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larauthorized · 4 years ago

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Marissa Cooper Analysis

Coop, as Summer calls her. Or Cosmo Girl as Seth refers to her in his comic book. The girl next door whom Ryan first met in that driveway, delivering the most iconic flirtatious pick-up line in history. Yup, we’re going to dive deeper into the one and only Marissa Cooper, the heart of the show, who’s sadly misunderstood and overlooked even in The OC fandom. (Also, because she’s not here to defend herself, but we got you, girl!)

She’s introduced as the rich girl next door, who’s waiting to be picked up by her possibly first, long time boyfriend in the driveway. Later on, we find out that she’s not just the ordinary girl next door. She’s organized and loves planning events (the fashion show was the start of many), while it may seem like she’s only doing it for her mother’s sake, but you can tell that she really enjoys it as it becomes another way of escapism from her dysfunctional family (other than drinking that we’ll get into that later). She does this every season that when she’s kicked off the school even for heroic reasons, that’s when everything starts spiraling out of control that she loses herself.

Now let’s talk about Luke, Marissa’s first, long-time boyfriend who happens to be a water polo guy that Seth might or might not hold hatred for. From the first season, we get to see a glimpse of how her family, well, Julie mostly, is the kind of rich family that forces her to be and stay with Luke just because they “look good on paper”. It reminds me of Blair and Nate from Gossip Girl, another one of Josh Schwartz’s big hit show. However, Marissa doesn’t seem too happy with the rich life that she’s used to, especially when she knows that her father is possibly in deep trouble as cops keep showing up at her door. Enter Ryan. He’s an outsider, someone who’s far different than her, someone that she longed for in years. She’s intrigued, that one is hard to deny. However, when they start talking and conversing in each other as they sneak into the Model Home house, she realizes that they’re not that different, if anything, they’re similar. In a way.. But, when Cotillion comes around, she doesn’t know what to do, as Julie once again, demands that she stays with Luke just because they’re “picture perfect” (doesn’t matter if the guy cheats and whores around behind her back like the asshole he is *sigh*). And if we’re not going to blame Blair Waldorf for letting Nate cheat on her and still choose to be with him, then we’re not going to shame Marissa, either. Yes, we went there. (take that, Bustle and TheTalko!).

Marissa’s addiction. That one is possibly one of her worst traits, that the writers loved toying around with throughout the seasons. She tends to go overboard with this one as we see on the very first episode where she steals a whole bottle of alcohol and is left on the driveway, passed-out. This is where Ryan comes in, carrying her back to the pool house, indirectly claiming as her savior *this goes both ways for each other throughout the series, by the way*. Her alcoholism isn’t just the only thing that occurs whenever her life’s on downward spiral, it’s also shown in her bedroom sometimes. When she’s on a grey area with her life emotionally, she reflects it on her bedroom, that soon leads to be a makeover project by her best friend, Summer. Summer describes this as a reason why she’s so depressed, which psychologically speaking, can be accurate. Messy rooms are sometimes interpreted as one’s life not being as organized as they expect it to be, therefore they tend to think that “if my life is out of control, then what’s the point of keeping my room clean”? This is definitely what happens to Marissa.

Her addiction doesn’t even get too much until Season 3. Even after what happens with Ryan’s brother, we rarely see her taking a drop after, Ryan says and I quote, “You’ve been amazing,” She replies with, “I know what it feels like to have someone believes in you when no one else does.”

Aside from negative coping, she’s not only known for that, if you’re actually looking closely into her character and not just judging it based on the cover. She’s an avid reader, though it’s barely shown, but we see her having her nose buried in a book every once in a while. Now that I think about it, that and many other positive qualities that she has, should have been focused and explored way more. She’s organized and carries planner whenever she needs to, she’s clearly more than the girl who needed saving if only the writers see that. Cause then maybe, people won’t refer to her as a “tragic” character that the writers want us to believe *she is not*.

She’s definitely an introvert - compared to her best friend, Summer, who’s more the life of the party. Sure, she goes to parties and surrounds herself with her so-called “friends”, but you can literally see her drinking alone in the corner while Summer is probably having a lot more fun than she is. It’s clear that she only uses party scene as a way to steal alcohol that she will probably drink later at night as a way of coping. She also seems to be uncomfortable around new people and charges her energy while she’s on her own. This is why when she’s kicked off the school and has to go to a new environment, she doesn’t fit in right away, which leads to her insecurity increasing even higher (something that she also struggles with on a daily basis). The insecurity itself is possibly rooted from maternal issues she has, we see that on the very first episode, Julie is critizing her on how she looks, how she takes the comment on a personal level. After overdosing herself in Tijuana, she’s put on Suicide Watch, and we learn that she also suffers from “possible” ED in the past, masking it something that’s not serious because she was very stressed at the time, but is it though? Now, we never really know further cause that storyline is never explored further, we also don’t know if the writers are taking it seriously or just putting heavy weight on her shoulder for fun. Either way, it really sucks for her character, especially when she had other deep trauma issues that are barely addressed throughout the series.

Her savior complex. Now now now, this one is kind of controversial, excluding the last season where the main focus is “Ryan failed to save her”, helping and saving people are actually her forte, just like Ryan - which is why they probably connect in the first place. People love to call she’s selfish and needs saving all the time, but they’re people, who don’t bother to look deeper and judge all they please, it’s sickening. First, despite how problematic it might seem, she tries to help Oliver (no matter how many times Ryan thinks she doesn’t). She sees herself in Oliver and is scared that he might go down the rabbit hole if she leaves him alone, that’s actually sweet and showcases her nurturing side. The only downside is that every guy she does this to, seems to take it the wrong way and thinks of it as more than a friendly gesture. Cause you know, it was the 2000s, boy/girl friendships aren’t as common as it is now. She even lets Ryan go to help Theresa even though she needs him as well, knowing that he literally has an affair with another girl while they are still kind of together. How she’s trying to make Ryan’s brother feel welcome in the neighborhood, keeping him company, not realizing that Trey might turn out to be the one that truly hurt and destroy her. What makes my blood boil even more is when they call her stupid for trusting Trey, for what, really? For wanting to get to know Ryan’s family because she loves him that much, that she’s willing to go far and beyond? *shudders* Even then, she’s still not thinking of herself when that happens, that her only response when Trey confronts her is “Me?! How about Ryan?” So yeah, I’ll fight anyone who calls her selfish. My ass. The other thing with Johnny is that, she doesn’t try to save him, she actually sees him as a friend that she can vent to about her traumatic events that happen to her in the previous season. Because, for some reason they make Ryan look and seem like a douche this season and not wanting to talk to her though he always is there for her before *probably for angst, right?*. It’s actually stupid how they twist Johnny around and make him in love with her, leaving her yet alone again, but guess that’s what they’re trying to accomplish with her character as she’s left with her addiction only during this entire thing.

Saving guys who don’t even deserve a shred of her kindness aren’t the only thing she’s good at - remember Hailey, Kirsten’s sister, who ends up a stripper that one time and how Marissa and Ryan find her and as he’s about to give up after getting kicked out of a club, she’s still optimistic and comes up with a plan to save her? Yeah, that one true partner in crime right there. She also schemes every now and then, not that that’s ever explored deeply in the show, but it’s there.

Now Volchok, the guy that we all want to punch (Let’s go, Ryan!). She just loses a friend (one she can talk to about traumatic events), deals with s3xual assault and having to shoot someone to save her boyfriend, that’s got to be too much on a teenager girl like her. So no, she doesn’t just do that because she “loves to date bad boys”. There she is, standing and looking around the Model Home house, reconciling of the old times between her and Ryan. She realizes that she wants to be with Ryan and is ready for it too, but she can’t seem to go over to him when the time comes, giving him the mixtape that she makes him. The situation’s reversed, she used to be the rich girl with a mansion, now there she is, barely having her own bedroom, living in a trailer park. To add to that, she’s dealing with traumatic events still, so of course she’s insecure. She thinks she’s not good enough for Ryan and giving in to Volchok is a sign of that. But she wants Ryan to be happy, hence why she chases after Sadie, practically driving the girl into his arms. Poor, poor girl deserves so much better.

Let’s take a breather and talk about her family now. Despite how dysfunctional it might seem on the outside, and how many furniture thrown in the pool, doesn’t erase the fact that she’s a family girl. Jimmy, her father, has a way of coming and going any ways he likes. She even points it out and says, “You know, I wish you’d be like a real dad,” Ouch, that hurt. But it’s true, when it comes to family, she’s looking for a tradition, something stable that she can always cling onto especially when she’s in time of need. This is why when she comes up bringing bagels to the Cohen’s house, she feels warmed and welcomed by the family. It’s the one thing she lacks of in her family. Julie, despite the crazy ways in providing for her, is actually doing a better job at being there for her than Jimmy ever does. Sure, Julie is seen more of a villain in the first season (hell, the woman sleeps with her boyfriend that she lost her virginity to, so if I were her, I’d understand if she wants to, say, take revenge and invite her mom’s sister that Julie strongly hates as part of her master plan), but by the end of Season 3, they really grow stronger as a mother-daughter relationship that we really wish to see more of if given a chance. Despite not showing much for her and only coming for the drama, she truly cares for her sister, Kaitlin. When she’s done moping around after traumatic events, she drives away to where her sister’s boarding school is, all because she wants to help her sister with something. There she is, finally having drama-free, fun episode where we get to see her strolling around in a sexy school girl outfit, but clearly the writers never catch her a break and hate to see her happy for once.

Marissa is always seen as beautiful on the outside, but I don’t think she ever feels it at times. Luke’s cheating, probably makes her feel insecure and her mother sleeping with him helps as well. Ryan is the only person who actually sees her. She’s his heather.

People love pointing out her flaws when it comes to her relationship with darling Ryan, but the truth is, she has always been putting him before anyone else. She saves him multiple times throughout the series, even when he’s hardly there for her in Season 3. When she follows him to Chino, she visits his house and finds out more about him as a child - discovering that he used to be in a play dressed as Snoopy (again, she’s finding more and more about him because she cares and loves him deeply). Then, he goes out there saving his brother, not knowing that who he’s dealing with, she comes just in time with a car, saving him. This happens again when he’s broken up with Lindsay, she finds him in the rain, and comforts him, no talking needed. She shot her rapist to save him by the finale. Even in Season 3, when he’s chasing trouble with Volchok going back to his old ways as she’s miles away from Newport, he seeks for her help again, she is quick to respond and be there for him right away. Something he fails to do during this season, don’t ever tell me that she never thinks of him when that’s not true. She encourages him to talk about his architecture dream when they’re both on a college trip (this is such goals!).

With her neglectful and narcistic parents, emotionally, and Ryan’s who’s more physically, that’s why they click and their relationship works. He doesn’t trust anyone and she doesn’t encourage her bad behavior on him, but they’re both there for each other. Always. She’s his constant, just like he’s hers, she accepts him the way he is because she’s imperfect as well. She sees him as the one thing that she can rely on and that’s really sweet. They both come from dysfunctional family with their own issues in hopes to build one of their own that actually works, at least that’s what we’re all rooting for, right?

Well, at least, in another world, we see Marissa Cooper and Ryan Atwood sailing away on a boat, travelling, and exploring the world as they should be before settling back down to their roots - Model Home House, Newport. It’s what she deserves.

#marissa cooper #ryan atwood #the oc #marissa cooper analysis #character analysis #the oc analysis #ryissa #ryanandmarissa #marissacooper #ryanatwood #theoc #analysis #blog #blogger #bloggerslife #writerslife

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crowdvscritic · 3 years ago

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round up // JULY 21

‘Tis the season to beat the heat at the always-cold theatres and next to fans set at turbo speed. While my movie watching slowed a bit with the launch of the Summer Olympics on July 23rd, I’ve still got plenty of popcorn-ready and artsy recommendations for you. A few themes in the new-to-me pop culture I’m recommending this month:

Casts oozing with embarrassing levels of talent (sometimes overqualified for the movies they’re in)

Pop culture that is responding or reinterpreting past pop culture

Stories that get weEeEeird

Keep on-a-scrollin’ to see which is which!

July Crowd-Pleasers

1. Double Feature – ‘90s Rom-Coms feat. Lots of Lies: Mystery Date (1991) + The Pallbearer (1996)

In Mystery Date (Crowd: 7.5/10 // Critic: 6/10), Ethan Hawke and Teri Polo get set up on a blind date that gets so bizarre and crime-y I’m not sure how this didn’t come out in the ‘80s. In The Pallbearer (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10), David Schwimmer and Gwyneth Paltrow try to combine The Graduate with Four Weddings and a Funeral in a story about lost twentysomethings. If you don’t like rom-coms in which circumstances depend on lots of lies and misunderstandings, these won’t be your jam, but if you’re like me and don’t mind these somewhat-cliché devices, you’ll be hooked by likeable casts and plenty of rom and com.

2. The Tomorrow War (2021)

I thought of no fewer movies than this list while watching: Alien, Aliens, Angel Has Fallen, Cloverfield, Interstellar, Kong: Skull Island, Prometheus, A Quiet Place: Part II, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith, The Silence of the Lambs, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and World War Z. And you know what? I like all those movies! (Okay, maybe I just have a healthy respect/fear of The Silence of the Lambs.) The Tomorrow War may not be original, but it borrows some of the best tropes and beats from the sci-fi and action genres, so much so I wish I could’ve seen Chris Pratt and Co. fight those gross monsters on a big screen. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 6/10

3. Dream a Little Dream (1989)

My July pick for the Dumb Rom-Com I Nevertheless Enjoyed! I CANNOT explain the mechanics of this body switch comedy to you—nor can the back of the DVD case above—but, boy, what an ‘80s MOOD. I did not know I needed to see a choreographed dance routine starring Jason Robards and Corey Feldman, but I DID. All I know is some movies are made for me and that I’m now a card-carrying member of the Two Coreys fan club. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 6.5/10

4. Black Widow (2021)

The braids! The Pugh! Black Widow worked for me both as an exciting action adventure and as a respite from the Marvel adventures dependent on a long memory of the franchise. (Well, mostly—keep reading for a second MCU rec much more dependent on the gobs of previous releases.) Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

5. Liar Liar (1997)

Guys, Jim Carrey is hilarious. That’s it—that’s the review. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7/10

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6. Sob Rock by John Mayer (2021)

It’s very possible I’ve already listened to this record more than all other John Mayer records. It doesn’t surpass the capital-G Greatness of Continuum, but it’s a little bit of old school Mayer, a little bit ‘80s soft rock/pop, and I’ve had it on repeat most of the two weeks since it’s been out. Featuring the boppiest bop that ever bopped, at least one lyrical gem in every track, and an ad campaign focused on Walkmans, this record skirts the line between Crowd faves and Critic-worthy musicianship.

7. Double Feature – ‘00s Ben Affleck Political Thrillers: The Sum of All Fears (2002) + State of Play (2009)

In The Sum of All Fears (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), Ben Affleck is Jack Ryan caught up in yet another international incident. In State of Play (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10), he’s a hotshot Congressman caught up in a scandal. Both are full of plot twists and unexpected turns, and in both, Affleck is accompanied by actors you’re always happy to see, like Jason Bateman, James Cromwell, Russell Crowe, Jeff Daniels, Viola Davis, Morgan Freeman, Philip Baker Hall, David Harbour, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Liev Schreiber, and Robin Wright—yes, I swear all of those people are in just those two movies.

8. Loki (2021-)

Unlike Black Widow, you can’t go into Loki with no MCU experience. The show finds clever ways to nudge us with reminders (and did better at it than Falcon and the Winter Soldier), but be forewarned that at some point, you’re just going to have to let go and accept wherever this timeline-hopper is taking you. An ever-charismatic cast keeps us grounded (Owen Wilson, Jonathan Majors, and an alligator almost steal the show from Tom Hiddleston in some eps), but while Falcon lasted an episode or two too long, Loki could’ve used a few more to flesh out its complicated plot and develop its characters. Thankfully, the jokes matter almost as much as the sci-fi, so you can still have fun even if you have no idea what’s going on.

9. Double Feature – Bruce Willis: Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995) + The Whole Nine Yards (2000)

Before Bruce Willis began starring in many random direct-to-DVD movies I only ever hear about in my Redbox emails, he was a Movie Star smirking his way up the box office charts. In the third Die Hard (Crowd: 10/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), he teams up with Samuel L. Jackson to decipher the riddles of a terrorist madman (Jeremy Irons), and it’s a thrill ride. In The Whole Nine Yards (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10), he’s hitman that screws up dentist Matthew Perry’s boring life in Canada, and—aside from one frustrating scene of let’s-objectify-women-style nudity—it’s hilarious.

10. This Is the End (2013)

On paper, this is not a movie for me. An irreverent stoner comedy about a bunch of bros partying it up before the end of the world? None of things are for Taylors. But with a little help of a TV edit to pare down the raunchy and crude bits, I laughed my way through and spent the next several days thinking through its exploration of what makes a good person. While little of the plot is accurate to Christian Gospel and theology, some of its big ideas are consistent enough with the themes of the book of Revelation I found myself thinking about it again in church this morning. (Would love to know if Seth Rogen ever expected that.) Plus, I love a good self-aware celebrity spoof—can’t tell you how many times I’ve just laughed remembering the line, “It’s me, Jonah Hill, from Moneyball”—and an homage to horror classics. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10

July Critic Picks

1. Summer of Soul (…or, When the Television Could Not Be Televised) (2021)

Even director Questlove didn’t know about the Harlem Cultural Festival, but now he’s compiled the footage so we can all enjoy one of the coolest music fest lineups ever, including The 5th Dimension, B.B. King, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, and Stevie Wonder, who made my friend’s baby dance more than once in the womb. See it on the big screen for top-notch audio. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

2. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Robin Williams takes on the bureaucracy, disillusionment, and malaise of the Vietnam War with comedy. Williams was a one-of-a-kind talent, and here it’s on display at a level on par with Aladdin. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

3. Against the Rules Season 2 (2020-21)

Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball, adapted into a film starring Jonah Hill), is interested in how we talk about fairness. This season he looks at how coaches impact fairness in areas like college admissions, credit cards, and youth sports.

4. Bugsy Malone (1976)

A gangster musical starring only children? It’s a little like someone just picked ideas out of a hat, but somehow it works. You can hear why in the Bugsy Malone episode Kyla and I released this month on SO IT’S A SHOW?, plus how this weird artifact of a film connects with Gilmore Girls.

5. The Queen (2006)

Before The Crown, Peter Morgan wrote The Queen, focusing on Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) in the days following the death of Princess Diana. It’s a complex and compassionate drama, both for the Queen and for Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen, who has snuck up on me to become a favorite character actor). Maybe I’ve got a problem, but I’ll never tire of the analysis of this famous family. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9.5/10

6. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)

This month at ZekeFilm, we took a closer look at Revisionist Westerns we’ve missed. I fell hard for Roy Bean, and I think you will, too, if for no other reason than you might like a story starring Jacqueline Bisset, Ava Gardner, John Huston, Paul Newman, and Anthony Perkins. Oh, and a bear! Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 10/10

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7. New Trailer Round Up

Naked Singularity (Aug. 6) – John Boyega in a crime thriller!

Queenpins (Aug. 10) – A crime comedy about extreme coupon-ing!

Dune (Oct. 1) – I’ve been cooler on the anticipation for this film, but this new look has me cautiously intrigued thanks to the Bardem + Bautista + Brolin + Chalamet + Ferguson + Isaac + Momoa + Zendaya of it all.

The Last Duel (Oct. 15) – Affleck! Damon! Driver!

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Nov. 11) - I’m not sure why we need this, but I’m down for the Paul Rudd + Finn Wolfhard combo

King Richard (Nov. 19) - Will Smith as Venus and Serena’s father!

Encanto (Nov. 24) – Disney and Lin-Manuel Miranda making more magic together!

House of Gucci (Nov. 24) - Gaga! Pacino! Driver!

Also in July…

Kyla and I took a look at the classic supernatural soap Dark Shadows and why Sookie might be obsessed with it on Gilmore Girls.

I revisited a so-bad-it’s-good masterpiece that’s a surrealist dream even Fellini couldn’t have cooked up. Yes, for ZekeFilm I wrote about the Vanilla Ice movie, Cool as Ice, which is now a part of my Blu-ray collection.

Photo credits: Against the Rules. All others IMDb.com.

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mysteriesofloves · 4 years ago

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are there any other tv ships that remind you of dan and blair?

rory/paris from gilmore girls is THEE dair blueprint . hence the fic that i am “writing” (sitting untouched in my docs like everything else). it’s about the bickering the rivalry the first true friendship you find yourself choosing. most of the time i really hated you! i really hated you too! i know this is not a “canon” “ship” but yes it is.

seth/summer from the oc obviously was the actual blueprint i firmly believe had the s1 dair storyline panned out they would’ve done something similar. (also the “one kiss and that’s that” was a ryan/taylor scene first and i don’t ship that but know your history).

xander and cordelia from buffy the vampire slayer are also a blueprint ship 100%

haven’t watched hart of dixie yet but @strideofpride wrote me an ask here about george/AB being dair-like! i also haven’t seen all of dawson’s creek but joey/pacey is widely regarded as a similar ship

did a downton abbey rewatch recently so feel the need to include mary/matthew (someone talk to me about how mary and blair are like the Same Character). how matthew saw a kindness in mary that she believed was only there because of him. also just the whole “if you like to argue we should spend more time together”

RELATED i rewatched the emma 2009 miniseries and this specific portrayal of the emma/knightley relationship is so exactly dair!! it’s about LOVE and FIGHTING born out of familiarity. jonny lee miller’s knightley has something so charmingly geeky about him the dan humphrey energy is through the roof

#asks

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bisexual-maelstrom12 · 4 years ago

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Ranking the Lovelink Matches (a completely subjective list by moi)

22. Clementine Hill / Grace Kim

I already wasn’t into her because she’s a privileged rich girl who uses literary quotes to seem smart (but really it’s just obnoxious). But then she tells us she’s thinking about dumping us for her creepy old professor?? Girl needs an actual job so she can stop relying on her parents and a therapist for her daddy issues.

21. Dominic Wright / Adam Johnson

I’m still pretty early on in the storyline here but so far I’m just bored. A “love” photography theme? Big yawn.

20. Liam Park / Min-Jae Lee

How Is Dating A K-Pop Star This BORING

19. Jake Gonzales / Zayn Kassab

The sexting is fun but honestly his film project sounds terrible and he needs to cool his feelings down like 200%.

18. Angel Reed / Emmalyn Roberts

Look she’s amazing and gorgeous and the animals are ADORABLE but honestly I find her pretty boring compared to the other matches SORRY DON’T HATE ME

17. Antoine Dawson / Noah Cruz

He comes on too strong a lot but I dig the puppies and the sexual tension. I would absolutely enter a FWB relationship with him but nothing more.

16. Albert Bishop / Jonathan Hayes

This ranking is subject to change bc tbh I swiped left on these boys at first (#fuckamericanimperialism). But then other matches finished up and I needed more content and y’know what? Albert’s pretty okay. I like his backstory so far and he’s sweet and sexy. Should def get out of the military tho.

15. Stefan Silver / Oliver Black

I appreciate that he’s a more consent-friendly version of Christian Gray and I like the “defrosting ice king” trope. But I would much rather be using the riding crop on him than vice versa. >:)

14. Jamie Grant / Seth Evans

Jamie is kind of a weird match in that I LOVE his storyline but also the flirting is pretty weak?? Like, I literally would have had to pay gems for the first “date”. I’m not feeling much of a sexual connection here, but I’m all aboard the hacker kidnapping storyline.

13. Austin Russo / Damien Jones

He’s rough around the edges but the character growth is pretty spectacular. Gotta save my boo from death row.

12. Sam Knight / Michael Evans

Never thought I’d be into a jock frat boy but here we are. I like how I snarked at him constantly for a week and he still fell for me. Ghosting us after we call him out on his daddy issues is pretty weak tho.

11. Samantha Clark / Aesha Nora

Okay she isn’t the greatest person or partner but cute gamer gf?? Yes please. And she can cook and bench press me too! *swoon* Also Fiction needs to be real asap.

10. Sage Foster / Vitoria Voznesenky

Sage was one of my first matches and was my favorite for a while. Who doesn’t want a hot goth gf? But then she PUNCTURED MY LIP (does that even heal??) and almost ate me and I’m just not about that. Hopefully she can go give Baba Yaga a talking to and get that curse removed.

9. Skylar Quinn / Jaden Bower

So making us commit a crime and then ditching us on the first date wasn’t cool, and I’m not much for a “rebel without a cause,” but then Skylar hit me with his tragic backstory and, well, I’m weak y’all. Also he’s so smart and snarky and sexy and I want him to achieve his dreams.

8. Eve Rockwood / Alice Martin

Look I’m still pissed at Eve for ditching us in Ibiza. But also I would absolutely drop everything to follow a hot girl to Japan.

7. William Crome / Julien Alexandre

I was never really into the whole dating a vampire thing but William just does it for me. I think it’s the hair and the old timey fashion. And he told off his mom for me, which is more than I can say about SOME of these matches.

6. Hugo Hornsby / Marco Bottazzi

Hugo is lowkey a garbage human who absolutely emotionally cheated on his long-term fiance with us. So why do I love him so much?? Idk, could be my trash taste in men, could be my love of geeks, could be the delicious drama of his plotline. Hugo pls come back from ur convo with ur fiance and d*ck us down already.

5. Kayla Summers / Jasmin Medina

Kayla/Jasmin is objectively the most badass match in Lovelink. She’s hot, ambitious, and didn’t ghost me for a dumb reason. She can kill it in heels AND kill actual killers! Get you a girl who can do both!

4. Raphael Becker / Wyatt Moore

The creepy cult plot is fascinating and Raph is the perfect combination of sweet/romantic and hott. That dream date was amazing. Pls Lovelink, when will my husband* come back from the war**?

* musician boyfriend

** creepy cult village

3. Ryan Byrne

Ryan is lowkey my perfect guy--sweet, nerdy, and SO SEXY OMG. I need his sex scene so bad pls. Also he might have caused the zombie apocalypse and that’s very interesting of him. I’m hooked on his story and I want his **** hooked in my *****.

2. Milena Sarafian / Ana Samarine (also maybe the same route as Ruby Thomas and Julia Greene?? Idk I’m pretty confused by this whole situation)

Apparently my ideal type is an adorable yet sexy computer who discovers love and how to be human through interacting with me. I should probably go watch that Her movie.

1. Cpt. Muffin

CAT. SHY BOY. <3.

#lovelink

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safflowerseason · 4 years ago

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what are some of your favourite fights (verbal not physical!) from the oc? i was thinking about how much i enjoy ryan and marissa's fight in 3x02 about the shooting. it's one of the few (only?) instance where they talk about it and marissa vocalises ryan not needing to save her all the time. for all their misery in season 3, it's a shame we didn't get more explosive fights between the two. really emblematic of how the show lost its energy and spark

Oooh, this is a great question, Anon, as everyone here knows I love a good fight. However, the only season I can really consider in my answer is S1, because I haven’t watched the other seasons closely enough to really have a favorite (I also think they are written badly enough that a lot of the fighting just annoys me because none of it actually makes sense emotionally).

In general, my favorite fights on The OC are between Sandy and Kirsten, for a couple reasons. For one thing, they are always the best acted (um, sorry to the core four, but it’s true). Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan had such good chemistry and did an incredible job of portraying a marriage in all its dimensions. I also just personally love watching/reading a good fight between married people (I am writing a whole fic to that effect) because there’s always so much going on, so much history to draw from, and so much more is always at stake. I’m not sure I can pick a favorite, but whenever Sandy and Kirsten are fighting in S1, I am always having a great time and just appreciating their dynamic because it’s so rich. One of my favorite fights is the fight they have during the Valentine’s Day episode in Kirsten’s office, which starts out kind of silly about the V-Day dance and then turns into a bigger fight about their whole relationship. Inject that kind of fighting into my veins.

Anyway, after Sandy and Kirsten’s fights, I also really do appreciate Seth and Summer’s fight at the beginning of S2, when Summer reads the riot act and calls him on all his bullshit, because she basically sums up everything that’s wrong with Seth’s character and it’s just a shame Seth actually regresses in S2 as a human. “What do you want, Cohen?” “I just want you.” “...No, you don’t.” SO GOOD. Normally Adam Brody out-acts Bilson (and/or you get the sense they are just being a couple onscreen together), but she completely shines in that scene. Rachel Bilson went to acting classes or something between S1 and S2.

For Ryan and Marissa, it’s a bit difficult for me to choose. Unlike Sandy and Kirsten or Seth and Summer, who largely communicate via fighting, Ryan and Marissa do not communicate that way, so fighting for them is often less about communication and more just...yelling past each other, which is more frustrating to watch. The moments when they make up from their arguments are always the more compelling to me. I’m not sure I agree that Ryan and Marissa needed more fights to fix what went wrong in S3 (although I haven’t seen it in years and years and it sounds like maybe they did need to scream at each other)...I just think the writers had no idea how to write their relationship anymore. To me, Ryan and Marissa’s best moments as a couple are their quietest moments...Ben McKenzie and Mischa Barton are not very talk-y actors...they often do better just letting their faces do the work for them.

Nevertheless, I do enjoy their fight in the S1 Chrismukkah ep, after they get pulled over by the cops and Marissa almost gets busted for drinking and Ryan unloads on her about how he can’t put up with her behavior anymore. To me, it’s a very realistic argument, and Ryan is actually setting a boundary with Marissa (albeit angrily), which is very compelling to see considering they have basically no boundaries with each other at that point in their relationship. I also enjoy their post-Oliver arc when Marissa wants to go back to normal and Ryan can’t because he feels too betrayed...when Marissa shows up and basically wants to have sex as a way to make up for it and Ryan is like “ahhh stop.” These arguments both center Ryan’s perspective over Marissa’s--the perennial problem in the writing of their relationship, especially after Oliver--but nevertheless, both those fights, to me, say a lot about both Ryan and Marissa’s separate psychologies and the root of their dysfunction.

In response to an ask, I also wrote a close reading here about their argument in 2x09, when Lindsey gets really drunk and Ryan blames Marissa. True to form, I find their conversation AFTER the fight a lot more interesting than the fight itself, but I dissect both. And fwiw this is also a ~*great*~ fight for Ryan and Marissa, and it’s not a coincidence it calls back to their fight in the Christmas episode.

Thanks so much for the great ask, Anon! As you can see, I love dissecting how a good fight works on the page and on-screen 😎 it’s harder than it looks!

#the oc #ryan x marissa #sandy x kirsten #seth x summer #the marissa discourse #ryan atwood #marissa cooper #seth cohen #summer roberts #sandy cohen #kirsten cohen

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seancamerons · 4 years ago

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ep/arcs in shows that make me sad

- in boy meets world when cory and topanga are broken up and its all depressing and shit it was well written but damn the whole situation made me sad

- in oth when haley leaves and nathan’s like depressed - in oth when haley first comes back from tour in s3 and nathan’s all y’know - in degrassi when c*m died and maya goes through a downward sprial - also maya’s depression in next class - in fnl when matt and julie break up when he like leaves and it gets like super emotional its not okay - that time in degrassi when darcy struggles after her rape - and zoe’s sexual assault and trial when she almost overdoses :’( - and when she confesses to winston she’s gay (and she’d been hurting herself) - when ADAM would burn himself when he’s forced to pretend he’s gracie - tyler down’s entire plot in s2 in thirteen reasons - HANNAH BAKER - the aftermath on degrassi gives me sad feelings sometimes for a lot of reasons - but what about when marissa died on the oc that whole arc leading up to it fucking hurts - especially with ryan like holding her lifeless body i fucking can’t - i can’t with s1′s finale that whole ep like it’s one of my favorite episodes but the ending makes me cry - i fucking lose it when kirsten cries in the pool house when ryan and seth leave town and marissa goes back to the bottle and they play fucking hallejuah - “we’re from different worlds” that scene hurt me - when seth tells summer he doesn’t love her anymore - when summer and seth are so not in acting so loveydovey (because the actors split up irl) in s4 of the oc and the dynamic shifted and the mermaid poem was a sham ugh - that one time i felt sorry for kelly in that throwaway sleepover episode of bh90210 when she talks about that guy and when steve fuckin lied about shit and spread rumors about her because he was hurt or something and it really hurt her feelings because i have a soft spot for them even tho they don’t work i guess - when steve found out he’s adopted and runs away to find his biomom in s2 - brenda being pariahed in s3-4 of bh90210 subtly - when dylan and kelly take brenda to the park to tell her they’re together and felt like they ‘owed it to her’ like get the fuck out of here you guys are trash friends - in degrassi when zig tells maya he ‘fooled around’ with zoe and maya takes her hands away like that fucking moment ok - “i’m sorry too.” takin’ it waaaay back to s1 with sean and emma - “i’ve got nothing to say” from gg tied with, “maybe it’s not the chemo.” - the only time i had sad feels about ecl*re when clare had a miscarriage because it really was sad the way it all happened i was mad about the pregnancy plot but i was more upset when after all the careful preparation it was just tossed aside - jt’s death bc well c’mon and that plot when jay suckered him into stealing oxy and he ruined his life - when e**ie cut herself - that time when ashley cried during her school pictures :’( yeah same - ok breaking bad but the time when walt finally tells jesse the truth about jane and that he could’ve stopped her death and he didn’t before selling him to the fucking neonazis who then tortured him for like 80 years (including when they killed his girlfriend) - betty’s whole life on mad men but especially that one ep when she worked fucking hard as shit on that ‘around the world dinner’ and then found out that he’d been cheating on her or put pieces together in her head and she stayed in her party dress all day and didn’t do shit but think about all the shit with don - while also satisfying to me like the part when peggy confesses to pete after he confesses to peggy he loves her, about how she had a baby that was his and she gave it away - when poussey died on oitnb - how taystee got life for something she didn’t do - how taystee found tucky ended up graduating afterall (and did she find her) - when tucky got r*ped and nothing was done about it and she continued spending time with her perp and her best friend abandoned her over it - maritza getting separated from flaca after the riots and ending up getting deported like wtf - susanne in jail and why she’s there breaks my heart - speaking of netflix shows the ass end of the last ep of on my block hurts alot about that show hurts - skins when freddie gets straight up murdered by effy’s doctor still freaks me out to this daaaayyy (that scene was unnecessary and brutal) but that’s just one of skins tragedies and omg i can’t - how we’ll never know anything about the society cuz it got canned - elite when marina is murdered and then it was covered up and then i stopped watching for a bit so idk what ever becomes of it but i loved marina feel free to add more!

#sad times on tv shows #this list is long af #television #feel free to add more #this is mostly degrassi #but i have a few from other shows too

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mischas · 2 years ago

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Would love to hear your thoughts on that scene in 3.01 ("you're not alone this time"). I always find it very upsetting that M has to remind R she exists, he doesn't ask how she is... somehow her trauma and everything she has been through becomes about him? Also LOVE the wordless phone call. M is especially brilliant in that scene.

I hear you! This got insanely long, like much more than you were probably expecting...

So my thing about this scene is that it's a favorite, if not my very favorite, outside of the episode's context. 3x01 tells us, not all that subtly, that Ryan wants to speak to Trey. He wants him to wake up. And I don't think Ryan even knows what he wants to say. And maybe that's reasonable, but we have to assume from context clues that Ryan thinks that because they fought it out and Trey's been in a coma all summer that they're square. Ryan tells Seth something along the lines of "I'd give anything for him to wake up" and yes that's his brother so it's incredibly complicated but also what the fuck.

The attack and shooting were intensely psychologically damaging for Ryan that summer but 1) the show never really attempted to treat it as such and 2) it impacted how he was able to identify with and console Marissa. It's pretty in character for him to keep things bottled up while she's all emotion and heart. Their similarly shared trauma is what bonded them in the first place but this was something they went through together, though having had different roles in each event. And somehow it's worse, because their coping mechanisms are different and there's a lot unsaid due to them being all-too-reliant on nonverbal communication. They are so separately traumatized in 3x01 that they've both contended that things will be okay when Trey awakes and probably not thought about anything beyond that. Ryan hasn't let himself consider Marissa's own trauma from the events because he already feels so, so bad that he brought Trey into her life in the first place. And that's not right, of course he should've given her perspective much more thought, but I think it's his way of coping. As Sandy says in 3x02, Ryan wanting to fix the situation is "the universal male instinct" rather than just sitting with Marissa and talking. The third season should've delved into this as they were trying to evolve the characters into adults anyway due to it being senior year.

As for the end scene you actually asked about (lol) I've chosen to see the scene as Ryan having seen Trey for the last time and lamenting the last real familial tie he had. Much of the Ryan we came to know is defined by his upbringing and frayed ties with his blood relatives. Trey's crimes are the whole reason Ryan ended up in Newport and I have to give that final scene credit for somehow bringing Ryan's complicated feelings toward his family full circle. I don't think he really knows what he's feeling but he's also just been in jail for a few days so he's probably been thinking about stealing that first car with Trey in 1x01 and everything that's come from it. Ryan's been confused and anxious all summer. The story he tells Marissa is an allegory for him feeling like a scared little kid again. As Theresa said in 2x23, "Trey's been kicking you around your whole life". Trey's crimes against Marissa are horrifying and I think Ryan's only way of acknowledging that was with his fist in that apartment. Because talking it out is something he was never raised to do. Ryan has alluded to basically raising himself but "It was always me and Trey against the world" is telling too. Ryan not only thought of him as a brother but as a protector. We saw in s2 how complicated Ryan's feelings are about his brother and we saw how Trey could manipulate Ryan pretty easily. I think 3x01 is an example of Trey pulling those strings again with just his presence. Him being around discombobulates Ryan so much and there will always be a power imbalance between them. Because Trey has the ability to make Ryan feel like a scared little kid.

Ryan sharing the story with Marissa means a lot because we never see him share much about his home life beyond little comments to Seth and an anecdote here and there. Even though Ryan doesn't have the emotional maturity to talk through everything with Marissa, she's still the one he's closest to emotionally. And he knows she'd never judge him for feeling lost and small. They get one another in ways that are overwhelming yet comforting and it's part of why they keep coming back together. This scene promises a closeness and Marissa's "You're not alone this time" is very key in this vulnerable position Ryan's found himself in. We never see him like this, and we have to assume Marissa has seen it infrequently too. Marissa's saying "I'm scared with you, if you're that scared little kid I'm right there too, we'll be scared together" and it's so simple. Because ALL Marissa wants is to walk through this with him. Even this schtick they have of "if we stick together, things will be okay" in the first three episodes is so much clinging to the other so they don't drown. And it's not just Ryan who wants to avoid it. Marissa wasn't taught how to process her feelings or trauma either. They enable one another sometimes because they're also afraid of that same vulnerability and even culpability; it comes out a bit in their 3x02 fight (Marissa knows Ryan lowkey blames her for Trey leaving and Ryan is still very confused about those things so he doesn't even consider them and is instead defensive). It's really the last time we see them actually discuss what happened in 2x24 (2x21 is barely discussed in 3x01) so we have to piece together a few things.

But resolving to stick together isn't in itself unhealthy, and they're so so young that it makes sense that they think (or at least wish) that clinging to what they've built together will resolve their problems. It's actually incredibly romantic, and I think goes to the root of why I love them so much. They're deeply traumatized characters who see those same things in one another and are constantly trying to survive.

#ask #anonymous #3x01 #i have thought about this about a thousand times more than js ever did is all i'm saying #marissa deserved better from ryan for sure regarding these events and i think if he was in character he would've realized this sooner #like i'm not saying it's okay that he pushed it from his mind i'm just saying it makes sense since he was also so involved #he can't be objective when it comes to trey and you can see in s2 he so badly wishes he could be #so turning his brain off is how he deals. and tbh that's real

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powertobehandsome · 7 years ago

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In the Wake || Andrew and Ryan

Part one. I broke this up by scene. But I love these two a whole hell of a lot. Also, pretty sure this is the only safe for work part. XD ily. || @theveritasi

“What do you think Seth and Matt are up to?” Foggy asked Ryan, once his bagel popped out of the toaster. “And you said – Montparnasse went off with an assassin? Like, what, to – assassinate people together? That’s kind of – ow, ow, hot – disturbing.” He sucked on his fingertips, then started putting cream cheese on.

“Probably having sex on the still littered with dinner dining room table?” Ryan replied casually, shrugging as he said it. “And as for the other two? I didn’t ask much about what they do together. I know that the one guy is the one who… I mean, I was there when he delivered Elektra and Seth. But he’s a damn good shot with a gun. Scary good. And… I suppose his accent is kinda hot….

"Erm. Sorry. Montparnasse’s shamelessness I think is getting to my head.”

Foggy shrugged and came back over with the bagel, then plopped down on the couch with him. “So… how are you doing? I mean – I kinda thought, and I don’t mean any offense, but I wasn’t sure if there was something between you and the little guy? Was it just professional, um, whatever he does? CIA?”

Foggy immediately raised his hands. “Not that I am asking what he does. I really, really don’t want to know the truth.”

“I mean… He literally healed my gunshot wound with a kiss. And I’m not saying I wouldn’t have slept with him. But there was no… I’m not quite as quick to fall in love with people as Seth is…” Ryan sighed. “Sorry. I don’t mean that to sound like he jumps from one person to the next. He doesn’t. Actually, I haven’t seen him with someone in a few years. But when he starts to fall for someone, he goes all in.”

This hadn’t been at all what Foggy had asked, and Ryan looked awkwardly down at his hands. “This is why I don’t talk much. I don’t know what ‘Parnasse does. Few afternoons over there and I’m still as unsure as ever.”

“If it’s any consolation, we’ve known him about a year, and I still don’t even know what neighborhood he lives in. Super secretive little guy. Hey, you want a beer?” Foggy popped up to get himself one, and paused at the fridge.

“Please,” Ryan called back, his arm stretching along the back of the couch. “So, has there been any more threats from Elektra’s minions since the day she died?”

“Not that I’ve heard… as far as I know, everything’s just like, normal and stuff.” He came back with the beer and sat down again, handing Ryan his. “So are you okay, though? And if I am prying too much, just let me know, I know I pry, it’s a thing. But you and Montparnasse, are you bummed? Cause I bet I could totally beat up the… what is the other guy? French? I could totally take him.”

“The assassin? He’s English, I think. And it’s like he has this high-class tinge to his accent, but he tries to hide it. Like he’s ashamed of the money he probably came from. And I mean… I’m maybe a little bummed. Though, the guy is like… forty. A professional hitman. And, honestly, he’s not bad looking. Have you ever seen pictures of Wade Wilson without his mask? Seth showed them to me a year or so ago while he was working on one of his stories. I think that is what Wilson would look like if his skin hadn’t been fucked up.”

Ryan shrugged and took a sip of the beer, seeming to relax as it worked through his body. “I’m plenty happy spending my time in New York looking at architecture and historical sites. Or relaxing with friends. I don’t really need a whirlwind romance. It’s fine if it comes. But…” He shrugged. “I’m fine.”

“Hey, you’re worth more than just a fling anyway. But like, at least if the little guy is hanging out with you and doing whatever shaaady stuff you guys have been doing, that’s got to mean something, right? Cause the vibe I got off him? Is he’s like that X-Files thing. Trust No One. Or… no, yeah, yeah, that was on at least one episode, instead of the truth is out there.

"So architecture though, huh? Are you like – is that what you do?”

Ryan nodded. “I worked construction as a teenager before the Cohen’s took me in. Then Kirsten worked in her father’s housing development company. And I got to be around floor plans and home designs, and they put me in a really great private school which actually gave me the opportunity to go to college…

“I work in a small firm now, making my way one design at a time. But I’m doing it on my own. Kirsten didn’t set me up with the job. So I… guess I’m kind of happy with what I’ve accomplished. But what about you, Foggy? Any romances to speak of?”

“Nah…” He sighed. “I’m super in love with our assistant, Karen, but there’s nothing there, I mean. I think she just has eyes for Matt, you know? Which most people do. Doesn’t matter who. He just…. ssshhhhhp, draws them in. And sometimes I sleep with a shark, Marcy, but she’s…. scary. Like really scary. Also not a relationship. I dunno. Maybe some things just aren’t meant to be right away, right?

"You must be really smart though. Isn’t that basically all math?”

“Math is what I’m good at, yeah. But it’s… I don’t know, Architecture in college wasn’t quite what I expected it to be. You had four hour studio classes twice a week to work on "rough models” for your final project. And the teacher would assign like… thirty models to be completed. And then it was sketches, which I’m not terribly great at, but I know how a building works, I took a few engineering classes to accompany it because what good does a building do you if it’s pretty but not structurally sound.“ Ryan shrugged. "Math is easy. There’s always one correct answer. And… fitting a building together is sometimes like tetris. It’s a puzzle. I enjoy it.”

“And I know what you mean about the girls, or the relationships, I guess. Sometimes it just doesn’t work because it’s not meant to right then.”

“Yeah… but it’s nice to have warm fuzzy feelings anyway, even if they aren’t returned.” He took another swallow of the beer, bit the bagel, then made an excited sound. When he could talk again, he asked, “Have you been to the underground grave thing in Paris? That’s a thing, right? That’s supposed to be really interesting with – I’m sorry, I literally don’t anything about architecture, just exciting stuff I see on YouTube, but, have you?”

“I haven’t. I kept telling myself I was going to get out of the county. Especially since literally everybody I know in California has been. But I just never made it out. I read about them in school though.” Ryan sat back and listened to the thunder rattle the windows and the rain pour down. He drank the beer slowly, and let it warm his face. “I see Seth got you caught up on the good bagels. That kid… he got it from his dad. Bagels are a Jewish holy commodity.”

“I think they’re an everybody holy commodity. Want a bite? Also, you should go with Andrew. I can’t, we have another tenancy case coming up that’s probably going to take twenty hours a day because of stupid reasons, but Andrew mentioned going back to Europe and wanting to drag someone along. It’s kind of tough to picture him getting lonely cause, I mean, perfect man, but he said he was gonna go to a couple countries.. I’m not sure why though. Something about Transylvania? Maybe he needs to get in touch with his vampire side or something.”

People said things, and Ryan just nodded and went along with it. Assassins was the easiest to believe. Then superheroes and vampires. He didn’t know what was next, nor did he care to find out. But Ryan mulled over the proposal and pursed his lips in consideration. “I might do that, if he really wants someone to join him. I’m sure I can leave Seth here with Matt, though I’m sure he’ll be busy helping you with work. Still, Seth would make a pretty good housewife. Except he’s terrible about cleaning up after himself…” Ryan smirked. “Speaking of your job. I don’t think I’ve formally thanked you for what you did for us. And then… I remember… you sitting at my bedside. And just. You are a better friend than you are attorney, and for me, that is saying something. Because you were one hell of an attorney for me and Seth.”

Foggy was suddenly staring down at beer and bagel, trying not to cry. It was stupid how really nice, happy things just got to someone sometimes. After a minute, he just mentally said fuck it and leaned over and scooped Ryan up into a hug.

“Uugghhh, you made me cry, jerkface. Thank you. I’m glad that – you know. Glad to be your friend. Thanks.” Before the hug could get too long, he made himself let go. “Sorry. Um. Exuberant hugger.”

Ryan laughed awkwardly and hugged him back, but relaxed back onto the couch when he was released. “No worries. Did you… have any plans for tonight. It’s raining pretty hard. We could go crash whatever party Matt and Seth are having. Or we could go to a bar… though maybe not Josie’s. I don’t think they want me in there again.”

“Yeeaaaah let’s maybe avoid Josie’s for the time being.” He laughed and took another bite of the bagel. “If they’re having sex though, we should probably leave them alone. Is there anywhere you’ve wanted to go yet but haven’t? Wanna pick up Andrew on the way, tell him that he’s taking you with him?”

“I don’t actually know if they’re having sex. I just know Seth had planned to make him dinner. They’ve both seemed… pretty hesitant on the physical affection, or as far as I’ve seen. And Seth isn’t really shy about PDA. So I don’t know. Probably reading too much into it. But yeah, Andrew sounds like a good plan. I’m sure he’ll take us some place that even I can’t afford.”

“I dunno, man, you notice how they just constantly orient towards each other? Like if Seth moves, Matt adjusts a little, and vice versa? There’s totally something there. Like, something real, I think. And sweet, okay. Let me…” He hopped up, grabbed his phone, put it on speaker, and called Andrew – but it didn’t ring. Instead, there was a strange, static whooshing noise.

“What the…"

"Sorry,” Andrew said, materializing in the corner. “I was incorporeal. What’s up?”

“JESUS SHIT CHRIST OH MY FUCKING GOD!”

Ryan had jumped enough at hearing the man’s voice that his beer spilled over his hand and onto his jeans, but he didn’t actually say anything. When the reality of the situation settled, the tension visibly eased from his shoulders and he sat back on the couch, licking the beer from his hand.

“Do you always lurk in corners?”

“I wasn’t lurking! Are you two okay?"

"Well not now that you gave me a freaking heart attack!” Foggy waved the last bite of bagel at Andrew. “We were gonna invite you to go out, or maybe to crash Seth and Matt’s whatever they’re–"

Andrew made a face and shook his head. "Privacy for them tonight."

"Whaa— wow — okay — well – Ryan, you have anywhere in mind tonight? Or do we let Captain Sexypants pick?”

Ryan smirked at the face Andrew made. “I told you they were probably doing it on the dinner Seth made them tonight.” He stood and downed the rest of his beer before finding the recycling bin and tossing it in. “I have nowhere particular in mind. This is your city. And I am just looking to go along for the ride.”

Andrew smiled. Montparnasse was right, he thought, Ryan really was a charmer. He didn’t quite understand why 'Parnasse had practically fallen into Sebastian’s pants when he could have tried to go after something casual but sweet with this man, but to each their own.

“Alright. Well… if you guys leave it up to me, I’m going to drag you out to do karaoke with me."

"YES! I love karaoke! I mean. I’m the worst at it. But I can make your hands clap! Let me just – put on a different shirt. Cause this one smells like – ew. Law.” Foggy dashed into his bedroom.

Ryan watched Foggy go with an affectionate smile, and then looked back at Andrew, his lips pinching into a smile and an awkward sort of look around the room.

“So… karaoke? I don’t… I mean. I don’t dance. And I’m really not a… social butterfly, I guess. So I’m happy to go and watch you two charm the crowd. But I don’t really… get involved… with that kind of thing. I’m really no fun at all. But I’m good at watching other people have fun. So there’s that.”.

Curious, Ryan was tempted to ask for more details about Seth and Matt, but he also knew it was none of his business, so he paced a little, waiting for Foggy to return.

“Do crowds make you uncomfortable?” he asked, sounding apologetic. “Hey man, it’s cool, we’ll find something else to do. What sounds best to you? Because I am super flexible."

Foggy came out holding a dark blue shirt in one hand and a Hawaiian print in the other. "Which?”

“No. No. Shit. I’m sorry. That’s not at all the vibe I meant to give off. I want to go. I just… may not sing. But please. Don’t change the plans. I’m fine around crowds. I’m just awkward.” He felt like a dick for saying anything at all. “Sorry.

"The… Hawaiian,” Ryan said, even though the shirt was borderline offensive with how ugly it was. It fit the whole karaoke night theme of fun and ridiculousness. And Ryan thought it was perfect.

Foggy nodded and disappeared.

Andrew, feeling like a dick for having asked, said, “No, don’t be sorry. Please. One of my friends can’t do crowds at all, they make him just sort of – he locks up and can’t function if he gets caught in one. As long as you won’t be feeling bad, we’re totally good.” Since they were going somewhere casual as hell, and Andrew was already wearing an all-black suit, he stripped out of his jacket while they talked. The tie came off, and then his shirt; under, he had on a sleeveless, tight, black undershirt. He put the jacket back on, leaving it unbuttoned, and while some guys might have looked a little douchey, Andrew managed to look amazing – but being the next best thing to a model had its perks.

Foggy came out in shorts, sandals (with socks), the Hawaiian shirt, and a huge grin. “Okay. This is gonna be awesome. Ryan, I’d offer to loan you something, but all my stuff’s gonna be super baggy on you. Are we ready to rock and roll?”

Ryan was dressed in dark jeans and a charcoal grey t-shirt. He looked casual enough, but not overly so. and watching the two men stand side by side was the most amusing combination he’d ever seen. He smirked at Foggy, and then his eyes shifted again to Andrew – who Ryan had just appreciatively watched undress in the living room – and his gaze darkened just a little, likely unnoticeable to either party. He shook the settling lust away and cleared his throat.

“Shall we?” he asked, heading for the door and holding it open for both of them. “I… don’t mean to sound like a dick. But the stereotype for New Yorkers, is that none of you know how to drive. So, with my own safety planted somewhere in the back of my mind, how far away is this place? Do we get to take the subway? I’ve… that’s something I’m still yet to do. But if it’s too…” He looked at Andrew and smirked. “If it’s slumming it too much, we can always use another mode of transportation.”

“The subway? Oh, oh dear, no. No, mmm-mm. I hear there are locals down there.” Andrew grinned at Ryan as he passed by him, and Foggy awkwardly tried to hold the door for Ryan.

“I dunno, Andrew, maybe locals are juuuuust what you need. And the kid wants to take the subway! Let’s take the subway."

Andrew’s eyes were practically sparkling and he nodded. "Subway it is, then. And I’m not from New York, I know how to drive – for the record. I just don’t own a car."

Foggy snorted. "What’s a car? Hey, Ryan, what’s a car?”

“Don’t know. I drive a Range Rover.”

He had met Andrew’s sparkling eyes and lifted a brow in response, following him out the door when Foggy tried to be the one to hold it, and then waited for him to lock it before they set off.

Ryan was quiet through most of their walk to the nearest entrance to the subway, and he had to purchase a temporary card for two and a half dollars, but when he swiped it and stood on the deck waiting for the next train to arrive, there was something disgusting and wonderful and exciting about the whole thing. It was… maybe nothing special. But it made him happy to be there, with these two loons, on his way to go to a karaoke bar?

Fuck, if anybody had told him before he boarded the plane in California that this would be the adventure he’d encounter in New York, he would have laughed at them and stayed home and gone swimming in his pool. But now… Now he couldn’t be more grateful.

“Thank you, guys. I’m really glad to have made friends here.”

Foggy laughed and crushed both of them to his chest in a bear hug. “I’m glad, too. You’re awesome, Ryan, you are awesome."

—-

When they went back up into the world, Foggy was a little hesitant at the neighborhood. He had been in some rough places, but the street practically reeked of crime. For a moment he balked, but when Andrew walked out there like he hadn’t a care in the world, Foggy looked over at Ryan. "Ever sort of feel like your balls shrunk a little? Cause pretty sure mine did."

The bar wasn’t too far away from the station, and once they were there, Foggy’s hesitation flew out the window. It was crowded and a little seedy looking, but the energy made up for it. The people were happy here, there was a lot of laughter and cheer, and it was one of the most positive places he’d been in a long time, even with the two people up on stage yowling terribly into a microphone.

Andrew was already delighted, and he slipped an arm around both of their waists, holding each man for just a moment as if Ryan and Foggy were the most beautiful, wonderful, treasured people on the planet. "What are you guys drinking? I’ll go get them if you want to try and find a table or something?”

Ryan’s lips parted as he took in all the people, and he looked around, trying to spot some place they could all sit together. The closer to the stage it got, the scarcely populated the tables seemed to be. But Ryan figured that was exactly where Foggy and Andrew wanted to sit. A spot opened up, and Ryan patted Foggy on the chest and nodded in the direction of the table. He looked back at Andrew. “A seven and seven,” he replied, winking and then gesturing toward the front of the room. “We’ll be up there.”

They arrived at the table just before a few girls did, girls who batted their eyes at him one ran her hand along his thigh. He leaned in to whisper “I’m gay,” in her ear, and then pursed his lips apologetically. “He’s available, though,” he said, nodding toward Foggy. “And a lawyer. And, from what I’ve heard, a complete knock out in bed. But he has a tendency to date the high profile women, so I understand if you’re a little intimidated.”

Ryan was enjoying watching her expression shift with each thing he whispered to her, not even sure if Foggy was interested in hooking up, but if he didn’t then at least this girl would think it was because he was a snob and didn’t think she was “high profile” enough.

He wasn’t looking for a hook up from some girl he met in a bar, and, he figured, these girls would all flock to Andrew the moment he arrived. Truthfully, he wished they wouldn’t loiter around their table, but there didn’t seem many other places for them to sit. “What’s your name?” Ryan asked after a minute. The girl who had once rubbed his leg, who was now making eyes at Foggy, turned to look at Ryan and smiled. “Marissa.”

“Oh.”

When Andrew came back with their drinks – it was another beer for Foggy – he picked up a hint of unexpected sadness. Foggy was in seventh heaven it seemed, happily flirting away, but there was just something a little more somber about Ryan than there had been a few minutes ago.

“You okay?” he murmured to Ryan as he handed him his drink.

Ryan seemed to shake out of his trance the moment he heard Andrew’s voice and gave a warm smile and a nod. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m good. Blast from the past kind of snuck up on me. Reminder of someone I used to know. But I’m good.” He watched as Marissa caught sight of Andrew, but when she saw him lean in to talk to Ryan, she understood that clearly they had to be together. She looked at Foggy again and then pretended to pout about how there were no more stools left to sit in, then asked if she could sit in his lap.

Ryan laughed.

“Thank you, for the drinks, I mean. And this place… I see why you chose it. What are you going to sing first?”

“What do you want to hear?” Andrew brushed his shoulder against Ryan’s, wanting to do something, anything to help cheer him up.

The girls seemed to have communicated to each other that he and Ryan were a couple, as all of them shifted their attention to Foggy, who could not have been happier with one in his lap and his arm around another, and both of them were actually talking to him. He listened to every word – as best he could – and was absolutely enraptured, entranced by their beauty and already lost in the happiness of getting to know them.

Ryan, for some reason, appreciated the graze, and genuinely felt comforted by it. It had felt like more than just a brush of shoulders, but a way to reach out when reaching out may not have been possible, or if Andrew was worried about it being unwanted.

“Something… classic. Maybe not Sinatra. Because that might be a little too… You should sing Piano man. I guarantee you the entire bar will sing along. And they will all love you.”

“Okay. But no matter how many people sing along, or how much they love me? I’ll be singing it for you.” Andrew met his eyes as he said it, absolutely sincere. The song was one of the most popular karaoke tunes out there, but it was usually picked up later in the night, when the alcohol started to touch on sorrows that the memory had wrapped in beauty. If this was what Ryan wanted to hear, Andrew intended to give it his all – for Ryan. Not for himself, not to amuse the bar, but because Ryan deserved to hear it sung by a friend who was willing to pour his heart into every word, as if he’d been there in the bar and met all the people the song was about.

“Hey,” Foggy said, when Andrew was walking past, “sign me up for Yellow Submarine, okay?"

"You got it, man.” Andrew smiled and slipped away.

When another group of girls arrived – very late friends – the girls departed, leaving Foggy in a happy daze. “Okay, that? Was amazing. How? How the heck did you just like, make them so happy? They actually wanted to talk to me. You’re magic or something, Ryan."

Andrew came back, a smile in his eyes, but his expression mild, and he sat with them.

Ryan had truly enjoyed watching Foggy receive all the attention he deserved. He watched Marissa write a phone number, drunkenly, on a bar napkin, but all ten digits were there, so perhaps there would be future fun nights there for Foggy, or perhaps he would just let it go. Either way, Ryan was pleased that it had worked. Besides, he was certain he was really doing the girls as much of a favor as he had been doing for Foggy. He had no doubt Andrew would have shown them a good time too, and Ryan had never let on that Andrew had been his partner, but if that was what they wanted to suspect, and Foggy reaps all the reward for it, then that was even better.

As Andrew returned, Ryan’s eyes lifted to meet his, and he returned a soft smile. "It’s typical, I know. But it… I’ve always liked that song. Thanks.”

Ryan sipped at his drink slowly, looking around at all the people, the variety and the enjoyment so many of them were having, some a little more than others, some, perhaps, needed to skip off to a private room to finish the conversation they were having. But regardless, Ryan enjoyed watching them all. He leaned back to say something to Andrew, and brushed against him, not realizing he was quite so close. “Sorry… I… How long until you’re up? And… What are you drinking? So I can get the next round?”

“Don’t be sorry. I love contact…. and I’m not drinking. I can’t drink anything but – one very, very special drink. But it’s nice to smell the booze, and taste it on the air… Anyway. You’re sweet, but drinks on me, okay? Because you two have had a ridiculous week and deserve to get spoiled a little.” Andrew looked over at him and met his eyes for a moment with a soft smile, then looked back ahead. “I’m three songs after Foggy, who should be up – now."

Foggy had a blast. He was utterly shameless, sang with enthusiasm, and had people laughing and singing along. He enjoyed himself, even if he did (whale) off key a little too often. When he bounced back down off the stage, he was absolutely elated, and he gave Andrew a big sloppy kiss on the face, then another for Ryan. "Mwa! I love you guys! And this bar. YES!"

"Foggy, you were great!"

"Um, hell yes I was!”

When it was Andrew’s turn, the crowd was already cheering the second they recognized the familiar song, Ryan was right about that. But just before the lyrics began, something strange happened: they went silent. Something moved through the audience before Andrew even began to sing, as if the essence of the song was already here, brought to life, slipping through them – and then he was singing, and his voice was silk. Even on a song that had a sad, sweet, whimsical feeling, Andrew’s smooth voice fit beautifully, and then the song was truly alive.

The applause afterwards was almost deafening for the vampire, who gave a somewhat embarrassed smile and quickly skittered out of the light and back down to the table.

“Right I… forgot. I guess that gives the phrase, next drink is on me, a whole new meaning.” He winked, of all fucking things to do to a man that looked like Andrew, sitting in a bar. But there it was, none the less, and Ryan blushed a little and looked back toward the stage.

Ryan felt happy, truly so, and he couldn’t remember being quite this care free. Foggy was perfect, and the entire bar had loved him. And then Andrew was on stage, the spotlight causing his eyes to shine and his charm to emanate. Apparently, more than Ryan had originally suspected. Because while he’d heard bars quite down for a good song, he had never before seen everybody completely stop talking just for the ability to witness what was happening on that stage.

But gods it was wonderful. And Ryan’s chest hurt a little at how beautiful the moment was. As Andrew joined them again, Ryan feigned offense. “Excuse you. Where the fuck is our kiss? Foggy gave one after his performance. I thought it was customary.”

“Definitely customary,” Andrew said, happy to oblige. The song had been for Ryan, all the sentiment and the beauty, the pain that mixed in with it, the slight traces of bitterness and resignation, everything that came together to make that almost hopeful melody had all been for him, and there was no better way than to seal it with a kiss, right? But unlike Foggy, Andrew’s kiss wasn’t sloppy – just maybe a little too intimate. The kiss was lingering and sweet and loving, and when their lips parted, Andrew smiled before giving him one more short, quick kiss.

He turned to Foggy and winked at him, blowing one to him, then sat down next to Ryan to watch the next performer, although the DJ was wisely giving people a little bit of time to recover.

“I should have said earlier, but next drink’s on me is the most beautiful phrase,” Andrew commented, light and cheerful and flirty, dropping his head back a bit so he could look over at Ryan and smile without any possessiveness, without any lust, just with an intimate sort of openness.

The kiss had been more than Ryan had expected, and it had taken a lot – a lot – of willpower to not lift a hand up to cup Andrew’s face as he sat there with lips attached to his and a largely still quiet bar. The applause had been deafening, and a lot of people had had their eyes hungrily on Andrew after his performance, and Ryan had even spied a few women, and a couple men, as they set their drink to the side, and then lifted themselves off their barstool to head Andrew’s way. They also seemed to fail to notice each other. But with the kiss, all of them had stopped short.

People still managed to pass by and pat Andrew on the shoulder, and Ryan, with warm cheeks and an almost shy smile, lifted a hand to his mouth to try to hide some of the ridiculously happy smile that had planted itself on his face and refused to budge.

How would he retain his tough exterior with the underground-fighter vibe if he went around kissing pretty boys and then blushing over it?

A part of Ryan envied Seth a little for how easy it had been for him. But Ryan also was enjoying his own trail – the things he was learning, the people he was meeting. He liked this place, and felt more at home than he had expected to.

“Thank you, both,” he said after finishing his drink. “For thi–” he hiccuped, then rolled his eyes at himself. Only drunks in movies did that, and he was neither of those things. “For tonight. I’m glad to have you both…” He hiccuped. “you both in my life.” Ryan screwed his mouth up a little. “Have either of you ridden a white horse? And if yes, tell me about it. If no, make up a st–” He hiccuped. “story.”

“What do you want to know about it?” Andrew asked, confused and intrigued. “Is this some weird California thing?"

"Wait, you actually rode a white horse?"

"Raised, trained, rode. I wasn’t allowed to have pets, or toys, or, you know, whatever normal kids have. But my horse – for polo – he was sort of my companion to make up for all of that.” There was a smile on his lips and light in his eyes for a moment, until some sad memory stole them away, and his voice grew a little softer. “Alan. Terrible name for such a beauty. He was white as starlight though, just… a very incredible animal… Why – do you ask?”

Ryan sat for a long, silent second, and then gave a smug, very pleased with himself smile. “Because hiccups are afraid of white horses. Thank you.”

Foggy stared at Ryan, completely lost, while Andrew just laughed and shook his head.

“Wait, wait, stop laughing. I thought Hiccup was the dragon? Why would he be scared of horses?"

"What? The dragon’s Tooth–”

“Shut up, Gale, no, Hiccup, he’s a dragon, I don’t get it. Ryan. Back me up here.”

Ryan raised his hands and shook his head. “I’m afraid I’m not sure what either of you are referring to. I mean actual hiccups. Those things I had that are now gone. Sorry, Foggy. Next time I’ll totally have your back.”

“Nooooooooo, you dick, I swear, he’s this little black dragon in a cartoon, he’s super cute and fierce and like, rawr!”

“Toothless?”

“Hiccup! Hiccup’s the dragon!” Foggy looked at them like they were little lost children.

Andrew bit his lip and grinned.

Ryan spared a conspiratorial glance with Andrew, and then held up his hands. “I’m… wait. I’m wrong. I’m sure. I think toothless was the name of the squire…”

“There was a squire? What squire? That pulled the sword out of the stone?"

"Okay, Foggy, you had two beers, are you okay?"

"Dude, I think I’ve just watched way, way too many cartoons. I accidentally did a parental lock thing on my own Netflix account and it was a few days before I could fix it, so all I could watch was kids’ movies and… yeah. It was… I’m all overloaded. Hey, Andrew, wanna take Ryan with you to Europe?"

Andrew hadn’t been expecting the question and he looked surprised, but got over it quickly enough and turned to Ryan. "If you want to come, I’d love company, I hate traveling alone when it’s not for work… but I’m not really – planning on going anywhere that’s a – very exciting scene. The first few nights won’t be bad, though; I’m flying into Paris and staying two nights, then moving on east… There’s an old castle I need to visit in Romania, but it’s… a pretty small town, not really any sort of night life… and then I’m going down to Montenegro."

"I used to think that place only existed in Bond movies.”

Ryan was laughing too hard, and then the laughter stopped. He was about to tell Andrew to please not feel obligated to accept, that he was going to see if Andrew wanted the company when it wouldn’t be implied that he was, perhaps, at all impaired by the drinks he’d consumed.

But all of that was cut off by Andrew quickly accepting.

“I… would enjoy that,” Ryan stated simply. “I don’t need a night life to be impressed and content. I’m not high maintenance at all. Just… decent company and a bed without spiders. That’s all I ask for.”

“No spiders, check. When do you have time off? I know you’re just on a vacation now, I don’t want to get you in any trouble with your employers…”

“I… is there wifi? Because my computer has autocad and I can work from just about anywhere. This week I just very specifically told them I wouldn’t be answering emails or calls. It’s pissed them off.”

“Not where I’m going… I’m not sure if there is any in the nearest town, but it might be worth a shot, if you wanted to split apart while I go to the castle… you could hang out in town? If you really want to go though, man, I’ll buy your tickets, that’s not a problem. I’ve just… spent years going on work trips, always alone, and having someone along… no strings attached, nothing, you know, no sordid expectations… it’d be nice.”

Ryan nodded. “I can figure out the work thing, I’m sure. The program doesn’t run on wifi. But the emails to be sent back and forth would. So I would just need to make a trip in to send out a few correspondences. And then I’m all yours. Or… I mean I would be free."

He smiled awkwardly and finished the second glass he hadn’t remembered being set in front of him. "But you’re serious about this? I… have only met you once before, at Matt’s, the day I came home from the hospital. You seem very sure that I’m not some hardened criminal.”

“I mean… you know what I am, right?” Andrew met Ryan’s eyes. “Whoever you are, Ryan, whatever you really want out of life… I’m not scared to get to know you. As long as you’re not afraid of me.”

Ryan cleared his throat. “Labels have been tossed around a lot this week. And I don’t think I care much either way.” He smiled softly and nodded. “Definitely not afraid.”

Andrew lit up. “Are you – seriously – you’ll really go with me? Thank you, man! Thank you!”

Ryan nodded. “I… yes. Really. If you’ll really have me as company. I’m too quiet and broody and don’t talk first thing in the mornings. But this sounds fun. And I would like to have something that’s just mine.”

“I don’t know what to say…” He looked down for a moment, then back at Ryan’s eyes. “Thank you. It means a lot that you’re willing to go. And if at any point you feel – weird or uncomfortable or homesick, whatever, no hard feelings, I’ll get you an early flight back.”

Ryan lifted a glass in salute and set it back down, realizing that it was empty. “Will either of you be gracing the stage again tonight?”

“Want another? And only if you’ve got another song request."

Foggy, however, didn’t answer, as he had fallen asleep.

Andrew poked him, then smiled. "I’m guessing he’s not going back up.”

“Yeah. Maybe we should get him back home. I’m good on drinks. Think a cab would be better than trying to guide him back to the train station?”

“Probably.” Andrew glanced over at the bartender, who nodded to him, so he turned back to Foggy and stood up, scooping Foggy up. “Come on, Fogmaster,” Andrew murmured softly, then nodded for Ryan to lead the way out.

—-

After making Foggy drink some water, Andrew tucked him into bed. “You sweet, sweet lightweight,” he whispered before kissing Foggy’s temple. “Sweet dreams…” He shut the door quietly, then came out to meet Ryan in the living room. “If you need a place to stay tonight…” He picked up his shirt and tie and draped them over his arm. “You’re more than welcome to come to my place. Which isn’t me trying to pick you up… I just… I don’t want you to feel like – a leftover. Because you’re not.”

Ryan nodded, and yawned. “Whatever the reason for your offer, I would appreciate the place to sleep. Thanks.”

He could tell he was getting tired. All sentences were coming out shorter and shorter. The need for explanations and long monologues had long since passed, and Ryan followed Andrew out the door.

“And thank you for tonight. I truly enjoyed myself.”

“Me, too.” Andrew smiled and stopped him in the hall. “Do something for me, okay? Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and just… relax.”

Ryan smirked. “Okay, but if this is how you hit on people, I think it could maybe use some work.”

Not really knowing what to expect, Ryan swayed some when they landed at Andrew’s place and his stomach rolled just a little, but he made it without throwing up.

“I make a point of not asking too many questions. But that was… kind of amazing.”

“Hey, we’re literally going to Transylvania because my predecessor wants me to do some… weird thing with our castle, so… better get used to the freaky vampire shit while you can, right?"

Andrew’s home was ridiculous. It was on the top floor, and was huge, wide open spaces, white marble floors, elegant decor. There were a few lamps lit, giving a soft gleam to the room, but the lights of the city could be seen beautifully through the exterior wall, which was all glass.

"Want some pajamas? And make yourself at home. I’ll take the couch, you can have the bed, it’s down here…” He headed down a short hall.

“There’s… I mean… if we’re going to be in small hotel rooms together or whatever else… There’s no need for you to take the couch unless you absolutely want to,” Ryan replied, the last couple words were spoken around a yawn.

“This place… I think even the Cohens would be impressed with it. It’s gorgeous here.” Ryan stood in the doorway to the room, leaning against the frame. “Thank you, again, for everything you’ve done for me and Seth this week. And I do know you’ve been involved a great deal more than perhaps you’ve let on. So, thank you. I’m glad I got to know you.”

“I’m glad, too.” Andrew smiled and kissed Ryan on the cheek, then slipped past him to get out pajamas. He left them on the bed for Ryan, then said, “I’m going to shower… I’ll be quick though, if you want to use it, too.” Ryan looked tired enough to just be curled up in bed and sleeping already, Andrew thought, so he wasn’t really expecting him to want to shower. Still, he was quick about it, and he put on his sleep pants in the bathroom, then came back out and crawled into bed and sighed happily as he slipped in between the sheets.

Ryan didn’t care enough about taking a shower. Though, considering he was sleeping in someone else’s bed, perhaps he should have. But by the time Andrew finished in the bathroom, Ryan was curled up in bed, only opening his eyes sleepily as Andrew slid in beside him.

“Hi,” he said, his voice thick with gravel. He cleared his throat and tried again. But the second time it only came out as a whisper. Ryan huffed and smiled, then scooted closer to Andrew. “Hi,” he finally managed.

“Hi.” Andrew smiled. Around the apartment, the lights turned off one by one, until only the gleam coming in from the glittering city illuminated the room. “I didn’t think you’d still be awake.” He tucked an arm under his pillow and wiggled around a bit to get more comfortable.

Ryan shook his head and buried himself under his pillow. “Not awake,” he grumbled. “Totally not awake.”

“Go to sleep, Ryan…” Andrew laughed quietly and easily, then turned around so his back was to the other, thinking that it might bother Ryan to feel he was being watched. He and his brother seem so… good. I hope they’ll be alright… I hope that, if there are any more tricks or traps from Elektra, they’ll still be safe… Somehow.

It didn’t take much before Ryan was fast asleep in the overly comfortable bed with a man who maybe smelled a little too good. He gravitated toward warmth in his sleep, and woke up pressed close to Andrew. When he opened his eyes, it took a second to adjust to his surroundings, which seemed to be different every morning, and then casually rolled back and stretched.

Andrew made a quiet little sound of protest when the warm body rolled away from him, but he woke a moment later. Demonstrating that he was, in fact, a grown adult, Andrew turned over to look at Ryan, then slunk down under the blankets. “You were so warm,” he protested, although he didn’t sound serious – and really wasn’t speaking that clearly, considering his head was under sheet, blanket, and a pillow.

Ryan smirked, pulled the blankets further over his head, and then used one leg to pull himself closer again. It wasn’t that he understood Andrew’s words of protest, so much as the sound of them. He quickly found his spot again, where it was the warmest in the bed, and hummed his reluctance to move from there ever again.

Eventually, Andrew stuck his head up. Thank God for Saturdays, he thought, and sighed in contentment. “You’re like a cat. Quiet, warm, nice, potentially a little scary… mostly non-verbal…” He reached over, found Ryan’s head, and scratched lightly behind his ear.

“You say that, but I’ve never been one to purr,” Ryan muttered, curling tighter into the blankets. He rolled a couple times, making sure to take the sheets with him. “But you’re right. Cats are dicks.”

“Aw man, yeah they are. Jerk.” Andrew snorted and pulled Ryan’s pillows away, making a nest of them around himself since he couldn’t have any other bedding, apparently. “Why, oh why didn’t I adopt a dog? Hindsight, man.”

“Hmm. Sorry. I think Matt got the puppy,” Ryan mumbled from deep within the blankets. “To be fair, though. I have a tendency to only like one person at a time and if you’re lucky you’ll wake up with my butt in your face.”

He laughed and buried his face in the pillows, then hopped up and stretched before wandering over to his closet. “I’m going to go work in the living room for a bit, but sleep in all you need, man.” Andrew slipped out of his pajamas and into jeans and a t-shirt, then wandered quietly out of the room, not wanting to bother Ryan any further, especially if he had a hangover.

When Andrew finished, he sent the completed files off, then went out onto the balcony to really enjoy the rain. It was coming down gently, with the clouds so low that they were brushing around some of the buildings. Up here, the air still tasted fresh and clean; he loved it.

Ryan hadn’t gone back to sleep, but he didn’t get out of bed either. He listened for a while as Andrew worked, thought about the night they’d all shared, and finally untangled himself from the sheet. He went and took a quick shower, made the bed, dressed, and finally walked out, only to find Andrew out on the balcony.

Ryan walked out, his back against the windows, fucking thankful he couldn’t see down below. “The weather is great today.”

“Gotta love that liquid sunshine..” He ran his hand over the stone bannister, soaked with rain, then turned back to Ryan. “How’s your head?” Andrew leaned on the doorframe, hands in his pockets, watching him.

“Oh, I feel fine. Hangovers stopped being something to brag about when I was in my early twenties. Now I typically keep it to two drinks, and I take my time with them.” His eyes turned to Andrew, meeting the others gaze, and his expression softened. “Thanks. For letting me crash here.”

He nodded. “Anytime. Company is always, always welcome… and I know you’ve sort of been – bounced around a little since you got here, so hopefully adding one more place wasn’t too… too much.” He looked out at the rain, then back at Ryan. “Can I ask what’s on your mind?”

“The heights,” Ryan answered a little sheepishly, glancing out again. I can’t see the ground, but I still know we’re up fucking high.“ He wasn’t asking to go in, just making an observation that if Andrew could hear his heart racing from over there, that was likely why.

"I tried to tell Seth I could just get a hotel, but before I ever could, everybody else has been nice enough to offer their homes. So, I really can’t complain.”

“Are you okay, though?” Andrew’s voice softened as he asked it, and he realized he wasn’t sure just what exactly he was worried about – just that he was. It felt like there was something permanently unsettled in Ryan, something strange and almost unfinished feeling under all his calm. No matter how cool or humorous demeanor, the thing was there – whatever it was. Andrew just hoped that he was misreading it, or even imagining it.

Ryan seemed to forget entirely about what rested beyond the balcony ledge, and he met Andrew’s gaze straight on. He smiled softly. “I am… I’m sorry that I’m not… overly talkative. I’ll happily tell you anything you want to know. I’m just… people aren’t typically interested in my backstory.” He didn’t mean for that to sound sad. He was okay with being quiet and keeping to himself. He had Seth. A few friends back home. A good job and a comfortable life. He had everything he’d never grown up with.

At first, Andrew was quiet. Then, with a little frown, he shook his head. “Man…” Stepping forward, he pulled Ryan into a hug. It was absolutely gentle, fueled by nothing but compassion. “I’ll pry later. When we’re laying on – some rooftop of Castle Dracula or something. I do care about your backstory. Who you are. Who you’ve been.” He rubbed a hand over Ryan’s back, the one movement saying love as clearly as it could ever be offered, then stepped away, giving him back his space.

“But you don’t need to be sorry for being quiet… I just… worry about people too much, I guess. You don’t need to talk if you’re not feeling it – all I want is to know that you’re okay… and if you’re ever not? Just… tell me whatever you need, okay? Even if it’s,” the brightness seemed to come back to his eyes, and his smile returned, “a one-word reply to an emotional moment. Like breakfast or coffee or whatever.”

“Hmm,” Ryan hummed, as if that itself was some kind of an answer. A playful smile tilted his lips and he seemed to relax completely. “Do you even keep stuff like that here? Cater to all the souls you lure up to your trap with your bright eyes and perfect smile?”

His grin broadened and he looked down, as if, for some reason, he needed to hide the expression. “I think I’m good for now, thank you.”

“Nope.” Andrew looked back out at the city as a few gulls swooped bye. “But there’s a really amazing diner at the corner that does deliveries, so… if you get hungry – I mean not that you have to stay, of course. If you want to take off or anything, just because I am a sucker for company doesn’t mean you have to be, especially with a relative stranger.”

“Was that a pun?”

He looked back over, eyes wide and confused. “What? No. Sorry, I’m sort of lame with the humor most of the time – still trying to figure that out.” Andrew flashed a quick but brilliant apologetic smile, then looked back at the rain.

Ryan laughed. “Sorry… Seth is… obsessed with puns. So I see them everywhere.” He shrugged. “I don’t mind staying for a while, if you’re sure you’re okay with it? I mean. We’re really not complete strangers. You did kiss me last night, after all.”

“True.” Andrew blushed, but he was smiling again. “It was a pretty good kiss, from what I remember… and I’m totally sure. As long as you want to be here, I’d really like you to be around.”

“It was a damn good kiss,” Ryan corrected, and then seemed to remember himself, and pink washed over his cheeks.

“Before this fog clears, I think I’m going to head inside. There’s no need for you to see me afraid of heights in all my glory.”

“Plus, if we keep standing here and blushing, we might burn the clouds off too quick.” Andrew grinned, then opened the door for Ryan and followed him in. “Is it okay to ask about the heights…?”

“Why I’m afraid of them? No idea. Irrational fear. Got on a Ferris wheel once to try to get a girl to go out with me. We got caught at the top. Pretty sure someone paid the guy off. I don’t know. They’ve always made me nervous.”

“You think someone paid him off to fuck with you? Or to give you guys privacy up there?” He shut and locked the door, then went over and perched on the back of a couch.

“Oh. The latter. I don’t think there was ill intent there.” Ryan rolled his neck and shoulders and then sat down on the couch, leaning enough on the arm that he could comfortably look at Andrew. “Am I keeping you from doing work?” He swallowed thickly and pushed back the thoughts that came to his mind. Then he huffed and looked again at Andrew. “So. I actually think I should be honest about something, particularly before you invite me to stay another night, and definitely before you invite me across the world with you. But I… find you attractive. And I’m not… I don’t want to find my… well, my Matt, like Seth did. I’m not looking. I don’t need… anyway. I don’t want to be the perverted asshole who never said the thing and ends up making you super uncomfortable later down the line.” He exhaled in a huff and then looked down at his hands.

Smooth, Ryan.

“I’m not – entirely sure what all of that meant? But what I think I understood is… you’re attracted to me, but you don’t want me to think that you’re – looking for a life partner right now, or that you want to have meaningless sex… You want me to be comfortable, and you want to know that you’re not abusing my trust or hospitality in any way… Is that – if I misunderstood, please tell me?"

As almost always, Andrew wasn’t mocking, but was entirely sincere.

"I think… hell, I don’t even know. I think what I was trying to say is that I find you attractive. And yes, I didn’t want to abuse your kindness or hospitality by… letting you undress in front of me without knowing. Or that maybe you’ll be afraid that I’m just jealous or looking for what Seth has, and I’m turning to the first kind person. Or… yes… what you said. I think is what I was trying to say.”

Andrew nodded. “That’s… really sweet of you to tell me. I appreciate it a lot. And honestly, I find you attractive too – and even if… you know, nothing sexual ends up happening between us, if you like looking, I don’t mind if you do…"

He hesitated for a moment, trying to think of how best to put it, then went on. "You don’t seem like someone who uses people. And even if you were using me, even if you were jealous or lonely or just – really wanting some kindness in your life, that you had no intention of keeping… honestly, that’s kind of okay, too. Nobody’s perfect. Ever. You don’t have to – be everything you are right away. If that makes sense. You don’t… need to bare your soul or anything for me to trust that you’re good. The trust is something I just give – you don’t have to prove that you deserve it.” He looked down at his hands. “Sorry if that was… an overly long answer. I should have just said thank you, huh?”

Though maybe it was a bit much more of an answer than he was expecting, Ryan appreciated it, and he seemed to relax with each word Andrew said.

“The way you replied was perfect,” he said, resting his head back. “And thanks, for being cool about it. But you don’t have to indulge me at all. I just didn’t want you to think I was… lurking, or something. And then find out about it in Paris and have to kick my ass out at the louvre.”

Andrew laughed and shook his head. “Honestly, trying not to flirt with you too much is probably going to be the problem for me.”

“…. You mean like saying if I’m lucky I’ll wake up with your butt in my face? Because I think that’s my line.” He smiled. “What I mean is, don’t stress about it. If I ever get uncomfortable, I’ll let you know.”

“Okay. And same goes. And hey, butts in faces aren’t always a bad thing.” He twitched an eyebrow and grinned, looking a little shameless for once.

“Indeed. Listen, you weren’t wrong. I am the worst kind of cat. I hog beds and invade personal space and demand attention if I’m particularly bored. Considered coming in here earlier and laying across your laptop while you were working. Just because.” Ryan’s eyes were light, and he had shifted even more to face Andrew, allowing himself to stare for a long, drawn out moment.

“Okay, but I love giving someone attention when they want it, and anytime I’m working from home? It’s not a time-crunch thing. I like my job, and it’s been my life for – way too long. So it’s what I know. It’s a habit. But babe, any time you want to distract me, you go right ahead.”

Ryan felt better after getting this bit of honesty out of the way. He didn’t like secrets or liars and besides. He figured if Andrew really was that interested, they could potentially have something casual over the duration of their trip.

“I’m going to go get my wallet, because I think I do want to try that cafe. And the weather is pleasant enough that I don’t mind getting out in it.” He stood and took a step, seeming as if he were going to slide in front of Andrew, but he stopped and leaned in to offer a soft and inviting kiss. When he pulled away, he smiled. “Yeah. I was right. Last night was a damn good kiss.” He followed it up with one more quick, almost chaste kiss, then disappeared off into the bedroom.

Fuck. It was all about the attitude, and Ryan had it. Ryan was going to be a problem. A very big, very serious problem, if Andrew wanted to even try to pretend at having any cool whatsoever. That guy was the definition of a fox.

#theveritasi #one shot #in the wake #part one

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nerdarchy-blog · 6 years ago

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Hello! The Nerdarchy crew is back home from Indianapolis and back to work on all our nerdy projects. Gen Con 2018 was an incredible experience for Nerdarchists Dave and Ted, Nerditor Doug and Intern Jake, and we wanted to share some of the highlights from our excursion to the Best Four Days in Gaming. Our favorite thing about conventions is meeting up with and hanging out with friends from all over the place; seeing all the awesome roleplaying games, art and other swag; and the incredible costumes and cosplay. But more than anything, the best part is hanging out with thousands of fantastic folks from around the world to celebrate nerd culture. Down below you’ll find links to a lot of the stuff mentioned in this recap, in case you’re interested, plus a photo gallery of our adventures at Gen Con 2018.

Working vacation at Gen Con 2018

Rolling into downtown Indianapolis for Gen Con 2018 was a special treat for all of the Nerdarchy crew in attendance. For Nerdarchist Dave and me, the now-familiar territory felt like a home-away-from-home. The Indiana Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, the Gen Con Block Party and all the surrounding hotels were decked out as always, ready for the tens of thousands of us to enjoy the Best Four Days in Gaming. For Nerdarchist Ted and Intern Jake, it was their first time attending so they got to experience the wide-eyed amazement at the size and scope of the event.

After hotel check-in, the crew wasted no time getting down to business though — we were there to enjoy ourselves, sure, but we had serious work to do. With the studio equipment in tow, we set up a makeshift studio in the hotel room to shoot as many videos as we could over the weekend. With so many amazing people in town, we had to get some of them on camera. Intern Jake scheduled set visits like a champ, contacting and coordinating a ton of creators who stopped by to talk nerdy with Nerdarchists Dave and Ted.

Instead of doing interview-style shoots though, we produced a string of videos like our regular daily content to discuss the same kind of helpful topics, tips and tricks we usually do, except with a special guest sitting in for one of the Nerdarchists. Stuff like designing monsters for D&D, live streaming roleplaying games, creating pantheons and deities, running the best game ever, and creating an urban campaign (with a bit of insight into the upcoming Waterdeep: Dragon Heist) are just a few of a videos you’ll see in the coming weeks. There were so many guests, it’s hard to remember them all! But here’s a few to watch for on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel in the near future:

Keith Baker

Monte Cook

BJ Hensley

Ryan Schapels

Dan Dillon

James J. Haeck

Sarah Dahlinger

Brian Stillman

Andrew Armstrong

Rob McCreary

All in all we shot about 24 videos between Thursday and Sunday! There’s a bunch more cool people who swung by the set and we’ll be posting those videos in the weeks to come. Stay tuned to Nerdarchy for those!

Hanging with friends new and old to celebrate nerd culture

Pretty much everywhere we went, the crew ran into someone we knew and had great experiences spending time with them. If you enjoyed any of the official video content from Gen Con 2018, you can give thanks to our buddy Bill Allen. He and his crew handled videography for the official Gen Con Twitch channel. Bill was super busy all weekend making sure everything ran smoothly. But we managed to sneak in some time with him on Wednesday night. He’s an awesome guy, and his job as an educator means he brings student creators along to learn while doing. How cool is that? His students get fantastic experience behind the scenes at big events like this, plus chances to network with industry professionals and help build their future in the field.

Along with Bill, we hung out with our friend Cody Lewis from the Taking 20 YouTube channel. Cody was there with his wife, who got to see another side to her husband’s endeavors. Fans of Cody’s work stopped to say hi and thank him throughout the weekend, which is an awesome feeling for any creator. On top of all that, his wife played her first RPG session at Gen Con 2018! She played a barbarian in a Second Edition Pathfinder Playtest game and genuinely loved rolling her first critical hit against a kobold.

Another night, unMadeGaming’s Mike Hunt co-organized a Twitch streamer meetup with fellow streamer Speedy, where a whole bunch of people showed up to celebrate together and get to know one another. Andrew Armstrong from Dawnforgedcast, Grant Ellis, MsGingaNinja, Jorphdan, Askren, Ted from Nerd Immersion, Eric Vulgaris, and a whole bunch of other people hung out. It wasn’t just for Twitch streamers exclusively, or even gamers. There were streamers who make pottery, streamers who make quilts, authors, game designers and more. It was really terrific to meet and spend time with so many creative people.

On Saturday night, Nerdarchist Dave and I wound up at a party hosted by Peter Adkinson. There were a ton of people at the shindig. Our friends Satine Phoenix and Ruty Rutenberg were there, Kyle Vogt, Matthew Lillard, Dwarven Forge founder Stefan Pokorny, Ivan van Norman, filmmaker friends Kelley Slagle and Seth Polansky and a throng of others. I had a wonderful time geeking out about layout design and editing with Chris de la Rosa from Hunters Books, and Nerdarchist Dave did what he does best — making new friends and talking shop. (Okay, maybe tied for best — he’s a pretty good Game Master too!)

Nerdarchists Dave and Ted ran into a ton of people they know on the convention floor, and fans stopped for photos or to say thanks to the guys for doing what they do. So may awesome people we know had booths at Gen Con 2018 too! Everytime we turned around, there was someone we knew. Creature Curations’ Brian Colin, the entire Starcalled Studios crew, Jetpack 7’s Aaron and Sarah Hubrich, Dan Dillon and Stephen Rowe manning the Kobold Press booth, Rone Barton at the booth for…you know what? I don’t recall exactly. There was a bunch of different stuff there.

A very special sighting for me was Jared Sorensen at the Burning Wheel booth. I’d been hoping to catch Adam Koebel there, since he was sharing the booth with his Dungeon World RPG. He wasn’t around, and as I turned the corner I caught sight of an indie RPG called Lacuna Part 1: The Creation of the Mystery and the Girl from Blue City. I literally exclaimed “Holy $**t!” when I saw it. Years ago, after I saw the film Inception, I immediately felt like I had to find an RPG similar to the world of the movie. I discovered Lacuna Part 1 while searching for such a game. It’s a really terrific RPG where you travel into dream worlds looking for anomalies and insidious thought-creatures. The guy at the booth asked me how I knew the game and I was gushing about it before realizing he was the creator, Jared Sorensen! This was one of my most fond convention memories right away. Jared was super cool and we talked about games for a while, and he gave me a sticker and patch of his game company logo, Memento Mori.

Lauren Erwin (@ThatSaltyGinger on Twitter) and Nerditor Doug, two original members of the Iron Dabbers.

Oh! And I ran into D&D party fam! Late one night heading back to the hotel I spotted Lauren Erwin in the hall. She is an original member of the Iron Dabbers, a D&D party from the live stream Secrets of Castle Greyhawk game I play in every Thursday on The Greyhawk Channel on Twitch. It was super cool to see her. I love that campaign and although Lauren wasn’t able to continue (she’s a busy lady!) she’ll always be an OG member of the crew and I am happy to call her a friend.

And we got to see the premiere of Eye of the Beholder: The Art of Dungeons & Dragons! Nerdarchist Dave and I were among the first people anywhere in the world to see this phenomenal documentary by our friends Brian Stillman, Seth Polansky and Kelley Slagle. IT IS AWESOME. If you have ever played D&D, you will love this movie. They traced the history of D&D art back to the beginning and talked with dozens and dozens of artists whose iconic work has been bringing the game to life for over 40 years. And I’m not the only one who thinks this film is the most — it won the Gen Con Film Festival award for best documentary.

All of this only scratches the surface of everything and everyone we saw at Gen Con 2018!

Awesome RPGs and other stuff

For me and Nerdarchist Ted, filling out bags with new games, minis and other swag is one of our favorite convention activities. I don’t have a complete rundown of Nerdarchist Ted’s haul, but I know for sure he got a whole slew of minis. On top of his own gets, many creators donated items to add to the Nerdarchy giveaway vault. Make sure to check out the Saturday Quests & Adventures live chats on the Nerdarchy YouTube channel and stay informed about these giveaways. We do them all the time so there’s lots of chances to get all sorts of great stuff.

This year I tried to be a little more conservative with my purchases. Usually I come home with twice as much luggage as I arrive with, but I reigned it in a bit for Gen Con 2018.

For starters, I picked up two Kickstarters I backed. Masters and Minions from Jetpack 7 and Kids on Bikes deluxe edition with the Powered Character Deck are two things I couldn’t wait to get my hands on. The PDF versions were sent out already, but there’s something special about having the physical books in hand for any RPG product. Masters and Minions is gorgeous. No surprise there, as the artwork in Jetpack 7 stuff is always top notch. The book is packed with detailed NPC creatures and the forces serving them, featuring design work from Aaron Hubrich, Jim Pinto, David Adams and one of my favorite creators, Dan Dillon. I’ve been waiting to get my hands on this one particularly to check out Grissek’k The Orc Queen, which does not disappoint. My other favorite master and minion combo is The Created. Check out this book if you like fleshed out villains for your Fifth Edition games!

Kids on Bikes is another one I hotly anticipated. Anyone who knows me knows I’m one of those D&D nerds who is comfortable using those rules for all sorts of genres beyond fantasy. So beyond the D&D ruleset, my favorite sorts of RPGs are modern-era (or close to it) games featuring regular folks in extraordinary circumstances. Kids on Bikes is all about regular people confronted with irregular situations like the supernatural, along with a group-controlled character who has special powers. It’s a toss up between this and Tales from the Loop for the one I like the best. But if I’m honest, after reading through them both I might take a bit from column A and a bit from column B. Kids on Bikes contains a ton of awesome ideas for creating characters and group dynamics, making it a valuable resource for roleplaying games in general.

Outbreak: Undead Second Edition from Hunters Entertainment and Renegade Game Studios is the other RPG I added to my collection. Truth be told, I didn’t know anything about it but the book is slick, and after flipping through it looks like a suggested style of play is taking the players themselves as characters and imagining a zombie apocalypse in your own hometown. Told you I like those sorts of games 😉 What really sold me though is the layout and design of the book. It has a lot of cool thematic and artistic elements making it fun to look and read through. And guess what? The person who wrote it and contributed to graphic design and layout is Chris de la Rosa — the guy I would wind up talking with the next day at that Peter Adkinson party!

On the same whim I picked up Arboretum, a tabletop game by Dan Cassar. Never heard of it, didn’t demo it but got it nevertheless. Why? The art intrigues me. The cover has a big purple tree and a multitude of colorful symbols around it, and the back shows the various card types, also trees of various colors. The goal of the game is to “create carefully planned paths for your visitors to walk as they take in the colorful explosion of buds and leaves.” Doesn’t that sound wonderful? It’s a competitive game, but with all the players competing to create something beautiful, it sounds like a delightful way to spend 30 minutes.

One game I did demo was the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game. I loves me some Final Fantasy, so I had to try it out. It’s really fun! Cards feature all the characters you’d imagine like Cloud, Lightning, Squall, Tidus, Yuna, Garland, Sephiroth and pretty much every character from all the games including Dissidia, Tactics and more. It was easy to understand and pick up, but of course like any card game there’s deeper strategies to discover. I got two decks so I’d have enough to play with friends, one featuring Lightning and the other Cloud. Also, I got a free Kain card for doing the demo. Dragoon FTW! On a side note, it just struck me while at Gen Con that many FF protagonists are named after atmospheric conditions. Derp.

I also came home with two Atmar’s Cardography dungeon decks from Brian Colin/Creature Curations. These are really special to me, because I was part of the team that brought them to life! Brian is an amazing person, and I did some editing work on the project. These are very cool products, basically huge dungeons with a room on each card. You can play through the whole thing following a preconstructed pattern, or follow small mini-dungeon setups, or just deal out rooms randomly as you go. There’s one for the Fiery Pits, a volcanic dungeon, and another for the Icy Divide, a frozen labyrinth. PDF guidebooks are available for both Fifth Edition and Fate. The adventures are designed to take place in Brian’s World of Revilo, a fantasy realm he created with his son while telling bedtime stories. It’s really amazing. Coming up, he’ll be launching a Kickstarter for three more sets as well. While at the booth, some passersby stopped to take a look and since the booth attendant was occupied, I explained the decks to the two people who came by. The attendant made their way over and commended my on the salesmanship. (I’m pretty familiar with them!) Also I got to meet Isaac Skaggs in person, another creator on the team.

Of course, I had to get myself some dice because…dice. It’s a tradition for me at any convention. For Gen Con 2018 I went with Elder Dice: Astral Elder Sign. They’re pretty snazzy and come in a spell book box you can use for a dice tray. Hopefully I’ll be able to snag a Yellow Sign of Hastur set at some point too. I missed the Kickstarter for them but maybe with a little eldritch luck things will pan out.

The last two things I picked up are both pieces of art. The first was a print from Voidbug, an illustrator who had an awesome selection of vibrant, ethereal art. Choosing one from everything she had to offer was tough, but I’m more than happy with the one I got and can’t wait to hang it up in the office. The second piece of art was one of Chris Seaman’s Cameo Creeps. Chris is a phenomenal artist who’s done a bunch of work for D&D, Magic: The Gathering and other games. One of my favorite pieces of D&D art is by him, the tiefling Star Pact warlock from fourth edition D&D. His Cameo Creeps are tiny monster paintings inside cameo frames. There’s a ton of them, making this choice even harder than my Voidbug print. In the end I went with Lady Wanda Glubberneck. She’s got an aquatic look reminiscent of sahuagin, one of my favorite D&D monsters that I’d been talking with someone about earlier that day.

Best part of Gen Con 2018

All parties, get-togethers, events, games and fun new stuff aside, there’s one thing about Gen Con that’s better than all of it combined. Being a nerd and enjoying this culture with so many others is absolutely priceless. By and large, the nerdy community is supportive of one another, encouraging, and welcoming. When we invite others to our games or accept invitations to theirs, we’re making new friends and connecting with new people. They might look different, or see the world different, live vastly different lifestyles or whatever. But overwhelmingly, one similarity is despite any of these differences we can all come together to share these fun and often deeply personal experiences. You can always find a fellow nerd to remind you that you can do anything you set your mind to, you can be you — the best you — and that’s a great thing. Maybe I have rose-tinted glasses on a bit, but I know there’s a heck of a lot more good out there than bad, and my fellow nerds do a fantastic job of showing it.

Round up and wrap up

Here’s a bunch of links to check out some of the stuff I mentioned above. And I also want to know about you! Did you go to Gen Con 2018 and have some awesome stories to share? Or have you gone in the past, or plan to go in the future? I’d love to hear about your best Gen Con memories, or any of your favorite convention stories in the comments below. And if you got any photos of the Nerdarchy crew from the convention, please share them and tag us on social media!

Official Gen Con Twitch channel

Hunters Books/Hunters Entertainment

Kids on Bikes

Jetpack 7

Arboretum

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game

Atmar’s Cardography

Elder Dice

Voidbug — Keep an eye on streams with me, Nerditor Doug, to see which print I got!

Cameo Creeps

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The games, cool swag, parties, and Nerdarchist Ted polymorphed into a cow #truestory there's one thing above all else making #GenCon2018 the Best Four Days in Gaming Hello! The Nerdarchy crew is back home from Indianapolis and back to work on all our nerdy projects.

#Gen Con

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safflowerseason · 5 years ago

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The OC rewatch - 2x09, The Ex-Factor

To the lovely and insightful anon who sent in the ask regarding my take on Ryan and Marissa’s fight in 2x09 -

I answered the post and put half of my response under a “Keep Reading” cut because it basically turned into a mini-essay and I wanted to preserve everyone’s timelines. But because this website has the clunky design of a junkyard car, the formatting got all messed up when I added tags to the ask post (@Tumblr - why can you not tag an ask post directly?!) and moved the cut to just below the original ask, hiding the whole response, at which point I got so frustrated I deleted the whole thing.

Anyway, Anon, you noted that this fight in 2x09 really encapsulates Ryan and Marissa’s baggage as a couple, and is also one of the few moments in the show they are genuinely open about their issues. As any Veep fans who read this blog know…I adore breaking down a good explosive fight (and I love writing them, too). One of my proudest accomplishments on this website is my close-reading of Dan and Amy’s fight in Ep. 5.03. So I analyzed the hell out of this fight for you, because you’re right—it is a very important fight for Ryan and Marissa. I also included the make-up conversation they have after the argument as well, because it seems to me that the two moments are linked.

First, a few opening comments.

Thematically, this episode calls back to Ep. 1.13, The Best Chrismukkah Ever, which is the last time we have really seen Ryan and Marissa confronting this idea that the way she deals with the challenges of her life—drinking and other reckless behavior—bring up very real shit for him, emotionally (even if he is also subconsciously attracted to her because of it). This dimension of their relationship kind of gets swept under the rug for the rest of S1, with the Oliver and Theresa drama. But it’s back on full display here, since Marissa is (theoretically) supposed to have spent most of the first third of S2 on a low-grade bender. Note that Ryan refers to the “Dawn Atwood special” earlier when he’s speaking to a drunk Lindsay. This is a familiar trauma, watching over a drunk woman, and it brings out the worst in him.

I also find this argument noteworthy because it shows Ryan in his worst light, but not necessarily Marissa. Yeah, she knowingly let Lindsay drink too much, which is a pretty passive-aggressive move, but she’s distinctly not Lindsay’s babysitter. And when a drunken Lindsay (somehow) makes her way back to the club, Marissa and Alex start looking after her. It’s Ryan who goes off on Marissa with very little provocation, and it’s clearly more about his own issues than hers. I just think it’s significant that this fight occurs on a night Marissa is pretty well behaved, all things considered. Not to wave away Marissa’s substance abuse issues, which are serious, but this fight at least demonstrates that Ryan’s explosions of violent overprotectiveness would not necessarily be solved if Marissa suddenly stopped drinking tomorrow. Their issues with one another are more complicated than that.

Anyway, so here we are, in the backroom of the The Bait Shop that is mysteriously run by an emancipated minor (Alex Kelly). Lindsay is passed out on the couch; Marissa and Alex are tending to her.

Marissa: I can do that. Ryan: I think you've done enough. Marissa: Oh, ok, so this is the part where you blame it all on me? Ryan: You’re right, it was Lindsay's idea to pound straight vodka and pass out…feel good to see someone else mess up for a change?

Out of all the teenagers on the show, I don’t think we ever see Ryan drink? He clearly views binge drinking as a moral failing. This is understandable given his upbringing, but alcoholism is much more than a question of good vs. bad. (Although just to be clear…I do not think binge drinking is a good thing, especially for teenagers.)

Marissa: It was her idea! And, ok, so it got a little outta control b- Ryan: It always does with you! You spent all last year trying to drag me down with you, and now her? You wanna make a mess outta your own life, fine! You’re doing a pretty good job of it if you ask me.

Ryan uses the word “mess” twice in this sequence of dialogue, which is very telling. Even more than S1, in S2 we’ve seen Ryan truly trying to capitalize on the opportunity his relationship with the Cohens has brought him. The line “drag me down with you” is extra significant. In S1, Ryan was pretty willing to throw himself into Marissa’s life and try to solve all her problems, which he views as Marissa “dragging him down.” (Lol, remember when he blew off his entrance exam for Harvard to help Marissa escape from the hospital?) But this year, Ryan has done the opposite. He’s thrown himself into things not involving Marissa, namely his schoolwork, and he clearly sees his relationship with Lindsay, studious and innocent, as part of that new direction. As a result, Marissa’s “mess” has become even more of a risk to his future.

But at the same time, Ryan is so afraid that Marissa is going to destroy her life in some way, and therefore his life. As you said, Anon, he’s conflicted about her place in his life because of the potential danger of her actions, even as he’s drawn to her beauty and vulnerability otherwise. So, he goes after her in a way that is pretty unjustified in this particular moment.

Alex: No one asked you! Ryan: (aggressively) What did you say?! Seth: Hey, Ryan, let’s…let’s go. Ryan: No, I'm not leaving her here. Alex: I’ll take care of her—you go.

As an episode that begins to set up Marissa’s relationship with Alex, this episode doesn’t do a bad job. Alex, as the one person in Marissa’s life who actually defends her, must come as an incredible relief.

And now we’re in Alex’s apartment, where Ryan has come to apologize.

Ryan: Look, I don't know…I…I guess I was hoping this could be easy...for you and me to stay friends…for you and Lindsay to be friends. Marissa: (skeptical) And have us all live happily ever after? Ryan: (sheepish) Yeah, something like that. Marissa: I know it seems like a million years ago we dated, but it wasn’t. Ryan: I know that. Marissa: And ok, maybe you're over it, maybe it doesn't mean anything to you anymore…maybe it never did...but it meant a lot to me. You meant a lot to me...still do.

I think Barton is actually decent in this scene. She doesn’t overplay Marissa’s confession. She’s very quiet and matter-of-fact, and it makes her words all the more devastating. Meanwhile, the camera cuts to Ryan’s face throughout this line, and Ben Mckenzie makes a series of expressions that make it pretty clear that Ryan has been pretty actively not thinking about his and Marissa’s relationship, because it’s just too much.

Ryan: ...it's not like that I...I don't know what it’s like… And…thinking you and Lindsay should be friends was a bad idea. Marissa: Why? I like her. And if you do the math, she's my step sister, so… Ryan: …I guess. (Mckenzie is unintentionally hilarious with this delivery.) (pause) Marissa: Look, clearly, it's gonna be strange for us for a while. Ryan: Yeah I know, you’re right. (pause, turns for the door) I’m sorry. That's what I came here to say. Marissa: I’m sorry too.

The way BM delivers that last line, genuinely heartfelt, the emphasis on the word “sorry”…it's really Ryan apologizing for his departure at the end of S1 and the manner of his return. He left abruptly, he came back abruptly, they never talked about any of it, and he and Marissa basically stopped speaking after the (contrived) DJ reveal. They never had a chance to clear the air, and it’s not like they broke up because they stopped having feelings for one other...all their joint pain over what happened has just been festering.

So, Anon, that’s my take on this great fight. Thanks so much for sending in the ask!

#the oc season two #ryan x marissa #ryan atwood #marissa cooper #alex kelly

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njawaidofficial · 7 years ago

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'Teen Wolf' Series Finale Explained | Jeff Davis Interview

http://styleveryday.com/2017/09/25/teen-wolf-series-finale-explained-jeff-davis-interview/

'Teen Wolf' Series Finale Explained | Jeff Davis Interview

[This story contains spoilers from the series finale of MTV’s Teen Wolf.]

Sunday’s Teen Wolf series finale on MTV felt less like an ending and more like the beginning of a new chapter for Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) and his pack of friends.

After a season of fighting Gerard Argent (Michael Hogan) and Tamora Monroe’s (Sibongile Mlambo) reign of fear against the supernatural in Beacon Hills, Scott, Stiles (Dylan O’Brien), Lydia (Holland Roden), Derek (Tyler Hoechlin), Malia (Shelley Hennig), Chris Argent (JR Bourne), Sheriff Noah Stilinski (Linden Ashby), Jackson (Colton Haynes), Ethan (Charlie Carver) and Peter Hale (Ian Bohen) won the battle for their town. Unfortunately, the war continued, as Monroe escaped alive to expand her agenda on a global scale.

The 100th and final episode of MTV’s supernatural drama, while dealing mostly with the fight against the Anuk-Ite fear monster and saving Beacon Hills from all-out war, was bookended by scenes of Scott and Argent saving a young werewolf named Alec (Benjamin Wadsworth), a new character on the run from Monroe’s hunters. Scott and Argent helped him get to safety and invited him to join the Beacon Hills pack to fight the thousands of new hunters that Monroe enlisted in her war to kill every single supernatural being. Instead of offering a satisfying conclusion to the story, Teen Wolf ended on a hopeful shot of Scott’s pack welcoming Alec into their group.

Series creator and showrunner Jeff Davis spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about bringing MTV’s first scripted drama to an end after six seasons, the surprising influences he used to write the finale, his disappointment over who he couldn’t get to come back for the final episode and more.

Has it hit you that the series has come to an end?

It’s a very strange thing. I’ve never written a series finale before. I’ve never said goodbye to a project like this. I’ve never had anything in my work life like this. It’s hard to say goodbye, but [I’m] also getting ready for new challenges.

In writing your first series finale, what was the most important goal you needed to accomplish?

It was really to both pay homage to the series itself with clever callbacks and big moments for each character. But the most important thing was to tell a good Teen Wolf story, to make it a great Teen Wolf episode with action, with humor, with romance and to give each character their heroic moment. There was a scene when we watched it all together [at the cast and crew finale screening] that everybody cheered, a great scene with Sheriff Stilinski.

While a lot of the episode felt very final with the relationships between the characters, why did you want to leave the story open-ended?

I thought a lot about other series finales and certain ones that leave the audience gasping, wondering what happens next, like The Sopranos, or some where they send the whole cast to jail, like Seinfeld, and others, like Lost, where everybody is dead and they find each other in the afterlife. I thought about what kind of series finale fits this show best, and to me, it was, “And the adventure continues …” That’s what we wanted to go for. I want to know that Scott and his friends have many more stories to tell. This story isn’t over. He goes off and fights many more battles, makes new friends, faces down new enemies. That felt right for the finale. And I was also able to get people like Tyler Hoechlin and Dylan O’Brien in that last shot as part of Scott’s pack from day one onward. It’s a testament to the show and how many people loved working on the show that everybody came back.

You introduced a new character, Alec, in the finale. With a new incarnation of Teen Wolf in development, first as a podcast before being rebooted altogether, does he have anything to do with those plans?

It’s all just been talks so far. That character, that whole idea that bookends [the episode], that was something I came up with a long time ago. Tyler Posey actually pitched me, “I have an idea for the finale that I wake up in a motel room, and it’s a year or two later, and it’s me and Argent.” I was like, “I love that idea.” And we did that. But that character [of Alec], to me, represents the audience. There was no real thought of introducing a character to reboot the show. It was simply this kid, Alec, played by Ben Wadsworth, who is this outsider, a kid on the run, on his own, and Scott says to him, “If you feel like an outsider, if you feel alone, you can be one of us. You can be with us.” That’s the message of the show and the big message of this season, which was about fear, being a pariah.

Why did you want to continue the Teen Wolf brand immediately after the final season, instead of waiting a few years?

Part of that was [MTV president] Chris McCarthy’s idea. He has a real love for the show. The previous regime wanted to sweep everything out and start fresh, but Chris wants to keep a good thing going. I’m hopefully going to be working with them on other projects. We have [a female-driven] War of the Worlds as a possibility, and we just handed the script in for that, so things could be good with me and MTV for a little while longer.

What kinds of stories do you want to continue from Teen Wolf, and why in podcast form?

I think there’s plenty of spinoff ideas. I would love to see Jackson and Ethan in London as a podcast. (Laughs.) Have one eight-episode, maybe, podcast about an adventure they go through there. I could see any sort of spinoff within that world. If Hoechlin would be up for it, [I want to] follow [Derek in a podcast]. You know who would actually be great at it would be Daniel Sharman. If I could convince Daniel Sharman to reprise Isaac, because Daniel has done audiobook recordings, I bet he would be great at a podcast. And podcasts are amazing these days. I just listened to S-Town a little while ago, and it was riveting. I couldn’t step out of my car because I had to finish it. So it’s really fascinating to me how this very old-school storytelling device has come back in vogue. It’s basically radio drama coming back to life.

There were so many amazing character returns in the finale, especially when the Anuk-Ite started taking on forms of Scott’s biggest fears, like Void Stiles. Which character return was the hardest to pull off?

Hardest to pull off in terms of narrative, none of them. They all seemed to fit seamlessly back into the show. The hardest to pull off in terms of scheduling was definitely Dylan O’Brien. But he made it work, to his credit. He loves the role, and he said, “I want to be part of the finale. I want to be part of the last season. I’ll make it work.” The difficulty was, I actually had to write most of episode 20, the finale, before the scripts for episode 18 and 19 were even finished. (Laughs.) That’s a challenge when you have one week with this actor before he flies off to do his movie.

With Dylan’s limited availability, were there any plans to have Stiles and Derek’s FBI hunt storyline expanded that you couldn’t carry out?

I would have loved to have them both for more episodes, yeah. Hoechlin was great, and it was really nice to get Hoechlin in two episodes. When you don’t have them locked down and you don’t own their time, their schedules get crazy. My first and second ADs tear their hair out trying to get everyone to show up on set at the same time. And one actor I wish I could have had for another episode was Colton. In episode 19, he couldn’t be in it. So we were only able to show Charlie Carver. I would have loved to have [Jackson and Ethan] together in that episode, too. Unfortunately, in the narrative, we had to split them up, but Colton was very busy working for Ryan Murphy. (Laughs.) I’m very happy for him.

Were there any character returns you wanted for the finale but couldn’t get?

My biggest disappointment is, there were two people, and it was both a problem of scheduling. I would have loved to have Meagan Tandy as Braeden, and I would have loved to have Seth Gilliam as Deaton. I had actually started writing a whole plotline for Seth in the finale, and then we just couldn’t get him because of his schedule with Walking Dead.

Are you able to reveal what his finale storyline would have been, if he could have shot it?

I would have wanted him to be a part of the figuring it out of it all and to give him a heroic moment, as well. Honestly, most important in the last episode was that Scott had a big story, that we bring it around back to the teen wolf. It’s OK that we didn’t have certain other characters because it started with Tyler Posey, and I love the fact that it ends with him.

There were several callbacks to the pilot and big moments throughout the series. What line or callback meant the most to you?

I loved when Gerard says, “Mountain ash,” which is a callback to his screaming the words “mountain ash” in the finale of season two. I said to the director, Russell Mulcahy, “This time I want him to just whisper it.” That was really fun and just like that finale of season two. Those little clever callbacks were so fun to do.

Lydia and Stiles each had fun reactions to finding out about Jackson and Ethan. What was important to you in getting that moment right?

It was hitting the humor of it, and it was also having [Jackson’s ex] Lydia know. Having her thinking to herself, “This kid will be so much better when he figures it all out.” And a little bit of it was, it’s really nice to see Colton having come out in his real life and having it change him so much and become a different, better person. That scene was one of the easiest to write because I knew how I wanted to make people laugh.

In the final act of the finale, Kate (Jill Wagner), who was shot with fatal yellow wolfsbane, attacked Gerard after Argent left the room, but they both have survived so many near-death experiences before. Since their deaths weren’t explicitly shown onscreen, what are their official fates by the end of the series?

(Laughs.) Who knows? Those two always have a way of coming back to life, don’t they? I’ll leave that question unanswered.

Fair enough. Was this the series ending you always had in mind back when the show first premiered, or has it changed over the course of 100 episodes?

It’s definitely changed. I had this idea of Scott meeting this young werewolf back in season four. But to be honest, when we were doing season five, I thought 5:20 was going to be the last episode until the network came and said, “We want 20 more.” So I’m glad we got to do it this way. This felt like a big goodbye and an epic story. I like the fact that it became worldwide as well. I’m really glad to have had the opportunity to finish off the series with that foreknowledge and to prepare for it. And I’m really happy that all these actors wanted to come back to roles that they hadn’t played for a while.

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