#Don Callaway

[letterboxd-loggd]

The Lineup (1958) Don Siegel

January 2nd 2023

[toournextadventure]

our little secret ii

Summary: You're never one to turn down a weekend with Lorraine. But everyone seems to think it's the perfect time to remind you of the reality of the situation. At least the rodeo clowns get paid for what they do; you seem to do the job for free. At least you get to have some fun with Lorraine before resuming your Good Girl act.

Word Count: 8.5k Warnings: 18+ smut, swearing, religious trauma, religious homophobia, blasphemy Pairing: Lorraine Day x Fem!Reader (Masterlist)

"Mornin', darlin'."

You kept your eyes trained on Beau in the corral when you felt Huck's arm brush against your own before he slung it over your shoulder. Instinct had you leaning into him. He smelled like fresh sawdust and hay. Smelled like comfort.

"Mornin'," you replied softly.

"Where's your better half?" He asked. That did have you tilting your head to look up into his sparkling eyes and kind smile.

"Which one?" You asked. "RJ's?" You turned to look back at the corral. "Or ours?"

"That idjit ain't nobody's better half." You felt his body shake with a laughter that you couldn't quite hear.

"Ain't that God's honest truth," you said when his fella, bless his heart, tried to wave to the both of you and was toppled over by a stray calf. 

"I meant Lorraine," Huck said once you both made sure Beau was on his feet and safe again. "She at another shoot?"

"Yeah," you sighed. Lorraine's smile flashed in your mind's eye. "Guess they're gettin' good at it cause they're gone all the time now."

"Ain't that a good thing though?" He asked. The bell rang, making you jump. You hated when they tested the damn bell. "Means they're doin' somethin' right."

"Guess so," you mumbled to yourself.

You did hope they were doing something right. Lorraine mentioned that she genuinely loved making the films; not always being in them, but the behind-the-scenes, technical side of it. Her face always lit up when she talked about it and you would never wish for her to fail even if it meant RJ had to succeed with her.

But you missed her. You missed having more than two or three days together at a time before she had to leave again. It wasn’t her fault, and you wanted her to have the successful film career she wanted, and you honestly trusted Jackson more than you trusted RJ. None of it really meant much when you couldn’t even talk to her though.

Another calf ran in front of you, beating out the wrangler once again and pulling you back to the present. Seemed they would be the winners over the weekend if they kept it up. It always made for a less than exciting rodeo if the calves kept winning. What fun was there in no one even qualifying? It wasn't like there was any real compet-

"-What the hell is he doin'?" You asked, pointing to where Beau was donning a very specific vest.

"Better not be what I think it is," Huck mumbled before putting his fingers to his lips and whistling.

Beau turned instantly, eyes landing on the both of you for only a moment before he started jogging over. His boots left the smallest cloud of dust behind him until he hopped onto the fence you were both leaning against. He instinctively went to kiss Huck before remembering where he was, redirecting the kiss to your cheek.

"What on God's green earth do you think you're doin' with that on?" You asked as you pulled him by the top of his vest.

“One of the bullfighters got hurt,” he said. “I offered to help since we don’t compete this weekend.”

“Like hell you did,” you said. Just the mere thought of him being in that corral with the bulls had your pulse racing in your ears.

“It’s one weekend, darlin’,” he said with that stupid smile that always got him into trouble. “It’ll be fun-”

“-Beauregard Callaway, you march back over there right this instant and tell them no.”

“You just got full-named,” Huck said quietly enough for only the three of you to hear.

“I can’t just quit-”

“-Huck,” you scolded, turning to look at him next. “Tell him,” you gestured your head to Beau and raised your brows, “before I full-name you next.”

Huck looked between you and Beau as if he was caught between two lions. Which he was, but he better be more afraid of you. Beau was his lover, sure, but you were the scary one. Out of your whole friend group when you were all little, you were the one capable of instilling the fear of god into anyone.

Now was no exception.

“I’d tell ‘em no, baby,” he said to Beau with a shrug.

“That the best you can do?” You scolded again.

“Darlin’, you know he don’t listen to me-”

“-That’s enough, the both of you,” Beau interrupted. “I done said yes already and it’s only one weekend.” He looked you each in the eye before he smiled. “Ain’t never been hurt before.”

“And you ain’t gonna get hurt, right Beauregard?” You asked with a raised brow.

“If the crick don’t rise,” he said with a wink at Huck before hopping off the fence and starting his walk back to the gate.

“You get hurt and I’ll kill you myself!” You shouted after him. He didn’t look back, but flipped his hand up in a half-hearted wave of acknowledgment. Huck laughed beside you and you turned to glare at him next. “You too, Hucksley.”

“Well shit, darlin’, no need to drag me into it,” he grumbled as his smile fell. “I ain’t even the one in trouble.”

“Not yet,” you said quietly before looking back out at the corral once again.

It was mid-afternoon by the time they let Beau go for the rest of the evening, convinced he was good enough for the actual rodeo over the weekend. You made sure to slap him upside the head when he came back around just as an added threat. If he got hurt, you would make it a dozen times worse without hesitation.

“We headin’ to your daddy’s again?” Huck asked when he started the truck up.

“Think so,” you said as you leaned forward between the two front seats. “Momma was s’posed to make supper.” You took note of their linked hands near the center console and smiled to yourself.

Would you ever be able to hold Lorraine’s hand out in the open like that? To just drive around, laughing and singing to the radio without a care in the world? It was finally the ‘80s, surely that had to count for something. Not that the year had anything to do with the many other reasons you weren’t with her.

You’re going to hell, your mind reminded you. It’s a sin. Right. There was a much bigger reason. It continued to eat you from the inside out, picking you apart like a kid feeding bread to the ducks at the pond. Or, what was that old story you heard back in school… Prometheus, that Greek god. The one who had his liver pecked out day after day.

Yeah. Yeah, that’s how it felt.

“Seems your favourite family came over too,” Beau said when he parked the car in front of your house beside the Days’ van. Well, RJ’s van.

“Fantastic,” you mumbled and rolled your eyes.

You didn’t wait for them as you stormed out, slamming the door so hard it shook the truck. No waiting as you stomped up the porch steps, standing outside with your hand on the door handle and taking the moment to just breathe. Daddy couldn’t see you losing it, because what could you possibly say to explain it?

Hey daddy, sorry I’m upset, I’m just tired of seeing the girl I love be with a man that can help her achieve her dreams. Yeah, because that would go over so well.

The moment your breathing had evened out enough to be considered normal, you entered the house to hear excessive talking and laughter. Typical for your household, and it actually brought a smile to your lips. You could hear your parents, and the Days, and the dogs were yappin’ and it was a wonderful atmosphere.

But when you stepped through the kitchen doorway and saw Lorraine sitting on RJ's lap, that sinking feeling settled in your stomach again. He's her boyfriend, you tried to reason, Huck has to watch Beau do the same thing. But that didn't ease the ache from every breath.

"Evenin', y'all," Huck said when he and Beau creeped up behind you. He patted your shoulder lightly before squeezing by you to make his rounds.

"How was setup?" Your daddy asked when Beau shook his hand.

"Smooth as ever," Beau answered with a grin that made your daddy smile.

It made you sick.

"Momma, can I help?" You asked as you walked over to where she was cooking. You didn't want to listen to everyone's conversations.

It was impossible to stop yourself from cocking your head to listen whenever Lorraine spoke. You wished she would speak louder; she was always far too quiet even when she was the most comfortable. A soft voice for a soft girl, your momma had said one day before Lorraine went off to college.

She still tried to hide her face, but not quite so much in your house. Maybe it was the atmosphere everyone created, or just the fact everyone knew it to be a “house of God himself,” thanks to your daddy. You didn’t know, all you knew was you preferred to be in either yours or her house; at least she let you see all of her that way.

Jimmy, Liz, and Roy came in from the back door while you were helping your momma set the food on the table. Jimmy and Liz were all over each other, which was no surprise, and he got a nice smack to the head with momma’s dish towel. Roy on the other hand looked utterly exhausted. Something which was also no surprise.

When your momma announced dinner was ready, everyone took their seats at the large table in the dining room. Huck and Beau sat together, of course, and so did all the other couples. Leaving you to sit with Roy, who gave you a small, reserved smile with a far away look in his eyes.

“Hey, bubba,” you said quietly while everyone else was still talking far too loud.

“Alright y’all,” your daddy said in his booming preacher’s voice, “join hands so we can pray.”

You all did exactly that. Beau gently grasped your left hand while Roy held your right in a vice grip. As your daddy prayed, you could feel the little bones in your hand shift when Roy gripped you tighter, and you knew it would be bruised tomorrow morning. But it seemed to help even his breathing, so you kept your mouth shut until daddy was done.

“Amen,” your daddy said, and everyone mumbled their own amens to follow suit.

Everyone started serving themselves, conversations flowing steadily and easily over the sound of utensils against plates. The dogs were smart, they stayed under the table in between yours and Roy’s legs. They knew you two were most likely to feed them, and what do you know, you always did. You tried to be sneaky about it, hushing them up when they smacked too loud.

Roy didn’t care, he just shamelessly gave them whatever he didn’t want.

“How’s the film business goin’, RJ?” Your daddy asked. You nearly choked on your food at the question.

“Good,” RJ answered with a slow nod as he finished chewing. “I’m hopin’ to have another one finished in a few weeks.”

“Am I ever gonna get to see one of them films?” Your daddy asked.

“Absolutely not,” you said quickly. Far too quickly. Everyone turned to look at you with a mix of emotions. “It just- it ain’t your style,” you tried to explain; a bead of sweat dripped down the back of your neck. “Not a Western, you know?”

“Hmm,” your daddy hummed. “You’re right then, I’ll pass.”

Everyone in the younger group sighed in relief, more than happy that your daddy had agreed with you. Conversation flowed again, going from the rodeo to Lorraine’s college to Jimmy’s seminary. Never to you or Roy, who everyone had determined over the last few weeks was going to stay put. You were no longer going to seminary because someone had to lead the church, and Roy was staying because he had lost his mind.

A typical situation.

“All I know is y’all better be careful out there,” your daddy said. He always seemed to be the voice that brought you out of your own thoughts. It probably meant something deeper that you didn’t want to think too hard about. “The world is turnin’ into a dangerous place.”

“It’s always been dangerous, Pap,” Jimmy chuckled. “We just got more TV and radio to tell us about it.”

“I’m serious, Jim,” your daddy said. “I don’t want none of y’all to get mixed up with those crowds out there.”

“And what crowds would that be, daddy?” You asked. All of you had half-hidden smiles because he usually had something ridiculous to say that you would all agree to and then laugh about later.

“Those damn homosexuals, for one,” he said with a grimace. Everyone around the table froze.

Your eyes stayed glued to the fork you had just stabbed into a potato. The hair on the back of your neck stood up as you felt everyone staring, looking around at each other in uncomfortable silence. With your pulse rushing in your ears and your heart threatening to jump out of your chest, you swore everyone else could hear it too.

“Gonna be infectin’ us with their disease if we don’t watch out,” he continued as if he didn’t care how everyone had stopped moving. “Y’all better stay away.”

“They’re just people, Pap,” Jimmy said in a small voice. A blackness started to encroach on your vision.

“Dangerous, Godless people,” your daddy said. “Which is why y’all have to stick together.”

“They’re still kids Robert-”

“-Stay right by God,” he interrupted your momma. "All of y'all are in good, Godly relationships,” you could feel him looking at you but you still couldn’t look up. It felt like the room was closing in on you. "Stay that way."

“We’ll be careful,” RJ said, his voice putting a lump in your throat that you couldn’t swallow.

“Keep him around, Lorraine,” your daddy said. “He’ll take care of you-”

-you slammed your hands on the table and stood up. The ringing in your ears was drowning everything out and that blackness was covering more and more ground. You could feel each individual grain of the wooden table underneath your fingertips.

He’ll take care of you.

“I ain’t feelin’ too good,” you said around the invisible ball of cotton in your mouth. “May I be excused?”

“Sure, honey-”

-you didn’t wait for your momma to finish talking before you left the kitchen through the back door, your feet taking you straight to the barn. He’ll take care of you. Why did he have to say that? Why did he have to say that in front of you? Wasn’t it enough that you had to break bread with RJ without getting it thrown in your face?

He'll take care of you.

You bit back the scream threatening to claw up your throat until you tasted blood. It filled your mouth until you swore you would choke on it. Part of you hoped you would; give you an excuse to end the mental anguish that constantly flooded your thoughts.

He’ll take care of you.

Like hell he would. Like hell. He couldn’t even take care of himself, how could anyone even possibly think he could take care of Lorraine? All he was was a wannabe filmmaker that wouldn’t even dare show y’all his films. So how on god’s green earth would he take care of Lorraine? Your Lorraine?

The dull thud of your boots on the dirt transitioned to the whispered slap of concrete when you walked through the barn doors and everything stopped. Stepping into the barn was like stepping into another world; all the noise and troubles from the outside ceased to exist, even if just for a few moments. 

It was replaced by the smell of gravel, dirt, and oil. Occasionally sawdust depending on the time of year. The separation was in the temperature drop, thanks to the partial concrete floor and huge space. There was something hypnotising about the sound of the metal walls creaking in the wind outside, yet everything was painfully still inside.

Something brushed up against your jean-clad leg and you nearly jumped from the intrusion to your thoughts. But then you took notice of the black and white tail curling around your calf and your heart rate started to lower again.

“Hey, Miss Kitty,” you mumbled as you bent down and held your hand out to the grumpy old barn cat. “You get locked in?”

She didn’t even dignify your question with a meow before walking off, her tail slinking away from your leg slowly until she was heading out the barn door. Not even a glance back to say goodbye. The complete nerve of that cat.

“I hope you done get ‘et by a coyote,” you called after her as she continued to sashay away. “Then we can finally quit pickin’ up strays.”

“Be nice to her,” Lorraine said softly, though the barn amplified it. “After all, we picked you up.”

“No, you picked RJ up,” you shot back while you straightened back up. “He just proves my point.”

“It isn’t his fault,” she said just as softly as she stepped closer to you. You took a single step back.

“No it ain’t,” you said. Stay right by God. “Clearly it’s God's.”

“Don’t go down that rabbit hole,” Lorraine warned, stepping forward again and placing a hand on your cheek before you could run away.

Her hand was soft, far too soft to be touching you. Why would she be so gentle with you when you were nothing but hidden anger and blasphemous words? And yet you wouldn’t push her away to spare her from your own sins. You wanted to pull her closer, feel her skin under your touch, have her name fall from your lips like a prayer.

“Please stay,” you whispered when you finally dared to meet her eyes.

The short nails on her fingers scratched lightly against your cheek. It was a little too light, hypnotising in the wrong way. There was nothing grounding about it, you felt like you were in a daze. You needed something more, something to drag you back down to earth where you belonged.

“Please,” you whispered again in a broken voice.

“I can’t,” Lorraine whispered back before leaning up and pressing a chaste kiss to your lips. “Everyone is waiting.”

And that right there? That killed you.

—---

At the rate you were going, you might as well start getting paid to be the rodeo clown.

You didn’t know which one of those pea-pickin bastards had done the deed, but someone had invited Lorraine and RJ to the rodeo for the weekend. Part of you highly suspected your mother, but the bashful look on Huck’s face almost made you think it was him. Regardless of who it was, you hadn’t been prepared to deal with the both of them over the weekend.

Was getting rejected in your own barn not punishment enough? Now you had to get publicly humiliated too? Not that anyone knew of your little secret, but it still rubbed salt in the wound. At least you could be down near the corral while RJ and Lorraine were in the stands behind the safety railing. Kept them far enough away from you to relax.

And maybe gave you the perfect position to look at Lorraine, but that was just an added bonus to the situation. It was no less than you deserved for having to put up with all of them for the weekend. You could be forgiven for wanting something pretty to look at while you were having your heart ripped out.

“He looks mighty handsome today, don’t he?” Huck asked, his eyes glued to where Beau was standing around with some of the other volunteers.

“No he don’t,” you said without even looking. “Looks like he needs his ass whooped.”

“You ain’t even lookin’,” he huffed.

You turned your head to finally look where Beau was standing and, you hated to admit, he did look mighty handsome in his new jeans and shirt.

“I looked,” you said, doing your best not to smile. “Still needs his ass whooped.”

"You're so grumpy,” Huck grumbled. You turned your head back to where Lorraine was sitting and felt an icy grip enclose around your heart. "You need to get laid."

“Ain’t that the truth,” you whispered.

The rodeo continued on.

You could tell Huck was getting anxious when the team roping started. Unlike Beau, he actually used the sport in the real world on his neighbour’s ranch. A skill that Beau considered recreational, yet to Huck it was necessary. It made for a fun dynamic, you wouldn’t deny it, especially when they got into arguments about the rules and regulations. Always did make for an exciting night.

But now you could tell he just missed it. He was never one to enjoy sitting on the sidelines, even when it wasn’t his own sport. It was sweet, truly it was, but if he didn’t quit bouncing his leg on the railing and forcing you to suffer with him, you were going to throw him to the bulls. And not the sexy ones.

“I’m beggin’ you to stay still,” you groaned. You reached your hand out and pressed down on his shoulder to ground him into the dirt. “You’re worse than Jim on Christmas.”

“I ain’t doin’ nothin’,” Huck said even as you could practically feel his body vibrating from the effort to stay still. “But you are awful pretty when you beg.”

“I’m gonna pretend you didn’t just say that,” you said as you did your best not to laugh at the ridiculous smile on his face.

"You askin' Lorraine to the hoedown tonight?" Huck asked once the roping was done. Now that you both had a bit of time to look away, it was the perfect time to keep talking.

"Course not," you said with a scrunch of your nose. "She's with RJ."

"Not tonight," he said with a shake of his head and a sniffle; it must have been from the dust. "He's leavin' now."

You turned when Huck gestured his head and saw he was right; RJ was in the process of packing his stuff up. He never had been one for rodeo life. Hell, he didn't even enjoy the events to begin with. All he ever wanted was to try and make a good film out of it and that just wasn't easy enough for him. It'd be a shame if someone finally told him you had to know the sport to film it well.

A damn shame, that was for sure.

"Hurry up before she leaves too," Huck said, pulling you out of your thoughts.

You opened your mouth to argue, but he pushed you forward off the railing. The dirt flew into a small cloud around your boots when you landed, and you sent him a quick glare before jogging over to where Lorraine and RJ were standing up. She seemed much more eager to stay, but you knew she wouldn't if she felt she was alone. That damn shotgun had done a number to her, physically and mentally.

"Leavin' already?" You asked as you quickly hopped up on the railing to be face-to-face with the lovely couple.

"Tryin' to," RJ said with a polite smile that said mind your business. "But we'll be back tomorrow."

"There's a hoedown tonight," you said before he could drag Lorraine away. "Me and the boys were wantin' Lorraine to join us." She turned to look at you with the slightest sparkle in her eye. "Like old times."

"Alright," RJ said without hesitation. It was evident he just wanted to get out of the stadium. Rodeos really weren't his cup of tea. "Need a ride home?"

"She can stay with me," you said before Lorraine could even open her mouth. "Also like old times."

Even though you weren't looking at her, you could feel Lorraine's eyes boring holes into the side of your head. She wasn't stupid; she knew exactly what you were doing. "Old times" just meant Huck and Beau ran off while you and Lorraine had your own fun. But there was the catch; only y'all knew what "old times" meant. Everyone else just thought you were acting like kids all over again.

Oh how sweet.

"Then I'll see you tomorrow, Raine," RJ said, leaning over to give her one more kiss. You quickly wiped the instinctive snarl off your face when he pulled away. "Y'all have fun."

"We will," you and Lorraine said at the same time.

You both watched and waited until he was out of sight before you pulled her over the railing. She yelped out in surprise before her feet hit the dirt and you could take her hand, leading her to where Huck was still waiting. He gave her his best smile and pulled her into a hug when you both got close enough.

"So we've successfully kidnapped you for the night?" Huck asked.

"Seems so," Lorraine said with a raised brow. "Would've been nice to have a warnin’ first."

"Keep your watchdog away for more than two seconds and I'll warn you next time," you said.

"He's not a watchdog," Lorraine said as you both climbed up on the railing, her in between you and Huck.

"Oh, my apologies," you said softly, "I meant your parasite."

"Oh hush up,” she mumbled as she slapped both you and Huck, who weren’t even trying to stifle your laughter. “You need to be nicer to him.”

“Actually, the Lord told me personally that I can be mean,” you said after you managed to calm your laughter down. “I ain’t one to disobey the Big Man.”

“You are a blasphemer that’s goin’ to hell,” Lorraine retorted. But the smile on her face was enough to show her intentions.

“You two are disgustin’,” Huck grumbled; he also had a smile. “Just go make out in a stall already and spare me the tension.”

“Oh hush up,” you and Lorraine said in unison.

“As if you and Beau aren’t makin’ kissy faces at each other all the time,” Lorraine continued.

“You have no idea,” you said, loving the light in her eyes when she looked at you. “You should see ‘em when we go out to eat, you’d think I was nothin’ more than last week’s sermon.”

“Laugh it up,” Huck said with a nod as he looked out at the corral. You hadn’t paid attention to the event and noticed it was finally coming to an end. About time, you thought with a smile. “Once you two get some alone time then we’ll talk.”

“We can handle ourselves much better than you two,” you said quickly, the timer going off immediately after and making you jump. Lorraine’s hand on your arm helped you settle rather quickly.

Huck opened his mouth to say something else but was soon distracted by something in the corral. You and Lorraine shared a smile when you noticed Beau was on his way over. Tease as much as you did, they were rather adorable. It was a genuine love and admiration, one that you didn’t even see in your own parents, one that you wished you could have a little more easily.

“Hey, Rainey,” Beau said as he jumped onto the fence and planted a sloppy kiss on Lorraine’s cheek. “Nice to see you unshackled for once.”

“Is this all y’all ever talk about?” Lorraine asked.

All three of you looked at each other before giving a few nods. “Yeah.”

“I changed my mind,” she said with a nod to herself, “you’re all goin’ to hell.”

“You love us,” Beau said with a grin and another kiss to her forehead. She tried to push him away halfheartedly before leaning into his touch. “What were y’all talkin’ about before I came over?”

“These fine ladies think they can keep their hands to themselves better than we can,” Huck said with a raised brow.

“That so?” Beau asked.

“God’s truth,” you said with as much attitude as you could muster. Around you, the rodeo fell into controlled chaos as everyone started setting up for tomorrow’s events.

“Then how about we have ourselves a little wager,” Beau said as he locked eyes with you.

“Lay it on me, stud,” you shot back.

“If you beautiful ladies give in first, you,” he pointed at you, “have to go watch Lorraine film her next film.”

“Wait, hang on-”

“-and if you lose?” Lorraine asked, interrupting you quickly. The competitiveness was building behind her eyes, you could see it.

“We’ll go with Lorraine,” Beau said, “and we’ll even film a scene.”

“Hold up, baby-”

“-you’re on,” Lorraine interrupted Huck. She reached her hand out to shake Beau’s. “Y’all are gonna look so pretty on camera.”

“I don’t like this game anymore,” you said, looking at each of them hoping to see mercy in someone’s eyes.

“Me either,” Huck whispered.

You both looked at each other and sighed softly. What had the two of you done to fall for such competitive people? And how come Lorraine was the only one in this situation who had nothing to lose? You were starting to get the sneaking suspicion that they all just wanted to watch you squirm.

It was going to be a very long night.

—---

“Hey Huck?” You said when you brought the next round of beers over to the small table the four of you had commandeered. 

“Yeah?”

“I think I’m in love,” you said with a sigh as you both looked out at the dancefloor where Lorraine and Beau were two-stepping like it was their last night on earth.

“You and me both,” he said with his own dreamy sigh.

The music from the local band was loud, almost painfully so, but you didn’t entirely care. Not when you were warm from the alcohol and laughter echoing through the barn. RJ had once called the run-down bar a death trap, and you couldn’t disagree with him. The wooden roof and walls had holes that no one cared to fix up and dust constantly fell from the rafters. But it was home to most of you, a place where everyone could get away and have some fun on a Saturday night.

Hell, it was where you had first kissed Lorraine. Your eyes trailed up to look at the dilapidated loft. If you focused, you could see the exact spot where Lorraine had made the move, pushing you against the termite-eaten wall and kissed you as if she wouldn’t get another chance. Lucky for you both, you got plenty more chances.

Laughter from a very specific person brought you out of your memories, and you looked back at the dancefloor to see Beau twirling Lorraine around. Her face was lit up with a big, toothy, open mouthed smile that you couldn’t recall seeing since the accident. For once, she looked like she didn’t care when she twirled and exposed her scars. Like she was just that normal, carefree girl you had fallen in love with all those years ago.

“I think I wanna marry him,” Huck said softly.

“You and me both,” you repeated what he said earlier as you decided to chug the rest of your beer.

Don’t let anyone hear, your inner voice reminded you. Lest you get lynched. Right. Right, that was entirely a possibility. You looked around quickly, fully aware that no one would have heard Huck but still feeling that paranoia wash over you. Suddenly the beer and the atmosphere didn’t feel so homey.

“You look like someone spit in your cup,” Beau said, the sudden sound of his voice making you jump. “You alright?”

“Peachy,” you said with a smile, quickly finding Lorraine finding her seat beside you. “Just thinkin’, is all.”

“‘Bout what?” Lorraine asked as she grabbed the beer that was probably starting to turn warm. The snarl of her lips after that first sip confirmed it.

“How you better finish that beer whether it’s warm or not,” you said with a raised brow. “Paid good money for it.”

“You mean you didn’t flash a little smile and get ‘em for free?” Beau asked as he too took a sip of his now warm beer. He at least managed to play it off a little better than Lorraine.

“Most certainly not,” you said with a shake of your head. “I’ve gotta preach to most of these people in the mornin’, can’t have ‘em givin’ me free beer.”

“Wow,” Lorraine said with a quiet exhale as she leaned forward on the table, resting her chin in her hand. “Your life must be so tough.”

“It is,” you played along. “No good deed goes unpunished.”

“That in the Bible?” Huck asked.

“Not quite,” you said. “You’d know that if you went to church like you were s’posed to.”

“I fear I’d catch fire the second I stepped foot in that chapel,” he said with a laugh.

You’ll all catch fire.

Right.

You all continued talking, no longer interested in dancing as the music continued to drown out your conversations. Lorraine managed to scoot her stool a bit closer until her thigh was pressed against yours, and you very nearly rested your hand on her inner thigh. A cleared throat and a look from Huck was all it took to remind you of where you were, and you quickly placed your hand back in your own lap.

By the time you all started to get tired, most of the people had already gone home. The band was packing up and the makeshift bartender was officially out of alcohol. No doubt everyone would be ready to resume the hoedown tomorrow night after the rodeo finals, but for the night, everyone was done. The four of you followed suit, sending your goodnights to the few remaining stragglers as you all piled into Huck’s truck.

“Which home?” He asked; the most sober of you all, bless his little heart.

“We could all go back to mine,” you said as you leaned forward between the two front seats. “We’ve got the two lofts in the barn.”

“That work with y’all?” Huck asked, looking at Beau and Lorraine. They both nodded their agreement. “Then buckle up.”

You sat back in your seat and immediately felt Lorraine lay her head on your shoulder. If the amount of drinks she had gone through were any indication, she was properly buzzed. The warmth of her hand resting on your thigh, scratching lightly, was another perfect indication.

“Hands to yourself,” Beau said as you met his eyes in the rearview mirror. “I’d hate for you to lose the bet.”

“You still goin’ on about that?” Huck asked.

“You said we couldn’t fuck,” Lorraine said with a sleepy voice, “not that we couldn’t touch.”

“Language,” you scolded her lightly. She didn’t even seem fazed in the slightest.

“I’m watchin’ you,” Beau said even as he closed his eyes. “Bunch ‘a cheaters.”

“Did I tell you how unfair this bet is?” You asked before lifting your hand to scratch at Lorraine’s scalp. She practically purred under your touch.

“It’s plenty fair,” Beau said without looking back.

“All three of y’all can get indecent whenever you want,” you said, “I can’t.”

“We can fix that,” Lorraine mumbled.

“Hush and go to sleep,” you whispered before pressing a quick kiss to her head and sitting back up. “It ain’t fair.”

“She’s got a point, baby,” Huck said with a small shake of his head. “We got her at a disadvantage.”

“Shoulda thought about that before you let your girl agree to the bet,” Beau said anyway. “You can always admit defeat.”

“Go to hell, Beauregard,” you mumbled, to which both men up front laughed like hyenas.

Lorraine was thoroughly asleep by the time you all pulled up to the barn. Thankfully it was far enough away from the house that your arrival wouldn’t wake anyone up. The only potential issue would be if Roy was sleeping in the barn, but he had started hiding away in the shed a few hundred yards away, so you weren’t too worried. If anything, you would just let the boys sleep in the barn while you took Lorraine inside to your room.

“Come on, baby,” you whispered into Lorraine’s ear accompanied by a slight shake of her shoulders.

She grumbled once, not even saying any words, but slowly sat up. Her eyes were barely open and her hair was mused just enough to make her look like a little kid again. It reminded you of all your sleepovers, all those nights before you had realised your feelings for her. The good ole days.

You helped ease her out of the back of the truck. Without any hesitation, you turned slightly and squatted down until she wrapped her arms around your neck and you stood back up. Even though she was nearly asleep again, you couldn’t help but think of how light she was on your back. Sometimes you forgot just how small she was, how fragile she could be.

“You two on the right?” Huck asked as he guided his own partner around; it seemed Beau had drunk a bit too much too.

“Yeah,” you said with a nod, “y’all’s stuff should still be up on the left.”

“Sounds good,” he said. “Y’all get some sleep.”

“Night Huck,” you said with a smile before making the way up to the loft that you had claimed as yours as soon as it had been built.

It was a nice little spot, you wouldn’t try to hide it. There weren’t any real walls, but you had hung some curtains around the perimeter to create a sense of privacy. Tucked into the far corner was a single bed, something more reminisce of an army cot than anything else, with only an excess of blankets and a pillow on top. A few records scattered around, an old record player, and your grandpappy’s old guitar were the only remaining decorations.

You were gentle when you placed Lorraine on the cot, being careful as she slid off and laid on her side. She looked peaceful, with her hair no longer hiding her face. When would she believe you when you told her she was the most beautiful girl in the world? Would she ever believe you? If not then you needed to make sure RJ told her, because she deserved to feel loved again.

“Come here,” Lorraine said in a sleepy voice, pulling you out of your own head. Her arms were lifted as she made grabby hands at you, and how could you possibly say no to that?

With practiced ease, you toed your boots off and left them at the foot of the bed before climbing in. You were still in jeans and your button up but that was alright. There was no way you were going to be able to get Lorraine into pyjamas, so you would sleep in your clothes as well in solidarity.

“I’ve missed you,” she said softly, immediately pulling you close until she could press her lips to your neck.

“I missed you too,” you said as you tilted your head back to give her a little more access.

“A lot,” she continued. With a bit of shuffling she finally settled again, and you felt the warmth of her hand sliding under your shirt to rest on your stomach.

“Raine, baby,” you said when her hand continued to move up to play with the strap of your bra, “I ain’t losin’ this bet.”

“Sure you are,” she said.

“I don’t care what you film,” you started even as she pushed you onto your back and rolled on top of you, “but I’m not too keen on watchin’.”

“How will they know?” Her lips started trailing up your neck, leaving an inferno behind with each kiss. “They won’t be comin’ with us.”

“Raine.”

But you couldn’t really argue when her hand finally slipped under your bra, just the mere feel of her skin on your breast enough to have you exhaling harshly. Paired with the warmth of her lips on your jaw? Clearly it had been far too long because you were almost ready to come undone right then and there.

“Lose the bet,” she whispered into your ear. You let out a shaky exhale when her thumb brushed lightly against your nipple. “For me?”

Well now, how could you say no to that? Without any ounce of care, you grabbed Lorraine’s face and pulled her to your lips. She tasted of cheap beer and tequila and you didn’t care. Her lips were soft and you could feel her breath tickling your face and you just wanted more of her.

In the privacy of the loft you had no shame in the both of you stripping. She was still buzzed and was fumbling around like a horny teenager, but you supposed you were too in the excitement. You weren’t even helping each other, you were too eager to rid yourselves of the confines of clothing. At one point Lorraine nearly fell off the bed in an attempt to get her pants off, and you both had to sit and recover from the laughter you couldn’t be bothered to contain.

She was still giggling by the time she crawled back on top of you, her skin blazing hot against your own. God, you couldn’t remember the last time you had not only had the time, but the privacy to see all of her again. She sat straddling you and even though you hadn’t done anything yet, you could feel her arousal coating your stomach.

Her hands fell right below your breasts, grabbing you by the ribs to steady herself. It was clear that she was still intoxicated enough to be a little clumsy, but very much sober enough to know what she was doing. Although you certainly weren’t going to take the initiative, more than happy to let her take the lead with whatever she was comfortable with.

You rested your hands on her hips and looked at her while her eyes were closed. The summer had done her skin well, leaving her a good deal darker than she had been only a few months ago. Even the scars across her neck and face were a bit darker, not quite so startling in contrast to the rest of her. Even her freckles had become more apparent, and you wished you had a night to just count each and every one of them.

“You’re starin’,” Lorraine said above you, her eyes finally open as she looked down at you. “Why?”

“I just think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen in my life,” you whispered.

Even in the dark you could see the slight flush on her cheeks. She let her head fall until her hair covered her face. You sat up quickly, keeping your hands on her hips so she wouldn’t fall. Her legs wrapped around your waist as you let her readjust and you could feel her breath on your face once again.

“If you really thought that,” she started as she let her hands trail up the sides of your breasts and over your chest until they rested on either side of your neck, “then you would lose this bet for me.”

“You just wanna watch me squirm,” you said. She leaned closer until her chest was pressed lightly against yours.

“Yes I do,” she mumbled against your lips before kissing you once again.

Her grip on your neck tightened as she tried to pull you closer. You gasped when she nipped your bottom lip, sighing quickly after when you felt her tongue sooth it immediately after. God, what she could do to you with only the simplest of touches. The slightest scratch of her nails on the back of your neck sent a shiver down your spine.

You gave up on letting her take control the moment you felt her attempt to grind on you. There hadn’t been near enough teasing, but you could already feel how wet she was without even touching her. Not that you were complaining of course, you wanted nothing more than to show her how much you had missed her, how beautiful you really thought she was.

One of your thumbs rubbed circles on her hip while the other hand ran across her stomach and stopped on her pubic bone. She tried to grind again, whining into your mouth when she was met with nothing but air. Your thumb rubbing across her skin, almost touching her clit but not quite.

“Baby,” she whined.

“You gotta be quiet, sweetheart,” you whispered against her lips. “Can you do that for me?”

She nodded quickly, her hips moving just enough to catch your attention.

“I’ll stop if you’re too loud,” you continued even as you let your thumb fall a little lower. “Understand?”

“Yes,” she said.

That time when she moved her hips she was met with your thumb, and her breathy little moan sounded beautiful as her head fell to your shoulder. Oh she was so sensitive, and you hadn’t even properly touched her yet. Blame it on the alcohol, or RJ’s lack of ability, or both, but you wouldn’t complain. A needy Lorraine was a fun Lorraine.

“Touch me already,” Lorraine whined.

“So impatient,” you said as you leaned forward and pressed your lips to that space right below her ear. The one that always had her squirming whether it was intentional or not.

“You can love me later,” she continued. “Just fuck me.”

“That what you really want?” You asked, but she was already nodding her head against your shoulder before you finished the question. “Whatever you want, princess.”

Lorraine was so wet you didn’t even have to worry as you slid two fingers into her effortlessly. She bit your shoulder to keep herself quiet like the good girl she was. It took everything in you not to moan at how tight she was around you. No matter how many times you had her, it always caught you off guard in the best of ways.

“I ain’t losin’ for nothin’, sweetheart,” you said into Lorraine’s ear. “I wanna watch you make it up to me.”

“You’re an asshole,” she mumbled, yet it didn’t stop her from riding your fingers nice and slow. “That’s it, baby.”

She growled in frustration before sitting up again, placing her hands on your shoulders to use as leverage. You let her work herself up, refusing to move even a muscle to help her. If you were going to lose the bet, you were going to milk everything you could out of her as payback.

The rise and fall of her chest as she crawled to the edge was hypnotising. You knew she couldn’t get there quickly, let alone on her own, but you wanted to enjoy the view. The way she fucked herself on your fingers and let her mouth fall open when she angled her hips just right.

But when Lorraine’s head fell forward to rest against yours, you took mercy. Even at the extremely awkward angle that would leave your wrist sore in the morning, you thrust your fingers up to meet her, smiling to yourself at the guttural moan that left her mouth. Your free hand left her hip and moved around so you could rub her clit, her noises rising in pitch at the added sensation.

“Baby,” she exhaled. It almost sounded whiney, which meant she was close. She was oh so close.

“Let go, Rainey,” you said.

Even with her face so close to yours, you could still see the look on her face when she came. The silent scream, the way her eyes squeezed shut. It was a beautiful look that you didn’t think you would ever get tired of. Her nails dug into your shoulders and you could feel the intoxicating sting as they broke skin; you would need to be careful with your shirts for the next few days.

Her hips continued to stutter against your hands, erratic movements that you would have teased her for if you hadn’t been so entranced by her very being. You waited until her hips stilled before removing your fingers, making sure to be slow and gentle so as not to startle her. But then you pulled her closer again, feeling her arms wrap around your neck as you held her in your lap.

“There’s my good girl,” you whispered into her ear before kissing her temple. “You did so good.”

“I-”

-You both stopped talking quickly when you heard something. Something that sounded disgustingly familiar. Lorraine sat up in your lap and cocked her head to the side, listening intently. Maybe you had imagined it, surely it hadn’t been real. Right? There was no way.

Then you heard it again.

“Oh my god,” Lorraine groaned; you saw her smile before her head hit your shoulder again.

“Should I say something?” You asked. She opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted yet again.

“Don’t embarrass me,” she said.

“Never,” you whispered and kissed her head before shifting around. You placed your hands over both of her ears. “The Lord’s watchin’ y’all!”

“Fuck off, hypocrit,” Huck called back. His voice echoed off the walls of the barn. “Y’all ain’t so quiet either.”

“Sorry, can’t hear you.” Lorraine’s body shook above you with silent laughter. “I’m tryin’ to sleep like the Godly woman I am.”

“Shut the hell up,” Beau finally cut in, “you’re killin’ the mood.”

“Good night, heathens!” You called back. “Don’t wake the Devil.”

You and Lorraine both stifled your laughter as you laid back down in the cot. It was difficult to keep yourselves quiet. She shushed you and listened, but neither one of you could hear anything else.

“Either they’re more quiet, or you ruined their night,” Lorraine whispered.

“Hope I ruined it,” you grumbled. “If I have to lose, so do they.”

“And you call me competitive,” she said in her sleepy voice.

“You are,” you said with another kiss to her head. “It’s one of the things I love about you.”

“You just love me.” Her voice got softer with each word.

“Yeah I do,” you said just as softly.

She didn’t say another word, falling asleep quickly thanks to the alcohol and orgasm. Her arm stayed draped around your bare waist as you held her closer, feeling her skin sticking to yours with the mix of sweat. Your father’s voice condemned you in your head, doing its best to ruin the feeling of peace and security you felt with Lorraine in your arms.

But in that moment, you simply closed your eyes and held her tighter. You were going to enjoy every moment with her until the day you died. Heaven could keep its angels; you would keep yours.

[brokehorrorfan]

Three classic Scooby-Doo movies are coming to Blu-ray on February 20 via Warner Archive: 1987's Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers, 1988's Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, and 1988's Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf.

All three films star Don Messick as Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo and Casey Kasem as Shaggy. The voice casts also include Sorrell Book, William Callaway, Victoria Carroll, B.J. Ward, Hamilton Camp, Jim Cummings, Susan Blu, and Remy Auberjonois.

The Reluctant Werewolf comes with the 1979 special Scooby Goes Hollywood in high definition as an extra. No other special features are included.

When Shaggy takes Scooby and Scrappy-Doo to the Southern plantation he's inherited from his Uncle Beauregard, they find a creepy manservant, a collection of ghostly tenants, and a fortune in family jewels hidden somewhere on the estate! Terrified, Scooby and Shaggy call in the services of the Boo Brothers - Freako, Streako and Meako - a team of barely scary ghosts. But as ghosts chase ghosts, they all chase Scooby, Scrappy and Shaggy from one end of the estate to the other, through trap doors and secret tunnels, onto runaway contraptions and into dangerous booby traps, with hairbreadth escapes at every turn!

Pre-order Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers.

When Scooby, Scrappy and Shaggy are hired as coaches at Miss Grimwood's Finishing School, they soon discover to their horror that they're not teaching at a girls' school… they're teaching at a ghouls' school-home to the daughters of rich and famous monsters, like Winnie the Werewolf, Elsa Frankenteen, Sibella Dracula and the Mummy's daughter. But the Scooby gang doesn't let a few monsters stop them from their task. They train the ghouls for a big sports tournament against the boys at a nearby military academy. And the ghouls win! But danger strikes at a Halloween celebration and it's Scooby and pals to the rescue!

Pre-order Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School.

When Dracula's venerable old werewolf retires to Florida, the vampire decides Shaggy will make the perfect replacement. Dracula locks Scooby, Scrappy, Shaggy and Shaggy's girlfriend, Googie, in his scary castle, where they are forced to dine on everything from frog fudge to spider souffle. And Shaggy becomes shaggier than ever when Dracula turns him into a werewolf! To become his old self, Shaggy must win the Monster Rally car race. But obstacles lurk around every bend: dangerous cliffs, lava pits, even vampire bees! And it will take everything Scooby and the gang can do to help Shaggy win.

Pre-order Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf.

[bestanimatedmovie]

Revenge of the Underrated

32. Belladonna of Sadness vs The Swan Princess

Vote in the other polls!

Propaganda:

Belladonna of Sadness

Fascinating animation

The Swan Princess

The Swan Princess is my favorite movie of all time. It is truly beautiful from the backgrounds, to the animation itself, the score, oh I could go on and on. The soundtrack is just filled with bops and amazing songs. If your familiar "What else is there/How to offend women in fige syllables or less" thats this movie. Odette is just the best Princess; She gorgeous but of course theres more to her. Shes so resilient and upfront about her feelings the whole movie. Shes so effortlessly caring and modesty down to earth. Odettes singing voice is Liz Callaways the same as Kiaras from TLK 2. Derek is voiced by the one and only Howard McGillin. Rothbart is an amazing and classicly fun villain. His his fight with Derek at the end as the Great Animal is so well done. Oh and the writing! Its so funny. Also not to mention that its a great trilogy(we don't talk about the CGI sequels). I feel like The Swan Princess is always overshadowed because it isn't Disney or Don Bluth. But The Swan Princess is an amazing wonderful movie and deserves to be acknowledged. Is it perfect? No. But it means the world to me.

I've seen a million times! It's funny, it's magical, it comes fro the ballet Swan Lake. Both the princess and the prince save eachother, and it's an actual love story no love at first sight nonsense

v enchanting to me as a kid!!

"You should write a book: How to Offend Women in Five Syllables or Less"

[mermaidsirennikita]

What are your favorite age gap romances?

Oh fun!

What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long—39 year old hero and 20 year old heroine, he's a jaded widower and is trying to ruin her for revenge against her brother (who cucked him). She catches on immediately and decides to use him to make the guy she wants jealous. Also, there's an erotic pseudo hide and seek game.

After Dark with the Duke by Julie Anne Long—42 year old hero and 25 year old heroine, he's uptight and a war hero, she's a scandalous opera singer. They're staying at the same boarding house, and in a series of events, he ends up having to give her Italian lessons... which leads to a friendship... which leads to more....

Mafia Madman by Mila Finelli—38 year old hero, 20 year old heroine. He's a fucking loony tunes mafia don/villain of the last book, and blows up a bar and kidnaps her to seek revenge against her brother in law. His plan is to keep her in a cage on his yacht. What he did not expect. Is that she. Is also. CRAZY. Naked yoga, attempting to escape via couch cushion, and super happy BJs given while he tells her about all the murders he's committed for her ensue.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time by Kylie Scott—This is such a fun "dad's friend" age gap contemporary. Heroine is 25, hero is 40, but she made a move on him (which he didn't want) on her eighteenth birthday. Her dad (his friend and business partner) walked in on it, and she ended up leaving town in disgrace for a minute. Now she's back in town for her dad's wedding and.. THE BEEF REMAINS REAL.

My Dirty Duke by Joanna Shupe—Hero is around 43ish, heroine is 18-20. Another dad's friend book. She's in love with her dad's friend (or is sexually obsessed with him lol) and he's all DON'T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME about it, but, you know. She's very accommodating of his interest in Victorian photography. Super hot novella.

The Lyonesse Series by Sierra Simone has a lot more going on than the fact that Mark (36ish in the CURRENTLY timeline, 32ish in the prequel) is 14 years older than Isolde (18 in the prequel and 22 in the current timeline) but uh.... That's definitely part of it. And this is one of my favorite series of all time, so I've gotta mention it!

Hyacinth by S.M. LaViolette has a good gap—I want to say Sylvester is in his late thirties, while Hy is 23. I really love how jaded she is, and the way she still manages to absolutely bowl him over in every way.

Regarding the Duke by Grace Callaway. This one has a 12ish year age gap, I think, so it's not HUGE, but I feel like you reeeeally get the things you want out of an age gap book hero, AND you see how it plays out into a marriage (since we're eight years deep into that marriage when the book begins).

Princess by Gaelen Foley, of course. I MEAN. 14 year gap, he's known her.... since she was born... (it's because her parents raised him! It's fine!).... He's her bodyguard... She's a bratty flirt, he's an angsty mess. I LOVE IT.

Joss and The Countess, as I recommended earlier, though again it's only a 12 year gap.

[nerds-yearbook]

G.I. Joe the Movie was released on August 14, 1987. It was meant to be a theatrical release, see the death of Duke (Michael Bell), and have a topless scene with Zarana (Lisa Raggio). The production went longer than predicted so the Transformers movie was released first, which ended up having a huge impact on the Joe movie. Because Transformers the Movie underperformed in the theaters, it was decided to release the Joe movie as a direct to video and TV presentation. Because the Transformers movie recieved so much backlash from killing Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen), dialogue was added explaining Duke didn't die but went into a coma. The topless scene was story boarded but the scene was altered in the final film with a swim top. Most of the new characters introduced were the new recruits (Lt Falcon - Don Johnson, Kunoichi Jinx - Shuko Akune, Chuckles, Law - Ron Ortiz and Order, Big Lob - Brad Sanders, and Tunnel Rat - Laurie Faso), Sgt Slaughter's (Robert Remus), Renegades (Mercer - Kristoffer Tabori, Red Dog - Poncie Ponce, and Taurus - Earn Boen) and the mutants from Cobra-La (Pythona - Jennifer Darling, Golobulus - Burgess Meredith, and Nemesis Enforcer - Cullen). As Cobra Commander (Christopher Collins/Chris Latta) was facing a mutiny by Dr Mindbender(Brian Cummings), Baroness (Morgan Lofting), Destro (Arthur Burghardt), Zartan (Zack Hoffman), Tomax (Corey Burton) and Xamot (Bell), Pythona arrived and convinced Cobra to steal the BET device. The mission failed, Serpentor was captured, and Cobra Commander retreated his forces to Cobra-La. There Golobulus revealed that Cobra Commander was an escapee from Cobra-La. Also that Cobra-La had secretly manipulated Dr Mindbender into creating Serpentor (Dick Gautier). While Lt Falcon was court martialed by the Joes, Cobra Commander was put on trial in Cobra-La. The movie also featured the familiar Joes and Cobras Low Light (Charlie Adler), Wet Suit (Jack Angel), Blow Torch, Lift-Ticket (both Bell), Motorviper (Gregg Berger), Iceberg (Burghardt), Beach Head (William Callaway), Quick Kick (Francois Chau), Zandar (Cullen), Dial-Tone (Hank Garrett), Hawk (Ed Gilbert), Slip Stream (Dan Gilvezan), Roadblock (Kene Holiday), Bazooka (John Hostetter), Doc (Buster Jones), Gung Ho, Ripper, Televiper (all Latta), Lady J ( Mary McDonald-Lewis), Letherneck (Chuck McCann), Cross-Country (Michael McConnohie), Snow Job (Rob Paulsen), Mainframe (Patrick Pinney), Flint (Bill Ratney), Buzzer, Shipwreck, Monkeywrench, Hector Remirez (all Neil Ross), Thrasher (Ted Schwartz), Scarlett (B.J. Ward), Alpine (Lee Weaver), Torch, Wild Bill (both Frank Welker), Lifeline (Stan Wojno), and Jackson Beck as the narrator. ("G.I. Joe the Movie", Movie, Event)

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: Anastasia

Rating: G

Director: Gary Goldman, Don Bluth

Cast: Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria, Bernadette Peters, Kirsten Dunst, Angela Lansbury, Rick Jones, Andrea Martin, Glenn Walker Harris Jr, Debra Mooney, Arthur Malet, Charity James, Liz Callaway, Jim Cummings

Release year: 1997

Genres: fantasy, romance, adventure

Blurb: The evil Rasputin places a curse on the Romanov family, and Anastasia and her grandmother are the only survivors. After growing up in an orphanage with no memory of her past, Anya encounters two Russian men seeking the reward offered by Empress Maria for the return of her granddaughter. The trio travels to Paris, where they find that the empress has grown sceptical of impostors.

[meatriarchived]

No matter the timeline, no matter the alternation of surname, one thing is certain in these parts of Texas: Don't be caught trespassing, and don't get caught by the c.annibals. And yet, people continue to fall for southern hospitality and misleading directions by the families encompassing the names Hewitt, Sawyer and Slaughter.

Featured Muses:

T.homas Brown Hewitt / L.eatherface : The large monstrous youngest of the Hewitt household, Thomas dons the skinned faces he creates from the victims' of his family in order to conceal the disfigurement on his face. He follows his family's orders, very rarely straying from the demands of his older adoptive brother, Charlie / Hoyt; seeing a shadow of their father - Charlton, an abusive man - in Charlie and is, by nature, scared of him alone.

L.uda Mae Hewitt : The Matriarch of the Hewitt home, Luda Mae hails from the long family line of the Sawyers' / Slaughters'. Having married Charlton Hewitt Sr. many years ago and ultimately bludgeoning him to death after his repeated abuse of her sons and herself, Luda Mae has taken the mantle of the head of the family - despite Charlie loudly claiming otherwise. The Hewitt property lies some ways off from the Sawyer / Slaughter property - however, both are connected to one another via the sewer lines and tunnels hiding below the surface of the vast Texan fields. The sewage entrance to the Hewitts' can be found just behind the house, hidden amongst a small treeline and wild overgrowth of bushes. The sewers and tunnels also happen to connect to both property's' basements directly, making it a convenient method of travel for the two families to meet up or escape to. It is also a method for their victims to attempt to escape either property, if they manage to find and unlatch them in time.

M.aria Flores : Following the currently limited canon on the initial victim of the game lore, Maria had the misfortune of running into the Sawyer / Slaughter family while on a day trip to take photos of blooming flowers. She realizes she is being followed, and before she knows it, she is captured by the family she quickly realizes are c.annibals and tries to escape before she too is killed and eaten, like who knows how many before her. Her younger sister, Ana - furious and fed up with the lack of care to find her missing sister - gathers Maria's college friends together to go out and search for her. What they find is the same hell that Maria had endured for weeks, and depending on which version of this verse, Maria is either still alive but is severely injured, or she is dead and her friends and sister find her corpse in the basement of these bastards.

Elizabeth 'Birdie' Callaway (& Wes, npc) : Birdie and her boyfriend, Wes, have the immense misfortune of running into the Hewitt / Sawyer / Slaughter family while taking a trip and hitting a so-called detour to meet Wes' buddies. He and Birdie are very quickly caught by the murderous family and, due in part to Wes' temper and mouth, he is very quickly murdered by the members of the family. Using the commotion Wes causes, Birdie attempts to make an escape. In variations of this verse, Birdie and Wes are taken in just after the family has caught a young woman named Maria. They can hear the taunts and the screams coming from elsewhere in the basement, followed by the pained cries of the poor girl. When Wes is able to get himself untied and gets Birdie free, she insists that they MUST go to help the other girl; who knows what they'll do to her if they don't. Wes scoffs at the thought and tells her if she wants to play hero, she's on her own; he's getting the fuck out of there with or without her. Birdie is disgusted with him, although hardly surprised - he'd been a.busive towards her the majority of their relationship. She snaps that he should run off like the coward he is then, and turns on her heel to go find the other girl. Upon finding the room the family have been keeping Maria in, Birdies' stomach churns at the Cruelty she sees on the girls' body. Birdie tries her best to help her, and lets her lean on her as they try to make their way out. Whether they are successful or not is to be determined.

Francis & Zoey : A hardened but at times goofy biker, Francis has had his fair share of violent bar brawls in his life. Not unfamiliar with having gun and knife drawn on him, he's used to people who play dirty to try and get the upper hand on him. Francis and his younger step-sister, Zoey, have stumbled upon the horrors of the Texas cannibal house after driving along the road on his bike and Zoey pointing out faint screams coming from the property. Typically, Francis is of the mindset that they should mind their own fuckin' business, but unfortunately Zoey doesn't always share that train of thought. Before he knew it, she was throwing down her helmet and making a run for the home. Francis, in turn, turned the bike off after hiding it in the tall grass opposite the home and quickly following suit.

[transgenderer]

for context, ukuthwasa is a sort of behavioral disease that afflicts one and can only be cured by becoming a diviner, called an izangoma, in nguni society

The symptoms of ukuthwasa and the cult of diviners seems to have been remarkably stable for at least one hundred or more years. The early accounts of Shooter and Callaway sound very much like the recent ones of Barker (1959), Cole (1967), and Lee (1970), and through out this extensive literature we see evidence of the most significant qualities of izangoma. Most frequently men tioned is the domination of the profession by women, particularly young married women (Lee 1970:144, for example). The material also suggests, however, that the great preponderance of female diviners is a relatively-recent phenomenon. In 1857 the Reverend Joseph Shooter described the possessed patients as "prophetsnovitiates" and says only that the potential diviner "maybe" a female (191). The Reverend Canon Callaway, who wrote somewhat later, mentions no predominance of either sex (1870). Nearly every writer of the twentieth century, on the other hand, comments on the great number of women who receive the "call." Furthermore, in Hilda Kuper's book on the Swazi, one of the Nguni societies, she notes that although the number of diviners is increasing, the number of men who become involved is decreasing (1947:165).

The few men who do become diviners through ukuthwasa are generally described as thin, highly strung, neurotic—in other words, men who do not conform to the ideal image of masculine virtues. S. G. Lee elaborates on the apparent pathology of male izangoma. He says that they are generally young, unmarried at the time of their initiation, and have a definite "homosexual bent." They will generally be trained by female diviners, will don female clothing, and speak in "high-pitched tones." Lee also suggests that there is general recognition of the homosexual characteristics of these young men, since the marriage of a male isangoma called for "Rabelaisian comment" in that district (1970:143).

Despite possible mental or emotional pathology, especially in male diviners, izangoma are considered to be among the quickest, most observant, and most intelligent members of the community. That this is, indeed, the case has been stated by both Bantu and Europeans (for example, Callaway 1870:321; Kidd 1904:156; Lee 1970:149).

!

[adampage]

helloooo I'm being nosy of your tags and just wanna make a correction and that is that Jodi Benson was the voice for Thumbelina, not Anastasia.

Liz Callaway was the singing voice for Anastasia! I only know that bc she's my fave. like I don't get star struck ever really but if I met her in person I would cry really hard. We love our Don Bluth singing icons

ah shit their voices sounded so similar to me, but yes i do believe i made a mistake there ! thank you for telling me, my bad!! 😅😅

yes she is. So good, genuinely her voice haunts my life, i am always singing anastasia songs at random moments. i will never ever get that last haunting line for once upon a december correctly but damn it, do i try

[saturdaynightmatinee]

CALIFICACIÓN PERSONAL: 4.5 / 10

Título Original: Critters 3

Año: 1991

Duración: 86 min.

País: Estados Unidos  

Dirección: Kristine Peterson

Guion: Rupert Harvey, Barry Opper

Música: David C. Williams

Fotografía: Thomas L. Callaway

Reparto: Aimee Brooks, Don Keith Opper, John Calvin, Katherine Cortez, Leonardo DiCaprio, Geoffrey Blake, Diana Bellamy, William Dennis Hunt, Frances Bay, Bill Zuckert, Terrence Mann

Productora: New Line Cinema

Género: Horror; Comedy; Sci-Fi

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101627/

TRAILER:

[vbartilucci]

What a classic voice cast, tho.  William Callaway Hans Conried Jerry Dexter Chuck McCann Julie McWhirter Don Messick Alan Oppenheimer Narrated by John Stephenson 

From 3DBearnadette on tweeter...

[cynsualc829]

Welcome to another show of musical deliciousness, and happy Tuesday to radio listeners everywhere. Please, join us in tuning in to The Smooth Jazz Kitchen Radioshow with Bruce Buege "Here I Go Again" on WPUR-DB PULSE INT'L RADIO, starting at 7 pm EST, 6 pm CST, 4 pm PST, and 11 pm UK time. The Listening Experience.

Bon Appétit 🍽

🇺🇸 🇬🇧 🇩🇪 🇮🇹 🇬🇷 🇸🇩 🇿🇦 ��🇦 🇧🇶

𝐖𝐏𝐔𝐑 - 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐒𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐓'𝐋 𝐑𝐀𝐃𝐈𝐎

www.pulseintlradio.com

www.phazesintl.com

𝐋𝐚𝐑𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐅𝐌

https://laradiofm.com/Station-816

#thesmoothjazzkitchen #brucebuege #wiscounsin #smoothjazz #contemporaryjazz #chef #delicioso #bonappetit #delicousmusic #menu #GoodMusicGoodVibes #goodmusiconly #international #radio #radiostation #TheListeningExperience

The Smooth Jazz Kitchen Radioshow - Here I Go Again

00:00 Lemek - Let's Get Down

00:05 Michael Lington - South Bay

00:09 Michael Manson - On The Up And Up

00:13 Daryl Beebe - Caribbean Paradise

00:17 Ashleigh Smith - I Can't Help It

00:22 Christian de Mesones feat Jaared - Don Pedro

00:26 Konstantin Klashtorni - Close

00:30 Johann Asmundsson - Cool Ice

00:34 Mike Murray - Shaken Not Stirred

00:40 Gerald Albright - Frankie B.

00:46 Mark Portmann feat Warren Wiebe - Here I Go Again

00:50 R.L. Walker feat Gerey Johnson - Toe Tap

00:54 David Benoit - Kei's Song

01:00 Allen Hinds - Better Days

01:03 Claudia Hayden feat Eric Essix - Wifi

01:07 Paul Brown feat Euge Groove & Blake Aaron - More Or Les Paul

01:12 Ann Hampton Callaway - Stealin' Away

01:16 Michael Paulo - Here Is Happiness

01:22 Randal Clark - Moving Too Fast

01:25 Wayne Jones - Written Hour

01:30 Daniel Martina - Bimjo

01:35 Dave Baker feat Rich Kurtz - Message In A Bottle

01:40 Peet Project - Champagne Of My Life

01:44 Boney James - Memphis

01:49 Rick Habana feat Kim Scott - Shore Thing

01:52 Damien Escobar - Unthinkable

[literarykids]

The Captain's Boy

The Captain's Boy targets reluctant readers in a coming-of-age reminiscent of Johnny Tremain.

As America grapples with a battered democracy, it’s worth considering why these ideals are worth saving from rioters who would violently attempt to subvert them. Children certainly ought to have more than a superficial understanding of the tenets that hold this country together, but there’s no reason why that endeavor has to be purely didactic. Don Callaway’s recently published adventure, The…

[bestanimatedmovie]

Revenge of the Underrated

32. The Swan Princess vs Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito

Vote in the other polls!

Propaganda:

The Swan Princess

The Swan Princess is my favorite movie of all time. It is truly beautiful from the backgrounds, to the animation itself, the score, oh I could go on and on. The soundtrack is just filled with bops and amazing songs. If your familiar "What else is there/How to offend women in fige syllables or less" thats this movie. Odette is just the best Princess; She gorgeous but of course theres more to her. Shes so resilient and upfront about her feelings the whole movie. Shes so effortlessly caring and modesty down to earth. Odettes singing voice is Liz Callaways the same as Kiaras from TLK 2. Derek is voiced by the one and only Howard McGillin. Rothbart is an amazing and classicly fun villain. His his fight with Derek at the end as the Great Animal is so well done. Oh and the writing! Its so funny. Also not to mention that its a great trilogy(we don't talk about the CGI sequels). I feel like The Swan Princess is always overshadowed because it isn't Disney or Don Bluth. But The Swan Princess is an amazing wonderful movie and deserves to be acknowledged. Is it perfect? No. But it means the world to me.

I've seen a million times! It's funny, it's magical, it comes fro the ballet Swan Lake. Both the princess and the prince save eachother, and it's an actual love story no love at first sight nonsense

v enchanting to me as a kid!!

"You should write a book: How to Offend Women in Five Syllables or Less"

Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito

[mermaidsirennikita]

Please, give us some loser heroes

Hahaha gladly

(this got long)

I mean, I've gotta say, one of the loseriest heroes I've read recently is Envy from Throne of the Fallen by Kerri Maniscalco. I've said it before and I'll say it again--if you're looking for a fantasy romance to try, especially if you normally read historicals, this is it (and TotF does stand alone if you want to try it first versus the trilogy that comes before it).

Envy is like, on a quest to save his court, and he's ostensibly a Prince of Hell and therefore very strong and full of supernatural gifts but like... He spends so much of this book falling flat on his face, ESPECIALLY with his heroine Camilla, who is Extremely Unimpressed. (There's a moment wherein he has to do something amazing to save his own life, and she's genuinely like assuming he's just going to die lmao.) His brothers randomly show up to dunk on him throughout the book. Not even for like, plot, just to be like "Sooooo have you seduced her yet? No? Shocker." He does things he thinks are so cool and then is like "Oh God immediate regret mistake".

*love him*

Seven Nights in a Rogue's Bed by Anna Campbell is a recent read wherein the hero presents himself as very suave and confident, and he's like "I SHALL KEEP YOU HERE FOR SEVEN DAYS AND SEDUCE YOU, MY INNOCENT MUAHAHAHA" before being like "nooooo I have harmed the innocent, I AM A WORM!!!" when the heroine shows pitches an emotional fit at him.

Allegreto in Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale is another "muahahahahaha" hero, and he is like, legitimately dangerous and threatening (TW: noncon in the first encounter) but once the heroine, Elena, gets her hooks in him... He is.... a sad little baby. A sad little baby who doesn't think he can go to church because he's done too many murders and is going to hell. BUT HE'S COOL WITH THAT. He's totally cool with that.... he's cool.... Arguably even more of a loser if you read For My Lady's Heart first, which is set ten years earlier and features another couple (the hero is less of a loser but still has embarrassing moments like being visibly aroused in front of the heroine and getting called out on it by her in front of SEVERAL priests, and also thinking this heroine is his perfect lady who he's pledged to for thirteen years only to meet her for real and be like "oh my god she's kind of EVIL??? My life has been devoted to a VILLAINESS???? I'm so STUPID") and also a teenage Allegreto who does absolutely RIDICULOUS things like carry a plague apple around because he's scared of plague, and like, hold the hero's hand during sleep because he thinks the hero will ward off plague, and pretend to be A CASTRATO for an ELABORATE SCHEME which he HONESTLY DID NOT HAVE TO DO.

A Rose at Midnight by Anne Stuart (TW: a lot of dubcon between the hero and heroine at first, noncon in the heroine's past not with the hero) has another "I am such a villain, my lady!!!" hero who is actually a massive ball of guilt and angst. The first time they sleep together she actually secretly enjoys it and hates herself for it, but she didn't Get All The Way There and he walks away like "I'M SO EMBARRASSING I CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT" and like kicking rocks while pretending to be very above it.

Mafia Madman by Mila Finelli. Enzo d'Agostino's master plan is to kidnap the heroine by blowing up a bar for REVENGE and everyone around him is like "honestly your master plan... doesn't even make a lot of sense" even though it TOTALLY makes sense, y'all just DON'T GET IT. He then proceeds to get schooled by the heroine at every opportunity and become her dog (literally there's a bonus epilogue where she's gone for like 30 seconds and his brothers are like "look at what she did to him, he used to be a perfectly good mafia don, now he has anxiety").

Charlotte and The Seductive Spymaster by Grace Callaway has the titular spymaster who faked his death to keep his wife safe and IMMEDIATELY regretted it, returning from the dead twelve years later and getting mad that she's flirting with another man. So he like. THROWS ROCKS AT THE OTHER MAN??? FROM A SECRET HIDING PLACE? Embarrassing behavior. He also faints at one point. Like, it made sense, but I still laughed my ass off. And his wife is super competent, so she's constantly like "... really?"

Seduce Me at Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas has Kev Merripen, who is extremely competent on paper because he's literally the only person in that series who has a real job, but emotionally... the boy ain't right. He literally thinks that if he sleeps with Win ONCE she'll get pregnant and die. He like, hides in the background. Married by Morning also has an extremely losery moment from Leo Hathaway in which he basically does that thing from that meme where he trips and drops all of his obsessive things about the heroine, and the obsessive things are tons of drawings he did of her wearing nothing but her glasses. And she's like ".... you sure have an active imagination". Honestly, Harry from Tempt Me at Twilight also has his share of cringe, like the time he thought he was super hurting Poppy during her first time, so he just jumped off her and hated himself for days and ran away and she had to literally hunt him down and go "I'm FINE now FINISH IT".

Hart Mackenzie from The Duke's Perfect Wife, I will always maintain, is a massive loser who pretend to be extremely competent. Like, he's all "Eleanor, as you know, we did it three times when we were engaged" and she's like "yes.... like a decade ago Hart... I'm not.... impressed". He's being blackmailed by a stranger who sent Eleanor (a reporter) nude photos he took years ago and he's like ".... well those certainly are photos I took Eleanor". He gets all growly at her and she boops his nose. It's pathetic.

Dreams of a Dark Warrior by Kresley Cole, aka "he's constantly being reincarnated after sleeping with the heroine, like they hook up and then he just dies half an hour later in what sound like frankly increasingly comical death scenes, and she's immortal so she finally just gives up on even kissing him"... One of the legitimately saddest heroes I've ever read, lol. He's been brainwashed into hating immortals (with some solid reasons tbf) so he's like, the head torturer in this prison of immortals (TW, it's kinda intense) and he HAAAATES the heroine and she's DETERMINED to kiss him to kill him this time because she HAAAATES him. But like. His body count is like 1.5 because he's never actually really been interested in anyone because, though he doesn't know it because he doesn't remember, his soul only wants HER. So he meets her and is very *boing* about her and HATES it, and they literally have a fight in his office where he ends up on top of her and she's like "... I can feel EXACTLY how into this you are" and he's like !!!!!!!!!! He's just increasingly confused.

Also, this leads very nicely into Lothaire, where the big bad of the series is revealed to be a frankly loony tunes nightmare who's like "honestly I'm only 50% lucid at any given time". And he does a lot of puzzles in his spare time. And he wears trenchcoats because he thinks it looks cool (it doesn't). And he's constantly getting OWNED by a 24 year old psych major dropout. Like, she'll just perfectly diagnose him and he goes "... well you got me there". At one point, she hops on it with their clothes on (because he's trying to menacingly be like "YOU HAVE NO CHOICE" but it was actually exactly what she wanted him to do) and he has an Incident in his jeans, and she later finds him in the shower and throws said jeans at him like "NEXT TIME YOU TRY TO BE ALL HIGH AND MIGHTY REMEMBER WHAT I MADE YOU DO LOSER". Sad of him.

Embry Moore in Sierra Simone's New Camelot trilogy falls in love with Ash when he's literally stepping on him. And it's honestly just a string of embarrassments after that.

The Master by Kresley Cole (Kresley kinda specializes in Powerful Losers) features a billionaire Russian mafia hero shivering in the rain while the heroine takes an important test texting her like "I hope you do well :D!" because he's trying to get on her good side again lmao I was frankly embarrassed on his behalf

A Demon's Guide to Wooing a Witch by Sarah Hawley features the demonic big bad of the last book coming back with AMNESIA and the heroine rescues him from getting beaten up in like, the first chapter. And he's all "wooooow she's so strong *_*"

Hugo and The Maiden by S.M. LaViolette has a sex worker hero who's all "I'M JADED, I CARE FOR NOTHING BUT MYSELF" getting shipwrecked while being transported on a tiny island, and he gets picked up by a giant, sweet guy who carries him like a baby (while he angrily protests) to this makeshift hospital where the heroine, a vicar's uptight, bossy daughter berates him, and it's like all downhill for his dignity from there.

We cannot forget my beloved Duke of Lockwood from The Duke Gets Even, who spends three books getting swerved or cucked or both, and finally admits he's into Nellie and is all "we shall begin a no strings affair" only to like, immediately fall in love with her. And the rest of the book is her being like "we aren't going to get married Lockwood" and he's all "but whyyyy" and she's like "because you literally said this was a no strings affair which is the only reason why I agreed to it. (Him: :(.) He's also completely broke and thinks that he, as a duke, has sway in America, and there's an entire scene where Teddy Roosevelt himself is like "I like you but I can't help you because you're actually just a broke loser here" after he tries to boss up.

Wynter from C.L. Wilson 's The Winter King is all, "I'm a conqueror, I'm so dangerous, if you don't give me a child within a year I'll leave you on a glacier to die" only for everyone in his employ to be like "girl the glacier thing is actually bullshit". He's actually a puppy. The heroine discovers that he makes sad little ice sculptures of his dead family because he's so lonely. I was like "aww" but also "Jesus dude go outside".

The Duke Gets Desperate features a duke who's an art history major, basically, and like all art history majors (I say as one) he has no applicable life skills and his estate is going under. (I LOVE a broke aristo.) So when the heroine shows up having also inherited the estate and is like "we're going to charge people for tours of the castle to make sure we can pay for it" he's all "GAAAAAASP MADAME DUKES DO NOT HAVE TOURS OF CASTLES DUKES ARE DIGNIFIED AND BROKE!!"

Mercy by Sara Cate features a hero who was literally a cheater in a previous book, a rotten SCOUNDREL finding out that what he really needs to straighten up is to be humiliated and dominated by an older woman (ideally, his dad's close friend).

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian has former highwayman and local sad man and cafe owner Kit begin tutoring dandy swordsman Percy on how to like, rob people. But Kit is ridiculously attracted to Percy, something Percy clocks immediately by being like "this loser is looking at my ankles" and whenever Percy Does Something to Kit Kit is like "THANK YOU OMG".

Oh, speaking of, Shane in Heated Rivalry is like, a perfect athlete and also a massive dork. He's also a "thank you omg that was amazing" guy and then is immediately like "I SAID THANK YOU???" At one point when he and Ilya do it for the first time his inner monologue is like "what if we get stuck together and the fire department has to come and pull us apart and EVERYONE WILL KNOW". A human ball of anxiety. Constantly embarrassed by himself. Ilya is more confident and smooth but also has some losery moments, like when they're camming for each other and he looks at Shane after and says in Russian "I'm so in love and it's horrible" lmao.

Lol Jamison from Tracey Livesay's American Royalty is notably pathetic because he's like, a frosty uptight British prince, and as soon as he sees the heroine he immediately becomes a slobbering ridiculous mess. He manages to keep up the frosty prince act for approx. five minutes.

Managed by Kristen Callihan. Scottie is so in control and prickly and TOGETHER... except for the scene where he fishes her dirty laundry out in the bathroom and does Unspeakable Things and then hand washes it and hides it under the mattress for Later and she FINDS IT.

Hotel of Secrets by Diana Biller has a virginal hero who believes he must be celibate to be an amazing operative, and he's great at the operative stuff, but he's soooo into the heroine. At one point there's a scene where she's bandaging him and she touches his ribs and he's like "pls stop" and she's all "why" and then Looks Down and goes "oh". Humiliating stuff!

Lush Money by Angelina M. Lopez has a hero who gets caught by the paparazzi when he's servicing the heroine on his knees in a car. Very sad for his dignity.