#i desperately need to see a new movie that’s actually good and worth the hype

[sob-dylan]

i still haven’t seen longlegs. i haven’t seen i saw the tv glow. i haven’t seen in a violent nature. i haven’t done my creep/creep 2 double feature rewatch. i haven’t watched house of wax or saw or texas chainsaw massacre or ginger snaps or tusk or any of the other horror/thrillers i told myself i’d finally make time for in the past month (save for maxxxine, which was a bit of a let down). but i do have tickets to go see strange darling the day after it opens.

[no-pucks-given]

TYSON JOST | LIGHT MY WAY HOME

A/N: More than 12.000 words later, more than a month after the initial request from Taylor popped up in my notifications. What a freaking ride. My longest fic I've ever written, and maybe even my favourite one. Thank you, to everyone who hyped me up, send me inspo and send me sweet asks. I couldn't have done this without all of you. Special thanks to @dumb-and-dunner, @chicagoblackhawkslover96, @heybarzy and Chrissy (who doesn't have Tumblr unfortunately).

Warnings: Angst, ‘can I strangle him yet?’ Tyson, swearwords, some major character development and (how could I not?!) a happy ending.

Also: Gabe and Melissa Landeskog play a big part in this fic, so if you aren't comfortable with them, you might want to skip this one.

Word Count: 12.1K

Requested: Yes.

The NHL lifestyle, or the ‘popular’ lifestyle was attractive to all young, hormonal boys. You’d known that for a long time. You stood by Tyson’s side when he got drafted into the wicked world of the NHL. Parties, drinking, sex, training until you can barely move, fights, games, wins and losses. It all had it’s charms, but it also had its dangers. Just like any other guy Tyson wanted to experience it all, the whole package,

You assumed you fell under that ‘whole package’, you were his girlfriend for a reason, right? And you did, for a while. You partied together, came home together, did everything together. But the moment Tyson became older and ‘known’ outside the regular hockey fans, that title didn’t mean much anymore. He became more and more the type of guy you didn’t fall in love with, the type to take you for granted, the type to enjoy the attention of other people, other women in particular. You weren’t the jealous type, you didn’t want to claw out the eyes of every woman that looked at him, but you were at a breaking point. Maybe you were jealous, you weren’t jealous of those other women, you were jealous of the attention Tyson gave them. Attention he should’ve been giving to you, his freaking girlfriend.

You were however the loyal type, the type to come home after a long night. And that’s exactly where things went wrong with Tyson. While you were waiting for him at home with a meal, a warm bed or just simply anything else, he was out. You had no idea where he was exactly, he was simply ‘out’, whatever that might mean. You tried to talk to him, you tried to make him see that this wouldn’t end well for either of you, but he simply waved off your concerns, shrugged his shoulders and moved on.

How do you talk to someone who rediscovered himself? How do you talk to someone who thinks he’s on top of the world? How do you save someone from the downfall of success when they don’t want to be saved? You knew one day he’ll come down from this high, one day he’ll realize that he screwed up. One day he’ll come to the conclusion he let something special slip through his fingers, and for what? Fame? Drinks? A rush of adrenaline? One day. But you knew that it wouldn’t be today.

However today is the day that you’re done. Absolutely fed up with all the bullshit excuses Tyson has been feeding you, all the coming home late or not even coming home at all. You have no idea what he’s been up to these last months, he’s barely home. Even when he’s home it’s like he isn’t really there. You can’t even remember the last time the two of you slept together or the last time you actually went to bed at the same time. Breakfast together? A lifetime ago. A lazy day together? Can’t remember. Date night? Months, months ago. Even thinking about it pisses you off to no end, the pain and hurt slowly making place for a new emotion: anger.

It’s frustrating to say the least. You love and take care of him like he means the world to you, and he does. Tyson on the other hand seems to take you for granted, or forgets you’re here at all. It seems like you’re talking to a brick wall instead of your boyfriend. No matter how hard you try, your words have no impact, your tears don’t make him feel anything. It’s like he’s a totally different person. You barely recognize him anymore these days, he feels like a stranger inside the body of the man you love. It feels like you’re both living your life, besides each other instead of with each other. It hurts, that’s for sure.

Like any other day you’ve prepared dinner, put it on the table and sat down on one of the chairs. All you can do now is wait, wait and pray he’ll show up this time. You even texted him, begged him to come home and simply eat dinner with you for a change. Of course you didn’t get a response, of course it’s complete radio silence from his side. God, you were desperate at this point, you don’t even try to deny it.

With every passing minute your hope disappears little by little. You stare at the food on the table until it’s completely dark outside, no sign of Tyson. Hours passed and you barely noticed it, it isn’t until you try to stand up and your muscles ache from sitting in the same position for a long time that you realize how much time actually has passed. “Fuck this, why am I even trying anymore?” you mutter to yourself, shaking your head. This isn’t worth it, it hasn’t been for a long time. Maybe, just maybe you’re finally ready to admit it to yourself.

Deciding to choose yourself over Tyson is a major decision, one you probably should’ve made sooner. It doesn’t matter, what does matter is that you’re choosing you now. You make the split second decision to just grab your stuff, just the necessary stuff. You remember Gabe’s offer, at the time you waved it off with a smile, pretending it wasn’t as bad as it might look to the outside world, but now? You want nothing more than to take him up on his offer. So what’s stopping you?

Even though you were excruciating calm this whole time, the moment you step into your bedroom, or Tyson’s bedroom, you break. This is real, this is really happening. You grab your bags, filling them with some of your stuff. Some clothes, some toiletries, your makeup, everything you might need. It’s a tough job, it’s even harder when you almost can’t see past the tears. At some point you lose track of things you did and didn’t grab, just shoving random items into your bag.

You let out a frustrated sigh, your body sinking down on the floor. In your hands the box containing all your high school love letters, all the small gifts you made each other. Tyson was quite handy, who would’ve thought that? You smile at the memories, sorting through the box. You frown at the feeling surging through your body, is this how heartbreak feels? Looking down at the contents of the box you sigh, wiping away the tears streaming down your face. Why couldn’t life be as simple as it used to be? It shouldn’t be this hard, right? You grab your prom picture between your fingers, smiling sadly at the two people in the picture, both smiling like they just won the lottery, both utterly in love with the other. How time can change..

You throw the box on the bed, maybe it will remind Tyson what the two of you had was special, maybe he’ll realize what he’s about to lose. If it doesn’t, well, it’s his loss. Hauling your bags downstairs is a full workout, you intended to bring ‘just the essentials’ but you have way more important stuff than you originally thought. You aren’t planning on returning to this house any time soon.

Shutting the car door after you loaded in your stuff gives you some form of relief. You let out the breath you’ve been holding in. You made your decision, it’s time to follow through now. You make your way back inside, and into the kitchen. Cleaning up all leftovers from dinner, which obviously is a lot more than you expected. Although.. did you really think he would show up? You shake your head again, putting the leftovers into the fridge. After you finish the dishes you retreat back to the living room, falling down on the couch with a loud sigh. All you can do now is wait.

You could’ve just left and never look back, but that isn’t your style. If you’re going to leave, you’ll do it the right way. You won’t leave without giving him a piece of mind, letting him know he fucked this up for good. You try to focus on the movie playing on the screen, but your heart keeps beating harder and harder, at this point you wish you would’ve just left instead of waiting for Tyson to show up. God, why did you have to do it the right way? Because you know, deep down, you would’ve wanted him to do it the same way. It’s the humane thing to do, it’s only right after spending such a long time together.

The front door opening brings you out of your thoughts. Honestly you don’t even know what time it is, but frankly you don’t care. All you want right now is to get this off your chest and leave. Tyson’s eyes widen when he comes face-to-face with you, surprisingly he doesn’t seem that intoxicated. You suspected he went out, but at this point he could’ve been anywhere.

“You’re still up,” Tyson says, walking past you and flopping down on the couch.

“Yep, and you missed dinner,” you counter, crossing your arms. Tyson simply shrugs his shoulder, clearly not caring enough to explain his absence. “I texted you to make sure you would be here,” you say, even though you know it doesn’t make a difference.

“Yeah, I was busy,” Tyson answers, looking down at his phone.

You almost feel the need to chuckle, to start laughing at his stupid behavior, but this is anything but funny to you, it fucking hurts. “I’m done, Tyson. I’m fucking done,” you say, shaking your head, trying so hard to keep the tears away.

Tyson looks at you with dull eyes, no emotion visible on his face. “Then go to fucking bed, I really can’t deal with your problems right now,” he sighs, turning his head back to the phone in his hand.

Right now, at this moment you know you made the right decision. This isn’t behavior of someone who’s in love, this isn’t even behavior of someone who loves. “You don’t have to deal with me anymore, because I’m leaving. I’m done, we’re done,” you tell him, emphasizing the last part. Tyson’s eyes shoot to yours, the panic clearly written all over his face now.

“No, we’re not. You can’t break up with me, y/n!” he almost shouts at you, standing up from the couch.

“Yes, I can and I will. You don’t get to act like you care all of the sudden, Tyson. You haven’t acted like a boyfriend in months. You haven’t given me any reason to stay, so I won’t. I’m done with whatever this is,” you say, waving between the two of you. Tyson grabs your wrist, tears starting to pool in his eyes. He opens his mouth to say something but you cut him off. “No. No. You don’t get to do this. It’s over. You put on quite a show, but I can’t say it was very entertaining. This curtain fucking closes right now, show is over. You can act like you care, but I know by now that you don’t,” you tell him, ripping your arm out of his grip.

You walk over to the front door, keeping your head high. Now is not the time to break down, your time will come. You hear Tyson behind you, muttering how sorry he is, excuse after excuse leave his mouth. You open the door, turning around one last time to look at Tyson. “Don’t tell me you’re sorry, ‘cause you’re not,” you say while shaking your head. You close the door behind you, not looking back at what you’ve left behind, only looking forward to what’s yet to come.

It’s when you’re in your car mindlessly driving around when you realize you have nowhere to go. You forgot to call Gabe, and it’s probably way too late now. You quickly check the time, 2am, shit that’s late. You doubt he’s still awake, you feel bad for even thinking about waking him up. Two young children, both of them under the age of 2, and being a professional hockey player probably cost him enough energy already, you don’t need to add to that. “He did say I could always call him when I made my decision,” you say out loud, more to convince yourself that it’s okay than anything else.

You easily find Gabe’s contact, immediately pressing the dial button before you change your mind again. The line only rings twice before Gabe picks up. “I’m guessing you either finally broke up with him or there’s a fire somewhere,” Gabe says from the other side of the line. You chuckle, shaking your head. “And since you’re calling me and not the fire department, my guess is on the first one,” Gabe continues, trying to make you smile some more.

“I did it, I broke up with him, couldn’t stand to be there any second longer,” you sigh, brushing your fingers through your hair.

You hear Gabe’s sigh of relief. “I’m proud of you, y/n. I know this isn’t what you had in mind, but it’s better like this, I promise.”

Gabe turned into one of your best friends over time, Melissa is the older sister you never had and you love their children like they’re your own. Gabe and Melissa welcomed you into their family immediately after meeting you. You hadn’t expected to make friends and you definitely didn’t expect to make friends with the captain and his wife, but you’re so grateful you did. The support you receive from them is overwhelming, you couldn’t wish for better friends. So when Gabe first made you this offer, you were thankful he did, although you were still convinced at that point that Tyson would change.

“Uhm, you know.. that offer you made me? Is that still on the table?” you ask, praying he’ll say ‘yes’, praying you don’t have to sleep in some random hotel tonight.

“Of course, the guestroom is already prepared. Melissa expects you to be here as soon as possible, apparently she ‘really needs to cuddle her little sister’,” Gabe chuckles, you can almost hear him rolling his eyes at his wife.

“Thank you, Gabe. I owe you,” you say softly.

“You don’t. You’re family, y/n,” Gabe says, and you know he means every word he just said. Family. “Now get your ass over here, before Melissa starts a search party,” Gabe chuckles, making you laugh some more, because you know she would. You quickly say your goodbyes, promising you’ll be there in a few minutes. It’s just a short drive from your apartment, or Tyson’s apartment now, to Gabe and Mel’s place.

You kept up your appearance, keeping the tears at bay, but the moment you step out of your car and into Gabe’s arms you’re done. “Come here, I’m so sorry,” Gabe says softly, his hands rubbing soothing circles on your back.

You stand there for a few minutes, simply crying on your best friend’s shoulder, until Melissa squeezes herself between the two of you. “Hush, I need some sister time. Why don’t you grab her stuff?” she says, smiling sweetly at her husband.

Gabe sighs dramatically, sending a wink your way. “Whatever you say, wife.”

Melissa pulls you close to her, an arm around your waist, her head resting on your shoulder. “Come on, I’ll show you your room,” she softly says, leading you into the house. You’ve been here so many times already, but never like this. You’ve never been in a situation like this before, you’re not sure how to handle this. “I can hear the wheels turning in your head. It will be okay,” Melissa says, rubbing your arm soothingly. You sigh, shrugging your shoulders, not sure what to say.

Melissa leads you to your room, pushing you down on the bed, while she takes a seat on the edge of the bed. “I know you’re probably exhausted, but do you want to talk?” Melissa asks softly, her face showing nothing but compassion.

You lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking about all that has happened. “I don’t even know what to say, Mel. I don’t even know how I feel right now. I’m just so...” you trail off, not knowing the right words to describe everything that you feel and think right now.

“Confused, relieved, mad?”

You sit back up, looking back at Melissa. “All of the above, I guess? It hurts, but I’m glad I did it. But I also regret it, because I love him, you know? I’m mad he didn’t try harder for me, for us,” you say, trying hard to keep the rush of tears away.

Melissa wraps her arms around you, pulling you close to her. “I know, sweetheart. It will take time, but you’re going to be okay.”

You sigh, knowing she’s right, even though it probably will take more time than just ‘some time’. You did just end a long relationship, it will take a lot of patience and time to work through that. “Thank you, Mel. For letting me stay here,” you mumble against Melissa’s shoulder.

“No need for that. You’re my sister, remember?” Melissa smiles at you.

Gabe softly knocks on the door before opening the door. “Brought your bags, thought you might need them before you go to sleep,” he says, smiling at the sight before him. Your friendship might be unconventional, but he couldn’t care less what other people think about it. Gabe absolutely adores the sister bond you and Mel share, he hoped the two of you would get along, so this? Picture perfect.

“Thanks, Gabe,” you smile at him.

“Do you mind if I steal my wife from you?” Gabe asks, making you and Melissa laugh out loud.

“Nope, she’s all yours,” you chuckle, waving at their retreating backs when they walk out of the room.

You strip out of your clothes, pulling on a sweater. You sigh, realizing you packed some of Tyson’s sweaters out of habit. His smell infiltrates your senses, making it damn hard to keep your emotions under control. It’s right this moment you know exactly how you feel. Heartbroken. The realization that your relationship with Tyson is really over doesn’t give you the satisfaction you hoped for, it doesn’t give you peace, it just fucking hurts. You simply feel hollow, even though deep down you know this was the right choice, this was what needed to happen. You know damn well why you feel so empty, you gave your heart to Tyson a long, long time ago, never expecting to be in a situation you might get it back. You don’t want it back, but you might need it back.

You realize it’s morning when the light softly shines into your room. You sigh, knowing damn well you’re lucky if you slept more than an hour this night. Rolling over you look at the clock on the wall, 9 am, perfect. Deciding it won’t do you any good if you stay in bed any longer, you force yourself out of bed and into the shower. The hot water warms your cold skin, soothing your sore muscles. All the twisting and turning you did all night surely didn’t help the way you feel right now. Why couldn’t life be a bit easier by simply letting the shower wash away all of your hurt, all of your pain? A fresh start, a clean slate.

You slip on some skinny jeans and a soft sweater, not in the mood to even think about doing your makeup. You dry your hair, before making a quick ponytail out of it. You walk down stairs, the chatter and laughter greeting you as soon as you walk into the kitchen. “Morning, guys,” you say, smiling at all the happy faces before you. A round of greetings sound throughout the room.

“How’d you sleep?” Gabe asks you as soon as you sit down next to him with a bowl of cereal.

“Can’t even tell you, suddenly it was 9 am,” you chuckle, shrugging your shoulders at Gabe’s raised eyebrow. “Do you have any idea where my phone is?” you ask Gabe, knowing he grabbed all your stuff out of your car.

“Uhh, I do, but I don’t know if you really want to look at it,” Gabe says, scratching the back of his head before pointing towards the kitchen counter. It’s your turn to raise your eyebrows, walking over to where Gabe’s pointing at.

You unlock your phone, quickly checking your notifications. “Oh damn,” you mutter, looking at the absurd amount of missed calls and messages left by none other than Tyson himself.

You sit back down next to Gabe, dropping your head on your arms. “What do I do now, Gabe?” you groan. “Why does he care all of the sudden?”

Gabe rubs his hand over your back before answering your question. “Because he lost you, y/n. He never thought he would.” You turn your head towards Gabe letting his words sink in.

Gabe gets ready to leave for practice shortly after you settle on the couch with Lucas in your arms. The little man has a fascination with your hair, maybe it’s all babies who have that, but you like to think that you’re special. “Don’t pull out all y/n’s hair, baby boy,” Gabe chuckles, giving his boy a soft kiss on his head. He gives you a kiss on your cheek, softly squeezing your shoulder. You open your mouth to say something, but Gabe cuts you off. “I know what you’re thinking. Don’t worry about it, I’m his captain, but I’m your friend, okay? Just relax, make sure Lucas doesn’t puke on you and go do whatever it is that you women do all day,” Gabe chuckles, knowing you better than you know yourself. You mouth a quick ‘thank you’ to him, wishing him good luck with practice before he runs through the house trying to find his girls to kiss them goodbye.

“Your daddy is a good guy, you know that, Lucas?” you smile at the baby on your lap. Lucas coos, his hands grabbing onto the strands of your hair. “Your daddy and mommy make me feel so loved, even though their children like to see me in pain,” you joke, trying to free your hair from Lucas’s small hands. “Buddy, you’re way stronger than you look,” you mumble, when Lucas pulls on your hair again.

Melissa laughs out loud the moment she walks into the living room. “How many times did I tell you that you need to keep your hair away from him and his grabby hands?” she says, expertly freeing your hair from her son’s fists.

“Apparently not enough times,” you chuckle at her. Melissa joins you on the couch, while Linnea Rae plays on the ground with some of her toys, happily showing you what she got every now and then. It’s times like this that you’re extra grateful for Melissa and Gabe, the way they welcomed you into their family has been nothing but perfect.

“So, what’s going through that pretty head of yours?” Melissa asks, while scrolling through series to watch on Netflix.

You shrug your shoulders. “I don’t know, I’m kind of worried about practice, I think? I don’t want to put Gabe in this position,” you say, keeping your eyes on Lucas.

“You know Gabe would do anything for you, huh? You don’t know how many times he came home utterly frustrated by the way Tyson treated you. He never said anything, because you were still with him, I can’t promise you he will stay quiet this time,” Melissa says, squeezing your shoulder. “He’ll be fine, this isn’t Gabe’s first rodeo.”

You look at Melissa, who simply gives you a wink. “I know, I know. I just don’t want him to get in trouble or anything,” you say, smiling back at her. You trust and know Gabe, so hopefully there won’t be a lot of trouble today.

“If he does though, he probably deserves it.”

Gabe surprises you all with some takeaway when he gets home from practice. It’s been nice eating with other people for change, it’s been way too long. The amount of lonely dinners has been through the roof lately. Gabe nudges you with his elbow, causing you to look up at him. “No frowning at the table.”

Melissa rolls her eyes at her husband while you just stick out your tongue at him. “Sure, dad,” you say, causing Melissa to almost choke on her bite of food before she lets out a loud laugh.

“Yeah, dad. Leave us alone,” Melissa laughs, winking at her husband. Gabe shakes his head at you and Melissa, a grin plastered on his face.

It’s during dessert you find the courage to ask about Tyson. You weren’t sure if you needed to ask Gabe, you weren’t even sure if you wanted to know anything, but now you know you do. “So, did anything happen during practice?” you ask him, playing around with your spoon.

Gabe shakes his head, giving you a small smile. “Not much, just some chirping. Told him I’m his captain and he needs to fucking focus on practice. That seemed to do the trick,” Gabe says, shrugging his shoulders, continuing to eat his dessert.

You look across the table at Melissa who has the same expression on her face as you. Not convincing at all. ‘Sure,’ Melissa mouths at you from across the table. You shake your head at her, furrowing your eyebrows at Gabe’s statement. ‘Nope,’ you mouth back at her, finishing your dessert. You decide to let it go, you don’t even know why you care so much. You shouldn’t, right? You broke things off with Tyson, so why do you care so much what he does and thinks? The answer to that question is pretty simple the longer you think about it. Because you still love him, that’s why.

You thank everyone for dinner and dessert, promising to cook something from them later this week. Right now all you can think about is your bed and a decent night of sleep. God, that sounds like a true dream right now. You strip out of your clothes, crawling into the soft and cozy bed. It doesn’t take long before you fall asleep, showing just how exhausted you truly are.

The weeks that follow are filled with all kinds of activities, the 5 of you falling back into a comfortable rhythm, surprising you considering the situation you’re in. It isn’t every day you take in the ex-girlfriend of one of your teammates, or your best friend, whatever way you want to see things. When you aren’t working you spend a lot of time with the kids, trying to make things easier for Melissa and Gabe whenever they are busy or simply need some time for the two of them. You happily take on some of their care, even if it’s as simple as making sure they get their food in time. Honestly they are two of the sweetest children you’ve ever come across, they always find ways to make you laugh, even though most of the time it isn’t on purpose.

It’s been quiet around the house tonight, Melissa went out with a few of her friends, while she left Gabe and the kids with you. Apparently she needed some ‘alone time’ which didn’t include kids, and definitely didn’t include Gabe after he mentioned he wanted some ‘alone time’ with her as well. You love their friendly bickering, the love they have for each other visible in everything they do. So when Melissa gave her husband a dirty look and flipped him the bird the only logical thing to do was to start laughing at their exchange. “Have fun with them, sweetheart!” Melissa had yelled at you when she walked through the door, leaving the four of you behind.

Together you decide to just have a movie night. It’s late enough for both children to be asleep already, yet early enough to squeeze in a full size movie marathon. “Gladiatorrrrr!” Gabe exclaims excitedly while scrolling through the movie selection on Netflix, pausing on his all-time favorite movie.

You groan, covering your face with your hands. “Please no, have mercy, Gabe,” you laugh, knowing damn well you’re going to sit through this movie again. How many times has it been already? 12? You wouldn’t even be surprised. This dude really loves his movie. You look at Gabe from between your fingers, seeing the look on his face which makes you groan even more. “Fineeee, one more time, Gabe. One more time,” you whine at him, secretly enjoying his taste in movies, something you don’t plan on telling him ever.

It’s a little after 10pm when the doorbell rings. You look at Gabe, who looks just as surprised as you are. “It’s a bit early for Mel, don’t you think?” Gabe asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Definitely, unless she drank the whole bottle of champagne again,” you chuckle, thinking back at one of the craziest parties you’ve ever been to with Mel and Gabe.

“Oh God, please don’t remind me of that,” Gabe shudders at the memory of that night, standing up to see who’s on the other side of the door.

Gabe hates to say that he isn’t surprised to see Tyson’s face as soon as he opens the door. Honestly he had expected him at his door days, maybe even weeks ago. The moment Tyson found out you were staying with Gabe he broke, Gabe expected him to fight, to yell, to scream, he expected him to do anything except cry. Which is exactly what Tyson did, breaking down in the middle of practice. For a moment the whole place went quiet, only Tyson’s cries echoing throughout the building. No one knew how to act, no one knew what to do, until Gabe realized he’s the captain for a reason. On and off the ice. It was a weird experience, one Gabe still feels extremely conflicted about. He comforted his teammate, his friend, while his other friend was at his home, utterly heartbroken, trying to get over the guy who was bawling his eyes out on the ice.

After Tyson got over the initial shock the anger took over, just as Gabe expected. It made him almost drop the gloves, something he tried to avoid, not wanting to hurt Tyson. He let him say his things, things that absolutely didn’t make any sense, until he got everything out of his system. “Now can we continue this fucking practice, Jost?” Gabe told him after everything calmed down. Gabe tried to avoid the Tyson/y/n topic as much as possible after that, not wanting to get in the middle of things more than he already was. Until tonight apparently.

Gabe raises an eyebrow at the boy before him. “Why are you here, Tyson?” Gabe sighs, already knowing the answer to that question.

Tyson looks around, eyes flickering from left to right, clearly uncomfortable being here. “I, uh, can I talk to y/n? I know she’s here,” Tyson asks, scratching the back of his head before putting them back in his pockets.

Gabe shakes his head at him. “You can’t, if she wants to talk to you she will find a way to contact you. As long as you don’t get your shit together and prove to me, but most of all to her, that you’ve changed, I won’t let you anywhere near her,” Gabe declares, starting to get annoyed with the way Tyson acts. There’s no way he lets him close to you until you feel like you’re ready to see him again, no way.

Tyson opens his mouth, but Gabe gives him a look that immediately shuts him up again. “I’m saying this as your captain, and definitely not as your friend right now. Go home and leave her the fuck alone. You had your chance, you fucked up and now you have to deal with the consequences. How you deal with those said consequences is up to you, but I suggest you leave now and think about everything you did and didn’t do, okay?” Tyson nods his head, turning around to walk back to his car.

When he’s a few steps away from his car he turns around, smiling sadly at Gabe. “She’s my home, Gabe. Home doesn’t feel the same without her. You out of all people should understand that.”

Gabe chuckles low, shaking his head at his clueless teammate. “I do. I do know what home feels like, but I never, never choose anyone or anything over my ‘home’. Never. You sure as hell did, time after time,” Gabe says frustratedly, before shutting the door, leaving behind an even more frustrated Tyson.

You didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but you caught the sound of Tyson’s voice when you walked to the kitchen, grabbing some more popcorn. You didn’t mean to listen to their conversation, but it felt like you were glued to your place, unable to take another step, unable to do anything but listen.

Gabe walks back into the room, the look on your face immediately letting him know you know. “How much did you hear?” he asks softly, approaching you slowly.

“Enough,” you whisper, before breaking down, no longer able to keep the tears locked away, no longer able to keep your emotions to yourself.

With two steps Gabe is in front of you, grabbing the bowl of popcorn you held onto between your trembling fingers. He guides you back to the couch, urging you to sit down, which is a true challenge for someone who can barely feel the ground they walk on. Gabe wraps his arms around you the moment you sit down, allowing you to cry onto his shoulder as much as you want and need. He whispers sweet nothings while softly brushing your hair out of your face, making sure you have room to breath. Time after time Gabe proves what kind of friend he is, always making sure to be there for you when he’s needed, always doing things with the best intentions. Even if it’s just holding you until you calm down, even if it’s just speaking the truth against Tyson, even if it’s just simply being there for one another.

“Sooner or later he would’ve realized what he lost, what he gave up for an evening of clubbing or God knows what. Apparently it’s sooner rather than later, however make sure you make him work for it, if you ever decide you want to give the two of you another chance,” Gabe softly advises you, when you finally calmed down a bit.

“I will, you know I love him, Gabe. But I don’t know if I should?” you mumble, not sure if it’s a question Gabe has the answer to.

“Sometimes the heart wants what it wants. If he’s serious about you, he will work his ass off to earn back your love and trust, I promise you,” Gabe comforts you, after knowing Tyson for so long he’s positive he knows that Tyson goes above and beyond to get what he wants in life.

Maybe it’s Gabe’s comforting words, maybe it’s knowing deep down Tyson still cares, maybe it’s your own strength, but for the first time in a while you feel a tiny flicker of hope, a little bit of light at the end of the dark tunnel. Maybe, just maybe this was all worth it, maybe this is what needed to happen to get better and move forward. Maybe this is how it was supposed to go.

It’s a weird feeling, knowing your ex still cares about you, but also knowing you aren’t ready to let him back into your life like that. You don’t feel like you’re capable of seeing him yet, let alone talk to him. The need to know how he’s doing, how he’s holding up grows, but also confuses you. It’s simply a weird and confusing situation to be in. Choosing between two, maybe even more ways to handle this, while also waiting for Tyson to make a move, which he obviously can’t since you don’t want to see him or speak to him, is a hard task. A task that will require a lot of thinking. You just need a bit more time to gather your thoughts, give all of your confusing feelings a place, while making sure you put yourself first, you need to put yourself first this time.

So when Gabe invites you to one of his home games a few weeks later you say ‘yes’ right away. It seems like the perfect time and place to see Tyson from a distance again, without putting too much stress on yourself, you can just watch and enjoy the game, you don’t have to force anything. Of course your seats turned out to be way closer to the ice than you expected them to be, although... what did you exactly expect with Gabe? You know he’s been talking to both of you, kind of acting like some sort of messenger. He tried to keep it casual, just slipping in some information during a conversation, but you noticed what he was trying to do. Frankly you’re thankful for his meddling.

Steadily your heart starts to beat faster and faster the more players appear on the ice to warm up. When Gabe appears you aren’t surprised to see Tyson close to him, knowing Gabe they probably had a little chat before they went on the ice. Tyson’s eyes shoot to yours the moment he’s close by, completely forgetting the ability to skate. You gasp when he lands on his ass on the ice, earning himself a round of laughter from the people around him, including Melissa and you. Gabe skates over to him, extending his hand and helping him upright again, but not before clearly telling him he’s ‘a dumbass’. Now that’s something you can agree on.

You know Tyson has something up his sleeve when he skates off to the bench, clearly busying himself with something you can’t see. After a few more stolen glances at each other Tyson skates closer and closer to you, until he’s right in front of the glass. His left hand catches your attention, until he gives you a small and almost shy smile. “Look at him, he’s blushing!” Melissa whispers next to you. You shoot her a quick ‘shut up’ look, before you focus your attention back on Tyson.

Tyson shows you the puck in his gloved hand, mouthing to you to catch it. It takes him two tries before the puck lands on the other side of the glass, safely in your hands. Tyson gives you one last quick smile before he skates off to get ready for the game. Melissa nudges you softly, bringing you back from your thoughts. “So, what’s on there?” she asks, knowing damn well you haven’t even checked.

“I don’t know if I want to look, Mel,” you tell her honestly. Melissa gives you a sad smile, throwing her arm around your shoulders.

“Let’s look together?” she suggests. You don’t know why you’re so nervous, how much can you actually write on a puck? He seemed happy to see you, so there’s no need to be nervous that it’s a bad thing. You look at the puck, turning it around in your hands so you can read the whole thing. ‘Talk after the game?’ is written on the puck, you immediately recognize Tyson’s handwriting and his little smiley face, or.. something that should resemble a smiley face.

“That wasn’t that bad, right?” Melissa asks softly, squeezing your shoulder.

“What if I’m not ready?” you ask her, a question that has been on your mind a lot lately.

“Then you take a step back, you don’t have to prove yourself to anyone, you don’t have any obligations. But he’s trying, y/n. You’ve heard all of Gabe’s stories, you’ve seen it yourself just now. It can’t hurt to at least talk to him.” You think about Melissa’s words, she does have a point there. Talking is something you should’ve done ages ago, or at least Tyson should’ve done that. So this is progress, he’s at least trying this time, that’s more than he used to do.

It’s hard to keep the smile off your face, you can’t even pinpoint why exactly you’re smiling. Whatever the reason is, it’s a good feeling to smile again. The game sure as hell plays a big part in it, the guys are on fire, scoring goal after goal, never giving the puck away for long. There’s barely any time for you to give Tyson a thumbs up, indicating you’re up for a talk after the game. Whenever you look at Tyson when he’s off the ice he’s smiling, whether it is to himself or to one of his teammates, that smile won’t leave his face.

You follow Melissa down to the locker room after the game is over. You’ve done this so many times, but this time it couldn’t be more different. You greet all the girls who are patiently waiting on their man, getting enough comforting words from them to last you a lifetime. When the door to the locker room opens you come face-to-face with Mikko, someone you haven’t seen in a while. Mikko’s face lights up when he spots you outside the locker room. “y/n! I haven’t seen you in so long,” he says, while hugging you tightly.

“I missed you too, goof. It’s great to see you,” you smile at him, wiggling out of his iron grip. Dude’s definitely stronger than he looks.

“Between you and me, Tyson’s a good kid, he just needed to grow up a bit,” Mikko whispers against your ear, before leaving you alone again.

You raise your eyebrow at Melissa, who just shrugs her shoulders. Weird. After a few more minutes Gabe and Tyson appear in front of you, both of them joking around. Tyson nervously looks around, not sure if he should come any closer. Gabe hugs you swiftly before throwing his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Make sure you bring her home safely, Jost,” Gabe warns him, before quickly saying goodbye to both of you.

You watch them leave, your mouth agape by the way they just left you here. Rude. “Did they just really do that?” you ask no one in particular, still shocked by their actions.

You turn around, looking back at Tyson, who still appears to be nervous. Is he nervous to talk to you? Why would he be nervous? It’s just you. “Hi there,” you smile, looking up at the man in front of you.

“Hi beautiful, it was nice seeing you tonight,” Tyson softly says, giving you a small smile.

Your insides flutter with his use of words, it’s nice hearing them even though you’re not completely sure if he means them the way you hope he does. “It was. You played great, I had a lot of fun,” you say, smiling at the proud look that crosses Tyson’s face for a moment.

Tyson leads you back to the rink, which is now completely deserted, thinking it would be a nice place to chat. For a while the two of you fall back into small talk, ‘how’s life?’, ‘how’s work?’, all that bullshit. You know Tyson and you are avoiding the actual topic that needs to be discussed, or topics? Whatever it is, there’s a lot to talk about. “I missed it here, I forgot how much I loved being here,” you tell Tyson, looking at the lights that lighten up the place, thinking back at the memories full of fun and happiness you both created here.

“I missed you, baby,” Tyson blurts out, completely catching you off guard.

Your eyes shoot back to his, you feel the panic rising inside your body. “Tyson...,” you start, warning him he’s walking on thin ice here.

Tyson’s face falls a bit, seeing the anxious look on your face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that,” Tyson groans, rubbing his face harshly, utterly frustrated with himself and the situation.

It’s quiet for a minute, both of you completely lost in thoughts. “Why is this so hard? We used to be able to talk about anything and everything. What changed, y/n?” Tyson wonders out loud.

You feel a painful pang in your heart, because you know damn well what changed. “You did, Tyson. You changed,” you almost whisper, the truth behind those words more clear than ever before.

You watch as Tyson’s whole composure changes in the blink of an eye, in just a split second he goes from the ‘happy’ guy to the guy who’s just as heartbroken as you are. “I did, didn’t I?” Tyson whispers, the tears pooling in his eyes. “I fucked this up, how could I be so stupid?” he mumbles, burying in face in his hands. “I’m so sorry, I regret this more than I could ever admit to you. I’m so sorry, baby,” Tyson cries, trying to keep his eyes focused on you. It’s hard to keep your own tears at bay when the guy you love so much has a breakdown in front of you, so you don’t. You just let them fall.

You don’t make a move to comfort him, you do give him room to let it all out, give him time to gather his composure again. “I looked through the box, the one you left on our bed?” Tyson says, his voice still broken, still thick with emotion. You nod your head, it was something you hoped he would do. “I had no idea you kept all of that throughout the years,” Tyson smiles weakly at you. “It made me realize what a moron I have been these past few months, maybe even longer,” he continues, shaking his head in disappointment. You listen intently at him, this, this is what you hoped for all this time: realization.

“I’m not telling you that you weren’t a moron, because you absolutely were. But I’m glad you came to the same conclusion.”

Tyson chuckles at your statement, giving you half a smile. “I know, I’m a dumbass. I’m a dumbass for acting this way and a dumbass for letting you go. Any guy would be on top of the world with you by his side, and I just let you slip through my fingers,” Tyson tells you, finally showing he knows he’s been a fool all this time, he knows he let something special go.

“Is it too late for us? Can you give us another chance?” Tysons asks you, his eyes flickering between you and the ground.

You sigh softly, knowing this question would come. It’s something you gave a lot of thought, something that crossed your mind daily. “I don’t know, Tyson. I really don’t know. You really fucking hurt me, you know? I can’t just look past that, I need to heal from that,” you tell him. Tyson nods his head, a guilty expression on his face. “You made me feel worthless every single day. You didn’t even give me a second of your time day after day. All you cared about was being away. Being away from me?”

It’s right that moment Tyson interrupts you by grabbing your hands. “No. No. That’s not true, you need to believe me,” he tells you as fast as he can.

“But how can I believe you when you never gave me a reason to? Your actions showed me exactly that, Tyson. I need answers, I need to know why,” you exclaim, starting to panic again, your anxiety taking over.

“Easy, baby. I’ll tell you everything you want to know, everything you want, but right now I need you to breath. Breathe, baby,” Tyson says softly, trying to calm your shallow breathing back down to normal. “Listen to my breathing, try to follow the way I breathe.” You do as he says, following the rise and fall of his chest, gaining back control of your own breathing.

“I’m sorry,” you apologize, while Tyson just shakes his head at you, letting you know it’s okay. “Can you take me home, Ty? We can talk later, okay?” you ask him, suddenly feeling the need to crawl underneath the covers of your bed and just simply sleep for a while.

“Anything you want, y/n,” Tyson says, leading you out of the room and back to his car. You’re pretty sure he mumbled something under his breath, something very closely resembling ‘your home isn’t there, it’s with me’.

The drive to Gabe takes longer than expected, giving you more time to think about Tyson’s earlier question. You still need and want to know how he spent his nights, where he spent his nights, and why he acted like you didn’t exist. That conversation might need to wait until another day, you aren’t up for any more information, any more realizations, you still need to process everything you heard, saw and felt today.

Tyson stops the car in front of Gabe’s house, looking back at you with hopeful eyes. You know he still hopes he gets an answer to his earlier question, and you want to give him at least that. “You need to show me you changed, Tyson. Show me you changed for real and I’ll try to get past everything that happened. I can’t promise you anything,” you tell him softly, meaning everything you just said.

Tyson nods his head, a smile of relief on his lips. “I will, I promise you I will show you I changed and that you’re everything to me. I promise, baby.”

So that’s exactly what Tyson does the next few weeks, every free moment he tries to show you just how much you mean to him, without smothering you. Whether it’s taking you out for dinner, although you’re still waiting for Tyson to actually make you dinner by himself one day, to small coffee dates and fresh flowers at work. It’s been a lot to process, a lot of adjusting to this ‘new’ Tyson, or rather seeing the ‘old’ Tyson again. And you missed him, God you missed him so much.

Tyson seems happier, more at peace with himself these days, it’s a pleasant change. Often you wondered what was really going on inside his head, but you stopped trying after he waved it off again, and again, and again. The late night phone calls, or facetiming during road trips have become a habit again, something you didn’t think you would ever experience again with him. You still take things slow with Tyson, deciding to rather allow yourself to slowly start trusting him again than diving head first into a relationship again. Maybe it will never come that far again, you don’t know how the future will look like for the two of you, but for now it’s enough.

You come face-to-face with a smirking Melissa when you get home from yet another ‘iced coffee and donut’ date, even though you’re pretty sure Tyson isn’t allowed to eat any donuts. “Oh no,” you groan at Melissa’s expression.

“It’s time we have a little sister-sister conversation, don’t you think?” she asks you, ushering you into the living room.

“Do we?” you groan again, not in the mood to handle whatever Melissa wants to talk about now, because you already know it’s either about you, Tyson or you and Tyson.

Melissa flops down on the couch, patting the place next to her, indicating for you to sit your ass down. “Did you already talk to him about it?” she asks, straight to point in pure Melissa-style.

You let your head fall back against the cushions, sighing loudly. “I didn’t. We’re doing great, we’re having fun. I’m going to ruin it if I start asking questions again.”

Melissa stays quiet for a minute, trying to figure out the right way to approach this sensitive topic. “You know you deserve the truth, right? You can’t rebuild a relationship when not everything’s on the table, sweetheart,” Melissa says softly, knowing you’re struggling with this.

“I promise I’ll talk to him after the road trip, I don’t want to create any unnecessary negative energy before,” you promise Melissa, although she gives you a ‘who are you trying to fool here’ look before switching topics.

A few days later you find yourself back at Tyson’s place. It’s weird being here, knowing you don’t live here anymore. Nothing changed, absolutely nothing, Tyson kept everything the way you did, whether it’s out of laziness or out of hope you’ll come back on day. Either way it’s weird coming back to a place that’s no longer your home. You came here to talk, nothing more nothing less. You promised Mel you would, and if you’re being honest with yourself it’s time to know the truth, time to reopen old wounds and finally get some answers. You’ve grown closer and closer to Tyson, without knowing everything, without knowing you’d be able to forgive him if he ever made a misstep. It’s time.

Tyson has been a nervous wreck ever since you called him last night after he returned from the road trip to St. Louis. He knew this was coming, but he prayed you would simply forget, even though he knows that’s not fair at all. He can’t excuse his behavior, and he won’t, not anymore. You deserve nothing but the truth, the full truth. He’s not proud of it, but you leaving him opened his eyes, showed him he really needed to change. Tyson feels like that’s something he truly did, he changed for the better, he can only hope you’ll feel the same way. He can only hope you’re still on the same path after tonight.

“You did great these last games, Ty,” you smile at him. You’re proud of the way he’s been performing these last couple of games, he really stepped up his game.

“I know you didn’t come here to talk about my performances on the ice, so can we please skip the pleasantries?” Tyson sighs, catching you completely off guard with his rather harsh approach. “Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way, I’ve just been so fucking nervous since you called me,” Tyson curses, frustratedly brushing his fingers through his curls.

“You’re right though, I did come to talk. I think it’s time we lay all our cards on the table,” you tell him, nodding at your own answer.

You nervously bite on your lip, playing with the cup of water in your hand. It isn’t every day you ask your ex these questions. Questions you want the answers to, question you maybe don’t even want to hear the answers of. “I need to know if you cheated on me, Ty,” you blurt out, keeping your eyes on the ground, not wanting to see the look on Tyson’s face.

“Look at me, baby,” Tyson says, urging you to look up at him. “I never cheated on you, I wouldn’t do that to you. I promise.”

You shake your head at him, not knowing what to do with these emotions surging through your body. “It doesn’t make sense, Ty. Where were you all those nights? Where were you every time I lay in bed alone waiting for my boyfriend to come home? Waiting if he actually comes home this time or stays out all night again? Where were you?” At this point you’re past the civil conversations, past the friendly banter, you need answers, you need to know why he did what he did. The reason doesn’t even matter at this point, you need to know why. Why did he leave you alone so many nights, worrying about his well being, worrying about if he would come home at some point?

“Fuck, y/n! I know I fucked up, I know I did. But I swear on everything, I swear on my career, I swear on you that I never, never, touched another woman. I never kissed another woman, I never even danced with another woman, I did not cheat on you,” Tyson exclaims, hoping, praying you hear what he’s saying, that you’ll believe him. He didn’t do anything with another person, it was always you, it still is only you and he’ll do everything in his power to prove that to you every damn day.

“Then where were you, Ty? If you weren’t with another woman, then where the fuck were you every night you didn’t came home? Please enlighten me, because I’m so lost, so fucking lost,” you say, feeling utterly frustrated with yourself, with Tyson, with this shitty situation.

Tyson takes a deep breath, placing his cup back on the table. “Shitfaced drunk to the point I couldn’t even remember my own name, or so stoned I saw freaking elephants running all around town. Spending my money on unnecessary shit at clubs and bars, all to forget, trying to forget the fact that I had a perfect girlfriend waiting for me at home, while I did stupid shit. Fuck, this sounds even worse out loud than in my head,” Tyson groans, burying his face in his hands.

“But...,” you start, before Tyson cuts you off.

“I felt ashamed and guilty, y/n. Ashamed I let it get that far every time, guilty I didn’t tell you, guilty I didn’t come home again. One of the guys would just take me back to their place out of sympathy, letting me crash on their couch, trying to sleep off my haze.”

You try to come up with words to say, with anything but nothing comes out, you just feel.. empty? “I don’t understand, Tyson,” you say, at this point not even sure what you don’t understand.

“I tried, y/n. I tried to just come clean, but I couldn’t when you were so nice all the time, I couldn’t when I knew you would hate it, hate me. You know I’m a fucking lightweight, that makes it even worse. But those are no excuses, there aren’t any. I fucked up,” Tyson sighs, giving you a sad smile, “I couldn’t face you, I didn’t know how to show you my vulnerable side without letting it change the way you saw me. I didn’t want you to see me any different, but I didn’t notice I changed until you packed your bags and left me standing in the doorway.”

You’re absolutely speechless, there are so many things you want to say but you can’t form any sentences, any words. You just stare at him, your mind racing with an unlimited amount of thoughts. “Are you okay, baby?” Tyson asks softly, reaching out to put his hand on your arm.

You shake your head from side to side, wiping away the tears that spilled out. “I’m not okay, I’m definitely not okay,” you tell him. “I feel terrible knowing you didn’t feel like you could come to me, like you couldn’t talk to me. I’ve always been your biggest supporter, nothing would’ve changed that, Ty.”

Tyson gently wipes the tears away from underneath your eyes, scooting closer to where you’re seated. “Come here, baby,” he softly says, opening his arms for you. You hesitate for a second, not knowing if this is the right thing to do. Fuck the right thing, you definitely need a hug right now, and judging by Tyson’s facial expression he needs one as well. You lean forward, putting your arms around his neck, breathing in the familiar scent of his body. How long has it been since you hugged each other? You can’t even remember, way too long. Tyson closes his arms around you, pulling you as close as possible to his own body.

“I missed this, Ty. I missed you,” you confess, the feeling of his arms around you, the feeling of Tyson, bringing back so many memories, so many happier times.

“I know we still have a long way to go, but I hope we’ll do this together. I can’t even tell you how great it feels to have my arms around you again, even if it’s just for a moment,” Tyson says, after you both let go of each other.

“We do, but I’m in if you’re in, Ty,” you agree, wanting nothing more than to work through the issues you still have. It’s time to forgive, time to let go, time to change and time to move on.

“I’m all in.”

The talk you had with Tyson that Wednesday evening did wonders for the both of you. You still had a long way to go before you were even remotely close to where you used to be with Tyson, but the most important thing was that you were working on things. Slowly, but steadily the two of you worked on trusting each other again, telling each other important things again, just simply working on being in a healthy relationship again. Although the word never came up, you were nowhere near ready for that commitment, so you settled on something less intimidating. Friends.

It was supposed to be a regular, normal Friday evening with just Melissa and the kids. Gabe and Tyson were playing one of their most important games this season, both of them begged you to come, but it was too late to find a babysitter. Not wanting to be by yourself there and leaving Mel alone, you decided to sit this one out as well, promising to cheer them on in front of the tv. It’s the least you could do. So there you are, seated on the couch wearing your Jost jersey for the very first time again, just as you promised. Weird, like nothing ever changed, even though the exact opposite is true.

You’re bouncing a giggling Linnea Rae on your knee, looking down at her adorable mini jersey. “Look it’s your daddy!” you exclaim excitedly, pointing at the closeup shot of Gabe.

“Daddy!” Linnea Rae giggles just as excited.

You catch Mel softly smiling at your little interaction with her daughter, enjoying the love you share for each other. It’s been a blessing to have you around here, the way you care for her children, but also for her and her husband has been phenomenal. Mel couldn’t wish for a better friend, for a better sister than you.

“Oh no,” you whisper when Tyson gets slammed hard into the glass. Melissa grabs your hand, squeezing softly.

“He’s going to be fine, he’s a tough guy,” she says, trying her best to comfort you. And he is, like the tough guy Tyson is, he gets up again, shaking off the hard hit. The game continues and you’re glad Tyson is fine, skating like he didn’t just get squeezed between a glass wall and a 200 pound hockey player.

All goes well until Gabe decides the best place to smack his stick is directly against Tyson’s face, again. “Not his face, Gabe! Not his fucking face again!” you yell at the screen, thanking Mel for already putting the kids to sleep.

“Shit, that looks bad,” Melissa almost whispers, squeezing your hand again.

You don’t know many things for sure in life, but you sure as hell know Tyson will be spotting a black eye for weeks. But like the tough guy he already proved to be, he just goes on with the game, trying his absolute best to work as hard as he can, giving himself completely to the game, anything to get his team the victory.

“That’s the second time you gave my man a black eye, Gabe. Why do you keep hurting him?” you whine the second Gabe walks into the living room. For a moment the room stays awfully quiet, until you realize what you just said. “I really said that, huh?” you ask, fighting to keep the smile off your face.

“You sure did. But I’m sorry, it was an accident. Again,” Gabe chuckles, shrugging his shoulders.

“Uhu, again,” you say, rolling your eyes at your best friend.

Gabe grins at you, flopping down on the couch next to Mel. “I’ll try not to hurt his pretty face again, okay?” Gabe laughs, shaking his head at you in a playful way.

“Is it weird if I, you know.. went over to check up on him?” you ask your friends, suddenly insecure about the thought of just showing up at his door.

Gabe gives you a soft smile. “I’m absolutely convinced he’d love that, y/n,” Gabe says, pulling Melissa closer to him.

“I know he would, sis,” Melissa agrees with her husband.

“Fine, okay. I’ll be back in a few. Don’t enjoy yourself too much,” you tell the two lovebirds before finding your stuff and almost running out of the front door.

You’re giddy the entire drive to Tyson’s apartment. This could go two ways, either it goes extremely well or this backfires completely. You’re hoping for the first one. Seeing Tyson get hurt gave you some realizations. One of them is that you absolutely hate to see him hurt, and you want nothing more than to be there for him, care for him, to tell him everything will be alright. Which brings you to your second discovery of the evening: you still love him, you’re still completely and utterly in love with Tyson. You can’t, really can’t imagine your life without Tyson in it. It’s your turn to tell him you need him, tell him you don’t want to do anything without him, tell him you still see a future together.

You pick up his favorite comfort food on the way over, cake. You know his nutritionist will hate you for this, but he deserves a treat after taking a stick to the face. You chuckle to yourself when you think of the small cake you bought, it’s stupid and childish, but you love it. The fun you already had makes it absolutely worth it. You park in front of the building, hopping out of the car and quickly making your way over to the floor Tyson occupies.

You rummage around in your coat pocket for the lighter you bought alongside the cake. Quickly placing the cover back into the bag, and lighting up the ‘2’ shaped candle. You snicker to yourself, enjoying this way too much. You knock on the door and patiently wait for Tyson to open up. You hear Tyson approaching, making it harder and harder to keep your composure.

The moment he opens the door his face shifts from slight annoyance, to confused, to happy, and back to confused again. “y/n?” he asks softly, looking between you and the cake, confusion clearly written all over his face.

“Happy second black eye!” you yell, before bursting out in laughter.

Tyson can’t help but join you in your laughter, if there’s one thing he loves about you, it’s your wicked sense of humor. “You really are something special, aren’t you?” Tyson chuckles, shaking his head softly at you, a smile playing on his lips.

“You tell me, Jost,” you say, giving him a wink before walking past him and inside his apartment.

“So you bought me a cake?” Tyson asks you, looking over your shoulder to the cake on his kitchen counter.

“I sure did, thought you’d deserved a treat after what Gabe did to you, again,” you laugh.

“He sure likes to hit me in the face with things. But thank you, this really means a lot to me, baby,” Tyson softly says, squeezing your hip with one of his hands, before grabbing two plates. While Tyson cuts the cake you look for something to drink, deciding water will do for the night.

You flop down on the couch next to Tyson, immediately bringing the fork with a piece of cake to your mouth. “Oh God, that’s so good,” you moan out, you picked some killer cake.

“Don’t make those noises, please,” Tyson groans, stuffing his face with cake.

“I’m sorry I picked such a good freaking cake, mister,” you laugh, nudging him with your foot. Tyson rolls his eyes playfully at you, grabbing your foot with his free hand before you can nudge him again and again.

“Movie?” Tyson asks after you both finished your plates, although Tyson finished the last few bites of your piece. Like he said he’s a needy and hungry man.

“Sure, but just something light and funny, Ty. Nothing dark,” you tell him, knowing he’d love to scare you throughout some horror movie.

While Tyson scrolls through the movies, you make yourself more comfortable on the couch, laying back against the cushions with your feet against Tyson. He looks at you, scanning your body, clearly thinking about something since his eyebrows keep furrowing and relaxing.

“Come here, Tyson,” you softly say when he finally picks a movie to watch, opening your arms for him. His eyes shoot to yours, like he can’t actually believe you just told him that. He gives you a quick smile, before moving towards you, laying down beside you.

He rests his head against your chest, just like he used to do so long ago, his arm wrapped around your waist. “Is this okay?” he asks you, making sure you aren’t uncomfortable, even though you’re the one who suggested this.

“It’s perfect, Ty,” you reassure him.

Halfway through the movie you can’t resist the temptation to run your fingers through his curls any longer. Tyson groans softly when your nails rake over his scalp, sending chill through your body. “That’s so good, please never stop doing that,” he groans out, pulling you tighter against him.

“I wasn’t planning on it, Ty,” you tell him, smiling at the way his eyes shoot to yours.

“You aren’t? Are you serious?” he asks you quietly, eyes still locked on yours.

“I am, love. I came to the conclusion that you’re worth all the risks in life. You’re my light, my guiding light in darkness, my light at the end of the tunnel,” you say, leaving a soft kiss on his forehead. You try to express your emotions towards Tyson, trying to make him feel what you felt when you came to the sudden realization he’s worth taking a risk.

“What does that mean, baby?” Tyson asks you softly, an uncertain smile on his lips.

“It means I’m willing to give us another shot, another go. I want to try again, Ty.”

You can’t help the smile that forms on your lips when you look at Tyson’s face, the realization setting in, the happiness and the gratefulness spreading all over his face, the relief flooding through his body.

“How does that work?” Tyson asks again, clearly trying to rid himself of any insecurities, any questions he has. You gladly take those insecurities away from him.

“A clean slate, completely starting over again to give us both a fresh start. How does that sound?” you ask him.

Tyson nods at you, the happiness radiation off him. “A fresh start, I like the sound of that,” Tyson muses. The changes on his face fascinates you, it seems like he goes through a whole range of emotions in just a few minutes. Until he reaches one you know all too well, mischief. He looks at you, the familiar glimmer in his eyes tells you he’s definitely up to something. He sends you a soft and sweet smile, that almost melts you into a puddle right there and then. “Hi, I’m Tyson,” he says, extending his hand to you. You can’t help the laughter that bubbles out of you, this is exactly how Tyson is. Funny, charming, an absolute dream.

“You’re a goof, you know that?” you tell him, softly shaking your head at him, but the big grin on your face tells him you loved that. Tyson intertwined his fingers with yours, squeezing softly. When he doesn’t make any other moves you take matters into your own hand, slowly leaning in and softly pressing your lips on his. The familiarity, the rush of emotion flooding through your body hits you like a ton of bricks. The feeling of his lips against yours light something deep inside of you, and just like that you finally feel complete again.

[supermoviemaniac]

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT MOVIE SPOILERS...

Don't worry, there's no spoilers in this post - just a rant about people's insatiable need to spoil things.

If you're reading this, it's probably because you're a fellow movie enthusiast. Entertainment by any means has the ability to bring people together. We can anticipate and experience things, then discuss and share said experiences. Sometimes we have to wait an agonizing amount of time - often seemingly forever... but when it finally arrives, we're happy we waited, and most often than not, it's usually worth waiting for too.

As a kid, spoilers were never really a risk I encountered, partly due to the internet being not as, let's just say, socially collosal and expansive as it is today. I was able to enjoy movies, games, TV shows and comics from start to finish and get surprised along the way. The duration between a piece of media being announced/confirmed, and the time it took for it to release and be ingested was never a spoiler minefield, partly because such a minefield didn't exist.

Flashforward to present day, and we all have the same social media apps installed. We use these apps to discover content and stay updated with friends and family, though for some reason, in the last few years, all I seem to encounter on a daily basis are just spoilers for things I care about. The argument could be made that the algorithms are attempting to tailor content to me for convenience. I'm not denying that this is a beneficial system in theory, but when I'm forced to see spoilers against my will purley due to it relating to something I'm interested in, it gets a little annoying.

Another argument could be made that I don't have to use these apps, which is certainly true, but I shouldn't have to deprive myself of near-infinite entertainment that I do care about, just because a portion of people/organisations make it their mission to recklessly splurge out exclusive content for the sake of views.

These spoilers range from rakishly explicit images, to implicit news headlines trying their hardest to be allusive, though fail to realise most people aren't stupid and will probably know what a cryptic headline is implying, without needing to read the actual article. I've seen screenshots from upcoming movies that I would've rather not seen, I've seen people posting pictures of merch and figurines for things before we've even seen a trailer. Yes, merch/toys aren't always accurate, but they still give you a good idea of what's in store.

I miss being able to just sit and wait for a trailer, enjoy the hell out of it, wait in anticipation for the movie to release, and then just be able to f**king enjoy it when it's out! Now, everyday just feels like I have to dodge spoilers no matter what I'm doing. If I get a whiff of a spoiler, I have to double down on my vigilance to ensure it remains unspoilt. I have to make sure that remains the case right up until release day, and then let out a sigh of relief when I finally rest my cheeks on the cinema seat. If you're excited about something, why the hell has it become an obstacle course to make sure that remains the case?

I understand that some people are okay with spoilers, and I understand that some outlets try to share spoilers with some sort of security attached, for people that don't want to inadvertently see things, which I definitely appreciate... but to some degree, you have to acknowledge that there is nothing stopping a fellow reader taking that spoilery information and passing it along without the same degree of care.

Posting spoilers is easy content. It comes with an element of exclusively that is bound to pull in a larger audience, but I dislike this severely. If you have encountered a spoiler deliberately or accidentally, it is your responsibility to make sure others aren't forced to learn about them. If everyone else around you is posting spoilers for views, don't worry, it doesn't suddenly make you uncool for not taking part. If anything, I find it admirable if you're making the conscious effort not to participate in sharing spoilers.

At the end of the day, seeing spoilers isn't life or death, and in the grand scheme of things, this issue seems petty, but when you're passionate about something, you want to be able to enjoy it properly. If you bought a new book, you'd be annoyed if the person next to you skips to the last page and bellows out the ending. If you're queuing up to watch the final of a football tournament, you'd be annoyed if a time traveller teleported in front of you and spoiled the outcome. The irony of these over the top examples is that we're actually encountering this for movies/shows, however they're in the form of mundane social media posts.

This issue is just getting worse by the day, and I imagine every new movie that's set to release will just breed more and more spoiler content. I think there needs to be greater consequences for the initial leakers, and more of a deterrent for the people/outlets that are itching to share them. I'm not a tech whiz of any kind, but why can't we have something similar to an AdBlocker which censors potential spoilers? Silly, I know - ideally though, it would be nice to not have to suggest desperate ideas to avoid things I don't want to see. These are first world problems for sure, and I'm not denying that in the slightest, but it still sucks. It shouldn't have to be like this. Why is there such a need to declare you know something before other people? I honestly don't remember the last piece of content I experienced that hadn't had an aspect of it spoilt. I watch the trailers, featurettes and interviews as it's the quantity the content makers want me to see prior to the movie. I look at the poster because they want me to visualise what's in store. It should stop there. This is what we should discuss, speculate on and get hyped about and nothing more.

What are everyone else's opinions?

[plush-rabbit]

Fluff Alphabet - Dabi | Touya Todoroki

A/N: I’m going to tag this as bnha spoilers because idk how many people look at leaks so yeah. Also I hope this was the alphabet you meant!!

A = Admiration (What do they absolutely adore about you?)

Dabi adores your worrisome nature. In a word so cruel, himself included, having you around and dote on him and treat him delicately, relaxes him. He likes to put on his persona and act tough but when you cusp his face in your hands and pepper kisses over him, he melts and leans into your touch.

B = Body (What is their favorite part of your body?)

He loves your neck. He loves to hide his face in it and inhale your scent and rub his over yours. He likes to press himself onto you and feel your heartbeat and brush his lips over your sensitive spots and smile when he feels you squirm from the ticklish feelings.

C = Cuddling (How do they like to cuddle?)

Cuddling only happens during intimate moments or when you initiate it; he’s not one to crawl up to you and lay his head on your chest. He’ll throw his arm over your chest as he rests on his stomach in he’s in a tired mood but if he is feeling intimate, he likes to pull you close to him and rest his chin on the top of your head and lay there until you or him squirm away.

D = Dates (What does their ideal date with you look like?)

An ideal date that he would like to take you out on would be dinner- classic and simple. He just wants to treat you out for a night and order expensive food and drink bottled wine or water- whatever you want- and just talk to you as you both dine. There’s no special reason why he wants a dinner with you, he just think that you’d enjoy it given that most dates portrayed in media are something in that caliber.

E = Emotions (How do they express emotion around you?)

He acts rather expressionless at time, only showing you what he wants to show you and in the beginning of the relationship; the most that you get from him is a smile or teasing remark. As time goes on and the relationship grows, his way of expression changes to more subtle ways that are constant. If he’s in a foul mood, he becomes dismissive and avoids you, loving, he has his hand on you constantly, lips brushing against the shell of your ear and a smile tracing over your burning skin. He’s much more emotional as time grows on, the façade breaking through and the scarred child rearing his head.

F = Family (Do they want one? If they do, when?)

He doesn’t want a family. He doesn’t see himself living long enough to have children and he doesn’t particularly find them worth it given the trouble that could arise. He was never into dating and the thought of being in a committed relationship never crossed his mind so he doesn’t really want children.

G = Gifts (How do they feel about gift giving? What are their habits when it comes to this?)

He’s a bit shocked and speechless if you were to give him a gift. He doesn’t really expect it and if it’s small and something that he likes- in terms of snacks or something small- he’s surprised that you remembered such trivial information. When he gives you gifts, he acts like it’s whatever but he gauges your reactions and he’s pleased when you enjoy what he gets for you. His gift bearing comes randomly and they’re usually something small- on special days he’ll give you something expensive and ignore your questions about where he got the gift.

H = Holding Hands (When/How do they like to hold hands?)

He likes to hold hands every so often. It isn’t something he’s big on; he rather put his hand on your back or on your knee. He only likes to hold your hand when you two are cuddling or if either of you are in a particular bad mood. He likes to keep your hand close to his lips to run them over your fingers or just place them in front of his chest.

I = Injury (How would they act if you got hurt?)

If it’s because of your own fault, he’s a bit annoyed depending on the damage but nothing serious that can’t be fixed by a quick kiss. However, if it were because of someone else’s fault, Dabi would be furious. He would make sure that you’re alive and breathing, and then leave for the day and come back with tinged skin.

J = Jokes (Do they like to joke around with or prank you? How?)

He’s not big on pranks or joking. He might tease you and ruffle your feathers a bit, but he won’t actively prank you. He would joke with you regarding a favorite show or moment. His teasing is much more like holding you close to him when you playfully try to get away and will tickle at your sides.

K = Kisses (How do they like to kiss you?)

His kissing is either quick or rather passionate. If it’s before a mission, he pulls you in for a quick kiss, but when he returns, it becomes more passionate and forceful depending how intense the mission was. Most of the time, his kisses start off slow and he’ll pull you in and gradually the kiss intensifies where you can taste the desperation and need for love on him, pulling away for breath only to return back to the action.

L = Love (How do they show you they love you?)

He shows his love with the little things. You mention in passing that you like peonies, suddenly you have a peony in your room or peony scented body wash. His love is shown through small items that you yourself have forgotten.

M = Memory (Favorite memory together?)

His favorite memory is when he slept over at your place. There was no fear to escape and leave the premises, no rush where he was told to leave through the window or had to sneak out. He slept in a soft bed in a room scented of citrus and fruit and woke up to you coming into your room asking how he likes his coffee. He likes knowing that you thought about him while you prepared breakfast- that you still wanted him.

N = Nightmare (What is their worst fear?)

His worst fear is you. He is terrified of what you actually think of him. He knows that one day he’ll come clean to you, that he will tell you the truth of who he is and he worries how you’ll react. You already know who Dabi is, the murderer that reeks of burnt flesh, but he fears you knowing the child that he had to kill in order to survive and what you’ll think of him under a new light.

O = Oddity (What is one quirk they have?)

He is often stuck in his own head. He will keep his thoughts to himself and if you were to encourage him to open up he’ll come up with a lie to soothe you over and lay awake at night while you rest next to him. He doesn’t want you to get caught up in his storm of a mind.

P = Pet Names (What do they like to call you?)

He likes to stick around with doll, baby, sweets, babydoll, or dollface. There’s something that gets to him knowing how precious you are and hearing it ring out where you take it with flattery and respond to his pet names.

Q = Quality Time (How do they like to spend time with you?)

As long as you’re near him, he doesn’t mind what you two do. If you want to be around him while he drinks alcohol, he’ll offer you a sip and nothing more if you deny. You want to watch a movie? That’s fine with him as long as you sit close to him. He just wants to be around you, he doesn’t have much of a preference on what you two do.

R = Rhythm (What song reminds you of them?)

It’s a soft melody that plays in the dead of night as you drive by with the streetlamps lighting your way on a summer night. It starts off small and sounds nostalgic and it slowly builds up its tempo until a smile grows and he’s tapping his hands, mind drifting to you.

S = Secrets (How open are they with you?)

Dabi is open with who Dabi is. With Dabi, it’s what you see, is what you get. There’s no mistaking who he is unless denial is your strong suit. But beyond whom Dabi was growing up? He’s tight lipped. He won’t tell you, will push past your worries and force for a change of conversation.

T = Time (How long did it take you to get together?)

It took quite a bit. He never wanted a relationship. Never saw the need for love and a commitment and with you, it was supposed to be a fun time but he caught feelings. He can act like he doesn’t care, but he cares too much. He tries to smother the feelings but it doesn’t work and he ends up falling harder and ends up confessing to you out of nowhere.

U = Upset (How do they act when you’re upset?)

Depending on how upset you are, he either leaves you alone or bugs you about it until you either snap at him or tell him. If he can tell that it will blow over in an hour or two, he’ll let you simmer down. If you are upset and it has been festering, he wants you to tell him. He’s trying to be a good partner and wants to help you.

V = Vaunt (What are they proud of? Do they like to show you off?)

He’s extremely proud of you. He will show you off. He’s making sure that people know that you are off limits. He has his hand on you at all times and if you can fight, he’s hyping you up and throwing an arm around your neck and pulling you close, giving you a predatory grin as he exclaims how good you looked.

W = Warrior (How do they feel about you fighting? Would they fight for you, beside you, etc?)

He has no real preference if you want to fight or not. He would prefer if you stayed out of harm’s way but if you can fight someone, he’s not going to make you stand on the sidelines. He would fight for you. He wants to protect you, wants to keep you safe as much as he is physically able to, so he keeps you close. If you want to fight beside him, he’s soaking it in and fighting with you.

X = X-Ray (How well are they able to read you?)

It’s almost a bit frightening with how well he can red you. You can be stoic but he’s able to tell if you’re upset or brimming with happiness. He can read your emotions and is able to act accordingly.

Y = Yes (How would they propose to you?)

His proposal would be simple. It’s thought out yet not extravagant. He prepares a nice meal, makes sure everything goes smoothly and when you stand, he takes you in his arms and whispers the question in your ear, ring in pocket and you can hear how nervous he is as he asks you the question, feel the trembles in his body while he waits for your answer.

Z = Zen (What makes them feel calm?)

Dabi is emotional. He bides his time and when it comes down to it he shows his true colors. Once in a manic mindset, not much can calm him down but as he relaxes, the negative emotions setting in and the burning feeling of his skin finally aching, he wants to cuddle up to you. He likes when you massage his scalp and rub aloe vera on his skin as you sing him a song or talk about anything.

[carriagelamp]

Since it’s Pride Month, I decided this year I wanted to raid the library for a bunch of different queer books to read. Mostly graphic novels in this case, because I’ve had a hard time settling into much reading lately... thought hopefully now that it’s summer and I finally have my second shot I’ll be able to relax a bit more and dig into some heavier novels again. For now, enjoy some light, queer reads that I indulged in this June.

A Wolf Called Wander

A beautiful novel I had been hearing lots about. This story follows the young wolf Swift, who grows up knowing that he and his pack are the mountains, and the mountains are them. It’s in those mountains that he grows and learns and loves… until disaster strikes and he finds himself viciously torn apart from his family and forced out of the mountains that have always meant home to him. Forced to survive on his own. Swift then begins a gruelling journey that makes him face injury, starvation, and the everpresent danger of humans as he seeks a new place he can call home, and new people with whom he can form a pack.

This is all based on the true story of a tagged wolf known as OR-7, following the unbelievable route he took through Oregon and northern California! It was a very neat read, and I’d definitely recommend it if you enjoy stories told from an animal’s perspective because this book is a master class in it.

Bloom

I decided for June to try to read a handful of different queer books, and this was one of the first graphic novels I picked up. It is a super sweet story and the art is lovely. It’s about Ari, a boy who has just graduated high school and is now desperate to move away from his small town and his family’s struggling bakery, to join his band in the city where they hope to make it big. An agreement is finally reached: Ari’s father will let him leave, if he can find someone who can replace him in the bakery, which is how Ari meets Hector, someone who sees artistry and peace in baking. For anyone that’s read Check, Please, it gives off those types of vibes!

Boule et Bill: Bill est Maboul

Another book of Dupuis comics, because I can’t get enough of them! This one I just stumbled across and ended up reading on a whim but it was very cute. Geared younger than the others I’ve read, but still quite funny. It’s the charming hijinks of a young boy, his dog, and the family they live with. Each page or so is a different stand alone joke, a bit like Calvin and Hobbes except expanded beyond a single strip.

Chicken Run: Chicken Pies for the Soul

This was a ridiculous urge I got and had to follow. I recently rewatched Chicken Run (which is, of course, one of the best movies ever made) and felt the need to see if it had ever been novelized. Well, I found something better than a novelization! This is a chapter book with “advice” and stories written by the various characters, post-movie. It really does a good job with grasping the different characters’ voices and making something simple and funny out of it. It was very cute (and available on The Internet Archive if anyone else feels like reading something ridiculous!)

Doodleville

I picked this up on a whim and honestly, I shouldn’t have bothered. It was not very impressive. Very mediocre, awkward feeling artwork, and a story that only slightly manages to redeem it. The concept was kind of neat, and I did like how the ending came about, the rest was rather… plodding. I did not like the main character at all, her friends felt very Intentionally Quirky Aren’t We Cute :3 in a way that just tries too hard, and… yeah. Meh. It technically gets the “queer graphic novel flag” but it’s so in-passing that it feels rather excessive to give it that.

If you are interested, it’s about a world were doodles actually exist as living creatures that can be drawn into existence (the rather unsettling implications of which is never fully explored). This is all well and good, until the main character draws a monster and takes it with her to her art club... where it begins ravanging not only her doodles, but those of her friends. Together they need to work together to figure out how to stop this menace.

FRNCK v4

Phenomenal. I adore the FRNCK series, and book four wrapped up the first “cycle”, revealing several of the big secrets dogging the series so far, and changing how things are going to be able to run in the future.

If you haven’t seen me talk about it before, FRNCK is a graphic novel (a franco-belgian bande dessinée) about a young orphan, Franck, who’s chafing under the constant parade of uninterested foster parents that visit the orphanage he lives in. Determined to learn about his mysterious abandonment instead, he flees the orphanage… but finds himself tumbling through time, landing among a family of cave-people who rather reluctantly take him in and ensure this modern boy doesn’t die in the strange, dangerous new surroundings he finds himself in. You can get these ones in English as e-books, so if you want a really kickass graphic novel series to read please try these.

Haikyu!!

I’ve heard so much about Haikyu!! that I finally gave in and picked up the first book from the library. And I gotta say, it’s well worth the hype! This series really does capture the best parts of a good sports manga -- which is to say the team is filled with interesting, enjoyable character who all need to learn to pull together, boost each other’s strengths, and cover for each other’s weaknesses. Love me some found family tropes and this series oozes it in the best possible way. And then you also get some very cool action scenes as it makes high school volleyball seem like the most intense thing on earth. I can’t wait to continue it

Queer Eye

I haven’t been keeping up with Queer Eye but I was watching it ravenously when it first came out, and this seemed like a very cathartic book to read… and it really was. It had the same gentle, loving encouragement as the show. It doesn’t expect you to change your entire life, but to learn to embrace who you are, and take small steps to enhance those things. There a segment written (presumably) by each member of the Fab Five, explaining the mentality behind what they do on the show and how you can grow in those areas too. It’s very zen.

Spinning

I got this graphic novel out at the same time as Bloom, but it was the one that interested me less of the two... though that’s just because I have less interest in “real world” slice of life as a genre and this one is meant to be autobiographical. If you’re into that, you’ll probably love this because it really is stunning. Very pretty, and the format and pacing is all really well done. It’s a coming of age story for Tillie as she grows up dealing with a crosscountry move, complicated friendships, a burgeoning attraction to girls, and attending competitive figure skating classes.

This Place: 150 Years Retold

A stunning and heart-wrenching graphic novel told by a collection of different First Nation’s authors/artists, recounting oral histories about the 150 years since the colonialist formation of the country known as “Canada”. In other words, this is a post-apocalypse story, but one that really happened and that entire peoples are still fighting to survive. It’s very eye opening and beautifully told. Very strongly recommend the read, especially if you’re at all interested in history.

Torchwood: Serenity

Whoops, not technically a book. I had thought these were technically audiobooks at first, but rather they’re audio dramas that were played on the radio. Still, I decided to include one because I’ve been listening to them like a person possessed and they’re too fun not to at least mention. Let me indulge in my obsessions.

If you don’t know Torchwood, it’s a BBC series that spins-off from Doctor Who, focusing on the enigmatic and flirtatious Captain Jack Harkness, who is running the covert organization known as Torchwood, which is tasked to protect humanity from and prepare them for alien contact. It’s goofy and campy but also more adult and heavy than Doctor Who tends to get, so it is (in my opinion) a really fascinating series. Though it also has content warnings coming out the wazoo so maybe make sure it’s for you before delving in.

Serenity specifically is possibly one of the best Torchwood stories I’ve ever experienced. The Torchwood team concludes that there’s an undercover alien hiding in the idyllic gated community Serenity Plaza, and so that means it’s up to Jack and Ianto to go undercover as a happily married couple and flush out the alien without being discovered first. Even if it means being sickly sweet together, pretending to care about the local neighbourhood barbecues, and actually caring a bit too much about the Best Front Lawn competition. What is truly magical about this one, is that it manages to make it a Fake Dating AU despite the fact that Jack and Ianto are actually dating in canon. But they’re both used to dating as a pair of alien hunters with insanely dysfunctional lives, and who now need to figure out how to deal with domesticity. It is marvellous.

Wilderlore: The Accidental Apprentice

A middle grade novel that felt a bit like a cross between Harry Potter and Pokemon. It’s about orphan Barclay Thorne who wants nothing more than to be accepted in the rule-bound village of Dullshire, and live up to his apprenticeship as a mushroom farmer. He certainly wants nothing to do with the fearsome Beasts who live beyond the village, deep in the Woods or the sinister Lorekeepers that bond with them. It was, after all, a Beast that had killed his parents all those years ago. But when he finds himself at the very edge of the forest, hunting for an elusive mushroom, he is suddenly unable to avoid any of that. Not when a wild girl and her bonded dragon appear to summon a horrible Beast and end up getting Barclay bonded to it instead. Now, if Barclay ever wants to be welcomed back into his home, he has no choice but to venture into the Woods and find a way to sever the bond imprisoning him to the massive, monstrous wolf now imprinted on his body as a living tattoo.

I honestly can’t decide how I felt about this one. I feel like it’d be a really fun read for maybe a grade 5 to 7 student? I was a bit more meh about it. It was fine, but it was very hard not to draw unfavourable parallels to Harry Potter. But for a kid who’s never read Harry Potter? Or even an adult that has but is looking for something different to scratch that itch, this might be a good book to try. I’ll probably try reading the second book when it comes out.

[waynedunlaptheorgandonor]

caryl first date headcanon

i wrote a stream of consciousness caryl headcanon i was thinking about when i couldn’t sleep last night. no i did not proofread it. yes it is rambling nonsense. yes you can read it if you want: 

so i genuinely don’t know what the timeline for canon is gonna be now that we got bottle episodes, s11, and the spin-off, but just for a moment let us pretend that it happens during the bottle episodes and then we have all of s11 to watch caryl trying to figure out how to navigate a relationship with each other

cuz like, they gon fuck right away, bc things are gonna get heated, and tensions are gonna be high, and they’re gonna snap like a trip wire and fucking ravish each other, that’s without question

so the first little while of their relationship will be mostly getting intimately familiar with each other’s bodies down to every last freckle

but once they’ve simmered down some they’re gonna need to address the “oh shit, wait, how does a relationship work?” problem

cue: caryl’s first date

it’ll take place in commonwealth, and i’ve never read the comics and i know jack all about it outside of what i’ve skimmed, but we’re gonna ignore that for the sake of my fun post

i know enough about it to know that there are definitely places to have a date

daryl knows this too, tho he doesn’t rly think about it right away. at first he’s more confused and sort of standoffish about the whole place, bc he was always a forest-dweller even before the apocalypse, so seeing this new metropolis-like place after years of living like a gd pioneer is gonna throw him way off kilter

right up until he’s chillin’ with judith and she’s talking about how she’s excited to see her first concert, and they have restaurants, and things she’s only ever read about, and then out of nowhere she’ll pull out, “are you gonna take aunt carol on a date?” 

and daryl will stare at her

and she’ll be like “rosita was telling me about how father gabriel took her on a real date and how nice it was. you should do that for aunt carol” 

and daryl will stare at her

and then will hastily change the subject (she’ll see right through him, ofc, but she’ll let it slide)

but the thought will stick with him, and suddenly he’s looking at the schedule of upcoming concerts and plays and wondering if carol would care about any of it. does she like shakespeare? the most experience he would have had with shakespeare was ripping out a couple pages of his school copy of romeo and juliet to use to light some firewood

but maybe she’s into it???

eventually he’ll reach the inevitable conclusion that the only way this is going to work is if he actually asks her to go on a date with him, which should be easy, right? like, he was ball’s deep inside her last night and told her good morning by putting his face between his legs, so surely asking someone on a date is simple

it will not be simple

bc yeah, they fuck all the time, and obviously they’re head-over-heels in love with each other, they’re each other’s soulmates, yada yada, but also daryl’s extremely emotionally repressed and has the romance skills of a fifteen year old having his mom drive him and his date to his first homecoming dance, only worse bc he never even went to any school dances

but after Dwelling On It for ages he’ll finally get fed up with himself and will vow to stop being a pussy. he’ll ask her before the day’s over or he’ll shoot a bolt into his own foot, ok, no more excuses

so the whole day he’s jittery af

you’d think he’s trying to pop the question, but all he wants to do is go eat dinner with carol and then watch some people recite lines from a play written hundreds of years ago, like, what is his Deal(tm)??? 

(his deal is, ofc, that he waited so long to have her, and now every new thing feels tenuous, bc he’d rather die than lose her, and sure she knows him better than anyone, but never in this context, and plus her last dude basically bled passion and romance no matter how obnoxious, and what if she realizes just how fucking clueless he is and decides she doesn’t really want to be with a middle-aged man who still gets tongue-tied around a pretty girl?)

(but also she deserves a gd date, alright? she deserves it, and so he’s going to give it to her, even if going face-to-face with a walker horde is less intimidating)

carol notices something’s off with him right away, but she waits until after dinner, when the kids have gone to their rooms and the two of them are alone washing dishes to ask, “hey, so what the fuck?” 

and daryl will be like, k, it’s now or never

and he will 100% make a fool of himself by stumbling alllll over his words, like, “nothin’s wrong, i’m fine, everythin’s real fine, i was just wonderin’ if mb you’d wanna, y’know, i dunno, they got all these shows and shit that we ain’t had in forever and i didn’t know if mb you’d wanna go see one? and mb get some food? with me, i mean. like, together. like i’d take you there and we could do those things, like a, you know, a date. but it’s cool if not, no worries, i get it if it’s not your thing, but i just thought i’d ask, but no, you’re right, it’s stupid, forget i said anythin’, hey look at the time, well i’m beat, gonna go to sleep now, goodbye”

and carol will go, “hold up”

and she’ll take daryl by the wrist before he can flee the room (bc he definitely intends to), and pulls him close and kisses him all sweet, and she’s gotta stand on her tiptoes to do it bc she’s in a pair of knit socks and he’s got his boots on so there’s more of a height difference than usual, and after she’s successfully managed to keep daryl from falling straight into a panic spiral, she’ll whisper, “i’d love to, let’s go this weekend”

and then she’ll just turn back to doing dishes without another word on the matter 

(bc, as previously stated, she knows daryl better than anyone, and she knows exactly what all his insecurities are and how much it must have taken him to ask her that, and so she’s not gonna harp on it or tease him)

(daryl recognizes this and loves her desperately for it)

the actual date is way easier than daryl expected

bc he spent all this time hyping it up, but when it comes right down to it, he just gets to spend a night with carol where they don’t have the kids to worry about, or any council business, and they just get to enjoy each other’s company

she even dressed up a little for him, which was unnecessary, but he most certainly appreciates it and can’t wait to tear the outfit off of her later

(it does make him regret the fact that he’s only had one pair of pants for the past ten years, but she doesn’t seem to mind)

they end up seeing a shakespeare play

daryl understands like 2% at best, but carol holds his hand and rests her head on his shoulder the whole time, and apparently it’s a comedy bc she laughs a lot, and that alone makes it worth it

they fuck like crazy when they get home, obviously

but it’s different than it had been previously, bc now their “togetherness” seems more solidified

like, they’re officially a “couple” now

like the type of couple that gets a babysitter for the night so they can go to the apocalyptic version of dinner and a movie together and then have sex and then fall asleep right afterwards bc they’re domestic af

and like, deep down both of them knows that this isn’t the life that they’re meant to live in forever, a la commonwealth/domestic bliss, and he wasn’t kidding when he told her new mexico was still out there, and he can feel a shift coming sooner rather than later

but he also knows they’ll be together when it happens, and they’ll figure out their own version of “date night” when they’re out exploring

but for now he’s content to do it the old fashioned way, though

when she falls asleep on his chest that night he rubs her back and kisses the top of her head, and he’s already planning their next night out

he might pick a show with modern english, though

but it’s not required

just so long as they’re together

the end 

[coppicefics]

Masked Omens: Week Seven, Part One

[Image Description: Image 1 - A simple rendition of the Masked Singer UK logo, a golden mask with colourful fragments flying off of it. The mask has a golden halo and a golden devil tail protruding from either side. Below, gold text reads ‘Masked Omens’.

Image 2 - A page from the Entertainment section of the Capital Herald, dated 6th February 2021. Full image description and transcript below the cut. End ID.]

Read the fic here! All news stories and events are entirely fictional; real names of people (with the exception of image attributions) and places are used only for context. No affiliation is implied, and no disrespect is intended by the use of their names in this work of fiction.

[EDIT: With thanks to HolRose/@hasturswig for spotting that I had overlooked the sad passing of John Noakes, who originally appeared on this page!]

The Capital Herald - Saturday, 6th February 2021 Entertainment, page 15

Top left: Grasswater redo rumoured Will anybody tackle the ‘cursed’ adaptation? [Image Description: The ‘w’ in ‘Grasswater, ‘h’ in ‘the’, and ‘o’ in ‘adaptation’ in the above headline have been circled in pencil. End ID.] It's been nearly a decade and a half since the critically-acclaimed adaptation of Sir Thomas Parsett's The Grasswater Affair flopped into cinemas, and rumours are once again circulating about a possible reboot. The first attempt at transferring Parsett's magnum opus to the big screen was released in 2009 after a series of setbacks to the production process. Among the calamities that befell the set were a fire in the wardrobe department, an overdose requiring producers to recast the lead role of Fabian, and a bout of food poisoning that halted filming for over a week. There were whispers, among the more superstitious, that the film was cursed. By the time The Grasswater Affair was finally released, the delay had whipped the original book's fans into a frenzy of anticipation, and excitement over the forthcoming film actually pushed the 19th-century novel into the bestseller lists for the first time in the weeks before the release. Early reviews were promising, and the good press only fed the hype machine. But the crowds that packed into cinemas to watch it emerged disappointed; while the reasons they gave for their disappointment varied wildly, everybody from casual viewers to die-hard book lovers seemed to find it lacking in some aspect or another. It deviated too far from the source text, while adhering precisely to the minor details that didn't matter; it featured a young actor fresh out of drama school, rather than the promised household name; it lingered too long on shots of the actresses' bosoms, and the key object that proved key to the plot was left entirely out of focus in the background of a crucial early scene. While, naturally, some audience members enjoyed it in its own right, it never became either a blockbuster hit or a cult classic, and it still boasts a lowly 2.9 stars on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) and 24% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This being the case, it might be hard to understand why rumours continue to circulate about a revival of The Grasswater Affair, or what might make this time different from the many, many other occasions when such a story has surfaced on the internet. The first question is easily answered by a look at the thriving community of Parsett fans who adore the original novel – and, indeed, the rest of the series The Grasswater Affair is part of. Following first Fabian, and then various other heroes, through a sort of alternative 19th century underpinned by magic and other fantasy tropes, it's been hailed as a masterpiece – and it's aged surprisingly well despite the shift in society's views and tolerances since its publication. The first novel sees Fabian locked in a battle of wits with his somewhat older rival, Rafferty, as they seek to make their fortunes in a society rife with danger and – worse – scandal. As for the second question, the recent rumours have an extra ring of truth to them thanks to the attachment of an actual name – writer-turned-showrunner Noel Garmin is said to be in talks about the project. Having adapted several of his own books for the small screen, could he now be turning his famed respect for written source material to a film or series based on Parsett's masterpiece? If he does, book fans can expect to be very pleased with the result. Garmin was asked about his upcoming projects at a recent convention panel, and his answer, while enigmatic, seemed promising.“Well, I've got to write some books, at some point! But I do also want to work on some more TV, it's a fascinating way of telling a story and it's still quite new and exciting for me. Perhaps I could tell one of my favourite stories, one that I didn't originally write. I'm actually talking to some people... We'll have to see. Hopefully I'll have news for you soon.” Hopefully you will, Noel. Hopefully you will. CITRON DEUX-CHEVAL Top right: Summer’s operatic offerings Last of Glyndebourne festival announcements [Image Description: The apostrophe and ‘s’ of ‘summer’s’ and the ‘t’ of ‘operatic’ in the above headline are circled in pencil. Below the headline is a short, wide picture of a theatre auditorium with red curtains. Small text over the bottom of the picture reads ‘Photo: Gabriel Varaljay | Unsplash’. End ID.] Opera fans are in for a treat this summer, as Puccini's Turandot returns to Glyndebourne Opera House. The venue in Lewes is renowned as the home of great opera, and Turandot is a favourite no matter where it's performed, so this combination of the two is a perfect match. Throw in popular young tenor Jeremy Wensleydale – most recently seen on ITV's The Masked Singer - performing the role of Calaf, and it's a performance guaranteed to impress. The play follows Calaf as he sets out to win the hand of the titular princess. Each suitor is asked three riddles, and failure means instant death. But answering three riddles is not enough to win the heart of Princess Turandot, and Calaf strikes a desperate bargain; if she can guess his true name by daybreak, she may put him to death regardless. If she fails, the marriage goes ahead. It's an interesting method of courting, to be sure, but the opera has enchanted and delighted audiences for many years now. And, if nothing else, who can resist an opportunity to hear 'Nessun Dorma' live? Glyndebourne members can book tickets now for dates between 25th May and 22nd June; remaining tickets will be available from the 18th of April. Turandot is the latest title to be announced by the opera house and completes their summer season's line-up. There will also be performances of Cosi Fan Tutte, Tristan and Isolde, Il Turco in Italia, and an array of concerts and other events. The Glyndebourne Summer Festival is always a highlight of the arts scene in the middle of the year, but there are events all year round. Currently, the opera house is a stopping-point for a touring production of Romeo & Juliet, which has already passed through the Chichester Festival Theatre and will then go on to Colchester, Ipswich, Cambridge, Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds. The show is a daring new interpretation of the age-old Shakespearean tragedy, fusing music and dance with the familiar story, and a full review will appear in the Capital Herald on Thursday. From the middle of February, Romeo & Juliet will be replaced at Glyndebourne with a more traditional #approach to La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi. The music of La Traviata may be familiar, even to audiences unfamiliar with the story, as it was rather liberally plundered for inspiration by Donato Lovreglio in 1865. Of course, that does assume a familiarity with Lovreglio - but if you find yourself humming along during your first attendance, that might very well be why. Incidentally, for more opera and classical music trivia, you might find my recent book, Inside Opera, worth a read - especially if you need to brush up on your cultured conversation points before you visit the opera house this summer. EDWARD BIGGS Inside Opera, by Edward Biggs, is published by Byker Press and is available now in all good bookshops. #Hardback RRP ￡9.99/€11.99.

Centre left: Capital Herald scoops NMA Star-studded ceremony honours news greats [Image Description: The ‘H’ of ‘Herald’, ‘A’ of ‘NMA’, and ‘t’ of ‘star’ in the above headline are circled in pencil.] The 2021 News Media Award ceremony took place on Thursday evening at a glamorous event held in the Mayfair Room at the Connaught Hotel, Mayfair. While many of the attendees are more used to operating the cameras than parading in front of them, they rose to the occasion with great aplomb, rubbing shoulders on the red carpet with some of the most famous entertainers in the UK who'd come to add their own special touches to the ceremony. It will come as no surprise to learn that Trevor McDonald, Natasha Kaplinsky, and Naga Munchetty were in attendance, as were Tom Bradby and Dan Walker. But the attendee who really got heads turning was Carmine Zugiber, notorious for attending very few events on UK soil. Although she's normally out in the field, she's been based in London for the last couple of months, covering the political beat for News World Weekly in Uriel Scrolle's absence, and it seems she couldn't resist the opportunity to collect her awards for Best Combat Coverage and Outstanding Field Reporting in person. Wearing a glamorous Ligur gown in striking red to match her hair, she paused on the red carpet to exchange words with some of those less fortunate reporters covering the event. “I don't know what to do with myself, with nobody shooting at me!” Zugiber joked. “Where's my bulletproof jacket?” The ceremony featured a performance of 'Messy (If I Want To Be)' by rapper P-White, who also presented an award for Entertainment Columnist of the Year to the Capital Herald's very own Citron Deux-Cheval. Another of the Capital Herald's staff writers, Edward Biggs, was nominated in the category of News-Adjacent Achievement for his 2020 trivia book, That Guy From That Thing. While the award, presented by Dame Angela Crowley, eventually went to News World Weekly's Donald Eath for High Score: A Study in Arcade Machines, Edward did get a chance to meet Dame Angela and exchange a few words. “She said I shouldn't feel discouraged, as she didn't win anything at her first awards ceremony either – and she wished me every success with my new book, which has just come out,” said Biggs of the star. “Hopefully, next year, I'll be bringing home a trophy too.” At the end of the night, as the winners and losers drifted home, the presses were already roaring into action to print the morning's papers. The news never stops; there was precious little time for the winners to enjoy the warm glow of appreciation, and no time at all for the less successful nominees to lament their losses. But at the end of the day, the whole industry could sleep safe in the knowledge that the work we do is valuable, and valued. MARY HODGES

Bottom left: Blue Peter garden party ‘22 Celebrating 10 years in show’s new location [Image description: The ‘B’ and ‘e’ of ‘Blue’ and the ‘h’ of ‘show’ in the above headline are circled in pencil. End ID.] The BBC has announced that it will be holding a party for former Blue Peter presenters, guests, and viewers in 2022. Held in the Blue Peter garden in Salford to celebrate ten years since it was relocated from London, the party is expected to provide an opportunity for Blue Peter presenters, past and present, to mingle and let their hair down, as well as catching up with some of the guests who've appeared on the show over the years. Former presenters such as Adam Young, Katy Hill, Radzi Chinyanganya, Anthea Turner, Gethin Jones, Pat Maputi, Yvette Fielding and Konnie Huq can expect an invite, of course, as can the current team of Lindsey Russell, Richie Driss, Mwaka Mudenda, and Adam Beales. But the former guests are an even more varied bunch; everyone from Idina Menzel and Sir Chris Hoy to McFly and Tim Peake could be invited, to say nothing of the hundreds of farmers, bakers, teachers, parents, and kids who've taken part in the show. While the party is quite a long way off yet, the BBC are already hard at work figuring out a lottery system that will allow them to give every viewer an equal chance to be invited to the party. Register your interest now on the Blue Peter website to make sure you don't miss out. SARAH JEUNE Ad, bottom right: [Image Description: A black background with a dark-grey crown resting on it. There are smudges of a lighter colour on the background. Above the crown, graffiti-style text reads ‘P-White’. Below it, written as if in chalk, are the words ‘Chalkdust tour’, underlined as if in chalk. Beneath it, a red bar reading ‘New dates added’ covers the words ‘Sold out’. Below that is the web address ‘www.chalkdust-tour.com’. Tiny writing in the bottom right hand corner reads ‘Photo: Zach Angelo for ProChurchMedia | Unsplash’. End ID.]

[End of transcript]

[meek-minded-masochist]

TaiQrow

Yall know me so well, thank you for playing right into my hands, bless

Also this got so long and I’m not even remotely sorry lmao

who hogs the duvet

Qrow for sure. Tai is always so damn warm, so he only feels a little bad about sneaking a little extra blanket over himself in the night.

who texts/rings to check how their day is going

Tai likes to send good morning and goodnight texts and sends Qrow sweet messages to make him smile. Qrow wishes he could be that attentive but he’s just so damned forgetful; he’ll type out half a message and then forget to send it.

who’s the most creative when it comes to gifts

I would say Tai, but I feel like gift giving comes naturally to him. He just kinda knows what would make Qrow happy. Qrow, however, will spend literal days agonizing over juuust the right gift, so I’m gonna give it to him for his effort lmao (worth noting that I think their gifts to each other especially are often gifts of favors or time spent together as opposed to physical gifts)

who gets up first in the morning

Tai without question. Asleep by nine and up with the sun.

who suggests new things in bed

This one is a joint effort, t b h. They’re apart so often that when they do get together, a l o t of time is spent playing catch up on all the sex they’ve missed out on lmao. I’d say Tai surprises Qrow a little more often in terms of out-there things he’d like to try.

who cries at movies

Both of them, honestly. Tai cries at movies about animals especially, and Qrow gets choked up over happy endings. Movies like that always end with gentle teasing and comfort cuddles.

who gives unprompted massages

Tai. He likes to sneak up on Qrow when he's sitting alone and doing that sulking thing he does and carefully run his big, warm, firm hands under the collar of his shirt and over the bare skin of his shoulders. Qrow’s nervous paranoia makes him keep his shoulders up by his ears half the time, so he’s always tense there. He melts under the attention every time and often ends up letting himself fall asleep under the touch. Though other times it can lead to the kind of gentle kisses that always land them in the bed.

who fusses over the other when they’re sick

Tai’s more of the “worry and fuss over you” kind, though Qrow is just as good for caring for his partner when he’s sick. Just so happens Qrow’s more prone to getting sick lmao (”When was the last time you ate real food, Qrow?” “Here, drink some water for once.” “No, no! You lie down! I’ll get it for you.” “Tai, I have a cold, not the plague. Please.”)

who gets jealous easiest

Tai. That man gets damn near nasty passive aggressive towards people that won’t take a hint that Qrow’s not interested. His favorite thing to do is to just carefully slide up next to Qrow and wrap his arm around his waist, all the while with the smuggest shit eating grin.

who has the most embarrassing taste in music

Oh gods, Qrow. His taste in music is either mega angst or sex music that would make a grown man blush. Sometimes he finds ones that somehow fit both categories. He’s not allowed to pick music for road trips lmao

who collects something unusual

Qrow likes to find odd or interesting jewelry, especially rings. He likes ones that fit his aesthetic and make kids wonder if he’s secretly some kind of travelling wizard. He frequents pawn shops and second hand stores just to browse their jewelry.

who takes the longest to get ready

Qrow with all his accessories and his dumb messy-yet-highly-styled hair. (”Restaurant’s gonna close before we get there, yknow?” “Shut up, Tai. It takes hard work to look this good.” “Pfffff- You could go naked and still look good.” “Well yeah, but that’s one of my best looks.”)

who is the most tidy and organised

Probably Qrow just for the fact that he doesn’t have a whole lot of stuff to be messy about. Tai’s kinda all over the place despite trying his best to keep everything fairly tidy.

who gets most excited about the holidays

Tai, hands down. He sings the damn songs and dances through the living room in his socks, decorates everything in sight, and he’s always super hyped to see people open gifts. It is also his sole mission to hide the mistletoe in a new spot each year to catch Qrow (the resident grinch) off guard. Tai being so excited about life is one of the only things that make the holidays bearable for Qrow.

who is the big spoon/little spoon

Qrow loves getting to be the big spoon, but the way it usually goes is like this: They fall asleep together, usually with Qrow resting on Tai’s chest or the two just lying next to each other, and then at some point during the night, Tai’s big warm cuddly self will roll over and just smother Qrow in his arms. Qrow loves it more than he cares to admit.

who gets most competitive when playing games and/or sports

It’s always Qrow’s smart ass mouth that sets off Tai’s hyper competitive nature, so it’s a joint effort lmao. It’s like watching two kids rough house. “Bet you can’t!” “Oh, I bet I fuckin’ can!!”

who starts the most arguments

Qrow reads too much into the little things like sighs or voice tones or expressions and gets defensive easily. He ends up snapping at Tai and/or clamming up completely for a while. He tries his best to apologize after, though, and to make sure they don’t needlessly get into the same arguments twice.

who suggests that they buy a pet

Tai is always trying to convince Qrow they need another dog or two or maybe a small animal like a hamster. While Qrow never really says no, it’s mostly a passing fancy as Tai never actually follows through on it.

what couple traditions they have

The first night Qrow’s home after a mission once they’ve gotten the desperation and passion of a reunion out of the way, they sit up for a while at night. Tai fixes tea, and they both just sit down at the kitchen table in their PJ’s and talk about things they’ve missed out on in each other’s lives since last time.

what tv shows they watch together

Since Qrow’s away from home so often, they’re more of a movie couple, though they do like to watch short, completed series sometimes. Mostly it’s action based dramas or whodunnits.

what other couple they hang out with

Not real sure how to answer this one since all their friends are dead, gone, or have not been canonically introduced lmao.

how they spend time together as a couple

A lot of sitting around or going out to quiet places for lunch. Domesticity and stability are what these two crave.

who made the first move

Tai was the first to actually act on his feelings. Qrow talks a big game, but he’s a damn coward when it comes to taking risks or making commitments. Tai probably sat him down and tried to explain things but eventually got too flustered and just kissed Qrow instead.

who brings flowers home

Qrow buys Tai interesting seeds and bulbs for the garden, and Tai will sometimes pick some of Qrow’s favorites and arrange amateur bouquets for him.

who is the best cook

Something about Tai’s cooking just makes a house feel like a home. The man is a legend in the kitchen and almost looks the best with an apron on.

[foolishheadstronggirl]

Served - Chapter 3

New chapter time! =)

I was going to post on Wednesday, but I just couldn’t bring myself to post anything on episode night and take away from that fun!  And then it was game night (I coach softball) and family days, so today’s the day lol.  But I have a couple of chapters pretty much ready to go I think, so I can send those out more frequently.  Thanks for hanging in there with me, and for all the encouragement!

As always, big thanks to the wonderful @13starbuck42 for the excellent beta work, cleaning up my crazy Southern vernacular!  Also tagging @today-in-fic

Catch up with Chapter 1 and Chapter 2!

A/N: I’m going a little off here and playing Time Lord - this museum didn’t actually exist IRL until 1983, but for the purpose of my story, I’m going to pretend it did!

Chapter 3 – Charmed

After a rather sweet first date, Dana Scully was pleased to say the least.  Whatever had been said about Daryl Worthington before was falling upon deaf ears now, because she truly believed he wouldn’t treat her poorly.  He certainly hadn’t so far; he’d actually been very attentive to her since they had officially started dating!  Carrying her books, walking her to class, driving her home instead of his buddies, spending Friday nights just hanging out.  He had kissed her goodnight at the end of their second date, and Dana was most definitely ready for it.  It had been a really great start, and Dana was happy.

While most of their dates had been casual meals and weekend movies, one date was so special it stood out from all the others.

On Saturday morning at ten o’clock, the Scully’s phone rang and Dana heard her mom answer.  Several minutes later, Maggie called up the stairs, “Dana, honey, can you come down here for a minute?”

Is something wrong? Dana thought as she raced down the stairs.  Is it Ahab?!  She tried desperately to calm down, her rational mind attempting to reassure her that if it was serious, her mother would have been upset; Maggie completely lacked the ability to remain stoic when it came to her husband and children.

Maggie smiled reassuringly.  “I can see you thinking way too hard, sweetheart.  Everything is fine.  That was Daryl.  And before you get jumpy, he called because he wanted to ask me if it was ok before mentioning it to you, in case I said no.   But I think it’s a nice idea, so go get dressed.  You have a date this afternoon.”  

Dana opened her mouth, ready to rapid-fire a barrage of questions, but her mother cut her off.  “No ma’am, I’m not telling you anything!  That’s the other reason he called me instead of you: this date is a surprise!  Go get yourself ready!”  Maggie said with a sly little lilt in her voice and a knowing smile.

Most people liked surprises, but Dana Scully was not terribly fond of them.  They rarely lived up to the hype, and quite often left her feeling at least a little disappointed.  But she was determined to enjoy whatever this turned out to be, because it was a sweet gesture.  Dana couldn’t contain the tiny smile peeking out the corner of her mouth.  She might not be like most girls she knew, but when a guy planned something special, it was hard not to feel pleased.  Dana dressed in a flowy tunic and tights, pulled her hair back (in case they were going to be outside, she reasoned), and headed back downstairs to wait.

When Daryl showed up a half hour later, Dana was glad that she had put on something more dressy than jeans.  Daryl was wearing a crisp button-down shirt and looking much nicer than he did for their typical Saturday night hang-out dates.

“So, you gonna let me in on this big secret?” Dana said teasingly.

Daryl chuckled.  “You’ll see.  I think you’ll love it.”  He turned toward Maggie as he directed Dana out the door.  “Thanks again, Mrs. Scully.  I’ll have her home by 10pm.”

“You kids have fun!”  Maggie’s voice carried through the door as it closed behind Dana.

Dana and Daryl chatted casually as they cruised down 163 to I-15, but when Daryl swung the car onto Highway 91, Dana was befuddled.

“Daryl, where are we going?”  she asked with an edge to her voice.  The excitement of adventure was giving way to anxiety over not having any idea where she was.

“Babe, I really wanna keep it a secret ‘til we get there, okay?  I know it’s killing you right now, but it’ll be worth it!  So let’s talk about something to take you mind off it.  Tell me what you wanna do when you grow up, young lady,” Daryl grinned at her.

Dana rolled her eyes.  “Ugh, Daryl, don’t patronize me!”  She laughed to assure him she wasn’t angry.  “Well, you already know, don’t you?  I’m going into medicine.  I’m not sure what specialty yet, but my father really wants me to practice.  I just haven’t found anything that lights me on fire, you know?  It’s weird, but sometimes I feel like I’m missing…something, but I have no idea what.  Missy keeps telling me that I’ve got plenty of time to figure out the future and that I should quit worrying about it. But it’s really not that far away, and the things I focus on now really do matter!  That’s Melissa, though.  Anyway, you knew all that already; what about you?  What do you want to do after you graduate?”

“I don’t know for sure,” Daryl shrugged, noncommittal.  Dana felt mild shock at the idea of someone a year and a half away from graduating having no concrete plan for the future.  He continued, “I’ll probably go to the community college and do some welding classes, maybe get on an oil rig somewhere.  I don’t figure I’m going to go some big college, though; I’m pretty tired of classes all day long.  I really want to do something with my hands anyway… you know, manly stuff,” he half-smiled, eyes on the road.

Dana felt a slight twinge of something like wistfulness, but shook it off quickly.  Who knows, she thought hopefully, it’s a long time until next May… I might be able to help him think more clearly about his future!  He’s smart enough to go to college; to really make something of himself!  Maybe we could study for the SATs?  Touring some college campuses together would definitely be fun!  

As they rolled down the California highway, Dana and Daryl enjoyed easy conversation, sandwiches and fruit, and early afternoon sunshine.  After a pleasant two-hour drive, they reached their destination: the San Bernardino County Medical Society.  Dana turned and quirked an impertinent eyebrow toward her boyfriend, whose laughing eyes found hers immediately.  Before she could ask him anything, though, Daryl’s attention was drawn to a door beyond her shoulder.

“Good afternoon, sir!  Thank you so much for your response to my letter; I’m very excited to show my girlfriend your facility here,” Daryl spoke gregariously to the well-dressed gentleman who had walked out to meet them.

The man shook Daryl’s hand, then extended his arm to Dana and clasped her hand warmly.  “Certainly!  We are honored to show off our wonderful facility to young people to further interest in our disciplines; that’s precisely why we’re here!”  He replied, then turned his attention to Dana.  “You actually picked a perfect day to come by; we are preparing for a visit from a school group later today, so everything is shiny and ready!  My name is Dr. Hamilton, and I know from my correspondence with your young man that you are Ms. Dana Scully.  It is my absolute pleasure to meet such a lovely young lady with an interest in the field.”

To say Dana’s interest was piqued was an understatement of the grandest proportion.  What is this place? she wondered, incredulous.

“And what field would that be, sir?” Dana asked slyly, slicing a glance at Daryl, who laughed out loud at her overt attempt to discover just what she was about to face.

Dr. Hamilton chuckled and offered his arm to the tiny redhead.  “Tell you what, Ms. Scully; why don’t you let me show you?”  The kind professor ushered Dana into the building, with Daryl following closely behind.

Inside, Dana was greeted by a neat reception desk and a sign reading, “Southern California Medical Museum.”  Bewilderment, then excitement lit her eyes as she realized what this must be, and she spun toward Dr. Hamilton and Daryl to make sure she understood correctly.

“It’s a collection of medical, dental, and pharmacy artifacts, such as surgical tools, antique bottles, unique devices that truly have to be seen to be believed, and a medical library.  We have really interesting items like bleeding bowls, invalid feeders, and all kinds of instruments used during various wars, including the Civil War.  Even if you’re not interested in becoming a medical historian, it’s interesting to see where we’ve come from, don’t you agree?” Dr. Hamilton presented.

Dana turned wide, animated, blue eyes toward Daryl.  “How long can we stay?”

___________

Dr. Hamilton had discussed most of the exhibits with Dana and Daryl, but left, albeit reluctantly, when the school group showed up for their tour.  He told Dana to write down any questions she might have and said he would be happy to answer them for her before she left, or in continued correspondence if need be.  Dana shook Dr. Hamilton’s hand firmly, promising to visit again soon.

Dana wandered the museum to her heart’s content, spending hours looking at anything and everything. She was fascinated.  Daryl walked beside her, staying close most of the time.  But occasionally, he hung back, leaning against a wall to watch Dana as she discovered and learned.  By the time Dana was ready to leave, she had filled two pages of a legal pad with questions about a series of exhibits featuring the progression of surgical tools and procedures, with an interesting sidebar about pathology and battlefield forensics.

The pair left the museum hand in hand, and when they were back in the car, Dana leaned over and kissed Daryl.  “That was wonderful, Daryl, thank you so much.  It was incredibly thoughtful of you,” Dana effused warmly.

“I’m glad you liked it; I wanted to show you I’ve been paying attention,” Daryl replied.  “Now, let’s go grab a bite to eat back at the bay before I have to whisk you home,” he said with a smile.

When Dana walked in the front door that evening, Maggie was reading in the armchair; she had been waiting up to hear all about the surprise date.  She immediately noticed that her youngest daughter looked a dazed, maybe even a bit distracted, as she hung up her jacket and ambled into the living room.

“So, did you have fun?  How was it?”  When Maggie spoke, Dana jumped slightly, as if she hadn’t even noticed her there.

Dana smiled.  “Perfect, Mom,”  she sighed.  “It was perfect.”

[tigerlover16-analysis]

Dragon Ball Super: Episode 5 Review

Ok, so, yeah. I'm pretty late with this one and I'm sorry about that. I don't want to get into it too much, but basically things have been kind of hectic since last week, especially the last few days with my dog having a rough time after giving birth. I did have most of this review written for a bit, but then due to a computer screw up most of it got deleted so my enthusiasm to write took a bit of a hit there. I'll start writing the episode 6 review straight away and that should be up on Sunday as scheduled barring any extraneous circumstances.

Anyway, enough wasting time, I've done enough of that. Let's talk about episode 5 of Dragon Ball Super.

The episode picks up where the previous one left off, with Beerus arriving on King Kai's world to meet with Goku. After King Kai's attempts to keep Goku hidden fail, Beerus questions Goku about the identity of the Super Saiyan God. When Goku is unable to give him an answer, Beerus decides to go to Earth to question Vegeta instead, which King Kai worries might lead to Beerus blowing the planet up out of annoyance. But before Beerus can take off, Goku suddenly challenges him to a sparring match.

Episode 5 is a pretty important episode in terms of the Battle of Gods saga and Super as a whole. Though previous episodes had featured brief action scenes, this was the first episode to feature a significant fight between two characters. For a franchise famous for it's action scenes, this makes it a pretty big deal.

Which makes it all the more tragic that they kind of screwed the pooch on it.

Brief history lesson, Dragon Ball Super was announced close to the release of the Resurrection F movie, and was intended to capitalize on the movies hype and serve as a replacement series for Dragon Ball Kai.

And unfortunately, while the series has a more than capable team of animators, writers and other production staff, Toei really rushed the show's pre-production to get it out straight after Kai ended. Some estimate that it only had about two months of pre-production, a far cry from the roughly six months that many ongoing battle Shonen series usually require.

The result was that only the first 3 or 4 episodes were finished before Super started airing properly, and the animators were rushing to get episode 5 and everything after it out on time. Which lead to the fighting portion of episode 5 featuring weak direction, some moments of awkward movement, and a lot of laughably rough art in places.

Yeah... this isn’t even the worst of it.

Naturally this lead to wide-scale mockery across the internet, with many declaring the show a disgrace and the episode to have the worst animation in all of Dragon Ball. Which, I'll discuss that bit in a minute, but needless to say it was truly concerning and did a lot to dampen people's excitement for a new Dragon Ball series. 

Not unfairly, of course. Dragon Ball is one of the biggest and most popular anime franchises of all time and a cornerstone of pop culture. It really deserved a lot better from it's production and visuals than what we were given here.

Especially since, as I've said, the show's animators are more than capable of producing good stuff. A good number of them are veterans from Z, including this episodes supervisor, Naoki Tate, who is probably one of the most talented animators working at Toei (Oh, and side note, I'd like to redact my statement that he was the animation supervisor on episode 2. He worked on the episode, but episode 2 was supervised by Osamu Ishikawa. My bad, I don't know how i screwed that one up).

It's made even more tragic by how Tate got thrown under the bus by a large portion of the fandom, when really it was none of the animators fault how this episode turned out. They only had a few weeks to produce it, and under such pressure the production just fell apart, and yet Tate was lambasted as a hack by much of the fandom for two years thanks to this episode, and things only really started to look up for him after episode 110.

There's not a lot I can say about the animation itself. We have a lot of rough art, with several still shots of characters looking blatantly unfinished. Some of the movement is repetitive and the framing of the fight isn't very exciting.

There's moments of decent animation, I like the way the grass on King Kai's planet is blown clean off by the force of SS3 Goku's punches being blocked by Beerus, and there's a nice bit of fluid movement at one point where Beerus flips over Goku as he tried to land several consecutive hits on him right before Goku blasts a decently rendered kamehameha through King Kai's planet... fluid movement which is unfortunately obscured by a poor post-processed aura effect, which is a recurring issue all throughout Super.

But the decent bits of movement and the consistent art outside of the fighting segment don't really save the bulk of the action from being a let down. I could go a lot more into detail, but I'm not a genius when it comes to talking about the animation process, I prefer talking about writing.

That being said, was this really the worst looking episode in all of Dragon Ball?

... No. No, not at all. There's been worse animated products in Dragon Ball before, and there are worse looking episodes of Super later on (And God, is that depressing to say...). This was a bad looking episode and there's certainly some stuff that's laughable coming from a modern series for one of the most famous and lucrative anime franchises in the world, there's no denying that.

But between the memes and bad press, and the in-betweens people float around as examples of how horrid it looks when anyone who actually understands animation knows that's not how it works, I think people have overblown it's supposed abysmal quality out of proportion a bit.

Now that's not me defending the episodes animation, it is rough and blatantly unfinished in a lot of places, it deserves criticism even if I think it's only fair to be mindful of the conditions the animators themselves were in.

We can certainly be critical of whatever stupid higher ups at Toei decided it was a-okay to rush the series into production so suddenly, especially since it had a horrible ripple effect that left Super with a troubled production right into it's final saga, even though things did improve greatly over time.

But at the same time, I don't think it's really fair to lambast this episode as one of the worst things to ever happen to Dragon Ball as some people did early on, because, honestly outside of those animation issues... the episode is perfectly fine.

Seriously, writing wise this episode was well put together. The interaction between all of the characters at the beginning was perfectly fine, no one was really written badly, and there were a few good jokes. Especially in the dub which improves the dialogue a bit. King Kai's Japanese voice still sounds off, but again, dub fixes that and it's not the end of the world.

And for what the episode was intended to be, it was well constructed writing wise. Having the first encounter and fight between Goku and Beerus extended to a full episode rather than the less than ten minutes scene from the movie was a good move, since we needed a lengthier action scene at this point.

And the way the fight was written was perfectly fine, with Goku trying to fight Beerus as both a super saiyan and then super saiyan 2. The animation and overall bland direction undermines the tension unfortunately, but on paper this wasn't a bad way to go at all. And it does still sell the point of what this encounter was meant to do: Establish that Beerus is so far beyond Goku at even the peak of his current level of power that he can slap him around without anything close to real effort, and thus raise concern for what's going to happen to the earth.

On that note, big props to Sean's voice acting as Goku towards the end there. He really sells Goku's desperation and concern for everyone. With all the complaints about Goku in Super supposedly being a lot less mature and more reckless than before, moments like this show that Goku can in fact take things seriously when he needs to.

Heck, considering he challenged Beerus straight after the God said he might destroy the earth if he was annoyed and he was immediately thinking of ways to beat Beerus after being knocked down, it seems likely that his challenge to fight him was actually an attempt by Goku to keep him from doing any damage and it just looked like him just being careless to King Kai and Gregory. That's how I interpret it anyway.

From a storytelling POV, there's honestly nothing offensive about episode 5, it mostly did what it needed to. Sure, it's mostly just the same stuff we saw in the movie but extended... but hey, it's an adaptation, that's kinda what we should expect. And again, not everyone saw the movie so this isn't as huge an issue as a lot of people think.

If this episode had been graced with better animation, I'd honestly call it good. Maybe not great unless said animation was REALLY good, but really I can't think of anything worth complaining about and it's paced well enough.

It's just that... well, the animation IS a big issue. When your episode is centered around a fight, then that fight needs to be handled well or the whole thing ends up kind of a flop. In an episode that's mostly building up the plot and dialogue heavy, bad or inconsistent animation can be easily ignored so long as the writing is up to par, in my opinion.

Heck, episodes with fights that aren't exceptionally well animated can still be good or even great if the writing and story content is good enough. It helps if both elements are good and working in harmony, but good writing in a story trumps all other aspects.

But this episode? The content we got was alright, but there wasn't really anything exceptional here that particularly makes up for the animation issues, unless you're someone that really, REALLY loves Beerus and enjoys seeing him slap Goku around.

The end result of how this episode turned out is that it's just kind of dull. It has a few good moments, but it kind of drags in the middle because of the subpar animation, and while there's nothing about it outside of the animation that's especially awful (Though if you're an animation student you're likely to be balling your eyes out by the end) it's also not that memorable, at least not for good reasons.

If I'm being fair, I can actually enjoy this episode if I'm in the right mindset, I found it mostly fine AS I was watching it on DVD multiple times in preparation for this review. So I think if you go into it with low expectations, it's somewhat harmless and easy to get through while you're waiting for the next episode, which has more worthwhile content.

That's not a ringing endorsement of course, but for an episode like this it's the best praise I think anyone could give it, really.

I should mention that the Japanese Blu-ray collection for Super did include some handy clean ups for the episode. It doesn't fix most of the movement, the storyboaring or such, but it does clean up a lot of the iffy art so that it looks...

... better. Still not great, and there's plenty of shots that still look off and some that look like they weren't fixed, but the episode is a bit less of an eyesore now so that probably helped my enjoyment a little since it's the Blu-Ray versions the dub airings and DVD collections use. It's more of a quick patchwork job than fixing the issues though, I wish they'd done a bit more, but whatever. Too late to complain now.

Episode 5 is not a good episode. It is a testament to how poorly managed Dragon Ball Super's production was at the beginning, and would unfortunately result in further troubles for the series over the course of it's lifespan, both in animation and writing. The episode could have been pretty good, but ends up as a missed opportunity and is a bit of a red flag for anyone just getting into the show.

I cannot defend Toei's management for rushing the show's production, that was careless and I'm glad there seems to be a restructuring going on right now and that Toei overall seems to be taking better care with future Dragon Ball products, like the upcoming movie. All signs seem to be pointing that we'll be seeing better productions for future Dragon Ball series to come.

That does not make what happened here excusable though. People have a right to complain about the animation and production issues Super faced at this point and further on in the series, and while I don't feel negatively of the show overall, I still feel that things should have turned out better than they did. Episode 5 will always serve as a constant reminder of how things can go wrong behind the scenes of a popular series.

But that said, just because mistakes like this happen doesn't mean it's the end of the world. For all the issues it still faced, Super would still see huge leaps made in improving it's animation and storytelling later on, which would include many of the best looking episodes in the entire Dragon Ball canon. It was, and still is, possible for Toei to learn from the mistakes they made with the series at this point and do better going forward.

And I hope that by the time the next Dragon Ball series rolls around, we'll see a positive result from that. In the end, I suppose failure can have it's benefits as a learning experience.

And by the same token, for all the issues it has with it's visuals, this episode in of itself was far from the worst thing ever and I do not believe it sabotaged the first arc as a whole. It was nothing special and a real mess, but I can look past it in the long run. Though I appreciate if it's flaws are just too great for some people to look past, I can't hate it as a whole package.

My final grade for the original version of the episode in Japanese would be a D. For the somewhat corrected version with the dub, I'll be as generous as I possibly can and give it a C-

Boy, that was a trip. I'm not sure if I feel completely comfortable with how this review came out, but honestly I should have gotten this out a while ago and I just want to be done with it, so I hope you can all forgive me if I didn't get my point across very well or if I just spent too much time badgering on about stupid platitudes. I might come back and edit it in the future after I've gotten the next review done and I've had some more time to clear my thoughts on this one. But for now, hope I gave you something to think about.

[cicadagarage2]

<h1 style="clear:both" id="content-section-0">Capone True Story I Real Life Story Behind Tom Hardy's Al ... Things To Know Before You Get This</h1>

Table of ContentsThe Buzz on Watch Capone - Prime Video - Amazon.com8 Simple Techniques For Capone Movie Review: Tom Hardy Delivers Most Unsettling ...Everything about Al Capone: 9 Actors Who Played The Original Scarface - Den ...About 'Capone' Review: The Gangster As Unhygienic Hero - The ...Indicators on Capone Movie Review & Film Summary (2020) - Roger Ebert You Need To Know4 Easy Facts About Capone True Story I Real Life Story Behind Tom Hardy's Al ... Explained

Watching Movies For Free Here -> Capone 2020

A flickering fire. A feral pack of kids frolicking in the distance. A plane skyrocketing someplace overhead, likely filled with more government spooks (al capone the movie). A crackling radio tuned to either opera or classical or an energetic radio play about Al Capone the super-famous gangster's different murderous exploits. The different wheezings and pants-shittings of Capone himself.

A Look at AL CAPONE in the Movies - We ...

There is little plot, save some vague and significantly desperate mutterings about a $10 million cache Capone might have once concealed someplace, if only he could stop hacking up bits of carrot into a gold spitoon enough time to keep in mind where - al capone movie youtube. There is little significant human interaction: As Mae, Cardellini has a severe tenderness to her as she withstands her partner's different surges, even when Capone spits in her face and she reacts by slapping him directly onto VOD.

Tom Hardy, Al Capone Movie HD ...

A stoic young man keeps calling gather from Cleveland. Employees show up to cart off Capone's regal statue collection as financial destroy looms. At one point you get to see the huge guy rasp along to the Wizard of Oz jam " If I Were King of the Forest," the Cowardly Lion forecasted ideal onto his ravaged face and deteriorating body.

Indicators on Capone True Story I Real Life Story Behind Tom Hardy's Al ... You Should Know

Exact same deal with the delirious climax, which combines different elementsthe gold Tommy weapon; the bathrobe; the diaper; the screaming; the noise of Tom Hardy spitting, "You're a piece of shit" in subtitled Italianin a tremendously enjoyable method whether you've come to Capone to praise it or to bury it. Think about the decaying-outlaw ruminations of The Irishman, or Tony Soprano pining after his valuable ducks, other than with no eminence component whatsoever.

What the fuck was that?, we wondered, calmly to ourselves, and you can either ask this as a compliment or as extremely much not a compliment, and Capone, in all its spectral and scatological splendor, at least knows the distinction.

Crew To Take Down Al Capone ...

Tom Hardy has actually shared a brand-new poster for his upcoming motion picture about the final days of infamous gangster Al Capone. Capone will be launched on May 12 and stars Hardy as Capone during the Chicago mob boss' time in Florida, struggling with dementia and haunted by memories of his violent past following an 11-year prison stretch.

The 10-Minute Rule for 'Capone' Fact Check: Is Tom Hardy's Gangster Movie Accurate?

al capone movie accuracy ="p__6">Meanwhile, Run The Jewels rap artist El-P has stated that he'll be releasing his rating to Capone "a long time in May" to accompany the movie's release, which it will show up before the hotly-anticipated 'Run The Jewels 4'. The film was initially announced back in 2018, with the Mad Max and Peaky Blinders star looking practically unrecognisable after being imagined using ageing make-up on set in a behind-the-scenes photo that was shared later on that year - al capone movie on netflix.

The very first trailer for the movie arrived in mid-April, which sees Hardy star along with Kyle MacLachlan, Linda Cardellini, Jack Lowden, Matt Dillon and Neal Brennan. Meanwhile, Hardy has spent the last week fronting CBeebies' Bedtime Stories for an entire week. His storytelling stint, his first on the children's TV channel given that 2017, began on April 27.

In 1986, huckster press reporter Gerald Rivera staged a hyped, puffed up, two-hour TELEVISION special called The Secret of Al Capone's Vault, alluring audiences with what treasures might be buried there - al capone movies. When it was lastly opened, there was absolutely nothing, a huge con that led no place. That almost describes this new movie, Capone, which likewise leads nowhere, as writer-director Josh Trank is attempting to come back from movie jail after the disaster of his 2015 Marvel loser Fantastic Four.

An Unbiased View of Al Capone: 9 Actors Who Played The Original Scarface - Den ...

Plainly that time in the jail did a number on him, and the male who emerged, as least in the hands of Trank and his star Tom Hardy, is simply a shell of what he was, wandering into flights of dream for the excellent ol' days when those he disapproved of could be stabbed 35 times in the neck to name a few bloody encounters.

Hardy's singing work here in fact makes his Bane, the Dark Knight Increases bad guy who spoke behind a facemask, appear like the model of elocution. Plotwise, what we have is pretty thin material. Capone is exiled to his Florida mansion, there is a discovery that he may or may not have a kid not previously known, and the feds are monitoring him closely due to the fact that he thinks he buried $10 million (well over $100 million today) someplace however is so out of it he can't remember where or so he mumbles.

Of course it is all a dream-like scenario for the most part, kinda like Dorothy's journey to Oz, which BTW has actually likewise been thrown into this stew as Fonz (short for Alfonso and the name everyone calls him, not to be confused with the Fonz, obviously) enjoys a sing-along at one point watching The Wizard of Oz and participating in on "If I Were King of the Forest" with Bert Lahr's Cowardly Lion.

Al Capone (1959) - Imdb Things To Know Before You Get This

Along the method there are a few fantasy sequences taking us back to a more identifiable Capone, who really passed away at age 47 however here looks thirty years older a minimum of. This is definitely Hardy's program, no concern, but Trank has actually attracted an impressive supporting cast that is largely squandered.

A great deal of fine stars have actually tried their hand diving into the Capone legend at numerous points including Rod Steiger, Robert De Niro, Ben Gazzara, Jason Robards and more with differing degrees of success, but none were stuck just in the last year of the person's presence. This offers Hardy license to turn to Technique acting, proving in this case there is "technique" to madness.

Hardy is too good an actor (when he has the right automobile) not to understand better. The violence, common to all gangster movies, is not organic and so appears all that more exploitative and without point or even home entertainment worth. Vertical Home entertainment was planning a theatrical release but rather opens this on VOD and digital on Tuesday, perfect for being restricted in the house much like Capone himself.

Capone Movie Accuracy: Fact Vs. Fiction In The Tom Hardy Biopic. for Beginners

Gilbert. Check out my video evaluation above with scenes from the film. Do you plan to see Capone? Let us understand what you believe.

A film about well-known mobster Alphonse "Al" Capone might not appear like it would be an intensely personal one for a director, however that's precisely what "Capone" is for its writer/director Josh Trank. "The reason I made this movie didn't have anything to do with my desire to make a film about Al Capone," Trank informed, explaining that he was in a challenging place following the industrial failure of the 2015 smash hit movie "Wonderful Four." "Capone" is Trank's very first movie considering that "Fantastic Four." Trank felt a particular kinship with Capone, musing about how the gangster needs to've felt after his release from jail, throughout this dark period in his life.

I was considered poisonous by a large circle of individuals which sort of understood me," Trank discussed. al capone movie quotes. "I'm just sitting outside alone by the pool chain-smoking cigarettes and wondering when I was going to run out of cash ... At one point it just appeared the back of my head, considering Al Capone after he was launched from Alcatraz ...

[benthicforam]

Sovereign, Zigzag, Allah

Anything in our life could be really uncertain at times but OBSESSION. IS. REAL. So in this post, I’m gonna write about one of my favorite singers that got me really obsessed. Her stage name is the acronym of the title of this post, yes you guessed it right, SZA. Btw fun fact, cara bacanya itu sizz-a ya bukan seu-za. Jujur emosi banget pas nonton Whe The Fest 2018 orang-orang ketika chanting pada manggil nya “SEUZA! SEUZA! SEUZA!” I was like ????? but that’s ok ignorance is bliss. [hahaha canda ya :(( lha kok tai banget merasa superior akan hal tidak penting]

--

Jadi nama aslinya Solána Imani Rowe, she’s an American R&B singer and songwriter. Nama SZA sendiri terinspirasi dari rapper RZA, tapi jujur alesan aslinya sih gak tau juga kenapa namanya kayak gitu... dan sepertinya the ‘A’ for ‘Allah’ is because she was actually born as an orthodox muslim gitu lho.

But the main reason why I am so obsessed with her is not because of her background (obviously), but because of her music and super enchanting lyrics. R&B adalah genre musik favorit gue, because basically I’m such a moody and mellow person, and I dunno but R&B sounds very smooth in my ears and many R&B songs have such meaningful and deep lyrics. In this case, many SZA’s songs are very relatable to my life. I don’t know whether this is right or wrong, but actually what makes me interested in songs are mostly their lyrics rather that the tunes itself, and we all know that R&B songs don’t have the most catchy beats and tunes out there. But SZA’s songs, set aside of their lyrics, have tunes that are very catchy to my ears! Meaningful lyrics and catchy tunes, very big plus point.

SZA’s second (and my uber favorite) album, ‘Ctrl’ (2017)

--

For these past years, SZA’s songs have been accompanying me through life. SZA is actually the only reason why I am attending We The Fest 2018. Actually I wasn’t planning to go to We The Fest that year but suddenly they announced that SZA is going on stage and I booked the ticket right away. On the day of the event I even came late because I just want to see her. Gak deng boong, sebetulnya mau banget dateng dari sore tapi mendadak sore nya gue harus ke Bogor ngerayu mantan gue yang ngambek supaya gak marah-marah, dan sialnya ketika pengen balik ke Jakarta tap gate KRL Stasiun Bogor error gak bisa pake Tapcash trus gue harus ngantri beli tiket harian berkala. On a fucking weekend kebayang dong antriannya gimana. Lho jadi curhat anda.

I may sound exaggerating but I have to admit that SZA’s songs, especially from the ‘Ctrl’ album, really influenced my life. Almost all the songs from that album are relatable to various events of my life and it’s kinda funny to see the coincidences.

My number one favorite is Love Galore;

“Why you bother me when you know you don't want me? Why you bother me when you know you got a woman? Why you hit me when you know you know better?”

The most common scenario in my love life is that I met people who actually flirt with me, acts like they actually show interest in me, and got me really happy but in the end it turned out that they actually just want to have (you know,) fun with me and many times it also turned out that they are not single. And like the song suggests below, I really went extra miles, I went to cities or places that are rather far from my place just to get disappointed. Times like that really got me confused and a bit sad because I had expectations, but this whole song really sings my heart out.

“I came to your city Looking for loving and licky Cause you promised to put it down,

All up in your city looking for you Searching for you like love,

Only thing keeping me from dropping you right now, ...is love.”

--

My number two favorite is Garden (Say It Like Dat);

“Need you for the old me, need you for my sanity Need you to remind me where I come from

Can you remind me of my gravity? Ground me when I'm tumbling, spiraling, plummeting down to Earth You keep me down to Earth

Call me on my bullshit, Lie to me and say my booty gettin' bigger even if it ain't Love me even if it rains Love me even if it pains you

I know I be difficult You know I be difficult You know it get difficult too...”

So what comes off your mind after reading those lyrics? A desperate message from someone to his/her lover begging for love? I was thinking about that too the very first time I heard that song. But no! Actually, that is a message from someone to themselves. I really love the idea behind it because not many singers or musicians really emphasize their artwork to self-love. In my opinion, SZA upbrings issues that are rarely conducted with other musicians and it is actually very warming. Correct me if I’m wrong, but songs have always been emphasizing on heartbreaks, a serenade to a loved one, keeping up with a long-distance relationship... and the list goes on, but actually not many of them encourage people to love themselves more.

Moreover, honestly, I got issues with self-love and self-worth too myself. Many times I feel like I am unworthy to love, I am never physically attractive enough, I am never smart enough. Many times I feel like I will never be someone’s number one, I’ll always only be a second choice, or someone to call ‘just-for-fun’. Many times I feel like nobody will ever hype me up and loves me dearly. Many times I feel like I will never get the ideal job and salary I always want. Many times I feel like I will never make people around me happy because of me. Many times I feel like I will never get the best this world could give. Many times I never feel content of myself. But when one of those days come, this song always helps me to remind me of my gravity when I’m tumbling, spiraling, and plummeting down to earth.

--

Okay. I guess I could make a freaking 1000-page-memorabilia if I write all my reviews and experiences to SZA’s songs, so after this I’ll just write my favorite quotes from SZA’s songs. All the quotes below have extrinsic but deep meanings which I can always match with the situation I am in, and combined with good and relaxing tunes I don’t even know whether I can survive life or not if it weren’t for SZA’s songs. [LEBAAAYY ANDA!!]

--

“Leave me lonely for prettier women You know I need too much attention for shit like that, You know you’re wrong for shit like that

I could be your supermodel If you believe ...If you see it in me.”

Supermodel - SZA

--

“I get so lonely, I forget what I'm worth We get so lonely, we pretend that this works I'm so ashamed of myself, think I need therapy I'm sorry I'm not more attractive“

“Sorry, I just need to see you I'm sorry I'm so clingy, I don't mean to be a lot Do you really wanna love me down like you say you do? Give it to me like you say you do?

'Cause it's hard enough you got to treat me like this Lonely enough to let you treat me like this Do you really love me Or just wanna love me down, down, down, down?”

Drew Barrymore - SZA

--

“Been about three years since I dated you Why you still talking 'bout me like we together? I moved on for the better You moved on to whoever I was down for whatever and then some”

“All that I've got, pieces and pages Talking a lot, sorry I'm faded Think I forgot ...You love me”

Broken Clocks - SZA

--

“I wish I was a normal girl I'll never be, no never be,

This time next year I'll be livin' so good Won't remember your name, I swear

This time next year I'll be livin' so good Won't remember no pain, I swear...”

Normal Girl - SZA

--

And the last but not least, I never thought I’d be obsessed with an Original Soundtrack after Glee era is over. But surprisingly I am, again, ...with a soundtrack from a fucking superhero movie.

“It's the way that you’re making me feel Like nobody ever loved me like you do, You kinda feeling like if you're tryna get away from me If you do, I won't move”

All The Stars (featuring Kendrick Lamar) - SZA.

--

Anyway album pertama SZA keluar tahun 2014, album keduanya keluar tahun 2017, SO MAYBE... AND ONLY MAYBE... A NEW ALBUM WILL BE RELEASED THIS YEAR, NO?? Well, peasants can only wish... and oh don’t act deaf, we are also talking to you too, Rihanna!

[cinemamablog]

When Baby’s Away, Mama Pushes “Play”

This weekend, Baby Oliver threw a slumber party with his Grandma Jessie. At her house. Without me. Which means I got to sleep a full, blissful nine hours and watch a double feature the next morning. These days, watching one movie uninterrupted feels like a vacation, so watching two uninterrupted feels like heaven on earth. For this double feature, I decided to catch up on a couple of well-reviewed horror flicks from the summer season: Annabelle Comes Home and Midsommar.

When I stayed at home for three months with my newborn boy, I instructed his daddy to go to the movies and report back to me: Did it live up to the hype? Is it worth buying on Blu-ray for our collection? Or was it more of a Redbox-worthy movie?

I was pretty much attached to the baby for the five weeks I breastfed, since he was so ravenous. Finding time to pump seemed like a sick joke. So once I finally pumped enough for an evening at the movies with my husband, I spent the first two hours of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood worried sick about my finicky baby. (Anyone condemning the violence in the third act clearly didn’t need a bloody distraction from intrusive thoughts of a baby screaming as if to say “Where. Is. My. MOM???”)

Before I found the time to pump that mere 7 oz. for a movie night, Adam returned to me from the new Annabelle movie with rave reviews. He said it proved as good as the second movie in the Annabelle strain of the Conjuring series. But I don’t like the second Annabelle movie, Annabelle: Creation, so his review kept my expectations as low as they started. My expectations fell still more after watching The Curse of La Llorona last week. As far as I could tell, quality control over the Conjuring franchise had gone down the drain.

As for Midsommar, Adam reported back that the hype oversold this latest movie from Ari Aster and that he felt disappointed by his viewing experience. “But you might like it,” he comforted me as my excitement for the most talked about movie of the year waned. “Gee thanks!” I said sarcastically, inferring a whole lot of trash talk from his encouraging statement. He said “but you might like it,” but I heard “you’ll like it because you like anything, even if it sucks.” I should probably get my hearing checked.

This Saturday, once we got Oliver settled at Grandma’s, taught Grandma how to not get scammed on the internet, did our grocery shopping, and ate a not-so-romantic dinner of chicken patties together, I cuddled up with a fluffy blanket and pushed “play” on the Blu-ray player’s remote.

First up: Annabelle Comes Home. I dug the plot, I gasped at parts, I felt so happy to finally watch a movie in peace. And then I fell asleep at 9:30. My first night without a baby to put to sleep (and keep asleep) and my body couldn’t keep up with my binge-watching aspirations.

I woke early the next day and settled on our IKEA couch again, determined to finish the long-anticipated marathon. I texted Grandma and asked when she wanted me to pick up Baby. She said “soon,” which my mommy brain translated to “whenever you’re done with your movie marathon.” I should probably get my vision checked, too.

But enough about my pitiful life of scheduling babysitters around movie runtimes! The show must go on!

On what I promise to be a relevant note, in The Conjuring 2, everyone’s favorite demonologist couple, the Warrens (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), encounter an entertaining variety of demons and other supernatural entities: the evil nun Valak, the Enfield poltergeist, the Crooked Man… It’s frankly a lot of baddies to contain in one movie compared to the simplicity of the original Conjuring’s cast of demons. Annabelle Comes Home takes The Conjuring 2’s smorgasbord of demons and ghosts and puts them to good use in a Warren-centric plot, in which a hodgepodge of set pieces makes sense.

The Warrens leave their pre-teen daughter Judy home with Mary Ellen, the babysitter, overnight. Mary Ellen’s friend, Daniela, shows up uninvited, bringing along an unhealthy curiosity for the Warren’s alternative lifestyle. (Or rather, their afterlifestyle.) This grieving teenage girl with a goal to see her dearly departed father gets the demonic cogs turning when she snoops in the Warren’s occult room, where the evil doll Annabelle safely resides, blessed by holy water and sealed inside a glass case constructed from a church’s window panes. Don’t touch anything, she’s been warned. So of course she touches everything. Annabelle escapes from her case and sics the roomful of possessed objects on the night’s house guests: Mary Ellen (Madison Iseman), Daniela (Katie Sarife), the babysitter’s suitor Bob (Michael Cimino), and Judy, played by a prolific child actress who I usually just refer to as “New Kiernan Shipka,” but whose actual name is Mckenna Grace.

Annabelle Comes Home explores a scenario that fans of the Warrens fantasize about: what if the occult museum and all of its ghastly inhabitants, for lack of a better term, came alive? The film also plays with Conjuring universe fans’ expectations of the series: many of the jump-scare setups in the movie get you on the edge of your seat, only to keep you hanging. Gary Dauberman makes his directorial debut with a hat tip to the previous Conjuring installments, by acknowledging the series’ reputation for an overabundance of jump-scares and proceeding to play with the audience’s expectations, which makes the occasional startling moment all the richer and more satisfying.

After I finished Annabelle Comes Home, I compared notes with my husband. We agreed that the acting was “surprisingly good” for a cast of relatively unknown actors. Katie Sarife in particular gives a layered performance as the best friend Daniela, who first earns the viewer’s scorn by making some poor decisions driven by desperation. But once her motives become clear, Daniela becomes an object of sympathy and affection. With a lesser actress, this shift in audience sympathies wouldn’t have worked: she would have started the movie as the fool and ended it that way. Kudos to Sarife for her elevated performance.

After reveling in the Warren’s fun house of demonic objects, I moved on to the less amusing but equally satisfying Midsommar. I had started watching the movie weeks ago, when it first came out on Blu-ray. I had finished the stunning prologue, on par with iconic prologues like the slow-mo introduction of Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist, but then admitted defeat to my exhaustion and went to bed. I skipped the prologue this second time around, not wanting to relive the trauma yet. (And thank goodness, because plenty of traumatic imagery awaited me.)

Midsommar perfectly captures how it feels to be The Girlfriend in the friend group. Every word of dissent, even if it’s just your opinion and doesn’t really affect anyone, becomes an uncomfortable silence and shift until your boyfriend either covers for you or the group seems to move on. But make no mistake: you no longer qualify as the easygoing Cool Girl of Gone Girl lore; you are the Nagging Girlfriend and will carry the title like a heavy cross. Your grief, your baggage, becomes the group’s shared dread. And when they’re alone, it becomes their inside joke.

Florence Pugh shines as the shattered Dani. Any mention of family or death or both sends Dani into a hyperventilating state of panic, with very little support from her distant asshole of a boyfriend, Christian (Jack Reynor). Like any normal couple grasping at the last straws of a failed relationship, Christian brings Dani along on his boys’ thesis trip to a Swedish commune. While the majority of the friend group, including Christian, resents Dani’s presence, their Swedish friend and guide, Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren), takes a special interest in Dani’s experience of his village’s summer solstice celebration. His sympathy and smile feel like a breath of fresh air after spending too much time with the collegiate bros (played by William Jackson Harper and Will Poulter).

While the midsummer celebration of the film’s title takes a dark turn for many of our American friends, Dani’s own journey feels like a Cinderella story: her foot fits the glass slipper, her stamina lives up to the expectations of the title of May Queen. Meanwhile, the boys, Dani’s equivalent of her wicked stepsisters and stepmother, are left with nothing but the village’s cruel though accurate interpretation of them. I can’t help but wonder whether, while this movie was written and directed by a man, Dani’s pain, and subsequent healing by fire, resonates with women especially. I’m not saying every woman wants to watch the world burn. But the people who hurt us under the guise of caring about us? I say let ‘em burn.

I feel revitalized by this single good night of sleep and lazy morning of movies, which may be apparent from my first blog post in a week and my longest blog post in ever. I recommend both of these movies wholeheartedly and I also recommend to any mamas out there: take a break. Reconnect with yourself, for yourself and for your family. You can’t be everything to everyone every day of your life. Sometimes, you need to check in with yourself. Maybe that looks like a monthly night of sleep and a movie marathon on the couch, or a weekly friend date at the coffee shop, or a biweekly manicure, whatever. Spend some time with a household of demons and a Swedish village of pagans. Have fun, CineBabies, and take care of yourselves.

[curestardust]

if you want: (copy-pasting from my previous review cause it didn’t change) well, it’s BNHA lmao / amazing animation / amazing music / shounen / superpowers and heroes / to have a good fucking time

BNHA S1 (x) BNHA S2 (x) BNHA S3 (x)

I finally caught up and now I won’t have new content till Autumn and I wanna die.

Oh well, what should I say about this movie? It gives us some backstory on All Might’s past while in the USA while the main plot is a pretty nice conflict with a surprising twist. This movie takes us out of U.A. into I-Island, a travelling island that houses the world’s most intelligent scientists who create gadgets for heroes. 

The new environment is kinda meaningless though. For whatever reason, the entire class gets themselves to the island for the I-Expo, although only a handful of them take part in the main story. It’s always nice seeing some friendly faces and what messes they get into but the possibilities of this new place; Deku meeting new people or getting some temporary/movie exclusive cool new characters were thrown out of the window. Which is not a huge problem! But I really wasn’t aware that the rest of the class will show up so I was a bit disappointed.

Well, anyway. The story itself was pretty basic but I enjoyed it a lot and I especially liked the message of the movie at the end. There’s nothing new to say about the technical aspects, it’s BONES. The fight scenes were fucking great bruv. [8/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

if you want: an interesting take on idol anime / wacky humour / nice cast of characters

Warning for the first episode: turn down your volume to avoid going deaf.

Zombieland Saga was one of the most popular anime airing during the Fall 2018 season. Comedy and cute girls? Hell yeah, I had to jump onto that. 

My enjoyment of Zombieland was screwed however, and in order to warn potentional new viewers I must prefice this: this is an idol anime WITH comedy, not a comedy WITH idol stuff.

Indeed, the comedy got so much hype that I thought the idol aspects of the anime wouldn’t be that prominent so imagine my surprise when a few episodes in we barely had any comedy just mostly the girls bonding and speaking about their future as idols. That was the point I realised that I have been looking at this the wrong way and quickly shifted my perspective (which wasn’t a problem as I also adore idol anime).

I feel sad that I couldn’t enjoy this completely from the beginning but shit happens and here we are.

ZS jumps between 3 emotional states. Hopeful idols, over-the-top comedy and Depression™. It feels like Zombieland Saga stuffed about 50 episodes worth of content in a mere 12. The first few episodes are mostly reliant on comedy and giving us the starting point of the idol activities. From about episode 3 to episode 10 we mostly focus on the idol aspect. Building their brand, performing, gaining fans and all thw while we get backstories for most of the characters. Then in the last few episodes there’s a complete tonal shift to a more bleak and depressing situation, the reason of which I’ll obviously not spoil.

The clashing of genres certainly creates a unique experience which is something we desperately need in today’s anime landscape but it might make it difficult for it to find a stable audience. Well, that’d be my worry except there’s something that saves Zombieland: the characters. The 7 main characters of the story all have unique personalities and backstories which also leads to interesting chemistry between almost every charcater. Unfortunately, due to the runtime of the anime we don’t spend quite enough time on exploring these characters. We are also left quite a few unexplained (and just hinted at) situations.

The ending of ZS hints at a possible second season and I’d be glad to follow these girls on their journey of idolhood further and see some aspects expanded upon that we didn’t have time for here. As to who I’d recommend this to...well, you need to at least not outright hate idol stuff cause there’s too much of it here to ignore. But if you do and you want a more unique take on the genre with a lot of wacky moments and nice characters, well, here you go! [8/10] (x)

EDIT: Oh shit I almost forgot. The music is FUCKING amazing. 

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

if you want: everything you’d expect from Monogatari

The continuation of The End, Zoku Owarimonogatari is a story that happens after the last season of Monogatari (Owarimonogatari S2) but before the one that is actually the latest in the timeline at the moment (Hanamonogatari).

Obviously, if you haven’t seen the previous seasons of Monogatari, there’s no reason for you to be reading this. If you have, well, you know what to expect.

First, to quickly get it out of the way, this is a Monogatari installment through and through. Shitton if dialogue, quickly jumping frames, wide still shots, random style changes, fanservice, lots of meta. The music and the animation are also great. It’s all here as you would expect and it brings the same quality as previous installments.

This “movie” specifically is an event that happens after the main story is wrapped up. While I guess, that would be a bit disappointing if it came to any other series, Monogatari has always been built upon random drawn out stories and events, sometimes with no connection to the “main plot”, so this one isn’t any different from those.

I don’t want to go much into the story as the mystery behind it is the whole point of Zoku. Something weird happens as usual, and Koyomi needs to figure it out. That’s all I’m gonna say.

Majority of the main characters appear in Zoku although due to the plot, they offer a new insight into their personalities. Again, hard to talk about without spoiling.

One gripe I had with Zoku is just how much it relies on your knowledge of previous seasons. Lots of places, events and names get dropped all over and if you haven’t brushed up on yout Monogatari knowledge as of late, there’ll be a bit of a confusion as to who the fuck someone is or what they’re talking about. If you have some mild recollection of the story, you’ll be fine, but if you really don’t remember much then...well. This is going to be a confusing ride.

And that’s it! As this is something a newcomer should definitely not watch, I don’t have much else to say as the target audience knows perfectly well what to expect. It was a fun, very Monogatari-esque watch, and that’s all there is to it. [8/10] (x)

Recommend: HELL Yeah! | Yes | Eh??? | Nope | This anime killed my parents

[lolacism]

okay I hope I'm doing this aesthetic thing correct, pls shoot me if not :') okay, a show rec would be SKAMMMM or That 70s Show if you'd like a good laugh. Also, 90210 and The Carrie Diaries I loved dearly. As for songs or bands, I love a lot of things: from musical songs to Twenty One Pilots & Panic! At The Disco to 80s songs. I love... A LOT of music haha. I don't know what I want in 2017: find myself a boyfriend, nail my exams, haha RP MUCH MORE W YOU ♥ I hope this is okay :')?? LOVE YOU ♥♥♥

pls, i could never shoot you tho!! i absolutely LOVE that 70′s show and you bet i’m like THIS close to starting skam because it seems kind of inescapable rn so i’ll trust you that it’s worth the hype?? i’ve also wanted to watch the carrie diaries but i think it was cancelled by the time i thought i’d start & that discouraged me back then bc i had gotten attached to too many cancelled shows but now my body might just be ready, woo :’’))))) (ps: pls watch the video of the first song rec so that you can see for which losers i was willing to go to a gig alone twice plus my 2014 gig might actually be in this altho i have yet to spot it?!)

vodka: german vodka / polish vodka / russian vodka / czech vodkabob’s burgers character: bob / linda / tina / gene / louise / crazy af mr fishoederold school crime show i love: quincy m.e. / murder she wrote / magnum p.i. / simon & simongr8 john travolta movie: saturday night fever / grease / look who’s talking / pulp fictionbook i love: lolita / tender is the night / pride & prejudice / the bell jar / transparent thingscancelled/concluded show: pushing daisies / desperate housewives / wicked city / the astronaut’s wives club / charmedmatt daddario quirk: calling a phone a ‘machine’ / knocking sunglasses off of an innocent cactus / being a real life snow white / cherishing cows more than any of uband i saw live & loved: we are scientists / the nbhd / mothxr / mumford & sons / pawsthe godfather character: michael / sonny / kay / vito / fredo / apolloniagr8 al pacino movie: the panic in needle park / the godfather / serpico / scarfaceour lord & saviour barry miller in: saturday night fever / fame / peggy sue got marriednicolas cage starring as: blonde cage / crazy cage / luscious hair cage / sexii hawaii shirt cage / stache cage

a compliment: omg okay so you’re most likely to be the sweetest, most loveable & most genuine person i’ve gotten to know in the second half of this last year & i’m so so grateful for meeting you like this!! (i used to lowkey admire your blog from afar for a bit tbh ahah) you’re super easy to talk to & write with + you let me send you awful snapchats whenever my fringe is destroyed for some reason which greatly warms my heart! basically, you deserve all the good in the world if it was up to me!!! LOVEYOU x

song rec: i. sprinkles — we are scientists; ii. parking lots — plums; iii. i’m on fire — cub sport

good wishes for the new year spell: may your year be filled with love, happiness & success; cute guys & easy exams & lots and lots more time spend writing with this weird little one (who needs the same to happen to her this year ahah)! may your ways be paved with positivity, light & joy & you may you be surrounded by people who are at least half as sweet as you!! ♡

✨ let me hook you up as well here!! ✨

[flauntpage]

Don’t Fall For the Markelle Fultz Mirage

Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but Markelle Fultz is working on his jump shot this offseason and it is wet.

WATCH OUT NBA; this kid finally gets it and he’s ready to fulfill the potential that launched him to the top of the draft boards in 2017.

In several (now deleted) videos foisted upon social media yesterday, Fultz is shown effortlessly launching a gorgeous three point shot, several jump shots, and displaying the ball handling abilities that made scouts drool while watching him at Washington.

Did the 76ers make a huge mistake in trading him last season? Is this franchise so cursed that the talented-but-fragile shooting guard with mincemeat for a brain and shredded crab meat for a shoulder is actually poised to not only get back on the court, but actually stay on it and make a positive impact?

Listen to me Philadelphia and listen to me good. It’s all a mirage. You have nothing to worry about.

How many times are we going to fall for this? I found myself watching the videos yesterday as a rising pang of anxiety crept up my spine and sourly lodged itself into the base of my brain. He looked competent, he looked good, and his shot actually looked, well, better than ever.

Until I remembered I did the exact same thing in the last offseason when he was under the tutelage of famed shooting coach Drew Hanlen, except back then the anxiety and dread I felt this morning was replaced with joy and jubilation. That certainly didn’t last.

It’s a mirage, Philadelphia. It’s not real. Last year as a fan base we were dying of thirst, wandering through the Sahara Desert in tattered clothing, and the carefully edited and produced videos of Fultz sinking shot after shot was our saving oasis. As we scrambled to our salvation and the cool water was just inches from our grasp, it all disappeared and we were left with nothing but swollen tongues, parched lips, and this:

Markelle Fultz gonna need a restraining order on Jimmy Butler once he sees his free throw routine pic.twitter.com/HBmByvCKHe

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) November 13, 2018

New season, new hype video, and the same results by November.

If you didn’t see the videos released yesterday morning (and mysteriously scrubbed from social media by noon), his shooting stroke is basically the same as it was during the early portion of last season. Here it is:

Now compare it to an early preseason game from last October:

Fultz tiene un buen tiro ahora 😲😲😲

Markelle Fultz, primer pick 2017, y quien solo jugó 14 partidos la pasada temporada, hoy luce excelente con una nueva mecánica en su tiro. (Trabajó en la temporada muerta con el joven gurú del entrenamiento Drew Hanlen) pic.twitter.com/pHEuuO8Qkb

— 24 Segundos™ 🏀 (@24SegundosRD) October 2, 2018

Yeah, looks similar to me. And recall, dear reader, that the start of 2018 was by far the highlight of Fultz’s career with the 76ers when we trumpeted every 10 point effort on 30% shooting as the second coming of Kobe Bryant. We were so desperate to prove he was worth the high pick, everything the 76ers gave up for him, that we ignored the obviously still wonky and odd looking jump shot.

The best analogy I can give for his jump shot is how you feel watching a movie where an actor is digitally inserted after their death or is digitally altered to look younger or older. Think of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” where actor Peter Cushing’s character Governor Tarkin was digitally inserted into the movie 26 years after his death and a young Princess Leia made a cameo in the conclusion.

Both CGI characters look great at first, a true feat of technology, but the more you looked at them on screen, the more you really watched them on the big screen in front of you, the more OFF and WEIRD they seemed. Their imperfections and lifelessness were suddenly all you could notice. The closer you looked, the more abnormal the creations seemed. Suddenly you weren’t too thrilled to be seeing them at all.

It’s the same as Fultz’s “new and improved” jump shot. It looks better than it did in 2017, it looks smoother, but the more you look at it the more you notice that it just looks OFF. It’s wonky. You try to convince yourself that it’s a lifelike copy of a good jump shot, but the more you see it the more you know it’s not. It’s abnormal and a poor imitation of an effortless shot.

It still looks like it could all come tumbling down at any moment.

The greatest value Fultz will have given the 76ers was his merciful trade off the team last year. We don’t have to be distracted by these videos, Brett Brown doesn’t have to field question after question on his progress, and his teammates don’t have to spout canned platitudes about his work effort and how good of a fit he is on the court when anyone with two eyes can see he isn’t.

He’s Orlando’s problem now. Let them have the mirage.

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