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iliveiloveiwrite · 4 years ago

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Falling // G.W. (celebration fic)

Request: George and *gasp* there is only one bed AU?? Pls? 🥺 - @acciotwinz

A/N: This is also inspired by the made up fic title that the ever so talented @theweasleysredhair sent in to me. This is a no Voldemort AU which also has the chance of becoming a two parter, who knows? I hope you like!!

Summary: A timeline of your love for George Weasley.

Warnings: teenage angst but overloaded with fluff

Word count: 4.1k

First Year:

Rushing through the corridors, late for Potions is not how you wanted to start your day, but it seemed like there was to be no luck for you this morning.

Having woken late, you had rushed getting dressed and forgot your bag as you raced from your bedroom, having to double back to get it. By that time, breakfast had almost finished so you threw back a piece of cold toast slathered with raspberry jam before necking a glass of orange juice and sprinting from the Great Hall.

Turning onto the corridor in which Snape’s classroom is located, you run straight into someone. The force of hitting them, you fall onto your bum and the person you ran into is pitched forwards, caught luckily by their friend.

They turn quickly; their eyes dropping to your figure on the floor, ready to start shouting. However, it seems their argument dies at the same time. Your eyes widen as you realise who you’ve run into: Fred and George Weasley. The latter rubbing their shoulder where your face had been only moments ago.

“Merlin,” You stutter, “I am so sorry, I was rushing, and I didn’t see you there.”

His twin, Fred you think, covers his mouth politely as he laughs. George elbows him as he smiles at you. “No harm, no foul,” George reassures.

You release a long sigh; unaware just how on edge you felt around the twins already making themselves a name larger than the Marauders who once roamed these very halls. You smile sheepishly at the redhead, already a few inches taller than you despite being the same age, and gesture to the now empty corridor, “I guess I better get going to class. I don’t want to be late – Snape will have my head if I am.”

George nods his head, “Yeah, sure. I’ll see you around then.”

You turn away from him; hoisting your bag further up your shoulder, “I’ll see you around, George.”

Second Year:

“(Y/N),” A humour filled voice calls out from behind you.

Turning, you come face to face with George Weasley. You startle slightly; not having spoken much to the twin since you had run into him through your first year. A conversation would be had every now and then, but it mainly consisted of group work with other students in attendance.

Tucking a piece of hair behind your ear, you greet the redhead. He smiles at you politely before gesturing to the empty seat next to you, “Do you mind if I sit here?”

You shake your head, “Of course not, but why aren’t you sitting next to Fred?”

George smiles at you gratefully as he sits down next to you, “They’ve split us into different Herbology classes.”

You grin at his answer, “Do I want to know why?”

He shakes his head; opening his notebook and reaching into his bag for his quill. “Probably not, but I’m not too bothered.”

“You aren’t?”

George shakes his head once more, shrugging his shoulders, “I get to sit next to you.”

You turn your eyes from him quickly; not expecting an answer like that. He laughs lightly as he notes down the date and aim for this lesson. “I think we’re going to be good friends, (Y/N).”

Third Year:

Your Third Year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry starts a little differently to your last two. For starters, you don’t sit with your usual friends. Instead, you wave to them from the platform at Kings Cross before joining Fred and George as they wait for you with their younger brother, Ron, in tow.

Your friendship with the twins developed quickly after that first Herbology lesson with George. He had carried on talking to you after the class; walking you to your next one without complaint and then meeting you later with Fred.

Warming to them both, you couldn’t help but feel closer to George. He had a knack for knowing exactly what you were thinking and feeling at any given moment; able to pull you from stressing too much over essays. He always seemed to be there too; for you to talk to, for you to unload your worries on to.

The friendship was something you already cherished; it bringing out a more playful side to you that you could no longer ignore in their presence. Whenever you could, you would lend an ear to their plans for pranks – offering your opinion over where best to throw a dungbomb in order to affect the most people.

Third Year did not start the same as your first and second year; this year you felt surer of yourself, felt happier with the person you were becoming. You had George to thank for that.

-------

“Ron!” You call out; grabbing the attention of the youngest Weasley boy. His ears turn red with unwanted attention, and you can’t help but take glee in it. “How are you?” You ask, “Are you settling in okay? And this must be Harry?”

If possible, Ron blushes harder. He nods before finding his voice, “I’m okay. I’m settling in fine; you sound like my mum (Y/N). Yes, this is Harry.”

You smile widely at the messy haired boy before turning your attention back to Ron. “Your mother is an angel, Ron, so I’m taking that as a compliment. Who else would send me a hand-knitted jumper for Christmas?”

Ron snorts, “What’s up, (Y/N)?”

“Have you seen your brother at all?” You ask; eyes scanning for George amongst the growing crowd of students making their way to their next class.

Ron raises an eyebrow, “Which one?”

You fix him with a flat stare; unimpressed with the sass coming from the eleven year old boy. “George. I’m looking for George,” You state for clarity’s sake.

Ron shakes his head, “We saw him at breakfast, but I haven’t seen him since. Have you, Harry?”

Harry shakes his head too. “Have you checked the library?” He offers in kindness.

You bite your lip; wondering about the ever so slight chance of the Weasley twin being in the library. You smile gratefully at the young Gryffindors, “Thank you, boys. I’ll see you later.”

You make to turn, but at the last minute, you swivel back to ruffle Ron’s hair into an undignified mess. He shouts in protest as you run off. As you leave, you hear Harry ask after your identity. Ron tells him who you are and what you mean to the family, but he rounds off with, “George would not stop talking about them over summer.”

Turning onto the corridor for the library, you file that piece of information away for later. For a time when you’re also ready to confront the ever growing feelings for the redhead.

Fourth Year:

Fourth Year begins much like the last. You meet Fred and George at Kings Cross; ruffling Ron’s hair and smiling warmly at Ginny – the last of the Weasley brood to start Hogwarts. She smiles back, but it’s watery and you reach out a hand for her to take in comfort – her goodbyes to her mother already said as you all board the train.

The train ride is loud, but you still find the time to catch up with George. He asks about your summer as if you didn’t spend half of it at the Burrow; you regale him of your time abroad with your family – travelling through the north of France on an extended history lesson.

You hate to admit it, but you bask in his attention, having missed him fiercely through your time abroad that no amount of letters helped. You missed hearing his laughter; it eliciting goosebumps on your skin with each chortle.

Watching the Scottish countryside pass you at an alarming rate, you wonder whether Fourth Year is going to feel similar to third. If your heart has any say in this, it would be the first to tell you that no – this year was not going to feel anything like the last.

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Despite the warmth of the fire, the common room is cold as you sit next to George. What started as a happy, carefree atmosphere was plunged into ice, becoming frozen and stilted with words about a missing sibling.

“They said her name… and I just, I stopped hearing anything else,” George whispers; voice close to breaking as he buries his face in his hands.

You open your mouth to offer words of comfort; to offer words of anything, but nothing comes out. How do you comfort something like this? How do offer words of help when you can’t compare the situation to anything you have ever experienced?

At the last minute, as George turns his head to face you, you bring his head to your shoulder, and this time you’re the one to provide wordless comfort.

You feel him shudder against you; overcome with the news of his missing sister. The news had come in a couple of hours ago; George, Fred and Ron escorted from the common room by Professor McGonagall, leaving you alone with Harry and Hermione who were both just as confused as you.

Upon their return, you rushed immediately to George’s side, noting his paleness and the slight tremble to his hands. You couldn’t count on both hands how many times you had asked him – pleaded with him – to tell you what had happened for him to react like this, but for a while, all he did was shake his head, unable to put into the words the news he had received.

It was Ron who worked up the courage. Taking a deep breath to slow his racing heart, he had announced, “Ginny has gone missing. She was seen going into the Forbidden Forest, but no-one ever saw her come out.”

At that point, Fred left the room. You made to go after him; to check on him, but George’s hand clamped down on your knee, keeping you next to him. Shooting him a puzzled glance, all he said was “Stay,” and that was enough for you.

It didn’t take long for you to find yourself alone with George. Fred having returned but going straight to bed; Ron and his friends following straight after though you all know that no sleep would be had amongst anyone. Not until Ginny was found safe and sound.

You remain on the couch; George’s head remaining on your shoulder as you run one hand through his hair and the other holds his hand tightly. The fire continues to burn; devouring the logs that breathe new life into its flames. Silently, you both watch – too tired emotionally to consider talking to the other.

It’s as you watch the fire turning the logs to ash that you discover the lengths you would go too to protect George from ever feeling like this again.

Fifth Year:

Fifth Year brings with it OWLs. It brings with it the stresses of academic excellence tied in with your growing feelings for the lanky redhead that you found yourself attached to.

The further into Fifth Year, the more you come to understand that your feelings for George Weasley are no longer platonic. In fact, you seem to be harbouring quite the crush on the redhead despite your adamant denials to Hermione, who swore blind that it wasn’t completely obvious and that you had nothing to worry about – George hadn’t noticed a thing.

However, you could no longer the way George made you feel. How simply looking at him had you losing breath; how a simple smile from him had your heart racing so fast that you felt absolutely certain it was to give out. There wasn’t a lot he had to do to have your stomach erupting into butterflies and your palms becoming sweaty; all he had to do was say hello and ask how you were feeling for your mouth to run dry.

You felt the fool more often than not; your worries and fears having you second guess each interaction with him, yet sometimes. Sometimes, you swore you would catch him watching you with the same yearning in his eyes that you know is reflected in yours.

It was moments such as that, that had your fears and worries dissipating, giving way to the more harmful emotion of hope. It blooms in your chest; spreading through your veins like a wildfire as you let yourself think that somewhere in the future, George may just feel the same as you.

------

A hand runs through your hair, and you smile in your sleep, turning your face to it.

“Love,” An all too familiar voice sounds, “It’s almost curfew.”

You grumble; snuggling further into your cushion, feeling confused when it starts to move. You crack one eye open; shooting up when you come to see that you’ve fallen asleep on George’s shoulder. You press your hand to your mouth in shock but also checking that you haven’t drooled on him through your nap. “George,” You ramble, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realise I was that tired.”

George waves a hand in a dismissive fashion; ignoring your apology, “Love, I’ve known you a few years now. I’m sure falling asleep on each other was bound to happen at some point.”

That does nothing to comfort you. “Regardless,” You protest, “I doubt the last thing you wanted was for me snoring away on your shoulder.”

George smiles, “It’s fine, love. Besides, they were only small snores.”

“George!” You shout; batting a hand on his shoulder playfully, “I do not snore!”

George mimics zipping his mouth shut; keeping his answer a secret, leaving you in the dark as to whether you snore or not.

Rolling your eyes at the redhead, you ask, “How long was I out?”

“About an hour and a half.”

“Oh…” You trail off; glancing at the clock for the first time tonight, noting how close it was to curfew. You run a hand down your face, “I should probably head back to my common room.”

George clears his throat; running a hand through his hair as he suggests, “Or you could stay here?”

“What?”

“Stay here?” He suggests once more, “By the time you get back to your common room, you’ll no longer be tired and there’s always the chance you’ll get caught by Filch and it really isn’t worth a detention, is it?”

A playful smile spreads over your lips as you shake your head, “It’s not worth getting caught at all. But are you sure?”

George nods, standing and holding out a hand for you, “I’m sure. How different can it be from all the sleepovers over the summers we’ve known each other?”

You take his outstretched hand; keeping it tight within yours as he leads you to his room.

“How are you with sharing a bed with me? I’ll share with Fred or Lee if it makes you uncomfortable.”

A sleepy smile breaks over your face, and George realises then and there that he would do just about anything for you to look at him like that always.

“I just fell asleep on you on the couch. How different is sharing a bed?”

George nods wordlessly; squeezing your hand before letting it drop to rifle through his trunk. It doesn’t take him long to find what he’s looking for; an old worn out shirt and a pair of joggers for you to wear to bed.

You smile your thanks as you take it from George. You move to unbutton your blouse at which point George splutters a cough, turning his back on you. He feels the blush heat his cheeks as he hears you laugh quietly.

You pull his t-shirt over your torso; enjoying the softness against your skin and inhaling his familiar scent of gunpowder and honeysuckle. “You can turn around now, George.”

An awkward air settles over the room as George meets your eyes, but it doesn’t last long before your burst into laughter. You offer him the same privacy as he gets changed for bed; he clears his throat to let you know it’s safe turn around. Almost imperceptibly, the air changes between you two, becoming charged with an electricity neither of you were aware of before. It’s heady; it’s has your skin feeling flushed, making you more aware of the plans for tonight.

Reaching up on your tiptoes, you press a soft kiss to his cheek. Pulling back, you whisper, “Thank you for letting me stay the night, George.”

He averts his eyes; unable to meet your gaze for the rush of emotions running through his body from such a simple action. He nods wordlessly once more; smiling at you shyly as he pulls back the covers.

Space is limited in the single beds; it ends up that you lay half over George as his arms wrap around you, keeping you in place.

That night, the both of you come to realisation that sharing a bed means much more now.

Sixth Year:

“An ageing potion?” You demand; entering the hospital wing, feeling nothing short of anger aimed at the twins.

George’s eyes widen as he looks to Fred who wisely turns his attention elsewhere. He watches you take in the aftermath of being vaulted across the room by an age line; the grey hair and the long white beard. He can see the anger simmering through your entire body, but your eyes hold a different emotion – one George cannot put a finger on right not, but he would argue it’s something close to love.

At this point, he can no longer tell his feelings for you apart from what he feels daily. He’s utterly infatuated with you, as his mother likes to remind him each time he goes home. George has stopped disagreeing with her; happy to accept the fact that he fell in love with you a long time ago and has no plans in foreseeable future to ever stop.

You hold a hand over your mouth; repressing the sob that wants to escape. The very thought of him entering such a dangerous competition becoming too much for you. George’s face falls when he sees the tears in your eyes; he reaches out a hand for you, “Love…”

You fall into his embrace willingly; hiding your face in his shoulder as the tears fall down your face. Sniffling pitifully, you fist your hands into his robes, gripping onto him for dear life.

No words are dared uttered as George lets you collect yourself; his hand running through your hair and down your back in a motion that he knows soothes you.

“Why would you do such a foolish thing?” You ask; needing to know why they would put their lives at risk so willingly.

George has the decency to look somewhat ashamed as he utters his answer, “Eternal glory and the prize is a thousand galleons.”

You shake your head in disbelief, “If it had worked, I don’t know what I would have done.”

“But it didn’t, so it’s okay.”

“It isn’t, George! This tournament is so dangerous it poses a real threat to lives. If anything was to happen to you-” A sob breaks free from your lips; halting your sentence as your mind steadfastly refuses to even entertain the very thought of living a life without the Weasley twin.

George pulls you back into his embrace; arms wrapping around you tightly as he rocks you as best he can from where he sits on the hospital bed. His beard tickles your face as you hide it in his chest, clamping your lips shut against the wave of tears threatening to overflow.

One, two, three kisses are placed to the top of your head before George coaxes your face out from where its hidden. Tear filled eyes meet his brown ones to which George suddenly feels rotten about the whole ordeal. He hushes you quietly; offering any and all words of comfort so he no longer has to listen to the utterly heart wrenching noise of your sobs – made all the worse knowing that he was the one to cause them.

“Love, we meant nothing by it, you know that.”

“George, you don’t enter a competition that could quite literally kill for money.”

“What else are we to do if we want to open the shop?”

“We go to a bank and fill out a form for a loan.”

“We?”

You raise your eyebrow, determination lacing your tone and distracting you from your tears, “What? Did you think you were getting rid of me that easily? I won’t work in the shop, but I’ll help you open it in any way I can.”

He hooks an arm around your shoulder; pulling you in once again to drop more kisses to the top of your head, unable to help the emotions surging through him.

Over your shoulder, George makes eye contact with his twin brother. Fred had watched the entire exchange in both awe and with a tinge of jealousy; he couldn’t help but hope he would find something similar to what you and George have. That love that doesn’t need to be named, despite the both of you being somewhat aware of the other’s feelings.

Fred winks at his brother; offering him a thumbs up as he lays down on the bed and closes his eyes. Any attempt to give the near couple one form of privacy or another.

As Fred closes his eyes, George turns his attention back to you. The words don’t need to be said, but he whispers them to you regardless, “I would never leave you. Never.”

He feels you relax against him; the tension seeping from your body as the words land exactly where he meant them too. You fall into the embrace more; gripping onto him tighter and inhaling the smell that is so intoxicatingly him – honeysuckle and gunpowder, and just like that, your heart has calmed, and your mind no longer races with possibilities that may never happen.

Seventh Year:

NEWTs take over your life in Seventh Year; spending more and more time in the library much to the dismay of George. He kicks up a fuss each time you tell him your plans for the evening, yet each evening he doesn’t leave your side as he studies with you.

Truthfully, it’s hard to focus with him so close to you. It’s hard to do much of anything when you have to resist the urge to kiss him senseless each time he smiles at you or flicks a piece of parchment your way.

At this point in your friendship, it could be argued by many outsiders that you were in fact in a relationship. Having been asked many times by younger students, each denial felt like a stab to the gut which is only further reinforced each time you catch him staring at you.

Biting your lip, you return your focus to your studies. Ashamedly admitting to yourself that you had to berate yourself countless times throughout the day for daydreaming about the teenager you’re certain you’ve loved since you were fifteen years old and only just learning the meaning of the word.

Seventh Year was your final year at Hogwarts, and though you were more than certain that George would feature heavily in your life beyond it, you couldn’t help the raw hope that built in your chest and flooded your veins at the mere idea of loving him as more than a friend.

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“You know, I promised myself I would do something at graduation,” George states; pulling you to one side as families begin to gather after the ceremony and students are congratulated further.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” You comment; an eyebrow raised.

George nods; a smile gracing his face, “Yeah, I promised myself I would tell you how I feel about you.”

“And just how do you feel about me, Weasley?”

If it’s at all possible, George’s smile grows larger, “I’m absolutely mad for you, love. So mad for you in fact, that I don’t imagine another future without you in it. So what do you say? Fancy living out the rest of your days with a man who has a thing for pranks and plans on owning a joke shop?”

“I can do you one better.”

“Well I have to hear this.”

You beam up at him; hand already circling his tie, “I fancy living out the rest of my days with my best friend by my side. Morning, noon, and night.”

Arms circling your waist, George laughs lightly, “I think I prefer the sound of that.”

Brushing your lips against his, you whisper, “I knew you would.”

*********

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George Weasley taglist: @susceptible-but-siriusexual

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dontcare77ghj · 4 years ago

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Leisure Sickness

Natasha x reader x Tony x Steve

Leisure sickness is defined as a psychological condition in which people, read workaholics, can become ill when given time off.

Leisure sickness's symptoms can include headaches, nausea, insomnia, and vomiting.

These symptoms quickly became synonymous with Steve, Natasha, Y/N, and Tony whenever they went on vacation.

The four of you had decided that you'd had enough with the media and the general public for this season. It seemed as if everyone had an opinion on the team, and you were all sick of it.

So Steve had pitched the idea of the four of you going on vacation for a couple of weeks.

It had been a lot of back and forth before the four of you came to a decision that you were all happy with.

The four of you would take three weeks off from the world unless it was about to end and stay at a house on Tony's private island.

"This place is massive. I'm pretty sure I've been lost for the last hour." You said, entering the kitchen where Natasha and Steve were putting groceries away.

"You've been gone ten minutes, doll." Steve chuckled, stocking the fridge full of drinks.

"Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure it's been an hour." You commented, taking a seat on the counter. "Are we sure time doesn't work differently here?"

"How much coffee have you had?" Natasha asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I had two cups on the plane." You told her honestly.

"You mean the cups that were basically soup bowls?" Steve clarified.

"I drank whatever was served to me." You shrugged.

"We're going to talk about that later," Natasha said, pointing a finger at you. "But first, can you find Tony? We haven't seen him since we got here."

"Sure. I've explored a lot of this place. I should be able to find him." You shrugged, jumping off the counter.

"Alright, we'll see you in an hour," Steve said, receiving the middle finger from you.

To be fair, Steve might have been pretty spot on. To explore just the ground floor took you about twenty minutes, and there were still two floors, both with dozens of rooms each, to search.

"What's behind door number nineteen?" You mumbled, pulling open your nineteenth door, you'd been counting, to reveal another bathroom.

Except this one held your Tony. A Tony who wasn't looking so good.

"Tones?" You asked quietly, moving to kneel beside the empty bathtub Tony was occupying. "What's wrong, hon?"

"Just a bit of a headache," Tony mumbled.

"And you're in the bathtub because?"

"It's nice and cool," Tony told you, keeping his eyes closed.

"Okay, how about you stay here, and I'll get you something for your head?" You suggested, gently brushing hair off his forehead.

"Thank you," Tony mumbled, leaning his head back once more.

"Couldn't you find him?" Steve asked when you reentered the kitchen.

"No, I found him." You told him, beginning to look through the cupboards. "Hauled up in a bathtub with a raging headache. Did we pack any Tylenol?"

"Here," Natasha said, throwing it to you. "I thought he looked a little pale on the plane." She commented.

"He was fine before we got on the plane, though," Steve mentioned. "You think it's an extreme form of jetlag?"

"Could be. It could also be the fact that Tony's not looked after himself at all the past week." You said. "He's been working himself to the bone. His body probably doesn't understand what's going on."

"So we should expect him to feel worse." Natasha deduced. "I'll make something to settle his stomach." She nodded to herself.

"And I'll deliver this." You said, shaking the pills.

"I'll come with you. I imagine the bathtub's not that comfortable, and Tony might not want to walk to the bedroom." Steve said, moving to follow you.

"Has death finally come for me?" Tony asked when the two of you made your way back to him.

"Not yet, Tones." You told him, kneeling in the same place as before.

"And not for a long time," Steve added, bending beside you.

"Ugh, I really thought it was him that time." Tony sighed before cracking his eyes open. "Did you bring the good stuff?"

"I did." You nodded, dosing out two of the tablets and handing them to him. "Give me a second, and I'll get you some water." You said, rising to stand, but Tony took the two dry. "That's disgusting."

"Water's for bitches." Tony grunted before closing his eyes again.

"Come on, Tony, let's get you to bed," Steve said to him.

"Too much work." Tony denied before Steve picked him up. "Woah! Give a man a little warning." Tony grumbled as Steve chuckled quietly.

"Asking's for bitches." You teased, walking in front of the two and opening doors.

"Get some rest, Tony," Steve said, putting onto the bed and pulling the covers over him.

"I'll shut my eyes for a few minutes, and I'll be fine," Tony mumbled, rolling over onto his side.

It didn't even take Tony another minute before he was fast asleep.

The next time the four of you decided to go on vacation, you'd decided to go a bit more touristy.

The four of you were in London for two weeks and would be spending your days visiting every popular tourist attraction. It was your second day in London, the first dedicated to sleeping off the jetlag, and you would soon be leaving the house.

At least you would be if you could settle your stomach.

Your stomach had been churning all night, and no matter what, you couldn't stop it. You'd managed to crawl into the bathroom and not wake anyone, but now you were stuck on the floor.

"Sweetheart? Y/N?" You could hear your name being called. "Y/N, where are you?"

The bathroom door opened, but you couldn't lift your head from its position.

"Found her," Natasha called before walking over to you. "You look like shit, med," Natasha said, placing a hand on your back.

"Nice, real nice." You groaned, lifting your head slightly. "Just give me a minute to get up and get dressed, and we can get going."

"The only place you're going is back to bed," Natasha told you as Steve and Tony entered the bathroom.

"Doll, are you okay?" Steve questioned you.

"I'm fine. I just need help getting up. And maybe getting dressed." You told him.

"Y/N, you are sick," Natasha said firmly.

"Nu-uh, I haven't thrown up yet." You denied.

"You don't look too far off from it, babe," Tony informed you. "How long have you been here?"

"I don't know. It was still dark when I came in." You grunted before dry heaving, but nothing would come up.

"Okay, Steve, would you please get some ginger ale?" Natasha asked, pulling your hair off your face. "Y/N, when was the last time you ate?"

"Not sure."

"Okay, add some saltines to that order too, Steve," Natasha told him.

"Do you honestly not remember the last time you ate?" Tony asked, coming to sit next to Natasha.

"I was working on that paperwork for Nick until the minute we left." You mumbled. "Forgot to eat."

"And that's most likely why you're feeling like crap now." Natasha hummed. "Do you think you'll be okay if we get you back to bed?"

"Just leave me here to perish." You groaned.

"No can do, you're stuck with us," Tony said as he helped Natasha pull you to your feet.

"Sorry I ruined vacation." You whimpered as you were laid in bed.

"You didn't ruin anything, med," Natasha promised, brushing hair from your forehead. "Not at all."

"We still have time before we have to go home." Tony soothed your guilty conscience. "There's plenty of time to do all the touristy bullshit your little heart desires."

"Yay." You moaned, curling into a ball.

It was a long time before the four of you were able to go on another vacation.

Missions had begun to become back to back and would last weeks, Tony was forced to travel for SI, and Fury seemed to have an unhealthy attachment to long meetings.

It was after Natasha had been on a mission for two months, Tony had been in Japan for one month, and you and Steve had endured countless hours in the hands of Fury that Steve declared you all needed a vacation.

Steve had literally googled relaxing vacations before deciding upon Brittany, France.

Though Steve had argued with Fury, for what felt like days, Steve was only able to barter a week off for the four of you.

"Tony, why do you have more bags than me?" You asked as Steve attempted to play Tetris with your luggage.

"I like to have options, dear," Tony said, pulling his sunglasses on. "Never know when one of those parasites are going to spot me."

"Don't call reporters parasites." Steve chided.

"Are we ready to go yet?" Natasha asked, pulling on a jacket despite it being a warm day. "The plane is going to leave soon."

"Just one more bag, and we can get going," Steve told her, picking up a small suitcase.

"Can I once again point out how ridiculous that is? I own the plane. It should wait for me." Tony scoffed, climbing into the car with Natasha right behind him.

The four of you faced no more problems until halfway through the flight. Natasha had jumped from her seat, startling the three of you from your half-asleep states, and bolted into the plane's bathroom.

It was seconds before the sounds of retching filled the plane.

"Tash?" Steve asked as the three of you stood up.

"I'm good." Natasha choked out. "Get away from the door, Steven."

"How'd she know it was only me?" Steve grumbled, walking back over to you and Tony.

"Spy, Steven!"

Natasha stayed in the bathroom for another seven minutes exactly. When she exited, her skin was flushed, she was covered in a thick layer of sweat, and she was shivering violently.

"FRI give me Nat's temperature," Tony demanded as you rushed to pull Natasha to a chair.

"101.3, boss," FRIDAY informed you all.

"Shit, Nat," Steve swore. "How long have you been running a fever?"

"Not running a fever." Natasha denied, lounging back in the chair and pulling her jacket closer.

"101.3 is a fever, Tash." You said, pulling her jacket off. "We might have to get you to a hospital."

"How long until we land, FRI?"

"Three hours, boss."

"We're going to have to bring her temperature down ourselves," Steve said, grabbing a towel and dumping his iced water on it.

By the time the plane landed, the three of you had successfully managed to bring Natasha's temperature down.

The four of you emerged from the plane, Natasha cradled in Steve's arms.

"That was probably the most stressful start to a vacation," Tony commented as you all entered a waiting car. "Let's get you to a hospital, hey, Nat?"

The four of you stayed away from vacations for a long time after that incident. Not because you were all slightly traumatized but because life seemed to pick up its pace once more.

It had been a year and a half since Natasha had a raging fever, and now the four of you were on yet another getaway.

Except for this time, it was for new reasons.

The four of you had had a commitment ceremony just two days ago, the Asgardian equivalent of a polyamorous wedding.

It had been a long time coming and a lot of planning, but it was worth it. And it had meant everything to you all.

Now the four of you were on your honeymoon in Tony's rebuilt Malibu home.

"Do you think we'd get in trouble if we moved here?" Natasha asked, pulling her sunglasses down.

"From who? We're all adults. Who would we get in trouble with?" Tony asked her.

"Fury. The government. The news. The world." You listed off.

"At the end of the day, how much do they really matter?" Tony shrugged, pulling you onto his lap.

"You would avoid Nick?" Natasha asked, quirking a brow.

"The pirate doesn't scare me." Tony shook his head as you and Natasha grinned. "Don't tell him I said that."

Before either of you could respond, the sound of footsteps coming closer caused you all to look up.

Steve was staggering over to the poolside, looking very much worse for wear.

"Jesus, Stevie, how many laps did you do?" Natasha asked as Steve stole her water and gulped it down.

"One." Steve gasped. "I felt like I was going to pass out, so I quit."

"Jesus Christ, sit down, Steve." You ordered, standing and moving over to the blonde. "You are really pale." You tsked, holding his head in your hands.

"That's the Irish in him." Tony joked, now standing behind you with Natasha at his side.

"When was the last time you slept?" You asked, running your finger over the prominent dark circles.

"The wedding night." Steve sighed. "I haven't been able to sleep since."

"You're exhausted, Steve." Natasha pointed out. "You can't run on willpower alone."

"I know that, but I physically can't make myself sleep," Steve told her. "I don't know what it is, but I can't."

"Maybe it's because you're trying to force yourself to sleep instead of allowing yourself to." Tony reasoned.

"Why did you get all philosophical?" Steve asked him.

"Always have been. Let's get you to bed, Cap." Tony said, helping Steve to his feet. With a bit of maneuvering, the three of you were able to move the bulky super soldier to your large bed and put him under the covers.

"Stay, please," Steve mumbled, already half asleep.

"Always, Stevie." You said as the three of you crawled in beside your Steve.

Vacations could always be stressful, but it seemed for the four of you it was always amplified. Especially when someone always managed to get sick.

Remember all Taglists are open as are requests.

Taglist

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#natasha romanoff #natasha x reader #natasha romanoff x reader #steve rogers #steve x reader #steve rogers x reader #tony stark #tony x reader #tony stark x reader #avengers x reader

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girlsgonemildblog · 4 years ago

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Seriously, What the Fuck Did I Just Watch? - Emily in Paris, Episode 8 Recap

Poster from IMDB

I literally cannot believe everything that happens in this episode happens. I honestly may not be able to even write this blog; that's how insane it all was. The episode begins with Emily leaving her apartment at the same time that Gabriel and Camille are leaving theirs, but Emily hides to avoid running into them, meaning we don't get to start our drinking game just yet. Camille then texts her asking if they can meet for lunch and talk about "something important."

At breakfast with Mindy, Emily is sure Camille knows that she and Gabriel kissed (for the second time). Mindy gives Emily some pretty good advice, "just don't kiss Gabriel," but Emily insists that "it's not that easy." It literally is, though? Like, just don't put your lips on his? It's really not that hard? You see tons of other people every day, and you don't kiss any of them, right? Or is Emily just going around and kissing literally every person she sees? I highly doubt it. The conversation moves on to Mindy, who has friends from her old life in China visiting because one of them, Li, is getting married. Mindy is nervous about seeing them again because they don't know that she's a nanny now.

For lunch (did she go to work at all or just out to eat?), she meets Camille at a sushi restaurant, clearly following Mindy's advice to avoid anywhere with steak knives. It turns out that Camille doesn't know about her kiss(es) with Gabriel and just wants Savoir to represent her family's champagne company. Emily says she will pitch it to her coworkers, and Camille invites her to her family's chateau for the weekend to learn more about the company. Gabriel will not be coming because he has to work and is still upset with Camille for asking her mother for a loan to help him buy the restaurant.

When she finally does go to the office, her coworkers are not very interested in the champagne company since it's so small. They then begin to roast Emily about the love triangle she's in with Gabriel and Camille. Without Sylvie, Luc, and Julien, this show would be completely unwatchable.

In the morning, while loading her belongings into Camille's tiny car, Gabriel shows up, and it's revealed that he is coming because he got the weekend off work. Emily is less than happy since she is still trying to avoid him. In addition, due to their bags, the three of them all have to squeeze in the front row, making Emily sit on Gabriel's lap. As they're driving, Camille asks, "everyone okay?" in a weirdly suggestive manner, and I again have to wonder if there's going to be a threesome at some point. It almost feels inevitable. But then, Camille also says she wants to set Emily up with her brother, so who knows.

At the "chateau", Emily meets Camille's mother, Louise, who is extremely cold to her and speaks French despite being fluent in English, and Camille's father, Gerard, who is naked by the pool, his genitalia covered by a very well placed champagne bottle. Louise sends Gabriel to the market, and he tries to get Emily to join him on the bike ride. Emily says no, as a bike ride on the French countryside to a farmer's market is way too romantic to do with someone who you are trying to avoid kissing, and then Emily and Gabriel get into a fight on whether they can be friends, Gabriel saying it's no big deal and Emily insisting it's best if they keep their distance.

Emily decides to go on a tour of the winery instead, where she chugs champagne like it's a natty light and she's an 18-year-old named Brad pledging Kappa Sig. She hits it off with the hot tour guide and discovers that he is Camille's brother, Timothée. Every Timothée is hot; this is only the second I've ever seen, but my point still stands. I also must point out how much he looks like Gabriel. But they're from France, not Alabama, so I won't say what I am thinking.

Gabriel cooks dinner for the group, and I have to say that making your girlfriend's chef boyfriend cook you dinner, in your home, on his weekend off, is rude. Let the boy have one night where he's not working. Gerard makes a lot of uncomfortable comments about the taste of Gabriel's coq and eggplant, and Louise lectures Emily that women aren't supposed to touch the champagne bottle at the dinner table, and you shouldn't talk business there either. Then Camille's parents start telling Gabriel that he should accept the money they've offered him, and it gets even more awkward than when Gerard was implying he sucked off his daughter's boyfriend. Emily posts a photo of her and Camille to Instagram, and we learn that her account has grown to 21.7k followers, which is only a 1.6k increase in 3 episodes, so it seems her meteoric rise is beginning to fizzle out.

Mindy texts Emily that they look very "cozy" and then tells her to check out her friend's livestream because she's about to surprise the rest of the bachelorette party. We then cut to Mindy in a jazz club with her friends, who announce that they're there so she can sing again. They reveal that they know that she's a nanny and don't care; they just don't understand why she's given up on her dream of being a singer. They finally convince her to get on stage. She insists she can't and tries to give the microphone back to the MC, but when he tells her no, she starts belting immediately.

Emily watches through her phone, and when the livestream ends, she can hear through the wall that Camille and Louise are fighting in French over the loan to Gabriel. To get away from it, she goes outside to sit by the pool. Timothée comes out to join her with a bottle of champagne. They have a heart to heart, and Emily says she left the US because "there were no decisions left to make, not even wrong ones."

Just when I was thinking this show is actually pretty good, the craziest thing that's ever occurred in the history of television happened. Emily asks Timothée about the difference between a Champagne flute and a coupe glass, and he tells her the coupe was designed using the shape of Marie Antoinette's breasts. Emily then takes the coupe glass and puts it up to her own boob. Timothée, without moving any closer or saying even a single word, reaches out and grabs Emily's other boob. Emily then guides his second hand to her tit that originally had the glassware on it. Seriously. This happened:

There's then a jump cut to Emily and Timothée having sex, and Timothée is bad at it. I mean, rapid jackhammering and weirdly intense concentration bad. Emily actually tells him to stop and repeats his own advice about drinking champagne back to him, "slow down. You're supposed to savor it." I threw up a little in my mouth.

The next morning, Emily wakes up with a hickey and then joins Camille's family for breakfast. There is a new man there, and Camille introduces him as the brother she wanted Emily to meet. Confused, Emily asks about Timothée, and Camille says Timothée is her younger brother and is 17. Just then, Timothée joins them, kissing Emily and apologizing for her hickey before sitting down. Everyone at the table realizes what happened, and Gabriel has to get up and leave to keep from laughing. Emily repeatedly insists she "didn't know," but I'm not sure how well that would hold up in a court of law. (For those curious, as I was, France currently does not have an age of consent but has a bill waiting to be passed that would set it at 15.)

Louise asks Emily to speak privately in her office. Emily immediately begins to apologize profusely, thinking Louise is going to yell at her over the whole accidental-statutory-rape thing, but Louise says she "doesn't care about all that" and just asks if her son is a good lover. I think Emily's face says it all:

Emily lies to Louise and says Timothée was sweet and gentle. She then uses the opportunity of having Louise alone to finally talk business since Louise had been dodging her all weekend. Emily comes up with an idea to get rid of their excess inventory, based on an Instagram that Mindy posted of her friends spraying a bottle of champagne over themselves in a club. She pitches the idea of "a bottle to sip, a bottle to spray," and says their champagne could be "the official 'spray' of Paris." I have to say; this is actually genius. Maybe Emily isn't completely terrible at marketing after all? Louise is worried about the legacy of her family's company since it's a little tacky of a pitch, so Emily proposes they create a second label and name it after Louise's husband's nickname, "Champére". Louise agrees, and the episode ends with Gabriel, Camille, and Emily piling into Camille's car to head back to Paris and Gabriel mocking Emily for being a cougar.

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pinkysfaultorbrainsfault · 4 years ago

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pinky and the brain: s1e7 - tv or not tv

y’all do NOT understand how many times i have tried to post this. tumblr just will not stop eating it. this was supposed to be out last wednesday LMAO i am doing my best.

episode summary: brain engineers a pair of Mouse Dentures that give him a charming smile. anyone hypnotised by these dentures Suddenly Adores Him For No Good Reason. unfortunately, he’s also a bit of a shut in, so nobody is actually going to see his charming smile-- unless he gets himself a sitcom.

....or something.

the rundown:

we open on brain talking about the “weird and magical power” of celebrity. he has defaced several women, and is sticking his ass out. as you do. what is he doing to CINDY! and her ilk?? he must be stopped.

“those who have it weild tremendous influence. few can avoid the enchantment of its’ spell.”

“do you know what gives them this power?”

holy shit. he just stabbed CINDY!.

pinky absolutely does not care for CINDY!’s fate. “haha. narf. hey, paddlefoot, do you know what they call a quarter pounder in france?”

of course, sirius black was not in pulp fiction, and neither, as far as i can tell, was he in france. brain silences him with “enough gay banter”, like he wasn’t just sticking his ass out in his general direction, like, two minutes ago.

(this was the 90s, y’all. gay definitely meant gay back then. this is not the faraway tree.)

“pinky! behold the key to the power of attraction!”

“pushpins!”

“hurraaaaaaaaaaaah!”

“no, pinky.”

apparently the key to attraction is a

“winning smile”, as brain points out, tapping on CINDY!’s poor mutilated face for emphasis.

“and a nice healthy gum!”

“and... a nice healthy gum.”

it turns out that brain has “taken this idea of the influential smile to a new level - a level no less than world domination“, which is bold words for Mr Tumble Dryer. to achieve this, he has invented

teeth.

(okay. so it’s a bit bigger than that. he shows pinky the plans for,

and then a prototype of, a whole machine built specifically to engineer him little mousie dentures. a lot of work went into this one. shame, really.

“when did you have time to build that?”

“while you were engrossed in your mr belvedere reruns.”

“oh, i miss him. ):” )

anyway so. brain puts his teeth in.

there he is.

pinky describes this as

“enchanting (’:”

and brain affirms that it’s supposed to be. apparently the “reflective vibrations” (okay) of his smile stimulates the medula oblongata,

“causing the viewer to adore me for no good reason!”

“zort! i’m adoring you for no good reason!”

(he does point out, while brain is admiring his reflection in a nearby bunsen burner, “what if they’re wearing sunglasses?”

brain’s response is “we’ll work nights.”)

still, brain can’t just sit around in the lab twiddling his thumbs and expect the general public to Adore Him For No Reason. he needs exposure! and as pinky ponders “what would mr belvedere do,” brain asserts that he would “eat some butter”.

“i’m afraid, my friend, that you’ve seen far too much of mr belvede--”

more like mr belvIDEA lol. sorry i’ll see myself out.

“pinky, are you pondering what i’m pondering?”

“i think so, brain, bur it’s a miracle that this one grew back. ):”

.....okay.

thankfully, the plan is not, in fact, to amputate pinky’s leg. again???? instead, brain intends to use a weapon of “great stealth, power, and corruption.”

OUR OWN SITCOM.

✨

meanwhile, at the wb studio, we meet jerry kilmer. mr kilmer is currently being harassed by some dudes who also really, really want their own sitcom. for far less nefarious purposes, presumably.

“so there’s this guy, right?”

“and get this! he designs--”

“BIKINIS.”

“TINY LITTLE BIKINIS. OKAY okay okay okay so here’s the hook.”

“HE’S PRETENDING--”

“TO BE BLIND.”

it does not appear to be what mr kilmer is looking for.

(meanwhile, the mice are spying on the acme labs janitor. he seems like a cool dude! but the mice are not here for friendship.

they sneak into his jacket pocket!

and...... steal his.... car keys? “YES. to the television station!”

✨

this isn’t even the first vehicle he’s stolen. hopefully he’ll have this one back by curfew as well.)

they do get pulled over by the police, but i don’t want to go into that. unless you guys reaaaallly want me to. instead, they park outside the studio and harass some poor receptionist.

“excuse me. we’re here to-- pitch. as they say. a sitcóm. my dear.”

i don’t know why brain says words like that.

“appointment?”

“oh, i’m sure you can--”

“work us in.” says brain. he is sticking his ass out for no reason. all the appeal is in his sparkly dentures, so.... there’s really no need for that, my dude.

✨

“you’re next! for no good reason!”

these dudes are still here. “wait!” yells our budding comedian, “wait! check out this idea. it’s about a guy!”

original.

“who always sticks his foot in his mouth!!”

clever. unfortunately, his demonstration goes wrong, and he ends up kicking mr kilmer in the face.

bonk.

gives him a nasty black eye to boot. ouch.

“ugh. can’t i ever just see someone normal?”

good thing these very normal individuals have just shown up, huh? nothing shady about these guys. “ugh, thank goodness,” says mr kilmer. they introduce themselves politely as jonathan michael charles (left) and jamal spelling (right).

“you guys have quite a look.”

“thank you.”

✨

“alright then. what do you got for me?”

“egad, brain.”

“he’s not adoring you for no good reason!!”

“drat.”

“well. we’re young hip adults--”

“and hijinks ensue!”

“who sit on a big fat couch and whine--”

“with disaaaasterous results!!”

“and have lots of generation x friends who trade zippy, sarcastic banter.”

“and i have a monkey.”

a very original concept.

at least, mr kilmer sems to think so. “hmmm. fresh. but tell me! what really brings you here. what are jamal and jonathan all about.”

“actually, we are two lab mice involved in a broad and sweeping plan to take over the world.”

mr kilmer thinks this is hilarious, apparently.

these guys do not. but they’re not important, for the moment.

the long and short of it, anyway, is that kilmer can’t give them a sitcom because nobody knows who they are, quote unquote. “the day i see your face on the cover of peeple magazine is the day you get a sitcom.”

irritated, jamal and jonathan make their exit.

and mr kilmer laughs so hard at the idea of lab mice trying to take over the world, that he falls out of his chair.

this will become relevant later.

meanwhile -- i just had to screencap this, okay, because of brain’s face. pinky suggests that he get on the cover of peeple by marrying prince charles. and brain thinks this is a horrible idea.

he’s much more interested in princess diana. but no, pinky, the path he must follow is “the same one followed by the leading sitcom stars of the day.”

“i must become a SUCCESSFUL STANDUP COMEDIAN.”

“so hey, how about those mitochondria? do they have enough cilia or what?”

“hey, why don’t you tell a joke you know!”

this may be harder than brain thought. undeterred, though, he presses on.

“do you ever notice how when you’re looking in the mirror of a quadrant electrometre, your forehead seems large?? why is that??”

“i just flew in from cleveland! and boy are my upper extremeties fatigued by a buildup of lactic acid!”

“booooooooooooooo!” says our guy on the left.

“go back to your troll village, squirt!” says his friend on the right. “what do you say to that?”

“i find you repugnant.”

(well. that made them laugh, at least.)

“your stupidity is matched only by the ill-slipped caterpillar, that chews off its’ own wings after emerging from its’ cucoon!!!”

“in fact! all of you! are just a gaggle of pathetically misguided root diggers!!”

“why don’t you all stand under a stalactite and bellow the resonate frequency, causing it to plummet onto your cranium!!”

“you’re all repugnant i say!!! repugnant!!!”

and with that little mousie tantrum out of his system, brain trundles off to sulk.

pinky claps him on the way out.

“egad brain! narf! they love you!”

“yes.”

so then he goes on tv, i guess.

“our comedy challenger is the master of insults! the prince of putdowns! jamal spelling!”

“you’re all a bunch of crevulating nitwits with peat moss for a cortex. repugnant!”

i don’t envy that guy third from the right. he doesn’t look like he’s having a very good time. he’s sensitive about his peat moss cranium, okay? don’t make fun of him.

NEXT ON G, HOWIE TURN HOSTS COMEDIAN JAMAL SPELLING.

“so, uh, jamal spelling. what kind of stupid name is that? cmon? what’s your real name?”

this would be racist if jamal spelling was a human man comedian and not like, a lab mouse. thankfully, this is not the case.

“my real name is the brain.” says brain, helpfully enunciating the “the”. “and you, my unwashed friend, are repugnant.”

HA HA. HA HA HA HA HA.

“oh, you’re hot, baby.”

okay.

but we’re, uh. we’re not going to think about that, and we’re going to go look at the david letterman show instead.

“uh, my next guest-- paul, do you know who our next guest is?”

“daaaaave, i know he’s a beautiful kind of-- nutty cat who just got us all a-wow.”

“here he is, ladies and gentlemen! for your comedy dollar, jamal spelling!!”

jamal spelling appears to be naked.

but he’s funny, so nobody minds.

“somebody here smells like a coagulated agar slant growing in a petri dish. repugnant!”

see! he’s just too comedy for clothes.

(meanwhile, we take a short trip to the office of janet mekko. “welcome, mr kilmer,” she says.

“my... secretary sent me here-- actually, i feel kind of stupid.”

“oh, honey. that’s a good thing! if there weren’t any stupid people, i wouldn’t have any business.”

“now. ya got some paaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiiiin.”

(in the distance, dan reynolds - at the tender age of eight - mumbles “you made me a, you made me a believer” in his sleep.)

“yeah.” says mr kilmer, completely unaware of this. “i fell out of my chair.”

“i’m gonna hypnotise you, so relax.”

okay.

“this’ll make you sleepy.”

“what is it?”

“a kenny g album.”

“okay. you’re in a trance. i’m gonna give you a random word. if you feel pain, say that word, you’ll feel good.”

“but careful! cause if you say it when you’re feeling good, the pain will come back! bad.”

spooky.

“and your random word is--”

“repugnant.”

there is, of course, absolutely no way this can go wrong.)

let us turn our view to happier pastures. namely, the mice are watching tv.

TONIGHT ON CIRCUS OF THE STARS

HARRY DEAN ANDERSON GETS SHOT OUT OF A GIANT PASTA MAKER

COMEDIAN JAMAL SPELLING FLIES THE TRAPEZE

AND BOB SAGET GETS TRAMPLED BY A BEAR. we hope.

pinky is elated! “egad, brain! circus of the stars! narf! you’ve really made it!”

pinky wants to be on circus of the stars, don’t you know. unfortunately, as he dutifully informs brain in pretty much the same breath, he hasn’t quite made it into peeple magazine yet.

“hm. it’s time to use plan b, pinky.”

“there was an a?? poit.”

ouch. jesus, pinky.

undeterred, brain marches his merry little ass over to the old timey corded phone.

beep.

“yes, connect me with buckinham palace, please.”

“egad! you did it brain! the cover of peeple!”

rule britannia is playing in the background of this scene. let’s... not think too hard about how this works, and agree that, yes, pauly shore, enough.

no more pauly shore, please.

conclusion:

jerry keeps his word, and, upon learning that jamal spelling is now legally married to princess diana (a fact which would certainly not lead to a warrant for his arrest in a couple of years) he asks him for a demo tape.

for such small hands, jamal sure does have very neat handwriting.

“make me laugh, jamal, and you got yourself a sitcom.”

“why don’t you all stand under a stalactite and bellow the resonate frequency, causing it to plummet onto your cranium!!”

he seems to like it! kilmer makes a little hee hee noise, unprepared for where this is undoubtedly going.

“you’re repungnant!”

“AAUGHGHGHHH.”

there it is.

“repugnant!”

“i say repugnant!”

repugnant repugnant repugnant repugnant

repugnant!

and with that, jerry kilmer falls out of the window.

as he does, he yells “i’ll get you, jamal spelling” which personally i think is unfair. jamal couldn’t have known, surely? don’t be mean to jamal. he’s got a lot on his mind, what with that restraining order against howie turn.

meanwhile, in the lab, the mice debate a good pitch for a pilot (i’ve got it, brain! it’s a show about nothing!) when jamal spelling gets a call.

“hi jamal! this is nina from the tv station. could you come down for a meeting?”

“mm hmmm.”

✨

it’s the WB.

as nina types away, jamal and jonathan enter casually, like this is their house, or something. “are you pleased to see us?” asks jamal, in a cocky, egomaniac labmouse sort of way.”

“yes i am!”

(nina somehow doesn’t notice.)

anyway then these guys find the dentures and pitch the first idea that comes into their heads.

“hey cortex! what do you wanna do tonight?”

don’t ask why mouse dentures fit a human man. we suspend our disbelief here.

(also there was no way this was brain’s fault. he couldn’t have known. outside influence it is. a shame, really.)

brain: 7 pinky: 7 outside influence: 14

thanks for the fun meme, @shuunthenonbeliever !

#patb #pinky and the brain #WHEEZE #if this refuses to post ONE MORE TIME #i am going to go FERAL #i have typed this all out THREE TIMES #I HAVE HAD ENOUGH #some explodey boys for y'all on saturday!#i hope.#if this episode EVER POSTS.

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bechloeislegit · 5 years ago

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25 Days of BeChloe Christmases - 2019

DAY 20 - WHO COULD ASK FOR MORE THIS CHRISTMAS?

Author's Prompt: Beca is making good money and moves out of the tiny New York apartment she shared with her best friends Chloe and Amy. Set after Pitch Perfect 3.

A/N: Sections in Italics are flashbacks.

It was the week before Thanksgiving, and Beca had completed her second full week working for DJ Khaled. She couldn't believe that just one short month ago, she had been singing with the Bellas and was chosen to get the contract to work with Khaled.

Beca was looking over some songs that Theo and Khaled had recommended she consider for her first album. She looked up when there was a knock on her door; Theo walked in.

"Here you go, Beca," Theo said as he handed her an envelope.

"What's this?" Beca asked, holding the envelope in her hand.

"Your first paycheck," Theo said. "Oh, our Payroll Office wanted me to tell you that you need to fill out direct deposit forms. Since it's your first one, they cut you a paper check. They usually do everything electronically."

"I'll take care of that this afternoon," Beca said, opening the envelope. She smiled when she saw the amount. "Wow! This should cover everything I need for rent and still leave quite a bit left. Two checks like this every month, and I'll have enough to move in no time."

"What? No," Theo said. "We get paid every week."

"What?" Beca said, sitting up straight in her chair. "But I've been here for two weeks. Isn't that what this check is for? Two weeks' pay?"

"What are you-?" Theo said, furrowing his brow. "No. This check is for your first week; the next check will be for this week, etc. You'll be one week behind with each check. That way, if you quit, you always have one week's pay still coming to you. It's all spelled out in your contract."

"Oh," Beca said. "I should probably read that. My lawyer said it was a good deal, and I had no reason to doubt him." She looked at the check again. "So, you're telling me I'll take home this much every week?" At Theo's nod, she added, "This is more than double what I made in one week as a junior producer."

"You're in the big leagues now, Beca," Theo said. He laughed and said, "Don't spend it all in one place."

Theo left Beca alone in her office. She continued to stare at the check.

"I can start looking for my own apartment," Beca muttered. "If I'm lucky, I can be moved out the first of the year."

Beca went to the Payroll Office and completed the direct deposit forms. She also asked for a copy of what her yearly salary would be. After getting everything done, Beca left so she could deposit her check at the bank. She kept some cash back and made her way to a realtor's office, whose sign she saw on a bench.

"Hi, may I help you?" a perky blonde asked as Beca entered the office.

"Um, yeah," Beca said. "I'm interested in renting an apartment closer to my job. Is there someone I can speak with who can help me?"

~ Day 20 of 2019's 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~

Beca woke early the next morning and quietly slipped out of bed. She had made an appointment with the realtor for nine a.m. She was going to check out four available apartments, and she didn't want Chloe or Amy to know anything until she had a place.

Slipping out of bed was easier now that Chloe stopped cuddling Beca. Beca was glad because now that Chloe was with Chicago, she felt it was inappropriate. Chloe was hurt when Beca kept pulling away from her when they were in bed together, but Beca was adamant about keeping her distance. Chloe didn't know she had broken Beca's heart by falling for the soldier, and it killed Beca a little more each time she'd hear Chloe gushing on the phone to him. She needed to move out, or she'd never get over Chloe.

Beca grabbed her keys and wallet before quietly exiting the apartment. She met the realtor and was impressed by the apartments she was shown. Based on the rents, she realized she might have to wait a few extra weeks to have enough money to move.

Beca fell in love with one of the apartments she looked at. It had two Master Bedrooms, each with its own full bath, a decent-sized kitchen with a separate dining room. And, it was being rented fully furnished.

"I like this one, but I'm sure it's out of my price range," Beca told Kayla, the realtor.

"Give me a minute," Kayla said and put her phone to her ear.

Beca continued to look around while Kayla was on the phone.

"Okay, see you in fifteen," Kayla said and ended the call. She turned to Beca. "The owner will be here shortly. He wants to meet with you."

"Um, okay," Beca said.

~ Day 20 of 2019's 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~

Chloe woke to her phone ringing and felt around with her hand until she found it.

"What?" she answered tersely, her voice gravelly from having just woken up.

"Good morning to you, too, Chloe," Aubrey said. "Did I wake you?"

"Yeah," Chloe mumbled.

"I didn't wake Beca and Amy, too, did I?" Aubrey asked, checking the time.

"Um," Chloe said, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. She looked around. "What the hell?"

"What's wrong?" Aubrey asked.

"Amy hasn't been home in a week, and Beca's not here," Chloe said. "How did I sleep through her getting up and leaving?"

"I don't know," Aubrey said. "But, I'm glad you're alone."

"Why?" Chloe asked as she got out of bed. "What's up?"

Chloe put a coffee pod into the coffee maker and pressed the button.

"I want to know what your plans are for Christmas," Aubrey said. "Are you going back to Spain to be with Chicago? Or is he coming to see you?"

"Neither," Chloe said. "That was a one and done thing."

"What?" Aubrey asked. "Then what was with you staying longer so you two could get to know each other?"

Chloe took the cream out of the refrigerator and added some to her coffee. She spooned in some sugar and stirred. The then took her cup and sat at the table.

"Chloe?" Aubrey said through the phone. "Are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Chloe said, running a hand through her hair. "I didn't stay with him. I flew out the next day and went to visit my folks for a few days."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Aubrey asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Chloe sighed and took a sip of her coffee before answering. "I was embarrassed. I went on and on about what a great guy he was and how he could be the one. And all I was to him was a booty call."

"I'm sorry, Chloe," Aubrey said. "But I'm also glad. I called to tell you the girls and I have been talking, and we're going to do Christmas in New York. We already have flights and rooms booked."

"Why did I need to be alone for you to tell me that?" Chloe asked.

"We want to surprise Beca and take her out to celebrate her signing with DJ Khaled," Aubrey said. "We didn't really have much time with her in France once she signed. She was running around with that Theo guy getting ready to fly to New York to start working. We want to have our own celebration with just the Bellas and Beca. Plus, Stacie will be able to be there to celebrate with us. We'll need you to get her to the party without giving away the surprise."

"You should talk to Amy about that," Chloe said. "If you can find her. She left a week or so ago and said she had places to go. I haven't seen or heard from her since."

"Well, she has the money to do whatever she wants to do," Aubrey said. "But, the bigger issue is, why can't you make sure Beca gets to the party?"

"Beca and I haven't been talking," Chloe said. "I've been home for almost three weeks, and she's been pulling away from me. I don't even know how things are going at the studio."

"Have you asked her?" Aubrey asked.

"I have," Chloe said, a bit defensive. "The only answers I get are, things are fine, or sorry, I have to go. She hardly spends any time in the apartment. She hardly spends any time with me."

"She's probably busy," Aubrey said. "It's her big break, and you know how focused she gets, forgetting everything and everyone around her."

"She always made time for me," Chloe said sadly. "And, now, she's stopped cuddling with me when we sleep."

Aubrey could hear the sadness in Chloe's voice. "She's probably trying to respect what she thought was your new relationship status."

"That's what she said when I asked her about it," Chloe said with another sad sigh.

"Wait. Why does Beca still think you're with Chicago if you're not?" Aubrey paused a beat before saying, "You didn't tell her, did you?"

"No," Chloe said blushing. "She thinks we're still together because I've been pretending to talk to him on the phone. My mom and my sister think I'm insane because when I'm talking to them and Beca comes in, I start whispering and laughing as if I was talking to him. When I hang up, she asks if it was Chicago, and I tell her it was. That's usually when she puts her headphones on or leaves."

"Chloe, why don't you just tell her you aren't with him?" Aubrey asked. "You know Beca would never judge you. Why keep up the charade?"

"I don't know," Chloe said softly.

"Yes, you do," Aubrey said just as softly.

~ Day 20 of 2019's 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~

Beca was both excited and scared as she rode the train back to her shared apartment.

She was excited because the owner of the furnished apartment liked her and gave her a great rate on rent if she promised she would stay in the apartment for two years. The owner was moving to England while his boyfriend studied at Oxford. They didn't want to sell the apartment and decided to find the right tenant to rent and take care of the place. Beca fit all the criteria they were looking for.

Beca signed the lease and promised to have the first month's rent paid before she moved in on December 1.

Beca was scared because now she had to tell Chloe she was moving out in a couple of weeks. And she knew Chloe was going to ask her why.

~ Day 20 of 2019's 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~

Beca reached the top of the subway steps and stopped for a moment to think about what to tell Chloe. She slowly started walking the few blocks home when her phone started ringing. Almost afraid to see that it was Chloe calling, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Stacie's name on the caller ID.

"Hey, Stacie," Beca said, answering the call. "I was just thinking about calling you."

"Really?" Stacie asked. "Why were you going to call me?"

"I, um, I'm moving into a new apartment," Beca said. "And I have to tell Chloe and Amy. I know Chloe is going to ask why, but I can't tell her the truth, so I need to come up with something that sounds legit."

"Why can't you tell her the truth?" Stacie asked.

"Don't make me say it," Beca said quietly.

"Come on, Beca," Stacie said. "It's been years; you need to tell her how you feel."

"She has a boyfriend," Beca said. "One she's really into. One she stayed in Europe to get to know better, so I'm pretty sure me telling her how I feel about her is only going to end up hurting me more than I'm hurting now. It's better to distance myself from her and let her live her life with Chicago. And I'll try to move on with mine. I can't get over her if we're constantly around each other."

Beca had stopped walking and was leaning with her back against a building.

"I'm sorry, Beca," Stacie said. "I won't bring it up again. Just make sure you send me your new address."

"I will," Beca said.

"Good," Stacie said. "Now, tell me about the new place."

Beca chuckled and told Stacie about the apartment.

"And it's only two blocks from the studio," Beca said.

"That's it," Stacie said. "That's your answer when Chloe asks you why you're moving."

"That might work," Beca said. "Um, before I forget, you called me. Why?"

Beca pushed off of the building and started walking again.

"Oh, right," Stacie said. "Do you know where Amy is? Aubrey's been trying to reach her."

"Sorry, I don't," Beca said. "All I know is she left about a week ago and said she had places to go. I've tried texting and calling, but she's not answering."

"Is that why things are so tense between you and Chloe?" Stacie asked. "You don't have Amy there as a buffer?"

"I never thought of it that way," Beca said. "You might be right. I thought it was because I didn't want to hear Chloe gushing and being giddy over Chicago. If Amy were home, she would have made some inappropriate remarks which would have made things easier and less tense."

"What's Chloe going to do if Amy doesn't come back?" Stacie asked. "Can she afford to stay there by herself."

"Probably not," Beca answered, trying not to think about it.

"Beca, I-" Stacie started to say something but stopped. She thought about it for a moment before continuing, "I need to tell you something. Aubrey's going to kill me, but I think you should know."

"What is it?" Beca asked.

"Chloe and Chicago are not together," Stacie said.

"What?"

~ Day 20 of 2019's 25 Days of BeChloe Christmases ~

It was two days before Christmas, and Beca had been in her new apartment for three weeks. She was getting water from the refrigerator when there was a knock at the door. She was only wearing panties, so she grabbed her shirt from the floor and threw it on before opening the door.

She jumped when the Bellas yelled, "Surprise!"

"Stacie. Aubrey. CR!" Beca yelled out. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to surprise you," Jessica said.

"And to really celebrate you signing with DJ Khaled," CR said.

"And, also Christmas," Emily said.

Stacie smirked and said, "From what you're wearing, I'm guessing we really did surprise you."

"Oh, um, come in, come in," Beca said, hugging each girl as they came in. "This is quite a surprise."

"It's good to see you, Beca," Aubrey said. "Do you know where Chloe is? We stopped at your old place to pick her up, and she wasn't there. She's also not answering her phone."

Beca didn't answer and started walking backward toward the bedrooms.

"Um, I'm just going to go get-"

"Babe, what's taking so long?" Chloe asked as she came into the living room wrapped in a sheet. Beca blushed and looked at Chloe, noticing how the sheet was barely covering her boobs.

"Chloe!" the girls all squealed, shocking Chloe as they rushed over to hug the redhead.

"Um, hey," Chloe said, looking over at Beca, who gave her a shrug.

"Looking good, Chloe," Stacie said as she looked down at Chloe's chest.

Chloe pulled the sheet up more, and Stacie gave her a wink.

"Chloe, what are you doing here?" Aubrey asked.

"Hold up," CR said. "Did you just call Beca babe?"

Beca laughed and walked over to Chloe and took her hand. "My, um, girlfriend can call me anything she wants."

Chloe smiled and kissed Beca.

"Wait," Aubrey said, trying to wrap her head around what was happening. "I talked to you last week, and you never said anything about you two being together."

"We wanted to surprise everyone," Chloe said.

"Well, you did surprise us," Aubrey mumbled. "Could you two put something more on?"

Beca and Chloe looked down at what they were wearing. "Um,"

"How? When?" Ashley asked. "I'm happy for you, but last I heard you two were barely speaking to each other and Chloe was with Chicago."

"Everyone take a seat," Beca said. "We'll get changed and then tell you what happened."

The girls sat, and Beca and Chloe were back in a few minutes, fully clothed. Beca and Chloe sat between Stacie and Aubrey on the sofa. Beca took a deep breath and started talking.

"Just before Thanksgiving," Beca said and then looked at Stacie. "Can I tell them everything you said during our phone call?"

Stacie nodded, and Beca continued. "I was talking to Stacie."

"Beca, I-" Stacie started to say something but stopped. She thought about it for a moment before continuing, "I need to tell you something. Aubrey's going to kill me, but I think you should know."

"What is it?" Beca asked.

"Chloe and Chicago are not together," Stacie said.

"What?"

"Yeah," Stacie continued. "She thought he might be something special, and he only wanted to get in her pants."

"That can't be true," Beca said. "I've heard her talking to him on the phone. It certainly sounded like they were together."

"She wasn't talking to him," Stacie said. "She only pretended she was."

"Why didn't she tell me?" Beca asked. "Things would be so different if she had."

"She was embarrassed," Stacie said. "And what do you mean, things would be different?"

"I, um, was going to tell her how I felt about her," Beca said softly. "But, I saw her kissing Chicago and knew I lost my chance. I've been kind of a bitch to her since she came home. I didn't mean to, but the thought of her with him just...I don't know."

"I get it, Beca," Stacie said. "So, now that you know she's single, what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know," Beca said. "I'll have to decide if I want to do anything about it."

"It took me about ten seconds after that call to decide I did want to do something about it," Beca said. "I had rented this apartment and was moving in on the first of December, so I called Amy to find out what her plans were. When she told me that she was moving out and taking a year to cruise around the world, I came up with a plan."

Beca stopped and smiled at Chloe. Chloe smiled back at her.

"So, what was the plan?" CR asked, causing Beca and Chloe to look at her.

"Well, I went to Tampa for Thanksgiving and came back to New York on December second," Chloe said, picking up the story. "I went to the apartment, and Beca was sitting on the sofa. She jumped up when she saw me."

"Hey," Beca said.

"Hey," Chloe said.

Chloe threw her suitcase on Amy's bed and let out a sigh. She ran a hand through her hair and looked around.

"Where's all your stuff?" Chloe asked, looking around more furrowing her brow. "Where's all my stuff?"

"Okay, so, um, hear me out," Beca said. "I, um, have something to tell you and I need you to listen. Can you give me five minutes? Please?"

Chloe sat on the end of Amy's bed and nodded her head. She felt the sting of tears; she had a feeling she knew what was coming.

"Okay, so, I got my first paycheck a couple of weeks ago," Beca said. "All I could think about was now I could move out and into my place."

Chloe scoffed; she knew it. Beca didn't want to live with her anymore. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to appear as if her heart wasn't shattered.

"Things were weird between us, and I thought you were with Chicago," Beca said. She walked over to Choe and knelt in front of her, causing Chloe to look at her. "I called Amy to tell her I was moving out, and she told me that she wasn't coming back at least for a year. I, uh, paid the rent for December so you could stay while deciding what you wanted to do."

Chloe pushed Beca aside and stood. "I can't believe this," Chloe said, turning to Beca. "I can't believe I mean so little to you that you'd sneak away and move out like a coward."

"Wait, no!" Beca said, closing the distance between them. "I suck so bad at this!" She took Chloe's hands in hers. "I, um, I love you, Chloe. I do. That's why the thought of you being with Chicago was more than I could bear. I knew in order for us to be okay, I had to leave. But I found out you weren't with Chicago, and I knew what I wanted and needed to do."

Chloe looked at Beca, waiting for her to continue.

"When you left for Tampa, I started packing our stuff. I moved everything to the new place yesterday. I have been sitting here waiting for you since this morning."

Beca cleared her throat and looked up at Chloe. Chloe was silent as tears fell down her cheeks.

"I've been waiting here so I could tell you that I am in love with you, Chloe," Beca said. "And, if you don't feel the same way, that's fine. We can continue to be roommates, only in a bigger, better apartment. Or, you can stay here, and I'll help you with the rent until you find another place. The choice is yours."

"Does your new place have two real bedrooms?" Chloe asked. At Beca's nod, she said. "So, I could have my own room?"

"Yeah, you, uh, you can," Beca said with a hint of sadness, her eyes filling with tears. "If that's what you want."

"What if I wanted to share a room with you?" Chloe asked softly.

"What?" Beca asked. "Do you mean…?"

"Yes," Chloe said, smiling through her tears. "I'm in love with you, too, and I don't want to stay here by myself. I want to live with you. And just to be clear, I don't mean as roommates."

Beca let out a small sob as she pulled Chloe to her. Chloe hugged her back, and they stood like that for a few minutes.

Beca pulled back and looked at Chloe. She took Chloe's face in her hands and gently kissed her; Chloe deepened the kiss.

They pulled out of the kiss, smiling at each other. Chloe grabbed her suitcase and said, "Let's go home!"

"And, we came here," Chloe finished. "We talked some more, and now Beca's my girlfriend."

"And you share one bedroom?" Stacie asked with a grin.

"Yeah, we do!" Chloe said, enthusiastically, causing Beca to blush.

"Way to go, Beca!" Stacie said, laughing.

"Leave her alone," Chloe said, pulling Beca to her.

Beca stuck her tongue out at Stacie, causing Stacie to laugh.

"Aww," Emily said. "You guys are so cute together."

The rest of the girls chuckled, and Beca glared at them.

"Where's Fat Amy?" Aubrey said. "I never heard back from her about spending Christmas together."

"She'll be here tomorrow," Beca said, thankful for a change of subject.

The girls sat quietly for a moment until Jessica spoke.

"Can we get a tour of your fancy new apartment?" Jessica asked.

"Sure," Beca said as she stood. "Follow me."

Chloe went to stand, and Aubrey grabbed her arm, stopping her. Chloe sat back down; Beca looked back and saw that Aubrey and Chloe were still sitting.

"Let's, um, start with the bedrooms," Beca said, leading the Bellas down the hall to give the two best friends some privacy.

"Why didn't you tell me about you and Beca?" Aubrey asked, searching Chloe's face.

"It was all new," Chloe said, playing with her hands. "I wanted us to have some time in our private bubble before we told anyone."

Aubrey chuckled. "It's a good thing you two figured it out because we had started formulating a plan to have you two together by the time we all left New York. How's everything going so far?"

Chloe's face lit up. "It's better than I could have imagined. Beca is so sweet and very attentive. She's everything I want, Brey. And I swear I'm going to marry her one day."

"I'm happy for you, Chloe," Aubrey said, pulling her into a hug. Aubrey pulled back from Chloe and chewed her lip a bit. "Stacie and I are engaged."

"What?" Chloe asked.

Aubrey held up her hand and showed off her ring.

"OH, MY GOD!" Chloe squealed.

Beca came running into the living room. "What's wrong? What the hell happened?"

"Brey must have told her we're engaged," Stacie said, smiling.

"Seriously?" Beca asked.

Stacie nodded, and the Bellas grabbed Stacie and started squealing and jumping up and down.

"Oh, my gosh," Ashley said, once everyone settled down a bit. "We have BeChloe together, and Staubrey engaged. What more could anyone ask for this Christmas?"

#bechloe fanfiction #bechloe #beca mitchell #chloe beale

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ranger-jedi-knight · 5 years ago

Text

A New Hero Ch 8

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20887313/chapters/54059041

Tag List: @vixen-uchiha

Ok, so here’s the next chap! So, Mari is 15, been a couple months since Lila came to France. So Volpina already happened ok? I was thinkin bout doing it but I like doing this time skip where the chaps aren’t close to each other. Especially since in a few chaps, it’s going to be basically close to each other the chaps. I hope that makes sense. I will try doing one of Lila’s akumatizations tho. I promise! Also, so I made an Akuma, who was made because her little girl was killed. Just thought I’d give a warning. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chap!!

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” The devastated scream echoed down the street. People ran down the street screaming in fear themselves. Some people turned in that direction to see the new victim and ran themselves to safety. With a wave, feathers flew at people, the ones they hit fell to the ground. People cried out.

Coming down the street pushing cars away from her was a woman. The woman’s hair was pitch black flowing down her back. Her skin was pale gray while her eyes were a deep unnatural blue. Blue, teardrop-shaped glass laid next to her eyes. Tears fell from her eyes when they hit the ground, it cracked the ground. Wrapped around her body was a deep gray dress. Hanging on her neck was a silver chain with a silver heart pendant with a purple tint. It had one sleeve that billowed behind her. Her feet were bare and pure white wings were behind her. The sun was almost down behind her, causing an orange glow around her.

“If I can’t have my family, then no one shall either!” the Akuma yelled, pushing cars away. Chat Noir landed in front of the Akuma and blocked any feathers coming toward them. Nino was hiding behind a building and recording them but knew to leave if things got worse. Ladybug landed behind Mourning Dove silently and crept up slowly and silently.

“Mourning Dove,” Chat called and the Akuma glared at them over at them, “you’re in pain. You lost something amazing, do you really want to cause other people the same pain? You know how it feels, why would you want to cause other people the same pain?” Chat asked and Mourning Dove stopped. Ladybug was creeping up, she was close to getting the necklace.

“I...I don’t,” she replied softly and a soft, broken sob left Mourning Dove.

“Then let us help you,” Chat said as the woman fell to her knees on the ground. Ladybug came up behind Mourning Dove and took her necklace and broke it.

“Time to de-evilize,” Ladybug spoke quietly and caught the butterfly quickly. “Bye-bye little butterfly,” she murmured as the pure white butterfly left her yo-yo. “Miraculous Ladybug!” she threw her yo-yo up and ladybugs left it and repaired all the damage Mourning Dove caused. She looked back at the woman and watched Chat council her and hug her close.

“I’m so sorry!” she sobbed out and Ladybug kneeled down beside her.

“It’s ok, miss. It’s not your fault. Hawkmoth took advantage of you while you mourned,” Ladybug said quickly and the woman nodded.

“Do you have anyone close to you nearby?” Chat asked and the woman nodded.

“My uncle. He was on his way over when…” she trailed off and Chat nodded.

“Ok, let’s get you back to him,” Chat said helping her up. “I’ll see you later, bug,” with that he helped the woman back to the hospital. Nino came up to her and patted her shoulder.

“I’ll delete that footage. She deserves some privacy after what happened,” he said and Ladybug nodded.

“Good. She shouldn’t have to deal with worrying about Hawkmoth taking advantage of her sadness,” Ladybug agreed. “See you soon,” Ladybug said readying her yo-yo to swing away. A groan had them look toward an alley. They walked over and saw a boy around their age gripping his head. He had brown hair that was messy and decent length. There was a short scar on his right cheek, cutting off at his jaw. He looked fairly fit, around the same build as Jason she’d guess. She kneeled down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

She tensed up, corrupted magic came from him. It was the same kind she and Fu felt on Damian and Jason. The same they healed on them. It was from the Lazarus Pit. The teen looked up surprised, showing silver eyes with a faint green to them, and looked between Ladybug and Nino. his attire reminds her of the clothes Damian had, the ones he showed her and the others. League attire.

“What’s your name?” Ladybug asked softly.

The teens face scrunched up in thought. “My name is” he started in Arabic before shaking his head. “Sorry, my name is Xander Grayson,” he replied in French and Ladybug froze once more.

“What’s up?” Nino asked looking at her curiously.

“We had a brother. His name was Xander. He was killed years ago when Lana was just starting high school. But...he vanished before we could bury him. We don’t know what happened to him,” Alya had said when she was asked about when Lana had gotten together with Steve.

“Xander?” she asked and he nodded. “I know someone who can help you, just give me a moment to talk in private,” Ladybug said and Xander nodded slowly.

“O-ok,” he replied as Ladybug stood up and took Nino away to whisper.

“Does that name mean anything to you?” Nino whispered and Ladybug nodded.

“Yes. Remember? Alya and Lana had a younger brother. Named Xander. Who disappeared years ago,” Ladybug said and Nino’s face turned shocked.

“Oh yeah. You think he’s their brother, dudette?”

“I’m thinking yes,” Ladybug replied with a short nod while looking over at Xander. “Ok, you know Jason’s size right?” she continued and Nino nodded. “Go to some clothing stores and get him some clothes. He looks to be Jason’s size. After, head back to Fu’s. We need to heal him. He has corrupted magic running through his veins, just like Jason and Damian.”

“On it,” Nino said with a nod and ran off to get the clothing. Ladybug went back over to the teen and helped him up.

“Where is he going?” Xander asked softly confused, and Ladybug smiled at him.

“He’s getting you a change of clothes and will meet us at Fu’s place. He’s the man that can help you,” she explained and Xander nodded understanding. “Can you keep a secret?” she asked and he nodded. “Good, I’m going to de-transform since I can’t take you to him as Ladybug. It’d look weird,” she said and he nodded once more, she then hid between two trashcans. “Tikki, spots off,” she said and Tikki flew out of the earrings with a flash of pink, with that she stood up and went back over to Xander. “I’m Marinette, but you can call me Mari.”

Xander smiled at her and shook her hand. “Marinette why did you do that?” Tikki asked and Xander stared at Tikki in shock.

“Because Tikki, he has the same corrupted magic as Damian and Jason did. And you know very well we can’t risk doing anything suspicious,” Mari explained and Tikki nodded slowly.

“Ok, let’s get him to Master Fu,” Tikki said flying into Mari’s purse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xander tried holding back the tears, but he couldn’t. His vision blurred from tears while his heartbeat pounded in his ears, muffling everything. Along his body, it felt like needles were digging into him. A pounding started in his head as his hands gripped his hair tightly, pulling slightly. The day he disappeared flashed before his eyes in sharp clarity.

The scars along his back and neck stung. Lana’s desperate cries echoed in his head. He could still feel the rough asphalt on his palms and knees. The small scraps from falling. His croaked out ‘I love you, I’m sorry’, said so quietly, but seemed so loud. The pain he felt as his vision darkened echoed faintly. Joker’s maniacal laugh echoing as everything fades.

The feeling of being underwater. Liquid going into his mouth. Struggling, flailing. Coughing harshly when he escaped the liquids grasp. Everything was blurry as the liquid left his eyes. Faintly hearing talking, possible training.

The sting of getting hit, repeatedly. The cold a sharp knife cutting his skin. Slipping in the snow and ice, running. Wind whipping through his hair and across his face. Snow covering everything and making it hard to see. Shouts echoing harshly, ‘Get him! Kill him if you must!’. Arrows shooting at him cutting through the wind. Grazing him. Landing next to him.

Arms wrapped around him and he started struggling. His voice cracked as he yelled out. He didn’t know what he was yelling, just that he was. He heard gentle shushing, then humming. It...it was a french lullaby. He recognized it. It was a lullaby his sisters both learned and hummed to him after a bad day or nightmare. He relaxed in their grip and started crying. A hand ran through his hair in a calming manner. After a while, his tears stopped and he looked up. Mari was the one holding him closely and humming.

“S-sorry,” he whispered out, voice cracking once more.

“It’s fine, Xander. We were just worried about you. Are you ok? How do you feel?” Mari asked gently. Mari watched as Xander’s eyes flicked up to her, they were plain silver once more, before looking at the ground.

“I’m o-okay,” he whispered taking the tea Fu was holding out to him and taking a sip from it.

“Do you mind telling us what freaked you out?” Mari asked softly once more.

“I....” he started before trailing off and looking out the window, “everything from before now....and after that day....was a blur. But now....I remember everything. I....I died. I was dead but I was brought back to life,” Xander said slowly and Mari’s arms tightened around him.

“Being with the League....being kidnapped and revived by them....then being trained by them...it’s tough. I have two friends who went through that. One was with them for 10 years, the other only a few. You were there for 8 years. I can’t imagine how that was after they left. But you’re safe now. They won’t get you,” she replied softly and he looked over and watched as Nino and Fu nodded agreement.

“When you are....ready, you’re sisters will be very happy to see you again,” Fu said and Xander smiled at that.

“Really?”

“Really. They were...devastated when you disappeared. I imagine they’ll be very happy when they see you,” Fu said and Xander nodded. “To help you heal from what happened, would you mind coming here every day for the next week or two? After that, we’ll space out the visits,” Fu said and Xander nodded.

“That sounds fine. Where will I stay?” Xander asked looking between the three.

“With me. I asked my parents while Fu got you ready. They understand and are very willing to let you stay,” Mari replied and Xander nodded.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

“No problem. Why don’t you change into the clothes Nino got you,” Mari said and Xander nodded as he slowly got up and took the bag from Nino. After he changed into a teal sweatshirt, white tee, and gray sweats, he sat down in front of Fu.

“Shall we begin?” Fu asked and Xander nodded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you sure you want to go to school, Xander?” Mari asked. It’s been a couple of weeks by then since Xander was healed. He’s meet all of Mari’s close friends who shared the same sentiment as Mari regarding him. They were just outside the school when she asked once more. Adrien stood next to them while the others went into the classroom to ‘deal’ with Lila. He understood that they pretended to hate each other in public for a movie they’re filming.

“Yes, I’m sure. I don’t think staying couped up at your place will help with anything. Not to mention, I’d rather be near you and your friends. I haven’t had an episode recently....but I’d rather be safe than sorry. Your parents and Fu are good, but not as good as you, sister,” Xander said smiling as he said sister in English. Mari beamed at him and took his hand.

“Ok, let’s get you enrolled then.” Mari then leads Xander, and Adrien as he trailed behind them, to the principle’s office. She knocked on the door.

“Come in!” Damocles muffled call came through. Mari opened the door and Damocles looked between her, Xander, and Adrien with a slightly confused expression. “What do you three need?” he asked and Mari had Xander sit in a chair.

“He’d like to enroll here. He’s from America but came here for a specialty therapist that’s really good. But since the therapist doesn’t know when he’ll be good to go home, we thought he’d enroll here for the time being,” Mari explained and Xander nodded. Damocles nodded at that and started typing on his computer.

“Alright. Now, what’s his name, where is he staying and who’s his family?” Damocles said.

“His name is Xander Grayson. He’s staying with me, Principle Damocles. So the info in my file should do,” Mari said and Damocles nodded slowly at that.

“Alright. Now, what about school records?”

“I was homeschooled,” Xander replied.

“Yeah. But he can be in my classes. That way if he’s behind in anything, I can help him,” she replied and Damocles nodded at that.

“If you are higher than the rest of the class, would you want to be moved ahead or stay in the same class?” Damocles asked leaning against his desk.

“I’d like to stay in the same class as my sister, sir,” he said and Damocles looked a bit confused at that.

“Sister?”

“That’s me, Principle Damocles. He’s become an honorary Dupain-Cheng,” Mari explained and Damocles nodded at that with a small smile.

“Alright. Marinette, Adrien, why don’t you two head to class. We just need to finish up some work before he can join you,” Damocles said and Mari nodded.

“Of course. We’ll see you soon, Xan,” Mari replied patting his shoulder before leaving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bustier was smiling as Lila claimed her tinnitus was acting up. Right as Nino sat down next to Kim and Lila next to Adrien, a knock sounded. “Come in!” Bustier called. Damocles then came into the room with Xander following behind him.

“Miss Bustier, you are receiving a new student. Please take care, make sure to look at his file as soon as you can as we do not want to cause him any problems through negligence,” Damocles replied and Bustier nodded. “Good day, if you need anything, come to me,” with that, Damocles left the room and Xander waved to everyone.

“Why don’t you introduce yourself to the class?” Bustier suggested.

“I’m Xander Grayson. I’m from Gotham in the USA. Uh, if I say something makes me uncomfortable, please drop it and don’t talk about it,” he said and the class nodded, some looked a bit confused though.

“Xander, do you want to sit next to me?” Lila asked with a charming smile and Xander shook his head.

“If I could, I’d like to sit next to my honorary sister, Mari,” Xander replied and Lila made a show of grumbling.

“You don’t want to sit next to her, Xander. Mari’s a bully,” Alya spoke up and Xander glanced over at her.

“I’ve already decided to sit next to her. Please don’t argue with me,” he said as Mari beamed at him. He went up the steps and sat down next to Mari. Chloe was sitting next to Sabrina as Mari had told her what was going to happen.

“If you’re from America, why don’t you have an accent?” Mylene asked that and Xander tensed up.

“Practice I guess,” he replied shortly.

“Why don’t you save the questions for later. Give him some time ok?” Mari replied and the class nodded at that.

“Ok class, let’s begin today’s lesson,” Bustier called out.

Ok, so this was the new chap. I hope you guys enjoyed it. There was a bit of a wait, sorry. Anyways, we have Xander appear! He’s Alya’s and Lana’s younger brother. Rn Mari n the others r around 15 yo. Lana is 21-22. Xander is a few years younger so he’s 17. Alya is 27. Just thought I’d tell ya so your aren’t confused. I hope you enjoyed it, I’ll see you again soon! -Love Willa<3<3<3

#fanfic #fanfic update #ml x dc #maribat #daminette #my writing #A New Hero #panic attack #Xander Grayson #he gets a panic attack #memory loss #memory recovery #oc death #death talked about

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de-vee-l · 5 years ago

Text

Music box: chapter 4 - slum

Antonina sighed looking out of the window. It was hot. She felt like she went to sauna. Of course, conditioner worked well and helped to chill a little.

She was sent with Knockout on a mission to find a relic, since no one of the Decepticons could reach it. So now they were driving through streets of a seaside city. They still had a long way to go and they couldn't move very fast because of all motorcycles on their way.

- You're a little quiet, Tonya, - Knockout said.

- You want to talk? - she asked.

- I meant that you don't complain as much as I expected, - he explained, - You know, I'm actually not fond of humans, really. But you do pretty good job at not irritating me. Not even crying to let you go to these... older ones your sparklings usually stick around.

- Parents? - she said, - Well, it's not like I would meet them if you let me go.

- Why so?

- It's... - the girl went deep in thought for a moment, - It's complicated. And I actually hope I will not meet them ever again.

The girl clenched on the edge of her blue and black dress. She wasn't used to talking about that. And she sure didn't expect Decepticon to be interested.

- I see. Do you know Autobots' pets by the way? - Knockout changed the subject.

- I don't think so, - Antonina answered, - Where do they even live?

- Jasper, Nevada.

- Sounds like America. Soundwave picked me in Marseille, France. So there's no way I've met them before, - she said.

- Oh, so you're from another country? How come you speak the same language as those fleshies?

- You're from another planet. How come you speak the same language as them? - the girl parried, - I just need English since some foreign teachers sometimes come to our classes. I actually fluently speak three languages. Too bad Vietnamese isn't one of them.

Then the car stopped. Red bot opened the door letting Tonya out. She stepped outside and breathed in hot moist air. She then took off her cardigan and covered her head with it. It wouldn't be good if she got sunstroke.

- You better do it quickly, - Knockout said.

- I'll try.

The big slum district stretched out before her. She could almost see all houses within it since it was placed on the hill. The girl took a deep breath as she started walking through narrow passages. She couldn't know the specific location of the relic, since the scaner cons used was too big for her to carry. All she knew was that it was around the center of the district and that she would definitely recognize it.

As she walked some people watched her, some approached her asking something about Soviets. Though it wasn't hard to shake them off. Lots of kids were running around, some dogs as well. She didn't feel good in here. Slums all over the world were famous for thier higher crime rate, so she always looked around nervously.

The girl wandered about for several hours untill she finally found something. Under old stone stairs some bricks were moved aside showing empty space under it. Antonina took a look inside. There was a disk made of white metal and... something ball shaped of the same material. The girl took out her phone and called Knockout.

- Knockout, it's Tonya. I've found something, - she informed, - I'm not sure though.

- How does it look like? - he asked.

- Like a metal jar? Is this it?

- It's a container. You can leave it there. What we need is inside.

- But there's nothing in it, - she replied after taking the jar out and looking inside, - Nothing but a big fat spider.

- What?! - the bot went silent for a moment, as if checking something, - Alright, the relic is still not far from you, straight east from where you're standing. And you better hurry up! Just how much free time do you think I have?!

- Got it.

The girl put the phone in her pocket and rushed in the right direction. She is screwed if those Autobots kids were the ones to take it. After some time she ran out on some sort of open space between buildings and started looking around. And then she saw... a bunch of kids playing football. With a strange metal object instead of a ball. A sigh of relief came out of her mouth. Now all she needed to do was take it. The girl put on her cardigan properly to look more presentable and walked towards the kids.

It wasn't actually as hard as she expected. Luckily she grabbed some french sweets when Soundwave let her out. And now she took them in case mission would take too long. These kids traded without a second thought.

Antonina held the object in her hands and looked it all over. It was definitely it. A strange circle like thing with claws on sides. It wasn't very big, but obviously it was a little heavy. While turning it all over she accidentally touched her wrist with it and claws formed a tight grip over it. Now it was like some kind of bracelet. Suddenly she noticed someone beside her. She turned to see an Asian girl in colorful outfit, with black and pink hair.

- Hey, girl! - she waved and then pointed at the relic, - Excuse me, but can we have that? We kinda need it.

- Well, I need it too, - Tonya glanced at the boy with a European looks that was standing not far and talked to someone on the phone.

- Arcee, we found it, - he whispered.

Arcee. It sure was a strange name. And it sounded familiar. Yes, these two were probably Autobots' friends. Not only they needed this alien like thing, but they also were just walking around slums, in which no tourists would step (unless they are looking for some sharp sensations).

Antonina rushed towards the alley. Now all she needed to do was run down the hill and meet with Knockout. The girl ran as fast as she could. Luckily, these kids weren't as fast as her, so she lost them after some time. But then she finally noticed that it was getting dark.

- "God, why does it always get dark so early in warm countries?" - she whined in her mind.

Before she knew it the sun has set and everything around became pitch black only lighted by lights from the windows. She should hurry. It was quite dangerous here even in daytime. Now who knew what would come out. The girl was almost there. She could even see the red car from afar.

And at the moment she thought that the mission was successful someone grabbed her shoulder. It was a local man and he was holding a knife. Just what she was worried about. The thiefs. He hold out his hand waiting for her to give him money. Just then she rushed again, but this time was caught. Antonina barely made it in time to catch his arm before he could cut her throat. She standed there for split seconds and then gathered all her power to throw the man over her shoulder, then, before he could stand up again she kneeled down and puched him in stomach. He let out a loud scream as the girl felt something crack under her fist. At first she didn't understand what happened, after all she couldn't punch him that hard. But then she saw her hand. It was now in some kind of big metal glove with glowing orange lines on it. So this is how it worked? No wonder everyone was so crazy about this little thing.

- "Now, let's hurry until anyone else comes here", - she thought.

Tonya ran towards the main road. Her feet already hurt from a whole day of walking around and her legs felt numb. But she still pushed a little more trying to go even faster just to get away. Finally she reached for the door and jumped into the car. The girl was breathing fast trying to recover from marathon she'd just been through.

- I see you haven't failed everything after all, - Knockout purred, - I actually thought I would have to go there myself to pick the relic after that fleshbag sent you offline.

- Ha... Let's hurry up and go back, - she said after finally recovering her breath, - These... Autobots' kids were there. So those guys are probably nearby.

- Too late, fleshy~

Red car turned the mirror and Antonina could see a massive green off-roader and a blue motorcycle. The belt bound her to the seat as Decepticon rushed at full speed. Thakfully, there were a lot less people on the way so he could maneuver over them. Then he turned around and rushed in the opposite direction passing Autobots that couldn't cross the street because of small stone wall. Or that's what the girl thought. The motorcycle led by the boy she met before quickly jumped it over and followed them. It was a lot easier to maneuver for this one so it started to approach the con.

- Perfect! - Knockout said, - Tonya, put the relic back into shrink mode.

- How? - Antonina asked.

- Ugh, just push the blue button in the center, - he whined obviously annoyed.

She did as he said. The big glove covering her hand and wrist started transforming until it looked like a bracelet again.

- Hide it, - the girl put it in her bag holding it firmly, - It'll be a little shaky now. Try not to let your insides out.

- Koneshno, - she commented with sigh.

She expected some big dangerous race, fast turns, even a fight with aliens weapons in their alter modes. Pretty much anything Knockout could do right now. But none of her expectations came to life. Red bot turned around again and again drawing a circle around himself until the belt released her and the door opened. Any suport from under her disappeared as she was thrown out of the car.

- Ah! - she let out a short cry as she hit the back of her head by glass, the door closed and a car made a fast turn and rushed in other direction.

- Gotcha! - said familiar voice as she was trying to take in what just happened.

- Breakdown? Gosh, you can't imagine how you two scared me, - she whined letting out a sigh of relief.

- Relic?

Girl quickly looked in her bag to check just in case.

- Here.

Now she was inside Breakdown. His alt form looked like an armored truck. Sure suited him.

- So, now what? - Tonya asked, - There's at least two of them, so they will probably chase after you too.

- Bulkhead isn't that quick, so don't worry. The little one will most likely try to get the relic she thinks Knockout has.

The bot pushed the pedal to the floor making the girl flinch.

***

Groundbridge opened letting the blue truck into the ship. Soundwave closed it right that moment it was inside. The car's door opened and the human girl jumped out. Starscream dropped his jaw when he saw it.

- I thought that Knockout was entrusted with this mission! - he screamed, - What is this fleshbag doing here?!

- Relic was in hard-to-reach area, - Breakdown answered without any hint of guilt, - Besides, why can't she be here? She's Soundwave's pet.

- The relic, - blue seeker interrupted before Second in command could start again.

Tonya took the bracelet out of her bag and handed it to bot that kneeled down for her.

- What is it? - blue bot asked.

- Well, it transformed in some sort of a big glove, - she answered, - But it probably has some other functions than powering up punches.

Dreadwing looked it over and then headed towards the exit.

- You did well, human.

#tfp #tfp starscream #tfp megatron #tfp soundwave #transformers #prime #knockout #breakdown #dreadwing #soundwave #megatron #decepticon #decepticons #oc #fanfic #ballet #dance #pet #music box

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just-jordie-things · 6 years ago

Text

The Boxer (part three) - Stiles Stilinski

word count: 5091 warnings: swearing a/n: based on this song

[ I have squandered my resistance for a pocketful of mumbles / such are promises ]

She woke up with a jolt, her breathing heavy and ragged and the room dim.

There were rushed whispers all over the place, and after blinking a few times to adjust her eyes she realized she was at Scott’s house, and he was sitting in front of her, taking her pain. She stared at his darkened veins with curiosity, not having seen something so bizarre before.

“Thank- you” She rasped out, her vocal cords burned as she spoke. He nodded, and turned to Kira who was sat next to him.

“Why don’t you go get Stiles and Chris” He asked softly. The fox nodded, kissing his cheek before heading out of the room. “You don’t have to speak, I’m certain your voice is strained” He continued with a gentle voice to (y/n).

“Where is everyone? Where’s Stiles?” She asked quickly though it made her throat feel like absolute fire.

“They’re all here, we’re all okay. Chris Argent found us, shot the omega that tried to kill you” Her eyes widened slightly as she processed all this new information.

“But I-”

“-was almost murdered! That’s what!” A new, louder voice exclaimed, and before she could even smile Stiles had rushed around the couch she was laying on and tugged her entire upper half up so he could hug her tightly. “Don’t even try to push. You’re not getting out of this” He mumbled, his hand supporting the back of her head as her arms wound around his middle.

“It’s okay” She mumbled into his shoulder. “I’ll allow it-”

“Stop talking your throat has to be in hell right now” Stiles scolded, pulling away and helping her lay back comfortably.

“What happ-”

“I said shut up,” Stiles scolded again. “That bitch omega managed to get a good swipe at your neck before Argent shot him” He explained, and (y/n’s) eyes went wide as saucers, hands reaching up to grasp at her neck, feeling a white gauze had been wrapped around it.

“Holy-”

“What don’t you understand about not talking? Let it heal” Stiles pulled her hands away, as Chris walked over.

“How’re you holding up kid?” He asked, earning looks from everyone else in the room. She glanced at Stiles pointedly, silently asking him if she could speak now. He answered with an eye roll.

Neither of them did anything about the fact that he was still holding her fingertips gently in his hand.

“Not my greatest, but it could be worse” She answered. “I was told I was going to die if you didn’t show up, so thank you” The man smiled down at her warmly.

“Figured I should step in before your parents had the chance to” He answered, making her smile back. Her gratifaction overwhelming for the fact he was there instead of them.

“Thank you” She said again.

“I better head out, maybe check in on the Hales if I feel like it” He said to Scott, who chuckled quietly and nodded. “Watch her for a bit… make sure her parents don’t come snooping around”

“We will” Scott reassured.

“Thanks Scott. Let me know tomorrow how she’s doing” Chris said, and looked down to (y/n) again. “Get better kid, don’t make me drag you with me back to France” She smiled softly and nodded, watching him leave with sad eyes.

“You can stay here, for the night, if you want” Scott offered. “There’s a guest room upstairs that you can have all to yourself” She nodded slightly.

“That’d be nice, thank you” She hummed.

“I have clothes,” Lydia offered a backpack, which Stiles took. “It’s just a bunch of random stuff I figured you’d want to pick something fresh to sleep in and for tomorrow”

“Thank you” (y/n) said again. “All of you, really, thank you”

“Anything for you sweetie,” Kira said in her sugar sweet voice, reaching forward to run her hand over the top of her head. “You’re one of us now, you know” (y/n) smiled sheepishly at the kitsune, a look that was new for her.

“She’s right,” Liam pitched in. “You’re a badass that’s saved my life twice now”

“Alright alright, reunion party tomorrow,” Lydia said, beginning to shoo everyone out of the living room. “Let’s let our girl rest up for the night”

Everyone cleared out, besides Scott and Stiles. Scott, who went upstairs to prepare the room for (y/n), and Stiles who stayed sat on the coffee table and holding her hand. They were both conscious of it now, but still made no comment on it. He just held her slender fingers in his , gently rubbing his thumb over her bruised knuckles.

“I guess punching stuff isn’t as fun without the gloves on, huh?” He asked, making her smile just a little bit.

“I don’t prefer punching bones” Her voice was quiet and raspy. “Always leaves bruises” Stiles nodded in response, keeping quiet for a moment as he stared at her hands. “If you hadn’t attacked me, I would’ve had that shot” She mentioned. “It could’ve been over if we’d taken out their leader”

“You weren’t going to get him before he got you” Stiles shook his head surely. “Admit it, I saved your life” He smirked at her, eyes meeting hers now and seeing that small smile she tried so hard not to show.

“I don’t think so,” She answered. “I think you compromised the whole thing”

“Nah” He grinned, squeezing her hand gently. “I don’t think so” She just smiled and shook her head at him. She wasn’t going to admit aloud that she knew he saved her, they both knew that.

“Hey, (y/n),” Scott called, bounding down the stairs. “You want help coming upstairs?”

“No, no I can do it” She said, pulling her hand out of Stiles’ to push herself up into a sitting position. A hot pain shooting through her side and she gasped as she grabbed at the pain. “Oh-”

“It’s alright,” Stiles moved forward, his large hand splaying over hers as he held her steady in her seat. “Just move slow, it’s not far, just up the stairs” He cooed quietly, and with slow movements helped her stand and limp towards the staircase. All the while Scott watching their dynamic as he aided her all the way up the stairs and into the guest room. He watched his friend help the girl into bed, going so far as to pull the blankets over her body.

“Thanks” She mumbled, curling up with her hand on her side to comfort herself. Feeling a patch of cotton likely taped to her skin.

“Yeah, no problem” Stiles replied.

“I’m right down the hall,” Scott said, pointing in the direction of his room. “And Stiles is going to be downstairs on the pull out if you need anything tonight”

“I hope I won’t” She sighed. “But thanks”

“It doesn’t matter what time it is,” Stiles spoke, causing her to stare up at him, “Okay?”

“Okay” She whispered back with a nod.

“We’ll leave you be, try to sleep it off” Scott said, and Stiles walked to the door. “Goodnight” He flicked the switch and shut the door.

“Goodnight” She murmured, trying her best to snuggle into bed and sleep.

It had been two hours. Currently it was one in the morning, and she hadn’t gotten even a minute of sleep. She wasn’t sure why, her body was overcome with fatigue and ache and she just wanted to pass out and sleep through the entire day. But it hadn’t happened.

At some point she grew bored of laying there playing on her phone, and texted Stiles downstairs.

[ (y/n) ] : are you still awake?

He responded instantly.

[ stiles ] : yes… why are you still up?

[ (y/n) ] : i cant sleep

[ stiles ] : yeah well the phone screen won’t help you sleep. turn it off and try

[ (y/n) ] : can’t

[ stiles ] : can’t?

[ stiles ] : wdym can’t

[ stiles ] : just try

[ (y/n) ] : can you please come up here

[ stiles ] : like…

[ stiles ] : to your room ?

[ (y/n) ] : yeah it’s not weird

[ (y/n) ] : we can talk

[ stiles ] : fine. but you have to promise to try to sleep

[ (y/n) ] : promise

[ stiles ] : do you need anything from down here?

[ (y/n) ] : no

When she heard his footsteps coming up the stairs and shut her phone off and shuffled back in the bed to make room. It was only a twin, but it wasn’t like they were sharing it for the whole night, just for a little while.

She softly told him to come in when he knocked on the door, and he opened it as quietly as possible, closing it just as slowly to stay quiet.

“You should really be asleep” He mumbled, walking over to her. She patted the space on the bed with her hand, and he looked at her with a surprised expression. “You want me to lay here? This space is tiny-”

“I made room” She said quietly, backing up almost into the wall so he had just a little bit more room room.

“I swear,” He grumbled, getting under the covers and shuffling to get comfortable. “If you weren’t injured” He continued his whining that made her smile because she knew he thought it was nice, and when he finally got situated and faced her to see that smile he paused in his ramblings and just looked at her. “What?”

“You’re so whiny” She commented. “Doesn’t it suck being a pessimist all the time?”

“Ha. That’s real hot coming from you, queen of attitude” He snarked.

“Lydia’s the queen of attitude” (y/n) responded. “I just have a generally negative outlook on life” He chuckled at the idea, and she smiled again.

“Well, what did you want to talk about?” He asked. He found himself looking away from her eyes every few seconds. They were too close to keep eye contact for too long, he didn’t want to drift off and get lost staring at her.

“Anything,” She shrugged. “I just said that to get you up here, really”

“You know I’m a sucker for origin stories” He grinned. “So, what haven’t you told me yet?”

“Why do we always have to talk about me?”

“Because you’re way more interesting” Stiles responded, and though the comment was strange given her history, she blushed slightly.

“Okay… well what do you want to know then?” She asked. Stiles thought for a moment, trying to think of a good topic of conversation that would also lull her into sleep.

“Would your parents have killed you if they found out where you were tonight?” He asked, and she nodded.

“Yeah. That’s an easy one” She answered. “They would’ve wished that I’d died” Stiles frowned as her eyes flitted anywhere but his. It was quiet as she thought about the consequences that could have taken place because of her actions tonight, that luckily, shouldn’t happen. “Hey…”

Stiles looked up from where he’d been staring at her bruised hands on the duvet.

“You want to hear the craziest thing?” She whispered. “Well… crazy to me”

“Sure” He nodded, licking his lips subconsciously.

“A few months ago I absolutely loathed you” She mused. “The whole pack, really, I couldn’t stand it. You were all so… yourselves”

“I get that a lot” Stiles chuckled, making her roll her eyes and hit his shoulder gently.

“I was jealous, is what I’m saying” She murmured. “You got to live your lives and do what you want…” She trailed off for a moment. “I didn’t get that. And that first time I… that night that Scott and Kira and Malia were at the school, with the Berserker, God, I thought I was going to get involved”

“Really?”

“Mhm” She hummed. “I was so sure I was going to leave school the next day and the same thing would happen” She smiled to herself. “It didn’t, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of telling them that I wasn’t going to get involved, or if the Berserkers had left town… but the thing is I had wished they were” Stiles smiled at her.

“You wanted to be in our pack” He teased in a sing-song voice.

“Yeah, I really did” She whispered to him. “But I told myself I wasn’t going to put myself in a situation where I was fighting behind my parent’s backs. I couldn’t handle getting disowned… kicked out”

“They would do that?” Stiles asked. He knew her parents were strict about the things they did but he didn’t think they were that extreme.

“They’re radical hunters” She replied softly. “The way they’re involved… if anyone else had heard about it I’d be ejected completely from their society. Isolated” Stiles looked at her sadly, understanding now why she was so cold and distant whenever he confronted her about joining.

She caught his expression and smiled sadly.

“You get it now, don’t you?” He nodded. “I came back again though, when The Beast of Gevaudan had attacked the library, I saw Scott completely shifted with people around and… I didn’t really think twice about rushing him around a bookcase to get him to shift back. I didn’t want him to expose himself, especially with some of the rallies that some of the more radical hunters, like my parents, were starting”

“You were there for those?”

“No, I was forbidden from it. My parents saw me- see me- as an amateur. A weak link in a chain of strong independent murderers” The sarcastic tone in her voice made him chuckle under his breath.

“I can’t imagine anyone seeing you that way” He told her, and she smiled faintly.

“If you saw what some of these people can do… you can’t even compare us. Only contrast. I can just stab things. My parents have connections to snipers that could shoot someone from hundreds of feet away… a complete kill shot to their head” She poked Stiles in the forehead.

“Yeah, well you’re still a badass, there’s no tainting that image of you” Stiles complimented, making her smile again.

“Thanks, Stiles” She hummed. “I think they’d outcast me if they knew where I was tonight” (y/n) mused. “I think they’d send one of those snipers to kill me” She added softer.

“Don’t say stuff like that,” Stiles muttered. “That kind of negativity can’t be helping your healing process”

(y/n) slumped her shoulders, fingers playing with a loose thread on the blanket. With her eyes averted from his he found himself staring at her more than usual. He’d never noticed that her eyelashes were long enough to cast a small shadow on her cheekbones. He leaned forwards slightly, his fingertips brushing over her jaw tenderly. Her eyes instantly flickered up to his from the touch, surprised by the action.

“Does it still hurt?” He asked, hand dropping back to the mattress.

“No… not really” She relied. “I’m ignoring it”

She wondered why he’d moved an inch closer, and why he’d touched her face like that. And why it made her entire chest and face heat up.

“I’ve been through worse”

“Oh really?” Stiles asked, wondering how much worse a person could endure.

“Oh yeah, when I was first training to be a hunter, I would be set up on these tests. Hostage situations… torture…” She grinned sickeningly as she thought about it. “I’ve been starved, shot at, abandoned in the woods, you name it”

“Why are you the most disturbing and interesting person I know?” Stiles asked, making her smile honestly now. She shut her eyes, finally feeling relaxed enough to get some sleep. Stiles sighed and yawned, “You don’t deserve what they’ve done to you”

She smiled sleepily, setting her hand over his and slowly falling asleep.

“No,” She murmured into her pillow. “I don’t deserve you”

Stiles hadn’t meant to fall asleep with her, really, he’d meant to wait until he was sure she’d fallen asleep and then go back downstairs.

But he’d gotten so comfortable, and she was almost holding his hand, it was just so easy to sleep there next to her.

As soon as he’d woken up, he panicked that she would wake soon after and call him out on it, which he wouldn’t even know how to handle. So instead he crept out of the bed and snuck out of the room before she could wake up. He’d made it downstairs to make breakfast, only to find Scott sitting at the table, giving him a knowing smirk.

“How’d you sleep?” The alpha chuckled to himself.

“Oh, yeah, Scott, you’re just so funny” Stiles remarked, but Scott was still laughing.

“I can’t believe you spent the night cuddled up with a girl that wanted to kill you two months ago” He snickered. “What were you doing up there anyways?”

“She texted me last night and asked me to” Stiles shrugged, opting for cereal. “It’s not a big deal Scott, stop trying to read into it, you’ll make it weird”

“I’ll make it weird?” Scott snorted with laughter, shaking his head. “Come on, really?”

“Would you just pretend you had no idea? Please?” Stiles asked, putting back the cereal ingredients and bowl.

“Yeah” His friend agreed, watching him skip breakfast. “Are you leaving?”

“Yep, don’t want to be here when you tear down what’s left of my ego to (y/n)”

“Oh come on, you’re overreacting, don’t you think?” Scott asked.

“Really? Am I really?”

“Yes. You can be a bit theatrical at times” Scott nodded. “Look, did she sleep through the whole night?”

“I think so? How would I know that Scott, I was asleep”

“Well if she did, that means she slept good” He said with a simple shrug. “And I think that’s a good thing” Scott smiled at his friend, who only narrowed his eyes in return.

“I’m not in love with her Scott, stop trying to set something up” He said in annoyance.

“Okay” Scott laughed again. “You say that now” He mumbled more to himself. Stiles rolled his eyes. First Malia made the commentary, then his Dad, and now Scott.

“You’re the third person to piss me off about this, and three is not the charm, it’s the breaking point” He said dramatically. “I’m heading home, my Dad’s probably wondering where I am” He stated before heading to the door.

“He’s also probably wondering if you shared a bed with me or the new hot girl!” Scott called after him, earning the middle finger before Stiles left the house. Scott shook his head again to himself, amused by his best friend’s outburst. “That poor sucker”

(y/n) came downstairs to see Scott still in the kitchen, working on his homework in the peace and quiet. He smiled kindly at her as she slowly made her way to the table, the ache in her side still present.

“Do you want any medication for that?” Scott asked, nodding to where her hand was pressed against the wounded area. “My mom’s a nurse, we have a little bit of everything in this house. You can never be to careful in this town”

“I guess that’s true” She hummed in response as she eased herself to sit in a chair. “But I’ll be fine, it’ll pass”

“You sure?” Scott checked, brows furrowing. He couldn’t believe a human could endure the pain she currently must be in. But (y/n) just nodded her head and gave a reassuring smile.

“I’m sure” She answered. “Hey, did Stiles leave?”

Scott smirked at her question, making her head cock to the side and a confused but suspicious look cross her features.

“What?” She spoke in her interrogation voice instantly, not about to play games with the likes of Scott McCall.

“What what?” He responded, and a frown settled on her lips.

“What’s that look for?” She asked.

“I just find it curious that you’re so curious about his whereabouts, is all. Just curiosity” His attempt at sounding casual was a failed one, and she saw right through the act.

“You think something happened last night that definitely didn’t happen, your assumption is wrong, McCall” Her eyes narrowed as she looked him over, profiling him.

“What’s my assumption?” He asked playfully. Now he was just messing around.

“Nothing happened” (y/n) told him. “And before you go pressing questions, I asked him to come upstairs and talk to me”

“Yeah? You two are pretty close now, huh?” Scott asked, wiggling his eyebrows at the girl. “And to think not too long ago you would’ve wrung his neck if he even looked at you” (y/n) laughed softly as she looked at Scott, knowing he wasn’t all that wrong.

“We’re closer, yeah, but we’re just friends” She told him. “Simple as that”

“Mhm. Seems simple to me” Scott replied dryly, and (y/n) scoffed.

“What are you getting all cocky about?” She asked him, defensively crossing her arms over her chest. “Stiles and I are friends, that’s it. You think cause he stayed in my room last night we’re head over heels for each other? Sure, Scott, after one night I’ve become completely smitten for him, I just can’t control myself!” She went on a long sarcastic ramble, only further proving Scott’s point.

“Right”

“Jesus, everyone needs to pull their head out of their ass! This isn’t some Netflix rom-com, this is real, actual life!”

“Right” Scott said again, a smile growing on his face as she went on.

“Seriously, I’ve only actually known the guy a few weeks, what do you think of me?” She babbled now. “Just cause I was on the brink of death I’m just supposed to start throwing myself at men left and right? Is that really what you-”

“Maybe take a breath now” Scott suggested, and she stopped, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “Feel better? Get it all out of your system?”

She answered him with a subtle death glare.

“I think Lydia would have understood that… mess… better than I can, but it sounds to me like you’re in a lot of denial”

“Do you want me to limp out into the streets and lay in the road for a car to run me over?” She asked rhetorically. Scott put his hands up in surrender.

“Alright, alright, I’ll avoid all Stiles based conversation starters” He told her, and she smiled and nodded at him.

“Thank you” She told him sincerely. It was quiet between them for a few seconds as they thought of what they could talk about instead.

“So,” Scott sighed. “What’s up?”

“Hey, weird thing,” (y/n) called to Stiles as they were wandering around the- now abandoned, again- bank. In hopes of figuring out if they left any traces of staying behind in Beacon Hills, or if they actually skipped town like the others believed they did. “Did you talk to Scott? About… that night you stayed with me?”

It had been a few days, and (y/n’s) wound was almost completely healed up. Her limp was gone and a bandage wasn’t necessary, but it was going to leave a few nasty claw-shaped scars.

“What do you mean?” Stiles asked, growing nervous from the question. “Did you talk to him? Ab-about it?” He stammered. His anxiousness made (y/n) chuckle.

“Calm down, I’m just curious” She said. “No wrong answers”

“I mean yeah, he kinda forced it on me, why?” He spoke carefully, wondering why she’d asked.

“Because, he mentioned it to me too,” She said. “Like he thought something had happened, you know?”

“Oh…” Stiles turned away to avoid eye contact.

“I told you there’s no wrong answers, you don’t have to be so uncomfortable” She said, hoping it could just be a regular conversation. “I was just wondering if he was asking you about it too, that’s all” She told him.

“Yeah, yeah he talked it me about it, teased me a bit, that’s actually why I left that morning. I didn’t want him to do the same thing and then make us both uncomfortable- I’m rambling” He took in a breath and stopped wandering, instead turning to look at her. “Sorry,”

“No need” She replied, dismissively waving her hand. “Forget I said anything”

She walked off to the stairs, and Stiles mentally cursed himself for making it weird. Not just today, but that night to He wished he’d never tried to lean in to kiss her, she obviously remembered and was making sure that he wouldn’t do anything like that again.

The rest of their day went much smoother, ending up bringing lunch back for themselves and extra for leftovers for Noah. They sat in the kitchen, eating their takeout and talking about their theories, which was gradually becoming random conversation.

“Stiles, what would they be doing in a gas station?” (y/n) asked. “That’s the most ridiculous one yet”

“What? No it’s not” Stiles retorted through a mouthful of food. He swallowed thickly before going on. “One of those secluded ones, off open roads. Think about it, barely anyone goes there who isn’t a customer or a drug dealer-”

“Stiles,” (y/n) said in between giggles. “Come on, really?” He threw his hands up dramatically. “I promise,” She said, calming herself and setting a hand on his forearm. “Your gas station is still safe”

He chuckled at her, shaking his head as he couldn’t help but smile.

Time seemed to fade away as they sat there giggling between themselves, with soft smiles and twinkling eyes.

(y/n) got that feeling again, the one she’d gotten that night they spent together. That she could sit there talking and laughing with Stiles for hours, it could never get old. She loved having time to unwind and just be around each other. Something about Stiles’ presence made her relax, which she doesn’t feel often.

When enough time had passed, she’d looked away, cheeks tinting pink with the embarrassment of having lost herself while looking at him.

“I should get going home soon, if I don’t want to get sucked into this gas station theory of yours” She sighed, standing up from the table and collecting her things in her bag, checking her phone before looking back at him.

“Okay,” He breathed, getting up to walk her to the door. “Get home safe, keep your lie simple” He said, making her giggle softly and nod.

“Why am I late? Oh, simple, I was with the Sheriff’s son… yes the one friends with the true alpha, the kitsune,, the coyote, the banshee, oh! And he has a beta too!” She went on sarcastically, making Stiles roll his eyes at her theatrics.

Before he really knew her, he would’ve never guessed they’d be where they are now.

“Just you wait, when they find out you’re on our side of this” He said, opening the door for her as she slipped on her shoes. “You’ll be good though?”

She smiled as she nodded, “Yes, I’ll be good” He nodded back at her, and the fell in a short moment of silence. (y/n) standing in the doorway, holding her bag and her keys, and Stiles standing there in front of her, unsure of what to say.

“And you?” She asked, her voice in the sweet polite tone he’d only heard her use when speaking to his father. But he nodded again, awkward and avoiding eye contact. “Alright then… I’m gonna go now” She held back a nervous laugh that threatened to escape her.

“Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow, then” Stiles let out a sigh, and (y/n) adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

“See you tomorrow” She repeated kindly, before stepping outside and walking to her car. Turning as she reached it, and waving again before getting in and driving off. Stiles had stood at the door and watched her go.

By the end of the night he kinda missed her presence.

“Hey Lyds, could you tell me something honest?” (y/n) asked as she met the banshee at her locker. Lydia, in response, turned and grinned at her mischievously. “Is my walk lopsided? I was walking weird after the incident, cause my side used to hurt so bad, but now I just wonder if-”

“Ugh,” Lydia rolled her eyes and shut her locker. “I thought you were gonna ask me about advice for Stiles. No, your walk is totally fine”

“What?” (y/n) stared at Lydia in confusion. “Why would I ask you about Stiles?”

“Because… you two slept together?” She said with a small giggle. “Why else?”

“Wait that’s- that isn’t- that’s out of context” (y/n) shook her head as she stammered, and her moment of anxiety made Lydia grin wide and even laugh a little bit.

“Sure sweetheart,” She said with a wink, earning a disturbed look from (y/n). “Don’t tell me you didn’t think about more” She said temptingly. “Come on… something had to have happened”

“Nothing happened!” (y/n) hissed. “Really, we just talked- seriously there was nothing-”

“So you didn’t even kiss him?” Lydia sighed. “Did you think about it?” (y/n) was quiet for a moment as she stared at the strawberry blonde. “I would never… Lydia I could never, ever want Stiles like that. That’s not the way the world works”

“What the hell does that even mean?” Lydia mumbled.

“I’m a hunter? He’s a human guy? Not to mention a friend-”

“Please, Romeo and Juliet? That’s the oldest trope in the book (y/n), got any other reasons?” She scoffed at the idea, while (y/n) remained confused, but curious as to what Lydia was getting at. “Really, what’s stopping you?”

“You’re suggesting I ask Stiles out?” The boxer inquired, like the idea was entirely unfamiliar. Even if the idea wasn’t that far from her mind.

“Sure, why not?” Lydia said, and (y/n) laughed humorlessly.

“No, I don’t think so”

“Fine,” Lydia shrugged, ready to walk to class. “But you’re gonna realize too late, I guarantee it”

Before (y/n) could question her new friend any further, Lydia had walked off, leaving her amongst her peers with a whirring mind of crazy thoughts.

On her way to her own class, she caught sight of Stiles, likely heading to the library for an empty, or maybe he was skipping, she wasn’t sure. He saw her as well, smiling familiarly and heading over to her when she waved.

“What’s up?” He asked, expecting a usual hello, maybe some weird drama or something. What she’d said instead, was very astonishing to him.

“You want to grab dinner this weekend?”

taglist: @the-crime-fighting-spider @socially-awkward-nerd @all-alone-he-turns-to-stone @lovelynerdytraveler @writings-and-stuff @jurassicpork @black-tights-black-heart @piper-x-lee @desired-love- @savcks @bluehairwithanartsysoul

xoxo ~ jordie

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lucisfavoritedemon · 6 years ago

Text

Double Life

Pairing: Jensen x reader

Summary: You are a YouTuber who also happens to be an actor. You do YouTube when acting jobs seem to go scarce. One day you get a call from your manager saying he has found something that peaks your interest. What happens when you meet your co-star and your characters love interest? Will you keep it professional or will you let your feelings get to you?

Warnings: angst, sad!reader, mentions of death, comforting!Jensen, gruesome description of death, talk of murder, mentions of legal trouble.

Word Count: 1215

A/N: This is based on actual events so please be gentle. I had more hard hitting news about a close friend. So, I thought since I write like I am the reader I would share this heartbreaking tale the only way I know how to. I know its really dark and going to be hard to read, but the wounds are still fresh on this. I really hope you enjoy.

"Hello everyone. I am so glad you are here to share this experience with me. I wish it was on a better day or with a better, more funny story time video. Today, as you can tell by the title, is going to be kind of morbid so please bare with me." I said trying to calm my nerves.

I could see Jensen out of the corner of my eye. He wanted to be here when I filmed this video because he knows how much it still hurts. He was reassuring me I was doing good.

"Back in preschool, we had a small little program where we had a been assigned a pen-pal to learn more about the culture of where that person lived. There were people from all over the world. Some were from the states, the UK, France, all over. It was a really neat thing for a small little preschool/daycare to have.

"You had to be at least 4 years of age to be part of this program. It was a whole interview type of situation. You had to prove your basic reading and writing skills. It was a nice learning experience for me. Once you're in you have one more piece to go through. You have to show you are capable of writing legible sentences. That way the kids aren't struggling to read what you are trying to tell them.

"I was assigned a boy named Alexander. Later on I would get to know this boy and realised I never knew his last name. Anyway, he was from the UK and he was the sweetest person anyone could ever meet.

"He was three years older than me though, but a lot of the kids from different countries tended to be a little older than us. It was okay though because it was nice to have someone who knew things and could potentially teach me.

"It a program that you stayed until you were 10 years old. Then the younger of the two were assigned new pen-pals, but you had to reapply.

"Alex and I had sent letters back and forth for three years. Until he wasn't able to be in the program anymore. That didn't stop us though. Every now and again I would get a letter from him asking how I was doing and if school was going good. He asked about old friends, and if I had made new ones.

"He would ask if I wanted to talk on the phone, so we could talk hear each other's voices. It wasn't like face to face talking though. Eventually I had grown old enough for my mom to finally let me go see him again.

"At that point it had been almost 8 years since we first met. It was rough because we both love face to face contact more than anything else.

"The trip was amazing. I was so happy to see him again. My mom was so excited to meet him. He had changed, but the same time he hadn't. He was still the same dorky kid I met when I was 4. Now I was 12 and going into middle school. He was going into what would be high school for him.

"We talked, we wrote, and when I got my first phone that you could text people on, we texted all the time. It was the best thing to have a friend like him.

"On my good days we would laugh, and on my bad days he would talk to me into the late hours of the night. It was so amazing to know I was cared about by someone I had only met twice in my life.

"When I got into acting and my career I was able to fly out and see him more. He found himself a girlfriend. I didn't necessarily approve of her, but she made him happy and that's all I cared about.

"As time went on he was starting to get these really horrible headaches. Headaches that even the slightest bit of light would make him sick. He could sit in pitch black darkness and it still hurt.

"I told him he needed to go see a doctor, and finally after months of pleading he finally went. He found out he had a brain tumor. The headaches were caused by excess fluid in his brain and that he needed surgery to remove the fluid.

"He called me that night freaked out and terrified. He didn't want his life to end like this and he didn't want to do it alone.

"I told him I was always here. Just a phone call and a plane ride away. If he needed anything I was going to be on the next flight out.

"A week later he called me freaking out about surgery. He didn't want to die on an operating table. He still had things he wanted to do. Place he wanted to see.

"He still wanted to come out and see Colorado. Or go to Los Angeles. He was so determined he was going to make it out to see me one last time.

"On January 2, 2014 Alex passed away from a severe seizure. He was found in his apartment a day later. Covered in blood and vomit. And his girlfriend was nowhere to be found.

"Things have come to light in the what was just a death caused by cancer was now something that could have been prevented. It had soon become a murder investigation.

"The doctors said they had prescribed him with a new supply of epilepsy medication to help with the seizures. Looking back on the report that medication was all gone.

"His girlfriend was going charged with murder and possession of non prescription medication.

"Two days after her arrest she was found hung in her cell. The guilt finally caught up to her, or she didn't want to man up to the crime she had committed.

"Who knows how much longer Alex would've lived if she hadn't done it, but it's over and done with.

"I wanted to let you guys know that everything is okay, but him being gone for 5 years is still hurting. Alex was my best friend before I even met Jess.

"Sometime this week I should be getting a package shipped out from what he had included in his will. I finally have some justice and closure as to what happened, but it doesn't make it any easier.

"Thank you for sticking with me. I know this was a lot to handle and everything. Please if you liked this video or just liked the fact I shared something very personal please leave a like.

"I will leave a playlist of funny story time videos. Don't forget to subscribe. I will see you guys next time. Bye."

I wiped all my tears away. As I turned off the camera. It wasn't long till I was being embrace by a pair of strong arms. Jensen was truly sent to me by Alex. It's how I know he's still with me.

He knew that Jensen would be able to provide me what he provided me. That was the coolest thing. It's how I know Jensen is the one.

Tags:

@anotherwaywardsister @archangel-michael98 @atc74 @bella-ca @canadianspnhunter @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog @ericaprice2008 @impala-dreamer @impalaimagining @katymacsupernatural @leatherwhiskeycoffeeplaid @luci-in-trenchcoats @mamaredd123 @masksandtruths @mirandaaustin93 @muchamusedaboutnothing @our-jensen-ackles-love @roxyspearing @sea040561 @snffbeebee @spnwaywardwitch @squirrelnotsam @winchesterprincessbride

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residentanchor · 6 years ago

Text

Probable Theorem Ch. 4

<<Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Summary: Things finally settle between the two couples... Note: If you were tagged in this but not anything prior, you are new to the general tag!! I’ll link the first chapter of Lesson in Practicality and Probable Theorem (Since it’s a sequel) if you are interested! Just message me/shoot me an ask if you want to be removed!

Patton was almost skipping he way back home, holding Logan’s hand as they crossed the street from the bus stop. Patton held a container of cookies in his hand that they had baked after Logan convinced him to bring some home to share so he wouldn’t eat them all. They walked up to the porch and spotted someone walking out of the door on the porch next to theirs as she locked up and turned around. She stopped once she spotted them and smiled as they walked up onto the porch.

“Oh well goodness me! Would you be my new downstairs neighbors?” She smiled, her tired eyes crinkling as she did. She was older than them a bit Logan theorized, possibly closer to middle-aged then the boys were. “It’s lovely to finally meet you!”

Patton unhooked his hand from Logan’s and extended it out to her. “Hi there! My name’s Patton!” He shook the older woman’s hand and looked over his shoulder. “This is Logan!” Patton’s smile grew and he giggled to himself. “He’s my boyfriend!”

“Oh gosh, that is so sweet!” Logan blushed at the woman’s words. “Well, it’s nice to meet you, two boys! I’m in a rush or I’d love to talk, maybe another time?”

Patton opened the container and pulled out a cookie to the woman. “Here! We just came back from a bakery, would you like one?”

The woman smiled as she accepted the treat. “Thank you, Patton! Sorry, I must be on my way. Have a good evening you two!”

Their new neighbor walked down the stairs before taking long strides down the sidewalk and disappeared from view. Patton smiled and looked over at Logan as he closed the container once more. “She seems really nice!”

Logan kept his eyes focused down the street before answering. “She never gave her name,” he mumbled before looking up at Patton. “I suppose she was in a hurry. Now, let’s get inside, shall we?”

Logan walked forward and held the door open for Patton who thanked him as he raced inside. As the front door opened, the sudden noise caused Virgil to jump away from Roman on the couch, pushing the other as he fell sideways. He scurried to the opposite side of the sofa as Roman had stumbled forward onto his feet to prevent himself from falling to the ground.

“Oh my gosh ROMAN! I have something to tell you!” Patton raced up to Roman who smiled back at the other.

“Patton! I have something to share as well!” Roman reached out to Patton and placed a hand on his arm.

“So Logan brought me to this bakery-”

“Virgil and I were watching a movie and-”

“-and we baked these delicious cookies, see?!”

“-yes, we ate that pizza thank you! So, Virgil-”

“Oh gosh, he’s so good at baking! Anyway, we were talking and-”

“-completely surprised me and I got the chance to ask and-”

“-NOW HE’S MY BOYFRIEND!”

The last part of their sentence merged into one as they spoke.

“Wait, you’re dating Logan now?” Roman questioned curiously.

Patton gasped and smiled up at Roman. “You two are dating?! Oh my goodness!”

“No, wait! It just happened!” Roman looked back at Virgil before looking over at Logan as he walked across the room. “How did you manage to get together before Virgil and me?”

“Well, perhaps if it weren’t for your trepidation about asking out Virgil in the first place you two would already be together?” Logan didn’t bother hiding the smug look on his face.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself there, Lo.” Virgil leaned back into the couch and placed his hands behind his head. “It’s not a competition and if it was, you wouldn’t win that bet.”

“This is a fact, is it?” Logan walked over to Virgil and grew uneasy at how relaxed Virgil was. “So, the fact that it just happened here when we were already on our way home-”

“It didn’t happen here.” Virgil looked over to Roman before turning back to the nerdy roommate. “Paris, France in the late 1980’s. Had to choose a time when CCTV wasn’t as common, you know? Don’t want people wondering why we just appeared out of nowhere.”

“Oh my goodness, you took him to Paris?” Patton squealed in excitement. “That’s so cute and romantic!”

“Wait!” Roman had a moment of realization. “So technically we’ve been together for 30 years in the span of half an hour?”

“Happy anniversary.” Virgil’s tone was heavy with sarcasm. “It’s felt like it took 30 years, hasn’t it?”

“We should celebrate!” Patton held out the box of cookies. “Anyone want one?”

Logan placed his hand on it and pushed it down gently. “Perhaps a proper meal before we eat even more sweets?”

Patton smiled and fluttered his eyes a bit. “Are you saying I’m sweet enough, Lo?” Patton snickered at Logan’s blush before heading toward the kitchen. “Maybe we should finish unpacking so we can actually use the kitchen for once! We’ve been here a week already!”

Roman groaned but followed Patton into the kitchen. “I’m so tired of unpacking, do we have to?”

“We can have our first family dinner in the apartment! I can start cooking when we’re done so the sooner we’re done the sooner we eat!”

“Sounds satisfactory.” Logan inspected the remaining boxes before his eyes flashed and they opened up. “If we divide the work evenly we should be done in no time.”

---

The days passed were uneasy at first. Everyone was in high spirits but the mood was unsure as they learned how to act around one another and their new relationship status. After Virgil growled out that ‘nothing had really changed’ between all of them, it seemed to fall back to normal. Roman still sang as loud as ever, Virgil made a comfortable pillow and blanket hideaway in his room for when things got too rough, Logan went back to making the chore schedule and reading through a stack of books and Patton and his pals made appearances to straighten up and make jokes.

It was their first chance at a ‘family night’ in the new apartment and Patton had been restless. He had prepared a dinner and even convinced Logan to make a dessert for them afterward to bring home from work from the bakery. Though by ‘convince’, Patton found the number for the bakery and called it up, getting the sweetest sounding woman on the phone.

“Auntie Em’s bakery, how may I help you?”

Patton couldn’t help but smile as he heard the older woman through the phone. “Oh, hi there! My name is Patton, I was calling to see if Logan was there? It’ll just be a minute! I know he doesn’t keep his phone on him when he works.” Patton was met with silence as he waited for any sort of noise to come through the other end. “Hello?”

“Logan, dear!” Patton waited as he heard a shuffling on the other side of the phone. “Could you get me the pastry blender, please? Thank you sugar pie!”

“Are you taking an order? I can finish the dough for you if you need.” Patton covered his mouth to stop the squeal of happiness that threatened to come out. He was so sweet and hardly ever spoke with such a soft tone! Also, had he just made a pun? If you knead indeed!

“Thank you, this should only take a minute.” The slight shuffling returned before the voice returned. “Well, hope you don’t mind we talk for a bit?”

“Oh my goodness,” Patton whispered into the receiver. “You sound as sweet as frosting!”

There was a muffled laugh coming through the other end. “My Loganberry told me you were sweet but my goodness! What can I do for you, sugar? Anything I can do to help?”

“Well, I was calling to see if I couldn’t convince Logan to bring home something for dessert. We’re having our first family night at the new place and I want it to be special!”

“Oh honey, Auntie has just the thing! I think I have enough time to make a raspberry tart, you haven’t lived until you’ve tried it!” Patton heard the phone clank against a surface as the phone was placed down. “Logan! I need you to run to the corner market and get the freshest raspberries they have! I’m making a tart!” The voice sounded a bit far away before footsteps approached the phone once more. “Honey, I want one thing in exchange for this, okay? You get down here next chance you get and we have a nice chat face to face! Logan won’t show me any photos of you and I wanna see the pretty face that has him so smitten like a kitten!”

“Oh gosh of course! I’d love to! It was so cute when we were there, I’d love to come back!”

“Then it’s a deal! It was nice talking to you, Patton dear!”

Right before Patton could give his own goodbye, he heard a bang through the phone. “Patton?” He heard Logan ask, his voice at a higher pitch. “You’re on the phone with Patton?!”

“Not anymore, I was just saying goodbye!”

“Wait, Auntie no-!”

The second Patton heard the dial tone and his phone said the call had ended, he couldn’t hold back his laughter. It wasn’t long after that he received a small flurry of messages from Logan that he simply answered with hearts and smiley faces, keeping it to himself for now.

Dinner was quiet, Roman going on about how job hunting went before diverging off onto a multitude of other things. Logan kept glancing over at Patton who simply smiled back before taking another bite of his dinner.

“So, Patton,” Logan called out in a brief moment of silence Roman had left. “About a certain phone call you had made today.”

Patton looked up and smiled brightly at the other. “Yes, Loganberry?” Logan froze in place as Patton took a bite of dinner, ignoring the effect his words had on the other.

Logan took a moment before placing his utensils down. “Please, if we don’t talk about this it will keep me up all night.”

“Aww, Logan! There’s no need to be worried! I wanted to see if you could maybe bring a few cookies home from work is all!” Patton looked over to the counter where a white box sat. “I wasn’t expecting a whole big tart!”

Logan slid down into his chair a bit, forgoing his good posture for just a moment. “It’s one of my favorite things, she usually uses it to bribe me into something.”

“Well, I can’t wait to dig in and try it out! I’ll have to give her a review when I meet her later this week!” Patton ignored how Logan nearly jumped out of his chair at his words. “She probably has so many stories about how you are… what were her words? Smitten as a kitten?”

Logan buried his face in his hands and audibly groaned, ignoring the snickering coming from the other side of the dinner table.

A knock on the front door caught everyone’s attention before Patton sprang up and walked out of the kitchen. “Just a second!” Virgil leaned back in his chair, watching as Patton walked into the living room toward the front door. He looked over at the other two and listened as the front door opened. “Oh, I’m so glad you could make it! Find the place okay?”

“Yeah, sorry we’re a little early, is that okay?” At the voice, Roman jumped up from his chair and ran into the living room, stopping and smiling as Patton let in their visitors. “Hey, Roman.”

“Thomas!” Roman looked over his shoulder at their second guest. “You brought Joan with you! Fantastic!”

“Yeah, they wanted to come.” Thomas looked back and smiled at his best friend. “Said that this would be the last good chance to secretly reveal you’re all murderers.”

“Preposterous,” Logan stated as he walked in trailing behind Virgil. “If we were murderers we would have had many perfect opportunities before this one.”

“Yeah, well,” Joan shrugged. “If you’re going to kill Thomas then I want to be right there with him, to die in his arms so the last thing we do is embrace as I tell him ‘I told you so.’”

Virgil snorted out a laugh before shaking his head. “You wouldn’t even bother trying to stop us?”

“Me.” Joan pointed to themself. “Against four superpowered humans? Nah, I’m better off embracing death metaphorically and Thomas physically. Seems much more pleasant.”

“Oh, Joan!” Thomas placed his hands over his heart as he stared his friend down with loving eyes. “That’s so sweet!”

“Yeah, way to make my secret plans of murdering you all mushy, gross.” Virgil huffed with a smirk. “Guess there go my plans.”

“We were just finishing up dinner!” Patton clapped his hands together. “If you’re hungry then please join us!”

Thomas shook his head as he looked around the living room. “Nah, we just ate.”

“Shame,” Roman said before clapping his hands together. “More raspberry tart for us then!”

Joan pushed passed Thomas and headed for the kitchen. “Don’t worry! I’ll test it for poison first just to be safe.”

Thomas couldn’t help but smile as they all trailed back into the kitchen. “So, it’s nice! A little smaller than your last place but it’s comfortable.”

“I can’t wait to decorate it properly!” Patton started cleaning up the empty plates to make room for dessert. “I’ve been talking to Roman about a few ideas we had.”

“Oh, Thomas.” Logan turned toward the guests. “How has your memory been lately?”

Thomas shrugged and turned to Joan for a proper answer. “He’s doing better. His short-term memory has improved but there are still random things he will have forgotten.”

“Ahh, I see.” Logan nodded before clearing his throat. “I was hoping we could put some time aside to work on your abilities when you had a chance? I have a few ideas if you don’t mind.”

“Aww, Logan!” Thomas smiled at the man. “You don’t need to be shy! If you want to hang out you just have to ask!”

Patton reached over and wrapped an arm around Logan’s shoulder as he pulled him close. “Yeah, Lo! I think it’s great you want to hang out with Thomas more!”

Logan ducked his head as a blush quickly took over his face. Thomas gasped dramatically and placed a hand on his chest. “Logan, is that a blush I see?”

“Well, that is reasonable.” Logan glanced up and smiled at Patton. “Seeing as my boyfriend is being overly affectionate at this current time.”

“BOYFRIEND?!” Thomas shouted and stared at them with a smile. “Oh, my goodness finally! I was wondering when you two would get together!”

“You didn’t tell him?” Logan asked as he turned to Patton, earning a shake of the head as a response. “Wait, so then does he know about…?” Logan pointed over to his other roommates as he asked silently.

“Do I know about what?” Thomas looked over at Roman and Virgil, watching Virgil turn away and Roman smile with pride. “Oh, are you kidding me right now?! You all finally got together and no one told me? Now we’re the third wheel to your date night!”

“Come on, Thomas, that’s ridiculous.” Joan looked up at him as they spoke. “They were going to be the extras to our date night, now we’re just all having a date night together.”

They gathered into the living room as Patton and Two spread out some blankets and pillows on the floor. They all ate their dessert and gave compliments to Logan to give to his aunt as half the tart vanished in minutes.

Roman proclaimed that their first family night movie must be Disney before Virgil shot him down. They had watched a Disney movie a few days ago so the first movie had already been Disney.

“Well, that shouldn’t count! It wasn’t family night!” Roman huffed as he stared down at their stack of movies.

“We can watch Disney next time, Princey.” Virgil sifted through the mess looking for something, not Disney. Roman’s collection went up in flames at the last apartment so there actually weren’t too many to choose from. “There are other movies that exist.”

“How about a bet?” Virgil stopped and looked up at Roman with interest. “One line, whoever blushes harder loses.”

“Alright, just let me pick my winning movie first then.” Roman gasped in offense to Virgil’s statement before they both stood up, staring each other down.

Roman reached out for Virgil’s hand and placed it over his head. “Virgil, I would die for you.”

Virgil smiled as a light blush formed on his cheeks. “Roman… I would live for you.”

Roman blinked as the words set in and he pulled back, his cheeks becoming much more flushed than the others. “That’s not fair, you can’t just say things like that!”

“A bet is a bet, so we’re not watching Disney.”

Patton held up a case and looked down at it. “How about the Avengers?”

“First off, owned by Disney so it counts.” Virgil scrunched up his nose. “Second off, a superhero film? Us? Really?”

Patton looked down at the case and shrugged. “Nice to see people you can relate to, right?”

“That’s preposterous.” Logan reached out for the DVD case and Patton handed it over. “First off, these characters are fictional.”

“So is Sherlock and Doctor Who, what’s your point?” Roman asked.

“Do we really want to watch a movie about people with superpowers when we are people with superpowers?” Logan questioned as he held up the case.

“Hey, I don’t have powers,” Joan called out from their spot they formed on the bed of blankets.

“No, you don’t.” Thomas turned to Joan with a completely serious look in his eyes. “You’re Joan and you’re pretty super. That’s enough for me.”

“Awww,” Joan called out before turning to the others. “How about we watch it and mock how inaccurate they portray how difficult it is to use powers?”

“Oh, my gosh, Spiderman did just a good job at what can we watch that next?” Roman reached over and picked up the movie in question. He looked up and saw Virgil staring at him. “What?”

“How did I win the bet and yet we are still watching Disney?”

“Umm, because I’m awesome?” Roman was shoved back and fell to the floor. “Oh, my heart! You wound me!”

“Quiet and go make me popcorn,” Virgil smirked as he set up the tv for their movie night.

“Popcorn, extra salty just like you?” Roman turned and got up off of the floor. “I’ll be back in but a moment!”

“Oh gosh, why am I dating him?” Virgil muttered to himself, but everyone saw the smile he couldn’t shake off.

Taglist: @cyberpunkjinx @phlying-squirrel @equipodeleo @ace-anx @tisithelittleelephant @sanderslays @fandomsofrandom @wandering-wondering-aimlessly @thestoryofme13 @herequeerandverytired @too-random-for-me @midknight-mania @tatergator27 @sleepyssnail @dragonsight9 General Taglist: @tatergator27 @helloisthisusernametaken @entitydark @lightningbug04 @moonstonefox12 @rampantlesbian @echomist13 Chapter 5>>

#sanders sides #sanders sides au #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfic #slice of life au #superpower au #superhero au #ts logan #ts patton #ts roman #ts virgil #ts thomas #ts joan #practicality fic #practicality 2 #celery writes

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frederator-studios · 7 years ago

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Meet Gabe Janisz, creator of “Tyler & Co.”

Nostalgia time: I met Gabe in my second week at Frederator. I knew a Gabe was coming in to pitch, and when I went out to see if he’d arrived, I encountered a guy in pajama pants in our lobby. Now, animation is a lax industry in terms of work attire, but the notion of pitching a TV show in one’s PJs was beyond the reaches of my conception; I am too uncool. So my immediate thought was that he was a random dude who’d wandered in off the street - not that he was the guy pitching, let alone already a creator with us, of the GO! Cartoon “Tyler & Co.” No doubt he heard the question mark in my greeting of “Gaaabe?,” but he didn’t let on, because as I’ve mentioned, Gabe is cooler than me. He wears PJs to job interviews and then gets the job. He’s cooler than all of us. “Tyler & Co.” well demonstrates this, but here’s an interview with him for further proof.

Walk us down memory lane. How did you decide to make cartoons?

I guess… I don’t know if I ever decided. I headed down this road because I used to make games a lot as a kid, because that’s what my older brother and dad do.

Whaaat what’d they work on?

My dad worked on the RoboCop 2 game. My brother still works in games; he was on “Where’s My Water,” that mobile game that blew up a couple years back. The thing with me making games was, I’d spend so long on the intro cinematics and character animations, that I’d run out of steam by the time I had to think about the actual mechanics and programming. So I finally decided to focus on the stuff I actually liked, and that interests me, and that’s story and character.

Where did that interest lead you?

Well, I grew up in Buttcrack, Colorado. There weren’t any real art programs or teachers who could show me the ropes, so I had to go it alone for a long time - not the best route. But I did draw a lot of comics. It wasn’t until I started visiting colleges that someone recommended life drawing, so I took a class on it at a local community college at the end of high school. That’s when my art started improving.

What’d you do after high school?

I went to SCAD for comics and animation. At first, I was in all of these kinda useless foundation classes. So I actually went to the chair, showed him my portfolio and he was like “Well, if you think you can handle it…” and exempted me from them. The next semester was one of the hardest, maybe the hardest, of my life. I was in classes that I wasn’t prepared for, especially this one storyboarding course. Maybe the foundation classes would have prepared me, maybe not - point is, I was totally unprepared to perform at the level expected, and felt unable to make the kind of stuff I was expected to make. I was up until 8am every night. I got really close to quitting animation altogether.

Wow, that’s hectic. What changed?

After that I was in a paper animation class that dragged me out of the pit. I made some good friends who helped me improve. And my paper animation professor liked me and actually wanted me to succeed. I got more confident in my abilities. I’d always seen things in my head that I couldn’t translate onto paper, and I finally could. And I did some cool things like studying abroad in France for a semester. That was amazing because comics there are considered one of the ��Great Arts’—they seriously respect them. Instead of flimsy paper copies, everything was hardbound and gorgeous. They have a huge range of art styles, but they all feel so unashamed, whereas stuff made in the US feels like it’s constantly apologizing to you for being a comic. I’d been applying to CalArts every year since senior year of high school - it took 3 years, 3 applications before I got in. But I was really glad to have spent time at SCAD majoring in comics, because as much as I love animation, I get so pumped about comics. It was great to do both.

Then you entered the fabled gates of CalArts - and what’d you discover?

A lot of great friends. Who also happened to be great artists I could collaborate with on projects. I was in Character Animation, and because CalArts is so picky, you’re surrounded by people you can learn from, with all different tastes and ways of doing things.

Do you seek a studio gig - or how bout - what do you most want to do with your life?

Once online a stranger told me "your art is like an awkward hug" and I've kind of tried to run with that. If I can make at least one person feel a little less lonely, then I feel like I'm doing a good thing. I’d work at a studio if it were the right project, but mostly I want to be an independent comic maker and cartoonist. As long as I’ve got stuff in the pipeline, I’ll be happy. I was hospitalized a lot as a kid (and adult) and it kinda... broke me in a lotta ways, so it’s nice that me and Frederator found each other.

How did you come to pitch to the GO! Cartoons series?

Eric (Homan, our VP Development) came to CalArts to speak and my professor introduced us. He invited me to come by Frederator and check out the place. And then when I came by he was like, “You don’t have anything to pitch?” And I was like, “No, you said I was just checking out the place.” But I plugged in my flashdrive and just looked for the first thing that was around 5 minutes I could find and showed it to him. It was my first year CalArts film about a bunch of kids making bombs. And he liked it, so we started developing it, and it actually got all the way to the stage of pitching to Sony Animation. But the Sony people definitely couldn’t get behind the bombs stuff, but they liked me I guess. So they greenlit me but not the bombs. So Eric had me go back and make something new. I’d been doing stuff with Tyler for years so I pulled him out and figured out a new idea.

Where did the idea for Tyler come from?

Well in high school, I had Crohn’s disease, so I had the right to leave class whenever. I’d just up and go wander, hang out with the janitors. And one of them loved the Muppets a lot. He hung little pictures of them all over the school and I actually never noticed them until he mentioned it. But they were everywhere. So I started watching Sesame Street and got into that aesthetic, and admired the puppeteers. I’d also had a falling out with my high school friends, which was part of why I was wandering around so much. I started devoting more time to close friends in Canada that I’d met online.

Did you meet them through gaming?

Yeah, gaming and game message boards. It was a found family. I don’t have a large family, I don’t really have that foundation to fall back on. So finding kinship online was huge for me in a time of isolation. And watching a lot of the Muppets.

Did the Muppets inspire those puppet versions of Tyler and Lil G from the title cards?

Yeah - Tyler and Lil G are actual puppets.

(At this point Gabe pulls puppet Tyler and puppet Lil G from a mysterious red duffel bag that’s been on the floor. I didn’t know what it held, but I didn’t expect puppets. Ecstatic, I try Tyler on)

Puppets are in a lot of what I do, but not everything. I’ve made YouTube videos with them too - my roommate is really good at performing with them. So the characters were designed to look like puppets.

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If Tyler & co. got a full series, would the puppets be in it?

Yeah, there'd be puppet cutaways. There’s an old Super Mario Bros show - it’s a really bad show, but funny - and they had intros and outros with live action actors playing Mario and Luigi on like a trash covered set. They’d do skits. So that makes me want to cap off Tyler episodes with puppet skits.

So Tyler came first, then how did the other characters come about - like Lil G?

Lil G is a younger, innocent guy that Tyler sees a lot of himself in. He feels like he has this chance to sculpt this younger dude, and kind of save him. He doesn’t want Lil G to screw up his life like he did.

How did Tyler screw up his life?

So Tyler used to be a child star in a show like Sesame Street. But his camera operators, the crew were super abusive to him, in order to get him to perform for the camera how they wanted. Pushed him into traffic, manipulated him, did really messed up stuff. They once strapped cursed swords onto his hands while he slept, and he involuntarily butchered a bunch of people while trying to find help. He got acquitted in trial and got a restraining order against them. But now he’s just trying to pick up the pieces, and his roommates are a huge part of that. The logline has been, “Tyler, why can’t you see that if you’ve got friends like these, you’ll be fine?”

Whose house is it that they’re living in? And what’s the dynamic among these roommates?

Rex’s - he inherited it from his grandma when she passed. Rex and Moe have a shared interest in ghost hunting. There’s another roommate, Rocko, who’s a retired boxing robot. There’s Marky Mouse, he hangs out, doesn’t hurt nobody. Lil G is a nuisance to them—he’s enamored with Tyler because Tyler’s the first person he’s met from out of state. So he associates Tyler with his dream of getting out of the town.

Where does this take place?

It’s set in the River Rouge area, by Detroit, Michigan. It’s where my dad grew up and he’s told me horror stories. Once in school, the river’s surface actually caught on fire. So they could see from the school windows that the river was in flames, burning oil on water. School wasn’t even cancelled. It’s a super heavily polluted river.

Have you ever visited there?

No, thank God.

So why does Tyler WANT to be Mayor of Cerealtown? Why is that of value?

Because they’re kinda losers, and that’s the kind of thing that’s important to them. These guys don’t really have jobs. The house was bequeathed to them. Moe does some tech repair, and he and Rex do freelance ghost hunting. Tyler’s big project is repairing a car, which’ll be his and Lil G’s way to get out of town. That’d be a big thrust of the show’s plot if it got a series.

Where do they want to go?

Anywhere else.

Let’s talk about the music in this, cause it’s great. How’d it come about?

All the music was done by Bo-en, and yeah, he did an awesome job. He composes music for games a lot, which is how I found him. He has this unique, glitchy style. I emailed him out of the blue, not even expecting a response. But he got back to me and immediately sent over a test composition. That was good because he was actually excited about the project. Overall, I went with everything that he chose.

Which cartoons inspire you most?

I’m more of an anime fan, usually. I’m a big Soul Eater fan - it’s stupid in the most creative ways, like I love the moon and sun up there gnashing their teeth and laughing when there’s a heavy emotional scene happening below them. FLCL and Gurren Lagann. Masaaki Yuasa is a big guy for a lot of people right now: his shows Kemonozume, Kaiba, and Tatami Galaxy inspire me, even if they all turn into trainwrecks by the end. That happens to a lot of stuff I like. My favorite scene in animation is from Kaiba; it has a lot of quick worldbuilding and weighty animation that i really like and tried to replicate in “Tyler” a bit. But I get a lot of inspiration from outside of animation too. Games, music.

Let’s hear about those influences, from games, comics, music, everything else?

One game is “Cave Story”, it’s incredible: it was made by a Japanese dude -- all by himself! I think that the more you can do on your own, the more your original soul and vision shine through. The character designs in the “Professor Layton” games are also pretty incredible, like retro anime with a european flair. Those two games are very different, but they both tell impactful stories!

I was all about Mike Mignola's Hellboy comics for a long time; they ended recently. I probably steal a lot of how I draw slouchy characters from him. Hellboy is probably my favorite character design ever, for a lot of reasons: the asymmetry, his big arm, the sanded down horns... just looking at him tells a story, and it's crazy rare to see a character design get that thoughtful. I like Soul Eater for a lot of the same reasons. Just about my favorite written comic is King City by Brandon Graham, which is all over the place but manages to stay very human at its core. Osamu Tezuka, Naoki Urusawa, Katsuhiro Otomo, Inio Asano, Enrique Fernandez.... I get too pumped talking about comics!!

(Moonkiller, a dope comic and to-be short film)

My favorite bands are probably Gorillaz and Passion Pit, and i think a lot about telling stories that feel like their music feels. I guess it’s mostly about hanging onto the feeling that the music gives you and drawing with that, like translating a language? I do my best work when I can already *see* a show in my head before i draw it. When I made Bombadiers, my old Frederator pitch, i was thinking of this song Beck made for a videogame. They don't like, sync up perfect, but they still ~feel~ the same to me. Beck's composing work in films like Scott Pilgrim and Nacho Libre is really great! I’ve also been into The Postal Service recently because a lot of their music sounds... backwards, almost, and it’s interesting to me. Baths is another cool guy who I almost worked with on Tyler; his music can sound very otherworldly.

On a whole other note: why did they put snakes in the attic?

They put them up there to clear out another infestation. It might have been rats, might have been gorillas… I don’t remember. But they didn’t expect the snakes to breed so fast. They put the rats or gorillas up there too. So it’s really been a series of bad decisions.

Why snakes thoo?

Well once, I caught a baby rattlesnake with a plastic bottle in the Lodge. It wasn’t until I let it go that we realized it was a rattler - and the baby ones are actually the most lethal, because they can’t control how much venom they release when they bite.

What’s the Lodge?

Oh, so at CalArts, you’re assigned a cubicle. And there are two buildings with cubicles, the Palace and the Lodge. The Palace is a lot nicer, but the Lodge is more fun, fewer restrictions. My friend Justin and I - he was the board artist on “Tyler”, and a character designer on Rick and Morty - we built a shanty town out of cardboard boxes in the Lodge. It was our cardboard fortress. And there was one student who was in charge of keeping the other students in line, and he ordered us to take it down. And as we felt that was a violation of our liberties, we started a bulletin called the Lodge Gazette, which we posted around campus to air our grievances and report important Lodge news. I still write for it, when I can.

Tell us about your friendship with Jonni Phillips, which may be Frederator’s #1 most adorable friendship story?

I met Jonni through “Rachel” and offered to carpool with her to Frederator, and we became friends. We have a lot in common! We both share a sort of fatigue over mainstream animation in the west and east, and it was helpful for us to vent about these toxic animation communities, like, realizing that we're not going crazy, haha. I make these comics about us in hell together.

She also convinced me to pitch Grandpa 2.0 to Nickelodeon, which was it’s own whole can of worms.

(Pls click that link for the Grandpa 2.0 experience, you will not regret it)

Okay, gonna need the whole Grandpa 2.0 story please, stat.

So Jonni DOUBLE dares me to submit it to Nick’s shorts program because "They'll make anything!!" so I pretty much have to do it. I just submit the website along with the description, "I based this pitch off my own life in which i replaced my grandpa with a robot” and turned it in. First thing in the morning I get a response from them: "When can you come in and pitch the boards???" Boards!!! There were no boards!!! So Justin and I spent the weekend cranking out these rushed but actually pretty funny storyboards for an episode of Grandpa 2.0. But I was suuuper unhealthy at the time, literally bleeding to death (42% of the blood an adult male should've had) and I straight up blacked out and missed my pitch date. We rescheduled, which is cool, but now I’ve gotta fight the 'unreliable' reputation that the first meeting got me. So I start by rifling through flash drives for 10 minutes. The files are actually in the folder "Grandpa 2.0". The last place I'd ever look!! While I'm pitching I get to a segment Justin drew at such low opacity that it’s straight up invisible on the projector screen. And I just have to describe to them whats going on. "IMAGINE if you will, a high tech display screen..." and this other part where grandpa has a guitar solo, Justin copy pasted the animation, like, an obscene amount of times, so even if I held down on the keyboard it still took minutes to chew through them. He wanted me to make the guitar noises. After the pitch was over they were like, "What’s the emotional connection between the boys and grandpa?" and im just like "I dunno.. fear??" And then way later i got an email saying that they were "blown away by how professional the pitch was..." (and I'm like um were you guys in the same room??) "...but the content just wasn't right for Nickelodeon”. That part almost makes me think they actually noticed all the 9/11 jokes and stuff... So that’s how the pitch went, and for now Grandpa 2.0 sleeps, unless I can convince Eric to swing it by Netflix or something, hahaha.

What are you working on now?

I’ve always got a lot of projects going. An animated feature idea, Token Town. And Moonkiller, a comic I’ve been working on that I want to turn into a short. Paper Desperado is a game I’m making - my friend is coding it. We’re fans of the old Paper Mario games, so we’re trying to draw from those - not copying, more like figuring out how they made everything and trying to build off of those techniques. I’m also working on a radio play called Spookwood, about a drug that turns you into a ghost. It’s tough because I’m so used to describing stuff visually, and now I have to get everything across with just words.

When it turns you into a ghost, do you stay a ghost or turn back?

No, you stay a ghost.

So the drug kills you?

Yeah, it kills you, and then you’re a ghost.

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Thus concludes our interview with Gabe Janisz! Thanks for taking the time Gabe, it’s always good talking with you. Sure we’ll be working together again in no time!

- Cooper

#The Frederator Interview #Frederator Studios #GO! Cartoons #cartoon hangover #tyler & co #cartoon #animation #cool art #comics #SCAD #CalArts #puppets

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cecilspeaks · 7 years ago

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122 - A Story of Love and Horror, part 2: “Spire”

Do you hear that sweet melody? That sweet melody on the breeze? No one else hears that sweet melody, That sweet melody on the breeze.

Welcome to Night Vale.

Frances did her best to pretend that she had imagined what she had seen that night in the house of Nazr al-Mujaheed. When Barks Ennui, the cartoon spokesdog for the Sheriff’s Secret Police, had come out of the television and told her that she does not belong, and that they were both doomed. This obviously wasn’t an easy thing to forget, but people forget difficult things every day. We are all of us carrying around difficult things like cannon balls rolling, unstable in our heads, occasionally throwing us off balance when they shift too much to one side. But mostly, just slowing us down while we pretend nothing is wrong.

She and Nazr continued to see each other. He let people know at school, and the faculty and administration were happy for him. Everyone felt that he was always too consumed by high school football. Especially Principal Fryman, who grumbled to himself that the team didn’t even have a good record to show for all of that obsession.

Nazr took Frances to a faculty after school drinks meet-up, the first one he had ever gone to, because he always spent his evenings prepping for that week’s practice, studying game film, drawing up defensive schemes, and slithering around his living room on his belly while hissing like a snake.

Frances, in turn, took him to her monthly book club meet-up. This month’s book had been Irvine Welsh’s “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”, the controversial follow-up to his classic novel ��Trainspotting”. Everyone agreed that it wasn’t nearly as good as the original, since it only shared a couple of the main characters. They also agreed that Frances’ relationship was having a real effect on her. “You hardly seem like the same person,” said Jeremy, who had liked Frances before and was jealous that she might change and grow as a person, outside of his influence. Jeremy was, all in all, being a real shit.

Everyone else agreed that she seemed to be happier and more open to the world than before she had started dating. Frances quietly wondered if changing so quickly, just because you were eating meals with and sometimes sleeping with someone, was a good or bad or neutral thing. She thought that change was hardly ever neutral.

Through all of this, she pretended that Barks Ennui, the cartoon dog, did not appear to her most evenings in her home. But he did. He would crawl out of her television, even if she was watching a channel his commercials didn’t play on, or even if the television was off. The proportions of his body, lovably clumsy interview wo dimensions, seemed a horrifying mistake of nature in three dimensions. And his features were warped and blurred, as though seen through static.

“You don’t belong together,” Barks Ennui said in a goofy cartoon voice that occasionally veered dizzyingly into other pitches. Sometimes a child’s giggle, or a bassy growl for a few seconds before sliding back to the middle. She would hide under her covers, and she would hear from within the hot dark of her blanket, his familiar cartoon voice say: “There is a price that must be payed!” And she would scream and scream and then realize she was alone. And then she would choose to pretend that none of this had happened.

Nazr did not see Barks Ennui. But he was not without his own troubles. He would find, some evenings, that when he looked in the mirror, there were two of him. One of him sitting behind the other. He would stand and the second reflection would stand too. It would follow all of his movements from behind is primary reflection. This went on for days. Then one night, he looked in the mirror and there was only one of him. He sighed, feeling some relief to the tension that had been with him so long as to become his new normal. And that is when, in the mirror, his second reflection into the room, followed by Frances Donaldson.

Nazr whirled. The room he was in was empty. He looked back in the mirror. There was his own face, terrified, and behind that on the bed, there was himself again with Frances. The two of them were kissing passionately. He watched himself kiss, and then his reflection and the Frances in the mirror stopped watching and looked up at him with startled faces. They stayed frozen that way, and he stayed frozen too. After several moments, the mirror couple smiled. Their smiles got wider and wider, and then they were both dead, blood covered and sprawling at irregular angles. And then – they were alive again and smiling at him.

He shouted and stumbled back form the mirror. From them on, he too to covering his mirrors, and that worked for a few days. But then one day, he came home to find himself in his bedroom, already sitting in front of the covered bedroom mirror. The him that was in his bedroom looked up at him who had just entered, with wide eyes and a yawning mouth and Nazr, who believed himself to be the real Nazr, turned and walked out of his house. He checked into a motel and decided to stay there for a while.

Finally the strain broke on Nazr and Frances. At Applebee’s over lunch, she started crying, and he was so surprised that he started crying. And they were crying at each other and didn’t know why the other was crying. And she said, “This is going to sound crazy”, and he said, “You’re not going to believe me.” And then they told each other, and it didn’t sound crazy, and she believed him.

“What does it mean?” she said. “Why are we being punished just because we’re finally seeing someone?” “That’s a good question,” said Barks Ennui. He was sitting in the booth next to them. They both yelled in surprise, and the other people in the restaurant looked over with a mix of confusion and annoyance. None of them could see Barks, and so they assumed the couple must have accidentally ordered the electrolysis nachos appetizer.

“Who are you?” asked Nazr. “Me?” said Barks, his animation dog face stretching and compressing in mesmerizingly horrifying ways. “I’m a construct!” he said, “in order to allow communication”. “Communication with who?” said Frances. “I represent the Brown Stone Spire,” said Barks. The Brown Stone Spire was a strange monument at the edge of town. It offered great gifts in exchange for even greater sacrifices. It was extremely dangerous, and neither of them had ever heard of it trying to communicate with anyone. Barks continued: “Everything’s gone strange since you started dating. You know what I’m talking about?” “Maybe,” Nazr said, thinking of the mirrors in his home. “Maybe?” repeated Barks mildly. “Maybe it will get even stranger. Maybe your conditions will continue to deteriorate.” “What do you mean deteriorate?” she said. “We’re two people dating, what’s wrong with that?” “This town is a point where many universes meet,” said Barks. He was on the other side of the table, next to Frances now. “Recently those universes collapse into each other. When the mess was finally sorted out, not everyone ended up in the right universe.” “It’s me,” said Nazr, “That explains it. The other me in my house, plus my tongue is like two feet long and that doesn’t seem right. I don’t belong in this universe.” “No,” said Barks. “It’s Frances. She doesn’t belong here. Frances, you switched places during the collapse with the Frances of this world, and you are coming into contact with a person from a different universe, which has an exceptionally detrimental effect on reality. I believe,” he said to Nazr, “you were saying something about reflections in your house?”

And now, a look at traffic.

The cosmology of the universe is thus. First, there is the sphere. The indications of the sphere are warmth and bristle. The colors of the sphere are blue and yellow. Then, there is the cube. The indications of the cube are touch and lift. The colors of the cube are red and white. Then, there is the expansive plane. The indications of the expansive plane are speed and shadow. The colors of the expansive plane are myriad. And finally, there is the outward fade. The indications of the outward fade are a ringing bell and a rush of water. The colors of the outward fade are none. This has been traffic.

And now a word from our sponsors. Mute children perched atop strange formations on desert plateaus. Our eyes gaze toward a horizon that will never change. There is no movement here, no sun, but there is light. No darkness, but there is night. We do not need to eat, but we are hungry. We have no way to drink, but we are thirsty. We have nothing to sell you. Remember us. This has been a word from our sponsors.

Frances couldn’t believe it. or she could, but she resolutely chose not to. Nazr thought again and again of the other him and the other her, lying dead on his bed and then smiling. And then dead again. It was true that something was horribly wrong. Perhaps they didn’t belong together. Perhaps they didn’t belong together so much that the universe itself was collapsing around the relationship.

It wasn’t fair. Didn’t both of them deserve happiness?

Cecil here. I’ll go ahead and answer that. They did! But what a person receives and what they deserve is only ever tangentially and coincidentally related.

They decided they should go to the Brown Stone Spire. It had offered to help them. They should at least hear out what it was asking for in return.

Nazr drove them. Cars stop working within a few hundred feet of the spire, as the spire prefers humans to approach on foot. Actually, it prefers humans to approach on their bellies, but it takes humble walking as a compromise. The closest parking lot is the Radio Shack, but of course that one is always full of customers, and so they parked at the Wendy’s and walked.

Her foot started bothering her, but she didn’t know if it was actually bothering her or if she was just afraid of what the Brown Stone Spire would say.

The Brown Stone Spire hummed. They fell to their knees before it. “Help us!” said Nazr. “We just want to be together,” Frances said. “I don’t know if we belong together, but we make each other happy. Isn’t that something worthwhile? Don’t we get at least that?” The Brown Stone Spire heard. It hummed. It already knew the problem and it already knew the solution. And it already knew the price. It told these humans all three by implanting the thoughts directly in their brains.

Frances threw up. Nazr wept. There was a solution, but the price was unthinkable. It was impossible, it was inhuman. Of course, the Spire isn’t human nor possible nor even thinkable.

They walked back to the car in silence. And now, The weather.

[“Fire Drills” by Dessa]

That evening, they sat in Frances Donaldson’s living room and thought about what to do. “Impossible,” she said. “Unthinkable,” he said. “Then we agree?” she said. “Of course we agree,” he said. “What else is there?” he said. “We’re not monsters,” he said. “Right,” she said. “I want to show you something,” said Barks Ennui. He was on the TV screen so close that whatever backdrop was invisible, just his exaggerated snout and his wild eyes. “Come here!” Both of them knew for certain they would refuse, and both stepped forward obediently. “In here!” said Barks. “Into the TV!” Frances put her hand on the screen and felt nothing. It was a hollow frame. She put her hand through the frame. Her hand felt like her hand, no different than it had a moment before. She leaned down and put her torso in, and she felt a pull, like gravity. And she fell downwards through the TV screen.

She was in her living room again. It looked very much like her living room, although a few details were different. The framed poster from the International Musée (du Chats) [0:19:33] in Paris was now from the Museo Internacional (de los Gatos) in Mexico City. The taxidermy deer foot penholder on the mantle was now a taxidermy boar’s foot penholder.

Nazr tumbled in next to her. “Oh, cool penholder,” he said. Frances took his hand and helped him up. They looked around, and then out the front window. Frances was outside working in a garden. A different Frances, in the garden being watched by the first Frances in the living room. “The Frances from your universe, Nazr,” said Barks. His three-dimensional form was enormous this time, taking up the living room from floor to ceiling, although he displaced nothing in it, and Frances and Nazr had plenty of room to stand. “She ended up in this universe and the Frances from this universe, that’s you Frances, ended up in hers, a silly mix-up. But these things do need to be set right, or else both of you will slip further and further into the gap between universes, until neither of you exist anymore!”

Frances couldn’t take her eyes off herself in the garden. “Try to stay together,” said Barks, “and you both will cease to exist!” The Frances in the garden waved to Jackie Fierro, who was biking past. A car drove by. In it was Dana Cardinal and her brother. They waved, too. “Enough!” said Barks, grabbing them and pulling them upward. They were all back in the couch in Frances’ living room, or the living room she had thought was hers. There was only one Frances here. “You know the price,” said Barks. He crawled backwards into the TV, staring intently with his droopy animated eyes. “There are only two ways forward. The first is that this Frances returns to her correct universe, and you two never see each other again. The other would allow the two of you to live as long and as happy as anyone can together. It would be simple, but in order for that to happen, the Spire will destroy the other universe and every person who lives within it. That Frances and every other person in that world will cease to exist, but then you would be able to flourish in this universe.”

He was fully back onto the screen, a two-dimensional cartoon dog in a none yellow cartoon backdrop. But his eyes were still huge, like they were inches away. “You don’t have long to decide!” He gave a silly laugh, the kind he did at the end of his appearance on children’s shows. The laugh that made children laugh back at how silly it was. But this silly laugh did not end. For several minutes, Nazr and Frances stared at him, and he looked back, laughing.

Stay tuned next for decision to be made.

Good night, Night Vale, Good night.

Today’s proverb: I’m going to give you a piece of my mind. It’s in this clay jar. Please keep it in a cool, dark place and away from cats.

#welcome to night vale #wtnv #wtnv transripts #episode 122 #a story of love and horror #a story of love and horror part 2: spire

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ventingblacklist · 8 years ago

Text

3x13 Alistair Pitt

“I bought this flat four years ago. So that some day I could bring you here...to the scene of your crime.”

Hans Eriksson sees Rafael Vacarro in a restaurant and the natural thing to do is fire immediately. But Rafael wins the gunfight. Hans’ family is all upset about it, ready to declare war. Pitt to the ... rescue?

Flashback to Paris. It doesn’t say it’s a flashback though and the first time I saw it I was very confused.

I love the way she says his name.

Josephine is preoccupied with something. She clearly has her pending nuptials on her mind. Maybe was hesitant about this date because of that development. ‘You want to cancel a huge business deal to come have a date with me? Okay, but just so you know, I’m getting married.’

Red notices her agitation. Grabs hold of her flying fingers.

Josephine is sitting there, in love with this man, listening to him talk about canceling enormous and probably lucrative trips to bring her tiny glass giraffes, and knowing she can’t be with him.

Red: What is it? Josephine: I’m getting married. Red: Do you love him? Josephine: I love you.

Heartbreaking and perfect.

I wonder about so much. Whether Red knew the situation at this point, the kind of man she’s marrying. My guess would be no if he’s asking if she loves him. But then why does he seem to understand that she’s going to marry this guy whether she loves him or not? Red definitely knows by the second flashback we see.

These two have been a thing for awhile. I assume nothing terribly serious, but they know each other. They’ve spent enough time together for her to fall in love with him. And yet there’s a giddiness about him like this is a new relationship. Even months after this.

Liz is meeting with the lady at the adoption agency. The same lady who was helping her and Tom adopt at the start of the series. Liz is concerned that her baggage will be a problem with finding a family. She wants an open adoption so she can see the kid. The lady mentions that Tom has to sign off on it too. Liz is clearly a little upset that Tom isn’t there.

“This is a decision that we have to make together...he would be here if he didn’t have to be away for work right now.”

I just found this interesting because it kind of mirrors the season one thing where Tom went to the adoption agency and Liz was off at work.

“If we are gonna go through with this, you gotta do it with me.”

Tom’s “work” in this case is a meeting with Gina.

So this is interesting. Because this is confirmation that Jacob and Gina were an item. Confirmation we haven’t had since the allegation by Red in 1x6: “She’s Tom’s lover.”

Gina immediately slams him into the wall. I like Gina.

Gina: Why are you doing this? Tom: ‘Hey, Jacob. How you doing? It was nice to hear from you, too.’ Gina: It wasn’t nice hearing from you, and I want to know why you’re doing it– the real reason.

Liz comes back from the adoption agency to find that Red has made himself at home.

“I see your new home is a work in progress. What colors are you considering?”

I feel like 85% of their problems would be solved if Red would just knock.

"You know, I usually like people to enter my apartment after I’m in it.”

Red: Have you ever heard of the Promnestria? Liz: No, is he here, too?

Red begins to describe the work of the Promnestria. Liz has the adoption on her mind.

Liz: My mother, was she still alive when I was placed with Sam?

Red: Yes. Liz: Why did she do it?

Red sidesteps that question by talking about the Promnestria again. He says he let himself in because the situation is urgent. This is his chance to nab Pitt.

Liz is not to be deterred. She asks him how her mother died. He doesn’t answer that either.

Liz briefs the task force on the situation. Two rival families, once partners, had a falling out over a hijacked shipment.

Samar swoops in on Liz after the briefing and says she’s throwing her a baby shower. Liz tries to discourage it, but never gets so far as “I’m adopting the kid out, so never mind.” Although, if it’s an open adoption she’s going for, I don’t see why she couldn’t still have a shower.

Samar: You are going to go to swag4mommy.com and hunt for some cute onesies. Liz: swag4mommy.com? Who are you? Samar: A Jewish mother. Part of my Mossad training.

I assume this was for cover purposes. Or she’s joking? I can’t quite tell. Liz doesn’t quite know what to make of it either.

Samar keeps trying to be Liz’s friend and it never quite works out.

Sony snapped up swag4mommy. It leads to their website. They should totally have that domain point to a page where they sell blacklist-themed onesies.

So this Pitt dude named one of his dogs “Marilyn.”

Jacob is meeting Gina in New York City. He also met the Major in season two in New York City. The Major picked him up in New York City. I’m guessing St. Regis is in New York City.

“That’s why you want in on this? For her? Your phony wife?...The mark you dumped me for?...You expect me to hire you so you and the woman who sent me to prison can live happily ever after in the south of France?”

“Gee, let me call the girl I dumped to see if she can help with the girl I knocked up.”

lol Gina doesn’t play. She’s pissed. As far as I know, the last Gina had to do with Tom was when she was being carted off to prison partly for a crime they both committed so he could keep playing house with his mark. Now he calls her up because he wants money to support the spawn of their unholy union. I mean, that’s like... no wonder she slammed him into the wall.

Gina is in a position to hire him for ops.

Gina says the Major has been looking for Tom since he left him for dead with the Germans.

This is your friendly reminder that the Germans were not after Tom when he showed up at Liz’s doorstep. And he left the Major for dead with them, apparently, so as far as he knew the Major wasn’t a threat either. So that whole thing about the Germans and his handler wanting him dead? Either Tom was canonically lying to Liz there, or the writers have such bad memory problems they didn’t recall that the Germans had let Tom go in exchange for information in the previous episode.

Also, the Major is absolutely terrible at finding things. How could he not find Jacob? He’s been living in the exact same city hanging out with the exact same people going under the exact same alias. For pete’s sake, Liz would be the first place you’d look. And there you’d find him. So, as a tracker, the Major sucks.

I wonder though if it was Gina on the other end of the line with the Major when he said he wanted Jacob Phelps found. If so, she would have sabotaged the search. But I can’t see Gina being relegated to tracker status. idk

Also, I don’t think Gina works for the Major full time. In season one, she seems to have her own gig as a corporate terrorist. She does ops for him sometimes maybe. Maybe she started out as his operative and branched out. She did have a scar box of her own similar to Tom’s. But we don’t know what organization or entity that mark traces back to. Also, I’m not sure if it was hers for real or was part of the set up. If you’re interested in going down that rabbit hole, go here.

There’s not much of a doubt in my mind that Tom was with Gina on and off during his relationship with Liz. Gina at the end of 1x6 looks like someone has kicked her in the stomach repeatedly and ripped her heart out. She refuses to even look at Liz until Liz gets right in her face. And then when it’s over, she looks at the wall like she just wants these people to leave so she can stare off into space and listen to sad music.

It’s not something I really noticed when I first watched it because at that point we weren’t supposed to be sure if Tom was good or bad. But now, with everything we know? Yeah. Gina took the fall for him. And she’s sitting there moping about the fact that she’s about to go to jail for something he did (or they did together) while he goes home at the end of the night with his mark.

Gina loved Jacob.

I ship it. He’s screwed up; she’s screwed up. They’re on the same level.

I think the writers were trying to make the point that Tom is “family man” now. That when faced with Gina, his past, he turns her down and is only doing this op for Liz. But all they ended up doing was piquing my interest in Jacob/Gina. When he’s with her, it’s like he’s himself. There’s no “Teacher Tom” veneer. There’s the guy who gets off on the adrenaline. They’ll just never convince me of this Tom Keen thing. I’m sure they’ll keep trying, but Jacob feels real. Tom doesn’t. That doesn’t mean that I think Jacob is a complete monster. I just don’t buy him as the domesticated puppy dog he is with Liz.

These two seem to have been serious, and Jacob was serious about her. In another ep Gina says she “should have said yes, that night in Budapest.” The logical conclusion one comes to is that Jacob asked her to marry him. And she said no. Now wishes she hadn’t. I wish she hadn’t too. These two as a married couple? Look out, world.

I wonder when this was. He dumped her at some point “for his mark.” I don’t think this was until after Tom was with Liz.

There’s so much nuance in Gina, the way she reacts to him. She’s still not over him. Not by a long shot.

Wow. That was a very long detour.

Meanwhile, back in the episode, Jacob walks out and Gina catches up to him. Offers him a spot on the diamond-stealing team.

Samar and Ressler talk to a DEA guy, trying to get him to hand over his surveillance of these two drug-trafficking families. He wants to know where they got their info. They won’t say. He’s mad. He gets a call that the two family heads are going to meet, so he’ll work with the FBI on this for now.

He’ll die later. But they make him a real dick, so you’re okay with it.

The team stakes out the meeting.

Pitt’s pitch:

“Your organizations both value family. It’s your greatest strength and the source of your greatest friction. So, remove the friction. Stop the bloodshed by joining the bloodlines....

“You, like all my clients, must swear to uphold and enforce not only this merger, but all mergers brokered with my assistance. Here is my client list. They are powerful and well-armed. Should either of you betray the other, they will destroy your families.”

So Pitt not only arranges the marriage, but he enlists all his clients into sort of an army of enforcers for any other mergers. So if these guys agree to this and then Pitt makes another deal tomorrow and one of the parties in that next deal reneges, then these two guys here will help to kill everyone involved in the next deal.

Kind of like the Courier. If one person goes sour, he kills both.

If you screw this guy over, you’re not only going up against the wrath of the rival family, but the resources of every other family that Pitt has ever had dealings with.

Jacob and Gina continue discussing the diamond job. Gina’s crew is planning a hit on a jewelry joint, Reinder-De Groot. They’ve already stolen half a million from the showroom floor. But Gina wants into the back where the good stuff is.

Tom: Why would you antagonize a psychopath for $500,000? Gina: To get his attention.

Second flashback. He’s on another date with Josephine in the same restaurant. More than six months have passed.

They’re very touchy. Josephine is soaking him up.

He notices the bruise on her wrist.

“I can protect you. All you need to do is ask.”

“You know what I need? I need you to take me to Amorino. Buy me a stracciatella. And then maybe I’ll give you a bite.”

He swallows the lump in his throat.

Josephine’s family is under the same kind of contract with “the Promnestria.” If she reneges on the deal, her whole family dies.

Red wakes up from his memory. He’s meeting Liz at Rogelio’s to try and track Pitt down. Liz brings a photo she snapped of Pitt during his meeting with the heads of the families.

“The FBI admitted to spending, what, a billion dollars in facial-recognition software? Which means they spent at least $3 billion. Honestly, if I paid taxes, I’d be outraged.”

He has Rogelio snap a picture of the picture and send it to his little army of recognizers.

“Right now hotel maids, cooks, waiters, valets all over the city are receiving that photo and will be searching for our target. The people who do all the cooking, cleaning, washing, carrying, and parking- they have access to everything.”

Red asks if she recalls the Sea of Galilee painting he once brokered a sale for. Rogelio’s cousin was the gardener of the man who stole the painting. Nice little callback there.

“You mean do I remember you being in possession of a stolen masterpiece? Yeah, I recall that.”

Careful, Liz. Your past and future hubby’s about to be in possession of a whole lot of stolen merchandise. That he actually helped steal.

Red offers a bonus to the first person to find the Promnestria.

Cut to Ressler and Samar observing Pitt. Ressler wonders how Red found him.

Ressler is trying to make small talk. Samar’s like.... So, back to business.

Samar: Speaking of registries, Aram, do you want to go in on a baby gift for Liz?

Ressler laughs at that.

“She register for common sense? ‘Cause if she’s down for having Tom’s kid, she needs some.”

Eriksson meets with Pitt. They discuss the “obstacle.”

“You’re asking me to hurt my son. But if I say no, this war will kill him. You have my permission.”

Pitt will order the hit on the son’s fiancé today.

Aram says that the number the Promnestria used to book the room is a burner. The meeting ends.

Ressler: All right, you stick with Eriksson. I’ll, uh, stay with Liberace and the pooches.

Vacarro tries to convince his wife that this is a good idea. The daughter overhears and agrees to do it.

“I’m not a child anymore. I know who we are. All the funerals, the sacrifices made for this family– I’ve always wondered what I would have to do to make a difference. Maybe now I know.”

Gina introduces Jacob to the other members of the team and reminds them of the high stakes.

“We get caught, we’re dead. Not arrested, dead.”

She gives him a Tom Keen type get-up as a disguise.

“I guess it’s who you really are....Such a pretty face.”

‘Gonna be a shame to shoot it off later.’

The Eriksson boy is upset. The Promnestria had his fiance shot right in front of him. He assumes that it’s the rival family who was gunning for him. He wants revenge. His father says that they have to make the bloodshed stop. Pitt comes around the corner.

Pitt: Killing a harmless girl, a true innocent– it’s proof that this conflict must end.

Liz hears back from the adoption lady. There’s a couple that’s interested. Liz is... relieved but with flickers of sadness. For obvious reasons.

Samar comes in, just getting off the phone with Levi.

Liz: Levi? How is your impossibly gorgeous ex? Samar: He asked me to dinner, so I’m going. It’s nothing.

Samar asks about the registry again. Liz brushes it off.

They have a meeting with Red on speakerphone. They too assume that the son was the target, but Red spills the beans that it was the fiance. And that this is about arranging a marriage. Red says there will be one last big meeting with everyone to finalize the arrangement. He’s going to get himself invited to it.

Red shows up in Mads Eriksson’s kitchen. He’s “saved” some of his inventory from a DEA raid.

Mads: You tipped my people? Why? Red: Wedding present.

Mads invites him to the meeting.

Meanwhile, the rival head tells his wife that he actually plans to gun down Eriksson’s family at the meeting.

I suppose if you kill them all before formally agreeing to the deal you don’t have to deal with Pitt’s other people? Maybe?

Cooper is miffed. He had the DEA raid staged. In exchange, Red was supposed to give them intel on the meeting and he hasn’t yet. Liz says he’s not calling her back.

Aram has tapped the burner. The Promnestria called one of his employees at a house in London. The owner of the house - Alistair Pitt. They recorded the phone call and get the information on the meeting that way.

Cooper orders teams down to the hotel. And he tells Liz not to take Red’s calls.

Samar and a DEA agent have infiltrated the party. Ressler, Liz, and the man I call “Dick” are in the surveillance van.

Ressler says they’re taking everyone at the party in for questioning as soon as Pitt shows.

Red walks in.

Dick: Whoa, look what the cat dragged in. Your fugitive-in-arms, comrade Rostova.

Dick tells his inside man they’re going to breach to get Reddington. Ressler belays that order. Says they’ll sweep him up when they get Pitt.

Jacob and Gina are mid-op. When he bends down to yank her off the floor, there’s a flash of... pink underwear?

I think it’s red. Just kinda looks pink. lol

“I’m a sucker for mob weddings.”

Red is suspicious of Mrs. Vacarro’s forgiving attitude.

“All things considered, Mom’s a little cheery.”

Pitt talks to the kids. “Dick” puts together that Red is an informant while continuing to be a dick. And Dembe sees the Vacarros suiting up for war in the kitchen. He hears that when Danny raises his glass, that’s the signal to strike.

Dembe tells Red.

Red makes a toast of his own. Liz tells Ressler that he’s trying to draw Pitt out.

“Love is a funny, fickle thing...Most weddings are fraught with it. This one, not so much.”

lol

“You would think, being singularly responsible for this evening’s prenuptials, he might take a bow. Where is he? Come now, don’t be modest. You do such astonishing, despicable work.”

He spills the beans on what’s actually happened (and his three-week addiction to a telenovela) and soon the families are back at each other’s throats.

“Oh, here we go. Better than TV.”

Pitt finally comes out and tries to stop this thing from completely unravelling.

Ressler orders the breach. The Vacarros kill the Erikssons. The Feds kill the Vacarros.

Red tells Dembe to grab the two kids and meet him at the car.

Red picks up a stray gun and pokes Pitt in the side with it. Drags him into the kitchen while Dembe grabs the young "couple.”

The undercover DEA waiter tells Red to freeze. Liz conks him on the head.

“This was so you could get to him. That’s what this whole thing was about.”

“Dick” stops them again. Gets hit by a stray bullet. Liz isn’t going to lose any sleep crying over that one.

Red says that he and Pitt have a plane to catch.

Later at the post office, Liz finds Samar all bummed out.

Samar: Um, did you ever get registered? Because Aram is asking- Liz: Samar, what’s wrong? Samar: I had dinner with Levi. He’s engaged.

“To a woman he met a week after we broke up. And it’s fine. We were never gonna be– It’s just, um...I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Samar’s pretty upset. Liz is sympathetic. Samar tries to change the subject.

"Forget it. Let’s just talk about the shower and how great it will be.”

Liz finally tells her there’s not going to be a shower. Now they’re both sad.

I can count on one hand the number of times these two even attempt to talk to each other as people. That we see anyway. I’m glad we at least have a little something on which to base Samar’s reaction to Liz’s death.

I’m a little confused about the Samar/Levi thing. Exactly how it went down. Apparently they were together. Did they break up before this task force stuff came up? Or was that the reason they broke up?

Levi says “You left me.” I assumed that he meant that she broke up with him to leave and take this Reddington gig. But now I’m thinking they broke up even before that and he means “left me” in a general sense. ‘Left my presence. Left all chance of us getting back together behind.’ idk

Why does Samar say later that she's been waiting for him for a long time?

Samar in 3b reminds me of what Red said in 3x2 - “You have to make your choices; you have to try to be happy with them.”

Last flashback scene. Red waits in the restaurant for Josephine. She's late. He gets the call that her husband found out about them. Red rushes over, but is too late.

Red has flown Pitt to Paris. To the same apartment. He says he bought it four years ago. That would be somewhere in 2012, about a year before Red surrendered.

I can’t be sure if the attack happened four years ago or a little bit longer...ago. A little time may have passed before he bought the place.

“You arranged a marriage. The youngest Molière daughter to the only Stockwell son– a burgeoning psychopath with a long and troubling history of violence. To guarantee peace and profit for all, you arranged her marriage to this man....

“I held her in my arms and watched the life disappear from her eyes. You destroyed a creature more beautiful than you could ever comprehend.”

Liz goes to meet the adoptive couple and they don’t show.

Liz: They’re rejecting my baby? Lady: No, not exactly. They still want the baby....I underestimated how difficult this was gonna be. But if you are intent on giving up your child, I think you have to accept that you’re not gonna be able to be in its life.

Poor Liz.

“Josephine.”

“It’s done.”

#rewatch 2017 #Alistair Pitt #pro-Jacob/Gina #anti-keen2 by default

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phantoonsoftheopera · 8 years ago

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PotO London Forster/Schoenmaker/Naaman – 10 October 2016

My friends and I were incredibly fortunate to attend the 30th Anniversary performance of my favorite musical, which just happened to coincide with my 50th time seeing the show overall. It was a pleasant consolation prize considering the Paris production -- which we had long since purchased tickets to see the following week -- had recently been cancelled due to the fire that damaged the Theatre Mogador.

I've been a Phantom of the Opera fan since the early 1990s, but I wasn't a megafan until several years later. And while I did visit London back in 1993, I only made it as far as the lobby of Her Majesty's to buy a souvenir brochure (My Phantom would have been Peter Karrie. INORITE?!?!?!?!?!?!?), so this trip was my first experience seeing the show in its original home (which we wound up doing three times in all – with the good fortune of seeing a different Phantom at each performance). And between a 2 and 1/2 year break from Phantom and all the little nuances that differentiate the London production from the US versions, it was like seeing it with fresh eyes.

(FYI: for those who don’t know, I write REALLY long reviews)

There was a bit of a crowd in front of Her Majesty's as part of the "Red Carpet Pre-Show" that was broadcast live on Facebook. My friends and I stuck around for a bit to check it out but the only Phantom celebrity we saw was Sierra Boggess (formerly of the Paris production) who spoke to the reporter briefly. Eager to get to our seats, we made our way inside to the Royal Circle and discovered that all attendees received a free souvenir brochure with a special 30th Anniversary wraparound cover and insert. Yay free swag!

Prologue: Some of the things that set the London production apart from the US versions I'd seen previously in the Royal Albert Hall 25th Anniversary production. The more formal and stuffy Auctioneer was definitely a jarring change from the creepier ones that open the show in the US, and set a slightly different tone to the proceedings. While the US version has the feel of an abstract dream (perhaps a dream Raoul has as he himself passes away), this was more literal auction– even to the point that the Auctioneer interrupted himself when a higher bid is placed for one of the items. Also Porters? Spoke like they were super-bored, which was amusing all on its own.

Nadim Naaman's Raoul may not have looked decrepit -- I could barely tell from a distance and lighting if he was wearing any aged makeup or not -- but his delivery of, "Boy…" was tinged with great pain, like it took a great deal of effort to speak which made it convincing.

Overture: Has the lightning effect always been part of the chandelier rising?

Hannibal: Direct quote from my notes: "Princess is super-cute. BUY a programme to find out who that is." And, "Dude, how many bottles of baby oil did they use on the Slave Master?"

So unlike in the US, London Christines dance the whole ballet (or at the very least, the majority of it), because I spotted Celinde Schoenmaker right off the bat. Hard to miss her, actually, due to her height. I don't know if it's just a Dutch thing, but she's like, REALLY tall. Like, the kind of tall that makes less-than-average-height folks like myself angry. Makes us want to punch things. How dare you hog all the height for yourself. The rest of us have needs too, you know. Like actually making use of the top shelf of a cupboard without having to use a stepladder.

But I digress.

Celinde entered with the rest of the ballet chorus and did a good job intentionally making Christine NOT look like the best dancer, her movements slightly less polished and behind tempo, sometimes looking to Meg to follow the choreography.

Piangi, played by Paul Ettore Tabone (who, when squinting, reminded me of a cross between comedian Gilbert Gottfreid and "Red Dwarf" actor Craig Charles), had a memorable entrance, coming out as he does but pausing and flicking his eyes up and to the side as if he had to take a moment to remember his line. I also enjoyed Philip Griffith's Reyer, his loud and demanding delivery living up to Lefevre's "tyrant" moniker moreso than any Reyer I've seen previously.

And bonus points for Christine having to lean out of the way of Piangi's cape after it flutters into her face when the slavegirls are all lined up at the footlights.

The talking by the ensemble when Lefevre tried to get their attention was amusingly extended in London, with him asking Reyer for help (who promptly ignores him) and then sputtering about for a few moments before Madame Giry aided him with a single thump of her cane. It's a very subtle difference, but the cast milked the moment just enough to make it more humorous.

Mark Oxtoby's André was a definite standout amongst the cast as well, kissing Carlotta's hand rather loudly three times when he is introduced to her and later, when she puts one end of her scarf in his hands while singing "Think of Me" and lets it trails through his fingers as she walks away – his expression of longing as his eyes never left the scarf was priceless. And it definitely had an effect on Piangi, who glared at him while snatching up the scarf and placing it back on Carlotta's shoulder as she walked back around to center stage.

Speaking of Carlotta, I really enjoyed the little things Megan Llewellyn brought to the role as well, particularly her penchant for slapping other performers who displeased her. In this scene, it was swatting the Soldier who was reading a newspaper while she was singing. Her incredulous delivery of "These things do happen?" and diva-esque "THIS thing does NOT happen!" were the right amounts of over-the-top without spilling over.

Think of Me: London Reyer snaps his fingers to bring Meg to his side after she hands Christine Carlotta's scarf, and doesn't offer to show her the score prior to her impromptu audition. This omission actually makes Reyer a bit nicer than his US counterparts, who often use that moment to be a bit of a dick, either showing it to her for less than a second or presenting it to her only to close it in her face.

I felt overall that Celinde's performance was more vibrant in delivery and acting at this show compared to the matinee a couple nights previous. I'm not sure if it was because this was THE 30th Anniversary performance or because she was saving some of her energy for a 2-show day, but regardless she was really at the top of her game here. Her first line was very quiet and timid (almost inaudible), becoming slightly stronger with her second line as she kept her eyes on Madame Giry after she thumped her cane, and her third growing word by word into full voice, eliciting a reaction from the rest of her fellow performers, including Reyer, who looked pleasantly surprised at the fresh new talent hiding under his nose for who knows how long.

Celinde's voice is sort of contemporary-meets-classical. Although I haven't been keeping up with casts, I've always had the general feeling that London Christines tended to follow the Sarah Brightman "dewdrop in a still pond" quality to their voices, but Celinde's seemed to have a bit more of the deeper fullness common to most US Christines. Physically, she tended to skip a lot when she walked, and her strides took up a lot of distance across the stage. One would think that she was taking smaller steps because two normal strides downstage would have sent her straight into the orchestra pit.

#tallpeopleproblems

Angel of Music: Christine's reaction to hearing the Phantom's, "Brava, brava, bravissima…" is usually quite telling of what the actress's take on the relationship between the two will be like. Celinde's was a mix of wonder and fear, leading me to believe she would have a more thoughtful spin on the role. I liked the relationship between her and Daisy Hulbert's Meg as well – definitely a big sister/little sister kind of feel to their interactions. Even the fact that Meg switches position with Christine by sitting on her stool rather than remain standing like she does in the US staging gave the scene a warmer, friendly quality. A moment that I really enjoyed here (which was consistent amongst all of Celinde's performances that we saw) was how she tries to hide a smile when Madame Giry admonishes Meg – as if it was a very common occurrence that she's been privy to.

Little Lotte: Nadim and Celinde had a nice rapport in this scene, the former having an air of titled formality with an underlying warmth and the latter evoking a feeling of content nostalgia as they reminisced about their childhood, Celinde's expression only faded back to a more serious and slightly wary one as they recalled the story of the Angel of Music.

It's interesting how after you've heard something over and over again done the same way, that when something changes, it knocks you out of your complacency and makes you pay strict attention. In this case, it was Christine's line, "Things have changed," which I've always heard her say after Raoul has left. And maybe it's just a London thing, but Celinde said it twice, and the first time was much earlier in the scene, which precipitated Raoul's, "No, YOU must change; I must get my hat." It works either way, but this felt a little more naturalistic, and made Raoul feel less like he was ignoring Christine's protests.

The Mirror: I came into the London production cold, not having heard any clips of the principals performing beforehand, so Ben Forster's Phantom came as a bit of a shock. His "EEN-solent boy!" struck me as a bit too Ren and Stimpy in pronunciation, but vocally he reminded me very much of Franc D'Ambrosio (former San Francisco Phantom) – sort of the same pitch but less operatic and more pop/rock in flavor. He also had a unique reaction to Christine's response after seeing him in the mirror. While at first, she ran to the door as if to flee (another first for me), when she turned back to him and sang, "Angel of Music! Guide and guardian, come to me strange angel!" he was almost surprised at her reaction, his poise visibly broken for a moment before he went into his, "I am your Angel of Music" shtick.

Phantom of the Opera: Okay, there is NO WAY the Christine double thing was going to work with Celinde as principal. None of them have her European supermodel-esque proportions.

The boat scene is always a thrill and really encapsulates the aura of magic that I love so much about this show. Ben's labored breathing really gave the climax (so to speak) of the scene a distinct feeling – one that it was like the Phantom was getting off on Christine's high notes. And I'm not sure if this is London or just something of Celinde's, but Christine was a lot more physical here compared to US Christine who mostly just seem to stand and the voice comes out of them. Celinde appeared to take a page out of Rebecca Caine's playbook from the Toronto official music video, using her whole body – especially her arms and hands – to emphasize and underline the ecstasy that is usually just the subtext of the scene.

Music of the Night: Aside from committing the same crime as Phantom swing Luke McCall days earlier by just pounding on the organ and not moving his hands up and down the keyboard as dictated by the notes in the pre-recorded music, overall, I felt Ben's Phantom was very unique. While all Phantoms I'd seen prior have exuded a great deal of confidence from their first appearance in the mirror up until the unmasking, Ben's was more in-the-moment, seeming to act based on Christine's reactions to him (think, "Okay, that seemed to go well, umm… let's try this"), which gave a naturalistic quality to the scene.

Celinde's Christine was engaged as well, which I enjoyed (never been much of a fan of Hypno!Christine), and there was more of an attraction between herself and the Phantom than I'm used to seeing in this scene. For instance, when she ran from him while he was sprawled against the portcullis, she did so almost giddily rather than fearful as has always been the norm for me. She was the same opposite McCall, so I assumed it was her de facto interpretation.

The MotN choreography is essentially the same in London as it is in the US, with the exception of the quirky "Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar" bit where the Phantom clutches his hand in front of Christine's stomach and then raises it above her head, making her posture lift and tilt her head back like she's on strings or something. There's also a moment here and there where Ben would caress her cheek with the back of his hand or inhale the scent of her hair that isn't in the US version that gave the scene a bit more intimacy.

Stranger than You Dreamt It: Ben again played things down the middle – not as manically into composing as Luke McCall was previously, but more naturalistic. Like: playplayplay – pause – "Okay, that's good, let me write that down." Very grounded. I liked Celinde's approach to Christine awakening the next morning – singing the first couple of line while still laying down with her eyes closed, only sitting up (with a start) when she remembers the lake, and then slowly turning her head in the Phantom's direction as she sings, "(…) there was a man…" I also liked Celinde's reaction to the unmasking in how she raised her hand up as if to shield herself like Mary Philbin did in the 1925 movie as well as how, when he crawled towards her for his very Karimloo-esque STYDI, she scurried all the way up against the proscenium until she couldn't get any farther away.

Magical Lasso: No ballerinas screaming at the top of this scene, but more music/swooshing melodic instrumentation. And Hadrian Delacey's Buquet (whose bald head reminded me of a less intimidating Vinnie Jones) didn't seem very scared of Madame Giry – more like annoyed that she was spoiling his fun.

Notes I/Prima Donna: I was pleased that our Firmin (Siôn Lloyd) wasn't the tipsy drunkard that Barry James was in the RAH performance. Siôn's was much more amiable (well, as amiable as Firmins get) and seemed rather happy with all the free press the Opera was getting from the recent backstage drama. And some of Megan's Carlotta was rubbing off on Oxtoby's André because he took to irritatingly slapping Firmin's shoulder for his business obsession of how Carlotta's return to the stage would result in "queues 'round the theatre."

This is, of course, one of the scenes where Megs get the opportunity to do the most to flesh out their character. Daisy Hulbert's Meg is totes adorbs – played very youthfully and sprightly, and with a curious streak that her mother seems to constantly have to keep in check with a tap of her cane or a finger to her lips in a silent "shhh."

Il Muto: Somewhere in the mid '00s the humor began to fade in the US versions of Il Muto, particularly in how Don Attilio was portrayed. So I was pleased to find it wasn't so in London – where he still had those sustained low notes and took his time to play his role for laughs. A lot of this was the same as in the RAH 25th performance, so it's nice that it was recorded for posterity.

Megan's physically abusive Carlotta was back in great form when she knocked the Hairdresser's powder shield away from her face while singing her line to Don Attilio and batted him again with her fan afterwards. Her wig did look like it was in danger of falling off after Celinde took her down to the mattress – and based on Megan's look of surprise, I don't think it was planned – and it never quite recovered (she even brought her hand up a couple of times afterwards to steady it).

Ben's "Perhaps it is you who are the TOAD!" was delivered with much more venom than other Phantoms I've seen in the past. Practically spitting the last word at the diva, it definitely leaned towards anger rather than sneering disdain. And when she did start croaking and the chandelier started to rock, Celinde had a very strong reaction – rushing back and curling up in a frightened ball on the bed – not unlike her reaction in STYDI.

If his practically drooling over Carlotta wasn't enough to endear his André to me, Oxtoby's super-awkward introduction of the ballet sealed the deal. Entering nervously, the spotlight momentarily shooting past him before focusing properly, his quick and discreet hand and eye gestures to get the conductor to hurry up and switch over to the ballet, nervously parroting the laughter coming from the real audience, some more eyebrow waggling at the conductor, and finally running into three ballerinas on his way out made for a tremendously prolonged and hilarious moment for his character.

All I Ask of You: It took me awhile to really pin down what Celinde's take on Christine was, and ultimately I think it's far from the shrinking ingénue that many others tend to lean towards. She's more her own woman, as exemplified in the beginning of the rooftop scene where she's not your typical frightened damsel. Celinde sang her lines with a furor, like she was angry at the Phantom's control over her and angry at herself for letting him have that power. It's a definite departure from Christines prior and for the most part it works.

And then Ben's disembodied "Christine" line came in sounding like a barely-decipherable tenor foghorn and you're yanked out of the scene.

The rooftop duet itself was good – Nadim took great care in removing Christine's hood and lifting her long locks out of them to flow down her back attractively before singing his first verse with great earnestness while Celinde took every opportunity to hold/stroke/adjust Raoul's coat lapels whenever she was in his arms. As far as the rooftop kiss went, I kinda preferred Celinde's performance from the previous day just because prior to the initial kiss, she sort of flipped one side of her cloak over her shoulder with this sort of smoldering "C'mere baby" look in her eyes which made me think, "Oh, this is a Christine who knows what she wants. And apparently what she wants is to eat Raoul alive," but other than that, it was pretty similar to other more proactive Christines: first kiss is mostly Raoul, second kiss she really goes in for it. Celinde finished off the song cupping Raoul's face and planting several little kisses. The song also got applause, which apparently only happens during event performances, which held the scene before Celinde dashed off singing, "I must go," with a giddy laugh which brought a lot of warmth and intimacy to their relationship.

Reprise: Because this was the first time I actually noticed it, watching this scene also made me realize how small Her Majesty's auditorium is – almost as small as The Curran where Phantom played in San Francisco back in the '90s – with the Angel lowering to the level of the Royal Circle. Ben did the "hand first" entrance into the scene, which is the version I've always preferred, and his delivery overall was very Karimloo (one of the few moments in the RAH that I actually enjoyed Karimloo's performance).

Masquerade: Hey, Firmin and André got their masks from the same store! And a nice "Boo!" Firmin threw in there at André at the end of the intro. In another character moment I enjoyed, Meg's eyes turned into saucers when she was presented with the tray of champagne flutes. Madame Giry's baby girl's gonna get hammered tonight!

Okay, given that I was seeing the show for the first time in years from a higher angle, I was convinced that I was seeing Gillian Lynne's new Masquerade choreography. I mean, I don't recall ever seeing Meg and the Goldfish running their hands down the managers' bodies before or Christines ballet-like moves during the bridge, but apparently it's just another one of those quirky differences in the way they do things in London (and speaking of Christine, turns out that eyesore of a Star Princess dress doesn't look quite as garish onstage as it does in photos).

Giry's Confession: No big changes here. Jacinta Mulcahy was a good Madame Giry (who, for the Whovians out there, was giving me kind of a Tasha Lem vibe), and I understand she used to use an accent that she apparently has since dropped. If I had any comment, I would have liked to have heard a bit more fear or apprehension in her voice when she confessed what she knew of the Phantom's background, but there was nothing that stood out as bad about the scene.

Notes II/Twisted Every Way: One of the benefits of watching from the Royal Circle after so many performances in the stalls is that you get a better overview (literally) of the action onstage. For instance, in all the times I've seen the show, I've never noticed that while Madame Giry is walking behind the rest of the group, as they go about their business, one of the Phantom's notes slips out of the Don Juan score she is looking at. She then picks it up and reads it as she moves into position at stage right to give everyone the news. That's probably not a revelation to most people, but it's a detail that was new to me.

Celinde solidified her modern, strong Christine in this scene with how she approached the Carlotta/Christine confrontation, delivering a very powerful and forceful, "How DARE you!" to Carlotta's accusations (I mean it easily could have morphed into the Javert/Valjean confrontation). And her "I can't!" as she exits – so often an upset, almost overwhelmed outburst by others – was much more of a firm, declarative statement from Celinde's Christine.

Another moment that I always try to observe in this scene is Carlotta's reaction to "Twisted" with her line, "She's mad!" It can be played many different ways, from snooty to concern, and how the actress delivers it can potentially impart a deeper portrayal of the diva. After Celinde sang, "He'll always be there singing songs in my head…" as if she was realizing the fate ahead of her, Megan's take was dismissive and a bit comical, entrenching her Carlotta as unfeeling. A perfectly valid interpretation, although I much prefer Carlottas that show a little bit of sympathy in this moment.

Also of note here, Nadim's Raoul was very forceful and assertive when he devised his plan on capturing the Phantom. It was a nice shift in his performance.

Don Juan Rehearsal: The ensemble member whom I shall now refer to as, "The Man Who Laughs" had a nice machine-gun staccato laugh that he sprayed in an arc until his eyes met Carlotta's cold glare. He even got singled out by Reyer; who directed his "Nearly" line more towards him than Piangi. Something about him also made me think of John Cleese, which is always a guarantee to make me laugh. Carlotta also showed great concern for Piangi, looking over the score with him and bringing a genuine sense of support.

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again/Wandering Child: Celinde served up a very good graveyard scene, starting off composed but soon faltering into silent tears as she recalld her father's promises just before segueing into Wishing. It was sung mostly straight, not a lot of ups and downs in the emotions, but her voice did tremble a bit when she got to the, "No more memories, no more silent tears" lyric, and ended it looking physically drained, which put her in the perfect position for the Phantom to step in with his hypno mumbo-jumbo.

I sort of was on the fence about Celinde's reaction at the top of "Wandering Child." When Christine stopped and heard the Phantom's voice, Celinde had sort of this, "Fuck this/Not again" body language, as if she was aware of who this was and was too exhausted o keep resisting anymore. It seemed a bit extreme but at the same time, sort of felt right in a weird sort of way for her interpretation. And hey! I forgot there was a trio here (I believe this was my first time seeing the graveyard trio performed live ever).

Of the difference between London and the US productions, there's one thing I'll say for sure: the US productions are certainly a lot more paranoid about potentially injuring their performers.

MotN catch? US: Nope, might throw the lead actor's back out. London: HELL YES!

Graveyard fireballs? US: Okay, but shoot them sideways into the wings. London: Aim DIRECTLY at your co-stars.

Before the Premiere: Best part of this scene? Nadaam's deadpan delivery of "Idiot" to the marksman. It was like the posh translation of, "Da fuq dude?" and got a well-deserved laugh from the audience.

DJT: London's DJT is definitely feels more lurid in its choreography than its US counterpart, especially with Carlotta backed up against Passarino and both sort of grinding their hips suggestively to the lyric, "tangled in the winding sheets." Meg also crooked a finger at Passarino before twirling and running off, to which he got up and started to follow after her with hands reaching out in what I'm going to call a Trump-like manner.

Point of No Return: No table dancing (thank God), but London's PonR does push the envelope, nonetheless. It's basically the same choreography you see in the RAH 25th Anniversary, although Karimloo and Boggess were extremely tame in comparison (like they were toning things down for 8pm broadcast television). Here, Celinde gave a decent amount of apple!ponr – running the apple down her cheek with a sensual expression on her face as she sat on the bench and later her half-lidded eyes looking out at the audience as she slowly brought the apple to her open mouth before the Phantom snatched it out of her hand (she only did that last one at the Saturday matinee, though – and for that I'm glad because I have enough Catholic guilt as it is, thank you very much). But the most scandalous moment here had to be when the Phantom joined Christine on the bench. This moment used to be infamous in London for the "grab" the Phantom did – but, as in the RAH performance, that wasn't done here. Instead, when Christine was sitting, her weight shifted to her right so that her left leg was fully extended to one side with her hand resting on her knee, Ben took a seat next to her and when he placed his hand over hers, he picked it up and planted them on her inner thigh (and I don't mean he subtly slid them over – this was a big, obvious movement up and off her knee and then back down into her skirt) before guiding it up her hip and torso until she suddenly pulled away in surprise and stood up.

Once Christine got her bearings, so to speak, Celinde sang her portion of the song very aggressively, the confidence she projected making her Aminta pretty much Don Juan's equal in power that gave the scene a more interesting dynamic. She did a couple of showy skirt swishes and a full 360 spin at one point that I thought was a little too over-the-top, but other than that, everything else worked fine. I also liked how she cried out, "NO!" when she realized it was the Phantom she was onstage with and tried to run off only to be held fast by her wrists, finally wrenching them free when they reached center stage. Once unmasked, the Phantom was shocked, of course, but Ben portrayed it through heavy, ragged breaths and erratic looks around him rather than the stunned silence many other Phantoms I've seen do.

Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer: More differences between the US and London productions: London Christines don’t have a cloak thrown over her in this scene and US Phantoms don't yank Christine up by the arm (and even grabbed her by the hair at one point) and throw her back down during his ranting and raving.

Final Lair: Just as in the First Lair, both Ben's Phantom and Celinde's Christine seemed to be of relatively equal power. While Ben stumbled back at Christine's verbal assault at the start of the scene, Celinde did the same when the Phantom lashed back at her. And with his line, "the joys of the flesh," Ben stepped toward Christine with his hands reaching out at her – causing her to back away quickly which makes him freeze, his expression changing to that of understanding the inappropriateness of his actions and then backing down, his head lowered slightly as if to reassure her that he was sorry for his impulsiveness. Ben's overall performance here was pretty classic, incorporating things like giggling to himself when Raoul demanded he free Christine while he's impotently blocked behind the portcullis and verging on tears when he cried out, "Make your choice!" that I've seen Phantoms over the past twenty years use to great effect.

I've always enjoyed when Raouls really show frustration/desperation when they arrive, probably because I've seen a few who seem WAY too casual about the whole situation. Nadim had the right amount of heightened emotion in his voice, and he mimed trying to lift the portcullis with his bare hands to try to get inside and even did an action roll under it when the Phantom allowed him in. During the kiss, he even struggled in the noose and clearly did not want to watch his fiancée kissing this man who he felt was a clear and dangerous threat.

Everything post-kiss was interesting, particularly in how Celinde brought a few new twists to it. When the Phantom freed Raoul, Nadim fell to the ground but, unlike many other Raouls who almost immediately pull the Punjab lasso off and try to get up, he did not – instead just laying there as Celinde rushed to kneel over him. They remained there for the Ben's next few lines, but when they did finally got to their feet, Raoul seemed very agreeable to leaving as the Phantom told them to, but Celinde's Christine held her ground when he moved to get them out. He tugged at her a second time, almost trying to pull her along with him but she refused to leave, defiantly saying, "Wait!" and never taking her eyes off the Phantom. She only relented when Ben turned and chased them out, screaming before falling to his hands and knees once he was all alone. When she returned and held out the Phantom's ring, Ben took her hand as he sang, "Christine I love you…" and after a quiet moment, she placed the ring in his palm, closed his fingers over it and then softly kissed his hand before leaving.

Post-Show: Curtain call ended with ushers passing out bottles of champagne to each row in the audience for us to fill our previously distributed champagne glasses while we waited for the 30th Anniversary Act 3 special presentation to begin. It took awhile, so there was a lot of photos and chatting until the Anniversary video abruptly and without announcement came up on a big video projection screen onstage. It was for the most part the same video as I remember from the Broadway 25th Anniversary performance, and by now we've all seen the excerpts of the special numbers they did. I will say that AIAoY featuring Michael Ball and ALW then segueing to include Celinde and later Nadim was hilarious to watch unfold, and having Sierra Boggess perform "Wishing" in French was a lovely and bittersweet consolation prize for those of us who upset about the disaster that abruptly cancelled the Paris production. The multi-Phantom PotO number was slightly improved by having two Christines, but it still felt a bit haphazard since the Paris Phantom, Gardar Thor Cortez, happened to be one of the Phantoms and he wasn't even introduced (the only clue for the audience as to who he was was probably the couple of lines both he and Sierra sang in French). Having members of the original London cast appear to take a bow was also much appreciated. Sarah Brightman was on tour I believe, so didn't make an appearance, Michael Crawford's appearance again was a silent one, and Hal Prince was sadly nowhere to be seen (although he was mentioned by name at one point), but they were still represented well. The grand finale itself, with the entire ensemble (multiple ensembles, it seemed) coming out and singing Masquerade was something of a letdown – not really building to anything in particular.

All in all, I thought it was a great show with great energy coming from everyone onstage. And finally seeing the show in London was like a fresh jolt of energy for me as a phan. Happy 30th Anniversary, Phantom London – may you haunt the West End for many years to come.

#Phantom of the Opera #Phantom London #Phantom 30th Anniversary

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