these days seems to be three. Having said that, you’d much rather be Oklahoma City than, say, Minnesota. Or would you? (Now I’m really dampening things.) Minnesota will have Butler, Wiggins, and Towns for a few years together. George and Westbrook have one shot in Oklahoma City, and could both bolt for Los Angeles next summer to play with Lonzo Ball, Julius Randle, and Brandon Ingram.

So what, then, is the goal for Oklahoma City this season? Is it to compete for a championship or to keep Westbrook and George? If you lose in Game 7 of the conference finals and George and Westbrook bounce, was it a failed season? If you lose in round one, but they both stay, is that better? If you lose in round two and keep only Westbrook, is that really promising anything more than future early-round exits? Are future early-round exits all you’re asking for? It’s really difficult for any NBA franchise to justify taking things day-by-day when six days every July alter the entire league landscape every single year. Compound this fact with the lone constants in recent years: the dominance of the Warriors, and that of LeBron, and it’s really hard to see why anyone would go for it in a given year rather than stock the pantry full of draft picks and young prospects. How many first rounders could Presti turn George and Westbrook into right now? 4? 5? Deal them into a doomed situation and reap the rewards a la Danny Ainge. But doesn’t that take away the whole fucking point of basketball? Basketball’s not a stock market game. It’s a competitive game of chance with a ball and a hoop. Westbrook and George are a very good pair of basketball players, and having those good players in their primes should excite fans more than having selections that could turn into players as good as Westbrook and George already are.

What is the point of the NBA? Is it just to win championships? Ideally, yeah. A mere 96.666% of individuals affiliated with organizations fall short of this goal every year. Only one team can win the championship. So, is that top 3.33% a do-or-die proposition? Well, it shouldn’t be. There has to be some level of acceptance of failure, otherwise a league like this will make you miserable, especially if you don’t root for Golden State. My theory is this: I want to feel like my team can win a championship if they play their best and get lucky along the way. I want to feel justifiably sad when they lose, and like I’m not crazy for thinking they’ll win. If I can enter a playoff series thinking, “We can do this if we get it right,” I’m satisfied. That chance brings the game to life. As a Bulls fan, I don’t look back at 2011 as a failure. The Bulls got to the conference finals and got spanked, but they won Game 1 by 20 points and Taj Gibson dunked Dwyane Wade through the floor. That was awesome. I felt like we could win. 2013, when all we had was Joakim Noah and Nate G.D. Robinson, we beat the Heat in Game 1and felt invincible. We almost took a 3-1 lead in 2015. Those years felt awesome, even though some part of me likely knew LeBron James was going to beat us in all three of those seasons. The Thunder felt that thrill every year it had Durant and Westbrook together and healthy. That amounted to five seasons over seven years (after Westbrook’s rookie season). So with George in for Durant, and Westbrook’s game having blossomed to its maximum potential, you’d think they’d be right back at that level of feeling like they have a chance.

So why doesn’t it feel like they have a chance?

Paul George is not as good as Kevin Durant. When the Thunder had Kevin Durant, they were not as good as the Warriors. The Warriors now have Kevin Durant. So, a worse Thunder team faces a better Warriors team, how can we expect the Thunder to have a chance? Let’s dip into some optimistic takes on why these Thunder could succeed where those Thunder failed.

• Were the Warriors better with Durant? In the postseason, they lost one game. But, they didn’t have Durant’s Thunder to take them to 7 games, or an injury to Steph Curry to sink them a couple notches in the early rounds, and it’s possible that the Cavs efforts were quashed by a lack of edge, a diminished bench unit, and an uncertainty of identity beyond LeBron and Kyrie. The Warriors could be better with Durant, but their improvement upon adding Durant isn’t near OKC’s improvement on adding George, I’d argue.

• Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry have both had many injuries throughout their career, and if one of them falls, Golden State will leave the door open; someone has to be ready to walk through.

• Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook never really played with each other so much as they played around each other. Durant shot, Russell shot, they ran breaks together and threw alley-oops, but their styles were never especially complementary.

• George is not as valuable as Durant, but he’s also just a different player. He’s more of a defensive standout, and on offense he is more of a physical inside threat, which can make his off-ball abilities more valuable when paired with Westbrook than someone like Durant, who at times functioned merely as an excellent shooter (a tall Kyle Korver) when Westbrook had control.

• George can still carry the offense whenever needed, but this is definitely Westbrook’s team. The Thunder never tried being Westbrook’s team when Durant was healthy.

• If Westbrook can hold onto the Sith energy inside him that propelled him to an MVP season, that may be an intangible that the Thunder can use.

• The pieces surrounding Westbrook and George aren’t quite as good as Serge Ibaka and Dion Waiters, but players like Patrick Patterson and Doug McDermott may provide enough shooting to prove more effective, again, in a complementary sense.

• There’s always more that can be done. The Thunder do have some tradable pieces if it seems that they’re one piece away. Enes Kanter and a first for DeMarcus Cousins is available if New Orleans is looking to tank.

So I would advise Oklahoma City fans to take a counterintuitive measure: Just take it one day at a time. Don’t worry about next year. Don’t worry about Westbrook and George’s next contract. Worry about making use of this one. The thing that can make you most want to stay in a job is if you’re very caught up in the day-to-day of it. When players have massive, years-long clouds hanging over their pending free agency, they tend to find it easier to leave because there’s already been so much consideration that they would do so. When all you’re worried about is the next day’s work, you don’t have time to think where you’ll be next year, and starting over somewhere else seems more difficult. With the Warriors in control, it’s hard for any NBA team to think they’re really building toward a championship right now, and players are more likely to fantasize about where they could go. If you can achieve singular focus on a specific goal, you stay together. There’s also the fact that Paul George and Russell Westbrook don’t have well-defined relationship, and who knows where it’ll go as they play together? Maybe they’ll fall in love. Literally. And get married.

The Thunder project as a top four team in a loaded Western Conference. Russell Westbrook would like nothing more than to go toe-to-toe with Durant’s Warriors in a playoff series, and if there is a God, we’ll get the chance to see that at least once. George being in the picture makes it feasible that the Thunder don’t get swept in four blowouts. If Russell Westbrook has a chance against Kevin Durant, that brings them back into same essential paradigm they were in with Durant — having a shot. It will never feel as pre-destined as it did with Durant, and it will never feel as organic. It will never feel the way that would have felt. But reality isn’t some fairy tale where the hero comes back home and wins one for his kingdom (unless you’re LeBron James, I guess). Reality takes twists and turns you can’t control. Reality is being Oklahoma City means you aren’t going to lure free agents; you have to grow them or sell commodities to obtain them. As much as Durant seemed to define Oklahoma City, George is also part of OKC’s young history. Allowing the team not to fall into prolonged mediocrity or perennial lottery status is critical for Oklahoma City’s brand. If Oklahoma City becomes known as a bottom-tier NBA franchise, it’ll be tough for them to get off the mat.

As much as George does for the Thunder, he raises their baseline, which actually tilts focus to the bit players. Can Andre Roberson’s shooting improve? Can Doug McDermott become consistent? Can Patrick Patterson excel in a renewed role? Can Enes Kanter and Steven Adams round out their games to become more than window-dressing on their respective weak ends of the floor? Will Nick Collison ever die? Can any of Semaj Christon, Josh Huestis, Alex Abrines, Jerami Grant, and Terrance Ferguson become legitimate contributors? The Thunder have long struggled to cultivate a productive bench, and it could be what ultimately drags them down this year.

The thing to think about isn’t next season where Westbrook and George may be gone. It’s not the playoffs where anything can happen but usually doesn’t. It’s the first game of the regular season, taking the court with the reigning MVP, and Paul George in an Oklahoma City uniform, and beating the crap out of that first opponent, whoever it is, and re-establishing the Thunder as an NBA power. The rest comes later.