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velvet-paradox · 1 year

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Curious (Preview)

Fandom: Outer Banks

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x Female reader + mentions of past relations with Topper Thorton

--> I've had this thot in my head for months and it's finally coming together, this a Noir AU; in which Topper seeks Rafe's expertise in finding the one who got away (you of course!) but will he give his friend the deets or attempt to keep you all for himself instead?

ENJOY!!!

He was thankful to be putting away that steel bladed fan, chipped army green base and all into one of the storage closest in the office, he hefted it, teetering just a little from the weight in the base out to the hall. He slicked back his hair, neat and tidy, back into place after dusting his hands of the thing. Autumn was coming, storm clouds and much needed and beloved thunderstorms were on the horizon. Rafe's favorite time of year.

The season when he wasn't sweating through his shirts, even the spare ones he had hung up in a cabinet in his office. He lost count of the times he had to strip himself of his shirts while he plugged away, hanging them on the window rod to dry out. The cat would be happy too, she hated the heat just as much, Rafe liked to think.

And speak of the devil and he (or she) will appear, the calico in question simply and appropriately named Penny pounced onto the windowsill. Rafe scratched her little head, pleased that she was purring and enjoying the cool night air when there was a sharp rapping on the frosted office door.

Rafe frowned and looked at his watch, one that his father had hand picked when he came home with another chip of sobriety. They were closed and he told the manly silhouette on the opposite side the same fact.

"Aw come on, open up Rafe it's me!"

He sighed and shook his head, he opened the door staring into the smooth face of Topper Thorton. Just a titch shorter in his brand new boat shoes, slacks and cozy looking cardigan. He was season ready as well, Rafe thought as he leaned on the door frame.

"Still means we're closed."

"Don't be like that!" Topper huffed and pushed his way past Rafe, who grumbled at the intrusion but didn't feel up to a fight tonight, so he let it go and shut the door behind him. "I've got a favor to ask and I'll even pay you this time."

"Damn right you're gonna' pay me! what mania is it this time or do I dare ask?" Rafe gave Penny another pat on the head before taking out a cigarette and leaning against the secretary's desk.

"I had a dream, you see. It was so incredibly real and vivid and when I woke up, I thought I knew for sure, without a shadow of a doubt it was completely real." Topper explained.

"That good, huh? what sort of pills are you on now then? I might have half a mind to ask for one."

"No Rafe, that's the thing. I was stone cold sober! not a lick of a buzz." Topper was on cloud nine from the looks of it, speaking most animatedly with his hands.

"So, you had a dream, thought it was real and now you're in my office after hours, for what exactly?" Rafe questioned as he smoked, clouds filling the air and right out the window, Penny took her leave and scurried around Topper's feet into Rafe's office.

"It was about a girl. And not just any girl, mind you. The one who got away."

"You mean the one you let get away. And rightfully so!" Rafe pointed his cigarette at him with a smirk, knowing exactly who he was referring.

They didn't go to the same college but had kept in touch, pen pals and making sure all was swell for the other. On a random quiet spell away from the dorms, Topper had come back to the County and showed off a few small photographs of a few of his elite friends, girls and the ever regarded...

"Never mind all that, it was her. Y/N Y/L/N, what a gal. The best gal, if we're being honest. I haven't thought about her since college, since she broke my heart and put out my fire. But she was there, in my dream, clear as the day is long, calling to me ‘Topper come back, come back to me Top'..."

Rafe recalled your face, though a bit dodgy and mirage-like after so long but your exaggerated body language which wasn't the norm amongst other dames he knew, on the street, at work or between the sheets, was quite curious to him. That one photograph of you making a silly face, one that was usually seen in Men’s' dorms or between the same kin had made him chuckle and wonder about you.

Rafe had to snort at that. "Are you sure you didn't drink your dinner last night, Top?"

"Of course I'm sure! what do you take me as? Some rummy? No no, no hooch. I promise. But that dream got me thinking about the old girl and... dammit Rafe I need to know!"

"Need to know what?"

"What has become of her of course! How and what did she do in this life? Hw did she make her way in this world. Is she happily married with a couple of brats, is she just some spinster living out a lavish life on some yacht somewhere, with an umbrella in her glass. My mind has been reeling all day and I finally talked myself into coming down here and telling you all about it. So, will you be a real pal and help me out?"

Tagging: @synnersaint @cherienymphe @starkeyobx @outerbankspov @cockslutpadalecki @poguesarerogues @valeriiecameron

#rafe cameron obx #rafe cameron smut #rafe cameron imagine #rafe cameron fanfic #coming soon fic #rafe obx #topper thorton imagine #obx imagine #obx fic #outer banks imgaine #outer banks fic

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morporkian-cryptid · 3 years

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Lupin III - The Castle of Cagliostro, and its extremely gay and romantic title scene

Hello everyone, this is your new installment of “Elliott rambles about her fandoms”!

Today I am going to be talking (well, mostly yelling) about the opening credits of Lupin III - The Castle of Cagliostro.

Because I’ve rewatched that movie almost two weeks ago, and I’m still going into a fit of hysterics every time I so much as think about it.

[Image description: Lupin and Jigen sitting in front of the Fiat, with a small nomad cooking space set up. It is night, Lupin is reading a map and Jigen is holding a pan above a small gas stove. The lighting is dim and comes only for the stove. The subtitles of the song lyrics read “My love for you burns”]

https://twitter.com/spacequeenemily/status/1118274079662977025?lang=en

This Twitter link is the only video of the title scene I could find online; the image quality is a bit low but at least it’s the full scene. Please watch it, I promise you won’t regret it.

Fair warning: long post with much capslock, very swearing.

Okay, so.

The lyrics of this song, Fire Treasure, go more or less like this (from the subtitles of the movie, which I assume are the official translation) :

I want to go with you, searching for happiness / No matter how hard the road or how the night may grow cold / I just want to wander on with you

Who else is there to comfort and hold / This lonely traveler when their heart grows cold? / Who else but you can make all my dreams come true?

Like a raging fire my love for you burns / All I want is for you to know how I feel / Make me your prisoner and never let go

(additional lyrics which are on the wiki but not in the title sequence)

You, who wander the wasteland / I want to let you sleep / The shooting star is for you

I want only you to understand / This love of mine that blazes with flames / I'll clear away the enigmatic mist

You can find the official japanese lyrics here on the Lupin III fandom wiki.

Now this is a pretty basic love song, and we know most of the theme songs in this series are love songs and it doesn’t always mean anything (looking at you, Red Jacket opening theme). The music itself (without the lyrics) is used several times during the movie, especially in scenes with Lupin and Clarisse; and reused later in several movies involving similar dynamics.

But the only time the whole song, with lyrics, plays in The Castle of Cagliostro, it’s during the opening credits / title sequence. Aka, Lupin and Jigen’s road trip.

Yeah. This longing, yearning love song about a lonely traveler and the person who silently loves them and wants to follow them through all the troubles of the road and look for happiness by their side... Is played along with of a video of Jigen and Lupin traveling together.

And oh, if only it was just that...

It could have been two guys being bros, two friends having a fun road trip together. They could have shown the banter and playful fights between them that we see in the rest of the movie. But NO. THIS is what they gave us instead:

[The silhouettes of Jigen and Lupin sitting on and leaning against the Fiat, with a boat in the background and an orange sunset-like sky]

[the Fiat driving on a narrow bridge in the middle of an expanse of water glistening and reflecting the pink and purple sky]

[Lupin lying on his back in the grass, and Jigen sitting near him and cooking in front of a small portable gas stove, the Fiat parked next to them. It is night, and the gaz stove gives a soft glow, the only source of light in the picture.]

[Lupin sitting on the roof of the Fiat and Jigen standing left of it. They are waiting for a train with wooden wagons to pass. There are white flowers in the foreground on the right of the screen.]

[Night time, on a backdrop of dark blue sky with white stars. Lupin is sitting on the roof of the Fiat, lighting a cigarette (the Fiat itself isn’t in the frame). Jigen is standing near him, smoking a cigarette, with only his head visible. The subtitles of the song lyrics write “Make me your prisoner and never let go”.]

[The same scene from a different angle, the Fiat is now visible, with grass in the foreground, Lupin is seen from the back and Jigen from head to feet. The dark blue sky is fading into white at the bottom, suggesting sunrise.]

They could have given us a fun, “straight pals being bros” road trip. Instead, they decided to give us a soft, nostalgic ambiance, with orange and pink sunsets, the boys wistfully looking into the distance under a starry night sky, smoking cigarettes together in silence, with the soft glow of a shared meal around a campfire. THEY MADE THE CHOICE TO MAKE THIS AS FUCKING ROMANTIC AS POSSIBLE. THEY WILLINGLY MADE THAT DECISION.

We all know that this franchise’s subtext is not exactly subtle in establishing, to name just one obvious example, Jigen’s orientation (hum hum kabuki-related slang, hum hum bootleg playboy magazine, hum hum shameless flirting with burly soldiers).

But THIS. This isn’t a “I hate women” joke. This isn’t a two-second frame showing a bootleg gay pinup magazine. This isn’t a subtle parallel between Lupin’s relationships with Fujiko and with Jigen. This is the most OBVIOUS and EXPLICIT bit of subtext I have ever seen in this goddamn subtext-packed series. This is A FUCKING LOVE SONG, WITH THE WORDS “MY LOVE FOR YOU BURNS” EXPLICITLY IN IT, PLAYED ON A VIDEO OF JIGEN AND LUPIN ON A ROAD TRIP WITH THE MOST ROMANTIC AND SOFT VISUALS POSSIBLE. ONE MINUTE AND FIFTY FIVE SECONDS OF TYPICAL ROMANTIC SCENE WITH TYPICAL ROMANTIC VISUALS AND A FUCKING LOVE SONG.

This can’t be an accident. You can’t accidentally make a scene like this. I mean come on, “Like a raging fire my love for you burns, I just want you to know how I feel” with a panning shot of a starry night sky and Lupin and Jigen silently sharing a smoke? HOW DO THEY THINK WE ARE GOING TO INTERPRET THIS? IS THERE ANY OTHER POSSIBLE FUCKING INTERPRETATION THAN “JIGEN IS MADLY IN LOVE WITH LUPIN?“ NO THERE ISN’T. THERE FUCKING ISN’T.

They go and try to tell us that Lupin and Jigen are just friends, they give Jigen barely believable female love interests whom he has little to no chemistry with, they write Jigen getting angry when he thinks Lupin might be gay, and then they turn around and make THIS. FUCKING. TITLE SEQUENCE.

It kills me because IT’S CANON but also it’s not! They’re not stating that Jigen loves Lupin, they’re not confirming that they’re a couple, at no point in the 50 years of existence of this damn franchise has either of them explicitly declared that they were in love with the other, and that is most likely never going to happen. But this fucking scene exists. This fucking scene is CANON, and it’s technically still subtext, but it is the most OBVIOUS and IN YOUR GODDAMN FACE subtext EVER.

Disclaimer: I agree that most of the anime and movies’ (still relatively un-subtle) subtext can be disregarded or interpreted as platonic if you want, and I absolutely respect anyone’s desire to interpret them as platonic friends. All visions and interpretations can coexist. That being said, I’m sorry but for this specific scene I will not, ever, budge from the position that it is a fucking romantic love scene and that there is no other possible interpretation, I’m sorry but just FUCKING LOOK AT IT. LOOK AT IT AND TELL ME THIS ISN’T MEANT TO BE ROMANTIC. I DARE YOU.

This scene is just at the VERY LIMIT of explicitly stating Jigen and Lupin’s love. But it’s STILL NOT EXPLICIT. The song says “I love you” but neither Jigen nor Lupin does. The song on its own could relate to any number of characters (and in the rest of the movie it relates mostly to Clarisse, and more generally to all the girls Lupin leaves behind). The video without the music, while being very sweet and having a romantic vibe, could still be interpreted as a road trip between friends. And yet. AND YET. They made the conscious decision to put THAT SONG with THESE IMAGES. And to then “leave it to our interpretation”.

The Castle of Cagliostro was the second movie of the Lupin III franchise. It came out in 1979, not even ten years after the first episode of the anime aired. This is one of the establishing movies of the franchise, the one that propelled Lupin III on the international scene, the door through which generations of fans have been introduced to the series. A now iconic and unmissable pillar of the pop culture myth that Lupin III has become, a jewel of hand-drawn animation, produced by one of Japan’s most internationally well known animated movie director, future founder of one of its most iconic studios.

This isn’t a “blink and you’ll miss it” nudge in an largely forgettable TV special with weird chara designs and a plot created by writers seemingly on crack. This isn’t a subtle nod to long time fans and shippers like Part 5 did in 2018. This is the FUCKING TITLE SEQUENCE of the CASTLE OF MOTHERFUCKING CAGLIOSTRO by HAYAO GODDAMN MIYAZAKI. AND IT’S A LOVE STORY.

It’s been a week and a half, guys. And I still want to scream. I will never be free. Lupin and Jigen are in love and the world needs to know.

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natromanxoff · 3 years

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25 - Just Chatting...

Hello one and all.

It's been a long time since I graced these pages and, believe it or not, nothing much has been happening in my life, apart from the odd soiree or two. Winter has finally left us and spring has sprung, and it's nice to see the sun again. Let's start by wishing my old mate a happy birthday and I hope you all had a little drinkie for him, I know I did. In fact I got legless, he would have been proud of me. Whenever we were in London there was always a party at Fred's on his birthday, be it a handful of friends, or one where he invited half of Britain, but which ever one it was there was always a good time to be had and a lot of chaos. One year he actually took over Pikes Hotel in Ibiza and chartered a private plane to fly his friends in. Roger and myself were already on the island recording some of his solo stuff so we didn't have far to travel to the bash. When I say we were working, it's kind of true as we spent a lot of time on his boat "Ga Ga" whizzing around having lunch and fun. The party was held outside around the swimming pool, now is that an invite for trouble or what? There were hundreds of balloons hanging from every available fixture, and of course there is always an idiot that thinks he's a clown. This particular clown, who will remain nameless, decided it would be funny to light one of the balloons, and needless to say the whole lot went up in flames. Phoebe and Crystal to the rescue. We had to get this "fire" off the wooden rafters before the whole hotel went up in smoke, so we were pulling bits of string while burning rubber was dripping down on us. I was so traumatised by the whole event I had to have another drink ....... a lame excuse I know, but hey, it's my story. Back to the pool. Edwin Shirley, of trucking fame and also an all round good guy after a few too many, decided to have a swim, so he removed his clothing and was flapping around the pool when some daft countess told him to get dressed and behave himself. Wrong move lady. Edwin was not impressed by his telling off and threw her in, and she was even less impressed with that and started ranting and raving, much to the amusement to the rest of the party hounds. She left with her tail between her legs and didn't look at all glamorous in her soaking wet dress, running makeup and failed hairdo. We continued till mid morning and went straight to the airport and caught a flight home. Thanks F for the great parties and good times, you will never be forgotten.

I still get asked a lot if I'm gonna write the "Real" story about Queen. Well the answer is no, and the reason is that the guys gave me a great job and a great life and I have far to much respect for them, their wives/girlfriends, children and families to tell the world what we got up to in private. I feel that is our business and ours alone. Most of us are all in relationships and telling tales could make life awkward for a few people, band and crew alike. I'm sure at some point in time someone from the organisation will write a book, have 5 minutes of fame and make a quick buck, but it sure as hell won't be me, and I'll still be able to sleep at night and when I see the guys I will still be free to say, "Wanna beer MATE."

I've had a few questions asked me that I'm gonna answer quickly.

First off is "Do you have any stories about Freddies cats? (ripping furniture etc.)" Here's a good reply, No. So moving right along, "Of all the famous people you've met, who impressed you the most?" Tricky one this. After years in this "Biz" they all become "Just normal people," and some become good pals, but on one occasion I was in Paul McCartneys studio and I was handed his violin bass and I was sitting there holding it when someone said, "Paul is left handed, hold it like he would." When I turned it around, still taped in the cutout was the Beatles set list from their days in Hamburg, now that impressed me.

Deaky and myself were the only two reggae lovers in the outfit, and Bob Marley turned up to see the show at Madison Square Gardens. Strange choice of show for Bob, but he loved Another one bites the dust, and he happened to be in New York on a stopover on his way to Germany for laser treatment. Show time and our intro tape was playing, and someone told JD that Bob was in the audience, so he cranked his bass up and played "Lively up yourself" over the tape. This was very possibly the last time Marley ever heard this played as he died shortly after. I didn't get to meet him, but I did get to meet Tyrone Downie, Bobs keyboard player in the Wailers, and Tyrone and myself got up to all sorts of mischief that night. RT on the other hand hates reggae music, but I did manage to drag him to the Circus Krone in Munich to see Peter Tosh. I loved it, he hated it. I look at this as payback because years before he insisted that I went to Hammersmith Odeon to see Laurie Anderson, of O Superman fame. This show he loved, but I put it alongside Cher as one of the worst concerts I have ever seen. Needless to say I have also met a couple of stars that I didn't see eye to eye with. Like the American rock star we encountered in a club one night, and he was such a pain I had to take him into the toilets to have a quiet word with him. He finally got the message so I released my hand from around his neck and let him drop back down to the ground. To finish this segment I wanna tell you something that Bev Bevan said. Bev was the drummer with ELO, and them and us were touring the US at the same time, and as it turned out, staying in the same hotel in one city. Roger and myself were leaving the hotel and waiting for the elevator. When the doors opened Bev was in there and him and RT said their hellos. Rog then said, "Bev, this is Crystal, he looks after me." Bev turned to me, shook my hand and said, "Pleased to meet you. If it wasn't for guys like you, guys like us wouldn't be where we are today." He didn't need to say that, and was genuine when he did. I wasn't impressed with meeting him, but he is certainly in my top ten of nicest people I have ever meet.

Over the last few months I've spent a lot of time in the Chatroom, and I highly recommend it to you all as it can be a bit of a laugh. For anyone who has never visited the room please remember a couple of things, if you come in and start swearing you will be kicked out. I know, it happens to me all the time. Also don't come in and start going on about knowing axemen and murderers and other such garbage, cause that also warrants a kicking. Some buffoon from Ireland, who went by the name of "Death" turned up with an attitude and was going on about how f***ing awesome Queen were at Slane Castle. He was not known by anyone in there so I asked him to watch his language. He said he was the Grim Reaper and could do and say what he liked, so I told him otherwise and he was most put out when I kicked him. What a fool. A while ago there was some prat who called himself F***queen, good name eh! Anyway, he/she/it was picking on a lovely young lady called Raisa, and was saying some awful things to her and completely freaked her out, so I went to her defence and FQ turned the attention my way. As far as I'm concerned it's only letters on a screen and it didn't phase me at all, but at least he/she/it gave up on Raisa. In all fairness to FQ, whoever you may be, he/she left a message on the Bulletin Board saying sorry to Raisa and myself and would never do it again. So FQ, from the both of us, thanks for the apology, we accept it. What other weirdos have we had? Well, there was a brightspark who decided it would be funny to use the nickname QueenRshite, another bad move from this person who was honoured with a ban.

While in there I've seen a lot of friendships made, and a couple that have fallen apart. I got a private message one evening from a very drunk girl who, how shall we phrase this, offered me her body and wanted to do all sorts of naughty things to me, I thanked her and declined...must be getting old or something. I have also witnessed relationships being made and, usually there is a lot of humour involved, but needless to say some arguments do occur. I have also seen some of the daftest things said. One guy was so convinced that one of the regulars was either Deaky or she was chatting with him in private that he actually started tracking her every move on the net. He also told me about some highly illegal activities he was up to concerning the band. I wouldn't have thought I was the best person to tell such stuff to, and needless to say I had a go at him. Just to add to his stupidity he's been recently boasting about his affair with an underage girl, and I reckon if he had any more sense he would be half witted. Having mentioned all the twits I'd like to say a quick hello to all the regulars, White Queen and Killer Queen, the lovely girls Blue Rock and Rannnnnnni, SQJan, Mayflower and her boys, Farookh (aka Leroy Brown) MarshMallow, the three Tigers - Babe, Lily and Stripes and the mighty Falc, also to all the rest who I haven't mentioned by name, you know who you are. I'd also like to say hi to Daddy Cool who is the singer in the Dutch cover band Miracle, and Dad, if you never make it as a singer you could make a great career from being a stand up comedian. Finally an extra special hello to the gorgeous MTB, who is about to make an honest man of me ;)

Before I go I'm sure I don't need to remind anyone of a certain date in November that is engraved in all of our minds. And I know that a lot of you will be heading to Garden Lodge to leave flowers. I don't wanna preach and tell you what to do, and I know flowers are a nice gesture, but they do die and the only people to really benefit from this is the florist. This year lets all give a donation, no matter how small, to Aids research, this way the cash will be used to try and stamp out this awful disease. If you really wanna leave flowers, buy a smaller, cheaper bunch and donate the balance of what you would have spent to these charities. It's been said a million times before but it is true, Every penny counts.

As always, Loadsa Love.

Crystal

#queen #queen band #freddie mercury #john deacon #peter freestone #crystal taylor #crystal's tales

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puckyeahobx · 4 years

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blow all my friendships to sit in hell with you

a/n: WEE WOO WEE WOO RAFE CAMERON WOOBIFICATION INCOMING. this is my favorite thing that i have ever written. enjoy (NOT MY GIF)

summary: y/n and rafe are in love at Midsummer’s and then someone (cough topper cough) tries to come around and start trouble. protective!rafe jumps in and it is sexy

warnings: nsfw duh

word count: 4.8k

It’s not that you weren’t excited about going to Midsummer’s. You were, truly. Ever since you had moved to the island, you had looked forward to the party every summer. There was something about getting done up in a pretty dress and whimsical accessories that almost made you forget how much of an outsider you felt amongst the other Kooks.

You had only moved to Figure Eight about halfway through high school, so by then everyone had already made their cliques. At that point it didn’t matter that your parents had money, no one took notice. It also didn’t help that everything about you proved that you weren’t a preppy douchebag. So, instead of getting wasted out of your mind in someone’s basement, you spent a lot of your time at the beach. Here is where you met the Pogues, and thank God you did because without them, you weren’t really sure where you would have ended up. If it weren’t for running into the boys: JJ, Pope, and John B around the docks, you would have never met Kie. And if you had never met Kie, you would have never met Sarah. And if you had never met Sarah….well, your life would look drastically different, to say the least.

The Cameron family was somewhat of an Outer Banks institution. Everyone knew them, and depending on which side of the cut you were on, you either loved them or you hated them. Well, you either loved or hated Ward, that is. And even if you didn’t love him, you probably feared him, which was all in the same to him. The Ward kids were a little more controversial from person to person, though. Sarah had a reputation that didn’t really fit the sweet, loyal girl she was, but even with her reputation no one ever really had any reason to dislike her that wasn’t directly related to her father. Wheezie, the youngest, was often forgotten about, but it seemed like she liked it that way. Then there was Rafe. The oldest of the Ward kin, and by far the most contentious. He was like Ward in the way that he was either feared or hated, but unlike Ward, there weren't a lot of people willing to say they loved him.

However, “a lot of people” weren’t you.

You weren’t really sure when you changed teams on the Rafe Cameron front, but you imagine it was at some point in the summer before your junior year when you started hanging out with Sarah regularly. Rafe was older than you, and not around a whole lot, but he was around enough. You saw how he argued with his dad and how drastically different Ward acted around Sarah and how he acted around Rafe. You saw how empty he looked when he wasn’t around Topper or Kelce. The Rafe you saw from your spot on the living room sofa that summer was not the Rafe you had heard the urban legends about. He was preoccupied - it always seemed like he was thinking about what he was going to have to do next to make sure he kept being worthy enough. You try to remind yourself of all of the things you had heard about him, but then he’d help Wheezie with the newest secret project or offer help to Ward at every turn, and what was legend and what was the boy before you became complete opposites.

It was embarrassing, truly, how smitten you had become with him that summer. You found yourself sticking up for him in conversations with Sarah and Kie, sometimes even with the Pogues who had age-old reasons for hating him. Almost everyone thought you were just being naive, being new to the island and all, but Kie saw right through you. She saw the way you watched him enter and exit rooms, how eager you were to help him with docking the boat. Everywhere he was, you just happened to turn up at. Again, it was a little embarrassing, but there was just something about him that made your feet forget that they had a mind of their own. The word magnetism comes to mind. It took him a couple of months to notice, aka well into your senior year, but eventually he caught on and started playing the game right along with you. You were typically an impatient person, but you’re glad you paid the long game with this one. It’s how you ended up on his arm three Midsummer’s in a row.

So, again. It’s not that you weren’t excited about going to Midsummer’s. Afterall, you were in the prettiest dress you had ever seen (you had flowers in your hair for God’s sake) and your amazing boyfriend on your arm. It was destined to be a good night. Everything was aligned and it was going to be perfect. But, then again, perfect doesn’t usually last long in the Outer Banks.

You and Rafe had done the rounds to all of the most important club members, per Ward’s request, and you were about to throw a fit if you didn’t leave soon. All you wanted was to go back to one of your guys’ houses and have a night in with some netflix and your sweatpants. You didn’t even care about how damn cliche it was. It was just that exhausting pretending to like 25 consecutive rich white people. But Rafe was not interested. He knew how happy it made Ward that he was there making connections and participating in all of the traditions of Kook life. Regardless of what you felt about Ward and how he treated your boyfriend, you didn’t say anything. If it made Rafe happy, that was all you cared about.

But that didn’t mean you weren’t going to put up a fight.

You two were sitting at one of the tables draped in white linen, the fairy lights encircling them being the only sources of light three hours into the party. He was people watching, laughing and talking with people who walk by, his hand on your thigh as a sense of comfort. You were always the one thing that could ground him when he started to fly off the handle like he could still do from time to time.

“Rafe,” You whispered as you leaned into his neck more so than his ear. You wanted him to feel your breath against the sensitive spot behind his ear.

He shivered for just a second before he fought it off with a cough, turning to you with a forced smile, “Yes, Y/N?”

You made your best puppy dog face and looked up at him, your chin on his shoulderas you wrapped your arms around his middle, “I want to go home.”

He laughed a little at your dramatics and put an arm around your shoulders, pulling you tighter so he could kiss your forehead. “We’ll leave soon,” he whispered into your hair.

You tried whispering into his neck again, desperate for him to give into temptation. “I want to leave now,” You pressed the gentlest of kisses just below his earlobe, “Please?”

He shifted in his seat and sat up a little straighter, coughing as he pulled away from you enough to get your lips off him. “Just like, 30 more minutes. I don’t want Dad to think I’m ditching.”

It was your turn to pull away as you sat back in your chair and crossed your arms across your chest, fully pouting at his loyalty and devotion to the Cameron institution. You didn’t say anything, instead opting for a loud huff and your nose turning up to the sky, refusing to look at him any longer.

However, since you were so busy refusing to look up at him you didn’t notice him lean back in closer to you where it was his turn to whisper against your neck and in your ear, “I’ll make it worth the wait, I promise, Baby.”

There was no mistaking the hitch in your breath as you sunk back into your chair and into his chest, a blush creeping all the way from your exposed chest to the tips of your cheek bones. The immediate reactions you had to his voice never failed to amuse him, so you weren’t surprised to hear him laugh in spite of you. At this, you threw a weak punch at his shoulder that only made him laugh harder.

“Come on, dance with me,” He finished off his laughter as he stood up and held his hand out for you, “Not nearly enough people have seen how smokin’ you look tonight.”

Taking his hand you couldn’t help but smile, but still managing to roll your eyes at the cheesy remark, “I think you paraded me around to everyone at this party about three times over, Rafe.”

He led you over to the makeshift dance floor where it was just you guys and three other couples who all looked to be above the age of 80. His hands on your waist and yours around his neck he smiled down at you with the smile that was reserved just for you, “It will never be enough people.”

“You’re ridiculous, Rafe Cameron,” You leaned up to kiss his smiling lips, never able to resist him for long.

“And you’re beautiful, Y/F/N Y/L/N.”

But before you could finally kiss - something you somehow haven’t done yet and were getting desperate for - you were interrupted by the most obnoxious person you have ever had the displeasure of knowing.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here? Lady and the Tramp? Rafe, you’re Lady of course. Haven’t seen your balls in awhile, huh bud?”

You had hated Topper ever since you had first met him, but he had only gotten worse since High School ended and he found out what everyone else had known for years: that he was completely useless.

Rafe immediately moved so he was standing in front of you slightly, every muscle in his body tensed completely, but neither of you said anything.

Topper chuckled to himself as he crossed his arms over his puffed-out chest. He had a habit of getting overly confident once he got more than three whiskey’s deep. “Oh so you just have nothing to say, pal? Not enough that she has your balls in a fucking vice grip, she took your tonuge too...what a shame. You always had a way with words.” His smile was as menacing as it could be on a trust fund baby, but it still wasn’t great.

“Is that all?” Rafe said, sounding surprisingly calm. His muscles and jaw were unyielding, though. His grip on your hand flexed with every word he said as if he was slipping fast and desperate to have something to keep him from falling over that ledge.

Topper scoffed dramatically, “What? I can’t joke around with my best friend anymore? Or, my former best friend, I guess. Ever since that pogue-slut started sucking your dick you never give your real friends the time of day anymore.”

You flinched at the horrible things he was saying about you, but it was no match to the way Rafe was all but blowing fire out of his nostrils. “If I were you, Top, I’d turn your ass around and leave her the fuck alone.”

“I’m just trying to be there for you, bro. You’re not yourself anymore! This bitch has you completely brainwashed! The Rafe I know would have spit in the face of the pussywhipped cuck you’ve turned out to be.” He paused and then looked over Rafe’s shoulder at you, giving you a quick up and down. “Must be some pretty good pussy if you’re able to turn the King of Kildare county into your personal bitch.”

Rafe’s hand suddenly left yours and he laughed to himself, “You’re a funny guy, Top.”

“No, I'm serious, man. Let me have a piece of that. I’ll decide if she was worth ruining your reputation for.”

Rafe looked down and laughed for a second before looking directly in Topper’s eyes, “Go to fucking hell.”

Before he even got the last word out of his mouth, his iron fist had made impact straight into Topper’s jaw. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was just because of the power behind Rafe’s punch, but he was on the ground immediately, muttering gibberish to himself as his mouth flooded with blood.

“Rafe!” You screamed as you pulled him back just as looked like he was about to go in for another round.

He fought against your grips to get closer to him, wanting one last word. “You ever talk about me or my girl again and you’ll have a lot more to worry about than a bruised jaw. You got that?”

You didn’t wait for Topper’s response as you started to drag Rafe away towards the front of the house where his Jeep was parked. People were starting to stare and you wanted to get out of there before Ward caught wind of what had happened.

The half walk/half speed run to the car was a silent one. You didn’t know where to even begin and you could tell Rafe was embarrassed of acting out like that. He hadn’t done anything like that in over a year and he had been so proud of himself for turning over a new leaf for you.

Once you got into the car you both sighed in relief. It was then finally that he turned to you, his voice trembling just the slightest bit from residual adrenaline and the shame creeping up from the pit of his stomach to the tip of his spine. “Baby, I’m- I’m so sorry. But I, I just couldn’t help it. He was saying such fucked up shit about you. Calling you all of those things and talking about fucking you- I was going to be sick. I had I to do something baby, I’m so fucking sorry-”

He was caught off by the intoxicating crush of your lips against his. You grabbed his face in yours hands and kissed him harder than you had in a long time. It took him almost no time at all to melt into you, grabbing onto your waist as best as he could across the middle console. You were out of breath and positively drunk on each other when you finally pulled away, the most ridiculous smile plastered on your face. When you opened your eyes you saw that same smile mirrored on his perfect face, his eyes hooded as he laughed a little between pants.

“I know I uh, shouldn’t enable violent behavior,” you paused, still trying to catch your breath, “But that was one of the hottest things I have ever seen in my life.”

He swallowed, keeping his eyes locked on yours as his goofy smile turned into a smirk, “I’ll always fight for you, Princess. You know that.”

You whined just the slightest bit at the pet name before putting on your seatbelt. “Home. Now.” Afraid of what you would do if you looked at that shit eating grin for another second, you looked straight ahead out the windshield.

“Yes ma’am.” You heard him chuckle as he put the car in drive and head off toward his house, his hand on your leg seemingly inching up higher and higher with every mile traveled.

By the time you got back to his house, you were about three seconds away from jumping him in the wide open space of the Cameron residence’s driveway, but luckily your boyfriend had a little bit more restraint as he took your hand and directed you to the guest house that he had been living in for the last year and a half (it was all a part of Ward’s idea to give Rafe more responsibility, but all it had really done was give your sex life completely free reign, which you greatly appreciated).

Once you got into the front door, he all but slammed you against the door in order to shut it. “Damn if I had known me throwing punches at losers got you so hot I’d head down to the country club more often,” He whispered against your lips.

You moaned the slightest bit as his lips trailed down to your neck while he lifted you up, wrapping your legs around his waist and pinning you against the door. “It wasn’t about the punch-” A pause, “Ok it was sort of about the punch. But it was- it was more about you defending my honor or whatever. And you look so fucking sexy when you’re mad.”

His lips found his way back to yours, but first he smiled and whispered again, “I’ll always defend your honor, Baby. You’re my girl.”

And with that, you were back to making out sloppily as he carried you down the hall to his bedroom that, at this point, was pretty much your shared bedroom. He not-so-gently dropped you on the bed before reaching down and yanking his shoes and socks off when he went for his belt and dress pants. Your hand immediately flew up and swatted his away. “Let me do it.”

He groaned and ran his fingers through your hair as he looked down at you undoing his belt, your eyes fixed on his innocently. Once his belt was undone you wasted no time reaching a hand inside and feeling him up just the way he liked. You got up on your knees without removing your hand from its careful ministrations so you could kiss up his neck to his lips, “Thank you for being my knight in shining armor.”

Clearly not able to take much more teasing, he, a little gentler this time, pushed you back against the bed, this time coming with you. Since he was so much taller and broader than you, being underneath him was sometimes overwhelming but in a sexy, intoxicating way that you never got used to. He whispered against your neck, “If this dress isn’t off your body in about three seconds I’m going to fucking scream.”

You pushed him off of you and laughed before sitting up just enough to clumsily slip the dress off your head while he, equally as graceful, flung off his dress pants and shirt. He sat back on his knees for a moment and drank the sight of you in, face flushed, mouth agape, and completely, totally in love with you. “This never gets old. You’re...you’re perfect.”

That familiar blush and pit in your stomach that came with these intimate moments with him snuck up at you as you whispered a “Thank you”, a shy smile playing across your cheeks.

He returned the smile and leaned back over you, reigniting the fire from before as soon as his lips touched yours.

His hands were everywhere, everywhere, everywhere as you gasped beneath him with yours gripping his hair like a lifeline. From your chest to your ass he was caressing and stroking you as if you could disappear from him at any moment. When a hand finally reached into your underwear and he realized how turned on you already were he all but growled against your lips, “You’re always so ready for me...you have no idea what you do to me, baby…”

All you could muster up was a whimper as he hooked his fingers around the sides of your underwear and tore them down your legs. Wasting no time, attached his lips to you and started eating you out in the only way he could, which is to say it was perfect. He knew exactly when and where to use his fingers, and when and where to apply pressure with his tongue. It was amazing truly how it came so naturally to him. He was up to two fingers pumping inside of you when he moved his head up your body to kiss you, knowing what you needed to finish.

“Are you gonna cum for me, baby? I can feel it, I know you want to,” he whispered against your neck as he sucked and nipped at all of your favorite spots, “You’re so good for me always, go ahead. I’ll count you down. 5.”

You really could feel it starting to build up, but you wanted to hold back for just the right moment.

“4.”

Holding back seemed to be getting harder and harder, his fingers angled further up against you and his thumb found its way to the nerve ending that his tongue had to abandon to get to your neck.

“Such a good girl. 3.”

You were full blown whining and rocking against him, desperate for the feeling only he could bring you.

“2. Almost there, Princess.”

With a final squeal, you grabbed onto his arm and held it steady as you ground yourself against him, eyes squeezed shut.

“1.”

Before he had even finished the word, you were there. Your vision was white and your whole body was under the control of something primal and hot. He coaxed you through your orgasm with his fingers and the sweet encouragements falling off his tongue and into your ear.

When you opened your eyes finally you saw him looking down at you positively beaming with pride. Getting you off was his one greatest joy in life, which was good because, come to think of it, it was yours too.

“Fuck.” Was all you could sigh out as you looked up at him, your chest heaving.

He leaned down to kiss you again and chuckled against your lips, “I was just about to, God. You’re so impatient.”

Not finding him particularly funny at the moment - you had much more pressing things to take care of - you broke the kiss to push his boxers down his legs and grab a hold of him, stroking him a few times before lining him up against where you needed it most. You were just about to slide him in when he pushed your hand away and paused. “You know I love you, right?”

Momentarily breaking out of your primal haze, your body softened against the bed and you reached up to grab his face, “Of course I do, Baby. I love you too.”

Another pause from him where he averted his eyes before speaking again, “I would do anything for you,” he looked back at you, “I mean it. Anything.”

“I know,” you whispered back, trying to show that you understood his urgency.

“You’re like- You’re seriously the best thing that has ever happened to me so when Top started saying all of that disgusting shit about you and how you ruined my life I just- I just lost it, I guess.”

Your fingers found the back of his neck where you threaded them through his hair, trying to ground him. “You did the right thing, protecting me. He was drunk...who knows would have happened? He deserved it.”

He scoffed and shook his head, agreeing with you. “Yeah he fucking did. When he started talking about fucking you, I could have killed him. He’s lucky all he got was a sucker punch.”

“He’s the worst person on the island, it was about time someone put him in his place. You’re a good man, Rafe Cameron.”

He looked down at you again and smiled ever so slightly, “Yeah?”

Nodding your head and biting your lip to hold back a goofy grin you reassured him further: “The best.”

Closing the gap between you guys once more, he leaned down to capture your lips with that smile still plastered across his cheeks. As soon as your lips touched, though, that goofy mood was gone. He lined himself up against you and slid in slow and steady, making sure you both got to savor this moment. It was no shock that such a tall man would be so well endowed, but you still were never used to how good he felt like this and you were starting to think you never would be.

You both gasped and moaned when he finally started moving, his head lulling back as he held onto your hips with both of his big hands, pinning you down to the mattress hard (as if you would ever, in a million years go anywhere).

Another thing you didn’t think you would ever get used to is how into dirty talking he was. The man could go on and on and it made everything that much more powerful.

“You feel so good, Baby Girl.”

“Yeah, fucking scream, Princess. I want to know how good I’m making you feel.”

“You like it when I fuck you like that, huh? Say it.”

You were always more than willing to indulge his desires considering how hot they made you and much more confident they made him. Rafe was your first and only, but you couldn’t imagine that you were missing out on much. He had to be the best fuck you could ever hope for.

Before long you felt that knot start to loosen in the very base of your stomach, your breath trying desperately to keep up. “Baby, I-I’m-”

He continued to pound into you relentlessly, “Me too, sweetheart. Just hold off for a little longer. I want us to cum together.”

You whimper and grab onto the headboard behind you, trying to ground yourself to something before you lose it completely.

His thrusts quickly became sloppy and out of rhythm and his thumb once again found your clit, signaling that it was about time for both of you to give in.

“Please,” you begged, barely above a whisper as you strained against the headboard.

That was enough to do him in and you followed after all but a half second later. Both of you started mumbling all kinds of gibberish about how much you loved the other and how hot that was, but neither of you were really present enough to pay attention.

Rafe fell on the bed on the other side of you and immediately wrapped you up against him, pulling the covers over the both of you. Your head was resting on his chest and you could hear his heart struggle to regulate itself.

“What do you think my dad will say?” He whispered sadly after a couple of minutes of running his fingers all along your side as you drew shapes into his chest.

You lifted your head just enough to look up at his worried face. “I don’t think you have to worry about that, Rafe.”

“I embarrassed the whole family because I lost my temper...he’s not going to be happy about that.”

Setting your hands under your chin’s place on his chest, you rolled onto your stomach to look at him longer and harder, “You lost your temper because some drunk psycho was insulting your girlfriend and calling you a pussy-whipped bitch. I’m afraid to know what Ward would do in that situation. He’s probably thinking you were too nice.”

He chuckled slightly, making your whole body move with the laughter in his chest. “Yeah I guess that’s where I get my um….passion from….”

“Hm...I don’t know. I think you cultivated it yourself. You give Ward too much credit, you learned how to be a good, loyal person all on your own.” Confident in your assessment, you turned your head back against him and cuddled up for the night, exhaustion hitting you all at once with a giant yawn.

Rafe paused for a moment before leaning forward and kissing the crown of your head and smoothing your hair, “I think you had a little bit more to do with that than I did.” It was barely more than a whisper, you wondered if you were even meant to hear it.

Another yawn, “Nah, you already were everything you are now. You just needed someone to give you permission to be it.”

You couldn’t see it, but he was smiling from ear to ear as your words sank into his skin. He was the first one to admit that when he met you, he didn’t deserve you. It was a guilt that had hung over him these past few years. Everything he did was to try and be the type of guy that deserved you, that was right for you. He knew you loved him for who he was then and who he is now, but hearing you say such kind things about the version of himself he hated the most just made the guilt ease up a bit because, hey, if he was good enough for you, then that was all that mattered.

“Goodnight, baby,” you mumbled against his chest as you nuzzled up against him, even though you couldn’t get much closer.

He sighed with a smile on his sleepy face, “Goodnight, Princess.”

#rafe cameron #rafe x reader #rafe cameron x reader #rafe cameron smut #rafe cameron fanfiction #rafe fic #obx #obx fanfiction #outer banks #outerbanks fanfiction #rafemaybank wrote this

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shinidamachu · 3 years

Note

You know what’s sad? I didn’t care for S*ssRin before Yashahime. I didn’t like it but I didn’t hate it. It’s these recent posts where people try to justify this ship with literal grooming tactics that’s seriously grossing me out. 😬

Hey there!

Yeah, I see where you’re coming from and even though I had a different experience, yours is totally understandable. In fact, many people in the fandom are in the same boat as you.

Personally, I first watched the anime when I was a little kid. Like, really young. I didn’t get to finish it then, probably because the TV channel stopped airing it or something like that. Growing up, the story was still on the back of my mind, but Inuyasha, Kagome and their romance were the only things I could remember. As an adult, I finally decided to rewatch the whole thing, start to finish.

That’s when I took notice of the other key characters, such as $esshomaru and R!n, that my young mind had forgotten. Because she was a child, it never occured to me to interpret their bond as romantic. And because he was her guardian, exerted authority over her from the moment they met and their relationship was strictly platonic during the whole show, I couldn’t help but see them as a Lilo & Stitch family: little and broken, but still good.

However, years and years of fandom had prepared me to the real possibility of $esshomaru/R!n being a ship. My fears were confirmed when I joined Inutumblr. Was I still grossed out? Absolutely. But I couldn’t say I was surprised. As much as it hurts to say, the misogynist trope $esshomaru/R!n is based on is not unusual.

And so I hated this ship since I learned it was a thing. Hated its disgusting implications, hated that it defilled such a pure, familial form of unconditional love, hated how cheap and superficial it is. Hated how it strips R!n out of any agency whatsoever, hated that it downplays $esshomaru’s character development and it makes him out to be an absolute creep.

That’s why I did my level best to avoid interacting with shippers as much as I could. I can make friends with them, if they’re not invested in it enough to put it on my dash. And as much as it still makes me uncomfortable, I can look the other way if I’m reading Inukag fanfiction and these characters are portrayed as a couple, as long as they met when she was an adult and they’re not a huge part of it. It's not of my business what people ship, regardless of how unbelievably inappropriate and problematic I find it to be. They stayed in their lane. I stayed in mine. We lived in peace.

Until the sequel attacked and changed everything like some kind of Fire Nation shit.

You probably didn’t care about $essr!n because you didn’t have to. Inuyasha ended and it was a very definitive ending. We had our interpretation of what the finale represented for $essr!n. Shippers had their totally different idea. But there was no point in discussing it because nothing would change regarding the story. We were given what we were given and that was that.

Or so we thought.

Suddenly Sunrise comes along with a sequel, in which $esshomaru had daughters. This statement brought brand new information that effectively shoots down one of the interpretations above: all Sunrise has to do is reveal the mother.

The thing is: if the “$esshomaru and R!n were family” interpretation is the one Yashah!me debunks, it means Sunrise is going to portray in a good light a relationship in which a grown man met a 8 years old child, protected her, gave her gifts, exerted authority over her, established himself as an adult she could trust after all the trauma she went through... only to impregnate her when she was old enough to bear his children. It also means Rumiko Takahashi allowed them to do so.

From this point on, it was impossible for me not to speak up against it. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t. It’s one thing for people to make fanarts and write fanfiction about it. These things can be tagged, filtered, searched for or avoided. Other completely different is the studio that owns Inuyasha turning the ship into official content and addressing it to children.

To make matters worse, some shippers reacted to more that valid criticism by harassing people online and trying to justify why $essr!n is okay when it clearly isn’t. If you’re down with a problematic ship, that’s a you problem. You’re an adult. When you advocate for said ship to be represented in official children media, denying or knowing exactly how harmful it is to the children who are too young to have the same critical skills as you, that’s when I get vocal against it.

And I will be vocal because there are people out there actually believing the absurds some shippers say to try and normalize $essr!n, going as far as comparing it with perfectly acceptable ships or straight up creating their own “facts” to twist canon in their favor. I will be vocal because some of its supporters only ships it because a part of the fandom does it and never really thought about it. I will be vocal because I want this terrible trope to die. It’s more than enough time to kill it, in Inuyasha or any other TV show out there. We know better now. Let’s do better.

As for the shippers, I’m more than happy to ignore their existence, but it seems they are shooting themselves in the foot with how loud and obnoxious they are getting, especially after the infamous last preview, managing to annoy even the people who were staying out of it, such as yourself, anon. At least that’s what it looks like, here from my little bubble.

I’m sorry this whole thing makes you sad, pal. It makes me sad too. And I know if worse comes to worst, it will be hard for some of us to separate the sequel from the original, especially if you’re a $esshomaru stan, because it will be almost impossible to “escape” the damn thing, but hear me out:

R!n can be the mother of the twins or not. However it goes, you don’t have to consider Yashah!me canon at all. I sure as hell won’t.

#Thanks for passing by #I'm always here if you guys need to talk #Anti Sessrin

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monkey-network · 3 years

Text

The Odyssey of Spongebob Squarepants

A lot can happen as you grow up. Your tastes will change, you will have more responsibilities, and unless you can literally live under a rock, you can’t turn things back for yourself. So... after over 20 years, when the time keeps going in spite of yourself, does your past evolve and how should you feel about it? Spongebob Squarepants is a show so many have noted as the greatest of all time, but has grown to not be wholly beloved as its later years have not been as well received as it’s golden era. But I’m one to think: how has Spongebob evolved over time? What of this show makes it the greatest in my eyes despite thinking more about those vaunted first three seasons with its movie? Well, let’s roll back...

Back to the Past, To Remember Episodes that Sucked Ass

Despite what some may say, I don’t believe season 4 and 5 was where Spongebob started losing its mojo. There were definitely stinkers like Good Neighbors and Driven to Tears but the good ones definitely outweighed the bad. Not like the quality Golden Era didn’t have its duds, I really don’t like I’m With Stupid, Party Pooper Pants, and Spongeguard on Duty. Season 6 is where I say things surely falter, where for a good amount of time more episodes became unpleasant in retrospect. I noticed it’s more season 6 through 8 that people really take issue with. The Splinter, Boating Buddies, Pet Sitter Pat, the many we call the worst are some good time after the first movie. The first movie came out in 2004, season 6 was spring 2008 so it’s fair to say we had a grace period.

But it begs the bucking question: why did Spongebob stop being good? Numerous people have tried wrapping their heads around the decline citing reasons from flanderization, creative fallout and changes. Emplemon believed in his Spongebob video that the spirit of what connected the show to adults was severed due to merely become a cartoon for children, especially when Spongebob and Squidward’s dichotomy as adults was broken in later seasons. But you know what? I think I truly have the answer. It’s not so much production wise, but it certainly explains the many differing bad episodes that many have covered. It explains why I don’t like Sponge on the Run but we’ll get to that later. But a truth I’ve noticed, remembering and looking at Spongebob in its seperated eras is one I haven’t seen anybody talk about when it comes to why it could be considered bad:

The Plot Drives the Characters Too Much

The greatest episodes of Spongebob, I’m talking Band Geeks, Pizza Delivery, Ripped Pants, Chocolate w/ Nuts, Karate Choppers, etc., don’t have the premise take over the characters. Meanwhile the worst episodes always have the plot push the characters in noticeably different directions because it demands it. Spongebob is strictly a character based cartoon, and when you have episodes that, while can appear fitting on paper, force the cast to be somebody they’re not, people aren’t gonna be on board. Take the episode A Pal for Gary where Spongebob gets Gary a new pet that dangerously hates other pets only for him to be completely ignorant of Gary’s pleas and blames him in the end for banishing the monstrous Puffy Fluffy away. Reasonably, Spongebob is very much the asshole but unfortunately has to or else the plot would need to be seriously reworked. We can chock it up to poor direction but this is indeed a common occurrence for when Spongebob gets bad, not just in post first movie era. I’m With Stupid is a great classic era example where yeah, Patrick becomes an ignorant jerk but on paper, it works with the plot of him trying to please his parents. It does the job at the visible cost of the characters. We generally say the characters are bad but I’ve hardly seen people say the plots are bad like Family Guy where, despite also being character focused, the plots they have can go off the rails in favor of trying to get laughs and the sake of a status quo. The highlight of this problem lies with the coined ‘Squidward Torture Porn’

Squidward Tentacles can be a jerk. A real cynic, a character that’ll gladly try to bring down Spongebob’s childlike wonder in favor of giving him a dose of reality. The most memorable episodes of him are where him and Spongebob are in the same situation but have their clash of outlooks, with Squidward ultimately understanding Spongebob’s POV enough to have a moment of genuine happiness or a modest bit of karma. He’s indeed the most important character because adults grow to see where he’s coming from but at the same time wants to be on Spongebob’s side. The best provide Squidward the chance to understand differently and potentially enjoy a new perspective. The worst punishes him for simply wanting to live.

The plots of the worst Squidward episodes have Spongebob and/or Patrick actively antagonize Squidward because on paper, it makes sense to make someone like Squidward the punching bag like Elmer Fudd to Bugs Bunny or an egotistical asshole to the Warner Siblings from Animaniacs. But in the effort to do so, they never give Squidward the chance to fight back. It’s like they took the whole “No One Wants to be a Squidward” line and utilized that to make him the go to for misery based comedy without giving him any upside. Cephalopod Lodge, Good Neighbors, Choir Boys are stories designed around Spongebob ruining Squid’s life because... what? He doesn’t want Spongebob to be around every time of day? As a child, it can be some fun just seeing Squid get punished but for an adult, it can definitely be a turn-off. Some people see themselves in Squidward, for better or worse, so what’s it to them when Squidward is basically forced to suffer for no reason other than the plot demands it? Later stories give Squidward far more of a break, even some successes, but the idea of making him the butt of life’s joke is still leftover from the episodes that called for him to casually suffer.

The worst plots of the show can be the safest, the simplest, and pretty predictable because unlike the best where the characters are just allowed to make things happen, the story has to contain the characters in a way that’s fitting to who they can be but notably sacrifices who they were before. Why they got made is very up in the air, I’d have to listen to a ton of commentary to potentially pick that apart and I don’t have that much time.

But it doesn’t the change the fact that the plots were never what made Spongebob good. And it doesn’t mean all those bad episodes make for bad seasons either. We could say there was a decline but that would mean giving up on the show merely because it lost it’s footing with more bad episodes than good for a few seasons. Because I believe 4 to 5 years after season 6, things got back on track even if things weren’t exactly the same.

Return to Form, Change in Energy

I don’t believe that Stephen Hillenburg’s departure was what proposed the decline, I’d say the show never really declined, just had some real potholes within three particular seasons. But I say it’s clear that the direction of the show shifted because you gotta understand, with or without Stephen the show has to be unique, has to have fresh ideas in the midst of potential competition despite being the most popular of the network. Even the trusted of Hillenburg’s team might’ve figured Spongebob couldn’t make lightning strike so rough patches might be expected. This is where Spongebob’s 2nd film, Sponge Out Of Water comes in.

I wasn’t as into this film with my first watch. I know it wouldn’t compare to the first film, but things felt segmented to where it hardly felt like a structured movie. Going back to it again, it kinda showed how Spongebob was going to evolve as a series. A lot of Sponge Out of Water lies in the characters getting into a more chaotic adventure than before. Spongey’s dream sequence, the whole Mad Max apocalypse, inter-dimensional dolphins, really told that the show post 2nd film would follow in its footsteps both in the stories and in animation.

It’s to say the golden era of Spongebob was more... grounded with itself. The charm of the characters was what made the plots unpredictable in nature but mostly not to a visible extent. Idiot Box, one of the greatest episodes, literally have moments where we see nothing but a box but the episode’s carried by the performances. Modern Spongebob, post 2nd movie, started to run all over the place. That’s not a bad thing but clearly a change of pace. I think it’s befitting to say the modern era got more cartoon-y where it’s way more expressive and the plots themselves go in unpredictable places in a way that all feels refreshing. It’s not the same as before, but well enough in it’s own time. It’s like Teen Titans ‘03 vs Teen Titans GO! The two have their clearly different tones but they’re appealing in their own way, only Spongebob isn’t trying to poke fun at its older audience like a snarky ass motherfu-

That is the thing as well that I haven’t seen many people consider when it comes to the modern era: it always tries to be fun. I can say an episode’s bad, but there are times where a bad Spongebob episode was enjoyable at least. It isn’t like modern Simpsons where you could tell they’ve been running out of steam and you’d just wish it died. It feels like the staff were given some time and space to make Spongebob back into as intended, even when most moments aren’t as strong or memorable as before. It can appear as just another cartoon for children but it never felt like it wasn’t Spongebob anymore, especially after the 2nd film and with Stephen Hillenburg’s consulting return. Unfortunately, only after a few more years is where say Spongebob’s going in a direction that I’m admittedly not fond off. It isn’t on par with The Simpsons, but it’s not as comfortable a fate.

A Spongebob Cinematic Universe

I enjoyed Sponge on the Run, but I don’t like it what it stands for. Many say it’s a poor backdoor for the spin-off Kamp Koral and I can’t help but agree. I’m not speaking for Stephen’s behalf nor will I shame everyone who comes to love this mini-series when it comes out, but I can definitely see where he was coming from with his abstain of spin-offs. Spongebob is a show that works, always worked, on its own. It has many characters that, to this day, they’re bouncing with to create new adventures and jokes. Now, I’m actually okay with giving some spin-offs revolving around the other characters; a show for Squidward would be hype as all hell.

But Kamp Koral, by extension Sponge on the Run, feels less like a creator’s passion and more like a marketed decision. The fact that they scrapped a potential alien cat invasion movie all for a visually pleasing yet heavily derivative story tells quite a bit. It’s a movie that, compared to the previous, is just hitting certain beats; the plot again driving the characters instead of the other way around which leads to really off-putting moments. There’s fun to be had, but it feels superficial. And while I don’t think this’ll affect the next generation of Spongebob, the most recent episodes are good, but I have a bad feeling that it’ll be morphed into something Stephen genuinely didn’t want for the series and they do it because regardless of what the fans don’t want, they truly own the show now.

I was okay with Spongebob having its merchandise and a Broadway musical because the show helped make them work. After seeing SCOOB! and countless talks of making cinematic universes thanks not only to the MCU but stuff like Spider-Verse and Lego Movie though, it’s starting to feel more like an corporate sanctioned omen that I fear too much becoming a reality. But really, it begs one more question...

What Do I See in Spongebob?

I’ve said this when talking about the 1st Spongebob movie: “[It] works so well was because, speaking for adults, it is about embracing the you that you love as opposed to trying to be someone you aren't. You can grow up for taking that journey, but you don't have to be grown up all the time.” Even with its not so great history, Spongebob personally never comes off as a show that’s lost its identity. If there’s anything learned from the likes of Steven Universe and Family Guy, yeah, it’s that bad episodes or changes in tone doesn’t make for a buried series. Vast majority will definitely notice the difference between classic and modern Spongebob, but I don’t believe they’ll say it isn’t Spongebob anymore. I keep bringing it up, but it doesn’t feel like the Simpsons where you notice the burnout, the age of its existence in the late late seasons. Not that Viacom/Nickelodeon won’t hesitate the same fate because they can be fucking scum, but otherwise the show has run out of steam yet.

What mostly concerns me though is that the charm of the show falls by the wayside with trying to expand it outside the show. Bog down the love by making unnecessary spin-offs that try to do what fanworks like the Spongebob Anime do for the hell of it in order to retain that all age appeal. They’ll feel like memes that age horrifically the moment it’s trending on Twitter. Again I don’t wanna speak over Stephen Hillenburg’s behalf but it feels like Nickelodeon gets potentially too ambitious with something that should be simple enough at the same time. We got some good hype back thanks to the Battle for Bikini Bottom Rehydrated, but that only could boost our spirits so far this year.

To me, Spongebob was certainly a game changer and now, while still popular, it is very much among the crowd. It’s not a show we’re worrying about compared to stuff like Infinity Train, Glitch Techs, the Animaniacs reboot, Primal, shows that are continually changing the metagame in what people want for a cartoon. We might notice stand out moments and we’ll continue making memes, but it’s fair to say we aren’t as invested in Spongebob socially as back then when, as I remember, new episodes or specials felt like an event and it was considered the best out here in our friend circles. Now when we say it’s the best, it’s asterisked. Many love Spongebob Squarepants, but notably aren’t too keen with all of it nowadays.

But to truly conclude, I say for everyone who reads all of this, 1st thank you, and secondly to give modern Spongebob a chance. I can’t recommend Sponge On the Run but these later seasons (nine to recently) actually feel like the show cleaned up itself after many touted that bad episode era was what made Spongebob fall. I don’t believe the show’s fallen because I shouldn’t have expected this show to be flawless. Not every episode’s a hit, but there is not only still good variety but episodes that feel right at home. Mimic Madness, Boo-kini Bottom, Squid Noir, Moving Bubble Bass, One Trick Sponge, and any episode with Plankton are actual joys to see and rewatch if I’m in the mood. The episode premieres are all over the place nowadays but it feels like the crew are given their time at least. And I think this is the path is where I’m content with about Spongebob: it just gets to be a cartoon.

I see so many people try to prop up shows as more than meets the eye. I mention Infinity Train and Steven Universe as the new game changers but I hardly see people just recommend shows that are simple, clean, knows what they are without trying to be anything more premise wise. We just get some quality entertainment with characters we’ve come to know, just for the sake of it. We get a cartoon in its bare essence. Spongebob gets to do its thing like it always has these past 20 years and I’m grateful for that. I’ve seen a variety of shows, but Spongebob always felt like a show worth sticking with even when I feel I’ve “outgrown” it. Not because I want to regress in growth, but as an adult I see now why Spongebob worked so well as it did and why it’s worth sticking with. Even after everything, the show’s made it it’s sole passage to provide us the core reason why we love Spongebob: the show always wanted to love itself for what it was as Spongebob Squarepants always loved to be himself.

And there will never ever be another show like it.

#spongebob squarepants #spongebob #sb #sbsp #stephen hillenburg #nickelodeon #cartoons #animation #analysis #meta #reviews #long post #Good Stuff

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boyneriver-fraser · 4 years

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How ‘bout that early release of Episode 1 The Fiery Cross? Spoilers, shmoilers. Pfft… what’s a 75-hour Tumblr embargo* when you’re accustomed to a 25-hour one?

After much whining, Season 5 finally arrived chez moi. What did I think?

Cold Open: Gave me chills, despite having seen it during promo. Murtz. In a kilt. Walking across a grassy field. Wind blowing through his hair. Reassuring a bereaved child. What’s not to love?

Theme Song: Missed (Mrs. Bear McCreary) Raya Yarbrough’s solo, but the choral version is already growing on me.

Opening Credits: Quietly thrilled to see Producer Caitriona Balfe, Producer Sam Heughan, and look forward to seeing their influence mid-season forward. (Remember, they received the new gigs after S5 production was well underway.)

Wedding Preparation: Beautiful dress with so many details to highlight the Scottish heritage the bride only recently discovered. So many sweet moments between Claire and Brianna and between Jamie and Brianna. “Je suis prest.” Da, your daughter’s a Fraser.

The (New) Wedding: The Frasers of the Ridge are here! (Chills 2) Loved the callback to S1E7 The Wedding — Jamie and Brianna’s walk through the doorway into the sunlight. Thought the juxtapositions were poignant — A reluctant bride in a dark church, hesitatingly saying her vows. A joyous bride in the great outdoors, eagerly saying hers. A small group of men, a tavern hostess, a prostitute, and no family-of-the-bride as guests. A huge gathering of friends and tenants of all genders and ages, and the bride’s parents, son, brother, sister-in-law, nephew, niece, great-aunt… and great-godfather, who managed to catch a glimpse from afar, as guests.

Fraser-MacKenzie Kids: Germain and Jemmy and Joanie, oh my! And Fergus and Marsali’s privately celebrating Félicité “in utero” was a lovely moment. (For anyone confused about number of the babies, Lizzie looked after Jemmy during the wedding ceremony, while Marsali held Joanie on her knee.)

“Some Shakespeare, anyone?”: Really, Lord John? 🤦🏻‍♀️

L is for the way you look at me: If you’ve never had someone pick up a guitar and sing a love song just for you… well, let’s just say Murtz wasn’t the first man to steal my heart. Rik Rankin truly has a lovely singing voice, and I will dearly miss Roger’s when… well… you know. Sigh.

Favourite Line: “I’ve got more on my mind than kissin’ and what have you, Mr. Fraser, Sir.” (Josiah Beardsley) What have you… 😂

Jocasta Cameron: Snob? Sly? Slut? All of the above?

Black Jack The Sequel: What is it with these corrupt redcoats? Governor Tryon annoys me more with each scene.

Hair Tics: I’m confident me ol’ pal @saint-hildegard-of-bingen is unable to count the number of times I’ve referred to myself as a heretic while talking to her, something I never did prior to reading the Outlander series, particularly The Fiery Cross. 😎

The Kilt: Oh, the kilt! (Chills 3) And the callback to S2E9 Je Suis Prest with the song Moch Sa Mhadainn. Powerful Scottish stuff.

Lighting Of The Cross: (Chills 4) I loved it and I’m not sorry. Highland chieftains set fire to a cross to call their men to arms. Period. Jamie lit his cross 90-something years before someone bastardized the long-held Scottish tradition.

Stand By My Hand: (Chills 5) So. Many. Feels. Loved the callback to S1E4 The Gathering. Isaiah Morton’s** realizing Roger didn’t quite get Jamie’s invitation, and teaching by doing, made me smile. Jamie’s being impressed Roger didn’t need to “Repeat what I say” made me smile more. Jamie’s looking to Brianna for confirmation before accepting Roger’s pledge made me tear up. Marsali’s pride at Fergus’s pledging his fealty — and at her not having to prompt Jamie to recognize Fergus’s worth — released those tears. The rest of the men’s lining up to more Moch Sa Mhadainn sealed the deal. Favourite scene, hands down.

Ghoistidh: Jamie’s knowing he’ll abandon Tryon eventually to fight alongside Washington, conflicting with Murtagh’s need to lead the Regulators and antagonize Tryon now, breaks my heart. And don’t get me started on Jamie’s releasing Murtz from his decades-old vow. 😭

Forewarning: If Murtz dies as a Regulator, and if Jamie is directly involved in his death, I will be inconsolable… about losing TV-Murtagh. Real Life Murtagh™ is safe, at home with me.

Sadly Absent: Young Ian. I really missed Ian. And Rollo. (Which is more than I can say for Lizzie. She looked at Josiah Beardsley on the big house verandah the same way she looked at Young Ian on the Cape Fear boat.) Hurry home…

Reality Bites: Too clean? Too modern? Too fancy? Too funny. Three of the four main characters touched a rock and instantaneously travelled 200 years. One of them three stinkin’ times. Reality left the building at 37:41 of the first episode. (Well, Frank saw a ghost at 24:20, but who wants to talk about Frank?) Embrace the fiction…

Closing Credits: Reports of Ronald D. Moore’s executive-producer death have been greatly exaggerated. Like the author’s, we see his name in big, bold font immediately before and after the episode. **I recognized Isaiah Morton by John Quincy Myers’ “Come on, Morton, time waits for no man” during the drinking game (if you didn’t catch him there, Isaiah was the first man to pledge fealty to Jamie), but I can’t put faces to book-familiar names Murdina & Arch Bug, Margaret Chisholm, Duncan Innes, or Ronnie Sinclair. Could you? 🤔

Get your act together, Starz, and offer your app to the rest of the world. *On W Network in Canada I’m able to start watching Outlander 25 hours after Starz app users in the USA and Puerto Rico start watching it. Of course when you change your cable package without subscribing to W Network and discover your thinking it’s available for free preview in February is a mistake, 75 hours extends to 85 hours, minimum, what with having to wait till morning to call to subscribe. Blah blah blah. 🧀 🧀 🧀 to accompany the whine.

Note: If you choose to read my recap/review(s), and think, “Of course she’s all positive and happy about the show; she wouldn’t say shite if her mooth was full of it,” you’re sadly mistaken. Few things come more naturally to me than being negative and critical. I grew up in an environment where, if you have nothing nice to say, you make sure everyone can hear it. I wrestle with the ghost of that environment every time I open my mouth. I refuse to let it haunt my blog. #TV #Fiction #Fun

__________

Gifs: @mclintocks (1 & 2), @thewanderingace (3)

#Outlander #Personal #Review #TFC #S5E1 The Fiery Cross #Claire Fraser #Jamie Fraser #Brianna MacKenzie #Roger MacKenzie #Fergus Claudel Fraser #Marsali Fraser #Jocasta Cameron #Ulysses #Too Much Of Frank #Murcasta shmurcasta 🙄 #Slut #190 #021820

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savemefromanepicoftimewasted · 3 years

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My Best Pal

Steve Rogers X OFC Bucky Barnes X Reader Cap was the best thing to happen to Steve, he was the reason Steve had found the love of his life and gotten married. Three kids sitting together in the dining room, laughing at whatever one of them had seen. This was truly his life. a/n:this is the final fic to my Steve and Captain series, and I just want to say to everyone whose read it, thank you so much, this honestly made me cry like a baby when I finished it, but it’s something that I’ve loved to write, and I hope everyone loved it too, thank you <3

Steve took a slow, deliberate breath.

He was taking Rosie, and Aj to their first day of senior year, where had all the time gone? It felt like just yesterday he was holding them for the very first time. Haley was heading into her sophomore year of highschool, that didn’t help ease his anxiety.

“Dad, things are gonna be fine, we’ve been going to this school for years.” Rosie shrugged nonchalantly.

Steve ran a hand over his face, scratching his beard absentmindedly.

“That isn’t what worries me sweetpea, I just miss you guys all the time.” Steve smiled softly, resting his free hand on Rosie’s shoulder.

“We know, mom tells us all the time.” Rosie patted his hand, grabbing her bag from the floor.

All three kids slipped out of the truck, waving behind themselves as they headed inside the school. They’d made friends, but no one ever usually came over to their house.

It wasn’t because Steve was opposed to people knowing that his kids attended the school, it was that the kids were respecting his personal space, his privacy. Being an Avenger had taken a lot from him, and being in his house was the one place no one could bother him.

Steve grabbed his phone, dialing a number he’d know by heart even without the eidetic memory.

“Babe, they’ve been out of the car for two minutes, come home already.” Krista’s voice was soothing, a gentle reminder of what he’d go home to.

“You know how I get when they start school.” Steve glanced at himself in the rearview mirror.

The gray he’d started to notice when the twins were toddlers had slowly started to make it’s way over his entire head, even going as far as making its way into his beard.

He’d accepted it after a couple of years, knowing there was nothing he could do to prevent his aging. Then again, Bucky was in the same boat as him, though the gray seemed to affect him more in his beard rather than his hair.

Y/N, and Krista had started calling them silver foxes, much to the kids dismay. Apparently there’s nothing worse than hearing your mother call your father sexy. They of course didn’t care choosing to annoy the twins, Haley, Becca, and Sammy all the time.

Steve took the long route home, enjoying the scenery that was New York almost absentmindedly. It’d been a long time since he’d been able to just drive away without a real destination in mind. Sure, he was going home to the dogs and Krista, but right now he was simply enjoying the drive.

Maybe he could pick up breakfast for them, something they hadn’t had in a while, a nice treat to distract him from the kids being at school all day.

“Sir, your wife has texted a few times over the past few minutes, it seems urgent.” Steve felt his heart jump into his throat.

“Can you read the texts?” Steve gripped the steering wheel tighter, palms sweating as he stared out the windshield.

Krista:Babe, are you taking the long way home again? You know how I feel when you do that.

Krista:Hey, there was a package delivered, but there’s no note, were you expecting something?

Krista:Steven Grant, there is something inside the box, and I swear to god if you’re not home in the next five minutes.

Krista:If this is a prank you’re sleeping on the couch for a month! “Would you like me to send a reply?” Friday’s voice sounded far away, almost as if she was talking inside of a tunnel.

“Tell her I’ll be home in two minutes.” Steve pressed down on the gas pedal, the speedometer needle rising much higher than he’d ever driven in the truck before.

It could handle the speed no problem, but he wasn’t about to risk anything when it came to his wife’s safety.

Cap and Grant were most likely watching the door intently, even in their old age they were determined to keep the house safe whenever Steve was out of the house. Right now though, he needed to protect them no matter what. They weren’t as spry as they once were, even if Steve could say the same for himself.

He pulled into the driveway haphazardly, parking the truck before jumping out and running over to where the box was laying in front of the door.

Krista had been correct, the box was definitely moving, but there didn’t seem to be anything dangerous about it, no toxic gas oozing out, or any kind of bomb.

“What the hell?” Steve knelt down, gently prying open the top of the box, coming face to face with what seemed to be a German Shepherd puppy. The dog was small, smaller than even Grant was when they adopted him.

He pulled the puppy out carefully, checking for any kind of note to give him an answer as to why there was a dog on his front steps. Besides what looked to be a blanket, there was nothing indicating as to why there was a small puppy on his porch.

“Doll? Do you know anyone whose dog was having puppies?” Steve grabbed the box before nudging his way inside.

“No, cause all of our friends either don’t have animals, or have cats.” Krista stepped around the couch slowly, almost nervously.

Cap came over to sniff the small pup, snuffling when he realized it was another dog. Grant on the other hand was ready to play with him, even if Steve was reluctant to set him down.

“There was no note or anything, he was just kind of sitting out there.” Steve bundled up the pup closer to his chest, frowning when he realized they were shivering.

Krista cooed softly, stroking her fingers over their fur.

“They’re so small, was Grant this small when we got him?” Steve knew immediately she was going to want to keep him, and who was he to deny her? Considering the dog had been placed in their laps essentially.

The other two dogs walked away after a few moments, seeming to realize Steve wasn’t going to let the small dog play with them, at least not yet.

“He’s not underfed, just maybe still growing.” Steve was afraid he’d accidentally hurt the small pup, listening to the soft whines he was letting out.

“Let’s take him to the vet, see if there’s anything wrong with him first.” Krista grabbed any necessities before leading Steve, who was still holding the puppy, out to the truck.

Sure it would’ve been easier to have Friday do a quick scan to check for any abnormalities, or fleas, but they needed to be absolutely certain. Plus, if they’d planned on keeping him, there were plenty of different things to get first.

“God, he’s so small.” Steve glanced down at the pup, noticing how he’d started to burrow himself into Krista’s arms.

Maybe he was scared, of the world, of going somewhere else he wasn’t entirely sure about. The only conclusion Steve could really come to, was that he was curious.

The vet was all too happy to take them back once they arrived, examining the puppy for any fleas, or diseases he might have. He was a trooper through everything, even when the vet mentioned shots.

Well, he may have whined for a brief moment when the needle came into his sights. Steve wasn’t even a fan of needles, and he was a supersoldier.

“From what I can tell he seems to be in perfect health, no fleas, no rabies, not even a hint of anything negative. You said he was dropped on your doorstep?” The vet seemed confused, but also concerned for any of the possible brothers or sisters.

Steve couldn’t tear his gaze away from the pup, curiosity getting the better of him. Would it really be so bad if he had any siblings, another dog to add to the family?

“Steve, don’t you dare.” Krista wasn’t so much glaring at Steve, as she was staring him down slightly disappointed.

“C’mon, Cap needs someone to play with at home.” Steve wasn’t afraid to use his own puppy eyes, knowing it worked every time.

She sighed softly, running a hand through her hair. The dog was in good health, and Cap could use the exercise right now.

“Don’t tell the kids about him just yet, that’s all I’m asking.” Krista stepped over to the pup, fingers dug into his coarse fur.

Steve smiled, content that they’d be able to give this puppy a forever home, even with three rambunctious teenagers.

“How hard could it be anyway?” They’d taken care of three kids all under the age of five at once, this would be a cake walk.

3 ½ Months Later Steve ran after Sarge, nearly skidding across the floor as the puppy sprinted into the kitchen. Krista paid neither of them any mind, stirring together the pie mixture she’d been working on all morning.

“Gotcha!” Steve held Sarge up in the air, laughing when the puppy wiggled and barked.

“You know, it’s christmas morning and the most you’ve done is be outdone by a dog, again.” Krista snickered, pouring the mixture into the pie crust next to her.

Steve scoffed, setting Sarge down onto the ground. No one else had known they’d gotten another dog, everyone more concerned with how Cap was doing. His muzzle was spotted with gray, matching Steve’s own beard and hair.

“The kids are all in the dining room, probably texting everyone to see when they’re coming over.” Steve stepped over to Krista, arms wrapped around her waist as she hummed happily.

Steve knew the first people to arrive were going to be Bucky and his family, they always came almost an hour early. Nothing with being punctual.

“Gifts are all wrapped and ready to be handed out when everyone’s here, though I don’t think Cap’s gonna be up for much fun today.” It was pretty obvious that he chose to relax more often, laying in his bed while Sarge ran around the house.

They’d lost Grant the year prior, he’d given them plenty of love for the years he was on the earth, and everyone was grateful to have spent time with him.

“He’s getting old, but at least the kids were able to grow up alongside him.” Steve didn’t want to ever have to say goodbye to his best friend.

Cap was the best thing to happen to Steve, he was the reason Steve had found the love of his life and gotten married. Three kids sitting together in the dining room, laughing at whatever one of them had seen. This was truly his life.

“Can you really believe that they’re going to be graduating next year?” Krista sighed softly, running a hand through her hair, it was a nervous habit she’d picked up after dealing with three teens.

“I honestly can’t, but we knew they were going to graduate eventually. They’re gonna go off and do big things with their lives, make us proud.” Steve smiled softly, pressing a kiss to her cheek before straightening once more.

Everyone began to arrive quicker than Steve anticipated, the house soon buzzing with activity as everyone snacked on finger foods and passed out gifts to everyone.

“Alright, I just want to say thank you everyone for coming, I’m sure the kids loved their gifts since they’re all preoccupied.” Everyone chuckled, Tony playfully scoffing where he sat by Pepper.

“We’re all family, even if we aren’t blood relatives you’re all my family.” Steve raised his glass, sitting back down beside Krista on the couch.

The holidays used to be a tough time for Steve, Bucky included. Times were tough, people fighting on nearly a daily basis. T’Challa and Shuri had helped Bucky become the man he was today, someone with a family that loved him dearly.

Steve had never pictured himself having a wife and children, always worried about the next mission that came his way. When his best friend Cap was practically dropped into his lap he couldn’t complain, there were more important things to worry about.

“I gotta admit, even after all these Christmases, no present beats getting Cap.” Steve patted his head gently, watching the way he slumped against his very loved dog bed.

“I’d say the same thing, he’s been such an amazing part of this family.” Krista reached down, running her nails across his back gently.

Cap’s tail wagged almost lazily, enjoying the attention he was getting.

��I just hope Sarge doesn’t bother him too much, I don’t think he’d be able to handle too much play time.” Steve frowned slightly, Cap was laying around more often than not lately.

“He’s nearly twenty years old, I think Sarge will get the hint after a few tries.” Sarge was currently lounging by Bucky and Y/N, enjoying his belly rubs that Bucky gave him.

The party simmered down after dinner, guests leaving in small groups until the last ones to leave were Tony and Pepper.

“Good to see you again Cap, Steve.” Tony nodded to Steve before stepping out of the house.

Pepper was already waiting for him, Morgan playing on her phone in the back seat. Steve waited until they drove off before going inside, assessing the damage of the living room.

Sam and Bucky had helped clean up before heading out, mentioning that they had early mornings and needed to be on the road. Steve wasn’t one to complain, they hosted Christmas in their home every year anyway.

“Don’t stay up too late, the kids are already in bed.” Krista pressed a kiss to his cheek, before heading up to their bedroom.

Steve took a deep breath, getting into the mindset to deep clean before crawling into bed.

Cap followed him around for a few minutes before deciding Steve wasn’t doing anything fun and lying down once more. Sarge joined him after a while, curling up by Cap’s side and promptly falling asleep.

Steve finished cleaning at nearly one in the morning, shutting off the lights before heading up to bed.

His life was perfect, it didn’t matter what had happened in the past, everything in that moment was perfect. And it was all thanks to his best friend, Captain.

Captain “Cap” the dog 2019-2039

#steve rogers #steve rogers fic #steve rogers and his dog #steve rogers fandom #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers au #steve rogers fluff #christmas fluff #marvel #tony stark #pepper potts #sam wilson #bucky barnes

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tcm · 4 years

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Van Johnson: The Leading Man with a Boyish Charm By Susan King

If Frank Sinatra was the favorite singer of bobbysoxers in the 1940s, Van Johnson was every teenage girl’s dreamboat. And for good reason. He was adorable: tall, athletic, freckle-faced with reddish blond hair, a warm smile and a charming screen presence. He was the perfect boy-next-door any mother would want her daughter to marry. In fact, when he went to the New York premiere of A THRILL OF A ROMANCE (‘45), a Technicolor romantic comedy also starring MGM’s aqua star Esther Williams, he was waylaid by the bobbysoxers who even ripped the buttons off his shirt.

Johnson was also a lyric in the Prehistoric Man number in ON THE TOWN (‘49): “What has Gable got for me and Mrs. Johnson’s blond boy Van, I want a handsome Joe from ages ago, a prehistoric man!” But he was more than just a pretty face. He more than held his own opposite Spencer Tracy and Irene Dunne in his first major starring role in the romantic fantasy A GUY NAMED JOE (‘43), and he was moving as a real-life flier who loses his leg in the stirring THIRTY SECONDS OVER TOKYO (‘44).

In my L.A. Times interview with him in 1991, Johnson, then 75, told me, “I never expected or thought about the movies. It was a never-never land out there. It was soooooo glamorous.” During his years under contract with MGM, he noted that he would pinch himself to realize he was in fact a movie star. “Every day I drove on the lot, I looked up at Leo the Lion and I couldn’t believe it was me, this little kid from Newport, R.I., up there with all of those famous people. I never got over it.”

Born in 1916, Johnson’s childhood was less than idyllic. His alcoholic mother abandoned the family when he was young. His Swedish-immigrant father was cold. But young Johnson found solace in the touring companies that appeared in Newport. After he graduated from high school, he went to New York. He was 19 when he got a part in the Broadway revue New Faces of 1936, followed by roles in the musicals Too Many Girls and Pal Joey. He came to Hollywood to do the 1940 film version of TOO MANY GIRLS.

It was Lucille Ball, star of TOO MANY GIRLS, who introduced him to the MGM casting director Billy Grady. Johnson recalled in a 1963 interview that Ball told him, “I’m going to introduce you, and at least you’re going to act like you’re the star I think you are.” Johnson began to work his way up the MGM ladder when he got a role in A GUY NAMED JOE. But he nearly died in early 1943 when his DeSoto convertible was struck by another car. He suffered a fractured skull, major facial injuries, a severed neck artery and bone fragments that pierced his brain. After several surgeries and several months, his forehead was left with major scars. He also had a metal plate put into the left side of his head.

He later remembered he was told he had been nearly decapitated. “But I never lost consciousness. I spent four months in the hospital after they sewed the top of my head back on,” Johnson noted. MGM wanted to replace him, but Tracy and director Victor Fleming insisted production be halted until he was well enough to return to work. And a star was born. Ironically, bobbysoxers would abandon him in 1947 when he married pal Keenan Wynn’s ex-wife. His popularity waned but he continued to work usually doing three or four films a year.

I think he did some of his best work once he lost the matinee idol moniker in such films as the World War II drama COMMAND DECISION (‘48); William A. Wellman’s gritty acclaimed World War II action-drama BATTLEGROUND (‘49); THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS (‘54), a romantic drama based on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story “Babylon Revisited” and most notably in the classic THE CAINE MUTINY (‘54), which also starred Humphrey Bogart as the maniacal Capt. Queeg. He also drips with charm in IN THE GOOD OLD SUMMERTIME (‘49) and the perfect partner for Judy Garland in the delightful musical remake of Ernst Lubitsch’s romantic comedy THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (‘40). MGM didn’t renew his contract in 1954, so he went to Columbia to do such movies as the romantic drama THE END OF THE AFFAIR (‘55) with Deborah Kerr. Johnson also starred in a dual role in the truly bizarre NBC musical The Pied Piper of Hamelin, which aired Thanksgiving weekend in 1957.

In the 1960s, Johnson not only had two bouts with cancer, he saw his film roles dry up. So, he began touring in such musicals as Damn Yankees and The Music Man. He said in an interview why he turned to theater: “Because the phone didn’t ring. Because the film scripts were getting crummier and crummier. Because I sat beside my pool in Palm Springs one day and told myself, ‘Van, you’ll be 45 this year. If you don’t start doing something now, you never will.”

Besides doing an occasional movie, Johnson appeared on countless TV series, movies and miniseries, earning an Emmy nomination for the ABC miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man. He returned to Broadway in 1985 in Jerry Herman’s Tony Award-winning musical La Cage Aux Folles and that same year he appeared in a small role as an actor in Woody Allen’s enchanting THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO (‘85). “These are supposed to be my September years” he once told an interviewer. “I’m supposed to be at home enjoying them, but I still love to tour.”

When I interviewed Johnson, he was in town to appear in a production of Show Boat in Pasadena. He was set to play Cap’n Andy, a role he had done several times. Even at 75, he still was boyish and charming. But I felt bad for him. He had damaged his ear drums after flying with a cold and was extremely hard of hearing. And he was fighting a bad case of bronchitis. Johnson never went on stage because he developed pneumonia before opening night. He retired in 1992 and died at 92 in 2008.

Though many actors bristled being under contract, Johnson confessed in a 1985 interview he loved his years at MGM. “It was one big happy family and a little kingdom,” he noted. “Everything was provided for us, from singing lessons to barbells. All we had to do was inhale, exhale and be charming. I used to dread leaving the studio to go out into the real world, because to me the studio was the real world.”

#Van Johnson #bobby soxer #1940s #1950s #MGM #classic hollywood #old hollywood #Lucille Ball #TCM #Turner Classic Movies #Susan King

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sarah-blue-eyes · 3 years

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2020 In Review

Hoo boy, here we go.

[Ok just before I begin. I had this queued to post in the first month of January but it doesn’t seem like that ever happened haha. Better late than never I suppose!]

So I am a nostalgic bitch, and since 2011, have loved to make memory boxes for each year, where I put trinkets and memories into a shoebox. This year I have continued that tradition, but I have also kept track of my happy memories throughout 2020 in my planner. This was done with the intention for me to upload a year-in-review sort of thing in hopes that maybe like, 3 people max on this god-forsaken site will read it. This sort of reminiscence was inspired by my friend @a-lbeit, who has done these for a few years now and me, as a slut for nostalgia, was encouraged to do the same back in January (I think? What even is my memory at this point?)

2020, as it has been for many, was a very shit year, and I am no different. I would safely say that this year has undeniably been the worst I have lived through. But I am here. I am present. And I have made it through some of the darkest times to face 2021 with a new sense of hopefulness. Keeping track of my happier memories has been something that has truly got me through this clusterfuck of a year, so I am glad that I can finally go through them all again and share them with you.

Read it, or don’t, I don’t give a shit what you do with your time, but if you do, I hope that you aren’t bored to tears. And I hope to keep myself accountable to continue to do this for years to come.

Buckle up, grab a hot drink and a snack and get comfy, because this is a JOURNEY.

January:

· Kicked the new year off with hosting a 1920’s themed party with some of my closest friends at my family home at the beach. Had fun with drunk SingStar, playing What Do You Meme, creating a playlist with everyone’s top 3 songs of the decade (it was a bangin’ playlist I must say), and just overall drinking too much and having a riotous time

· I remember going to the beach New Year’s Day (as is tradition in Australia) and playing ultimate frisbee in the shallows and completing a crossword puzzle on the sand (I am a 75-year-old woman, it is just a fact of life)

· I also had my friend Kirsten from South Australia stay with me for the New Year’s period and it was lovely to have a guest over! I haven’t spoken to her much this year, she sort of fell off the face of the planet, but I hope she is doing ok.

· Went town to Torquay (a beach town in Victoria) for the 6th time for Beach Mission, which is essentially a holiday program for kids in preschool-year 9 where we run activities for them. It’s a Christian-based program but the aim isn’t to convert the kids or anything like that, it’s more to show God’s love to them through our actions and how we as Christians live our lives. It’s also a convenient way for parents to dish their kids off for a few hours too haha. This was my final year of being a part of this program, and I am so pleased to have made so many memories and (hopefully) impacted many children’s lives during my time there

· I remember going on a late-night beach walk with my boyfriend Josh, talking about what the year had in store for us. We were just sitting on the beach, as you do, and I saw a shooting star. I can’t remember what I wished for (if anything) but in that moment, life was a dream.

· The week after beach mission I started at my new internship! It was for a place called KidsCo, who run school holiday programs at workplaces, so parents don’t need to take time off work to look after them. I helped with client relations and a lot of behind-the scenes stuff. I really loved it there

· On the very first day of my internship I remember there was torrential rain, and the train home was delayed by like, an hour or so lol

· One of the best parts about interning at KidsCo was that they were the official child-minding service for the Australian Open. I make an effort to go each year, but I was lucky enough to get free ground-entry for me and a guest for the duration of the event. I went quite a few times and got to take my mum and Josh along as well.

· Saw my only concert of the year, The Veronicas, at the Australian Open. When I say the moment the violin riff at the start of Untouched absolutely went the fuck off is an understatement. Grade 5 me would have cried (and 23 year old me did a little bit too tbh.) Yet another of one of my “all-time-favourite-songs” that I’ve had the pleasure of hearing live. (I also went through the year feeling sad that this was the first time in 11 years I hadn’t gone to a concert, but this one certainly fell through the cracks)

· Started planning my trip to the UK to see my twin sister, and best friend, Jess

· Went away to Rye for the Australia Day weekend #changethedate. An excellent time with excellent mates, and went to the beach pretty much every day and got mindlessly sloshed every night

· Listened to the Triple J Hottest 100. I think 4 of my picks made it in, which was pretty good

· Continued my job as the office manager/events coordinator at my church

February:

Basketball started back after the summer break for my two different teams, The Vikings and The Wildcats (honestly such a highlight of this year with how the rest of it ended up going)

As a team-bonding activity at KidsCo we hired a boat for a few hours and I got more drunk that I had been for a while. It was a very fun time jetting down the Yarra, waving drunkedly at the people jogging by

For Valentine’s day Josh and I had an indoor picnic with our favourite food! The weather was shit for Feb, hence the indoor nature of the picnic

Saw Shrek the Musical with two of my closest pals, Bec and Katie (I honestly forgot that this happened in 2020 hahaha) but it was ICONIC

Had a Jackbox night with The Boys

Had my cousin Amy from England over for dinner! I hadn’t seen her in 5 or 6 years, so it was so lovely to connect again like no time had passed at all

Went to Healesville Sanctuary, a lovely conservation park which focuses on preserving and educating its visitors about Australian animals, with Amy

Went to mini-golf for a friend’s birthday on the leap day. He technically celebrated his 6th birthday which was excellent

Saw Cody Ko and Noel Miller live with Bec and Katie

Finished working at the church office to make room for the potential job opportunity at KidsCo

March:

Ahhh March, you shitstorm of a month. This is where everything started going downhill.

The first thing of note that happened this month was me injuring my ankle at basketball, which had me out of action for a few weeks. It was especially bad because I was nearing the end of my internship and was hoping to do my best work so that I would be chosen to stay on as an employee, but had to take a week or so off to rest my ankle. My ankle would continue to be tender and sore for most of the rest of the year

Went away for the Labour Day long weekend with the family

Finished up my internship at KidsCo. Honestly was lead to believe that I would be staying on as an employee and felt sort of betrayed after all the work I did for them, but whatever

Had a party at Bec’s house to listen to Triple J’s Hottest 100 of the Decade. One of my favourite songs was number 1 which was a pleasant surprise

Went down to the holiday house for a few days just to have so me time and sort myself out

Animal Crossing New Horizons came out haha. Honestly was one of the highlights of this year though. I stayed up until midnight so I could download it as soon as it was available because that’s the sort of person I am

Mum’s birthday dinner with Dani, one of my best friends, and her girlfriend Amy

Went for a hike at Sugarloaf Reservoir with Josh and got spooked by a mob of kangaroos

April:

My mental health started really taking a downward spiral this month for multiple reasons which I won’t get into here, but this is more a note to my past self to say that it will all be ok I guess? Idk I just felt like this needed to be here

Did my ankle badly again on Good Friday

Watched the Overwatch League live with my friends and just memed in the livechat lmao

WARNING - this is a bit TMI but I am going to share anyway since it was a big part of this year, and if you are reading this you are either a stranger or a good friend so I really don’t care lmao: This month I also started to get bad pains in my uterus, like, not period pains but deep, stabbing pains. This continued on for the next few weeks without me doing anything about it, except for increasingly getting stressed about it, although I will talk a bit more about this later.

Josh and I celebrated our 6th year together which was ~wholesome~

Called my friend Ashley from the US and just caught up. It was nice to see her face again. She is a good egg. I haven’t talked to her since but I really hope she’s ok.

May:

Watched Star Wars with Josh and his family for “May the 4th”

Started a volunteer job at Kivuli, a non-for-prophet that is based in Kenya, and started helping out with their website and social media stuff

Zoom movie time with my friends, we watched How To Train Your Dragon I think? Athough everyone was talking over the movie so I didn’t really get anything out of it

Played Scattergories (one of my favourite games) with Bec and Jess on zoom and just wrote really stupid and funny answers and I remember this being just what I needed

Went for a long walk with mum and one of her friends and her daughter on a track we don’t usually go on, which was a nice change of scenery

Went down to the holiday house for the first time in forever since restrictions were eased, at least for a little while lol, with the fam

Went to Portsea for a walk along the beach with Bec and her husband Trevor

Did an online trivia night that night with a big bunch of friends

Had a doctor’s appointment to see what was goin’ on down there. Honestly freaked that it could be something REALLY bad. Got booked in to have an ultrasound the next week, so at least I’d be finding out what was wrong soon.

The day after I got my results was the 21st of May, the day my mum and I were meant to be flying out to the UK to see my sister and her boyfriend. It was already hard enough a month or so before when I had to cancel my flight, but this day was so SO difficult. I can’t remember the last time I cried so hard. I am so blessed to have a boyfriend like Josh though. He was by my side the whole day, and held me as I cried. Oh man I am crying as I write this now, it was such a hard time but I know I will see my sister again.

And then the day after THAT whole ordeal was my birthday, which was meant to be spent in London with Jess but it turned out to be the first birthday we’ve had apart. This day was also hard, but made better by being with loved ones and having dinner at my grandma and grandpa’s house. Grandma’s roast potatoes make everything better.

Went to Geelong to see the other side of my family, it was so good to see my nan again. I love her very much.

Went to the Briars with Bec and went on a lovely nature walk and saw a lot of little wallabies and even an emu

Had an ultrasound and my pain turned out to be a 10cm wide cyst!!! So fun!!!!! Thank the heavens it wasn’t a child. I was so relieved. It is still in my body so that’s cute tho.

June:

Applied for a bunch of jobs, and even got a few interviews! Still no job.

The absolute highlight of this month, and maybe even the whole year, was going away to Lake’s Entrance and Yarram with mum, dad and Josh. It was so good to go to the country, I love country towns so much and the wildlife and nature is so beautiful in the eastern part of Victoria. If you ever get the opportunity I recommend going there!

We ate so much nice food and just relaxed. It wasn’t a perfect replacement for not going to Europe, but it was something at least.

Did more work for Kivuli which kept me busy

Went to Bec’s house to bake a cake. She came out to me as bi this day too, and the cake was coloured like the bisexual flag!

Started a short course through the university I went to in Facebook for Business. It was a great way to build up my skills.

Played Animal Crossing with Dani’s little sister, Tami, a very wholesome time

Looked after Josh’s dog Jed while his family went away for the weekend (also went into the start of July) and was honestly the greatest time

July:

Halfway through the year. Thank fuck.

Had another job interview

Went on lots of walks

Was just generally cold

Did a lot of cleaning

Painted the downstairs rooms at church, which took a few days and a lot of back pain, but it’s cool to think that I was able to contribute my energy and time to something while I was not feeling good at all

The restrictions were tightened again, meaning that I couldn’t go further than 5kms away from my house, except to see Josh, so this was a really lonely time for me.

Really got into Masterchef with mum this season. They had all returning contestants from other seasons so that was really fun to watch.

Got and assembled a new couch upstairs that I can say I actually own myself. I absolutely love it.

More walks, despite the cold

This was a very uneventful month, but that’s ok!

August:

Had a call with the hospital I’ll be having my cyst surgery with. It was good to know that things would be started. I had to have a blood test and a second ultrasound then put on the waiting list for surgery. Still no sign on when that will be happening though 6 months later. Just so lucky to live in Australia where all of these appointments are free.

Went for a really nice long walk with Josh. Got shat on by a bird.

Did lots of stuff around the house, just tidying and watering the plants and sorting through my wardrobe to purge all the clothes I grew out of

Had an online Switch games night with some friends which was fun. We played Smash Bros. and Mario Kart and just had a great time!

Ok this sounds super lame but my favourite podcast, The Jenna & Julien Podcast, finished forever which came as a surprise and was just really sad. I really hope it comes back one day.

Did my tax return lmao

Baked rice puff/marshmallow bar things

Made an ASOS order to fill my happiness with material things. Did get some cute clothes and lingerie tho 😉

More games with Bec and Jess, we played Golf With Your Friends this time

Had a cocktail night with Josh, where we just made a bunch of fun cocktails and got drunk. I can’t wait to live with him so we can do this all the time.

Lots of Kivuli work, as we are planning for our 10th anniversary fundraising event

September:

Baked cookies, which was something I did a lot at the start of lockdown but sort of drifted away from. I absolutely love to bake.

Started working for Media-Wize, a small PR company that was started by someone I know at church.

Started playing Among Us at the start of the month

So many Among Us nights omg, just call me queen impostor please

Did my induction for Media-Wize

Got n e r v o u s because I kept getting things wrong in my new job. I always seem to fuck up the good things and opportunities that I get

Did a livestream reading of The Great Gatsby on my friend’s Twitch stream. It was really fun and something I had never done before. I voiced Tom Buchannan, which was interesting but cool to sort of get into the character. I hope to do something like this soon.

I burnt my hair while cooking dinner and had to give myself a haircut lmao. It was the first time since 2018 that I had cut it so it was a long time coming anyway.

So much Media-Wize work. It felt good to finally be getting paid to do a job

Got locked out of my bathroom so I had to climb up the laundry chute to unlock it from the inside, all because a fly outsmarted me (it’s a long story… and honestly best told by speaking it)

October:

Had the Kivuli 10th anniversary livestream. Lots of work went into it and it was so much fun! It’s incredible that a non-for-profit that has benefitted so many children and families is still going strong. Such a blessing to see.

Dad’s birthday, and we had a picnic with grandma and grandpa and saw them for the first time since lockdown was somewhat lifted

Walked to Beasley’s nursery with Josh and got a coffee. This was the first proper, not McCafe coffee I had had in months and it was SO good

Played Animal Crossing with Dani

More Among Us, a theme for the last few months of 2020

Watched the AFL Grand Final. Wasn’t super exciting this year tbh, especially since we couldn’t have a BBQ or party or anything, but hopefully next year will be different

Nearly moved out of home with a friend of a friend, but since I didn’t have a job, didn’t think it would be a wise decision. Would’ve been nice though

Did some more Media-Wize work. I haven’t been given anything to do since this time though, so I don’t know what’s going on with that? They really be ghosting me tho.

Applied for JobSeeker so I would at least be getting a little income

New Jackbox came out, and had a games night with The Boys playing all the new games

Voted in the local election

Went to Westerfold’s Park with Josh for a lovely long walk

Played lots of The Sims 4 (but tbh I have been doing this all year)

November:

This month things sort of started to turn around, as Covid wasn’t hitting my state hardly at all, so I was actually able to see family and friends again!

Went to my old primary school with Dani and played basketball and just shot around and talked. She also came over for dinner. It was so nice, and she is a true friend.

Had a picnic at the park at the top of the street with my dad’s side of the family, all together at last

Melbourne Cup Day, not that I really care but it’s nice to get a day off. Went on a day trip to the Dandenong mountain range. It was so, so nice and bought some lovely little things from local shops, went for a bushwalk and had a bakery lunch

Went to the park to throw the frisbee and kick the footy around with Josh and his friends, although they are my friends too tbh

Had a picnic with a group of friends that I hadn’t seen since January, so it was so, so good to catch up with them and have a delicious BBQ dinner

My favourite online comedy group, Aunty Donna’s Netflix series came out! Had a virtual watch party with a few friends and binge watched it all in one go

Had lunch with grandma. This used to be a weekly occurrence but for obvious reasons was put off for this year. I absolutely adore her and every lunch we spend together is so precious to me

Went to Kyneton with some of the family as another day trip

Christmas shopping time again. So weird to be at the shops and feel sort of normal? I went 4 different times in the span of a week and a half haha

Josh’s birthday! We went to this maze place with has a bunch of big mazes and other fun activities. It was such a perfect day. Then we had dinner with his family.

Got a letter from the IRS saying that I needed to provide them with proof of identity, so that was fun trying to sort that out. We love the outdated US tax system <3

Went to a bridal shower for my friend Katie

Went for another hike with Josh to the mountains

Drove down to Geelong for a friend’s wedding and stayed at my nan’s house

Had a pub dinner and Jackbox night while down in Geelong with The Boys

A good friend of mine was leaving to live in Japan for two years, so I went to her house one last time to say goodbye and chill in her pool and just hang out

God why is it so hard to get a job?

December:

Omg we have made it to December. It truly is a miracle with how this year went tbh. And if you have read this far, thank you but also, how little of a life do you have?

Went to my friend Katie’s wedding. Sort of surreal to go to a wedding during a pandemic but it was fun and I got to see a lot of friends I hadn’t seen in a while

Enjoyed the hot weather and went to the beach a number of times with a variety of friends

Went Christmas shopping, and just shopping in general since it was safe to and shops had finally opened again

Got a job at a talent agency where you get gigs as a paid extra in TV shows and movies, which was pretty cool! I even had a professional photoshoot to get headshots done, something that I had never done before. Glad that I could get some pictures to use on LinkedIn though haha. Still haven’t been cast in anything but here’s hoping.

Had dinner and drinks with Josh, Bec and Trev in the city for the first time since it reopened. God I love Melbourne so much. It is just so magical on balmy summer nights. This was such a special evening, and was so good just to be in the city again

Had a lovely day with Dani, starting with breakfast and then going on a hike before the weather got too hot. We went to Sherbrooke Forest, a place I hadn’t been before, and it was incredibly beautiful

Had a number of job interviews this month too, none of which got back to me which was annoying :/

Now it was heading into the time where every weekend is packed with Christmas do’s so I’ll just collate them in this point. Lots of drinks were consumed and many delicious roast dinners

Had our annual Christmas Carol’s service at church. It was a blessing to be back in the building for the first time since March, and to be able to do something I love (singing) with some of my best friends was the best

Christmas eve I went to my grandma and grandpa’s house (on dad’s side) to help them set up for Christmas lunch. Spending time together just the three of us is so special, and I am so glad I was able to come over and just chat and be in their loving presence. Then that night I went to our 11pm church service to bring in Christmas day. It was a great service and was great to see our kick-ass minister give a sermon face-to-face.

Ok here we go, Christmas was a doozy, let’s go. So Christmas lunch was, as I said, with my dad’s side of the family, which is always a great time. Cracking open crackers and fighting over who’ll get the bottle opener or nail clippers is always a highlight haha. But we had the fucking best roast potatoes I swear. I need to know what my grandma puts into them because I could genuinely eat 20 of them and still have space. Then the rest of the afternoon was spent in a food coma until I went to Josh’s house to spend dinner with his family. Another delicious meal and great banter was what I needed, although I can safely say that I put on at least 5 additional kilos after that day.

The next day the fam and I headed to Geelong to see my mum’s side of the family. Was a great drive down and I listened to all of The Avalanches new album which had just released. Easily the greatest album of the yeah hands-down. So we spent lunch there and absolutely stuffed ourselves with more food. Three Christmas meals really took a toll on me, but I am just blessed as it is to have a loving family and food on the table.

The next day dad, Josh and I headed to the beach to spend that weird time between Christmas and New Year’s. To get there we took the ferry that goes from Queenscliff to Portsea, which is always a fun time, since we don’t often go from one side of the bay to the other (if you don’t know the geography of Victoria I apologise lmao). Mum didn’t come with us as she had some symptoms of Covid, so went home to isolate and get tested. Thankfully she tested negative and she joined us the next day.

Once I got back home I had to prepare the house for my friend Jono who was visiting for new years from SA. Many last-minute chores and cleaning was done haha.

New Years Eve! Went to pick up Jono and my other friend Sarah from the airport and dropped Sarah off at her accommodation and ended up staying there with Jono for a while as this was where the New Year’s party was going to be. Although, in true Victorian fashion, our premier announced that there was going to be a limit of 15 visitors at any house from 5pm that night. Excellent. We love a last-minute change of plans. So we had lunch and spent the afternoon at my friend’s house before heading to a local park to chuck the frisbee and kick the footy around. We also had our second annual NYE trivia competition, which my team lost by 1 point!! Dang I get so competitive, but we will win next year, I can feel it. The new year came through uneventfully, we were in the middle of a game of Scattergories or something like that when someone changed the channel on the TV to see the Sydney fireworks across the screen and like, 4 second left of the countdown. I gave Josh a bog ol’ smooch and gave my friends a big hug. We had done it. 2020 was defeated.

Conclusion (damn this really be an essay tho)

This year was undeniably the hardest year I had ever been through. Going through unemployment for the majority of the year and having no sense of purpose hit me hard but I am entering 2021 with the hope and willingness to get on track with my career. And I think I will be successful. A lot of truly awful things happened around the world this year as well, with the devastating bushfires at the start of the year, the powerful BLM protests, Coronavirus absolutely destroying lives and many, many other global events but through it all, here we are. I hope you all keep well this year and that your 2021 is infinitely better than your 2020.

Song of the Year: Tangerine – Glass Animals

Album of the Year: We Will Always Love You – The Avalanches (I CANNOT stress this enough, but you absolutely must listen to this album!)

TV Show of the Year: The Mandalorian - Season 2

Movie of the Year: Bombshell (the only movie I saw at the cinemas so didn’t have much to go with)

Memory of the Year: Going away with my family and just enjoying time away with each other

Thank you for reading this, if you’ve made it this far, you’re a real one <3

#me #2020 #2020inreview #nostalgia #anactualnovel #iapologise

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watchmebackflip75 · 4 years

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How to Train Your Wizard

Maybe I wrote a RED SHOES story involving a Viking. No it’s not those dragon riding Vikings.

SourceURL:https://archiveofourown.org/works/25142545 How to Train Your Wizard - BleedingHeart911 - Red Shoes and the 7 Dwarfs (2019) [Archive of Our Own]

… The mermaids of the beach found the tourist humans too odd by a starfish-half. Giant umbrella over their fully clothed bodies; these landmaids were in the wrong climate. The strange landfolk separated from nature further by sitting in lounging chairs as if the boulders in the ocean weren’t cool enough.

“Gotta love that sun.” Snow White said under her sunhat. In one hand she fanned her soft chin, in the other her fingers laced in her boyfriend’s hand.

“Yes, and this fresh sea breeze.” Merlin said dozily, his eyelids closing under his sun-obstacles. He snapped his long fingers and a candle enchanted with bug-repellent burned green and smelled like a sunflower. They sighed in unison, their cares slipping away.

The cawing of seagulls became the yelps of scared mermaids. Snow and Merlin open a single eye each to see a wooden dragon raging towards the shoreline.

“Who would think building a giant dragon puppet easier than taking the beast as a pet?” Merlin asked as he dropped his lite beach-rob. He flipped through the spell-cards in his belt-satchel.

“Sweetie, that’s a Viking’s ship. You might want to pull out a big zapper.” Snow said as she closed their umbrella. Merlin had his magic, she had the strength to stab and whack. They sped-walked to the gentle waves, weapons in hand but allowing the strangers to arrive.

“Never fought a Viking before. Heard they’re like minotaur-pirates without dental plans.” Merlin said, watching the huge sails.

“That’s the stereotype. It’s not untrue but I’ve known some exceptions.” Snow said as the boat pushed into the sand.

Merlin smirked, he thought about asking if his princess had known a lot of disgusting pirates growing up in the sheltered ballrooms. He didn’t ask since the horned, hairy, man-like fiends jumped onto the beach, shaking the earth.

The hairy beasts groaned in warning, weapons in hand though they stood in wait. A huge, maybe seven-foot-tall, yellow-haired beast jumped off the side. His smell made Merlin’s stomach turn.

“I’m going to hit him with a soap-spell first.” Merlin said as he raised a spell-card.

Snow grabbed his hand, “Wait a minute. Brutechel?”

Under the unruly hair and horned-helmet Merlin saw bright blue eyes and the scruffy stubble of a young man’s sickly smile.

“Snow! You’re alright!” The Viking exclaimed, swinging his mallets over his head.

Snow laughed and ran into Brutechel’s hug. The Viking’s thick muscles had no problem raising Snow off her feet in a twirl. The sight disgusted Merlin; he felt a flicker of lightning trickle up his thin arms.

Brutechel placed Snow back on the sand and held her fair little hands in his hammy ham-hands.

“I wanted to come sooner- when I heard about your step-mother –“

“It’s fine, we’re fine. You had your reasons for not-“

“No, my chief hid your letters. He had- I had no idea… You must have thought I was the most selfish son of troll.” Brutechel said with regret.

“Never.” Snow’s big brown eyes looked up at the young man two-heads taller than she.

Brutechel sighed deeply with tears of joy. “Thank Odin you’re alright.”

“Yes, she is.” Merlin stated loudly, stepping to Snow’s side. He put an arm around her possessively and said, “Hi, I’m the hero who saved the White Castle, among others. Merlin, leader of the Fearless Seven, I’m sure you heard of us.”

“Thought you guys were a democracy.” Snow said, dropping her hands from Brutechel’s grip.

“When my quick thinking and skill can’t find an advantage, yes we can be.” Merlin amended.

“Oh, yeah I have heard the F Seven. Thought they died a year ago?” Brutechel said, eyeing the overly-groomed fishbone holding Snow.

“Sabbatical.” Snow shrugged slightly annoyed with Merlin’s bragging, “So yeah, Brutechel this is Merlin, Merlin this is my dear old…. Brutechel.”

Both boys heard her take a beat to avoid using ‘old/ ex boyfriend’.

“Uh-huh.” Brutechel said, folding his ox-like muscles across his chest.

“Yep.” Merlin said with a pop of his lips.

Snow groaned through a smile and pushed Merlin’s hand off her shoulder. “Bea, tell me you didn’t come all this way just for me and my problems.”

“I would’ve crossed any seas if I thought you were in danger.” Brutechel said gently.

Merlin tried to say something but Snow spoke over him with, “Then the least we can do is invite you to dinner.”

“I’d be honored, Snow Bunny.” Brutechel said, barely moving his eyes from Snow, “That alright with you, chum?”

“Of course, and allow me to cook for you, bud.” Merlin said with a very fake smile.

“I’ll bring something over, that fine with you, Murray?” Brutechel said unamused.

“Don’t go out of your way, Brutus, any allergies I should know about?” Merlin asked stepping closer.

“Nope, but I don’t eat meat or dairy, dude.” The Viking said, crouching over string-bean.

“You’re a Vegan Viking, lad?” Merlin asked, noticing a few teeth were metal and gold.

“You bet your pointy hat, pal.” Brutechel said, wondering when non-Viking men started wearing perfume.

Merlin held back a flicker of lightning in his palm, “We’ll keep that in mind, and don’t trouble yourself with dessert. I know a guy.”

“I know a guy, too.” Brutechel said, curling and uncurling his fist.

“Oh boy,” Snow said drily, she clapped her hands, “You guys, hey.”

They both stared at her, their postures aligned to pounce.

“How about we all agree to meet at the castle around sunset? That good for you, Brutechel?”

The smelly oaf softened, “Oh course, Bunny, I look forward to tonight.”

“Me too.” Snow said sweetly as she grabbed Merlin’s arm, “Let’s go get ready.”

“Of course, my darling.” Merlin said, looping his arm around Snow’s elbow. “Now don’t you pillage when we turn our backs.”

Snow pinched his arm and they waved to the Vikings to Brutechel’s horde. The couple noticed some had buckets of popcorn. The Vikings waived back in a friendly manner.

On Risky Rock, Arthur’s laugh dug so deep the side of his dwarf-green abbs began to ache.

“Pure barry,” Merlin’s oldest friend said while beating the table. “Snow use to date a Viking? One of those lugs would use you like a toothpick. This has to be killing you, Merlin!” “Shut up, Arthur.” Merlin said while pouting in his chair at their oval table.

“Poor Merlin, the cute cure to your curse came with some burly baggage.” Jack said, also still green, small and polishing his nails to a shine. Pino, Noki and Kio stated different similes for Jack’s alliteration.

“I really can’t see how a girl as lovely and demur as Snow would ever even think of going near one of those filthy vandals.” Merlin said, relieved he could complain far from his girlfriend’s ears.

“Ah, la vache, you would’ve said the same thing about your squat little self when she met you.” Jack countered. Arthur was still chortlings, rolling on the floor.

Merlin rolled his eyes, “I really doubt there’s anything hidden in that bear. But it is so like her to take a stray home and try to bathe it.”

“I’ve tried to do the same thing will all of you.” Jack stated, causing Hans’ brow to wrinkle in confusion. The ginger chef came out with meatless stroganoff in a glass dish with painted candies dancing around the sides.

“Here, Merlin, I replaced the beef with tofu.” Hans said. He liked trying an old dish with a new twist.

“Right, I’ll return it tomorrow.” Merlin said, he wondered if he poisoned the tofu would it hurt Hans’ feelings. After he closed the door his friends hovered at the oval table.

“We’re going to that dinner, right?” Hans asked in the huddle.

“Affirmative.” Pino said cheerfully.

“You got that right.” Said Niko.

“Let’s bring a boardgame.” Kio said.

In the White Castle the princess set the table. The incident of her step-mother, may she rest in peace, turning her entire court and staff into trees made rehiring very difficult. Princess Snow didn’t mind setting the table, it reminded her of childhood tea parties. The memories of the princess guests judging her when she ate a cookie or scone wasn’t so nice. Snow accepted the past, forgave the foolish, remembered how Princess Katherine got kicked by a unicorn for being too boney and looked forward to her future.

“Have you thought about hiring elves? I hear they’re inexpensive.” Merlin said as he folded the napkins into swans.

“I sent notice, and I offered to pay them above the average non-human rate. Did you know Elves can catch all the same diseases we can and still don’t get health insurance?” Snow said, lighting candles.

“Shame. But they should be grateful at least one saintly princess cares.” Merlin said, taking her hand and kissing the back of it.

“Aww. Oh, thanks for getting Hans’ dish.” Snow said, raising the lid to see the home-rolled pasta Hans made. He rolled two different colored pastas to look like a candy cane swirl.

“Gladly. Do something for me, darling?” Merlin asked with a handsome smile.

“What’s that?”

“Cancel on Brute-a-chelli and enjoy a private dinner with me?”

“Merlin.” Snow said in a balanced tone.

“Whhhhhy are you making me hang out with the man who’s obviously still in love with you? How do you think that makes me feel??” Merlin whined.

Snow put a hand to her hip and raised her fingers as she made these points; “Okay, One; he’s not still in love with me, two: he’s a great guy I think you’d like after you get to know him, three: because I want to remain friends with Brutechel he needs to see the wonderful man I’ve chosen.”

The doubt that any man would be evolved enough to see his former love happy with a new beau ran deep in Merlin. He carefully considered choosing his words so he could squash her hopes in the most respectful route.

Snow placed her hands on his chest. “How about this? You really try to be nice tonight and after I’ll show you the flexible Valkyrie dress in my closet.”

Merlin raised an eyebrow, “Bribe accepted.”

Brutechel brought a salad in what looked like a giant yak skull. Merlin didn’t like pesto but he generously complimented the inscriptions carved in the bone-bowl. Brutechel the Kittenish was an animal lover. He had a zoo of pets on his ship and more at home; all rescues. At age six he tamed a sabertooth tiger and dedicated the rest of his life to respecting and caring for beasts found during sailing by the family business. Officially the ‘family business’ was exclusive pottery and dishes from ‘recycled’ materials. The wizard found the doe-eyed Viking simple and boring. Merlin became less jealous the more Brutechel droned on about different feeding tests. To his joy he noticed Snow was only polite with the guest, she appreciated the kindness but was only just not asleep in her goblet.

“Oh look, the bottle’s getting low. Excuse me, I’ll grab a refill. Any preference?” Merlin merrily asked.

Brutechel took the last glup of his goblet. “More of this, please.”

“Yes, thank you.” Snow said, her porcelain cheeks a light pink.

Brutechel watched the skinny snob leave the room. He searched for his courage and gazed at the glorious queen before him.

“So how’s your cousin with the pegle-“

“Bunny, I love you!” Brutechel admitted, his eyes wide with seriousness.

A lump formed in Snow’s throat. “What?”

“I am crazy about you, so how about we leave and talk about the rest of our lives for the rest of our lives?” Brutechel said, leaned him large hands over to hold her.

Snow gently whacked them with her soup spoon. “Brutechel, no! How can you say that to me with my boyfriend around?”

“He’s not around now. And Bunny, come on, he can’t protect you from bears.” Brutechel said, surprised she wasn’t thanking him for the out from the malnourished lizard.

“Why do you always bring it back to bears?” Snow winced and raised her hands, “No, I am not engaging in this conversation again. I say no, Bea.”

“But he’s so…. Shrimpy!”

“He’s also kind and clever and cute in all the ways and I choose him.” Snow said, putting a hand over her heart.

Brutechel felt his heart drop. He looked over Snow’s shoulder to see the smug sorcerer dancing and meeting his eyes with a poking tongue.

“I’m not sorry, I love Merlin.” Snow continued, not aware in the slightest the Merlin was making insulting gestures of victory to the denied suitor.

“You sure about that?” Brutechel asked, growing agitated at the arrogant snake’s dance.

“Yes.” Snow said with resound certainty, “I love him with all my heart.”

Brutechel groaned, “I want you to be happy, Snow White. I should go.”

“I do want you to be happy too, Bea.” Snow said, she felt pity that such a kind soul hadn’t found his right person yet.

The Viking slung his bear-skin over his shoulder and said not to worry about returning the skull-bowl.

Slipping back to the pantry Merlin soundlessly stomped the floor in glee. He picked a random wine bottle, did a twirl, and swung his arms without shame. He had no idea the Dwarf Six were watching him under Jack’s invisibility cloak. He muffled their laughter and followed the goofy friend to the dinning hall entrance. Merlin exhaled his delight and put on a façade of indifference when he approached Snow.

“Here we are, darling. How’s your goblet, Brutty? Oh my goodness, where did he go?” Merlin asked in phony surprise.

“He said he had to turn in for an early sail.” Snow fibbed, her face a little slumped.

“I see. Oh, dear. I’m sorry you’re disappointed.” Merlin wasn’t completely fibbing.

“It's how it goes.” Snow said as he kissed the top of her head.

“It’s getting late, we can raincheck the skimpy outfit you promised me.” Merlin said, he was already happy with the night so he could extend the excitement.

“Really? Honestly yeah, I’m not feeling it right now.” Snow said, placing her napkin on her plate. “I’ll clean up if you get the pillows cleared off.”

“I’ll clean, you get the cuddle chamber ready.” Merlin said as he took Hans’ dishware to the kitchen. Placing the dish in soapy water Merlin caught his reflection in a shiny tea pot.

“Hello gorgeous,” Merlin said to himself, “The smelly beast is gone and now Snow can get Merlin’d happily.”

Lightly parting his hair Merlin noticed a figure on the slant of the teapot. Instinct had him swiftly crouch down and miss the blow of the sink-size mallet. Merlin jumped up to see Hans’ dishware was intact, good, and he slapped a spell-card on the assailant behind him. The man was four times thicker so there was plenty of target. Merlin slide to the side and clapped his hands for a blast of lightning.

Brutechel blew the smoke from the burnt spot on his pec. The blast stung like a bee.

“Okay, let’s talk about this.” Brutechel offered, he felt a bad sport to attack such a soft puncher.

“Oh lets.” Merlin raised more spells in his fingers, “You got dumped, I make Snow happier,”

The wizard said this as they walked around a kitchen island. “Brute, chum, you can leave with a smidgen of dignity and I can be alone with the woman I adore. Or I zap you until your thick skull is a soup bowl”

Brutechel scoffed as they circled the steak knife set.

“You have tricks up your sleeve where Snow lays out her heart. My Bunny doesn’t need that.” Brutechel said as he threw a ladle at the wizard’s head.

Merlin dodged the ladle and threw a lightning bolt at the Viking's face. The stubble wouldn’t kindle but the ungroomed eyebrows burned clean off. Brutechel grabbed the saucepan and swung it in his palm.

“From what I heard you haven’t a clue what she needs.” Merlin said, he held up his arms so her magic could block the blows. “And you are the worst listener!”

Braced for another punch Merlin felt winded when nothing met his sizzling force fields. He lowered his guard to see Brutechel kneeled on the floor, hands down at his side.

“Go ahead, demon-whisperer, take me out so my Bunny can live in peace.” Brutechel said sadly, offering his thick neck open to a strike.

“Oh get up. As much as I loathe hearing you call my love ‘Bunny’,” Merlin rolled his eyes and shook with revulsion, “it’s no sport to disfigure a martyr.”

Brutechel nodded at the reasoning. He stood up, a head taller than Merlin, and wiped his hands, “If I ever hear you hurt her, I will use your straw arms for oyster forks.”

“Sure. Want a meal for the road, er, sea?” Merlin offered, he pointed to the pantry of fresh vegetables.

“Oh come on!” An oh too familiar voice bellowed from the shadows. Merlin groaned with annoyance while the spooked Brutechel searched for the demon source. Arthur threw off the cloak and slapped Merlin’s thigh.

“Mate, if you don’t defend Snow-belle’s honor I will disown!” The cursed prince said.

“Demon!” Brutechel yelled, grabbing his mallet and aiming to smash the little green monster. The mini monster caught the mallet’s face and pulled it from the Viking’s hand.

“No, I wouldn’t do it right. You can go right ahead.” Merlin said flatly, the two lug-heads were already crashing and destroying the royal kitchen.

The rest of the group sat on the kitchen island, eating the leftovers. One of the triplets shook a dice inside a cup.

“Hey.” Jack nonchalantly said, signaling they would clean up before the sun rose.

“Hey yourself.” Merlin waved in a quiet thanks to his friends. He rolled his neck and walked to Snow’s bedroom.

A lit candle was left on her nightstand. Snow faced away from the glow as she slept. In the pajamas that matched hers Merlin slid between the sheets. He pulled her head under his chin and lightly ran his fingers over her skin.

“You took a while. I should’ve helped washed.” Snow yawned against his neck.

“You're fine, darling. You're perfect.” Merlin quietly told her, he snapped his finger and the flame sparked away.

#red shoes and the seven dwarfs #red shoes and the 7 dwarfs #red shoes #merlin #arthur #prince arthur #jack #pino #noki #kio #hans #snow white

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politicalprof · 4 years

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2019 in books:

David McCullough, 1776: A highly accessible, if somewhat naive, depiction of the year that defined the prospects for American independence. I wouldn’t go there for deep, critical analysis. But for a story of a year, it is well done.

Michael Palin, Erebus: HMS Erebus was a British naval vessel that spent much of its career in Arctic and Antarctic exploration. If you are interested in Victorian era explorations of hard places, a fascinating read.

Emilio Corsetti III, 35 Miles from Shore: The story of an airline crash in the early 1970s in the Caribbean. What happened, why, how, who survived and what we learned. Interesting if not brilliant.

Raymond Thorp, Crow Killer: Old-fashioned tale of the inspiration behind the Robert Redford movie Jeremiah Johnson. As much fantasy as history. But it offers a flavor of a time and a subgroup few Americans would know.

James Corey, Caliban’s War: The second book of “The Expanse” series. The protomolecule is working its mojo, and Earth, Mars and the Belters are none too happy with one another. A fun read of a massive space opera.

Walter Kempowski, All for Nothing: Set in the context of the collapsing Eastern Front during WWII, this story proceeds from the fractured point of view of the Germans who are about to be turned into refugees fleeing oncoming Soviet forces. The book, notably, does not make these Germans sources of sympathy: the mood is dissonant and disordered. A real piece of literature.

Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall: Because who doesn’t want a point-of-view account of a key counselor to Henry VIII, one who rose to extraordinary wealth and power despite his humble birth and then managed the, how shall we say, removal of Kathrine as Queen? Replaced by Anne Boleyn? Who wouldn’t want to read it? It’s excellent, by the way.

James Corey, Abaddon’s Gate: Book three of The Expanse, and the protomolecule has remade humanity’s relationship to the universe. But we’ll probably screw that up, too. Another good story, filled with actual thought about the problems of space travel and space living.

MIchael Krondl, The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice: Venice, Lisbon and Amsterdam each in their turn dominated the global spice trade -- a trade that was one of the main stimuli for early colonialism and imperial conquest, and which strongly influenced the rise of the modern corporation as a linch-pin of global capitalism. The book is not as good as it should be, but the story is one that few people know, but should.

Hilary Mantel, Bring Up the Bodies: Hey, it’s time to get rid of Anne Boleyn everyone! Or, at least, to separate her head from her body. And let’s manage the English Reformation, too ... all just a few years before losing our own head. Welcome to the early/middle 1500s in England everyone!

Leigh Perry, A Skeleton in the Family: Who doesn’t have a skeleton living in their house who helps solve mysteries. I mean, who doesn’t?

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone: So my son has started reading Harry Potter. So I have started reading Harry Potter. I liked this book: it’s tight, it’s focused, it’s a fun read. I see the appeal.

Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens: The answer to the questions: “What if the angels and demons charged with over-seeing Earth as humans go from the Garden of Eden to Armageddon decide that they like Earth and don’t want Armageddon to happen (even if their allies do)? And what if the Anti-Christ were raised in a perfectly mundane family in a perfectly mundane English village? How might it all turn out?” To delightful and funny effect.

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: Meh. Okay. Not as good as book one. But still a good story.

Gilbert King, Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America: A broad pastiche of events surrounding one of the many civil rights cases of the 1940s and 50s: the abuses and murders of several African American men accused of raping a white woman in Lakeland, FL, in 1949. With a whole lot of associated discussions of other cases, the NAACP, corrupt and criminal law enforcement, race riots, and the like. A good read. And how can it be that the bastard George HW Bush, put Clarence Thomas on the Supreme Court to fill a seat once held by the staggering legal figure that was Thurgood Marshall. Shameful is the only word.

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Certainly better than the Chamber of Secrets. A darker turn. But beginning to get padded as readers demanded “more” if not “better.”

James Corey, Cibola Burn: Book 4 of The Expanse ... and I didn’t like it. It seemed like filler, a book written to a contract deadline. Maybe it will pay off in the end. But another one like that and I’m not going to care.

Tom Phillips, Humans: A Brief History of How We Fucked It All Up: Did you know our oldest known ancestor, Lucy, probably died by falling out of a tree? If stories about how people have messed things up, have suffered both intentional and unintentional consequences, turn you on, do I ever have the book for you. Schadenfreude much?

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Dear lord is this book long. Why? No doubt because the fans wanted it to be. But it is as gratuitously padded as any book I have ever read. It’s okay. But I wasn’t particularly impressed. Perhaps another six Quidditch matches would have helped ....

Adam Higginbotham, Midnight in Chernobyl: Thought the HBO miniseries was scary? It was tame. I mean: the Soviets, with their level of “technical prowess” and their industrial “quality control checks” ran the facility. Heck, Chernobyl wasn’t even their first disaster. Let’s just put it this way: the actual fuel piles in each of the FOUR Chernobyl reactors were so big that: 1) different sections had different characteristics, and didn’t all operate at the same rates or temperatures; and 2) the monitoring equipment couldn’t record how all of the pile was operating at any time. Happy now? Russia still has 10 Chernobyl-style reactors in operation. Enjoy your good night’s sleep everyone!

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: Yes, yes: I know. This isn’t Order of the Phoenix. Well, I read Order of the Phoenix many years ago, and thought it was deeply annoying. A pile of words with little point. A way to keep the audience happy with long passages about very little.

Meanwhile, I, like my son, roared through Half-Blood Prince. A ripping good tale. Much tighter than the last several of the series.

JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: A fine read. A bit slow getting going: let’s go here! Let’s go there! Let’s recap the plot! But after the first 1/3 or so, the story got moving and I enjoyed it. Didn’t expect great literature; didn’t get great literature. But then again, I deeply appreciate how much pleasure my son got from this, and how excited my daughter is to engage with it. If it hadn’t been conceived and written, it seems like there’d be a Harry Potter sized hole in the universe.

Neil Gaiman, American Gods: In all honesty, I didn’t really like the first 2/3 of this book: too many tangents; too many sub-stories for the sake of sub-stories. And I’m still not sure I think it was a great book. But I really enjoyed the last third of it, and there were moments, vignettes, and sentences that truly blew me away. So I am glad I stayed with it.

Kameron Hurley, The Light Brigade: A sci fi story of soldiers apparently engaged in a war with Mars who are transported to the battlefield as beams of light. One gets unhinged from time. I am not sure it was worth the work, and I came to understand it was based on a short story and so, at times, it seemed a bit one-trick pony-ish. But it had its share of moments.

Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat: A bit slow going at first, but it grows more compelling as it moved forward. This is the story of the 1936 crew (rowing) team at the University of Washington that went to Berlin and won the gold medal as Adolf Hitler watched. An interesting story about crew as a sport (about which I knew basically nothing), and life in Depression-era Washington state -- with a little, somewhat gratuitous, commentary about life in Nazi Germany layered in. One takeaway? The actor Hugh Laurie’s father was the lead oarsman on the British crew at Berlin in 1936. Hugh Laurie rowed crew at Cambridge as well.

James Corey, Nemesis Games: The next in the Expanse series. Much more enjoyable than the last one, but still a bit strained. One heck of a plot “twist.” A perfectly lovely way to relax; didn’t change my life. Some interesting character twists. But also a lot of “here are some giant developments (a lot of giant stuff) that give us lots of things to write about going forward!”

Alan Stern and David Grinspoon, Chasing New Horizons: the story of the New Horizons mission to Pluto. Interesting behind the scenes look at how the mission got funded, planned and implemented. Accessible in terms of the explanations; thick with bureaucratic story-telling and summary. It turns out this stuff is really, really hard. Interesting, but it didn’t blow me away.

And to end the year, I am reading: Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal: What if 13 year old Jesus had a buddy who, 2000 years later, wrote a gospel that filled in those missing years of Joshua’s (as Biff calls Jesus) life? Well, here’s your answer.

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princessanneftw · 4 years

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Happiest Birthday

- @lotuslioness

1st March 1987

Anne was having tea with her mother. She felt like something was amiss, but couldn't really put her fingers on, just before Tim came into the room.

"Your Majesty, your Royal Highness," he bowed his head, then handed her mother a file folder. "Those are all the reports you requested Ma'am, concerning the upcoming state visit. The plans are progressing smoothly and the final details will be presented to you by the end of the week.”

The Queen flicked through the reports and hummed in approval.

"Excellent Timothy, thank you. Are you leaving now?" She asked him

"Yes Ma'am. I will be back early tomorrow morning, that is if you permit it, of course." He responded politely.

"Of course you may. Have a pleasant evening." The Queen said smiling at the man who had become one of her favourite equerries. A smile that the equerry reciprocated with a thank you.

"Wait, why are you leaving now? I thought you were staying in the palace on weekdays?" Asked Anne, curious.

"Oh, today is the Commander's birthday and I thought he deserves the evening off to celebrate." The Queen answered instead. Anne only raised an eyebrow and looked back at Tim.

"Is that so? I didn't know it was today. Happy birthday Commander. Though, having a party without inviting me? And I thought we were friends." She teased him, but inside she was burning with jealousy. Why didn't he tell me? Maybe he has a girlfriend and wants to celebrate with her.. did I misinterpret our closeness?

Tim, whose face was red as a tomato, started explaining hastily. "No Ma'am, I'm not having any party. I didn't have the time to arrange anything, besides I quite dislike being the center of attention, so no big celebration for me. Just dinner with my family, and my friend Charlie if he can make it, at a nearby restaurant in Winchester. You are very welcome to join us.. I-I do consider you a close friend".

Anne could only laugh. She didn't know if it was from relief that he'll be just with his family, or happiness because he invited her or just because he was cute when all embarrassed and shy.

"Anne!" Her mother admonished. Anne quickly regained her composure and grinned at Tim.

"I'm sorry, I was just teasing you, and you just looked funny with your face all red, I really am sorry. Unfortunately, I'll have to decline your invitation as I have a lot of work waiting for me, but maybe next time. Again I wish you the happiest birthday and many happy returns." She said smiling fondly.

With a quiet sigh of relief and a smile, a thank you, and head bow to both women, he excused himself and left.

The Queen didn't wait for Tim to leave the room and started to scold her daughter for teasing the poor man, which only made Anne laugh again. "He is just so easy to tease, Mummy." The Queen just shook her head and steered the discussion to another subject.

Afterwards, when Anne returned to her St. James’s apartment she called her best friend Andrew Parker Bowles and as soon as he picked up the phone, she asked him if he was alone. When he said yes, she bombarded him with questions.

"Andrew, I need your help. What's the best men’s fragrance in the market? Also, do you know anyone who could make customised cufflinks at short notice but still good quality? I need them as soon as, hmm, say Sunday. Discrete one of course." She said in one breath.

"Wait wait wait, hold your horses for a second here woman. Firstly, hello, I'm doing well, the kids are doing wonderfully too. Camilla? I guess she is fine too, she is visiting some friends. And secondly, what the fuck is the rush? Why are you asking for men's perfumes and cufflinks? As far as I know, Mark's worn the same fragrance since God knows when and he doesn't wear cufflinks."

"Yes, uhm, sorry, how are you?" She said blushing, Andrew seemed getting impatient with his friend. "Anne!" He growled, "drop the act, you've never been polite or apologetic with me before. Now answer the questions."

"Alright, alright, so today is Tim's birthday and-" she started only for her friend to interrupt her.

“Who the bloody hell is Tim?”

"My mother's equerry, Timothy Laurence. I told you about him before." Anne answered impatiently.

"Ah, Mr Navy, tall and chiselled and respectful beyond belief, now I recognise him. So what about him?" Andrew teased.

"Oh shut up," and she launched into what had happened that day.

15 minutes later, which could've taken less but Anne threw in some details that Andrew didn't think he needed to know, he sighed.

"Well I think you’re infatuated with him. Don't interrupt me, I think it's foolish and risky but who am I to deny you the smallest happiness in life, when I know how much you've been sad the last years even if you've never told me.. I'll contact Deakin & Francis and see if they can make you bespoke cufflinks for him, just tell me your budget and design and I'll take care of the rest. As for the perfume, I heard from some pals that ‘Obsession’ for men from Calvin Klein was popular last year and even this year aswell-"

"Obsession! Are you mocking me?" Anne's voice was ice cold.

"Of course not, I’m beingserious Anne!" exclaimed Andrew. She apologised again, thanked her friend and explained her idea for the design as well as a suitable budget.

"Alright Andrew, thank you so much, I'll talk to you later. Goodnight.” With a last goodnight from Andrew, she hung up.

The next morning after finishing her last engagement in London, she drove herself to Gatcombe. Thursday morning, Mark would leave for Scotland, and she didn't want to leave the kids alone. She passed by her favourite perfume makers "Floris''. She decideded against buying the one Andrew suggested. Even if it was a very good one, it’s name just threw her off. Instead she thought about a bespoke one, as well as a shaving set perhaps. I'm not buying his affection, am I? But he deserved it all. Tim always made her smile whether it was intentional or not, took care of her kids whenever they met, entertaining them, teaching them new games, explaining things for them: talks about history, science, the sea, boats, anything that fascinated their young minds in simple words and captured their imagination. All while carrying his duties with purpose, good manners and determination. Gaining the respect and admiration of everyone who interacts with him, including her hard-to-please father and grandmother. But what she liked most about him was that he didn't always agree with her, and didn't hesitate to point out when she was wrong.

When she finally arrived home, she just had time to freshen up then went to check on the kids, helping them with their homework. After dinner she played with them, chatted a bit with Mark, put the kids to bed and went to her office to prepare for the next day's engagement.

Mark left that night to fly to Scotland, in pretext of having a meeting tomorrow morning. She was somewhat grateful. At least he stayed for dinner and that made Peter and Zara happy to have both their parents with them.

Anne started rearranging her papers, tired and ready to sleep, when the telephone rang. She was surprised to find the person who occupied most of her thoughts on the other end.

"I hope I didn't wake you up, I know it's late but I had to talk to you." It was Tim.

"And what if it was my husband who answered? What would he say?" asked Anne.

"I-I... I'm sorry, I didn't think of that.." stuttered Tim, which was unusual for him.

"Don't worry, I'm just teasing you. He’s not here, and it's a direct line so I'll be the only one to answer," she heard a sigh of relief from him, then a chuckle.

"I see you quite enjoy teasing me lately." She just laughed. It was true, she loved teasing him for different reasons, most still unknown to her.

"Anyway, to what do I owe the pleasure of having you phoning me tonight?" She asked, a smile tugging at her lips.

"I looked for you at your office in the Palace but I was told you weren't there. So I thought I'd call you. I wanted to apologise for not inviting you yesterday. It did cross my mind, but I thought it was inappropriate, and I regretted not telling you.." And he did sound apologetic.

"There’s no need to apologise Tim, I said I had a lot of work,” she reassured him. “So tell me, did you have a nice time?"

"Wonderful," and he started telling her all about his evening, his brother’s antics and his mother’s doting. How Charlie had missed dinner but they went to a bar afterwards to have some drinks. They kept talking until her voice started fading, he bid her goodnight and she went to sleep, her dreams filled with a certain black haired, green eyed sailor.

Friday came quickly and Andrew brought her Tim's gift before she collected her order from Floris. At dinner when her kids started arguing about what to give their Uncle Ed for his upcoming birthday, which led to them listing everyone they knew who was born in March, she mentioned to them that Tim's birthday was also in March. A very excited Zara asked how did her mother know? Anne explained what happened last Tuesday. Well, only what they needed to know.

"So did he have a party?" Asked Zara.

"As far as I know, no. It was just dinner with his mum, his brother and his friend."

"But he got a cake at least?" Peter wondered.

"Maybe." She didn't want the kids to know that she had a long discussion with Tim about his birthday when she didn't talk to their father more than 5 minutes since he left.

Zara and Peter looked at each other before Peter spoke. "Mummy, could we please visit Tim this weekend? To wish him a happy birthday?" Zara nodded and added: "We could make him a cake too! It’s not a proper birthday without a cake, even Gan Gan always has cake on her birthday!”

"I don't think it's appropriate. Besides, Commander Laurence doesn't always stay in the Palace on the weekends."

"Pleeease Mummy?” Both begged and didn't stop only after she promised them that if they behaved tomorrow, did their homework, and stayed out of trouble she may consider taking them to visit Tim. She thought it could be a nice opportunity to give him his gifts a day earlier than she had planned.

The next day, the kids behaved impeccably and did all their homework. Keeping her promise, she called the Palace to ask about the equerry's whereabouts, getting his address and his phone number. She called him at his house, wondering if he could lend her some book they'd talked about the last time and casually asked if he had any plans for Sunday. Apart from visiting his mother that morning, he said he'd spend the afternoon reading and catching up on some work.

The kids were delighted when she said they'd be visiting Tim the next day. Sunday morning, she took them to buy a small gift for the Commander. Zara chose a rectangular, wooden photo frame with horseshoe carvings, to frame a drawing she did for Tim, of horses and a beach and what appeared to be two people, a short one with yellow hair and the other very tall with black hair. As for Peter, he picked ‘Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume II’. After wrapping them, the kids bullied her to make a cake. It was very messy but they succeeded. Later, they took the car and set out for a 2 hour drive to Winchester.

Upon arriving, they got the wrong house first, but they were directed to the right house. To say Tim was surprised would be an understatement. He was shocked. The poor man was clearly woken up, if his shorts and loose t-shirt were any indication. He invited them inside and as soon as the door was closed, the kids shouted ‘happy birthday’ to him. Here it goes, hours of lecture on how to behave, well at least we are inside the house mused Anne. Tim smiled at the kids and thanked them, showed them to the living room and went to change his clothes.

Anne's eyes scolded her kids, then let her eyes wander around the living room. It was small but tidy, full of books and pictures but what caught her eyes were the various boats and ships models. The largest one was in the middle of the dining table, where a pile of paperwork was also stacked.

"Mummy we left the cake in the car!" exclaimed Peter.

"I'll get it. Don't touch anything!" Anne got up but in the corridor, she met Tim coming downstairs.

"Is everything alright?" He asked fastening his shirt's cuffs.

"The kids made you a cake and we left it in the car," she answered, showing him the keys. "I’m just going to get it-"

"I'll get it. My next door neighbor's mother is visiting and she is a bit nosy. If she saw you, we’d never hear the end of it." She grimaced then smiled, handed him the keys and went back to the living room.

Minutes later, Tim returned with a platter of tea and biscuits as well as fruit juice for Peter and Zara. The clumsily decorated but edible chocolate cake was on another plate.

They chatted together. Tim thanked them for the surprise and listened to the kids stories about their previous birthdays, school, horses and everything that could cross a child's mind. They insisted that he lit a candle so they could sing happy birthday to him. After cutting the cake and eating, Peter and Zara gave him his gifts. He was delighted by them, promising Zara to put her frame on top of his desk so he could see it everyday, and to Peter he said that he'll start reading the books that night. If he noticed that Anne didn't give him the bag by her side he didn't mention it.

Afterwards, Anne suggested helping him wash the dishes. While the kids were examing all the ships models Tim own, the adults went to the kitchen. Anne took the bag with her and after washing and drying the dishes, storing what was left of the cake in the fridge, she gave it to her friend.

He was amazed by the shaving set. It consisted of a shaving brush, a razor, the handles made from wood decorated by a golden plate with "CDR.T.L" engraved on it, a wooden soap bowl with the same engraving, soap and aftershave. He was taken aback by the cufflinks and custom-made fragrance.

"Anne, this is a lot.. I can't accept all of this." Tim was shocked.

"Don't you like them?" asked Anne, slightly worried.

"Of course I do, but it’s really too much." He was sitting at the kitchen table eyeing the boîtier of cufflinks in his hands. Inside was a pair of oval shaped, whale end platinum cufflinks. The front was made from blue spinel framed by platinum and an old fashioned ship was in the middle of it made from aquamarine. While it was a simple design it was that one detail that made it exceptional. Spinel was Anne's birthstone while aquamarine was his. He touched the end and it was engraved ‘A2T’ in cursive. The perfume was divine. It reminded him of everything he loved but it also reminded him of her for some reason. He looked up and Anne was sitting on the other chair that she pulled up to face him. She took his hand in hers.

"Tim, you've became my closest friend and confidant in the short time I've come to know you. I've never had anyone in my life that treated me the way you do. You respect me but you're not afraid of me, you take all of my stubbornness and anger with calmness and a level head and you tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to. When we're alone, I'm just Anne. Even Andrew who I’ve known since God knows when, and my husband, the father of children never treated me as just Anne. There’s always that reminder that I am the Queen's daughter, that I need to be the boss. So please accept those gift as my gratefulness for our friendship, for all the last birthdays I missed you not being in my life." She lowered her head and felt emotional and fragile but when she felt him squeezing her hand she looked at those sparkling green eyes and she was happy to see in them what she felt: acceptance, fondness and some emotion she didn't want to identify. She was afraid she will break if it doesn't mean what she wanted it to.

"Thank you," he said, his voice tight with emotion.

"Mummy! Come and see, there’s a miniature sailor on the big ship!" Cried her children from the other room. As they both got up, Anne approached Tim and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"Happy birthday Tim," she murmured in his ear.

Anne went to see her children and he followed her minutes later, his cheeks red. She didn't stay much longer and left feeling like her heart wanted to fly, singing with her children loudly practically the whole way home.

The night of the Saudi Arabia state banquet, they were all waiting for their guests to arrive when she heard her father complimenting Tim on his cufflinks, who said that they were a gift from a dear friend.

"They are quite unique, perfect for a Naval Commander, in their own way,” said Philip, while Sarah was murmuring to Diana.

"Well I like his perfume more. Do you think it's inappropriate to ask him where he got it? I want one for Andrew."

"I don't know, if you want to ask him be discreet about it," responded Diana.

But as Sarah was far from discreet, she asked him when he passed by them.

"It's a bespoke fragrance actually. Again, a gift from my friend," was all that Tim said.

Mark snickered beside her. “I bet it was a girlfriend.”

“Hmm?”

“The fragrance. Even as a man, I know it's made to impress." Anne only stared at her husband, but Tim who apparently did hear Mark’s remark only smiled back.

"Maybe you’re right Sir. I am very grateful for my friend's thoughtfulness and emotional support, whatever their intentions were I am more happy to have them in my life as much as they want in theirs," and walked toward the door ready for the night.

She just smirked, but inside, she felt a flame that started burning in her heart. She knew she was getting herself in a sort of trouble that she was happy to have in her life.

* * *

This was so SWEET! What a lovely little fic in honour of his birthday ☺️

I like that you incorporated the true story of them getting the wrong house when they first visited him in there, and the idea of Anne stressed af with her babies trying to bake a cake made me giggle, covering the mess with icing and proclaiming it edible. It really was adorable. Thank you lovely!

#fANNEfiction #happy birthday timmy #i wonder what she’ll get him today #i will go down with this ship #submission

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greenhatsinthesky · 4 years

Text

lockdown film no. 24 - Heavenly Creatures (1994) dir. Peter Jackson

15/04/2020

this had been recommended by one of my lecturers and its on basically every wlw film list so it was an important one

- the opening was amazing fuck the editing of them running and then the black and white section ? art. Like imagine going to see it and not knowing what it was about and thinking you were in for a nice film about new zealand but nOPE here’s some girls screaming covered in blood

- ok why do new students always arrive in the middle of lessons and not, you know, at the start of the school day

- also Antoinette is the most extra name for anyone to choose and while its hilarious its also a great way of establishing Juliet’s character

- the fact that Kate Winslet played this role three years before being rose in titanic is just too much to comprehend honestly

- the camerawork in the first montage sequence when they’re first getting to be friends is so dizzying and fast and feels like it mirrors them falling into this relationship with each other

- the extremes of their behaviour going from nearly getting hit by a car to running round a forest in their underwear and kissing is so interesting

- also the idea that you have this thing that you both obsess over (in this case its the world’s greatest tenor) and you build shrines for this person and sing their songs all the time and your friendship was essentially built on this person and then one day you realise you’re more obsessed with your friend than you are the person

- the physicality of their relationship feels really important as well - it’s like they’re getting to understand their bodies and how they want to relate to themselves and each other and it use happens that they’re so similar that they want to do the same things like be physically close and kiss and run through the aforementioned forest in their underwear. It feels like one of those important films that

- the scene where they first go into the fourth world was fucking wild, the effects are pretty good and its so dreamlike. Goddamn this film and its creativity blowing my mind

- “it would be wonderful if I could get tuberculosis too” ok hun

- i don’t think I liked juliet’s parents - her dad seemed like a bit of a dick and while her mum was nice to pauline and brushed her hair they did both leave her for four months while she was basically dying

- their alter egos were crazy interesting because when you have someone else you can be in relation to another real person you can say exactly how you feel under the guise of someone else

- i wanted the creepy priest in the hospital to fuck off and thankfully a huge clay man executed him so that was good

- i really appreciated how the filmmakers went all in on pauline and Juliet’s physical relationship and it wasn’t necessarily sex but every time they hugged it was like they’d never see each other again and they kissed like a couple would but no one made anything of it cos gal pals you know

- john was creepy as fuck and the scene where he got in bed with her because he was cold was severely uncomfortable

- small detail, but when Paul’s mum slapped her after John left it was really well done because she didn’t reposition herself to slap her she just went straight from where her hand was before so it felt very natural and legit

- the clay people were unnerving on many levels but especially because their mouths were only about half a centimetre deep and from then they were solid clay

- the montage editing between the real people and the clay people was stunning

- unwholesome/intense/wayward = gay

- the colours when pauline and Juliet were together were gorgeous. Bonus for when they were in bed together and everything was pink and purple

- of course they have baths together

- the bit where they enact how all the saints would make love was really interesting from an editing standpoint because there were all the clay people which was really stressful and then it was the two of them without any clothes being really gentle and stuff which was really soft. Then juxtapose that with the next two scenes, the first one being Paul suggesting that they kill her mum and then them burning a load of vinyls. But then I guess that’s one of the key things of their characters in this film, is them going from two extremes basically out of nowhere

- it was really strange to hear a child describing a murder as a “happy event”

- structurally it was really cool because the second scene is the aftermath of them committing murder so you know its not gonna be a happy film and it’s well established that Paul doesn’t have a good relationship with her mum so there’s no pretence about that aspect of it. The more important storyline is the two girls’ relationship and how they feel about each other and themselves and then what they do as a result of that is the point of why people watch the film now but it’s not

- there was a really interesting bit where Paul encourages her mum to have a scone with jam and cream just before they go down the hill to kill her. Initially the mum says she’s watching her figure and says no but Paul says “go on, mum. Treat yourself” and its so layered with hatred for her but also wanting her to enjoy a scone before she is brutally murdered and there’s just a lot going on

- my god the murder scene was fucking awful. Splicing it with Juliet on a boat in black and white and Paul saying goodbye on land was a really cool choice and allowed for a bit emotional turmoil so that was good

- the end credits were a strong choice because knowing what happened after they did the murder is important for the context of the whole thing (obviously). So knowing that they went to prison (shocker), then they left prison and went to live in places (they were too young for the death penalty) BUT the crucial thing is that a condition of them being out of prison is that they could never have any contact with each other again. Obviously this is a fictional portrayal but seeing their relationship and then knowing they could never see each other again is pretty crazy

- i have no idea if this made any sense im rambling

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v-thinks-on · 4 years

Text

The Return of Bunny Manders

Part 5 of Jeeves and the Amateur Cracksman

First | Previous | Next (coming in three weeks)

I hadn’t seen head or tail of Bunny for years, ever since his incarceration. Not that I hadn’t heard of his exploits; I doubt there is a fellow in England, at least of the suspense reading sort, who hasn’t read Bunny Manders’s supposedly fictionalized accounts of his adventures with A.J. Raffles, and I was, of course, not to be excluded. They were thrilling reads, a mystery in reverse, if you will. But that was all I’d heard of my one-time pal Bunny until, one sunny afternoon, there came a knocking at the door to my flat.

Jeeves oozed out to answer it and you can imagine my surprise when I was greeted by the sound of a familiar voice. Not that it was greeting me, exactly. Upon his arrival, Bunny’s first words were, I believe, “J! I didn’t know where else to go.”

Jeeves saw the poor, distressed chap in without a blink of surprise. “Mr. Manders,” he announced.

I had but a moment to collect myself in a cold, haughty way, like an offended nobleman greeting a sheep that has strayed far from the flock - it hardly does to be too welcoming with a chap who once tried to pilfer the family silver and what not.

I was about to make some wry retort when I really took in the sorry sight of the chap before me. He was recognizably Bunny, of course, the very same who’d stumbled into my flat through the window some years before, but while I was largely unaffected by the intervening time, it looked like ages had passed for him. His wide-eyed innocence was no more, replaced by prison-hardened wariness. He even limped in on a lame leg.

I felt a pang of sympathy for the fellow. If nothing else, I could hear him out and then deliver my verdict. We Woosters are nothing if not gracious hosts, so I welcomed Bunny inside, offered him a s. and b., and bid him tell his tale of woe. Jeeves remained hovering about in the sitting room, ready to give counsel as he often does when a pal of mine comes to consult on one of their affaires de coeur. Really, under the circs., Jeeves had more of a right to be there than I did.

“So, what’s the meaning of all this?” I asked.

Bunny sat, his gaze affixed on the ground like the downtrodden bird he was. “Raffles is dead,” he moaned at last.

“I’m sorry, old thing,” I said, with a bit of a clap on the fellow’s shoulder for good measure. “Recently you mean? Not when he jumped off that boat?” I confess I sort of mangled the landing.

Bunny shook his head. A ghost of a smile flickered across his wan features. “He made it to shore.” There was something in his tone that suggested no one should have expected anything less. “He spent a few years in Italy - now I wish he’d stayed there. But it got too hot to hold him and so he made his way back to London.” Bunny’s hands balled into tight fists. “He found me easily enough; it wasn’t long after my sentence ended. It was like fate had brought us back together. It was almost like old times for a little while. And then there was that terrible war!”

The scales seemed to fall from my eyes and I saw Bunny’s awkward leg in a new light. “You fought out on the veldt?”

Bunny nodded. “Raffles too. It’s all my fault! I was too slow and got shot, and he came back for me, and he was there, looking out for me all the time, and if not for me, they wouldn’t have got him.”

To my surprise, it was Jeeves who spoke up first, his voice solemn and low. “You have always been Mr. Raffles’s only weakness.”

It took me a moment to realize the sheer ballyness of what the man had said. Bunny gave no protest, lost in his own sorrows, so it fell upon Bertie Wooster to jump to a pal’s defense.

“Jeeves! What’s the meaning of all this?”

But Bunny stayed me. “No, he’s right. We all knew it would happen eventually.”

“Just because you’re a little slow to the punch hardly makes you to blame!”

I almost wondered if there was something I was missing, another half of the conversation that I had somehow not heard. There had to be; fellows don’t just bandy around the blame like this, not so calmly, at least. It was hardly fair! And if Jeeves accepted his cousin Bunny as nothing short of an encumbrance, I could only wonder what the chap thought of me.

“After all,” I insisted, “without you, Raffles would have been hauled off for sure, what?”

“That’s very kind of you, Bertie, but I know what I am.”

“And what’s that?” I demanded. Bunny certainly wasn’t any worse of a chap than myself.

Bunny only shook his head in sorrow.

I glanced up at Jeeves, but he was as stuffed-frog as ever, with not a word to say for himself. I was left to give my glass a moody swish. Bunny seemed just about ready to drown his sorrows, and I for one felt happy to join him. So, I called for another round of s. and b., light on the s.

“Thank you, Bertie, J- Jeeves, I mean,” Bunny said halfway through his second glass. “I really didn’t know where else to go. There’s no one other than Raffles…” the poor chap choked into silence, though he picked the thread back up soon enough. “I couldn’t very well go to our old uncle after everything.”

“No, I expect not,” Jeeves said dryly.

“A bit of a hard boiled egg, what?” I said, back on firmer ground, at least.

“Not exactly, sir.”

“Well, you’re always welcome in the Wooster domain!”

“Thank you, Bertie,” Bunny said, his morose eyes shining.

“Not at all! What’s that wheeze, Jeeves, about a friend in need?”

“A friend in need is a friend indeed, sir.”

“That’s the stuff!”

“It’s more than enough just to have a friendly ear,” Bunny said, a bit flustered. “I’m back to writing about Raffles too, so the rest of the world can see him as I did, not just as an uncommon crook.”

“Well, the fellows back at the Drones can’t get enough of him!”

Bunny nodded. His eyes had a sort of far-away look to them, like one of those fellows in the pictures staring out to sea. “I have never known such a remarkable man.”

Part of The Mysterious Mr. Jeeves

#v writes #Jeeves and Wooster #Raffles #The Mysterious Mr. Jeeves #Jeeves and the Amateur Cracksman

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