#So we're shooting bottle rockets right?

[ibetittering]

As soon as I heard black and orange I knew what had to be done 😩

[arc-misadventures]

I know it's a day early but I have to put it out now

Friends AU: After team RWBY throws a big Halloween/Birthday Party that involves all of Atlas and part of Mantle, how does the gang react to finding out Jaune never went to the party because he never got an invite even though Team RWBY all swear they invited him?

One Invitation Short

Ruby: WHOOO!

Ruby: It's my birthday~!

Nora: Let's fucking party!

Yang: Happy birthday sis!

Blake: Halloween birthday party! WHOO!

Ren: Happy birthday, Ruby.

Weiss: Congratulations, Ruby.

Penny: This is my first friends birthday party I've ever attended.

Oscar: Mine too.

Yang: Then we'll have to make sure this is one hell of a party!

Ren: But, not too big of a party. The janitorial staff haven't been looking at us kindly since the soda bottle rocket incident...

Weiss: Hey don't look at me like that. That was totally their fault!

Nora: Hey, it was an accident!

Weiss: You got pink soda all over me!

Ruby: We said we were sorry!

Weiss: My clothes are still in the drycleaners getting all the pink out of my clothes!

Yang: I have some photos of her all drenched in cream soda, wanna see?

Blake: Oh please!

Weiss: Noooo!

Blake: HA! Oh you look like a princess from a kids book in a pink dress!

Yang: Pfft! Oh shit, she does!

Weiss: guys?!

Ruby: Don't worry, Weiss, you'll always be beautiful even in pink!

Weiss: Shut up...

Nora: Don't be a downer guys! Let's eat some cake, and celebrate!

Yang: Yeah! I want some cake!

Oscar: What kind of cake is it?

Ren: Cookies, and cream.

Oscar: I've never had that before.

Weiss: Me either, it sounds nice.

Yang: Alright everyone around the table so we can sing happy birthday, and eat the cake.

Nora: Cake!

Blake: Okay.

Ruby: I'm so excited.

Yang: Okay, birthday girl is in the main seat... Penny... Weiss, Blake... Nora, and Ren... Oscar, and Penny have a seat. And, we're just waiting on you, Ja...?

Yang: ...?

Yang: Wait...? Where's, Jaune?

Weiss: He's here... right?

Nora: Y-You guys invited him... right?

Yang: Well... I was going to tell him, but I got dragged away on a mission, so I asked, Blake to do it.

Blake: I remember, Yang asked me to tell him. And, I was going to tell him! but, then I saw that there was this sushi restaurant... and, I haven't had sushi in so long... A-And, I heard, Mantle sushi is really well know for how good it is... and... s-sushi...

Yang: Uhh, Blake...? Blake? (Snap, Snap, Snap!) Hey, stay with us!

Blake: Sorry! I went to the sushi restaurant, and I sent a message to, Weiss to have her tell him instead.

Weiss: I remember that call; I was going to complain to, Blake about dumping her responsibility on me. But, she sounded like a junkie needing her fix when she was talking about that sushi restaurant.

Yang: That...! That sounds true...

Ruby: Yeah, she enters this weird trance when it comes to sushi...

Nora: It rather scary really...

Weiss: Well I decided to tell, Jaune so, Blake could get her... fix... And, I was about to tell him...! And, then the soda bottle incident happened...?!

Nora: Sorry...

Weiss: And, you all know what happened... So, while I went to get changed, and have a shower. So I asked, Ruby to do instead.

Ruby: And, I did!

Nora: If you did, then why isn't, Jaune here?

Ruby: I don't know?! I went to him during dinner, we chatted about out missions, and then I handed him this handmade invitation letter!

Weiss: A handmade invitation?

Ruby: Yes!

Weiss: That same letter that's in your hands, right now...?

Ruby: Ya, this the same lett...?!

Ruby: Oh...?

Ruby: Oh shoot...

Nora: So... you all weren't able to tell, Jaune about the party because you were distracted by one thing, or another... And, when you finally got to him, you didn't hand him the invitation?!

Ruby: Sorry...

Yang: I got called away...

Blake Sushiiiiiiiii~!

Weiss: I'm not apologizing...

Nora: Ohh... Penny?!

Penny: Yes, Friend Nora?

Nora: D-Did you send, Jaune a message?

Penny: Let me check.

Penny: ...

Penny: I do not have, Jaune Arc in my list of contacts...? Odd... I must preform a self-diagnostic...

Penny: Scanning...

Penny: System corruption located... Fixing.

Penny: Fixed! The contact information of one, Jaune Arc has been found!

Penny: I shall contact him, and hopefully, Friend Jaune will come join us soon!

Nora: Awesome!

Weiss: Oh thank goodness, hopefully, Jaune will join us soon.

Yang: Yes, it wouldn't be a party without my best blond pal!

Ruby: Hopefully he will come here soon, and we can continue the party, and...

Penny: What...?!

Yang: Is... is something wrong, Penny?

Penny: Jaune just replied to my invitation... He said, 'No thank you...'

Nora: What?!

Ruby: Jaune... rejected the invitation... to... to my birthday party...?

Penny: I'm afraid so...

Ruby: But... why...?

Penny: I... I don't know...

Ruby: But...?!

Penny: I'm sorry, Ruby.

Ruby: ...

Ruby: I see...

Ren: We did it again... we failed our friend...

Nora: What are you talking about, Ren...? We're not, Jaune's friend... We never were...

RWBYNPRP: ...

Ruby: ...

Ruby: FUCK!!!

~~~

Winter: Who was that?

Jaune: No one important... Sorry about that interruption, Sir.

Ironwood: That's alright, Mr. Arc. Now then, tell me what is it that you wanted to talk about?

Jaune: Winter made me an offer the other day, and I wanted to know, what would my duties be if I accepted her offer, and became, a Specialist.

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

The 'Language is Stupid' Game

Okay, so, I've been rereading your Marvel fics, specifically the Peter-centric ones. And they gave me an idea. What if Peter is sleeping over at his friend's house---let's say with his two besties MJ & Ned---and poor Spider Baby has a nightmare related to his superhero duties as Spiderman? It's a pretty bad nightmare, and he jolts awake, very confused and scared and a bit freaked out. Maybe his friends comfort him cause they already know he's Spiderman and goes through a lot bc of what being a superhero entails. Platonic all the way. Found family shenanigans. Anyway, no pressure to write it! Had it on my mind and wanted to share <3 Take care, Asbod! – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: peter has a nightmare/panic attack

Pairings: gen

Word Count: 3205

Peter wakes up from a nightmare during a sleepover with Ned and MJ. After a few moments of let's-all-be-glad-we're-alright cuddles, MJ has a rather unconventional solution for how to pass the time.

Can't breathe. Can't breathe. Can't breathe can't move can't breathe can't move can't let them down acan't stop now can't fail can't breathe can't move can't move can't fail can't can't can't can't—

"Peter. Peter."

There's a hand on his shoulder. The hand is made of concrete. His spine is going to break. He can't breathe. He can't move. He can't stop. He can't breathe—

"Shit, get the blanket off of him."

"I'm trying, I'm trying!"

"Peter? Pete, it's okay. It's okay, you're okay, you're fine."

He's not fine. His spine is about to break. He's about to fail and he can't fail, he can't move, he can't breathe—

"Peter," he hears again, the voice quiet and soft in his ear, "hey, it's okay. You're okay. Can you hear me?"

He gasps. His chest spasms. His hand shoots out in front of him and hits something—soft?

"Oh, shit, you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm—hh, I'm fine. I'm good. Is he…?"

"Peter? Hey, Peter, wake up, it's just a nightmare."

Peter blinks. He blinks and one of his hands automatically goes to his neck to try and loosen his costume, but he's not wearing his costume, he's just in a t-shirt and he's…he's in a bed? He gasps again, his throat on fire, and something swims into view in front of him.

"Hey, there he is," he hears as a face appears, "hey, Pete, you back with us? You okay?"

"M—MJ?"

"Yeah, Pete, it's me. Ned's…Ned's on the floor."

A blurry thing sticks up from the other side of a mound of some more blurry things and waves. Ned's arm, probably. Peter blinks. His chest is still on fire too. He looks down at his hand. It's shaking. Why is his hand shaking?

"Hey." He looks up. MJ's still looking at him like he's about to disappear into the floor. "Hey, Peter, can you—can you do one of your grounding tests?"

"Um—" shit, is that what I sound like?— "yeah, yeah, that's…that's probably a good idea."

"Great. Can you, uh, can you tell me five things that you can see?"

"There's a, uh, there's a blue pillow over there that has that weird scorch mark from where we tried to make bottle rockets with the Stark Tech, there's the crack in the ceiling from where we didn't know that I could jump that high, there's the, uh, there's the blanket that Ned's grandma brought us 'cause she thought we'd be cold, there's the watch Yelena gave us last week, and there's the, um…there's the charging cord you ripped apart when you stole it from that Zionist guy at the library."

"Okay. And four things you can hear?"

"Uh…" He closes his eyes only for his chest to tighten right away and they snap open. "Uh, I'm—I'm talking, the air conditioner's going, there's—there are cars outside, and uh, the uh—the light in the bathroom's buzzing again."

"What about touch?"

He fumbles a bit on the blanket—one, nice and soft—to get the charm thing Wanda gave him from where it came off during the nightmare—two, hard and cool to the touch—and then hesitantly reaches out for MJ. She takes his hand and holds hit tight—three.

"Okay, good," she says when he tells her, "and smell?"

He sniffs a few times and has to sniffle through some of the gross nightmare crying stuff. "Uh, someone next door's making pizza again and they didn't close their windows. And, uh, I think your grandma left the candle on in the hall again?"

"Oh, shit." Ned scrambles up and ducks outside.

"And taste?"

He licks his lips. Something coppery catches on the edge of his tongue and his eyes widen. "Blood?"

"Come here, let me see." MJ squints at him. "I think you just bit your lip. You're okay."

"Okay."

"You feel any better?"

"Yeah," he says as Ned comes back in and crawls onto the bed too, "yeah, I think—I think I got it. I, uh, I'm sorry, I just—"

"Hey, you don't need to apologize." Ned shuffles closer. "You're a superhero. You're gonna have shitty nightmares. That's how it works."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you guys have to—"

"Have to what?" MJ narrows her eyes. "Have to be your friends? Have to support you when you have nightmares?"

"I just meant that—"

"Have to treat you like a person who needs support sometimes because we're all human and we have to do that?"

"Okay, okay," he mumbles, shoving her shoulder with their clasped hands, "you made your point."

"Good."

He blinks a few more times, the phantom pain from the nightmare still wreaking havoc on his shoulders. Ned shifts again to get the blanket out from under him and push it on the ground.

"Can I have some water?"

"Yeah, yeah, it's right here." Ned reaches over and picks up his water bottle.

"Thanks. Hey, uh, why were on the floor earlier?"

"Oh, you know," Ned says in that way that he always does when he's trying to hide something and failing miserably, "just, uh, thought I'd give you guys some space."

Peter frowns. He goes back over the last few minutes until his eyes widen. "Oh, shit, did I push you off?"

"What? No, no…okay, maybe, but! It wasn't your fault and it didn't even hurt that bad. Well—the falling off the bed hurt more than the punch. I mean, it wasn't like it hurt bad, it didn't even—okay, well, I don't think I have a bruise or anything. Or—maybe just one. Just one! But it's not your fault," he says when Peter looks even more distraught, "it's not, okay? I'm not mad, I don't blame you, I'm all good. It's like what Dr. Strange said, right? I'm a rubber ball! Everything just bounces off of me!"

"That wasn't what he meant, I don't think," Peter says, reaching out for him too, "are you—you're seriously good? I didn't mean to—"

"I know, I know. And I'm totally fine. Seriously." Ned takes his hand and makes him fist bump. "See? All good, Peter, we're all good."

"Okay."

Outside, a car drives by and a cat runs down the alley, meowing its protest.

"Well, hey," MJ says, reaching down to her backpack, "since none of us are gonna go to sleep for a while, let's play a game."

Ned glances at Peter, who nods. "Sure. I like games. What game are we playing?"

"It's called Language is Stupid." MJ takes out her notebook and flips to a blank page. "Okay, everyone write down five songs you know that the rest of us will know."

Peter takes the notebook and pen with a shaky hand and writes down five songs. He passes it to Ned, who passes it back to MJ. When she's written the last song, she rips out the page and tears all of the song titles into individual strips of paper.

"Ned, where's your hat?"

"It's in the closet, hold on."

"Thanks." She puts all the pieces into the hat and gives it a shake. "Okay, everyone pick one. Don't show anyone else."

Peter takes a piece of paper, glancing at it. "Just one, right?"

"Yeah, just one for now. Okay, now what we're gonna do is put the lyrics of the song up until the first chorus into Google Translate a shit ton of times and then read it out so the other people can guess what song it is."

"Wait, why is this game called Language is Stupid?"

"You'll see. Ready?"

"Wait, hold on, I need my phone."

"Can you hand me mine too?"

"Dude, you have a Spiderman case?"

"Yeah, my best friend's Spiderman, I can have a Spiderman case."

"Thanks, dude."

"Are you two ready?" They nod. "Okay. You have five minutes, go."

The next five minutes are spent peppered with various snickers and noises of confusion before MJ calls time. Peter shakes his head, looking down at his results and Ned fully snorts into his hand while MJ scribbles a makeshift scoreboard on a new page.

"Okay, who wants to go first?"

"Me." Ned sits up a little taller. "You guys aren't ready for this."

"Bring it on."

"We are talking about insects. Words fail me I will say one thing We saw that today It was too far I came with your wife, didn't I?

I like it I like it It will be left behind One or two days."

"I'm sorry, you did what with my wife?"

"Why are we talking about insects? What song is this?" Peter laughs incredulously. "What the—read it again, read it again."

"That's literally—okay," MJ says when Ned reads it again—they have to take a pause about halfway through because Ned's laughing too hard to be understandable—"maybe we should be looking more at the patterns of the sentences than the words themselves."

"So it's a lot of short sentences that sort of repeat but not really." Peter steeples his fingers under his chin. "'I like it…I like it…' What was the ending?"

"'One or two days.'"

"Wait, wait, wait, no way, is that 'Take on Me?'"

"No fucking way," Peter groans as Ned laughs and nods. "How the fuck did you get that? And where the hell did the insects come from?"

"'Cause it's—well, I don't know about the insects, but the wife thing—the actual lyric is 'I'll be coming for your love,' or something like that. So if it went through a bunch of times and turned into 'wife—'"

"Yeah, MJ got it."

"Sweet. So that's one point for me…"

Ned laughs as Peter shakes his head and flops onto his shoulder. "Don't worry, buddy, you'll get the next one."

"Dude, this game is way harder than I thought it was gonna be."

"Okay, me next." MJ squints at her phone. "I think this one is easier than Ned's was."

"Oh, good."

"Ready?"

"Yep."

"Go for it."

"You are my light a desirable feeling Believe me when I tell you This is what I want

But our two worlds are different. I can't hold your heart When you speak This is what I want

Please explain the reasons for this. Not bad, but sad Please explain the reasons for this. This is wrong. Please explain the reasons for this. I don't want to hear what you have to say. This is what I want."

"Oh, come on, this is way easier!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, that's fucking…Backstreet Boys Brooklyn 99 song. What's it called…" Peter flaps his hand. "'I Want it That Way,' that one."

"Yeah, you got it."

"Not bad, but sad," Ned sings, "this is wrong,' dude, that's so much better than the original."

"I will have no Backstreet Boy slander in this bed, sir."

"This is my house!"

"Then you should know better."

"That's one point for Peter," MJ says, ignoring the two of them, "okay, Peter, your go."

"Alright, you two better get ready for this one."

"Bring it on."

Peter hides a grin. "Imagine you are walking down the hall. I didn't hear, no, I didn't hear any sound. "Easy marriage!" Happy marriage!" - But unfortunately he bit the poor groom.

"Did you hear the door slam?!" No, it's better to approach it with kindness and understanding. "Didn't you hear someone knocking on the door?" I ended the conversation. No, it's my heart."

When he looks up from his phone, both Ned and MJ are staring at him like he's grown two heads. He smiles and tilts his head.

"Well?"

"I'm sorry, I thought we were playing the Google Translate the lyrics game, not who can read the most edgy indie poetry game."

"What the—are you sure this is a song that we all know?"

"Yeah, you guys know it."

"And this is like—this is the first verse and the chorus, right, this isn't like the weird coda of the extended version that's only available on the physical album from 1978, right?" Peter nods, still grinning. "What the—okay, you need to read it again."

Peter reads it again. And again. And each time MJ looks closer and closer to hitting him with a pillow and Ned looks more and more like he's never heard a single song in his life.

"Okay, wait, can we get a hint?"

"It's one of the ones you wrote down."

"Me? Why did I do this to myself?"

"Ned, quick, tell me what songs you wrote down."

"I don't remember!"

"How do you not remember, it was less that ten minutes ago."

"It is the middle of the night, my brain is so offline right now."

"Pssh, what kind of high school student are you?"

"The kind that doesn't know what song this is supposed to be!"

Peter stifles a giggle. MJ rolls her eyes, throwing her hands up and leaning off the edge of the bed. Ned screws his face up and starts muttering to himself, probably trying to remember what it was he wrote down.

"Ugh, Pete, just read it one more time."

"Imagine you are walking down the hall—"

"Oh, wait!" Ned shouts loud enough that they all have to have an 'oh shit' moment before he continues in a stage whisper. "It's the Panic! At the Disco song!"

MJ sits up. "It's the what?"

"The one with the wedding! The poor groomsbride is a—wait, what did that change to?"

"But unfortunately he bit the poor groom."

"What the fuck is that?"

"I don't know, it changed itself to—hey!" He splutters when a pillow hits him in the face. "What was that for?"

"You know what you did."

"This game was your idea!"

"Shut up. Ned gets that point."

Ned's still shaking his head like he has no idea how they got here, which to be perfectly honest, neither does Peter. They exchange a quick fistbump while MJ reaches for the hat again.

"All tied up after round one, let's do another one."

They keep playing. MJ gets them all equally angry about her version of 'Rain on Me,' they have to have a full pause so they can all asphyxiate from laughter at Ned's 'Somebody That I Used to Know,' and Peter's pretty sure he should take a picture of MJ's face as her contact photo when he reads out Google Translate's take on 'Rocketman.'

"That's homophobic, that's what that is."

"Come on, MJ, don't you want the slogan to be 'We will kill you?'" He dodges another pillow. "Rocketman…is the only one here…"

"You suck."

Eventually, they're down to the last one. MJ has 6 points, Ned has 3, Peter has 5. Ned's the last one to go and if the way he hasn't stopped snickering is anything to go by, they're in for it.

"We are not strangers You know the rules as well as I do. So I think so You can't meet anyone else I'll let you know what's on my mind You have to think about it I won't give it to you

I won't give it to you I won't give it to you I won't make you cry I don't want to stop I won't lie to you and I won't hurt you."

For long seconds after he finishes reading, no one says anything. He looks up from his phone, still giggling. Peter is stone-faced. MJ isn't so much as breathing.

"Well? What do you guys think it is?"

"You think you're clever?"

"I didn't write this one down!"

"You think you're really funny, huh?"

"I don't know what's so funny about this one."

"I'm disowning you as my best friend."

"Aw, Pete…"

"Friendship with Ned ended, MJ is my best friend now."

"Aw, but the song says—" Ned doesn't get to finish because MJ throws a pillow at him. "Hey!"

"You will not," she continues, picking up another pillow, "Rickroll us via Google Translate in this decade."

"I won't give it to you, I won't give it to you—hey!" He grabs a pillow and swats back. "Stay back!"

"Oh, yeah? Peter, help me!"

"In the name of decent memery and standards for clickbait, I cast thee out!"

Ned squawks—and nearly falls off the bed again—before he manages to hit either of them with the pillows. The room fills with the sound of rustling blankets and the thwomp of pillows hitting things as the hat tumbles to the ground, spilling bits of paper everywhere. MJ's notebook is the next to go. Phones clunk onto the floor, someone's leg ends up over the headboard, and eventually the three of them get so tangled up in the blankets they can't even move anymore. Peter lies there, panting, still breathless with laughter.

"Hey," Ned calls after a few seconds, still heaving too, "so who won?"

"Oh, uh—nah, fuck it, I can't reach."

"I think MJ, you won."

She raises one arm and lets it flop over her face. "Yay. Victory is mine."

Ned and Peter golf clap. She flips them both off.

"Hey, Peter?" Ned nudges him. "You feel better?"

He blinks. That's right, he'd had a nightmare. That's what started all of this. But even as sleep tugs at him, he doesn't feel as though he's about to fall back into any sort of spiral. Instead, the whole room just feels…fuzzy. Like the way the house feels when you fall asleep on the couch during a party and someone carries you to bed. Like it's safe. Like he's just a normal kid having a sleepover with his friends and he gets to be tired now.

"Peter?"

"Yeah," he mumbles, "yeah, yeah, I'm…I'm all good now."

MJ extricates herself from the worst of the blanket tangle and lies down next to him. "You wanna try to sleep some more?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

"Ned, get up here."

"Coming, coming."

The three of them manage to sort the blankets out enough to actually get under them. Ned reaches over to turn off the light. Peter stares up at the crack in the ceiling, drifting towards sleep, when the best idea occurs to him.

"Hey, guys," he mumbles, words already slurring, "we should…we sh'ld play this game with the 'vengers this weekend."

"Go to sleep, Pete, tell us dumb ideas tomorrow."

"'S not dumb…it'd be fun."

"Only if Ned and I get to hide when the pillow fight starts."

"Deal."

[foodfightnovelization]

Chapter 15: Analysis and Discussion

We dive right into Chapter 15 with a scene that IS in the movie... but in the movie it takes place much earlier, in the middle of Dex and Dan's conversation with Dr Nustrix. It's been moved to here in the novelization, but it's basically the same otherwise- Brand X are slaughtering even more Ikes and kill one of them, a toothpaste mascot called Twinkleton, with a giant dentist's drill. That's... terrifying, but thankfully we cut away just as the screaming begins.

We go back to Dex and Dan's predicament, and once again this is a scene that's almost entirely omitted from the movie. As I mentioned in my analysis of Chapter 14, in the movie this is a very brief 15-second segment. Dex and Dan shoot through the freezer case on their soda bottle, warn Polar Penguin that Brand X is behind the rubouts and to bring every Ike he can to the Copabanana, then shoot back out of the freezer case again, still atop their bottle rocket.

Here in the novelization, the scene is COMPLETELY different and has been expanded into a whole action-packed chase sequence. After their crash in the previous chapter, Dex and Dan get up and see Brand X soldiers chasing them on snowmobiles, as well as more soldiers setting off explosives on a nearby mountain to cause an avalanche. With Brand X closing in on them, Polar Penguin pulls up on a toboggan and offers the two a lift. Dan insists he drive, and Dex quips that if he drives this thing as badly as he flies his plane they're in for a bumpy ride. The toboggan zips through tunnels of ice and over jumps as Dex explains to Polar that Brand X is behind everything, just as a Brand X snowmobile closes in on them. This is WAY cooler than what was in the movie- there's action, there's a chase, there's a whole AVALANCHE following them on top of everything else. Once again, the novelization wins out here as being far superior to the actual movie. And the chase only continues on the next page!

Dan once again attempts the loop-de-loop, but just like with his plane he fails- Dex, Dan and the toboggan are shot out of the freezer case and back into the aisles of the supermarket. Polar jumps off the toboggan in time, and as Dex and Dan sail through the air, Dex warns Polar to bring every Ike he can to the Copabanana that night. Dex and Dan continue flying through the air, but a loudspeaker announces the store is now closing. Mr Leonard walks out of the Expiration Station, and the two shoot towards it on their toboggan just as the steel doors start closing behind him.

So YEAH, as I mentioned this whole scene is very different to what ended up in the movie- in the movie, Dex and Dan just shoot out of the freezer case on their bottle rocket from earlier, since they never crashed and that whole chase scene never even happened. Really makes you feel like you missed out, huh? I wonder if this whole thing was just reduced to a short 15-second scene because it would've been expensive and time consuming to animate an entire James Bond-style mountain chase for what ultimately doesn't add a whole lot to the story other than being COOL AS FUCK. After all, even though the movie's version of this scene is way shorter and less interesting, it DOES still accomplish the same thing- Dex explaining to Polar that Brand X is behind everything and to bring everyone to the Copabanana later. I still really wish we could've seen all this in the movie- but hey, that's what novelizations are for, right?

Dex and Dan finally land in the Expiration Station, and we're finally back to a scene that's at least SOMEWHAT similar to what we see in the movie, though there are still a lot of changes. They land on their toboggan at the base of a computer desk, and look around at the Expiration Station- all the Ikes that were rubbed out before are kept here, with the place resembling a giant morgue. Dan is incredibly upset by what he's seeing, and Dex tells him not to blame himself, before they see a dark shadow and mistake it for an Xobyte. Dex comes up with both price tag guns blazing (when was it ever mentioned he had two?), only to find out it's not an Xobyte at all. They're actually face to face with Vlad Chokool, a chocolate vampire Ike who survived being wiped out by Brand X.

In the movie, Dan and Dex land on their bottle rocket from earlier (since we never got that COOL AS FUCK chase scene! Sorry, I'm still not over that) and they land in the middle of the room, not by a computer desk. When they look around at the Expiration Station, there's an additional line from Dan not present in the novelization. He says he never should've chip-slapped Krispy, making it clearer he blames himself for what happens. They DO see what they believe is an Xobyte, but Dex only pulls out one price tag gun to try and fend him off (I think this might just be a weird quirk of the novelization- we never see him with two guns, and it's never been mentioned he had two before). Vlad Chokool's introduction, and indeed ALL of his dialogue is entirely different. However, there IS a reason for that. Larry Miller, the voice actor for Vlad, is clearly just improvising all his dialogue in the movie. This is very apparent if you watch it- he cuts himself off and makes weird pauses, there's a much looser tone to everything he's saying, and most glaring of all, none of the other characters actually REACT to anything he's saying. Here's a compilation of all his scenes below so you can see for yourself (originally posted on Youtube, entitled "Best of Vlad Chocul". I had some problems with videos displaying properly on the blog so had to manually upload it here)

So yeah, once again this is another scene with vast differences between the novelization and the movie. It's all the same basic beats, but all of Vlad's lines are vastly different. After all, Larry Miller's improvised dialogue from the movie couldn't possibly have ended up in the novelization- novelizations typically work from a movie's script, usually an early draft, and so anything the actors improvise wouldn't end up in the novelization because the author would have no way of knowing about it.

The scene continues on the next page, with a vastly truncated version of Vlad's scene. Due to being a chocolate vampire he shows an interest in Dan, and explains that the Xobytes got him just like all the other Ikes but due to him being a vampire and thus undead, it had no effect on him. He even lifts up his cape and we're shown a large stinger mark on his butt.

This whole thing goes pretty differently in the movie, although as mentioned above this is just down to Larry Miller's improvisation. In the movie he pauses and stumbles over his words a few times and there's a lot more to him flirting with Dan- including asking if he works out, and mentioning he uses the Thighmaster. He also doesn't show the Xobyte stinger mark, and instead explains that he's the undead- not exactly dead but not exactly living either, before riffing about how it's kinda like being in summer school.

Chapter 15 draws to a close, and in an INCREDIBLY rare win for the movie, I've gotta say I prefer its version of Vlad over the novelization's. Larry Miller's improviations sound like he's just goofing around a little, enjoying the role and coming up with his own spin on th echaracter, which is a lot more fun to listen to. In contrast, the novelization's version of Vlad feels incredibly bland- he just says what he needs to for the story to advance, and that's kinda it. So there we have it! Vlad has the rare honor of now standing alongside Mr Clipboard as one of only two characters who are more enjoyable in the movie than they are in the novelization- an unexpected turn of events, right?

His dialogue is so different as well it's hard to keep up with it all- the last few chapters have been so different from the movie it's been hard to keep up in general, to be honest. But it's a hell of a lot of fun just how MUCH this novelization has been diverging from the movie- I feel like it started off much closer, and the further in we've gotten the more differences have emerged. We've had snowmobile chases, a mashed potato man, and all manner of tidbits completely unique to this version of the story! See you next time for Chapter 16 as the adventure continues!

[bumblesimagines]

Green Thumb

Part 20

Request: Yes or No

~

"Time travel sounds fun until you see how cringy you used to be." You said, watching Nebula fix some things on the suit Scott had on.

"I've never been cringy." Scott said. You stayed silent in response, glancing at Rhodes. Scott blinked, scoffing softly as you giggled.

"You're great, Scott." You gave a tired smile. Bruce went to put in the red capsules.

"Hey- Hey, be careful!"

"I'm being very careful." Bruce replied.

"No, you're being very Hulky." Scott put in the capsules himself. Even if Bruce was careful, he could still crush whatever was in there without even thinking about it. It was weird seeing Bruce in Hulks body but you supposed it helped end the beef they had. Scott and Bruce went back and forth until he turned small and big in a second.

"Alright, one test run." Scott gave a sheepish smile, glancing at everyone in the room. "I'm not ready for this."

"I'm game." You turned your head, looking at Clint. You crossed your arms, a soft sigh leaving you.

"I'll do it." Clint shrugged. Scott licked his lips, looking at Bruce. Bruce gave him a small nod so Scott walked out of the room to change out of the suit. Clint followed.

"So.. He got a new tattoo." Rhodes glanced at you. You licked your lips, shrugging lightly. Rhodes sighed, leaving the room momentarily before returning with some twizzlers. He offered one to you, giving a small smile. You took it, taking a small bite from it as Clint walked into the room with the suit on. Nebula made sure everything was good with the suit.

"Clint, you're gonna feel a little discombobulated from the shift. Don't worry about it." Bruce told him.

"Wait, wait.. Let me ask you something. If we can do this, you know go back in time, why don't we just find baby Thanos and just.." Rhodes made a wrapping and squeezing motion.

"I mean, it's a solid idea. Baby Thanos was probably real ugly anyways." You said, chewing on the candy. Bruce stared at you and Rhodes in disbelief.

"First of all, that's horrible-"

"It's Thanos."

"And secondly, time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future."

"We go back and get the stones before Thanos gets them.. Thanos doesn't get the stones!" Scott said, shrugging. Rhodes nodded, motioning to him.

"Problem solved!"

"Bingo." Clint nodded as Nebula glanced at them, giving a small shake of her head.

"That's not how it works." She muttered.

"Anyways, who told you that?"

"Star Trek, Terminator, Time Cop, Time After Time, Wrinkle in Time, Hot Tub Time Machine-"

"So, any movie with time in the name." You said with a chuckle.

"Well, it doesn't work like that. If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future and your former present becomes your past." Bruce explained. You hummed, continuing to munch on the twizzler.

"If time travel works.. That means there's different versions of ourselves in different.. Dimensions, right? Like living things we've lived and making decisions we'll eventually make?"

"Yes, actually." Bruce nodded, glad that at least someone was getting it.

"For example, my past self might be in Sokovia fighting Ultron right now while my future self might be relaxing on a beach." Bruce said with a shrug. You hummed, nodding.

"I wonder what my future self is doing.."

"Probably getting therapy instead of napping and drinking." Rhodes muttered, glancing at you. You scoffed softly.

"You drink?" Clint questioned, brows furrowing as a frown tugged at his lips. You shifted your gaze back to the man you used to call dad and shrugged.

"Occasionally." Once the suit was good to go and Bruce had told Clint everything he needed to do, you followed the guys and Nebula to the platform Rocket had built. It was surprising how much a raccoon could built. You glanced at Thor, giving him a small nod. Bruce walked up to the controls, the others standing behind him as they watched Clint stand in the center.

"Alright, Clint.. We're going in three.. Two.." You could tell Clint was nervous, you were too. Despite everything, he had still been someone who took you in and loved you. You slowly chewed on the twizzler, gaze flickering around the platform. To Clint it could feel like hours but it would merely be seconds for you and the others. Clint suddenly appeared, falling on the ground. The helmet retracted as he panted. Natasha quickly rushed up onto the platform with you following incase he had injuries. Natasha helped him up, getting him grounded as Clint looked around.

"I saw her... I saw Lila again.." Clint panted. You stared at him, swallowing as your grip on the twizzler tightened. Clint tossed a baseball glove at Tony, nodding.

"It worked." Clint said. A sense of relief filled you along with everyone. There was a chance at getting everyone back. The team turned, heading to an office in order to talk more and come up with a game plan. You finished your twizzler, taking a seat and watching Tony pull up pictures of the stones.

"We gotta find out the when and the where." Steve said, looking over all of the stones.

"Almost everyone in this room has had at least one encounter with an infinity stone." Steve turned his attention onto everyone. You supposed Vision counted as an encounter.

"Or substitute encounter by being damn near killed by one of the stones." Tony added, shrugging as he sipped on his coffee.

"I haven't." Scott piped in. "I have no clue what the hell you're talking about."

"Regardless, we only have enough pinparticles for one trip each and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history." Bruce said, slowly walking around the office.

"Our history." Tony reminded him. "So, not alot of convenient spots to drop in."

"Which means we'll have to pick our targets." Clint muttered. Tony nodded, shooting him the side eye. You cocked a brow when you made eye contact with Tony. Tony simply patted your shoulder.

"Let's start with the ether. Thor, what do you know?" Steve asked, everyones' attention shifting onto the god of lighting. Thor sat in a corner, coke bottle in hand and sunglasses on.

"Is he asleep?" Natasha asked after Thor didn't answer. You stared at him. The last five years had definitely been rough for him.

"Pretty sure he's dead." Rhodes mumbled. You sighed, reaching forward and grabbing a cup of water. You made it turn ice cold before tossing it at the god. Thor jolted awake, looking down at his wet shirt.

"Thor, the reality stone. What do you know about it?" Steve asked again, watching him stand and approach the picture of the reality stone. You listened to Thors' rambling, turning to look at Tony. Scott was the only one interested in what he had to say. Tony approached him, urging him to sit.

"Alright.. Who's next?"

~~~~~~~~~~

You stared at the pictures. Three stones in New York, one in Asgard, and the other two in Morag. You looked at Steve as he approached the hologram.

"Alright, we have a plan. Six stones, three teams. One shot." Steve said. You swallowed, glancing at Rocket and Thor. You had been assigned on their team. Just in case. You stood up with the others, going off to change. You stared at the two pictures in your locker. One of the Barton family and the other of the Stark family. You headed towards the platform after changing, standing beside Thor and Rocket.

"Stay safe." Natasha said softly, giving your arm a squeeze. Steve gave a pep talk before you put your helmet on. You absolutely hated the feeling as you went through what looked like a blue tunnel. When you blinked, you were in Asgard. Thor held a finger up to his lips, passing by a room. You followed, glancing back and seeing his brother. You had never officially met Loki but he was an odd dude. You reached a hall, standing besides Thor. You listened to the women talk in the hall. You shared a look with Rocket.

"There's Jane." Thor whimpered, shaking his head. Rocket sighed.

"Alright.." Rocket hopped off the stone block, looking at you and Thor.

"You're gonna charm her, (Y/N) will be our lookout, and I'll poke her with this thing, get the stone, and we'll be gone." Rocket said, watching Thor. You gave a nod but Thor sniffled.

"I'll be right back. The wine cellar is just down here. My father used to have this huge barrel of ale." You stared at Thor, letting out a sigh as you scratched your forehead. You heard a door opening and quickly ducked besides Rocket.

"Yes, and could you also let me know when Gaia plans on visiting again?" You blinked, feeling your body freeze. You slowly stood, glancing at Thor as he slowly walked down the hall, gaze on the woman.

"Who's the fancy woman?" Rocket asked, hopping onto the stone. You swallowed, turning your head and looking at the woman.

"That's my mother..." Thor answered. Your eyes slightly widened, turning to face Thor. You opened your mouth to ask him a question.

"She dies today." Thor whispered. You shut your mouth, frowning. You licked your lips, gaze flickering around.

"How.. How does she know Gaia?" You asked softly. Thor glanced at you with furrowed brows.

"She was a friend of my mothers'." Thor answered. He looked back at where his mother had been, shaking his head.

"I can't do this." He breathed out, beginning to pant softly. You and Rocket faced him. Rocket told Thor to get closer as Thor rambled. You blinked as Rocket slapped him, almost laughing at the sight of a raccoon slapping a god.

"You think you're the only one who lost people? What do you think we're doing here? I lost the only family I ever had. Same with nature boy over here. I get you miss your mom, but she's gone. Really gone and there are plenty of people who are kind of gone. You can help them. So is it too much to ask that you brush the crumbs out of your beard, talk to the girl, and when she's not looking, suck the infinity stone and help us get our families back?" Rocket stared at him. Thor nodded, a small whimper leaving him as his eyes watered.

"Thor, calm down." You said softly, placing a gentle hand on his arm. "You're the god of lighting, Thor. You can do this."

"Yeah, yeah, I can." Thor nodded. You gave him a small smile, following Raccoon towards the door. You turned, hearing footsteps rushing away. You sighed.

"He's gone." You muttered. Rocket groaned softly.

"You go after him. I'll go get the stone." Rocket said, turning around and walking towards the room.

"I don't know this place." You huffed, looking at the talking raccoon. Rocket let out an exasperated sigh.

"Be my lookout." He mumbled. You walked towards the room Jane was in, watching Rocket enter. You stood infront of the doors, gaze flickering around. You had no idea what you were gonna do if somebody asked you what you were doing. You swallowed, glancing in the direction Thors' mother had gone in.

"He'll be fine." You assured yourself, speedwalking in the direction. You spotted Thor, quietly walking towards him.

"Thor-"

"Shh." He brought up a finger to his lips. Thor grabbed you, keeping you hidden behind the pillar as his mother passed by. She dismissed her girls. You and Thor peeked around the corner.

"What are you doing?" You flinched, letting out a yelp as a woman yelped as well. You turned and faced her, watching her look at Thor. Thor suddenly grabbed you, covering you with his jacket.

"You're better off leaving the sneaking to your brother." The woman said, head tilting.

"What are you wearing? Who is this?" She asked, stepping forward. You swatted Thor's arm away, clearing your throat.

"Uhm, I'm- I'm (Y/N)." You said. Rocket was gonna kill you.

"Frigga." She gave a polite smile. "What are you wearing?" Friggas' brows furrowed, looking Thor over. Frigga slowly approached her son, placing a hand on his cheek. Thor rambled slightly. Frigga smiled softly.

"You're not the Thor I know, are you?" She asked softly.

"Yes I am."

"The future hasn't been kind to you, has it?" She gently brushed some hair out of his face. You watched her, gaze softening. You could see why Thor loved his mother so much. They shared a tight hug, something Thor had desperately needed.

"Let's talk." Frigga smiled. You tuned out as Thor spoke to his mother. You walked around her room, looking over the glass. You licked your lips, looking over at them.

"How do you know Gaia?" You asked softly. Frigga turned to look you curiously.

"Like, uhm, Thor told me but I.. I wanna know more." You said, facing her. Frigga tilted her head, slowly approaching you.

"Gaia? What would you want with her?"

"She's my mother and she.. She kind of abandonded me." You shrugged lightly, letting out a small awkward laugh. Frigga hummed, gaze softening.

"Gaia's in.. It's hard to explain. She's in The Garden. She lives there and it's how she watches over her creations." Frigga explained.

"How do I get there?"

"Fairy rings. Only certain people have access to her portals." Frigga said. You nodded, keeping it in mind. Thor stood, approaching you and his mom.

"Mother, I must tell you something-"

"No, Thor." Frigga turned to face her son, pressing a finger to his lips.

"Mother-"

"Guys!" Rocket shouted, running towards you. "You were supposed to watch the door!"

"I know." You gave an apologetic smile. Rocket shook his head, showing the stone.

"I got it." He breathed out. "Oh, hey, you must be mom."

"I wish we had more time." Thor said softly. Frigga smiled gently, grabbing his hands.

"This was a gift. Now you go and be the man you were meant to be." Frigga said softly. Thor gave her a sad smile.

"I love you, mom."

"I love you." Frigga hugged Thor tightly. She pulled back and smiled. Rocket began to count but Thor stopped him. He extended his hand towards the balcony area. You and Rocket shared a look.

"W-What are we looking at?" He asked.

"It takes a second." Frigga chuckled softly. Thors hammer returned to him, making him beam. You smiled softly as the suit returned.

"Nice meeting you." You said.

"Same here." Frigga smiled, giving a small wave. The helmet came on and you went back through the nauseating blue tunnel. You grunted, shutting your eyes tightly.

"Yeah, fuck that." You muttered, rubbing your forehead. You looked around, noticing Clint fall to his knees with teary eyes.

"Where's Nat?"

~~~~~

Tags: @geek-and-proud @wolfelocksley @babyvisionisamenace @jjk-is-my-shit

[ocw-archive]

A Car Is Born - Men's Journal, April 2004

Owen Wilson is used to being in the spotlight, but in his new film, Starsky & Hutch, he takes a backseat to an even bigger star: a '76 Gran Torino that steals the show. by Alex Williams "I don't know if it's a sign of getting older, but I love Cadillacs," Owen Wilson is saying. "They're like driving around in your living room." It's a warm afternoon in Austin, Texas, and Hollywood's latest and least likely action hero is navigating his rented Cadillac DeVille down hilly Route 222 after a trip out to County Line Barbecue for some brisket tacos. "Yeah," he adds in that trademark drawl, a little Maliby tube rider, a little Dodge City card cheat, "that's definitely the direction I'm headed: away from Porsches, toward the cruisers."

But these days the only car anyone wants to hear about is that other car. The red car with the white stripe. You know the one. "That was Ben's car," Wilson moans with obvious envy. Ben, of course, being Ben Stiller, who plays Starsky to Wilson's Hutch in Starsky & Huch, this month's satiric big-screen remake of the '70s TV series. And the car, of course, is the 1976 Ford Gran Torino with the 360-cubic-inch big-block V-8, the FoMoCo Code 2B tomato-red paint job, and the Nide-esque snow-white swooshes slashing down both sides like daggers. "It was big," Wilson says, "a big powerful thing."

But playing Hutch, it turned out, had one major draw-back. "I actually never got to drive it," Wilson explains. In the movie Starsky is the sort of possesive guy who wouldn't dream of letting anyone else touch the car, and Stiller stayed in character even when the cameras weren't rolling. He never let Wilson get behind the wheel.

Okay, so tell us what it was like driving around in the passenger seat. "It was funny," Wilson recalls with a chuckle, "One day we were shooting over at Warner Hollywood, and after they finished the shot Ben just kept driving, right out of the lot, onto the street. We sort of toured the block, and we'r both acting like little kids: 'Oh my God, people are going to be freaking out when they see ua in this car.'" They didn't factor in the jaded audience in L.A., a own where two beach boys driving a cherry-red muscle car a re a dime a dozen. "We'd just pull up to a light and no one even looked.

Wilson is in Austin to work on a new film with his two brothers, Luke and Andrew. "It's weird to be back in Texas," he says. "I mean, in college I was a valet at the Four Seasons and now I'm staying there." A Dallas native, he hasn't been back to Texas's capital much since he wandered away from the University of Texas a decade ago, just a few credits shy of a diploma. Those aimless days seem like a distant memory. he has appeared in 14 feature films since he broke out in 1996 with the cult classic Bottle Rocket, which he made on a shoestring with his two brothers and his buddy Wes Anderson. And he's got fur movies slated to come out this year alone, including The Life Aquatic, costarring Bill Murray and Cate Blanchett, and directed by Anderson (with whom Wilson cowrote The Royal Tenenbaums, earning the duo an Oscar nomination for Best Screenpaly in 2001).

With a schedule like that, Wilson, now 35, doesn't really have many off days, although today qualifies as one. We're headed out to Barton Springs Pool, the three-acre natural spring "swimming hole" located in the middle of Ausin's Zilker Park. "I didn't really feel much Texas pride when I lived here," he says, "but I find that when I'm outside of Texas I'm, like, proud to be from here. Texas has weight behind it. It has a hold on people's imagination in a way other states don't." Still, Wilson doesn't go in for any classic Texas cowboy attire. "I'd love to wear a cowboy hat now," he says. "You know how people get on Prozac and all that stuff? It's impossible to be depressed wearing a cowboy hat."

Growing up he did make his share of authentic Lone Star gestures. Wilson was always a fierce Cowboys fan, and in high school he drove a truck - even if it was just a little Chevy S10 Blazer. But a small truck was better than no truck in certain situations. "People used to cruise Forest Lane, and cars were a place where sometimes you would hang out with your girlfriend. I don't want to get too much into that, but there were probably benefits to having a Blazer: a little more room to stretch out." And he did play sports. "I wasn't that good at baseball," he explains. "I was scared of those crazy Little League pitchers. One pitch is over the backstop, the next hits the dirt six feet in front of you. I played football in high school instead. I was a receiver. I was so-so." (Hence the famously off-center nose.)

At heart, Wilson - who played a surfer in the recent Elmore Leonard caper film The Big Bounce - was always more of a beach boy than a cowboy, despite his landlocked upbringing. "Even now, living in Santa Monica, my main thing is going to the ocean. I love swimming and bodysurfing."

His career brought him to California, nearer to the ocean, and it also allowed him to upgrade his wheels. His last car was a Nissan Maxima. His second. But recently he invested in a sleek black Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Coupe. "There are so many jerks that drive them," Wilson admits. "But I probably haven't been this excited about a material possession since I first got these Adidas velcro shoes when I was 12. I'd wake up in the morning and the first thing I'd do was look at my shoes. "That's kind of how it was when I first got the Porshe: parking it in the parking lot and walking away, then turning back around and taking another look."

Wilson steers the gunmetal gray Cadillac into the Barton Springs parking lot. Clad in navy blue board shorts, he quickly sets off for the grassy hillsides that surround what is essentially a gargantuan mud-bottomed swimming pool. The place is crowded, but he seems to be enjoying seeing some wholesome Lone Star girls for a change. "I was never that into these fake Barbie-doll blondes," he says dismissively. "Remember when Farrah Fawcett was so huge? I never even had that poster. I liked Victoria Principal." We reminisce about seeing TV's Pam Ewing in a Playboy pictorial back in the '70s. "Yeah, she had kind of big nipples," he remembers. Then he adds with genuine excitement, "Have you ever been to the Playboy Mansion? I love it. There's that part called the Grotto - just the name conjures up erotica."

A few minutes later Wilson kicks off his black Pumas and dives in. We swim for an hour. The guy never tires. Eventually we wind up treading water near the concrete ledge along the north edge of the pool. "Hey, think you can make it all the way acress, underwater?" he asks eagerly, jerking a glance toward the south edge. In a word, no. It's got to be 40 yards, across millions of gallons of bracing Hill Country Springwater. "I almost made it once before," he says. "C'mon."

Without another word, Wilson's legs slip silently beneath the surface. I watch his refracted image as he chugs away in a steady underwater breast stroke. Five yards. Ten. Twenty yards. Thirty. Finally a sopping blond head pops up at the far ledge. I can make out that oft-broken nose from here. Totally relaxed. No problem. C'mon, he waves, smiling eagerly, as if to say, 'It's easy'. The Other Cars in Owen Wilson's Life From Blazer to Porsche, the only resume that counts Chevy S10 Blazer His high school car. Not the big Blazer, the small one: "It was my dad's idea." Not that Dad was all wrong. Even the small one had additional room for extracurricular activities. Nissan Maxima "Not exactly what I would call a chick magnet. I was never really a fan of the Maxima, but then I ended up buying another one when I first got to Los Angeles!" Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Coupe The exact same model that his brother Luke bought. "It looked really obnoxious when we lived together, to have two black Porsches parked side by side out front."

[rrickgrrimes8]

Normality is Death

Chapter Thirteen ~ Philippians 1:29

masterlist

"C'mon baby lets go back to our room," Lori said to Jacey, Carl already holding her hand. Jacey nodded following a part of her family down the halls. 

"What's happening, mom?" Carl asked as he watched Lori go to the air vent feeling no air come out, "Mom? Something wrong?" 

Jacey watched her apprehensive mother, "Uh, nothing. It's just... just the air conditioning stopped." 

Lights went out soon after that too which agitated Lori more as did the disappearance of her husband. Sitting at the foot of her parents' bed, she watched as she left the room to talk to Doctor Jenner as he passed quickly. "What's wrong, Jacey?" She heard Addie call to her. 

"Please leave me alone," her hands found their ways to her ears once again seeking to block out any noise. 

"Jacey? You're scaring me... what's wrong?" Addie called to her again, causing her to look up only to see her younger brother worried, "What's wrong, Jacey?" 

"Uh... nothing, squirt. I'm fine," She stuttered, paralyzed by her shock, "Where's mom?" 

"Went after that Doctor. Sent me back to get you," Carl smiled, still perturbed, "You coming?" 

"Yep, Let's go, squirt."

The two younger Grimes' entered the hysterical room, passing their frightful mother on the way out, "Mom what's happening?" Lori didn't respond though, as she continued to run down the corridor and back to the room. Jacey caught wind of Jenner's words about how the French were the last ones to hold out. Well, that was until the fuel ran out. It sunk in deep with the child, there was no cure and there never will be - everything is gone.

Jacey, grabbing the hand of her brother, ran into the room eyeing the now sealed doors. "No. Did you just lock us in?" Glenn panicked, "He just locked us in!" Carl held her hand tighter, the loud noises and consternation becoming at once too much for him. Jacey saw Edwin take a seat at his desk and begin to talk to a camera. 

Bold lettering violated her eyes as the screen switched to black with the red-lettered words of '30 minutes to decontamination'. "Carl! Jacey!" she heard her mom bellow, quickly finding them. Dropping her bags, she wrapped her arms around the two children, kissing both of their heads. 

Daryl endeavoured over to the man in a fit of rage, yelling at him something Jacey couldn't quite catch but was quickly stopped by Shane. She watched as her father pleaded with the stubborn man to open the door, to which he refused. "What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick yelled to the man after he had ignored him the first time. 

"Come on!" Daryl encouraged threatening him with a glass bottle. 

"You know what this place is?!" He snapped, "We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" Jenner stops to breathe slowly, "In the event of a catastrophic power failure - in a terrorist attack, for example - H.I.T are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out." 

"H.I.T's?" Rick asked. 

"VI, define," he ordered. 

"H.I.T's - high impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist," VI continued but Jacey just blocked it out. They were going to die. They were all going to die. Rick walks over to his family joining in on their hug, mortified by the news. Jacey, however, felt okay, fine really. It didn't bother her that she was about to die - her death never seemed to scare her. What did bother her though was that her family would die too. Carl was too young to die she thought to herself. 

"It sets the air on fire. No pain," Jenner told them after VI had finished, "an end to sorrow, grief... regret. Everything." Jacey smiled through her tears, she was almost looking forward to it as dark as that sounded but she just wanted some peace, a rest. She watched as many grew angry - and in Daryl's case - violent with the doctor. 

Shane and T-dog stayed by the door throwing any and everything they had at it, but none of it making a dent. "You should've left well enough alone... it would have been so much easier," Jenner lent back in his chair, unbothered by the chaos he had created. 

"Easier for who?" Lori spat, clearly angry with the man's decision yet still a great amount of sadness in her words, knowing her children were about to die when they're lives really had just begun. 

"All of you. You know what's out there. A short brutal life and agonizing death," Jacey understood this and observed as he looked to her, "The people you lost, what was their names?" 

"Mitch and Addie," she replied not entirely sure on how he knew, while Rick looked to the man threateningly not wanting her daughter to have any part in his manipulation. 

"And you? Your sister?" he asked now to Andrea, the following was a quiet 'Amy'. "Addie, Mitch and Amy," He looked between Andrea and the girl, "You know what this does. You've seen it. Is that what you really want for your wife, daughter and son?" 

Now looking at Rick. "I don't want this," He almost cried emphatically. 

"Can't make a dent," Shane shouted to Rick, alarmed. 

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher," Jenner said almost comedically. 

"Well, your head ain't!" Daryl screamed, making his way over to the doctor, axe ready. Dale, Rick and Shane come together once more to hold Daryl and his clear anger issues back, "Daryl! Daryl!" 

T-dog soon wrestled the weapon off of him as Jenner continued to Rick, "You do want this. Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead." Lori's face drops at his words, while Jacey detaches herself from her mother and brother, planting herself on one of the many identical tables. 

"What? You really said that? After all your big talk?" Shane expectorated, almost betrayed at the doctor's words. 

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" He justified to Lori. 

"There is no hope. There never was." 

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here but somebody somewhere-" 

"What part of 'everything is gone' do you not understand?" the younger girl interrupted her father, earning an approving nod from Andrea but a pained look from her family. 

"Listen to your daughter," Jenner advised, "She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event." 

"This isn't right. You can't keep us here," Carol cried, "my daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." 

"Wouldnt it be kinder, more compassionate just to hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run out?" Carol still cries as she holds her daughter, but Jacqui nods her head slightly. 

Much like what happened with Daryl, Shane came to the doctor pointing a shotgun right at his face, but this time Rick intervened, "Out of the way, Rick! Stay out of my way! Open that door, or I'm going to blow your head off. Do you hear me?" Jenner remained emotionless as the officer continued to aim for his head. 

"Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this. We will never get out of here, " Rick reminded him. Instead, in a fit of anger, Shane begins to shoot at the computer screens randomly, everyone cowering away from the shots. "We all die, Shane!" he reminded before struggling to get the gun away from him, "Are you done now? Are you done?" 

"Yeah, I guess we all are," Shane disputed. 

"I think you're lying," Rick said to Edwin, "You're lying about no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path, why?" 

"It doesn't matter," Jenner sheepishly said. 

"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?" 

"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise," he proceeded to point towards the screen, "To her. My wife." 

"Test subject 19 was your wife?" Lori questioned sympathetically.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?" Jenner paused, looking to Daryl, who continued to use his axe against the door no matter how useless it was, "She was dying. It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was Einstein. Me? I'm just... Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me." Jacey sighed, feeling the pain of his loss substantially. 

Rick pleaded once more, "Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's... that's all we want a choice... a chance." 

"You let us keep trying as long as we can," Lori added. 

Jenner moves over to the desk picking up what looked like a security pad and said, "I told topside's locked down. I can't open those." 

Seconds later, the doors open and everyone begins to rush out of them, "There's your chance. Take it" 

"I'm grateful," Rick smiled, lifting his hand for him to shake. 

"The day will come when you won't be," Jenner said before shaking Rick's hand and whispering something in his ear. 

"You can't go, you know that, right?" Addie says, her voice kinder now, which Jacey was more grateful for. 

"I know. I want to be with you again," Jacey looked to the girl reluctantly, hoping that the walker won't appear again. 

Addie's face - her normal one - came into view, blooming a big smile on the younger girls face, "And you will, love. I'm never going to leave you again, I promise." 

"I love you, Addie." 

"I lov-" Addie's voice was interrupted by a male one "Jacey, c'mon, angel, grab your things. Let's go." 

Jacey shook her head at the man she realised to be her father, "I-I'm not coming." Rick stopped, hoping his ears were deceiving him but then looked at her tear-covered face and realised. 

"No, you're not, baby. Let's go," Lori shouted from behind Rick. 

"Lori just go. Get the others out of here," he ordered his wife, "We're right behind you." The rest of the group stampeded out of the room, Lori and Carl lingering for a short minute, hoping Rick will be able to convince her to join them. 

"Tell him you're sorry, Jace," Addie whispered, holding her hand. 

"I'm sorry but I-I can't." 

"Yes you can, Jacey, please. You're not thinking straight," Rick prayed that she'd see reason and join them, but his heart stopped when she shook her head. 

"I can't anymore, dad. I'm so tired." Jacey looked around the room, seeing that not only Jenner was still here but so was Jacqui and Andrea. 

An arm snaked over her shoulder, squeezing it gently, an arm, belonging to Mitchell, "Tell him to leave, babydoll, and then you'll be with us forever."

 She smiled at his words and then returned her eyes to her father's blue ones, "You have to leave. I want to stay with them." 

"I'm not leaving you here, angel," He cried, tightly holding the sides of her face. 

"Addie was only 16, dad, Mitch was 25. We had children in our camp. I-I should've died with them. I don't deserve to live when they had to die." 

"Listen to me, Jace, you survived for a reason, okay? You don't have to agree with me, but whoever is up there, whatever is in charge made it so you weren't there. So you wouldn't die. They wouldn't want you to die here and now. Your story is not over yet. I won't allow it," Rick wailed, heavier than earlier as he watched his daughter looked to her left and right as if looking at people that weren't there, "Your death isn't going to bring them back." 

"I can't leave them, daddy," She paused, "I already hurt them enough." 

"Who are you talking about, angel?" his voice breaking slightly. 

"Addie and Mitchell," Jacey told him as if it was obvious, "I can't leave them alone again." 

"Addie and Mitchell are dead, baby. They're not here anymore," the man pleaded with his deluded daughter. 

"No," she argued, squeezing her eyes shut, "shut up. You're lying, they're here with me now, they want me to stay. She promised me she wouldn't leave again," Jacey cried, looking at Addie and Mitchell, slowly seeing them morph into their walker forms, "Oh god. No, not again, please, not again. They're going to hurt me, daddy. They're going to hurt me like I hurt them." 

"Hey baby, look at me, only me, okay?" he stopped her from looking to where he assumed she saw them, "No one's gonna hurt you. Addie and Mitchell are gone. They can't hurt you, alright? Now we've got to go, angel, before it's too late." Jacey wanted to nod, to go with him, but the grip that Addie and Mitchell had on her tightened, making her let out a small cry. 

At once, they both turned into their undead self's clawing at her skin instead of holding it, "You can't leave, Jacey. Not when you did this to us." 

"No! Shut up! Leave me alone! I want to live! I don't want to die!" Rick watched the girl breakdown her hands beginning to claw away at any visible skin. The man grabbed her hands, stopping the movement before looking over to the timer seeing it hit the 5-minute mark. 

"I'm sorry, Jacey. I'm so sorry baby," Jacey heard him cry before feeling him move away from her. 

"Jacey, look at me, sweetheart," A kind, shaky voice begged of her. Jacey turned to meet their eyes, seeing a crying Jacqui, "You gotta go, darling, please."

"I can't, Jacqui. I can't keep going on like this," She paused, "I'm not strong enough."

"Yes you are, child. You are one of the strongest people I have ever met, don't ever trick yourself into thinking you're not," Jacqui apprised the younger girl.

"I'm not as strong as you think, Jacqui. Nowhere even close."

"That's where your wrong, sweetheart. You've got a lot of heart and if do say so myself a lot of balls," She smiled at her, "You're gonna survive this world, I'm sure of it." Jacqui stops speaking as she looked at the girl, aware of the mental state, "Look, sweetie, I'm not gonna force you outta that door, as much as I'd like too. I don't want you to die today, Jacey, but it seems like it's going that way so let me tell you something, okay?" Jacey nodded, "And you gotta promise me the moment you understand it you'll leave, you'll survive," she nodded once more, "Philippians 1:29; For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake." Jacey stayed silent not quite comprehending the meaning of the passage. 

"I don't understand, I don't get it, Jacqui," She cried into her palms.

"That's okay, sweetie, just breathe..." Jacqui refrained, "It means your pain has a purpose, whatever that purpose may be." 

"Do you understand now?" 

Jacey shook her head sadly, "That's okay, take your rest. I will see you once more in another life." Jacey watched as the older woman rejoined Jenner at his computer and observed as she wished that their conversation had gone another way and in some way Jenner also did.

"You have to stay Jace. You said you understood that. Everything will be better if you do," Addie warned, "If you go you will kill every single one of them out there. Do you want that? Do you want them dead? Your dad? Your mom? Carl?" Jacey shook her head manically, her mind flashing unforgiving images of their bodies eaten and unmoving, "So stay with me, my love. Stay, and I'll love you forever." 

Jacey nodded at her before muttering, "I'll love you forever too," causing Addie to smile. Jacey began to move closer to the dark-skinned girl, her face returning back to her natural one. 

"I wanna kiss you, Jace," Addie parted her lips inching towards Jace's. 

"Me too," She replied, shyness shrouding her confidence. 

But before their lips could touch, the masculine voice returned, "I'm sorry, Jacey," following a sharp twinge in her neck. Immediately, she felt a rush of dizziness hit her, Addie and Mitchell disappearing shortly afterwards, "no." She fell off her chair and into a pair of muscular arms, "I'm sorry, angel." 

"Addie," she cried before the darkness took over her. 

[ocw-archive]

Lovable Rogue - TV Soap (Australia), April 21, 2003

by: Anke Hofmann Much of Shanghai Knights star Owen Wilson's success can be attributed to his roguish youth If Shanghai Knights' Owen Wilson wasn't expelled from school at the age of 16, who knows where he'd be now. "It was at a very strict, all-boys prep school," explains the 34-year-old Texan. "I wasn't very good in geometry when my friends and I had gotten the answer book. So we were handing in problems for extra credit. "The teacher called me into his office and asked me to do one of the problems and, of course, I had no idea. They wanted to get rid of me anyway because I was always misbehaving. "Now I'm glad it happened as it set off a chain of events that led me to meet Wes (Anderson) who became my writing partner (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums). So I don't have any regrets."

Now Wilson is one of Hollywood's hottest talents. His latest offering is the sequel to Shanghai Noon in which he rejoins Hong Kong action hero Jackie Chan. Wilson reprises the role of Texan outlaw Roy O'Bannon, an insecure gunfighter with an eye for the ladies. Chan plays Chon Wang (pronounced John Wayne), the honorable martial arts cowboy. The mismatched duo is on the trail of Chinese rebels who murdered Chon's estranged father. Despite their successful on-screen chemistry, they didn't get off on the best foot. "We met for dinner before shooting the first movies," recalls Wilson. "We didn't have much to say to each other. After about 10 minutes it was so awkward I excused myself. Once we were on the set though, we hit it off and had a really good relationship." Wilson didn't think twice about making Shanghai Knights. "Knowing Jackie better allowed more freedom to indulge in crazy ideas, and the movie reflects that." What he does best is comedy. Currently he's working on a film version of '70s TV cop show Starsky & Hutch, in which he plays Hutch (originally played by David Soul). The movie will reunite Wilson with friend and fellow mirth-meister Ben Stiller. "As I remember the show, it was funny but it wasn't a spoof. Those guys were cool, like an early Miami Vice. We're still figuring out the right tone for it." Wilson fell for Hollywood only at second sight. The first visit was while attending the University of Southern California. "I didn't really enjoy being in LA then. I didn't know many people and was homesick for Texas. "When I came back to start working on movies, I went with Wes and my brothers (Luke and Andrew). That made a big difference. I'm still with the same group of people. No matter how successful you get, you can always use support." While Wilson's brother Luke also has a hot career (Legally Blonde, Charlie's Angels) the brothers remain close. "Yeah, closer than I'd like," laughs Wilson. "Luke lives with me. He has his own house, but hasn't felt the need to move into it. Actually it's fun to have him around. It's nice to have somebody to share the excitement about something you're working on." Wilson, whose credits include Zoolander, Behind Enemy Lines and Meet The Parents, never imagined he'd be an actor, "but I imagined it would be nice to be a writer", he says. "When Wes and I wrote the Bottle Rocket script, Wes had to convince me to act in it. I wanted to get real actors because I felt it would reek of amateur night if my brothers and I were in it. So I sort of fell into acting, but really enjoyed it." Now the middle Wilson sibling wants to spread his wings. "I'd like to try some straight, serious thing, but I'd be a little nervous. I can't do accents or change my voice - my fear is that a real actor can transform himself." But he underestimates himself. When it comes to women, his Shanghai Knights' persona is nothing like the real Wilson, a laid-back, surfer-dude kinda guy. Well, every once in a while I can turn it on," he smiles. "It just depends. The idea for me growing up was to be in a rock 'n' roll band like Led Zeppelin or Guns 'n' Roses because it seemed those guys always got the girls. That was this character's idea about being an outlaw; easy money and lots of chicks." The actor has been linked to musician Sheryl Crow, but is still looking for Miss Right. "I don't have one particular girl I'm going out with. First, you have to find them pretty. Then comes the other stuff, like if you're simpatico sense of humor-wise and if you're interested in the same thing." For now, Wilson's settling for puppy love. "My dog's name is Garcia. I named him after the surfer Sonny Garcia and the Mexican restaurant, Joe T Garcia. He's an Australian blue heeler and he's over a year old now. "He has a lot of energy, the Jackie Chan kind. He and Garcia really hit it off." Which is why Wilson doesn't subscribe to the theory that pets reflect their owner's personality. "He's a little out of control right now. He reflects Jackie's personality more and that's probably why he spent more time in Jackie's trailer than

he did in mine."

[ocw-archive]

Wilson Family Values - Cox News Service; March 10, 2005

By CHRIS GARCIA Cox News Service Thursday, March 10, 2005

AUSTIN, Texas — Counting the days, that's what Luke Wilson is doing. We picture it like this: Wilson, all scruffy cute, arms behind his head in repose on greenest grass, gazing dreamily at a shiny blue sky. His eyes twinkle; a narcotized grin cuts across stubbly cheeks. And he counts, like sheep, the days until "The Wendell Baker Story," the movie he wrote, directed and stars in, has its world premiere at the Paramount Theatre. He imagines all 1,200 seats filled. There he is, sitting next to brothers Owen (the famous brother) and Andrew (the not-so-famous brother), his dog (whose name is Brother) and mother Laura. Luke beams, feet tapping nervously. The lights go down . . . "I can't wait, man. I woke up today and was like, 'OK, tomorrow is Thursday, then it's Friday and it will be 14 days from that day,' " Wilson says, his poky Texas drawl spiking up. "So I'm starting to get into this 'Rain Man' thing where I do numbers in my head. Eventually I'll get down to just hours. 'OK, 48 hours from right now I'll be sitting in the theater . . .' "

Imagine the state of excitement Wilson is in as you read this. His screening, kicking off the South by Southwest Film Festival, takes place at 9 p.m. Friday. That's, like, tomorrow. Or today. Or now. Even we're getting butterflies. Luke and Owen Wilson have never been inside the Paramount, mildly odd for Dallas natives who spend so much time in Austin, either making movies like "The Wendell Baker Story," which was shot here and in Wimberley last fall, or tearing up Club DeVille, inspiring jaw-slacking stories of mischief that have become lurid local lore. (We bring up the brothers' DeVille peccadillos and Luke goes: "Ah, geez." Andrew goes: "I know nothing." He laughs. "Ask Owen." And Owen goes: "Ha!") There are the Marx brothers, Coen brothers, Wayans brothers, Hughes brothers, Wachowski brothers, and now the Wilson brothers. The Wilsons have been here for some time — the trio worked together on Wes Anderson's "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" — but "Wendell Baker" marks the first time a Wilson has directed another Wilson. In a partnership Luke says will continue, he and Andrew directed the character-study comedy from Luke's long-gestating screenplay. Luke, 33, plays the young man of the title and Owen, 36, plays the sleazy head nurse at a retirement home, whose residents include Harry Dean Stanton, Seymour Cassel, Billy Joe Shaver and Kris Kristofferson. Eva Mendes plays Luke's girlfriend and Will Ferrell makes a cameo. "All these people came aboard because of the script," says Andrew, who calls the writing "incredible." (He, Luke and Owen are speaking from Owen's Santa Monica, Calif., home.) Kristofferson reportedly called it the best script he's read in 10 years. Owen, of course, co-wrote with Anderson "Bottle Rocket," "Rushmore" and "Tenenbaums," but this is Luke's first script, something he's been toiling on in downtime spurts over the course of four years. He first entertained the idea for the tale of a scampish, Candide-like optimist on his days off from shooting 2000's "My Dog Skip" in Mississippi. He would put the developing script down for a month at a time, writing between making movies. "When I had time on my hands I'd go get coffee or a beer and work on it," Luke says. "A couple hours would pass and I'd entertain myself. The really hard part came when I had to edit it down. I write in longhand and I had a rude awakening when I took it to this woman to type it. It was like two bucks a page and I had a 255-page draft. Not only did I know it had to be about 110 pages, but I also got a bill for like $600." At that point, he put the screenplay aside for a year with the hope that "maybe I'll be in some movies that do well," facilitating the sale of the script to a studio. "I have to say it's one of the few times in my life when I had a game plan that actually worked out," says Luke. Luke calls the Wendell Baker character a "dreamer and schemer," an upbeat fellow "different from myself." "If I get some bad news, it can throw me off or make me feel bad," says Luke. "But Wendell is a guy who's had dozens of businesses and ideas that have failed, but he keeps looking forward." Busted making counterfeit IDs for illegal immigrants, Wendell goes to the slammer, where he maintains a beaming attitude. Once out, he takes a job at a retirement home, befriending the shriveled residents, who advise Wendell how to get back his estranged girlfriend and reclaim his life. Wendell also has a dog, played by Luke's own dog, Brother. Luke took the script for "The Wendell Baker Story" to producer Mark Johnson, who produced the Austin-made movies "The Alamo" and "Home Fries," which starred Luke and Drew Barrymore (and tanked). Johnson gave him notes and Luke polished the script further. Then they shopped it. "I never wanted to direct it myself," Luke says. "It wasn't something I felt I could do." But when they met with a director, "It just bummed me out so hard listening to this guy's ideas," says Luke. "It made me start thinking, 'Will I have to listen to this every (expletive) day, some guy

interpreting what I was thinking?' " They kept pitching it, often to "punk executives" who didn't get what Luke was striving for. Like Anderson and other young filmmakers of his generation, Luke's favorite films are the prickly, funny, alive character studies made in Hollywood in the 1970s, movies snapping with gritty realism and honesty within a rambling, episodic structure. Movies like "Scarecrow," "Harold and Maude" and "Cisco Pike," which happens to co-star Kristofferson and Stanton. "When people found out I was writing a script, some sent me these (expletive) how-to-write-a-script books," recalls Luke. "And I just thought, 'Why would I want this?' People were telling me you have to have the plot introduced by Page 11 and you can't introduce anything new after Page 50. And I wondered why do I have to do it that way? If I can tell a story in 110 pages, why does it matter when anything happens? I may be wrong, but why not just do it on instinct?" This was a tough sell to studio suits. "You'd fly to New York and sit at a table with five people under 30 who have no frame of reference. I could feel myself starting to seethe," Luke says. By the time the film secured funding, with a budget around $8 million, Luke had decided to direct the darn thing himself. Then he thought of Andrew, who had directed two documentaries, which makes him the first filmmaking Wilson of the clan. Andrew, 40, would be a collaborator of like mind and taste and a good way to allay first-timer pressure. Shooting at the O'Quinn Ranch in Wimberley and Travis and Barton Heights and the historic Perry Mansion in Austin, the co-directors split duties, one of them blocking, the other setting up shots with director of photography Steve Mason ("Strictly Ballroom"), who helped them nail the flat but textured look of the comedy-dramas of Hal Ashby ("Harold and Maude," "The Last Detail"). "When I think about some guy doing it alone, I don't know how they do it," Luke says. "I've always had a lot of respect for my friend Wes Anderson. But thinking back to 'Bottle Rocket' or 'Rushmore,' I realize you almost have to be a force of nature to get it done on your own. It's like losing your virginity. I felt like, if I could just get the chance to do this one more time, I'd be great at it!" Owen, the blond Wilson with the puckish mien and nose that curves like a hula dancer, has been directed by Hollywood heavyweights, from Anderson and Michael Bay to Alan Rudolph. Family or not, Owen had reservations about his siblings' competence. "There was some debate about that before I got down there," Owen says. "It's OK to be directed by your older brother. I'm used to him bossing me around. But having your younger brother tell you what he thinks you need to do, that's more difficult to swallow. But I managed to rise above it. I told Luke that if he had anything to say to me just say it to Andrew and let him tell me." Owen, the wiseguy, proved a fruitful collaborator. He and Luke would riff on scenes, whipping them to a comic froth. "He added a lot to his scenes," Luke says. "Sometimes I'd wonder what Owen thought I was doing. But once he got down to Austin and around Harry Dean and the others I could feel him sense that this could turn out pretty good. That made me feel good." "It's weird to have the funniest person you know be your own brother, but that's the case with Owen," Andrew says. "He would do things that were incredible." Directing seasoned stars approaching their dotage was an intimidating prospect that Luke and Andrew successfully worked through. "It's not like you're directing them but just having a conversation with them and figuring it out," says Luke. "Sometimes those guys have a way of doing things that takes what's on the page and makes it a lot cooler." Sometimes the acting legends bristled at the whippersnappers' way of doing things. "We got in an argument with Harry Dean one day," Andrew recalls. "We were trying to get him to do something he didn't want to do, and he said, 'I'm a highly trained professional (expletive) actor, man. That's

why I work all the time. This is your first movie. Don't forget that.' "The good thing about two directors is we can be good cop/bad cop," Andrew continues. "Harry Dean would tease Luke a lot about the script. We had specific ideas about the way we wanted stuff, so we discouraged ad-libbing. Harry Dean has a fairly loose approach, and sometimes he would try to insert words here and there that weren't in the script. I was always sent into the breach by Luke to correct him and Harry Dean would blow up at me. He would tell me to tell 'Ernest,' as in Ernest Hemingway, to relax." "The Wendell Baker Story," which is seeking distribution, is a true family affair. Joining the brothers were mother Laura, a renowned Texas photographer who was the film's still photographer, and Luke's mutt Brother, a controversial cast member. "I hired my dog and took a lot of flak for that. Andrew was saying he was neurotic and crazy," says Luke, who's now writing a comedy for himself and Martin Lawrence. "So I made a bet with Andrew and the director of photography that if he did a good job they'd buy him a full dinner from Fleming's (steakhouse). Sure enough he did a great job and those guys had to buy him a $50 dinner from Fleming's and he chowed down. They bought him a T-bone with mashed potatoes. I'll never forget walking into my hotel room after he'd eaten it. He looked like he was nodding out. I'd never seen him in such a blissed-out state."