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wolf-stark · 3 years

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You ask I deliver — both tfatws asks in one!

tfatws weekly ask 1

i finally saw ep1!! i wont be able to see ep2 until thursday at the earliest but i already have some Thots on this ep. here are the ones I remember

first is, and i'm so sorry for this, a grammar lesson. an appositive is when you stick an additional phrase in between commas, dashes, or the like. i actually just used one! the "and i'm so sorry for this" in the first sentence of this paragraph is an appositive. thing is, most english speakers don't normally use them when they speak, only in writing. so i'm always on high alert whenever i hear somebody in tv or movies use one. (it's generally a marker of bad screenwriting). anyway there was one right in the beginning of the episode. the white army guy yelling at sam wilson said "first lieutenant Torres, our intel officer, will be helping on the ground." yeah so. the writing of this series started out on the wrong foot for me. but the rest of the episode was obviously tons and tons better (every interview i see with malcolm spellman makes me love him more and more)

the contrast between the opening minutes (falcon action sequence) and the rest of the ep.... i would 100000/10 rather watch a series with just sam and bucky dealing with life. i dont give a single crap about the flag-smashers or any of that. i just want sam, sarah & fam getting their boating business back on the ground & yeeting racist dickwads, bucky going through therapy and making amends, sam and joaquin being bros, sambucky homoerotic tension, etc.

the cinnamontography! wandavision mostly used cinematography to signify era n stuff. tfatws doesn't have wv's premise to go off of, so here's some tricks i noticed:

with sam there's obviously all sorts of shots with the captain america iconography next to his face, but he hasn't totally claimed it. there's the mural of steve rogers in the background; there's sam staring into the shield like it's a spectre of steve's face; there's sam looking into the exhibit, the shield and sam separated by glass and a layer of camera focus. steve is a constant spectre, always there, an idea, a symbol himself. sam's relationship with this iconography is distanced. he is separated by glass exhibit walls. by painting canvases. he doesn't yet feel worthy to take on that iconography. this whole thing was pulled off quite well but also a bit on-the-nose if only in quantity. there's just sooooo much fancy iconography stuff

speaking of the exhibit, there's something that i get real pissy about. it's when like, there's an action going on you're supposed to be paying attention to but the cinematographer is like,,,, hey! check out this location! or this headline! or something! there was a lot of that in the exhibit. the camera was like, you could focus on sam and rhodey's convo (which was fine but could have been so much better with an extra like 10 minutes of deep character study talk) but noooo you want me to look at the symbol for the united nations and read all the text about bucky who hasn't even showed up yet. shut up i know the lore and ill watch the shot-by-shot breakdown yt vids you don't have to make the shot this long jkdsalcjklasejf

my fav trick was with bucky and the therapist. i had seen a clip of the scene with bucky and the therapist beforehand and i thought the cinnamontography was super obnoxious, but then i was like, oh duh. the shots frequently change the distance between the camera and its subject. sometimes it's uncomfortably close and sometimes it's really far. a clear allegory for the duality of therapy, esp for bucky! therapy is an invasive process wherein he is ruthlessly examined, picked apart, and berated for his trauma (this therapist is crap in every way btw, "mean therapist" works for greg house and greg house only). so the camera goes close. it makes the viewer claustrophobic like bucky. but when he's like "no i haven't had any nightmares" the camera suddenly goes really far. we see bucky as this tiny head in the center of the bottom of the frame. we are distanced from him. he has pushed us away. we cannot see him. he lies because he is vulnerable. so yeah, amazing work there. the therapy scene was hard to watch on purpose!

did bucky slip a note to yori inside the dollar bill? bucky stop making me emooooo. the suuper awkward fake smile has me 😭 (veteran trying to adjust!)

mark my worrrrds when sam asks someone y the govt picked john “white bread” walker they’re gonna say “we needed somebody everyone can get behind....someone uncontroversial, someone everyone can see themselves in” like that exact racist dog whistle

tfatws weekly ask 2

just saw ep2 so im taking advantage of the 2 seconds i can be on tumblr without worrying about tfatws spoilers before new episode drops

when isaiah said "your people put me in prison for being a hero" and bucky thought "your people" means hydra. 🤦‍♂️

speaking of racism, the interplay between sam being Black (anti-Black racism) and sam being the Falcon (negrophilia, "can i take a selfie w you as i deny you a loan?") and the intersection between the two (j*hn lichrally called sam "steve's wingman"! he takes the crypto out of crypto-racist in like 2 seconds!) !!!!!!!! a Black celebrity's Black experience, the separation of man and identity!!!! (thinking about vanessa bayer in snl in that skit "beyonce is black" telling her black friend "you're not black, you're...my girl!")

after sam gets racially profiled by cops we see j*hn standing in front of cop cars cinematic parallels turns out j*hn is racist who knew

this therapist sucks major ass but she got bucky and sam together in the same room and ready to collaborate...that's something ig. it was lichrally couple's therapy she said she used her miracle exercise with couples sambucky antis get blended

bucky says "he was wrong about you so maybe he was wrong about me"...that's not how people talk. when therapist asks bucky, the guy who doesn't talk at all about himself, "y do you hate sam", the last thing bucky's gonna do is actually connect his hatred of sam to his own self-worth issues. bucky generally refuses to talk about himself, so why would he talk about himself in the one context that nobody ever links back to their own neuroses: hatred of other people? one thing human beings hate most is admitting we're wrong. admitting you hate someone because of your own issues? that's a major therapeutic step. bucky would absolutely have to be prompted to do that. even like one or two lines of dialogue more would have set up that line better. but in terms of the actual thought? an amazing way to take the sam/bucky relationship. bucky bases his self-worth on steve believing in him, and if steve is wrong bucky has no self-worth, so 1) he has to develop self-worth disassociated from steve's assessment of him and 2) he has to love himself before he can love sam, and 3) he has to realize that sam giving up the shield is a sign of sam's humility not his unworthiness.

conversely, we don't get into why sam hates bucky? yeah sam has the right to hate a guy that has tried to kill him (albeit while brainwashed) multiple times, and now shows up in his life just to bash him but. everything happens so fast i cant follow their relationship

in fact i dont feel like i understood much of anything. like y did bucky and sam go on that mission together? how connected are sam/bucky/joaquin with the government? doesn't bucky just want to retire now? literally what is everyone doing/feeling and why???

if battlestar becomes a knowing commentary on the black best friend stereotype i'm gonna party, but i dont expect much of that

the interplay between man and symbol. captain america is obviously a symbol. the shield is obviously a symbol. but steve rogers? the. man behind the cowl? he too seems to become a symbol. a paragon of a good guy, so good he's unreachable. steve was just a guy stop idolizing him the last thing steve would want is to be idolized

as the resident musician/music nerd on mcublr, 1) that captain america rally music slaps, but 2) re: the song at the end of the ep, if you're just gonna rip off mozart's lacrymosa then at least play mozart's lacrymosa. we wont blame you the lacrymosa slaps (if you dont know what im talking about go on yt and search it up youll recognize it fo sho

look i love enfys nest as much as the next guy but if tfatws is gonna get erin kellyman to play another innocent little gurl blackmailed into the fakeout-villain position (her text seemed to suggest as such) then 😡 like why can't women just....be evil? young, freckly, innocent-looking women? girls are not untouchable pure objects but full of rage and resentment just as much as anyone can be

bonus ep1 comment: bucky says about that senator whose car he hijacked, "she continued to abuse the power i gave her." fictionaldarling on yt say that he says "i" because he can't disassociate himself from his winter soldier persona which begets endless and senseless guilt. like dude. can i not be emo for like 1 second.

OKay. First off, as much I enjoy your sending it to me, what made you decide to send me these??

TFATWS WA #1

Don't worry about getting this to me as early as possible. I usually don't watch the episode right away.

1. Cool writing lesson.

2. Everyone wants a comedy show [like Friends] about the MCU superheroes.

3. Cinematography is always a beautiful thing.

4. Sam definitely has to carve his own Captain America status for himself, outside of Steve's ya know everything.

5. They have to do that for people who was just now tuning in because they're in love with Sam Wilson or Sharon Carter.

6. I think the therapist was taking a 'tough love' approach for Bucky, because she likely has some very strong opinions about the literal assassin she's been assigned to give therapy too. She did not choose to talk to him, she was assigned that make that clear in the second episode.

And, Bucky isn't lying when he said it wasn't a nightmare. It wasn't a nightmare, it was a resurfaced memory. So, technically he wasn't lying - and yes, the camera does move away because while he's saying he didn't have a nightmare, he's not expanding on what actually happened - so, he's still pushing the therapist/us away.

7. Bucky, and Steve, have/had a TON to adjust to.

8. Yeah, I agree that will be the bullshit line they give. If they ever actually talk about it.

TFATW WA #2

Yeah, always got to take advantage of avoiding those spoilers lmfaoo.

1. Honestly, that line was double meaning. Both about White people and Hydra [which is made up of mostly white supremacists/nazis] So, the line is gesturing to both White People in general and Hydra assholes together. I think the terminology is “double edge sword”??

2. This whole paragraph structure confused me, ngl - so I'm going to answer it the best I can. I do like that they're not ignoring the fact that Sam being Black is 1000% the reason he's not the Official Captain America - because the gov't is racist as hell.

I also like the little lines about how they point out little things about Sam's Falcon persona, like that kid calling him 'Black Falcon' specifically and Sam's response show the split between Sam and Falcon itself.

John is a dick for calling Sam the wingman of Steve Rogers. Sam was a hero all on his own before Steve asked him to join up again. [Side note, it's lichrally??]

3. Exactly, the parallel of Sam being profiled and surrounded while just on the street and John being surrounded by fans and being able to spring Bucky with apparently only a few sentences shows a Loooooot

4. Honestly, at this point I wonder if she's not actually a therapist and is just an agent assigned to assess Bucky outside of an Official Building. I do know, however, that her 'look at each other and speak' exercise is actually a real therapy practice. It's just a little slower.

5. Actually, I think he would've blurted that out. That whole line. I don't think Bucky hates Sam. I think they could've done the scene better, but I think that had Sam prodded him/the therapist been more annoying Bucky would've lost control of his emotions and blurted out the whole "If he was wrong about you, he was wrong about me" but I feel like the writing for this show is just... not there. Sometimes you blurt shit when you get overemotional and I think that was what Bucky was supposed to be like.

6. I don't think Sam hates Bucky, I think he doesn't trust him though. I do wish they'd talked about that though. The whole 'talk to each other' scene should've been a LOT longer and a LOT slower.

7. Sam and Bucky's relationship is being fast tracked because they don't really know how to work the relationship out, writers-room-wise. Bucky is technically retired, but I feel like he's trying to live up to Steve's expectations and doing what Steve would've done and we all know that if Steve was there, Steve would've jumped on that plane with Sam. It looks like Sam/Bucky/Joaquin are a side-team based from Military services but as Sam says they're all free agents so...?

8. Sadly, They seem to just be propping up to be another stereotype.

9. Captain America is a symbol. Steve Rogers is a man. But now Steve Rogers is an idol because of all the shit he's been through and honestly, it's not a bad thing he's become an idol for people - it's using Steve as a reason to make White Bread Walker the next Captain that makes Steve's idolization so fucked.

10. I don't know anything about music so I have no opinion here, sorry.

11. Enfys?? Also, I think they did the whole Innocent Girl Thing as side commentary for Bucky lowering his guard about seeing a young girl rather than a guy.

12. Bucky is the Winter Solider. The Winter Solider is Bucky. That is how Bucky will always see it because although he was brainwashed, it was still him and he remembers all of it. When you have constant memories of something 'someone else' did, you tend to not be able to pull the two personas out of each other. I want Bucky to take up the title, White Wolf instead of Winter Soldier. Honest.

This is all my opinion, I’m honestly a little disappointed with the writing of TFATWS so far so... I’m not really optimistic about this.

#Asks

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banditthewriter · 5 years

Text

Limited Time Only - Billy Russo

Prompt: i’ve had this au stuck in my head. like billy is good and got his scars during his time in the marines and now has anvil and how he does security and what not. well this like pop princess or whatever hires anvil. she’s younger and like super pretty and he expects her to be shallow and judge his face but then they actually fall in love. i love when the reader makes billy feel better about his scars and the secret relationship trope with a client and their security Prompter: Anonymous

Okay so my requests aren’t open but this one came through and when I was about to politely decline, I had a burst of inspiration... oops!

Warning: Stalking, being filmed without consent, some violence.

Tags are at the bottom. Let me know if you would like to be added to one of my tag lists!

*gif is mine*

Enjoy!

*****

Billy Russo was good at his job. He had protected senators, CEOs, millionaires, and the general populace. He’s negotiated kidnappings, led retrieval jobs, been shot at and actually shot a few times. His face bore the remnants of his time in the Marines, scars from a mission that had gone belly up within the first ten minutes but he hadn’t called it quits.

He was a perfectionist. He was a professional. He was good at his job.

That’s why he had almost turned down the job that came across his desk. He’d never protected celebrities outside of events, and this would be something completely different. This felt more like glorified babysitting. The manager had told him that it would only be for a few weeks until a stalker was caught.

“I’m not sure Anvil is the best option for a stalker,” he had said slowly as he read over the information. “I can refer a few smaller companies that–”

“No offense, Mr Russo, but you’re the only company that we’re considering. If you’ll read all of the packet that you were sent, you’ll see that this maniac has broken into Miss Y/L/N’s apartment, has almost successfully kidnapped her, and sent her a box of snakes when she called the cops. This isn’t just a stalker; this man is a danger.”

Billy hadn’t flipped through the rest of the packet, actually. He had seen the name and the word stalker and had almost immediately lost interest.

“And Miss Y/L/N is aware that she will have a private security firm with her at all times. There’s very little privacy if I’m to secure her safety.”

The manager sighed, the noise loud over the line.

“So you’ll take the job?”

He was good at his job. He’d go as far as saying that he was the best.

“Anvil is at your service,” he said as he leaned back in his chair.

There was a first time for everything.

------

The weather was about as dreary as you felt. You listened to your manager talk about the new security team that he had hired for your protection while you were in the city.

“The head of the company will be here shortly to go over some ground rules and talk to you about your schedule,” he said as he flipped through the mail that had been x-rayed already. “We have a stack of fanmail to bring you. And if we’re not able to get to the recording studio, you’ll need to do some camera work here.”

“I thought we said no cameras? Anything that can give my location,” you reminded Grady as he flipped through your mail some more.

“Then just do an audio recording,” he said with a shrug. “We can’t lose the momentum that we have after your tour. We need to keep your name out there and since you refuse to publish that you’re being stalked–”

“I’m not making this guy famous for terrorizing me,” you shot back as you stood up and marched towards the kitchen. “And I’m not getting publicity from this. I’ve told you that already.”

Grady held his hands up in surrender. When the doorbell rang, he waved off your look of worry as he headed towards the door.

“Now remember what I told you about the head of the company,” he said with a gesture towards his face. He opened the door and gave what you had dubbed his television smile. “Mr Russo, glad to see you can be punctual. Come in.”

The man came in, giving a nod to Grady. He looked around the apartment, but didn’t even look at you twice.

“My guys are going to come in and get a feel for the layout if that’s alright. They won’t mess with anything, but they need to know all points of entry in the apartment.”

“Feel free,” you said with a wave of your hand, earning a second glance from him.

He nodded a bit, ushering his guys in. He gave them their orders which included having one stand outside of your apartment door. While the others made their way around your apartment, Mr Russo walked over to where you were standing.

“Miss Y/L/N, I’m Billy Russo, head of Anvil.”

“Just call me Y/N, please,” you said as you accepted his hand. “So you’re in charge of keeping me safe?”

He raised an eyebrow before he gave a stiff nod.

“Our first point of action is to make sure that the apartment is secure. Once we’re done with that, we’ll need to talk about your schedule. I see from what your manager sent that you have an interview that you were going to do, but I don’t know if that’s a good idea. It’s available to the public and it’s all over the internet which means your biggest fan knows about it.”

Mr Russo turned away from you at one point to address one of his guys. While he did, you gave yourself permission to study the man. You hadn’t immediately noticed how attractive the man was, but it was obvious now. Not even the scars on his face could distract you from it. His dark eyes were intent and alert, moving over every inch of the room he was in. You watched his lips as he spoke them, followed the line of his jaw and the length of his neck. His hair was slicked back, longer on top than on the sides.

You felt something buzzing under your skin, your fingers itching. You made your way over to the notebook on your coffee table, plucking up the pencil you kept beside it.

You wrote a few lines, tapping your pencil on the page to a beat in the back of your head.

“Ah, writing? Good, if you can’t do anything else that I’ve asked, at least you can work on a new song,” Grady said as he came back into the room. “Mr Russo, if you have issues with her doing the interview, we’re going to need to come up with an alternative plan. Miss Y/L/N can’t stay cooped up in this apartment until the man is caught. She’s an artist and needs to be out with her fans.”

“I would think she would need to be safe more,” Mr Russo said in a dry tone.

“Grady,” you cautioned with a shake of your head, “I think we should defer to the professional here. If we have to shift some things around for the next few weeks, that’s not much to ask in the grand scheme. I did just finish a fourteen month long tour.”

Grady sighed, pulling his phone out.

“I’ll get on it,” he said as he left the apartment, shutting the door behind him with a soft click.

“Wasn’t sure which of you were in charge,” Mr Russo said as he turned to look at where you were perched on the edge of the couch. “My guys have pointed out a few weaknesses in the security here, so we’re going to install some upgrades. It’ll be a bit noisy here for the rest of the day.”

You shrugged a shoulder and picked up a pair of noise cancelling headphones you had on the shelf of the coffee table.

“You guys can do what you need. If anyone needs me, just tap me on the shoulder.”

Mr Russo seemed surprised by that. You pulled the headphones on and plugged them into your phone. You hesitated just a moment too long in playing any music and you were just barely able to catch him say something.

“–not what I expected.”

You tugged the headphones down around your neck, giving him a strange look.

“What was that?”

He cleared his throat, obviously unaware that you had heard him the first time.

“I said that you’re not what I expected.”

You smiled as you leaned back on the couch a bit. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, but you noticed there was a certain center of gravity that kept him steady at all times.

“What’d you expect? A spoiled princess who was going to make your life hell?”

“Honestly? Yes,” he said with a laugh, not a trace of shame on his face. “I guess I expected some primadona that was going to do everything in her power to make me regret taking this job.”

You grinned as you grabbed your headphones once more.

“Sorry to disappoint you Mr Russo,” you teased as you tugged the headphones back onto your head, “but I’m just a normal girl that got lucky.”

This time you started to play your music, drowning out anything he might have said to that.

------

“Miss Y/L/N,” a familiar voice called from the living room, “there’s something that you need to see.”

You crossed the length of the office that you had set up a small recording studio in. Once in the living room, you saw that Mr Russo was holding what looked like a DVD case in his hand.

“What’s that?”

He gestured to the television. On it was a night vision video of someone sleeping in a bed. It took you a few moments to recognize yourself. And it took even longer to recognize that that was a hotel room from the tour.

“What the hell?”

Mr Russo fast forwarded the video a bit. There were more like that, images of you sleeping in various hotel rooms. Some of the videos showed you changing and Russo was went forward quicker for your sake. And then there was a video of you in bed, legs spread, your hand–

The screen went dark. Mr Russo put the remote down, reaching up to tap on the wire in his ear.

“Jameson, I want you to check the security footage. This was delivered to the building and I want to know who brought it. Franklin, I want you to get a list from Grady of any of the hotels that Miss Y/L/N had stayed in for her tour. I want to know how these videos were taken. On the double.”

You sat down heavily on the ottoman that was thankfully nearby. You weren’t sure you could have stood for much longer.

“It’s never going to end, is it?”

He dropped down to one knee next to you, reaching out to grab your hand.

“We’re going to figure it out and we’re going to catch him,” he promised with a confidence you were eager to believe. “You’re safe here. I’m going to keep you safe.”

You nodded, your eyes falling from his face to his hand on yours.

“I thought I was safe in those hotels. We always used fake names, I always had a decoy car so that no one would know where I was going. I thought I was safe. This… this guy saw things. That video showed me changing, showed me… I feel violated.”

“That’s how he wants you to feel. He wants you to feel like he can get to you anywhere. But that stops now, okay? He’s not going to get that close again.”

You let out a watery laugh, reaching up to wipe away the tears that had started to well up in your eyes.

“Thank you Mr Russo,” you said with a small sniffle.

He squeezed your hand before he stood up. He moved over to grab a box of tissues and moved back to where you were sitting.

“Call me Billy,” he said pointedly as he shook the box to get your attention.

You hesitated before you took a tissue.

“Billy. Okay. But only if you actually call me Y/N. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you still call me Miss Y/L/N,” you teased as you wiped your nose.

“Alright. Y/N.” He smiled, the action making his scars pull a bit.

It wasn’t fair that something so simple, a smile, could make your heart speed up.

“I should probably call Grady. He needs to know,” you said as you gestured to the blank screen, wincing at the reminder of the last thing that had played. “And uh, if you could pretend you didn’t see anything?”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said as he grabbed the DVD case and handed it to you. “I just saw a few clips of you sleeping.”

He turned to head towards the door, that smile still on his lips.

“Thanks Billy,” you said, testing the name out for the first time.

He hesitated next to the door, turning his head just enough to see that the smile had somehow intensified.

“You’re welcome Y/N.”

------

“Ah, I’ve got–shit, ow! I’ve got it!”

You were on the floor. You weren’t sure how you got there, but you were on the floor. There was a creak nearby and you turned your head in time to catch a grin from Billy.

“You’re drunk,” he said as he stared down at you.

“I dropped my pencil,” you said as you held it up in victory, “but I found it!”

He shook his head and knelt down next to you.

“I don’t think this was covered in my protection detail,” he said as he looked you over. “Keeping you safe from your stalker, sure, but protecting you from your own bad decisions?”

“Hey!” You pointed the pencil at him, not even noticing when he tugged it from your fingers so that you didn’t accidentally stab him. “This wasn’t a bad decision. There’s a video of me getting myself off that’s being spread around the internet. I’m allowed to want to drown my liver.”

Billy sighed and grabbed you around your middle, tugging you up. Then he hefted you onto the couch.

“Your manager got the video taken down,” he started, but you let out a snort.

“Yeah, like that’s gonna stop it. I had to delete Twitter because of how many notifications I was getting.”

Billy sat down beside you. You couldn’t help but think that this was the first time he’d been this close to you.

“Did you watch it?” At his curious look, you gestured at the television across the room. “You turned it off that day, but it’s on the internet. Have you watched the whole thing?”

He shook his head, meeting your eyes.

“I wouldn’t do that to you. I don’t get on the internet much as it is, but I wouldn’t do that to you.”

It was nice. You felt that buzz under your skin, the same one that you got when you knew you needed to write something. This was telling you something else though. You leaned forward into his personal space, grinning when he didn’t even twitch. Your hand went to his knee, sliding up a little bit on his thigh.

“Would you like to see it in person?”

His face didn’t change.

“You’re drunk.”

You shrugged a shoulder, your hand sliding a little higher up his thigh. When he didn’t move, you leaned back a bit and let your hand drift down your stomach towards your shorts.

“C’mon don’t you wanna–”

His hand wrapped around your wrist, tugging your hand away from your body and pressing it against the couch. Your heart started to pound, curious and aroused, but he simply stood up and took a step away from the couch.

“It’s my job to protect you. If that means I have to protect your from yourself, I will. Drink some water, take some aspirin, and go to bed.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. Then you stood up, pushing past him and away from the couch. You needed to put some space between you and the rejection.

Of course he’d reject you. What would he want with a spoiled popstar? What would he care about a musician? He was a military man, a businessman. He probably dated CEOs or models or–

“It’s not that,” he said, drawing your attention to the fact that you had said all of that out loud.

“I don’t need a breakdown of it Mr Russo,” you said as you turned to face him, blinking when you realized he had followed you across the living room. “It’s fine. You’re here to do a job, right? Here to protect me. It’s fine, it’s great, you’re doing a great job.”

You said that last bit with a bit of a hiccup, the alcohol and your emotions building in your chest. You felt anger building too, itching it’s way to the top of your throat.

“You’re doing such a good job protecting me, right? I mean, the entire world got to see me with my fingers in my pussy, but sure, I’m safe.”

You spun back away from him, marching towards your bedroom. When you slammed the door, it made the pictures on the walls rattle. There was nothing but silence on the other side. You stayed there for the longest time, half hoping he would knock on the door, but in the distance you heard the front door open and shut.

Alone. That’s what you were good at. That’s what you were going to always be. Alone.

You let out a pathetic laugh, tears building in your eyes. There was a song in that, wasn’t there? Maybe you’d have to scrap the song you were working on about the man that made your heart beat fast and settle for a song about being alone in a crowded room.

------

“Fuck,” you groaned as you rubbed your forehead, tucking your face into your arm as you half curled up on the counter. “I’m never drinking again.”

“I find that people never mean that,” you heard a voice say from behind you.

You winced at the voice. Not just because it was a little louder than you would have liked, but because it was Billy. You weren’t drunk enough to have forgotten the embarrassment the night before. It played on repeat in your head all night in technicolor.

Usually when he was there at night, he was gone for the morning shift. He didn’t come by every day, but he did take shifts with the other Anvil employees that watched you. And while they usually stayed outside of the apartment, Billy was the only one that ever felt comfortable being in there with you.

You really wished he didn’t feel comfortable. You wished he had left in the morning like he usually did. You wished… you wished…

“I really don’t need a lecture today,” you mumbled into the crook of your arm.

“Good thing I’m not here to lecture you then.” You could hear him shift around a bit before he spoke again. “How much do you remember from last night?”

All of it. You remembered every painful moment of it. Flirting with him, touching him and then touching yourself. You remembered his hand on your wrist, the hope in your chest that was extinguished in an instant. The rejection.

You were just a job for him. He was just there to protect you.

“I–”

“Mr Russo,” a voice called from outside of the door with a knock, before it opened to reveal a member of Anvil, “there’s a gentleman downstairs that says he knows who released the video. He wants to speak with you.”

Billy gave a tight nod to his employee. When the door was shut and the two of you were alone again, he turned back to look at you. You had sat up at the revelation, and with Billy looking at you like that? You wanted to curl back up.

“You should go check on that,” you said as you gestured to the door with your chin. “It’s your job, right?”

He stood up a bit straighter, giving you a tense nod before he turned around on his heel. You watched him head to the door, fighting back the urge to call his name.

Maybe this was almost over. Maybe your stalker would be caught soon and you’d be safe to return to your life from before.

Maybe you wouldn’t have much more time with Billy.

You didn’t want to think about that.

------

“We’ll get you outside and into the car,” Billy said from beside you, his eyes scanning the crowd of screaming fans that had gathered outside of the building. “I’d like to know who told the world that you were coming here today.”

It was supposed to be a short trip to the recording studio to do something for the song you had been working on. Billy had said it wasn’t a good idea, but you were tired of being cooped up. When he had relented into letting you go, he had said it would be a good idea for it to just be the two of you. He had his men on standby at least.

“I can’t even see the car,” you said as you tugged your hood down a bit, turning so that they couldn’t get photos of you. “How are we going to get out there in this? It’s never been like this before.”

Billy gestured towards the glass doors where you could see men in Anvil uniforms coming up.

“They’ll get the crowd under control,” he said with a nod, “and then we’ll have to make a break for it. Stick close to me, don’t pause for pictures or autographs. You can be the media darling once we’re sure your stalker isn’t out there with them.”

You nodded, hugging your arms around your chest.

“I guess you were right about this being a bad idea Mr Russo,” you said quietly as you turned away from the door completely.

He didn’t react to the name. Ever since the night you’d gotten drunk, you’d made a habit of keeping that distance between the two of you. It was for your sake as much as it was his. You didn’t want to put him back in that position.

And it was easier to pretend you hadn’t started to fall for him if you reminded yourself that he was just there to protect you. It was just a job to him. He was a professional.

Once Anvil had the crowd controlled and separated enough to get through, Billy wrapped his arm around you and led you to the door.

“Just stay close to me,” he whispered into your ear before he pushed the door open.

The two of you moved together, tucked in close as the raging fans pushed closer and closer. At some point you heard a yell of ‘get back’ right before you felt the swell of the crowd start to close in behind you. They must have broken through the barriers, deciding to take the chance.

Fans were touching your sleeves, your legs. Billy kept his arm around you, but at one point you felt someone grab your wrist. They were begging for a photo and you were yanked sideways, your arm aching immediately. As you tried to tell them that you had to leave, you felt something sharp and hot through your side.

“Billy!”

He was there in an instant, pushing the phone down and dragging you the last few feet to the car. He pushed you into the back seat before he joined you. You were about to ask how he was going to drive from the backseat but you realized someone was in the front seat already.

“Drive. And someone is going to answer for letting the barricades fall,” Billy barked out as he turned to watch the crowd start to grow smaller as his employee raced out of the lot. “We were ambushed. I lost her at one point, do you realize what could have happened?”

“Billy?”

“I want an after action from every person out there. I want a minute to minute description of what happened. I need to know exactly–”

“BILLY!”

He stopped his tirade and turned to look at you. You saw him gauge the look on your face before he looked down to where you had your hand pressed to your side. Red was starting to seep through your fingers.

“Fuck. Hospital, now!”

He pulled your hand away to look at the cut, swearing again. He yanked his jacket off to ball up and press against the wound, holding the pressure there.

“When did this happen? Why didn’t you–”

“I didn’t realize until we were in the car,” you said through gritted teeth as you leaned back, the pain stretching with you. “Was it bad? I think the adrenaline kept me from feeling most of it.”

“Looked pretty deep,” he admitted as he looked through the windshield, checking to see where you were. “Not long now, we’re almost at the hospital. You’ll probably just need stitches.”

You nodded, closing your eyes for a second as you tried to brace through the pain. It burned. The only comparison you could think of was like a papercut, only so much more.

“It takes you being stabbed to call me Billy again?”

You opened your eyes in startled realization. You had called him Billy, hadn’t you? A glance to him showed that he looked worried, but there was something else there too. Something more.

“Caught up in the moment, I guess,” you said with a wince of pain.

“I prefer Billy to Mr Russo. From you at least,” he added with a strained smile as he applied a little more pressure against your side.

“I need it to be Mr Russo,” you admitted with a ragged inhale, deciding you might as well admit it now. “I need the reminder that you’re just protecting me. That I’m just a job to you.”

You didn’t miss the subtle shake of his head. He leaned in close to you, his eyes darting up to where his employee was breaking countless laws to get you to the hospital in a hurry.

“You’re not just a job to me. You haven’t been for some time.”

Oh. A new type of heat started to spread in your stomach. You turned to look at Billy, tried to figure out if he was saying what you thought he was, but the car jolted to a stop. The driver turned around and looked at the two of you with wide eyes.

“We’re here,” he said a moment before the door was opened.

You were ushered out by some nurses, having been called by someone on Billy’s payroll. When you looked behind you, you saw Billy standing helplessly next to the car before the doors closed behind you.

------

The stitches itched, but you kept your hand away from them. You had gotten back to your apartment at almost midnight, your body aching and sore from being up for over twenty four hours. The stress and excitement had finally gotten to you.

Billy had left to go talk to his men about what happened in the hopes that someone had seen the attacker. You’d only found that out through the guy that he had left in charge while he was gone.

His words in the car made you unsure where you stood. You weren’t just a job to him, sure, but that didn’t mean he wanted you. Maybe he considered the two of you to be friends. Would it be so bad to be friends with Billy?

God, yes, it would be horrible. To be close to him and not have him? It would be torture. You were sure you’d rather be stabbed again.

“Y/N?”

You paused as you started to lift the sweater over your head. You limped towards the living room where Billy was standing. His eyes met yours and you tried not to show how badly you were shaking.

“Did you catch him?”

He shook his head, dropping his jacket onto the floor. He crossed the distance in a few strides, his hands coming up to frame your face. You had only a few seconds to prepare yourself before his lips were on yours. It felt like he was trying to devour you, his mouth crushed against yours. His hands moved to your sides, one hand pressed ever so gently against the gauze on your side. His other hand tugged you closer, pressed your body along his.

“So that’s what you meant by me not being just a job,” you whispered against his lips, fighting back a smile.

“The reason I stopped you that night was because you were drunk and I wasn’t sure if you meant it. I thought you were just looking for something to distract yourself and I didn’t want that to be me. I didn’t want to get only part of you. Not when I want the whole damn thing.”

You clenched your fist in the front of his shirt, tugging him down into another kiss.

“Idiot,” you chided fondly, kissing his jaw as you did. “It’s yours. Whatever you want, it’s yours. As long as I get you in return.”

He gave you that grin that set your soul on fire.

“Deal.”

------

You were tracing your fingers over Billy’s face, the scars uneven. His eyebrows furrowed a bit and he opened one eye to look at you.

“I thought they’d disgust you,” he admitted quietly.

“Why would they disgust me?”

He shrugged a shoulder as he closed his eye once more.

“I see the stares I get. I know what people think.”

You smiled and leaned up, pressing a kiss to the scar on his jaw. Then the next. And the next. You kissed each scar until he rolled the two of you over, his mouth descending upon yours with a smile.

“When are you going to realize that I’m not like other people?”

He laughed as he kissed you again, his hands careful on your side even as he moved between your legs once more.

“Think I’m starting to get the memo,” he teased as he got you ready for a second round.

------

They did finally catch your stalker. He admitted that he had gotten access to you from your manager who hadn’t thought you’d actually be in danger with Anvil at your side. He just wanted to generate some buzz, keep your name in the news.

Once you fired Grady, you made another decision. It was a long time coming.

Billy walked into the apartment, frowning when he saw you packing a suitcase. He crossed his arms over his chest, a protective gesture if ever you saw one.

“You leaving?”

You smiled as you dropped the shirt you were folding. You made your way over to Billy and put your hands on his shoulders, lifting yourself up so that you could give him a kiss.

“I never wanted to be a popstar. I like writing music, but I’m not big on performing. That tour I just did? It just made me see how much I don’t want that to be my life. So I’m going to become a songwriter instead.”

Billy nodded slowly, his hands going to your hips. His left hand went immediately to your side, his thumb running across the scar from your attack.

“And that requires you to pack a bag?”

You laughed and looked over at where you had been packing.

“This apartment is in the record label’s name. Since I’m going to be my own person, I’ve decided to get my own place. It’s not far from your place, actually,” you added with a grin.

He leaned in and brushed his lips against yours.

“I’ve got a few ideas how we can christen your new place,” he teased as his lips went over your neck.

You couldn’t wait.

Let me know if you want to be added to my Permanent Tag List @hermioneshandbag @onebatch--twobatch @smiley-celine @blackcoffeeandgreenteaforme @starless-skyox @youveseen--thebutcher @citation-is-here @mightymelly @realduckvader @1550kilogramsofsilver @hxbbit @rockintensse @missphanosaur18 @thepuffyeyedpuff @the-three-eyed-ravenclaw @yessy2012 @gingerstarlight @siriusement @marauderskeeper @xinyourdreamsx @wickidlady @sassygirl25 @maraudereestauderelb @rainyboul @cutie-bug @random-quartz @holamor @lea----b @heyitslexy @detectivebourbon @coffeenmoscato @presstocontinue @elisemockingbird @assbuttwithwings @geeksareunique @siriuslovesmarlene @witch-of-letters @delicatelilyflower @l-l-c-m-w-b @whovianayesha @hiddenprincess @yannii04 @jeanettexkillian @brighteststarinthesky @kilyra @gallxntdean @sweetvengeancee @lady1505 @thedarklightwithinus @ateliefloresdaprimavera @siriuslyimmoony @elodieyung @fudgeflyss @madamrogers @thatwrestlingfan91 @teranya @sophiabulbu69 @delusionsofnostalgia @effielumiere @mamaraptor @hot-and-spiceyyy @i-padfootblack-things @aya-fay @fcavalerro @starkrobb @raquelbc2003 @iwishyoucouldbekissed @tamanamohain @newtstarmander @suchatinyinfinity @blushingskywalker @queencocoakimmie @funerals-with-cake @love-dria @arrowswithwifi @swiftyhowlz @cheyfleur @dark-night-sky-99 @margot-black @celestegolden @king4thesirens @beautifuldesastre @ashkuuuu @luminex3 @nerdypinupcrystal @iblogabout-stuff @curlyhairedblueeyedangel @myplaceofheavenorhell @nea90sweetie @traeumerinwitzhelden @lexxierave @binbons-is-theloml @lostinthoughts23 @cafeconsoya @kryyta @russosprettydiamondnow @dorkybryan @mahalobro @yesixoxo

Let me know if you want to be added to my Billy Russo Tag List @something-tofightfor @piink-magnolias @hoodedhavok @aylinnmaslow @musingsofbanana @bluebird214 @nerrdstark @that-bwitch @queenisabella789 @colddecember-night @j-finco @arthoeaesthetixbs @tomhiddlestonsbeard @mischiefs-never-managed @romanceyour-ego @evyiione @drinix @sweetheart-im-the-boss @thebabblingbook @katieswinforddiaries @benbarnesfanforever @releasethekracko @itsjustmylifeconfessions @nostalgic-uncertainty @aveatquevale- @clarasworldofwonders @ladyblablabla @thehanneloner @hellostarposts @girlwhoisfearless @friendlyneighbourhoodweirdo @marcelskittel @fictionwillneverdie @avipshamitra @hysteriadarling @living-on-rice @hello-la-v-en-rose @tiredofthisgeneration @marveliskindacool @giggleberts @stateofloveandvedder @encounterthepast @ironstank @spettrocoli @xserenax-13 @sleepwalkingelite @dreamingofonceuponatime @supernaturalcat7 @rosebunnie @damagelove @petersunderoos96 @dylanobrusso @littlemermaidprobz @agent-scully-182 @editboutique @audreychaz @songforhema @tngrayson @gollyderek @honeyydippaa @saltyshaggymeme @mooniiieee @abroadcastofthemind @ethereal-heavcns @ilikebeachessushiandsmallanimals @maria-beretta @rileyblues @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @ania2603 @screwmesiriusblack @figlia--della--luna @balladblood @cloudywithachanceofcupcakes-blog @jessicahh @flightoftheflightrisk @slamharder @roschele

#billy russo #billy russo x reader #billy russo imagine #billy russo fanfic #my writing #requests

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francoiserenaldt · 4 years

Text

week one

prologue | next week

warnings: cussing (and lots of it), angst

word count: 1860

“Indefinitely? Fuck,” Desirée muttered, covering her face with a pillow. This was going to be a disaster. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Well, I guess I should call Stacy and tell her to turn around.” Andy scratched his neck. “We’re not gonna be able to leave for a while now.”

“I can’t believe this is happening right now. This is actually the worst thing that could happen.” Desirée groans, pulling her head away from the pillow.

“Hey, I’m not that bad.” Andy teases.

“No, you’re not. It’s just...I had an interview for Vogue lined up to start on Monday. I’ve been interning and writing papers for months to get it and now…” She closes her eyes, willing the tears away.

“Damn, I’m sorry. You would’ve killed it, I bet.”

“And now I guess we’ll never know.” Her eyes fly open as a realization hits her. “What the hell changed in less than 24 hours? They know that’s not enough time to pack anything and leave.”

“I don’t know, but we’ll figure this out, okay?”

She nods and he disappears into the bedroom. When she glances back at the TV, the time reads 4:35 AM. She rolls her eyes and tries in vain to go back to sleep.

And so it begins.

Sunday, August 3rd, 2023 - Day 1 of quarantine

She eventually gets off her ass around 8 AM and finds something to wear. She settles on a pair of black Nike sweats and her shoes from yesterday.

One look at her phone notifications shows an unethical amount of missed calls and text messages from her parents, all of which she ignores. An hour later, she gets texts from Stacy.

stacy: just touched down in boston, hope you’re safe

desirée: great! you get to the airport okay?

stacy: hell no. the police presence at the border is insane. I saw them cornering every car that tried to leave after me! I was lucky they got distracted.

desirée: holy shit it’s even worse than i thought

stacy: how are you getting back to nyc?

desirée: i’m def not w that border thing

stacy: so you and andy are...

desirée: stuck w each other for the moment. it should be fine.

stacy: are you sure, babe?

desirée: it’s not like i have a choice.

stacy: if you say so. stay safe!

desirée: will do!

“Hey.”

Desirée looks up and he’s there, dressed comfortably in sweats that show off his muscular build. He looks good and, if the way her eyes linger is any indication, he knows it. She should’ve replied 5 seconds ago, but the second-best time to say something is probably now.

Speak, dammit.

“Hey. What’s up?” Her voice, thankfully, doesn’t betray her internal monologue. Andy doesn’t seem to notice.

“Since we’re gonna be here for a while, I should probably show you how everything works around here.”

The next hour is spent learning about where the dishes go, how to properly turn on the shower and all of the boring home life things. Throughout the tour, she notices the ways he’s changed since she was last with him. For one, he cooks now, and he has a relatively organized kitchen with spices and sauces. But she still gets some glimpses of who he was before California. He still eats with plasticware because “it doesn’t make sense to have silverware in a place where you don’t live all the time”, which is incredibly moronic thinking and she tells him so, he still wears oversized shirts to bed, and he still smells like his signature spicy cologne when he gets close to her. He’s still so easy to talk to, always knows exactly what’s on her mind and when there’s more to the story than she’s letting on and-

Holy shit.

This can’t already be happening.

As her luck would have it, the apartment he normally stays in alone only has one bed and he refuses to let her sleep on the couch again, so they share the bed.

The tears only come when she sleeps with her back turned to him, kicking herself for ever letting him go.

Monday, August 4th, 2023 - Day 2 of quarantine

In the morning, Desirée wakes up with his warmth against her back. One look down finds his arms loosely wound around her body in a way they definitely weren’t when she fell asleep.

Once she begrudgingly gets out of bed, she makes the call to the higher-up at Vogue and tells them the news. She wants to believe that the bored tone the receptionist uses when she delivers the news is just an attempt at a brave face and they secretly are very disappointed that she couldn’t make it.

She wants to cry.

Instead, she goes into the bathroom and gets ready for the day. Apparently, her attempts at a facade weren’t as effective as she thought as Andy stops her in the bedroom.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re obviously not okay, Desirée.”

“So why bother asking, then?” She snaps. “It’s been a hard enough morning without you trying to psychoanalyze me, so please spare me the effort.”

“Look,” Andy snaps, “I know you’re upset about your thing in New York, but I don’t deserve that.”

“You know what, Andy? You’re right. You don’t deserve that. So I need you just leave me alone for a second because I’m in an incredibly shitty mood and this,” she waves a hand between the two of them, “isn’t helping.”

“Do you think being an asshole is going to help?” Andy raised an eyebrow. Desirée only offered a huff in response. “So I’m going to ask you again. What’s wrong?”

“You’re clearly not letting this go, so...I had to call Vogue that I’m stuck in quarantine in the middle of nowhere in Oregon and that I won’t be there in time to start the internship,” Desirée speaks slowly, not far from tears. “The lady listening couldn’t have given less of a shit if she tried.”

“Now was that so hard?” Andy gave her a small smile and opened his arms, clearly intending for her to hug him. She holds out at first, glaring at him. He tilts his head slightly as if to say, Come on already! and she runs into his arms, finally allowing the dam to break. He strokes her back as she cries, closing his eyes to hold back his own. Once her sobs lessen, she whispers something in his ear and he almost misses it.

“You’re the worst.”

Tuesday, August 5th, 2023 - Day 3 of quarantine

To help her move on from her internship, Andy attempts to teach her how to play video games.

Attempts being the operative word.

She’s admittedly stubborn and confused about everything and Andy is entirely too amused about the entire thing. This goes on for hours until eventually:

“Maybe I could just watch?”

So that’s what they do. She sits while he plays his game, stopping every now and then to explain how to make certain moves and unlock certain weapons. She lays her head in his lap. They don’t talk about it.

Wednesday, August 6th, 2023 - Day 4 of quarantine

On Wednesday, they drink. Wine bottles were lined on the coffee table in front of the couch as Desirée’s legs rested on Andy’s lap. She feels his thumb running softly along her calves as she stares at the ceiling.

“I’m sorry I was being a bitch on Monday.” Desirée murmured, her head hanging on the arm of the couch. “I haven’t done that in a long time. I thought I was getting better at not being so...me.”

“You wanted space and I pushed.” Andy squeezes her calf. “I’m sorry, too.”

Maybe it’s the wine or the way his hand feels on her leg, but she feels emboldened in a way she hasn’t in years. So emboldened that she finally asks:

“Why didn’t we end up working it out?” She whispers softly.

The question lingers between them. The thought had plagued her thoughts ever since that first night, and the morning after, but she’d never dared to say it aloud before this moment.

“We were headed in two different directions,” Andy says after a while. He turns to face her and forces a smile, which she returns. “You were going to New York City to become some big-time stylist and I was going to Los Angeles to be a basketball player. Our lives were just going to be too different.”

She remembers what she’d told him years ago; that their lives were just beginning and their relationship had no future in them. But 4 years later, she’s finding that her heart beats just as fast when he winks at her and hugs her as it did before. And she’s not imagining the redness on his cheeks when she lets her gaze linger too long or the feeling of his arms tightening around her in the morning.

Of course, that was never the problem, was it?

“I wish we would’ve figured it out.”

“Me too.”

He sleeps with his back to her. They don’t talk about it.

Thursday, August 7th, 2023 - Day 5 of quarantine

Thursday, and the rest of the week frankly, is spent looking at the news. The cheery news anchor, who’s broadcasting live via Skype, promises that everything will be over in a couple of weeks, but independent news outlets are projecting that citizens of Westchester County should expect to stay in their homes for the next couple of months.

They finally name the new age plague cutis dissolutitis, but everyone sticks to calling it the Westchester Plague. Apparently, high pH bacteria erode the skin until the person has no outer layer of protection left. They have yet to figure out how the disease is transmitted. There have been 3 casualties so far, and each one has been due to suicide rather than the disease itself.

“Holy shit,” Andy gasps as medical professionals bicker like middle schoolers on the TV screen. “Do you really think it’s only going to be a couple of weeks?”

“No,” Desirée replies. The monosyllabic response is horrifyingly final.

She wants to be wrong.

Friday, August 8th, 2023 - Day 6 of quarantine

On Friday, the first case outside of Westchester County is reported.

“A 25-year-old woman has contracted the Westchester Plague in Big Bear, California. The patient has claimed to not have been to or from Westchester in her lifetime. The governor of Oregon has scheduled a press conference this afternoon. More at 12-”

Andy turns off the TV.

Saturday, August 9th, 2023 - Day 7 of quarantine

On Saturday, they run out of food.

Neither wants to leave the other alone in the house, so they tentatively head to the nearest grocery store. They grab the essentials. In the checkout line, everyone stands 6 feet apart from each other. Every person who dares to be out, save for her and Andy, is wearing gloves and a mask. Boxes of both items are given to each shopper as they exit the store.

Each day, life comes closer and closer to becoming a dystopian nightmare. As they return back to Andy’s apartment, she wonders if she’ll start calling it home soon.

#something gained #mc: desiree ashton #li: andy kang #ship: desiree x andy

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jupiterjunebug · 5 years

Note

WHERE'S THE WEREWOLF ESSAY, OP??

@malaloba @bisexualducknewton You also dared me to say this so you get a tag

Okay so fun facts about Tyler Keegan Casey (I literally just wanted to make a joke about Tyler Casey abbreviating to Tyler K.C):

His parents, Edgar Casey and Rebecca Wilson, got married at 18. Their reasoning was "hey, we've been together all of high school, we still like each other, and I think our kids would be really hot." A bit of the shine wore off for Rebecca, though, when it turned out Edgar inherited a controlling streak from his parents. He got it in his head that his growth as a person required moving as far away from tiny little Casper, WV as he could. Which was fine, and would've been true if he’d put any actual EFFORT into growing up, except he made that decision without consulting his wife. Family was the most important thing in the world for her, which meant she didn't want to leave. Unfortunately, family was the most important thing in the world to her, and Edgar was technically her family.As far away as possible turned out to be Fortville, Indiana. At around 3000 people, it was certainly bigger than Casper, but much smaller than Edgar's ambitions. Unfortunately, they'd run out of gas, and got stuck in town long enough for Rebecca to work up her courage and deliver an ultimatum: they were eight hours from Casper, close enough to drive over, and she'd live no further away than that.Tyler was born a few years later and grew up the only "daughter" of the household, pretty in a generic way and polite to a fault. His homesick mama taught him that he'd know when he found his people on account of the decision to give up everything for them would only hurt a little. His pyramid-scheme chasing daddy taught him that the key to success is for people to think you're one of their people, and who gives a shit if it's true or not?Up until he was twenty he was a full-on social chameleon: he wore the closest thing he could get to the "right" clothes, he did his hair in the "right" way, he laughed at the right jokes and had a crush on all the right boys. Third runner up for prom queen, dated at least three members in the football team (the breakups were never his fault, of course. He'd take a relationship as far as the other person wanted, he only dated them because they wanted to date him after all), popular but not so popular for people to consider him a threat.Every holiday, Tyler and his mama went off to Casper to visit her family. That meant he ended up at the kids table with his two younger cousins Franc ( @keplersheetz) and Vicki. Franc and Vicki were practically sisters, Franc lived with Vicki's parents whenever her ma was off dealing with her host of mental issues, which meant that Tyler was kind of the third wheel.

Tyler ended up the responsible one, and town gossip went on about how they hoped he'd be a good influence, because wasn't he just a perfect little child? Gossip about Franc went on about how she was wild, about how she didn't follow rules, if she wasn't careful she'd end up just like her mother and didn't Vicki's parents worry about if she was a bad influence? No one gossiped about Vicki at all.

It created a weird circle of jealousy, where Tyler envied Franc for having the guts to be herself, Franc worried that Vicki would end up liking Tyler better than her, and Vicki wished somebody might talk about her instead of other people’s “influence” on her. In general, Tyler and Franc didn't get along on account of they were very different and had no interests in common, but when you spend months each year as an obligatory playmate you end up developing at least a little fondness.Tyler went to Indiana University Bloomington, close enough to home for both his parents and also in possession of a Bachelors program for early childhood education. He quickly acquired a job at the library, a reputation as "a pleasure to have in class," an overcommitment to several clubs, and a thoroughly mediocre boyfriend. He also ended up in two classes with and as a coworker to Monet, ( @pleasekalemenow). In sophomore year, the two were roommates and in three classes together, which was haha a funny coincidence. Then in Spring term Tyler had a stress breakdown and Monet was so thrown by composed, fake-ass Tyler losing his shit over something completely minor that she ended up sitting with him for four hours and now they're best friends.In the summer before Junior year he was like "hey wait a fucking second, if I'm completely changing my personality around other people so that they'll like me...do they actually like me?" and decided that fuck it, I'm going to just have my own personality and work my hardest to make it so people find that person likable. The most obvious shift - aside from him breaking up with his mediocre boyfriend and quitting half of his clubs - was coming out as, you know, a dude.

His parents didn't really...get it? His mom continues to this day to treat it as something she supports but just can't understand, and his dad kind of took it as a personal attack because his dad is a self-obsessed jackass. The rest of the family didn't really express an opinion on any of this, on account of Vicki had a baby and Franc ran away from home just a little while later. Compared to having a daughter under 18 and just straight up disappearing, being trans wasn't all that embarrassing to them.Things went pretty decent for half of Junior year. Then one day while he was watching a kindergarten class, the last kid to be picked up at the end of the day turned into an eldritch horror and ate the other student teacher. The FBI’s Paranormal Research and Investigation division showed up and was like "hey I'm pretty sure you can guess that we're going to tell you to keep this hush hush, so keep this fucking hush hush." Tyler went "wow you know I don't like being kept in the dark about all this," so he changed his major to criminal justice and worked his ass off to graduate at the same time as everyone else. Then he joined the FBI, and when they were interviewing him he dropped some line about "oh, I saw something once and the, uh, I think it was PRI? Said that it was top secret dangerous business. I'd like to solve murders like that :)" and the PRI kind of went "well...I guess? we can hire? Him? He did a god job on all of his exams...we have no reason not to."At around this time he played the love interest in Monet's breakout limited access TV show, Once Upon a Cryptid. This show eventually gained Dr. Horrible levels of cult-classic fame, and Tyler is eternally thankful that T has at this point changed his look enough that no one really recognizes him beyond people he talks to on case being like "haha isn't it funny that you look kind of like actor Tyler Casey and you're an FBI agent just like his character?" And he just says "haha yeah I get that a lot :)"The PRI was also like "hey can you keep an eye on this person who is causing trouble with conspiracy theory shit?" Tyler says "uh yeah, sure? Anything I should know?" And the PRI is like "well it's your cousin, but other than that, nah, glhf :)"Tyler found this situation Vaguely Uncomfortable, so instead of being actually good at his job he took this opportunity to leave reminders to eat and warnings to keep her head down when she overreached. They were all signed with "The FBI Agent That's Watching You Right Now" and wow isn't it fucked up that they're closer as anonymous FBI stalker and conspiracy theorist than they were as proper childhood playmates? It fucks me up sometimes.Five years before the game starts, he goes on an investigation into what may or may not be a supernatural murderer. While in the area he runs into August Caraway ( @transagentstern), who is. Super his type. He immediately starts finding excuses to spend time w/ the hot, sensitive, painter, asking August to be his guide around the area. And also if he could see that painting that August is working on because it sounds really :) great :). Eventually he comes to the conclusion that the long periods of time between attacks and the COD indicate either a werewolf attack or a very patient predator. He goes "well, it's the new moon tonight...so if I take August out on a da-I MEAN INVESTIGATION into that clearing in the woods it'll be safe."Spoilers! It isn't!They get attacked by a werewolf. Tyler says "well, I'm an FBI agent so I should be the one to sacrifice myself" and tries to shoot the werewolf. It quickly takes him to the ground, but hey! At least August has time to run! Except instead of running, August goes up to try and save Tyler. Which ends in them both getting bitten before the silver bracelets August always wears fend the thing off. August manages to drag Tyler to civilization before losing consciousness, and the two wake up in separate hospitals. August is told Tyler got sent to a special FBI hospital, but is fine. Tyler is told August got tired of waiting around for him to wake up and left. (More fun facts: this happened the day before Pigeon's birthday! Wow! Terrible)Tyler is kept under observation for the rest of the month, just to make sure he's fine. He is, of course, not fine. The PRI is super stoked to have access to someone who is fully willing to spend the rest of his month j chillin' and then come in on the full moons, on account of most of the werewolves they have access to are ones they caught and have to keep hold of all the time. Which, like, unlawfully contained civilians are a shitty baseline.So, despite having research in their name, the PRI kinda fucking sucks at research. Their methodology is to just try shit until they figure out 1. How to kill the monster and 2. How to spot the affliction/how it progresses. They are perfectly aware of how to kill werewolves, so really all they do is stage observations under different stress conditions to play “how to spot a werewolf”.

Every experiment is just put them in a cage with moonlight access, see whether the transformation is faster/slower when the person has a certain diet/fitness level/etc. Most of the subjects can’t leave bc they’d run away and are also liable to transform sometimes which is inconvenient.

The PRI isn't especially concerned about Tyler, because they know one of the conditions for a transformation is high stress and if there's one thing he's good at it's completely repressing an anxiety attack, so he's able to pretty much do his job aside from the whole "locked up under the full moon" thing. Of course, he's ostracized by his coworkers on account of he's like. Literally a monster. But that's fine! He has Monet! Who he never tells anything about all this because he doesn't want to worry her, and also because her brother (coincidentally August, though Tyler doesn't know that) died around the time of his attack and he doesn't want her to blame herself for never trying to come see him.Good things that happen in these 5 years: he has an amicable relationship with Franc. He gets good at his job. He and Monet discover that the uncanny coincidences which led to them always having classes together carry over into their adult life, and they constantly run into each other while performing their respective jobs. She sometimes invites him to parties to stop men from hitting on her, and because he looks vaguely like Jake Gyllenhaal (that's Tyler's face claim) they get to laugh about all the tabloid rumors that Monet is dating Jake.The bad news is Tyler never had access to the other werewolves prior to the attack (it wasn't his division, and he wasn't usually in a position to take anything alive) which means he's never been around to see a new one, to watch the arc of their deterioration. Usually it goes like this: they wake up, alone and naked in a room with only a bed, a desk, and an uncomfortable wooden chair. They are given clothing by an FBI agent, sometimes that agent is sympathetic, sometimes sneering, but usually expressionless. Each full moon they transform, and remember nothing of it save pain, hunger, and the feeling of their claws digging into the metal walls. Fear is a trigger for transformation, as is anger. They are always afraid, always angry. Eventually, it becomes rare to see them in their human forms.The PRI is fucking stupid. A reasonable person might say "duh, werewolves turn when they're scared, maybe if we put them someplace less scary they'll stop turning so much." Instead, they write in their notes, the notes Tyler receives, "we're fairly certain that, at some point, the humanity of a werewolf is completely lost." He only sees werewolves that have not been human in months, or even years. Or, he sees the ones who are even worse off.The worse news is that Tyler is told there's a cure. Sometimes, the PRI manages to poke and prod at a werewolf and for reasons we just don't understand they never transform again. So he doesn't argue with the tests, and even if he writes a will he doesn't tell Monet anything because he might be fine, and he doesn't want to worry her. He throws himself into his work and into making Monet happy, because he wants to make sure that if he is lost he leaves a legacy. There's something to prove that Tyler Casey's existence was justified.Then he finds out what the cure entails. It's not recovery, not at all; it's pushing someone so hard, making them so afraid, that their body can't take being afraid anymore. A person who’s too tired to feel doesn't shift, not even under the full moon, because the werewolf's state of mind is defined by the person's emotions before it happens (so if someone was actually CALM, really truly calm, then they'd manage to control it, but hunger and anger and fear can all throw that out of wack). If the person is numb, there is nothing for the curse to react to.Tyler Casey would rather die after trying his hardest than live longer but not be able to do anything. So, when he manages to find a job opening at The Askar Foundation, a secret society with more funding and more knowledge than the FBI could ever hope for, he has no qualms spilling the PRI's secrets in exchange for a position as a field agent.As you can probably guess, August, Monet, and Franc are all there as well. The circumstances of their recruitment were significantly less...consensual than his (Monet and Franc recently saw too much and got pressganged in, and after nearly killing Franc while transformed August got dragged in for Askar's own brand of tests). This leads to a veritable five layer dip of fucking drama:1. Franc and Tyler have a private conversation which leads to the revelation of several character secrets on both their parts. This ends when Tyler and Franc both insist that they saw different things during one of the scenes. Franc has always had the ability to tell when people lie to her, but she is also convinced she's right about their topic of conversation (which uh, she IS right, so). That means that, despite the fact that she can't feel him lying, he MUST be. She's convinced that he's had the supernatural ability to get around her own uncanny powers this whole time, and thus they engaged in a Comedy of Errors where instead of mistaken identities it’s Tyler saying things that further convince Franc he's trying to manipulate the entire team2. The Askar foundation would very much like to keep their shiny new field agent, and also Tyler still has connections to the FBI and him snitching to them would be.........inconvenient. So they're willing to put effort, within reason, into making sure he doesn't find out anything that might cause problems, like the fact that August is a kind of monster Tyler has a massive vendetta against. Or uh...anything else that might make him question them. This leads to3. Askar shutting down a conversation between him and Monet, leading to her concluding that talking about their past experiences with the supernatural OR the workings of Askar will never go well. (Exacerbated by the fact that Askar had already been trying to keep her from finding out shit about her brother) 4. Consequently, Monet will no longer talk to him about deep personal topics if they lead back to these things at ALL5. Franc ended up in a romantic entanglement w/ the monster of the week, who is a shapeshifter unwillingly being used to bring about...the apocalypse. He thinks the reason she doesn’t trust him is because she figured out he was a werewolf, and doesn’t trust him/is keeping an eye on him so she can put him down when he becomes dangerous. So he thinks she hates him bc he’s a shapeshifter that has no control over himself, but then she’s fine with...the OTHER shapeshifter that has no control over himself.6. August thinks Tyler hates werewolves because of the attack, and is afraid to enter a relationship with him because he wouldn't be able to keep his condition a secret7. Tyler refuses to let himself entertain notions of actually DATING August, because Tyler thinks he's going to die and doesn't want to hurt even MORE people when he goes8. Tyler and Monet platonically love each other so much and are also living together in Seinfeld's mansion that she stole the keys to, and Tyler is an idiot which means August thinks Tyler wants to date Monet (August's SISTER)So tl;dr, Tyler thinks that after Franc gained access to more Askar files she suddenly doesn't trust him (he assumes she knows he's a werewolf), he knows that Monet suddenly doesn't want to TALK to him and knows that if he discovers anything suspicious he thus cannot tell her, and he knows he......really, really, REALLY is starting to enjoy August's companyThis means that conversations oscillate between Tyler being professionally friendly with all his coworkers, Franc interpreting something random as a personal attack, Monet deeply wishing she could tell Tyler something, and then a completely stupid conversation where Tyler and August are flirting about something stupid and getting cockblocked by Tyler's hangups and August remembering that as far as he's concerned Tyler and Monet should get together.Oh and also Askar definitely is fucking with his head at least once a session.

#my ocs #tyler casey #rip me #A mysterious traveler #Hark! Who goes there?

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peachdaydream · 7 years

Text

GOT7 Dark Past

*Gif is not mine

HOO BOY HERE WE GO. ARE YOU READY. LET’S GO.

Mark

you found the ‘A’ teasers by pure accident

it popped up on your suggested videos by accident and you’re like ???? then you clicked on it

RAMYEON HAIR MARK

you couldn’t believe t h i s was your sweet, cute boyf

you had to replay it a couple of times, cringing just as much w/ each replay

no clue how to reveal you finally knew what his fans meant by noodle hair

everyone else’s teasers had distinctive lines whilst his was just 'come with me’

THEN an idea hits you

you’re p close with his stylist, you talked w/ her when you were on set and mark had to go for his shoot

so you hit her up and asked her for a favor

and she DELIVERED

next time mark took you to a photo shoot set, you told him you’d meet him there

he doesn’t see you when you first walk in with his exact outfit from the teaser on

everyone knows what you’re up to n they can’t hold in their laughter

jackson almost blows the surprise by squealing real loud but jinyoung shuts him up

when it’s mark’s turn to be photographed you’re the one who gets him

he doesn’t up from his phone when you walk in

then you grab his wrist and tug,

“A...Come with me...”

he looks up, sees what you’re wearin

falls out of his chair n onto the floor, wigglin his feet as he laughs in disbelief

can’t look at you the entire shoot or else he bursts out into laughter and goes red

Jaebum

refuses to see any evidence of his dark past

in such denial abt it and thinks you’ll never find it

lmao........he tHOUGHT

one day one of the IGOT7′s tweeted @ you like ‘hey what do u think about JB’s dark past’ and linked you to the cursed video itself

....you knew they had a dark past of some sort but damn........know you knew why they never mentioned it

ofc you don’t tell him right away that you found the videos

you don’t until one day you’re out w/ all of them.....at the park..playing basketball

jaebum’s sat out to catch his breath for a bit and you see the opportunity

you take the ball and the boys still on the court stare at you like ?? hey where u goin

jaebum watches as you saunter over to him with the ball under under your arm

all of the boys’ eyes are on the two of you, tryin to figure out what’s goin on

the scene is vaguely familiar to him then it suddenly clicks in his head n before he can stop you-

“A~ You like me, right~?”

silence as you turn away, trying not to fall over laughing

jaebum_cannot_compute.exe

and then jackson starts screaming

mark’s on the floor doing his chicken laugh

jinyoung has gone pale

youngjae has cringed so much it looks like he’s trying to curl into himself

bambam and yugyeom are speechless you jUST DID THAT

jaebum stays shook for a solid hour afterwards

makes you promise to never mention it again

u don’t but everyone else does

he gets war flashbacks every time it’s mentioned

Jackson

you actually already saw the ‘A’ teasers but just forgot about them bc he never mentioned it

then you watched their episode of Weekly Idol and the videos of them recreating it

all the comments suggested that you should recreate his teaser w/ him and video his reaction

your twitter blows up soon after the video airs with the same requests

and you’re like damn they smooth bc they know full well jackson won’t see bc he doesn’t have twitter

bambam himself tweets @ you to do it

finally you give in “aight seems fun, i’ll give the people what they want”

you get mark n jinyoung involved and they’re 10000% on board

the others know n wanna watch so you let them sneak around with jinyoung who was in charge of filming the whole thing

fast forward to the destined day

you and jacks are on your way back to their dorm after a lunch date

the group have been following you on the way back

somehow jackson hasn’t noticed them

he suspects nothing as he wraps his arm around your shoulder and you wrap your arm around his waist

then you hear mark on his skateboard behind you

it’s time

you quickly use your grip on jacks to turn him away from mark zooming past

he recognizes what’s going on and freezes, staring at you wide eyed n you can see he’s beggin you not to do what he thinks you’re gonna do with his eyes

“A! I told you to stand by me!”

you’re not sure what’s louder

his shrieking or the boys’ screaming as they run around the corner, jinyoung with the camera in his hand

you post it on twitter and it blows up, to the point where interviewers ask about it when mentioning the groups’ dark past

Jinyoung

yugyeomie was the one who showed it to you as revenge

knew you’d do something w/ it

he was 100% correct

but you had to be slick as hell

if you acted a lil off then jinyoung would know something was up

he knew you too well

so you didn’t plan anything, you just waited for the opportunity

your patience was rewarded, it didnt take too long for the moment to come

you were at your place, having a movie night with home made food and wine

got7 finished promoting so jinyoung could relax and drink a lil more

didn’t take too long for him to get tipsy

you knew this was your ~chance~

so you placed your hand on his shoulder to bring his attention to you and you just-

“A~...Jinyoungie, you’re drunk, right?”

suddenly jinyoung's sober

he’s sat up lookin like not a drop of alcohol has entered his system

he’s just staring @ you, his expression unreadable

inside his head ‘what the fuck what the fuck i made sure you didn’t go anywhere near those videos what the fuck who the fuCK-’

you begin to get nervous and think........maybe.......this wasn’t.......a good idea.........

he asks you who showed you, voice flat n lookin grimly serious

you sweat...........but don’t say anything

you ain’t no snitch

but then he’s on you and tickling you

and you break

he says thank you before pressing a kiss to your lips and texting someone on his phone

pray 4 yugyeom

Youngjae

happened during a v live he was hosting when the two of you were taking a walk with coco down the han river

will never live it down

no one lets him live it down

you watched the teasers when they came out n forgot about them bc it was before you began dating your sunshine boy

it popped back into your head when youngjae suggested getting ice cream on your walk with coco

you agreed and went to the nearest store

he waited outside with coco and talked to the fans

not even the IGOT7′s watching knew what was gonna hit them when you came out of the convenience store with two ice creams in hand

with a happy smile you took his phone to video him and handed him his ice cream, asking brightly

“A~ This is the one you like, right? Mm~ Delicious!”

youngjae damn near dropped his ice cream on coco

your sunshine was just looking at you like you just told his worst secret

(；゜○゜)

the v live chat was freaking out in different languages

he was getting progressively redder as seconds passed

you were laughing, trying not to choke on your ice cream

coco was happily eating the ice cream youngjae dropped

by the time he snapped out of it you were almost in tears bc of laughter

gets ‘mad’ @ you

you didn’t take him seriously bc he was still bright red

stays pouty even after you buy him a new ice cream

refuses to forgive you until after the stream when you’re able to say sorry with kisses and hugs

Bambam

anytime you saw baby-faced bambam you squealed with delight

you look at your dabdab BAMBAM now and wonder

damn.......what happened

juST KIDDING

more like

damn how’d this boy get so wild™

so ofc you knew the ‘A’ teasers existed

whenever you were sad and bam wasn’t there you watched his video to simultaneously laugh and cringe at him

such day came when you were watching the teasers out of pure boredom

but then......you realized.....

they had a fanmeet today......

the idea popped into your head and you never left your place faster

donning your makeshift disguise (face mask + snap back...genius)

you entered the fanmeet venue, sure that you were gonna surprise bam

didn’t even make it to the stage to say hi to the boys when bam tripped over one of the chairs on the way to his seat and almost slammed into the damn table

this was your moment

so you stood and screamed from where you were in the audience, the stupidest grin on your face

“A~! YOU’RE SO CLUMSY!”

IGOT7′s lost it

boys were laughing

bam looked shooketh

bambam’s eyes zoned in on you so fast

wasn’t hard to spot you since you were wearing his snapback

you became as famous like that one fangirl who threatened to sue min yoongi

i c o n i c

Yugyeom

hooman

yugyeom knows better than anyone that his teaser was by far the most cringe worthy

boy was so damn extra to make sure you didn’t see it

comes up on your suggested videos?

“HEY BABE LETS GO OUT I FOUND A NEW CAFE WE HAVENT GONE TO YET”

jinyoung tries to show you?

sprints from wherever he is to slap the devise out of his hand

bambam tries to directly tell you?

“BAMBAM I THINK I HEARD JAEBUM CALL FOR YOU BYYYEEEE”

damn

extra

doesn’t know you already watched it

you don’t let him know until he takes you out again to try and hide the teaser from you

you decided that this is it....this is the day....

you’re talking and feeding each other cake when you take in his unsuspecting face eating the piece you fed him

“A~ Yugyeommie, how do you like me?”

he cHOKES

you leap out of your seat to make sure he’s okay

everyone in the cafe is looking at you weird as you try to save your boyfriend

neither of you know whether to laugh or cry

at the moment it’s leaning toward cry

you’ll laugh at the memory............someday

still doesn’t let you watch the video in his presence

also still extra abt it

990 notes · View notes

mrmichaelchadler · 6 years

Text

Thumbnails 8/28/18

Thumbnails is a roundup of brief excerpts to introduce you to articles from other websites that we found interesting and exciting. We provide links to the original sources for you to read in their entirety.—Chaz Ebert

"Miranda Harcourt on 'The Changeover' and Whānau Values in New Zealand": At Indie Outlook, I interview the acclaimed actress and acting coach about her terrific new feature that she directed with her husband, Stuart McKenzie. We also discuss her ingenious coaching techniques, clients such as Melanie Lynskey and Nicole Kidman, and her daughter, "Leave No Trace" star Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie.

“I was coaching a few actors via Skype for the role that Thomasin ended up playing in ‘Consent,’ and she was reading a book while listening to our session. After I hung up, Thomasin said in her little voice, ‘I’d like to audition for that role,’ and I went, ‘What? But you hate acting.’ She replied, ‘No, it sounds like a really great story to tell,’ so we did a little read-through of the script right here, exactly where I am sitting right now. I was like, ‘Oh my god, you are amazing.’ It was a great performance, and when she went in for the audition, she got the role. The film was directed by Robert Sarkies, who also made another great New Zealand movie, ‘Out of the Blue.’ Even now, I don’t think Thomasin has seen all of ‘Consent,’ because she wasn’t even allowed to see the bits that she was in. She’s only in the first 17 minutes, but it’s a very intense journey. It took a lot of courage for her to portray a girl who is raped. Francis Biggs, one of my students I taught at Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School, portrayed the rapist with whom Thomasin had to play that scene in ‘Consent.’ We’re both really grateful to Francis because he and Thomasin did ‘hug to connect’ before they played that scene. It enabled Francis and Thomasin to play quite an intense rape scene together so that they are in the flow of telling that story together. They weren’t in opposition, which would’ve been very psychologically damaging, not only to Thomasin, who was 13 at the time, but also to poor old Francis, because it was not a happy job for him. I’ve got a collection of great photographs chronicling the interactions that Thomasin and Francis had in order to build that relationship over a couple of weeks while preparing for the scene. Over the couple of weeks after they did that scene, Thomasin would consistently check in with him and say, ‘Hey Francis! I’m really proud of the work we did together, and I hope you feel good about it too. Just remember—it’s only acting!’”

"Call it a Comeback: The Inside Story of Elvis Presley's Iconic 1968 Special": As remembered by our contributor Donald Liebenson at Vanity Fair.

“Elvis looms large in the singer’s legend. The live-wire special is featured prominently in two 2018 documentaries, Eugene Jarecki’s ‘The King’ (now in theaters) and Thom Zimny’s ‘The Searcher’ (on HBO). It capped a decade in which Elvis could mostly be seen only in the movies, and, increasingly, not very good movies at that. Taped in June and broadcast on December 3, 1968, it was his first television appearance since 1960, when he guest-starred on ‘Frank Sinatra’s Welcome Home Party for Elvis.’ At the time, he hadn’t performed in front of a live audience in seven years. But Presley and Binder’s creative team delivered. [Steve] Binder, a self-professed ‘West Coast guy into surf music,’ finished the special feeling in awe of Presley. ‘For me, the ‘68 special is seeing a man re-discover himself,’ Binder said. ‘I saw it on his face and in his body language as we progressed.’ Susan Doll, author of Elvis for Dummies, agreed. ‘I think it’s the peak of his career,’ she said. Col. Tom Parker, Presley’s infamously controlling manager, had promised NBC a one-hour special if the network financed Presley’s next film—‘Change of Habit,’ Presley’s screen swan song, released in 1969. He never told Presley about the deal, with good reason: ‘Elvis didn’t want to do television,’ Binder said. ‘He felt he had been burned by it.’ Even Steve Allen, the talk-show host hip enough to give Lenny Bruce a shot on prime time, forced cheese on Presley, putting him in a tuxedo to sing ‘Hound Dog’ to an actual hound dog.”

"'It Was No Gang, It Was One Guy, And He Wasn't Really a Killer': Producer and Star Edward James Olmos on 'The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez": In conversation with Jim Hemphill of Filmmaker Magazine.

“When Bob [Young] agreed to do the picture and rewrite the screenplay from scratch, he and I went to the real locations where it all happened. We went to Gonzales, Texas, where they captured and imprisoned Gregorio Cortez, and we found the exact prison. We found his cell. The jail and the courthouse were exactly how they were in 1901, it gave us an authenticity unlike anything I had ever experienced before in film. We had to talk the district court judge in Gonzales into letting us use the courthouse, and when he asked us what kind of movie we were doing, Bob kept speaking in general terms of how important our subject was to Mexican-American people and to the Latino culture, but he wouldn’t say the name because at that time no one knew who Gregorio Cortez was. The judge kept asking, ‘What’s his name?’ and finally Bob says, ‘His name is Gregorio Cortez, but he’s a really important—‘ and this guy says, ‘Stop, stop. I’ve been waiting for you guys for 35 years.’ He opens his filing cabinets, and in these cabinets is every single piece of testimony and every single newspaper article from around the country related to the trial. This judge was the foremost authority on the case in the world, bar none. He felt it was one of the most important cases in U.S. history because it was the first time a Latino had been tried in an American court of law, and with an interpreter, which was unheard of in 1901. This guy had filing cabinets filled with material, because the case was followed all over the country – it involved something like 600 Texas Rangers in hot pursuit of what they thought was a Mexican gang of killers. And it was no gang, it was one guy, and he wasn’t really a killer – it was self-defense. Anyway, discovering all that material was just unbelievable. It was magical. And it allowed us to make what the United States Historical Society claimed to be the most authentic Western ever made in American film, ever.”

"John McCain, War Hero, Senator, Presidential Contender, Dies at 81": Robert D. McFadden of The New York Times reflects on the honorable legacy of the late politician.

“In a 2018 memoir, ‘The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights and Other Appreciations,’ he defended Ms. Palin’s campaign performance, but expressed regret that he had not instead chosen Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent. At some McCain rallies, vitriolic crowds disparaged black people and Muslims, and when a woman said she did not trust Mr. Obama because ‘he’s an Arab,’ Mr. McCain, in one of the most lauded moments of his campaign, replied: ‘No, ma’am. He’s a decent family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.’ Analysts later said that Mr. Obama had engineered a nearly perfect campaign. And Mr. McCain confronted a hostile political environment for Republicans, who were dragged down by President George W. Bush’s dismal approval ratings amid the economic crisis and an unpopular war in Iraq. On Election Day, Mr. McCain lost most of the battleground states and some that were traditionally Republican. Mr. Obama won with 53 percent of the popular vote to Mr. McCain’s 46 percent, and 365 Electoral College votes to Mr. McCain’s 173. ‘Few of us have been tested the way John once was, or required to show the kind of courage that he did,’ Mr. Obama said Saturday. ‘But all of us can aspire to the courage to put the greater good above our own. At John’s best, he showed us what that means.’”

"Inside Patricia Clarkson's brutal 'Sharp Objects' performance: 'It's dark and nasty and twisted and beautiful'": The actress chats with The Washington Post's Jessica M. Goldstein about her role in HBO's excellent miniseries.

“In Wind Gap, poison is poured down the throats of unsuspecting children. Baby teeth are pried from little girls’ gums, and skin is sliced until it scars. Yet the most transgressive act of violence in town is the low, almost-whispered delivery of four small words. Over a drink, by candlelight, a mother tells her daughter: ‘I never loved you.’ There’s no shortage of cruelty in ‘Sharp Objects,’ the eight-part HBO miniseries based on Gillian Flynn’s 2006 debut novel, whose women pass trauma from generation to generation like a haunted heirloom. But no one cuts quite like Adora, played by Patricia Clarkson. She’s a matriarch [...] who coolly tells her wayward eldest daughter, Camille (Amy Adams), that she feels nothing for her, save for disappointment and disgust. Clarkson, the 58-year-old New Orleanian actress who sees glimmers of her own grandmother in the best parts of Adora, knows these scenes appear brutal. ‘But I think why they have the impact they do is that I don’t think Adora ever thinks of them as brutal,’ she said by phone from her apartment in New York. ‘I think that was what was essential. When I tell her I never loved her, I think it’s just Adora feeling connected to her for a moment to be as honest as she can be. … Sometimes she was just openly cruel. But other times, I think, when she speaks, she’s actually revealing the truth.’ ‘This is the most violent line in the series,’ said director Jean-Marc Vallée. ‘It’s not something you say to your child. … You just destroyed her! And she’s not realizing that. Or maybe she does, and she’s that cruel, that evil. But we’re not sure. And that’s what’s great about the character: that you try to understand, and you’re not sure.’”

Image of the Day

Robert Redford and Jane Fonda starred in "Barefoot in the Park," the 1967 screen adaptation of the 1963 play, one of four works by the late Neil Simon selected by Vox's Aja Romano to illustrate why he was one of America's greatest playwrights.

Video of the Day

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Stella McCartney's profile of David Lynch is a stirring ode to the role intuition plays in one's creative process. Look for cameos by "Moonlight"'s Ashton Sanders and "American Honey"'s Sasha Lane.

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