#black mass premiere
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(9/16) prompt: vision — 1,052 words (fame au pt.3; famous boyfriends pre-their first premiere together - pt.1, pt.2, pt.4, pt.5) @jegulus-microfic
Regulus is sure that Dorcas is pacing impatiently down in his building’s lobby while he finishes examining his reflection. She’s an ‘on time is late and early is on time’ sort of manager and Regulus tests that consistently. Especially since he and James started seeing each other, even more since they’ve gone public.
It’s their first premiere together, two months of their relationship being officially confirmed for the masses under their belt. Even Regulus is sometimes stunted by it still —the outpour of both shock and support that’s come from finally confirming that James is his boyfriend. The Marauders’ tour has been over for months, Regulus wrapped filming his latest project about a week and a half ago. Now, outside of their private time for just the two of them, it’s all various Hollywood events he’s invited to. Except it’s different now, because he gets to have James at his side walking carpets and taking photos.
He adjusts the collar of the white suit jacket his stylist picked out for him. They’ve forgone a shirt underneath and the jacket dips low down his bare chest when it’s left partially open. It leaves the diamond encrusted choker of pieces made to look like bones wrapped around his throat all the more apparent. The styling team had left a little while ago, giving him and James a brief bit of privacy before needing to leave.
Of course, most of that time thus far has been spent looking in a mirror, making sure he likes how he looks. He’s allowed to be a little vain, it’s practically in his job description. Regulus fluffs up the front of messily styled black curls before finally exiting the penthouse bathroom into the adjoined bedroom.
“Ready?” He asks.
James sits waiting for him at the foot of the bed in an all black crushed velvet suit; a picturesque opposite to the all white of Regulus’ ensemble. There’s a deep burgundy tie undone around his neck, left that way on purpose. A new pair of glasses were offered to him for the night, the squared-off frames the same shade of his silk tie, and they bring out the swirl of warm colors in James’ hazel eyes when he looks up from his phone.
Immediately upon his gaze landing on Regulus, James groans dramatically, like he’s in physical pain. He pinches his eyes shut tightly beneath the furrow of his brow, head slumping backward heavily on his neck.
“God, we have to break up right now. I can’t deal with you looking like this anymore.”
Regulus snorts, a smirk twitching at his lips. “Feels a bit dramatic.”
“I’ll write a song about the split and everything. It’ll be so clever, everyone will know it’s about you without trying. I’ll call it ‘Heartache On the Big Screen.’” James sweeps his hand in the air in example before he looks at him with a faint grin, brows lifted. “Are you seeing the vision? Because I’m seeing the vision.”
“Mm, little cheesy, if you ask me,” Regulus hums, moving nearer to stand in front of him. James’ knees part automatically to make room for him there, hands settling at Regulus’ hips when Regulus tucks a hand beneath his chin to tilt his head backwards. “You’re already thinking up lyrics, aren’t you?”
“Oh, absolutely.” James nods, tilts his head down to kiss at the back of Regulus’ hand in response to the soft laugh he lets out. “How do you feel about ‘a tragic story, starring you and me’ for part of the chorus?”
“I hate you,” Regulus laughs further.
“Just adding to my heartbreak, love, you’re really doing me a favor here.”
“You make it so hard to date you.” It’s the world’s biggest fucking lie and Regulus knows it.
James’ eyes flash triumphantly like he knows it, too. “‘Started out like in the movies, but it ended like a bad dream.’ Sounds good, doesn’t it?”
“You’re so annoying.”
“Mhm, keep it coming.”
Rolling his eyes fondly, Regulus dips down to press a lingering kiss to his lips. James hums contently into it and Regulus can feel his unrelenting smile right against his own mouth. Both of James’ hands glide up beneath the back of his suit jacket, settling on the warm skin at his lower back.
It’s enough for Regulus to inch back, their lips still brushing as he murmurs, “Don’t fuck up this outfit, baby.”
“I’ll save that for later.” James winks at him.
With a huff of a laugh, Regulus pushes against his shoulders to put a little distance between them. He takes a small step back but holds out one hand expectantly for his boyfriend.
“Car’s waiting downstairs, Dorcas said. We should get to the photo op’s before you make up anymore fake songs.”
“Fake songs,” James scoffs playfully, taking his hand and standing up. “I’m writing it, it’s so real.”
“No, it’s not.”
“Just you wait, Reg. It’s going to be a fan favorite.”
“You’re lucky I like you so much.”
James chuckles behind him as they get to the front door, crowds into Regulus’ back as he presses the needed buttons for the security system. James loops his arms around his waist from behind and hugs around him. A couple kisses at the side of his neck. Another hum right beside his ear that Regulus can hear the smile present in.
Regulus resists the instinctive urge to tilt back into him, open himself up fully to the physical attention. He can’t afford to go into this premiere looking rumpled or someone (Dorcas) really might kill him.
“I am lucky, you know,” James says softly; so sweet, so full of an adoration that nine months ago might have had Regulus bolting away in seconds.
Instead, now, Regulus turns his head to look at James sideways, affection bright in his own shining eyes. He kisses once at the line of James’ jaw, a second time at his cheek, a third at the corner of his mouth. It’s soft and it’s tender —an isolated moment of knowing that this is real and they’re finally letting themselves have it, have each other.
Then, Regulus jokingly ruins it when he says, “Yeah, you really are.”
James only laughs loudly as he’s tugged by the hand out of the apartment and toward the elevator.
#jegulus#jegulus microfic#movie star reg and musician jamie my beloveds#s/o to 5 seconds of summer for the song james is talking about writing lmao#and s/o to mil for pointing out to me that fame au james would write it#also timmy’s bones and all look at london film festival#okay rambled in the tags bye#kay’s microfics#kay’s writing
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One of Your Kind (Ch. 10)
Ch. 1 | Ch. 2 | Ch. 3 | Ch. 4 | Ch. 5 | Ch. 6 | Ch. 7 | Ch. 8 | Ch. 9 | Ch. 10
Word count: 4.4K
Warnings: blood, serious injuries
Pairing: Jenna Ortega X Fem!Reader
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“Jen, there was a terrible huge car accident, a few victims, some are in really bad condition. I need to get to the hospital and help in the ER. I’ll see you at home.” These were the words her mother told her before Jenna was left alone at the premiere, with her friends and crew, who will take her home later that night.
disbelief and fear filled your mind as you laid on your back, sandwiched between the cold, soft dirt and the hot, slick metal of the car. The weight of the car pressed down on your full body with monster force. It did not hurt, your body was numb. All you could feel was the car hood's mass stamping your body further and further into the ground. Your lungs felt pinched shut and air would neither enter nor escape them. Your mind was buzzing. What had just happened? In the distance, on that cursed road, you saw cars driving by completely unaware of what happened, how you felt. You tried to yell but your voice was unheard. All you could do was wait. Wait for someone to help you or wait to die.
Meanwhile, Natalie had been called on the scene instead of the ER, she didn’t know why but when nurses and doctors were called on the scene it meant that it was really, really bad. And it definitely was. A truck had ran a red light, just out of town, pushing another car down the hill. The car rolled and rolled, until it came to a stop when it hit a tree. Another car was involved too, smashing against a wall, everyone inside of it was dead. As soon as. Natalie arrived and saw the scene, she wished she never did see that. The people in the car smashed against the wall were reduced to blood and crashed bones, she never saw something so bad. Then she walked over to the firemen, who were going down the hill with a rope to the car that had rolled down. “What do we have here?” Natalie asked. “Female, 20 to 25 years old. She’s unconscious and unresponsive, her body’s stuck between pieces of the car and we can’t get her out. The driver’s dead, but we have hope for the girl. We’ll tie a rope around you and help you down so you can take her vitals”
Natalie nodded and looked down at the car for the first time. It was a black, car with dark tinted windows… she knew that kind of car. It was one of those cars for famous people, and tonight the only car like that that left the awards sooner was your car. Natalie started going down the hill thinking, ‘please let it not be her, please’ she silently prayed, she hated the thought of you being in this conditions. As soon as she took a look in the car she saw that it was you. Covered in blood and bruises, but it was you. Her heartbeat faltered for a moment at the thought of you getting seriously hurt or even dying. However she couldn’t reach you from outside the car, so she had to slide inside through the car window. “(Y/N)? Honey can you hear me?” Natalie said, reaching her hand onto your neck looking for a pulse. You were bleeding from your head continuously, your whole face covered in it. “I’ve got a pulse! Let’s get her out of this car!” Natalie yelled, trying to get the firemen’s attentions.
“(Y/N) I need you to answer to me sweetheart” Natalie tried, managing to move a hand to your face as she opened your eye, moving a flashlight in front of your eyes. “Her Pupils are dilated, you need to move now!” Natalie insisted, watching as you slowly became paler. “You can’t leave us honey. We need you, you have a bright future ahead of you” she basically begged, talking to you, still unconscious and bleeding. She tried to get a look at your lower body, but it was basically crushed from the chest down and she couldn’t see it. She just has to wait till they get you out, which was a couple hours later. She kept checking on your pulse which was getting fainter with each minute that passed but soon enough you were out of the car and laying on a stretcher. You had a broken vertebra, a few broken ribs and your pelvis was almost completely shattered. When your heartbeat had been stabilized you were immediately being rushed to the hospital, Natalie in the ambulance with you as she decided it was finally time to text her daughter a ‘honey, please get to the hospital. It’s urgent’
It wasn’t long before the brunette was driving from the awards to the hospital, where she paced nervously around the waiting room. It was almost three in the morning so the room was empty. “Darling?” Her mother finally called and Jenna walked over, holding her dress up as not to trip. “Mom what’s wrong? Is everyone okay? Is everyone safe Home?” Jenna asked precipitously, her mother placing her hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “Yes darling, everyone’s safe at home. They’re all probably sleeping right now” Natalie replied with a small sad smile “then why did I have to come here urgently?” Natalie sighed and looked down. “I can’t put it into words, You have to see it yourself…” she replied and Jenna gulped, she felt her heart speed up “you’re making me worried” Jenna said and followed her mother into the corridor of the ICU, it was extremely quiet, the only noise being the beeping monitors and the breathing machines, and the occasional chatters of the doctors.
Eventually they reached a room, the window was covered by the drapes to have some privacy, and some slow beeping could be heard coming from inside. “Wait, before we get inside” Natalie said, stopping Jenna before she could open the door. “You’re not going to like what you’ll see… she’s stable for now, but until she wakes up we won’t know if she has brain damage-“ Natalie was about to continue, but Jenna interrupted her. “Who’s she?” Jenna asked, visibly confused. Natalie sighed and opened the door to your room. You laid there unconscious, a neck collar around you and multiple machines attached to you. You had multiple cuts on your face, multiple bandages on your body from the surgeries you had to endure. Jenna was at loss for words, she had seen multiple scenarios like this one, but seeing you in these conditions was doing her no good. “W-what happened?” She said walking in the room, next to your bed as she took a look at you. The distressed look on your face was something that will definitely haunt her dreams, she just wished it was a horrible nightmare and that she’d wake up and you’d be fine.
“Remember when I told you that I got called in for a car crash? I went to the scene, she’s the only survivor. She was stuck under the car, her head was bleeding, she has a broken vertebra, a few broken ribs… her pelvis was almost completely shattered. The surgeons don’t know if she’ll ever be able to walk again…” Jenna shook her head, tears began flooding her eyes “no that can’t be true, there has to be some sort of m-mistake” she said, trying not to give in to the tears. She leaned over to you, moving some hair out of your face as she gently caressed your cheeks. She was barely touching you, afraid she’ll hurt you. “(Y/N) you ha-have to wake up” she said and looked at you, she just wanted to see her reflection in your eyes “wake up!” She insisted and gave in to the tears, trying to get to to wake up. Natalie was about to cry too, but she went to hug her daughter to give her the comfort she needed “I c-can’t lose her m-mom” she sobbed out, hiding her face in her mother’s chest. “I know baby I know” she said, hugging her sobbing daughter.
She had seen her distressed before, but never like this, which confirmed her that even after pushing you away, Jenna still cared deeply about you, she still loved you. “I promise you we’ll do whatever we can to make sure she’ll recover perfectly.” Jenna nodded quickly, still hiding her face in her mom’s chest. “It’ll be a long way before she fully recovers and she’ll need us. She’ll need you and even if she’ll try pushing you away you have to stay for her” Jenna nodded again and soon enough she was back to looking at you, sitting down on the chair next to your bed. She was still in her dress from the award, but she didn’t want to leave knowing you were in so much pain. Jenna didn’t plan on leaving and as a matter of fact she stayed there at the hospital the whole night, just watching over you and waiting for you to be alright.
The next morning you seemed to have stabilized a bit, your heartbeat was steady and even if you were attached to a monitor, Jenna kept checking on your pulse the whole night, she didn’t even sleep. when her mother came to check in on you she brought Jenna some food which she gladly took, without taking her eyes off of you. “We have to do something you might not like” Natalie started, making Jenna look up at her. “We need to lower her morphine down until she wakes up. She’ll be in a lot of pain, but we need to check if there’s any brain damage… is this okay with you?” Natalie asked, which made Jenna look at her in confusion. “I thought you knew. (Y/N) has you as her emergency contact and you’re listed to be the one to take decisions for her in case she can’t… like now” Jenna sighed, she felt this huge responsibility on her right now, but she couldn’t stand down. She needed you to be alright. “Will it help you and the doctors get her better?” She asked and Natalie nodded. Then Jenna gave consent and doctors started lowering your morphine.
Jenna was watching you intently, waiting for any reaction from you. Natalie was standing next to you, with her flashlight ready to examine you the moment you woke up. When you did you immediately felt incredible pain on your whole body, your eyes shot open and you felt like you couldn’t breathe if it wasn’t for the tube in your mouth, that was so bothering and hurting you so much. “(Y/N), honey you need to calm down” her voice was like an echo, you felt dizzy and disoriented, your eyes were looking around frenetically in search for someone that you recognized, until you saw Natalie and you started taking deep breaths. “Do you know where you are?” You nodded slightly at her question, tears leaving your eyes from the immense pain. “Do you know who I am?” You nodded again. She then proceeded to have you follow her finger and look at the light. She sighed of relief when she saw you were alright and you didn’t have any brain damages “I’m gonna put you back to sleep right now-“ she said but you interrupted her, grasping her shirt, looking at her with fear. You were scared and you didn’t want to be alone.
You were completely unaware of the fact that Jenna was there too, as she had left the room the moment she heard you whimper in pain. It was too bad of a sight for her. Natalie took ahold of your hand and squeezed it reassuringly “you’ll be okay sweetheart. I’m here, you’re not alone okay?” You slightly nodded, still whimpering from the pain. You wanted to ask if Jenna was there, but you couldn’t ask that with only your eyes available. “I’m going to set the morphine level high again okay?” She got up and moved to where the morphine was, but you stopped her with a louder whimper and only looked at her, hoping she’d understand what you wanted only looking at you in the eyes. You looked at the door, hoping she’d understand. Fortunately for you she did. “Jenna’s here. Don’t worry darling she’s here and she won’t leave your side.” You nodded again and finally she raised the morphine level until you were asleep again.
Natalie left the room and saw her daughter sitting down on the floor against the wall. When she saw her mother she stood up. “Are you finished? Is she alright?” Jenna asked, wiping her tears. “No brain damage fortunately. We’re going to wait a couple days for her conditions to improve and then we’ll take her off the morphine” Jenna nodded and sighed of relief “mom?” Jenna asked when she saw her mother starting to leave “is any of this my fault? Is it my fault that she’s…-“ she was about to start crying again, luckily her mother noticed and hugged her tightly. “No baby it is not your fault. I promise you” she said and kissed her daughter’s forehead, trying to reassure her. “If I never hurt her, she wouldn’t have been so traumatized whenever she saw me, she wouldn’t have left the premiere early because of me, she wouldn’t be in that fucking bed” she pointed out and sobbed, once again sniffling in her mother’s chest.
“I know you and her have been talking before the awards. I knew she had been at our place because I could smell her scent in the living room, I knew that I had hurt her yet I never apologized. I never tried winning her beck, I just let her suffer. I knew she was suffering and I did nothing about it. I knew she was depressed because of me and I did nothing about it. Now she’s in that bed and partly it’s because of me and it hurts so bad mom, it hurts so bad” Natalie only tightened the hug and kissed her daughter’s head “the least you can do now is be by her side until she recovers. She needs us and she needs you particularly so don’t let go of her”
‘Famous actress (Y/N)(L/N) was involved in a terrible car crash. She was the only survivor but we don’t know anything about her conditions yet.’ This how the most recent article begun, you were all over the news. It was almost everyday that paparazzi wanted to get into the hospital to snap a picture of you, but Natalie always told them off and made sure you were left alone, or alone with Jenna, even if you weren’t awake yet. Fortunately, you did wake up after a week, your body was still weak, but you had recovered some energies and could breathe on your own. When you woke up there was no one in your room. The tube in your Mouth almost suffocating you as you coughed. You pressed the medical assistance button on the side of your bed and within seconds Natalie was there and took your tubes out, allowing you to breathe on your own. She passed you some water and you drank a little because your throat was dry, and then Natalie sat down on your bed and caressed your cheeks.
“You gave us a big scare honey” she started, sighing of relief as you leaned in to the familiar touch. “I’m sorry” you said, voice hoarse and you looked at her. “W-what happened to me? I mean- what did I break?” You asked, you didn’t want to talk about the accident. You just wanted to know what bones you have broken. “You have a broken vertebra and a few broken ribs… those healed already but you still need to wear a collar” you nodded at her words and then watched her take a deep breath. “Honey, your lower half was completely under the car. Your pelvis was almost completely shattered. The surgeons fixed it but your nerves and tendons were severely damaged. There’s a high chance you might never… you might never walk again” you felt your heart skip a beat at that. You wanted to cry, you wanted to scream but you knew you had to stay calm. “But there’s- there must be some kind of therapy right??” The feeling of not being able to walk again Made you sick to your stomach, if you never recovered your career would be over.
“Yes there are some therapies. We will definitely put you on the list but if your nerves are completely damaged it’ll be useless, you get that right?” You were about to reply, but the door opened that same moment. “Mom is she alright? I was told someone requested medical assistance here…” she was to continue, but then saw you were awake. Jenna thought about this moment for the past week, but now that you were awake she didn’t know how to act, what to tell you. “I’ll leave you girls alone” Natalie said and stood up, leaving the room as you were left alone with Jenna. Both of you didn’t know what to say, an uncomfortable silence filled the room. “(Y/N) I’m sorry-“ you were quickly to interrupt her. “Don’t…” you looked at her briefly, before looking away. “Just… hug me?” You pleaded, she wasn’t expecting this. “Are you sure?” She asked and looked at you, with tears in her eyes. “Yes, please just give me a hug” Jenna didn’t want to be told twice, so she leaned in and wrapped her arms around your torso, careful not to hurt you but you were the one to tighten the hug, sobbing into her shoulder. You had been wanting her hug for a lot now, and you couldn’t help but break down when you were finally in her arms again.
A couple tears left Jenna’s eyes as well, she rubbed your back and tried to comfort you while apologizing multiple times. There wasn’t an excuse for how she treated you, but she knew she wanted to make it up to you. “I was so s-scared” you sobbed out, in this moment you didn’t care if she hurt you a lot, you needed her, you needed her presence, you needed her comfort and luckily she was there to give it to you. “You’re okay now… you’ll be okay” she said and only hugged you tighter. “Please don’t leave again” you begged and gripped her shirt, keeping her close to you “I don’t want to be alone” you said and sniffled, then you felt Jenna caress the back of your head. “I won’t leave you again… I promise” she whispered and kissed your cheek before pulling back from the hug and sitting down on the bed’s edge, looking at you with a small smile “It’s good seeing you awake… we were really worried for you” she said and looked at you with a small, sad smile.
“(Y/N), I’m really sorry for how I treated you-“ you sighed and shook your head “Jen I don’t want to hear it-“ she interrupted you “no, I need to say this, please” you were hesitant, but you ended up nodding at her words and listening to her “I never meant a word of what I said. I become irrational and I don’t think before speaking, but really I never meant any of that” she said, talking about the day you broke up because she told you she didn’t need you anymore. “Why did you never apologize then?” You asked her and saw how she went silent. “If you never meant that, why did you never apologize to me?” She looked down “I didn’t feel worthy of that. I felt like you deserved someone better then me” you shook your head, at least she was being honest with you. “Jen… no one will ever be as good as you. You’re what’s best for me…” you said. “But…” she continued “but you betrayed my trust. You didn’t support me, you never asked me how I was doing. Not once did you let me talk about myself, I felt shut out. I wasn’t able to talk about what made me happy because you didn’t want to hear it, you were always focused on work and you made me feel like my presence was useless. And when you told me that you were happy without me, I felt my heart break. You confirmed my thoughts, that my presence was useless”
“I’m so sorry for making you feel that way, please, please forgive me” Jenna begged, taking a hold of your hand and squeezing it “I want you in my life, that’s for sure” you said and looked at her. “But it’ll take me a lot if time to trust you again, and I don’t know if we will ever be a couple again” you said and she nodded “let’s just give it time” you said, trying to reassure her as you pulled her in for another hug. You were too good of a person to push her away completely, but for Jenna this was good too. She’d do anything to be with you in any kind of way. Weeks passed, you were still at the hospital and Jenna was coming to visit you every day. She had deleted all of her meetings that needed her outside of town, because she needed to be close to you. She even postponed filming up until she knew you would be out of the hospital.
Eventually it was time for you to try and walk. You were scared, really scared, because if you couldn’t walk, then yes, your career as an actress will definitely be over. Doctors helped put you on a wheelchair and took you to the hospital’s small gym, Jenna and Natalie were there too as you were really anxious and needed calming down. The doctors helped you stand up, one of the doctors standing in front of you to hold you in case you ever fell as you held yourself up on the bars, too scared to even take one step. your legs were shaking and you were in so much pain, but you didn’t know if it was psychological. “I c- I can’t” you shook your head, tears in your eyes as you sat back down on the wheelchair, to scared to walk. “Yes you can” Jenna started, making her way over to you as she cupped your face. “You’re doing great (Y/N)” she said and caressed your cheeks with her thumbs “you managed to stand up and that alone is great. If you manage to take a few steps then you won’t have to walk anymore today. Just… do it for yourself, for your career and for the people that love you”
You were still scared as hell, but you knew you couldn’t give up. “I’ll hold your hand if you want me to” Jenna said and you nodded, standing up slowly you took her hand in your own, squeezing it tightly as you took a few steps. Your pelvis and legs hurt a lot, you took about 10 steps before you couldn’t handle the pain anymore and asked to be brought to your room. You saw doctors talk about your conditions and suggest treatments and surgeries to make you feel less pain, you’ll eventually have to choose within them. Days passed and as you kept on trying to walk and constantly failing, you told Jenna that she didn’t have to come watch you trying to walk, as she didn’t deserve to see you in pain. Truth is, you wanted to surprise her eventually. You were close with her again, sure you weren’t a couple but you acted the same you used to before you got together the first time. Today you were sitting up on your hospital bed, scrolling on instagram when Jenna arrived “hey! How are you today?” She asked you and sat down on your bed. You put your phone away and looked at her.
“I’m a bit better. Still can’t really walk but, you know” you shrugged, lying. She didn’t know that you were actually getting better and you could almost walk on your own, you were just waiting for the perfect time to surprise her. “I have the Scream VI premiere in new york next week, I wanted you to come with me but if you can’t walk, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable” here it is, this is the perfect occasion. You’d buy tickets for new york and surprise her at the premiere “I’ll be watching from here” you said and smiled at her, but mostly at yourself for the idea you just had. Of course you told everything to Natalie as well, and she talked with the doctors who allowed you to leave the hospital to go attend the premiere. It would be your first time in public after the accident and you were really nervous only at the idea of having to take a car to get to the airport.
You nearly had a panic attack when in the car, but you calmed down once you reached the airport. Luckily there weren’t any paparazzi so you were pretty sure that no one would spoil Jenna the surprise and it was great. Once in new york you had your stylists and make up artists helped you choose a look for the night that was to come and you went for something simple, as you had to use crutches while walking you couldn’t wear something that could make you trip and fall, so you wore a short dress with a jacket, and headed to the premiere, once again panicking when in the car. When your car pulled up, basically everyone was confused, all the actors had arrived so no one knew who had just arrived. That was until you got out of the car. Jenna was busy in an interview so she didn’t see you but the other actors did. You already knew them and they were glad to see you were doing great after the accident, and paparazzi were snapping pictures of you as you explained the actors what you were doing there.
When Jenna was finished with the interviews and she went to the other actors she saw you, standing there. “(Y/N)? Oh my god you’re walking!?” She walked over and hugged you tightly. “You lied to me!” She giggled and gently nudged your side “I wanted to surprise you. I still have to use the crutches but I can walk on my own” you said and she only tightened the hug. You moved your weigh on one leg and hugged her back. “You’re such an idiot” she said and pulled back, taking a hold of your hand
“yeah but I’m your favorite idiot”
A/N: wrote this chapter while sick with a temperature over 100 so this is not the best but I hope you still like it!
Tags: @idkjustliving2 @tundra1029 @engenelxver @rainbow-love4ever @gimaximoff @wol-fica @lum13 @eviekensington @i984 @otherstainedrose @rockwyn @thekid4466 @myfturn
#jenna#ortega#jenna ortega#jenna ortega x r#jenna ortega x y/n#jenna ortega x you#jenna ortega x reader#jenna ortega x fem!reader#wednesday#wednesday x y/n#wednesday x you#wednesday x reader#wednesday adams#wednesday adams x reader#wednesday addams#wednesday addams x y/n#wednesday addams x you#wednesday addams x reader
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Haunted House - Narinder PMV
youtube
↓Process below!!↓
So this project was inspired by a warrior cats YCH animation to the same song I saw on twitter while having a panic attack, A BIT WILD of an inspiration but like- the song resonates with me, and calmed me down. I ALSO LOVE CENTAUR WORLD.
Listening to the voice and lyrics I was like oh Nari NEEDS to sing this. I knew I wasn't cut out for fully animating just yet so I decided to storyboard a PMV.
Then I created color-guides so I had something to color-pick, and reference for outfits:
I quickly designed Narinder's bishop outfit based off of one of his follower outfits. He's unaffected by the chains in this design, so he has no scars, his arms are not rotting, his black skin isn't fading, and his eyes aren't worn with tiredness. I then edited the colors a bit to match the tone (with a filter, lazy I know but idk color theory)
I took each frame from the PMV and started a re-enforced sketch.
After making this I was unsure if I wanted to go line-less, colored sketch, or fully lined art.
I ended up really liking the line-less art I did for the color guides (which was made with the selection tool) and started coloring underneath all my sketches.
Here I made the quick decision to merge the sketch layer ontop of his rotted arms, so they would have more depth. Especially since each arm is colliding with the other, I wanted the limbs to stand out as their own individual 3D objects and not become a giant black mass.
Then i added some atmospheric gradients after coloring.
You see, gradients don't render very well on videos. It wasn't too bad in one of my test renders, but I wasn't going to risk extra youtube compression or anything else ruining the art quality. That's why you see all the texture in the final. It's just me lightly running along the drawings with textured smudge brushes and a little bit of spray brush.
The backgrounds ALL had this texture with Overlay layer setting on it to tie things together. (I made this texture with the same brushes I blend with)
I made the sparks move by layering transparent pngs together, [sparks > narinder > more sparks behind him > bakcground] and made like, 2 keyframes on the sparks in order to make them slide around. (To those who don't know adobe premiere: WHAT I DID LOT EASIER THAN U THINK, LIKE VERY EASY LOL)
And lastly, for those who want to make projects like these, I recommend you make a folder for it. I just hate doing it for some reason and then my desktop screen looks like this xD
#cult of the lamb#cotl#cult of the lamb pmv#cult of the lamb video#cotl animation#cotl pmv#cotl narinder#cotl the one who waits#cotl au#narinder#the one who waits#toww#cotl toww#cotl bishops#cotl heket#cotl leshy#cotl kallamar#cotl shamura#cult of the lamb youtube
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Gaslight, Chapter 25/48
Rated X | Read it here on AO3
Just outside Washington, D.C.
It’s quiet other than the hush of the waves. No shrieking gulls, no laughing children, no tinny boom boxes polluting the scenery with pop music. The beach at night has always felt special to her, like walking through an empty movie set.
She’s not alone. He’s right beside her on the sand, his long legs stretched out and his bare toes glowing under the moonlight. His suit jacket is draped over her legs, his arm wrapped around her shoulders to keep her warm. Her little black cocktail dress was fitting for a movie premier, but the tailored jacket she paired it with provides little protection against the gusting winds pushing in from the ocean. Every time she shivers he tugs her a little bit closer, so she shivers again on purpose just for an excuse to lean heavily into the warm, solid mass of his torso.
He sighs. A heavy, dramatic sigh that could mean a lot of things, but she’s hoping it’s contentment. Because that’s how she feels, being here with him like this. Thousands of miles from everything that keeps them apart, from all the reasons it will never work.
“Hm?” she asks him with a nudge.
She sees him shake his head in her periphery, and she tilts her face up to look at him. His eyes are on the ocean, on the black, endless horizon. When he turns his face toward hers, the tip of his nose brushes the tip of hers and he smiles, then does it again. It’s so close, so intimate, that it makes her heart ache and her eyes water.
“I wish….” he starts, but stops himself. He doesn’t need to say it; she knows.
“I do too,” she says softly.
“Do you think…are LA rules the same as Vegas rules?” he asks, his tone a touch lighter.
“As in what happens here…”
“Stays here,” he finishes.
“Sure. Maybe. I guess that can be true of anywhere, if you decide that it is,” she posits, her belly twisting into knots.
“Vegas rules?” he asks, the most loaded proposition in so few words.
She nods, and he kisses her, and she no longer cares about the cold.
-
She allows herself to cry in the shower. Under the needle-sharp spray of the water, turned up as hot as it will go, she cries for the lives she’s lost, both those that belonged to her and those that she was forced into. She cries because she has no one to call, because she wonders if Cal got any sleep and if he’s managing the kids okay. She cries because she doesn’t know what to do next, or how to reach Mulder, or whether he is the same person she remembers him to be. When she’s done crying, when she feels wrung out and devoid of any emotion at all, she dresses and packs her things, checks out of the motel, and climbs back into Tiffany’s car.
She heads toward the Capitol campus, passing by landmarks that are familiar to any American, even those who have never visited. The early summer weather is still comfortably warm, and throngs of tourists clog every sidewalk around the White House, Lincoln Memorial, and Reflecting Pool. On Pennsylvania Avenue, she pulls onto a side street and watches the entrance to the Hoover building as suited federal employees filter in and out. Going inside feels far too risky, and likely with very little to gain, but the longer she watches the door, the tighter the pit in her chest becomes.
“That’s pretty good, Scully.”
“Better than you expected, or better than you hoped?”
“Well…I’ll let you know once we get past the easy part.”
She rubs the side of her head above her ear in an effort to relieve the dull throb that seems to have taken up residence there. When she starts to become nervous that someone might notice how long she’s been watching the building, she pulls away.
She drives aimlessly up and down streets both residential and industrial, occasionally feeling a flash of recognition when she sees the name of a business or a landmark. She feels such a flash outside a sandwich shop called Tito’s, and has the realization that she hasn’t eaten anything since sometime the day before. She parks in the lot of the strip mall and enters the shop, and a small bell above the door signals her arrival to a young man who emerges from behind a curtain.
“Welcome to Tito’s, what can I get for you?” he asks blandly, and she quickly peruses the menu before making a selection and paying with cash.
As the young man assembles her sandwich, she looks around the rest of the small shop. It’s somewhat of a hole in the wall, though very clean and well kept, and every sign is branded with Pepsi advertisements. There are a few other customers sitting around the dozen or so tables making conversation over their meals, including a young couple that are seated on the same side of the table whispering in one another’s ears.
“Fuck!” someone yells, and Dana whips her head around to see a man standing beside a table covered with soda, his lap bearing a large wet spot.
“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry,” his companion is saying as they dash over to the condiment area and grab a pile of napkins.
“Turkey and swiss for Dana,” the young man who took her order calls out, and she takes the paper sack from his outstretched hand.
Her head throbs and she rushes back out to the car, memories flooding her mind like a cresting river.
“You gonna eat that?”
“Yes, I am. In about three hours, most likely.”
He gives her a little impish grin and leans forward, placing his index and middle fingers on the table top and walking them slowly towards the remains of her lunch.
“Mulder, no,” she says in a playfully stern voice.
“Come on, you know you’re going to leave it in the fridge until the janitor tosses it,” he argues, now inches from her food.
She slaps his hand and he startles, knocking her water over as he snatches his arm back. It runs over the edge of the table and she gasps as the icy beverage soaks the entirety of her lap.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Mulder says urgently, moving to sit beside her and blotting at the tops of her thighs with two useless napkins. “Sorry, Scully,” he adds with a cringe.
“It’s okay; it was an accident,” she says with a resigned sigh. “Seems par for the day.”
He regards her with a somewhat wounded look.
“You’re having a bad day?” he asks, seeming surprised by the idea.
“No, it’s fine,” she says, her favorite platitude. “Just somewhat of a series of unfortunate events. My heat went out last night and the super said it might be a few days before he gets it working, and then my electric blanket decided now is the ideal time to break, and—it’s fine.”
“Your heat isn’t working? It’s thirty-five degrees outside, Scully,” he says with offense.
“It’s fine, Mulder—”
“It’s not fine. Come stay with me until your super gets it fixed,” he says, and she balks.
“No, I don’t want to put you out, Mulder. I have a space heater, it’s really fine,” she insists.
“Scully,” he says sternly, not at all playful, and she turns to look at him. “Please come stay with me. I want you to,” he says with great sincerity, and she feels a pang of affection and gratitude.
“Okay,” she agrees, and his mouth breaks out into a wide grin. “Thank you.”
She eats her sandwich behind the steering wheel in the car, wishing more than anything that Mulder were there to take the other half. She wraps it up and stuffs it in the glove box, then resumes her aimless driving. Her head is killing her and she decides to find a place where she can buy some Tylenol. She’s passing through a residential area en route to a major thoroughfare when a small white house catches her eye.
It’s nondescript for the most part. There are bars on the windows and a small sign advertising a security system posted in the front yard. The grass is cut and the flowerbeds are neat, though empty. It’s the kind of home that offers absolutely no information about its occupants, aside from their concern over intruders, and yet it feels familiar to her in a way that makes her head throb.
She parks on the curb and cautiously makes her way down the front walk and onto the small covered porch. There’s a “no soliciting” sign hung neatly beside the doorbell, and no welcome mat. She says a quick prayer and then reaches out and presses the button. A minute passes, and she’s considering whether to ring again when a staticky voice erupts from a speaker mounted above the door.
“How may we help you, miss?” asks the soft voice, and she looks around until she locates a camera in the eaves of the entryway.
“My name is Dana R—Scully,” she says, looking directly into the lens. “I think that I might know you, and…I need help. Please.”
She’s trying to strike the right balance between making clear that she’s in distress, but not coming across as though she’ll cause any trouble.
“Who sent you here?” the voice asks, and a smaller voice that sounds further away interjects with, “Let her in, she’s hot!”
“No one sent me,” she says, trying not to beg. “I…it’s hard to explain, but I think we used to know each other. We just can’t remember it.”
She winces at her own poor communication skills, and a loud thwack sounds from the door, followed by a series of smaller clicks and pops. She steps back and eventually the door opens a few inches, revealing the face of a middle-aged man with thinning brown hair and generous sideburns. He gives her a quick once-over from head to foot, and then another face appears above his. This man is quite a bit taller than the first, with stringy blond hair and square-rimmed glasses.
“You’re not with the government are you?” the blond man asks, and she shakes her head, though she’s not sure if that’s an entirely accurate response. “You wearing a wire?” he adds, and the look of genuine confusion on her face must be all the answer he needs, because the door swings open wider and the two men move aside to allow her entry.
The interior of the home is dimly lit and cluttered with computer equipment, though it smells clean. A third man joins them in the entryway, his suit and neatly trimmed goatee in stark contrast to his comparatively bedraggled friends.
“You believe we know one another?” he asks, and she recognizes the soft tenor of his voice from the speaker outside.
“I believe we did, yes,” she says carefully, her eyes roving around the great room and taking in news clippings and articles pinned to every wall, and electronics on nearly every surface that she couldn’t even begin to identify.
“Would you like to come in and tell us what you need help with?” the kind man asks, gesturing to a seating area with an outstretched arm.
Dana nods and crosses the room, perching nervously on the edge of an armchair. Whatever this place is, and whoever these people are, she can only hope that she is safe and among friends. The three men sit shoulder to shoulder on a couch perpendicular to her chair, the kind man in the middle and Sideburns closest to her.
“I think I’d remember meeting you,” Sideburns says with just an edge of innuendo—enough to let her know that it’s meant to be taken as commentary on her appearance, but not enough to make her feel unsafe.
“What is this place?” she asks, still taking in the overwhelming amount of tech and gadgets in the room. When none of the men respond, she looks back to the couch and sees them exchanging significant looks.
“Miss,” the kind man says with a placating smile, “I hope that we can help you, but we’d feel much more comfortable if you could tell us who you are before we disclose any of our personal information.”
She almost laughs at the irony of it, like being asked to provide ID in order to obtain ID.
“My name is Dana Scully,” she begins, her eyes trained on her hands, which are fidgeting in her lap. “And while I realize this sounds completely implausible and maybe a bit crazy, I believe that I’ve had my memory erased.” She pauses, giving them an opportunity to ask questions. She steals a glance at the men and they’re all watching her expectantly, surprised but not disbelieving. “I believe that we knew each other prior to this happening to me, and I desperately need some help…”
To her frustration and embarrassment, her throat tightens and her eyes sting. Tears will not lend to her credibility. Tears will not improve her situation. She pulls in a slow breath through her nose and lets it out of her mouth raggedly, and the three men exchange looks.
“Not to sound doubtful,” Sideburns says gently, “but if that were true, wouldn’t we recognize you?”
They’re not going to believe her, she can already tell. A fresh swell of hopelessness makes her shoulders sag with defeat.
“Again,” she says hoarsely, “I know this sounds implausible, but I believe that you’ve also had your memory erased,” she tries.
Eyebrows lift. More significant looks. But they aren’t laughing at her. They aren’t showing her the door.
“Even if it were possible, why would someone want to erase your memory, or ours?” the blond man asks.
“I’m not entirely sure,” she tells him. “I know that it had to do with my job, and a man I worked with. I believe we witnessed something, or obtained information that we weren’t supposed to have. Something important enough to whoever these people are that they were willing to go to great lengths to ensure that we didn’t remember it.”
“How do you know all this?” says the kind man.
She takes a deep breath before she begins.
“Two months ago, I woke up in the hospital after sustaining a head injury. I was diagnosed with retrograde amnesia that seemed to have wiped out my entire memory after some point in 1992. I learned that I had a husband and children, a home, a job, none of which I remembered. I tried to reacclimate to my life the best I could, but as time wore on I felt as though something wasn’t right. I kept having these dreams, these memories…I was eventually contacted by a man who gave me information about what was done to me, and why. I learned that my husband and children are strangers, decoys meant to distract me from the truth. And when the people who did this realized that I was remembering, they came for me.”
The uncomfortable silence makes her heart race, and she can’t bring herself to look at their faces. She stares at the coffee table, on which is a stack of newsletters titled The Lone Gunmen.
“That’s quite a story,” Sideburns says with melancholy in his voice.
“I know it sounds crazy,” she says quietly.
“It’s not that we don’t believe you, miss,” says the kind one, “but it would be helpful if you had some kind of evidence or proof. And I also can’t help but wonder what kind of assistance we could possibly offer you.”
Proof. She has the Numerol in her bag, but unless they have access to a lab and the scientific acumen to understand how anomalous the chemical composition of the pills are, that won’t help. The metal chip that Tiffany removed from her neck is back in Ellicott City. She feels a sudden burst of adrenaline as a realization pops into her head.
“Were you vaccinated against the Manatua Virus?” she asks the three of them.
“Yes, of course,” says the kind one.
“Then I believe that the proof is in you, at the base of your neck,” she says confidently. “A small metal chip was inserted subcutaneously at the time of your vaccination, and it somehow impedes your memory recall.”
“A chip?” repeats the blond one. “Like a computer chip?”
“I think so. I don’t know what its composition is or how it works, but I know that if it’s removed, you’re able to recall previously inaccessible memories. That’s what’s happening to me, and that’s what happened to my husband.”
“Why would we be involved in this?” the kind one asks uncomfortably.
“I don’t know,” she answers. “Perhaps solely because you knew me, and the man I worked with. There may be more to it than that, but I don’t have that information yet.”
“How do we know any of this is true?” Sideburns asks, doubt creeping into his voice for the first time.
“If you’ll allow me to remove your chip, you may remember it for yourself,” she suggests.
The three men sit back in their seats, looking at one another and then at her. She can only hope that their curiosity wins out over their skepticism.
-
It’s when she has Sideburns’ neck sliced open and is prodding around his soft tissue with a pair of tweezers that it comes to her. This time it’s not a violent jolt, not a proverbial anvil crashing into her working memory. It just slips out, like a song lyric you didn’t realize you still knew.
“Hold still, Frohike,” she murmurs, and the formerly squirming man freezes in his seat.
“How did you know his name?” the kind man asks, and now she freezes too.
When she looks up from the red gash in Frohike’s neck, she sees the world with new eyes. She sees Byers watching her intently, and Langly gaping at her. She sees Frohike’s apron hanging from a hook in the kitchen, and a half full bottle of tequila that she remembers helping the men drink on a particularly rowdy poker night. For the first time in months, she feels oriented in space and time. It’s like she’s been driving around, lost, and suddenly spots a familiar landmark. Oh, I know where I am now.
“You’re friends of Mulder’s,” she says, somewhat vacantly, her hands still poised over Frohike’s neck. “You all met at a convention in 1989, and he introduced me to you shortly after he and I started working together.”
“The computer and electronics convention?” Langly asks uncomfortably.
“Yes, I think so.”
“We met at that convention,” Frohike confirms, “but I don’t remember anyone named Mulder.”
Dana turns back to the surgical site and continues her exploration of Frohike’s neck.
“You will. Soon,” she says confidently. Within minutes, Frohike is freed of his chip.
Langly goes next, and then Byers. After taking some time to work through their shock at discovering they’ve been unwittingly carrying tracking devices around in their bodies for who knows how long, Frohike puts the chips under a microscope and they take turns examining the cross-hatch of metallic ridges that bear no identifying information. Next, he pours them each two fingers of scotch as Dana retells as much as she can recall from what Alex shared: the Spurious Project, the virus, the Numerol.
“I don’t take any medication at all,” Langly says, shaking his head.
“I’m not sure what the role of the medication is yet. Perhaps it wasn’t needed at your level of involvement,” Dana posits, the warmth in her belly soothing her frayed nerves.
“Dana, you’re talking about a nationally orchestrated mass effort to alter the memories of the American people, every man, woman and child,” Byers says gravely.
“I know it sounds implausible—”
“It doesn’t sound implausible at all,” he interrupts. “And the presence of those chips in our necks right where you said they’d be is evidence of that. I know that our government is capable of something like this, but what I find perplexing is that they’d go to such great effort just to eliminate the risk of two individuals sharing state secrets.”
“Seems like it would have been easier to just kill you,” Langly comments, and Byers shoots him a look.
“I know. Someone wanted us alive, but I don’t yet know who, or why,” Dana says. “But thank you for believing me.”
“Of course we believe you,” Frohike says, as though it should be obvious. “But now the question is: what next?”
Dana heaves a sigh.
“I need to find Mulder and somehow bring him along. I’m not sure if he’s remembering as well, but he certainly didn’t appear to be when I saw him.”
“I didn’t find any results for Mulder on the internet, even when I searched the dark web. What did you say he told you his name was? Spender?” Langly says as he pushes off against the floor and rolls his chair over to a computer.
“Jeff Spender, yes. And he said he lives in Philadelphia.”
A couple minutes pass in comfortable silence, the tick of the keys on Langly’s computer and the clink of ice in their glasses set over the constant hum of the machinery.
“This your guy?” he asks, rolling away so Dana can get closer to the computer screen.
Seeing his face is as much a relief as it is painful. It’s a professional headshot taken in a studio, and he’s wearing a charcoal suit and glasses, his hair combed to one side. He’s smiling, and the way it pushes his hooded eyes into little crescents makes her chest ache so acutely she brings one hand up and lays it over her heart.
“Yes,” she whispers, then moves to read the bio just beneath the photo.
Jeffrey Spender, MSW, LFMT, is a licensed therapist working with individuals and couples. A graduate of Oxford University, Mr. Spender specializes in supporting adults through major life transitions such as death, divorce, job loss, and retirement. Call for a free consultation today.
“Could you print that for me?” she asks, hoping that they’ll assume she’s after the bio and not the photo. “What about the Spurious Project, can you find anything on that?”
“That kind of information won’t be accessible on any mainstream sources,” Langly tells her, pulling back up to the computer and printing off the page. “We may be able to hack into whatever database it’s housed in, but we’ll need some time. Do you have any idea which branch of government is involved? CIA, DOJ, DOD?”
“No,” Dana says. “But we can assume there’s some level of involvement with the FBI, right? Doesn’t that seem likely?”
“Could be,” Frohike says with a nod. “We’ll do a little funky poaching and hopefully we’ll at least have a lead by tomorrow. Should we try to contact Mulder, or Spender, or whoever the heck this guy is?”
Dana looks at the sheet of paper in her hands, at Mulder’s smiling face. What she wouldn’t give to have him here, to have him remember her.
“Not yet,” she says regretfully. “I think we need more information first. More proof.”
“Where are you staying, Dana? Do you have a cell phone number where we can reach you when we have more information?” Byers asks.
“I’ll probably get a motel; that’s what I did last night. I left my cell phone at home so it couldn’t be used to track my location,” she says.
“Do you have a car?”
“Yes, sort of. A friend let me take her car when I left the hospital. She’ll come looking for it in a few days, though.”
Byers gives Frohike a pointed look.
“Give me an hour. I’ll call Ricky and get you all set up. We gotta ditch the car asap, and if you were thinking about calling home, don’t,” Frohike says sternly.
Dana glances at her watch. It’s almost 6:00. Cal would just be getting home with the kids and starting dinner.
“I haven’t, and I won’t,” she says with a heavy heart. “Set up with what, if I might ask?”
Frohike holds his hands out in front of him, palms facing her, and wiggles his fingers for effect.
“The works.”
-
The fake ID they gave her says her name is Melanie Newsome, a resident of Annapolis. She calls Byers from the burner cell phone Ricky provided her with to let him know when she’s made it all the way into the safehouse and locked the doors behind her.
It’s a one-bedroom apartment in a sparsely populated building. The few other residents she passed in the hall on her way up kept their eyes on the floor, and she wonders if everyone here is hiding from something. The apartment itself is modest but covers the essentials, including a couch in the living room, a mattress on the floor in the bedroom, basic toiletries, linens, and a small set of cookware and dishes in the kitchen. The most indulgent furnishing is a stereo with an eight-disc CD changer and detachable speakers, not unlike the one her mother owns. From the small balcony, she can see the pinking horizon as the sun slowly descends behind the city skyline.
She feels wrung out and emotionally exhausted, so she showers and gets into bed even though it’s still quite early. Minutes tick by, and she listens to the sounds of the city with raw nerves as she tries to relax enough to sleep. Every snick of a door opening, every padded footfall in the hallway, every voice echoing against the pavement outside, delivers a spike of cortisol that sends her heart thrumming. Finally, she abandons the bed for the couch, which somehow feels more secure. There is no TV to distract herself with, so she puts the Sam Cooke CD into the changer and gives the other songs on the album a listen, allowing his smooth voice to drown out the din of the world around her. Her mind drifts, and she nestles against the back of the couch as though it were a warm body, letting herself imagine that it’s him.
Darling you send me, honest you do.
Tagging @today-in-fic
#the x files#x files fanfic#txf#dana scully#fox mulder#xf fanfic#x files#the x-files#xfiles#thexfiles
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#2 from the cuddle prompt list please!! 🖤
#2- getting the greatest feeling of safety from cuddling
She looks like you. That’s what burns the most. Looking at her is like looking in a funhouse mirror, the features just distorted enough that the reflection is an imitation instead of a copy. The bright flashes of the cameras do nothing to distinguish some kind of major difference that you could cling to. It was eerie and something you would find interesting if the coincidence wasn’t hanging off your boyfriend's arm.
Her name is Avalanche. She’s a newer supe on the scene, a possible hopeful for the Seven, and Vought’s shiny new toy to parade in front of the masses. You can tell by the way this premiere is going that Vought has big plans for her. Your stomach sours at the way Ashley seems to push her towards Homelander at every opportunity. The paparazzi keep begging them for pictures together and acid begins to rise in your throat when Homelander wraps his arm around her waist to pull her closer. (You can’t bear to think of him as John right now. Your John wouldn’t do this…would he?)
You know it’s PR bullshit. It’s Vought manufacturing a possible romance that they can cash in on later if the reaction is positive. You aren’t public with Homelander, something you insisted on because you didn’t want Vought’s fingers digging into this beautiful, fragile, precious thing that you’d found. You feel like a fucking idiot now. Of course, it’s not like Vought would care even if they knew. Whichever relationship made them the most money is the relationship they wanted him to have. Some part of you wonders which he’d choose if he had the option. Would he choose a weak human like you? Or would he choose the supe who looks like you? Why wouldn’t he choose the supe who could keep up with him, who he wouldn’t have to hold back with, who was strong and powerful?
Avalanche raises her hands and the crowd loses their fucking minds when snow begins to gently fall from the sky. The flakes catch in Homelander’s hair and they look so disgustingly romantic in this false winter wonderland. You aren’t a jealous person. You take his fame in stride and when fangirls swarm him for selfies and bat their eyelashes, you just shrug. Sometimes you play up the illusion of jealousy because Homelander enjoys feeling wanted but you know that they aren’t true competition.
This is different. This feeling burns raw in your chest and your throat stings from the thick black smoke of your misery. They look so picture perfect and the gathered crowd seems to agree. He leans in to kiss her cheek and you can’t take it anymore. Unshed tears sting at the corners of your eyes and you tuck your tail between your legs and run. You don’t want him to smell the salt from your tears. You don’t think you can bear his exasperation when he has to abandon his adoring public to coddle his weak human girlfriend. You push your way through the throng of people until you escape the light and noise. You find a dark alley that is blessedly silent. You pray you are far enough away that you can release the valve of your emotion and scream at the wall without him picking up on the sound over the roar of the crowd.
You don’t blame him honestly. You are upset, there’s no denying that, but you know he can’t help himself when he’s in the spotlight. He loathes it as much as he adores it. He needs it as much as it rips him apart. He’ll play whatever part Vought wants him to play before coming home to you and melting into the soft reality of your touch. It’s never been easy with him but you’ve also never felt so completely and utterly needed. So despite the ache in your soul, you’ll go back to that stupid premiere once your tears are dry.
You let out a few weak sniffles as you attempt to compose yourself. You wipe off your wet cheeks with your thumb. You don’t notice the dark figure that makes its way towards you from the other end of the alley. You aren’t a supe with heightened senses after all. Isn’t that the crux of the problem?
Pain flares throughout your body when you are shoved against the wall, your head knocking sharply against the brick. You try to scream, desperately hoping now that Homelander can hear your cries. A hand clad in black leather clamps itself over your mouth before any noise can escape. You struggle but you aren’t strong enough to pull away. You loathe it. How weak you are. She wouldn’t need anyone to save her. You don’t need super senses to smell the stink of fear coming off your body. The thief’s other hand fumbles with your clothes, searching for any hidden valuables until suddenly there’s a flash of heat and the scent of burnt flesh. In that moment you know you are safe, and you resent the fact that you needed saving as much as you are desperately grateful.
You look at the smoldering corpse behind you and you can’t help but shudder at the carnage. You can already tell that Homelander is furious. He’s angry at the man most of all but also at you for wandering off. This wouldn’t have happened if you had just stayed where he could keep an eye on you. Now, he’s going to have to endure Ashley’s inane chatter about his sudden departure as though she had any control over what he decided to do. You’re still shaking from the encounter and you can already feel your eyes welling up as he points a finger at you as though you are a disobedient child. It’s always a toss up as to whether tears will disarm him. He dislikes crying caused unintentionally, he prefers you soft and happy. However, when he feels that you deserve it, you could weep till you were sick and he would remain unmoved until he felt you had been properly chastised. Then he would sweep in to comfort you and expect you to immediately melt into him.
You fully expect for this to be one of the latter instances. You expect a lecture, a snide “What did you expect?” Instead he seems to deflate for a second. His stare intensifies and you know he’s scanning for any damage that lowlife may have done to you. While he considers emotional pain to be necessary sometimes to keep you in line, he despises seeing any physical harm done to your body. As much as he delights in the fragility of humans when compared to him, he’s all too aware of how easily that fact could take you away from him. You needed him to protect you.
“I’m taking you home, darling” His tongue curls around the pet name and it sounds like a threat. You flinch. You haven’t gotten over the sting of jealousy and you can’t help but mentally compare yourself to her once more. Your head throbs but the pain is minuscule compared to the tightness in your chest. You nod and let him gather you firmly against his chest before shooting off into the sky.
Once he’s deposited you at his penthouse and he’s convinced that you are out of harm's way, some of the tension leaves his shoulders. He grabs your chin in his hand firmly and gives a little shake.
“Stay!” He orders, as though you are a dog. He intends to go back to his premiere and the thought of him returning to her makes you see red. You poke his chest sharply with your finger.
“Are you going to run back to your girlfriend?” You hiss, finally releasing some of that pent up emotion that’s been brewing the moment you saw him with her. Homelander stills and his face flits through a variety of microexpressions before it lands on a grin so smug that you want to slap it off his face.
“Someone’s jealous” He purrs. He hasn’t let go of your chin despite you trying to wiggle away. He’s looking at you fondly. You can’t help but feel flustered. He thinks it’s funny. His anger and worry evaporated in the wake of his ego swelling to dangerous levels. You’re surprised he doesn’t pop like a balloon. The indestructible Homelander is finally brought down by his own self-satisfaction. You huff angrily.
“I’m not. Why would I care that your hand was practically on her ass the whole night?” You reply. It may be a bit of an exaggeration, as far as you could tell he had kept his hands to relatively appropriate areas. That isn’t the point though. You had to stand and watch as hundreds of cameras captured Homelander’s lips on her cheek. It was going to be all over the news tomorrow and Homelander thought it was a fucking joke. He thought you were a joke.
“It wasn’t but that’s certainly a suggestion. After all, it’s not like I have anyone better to share the spotlight with. I might as well give the crowd a show.” He bares a bit too much fang with his smile and you know that comment was a punishment for your insistence on secrecy. Homelander didn’t like the implication that you didn’t want to be his and he let you know at every opportunity.
“Go fuck her if you want her so bad. I’ll just pack my bags and leave you to it” You snarl. Homelander’s grip tightens, his fingers digging in right on the edge of painful. He finds your jealousy cute but the mere suggestion of you leaving has him seething. His eyes glow like hot coals. He’d never use his heat vision on you but he’s not above showing off to make a point.
“I don’t appreciate your attitude, missy.” He all but hisses out. “I’ll fuck whoever I want to fuck and you’re going to stay right here.”
He doesn’t actually mean it. He’s being cruel to hide how vulnerable he feels at the thought of losing you. The only way he knows how to process pain is to transfer to someone else. You’ve grown used to this. You’ve adapted. That doesn’t mean the barb didn’t have the intended effect. It doesn’t mean that it didn’t feel like he dug his fingers right into the center of your pain and squeezed with all of his superhuman strength.
You hadn’t wanted this to turn into a fight. You hadn’t wanted him to find out. If she hadn’t looked so much like you, if she wasn’t a fucking supe, then you could have played along fine. You’d have enjoyed the premiere, stroked Homelander’s ego till he was hard as a rock, and let him fuck you to sleep. It would have been fun. Now, he’s pissed at you and will likely remain pissed at you for who knows how long. You’re going to go to bed alone knowing there’s a possibility that he’ll take the easy choice, that he really will fuck Avalanche just to prove a point. Maybe he’ll fuck her just for the fun of it, because he can, and not even think of you at all.
You’re scared. You can’t lose him. You just can’t.
“Listen…not with her. I’m begging” You reply softly. Homelander scoffs, annoyed by your fixation. His eyes fade back to blue but his anger hasn’t lessened. His jaw is still clenched so tight that any normal man would have cracked his teeth from the strain. The jealousy was supposed to be an ego stroke, he didn’t expect it to turn into such a performance.
“Why do you even care about her? It’s never bothered you before. It’s just bullshit made up for the cameras.” He finally releases you, only to pace around the room like a caged lion.
“She’s a supe.” You admit shyly. You don’t want to let him know about your insecurities. You don’t want him picking at you, using it as ammunition when he’s angry. But you don’t want to fight anymore. So you open yourself up and admit what’s been tearing you apart.
“So?” Homelander’s bewilderment is apparent. He turns to you, hands on his hips, about ten seconds away from hauling you over his knee and spanking the fight out of you. Then you could fuck after and he’d return to the premiere late, basking in the attention when he apologizes for leaving to stop a robber from assaulting a young woman. He’d be the hero, you’d stop being mad at him, and life could continue on as planned. None of this cryptic bullshit and pointless threats.
“I’m not”
“I’m aware” His voice is so thin with annoyance that if it was an actual thread then it would have snapped long ago. He knows what you are. He’s faced with it every damn day. He has to see you mill around with those mewling vermin, as though they were your equals. Homelander considers you in the same category as other humans the way that a swan is technically in the same category as a vulture. So yes, he is aware, but you aren’t like them. So in his mind the point was moot. You were you.
“What if you decide that you want someone like her who can keep up with you?” You whisper, as though voicing it would make it true. Homelander double takes and the laughter that bursts from his chest is both incredulous and relieved. That’s what you were worried about? He’d be concerned about your intelligence if he didn’t love you so much.
“Sweetheart, you think I’m on the same level as Frosty the fucking Snowwoman? Her power is useless. Is she going to take down criminals by giving them frostbite? Her nemesis is a sturdy jacket. You might as well be worried that I’m going to fuck The Deep. I mean…it’s cute how flustered you got but seriously?” You listen to his rant and the throbbing ache in your chest finally starts to loosen. He’s telling the truth. The scorn in his voice is unmistakable. He’s being an asshole about it. You’re positive Avalanche doesn’t deserve his vitriol, but you’re still chained by jealousy so every mean-spirited comment serves to sooth you.
“I…I just thought. We look alike” You murmur sheepishly. Homelander laughs again, cupping your cheek and looking down at you indulgently. Humans really could be so pathetic sometimes but with you he finds it endearing. He leans in to nuzzle your nose with his and your cheeks heat with a mixture of fondness and embarrassment.
“Why would I fuck her because she looks like you when I could just fuck you?” It really seems like the most obvious thing in the world when he states it like that. You let him kiss you, soft and sweet, his words swirling through your head like the very snowflakes that had drifted miraculously from the sky.
Homelander loves you the most when you’re like this. You’re leaning into his touch like it’s the only thing you want in this world. His anger dissolves along with yours. It’s not really your fault. You are a human after all. Sometimes he has to be indulgent with you. Who wouldn’t want to be possessive over him?
“You’re so cute. I mean…you got a little too mouthy for my taste but I’m honestly flattered.” He sweeps you off your feet, cradling you against him for the second time tonight. Fuck the premiere, Ashley will spin it in his favor or he’ll have her head. He’d rather soak in your affection than deal with the simpering journalists and flashing bulbs that hurt his sensitive eyes. He craves attention from the masses but oh how he despises the hoops he has to jump through when they should be worshiping him like a God without all this pageantry. You don’t need any of that. He just has to exist and you melt into his arms.
He gently lays you down on his bed and surprises you when he begins to shed his suit. You’d assumed that once you’d been mollified that he would leave, instead he crawls right in after you. You think it’s cute that he prefers to cuddle you skin to skin. It usually ends with him inside you so honestly it’s a win all around. He manhandles you effortlessly until you are cradled against his chest with your legs entwined. You can hear his heartbeat like this and you wish you could hear it all the time, the way he can hear yours. You’re still dressed so Homelander slips his hand under your shirt to caress the warm skin of your back.
“She really doesn’t look like you at all” He mumbles into your hair, his fingers tracing random patterns against your skin, huffing happily when he can feel goosebumps rising in the wake of his touch.
“You don’t think so?” You’re not sure if he’s lying for your benefit or if he truly doesn’t see a resemblance. You don’t even care anymore. He’s here with you. He stayed with you. That’s all that matters. You are safe and wanted.
“Nope…you have nicer tits” He teases slyly, causing you to give him a sharp slap to the arm. He gives you a swat on the ass as a reply and he relishes in the way you squeal.
“Y’know.” Homelander says casually, “This would have never been an issue if you let me show you off as mine.”
“I know but Vought…” You try to argue. Homelander doesn’t seem to understand that Vought pulls his strings more than he realizes. He lets Vought pull his strings more than he realizes despite his insistence on control. You’d never tell him this of course, not unless you wanted to deal with his sour mood for days. It does make you wary however. Everything Homelander has ever had has been commodified and turned into a product that Vought could sell. You don’t want to turn into that for him.
“Fuck Vought, I don’t care what they think.” He scoffs. He’d terrorize Ashley if she even breathed in a way that suggested dating you publicly would be a bad idea. If Stan Edgar protested…Homelander would finally show him the true extent of his power
“It’s just…it’s obvious that they are banking on the two of you as a couple. She’s practically a shoe-in for the Seven and if they know about…” You ramble, but before you can finish talking you feel his firm grip on your chin once more. He forces you to meet his gaze which is so brimming with resolve that you know it is pointless to argue.
“I decide who goes in the Seven.” He insists, frustrated that you would think differently for even a second. He forgives the slip-up but it still takes a moment for him to sheath his claws. He releases you and guides you back down to snuggle against his chest. “If you don’t want her there then she won’t be.”
“I don’t want her there.” You whisper, so quietly that any average person would not have realized you had spoken at all. It’s a selfish request. Avalanche shouldn’t be punished because of your insecurities. She likely doesn’t even know you exist and you sincerely doubt she’s some sort of boyfriend stealer from your nightmares. Still…you’d feel better if she wasn’t there.
“That’s it then. You have nothing to worry about.” He softly guides your head away from his chest to nuzzle his nose against yours. He’s content now and ready to bask in the comfort of your presence. He hadn’t really wanted to go back anyway. So you let him kiss you deeply. You let him roll you over and slip inside you. You let him fuck you to sleep. When you wake up in the morning all loose-limbed and lazy, his cock still inside you, you realize that he’s right. You truly have nothing to worry about. She can fuck him…but you can love him.
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What the fuck is Riverdale actually about anyway?
that's not an easy question to answer, but I've been asked it a lot, so I'm going to do my best.
disclaimer: while the plot summaries are accurate, my interpretation of the themes is just my interpretation. other fans might disagree, and that's valid. unless it's about season 6. if you disagree with me about season 6, you're wrong. archie literally sings bread and roses. union busting is compared to mass murder. that one's not up for debate.
Season 1
[ID: a promo image for riverdale season 1, showing the characters of betty, veronica, and archie in the diner, while cheryl, josie, and jughead pose dramatically outside the window. The words 'riverdale series premier tonight' are superimposed over the picture]
The Plot: the murder of a highschool student leads his classmates to discover that the adults in their small town are all hiding dark secrets. also there's a love triangle.
What it's actually about: mostly just that, tbh. there's not a lot of subtext in season 1. This is the season where they let showrunner Roberto Aguierra-Sacassa (he of glee and pretty little liars infamy) write stuff, before the writers all barricaded themselves in the writing room and started writing plots which are just about how much they hate him and his ideas
Season 2
[ID: a screencap, showing archie posing with the vigilante gang he starts. the gang is made up of shirtless men wearing red balaclavas. archie is wearing a blue shirt and his face is uncovered, because when you're bating a serial killer it's important to let them know what you look like]
The Plot: A serial killer, the black hood, begins terrorising the town. Jughead accepts his birthright and joins a biker gang. Meanwhile Veronica's gangster father begins trying to take over the town so he can commit crimes with impunity
What it's actually about: this season is mostly a series of increasingly self-aware riffs on different horror and thriller subgenres. It's the transition between the uninspired first season and the genre-parodies that make up the rest of the show, so it's not as tight as other seasons. It does feature an episode which is almost entirely just the writer being real pissed off about aguira-sacassa framing a teacher-student relationship as romantic and consensual in season 1, in which the teacher in question is shown to be a serial abuser and then immediately brutally murdered because of it, and ngl, that was pretty based.
Season 3
[ID: a screencap, showing the main actors playing their character's parents in a flashback to the first gargoyle king murder. the characters are dressed as fantasy stereotypes; a paladin, rogue, warrior-king, nobleman, and wizard. they are pointing their weapons at someone off screen]
The Plot: A new serial killer, the gargoyle king, begins terrorising the town and seems to be connected to a ttrpg which mind controls its players. Meanwhile a cult which claims to allow its members to contact the dead has started recruiting at the school. Also Archie is sent to prison for a murder he didn't commit and forced to participate in an underground fightclub but that only lasts like 5 episodes.
What it's actually about: wouldn't it be ridiculous if the shit people believed during the satanic panic was true? wouldn't that be insane? wouldn't it be unbelievable. wouldn't be insane if, say, a huge portion of trump voters still believed in the satanic panic? tell me you believe in the satanic panic, i dare you, i fucking dare you-
Season 4
[ID: a screencap showing the entire cast dressed as Hedwig from Hedwig and the Angry Inch, with blond wigs, blue eye make-up, denim miniskirts, and high-healed boots]
The Plot: Jughead gets involved in a murderous battle to become the new ghost-writer for a hardy boys parody that ends with him faking his own death. Archie starts a boxing club for underpriviledged youth but Veronica's dad keeps trying to shut it down because he thinks Archie might be going to uncover his illegal paladium smuggling ring. Veronica becomes a bootlegger and opens a speakeasy because she wants her dad to respect her and thinks the only way to get that is by being the fucking worst before she realises that actually he sucks and she shouldn't care what he thinks.
What it's actually about: rich people are the fucking worst and we should probably just kill all of them. Listen. Listen, they're evil. It's very important to all the writers that you know this. They're all evil.
Season 5
[ID: a screencap showing what is referred to in the show as mothman, a boney humanoid with no hair, ridges over its eyes, and boney stubs that may be the tops of wings growing out of its back]
The Plot: following a 7 year timeskip, the gang return to Riverdale as adults and try to stop the town from being discorporated and demolished by Veronica's dad to make way for a new property developement. Betty hunts a serial killer who's been targetting sex workers in the area. Also Cheryl starts a Maple Syrup-themed cult and controls bees with her mind.
What it's actually about: Honestly, this season is mostly just about genre parodies. They're good genre parodies, don't get me wrong, but there's not a lot of coherent theming.
Season 6
[ID: a screencap, showing archie topless and tied to a saint andrew's cross, wearing a crown made of antlers. cheryl is standing in front of him wearing a red robe, elaborate headdress, and holding a knife, as she prepares to sacrifice him to ensure a good maple syrup harvest]
The Plot: after riverdale colides with a parallel universe, the gang find they have developed superpowers which are all related to their key character traits, which they must use to battle an evil wizard called percival pickens who is trying to destroy the world using a magical train. the genre parodies get weird this season, because a lot of them are comics riffs rather than movie or tv riffs. also there's an extended alan wake parody.
What it's actually about: Unionize. Unionize right the fuck now. Why are you not already in a union? Don't you know joining a union will literally improve your changes of getting into heaven? Look at Archie Andrews singing bread and roses and tell me you still think unions are bad you coporate bootlicking piece of shit!
Season 7 (so far)
[ID: a promotional image for season 7, showing betty, archie, and veronica wearing costumes based on the archie comics of the 1950s. They are sitting in the diner, and Berry and Veronica are each holding one of archie's hands]
The Plot: as a result of stopping the evil wizard in S6, the gang are sent back in time to the 1950s with no memory of their previous lives, where they are once again in highschool. Jughead has been told by an angel to make the town more just as this will help the angel bring them back to their own time, but someone is commiting murders and framing kids in the highschool for them. also there's an extended reference to alex hirsch's fight with disney S&P over gravity falls, which I did not see coming
What it's actually about (so far): oh, you think this show would be better if it was set in the 50s? You do know the 50s were the fucking worst, right? You do know the apple pie america the archie comics are set in never existed, right? you do know people who insist the 50s were a great decade are all racist homophobic sexist pieces of shit, right? right?!
#riverdale#long post#riverdale happens on purpose#it's important to remember that#they're not trying to make a normal show and failing#they're trying to make riverdale and succeeding#and also they want so badly for you to join a union
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‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2 Behind the Scenes: How Fashion Defines Each Character (PHOTOS)
by Kelli Boyle
Julian Fellowes, the creator of Downton Abbey (2011-2016) [mod note: on PBS in the US], set that upstairs-downstairs series at a palatial British estate on the eve of World War I. He moved his newest costume drama Stateside to the streets of New York City. Set in the late 1800s, The Gilded Age, which has its second-season premiere on Sunday, October 29 on HBO (streaming on Max), pits the new money of railroad barons against the old money of New York society. The powerful fight for control of the city and use their wealth to measure social success. And dressing for success was its own full-time occupation.
When researching women’s fashion in 1800s New York, the show’s costume designer Kasia Walicka-Maimone saw one thing clearly: “Their life was a catwalk. There was this enormous excitement” when the ladies trekked the bustling, dusty streets of Manhattan. Her job was to recreate that excitement for contemporary viewers of The Gilded Age.
Fashion as a Sign of Status
Who’s doing all this promenading? Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) arrived in NYC with no money and was taken in by her aunts Ada (Cynthia Nixon) and Agnes (Christine Baranski), both living off an inheritance. Then the newly affluent Russells—headed by railroad baron George (Morgan Spector) and wife Bertha (Carrie Coon), who is determined to break into polite society—moved in across the street.
Ada Brook (Cynthia Nixon) and Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) head to church on Easter morning in ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2 premiere. Niece Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson) follows close behind (Credit: Barbara Nitke/HBO)
The frill thrills continue in Season 2, especially in a pivotal garden party scene (pictured below) that TV Insider observed being filmed in September 2022 at New York’s lavish Old Westbury Gardens estate. (Westbury House was previously home to an heir of the Phipps family, real-life Gilded Age figures whose patriarch made his fortune alongside Andrew Carnegie at his steel company.) On set was Fellowes, whose smart black suit and tie were the only dark hues around.
Gladys Russell (Taissa Farmiga), George Russell (Morgan Spector), and Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) step out for Easter mass in ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2 premiere (Credit: Barbara Nitke/HBO)
Historically Accurate Costumes
It’s a testament to the wardrobe department that the stunning colors of the sprawling grounds nearly pale in comparison to the vibrancy of the women’s period garb. Despite the sepia-toned images in history books, Walicka-Maimone says, those bright tints are decidedly historically accurate. She has a library of more than 35,000 reference images to prove it.
“It’s shocking to our modern eye to see the explosion of color from that period,” she said. Production designer Bob Shaw (who won an Emmy for his work on Gilded Age) was present to share his creative process, which, just as Walicka-Maimone described of her own work, is “deeply steeped in history.”
Nicole Brydon Bloom joins the cast for Season 2, pictured here at the garden party with Blake Ritson’s Oscar van Rhijn (Credit: Barbara Nitke/HBO)
He does note that, when deciding between “what is correct and what feels correct,” the latter always wins. Creative liberties are taken to “build [character] histories into the costumes,” Walicka-Maimone added.
A Garden Party to Remember
Take Brit newcomers Dashiell Montgomery (David Furr) and his daughter, Frances (Matilda Lawler), for example. Nephew by marriage to Baranski’s Agnes, Dashiell requires more “toned-down” attire suitable for social outings, which contrasts with Season 1’s primarily business and formal menswear.
Aurora Fane (Kelli O’Hara) and husband Charles Fane (Ward Horton) attend the garden party in ‘The Gilded Age’ Season 2 (Credit: Barbara Nitke/HBO)
Dashiell must escort Frances through society in his late wife’s absence. One consideration for Walicka-Maimone: “This is a girl who doesn’t have a mother, so there’s probably extra care from all the other family members in [dressing her],” she said.
Meanwhile, Marian, who Jacobson said is “shining this season and sees herself in [younger] Frances,” will be more open to a strategic marriage. Marian’s “not necessarily cynical” after being jilted by Tom Raikes (Thomas Cocquerel) in last season’s finale, the actress continued, but the heartbreak gives her a “spice and edge.”
Don’t count out the possibility of a romance with Larry Russell (Harry Richardson), son of the railroad titan, which was teased last year. Jacobson shared: “They will definitely continue to deepen their friendship.” Old money and new money unite!
#the gilded age#tga spoilers#tga interviews#tga s2#ada brook#agnes van rhijn#marian brook#gladys russell#george russell#bertha russell#oscar van rhijn#aurora fane#charles fane
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“The Zone of Interest”
“The Zone of Interest” 2023 War/Crime is not like other Holocaust films. Yet it is still rooted firmly in historical realities about the Holocaust and the minute details of how the Hösses lived comfortably alongside it, ignoring the mass suffering their father was orchestrating. The real Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss, and his wife, Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.
Directed by British filmmaker Jonathan Glazer, Glazer and his team did years of research before filming to capture the tonal disconnect of the moment, in perhaps cinematic distillation yet of German philosopher Hannah Arendt’s famous proclamation about “the banality of evil.” The film initially appears to follow an unexceptional German family in the 1940s and their idyllic lifestyle in a cute cottage near a river. A father (Christian Friedel), a mother (Sandra Hüller) and their five children host parties, go swimming, tend to their garden and read bedtime stories at night.
Sandra Hüller as Hedwig Höss: ‘I never planned to portray someone like her.’ Photograph: Courtesy of A24 / Mica Levi
Only gradually does the film reveal that this family’s seemingly idyllic home is located directly adjacent to the Auschwitz death camp — and that the patriarch is none other than Rudolf Höss, that camp’s real-life commandant, who directly oversaw the systematic murder of more than a million Jews, and perhaps many more.
Audiences never see these murders, but they hear the horrific evidence of the slaughter: screams, gunshots and the machinery of the gas chambers.
A scene from ''The Zone of Interest'' (credit: Courtesy of A24) A garden party in Jonathan Glazer's chilling film (A24 / YouTube)
Glazer, whose previous films include “Under the Skin,” “Sexy Beast” and “Birth,” adapted his script for “The Zone of Interest” based on the late British author Martin Amis’ 2014 novel of the same title. But the film differs considerably from the novel and has a greater basis in historical fact.
While Amis’ novel followed multiple plotlines, including a love triangle, set in and around Auschwitz, Glazer’s script stripped away everything except the Höss family at its centre. He also made his film about the real Höss family, whereas Amis (who died as the film was premiering at Cannes) had rendered fictional versions of them.
Glazer also went further, hiring researchers at the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum in Poland to look into details of the Höss family’s lifestyle.
The film was shot near the museum, in a formerly dilapidated house that the production crew transformed into a replica of the actual Höss home. He was also, inspired by sources like Timothy Snyder’s “Black Earth: The Holocaust As History And Warning,” and the writings of Gillian Rose.
Zone of Interest film clip –A Höss family garden party in The Zone of Interest. Photograph: A24 Films
Rudolf Höss was the Nazi commandant who oversaw the mass killing operations at Auschwitz-Birkenau, having been posted there from 1940 until nearly the end of the war. Before Auschwitz, Höss — born Catholic and a World War I veteran who became a committed Nazi from the beginning of Hitler’s rise to power — was posted at the Dachau and Sachsenhausen camps, where he learned the tricks of the trade of mass death.
Within the Nazi upper ranks, Rudolf Höss was considered, according to an SS report, a “true pioneer” for his mass-killing innovations at the camp, which became the deadliest site of the war under his watch. After the Final Solution began being implemented in 1941, Höss installed gas chambers and ovens at Auschwitz capable of killing thousands of people every hour and disposing of their bodies; from then on, the camp was a brutally efficient system of death. He was also the one who introduced the poisonous gas Zyklon B to the camps, impressing Adolf Eichmann.
As portrayed in the film, Rudolf Höss was briefly transferred to a more administrative role within the Nazi Party in 1943 — a move that the family gardener has testified angered Rudolf’s wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller), because she believed the family had everything they needed at Auschwitz. (Glazer has said that his need to understand this argument between the two of them was the driving force behind the film.) However, he was reassigned to the camp the following year to oversee the mass extermination of Hungarian Jewry in an operation named after him.
He went into hiding after the war, but was tracked down by Hanns Alexander, a German Jewish Nazi hunter, and stood trial in Poland in 1947, where he was sentenced to death.
Höss admitted to his role in the genocide in a written statement in which he coldly describes the “improvements” his Auschwitz team made over similar extermination efforts at Treblinka — using the same dispassionate, removed cadence spoken by the film’s version of Höss.
Höss was hanged in Auschwitz at the age of 45, on gallows he himself had ordered constructed at the camp.
The bulk of “The Zone of Interest” focuses not on the mass extermination, but rather on the particulars of Höss’ family life and how this Nazi clan mentally separated the two. As in the film, the real Höss family lived in an impeccably maintained two-story house that bordered Auschwitz: They could see the prisoner blocks and crematoria from their upstairs window.
A scene from "The Zone of Interest" (photo credit: Courtesy of A24) A young girl plays the Yiddish song ‘Sunbeams,’ composed at Auschwitz in Jonathan Glazer’s of Interest.
Rudolf and his wife Hedwig saw themselves as, fulfilling the Nazi ideal. While Rudolf went to work at the camps every morning, Hedwig busied herself with her social life and proudly accepted the moniker of “Queen of Auschwitz.”
Sandra Hüller as Hedwig Höss in a scene from The Zone of Interest, directed by Jonathan Glazer. A24, via AAP
Historian Thomas Harding wrote about how they stocked their closets with clothes and jewellery seized from the Jews who were exterminated, and with the help of a large waitstaff, including some Auschwitz prisoners, they kept a garden, often entertained guests and swam and canoed on the nearby Sola River with their kids. (One scene in the film depicts Rudolf hurrying his kids away from the river once he realised it is full of human ash from the camps.)
After Rudolf was caught and hanged after the war, his family was free to go, but they were shunned by German society. One of Rudolf's daughters, Brigitte, would later move to the US, and her mother came to visit her frequently. She worked for decades at a Washington, DC fashion store owned by Jews who had fled the Nazis after Kristallnacht [the night of broken glass] .
The Zone of Interest Soundtrack 2024 Credit: The Hollywood Reporter
“The Zone of Interest” competed for the Palme d’Or; It won the Grand Prix, at the Cannes Film Festival, the FIPRESCI Award -The International Federation of Film Critics (short for Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique) and the Soundtrack Award for Mica Levi’s score in 2023.
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Jonathan Glazer's masterpiece film 'The Zone of Interest' won THREE BAFTA AWARDS for Film Not in The English Language, Sound and Outstanding British Film, the film never shows the inside of the camp’s operations.
James Wilson, The Zone of Interest producer speaks, with director Jonathan Glazer alongside. Kate Green/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA
Jonathan Glazer's “The Zone of Interest” has become the latest Holocaust movie nominated at the 96th Academy Awards. It has been nominated for five Oscars including - Best Picture, Best International Feature, Best Adapted Screenplay Best Sound and Best Director — for Jonathan Glazer, and is the only film to cross over into both categories this year.
The Zone of Interest By Martin Amis 2014
#eebaftas # thezoneofinterest #a24 #film4 #JonathanGlazer #JamesWilson #MartinAmis #Palmed’Or #GrandPrix #CannesFilmFestival #FIPRESCI #BAFTA2024 #Auschwitz #WWII #Holocaust #ChristianFriedel #SandraHüller #AcademyAwards #ThomasHarding #historian #Gillian Rose #TimothySnyder #book
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ヒプノシスマイク -Rhyme Anima- (Fatal Four Ver.)
In honor of Season 2 premiering soon here's this!
Bring the Beat!
[Wicked Requiem:]
Wicked Requiem!
[Yuriko:]
I'll only say this once to any enemies who appear
Dare threaten my family, and the only thing left of you will be a bloody smear
[Kaoru:]
Think you can hide your secrets from me?
Oh, please! Nothing can be hidden from my sight!
[Kanra:]
With the face of an angel and the rage of a devil
Try your luck, I’m just itching for a fight
[Silent Tragedy:]
Silent Tragedy!
[Kanon:]
How amusing, scurrying around my lab like rats
You won't get very far, I can assure you of that
[Reika:]
A girl can get used to this, you know?
The feeling of having the world in the palm of your hands
[Sakura:]
A blood-stained crown rests on my brow
Who are you to give me a command?
[Death Row Block:]
Death Row Block!
[Akihisa:]
Call it a desire for vengeance and strife
But I still have more to do before heading to the afterlife
[Touya:]
Think you can leave me all alone?
Just for that, I’ll make sure to give your throat a slash
[Rintaro:]
What a pretty picture-perfect life you live
Makes me want to burn it all to ash!
[Valor Guard:]
Valor Guard!
[Seiji:]
Tough as steel and stronger than any shield
Even against the entire world, I will never yield!
[Lyall:]
For those who commit the worst of crimes
I’ll see you judged by Anubis the Jackal!
[Ayumu:]
The life of a medic isn't for the faint of heart
You’ll find that it's a constant uphill battle!
[Fatal Four:]
Hypnosis action ends corruption
Lyrics that kick away verses
Nautilus diving into your mind
Attacking by surprise, ignition!
Beyond this endless game
Even if the world ends
We'll continue to fight
At the Division Rap Battle!
[Wicked Requiem:]
Deadly song!
[Yuriko:]
I can see it in your eyes that you’re afraid
Fear not I’ll sing your final serenade
[Kaoru:]
Even if I pray to the Muses for guidance
It's to the goddess Athena whom I dedicate my win
[Kanra:]
Inhumanly born from the deepest pits of hell
The masses would call my existence a sin
[Silent Tragedy:]
Fierce blade!
[Kanon:]
Begging for mercy from a maniac?
Fool, my heart has long since turned pitch black
[Reika:]
How can you say I'm horrible for being evil?
At least I do it with stone-cold style
[Sakura:]
Locked and loaded with my finger on the trigger
I'll gladly put a bullet in your head with a smile
[Death Row Block:]
Execution!
[Akihisa:]
Opposing us is the quickest way to die
Perhaps you ought to say your final goodbyes
[Touya:]
Just the sight of you gets me all hot and bothered
Come on, let's go a few rounds
[Rintaro:]
Think you can run the fuck away?
I’m hot on your heels like a hellhound!
[Valor Guard:]
Duty bound!
[Seiji:]
A warning for all there is very little I fear
Especially when dealing with threats to all I hold dear
[Lyall:]
With eyes that see everything like an owl
I’ll catch you even during the darkest nights
[Ayumu:]
Even when everyone else has long given up
I'll keep on going with all my might
[Fatal Four:]
Hypnosis action ends corruption
Gimmicks that burn synapses
Nobody can stop this now
Ignition!
Now we invite you to catharsis
Rhyming all over the place
Carving into history
With this Division Rap Battle!
[Kaoru:]
Mind racing faster than you can comprehend
Even now it's plotting your bitter end!
[Reika:]
Even decked out head to toe in jewels
I’ll destroy anyone who tries to overthrow my rule!
[Touya:]
Seems like you’re someone no one will miss
How about I seal your fate with a kiss?
[Lyall:]
Hidden like the dark side of the moon
Your doom approaches soon!
[Kanra:]
I’m quick to anger and, with my strength enough said
So careful, or else you’ll end up dead!
[Sakura:]
Don't even think about trying to be brave
You'll only just dig your own grave!
[Rintaro:]
A battle between divisions, call it a nuclear winter!
Leaving nothing but ash and cinder!
[Ayumu:]
I might be here to heal
But that doesn't mean I'll kneel!
[Yuriko:]
That's it I’m done playing nice
It's time I leave you in agonizing pain!
[Kanon:]
A verbal barrage rains upon the psyche
Let's see you undo the damage to your brain!
[Akihisa:]
This is our reality now
One where words have all the power!
[Seiji:]
Opponents stand all around
The Division Rap Battles are no place to cower!
[Fatal Four:]
Hypnosis action ends corruption
Lyrics that kick away verses
The Nautilus dives, invading the brain
Ignition!
Even if what results from this endless game
Is the end of the world
We'll keep resisting
With this Division Rap Battle!
#hypnosis microphone#hypnosis mic#hypmic#hypmic oc#hypnosis mic oc#edogawa division#wicked requiem#kuromiya yuriko#shinozaki kaoru#akemi kanra#shizuoka division#silent tragedy#kanon hojo#reika aichi#sakura kito#katsushika division#death row block#akihisa mashiro#touya kisaragi#rintaro himura#niigata division#seiji tsukimoto#lyall shiba#ayumu hayami#the fatal four#rhyme anime
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saga: SOUMISSION / DOMINATION 77
Samedi,
Pas de Coaching ce matin, le père de Jean est en voyage d'affaire à l'étranger. Je décide donc de passer voir sa femme.
Ça va faire longtemps que je ne suis passé vérifier le travail du jardin et son implication dans l'éducation sexuelle des potes de Jean.
Sans m'annoncer je sonne de 9h (heure habituelle de mon coaching).
Elle m'ouvre en peignoir. Elle est surprise de me voir les copains de Jean ne venant que vers 10h.
Elle me saute au cou. Je me dégage vite et lui enlève le peignoir. Elle est nue dessous. Collée à moi elle me masse le paquet qui grossit vite et demande de la place pour se déployer totalement.
Elle dézippe ma combi et mes attributs sortis, elle pompe ma queue direct fond de gorge comme une sevrée depuis longtemps.
Jean apparaît en haut de l'escalier. Il descend me dire bonjour. J'en profite pour lui demander si elle a un copain à lui pour ce matin. Il me confirme un fils de bourge plein au as qui lui retient un samedi sur deux.
En attendant elle me suce bien. L'usage répété a rodé sa gorge et à genoux elle arrive à me prendre en entier.
J'envoi Jean me copier les enregistrements qu'il à fait depuis mon dernier passage sur une nouvelle clé USB de grande capacité.
Elle se relève et pliée en deux elle me présente son cul. Je me Kpote vite fait et lui défonce direct l'anus. Pas de passage par sa chatte de toute façon je n'y suis pas assez serré et la kpote est lubrifiée. Il est tôt et même bien excité elle est encore bien serrée. Je m'enfonce en force, elle souffle mais ne cherche pas à s'échapper, trop contente que ce soit moi qui l'encule.
Elle s'accroche à la console de l'entrée pour soutenir mes coups de reins. Je passe mes mains sur ses seins et attrape les deux tétons que je fais rouler entre mes doigts. Elle monte en pression, son cul spasme sur la bite. je passe à la vitesse supérieure et serre mes doigts. Elle jouit, son anus me serre comme dans un étau, trop bon, je pince de nouveau pour ressentir cette sensation. Alors qu'elle continue de jouir, je jute au fond de son cul, remplissant la kpote.
Je m'arrache et ce faisant lui tire une dernière contraction. Je dékpote et en la lui donnant lui dit d'aller se laver car son premier plan allait pas tarder à arriver.
La bite à l'air je rejoins la chambre de Jean, passe dans sa salle de bain pour me laver le sexe avant de le ranger derrière le cuir.
Sur son PC, je mate les dernières séances de sa mère. Je vois passer Jean Black qui plonge ses 30cm au fond de son cul et des têtes (et bites) nouvelles.
Elle jouit bien de se faire ramoner par de jeunes bites. Depuis qu'elle m'a dépucelé, je ne crois pas que son mari l'ait touchée. Mais elle n'a pas perdu au change vu la petite bite qu'il a entre les jambes.
D'après ce que j'ai pu mater elle ne s'est jamais fait prendre par aussi petit depuis et ça n'a pas l'air de lui déplaire.
Coup de sonnette, Jean descend accueillir son pote et l'emmène au salon d'été (près de la piscine) où sa mère attend à poil.
Sur le PC je vois le jeune entrer. Il a déjà ses habitudes. Il est à poil en 1mn. 1,75m, 60Kg à vue de nez, musclé gentiment et un sexe déjà en érection d'environ 18cm qui m'a l'air plus épais que la moyenne avec un gland pointu.
Je mate la rencontre. Le jeune lui dit de le sucer. Elle se met à genoux et commence à jouer avec le gland, lèche la hampe des couilles à la couronne. Au bout de quelques instant il devient impatient et prenant sa tête entre ses deux mains, il lui enfonce sa bite entière. Elle tousse un peu, la bite doit être bien un peu plus large que la moyenne. Ça ne l'arrête pas. Il pompe sa bouche sans se soucier d'elle. On l'entend la traiter de " salope ", de " meuf qui aime se taper des petit jeunes ", " qu'elle en veut de la bite et qu'elle va en avoir ". En attendant Jean est revenu. il me dit que c'est un mec de sa classe qui est arrivé seulement cette année dans son lycée, qu'il a de la tune et qu'il réserve toujours la matinée entière soit deux séances. Il me dit aussi qu'il a un peu plus d'imagination que les autres.
Pendant que Jean fait les comptes de ce qu'il me doit sur les passes de sa mère, je continu à mater. C'est plus fun qu'un film de cul car je sais que c'est du direct.
Sur l'écran coupé en 4 (1/4 écran par caméra), je vois qu'il a changé de pratique. Lassé ou peur de juter, il s'est retiré de la bouche et s'est kpoté la bite.
Il l'a fait mettre à 4 pattes et s'enfonce dans son vagin. Il la secoue bien. Elle fait sa " chienne " réclamant qu'il la lime plus fort encore. Il s'accroche à ses épaules et ses coups de rein ralentissent mais gagnent en puissance. Je la vois obligée de s'arquebouter pour ne pas glisser sur le sol.
Je l'entend déclarer qu'elle est trop large et je le vois juste après changer de trou.
Il pose son gland sur la rosette de la meuf puis d'un seul coup s'enfonce totalement. Elle en cri de surprise. (pas de douleur, je l'ai rodé y'a pas si longtemps !).
Ça m ;"excite, à Jean qui en a fini avec les comptes, je dis de me sucer. Assis sur le bord de la chaise, je dégage ma bite et sort mes boules. Il glisse sous le bureau et commence à me téter. Il a un peu de difficulté tant ma bite est raide et tendue vers mon nombril. Du coup je me lève, il me suce mieux.
Sur l'écran le jeune continu à prendre son plaisir. il a relevé la mère de Jean et la prend maintenant pliée sur la table de jardin. Il lui appui sur le dos et la caméra de profil nous montre ses seins écrasés sur le plateau.
Je demande une kpote à Jean qui me l'enfile aussitôt. Sans quitter l'écran des yeux, je l'encule dès qu'il présente son petit trou devant mon gland. Je lui fais prendre la même position que sa mère, le torse aplati sur le bureau. Je me calque sur le rythme du petit jeune. Je sélectionne la caméra la plus intéressante et la met plein écran. Sur un 21 pouce l'image est pas mal du tout.
J'entend soudain le jeune demander si elle a son gode. Comme elle répond oui, il lui dit d'aller le prendre et de se le mettre dans la chatte avant de revenir.
Je reviens à l'écran partagé. On peut voir la meuf se planter le gode de 20cm x 5 (qu'elle avait acheté à ma demande) au fond de sa chatte, jusqu'à ce que les fausses couilles buttent sur son clito, puis revenir vers la bite tendue du jeune mec.
Elle reprend sa position et il l'encule de nouveau, criant son plaisir.
Je le sais pour l'avoir déjà testé, l'enculer quand elle a un gode dans la chatte c'est divin. Chaque va et vient fait frotter son gland sur celui en plastique de la fausse bite et ça excite un max.
C'est ce qui arrive au petit jeune. Il monte en pression plus rapidement. Du coup il stoppe de temps en temps au fond de son cul.
Nous l'entendons déplorer le fait que ce ne soit pas une deuxième vrai bite qui la ramone. Qu'elle aime tellement la bite que ça lui ferait sûrement plus d'effet encore.
Elle se tait et ne lui dit pas que c'est pas nouveau pour elle.
Emporté par l ;"élan, il lui dit que si ça se trouve il pourrait peut être venir avec un pote à lui pour le faire.
Je pense que rien que l'idée, ça le fait jouir et nous l'avons vu se cramponner aux hanches pendant qu'il se vidait dans sa kpote.
De mon coté, j'avais juté quelques minutes plus tôt au fond du cul de Jean. Et nous avions maté la fin moi assis et lui sur mes genoux.
J'autorisais Jean à accepter moyennant une rallonge qu'il amène un de ses copains.
Puis le laissait aller rechercher son copain.
Plus tard je quittais la maison CD et une enveloppe Kraft bien pleine.
JARDINIER
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It’s Like Fate
I can’t stop writing stories about this man! This is a story where you meet Austin at the premiere. Please enjoy! 🤗 (I don’t really care for the title but oh well, I didn’t know what to name it lol)
“Wow, this is crazy!” your friend Penelope squeals.
You nod, unable to speak as you look around at the chaos before you. Your friend dragged you to the premiere of Elvis. You weren’t necessarily a huge Elvis fan but you did like some of his songs. Penelope loved celebrities and all things pop culture. Back in 2008, she was first in line at the premiere for Twilight because of her obsession with Robert Pattinson. Her persistence got her a nice picture with him AND Taylor Lautner at that premiere. Tonight, Penelope was very excited to meet Tom Hanks, he was her favorite actor after all.
The premiere was pretty wild. The red carpet was rolled out and there was a mass amount of fans lining both sides.
“Thank god we are right against this rope” she said looking down and grabbing it to steady herself.
“I can’t believe how crazy this is! All for a movie” you say and shake your head in disbelief.
Penelope looks at you, eyes wide.
“This isn’t just any movie, [Y/N]. This is ELVIS. This will for sure be Oscar nominated. Plus, the guy who plays Elvis is so damn cute” she explains. She stands on her tip toes and looks around.
“Where are they?!” she asks.
You look and watch the other fans holding up their phones and merchandise to be signed. You liked celebrities but you weren’t obsessed with them like Penelope was. They were just normal people. They did normal things. What was the big hype?
Suddenly, screams erupted and people started to push you.
“Oh my god!!!!!!! They’re here!!!!!!!“ Penelope jumps up and down excitedly.
You look over and watch as the cast gets out of the black stretch limousine.
The first one to get out was a very VERY attractive man. You’ve never seen a boy with such perfect hair in your life.
“Who the hell is that?“ you ask, unable to take your eyes off of him. He wore a black button down shirt exposing a lot of chest. His silky black pants complimented his black boots.
“That’s Austin Butler. Oh my god, I can’t even look at him” she cries. “He plays Elvis! AUSTIN!!!!!!”
You watch as he makes his way down the carpet posing for pictures with fans and grabbing their black sharpies to sign posters and tshirts.
“There’s Tom Hanks!!!!!!!! I need a picture!!!!! TOM HANKS!!!!!” she screams, waving her hands frantically.
You look over at her and laugh. She was absolutely crazy but you loved her for it.
“Hey there”
You look up and your mouth drops. It was Austin Butler. He was standing right in front of you.
“Hi” you say with a smile.
He had beautiful blue eyes, as blue as the sky on a cloudless summer day.
“Thank you for coming” he smiles.
“Oh….uh….of course” you say.
“Oh my god….TOM!!!!!!!” Penelope screams right in your ear.
You and Austin both look at her and laugh.
“Big fan?” he asks.
You nod.
“Austin, keep it moving” a woman with slick black hair says. Maybe it was his publicist?
Everyone was screaming his name, throwing their hands in the air, reaching to try and touch him but he wouldn’t move.
The “maybe” publicist started to push him forward but he stopped and held out his hand to you.
You look down and grab it. You could hardly breathe. What was he doing?
“What’s your name?“ he asks.
“[Y/N]” you say loudly so he could hear over the screaming fans.
He squeezed your hand. “[Y/N]” he repeats as he gives you a once over with his eyes. “I’ll remember that”
His publicist pushed him down to greet more fans.
“Did. That. Just. Happen?” Penelope paused after each word she said.
You were taken aback. You couldn’t believe it either.
“I don’t know….pinch me” you say, jokingly.
Penelope squeezes your arm.
“Ow!” you squeak, grabbing your arm to rub away the pain.
“Hey! You told me to!” she says. “Oh my god….TOM!!!!!!” she yells, erratically, trying to get his attention.
You turned back towards the carpet and sigh. Austin Butler wanted to know your name. Maybe going to this premiere wasn’t so bad after all.
~
“I’m so happy I got a free poster!” Penelope says as you find your way to your seats in the movie theater.
It was packed full of people. Thankfully, Penelope ordered tickets way in advance so you were both able to get seats.
You look down at the poster you were given and run your fingers along Austin’s chin.
“You like him, don’t you?”
You look up and Penelope crosses her arm and gives a cheeky smile.
“What? No, what? He’s a celebrity. He’s whatever” you say and roll up the poster.
“Admit it, [Y/N]. You think he’s soooooo cute and you totally want him” she sings.
You shake your head. Sometimes Penelope was so immature.
“Yeah, yeah. For sure” you say, just to get her to shut up.
Suddenly, everyone in their seats began to scream.
You both look down and see Baz Luhrman, Austin Butler and Tom Hanks walk infront of the giant screen.
“TOM!!!!!!!” Penelope squeals again.
But you are just fixated on Austin. Jesus Christ, he was so hot. You couldn’t stop looking at every part of him. His hair. His height. His chest. His eyes. Everything was mesmerizing to you
“Thank you all so much for coming to the premiere of Elvis! We hope you enjoy the show!” Baz says into a microphone.
You watch as Austin’s eyes search the crowd.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with how this movie came to be. We had a lot of hard working people create this masterpiece.” Baz continued.
Austin’s eyes continued to look into the crowd. For some crazy reason, you felt like he was looking for you. You shook the crazy thought from your brain.
“We couldn’t have done it without our amazing Elvis” Baz exclaimed. The theater erupted with applause.
Austin took the mic and smiled.
“Thank you so much. It means the world to me” he says. Suddenly, Austin’s eyes are on you.
“I….uh…I’m excited to share this with you all. I’m not sure what else to say other than thank you for coming out tonight. For taking the time out of your busy day to come here and see this movie. It truly warms my heart” he says, as if you were the only girl in the room.
Austin hands the mic to Tom and he says his thanks. You look away shyly and then back up again but Austin was still looking at you.
“Dude. He’s STARING at you!” Penelope whispers into your ear.
You nod without breaking his gaze.
“He is…isn’t he?” you say.
He winks.
At that moment, the lights go off and the room begins to applaud.
You strain to see where he goes in the dark. You watch as he, Tom and Baz are whisked off out of the theater.
“Gahhhh, I’m so excited!!!!!” Penelope says.
“Me too” you say, biting your lip. You weren’t sure what you were really excited for, the movie about to begin or the fact that Austin Butler couldn’t stop looking at you.
~
The movie ended and the applause erupted again.
“That was absolutely spectacular” Penelope says as you both exit the theater.
“It was really good” you say. The entire time you couldn’t stop thinking about Austin. Watching him on the screen made you like him more and more.
“Tom Hanks was brilliant!” Penelope brags. You laugh and nod.
“Austin was….perfect” you say quietly.
“You loooooooove him” Penelope sings and dances around you. “Oh my god. Imagine if you date him!?”
You shake your head.
“Oh stop it. He’d never date me. I’m not even famous. I’m nobody” you explain to her. He wouldn’t date you, you thought. This was just some crazy thing where he just looked at you and that was it. It didn’t mean anything. This would all pass and nothing would come of it.
“Excuse me”
You and Penelope turn around to come face to face with the same lady with the slick black hair that was pushing Austin on the carpet before.
“Is your name…” the lady trails off as she looks down at the clipboard in her hand.
“[Y/N]?” she finishes.
Your stomach starts to flip as if you were on a rollercoaster going 100mph.
“Um…” you start to say.
“Yes, this is [Y/N]!” Penelope says enthusiastically. She grabs my arm and shakes me a bit.
The lady looks at me.
“Hmmm…white off the shoulder jumpsuit…” she says looking back down at her clipboard. “Yes, it seems you’re [Y/N]”
You nod and she could tell you were a little confused.
“Austin sent me out here to find you. He wanted to come out himself but I refused, considering…well, he’s a huge star and we don’t need any more fans bombarding him” she explains.
You nod once again.
“So, this is for you” she says and rips a piece of paper off of her board and hands it to you.
You look down at it and read what it says.
There’s something about you…Please attend the premiere party at my house tomorrow at 8pm. Here’s my address…you can bring your friend.
Xo , A
“Oh my god…..we are invited to a party!!!!!!” Penelope squeals, jumping up and down.
“Please” the lady says with an eye roll. “Do not lose that paper. We don’t need Austin’s address all over town”
You nod. “I won’t, I promise”
The lady smiles, “See you tomorrow girls”
She turns on her feet and walks away.
You look at Penelope and her mouth is wide open.
“I can’t believe we are invited to Austin Butler’s house!!!!!!!!!” she whispered. “It must be LOVE at first sight!!!”
You look down at the piece of paper again. You felt your heart flutter with excitement.
“It looks like we are going to have to go shopping tomorrow” you say with a grin.
Penelope squeals and grabs your hand. You both walk out of the theater and into the cool summer night.
#austin butler#elvis presley#elvis2022#elvismovie#austin butler fanfiction#austin butler x reader#Austin butler fanfic#austin butler smut
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「めでたしめでたし」の以前に | A・A and Oberon
-
The crowd was noisy. The lights were far too bright. The curtain drawn around the stage barely hid the props and backdrop and the actors and staff ran frantically around to their places, settling last minute polishing on their makeup and dialogues.
He hums for a bit before eyeing at everyone coldly.
It was far too noisy as the spectators got into their seats with popcorn and camera on hand, ready to record their one time performance.
Eager audiences and their neverending appetite for entertainment that touches their hearts.
Merely enjoying scenes with the most action or the most emotion rather than reading in between the lines of their speech and clothes, preferring bright lights and tragedy the most.
"Are you excited to meet the Foreign Mage too, Oberon?" Beside him, the annoying tomboy asked with a smile and an elegant tilt of her head in question.
She was amused. And of course, far too happy to meet a certain someone again.
Closing the curtain and turning away from the audience, he began to head towards one of the boxes usually reserved for the distinguished and wealthy, with Artoria hovering behind him.
He smiled widely in return as he plopped down onto one of the chairs, "My, I don't know about that but we have yet to meet the guest actor themselves for this time's opening night. Perhaps make a stunning first impression for everyone before anything else?"
Oberon heard a sigh beside him as Artoria settled onto the seat right next to him. "This is the 'second' premiere though. At least be a little more lax towards them than the first time."
His eye twitched in annoyance. He couldn't help but sigh loudly and obnoxiously, "I seriously forgot how long this play is going to be."
But just as Artoria was about to respond, the both of them catch a familiar face from the entrance of the theater, smiling and waving at the faceless masses.
The Foreign Mage along with some of their companions was welcomed as well with a spotlight shining down at them, signifying their status as people who will co-star with tonight's main cast.
And as soon as they sat at the front row seat, the announcer began to speak with the theater darkening.
...Haaaah-
As golden sparkles drifted down to the red carpet, so too did his black insect coat dissolve and the rest of his Vortigern elements. With his clothes now being his white recon outfit, Blanca flew over to him as he held out his arm for her to perch on.
Seriously, why even bother doing this play all over again? A majority of the audience has already been spoiled with the first premiere. Some were most likely going to skip everything by sleeping it off and being awake when there's a fight going on.
It was just a waste of time.
The story has already ended. The page has already been turned. The curtain call would eventually close. The fate of the Autumn Forest and of Fairy Britain will not change.
And yet, he still has a role to play.
This is the worst.
Stuffing her face with popcorn, Artoria waved at him with her smile, "Good luck out there. Do try to spend more time with Caster and Ritsuka though. Last time was-"
"-was far too short. Of course I know that." Oberon couldn't help but roll his eyes. Did she seriously have to tell that to his face? She must be joking.
Again, he gave her his sarcastic smile, "Well then, I'm off. See you at the grand finale you bastard. Not that I'm looking forward to it."
With that, he rode on Blanca to head back onto the stage to welcome the Chaldeans in this picturebook with a twilight sky and sinners underneath.
#this is about uhh NA release of lb6 with the first premiere being.. you know jp server haha#fgo#fate grand order#artoria avalon#oberon vortigern#idk how to end this honestly#i want to try write this so uh idk..........
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Red Carpet - (Cassie Cage x Nyx)
Summary: Cassie Convinces Nyx to attend a red carpet event for Ninja Mime 5.
TW: Johnny Cage shenanigans, language, etc.
WC: 1.2K
Taglist: @roofgeese, @poisonedtruth, @confidentandgood, @emotionalcadaver, @chadillacboseman, @enightshade89, @imwithyoutiltheendofthelinebucky, @illiana-mystery, @unpetitoiseau, @spacestephh, @pinkcatminht
Nyx enjoyed quiet days when she didn't have to leave the house. A vinyl pressing of Wish by The Cure spun on the turn table as she thumbed through an old copy of Pet Sematary.
While Cassie loved the bright and hot days summer boasted, her oft put upon wife loved the crisp and spooky aesthetic of autumn. Even if it was practically non existent in L.A.
"Hey, hottie." Cass announced her appearance as always, toting Ghost in her arms as she stood in the doorway.
"Hey," Nyx responded flatly, eyes still on the page. This earned an unnoticed roll of bright aquamarine as the blonde strutted forward. The ferret was released before she plucked the book from long fingers, tossing it aside. "Don't ignore me."
"You make that painfully difficult, Cass." the retort was playful though only the corner of one lip quirked. The young Cage loved when Nyx was makeup free, bicolored hair pulled into a messy ponytail. She seemed more real than a trained killing machine. "What's up?"
"Well, duh." Cassie groaned, straddling a sweatpants clad lap. "The premiere is in six hours. You've gotta get ready."
"Oh, shit. That's today?" Collapsing against the sofa in defeat, the woman sighed. There wasn't much she dreaded more than going to one of her father-in-law's movies. Hell, she'd much rather let Kano and her old friends from the Black Dragon slaughter her first.
Maybe even let Echo carve her up with those knives...
"Think I can take a rain check?" Nyx pouted, enticingly running her hands up legging covered thighs, a futile attempt at a distraction as her wrists were caught in soft hands.
"No." the blonde backed away, now incensed. "Because you took a took a rain check for my dad's Lifetime Achievement Award at the Saturns. Robert Englund presented it."
"I'm sorry I missed Freddy Krueger gifting your dad a golden planet." Nyx announced sarcastically, attempting to read again before the book was childishly swatted away. "Seriously?"
"But you promised." Cassie pouted, collapsing onto the couch while Nyx watched coldly. "This is a really important Cage family event."
"Technically you're Cassie Rogers now..." she attempted to barter, hear a string of muffled expletives from the mass of blonde hair buried into a cushion. "And I haven't seen the first four Ninja Mime's. I'll only be confused."
"Cage hyphen Rogers. And it's not that difficult of a concept," Cassie declared, sitting up stubbornly. Arms were crossed over a pink tank top, blonde locks still damp from the shower. "Besides, I look really good in satin. I'll let you tear it off me later..."
The resident goth rolled her own blue eyes, having foregone her contacts for the day. Jumping to her feet, she paced nervously as Cassie followed her with a chorus of high pitched 'pretty please's.
“Fine!” Nyx exclaimed, gently pulling the needle from the turntable. Cassie's eyes flicked between her wife and the record.
‘You never turn off The Cure mid album.” the blonde’s brow arched suspiciously as Nyx rolled her eyes cartoonishly. Plucking Ghost from the carpet, the ferret was placed on one shoulder as Cassie was eyed with annoyance.
“I’ll go to the damn premiere." she pouted as Ghost easily crawled between two shoulders, draping her like a scarf. "But your dad better behave himself."
"That's literally impossible," Cassie blinked. There was no way to contain the entity known as Johnny Cage. The actor oft lived his life without consequences, at least that's how he preferred it. The commander also knew that her father and wife mixed about as well as water and oil.
Or lighter fluid and a match.
......
Golden ringlets cascaded across tan shoulders as Cassie put the finishing touches on her makeup. Nyx watched from the edge of the bed, enjoying the way pink satin complemented soft skin.
"You look perfect." she hummed, pulling ghost into her lap as bright purple eyes watched the blonde.
"You're just trying to butter me up so I hurry up."
"Maybe a little bit."
"I didn't say anything while you did your Suey Sue makeup."
"Siuoxsie Sioux." she corrected pointedly, cradling Ghost in upturned palms.
"Whatever." Blue eyes were rolled before another swipe of mascara was applied. It was a delicate process, one that Nyx knew well as her own makeup had already been strategically applied. "You look nice. Black really is your color."
"Even with these death traps strapped to my feet?" One stiletto heel was lifted up comically as the woman fell back upon the mattress, ferret in tow.
"The heels look nice." the blonde countered haughtily, "I wouldn't be caught dead at red carpet premiere with someone wearing combat boots."
"They're nice combat boots." Nyx pouted listlessly, still laying flat on her back. There was a sigh from across the room before heels clicked across the vinyl floor. In an instance, Cassie was lying beside her wife, lacing fingers against the duvet.
"I'm grateful you're going." she offered sweetly before receiving a quiet:
"I know."
......
The limousine was crowded, Johnny and Sonja squished into the end with Cassie and her put upon wife pushed further into the annals of the restrictive vehicle.
"Doing alright over there, Elvira?" Johnny suavely dipped his Wayfarer's beneath one eye, letting the frames balance on the tip of his nose.
"Dad," Cassie snapped warningly as Sonya cast her own warning glare. "You promised."
"Not to be an ass." he countered, shrugging in a jet black tuxedo. "Didn't know that included nicknames."
"More like pot shots," General Blade countered, looking more like a Hollywood starlet in a navy evening gown. The movie star grumbled, knowing his wife and daughter were two forces to be reckoned with.
Nyx hadn't even heard a word he said, lilac eyes focusing on the crowds clamoring outside the tinted glass. Most were younger women boasting signs that read 'I <3 Johnny' while the crowd was dotted with a few actual mimes.
Johnny Cage as a father-in-law had never been a point of contention. Sure, he got under skin but Nyx was difficult to be bothered, used to a far more dangerous crowd. However, galivanting in front of a roaring crowd frightened her like nothing else.
Her entire brand was working under the shadow of night, literally adopting the name of a Greek Goddess that represented as much. Being under the calculating eye of a bunch of judgmental strangers was different.
"You alright?" Cassie leaned in, looking like a vision beneath golden curls. "You're a little pale."
"She's always that pale. Yeowtch! Whaddya do that for?" Johnny's ramblings were quelled by his wife while the younger commander attempted to placate her own spouse.
"That's a lot of people." Nyx swallowed dryly, eyes wide before they fell on Cassie. It was like looking into the sun, being drawn by an innate warmth as she looked upon the woman she loved. Black painted fingers were drawn into a tan hand before being squeezed reassuringly.
"Just keep your eyes on me, okay? All we have to do is get inside and watch a trainwreck."
This earned a girlish giggle from the assassin while the actor grumbled in the back around. That hardly lasted a second before Johnny was popping a bottle of champagne and thrusting open the limo door.
"You ladies better be ready to party." He waggle his brows comically before disappearing to the unseen mobs of adoring fans who roared at his very arrival.
"Good luck," Sonya bid the two farewell before ducking out after her husband's antics. Cassie giggle girlishly before turning back to her wife.
"You ready?" and while Nyx would've normally responded with a resounding 'no', her answer was:
"I'll follow you anywhere."
#mortal kombat fanfiction#fanfiction#cassie cage x oc#nyx x cassie#otp: bubblegum goth#mortal kombat oc#mk nyx#oneshot#oc: nyx#nyssie
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Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #25: The Greatest Show on Earth!
October, 1987
Hmm. I dunno. I don’t think that anything with the Abomination is the greatest show.
-thinks about She-Hulk: Attorney at Law-
Still can be good though!
Let’s see how this presumably Simon Williams, Wonder Man focus issue goes!
The West Coast Avengers have been up to a lot lately. Here’s the rundown vis a vis Simon Williams specifically. His movie career is doing okay! In that he has a movie career! He’s playing the villain in an Arkon film which is the Marvel equivalent of Conan because they don’t always have the rights to Conan. Fun fact: Arkon is a real man from an alternate dimension that the Avengers had to stop from destroying the world. And now Hollywood makes movies about him.
Wonder Man also dealt with his fear of death by confessing his embezzlement wrongdoing to the world. Without his fear of death holding him back, he’s been a very confident guy. Confident enough to wear a new green and red costume which looked terrible.
The West Coast Avengers also wound up lost in space-time for so many issues. The main takeaway is that Simon’s new confidence led him to bad mouth the original Avengers right in front of Iron Man, rankle at taking orders, and just generally be a gigantic asshole in a bad costume.
Simon started feeling that maybe he’d outgrown the West Coast Avengers.
Also, one of his entourage showed up when he got back from lost in time and told him that his costume sucked. Which it did. So bad. Now he’s in a nice red and black outfit.
Although it debuted in the West Coast Avengers/Avengers Annual crossover story. Wherein despite Wonder Man’s newfound confidence, he got his ass kicked by Thor and Hyperion. Hyperion threw him into a star! He died!
So let’s see how he’s doing:
Well, he’s beating people up and being narrated doing it. On top of his spiffy new costume, I think his hair is starting to look pre-mullet.
Let’s call it overall a good place.
The peeps he’s beating up are actually stunt men.
No, he hasn’t gone all Hollywood and is beating up movie crew because he doesn’t control his outbursts.
This is promotion to promote the new Arkon IV: The Goblin Pit movie Simon is acting in with Arnold Schwarzburger. You read that right.
And because he showed off his new costume, nobody is even talking about the Christmas tree costume, as Dino the producer dubs it.
The new costume is more multi-functional than the Christmas tree, too. Although that mostly means that he can put a jacket with “dynasty shoulders” on over it for formal occasions and interviews.
As Simon, his girlfriend?, and producer take their seats for the premiere, there’s some exposition about how worried everyone was when Simon disappeared (into the past) and then when he went to Houston for a baseball game.
This is important exposition because it helped me place the annuals in the posting order.
The movie premiere starts.
Its not important to the plot to see the opening scene but c’mon. They dressed Simon in a little devil costume and glued a face mustache and beard to his face. The eyes look good though because they’re his real eyes.
The important part of the premiere scene for the plot is Simon thinking that he’s getting mass approval as a movie star in a way that the West Coast Avengers just can’t understand, doing stuff for altruism reasons they do!
Meanwhile, back at the West Coast Avengers Compound, Mockingbird and Hawkeye are enjoying a bubble bath together.
I think that’s their couple activity. They did a bath together at the end of the Hawkeye miniseries too. That tub was heart-shaped though.
And they deserve a nice bath, all that they’ve been through lately!
Mockingbird: “Man, am I exhausted! I could hole up here for a week!”
Hawkeye: “You said it ‘Bird! Gettin’ lost in time was bad enough, but dyin’ was even worse!”
Such a superhero thing to be able to say that sentence.
Hawkeye finds a chance to brag about how his team beat the East Coast Avengers in the death tournament. Never mind that it was part of an evil scheme to let the Grandmaster steal Death’s power. The important thing is that he sure proved that the West Coast Avengers could hold their own against a team with Captain America and Thor. Although those specific guys beat their opponents with embarrassing ease.
Bubblebath Hawkeye also swings the topic over to what Mockingbird went through when she was trapped in cowboy times and he wants to know whether Phantom Rider did anything to her beyond all the drugging.
Mockingbird lies that Phantom Rider never touched her. Because she doesn’t want Hawkeye to have to live with the knowledge. And also because she doesn’t want anyone to find out she manslaughtered Phantom Rider. And I guess once you start pulling threads, it may come out.
Anyway, the married couple gets frisky in the bath.
But what’s Tony Stark, Iron Man up to at the meanwhile?
Being the bigger man.
Iron Man: “This strongman competition between Iron Man and Wonder Man has got to stop! It’s no good for the team! I’m the senior member, so I’ll take the first steps toward --”
But he finds Simon isn’t in his bungalow and weakening his bigger man plan, he uncharitably decides Simon is doing something with his “blasted movie career”!
So you don’t even know his movie is premiering? So Simon didn’t even invite any of his teammates to the premiere?
Wow.
Wow wow wow.
I was gonna say, you gotta respect his movie career, even if you don’t think a superhero should be doing it. It’s clearly important to him. But Simon is kind of being a dick too.
After the movie premiere, there’s good news as Arkon IV: The Goblin Pit is a big hit with the audience! Everyone wants to shake Simon’s hand and Menachim tells Simon he’d be a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor if the academy respected fantasy films. Producer Dino tells him hey no problem, they’re all going to make so much money off of Simon’s movie career, Dino will just buy him a little award statuette.
Simon tells him not necessary. The love and adoration of the public is all the aware he needs.
Dino decides strike while the iron is hot and tells Simon about the next movie he’s got lined up.
Dino: “You gonna play-a de opponent from outta space in Rocky V -- you an’a Stallone-a gonna fight it out onna de space shuttle!”
I’m pretty sure I’ve heard a similar joke about how the Rocky franchise would eventually go IN SPACE. Guess its just an easy thing to crack wise about.
Wonder Man: “Gosh, Dino -- I really appreciate it -- but I don’t think that’ll do! You see, I’m a hero in real life, so I won’t be doing any more villains! Could hurt my image!”
Dino is taken aback because when he hired Simon, Simon was willing to do any role just to prove himself. But Simon says times change. He’s proven himself and now he wants a three picture Flash Gordon deal. He says he’ll have his agent contact Dino.
Wow. One movie and he’s already a prima donna.
Dino doesn’t seem that upset though. He just says Simon Williams is gonna go places.
Meanwhile, back at West Coast Avengers Compound, Moon Knight gazing moodily at the Moon through a window.
This is kind of an issue for unwinding after everything that happened.
Pretty sure that joining the West Coast Avengers is inevitable (I mean, he did literally die for them) Moon Knight contemplates that its not too much to imagine that one day he might even fly to the Moon.
Well, the Avengers do go to space sometimes.
But Moon Knight doesn’t want to go to the Moon because it’d be a letdown to know Khonshu as a god and then go to the Moon and see its just dust and craters.
Weird man, Marc Spector. Weird man with odd trains of thought.
Moon Knight’s pilot friend Frenchy shows up for a meeting and Moon Knight lowers the defenses so he can hover the Moon-Chopper over the Compound without the defenses shooting it down.
And basically Moon Knight is breaking up with Frenchy. Basically.
If he’s going to work with the Avengers, the Avengers don’t need another pilot. And its not stated but they probably wouldn���t hire a mercenary like Frenchy just on Moon Knight’s say so. So he wants to basically cut Frenchy loose so he’s not wasting his time hanging around waiting for Marc to call him.
Frenchy is cool with this and saw it coming. As his closest friend, he’s seen that Marc has been at loose ends since love interest Marlene left. And this Avengers thing seems like its the direction he needs right now.
Cool guy, Frenchy.
SCENE TRANSITION BACK TO WONDER MAN
In a limo, his girlfriend? Chris is asking why he bothers staying with the Avengers.
Wonder Man: “You know, Chris, I’ve been wondering that myself! I’m really glad of the break they gave me when I was just starting out, but, it’s kind of like with Dino -- ! I’m world-class now, in both heroism and stardom! I’ve moved to a different league!”
Chris: “Stars do move in a different world from everyone else... but the West Coast Avengers is still a good commercial tie-in for you! I’d ask for a bigger percentage of the merchandising before you decide to cut it off altogether!”
... She... really doesn’t get how superheroes work, does she?
Wonder Man: There’s no merchandising -- not for us, anyway! All the revenues from the Marvel comic and the toys go to charity!”
Chris: “What? Then what’s your net, and how many points is that?”
Wonder Man: “No points -- we all get the same cut! We each get a stipend of $1000 a week!”
Chris: “One G a week? You can get two G’s a day out of Dino after tonight!”
Wonder Man: “Sure, if I could guarantee I’d be on the set whenever he needed me!”
Chris: “Well...?”
Wonder Man: “Well... Let’s see how the Carson Show goes, before I answer that! But the way these crowds are gathering for me tonight, I think I already know the answer...!”
Meanwhile, BACK AT THE COMPOUND again, Hank Pym walks into his lab and whaddayaknow La Espirita is here!
I’d wondered what happened to her after she was left with the Collector!
Apparently, she appeared in Silver Surfer’s solo
Silver Surfer bust into the Collector’s ship to question him about the Elders’ various plots and discovered La Espirita was just hanging around so he agreed to take her back to Earth.
Dropped her off in Albuquerque, in fact.
La Espirita took care of some things and then swung by Los Angeles to check on the West Coast Avengers.
Hank asks her why she didn’t join the team in death when they all drank poison (and I’m still shaking my head at that being a plot point) but she tells him, yeah, she drank poison like all the cool kids but didn’t die of it.
Dr Pym: “What? But even Wonder Man died!”
La Espirita: “I know! There’s something very strange about me, Hank -- I don’t understand it myself -- but since my vision of Carlotta turned out to be crucial to returning the Avengers from the past, I know God has much to teach me still! I plan to enter the wilderness to seek a better understanding!”
Hank decides this is as good a time as any to dump her.
Classy as ever, Hank.
Dr Pym: “Bonita, I can never repay you for what you did for me -- you not only saved my life, but you helped me rebuild it -- I love you for that -- but I’ve come to see -- I don’t love you...!”
La Espirita: “I know that!”
She’s taking this well.
But, she has her own reservations about the relationship. Annnnd, y’know, I’ve never been too sure what exactly she saw in him anyway? And this following conversation implies maybe she was casually trying to convert him?
She asks him, knowing the answer, whether he believes in god.
Hank hems and haws but has to admit that he doesn’t. And La Espirita admits that an atheist isn’t a good match for her so she kind of expected she’d be going on her wilderness quest alone.
Oh my god, its the completely mutual dump! As spoken in legends!
Hank feels bad though and tries to say he’ll still go with her but she tells him his place is with the Avengers “the team you founded and have just found again!”
Good wordplay, La Espirita.
And her place is not with the Avengers. Aww. Dangit.
I mean. Moon Knight is fine. But I was hoping Bonita would stick around.
She gives Hank a kiss and strolls out of the book.
AT LEAST SAY HELLO TO EVERYONE FIRST, GEEZ.
Okay, back at the Wonder Man side of the plot.
Wonder Man appears on the Carson Show, very pleased with the applause he’s receiving.
Chris: “I knew it would be like this, Simon! The moment I thought of casting you in Arkon, I knew you just needed the one break to break through! Stallone was nobody before Rocky, but then it was straight to the top!”
And Simon promises to take her for a night on the town to remember as soon as he finishes the taping.
A journalist asks Wonder Man if he has some big bombshell news, since last time he appeared on the show, he announced his criminal past.
But before Wonder Man can say anything Abomination shoves his way onto the set.
Oh, I’m sorry.
That’s not Abomination.
It’s Tyrannus’ mind trapped in Abomination’s body.
Comics are weird.
For example: minor recurring Hulk villain guy Tyrannus? Who is Yet Another Underground Jerk like Mole Man? Yeah, Tyrannus is actually Romulus Augustulus. If you’re moderately interested in Roman history, you may recognize that as the name of the Last Western Roman Emperor.
YEAH. He’s that guy.
A child emperor that Goth general Odoacer just sort of shooed out of the room when his father Orestes refused payment to the German mercenary armies in Italy.
In history, Romulus Augustulus was given a pension to live on for being such a nice young lad and sent into exile. History is scarce but he probably didn’t cause any further trouble.
IN MARVEL, he was right pissed about the loss of his (pretty illegitimate) throne and became the servant of Pluto (who is a dick in Marvel) who sent him to destroy Merlin. He was stopped by the first Black Knight. And there’s something fitting about Marvel’s Original Character for Arthurian Lore beating up the Last Western Roman Emperor. Anyway, Merlin banished Tyrannus inside the Earth. Where he found the Fountain of Youth.
TRULY BONKERS.
Anyway, this dumb shit for some reason decided to body swap into Abomination and then went ugh this body is way too ugly. But he was stuck with it.
That’s not a tangent. That is literally his motivation for this issue.
Romulus Abomination: “This is your night to shine, manly one! Your night to strut the stage before the world! But I bestrode he world fifteen centuries ago -- and had I not fallen to Merlin, cursed be his name, I would rule it all today! But I did fall to Merlin, and I have recently fallen to the Hulk to be trapped in this grotesque pile of emerald protoplasm -- a body truly called Abomination... and if I cannot rule in glory, then neither will you!”
This is a truly stupid motivation.
Does he attack all movie stars or is Simon just lucky?
Wonder Simon tells everyone to back up to give him room to fight and for Chris to go home so she won’t be in danger.
She’s worried for Simon because Abomination goes toe-to-toe with the Hulk but Wonder Man isn’t impressed.
Gotta say. Makes for hilarious comedic timing.
Romulus Abomination: “You are unimpressed with me, are you? You will be impressed -- and it will be your final impression!”
Simon punches Abomination away and belt jets away for some space and so he can build up ramming speed.
But Abomination tackles him out of the air, shatters his belt jets, and hurtles him into another studio.
David Letterman’s studio, precisely.
So this is another time that Wonder Man appeared on David Letterman’s Late Night show.
That David Letterman wit.
All this getting his ass kicked has blackened one of Wonder Man’s eyes, something Abomination takes note of.
Romulus Abomination: “So -- the man of wonders is not invulnerable!”
Wonder Man: “Wonder Man is still a man, if that’s what you mean -- but the difference between me and invulnerable is too small for you to notice!”
Good line! I mean, you need to stop getting your ass kicked to sell it but good line!
Wonder Man punches Abomination off of him, even manages to stagger him for a moment. But that old self-doubt is boiling up. Abomination gives Hulk a hard time, Hulk gives Wonder Man a hard time. The math don’t look great for him.
And and and, he thought he couldn’t die but the Collector’s poison killed him. He thought he’d gotten strong enough that he could beat Thor but Mjolnir gave Thor an edge. So what if Wonder Man is wrong about being able to beat Abomination?
What if Abomination kills him?
Fear is the mind-killer!
He’s gotten really good at avoiding spiraling into doubt.
Wonder Man announces that a tan will really help Abomination’s self-image problem. And then wraps a stage light around him.
Zing!
Abomination flexes loose from the light but gets electrocuted by the now damaged wire. JUST AS WONDER MAN PLANNED!
With Abomination stunned, Wonder Man is free to go ham on him. VERY HAM!
Except nobody cares.
The camera crew didn’t bother filming any of it, figuring it was just another engineered fight Simon arranged to hype up his movie.
Even when they’re told it was real, a real supervillain really showed up and really beat the shit out of him, nobody cares. They already got footage of him fighting at the engineered fight so... does it matter that nobody got this fight? Really, how many clips do you need, Simon?
And as a dejected Simon watches everyone take off, the gravest insult of all - an old man tells him that he likes the special effects of Jaws on the Universal tour better.
Oof ouch.
Meanwhile, back at the West Coast Avengers Compound, god damn, these two are still chillaxing.
Hawkeye and Mockingbird have moved on from the hot tub to the hot room and are in the sauna room that the compound apparently has.
Geez, I wonder if I can get hired as a West Coast Avenger. The only downside I can think of is that if I don’t quit in time, I’d have to be in Force Works.
ANYWAY, as Hawkeye is telling Mockingbird about all the wild days he had with the East Coast Avengers, but that he prefers leading his own team - problem child #1 walks into the sauna.
He excuses himself when he sees its in use but Hawkeye tells him yes this is definitely not awkward, why don’t you come in so we can discuss your future with the team.
Wonder Man: “And I can guess why -- but I’ll save you the trouble! I came to tell you, Clint, no matter how big I get in this town -- and it’s gonna be very big -- I learned tonight what’s real and what isn’t! An actor plays many parts, but I have one special part to play -- as a part of the West Coast Avengers!”
Aww! I didn’t know how Wonder Man’s ego trip ‘I’m too cool for this team’ thing was gonna end. I figured there’d be drama. Hawkeye or Iron Man would get in a shouting match with him.
Him realizing on his own that he could just be a superpowered celebrity, doing nothing but movies and fake fights, but that it would feel empty -- well, good on Simon for getting his head on straight without it requiring yelling.
And good on him for wanting to stick to the acting thing! It makes him pretty unique and I’d hate to see it get written out.
Next time, West Coast Avengers. Still one more issue before the dates are synced back up. But god damn it the Zodiac. I wouldn’t say I hate those guys but they’re boring.
That “What is Scorpio -- ?” is at least enough of a twist to get me interested though. What is Scorpio indeed.
Follow @essential-avengers because What is Scorpio? Maybe a curated bimonthly box of snacks? Like and reblog if you like snacks or unnecessary references.
#essential avengers#west coast avengers#avengers#Hawkeye#Mockingbird#Wonder Man#Moon Knight#La Espirita#Dr Pym#Hank Pym#Iron Man#David Letterman#yes again#Johnny Carson#yes him again too#Abomination#Romulus Augustulus#Tyrannus#man beats up gamma guy#rest of team has a relaxing time or dumps someone
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Saturday, February 24, 2024 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)
WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?:
SENSE AND SENSIBILITY (W Network) 8:00pm
NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:
AMAZON PRIME CANADA
THE HOLDOVERS
CRAVE TV
GUS THE ITSY BITSY KNIGHT (Season 1)
NETFLIX CANADA
THE 30TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS — Netflix Live Event
ROCK PAPER SCISSORS (YTV) 10:00am (SERIES PREMIERE): When Scissors runs out of money, he tries to become a janitor but discovers that the job involves way more skill than he initially thought; Rock and Paper try to motivate Scissors in an unusual way.
NHL HOCKEY
(SN360) 12:00pm: Blues vs. Red Wings
(TSN2) 2:00pm: Habs vs. Devils
(SN360) 3:00pm: Rangers vs. Flyers
(City TV/SNPacific) 7:00pm: Bruins vs. Canucks
(CBC/SN) 7:00pm: Leafs vs. Avalanche
(SN1) 7:00pm: Knights vs. Sens
(CBC/SN) 10:00pm: Flames vs. Oilers
MLB SPRING TRAINING (SN) 1:00pm: Phillies vs. Jays
CURLING
(TSN) 2:00pm: 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts: Page Playoff
(TSN) 5:00pm: Curling Day in Canada
(TSN/TSN3) 8:00pm: 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts: Page Playoff
(TSN4/TSN5) 9:30pm: 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts: Page Playoff
PWHL HOCKEY (SN1) 2:30pm: Ottawa vs. Montreal
MLS SOCCER (TSN4/TSN5) 7:00pm: Orlando vs. CF Montreal
W5 (CTV) 7:00pm: Who's at Your Door?; Who Is Dillon Brooks?: "W5" investigates companies that allegedly trick homeowners into signing long-term contracts for items they don't need; why a Canadian is the most-hated man in the NBA.
UFC MMA
(SN360) 8:00pm: Moreno vs. Royval 2 - Prelims
(SN1/SN360) 10:00pm: Moreno vs. Royval 2
AURORA TEAGARDEN MYSTERIES: SOMETHING NEW (CTV) 8:00pm: Young Aurora Teagarden returns home to Lawrenceton to pursue her post-graduate degree but soon finds herself embroiled in a mystery involving her friend's fiance.
LOVE AT FIRST LIE (Lifetime Canada) 8:00pm: Kate is looking for the perfect match online when she swipes and meets Walker, a jet-setting art dealer. After Kate falls for the dashing dealer, she learns that he is a hustler who cons women out of their money.
SNOW SCHOOL (Nat Geo Wild) 8:00pm: When every day is a snow day, school is always in session; a baby walrus gets a swim lesson from Mom; young stoats' playtime teaches them how to hunt; otter pups take a slide and learn to avoid predators; owlets practice leaving the nest.
THE HAPPINESS PLAYBOOK (Super Channel Heart & Home) 8:00pm: Journalist Amy goes under cover at a happiness retreat run by the handsome Paul. Sparks fly between the two, but when Amy learns Paul is the secret son of a wealthy investor, she must choose between a career-making story and her growing feelings.
NBA BASKETBALL (TSN2) 8:30pm: Celtics vs. Knicks
THANKSGIVING (Crave) 9:00pm: An axe-wielding maniac terrorizes residents of Plymouth, Mass., after a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy. Picking off victims one by one, the seemingly random revenge killings soon become part of a larger, sinister plan.
DEAD MAN'S HAND (Starz Canada) 9:00pm: A gunslinger teams up with a marshal to save his kidnapped wife from a ruthless mayor and his private army.
WOLVES OF WAR (Super Channel Fuse) 9:00pm: During World War II, a decorated British officer leads Allied commandos across enemy lines to rescue an American scientist held hostage by the Nazis.
JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH (CTV) 12:35am: Offered a plea deal by the FBI, William O'Neal infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on Chairman Fred Hampton.
#cdntv#cancon#canadian tv#canadian tv listings#W5#nhl hockey#mlb baseball#curling#pwhl hockey#mls soccer#mma#nba basketball
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It is 2018 and I am sitting in the Neptune Theatre, Halifax, Canada. I’m watching the Canadian premiere of the musical theatre adaptation of The Color Purple directed by Kimberley Rampersad—the first time the show has been directed by a black woman. It is also the first-ever positive representation of my own sexuality that I have been able to witness in the form that I have spent almost two decades studying, researching, and writing about: musical theatre. As I watch the character of Shrug Avery (Karen Burthwright) delight in the fluidity of her own sexual desire, a desire above and beyond gender, it feels like a space has been made. I’m crying but it’s complicated. Joy? Sadness? Recognition?
I am writing from the perspective of a bisexual+ cis-gendered white British woman, so it is important to note the many kinds of privilege that shape the experiences I am talking about, especially when addressing this musical. The Color Purple (2005) is especially important in the space it makes for PoC, and women of color. This has been written about both in reference to the musical (Edney; Lovelock) and the novel (Bealer), and by Alice Walker herself. For me, it is the first time I have seen what it is to be bisexual on a stage, while I recognize this musical does many more important things than that in connection to race and sexuality. Its powerful story makes ripples.
***
In June 2000, about a month after I finished my secondary education in a small school in mid-Wales, the infamous “Section 28” (a British law that banned the “promotion” of homosexuality, introduced by Margaret Thatcher in 1988) was repealed, first in Scotland and three years later in the rest of the UK. I would like to say I remember this event, but I don’t. If I even knew about it at the time, it would have been because my parents’ copy of the Daily Mail was “Cross and Appalled.” It was almost always cross and/or appalled, though, so it doesn’t stick out in my memory. I don’t even remember when I first heard the word bisexuality. It certainly wouldn’t have been at school, because Section 28 had made it illegal for schools to discuss LGBTQ+ lifestyles, as it would risk promoting them. The teaching of the “acceptability of homosexuality” was explicitly forbidden by Section 28 from 1988 to 2000, while bisexuality was not even mentioned (UK Local Government Act 1988).
Even in my early twenties, when I joined a dating site and ticked the box “interested in men and women,” I still didn’t really identify as bisexual because I don’t think I even understood that was ever an option for me. Bisexuals were the people who hadn’t made up their minds . . . right? And then to cap it all off, I fell in love with a man who I married within a year of meeting, so I had to hand in my badge of not quite knowing how I fitted in. Some fifteen years later I am still married to him, and my relationship has given me huge amounts of privilege (we could get married; when and if I’d have fallen in love with a woman at the same time we would have to have waited until
2014 to do the same; if I’d have fallen in love with a nonbinary person, we still could not in a way that recognized both of our gender identities). But despite these many privileges that I have clearly benefited from, my innate queerness did not simply go away.
***
Late June 2016. I am at the Circle in the Square Theatre, New York City, watching Beth Malone and Michael Cerveris in Fun Home play the characters of Alison Bechdel and her father in a car. The mass murder at Pulse Nightclub, an LGBTQ+ hate crime targeted at the Latinx community, had taken place on June 12th. Everything hangs heavy in the air. That week I had stood behind a cordon, watching the Pride march being led by elders in the community, carrying photographs of the forty-nine victims. Like many of the queer people in the audience of Fun Home, I cried, heaving sobs. When the house lights come back on the theatre is full of red-eyed people who get it, nodding in encouragement.
***
It is September 2016 and I now try to acknowledge my queerness in front of students when studying representations of sexuality in musical theatre. I hear myself say, “I’m speaking as a bisexual woman.” After one of these classes a student excitedly approaches me and says, “You’re the first ever bi grown-up I’ve ever met in real life!” All of this matters and it keeps mattering. I was encouraged by a colleague, a lecturer who as a gay man advocates for LGBTQ+ student experiences. At the LGBTQ+ research group that he runs, I heard depressingly similar school experiences from students finishing school twenty years after I did, and after the end of Section 28. There are some more positive ones, but with the difference that these undergraduates know the word bisexuality in a way I did not in 2000.
Each time I repeated the words, I became more convinced that not only is being bisexual part of my identity, but more importantly, being out as a bisexual could be a positive experience for all my students, and especially my LGBTQ+ ones. To be clear, bisexuality+ is used as an overarching term for a group of named descriptions that people may use to communicate their identity—one of the most used of these terms is pansexual. All of these terms suggest a person who is attracted to people of more than one gender—a person who is in effect not monosexual (attracted to one gender). While people may use bisexual or pansexual to best identify their own sexuality, bisexuality+ as a theoretical concept is a useful tool proposed by Surya Monro to employ the word bisexual as a “strategic move that overlooks the binary composition of the word” (2).
In the UK, the Office of National Statistics found that people ages 16–24 are more likely to identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual than any other age group (4.4 percent against a national average of 2.2 percent): within that subsection a larger group identify as bisexual rather than specifically gay or lesbian. In my own age bracket, only 0.6 percent of people identify as bisexual (ages 35–49).
Despite what is a growing identification with bisexuality+ to name our sexual identities, myths and misconceptions about bisexuality continue to shape how the “B” in the LGBTQ+ identities are represented in popular culture. Bisexuals are confused, “halfway to gay,” promiscuous, greedy. . . . I mean, some of us might be, I can’t be left alone with a selection box. But chocolates are not people.
Invisible Bisexuality in Musicals from 2000 to 2020
While all LGBTQ+ people suffer from “minority stress” (Meyer), bisexuals have a uniquely poor experience because they are the target of distrust from both the heterosexual and homosexual
communities (Brewster and Moradi). One major Australian study notes the widespread and “con- sistent evidence that bisexual people have poorer mental health than heterosexual people, gay men or lesbians” (Taylor et al.); this also has been addressed in terms of intersectional oppressions (Dyar et al.). The invisibility of bisexuality in popular culture has very real consequences to an oppressed community.
Maria San Filipo, in her important study of representations of bisexuality in popular culture, argues that it is “both visible and invisible . . . due to the slippage between its representational pervasiveness and the alternating measures of tacit acceptance, disidentification, or disavowal that render bisexuality discursively un(der)spoken” (4). Mainstream musicals—that is to say, Broadway and West End commercially orientated musicals—have tended to minimize bisexual content even in material that openly acknowledges bisexual desire. Just as Steven Spielberg’s movie adaptation of The Color Purple (1985) removes the bisexual utopian possibility from Walker’s 1982 novel, several productions of the musical since its 2005 premiere have emphasized the relationship between Shrug and Celie as that of sisters. Bisexuality is, to borrow from San Filipo, rendered “underspoken” (ibid.).
The removal of bisexual desire is common in musicals, even in that contemporary behemoth, Hamilton (2015). Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton may not look or sound like the mega- musicals of the 1980s, but its success echoes the scale of the phenomenon of shows like Cats (1981) and Les Misérables (1985). Hamilton is based on Ron Chernow’s 2004 biography of its eponymous politician, the first treasurer of the United States and a prolific writer and thinker. The musical uses traditional Broadway storytelling to dramatize the struggle between two men, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, both trapped in personal and political rivalries. Hamilton owes a notable debt to Les Mis, since both shows tell epic stories about two men locked in a conflict that will only be resolved by the death of one of them. Just as in Les Mis where we see Valjean and Javert’s moral battle play out over the decades condensed into two acts, admittedly quite long ones, Hamilton traces the two men’s respective rise and fall over a thirty-year period. The main tension is not in the “will they/ won’t they” of a romance or sexual tension, but rather in the unfolding of their relationship that the audience already knows will end in disaster (fig. 1).
Fig. 1. “The Bisexual Flag and Alexander Hamilton.” (Source: © Mat Dalgleish.)
Of course, there is a straight love story in the musical—the marriage between Eliza Schuyler and Alexander, and his attachment to her sister, presented as his intellectual equal. However, there is another love story that is barely noticeable in the musical, albeit something that bisexual fan com- munities have responded to: namely, the physical and emotional attraction between Hamilton and his close friend and fellow aide-de-camp to George Washington, John Laurens. Their friendship is documented in letters that have been the focus of discussions about whether there ever was a roman- tic or sexual relationship between the two. Clearly, the idea of a bisexual character in this musical offers the tantalizing possibility of putting us in “The Room Where It Happens”—at the center of a Broadway musical. It is clearly ahistorical to suggest that such physical or emotional desire would have made a person identify as bisexual in the mid-eighteenth century. However, Hamilton as the character in the musical has been confirmed as bisexual by the author of the musical.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, its composer, lyricist, and performer, is a celebrity in his own right, with an extensive social media presence and around 3 million followers on Twitter––something he uses both for social activism and musical theatre nerdery. He is essentially a hero for musical theatre geeks everywhere. In 2015, when doing an impromptu Q&A with his followers while waiting at an airport for a connection, Miranda responded to a question about whether he thought Hamilton could have “maybe been bi” by replying, “Yeah. Read those letters man.” For bisexual people this is a complex feeling, because to be seen and at the same time not seen really hurts. Despite the throwaway nature of tweets in general, never mind tweets sent from airport lounges in one-off Q&As, the complete disregard of how it actually feels to be bisexual and constantly outside of the story is painful. The creator of a cultural phenomenon, which will be around for decades to come, says, “Yes, Hamilton was bisexual,” but that is not included in the musical itself. There is more to say here in the staging
of Laurens and Hamilton and the argument that it does show some kind of love story; however, this is something I am currently writing about at more length elsewhere (forthcoming). For now, I wanted to consider the stakes of erasure in comparison to musicals that do actually feature prominently bisexual characters, because it can feel easy to dismiss those who say “#representationmatters” as stereotypical keyboard activists. But to have the tantalizing possibility of being seen and understood in the form of theatre you love the most and for it not to happen . . . breaks my heart.
Problematic Representations
There are bisexuals in musical theatre, it’s just that many musicals have featured them through well-worn tropes about bisexuals. The dangerously detailed TvTropes lists a number of stereotypes around bisexuality that also appear in musicals, such as “Depraved Bisexuality” (the bisexual villain); “Anything that Moves” (the greedy bisexual); “Suddenly-Sexuality”; or perhaps the rarest trope, “Bi- the-Way” (a character whose bisexuality is incidental to the story).
Anything that Moves as a trope has underpinned many bisexual representations in musicals. While this might be an accurate representation for some bisexuals, we are not inherently non- monogamous and/or insatiable. It has also been used to imply that bisexuality is indicative of sexual impropriety––of a society or culture that does not have tight moral controls on who can have sex with whom. The character’s bisexuality only exists as a shorthand to communicate sexual excess.
Perhaps the most famous example of this is The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1973), which, through the genre of a sci-fi B-movie-style musical, presents a radical version of relaxed sexual behavior. Although in the musical Frank-N-Furter could be read as a “depraved bisexual,” it is worth bearing in mind that he is also an alien who gets vaporized by another alien at the end of the musical (namely, by Riff Raff). His desire for humans, specifically for the buttoned up all-American preppy inno- cents Janet and Brad, is part of the musical’s broader representation of sexual excess rather than any detailed representation of bisexuality. However, it is worth noting that Richard O’Brien, who wrote the book, music, and lyrics of the musical, identifies as bisexual, and has explained that he used the aliens purposefully to show the exclusion of non-heterosexual and heteronormative people (Jones).
Some productions of Cabaret (1966) have similarly used bisexuality to indicate times of sexual freedom: the musical is set in the last days of the Weimar Republic in Berlin. In all versions of the story, there is a character who acts as an audience conduit, the writer (originally Cliff and renamed Brian for the movie). He shows us into this simultaneously glamorous, depraved, and dangerous world. The author of the semi-autobiographical memoirs upon which the musical is based, Christo- pher Isherwood, was a gay man. However, in both the 1972 movie and the 1993 Broadway revival directed by Sam Mendes, the Cliff/Brian character is explicitly bisexual. Cliff’s importance to the overall story is fairly minimal, and reviewer Ben Brantley wrote that he “remains one of those artist- as-cipher characters that it’s hard to do much with.” Cabaret demonstrates the By-the-Way culture, again, rather than making bisexuality central to the plot.
In Jonathan Larson’s rock musical Rent (1994), the then-edgy cast of characters includes the Anything that Moves kind of bisexual, Maureen. She never explicitly identifies as bisexual; we are simply told that she has had many relationships with men and women. In fact, this is one of the first things we know about her, because we hear about it before we even meet her through the frustrations of her current girlfriend Joanne (Fredi Walker) and her ex-boyfriend Mark (Anthony Rapp). Together, they sing the “Tango: Maureen,” expressing jealous frustration at Maureen’s sexual antics, setting up our expectations for a character who is both an untrustworthy nightmare and a diva. We are told she cannot be content in a monogamous relationship; both Mark and Maureen complain about her cheating. When Maureen (Idina Menzel) does appear and sings about her relationship in “Take Me or Leave Me” (a duet with Joanne), she joyfully sings that she is who she is, attractive to both men and women. While bisexuality is not named, Maureen fulfills the trope of the greedy bisexual who will inevitably break the hearts of those who love her, because she is incapable of monogamy. Whether this is due to Maureen’s character or her sexuality is not exactly clear, although the fact that Maureen and Joanne are allowed a relationship in the 1994 musical is an important step forward.
Toward Positive Role Models and Better Representations?
Part of the problem is that showing multiple kinds of sexual desire either requires a direct mention in the plot, perhaps some kind of coming-out song, or the inclusion of sexual attraction to people of more than one gender in the story. The musical If/Then (2014) has the perfect structure for representing bisexuality in its “what-if ” story, which runs two simultaneous timelines in Elizabeth’s life (also played by Idina Menzel). In one timeline, the character of Lucas has a relationship with a woman, and in the other with a man. The casting calls to Rent, since Lucas is played by Anthony Rapp and Elizabeth by Menzel. Elizabeth is dismissive of Lucas’s sexuality, telling him that it is equivalent to being a political independent. However, Lucas does get to have loving relationships in both timelines, and he addresses his own bisexuality in “Some Other Me”: “I found myself a woman, or a man, and had a son.” Again, it is not perfect, but it is some kind of representation.
Being bisexual doesn’t mean that your love story is necessarily complicated or tragic. You don’t have to have had lots of relationships or even have had sex with people of other genders to qualify. To be representative, musicals do not have to portray some kind of tangled or torrid affair; they have to include bisexual characters as part of the story, and those characters should have believable inner lives. It should not be a throwaway joke either, as in Be More Chill’s (2015) final scenes, which makes bisexuality “the butt of the joke” (Clarke); or in Groundhog Day (2016), with Phil’s throwaway gag that he was so bored in his endless day in Punxsutawney that he slept one time with a guy.
There are more positive bisexual characters in contemporary television from the same period, but these roles can be limited. Meyer notes that bisexual women characters of color like Callie Tor- res (Grey’s Anatomy) and Anna Tagaro (One Tree Hill) “serve to stabilize heterosexuality and open discourse for White characters” (675). One important exception to this may be the sensitive way in which Brooklyn 99 worked with bisexual cast member Stephanie Beatriz, to show the character
she plays, Rosa Diaz, coming out as bi to her colleagues. Beatriz reflected that “the main thing for me was that the character said ‘bisexual’ and that she said it so many times” (qtd. in Jung). Bisexual characters, where their sexual identities are part though not all of their stories, are becoming more prominent in television; for example, Eleanor Shellstrop in The Good Place, Adam in Jane the Virgin, and Toni Topaz and Cheryl Blossom in Riverdale.
Television musicals have written inclusive bisexual stories, such as Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015) including three bisexual characters, Maya, Valencia Perez, and Darryl Whitefeather. While Darryl does sing the fantastic coming out number “Getting Bi,” Maya mentions in passing during that song that she is also bisexual, and Valencia is seen in relationships with both men and women. Some musicals bridge this genre gap; for example, the YouTube and stage success Team Starkids, with Firebringer (2016), which features characters with sexually fluid desires.
In turn, stage musicals are shifting toward more accurate representations of bisexuality. Bare: A Musical (2012) reflects a teenage experience of sexuality and can be read as coming to terms with being bisexual through Jason’s song “Once Upon a Time” and “A Role of a Lifetime.” This is particularly notable because the potential bisexual reading is an addition, since the musical is a revi- sion of the earlier Bare: A Pop Opera (2000), in which Jason is closeted as gay but in a relationship with a woman. More recently, & Juliet (2019), currently in the West End, features François, who is pansexual, as a central character and love interest for Juliet, who has survived her escapades with Romeo. Writer Max Martin explained that “it was really important to me that our cast of characters reflect the diversity of the world around us as much as possible, and that included gender, age, body type, ethnicity, and sexual orientation” (qtd. in Connelly).
***
It is March 2020 and new musical theatre events are quickly being cancelled. Years of work are on pause for a while as the world’s arts scene is on lockdown and we all stay safe indoors at home. Last month, although it feels like a lifetime ago, my students performed at an LGBTQ+ concert at the University of Wolverhampton. Some of them sang their own work, as in the case of Abbie Cobden, who sang a song from a musical she is writing called “Give Me a Label” with music by James Lovelock. They have kindly agreed to share it here:
In a space where there were so few representations of bisexuality, much is changing quickly and queer stories are taking center stage. Importantly, many of these stories are about QPoC. Two new musicals in development of note include Interstate (forthcoming) by Kit Yan and Melissa Li, which features queer and trans characters, and Asian Pirate Musical (2020) by Nemo Martin and Zhui Ning Chang, with its queer space revolutionaries.
There are two bisexual and pan characters in the British musical The Phase, currently in devel- opment, by Meg McGrady and Zoe Elle Morris. It was meant to be shown at BEAM2020 but the event was cancelled because of Covid-19. You can learn about its development in this video of its song, “Sex Education.” Twenty years later, the song mentions that Section 28 is no longer in effect, adding, “but that doesn’t mean we don’t see its effects.” As new musicals tell better stories about the bisexual community, each moment of inclusion still matters and makes a space for the next.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Meg McGrady, Joe Geoghan, Abbie Cobden, James Lovelock, Nemo Martin, Mat Dalgleish, Emily Beaman, Joash Musundi, Kirsty Sedgman, and Emily Garside.
Works Cited
Bealer, Tracy L. “Making Hurston’s Heroine Her Own: Love and Womanist Resistance in The Color Purple.” Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. Ed. Kheven LaGrone. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill/Rodopi, 2009. 23–42. Print.
Brantley, Ben. “Theater Review: Desperate Dance at Oblivion’s Brink.” New York Times. 20 Mar. 1998. Web. Brewster, Melanie E., and Bonnie Moradi. “Perceived Experiences of Anti-Bisexual Prejudice: Instrument
Development and Evaluation.” Journal of Counseling Psychology 57.4 (2010): 451–68. Print.
Clarke, David. “Musical Adaptation for ‘Be More Chill’ Is Fun, But Troubled.” Out. 13 Mar. 2019. Web.
Connelly, William J. “& Juliet Is Max Martin’s New Musical Boldly Giving Queer People a Voice.” Gay Times. 13 Nov. 2019. Web.
Dyar, C., et al. “Physical Health Disparities across Dimensions of Sexual Orientation, Race/Ethnicity, and Sex: Evidence for Increased Risk Among Bisexual Adults.” Archives of Sexual Behavior 48.1 (2018): 225–42. Print.
Edney, Kathryn. “Adapting and Integrating: The Color Purple as Broadway Musical.” Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. Ed. Kheven LaGrone. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill/Rodopi, 2009. 225–47. Print.
Jones, M. F. “Richard O’Brien: Lucky Man.” Exeunt Magazine. 10 Jan. 2013. Web.
Jung, E. Alex. “Stephanie Beatriz’s Bisexual Awakening, Onscreen and Off.” Vulture. 21 May 2018. Web.
Lovelock, James. “'What about Love?': Claiming and Reclaiming LGBTQ+ Spaces in Twenty-First Century Musical Theatre.” Reframing the Musical: Race, Culture and Identity, edited by Sarah Whitfield, London: Red Globe Press, 2019, pp. 187–209. Print.
McGrady, Meg, and Zoe Elle Morris. “The Phase Musical: Our Journey to Beam 2020.” 27 Mar. 2020. Web.
Meyer, Ilan H. “Prejudice, Social Stress, and Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations: Conceptual Issues and Research Evidence.” Psychological Bulletin 129.5 (2003): 674–97. Print.
Miranda, Lin-Manuel. “Yeah. Read Those Letters Man.” Twitter @lin_manuel. 26 May 2015. Web.
Monro, Surya. Bisexuality: Identities, Politics, and Theories. Genders and Sexualities in the Social Sciences. Palgrave, 2015. Print.
Office for National Statistics. “Sexual Orientation, UK 2018.” 3 June 2020. Web.
San Filippo, Maria. The B Word: Bisexuality in Contemporary Film and Television. Indiana University Press, 2013. Print.
Taylor, Julia; Power, Jennifer; Smith, Elizabeth; and Rathbone, Mark. “Bisexual Mental Health: Findings from the ‘Who I Am’ Study.” Australian Journal of General Practice, 48.3 (March 1, 2019): 138–44. https://doi.org/10.31128/AJGP-06-18-4615. Print.
Whitfield, Sarah K. “Putting Bisexuals in ‘The Room Where It Happens’: The Hamilton Fandom’s Fight for Bisexual+ Representation.” Theatre Fandom. Ed. Kirsty Sedgman (forthcoming 2021).
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