#Jason doesn’t know if coming back to life is worth having Danny | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

gilbirda · 2 years ago

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Dance with me?

DPxBatman crossover. Jazz/Jason pairing. Background BatCat

Two strangers meet at a Wayne charity gala to raise funds for the Arkham Asylum Reform project. What they don't know is that they have much more in common than they think.

“That’s it? One dance? It doesn’t seem that difficult.” He glared at her. “Why, you don’t dance?”

“Not if I can help it.” He grumbled with distaste.

“Why not? Not handsome enough to tempt you, Mr. Darcy?”

NOW WITH SEQUEL -> Can we keep her?

NOW WITH ART!!!!: - Art by @impyssadobsessions: The window jump scene + how Jazz looks after parkouring and kissing - Art by @goingtoast: The strangers at the food table + running barefoot holding hands like teenagers running away

[Read on AO3] [Read on FF.net]

Jazz looks like this for the whole story (thank you @impyssadobsessions for letting me use the design!)

----

"’Come to the gala’, they said," Jazz grumbled under her breath, shoving another fancy canapé into her mouth, "’it'll be fun’, they said."

Fun, my ass, she thought. This was not fun, this was torture. Now she understood why Sam actively tried to avoid these things. Jazz was woman enough to accept the other girl was right and she had been a fool for thinking it couldn't be that bad.

Curse the Fenton bad luck. She jinxed herself when she said those exact words.

"Being legally alive is so not worth this." A voice grumbled beside her. She turned, finding a young man stuffing food into his mouth at the same pace as her.

She snorted. That's something that Danny would say. Maybe if he were here it would be a better experience, but she was requested to come alone.

Her reaction made the stranger turn and look at her, blinking as he noticed her presence for the first time. His eyes did a sweep of her in a not creepy way (thank the Ancients, if one more person did that tonight she was going to put the silverware to good use). The way he looked at her was analyzing, calculating. Cautious.

"You are not from here."

If he hadn't clearly discarded his tie already and hadn't talked with the mouth full of tiny food, she would have felt offended — one would interpret his comment as that she didn't belong around rich folks and high society. Which, she didn't, but it was still rude to say.

"I am not."

He chewed the food slowly and swallowed. "Should I know you?"

"I would remember if you did. I’m a therapist at Arkham." She extended her hand for a handshake, but the man only looked at her with an incredulous expression.

"You have to be mad to work there."

Jazz rolled her eyes and withdrew her hand. What a rude man. "And you are so unoriginal by telling me that."

This, for some reason, made him chuckle. He relaxed, as if she passed some kind of test. The stranger smiled and went back to consider what next pretentious tiny food he could stuff his face with.

Jazz took the chance to seize the man. Young, early to mid twenties, really fit, with broad shoulders. And tall. Even in her ridiculous five inch heels he was still maybe a head towering over her. Despite his size, he was dressed properly for the event, sans the tie (she didn’t blame him), and his hair was gelled back in a style she had seen at least five dudes have so far in the event, but his unruly curls were already sticking out of the gel.

What her eyes were stuck on, though, was the white stripe. It looked out of place. Not dyed, though — she knew what dyed white hair looked like. Of course he could have vitiligo manifested in a mismatched hair color, or a type of albinism or—

Calm down, Jazz. Not everything is about ghosts.

She left that life behind, kind of, when she moved to Gotham, chasing her dream to become the best at criminal behavior and rehabilitation into society. She was not a ghost hunter anymore. And white hair didn’t mean ‘ghost’.

“Take a photo, it’ll last longer.”

“Sorry,” she said, “it’s just…” She didn’t know what to say.

“Hm. It’s the white hair, right?” He shrugged, apparently deciding that he had scavenged enough food. He was tense about the hair thing, she noticed, but he hid it well. “People get caught up in that a lot since I came back.”

“Came back?”

A muscle in his jaw tensed. She knew she was about to be lied to, and she didn’t mind (it was, after all, none of her business); but she was amazed at how this man knew how to control his expressions so well.

“Yeah, I was involved in an accident overseas and I was presumed dead for a while.” The way he shrugged was completely different from how he did a minute ago. “These aristocracy-wannabe pricks get caught up on that a lot despite having been a long time ago.”

Presumed dead for a while.

Jazz could feel dormant instincts come back to the surface.

“I have noticed that you don’t like being here.” She changed the topic. Despite wanting to know everything about that little comment, she was aware that this was not a patient she could study and diagnose. Behave, Jasmine.

“Gee, what gave it away?” He deadpanned, turning to look at the people dressed to the nines mingling and talking and laughing. Jazz didn’t need to be a psychiatrist to know many of those were faked.

She turned to look as well. Of course she couldn’t find Marcel, her boss, who had insisted she came to the gala, in the sea of bodies.

“Then why come at all?”

“I was forced to.”

She hummed in solidarity, eyes still on the room. It was nice, this quiet company. “Are you going to hide at the food table the whole night, then?”

“Are you?” She turned, finding him looking at her already. “Or is that dress bait to snatch one of the rich pricks in the room?”

“Why would I be hiding if I wanted to “snatch one of the rich pricks” here?”

“They like the challenge, I guess,” he looked back at the people and the noise. “They don’t want girls who ‘make it easy’.”

“That’s�� a very incel and misogynistic way of thinking.”

The stranger snorted and choked on a laugh. “Welcome to Gotham’s high society.” He made a wide gesture towards the room. “It’s disgusting, but it’s not like I can kill every dude that thinks that way.” He rolled his eyes before murmuring against the collar of his jacket: “Not for lack of trying.”

This made her chuckle. She wasn’t supposed to hear that. She guessed that prolonged ecto contamination was useful for something after all.

“So… Who are you hiding from? The person that forced you to come?” She knew it was wrong to poke a total stranger, but she was invested now.

The man scoffed. “My father. He thinks that what I need to ‘calm down’ is settle down with a good girl.” He twisted his mouth in distaste.

Ah. “And you don’t like women?” She ventured, ignoring the slight pinch in her chest. Not that she had a desire to be romantically involved with this man — or the time for romance, altogether.

“No, no, I like women alright, and even if I didn't that wouldn’t be the issue. It’s just — I’m not going to marry someone just because my father wants to.”

“So, any boyfriends yet, Jazzy-pants?”

“We are just worried, you are getting older and we don’t want you to be alone.”

She shook away the memories of her parents’ words from her last visit. She knew they came from a good place, but still, it was heartbreaking that they asked about that and not about her work at Arkham — she had busted her ass making the reform plans and contacting benefactors and striking deals to get what she wanted, but she was still “just a shrink” in her parents’ eyes. They were brilliant scientists, but their bias against the study of the mind was painful.

“Yeah,” she finally said, looking away from the beautiful people and how paired up most of them were. “I think I get you.”

He whistled. “That sounded charged. Wanna talk about it?” The stranger stopped a waiter passing by and took two champagne glasses, extending one for her.

To hell with everything. She took it.

“My parents believe that I’m wasting my life doing what I love — they were proud of me until they learned that I wanted to dedicate my life to criminal psychology and treatment.”

“They resent you or something?” An emotion glinted in his eyes when he took a sip of the bubbly drink.

“No. They are not against it. But they don’t ask about it either.”

He hummed, thinking. “And you dance around trivial topics until an argument breaks out?”

She lifted an eyebrow. He sounded like he talked from experience. “We don’t get into an argument, usually because they get distracted by their own work and talk about it instead.” She let the bitterness bleed into her voice, glad about the anonymity of talking to a stranger.

“Touchy subject, huh?”

“You have no idea, pal.”

They stayed in companionable silence, siping their drinks and getting lost in their memories. She sneaked a glance at the stranger, jumping when she caught him looking at her. Both turned to look at the room.

She could always blame the red on her cheeks on the alcohol.

“My father thinks I’m too violent.” He said, continuing the conversation with a soft voice. “After I came back from… abroad,” his mouth twisted, cementing her theory that he had, indeed, died and came back somehow, “he tried his best to deny I had changed, that my objectives and methods had changed.”

Obsessions, she realized. He came back with an obsession.

“And now?”

His eyes went back to her. If she were another person she would have dismissed the green shine in his blue eyes as a trick of the light. Instead, she smiled broadly at the familiarity.

“Now he should be glad we are on speaking terms.” He placed the empty champagne glass on the food table. “And he uses that opportunity to try and introduce me to some rich girl he swears is ‘super nice’ and could ‘tame me’.” He did the air quotes and everything.

“Seriously?” She giggled at the face he made.

“Well, he didn’t say it like that,” he admitted with a chuckle. “But the intention was implicit.”

“And she’s not that nice or something?”

“I don’t care how she is,” the stranger scoffed, “she could be a saint, for all I care. But that doesn’t change the fact that I hate the idea of starting a relationship with someone just because they could ‘calm me down’ or ‘fix me’.”

Jazz drowned down the rest of her drink and left the glass on the table in a movement to hide the expression on her face. She was sure her face was visibly red now, damn her pale skin.

She cleared her throat. “That’s… very wise of you.”

“I think it should be the bare minimum. I mean, it’s not rocket science,” he crossed his muscular arms over his chest. She was looking very politely at the way the fabric of the suit did little to hide his powerful biceps. “Hoping that someone will fix you when entering a relationship with them will only end in disaster.”

She didn’t know what was that made her heart beat faster; his words, or the way his frown and pout made him look more handsome instead of intimidating.

“That’s why you are hiding?”

“I’m hiding because I promised to dance with her in exchange of being left alone.”

“That’s it? One dance? It doesn’t seem that difficult.” He glared at her. “Why, you don’t dance?”

“Not if I can help it.” He grumbled with distaste.

“Why not? Not handsome enough to tempt you, Mr. Darcy?” The words were out before she could stop them. He was so grumpy it was a logical association.

This made him laugh. She liked how he laughed, with all his body and from deep in the chest. He uncrossed his arms.

“That was something I didn’t expect to hear today. Are you a fan of Austen?”

“I do enjoy her books. Pride and Prejudice holds a special place in my heart, though.”

His smile at her words did weird things to her heart. She was sure her cheeks were permanently red now, but she stopped caring about it.

“You have good taste.” He said, the smile turning into a smirk. He extended his hand for her to shake. His palms were warm and rough to the touch. “Also I think I haven’t introduced myself, I’m—”

“JASON!” A voice cut through their bubble.

Both turned, finding a young man, maybe a bit older than her stranger, angrily stomping his way towards them. There was a certain resemblance, blue eyes and black hair, and Jazz wondered if they were siblings.

“Uh, gotta bounce.” The stranger (Jason?) smiled wider, shook her hand once, and hastily ran away from the food table.

Jazz stood there shocked into silence, watching the other man chase after him, his face flushed and his perfectly styled hair completely ruined.

***

Jason had finally found a good place to hide by the time Bruce had to go give a speech or some shit, he didn’t care that much about the goal of the charity gala to be perfectly honest. It was never about the good causes and Bruce used these to keep up the appearances, so it was frivolous in every way.

The good thing is that since everyone had to stop chasing after him for the speech, they’ll need to start all over again with the search, giving him enough time to find another good hiding spot. Although he lamented the loss of the food table.

And the company.

He didn’t get her name, but the chick was nice to talk to. It was cool to not be judged because of his humble origins, pitied for his little accident abroad, or seen as prey to climb the social ladder in Gotham. Women always tried first with his brothers, but resorted to him when they got rebuffed, and it was annoying as hell to say the least.

Whatever. He would probably never see her again — she was so out of place that he knew she wasn’t usually invited to galas like these. Maybe she was part of the charity people? He could get the guest list and try investigate his way into finding out her name—

He was being ridiculous. He could just ask her name. He just needed to brave his way into the ballroom and search for her, while evading Bruce and the others trying to make him dance with some random rich girl he had no interest in meeting. Easy.

Jason grumbled his way back to the room the gala was held in, sneaking into shadowy corners and keeping one eye open for nosy siblings.

“— and lastly, I would like everyone to give a big applause to the powerhouse behind the project. Without her, this couldn’t be happening today; this gala, this new future, this next step for Gotham.” Jason turned to watch Bruce smiling at the public, one hand gesturing towards someone he couldn’t quite see with people in the way. “A big thank you from the bottom of my heart, Jasmine Fenton.”

The crowd applauded politely, as usual, people whispering among themselves about the new person. If he focused, he knew he would hear a wide range of nasty rumors and slander about her, but Jason wasn’t capable of hearing them.

Because the person that walked up to the podium with a nervous smile and familiar red cheeks, was his stranger from the food table.

Jasmine? Yes, that was her name.

She seemed terrified but hid it well, her steps making the skirt of her deep green dress flow like water, showing the side slits that teased the smooth skin of her legs. The lights on the stand reflected against her clothes and jewelry, the soft shimmer of the green fabric making her look like she was wearing tiny stars, the armband on her left arm and the golden necklace catching his eye as she gingerly put one hand on the podium, probably to ground herself.

Jason gave up hiding and stayed for her speech.

“Um,” she winced at the feedback of the microphone. A woman next to Jason giggled mockingly. “Thank you for this big opportunity, Mr. Wayne.” She nodded at Bruce. “We, and I mean the whole staff at Arkham Asylum, believe there is a real chance at new life, at a new future, for our patients. Even for those that tend to cause trouble, there is a way. With the Reform Project, we hope to break the stigma and transform Arkham into a place of hope.” She smiled nervously. Someone coughed a laugh in the public. “Once again thank you for the support and have a nice rest of the evening.”

There was some more dispassionate clapping. Fucking rich bastards.

He kept his eye on her as she all but ran down the stand and away from the eyes of the people that clearly didn’t believe in her vision but thought it would be good for their image to throw money at it. Well, fuck that.

He ran after her, struggling to keep up despite remembering she had some heels that looked uncomfortable to run with. He thought he heard Dick scream his name for a bit, but after he shut the ballroom door and started checking all the balconies in that floor, he had forgotten about his original objective of hiding from his siblings and Bruce.

He found her in balcony number four. Crying.

“Hey.” He said.

She jumped, quickly trying to wipe the tears gathered in her eyes. “Hello, stranger.” She tried to smile. “Hiding from your father again?”

Jason shook his head and caught the hand that was rubbing her eye. “You are going to mess with your makeup.”

“Oh shit, I forgot I was wearing any. Is it bad?”

He walked closer, grabbing her chin with the excuse of examining her makeup from all the angles. She was prettier up close, and he noticed the gold and green earrings framing her face, very visible since her hair was up in an elaborate bun. He knew how to braid hair and he knew that the braids going down the side of her head and around the bun weren’t that easy to pull off and look professional.

She had dedicated time to look good. She had worn makeup, which was something she didn’t usually do. For this gala. For the ungrateful bastards that laughed at her.

“You look fine.” He finally said, letting her go. “Nice speech, though. Didn’t know the Arkham Reform thing was yours.”

She looked like he had punched her in the gut, but tried to hide it quickly.

“You can laugh if you want. I know it is ridiculous.”

“I’m not laughing. If it were for me I’d burn down the place, but that doesn’t mean I think it’s stupid to believe in making it better.”

She giggled. Ah. That was better.

“Burn it down? Well, thank you for wanting to make me jobless.”

“I mean, I won’t do it now that I know you work there. Not that I have the means to commit arson or anything.” He wiggled his eyebrows, making it obvious that he could indeed commit arson. She found this funny.

“Oh, believe me, I would help you burn the whole thing down. Some days it’s the only thing I can think about.” Her smile was mischievous.

“I’ll call you if I ever decide to do it.”

She squeezed the hand that was still holding hers. He had forgotten about that, but now he didn’t want to let go.

“Thank you.” She said, voice soft. Somewhere, someone opened a door and the music from the gala leaked into their little moment at the balcony. “I needed the distraction.”

“You didn’t look so hot for a second there.”

“It’s the anxiety,” she nodded, “I hate speaking in front of a crowd.”

He made a face, squeezing her hand in solidarity. “That sucks.”

“It does. It’s the crowds, though — I usually can deal with people alright, I’m actually interested in therapy — but since I presented my proposal for the Reform my boss decided that I had to take care of everything, and I mean everything. Funding, support, convincing the patients to collaborate. Everything.”

“That doesn’t sound fair.”

“Marcel only took interest in me after I managed to get Bruce Wayne’s support. When he got onboard, he made it sound like it had been his idea all along! Can you imagine the nerve of this bitch?” She huffed. “Actually I was surprised that Mr. Wayne called me to talk back there, I assumed he bought the bullshit that I was an assistant that my boss had been feeding him.”

Huh. Of course Bruce would know what was going on, he wasn’t stupid to believe that the current Asylum director was suddenly really into reforming the place. It had to be someone from outside Gotham the one that seriously embarked into fixing the Asylum.

Also, quick question, what kind of life this cinnamon roll had to look at Arkham and go “this is the place I’m going to pour my body and soul into”?

He asked her that exactly. She laughed so hard that more tears started falling from her eyes, the hand that was free now placed on his shoulder for balance as she wobbled on her heels.

When she stopped laughing, she smiled up at him, her mascara running a little from the crying. He wiped it with his thumb, letting his hand stay cupping her face once he was done.

“Heh.” She calmed down, still giggling a little. “Wouldn’t you like to know, weatherboy?”

He couldn’t help it. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips, enjoying when she giggled against him.

“What was that for, stranger?” She tried to keep a calm demeanor, but her cheeks were fierce red, betraying her emotions.

He licked his lips. Her lipstick was cherry flavored.

“Wouldn’t you want to kiss a pretty girl illuminated under such beautiful moonlight?”

“Very poetic, mister.” She lifted an eyebrow. “Do you wax the same poetry to every girl you kiss?”

“Why would I?”

“To drive them away, maybe.”

“I thought poetry was the food of love.” He saw the moment she caught on his words, because she smirked.

“Of a fine stout love, it may. But if it is only a vague inclination, I’m convinced one poor sonnet will kill it stone dead.”

He was delighted when she followed his lead. “So what do you recommend to encourage affection?”

She took the hand on her face and guided it towards her waist. “Dancing.” She whispered, letting the soft music coming from the gala weave with her words. “Even if one’s partner is barely tolerable.”

Both snickered at the absurdity of the moment, but started swinging to the music nonetheless. Every time their eyes crossed paths, they started laughing again. It was simple, it was calm, and most importantly, Bruce wouldn’t find them. He felt like he could relax for the first time since the whole gala started.

It was when the song was ending, that Jasmine placed her head on his chest and sighed. He was positive she could hear his heart beating faster, but neither commented on it.

“So you are the Jason Todd?” She asked softly. He hummed in response, but didn‘t know where she was going with this. “Please don’t take this the wrong way, but you really died, didn’t you?”

He tensed, all relaxation gone from his body. She let him step back away from her, smiling softly when his eyes assessed her like she was a threat.

“I don’t know what you are—”

“My brother died too.” She looked down at their still joined hands. He couldn’t let her go, despite everything. “He came back different. I also— I mean. I am…”

She lifted her head, looking at him with Lazarus Pit green eyes.

He frowned. “Who are you and who sent you.” He wasn’t asking.

Jasmine tilted her head. “My name is Jasmine Fenton. My parents, Madeline and Jackson Fenton, have dedicated their whole lives to the study of the afterlife. My brother and I simply paid the price.”

His heart beat fast, but for a completely different reason than before. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I feel like you also paid a price, and I wanted to let you know that I know.”

He looked down at the hand gripping hers. He angled his fingers so he could place them over her pulse. Although slower than normal, it was steady. She was telling the truth.

“Why?”

She blushed and looked away. “I like… I enjoyed spending time with you. I hope I didn’t read you wrong, but I think you enjoyed it too. I didn’t want to start anything on a lie.”

That was… noble. And sensible. If she ended up telling him later, or worse, if he found out on his own, he would have been devastated.

“I have no idea of the circumstances around your death, and I won’t ask. I hope you do the same about my brother.”

He watched as she slowly closed in on herself, the smiles and radiance he had seen before freezing into a contained steel. This girl had seen serious stuff, probably had done some herself.

“You didn’t die? Just curious.” Jason kept his voice soft and light. If she wanted to deflect the question, he would accept it.

“Something else happened to me.” She shook her head. “Maybe I’ll tell you one day.”

One day.

“That means you want to stick around?”

She saw his question as what it was and accepted the olive branch. “Why? You don’t want to keep dancing?”

“Actually—”

His stomach growled. Damn stupid little food at the stupid fancy gala. Stupid siblings making him run around and get hungry so quickly.

“— maybe we could ditch this whole thing and go get dinner?”

Jasmine seemed delighted. “Ancients, yes. I was about to resort to cannibalism.”

As if on cue, her stomach growled as well. He snorted and both started to laugh again, all tension forgotten.

“How can we get out of here without stumbling into the people looking for us?”

He hummed. “I know a way. Follow me.”

Both ran back into the manor, hand in hand, giggling and sneaking around like teenagers, Jasmine ditching the heels somewhere along the way.

Once they got to Bruce’s studio, Jason ignored the grandfather clock that was the secret entrance to the Cave and beelined to the balcony attached to the room. From there it was easy to jump to a nearby tree and climb down to freedom.

Ah, but—

“Can you do it with that thing on?”

Jasmine’s eyes analyzed the route, catching on his plan. At his question, she smirked and gathered her skirt with the hand that didn’t hold her heels. She lifted the skirt up and up, and Jason was about to look away when he saw why exactly she was doing this: she wore shorts under the dress.

Jason felt his heart skip a bit in his chest.

“Let’s go.”

He did the jump flawlessly, like it hadn’t passed any time since he was a kid and snuck out of the mansion thinking that Bruce or Alfred wouldn’t notice. Of course they did, and they always found him.

He heard the first heel land beside him, and turned in time to catch the other shoe when she threw it in his general direction.

She gathered her skirts better, tied it on her side and jumped to the tree branch, swinging her body to stand on it with a practiced move, making him wonder again what kind of life she had led. Then, she gracefully jumped to the lower branch and from there jumped to the ground, bending her knees perfectly to cushion the impact.

He watched her as she brushed her hands over her dress and her jewelry, checking that everything was still in place. Her hair, sadly, had started to fall off its neat bun.

She clicked her tongue, a bit annoyed, but lifted a hand to free her red locks from the bun, sighing once they started to flow back down her naked back.

He helped her pick out the pins and hair ties that had held the whole thing in place, running his fingers through the silky texture and the braids, enjoying how easily it flowed in his hands.

Jason noticed she was shivering a bit.

“Cold?”

“A bit.” She pushed her now free hair behind her ears. “I guess the backless dress was a bad idea in the middle of November.”

He shed his suit jacket before he chickened out and helped her put it on.

“Thanks.” Jasmine said as she folded the long sleeves so her hands were free. She looked up, giving him a confused smile when he didn’t say anything in response.

He couldn’t. Her dress kept sparkling under the moonlight despite being a bit stained and hastily tied around her hips; she was barefoot, her complicated hairdo ruined and tangled under his jacket that was too big on her slim body; and her makeup smudged from crying before in their little moment at the balcony.

She was the most beautiful thing he had seen.

He lunged, one hand already buried in her hair and the other on her waist, his lips on hers so he could taste the cherry lipstick once again. She made a sound in surprise, and he almost withdrew completely, if she didn’t lift her hands and grabbed his shirt to pull him closer.

She let him push her until her back was against the tree trunk, and he was glad that he gave her the jacket or she would have been uncomfortable.

When they parted, both refused to let go. Their eyes met briefly, hers were green and glowing and he was sure that his were the same. He felt accelerated, his mind scrambled and all over the place, but he felt in control. He felt—

Jasmine’s hand went to his hair, grabbing his curls and pulling his mouth against hers once again, moaning a little as if she wasn’t aware that she did it at all, her teeth softly biting his lower lip and asking permission to deepen the kiss.

Once he opened his mouth for her she had a field day with him, her tongue finding his quickly, another moan getting lost in their kiss. She was ravenous but gentle, letting him chances to stop her anytime he felt like she did something he didn’t want. He felt so wanted just from this kiss alone, and Jason wondered what else she could make him feel.

Her stomach grumbled, asking for attention.

Their chuckles started in the kiss but continued after they parted, her head falling to his chest as she tried to muffle her laugh.

“So…”

“Dinner?” He kissed the top of her head, still giggling.

“Please.”

“Let’s go, my bike is hidden somewhere close.”

She looked at him. “Bike?”

“Are you scared of motorcycles?” He lifted an eyebrow.

Jasmine shook her head. “I had a boyfriend that had a motorcycle and it was like his whole personality. My brother hated him with passion. He will chew my ear off if he learns about this.”

“Oh? We are already talking about exes?”

She blushed, leaning down to pick up her fallen shoe from the ground. “Why, wanna be my boyfriend or something?”

It was his time to blush. “Uh…”

“It’s okay,” she grabbed his hand, “we can talk about it over dinner and reach an agreement, Jason.”

“Call me Jay. And I would like to discuss your terms and conditions, Jasmine.”

She stood on the tip of her toes and yet he had to lean down for her to kiss him softly on the lips. There was still a bit of the cherry lipstick taste on them.

“Call me Jazz, then.”

***

“Aren’t you gonna stop him?”

“Hm,” Bruce said, glancing down at the pair clearly running away from the gala.

He had texted the others a while ago that he had found Jason, but opted for not explaining exactly where he was or what he was doing. There was something in the way he looked at the redhead girl, Jasmine, that made him want to cover for his second eldest.

“You are such a softie, Brucie boy.” Selina softly slapped his shoulder. “And a romantic.”

“I haven’t heard him laugh in ages, Selina.”

Her smile was sad as she held his face between her hands. His eyes went back to his son leaning down to kiss one of Arkham’s most promising psychiatrists. He had mixed feelings about the blooming relationship, but he didn’t want to risk losing Jason again after finally getting him to join family stuff again.

“Is this a good idea?” He finally looked into his girlfriend’s eyes.

“Did you see how she jumped from the tree? She could be a great thief if she wanted.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

“What I meant to say is she fits this family perfectly. Vigilantes and cat burglars included. Yeah, I think it’ll be fine.” She softly placed her lips on Bruce's, distracting him from looking from their vantage point at the pair getting on the bike and riding away. “In fact, she already stole the poor boy’s heart, so I’d say she’s on her way to a plentiful career as my successor.”

This made him chuckle.

“Don’t tempt fate, woman.”

“I mean, I can train her. Hmm, I think I like the idea.” She kissed him again. “Another cat and a bat chasing each other over the rooftops of Gotham. So romantic.” She whispered against his lips.

“I think your idea of romance is kind of skewered.” He said, amused.

“But I managed to snatch you, so it worked.”

Both giggled softly, letting the floating music and the moonlight accompany them as they contemplated the changes that would come to the family after tonight.

Bruce could already feel the incoming headache just thinking about it.

---

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avaritia-apotheosis · 3 years ago

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Phantom Children Ch. 8

What's this? An update! Massive thanks to my betas for helping me get through this chapter <3

In Which: A few answers are given to the family and Danny is rudely awoken

[Side note: If you wanna know the general ages of the batfam, its listed in the AO3 version. I also talk about katanas in the end notes ^-^]

AO3 | Prologue | 7 | [ 8 ] | 9 DAMIAN INFORMED TODD—and Drake when he arrived on his bike sometime later on—that the boy whose face is plastered across the monitor was neither a picture of himself nor of Father.

Drake took one glance at the monitor and sighed, pressing his fingers against the bridge of his nose. “Just when I thought this day was getting better.”

“What, did that café on 5th finally let customers supersize their drink?”

“God that would be the dream, wouldn’t it?” Drake sighed wistfully. “Nah, but I did get a lead on where some of that stolen Cadmus tech might’ve ended up. I was gonna spend the night following up on it, but I guess we have to deal with,” he gestured to the monitor, “whatever this is.”

Todd leaned against the edge of the computer, arms crossed over the red bat insignia on his chest. “What are we dealing with this time, brat? A clone? An alternate universe counterpart? Magic shenanigans?”

Maybe. Perhaps. All of those were perfectly valid conclusions for the enigma that was Daniel James Fenton. (Why Fenton and not al Ghul? Or even Wayne?)

Damian, too, was a genetic experiment; a ‘test tube baby’ as Drake put it at times. Damian was born for greatness, created to be perfect. The perfect soldier. The perfect assassin. The perfect heir. Was this boy—Daniel—like him as well?

A failed one, then. Perhaps the precursor to Damian’s own existence. But that would not explain why the boy was allowed to exist for so long. His grandfather demanded perfection, especially from those of his own blood. If the boy was a failure, he would have been eliminated immediately, not sent to live with some eccentric scientists in the Midwest.

Damian was not naïve enough to think that his mother and grandfather did not keep secrets from him. On the contrary, he expected it. The League of Shadows dealt in secrets as often as it did in death. Certain information was worth its weight in gold, whether it was given or buried away.

But he could not help the sharp pang in his chest. A lightning strike, quick and electrifying at the notion that they kept secrets about their family from him.

His father’s face flashed in his mind. The shock turned into a slow, dawning horror. That flicker of light, of recognition, as he scrutinized the contents of the flash drive and cross-referenced it with a public database.

And grief.

Damian recognized the grief.

Alfred, too, nearly dropped his tray of fresh-baked cookies when he stepped in front of the monitor. His usual unflappable demeanor was momentarily broken at his father’s whispered “Sixteen years. Alfred— he’s sixteen years old.”

His father knew of the boy. He was allowed to know of Daniel when he was not allowed to know about Damian.

------

Grayson returned to the cave with a distinct lack of energy in his step. His mask dangled off the tips of his fingers, chin angled downwards and covered largely by his hand. For a split second, their eyes met. Grayson shifted his gaze away, scratching the back of his neck. Father told him, then. Damian wondered how much Father revealed to his favorite son.

Damian clucked his tongue and buried himself deeper into the chair, arms crossed and pointedly looking away. If it was not for his accursed ankle, he’d have headed out to the training ring to take his frustrations out on the dummies.

“Oh, thank god you’re here, Dickface. Damian’s completely out of it.”

Damian shot him a look. “Shut up, Todd.”

“Leave him alone, Jay. Is Tim back yet?”

Drake emerged from the changing room in a dark green shirt, a fresh cup of coffee in hand. He took one long sip before exhaling. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“O-kay…” He pressed his hands together, mouth thinned into a grim line. “Uh, hey Tim, glad to see you back safe. Bruce is coming down soon to explain some things.” He let out a deep sigh, carding a hand through his hair. “This kind of thing would probably be better with the girls around, but I—god, I don’t know.”

Todd raised an eyebrow. “Don’t know whether to call Steph and Cass in Hong Kong, or don’t know what’s going on?”

“Yes.”

------

When Father arrived, Pennyworth following dutifully behind him, it was with an aching slowness in his gait. His steps measured and precise, preternaturally quiet as he made his way to stand by Damian’s chair. Damian sat up straighter, shoulders squared and back an inch away from the backrest. The rest, even Todd, stood at attention; an ingrained habit among Robins and an amusing instinct even among the senior heroes of the Justice League when it came to facing the Batman.

His father kept a steady hand on Damian’s shoulder, and Damian, shamefully, leaned into the touch; his head inclined towards his father’s hand so much so that he could feel the ends of his hair being pushed up slightly as he brushed against his father’s forearm.

He spoke with his usual monotone, as if he was heading a Justice League meeting as opposed to unveiling the secrets surrounding that boy. He brought forward the few photos they obtained from the flash drive. “A few weeks ago, we were alerted of suspicious movement from the League of Shadows in Amity Park, Illinois. Their objectives are, as of now, unclear, though it appears to be tied to the death of Amity Park resident, Daniel Fenton.”

One photo was a standard ID picture people get for their driver’s license, the lighting deliberately horrible so that any attempt to look decent would always end in failure. Another photo was a little better; a candid scene of him chatting with two others his age, a Caucasian girl in gothic-style clothes and an African-American holding a sleek, but still very outdated PDA. His blue eyes crinkled at the corners, hand reaching up to his face to stifle a laugh. There were other photos like this, some candid, others posed. At the forefront of each, a boy that looked too much like his father, too much like Damian.

His father glanced at the photos. He shut his eyes and when he opened them again, he fixed them on some distant stalactite in the Cave. “Around six months ago, Daniel was pronounced dead in a vehicular accident. A body was present, but according to police reports, he was identified via his driver’s license as opposed to any kind of DNA profiling.” He leaned over Damian’s chair to pull up a profile of Masters. “Our source—Vladimir Masters, mayor of Amity and a friend of the Fenton family—indicated his belief that Daniel is actually alive. I am inclined to agree.”

“He’s your son, isn’t he,” Drake said, more of a statement than a question.

Father gave a curt nod. “I cannot say for certain until I can perform a DNA test, but I highly suspect that to be the case.”

“First the demon spawn, now this. Great.” Todd made a hand motion towards the screen. “You know, Bruce, not knowing you have a kid once might be a coincidence, but twice? How do you do that?”

“As of three hours ago, I was still under the impression that my son never made it to term.”

“What?”

“Over sixteen years ago I was involved in a mission that put Ra’s and I on the same side. During that time, Talia and I entered a relationship that resulted in a pregnancy. Though initially ecstatic, she eventually led me to believe she miscarried the child and pushed me away. For what ends, I do not know, but trust me Jason, if I knew—” He paused, the hand that was not on Damian’s shoulder curled into a tight fist.

Father pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why she hid it from me then doesn’t matter. Why Talia wants him back now is important. Judging from Daniel’s records, he was adopted into the Fenton family as an infant and has since lived a seemingly normal life as a civilian. His adoptive parents, Jack and Maddie Fenton, are brilliant scientists and engineers focused on the field of paranormal studies. Eccentricities aside, they have zero connections to the League of Assassins or any other concerning parties.”

“So why now?” Dick asked, shifting his concerned gaze from Bruce to the static picture of Danny’s tired smile. “Why, after all this time, decide that now would be the best time to recover him?”

------

Danny’s experienced plenty of rude awakenings before, but waking up at the ass-crack of dawn to avoid his kidnapper-slash-assassin-slash-biological-mom launching a surprise attack takes the fucking cake. He can’t believe he’s saying this, but thank god for all those late night ghost attacks that conditioned him to be a light sleeper. And, of course, the League’s insistence that everyone be in optimal condition regardless of how little sleep you actually got.

Danny kicked Talia off of him, ripping his blanket away before scrambling to his feet. Seriously, if the universe decided to spontaneously give him powers again, he’d really like an upgrade to his ghost senses, please and thank you. Something that works on humans and not just ghosts. Like spidey-senses. He’d really, really like some spidey-senses.

“Your reaction times have improved considerably,” Talia said.

He eyed the katana sheathed beside his bedroll. “Thanks. Who could have guessed that constantly challenging someone to a spar in the unholy hours of morning would make them paranoid to sleep too much? Really, how am I supposed to grow taller at this rate? ” If he could just get it--

She smiled, taking a step forward. “Prepare yourself.”

“Heh.” Danny stepped further away from Talia, keeping his back to the mouth of the cave. One hand stretched in front of him and the other, coated in a green light, was kept hidden behind his back. “Am I actually gonna get some answers today?”

“Let us make it interesting. Last 10 minutes against me and I shall tell you more about your brother.” Talia twirled her blade. “If you happen to draw blood, you may ask any one thing of me.”

“Anything?”

“Within reason.”

His face caught between a grimace and a smile. He’d rather be sleeping right now, but if he had to be awake, then he’d better make the most of it. “Deal.”

Talia’s smile dropped. She veered her body to the right, barely dodging the streak of bright green that whizzed from behind her. The ectoplasmic energy that surrounded the katana bled away as the handle connected with Danny’s outstretched hand.

She quickly glanced back at Danny’s bedding. Beside it lay an empty sheath. “You have telekinesis?”

He shrugged. “It comes and goes.” Yeah, no way was Danny gonna admit that seven-out-of-ten-times he forgot that he had telekinesis. Besides, that shit was hard to do when he wasn’t Phantom.

“A surprise attack from behind is a sound strategy, Daniel. Though it’ll take a lot more than that to harm me.”

Danny pointed to the side of his cheek. “Are you sure about that?”

Talia frowned. She reached up to her face. Her fingers brushed against her cheek and came away with a thin streak of blood.

Danny grinned, pointing his blade at his opponent. “First blood goes to me.”

------

Fact: most fights don’t last long. An average street fight could last anywhere between 25 to 40 seconds, and sword fights rarely last over a minute. Like Talia said, the goal of a fight was to end it with as few injuries to oneself as possible. Humans, even the most skilled ones, can rarely last long in a fight. Prolonged combat is suicide; it makes you tired, makes your muscles heavy. It’s nothing like what Hollywood would have you believe.

Even with Danny’s own enhanced stamina and Talia holding back, he couldn’t last a full ten-minute spar. If Talia didn’t finish him within twenty-five seconds, then he’d fall by his own human limitations.

But the goal wasn’t to spar continuously for ten minutes.

He only had to last that long.

Danny sprinted out of the cave. The sun barely peeked out of the horizon, a thin line of deep orange breaking apart the wide expanse of blue-black sky above. He couldn’t see shit; great news since that meant there’s a good chance Talia couldn’t either, but that doesn’t fix the fact that he can’t see.

Nearly stumbling on the ice, Danny veered to the left. The edges of the lake stopped at towering rocks twice Danny’s height, leaving little room for cover. Though if he remembered correctly, there should be a few crevices here and there to hide in.

“You’ll have to be faster than that, Daniel.”

Shit—

Danny stopped. He brought his sword up to parry Talia’s strike and twisted away, putting distance between them.

Well, so much for just avoiding her for 10 minutes.

He adjusted his grip, keeping his sword steady and eyes trained on Talia as they circled each other. Danny lunged with an overhead strike. Talia used one hand to block the downswing by gripping his wrists. She thrust her sword forward, the tip harshly poking Danny’s abdomen.

“Less than three minutes.” Talia let his wrist go, Danny’s arms slumping to his sides.

He sighed as he sheathed his sword. “Damn, I thought I’d last longer than that.”

“You made a good effort,” Talia assured him. “Putting as much distance between us at the beginning was a good strategy. You recognized the win conditions immediately and attempted a battle of attrition.” She placed a hand on his shoulder. “I am very proud of you habibi, especially as you managed to draw first blood.”

A warmth grew in Danny’s stomach at the words, heating his cheeks. Sheepishly, he scratched the back of his head. “I wasn’t entirely sure that would work, honestly.”

“It was clever; half a second later and you might have even killed me. You are an al Ghul through and through” She brushed his hair out of his face. “What would you like as your prize, then?”

Danny’s heart clenched. He frowned, dropping his arm to his side. If I was such an al Ghul, then why didn’t you keep me? The question lodged itself in his throat, stifling his thoughts. It was something he’d been wondering for a while, actually, in the moments of solitude he had at the compound. Talia, during their training, would always remark at his potential. How talented he was, how adaptable he was, how much greater he would have been if he had been trained at a younger age.

Well then, why wasn’t he? Why did she give him up?

But each time he tried to ask, his tongue would turn to lead and the moment would pass, the question still left unsaid and simmering at the back of his mind. A Pandora’s Box that held none of the world’s evil but all of Danny’s possible shortcomings.

He could ask the question now.

He could.

He didn’t.

“Why did you take me?”

Talia tilted her head. “It is because you’re my son.”

“No. Not that. It has to be something more than that. You had sixteen years to come back for me—or, hell, you could have just never left me.” His breath hitched, fingers mussing his hair and hiding his eyes. “Why else did you take me?”

“It is true that there was more than one reason why we decided to retrieve you from Amity Park. One of which is because you are my son and an heir of the Demon’s Head.” Talia stilled. The dark skies of dawn made it impossible for him to read her. “The second reason was to protect you.”

“You kidnapped me…to protect me?”

“Knowledge of the ghosts of Amity have spread through the more insidious parts of the world. There are many out there who would pay exorbitant fees to study one of you or to use you.”

Use him? What did she mean by—

Oh.

Ghosts—Amity Park’s brand of ghosts—were a new element that the world had to contend with. Amity Park might have a crime rate of zero but that wasn’t the case everywhere else. Theft, assault, murder; the world was rampant with crimes and criminals clawing their way to the very top. Having ghosts, even ones with the most basic powerset, would be a huge advantage.

“There’s no way that would work,” Danny insisted. “Most ghosts just want to be left alone, and the ones that want to wreak havoc would never work with humans. The only reason they even work with halfas like me at times is because they still consider us as ghosts.”

“If my sources are to be believed, ghosts might not even get a choice.”

Danny’s blood curdled in his veins.

No.

Someone’s found a way to control ghosts.

#danny phantom #batman #danny phantom x batman crossover #dp fic #phantom children.txt

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long-live-astronerd-ghost-king · 1 year ago

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Candy Crush AU ~More What If~

Undead ones form strong bonds among themselves. Some ghosts communicate by transmitting thoughts or memories, others share emotions. When Danny learned of this feature, he spent a long time trying to send a ghost 'radio signal' to his friend.

But the ability to communicate was not guaranteed. Some types of spirits could not communicate in this way with other types of the dead, while others simply did not possess it instinctively and had to learn it first (as Danny).

Phantom’s efforts were to no avail. Soon, instead of full-fledged messages, Danny began sending just some thoughts or lines of songs to his best friend. They went into the void anyway, so no harm from practice.

~~~~~~

For Danny their first connection was like a Coke and Mentos geyser with aftertaste of Sour Acid Candy. During a week his tongue tasted various sweets he hadn’t touched in months. Was it adrenaline, rage, fear or a new hope? Jason? Jason? Need to find him. Everything mixed into a molotov cocktail and Phantom didn’t know where to run. He resumes the search with renewed vigor anyway. It doesn’t matter if it’s his friend talking to him, or if he’s already losing his mind. Giving up hope means losing, and Robin didn’t teach him how to lose.

~~~~~~

And, of course, when Danny met Jason he sent such a strong "Found Him! Happy! Happy!" message without address that he had received congratulations from ghosts from Wisconsin to Far Frozen and even far for a few seconds.

Only when Danny talks with Jason he learns that around the time of onset of his strange sweet symptoms, Jason was placed in the Lazarus Pit.

The taste/emotional swings made the Phantom vomit food many times but Danny thought it was worth it because it made him not avoid Gotham but look for every opportunity to come back and question the local ghosts about Jason. Well, in the end, Lady Gotham brought them together.

~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Alfred, who was finding strange messages near Master Jason’s grave, finally breathes a sigh of relief. Sometimes the notes were funny, like ( "I would kill for a Batburger now, Jason, I swear I would"; "They don’t bring knives to school, Jason, crazy outsiders!") and accompanied by a harmless candy wrapper. On days like this, the butler could have pretended that second Robin had visits from an old alley friend.

But more often than not, these messages were sad and he was afraid that the unknown person might do something to himself. The Grave on such days was surrounded the scent of a viscous caramel. The howling wind was bringing melodies and fragments of song lyrics ("I miss you more than life"; "I think I’ll miss you forever. Like the stars miss the sun in the morning skies.") ~~~~~~

For them, this communication becomes natural. They still give each other candies but learn to taste each other’s mood.

When they want to transmit a message from a distance but speaker can’t concentrate, they’re looking for candies as possessed. Jazz has a picture of Danny with chipmunk cheeks and a comedically focused look on his face because he shoved thirty mints into his mouth and lectured Jason in his head.

~~~~~~~ King Phantom and Red Hood: *sit at a Justice League meeting with stone faces*. Danny and Jason inside: *talk shit about Batman in Jelly Beans signals* Martian Manhunte: 'It's a terrible code, Skipper. I can't make it out.'

~~~~~

When Dick shares liquorice pipes with Jason after the patrol, Red Hood looks at his brother with great suspicion and almost asks what he did but stops in time.

Tim, who decrypts their signals, is secretly producing caffeinated candies for his own use. Now Red Robin’s not allowed on patrol with snacks. Also Bruce soon discovered that his Liquor Filled Chocolate Bottles lost all the filling and their cavities poured with red bull.

The swear jar remains empty when Jason and Danny are visiting Manor but the expression on their faces when they give marmalade citrus slices to each other makes it seem like they have an argument that would never have passed Alfred’s censorship.

DPXDC prompt: Dead on main. No trick only treat.

~~Сhildhood friends and deals~~

The Justice League has to summon a ghost from another dimension to address the threat. They don’t know what price the Ghost King will take but there’s little time to bargain. Another spirit threatening them has already seized all the computers on their base. John doesn’t know what else to offer. A summoned ghost starts to look bored. Gold, jewelry? A favor from a member of the League? Like the Ruler of All Dead needs it. No one dares to make another offer, and the King is in no hurry to set out his demands. Maybe try to pull off a soul sale scam?

Suddenly, Red Hood breaks into the hall, walks up to Phantom and shakes his shoulder vigorously. Red Hood: You, get Technus out of here right now. I need access to the files and fast. Phantom: That’s rude, dude. Where did you grow up? in the cave? No "hello, no how are you, Danny", really? Red Hood: I’ll pay the usual price. Phantom: Deal.

What is the price? John sees Batman and gets in his way. The usual price, his guy said. Means Jay was already out of the deal alive and well. This hyperprotective bat would only piss off the ruler if he interfered.

The King quickly deals with his subordinate using a thermos and remains to watch working Hood. Red Hood: What do you want? I’m busy. Danny: You and I have a contract~ Red Hood: All right, all right. Jay throws M&Ms right in the face of the ghost. But king doesn’t look angry. He opens the package and starts sorting the candies by color. Phantom quickly eats up all the green ones and passes the red ones to Hood. Jason takes them without any questions.

Strange. John has never seen a summoned creature share its reward with a human. And the son of a bat looks too comfortable with it. Wait, since when do super-powered beings think that candy is a decent wage?John makes one of the most likely deductions using his experience. Constantine: Batsy, how long has your son been sleeping with the King of Ghosts? Batman: He…what?!

~~~~~~~

Dick *knocking at the door*: Little Wing, you hate ectoplasm and everything what is neon green, so why? He’s dangerous! Jason who turned on the music to not listen to his crazy family: ~He’s poison but tasty~

Dick: NoOOoo

~~~~~~

Jason: And now everyone thinks that I sold my virginity to you for a bargain or something, because interdimensional creatures like you aren’t supposed to help for nothing. Like you’re playing favorites. I’m gonna fucking kill John. Danny: Well, I wouldn’t say no to that. Jason: What? Danny: I mean, to k-kill John, yeah. How dare he.. Jason: Omg, you’re still so terrible liar, Fenton.

Danny: Sorry :(

Jason: No. Say it again.

~~~~Twelve years ago~~~~ Maddie wasn’t thrilled to learn that Danny was trying to make friends with Todd’s son. Their neighbor was terrible. And his son was definitely a street rat and probably a juvenile delinquent. Maddie: Danny, honey, there’s got to be a reason this boy is talking to you. Even kids from the crime alley are always looking for a bargain they can make or a fool they can fool. Danny: But Jason is so cool! He knows so much about books and alleys and.. Maddie: But you don’t want to be a fool, do you? Danny: Okay, Mom, I get it.

So, if Danny wants a cool friend, he’s got to offer a bargain.

He didn’t have a lot of pocket money for every month but Jason needed it more anyway. And his lunch that Jack was picking for him was big enough for two and only bitten on Tuesdays. Nice. Jason: Do I understand correctly? You will pay me and give me food, and I, what? Protect you from bullies? Danny: No! I’m not weak, I don’t need to be protected. Just..maybe we could sit together at lunch and walk each other home sometimes? Jason: Nay Danny: But why? You want something else? Jason: Money’s fine but your homemade food is…strange. Danny: I can bring sweets if you want. Jason: Deal. 3 pop tarts for a joint lunch, a party size bag of M&Ms if you waste my time out of school.

~~~~

Sometimes they share sweets when they hang out but more often Jayson takes them home to save in case his parents have money problems. Sweets have a long shelf life stored and he may not be afraid to poison himself. Over time, candy becomes their currency and a secret language for all occasions. Need help without unnecessary questions? M&Ms. Problems with learning? Skittles. The question is about family? Snickers. There will be a serious conversation? Pop Tarts.

Jason: One snickers and a pack of gum. Danny: Yeah, Jason? What do you want? Jason: My mom wants to meet my friend. Come to lunch on Sunday. Danny: Okay, you managed to pay for my expensive services. Jason:…and you just lost the gum from the deal.

~~~~~~

Jason threw a package at Danny: Three pop tarts. We need to talk. Danny: All right? Jason: Why are you avoiding me all week?! Danny: Well, it’s just..you’re Wayne now. Jason. Still Todd. And what about that? Danny: You can hang out with the cooler guys now, I didn’t want to embarrass you. Jason: Bullshit! I’m still the street rat, and you’re trying to avoid our contract. me. And I don’t even need money from you anymore. What the hell? I thought you are my friend. Danny: And I am!

~~~~~~

Robin: What’s a schoolboy doing in an alley at night? Danny: Um, I…nothing? Don’t tell my parents, Mr. Robin sir. Robin: It will cost you so many Chunky Bars, you have no idea. Danny:...Jason? Jason: N-no. Danny: Damn yes. What are you doing in green shorts on the street at night?! Jason: Cosplay. Danny: Oh yeah? Then I’m just your hallucination. Don’t hesitate to ghost me. I’m going home, Disgrace In Pixie Boots, bye. Jason: fu%&c$#u

#candy crush au #dead on main ship #you have such interesting thoughts #love all these reblogs #memories sometimes have a taste and smell #what about feelings?#not just the first kiss #but other things too #happy dick would say 'fresh popcorn' to every ghost around without knowing #It’s a natural talent #Too bad he doesn’t understand invisible blob ghosts gathering around him #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc #dead on main #dcxdp

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cabinofimagines · 6 years ago

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“Secret Agreement” (Jason Grace x Reader)

A/N: Is ya girl!!!!! I’m done with school work FINALLY which means I get to do my requests :’)) prepare for lots of Jason appreciation cause I’m about to love the hell out of this dude, also I think this one is sort of gender neutral? I don’t think I put a gender to it so, enjoy! -Danny

Request: oh jeez i’m a sucker for best friends to lovers kinda relationships and ?? I was hoping one of y’all could write some Jason and reader fluff set after the war is over ?? (bonus points if the two have been friends since they were like ten lmao)

Words: 1,943

Warnings: Swearing and not proofread cause I suck anyway lmao

He is looking at you again.

That is not exactly a problem, the thing is that Jason makes you nervous, especially when he stares, and you don’t think it’s a good idea to be practicing archery while he has his eyes fixed on you. Your hands are shaking and a little bit sweaty, but you gotta focus, kid! How can you survive an attack if something as simple as a boy makes you this anxious?

Camp Half-Blood was a very interesting place to be at, living your whole life back at New Rome where everyone was kind of strict about the training, you were pleased to see you were better than some greek kids, however, you still had some issues with archery and you thought you could ask Jason to help you out.

He currently is staying at C.H.B, he decided to start his duty right after the war: build a cabin and altar to every god to ever exist in Greek and Roman culture, which of course, was a freaking lot. And you missed him a lot. Jason is your best friend since u were children. You knew you could rely on him if you ever were in need of assistance even if it was something silly like practicing archery.

“Y/N, eyes on the front” Kayla called out.

“Right! Sorry,” you shook your head before squinting your eyes towards the target and taking a deep, calm breath.

You shot the arrow... and barely made it through. It stayed dancing on the edge of the wooden circle, you dropped your arms in defeat.

“Okay,” Kayla sighed, “you know what? We’ve been practicing for two hours and you were doing pretty good, I don’t know what happened at the end but I think it’s alright if we stop now”

“Yeah...” You nodded avoiding Jason’s face, knowing he’d be staring with that annoying little smirk of his, “time for a break”

You walked towards the bench to leave all the equipment and grabbed your water bottle to chug down half of it. Jason stood up and jumped between the seats to get to you.

“So,” Jason crossed his arms, eyeing you up and down, “you’re getting better”

You snorted, “Didn’t you see the last shot? I missed it”

“The rest was fine though! I’m proud of you”

“Thanks, I guess” You turned your face away to hide the blush creeping up your cheeks.

“My pleasure” He hugged you close with one arm and walked alongside you, “Can we go eat now? I’m starving”

“Sure” you smiled softly, finishing what was left of your water.

While both of you walked through the camp people (mostly your friends) stared at you with knowing smirks and wiggling their eyebrows, you tried to ignore them, you had no time to indulge their games.

Ever since you and Jason grew old enough to be called teenagers, there has been this huge anticipation about when are you going to admit you like each other, which is stupid, being best friends doesn’t mean you have feelings for each other!

Except that you do. Oh, you do.

What is there about Jason to hate? He’s kind, funny, smart, handsome and he’s your best friend after all. You could keep the list going but that wouldn’t help your case, to everyone is so obvious. To you? well, at least it is obvious on your side, you have no idea what does Jason think about it.

Every time someone makes a joke about you two acting like a couple he laughs it off and hugs you saying something like “Yeah, sure” and you’re both, grateful and in pain that he doesn’t say anything more specific cause living in doubt is pure agony.

His hand goes up and starts playing with a strand of hair that moments before was laying on your shoulder, he is smiling and looking forward to the road ahead. His eyes look so bright, you always thought it was odd since they were blue, and blue usually is a cold color, but his eyes are far from frozen, you find a home in them when everything around you feels borrowed.

“Y/N?”

Oh shit, he was talking to you, right. You forgot.

“Sorry, what?”

He laughs a short, sweet laugh and your chest feels so, so light.

“I was asking if you remember that one time when you got sick and I kept sneaking up from training so I could give you sweets and the Praetor of that time caught me, so they made me clean the...”

“Oh yeah, I do!” This time it was your time to laugh, remembering that one time the great Jason Grace misbehave, “Gods, I felt even worse after that, you got in troubles because of me”

“It’s alright, that’s in the past anyway” He shrugs, his arm is still around you and maybe, maybe you don’t want him to move away. Ever.

“Whenever you got sick after that I made sure you had the best of the best, so I think it was a fair trade” You added.

“I got lucky to have you then, a fair friend is always the best friend. Words cannot describe how much I love you for that” Jason finally lowered his arm, reaching the entrance of the mess hall.

You stayed in stunned silence for a second, watching as Jason glanced over his shoulder with a questioning look, the small smile still fixed on his face.

“You coming?”

“Uh...” Did he mean he loved you as in love-loved you? Or was it a simple friendly “I love you” like the one you say from time to time to some of your friends? What was he trying to do?! “Yes?”

You were about to reach the tables when your voice rose up, “Jason?”

He stopped, looking over her with open concern, “Y/N?”

And you couldn’t, there were far too many people and way too many years of friendship between you. Suddenly the words were no longer available for your use, and your mind was blank; Was it worth it? Openly ask what did he think about you two as a couple and get your heart broken? No. You were okay as her best friend, it was comfortable, safe.

“D-do, enjoy your meal!” You half smiled, turning hot on your heels without waiting for a reply.

Later that week you kept the routine as monotone as possible, spent time with new friends and old, eating tons and training till your arms were sore, and even although you tried not to think about it, Jason was always at the back of your mind, Jason, Jason, Jason. Jason Grace and his stupid looks and cute smile with a beautiful personality.

He was your best friend, after all, so you couldn’t avoid him forever, not without him asking what was up, and you’d rather not have that conversation.

So now you were playing basketball, throwing the ball like it was made of your toxic thoughts and were trying to desperately get them out of your body, and Jason was just having a good time, of course, he always does, or tries, at least. What a good dude.

“So I told Leo to try with the other drill, and he flips me off and says ‘I know what I’m doing, doofus’ and turns around to keep working and as soon as he touches that thing, it falls apart like Jenga” Jason lets out a breathless laugh.

“Just his luck,” You laughed, taking the ball from his hands and running towards the hoop.

“Yeah,” The boy ran beside you, trying to take the ball from your hands, “and I was about to ask him, like, need any help? But he looked like he was about to burn my pants so...”

“Not the best idea” You finished, stopping short and throwing like your life depended on it... and the ball got stuck, ”shit...”

“Wait, I’ll get it” Jason jumped making use of his flying abilities to reach and shake the hoop, the ball fell and you caught it on the air, keeping it tightly against your chest.

“Got it!” Your friend came down in front of you, startled, you jump and threw the ball at his face, which he managed to avoid, barely, “shit, I’m sorry!”

“It’s ok, you missed my face” He laughed.

“You scared me!” You exclaimed, still nervous.

“I can tell!” Jason reply with an amused voice.

“You love me?” You asked in a very high pitched, panicky cry.

“What?”

“What?” You repeated.

Oh fuck, oh no. You said it. WHY?

“Why are you asking me that?” Jason tilted his head in that adorable manner he always does.

“The other day, you -uhm, I don’t know, you said something like it”

“Oh yeah! I remember” His face lit up, finally knowing what were you talking about, “yeah I said that”

He nodded with a childish smile, you stayed there with wide eyes, waiting for an explanation that never made its way to you.

“And?!” You urged him.

“And what?”

“What does that even mean?!” You huffed, on the verge of losing it, “is it... is it like, platonic?”

“Platonic?” Jason snorted, “Yeah, of course, Y/N. I’m in love with you platonically”

“YOU’RE WHAT?” That’s it, you’re hallucinating; probably fainted in the middle of playing and now you’re dreaming.

“I’m- wait, did you really not know?” For the first time, he looked as surprised as you, “Y/N!”

“What?” You asked again, completely confused.

“Oh gods, I’m stupid” Jason groaned, passing a hand through his hair and messing it up more than it already was, “you don’t like me that way, I understand, I-”

“No, I do” You interrupted, “believe me I do, but you never said anything! At all! and what about when everyone makes those dumb jokes about us dating, you never said a thing?”

“Because I thought you knew it!” He said, “and what about you, why didn’t you say anything? You laughed it off and acted like it was nothing, I thought it was like a silent agreement about not saying anything until we were ready?”

“How could I know that?” You huffed in disbelief, “Or you for that matter, is my face just that expressive to you?”

“No, but we’ve been friends for years, I thought this whole... whatever it is, it was meant to be, and that both of us were okay with that” The blush on his cheeks increased with every word, “well this is awkward”

“Yeah, a bit” you avoid his gaze, knowing how red you were too, though you kept the talk going, feeling a different vibe between you, a bit more nervous than usual but much more intimate than before.

It all happened in a split second, you and Jason shared one look and were both goners.

The moment you moved forward Jason did too, it only took a glance to know Jason was right, you could tell that he was thinking the same, you knew exactly what he was thinking, you always knew.

“Can I...?” He hesitated, staring at you with soft eyes.

As a reply, you kissed him. Gods, was it a great kiss. The type where hands go their way up to heads and waists and cling into what they can find, your breath gets stuck somewhere in your chest and you lose track of time, all you can feel is Jason and the kiss, how good it feels against your body.

“You’re right” you mumbled against his lips, “it’s right. This feels right.”

“It’s meant to be” He chuckles before kissing you once more.

-Danny :) (Hope you liked it)

#Danny's writing #Jason Grace x Reader #pjo imagine #pjo writing #jason grace

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mrsrcbinscn · 4 years ago

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Franny’s 30 Day Cover Challenge

Playlist

Franny’s 30 Day Cover Song Challenge: (categories are mostly from here, and here, with some from here, and a couple I made) in September 2020 one of her musician friends challenged her to do the thing and she was like “It seems like a fun way to show everyone what kind of music has influenced me as a musician, singer, songwriter, and just like, person. So I’m going to do it.”

In reality, she recorded most of them in 1-2 days to distract her from how sad she is because Wilbur hates her and he’s sad lmao

It helped a little.

(If you want me to drop the playlist she mentions in #24 let me know, I have it started I can finish it)

TW: mentions of Franny’s political beliefs so tw: politics, an allusion to suicide though the word isn’t directly used, mention of 9/11 and the subsequent invasions...nothing graphic with any of these triggers but worth a forewarning

Day 01 - A song that makes you happy

Honey Spiders by The Parlotones

“The Parlotones are this fantastic indie rock band out of South Africa. And I actually thought about doing their song, uh, Stars Fall Down for day sixteen, but I’m going with Honey Spiders for day 1. There were lots of Parlotones songs, I mean. Push Me to The Floor, We Call This Dancing, Should We Fight Back...but ah, Honey Spiders always puts me in a good mood.”

Day 02 - A song that helps you clear your head

Light of a Clear Blue Morning by Dolly Parton

“I grew up on Dolly, and it’s funny because for the longest time this song wasn’t really on my radar as much as it is now. But when I was twenty-two I was going through something really difficult, and my then-fiance now husband was abroad for work, so I was alone in our apartment and just. Really, profoundly sad and lonely. So I put on a Dolly Parton record and just laid on the bed and Light Of A Clear Blue Morning played and I had a good long cry and felt so much better after that. When I need to think about how to solve a difficult problem, or I feel overwhelmed, I just listen to that song.”

Day 03 - Song you love from a band/artist you hate

Should’ve Been A Cowboy by Toby Keith

“Honestly, he’s called me a nasty lady to my face and I’ve called him a facist enabling pig to his, so I have no qualms openly saying I hate Toby Keith. That being said, Should’ve Been A Cowboy is one of the best country songs of the 90s, undeniably. I loved that song when it came out when I was thirteen, and I still love it.”

Day 04 - A song about drugs or alcohol

Whiskey Lullaby by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss

“This is probably cheating, because my lovely best friend Daniel and I cover this a lot at Dara & Danny shows. But today look who I have! My friend Max from Seoul Hanoi’d! Max the Korean Scot who can’t hide his accent to save his life, so let’s see how it sounds in a Scottish accent.”

Day 05 - A protest song

Talking Vietnam Blues by Phil Ochs /// and Here’s to The State of Mississippi by Phil Ochs

“This one was hard because I. Fucking. Love. Protest music. I could have done a whole 30 days of protest music - wow, let me know if I should do that and give my husband a heart attack with all the twitter threats I’ll invite. Huh. Right, so I was going to do Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven by John Prine. But I decided to do two Phil Ochs songs because I don’t think Phil Ochs is talked about enough. It’s a shame we lost him so young. Ochs’ sardonic humor and honesty in his writing has influenced me as a songwriter deeply. When I write political songs, I don’t hold back, and it’s because of Phil Ochs’ writing that I have that courage. I’ve been singing Love Me, I’m A Liberal since I was in college with constantly updating lyrics. It was so hard to even choose which songs of his to do because for his fairly short career his songbook is lengthy and full of gems. I’m Going to Say It Now, Draft Dodger Rag, Spanish Civil War Song, I Ain’t Marching Anymore...I couldn’t pick one so I’m cheating and recording two.”

Day 06 - A song you wish you wrote

When I Think About Cheatin’ by Gretchen Wilson

“I will forever be pissed off that I didn’t write this song. I’m absolute trash for my husband, so it’s never -- I’ve never had to be in a situation to ever consider -- but this song gets me every time. It feels like I could have written it. Because we do spend a lot of time apart travelling for our work. And the sentiment expressed in the song is a little too real.”

Day 07 - A song in a language you don’t speak

Khattar by Khine Htoo

“This will either be a charming attempt to sing in Burmese or I’m about to offend a lot of people. Which, being a politically outspoken woman on the internet, I’m used to anyway. So. 1, 2, 3, okay here goes.”

Day 08 - A song by an artist no longer living

Phop Samnang by Sinn Sisamouth (inspiration)

“Haha, you thought I’d see the name of this category and not do a Sinn Sisamouth song? You were wrong.”

Day 09 - A song you want to dance to at your wedding

Devoted To You by The Everly Brothers

“I’m already married, so this was actually our first dance song at our wedding. Day three of our wedding, like the more Westernized wedding ceremony day. We had a three day long traditional Cambodian wedding and I felt like a princess. An-y-way!”

Day 10 - A song that makes you cry

Borrowed Rooms and Old Wood Floor by Emily Scott Robinson

“Unfortunately, Emily Scott Robinson and I aren’t related. Sad, I know, because she’s so talented. Almost her entire album Traveling Mercies is...sad as hell. The record reminded me of early Dolly Parton, and my second solo album. You know, all those sad-ass songs. The Dress is honestly the song that makes me the saddest but I can’t even listen to it without crying so.”

Day 11 - A song that you love hearing live

Prove My Love by Violent Femmes

“There is nobody I have seen in concert more than Dolly Parton, but Violent Femmes and George Strait come incredibly close. The Cranberries, the amount of times I saw them in the 90s and early 2000s...close fourth. Probably. The very first concert I dragged my husband to was a Violent Femmes concert, he was not prepared for how hard college me went.”

Day 12 - A song from before 1960

There Ain’t No Sweet Man That’s Worth The Salt of My Tears by Libby Holman

“This song is from 1928. I came across it when I was in grad school and it’s, as the kids say, a bop.”

Day 13 - A song you think everybody should listen to

White Man’s World by Jason Isbell

“I think perspectives of people of color should of course take precedence in these conversations. But I find this song to be a good faith attempt of a white man coming to terms with the institutional racism and sexism in the world around him. And I think this song can be a useful tool to explain certain concepts of racial justice to ignorant but well-meaning folks. As a woman of color I think Jason Isbell did a great job not centering himself even though it was from his perspective. This song is great musically and necessary socially.”

Day 14 - A song from the 1970s

You’re No Good by Linda Ronstadt

“Linda Ronstadt is grossly underrated, that’s all I have to say here.”

Day 15 - A song people wouldn’t expect you to like

Racists by Anti-flag

“I mean, I’ve talked about how much I like punk in the past, and I remember a video of Seoul Hanoi’d doing Spanish Bombs at a San Antonio show made the rounds, but I don’t think I’ve talked about how much I like Anti-flag. People don’t expect me to like punk for some reason. But I agree with...everything punk music is all about.”

Day 16 - A song that holds a lot of meaning to you

Blue by LeAnn Rimes

“It’s silly, but I won a county fair singing competition with this song in high school and it really fueled my passion for music, that win. It’s also the first song Cornelius heard me go full Georgia on, with the yodels and all, at the little bar in my hometown on his first trip meeting my parents. The song doesn’t cut to my very soul ot anythin’, but it’s special to me.”

Day 17 - A song attached to a memory

Supernova by Liz Phair

“I remember buying Liz Phair’s Whip-smart album when I was eleven. And in college, when I was getting ready for dates with Cornelius in my dorm room, I would dance around to a CD I burned and wrote on it with a sharpie, ‘Pre-date Movie Scene Music.’ God, what was even on there? I’m about to expose myself as the most basic 1999-2001 bitch. I remember Head Over Feet, I mean, Alanis Morisette? I was a young woman in 2000, obviously I loved her. Mm, Dreams by The Cranberries...oh, Kiss Me, Sixpence None The Richer...yeah, anyway, Supernova was on there.”

Day 18 - A song from the year you were born

Call Me by Blondie

“...I can’t believe Call Me is as old as I am.”

Day 19 - A song that reminds you of someone you miss

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (yes, of course she does a cover with banjo)

“This was my late best friend Molly’s favorite hymn. And I sang it at her funeral at her husband’s request. Molly and I grew up together in the small town of Payne Lake, Georgia and Molly was the most devout Christian...but she was also the first person I came out to as bisexual when I was a teenager, and she said that Jesus taught her that love was the greatest commandment and that meant I was automatically twice as good at it as her. Her faith guided her every action but she never talked down on her two best friends - Dan(iel Maitland) and I for not sharing it. Molly was doing the whole emulate Jesus thing beautifully. I miss her every day and it’s been seven years. If you ever think that people won’t miss you...you’re wrong. All right, let’s see if I can get through this without crying.”

Day 20 - A song by an artist you discovered this year

Hello, Anxiety by Phum Viphurit

“I just discovered this quirky Thai-Kiwi singer and not to be dramatic, but he’s my favorite thing in the world right now.”

Day 21 - A song with a city or country in the title

Oh! Phnom Penh (track 20)

“This song was written after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, and after people began to make their way to what was left of their homes, alone, or with what was left of their families. If you want to learn more about what that was like to actually live it, my cousin Reena Boran has a video interviewing her parents and paternal grandfather and uncle about it. Reena is a journalism student currently studying in London but she lives in Cambodia. Her mother is my aunt Malisruot, my mother’s youngest sister. The video is English subtitled on her channel, I’ll link it in the description box below.”

Day 22 - A song from the 1960s

To Sir, With Love by Lulu

“I didn’t actually discover this song until I heard it covered at a 10,000 Maniacs concert in the 90s. My friend Allison was standing next to me and I just started crying and she’s like ‘are you okay?’ and all I just blubbered out ‘My dad!’ For the uninitiated, my dad married my mom, who’d raised me alone until then, when I was six and he adopted me when I was eight. My dad didn’t have to adopt me, he didn’t have to call me his daughter, he could have just been like half of my friends’ stepdads and give me a place to live and nothing else. But my dad was my biggest supporter from day one. He convinced my mom to let me join the dance team and show choir instead of science club, he was the one that talked my mom down from probably killing me when they found out I was only studying music and not music and political science at NYU. I am who I am today because he is my dad. And this song just says everything I’ve always thought about him.”

Day 23 - A song from your childhood

Una Lacrima Sul Viso by Bobby Solo

“But Franny, aren’t you a Cambodian raised in the US? Yes, but you were fooled. My very white father is also an immigrant. He is from Switzerland and while he didn’t teach me to speak Italian and German growing up, he played German, Italian, and French records all the time. My parents often spoke to each other in French and I picked up some French but properly studied it starting in high school, and I didn’t study Italian until college -- and my German is still …. [points to a spot on the screen where she later inserted a card linking to a video on her cousin Köbi Framagucci’s YouTube channel titled ‘Can My American Cousin Speak German?’ where he tests her Standard and Swiss German speaking and comprehension]. But hell if I couldn’t sing every one of the songs from my father’s French, German, and Italian record before I knew what the words even meant.”

Day 24 - A song that gives you chill vibes

Glorify by Ivan & Alyosha

“Dan(iel Maitland) and I actually have an entire playlist on my Spotify accounts of songs to listen to to get us out of writers’ block. And one that I often will put on repeat and just absorb through my headphones with my eyes closed is a song called Glorify by Ivan & Alyosha. I think it touches on a lot of the themes I include in my songwriting. Christian mythology, the darker side of humanity, it often reminds me of what I love about songwriting. If you say please I might drop a link to that playlist.”

Day 25 - A song that’s your signature song

Long Gone Lonesome Blues by Hank Williams“Right, so I chose this instead of a Kitty Wells song or I Get A Kick Out of You (her being

featured on a 2005

recording propelled her career majorly) because if you’re familiar with me you might have seen a video that went around in like….2017? 2016? of Dan(iel Maitland) and I doin’ the song at our hometown bar in 2014. I posted it in response to some tweets because hoes mad when a WOC calls out racism and sexism in the Nashville music industry. ‘Bet she don’t even know Hank’, really? You think I wouldn’t know the history of one of the two music industries I work in? Please. Anyway, she knows Hank and nails the incredibly technical yodel -- the

most difficult

one in Hank’s songbook - in Long Gone Lonesome Blues. Mm...Lovesick Blues though, that also strikes fear into my heart. Anyway stay mad I guess?”

Day 26 - A song by your favorite band

Gun Shy by 10,000 Maniacs

“10,000 Maniacs was one of my favorite bands when I was in like 5th grade through 10th. I listened to them for a little while after Natalie Merchant left for a solo career, but the Natalie Merchant era was really what resonated with me the most. Gun Shy was a bit too advanced for my little 5th, 7th grade ears to really appreciate when I first discovered the album In My Tribe. Merchant’s voice -- because like, I don’t have a very conventional voice either, so her and Dolores O’Riordan really changed my entire perspective on what a woman’s voice can sound like in rock music. Um, yeah, so her voice more than the lyrics just wowed me. And as I got closer to graduating high school and especially in college I actually understood what What’s The Matter Here, Hey Jack Kerouac, and Gun Shy were talking about. Gun Shy...really became a significant song to me because...being born in 1980 I grew up in a relatively peaceful time. The Cold War was all but thawed by my tenth birthday. But I was getting ready to leave my then-boyfriend-now-husband’s apartment for class at NYU on the morning of 9/11. We stood in line for hours to donate blood. And then my government invaded two completely unrelated countries and jingoism and terrifying, fervent nationalism, and xenophobia just smacked me in the face. And friends of mine from high school were convicted to drop out of college and join the Army, and died, for an unjust, imperialist war, and suddenly Phil Ochs, John Prine, and Bob Dylan lyrics hit a lot different, and I understood what Gun Shy was really about.”

Day 27 - A song you hate by an artist you love

Mrs.Robinson by Simon & Garfunkel

“Paul Simon is one of my favorite songwriters ever, um, and I actually used to like Mrs. Robinson….until I got married and everyone sang it at me. It’s kind of my fault, I did choose to take my husband’s last name. And I leaned into it by making my social media handles all Mrs. Robinson...but still. Only play the song around me if you want to die.”

Day 28 - A song that a younger you would have loved

Mean by Taylor Swift

“I’m so genuinely glad that I am older than Taylor Swift. Middle school Franny did not need Taylor Swift to enable me and fuel my ego. Some of her singles, while not really 35 and 40 year old Franny’s cup of tea, young me would have played until my mother hid the record or cassette from me. Although - fuck if Tim McGraw didn’t immediately give my happily married ass flashbacks to my first love and make me bawl like a baby? Right, so when Speak Now came out and I listened to it, Mean, while not a song that adult me has listened to maybe more like ten times, I immediately thought ‘wow, I needed this song when I was in middle and high school.’ I could literally picture 7th grade me with my little guitar and my little cowboy boots my dad bought for me singing this at the talent show making eye contact with the kids who bullied me as if it was some kind of own when it’s not. I could still, almost thirty years later, name them if I really wanted. So, for 7th grade me, Mean by Taylor Swift.”

Day 29- A song that reminds you of your partner/spouse

ផាត់ជាយបណ្តូលចិត្ / Phat Cheay Bon'dol Chet by Sinn Sisamuth (translation) (female singer covering it) (modern, studio recording of a male and female singer dueting it) (a cool violin cover) (another female singer) (cool guitar cover)

Feat. some members of Seoul Hanoi’d. Andy Chaiyaporn (violin), Max Cho (piano), Jodie Batbayar (cello), Aisulu Niyazova-Li (percussion) and Franny has her guitar

“The song, lyrically, only reminds me of my husband a little bit. But Phat Cheay Bondol Chet has several memories with my husband attached to it. The first time he heard me sing in Khmer was at my mother’s house in Atlanta when I had him visit the first time to meet my parents. My mom had a little dinner party at our house to show him off, like Asian moms do when they think their daughter snags a good one, and I was hand washing the dishes while my mom and the other Cambodian parents were listening to Sinn Sisamuth records. I’ve always loved the song I’ll be showing y’all today, like I’ve always just stopped what I was doing and -- so it came on and I just started singing along without really being aware of it. And then at a different diaspora get together that summer, that song came on and I just kinda. Pulled him aside to the side yard of that person’s house to look at the stars with him and translated the song. It’s one of the Khmer songs he instantly recognizes now, so it’s special.”

Franny did NOT say in the video that college her 100% had him sit in the grass with her outside that person’s house, where nobody could see, so she could makeout with him

Day 30- A song by one of your favorite songwriters

Reincarnation by Roger Miller

Feat. Seoul Hanoi’d, done more in the style of the Cake cover

Also instead of singing the lyric “you’re a girl, I’m a boy” she goes “you’re a girl, so am I” because she doesn’t ever change pronouns, she just makes it gay because she is a bi-con

“Roger Miller, to me, is as important as Dolly Parton, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, in the American songbook. He’s not as talked about which is a shame because his discography is iconic. Getting to be a part of King of The Road was one of the highlights of my career.”

#&&...hc

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lupejasso · 7 years ago

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I’m about to rant about a Soap.

Let me just start by saying that I am a long time Jasam shipper. From the very beginning. I’ve always been a kelly fan and in turn, a Sam supporter.

But here’s the thing, even though I was a fan of the pairing that doesn’t mean I was blind to the favoritism that Jason always got. He was always the golden boy. Even after he lost his memory and turned into a mob hit man. Not that I’m knocking his lifestyle. I accepted Jason the way he was. Baggage and all. But you have to admit that he got away with everything.

Everything is about him though. When he got together with Sam the first time, her life revolved around him. Which made sense at the time because it was the first time Sam truly experienced being in love and having it be returned to her. She was the Bonnie to his Clyde because she was always supporting him. She let him be who he was. I don’t think he stopped her from being herself but she definitely wasn’t his first priority. That will always be Sonny, Carly and their family. Again, not knocking it, it’s just the truth.

When they got back together I was happy they addressed how codependent their relationship had been. It was nice to see that Sam could stand alone but chose to be with Jason and Vice versa. It seemed to be going great. But then Sam got pregnant. And instead of this being a storyline about sam dealing with her trauma and being a new mom it turned into how it all affected Jason.

He couldn’t handle what was happening and it was all about his hate for Franco and how he just couldn’t be there for his pregnant wife. Then Jason had to be the hero before he left the canvas. So he found Danny and FINALLY accepted the baby and Sam. Then he got shot and disappeared.

Enter Drew, who we all thought was Jason. I thought that I was going to hate the twin storyline from the beginning. But I had to admit that I actually kinda loved it. It hit so many emotional beats right. What made it worth it was that there was no clear good or bad choice. They were all victims in this scheme and had to somehow navigate trying to put the pieces back together and move on somehow.

It all started out with everyone on equal footing. But lately it has turned into the Jason show once again. Drew is nothing to others. So many have renounced him. He is suddenly this terrible person who Sam will have a terrible life with. Which is funny, cuz I remember everyone being a fan when he was being a great friend to them for those couple of years. But now that he’s an obstacle to Jason’s happiness they don’t need to concern themselves with keeping up appearances. Instead they just make assumptions about him and his life with Sam.

Suddenly Sam is back to being a supporting character. She should not only be an equal participant in this storyline, she should be front and center. Instead, it’s all about Jason. How she’s hurting him by sticking with drew. How much of a martyr he is. How drew is hurting him by being so selfish to want to stay with the woman and family he loves. Sam can’t possibly actually like this guy that much even though she says she does. Right? I mean that’s what everyone keeps telling Jason. We don’t actually get to see this from Sams perspective because the show is too busy having every other character speak for her.

Everyone who once called drew a friend is letting Jason know how Sam and Drew truly feel. It’s interesting that they have so much insight considering none have actually made any real attempts to talk to either of them. Sure they talk at them but actually try to listen? Nah.

I get it from Sonny and Carly. They’re always gonna be team Jason. I get it. It makes sense. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

But Spinelli? I get how much he loved both Jason and Sam and the relationship they once had. He wants them to be happy and in his opinion that means they have to be together. Which may even be true. But the way he judged Drew?? Wow. That really bothered me. You claimed to love this guy and pledged your loyalty to him for the person he was. Even when he didn’t remember anything, even if those memories weren’t his. He is basing so much of off one night in a police station after a very instense situation. Yes, Drew did want to cling to Sam. Guess what? He had just lost everything and everyone. And while you were all celebrating having Jason back, Drew was wondering wtf he had left.

Look, I’m not saying Sam shouldn’t go be with Jason, even if I am team Drew. He’s not perfect. He’s got tons to try to figure out. It’s just the way it’s playing out that’s bothering me. The tone has totally changed and now they’re painting sam being with drew as some dreadful situation that she’s stuck in. Just because Drew has been vocal about wanting to be with Sam doesn’t make him terrible. Just honest. If Sam asked him to, he would step away in a heart beat. Hell, he’s already offered.

But Sam is adamant with him that he’s who she wants to be with. I for one would love to believe her. Not because I am team drew, but because I am team Sam. I want her to have enough confidence in herself to know what she wants and go for it. Just because Jason will never change doesn’t mean that the events of the last five or six years haven’t changed Sam. It’s not about being safe or loyal in my opinion, it’s about being 1st. That may change down the line when Drew learns more about his past but as of right now, that’s the difference between he and Jason. Would it really be such a terrible thing for Sam to like that? To come first?

But instead of playing this beat we are getting a rushed wedding that seems like an afterthought. To top it off it’s intertwined with Jason and how much he’s the right one and Drew isn’t. The show is so heavy handed with who it clearly wants you to root for and who to root against that it’s becoming less enjoyable to watch. That’s the saddest part.

Anyway. I think I’m done ranting for now. I clearly have too much free time on my hands.

#gh #general hospital #jasam #dream #dreamgh #billy miller #andrew cain #drew cain #sam morgan #sam mccall #sam cain #jason morgan #steve burton #kelly monaco #tv #rant #soap opera #soap

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gadgetgirl71 · 4 years ago

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Top Ten Tuesday 23 February 2021

Welcome to this weeks Top Ten Tuesday. Originally created by The Broke & The Bookish, which is now hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week it features a book or literary themed category. This weeks prompt is:

Books That Made Me Laugh Out Loud

(Claire @ Book Lovers Pizza)

Rachel’s Holiday

Synopsis: Here’s Rachel Walsh, twenty-seven and the miserable owner of size 8 feet. She has regular congress with Luke Costello, a man who wears his leather trousers tight. And she’s fond – some might say too fond – of recreational drugs. Until she finds herself being frogmarched to the Cloisters – Dublin’s answer to the Betty Ford Clinic. She’s outraged. Surely she’s not thin enough to be an addict? Heartsick and Luke-sick, she seeks redemption in the shape of Chris, a Man with a Past. A man who might be more trouble than he’s worth.

Can You Keep a Secret?

Synopsis: Emma is like every girl in the world. She has a few little secrets.

Secrets from her mother: 1. I lost my virginity in the spare bedroom to Danny Nussbaum while Mum and Dad were downstairs watching Ben Hur.

…From her boyfriend: 2. I’m a size twelve. Not a size eight, like Connor thinks. 3. I’ve always thought Connor looks a bit like Ken. As in Barbie and Ken.

…From her colleagues: 4. When Artemis really annoys me, I feed her plant orange juice. (Which is pretty much every day) 5. It was me who jammed the copier that time. In fact, all the times.

…Secrets she wouldn’t share with anyone in the world: 6. My G string is hurting me. 7. I faked my Maths GCSE grade on my CV. 8. I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is…

…until she spills them all to a stranger on a plane. At least, she thought he was a stranger…

Get You Kit Off

Synopsis: Formerly Sex, Lies & Llamas From the author of the Number 1 bestseller – No Bra Required & Guess Who I Pulled Last Night? I’ve read Nikki’s previous books and loved them so I was expecting great things from her again. Guess what? She’s delivered!! The combination of humour, thrills and classic girl might- or might not-get her man is a real winner. If chick-lit is your thing Nikki is the author you need to read. Just brilliant!! – Amazon Reviewer WOW!! I loved this book. I have to be honest and say I put off reading it after I’d bought it, I loved the other 2 books by this author but football is not my thing and I thought the football theme running through it may have spoilt it for me … how wrong was I !! I can’t recommend this book or this author highly enough, I couldn’t put my Kindle down – can’t wait for more stuff from Nikki Ashton!!! – Amazon Reviewer Molly Pearson doesn’t have children, but as the Player Liaison Manager for a premiership football club, she does have twenty-two professional footballers and one jealous fiance to take care of – which as far as she can see is quite similar. With having to deal with problems from players buying zoo animals as pets, to losing their false teeth and a whole lot more, Molly can’t wait for the season to end. But, her life becomes even more complicated, when the man who broke her heart six years earlier, comes back into her life. Hail the returning hero, Joe Bennett, now one of the best footballers in the world and the club’s most expensive signing. Every woman wants him, every man wants to be him, and he’s returned for one reason only – he wants Molly back. With engaging characters, Sex, Lies & Llamas, is a humorous, yet sometimes sad romance depicting the difficulty in always doing the right thing, especially when love is involved.

Someone Else’s Fairytale

Synopsis: Jason Vanderholt, Hollywood’s hottest actor, falls head over heels for every girl, Chloe Winters, who hasn’t gotten around to watching most of his movies. It’s the ideal fairytale… for most people. The last thing Chloe needs is public attention. It brings back dangers from the past that she’s worked her whole life to escape.

The Single Girl’s To-Do List

Synopsis: Rachel Summers loves a to-do list: • Boyfriend • Flat • Great job

NOT on the list: • Being dumped

Best friends Emelie and Matthew ride to her rescue with an entirely new kind of list – The Single Girl’s To-Do List. Rachel doesn’t know it, but it will take her on all kinds of wild adventures – and get her in some romantic pickles too. And then it won’t be a case of what but who she decides to tick off…

• Mr. bendy yoga instructor • Mr. teenage sweetheart • Mr. persistent ex • Mr. deeply unsuitable

The Single Girl’s To-Do List gives Rachel the perfect heartbreak cure – and proves love is out there if you’re willing to take a chance.

Wedding Tiers

Synopsis: The path of true love never runs smooth. But for some, it’s one seriously bumpy ride! A heartwarming new romantic comedy from the bestselling author of A WINTER’S TALE. Growing up in the beautiful Lancashire village of Neatslake, Josie Gray and her childhood sweetheart, Ben Richards, always dreamt of living a life of rural bliss. And when Josie inherits her beloved Grandmother’s cottage, it seems they might just have got what they wished for. Josie throws herself into her wedding cake business, whilst Ben gains increasing acclaim as an artist. But the tranquil village turns into a hive of activity when Josie’s childhood friend, Libby Martin – now a wealthy widow – returns to the village, planning a lavish wedding to rival any celeb bash. The day goes with a bang, and soon Libby and Josie are hard at work at their fledgling wedding business, hiring out Libby’s beautiful Elizabethan home for ceremonies, with Josie creating all manner of wonderful cakes. But amidst all this romance, Josie’s fairytale relationship with Ben turns into a nightmare, and she quickly becomes Love’s number one cynic – until charming wedding photographer Noah Sephton arrives in Neatslake with a very different outlook on love! Can this hopeless romantic persuade pessimistic Josie to give romance another try? Or will it be a case of always the cake maker, never the bride!? A charming, witty and feelgood novel, ideal for fans of Katie Fforde and Harriet Evans.

The Bette Davis Club

Synopsis: The morning of her niece’s wedding, Margo Just drinks a double martini and contemplates the many mistakes she’s made in her fifty-odd years of life. Spending three decades in love with a wonderful but unattainable man is pretty high up on her list of missteps, as is a long line of unsuccessful love affairs accompanied by a seemingly endless supply of delicious cocktails.

When the young bride flees—taking with her a family heirloom and leaving behind six hundred bewildered guests—her mother offers Margo fifty grand to retrieve her spoiled brat of a daughter and the invaluable property she stole. So, together with the bride’s jilted and justifiably crabby fiancé, Margo sets out in a borrowed 1955 red MG on a cross-country chase. Along the way, none of what she discovers will be quite what she expected. But it might be exactly what she’s been seeking all along.

From acclaimed humor writer Jane Lotter comes this madcap, laugh-out-loud adventure, The Bette Davis Club.

Revised edition: This edition of The Bette Davis Club includes editorial revisions.

13 Dates

Synopsis: When Noah Wilson first encounters the quirky, opinionated and very beautiful Angel Fallon, his world is turned upside down. It’s clear she’s not his normal type, but Noah can’t stop thinking about her—which doesn’t bode well for the blind date he’s already late for.

Convinced by his friend (and self-professed dating expert) Marlon that thirteen dates is all you need to fall in love, Noah decides to give it a try with Angel. They should be incompatible: she’s impulsive and he’s a planner; he wants to settle down and she doesn’t ‘do’ relationships—or anything, for that matter—the way Noah is used to. But there’s something about Angel, and Noah can’t shake the idea that all they need is twelve more dates.

Despite some near-disasters involving rock climbing, saddle sores and jellied eels, it seems his plan may actually work. But even if they do reach the magic number, can that really mean they’ll just fall into their happily-ever-after?

The Shelf

Synopsis: Everyone in Amy’s life seems to be getting married (or so Instagram tells her), and she feels like she’s falling behind.

So, when her boyfriend surprises her with a dream holiday to a mystery destination, she thinks this is it – he’s going to finally pop the Big Question. But the dream turns into a nightmare when she finds herself on the set of a Big Brother-style reality television show, The Shelf.

Along with five other women, Amy is dumped live on TV and must compete in a series of humiliating and obnoxious tasks in the hope of being crowned ‘The Keeper’. Will Amy’s time on the show make her realise there are worse things in life than being left on the shelf?

A funny, feminist and all-too-relatable novel about our obsession with coupling up, settling down and the battle we all have with accepting ourselves, The Shelf introduces the freshest new voice in women’s fiction.

The Wish List

Synopsis: Be careful what you wish for… Florence Fairfax isn’t lonely. She loves her job at the little bookshop in Chelsea and her cat, Marmalade, keeps her company at night. But everything changes when her stepsister, Mia, announces that she’s engaged to her boring golf-playing boyfriend. That’s when Florence meets Irish love coach, Gwendolyn. …because you just might get it! When Gwendolyn makes Florence write a wish list describing her perfect man, Florence refuses to take it seriously. Finding someone who likes cats, doesn’t wear pointy shoes and can overlook her ‘counting habit’? Impossible! Until, later that week, a handsome blond man asks for help in the bookshop… But is Rory the one, or is he simply too good to be true? Florence is about to find out that her criteria for finding Mr Right aren’t as important as she thought – and that perhaps her perfect man has been right there all along…

Until next week.

#JustForFun, #Top Ten Tuesday, #TopTenTuesday, #TTT

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valiantvigilant · 7 years ago

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Compromised (Dick Grayson x Reader)

Request: Dick and the Reader have to go undercover as a married couple. While undercover someone decides to flirt and get a bit too handsy with the Reader causing Dick to get jealous and possessive Thank you very much for the request! I hope you enjoy it! (To be honeest, this imagine ended a different way than I originally planned (the note at the bottom explains), but I hope you like it anyway!) _____

You had just finished slipping on your shoes and finishing up your makeup when you looked at yourself in your mirror. You were dressed in a sleek black dress that hugged your body just right and black, knee high, healed boots to match. You took a deep breath, remembering Bruce’s words as he briefed you and Dick on tonight’s mission. “There is a large party going on in downtown Gotham tonight. Rumor has it, Black Mask will be there discussing the drug trade with a possible new partner. You two must go undercover as a married couple and try to find out who this new partner is.” Bruce said. You nodded, eyes locked on the computer. You tried to focus on your objective, but you found yourself getting excited, butterflies filing your stomach. You were going on an undercover with Dick Grayson. The love of your life, and best friend all wrapped up into one. As you walked down the stairs to th main foyer, Dick looked at you and felt his heart leap into his throat. You…you were so beautiful…he was head-over-heals for you! You were in a six year long relationship with Dick so far. The fact that you two were going on an undercover married couple made his stomach do flips. The topic of marriage had been floating around in his mind a lot lately, and now this mission was here. It was almost like Fate was condemning him to pop the question…his emotions were all churned up at the thought of this. “You are so fucking beautiful…” he murmured, looking at you up and down as the two of you linked arms. You smiled and let out a hearty laugh that sent shivers down his spine. God, he was whipped. “You don’t look too bad yourself,” you replied with a wink, walking out the front door, the car waiting for the two of you. He felt heat rise to his cheeks and he turned away so you couldn’t see. (You did in fact, see his face turn red.) You let out a quiet laugh as you two entered the car and drove off to your destination. - Downtown Gotham is certainly an….interesting place to be. You and the rest of the Batfamily often found yourselves there while on patrol. Now you guys were going in deep into it’s roots. You and Dick had gotten dropped off several streets away and walked there, arms linked. You both had comms in your ears and Alfred had eyes on the two of you from the Batcave in case something went wrong. The two of you walked into the party and were greeted with many important looking people. “Senators, Democratic and Republican reps for the Assembly, owners of big business, man this place is crawling with dollar signs hanging over their heads.“ You comment. “Although it doesn’t surprise me that one of these guys could be dealing with Black Mask.“ “Stay sharp, (Y/N). I’m going to scout around the place,” Dick murmured, squeezing your hand. You nod in reply. “See you soon dearest husband.” You say with a wink, then part ways with your lover. Dick felt heat rise to his cheeks again and crawl up his neck. He could almost hear your snicker as the two of you went your own paths. You always knew how to make him blush, which was surprising to many people. He was Dick Grayson. Nightwing. Level-headed, calm, and collected. However, you were the one thing that could make that all come crumbling down with just a glance. You made him weak at the knees, your vibrant aura was just so captivating… “You have quite the wife Master Dick,” Alfred said over the comm, keeping your ear piece out of the conversation. “She isn’t my wife!” He whispered. Not yet anyway… You had made your way across the room, shades still perched on your face. You were offered a glass of champagne by a waitress, which you politely declined and got a glass of water instead. You leaned against the wall of the place, sipping your water as you looked around for anything suspicious. You couldn’t see Dick from where you were standing, the crowd of guests blocking your view. You were about to ask him where he was through the comm when you felt someone stand next to you. “What’s a lovely looking lady such as yourself doing all alone here,” a deep voice asked. You turned and saw a man with loose brown hair and honey brown eyes to compliment it. He had a thick Spanish accent when he spoke to you and the going in his eyes indicated he was up to no good. “I’m just taking a step back from the party, I’m not a teenager anymore so partying can take it’s toll nowadays,” you respond casually. “A beautiful woman such as yourself shouldn’t be spending such a lovely evening by yourself,” he said, winking at you. Before you can even reply to that, he is already talking again. “Danilo Carrera. Most call me Danny.” “Pleasure to meet you.” “Oh believe me, the pleasure is all mine.” His eyes wandered up your figure and you restrained yourself from rolling your eyes. “What brings you here tonight?” “I’m just a girl, going out to a party to have a nice time. What about you?” You really did not want to make conversation with this ‘Danny’ character. However, he might lead you to something, so it’s worth a shot, you supposed. “I’m here doing business for a friend of mine,” he stated. You raised your eyebrows, and suddenly, Danny Carrera became interesting. “Oh? What kind of business?” You ask, voice becoming low and soft as you leaned a bit closer to him. “My friend and I own a business together. I’m here doing some business for our company. He had some other things to tend to, so I am here on behalf of the two of us.“ “What’s the name of your business? I have a few friends who are business men, but I’ve never heard of you, Danny.” “We aren’t an American business, which is why we aren’t that well known here, though that is why I am here today, to…negotiate with a powerful man here in the United States.” “Where is your business from?” You leaned closer to him, your (e/c) peaking out from the top of your sunglasses for just a moment before hiding again. You saw him lick his lips nervously. “Santa Prisca,” he replied. Your blood turned to ice but you didn’t let the shock show. This guy can’t be working with who I think…I’ve never heard of Bane knowing anyone names Danilo Carrera… You thought anxiously. Your mind was racing a mile a minute as you tried to figure out just who he was and how Bane knew him. But, everywhere you searched in your mind, came up a dead end. Dick always said you had a knack for the trouble to be drawn to you. You guessed he was right. “Is something the matter, hermosa?” Danny asks, snapping you out of your thoughts. “Oh! I’m fine, I was just thinking of how…scary of a place Santa Prisca is, with all the fighting and dangerous things that go on there.” You reply, regaining your cool. “Ah, yes. It is a very dangerous place, but we survive.” He replied. This guy was good at telling you things in such a roundabout way, though with your heavily known background knowledge, you could piece everything together. “Señorita, I have to ask. May I know your name? We have spoken to each other for a while and I realized I have yet to know it.” “My mother always told me not to give personal information away to a stranger,” you replied smoothly, a small smirk on your face. He busted out laughing, a sly smile going on his own face. He leaned closer to you and put a hand on your hip and leaned close to your ear. “It’ll be our little secret,” his whispered. You could feel his hot breath on you neck, and it took every ounce of self control not to push him away from you. “What’s in it for me?” You murmur back. “I don’t give secrets away for nothing.” You internally grimaced as his hand wandered down to your ass. “That’s not what I had in mind Danny.” “Shhh. It’ll be fine,” he said lowly. “How’s about we ditch this place and find a place to spend the night, eh?” Both his hands were now traveling up and down your body. You fought the urge to slap him into next week. How dare he touch you like this! However…you didn’t. You knew Bruce needed information on this. If you and Dick didn’t get information on this situation then he would have to send Jason in to get Intel. And you knew that Bruce really didn’t want to get Jay mixed up in this whole Black Mask shit again. This case was also connected to crime rates skyrocketing in Bludhaven, which you know is putting heavy amounts of stress on your beloved boyfriend.Grin an bear it (Y/N), you thought. Do it for the mission. From across the room Dick Grayson was about to go to tell you the information he had gathered when he realized the comms were jammed. Damn, someone is interfering with the signal He thought. Then, he saw this entire ordeal unfold.Or at least from when he saw some guy put his hands on his girl. He most certainly did not like that. (Y/N) (L/N) was his girl and he was seething at the sight of this man putting his grubby hands all over her. He knew, that you were tolerating it because this guy probably had some information you wanted to get out of him. However, the fact that he was touching you, put Dick in a state that was similar to when a bull sees red. Without even thinking, he stormed over, put his arm around your waist, and pulled you away from Danny. “Hey, what the fuck man?” Danny growled. “What the fuck is right! What are you doing with your hands on my wife?!” Dick roared. Danny narrowed his eyes at your lover and then looked at you, then back at him. “Wife?!” “Yes, asshole. This is my wife! And I look over to see you have your fucking hands all over her!!” Dick was mad. You wanted to slap some sense into him, for he compromised the mission. Everyone in the room was staring at the three of you now. “Calm down,” you say gently. “Calm down?! How am I supposed to be calm when this creep is feeling you up?” Dick snapped. “I was only talking with him to know what kind of business man he is.” You turn to Danny. “You see, my husband and I have our fingers dipped in the pie that is business as well. Once you told me you were a business man yourself, I wanted to know more about what you deal with to see if you were a possible candidate for a partnership. I apologize if I had mislead you into thinking it was flirting.” You quickly cover for yourself and your ‘husband.’ “If you wanted to talk business, you should have just said so hermosa.” Danny said, sending a wink your way. He clearly didn’t get the message you and Dick were sending. You know when something starts to go to shit, and all you think is ’fuck.’ Well, that’s what you were thinking once you saw Dick go and sock Danny right in the jaw for that last comment. And that’s what started the chaos. Dick and Danny were beating the shit out of each other on the floor of the place. This caused the drunk people there to fight as well, and soon enough, people were either fighting or running away. Trying to break up the fights just resulted in more fighting. You stayed out of them for the most part. Sipping your water to try and keep your cool. But, all of that changed when you saw Danny pull out a knife and give Dick a few good slashes before you stepped in. You slammed your glass down on a nearby table and tapped Danny on the shoulder. He turned around and you punched him straight in the nose, sending him stumbling backwards. He growled, cursing profanities at you in Spanish as he charged at you. You swiftly dodged and and disarmed him with ease. Knocking his ass to the ground, you send him a nasty glare. “Stay down, unless you want to see a few unwanted secrets I have that’ll make you go home crying to your Mama.“ You snarled, slamming the knife into the ground right next to his head. Danny’s eyes were wide and full of fear. You walk over Dick and grabbed his arm, pulling him along as the two of you got lost in the mess that this party turned into. You two swifly made your way to the car you guys had parked a few streets away. Getting Dick into the passenger seat, you then sat in the driver’s and instantly started heading towards the Batcave. The ride was mostly silent as you drove and as Dick bled all over the seats. His eyes were closed in pain and you took a deep breath, focusing on the road. You had pulled into the Batcave and the two of you got out of the car, Alfred instantly went yo help Dick and you made your way over to the Batcomputer were Bruce was sitting. From the looks of things, you assumed he just got back from patrol with Tim, Damian and Jason. The boys, you assumed, were upstairs. Bruce turned around and saw Dick getting patched up by Alfred and you with a semi-sour look on your face. Quickly, you explained everything that had happened tonight, giving Bruce all the information you got on Danilo Carrera. “We’ll discuss our next move in this matter later tonight,“ Bruce stated. You nodded and headed upstairs to shower. You brushed passed the boys on your way to your room, the three of them calling after you. You ignored them and closed and locked your door. You couldn’t believe Dick had compromised the mission like that! He never does anything like that…you supposed what Danny was doing to you really got to him. Sighing, you stripped of your dress and went to take a shower. - 45 minutes later, you came out of your bathroom dressed in sweatpants and a tank top, your hair damp. Your face was rid of the makeup and you honestly felt a lot more relaxed than when you first came home. You were about to relax on your bed with a book when you hear whispers outside your door. “Do you think she is still in the shower?” You heard Jason’s voice whisper. “Of course not Todd, the shower turned off several minutes ago.” “Shut up! She can probably hear us!” You frowned and walked over, opening the door to your room, only to have Tim, Damian and Jason tumble in. You narrowed your eyes and crossed your arms over your chest. “Ow! Todd, get off me! You are a lot heavier than you look!” Damian growled, struggling under Jason. “Shut up Demon Spawn! I’m trying to get up!” “Can’t breathe!” Tim croaked. “It’s not our fault you’re practically skin and bones, Drake!” “Nice of you to drop in boys,” you say sarcastically. They scrambled to their feet and began pointing blame on each other. “Alright!” You shout, ceasing their arguing. Tim hung his head in shame, Jason crossed his arms much like you and Damian just looked at you. “Why are you three eavesdropping on me?” “We wanted to know if you were okay…we heard about what happened on the mission.” Tim confessed. “Yes we heard about Grayson’s idiocy that ruined chances of getting further information,” Damian chimed in. “I’m alright guys, I appreciate you checking in on me.” You replied. “What happened to Dick out there?” Tim asked. You ushered the boys inside and the four of you sat on the floor. “I don’t know what was wrong with him. His emotions were all over the place and one thing led to another and it was a disaster,” you breathe out. “Do you know what caused him to act so…wildly?” Jason asked. “No, but he seemed to be deep in thought after Bruce explained the mission. I have no idea what was on his mind though.” There was silence before Alfred appeared at the door. “Miss (Y/N), and Master Jason. Master Bruce wishes to see you two in the Batcave,” the kind butler informed. You and Jason look at each other questioningly then back at Alfred, who just shrugged. The two of you got up, the two other brothers following close behind. - You and Jason entered the Batcave, Tim and Damian sneakily following. Bruce had a stern look on his face, and Dick was sitting in a chair near him, bandaged up. “(Y/N), with the information you gave me, I was able to dig up some dirt on Danilo Carrera and his relations to Bane. Apparently him and Black Mask were supposed to have a meeting to discuss shipments of the materials needed to make Kobra Venom. Mask is apparently now largely invested in the business as Bane tries to find new ways to make it stronger.“ “What are we going to do about it?” Dick piped up. Bruce turned at looked at him. “You aren’t doing anything about it. You’re injured. You have a fractured rib and deep lacerations.” Bruce said. He turned back to you and Jason. “You two will be handling the rest of this situation.” “What?!” Dick yelled, standing up. “I thought you said you didn’t want to get Jason involved with Black Mask again?“ “That was before I realized that your emotions become sporadic when out in the field with (Y/N). Until you can get them under control, I’m having Jason continue this mission with her.” Dick’s face contorted in an emotion that was mixed with anger and hurt. The words of Bruce and the reaction from Dick surprised everyone in the room. Usually, it was Jason who was stubborn and angry when Bruce made a decision like this, but in this case, it was Dick. Jason, next to you, was probably the most surprised in the room. There was a thick silence in the room before Dick scrunched his eyes up in frustration before making a beeline for the stairs. Once he was gone, you spoke up. “Did he say what was troubling him?” You ask. “He didn’t say a thing,” Bruce replied. You sigh and Jason puts a comforting hand on your shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll come around (N/N), he has been stressed out about Bludhaven.” “You, for once, have a point Todd,” Damian piped up. “But, Grayson has never acted like this much of a child. That’s usually your area of expertise.” Jason glared at his youngest brother. “Can it, Demon Spawn.” “Alright, there’s been enough arguing for tonight,” you snap. The two instantly stop bickering at your words and you sigh, turning back to Bruce. “When do we have our next mission regarding this case?” “You have a flight to an island near Santa Prisca tomorrow. From there, you’ll have to figure out your own means of transportation. This is strictly recon.Do not engage.” You and Jason nod, though you both know recon missions always end up in you guys engaging. - After discussing the events of tomorrow’s mission, you made your way back upstairs. Heading to Dick’s room, you knock softly on the door. “Miss (Y/N), Master Dick headed home to your shared apartment in Bludhaven. Would you like me to drive you?” Alfred stated. You crossed your arms over your chest, annoyed with your boyfriend’s bullheaded actions. “No thank you, Al. I think I’ll stay here tonight,” you reply. _____ there WILL be a part 2 to this! Thank you Anon, for the request! I hope you liked part 1 of this! I know that Dick was kind of out of character, but that’s what stress does to you. I read that asking someone to marry You/ getting married are big stressers in life. So, I decided that on top of that, the stress from the crime rate increasing in Bludhaven because of Bane and the drugs, and the jealousy that Danny caused, Dick would get quite stressed. Plus, we all know Bruce would sideline someone if they were acting irrationally in the field. I don’t know if any of you liked how this went. To be completely honest, I didn’t plan for this imagine to take the turn it did, but I had an idea that involved a part 2 and decided to go with it. (Originally, I was gonna have Dick propose to (Y/N) once getting back to the Batcave and she patched him up, but I had this idea instead.) I also have an idea for a Dick Grayson imagine series thing, that I will begin posting after Part 2 to this is posted, I am very excited about it! Well I hope you enjoyed! And thank you again for the request!

#nightwing #dick grayson #dick grayson x reader #dick grayson imagine #dick grayson one shot #nightwing x reader #nightwing imagine #nightwing one shot #dc comics #dc #dc x reader #dc imagine #dc oneshot #dc comics x reader #dc comics imagine #dc comics one shot

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chadnevett · 7 years ago

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Random Thoughts! (November 14, 2017)

Another one of those random updates where it eventually just fizzles into "I did/read/listened/watch this and... I have nothing to say...?"

* Real life update: work is busy, Ryan turned four, Michelle and I have been married for five years... From that, you'd think I were a proper adult or something. Like most 'proper adults,' I usually feel like a younger version of myself who is faking his way through every single day, afraid that someone will eventually notice that I'm a fraud... Still just faking it until I make it. Some people say that you never feel like you make it.

* My bank account will soon be taking a hit with Christmas and a few personal purchases. Some new albums, the first Dan Jurgens Thor omnibus (I'd briefly deleted my Amazon order until I saw the price dropped by fifty bucks...), that Robert Rodi Thor collection, the Wildstorm 25th anniversary hardcover... It's taking a lot of willpower to not buy the Thor vs. Hulk collection, too...

* Comics I'm enjoying: Mister Miracle is all atmosphere and works quite well at that (listen to new issues with MASS:LIGHT by Murray Lightburn on -- perfect album for that comic thus far). As always, Thor is nice. I'm looking forward to Kieron Gillen's Star Wars run. Jason Aaron's run had kind of begun to spiral into "Oh yeah, I read that comic still, I guess..." territory. I'm surprised at how much I dig the new Darth Vader series. Stray Bullets: Sunshine and Roses is brilliant. The latest issue was one of the weirder ones... The Wild Storm and its spin-off Michael Cray are both quite good (surprise surprise).

* From the Thorsday Thoughts where I discussed Marvel Legacy #1:

So much of this comic is "Look at this concept! Won't that be cool when we tell an actual fucking story about it?" Stone Age Avengers! Diseased Celestial! Ghost Rider fighting Starbrand! A bunch of one-page teasers! Something something Fantastic Four something! Wolverine has the Mind Gem Stone (fuck you, Kevin Feige, you fucking asshole) and is back from the dead even though Old Man Wolverine has been around since pretty much when Less Old Man Wolverine died! You know how much I got from the comic that I didn't get from interviews and summaries and post-release interviews?

Dick all.

Thorsday Thoughts continues to be a weekly newsletter that I write about Thor comics every Thursday. Well, I guess not just comics soon as I have the next three weeks mapped out: Mighty Thor #700, Thor in the MCU thus far, and, then, Thor: Ragnorak, written once I get home from seeing the movie on the Thursday night it premieres... So, sign up and enjoy. Lately, I've been writing "MANGOG IS COMING" a lot. And, as you can see above, I've got some new Thor books coming in, so lots of comics to use as material. The one on Rangorak will be the first one of year two of the newsletter. It's a thing I continue to do.

* I recently read The Force by Don Winslow and Difficult Men by Brett Matin. The former was like all of The Shield crammed into a single novel and not as good. But, enjoyable. The latter is a book about TV from The Sopranos up through Breaking Bad. It was interesting and well worth the $1.25 I paid for it at Dollar Tree.

* Michelle and I have been rewatching (or, eventually in some cases, watching for the first time) some Marvel movies. She wanted to, because they're dumb and fun and enjoyable. I wanted to rewatch the four with Thor in them for Thorsday Thoughts. I'll talk about Thor more there, but this was the first time I watched it beginning to end since seeing it in theatres and it was better than I remember. The Loki stuff was better.

* That recent Joe Casey collection Annual was really great. Just my sort of thing, of course. I like how his sons each did a strip that he inked. That was a surprise. Otherwise, it collected a bunch of stuff that I didn't have already (along with a couple of text bits from issues of Sex that I do have). It's a nice contrast to his work on the Catalyst Prime books (he's got a third one starting soon...), which... well, let's see where they go. Currently, they're in that "Joe Casey obsessive/expert" territory of reading where I do it for the children. Because, some day, someone will remember me and that I'm the Joe Casey guy and ask if those books are any good and I'll feel like I should provide an answer longer than two words. I think the third one is about a Superman analogue. That could be fun. After all, Casey (co-)wrote the best Superman analogue and, then, did the most interesting year on Superman since he died.

* Related: once a year or so, I'll look on my bookshelf, see the Poptopia trade and I'll read the first issue of Casey's Uncanny X-Men run again. Someday, I'll figure that issue out and see exactly what he was going for. I haven't yet.

* Taking a break from wrestling right now... not enough time... not enough quality... Not a hard and fast rule or anything. I just haven't been making an effort to watch anything lately.

* Jim Starlin is doing more Thanos graphic novels -- with Alan Davis on art. That's both good and bad. Good for obvious reasons; bad only in the sense that, of their two books together thus far, I didn't find them to be a good match. It felt off. I love both of their work, but something about them together just doesn't work for me like it should. Not that that will stop me from buying anything and everything they do together. Maybe I'll figure it out.

* I've been wondering lately like why Coke doesn't bring New Coke back as a thing. I've never tried New Coke. I'm curious what it was like. I get that it failed and everyone hated it -- but that was as a replacement, not as an alternative version. I think it would do well in a 3-month release or something. Failing that, just give me fucking raspberry coke in bottles.

* Finally saw Machete Kills. It started as a swerve to a James Bond flick, except with Danny Trejo as Bond (which we should all be up for) and, then, it became something else, eventually ending terribly. I caught the end of the first one on TV a couple of weeks back and, man, that is the movie for 2017 if there is one. Go back and watch Machete and see how it was made for now.

* They're making a Teen Titans Go! movie. Can my son and I buy tickets yet?

That's it. I need to go wake up my wife, because she always falls asleep when she puts Ryan to bed.

#random thoughts #thorsday thoughts #jason aaron #comics #jim starlin #joe casey #movies #books #don winslow

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weekendwarriorblog · 6 years ago

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WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND January 4, 2019 – Escape Room

Happy New Year!

Thankfully, we’re getting a fairly light first weekend to the year, which is good, since I was ready to retire after last year’s sucky year. But it’s 2019, a new year and hopefully one with new opportunities. In fact, I wrote something previewing the 2019 box office for my old boss at VitalThrills.com, which you can read here.

As far as this weekend, and as has been the case a few times over the past few years, the year is kicking off with a horror movie.

ESCAPE ROOM (Sony)

This high concept horror movie is the sole release of the weekend, and why not? After all, the film’s director Adam Robitel kicked off 2018 with Insidious: The Last Key, which he directed, and that opened with $29.6 million on its way to $67.6 million domestic and $100 million overseas.

There’s actually a pretty long history of horror movies kicking off the New Year with big business, even though most studios are afraid those returning to work/school after the long holiday might be too focused on work/school to go to the movies. Usually, these horror films are fairly low-budget, so there isn’t much danger, but there have a few substantial hits in the first weekend of January like Taken 3 and Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Revenant. In 2012, Paramount opened the high-concept horror The Devil Insideto $33.7 million, and that movie cost a cool million so it was instantly profitable. Another early January hit was 2005’s White Noise from Universal, which opened with $24.1 million; 2013’s Texas Chainsaw 3D also opened with $21 million. Few of these movies are expected to stay around very long and few of them last beyond opening weekend.

As with many horror movies, the cast doesn’t do much to sell the movie, as Robitel stars in this one along with Deborah Ann Woll (Netflix’s Daredevil), Taylor Russell (Lost in Space), Tyler Labine and others whom I’ve never heard of.

At one point this had the generic title of “The Maze,” so it was a wise move to change the movie’s title to something that’s easy to understand (and works on a couple levels), since most young people that might be interested in the movie will know what an escape room is and may have even taken part in one or two.

Being the only new movie this weekend should help it bring in some of its projected younger target audience, especially being so different from other options in theaters. Coming out just two days after people are back from vacation may mean their priorities lie elsewhere, but this still should be good for somewhere between $12 and 15 million this weekend, and it should be able to make between $30 to 40 million depending how much it gets destroyed once Glassopens in two weeks.

MINI-REVIEW: Assuming you already know what an escape room is or have participated in one, then you’ll already know what to expect from this high-concept thriller that’s more about tension than gore. Then again, if you’ve seen Cube,Saw II or are even vaguely familiar with Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians, then you’ll also be ready for this idea of strangers thrown together into a puzzle game of survival.

Personally, I prefer comparing it to Final Destination, my favorite horror franchise, as that also throws people together into situations where they have to work together to survive, the winner being promised $10,000. From the very first room, which turns into a giant oven, it’s obvious that it’s going to be harder to escape with one’s life.

In most horror movies, the characters are mostly stereotypes, including a-holes and idiots alike, who you’re eager to see killed off. In the case of Escape Room, there are actually likeable people including Taylor Russell’s shy science nerd Zoey, Deborah Ann Woll’s Amanda, a veteran of the Iraq War and other equally compelling (or annoying) characters.

What’s good is that Escape Room knows viewers need to be invested in and entertained by these people, which is why you have comic relief in Tyler Labine’s Mike and escape room expert/enthusiast Danny (Nik Dodani). Jay Ellis’ Jason is the clear-cut a-hole finance guy stereotype, while Ben (Logan Miller) is the underdog who never gets a break.

As they go through the rooms, we learn more about their pasts and what links them together, which makes things far more compelling and emotional as it becomes obvious that any of them can die at any time.

The key to movies like this is when it gets to that third act, and there needs to be some sort of reveal of why these six people are being put through all of this and who is responsible. It’s often the point when movies like this can succeed or fail, and if you’re familiar with other films in this genre of horror, you can probably guess some of those things and probably be right.

If you can get past the decision to leave things open-ended without all the expected answers, Escape Room is equal parts clever and fun, pretty much the movie experience being advertised.

RATING: 7.5/10

This week’s Top 10 should look something like this…

1. Aquaman (Warner Bros.) - $24.8 million -53%

2. Mary Poppins Returns (Disney) - $15.5 million -45%

3. Escape Room (Sony) - $14.6 million N/A*

4. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse (Sony) - $10 million -45%

5. Bumblebee (Paramount) - $9.6 million -53%

6. The Mule (Warner Bros.) - $7.1 million -40%

7. Vice (Annapurna) - $4.5 million -42%

8. Second Act (STXfilms) - $4 million -45%

9. Holmes and Watson (Sony) - $3.5 million -55%

10. Ralph Breaks the Internet (Disney) – $3.1 -52%

* After seeing the movie and how well it plays with an audience, I have upped my weekend prediction.

LIMITED RELEASES

Opening on Wednesday at the IFC Center is Oscar-nominated filmmaker Christian Frei (War Photographer) and Maxim Arbugave’s doc GENESIS 2.0 (KimStim), a documentary that profiles the hunters who brave the North Sibeiran Islands looking for rare mastodon tusks and other artifacts that are worth quite a good deal of money. While the tusks are often bought for a substantial resale value, they’re also are being preserved for the Mammoth Museum in Russia, and Frei’s film looks at the scientific efforts of North Korean scientists to find a sample of living mammoth DNA that can be cloned to bring the prehistoric creature back. Much of the film focuses on the Grigoriev brothers, Semyon being a paleontologist who runs the Mammoth Museum; as well as Spira Slepstov, a first-time tusk hunter in it for the “big money” promised by investors; geneticist George Church, one of the pioneers in synthetic biology; and controversial Korean scientist Woo Suk Hwang, who has cloned hundreds of dogs and hopes to help the efforts to bring back the mammoth. There’s some really interesting science on display in the film which harks back to the documentary work by Werner Herzog with films like Cave of Forgotten Dreams and Encounters at the End of the World. (Frei’s narration isn’t nearly as commanding but it adds to the comparisons.) It also should be of interest for those who enjoy sci-fi films like Jurassic Park, as it explores the real science behind the science fiction. Genesis 2.0 will also open at L.A.’s Laemmle Music Hall on Jan. 18.

Another doc opening at the IFC Center is the Polish Oscar-shortlisted COMMUNION (from director Anna Zamecka looks at the lives of 14-year-old Ola, a Polish teen who must care for her autistic brother Nikodem while preparing him for his first Holy Communion, while also dealing with a lay-about father who relies more and more on his teen daughter. I was generally mixed on the film only because I’m not as big a fan of cinema verité-style documentary filmmaking i.e. just rolling the camera to show the lives and offering no narrative to help viewers understand the story.

Based on true events, Gerard Butler and Peter Mullan (Ozark) star in Kristoffer Nyholm’s suspense thriller THE VANISHING (Saban Films) about three lighthouse keepers working on a remote Scottish island who discover a wrecked rowboat on which is a chest full of gold, forcing the men to make some tough decisions. It opens in New York (Cinema Village), L.A. (AMC’s University City Walk) and other cities as well as On Demand this Friday. This is actually a fairly decent film, mostly due to the two lead actors doing a rare smaller film in their native country and accents.

Jen McGowan’s thriller Rust Creek (IFC Midnight) stars Hermione Corfield (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies) as ambitious college senior Sawyer who takes a wrong turn on a way to a job interview and ends up in the frozen Kentucky woods pursued by outlaws until she hooks up with an enigmatic loner (Jay Paulson). It opens at the IFC Center and other theaters, as well as On Demand.

The final thriller (of sorts) this weekend is Meredith Danluck’s directorial debut State Like Sleep (The Orchard), starring Katherine Waterston as a widow who receives a disturbing phone call a year after the death of her husband (Michiel Huisman). Also starring Michael Shannon and Luke Evans, it’s in select theaters Friday and On Demand beginning Tuesday, following its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival last year.

From China, the sequel to Xing Fei’s action-adventure film Mojin: The Lost Legend, Mojin: The Worm Valley (Well GO USA) once again follows tomb explorer Hu Bayi on a mission looking for the Tomb of Emperor Xian, which is located on an island filled with monsters. It will open in select cities.

James Brolin and Cybill Shepherd star in Rod McCall’s Being Rose with Shepherd playing Rose Jones, a widowed ex-cop who is diagnosed with a life-threatening health issue, so she decided to go on a road trip of the Southwest on her motorized wheelchair. In New Mexico she falls for an old cowboy, played by Brolin.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

The Metrograph has been doing late night screenings most of this year, but this weekend they make it official with Late Nights at Metrograph, running from Thursday through Saturday nights with this weekend starting out with Masaaki Yuusa’s appropriately-titled Anime Mind Game (2005). Things are getting a little more esoteric in the New Year (at least for me) with Pier Paolo Pasolini: A Future Life, Part 1, a retrospective of the Italian filmmaker’s works including Salo, Or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975), The Decameron (1971), The Canterbury Tales (1972) – the latter two of the three movies in his “Trilogy of Life” -- and more. I’ve heard of some of these but never seen any, so maybe that will change as this runs over the next two weeks. This weekend’s Playtime: Family Matinee is Barry Levinson’s baseball movie The Natural (1984), starring Robert Redford. On Saturday night, the Metrograph is also doing a special event, a screening of Godard’s 2010 film Film Socialisme presented by author Nico Baumbach.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Tarantino’s repertory theater kicks the year off with a number of double features with Francis Ford Coppola’s 1972 classic The Godfather. On Weds. and Thurs, it will double feature with The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight (1971), while Friday and Sat. sees it paired with Richard Fleishcer’s The Don is Dead (1973).

FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER (NYC):

You have to give the Film Society credit for being loyal to the filmmakers who regularly bring their works to the New York Film Festival, and in honor of Roma’s premiere there last year, this week begins Complete Cuaron, which is exactly what it sounds like showing all nine of Alfonso Cuaron’s films including Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, although it’s also a great chance to see Children of Men back on the big screen as well as seeing Gravity back in 3D.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

The Rated X series continues this weekend with a few repeat showings, plus the Quad is screening the 1991 film Van Gogh from the Cohen Film Collection. Also, the Quad will be showing a 30th anniversary rerelease of Isao Takahata’s anime Grave of the Fireflies.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

Hm… no new series announced yet for 2019… :(

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Oscar-winning filmmaker Adam McKay gets a tribute this weekend with a double feature of Vice and The Big Short on Thursday, while Rob Marshall gets himself a triple feature on Friday with his musicals Mary Poppins Returns, Into the Woods and Chicago and Marshall there in person. (The American Cinemateque’s other theater, the Aero, is also showing fairly recent films rather than repertory ones.)

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Jacques Rivette’s banned 1966 drama La Religieuse (Rialto), starring Anna Karina, gets a 4k restoration, while this weekend’s Film Forum Jr. offering is Buster Keaton’s Three Ages (1923) with live piano accompaniment.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

Friday’s midnight offering is the classic 2001 Anime filmAkira.

MOMA (NYC):

New Year means a new series, and this week begins Modern Matinees: Sir Sidney Poitier with 1963’s Lillies of the Field(for which Poitier won the Oscar) on Weds, To Sir, With Love (1967) on Thurs. and Norman Jewison’s In the Heat of the Night (1967) on Friday.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

The Astoria theater is beginning January with a series rescreening a Curator’s Choice of films from 2018 including Hereditary, The Rider and more.

That’s it for this week, but next week, there are three new movies in wide release, Sony’s A Dog’s Way Home, Keanu Reeves’ sci-fi thriller Replicas and the Bryan Cranston-Kevin Hart comedy The Upside.

#WhatToWatchThisWeekend EscapeRoom Movies Reviews BoxOffice TheWeekendWarrior

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the-anti-internet · 8 years ago

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#trypod

Hey, haven't been around in awhile. I've been "busy" over at @petesmediadiary logging (once a week, usually Sundays) all the media I consume (plugtime over). But in honor of #trypod, a campaign to make people aware of podcasts, here comes a list of all of the podcasts that I listen to with a brief description of what the podcast is about: 12 Hour Day with J.D. and Connor -- Each episode is at least 12 hours long where the hosts hang out for a day. You follow them as they hang out, and do things around New York City. (Comes out a couple of times a year) Comedy Bang Bang -- Scott Aukerman hosts where each episode he has on a comedian and other odd people come in after a brief interview segment Mike and Tom Eat Snacks -- Each episode Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh Pick a snack, Eat a snack, and Rate a snack. (Currently on extended hiatus, but worth listening to the back catalogue) The Indoor Kids -- Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily V Gordon talk about video games and other stuff they are watching. (Also currently on hiatus, but might be coming back soon?) Womp It Up! -- Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham spun off their characters Marissa Wompler and Charlotte Listler from Comedy Bang Bang where Marissa has a senior project podcast from her schools library where they interview the schools faculty and other students. (Hopefully it will be back after Playing House season 3) Spontaneanation with Paul F Tompkins -- PFT has a chat with a celebrity guest and then he and some improvisors do a 30 minute long improv based on that conversation. Harmontown -- Dan Harmon has a mental breakdown on stage, and raps about having sex with your momma. The K Ohle with Kurt Braunohler -- No longer active, but it was a multi-format podcast that Kurt hosted. Pet-o-philia and Get Lost were the two best formats. Beautiful Stories from Anonymous People -- Chris Gethard takes a call from a random person and is not allowed to hang up for an hour. At the hour mark the call is ended. Surprisingly heartfelt and wonderful. My love of Gethard aside, this is a GREAT podcast. Hollywood Handbook -- Sean Clements and Hayes Davenport are two of Hollywood's elite and drop names on this red carpet we call showbiz. This is some of the hardest I have ever laughed. It does take some getting used to though. You will hate it for the first few episodes. Emotional Hangs -- Kurt Braunohler and Joe Derosa explore their friendship and break down adult friendships and try to be open and vulnerable with each other. Rose Buddies -- Griffin McElroy and his wife Rachel recap episodes of The Bachelor family of TV shows. (I have never watched an episode of The Bachelor Family of shows) You Made It Weird w/ Pete Holmes -- Pete talks about Comedy, Sex, and God with pretty much anyone (usually comedians) who will talk to him about it. (Harris Wittels #3 is one of the best episodes of a podcast I have ever heard. It's an episode where Harris is open and honest about his struggles with addiction, and he is so effortlessly funny about it too. Spoilers: While the episode ends hopeful and on a way that makes everything seem like Harris is going to turn it around, he died from an overdose less than a month after the episode was released) Who Charted? -- Howard Kremer and Kyla's Vilaysack count down the charts in Music and Movies every week. Pistol Shrimps Radio -- Matt Gourley and Mark McConville don't know anything about basketball, but that doesn't stop them from doing the play by play of a women's recreational basketball league in LA. The Worst Idea of All Time -- Guy Montgomery and Tim Batt watch and review the same movie once a week for an entire year. Year one: Grown Ups 2. Year 2: Sex and the City 2. Year 3: We Are Your Friends (currently still going) Doughboys -- Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger review a different chain restaurant every week. My Favorite Murder -- every episode Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff each talk about a murder and go through the story of it. The Dollop -- Dave Anthony tells an American history story to his friend Gareth Reynolds who has no idea what the topic is going to be. The Adventure Zone -- The McElroy brothers and daddy play dungeons and dragons together. It's some of the best storytelling you will ever hear and it's consistently incredibly funny. Never Not Funny -- Jimmy Pardo hosts a relaxed chat with a celebrity guest. Doug Loves Movies -- Doug Benson plays movie games with comedians and funny people. Totally Beverages (and Sometimes Hot Sauce) -- Andy Rosen and Intern Josh do blind shootouts of beverages trying to figure out which is which and guess their favorites. (I "produced" episode 100, so selfishly I would suggest that episode) CoolGames Inc. -- Griffin McElroy and Nick Robinson create a new video game every week. With Special Guest Lauren Lapkus -- Every week Lauren is the guest on a different host's made up podcast. How Did This Get Made? -- Paul Scheer, Jason Mantzoukas, and June Diane Raphael talk about a different (usually) bad movie. No Such Thing As A Fish -- Writers of British panel show QI talk about their four favourite facts of the week that they learned while researching for QI. Ding-Donger with Matt Braunger -- Matt Braunger hitchhikes into your life for 30 to 45 minutes each week as he tells you what's been going on with him. Thanks for picking him up! The Bugle -- Andy Zaltzman and a rotating group of co-hosts talk about what's been going on in the world over the past week. (Formerly co-hosted by John Oliver) Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction -- Comedians write erotic fan fiction about pop culture and read it in front of a live audience. Slumber Party with Alie and Georgia -- Alie Ward and Georgia Hardstark have a guest over and they play slumber party games. What Say You? -- Sal and Q from Impractical Jokers talk about whatever is on their minds. Cardboard! With Rich Sommer -- Rich Sommer (Harry Crane from Mad Men) talks about board games. Black List Table Reads -- Franklin Leonard produces "ear movies" each episode is a table read of an unproduced screenplay. Hound Tall with Moshe Kasher -- Moshe has an expert on a topic as well as three other comedians on stage to talk about the experts subject in a town hall style meeting. Post Pink -- Justin Linville and Robby (who's last name I've forgotten) talk about Weezer's releases since Pinkerton. U Talkin' U2 To Me? -- Scott Aukerman and Adam Scott talk about everything U2 related in the dumbest way possible. Tell Us How Your Dog Died -- David Kramer and David Stoll talk to a guest about how their dog died. Legitimately one of the best earwormiest theme songs ever. Even though there hasn't been an episode (and probably won't be any more) I still find myself singing the theme song to myself fairly often. 'Till Death Do Us Blart -- The McElroy brothers and the guys from The Worst Idea of All Time Review Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 every thanksgiving for the rest of eternity. In the event of one of their deaths they are to bequeath their spot to someone else who will take the mantle. FizzyBoys -- Don Finelli and Chris Gethard review a different soda every episode. The Ones Who Knock -- A podcast that recaps every episode of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul Decoding Westworld -- From the people who brought you The Ones Who Knock talk about Westworld. Analyze Phish -- Harris Wittels (rip) tries to convince Scott Aukerman that Phish is a good band. Andy Daly Podcast Pilot Project -- Andy Daly's many characters from Comedy Bang Bang each try to get their own podcast at earwolf. Each episode is the first episode of what their podcast would be. New Years Eve with Neil Hamburger -- Listen to Neil count down the new year! In Your Dreams with Chris Gethard -- Chris and Dream Analysis Expert Gary Richardson analyze the dreams of people who called in with a different guest each episode. End of podcasts that I'm subscribed to. Now onto podcasts that I am either working through their back catalogs, or listen to depending on the episode: My Brother, My Brother, and Me -- An advice show for the modern era, the McElroy brothers give their listeners (and Yahoo answers users) advice. Started listening in June, currently on episode 114 out of 346. Hard Nation -- A spoof on Right Wing Political talk shows. Brothers Mark and Pete Hard host a show with a different political guest (a comedian pretending to be a political figure) Dr. Gameshow -- Jo Firestone hosts a radio call in show where listeners submit their ideas for game shows and Jo has comedians play the games in studio. No longer active and the back catalog is disappearing. So get on this one quick if you want to listen. Jordan, Jesse, Go! -- Jordan Morris and Jesse Thorn talk with a different guest. (Guest dependent) Hopefully We Don't Break Up -- Couple Will Miles and Giulia Rozzi talk with other real life couples (usually at least one comedian) about their relationships. High and Mighty -- Jon Gabrus talks with a guest about something that they are both passionate about. (Guest and/or topic dependent) If I Were You -- Jake and Amir give advice to their listeners. (Guest dependent, but the Ben Schwartz, Jon Gabrus, Thomas Middleditch, And Rose McIver episodes are all must listens) The Adventures of Danny and Mike -- Danny Tamberelli and Mike Maronna (better known as Pete and Pete) go on a monthly adventure together. I Was There Too -- Matt Gourley talks to an actor with a small-ish role on a big movie. Alison Rosen Is Your New Best Friend -- Alison Rosen talks to a person of note. (Guest dependent) This Feels Terrible -- Erin McGathy talks to people about relationships and why they make people feel terrible. Fitzdog Radio -- Greg Fitzsimmons interviews (usually) another comedian. (Guest dependent) 100 Words or Less -- Interviews with musicians. (Guest dependent) Going Off Track -- Interviews with musicians. (Guest dependent) The Best Show with Tom Scharpling -- Tom Scharpling's long running radio talk show. I don't have enough time in my week to listen to this every week, but whenever I can squeeze it n it's always worth it. The JV Club -- Janet Varney interviews People about what they were like in their formative years and then plays M.A.S.H. with them. (Guest dependent) Put Your Hands Together -- The audio recording of the weekly standup show hosted by Cameron Esposito and Rhea Butcher. The Todd Glass Show -- Todd Glass has a guest and it's just non-stop bits. There we go. There are all of the podcasts that I listen to regularly (or at least check in with regularly). There should be something in there for everyone. You're a champion for reading all the way through this, and if you try one of these and like it, please let me know. I would be happy to talk about any of them.

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allisonswrittenwords · 5 years ago

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Might as well be chasin’ the wind (of change) on this Music Monday.

The last few weeks, I’ve been covering the power ballad/soft rock era of Chicago, which was the second era of the group’s lengthy legacy. Though the era began in 1982 with Chicago 16, it was 1984’s Chicago 17 that solidified Chicago’s place in the era of the power ballad. Winds of change happened after their most successful album, with one original member leaving for the lofty ambitions of a solo career. A new tenor voice ushered in 1986’s Chicago 18. By 1988, the group released Chicago 19, and officially wrapped up Chicago’s first twenty years in the music industry, as well as the 1980s.

Between 1989 and 1990, the group released a Greatest Hits album to commemorate their life in the 1980s (Greatest Hits 1982-1989), performed a song for the Days of Thunder soundtrack (“Hearts in Trouble”), and changed personnel once again. Out was original member and drummer Danny Seraphine, fired after the conclusion of the band’s 1989 tour to promote Chicago 19. In was Tris Imboden, who had previously toured with Kenny Loggins since 1977. Oh, and they spent 1990 doing something else.

They called it Twenty 1

Chicago Twenty 1 is the seventeenth studio album by Chicago, released in January 1991. The group spent 1990 recording what was to be their first album of the 1990s, and another addition to this new sound the group had been working with for the last decade. Relying on the outside influence of writers they’d been working with the last few years, Chicago also retained Ron Nevison from their previous album as a producer. The result for this album was, well, about a step above Chicago XIII and Chicago XIV.

I mean, the sound is so much better (and not disco), but music taste and sound was changing, and this album still retains some of that power ballad feel. By the early 1990s, that wasn’t really a thing anymore. As a result, Chicago was mired in an ocean of music that adapted to the times, something they once again found themselves on the wrong side of. But again, it wasn’t a disco sound they found themselves in. They weren’t that out of touch.

Singles and Music Videos

Three singles were released for Twenty 1 – “Chasin’ The Wind” in January 1991, “Explain it to My Heart” in April 1991, and “You Come to my Senses” in August 1991. All but one single were the work of Jason Scheff and Bill Champlin on vocals. Two tracks featured Robert Lamm. I personally feel for the guy – the 80s were not easy for him, and the songs he does contribute to this album – “One From The Heart” and “Only Time Can Heal The Wounded” – has that Robert Lamm vibe. He wrote them, after all.

“Chasin’ The Wind” and “You Come To My Senses” (which are both beautiful), charted on the Billboard charts. “Chasin’ The Wind” reached #39 on the Hot 100, and #13 on the Adult Contemporary Chart, while “You Come to My Senses” reached #11 on the Adult Contemporary chart. As for the album, during a stay of eleven weeks on the Billboard Hot 200, the album reached #66. It would be their last full-length album of original singles until 2006’s Chicago XXX.

Like in previous albums with music videos, this album has one, but only for “Chasin’ The Wind.” And well, it’s kinda artsy and very…not Chicago.

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Wind, wind, and more wind, woman holding branches, band in long dark coats and sunglasses, carrying instruments, if this were anyone else, it would all make sense…I think. But it definitely didn’t feel like Chicago. However, the song is gorgeous, even if the video is just…not them.

They don’t even play these instruments in this song.

My Take

Call me biased, but this isn’t the worst album Chicago could have put out. I’ve listened to Chicago XIII, so I know what questionable sounds like. Twenty 1 doesn’t feel like that disco nightmare, but it also feels like the need for change is coming. At this point, Chicago’s “winds of change” were finding their way back to the band. With the new decade beginning, Chicago was going to have to find their way – and the sound – once again. It was a similar crossroads they faced in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

I do like the music on this album, there is a glimmer of what made Chicago great. Commercial success was starting to fade, but the next era would be more about returning to roots and recapturing the good old “rock with horns” sound that Chicago gave up in the 1980s to conform to popular (and changing) taste. All of that said, the album is worth a listen.

Chicago Twenty 1

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The 1990s, and Beyond!

As the 1990s moved forward, Chicago would face yet another crossroads in their music. Years of outside influence and writers wore the group down, and they were ready to return to their greatness, to the rock that people loved.

After another “Best Of” album in late 1991 (Group Portrait, which covered the first fourteen albums) and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992, Chicago was ready to go back to their roots…at a cost to their record contract.

That wasn’t the only road block they’d face at the same time, but it certainly didn’t stop them.

I’m going to pick up on that in two weeks, since I already had a song choice picked for next week long in advance.

Have a great Monday, and enjoy the music!

In the final part of an ongoing #MusicMonday series, Chicago's Twenty-One (or Twenty 1) begins the 1990s for the group, and offically ends their power ballad era. Might as well be chasin' the wind (of change) on this Music Monday.

#MusicMonday #1991 #Chicago (band)#Chicago Twenty-One

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flauntpage · 6 years ago

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The Outlet Pass: Trae Young is Master of the Impossible Pass

Trae Young's Passing is...

Trae Young’s notorious three-point shot has yet to come around—he takes some exceptionally difficult shots and has made fewer than 30 percent of them—but he might already be one of the best passers in the NBA, top ten in every category worth mentioning with an undeniably positive impact on teammates. Atlanta’s assist rate is 66 percent with Young on the floor and 56.8 percent—a team low—when he’s not. (That disparity equals the gap between being third and 19th in the league right now.)

As Hawks GM Travis Schlenk recently told The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears: “He got a lot of notoriety for his deep shooting in college, which is obviously great. But his court vision at his age, 19 years old, to be able to see the floor like he does, and ability to pass left hand, right hand, off the bounce, hitting the guys down the floor, that is what really stood out.”

Young doesn’t pound the ball or even have to penetrate in order to draw help and find an open man. Guys simply run the floor faster and cut into space harder, knowing he’ll hit them on the money if/when they get open. His kick aheads alone deserve to be nominated by the MacArthur Fellows Program. This brings us to a pair of his passes that, so far, are probably my two favorite of the entire season.

The first came a few days ago against Miami. Young was trapped high on the right wing and appeared to have his whole line of sight blocked, but a quick up-fake lifted Bam Adebayo off his feet and out of position. Young then pivoted middle and, using his left arm, fired a blind cannon at Omari Spellman who was standing in the weak-side corner. The ball must've traveled at least 35 feet before it arrived in Spellman's shot pocket a split second before the defense’s rotation.

Words don’t do this pass justice. It’s something only a prodigy would think of, and immediately makes you fantasize about the realms of Young’s potential that have yet to be realized. He’ll never shoot as well as Steph Curry, but he already has the same range. Mix that with an unselfishly inventive approach to commanding Atlanta’s offense and it’s not insane to think he can lead the league in assists and scoring some day—the former is a borderline guarantee.

The next pass came during a nationally televised game against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. (For the record, even before Atlanta uses the future pick Dallas gave them to move up on draft night, it appears both teams won that trade!). Young rebounds a missed three, takes two dribbles, then whips a one-handed line drive at Taurean Prince as he streaks up the left sideline. A corner three is essentially created out of thin air!

Film Session: Milwaukee’s Defense May Need to Change

The Milwaukee Bucks have a top-three defense and, whether Giannis Antetokounmpo is on the floor or not, are brick-walling opponents with a game-plan that couldn't be more different from the blitz-happy aggression encouraged by Jason Kidd over the past few seasons. Once upon a time, Milwaukee’s goal was to sew the game with chaos. They'd trap, recover, and scramble all over the court. It was compelling, controversial, and, given Milwaukee’s unprecedented length, theoretically a good fit. The Bucks forced a ton of turnovers and occasionally made Kidd look like he knew what he was doing, but they were inevitably done in by poor communication, missed rotations, and untenable execution. Pure talent and questionable shot selection aside, it was their defensive issues—Milwaukee surrendered a ton of corner threes and layups—that weighed them down.

Milwaukee isn’t playing like that anymore, which is ironic because their new head coach, Mike Budenholzer, enforced a similar strategy in Atlanta. Instead, they’ve adopted a conservative base defense—right now they rank 27th in opposing turnover percentage—that was en vogue half a decade ago but has since been swallowed whole by the three-point revolution.

The approach plays out as such: When offensive bigs run up to set ball and flair screens, Milwaukee’s defenders will drop back and stay in the paint. They want ball handlers to either meet their length at the rim or submit via a mid-range pull up. So far, so good! Only four teams are forcing more long twos; after they finished dead last in opponent shot frequency at the rim in 2017-18 and 2015-16, the Bucks currently rank first.

For the regular season, it’s a low-risk, medium-reward tactic that fits their personnel and maintains order. Switching is mostly frowned upon, which simplifies defensive rebounding (long an issue for the Bucks) and reduces the negative side effects that long rotations tend to have, which is evident when you look at how often they foul shooters relative to the past four years.

It feels unfair to attack something that’s obviously working, but this scheme can only do so much against the best offenses in the league. This is something I touched on in greater detail earlier this week in a column about Joel Embiid’s individual defense, but the same principles apply: Against the league’s most potent offenses, any plan that doesn’t account for pull-up threes is antiquated and futile. And guess what: Milwaukee is allowing a higher three-point rate above-the-break than any team in the league!

In the Bucks' season opener, the Charlotte Hornets went 16-for-38 from deep. The Kawhi Leonard-less Toronto Raptors went 9-for-45 (Kyle Lowry took nine threes and missed them all). Milwaukee's first loss came against a Boston Celtics team that jacked up 55 triples (more than ever before in franchise history) and tied a league-record by making 24 of them. The Sacramento Kings finished 14-for-36 and, in Milwaukee’s second loss, the Portland Trail Blazers drilled 17 of their 43 tries.

None of this is a coincidence. The Bucks want teams to take floaters and tough mid-range jump shots, but in doing so they’re conceding a ton of pull-up threes. Even though the Golden State Warriors don’t like running a bunch of high pick-and-rolls with Steph Curry, Fiserv Forum would spontaneously combust if they did.

Five years ago, guards and wings (and some forwards!) didn’t have the freedom to jack threes up off the bounce. During the 2013-14 NBA season, only four teams launched more than six pull-up threes per game. Today, two-thirds of the league eclipse that volume. What Milwaukee wants/needs is for the ball-handler's man to earn his money at the point of attack. Either fight over a screen and take away the shot by pressuring from behind, or duck underneath and either allow a poor shooter to shoot his shot or recover in time to take it away.

This is where Milwaukee’s length and tenacity comes into play. Khris Middleton, Giannis, Malcolm Brogdon, Eric Bledsoe, and Donte DiVincenzo are not terrible at navigating on-ball screens. But against just about anyone, it’s still extremely difficult work.

But pull ups aren’t the only threat. The league has never had more big men who can and will stab you from beyond the arc. And when their man is deep in the paint, trying to stop penetration, a kick back pass usually results in an open look.

Bledsoe has no interest in switching onto Al Horford, knowing it would let Kyrie Irving surgically remove Brook Lopez’s ankles from his body. But it’s unclear if leaving Horford wide open is a better strategy.

It makes sense to drop Lopez and Ersan Ilyasova because rim protection is good and neither guy is particularly mobile in space. But to have them do so while seemingly ignoring specific matchups is not the wisest move. Watch how the Celtics take advantage by having Horford set a flare screen for Irving. Ilyasova might as well take a nap.

And the strategy applies across the board! Why don’t Giannis and Malcolm Brogdon make life easier for everyone involved by switching this? Instead they give up an open three to a good three-point shooter.

This brings us to the future, and how Milwaukee will solve a problem that doesn’t currently exist. They may not feel this way, but adding an athletic big who’s more comfortable switching and scurrying on the perimeter—while still providing offensive substance—should be a priority before the trade deadline.

If they run into an opponent who plays Lopez off the floor, the rangier Thon Maker isn’t good enough to fill those minutes. The Bucks struggled mightily with Giannis at the five last season, too. (That doesn’t mean it can’t work—they have more two-way players this year—but assuming Budenholzer doesn’t venture too far from a formula that’s yielding terrific results throughout the regular season, how hard will it be for the Bucks to adjust after a sharp left turn in the playoffs?)

It’s a fascinating conundrum and one worth keeping an eye on as the season goes on. Milwaukee’s legitimacy as a true title contender may hinge on it.

Josh Jackson is Drowning

It feels like yesterday, right around the 2017 NBA draft, when it became clear that Josh Jackson did not want to get drafted by the Boston Celtics, a winning organization that couldn’t offer the same opportunistic environment (in terms of shots and playing time) lottery picks of his stature normally step into. He cancelled a workout that was to be held in Sacramento while Danny Ainge, Mike Zarren, and Brad Stevens were literally in the air flying to it, which probably made the decision to take Jayson Tatum that much easier.

As the saying goes: Be careful what you wish for. Jackson was instead picked by a dysfunctional organization that also has quite a bit of young talent. So much, in fact, that Phoenix’s coaching staff can’t find time for Jackson to contribute. His PER is 2.1, and his minutes are drying up.

Before the Suns even trade for a starting point guard—assuming that day comes this season—they already have so many mouths to feed at Jackson’s general position. (And that’s also before you mention Deandre Ayton, the first overall pick who needs reps and touches.) Devin Booker, Trevor Ariza, T.J. Warren, and Mikal Bridges are all better than Jackson right now. He can’t shoot from literally anywhere and has a comically abysmal turnover rate that’s a couple mistakes from becoming the league’s worst, per Cleaning The Glass.

Jackson’s trade value has never been lower, and the long-term consequences of his current struggle loom over an organization that might’ve squandered three top-five picks in the past six drafts. That’s not a great way to rebuild! If Jackson can’t be much more than Tony Allen (in an era where Tony Allen couldn’t even be Tony Allen), it’d be a significant blow.

Jaren Jackson, Jr. Wants to Make Post-Ups Great Again

It’s downright strange to watch Jaren Jackson, Jr. operate in the post and believe that he recently turned 19. The strength, stoicism, patience, determination, and technical skill has been unreal, and by letting him do work down low instead of placing him on the outside as a full-time spacer, the Memphis Grizzlies deserve credit for believing what their eyes (and early statistical returns) have told them.

The first time I watched him play in an NBA game, he sprinted up the floor, sealed 255-pound Derrick Favors just outside the restricted area, caught Marc Gasol’s entry pass, and immediately scored with a lefty jump hook.

Jackson Jr. already has a reservoir of post moves, and he executes them with admirable composure. He doesn’t get flustered or worry if his shot is contested, and can get to either hand whenever he wants. (Apologies to Favors.)

A first-class ass whooping at the hands of Golden State’s swarming defense on Monday night notwithstanding, Jackson Jr. is a migraine down low. He’s fluid, strong, and packs a delightful spin move that bigs around the league have yet to figure out. It’s a breath of fresh air watching someone that young enter the league with skills that are A) still valuable, B) inevitably unguardable one-on-one, and C) ostensibly extinct in the way he’s using them. According to Synergy Sports, Jackson ranks in the 73rd percentile on post-up possessions, and they account for 27.4 percent of his offense (the eighth-highest proportion in the league right now).

He’s still a rookie, and obviously needs to round out other areas of his game—Jackson Jr. is 1-for-14 from behind the three-point line since Memphis’s second game—but all that will eventually take care of itself. (He made 40 percent of his threes in college, was 5-for-9 in the preseason, and 14-for-28 during summer league.)

It’s just cool to see him contribute in a way that complements his veteran teammates while adding wrinkles to an offense that wants to be slow. Jackson Jr. is going to be so freaking good, and his advanced post game is a notable reason why.

The Buddy Hield Bandwagon is Ready to Roll

Buddy Hield’s hot start can be explained by absurd shooting numbers. Compared to last year, he’s up 11 percent at the rim, 10 percent from the mid-range, and 6 percent from deep (he made 43.1 percent of his threes in 2018, so, yeah, this dude currently exists as an inferno).

These numbers should come back to Earth—he's averaging 20 points, six boards, and three assists per game—but they're also a sign of his natural progression towards becoming an extremely valuable player type. Hield can shoot on the move, standing still, and pulling up in transition. He can escape-dribble his way into a cringeworthy albeit accurate long two or attack a closeout and then finish strong at the rim.

Even if Hield doesn't sustain his shooting splits (doing so would be super human), players who spend the entirety of a game racing around the court to leverage their gravity in myriad ways are a luxury. Chasing him off the ball for 32 minutes would be my idea of hell on Earth. Last year he averaged 1.95 miles per game, which was about the same as Rockets center Clint Capela. This year he’s at 2.62, trailing only three players in the entire league. Even more wild is Hield’s average speed. He’s one of the 15 fastest players in the league, but everybody who ranks higher doesn’t even cover half as many miles per game as he does.

Defense is a big issue; Hield was repeatedly obliterated by Eric Bledsoe over the weekend. But he’s still only 24 years old, with the stamina and shooting chops to potentially become a more dynamic version of J.J. Redick. This comparison is an absolute best-case scenario but also within the realm of possibility. It should make fans of the New Orleans Pelicans cry themselves to sleep, and fans of the Sacramento Kings feel great knowing their team's backcourt of the future is outscoring opponents by 11 points per 100 possessions when on the floor.

Hield isn't a star, but he doesn't need the ball to have a similar effect. That matters.

Watching Dante Exum Figure It Out is Pure Joy

One of the more fascinating contracts offered last summer was a three-year, $33 million deal awarded to Dante Exum by the Utah Jazz. I say “awarded” because the 23-year-old’s first four years in the NBA were mostly a collective dud. Facing obstacles that mostly weren’t his fault, Exum wasn’t able to write a resume that rationalized Utah’s decision.

He tore his ACL in 2015 while playing for the Australian national team, and two years later had a shoulder surgery that sidelined him for four months. When healthy enough to play, he shot miserably from deep and struggled to command Utah’s offense. Turnovers were high. Assists were low.

Exum’s defense flashed peaks that made playing him worthwhile, but the blurry end-to-end zip he displayed before his knee injury was but a flicker; much of his offensive play this season remains a concern (Exum still isn’t making threes or finishing at the rim), but there’s an aggression and confidence that weren’t there before. As the Jazz clearly believed when they offered that contract: It's not about what you've done, it's what you can do.

Just from watching him play, there are certain aspects of Exum’s game that make it impossible not to want to see how high his ceiling will be. He cuts hard, gifts soft lobs to Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert, relentlessly attacks the paint like someone who’s never felt pain, and draws fouls by bringing the ball low and tempting defenders to swipe at it, a la James Harden.

Exum also has an individualistic flair that allows him to stand out in a system that sometimes makes Donovan Mitchell look like Beyonce right before she left Destiny’s Child. Take the layup seen below as a prime example. It’s awesome. Exum darts to the basket and then, with time of the essence, seamlessly pushes off the wrong foot to kiss his layup off the glass before Karl-Anthony Towns can block it.

Plays like this only yield two points, but—speaking as someone whose bank account is completely unaffected regardless—they’re graceful enough to justify the investment Utah has made in Exum, and part of the reason why their offense averages a whopping 6.3 more points per 100 possessions when he’s in the game.

TL;DR: It’s Not a Bad Time to be a Hornets fan!

Most of the attention in Charlotte should be directed towards the good (a top-five offense and the league's sixth-best point differential!) and somewhat infuriating (the league’s worst win differential...again!) aspects of their surprising start. Beyond that, something unexpectedly attractive is happening to a franchise that once felt rudderless: The Hornets have an intriguing/good young core that makes their future much less bleak than it appeared to be 20 months ago.

Charlotte looks like a playoff team. They’re disciplined, explosive, led by the best point guard in the Eastern Conference, and their new reasons to be optimistic about the future double as explanations for their current success. The Miles Bridges, Malik Monk, Tony Parker, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Willy Hernangomez all-bench squad is crushing people by 22.1 points per 100 possessions (they’re +19 in 43 minutes). That’ll come down as opposing three-point shooters regress to the mean, but the group is still so watchable and quietly boasts a thrilling pair of 20-year-olds who play basketball without a seatbelt.

Bridges is experiencing natural growing pains but already looks like a positionless gem; James Borrego trusts him enough to play in crunch time and guard the opponent’s first option—as he did for a recent stretch against Russell Westbrook.

(This is kind of a random observation, but in comparing Bridges to Aaron Gordon, you can’t help but notice the benefits of falling in line on a team that already has accountability, direction, and a distinct pecking order. Bridges’s role is clear. He knows how to help and feed off his teammates. Meanwhile, in Orlando, Gordon’s “what should this dude be?” limitlessness was initially thrown against a wall just to see what would stick. Again, that was random, but something that went in my notebook last week while I was watching a Hornets game.)

Monk has been inefficient, but Tony Parker’s rejuvenated play lets him work off the ball instead of backing Kemba up at the point. Ask him to worry about others and Monk tends to overthink the game. Tell him to score and Charlotte’s offense makes a lot more sense. The most important thing about him and Bridges looking this good is the effect it’ll have on Walker’s unrestricted free agency. No matter what, locking him into a five-year max contract would not end well. But an expensive sub-max agreement that covers the next four or five seasons is much easier to swallow with Monk and Bridges providing a youthful push. With those two inevitably finding their way into Charlotte’s starting lineup, the Hornets can rebuild on the fly around their franchise point guard.

That’s easier said than done, pending how much Walker’s next contract is actually worth. Nicolas Batum’s current deal erases any path to cap space, while Bismack Biyombo, Marvin Williams, and Kidd-Gilchrist have $45 million worth of player options they’re likely to pick up. The following summer, with Walker paid (and Frank Kaminsky renounced), Cody Zeller, Bridges, Monk, and Batum’s player option are all that’s left on the books. Walker will be 31 then, but an opportunity to reshape their image around their intriguing young studs will present itself.

This Has Nothing to do With Basketball But…

Whenever a jump ball takes place during an NBA game, the world's two kinds of people reveal themselves: Those who want to hear "Jump" and/or "Pass the Courvoisier" get blasted over the PA system, and everybody else.

The Outlet Pass: Trae Young is Master of the Impossible Pass published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

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ball2thewallblog-blog · 6 years ago

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Big Game Hunting: Trading for Kawhi

TL Summary: Wizards have golden opportunity to be front-runners for Kawhi and class of the East. They need to act now

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As it has been rumored for a long, long time, Lebron James is officially an L.A. Laker. Since James has partnered with Wade/Bosh and Kyrie/Love, he has ruled the Eastern Conference. The Celtics and 76ers are now clearly the frontrunners, with teams like the Raptors, Bucks, Pistons and Wizards hoping for everything to break right for them to get to the Eastern Conference Finals at best.

Before Lebron announced his decision to head West for the first time in his career, there were only 4 teams considering making a run at another top 5 talent in the league, Kawhi Leonard. Two of those teams - the Lakers and the 76ers, were reportedly discussing trades with the Spurs mainly to get Lebron’s attention (or keep it, as the Lakers continued pursuit does). The other two teams - the Celtics and Clippers - were big game hunting, but both were without or unwilling to include the assets the Spurs were looking for.

That’s another note that makes the Kawhi situation interesting: What do the Spurs even want? It’s been reported that they have no interest in rebuilding, but they also have asked for a plethora of draft picks in stipulated trade talks. From what I gather, they want to compete (whatever that realistically means in the West) as long as Popovich is still coaching, while simultaneously setting themselves up for the future. In most cases, if your former best players have retired or are well on their way there, and your current best player wants out, you rebuild. You look to the draft and get off all your long-term contracts, while finding young players who could turn into your next franchise gem - or clear enough money so that you can sign him instead. But they want to go the Pacers route - retool, no matter who comes and goes - as their recent Rudy Gay and Marco Belinelli signings show. I have no doubt the Spurs can make it work, considering what they were able to accomplish last year without Kawhi.

Now that Lebron is westward, the 76ers seem to have cooled on their pursuit of Kawhi - though I think they would be wise to actually heat it up - and the Celtics never seemed to have their hearts in it anyway. The Lakers and the Clippers are all that is left, mostly due to Kawhi’s expressed desire to be back in his hometown. The Clippers have less assets now that we’re in post-draft season, and the Lakers are being hard bargainers. But why isn’t there a team like the Thunder last year, who is looking to take a huge chance for a superstar who can turn your franchise around if everything goes right?

Enter the Wiza… oh, nevermind. Through the experience of knowing who Ernie Grunfeld and Ted Leonsis are, no one counts the Wizards into the Kawhi equation. Everyone knows that Kawhi isn’t coming to D.C., so all the attention was on re-signing Mike Scott and maybe Ty Lawson or whatever.

… but as free agency has been passing the Eastern conference by and rumors continue to swirl around the Kawhi Leonard very-not-fun-sweepstakes, I’m asking myself: Why not D.C.?

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The Wizards are good. I think that’s hard to remember sometimes because they’re ran like a very mediocre franchise that has no interest in being GREAT. The Summer of 2016 ruined so many possibilities, and not many moves afterwards have been able to get the fanbase out of the disbelief that this team is 2nd (or 1st) round fodder. But they are good. And young. And they likely have a longer contention window than the Raptors and Heat and higher potential than the Bucks and Pistons. They continue to be right on the cusp of contendership, if things break right and fall into place (or some other star’s leg breaks). Well, the only opportunity for things to break right seems to be right now, and the Wizards have the ultimate chance to make things fall into place. So I present:

The San Antonio Spurs trade Kawhi Leonard to the Washington Wizards for...

Scenario 1:

The Small-Fundamentals

Wizards Send: Otto Porter ($26,011,913), Tomas Satoransky ($3,129,187), Troy Brown ($2,749,080), 2019 1st Round Pick (Top 5 Protected)

Spurs Send: Kawhi Leonard ($20,099,189), Patty Mills ($11,571,429)

Reasons this works for the Spurs:

Coming off the extremely un-Spursian situation with Kawhi, the Spurs get 3 smart, low-key young players to add to their core. There’s a lot of high BBIQ in this trio, and I’m sure Pop will be excited to develop these steady, 26-and-under-still-with-upside players who can (mostly) contribute to a winning team right now. The first round pick allows them get even younger, or use it to get another asset to help the win-now mentality.

Reasons this works for the Wizards:

They get Kawhi, a top 5 player to join Wall and Beal to make an all-star trio with as much immediate upside as any in the Eastern Conference. Kawhi likes to play a lot of Iso, Wall is only really useful with the ball in his hands, and with Beal’s recent affinity for… dribbling a lot, this isn’t a perfect fit. But it’s a massively talented one, with a clear pecking order and defined strengths among the three. D.C. has a coach that depends on his stars to ISO their way to victory, and there are few players better than that then Kawhi. (See the synergy numbers posted by @colezwicker. When Kawhi is healthy, he’s fantastic at everything here). The end of game option becomes Kawhi and Kawhi only, which allows coach to continue to be uncreative with his end of game offensive sets, as he’s one to be.

Patty Mills provides shot-making, range and ball-handling in spades. Having a dude who can hit stepbacks, shoot off movement and pull up for 3s will be a very welcome sight for a team that only has one player who can create at that level - Bradley. New-comer Austin Rivers has some of that ability as well, but Mills is the much better, more efficient version of him, and might be the harder one to move in a trade due to his contract. Wizards could look to trade Rivers because of the redundancy, or keep a hyper-offensive oriented backcourt off the bench. I know it usually hurts Wizards fans to think about giving up first round picks - it’s been done too many times before with reckless abandon - but the 2019 draft class is projected to be pretty weak in comparison to the last few and the next two, so if there was ever a time to strategically use that asset, it’s now.

The Money:

The money is pretty even for next year, making it a wash for both franchises in the short-term. The Spurs get off of Mills contract, which runs through the 2020-21 season. The Wizards get a rather expensive but reliable G in Patty, that they should happily take if it comes along with The Klaw.

Scenario 2:

Star Sample

Wizards Send: Bradley Beal ($25,434,263), Kelly Oubre ($3,208,630), Jason Smith ($5,450,000)

Spurs Send: Kawhi Leonard ($20,099,189), Danny Green ($11,571,429)

Reasons this works for the Spurs:

Bradley Beal is a better player than any other being talked about in Kawhi trades. He doesn’t offer quite the tantalizing potential of Jaylen Brown, Markelle Fultz or Brandon Ingram (or the rookie scale salary, either) but that’s only because he’s already a star. Not a superstar, but he proved last season that he could do a lot to lead a team’s offense while Wall was out for half of the year. He just turned 25, made a great leap last season - showing his passing/vision and off-the-dribble skills more than ever - and was asked to do that in Scott Brook’s Iso heavy system. In the Spurs setup, with a lot less pressure on him due to being next to LaMarcus Aldridge and the other shooters the Spurs have, Beal’s life would get a lot easier in San Antonio and might allow him to reach his very highest potential.

Kelly Oubre doesn’t seem exactly like the usual Spurs cup of tea, but they’ve shown that they are able to make the most of most players, and being in a structured system like theirs might do a lot for the soon to be restricted free agent. He could backup Rudy Gay at the 3 or step in as the starter there if they want some young, athletic legs in their to run with Dejounte Murray (and Beal, of course). And throw in Jason Smith to help the Wizards Cap situation, getting them under the tax for the time being. The Spurs have a knack for making use of unathletic big men who can shoot, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they make Smith look serviceable in a way Scott Brooks never could - or wouldn’t try to.

Reasons this works for the Wizards:

Kawhi, again. And Danny Green is still a terrific defensive player that can knock down a good clip from 3 point range - 36.3% on 4.6 attempts last year. He was also one of the guys in the Spurs locker room who was defending Kawhi throughout the season no matter what story the media got their grubby hands on or made out of thin air. He definitely never escalated the situation like the Spurs old (hall of fame) timers did. Hopefully there’s goodwill and friendship there. Green can step in as the starting 2 guard, or be a great option for your first wing off the bench. This also gives the Wizards two players - Leonard and Wall - who have so much gravity that there should be no excuses for Otto not to take 8 3s a game.

Does this mean Kawhi or Otto starting at the 2? I don’t know. I think it will be fine either way - Otto has shown that he is a good guard-defender when healthy, and Kawhi can guard anyone. In the best scenarios, this would mean Otto plays more 4 in important stretches of the game. Wall-Green-Leonard-Porter Jr-NERLENS NOELDwight Howard? That is some defense.

The Money:

The Wizards save a little over $2.4 million on this one, bringing them below the luxury tax. San Antonio makes a big salary commitment to Beal, but he’s worth every cent in today’s NBA. Having him locked in through the 2020-21 season along with having matching rights to Oubre’s unrestricted free agency next year are big pluses for them. Jason Smith comes off the books after this season, as does Danny Green.

Scenario 3:

Break the Glass In Case of Emergency

Wizards Send: Bradley Beal ($25,434,263), Otto Porter ($26,011,913), 2020 2nd Round Pick

Spurs Send: Kawhi Leonard ($20,099,189), Danny Green ($11,571,429), Pau Gasol ($16,800,000)

Reasons this works for the Spurs:

All the reasons I listed above for Beal and Otto. Getting two, just turned 25, super talented wings who are locked in for 3 more seasons is a great foundation to lay. If the Spurs want to compete in Pop's last years, this is the way to do it. There's not a better win-now offer on the table than this one. And there will never be one. Not even a trade centered around Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (not happening, btw) offers this much assurances to help the Spurs win in the very near future.

Reasons this works for the Wizards:

This might seem drastic. It's the By-Any-Wings-Necessary plan - the one you offer if some other team swoops in with a drastically better offer than what's been discussed so far. If that happens, I don't think it's a bad gamble to make. John Wall's Supermax kicks in next year, and it's really untenable to have him, Beal and Otto on the roster all making upwards of $27 million, even with the increase in salary cap over the next few years. This is the last ditch effort, swing for the fences offer that doesn't leave too much of a down side

Consider the Possible Outcomes:

1 - Kawhi comes here, is healthy, balls out next to Wall, they are the 2nd or 3rd best team in the East. Even in a series against the Celtics, the Wizards have 2 out of the Top 3 players in the series (I would definitively say they have the Top 2, but I understand lots of people would take Kyrie over Wall). That's giving yourself a real shot. If he bolts for the Lakers, you tried. If he loves it here and him and Wall become best friends, you have a repeat of the OKC Thunder situation, but with more cap-room, younger star players, in an easier conference. Dreams coming true

Or,

2 - Kawhi isn't healthy or hates it here and doesn't get to his peak level. You tried, it didn't work out, Kawhi leaves and you've got lots of cap space next summer to build around Wall again (that's also why it's important to keep Troy Brown, Oubre, Sato and all first round picks in this scenario - because this could end very badly)

Pau can be helpful for a year with his passing, shooting, and leadership. Even if he isn't his contract is only partially guaranteed for next year. Him and Green (can) come off the books after this season. Go get O'Quinn, Len, Jonas Jerebko, Wayne Ellington or whoever you can fit on the books to fill out the roster. Sato, Oubre, expiring Markieff Morris are all pretty good assets to help fill the gaps as well. If the Spurs insist on putting Mills in the deal, send over Rivers expiring deal to even things out

The Money:

The Wizards save about $3 million, which is why I threw in the 2nd round pick to sweeten the deal fo SA. It gives the Wizards a ton of flexibility moving forward, and the chance to Max Leonard. Spurs get the stability they want, with both Beal and Otto's contract running out around the same time Aldridge's does. _______

Why not the Wizards? While the Spurs are out here getting low-balled by the 6ers and Lakers, the Wizards have a chance to swoop in and take this - and themselves - seriously. The Celtics look monstrous but they are still young and have two stars with major health concerns. The 76ers are even younger and have less shooting than they did last year. These two teams are only going to get better, so the Wizards time is now. A big market team needs to let their fans big-market dream, and stealing the most undervalued generational player from their rivals (and Lebron) would restore so much of the faith they have lost.

In the Summer of 2016, The Wizard's front office showed they could think big with their pursuit of Kevin Durant and Al Horford. Now they have the opportunity to do a lot more than just think, or even dream it. It's time to come alive. The ball is in Ernie's court.

(All salaries from the terrific EarlyBirdRights.com)

#washington wizards #nba #kawhi leonard #san antonio spurs #nba trades #opinion #sports

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nokia-group-1-blog · 7 years ago

Text

In the End, The Choice is Yours

The night was so deep the shadows seemed to bleed darkness. James glanced toward the hidden sky, searching for the moon that would not come. Not tonight. Even the brightest starlight was strangled in the canopy of trees. The temporary blindness was frightening, but it ensured that no one would notice him slipping away.

With each step he took, the silent crackles of the twigs and dried leaves will be heard. Finally, he reached his destination: an old house. As he opens the door and took a step inside the house, the floor rattles. He was welcomed by a dustless living room. Passing it, he walks toward the stairs. After reaching the end of the stairs, he took a turn to the right. Closing his eyes, he opened the door of the room located at the end of the hallway.

The darkness of the room welcomed James. Inside the room was his life’s work. Now is the time to test it and be able to obtain the reason why he created this machine. Many people said that he was mad of ever thinking that he can make one. Alas, they are wrong and now he finally made one, his very own time machine.

James started working on the mechanism of the machine and pressed different gears for finishing touches. He desperately wants the thing to work, to be able to go back and change the things that have to be changed. So engrossed with his work, he didn’t notice the shadow that lurks the house. Watching and observing him from a far.

Sleep swallowed him as he works. In his sleep, come the terrible nightmares.

A girl crying and begging.

A woman dead in the arms of his husband.

A boy who looks bewildered, clueless of what’s happening.

A pool of blood.

A cracked glass.

Three lifeless body lying on the floor.

Then, it stops. Now, emptiness filled his dreams, a short break for an antagonizing agony that will come next. Another dream appears the memory that keeps on resurfacing no matter how hard he suppresses.

He woke up sweating and in an uncomfortable position. He looks at the calendar, then at the machine. “Tonight will be the perfect time for you to function”, he said longingly.

The night came; the stars are showering the night sky with its twinkling lights. The shadow of the trees engulfs the old house. Inside, James was preparing for his time travel, packing everything that he might need when he arrived in the past. As he packed his things, he saw a family picture, his family picture. He remembers the bittersweet memories that come with it. A tear fell from his eye, but he never bothered to wipe it out. It’s a reminder of everything that he needed to do.

James seized the old pocket watch and turned the gears to the time that he yearns to go back. The watch starts to turn fast and as it turns, there’s a blinding light that engulf James. Then puff, James is nowhere to be found. The old house is once again empty. However, in the midst of the darkness, there’s someone who witnessed all the things that happen tonight.

Opening his eyes, a new place welcomed him. A place so familiar to him. Standing up, he feels wobbly, like a fast train that hit him. He can’t stand straight because of the awful headache that he is experiencing. Then a curious looking woman comes to his aid,

“Hello, Mister. Are you alright? You seem to be in a tight situation.”

“I’m alright, I just have a headache. I can still manage”, James said while looking at the ground and steadying his stance.

The voice seems familiar, it brought back memories. Curious of whom the woman is, he looked up to see. It’s like the heavens are singing right now, happiness field his heart. He finally did it. He is now on the right timeframe. After so many years of trials, he did it.

The happiness is overwhelming that he started to cry. Then he hugged the woman out of joy. The woman looked bewildered at his reaction and kind of uncomfortable. He didn’t know the man but he looks familiar to her and she feels like she knows him all her life. She just let the man cry on his shoulder.

“Are you okay now, Mister?” she asked as the man finally stops crying and distanced himself away from her. “I’m sorry, Ma’am. It’s just because you look so similar to the person I know”, he apologized to the lady.

“I’m Jason, by the way. Thank you for your concern”, James introduced himself to the woman while using a fake name, hoping that she will also give her name. “I’m Louisa. Are you a traveler? I haven’t seen you around here before and I know the entire person here in town”, the woman said looking intriguingly at James. James doesn’t know what to say, his mind went blank for a second. He forgot that he is a stranger in this timeframe.

A person with no identity and a nomad.

So he just said yes to Louisa and explained that he is from a town far away from here. “Is there any available place to stay here?” he said inquiring Louisa, hoping that she will let him stay at her house.

“You can stay in our house. There’s an extra room there that you can use.” The way to Louisa’s house is so familiar to him. The canopy of trees and the bumpy road. There are puddles of water around and the grass are still wet, it seems that rain has just passed by. They arrived at a small two story house. They were welcomed by the noisy squabble of a girl and a boy. A muscular man approached them, who hugged Louisa.

Their home is so lively. The sound of laughter filled the house. He can smell the delicious soup broiling in the caldron. The smell of the fresh flowers in the vases. The sight of the scenery in the balcony.

Louisa introduced him to her family. They whole heartedly accept James in their household. The one who hugged Louisa is his husband, Danny, a large muscular man. The girl who is arguing with her little brother is Lisa, a petite and brunette girl. Finally, James, who has a clean, cut hair, tanned skin, and a handsome young man.

The 13 years old version of him.

Seeing him feels nostalgic. It feels like he wants to take the life of the young James but he couldn’t, his time has already passed. The only thing that he can do is change the circumstances and save them. He will save his family. Maybe his present will also change and he will have his family back.

Night came, the meal was great as he expected. His mother was a great cook. While they were eating, the family members were talking to each other. James was staring at them as they joke with one another, laughing, and telling stories that make up their day. It’s a sight to behold. A memory surfaces, wherein he was the young James, he was the one laughing and telling funny stories. It’s all in his past; it’s here in their present.

It’s time to retire the night and go to sleep. Louisa approaches him and brought him some blanket, “Here, take these. You can use the room at the end of the hallway.” He took the blanket and thanked Louisa for letting him stay in their house. He entered the room and takes a look at the veranda of the room. The night was so beautiful, the moon filled the sky with its blinding light and the stars are exceptionally brighter tonight. Amidst, this beautiful night will be a terrifying event that changed James life forever.

In his room, James is laying in the bed staring at the ceiling. Remembering the things that will happen tonight. If memory serves right, there will be a big fire. It’s still painful to reminisce. He remembers it clearly, especially because he will be the cause of the fire and he will be the only survivor in that incident.

Then, James’ family was soundly sleeping. He, on the other hand, was still wide awake and seems anxious for a reason he don’t know. So, he got up and gets himself a glass of milk but there is no hot water. While boiling, James decided to take a stroll outside and watch the beautiful night sky. The sky was so clear and the blanket of stars envelops it. He can see so many constellations. So engrossed in star gazing, he forgot that he was boiling water.

After the stroll, he goes back to their house, but alas. The house is on fire, the hot red flower was consuming his house and his family, too.

They are trapped inside.

He tried to go inside and save them, yet the authority won’t allow him. He tried and tried and tried. But the fire is so big now that it’s impossible to go inside.

Despair consumed his heart. He hates himself for what he has done. He hates himself for being the only one alive. He hates himself that he killed his own family. That day he made a vow, he will do everything to turn back the time and these time he will definitely save them.

James went downstairs, to see if the young version of him had gone down. There he saw young James pouring water in the kettle.

“Can’t sleep?” he asked as he approached the young James. “Yes, so I’m getting myself a glass of milk. Want some?” young James asked while starting the fire. “No, thank you. Why can’t you sleep? Is there anything bothering you”, he asked even though he already knew the answer.

He is him after all.

“I just feel anxious, today, I can’t explain”, he answered James. The conversation between the two James continue until they become so sleepy and have to retire the night and go to sleep.

James was ecstatic when he woke up in the morning. He stopped the fire it means that he saves the lives of his family. It also means that they are alive in his timeframe now. He is eager to go back, so he said his farewell to Louisa and her family. He thanked them for their warm welcome. As they part, he saved the picture of his family in his memory and treasured it in his heart.

He put out his pocket watch and turned the gears to the time where he belongs. It’s another nauseating ride and amass headache. But it’s all worth it; just imagining that his family is in their house alive takes all the pain away.

When he arrives at his time, a new set of memories bombarded his mind. As the new memories come; he remembers the changes that happen. He starts to cry, “No, no, no. I save them. I change it. So why?! Why are they still not here?!” Then he laughs, he laughed really hard, “It must be a joke. They are alive. My mind is just messing with me.”

He runs as fast as he could to his old house. When he was near the door, he stopped. It’s true, the memories are true. They are still dead; they never live past that date. He sat on the rung of the stairs, looking forlorn. Staring at the ground as if it has all the answer that he needed; he recalls all the changes that happen.

He saved them from the fire, but they didn’t die because of the fire. They died because someone else killed them. That’s what his dreams were all about.

The girl that was weeping and begging was Lisa.

The pool of blood.

The lifeless woman in the arms of his husband.

His father being tortured by a group of men.

He witnessed it all. He saw how they were killed. He saw all the gruesome things that they did to them. They were suffering, while he was hidden in the cabinet where his mother placed him. He saw everything in the fissure of the cabinet. He wants to erase them all.

He looks up at the dark sky and weep.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have changed anything. I should have just accepted the fact that you are dead. If I didn’t turn back the time, you won’t experience those things”.

The rain starts to pour, but he just stayed there soaking and crying silently. All of the things that he had built have gone astray. He can’t use the time machine now. The young James that he met never builds one, instead he sought after the murderers that killed his family.

James has no time left in making another time machine. He already consumed his life line and that would be the last time travel that he had done. He already gave his all and sacrificed his own life for changing the past.

He got up, drench in the rain, and slowly moved into the house. As he walks inside, droplets of water fall in the floor. The last essence of his life is slowly fading away. He walks past every room, remembering all the happy memories that he created with his family. The good and the bad, everything is essential and everything will always remain in his heart and mind.

As the last essence left, he thought “Maybe I should have just moved on and never gone back to the past. Maybe if I just accepted the truth, everything had gone well. Maybe I have my own family now. But, look what I have done. I made everything worse. I made them suffer more. I should have never fought with destiny. Mom. Dad. Lisa. I’m so sorry.”

James left the world with a heart full of regrets. Regrets can never redeem. Regrets that lick him up in his entire life.

...

This Story is Made by Claire Aubrey Altamera, Jackylyn Tibor and Argie Balingbing.

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