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bacchicly · 1 year

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BIG TROUBLE IN RIVER CITY: A GARVEZ CASE FIC (PART 7)

Paring: Penelope Garcia x Luke Alvez

Summary: The team makes a plan to trap the unsub and delivers the profile. This is a “happier” (i.e. there is no talk of Luke and Pen breaking up) / stand alone version of the case fic which suddenly appeared in the middle of my lovers to friends fic (Deep and Crisp and Even).

Words: 4000ish

Content This Chapter: Mentions / examples of fat hate. Sweraring. Mentions of CM type violence / themes. Luke thinking about how much he loves Penelope - while trying to keep their relationship a secret.

Content Overall Story: CM type violence / themes; unsub; sex (but can be skipped to or away from as I will put it in stand alone chapters - like PART 2); mentions/examples of fat hate.

✈✈✈

The ballroom is thick with tired wired cops.

The BAU Team take their seats in their own corner - no one looks particularly chipper but everyone is alert. J.J. empties a big bag of M&M's into the ice bucket she brought down from her room and plunks it in the middle of the table. Tara has snagged a handful before the plastic container has stopped shuddering from the mini impact - her hand bumping against Emily's on exit.

"So?" asks Luke as he pulls out a chair for Penelope since her hands are full with the laptop she picked up from the tech nerve centre on the way, "What's happened. Matt says there's been another victim? It seems fast."

Penelope is typing even before her butt hits her chair - which Luke is now pushing in for her. The team exchanges a hidden smile but Luke and Penelope are oblivious. Spencer catches a few of the uniformed cops smirking at his solicitous colleague; so he serves up a first rate Paddington / Prison Yard worthy "hard stare" on their behalf and is somewhat chuffed when the cops turn away and are suddenly pressingly busy with some investigative odd or end.

Rossi catches the exchange and pays tribute to Reid's chivalrous defence with a smiling nod. Spencer catches the unspoken praise from the elder agent with a blithe crook of his lips and a raised eyebrow. The exchange is brief and further covered by the attention going to Prentiss' response to Luke's question.

"We're not completely sure if this death is not due to natural causes - let alone connected to our unsub - although there are some similariti-"

Penelope's fingers keep flying across her keyboard even as she cuts off her boss. "Fat-ish. Thomas Green, age 34, was heavy for his height. But as far as I can tell he was unlikely to be someone targeted by our unsub - firstly not that the world does a good job of parsing these things - fat is fat in a lot of people's eyes - but Mr. Green was nowhere near as heavy as the other victims. Also, no significant other. No history of confidently dating around. No children. Mother lives in Connecticut. Lives alone. Good student. Participates in an intramural Ultimate Frisby league. A member of several online gaming communities. Enrolled in… his 1st year of an online Master's program…in…ahhh… Biomimicry?! Interesting. I am not saying Mr. Green is definitely not a victim but I wouldn't have flagged him as one based on what I am seeing."

Tara's question is directed at their Unit Chief but her eyes are glued worriedly on Penelope, "So - who did flag this death as a potential victim and why?"

Penelope growls. “No idea. The ambulance report certainly didn’t set off any of the digital alarms I set. Although one thing did rise to the surface with my collating program about 45 minutes ago - it seems like all the victims are at least tangentially connected to a municipal boxing program for under-priviledged youth. Which - again as far as I can tell - is not the case with Mr. Green.”

Prentiss lets her breath out in a soft whoosh. She hates that her agents may have gotten called out of bed for a false alarm - she would normally have been more circumspect but the local police chief had just been so adamant. But now that they are up…

“That is a great lead, Garcia. To answer Luke’s question first. As Rossi pointed out on the jet - this unsub is devolving so we have no way to estimate how quickly soon they will reoffend - but what we do know is there is something about the 6th of the month that is important to the unsub and that the shortest times between victims - without counting what we now realise were a couple who were killed on the same day - was just over 24 hours-”

“Which happened in November and was most likely an attempt to get back ‘on schedule’ ”, Spencer adds air quotes to the words in a way he would never do if not so tired, “after the first round of deaths that he didn’t manage to execute on the 6th of the month. But since the 6th of January isn’t pending, I do not think that duration is a solid predictor of the unsub’s current timeline. I think looking at the more recent breaks is likely a better predictor - and that pattern suggests that - while devolving - the unsub will wait at least 4 to 6 days have past - my guess is as long as the unsub feels that their message was heard that will meet their needs enough for now and if - they are not able to hold on to January 6th - they will at least try to time the next death on the 26th as a stand in. So I would agree with Penelope - I don’t think this death is a victim of the unsub - but since we are coming up on the 4th day without a death and the pressure of the holiday could accelerate the timeline in ways that are hard to account for…it might…” Spencer gives a meaningful look at the Agent who, once upon a time, was their press liaison.

J.J.’s starts to nod. “So far we haven’t talked very much about the press strategy - beyond agreeing to not take any precautions against the story being picked up and coaching the local PD’s press liaison to stick to the release - but maybe we should do a bit more to make sure the case is hitting the news in a way that could buy us some time?”

“Can you and Rossi go and-?” J.J. nods smartly as Rossi stands, his head cocked in a question that a defeated sounding Prentiss answers without him having to ask.

“Yes. It’s a go. Can you brief J.J.? It needs to be part of the new press strategy and if we can catch the morning news cycle... The team and I will take exactly 15 minutes to sketch out a preliminary plan and then I will brief the Police Chief while everyone else will be ordered to sleep - we only have four hours until I’ve promised the profile. Rossi - JJ find me here or swing by my room after you’ve dealt with the release - knock hard if you need to - we’ll need to swap details and it will be faster in person. Now - go!”

Emily Prentiss scans the room one last time and then sits with purpose pulling a pad of paper towards herself - her one concession to her own fatigue - and looks hard at her agents.

“Ok someone set a timer. Based on what we have profiled so far, we have 15 minutes to agree on how to best tempt our unsub into targeting Penelope as their next victim. We, ladies and gentlemen, are setting up a sting.”

✈✈✈

It’s Christmas Eve, 7 am, and the team stands in their usual semi-circle but the mood of the muttering cops is darker than even the BAU Agents are used to. Emily and the Chief of Police better arrive soon - this gang is antsy.

Lines are being drawn between those who think this case should be a priority and those who think it's a waste of police time. Both the pro and anti factions' beliefs seemed to have become more entrenched since the Chief of Police got off the phone and announced that the coroner suggests that, while not releasing any official cause of death yet, last night’s fatality is likely due to complications from a head injury incurred during a recent Ultimate Frisby match and not the result of poison.

Luke resists glancing past Tara and Dave to check on Penelope for what feels like the 5 billionth time since they took their places.

Instead, he glares down at the taupe industrial carpet and tries to discern what the muttering is actually about… but his brain won't cooperate. It just keeps gnawing on whether the red and white dress was the right choice after all…maybe he should have insisted she wear the black one…what if these fuc-…officers… don't take her safety seriously enough? What if because she looks too much like a candy cane… and those shoes? What if…instead of listening to the briefing… they all just stare at her amazing legs and chest and cherry red lips and fantasize about how she looks good enough to…

Luke mentally gives himself a kick in the groin and forces himself to relax his hands which have balled back into fists.

FOCUS, ALVEZ.

The plan makes sense. It’s a good tactical plan. He could…WOULD…protect her. They all would. But wouldn't it be better to have the local cops giving their all too?

Damn. They should have chosen the black dress….

No. The red and white one makes sense for the plan. …the damn fucking deadass…

At dinner last night, Prentiss had asked Luke to tackle the job of adding to the profile in a way that will reach the cops like J.J.'s assigned partner - but when things shifted and it became clear that this would not only be the delivery of the profile but also an outline of the planned sting …the role had not exactly taken away from him. Matt and Rossi had made it clear that they had that side of it covered - so his job was now to introduce the details of the plan in a way that would win over even the most cowboy cop and introduce the key elements tactical language that will be understood and instinctively taken as orders by the majority of those in the room. He had also tagged on an extra personal mission to the task he had been given - he had to win them over but do it all without revealing the true nature of his current relationship with Pe- the principle.

It had taken a couple hours but they had finally settled on two possible approaches and he was ready to go with either depending on how the Chief of Police wanted to play it. Emily was briefing him now. He had to be ready to wing it. He wished they would-

It’s not often wishes are granted in this job - but Luke’s is when his boss strides angrily into the room almost herded by the Chief of Police who is sauntering smugly behind. Luke watches closely as Emily crosses to them. Her manner is professional and serious… brusque… tense…almost defeated… but then in a moment when her back is to the crowd and her face is to the team just for a second she cracks - smiling at them - beaming - almost bouncing? Like she just got told that Santa is real and he's bringing her tequila and scantily clad lovers to find under herChristmas tree. The look hits Luke hard - like a slap of sleet in the face. He is suddenly reeling in a new unexpected direction and he doesn't know what to make of it. Should he dance or puke?

The Police Chief's demeanour is not opposite from their boss' slip but the look he is giving his officers is pure "I'm in charge and you better not give these people shit or I am going to be very disappointed - not because they don’t deserve it - but because it’s a privilege of my rank."

Apparently it’s a go.

Puke. Definitely puke.

Curse it all to hell and back on a pink unicycle.

Fuck. Even her elaborate cursing has rubbed off on him!

“Alright! Listen up!”

The Chief of Police’s strong goading voice cuts off Luke’s thought and he pushes everything but the moment away. Game time.

“You may not know, but I - despite my open and cooperative nature - was less than pleased when the Commissioner decided to call in the FBI.” The cops laugh. Their Chief amiably shushes them with his hand and carries on, “but, despite my objections, I have been ordered to let Ms Prentiss here and her FBI Behavioral Specialists to present the findings of their profiling exercise to all of you. Now I am not sure if I believe any of it - I leave it to you to judge for yourselves - but the one bit of credit they deserve is that while they were rambling on during the preview for the brass…I came up with plan to catch this bastard - some real Texan style “don’t mess with us” policing which I know y’all will like. Now, I may not believe in all the wishy washy stuff - but I will say that they know a good idea when they hear it - and I hate to admit it - but they’ve even added one or two improvements - so stay quiet for their little presentation - then we can get to the action.”

Emily's face is somehow both hard and soft in its determination. Her hair falls sharp against her cheek as she lets space come between the words just spoken and those she will say next…then…like a flip switches..with a swift jutt of her chin and a tightly bowed smile - she breaks the silence she created. Heads whip in her direction.

“Despite your Chief’s somewhat lacklustre introduction - you should listen to what we have to say. We’ve done this a lot. A lot a lot. And I can tell you that the information we can share can save lives. Those of potential victims - yes. But cops’ too. We don’t want anyone missing Christmas dinner because they didn’t listen today… and since your boss has a plan…”

Luke purposely turns away from his boss and steps away from his spot with the team - clenching his fists and jaw and then a bit too purposely relaxing them. He is not quite standing with the cops now - but almost… Matt throws an angry look his way that is so brief it is likely missed by most, then jumps into the frey without missing a beat:

“Your boss plays by a different playbook than us - but the two outlooks can work very well together and the plan is a good one - but it will work better if you understand a few things about the target.”

Rossi jumps in now.

“Like many of you here, we believe the target is physically fit and has taken great interest in improving his physique over the years. We believe he is likely caucasian - between 6’1 and 6’3; potentially with a slim but strong build. Although - physical characteristics may differ so don’t rule out stockier or more sickly individuals.”

The cop who had been J.J. 's interviewing partner calls out from the back of the room “Isn’t poison usually a woman’s or weakling’s weapon? What makes you think that this person is male and fit? I mean - if this is really murder and not some huge hoax or lab jumping to conclusions - wouldn’t it make sense for a woman to be killing these people - like that nurse? An ‘angel of mercy’ type thing - putting people out of their misery?”

A ripple goes through the crowd. It’s one thing for the Chief to be rude to the FBI - but an officer doing the same is not amusing anyone. Firing up some? Yes. Raising the ire of others? Sure. But amusing? No one.

Spencer fixes the cop with a stare he perfected in the prison laundry room.

“There’s no hoax or lab error here, Officer. There is someone out there who has tragically cut short the lives of - by all reports - and you were at the interviews, Officer - we have a lot of reports - cut the lives short of twelve very happy people who just also happened to be fat. None of them needed to be ‘put out of their misery’. There is someone out there who has killed twelve people - that is already two more than the BTK Killer and six more than the Son of Sam - and we are all here to work together to stop them. None of us are going to let this person get away with it. We’re all better than that - all better than him. But, you know what?? You’re right, statistically, women do choose poison as a weapon more frequently than males. According to the imperfect but apropos 2012 Federal Bureau of Investigation Supplemental Homicide Report, while guns are technically the weapon of choice for both genders in the US - even though quantitatively way more men murder using poison than women - one way of looking at the numbers lets us state that women are 7 times more likely to choose poison as a weapon than a male offender. However, Officer, there are several elements of these murders and the letter that was sent to the Coroner’s office that tip the scales towards not only a male - but one who will appear physically fit,” Spencer leans back - his face finally dropping the fury and animating as he settles into his explanation - the thrill of explaining the profile apparent even though his countenance is still as tough as nails, “In the letter, the unsub presents the murders as part of a mission fueled by-”

Penelope cuts him off: “Hatred. Hatred of Fat People. People like me.”

Penelope’s voice rings across the room. She is suddenly so much more than just herself - she is mother, sister, favourite aunt, beloved fat-friend, their grandmother, their third-grade teacher, the bullied fat kid from their gym class - she is the prompter of half hidden derisive smiles and a reflection of some people’s biggest fear - some of the cops start to phrase the denial “You’re not-”...

The look Spencer gives Penelope is inscrutable as he picks back up the thread of his explanation. “Yes. Although I was going to say ‘a mission fueled by a desire to serve society by ridding it of those he sees as harmful’ - which on its own is not enough to deduce gender but it is the way the mission is phrased “The health of our city deserves better. We are at war and you are either on the side of science or against us.”

Prentiss takes her turn now - her arch voice steeped with confidence in her team and her own professional expertise: “It may be stereotypical but evoking the language of conflict instead of care - the attempt to appear detached and scientific - the lack of reference to children and families - even the use of “nay nay” which alludes to the late great John Pinette’s standup all point towards a male voice; but it is a detail from the crimes themselves that point most directly to the gender of our unsub.”

Tara takes the floor now - arm sweeping in an arc to a photo of one of the marks found on a victim’s belly - her expression wide and open: “Serial killers fall into several broad categories when it comes the motive - which differs from the organised vs disorganised types most of the public are familiar with. At first, the note and the targeting of fat people seemed to suggest that our killer fell into what we would call a ‘mission oriented killer’ - someone motivated to kill by their beliefs and a desire to ‘purify’ the human race of those they see as harmful or lesser.”

J.J. chimes in “You have all heard of this type of person - people moved to violence by hate and fear. White supremacists - anti-semites - rival gangs. The public and the unsub are familiar with these types of criminals and while hatred is part of the reason why these killings are happening; we believe the ‘war on the obese’ alluded to in the letter is being evoked primarily as a cover to hide the true motivations of the unsub; likely even from himself-”

“And,” says Tara still pointing at the photo, “it is this mark - this hickey - that we know the unsub left on the bellies of at least three of the victims that suggests most strongly that not only is the unsub male, fairly tall, and fit - but that the motivation for these crimes is much more personal than a hatred fueled mission to rid the world of people because they are fat.”

1 - 2 - 3…Luke waits for the penny to drop and then speaks up…turning his back on his team…stepping further into the midst of the cops… positioning himself as one of them… they rarely rehearse the giving of the profile ahead of time - but last night Emily had drilled him and Penelope on this next crucial bit…

“Our target has not killed these mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and husbands and wives and boyfriends and girlfriends because they were fat - no. He is killing them because they are fat and happy and loved. Many of the victims were not just in happy relationships - but in happy relationships with someone that society might say they didn’t deserve because they were fat and their partner was conventionally attractive. This has lead us to believe the unsub killed not because he hates fat people - but because he finds at least one fat person attractive but can’t be with them - maybe because he is afraid to admit it or because the person rejected him - but for whatever reason hates himself for wanting them - and hates every fat person who has what he wishes for.”

He looks across at his woman then. Even if they hadn’t been ordered to... Hadn’t rehearsed it… Luke doesn’t think he could not look at his Penelope in that moment; he struggles to keep his expression as neutral as possible - setting his jaw in a way that Emily had promised just hinted at a hidden longing - not his real feelings of loving this woman so much he can hardly stand being this far away from her. His heart asks to pound but he controls his breathing and genuine response as best he can; wildly hoping that the love he feels isn’t as nakedly apparent to the cops as he is sure it must be to his colleagues.

Penelope is in her element and follows the script exactly. Badly hiding a cheeky ‘you wish Newbie’ laugh and then turning to smile at everyone gathered wide and bright - her face radiating light and hope and her own secret sauce of knowing cheeky innocence - they are in the palm of her hand.

“Sounds crazy doesn’t it? But as someone who is somewhat fat and has been labelled as very fat throughout my life - I can tell you that men see and treat fat women differently. There are men who are genuinely attracted to me - probably some of you here are - and some might not even feel shame for it… but that is not as common as you think. I have been treated as though any attention shown to me was a favour - and…you know what men can be like when they think you owe them. But those men are players and reasonably easy to spot - and they are often not particularly worried about their genuine attraction or lack thereof - I’m a piece of ‘easy ass’ - nothing more - nothing less.”

Just for a flash, Luke sees a ripple of memory wash across Penelope. Is she thinking of how the man who shot her used her surprise at being found attractive by someone many would think was ‘out of her league’? He feels the familiar cocktail of relief that he is dead and the wish that he had been the one to pull the trigger.

“Nothing worse than what most women deal with. No, the worst are those that genuinely are attracted to me…may even date me happily for awhile…until..”, Penelope takes a sharp breath - sucking in oxygen like she’s drowning - but then comes back her voice hard and true - with the line they crafted and practised, “Contempt. Disgust. Shame. Ugly ugly feelings towards their own genuine attraction to my fat body… and you better believe that many of them found it more comfortable to blame me - punish me - than to confront their own reactions that they wouldn’t think twice about if only I was a size 2. Cowards.”

Rossi speaks up then - his voice an echo of so many fathers telling their kids that the bully is far more afraid than they are - he directs his words directly to the cop who asked about poison being used by women.

“The observation from earlier does apply - because while we believe that the unsub is of a certain height-”

Spencer pipes up - “to be able to kneel before his victim and place his mouth to their belly and give them a so-called last ‘love-bite’-”

Rossi gives him an indulgent look but takes back the floor “-and is possibly physically pleasing…but don’t doubt for a moment that he isn’t a coward and a weakling… and between your Chief and our team… we have a plan to use his desire and his fear to trap him..and SSA - Ex-Army Ranger - Alvez is now going to tell you all about it.”

✈✈✈

So, while Luke outlines the plan which will see Penelope and himself reprise their act of being a happy couple visiting a boxing gym -across town, a man is filling syringes.

To be continued…

Master List | List of One Shots & Happy Versions | Micro-Garvez

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timeagainreviews · 4 years

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Shock and Awe with Tesla

Within the previous week, I have had three people tell me that they were not aware that Hyp3n from "Orphan 55," was a furry. It wasn’t so much that they disagreed, they simply hadn’t reached the same conclusion as me. They thought she was just another naff Doctor Who alien. Compare her to the Menoptra or the fish people from "The Underwater Menace," and I can see your point. But I’m doubling down on it, I still think she’s a furry. Her tail had an elastic band keeping it on. And also, the Doctor comments on it like it’s something she’s wearing. You know what I am not doubling down on? That baddie from this week’s Doctor Who was not a Racnoss! I was so sure too!

Why did I want to see a Racnoss? Because the one we met in "The Runaway Bride," is a scenery-chewing Villain with a capital V. Instead, we get a scorpion alien called Skithra. Thankfully, she’s just as ridiculous. There’s a Palpatine level of fiendishness with both Skithra and the Racnoss. There’s a lot of moustache-twirling and hand wringing for a couple of creatures who possess neither. I kept waiting for the Doctor to say "They’re distant cousins of the Racnoss." There’s a precedent for such things, like the Silurians and the Sea Devils, or the Ood and the Sensorites, or even the Nimon and the Minotaur from "The God Complex." You know what? I’m doubling down. They’re distant cousins!

So enough about the creature, let’s get to the feature. Unlike previous episodes, I was fully aware that Nikola Tesla was going to be in this episode. My wife is a bit of a geek for Nikola Tesla. His portrait hangs in our living room next to My Little Pony and Doctor Who. If you were to ask my wife how she feels about Thomas Edison, you will hear great ire from her. Knowing this, I prefaced the episode by asking her not to "go there," if the episode starts praising Thomas Edison. She’s likely to yell at the screen. She gave no promises. Evidently, my wife has some sort of soul bond with writer Nina Metivier, as much of the narrative of tonight's episode framed Edison as a bit of an antagonist. Which was not far from the truth. Even in his more heroic moments, Edison is a true capitalist.

Much of the opening montage of this episode paints an accurate depiction of Tesla’s career. We open with Niagra Falls dominating the horizon as the inventor describes hydroelectricity to a group of potential investors. Tesla’s brilliant inventions dazzle as sparks of CGI electricity crackle above his head like a mad Walt Disney. His hope is to secure the funds to complete his Wardenclyffe Tower, a device meant to transfer electricity wirelessly. Despite Nikola’s best efforts, no one is interested. They’ve been reading the papers, buying into Edison’s smear campaign. Tesla’s alternating current electricity has been demonised in favour of Edison’s direct current electricity. Things are further soured when Tesla admits to the investors that he believes in men from Mars.

Right away this episode sends strong Hinchcliffe era vibes. Tesla being asked to investigate a dead body only to be chased through his laboratory by a man in period-appropriate clothing and glowing red eyes was pure Jago and Litefoot. I absolutely loved the tone they go for in the episode. It’s dark, it’s strange, and it’s a bit creepy. My only real problem with the scene was the music. Usually, Segun Akinola kills it with the score, but I found it’s minimalism failing to fit the atmosphere. A lot of tonight’s incidental music reminded me of a simplified version of Jeff Beal’s work on HBO’s "Carnivàle." While not bad, it was just a bit lacking.

Oddly enough, a lot of my biggest issues were with the production side of things. Some of the cinematography was odd for no reason. While it wasn’t as bad as the giant closeups of heads that dominated series eleven, there were some framing issues on occasion. One of the more egregious examples was aboard the Skithra’s ship. Unlike her distant cousins, the Racnoss (double down, baby), we never get a very good look at Skithra’s body. The one establishing shot we get of her is almost obscured. She’s either in extreme closeup or obfuscated from view, which is a shame because she looks awesome. Either the CGI or the prosthetic didn’t work, but her body did not look balanced at all.

During his laboratory chase, Tesla finds a floating orb. Small floating shapes are Doctor Who’s jam. The Toclafane, the cubes from "The Power of Three," the Time Lord hypercube, all classic examples. As soon as it appeared, I let out an audible laugh. It wasn’t that it was bad, I was delighted by how silly it looked. It was like something from Power Rangers. I’m not saying the CGI was bad, I’m just saying that if Christopher Eccleston had run by, I wouldn’t have batted an eye. Tesla decides to keep this orb to himself, to learn its secrets. So when the Doctor comes booming in looking for "anything weird," he neglects to mention a floating orb.

The Doctor and her two new friends, Nikola and his assistant Dorothy give chase to a hooded, laser wielding assassin. This leads them to a train where we see Yaz, Graham and Ryan looking their best in their own period-appropriate clothing. I absolutely love how much this series has been playing with the companion’s clothing. It’s more of that Hinchcliffe era peeking in. We’re treated to a train car chase where the Doctor apprehends the assassin’s weapon- a Silurian gun. I really loved this bit as I’m a big fan of action scenes involving trains. Tosin Cole had said in an interview that they were going a lot bigger in series twelve, and I have to admit, yes, yes they have.

However, the train ride is soon spoiled by the Doctor discovering that she’s on a train with Nikola Tesla. I had said how I hoped they continue the trend of the Doctor meeting famous people throughout history. Tesla and Edison mark the fourth and fifth historical figures in series twelve, so far. My problem is the gooey way in which the Doctor talks about the achievements of these people. There’s a drippy sentimentality that feels fake to me. I keep going back and forth between whether it’s Jodie’s delivery or the hollowness of the edutainment style dialogue. I would say it’s Jodie, as she delivers the same speech about each famous person they meet, with the same level of wonderous enthusiasm that it makes me wish she would give it more depth. But then I think about how much more depth she’s given us this year, and I go back to thinking it’s the writing. Like I said last week- nobody talks like this.

I don’t know if it was a memo from the BBC that Doctor Who should also be educational, but I wish they could find a more natural way of disseminating information. "The Unquiet Dead," does a wonderful job of educating us about Charles Dickens without also beating us about the head with the information. It’s one of those quirks that we’ll look back on about Whittaker’s era as the Doctor as one of her eccentricities. Long monologues of idealistic hero worship. Honestly, I’d love to see her meet Aleister Crowley just to see them try and find something nice to say about him. "His words went on to inspire generations of sex magick perverts! People in countless worlds will continue to use his books… to um… roll joints on."

The Doctor and the crew look into the tech. Since it’s Edison’s men coming after them, it’s automatically assumed that he’s behind it. Ryan even gets a cool guy moment when he flashes the Silurian gun tucked in his jacket like a gangster with a Tommy gun. But Edison just wants to see the gun in case it’s something he can patent and sell. He’s not sent out any men after Tesla, in fact, he loses his entire lab team at the hands of these red-eyed assassins. It turns out, they aren’t after the technology, they want Tesla’s mind. I liked this moment as Tesla doesn’t immediately sacrifice himself for the greater good of humanity. He kind of chickens out a bit.

Tesla and Yaz get transported aboard a ship hanging just above New York City, hidden by cloaking devices. The Queen Skithra stands vaguely behind things with a tail too heavy for what looks like her little kid body to balance. What looks like hundreds of scorpion soldiers writhe around on the ceiling as the Queen demands Tesla fix her ship and weapons system. I was a little confused at this point by the scorpion soldiers. I couldn’t tell if they were robots or creatures, or both. Either way, they were able to shapeshift, a fact which has very little bearing on the plot, which is fine. You’d just kind of think that if you’re going to introduce shapeshifters, one of them should pose as a good guy at some point. Oh well, at least we can’t accuse them of using a cliche.

The Doctor makes a little teleportation bracelet like something you would see Harry Sullivan, Sarah Jane, and the Fourth Doctor holding onto as they float through chromakey space. After discovering the green orb is a recording device, she’s able to trace it back to its source- the Queen’s ship. She beams her way up to the ship where she deduces that the Queen is a scavenger. The Silurian gun is just one of many pilfered objects littering the filthy ship. I loved the line “Nice place you’ve got here, probably. If you cleaned up a bit. I mean, I’m messy, but this?” It was some classic Fourth Doctor rudeness (Happy Birthday, Tom), and I’m there for it! The Doctor teleports everyone to safety but the scorpions aren’t far behind. Aboard the TARDIS we’re given a really lovely little scene between Dorothy and Ryan as they both compare what it’s like to live in the shadow of a mad genius. It was a great bit of dialogue that was closer to what I was talking about when I said "a more natural way."

Yaz and Edison are tasked with clearing the street, which is good because the companions haven’t had a whole lot to do this episode. Which is fine, they’re free to take the backseat on occasion. Though I will say I love Graham’s ribbing Thomas Edison about his work practices. Graham got a few zingers throughout the episode. I wondered if Graham saying “This ain’t our first rodeo,” wasn’t a reference to Bradley Walsh’s real-life back injury at a rodeo. Probably not. Most of the focus in this story is on Tesla’s character arc. Edison manages to clear the streets and best his competition by telling everyone Tesla is going to fire up his Wardenclyffe Tower, so they’d better run for their lives! The plan is to use the tower to take out the Skithra ship before it can destroy the world. However, the Skithra have no plans of going down without a fight.

As the scorpion soldiers take to the streets of New York I was oddly reminded of my childhood neighbour Anne’s dog- Bud Light. Bud Light was a miniature pinscher that my sister and I used to chase around the garden. And no matter how hard we chased her, she was always too fast. This little dog was no bigger than a foot and a half long and yet we still couldn’t keep up with those four little legs. Now imagine you’re running from Bud Light, only she has more than four legs, and she’s a giant scorpion. Do you get where I am going with this? It’s movie car logic. In a movie, a character can sometimes outrun a car while being pursued by bad guys. The thrill of the chase outweighs the logic. Their way around how fast these scorpions would actually be was to make them incredibly clumsy. These things do more skidding into turns than the entire cast of "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift." My theory is that their feet are made of really slick plastic and there was oil on the pavement. They were doing better in human form. Regardless, they look pretty cool. At least we now know where the CGI budget of this episode went.

The Doctor and Tesla work to connect the tower to the TARDIS controls. Meanwhile, everyone else is tasked with fending off the scorps until they can take out the ship. Only when the scorpions come knocking, they seem almost tame. Queen Skithra has left the safety of her ship, much to the Doctor’s surprise. With her not there, they can’t flip the switch. It’s an interesting position as it shows the Doctor fully planning to kill someone, a bit of moral ambiguity we don’t often see with her. I’ve really been enjoying the darker side of Jodie we’ve been seeing lately. For me, it’s really rounding out her Doctor in a way I had hoped to see. Speaking of dark sides, how great was that shot of the Queen standing in front of her army? The drudgy murkiness of the lighting made her look like a demon.

The Doctor tricks the Queen into thinking she has a weapon behind her back, knowing she would confiscate whatever it was. Unfortunately for the queen, this weapon was actually a harmless teleportation bracelet. The Doctor is able to beam her back to her ship and take out the brain of the hive mind, thus taking the scorpion soldiers with her. So I guess they were like drones? I suppose that scans. The Doctor parts ways with Edison and Tesla. Yet unlike in Spyfall Part 2, she doesn’t wipe their minds, because why would she? Since when has the Doctor even taken to wiping the minds of historical figures? Sure, Ten wiped Donna’s mind, but with very good reason. You could make the argument that neither Edison nor Tesla saw their own future. Clearly, travelling in an alien’s spacecraft that’s bigger on the inside is small potatoes compared to knowing the word computer.

Tesla and Edison part ways how they began, as competitors. But now we’re given the idea that perhaps Edison admires him a little. He’s got that "You magnificent son of a bitch," look guys give each other in lieu of emotions. Edison would go on to explore these feelings in his bizarre relationship with Henry Ford. I don’t know much about a real-life Dorothy Skerrit or if she even existed. I feel like the romantic vibes between the two of them were possibly added on to counter Tesla’s even weirder relationship with his pet pigeon. I was really a bit disappointed they never once mentioned his pigeon.

That being said, my disappointments were few and far between. I didn’t know who this Nina Metivier was before tonight’s episode, but she can write some Doctor Who! Evidently, she served as script editor in series eleven, so she’s cut her teeth on it a bit already, but for a debut episode, I had a great time. Nikola Tesla is a figure I feel deserves a well-told episode full of strangeness and a bit of whimsy. They definitely do not waste Tesla on a weak script. Though for a story about electricity, the foley department could have given us some more visceral sounding crackles. The overall tone of the episode was a mixture of Hammer horror meets Power Rangers, which is something I didn’t think could work, but here we are. Regardless of whether you found Queen Skithra scary or campy, you can’t deny her effectiveness. Four episodes in, and we’ve had some solid baddies, which is an obvious improvement on series eleven. Once again, my biggest issue is the wooden edutainment dialogue that seems inserted to meet some sort of quota.

These last two episodes have acted as great follow-ups to Spyfall Parts one and two. We needed a bit of classic feeling Doctor Who to counterbalance the larger ideas like Gallifrey being destroyed, or the Master returning. A good old fashioned base in peril followed by an alien invasion is right where the show needs to be right now. That being said, I’ve yet to watch an episode so far this season that has left me truly ecstatic. You know me though, I like the weird ones. For all of its flashiness and big reveals, I’m still waiting for series twelve to show me something of substance. It will be nice when everything has aired to look at series twelve as a whole. With episodes like "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror," thrown into the mix, we’re looking at what is shaping up to be a very enjoyable series.

Well friends, thank you for joining me once more. I wanted to take a quick bit to mention some things on the horizon. Those of you who are fans of "The Dark Crystal," will be interested to know that I will be attending the first ever Dark Crystal fan convention in February. It takes place in London at Elstree Studios, where the original movie was filmed. I plan to take lots of pictures and write an article about the convention. I've been so excited for this event, that all I can think of lately is Dark Crystal (sorry Doctor). Along with the convention, I also have a couple of guest writers working on pieces for the blog. I've never had guest writers, but I think you'll like what's coming! See you soon!

#doctor who #nikola tesla's night of terror #Thirteenth Doctor #Jodie Whittaker #yasmine khan #mandip gill #Bradley Walsh #Graham O'Brien #tosin cole #Ryan Sinclair #tardis #bbc #nikola tesla #thomas edison #Nina Metivier #series 12 #Time and Time Again #Goran Višnjić

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saundraswriting · 4 years

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Hercules Chapter Four

SUMMARY:Spencer takes more responsibility for the case, trying to translate all the pig Latin. Morgan takes care of Reid. And JJ? well she finds out some interesting information.

WARNINGS: None

Previous // Next

Morgan, Gideon Hotch and JJ sat at a table, silent. The food had come and gone. Spencer eating only half and saving the rest. Morgan knew it was a result of too much caffeine-a depressed appetite. Reid having discovered the code to be Pig Latin knew translating by himself was quicker and easier than trying to have a computer translate or Garcia build a program to try.

I can ask him. He won't say no." JJ said.

"He won't say no to anyone. It's not just fair. He hasn't slept in two days." Morgan said.

"I am taking a break right now. And you all should learn to not talk within my earshot if you want to talk about me. I will assume RR numero uno was a bust. Which means the last option right now is me translating pig Latin to understand what these kids all had in common to get murdered.' Reid interjected. "So can I have the materials? and paper?" Reid grabbed his Nth coffee in three days.

Morgan and Hotch began moving things around, making it easier for Reid to dive into his task. He began flipping pages quickly with one hand and speaking into a voice recorder as he did so. The LEO's and BAU watched on in awed silence for a moment or two. Morgan could feel his lips pull down into a frown, noticing the pale color to his friend's face. 'Maybe, it's the lighting. Fluorescents wash everyone out.'

"Okay, lets build a timeline. We need to compare the big things here. The details will fall into placed as we go." Hotch ordered.

The began. The timeline stated who had been killed so far: Leonard was strangled. Ophelia was stabbed in the neck, the wound then cauterized. Tabitha was maimed by arrows and tied up. Everett was shot by poisoned arrows. Each person was found in a different part of Portland. Leonard was found by a school mascot statue, Ophelia was found in a swampy area. Tabitha was found in the woods. Everett was found at the base camp of a shut-down ski resort.

Just as they were finishing, an officer hurried in. "The just found another body. 17 year old male. Wallet says his name is Blaine Robinson. He was found by the office for Majestic Pastures. A business that stables horses for those of the monetary influence."

"Are you kidding me?" Morgan snarled.

Reid poked his head out from his cave. "Give me the coordinates for kill site, dump site, and his home. I will also need the place last seen." Reid retreated into his room to pace.

"Gideon, JJ go to the Robinson home. I and Morgan will go to the dump site." Hotchner directed everyone.

Reid paused in his pacing to stare at the map. He could feel it on the tip of his tongue. He knew he knew the answer but the more he stared at it and though about it, the farther away it got. He groaned in frustration and ran the equations again. The image seemed to be four off shoots of a central point. but the offshoots hit a 90 degree angle. Although with out more data, the central point would continue to be evasive. Spencer shook his head and return to the Pig Latin. Everett's letter were almost done, and then he could synthesize everything.

Twenty minutes later, Reid had finished translating, he was going through the recording to get key points to look into later. He exited his cavern of solitude to breathe when a press conference from earlier came on TV.

"Look! The recluse has come out from his hiding spot. What great genius shall spew from his mouth now?" Thomas sneered. Spencer remembered him from earlier.

"Hello, Thomas. Interesting you compare me to a deadly spider. That means one of two things. Thing the first- you are scared of that which you do not understand, or fear; or thing the second-You destroy that which intimidates you. Neither answer puts you in a good light. Now, if you excuse me. I need a nap. Thank you." Reid sat in one of the empty desks and pillowed his head on his folded arms.

"You just gonna crash? On a desk? at a police station? Maybe you aren't so smart after all." Thomas' insult fell a little flat after the comments Reid made.

"I have slept in way worse places. The noise level here? Better than the silence of being in a cage, blindfolded and starving, hoping your team caught the clues in time before the scumbag you're hunting kills you." Reid said, almost dismissingly.

"Yeah? With as weird as you are, I bet all kinds of people want to lock you up and torture you. I bet your mom even locked you up for being so weird." Thomas's laughter was caught off by a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw JJ with fire in her eyes. "Why, hello--" He was violently cut off by JJ's fist slamming into his face. He dropped like a rock.

"Asshole!" She muttered, shaking out her hand.

"JJ, that was very unnecessary. It will just egg him on, me needing a girl to fight my battles for me. Not that I don't appreciate it. Cause I do. Very much so." Spencer said as Gideon came over.

"Spence, he had no right to talk to you the way he did. and he certainly had no right bringing your mother into this. He is extremely lucky, I was here and not Morgan. He'd probably kill him." JJ was stilled visibly angry, blue eyes snapping dangerously.

"JJ. I agree, you shouldn't have done that but a bully is a bully." Gideon commented. Spencer groaned, frustration apparent.

"you guys act like I never had to face a bully before. Brains over brawn. He will just use this against me in further altercations. Eventually we would leave and he would be another jerk in a long line of jerks. Now, can we get back to the case? I have something on interest. And we may have the beginnings to a profile." Spencer stood up and swayed right then left before settling. "Are the others back yet? Cause I could do with a quick walk around the block."

"Go ahead. Just come back soon. They should be here any moment." JJ said. She rubbed her eyes as he left, they felt dry and gritty.

"Jennifer, Thank you. We couldn't do this without you. I hope we get another woman on the team. It isn't fair to you." Gideon said. JJ nodded and left to deal with some stubborn journalists. "Definitely, cause no one could handle my job better than me." she tossed over her shoulder. Gideon smiled at her back.

Gideon stared at the timeline board they were putting together. 'What if his signature, is there isn't one? Obviously the initials are part of it, but what if it went deeper?'

"Hey, gang. we're back? Any progress? let's regroup and maybe we can give something to the press." Hotch and Morgan came in shaking out umbrellas in the entrance. "Hey, it's raining out." Morgan's remark was met with tense chuckles. The duo then noticed the unconscious officer on the floor. "Whoa! what happened here? where is JJ? or Reid for that matter?" Morgan was on edge, something happened-something physical-and he wasn't here to protect Spencer.

"He came out for a nap and then the asshole on the floor was making comments about him and his mom. So I punched him in the jaw. Spencer then left for a walk...in the rain apparently.' JJ said.

"Was it Thomas again? and you knocked him out? Good job." Morgan knew his praise fell short. He was more worried about his best friend. 'Maybe I should have stayed here. this never would have happened if I had stayed'

"Glass jaw, I guess?" JJ said shrugging. "Spence should be back anytime now. He said just around the block." Just then they heard a light commotion at the entrance behind them.

"Hey Morgan, Hotch. It's raining. Pretty hard. Anyone have some spare clothes until mine dry? My go-bag is at the hotel. Last time I underestimate Portland weather." Spencer stood there awkwardly hugging himself. He was drenched to the bone. His clothes sticking to his skin, hair laying thick on his head, water dripping from his face down his neck.

"Come on, Pretty Boy. Or should I call you 'drowned rat'? I have some sweats with me." Morgan grabbed his bag and riffled through it, upon finding the clothes he thrust them at Spencer. He only glanced at his friend-unable to handle his wet lashes or large rain washed brown eyes. Reid flashed a smile and hurried off to go change.

Spencer changed as fast has he could, silently thanking the person who had handed over a towel without question. With one look to the mirror above the sink-felt his heart stop. The concealer on his neck wasn't geared for pacific northwest rains or fabric rubbing on it while wet. It was patchy. Patchy enough to determine what his Soul-mark is. He couldn't breathe.

"Spence? You good?" JJ's voice came through the door.

"JJ! Get in here. Now!" Spencer hissed, panic clear in his voice.

"What's wrong!" JJ hurried into the restroom, paying no attention to the men's sign on the door.

"In my satchel, is some concealer. Can you get it? I don't care how." Spencer was pale and nervous. Opposite of the Spencer that had entered the restroom a few moments ago. He spoke fast and gestured erratically.

"Spence? What in the world do you need-" JJ cut herself off-seeing the swirly sun on the right side of his neck, standing out from his pale skin like a beacon. The same mark Derek Morgan wore with pride. "Doctor Spencer Reid! Why didn't you tell me? Or Penelope? Why are you hiding this?" JJ was furious. Her hands were shaking, her lips quivering. He was hiding his matching Soul-mark from Derek; the only one to ever totally accept Spencer quirks and all.

"I can't explain now. I will later when I have more time. I promise. Just, you can't tell anyone. Please, JJ, I need a little longer." Spencer plead. JJ huffed in anger.

"Fine. But I am still very angry at you. and disappointed. I thought you understood how important soulmates are. I'll go get your concealer." JJ talked off. She returned a ew minutes later with a grocery bag and his satchel. While Spencer reapplied his make-up, JJ stuffed his wet clothes in the plastic bag. Spencer combed his hair into a manageable mane. JJ looked at the young doctor who looked lost and adrift-because of the clothes a few sizes too big or her knowing his secret she didn't know.

"Let me help." She noticed he had tied the drawstring already. She took a hair-tie and tied the waistband off.

"Thanks, Jen." Spencer walked out trying to hold on to what little dignity he still had. He looked like a boy wearing his dad's clothes.

Morgan looked and saw how his clothes absolutely swallowed the young genius. Morgan felt a strong urge of possessiveness at the sight of his shirt sitting not quite right on Reid's shoulders. Morgan shook himself, trying to bring his focus back on the case.

"Are we ready? Let's go over some new developments. Reid you seemed most eager earlier." Hotch gestured for him to begin." All the correspondence says variations of the same thing: Religious Revolution. The state the day, time, place, some minutes from the previous meeting and the tentative agenda for the next one. I translated everything. The first one to go and die was Leo. They discussed how the universe came about. How it wasn't the work of one God, but deities, and a mix of science and magic. This whole thing seemed to start about two months before Leo's death. That we know of." Spencer stood up. "The map-it has nothing to do with math or numbers or patterns. But based off data, the UnSub is at least in Portland. This is almost like a specific image. He has to be native to know all this locations." Spencer sat back down.

"We know from the timeline he dumps on Sundays, highly considered the day of rest in most religions. Sometimes he dumps Saturdays. He M.O. is the difference in murders. He is trying to achieve something, a mission or task in his fantasy. we have to be aware that he may not be the mind behind all this. He could be the follower. or the coerced, or multiple personality disorder, or schizophrenia, even an inability to cope." Gideon explained.

"So we have a profile?" JJ asked."

"We have a very basic profile. It isn't very complete because we don't have enough data. To make a profile we use evidence that is there and also not there, we use the behaviors of the victims to predict another. we may be right. we may be wrong. we believe thus far the UnSub is a male, 20-35 years of age. He will be charismatic, but solitary. He isn't into parties or large crowds. if you would gather a few people though he would definitely be the leader. He is disconnected with reality somehow. On the surfaced he is a functioning member of society. But below the surface is a list of jobs that he was let go from or quit before the 3 year mark. Most were trivial jobs, nothing to mentally intensive. He is intelligent but not very organized from a psychology aspect. He doesn't follow social cues very well, a conversation may start out being philosophical." Gideon informed the police and press.

"The lack of sexual abuse but extreme damage can help us eliminate family. it is hard for someone to be this violent to their family unless they are like a serial killer trying to kill the same person over and over again." Morgan finished.

"Okay, everyone. Thank you. Now go home, get some sleep." Chief Yates dismissed the bullpen. The uniforms didn't hesitate before scattering.

"I am going to check in with the journalist and then head to the hotel." JJ said. She waved at the others before heading over to the chattering crowd.

"We are off to the hotel now. Early to bed and early to rise and all that." Hotch and Gideon headed out the door

"Come on, Pretty Boy, let us go and get some sleep ourselves." Morgan clapped Spencer on the shoulder.

"No, I am good. I think I will stay here for the night and keep working on this. You go on. I will see you later." Reid shrugged off the contact. "Good night." Reid made to head into the room that had been deemed his. Morgan growled with anger.

"Not. Happening. I will drag your ass to the hotel if I have to." Morgan gathered their stuff by the door. He knew from experience that Reid responded better to demands then requests. In situations like these Reid would push himself to the limit and then push himself more. Any threats made would need to be made with intent to carry them out if needed. Morgan walked into Reid's room and grabbed him by the arms. Spencer froze for an instant and then thawed. Just as Morgan knew he would.

"Come on now. We are heading back to the hotel. We are going to shower, maybe eat and certainly sleep. Don't think I haven't noticed you neglecting yourself. It has been like three days at least." Morgan lead unresisting Spencer to the car and then the hotel.

"Spence. Take first shower, I'll do laundry. I know we are both running low." Morgan left to find the floor's laundry machine. Spencer hopped in the shower, using toiletries he brought but taking the complimentary bottles. When Morgan returned it was a clean, damp and still wearing his clothes Spencer Reid. Morgan felt the familiar surge of possessiveness from earlier. He couldn't help but admire the way his clothes seemed to dwarf Spencer, making him look small and protected. 'Is this a new kink of mine? Clothes sharing? Or is it a Spencer Reid thing? Since he is my best friend?' Spencer yawned and rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. Derek felt a hum of low-level arousal. 'Well, this is a new feeling. Must just be a Spencer Reid thing.'

Spencer got settled on his bed, using low lamp light to read a book. Derek followed his lead and settled down into bed, relaxing in moments, dropping off to a barely awake state in minutes. He could feel his body being manipulated and Reid talking to him but also felt himself losing awareness as well.

"Jeez, Derek. Learn to take better care of yourself. You'll catch a cold, staying on top of the blankets like that." Spencer murmured. Derek wanted to reply, with something like 'Thank you." or 'You know that isn't true.' but nothing came out a Derek succumbed to the heady embrace of sleep.

Spencer stood up and shook his head at his best friend. HE went and finished the laundry. he put it away for them both too, for it seemed that they would be here for a while. Spencer sat on his bed wanting to think over the case but his mind grew hazy, his mouth felt very dry and a headache was building behind his eyes. 'Fine, bed it is then.' That was the last thought Spencer had before tucking himself in and going to bed, falling asleep in seconds.

Previous // Next

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Okay, chapter four is done! Things start moving pretty quickly from here.

#saundrasays #saundraswriting #dr. spencer reid #derek morgan #spencer x derek #spencer reid x derek morgan #Hercules fic #Criminal Minds #criminal minds fanfiction #morgreid

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brokehorrorfan · 4 years

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Blu-ray Review: Amityville: The Cursed Collection

After the original trilogy, The Amityville Horror's storyline had run its course, as had its theatrical viability. The 1979 original is an iconic adaptation of Jay Anson’s allegedly true book. 1982's Amityville II: The Possession is a successful prequel that shows the murders that led to the house being haunted. 1983's Amityville 3-D rested its laurels on the 3D gimmick for a largely dull entry.

This would spell the end for most franchises (at least until the remake boom), but once the home video industry blossomed, the marketable title was revived for a spate of direct-to-video sequels. While the initial source material had been tapped, four of these later efforts borrowed a concept from John G. Jones' 1988 short story collection, Amityville: The Evil Escapes, in which cursed objects from the original house find their way into unsuspecting peoples' lives.

Vinegar Syndrome has collected the pseudo-quadrilogy of 1989's Amityville: The Evil Escapes, 1992's Amityville: It’s About Time, 1993's Amityville: A New Generation, and 1996's Amityville Dollhouse - the fourth, sixth, seventh, and eighth installments in the franchise, respectively - in a Blu-ray box set dubbed Amityville: The Cursed Collection. (The absent fifth entry, 1990's The Amityville Curse, is an unrelated Canadian production that remains out of print due to rights issues.)

Amityville: The Evil Escapes was made for television but features decent production value, including a strong opening with a rain storm and a fairly convincing facade of the original Amityville house at 112 Ocean Avenue. The Amityville Horror screenwriter Sandor Stern returned to write and direct the followup. While having one of the original creative forces at the helm is a good omen, his effort is light on scares.

The film follows Nancy Evans (Patty Duke, Valley of the Dolls) and her three children. The untimely death of Nancy's husband has put a financial burden on the family, forcing them to move to rural California to live with her mother, Alice (Jane Wyatt, Star Trek), who recently received an antique lamp from the Amityville house. The 300-year-old evil is attached to the lamp and then transmigrates to the most vulnerable person in the house: the grieving youngest child, Jessica (Brandy Gold), who communicates with her late father.

The familial melodrama is akin to a Lifetime movie, while a series of strange occurrences in the house causes further tension between its inhabitants. Naturally, the cursed lamp lights up whenever something happens. The ridiculous plot lends itself to a few entertaining set pieces, including a possessed chainsaw and a garbage disposal gone wrong. The gore in the latter scene was absent from the TV broadcast but was added for the home video release and remains intact on Blu-ray.

Duke is probably a little too old for her role, but she's good in it. The kids don't fare as well, but what's asked of them is fairly minimal. The cast also includes Fredric Lehne (Supernatural) and Norman Lloyd (Saboteur) as a pair of priests from Amityville, Aron Eisenberg (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) as Nancy's son, and Peggy McCay (Days of Our Lives) as Alice's sister, who sets the story into motion by gifting her the lamp.

Amityville: The Evil Escapes's Blu-ray disc includes new interviews with Stern and cinematographer Tom Richmond (House of 1000 Corpses, Chopping Mall). Stern's conversation is an informative one, but the most interesting fact is that he had no idea more sequels were made after this one. Richmond details how he felt more like the lighting manager than the director of photographer, as Stern was more experienced and knew what he wanted.

Amityville: It’s About Time is directed by Tony Randel (Hellbound: Hellraiser II) and written by Christopher DeFaria (who went on to executive produce the likes of Mad Max: Fury Road, Gravity, and Ready Player One) and Antonio Toro. Its subtitle is not just a clever clock pun; the movie deals with time in rather interesting, if sometimes nonsensical, ways - including time shifts. The name also works in a metaphorical sense, as the core of the picture is about a character struggling to break the cycle of making the same mistakes.

In the film, the Amityville house has been torn down and replaced with a new development, but architect Jacob Sterling (Stephen Macht, The Monster Squad) helped himself to a antique clock. He brings it home to suburban California, where his ex-girlfriend, Andrea (Shawn Weatherly, Police Academy 3: Back in Training), is watching his two teenage kids, Rusty (Damon Martin, Ghoulies II) and Lisa (Megan Ward, Encino Man). The clock physically roots itself into their home and begins controlling the family members.

Rusty - who's depicted as a "troubled" kid in a very '90s way, complete with black clothing, an earring, and heavy metal music - recognizes that there is an evil presence, but everyone else blames him for the weird happenings in the neighborhood. While he's at the center of it, the plot successfully integrates the entire household, unlike the previous film, and the complicated family dynamic is a welcome shakeup of the formula.

Playing more like an ensemble than any other Amityville, each cast member is able to pull their own weight. Macht's role is fairly thankless, as a dog attack leaves him in failing health, but he fully commits. Jonathan Penner (Survivor) gives a charismatic performance as Andrea's pretentious psychologist boyfriend, and Nita Talbot (Hogan's Heroes), Terrie Snell (Home Alone), and Dick Miller (Gremlins) are among the neighbors who pop up.

If not for the tenuous connection to the Amityville Horror franchise, I suspect this picture might have more of a cult following. (It's easier for word-of-mouth to spread about a lone gem than the sixth entry in a direct-to-video franchise.) The most entertaining film in the set, It's About Time is a charming, if unspectacular, B-movie with a delightfully silly plot and several fun moments featuring special effects by KNB EFX Group (From Dusk Till Dawn, Scream), the most memorable of which sees a character melting into the floor.

Amityville: It’s About Time's Blu-ray disc includes new interviews with Randel and DeFaria. Randel seems to relish the opportunity to discuss the film, as he says no one ever asks about it, and praises the cast and crew. DeFaria explains that he offered to write the film as a way to get his foot in the door as a producer - which, looking at his post-Amityville resume, seems to have worked out for him.

Amityville: A New Generation eschews the franchise's traditional, suburban family dynamic in favor of a metaphorical one; a community of artists living in an urban loft co-opt. It focuses on Keyes Terry (Ross Partridge, Stranger Things), a struggling photographer who's struck with inspiration when a homeless man gives him an ornate mirror that has been in his family for generations. The mirror predicts the death of its first victim, which would be an interesting enough concept, but alas it is not consistent. Ultimately, the possessed object tempts Keyes to commit murder.

The film boasts a powerful supporting cast that includes David Naughton (An American Werewolf in London) as the landlord, Terry O'Quinn (Lost) as a detective, Richard Roundtree (Shaft) as one of the artists, Robert Rusler (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge) as a disgruntled ex-boyfriend, and a particularly charming Lin Shaye (Insidious) as a mental hospital nurse. Although the cast elevates the material, the script - penned by a returning DeFaria and Toro - remains lackluster.

While the previous entries did an admirable job to overcome their limited resources, A New Generation looks and feels very much like a '90s direct-to-video movie; THE of the same caliber as the endless Children of the Corn, Hellraiser, and The Prophecy sequels that were being churned out around the same time. Despite a direct connection to the Amityville mythology beyond the mirror, it hardly even feels like an Amityville movie.

Directed by John Murlowski (Santa with Muscles) made the inspired choice to hire The Amityville Horror visual effects artist William Cruse to handle the elaborate mirror effects. They're all accomplished in camera; an impressive feat that sounds great in theory but looks campy in practice. The film also features cinematography by future Academy Award winner Wally Pfister (Inception, The Dark Knight).

Amityville: A New Generation's disc includes new interviews with Murlowski and DeFari, plus a commentary by Murlowski. Murlowski's chat includes a breakdown of the analog effects, supplemented by behind-the-scenes footage. His commentary allows him to go more in depth, citing The Shining as an inspiration, pointing out the similarities to Oculus, and addressing shortcomings such as the pacing and the rubber monster. DeFari discusses the challenges of channeling artists' fears on screen and offers advice for aspiring filmmakers.

Amityville Dollhouse is perhaps the most traditional of the bunch in terms of concept, though its execution goes in a different direction. In it, a newly blended family moves into a house that the contractor father, Bill Martin (Robin Thomas, Summer School), built on the original Amityville lot. Bill finds an old dollhouse - a miniature model of the Amityville abode, naturally - and gives it to his young daughter. While the girl ostensibly releases the evil, the strange occurrences begin before she receives the gift.

The eerie events start small but escalate to the point where the family's younger boy sees his deceased father, urging him to murder his family. The father appears in three stages of decay, a la Jack in An American Werewolf in London. His ultimate form is something like a cross between Tales from the Crypt's Crypt Keeper and Friday the 13th Part VII's Jason Voorhees, but he's too loquacious to be scary, delivering a few Freddy Krueger-esque quips.

While the deceased father feels a bit out of place in an Amityville movie, he is the highlight of the film, thanks to exceptional makeup by SOTA Effects' Roy Knyrim (The Toxic Avenger Part II & III). Also notable is an appearance by a young Lisa Robin Kelly (That '70s Show). The film marks the lone directorial effort of Steve White, who executive produced all four films in the set, along with The Devil’s Advocate and Halloweentown. Joshua Michael Stern (director of Jobs) penned the script.

Amityville Dollhouse's disc includes new interviews with White, Knyrim, and director of photography Thomas L. Callaway (Feast, Slumber Party Massacre II), along with alternate footage from the TV edit. White, having produced the prior three films, offers an interesting perspective. Knyrim discusses the progression of the dead father's makeup and how existing creature parts were repurposed for demons in the climax. Callaway breaks down a few interesting techniques, like a 360-degree shot with a periscope lens and the challenges of lighting a character covered in latex.

The perfect companion to Scream Factory's The Amityville Horror Trilogy set, Amityville: The Cursed Collection is available exclusively from Vinegar Syndrome. It's not as loaded with extras as some of the company's releases (there's no input from any cast members and only one commentary), but each movie offers at least a couple of new interviews. All four films have been newly restored in 4K from their 35mm original camera negatives, so they look better than they ever have. Each disc is in its own Blu-ray case with reversible artwork, all packaged in a slipcase box designed by Earl Kessler Jr., which is limited to 4,000.

Amityville: The Cursed Collection is available now from Vinegar Syndrome.

#the amityville horror #amityville horror #amityville #amityville: it's about time #vinegar syndrome #amityville: the evil escapes #amityville: a new generation #review #article #dvd #gift #lin shaye #david naughton #terry o'quinn #dick miller #patty duke #richard roundtree #robert rusler #stephen macht

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dakotacrisis · 5 years

Text

A Peachy Premiere

Marinette not getting involved in Chloe’s drama and having a cute little time with Adrien and Co. Another if the akuma never happened scenario because fluff potential is infinite.

(also don’t have better title rn but alliteration is awesome)

“Marinette, what are you all dressed up for?” Tikki asked as Marinette changed into her waitress clothes.

“I’m helping my parents serve food at the premiere of the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie.” she shrugged as she grabbed her apron. “It’s a lot o catering and I work for free so it only makes sense I’d get roped in. Not that I mind. I’m always happy to help my parents.”

“Oh, so is that why you turned down the invitation to the premiere as Ladybug?”

“Partially. But more importantly I’m a hero, not a celebrity. I’m meant to be saving the city, not walking the red carpet.” She opened her purse, “Come on, Tikki, we gotta get going.”

Tikki zipped into her bag and Marinette rushed downstairs to meet her parents. They all piled into the delivery truck and headed to the theatre. Since they were catering they had to get there early and set up. Marinette went about arranging the macarons as precisely as she could so they could be stacked without worry of falling.

Soon the premiere began and paparazzi started to buzz outside as the celebrities arrived. Marinette was serving Clara Nightingale some juice when she noticed a familiar mop of blonde hair enter the theatre.

“Oh no, she’s seen him.” Her mom sighed with a teasing lilt.

“What is Adrien doing here?” Marinette said outloud.

“Adrien Agreste?” Clara pointed to him, “He voiced Chat Noir in the movie.”

“Adrien voiced…” oh no. She was not prepared for this! It was bad enough trying to keep her balance on a normal day but with Adrien around? Impossible! These macarons are young. So full of promise. They don’t deserve to be tossed to the floor because of her two left feet.

Calm down, Marinette. We got this! Sure Adrien gives you thousands of tiny little butterflies in your stomach and you can barely spit out a coherent sentence half the time but that’s fine! Calmly, and slowly pick up the tray of macarons and offer one to Adrien. You are here to serve. It is only normal--nay--expected!

She took a deep breath and started to head towards him minding each step she took carefully. Then she stopped. Kagami and her mother walked in. Oh perfect…

No! Focus! We are here to do a job! No getting jealous because Kagami is here and hanging off of Adrien’s arm and this is really not fair. Deep breath. Smile and walk.

“Hey Adrien, Kagami.” Marinette approached them with the tray, “Macaron?”

“Hey Marinette,” Adrien smiled at her. The butterflies in her stomach started to flutter again. “What are you doing here?”

“My parents catered. I’m just helping.” she shrugged.

“Cool. It’s good to see you. Kagami, you remember Marinette.”

“Sure. We went ice skating together.” Kagami was pleasant enough but her tone was cool. Something about the fencer unnerved Marinette. It wasn’t the fact that she liked Adrien (although that was part of it) but more that she was so sure of herself. Always so confident that it seemed to waft off her in waves. It was like she had no troubles or burdens because who or what would dare to defy someone that emitted such...self-conviction.

“Yep,” Marinette nodded. The tray in her hands shook slightly as she tried to keep her nerve. “We should do it again sometime.”

“That’d be nice.” Kagami took a macaron off the tray. “I’ve been meaning to try one of these. Adrien tells me your parents are the best bakers in Paris.”

“They are. At least I think so.” Some of the tension released from her shoulders. She spotted Jagged Stone across the way and smiled wider. “Sorry, I gotta make the rounds. You two have fun.”

“It was nice seeing you again, Marinette.” Kagami took a bite of the macaron, “And Adrien was right. Best macaron I’ve ever had.”

“Thanks.” she blushed slightly. She waved to the two of them before continuing on her way. Okay. That went well! Had a nice, normal conversation. No stammering at all! Woo!

“Marinette!” Jagged Stone gave her a tight hug around her shoulders when he saw her, “I haven’t seen you in ages!”

“You were at my house a couple months ago, Jagged.” she laughed.

“Come here, there’s a few people I want to introduce the talented girl behind my Rock Giant album cover to.” Marinette was dragged off with Jagged as she brushed elbows with some of the industry’s finest. Some of the animators of the movie asked if she was willing to put her talents towards becoming an animator but she had to disappoint them as her passion lay in fashion.

All the while she kept stealing little glances at Adrien and sighing. She wished she wasn’t working so she could go talk to him. Maybe get him away from Kagami for five minutes so she could have some alone time with him. That’d be nice.

She was watching him from across the room as he laughed over something Kagami had said. Suddenly he looked at where Marinette was and she froze having been caught.

Stop staring! You’re making this weird! She shrieked in her mind but her body refused to obey.

Oh crap, he’s coming over! He thinks you’re a creep. He’s coming over to tell you to stop staring. He thinks you’re a psycho stalker and is going to warn you that he is already drawing up the restraining order! Next thing you know he’s moving to Japan with Kagami to get away from you and they get married and have three kids and a hamster and--

“Marinette,” Adrien was finally upon her now, “Are you having fun?”

“Fun? Oh yeah, sure! Tons of fun! Oodles of fun!” she put on a smile big enough to mask overthinking going on in her head.

“Good to know. I meant to tell you earlier but didn’t get the chance.”

“Tell me what?” she was almost scared of what the answer would be.

“You look really cute in your waitress outfit. The little cap and apron are creations of yours I assume.”

Marinette breathed out in relief before blushing like a madwoman. “Oh really? Thank you.” she tugged on the ends of her apron, “I did make them. How could you tell?”

“The flower pattern. It’s the same on your bookbag, purse, favorite t-shirt, pajamas--”

“You noticed that?” She couldn’t help but be impressed. She didn’t think Adrien paid that much attention to her. Not enough to notice the flower design she used in her wardrobe at least.

“Oh uh…” he scratched the back of his head nervously, “I didn’t mean to sound weird. I just thought it was neat and it is a pretty design. Anytime I see a pink flower my mind automatically jumps to you because I know you use it a lot in your work.”

“That’s so sweet.” Marinette sighed dreamily. It took her a second to remember where she was and straightened up. “What uh...where’s Kagami?”

“She’s over there talking to father and Nathalie.” He pointed to where Gabriel’s assistant stood holding a tablet with Gabriel on video call. Guess that leaving the house streak ended.

“There was something else I came over to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Did you want to meet any of the cast or crew for the movie? I saw Clara Nightingale earlier, or the voice actress for Ladybug is somewhere around here, Mr. Astruc I think is raiding the catering table.”

“Astruc? The animation director Astruc?” Marinette gaped.

“Yeah. You wanna meet him?”

“I’d love to!” Marinette’s heart gave a skip as Adrien offered her his arm. She bit down a happy squeal as she took the proffered arm and let him lead her to where the bearded director stood munching on some macarons.

“Mr. Astruc,” Adrien shook his hand, “This is my good friend, Marinette. Her parents catered the event.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mr. Astruc. I’m a big fan of your movies.”

“You are?” he seemed surprised by the attention.

“Of course! I especially loved your retelling of The Peony Lantern.” Marinette couldn’t help but gush. Thomas Astruc was a bit of an underdog in the animation directing community but she had always loved his work. It was personal and tackled sources and stories others hadn’t before. It didn’t lead to a lot of box office praise but almost always found a cult following in the online community.

“Yes, that was one of my earlier projects. We were going to mix around the source material to make it more kid friendly but ultimately decided to stick to the original folklore.” he smiled. They ended up talking animatedly (pun not intended) about his past works and what he was hoping to portray in this latest movie.

All too soon the movie was about to begin and everyone started to filter into the screening room. Marinette sighed as she said goodbye to Adrien and started to help her parents clean up.

“Wait a moment,” Mr. Astruc stopped her, “Here, take my pass. I’ve already seen the movie more times than I can count.”

“Oh I couldn’t.” Marinette said.

“Please. I insist.” he pressed the pass into her hands.

“You can go, Marinette,” her mom shooed her away, “Your father and I got the clean up handled. You go enjoy the movie.”

“Thank you. Thank you so much!” she gave Mr. Astruc a brief hug and blew a kiss to her parents before dashing into the screening room. The lights started to dim as she found her seat. It was right next to Adrien!

“Glad you could make it.” Adrien whispered to her. “Let’s just hope this time we don’t have the same incident we had the last time we tried to see a movie together.”

“Which incident? The crazed fans or the giant gorilla akuma?” She whispered back.

“Yes.” they chuckled lightly.

“I’m just glad I’m not wearing a towel in my pajamas this time.”

“And here I thought that’s what everyone wore to the movies.”

Marinette rolled her eyes and gave him a play jab with her elbow. “Then you are very out of place right now, Agreste.”

“Shall I fetch my movie watching helmet, Dupain-Cheng?” he flicked the top of her bun.

“Hey, down in front! Stop jabbering on!” someone behind them shouted.

Marinette and Adrien clammed up and sunk further down in their seats. The movie had started without them noticing. Oops.

They looked at one another one last time and suppressed a howl of laughter as they directed their attention back to the screen. This had been a good day.

#might do an adrimi fluff #maybe kagaminette!#idk yet #they are all cute though!#miraculous ladybug #ml spoilers #animaestro #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #kagami tsurugi #adrinette #writing

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xavantina · 5 years

Text

I got my hands on a copy of the new Euroman for @idontfindyouthatinteresting, and I took the opportunity to translate some of the interview as well. I tried scanning the article, but my scanner is broken, so you’ll have to make due with iPhone pics of the photos until someone with a working scanner gets in the game.

Rest of the photos and the interview under the cut.

The interview itself was a monster of a thing with lots and lots of flowery descriptions of random scenery, so I cut it down to just the questions, though a few highlights of the rest include:

When he was knighted the Queen of Denmark told him she liked Flame and Citron and he was like ‘fuck yeah’.

He rolls up with his classic bedroom eyes, mismatched tracksuit, and worn sneakers, and just needs a smoke before they go in.

The reporter thinks it’s pointless for a hairdresser to style Mads’ hair because it’s amazing already.

Mads goes around introducing himself to everyone in the room with “Hi. My name is Mads.”

He speaks very fast in Danish.

Onward with the questions:

Q. You were an unknown dancer for ten years before you became an actor. In terms of staying grounded, has it been an advantage for you that you had your breakthrough at such a mature age?

A. Yes, I think so. I probably wouldn’t have had problems staying grounded even if I had been 20 years old. But I think it’s harder for a 17-year-old today, where you can have your breakthrough on a whole different platform and gain three million followers, or whatever the hell they have. It’s obvious that if everyone thinks you’re cool, and you’re told so a bit too often, then you start thinking ‘yeah, I am. I’m cool’. It’s easier to handle being recognized in the street when you’re 32, than when you’re 17. I think.

Q. Your James Bond co-star Jesper Christensen has said that he can no longer enter a public space and just sit there observing, because everyone is always staring at him. He can no longer gain inspiration for his work from real life– from ‘ordinary people’ – like he used to. Do you feel the same way?

A. It’s a terrible loss. It’s not that I’ve always been preparing to be an actor, but I’ve always been curious. Even as a child, I would sit in different places and watch what was happening over there, human behavior, the way they looked and the way they walked. Always. And too often I started copying people when I saw them. I would sit just like them for a while, just to try how it felt. That’s over now. Whenever I’m out somewhere, 50 people are sitting around staring at me. Then I have to worry about scratching my nose, and there’s 40 camera phones in my face. Then I have to go to a different country.

Q. Don’t you get recognised abroad?

A. They know me around the world to various degrees. There are definitely many places where they don’t care at all, but James Bond, Star Wars, and Marvel movies, all of which I’ve starred in, have a great reach. The happy result of this is that people become curious about me as an actor, so I’m often stopped abroad because people know me from The Green Butchers or The Hunt. That’s super cool.

Q. Is it important for you to get recognition in the business? And do you?

A. A foreign colleague whom I have great respect for told me that he and three friends would sit down and watch the Pusher trilogy every weekend. That made me happy. Recognition from colleagues is important. Recognition from yourself is just much more important. You can get into a cycle where you go around constantly patting each other on the back because you need it so badly in my line of work. We’re judged all the time. It’s really hard, and so we probably have a tendency to praise each other more than we should. You should be happy when other people think what you’re doing is great, but you need to remember to consider what you think about it personally. ‘Was this what I wanted? Yes, okay, fine. Next time I might go in this direction instead.’ That’s important. And it’s the same if what people are saying about you sucks. There are many opinions out there. And if you start reading on social media you’ll never get to bed. You should stay away from that.

Q. Where do you find material and inspiration when you can’t go people-watching anymore? Do you have a memory bank you draw from?

A. Probably. I can also sit and watch people on screen, television and so on. But inspiration should primarily come from the script and the director. But I really miss sitting around and watching other people, and I certainly miss them not staring at me. I don’t try to hide though, I never wear a cap or anything. Sunglasses annoy the hell out of me, so I don’t use those at all. Luckily I‘m forgetful: I walk outside in the morning and don’t spend a second wondering how it’s going to be when I arrive somewhere – whether I’ll be recognized, I mean. That’s not just something I’m saying. I get in my car and drive somewhere and enter wherever I’m going, and don’t think about it at all. It’s not until people do this (Mads widens his eyes and turns his head) and do a double check that I’m reminded what it’s like. And that’s good, because otherwise I’d never leave the house.

Q. But you haven’t always been famous – in Hollywood you were a total unknown in the beginning. As the unknown from a small country did you have to work to earn the respect from people around you when you did your first foreign films?

A. I never consciously considered that I had to do something to make them listen to me. If I thought something could be done differently, I haven’t been afraid of going up to people and telling them. Obviously it’s not like it is in Denmark where I can just call Thomas Vinterberg up and say ‘hey, I just had an idea, won’t you come over?’ A Hollywood director on a big movie has maybe 30 actors on his list and everybody wants something from him, so the scale is different. But I still speak up, if there’s something wrong, and only if I’m serious about it. If I’m not serious about it, we just start working on whatever we’re doing.

Q. Are you treated differently on set now that you’re a bigger star?

A. Yes. I was very surprised with first time I was part of a large foreign production. We were on set, and I approached someone from the light-crew to ask about something. Then he looked down at the ground and didn’t answer. Turns out there had been this big name actor, whose name I can’t be bothered to mention, who had just done a movie with this crew, and the crew was under strict orders to never look this actor in the eyes. So there I was, a product of all this. Those were the kind of things I had to get used to. Luckily I found out that if I just focused on my work in the same way I usually did my surroundings would relax pretty quickly. They care more about things abroad than they do in Denmark. I’ve had some pretty weird experiences on foreign jobs. For example, I’m often assigned a so-called handler. Someone who meets me at the airport and helps with checking in and stuff like that. Which is fine, if you’re in Beijing and your have no idea where you’re going. But on foreign gigs I’ve also tried being a assigned a handler at Copenhagen Airport, who is supposed to follow me and help me. That’s pretty absurd, since I’ve checked in 2000 times before in Copenhagen and know how to do it. A handler is always dressed really nicely too, so everybody at the airport ends up staring at me even more. That’s a weird service.

Q. How about the treatment you receive from the other stars, or the business as a whole? How do you experience the hierarchy in Hollywood?

A. When I worked with Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange and with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale it was their first big films as well, so the hierarchy wasn’t crazy. I’ve been spared from meeting someone abroad who was a real hot shot or just tired of doing what they were doing. There are plenty of people with attitude, plenty of large personalities, but I’ve met very few proper divas who are impossible to work with. The few I have met have been here at home. It’s actually a myth, that this is a diva business. If you did an inquiry and compared us to bus drivers or doctors for example, I think actors would rate much lower than them on the diva-scale. We’re very conscious about not behaving like divas, so everyone tries to act natural. Nobody wants to be branded like that. And when one finally comes along, which obviously happens, then it’s so exciting, and it sounds like the whole business is infected with them. But holy shit, man, how many little kings in their little kingdoms have you met driving the 8 Line?

Q. Your generation, which had its breakthrough 20-25 years ago, has taken up a lot of space back here at home and internationally. You’ve become…

A. You can say ‘old’. We’ve gotten bloody old.

Q. Has it only now become clear how much space you take up?

A. No. I think it was obvious from the beginning. We were a generation that grew up with a big fascination for certain foreign films. Many of us had Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola in common. There weren’t’ many Danish films we could relate to. [here follows a whole bit about Danish movie history that no one outside Denmark will care about, so I’m skipping it] We felt like we were living in the 50’s. We were watching foreign movies like ‘Taxi Driver’ and saying to each other ‘is this from 1975?’ What have we done in Denmark this year? It was crazy. Completely crazy. Obviously something had to be done. And it was. We grew in different directions but suddenly the gap wasn’t so wide… I mean, we were no longer being told what it was like to be a teenager by an 88 year old director. We were the same age and we communicated directly. Just like Scorsese and De Niro in the 70’s. Same age, let’s go, rock’n’roll. Obviously it’s hard for the next generation, who comes after us, to just change things as well. Because we did the right thing. So now they either have to copy that approach, or improve it, or come up with something completely new. It was easier for us, if I’m being honest. We said ‘Hey, have you seen this before?’ and people went ‘No, we haven’t. Cool!’ But we had to do it. And we were allowed to do it, first and foremost. Some things went wrong, some things went right. But it was really important.

Q. You and your brother both seem like you’re very down to earth. Is that a result of growing up on Nørrebro?

A. Yes, I guess. No… Where the fuck did Pilou (Asbæk) grow up? He has some higher ‘a’s than I do, when he taaaaalks. But he’s damn well down to earth too. So I think it’s a Danish thing. If you try to rise a bit above other people, it won’t be very long until you’re pulled back down.

Q. Have you tried it?

A. No. As a Danish person it’s very hard to demand only to be served the yellow M&Ms without people laughing at you.

Q. Can’t it be limiting, that we’re like that? That everything has to be so down to earth.

Pause.

A. It’s funny, because we’re different than the Swedish. They have a whole different way of engaging with their stars. The Swedish are down to earth too. But when Swedish actors sit down to talk like this, like I’m doing now, and a journalist enters the room, that they start (Mads straightens and adopt a somber tone) speaking like this. And the things they say become great philosophy. They also start to move (he waves his arm theatrically) like they were on stage at the Royal Theatre. When I see that I think ‘what the fuck just happened?’. The Swedish write with great reverence about their stars as well. They have a huge amount of respect for what they give us. Swedish stars have a whole different status in society than we do in Denmark. They like putting things up on a pedestal, and they’re allowed to do that in a totally different way then we are. You can’t do that here. And thank God for that. But you can also say, that in Denmark you don’t always respect people for what they can do. Sometimes people will go ‘Fuck man, I can do what Caroline Wozniacki does. She’s the worst I’ve ever seen.’ Okay? I mean, it’s nice that we’re down to earth in Denmark. But it’s grotesque to say that ‘What Wozniacki does, I can do just as well.’

So that’s how I spent the last five hours of my life...

#Mads Mikkelsen #translation

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verai-marcel · 5 years

Text

Lesson in Humility (RDR2 Fanfic, 18+ ONLY)

Summary: You were raised in a cold household, with parents who only wanted what was best for themselves. So you were taught how to be a lady with the coldest eyes and an ice heart. They taught you that no one was good enough, that you were better than everyone else, and you believed them. At least, until a blue-eyed bodyguard came to humble you.

Author’s Notes: Geez, I’m not sure what kick I’m on, but my stories are getting more filthy, sorry. @dva-xo, this one is all yours. Also trying a new format, where reader POV refers to you as “you”, while Arthur’s POV refers to you as “her”. I think, from his perspective, he’s not going to think in second person. Let me know what you think.

Tags: rough sex, D/s, humiliation play, name calling, low honor arthur, rich reader, virgin reader, reader POV, Arthur POV, filthy talk, might as well call it a porn

Also find it on AO3!

“Ain't there someone better for this job? Maybe someone better lookin’ and charmin’?”

Hosea sighed. For all his picking on Arthur for being an idiot, he knew he really wasn’t. He was the only one capable of handling this job with any tact. Charles was a close second, but he was a better hunter, so his skills would be better suited to feed the camp. Javier might have been able to do this, but Dutch needed him for scouting and tracking the O’Driscolls. And there was no way he was sending John or Bill or heaven forbid, Micah. Not for a job like this.

“It'll only be for a week while the family finds a permanent house guard.”

Arthur sighed so hard that Hosea thought he was being melodramatic if he didn't know him any better.

“Fine, fine. This better pay good.”

“It will. We already got paid partially up front, and you'll get paid the full amount at the end of the week when the contract is up. Now go meet her at this house,” he said, passing Arthur a map with directions scribbled in the corner.

“She better not be some spoiled brat,” Arthur mumbled and he stomped off to pack some clothes.

***

Looking up at the small house, you sighed. Your parents had sent you to St. Denis to learn how to be a proper lady of the house. Growing up under the exacting tutelage of your narcissistic parents, they had taught you etiquette and reminded you constantly of your place in life, and thus, the relative place of others, which was beneath you.

The best women's college with the best home economics program was in this city, and while you could recite etiquette rules all day, you couldn't cook or mend a shirt for the life of you. You were feeling bitter; all the things that had interested you as a child but were told were beneath you, were now things your parents had decided were the proper topics to learn.

You could have let me learn when I was 5, then I wouldn't have to start twenty years late.

Sighing again, you set your bitterness aside and followed the two servants who were bringing your luggage inside. A maid greeted you at the door and guided you around the house; it was small, just two stories: there was a parlour, eating area, servant’s quarters, and kitchen downstairs, and four bedrooms upstairs. One of those bedrooms was yours, another was for your parents when they stayed in town, and the last two were for guests.

Before you had left the main house, however, your parents told you that one of the guest bedrooms would be occupied by a personal bodyguard that they had hired for you. It was only for a week until they could find a permanent guard, they had said. You rolled your eyes; you didn’t need some local ruffian following you around.

You already hated it here. It was humid and your clothing was sticking to your skin in an unrefined manner. The maid had left you alone in your new room while she continued cleaning and putting away your belongings. You turned to her and told her that you would like a bath. She paused for a moment.

“Immediately,” you added.

She nodded and went away to get it prepared for you.

Walking over to the window, you looked out at the city and scowled. You were not looking forward to living here.

***

Arthur looked up at the decently sized house and whistled. Whoever he was guarding really was rich, if this was their second home. He walked through the gates and knocked on the doors. An older woman came to the door. He quickly explained that he was the bodyguard hired by the head of the family and gave her the letter of introduction that Hosea had given to him.

After introducing herself as Anna Miller, the head housekeeper, she led him through the house so he’d learn the location of all the rooms, and then finally the room where he’d be for the next week. She also gave him a schedule of the lady’s week; it looked like he’d be escorting her to and from school for five days, and then the last two days would be leisure, and he’d just have to take her wherever she wanted to go.

“Oh, one more thing. Don’t take anything she says personally,” she said before she left him to unpack.

“Huh?”

The housekeeper looked back at him over her shoulder. “She’s a cold one.”

***

After escorting you to the college this morning, the maid had said that your new guard would come to escort you home, and to wait at the gates for him. So you waited, and you held yourself up straight, even though everything in you wanted to just slouch and slink home. It had been a terrible day. You had followed each instruction to the letter, been an exemplary student. And yet when you tried to show another girl how to double stitch, she had turned you away, asking the other girls instead, even though you were clearly the better study.

Fools, tittering away. Some of us are here to better ourselves, you had thought disdainfully.

When the instructor had tried to tell you that you were perhaps being a bit showy, you swallowed any response you might have made and nodded. Etiquette demanded that you treat all others as equals, even if you were superior to them. To maintain that facade all the time was stressful; all you wanted was a bit of praise for being so good. Instead you were punished for being better. Served me right, you thought. You nearly broke etiquette.

When your coach came up and stopped before you, you watched with some trepidation as a tall, broad-shouldered man stepped out and looked straight at you. He called your name, and held out his hand.

Silently, you took it and let him help you into the coach. And you were silent the whole way back, since you had nothing to say.

***

Jesus, Mrs. Miller was right. She IS cold. Not a damn word the whole ride back, Arthur thought to himself as he helped her out of the coach. She kept walking away from him, her back straight, her face not showing a single emotion. He trailed behind her, not sure what he was supposed to do now.

“You’re dismissed for today,” she said when she got to the door. “I have no need for a guard now that I’m home.”

Arthur’s eyebrows furrowed. “Listen, as much as I’d like to go the bar and get a drink, Mrs. Miller clearly stated that I’m supposed to guard you at all times.”

“Who said that?”

“Mrs. Miller? The head housekeeper?”

“Oh. Her. Fine,” she said dismissively, and walked into the house as if he wasn’t there.

Arthur rubbed his face; he felt a headache coming on.

This is goin’ to be a long week.

***

You didn’t know the maid was the head housekeeper, but he didn’t need to know that. You hadn’t even bothered to remember her name. Such details didn’t register as important to you; what mattered now was maintaining your dignity. You had never dealt with a man who not only questioned you, but did so in an impolite tone. You had almost snapped at him, but you would not lose decorum over such a small thing.

It was not lost on you that the man exuded the kind of masculinity that you had only heard about behind closed parlour doors where women spoke quietly of the books they had read, books with scandalous content with gunslingers rescuing ladies from bandits. Your breathing hitched at the thought, and you had to take a deep breath to calm your heart. This would not do at all.

This was going to be a very long week.

***

Three days passed, and Arthur grew more and more irritated with the lady who showed nothing but cold indifference to everyone around her, especially him. He was only mildly annoyed by how she treated him, but the way she barely spoke to Anna, and the way she treated the servants Thomas and Harry, pissed him off. He even talked to them about it, but they just shrugged it off, saying that the lady had always been like that, and she didn’t know any better. When he asked why wasn’t she taught better, they shrugged again.

“She’s the daughter of our boss; it’s hard for us to say anything,” they had said. Arthur just shook his head. This wasn’t his place. Four more days, and he could collect his pay and go.

***

Each day that passed, Arthur would give you a piece of his mind. Somewhat politely at first, but with each passing day, he seemed to get more short with you.

On the sixth day, Arthur finally snapped at you.

“Show some respect, Thomas was just doin’ his job,” he growled while walking with you upstairs after dinner. You had once again corrected Thomas on the proper way to lay out the silverware before the meal started, and you recall Arthur giving you a pointed look, but you hadn’t known why, and you didn’t care.

“How am I not? I’m correcting him.”

“He’s a human bein’, not an animal. A please and a thank you never hurt nobody.”

You opened your mouth to retort, but he had a point; etiquette demanded equal treatment. You shut your mouth and looked away.

“Oh, so you CAN feel ashamed.”

You glared daggers at him. “You should know who you’re dealing with.”

“What, a rich woman with no respect for common folk?”

“I respect those who deserve it.”

By now he had walked you to your room, and your hand was on the doorknob. You jumped when his hand slammed the door jamb next to your face.

“He deserves it more than you,” he snarled.

***

Arthur noted her eyes going wide and looking a bit scared as she turned to look at him. The darker part of his desires flared to life, seeing her like this. A crooked smile slowly grew on his face. It was his last night here. Might as well teach her a lesson, if she chose to let him in.

***

Your heart beat wildly in your ribcage. The smile that he was giving you was like nothing any man had shown you before. You felt something tense lower in your body, and you knew, you knew that if you let him into your room, you would throw all of your etiquette lessons out the window.

“Looks like you ain’t never been taken to task for your lack of respect.”

You scoffed, despite feeling a tremble in your hands. “Are you going to?”

He stepped menacingly closer, staring down at you once he had you pinned against the door with his gimlet stare.

“Maybe I will. Because you need to learn some manners.”

Your head spun. Maybe you deserved it. This past week, as you thought of all the times you had failed to maintain etiquette in class, letting out the occasional scoff or snide remark, you felt shame burn in your heart. And seeing the reaction of the women around you? The look in their eyes, knowing you weren’t perfect? The worst.

Something in you snapped. You turned the door handle.

“Fine.”

***

Arthur followed her into the dimly lit room and locked the door behind him. He didn’t want any interruptions. She stopped in the middle of the room and turned to look at him, a defiant look on her, even though she had clearly invited him in. He put his hands on his belt and observed her. In a pink blouse and a cream colored skirt, she looked absolutely charming. He had an urge to take her hair out of that tight bun and let it cascade down her naked body.

He stepped closer to her, closer than her precious etiquette dictated, and touched her hip. He loved the soft gasp she gave, and gripped her waist, pulling her close. Leaning in and grazing her earlobe with his lips, he felt his blood rush at the feel of her quivering against him. He was going to enjoy this one.

***

“Proper women don’t raise their voice,” he whispered into your ear. That was the only warning you got before he started sucking on your neck. You gasped and started breathing faster.

“Unbutton your blouse,” he ordered. You slowly undid each button as he watched you, a hunger growing in his eyes as more of your skin was exposed. You let the blouse slide off you. Your chemise was blocking his view, so he reached up and tore the fabric down, baring your breasts. You immediately brought your arms up, but he grabbed your wrists.

“Rule one: show me everythin’,” he said in a low voice. He let go of your wrists; you dropped your arms and let him look at you. Your face burned.

Then he turned you around and pushed you towards the window. Pulling open the drapes a little bit, he forced you up against the glass, flattening your breasts against the cool material. Looking outside, you saw a few people past the garden gates. It suddenly hit you that if you could see them, then they could potentially see you.

You struggled in his arms, but with one hand he gripped the back of your neck, and with the other, he started lifting up your skirt.

“People can see me!” you whispered frantically.

“Maybe. Maybe not. They might not notice.”

You were about to protest some more, but then you felt his touch on your thigh. He drew lazy circles on your rear, then delved his fingers down to your slit. Flicking your clit was a new sensation, and you took a sharp breath. You wriggled as you felt him toy with your body. His other hand that had been on the back of your neck holding you in place now started to stroke your shoulders, your waist, your hips. He pulled the remains of your chemise off you so you were bare from the waist up.

“Then again, maybe they'll all see you, exposin’ yourself like this.”

Then he pushed a finger inside of you, and you pressed up against the glass, unfamiliar with this intimate invasion of your body. You quietly cried out at the strange feeling. When he added a second one, then a third, you were glad for the cool glass against your body as it heated up with every push into you. He watched you in the reflection of the glass, could see your face contort with everything he did to you. The arrogance in his smile gnawed at you, but there was nothing you could say; you had asked for this.

Then he pulled his fingers out of you. You turned your head to see him unbuttoning his fly. Noticing that he had your attention, he slowly pulled his cock out, running your juices from his fingers up and down his hard shaft.

Arthur stepped closer and nudged your opening. You squeaked, making him chuckle. Then he began to sink himself inside of you.

“Ah, ah,” you called out, unable to keep your voice in. He covered your mouth.

“Rule two: My little bitch doesn't speak unless spoken to,” he rasped in your ear as he sunk in to the hilt and stayed still, letting you adjust to his girth. You trembled under him, and he licked the column of your neck as he undid your hair. It fell in waves down your back and around your shoulders; he combed his hand through it gently, before grabbing a handful at the base of your head and pulling you back.

He tightened the grip on your waist before he slid out of you and then slammed back in with such force that you were shoved into the glass. You braced your arms against the window frame to keep your balance as he started to move faster.

“Fucked by a man you hardly know. That ain't so ladylike,” he said without missing a beat. “Shameful hussy like you deserves this.”

You clenched around him. What on earth was the matter with you? You wanted him talking down to you, degrading you. The humiliation, specifically from him, made you feel on fire for once in your cold life.

His grip on you tightened, almost painfully, and brought you back to the present. “Ain't that right, sugar?” he growled.

“Y-yes,” you stammered.

He pulled tighter on your hair. “Yes what?”

“Yes, sir,” you breathed.

His low laugh sounded like a cross between amusement and dark pleasure. Letting go of your hair, he started fucking you harder, your body thumping softly against the glass. You tried not to moan, tried not to make any sounds, but when he reached down to finger your clit, your voice betrayed you, a soft whine escaping your lips.

Arthur’s fingers immediately left your folds, and you choked back a sob at their loss. You felt him pull away from you, and you slid down the glass slightly.

He undid your skirt and pulled it off, along with your drawers, leaving you naked except for your stockings. Then he slapped your ass hard, making you yelp in surprise.

“Don’t make me punish you more. Just stay quiet and take it.” He spanked your ass again, and you bit your lower lip to keep from crying out. Again and again, he made your rear end sting.

When he finally stopped, you weren’t sure how many spankings you had taken. All you knew was that when he shoved himself back inside you once more, the feeling of his clothes against your sensitive skin was too much, and you once again pushed up against the glass since you had nowhere else to go.

“Look out there, sugar. All those people you look down on. Can you imagine what they’d think of you now?”

You looked away from the window and closed your eyes.

Then you felt him wrap his arms around you and lift you up.

“Wrap your arm around me,” he ordered. You swung one arm around his neck and grabbed his shoulder. You leaned back on his chest as he adjusted his stance, and then switched his grip to spread your legs wide. In the reflection of the glass, you saw yourself in his arms, his hands gripping your thighs. You were spread open like a butterfly, and in between your legs, his cock was pulsing inside you.

Then he started lifting you up and down, and in the glass you saw a wanton woman, breasts heaving, your slit flowing with your juices as he made you his for the night.

“Tell me what you are.”

“I'm your whore,” you gasped.

“And what do you need?”

“Your cock inside me,” you whimpered.

And you became addicted. The power in his arms, his whole body, was a wonderous thing, as he fucked you by the window for anyone to see. The way he looked at you, like you were nothing, like you should feel so honored to be used by him, made you shiver.

“Look at yourself. How can you be better than them, when you're actin’ like this?” He thrust into you one more time and kept himself fully inside you.

“Touch yourself. Show me your face when you come with my dick inside you.”

You reached down with your free hand and rubbed yourself. It didn't take long, you were already so close that you came within a minute, gasping and staring at Arthur's eyes in the reflection. He looked satisfied, and a thrill of happiness ran through you.

He walked over to the bed and dropped you onto the mattress, face first. You tried to lift your head, but he immediately shoved it back down.

Entering you from behind, he railed you hard, not letting up for a moment, not giving you any mercy. He grabbed a corner of the bedsheet and stuffed it in your mouth to stifle your cries. You bit down and moaned as he kept pounding into you, leaning back occasionally to smack your ass.

“Learn your lesson, sugar?”

You nodded frantically.

He took the sheet out of your mouth. “What was that?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Good,” he said slowly, the word suddenly becoming so sexual in nature that you wanted him to say it again. Anything to make him praise you with that deep, honeyed voice.

He suddenly pulled out of you and grabbed your hair, dragging you to your knees in front of him. He slowly stroked his cock in front of you and tipped your chin up.

“Open up, sweet. I'm gonna use you real good tonight.”

You opened your mouth and he gently started to move in and out, letting you get used to his size. You got the idea quickly and moved on your own, so all he had to do was stand there and let you pleasure him. Using your tongue, you quickly learned what he liked, looking up at him and begging for praise with your eyes. You were completely in his thrall, and he knew it.

“That's it, you're doing good,” he crooned, and you flushed with ecstacy. He petted your hair and caressed your cheek, and you leaned into his touch like a cat.

You felt him twitch in your mouth. Suddenly Arthur grabbed your hair and pulled you off him, your mouth making a pop sound as he gripped himself and stroked once, twice, and came all over your unsuspecting face.

“Clean me up,” he demanded, and you licked him until he was satisfied. He put himself away and looked down at you with a wry grin.

“You look so slutty with my spend all over you, sugar.”

“Thank you, sir,” you said without prompting. He gave you a true smile this time, his eyes filling with warmth. You wanted for nothing more.

He kneeled down so he was eye level with you. “Now clean yourself up. And don't tell no one about this.” Then he leaned in closer and ran his thumb over your lips. “It's our secret, okay?”

You nodded. He nodded back at you, stood up, and left you alone with your thoughts.

***

Arthur walked back to his room, feeling immensely gratified. No one knew about his depraved cravings, and he intended to keep it that way. And he always left his partners satisfied anyway, so they never spilled his secret.

***

The next morning as you left your room, Arthur was there, standing next to your door.

“I won't say anything,” you whispered. He nodded, and fell in step beside you. It was his last day; your new permanent guard was to show up this afternoon, so you decided to go take a walk in the park today.

You let the maid, no, Mrs Miller, know that you were heading out to the park for the morning. You called her by her name, told her you were thankful for all her help this week, and she smiled at you. That was nice.

Thomas drove the coach over to the park, and you thanked him for the drive, noting his pleasantly surprised look when you said it. It made you feel warm inside, and you were surprised by yourself.

“So, feelin’ kinder today?”

The two of you had walked around for five minutes before he finally spoke.

“Yes. It's… different,” you said thoughtfully. “It's nice.”

Arthur chuckled. “Yep.”

You turned to stand in front of him. “I've learned a few things about myself. Thanks to you.”

He shrugged. “Not sure I did anything worth thanking me for.”

Smiling at him, you laughed. It was the first time he had heard you or seen you this happy. It had been a long time since you laughed like this.

“I had a long think last night after you left. I need to be more respectful, and others will respond in kind.”

“You only now just figured this out?”

“I think I was too wrapped up in my own head to see outside.” You stepped a bit closer to him, but not any closer than etiquette allowed. “Last night was… freeing, in a way.”

Arthur shrugged.

“So thank you,” you said as you turned and started walking along the park path again. “I'll never forget it.”

You just heard him softly laughing behind you.

***

Arthur packed up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. It was a crazy week. He walked down the steps and exited the front door, seeing her waiting for him. Beyond her, he saw a man exit the coach. Clearly the new guard.

He walked past her, but not before whispering in her ear, “remember my lesson, sugar.” He grinned when he saw her blush and smile back at him, and he nodded at her before walking out the gate. He noted the way the new guard had been watching their whole exchange, and decided he didn't give a fuck.

The new guard assessed him, judged him, and dismissed him in a second. Handing him a stack of bills, he said, “For your help this week.”

Arthur counted the cash and shoved the stack into his satchel.

“Thanks,” he said, and walked towards the stable to get his horse and head back to camp.

He'd have to thank Hosea for the job. After all, he got an extra reward that he'd never tell anyone about.

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

End Notes: Was it good? Needed work? Too repetitive? Please let me know. Trying new formats always has consequences...

Also I was supposed to tag @anniesburg because I was told to?

#arthur x reader #arthur morgan #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #rdr2 fanfic #nsft #Writing #fanfiction #tumblr request

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svucarisiaddict · 5 years

Note

Okay, with Easter coming up in a month, I was wondering if I could get some cute dad!Sonny and Easter egg hunt with the kids???

“What is the world is all this stuff?” you asked as you dropped your bag on the floor.

“It’s for Easter,” Sonny replied rolling his eyes.

Placing your hands on your hips you surveyed the dining room table that was littered with baskets, pastel-colored eggs, candy, and different Easter themed items. “That much I figured out. Why so much?”

“Okay. So we have jelly beans, chocolate bunnies and crosses, plastic eggs, food coloring, baskets, fake grass, and I bought 10 dozen eggs for the kids to color.”

“This is just for our kids or if this for all of New York?” you asked teasingly.

“Very funny.” Sonny continued to pull items from the bags. “Caroline will actually enjoy the Easter egg hunt at the church this year. Which by the way I volunteered to help.”

A smile crossed your face. It made you so happy to see how excited he got over holidays and experiencing new things with the kids. In some ways, Sonny was a kid at heart.

“What’s that smile for, huh? I got somethin’ on my face?’ Sonny asked.

“I just love seeing your enthusiasm with this stuff,” you responded.

Sonny sauntered over to you. He grasped your hands placing them behind your back then pulled you to him. “It’s not the only thing I’m enthusiastic about.”

“Don’t I know it,” you whispered. “But maybe you can jog my memory?”

Sonny leaned down and placed a smoldering kiss to your lips. His one free hand roamed your body, then he peppered kisses along your jaw nibbling your ear. “Comin’ back to you?” he husked in your ear as he directed you to the bedroom.

The weekend before Easter was the big egg hunt at the church. Sonny, Ryan, and Thomas went to the church early to help set things up. A couple hours later you and the littles met them at the parish. There were a lot of people there. Events and holidays tend to bring more people than normal Mass.

Once everyone was unloaded you made your way to find Sonny. You finally spotted him laughing and talking animatedly with Father Malcolm. Sometimes it still surprised you that Sonny had thought about joining the priesthood.

When Sonny spotted you he smiled and waved you and the kids over. “Hey,” Sonny said then kissed your cheek. He took Caroline from your arms when she reached out to him.

“Looks like there is a good turn out,” you stated.

Sonny was absolutely beaming. “Biggest turn out in church history,” he replied proudly.

“Yes. In fact, we asked Sonny to be on the event planning committee,” Father Malcolm said. “Ryan and Thomas have been a big help today as well. You and Sonny have done a fine job raising them.”

“Thank you, Father. It’s definitely a team effort.” Father Malcolm nodded and made his way to speak with others.

“Egg hunt will be startin’ in a few minutes. Up to age two goes first,” Sonny informed you of the age brackets.

“Look, Caroline. There’s one!” Sonny instructed your 18-month-old. She bent over to pick up the brightly colored egg holding it up proudly to show him. “Good job! Now put it in the basket.” Caroline did so then grasped Sonny’s fingers again. He walked through the grass with her finding a few more eggs. Each time she would smile Sonny would smile back with the same grin, matching dimples and twinkling blue eyes. Sonny took each of the kids, you tagged along taking pictures. Except for Ryan because as he said, “I’m too old for that stuff, Ma.”

Later that night as Sonny was brushing his teeth you leaned against the doorframe watching him.

“Wha?” he said. He rinsed then dried his mouth.

“Just thinking about how wonderful of a Dad you are, how intelligent and how much I love you.”

“Don’t forget how lucky you are that you married me,” Sonny smirked.

“That too. You’re intelligent. You also have the biggest heart of anyone I know.”

“You really are proud of me?” he asked.

You padded over to where he was standing in front of the sink. “How can I not be?” Placing your hands on his chest you looked up at him. Sonny thrived off of positive words and touch. Sometimes you got so caught up with the kids, work, the house that you forget to praise him. He never failed to do so with you.

Sonny blushed a bit as he wrapped his arms around your waist. “It’s good to hear.” He placed a soft kiss to your lips. “The smartest decision I ever made was marrying you.”

You nodded. “I agree. And the second best decision was promising your wife a back massage.”

Sonny chuckled. “Only if I get one in return.”

“Oh, I have something much better than a backrub planned for you,” you said then winked.

Sonny smiled so big his dimples had dimples. “Lead the way Mrs. Carisi.”

#sonny carisi #sonny carisi x reader #sonnyverse #caroline carisi #ryan carisi #thomas carisi #ethan carisi #nicholas carisi #easter #fluff #love

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jbaeteng · 5 years

Photo

Boa in the latest issue of Kicker 31 may 2019

"I was already gone in my head. When you get a clear promise and an adequate fee is paid then suddenly it's rejected, something breaks down in you"

"My first half of the season was not good. Then I was able to turn myself upside down and play well, but I was benched anyway. The justifications given to me by the coach left me with the question: Why am I the one who had to be left out?"

"I will attack again in the new season. At Bayern? I clearly imagine that I can continue at Bayern. I'm not going to run away, situations change quickly"

" I told Jupp Heynckes: I won ten titles with Bayern, I know the processes inside out, I needed a new impulse. I like being here, I love Munich, it was a great time, but I know when I have to go and that's what you would have to grant a player after so many years here"

"I know what I can do. When I have a club and a coach that gives me confidence, I know how to play"

"I'm a footballer, if you don't play a role, it hurts. I respect my teammates but I cannot pretend. I can't laugh around and pretend that I'm happy. And I know that when it mattered in the past years, I was always there in big games"

The season 2018/19 at Bayern is now over for him, but basically four weeks already: On May 4, against Hannover, Jerome Boateng was allowed to play for the last time. The remaining three games were followed by the central defender on the bench. "Of course I can not say that this season is good for me. I've lost a lot this year, my place in the national team and at Bayern, "says Boateng. "It was a negative year for both sides, for the club and for me." It's an unvarnished honest record.

This season began under obstructive circumstances. He said "in the summer of 2018, not in vain internally, that I absolutely wanted to leave" and got the assurance that he would be released from his contract until 2021, "if the right club comes and the money is right". These two conditions saw Boateng satisfied when Paris Saint-Germain wanted to sign him. But then the FCB officials refused. Three days before the transfer in late August 2018, Boateng learned "that they suddenly said no and I was not allowed to leave."

So he sought direct contact with the leadership - CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, sports director Hasan Salihamidzic and coach Niko Kovac sat at the table - and said: "Please, let me go! I have to go. I need a new challenge. "The position of the club sounded that way, Boateng says:" They said the coach really wants to hold you; for him you are number one in defense. "Rummenigge then repeated several times that he could not release Boateng under these circumstances. Boateng thanked "for the appreciation", but made clear: "I want to go anyway. Absolutely. "The answer:" No. Even if It's hard for you, you have to accept it so."

Boateng had already basically felt" that the club was no longer to me ". Because Rummenigge had put the 2014 World Champion in the showcase just before the 2018 World Cup with the words: "If a club comes and Jerome announces that he wants to change to this club, we will deal with it." Paris had now offered a transfer, the including bonuses would have added to 40 million euros. But the no remained.

"That was hard to work with," says Boateng today. "I was already gone with my head. If you get such a safe pledge and an adequate sum is paid, but suddenly it's called no, something collapses in you. So, without further ado, that did not leave me without a trace. "However, this abrupt change in the situation did not affect his general attitude to football and his job.

The relationship with the new coach Kovac, he found initially "all right, just like the other players". And he admits: "Sure, we had a bad phase in the fall, and I played badly," for example, when 3: 3 against Dusseldorf. So it came in those weeks to exchange with Kovac, "my first round was not good". During Christmas holidays, the defender telephoned the head coach and assured him that he had finally come to terms with the refusal to change clubs, "that I was fully focused and after the winter break totally wanted to fight for my place in the team". The Trainer's Response: In the winter training camp in Qatar, "everyone starts at zero".

There, Boateng notes, "I trained at top level". In the public training sessions, he was usually part of the A-Elf, Mats Hummels to the B-group. So Boateng "decided that I would start against Hoffenheim". But for the second half of the season, he was only substituted in the 90th minute for Javi Martinez. "I could not understand, I was angry, especially because of the statements of the coach, I would have trained super, he liked that, aggressive, I was headed, et cetera."

On top of that Kovac had announced shortly before the kick-off in Hoffenheim, Süle was Munich's center-back number 1, Boateng and Hummels would have to "match" behind her place. Boateng asked the coach about the background for this statement and learned: "He said that was a mistake."

Boateng locates the beginnings of this development in the second half already in the middle of December 2018, when he played against Nuremberg (kicker -Note 2.5) in Hannover suddenly had to experience 90 minutes as a substitute. "Since then, I felt I had no chance, because I could stand on my head and play well, I was still out in certain games," he says in a quiet tone. "It was very frustrating for me because I had worked hard." He supplemented the daily work with the team with an individual program: yoga, fitness, physio "to get me fit".

The appearance or accusation that he was too distracted from his profession as a professional footballer, he states objectively-determined: "All these side things, the glasses, the magazine, the party after the match against Dortmund - I do not have to do anything . "Boateng asks and says," What do I have to do for it? It is always put in such a way that I would have to travel through the world for it and would have any appointments or obligations for six hours. "Other players would also have photo shoots for PR purposes," why is this never discussed? "Jewelry, glasses, earrings "I've been wearing it since I'm with Bayern". So he became Triple Winner 2013 and World Champion 2014.

For his eyewear collection, he says, "every three or four months I spend an hour coming to develop the designs", on location in Munich. "Then there is a shoot for two hours, also in Munich, also every three or four months." For his magazine BOA he does "nothing, except a shoot over an hour or two, also in Munich, all three, four months ".

But did this boa party have to be the PR for the second edition of his lifestyle magazine in the Munich Nobel Club P1, right after the possibly decisive hit against Dortmund? And how inappropriate would this party have been in a defeat? "Then I would have turned up there from 11 pm to midnight because of the sponsors and then home," replies Boateng. "We have clearly communicated that to Bayern." In addition, the FCB makers knew what sponsors expected from a partner. "I had to be there for them." And no concerns were expressed to him by the club. "We could have discussed it and made a statement to the outside." Six, eight weeks before the BVB game, this party was planned.

Before Thomas Muller headed for P 1 that night, he said on social media, "Boa, do not let it get you down! Are a horny guy. "Hummels, Ribery, Lewandowski, Gnabry, Alaba, Tolisso came, allegedly twelve players. "If we had lost, nobody would have come," says Boateng. "But none of us thought that we would lose." The Bayern won 5-0, Boateng sat 90 minutes on the bench.

And are not there - another reproach - his constant short trips to Berlin? "Only if we had no English week and were free, I flew to Berlin," countered Boateng. "But it was always said: Jerome is in Berlin." For other players who also travel by air on days off, there was this topic not: David Alaba jettete known to often to Vienna, Javi Martinez to Spain, Franck Ribery to Paris. Boateng may not understand this different rating, "but that just fits in".

Where so far his deep tone remained the same, Boateng is now emotional and says louder: "I'm a footballer. I'm still burning. I'm hot. But I was slowed down because I was unfairly not used for me, as I deserved it. "Okay, he admits, football is never fair," but I feel like I'm upside down everything was set in stone since December ".

The second half-series began for him with a three-week delay, at home against Schalke, on 9 February. Before the match in Leverkusen, the third in the second half, in early February, Boateng had a one-hour conversation with coach Kovac. Again, he received praise for his good training performance - but sat outside again. But in the upcoming English weeks, the coach has promised him, "you're immediately on hand, if one does not bring his performance, because you deserve it, you train great". Four days later, in the cup at Hertha BSC, he still remained 120 minutes substitute. In the next league match against Schalke Boateng defended next to Hummels "neat", as he judges - the kicker rating 3.5 supports his self-assessment. On the next matchday in Augsburg he had to watch again for 90 minutes and today asks: "But on what grounds?" Two weeks later Kovac had told him that he would not change a victorious team. "Why am I the one who has to go out?"

Boateng takes a deep breath. "It was hard for me to accept that I was not used regularly and was only allowed to play when the coach just needed me." He leads the cup semi-final in Bremen, where he was stable (kicker note 3 ). "After that, I had to get out again", in Nuremberg, "and without explanation." Boateng emphasizes: "I'm the last person who can't take criticism when someone is better".

In the Hinserie, "I also told the coach, I had no problem with him taking me out." But in the second half he sees no reason for his supporting role "because of the training and the games". Kovac even indirectly confirmed it recently when he said to him, "You have not played that much, even though you may be the best defender." Boateng replied to Kovac, "How am I supposed to take that statement? You do not set me up, why ever. "The two are talking.

The 76-time international, early in March by coach Joachim Loew from the DFB selection retired, but would like to blame for the unsuccessful season 2018/19 not alone looking at others. He gives himself self-critical. "I let myself be pulled down too much by the whole situation," he says. But does not a World Champion and Footballer of the Year for which he was elected in 2016 have to defend himself against such attacks? "Sure, I know what I can do," he says, "but at the touch of a button I can not say, now I'm laughing again, it's all peace, joy, pancakes again. I am not. "He reclaims for himself original human feelings and reactions. "It was about my personal happiness, I just had to go."

In 2018, he repeated what he had experienced at the age of 18. At that time he felt that he had to get out of Berlin, "from this comfort zone, where everyone knocked on my shoulders." So it was again: "I needed a new challenge. I know how I am. Here I fall asleep, I told Jupp Heynckes, when he asked me a year ago what I would like to do. "The former Bayern coach understood, but wanted to know the reason. "I've won ten titles with Bayern, know the processes inside out," Boateng told him. "I needed a new impulse." To avoid giving the wrong impression, Boateng hastily emphasizes: "I like being here, I love it Munich. They were great times. But I know when to go. And that would have to have been granted to a player after so many successful years. "

How does it go from here? President Uli Hoeness described the professional with the jersey number 17 last Sunday as a "foreign body". Boateng names as counterargument Niklas Süle. To his immediate opponent in the defense he has "a super wire because the boy is absolutely okay". In the cabin, Boateng addresses things directly to everyone, including the superiors. "Because I want to be successful." In the summer preparation 2018, in the training camp, pleaded the two captains Manuel Neuer and Müller internally that Boateng should necessarily remain. And yet: Was his behavior at the celebrations and the cup win not unquestionable?

At the master celebration in the stadium he kicked off with his two daughters, afterwards he went to a friend's wedding, not the team party. "I'm a footballer," he says. And explains his point of view: "If you do not play a role, it hurts you. I respectfully respect my fellow players. But I can not pretend, do not laugh and pretend I'm so happy. And I know: If it was important in the last few years, I was always there in the big games. "An exception he leads immediately and without asking: The 2: 5-clap in the Cup final against Dortmund in May 2012," the is years ago ", kicker rating: 5.5. "Otherwise, I was always one of the players in the crucial games to stand out." In the 2014 World Cup final kicker made him the player of the game, grade 1.

And yet again the question: Does a team athlete not attend a club or team event? "It was not the last season game, there was still the double celebration on Marienplatz," says Boateng. "And when one of my friends marries, I go to the wedding. It had nothing to do with my mood. Even if I had played, I would be at the wedding. "He serves examples of his identification with Bayern. For the club, he had shortened his vacation, came to New York, did PR shoots for Audi and opened with Rummenigge the stock market. "I was the driving force, I did everything for Bayern."

In contrast, he felt at his shoulder injury in 2016/17 by the club not supported at all. The usual during an operation accompanying an FCB doctor was missing, afterwards there were no visits club official in the hospital or asking for his health. And he was never informed about his removal from the players' council this season: Suddenly Lewandowski was third captain, even Thiago got in a friendly match the captain's bandage - before Boateng.

A first crack suffered on 1 July 2011 started, long perfect relationship FCB-Boateng in November 2016. The Munich lost in Rostov in the Champions League with 2: 3, Boateng was danced in the first goal, before the second he committed a foul , Penalty, 1: 2-residue (49th). He was injured ten minutes later. Boateng would have to come back more "back to earth", so on the ground, said Rummenigge back then in the icy-cold Russia night. Boateng considers such public criticism as a breach of trust, especially because he had a few days earlier in a personal conversation with the CEO pointed to some athletic maladies and Rummenigge had criticized him in private, not in the approach. Boateng did not feel protected by the board boss. The sequel followed before the now ended season and immediately afterwards with Hoeness' public recommendation to change. Of course, Boateng is still ready to do that.

But the future employer must fit. "I have very clear sporting expectations and goals," says Boateng emphatically. He rejects a transfer to China or the USA with a decided no. He said it was about the personal esteem in a new club, he emphasizes: "I would like to prove once again my class after the disappointments of this season and show that I belong to the three top center-backs in the world. I know what I can do. And if I have a club and a coach that gives me confidence, I know how I play. "Despite the recent development, however, Boateng can" clearly imagine that it can continue at Bayern ". He asks: "Why not?" And answers: "I'm a footballer, Bayern is a big club." He also had to take into account that his children go to school in Munich. "I will not run away here for sure. Situations change quickly. "

Once again he clarifies:" I do not want to end my career, on the contrary. "He wanted" one hundred percent success as a footballer. Just after having been slowed down so much this season, I want to show that I am still fully occupied. I'm going to attack fully in the next season. "

After this season 2018/19, which at least spared him major physical injuries, he feels ready for new exploits. "Jerome has not finished yet and still has huge potential for the next three years," says Jupp Heynckes. In the triple year 2012/13, "he shot into the world class," said Boateng's former coach in Munich, "at the 2014 World Cup, he was the best center-back in the world." Boateng is "an easy to run player who needs trust and understanding "Heynckes says," working with him was a pleasure ". Peter Hermann, who saw Boateng as an assistant coach in Munich in daily operations, adds: "Nobody plays out from the back like Jerome does. He has to be fit, then he can play for a few more years at top level - if he wants it. "Boateng wants. He says. Determined.

On vacation, he will - as usually in the past years - go through a private preparation. For this he sets his own fitness trainer and physiotherapist on his own account. "For the five-week vacation, I have a well-planned plan," he says. The exercises are designed specifically for him. For the last 14 days of this individual work "full throttle" is programmed. Boateng wants to start "prepaired" in preparation for 2019/20.

#jerome boateng #kovac is such a loser #sorry some sentences may sound stupid because it's translated with google translator #:)

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ajax-b1ue · 6 years

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Suspension of Disbelief: Ch 2

2018 Big Bang Fic Challenge Submission Amazing Artist, Big Bang Partner, and Header Creator: @ahoardofsides TW: Villainous Deceit, angst, manipulation, gaslighting, self-deprecation, self-harm, anxiety attack, violence, blood, attempted murder Pairings: Platonic LAMP WC: 2672

( Master | AO3 | 1 | Chapter 2: As You Like It | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 )

Roman reflected wryly that it was, perhaps, foolish to hope Deceit’s intrusion would be a one-time thing.

Sadly, it was not to be. Over the following days, Deceit continued to turn up, without warning, and apparently without any purpose other than to lurk over Roman’s shoulder and make sarcastic remarks.

Eventually, Roman started protesting Deceit’s presence less and less. He still insisted to himself that he didn’t trust Deceit at all! But he couldn’t ever manage to actually dispatch of the snake or expel him from his room, and at this point, it was getting to be more exhausting to try than to just deal with his continued presence.

Over time, he also protested Deceit’s backhanded compliments less as well. Roman told himself he was ignoring them, but there was also a small part of him that wished he could believe they were real.

At one point, Roman tried once more to half-heartedly question Deceit’s presence.

“I have a question for you,” Roman posed, eyeing Deceit who was draped across the foot of his bed on his back, legs hooked up over the footboard. “…Why do you insist on hanging around me like some overdressed leech??”

“I genuinely like you,” Deceit offered.

That was met with a flat glare.

Deceit rolled his eyes, but didn’t push it. “Fine. But I do prefer you over the others. I know, it’s so surprising,” he mocked. Roman still wore his distrusting expression; Deceit affected hurt. “We’ve done good work together!”

“We have never worked together! Unless you count your little workshop of horrors,” Roman sniped.

“No? Certainly not all of the acting Thomas has done,” Deceit pointed out, rolling over and sitting up. “All of the fantasies you’ve concocted for him?” From the tone of his voice Deceit actually seemed to regard those somewhat fondly.

Roman wasn’t quite able to answer that at first. He could hear his own words echoing in his head: never lie at all?? …And wasn’t it true? There was an inherent element of deception in theater.

Luckily, his own words were not the only ones that came to mind. “There’s an unspoken agreement between an audience and the show runners, that what they’re seeing isn’t actually happening,” Roman said, recalling Logan’s argument. He looked up to meet Deceit’s gaze. “They know it’s not real.”

“Oh yes, reality is such a wonderful place to be,” Deceit deadpanned. “You know, Roman— good acting, a good fantasy, is supposed to take you away from all that. They want to be deceived.”

“Suspension of disbelief— while, yes, a vital part of enjoying any fantasy, including the theater—” Roman stopped and shook his head, refocusing— “is not the same thing as deception.”

“Falsehood,” Deceit returned easily, making Roman startle.

Deceit pretended to adjust non-existent eye glasses. The obvious imitation was not lost on Roman, who drew himself up, offended once again. Deceit just smiled, too wide, and Roman grimaced, turning away.

“Yes, well, thank you for your input, tall, dark and creepy,” he muttered.

From behind him, Deceit asked, “Would it sound better this way?” But the cadence and tone weren’t Deceit’s— they were Logan’s.

Roman whirled, shocked to see the logical side looking at him with a half-smirk. Shock quickly melted into anger: “…How… dare.” His hand went to the hilt of his sword for the first time in a long time.

Deceit glanced at the weapon, then back at Roman, unimpressed. “Oh yes, you’re going to cut down a likeness of one of your friends.” Deceit rolled his eyes behind Logan’s glasses. “Freud would have a field day. Besides,” he calmly persisted, steepling his fingers. “Don’t you want Logan’s approval? Instead of just always turning down and arguing against your ideas?”

“You are not Logan.”

“That was certainly a direct answer to my question.” Deceit’s calm smile returned. “Well. If my input isn’t welcome, perhaps you should actually share your idea with the others, then?”

“Perhaps I will!” Fed up, Roman snatched the piece of parchment from his desk.

And, for the first time in two weeks, Roman marched out of his room, down the hallway, towards the living room, and…

And, the closer he got to the sides’ common area, the less confident Roman felt. His march became more of a stroll, then more of a creep, finally hesitating just before he rounded the corner.

Was he actually ready to share what he had with the others? Or had he just let Deceit goad him into this? Roman’s gut twisted; what if Deceit’s whole purpose was to get him to make a fool of himself in front of the other sides by showing them something terrible? His hand started to clench around the piece of parchment, crumpling it.

“Roman!”

The creative side nearly leapt out of his skin at the unexpected voice from behind him; he spun, finding Patton looking sheepish.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you! I was just excited to see you out of your room,” Patton explained. The little bit of guilt that started to gnaw at Roman’s insides got quickly squashed, as Patton went on to ask, “You got something there, kiddo?”

Realizing that Patton was pointing at the paper in his hand, Roman hastily stuffed it in his pocket. “…No.”

Without another word, Roman brushed past Patton, eyes firmly fixed on the floor, and swiftly returned to his room.

Roman didn’t even get thirty seconds of solitude before Deceit’s voice— Logan’s voice— began mocking him.

“You didn’t even attempt to show them, did you?”

Roman refused to look up, but steadily grew more and more tense.

“Would you like me to tell you what Logan would have said?” Deceit proceeded to gleefully tear into Roman’s work. “This is completely unrealistic. Utterly ridiculous. Where exactly do you think Thomas is going to be able to film a stunt like this?”

Logan’s— Deceit’s— voice dripped with disdain.

“He certainly won’t be able to afford it. And the time it would take to edit— please.”

Roman ducked his head, shoulders taut, fingernails digging into his palms.

“That’s not even starting on your weak dialogue— this pun, you’ve used it twice before. Honestly, the whole concept is just—”

The tension in Roman finally snapped. “If I’d wanted to hear this, I’d have just shown it to Logan!”

The room fell silent. Deceit pulled back, regarding the other side.

Roman turned away, flushing with heat and shame. He forced himself to sit back at his desk, pointedly avoiding looking at Deceit, even as he heard the quiet click of footsteps coming up behind his chair.

Then Deceit did something entirely unexpected. “…Well,” he offered, his voice now devoid of irony. “It does have some potential.”

Roman gaped.

“The blocking is good,” Deceit went on, continuing his assessment. “The physical humor you’ve come up with is actually funny. And this wordplay right here is very clever— especially with how you bring the joke back later in the video.” Deceit turned and eyed Roman, still wearing Logan’s appearance. Then he quirked one eyebrow. “Is that more in line with what you wanted to hear?”

Roman continued to stare, mouth hanging open, too taken aback to respond.

One morning a couple days later found Roman standing in awkward silence in the kitchen, waiting on a pot of coffee.

What made it awkward was the fact that he wasn’t the only one there.

Roman would really have preferred nothing more than to go back to his room, but he’d also been feeling guilty over his earlier interaction with Patton, and how he’d just walked off. Since then, he’d been making a concerted effort to try to be at least a little less obvious about avoiding everyone.

So, while the other sides milled about, preparing their breakfasts and making small talk, he stood quietly off to one side, his stare fixed on the coffee pot.

Roman still hadn’t told them about Deceit lurking around his room and taunting him; his creative block was humiliating enough on its own. But even Deceit’s visits had started to take on a new, disquieting trend— Deceit was now periodically taking on the forms of the other sides to offer his comments.

It irritated Roman, a fact that he never failed to voice, but what burned him more was that… there was a part of him that clung to each scrap of false praise. That indulged in imagining that it really was Logan or Patton or Virgil praising him, extolling his work. Especially considering how few positive interactions he’d had with the others lately.

It didn’t help that Roman still didn’t have anything to show for all the time he’d spent sequestered away in his room, which hadn’t escaped the others’ notice.

It wasn’t unusual for the anxious and creative sides to trade barbs, but all of Virgil’s seemed to be more pointed than usual lately. Logan had shown considerable restraint (for him), but was starting to get less subtle in his attempts to press Roman over his seeming lack of inspiration. Thomas had been putting off working on his next project because he couldn’t come up with anything, which left both his Anxiety and his Logic irritable.

Patton was doing an admirable job of keeping things civil between everyone. More than that, he could see that something was bothering Roman, and tried to reach out to him.

“Roman… We haven’t seen a whole lot of you lately,” he started, then paused. “You think you might be up to joining us for breakfast?”

Patton gave Roman an entreating look, and Roman had to look away; Patton was hard to resist. But Roman knew, it wasn’t just about breakfast. Patton wanted to talk to him, wanted to ask what was wrong, wanted to help.

Roman wasn’t quite willing to open up, though. Things were still uncomfortable and a little tense between the four of them— the argument of two weeks ago still wasn’t forgotten. “No thanks, Patton, I’m not hungry,” Roman answered quietly, and tried not to squirm when Patton’s face fell. Instead, he turned to the coffee pot, ready to pour himself a cup and leave.

“Of course not.”

Logan’s muttered comment made Roman halt; when Virgil snorted, his hand clenched around the handle until his knuckles were white. He took a moment to steel himself before he poured out his coffee, careful not to spill any, and replaced the pot.

Then Roman turned, a tight smile plastered onto his face. “Besides,” he said loudly, as though continuing on without interruption, and startling the other three sides. “I get the feeling that I’m not particularly wanted at this precise moment.” He glared pointedly at Virgil and Logan.

“What? No!” Patton protested.

Logan’s brow was also creased. “Excuse me?”

Roman scoffed. “Do you really think of me as that dumb, Logan? I’m not deaf.” That, they all reacted to— Logan pulled back, seemingly startled, but his expression quickly became stony.

“Whoa, guys,” Patton tried to intercede, before things got out of hand; the fragile peace that they’d been maintaining was threatening to crack.

“What is your damage, Princey?” Virgil demanded, eyes narrowed.

Patton shot him a frustrated look. “Virgil— not helping.”

Logan crossed his arms, continuing to regard Roman. “I’m quite aware that your hearing functions just fine,” he said. “In fact, it would seem that you have superhuman hearing, since you apparently possess the ability to hear things which I haven’t said.”

“I think,” Patton broke in, talking over all of them and physically putting himself between Roman and the others, “we all need to take a few minutes to cool ourselves on down.” On the surface, he seemed cheerfully calm, but his voice had a firm edge to it as he looked back and forth. “What do you say, kiddos?”

Logan wore a tight lipped expression, his eyes never leaving Roman. “Take all the time you need,” he said, voice clipped.

Roman’s fingers curled against his coffee cup again, his shoulders hunched defensively, while Patton shot Logan a warning look. Roman bit down on his tongue; he was not rising to Logan’s bait. With a forced effort, Roman made himself look down and take a slow slip of his coffee. It was bitter, and too hot to drink just yet, but he made himself swallow it anyways.

Virgil had no such restraint. “It’s not like that’s anything new,” he sniped, quirking one eyebrow.

Roman choked, his throat burning, while Patton whirled on the anxious side, looking aghast. “Virgil!”

Anger flared in in Roman’s chest; he slammed his mug to the counter, sloshing coffee over the sides. “Okay, listen up, you All-American Reject—”

“Would you guys please stop?!” Patton suddenly shouted, startling the rest of them into silence. “Can you two stop antagonizing him?” he demanded of Logan and Virgil, who both looked taken aback at his outburst. Then he spun to face the princely side. “And Roman, that was uncalled for—”

“I don’t need your lecture!” Roman snapped without thinking.

Patton reeled as though he’d been hit.

For a full four seconds, no one said anything.

Then, Virgil’s lip curled. “What the heck is wrong with you?” he spat, ready to meet Roman’s anger head on. Likewise, Logan’s expression had become cold and steely.

Patton hastily recomposed himself, and raised his hands placatingly, still trying to de-escalate the situation. “Guys, please, this isn’t worth fighting over—”

“Like hell it isn’t!”— “Language,” Patton chided half-heartedly— “He doesn’t get to treat you like that,” Virgil growled, ignoring the moral side’s admonishment.

“I find I must agree with Virgil,” Logan said, arms crossed and voice icy.

It wasn’t that Roman didn’t feel the guilt welling up in him; it wasn’t that he didn’t regret snapping at Patton the second the words had left his mouth. It was hard to focus on those emotions, though, when they were competing with indignant outrage. And with both Logan and Virgil lined up against him, when they were the ones who had provoked him in the first place— Roman had had enough.

Patton wore a pleading look, and he opened his mouth to entreat them all again; Roman cut him off. “Don’t bother, Patton,” he said, voice tight. “There’s an extremely simple way to resolve this.”

Then Roman spun on a heel, and stormed out, not stopping until he had reached his room and slammed the door behind him.

The creative side all but threw himself into his chair, snatching his pen from its inkwell. He practically attacked the paper, furiously trying to force a new idea to come forth.

Between writing and editing and rewriting, Roman ended up working straight through the night, trying to burn off stress. Somewhere in the early morning he became aware that he was, unsurprisingly, not alone. But for once it was easy to tune Deceit’s presence out and just be absorbed in what he was doing; also for once, Deceit remained almost entirely silent.

Finally, Roman forced himself to stop— straightening his back, wincing as it cracked and popped— and allowed that he might actually have something worthwhile.

At this point though, Roman didn’t know whether or not to trust himself. And so, still craving feedback and validation, he hesitantly asked, “…Deceit. What… do you think? Of this?”

Deceit arched one skeptical eyebrow at him. Roman continued to look uncertainly in his direction, not quite making eye contact. Deceit sauntered over and eyed Roman, before glancing at the piece of paper and offering: “Absolutely dreadful.”

Roman let out a sigh of disgust, rolling his eyes, but they came back to linger on what he’d created.

After a beat, though, Deceit leaned back over Roman’s shoulder, then pointed to a line. “…This would make more sense if it came from the other character.” This was followed by more seemingly straightforward comments on blocking and dialogue, tightening up this section here and moving that part there.

This time Roman masked his surprised, and after a few moments’ hesitation, picked up his pen again, considering Deceit’s words.

#suspension of disbelief #ts fanfiction #sanders sides #roman sanders #deceit sanders #angst #big bang

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natigail · 6 years

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Posted in August 2018 (PEDIA)

Find my writing: AO3 | Blogspot | Tumblr | Wattpad

New chapters of Let Go Of The Reins | Phan Horse AU

Summary: Dan did not want to go home to his parents' house the summer after his first year of studying law - which he was failing at - so when a friend suggested a simple job that would keep him busy for three months and give him a place to live, he couldn't say no. Granted, shovelling horse shit wasn't glamorous and he was afraid of horses, but the Lester Stables had other things going for it. Phil was newly graduated with a video editing degree and moving home to his parents' horse stables, even if he still would not get back on the horse since what happened earlier in the year. He had a complicated relationship with horses to begin with and he had decided he was done riding. When the new stablehand help arrives, Phil finds himself going out to the stables more often despite trying to stay away.

Average chapter word count: 5k

Chapter 8: Half Halt

Chapter 9: Halt

Chapter 10: Leg Yield

Chapter 11: Travers

Weekly updates every Saturday

New chaptered story Can DIFFERENCES Be Conquered?? | Sanders Sides Theatre AU

Summary: Roman had always dreamed about performing on stage. When his old pal Patton told him of an audition for a new original musical at the iconic Old Timber theatre, Roman jumped at the chance. Roman admired the writing and directing duo of Thomas and Joan. The dramaturg Logan was a bit odd but clearly very good at what he did. Patton seemed to just hang around at the theatre and bring joy wherever he went. The whole cast was filled with amazingly cool people, as was the crew with the exception of one brooding techie, who had a fondness for dark eye shadow. Roman could not have imagined the depth of the story he would be telling with his character, the people he would meet along the way or just how much he would learn.

Average chapter word count: 4.7k

Chapter 1: Surrounded by people but still all alone

Chapter 2: No one gets it, so why even bother?

Chapter 3: I hate you!

Chapter 4: Helpless

Weekly updates every Sunday

The Pianist Everyone Is Talking About... Is My Husband | Phan Pianist AU

Summary: YouTuber pianist Daniel James Howell is thrown into mainstream media's awareness with the release of his first album. Phil works at BBC Radio 1, who increasingly play Dan's songs more and more often, and he couldn't be prouder of his husband. However, no one knows that Dan and Phil are married as they have chosen to keep their relationship private. By accident, Phil is thrust into his husband's fandom when his colleagues learn that he likes the pianist. Phil isn't sure how to tell everyone that he's actually married to the guy everyone is either praising or swooning over.

Word count: 20k

Chapter 1: The Pianist

Chapter 2: The Inspiration

Chapter 3: The Husband

Completed

The Overwhelmed Empath | The Flash OC metahuman

Summary: She had always wished to end up at S.T.A.R. Labs but she had not quite imagined that it might mean being imprisoned in the remains of the particle accelerator. She knew what might happen if anybody discovered what she could do. It was one thing that she would experience the emotions felt by the people in her vicinity but she also had the ability to push emotions onto people. With Central City Police Department and especially CSI Barry Allen on her trail, she knows it's only a matter of time before they figure out what she can do.

Word count: 19k

Chapter 1: The Incidence

Chapter 2: Empathy

Chapter 3: Sympathy

Chapter 4: Compassion

Completed

A Tale of Dreamers and Realists | Sanders Sides Magical AU

Summary: The dust had finally settled for Virgil, Patton, Logan and Roman but that did not mean that everything would be okay just yet. In the past two weeks, they had already formed unbreakable friendships but insecurities and worries had not just disappeared. And there might be more than friendship brewing between some of them. - “You'd think the dreamers would find the dreamers, and the realists would find the realists, but more often than not, the opposite is true.”

Word count: 16k

Chapter 1: Ocean and Flames

Chapter 2: Hurricane and Earthquake

Chapter 3: Bloom and Breeze

Chapter 4: Glow and Waves

Completed

stars in the sky; galaxies in his eyes | Phan University AU

Summary: As Dan got separated from his new friends at a party after his first week at university, he was ready to head home and catch up on some sleep. But first he goes to sit by the lake and contemplate life a little and accidentally he attracts the attention of Phil, who goes to see if he’s okay. The two of them start talking and they don’t stop until the sun has risen and they are both wearing exhausted but happy smiles.

Word count: 9k

Spell Bound By You (Again) | Malec AU

Summary: It had been seven years since Alexander Lightwood and let Magnus Bane go. They had agreed that the time wasn't right for them but they had also promised never to forget each other. Once their roles get flipped around and Alexander is the one in restraints after being captured by the warlocks, the two of them will be forced to face how they feel about each other again.

Word count: 8k

A Different First Meeting WITH DOGS | Phan Dogs AU

Summary: I feel like they have fallen in love… They have…

Word count: 8k

talking to sans | interactive undertale choose your own adventure

Summary: Choose your answers to Sans’ questions. 10 possible endings.

Word count: 3k

That damn android | D:BH Hank & Connor

Summary: Lieutenant Hank Anderson was happy that he didn't have a partner, so he was less than thrilled to be stuck with an android detective. However, during one of the most crazy weeks of his life, Hank had begun to get a much better understanding of androids, deviants and Connor in particular. Now he just wanted to give his partner a hug.

Word count: 2k

Interactive Introvert Tour Ficlets

Summary: The boys were on tour and travelling the world for the second time around. They couldn't imagine doing it with someone else by their side.

Average word count: 1k

Staying hydrated is fun & being minty is nice

The only way we know how

He thought the view was pretty but I thought he was prettier

One of the longest possible flights for a human

Blog posts on By a Dane

My Most Difficult Writing Challenge Yet | PEDIA+

My First Pride Experience | Copenhagen Pride 2018

Posting For Five Weeks Straight | PEDIA+

31 pieces of writing. Approximately 131,400 words in total.

And deep breath. This list was a beast to compile but it’s oddly fitting because this month is the most I’ve ever posted during a singular month before. Over 130,000 words! That’s absolutely insane. Several chaptered stories. New writing styles. New fandoms. Fulfilling prompts. Making sequels. So much stuff has happened in this month and I don’t even know how to summarise it. But I just want to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for all the support I’ve gotten over this month. I’d be honoured if you check out any of my works and I’d love it if you let me know what you thought afterwards. Posting Every Day In August (PEDIA) successfully conquered! I’m honestly so proud of myself for this. This post is humongous already, so I’ll stop rambling. But just thank you for helping me stay motivated throughout this challenge and I hope you liked what I posted if you read any of it.

#monthly recap #personal #my stories #pedia #long post

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zaddyzimmermann · 6 years

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Hot Off The Press Pt. 2

OKAY SO I have to apologize for taking months to write, especially since it’s been sitting in my google docs folder waiting to be edit. There’s actually more but I have to finish it first lol. So there will be a part 3 and I PROMISE it won't take as long to post. Sorry for such a long wait I know a lot of you guys enjoyed this story.

Again take into consideration artistic license lol hope you guys enjoy

Pt. 1

***

Kent and Jack have a complicated past, but what people fail to realize is that no matter how things turned out when they were teenagers, it has no effect on them now. Their “feud” has been played up so much in the beginning of Jack’s career, it never died. It’s so far from the truth, that sometimes Kent and Jack read articles together on how much they hate each other and laugh about it. They agreed a long time ago that if they ever did start up a relationship again, there had to be no hostility existing between them. However, what they realized after growing up and Jack’s eventual spot on the Falconers is that they much rather be friends.

So no, they do not hate each other or have unrequited feelings on either side. Kent is the only person Jack can talk to about Eric, so when Kent isn’t overly supportive over Skype tonight, it hurts a little.

“Jack, you’ve got to be kidding me.” Kent looks upset, with no ounce of joy on his face. “Don’t you remember what happened with me--”

“Yes, but Eric is different. He would never do that.” Jack protests, hearing the irritation in his voice.

Kent’s face is still tight and he takes a few seconds to answer. “I beg to differ. I know who Eric Bittle is, Jack. He wrote an article about dangerous plays and referenced me, but not in a positive way.”

“Well, in his defense, you do rush the net a lot--” Jack’s input didn’t improve Kent’s mood, so he stops himself before he can continue.

“How do you know he’s not trying to get close to you so he can write an article on the Zimmermann name just like every other thirsty journalist looking for a big break?”

“That was a bit harsh.” Jack says in Eric’s defense. “He’s not that kind of presser, Kent. Thomas Caswell is that type of reporter.”

Kent runs a hand through his blonde hair that’s in need of a haircut. “Whatever, Zimms. If you want to risk your career like this, go ahead. I don’t trust him, and I don’t think you should either.”

“Bye.” Jack closes his laptop and tries to take deep breaths. If Kent isn’t supportive, the only people he could talk to is his parents, and they don’t really count. Jack doesn’t talk about his sex life with his parents.

He spends five minutes self-deprecating before opening up his laptop and looking up the article Kent was talking about. It’s one that Eric wrote a year ago, and overall it’s not even that bad. He doesn’t insult Kent in a rude manner, he just points out that there should be more rules put in place so players stop running into goalies. Eric has a point when he says, “Goalies are there to protect the puck; not barreling bodies with blades strapped to their feet.” Goalies often get hurt by skate blades that cut places that have gaps in the gear.

Reading the article makes Jack feel worse, but not about his decision to keep in touch with Eric. There is no way Kent would have such a grudge against Eric over one small reference in an article posted a year ago. Kent is hiding something.

***

A couple days later, with no word from Kent, Eric texts Jack that he’ll be in Boston for a couple days because the Bruins contacted him for a more permanent job. Which is good news if they work out and terrible news if things go south. After Kent’s reaction the other day, Jack has doubts and they aren’t even dating yet. Jack isn’t sure what they are.

With much more time on his hands, Jack gets to the small coffee shop twenty minutes early that Eric tells Jack to meet him at. He finishes his coffee before Eric shows up ten minutes late.

Seeing Eric in person again kind of wipes away a lot of doubts. He’s wearing a black blazer that fits him very nicely, and knowing full well what’s underneath it, Jack takes a few moments to control himself.

Also, Eric’s genuine, bright smile when he first sees Jack wipes away about the rest of his doubts. He doesn’t know why Kent is being complicated, but at the moment Jack doesn’t care. What Kent also fails to realize is that Eric is a sports reporter, and the two of them spotted having lunch together is extremely easy to cover up. Eric could be using him for a piece for all anyone knows.

“Jack.” Eric says a little breathlessly as he sits down across from him. His cheeks are flushed from the abnormal warm weather of May and possibly embarrassment for being late. “I’m so sorry I’m late, that’s so rude of me.”

“It’s okay.” Jack means it too. “I know you had that interview this morning with the Bruins.”

Jack feels Eric’s foot wrap around his ankle under the table. They were in a corner in the back, so no one would see it. So far, Jack hasn’t been bothered once. He has a feeling Eric chose this place for a reason.

“Oh lord did that take forever.” Eric laughs a bit nervously. “But from personal experience, that’s usually a good thing. Quick interviews mean you’re a bore and they aren’t interested. Also, she said, ‘We’ll definitely keep in touch’, and not ‘We’ll let you know’.”

Jack feels a small smile creep up onto his face. “Is that second option a bad sign?”

“Yes.” Eric sighs, resting his head in his hands. “I’ve gotten that a lot and it’s always been bad news that follows. However, the first means they are considering you.”

“Thanks for the tip.” Jack laughs. “The next time I apply for a job I’ll keep that in mind.”

Eric doesn’t say anything and just stares at Jack, which causes him to falter a bit. “Did I say something wrong?”

Eric begins to play with Jack’s foot under the table with a small smirk on his face. “No, Mr. Zimmermann. I was just admiring your laugh. It’s pretty fantastic, just in case you aren’t aware.”

The thing is, Jack doesn’t see him as a reporter right now. It’s not weird, because it’s easy to separate Eric’s job from his actual personality. Jack does not personally know a lot of presser, but they typically don’t have a personality like Eric’s. Jack doesn’t think anyone has a personality quite like Eric Bittle.

“You want me to order you something?” Jack asks, suddenly feeling rude. “Did you have a chance to have lunch?”

Eric blinks in surprise like he did in fact forget about having lunch. “Oh wow, I guess I didn’t. I was just so excited to see you I forgot to get something. I’ll be right back.” Eric slides out of his chair and Jack has no shame in admiring his ass as he walks towards the counter to order lunch. A buzzing in his pocket disrupts his staring, so he quickly pulls it out of his pocket to check.

Kenny: Sorry about the other night. I didn’t mean to be a dick.

I just worry about you.

Jack doesn’t know how to respond to that just yet, so he ignores it and saves it for later. Eric comes back a few minutes later with an iced drink that has whipped cream on the top and a small sandwich.

“So, Jack Zimmermann,” Eric starts before taking a bite. “What have you been up to? I notice you avoid talking about yourself whenever we skype.” Eric doesn’t point this out unkindly, just with curiosity.

“Um…” Jack has to think for a moment, because no one has genuinely wanted to know besides his parents. “I like photography. Parse made me an instagram, but I don’t really know how to use it.”

Eric smiles into his next bite, looking extremely endeared. The mention of Parse didn’t seem to phase him. “Photography, huh? An athlete, model and now an artist. What can’t he do?”

Jack’s face grows hot at the mention of being a model. “It was one shoot, I wouldn’t call myself a model.”

“One shoot.” Eric scoffs, but in an amused way. “Yeah, one shoot that absolutely killed ninety-eight percent of the population.”

Jack isn’t used to this type of praise so directly. Because of this, he directs the conversation to something else. It’s not like he doesn’t enjoy Eric talking about him that way, he’s just worried his skin tone will show how embarrassingly red he’s getting. So he decides to play fair. “Aren’t you a genius? You avoided that label the last time I mentioned it.”

Now Eric turns a bit red, so Jack counts that as deserved payback. “Like I said, it’s all relative. It’s an ivy so they don’t award scholarships, but they provided me with some nice financial aid when they sought me out for hockey which is kind of like a loophole if you ask me--”

“Hockey.” Jack blinks, a little surprised. It’s not like Eric doesn’t look capable, it’s just… Well, Eric doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would like the violence, judging by his stance involving more safety regulations in the sport.

Eric isn’t offended by Jack’s reaction, just amused. “Yes I know, shocking. However, being skilled at a sport only takes you so far in an ivy with ‘cutthroat academic scholars’, and with the threat of losing my spot on the team and possibly a big chunk of my financial aid for future years, a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do.”

Jack feels a slow smirk creep on his face. “So like any normal guy, you became Valedictorian.”

“Ha! They didn’t even see it coming.” Eric laughs before taking a sip of his drink. “Mostly everyone there was nice and supportive, but there are always a select few who think the world owes them something just because they have a high GPA.”

“Sometimes I wish I finished my junior year at Samwell.” Jack admits. “But when the Falconers sought me out I thought I would never get another opportunity quite like that one. Besides, it was relatively close to my friends and I didn’t want to go too far.”

Jack and Eric talk a little bit more, and suddenly Jack realizes this lunch together possesses all the traits of a date. Jack is still confused on where they stand with each other, but he also feels like, as always, he’s reading too much into something that might not even be there. However, it’s hard to think that when Eric keeps looking at him like that.

Jack makes an extremely risky move; he takes Eric back to his apartment. It’s mid-afternoon, so it’s not like Jack has any explicit plans. Eric seems genuinely interested in an apartment tour, and gushes about the kitchen for some reason. Jack will ask about that later. Maybe he likes to cook or something.

Eric jumps up onto the kitchen counter and glances around like he’s looking for something. And for what? Jack has no idea.

“So how often do you eat on this lovely surface?” Eric swings his legs back and forth, waiting in anticipation for Jack’s answer.

“Usually I just eat on the couch or use the table in the--”

Then Eric is pulling off his shirt and grabbing Jack’s tie to pull him closer. “Perfect.”

***

It’s been a few months of texting, skyping, then escalating to sexting and skype sex. Eric Bittle is certainly not his boyfriend, mostly because Jack was too afraid to ask. Eric is no one to ignore, and with his job involving interviews of multiple hockey players, Jack doesn’t expect him to just… well, to just not be with other people.

However, Jack wants them to be something more. He knows it’s an unappealing offer, especially since Jack is all the way in Providence and they only play the Penguins on average four times a year. It would be a long distance, closeted relationship. Besides, what they were doing now is fine for him. It’s not as much pressure, even if deep down he knows he wants Eric all to himself. Which is why Jack doesn’t clarify their relationship the next time they skype, or the time after that.

***

“So,” Eric says on the other side of the screen, absently chewing on a pen as he edits an article one of his colleges submitted. Apparently, he’s often asked to edit the more important pieces for grammar and spelling. He says it’s easier to spot mistakes when his eyes aren’t strained by a computer. “I have super super good news... and terrible news.”

This piques Jack’s interest a little, but not particularly in a good way. “What’s that?”

Eric puts down his pen and rests his head in his hand, a slow smile creeping up on his face. “I got a new job that’s more permanent.”

Now Jack’s interest is definitely piqued in a good way. “Oh yeah? Where?”

“Boston Bruins.” Eric’s smile is so bright, Jack can’t help to mimic it just a little. It seems almost too good to be true. Eric would be only about an hour away, so they could meet up in person instead of their online relationship which isn’t clarified as a relationship.

“Bad news.” Jack reminds Eric to tell him, which causes Eric’s smile to fade.

“Tom Caswell will be my boss. I know there was this big article on how he’s changed, and maybe I’ll give him a chance, but I seriously doubt that old bird has changed even a little bit. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

Jack just stares for a moment, not knowing how to respond. “How did he even get that job?”

Eric shrugs, looking disappointed and defeated. “Honestly? Because the stuff he writes sells and he’s always on television. He’s been in this field for over twenty years, and the Bruins social media platform has improved significantly since they hired him.”

“But… He assaulted you.” Jack says, incredulous. “How does that look good for their organization?”

Eric shrugs, like he’s already accepted his fate. That makes Jack frustrated a little, because Eric doesn’t deserve the harassment he’s probably going to get from Thomas.

“Listen, Jack. No one really knows who we are, much less what our track records are. If a hockey player punched me, that would have been different.” Eric doesn’t look at Jack anymore, he just draws something with his pen that Jack can’t see. “I can deal with him. I’ve been dealing with him from the beginning.”

“When would you start?” Jack asks, needing to change the subject.

“In a couple weeks.” Eric still doesn’t look at Jack, which kind of sets off an alarm bell in his mind. He wanted to change the subject so Eric wouldn’t be sad anymore, but Thomas must not be the sore subject that’s bothering him.

“Eric, what’s wrong?”

He pauses with his pen before slightly glancing up. “You don’t seem to want me in Boston.”

Jack frowns a little at that, because in a way that is true. However, it’s not true for the reason Eric probably thinks. “Of course I want you in Boston, but not if Thomas is just going to make you miserable.”

“I can deal with him, Jack--”

“I’m serious.” Jack cuts him off this time, which he typically never does. He loves listening to Eric go on rants or just when he speaks in general, but this is different. This is harassment. “Do you truly think he’s changed?”

Eric clears his throat before responding so softly, Jack almost doesn’t hear it. “No.”

“Maybe I could talk with the Falconer’s PR department--”

That didn’t seem to help the problem at all, because Eric’s head snaps up and he looks borderline angry. “No, Jack. I’m not using you to get a better job or a leg up, that’s not what this--” Eric gestures between both of them. “--is about. So absolutely not. Like I said, I can handle Thomas. If the Bruins are smart, they will keep into consideration what Thomas did to me. If they want to look good, they won’t let that happen again.”

“Okay. I trust you.” Jack means it this time, but he also can’t give up this perfect opportunity to ask, “But what exactly is this, Eric?”

Eric’s determined expression changes to one of shy happiness so fast, Jack nearly doesn’t keep up. “I don’t know, honey. That’s up to you. What do you want it to be?”

Jack wasn’t prepared for that response at all. He clears his throat a couple times to buy just a little time. “Well, um, I really like you. A lot. And… I’m not so good at this.” Jesus christ, he sounds like a thirteen year old.

“I really like you too, Jack Zimmermann. A lot. And I’m not good at this either, because I’ve never really had anything like this before.” Eric gives him an excited smile before saying, “So I think it’s better if we discuss this in person, yeah? Because I really wanna kiss you right now and it’s botherin’ me that I can’t.”

“Okay.” Jack lets out a breath he doesn’t realize he’s holding. “Okay, yeah. When are you getting here?”

“In one week.” Eric grins. “You think you can wait that long?”

“I can try.” Jack smiles back.

“Good, because I have no patience and at least one of us needs to have some self control. I’ll probably send you a super inappropriate snap later on. Talk to you soon, honey.”

“Okay, Eric.” Jack laughs before signing off. It’s been a long time since he’s been this happy during an off-season.

***

“I mean it has…” Jack observes Eric’s small apartment with skepticism. “...personality.” It actually looks like a death trap, but Jack doesn’t say that. He’ll probably sneak some people in here to fix up the place as a housewarming gift.

“It has a functioning kitchen and a window.” Eric argues. “So, not that bad.”

“Oh yeah, you still have to bake me one of those pies you go on and on about. For all I know, you could be lying to me.” Jack smirks when Eric gives him a horrified look.

“I’m going to ignore the fact you just said that in knowledge of your ignorance.” Eric huffs out before dumping a box onto the blue couch the owner left behind. A cloud of dust bloomed in its wake.

“I just have to clean it up a little.” Eric says more to himself than to Jack. “That’s all.”

“If anyone can do it, it’s probably you.” Jack places down another box on the small coffee table so he can wrap his arms around Eric’s waist. His head falls back against Jack’s shoulder as he wraps his own arms around Jack’s.

“You are quite the charmer, Mr. Zimmermann. I mean, besides your pie comment--”

“Will you be my boyfriend?” Jack suddenly blurts out, even though he planned on making it less awkward and immature.

Eric just laughs a little as he turns around in Jack’s arm. He glances up at him with a warm smile on his face. One that nearly causes Jack to melt right then and there. “My goodness, so formal. Of course I’ll be your boyfriend. I’d be an idiot not to.”

Eric initiates the kiss by wrapping his arms around Jack’s neck to pull him closer. It’s pretty innocent for a while until Eric wants more and slips his tongue into Jack’s mouth. Jack has to break away for a moment, because he did have something else important he needed to say. “I know it will suck being in the closet again, but it won’t be like this forever. I’m not giving you an empty promise. I want to come out, but when I’m ready.”

Eric reaches up to gently pat Jack’s cheek, and stares at him with complete adoration. “I don’t doubt you, Zimmermann. You are one of the most genuine guys I have ever met. I’m a journalist, so those are hard to come by. You are destined for great things.”

“You seem to have a lot of faith in me, eh Bittle?”

Eric pecks him on the lips before saying, “I always have, Jack.”

#omgcheckplease #omgcp #eric bitty bittle #eric bittle #jack zimmermann #zimbits #zimbits fic #hot off the press zimbits au

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overly-analogical · 6 years

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So Deceit likes Roman. Or maybe like isn’t the word? He definitely wants Roman to be happy though.

Evidence: He repeatedly tells Roman his acting is good and perfect. He encourages and supports Roman in the whole acting thing the whole time. (Even when both Virgil and Logan very clearly think Roman is doing terribly.) He’s not doing it to be mean. He may not actually mean the words he’s saying but Roman thinks he does and Roman thinks he’s Patton. If Deceits plan had worked he never would have figured out that that wasn’t Patton saying those things.

Then there’s the “Love the new outfit Roman” which is obviously sarcastic. Thing is Roman believed it. Deceit KNEW Roman would believe it. Judging by Roman’s comment of how nice he is, Deceit does this a lot and Roman falls for it every time. This boy is weak to flattery. So Deceit said this fully expecting it to make Roman feel good about himself.

This makes sense. One of Deceit’s main functions is to make sure Thomas believes things he wants to believe and doesn’t know things he doesn’t want to know. This is to protect Roman. This is so Thomas can feel good about himself. Deceit boosts Thomas’ ego (AKA Roman Sanders) and prevents reality from crushing his dreams. Roman is also helpful to Deceit because he is the part of Thomas that most wants to believe Deceit. He is fantasy and ego and hope and dreams and he wants to believe in things that aren’t true and that is where Deceit’s power comes from. Roman and Deceit help each other and so they like each other. Roman less so, but he still thinks Deceit is very kind.

Deceit likes Logan too:

Not as much as Roman but still.

Evidence: When Logan pops up into the video Deceit says “yay Logan, everyone’s favorite character” which is a lie. We all know it’s a lie because Deceit is a liar. But Deceit’s plan is for everyone to think he’s morality. So Logan would never know it was a lie. Logan appreciates the praise and thanked Patton for it. That was genuinely Deceit trying to make Logan feel good about himself even if Deceit didn’t believe his own words.

Also after they discovered he was Deceit, Deceit did not make a comment on Logan’s outfit or anything else about Logan. Logan was left alone, unlike Roman and Virgil because Logan would know it was a lie and Deceit doesn’t want to hurt his feelings.

This makes sense too. Thomas’ view on his intelligence is a part of his pride in himself as well. You insult Logan, you’re insulting Logan’s intelligence. Logan isn’t as helpful to or willing to go along with Deceit’s suggestions as Princey is, but Deceit can shut him up if he has to. Plus Logan is necessary for Deceits other function, which is lying to other people. Without Logan’s participation, Thomas’ lies cannot be believable, good lies are based in truth and they also have to make sense.

Deceit hates Virgil:

Evidence: while he’s not outright mean to Virgil while acting as Patton, he’s not nice either. He compliments Logan and Roman but never Virgil. He only speaks to Virgil to try to convince, guilt trip, or terrify Virgil into agreeing with him.

After he’s revealed to be Deceit he comes for Virgil’s eye shadow (and is promptly roasted by my son).

It’s clear this is something Virgil expects from Deceit, so it happens often. There’s probably scathing remarks passed in the halls of the mind scape every time they see each other. Just saying.

This makes sense too. If Deceit is responsible for preventing Thomas from knowing things he doesn’t want to know, negative things, and Virgil is in charge of making sure Thomas is aware of Everything That Is Or Could Go Wrong, they’re in direct opposition to each other. They have completely opposite goals. And my bet is a lot of times when Deceit would like to shut Virgil up he can’t, but that’s an iffy theory.

Deceit doesn’t like Patton either:

This is a bit iffy cause Patton wasn’t in the video a lot.

Evidence: The whole “you have no morality” thing? The “you’re a good person Thomas” “you’re so mature”? That’s Deceit coming for Patton. Not as head on as the others, but that’s cause Patton’s not there (sort of cause he’s part of Thomas and Thomas was there so he was at least a bit). If Thomas is a bad person, what does that say about Patton, who’s job it is to make sure Thomas does the right thing? That he’s not doing his job.

He doesn’t want Thomas to do the right thing or worry about right and wrong because he’s ‘wrong’ at least a lot of the time and wants Thomas to stop caring.

This is slightly off because I’m pretty sure Thomas feeling like a good person is also important to his ego but actually listening to morality messes with Deceits goals, so we’ll see when they’ve interacted more.

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sassycabs · 4 years

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Joker (2019)

Joker (2019): Straight White Male™ approaches the point (and then misses it entirely)

I’ll put a disclaimer right here that these were my thoughts right after the movie, after filtering and some research on the director. But other than that, all the “research” I did was watch Jenny Nicholson’s Youtube reaction video and that’s it. You should go watch that too.

There’s only 2 things I can say that’s good with this movie: (1) Joaquin Phoenix giving his all and (2) Kill The Rich. Let’s get it off the table, Joaquin Phoenix is bomb ass hot shit and he worked very hard in this movie and yes, if we’re jugding his method acting alone, and not the character, plot, or writing, it deserves the praise it’s getting. Now with that out of the way, wow, Joker is just plagued with droning writing, unimpressive directing, and an either missed or uncommitted political point. Oh, and so much dancing.

“Oh great, more dancing”

By the third time Arthur dances, I said out loud, “Who directed this movie? What are his other movies?” The answer is: Todd Phillips. He also co-wrote and co-produced the entire movie. Who is he? Well he directed all three Hangover movies. When was the last Friday night when you thought, “Oh, hey, I should re-watch The Hangover 2 tonight! You know, that one with the exact same plot and jokes as Hangover 1, but in a different country or something?” Other impressive movies in his IMDB resume include Starsky and Hutch and Due Date. So, from his previous work, we know his brand of movies isn’t really drama the way James Mangold could’ve been seen as candidate to direct Logan. There were so many scenes that could’ve been cut and the film would still make sense. We’re not here to watch some kind of Waiting For Godot and see the film make its point twice every time. This movie could have been 1 and a half hours long, with better writing and direction. The scenes drone on and on, either continuing after the point of the sequence is made or makes you wait for the point to be made. Just a quick but important example is the scene where Arthur practices his appearance in the (late night show), there’s probably a good minute that could have been cut and we would still understand “the plan”. Other quick mentions include the intro, Arthur’s first “beating”, the actual ending scene, and all the dancing, oh, god, all the dancing.

Now let’s get to those pointless intros and the ending that should’ve ended up as a bonus on the DVD. Why did we have to show Arthur putting on his make-up and crying? To find out that he’s not happy? That’s all the does and talks about throughout the movie, we don’t need this. Why do we need to have a close-up of Arthur telling some social worker that she doesn’t get “it” and then (presumably) kills her? To know that he’s crazy? We already know that, he just shot Murray. To try to mind blow the audience that maybe the entire movie was in Arthur’s head? Well, if that’s it, that just wasted the entire movie. There’s a lot of time wasted to re-tell points that are better established in other scenes.

Now, we have to address the dancing. Why is there so much dancing? Maybe it was for art, dramatic effect, or just a way to put markers on when Arthur is going crazy. But what would have been more dramatic, if we saw that when Arthur killed those three rich dudes, we was still shaken up. If we saw that he was scared and confused that he could do such a thing instead of outright accepting it, he could be more empathetic. The audience would think, “O, shit, he’s still human.” But from there, the story builds up with the other scenes showing Arthur’s “descent into madness.” And when he murders Frank, and the whole scene was maintained, if he was cool and nonchalant about it, then proceeds with the only dance sequence of the movie, that would have made it special. The audience would have thought, “O shit, he lost it.” All the dancing during the moments of madness take away the descent to it. As an origin story for a villain, we don’t start with a crazy person. It’s supposed to be a process, if it wasn’t, then DC and Todd Phillips should’ve just given us “A Day In The Life Of The Joker: The Movie.” Spiderman: Homecoming did a better job at introducing Vulture and it was an origin story for Spiderman. A dance, a flooding with music, and the police chasing Arthur with Arthur totally not afraid of them, that would have been chilling, inhuman, and detached.

“I'm not political, I just want to make people laugh.”

Well he got that right. For saying something as bold as “Kill The Rich,” the movie doesn’t fully commit to that statement. The Joker is just a dude who wants to toy with Batman, so yeah, he’s pretty apolitical. But there are better ways of having a non-political character with selfish interests inspire political outrages. Katniss Everdeen (yes, it’s 1:06 AM and she’s the only one I can think of right now) just didn’t want her sister to die but she ended up the face of District 13 propaganda. To say “Kill The Rich” means to, at least at some level, examine why we should and how the rich ended up where they are and Arthur and people like him ended up where they are; but Joker did none of that. For all the talk about “the system,” all we get is Thomas Wayne calling the people of Gotham “clowns” (which is furthest from the worst a politician running for any office position could do); a poor, broke, delusional Penny Fleck (and hey, if you were Thomas Wayne would you have handle that situation better?) and some throwaway lines about how “the rich are bad.” Well, hell yeah, the rich are bad, but there is an assumption that the audience knows the political nuances of class struggle so that the film doesn’t have to commit to it fully. Why are they, in this instance, in Gotham, for Arthur, bad? In most instances that Arthur was abused, it was always the people around him in the same situation. Never do we see on screen how the rich people are “bad” because the movie frames everyone except Arthur as, pretty much, bad. Arthur didn’t know who those guys in the train were, they were just some guys in suits. Additionally, his motivation of murdering them was because they were assholes to him, not because he knew that they had money and he didn’t. But then afterwards Arthur tells his fake girlfriend that he thinks the murderer is a hero, with the pre-empting thought to be “fuck those rich guys.” The whole conversation was in his head, so does he or does he not think that rich people deserve to die? Scott Silver and Todd Phillips were approaching the point, especially with the Late Night Show sequence. But it feels like there’s a disconnect between Arthur talking about how “nobody is civil anymore” because he was abused and the people just accepting that some clown who murdered three rich guys will be the face of their revolution against the rich. The connection can easily be made, you can make it in your head, but there was just a lot more dancing and laughing happening instead of showing how people the people of Gotham got to that conclusion.

This movie could have gotten two points across: “this is how the joker was made” and “this is how the jokers are made”. Because that’s the point of the Joker right? Anyone can become a Joker aka “All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That's how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day.” They ticked one off the list, but everything else was a reach to get to something political or some kind of social commentary, but just ended up with a bad taste in my mouth and I hope I’m not the only one.

#joker

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notafeeling · 7 years

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‘Accepting Anxiety, Part 1/2: Excepting Anxiety’ Video Analysis

((Video analysis/take aways from @thatsthat24 ‘s video, “Accepting Anxiety, Part ½: Excepting Anxiety”. Time has the links to that part in the video.))

- Upon Seeing: Immediately there’s so much going on. I only read the first half of the title when I first clicked on it, so I knew that A) this was going to feature Anxiety; and B) that there were two parts. I was happy with this. Until I noticed the thumbnail. “NO MORE ANXIETY” freaks me out a little, then I remember that it’s two parts and I finally read the rest of the title. I am calmed minutely.

- 0:00 Thomas opens the video by appearing disorganised, looking messy and stuttering. At first I thought that it was a joke, but then I watched the rest. He also points out his own video structure (which he does many times throughout).

- 0:21 He mentions that he isn’t ~concerned~ about consistency (which bugs me, but whatever) and it is especially apparent that something is wrong. This hints at how badly (or, more accurately, how much) he is affected by the supposedly missing Anxiety.

- 0:38 Thomas associates Logan with him making a mistake. He blatantly points it out, acting blasé.

- 0:50 Logan is clearly weirded out by this new Thomas. He’s also a little stuttering – not as much as Thomas, but he isn’t as together as usual. This could be because Logic is confused by Thomas’ nature as well as Anxiety’s absence taking its toll on him too (even if he is unaware of it happening). I don’t mean emotional-toll here, more so subtle changes in how they all act without anxiety (the emotion/disorder and character), if that makes sense.

- 1:06 Thomas quite clearly has no filter. His sentences and word choice are uncharacteristically basic. He tells Logan that he messed up but also somewhat encourages him. However, the academic side of me hates when people tell me that even though I messed up, at least I tried, or that trying is what counts. I feel like it would go for Logan as well, though I have no proof as of yet other than his pout and his dejected “thanks”. “That was bad, but like, you’re a really good tryer Logan. You’re really good.”

- 1:18 / 1:33 / 1:50 Thomas explains Logan’s job/character/purpose in a way that’s very uncommon to see when it isn’t solely meta-text. He also calls Roman and Patton what they embody, and establishes that he only did that because it was the easiest way to show newcomers what they do/are. This lack of care grates on Logan’s nerves (and mine, a person who values subtly and consistency). “… You usually provide, you know, the explanatory exposition in my videos …” / “That was just the easiest way to, you know, quickly establish what you guys represent in case there are any new viewers watching.” / “He is my logical side! He’s my logical side…”

- 1:55 “… but that is precisely why I wanted you two here” followed by Patton trying to correct Logan by saying, “You mean us three?” and then Morality being immediately shut down by Logic in a patronising tone.

- 2:03 The last point leads to this one because Patton flaunts Logan’s mistakes as a way of getting back at him. That is completely unlike him! Plus the way he says it, in a kind of muttering-to-those-nearby, snide way, you know? Patton makes a joke out of one of Logan’s mistakes, leading to Logic getting wound up. It’s important to note that Morality doesn’t apologise or even look remotely sorry. “He’s made mistakes before.” “An uncommon occurrence!” “Well then you might say the amount of mistakes you’ve made is… infinitesimal.” “YOU MAKE ONE MISTAKE AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS!”

- 2:10 Building off of that previous line and the fact that Logan makes it clear he hates having his mistakes pointed out/him being wrong and my own knowledge that often really ‘intelligent’ people stress out over little mistakes as they believe that they’re not worthy of such high praise, I think that Logan is like me again here. He won’t allow himself to make mistakes because of how the others might tease him later, etc.

- 2:26 Logan once again is visibly distressed/frustrated with Thomas. More important, Thomas makes a slightly NSFW joke. “… highly unproductive.” “You mean I can’t make babies?”

- 2:34 Logic is struggling to get his thoughts in order and stutters over his words more noticeably now. He can’t seem to get what he wants to say out in his usual rational manner, so he switches to a movie reference. The referencing is out of character for him but it could be his way of trying to communicate how he feels to the others. (For those who don’t know, the ‘flames on the side of my face’ comes from the movie Clue.)

- 2:43 It seems as if Patton is asking about Logan’s state of mind until Prince follows it up with Thomas-related stuff. Morality also addresses Thomas after this, so it can be assumed he was talking to Thomas. He could still be a little upset over being talked over again earlier and is taking it out in a petty-ish manner by ignoring him.

- 2:51 Thomas once again outright explains what Patton often does and almost goes into the NSFW side of things. “Oh yeah, you always say that instead of ‘becoming an adult’ or ‘adulthood’. As if you didn’t know the troubling definition of the word you’re using, which actually means, you know, when a-“

- 3:03 Roman cuts him off and Patton pulls an adorable, confused, scooby-doo-like face. I love Morality.

- 3:13 “Now, don’t you go shortening the word family by cutting out my three favourite letters: I, L, Y.” I love Patton.

- 3:29 He seems to be the only one who realises that Anxiety’s disappearance could be related to how Thomas is acting. This has also been mentioned many times before but Patton’s word choice is odd. It kind of insinuates that he knows more than he lets on/he’s frustrated/he’s… subtly insulting Logan and Roman again. “Boy, you both always act like you know all the answers so it’s surprising that you keep overlooking something so simple.”

- 3:37 He has to point out that Anxiety is missing and is the only one to do so. (Picture me clutching my heart here.) Then Logan briefly appears to consider this, and asks a confirmation question that doubles as a dig on Anxiety’s supposed uselessness. (Picture me and everyone else sobbing.) Roman jumps in to reassure Logan that the missing side is entirely unneeded and reiterates the fact that he doesn’t like him. (Picture me setting fire to my url.) “Where is Anxiety?” “Hm. Do you honestly think it’s necessary to have him here?” “To offer his mopey-dopey input? I- I don’t like him.”

- 4:09 Logan either misunderstands the joke or the fact that it even is a joke. “He’s definitely inviting some ants over.” “Just aunts, no uncles?”

- 4:19 Thomas takes off his hoodie and sweet love of death please take me now. (Roman clearly agrees with me that that hair is a nightmare. Still somehow cute though?? Sanders, why are you like this?)

- 4:44 Roman finally wants Anxiety there but mostly because the hair thing disgusts him. Mentioned in a previous analysis of mine and others, Roman is the one who hates mess the most.

- 4:56-5:23 They all try to summon Anxiety. Logan takes a neutral approach, Roman gets offended when he doesn’t bow down to his will and most importantly (because I love Patton, if I haven’t made it clear enough yet) Morality tells them to be nicer and compliments Anxiety as his way of trying to coax him out. And unlike someone, these compliments are genuine. Patton loves everyone and that just mended my heart a little. Then he says “Well, love has failed me,” and I can feel it break a little more. Thomas says what he thinks again and almost reveals personal information.

- 5:28 The others realise that the lack of Anxiety is causing this conundrum. Finally.

- 5:40 Roman brushes off their concern by saying the lack of fear (and therefore lack of Anxiety) is a good thing. (Picture me immediately starting to write a fluffy Anx-centred fic because how dare.) “Shouldn’t a lack of fear be a good thing?”

- 5:44-6:19 Patton is shocked by this. (Good.) He’s the first to jump to Anxiety’s defence and includes him. I just… really love Patton. Roman shoves that aside and lists reasons why Anxiety is unnecessary and should be excluded. The next line is interesting because he mentions them getting along without him originally, and that is true. In the first few videos, Logan was excited to see Roman but now they fight/insult each other constantly. Same goes for the Logan and Patton, though it’s mostly Logan doing the insulting this time. There could be underlying jealousy, especially since now Patton and Anxiety seem closer and Logan and Anxiety formed somewhat of an alliance in My Negative Thinking. Logan defends Anxiety now too in his roundabout way, but Prince still denies this. “Even still, I just don’t see why he’s necessary! If Anxiety is gone, what do we have to lose?”

- 6:28 Thomas is without his natural reflexes and throws caution to the wind.

- 6:36-6:59 Logan tests Thomas slightly then lists the negative side effects of having absolutely no anxiety. He meets Roman’s protests with logic and good rebuttal arguments. It seems he’s officially on the “Anxiety is important after all” side… Two-thirds of the way in.

- 7:18 Roman gets called out by Thomas. Cue flashbacks of some of the times when Prince mentions not liking Anxiety. (Good.) “Princey’s never liked Anxiety, that’s his problem!”

- 7:36 Logan talks about how he and Patton have reconciled slightly with Anxiety in the past, but Roman refuses to. Roman says that it’s because Anxiety has always held him back, and from the Am I Original video we know that he hates that.

- 7:51 Thomas takes his pants off with no concern. Logan now is determined to find Anxiety.

- 7:58 Patton uses his ‘dad voice’ and demands that Thomas puts them on. He actually listens. The one other time we hear Morality’s authoritative tone (that I can remember) is in the Valentine’s video, directed at Prince. He might’ve also used it in Way Too Adult. “You put them back. Right now.”

- 8:03 The separate room theory is confirmed!

- 8:31 Roman is reluctant to go and hasn’t been there before. “So we’re all going to Anxiety’s room? Who knows what that tragic kingdom looks like.”

- 8:35 Patton reveals that to get to another’s room, they need to be transported by Thomas. This could be for whenever or the specific cases when they’re uninvited to the room in particular, or as I thought, when multiple sides are going all at once from reality.

- 9:07 They pop in Anxiety’s room. You can immediately see that it’s a lot darker. There have been many posts about this already, so I’ll only mention the obvious stuff. There’s a clock spinning out of control, which could represent the anxiety over running out of control, and there’s cobwebs on the couch. It seems like he doesn’t use the couch that often then. Oh, and there’s a red glow in the background. The room is rearranged differently, with many different props and details added around.

- 9:11 You can hear Logan’s voice but you don’t see him at all. Is he unable to have a physical manifestation in Anxiety’s room? Personally, I think that Thomas just didn’t have the rest of the new background set up because it’s unlikely that we’ll go the whole next part without seeing them.

- 9:18 TO BE CONTINUED?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! YOU DIDN’T EVEN DO THE OUTRO AND JUST… WHY?! WHY?!

- 9:20-9:38 The sides comment on the cliffhanger and reveal that the next part should be within a couple of days. This is followed by a dig on Thomas’ uploading habits, which made me laugh.

Things I want to see from the next video include moxiety, a proper explanation behind Roman’s dislike of Anxiety, Roman apologising to Anxiety, Roman making it up to Anxiety, Roman being nice to Anxiety, Roman making sure his insults don’t hurt Anxiety, Roman just not being an insensitive idiot towards Anxiety, uh, I’m excited to see the rest of the room. And for Anxiety’s name.

If there are any points you would like to discuss with me or for me to explain myself further, just send an ask!

Last Analysis: “Becoming a Cartoon”

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #accepting anxiety part one #video analysis #mine #virgil sanders #logan sanders #thomas #prince #patton sanders #my posts

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