#nick texted adam after this . 'did you hear what truth say???'
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#r-truth#nick aldis#ava raine#wweedit#wwe#idk if that's the correct spelling of 'toodaloo' but i used wwe youtube video's subtitles :')#anyway . truth <3 <3 <3#nick texted adam after this . 'did you hear what truth say???'#'yes nick . it was not funny'#*#*many
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The Joker X Reader - “Ghost Driver”
When The Joker says you’re his, it means you’re essential to him because he needs your services for his own gain; it literally has zero affectionate connotations. Turbo is The King’s Ghost Driver and although she’s a legend, her life is far from perfect.
Part 2
“Where’s all your stuff?!” Frost asks since the apartment is pretty much empty.
“Gave it to Adam,” you sulk. “He wouldn’t sign the divorce papers so I gave in; I don’t even care… I’m glad he’s out of here.”
Jonny gazes at you in silence, a million words rushing through his mind and The Joker’s henchman can’t articulate anything close to what he would like to vociferate besides foolish small talk:
“How are you holding up?”
“Not sure… I don’t even know what the hell happened to us…It used to be so great and then he started making comments about my weight, gossiping with his friends behind my back, then cheated… I couldn’t handle it,” Y/N confesses although Frost is already acquainted with the dreadful story of her crumbled marriage.
“Not what the hell happened to us,” he decides to underline his personal opinion. “I think the question should be what the hell happened to him: you didn’t do anything wrong. And I believe you look perfect,” he mumbles the last sentence.
“What was that?” you search the fridge for his favorite soda.
“Nothing... nothing…”
“Here you go,” you offer the cold Fanta to a distraught companion.
“Thanks, Y/N. Here’s the money for tonight,” he gives you the envelope. “As usually, half now , half after the job is done.”
“OK,” you accept the terms without issues because it’s how The Clown Prince of Crime pays for your services. “Jonny, why is there an extra thousand dollars in here?!”
“Ummm…” the man tries to find a reasonable explanation yet Y/N can’t accept his strategy.
“Should I text Mister Joker and thank him for the bonus?”
“Nope,” he bites on his lip.
“I appreciate it,” you return the extra cash to Frost. ”I’m fine. Really.”
“Well…” he takes the bills and stashes them in his wallet, “… let me know if you need anything, alright?”
“I promise I will, “ you smile. “I swear on my Turbo honor,” the joke makes him smile also.
“Hey Y/N… I was thinking… maybe one of these days, if you feel like it, we could… and it’s entirely up to you, no pressure… maybe you would want to… ”
Frost’s phone keeps ringing and he retrieves from his suit’s pocket, annoyed about the interruption.
“It’s Audra,” he huffs while declining the call.
“Might be important,” you sort of urge him to answer.
“Meh, I doubt it. She will chew my ears off regarding our relationship that ended 3 months ago. I’m not interested,” he strolls towards the exit due to another pressing matter he has to attend. “I have to go, Mister Joker has a meeting soon; I’ll see you later, Y/N.”
“See you,” you wave and lock the door when your cell alerts of an incoming text from The Joker.
Downloading two pictures… Pictures?!
“Oh…my… God…!” you hold your breath when the first image depicts a totally naked King of Gotham reflected in the mirror at his gym and squeal when the second one shows a close up of his mid-section.
“Oh my God!” you burst out laughing as you admire the unexpected missive. “Heeeelllo Mister Joker,” you mutter and actual phrases pop up on your screen.
“I sent these to the wrong number, Y/N. Ignore and erase them!”
“Of course, sir!” you immediately reply with no intention of doing it for the moment.
Why?
The hilarious error shook you up from apathy and it’s worth saving those pics for a bit longer since you can’t remember the last time something got your attention after the messy divorce.
***************
11:49 PM
The Joker is the first one to get in the car next to you, firmly clutching to his suitcase full of diamonds freshly stolen from “Diamond Emporium” store on Glissan Avenue. You notice the other goons sneaking to the cars deliberately positioned around nearby streets for tonight’s robbery. How come J doesn’t go with them?
The dilemma is simple:
The green haired menace typically arrives with his regular crew when he plans heists but has Y/N pick him up after the job is done.
“Hi Mister Joker,” you greet your employer.
“Hey,” he acknowledges your presence. “Did you delete the pictures?” The Joker gets straight to the point.
“Yes,” you lie and tell the truth in the same time: you erased the whole body image but kept the close up one for future reference.
“Good. What did you think?” the hasty interrogation prompts a careful chosen response.
“You look very…,” and you pause in order to find the correct term since a tiny mistake could set him off. “… Healthy, Mister Joker.”
“I do,” he huffs quite pleased with your statement.
You wish to add more but Frost and the new hire squeeze in the back seat awaiting orders.
“You’re in luck kid,” Jonny places a box filled with precious gems at his feet. “Your first assignment and you get to meet Turbo.”
The young man opens his mouth in amazement as you move the fingers from your right hand in the air instead of a proper introduction.
“You’re Turbo?! I thought you’re a guy!” Nick blurs out and Frost punches him in the head, displeased with the observation.
“Sounds empty,” you growl while The Clown snorts.
“My Ghost Driver A GUY??!! Ha-ha-ha-ha!” the unnerving, screechy noises make the newbie shrivel up. “Turbo, A GUY!” he continues to amuse himself before giving Nick a psychotic glare.
“I’m…I’m so sorry, I meant no disrespect,” he nervously stutters especially since J called you “his”.
The poor bastard’s oblivious about what the label implies in The Clown’s universe: when The Joker says you’re his, it means you’re essential to him because he needs your services for his own gain; it literally has zero affectionate connotations.
“Where the fuck did you find this buffoon?” you chew on your gum, irritated.
“He’s Richard’s nephew,” Jonny sucks on his teeth.
“Uncle Panda is infinitely smarter,” Y/N barks at the revelation.
“I’m truly sorry,” Nick apologizes again and you cut him off.
“Save it!... … I hear sirens,” you slowly inhale and The King calmly articulates:
“I forgot to mention I accidentally triggered the silent alarm.”
Translation: he did it on purpose.
You snicker at the first lights blinking in the distance, excited to have some fun after stressing so much in the past weeks. The vehicles belonging to the gang scatter in different directions as you step on the gas pedal, accelerating towards the numerous police cars answering to the 10-64 code.
“That’s my girl!” J cracks his neck, already hyped at the adrenaline rush burning his veins: The Ghost Driver is perfect to offer him what he craves and she always delivers.
That’s why Turbo is his.
************
4:37 AM
“Hi…Mister…Mister Joker…” you attempt to talk without slurring.
“It’s Ella,” his girlfriend snarls.
“Why…where is he?” you guzzle down half of glass of wine, adamant in having a chat with your boss.
“Well, after you two had a merry time being chased by cops all over town, he came home and now he’s sorting out the diamonds,” the woman bitterly reports.
“I wanna talk to him,” you sniffle and drink some more alcohol.
“You just saw him. I’m sure it can wait until tomorrow.”
“I’m sure it can’t!” you shout. “I just received important information he’d be i…interested in,” you finally make it through the whole sentence.
Ella stomps in the living room, vexed at your behavior.
“It’s Turbo,” she shoves the phone in his fingers. “The bitch is wasted!”
“What did you call me?!” the appalled Y/N is about to burst when The Joker’s deep voice resonates I her ear.
“Yeah?”
“Sir,” you correct your bitter tone. “I h-have very important news!”
“I’m listening,” J ignores his woman as she cusses you out.
“I have to tell you in person, sir. Let’s go on a date and I’ll reveal the entire shocking...”
“Huh?!”
“I have crucial information…”
“Quit repeating yourself!” The Joker interrupts. “You’re not making any sense. Go to sleep and we’ll catch up after you sober up.”
“But I wanna go on date Mister Joker,” you gulp the rest of the wine and prepare for a fourth round.
“Why, because I look healthy?” J mocks and Ella sighs, not understanding the odd conversation she’s witnessing. “… …. … Hello?”
A loud thud, then dialing tone at the other end of the line.
“I think she passed out,” The King of Gotham concludes, not particularly worried at the sudden halt of your monologue.
***************
3 Days Later
The late meeting is almost done: the buyers already purchased the diamonds J had for sale, among them your ex-husband Adam that has a small crowd gathered next to him; he’s supposedly famous for his crappy attitude enjoyed by jerks sharing the same ludicrous humor.
“You know I’m sensible when it comes to challenges and I couldn’t grasp why she doesn’t want my help in shedding a few pounds. What’s the harm in that?! I love curves but sometimes I don’t, ya’ know?” he winks and the group laughs.
The Joker is arranging money in duffle bags, his concentration diverted by the impromptu comedic performance. What the heck are they yapping about?
Frost is certainly in a foul mood: J can guess his trusted henchman is worked up since the usual chilled Jonny can’t control his anger.
“What’s wrong with being voluptuous, hm?” he addresses Adam and it clicks for The Joker: this is about Y/N.
“Nothing at all,” he smirks and the laughter around the room dies out because not too many dare screwing with Jonny Frost. “I was merely emphasizing that if a woman can’t lose weight, she’s doomed. Y/N lost me, how is she going to get another stud if she…”
“Perhaps she’s not interested in pieces of shit; definitely had her share!” Frost grumbles at the absurd remarks.
The Joker has no clue about what’s going on, yet he won’t deny today’s entertainment is far from boring.
“Give me a break!” Adam scoffs. “Who’d sniff her tail if she refuses to get skinnier? Ooohhh, wait a minute, we might have an admirer,” he arrogantly slides your cell out of his coat. “I was browsing her pictures and what do you know? A gentleman sent Y/N a picture of his junk three days ago. I am deeply sorry, my bad. She does have somebody sniffing her tail. What kind of loser sends images of his dangling goodies to another dude’s wife?!”
“Ex-wife!” Jonny sneers whilst J’s calculation leads to an easy verdict: you kept one pic.
“Whose junk is this?! Is it yours?” your estranged spouse accuses Frost without any evidence.
“It’s my junk,” The Joker’s serene revelation makes everyone freeze: they have no idea how to react at the puzzling escalation of events.
Is he bluffing?!
“I wasn’t aware I require permission in order to text whatever I desire to whomever I want.”
Awkward silence and Frost approaches Adam, boiling with indignation.
“Why do you have Y/N’s phone?”
Your husband doesn’t have a chance to justify his action: Jonny’s punch throws him to the ground, immediately followed by his unsettling ultimatum.
“You son of a bitch, what did you do to her?”
Your former husband gets on his elbow ready to attack when The King’s stern inquiry stops his motion:
“WHERE.IS.MY.TURBO?”
****************
After 1 hour
Frost lifts you higher in his arms while you keep wheezing, trying to regain control.
“I’m sorry…I attacked you,” the weakened Y/N whispers. “I thought you were Adam...”
After being abducted and left to starve for the last 3 days, you had one clear purpose: to kill the guy that did it. Adam surely crossed the line with his despicable plan of making you lose weight: he creeped in your apartment, kidnapped you and took you to his home where you were chained in the cellar until Jonny found you. The basement was dark and you couldn’t see, that’s why you used whatever strength you had left in order to attack the individual responsible for your misfortune.
Turned out it was actually a rescue party although Frost is now the proud owner of a beautiful bump courtesy of Y/N.
“No problem,” Jonny takes you to his SUV, carefully laying you down in the passenger’s seat. “How’s your head?” he wipes the dried blood on your cheeks since Adam knocked you out unconscious while you were talking to The Joker after the heist.
“I’m OK,” you start crying, mostly mad at yourself for being such an easy prey, yet you didn’t see it coming.
“You know… It’s OK not to be OK,” Frost opens a bottle of water and gives it to you. “I’ll take you home, you can take a shower and I’ll have the doctor come for an emergency evaluation. Are you hungry?”
“I’m so hungry,” tears stream down your face and Jonny has a great proposal.
“I’ll order some food and if you want me to I can stay with you. After you feel better, we could… and it’s entirely up to you, no pressure… maybe you would want to…”
The Joker rolls his eyes, deciding to emerge from the shadows.
“Wow, this is painful to watch. Frost believes he’s still in high school: basically he’s asking you on a date. There, done. No need to beat around the bush. Jesus!” J scolds about a subject he shouldn’t mess with. “I have a heist next week, you better be good to go by then!” he gestures at the confused duo. “If you’ll excuse me, I have my own date to honor. We’re done here, yes?”
“Yes sir,” Jonny replies for both, unwilling to split hairs with The Joker and his obnoxious aberrations. “Here’s your cell,” he returns the item to you and you snatch it, relieved. You seem to have an outburst of energy as you unlock the secured folder.
“Where’s Adam?”
“I don’t know, we had an altercation at the warehouse then he scrammed,” Frost reports, ogling a strange looking Y/N typing on her phone.
“He won’t be able to hide,” you grin and send the attachment to The Joker.
*************
“We’ll be late for dinner,” Ella kisses The Clown. “I’m not a 100% positive why we had to waste precious time and come for her,” she pouts and drags him after her towards their vehicle.
J’s phone chimes and he stops in his tracks, not expecting a message from you seconds after the encounter.
“Mister Joker, you were very generous to share pictures with me.
Allow me to do the same.
Your Turbo.”
Imagines downloading and he’s not sure what to do when pics appear one by one: frames taken by the private investigator you hired to follow Adam when you suspected he was cheating. The bastard was diligent, but he was eventually caught in the act three days ago.
Who’s the woman he’s with?
The Joker’s Queen.
“What’s wrong?” she frowns at the visible switch in his temper.
The Clown ruthlessly slams Ella against the hood while her cell also receives a text from Y/N:
“Who’s the bitch now?”
Also read: MASTERLIST
You can also follow me on Wattpad and Ao3 under the same blog name: DiYunho.
#the joker x reader#the joker fanfiction#the joker imagine#the joker jared leto#the joker#jokerleto#Jonny Frost#the joker suicide squad#joker fanfiction#joker imagine#joker suicide squad#mister joker#mister j#Mistah J#dcu#dc
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Stolen Worlds 3
Queen of Thieves: Takes place just after the MC breaks up with Nikolai.
Avengers: Takes place during The Winter Soldier, but with additional characters.
Unknown!Nick Fury x reader, (previous) Nikolai Stirling x reader, platonic!Natasha Romanoff x reader, (eventual) Steve Rogers x reader.
Some statements:
1. Anything that’s spoken in another language will be in bold and English. Saves bad translations.
2. Any text messages will be in block capitals and bold.
Summary: The Poppy have finally found out where Y/N is. But do they finally see her after over a month of searching? Meanwhile, Y/N is making progress with Bucky into coming to grips with reality and having control of himself once again after almost 50 years of brainwashing. Natasha is beginning to get suspicious of the girl that has caught the attention of Captain Rogers.
Chapter Three
It had been over a month since they landed in Washington DC, but the Poppy had yet to figure out where Y/N was. Apart from the two sightings in some random coffee shop, she had been off the grid. They still didn’t know who had taken her, but Nikolai wasn’t going to lose hope yet just yet. The Thief Lord was determined to find her as was the rest of them, he just had more reasons why. The turmoil was building up inside of him, his regret, the pain of their breakup. It was a cliche, the saying; you don’t know what you have until you lose it. How true could that be right now. Nikolai loved Y/N and he was done denying it. Once he found her he was going to apologise profusely about not letting her in.
A knock wrapped onto his door. Jett poked his head through the gap. “Hey, we know where she is living.” Slamming down his papers onto his desk he ran out of the door there wasn’t a moment to waste when it came to Y/N. All Niko wanted was to talk to her, find out how he can bring her back home. Though, with how most of her background was hidden courtesy of Fury, he never caught on that he never knew the real Y/N.
—
“Agent Z, I’ve heard you made a lot of progress on the Soldier. He’s not resisting anymore to orders. Always ready to comply and listen. What’s your secret?” Laughing at his obvious joke Y/N shrugged, “I don’t know what to tell you sir. I guess all he needed was a pretty face to get him to listen. Perhaps he was bored of just seeing men.” A roar of laughter echoed through Pierce’s office. In truth, she was right to Bucky. The more he listened and cooperated with her, the less people came into the room when she went to speak with him. She had already told him the basics of himself, leaving out important details like his real name. The Soldier knew she was holding back information, he guessed it was out of fear of him losing control of himself and turning violent, attacking her.
“Hmm… perhaps you are right, a pretty face was all he needed. You are certainly making a name for yourself within Hydra. I’ve never been happier for someone to join our cause.” Smiling to herself in success, she couldn’t resist. He’s hooked, I’ve bought and proved my way through the ranks to be trusted. The meeting soon ended. Y/N was in a very good mood. Now all she needed to do was, arrange a meeting with Steve and lie to him some more about her. She really hated this. Even more so as she began to realise her increasing attraction towards the man. But you’re still getting over Nikolai. It wouldn’t be fair to him if he was a rebound. Her mind swirled with doubts, countless thoughts of the one that broke her heart. Boy, this was gonna be a long day.
Her phone pinged as soon as she switched it on. A message from Fury came through, though it was under the ruse of her uncle in case anyone looked over her shoulder.
DON’T GO BACK TO MINE. THIEVES HAVE COMPROMISED IT.
Well shit.
—
Since his second meeting with Z, she told him she preferred to be called that, Steve had Natasha run a background check on the woman to see if she had any links to Hydra or any other enemies. As she was doing that, he decided to see if another accidental meeting was in order, or to try and arrange something to see if she cracked. He understood the spy’s trepidation with everything now that they are on the run from S.H.I.E.L.D. and can’t trust anyone, but did he really listen to Fury’s advice?
The man was dead and all he had was some USB stick with vital information to help them hack into the system. Rubbing his hands over his face as he waited in a nearby park, under a tree, Steve stuck to his hat and glasses disguise in hopes of no one finding him. Hey, it worked before so why not a second time? Though, he was caught off guard by an amused voice.
“So, do you just like hiding or something?” Jumping around to see Z, he smiled. “You can never be too careful.” Greeting her with a goofy grin on his face made the woman laugh. “Well, mister careful, I’m glad we got to meet again.” Something was off about her this time, she seemed to be more cautious of her surroundings also. Pushing his thoughts to ignore it, he tried to keep up a conversation. It worked in the long run until a ping on his phone signalled a message come through. When he chose to ignore it, Z was rather curious about why.
“If it’s important, they’ll get back to m-” He spoke too soon as more messages started to flood through. “Sorry excuse me.” Was all he said as he stepped away from the woman to look.
NO KNOWN THING ON Z.
NO INFORMATION.
NOTHING.
TREAD WITH CAUTION.
I AM SUSPICIOUS SHE IS HIDING SOMETHING AND IS COVERING HER TRACKS.
VERY SKILLED IF SHE IS.
Letting out a sigh, he couldn’t believe his luck. Texting a quick response to Nat in thanks he headed back to see her acting looking around more obviously. She’s clearly avoiding something. “Hey, you alright? You seem a bit jumpy today?”
“What? Oh, sorry. I’ve been getting texts from an old ex… he was… abusive, but I refuse to let that stop me from having a good time.” It seemed like a fair answer and if she was lying he, she had no tell for him to spot.
—
Heading back into her office space, Y/N went to collect the rest of her belongings that she needed for the day. Though what caught her eye was a letter addressed to an Agent Z. A sticky note was attached to it stating it had been checked for any signs of tampering. Slowly, she picked it up. Slitting the envelope open to see the sender was none other than Casimir. Why is Nikolai’s cousin writing to me?
Letting out a sigh as she read the contents of the letter she was surprised to hear what he had to say. Something’s not adding up with me here… of course Nikolai writing me out of his letters was something, but the man never told me he was still in contact with the lunatic for one. And two, how does Casimir know I’m not with the Poppy? And how does he know my alias? Oh shit.
Pegging it out the door, Y/N realised that there was only one person that would have blabbed…
—
Facing the barrel of a gun was more what Fury was used to. It came with his job. Though, he was expecting a Nikolai Stirling not a copy of him. Perhaps his message to Y/N to not come back here was a regret of his. One of very few. “Where is she?” Was all the man kept repeating to him. He just remained silent. Fury wasn’t stupid, like he’d give up where Y/N was, especially if this man could possibly an enemy of hers from her time in the Gilded Poppy.
The sound of rustling of another person came from the door to the apartment. Tufts of light brown hair came into view before a person did. Remy Chevalier, the conman. Was the instinctive guess from a debrief by Maria. But why no Nikolai? That put him off his game slightly, surely he would’ve been the one adamant to see her from his guesses from Y/N’s behaviour whenever the man was brought up in conversation, or well lack of mentioning. An apparent French accent filled his ears, “Why not put the gun down, I doubt attempting to strike fear in the man will make him talk willingly.” Gentle coaxing wasn’t going to budge the other man, whose hand holding said weapon was beginning to shake. He’s losing his stability. That’s not a good sign. A sudden calmness washed over the former S.H.I.E.L.D. Director, a grin crawling its way on his face, while the other two looked on in confusion...
#queen of thieves#remy chevalier#vivienne tang#nikolai stirling#zoe banks#jett slater#leon kwan#lovestruck#lovestruck queen of thieves#marvel#avengers#steve rogers x reader#steve rogers#natasha romanoff#natasha romanov#sam wilson#nick fury#maria hill#bucky barnes#brock rumlow#the winter soldier#captain america#winter soldier#the falcon#falcon#black widow#shield#hydra#alexander pierce
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A very Long (yet very awesome) Week of Sundance
Organisers of Sundance say in Tryon’s discussion that “If a filmmaker wants to create his or her own idiosyncratic vision, it’s often not worth looking around for a big budget, waiting for others to say it’s okay to make it. You have to stand up and make the film yourself…” (pg.164) and Kevin MacDonald in Tryon’s discussion talks about how basically all you need to make a movie is a laptop and a video camera, and how amazing it is that we live in a time which we can do this (pg.156)
This is similar to the idea that you can complain about not having enough time or experience to do something, but if you get over yourself and do it either you fail and learn, or you succeed and gain confidence. If you have a great idea then nothing should hold you back from making it a reality. Movies with billions of dollars behind them have fallen flat. So it stands to reason that a movie made on weekends with only a couple bucks could be amazing.
According to Chuck Tryon’s discussion of “Reinvented Festivals” (pg. 160), because there are a lot more independent bloggers/critics now due to newspapers not hiring many, there is a consistent stream of new reviews being released even minutes after a film finishes premiering.
Taking part in this class and festival and constantly thinking about what I thought about a film plays into this as I (along with my classmates) were some of the first to review some of these films. It’s such a fun experience to think and talk about film as everyone will have various ways of perceiving and connecting to each film.
Favourite Film From the Festival
It feels hard to choose a favourite because there were so many incredible films which affected me in different ways like Coda, How it Ends, Flee, and honestly most of the films I saw in this year's festival . However, I fell in love with The World to Come when it wasn’t even a movie I initially planned on seeing.
The world to come felt like a poem. It made my heart ache deeply, marinating in feelings of melancholic love, and unexpected loss. Maybe it hit me especially hard because I lost one of the most amazing people I’ve ever had in my life along with family and pets (since they are family too) since the start of Covid: I have regrets and things I never got to say. Maybe it’s because I’m fiercely fighting with my own identities right now. Either way, it was hard to watch. Parts of it still haunt me and still leave me breathless on the brink of tears. It struck a chord in me which I have a hard time fully putting to words. I didn’t originally even want to watch this film, it somehow ended up on my list of on demand films, and my mom convinced me to watch it (and I’m so glad she did).
It is a story which about two women which takes place in the 1800s, together in their loneliness who fall for each other behind their husbands’ backs. They secretly rendezvous in the forest and tucked away corners of their homes when their husband’s are working. It is beautiful in story and dialogue; it doesn’t get stale. It feels modern somehow, though it is set in the 19th century, and I’m still processing it all to figure out why exactly.
Least Favorite Film from the Festival...
Eight for Silver by Sean Ellis wasn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but it was certainly not the best; I would not actively choose to watch this again. It had interesting concepts such as only natural lighting being used throughout the film and those turned into the werewolf emerging, negatively changed, from the dead animal. The movie would have gotten 4 stars rather than 3 from me simply by not having a CGI werewolf (unless it was so brilliantly terrifying and amazing it had to be shown) and by keeping the original plot of the Roma’s spells/curses (fueled from the massacre which the targeted village caused). The scarecrow and buried teeth, and the strange dreams which followed were such a great piece, but they just fell away more and more. The addition of the religious text (which mentions 30 pieces of silver is unnecessary, and just recycles old vampire movies/myth ) took this film from a great timepiece and cheapened it in combination with the subpar CGI creature, while also making it feel far too Hollywood in a bad way. Again, some of the ideas, like the person within the wolf were great, but they could have kept it that way and not shown the monster otherwise.
A list of All Feature Films I Saw:
During the 2021 Sundance film festival I have seen and rated the following:
Coda ***** Sian Heder
The story of a teenage hearing girl who wants to be a singer living with her otherwise deaf family who run a fishing boat.
Cryptozoo **** Dash Shaw
A woman’s attempt to protect mythical creatures in a world where everyone wants to harm them or use them as weapons.
Misha and the wolves ***** Sam Hobkinson
A chilling documentary about holocaust tale with a twist.
Users **** Natalia Amada
A mother’s view of the world, global warming, technology, her children and the relationship between all of this.
Prisoners of Ghostland **** Sion Sono
Samurai meets the gunslinger Western World in this colourful action-horror (featuring Nicholas Cage).
Censor **** Prano Bailey-Bond
The story of a woman whose sister disappeared as a child and how her job as a horror film censor helps her uncover the truth.
How it ends ***** Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones
A walk through the last day on Earth with a woman and her younger self as they make peace with their lives, relationships with others, and their own inner selves.
Strawberry Mansion ***** Dan Deacon
A dreamy/nightmarish surreal tale of a dream tax collector as he falls in love with the younger version of his client.
Cusp ***** Isabel Bethencourt, Parker Hill
A documentary on the lives of teen girls in Texas which delves into rape culture, poverty, and what it’s like to be a young woman.
Eight for Silver *** Sean Ellis
Werewolf lore set in the 19th century.
John and the Hole **** Pascual Sisto
A young teenage boy puts his family in a hole in the woods as he tries to deal with the stressors of being a kid and what adulthood holds, entwined with fable.
R#J ***** Carey Williams
A modern retelling of Shakespear’s Romeo and Juliet through the age of social media, with a twist or two.
Coming Home in the Dark ***** James Ashcroft
A horror story of a family who are abducted by two strangers who they later learn they share a deeper, darker history with.
We’re All Going to The World’s Fair **** Jane Schoenbrun
A showing of loneliness and desperation through an online roleplaying game and it’s after effects.
First Date **** Manuel Crosby, Darren Knapp
A story of a first date gone VERY wrong.
The World to Come ***** Mona Fastvold
A 19th century story of the growing connection between two farmhouse wives.
Violation ***** Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli
A film about a woman’s trauma and how she… Deals with it.
Marvelous and the Black Hole ***** Kate Tsang
A story about how a young teen girl gets through the loss of her mother through forming a connection with a local magician.
The Blazing World ***** Carlson Young
A traumatised young woman tries to bring her sister back from “the other side” but must really fight her own inner demons.
Mayday ***** Karen Cinorre
A story of a young woman overcoming trauma and fighting back against the man in a dreamlike state.
Night of the Kings **** Philippe Lacote
A new storyteller is anointed in a prison run by its inmates and he must keep telling these stories until the moon sets to stay alive. (It helps to understand the specific culture more with this one, otherwise it sort of goes over your head.)
Life in a Day 2021 ***** Kavin Macdonald
A grounding compilation of scenes from across the world on the same day, July 25th, with scenes one after the other which either connect or contrasted in an impactful way.
Flee ***** Jonas Poher Rasmussen
A biography told through animation of a young gay immigrant.
Short Films
Bj’s Mobile Gift Shop- Jason Park
A story of a young guy in Chicago who makes money to support himself and his grandparents by running a mobile gift shop out of a large suitcase.
Flex - Josefin Malmen, David Strindberg
A visual telling of a bodybuilder rubber-banding between insecurity and self obsession through surreal imagery and dialogue.
The Affected- Rikke Gregersen
A retelling of a college student preventing the deportation of a man back to Afghanistan through the interactions of the bystanders.
You Wouldn’t Understand- Trish Harnetiaux
A time-warp involving a picnic, a strange character looking for “horsey sauce” and a grocery store clerk armed with a food scanner.
Animations
Ghost Dogs- Joe Cappa
A family's new dog is “haunted” by the family’s many deceased dogs in squishy colourful 90s/early 2000s style animated short.
GNT- Sara Hirner, Rosemary Vasquez-Brown
A woman obsessed with social media tries to make yeast infections popular.
Trepanation- Nick Flaherty
A showing of depression through a disturbing hole ridden entity emerging from a hole and taking the place of the house's owner.
Little Miss Fate- Joder Von Rotz
A cleaning bird interrupts the fate of a couple going out on a date, leading to disastrous consequences.
Indie Series
I had really wanted to see Seeds of Deceit by Miriam Guttman and Would you Rather by Lise Akoka, (I tried viewing 4 Feet High by María Belén Poncio and Rosario Perazolo Masjoan but there was an issue which Sundance staff never got back to me about, sadly) but I ran out of time.
However, I did see These Days by Adam Brookes which takes place in New York City during Covid, showing a young woman living alone and how she survives living alone and being unable to work as a dancer.
New Frontier Experiences
Sadly, I kept thinking I’d have endless time. I did not engage in the New Frontier experience except for in class on one occasion. I think it was a great idea and fantastic opportunity and I regret not planning my time better for this specifically.
Talks or Events
Ignite x Adobe featured shorts films from artists aged 18 to 25 and was very inspiring since I’m in the age range of these artists.
A few I especially enjoyed were Vigincita, Personals, and Joychild (Although I honestly enjoyed the whole compilation).
Virgincita - A sexual coming of age/ look at mother daughter relationship mixed with religion.
Personals - A sexual encounter between two insecure individuals who find comfort with one another by the end.
Joychild - A documentary piece showing a child discovering and opening up about their gender identity.
Q&As
I attended a few Q&As, but my favourite I believe was CODA’s.
They spoke about how they worked around language barriers and learned sign language before and throughout production. Everyone just seemed at ease and like they had a great time in production of the film.
- - -
Overall, I’m quite pleased with how this festival went virtually. It was a truly amazing experience which I am so glad I was able to take part in. It was as Immersive an experience as I think could be created virtually and seemed to go relatively smoothly for the most part for having it be the first time this has happened.
I’m also extremely grateful for the inclusivity which allowed for those who may not be able to travel as easily due to disability, financial reasons, or anything else. I don’t know if I’d have been able to go otherwise.
This experience was more amazing than I even hoped it would be. I feel so inspired that I plan to find out how to submit to Sundance so that I can possibly try to get a short film idea I have done for the short film/18-25 year old category. I feel like I can actually do this now and I have so many new ideas.
Thank you!
Tryon, Chuck,
On-Demand Culture: Digital Delivery and the Future of Movies
, Rutgers University Press, Copyright © 2013.
Mae McCloskey
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Text
Club Confusion Pt. 30 (Page’s Ending Pt. 5)
Part 29
Word Count: 8,849 (HOLY FREAKING CRAP)
A/N: Okay. So. This is it. The final ending. And I’m very sad. But, please enjoy! Feedback is always welcomed! Also, I’m sure there’s LOTS of mistakes.
Tags: @thegenericluchadora @theprestigious0ne @originalbish98 @laziestgirlintheworld @villainsqueendom @calwitch @sheaxdevitt @kingslayers-angel @vipervenomisgoodforyou @karleedaniels27 @reigns420 @alexahood21 @bolieve-that @i-ship-it-okay @rebelfleur22 @g0lden-sunset @libby-rose-2016 @baybayforlife @spotofimagines @phenomenal-forearm
Marty smiled, and hugged me, I hugged him back, which made Page’s face harden, and his body tense up. It was weird seeing him get jealous, but I kinda liked it..
The hug was awkward, for me anyway.
I guess seeing your ex always was. But, seeing your ex, while you’re with a friend of his, who’s also your new boyfriend, and also the guy you used to tell him not to worry about, and you’re ordering a coffee that you only drink after sex? That’s a whole nother level.
It also didn’t help that I was still mad at Marty, even more so than I was at Adam, because even though Adam could be a real d*ck, he never gave me an ultimatum.
“So ‘wha are you doing here?” He asked, attempting to make conversation.
I cocked my head and smirked. “Not throwing a tantrum, that’s what you told Matt and Nick, I was doing, right?”
His face fell, as he looked at the ground. “Oh, they uh..told you ‘vat huh? Listen Love I-”
“My name, is Y/N.” I interrupted, and he frowned, letting out a sigh.
“Right, sorry. When I said ‘vat, I was really, really, upset ‘nd angry. I shouldn’t ‘ave.” He explained. “By ‘va way, where are Matt and Nick?”
“Her house. With Kenny, Cody, and Brandi. You already know we hung out without you yesterday. Stop asking stupid questions.” Page replied, rolling his his eyes.
“Oh..Page, hey. Didn’t see you ‘ver.” He stated, faking a positive tone.
“Really? I’m pretty hard to miss.” Page said, starting to sound annoyed, Marty smiled softly.
“Well, I can only see one person in ‘vis room, and I assure you, it isn’t you.”
Page scoffed, and rolled his eyes, and I breathed a laugh.
How does one respond to something like that? I suppose that was the point, before I could even think of a reply, the barista told me my ‘raspberry mocha’ was ready.
I smiled, and thanked the barista before taking it and getting out of line, Page got his coffee, and did the same, but we couldn’t leave. Thanks to Marty.
Marty cocked his head. “Oh. So, I guess dinner ‘wif Adam went well ‘ven?” He questioned, his tone changing from flirtatious to demeaning and judgemental.
I rolled my eyes. “Better than this. But not what you’re assuming, and also, I didn’t know he was gonna show up.” I sighed, as I crossed my arms.
“Well, you slept ‘wif someone..” He trailed off.
“You’re very right, I did sleep with someone. And if it were Adam, I’d just tell you. But, it wasn’t him. Okay? I’m seeing someone.” I admitted, and he furrowed his brows.
“You’re seeing someone?”
Page rolled his eyes. “That’s what she said, isn’t it?”
Marty rolled his eyes. “Was I talking to you?” He asked, his voice full of arrogance. Page’s face hardened, and he breathed a laugh, as he let out a sigh.
“Well, you’re done talking to her.” He started, before clearing his throat. “So, if you’re not talking to me, then I guess we’ll leave.” He smiled sarcastically, as we went to walk out.
“Um, she can speak for herself, thanks.” Marty replied, before turning his attention back to me, ignoring Page completely. “So, who is ‘vis new guy?” He asked, causing Page to get even more annoyed.
I smirked slightly. “Well, you’re right I can speak for myself,” I started, and he shot Page an ‘I told you so’ look, and I cleared my throat. “But, I don’t really need to at the moment, because Page already said it so well.”
His face dropped.
I cleared my throat. “And, I’m not gonna answer your question, but I can give you a hint. He’s in Bullet Club.” I added, before walking out, and Page followed me, thankfully, Marty didn’t.
We got in the car, and he rubbed the temples of his forehead, before starting the car, and driving off. “I don’t blame Adam for getting so mad at him. He’s annoying.”
I chuckled. “You looked annoyed. That’s for sure. I’d say a little jealous, if I didn’t know any better.”
He smiled softly. “Maybe. I thought about taking Kenny’s advice, and just picking you up, and kissing you in front of him.”
I smiled, and blushed slightly. “Then, why didn’t you?”
“Because, I don’t need to prove anything. I know how stressed you were when they’d fight over you. I don’t wanna be like them.” He mumbled.
“You know, there’s a difference between what they did, and being jealous. They talked about things that were personal, and they acted like I wasn’t there..” I explained. “Plus neither of them, is gonna start a fight with you, if they know we slept together.”
He smirked slightly. “What makes you say that?” He asked, knowing the answer already. I cocked my head, and glanced at him, not saying anything. He shrugged. “Don’t look at me like that! Come on, feed my ego a bit.” He chuckled.
I sighed. “Fine, well for one, Adam has seen your d*ck, he’s not gonna make an argument, and Marty’s jealous of you anyway, he’d probably be expecting it.”
“Oh, that’s right, Marty’s jealous of me..why do think that is?” He asked, as his smirk grew.
I chuckled. “Oh..I dunno..maybe it’s because you’re taller than him? Or, because I would talk about you, all the time. Plus, you’re really, really, attractive, maybe it’s that?” I explained, he smiled softly, and nodded.
“Hmm..maybe. You think the rest of your guests are still asleep?” He smirked.
“Why do you ask?” I questioned, already knowing exactly why he was asking, and his smirk grew wider.
“Because, I’d like to spend the rest of the morning, in bed with you, no interruptions, you know, like we were last night..but that was on you, I told you to keep quiet.” He teased.
I rolled my eyes, and smiled. “You have to take some of the blame for that, you know.”
He let out a sigh, and smiled softly. “You’re right. What was I thinking? Expecting you not to scream, when you’re with the best you’ve ever had, the guy that ruined other men for you? Yeah. That was insane.” He said sarcastically.
“You’ve been dying to bring that up again, haven’t you?” I asked, trying not to smile. He nodded, and smiled.
“Oh yeah. I just haven’t got the chance. Until now that is.” He replied. “So, is that true?”
“Why would I say it, if it weren’t true?” I questioned, as my face grew redder and redder, and I began to play with my hands nervously, he took one hand off the steering wheel, and grabbed my hand, and held it to stop me.
“Am I making you nervous..?” He asked, sounding a bit surprised.
“Just a bit embarrassed.” I smiled, and he breathed a laugh.
“Honestly, I never thought I’d have that effect on you.” He shrugged. “I gotta say, it’s kinda nice..” He trailed off, smiling softly.
I rolled my eyes, and let out a sigh. “Well, I’m glad you’re enjoying making me look stupid. So very glad.” I teased.
He chuckled, and bit his lip, and a few seconds of silence went by before he cleared his throat. “You know, you still haven’t actually answered my question..” He trailed off.
I rolled my eyes again. “Yes Page. It was the truth. Happy?” I couldn’t help but smile.
He nodded and chuckled, as he returned both his hands to the wheel, then he smirked softly. “Wanna help me look for a house?” He winked.
I furrowed my brows, confused for a second, before I realized he was referencing the story Adam told when we ran into him. My eyes widened, and I pursed my lips together to keep from smiling.
“Oh haha. We’re almost home Page.” I stated, and he shrugged slightly.
“Not if I ‘accidently’ miss the next turn..”
He smirked, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Have you seen Y/N?” Matt asked as he walked into the kitchen with the group, and Nick cocked his head.
“She’s not here?” He asked, and Kenny chuckled.
“Yeah, neither is Page.”
Matt shook his head. “And Marty’s been texting me all morning. He’s upset about something. Said he ‘needs to talk to me’. Whatever that means.”
“I wonder if he ran into her, it probably went horrible if he did.” Brandi sighed. “I hope she’s okay”
Kenny shrugged. “Chances are Page was with her, so I’m sure she’s fine.”
“You know what we should do, while she’s gone?” Matt suggested, they looked to him, awaiting his response. “We should go through her stuff, and try to figure out who this new guy is.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “It’s not that important. Let it go for now. The less you know, the better, considering Marty’s probably gonna have a million questions for you next time we see him.”
“Well, I can’t stand not knowing!” He yelled, already walking down the hall to my room.
As soon as Matt left the room, Nick cleared his throat.
“Okay, so..I know all three of you know what happened between Y/N and Page, and I need to know everything you know, so that I can understand why I walked in on them having sex, at almost one in the morning.” He whispered.
Kenny cocked his head. “You’re sure that’s what time it was?”
Nick nodded in response, and Kenny turned to look at Cody, as a smile formed on his face.
“I told you I knew what I was doing. I’m pretty sure I just won.” He chuckled.
Cody scoffed. “We don’t know anything yet!” He whisper screamed so that Matt wouldn’t hear him.
“Somebody, please explain to me, what’s going on? What are you talking about?” He asked, Kenny cleared his throat before explaining everything.
Nick’s eyes widened. “Sorry Cody, I’m pretty sure you’re gonna lose.” He chuckled.
“I can’t believe you’re placing bets, and purposely sabotaging our friend.” Brandi sighed, as she crossed her arms and shook her head.
“It’s not sabotaging. It’s seeing what her relationships are strong enough to handle.” Kenny replied. “For example, Adam and Marty were both too insecure. That we know.”
“You had nothing to do with Marty’s downfall, he did that on his own.” Cody replied.
“Well, Matt kinda helped.” Nick added.
Kenny nodded, and smiled. “I love when things work them themselves out. And, I can just sit back and watch my ship sail.”
Cody rolled his eyes. “Friends with benefits, doesn’t mean they’re gonna end up together.”
“What about Chandler and Monica? Not to mention there’s an actual movie, called Friends With Benefits, where that’s exactly what happens.” Brandi stated.
“That’s different. How do you guys not see how different that is? If he makes her happy, and she makes him happy, then that’s great, if it works out, I’ll gladly take the loss. But sometimes, friends are supposed to stay friends.” Cody replied.
Kenny rolled his eyes, but before he could answer, Matt walked back in the room.
“Well, I found nothing. Nothing useful anyway. Like, she has a lot of edible stuff in her nightstand..and other stuff like that, I put some in my hand but all it did was get really hot, so I had to wash it off, I have no idea why anyone would want that. Also, she owns handcuffs. So either she used to be a cop, or..I don’t really think I need to say it.” He sighed.
“Y/N..with handcuffs..interesting.” Nick mumbled.
Matt smacked the back of his brother’s head. “Don’t be gross about it.” He started, and Nick shot him a dirty look. “But, whoever the new guy is, he’s huge. I found condoms, on her nightstand, so..that we know.”
Kenny tried not to laugh, as he looked at the ground.
Then, me and Page came in, looking at each other, and laughing about something he’d said, but our smiles faded, when we looked up, and saw the rest of the group.
“Oh..hey. You guys are up. Great…” Page sighed, and I cleared my throat.
“Where were you guys?” Matt asked.
“We went to get coffee.” I replied, faking a smile.
“It took that long to get coffee?” Kenny asked, grinning ear to ear.
Page shrugged. “I um..took a wrong turn.” He replied trying not to smile, I bit my lip, and looked at the ground, knowing my face was turning red.
“How do you make a wrong turn? She was with you. You both know where the house is right?” Matt questioned.
We looked at each other for a second then back at Matt, and I cleared my throat.
“Yeah, we were gonna go a different way, to avoid traffic..and all..but um, yeah. Didn’t go as planned.” I explained.
Matt shook his head. “Okay. If you say so. But did you run into Marty while you were out?” He asked, and Page rolled his eyes.
“Yeah..we did actually. How’d you know?”
Matt sighed. “He’s texting me. I’m gonna guess it didn’t go well?”
I shrugged. “It could’ve been better, that’s for sure.” I cleared my throat and cocked my head. “But, you know how things go.”
“You’re lucky though. We all have to work with him, you don’t have to hear him ask twenty times a day who your new boyfriend is. Does he know you have one?” Matt asked.
“Yeah, he knows. I’m sorry Ma-”
“I’ll handle it. He already pretty much hates me.” Page interrupted.
“Gee, I wonder why that is.” Kenny mumbled, earning an eye roll from Cody.
“You’ll have to do it. None of us know who the guy is, and I’m gonna assume you know, because she only talks to you, even though you’re the only one who’s ever told anyone anything.” Matt replied, as he crossed his arms. “Speaking of which, we have to go. We have a show later tonight that we have to get ready for.”
Page cleared his throat. “You guys can go ahead. I’m gonna leave a little later.” He smiled, and Matt shook his head.
“No, that’s okay. We can all go together, whenever you’re ready.”
Kenny smacked his forehead. “Why are you the way that you are?” He mumbled, as he started to shake his head, Matt furrowed his brows.
“What did I do?!”
Nick started to laugh. “You can’t take a hint to save your life!”
Matt only grew more and more confused, not sure what they were talking about.
I sighed, and me and Page shared a glance.
“We have to tell him.” I whispered, Page nodded in response. “Matt, listen..” I started, turning my attention to him, he looked at me, still confused and awaiting a response. I let out a sigh. “You’re actually the only one in the room who doesn’t know who the new guy is.” I admitted.
His mouth fell ajar. “Wait, what?! Now I have to know, if someone doesn’t tell me, I’m gonna scream.” Page shook his head.
“Matt-”
“I’ll do it!” Matt interrupted.
“You don’t need-”
“Here I go!”
Matt exclaimed, before starting to yell, getting louder and louder by the second, no matter how many times we tried to stop him, he even covered his ears.
“Nobody can tell you anything if you can’t hear them!” Nick exclaimed, but Matt didn’t stop.
Page rolled his eyes, and grabbed my arm, turning me to face, him before cupping my face and kissing me.
Matt’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped, finally he stopped yelling, and he dropped his hands at his side.
“Her new boyfriend is gonna hate that!” He exclaimed, Kenny couldn’t stop laughing, and Cody rolled his eyes, and looked at Matt with a blank expression.
“Page is her new boyfriend.”
Matt furrowed his brows, and cocked his head. “Why on earth, would you guys tell me that? I have to go see Marty, and I can’t keep a secret, you said it yourself. You expect me, to not tell him? Clearly, I’m gonna!” He exclaimed nervously.
“Matt, calm down. You’ll be fine.” I smiled.
He shook his head frantically. “No I won’t!”
Page sighed. “Okay Matt, I’ll make it easy for you. If you let it slip, whatever, if not? Even better. But I just..really wanna be alone with Y/N right now. Okay?” He stated.
“Wait, what? You can’t just demand to be alone with her just because you’re dating now. That’s not fair!” Matt exclaimed.
Page rolled his eyes, before looking at me, and half smiling.
“Actually Matt, he can. And he’s going to. Sorry.” I shrugged, with a smile. “But, I will come down and see you all before you leave. How about that?”
Matt nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t really expect that to work anyway.”
Kenny couldn’t stop smiling, as he stood to his feet.
“Well, we really should go. You know, let them..do their relationship stuff. You know, because they’re in a relationship.” He stated, looking at Cody.
They said their goodbyes, and left.
Page let out a sigh. “Well, now they know..” He smiled, as he sat on the couch, and pulled me onto his lap. “It’s all downhill from here you know.” He teased, as he ran his hand up and down my thigh.
I smiled softly, and shrugged. “A day and a half? I’d say that’s a good run.” I replied sarcastically.
He chuckled. “Oh, we can do better than that. Nobody is gonna ruin this.” He assured me. I ran my hand through his hair, and bit my lip.
“I don’t think anybody could.”
He nodded. “I think you might be right.” He replied, before kissing me, he moved me off his lap as he positioned himself on top of me.
I cupped his face, and smiled as I brushed his hair out of his face, and pulled it back. He smiled ear to ear, and licked his lips.
“Thank you.” He chuckled.
I breathed a laugh, and went back to cupping his face. “So..are we gonna do this here?” I asked.
He smirked, and raised his brows. “Of course we are. In fact..” He trailed off, as his smirk grew even wider. “Before I have to leave the city, we’re doing this, in every, single, room, of this house.”
My eyes widened. “Oh really?” I couldn’t help but smile as I asked. He nodded.
“I’m gonna need something to think about while I’m traveling..”
“Haven’t I given you enough to think about?” I asked sarcastically.
He cocked his brow, and bit his lip. “You’ve given me a lot that’s for sure. That ride in the car keeps replaying in my head over and over.” I rolled my eyes and chuckled. “Maybe I should return the favor..” He smirked again, as he started to travel down my body, and kissing down my abdomen.
“I-I’m still speechless.” Matt mumbled, as they drove back to the arena.
“Yes Matt, it’s surprising that they’re together. But you have to drop it before we see Marty, because I can’t deal with him asking a million questions.” Cody replied.
“No, I mean I’m still speechless that all you guys kept this from me! I thought we were friends! Why didn’t you tell me?! When did you guys even find out?” Matt questioned.
Nick cleared his throat. “Remember last night? When you made me go downstairs, and check out that sound?” He asked, and Matt nodded slightly. Nick smiled. “Thanks.”
Matt rolled his eyes. “And the rest of you?” He asked, as he crossed his arms.
“Well, Page told me and Cody, and Y/N told Brandi.” Kenny explained.
“Wait, so I found out on accident? You guys were told voluntarily?” Nick asked, feeling a bit offended.
“Hurts doesn’t it? But it could be worse! You could’ve been last, to know.” Matt added, still pouting. Nick rolled his eyes, and put a hand on Matt’s shoulder.
“You aren’t the last person to know. Marty still doesn’t know.” He chuckled.
“Okay guys, drop it for now. We’re almost there.” Kenny smiled, not really caring if they told Marty or not.
As soon as they walked inside, they were greeted by Marty.
“So, who is it? I know you guys ‘ave to know.” He questioned.
Matt rolled his eyes. “Why would we know?” He replied, crossing his arms. Marty cleared his throat, and matched Matt’s stance.
“Because, Y/N said ‘va new guy she’s dating, is in Bullet Club. Therefore, I’m sure, you guys know. So, spill it.”
“Uh..why would she tell me? You really think I could keep a secret that big? Have you learned nothing?” Matt chuckled, as he continued to walk to his locker room, but Marty followed him.
“You’re not answering me Matt.”
“Aren’t I?” Matt asked awkwardly, and Nick smacked his forehead.
Marty rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms. “No. You’re just answering my questions, ‘wif more questions.” He replied, sternly.
“Am I?” Matt asked.
Marty let out a sigh. “Who is Y/N dating?” He asked, getting straight to the point.
Matt cleared his throat, and cocked his head. “Who are you dating?” Marty furrowed his brows, and shook his head.
“Um...nobody.”
Matt nodded. “Well, you’ll find someone Marty. Don’t worry.” He smiled before turning to walk away, but Marty grabbed his arm and turned him back around.
“Just answer me. Who’s ‘va new guy?”
Matt sighed. “Fine.” He started, as the guys began to shake their heads. “It’s Nick!” He smiled.
Kenny rolled his eyes. “I’m out.” He breathed a laugh, as he left the room, Cody and Brandi followed him, as Nick smacked his forehead.
Marty chuckled and shook his head, as he looked from Matt to Nick. “Come on Matt. You expect me to believe ‘vat? She’d never go for Nick.”
Nick pursed his lips together, and crossed his arms. “Oh? And why’s that?” He asked, becoming offended. Marty sighed, and turned his attention to Nick placing his hand on his shoulder.
“Okay, look. ’m sorry, but she’d never go for you. She ‘ad Adam Cole, and me. She wouldn’t just..how can I put this..she wouldn’t, lower her standards ‘vat much..” He trailed off, and Nick cocked his head and smiled.
“Hmm..well it is me.”
Marty dropped his hand at his side. “Oh Nick, I don’t believe you.”
Nick took a deep breath and smirked ear to ear. “What if I told you, I knew about the tattoo?”
Matt furrowed his brows starting to get confused, and Marty’s face dropped, and he shook his head.
“No. No you don’t. She doesn’t tell anyone about ‘vat.” He denied. Nick smirked, and nodded.
“Exactly. So, how would I know about it, unless I’m the new guy?” He asked.
“Wait..tattoo?” Matt questioned.
Nick shushed him. “Sorry Matt. Men are talking.” Matt rolled his eyes, and Marty scoffed.
“Maybe she just accidently told you about it.” He argued, still in denial.
“I could describe it to you. It’s on her upper thigh, a lacy garter.” Nick smirked, Marty shook his head.
“Which ‘figh is it on?” He questioned, and Nick’s smirk grew.
“Right.”
“What did you ‘fink ‘ov ‘va bow?”
“Trick question. There isn’t one.”
Marty’s mouth fell ajar, and he sat against the wall behind him, and cradled his head in his hands. “Y-You actually did it. You saw the tattoo..how could you do ‘vis to me?”
“Do what? Exactly what you did to Adam? Like this.” He smiled, before shrugging.
Marty shook his head. “Not ‘va same Nick! You know ‘ow I feel about ‘er! She’s on my ‘neva list!”
Nick rolled his eyes. “Adam felt the same way, and it didn’t stop you. Also, a girl you broke up with, can’t really be on your never list.”
Marty’s face hardened, and went back to looking the floor shaking his head.
“So, I’ll see you later, right?” Page asked, pulling his shirt on over his head. I nodded.
“Of course. I still have to go and see Matt like I said I would. And you still have a task to fill..” I smiled, walking closer to him, and wrapping my arms around his neck.
He smirked, and placed his hands on my hips, running his thumb over the fabric of my clothes. “I still have full intentions of sleeping with you all over this house. We only have like two more rooms to cover, but unfortunately, I have to go.” He sighed, before kissing me, softly at first, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull away for more than a second, before kissing me again.
I smiled into the kiss when he started to slide his hands up my shirt, I cupped his face and pulled away from the kiss.
“No, no, you have to leave, remember?” I chuckled, and he dropped his hands at his side, and let out a sigh.
“D*mmit. You’re right. But..maybe I can be a little late?” He bargained and I shook my head.
“You can’t. You’ll see me soon, it’ll be fine.” I smiled.
“But, what am I supposed to do about this?” He questioned, gesturing to his crotch. I bit my lip, and stepped into him, as I let out a sigh.
“I guess I could help with that.” I smirked, as I hooked my fingers in his belt loops, and pulled him as close to me as possible.
He let out a sigh of relief, before smiling, he went to kiss me, but I put a finger on his lips to stop him, he furrowed his brows, and a devilish grin grew on my face.
“If you didn’t have somewhere to be that is. But sadly, you do.” I shrugged, dropping my hands at my side.
He licked his lips before, before smiling. “You’re evil. You know that?” He teased.
I shrugged. “You’ll be fine. I’m sure Matt could help you out. Lend you a hand maybe?” I winked, chuckling slightly, causing him to roll his eyes.
“Thanks. I think I’m actually getting a de-rection now.” He started, before clearing his throat. “The real question is, what are you gonna do? You have to be at least a little worked up again, right?” He asked, smirking slightly.
I rolled my eyes, and smirked. “Well, you know, if I need it too bad, I could always call Marty or Adam. I’m sure they’d help me out.” I teased.
His eyes widened, and his mouth fell open slightly, he put his hands on his hips and smiled. “You’re mean!” He chuckled. “But you know, it wouldn’t be the same. Best sex you’ve ever had right here!” He smiled, pointing to himself.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re never gonna let that go, are you?”
He shrugged, “I’m just saying, after me? You might not even be able to feel them!” He chuckled.
I rolled my eyes. “Page, go.” I smiled, before kissing him goodbye.
He waved and left.
He made it back to the arena, to listen to Marty and Nick arguing.
“I’d ‘neva do ‘vis to you guys!” Marty exclaimed.
Nick rolled his eyes, and shook his head. “Only because you never had the chance!”
Page walked into the locker room, trying to stay out of it.
“I wouldn’t! I wouldn’t even do it ‘tah Page!”
“Funny you should say that.” Nick mumbled. Page turned his attention to them and sighed.
“What’s this about?” He asked.
Nick smirked. “Oh, Marty found out that I’m dating Y/N, and that I’ve seen her tattoo, and he can’t deal with the fact that it’s over between them.”
Page rolled his eyes. “Really Nick? That’s what you told him?” He sighed, an annoyed tone in his voice.
“Matt told him, but it’s the truth, so does it really matter?” Nick replied, narrowing his eyes.
Page shook his head. “No. It isn’t. None of us should have to lie about this.” He stated, crossing his arms, Marty’s face lit up, and he stood to his feet.
“So, it’s not true? Is she really seeing anyone?” He asked, and Page rolled his eyes again.
“Yes she is. But I don’t think you really wanna know who it actually is.”
Marty groaned. “It’s Adam. Isn’t it?”
Matt pursed his lips together, and Nick cocked his head and smiled.
“You ask an intriguing question Martin.” Nick chuckled, and Matt elbowed him in the side. Marty furrowed his brows.
“I-I don’t-’Wha ‘va h*ll are you talking about?” He questioned, more confused now then he was before.
“Get there faster!” Matt exclaimed.
Marty shook his head. “Well, you clearly aren’t talking about Hangman, and I don’t know ‘ov any ‘ova Adams.”
Page let out sigh, and cocked his head. “And how do you know it isn’t me?” He asked, and Marty scoffed, as he placed a hand on Page’s shoulder.
“No offense Mate. It’s just..I don’t see you as a threat.” He admitted.
Page smiled sarcastically. “Really? Is that why you told her you were jealous of me? Because yeah..she told me.” He immediately regretted saying it, because I’d asked him not to, when I’d originally told him.
Marty’s face dropped, and he slid his hands in his pockets. “She wasn’t supposed to tell you ‘vat.” He sighed, before smirking slightly. “Did she ‘appen to tell you ‘wha she said to me after I admitted ‘vat? Because you’d be a lot less confident if she ‘ad.”
Page rolled his eyes, and exhaled sharply. “I’m not gonna do this with you. I’m not Adam Cole. I’m the new guy okay? It’s me. And the only reason Nick knows what the tattoo looks like, because he walked in on us together.”
Marty shook his head. “I don’t believe you!”
“I don’t care. You don’t have to, but it’s the truth.” Page shrugged, as he walked by Marty, bumping his shoulder as he did.
Marty sighed and looked at Matt. “Is ‘vat true?” He asked, nervous for what the answer would be.
Matt shrugged. “Is it?”
“Matt!” Marty exclaimed, and Matt let out a sigh.
“Honestly, I’ve told so many lies lately, I don’t remember what the truth really is.” He explained.
I heard my phone ding, and I looked at the screen to see that Page had texted me.
‘Not gonna lie, I already miss you.’
I smiled at it, this was the perfect chance to tease him again, I’d get to see him really soon, so this would be great timing.
‘Are you about to go on?’
I asked, already knowing the answer, he texted back and confirmed what I knew with a yes.
A devilish grin grew on my face.
I removed my shirt, snapped a picture, and sent it to him.
‘Since you’re missing me..maybe this’ll help? ;)’
---
He smirked when he opened it, but that smirk faded as he looked down at his crotch again.
‘Thanks a lot Y/N. Now I have to try and have a match, with this image stuck in my head. My opponent’s gonna be very uncomfortable.’
‘Well, there’s always the Matt option’
I texted, back. He rolled his eyes, and chuckled, before realizing he had to go, he put his phone down and went out to the ring.
Marty walked in the dressing room after he left, he was looking for Kenny, because they had to team together later, and he wanted to talk over some of the match.
He picked up Page’s phone, recognizing who’s it was.
That wouldn’t be that big of a deal, if Page hadn’t forgotten to close out of his stuff. Marty looked at the screen, and his eyes widened when he saw the picture I’d sent Page.
He smiled for a second before he realized who’d sent it.
He ran his hand through his hair.
‘Are you still there? Or match time I’m guessing? Maybe I’ll send more so you’ll have something to look at after your match..’
I texted again.
Marty threw the phone back down, and started to shake his head frantically, as he paced around the room.
“Marty? What’s wrong with you now?” Matt asked, as he and Nick walked in.
“I-I may ‘ave..accidently..went through Page’s phone, and saw some ‘fings I wasn’t supposed to..” He replied.
Matt and Nick looked at him with confused expressions on their faces.
“You did..what?” Nick asked, as Matt shook his head.
“What’d you happen to see?” Matt added.
Marty let out a sigh, and slid his hands in his pockets. “She..sent ‘im some pictures..and I-well..” He trailed off.
Their mouths fell open, they were at a loss for words, Kenny walked in, and furrowed his brows.
“What’s wrong with you guys?” He asked.
Matt pursed his lips together, and put his hands on his hips. “You wanna tell him about your sick little games? Or should I?” Marty opened his mouth to speak but Matt cut him off. “Marty went through Page’s phone, and saw naked pictures of Y/N.”
“It was an accident!” Marty exclaimed.
Kenny smacked his forehead, and shook his head, before looking at Marty with an annoyed expression, then cleared his throat as he looked him up and down. His eyes widened.
“Wait, are you turned on right now?!” He exclaimed, looking down at the crotch of his gym shorts.
Marty awkwardly looked at the ground, and Matt and Nick’s faces scrunched up, as they started to look disgusted.
“Well, I did just see naked pictures of a girl ’m still in love ‘wif! So, excuse me, if my d*ck is a ‘lil confused!” Marty whisper screamed, as he attempted to better cover himself.
Nick cleared his throat and rubbed his eyes, before crossing his arms.
“Well, at least now you now for a fact her and Page are together.” He smirked, and Marty rolled his eyes.
“So did she show the tattoo in this picture? Because I need to know more about it.” Matt sighed, and Kenny hit him in the shoulder.
“What!? I’m asking a simple question! He had to have paid attention to it. I remember every single detail from when I saw her naked. Like her body, is just..perfect.”
“It really is. You don’t even know the half of it though.” Nick added, turning his attention to Marty. “You get it though.”
Matt breathed a laugh. “Yeah I can’t imagine being you. Knowing what it’s like to you know..touch her, and having to have all those memories flood your brain at once.”
Marty clenched his jaw. “Matt, you aren’t ‘elping my problem.”
“Well, does it help to know that she’s with one of your best friends, and he’s like the best she’s ever had? Her words. Not mine.” Nick added.
“Nick!” Kenny exclaimed, as he smacked him in the shoulder.
“What?! That isn’t a secret! She openly told us that! She even told Adam! We just didn’t know who exactly she was talking about.” Nick replied, rubbing the spot Kenny had smacked.
Marty started to shake his head. “Why are you telling me ‘vis?!”
Before they could reply, Dalton Castle walked into the locker room.
“Yeah..I don’t mean to uh, interrupt, but your friend is here.” He smiled, before cocking his head. “What am I interrupting exactly? Are you okay Marty?” He asked.
Matt shook his head. “Don’t worry about him. What friend are you talking about?” He asked.
“Y/N. She seems to be doing really well, we were catching up, and she couldn’t stop smiling about something. Who knows what. But anyway, she’s waiting for you. Can’t miss her, she looks better than she ever has. Any idea why she’s so happy?” He rambled on.
Marty groaned.
Dalton turned his attention back to Marty. “You know, I could have my boys help you with your ahem..problem. But you’ll owe me.” He smiled.
“Wait, you can tell?” Marty asked, starting to blush.
Kenny rolled his eyes. “Of course he can tell! We all can!”
“I’m gonna say hi to Y/N before she comes looking for us, and sees all this. You need to think of a way to tell Page what you did that doesn’t end in him killing you.” Nick stated, before walking out. Matt followed behind him.
Dalton’s smile grew “Ah it appears I’ve walked into something interesting! Well, go on! Tell me the details!” He laughed, as he leaned against the wall.
“Uh..’vis is really more of a Bullet Club issue..” Marty replied.
Dalton nodded, and put up his hands in defense. “Right. Say no more. I’ll just ask Page.”
“No! Don’t do ‘vat!”
“Well, I gotta find out somehow! Maybe I’ll ask her? She has to know right? Once a Bullet Club member, always a Bullet Club member, right?”
Kenny exhaled sharply. “Y/N, and Marty broke up as you already know, and her and Page are together now, Marty went through Page’s phone, and saw some pictures of Y/N that he wasn’t supposed to. And now, well, he’s...you know.” He explained.
Dalton’s eyes widened and his mouth fell open before he smiled ear to ear and turned his attention to Marty.
“Ohh!”
“Kenny!” Marty groaned. Kenny shrugged as a response.
“He’s gonna kill you for sure!” Dalton added, and Marty shook his head, but before he could say anything, Matt ran back in, almost out of breath.
“Y/N is coming this way.” He managed to say, and Kenny let out a sigh.
“And you had to run in here to tell us that...why?” He asked, and Matt took a deep breath.
“Because Kenny, she walks really fast. She must do cardio non-stop.” He explained.
Dalton nodded. “I’m sure she does! Look at her, with her perfectly toned-”
“Dalton. Stop talking.” Marty interrupted.
“Oh, sorry. I almost forgot about your little problem-er...I mean..average sized-um..big..problem.” Dalton replied.
Marty rolled his eyes, and sat down on the ground.
I walked in with Nick, and immediately all eyes, went to me, except Marty’s. Dalton pursed his lips together, trying not to smile.
“Why is everyone staring at me..?” I asked.
Dalton cleared his throat. “We’re just excited to see you! Some of us are more excited they got to see so much of you.” He blurted out, not even thinking.
“Wait. What?” I asked.
“Um..” Matt started, but before he could explain it, Dalton did.
Marty covered his face. “It was an accident!”
Before I could even think of what to say, Page walked backstage after his match.
“Oh, hey!” He smiled at me, before noticing something was wrong. “Is everything okay?” He asked, starting to frown.
Dalton smiled. “C-Can I please be the one to tell him?”
“Tell me what?” Page asked, as he furrowed his brows.
I sighed. “Um..do you happen to know where your phone is?” He nodded.
“Yeah it’s right-” He cut himself off. “Sh*t.”
I looked down at the ground awkwardly knowing things were about to get really bad.
Page pulled his hair back and crossed his arms. “Well, I’m guessing one of you went through my phone, so who was it?” He hissed.
Dalton cleared his throat. “Take a wild guess. But my money's on the British guy who looks like he needs to play a game of pocket hockey if you know what I mean..” He mumbled.
Page’s face hardened, as he glanced over at Marty. “Did you go through my phone?” He growled.
Marty let out a sigh, as he stood up. “Page listen-”
Page hit one of the lockers, causing both Matt and Nick to jump a bit. “No. Answer the question.”
Dalton’s eyes widened, and he covered his smile with his hands. “I'm so happy I'm apart of this.” He said in a hushed tone.
“Yes..I did but-”
Page scoffed. “You're dead.” He said, before stepping towards him. Kenny put a hand on his chest.
“Don't stop him!” Dalton whisper screamed.
“Woah! Calm down, give Marty a chance to explain himself, I’m sure he has an explanation.”
Page crossed his arms, and scoffed again.
“Well go on ahead Marty. Why were you going through my phone, and looking at pictures that Y/N sent me?”
Marty cleared his throat.
“You left your phone ‘ere..I picked it up, all of ‘vat was already on ‘va screen. It was an honest mistake, ‘m sorry!” He explained.
Page cleared his throat. “No, it wasn’t a mistake. And even if it was, why would I believe you? No Marty, the only mistake here, is you.”
Marty rolled his eyes, and crossed his arms. “You know ‘wha? Believe ‘whaeva you want. But at least I know for a fact that what I did, was accidental, what about what you’re doing to me, right now?”
Page rolled his eyes, and exhaled sharply. “What are you talking about now?” He growled.
“I’m talking about ‘va fact, ‘vat you know ‘ow much I still love her, and ‘ow much I miss her. But ‘vat didn’t stop you, from going after her. Did it? But you don’t care about ‘vat. Do you?” Marty shrugged. “And I get it. I deserve ‘vis. But one day, you’re gonna be the ex. Hopefully, she won’t leave you for someone you thought was your friend.”
I rubbed the temples of my forehead, I had no words.
“Marty, look.” Page started. “Me and you, are friends. But Y/N, is my best friend. So, whatever she wants, comes first, always. If I have the chance, to make her happy, I’m gonna take it. And it just so happens, that what she wants, and what makes her happy, is me.”
Marty smirked slightly, and cocked his head. “Yeah. For now.”
Page grabbed him by the shirt. “If you didn’t have a match tonight, I’d kick your a*s. So, you’d better hope, that I’m not here when your match is over, and you should thank, whoever talks me out of waiting for you. If anyone does, that is.”
“I really hope nobody talks him out of it.” Dalton mumbled, as he breathed a laugh.
Kenny rolled his eyes, at Dalton’s response, before turning his attention back to Marty and Page.
“Both of you, need to calm down for a second. Marty, just go get your gear on, Page go get your street clothes back on, Dalton, go away, and take The Bucks with you.” He stated, as he guided them out, then he and Marty left as well.
I let out a relieved sigh, as I leaned against the wall.
“Well, that was...fun.” I smiled.
He breathed a laugh, as he grabbed his clothes. “Yeah, sorry about him..and I’m sorry for how I handled that.”
I shook my head. “No need to be sorry. I thought you handled it well. Better than most would’ve. You didn’t blurt out anything personal, so..there’s that.”
He sighed. “Well, I did mention that you told me he was jealous of me..I felt pathetic saying it though. I don’t wanna be one of those guys Y/N..” He trailed off.
I walked towards him, and cupped his face. “You aren’t one of those guys. You couldn’t be. I’m never gonna be mad at you, for being upset about something. If you feel like you need to kick someone’s a*s, then by all means, go for it.” I chuckled.
He smiled in response.
“So, I guess I should wait outside, and let you change.” I said, and he chuckled.
“You could stay, you know..”
I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s such a great idea. Not very professional, you know?” I smiled.
“Oh, so it’s okay to send me photos of you while I’m trying to get ready for a match, but me tempting you is unprofessional?” He teased. I bit my lip, and smiled at the ground. He put his hand under my chin, and tilted my head up to look at him, he didn’t say anything, he just kissed me, smiling when he pulled away.
I cocked my head. “What was that for?” I asked, starting to smile as he did.
“I’m just..really happy you’re here.” He replied, my smile grew, and I cleared my throat.
“Well..I guess I could stay in here..”
Kenny and Marty came back from their match just as Matt, Nick and Dalton, had gotten done explaining to Cody what’d happened, and Page and me came out of the locker room.
Dalton smiled. “Oh..here we go!”
Page’s face hardened, but he said nothing and just walked out, bumping Marty’s shoulder as he did so.
Marty looked at me, and cleared his throat. “Can I talk to you? Please..?”
I let out a sigh, and crossed my arms. “Yeah. Sure. Whatever.” I rolled my eyes, as I walked down the hall, he followed behind me.
Dalton let out a sigh. “That was a little anticlimactic.”
“So..it’s really him ‘ven?” Marty asked, frowning slightly.
I nodded. “Yeah Marty, it’s him.” I let out a sigh. “I know that it’s not the best news ever but..yeah, I’m with him.”
He cleared his throat, and nodded. “I get it. I don’t like it. But..I get it.” He trailed off, letting a few seconds of silence go by, before looking into my eyes. “I guess me and you, are really done ‘ven hmm?” He sighed.
I nodded. “Yeah Marty..I’m sorry, but yeah it is.”
He cleared his throat again, and hugged me.
It took me by surprise, I hugged him back, and he wrapped his arms tighter around me, as he closed his eyes, and rested his forehead against my shoulder.
We never really got a proper breakup I guess. There was so much tension. It was good to know that it was mostly gone now. I cleared my throat, and pulled away.
“Goodbye Marty..” I smiled softly, before walking away.
I met Page outside, and he laced his hand with mine, before smirking.
“So..we still have a task to fill, if I’m not mistaken..” He trailed off, as he cocked his brow. I smiled.
“You’re very correct. Let’s go.” I replied.
The Bucks, Kenny, and Cody were watching us from inside.
“Ugh. What are we gonna do when this falls apart?” Matt asked, causing Kenny to roll his eyes.
“Would you shut up? Those two are in love, they may not know it yet, but they are.” He smiled.
“She’s been in love before Kenny…” Nick added.
Kenny shook his head. “No, not like this.” He replied, continuing to smile. Cody let out a sigh.
“Yeah, never like this..” He admitted, before handing Kenny the money from the bet, and walking away.
It’d been awhile since then, the only bad thing about this relationship, was almost never getting to see him.
But, today was a different, we were watching a movie on the couch, when he cleared his throat. “Y/N, I have to get something off my chest.” He said, his tone neutral. I breathed a laugh.
“Is it your shirt? I hope it’s your shirt.” I teased, as I moved my head off his shoulder, allowing him to stand. He chuckled.
“That depends on how this goes..” He started, I turned around to grab the remote so that I could pause the movie. When I turned back to look at him, he was down on one knee, ring in hand.
I smiled ear to ear, and covered my mouth. “Oh my gosh..” I replied in a hushed tone. My eyes started to tear up, and he smiled.
“Will you..um..” He cleared his throat. “Marry me?”
I nodded. “Yes! Of course!” I smiled as he stood up. I ran to him, and he wrapped his arms around me and spun me around.
I smiled, and put the ring on before kissing him. I cupped his face, as we pulled away, my smile grew wider.
“Now, about that shirt…”
Before I knew it, I was getting ready for my wedding, I’d talked to some of my friends earlier in the day, but now I was just waiting in my dressing room for my guests to arrive, and taking deep breaths.
Brandi was the only one with me at the moment.
“Are you nervous?” She asked, smiling softly. I nodded.
“A bit. But, it’s weird..I’m actually more calm than I expected.” I replied, before she could answer, there was a knock on my door. She went to answer it.
I was surprised to see it was Kevin Owens, I knew he was coming, i just didn’t expect to see him, until after I was already married.
He smiled, as he walked in and hugged me. “Y/N! You look great.” He exclaimed, I cocked my head.
“Kevin..why are you acting like this?”
He cleared his throat. “What? Can’t I be happy to see a good friend of mine?” He asked, I looked at him with a stern expression, and he let out a sigh as his smile faded. “Okay, fine..but promise not to be mad at me.” He mumbled.
My face hardened. “Kevin. What did you do?”
He looked to the doorway, and cleared his throat, before I saw Adam Cole walk in.
My face dropped, as I looked from Brandi to Kevin.
Kevin mouthed an apology, before walking out. Brandi looked at me, waiting for a sign to tell her to leave, I nodded slightly, and she left, shutting the door behind her.
Adam sighed. “You look..amazing..” He trailed off.
“Adam..why’re you here?” I asked, he cleared his throat.
“Why’d you lie to me? About it being him? I was gonna find out eventually.” He asked.
I rubbed my eyes. “I’m sorry Adam. It wasn’t supposed to go like that. It really wasn’t..” I explained.
“And why am I Kevin’s plus one? You couldn’t invite me?” He questioned, as he crossed his arms. I scoffed, and rolled my eyes.
“Why would I invite you Adam? This is my wedding. You’re my ex boyfriend.” I explained.
“Marty’s here. How is that any different?” He asked.
“Adam. You know it’s not the same.” I sighed, and he shook his head.
“Oh, because he still hangs out with the groom? Because I don’t see how it’s any differ-”
“Because it’s you Adam!” I cut him off, his face softened, and I let out a sigh. “You know it’s not the same as having Marty here. You and me, were together for like four years. You always find a way to show up at the worst times..Adam, you have to let me go. For real this time.” I explained.
“W-What if I can’t?” He sighed, as he shook his head.
“Adam, you can..you have to.” I replied. He nodded in response.
“You know..it’s weird. This makes sense. You and Page. Don’t get me wrong, I hate it, but..it fits. So, if it’s not me..I’m glad it’s him.” He smiled, before hugging me. I hugged him back, and he kissed my forehead, before hesitantly pulling away.
“Happy wedding day Babe.” He smiled once more, before leaving the room.
I called Page soon after, he came in the room and smiled. “Isn’t this bad luck?” He asked.
I sighed, as I hugged him, and buried my face in his chest. “Two of my exes are here. It doesn’t get worse than that.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I saw that Adam was here. I take he talked to you?” He asked, I nodded.
“Page..this is our wedding. Why did we invite anyone?” I breathed a laugh, and he cupped my face, with a smile.
“If I’m being completely honest with you, I have no idea. But here we are, you look absolutely phenomenal, I look pretty decent if I do say so myself.” He teased causing me to chuckle, he breathed a laugh, as he took my hands in his. “So, I say we get married, like we really wanna do, and then we go on our honeymoon, and do what we always do. Which is forget that anyone else in the universe exists, and break a headboard or two.” He continued, as his smile grew.
I chuckled and nodded. “Yeah let’s do that.”
“I gotta say Adam, I didn’t expect you to be ‘ere.” Marty said at the reception. Adam shrugged.
“Yeah, and I didn’t expect to be having a civil conversation with you.” He chuckled.
“I guess we really should’ve spent less time fighting ‘wif each ‘ova.” Marty replied, earning a nod from Adam.
“I hate to admit this, but I was wrong.” He admitted, causing Marty to furrow his brows and cock his head.
“About what?”
“About there not being a person existing that deserves her. He does.” Adam replied, looking over at me and Page. Marty let out a sigh and did the same.
“Yeah..you’re right about ‘vat.”
I really was the happiest I’d ever been.
#adam page#adam page imagine#hangman page#hangman adam page#hangman page imagine#bullet club fanfiction#not my gif
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Baby Steps
Third Chapter in my Something For You Adam Series, in which Adam has to come to terms with being a father and a husband.
The rest of my Something For You Series can be found on my Master List
Fluffy/Angsty with one smutty scene.
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Life had been even crazier since Adam found out about the baby.
I had insisted on staying behind, keeping my job and my crappy little apartment while he went on his American tours. He came back as often as possible, but not often enough for either one of our liking.
During his last trip home, things got even more crazy. Apparently Adam, or I suspected Nick, had been checking out properties in his down time. We looked at three houses before I fell in love with one. I never dreamed that we would actually buy a home. The minute my eyes fell on the great foyer and the huge living room, I was besotted with it all.
“Is this the one?” Adam walked up behind me, his hands creeping around my waist and resting on my stomach.
“One what?” I mumbled, my eyes still taking everything in.
“Do you want this house?” he whispered against the side of my neck, just below my ear.
“Are you serious?” I laughed, my hands moving to cover his.
“Is this the house you want our kid to grow up in?” his fingers pressed lightly into my belly.
I felt butterflies in my stomach and smiled. Approval from he or she.
I turned around, my hands gripping the loose t-shirt he was wearing.
“What do you think?”
“If I was a kid, I’d like it,” he grinned at me.
That was that. Within a few weeks, we were the proud owners of a four bedroom, three and a half bath, with a huge backyard.
And within days, he was back on the road again.
The house felt so lonely, so big and cold without him.
My parents and brothers helped move everything in after Adam was gone.
It was all a lot to comprehend for them too. Their daughter and sister, getting knocked up by some guy they had never met. My dad and my older brother were the worst. They would barely even look at Adam the few times he had been around and my brother kept asking me if I was being forced into doing everything.
It was better when they stayed away, even if it meant too much time alone. Too much time to sit and think, to ponder what was happening on the road. Things like how many drinks the club had kicked back that night, who Adam was rooming with, what kind of girls were walking up to him at the shows.
As my stomach grew every day, my confidence dropped. I had never felt insecure about my body but now, it was a constant inner battle. I knew I needed to get a grip on it. I was only four months, things were going to get dramatically different.
I finally did it.
I broke down and bought my first maternity clothes. I had tried desperately to keep myself in my regular outfits. I couldn’t do it any longer. My pants fit just a little too snug and my shirts clung to me in the all the wrong places.
I had purchased one dress amongst the sea of jeans and tops. It was a dark violet color with an empire waist that was supposed to quote ‘accentuate my ever growing curves’. Basically that meant, hide your fat and make it obvious that you were pregnant.
“I got the number of the guy to paint the kitchen,” Adam came into the bedroom.
He only had on his jeans, his shirt discarded probably downstairs in the gym he was putting together.
“Good,” I nodded, running my hands over my stomach as I stood in front of the mirror in my dress.
“That looks nice,” he smiled, closing the distance between us to stand behind me.
“Don’t lie,” I sighed “I can take the truth.”
“It does,” he rested his chin on my shoulder, while we both stared at our reflections.
“Adam,” I groaned “I look huge already.”
“Stop that shit,” he let go of me and started rummaging through his pocket for the phone number he had written down.
He started rambling on about paint colors and time slots but I stopped listening. I kept running my hand over my stomach.
“Hey, you hearing me?” he finally caught me.
“Yeah,” I lied, turning to him “I have to pick a paint color in the next two days.”
“Yeah, cause I wanna help oversee it and I gotta go back on the road Friday,” he twisted his hair up off his neck.
“Friday,” I groaned, walking closer to him.
His eyes dropped and he let out a heavy sigh.
“You agreed…”
“I know,” I sank down onto our california king and wrapped the comforter around me.
He sat down beside me and ran his hands over his face.
“I know this is a lot,” he looked over at me “The house and the baby and me being gone all the time.”
“It really is,” I breathed out in a frustrated laugh “It’s a lot to process.”
“What about me?” he grew slightly defensive “I got a kid on the way, a mortgage…”
“And it’s not what you pictured all those months ago,” I finished for him.
“That’s not what I meant,” he turned to face me “I’m just saying it’s a big change for both of us.”
“And tomorrow we find out,” I chewed on my lower lip.
I had made the appointment to find out the sex of the baby while Adam was in town. I wouldn’t dream of doing that without him.
“What do you want?” he raised an eyebrow.
Surprisingly, we had yet to have this conversation.
“A girl,” I admitted “But I know you want a boy.”
“Yeah,” his mouth curled up in a grin “A boy would be nice.”
“But if it’s a girl…”
“She’ll be spoiled rotten,” he finished, standing to his feet “I gotta go call this guy.”
I nodded and stood too, drawing his warm half-naked body against mine. His hands lightly roamed down my back, soothingly.
“It’ll be all right, sweetheart,” he whispered.
But I knew he was as unsure as I was in that moment.
Adam was extremely uncomfortable in the doctor’s office. I sat up on the table, in my little gown, ready for inspection. He cowered in the corner, his arms crossed and his thumb dancing across his lower lip.
“You ok?” I glanced over at him, as we waited on the technician.
“Yeah,” he dropped his hand and licked his lip a few times “I’m good.”
I didn’t argue with him.
“Ok,” Jessica, the technician, came into the room “We ready?”
She had done my first ultra sound and I really liked her.
“Yes,” I scooted up on the table a little “More than.”
“Is this dad?” she turned to Adam, still shrinking in the corner.
“Adam,” he walked toward her nervously.
“Nice to meet you,” she smiled “I’m glad you could be here for this.”
He looked annoyed and slid onto the stool next to the table. He didn’t say a word as she prepped everything and as she started sliding the probe across my stomach, I swear I saw him flinch.
“Ok, what do you guys want?” she asked absently, pressing a little harder onto my stomach.
“Boy,” Adam answered immediately.
“Well,” she stared at the screen “How about a girl?”
I felt his hand grip my arm that was lying by my side. He looked beyond terrified now.
“A girl,” I smiled, trying my best to ignore his less than happy reaction.
“Mhm,” she looked up at me “Is that what you wanted?”
I nodded quietly.
“You ok with that, dad?” she looked over at Adam.
He managed a nod but his brow was already creased and his thumb had went back to playing with his lip.
She cleaned my stomach off and printed a few pictures for us.
“Doctor will be in shortly,” she smiled at me before she left the room.
“You’re mad,” I sighed, running my hand through my hair.
“What?” he looked up from the trance he had been in “No, no I’m not mad.”
“But…” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“What am I supposed to do with a girl?” he looked clearly bewildered “Boys I can do…But a girl.”
“It will be fine,” I smiled, trying to reach for his hand but he did nothing to try to close the gap.
“Yeah,” he stood up, starting to pace “Yeah, I know it will.”
“Try to be a little happy,” I felt tears starting to form in the corners of my eyes.
“I am,” he noticed, walking over and running his hand over the top of my head “I am, sweetheart. I swear.”
Liar.
The drive home was more than quiet. It was deafening. I stared at the pictures over and over again. Our little girl. It was amazing to know she was inside of me. Suddenly, that bump that I was so disgusted with earlier didn’t seem so bad.
I texted my family, avoiding any more uncomfortable conversations, letting them know. My mother texted back overjoyed, nobody else responded right away.
Adam’s eyes stayed glued to the road all the way until we pulled into our driveway. I climbed out and followed him inside, nervously playing with the hem of the violet dress I had decided to wear. Silly me, thinking this would be some big occasion.
He went straight to the kitchen and pulled a beer out, snapping the cap off and tossing it onto our marble countertop.
I laid the papers and pictures down on the kitchen island, and turned to go upstairs.
I felt the warmth of his tight hand gripping me and turning me around against him. He looked down at me, a few pieces of hair falling from his bun.
“You ok?” he whispered, his thumb tracing my cheek.
“I’m fine,” I heard the anger in my voice.
“I just need a little time,” he shook his head slowly “Knowing you’re having a kid and seeing the kid on a screen are two different things.”
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat. He had been really excited when he found out two months ago, now he looked the absolute opposite.
“Adam,” I chewed on my lip nervously “If you’ve changed your mind…”
“Hey,” his grip on my face tightened “Hey, don’t talk like that, ok? I told you, I’m all in for this. You and me.”
I nodded, but I wasn’t sure he even believed what he was saying at this point.
“You wanna go upstairs?” he pressed his lips against my neck, his tongue sliding down and then back up to my earlobe.
“Now?” I gasped, my hands trailing down his chest.
“Mhm,” he breathed against my ear, his hand wandering up my leg underneath my dress.
“Adam…”
“We need to relieve some of this tension,” he looked back into my eyes “I need to.”
We had been having sex regularly when he came home but the last few times I had been hesitant with my changing body. I just couldn’t get used to it.
“You really want me, like this?” I stared up at him, my eyes wide.
“Why wouldn’t I?” a smile curved on his lips “I think it’s kinda sexy.”
I blushed, not knowing whether or not to believe him.
His arms picked me up, hooking one under my knees and carried me toward the staircase. I nestled my head into the crook of his neck and listened to his heartbeat quicken.
Once we reached the bedroom, he laid me gently on the bed and stripped his shirt off. My eager fingers reached out to glide along his abs as he hovered over me.
“I miss you,” I admitted sheepishly.
“You have no idea,” he lowered his lips just above mine “How much I miss you every single night.”
He finally kissed me, his tongue slinking inside my mouth and colliding with my all to eager one. Little gasps escaped me with every parting of our lips and he moaned back in reply.
Adam raised up, his fingers wiggling my underwear off my ever widening hips.
“Can I leave my dress on?” I whispered, when he leaned down to kiss me again.
“Baby,” he sighed, his hands sliding up underneath it “Don’t hide yourself from me.”
I nodded slowly and sat up, allowing him to pull it over my head. The only good thing to come of all this, was my breasts had grown larger already. That was something I knew he didn’t mind at all. He danced his tongue across the part of them that wasn’t inside the cups of my bra and I gripped my fingers in his hair.
He moved down slowly, planting kisses down the middle of my body. I fidgeted, uncomfortable for a few seconds, as he grew closer to my stomach. When he reached it, he looked up at me as he kissed all around the little bump there.
“I’m sorry,” he breathed against my skin.
I brought his head back up and pressed my forehead into his.
“I’m scared too,” I whispered.
He raised his lips to my forehead and then leaned back on his knees, straddling me. He unzipped his jeans, pushing them and his boxers off his lean hips.
Adam ran his hand through his hair, brushing it out of his face as he held his weight over me on his strong arms. He slowly pushed himself inside me and I moaned, feeling my toes curl into the mattress.
He had been home two days but both of us had been so distracted, this was the first time we had been intimate. I had missed him inside me, around me, looking straight into my soul with those piercing eyes.
He bucked his hips slowly against me, treading lightly, cautiously. His mouth, bent down to tug at my bra, signaling he wanted it off. I raised up and removed it, dropping it beside me.
His tongue sailed over each of my breasts, as he let out groans of enjoyment.
“You like them, huh?” I panted, my chest much more sensitive than ever.
“Mhm,” he looked up at me, his mouth nibbling at the curve of my left breast.
I reached around and dug my fingers into the tight flesh of his ass, urging him into me harder. I felt him holding back.
“I can take it,” I whispered into his mouth when it found mine again.
“Sweetheart,” he mumbled against my cheek.
“Please,” I panted, my body aching for him “Please, baby.”
He raised up and took hold of my hips. He closed his eyes, as if he was silently praying I didn’t break, and then picked up his pace. His hips slapped against mine, his breath quickened. I could see the veins that bulged in his arms whenever he was exerting himself.
I ran my tongue over my, now dry, lips and rolled my head back into the pillow.
“Adam,” I moaned, letting him know that I was enjoying it.
I tilted my head up to stare at him. For the first time since he came home, he looked like himself. There was no worry, no stress, no frustration on his face.
I felt his fingers dig deeper into my hips and his thrusts quickened to the point where I felt my orgasm building in my body.
“Don’t stop,” I managed to get out, hooking my legs around his waist.
He tilted his head down, his mouth lightly grazing over my throat and collarbone before he started pushing quicker.
“Shit,” I mumbled, as I felt myself contract around him.
In a matter of seconds, he groaned and the familiar warm feeling entered me.
“You ok?” was his immediate response.
I put my finger to his lips to hush him up and he smiled against it.
While Adam continued to work and travel, I stayed home with an ever growing belly and a house I wanted to look perfect.
I put all my energy into decorating. My mother proved to be a great help, as well as a few of my girlfriends. Slowly but surely the house was coming together.
The nursery was a different story. I desperately wanted Adam’s help with it but every time he came home, he never seemed to find the time.
When I was seven months, he came home from a three week trip.
After a late night workout, he came upstairs to find me sitting in the middle of the nursery floor. I had paint swatches laid out in a circle all around me and didn’t even notice him.
“What are you doing?” I heard him from behind.
“Someone has to get this room ready,” I sighed over my shoulder.
“I told you I would help you,” he walked further inside and squatted down beside me.
He ran his hands over the swatches, picking up a few.
“I want pink and grey,” I spoke without being asked.
He didn’t answer, he just started separating the colors into pairs.
“And I want to spell her name out above her crib.”
He nodded, still concentrating on the paint.
“Adam,” I whispered, pulling his chin toward me “She doesn’t have a name.”
He sat down then, running his hands over his track pants nervously.
“A name,” he laughed “I hadn’t even thought of that.”
A little part of me was offended. All right, more than a little.
“Seriously?” I shook my head in disbelief.
“Ok, a name,” he shifted to face me with his whole body “Let’s do this.”
“I like Rebekah,” I began “But spelled with a 'k’.”
“Ok,” he nodded “If you like that then…”
“No,” I rolled my eyes “That’s not how this works. You don’t just agree on the first name I mention. We have a conversation together about the names we like.”
“Ok, I’m sorry,” he sighed.
“What names do you like?”
He sat in silence, his eyes dancing all over the sad little room.
“Adam?”
“Olivia,” he finally spoke “My grandmother’s name.”
“I like that name,” I smiled softly and scooted closer to him.
“That’s it?” he smirked “You don’t come up with another name and we go back and forth all night?”
“No,” I shook my head “Olivia Rebekah sounds good to me.”
He nodded and grabbed up a set of grey and pink squares.
“These?”
I nodded my approval.
“I’ll call the painters tomorrow,” he stood up “I’ll get them to paint the guest room too while they’re here.”
“What about furniture?” I stood up with help from his extended hand “We still need a lot of furniture for her.”
“Just pick out what you like and I’ll set it up for you,” he rested his hands on his hips.
I nodded, even though I wanted him to help me decide.
“It’s called a push present,” Nick sat across from Adam at our dining room table.
“A what?” Adam laughed, tilting his beer bottle up to his lips.
“Yeah, you buy them something nice to thank them for going through hell having your kid,” he shrugged, raising his own beer.
I stood just outside the doorway listening. I knew I shouldn’t be doing it. Nick had come over to be with Adam, in private 'guy’ conversations. I just couldn’t help myself. I hoped I could read more into Adam’s attitude if I could hear what he said to his friend.
“There’s too many rules to this, man,” Adam ran the back of his hand over his mouth.
“Hey, it’s not as bad as you think,” Nick leaned forward toward him “Y/N is a great woman. I admit, I never thought I’d see you settle down but I’m glad it’s with her….You gotta stop being so scared, man. You’re fucking petrified right now. It’s all over your face.”
“Look at this,” Adam held his arms to his sides “Look at this house. I have a house with a nursery in it.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“No, no it’s not,” Adam leaned up on the table, his hands running down his face “I just, this isn’t what I’m good at. I don’t know how to do this.”
“Yeah you do,” Nick’s face grew serious “You know exactly what to do. You’ve never, not in the years I have known you, never looked at a woman the way you look at her. She didn’t make you buy a house, or make you raise a baby with her…That was your choice. You wanna know why?”
“Why?” Adam scoffed nervously.
“Because you want it. Deep down inside of you, you want all of this. So stop being such a fucking pussy and just take it. Be happy, man.”
I wrapped my arms around myself. Nick seemed sure of what Adam wanted. But did he?
“Where is he?” I whimpered, sitting up and feeling the contraction take over what felt like my whole body.
“He’s on his way, honey,” my mom ran her hand over my arm comfortingly.
“He shouldn’t have left you,” my brother huffed from his place in the corner “They say it could be any minute and that jackass jumps on a plane…”
“Shut up,” I growled through my pain “You’re not helping!”
“How about everybody go outside? Get some air, take a little break?” the nurse who was checking my vitals suggested.
“Yes,” I cut my eyes over at my brother “Please, get some air.”
They all trudged out, including my mom.
“Where is the father?” the nurse raised an eyebrow once they had all left.
“On a plane, but it should have landed…by now,” I groaned, as I fought through the contraction.
“I hope he hurries,” she sighed “This baby is coming soon.”
I laid my head back as the pain settled for a moment. I could feel my hair sticking to my forehead. I had never felt so gross in my life.
“Y/N!” I heard Adam’s voice as he came in the door and I let out a weak sigh of relief.
“Adam,” I gasped, as yet another pain took over.
“I’m going to get the doctor,” the nurse smiled “This baby is coming.”
“Adam, I’m scared,” I reached out and gripped his hand.
“It hurts bad, huh?” he looked at me with genuine concern.
“So bad,” I shook my head “I don’t think I can do this.”
The pain was unbearable, the thought of having to push Olivia out of my body was petrifying and something I had chose not to think about my entire pregnancy.
Adam looked a mess. His hair was lopsided on top of his head and he had on an old club t-shirt.
“I can’t,” I shook my head again.
“You look at me,” he turned my face to look directly at his “You are the bravest, sexiest, most amazing woman I have ever met in my entire life. If anyone can do this, it’s you. You were willing to have this baby by yourself, without me, without anyone. You got more guts than most of the guys I work with, sweetheart.”
The contraction subsided and he ran his hand over my forehead, pushing back my hair that was still clinging to my face.
“I got you something,” he dug into the pocket of his jeans.
“You got me a push present?” I kidded with a laugh, as I tried to distract myself from the pain.
“More than that,” he opened the ring box he was holding “I got a question for you.”
“Adam,” I ran my finger over the beautiful diamond at the center.
“Olivia is gonna be here any minute,” he licked his lips nervously “We’re gonna have our baby, we got our house, sweetheart all I need is for you to be my wife.”
“Fuck,” I grunted, the strongest contraction yet taking over.
“Was that a yes?” he stood up, his hand running over my head again.
I nodded, despite the pain and stuck my ring finger out. He slid it up over my knuckle and lightly kissed it.
“Ok,” the doctor came into the room “We ready to have a baby?”
“Yes sir,” Adam smiled.
“She’s perfect,” I held her in my arms fifteen minutes later “I just can’t believe that we made her…She’s ours.”
Adam had yet to hold her. He had this look on his face of disbelief and I couldn’t really blame him. All the ultrasound pictures in the world couldn’t prepare you for coming face to face with your baby.
“Here,” I looked up at him “Hold her.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he shook his head “I don’t…”
“Adam,” I narrowed my eyes at him.
He slowly reached out, his hands shaking as I placed our beautiful girl into his arms. He held her tight against him.
“She is beautiful, isn’t she?” he smiled down at me.
I nodded, readjusting the pillow behind my head.
“She gets it from her mom.”
“I don’t know…” I kidded “Her dad’s pretty hot.”
“Oh yeah?” he smirked, leaning down to kiss me quickly on the lips.
I watched him with her for a few minutes. He was in love. His eyes had a light in them that I had never seen.
“You were really great dealing with me,” I whispered hoarsely “All the screaming and squeezing your hand.”
“Death grip,” he laughed “Seriously, we might could find a place for you in the business, if you’re interested.”
“No thanks,” I smiled over at Olivia “I’ve got more important things to do.”
He slid into the bed beside me, still holding our daughter in his now more steady arms.
“We’re gonna do this aren’t we?” he smiled.
“Don’t say things you don’t mean Mr. Cole,” I ran my hand along the side of his face.
“I would never do that to the future Mrs. Cole,” he whispered over our sleeping daughter “Especially in front of our child.”
“I never got to tell you, the ring is beautiful,” I held it up in the light.
“Nick went with me,” he admitted.
“Nick did good,” I kissed Adam’s cheek.
He licked the smile off his lips and looked down at Olivia again.
“How did I get so damn lucky?”
I cuddled closer to him, resting my head on his shoulder so I could look down at her too.
“It won’t be quiet for long,” I whispered “My mom said, her words, some guy named Kenny called and there was a lot of yelling in the back ground and something about sweet things.”
Adam laughed and kissed the top of my head.
“Olivia,” he looked down at our daughter “You’re in for a wild ride.”
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Late nights and Early mornings, a constant mantra at SXSW, and plague on my soul. Day 3 starts only a couple of hours after Day 2 ends, but this first session in the morning at 9:30am is a must for me, as I’m current affairs “woke”, as the kids say.
First session is “Cover POTUS as the Failing New York Times”. The title alone is enough to guarantee my attendance… and apparently 2,000 others as this session was a packed to capacity, which is saying quite a bit for such an early session. The session was lead by NYT columnist Jim Rutenberg, who was having a fireside chat/interview with his boss, NYT Executive Editor Dean Baquet. It was an excellent discussion on journalism’s role in politics, combating fake news, the economic model of news agencies in the 21st century, and of course, covering Trump, all the while cracking jokes in an engaging and lively session.
Here are some significant takeaway quotes/points from Dean Baquet (not verbatim):
“Trump wants the favor of NYT and when he doesn’t get it, goes into a rage.”
“I think it’s more important to cover the story and say it’s false, then to not cover it at all because it’s false.”
“We are hiring like crazy, 3 renown investigative reporters, bulked up white house and political coverage. We are preparing for the story of a generation. There are going to be 20 books written about this period in Journalism.”
“The original mission of the collective community of journalists became clear again after the election: aggressive coverage of the government.”
“The reason Breitbart is not journalism is because they are not in seek of the honorable pursuit of the truth.”
“The next generation doesn’t understand the secret text of journalism. They don’t realize an NYT journalist risked their lives to bring news from Aleppo Syria.” …On what the difference is between bloggers and journalists.
“200 stories are put out a day by 1,300 NYT employees.”
“Digital headlines are different from print. They have to tell more, since it’s just a headline link, rather than a print paper with a picture and layout architecture.”
Next, I headed to WeDC house for their session “Technology & Storytelling”, for reasons that should be obvious if you are reading this article. Halfway through this session, they had to pause and clear everyone out because an attendee fainted. SXSW is a marathon, not a sprint; make sure you eat, drink, and sleep! The session continue after EMS took the woman out. The session focused on VR experiences in story telling, which, though very interesting to me, is not a medium I am currently in, and as a result, I left early.
Next up was a podcast meetup, so I could share and brainstorm ideas about pod-casting to level up my own podcast I co-host, The Feedbak (www.thefeedbakcom), that covers lifestyle, culture, politics, events of leisure events, with a focus on music and nightlife. The meetup was in a conference room the JW Marriot. A good sized crowd, but unfortunately the execution of the meetup became more of a Q&A session hosted by the organizers rather than a chance to talk with other pod-casters and share ideas. As a result, I again left early, though I did gain a little knowledge from a few questions answered.
Back at the WeDC house earlier, I had sparked up a quick conversation with my neighbors in line who told me about Neil DeGrasse Tyson (NDT) making an appearance at the National Geographic (Natgeo) house at 3pm. With this intel in hand as I left the podcast meetup, I headed straight for Natgeo.
Natgeo is, surprisingly, crushing it this year at SXSW! They have an open bar with a great listing of Natgeo TV show themed drinks (covered in Day 1 article). They also have great interviews, VR sessions, giveaways, and even parties/shows at night. If such as a thing as “nerd lit” exists, Natgeo is undeniably it.
I hit Natgeo over an hour before NDT was to go on. I sampled some drinks and did some work on my laptop while a session narrated by a NatGeo photographer David Guttenfelder on his photography work in North Korea (which was rather amazing).
Once that finish, Neil DeGrasse Tyson took the stage with director Ron Howard to talk sciene shop on science/scientist in movies/tv and Natgeo’s new tv show directed by Ron Howard about Albert Einstein called “Genius”. This session was amazing. NDT lead the conversation, asking questions of Ron Howard, while constantly cracking jokes and commentary; NDT’s charisma is a godsend for the science community. The crowd laughed, applauded, and was just overall in rapture during the entire hour long session. Natgeo even gave away thick, illustrated coffee table books on NDT’s Star Talk show.
Here’s a few quotables/points taken away:
“No nation owns science. If your country pulls back on science, then others will arise to take your place.”
“Scientists have not been viewed as fellow human beings until recently when TV/Movies began creating scientist characters with fleshed out personalities.”
“First get your facts straight, then distort the facts.” — Mark Twain as quoted by NDT.
Next and final conference session of the day to hit was Mark Cuban’s “Is Govt Disrupting Disruption?” This was another 2,000 full capacity session in the same ballroom in the Austin Convention Center (ACC) as the NYT session earlier that day. The session also featured founder of The Zebra, Adam Lyons, and was moderated by Michele Skelding of UT-Austin.
The session was OK, but compared to the earlier NYT and NatGeo sessions, I found myself becoming victim to my lack of sleep and nodding off. The overall theme of the discussion was around what the government should regulate and what it should not, a time old debate in the US and many other countries. I didn’t hear too much new, but several laughs and some additional humorous comments about Trump kept my eyes open more often than not. I did take down one statement (not verbatim) by Cuban that stood out to me:
“I’m a libertarian, but I evolved through empathy that we as a society need to take on Healthcare so that, as Reagan said, we don’t have people falling over dying in the streets.” …on some healthcare as a right in the US.
With the day sessions behind me, I needed a bite, a drink and some conversation. I met up with some of the Domination Team at the “Health & Tech” happy hour at WuChow sponsored by Aetna.
This happy hour was specifically chosen because WuChow is the finest, fanciest, most delicious Chinese/Taiwanese restaurant in Austin and it plays old school 80s and 90s hip-hop exclusively to boot! True to form, excellent food at this venue along with crafty cocktails; it was packed, but I still made some friends with strangers and ate/drank rather well.
Meanwhile, most of the Domination Team was at Sidewinder’s bar for Canada’s “Eh” party. Food and drinks kept everyone there adding some lively energy to the party until the DJ played several songs of Canada’s own Celine Dion. That’s a quick way to get people to leave a party; Celine might be great, but she isn’t party great.
Other’s in the Domination Team got detoured from the Canadian party by a bar on sixth street wooing them off their path as they were walking by and giving them a free bottle service of liquor to just hang out for awhile. Helps to be pretty, turned up, and pushing good energy!
Next, I hit up the Hangar Lounge for Shopgate’s Decoded Fashion closing party. Made it a little late for food, but drinks, good music, and catching up with several members of the Domination Team kept me around for awhile. I eventually bailed and snuck back home to drop off my laptop, freshen up, and nap. Except the nap never happened; I instead hopped right back out in the SXSW mix for a show!
I first stopped by Empire Garage & Control Room to catch a few sets of some of my favorite local Austin acts (Riders Against the Storm, Magna Carda, Ava Rain, Alesi Lani and more.
After that, I went to my true destination: Vevo House At Pelons Bar where Nick Grant and Jay Electronica were performing. Upon walking into the door (entrance granted by showing tweet of the show flyer), a waiter insisted we take shots of tequila he was passing out. I refused at first (can’t be getting too wasted and I had been drinking all day), but the waiter then gave a lengthy description on the incredibleness of the tequila that ended with him saying it was $60 a shot. Although I don���t believe the $60 price tag nor remember the length story of the tequila, for the waiter’s notable efforts, I went ahead and downed a shot. Helps it was free! We later dubbed the Tequila “Mermaid Tears” since that’s about the only liquid we could think of worth $60 a shot.
I missed Nick Grant’s show at Vevo House, but caught Jay Electronica start to finish. Holy Hell, Jay can flow and perform… he rocked the hell outta that house. He came into the crowd of that tiny venue and stage multiple times, I have several selfie photos and videos to show for it. He even pulled a random Austin audience member claiming to be an artist and let him freestyle on stage for a minute or two. Overall, top notch hiphop performance, and I don’t say that very often about shows without a band or big stage presence/production.
Meanwhile, the majority of the Domination Team was at The Belmont venue for the Holonis party, taking picture’s with their childhood crush Mario Lopez (aka A.C. Slater), Bow Wow, and watching a show by Warren G. Open bar was flowing the whole time, and so were the smiles and turnup’ness.
A few others of the Domination Team closed it out at Intel’s AI Lounge where local Austin artist Mobley (think Pharrell but plays all the instruments live too).
After the Jay Electronica show, I called it a night at the incredulous early SXSW time of 11:30pm; the less than 3 hours of sleep the night before had fully taken its toll.
2017 SXSW CHRONICLES: Neil DeGrasse Tyson + Jay Electronica // DAY 3 Late nights and Early mornings, a constant mantra at SXSW, and plague on my soul. Day 3 starts only a couple of hours after Day 2 ends, but this first session in the morning at 9:30am is a must for me, as I'm current affairs "woke", as the kids say.
#art#austin#domination team#fashion#film#hiohop#interactive#Jay Electronica#lifestyle#mobley#music#politics#sxsw#sxsw17#sxswfilm#sxswinteractive#sxswmusic#technology#texas
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