#I also blame my sister that she kept watching the film

[ranminfan]

Indeed I have been infected

🥵🤒

[mymarsmoonandstars]

It's been a week since I saw Wakanda Forever, and ever since, it's consumed my thinking. There are a million things I'd love to discuss about the film, but what keeps me up at night is Shuri and Namor.

Shuri had every right to gut his ass. Namor brought flooding and destruction to her home, killed her mother, all while knowing she was suffering from the death of her brother. Hell, Namor nearly killed her (by impaling her, which how did she survive that idk, anyway). And what was the worst thing that Shuri had done to him? Say no to his alliance to go to war with the surface world? Shuri wasn't the one who killed Namor's two subjects. She actually tried to save them. Yet just like T'Challa, she's forced to deal with the consequences of other people's actions, and when she stands over Namor with a blade to his neck, her internal struggle with this flashes across screen. It's a powerful sequence, but the one that captures me the most is when we hear her mother telling her to show Namor who she is. Not only is it one of many callbacks to the first film, but really, who is she? Who is Shuri? She is struggling with her identity, as grief often does to a person.

When audiences first met Shuri, she was the genius younger sister, the comic relief, who took solace in her lab. But now all this has been taken from her, and taken so suddenly. She's now front and center, now her country's most powerful figure, no longer the jokester, no longer a sister, no longer a daughter, and feels like a failure. The moments where she stands over Namor is us watching her return to herself but also become someone entirely new. She sees the destruction reverse. Sees Namor's hope. Sees their mothers and their nations. She understands that they are similar just as much as they are different. She finally realizes that ending Namor's life cannot reverse the destruction nor her pain, but sparing him is the answer to ending the cycle of it. She recognizes that even though her mother and brother are gone, she is still sister, still daughter. Death in Wakanda is a beginning.

Above all, Shuri understands she cannot think of only herself anymore. She cannot push her people to war because of her own grief and vengefulness. She becomes a leader, in granting mercy. A protector.  And extends this protection by offering it to Namor and his people. This brought a bitter taste in my mouth at first, but it isn't about who's right or wrong, especially when both sides have a little right or a little wrong to them. It's about navigating the actions of their forebearers in the best way they can.

Her multifaceted character is symbolized by her panther suit--it's reminiscent of T'Challa, Kilmonger, and her past self. Now that she's burned her mourning clothes, hopefully in the next movie, we'll see her accept this role with newfound confidence and surity of its purpose. I'm also hoping that Shuri kept Namor's little baby ankle wing that she sliced off and puts it up somewhere to serve as a reminder that she bested him. Can you imagine? I can't wait to see more of her.

Then there's Namor. And dare I say it, he was justified in his feelings of wanting to kill Queen Ramonda. She was cunning and tricked him and had two of his people killed in the process. Remember the scene where he's cradling his subject's face as she dies? And she asks if he can save her and he does not answer because he knows he cannot? And then--was it Namora?--who says, with such blame dripping in her voice, that he was busy meeting with the queen during Nakia's attack. Namor is so angry, and very possibly, so ashamed (and scared?). His ultimate goal is to protect his people, and he failed. He's a god and Ramonda made him look like a fool. To him, she had to go.

Ryan Coogler said that despite Namor being about 500 years old, he wanted him to still feel somewhat childlike. And is he! He's rash. He focuses only on the immediate response without thinking of the ramifications. He seems almost charmingly innocent in his hopefulness that Shuri would want to join him. There's no doubt they wanted us to feel a romantic connection betweeen them, or perhaps just from Namor's end. I don't know who gives clearance on the music, but whoever does, they are always very intentional and unique about it, and a love song plays during That One Mesmerizing Scene. The theories that Namor is infatuated with Shuri just weaken me. She's the first person to ever see Talocan. The bracelet. The mural. Him acknowdging her power. Him waiting for her to beckon him. I. have. folded. No one look at me.

I really hope the MCU explores their relationship. And though I'm sure it would never be a romantic one, that does not make it any less intriguing. Ryan is phenomenal with his villains. Just like Kilmonger challenged T'Challa not just with war, but challenged his core beliefs, Namor did the same with Shuri. The only difference now is that Namor is still alive, and this sets us up for a delicious exploration of a complex relationship between two leaders who have similar wants but conflicting perspectives.

Man. I love them. MCU, please let us see more of them. And if we do, please. Be careful with them.

[greattigerssimp]

Hi! I see you like my stupid Punch Out x Disney Princess idea. Maybe some headcanons if they went out for Halloween as the Disney princesses (I know Halloween is over but still 😭)

idk really stupid idea but I blame my brain lol

It's not stupid at all! Girl boss Disney princess boxers coming right up ^^

Little Mac 🟢🥊

- Went as Vanellope

- Doc Louis went as Ralph and Peter Punch went as Felix

- Highly protested against putting candies in his hair

- Kept the hoodie after Halloween, but otherwise didn't care for the costume

- Terrible at the voice

- Watched the movie for authenticity, later bullied Joe for being cut from the film

Glass Joe 🇫🇷 🥐

- Absolutely adorableeee. Bro got lots of candy for being so bonita

- He actually loooves Beauty and the Beast! It's classic French literature, after all, and he's a sucker for adorable literary works like that.

- Also relates to Belle a lot, mainly for her love of reading

- Gets giddy every time he watches the movie or the Broadway version

- Kinda snobby about it though, like he's all like "erm actually the Broadway version is the one I prefer" like sis no one cares, shush and continue being adorable

- If Gabby was alive in this AU, he'd dress up as Gaston. He admires him in a not-straight way lmao

- Obviously kept the dress

Von Kaiser 🇧🇪 🔩

- Wanted to go as Snow White or Rapunzel since he's familiar with them (his mom would read those fairy tales to him as a kid), but since he was the last boxer to choose who to go as, he got stuck with Anna

- Watched the film alongside Soda, and he didn't care for it (that was mainly bc of Soda singing along to each song)

- Sweating BUCKETS during trick or treating since Anna's outfit is quite warm

- Chaffed... a lot.

- Did not keep the costume, even after Joe's compliments.

Disco Kid 🇺🇲 🕺

- Was happy to go as Rapunzel, until he realized what a hassle the long hair would be

- Also hard to get groovy bc of the hair

- Has the entire films soundtrack on a playlist

- Made a remix of "I see the light" after he was done trick or treating

- Kept the dress, but gave it to April (his lil sister in my AU) after Halloween. She definitely dressed up as Flynn to match with Disco Kid that night

King Hippo 🏝 🦛

- Bonita af

- Watched the film, and got obsessed with it... the lush, tropical environments reminded him of home, which is rare since Hippo doesn't remember a lot about Hippo island

- Y'all should've seen him watching the film for the first time; he can't talk, but during the songs bro was low-key stimming- like, bouncing a bit in place, humming along, that sorta thing. Dude was in his element

- Joined Macho Man at the local beach for a Halloween swim

- Sadly lost his outfit in the ocean. Cried for 3 hours

Piston Hondo 🇯🇵🥊

- Dresses up as Mulan

- Thought the film was nice, but would much rather wear Mulan's armor than a dress she barely wore

- Heike dressed up as Li Shang, Dragon Chan later joined them during trick or treating, dressed as Shan Yu

- Even Yuki joined them, wearing a cute lil Mushu outfit

- Sadly didn't keep the outfit

Bear Hugger 🇨🇦🐻

- Went as Snow White (SO DID I OMGG?? - me)

- Most authentic portrayal of character; dude equipped himself with animals and stuff to make himself look real

- Wifey Lomasi (OC of mine) had to help him put on the dress. She would match him by dressing up as Prince Florian (would love to go as Pocahontas, but didn't want to chafe + wanted to be unique)

- Spruce (his squirrel) dressed up as an apple

- Singing the songs in a very jolly, very off-key manner.

- He's definitely keeping the costume for next year

Great Tiger 🇮🇳🐯

- Dressed up as Jasmine, but he'd really prefer to dress up as Jafar. He's more bonita (this hc was brought to you by ✨️an extremely biased Jafar fangirl✨️)

- His clones dresses up as the other characters, namely Aladdin, the Genie, and the very bonita Jafar

- Jafar Jafar jafar

- Holy frick I love Jafar smmmmm

- Okay back to Great Tiger

- He liked the movie a lot, and thought it was very funny

- Also very content with his outfit! He didn't chafe (hahaha Kaiser-) and it was nice and breezy

- Even fashioned his flying carpet to look like the one from the movie

- Keeping the outfit, but is definitely dressing up as Jafar next year (mmmm my fave boxer + fave Disney character uwu)

Don Flamenco 🇪🇸 🥀

- Dressed up as Sleeping Beauty, aka Aurora (ironic since in my Halloween hcs Carmen was Aurora and Don was Prince Philip lol)

- Carmen dressed up as Maleficent bc she doesn't want to "dress up as a dude" (oh the symbolism)

- Loves all romance stories, and Sleeping Beauty is no different. Dude 100% believes in true, unconditional love

- Joe also loves sleeping beauty, since it's another piece of classic French literature. He's going to see the play version with Joe in about a month lol

- Somehow didn't chafe; it must be his skincare routine

- Got sleepy halfway through the night and went home early

- Carmen stole the dress and isn't giving it back

Aran Ryan 🇮🇪 😈

- VERY against dressing up as Merida (a Scottish character) at first, but slowly grew to love it

- He watched the film, and related to Merida to a T (and so do I lmao)

- Brought a real bow and arrow and definitely shot random people with it (Before Sandy broke it)

- Took off the wig, burned it, and threw it at a random house

- Kept the dress and gifted it to his younger sister, Brooker (Another OC of mine) back in Ireland

Soda Popinski 🇷🇺🍾

- Watched the movie with Kaiser and really liked it! He's a sucker for winter aesthetics

- Researched more information on Elsa and went crazy learning about Elsagate

- Can and will sing "Let it go" if you either ask nicely, pay him, or if your name is Super Macho Man

- Chaffed terrible, ended up crab walking most of the night

- Spent 30% of the night w/Macho Man and king hippo, watching Macho Man do laps

- Also gifted the dress to his sister after Halloween

Bald Bull 🇹🇷 🐂

- Dressed up as Tiana, and doesn't care for it

- Very independent trick or treat night

- Was fine with the movie, but wasn't crazy about it

- A few candy givers complimented him though

- Accidentally ripped his dress late into the evening. Pray to the random group of trick or treaters that got mooned that evening

- Didn't keep the dress

Super Macho Man 🇺🇸🌊

- He's absolutely slaying the little mermaid outfit (he got first pick lol)

- Will not shut up about how he saw the movie in theaters as a kid, and will not shut up about how he knows Jodi Benson lmao

- That being said, it was very hard to move, which meant someone (Soda) had to pull him on a wagon everywhere. Dw, Soda wasn't complaining

- Decided to go to the beach to see if he could swim like a mermaid with the tail on. Yes, he could, and he did it beautifully.

- Soda also joined in his swimming. It wasn't straight at all

Mr. Sandman 💤🟢

- Very itchy dress- it did not accommodate his build at all

- He won't admit it, but he felt very bonita

- Joe started yapping about how lucky Sandman was to be dressing up as such a deep, meaningful character (bro straight up has a hyperfixation for French literature)... Sandy almost clocked him for yapping.

- Ironically had to go home to midnight, not because it was late, but because his glass shoes broke under his weight, and he had to go home and pick shards of glass from his feet

Bonus HC: All of them definitely recreated this scene:

OG post from @flamingoprincess25 ://www.tumblr.com/flamingoprincess25/765906549064482816/to-the-punch-out-fansmy-halloween-special-is?source=share

[galaxythreads]

Do you have any theories as to why Thor describes himself and Loki as both being eight in that snake story? That line always takes me out. I can't make it make sense. Thanks.

I really only have the one: Loki and Thor were raised as twins.

And the WAY that Frigga and Odin got away with THAT is. Ha.

I've got two ideas, (both of which I want to explore in more detail in a fic at some point):

Jotuns age a little faster than Asgardians, so Loki being 1053 is the same as being 1500 as an Aesir. Odin then lied to Loki about his actual birth date until Thor 1 and raised them as twins, Loki being the younger, but it was fine because BIOLOCIALLY they were about the same age anyway so the discrepancy was fine.

If this is what happened, then the Jotun/Asgardian war was about 400 years long and Thor and Frigga were hidden that entire time so Frigga could BS her way through a "Yes it was twins" without too much trouble. Who's going to counter it? The servants attending Frigga were sworn to secrecy and Loki was hidden from the public until he and Thor looked enough of the same age that it was passable. They blamed Loki's lack of public appearance on sickness instead of literal house arrest.

Could potentially explain why Loki feels perpetually locked up, because even if Loki was young, being hidden away as a kid constantly would be something that would impact you as an adult. Also give him major trust issues about his memories.

OR.

(and this is the one that I find much worse personally), but Loki and Thor were raised as twins. Loki does not age differently than Aesir. He is the equivalent of about 17-20 in Thor 1 and Thor is 20-24. Loki is told he is 20-24 and assumes that this must be true because it's not like he remembers to dispute it. Loki does not know that he is significantly biologically younger than Thor.

Again, Loki is kept from the public until he looks old enough to pass as Thor's twin brother, if sickly, and Asgard accepts this as fact.

Thor 1 happens. Loki then learns that he's Laufey's son and does some rapid math. He is not Thor's twin brother. In fact, he is about 400 years younger than he was told. If Loki and Thor were raised as twins, it would make them competing for the throne make a little more sense and Frigga and Odin hiding this from him just that much worse.

Anyway, so the point is that Thor doesn't always remember that, oh yeah, we are, uh, not the same age because he grew up with that habit and just said that because for most of their life, Thor and Loki thought they were the same age anyway.

----

That said, the ACTUAL reason this is in the movie is because:

link to article

But this age discrepancy actually isn't Chris Hemsworth's fault, amazingly. To my knowledge, Loki and Thor were not actually confirmed to have any gap between them throughout the Thor films. That was something we as an audience just inferred. In fact, I've seen people do 1 year and 2 and 3. I typically do 4, to match the centuries between them. So like, it's kind of an iffy thing to begin with.

INFINTY WAR is actually where the inconsistencies start. Thor says "you know, I'm 1500 years old..." and then the entire audience is scrambling for an explanation. This is also the first movie that Hela is said to be Thor's half-sister. (As far as Ragnarok is concerned, from what I can remember, it has been a minute, she and Thor are full-blood siblings.)

The infinity War writers apparently didn't double-check any of this against Ragnarok, which is vaguely funny to me given that Infinity War opens with the aftermath of Ragnarok.

So the story's ages actually work perfectly fine in Ragnarok. It's after you watch Infinity War that things start to backpedal. Which fun fact, I joined MCU in like June of 2017 or something, so by the time I actually got around to writing fic and thinking about this, Infinity War had already come out so I just assumed that the lack of an age gap was ignorance on Ragnarok's fault. But Loki and Thor being twins makes the most sense to me, not just with Ragnarok, but a lot of other things add up in that direction as well.

(but i cannot trust MCU to stick to basic facts like how old a character is. Wanda has had the same problem, where they bumped up her age by 5-6 years for WandaVision (and retconned her and Pietro's origin story ). And Natasha. and Steve. And Bucky and-- oh my gosh someone please just write this down for the writers)

[alwaysahiccupandastrid]

Barbie was so good?!? Fucking loved every minute of it, but special shout-out to some things...

(BARBIE SPOILERS below the cut)

This movie was so funny, I can't get over how fucking funny and camp it was, an actual masterpiece 11/10

"This movie is overly feminist and man-hating" - THIS MOVIE AIN'T FOR YOU, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GO WATCH THE SHITTY FLASH MOVIE THEN IF YOU'RE SO MAD

(haven't actually seen the flash, have seen a few clips on twitter and i'm glad i haven't, i don't want to, don't @ me)

I'll be honest, I had very few Barbie dolls growing up, I had a medium sized doll house that was not for Barbie-height-toys, and so most of my toys were random figurines collected over the years (shout-out to the McDonald's Happy Meal Narnia toys!), but I was still getting pumped at the beginning of this film when the narrator went into detail about how Barbie can have any career, any life she wants etc.

The attention to detail in Barbie-land, like the pools/sea are all flat and not actually wet, there’s no actual liquid in the cups when they drink, no water in the shower etc.

Look, I will fully admit that HOTD has fucked my brain and my taste in men up, and so I'm blaming that for me looking at Ryan Gosling as Ken and going "yes I would like to obliterate that twink" 🙈

There were a lot of kids in my screening who absolutely did NOT get the "beach you off" joke, meanwhile I was sitting there laughing embarrassingly loudly like an idiot

Why was Allan a whole ass mood, I'm sorry but he was so relatable, arguably the best character I fear-

I like that weird-Barbie is basically what a lot of girls go through with their Barbies at a certain age by cutting off their hair, drawing on them with pens, etc. Like that’s a mood, my sister and I used to wash our Barbies’ hair and draw fake tattoos on them with felt tips 💀

“Do you ever think about dying? 😃” took me out oh my fucking god 💀 I already had one existential crisis this weekend watching Oppenheimer, I don’t need another one from Barbie of all things 😭

The way Ken says “because we’re boyfriend girlfriend” has the most random place in my heart and I don’t know why lol

The sheer horror over Barbie having flat feet LMFAO

Weird-Barbie having the dog where you feed it pellets and then use the tail so it shits the pellets back out?!? Me and my sister were like "oh my fucking god" because we literally had that fucking toy lmfao

Weird-Barbie talking about Ken's smooth plastic bulge, I literally CHOKED-

Honestly just... Barbie entering the real world and being confused that men treat her like a sex object, being super uncomfortable, meanwhile Ken's like "they're looking at me appreciatively!"... oof

I nearly choked on my drink when Barbie loudly declared "I don't have a vagina and he doesn't have a penis!" like?!?!?

Barbie and Ken getting arrested not only once but TWICE... oh that's the content I'm living for lmao

I’m so so SO glad that the scene with Barbie and the elderly lady was kept in, I shed a tear because it was so beautiful and simple. When Barbie said that the lady was beautiful?!?! I’m a mess just thinking about it 😭❤️

Pleasantly surprised by the sheer amount of horsey content in this film like yes, that's 100% what the patriarchy should be, it should be about Kens riding horsies :D (I’m aware this is NOT the only thing that happened lmao I’m just saying that the world would be a better place with more horses)

America Ferrera is a fucking QUEEN and I adore her, I know HTTYD is over but she will always be MY Astrid, aka Chieftess Queen and Dragon-Rider

Not gonna lie, I felt Sasha’s little monologue where she rants about the unrealistic standards set by Barbie like I see both sides of what Barbie represents and how she can be viewed and I get it. Like on the one hand, hooray for girls growing up having a doll that can show them they can be Presidents, Nobel Piece winners, doctors etc., hooray for all the feminism to come from Barbie. But also you could argue that there’s unreal expectations in regards to Barbie’s body shape, and that when we girls grow up into women, we realise that the Real World is not as simple as what we dreamt of while playing with Barbies, that our world doesn’t revolve around having women in positions of power, that we still very much live in a society where women are viewed as being there solely for men, as home makers and wives and mothers, that we can have a certain amount of freedom and power but not too much etc.

Did I kind of guess "hey maybe it's not the daughter who has triggered Barbie's crisis, maybe it's the mother"? Yes, I guessed that early on but I still loved it anyway

I have no idea how Greta Gerwig got Mattel to agree to this script but holy shit, she must be magical or something

The spirit of Ruth Handler, aka THE creator of Barbie who named the doll after her daughter?!? Played by Rhea Perlman?!?!

Also I've only just learnt, after looking at Ruth Handler's wikipedia page, that Ken was named after her son?!?! Barbie and Ken are siblings?!?!

JOHN CENA AS MERMAN KEN?!?!

My sister was so delighted by the amount of Sylvester Stallone references in this film omg

DEPRESSION-BARBIE I WAS IN LITERAL FUCKING TEARS I COULDN'T STOP LAUGHING, AND SHE WAS WATCHING BBC'S PRIDE AND PREJUDICE?!? WHILE EATING SWEETS?!? I CANT STOP CACKLING AND CRYING

Depression-Barbie also comes in other variations, including an anxiety one?!?! 🤣

I shit you not, I NEED America Ferrera to be nominated for supporting actress for all the awards because holy fUCK, her monologue?!?! That monologue?!?!

WHAT DO YOU MEAN ROB BRYDON AKA UNCLE BRYNN FROM GAVIN AND STACEY IS SUGAR DADDY KEN?!?!

“We mothers stand still so our daughters can look back and see how far they have come.” - STOP I WAS ALREADY SOBBING

The Helen Mirren fourth wall break where she says that if the filmmakers wanted us to believe that Barbie was no longer pretty, "they shouldn't have cast Margot Robbie in this part", literally ICONIC

KEN’S FLUFFY TIE DYE HOODIE THING THAT SAYS “I AM KENOUGH” ASDFGHJKL I WANT ONE

Ridiculously glad that Ken and Barbie didn’t get together to be honest, yes I get it that Ken is designed as a boyfriend for Barbie but also it would have sucked to have this whole film play out as it did and then have them end up together 💀

The soundtrack of this film was IMMACULATE, 10/10, five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

There’s a definite message and commentary here but I’m too stupid and tired to write it out, so I’ll reblog it from the people who are smarter and more eloquent than me instead but oh my good this film was such an amazing piece of cinema

This isn't everything about the film obviously, there was a lot going on and I'm still mentally processing it so I might add more to the post later but wow, just… wow.

[jpt1311animeblogoscarsheareriii]

Module 8 A Silent Voice

Edit: I kept using the name Shoyo when his name his Shoya, my bad.

A silent voice is a movie that I have not seen before and only heard of a few times in passing, but I thoroughly enjoyed my viewing of this film and definitely got emotional at points during the my time watching. This film is in Module 8 which is all about discrimination and this does contain discrimination due to a physical disability of being deaf. There is a lot to talk about and I will not be able to touch everything I could unless you want a 1000 word essay for this. (I'm at about 700 right now)

The film starts out with who will be the main character Shoyo about to jump off a bridge and we find out that this is because he feels guilty by bullying and from being bullied after that. This is due to the fact that after a new student Shoko transferred in she was getting bullied by Shoyo because she was deaf and had her struggles in life due to that. The other classmates joined in and only one of them truly tried to understand her which would be Sahara, but Sahara would be bullied as well and end up transferring schools. Eventually, Shoko's mother contacted the school after 8 of her daughter's hearing aids had gone missing or were broken. The first to point the blame was the teacher of all people to put the blame on Shoyo because he was after all the main culprit. After this everyone in turn put the blame on him even though everyone was guilty. The story takes place 5 years later as Shoyo is trying to deal with the guilt and mental toll that this period of his life took on him. The rest of the movie is Shoyo befriending Shoko and others, one of which is Shoko's little sister Yuzuru and a few from his class 5 years ago including Sahara. There are ups and downs, good and bad times that they go through in this film, but at the end it leaves on a positive note that they are moving beyond the past and trying to make this friendship between all of them work.

The main discrimination of this film is bullying because of Shoko being deaf, but this also shows how easy it can be to be involved in bullying. First of all, the entire class is guilty of bullying Shoko, the only exception would be Sahara because she was trying to understand her, but ended up transferring because she was being bullied too. Like I said earlier, even the teacher was in on in because he did not stop it or care at all about the situation and even placed the blame on a singular person when the principal got involved. Some directly bullied her like Shoyo, while others talked bad about her behind her back and others just laughed with the crowd. Everyone that was involved back then got called out at one point when they were at the bring when it was revealed what happened back then to the friends who were not in that class 5 years ago. Shoyo got pointed out by directly bullying Shoko, while Ueno talked bad about her behind her back, and Kawai was insisting that she did nothing wrong, but Ueno told her that she was accountable as well because she was laughing along with them. This shows how bullying can occur as well as all who take place in it. Another point I felt in this movie actually connects to a previous anime in this module being Naruto. The main clash in that is Naruto fighting Pain and their different viewpoints in how to deal with hate. Pain's point of view was that if everyone feels the same pain then understanding can occur. I saw that in this movie because Shoyo went through bullying after Shoko transferred and he was able to feel what she felt in being an outsider to everyone else.

Overall, I thought that this movie pointed out how bullying can happen and what people can go through because of it. I enjoyed watching this movie and thought that it was a great time with a great message.

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Nun II (2023)

I wasn’t looking forward to The Nun II for the same reason that I wasn't looking forward to Annabelle: Creation in 2017. Like 2014's Annabelle, The Nun was an inferior, largely uninspired Conjuring spinoff. To my surprise and delight, this sequel is far better than its predecessor. It even sort of goes back to address some of what made the original so underwhelming in a way.

Four years after the events at Saint Cartha’s monastery, the Church dispatches Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) to investigate a series of deaths across Europe. These gruesome incidents, all eerily similar to the ones attributed to the demon Valak (Bonnie Aarons) follow Sister Irene's friend, Maurice (Jonas Bloquet), who now serves as the caretaker at a boarding school that used to be a church. Though seemingly defeated, the demon hides inside him.

One of the reasons I was so skeptical about this sequel is that it felt like there wasn't anything left to tell. We saw how Maurice became “infected” with Valak at the end of the first movie and the scene during the end credits reminded us that we knew he was going to be possessed by the demon because we heard about it while watching The Conjuring 2. Well, it turns out some elements of the story were missing. Enough that it would've kept us up at night if this movie had never been made? No, but the film’s last act contains quite a few surprises that make me say “This was worth coming back to”.

While this film’s status as a sequel to a prequel means we’ve seen the monster enough times for it to be less frightening than it was in 2016, director Michael Chaves brings some neat tricks to the screen. The film's best scene has Sister Irene running down a dark street at night when she suddenly stops in front of a magazine stand. The wind blows the pages over and over, the images revealed combining to make what looks like a shadow emerging from the floor. I’d tell other filmmakers to rip off this scene, but it’s so visually striking and memorable that the theft would immediately get called out.

I’m also going to give this film a recommendation for its ending. Early in the film, Sister Debra (Storm Reid), a young novice accompanying Sister Irene on her quest confesses that she has difficulty believing in the miracle of transubstantiation (the transformation of wine into the Blood of Christ). I don’t blame her, specifically because of the way The Nun concluded. In the first encounter with Valaak, our heroes have this big vial filled with the blood of Christ and they use every drop. I know it’s a powerful demon that does all sorts of scary stuff but I kept thinking to myself “Guys! This blood is a hot commodity! Save some for later!”. That concern is addressed here. Now, before you think this movie is going deep into Christian theology, understand that the screenplay by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing and Akela Cooper doesn’t explore this idea very much, instead taking some religious concepts and spinning them to their own needs in a way that I think is (dare I say it?) kind of cool and fitting for this expanding cinematic universe.

In several ways, The Nun II is what I would call a “Box Set Movie”. I don’t think you’d ever buy the DVD/BLu-ray/4K and add it to your shelf unless it was so you could have all of the Conjuring universe together, or because you got it as part of a box set. "The Nun II" is not as scary as it should be but it has enough memorable scenes for the scales to tip in its favor. Enough that maybe you wouldn’t mind seeing it again if you happened to add it to your collection. (February 14, 2024)

[hitchell-mope]

(Third film. After “ballroom blitz”. Back in Mal’s subconscious. Mal’s once again falling through swirling blackness when she suddenly gently lands on her feet on a shiny black cavern surrounded by manifestations of Ben and their friends in the gala best. They all start walking around and past her in random directions. This is when “umbrella” happens. After the song. The manifestation of Ben starts kissing Mal. She returns it until she comes to her senses and pulls away and backs up against a wall at the end of the cavern)

Mal: no. No no no no. No. This isn’t real. I’m dying. This is just. This is just a dying dream. You’re not really here.

Ben (slowly walking towards her with smirk on his face): this is real. You are here. I am here. And you’re not dying. So enjoy it.

(He starts kissing her again. She enjoys it. This is when “as long as you’re mine” happens. After the song. Mal rises into the ether and finally wakes up to see Ben watching over her)

Ben (pulling her into a hug): oh my god you’re okay.

Mal (hugging him back): yeah. Yeah I am. How’d I get out?

Ben: your father pulled you out of the trench.

Mal: oh. Where is he now?

Ben: gone to get something to eat. Oh. He’s back.

(Ben approaches Hades and leans in close)

Ben: you will take whatever she has to say in good faith and good humour or I will rip your intestines out through your navel and then hang you with it. Do you understand me?

Hades (nervously): yessir.

Ben (patting the side of Hades’s cheek far harder than he needs to): good man.

(He turns to smile at Mal)

Ben: I’ll be leaving you two alone now. Shout if you need me.

(He turns to state daggers at Hades)

Ben: I can assure you that I will be watching.

(He teleports away)

Mal: can you do me a favour?

Hades: anything.

Mal: can you change back into the one that fathered me please?

Hades: as you wish.

(He shifts from Sebastian Stan to Jesse L Martin)

Mal: good. Thank you for that.

(She gets up, walks over to hades and punches him in the face)

Mal: YOU LEFT ME!!!! YOU LEFT ME AGAIN!!!! I TRUSTED YOU!!!! I VOUCHED FOR YOU!!!! I BONDED WITH YOU!!!! I JUSTIFIED YOU TO MY SISTER!!!! I BLAMED HER FOR YOU LEAVING!!!! I BEAT HER UP FOR IT!!!! YOU LEFT ME AGAIN!!!! HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME AGAIN!?!? WHAT DID I DO TO MAKE YOU LEAVE ME AGAIN!?!? No. No. No. No. No. I can’t do this. I won’t give you the satisfaction. I just have. I just have one question for you.

Hades: ask away

(This is when “the name of the game” happens. After the song. Mal’s still looking at Hades through red rimmed eyes)

Mal: well? What was it then? What was so fucking important that you left me again even after you said that you wouldn’t?

Hades: Persey.

Mal: what do they have to do with this?

Hades: they needed my help with their mother’s coup against the rest of the council after Zeus was killed by Maleficent. And your sister knows. She hasn’t forgiven me. But she knows. She also crash landed Olympus into the museum.

Mal: you let my sister, Evangeline So Regal She Didn’t Learn To Drive Because It Could’ve Damaged Her Manicure Grimhilde, drive a mountain?

Hades: yes. And she was kind of ah claimed by Poseidon’s throne.

Mal: of course she was. Your leg’s bleeding. Why is your leg bleeding?

Hades: what? Oh. Oh yeah. Yeah. It doesn’t matter.

Mal: is it because of me?

Hades: no! No. Do not ever think that.

Mal: so how did it happen?

Hades: I think I got stabbed during the coup. I’m only just starting to feel it.

Mal: sit on the stump. I’ll heal it.

Hades: are you sure?

Mal: you’re looking at the girl who kept Carlos De Vil alive for eight years. I’m a dab hand by now. Trust me.

Hades: well alright then.

Mal: so uh. Who stabbed you?

Hades: probably Narcissus.

Mal: the egotist?

Hades: narcissist sweetheart. Narcissist. He’s the namesake of an entire behavioural issue for reason. Use the right word.

Mal: so he’s not dead?

Hades: no. Persey likes him. So we locked him in a cell without mirrors.

Mal: oohoohoo. Bit harsh don’t you think?

Hades: your stepmom wanted to cook him for dinner.

Mal (laughing): what? Why?

Hades: 23 years ago he called her a frumpy mess when she was in labour with Persey and Hadie.

Mal: there but for the grace for Persey eh?

Hades: indeed.

Mal: there. You can stand up now. And I can go back to hating you.

Hades: I under-

Mal: no! No you don’t get to do that! You don’t get to be gracious. You don’t get to understand. You. Let. ME DOWN! And I don’t know how to forgive you for that. I don’t know if I want to forgive you for that.

Hades: can I tell you a secret?

Mal: what?

Hades: can I tell you a secret?

Mal: if you must.

(This is when “hurt” happens. After the song)

Mal: you stabbed yourself?

Hades: yes.

Mal: why?

Hades: I got mad. You know how when adrenaline leaves your system you end up needing a piss?

Mal: mhmm?

Hades: with us gods we get mad. I stitched myself back up but the whole “Fight For Our Lives” thing probably made it worse.

Mal: ohhhh. So what n-oh boy

(Ben’s just teleported back to the clearing holding a beaten, bloodied and bruised Audreficent by the hair)

Ben: guess what I just found skulking twenty miles south of here?

(He throws Audreficent into a tree and binds the, there with gold covered iron chains)

Hades: twenty miles south of here would be....?

Mal: Doug and Evie’s cottage

Hades: ahhhh. I like that cottage. It’s nice to think you and you’re friends will all live together after this

(Ben and Mal give him an odd look)

Hades: what?

Ben: we don’t live with Doug and Evie.

Mal: yeah. I’d end up killing her two hours in.

Ben: we’ve got our residence at the palace.

Mal: they’ve got the cottage.

Both: Evie stays alive.

(Audreficent hacks up a small river of pus green blood to get their attention)

Audreficent: this is all very nice. But can we get back to the matter at hand here please?

Mal: lemme guess. My imminent and inevitable demise?

Audreficent: precisely

(They blow a huge plume of fire at Mal but it’s blocked by Hades and ricochets back into their face)

Hades: you will never touch my daughter again.

(He starts beating Audreficent up with his bare hands. Back in Auradon. Things aren’t looking good. Hundreds upon thousands upon millions of Audrefcent’s porcine goons have laid siege to the city and even the reanimated corpses of Grimhilde, Tremaine, Queen of Hearts, Gaston, Shan Yu and Jafar are having trouble holding them back. Elsewhere in the city. Doug and Evie are running for their lives from the onslaught)

Evie: any ideas?

Doug: just one! But you’re not gonna like it!

Evie: oh god.

Doug: one!

Evie: no!

Doug: two!

Evie: ah shit!

Doug: yup! THREE!

(He grabs Evie’s arm, throws her into an open sewer, dives in after her, narrowly avoiding a group of goons who were about to squash them flat and lands on top of her)

Evie (slightly muffled): this position is so much more comfortable when we’re in bed.

Doug (smirking slightly): or in the macrame room

Evie (chuckling): shut up and help me up.

Doug: as you wish milady. Oof.

Evie: how bad is the damage?

Doug: depends on how attached you are to this outfit.

Evie: I hate it. I don’t like trousers. No matter how practical they are.

Doug: then it’s fine. You’re fine. It’s all fine.

Evie: good. Uh. Where exactly are we?

Doug: if I’ve got my calculations right

Evie: which you always do.

Doug: of course. We are probably about 4-6 miles away from the throne room.

Evie: should we teleport or walk?

Doug: depends on how long you can stand the smell.

Evie: let’s teleport.

Doug: good choice.

(They teleport out of the sewer. Elsewhere in the palace. Carlos, Jay and Lonnie are in the medical room holding the goons at bay)

Carlos: we killed Jafar. We killed the queen of hearts. We’ve got the Chernabog brethren. You’d think we’d have won by now. But oh no. It just HAS to sends its non-kosher minions after us! Well I got news for you PORKERS!!!! I don’t keep KOSHER!!!!

Jay: of course you know what this means don’t you?

Lonnie: what?

Jay: she knows that Mal’s alive. Maleficent wouldn’t be losing it this badly if she thought she’d won. The old bitch is losing it. I know. I just know it.

Lonnie: yaaaAAARRRGGGHHH!!!!!!

(She explodes over thirty goons into dust)

Lonnie: I love magic.

(Just then Doug and Evie teleports into the medical room)

Doug: we overshot.

Evie: good. At least we’re away from the smell. What happened to Gil and Jane?

Doug: uh. Gil has a concussion.

Carlos: and Helga Sinclair poisoned Jane with wonderland mushrooms.

Evie: okay. Your highness

Cinderella: mlady. Mlord. Are either of you in need of gauze or stitches or anything medical?

Doug: no.

Evie: all I need is a long, hot, sudsy, Doug filled shower.

Cinderella (unimpressed with Evie’s answer): there are chemical showers behind that door. Wash off and help your friends defend your other friends. You have ten minutes. Go.

Doug and Evie: thank you.

(In the war-room Uma, Ned, Persey and Hadie are holding even more goons at bay with the help of Elsa, Persephone, Belle and Maui)

Persey (obliterating over a hundred goons with their lightning whip): I just have one question.

Persephone: what would that be dear?

Persey: how does it work? I mean. How does belle avoid the “steel-Kleenex” problem? Maui IS a demigod after all and

Persephone: you did not inherit the gene. Please do not enquire about the love life of your sister’s future mother in law. At least not in my presence.

Persey: right. Gotcha. Sorry. Won’t happen again.

Uma (sending wave after wave of shadows at the goons): gene? What gene?

Ned: it’s just a fancy way of saying Persey isn’t attracted to their family members. You know Persephone is Hades’s niece right?

Uma: ohhhh. Wait. I’m triton’s niece. I was attracted to Harry. He was Hades’s son. Does that mean....

Ned: you inherited the gene? Yes.

Uma: fuck. Ah well. At least I never slept with him. Small mercies and all that.

Ned: do you need your sit down?

Uma: what? Why?

Ned: you just look a little um. Fuchsia.

Uma: no I’m fine.

Ned: if you’re sure.

Belle (whacking a goon repeatedly with a leather bound dictionary and thesaurus): DIE!!!! DIE!!!! GOD!!!! IN!!!! HEAVEN!!!! DIE!!!!

Elsa: she knows she has magic right?

Hadie: she’s panicking. Just let her carry on.

Elsa: why are you so calm?

Hadie: my little sister’s alive. Why wouldn’t I be calm?

Elsa: I like you Hadie. You look out for my daughter. She needs that.

Hadie: it’s my honour your highness.

Maui: WHAAAHOOO!!!!

(He keeps turning into different animals and attacking the goons)

Persey: oh my god

Ned: what?

Persey: Mal’s alive.

Uma: yeah. We know that. Maleficent’s sending the goons after us because of it.

Persey: yes but. Mal. Can control. The goons.

Ned: ohhhh.

Persey: mother. Cover me.

Persephone: on it.

(Persey bows their head and a ghostly duplicate of them separates from their body and shoots off into the sky)

Hadie: I didn’t know we could do that.

Persephone: oh my son. You have a lot to learn.

(Back in the woods. Persey’s astral projection lance in front of Ben and Mal)

Ben: boss?

Mal: what are you doing here? And what by can we see through you?

Persey: astral projection. It’s easy. I’ll show ya. Now. You can control the goons.

Mal: the what?

Persey: oh. You don’t know?

Ben: know what?

Persey: Maleficent is getting desperate. All the villains on her side have fallen so she’s throwing her porcine goons at us.

Mal: okay. But how can I control them?

Persey: I know you’ve disowned her as your mother. But you still have her blood. Ergo

Mal: they have to listen to me.

Persey: bingo.

Mal: what do I have to do.

Hades: Persey? Is that you?

Persey: yeah. She tenderised yet?

Hades: just about. Ooooh. I think I just heard her jaw crack

Persey: keep at it pops. Break her apart. Ready?

Mal: yes.

Persey: Ben. You can go with her if you’d like to.

Ben (immediately grabbing Mal’s hand): I thought you’d never ask.

Persey: good. Right. So. Your physical bodies will still be here. But your projections can go anywhere you need to. Got it?

Bal: yes.

Persey: awesome. Ready?

Bal: yes.

Persey: three. Two. One. And sleep.

(Ben and Mal’s heads fall forwards and they’re in the astral plane)

Persey: you can still touch everything like you normally would. Magic included. But you are, effectively, ghosts. So you can’t get hurt. Your bodies can though. So I’m staying here until get back? Comprendo?

Bal: understood.

Persey: off you pop.

(In a blink of an eye. Bal are in the middle of Auradon’s Main Street. And are immediately greeted with Maddy crying over her dying father as the Baker’s try to get to safety)

Mal: oh no. Maddy I’m so sorry.

Anastasia: Ben. Mal. You’re dead. But I thought.

Ben: astral projection. Persey.

Anastasia: they are a very clever individual.

Mal: that they are. I’m guessing you are Mr Baker.

Andrew: it’s a pleasure to meet you your highnesses.

Ben: how does it feel finally meeting your son?

Andrew: it would feel better if it weren’t under these circumstances.

Ben: understandable.

Mal (gently): Maddy. We need to get you somewhere safe.

(Maddy howls and snarls at her)

Mal: sorry.

Ben: how did it happen?

Anastasia: mauled by a hyena. Ed I think.

Mal: why Ed specifically?

Anastasia: I recognise the laughter from when I went hunting for their meat. I was the butcher on the island.

Andrew: ahhhh.

Anthony: is Hadie okay?

Ben: last I checked yes. I did kind of attack him though.

Mal: why?

Ben: I got mad. So. So mad. For them leaving you. I attacked all of them.

Mal: awwww. You attacked my family for me? That’s so sweet.

Ben: I do my best.

Andrew: are they always like this?

Anastasia and Anthony: yes.

Andrew: ah.

Ben: by the way. Andrew. Hopefully Mrs Potts will be overseeing the catering at the wedding. But would it be possible to request a limo sized white chocolate croissant cake for the reception?

Andrew: it would be my honour sir.

Mal: you, sir, are going to be a very lucky groom to be what this is all over.

Ben: dragon time?

Mal: aerial dragon time. And you don’t even have to turn into a beast. But it would be appreciated if you did.

Anastasia: um. Guys. Not that it’s not pleasant hearing our leaders discuss their bedroom antics. But we have a bit of a problem here.

(Bal immediately snap out of it)

Mal: right.

Ben: yes.

Mal: sorry. Lemme try. Ahem. Um. Excuse me. Maddy. We can take your dads body with us but we really do have to go now

Maddy: nuhuh.

Mal: Maddy.

Maddy: why is a Raven like a writing desk?

Ben: because Edgar Allen Poe wrote on both.

(Maddy’s head shoots up and looks at Ben)

Maddy: how did you. How did you know?

Ben: I mean. It’s kind of obvious when you think about it isn’t it? Edgar Allen Poe wrote on the subject of ravens and he wrote on a writing desk.

Hatter: I can die happy now.

Ben: ah crap.

Maddy: no papa no. We still have more people to tea.

Hatter: shh, shh, shh. You do my dear. I no longer need tea.

(Maddy bursts into wailing tears)

Ben: we need to get her out of here.

Mal: you all have magic right?

Anastasia: yes.

Mal: teleport her to the medical room. Just follow Carlos’s adorably psychotic laughter.

Ben: our son is not

Mal: Ben. C’mon. Please. The traps for senior prank day. When he wasn’t even a senior.

Ben:....good point.

Mal: now go.

(The Baker’s teleport to the palace, taking the Hatter’s with them. Mal and Ben face the palace)

Mal: listen to me goons. This Mallory Bertha Hestia Perrault Bernson. I share Maleficent’s blood. I am your new master. You will listen to me. Or die.

Goons: bAbY?

Ben: what?

Mal: yes. I am the baby. Maleficent is my birth mother. You are under my control now.

Goons: BABY!!!!

(The sounds of every single goon comes barreling towards Ben and Mal. In the medical room. The Baker’s just delivered Mad Hatter to the medical room)

Cinderella: I’m sorry but there’s nothing I can do. His injuries are far too extensive. Not magic can cure him.

(Maddy squeaks)

Hatter: Maddy. Maddy sweetheart. Come to you papa.

(Maddy walks over to him and he takes her hand. This is when “bleeding out” happens. After the song. Ben and Mal stop free falling and teleport back into the clearing. At which point Mal walks up to Hades, pulls him out of the way and slugs Audreficent in their face)

Mal: you out a failsafe on the goons didn’t you? DIDN’T YOU?!?!

(Audreficent is too busy coughing up blood to answer her)

Ben: I hate to play devils advocate. But I don’t think it was her.

Mal: how do you mean?

Ben: I think it was Maddy. It felt a lot like Uma’s wave of grief for Harry. And Hatter had just died.

Mal: oh. Ah well. At least I got to punch her in the face.

(Audreficent starts laughing through the blood vomit)

Mal: anything you’d like to share with the class?

Audreficent: I am just. So. Proud. Of you. So, so proud. Look at you. The horns. The wings. The skin. You are truly my daughter

Mal: I am not your daughter. I am Queen Elsa’s daughter. I am Hades’s daughter. I was never your daughter. I was just something you kept around to feel better about yourself.

Audreficent: I made you strong.

Mal: I DIDN’T NEED TO BE STRONG!!!! I NEEDED TO BE SAFE!!!! That’s why I kept Carlos safe. I did for him what you never did for me.

Audreficent: be weak.

Mal: be the mother he needed.

Audreficent: and for that he shall be the first to fall.

Ben: you lay one hand on mine and Mal’s son and I’ll rip your head off myself. Even if you are still in Audrey’s body.

Audreficent: that is where you are wrong little king. Blood. Is blood. Is blood. You cannot change who birthed you. Who raised you. There is a reason why they all say that blood is thicker than water.

Hades: once again you are inordinately wrong.

Audreficent: come again?

Hades: the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb. That’s the full saying. I should know. I was there when it was coined.

Audreficent (laughing coldly): like it matters. Now. Be good sports and let me kill you so I can take my daughter, have her kill all her friends and rule the cosmos together as it was always meant to be. Forever and ever and ever and HAHAHAHA

(Ben slugs them in the face)

Audreficent (in Audrey’s voice): kill me. Kill me now! KILL ME!!!! I KNOW MY MOTHER SAID YOU COULD SO KILL ME!!!!

Hades: your highness?

Audreficent (still in Audrey’s voice): you can do it. I know you can. You’re a god. You can kill me. Please kill me. Please. (In Maleficent’s voice). SILENCE GIRL. I am so sorry her. Children these. Never know when to keep quiet.

Mal: let my friend go.

Audreficent: SHE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND!!!! I know you both dislike her. I know you both feel nothing towards her except guilt. Even though it is all her fault. Allow you of this burden.

(They rapidly twist their neck all the way around)

Ben, Mal and Hades: STOP!

(The rest of Audreficent’s body spins back into place)

Audreficent: killjoys.

Hades: let. The princess. Go.

Audreficent: only if Mal asks me nicely.

Mal: let my friend go. Please.

Audreficent: muh-muh-muh?

Mal (looking like she’s going to be sick): mother.

Audreficent (hissing): iffff you inssssisssst.

(They unhinge their jaw like a snake and Maleficent crawls out of Audrey’s mouth agonisingly slowly ad Audrey screams in pain and terror. When the process is over. Maleficent stand there, almost a dead ringer for Mal only taller, older and prouder while Audrey’s slumped against the tree like a corpse)

Mal (sick to her stomach): dad. Could you please teleport Audrey to the medical room. But please stay here.

Hades: of course.

(Once Audrey is removed from the clearing)

Maleficent: now where was I? Oh yes.

(She launches herself at Mal but is stopped by Ben throwing iron dust into her eyes, incapacitating her long enough for Hades and Ben to tie her to a gold iron chair)

Maleficent: you will not win. You cannot win. Not while I am still alive. Not while everyone believes you to be dead. I shall reign victorious and EVERLAST-MMPH!!!!

Hades (stuffing a cloth into her mouth): oh that is quite enough out of you for the time being. Now Mal. What’s the plan.

Mal: she’s right.

Ben: pardon?

Mal: she’s right. Maddy and the Baker’s know I’m alive. But the way things are right now they probably haven’t had the time to tell everyone.

Ben: what do you need?

Mal: the ember. And a midair screen. Like the one we made when we questioned her in parliament.

Ben and Hades: on it.

(One minute later)

Mal: good. Thank you. Ahem. Auradon. I am now speaking directly to you. My name is Mallory Bertha Iris Perrault Bernson. Soon to be LeRoi. And in case you haven’t heard yet. I. Am. Alive. I have no idea if this makes any difference to any of you. But if it does. This your cue to keep fighting. Please, for the love of everything we hold dear, please keep fighting. She can’t win. Not now. Not ever. So please. Please. Please keep fighting. Thank you.

Maleficent (having spat the gag out): do you honestly believe your little hope speech will?

Mal (steeling herself up): I dunno. Let’s watch.

(She turns back to the screen. This is when “we are warriors” happens. After the song)

Jay: I knew it. I KNEW MAL WAS ALIVE!!!! HAHA!!!! YEEEES!!!!

Carlos: what’re we standing around waiting for? Let’s go to her.

(Jay, Carlos, Doug, Evie, Hadie, Persey, Anthony, Ned and Uma all run through the midair screen. Jay abc Carlos immediately go to hug Ben and Mal)

Mal: hey sis.

Evie: hey.

Mal: Tch. C’mon gloomy guts. Judy don’t touch mine or Ben’s hair. Bring Doug as well. I know he wants in.

(This leads to everyone joining in the group hug. That is, everyone except for Uma)

Ben: c’mon then Uma. Being part of the group also means being part of the group HUGS.

(Anthony uses magic reel Uma in)

Ben: wait a minute wait a minute. Where’s Jane and my brother?

Lonnie: Gil has a concussion.

Carlos: Jane got poisoned with spores from wonderland.

Mal: are they alright?

Hadie: yeah. They’ll be fine. They just gotta sleep it off.

Maleficent: MES ENFANTS. ATTAQUEZ MES ENNEMIS. NE LAISSEZ AUCUN SURVIVANT. TOUT RASER. FAIS-LE. MAINTENANT.

Lonnie: whaaaat was that?

Mal: run.

Uma: what?

Mal: run now. Back through the screen. GO GO GO GO!!!!

Carlos: why?

Ben: she’s summoning them.

(Carlos immediately teleports the allies back to the palace)

Jay: Persephone.

Persephone: yes?

Jay: barricade everything. Maleficent’s sending the goons after us again. Gil, Jane and Maddy are incapacitated. We need all the help we can get.

Belle: are Ben and Mal okay?

Jay: mhmm.

Elsa: why aren’t they with you then?

Jay: ummmm....

Elsa: no.

Jay: Elsa

Elsa: NO!

Persephone: it’s okay. Hades is with them.

Elsa: I don’t give a fuck about Hades!

Carlos: you’ll have to forgive my grandmother. She can be very acerbic when she wants to be.

Elsa: Carlos, sweetheart, I’m not being acerbic. I just don’t give a fuck about Hades.

Evie: guys. Shut up.

Doug (on his cellphone): mhmm. Mhmm. Uh huh. Thanks. Bye. Right. Listen up. Aunt Snow and Uncle Florian are still in the ambulance.

Jay: okay....

Doug: good news. There are no more casualties on our side. We got away with two casualties and only one fatality.

(Maddy wails in the corner)

Doug: sorry Maddox. Bad news. My godparents are surrounded by the goons.

Carlos: ah crap.

Doug: good news. Snow has the ray gun. And she’s mowing them down left, right and centre. This is when you cheer.

(Everybody cheers)

Jay: what’s the plan major-domo?

Doug: defend the castle. Hold the goons off. Make things easier for Ben, Mal and Hades. I suggest WHOAH!!!!

(Cj Hook has run inside the medical room, tackled Doug to the floor and started throttling him with her bare hands)

Cj: WHERE’S MY BROTHER?!?! I KNOW YOU KNOW!!!! SO TELL ME WHERE HE IS!!!!

Harriet (hobbling in using her sword as a walking stick): don’t kill ‘im without me!

(Uma shoots Cj in the head and Harriet in the chest with a flintlock pistol)

Doug: thanks.

Uma: any time Doug. Any time.

Hadie (smiling sadistically): are they dead?

Uma: no. Just knocked out. Industrial strength dinosaur tranquilliser.

Hadie (extremely disappointed): awwww man.

Persey: never mind that now. Our priority has to be our sister and our dad. I just hope they okay.

(Back in the clearing)

Mal: what’s that noise?

Ben: MAL DUCK!!!!

(He pulls her out of the way just before Snow White and Florian’s ambulance careens into the clearing)

Snow: morning all.

Mal: flattened by an ambulance. That would’ve been a really embarrassing way to go. Thank you for saving me.

Ben: always. Also. What the hell were you two thinking? This is tbd most reckless thing you’ve ever done. And I’ve seen you at Doug’s tenth birthday party

Snow: for what it’s worth. We reimbursed Dopey for the mobile bar.

Florian: is that her?

Hades: yes. Yes that is Maleficent.

Florian: and you are?

Hades (shifting into his John Barrowman form and shaking Florian’s hand): Hades. King of Olympus. Persey, Mal and Evie’s father. Hey. How you doing?

Florian: mmmm. Promotion?

Hades: coup.

Florian: ahhhh. Whatever works.

Hades: don’t it just?

Mal: this is the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen and I shared a room with Evie for a year and a half.

Ben: I know. Want me to break it up?

Mal: nah ah. I wanna see where this goes.

Maleficent: excuse me. Could you kindly cease with the Oktoberfest for a moment and focus on me please?

Mal: and she’s ruined it. Typical.

Snow: we know what you did to our godson.

Maleficent: another girl who thinks that choice counts where family is concerned.

Snow: I am the only mother that Doug has ever known. He is the only son that I have ever known. And you hurt him. You hurt everyone. It’s what you do. And you need to be stopped.

(She brings out an iron knife which causes Mal to double over in pain)

Maleficent: ooooh very scary(.) Would you be a dear and brandish that adorable knife a wee little bit over there?

(Maleficent indicates the direction and Snow follows it only to immediately realise the iron is affecting Mal which cause her to throw the knife away)

Snow: OH MY GOD. MAL I AM SO SORRY. I SHOULD’VE KNOWN BETTER.

Mal (straightening back up): no harm done. Don’t worry.

Ben: to stave off any more mistakes. Why don’t you two make your way to the palace?

Maleficent: while there is still a palace left.

Ben: go. Go now.

(Snow White and Florian get back into the ambulance and drive away)

Maleficent: why do the heroes always think they have the upper hand. You shall lose. I shall win. I always do.

Mal: you didn’t though. If you did. The world would be far worse off.

Maleficent: I was a queen.

Hades: no. You were just a princess who wanted power above everything else.

Mal: sorry what?

Hades: yup. You heard right. You’re royalty on both sides. So is Evie though. So don’t get too uppity about it.

Mal: eh. Can’t have everything.

Maleficent: indeed. I wanted to rule everything yet my parents said no. So I killed them.

Mal: you killed everyone. You killed every last dark fae in Persia. And you want to do the same to Auradon. And we won’t let you.

Ben (on his cellphone): hello? Oh good. That’s great. Yup. Mhmm. I can see it. Yes I can see everything. We’ll be watching. Thanks. Bye.

(He hangs up)

Mal: who was that?

Ben: Doug. They’re ready for the final defence. I said we’d watch.

Mal: let’s do it.

(They face the midair screen. This is when “bohemian rhapsody” happens. After the song. Jane wakes up to find Jay and Carlos hugging her)

Jane: I’ve had this dream. Many, many times. But you guys were never watching us.

Doug: Helga Sinclair infected you with wonderland spores. Jay and Carlos saved you with true love’s kiss.

Jane: huh. Cool. Could you guys leave now please. I’d really like to get back to my dream.

Persey: I think you might have to wait for that dream honey.

Jane: why?

Persey: because I think Maleficent just escaped the manacles.

Jay: oh no. Oh no no no no no no.

(Persey’s right. There’s a shaft of emerald green light shoot up from the middle of the forest)

Jay: FUCK!!!!

Evie: what do we do? Jay what do we do?

Jay: what we’re here to do. Help Ben and Mal.

(Back in the clearing. Maleficent’s sending attack after attack at Ben, Mal and Hades but they’re refusing to break)

Maleficent: yyyaaRRGGHH!!!!

(She notices plumes of multicoloured travel smoke headed towards her. She singles out the white plume and in a blink of an eye she’s got a knife to Carlos’s throat)

Maleficent: you take one more move against me and your precious little runt DIES!!!!

Carlos: that threat would’ve worked two years ago. But. Not anymore. ALLEY-OOP.

(He teleports out of Maleficent’s grip and proceeds to hyper kick her in the face repeatedly before doing an elegant superhero landing)

Maleficent: why must it be so DIFFICULT WITH YOU?!?!

Hades: because you know you can’t win. Not when all of us are against you. And it fucking tears you up inside.

Maleficent: you are right my love. For once you are right. And that is an ailment that is easily remedied.

(With that, she creates a twister that scoops up the allies, deposits all of them outside the forest and seals the forest off in yet another barrier)

Maleficent: this is between you, me, my daughter

Hades: My daughter.

Maleficent: MY daughter. And the handsome young king. But first. I shall kill you. My love. My sweet. My pawn.

(She starts force choking Hades until he’s on his knees while she blocks Ben and Mal’s attempts to help him. This is when “toxic” happens. After the song. Maleficent gasps awake)

Hades: any last words?

Maleficent: why do you continue to fight when you could have joined me?

Hades: because you’re a nutbag who uses people to her own ends.

Maleficent: you say that like it’s a bad thing.

Hades: it IS a bad thing!

Maleficent (getting up and making her way towards Hades): oh come on my love. We had a good time while we lasted.

Hades: yes. And then we got married. And you kicked me out the next morning. And what was that last one? Oh yeah. You threatened to kill my daughter if I ever dared to make contact with her!

Maleficent: mother’s prerogative.

Hades: hehehehe. Ahhhh. That’s the problem with you Maleficent.

Maleficent: what?

Hades: you’re like a fucking drachma.

Maleficent: I am afraid that I am not following.

(This is when “hot n cold” happens. After the song. Hades changed into his Eva Green form and starts patting herself down)

Hades: where is it? Whereisitwhereisitwhereisit? Oh crap.

(They’ve both seen the ember in the grass. They dive for it and after a brief skirmish Hades emerges victorious)

Hades: HAHA!!!! Up yours you scaly fucker! Up! Yours!

Maleficent (drier than sand): well done my love. You pilfered a pebble from an injured woman.

Hades: no no. Don’t do that. Don’t play the victim. You never are. And you never were.

Maleficent: worth a shot. So. Are you going to kill me?

Hades: in time my beloathed. In time. But first. You are going to listen to me.

Maleficent: oh lord. Here we go.

(This is when “rolling in the deep” happens. After the song. Back in the medical room. Evie’s keeping watch on the balcony)

Evie: Doug. DOUG!!!!

Doug: what is it? What’s wrong?

Evie: that bitch destroyed our house!

(She’s right. Maleficent’s using debris from Doug and Evie’s house to attack Hades who’s blocking it with everything she has)

Maleficent: why do you not YIELD!?!?

Hades: because you’re nuts!

Maleficent: ASIDE FROM THAT!!!!

(Hades makes iron spikes flower out of the ground)

Hades: time out time out. I’m getting too old for this bullshit.

Maleficent: awwww(.) Is the ickle god all tuckered out(?) How sad(.)

Hades: save it. You’re only acting like this because you know you’re losing.

Maleficent: I do not lose!

Hades: you lost to Phillip and the fairies. You lost Mal. You lost at the coronation. You lost the coup. And you’re losing now.

Maleficent: why can you not just let me win?

Hades: because I know what will happen. Hell will descend. Hell on earth. And not one that I can control. And it will be my descendants that will have to deal with it. Just like they’ve had to for the past year and a half. So you can’t win. I won’t let you.

Maleficent: you know. We really were good together. An entire room demolished. Twice over.

Hades: and then you kicked me out the moment you realised you were pregnant.

Maleficent: I had to protect myself. I could not run the risk of her being soft like you.

(Hades rubs her face wearily with her hands, turning back into Sebastian Stan in the process)

Hades: I am not soft. You know what I’ve done.

Maleficent: that boy and his elder sibling made you soft. And I was not prepared to let that happen to my daughter.

Hades (laughing hollowly): like frollo.

Maleficent: I ate frollo. It was the best meal I ever had. Apart from Balthazar of course. He was fatter. Far more substantial.

Hades: and that explains why Mal can’t process meat.

Maleficent: I did what I could but she was always weak. Maternal. Helpful. Emphatic. Paranoid in all the wrong ways.

Hades: oh how ironic(.) I feel like Alanis Morrisette should be playing.

Maleficent: what is that?

Hades: never mind. Now stay still so I can kill you.

Maleficent: do you remember how we met?

Hades: of course. Kronk’s Bar. The time abyss has not yet set in. Why do you ask?

Maleficent: just. Nostalgia. When one is facing the end. It jumps out at you.

Hades: are you making a last request?

Maleficent: yes.

Hades: oh what the hell. Fine. Kindness before you die. If I have.

(The forest melts around them, turning into a tavern on the island. Hades and Maleficent are at the bar. This is when “blank space” happens. After the song. Back in the medical room. Uma sits down next to Gil’s bed)

Uma: hey.

Lonnie: hey.

Uma: what happened to him?

Lonnie: according to Doug it was a massive concussion. He’ll he fine though. He just needs to sleep it off.

Uma: is he. S’he singing “London Bridge is falling down”?

Lonnie: yeah. Milo taught him how to do that. It’s a calming tactic.

Uma: oh.

Lonnie: you did a real number on him you know. At cotillion

Uma: trust me. I know

Lonnie: I don’t think you do. You’re his best friend. And he thought you hated him for doing what you always wanted.

Uma: what did he do?

Lonnie: he got off the island. The right way.

Uma: I hear this enough from my sisters. I don’t need to hear this from you as well.

Lonnie: well you’re gon-oh shit.

(Mal’s doubled over and gone into a trance, speaking Greek, French and Persian)

Ben: Doug! Can you translate?

Doug: what?

Ben: you’re an omniglot aren’t you?

Evie (indignantly): only for me though.

Carlos (dryly): yeah Doug’s a real cunning linguist.

(Everyone reacts with good natured disgust)

Carlos (innocently): what? I saw an opportunity and I took it.

Ben: that’s alright buddy. I’m a bit of a cunning linguist as well.

Carlos (experiencing parental squick): oh come on!

Ben (innocently): what? I saw an opportunity and I took it.

Carlos:....touché

(The teens have forgotten that the mothers are still there)

Elsa (who’s asexual): what are they talking about?

Belle (who’s dating Maui), Persephone and Cinderella: I’ll give you a book later.

Doug: why can’t you translate?

Ben: I only speak French and Persian. The Pantheon’s can only speak Greek. You’re the only one I know who can speak all three. You’re as smart as you are hot.

Doug: hey! Oh wait. Sorry. It’s a compliment when you guys say it. Fine. Lemme think. Lemme think. Ummmm. “She is my daughter”. “Up your ass you-Charlie Uncle November Treat”.

Ben: good save.

Doug: thank you. Um. “You have no claim to her”. “All you want is a chess piece”. “That is all she is good for”. Fuck.

Ben: what? What is it?

Doug: Maleficent and Hades are arguing about Mal. Like Kramer vs Kramer.

Hadie: well they were married for all of two days.

Ben: wait what?

Hadie: yeah. It was uh. One night stand with Jas Hook. Quickie marriage and divorce with Maleficent. Rebound with Grimhilde. What can I say? My dad’s a wee bit of a slut.

Persephone: it runs in the family. So does familial marriage. Although I think it skipped your generation.

Hadie: on the contrary mother. I’m a whore. And an expensive one at that.

Ben: could we stop talking about Olympian inbreeding for a moment please and focus on Mal!

Persephone: right. Sorry.

Hadie: our bad.

Gil: UMA LOOK OUT!!!!

Jane: ohhhh....my head.

Lonnie: Gil’s awake.

Jay and Carlos: Jane’s awake.

Doug: oh I honestly can’t tell if this is good or bad.

Uma: our friends are awake. What’s not good about it?

Doug: it’s too sudden. Gil was concussed. Jane was poisoned. It’s way too quick.

Uma: one bridge at a time?

Doug: one bridge at a time.

(Mal straightens back up, holding her head in her hands)

Mal: what in the hell was that?

Ben: it’s okay. You’re okay. It’s okay. Everything’s okay.

Mal: what happened?

Ben (gently): you went into a trance.

Mal: oh god again?

Ben: mhmm. You were speaking in Greek, French and Persian. Doug translated. He reckons that Hades and Maleficent were fighting over you. Like a custody battle.

Pain: Lord Greenman was most definitely correct your young highness.

Panic: most definitely correct indeed.

Persephone: boys. What are you doing here?

Pain: the king of the gods is entering his endgame. The bitch can’t be reasoned with.

Panic: Nor will she be changed.

Pain: Sire knows that now.

Persey: what are you saying?

Pain and Panic: the evil one shall die by her spurned husband’s blade.

Hadie (cheerfully): well that’s not ominous at all.

Persey: okay so what bl-Doug. Buddy. Um. You probably know this. What’s the Vorpal sword made out of? Also. Where is it?

Doug: um. Ir-oh my god!

Persey: yup. That’s what I thought. Now. Where is it?

(Doug points to Mal)

Persey: Mal. Honey. Where did you put it?

Mal (scrunching her face up and racking her brains in concentration): um. Room.

Persey (unravelling slightly): WHAT ROOM?!?!

Jay: uh. Boss. Can I translate?

Persey: please!

Jay: the Vorpal is in Ben and Mal’s apartments under their bed. Either on Mal’s side next to the en-suite. Or Ben’s side next to the balcony.

Mal: yes! That’s where Ben does his best cunning linguistics!

Carlos (wincing): I’m never going to live that down am I?

The rest of the teens: nope.

Doug (summoning the sword): got it.

Pain and Panic: Yoink!

Persey: Mal. Do you willingly give the Vorpal and the Cromwell gift to our father?

Mal: yes.

Persey (stressing the importance of the words): willingly. Willingly give. Do you willingly give the Vorpal and the Cromwell gift to our father?

Mal: I willingly give the Vorpal and the Cromwell gift to our father.

Persey: good. Pfft. Go!

(The imps hold the sword by the handle)

Pain: dragon fairy iron die!

Panic: dragon fairy iron die!

Both: dragon fairy iron die! DRAGON FAIRY IRON DIE!!!!

(They disappear in an explosion of magenta and teal light)

Persey: fuck I hope this works

Elsa (late to the punchline and grossed out by it): oh god! I just got the joke!

Persephone (dismissively patting Elsa’s head): that’ll do pig. That’ll do.

(Back in the clearing. Pain and Panic have turned into snakes and are curling up and around Hades’s right arm with the sword in their fangs)

Pain (hissing in Hades’s ear): I mellontikí vasílissa édose próthyma to xífos Vorpal kai to dóro Cromwell ston patéra tis.

Hades (gratefully taking the sword): thank you boys. Thank you kindly. But it is time for you to go.

(The imps teleport away. Hades shifts back into his John Barrowman form and fixes the ember to the other side of the pommel)

Maleficent: that butter knife cannot possibly hope to harm me.

Hades: SHUT. UP.

(Maleficent tries to speak but is forced into silence)

Hades: NOW BOW DOWN TO ME. LIKE THE KING OF THE GODS DESERVES.

(Maleficent is forced into a bow so deep that her nose ends up being two inches into the ground)

Hades: hehehehehe. Ohhhh I could get used to this. But I don’t. Legally. It’s Mal’s. The Gift and the sword. I could never take them away from her. Not without her say so. Un. Like. You.

Maleficent: if you let me go. If you let me live. We can be a family again.

Hades: not gonna happen. And do you know why? Because you will not stop. You led me on. You made my daughter’s life

Maleficent: my daughter.

Hades: MY daughter’s life a living hell until she got away from you. I am never going to let you hurt her again. Never. Get up. It’s time for your execution.

(Maleficent doesn’t move)

Hades: I said. GET. UP.

(Maleficent is forced back into her feet)

Maleficent: please. We can start again. Please. Please don’t do this. Please.

Hades: too late my love

Maleficent: the only reason I came to this clearing was to beg you to let me come back.

Hades: oh shut the fuck up. For once in your life. Just. Shut. Up. You didn’t love me. You didn’t love Mal. All you ever have loved. Is power. And it’s failed you. It’s kinda funny when you think about it really.

Maleficent (uneasily): what, pray tell, is funny?

Hades: it just is.

(This is when “get out and stay out” happens).

[frilly-interference-dazzling]

Who to Blame for Domino Death 🎃

My mom made me feel bad, also the 2 times she called my dad at work when he said to call the police, who wouldn't listen to me. Police usually get mad at fake accusations and can maybe arrest you or harass you. They took me to the mental hospital. I was dropped off there with my aunt, Joni, at age 16. It's not that nice, especially not for me. She kept approaching me and acting like I couldn't talk to her, or something. I'd been having problems with my parents and was being monitored in private. The problems were unspoken, maybe even then by me but understood. Anyway, I think she was upset when it seemed I almost threw a glass top of a table because she wouldn't leave me alone, probably not he first time. I've thrown and even broke things, like my CD's, but nothing bad on purpose, and this was in the New Orleans area. So, anyway, once I threw the remote control, which didn't seem very breakable and not too too hard, no special reason. I made a hole in my wall by accident once when upset, just punched it, didn't think anyone'd hear. They did. I know I had recently been to someone's spa in their home and they violently tried to suction off blackheads on my face and forehead. I think it damaged my brain some, I could feel in the front, though I thought tubes were forming there recently which sounds strange. I'd been posting online a lot, on the then IMDb Message Boards, which are now film|boards. So, from punching my wall that first time then, my mom was acting weird sorta, and I didn't even come out to see my parents those days, not even to eat. I know I also made holes in the wall in the living room. I put Alice in Wonderland (2010) posters up, like I'd have put up artwork I made, in the house. I had to come home from college, from being monitored in private. So, later things happened. My dad did weird things to the house, like painted it blue and yellow. He arranged his room where my mom worked in a way that irritated her. When I went to visit my grandma, my dad's mom, who lived with my aunt, Barb, my dad's younger sister, I wanted a laptop, which I needed, and my dad and aunt, Barb, and/or maybe, Joni, set it up on a little table or desk in her room. It was my mom's. My grandma put it down hard kinda. In those days, computers could be slower, or I guess laptops I mean if you were not that rich. My mom finally couldn't "make it" and couldn't stand it, as it must have slowed down, though she acted like it was okay. My grandma used to do other mean things, when I was monitored in private, but so did and do others. She seemed nicer later. She already wouldn't go along with the game, when I acted like that's all it was, which isn't that hard to come to for me but was to others there. I don't know, but I think my grandma did it on purpose. I think it helped, at least, give my mom cancer. Other people did it, too, of course, like letting her go after pretending they liked they hired and she probably worked a little teaching children exercise at the nice gym, sorta nice, in Orlando, Florida. My mom had to take my younger brother's dog out each morning and was tired, also took my younger brother to high school. He got the dog mad I went to bed too early to watch movies anymore, a few years ago. So, my dad got sick and died after my mom was sick and died, and my aunt, Barb, cared for my grandma, or her mom, and when she broke her hip around age 95 went to the nursing home and died not too long after, so it was like she was murdered, "telepathically." She didn't really approve of my dad, and her daughters, my aunts, didn't matter, anyway. I don't trust them, but I'm not "afraid" of them, at least not anymore than others or actively. It's not my fault, come for me. Also, I was mistreated, all along, being monitored in private. I know my mom worked hard for whatever incentive people do like they still exist to please my grandma, my dad's mom. She probably snapped or "broke" early on saying she made my dad fat. I wanted him to go exercise, my mom saying he wanted to be a banker and dad, rather than... (out of space)

[heyyyharry]

Happier

(inspired by happier by Olivia Rodrigo)

Word count: 2.4k

I'm selfish, I know, I can't let you go So find someone great, but don't find no one better I hope you're happy, but don't be happier

Part 1: Drivers License

Part 2: Deja Vu

A/N: I edited the original lyrics to match the POV :)

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Harry had come up with a thousand scenarios of how this day would play out. Actually, he’d been thinking of this day since the moment he’d received the news. He didn’t dare to hope that she’d say yes to coming back for a sequel. He’d been sure that they would write her character off, give a lame excuse for how his love interest could not make a return and make his character forget about her completely to move on with a new girl in town. It would have been great if it was that easy in real life. Once someone was written off the script, they were gone for good. Real-life relationships were not that simple. Goodbye didn’t mean ‘never see you again’. You would still share the same friend circle and social bubbles, and it was worse when you two worked in the same industry. Harry didn’t know how he’d lasted a year without running into her, not since the Grammys.

“Didn’t you two date?”

“No.” Harry shook his head, but his eyes stayed glued on Y/N from across the room. She wasn’t looking his way, too busy saying hello to everyone else. “No,” he repeated, more to himself than to his co-star. “We didn’t.”

“But she wrote an entire album about you,” said the other twin. What was her name again? Lulu?

“Luna!” cried her sister, Lex. “You can’t ask him that!”

“No, it’s okay,” Harry said with a tight smile, slightly annoyed by the blonde twins, but he didn’t want to seem like an ass on the first day of filming. “And I don’t know if it was for me. You should ask Y/N.”

“Ask me what?”

Harry flinched when he looked up and saw Y/N padding towards them. She hugged the twins, who seemed way too excited. Harry guessed they were Y/N’s fans. They gave off crazy fangirl vibes, probably just pretending not to know the drama to interrogate him. He couldn’t blame them for assuming he was the villain and definitely could not blame Y/N for portraying him as one. It was more important that he knew who he was and how much he had changed since his last relationship. Maybe they could finally be friends.

“Were they bothering you?” Y/N asked him once the twins had left.

Harry nodded. “They’re your friends?”

“Oh, I met them last year on tour. I’m surprised you don’t know them. They were on Disney.”

“I don’t watch Disney,” Harry admitted with a smile. “Well, not today’s Disney.”

“Understandable.” Y/N nodded and bit her lip. She seemed guarded with her straight back and hands hidden behind her. She eyed him up and down, quite subtle yet noticeable. “How have you been?”

“Pretty good,” he said, nodding slowly. “You?”

“Yeah, but mostly tired because of tour.”

“You’re done?”

“Yup, last night was the last show.”

“Nice.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow. “Nice?”

Harry blinked. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No.” Y/N giggled. “You still sound very...you.”

“Well, shouldn’t I?”

“Yeah, you should. But it’s been a year so…I mean, you haven’t changed much.”

“Right,” he said lowly, his eyes falling to his feet. Harry supposed he should say something else, perhaps bringing up another random topic to discuss, but all he could think about was what had happened between them. Things had been messy, hadn’t they? How could they go back to before that? Before her first song about him. Before he’d chosen someone else over her.

Or he could talk about her new relationship. She’d been in a happy relationship for almost six months, right? No wait, hadn’t they broke up two weeks ago? He wasn’t sure because he hadn’t been catching up. If they’d broken up, he’d sound like an ass to even mention her ex’s name. He should just stay quiet.

“I’ll see you later?” she said, gesturing at her stylist who was waiting by the door.

Harry could ask her right now -- the reason she’d agreed to film the sequel to their first movie together. He’d heard from a very reliable source that she’d specifically asked her agent to decline any project that he was in. So did this mean they were good? That she didn’t hate him anymore? He could have gathered his courage and got the answer right then…

“Yeah, see you.”

...but he didn’t.

And so she gave him a smile and a little wave, then happily returned to her stylist.

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.

.

“See you tomorrow, Y/N!”

“See you, Annie!” Y/N said as she put the rest of her things into her tote bag. Her new driver had got her schedule mixed up, and so she had to wait here for another half an hour. She was in no rush. It had been a light first day, and she’d had a fun time getting to know the new cast members and catching up with old friends.

She sat on the sofa in the lobby, legs crossed, texting her best friend about her day. She’d purposely left out the short off-screen conversation with Harry, and her best friend didn’t even bother to ask. In their world, he didn’t exist, and his name was censored in every conversation like a curse word that was even worse than ‘cunt’. Nevertheless, she didn’t hate him anymore. She was doing just fine on her own, being busy with her career, and she’d been in a happy relationship after her fall out with him.

She and the guy, a model, had broken up two weeks ago due to long distance and some differences that they could not change. They had ended on good terms and decided to stay friends. They said you could only stay friends with your ex when you still had feelings for each other, or you had never loved each other that much in the first place. For her, it was probably the latter. Her previous relationship had been more platonic than romantic, apparently. So she had nothing but the best to say about him.

As she was going through her camera roll, just reminiscing about the past, she heard footsteps approaching and looked up to find Harry. He offered a smile and gestured to the spot beside her on the sofa. “May I sit here? My ride is late.”

“Yeah, sure.” She hurriedly scooted over.

“Good job today,” he said. “You were great.”

“Thanks, so were you.” She smiled, and they both looked away at the same time. This was so awkward. She hated small talk. She’d never had to have small talk with Harry. Conversations with him used to be so easy and natural and silly. Whatever this was, it wasn’t them.

“Can we just be normal?”

At first, Y/N thought she’d been the one who’d said it, so when she realised it’d been Harry, she was speechless.

He swallowed and sat a bit straighter, still not looking at her. “I don’t want us to be weird and awkward.”

“Okay,” she said.

He cleared his throat. “Wanna try again?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Okay, not to sound like an ass but when Joey kept forgetting his lines, I was so pissed off, I could throw a chair at the wall.”

“Right?!” exclaimed Y/N, feeling free to have finally broken out of her shell. “Like, he doesn’t even have many lines. I know he’s new but damn...you can’t get far if you don’t learn your goddamn lines.”

Harry shook with laughter. “Oh God, we sound like dicks, don’t we?”

“Maybe.” Y/N laughed, covering her mouth. “But you know what? We can’t be nice in this industry. It’s impossible.”

“Shhh, if someone heard this, we would be into big trouble.”

“Oh please, I’ve had worse articles written about me than ‘Y/N speaks facts about her lazy co-star’.”

Harry tossed his head back and cackled. “The worst one I’ve got this week was ‘Harry Styles hates therapists.’”

“What?!” Y/N gasped. “No way! That’s so stupid!”

“Right?” Harry rolled his eyes. “I could get all my therapists to speak up for me but I’m kinda immune to bullshit now.”

“Therapists? Like plural?”

“Yeah, one in every city.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah.”

Y/N rubbed her hands onto her legs. “Rough year?”

Harry’s eyes rolled to the back of his head as he leaned back. “You have no idea.” Then he swept his hair out of his eyes, sucked in a breath, and finally looked at her. “I wish I could have talked to you, though.”

She bit her tongue, knowing what she was about to say next would disappoint her best friend so much, but she had to. “So do I.”

Harry looked taken aback before his lips curled into a smile. “It’s silly, isn’t it? I haven’t talked to you in a year, and I feel like I know everything that’s happened to you except that I don’t.”

What he’d just said might make no sense for most people, but Y/N knew exactly what he meant. She nodded and wetted her lip. “You only know as much as everyone else does.”

“Yeah, I got updates on you from the news and our friends.”

“Same.” Y/N smiled back. “I hate how they write articles about your new haircut but not mine.”

“I like your new hair colour.”

“Thanks. I like your new car.”

Then they both burst out laughing. It was fun and also a little bit strange that Y/N didn’t feel the same anxiety talking to him as she used to. It must be because they had grown and were now meeting again as better people.

“Damn, my ride's here,” Y/N said as she read the text from her driver. “I gotta go now.”

“Oh, okay.” Harry stood up and followed Y/N to the entrance. “Hey, just wondering--”

“Yeah?”

“Am I...am I still blocked?” He looked a bit flustered as she tilted her head and squinted her eyes. “On your phone. Because I remember you having my number blocked--”

“I unblocked you on your birthday.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.” Y/N shrugged. “I should’ve sent you a happy birthday text but...I didn’t want your girlfriend to get the wrong ideas.”

“My ex.”

“Yeah, I know.”

They smiled at each other one last time before saying goodbye. Y/N knew it was silly, but she was hoping he would go after her.

Ding.

A notification popped up when she was in the car. She was almost home, and it was from Harry’s number. He’d sent her a link with a message that said, “Hope you like it :)”.

Curious, she tapped on it and was directed to an audio file titled ‘Track 5’. The upload date was last year. About two weeks after their short conversation at the Grammys.

Hurriedly, she fumbled inside her bag for her iPods and put it on before she pressed play.

“Hey, Jeff, I couldn’t sleep so I wrote this song. Listen and let me know if it should go on the album.”

Then came the piano intro. It sounded good, so Y/N wondered how it hadn’t ended up on his last album.

But when he started to sing...

We ended a while ago Your friends are mine, you know, I know You've moved on, found someone new One more guy who brings out the better in you

And I thought my heart was detached From all the sunlight of our past But he’s so nice, he’s so funny Does he mean you forgot about me?

Oh, I hope you're happy But not like how you were with me I'm selfish, I know, I can't let you go So find someone great, but don't find no one better I hope you're happy, but don't be happier

And does he tell you you’re the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen? An eternal love bullshit he might not even mean Remember when you were with me I meant it when you heard it first from me

And now I'm pickin' him apart Like cuttin' him down will make you miss my wretched heart But he’s charming, he looks kind He probably gives you butterflies

I hope you're happy But not like how you were with me I'm selfish, I know, I can't let you go So find someone great, but don't find no one better

I hope you're happy I wish you all the best, really Say you love him, baby Just not like you loved me And think of me fondly when your hands are on him I hope you're happy, but don't be happier

The song was for her. He’d written it when her new relationship had gone public. Y/N sat there, staring blankly ahead until the honking of a car tore open her inner peace, and reality came crashing back in. The driver dropped her off at her house. Instead of going inside, she stood on her front steps and replayed the song one more time. When it ended, she decided to text him: Why didn’t this make it to the album?

She didn’t know where he was now, but it showed ‘typing’ in less than a second, as if he’d been waiting in their chat since he’d sent that link.

You would’ve hated me, Y/N.

True, she replied. Still, I would’ve loved the song lowkey. And added, I love it btw.

He took so long to type that it was driving her crazy. She flopped down on the concrete stair with her phone clutched in her hands, her heart thundering against her ribcage. Anxiety popped like a balloon when his message appeared: Were you happier?

She reread it again and again.

No.

I wasn’t either, he responded. I kept getting deja vu.

Ha, nice reference.

That song is my guilty pleasure. Love listening to you roasting me on loop.

That last message made Y/N bury her face into her palm and giggle like a fool. She thought for a second and wrote: I could come roast you in person now if that’s what you prefer. I think we’ve never had a proper roasting.

Can we meet, Y/N? Or are you busy now?

No, not busy.

Great, I’ll pick you up.

Just tell me where, she responded with a smile on her face. I got my drivers license now :)

[paintball169]

Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month 2021!

Day 2 - Family

Day1 - Day2 - Day3

Marinette Wayne was the baby of the Family. She loved her brothers to no end.

Maybe a little more because they treated her as the baby.

Being the youngest had both its advantages and disadvantages. On one hand they listened to her every demand. On the contrary they were over protective.

Being the youngest also had other perks. No one could ever say to Marinette. Growing up Marinette was given lots of love by her older siblings. She got everything. She always loved the attention her crazily big family paid her. Don’t get her wrong, She loved her family a lots.

They gave her everything she asked. All she had to do was ask.

A ride in the Batmobile. Done. Modelling her clothes. Done. A baby Tiger. Also done. But mostly Marinette enjoyed spending time with her crazy family.

She loved the gifts and all, But the most? It was spending time together.

Playing pranks, Making gifts for each other, Game nights, Cooking nights.

Yeah those were definitely her most fond moments.

Her father and Siblings tried not to blow up the kitchen. That was something straight out of the funny TV shows for Baby marinette. She always loved her brothers and father trying to cook, and later accidentally blowing up the Kitchen. That was the funniest part. She would fall down laughing while clutching her stomach every single time.

Don’t blame her, Her family managed to do the most impossible things. Setting water on fire, Blowing up an egg in the microwave, Her father couldn’t even make coffee!

And that was funny itself. Marinette loved sitting on a chair and watching her Dad trying to make sense of the Coffee maker. Everytime she ended up laughing out loud.

She also loved doing the trapeze with Dick. Playing pranks on everyone with Jay. Trying to stay up all night with Tim. Walking Titus with Damian. Dancing with Cass. Doing ridiculous things with Stephanie. Watching Babs help through the Comms. Baking with Alfred too.

Also there was another thing she loved the most. Going to WE with her Dad. The Employees were made to sign NDA’s so her Identity wouldn’t get out. Many times she got bored in Dad’s meetings. So she ended up talking to one of the employees while they worked. Marinette was curious about business. So she often ended up with her bombarding a person with Queries. At the end of the Day, her dad would realize she wasn’t with him. That ended with him panicking and announcing on the huge microphones in WE. She enjoyed scaring the shit out of her Dad.

So when it was time to stay with her mother. Everyone ended up crying. Marinette was confused and sad. Did heer family not love her anymore? Did they hate her now? What about Jay-Jay? And Dami? Sure he was four years older than her, but he loved her, Right? She pulled her father’s coat and timidly asked

“Do you all hate me now? Is that why you're sending me away?”

Gasps were heard among many. “No darling, we don't, we love you lots. But your mother gave birth to you right? Don’t you think she wants to meet you too? You can still visit every summer and winter break.We won't miss a single christmas without you. I promise we’ll all call you daily!” Her father says. Yes, that makes sense. She should thank the lady for giving birth to her. Maybe the lady wants to know what she looks like.

“Pinky Promise?”

“Pinky Promise.”

And the promise was kept. Every Summer she ended up with new memories. She also got to thank the lady who gave birth to her. She was her Maman now. And there was Papa too! Marinette hopes that her Dad finds her another Mom! Then she would get to keep two Moms and two Dads! One will always be her Dad, Bruce. Second will be her Maman. Third, her Papa Tom. And fourth her Mom or another lady her Dad finds.

Marinette loved her new life too!! She also missed her Brothers and Sisters and the craziness they brought. She loved cooking with her Maman. Also she loved Baking with Papa. She also had a two year old sister Bridgette! She looked just like her! Now she has a small Sibling. It’ll be just like her and Damian!

Marinette made a lot of friends. Bonded with her sister. Also Introduced her to her Dad!

She had such good friends! She also became a superhero. Her both families knew about that. But all that changed one day. Why? The one and only Lila Rossi.

She took all of Marinette’s friends. Except Chloe, Kagami, Luka and Nathaniel. Chloe is dating Nathaniel. And Kagami is dating Luka. She also has a boyfriend, Jon kent. She started dating him Last year. Her family knew about Lila. So did Bridgette. She always called Lila a Witch.

This year she won't be going to Gotham to visit her family! They will be coming here! She was Psyched. Now Bridgette could meet them in person! She and Bridgette were currently sitting in Le Grand Paris waiting for the Waynes. Her Class was also going to be there. Instead they will be talking with Mr.Agreste. Oh Boy, She was going to enjoy this.

As she was thinking about what her family brought her, They said it was a surprise. They even got Bridgette one! Bridgette wanted to become a Cop, Just like Dick. She wondered if that was related. Maybe a famous cop’s autograph. Ooh maybe Commissioner Gordon’s.He was her role model after all! As she was soaked in her thoughts she missed the group of men wearing suits. Everyone’s Jaw Dropped. Aurore started filming. Her train of thoughts were cut off when she fell down from weight. She looked to see it was Jason Todd.

“Ouch Jay-Jay! Get off!” Marinette shouts. “What? Am I not allowed to hug my Baby Sister anymore?” He asks with fake hurt. “Of course you can! But seriously you are jumping on me!”Marinette Retorts. Then she’s under a dog pile. “I’m gonna join the pile too!!” Bridgette and Damian shout. “Boys get off your sister!” This earns a lot of Gasps. “Thanks Dad, I missed you.” Marinette then hugs her father. “Missed you too.”

“Hey Bridgette, nice to meet you formally!” While the waynes are absorbed in their conversation they miss a class with a teacher and principal coming in and taking a seat. Mr.Agreste is here in person.

“Aren’t those the Waynes? Why are they sitting with Mari-trash?” Lila asks getting a lot of Gasps. “Lets go talk to them, they will make an excellent Buissniess partner.”Mr.Agreste says to Adrien, getting a nod in return. Everyone follows them. The first thing they here is

“-A whole fabric shop for me? Thank you!” Marinette says hugging her Father.

“Is this Commissioner Gordon’s Autograph? That’s so cool!” Bridgette says.

“Mr. Wayne! A surprise seeing you here!” The Waynes turn to see Gabriel.

“Hello Gabriel. A surprise indeed.” Bruce answers smoothly.

“If you don’t mind, What are you doing here?” Gabriel asks.

“Oh, I decided that this year I should visit my daughter in Paris, Instead of the other way around,” Bruce says Patting Marinette’s head.

“She’s your daughter? She has quite a lot of potentiel Mr.Wayne.” Gabriel says Surprised.

“Right? She’s MW! Marinette Wayne!” Bruce exclaimed. Everyone Gasps.

“Oh?I’m glad our kids are such good friends.” Gabriel says fuming to the fact she’s on the top of the Designers list. To his surprise Mr.Wayne Scoffs.

“Good friends? Good Friends? These children bully my daughter on claims of a liar! Your son knows the truth, Yet he let’s kids bully my Daughter!On what note are they Good Friends?” Bruce Fumes. Everyone pales.

“I apologise, I had no idea.” Gabriel says.

“Not your fault. You should pay more attention to your son. Like even I’m a lot of busy. I still make time for my family. Although I'll still be pressing charges against the class and School.”

That’s how Lila’s Reign ended. She loved her Family no matter how much Chaotic they were. Yes she loved them lots.

@maribat-bdbwm

[tillidontneedfantasy]

A Track-by-Track Breakdown of Taylor Swift’s 9th Studio Album: ‘evermore’

“My collaborators and I are proud to announce that my 9th studio album and folklore’s sister record is here. It’s called evermore,” is how Taylor Swift introduces us to this album in its foreword. One might assume a “sister record” would entail b-sides, or tracks that didn’t quite make the cut for folklore, despite Taylor’s explanation that “we just couldn’t stop writing songs.” evermore’s release came at a strange time, upon the heels of the Folklore: Long Pond Studio Sessions film on Disney+, as well as 5 Grammy nominations for folklore. The world still captivated by folklore, it’s understandable why one might not consume evermore as critically. Even as a die-hard fan, I felt some whiplash by this announcement; I am still processing folklore! Hell, I’m still processing reputation!

If this was the Taylor from two years ago, this may have been a big enough fear of hers to hold off on releasing evermore. But as she explained upon folklore’s surprise release, life is too unpredictable now, and there are zero givens or guarantees. So she followed the same path this time (although making sure it fell in line with her birthday weekend). But it’s not just the strategic timing of the release that she’s thrown out the window for now, but also her mindset whilst making records. As she explains in the evermore album foreword,

“I’ve never done this before. In the past I’ve always treated albums as one-off eras and moved onto planning the next one as soon as an album was released. There was something different with folklore. In making it, I felt less like I was departing and more like I was returning. I loved the escapism I found in these imaginary/not imaginary tales. I loved the ways you welcomed the dreamscapes and tragedies and epic tales of love lost and found. So I just kept writing them.”

This is a revelation for Swift, to let the music lead her into artistic freedom, which is what makes evermore such a triumphant return. Truly folklore’s sister record, Taylor wrote evermore with the same creative team: Aaron Dessner of The National (Swift’s favorite band), long-time pal and collaborator Jack Antonoff, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, and William Bowery aka Swift’s boyfriend, Joe Alwyn (as officially revealed in the Long Pond Studio Sessions). Additionally, former 1989 tour openers and close friends of Taylor, the HAIM sisters, join the crew, along with Marcus Mumford for some dreamy backup vocals.

The production is just as wistful and mesmerizing as it was on folklore, yet the storytelling on evermore is kicked up a notch, expanding on the topics and worldbuilding established in its sister record, with even sharper lyrics and an effective and elaborate use of alliteration. The best thing about Taylor is that no matter what she does, her masterful lyricism is always at the heart of her art, and somehow, she keeps getting better. Once again, I wanted to explore the rich stories she’s crafted in this woodsy universe. This is how I’ve interpreted the album, but I hope you find your own meaning in the songs as well.

1. willow It is fitting that the opening track to folklore’s sister album, where we wade further into the forest that is Taylor Swift’s imagination and storytelling, would center on the type of tree that is a symbol of hope, belonging, safety, stability, and healing. “willow,” one of the few more obviously autobiographical tracks on the album, is a hymn of gratitude for her man (as she wants you to know, yes, thirteen times), Joe Alwyn, and how the invisible string tethering them together pulled her to him in a time when everyone else was counting her out. Though not as present on many of the other songs later to come on this record, you can feel the lightness in her heart on this song as she embraces the way in which the willow has bent, wrecking her plans, throwing her into the water and leaving her happily lost and afloat in his current. The downward key modulation throughout the last two repetitions of the chorus is beautiful and very fitting for Swift vocally, but also sounds like the feeling of finding your comfort and settling into it, basking it in while you wait for the next place the wind pulls you. Best lyric: “Now this is an open/shut case / I guess I should’ve known from the look on your face / Every bait and switch was a work of art.”

2. champagne problems On the second track of the album, Taylor dives back into the fictional worldbuilding she began to explore on folklore. While on folklore high school relationships and dramatics took center-stage, evermore graduates from adolescence to young adulthood, not that it is any easier emotionally on the listener’s heart. “champagne problems” chronicles a rejected marriage proposal between two college sweethearts at their old dorm building. Taylor sings as the narrator, a reflective, self-deprecating young woman who jokes about belonging in a madhouse and dismisses all her turmoil as champagne problems. The term ‘champagne problems’ itself could have various meanings here: their trivial concerns, the fact that their “sister splashed out on the bottle” of champagne that they will not be using to celebrate as they had hoped, or perhaps it could even hint that excessive drinking is a piece of all the ways the narrator is “fucked in the head,” as they said. Although the person she is singing to is the one who got hurt in the story, the hurt in the narrator’s heart is just as palpable and relatable, because you only have yourself to blame when you self-destruct. Best lyric: “’She would’ve made such a lovely bride, / what a shame she’s fucked in the head,’ they said / but you’ll find the real thing instead / she’ll patch up your tapestry that I shred.”

3. gold rush On her YouTube live chat prior to the album’s release, Taylor explained that this song “takes place inside a single daydream where you get lost in thought for a minute and then snap out of it.” The daydream consists of a love story so pure that the town had never seen such a thing; it could only happen in a fantasy for the narrator. How could she possibly have the gall to call them out on their contrarian shit, or end up with her Eagles t-shirt hanging from their door, when they are so coveted by all, and when she cannot withstand the thought of even competing? She sings, “My mind turns your life into folklore / I can’t dare to dream about you anymore,” a sweet little connecting piece to this album’s older sister, effectively convincing herself out of the idea of jumping into the chaos of the gold rush because even inside her own imagination it’s too dangerous. Best lyric: “I don’t like that falling feels like flying ‘till the bone crush.”

4. ‘tis the damn season According to Aaron Dessner, Taylor had written the lyrics for “’tis the damn season” in the middle of the night amidst their Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions recording after a long night of chatting and drinking with their co-conspirator, Jack Antonoff. The lyrics perfectly encapsulate the guttural ache the track evokes. It is a tale of two people who always find their way back to one another in their hometown, which acts as the ever-returning fork in the road. The path taken, back to L.A. in pursuit of her dreams, is the one she chose and continues to choose, but whenever she returns home, she takes a ride down the road not taken, just to get a taste of what could have been, even if just for the weekend. What starts off as an icy homecoming always transforms into the warmest intimacy. The success of this track is aligned with the success of Taylor’s entire career; even with such specific details, it feels so deeply personal to the listener. You know the street you’d drive along late at night laughing, the spot you’d park the car, the person who stars in every what-if. You will never really know if the road not taken is as good as it seems, but that might be ok; sometimes, the fantasy is better than the reality, anyway. Best lyric: “It’s the kind of cold / fogs up windshield glass, but I felt it when I passed you / There’s an ache in you / put there by the ache in me.”

5. tolerate it Inspired by the novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, “tolerate it” is an agonizing track from the perspective of a devoted wife who polishes plates and paints portraits and waits by the door for her husband with a battle hero’s welcome, who at best tolerates all her adoration. There are few things as painful as idolization being met with indifference, when you have all this love to give to someone who just leaves it there untouched. “tolerate it” captures that desperation for the approval you know will never arrive, but you sit and watch, waiting for it just in case you’re wrong, but you know you’re not. Best lyric: “I made you my temple, my mural, my sky / now I’m begging for footnotes in the story of your life / drawing hearts in the byline”

6. no body, no crime feat. HAIM “no body, no crime,” the one evermore song solo-written by Taylor, has the clearest plot from beginning to end. In the same vein as the female powerhouse country classic “Goodbye Earl” by The Chicks, Taylor is out for blood to avenge her friend, Este (named for one of the HAIM sisters). The story goes as such: Este’s husband kills her for calling him out on his infidelity, and then Taylor kills the husband and frames his mistress. The HAIM girls, who are long-time friends of Taylor’s and former touring mates, lend their vocals to reinforce the accusation on the husband and to provide Taylor’s alibi. “no body, no crime” is so far the closest we’ve gotten to a return to “country Taylor,” proving that she is still the master of a killer country tune (yes, pun intended, it had to be done I’m sorry). Best lyric: “Good thing Este’s sister’s gonna swear she was with me / (she was with me, dude) / Good thing his mistress took out a big life insurance policy”

7. happiness Written a week before the album’s release, “happiness” is one of Swift’s strongest and most reflective breakup songs. Although she writes it as though it is recent, there’s a lot of power in knowing that she’s been happily in love for four years, and that she is even better now at doing the thing that has always been best at. She is finally “above the trees,” as she sings, and is able to see it all for what it is, but her character is still in the heat of it all, trying to navigate the stages of grief when a relationship ends. We see the narrator grapple with many of those stages throughout the song. Most striking is the anger displayed in the second verse when she sings: “I hope she’ll be a beautiful fool who takes my spot next to you / No, I didn’t mean that, / sorry, I can’t see facts through all of my fury.” That section is jarring and feels like one of the most honest moments in a Taylor song, the insanely difficult emotional balancing act when we are grieving a relationship. The devastation of loss can distort our perception, and a part of that is the difficulty of understanding how multiple seemingly opposing things can co-exist in our hearts, such as happiness because of someone and happiness after them. But when you leave it all behind and finally find your place above the trees, you can find happiness after someone and also look back and appreciate the happiness they once provided. Both of these things can be true. Best lyric: “Showed you all of my hiding spots / I was dancing when the music stopped.”

8. dorothea Taylor Swift has the uncanny ability to create such developed and well-rounded characters with such little information, which is what makes her storytelling so compelling. In “dorothea,” we learn much about the title character through the narrator’s eyes, and the relationship they once had. The lyric “skipping the prom just to piss off your mom and her pageant schemes” alone tells an entire story in itself. “dorothea” is also the companion song to “’tis the damn season,” just from the other person’s perspective, which helps shine even more light on the story. The narrator of “dorothea” reveres her but wonders if she’s still the same soul in L.A. as she was back in their never-changing town. Whatever the answer, they’re still willing to support her no matter where she is, but she’s always welcome back in Tupelo by her hometown love’s side if she ever just wants to be herself rather than someone known for who they know. Besides, they’re the only soul who can tell which smiles she’s faking. And you can always return to the road not taken. Best lyric: “They all wanna be ya / but are you still the same soul I met under the bleachers? / Well, I guess I’ll never know / and you’ll go on with the show.”

9. coney island feat. The National What really started the folklore / evermore journey was Taylor’s love for The National. Taylor has cited them as one of her favorite bands for many years, and as we know, this led to her beautiful new collaborative relationship with Aaron Dessner. So it would make sense for the track written with the intention of this duet to be so well executed; you can feel the love and care Taylor put into writing this song. In her press for these sister albums, she has spoken about trying to channel frontman Matt Berninger’s writing style. But what actually happened was she just produced her own signature lyricism at its sharpest. “We were like the mall before the internet, it was the one place to be / the mischief, the gift-wrapped suburban dreams / sorry for not winning you an arcade ring over and over,” is a hall of famer Swift-ian lyric. “coney island” explores the confusion, hurt, and self-reflection when a passionate affair burns out fast because you did not prioritize that person. And to top it off, Swift and Berninger’s harmonies are achingly beautiful, transporting you right there in the story, on the bench, wondering, over and over. Best lyric: “Do you miss the rogue who coaxed you into paradise and left you there? / Will you forgive my soul when you’re too wise to trust me and too old to care?”

10. ivy Leave it to Taylor Swift to make a song about an affair sound so romantic, and so sympathetic to the narrator, that you’re rooting for adultery. “ivy” tells the tale of a woman in a lifeless marriage, likening her home with him to the tombstone that the widow in town visits each day. I like to think this is the same wife whose husband was out there building other worlds without her in “tolerate it,” because then that means she found someone who celebrates her love, who holds her pain for her, who blooms all over her; they started it, but she’s fighting for it all the way to the end, nonetheless. “ivy” showcases Swift’s gorgeous vocals and her sharp lyrics, with a melody so infectious it is bound to permanently plant its roots in your dreamland. Best lyric: “Oh, I can’t stop you putting roots in my dreamland / my house of stone, your ivy grows, and now I’m covered in you.”

11. cowboy like me With the beautifully blended backing vocals of Marcus Mumford, “cowboy like me” is an entrancing love story of two con artists who lost at their own game and got conned into forever with each other. She’d gone from swindling old men for their money and fancy cars to falling victim to the danger of dancing with someone who only has eyes full of stars, and she knows she’ll pay for it. “cowboy like me” is one of the most romantic tracks on the record, proving that life never plays out quite as we plan. Best lyric: “Now you hang from my lips like the gardens of Babylon / with your boots beneath my bed / Forever is the sweetest con.”

12. long story short One of the more pop-sounding tracks on evermore, “long story short” is pretty much a summary of the long story behind reputation (2017). The song is filled with various metaphors for her reputation crumbling around her, and then finally putting her defenses down to be with her lover, someone as “rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky.” It is a sweet ode to her boyfriend, and a gentle comfort to her past self that it will all work out. But it is also an oddly relatable example of how we shrug off our struggles and minimize them to just a “bad time,” when the time she is singing about was obviously something that deeply affected her (as will be further explored in the title track); but sometimes it actually feels good to just shrug it off as just a blip in your life, because at the end of the day, you survived, and that’s what counts- even if you’re not keeping score anymore. Best lyric: “Pushed from the precipice / clung to the nearest lips / long story short, it was the wrong guy. / Now I’m all about you.”

13. marjorie Whereas track 13 on folklore was a tribute to Swift’s paternal grandfather, evermore’s track 13 is a tribute to her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, who was an opera singer in the 50s, and passed away in 2003 when Taylor was 13 years old. “marjorie” is quite possibly the most touching track Taylor has ever written thus far in her career. Grief is one of the most difficult topics to tackle in a song; the genius of “marjorie” is that it is simple, yet not understated. Swift reflects on the profound lessons she learned from her grandmother, about the difficult balances of kindness and cleverness, and politeness and power. She curses herself for not cherishing the moments she had with her, for complaining rather than understanding in the moment how admirable her spirit was, for all the amber skies she’d love but will never see. The chorus, blunt and hard-hitting, reminds us that someone does not have to be living to be alive, to be all around, to be with us. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were singing to me now,” Taylor sings towards the end of the song, right before you hear a sample of Finlay’s opera singing in the background, a truly eye-swelling moment. It is clear that Finlay played a pivotal role in Swift’s own ambitions, as she sings, “all your closets of backlogged dreams, and how you left them all to me.” Marjorie knew she was leaving them in good hands. If you haven’t yet, check out the moving lyric video for the song, where you can see photos and video clips of Marjorie, both throughout her career and in her time with Taylor. Best lyric: “Never be so polite you forget your power, / never wield such power you forget to be polite.”

14. closure On the most experimental track musically on the record, Taylor writes off her need for closure from a relationship of some sort, whether it be romantic or platonic or business, all of which can cause hurt of equal intensity. The subject of the song is trying to make nice with Taylor, and she is just not having it, as it is not coming from a genuine place, but rather to ensure that their life remains picture perfect, or to clear their guilty conscience, or to preserve their own ego. This is a deeply relatable sentiment; as valuable as forgiveness can be, sometimes the person who hurt you just doesn’t deserve it, and all you can do is forgive yourself for blocking their number or shredding their letters. Best lyric: “I know I’m just a wrinkle in your new life / staying friends would iron it out so nice.”

15. evermore feat. Bon Iver To close out the standard edition of the album, Taylor joins forces once again with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, with whom she collaborated on the Grammy-nominated duet, “exile” for folklore. However, Swift leads most of the track this time, lamenting the difficult time she went through in 2016. The piano and Swift’s vocals are haunting, particularly when she describes this time in her life as “catching my death,” consumed by a pain that she feels will never end. If you’ve ever been depressed, you know what that feels like, and the dark places it leads you. Although she is singing about a time four years prior, it sounds so present, and it is heartbreaking to hear her in such a state. When Bon Iver comes in, the tempo of the song picks up, the piano riff becomes more erratic, like a winter storm hitting you in the face, and he voices all the anxieties of the cost of such a downfall. But through those anxieties, Taylor finds not a cure, but an anchor in love, and then the tempo slows back down. By the end of the song, Taylor has the foresight to understand that although it may not feel like it now, the pain she is experiencing is not permanent (a sentiment my therapist has been trying to instill in me for years). In her Apple Music interview with Zane Lowe, Taylor explained how the lyrics parallel the times we are in currently, and so it feels really special to have the album end with someone who knows how it feels to be imprisoned by your pain gently comfort us with the wisdom that “this pain wouldn’t be for evermore.” I hope one day soon, as we leave 2020 far behind, we can all truly believe her. Best lyric: “I was catching my breath / barefoot in the wildest winter catching my death.”

16. right where you left me (bonus track) The first bonus track on evermore, “right where you left me,” captures a moment so earth-crushing, a piece of you is trapped in it forever. In this song specifically, the narrator finds herself stuck in the same corner of a restaurant where she was told by someone she loved that they had met someone else. “Glass shattered on the white cloth, everybody moved on,” she sings in mourning. We have all experienced those moments that we could teleport back to if we just closed our eyes; the scenery, what you wore, the smell and taste of the season, the very point in your body where it felt like your insides were collapsing. Or that one particular person, who is long-gone from your life but seeing them is like time-travelling back to that person you once were, ready to pick up where you left off. But as much as you want to stay in that moment forever, just in case it changes in your favor, the cold reality is that the world stops for no one. Best lyric: “If our love died young, I can’t bear witness / And it’s been so long, but if you ever think you got it wrong / I’m right where you left me.”

17. it’s time to go (bonus track) “right where you left me” was Taylor’s cry for help to get out of restaurant, and “it’s time to go” is the answer to the call, as she sings in the first line, “when the dinner gets cold, and the chatter gets old / you ask for the tab.” This song is about gathering the strength to leave situations and relationships behind that no longer serve you. She grieves the betrayal of someone she thought to be a twin from her dreams (almost definitely referring to former friend, Karlie Kloss), acknowledges that keeping a marriage together for the sake of the kids often actually has the opposite intended effect (possibly- but not certainly- something she and her brother experienced), and recounts attempting to bargain with someone consumed by greed, only able to leave with herself (absolutely referring to the end of her fifteen-year long business relationship with Scott Borchetta, her former record-label owner). But as painful as leaving all of those situations was, Taylor has gained the wisdom to understand that walking away sometimes takes as much strength as persevering. You can’t stay at the restaurant, or at the mercy of someone else forever; you have to forge your own path, even if it’s in the opposite direction of what you envisioned for so long. And even with all her past success behind her, as folklore and evermore have proved, there is so much more ahead of her. Best lyric: “That old familiar body ache, the snaps from the same little breaks in your soul / You know when it’s time to go.”

In a time where we are all trapped in our homes and in our heads, the folklore/evermore experience has been the sweetest escape. If anything, the creation of these wonderful sister records has taught me that our most powerful tool in times of distress is our own imagination. Even just the ability to close my eyes while listening to one of these tracks and feel the character’s story is a gift. The way I’ve always been able to pick up Harry Potter and escape to Hogwarts when I’ve felt alone and friendless, I can listen to folklore and evermore when I feel scared or hopeless and escape into this enchanted forest Taylor has built, where I can climb above the trees and see it all for what it is. I feel so lucky to watch Taylor’s imaginative world unravel around me. I can’t wait to see what she creates next.

DISCLAIMER – REVIEWER’S BIAS: I would literally die for this bitch.  

[extremelyblackandwhite]

ascendance - 03

PAIRING: mob!bucky barnes x reader

WARNINGS: abduction, age gap (reader is 23, bucky is 37)

A/N: it’s short and still not as exciting as it is about to become but we gotta build a ✨ foundation✨  first. hope you enjoy xx

> NEXT CHAPTER | MASTERLIST

Bucky was standing in the kitchen, back leaned against the counter of the kitchen with his eyes on the girl who was currently sat in his couch with a badly bandaged hand. He was never good at first aid, he hadn’t been good at it with his sister and he definitely hadn’t been good with her, yet he thought it would be best than let her bleed out onto her costume which she still hadn’t taken out and that included her wig. He knew what hair looked like, he could see it in the back of his mind from the dark costume room, her hair pushed back into the same hairstyle most of the girls in the opera house had. Yet he also knew that getting out of her costume was the last thing going in her mind despite him not knowing at all what was going on in her head. She just stood in silence, looking at the wall of the TV but the TV was off, despite the fact the remote was next to her. 

What was he even supposed to do with her? He couldn’t tie her to the bed or hide her in the basement, he didn’t have a basement. Besides, he didn’t know whenever she’d actually be used as a trading chip so he didn’t know how long he would have to babysit her. How was he even supposed to do John’s bidding if he had to keep an eye on her? It wasn’t like he could leave, she would try to escape. Heck, she’d even try to escape when he was in the apartment. This was a mess, a mess he needed to clean, a mess he didn’t know how to clean. 

The door bell was the first sound in that flat for 2 hours and he sighed out of relief he could finally leave and not have to stare at her and her Bambi like stare. Damned Billy. 

     - She’s a runner. - Bucky said as he opened the door, a stunned Billy walking in like a scared little mouse. - I’ll be gone for two hours. Make sure she’s okay, not bleeding and definitely not escaping. 

Billy nodded his head like a bobble doll, standing stiff by the door as Bucky grabbed the keys to his bike and left. Y/N finally looked up, away from the wall and at Billy. He couldn’t be older than her, and if he were, he couldn’t be more than a year or two older than her. He had shaggy hair and eyes which were filled with insecurity and fear yet a facade of strength which he definitely did not have. She should’ve been mad at him, after all he was the one who misunderstood the assignment (whatever it was) and got her hostage. Yet, she merely saw a boy who was scared, perhaps as scared as she was. 

    - I’m Y/N. - she pipped up as if the two of them were co-workers who were just meeting.

    - Billy.

    - Is that a nickname or a name ... you know like Billy Bigelow. 

    - Billy Bigelow’s a wife beater. - he snickered. - My name’s William but they call me Billy.

    - Do you like being called Billy? I can call you William if you want. 

    - Will.

    - Pardon?

    - I like being called Will but John said it sounds childish. - he clarified, slightly kicking the air like a petulant child. 

    - I like Will better. - she moved towards the end of the couch, patting the pillow next to her. - Do you wanna sit?

   - He doesn’t like it when people sit in his couch. 

   - Well .. I’m sat in the couch and he didn’t say anything, besides, how would he even know you were sat in the couch. 

There wasn’t much she knew about the man who had been overseeing her. She didn’t even knew his name other than the “Soldat” nickname she’d heard John call him. It wasn’t like she particularly cared about knowing him, after all he was the one who was keeping her hostage and he was also the one who had kept her alive. Yet, at this point she wondered if being alive was a faith worse than being dead. How bad is death anyway, she pondered. Maybe it hurts to leave, but it doesn’t hurt to stay dead. She wanted to believe in what he had told her, she wanted to believe that all of this was just a big nightmare, it was just a hiccup in her path. She was gonna go back, she was going back, she had to go back. She had no choice but to go back. 

Her eyes lingered on the broken window, covered by a piece of cardboard tapped to the broken glass, a shattering reminder that she had failed at escaping, had failed at leaving. She should’ve fought harder to escape, she should’ve said no when the main soprano asked her for help. She should’ve just ... done what she was hired to do. The mere thought of the opera house made her eyes swell with tears. She had been so close.

    - I’m sorry. - Will blurted out, his words causing her to immediately wipe her eyes before the tears could actually roll down. - I screwed up, didn’t mean to ruin your shot. 

    - That’s ... that’s fine. - she breathed out. - They’re gonna let me go at some point, right? They can’t keep me forever.

    - Yeah, eventually someone else will screw up. - he scratched the back of his neck. - It’s nice he didn’t tie you down or handcuff you to the bed. 

    - It’s a nice ... arrangement, I guess. 

    - Do you wanna watch Carousel? It’s always rerunning on channel 6. 

    - Are we allowed to watch TV? If you’re not allowed on the couch, I doubt the TV is a yes. 

    - He won’t know.

The beginning of the film was bittersweet as it immediately took her back to better days. Back to when she rented her very first flat in New York while a sophomore at Julliard, when she only had her laptop and a few pillows which made the very old studio flat look like a home, she would sit down in the worn out mattress with her laptop and watch old golden age musicals dreaming of the time she would be on stage. The beginning notes of the overture only brought her back to nights when the rain was harshly falling down on the rain and she was sat in her, open books of several opera music theories lightened up by the low blue light of her laptop. She had fought so hard and she was going to fight even harder to get out of this. She was going to be back in those grounds and with heavy, sleep filled eyes, she swore she would get back to the stage. 

Bucky parked the bike by the sidewalk, sighing as he realised he was not going to an empty home, the same empty home he had fought for. He liked peace and quiet, he liked to be surrounded by nothing but him and his thoughts yet now he had to come back to some girl staying in his house who was keen on breaking all off his windows. Just what he needed, someone coming into his home to fix the window. How was he going to achieve that? 

He opened the door and threw the keys somewhere onto the table near the door. Billy was standing up by the couch, Carousel was playing on the TV and she was sleeping on the couch, surrounded by the fabric of the costume she still hadn’t taken off. Not that she had anything to change into.

   - She’s sweet. - Billy rubbed the sole of his shoe against the ground. 

   - You think all girls are sweet. - Bucky walked to his kitchen, making himself a glass of whiskey. - You old enough to drink, kid?

    - I have to drive back home. 

    - She behaved? - he moved the glass in her direction, eyes lingering a bit too long on her sleeping figure. 

    - She fell asleep mid the film. Hm ... I’m gonna go. Thanks for everything, Bucky, specially with John. 

    - You should get going, kid. Your mother and father will worry.

The sound of the closed door left the two of them alone once again. What was he supposed to do with her? How was he even supposed to do his ... his duties if he constantly needed someone to watch her so she doesn’t try to escape? Where is he even supposed to find someone to watch her? Kidnappingvictims babysitting.com? He sighed out of frustration, whipping his head in her direction almost upset she existed; yet, looking at her sleeping form calmed down his features.

He put the glass in the sink, walking to his couch where she was. Somehow he always ended up in tricky situations and this had to be in the top 5 worst decisions. Yet, she didn’t deserve dying, she didn’t deserve it. It wasn’t her fault any of this had happened. She was just at the wrong place, she was just somewhere she shouldn’t have been and Bucky couldn’t blame her for that. He put a hand on the couch and snaked an arm under her figure, lifting her up from the couch and holding her flush against his chest. Her head instinctually fell against his chest, nose nuzzling his black t-shirt.

There was nothing he could do now. In all honesty, he couldn’t think of anyone in his inner circle where she would be at least in safety. The group of people he hanged around weren’t particularly of high moral standards and he wasn’t a saint either, god, he was closer to being the devil than being a saint; yet, he knew things and he knew what awaited her if she had been assigned to anyone else. In his mind all of this would be over soon; either Billy or one of the newbies would screw up and get them in trouble with the police and then John would trade her in so he wouldn’t go to prison. It was only a matter of time. 

He laid her down on his bed, pulling the comforter over her and taking a final look at her before exiting the room and taking to the couch. He pulled at the bottom of the furniture, the pillows unfolding to form a small bed which his feet would inevitably fall off, yet they didn’t make any bigger couches which turned into beds and he had never expected to have any company in his flat anyway. He too eventually fell asleep, lit by the low blue light of the TV. 

The morning was a harsh reminder for Y/N that this whole situation was not a nightmare but her reality. Her hand pushed her torso off the bed, sleepish eyes looking around as she tried to figure out where she was. She didn’t remember falling asleep in a bed but that didn’t matter because she quickly realised she was alone. She couldn’t hear anything but the ambience sounds coming from the window. She was alone. As that thought registered, she kicked the comforter away from her body and settled her feet to the ground, rushing in silent steps to the door which she opened. Her eyes registered a clear path from where she was to the exit door whose chain was down. She bite on her lip before stepping out of the bedroom.

    - Where are you going? - the familiar voice stopped her in her tracks. Y/N considered making a run from it but just as she convinced herself of that idea, he stepped in front of her, standing like a big wall keeping her from freedom. He looked her down, like a small, inoffensive prey. She thought of running once more, but she was smart enough to know he would easily overpower her. - Where are you going? 

    - Hm ... - think, anything, just think of anything. - The bathroom.

He scoffed, walking forward and towards her but she stepped back every time he got closer until her back hit the door. She stood there, small and wondering what to do as the man whose name she still did not know stood close to her, close enough she could almost feel the permeating heat coming from his body. His gloved fingers pinched her chin, pushing it up so her eyes looked into his. They were blue, a shade of blue she couldn’t really say she’d ever seen and maybe if she were in a different situation, she would’ve even said they were hypnotising. Yet, now, they just bore into hers, as if he was digging into her subconscious. He leaned closer, fingers still holding her chin up.

    - Liar. - his voice was deep and husky, deep enough it sounded like a whisper. He let go of her chin, stepping back and returning to the kitchen while she remained against the door. - We had a deal. 

    - I know. 

    - Are you trying to get yourself killed, kid? - he asked in a dry voice. 

    - Don’t call me kid. - she didn’t know what else to say. What could she said after all? - It’s condescending. 

    - You didn’t answer me, Y/N. - he emphasised her name. It sounded almost wrong for him to be calling her that, yet she guessed it was better than kid. Sure, he was definitely older than her but she wasn’t young enough to be called kid. She couldn’t even recall the last time someone called her kid. - Are you trying to get yourself killed?

    - No. 

    - Then what are you doing?

    - I don’t know.

    - You need to trust me. 

    - Why should I? I don’t know you, I don’t even know your name so why should I trust you? For all I know you could be lying to me. 

    - You think I wanna play babysitting with you? I would much rather have a free home than have you run around in costume. - he glared at her. - And you don’t need to know my name, you need to do what I tell you to do if you wanna come out of this alive. 

    - Well what if I don’t want to? - she narrowed her eyes. 

    - You want to fucking die? Is that it? - he sneered. - Because that would’ve saved the fucking headache that you’ve been. 

    - Maybe you should’ve killed me. You had no problem killing Tommy. - her words were mindless yet filled with some sort of anger. She didn’t realise what she had said until she saw his face.

His facade seemed to drop before his jaw clenched, eyes hardened as he raised his head to look her up and down. She held the knob of the door, ready to open it and escape into the bedroom but he didn’t do anything. He just looked at her, angry before he made a move yet he didn’t walk her direction, he merely opened the fridge to take a water bottle yet that look, that look still remained. 

   - What do you want from me? - she pried. - I had a life, you know. I had plans and ...

   - So did I. You don’t wanna be a kid? Stop acting like one. 

   - My parents don’t know where I am. - she followed him into the kitchen. - I am their only child and I call them everyday. At least, let me call them, let me tell them I’m safe.​

   - I can’t, that’s not how things work. 

   - So what? You’re just gonna keep me here? Forever?

   - Trust me, kid, it’s not exactly what I want either. It’s not my choice and it’s definitely not yours. 

   - I am not gonna stop trying to escape.

   - Based on how well you’ve done so far, I wouldn’t hold my breathe. 

TAGLIST: @lookiamtrying @buckyswillows @blossomslibrary @juliesland @iloveshawnieboi​ @unmagically @red-head011

[missymurphy1985]

Nobody's Perfect (part10)

Warnings - mentions of baby loss / smut

Taglist @queenshelby @margoo0 @being-worthy @peakyscillian @ntmynouis @janelongxox @elenavampire21 @noctvrnalmoth @ysmmsy @cloudofdisney @lauren-raines-x @namelesslosers

The following days of filming were tense to say the least. Helen had tried talking to Cillian but refused. He also refused to come back to your room, having booked himself his own in a different hotel. You'd tried talking to him onset but he kept his distance from you as much as possible, having arranged with Steve to push back his scenes with you until a later date. Steve hadn't asked questions, fortunately.

You had the weekend off, and had planned for the two of you to spend it with your sister and her husband in Liverpool. As you were packing your bag on the Friday afternoon, you heard your hotel door open. Turning round, you saw Cillian, bag over his shoulder.

"Hey..." You almost whispered, choking up at the sight of him. He looked like he hadn't slept for days.

"Hey. Listen - " you stopped him.

"No, you listen. I never should have said those things Cillian.. I never should have shouted at you. I never should have shut you out.. I just didn't know what to say! All the hurt, and pain.. just bottled up inside me and I couldn't keep it in any longer.. being Clara again, knowing she was having a baby, it broke my heart... I'm sorry.. I'm so fucking sorry..." He put his bag on the floor and took you in his arms, holding you as you cried for the first time in front of him. You could feel his body shake as he cried too. Months of pain and anguish came crashing out of you both as you sunk to the floor together. He hadn't realised he'd left the door open, and Helen rushed in to you in a panic, finding you kneeling on the floor together in pieces and wrapped her arms round you both, shutting the door so as not to alert anyone else. You both fell into her, as she calmed you both and stood you up.

"Now listen to me, both of you. No one deserves what you're going through, no one.. but I can't watch you both destroy yourselves over it any longer. What are your plans this weekend?" You wiped your eyes and told her you were going to your sisters for the weekend.

"Well you better let me call her, because you're not going." You both looked at her, confused. "Here's my keys. This is my and Damien's holiday home in the Lake District. Completely private, no neighbours for miles. It's yours for the weekend. Fully kitted out, groceries already bought. The girls and I have it all taken care of."

"But my sister - "

"Will understand when I call her and explain what's happening. We have every weekend off now, you can go to your sisters next weekend?" You looked at Cillian and he smiled.

"Maybe it's not such a bad idea y/n?"

"Your sister's the one I met at the premiere, right? Tall, blond, drinks like a fish?" You laughed, remembering how well Helen and your sister had got on that night doing tequila slammers and dancing like maniacs to the Macarena. "It's only about an hour away from here. If you leave now, you'll be there in time to watch the sun set over the hills. Turn your phone's off, and reconnect. Talk. And change the sheets before you leave." She smirked, before Cillian pulled her close for a hug.

"Love you Helen. You always know what to do..."

"Aunt Pol knows everything. Give me your sisters number y/n and get out of here!"

Hand in hand, you walked into the cottage and instantly blown away. It was simply beautiful. Rustic yet elegant, olde worlde yet stylish.. it screamed Helen McCrory and you both loved it. Setting your bags in the living room, Cillian made his way over to the record player in the corner and chose a record he knew you loved. Putting it on, he held out his hand. You giggled, taking it, as he pulled you close, swaying with you to the music. No words exchanged, they weren't needed.

As the song drew to a close, he lifted your chin up and leaned in, his lips meeting yours for the first time in nearly a week. Your arms pulled him closer, as your tongues met, and he slowly pushed you over to the sofa. You pulled his jacket off his shoulders before he lifted your t-shirt over your head, puling back to admire you. Reaching behind you, unclasping your bra with one hand, his eyes and hands roamed slowly over your chest and shoulders like it was the first time he'd ever seen or felt them.

He slowly unbuttoned your jeans, letting them fall to the floor along with your underwear. As you stood completely bare in front of him, you felt slightly self-conscious, and covered yourself a little.

"Don't. Let me look at you. You're beautiful, don't you know that?"

"I haven't felt it for a while."

"And that's my fault. Let me make you feel beautiful?" You nodded as he guided you to the bedroom down the hall. Walking in, you both saw rose petals over the fresh bedsheets, as well as a bottle of champagne on ice with two glasses.

"They went all out didn't they?" You smiled as he lay you down onto the bed. His lips carefully caressed over your neck, down your collarbone and over your breasts as you arched your back at his touch, sending tingles down your spine.

He kissed over your belly, down to your hips, and parted your legs slowly. He blew softly against your core, making you shudder, as his tongue lapped from the bottom up to your clit, circling it gently. You were panting now, desperate for release. His fingers brushed over your thighs and into your groin, before easing two fingers inside you, sliding in effortlessly as if they were made for this purpose alone. His mouth was torture on you, you could feel your orgasm building.

"Please... Cillian..." You begged, raising your hips to meet his tongue. He responded perfectly - upping the pressure and speed of his tongue as he drove you over the edge, you came crying his name. With one more gentle kiss to your clit, he stood up, once again admiring you silently. You sat up and pulled at the zipper on his jeans. Pulling them down with his boxer shorts and taking his hard cock in your hand. Giving it a few gentle pumps, watching his mouth fall open slightly, you smirked as your mouth took him in, he gasped when he felt the back of your throat. Licking up the shaft and over the head, you swallowed him down again, his hand on the back of your head, pulling the pony tail out so he could grip your hair. You groaned into his cock, feeling it twitch in your mouth as he pulled your hair, you could hear him groaning above you, spurring you on.

"Y/n.. I'm gonna come..." You bobbed your mouth faster, and felt him cum deep down your throat, swallowing every drop down.

"Fuck woman... Your mouth is incredible..." He pushed you back onto the bed and lined himself up against you.

For a man over 40, he had the libido of a 25 year old around you, it wasn't long until he was ready to go again.

Pushing you back, he lined himself up against your entrance and pushed in slowly, savouring each second feeling you clench your muscles around him.

"Missed this.." you gasped as he bottomed out, and he kissed you again, moving his hips back and forth easily. A steady rhythm, his forehead against yours as you breathed heavily against each other, looking into each others eyes. Your legs wrapped around his body as high as you could get them, he hooked one of your knees up with his elbow and thrust a little harder, sending you spiralling again. A few more strokes and you came together, you held him tight against you until he'd softened completely, not wanting to let him go.

You'd talked most of the night about everything, in-between more love-making and drawing pleasurable moans from each other, before falling asleep finally around 2am. The following morning, you were making him breakfast in the large kitchen area when he came through wearing his boxer shorts and stood watching you from the doorway.

"You know, I was gonna head to Ireland last night before Helen came in," he confessed.

"I know. I saw the plane ticket on our online banking app. I thought you were leaving me..."

"No, I just needed space. But now I know it isn't space I need, it's you. Only you. I'm sorry I've put you through this y/n..." You turned the hob down and made your way over to him, linking your body against his.

"You know I've never once blamed you, for any of this? I thought we were a team?"

"We are, but you're not the one who's infertile y/n."

"WE are going through this - not ME. We. We have one more round of IVF to go, and if that doesn't work then we'll work it out - okay?"

"I'm worried you'll end up leaving me.."

"Shut up Murphy for the love of God!" You laughed slapping his chest. "Nothing would make me leave you, okay? I could have 100 babies with anyone, but I want one with YOU, and only you. No more talk of leaving, deal?" You booped your nose against his and grinned.

"Deal."

[rachaelswrites]

Nicknames

A/N: I didn’t include all actors/characters but if you want one just send it in and I’ll do it. I’ll start including these in my writing

~~~~~~

Here are some nicknames that each of the reader’s have been given

Sebastian Stan “prinţesă”

-Obviously, its Romanian

-There were a few he tried out with you when you were younger but this one stuck for multiple reasons:

-You were a major daddy’s girl (still are) and you pretty much got anything you wanted. You were almost on the verge of spoiled brat

-It also didn’t help that you had a very huge liking for Disney and it’s princesses

-Those dresses with the matching shoes? You had almost all of them

-He called you that until you grew out of your princess obsession, saving it for certain times

-The first time you ended a long term friendship was the first time he used it in years. He’d either call you by your name or something more generic like “Sweetheart”

-You came home visibly upset and ran right into your dad’s arms

-You’d never been this upset before so he said it, hoping in some way it would calm you down

“It’s alright Prinţesă, I’ve got you”

-When it worked that time, he did it again after your first break up.

-You were more angry than sad this time

-He had to hold you down on the couch so you couldn’t hurt anyone

“Prinţesă, calm down. He’s not worth a criminal record

-He used it on days when you were sick or were feeling down

-Maybe even if you were in trouble

-You and him both thought by the age of sixteen, you would hate the nickname but surprisingly, you liked it even more

Chris Evans “peanut”

-Another case of daddy’s girl

-This one comes from several trips to Red Sox’s games

-Chris wanted to get you into sports when you were young (just to watch, not necessarily to play)

-He took you and Scott to one of the first games of the season and he bought peanuts, in his true American way

-You were seated in between him and Scott

-Both of them were sharing the bag while you had ice cream

-Peanuts were a new food for you and you wanted to try them. You grabbed a handful of them and copied your dad’s movements to crack open the shells

-You ate like twenty in less than a minute

-You loved them so much and that’s how that name happened

-Unlike the others, Chris uses this name pretty regularly 

-You didn’t mind how often he used it until he started using it on front of your friends

“Hey peanut, do you guys need anything?”

“Dad! That’s embarrassing”

-Your face went bright red and for the rest of the day, your friends teased you (in a loving, joking way)

-Chris realized his small mistake and was a little more careful about when he used it

-Scott called you it once and you swear, you never saw your dad move so quickly

“She’s my peanut, not yours. Find your own nickname”

-Anytime he posts a picture of you on Twitter/Instagram, he used that name instead of your own

Matthew Gray Gubler “munchkin”

-Three words

-Wizard. Of. Oz.

-You had a very weird obsession with this movie. It’s almost embarrassing looking back at it now

-By the time you were three, you knew all the words (as best as you could) to all the songs

-Matthew was about to lose his mind because he had the songs in his head as well, twenty-four-seven.

-You would talk and talk about how much you wanted to go to Munchkin land and be a Munchkin

-It also didn’t help that at the time, you were probably close to the same height

-Sadly, as you got older, you and your dad learned you didn’t develop his height

-You were a whopping 5’2 at the age of fifteen

-And the name stuck

-He knew you weren’t super fond of the name but somehow, it always cheered you up

-If you had a tough day at school, he’d sit on the couch and let you vent

“Let it all out Munchkin”

-You secretly did like the name (even though the origins were embarrassing)

-Matthew never let you live down that obsession 

-When you were on set and he called you that, everyone asked why.

“Matthew, why do you call her Munchkin?”

“Dad, don’t do it”

“She was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz”

-He also very rarely referred to you as “Y/n” on social media, opting for Munchkin instead

-Trying to get back at him, you tried to come up with some ridiculous name for him

“I’m going to call you dancer. Cause that’s how you broke your knee”

-That one didn’t last long but Munchkin sure did

Tom Holland “bubs or darling”

-Tom gets two because I can’t pick

-Bubs is because you are the baby out of all of the brothers

-It was also because before you could say any brother’s name, you just called them bubs

-Sam, Harry, and Paddy also called you Bubs. They still call you that sometimes so Tom wanted to try something new

-When you were about five or six, he accidentally called you darling

-It wasn’t a typical brother/sister name but it suited you

-You were such a kind person and your favorite movie to watch with Tom was Peter Pan

-And the last name of Wendy was Darling, so he thought it fitted

-When he called you darling, it was mostly after he came home from filming

“I missed you so much Darling”

-You liked the meaning behind your nickname

-Tom used Bubs if you weren’t feeling like yourself

-Whether it was a bad day or if you were sick

“Take some medicine Bubs” or “Bubs, tell me what’s going on”

-He hated the others calling him Tommy but for you, he’d let you do it anytime you wanted

-Literally, you were the only person he let you call him Tommy

-But he was the only person who could call you Darling

Bucky Barnes “doll”

-Classic

-This one is pretty self explanatory

-It was common during your childhood but once you were in the 21st century, Bucky couldn’t part with it

-It reminded him of the past (in a good way) and he always wanted to relive those memories 

-You were eight when HYDRA took him and then you

-The name reminded him of when you were little, and it reminded you too

-While Bucky was in Wakanda, he’d send you letters once he woke up

“Hey Doll, I miss you so much. Hopefully we can see each other soon”

-You kept them all with you

-And when The Snap happened, you’d read those letters back to yourself everyday

“The sunset was really pretty today Doll, it reminded me of the ones from when you were little”

-After those five years, that was the first thing he said to you

“I’m glad you’re safe Doll”

-It only took one time for Sam to tease you about it before you threatened to hurt him

“You make fun of it one more time and I swear it’ll be the last”

-Sam didn’t really understand why that name meant so much to you

-Bucky had to explain it to him

-It was really one of the only things you had left of your childhood

-And it was the one thing you could hold onto for the rest of your life

Ransom Drysdale “princess”

-Again, I think this one is self explanatory and obvious

-You’re spoiled, no doubt about it

-The name actually came from Meg

-She was a few years older than you and she was so used to being the only girl in the family

-And now she had to deal with you

-The reason she called you that was pretty stupid in the first place but as an eight year old, it didn’t matter to her

-You had spilled your drink on her by accident and onto her new shoes

-She went red in the face and started screaming in your face. You burst into tears

-You were only four and Ransom had never raised his voice at you. It was a new experience for you

-All the adults came into the room and walked into the scene of Meg screaming and you crying

-Ransom scooped you up and told Meg off

-Of course Joni took her daughter’s side but no one else did, making her mad

“She never gets in trouble. She’s such a princess”

-After that incident, your dad only used that name just to piss everyone off

-Like there was no need for him to but he just did it

“Princess, come here”

-In general, Ransom liked to show you off and the nickname Princess was the best way to do that

-As you got older, he felt weird using it. Meg had finally gotten over herself and everyone accepted the fact that your dad was spoiling you rotten

-You didn’t need a name to show that

-But as you got older, the issues in the family and all the problems started to weigh down on you

-There was so much drama that happened at family dinners, you were completely drained and exhausted once you got home

-Ransom could tell something was up so he reached into his bag of good parenting skills (which he definitely had, which shocked everyone) and called you Princess for the first time in ten years

“Princess, please tell me what’s wrong”

-For some reason, that one name made everything better for you

-Ransom noticed the small improvement in your mood so he kept calling you that on the daily

“How was school today Princess?” 

-And in front of the family again

“Princess, it’s time to go”

-This name was literally just used to show the other Thrombey’s that you and your dad were better than them

-Of course though, you didn’t need a nickname to see that

Spencer Reid “squirt”

-Another name based on an obsession

-But this one can be blamed on Garcia

-While Spencer was on a case one time, she was in charge of watching you

-To keep you entertained while at the BAU, she put on Finding Nemo

-That was a mistake

-From that point on, you had a weird fascination with sea turtles, because of Squirt

-Once Spencer got back, you would not shut up about turtles

“Daddy, look what I just read”

-He was glad you found something you were interested in. He sort of hoped you would find something closer to a more “normal” topic but he would never stop you from learning

-Spencer wasn’t sure how the name fell onto you but once it did, he didn’t stop using it

-He generally used it in the apartment with just you and him

“Squirt, can you pick your toys up for me?” or as you were older “Squirt, can you grab those books for me?”

-He used it a lot when you felt stressed and you weren’t telling him

-So whenever he called you that, you knew you might as well tell him

“Tell me what’s going on Squirt”

-It was such a small gesture but it really did help you

-He tried to explain why it probably made you feel better but you weren’t too interested in the science behind it

-The only time he used it in front of the team is when he got back from a case

-You always met him at the BAU (he made sure you were there to greet him)

-You would stand in front of the elevator and wait for the doors to open

-And when they did, you ran into his arms and he wrapped them around your body

“I missed you Squirt”

-The team absolutely adored that nickname but knew to never call you that, unless they wanted an angry Reid on their hands

Emily Prentiss “love”

-To me, Emily just has European vibes and so does this nickname

-Probably because Emily grew up in Europe, she developed this habit of calling you Love

-The parents of her friends growing up used that name

-She sort of just picked up on it, starting when she first held you in the hospital

“Hi Love, I’m your momma”

-It’s such a simple but meaningful name to her

-You were truly the one person she loved the most (even her mom and even Sergio)

-Speaking of, once she brought Sergio home you started calling him that as well

-You were only four and didn’t understand the concept but Emily didn’t stop you

“Hi Wove”

-Emily never used this in front of people unless something was wrong

-As you got older, it was used more as a reassurance for you

-Her “death” was really hard on you and every case, she would check in 

-Lots of the time, the phone calls were short and around the other members of the team

“Hi Love, I miss you. The team says hi”

“I miss you too momma”

-Very rarely would she use it in normal, everyday conversation

-If you were visiting the office, sometimes it would slip out

“Hey Love, are you doing your homework?”

-In front of the team, she used names like “baby” or “honey”

-Love was strictly reserved for just you and her

Jennifer Jareau “bug”

-First thing to know

-If anyone besides JJ called you Bug, even Will, she would literally rip their heads off

-This name was super personal to her and she didn’t want the meaning to be ruined

-You had taken after her love and fascination with butterflies

-Except you hadn’t learned the word butterfly so you just called them bugs, hence the nickname

-JJ only called you two things “Y/n” and “Bug”

-Nothing else

-At one point, Will was convinced that she might’ve forgotten your first name because she called you Bug so much

“JJ, she has a first name you know”

“I know, I think Bug fits her better”

-She did attempt to get your name changed, but to be fair, she was drunk when that happened

-She didn’t care that as you got older, the name was a little embarrassing, especially around your friends

“I’ll pick you up at seven Bug”

“Mom! Really? In front of my friends?”

-Your brothers for awhile thought your name was Bug, because she really only called you that at home

“Do you need help with your homework Bug?” or “Bug, can you set the table?”

-You didn’t realize the meaning behind the nickname until she explained it to you

-And once you did, the name meant so much more to you

-Will helped you pick out a matching necklace set of two butterflies

-You gave it to her after a case and she cried, knowing exactly what it’s meaning was

“Thank you Bug, I love it”

-She never took that necklace off, ever

Taglist

@ssebstann @peachyprincessss @emmy-writes-sometimes @dudele @kerrswriting @laura-naruto-fan1998 @multifamdomfan12 @aquariuslavenderhoney @rafehogwarts

[whatareyousearchingfordean]

Happiness Continues

Part 8: 27 Weeks Pregnant

Summary: The guys and their wives take a drive up to Dallas for a Creation convention. The weekend goes great until an uninvited guest shows up. 

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Plus Size Reader

Word Count: 6.4K+

Warnings: Language, angst, stalker scenarios, psuedo-kidnapping

Author’s Note: I know this was uber delayed, but school... anyway I hope it lives up to your expectations. Congrats to @waywardbeanie @jensengirl83 and @akshi8278 on getting your questions into the fic and a huge thank you to everyone that participated. I wish I could have put all the questions in but it would have just been too long of a chapter. But please know I really do appreciate you all. The song sung in this chapter is by The Highwomen called Crowded Table, check it out if you’ve not heard it before. And of course many thank you’s to @emoryhemsworth​ for being the best beta xo Alex

Catch up with the series masterlist and then check out Alexandra’s Library for more by yours truly!

The sound of ice dropping from the refrigerator and into the metal thermos clanged around the kitchen. Once she was satisfied with the amount in her water bottle, she topped it off with water. As she turned around, screwing the lid into place, the soft hums of her husband could be heard as he came out of their bedroom, their suitcases trailing behind him. 

“You know,” she started, the humming coming from her partner reminding her of something, “you still haven’t told me what song you chose to sing tonight.”

“And you know I told you it was a surprise,” he replied, placing the luggage out of the way and coming to stand next to her at the island. 

“I hate surprises.”

“No, you don’t.” Dimples formed on his cheeks as he kept his smile tight-lipped, his wife rolling his eyes at her. 

“Please! Just tell me,” she jutted out her lower lip in a vain attempt at mocking her brother’s puppy-eyed look. 

“Fine, I chose “Having My Baby,’” Jensen sighed, his shoulders sagging. 

“You did not! Please tell me you are kidding.” 

“What’s wrong with Paul Anka? That song is a classic.” The actor stood up taller, his voice growing defensive. 

“I hope to god you are kidding because believe me when I say that if you so much as mention your ‘seed’ in front of hundreds of fans, I’m taking this baby and I’m leaving.” Y/n pointed to the still-growing bump attached to her abdomen before flicking it towards the door, the most serious expression written on her face. 

“Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be? Fine,” Jensen cleared his throat, and she knew it was coming before he even had the chance to open his mouth again. “The need inside you, I see it showin’, oh, the seed inside you, baby, do you feel it growin’—”

Y/n’s hands flew to her ears, the ‘la, la, la’ falling from her lips in an attempt to drown him out. His face split into a wide grin as he snatched her wrists and pulled his wife into his chest, placing a soft kiss to her nose before her lips. 

“You’d be so lucky, baby, but no, it’s a surprise. You will find out tonight, so let it go.” Jensen released her from his grip as the security system chimed. It noted movement near the garage door just before the couple heard the voice of her brother coming from the other end of the house. 

“Let’s go, Ackles, we’ve got three antsy kids in the car and need to hit the road pronto!” Y/n snatched her backpack and water bottle from the counter as Jensen grabbed their bags and headed towards the garage. The guys took the bags to stuff them in the trunk as Y/n set the house alarm. 

Jensen pulled open the passenger side rear door to the Padalecki’s SUV, helping his wife into her seat before climbing in the front passenger seat. They greeted Jared’s kids as the family set out on the road towards Dallas and the Supernatural convention. 

****

The sign that flew by on the side of the highway indicated that Dallas was about eighty miles out still, giving them at least another hour until they made it. The kids had long since fallen asleep in the backseat, their bellies full of snacks and their distractions in hand. Y/n glanced back at them before digging out the bag of Goldfish she had packed for her snack. Before she could even get it completely open, her husband’s hand appeared between the side of the vehicle and the seat, palm up. The woman chuckled before dumping a handful into his hand. He transferred the crackers to his left hand before returning his right to its original place to rest it on her calf. Jensen ran his fingers up and down her leg, the action soothing to both of them. 

From the seat next to her, Y/n could see her sister-in-law turned to her, a knowing grin on her face. For being an actress, Gen sure did have an awful poker face. 

“What?”

“Nothing, I’m just really happy you two found each other,” the smile on Gen’s face growing wider as she spoke, the eyes of the men in the front seats flickering back to her. Jared glanced over from the driver’s seat just quick enough to see what Gen was referring to. There was a twitch of a smile on his face too before he covered it up to fake a gag. “Speaking of, how was Toronto?”

“Oh, I’m in love with Toronto!” Y/n gushed, her mind going back to the trip she made to visit her husband on set. Because of the break-in, they were making up filming days and he couldn’t get away, so the couple decided to celebrate their first anniversary together with her going to visit him. “The city is so beautiful, albeit not as beautiful as Vancouver, but there is just something about it. It reminds me of New York a lot, but like, cleaner.” 

“You two had a good weekend?” 

“We did. Jensen took me to Alo for dinner, and I know I’m pregnant, but it was the best food I’ve ever had in my life. I wanted to take the chef home with me.” Thinking back to the dish she had, Y/n ran a hand across her abdomen, the memory of her baby coming to life after the meal making her smile to herself. 

“I believe you, even if there is something about being pregnant that just makes everything taste better,” Gen giggled along with her sister-in-law, the two of them sharing a secret that their husbands would never understand. “I’m glad you had a good time with what you had.”

“Well, either way, I was going into my third trimester. I was not up for some extravagant trip across the globe. My back hurts too much to pretend to be relaxed.” As she thought about the way her body had continued to change as the finish line came onto the horizon, it was like her body throbbed in response. The makeup artist flexed her limbs, rolling out the kinks from sitting for too long in one position. 

“I’m sorry girl, but it only gets worse from here,” Gen scrunched her nose, wishing she could tell her anything but the truth. 

Y/n sighed, the action rolling through her whole body, “I was afraid of that.”

****

Clif was waiting at the back doors to the convention center of the Hilton where Creation was hosting their convention this weekend. He was there to escort them all inside as well as stay with Gen and Y/n during the show. Creation provided their own security for Jensen and Jared, so Clif was more than happy to spend time with his favorite girls. They were running a tad late, having hit traffic after dropping the kids off with Jensen’s parents who had graciously offered to babysit. 

“Hey, kid,” Clif greeted Y/n with a bear hug once they were inside, his large arms engulfing her and squeezing tight. “Let me look at ya.”

Y/n stepped back as he released her, running a hand over her now unmistakable bump to emphasize it underneath her maternity clothes. “Not much of a kid anymore.” 

“No, you aren’t, are ya? Went and let this idiot over here corrupt you.” Clif locked his arm around Jensen’s neck, bringing him into his chest to ruffle his hair with the opposite hand. The group laughed and Jensen struggled to get out of his hold, his hands immediately flying to fix his hair once Clif relented. 

“You’ve been spending too much time with Jared,” Jensen scowled at his friends, who shared a look and a shrug. He took his wife’s hand and moved to continue down the hall before pausing to turn back. “And I’ll have you know, she was already corrupted when I got ahold of her. All I had to do was sit back and enjoy the ride.” 

A gasp of her husband’s name fell from her open mouth as he tossed everyone a wink and pulled Y/n deeper into the hotel. Her surprise morphed into a giggle as he pulled her along, her cheeks flaring with residual embarrassment. Her family was bound to push him too far one of these days, and she was just waiting for him to drop some sort of bomb on their unsuspecting ears. She just hadn’t anticipated it would be today. 

Jensen had been in a particularly good mood since that morning. Y/n couldn’t place whether it was the excitement of being at a convention again or if it was being home, but whatever had him smiling like an idiot she was thankful for. Jensen’s attitude had always been infectious, and right now she was thriving off of it, the joy of being able to make her forget about her swollen ankles and face. It was nice to be in the moment for once. 

Louden Swain was already starting their soundcheck on the main stage as she and Jensen entered the hall. Y/n let Jensen go and went to sit in the chairs in the front row to watch them busy themselves around the stage. She was alone until Clif, Jared, and Gen caught up and joined her in the seats. It didn’t take long for the band to run through everything with all their guest stars who would be performing with them. Jensen did a quick verse from “Like A Wrecking Ball” before also joining those that were in the audience. 

The fans could be heard already outside the doors to the hall, their excitement palpable even from a couple of hundred feet away. Not that she blamed them, Louden Swain always put on an amazing show, as did the rest of the cast who chose to join them. Her husband was obviously her favorite to watch; the rough honey trickle of his voice had a way of splitting her soul in half. After that, she was obsessed with watching Briana. The woman was a powerhouse and had a way of captivating everyone watching her. It was no secret that she often found herself on YouTube watching Bri and her husband dueting “Shallow,” making it her most-watched video by far. 

Everyone was escorted to the green room while fans filled the hall, then Clif escorted them back to watch from the sidelines once the lights went down. They took a seat in the chairs that had been put aside for them against the wall, joining in the squeals of the audience when the guys took the stage. 

Louden Swain captivated everyone with their songs and stage presence, as per usual, but when Rob introduced Jensen onto the stage, it was like a train had just rammed into the wall of the hotel. She could feel the floor shaking underneath the insanity that ripped through his fans in the seats of the audience. 

“Well, good evening Dallas!” Jensen bounded on the stage, the leather jacket he was wearing somehow looking that much better in the lights of the stage. The Texan pulled Rob into a tight hug before taking his place in front of the microphone stand. The stubble that had arrived in just a few days of not shaving was more evident on his jaw and neck as he craned it sideways to work the stand up to his height. Y/n had to admit he looked absolutely scrumptious. 

“I’ve got a new song for you guys tonight that the guys have been so gracious to learn for me.” Jensen paused for the screams from the crowd before continuing his introduction. “This one is for my wife. I love you, honey.” He cast his eyes to where she was seated, watching the smile that spread across his features and letting it calm her anxious heart.

You can hold my hand

When you need to let go

I can be your mountain

When you're feeling valley-low

I can be your streetlight

Showing you the way home

You can hold my hand

When you need to let go

 I want a house with a crowded table

And a place by the fire for everyone

Let us take on the world while we’re young and able

And bring us back together when the day is done

Jensen’s foot tapped against the stage as he found his groove in the first verse. Almost instantly, Y/n recognized the opening chords to the song making her heart flutter in her chest. She’d first discovered this song before they’d even found out they were expecting. There was an instant connection to the lyrics, and in typical Y/n fashion, she had played the song on repeat until she knew the lyrics backward and forwards. She really couldn’t believe he’d remembered it. 

If we want a garden

We’re gonna have to sow the seed

Plant a little happiness

Let the roots run deep

If it’s love that we give

Then it’s love that we reap

If we want a garden

We're gonna have to sow the seed

After everything the two of them had been through the past few months, the lyrics falling from his lips brought tears to her eyes. She chose to completely ignore the fact that she was pregnant. This was his way of reminding her of that night and the promise he’d made. The actor was more than ready to start a family with her, and he would keep reminding her until he ran out of breath.

The door is always open

Your picture’s on my wall

Everyone’s a little broken

And everyone belongs

Yeah, everyone belongs

 I want a house with a crowded table

And a place by the fire for everyone

Let us take on the world while we’re young and able

And bring us back together when the day is done

And bring us back together when the day is done

If Y/n thought that the screams that greeted Jensen on the stage were deafening, it had nothing on the roar that now filled the hall, never mind the thrumming of her heart in her chest. She was sure time had stopped. Her husband blew a kiss to the audience before bowing off stage. It was his disappearance from before the mic that had on her feet without a second thought, chasing after him behind the stage and to the green room. 

She burst through the doors, her eyes meeting his as he turned to the sound of the latch. Without a second thought to the others in the room, the pregnant woman launched herself into her husband’s arms. Both of them dug their faces into the embrace, knowing just what the other needed at that moment. 

“You’re right, I did love this surprise,” she mumbled against his neck. Jensen ran a hand down her hair, his arms instinctively squeezing her tighter to him as she spoke. 

“Anything for you, babe.”

****

Behind the scenes of conventions was far less exhilarating for the guests than it was for the fans attending. It was quiet in the green room, most people eating or napping in between events they were to attend, which was why Y/n and Gen chose to stay behind the next morning and let the kids sleep in as much as possible. The guys were up at the crack of dawn to get to the hotel in time for the gold panel, and neither wanted to deal with pulling three little ones out of bed that early. 

It was nearly midday by the time the girls had wrangled the kids into the car and to the hotel. Clif met them at the back door much like he had done the night before, ready to escort them wherever they wanted to go. When they arrived in the green room, the guys were off to their respective photo op rooms. 

The kids took center stage when they got there, livening up the room in an instant. Odette fed off the attention far more than her brothers did but being the youngest, that didn’t come as a shock to anyone. Y/n wanted to hit the vendor’s room before her husband got back and they had to be on stage for the main panel. There were often hidden gems at some of the booths and she wanted to support the small business that set up there. She invited Gen to join her, and naturally, Odette wanted to tag along. The two of them left the boys in the capable hands of Kim and Briana before grabbing Clif and heading out. 

The room was bustling with people who were in between activities when they entered. Y/n picked up the small girl and put her on her hip so she could keep better track of her, not that Odette protested. They made their way to a booth surrounded by original artwork. Most of the displayed pieces were Supernatural related, but there were a few other pieces that encompassed other shows and movies, as well as art that encompassed just about anything else. Y/n got the artist’s information, intending to order an original piece from her. 

From there, it didn’t take long for the room to realize who had joined them. The hushed whispers of the con attendees could be heard as they moved on to a shop that sold handmade jewelry. Luckily the looming presence of Clif was enough to keep people at bay. He was very good at subtly guiding those who dared to walk up to them away from the scene. Right now they preferred peace and would greet some people once they were finished looking. 

Gen bought something from the jeweler for Odette, seeing as once the toddler set her mind to something, she was relentless. Then the trio moved on to a few more booths before acknowledging the fans in the room. Clif took Odette from Y/n while the wives talked with some people in the room. There were many congratulations and asks for photos which Y/n politely declined while Gen agreed.

With a glance at her watch, Y/n signaled to Gen it was time to head back. They said goodbye to the fans and headed back to the green room. Jared and Jensen were back already when they entered, eating a quick snack before they had to go back on stage. 

Jensen pushed his chair back from the table when he spotted his wife. He patted his thigh as she made her way towards him and she took a tentative seat in his lap. The actor placed a kiss on the underside of her jaw before offering her the food on his plate. She decided on a carrot, biting into the hard vegetable as her husband spoke. 

“I missed you this morning.”

“I know, I missed you too. Still hate waking up to an empty bed,” she frowned, tossing the other half of the carrot in her mouth. 

“Just a few more weeks, then I’m done and it’s just you, me, and this baby,” Jensen promised, resting his large hand over her growing abdomen. He ran his thumb over the swell of her stomach as she contemplated his words. 

“Promise?” She cocked her head, knowing full well he intended every word. Before he could answer, the Creation handlers appeared to grab the boys and bring them to the stage. 

“Promise,” he kissed her again before urging her off his lap so they could head out. Gen rounded up the kids to go and Jared picked up his daughter to carry her out to the show. Jensen and Y/n walked hand in hand down the back hallway until they had to go separate ways. Jared handed Odette over to his wife and they were off to get show-ready. 

The girls and the kids followed behind Clif and took the empty seats in the front row far off on the right side of the stage, the lights lowering just as they were getting settled. Rob and Rich appeared and did their usual bit before introducing the boys onto the stage.

Watching them together was something Y/n always enjoyed. The two actors played off of each other so well and never failed to make her chuckle. Especially now, she loved that after everything that had happened, their relationship was not hindered. They were truly brothers on and off camera, and Y/n couldn’t ask for anything better. 

Jensen went to his usual chair on the right side of the stage, pulling it more forward and center before sitting down as the crowd continued to cheer for them. Jared followed suit, spinning his chair around and putting as close to Jensen’s as was humanly possible. Her husband frowned and leaned away from Jared, who only played along and leaned into his best friend. 

Jensen brought the mic to his lips and scowled, “Dude, why are you so close to me?”

“Cause we’re family now, officially bonded by blood,” Jared retorted, still trying to lean into Jensen as he continued to pull away. The older man rolled his eyes at his brother-in-law’s antics but couldn’t fight the smile on his face as the crowd cheered at Jared’s words. 

“Don’t remind me.” Jared leaned into Jensen, whispering something in his ear before the pair shared another laugh. Jared spun around and started the questioning. They got a few typical questions about Supernatural and the final season, nothing too crazy, but one specifically piqued Y/n’s interest. 

The girl asking the question stood not even twenty feet from her at the mic on the right side of the room. “My question is for Jensen.” Her voice was steady, but she was looking at her feet as she spoke. “Now that you are on The Boys, the show has far more carnage than Supernatural, and you have said in the past that you dislike being covered in fake blood, so I was wondering if you have come to terms with it, or has your hatred only grown?” 

Jensen threw his head back in laughter at her question, surprised that he hadn’t been asked it before today. “Well, you are right, I have not been shy about my contempt of stage blood, but nowadays I do find it far less annoying than I once did. I think I got over it filming season fifteen. There is nothing like staring at a beautiful woman to take your mind off of the stickiness. Y/n was a great distraction.” 

“Alright, that’s my baby sister you are talking about,” Jared faked a gag before dropping his mic in his usual fashion as the crowd let out a collective ‘awe.’ Jensen shrugged before moving on to the next question. He rounded to the next fan on the opposite side of the stage. 

“Hi,” the boys said in unison, bright smiles on their faces for the girl.

“First of all, I want to congratulate Jensen on the pregnancy. So, my question is for Jensen and Jared. Jensen, since you learned about the pregnancy, has your perception of life and love changed, and if so, how? And for Jared, being a father yourself, what are some things or advice you would like to share with Jensen? How has becoming a dad changed you? Thank you!” The girl stuttered around her words, her nerves of having the guy’s undivided attention seeping through her voice. 

“What?!” Jared dropped his jaw as he turned his head back to look at his brother in law in the seat next to him. “You’re pregnant?” 

Jensen leaned back in his chair and ran a hand down his torso, “Do you think I’m showing yet?”

“No dude, you look good, women everywhere hate you.” The duo fell into a fit of laughter, their heads were thrown back in unison at their stupid joke. Naturally, the whole crowd joined in. How could one not when those two were cracking up? It was infectious. 

“I’m sorry about my friend here. Thank you, we are very excited.” Jensen leaned around Jared to smile at the fan that stood with a Random Acts volunteer’s arm around her shoulders. “As for your question, it didn’t really hit me until we heard the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. Anyone who has kids knows how important that moment is. I never thought I could love my wife more than I already did, but there is something about looking at the woman you love carrying your child. It’s a completely different kind of connection to another human being. As for our baby, well, she was just a flicker on the screen then, but I knew there was nothing I wouldn’t do for that flicker.”

“Y/n is gonna kill you later for saying ‘she,’” Jared cut in, but Jensen just smirked knowingly. The man always had to cut the emotion with a joke, something the pair of them had in common. Life was too short to always be so serious anyway. 

“Well, what about you dad?” 

“What are you talking about?”

“She asked you a question too, so answer it,” Jensen reminded his costar, much to the amusement of everyone around them. 

“Oh yeah. Well, I’ve given Jensen tons of advice. He’s constantly coming to me for my superior wisdom.” Jensen frowned behind him, his eye roll visible even from the back of the room. “Nah, but in all seriousness, the best piece of advice I could ever give him would be to just be there for your wife, whatever she needs. She just gave you a child, the least you could do is get her some water and snacks during feedings.” 

In the shadows of the audience, Gen leaned over to Y/n, whispering in her ear, “I think he’s done that maybe twice.” Y/n laughed along with her friend, knowing full well that sounded just like Jared. 

“Being a dad has taught me an abundance of patience and understanding. While they are your kids, they are also humans with real feelings and thoughts. It’s important to listen to your children, and I mean really listen to them. It’s not easy some days, but what they’ll remember in twenty years is whether mom and dad were there or not, so that’s what’s most important to me.” The girl whispered a shaky ‘thank you’ to the guys before they moved on. There were more questions about Supernatural, Walker, and The Boys, but what Y/n didn’t expect was another question regarding her, the words cutting her like ice as they left the fan’s mouth.

"Now that Y/N is pregnant, how hard is it being away from her while filming? How do you handle the emotions of being away from your wife in this kind of situation?" The fan had a bright smile on her face as she asked a question that was sure to have the fans falling even more in love with her husband and the amazing man he was. 

Gen’s hand fell on her shoulder as she noticed her sister-in-law’s body tense, awaiting the answer from the actor on stage. Jensen turned his gaze to her, offering a small smile to her before turning back to the fan. 

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I feel like I’m dumping everything on her shoulders and leaving her to figure it out alone, and I hate that. You know, I made a promise to her on our wedding day that I would always be there for her, and I feel like I’m breaking that promise. On the nights that the baby is rolling around and not letting her get any sleep, she will FaceTime me to show me, and anyone who’s ever seen this knows it’s just as cool as it is creepy when it looks like the kid is trying to escape from her stomach.” Jared nodded in agreement alongside him as the audience laughed at his admission. “My heart clenches in those moments because I know there are a hundred other moments that I don’t get to be there for, but even more so that my wife doesn’t get to have me next to her for. I know it’s just as hard on her, experiencing all these new milestones alone. We are both just very lucky that she has Jared and Gen so close. Those two have been her rock through this whole thing.” 

“If there is anyone who can handle it, it’s Y/n,” Jared cut in, sensing his friend’s growing discomfort. “My sister is one of the strongest women I know, so don’t worry about her too much, Jay.”

“Right, yes my mistake, what was I thinking worrying about my pregnant wife?” The shorter Texan played up his words with a stiff nod of his head, much to the enjoyment of the crowd. The guys thanked the fan for her question just as Rob and Rich came back on stage, starting up the last question song. Y/n excused herself then to go to the restroom, assuring Clif she’d be okay and she would be right back, imploring him to stay with Gen and the kids.

The pregnant woman slipped past Creation security near the stage to the hall that led to the bathrooms. She sped down the hall on her toes, the urgency not hitting her until she stood up. Her mind was focused on getting to the bathroom, unconcerned about anything else until she was inside the first open stall. Y/n took care of her business, coming out of the stall to a figure standing directly across from her at the sinks. Her eyes trailed up the broad person who had their back to her until she met their eyes in the mirror.

“No!” The gasp left her lips, her feet instinctively stepping backward until her back hit the stall. 

“Hi, Y/n,” the man’s voice was rough, the sound of grating against every nerve in her body. It perfectly matched the smirk that he held as he turned to face her, the same smirk that had been haunting her dreams for weeks now. The woman swallowed around the lump in her throat as her pulse rose, the thrum of it beating behind her ears. 

“How?” It was the only thing she could force past her lips as her mind raced through all the possible outcomes of this encounter. If anything, she was trying to buy time until someone came looking for her, but she had no idea how long that could be. 

“I expected a hello, but I guess I can’t really blame you,” the guy shrugged, his nonchalance unsettling Y/n even more than she already was. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time now.”

“Waiting for me?”

“It was only a matter of time before we found our way to each other,” he took a step closer to Y/n, her heart skipping in her chest at the action. No matter how frightened she was at this moment, Y/n refused to back down. Instead, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin at the man. 

“Wh-what do you want?” Her tongue tripped over her words and the woman fought to control her breaths, letting the air out slowly through her nose as she refused to look away from the stalker across from her. 

“I want you. It’s always been you. For years I’ve waited for you to come to your senses about that actor you call your husband, but it seems you may need a little push,” he explained as his feet began to pace in a line, cutting off her only route to the door of the bathroom, to her freedom. 

“Excuse me?” Y/n was genuinely confused now, her adrenaline-soaked brain struggling to comprehend what he was telling her. 

“He’s all wrong for you. The bastard married you and ran off to Canada the second he could, leaving you to tend to his house, and now look at you, knocked up with his spawn and he still could give a rat’s ass about you.” The man’s voice was rising in tone as he became agitated, with what exactly she wasn’t sure, but she didn’t want to stick around to find out. 

“My husband loves me—”

“No!” He rounded on her, his pacing halted as he looked at her. “He’s poison. He doesn’t care about you or your career, he only cares about what you can do for him, but me? I’ve been your number one fan since the beginning. With me, your possibilities are limitless. Nobody could stop us.” 

It was now even more apparent to her at that moment that this guy was far more unhinged than she had originally thought. He believed with every fiber of his being that what he was saying was the truth, she could see it in the fire raging behind his eyes. It was the same fire that had her biting her tongue from firing back. She had more than just herself to think about in this situation, and she had no one way of knowing how he would react, but she also knew that staying in that bathroom was not an option either. 

It was now or never. He was no longer pacing across her escape route, and she wasn’t that far from the door. If she could at least get on the other side of it, she could create a commotion to draw attention. The second his eyes flickered from her own, she leaped into action, setting her focus on the door, and only the door. As her fingers wrapped around the handle, she felt his rough grip on her bicep. She was only able to get the door open a fraction of an inch, but it was enough. Her frantic eyes met with the shocked ones of Gen and Clif on the other side of the door. 

“Damn it!” He hollered as he yanked her back. The door didn’t even have time to close before Clif was pushing his way into the bathroom after her, watching as Y/n stumbled and nearly fell on her ass from the force of the stranger’s pull. 

“Alright, let her go,” Clif’s voice was calm and demanding as he assessed the scene in front of him. “Don’t make this worse for you than it already is.” 

“You make it sound so easy,” the guy chuckled dryly, the sound of it finally breaking whatever false sense of confidence Y/n had created. Preparing for a struggle, she squeezed her eyes shut, the action sending the welled up tears cascading down her cheeks. 

“It is that easy. Because trust me, if you hurt her, it will be the last thing you ever do.” The sound of the bathroom door opening again had her opening her eyes, a few of Creation’s security guards filing in to back up Clif. Knowing he was outnumbered, the man roughly released his grip on Y/n’s arm. The pregnant woman scrambled away from him, past security, and out into the hallway. 

“Y/n...” The sudden grip around her wrist startled the traumatized woman, her body reacting against it until her gaze met the familiar green eyes of her husband. Her body relaxed in an instant, throwing her into his arms as a sob racked through her body. Jensen squeezed his wife in his arms, holding her shaking frame close to his chest as she let out all her emotions. He shared a look with Jared before burying himself into her as well, just as relieved to have her back as she was to be free. 

It had only been about thirty seconds since Gen had come running back from checking on Y/n to tell them that something was wrong, but it was all it took. He felt his heart sink as he looked at the fear in Gen’s eyes. He and Jared were up from their chairs like lightning, allowing their long legs to get them to the bathroom with security hot on their tail. It killed him to have to wait outside, but he knew it was the best chance of getting her out of there safely, so he bit his tongue and did as he was told. None of that mattered now anyway, she was safe in his arms, and that was the most important thing. 

It felt like an eternity later when the cops showed up, taking the place of the unarmed security detail. They emerged with the guy in cuffs, a deep scowl on his face as he was carted out of the hotel, Clif and the security following behind. 

“Clif, what the fuck happened?!” Jensen growled, fury about the day’s events creeping upon him, seeing the guy that had his hands on his wife only fanning the fire in his belly. 

“I’m sorry, Jensen—” Clif's words were cut off by the raging actor. 

“You’re sorry? You were supposed to be protecting her!” Y/n lifted her head from her husband’s shoulder, using the back of her sleeve to wipe away the tears and snot from her face. The man’s whole body was tense, the anger rolling off of him of barely perceptible vibrations. 

“Hey, Jay,” she put her hands on his face, making him look at her. Reluctantly, he tore his gaze from Clif to look at his wife, his face softening as he took in her fragile state. “It’s not his fault. I told him to stay with Gen.”

“Y/n/n...”

“No. Clif is not to blame right now and you know it,” Y/n lowered her voice, the little bit of sternness she was able to muster dissipating. “You’re scared and I am too, but don’t take that out on him.” Jensen nodded at her, leaning in to kiss her forehead with trembling lips.

“I’m sorry, Clif,” Jensen breathed, his eyes opening slowly to look back up at his long time friend. Still trying to come to his senses over what had just happened, he had one arm around his wife, refusing to break contact with her. The fear of being out of control was still too overpowering. 

“It’s okay, I understand.” The two men shared a nod. Emotions were still on high, and everyone needed a moment to take in the events that had just transpired. Before anything else could be said, one of the cops cut through the tense scene playing out in the middle of the hotel hallway. He had a concerned look on his face, but he had a job to do too. 

“Ma’am, can I ask you a couple of questions?”

Main Panel Timestamps x/x

Part 9: 35 Weeks Pregnant 

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