#So yeah Caleb made his relationship public and official as it can get for the Gods

[akralillianne]

Cracked theory/Headcannon SPOILERS TO LAST CHRISTMAS

I have somewhat a cracked theory or head canon (Could be false but fun to think about).

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jaden could be the reason why it took awhile for Lilliana to get pregnant.

So apparently Verlyn/Jaden is the God of Creation and Healing.

Keyword: CREATION

He may not be God of Childbirth because that implies a safe delivery of both child and mother.

No, I think Jaden can help with the Conception of a Child hence CREATION.

And since Caleb was the only one of his sons who got married at his temple at Lilliana's request, making Jaden aware of Lilliana.

And since Jaden probably has trauma of Gods and Demons screwing over him and his family line.

He took precaution and stalled that baby because of his paranoia.

Sad but Funny in a way.

So yeah that's what I believe, honestly I could be wrong.

Enjoyed Caleb's Story it was a fun read.

Jaden's family are honestly my favorites.

[vaxyl]

So.

Yeah.

That stream, huh?

Still processing it even now, but just wanted to drop my two pennies on Shadowgast.

I slept through the actual section of the stream where they're said to actually get together?? So I don't know exactly what was said.

But reading a bit, I can get a good idea of whatever it was Liam (and/or Matt) said.

I think it's a fitting end to this chapter and the start of the rest of their story for them.

And hearing that Essek was confirmed to be Demi to some degree? Having just recently started identifying as Demiromantic?

I cried reading Matt's tweet.

I can so see Essek and Caleb having a quiet, PDA-less relationship full of whispered sweet nothings, book giving, study tours, gentle arm touches, soft & quick forehead kisses and long, adoring gazes.

Two professors sharing a cottage full of books and cats together, maybe never marrying in the official sense, but wearing a ring on the marriage finger that fits the other's aesthetic?

Caleb and Essek teaching each other their preferred magic styles, going on trips to Aeor and similar magical places of historical importance, making up new spells together.

They don't dance or kiss in public, but when The Nein meet up they hide in a corner and hold hands, leaning on eachother, whispering to eachother and laughing faintly, grinning at eachother.

It's not exactly shyness, but that's a part of it, though for them it's more than that.

They know they love each other to hell and back, that they are eachother's world and that screaming their love to eachother isn't necessary as it's already so loud to them.

Maybe they don't fuck 24/7, maybe they don't have petnames for eachother, maybe they aren't always gushing about eachother.

Maybe their students gossip and argue over if they're dating or just good friends, maybe the Nein aren't 100% sure either.

But does that matter when they both know the truth and live it everyday?

Sometimes love is loud and messy and vibrant.

Sometimes love is quiet and neat and soft.

Sometimes it's both, sometimes it's not quite either.

Who are we to decide if one couples' jam is strong enough for them to actually be a couple or not?

If they love eachother and both willingly and consentingly call themselves a romantic couple, as Matt and Liam have both openly stated that they are/were, then they are indeed a romantic couple.

And I support them all the way, both as a Demiromantic person myself and as a fan who likes subtle stories.

Sometimes, the less said story is better than the more detailed story as sometimes too many details can be smothering and may clash.

And remember, no 2 relationships are alike and not everyone has the same love language as each other, just because you expect one thing from your partner doesn't mean everyone else does and to say their love isn't real because it doesn't match yours is not only really self absorbed, but it's offensive and hurtful to everyone else who loves differently than you do.

Maybe they have unspoken relationship trauma?

Maybe they have sensory issues that make physical affection uncomfortable?

Maybe they just don't see love like how it's most commonly seen by other people?

And in reference to them separating over the lifespan stuff? I get that.

I can see Caleb being the type who doesn't want to become the "that human who broke an Elf's heart when he died and made it so the Elf could never love anybody else ever again" guy and would try to avoid it.

He has a massive guilty conscience and that would haunt him forever, alive and dead, should it even become close to happening.

Whereas Essek knows he'll outlive Caleb if nothing else happens first and may want to protect his own heart from such a world shattering heartbreak that is losing your closest and most loved.

Maybe they talked about altering their own lifespans with magic? Or about a "you die, I die" pact?

But realised they didn't want to change themselves like that? Or curse the other to die before their own time?

Because they love eachother as they are? And the pact thing is so dark and horrible?

Idk, but I imagine it is a mutual decision and that, even if they stop acting romantically towards each other, they still love eachother very much and continue living together?

Essek helping an older, less mobile Caleb when it gets later on and Caleb's body starts to slowly but surely fail him?

Caleb reassuring Essek and helping the other man prepare for life after Caleb's death?

Idk guys.

I just really love the softness of them and their non-traditional but very real love.

And seeing all the anti-aspec and even anti-neurodivergence stuff is really depressing as a Demiromantic nonbinary person who is neurodivergent.

Ah, feel free to ignore this, I just needed to get this shit off of my chest after seeing all of the fucking discourse.

Gods, I'm so tired...

BUT anyway!

Let's remember to love eachother! Please stay safe & take care, everyone! And may the universe be kind to you!

Happy Pride Month! 🏳️‍🌈

Bidet! 💕

[thelaurenshippen]

oh hey, here’s a playlist from 2017 that I realized wasn’t on my website with the rest of them and that I totally wasn’t thinking about because there’s actually a part two that has never seen the light of day that may or may not be incoming

notes on my website and also under the cut

As I write, I like to build playlists for all my characters and, occasionally, will make playlists as a character as well. These playlists are part of my writing process and I take them far more seriously than anyone should. Sometimes the playlists come together instantly and effortlessly and sometimes I play around with them for months. As such, there are a fair number of cast-offs that never make it onto the final, official playlist. That's what this playlist is.

So here we are: all the songs that nearly made it on to the character playlists but got cut for various reasons. Those reasons tend to fall into one of a few categories:

There wasn’t space / another song was serving a similar purpose

The song was right for the character but not right for the character at the beginning of their story (which is what most of the playlists are)

The mood/genre/tempo of the song was out of place in the playlist

I discovered the song after the playlists had been put together.

All my playlists are very specifically ordered, so adding or removing songs after their publication is more or less impossible. Instead, I would throw songs into this B-Side playlist as they appeared, meaning that, unlike most of my playlists, the order here is random (aka this playlist has NO flow). Here is a list of where they would have gone had they made the final cut. The characters are listed above the tracks, with a link to the playlist in question.

A/N, 2020: These are the B-Sides specifically from pre-Season 4. Back in August of 2017, I  did a sticker giveaway to see what folks would guess about which songs were for which characters - these annotations were published after that giveaway and thus, there's some reference to how people guessed!

WADSWORTH 

1. “Heavy Metal Lover” - Lady Gaga

This is a Wadsworth song through and through in terms of style and swagger. There just wasn’t space for it.

But would you love me if I ruled the world

DAMIEN 

2. “Reaper Man” - Mother Mother

This is a song that was recommended to me as a Damien song by tumblr user kalgalen and I am actively mad that I didn’t know this song before making Damien’s playlist. The style, the lyrics - everything about this song is Damien. And it actually fits perfectly after the opening track but by the time I was made aware of it, it was too late.

Oh yeah, I’m an ugly mess/not in the face, but in the head - regardless of how attractive Damien is, this is something he thinks. God, what an edgelord line this is.

Oh yeah, I got no choice/got no choice/but to love myself - I mean, it’s just all there.

A/N, 2020: this song eventually made its way onto a playlist -  my playlist for A Neon Darkness, Damien's book.

CHLOE 

3. “Her Morning Elegance” - Oren Lavie

I love that this song really conjures a visceral image to your brain - it paints such a vivid picture. It’s delicate, but determined. I think Chloe sometimes moves through her world separate and observing and that’s what this song is.

There’s also an amazing music video that I think Chloe would watch over and over again.

I got a lot of submissions guessing that this was a song for Sam and I really see that too. It fits well with the aesthetic of her playlist and the theme of fighting for your life everyday definitely resonates with Sam, as does the “Nobody knows” lyric. But the lyrics are also about being out in the world, which is something Sam doesn’t do but Chloe wants to continue to do desperately, despite her ability making it difficult.  

CALEB/ADAM 

4. “Blue and Yellow” - The Used

This was a song suggested by my sister for Caleb and Adam because of the colors involved and also because The Used was a band we both listened to a lot when we were emo teenagers like Adam. Ultimately, this song feels very dated as early emo and didn’t quite fit musically on any of their mixes, either in-universe or not.

And it’s all in how you mix the two/and it starts just where the light exists/it’s a feeling that you cannot miss/and it burns a hole/through everyone that feels it

5. “Stupid for You” - Waterparks

This is another song that was recommended to me, this time by a tumblr user and it is absolutely perfect. I didn’t even realize that there was pop punk being made like this anymore, so I was delighted.

You’re yellow, I’m natural blue/let’s get together and be green like my insides - I mean??? Couldn’t have said it better myself

Also, the refrain of “stupid for you” fits perfectly with the “I’m the guy who’s been so stupid about you that it broke my fucking super power!” I mean, I clearly ghostwrote this song.

ISO: the tumblr user who suggested this song. I have scoured both of my blogs to find the ask to no avail so if it was you, please raise your hand.

Both of these songs would go on a Caleb/Adam ship mix if such a thing existed. But in fact, both their mixes are in-universe and, while one of them might put this on a mix now, it would have been way too vulnerable of a thing to put on one of those earlier playlists. I've linked to their second in-universe mix - the quite lovey one that Adam makes for Caleb.

MARK 

6. “Time Machine" - Robyn

This definitely felt a little too on the nose for Mark, so I went with “Hang With Me” instead. But Mark loves Robyn and would love the DeLorean reference in this so it was very tempting. It’s also a song all about making impulsive decisions, which Mark definitely does a lot, but in classic Robyn style, it’s such a bop despite the serious lyrics. That balance fits Mark perfectly.

7. “F U” - Miley Cyrus

I know this song is about someone cheating, but it is such a good angry-fuck-you song that I can’t help but think of it in the context of Mark’s feelings towards Wadsworth. Having missed the heyday of pop borrowing from dubstep and the increasing use of internet slang, I think Mark would have gotten out of The AM and fallen hard for this song. I imagine many an afternoon before Joan gets home from work just angry dancing around the living room singing along to this.

SAM/MARK 

8. “Someone to Fall Back On” - Jason Robert Brown

This is 100% Sam singing to Mark about being his knight in shining armor. Sam is hard on herself - doesn’t realize her own strength - so the self-deprecating lyrics really work for her. It didn’t make it on the playlist because it felt like it was a little further down the line in their relationship - somewhere around Episode 40.

I’ll take your side/if I’m the only one/I’m used to that/I’ve been alone/I’d rather be/the half of us/the least of you/the best of me

I got a lot of guesses for Frank on this one, which completely fits. He’s quite a bit more confident in his abilities than Sam - if he thinks he can be your knight, he’ll say so right from the get-go.

9. “Can’t Get Started With You” - Ella Fitzgerald

This is pretty self-explanatory. It didn’t fit with the very particular structure that I created for the Sam/Mark playlist and it also felt like a later stage of their relationship. That playlist was them falling in love and wanting to be in the same time; this song is getting close to that but then getting pulled apart again, first by Damien and then by the difficult realties of actually trying to have a relationship. If the previous track is end of Season 3 for them, this is a Season 4 song.

A/N, 2020: it certainly is a Season 4 song, because it actually ended up going on their Season 4 playlist.

DAMIEN/MARK 

10. “Elvis Ain’t Dead” - Scouting for Girls

So…this is a reject from an as of yet published playlist. I know - not fair. Think of this as the free square on a bingo sheet. In the course of writing Season 3, I was motivated to make a playlist for a relationship that was becoming increasingly interesting to write. While this playlist could certainly be seen as a ship playlist, I have no intentions to ever put these characters together in a real way, but their dynamic was so compelling that I wanted to explore it. I will eventually release the playlist because it’s one of the best I’ve made, but I didn’t want it influencing anyone’s reaction to the end of Season 3. Loose lips sink ships.

I wish it was me you chose/Elvis ain’t dead/and you’re coming back

Okay, okay, I won’t leave you hanging because a few people actually guessed this one right - it’s from a Damien/Mark playlist. This is actually one of three unpublished Damien mixes - for whatever reason, music is the fastest and easiest way for me to connect to him. He really brings out the playlist-making skills in me.

A lot of people guessed that this was Agent Green which I absolutely love. Poor Owen.

A/N, 2020: I didn't link to the playlist originally, but it exists now! To this day, I think it's some of my best work.

ROSE 

11. “Carolina” - Harry Styles

This was mostly rejected because I felt stupid having two songs called “Carolina” on one mix and Sara Bareilles trumps Harry Styles (as much as I love him). But in style and content, this really feels like a Rose song.

[prettymuchsempiternal]

10,000 Hours Song Pref.

So guys, I’m kind of working on a song pref series for Prettymuch, not all the songs are pm songs but here’s the first! Hope you like it, this is my first time writing for the boys and I’m a little rusty cause I haven’t written in so long so.. be nice please? 

“Nights on nights on nights

Days on days on days

Clockwork, light work, homework

We don’t take no breaks.”

It’s Friday night and finals week is 2 days away. As if things couldn’t be more stressful and upsetting, Nick flew all the way here just to see me but I’m so stressed about potentially failing my chemistry final that I can’t really even spend any time with him. I hear a vibration and gratefully look away from my flashcards.

“Hey baby girl, how’s the studying going?” The message reads.

You’d think that after a year of being with him I would feel less giddy when he called me baby girl but the feeling never ebbs.

“Well, my head hurts and the words are kind of blurring together but apart from that? Terrible.”

“I’m coming over.”

“Babe, I don’t want you to come over just to sit here while I study.”

“Too late, I’m already in my car. I’m going to go get some snacks. See you soon.”

I roll my eyes at the comment but smile anyway.

“Besides, I’d rather sit with you while you study than to not be with you at all. Plus I can help you.” He says a minute later.

“Oh yeah? How are you gonna do that?”

“With incentives for questions you answer correctly ;)”

Oh man… something tells me I’m not going to get a lot of studying done tonight.

 “We gon’ get it right, get it right, baby.”

 “Brandon how are we supposed to have a relationship if every time we actually get the time to see each other we fight?” I cry to him. Here we are again, doing the same shit we always do. With Brandon and the boys always working to build their careers, him and I don’t get to see each other too often. When we first met they hadn’t come out that they were a boy band and we got to see each other almost everyday and practically never fought but now things have changed. Every time it’s something different. Sometimes it’s as small as leaving a pile of clothes on the floor and other times it’s about a picture or video of him holding a fan a little to close for my liking or in this, and most, cases he works all the time. You’d think that when we finally had the time to be together he’d want to be with me but he’d apparently much rather spend time with his computer and sound system.

“The long distance is apparently putting too much strain on our relationship we can’t keep fighting like this B, I can’t keep fighting like this. Maybe we should just give up, stop trying. Quit while we’re ahead. Maybe it’d be better for both of us to just move on.” I say, wiping the tears from my face, only to have them replaced by more.

At this, his face drops,  “Give up and stop trying? Move on? What are you talking about? We can’t give up. Y/N I love you. I don’t want to move on, there’s no one else I want to be with. No one I want to try this with other than you.” He walks over to me, cupping my face in his hands. “Y/N you’re all I want. But if this is what you really want, if this is what will make you happy then that’s what we’ll do. I’ll give you up right now if you don’t want to be with me anymore but I really, really don’t want to. I know I’m bad at showing it sometimes but you’re the love of my life. We’re going to get it right, we have to.”

 “Take you deeper than the ocean

Have you all in your emotion

Making hours out of seconds.”

             “Babe, do you have to go back?”

“I wish I didn’t, Z.  No part of me wants to go back and to school but I have to.”

It’s 3:38am and I’m lying down in bed with Zion, cuddled up and trying not to think about how the day after tomorrow I’ll be flying away from him.

“You could always take a semester off.”

I look up at him for a moment before he says,  “I’m kidding, I’m kidding I just don’t want you to leave me. This is the most time we’ve ever spent continuously together. I still can’t believe you’ve been here all summer… I can’t imagine what it’s going to feel like without you here sleeping next to me.”

I kiss the corner of his jaw, “I know. But I have to say that it’ll be a lot easier to sleep when I don’t have to fight an actual tree for the blanket.”

“Oh please! You’re the blanket hog. I just try to hang onto enough to cover my body. “

“Your body is too long!”

“Fight me.”

“Nah, I’d have to record it and I don’t want to embarrass you in front of all the BEANZ and the boys. Cause I’d win.”

“Girl please,” He rolls his eyes.

I just smile up at him, trying to memorize the curve of his jaw, the way his dreads fall across his face and the light in his eyes when he looks at me. It’s not that I’ll never see him again but we won’t be able to physically be with each other for months after I leave because he’ll be going on tour. Face time just isn’t the same. He sees the tears welling up in my eyes and his own smile drops, “What’s wrong?”

My smile grows just a little, “I’m gonna miss you so damn much. “

“I’m going to miss you too baby,” He says leaning down to kiss me.

When we break apart I look at him again, or stare is a better word I suppose. He grins, “Are you stunned by how dashingly good looking I am?”

“I love you Caleb.”

His smile falters before widening to a full on Cheshire grin. “I was supposed to be the one to say it first, way to ruin my plans.” He playfully rolls his eyes.

“Oh there was a plan?” I tease.

“Oh yeah, I was going to surprise you with breakfast in bed tomorrow and confess my undying love for you.”

“I’d like to see the day where you wake up before I do.”

“Oh she’s got jokes. But I’m serious, I love you Y/N. I really was going to tell you before you left. I’ve never felt this way about anyone before. No one has ever really connected with me on the same level as you. No one gets me the same way. This sounds so cliché and I hate saying it because of that but no one makes me feel the way you do.”

I look at him for a moment, a slow smile growing across my face. I lean in to kiss him, slowly and gently, before pulling away and snuggling into his side.

“I don’t think anyone has ever loved anyone as deeply as I love you.”

 “I’ll put in the time if you let me

I’ll fill up your mind with some memories.”

             “Austin we’ve been playing this game for over 6 months and nothing has changed. This is the perfect time for the both of us to just move on.” She sighs, letting her head drop down into her hands.

Y/N and Austin have known each other for about a year now and have had feelings for each other for just as long. They really never attempted to hide them, everyone knew they liked each other, including them but neither of them ever made a move to define their relationship. The beanz constantly asked if they were dating and the answer was always no but that didn’t stop them from shipping them and in some cases, hating on Y/N. Y/N never had much of a problem with their relationship dynamic for the majority of its duration but lately she’d been feeling like maybe Austin didn’t ever make a move toward becoming official with her because he didn’t actually want her like that or see her as girlfriend material. To make things even worse, Austin just found out that management wants the group to go on a press tour for their album before their tour so instead of being gone for 5 months; he’s going to be gone for 8.  And he’s leaving next week.

           “What game? What are you talking about? Who’s playing a game?” He asks.

“You like me, I like you, you know it, I know it, the boys know it, our families know it, hell even the beanz know it. We cuddle but only if it’s just the boys or us. Sometimes in public you’ll put your arm around me but when people ask you tell them that we are just friends and that you don’t think of me like that. You won’t really give any girl the time of day or you ditch them to be with me but you always tell people that we aren’t a thing and you’re single. And sometimes you just look at me like I’m everything you want, not just physically but like you don’t ever want to leave my side. When I come over or you come over you say hi to me by kissing me on the forehead and call me babe and baby but yet, you always introduce me as just a friend… If you don’t want to be with me like that that’s fine but Austin, I can’t keep doing this. I’m not going to push you into being my boyfriend when that very much seems like something you don’t want, if you don’t see me as girlfriend material then that’s fine. Breaking things off would probably just be the best decision for the both of us because I can’t be the girl you keep close until you feel like you’ve met someone worth your time. Maybe you’ll meet someone on one of your tours; maybe you’ll meet someone on this tour. We can’t keep each other from living our lives. We’re not together anyway, not really, maybe this is our sign that we should put an end to… whatever this is.” She says, her voice cracking at the end. She sniffles as Austin looks down at her sitting on the edge of his bed from his perch on his desk, his mouth slightly agape. The silence settles around them, his gaze never leaving her tear streaked face. After what feels like 2 full minutes of silence Y/N eyes drop to the ground and she gets up wiping at her face with her sleeve, “Glad we had this talk.”

           “Y/N wait,” He croaks out grabbing her arm. She stops but keeps her head down, not daring to look at him. “Is that really how you think I see you? As just some girl to fill a void until I feel like I’ve found ‘the one’ or something? “

Y/N just stands there, saying nothing with her face turned away from him.

“Y/N look at me. Please,” He pleads. When she doesn’t comply he slides off the desk to stand in front of her and takes her face in his hands. She closes her eyes before he can make her face him and he watches the tears flow down her face with his own building in his eyes.

“Y/N, the last thing I think of when I see you is just some girl. I would never think that about you, you’re so much more than that okay? I, God, Y/N you are the girl. You said I look at you’re everything I want and that’s because you are, baby. Will you please open your beautiful eyes and look at me?’

She keeps her eyes closed a few more seconds but slowly opens them and rests them on Austin’s face. She could hear his voice shaking but she’s still surprised to see that his cheeks are wet from him own tears.

“I want you in every way possible, okay? But I’ve seen first hand with myself and the other guys what a relationship can do to someone when you’re in the position I’m in. I don’t want you to go through that. The loneliness, the hate, the paparazzi, the jealousy planted by paparazzi, I don’t want that for you. I just-“

“Austin,” She interrupts, “Don’t you think I already go through all that? Don’t you think I get lonely when you’re off on some tour or going to London or wherever to shoot a music video or when I go to visit my parents? We spend basically every moment that we can together, of course when I’m not with you I’m lonely and I miss you. And if you think not having the label of your girlfriend is saving me from hate then you’re sadly mistaken and you should probably log in to your social media accounts a little more often. Like I said, we’re together as much as we possibly can be and the beanz know, or at least theorize that we have feelings for each other. Austin you aren’t saving me from anything by keeping me labeled as your friend okay? Just save the bullshit. If you don’t want me to be your girlfriend then you don’t want me to be your girlfriend that’s fine but just let me go.”

“When did I ever say I didn’t want you to be my girlfriend?”

“When did you say that you did?”

             He sighs, his shoulders slumping. “You wanna know why I’ve never tried to make us into an official thing? Because I’m scared Y/N, you’re beautiful, so fucking beautiful and I can’t look at twitter or Instagram without seeing at least a dozen comments about how ugly I am and how prettymuch would be better without me and how you would never actually be into me so why would I ever think that you would want to be with me? You’re so out of my league that it’s comical and I never wanted to push my luck. I figured that if I tried to really make you mine that you’d say no. And that I’d lose you and I just really didn’t want to do that. I can’t imagine not having you around so if having you around meant that you weren’t really going to be mine then I was willing to live with that.”

“Are you serious? I’ve been so completely transparent about how I feel about you. I get that people on the Internet are bitches and they get you down but I don’t give a fuck about what they have to say, all right? There is not a single person on this planet that I would rather be with right now or any other time than you. And fuck anyone who says you’re anything less than fine, baby. You are a fine, multitalented man that deserves so much better out of this shitty world than what you get and I-“ She stops.

“And you what? “

“I just hate to hear you talk like that about yourself. I’m not going anywhere okay? “ He wipes away any moisture left on her checks with his thumbs and searches her face before saying, “I know we aren’t together, not really, but I think I’m falling for you.”

She turns her head and kisses the inside of his palm and says, “I already fell. Now ask me to be your girlfriend so we can make the most of the week we have left together. We’ve got memories to make.” 

[fanfictionconnectionwordpress]

Mystic Messenger Fanfiction | Vanderwood Backstory | Ch. 14 The Perfect Woman

***OH MY GOODNESSS! It's the end of my vanderbby's backstory, but hold onto your seats because, guess what? My OTP VanderwoodxOC Cerise will be rolling out with an rp conversion soon!!!!

This fanfiction covers my version of Vanderwood which I rp in this Mystic Messenger Discord server. Don’t forget to subscribe to the email list for access to R-Rated Scenes and my monthly newsletter.

You can support my writing on patreon and get access to my VIP Discord Server or other goodies like early chapter releases and hidden scenes. You can also now get hidden scenes for $1 per scene so get yourself that Caleb Vanderwood POV chapter from this fanfiction!!!  

Chapter Directory.  ~Let’s Connect! FFC***

He was finding it so hard to focus. His tie was annoying enough, but the suit was hot and uncomfortable. Why did he have to wear a suit? Oh, right, for the mission he was supposed to be paying attention to. Tonight, he would be framing someone for the murder of a seedy public official. They had dealings in sex trafficking, each of them. There was a small syringe of the chemical that the other man, the one being framed, was developing in his labs. So far, as far as anyone else knew, that lab was the only one to have this particular lethal chemical, and it was meant to be used for disposing of chemical waste, but Vanderwood was about to change that.

Vanderwood pulled on the collar of his suit once more. It felt like he was going to die. He much preferred his shirts and jacket. At least they were comfortable and easier to move around in. Although sometimes the jacket did get a little in the way just because he preferred to wear it over his shoulders rather than on, so that people could see the leopard print. Say what you would about him, but he happened to think it looked rather good. It was certainly the most expensive thing he'd ever owned besides his imported mattress and his agency issued taser. He felt oddly…comforted by the print. Seven had asked him once why he wore it, but that was all he could come up with. Trying to think about it made him upset.

The target was walking past now. A tall, slick-haired man with a beautiful woman on his arm. Vanderwood found her far more interesting, probably because he was already irritated. Honestly, Vanderwood would be surprised if the woman wasn't an escort. Her dress was body hugging, silver like her nail polish and jewelry. The only thing that wasn't silver was her hair which was a light purple, although it did have a hint of gray tone to it. Maybe she dyed it? No, it looked natural.

She was unique, but she had assets, and that was all Vanderwood ever cared about with women really, besides making sure that they didn't touch him. Watching her with the target, she was definitely an escort. No one else would notice the way she was touching him just this way, making sure to keep her attention focused solely on her client. Yeah, escort. His eyebrow twitched as he once more discreetly tugged at his collar. Damn he wanted to hit that, she looked like a good fuck…, just to get some relaxation out of tonight.

***

He'd been watching them all night, waiting for his opening, and now, here it was. Vanderwood followed the target and his escort from the ballroom of the hotel and up the elevator, taking the adjacent one. It wouldn't be long now. Quietly, he stood at the door, listening for when the man would finish, and he snorted when it only lasted five minutes. At least she was getting paid, Jesus. He was probably going to have to pay her off handsomely. If he knew escorts, he knew they just needed money, at least the good ones.

Vanderwood carefully inserted the hotel key that Seven had created, pressing the button on his phone that alerted Seven to the fact that he was commencing with the hit. The redhead would keep his location and send in a call for reinforcement if Vanderwood was gone longer than fifteen minutes, but the brunet really wasn't worried.

He made his way in quick, taking the syringe and decapping it to hear the sound of the escort gasping as she dropped the dress she'd been putting back on, re-exposing herself, probably a self-defense mechanism meant to stun the attacker, but he wasn't paying attention to her at the moment. The man was shouting something along the lines of 'What are you doing here?' when Vanderwood shoved the needle into the man's thigh. The chemical apparently reacted quickly as his veins started to protrude and turn purple, his hands scratching at his throat as he fell.

Now he allowed himself to pay attention to the escort, turning to face the woman who had so far remained silent since her first gasp. She was eyeing him, false modesty had her covering her body. He snorted softly looking her over. God, it would be so nice to get out of this suit and into her, but he couldn't do that while on a mission. Based on the way she now lifted her chin, giving him a calm and collected look, she knew that he wasn’t being fooled. Her tone was soft and gentle, like the brush of soft fabric along your skin, a little too pure for his taste, but so be it. "I won't talk. I'm not stupid. You don't even have to pay me. I'd rather be alive."  

She really was smart. He straightened out his shoulders as she dropped her arms away and went to put on her dress again. "Thought you were in this for the money." It wasn't really a question, but she answered anyway. "I am. Paying for law school and putting some money in savings, but I don't want to be killed for greed. I easily make enough money as it is." He noted that even though her voice was soft, it wasn’t not childish, more like sweet seduction. Vanderwood was actually smirking a little. So far, she hadn't tried to touch him, beg for her life, nor threaten to blackmail him which was what he was used to.

This one was the genuine real deal detached escort. "How much for an hour?" It rolled off his tongue like normal conversation. There was a dead body in front of him and a now elegantly dressed escort to his right, but it was such an easy topic still. His life would never be normal, clearly; he'd accepted that a long time ago.

"$2,000 for one hour. I won't touch you anywhere you don't ask me to, and I'm silent unless otherwise requested. Do you want to right now?" Her eyes slipped to the man on the ground. "In another room?" She was so calm, probably some other client had met a similar fate before, that or she was really well trained by her pimp. Most likely the first option, seeing as she wasn't even shaking. As tempting as her offer was, he couldn't now, even though he wanted to. "Give me your number."

Crystal was her name. She was so simple, so perfectly suited for his needs, and she didn't want anything from him other than her money and to leave at the end of the night. Sometimes he would ask her about how school was going, tell her to be wary of her pimps and johns, particularly if clients getting killed was a normal thing for her. Usually she would give him a small smile and tell him that she knew what she was doing.

Only once, the week he had her there every day, did she ask him why he needed an escort when he was such a great catch. He actually told her the truth. "I'm a sex addict and a secret agent. I can't ever find love or be in a relationship." Vanderwood said it casually as he pulled his shirt back on. It was the anniversary of his brother's death, that's why that week was so hard, although usually he'd be seeing a different woman every night. Her soft tones grated a little on his ears for the first time when she answered. "There's someone out there for you. She'll heal you. You just haven't found her yet." Vanderwood had snorted at her before she left.

He still called her the next day. She was the most perfect woman he would ever have in his life. In fact, she would be the only woman he would ever have actually in his life. Just one to two hours at a time, most often once a week or whenever things got to be too much. That was just the woman he needed.

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[nightmareonfilmstreet]

[Exclusive Interview] Caleb Emery Travels Back In Time To The SUMMER OF ’84

The dust may have settled from this year’s edition of Sundance, but we here at Nightmare on Film Street are still stoked on the world premiere of the suburban dark thriller, Summer of ’84. We were able to talk to the directors of the film and wrote a short review as well. We also got the chance to talk to one of the cast members, Caleb Emery, who plays Dale ‘Woody’ Woodworth, part of the core four protagonists, acting alongside Graham Verchere (Fargo Season 3) Judah Lewis (The Babysitter) and Cory Gruter-Andrew (Okja).

We talked to Caleb on his day off from filming his next role in the upcoming TV series Good Girls. He told us what it was like being a millennial pretending to be an 80’s kid (Gen X or the “MTV Generation”), recounted his memories from behind-the-scenes and spoke about his newfound fondness for dramatic roles.

Chris Aitkens of Nightmare On Film Street: You were at Sundance last week, what was your experience like?

Caleb Emery: Sundance was crazy. I’ve never been before, it was my first time. There’s a ton of parties and a ton of people, and a lot more celebrities than I probably know. It was interesting, getting to promote the movie, which was really cool. And then we had the premiere there on Monday at midnight to a sold out crowd and that was a lot of fun.

NOFS: Did you grow up in the suburbs at all?

CE: I don’t know what to consider where I grew up. I did grow up in a cul-de-sac, so the vibes were very much like in the movie, as a kid. But then when I turned 12, we moved from there and that’s when we moved onto property in a different county. But my childhood was a lot like Ipswich.  

NOFS: Was it a community where everybody knows each other?

CE: Yeah, I remember vividly, as a kid, they would do yard sales. Everybody set that up together and they had meetings. There were a lot of kids in the neighborhood, we were all the same age, we all went to the same school.

NOFS: I imagine you’re a lot like me and that you grew up with the internet. Was it strange travelling back to a time when the internet didn’t exist and you had to make a world of your own?

CE: Yeah, it’s funny because I’m 24 and I’m playing a 15 year-old in the film. I did some research before we started, after reading the script. I went back to see what happened in the 80s and I talked to my parents about it. I think the film is well done, it gave us the idea of what it was like in the 80s. This whole movie is based on an idea that one of these boys has that their neighbor could be a serial killer. It’s his way of making his own adventure and just going with it. It’s funny, there’s a scene where we’re using an old computer, and we have walkie-talkies. It’s much different to how kids are now growing up, where they can just Google something off their phones in three seconds.

NOFS: What was it like connecting with the rest of the cast?

CE: When we all got to Vancouver, we locked ourselves in an escape room to bond, which was a lot of fun. We didn’t get out, though. It was literally the first couple days of meeting each other so we didn’t know how to work together yet. But we all just hung out at Sundance and it’s been months since we shot, but we just started where we left off. They’re all very cool guys, they’re all going to be extremely successful and they’re extremely talented. I was honored and privileged to be part of that group.

  NOFS: Do you have any stories from behind the scenes?

CE: A lot of the movie takes place in the treehouse, that’s where we meet up and hang out. Our first three days of shooting was in this little teeny treehouse. I wish I had the dimensions because when I say small, I don’t even think it gives you the idea of how small this treehouse was. But we spent almost four days in there, and it was hot. I said in another interview that we didn’t have a choice about whether to like or hate each other in that moment. It was better to just like each other because we had a long shoot ahead. We got to know each other really well. If you can imagine locking yourself in a room for three days, for 12 hours a day with other people, you get to know them very well. There was a reel that was made, maybe one day it will go public, but there were some funny things that happened while shooting. There’s a scene where one of the boys bites into an apple, it was a caramel apple on a stick, and the first take he bit into it, the whole apple fell off the stick. It was the funniest thing in the world to watch. Other than that, everything went pretty smooth and we had a good time joking around. We all got to be 80s kids for a couple of months.

NOFS: What was it like working with the directors? Did you take direction from all three of them, or did you talk to just one of them? 

CE: RKSS has a system set up, they can probably explain it way better than I’m going to. Yoann [Whissel] talks directly to the actors and focuses more on that side of it, whereas François is more technical and talks about storyboards and scene set-ups and camera angles. And I think of Anouk as our boss, she doesn’t have to say anything, she can just nod our shake her head and the crew would say “yes, ma’am!” and they’ll go do it. I think she’s secretly in charge of all the operations regardless of what they all say. They all have their jobs and they work very well together, as people can see in Turbo Kid or in our movie. As far as acting goes, at first, I thought it’d be weird to have three directors, but once I got there and I met them, I understood that everyone had their own job.

NOFS: I see you’ve been involved with a lot of big-budget films (Goosebumps, Fist Fight, Logan Lucky). What kind of movies do you prefer to act in, do you like doing comedy or do you like doing horror movies? 

CE: I’ve done a lot of comedy and I’m most comfortable in it. Just because it’s something that I studied when I first started acting and I enjoy making people laugh. I find satisfaction in it. But Summer of ’84 was my first real horror film and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed getting to be a little more serious. Without saying too much about the movie, my character Woody, from what the directors and producers talked to me about beforehand, my main task was to make audience like me. Out of the four boys, you should like Woody, you should care abut Woody. Normally my task at hand is to make the serious moments funny, I have to act the joke at the weirdest times, that’s normally my job on a lot of shoots. But for this, I had to make the audience care about the more serious moment. It was different. I like doing the other side of that, but we’ll see what happens in the future. I know comedy happens a lot.

NOFS: I really liked your character too, I would have liked to see more of Woody, I especially would have liked to see more about his relationship with his mom. Did you build up a backstory in your head to fill up the gaps for Woody?

CE: You get to follow Woody home once, to realize that he comes from a broken home. His dad is not in the picture anymore and his mom is working an trying to give him everything he can have so he can fit in with his friends. My wardrobe was very basic, there wasn’t anything too elaborate about what I had. The relationship with my mom, in my mind, I was probably the first and only priority in her life. If she fell short, she would take it hard. I wish we could have gone deeper into their home. There’s a lot of jokes that I made on set about who my dad was and spin-offs of who my dad could be, one of them being Mr. Mackey (played by Rich Sommer), who’s the guy we’re going after the whole time, which is funny but I don’t think would have really worked.

NOFS: Any last comments?

CE: I hope that everyone that gets a chance to watch Summer of ’84 enjoys it. I want everyone to watch it with an open mind. We’ve been compared to a lot of movies and I don’t think this should be compared to any other movie. I think it’s its own thing. I hope that when people watch it, they remember that. And that this was a fun movie, they can dig into it and be a boy from the 80s with nothing to do in the summer.

  Summer of ’84 is written by Matt Leslie & Stephen J. Smith, and produced by Matt Leslie, Jameson Parker, Thierry Tanguy, Shawn Williamson.  Summer of ’84 is a production of Brightlight Pictures and Gunpowder & Sky, the studio behind last year’s festival hits Tragedy Girls, Manfield 66/67, and The Little Hours. There is currently no official release date for the film, but it is sure to make festival appearances through the rest of year.  Read our Sundance Review of Summer of ’84 here.

Follow us on Twitter, and Facebook to stay posted on all upcoming news regarding Summer of ’84.

The post [Exclusive Interview] Caleb Emery Travels Back In Time To The SUMMER OF ’84 appeared first on Nightmare on Film Street - Horror Movie Podcast, News and Reviews.

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