#i was playing truth bombs when dan came out

[dnpg-hiatus-survivor]

IM A TRUTH BOMBS LOVER THIS IS SO EXCITING TO ME

[jemej3m]

Listen bud, hunger games au, Andrews the mockingjay, Neil’s been captured by his dad aka the game maker

if you’re looking for an extended hunger games au @gluupor‘s on ao3 is my all-time favourite, but here’s a oneshot (are oneshots all i know how to do??)

*

Andrew doesn’t want to be here. The whole place is writhing with death and misery, but there’s a whole camera crew asking him to interact with these people, these men and women and children who are fighting and dying for an idealistic cause. 

Andrew is not an empathetic person. Kevin says that doesn’t matter. Just the sight of him, with his Mockingjay pin, will be enough to inspire hope. 

At least he’s here, shepherding Andrew around, doing all the talking. Nicky’s being all amicable too, crouched by overcrowded beds and talking nonsense. Aaron’s probably somewhere, being useful. 

His team. His support. Coming out onto the front lines with him, because they genuinely believed that Andrew was going to change the world.

When Andrew volunteered in Aaron’s place, he didn’t think he’d ever see his family again. 

Just goes to show: nothing is predictable. Not in a world like this. 

Andrew beelines for the lonely kids, the ones without parents, shunted into the corner. There’s one with a stump instead of an arm, like Kevin, and one who was avoxxed in the raid, like Nicky’s boyfriend. They all learned sign language for him, so Andrew kneels on the floor and says hello.

The kid’s eyes light up when he realises Andrew can talk to him. The others get excited too, crowding around.  

They ask him questions. He talks whilst he signs, keeping his voice low. He tells them what sunrise looks like from the capitol’s training tower, how to properly throw a knife, why you choosing your family is important, and protecting them even more so. Their eyes are as wide as saucers, drinking in every word. Andrew has always been good with kids. 

He realises that the cameras have been trained on him and stops talking. The kids get sad, but then a nurse comes around to move Andrew along so that they can have their checkups. Andrew hoists himself up off the ground, ignoring his cousin as he comes closer. He has tears in his eyes. 

“That was beautiful,” he says. “Neil would -” 

“Shut up,” Andrew snaps, because there’s a lot of things he tries not to think about, and Neil is one of them. 

His and Neil’s story is a long one. Andrew was in the 5th district, the fostered son of the mayor. He had a best friend, one he didn’t tell anyone about lest his older brother, Drake, discover how pretty Neil was. Neil’s mother was overprotective, hiding him away from the public eye, but together they would climb outside the district’s boundaries and play together in the woods. 

Then Andrew met his biological family when Major Cass Spear was invited to the 12th district for diplomacy. He decided to stay. He was twelve at the time: he and Aaron entered the reapings that year. His cousin had three years left, but would never be voted in: he was also the son of a terrible mayor. When Nicky turned 18, Tilda died, his parents disowned him, and he looked after the twins for another 2 years before Aaron was reaped and Andrew took his place. 

That year, a scrawny seventeen year old from the 2nd district, who wasn’t a career tribute, volunteered himself. It wasn’t until Andrew had met all the tributes in the capitol that he realised who that kid was: Neil, his childhood best friend, who was fulfilling an old promise of protection. 

Andrew had hated him quite a bit for it: only one of them was meant to escape the arena. There were bets placed on how soon Andrew would kill him and how. None of them knew the truth. None of them knew that Andrew would rather die than kill Neil. 

So, in the end, when it’d just been the two of them, they swore a truce. They fought against the capitol’s attempts at whittling them down till the capitol gave up. Andrew thought they’d beat the system: it took him a hellish victory tour, another trip back to the arena and losing Neil to the capitol to know that wasn’t true. 

Neil. Neil, Neil, Neil. The other reason Andrew doesn’t want to be here. Neil’s back in district 13, recovering from his weeks spent being tortured at the capitol’s hands. The rebels weren’t given the chance to grab him before the capitol snatched him away. Andrew had paced grooves into the ground during his absence. 

And when he came back? Well, Andrew would’ve rathered that Neil forgot him entirely. Instead they - his father, his worst nightmare and most talented gamemaker in the capitol - had turned Neil against him. Made him loathe Andrew with every fibre of his being. Enough so that he’d tried to strangle Andrew when they’d first been reunited. 

He is better now, but still avoiding Andrew at every possible junction. Andrew inexplicably still wants to stay by his side. Abby says his memory will return with time. Andrew will just have to wait. 

Nicky’s eyes go wide. “I thought you were going to sort things out with him -” 

But then Kevin is yelling, sirens are wailing. The hospital begins to dissolve into panic. Andrew only has to hear someone yell “Bombs!” to understand, being directed out of the building. Someone’s trying to set up artillery to shoot them down. It’s too late. Andrew’s lot makes it out, but only a handful of patients are able to stumble out after them before the building explodes. Andrew looks over his shoulder as they’re running towards where their helicopter is descending. The warehouse structure has collapsed inwards. Those who hadn’t died in the explosion are being torn apart by shrapnel and debris. All those kids. Gone. 

“Turn the camera on,” he murmurs, holding out his hands. The bomber planes aren’t turning around, but there’s a second fleet of carrier craft behind them, bringing peacekeepers by the dozen. 

“Andrew,” Aaron says, stricken. The camera’s red light is already flashing. 

“This is what you get for remaining neutral,” Andrew spat out, flinging a pointed hand behind him at the burning hospital. “Massacred. Think about that next time you assume the capitol will be on your side.” 

He’s facing away from the carnage. It’s the only reason that he doesn’t see the peacekeeper aim and fire. He doesn’t even realise he’s been shot until the rest of him start screaming. 

By then it’s too late: he’s falling, falling into darkness, wishing that he’d never involved himself in this stupid rebellion in the first place. 

*

He blinks awake and stares at the ceiling. District thirteen, being a burner district, doesn’t have many variations in its ceilings, but Andrew knows this one all too well. 

He’s in the hospital. 

His hands go to his arms: the armbands are still there, but they’re rolled down and his knives are gone. There’s a morphine drip in his left elbow and fluids in his right. He can barely feel his body. 

“I have your knives,” says a familiar voice. Andrew has to be dreaming. 

Neil’s appearance has always fluctuated: when they’d first met, his hair had been black and his eyes natural blue. During the games he’d started off with brown hair and brown eyes, but a lack of resources meant that he’d ended up forgoing the contacts and letting his roots grow out. He’d forgone the brown eyes but kept up with the dye till the second games, which hadn’t lasted long enough for any major changes. 

Now he is fully and unequivocally Nathaniel Wesniniski, son of Nathan, scarring on his cheeks, arms and torso telling a narrative that is a hard-won fight. Nathan and his lackey Lola had both been killed brutally in Neil’s rescue. Andrew is glad.

“Hey,” Neil says, when Andrew isn’t exactly forthcoming. “How are you faring?”

“You’re not here to finish the job?”  

Neil’s lips quirk. “Drama queen. Your suit was fitted with kelvar: there’s a lot of bruising, but you’ll be fine in a week.” 

Andrew drops his head back down onto his pillow. “Dammit.” 

Neil snorts. He’s in a good mood. Andrew can tell he’s still on edge, but he was always a paranoid kid. It’s not going to take some genial bedside manner to undo everything his father did. 

“I know that everything they told me was fake,” he says, looking at the knives in his hands. “I have always been a jumble of identities and false pretences. This  shouldn’t be news to you.” 

Andrew just hums. He can’t even wiggle his toes. How the hell did they had stuff this strong down here? They were all eating onion slop rations but had morphine good enough to even send Dan into a spiral.  

“I gave this knife to you,” Neil continues, holding up a sleek blade. Matte black. Andrew’s sharpest blade and perfectly weighted for throwing. “This was my mother’s. You must have been very special to me if I gave you this.” 

“I hate you,” Andrew says. 

“Are you sure?” Neil asks. “Because I’m not.” 

Andrew just huffs. 

“I remember...” he hesitates. “I remember us. Together. In your district 12 victory house, after the tour...then again, in the tower before the 75th games.”

Andrew stares at the wall opposite him. He really doesn’t want to have this conversation. “It didn’t mean anything.” 

“I think it did,” Neil says, softspoken. He’s never soft-spoken. “My father - he couldn’t create new memories. He could only twist old ones. For me to hate you as much as I did, I must have really...You know. Lo-” 

“Don’t,” Andrew says, because this a war and if he hears something like that fate will go against him. “I’m not your answer, Neil.” 

Neil shrugs. “Okay.” Then, with methodical precision, he checks Andrew’s vitals, removes the needles and rolls up his bands. Then he slides the knives in place, fingertips briefly brushing over Andrew’s skin. Andrew, for some reason, lets him. 

“Your last morphine dose was seven hours ago,” Neil says, settling back into his chair. “It’ll wear off soon. You were asleep for nearly 2 days, did you know? Aaron says the bruising is horrific. You probably won’t be able to move for another 3 days. But hey, at least all the districts are in revolt now. You getting shot on camera actually helped the cause...” 

He chatters innocuously. Andrew listens. Neil’s still nervous, still schooling his bodily reactions of hatred and disgust, but he’s here anyway. Distracting Andrew from his own snare of a mind. 

Maybe there’s goodness in this terrible, terrible world. 

Maybe Andrew can have it. 

He’ll just have to live long enough to find out.

*

yeehawwww

[entertainment]

Entertainment Spotlight: Will Vought, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Actor, comedian, and writer Will Vought stars in the most recent season of the critically acclaimed dramedy series, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Additional television credits include The Good Wife, The Good Fight, both Lipstick Jungle and Love Bites, Bones, and Wilfred. Will is also an accomplished comedian, having toured the country opening for Wayne Brady. He got his start in the entertainment industry by contributing to Scott Shannon’s #1 morning show on 95.5 WPLJ, offering David Letterman updates and recaps, which opened the door for him to work for Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Following his work with Conan, Will was offered a position in the West Wing of the White House, working for former President Bill Clinton, where he still continued his radio work on the weekends as the youngest morning show host in the country at just 22 years old. Will went on to serve as head writer for Wayne Brady during his time hosting the The Late Late Show prior to James Corden in 2014 on CBS, and he continues to collaborate with renowned actor and comedian Paul Reiser, including shopping a television pilot they wrote together with Julie Bergman. We got the chance to ask him some questions. Check it out:

Do you have a favorite character arc from season 3 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel?

For Season 3, I’m finding myself really interested in Susie and her journey. I don’t want to spoil it for those getting ready to start the new season or binge the series; however, in the first two seasons, Susie’s been hustling and primarily being of service to Midge while her personal life hangs on by a thread. In season 3, there are so many more layers introduced and opportunities that will ripple into not only her clout as a comedy manager but also her personal life. Also, I’m really invested in Lenny Bruce. Having read so much about him to see his plight on screen told through Amy’s lens is incredible. I don’t know anyone in comedy that doesn’t appreciate what Lenny Bruce did for comedians. The end of the Season 3 premiere is absolutely priceless seen thought the eyes of Tony Shalhoub’s Emmy Award-winning performance as Abe Weissman - Midge’s father.

If everything that you did was narrated, whose voice would you want narrating your life?

HA! That is a great question, and I’ve had to think about it. At first, I thought of the late great voice-over artist Don LaFontaine who moviegoers would remember as the “In A World…” guy who made millions voicing almost every movie trailer ever! BUT…truth be told I think that I would love Seinfeld's voice and lens, and I think it would make my day to day activities far more entertaining to listen to, especially when on the phone with my therapist.  

Can you tell us about a time you bombed (on stage or in an audition)?

Well…the thing that pops to mind was an audition for NBC’s series called Lipstick Jungle. At the time, I was living on Long Island and decided to make the mistake of driving into Manhattan for the audition. Traffic was abhorrent, and you would think that there were mass casualties on the Long Island Expressway resulting in me being almost an hour and forty-five minutes late for the audition. The director of that episode was the one and only Timothy Busfield, whom I loved on Arron Sorkin’s The West Wing. Tim played reporter Danny Concannon - Senior White House Correspondent.

I had no idea that Timothy was going to be at the audition and was mortified when I showed up and saw him in the room because I was so late. It’s not unheard of to not be seen at all if you are late, let alone hours late. I read for the part and left. Tim was gracious. A month later, I got a call saying that I didn’t book that role; however, they were writing me another role and wanted to hire me for it. While on set shooting, Tim told me that when they asked him if he had any ideas for the part and he said, “That guy who came in 2 hours late. He was great. Hire him.” So I thought I bombed — but it worked out in the end.

The USO Tour scene from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel broke the record for the most number of background actors used in a scene for tv in the state of New York (850). What was it like being a part of such a huge production?

I’ve never worked on Star Wars, but that’s what I was thinking of when we were filming that. It was by far the largest set I’ve ever been on, and yes there were almost 1000 background actors there for almost an entire week, who made up the audience of the USO show that you see in the season 3 premiere. When I met with Amy and Dan for the final audition for the role of Major Buck Brilstein, it was at Steiner Studios in Brooklyn in a small room that’s not much larger than a small studio apartment in Manhattan. It was the three of us and Emmy award-winning casting director Cindy Tolan. We did all the material from the episode, and to juxtapose that to being in an actual hanger with 1000 extras essentially filming a USO show that’s scripted — it was a historic moment in television that wasn’t lost on me.  

What was the audition experience like for your role on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel?  

I kind of talk about that above. I had a great experience. As with anything, you have to go in a number of times, and then the final callback is with Amy and Dan Sherman Palladino. You are 2 feet away from her, there is a camera, and Cindy Tolan, the casting director, and you create the world and do the scenes — WORD PERFECT! That is a huge thing, and something I was told going in. Be word perfect every time. Their words are like notes on a page. Each one carefully picked and placed, and my job is to take them off the page and bring them to life with a sensibility of 1959 and a guy that’s a major in the army who always wanted to be a comedian but never really got the chance. So, my character is literally living his dream in this episode. Beyond that, you bring your A-game, nail it, and it’s up to Amy and Dan. It happened to go my way, and as I told Amy, I was grateful to get the invitation to play in her world. She wrote and directed this episode, so it was extra special.

Is there a specific role or moment that you feel has defined your career up to this point?

We’ll — this is pretty significant re: working with the Palladino’s.  I thought that The Good Wife was a big deal at the time — as I was part of Bob and Michelle King’s storyline that revealed Josh Charles’ character was murdered.  

It seems that I’m only allowed to act opposite actresses that have won 2 Emmy’s and 2 Golden Globes for Best Actress. LOL.  It’s truly a hard question to answer as each project is different, and as an actor, you hope that one job will open a door or opportunity to another.  That’s what I’ve found, at least over the past few years, so it’s certainly a slow burn.

Years ago, I was the low man on the totem pole at NBC’s Late Night with Conan O’Brien. I was an intern in the writing department under John Groff and often got the chance to appear in sketches on the show. This was an invaluable experience. There was an afternoon where I asked Conan (as I was cleaning his office) if he knew this was what he was going to do from the beginning. I’ll never forget what he said. He told me that, “In his wildest dreams he never thought he would be hosting a late night show.” He described show business as being on a highway. He was a writer in college, wanted to be a writer and set off on the highway with the goal of writing in mind. Along the trip, there were exits: Mad Magazine, The Simpsons, SNL. After each exit, he gets back on the journey. If you want to be a teacher or doctor or lawyer, you know exactly what to do. Go to X school for X years, and then they declare you as such. Boom. You’re it. Hollywood is not like that. Everyone’s path is so different, and how we get to where we are is almost inconsequential when compared to the culmination of the journey. I’ve been blessed to do a lot of different things so far and work with incredible talent that truly moves the needle in this business, and I hope for more opportunities.

What’s your favorite bit or joke from one of your stand-up sets?

I have a new bit I’m working on that’s fueled by my natural anger toward this situation.

I hate paper straws.

If this makes me a horrible person, so be it. If “they” think I don’t care about the EARTH or ENVIRONMENT and support the extinction of humanity because of this — so be it.

Paper straws? Really? Who did this make sense to? Who thought it was a good idea to combine PAPER and WATER?

I’m sure it seemed like a good idea at the time — but it doesn’t work. Three sips into my iced coffee and the thing has disintegrated, and I’m now drinking iced coffee and paper!

If you think paper straws are a good idea, let me ask you one question. Would you like to use a paper condom?

In the future, you’ll be standing in the rain telling your friend you can’t understand why she’s pregnant and soaking wet from holding the paper umbrella.

I will say that if we do switch to paper condoms …. I don’t know about the environment, but we will absolutely ensure the survival of humanity.

Lighting round! Describe each of the following in one word: Who you are, what you value the most, and what you’d be if you were a food item.  

I AM WILL VOUGHT.

I VALUE MOST: MY SON.

IF I WAS A FOOD ITEM, I’D BE A BEYOND BURGER!

What are you working on right now?

Right now, I’m working on sending out subliminal messages via Transcendental Meditation to Adam McKay for a coffee meeting that would result in being cast on the 3rd season of Succession on HBO.  I’d text him, but I don’t have his cell. Do you?

Thanks for taking the time, Will! Catch Season 3 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Prime Video. 

Photography: Emily Assiran | Grooming Laila Hayani | Styling: Natalia Zemliakova

[weyassinebentalb]

Gaza Conflict Stokes 'Identity Crisis' for Young American Jews

Dan Kleinman does not know quite how to feel.

As a child in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, he was taught to revere Israel as the protector of Jews everywhere, the “Jewish superman who would come out of the sky to save us” when things got bad, he said.

It was a refuge in his mind when white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, chanted “Jews will not replace us,” or kids in college grabbed his shirt, mimicking a “South Park” episode to steal his “Jew gold.”

But his feelings have grown muddier as he has gotten older, especially now as he watches violence unfold in Israel and Gaza. His moral compass tells him to help the Palestinians, but he cannot shake an ingrained paranoia every time he hears someone make anti-Israel statements.

“It is an identity crisis,” Kleinman, 33, said. “Very small in comparison to what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank, but it is still something very strange and weird.”

As the violence escalates in the Middle East, turmoil of a different kind is growing across the Atlantic. Many young American Jews are confronting the region’s long-standing strife in a very different context, with very different pressures, from their parents’ and grandparents’ generations.

The Israel of their lifetime has been powerful, no longer appearing to some to be under constant existential threat. The violence comes after a year when mass protests across the United States have changed how many Americans see issues of racial and social justice. The pro-Palestinian position has become more common, with prominent progressive members of Congress offering impassioned speeches in defense of the Palestinians on the House floor. At the same time, reports of anti-Semitism are rising across the country.

Divides between some American Jews and Israel’s right-wing government have been growing for more than a decade, but under the Trump administration those fractures that many hoped would heal became a crevasse. Politics in Israel have also remained fraught, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-tenured government forged allegiances with Washington. For young people who came of age during the Trump years, political polarization over the issue only deepened.

Many Jews in America remain unreservedly supportive of Israel and its government. Still, the events of recent weeks have left some families struggling to navigate both the crisis abroad and the wide-ranging response from American Jews at home. What is at stake is not just geopolitical, but deeply personal. Fractures are intensifying along lines of age, observance and partisan affiliation.

In suburban Livingston, New Jersey, Meara Ashtivker, 38, has been afraid for her father-in-law in Israel, who has a disability and is not able to rush to the stairwell to shelter when he hears the air-raid sirens. She is also scared as she sees people in her progressive circles suddenly seem anti-Israel and anti-Jewish, she said.

Ashtivker, whose husband is Israeli, said she loved and supported Israel, even when she did not always agree with the government and its actions.

“It’s really hard being an American Jew right now,” she said. “It is exhausting and scary.”

Some young, liberal Jewish activists have found common cause with Black Lives Matter, which explicitly advocates for Palestinian liberation, concerning others who see that allegiance as anti-Semitic.

The recent turmoil is the first major outbreak of violence in Israel and Gaza for which Aviva Davis, who graduated this spring from Brandeis University, has been “socially conscious.”

“I’m on a search for the truth, but what’s the truth when everyone has a different way of looking at things?” Davis said.

Alyssa Rubin, 26, who volunteers in Boston with IfNotNow, a network of Jewish activists who want to end Jewish American support for Israeli occupation, has found protesting for the Palestinian cause to be its own form of religious observance.

She said she and her 89-year-old grandfather ultimately both want the same thing, Jewish safety. But “he is really entrenched in this narrative that the only way we can be safe is by having a country,” she said, while her generation has seen that “the inequality has become more exacerbated.”

In the protest movements last summer, “a whole new wave of people were really primed to see the connection and understand racism more explicitly,” she said, “understanding the ways racism plays out here, and then looking at Israel/Palestine and realizing it is the exact same system.”

But that comparison is exactly what worries many other American Jews, who say the history of white American slaveholders is not the correct frame for viewing the Israeli government or the global Jewish experience of oppression.

At Temple Concord, a Reform synagogue in Syracuse, New York, teenager after teenager started calling Rabbi Daniel Fellman last week, wondering how to process seeing Black Lives Matter activists they marched with last summer attack Israel as “an apartheid state.”

“The reaction today is different because of what has occurred with the past year, year and a half, here,” Fellman said. “As a Jewish community, we are looking at it through slightly different eyes.”

Nearby at Sha’arei Torah Orthodox Congregation of Syracuse, teenagers were reflecting on their visits to Israel and on their family in the region.

“They see it as Hamas being a terrorist organization that is shooting missiles onto civilian areas,” Rabbi Evan Shore said. “They can’t understand why the world seems to be supporting terrorism over Israel.”

In Colorado, a high school senior at Denver Jewish Day School said he was frustrated at the lack of nuance in the public conversation. When his social media apps filled with pro-Palestinian memes last week, slogans like “From the river to the sea” and “Zionism is a call for an apartheid state,” he deactivated his accounts.

“The conversation is so unproductive, and so aggressive, that it really stresses you out,” Jonas Rosenthal, 18, said. “I don’t think that using that message is helpful for convincing the Israelis to stop bombing Gaza.”

Compared with their elders, younger American Jews are overrepresented on the ends of the religious affiliation spectrum: a higher share are secular, and a higher share are Orthodox.

Ari Hart, 39, an Orthodox rabbi in Skokie, Illinois, has accepted the fact that his Zionism makes him unwelcome in some activist spaces where he would otherwise be comfortable. College students in his congregation are awakening to that same tension, he said. “You go to a college campus and want to get involved in anti-racism or social justice work, but if you support the state of Israel, you’re the problem,” he said.

Hart sees increasing skepticism in liberal Jewish circles over Israel’s right to exist. “This is a generation who are very moved and inspired by social justice causes and want to be on the right side of justice,” Hart said. “But they’re falling into overly simplistic narratives, and narratives driven by true enemies of the Jewish people.”

Overall, younger American Jews are less attached to Israel than older generations: About half of Jewish adults under 30 describe themselves as emotionally connected to Israel, compared with about two-thirds of Jews over age 64, according to a major survey published last week by the Pew Research Center.

And though the U.S. Jewish population is 92% white, with all other races combined accounting for 8%, among Jews ages 18 to 29 that rises to 15%.

In Los Angeles, Rachel Sumekh, 29, a first-generation Iranian American Jew, sees complicated layers in the story of her own Persian family. Her mother escaped Iran on the back of a camel, traveling by night until she got to Pakistan, where she was taken in as a refugee. She then found asylum in Israel. She believes Israel has a right to self-determination, but she also found it “horrifying” to hear an Israeli ambassador suggest other Arab countries should take in Palestinians.

“That is what happened to my people and created this intergenerational trauma of losing our homeland because of hatred,” she said.

The entire situation feels too volatile and dangerous for many people to even want to discuss, especially publicly.

Violence against Jews is increasingly close to home. Last year the third-highest number of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States were recorded since the Anti-Defamation League began cataloging them in 1979, according to a report released by the civil rights group last month. The ADL recorded more than 1,200 incidents of anti-Semitic harassment in 2020, a 10% increase from the previous year. In Los Angeles, the police are investigating a sprawling attack on sidewalk diners at a sushi restaurant Tuesday as an anti-Semitic hate crime.

Outside Cleveland, Jennifer Kaplan, 39, who grew up in a modern Orthodox family and who considers herself a centrist Democrat and a Zionist, remembered studying abroad at Hebrew University in 2002, and being in the cafeteria minutes before it was bombed. Now she wondered how the Trump era had affected her inclination to see the humanity in others, and she wished her young children were a bit older so she could talk with them about what is happening.

“I want them to understand that this is a really complicated situation, and they should question things,” she said. “I want them to understand that this isn’t just a, I don’t know, I guess, utopia of Jewish religion.”

Esther Katz, the performing arts director at the Jewish Community Center in Omaha, Nebraska, has spent significant time in Israel. She also attended Black Lives Matter protests in Omaha last summer and has signs supporting the movement in the windows of her home.

She has watched with a sense of betrayal as some of her allies in that movement have posted online about their apparently unequivocal support for the Palestinians, and compared Israel to Nazi Germany. “I’ve had some really tough conversations,” said Katz, a Conservative Jew. “They’re not seeing the facts, they’re just reading the propaganda.”

Her three children, who range in age from 7 to 13, are now wary of a country that is for Katz one of the most important places in the world. “They’re like, ‘I don’t understand why anyone would want to live in Israel, or even visit,’” she said. “That breaks my heart.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

© 2021 The New York Times Company 

source https://www.techno-90.com/2021/05/gaza-conflict-stokes-identity-crisis.html

[quercussp]

Borderline

Rating: E

Word count: 3.7k

Summary:

Dan and Phil Rize Show (August 14th 2018):

D: It’s just because he’s used to having dozens of people having massive gangbangs and doing drugs, while we’re like, let’s play Mario Kart…

P: Speaking of, not gangbangs, but drugs, we went through the border into Canada on a bus…

D: Right, that’s going to be used out of context.

[…]

D: There was a guy from Canada, who was called Chan and he was our border agent.

P: Yeah, Dan loved Chan.

Authors note:

Happy Holidays @judearaya! I hope you like it <3

Written for the prompt: "I'd love something related to Dan's adorable reaction to Chan the customs and border protection officer that Dan and Phil talked about on Rize during II. Any heat level is fine by me, just pls no threesomes or cheating etc."

A gigantic thank you to my betas @templeofshame and @alittledizzy for encouragement and help. You both are absolutely wonderful.

Warnings: graphic sex, mentions of jealousy, teasing mentions of sex outside of the relationship (no actual sex with anyone else)

[read on ao3]

Being shaken awake at 2 am by a grumpy and sleepy Marianne was not a great way to start the morning. Or end the day? Does 2 am even count as morning? Being forced to exit the bus in their pajamas for the border patrol to inspect it in the middle of the night was even less appealing.

From his bunk, Phil could hear Marianne trying to persuade Dan to wake up and the characteristic moaning of “i don’t want to get upppp” that he has heard many times over the years. This tour had really taken a toll on both of them, and being awakened in the middle of the night, cutting the already short sleep time they had was no less than torture.

Phil searched around for his glasses in the dim light of the bus and found them somewhere under his pillow. He slid out of his bunk, put his feet halfway into his trainers, and pulled on a hoodie that was hanging in the kitchen. He stumbled out of the bus to join Martyn and the rest of the crew, all looking as sleepy and tired as he felt.

Dan was the last out of the bus and if Phil weren’t so exhausted, he would probably laugh at Dan’s appearance. His hair was sticking in every direction, he was wearing a pair of boxers, a wrinkled black t-shirt and some fluffy slippers, clutching to his pillow. He waddled off the bus and over to Phil, tripping in the process and grumbling something under his breath about “fucking shit fuck”.

Marianne was talking with one of the border officers, a middle aged lady with a surprisingly geometric haircut and an unsurprisingly tired face. She was flipping through their passports, comparing the photos with the group of people standing huddled outside of the bus and asking Marianne about the details of their trip. Even if he wanted to, Phil could not find the energy to keep track of their conversation. Marianne would deal with it. It’s her job, after all.

Just as the lady was preparing to take their passports inside her booth to get them stamped, another officer walked out and headed towards the group. The man was tall, with broad shoulders and a Hollywood face. He was politely smiling at them as he walked towards the bus.

Phil heard an audible gasp next to him and felt a twinge of amusement mixed with annoyance. The man was definitely what he called “Dan’s type”.

“Hello, my name is Chan and I will be conducting a search of your vehicle today.” Of course Chan had a perfectly lovely Canadian accent, a lovely deep voice that came out of his absolutely perfect lips and an annoyingly gorgeous face.

“Chan! Like Dan but with no D… I mean, Dan name… my name, hah..” Dan replied trailing off and letting out a nervous giggle, all while trying to run his fingers through his hair as though to tame them, but accidentally dropping the pillow he was holding in the process.

Phil was not a jealous man. After being together for so long he never actually felt threatened by anyone. Dan was his and he was Dan’s, and that was something that was out of question. And he was not prone to irrational bouts of jealousy like Dan.

So usually when Dan tried to impress someone incredibly attractive, Phil just chuckled . Like the couple times Dan hung out with “the cool YouTubers,” he would make “edgy” jokes and toss his hair and blush adorably when someone said “Cool t-shirt, bro,” but he’d pretend to be totally cool about it. Honestly, Dan was adorable in his awkwardness and his stuttering and nervous laugh in the face of an attractive man would remind Phil of their first couple conversations, back before Dan felt safe enough to be himself with Phil, before Phil had the privilege of seeing Dan unafraid of being judged.

But sometimes, Dan’s fawning over people made Phil sincerely irritated. And it’s not what you’re thinking, it didn’t make him dream of having abs or being a “cool” person. It was just that this version of Dan, this fawny, joking, too cool for school type of Dan felt… like a stranger. And that stranger apparently didn’t think Phil was important enough to pay attention to him.

So Phil felt justified in rolling his eyes at Dan’s reaction to Chan, as Dan was currently trying to pick up the fallen pillow off of the ground while simultaneously pulling the hem of his shirt down to hide his boxers. He also accidentally let out a louder snort than he intended, making the entire group momentarily glance at him, and earning him a very dirty look from Dan.

Shut up said Dan’s eyes, and Phil could see the blush crawling onto Dan’s cheeks.

Chan politely chuckled at Dan’s stuttering, which made Dan get even redder.

“Now,” Chan continued, his expression turning serious. “Before I start the search, please let me know if you have anything illegal in your bus. If you have any drugs on board, please tell me right now.”

For some reason, when Chan was saying the last bit, everyone’s head turned to Phil, as though he was suddenly going to start unpacking bags of heroin from his pajama pockets.

“Why are you looking at me?” Phil said nervously, which turned out to be an incredibly stupid idea, as that seemed to only confirm to Chan that Phil was a drug mule or something.

“I promise I won’t be mad, just tell me if you have any drugs with you.” Chan was now talking directly to Phil.

Before Phil could reply (and probably say something even more stupid), Dan came to his rescue.

“We don’t do drugs, officer. I mean, sir. I mean, Chan.” Dan had managed to pass his pillow to a confused looking Martyn and looked way more awake than 5 minutes ago, his voice now clear (and flirty). “But you’re welcome to search us if you would like.”

Oh my God, Dan. Phil shot him a disgusted look. He kind of wished someone was recording this interaction, as he could probably use it to blackmail Dan into taking out the trash for years.

However, Chan apparently didn’t think that Dan’s line was as horrific as Phil thought, as he glanced at Dan with a smile, eyes traveling up and down his body and his (very much naked) legs, and replied teasingly, “Oh, I definitely will.”

Phil felt another spike of annoyance. Maybe it was the secondhand embarrassment. Or maybe the reason Phil was annoyed was because Dan looked like he just rolled out of bed (which he did), he was sleepy and rumpled looking, and that version of Dan was only for Phil to see. They all could get the polished, designer-clothing-wearing Dan, but Phil was the one who was supposed to see the little crusties in Dan’s eyes and traces of drool on his lips. That was for his eyes only.

Chan shifted his attention back to Phil, for some reason, and continued: “Do you have any firearms? And explosives? Toxic substances? Alcohol or marihuanna?”

At this point, Phil could hear Martyn chuckling from behind him. If Phil was less sleepy and tired, he would probably laugh and make an awkward joke about having Truth Bombs on board, but this version of Phil just wanted this to be over, to go back to his bunk and hopefully persuade Dan to climb in with him so he could put his hands under that stupid t-shirt and feel the smooth skin of Dan’s side. Stupid Chan.

“No, we don’t have anything,” Phil replied, sounding more annoyed than he meant to, but Chan seemed to get the message as he nodded and walked towards the entrance to the bus .

“Can one of you come with me to take a look at the vehicle? Maybe the leader of your band?” Chan asked, looking directly at Dan.

Both Martyn and Marianne let out an audible laugh, but Dan was quick to step forward saying “Sure!”, losing one of his slippers in the process and then blushing even more deeply while strutting over to Chan.

They both stepped on to the bus at the same time, awkwardly bumping into each other and grinning.

“After you,” Dan said with an exaggerated hand motion and bow.

“Thank you!” replied Chan and climbed onto the bus first, with Dan following shortly after.

As soon as they were both gone, Martyn and Marianne exploded with laughter.

“Leader of our band, my ass.” Martyn said, stumbling over his words through his laughter, wiping tears out of his eyes with Dan’s pillow he was still holding.

“Phil, sorry, you’re the backup singer now,” Marianne added, also laughing. “Chan is awfully good looking, isn’t he?” She continued a bit quieter, raising her eyebrows at Phil.

“Maybe he’ll become our groupie,” Phil replied. He meant to say it in a joking way, but for some reason it came out darker than he wanted.

Martyn put a hand on Phil’s shoulder and gave it a firm grip.

“Here bro, you carry your man’s pillow, I’m not his maid.”

And I am? Phil wanted to ask, but he kept his mouth shut and just grabbed the pillow out of Martyn’s hands.

He wandered off a bit to sit at a nearby bench and put the pillow in his lap, and his head in his hands. He could feel a migraine coming and he desperately needed sleep. Or maybe it was his annoyance that was making him so cross. Either way, at this particular moment Phil felt like he was just over it. The whole thing. The tour, the bus, the travel, the fans. He desperately craved his own bed, his own sheets, the smell of their laundry detergent. And his Dan. Soft and squishy. With a kind smile and big warm hands that he would comb Phil’s hair with when his head hurt.

He almost dozed off at some point, until he heard the unmistakable sound of Dan’s slightly nervous laughter. He looked up to see Dan and Chan coming off the bus, both smiling and excitedly talking about something.

Dan had apparently found the time to put on some trousers (thank God for small miracles) and was nervously playing with the hem of his shirt.

Phil pulled together all the energy he had left and stood up to walk towards the group.

“Well, I have to say,” Phil heard Chan tell them, “this is the cleanest band bus I’ve ever inspected.” As Phil walked up, Chan turned to him and smiled (with his annoyingly perfect smile). “No drugs and firearms indeed”.

“I told you we’re boring nerds,” Dan replied, before Phil could even open his mouth.

“Nerds, maybe. But definitely not boring,” Chan said with what Phil could swear was a quick wink and a slight toss of his hair.

“Well, you’re all set, ladies and gentlemen. You can proceed as soon as my colleague returns with your passports. It was nice to meet you all; best of luck on your tour!”

Fuck that man and his stupid hair, Phil thought to himself. But he said, “Thank you, have a good day” instead, and started walking towards the entrance to the bus.

“It was nice meeting you, Chan!” he could hear Dan say behind him.

Phil’s head was really hurting at this point. He climbed onto the bus and made his way to the bunks, rubbing his temples. Throwing Dan’s pillow in the general direction of Dan’s bunk, he climbed into his own bed with a groan and closed his eyes.

Apparently, he actually passed out for a moment, because the next thing he felt was the bus jolting into movement and the rest of the crew walking around the bus and settling back into bed. After a few minutes the curtain to his bunk was pulled aside and Dan sat down at the edge of Phil’s bed.

“Phil, you ok?” he asked. His cheeks were still a bit red, and he was slightly sweaty.

“‘M fine, just tired,” Phil replied, rolling onto his side to make more room for Dan to sit.

They sat quietly for a moment, until Dan whispered: “He was so hot.”

Phil couldn’t help but smile, despite how annoyed he was. “He was? I didn’t notice, Dan. Not with you being totally chill about it and everything”. The dim light of the bus lights was enough to see Dan’s face flush with heat.

“Shut up, Phil, I wasn’t that bad… was I?” he asked after a pause, his voice slightly wavering.

“You did offer to let him search you, Dan, so…”

Dan groaned in response and hid his face in his hands. Even though a part of Phil wanted to continue to tease Dan, he could see that he was genuinely embarrassed. And teasing Dan was no fun if Dan wasn’t also having fun.

“You weren’t that bad, babe. And even if you were, he seemed to like you.” Phil rubbed a soothing hand over Dan’s back. With another groan Dan shifted to lie next to Phil on the bunk, squeezing him all the way against the wall.

“I said ‘nice arms’ when he was picking up the suitcases up,” Dan moaned as he pressed his face into Phil’s neck. “I shouldn’t be allowed to speak, Phil, he probably thought I was a total idiot.”

“He would be right, wouldn’t he?” Phil’s arm ended up around Dan’s waist, and he slid his hand under the t-shirt to feel the warmth of his side .

“Are you mad?” Dan asked uncertainly, raising his face so he could look Phil in the eyes.

“My head hurts,” Phil replied. He knew it wasn’t an answer, but he also didn’t want to admit that he was a bit annoyed. He knew most of it was just tiredness, and he would get over it soon, but Dan felt bad enough as it is.

“You should get some sleep,” Dan whispered, threading his hands through Phil’s hair. Phil couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, we both should.” Dan slowly unfolded himself from the bunk and closed the curtain behind him. Phil could hear him climbing into his own bed and shifting around just above him.

Phil fell asleep almost immediately.

***

They arrived at their hotel in the early hours of the morning. They grabbed their keycards from the reception and started dragging their suitcases to their room.

“Rehearsal in 5 hours guys, don’t forget!” Marianne called after them. 5 hours is fine. Phil could work with 5 hours.

Dan went to shower first, while Phil started unpacking. He was finished gathering the outfit he would wear today for the meet and greet just as Dan got out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, his skin pink and his hair wet. He threw the towel on an armchair in the room and fell onto the bed with a satisfied moan.

“Do you think we have time for a nap?” He asked Phil, who was in the process of shedding his clothing to go shower too.

“Probably. I definitely need one, didn’t sleep much.”

“Me too,” replied Dan with a yawn. “Pass me some pants, will you?”

Phil pushed Dan’s suitcase open with his foot and pulled out a random pair of underwear. He threw it at Dan and went to shower himself.

Phil felt almost human again after a nice long soak in the shower. He came out into the room to see Dan lying comfortably on his stomach on the bed, only in his pants, scrolling through his phone. Dan’s back was arched from holding his torso up on his elbows, and Phil could see the slight movement of Dan’s muscles when he was shifting in his position. His hair had dried into thousands of small curls and the black of his Calvin Kleins brightly contrasted with his pale skin. Phil stood there watching Dan for a bit before climbing onto the bed and squeezing Dan’s butt with both hands, causing Dan to yelp and turn around.

“Keep your hands to yourself, mister,” Dan joked, pulling Phil in close and arranging their bodies so they were lying facing each other.

“Will do no such thing,” Phil replied, continuing to grope his boyfriend’s behind and nuzzling into his neck. Dan’s skin was smooth and warm, and he smelled like his shower gel and also like their apartment a little bit. Or maybe it was the apartment that smelled like Dan. Either way, running his hands over Dan’s body and breathing in his smell, Phil felt as though he was almost home. He ran his hands over Dan’s groin and felt that he was half hard. With a familiar movement, Phil grabbed him through his briefs and started slowly jerking him off.

“You’re hot,” Phil whispered in Dan’s ear, giving his earlobe a little nip.

“And you’re tired,” Dan replied with a chuckle, placing little kisses over Phil’s face.

“I’m not too tired for this,” Phil whispered and firmly pressed his lips against Dan’s. Dan just laughed.

After a bit, Dan pushed himself away to pull off his underwear and rolled on top of Phil. He pressed their naked groins together and started moving his hips slightly, creating some friction. With a slight moan, Phil wrapped one of his arms around Dan’s back, and brushed the other through his hair, pulling him even closer for a kiss. They grinded lazily against each other for a couple minutes, until Dan pushed his hand between them and grabbed their lengths in a practiced motion. He started methodically moving his hand around both of them, with the exact tempo that he knew worked best for both of them. In almost no time, Phil felt himself coming with a gasp, throwing his head back against the pillow and closing his eyes. He felt Dan sit up, positioning himself on Phil’s hips, and Phil heard the sound of Dan wanking himself off.

“Here, let me,” Phil said, reaching towards Dan and pushing his hand out of the way. He grabbed Dan’s dick and moved his hand with the rotating motion he knew would bring Dan off the fastest. Sure enough, just a minute or two later, Dan shuddered and came over Phil’s stomach, already wet from his own cum.

Dan slid off of him and fell back onto the bed with a loud sigh. They both lay next to each other, catching their breath for a bit.

“That was fun.” Dan finally broke the silence, pressing a small kiss to Phil’s shoulder. “We should do this more often.”

“Yeah,” Phil breathed out. He felt like he was soaking up the warmth of Dan’s body lying next to him. Dan was sweaty and disheveled, with his dick lying limply to his side and his entire body flushed. He looked open and vulnerable and worn out. He was also stunningly beautiful. And his. Phil was feeling warm and content, and could feel the last bits of annoyance from last night seeping out of his body, leaving him heavy and sleepy. “It’s not like we’re busy every single moment of every day.”

Dan chuckled and kissed Phil’s shoulder again. “We’re almost done. Maybe after the tour we can go crazy and like actually fuck.”

“Now don’t get any wild ideas,” Phil teased, brushing his hand through Dan’s curls and pulling him in for a kiss before lying back down and letting out a contented sigh.

Dan reached for the towel he threw off before and passed it to Phil so he could clean up. They settled under the covers, with Phil’s head lying against Dan shoulders, limbs thrown over each other, just letting their bodies stretch out and rest.

After a bit, Dan spoke out of nowhere. '”Chan said he liked our poster.”

Phil lifted up on his elbows and looked at Dan, and then barked out a laugh.

“Is that what you were thinking about while we were fucking? Chan?”

“What? No! I was just thinking of what I’m gonna wear today and he said he liked… Stop laughing!”

“Did you imagine his perfect muscles while I was jerking you off, Dan? Were you thinking of him the entire time?” Phil couldn’t stop laughing.

Dan poked Phil in the side. “Fuck you, Phil! I wasn’t…”

“Oh, you want Chan to fuck me, Dan? I didn’t know you were into that. Were you dreaming of a gangbang with Chan? Tell me Danny, is that what your most secret desire is?”

“Shut up you idiot, I’m gonna divorce you!”

Phil just continued laughing, pulling Dan close. “It’s ok, Danny, I’m not going to kinkshame you. If you want to play out a fantasy where a patrol agent strip searches you, we can do that. There’s no need to be embarrassed.”

“Phil, actually fuck off.” Dan’s voice was pissed, but Phil could see that he was trying to stop himself from smiling a bit, and his cheeks got very red.

“It’s ok, Dan, I’m not judging.” Phil pressed a kiss to the rosy patch on Dan’s cheek.

“I hate you,” said Dan, rolling away and turning his back to Phil.

Phil just slid behind Dan and draped his arm and leg over his partner, spooning him close. He was still chuckling a bit, and Dan automatically pulled Phil’s arm tighter around him and intertwined their fingers.

“We should set an alarm,” Phil said quietly, feeling like he’s about to drift off.

“Marianne will wake us,” Dan replied. He took a long pause and then said quietly, “You know I don’t want anyone else, right?”

Phil just laughed again. “Dan, don’t be an idiot.” He pressed a kiss to the back of Dan’s neck. “Just a gangbang with Chan the border patrol man.”

“At least I didn’t puke in my mouth,” Dan said teasingly, to which Phil gave him a rough poke in the side.

“I thought we agreed to never speak of that again.”

“Just saying,” Dan’s voice was drifting off. In a matter of minutes they were both asleep.

[captainswan-asyouwish]

This Is Us star Jennifer Morrison on why she joined the show, what to expect from Cassidy

Once upon a time — actually, about two weeks ago — This Is Us uncorked a rather unconventional season 4 premiere. This extended episode introduced a parade of new characters with no discernible tether to the Pearson universe… until the final stretch of the episode, when their connections became (more) evident. Among these new faces: Once Upon A Time and House alum Jennifer Morrison playing Cassidy, an accomplished military officer who suffers from PTSD and returns home to her husband, Ryan (Nick Wechsler), and 9-year-old son, detached and alienated from her old life and clearly suffering. One day she comes home drunk, and in a fit of frustration she winds up accidentally striking her son. Ryan orders her to leave the house, and she winds up seeking help via a support group for veterans. While she’s opening up about her experiences during a session, the moment is interrupted by a chair being thrown through the window. Through its shattered remains, we see our link to a broken Pearson and the perpetrator of the act: Nicky (Griffin Dunne), who’s clutching a bottle of booze.

Tuesday’s episode of the family drama, “Unhinged,” saw Cassidy cross paths with another Pearson, Kevin (Justin Hartley), as he played video games with her son in the waiting room of the veterans’ center (and later single-handedly pushed him into therapy). After meeting Kevin, Cassidy was more formally introduced the disruptor himself, Nicky, and the three of them would share an odd moment of connection — and an unexpected laugh — later in the hour. Elsewhere in the episode: Toby (Chris Sullivan) reluctantly revealed his secret abs to wife Kate (Chrissy Metz), she would bond with a brusque neighbor (welcome back to TV, Timothy Omundson!), Randall (Sterling K. Brown) was forced to make some tough decisions at the office (don’t let the lack of door hit you on the way out, Bernice!), and Miguel (Jon Huertas) continued his mission to win you over by saving Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) from job termination.

Let’s remove the cucumber slices from our eyes and the fish sticks from the microwave, rock a suit like Arsenio Hall, crush some Mario Kart, take the door off the hinges, and welcome Jennifer Morrison into the group.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Your agent tells you there’s a role for you on This Is Us. Your first reaction is…? JENNIFER MORRISON: Oh, I absolutely want to do it. By the way, this was not something that was just like offered to me. I had to fight for this. I love the show. I’m a fan of the show, and I’ve heard that there was a great guest arc coming for a strong female and [creator] Dan Fogelman auditions everybody. Everybody auditions for the show. My team came to me and they were like, “Is this something that you would want enough that you’d be willing to read for?” And I said, “Uhhh, yeah!”

You’re playing a veteran who’s been in the thick of war. How much did Dan and the producers tell you so you could accurately play this character — and what kind of research did you do? It’s a combination of their research and my research. They’re so incredibly thorough over there, which has been wonderful. Dan and I spoke quite a bit about the research the writers have done and the way that they were coming up with this character. Even every department had a lot of research, which was super-helpful. I’m not used to having that many resources in one place. The props department brought a ton of research about some of the tactical gear and the logistics, and the wardrobe brought more research about exactly what uniforms you can wear, when, how, why.

I had played a soldier years ago in an independent film [2013’s Alpha Alert], so I had done some previous research that definitely bled over into this research. I went back to some of the memoirs that I read for that and went online and looked through some of the research about veterans who come home and are dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder. I re-read a couple books about war. It was a lot of going back to my notes for that [film,] and that character was also struggling with PTSD…. I also started following some veterans online on Instagram and following their everyday lives. I felt like that was another texture to the research — not just knowing what it was like to be in Afghanistan, and not just what it’s like to face the horrors of everything that you’re facing when you’re over there, but also see what people’s everyday lives look like when they came home.

We’ve seen how the horrors of war have ravaged Nicky, and how Jack was able to somewhat successfully compartmentalize them and raise his family. We’ve seen the beginnings of how Cassidy is having trouble readjusting to civilian life. What does her path forward look like? There’s not a ton I can say about it, but Dan and all the writers had been really careful to be incredibly accurate about how delicate that journey is and how unique it is for each person facing it. I don’t think any one person comes home from facing those kind of horrors and has the same exact reaction to it, you know? So I think that’s something that they’ve done a great job with the writing, is really paying attention to the nuance of exactly what this particular woman is doing to try to unwind some of the damage that’s been done.

What adjectives would you use to describe her path forward? I mean, it’s complicated. I know that that’s super-vague, but it is complicated. There’s no clear path to healing, so there’s definitely steps forward and then there’s steps backwards.

From the get-go, what intrigued you about Cassidy? What was it about her that made you say, “I really want to explore this woman in the military?” Just getting that first script that showed the beginning of who Cassidy was going to be and setting up her backstory was just wildly complicated in a way that is just so intriguing to an actor. To see every corner of her in the sense that you start by seeing her super-vulnerable and missing her family and almost resistant to call her family because she knows how vulnerable it’s going to make her when she’s in a place where she needs to stay strong all the time. And then going from that level of vulnerability to questioning this woman in the hospital and almost threatening her and how strong and aggressive she has to be in that moment. And then turned around with so much regret, hoping that what she promised she could follow through on. And then finding out what she promised she couldn’t follow through on. And then the military ended up just bombing them anyway. The levels of humanity that were there just even in that first script — and it continues. you start seeing more and more corners of her as you see more episodes. There was such a full person on the page and such a complete person on the page, which was so exciting. So often when we write a strong, smart woman, she has to always be tough. They leave very little room for somebody to be vulnerable. And the truth is really strong, smart women are vulnerable and delicate in other ways as well. There’s a real wholeness to that. That was already in the writing, which was so exciting because instead of having me try to find that, I could build from that.

Speaking of Cassidy’s time overseas, are there more war experiences for us to uncover through her eyes? Will we learn more about what made her join the military and how quickly she moved through the ranks as a woman? She’s clearly very good at what she does. She is very good at what she does. I don’t think I can talk about that. But I can say she’s someone who really has worked her way up. That’s something that we definitely talked about it. She didn’t come in at some sort of advantage. She was not in a certain position because she had gone to the right school. She really has earned her way out because of her ability.

In the season premiere, Cassidy’s husband, Ryan, orders her out of the house after she accidentally strikes their son. In this episode, Cassidy tells Kevin that her husband wants her to get help. How fragile is their marriage at this point? From the point at which she hurts her son accidentally — and obviously very accidentally — I think that it’s incredibly fractured. Not only is her husband concerned and afraid of the circumstances, but she is. The last thing in the world she would ever want to do is hurt her child, yet that moment felt completely out of her control, and I don’t think there’s anything more terrifying for a parent to feel like their child might not be safe with them. It’s definitely what scares her into trying to figure out what would be the best way forward to get help.

A lot of fans have been speculating that Cassidy would be a romantic interest for Kevin, especially after a who-is-the-mother-of-Kevin’s-son mystery was introduced in the season 3 finale. What can you say to those fans speculating heavily in that direction? [Laughs] They’re speculating about any woman who could possibly have logistically had his child. So I feel like I’m in good company with all the people being speculated about…. They can speculate. There’s nothing more I can say.

Does that question also feel a little reductive considering the story you’re telling here about this woman who’s dealing with PTSD from war? Besides, she’s got this complex family situation with a young son to attend to and maybe even salvage. So that may not even be the fifth most important thing going on here. That’s what I have to say is so impressive about Dan Fogelman and Isaac [Aptaker, co-showrunner] and Liz [Berger, co-showrunner], and the whole writing team over there, is that there is such depth and so many layers and so much honesty to what they’ve written for this character. No matter where things go in terms of how she ends up fitting into who she knows and how she relates to anyone from the Pearson family, they’ve really gone the distance to write something that is really honoring the truth of someone who would’ve gone over to Afghanistan and dealt with what she’s dealing with. And I think that that is just so beautiful. It’s rare as a guest star — I feel like I’m being written for the way a series regular would be written for. There’s no holding back in terms of what they’ve brought to the page in such an amazing way, which I so appreciate it, and it makes me better. It makes me stretch, it gives me an opportunity to grow every time I’m on that set, which I really love. It’s really exciting.

But at the same time, I don’t blame anyone for wondering how she fits into the world. They’ve cared about these characters for three years and they’ve gone through a lot with them. And they’re connected to that family in such a powerful way, I think it’s only natural that when you bring someone with this much story into the mix, you want to know, “Well, how do they fit into this puzzle?” I don’t blame anyone for asking that question, but I do appreciate the delicacy and attention with which the writers have handled her story line.

Small characters don’t get $1,200 water heater scenes. You don’t just throw away a moment like that on a small character. Yeah, it was beautiful. And there’s more to come. Every script always pleasantly surprises me with a new layer that is revealing about Cassidy.

Nicky did not get off on the right foot with her by throwing a chair through the window while she was in the middle of a group share. As we saw in that final scene with them, nowhere to go from there but up? Clearly they share that bond of having experienced and been traumatized by war… Yeah. There’s a lot I can’t say, but what I can say is that moment when he throws the chair through the window — and this is such a tribute to where wonderful actor Griffin is; he just brings so much to every single little look and thought and everything he says and does — but she so sees herself in him immediately. Someone could be kind of pissed or off-put, like she was in being interrupted, or the level of anxiety that she’s facing in her life based on all those things are falling apart and to have this thing kind of interrupt it. And it’s not what happens for her. What happens is she turns at the shock of the noise and then looks in his eyes and sees herself. There’s something so powerful about that because what’s broken in him is broken in her. And even though there are two unique beings who’ve never met before that moment, there’s no doubt that there’s something parallel about what they’re going through.

She does seem taken in by him in the aftermath of the shattering, which by the way was totally jarring. It’s like a jump-scare! I mean, I shot the scene and when I watched it back, I forgot it was about to happen. [Laughs] What a brave move it was for Dan and the writers to decide to introduce you to these new characters, knowing that they have three more years on the show, if not more, and in order to be able to reveal more and more about their [main] characters, they needed to have more people for them to bounce off of. But for that to mean anything, you have to really know the new people to care about the way they interact with the Pearsons. So it was a really bold move to go the distance to really set up these new back stories.… There’s metaphor on top of metaphor in terms of the way that they’re really layering this idea of how strangers impact our future and how at some point everyone in our lives was a stranger, and eventually they either pass through or they become family. There’s just such a beautiful theme that they’ve laid through all of the episodes that lean into that idea.

At the end of this episode, when Kevin makes a ridiculous comment, it breaks down the walls of not only Cassidy but Nicky, and the three of them share an inappropriate laugh. How would you describe the dynamic between this trio? They’re all broken in very particular ways, some of which are similar and some of which are very different. So in a sense they’re a triangle that makes one whole. All three of them are a corner of the triangle that is holding each one of them up. And any one of them missing from that triangle would be a problem at this moment in their life.

Rounding off to the nearest dozen, how many This Is Us secrets are you keeping right now? Well, here’s what I can say: I have purposely not read stuff that I’m not in to be able to enjoy it as an audience member. I’ve been very diligent about giving myself the opportunity to stay an audience member for what I don’t participate in. So I have luckily eliminated a certain number of secrets by doing that. [Laughs] But gosh, I don’t know, maybe a couple dozen? Depending on how detailed you want to get with what you consider a secret.

Fair to say that Cassidy will be sticking around for a while? I guess the way that Dan has put it is that she’s a significant part of this season. So that’s the way I will reiterate it.

Can you give viewers one cryptic hint — a word, a phrase — about what awaits with Cassidy this season? Hmm… paperwork.

(X)

[thecomicsnexus]

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL, SUPERMAN, THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, ACTION COMICS #0 OCTOBER 1994 BY LOUISE SIMONSON, DAN JURGENS, KARL KESEL, DAVID MICHELINIE, JON BOGDANOVE, BARRY KITSON, JACKSON GUICE, DENNIS JANKE, BRETT BREEDING, RAY MACCARTHY, DENIS RODIER AND GLENN WHITMORE

SYNOPSIS (FROM DC DATABASE)

33 years ago, Jor-El and Lara put their only son, Kal-El, in a small spacecraft as their planet crumbles around them. They launch the spacecraft towards Earth, as Jor-El describes how its Yellow Sun will turn their sun into a supreme being. They ponder if he will rule the planet, as Krypton explodes!

As Clark Kent's spacecraft crashes into a small field in Smallville, one couple is about to have a baby along the side of the road. Jonathan and Martha Kent see the crashed spacecraft and drive out towards it. Finding the baby, they think the craft was sent into orbit by Earth scientists. They decide to care for the baby as their own and name him Clark.

After the events of Zero Hour Superman has returned to Metropolis. He stops some gang members using Toastmasters from shooting each other and endangering others, before flying off to meet Lois. He tells her how Earth's mightiest heroes stopped a villain from manipulating time and destroying the universe. As a side effect time has unfolded differently, and with the help of all the other heroes, Metropolis has been restored!

At the Daily Planet Clark finds a photograph about his childhood from Kenny Braverman. His face is cut out of the photo. As Clark and Lois leave the Daily Planet a piece of brickwork almost crushes them, but Clark is able to move them out of the way in time. Using his telescopic vision he doesn't see anything suspicious. But a masked figure nearby declares that Clark's luck will run out.

Arriving at their apartment Clark finds another photograph in his mail. This one of the time he was in a school play and got the main role because Kenny took sick. While in the elevator, it begins to collapse, but Clark uses his strength to stop its descent and keep himself and Lois out of danger. Outside, the masked figure is upset that his plans keep failing.

An orphanage in Hob's Bay is torched by an unknown assailant. Superman and Lois arrive on the scene. Superman rescues some children, while Lois interviews some fireman. Ron Troupe arrives, and the masked figure, watching from a nearby rooftop, mistakenly believes he is Clark. He sets off some more explosives blowing up the remains of the orphanage. Superman uses his cape to protect both Lois and Ron from the blast. The masked figure is enraged that Superman has saved Clark again!

The next day at the Daily Planet, the reporters are writing up their stories on the orphanage fire, while Clark finds another photograph. This one of when he was at a scout camp with Kenny Braverman. While Kenny was trying to cook, his frying pan caught fire. Clark had to put out the fire using sand. Kenny's father was angry and blamed the whole incident on Kenny. Lois wonders if these photographs are linked to the numerous attempts on Clark's life.

Conduit sneaks into a closed down auditorium hall and plants a time bomb. A security guard finds him, but Conduit kills him with his electro-tentacles.

Meanwhile, Lois is helping Clark move back into his old apartment. She comes upon a box of keepsakes, one of which is a photograph of Clark, Lana, and a boy named Kenny Braverman. Clark tells her that in high school, Clark and Kenny rivaled at just about everything. But while Clark was always good-natured about their competition, Kenny always despised being second best. When it came time for the senior prom, Kenny asked Lana Lang to be his date, but Lana turned him down in the hopes that Clark might ask her instead. This rivalry has fueled a lifelong hatred for Clark Kent in Kenny's mind.

After unpacking, Clark and Lois attend the Lexcorp Zenith Awards for Journalism banquet. Clark Kent is given the highly coveted "Baldy" award and begins to make a speech onstage.

Just then, Conduit's bomb explodes and the stage erupts with flames. Clark quickly changes to Superman and then struggles to keep people away from the fire. Conduit's mercenaries storm the assembly hall and try to take Superman out. Superman stops them, but before he can interrogate them, Conduit activates a remote signal that causes his men to suffer a neural-meltdown. Superman tries to rush them to the hospital, but he is too late to save them.

Returning to his apartment that evening, Clark finds an old photograph of himself pinned to his front door with a knife sticking out of it.

While Lois Lane & Clark Kent try to enjoy a playful day of painting in their apartment, their conversation turns to the attempts on Clark's life -- and the apparent connection to Ken Braverman. Clark reveals an old romance he had while abroad with Simone D'Neige, and Kenny's jealous reactions to this and all of Clark's success in general.

Lurking outside their window, Conduit attacks, revealing himself to be Braverman. A shocked Superman is knocked into the water with a powerful Kryptonite beam, and losing consciousness, seemingly doomed to drown.

After his most recent bout with Conduit, Superman returns to Lois' apartment, to make sure she is okay. He then takes off to track down Conduit.

Conduit meanwhile, surveys activity within the Pipeline. He reflects upon the time some years ago when he was an operative for the CIA. Ultimately, he became too much of a loose cannon, and the CIA tried to take him down. Conduit killed his attackers and went rogue, forming his own rival intelligence network – the Pipeline.

Now he intends to disrupt a public Daily Planet dedication ceremony. Conduit flies in and tries to kill Clark Kent on the street. Clark pretends to fall through the rubble and uses the moment to change into Superman. Conduit uses Kryptonite coated tendrils to keep Superman at bay, but the hero eventually defeats his rival and Conduit is arrested. Conduit now bears a grudge against both Clark Kent and Superman.

Cliffhanger: Construction workers discover Superman’s body still in his coffin!

REVIEW

This was a very respectful revisioning of the origin, proof that “Man of Steel” was really the source of truth for the character (and it was very influential for the “Lois & Clark” TV show). As a result, it isn’t really an origin story (as you may have expected from a “0″ issue). Don’t worry, 1995 comes full of Year One annuals.

In this case, a new character is introduced into Clark Kent’s past, Kenny Braverman (who since then appeared here and there in multiple adaptations, including the Man of Steel movie). Kenny was born the moment Clark arrived on Earth, that proximity to Kryptonite made him sick all his life (and possibly, was the key to make him a super-villain).

Kenny doesn’t know that Clark Kent and Superman are the same, but that kind of myopia is commonplace in Metropolis, as it takes Superman three issues to figure out who is trying to kill him.

This story also introduces Simone D’Neige (who will come back years later), and adds a few new twists here and there, but the main difference is the existence of Kenny Braverman.

Kenny is kind of a replacement for the Silver Age Lex Luthor, something that makes sense considering that Luthor’s story was over at this point (he will come back after making a deal with a demon though). Suffice to say that Conduit didn’t really make it too far as a super-villain. Considering that the Super-Creative-Team planned the entire year in advance, it’s clear that Conduit was never meant to last (just making time for Luthor to return fresh).

When you read the “triangle” era, there are certain things to expect, especially on the four-issue stories (basically a month worth of superman comics), the pacing is very specific, almost formulaic. That sometimes causes our hero to figure out who the killer is a little too late, but it usually leaves enough place for the writers to play around with their supporting characters. This is a trade-off I can make (also, you don’t need to wait six or twelve months to read one story).

The art was very good for the time. DC was already using digital effects, but not on the same level as some of its competitors.

I give this story a score of 8

[pinof]

9/5/18 Rize Liveshow Notes

- Started off arguing.

- “Dip and Pip.”

- Phil is having quiff issues.

- They literally just woke up for this liveshow. Phil set an alarm.

- They’re in a Rainforest in Australia in a house for a few days before they fly out of Australia.

- They’re sharing this house with Martyn and Cornelia.

- Dan is annoyed by all the bugs.

- TBC dates are still TBC.

- They have plans up their sleeves still.

- Dan forgot that they had already planned a truth bomb last week.

- The truth bomb for this week is “What is Dan’s spirit animal?” and next week’s will be Dan’s - “If Dan and Phil were a superhero duo, what would their power be?”

- Phil bought some new flavored Tim Tams.

- They informed us that the biggest supermarket in Australia is Woolworths and said UK people would be super confused by that.

- There was an isle in the supermarket called “Manchester” and they were confused.

- Phil said cried inside seeing Hobbiton and Dan really did cry twice.

- “Okay, bitch.”

- Dan said “This is the tea.”

- “Backin’ it up for Bilbo.”

- Dan turned the camera off of Phil after he was talking about phalic things and said he needed to cool the hell down for about thirty seconds.

- The tour guide told them that the glow worms in the cave they went in was just mucus from huge maggots and they were horrified.

- They had the best ice cream of their life in New Zealand.

- They thought it was insane that someone buttered Phil’s toast for him.

- Their hotel bathroom in Sydney was on the 13th floor and it had a huge window in it.

- “I like it when the windows steam up. You can draw on it.” Hmmm that’s definitely why ;)

- They had an awkward encounter with guys trying to take pictures close to the edge of a skyscaper.

- Phil said he is a mixture of Phoebe and Ross from Friends. Dan agreed.

- Dan is Chandler and a slight bit of Monica.

- They watched Final Space.

- They’re super excited for American Horror Story.

- Phil’s mum demanded he watched The Bodyguard on BBC.

- While in Sydney in the bath, housekeeping came and Phil told them they could come to put clean towels away Dan was in the bathroom.

- Dan was waiting for Phil to try to stop her but he was too engrossed in Hollow Knight.

- Phil was on the bed in the room.

- They apologized for what happened in Manila.

- Someone said they should get a cat and they both said no.

- Information about the II movie coming soon.

- There will be a preview for the movie.

- Tour merch will be available on Dan and Phil Shop on Friday.

- Dan said Phil wears a blue jacket way too much.

- Truth bombs time.

- Someone said Dan’s spirit animal is Big Bird from Sesame Street because he’s tall and awkward.

- Phil had nightmares about Big Bird as a child.

- Someone said Dan and Phil’s spirit animals are Timone and Pumba.

- Someone said “I didn’t expect this to happen.” and Dan said “That’s me with my entire career.”

- Dan complimented a fan’s pride flag.

- Someone said Dan is a Howler Monkey.

- Reminder that next week’s truth bomb is “If Dan and Phil were a superhero duo, what would their power be?”

- A giant gecko was on their ceiling and they chatted with it because they like it.

- Phil tried Ice Coffee Flavored Gelato Tim Tams on camera.

- Dan argued that it was too early to try one, but he shared one with Phil.

- They said it was a mukbang.

- Phil has been playing Hollow Knight and Dan has been playing Octopath Traveler.

- Dan hasn’t listened to Bloom yet. He wants to listen to it on his own and disgest it.

- There’s another video coming in the next few days.

- “Have a nice guy!”

- Phil will let us know when the next liveshow is.

[scratchybeardsweetmouth]

Iain Glen on His Twisty ‘Mrs. Wilson’ Character and the End of ‘Game of Thrones’

By Christina Radish  April 7, 2019 Image via PBS Entire Q&A Portion (x):

MRS WILSON Collider:  I had heard a bit about [Mrs Wilson’s] story prior to seeing this project, but it’s so fascinating and compelling to learn about the details of it all. IAIN GLEN: “I’m very grateful for how well the whole thing has turned out. I feel for Ruth, and I’m so pleased for her. It was an extraordinary journey that she went on with this. She knew she had this incredibly complicated history in her family, with this one figure, in particular, which had been a part of her childhood. And then, she became an actor and the pressure gently built to manifest the story for a drama. And then, she had to put the right people together, find a fantastic writer, and find the right production to realize it. So, for it to have been come out and have done as well as it has, it’s an amazing journey to go on. It’s very easy to look at this and say, “This is extraordinary, what happened.” It’s a very different thing to find the right writer to actually structure it and make the story follow revelation after revelation, to come out satisfyingly, and for us to retain sympathy, throughout. I think that it’s a very compelling story, psychologically, and that’s what I’m most pleased about. It’s based in the truth, so it’s very, very riveting, which is what you look and hope for in drama.” Did you know, from the beginning, that this was a true story and that it was her family’s story? “I did, yeah. They asked me to do it, and then Ruth and I met in Belfast. All I had done was read three scripts, which had been sent to me, while she’d lived with this project, for years and years and years. But we actually had a very similar take on it, and that was quite reassuring for both of us, in a funny way.” Did you ever have a moment where it just seemed bizarre and surreal that you were playing your co-star’s actual grandfather while she was playing her own grandmother? “I had a little moment, yes, I did. It doesn’t seem like a significant moment, but Ruth’s mum and dad came, and they played little extra roles within the drama in one scene. I was in the make-up caravan, getting into being Alec Wilson, and Ruth was beside me, getting into being Alison Wilson, and then her mum and dad came in and went, “Hello, how are you?” She sat in there and asked me how it was all going and said, “I’m very pleased that you’re playing the role.” It was just a bizarre, strange mix of reality and drama going on, where sometimes you can feel incredibly silly dressing up in funny clothes and pretending to be people. All I can say is that Ruth and her family always made it feel that they were really happy with what I was up to, and to just to keep doing what I was doing.” You were playing a real guy, but you couldn’t talk to him because he’s not with us anymore, and it seems that nobody really fully knew who he was or why he did what he did. How did you approach finding him? “What you’re actually asking is, what was the motivator? What was it that made you do the things that you did? We know what he did. We know that he got involved with different women, and that he married them and had children with them. We also know that he was of the Secret Service, and that he was a very successful novelist. So, I had all of the facts, and then I had scenes that showed those things. You have to be a little bit careful, as an actor, to not want to rationalize it so much that you have a total clarity of the subtext that’s going on. All you can do is play each scene for what it is. You just play each moment for what it is, and you let it add up to what it adds up to. In his lifetime, all of his various wives had no idea, whatsoever, that he had these other scenarios going on.So, in any given moment, during the course of their realities, there were no signals saying, “Something weird is going on here,” or that he had another life that he was not telling anyone about. Otherwise, it makes them all quite stupid people. He was very able to be in the present and inhabit the moment that he was inhabiting. That’s what he had to do. His life was endangered, if his cover was blown, so that made him a very successful operative. Without shirking it, I didn’t try to rationalize. I didn’t try to find the answers because, if Ruth’s family, who had studied him and tried to understand, hadn’t quite worked out, it felt silly of me to try.” It’s so interesting because he obviously loved each of these families, and they all really loved him. “They really did.” If he was some kind of a monster, they wouldn’t have had the feelings that they had for him. “That’s right. And the wives wouldn’t have fallen in love with him, wanted to marry him, and wanted to have children with him. It’s a funny mix. When I think about it, my head just explodes. I think, “Jesus Christ, that would be too complicated!” It’s hard enough with one wife and the three children that I have. But people are wired differently. The context of the war years and how that affected people is really important. People did different things, when life was not so taken for granted and you lived in a very endangered situation, all the time, especially when you were living in a city that was getting bombed, on a nightly basis. Perhaps you have a desire to live life or generate life in those moments, I don’t know. There was no doubt that, to some degree, he was a fantasist, but it all got a bit gray around the edges. It’s definitely wrong. You shouldn’t marry somebody when you’re already married. There’s no doubt that’s wrong, and that’s not a good thing. That should probably not happen. And you definitely shouldn’t do it a third and fourth time. But all I had to do was make him somebody where you could understand why they fell in love with him. He was charismatic and exotic, and he was a man in uniform who wrote novels and was successful. I just tried to play that person, rather than having a judgment eye about him.” Did you read any of his novels? “I did, yeah. That was probably my only real significant research. I had the diary and the memoirs that had been written by Alison, and he wrote about 20 books, but I didn’t read them all. His famous ones were these Wallace mysteries, so I read those. In a way, the main character of the Wallace mysteries was a projection of himself, so that was quite revealing. He was the person that he would like to have been perceived as being, particularly from those that employed him, and then turned on him. It’s lovely when you can read the words written from the mind of the person that you’re playing. It just puts you as close as you’re gonna get.” By the time that you got to the last day of playing this character, do you feel like you had a different appreciation for who he was? “Yeah. I always really liked him, and I didn’t judge him. I think he gave a great deal. I know it’s fucked up. I don’t underestimate the wrong that he did. I really don’t. But he did give a great deal for his country, sacrificed his life, and tore himself apart to fight the cause for his country, and he tore himself domestically apart, as well. For whatever reason, he was treated poorly, in the end, and that gave me great sympathy for the man. If anything, I felt more sympathetic towards him, at the end of playing him, than when I started.” GAME OF THRONES You were working on Game of Thrones when this came up. What’s it been like for you, as an actor, to be a part of a show that is one of the biggest, most popular, most epic shows, ever, and you’re one of the last men standing, of the original cast? “It’s been fantastic. I know. I did a head count, and there’s only between 12 or 15, who were in the pilot and every single season. There are not too many of us, which is good, and even less who were a part of every season, through this season. Some people have disappeared, and then reemerged. It’s been great. It’s been a really joyous journey. It’s now perceived as a massive, global hit, but I remember the days when we thought, ‘What the hell are we doing?!’ We were half-way through the first season thinking, ‘Are we just making a pile of poo?’ We had no idea, really. You need an objective response. And then, over the seasons, the belief and faith in it grew, and our faith in ourselves grew. It was probably half-way through Season 3 or 4 that we thought, ‘We’re actually onto something here.’ It’s been an amazing journey to go on. And Dan [Weiss] and David [Benioff] are very, very lovely, cool showrunners, who made us all feel very valued and special. As an actor, every job that you do, you give it your best shot, but you have no idea how it’s gonna get received. So, when you end up with something that is received incredibly well, is universally critically approved of, and is a massive commercial hit, then you better friggin’ enjoy it because it doesn’t get any better. The fact that it’s not just for a film that’s there and gone, but for a drama that’s kept coming back for almost a decade, it’s been a very special time, for us all. I’d say that it doesn’t matter what generation – whether it’s the young ones who came to it and made their name, or the people who’ve been around more, like myself – all of us individually look at each other and think, ‘We don’t fuckin’ believe it. This is crazy!’ That sensation of feeling that we really lucked out is a nice thing because none of us go, ‘Yeah, we deserve this.’ It’s just amazing that it’s turned out as successful as it has, and that it’s transformed how people perceive us. I could whine about, ‘Why don’t people remember me when I did this at the Royal Shakespeare Company?,’ but it’s okay. I don’t have a problem with that. I’m always really delightfully surprised when someone mentions a theater piece that they’ve seen me do because probably .001% of the people who watch Thrones went to see any theater show that I ever did. I always feel lucky, and it’s been nothing but a good thing.” Do you feel like this final season justifies the longer episode lengths? “I absolutely do. Could you have created two more episodes and have had them all the same length? Sure. But there are monumental waves to the different movements that happen during this last season, and it makes sense to me that they’re feature-length. The way people receive it has changed, as well. When you start something, you want to grab people’s attention and keep them, but then you get to a point where you’ve got people’s attention. You can allow yourself longer movement within the course of an episode, to get from your beginning to your end, in each wave of the changing drama. The whole production has real faith in itself, so it feels right to me.” Were you given scripts for the whole season, or were you just given your pieces? “No, we always got the scripts. That was true, from the word go. The only thing that was usual about it, this time, was that we all gathered together to read the entire season, before we began. That was very emotional and amazing. We were all around this massive table, with all of the various directors for the season. It was a very special time. If they’re to be believed, some people said that they were reading it for the first time, and didn’t know where the story was going. Kit Harrington always said that, and I think I believe him. I don’t know. We’d only had a few days to look at it, but it was Dan and David’s way of saying, “Here we go, we’re all in this together. This is the story that we’re telling.” It’s such a big production, and we all go off in various directions, so it was nice to gather everyone in one place, to begin with. We’ve kept people waiting, and I thank people for their patience, but I hope it’ll make sense, when people see it, that it took a bit of time to get it right.” 

[fourthingsandawizard]

Dan and Phil Rize Summary, Sept. 4/5, 2018

-Dan started the stream before Phil could fully sit down in frame, and then Dan hit the wrong button and almost ended the stream

-Phil made Dan write the notification, Dan refered to them “Dip and Pip.” Our secret code has spread to them, what have we done??

-Phil said his quiff is droopy because he just woke up. He just had his coffee before the stream, so he said we should see him wake up in about ten minutes

-Dan’s response to why they chose this time for the livestream: “Earth man. It’s crazy”

-They’re staying in a rainforest in a house surrounded by birds and nature before they leave for Asia

-Martyn told them they were renting a place if D&P wanted somewhere to relax instead of a hotel, but neglected to tell them beforehand that it was in the rainforest

-A lot of “nature” keeps coming inside the house, including a very specific mosquito that made a very specific noise, which Dan and Phil attempted to imitate to show us.

-They spent about an hour trying to find the mosquito so they could get rid of it and get some sleep last night. Phil: “I think every clap [of our hands] made it stronger.”

-Dan said they’ve made it through Australia without seeing a spider, and Phil got mad because he was going to jinx them. Dan said nature was about to burst to life because it’s almost spring, and Phil then did a rendition of Chasing Cars as “Show me your beast bursting into life” which he said was by the band “Beast Patrol”

-Dan tweeted out the Truth Bomb question about superheroes while Phil was asleep, and Phil reminded him that they already gave a question about what animal Dan looks like last week. Phil laughed while Dan hid out of frame in shame, and decided that will be the question next time

-Phil bought some “exciting” new Tim Tams that are iced coffee gelato flavor that you’re supposed to put in the fridge. Phil said it had a 0.5 out of 5 health rating. Dan: “Same.”

-They went on a tangent about Woolworths because it’s a thing in Australia. Dan discussed the “family underwear” section; Phil said there was a section called “Manchester.” They couldn’t figure out what it was supposed to be because the rest of the aisle was diapers and stuff, so Phil suggested it was their “family planning” section

-Phil cried (on the inside) at Hobbiton, Dan ACTUALLY cried. Apparently you get on a bus, and then they start playing Frodo running through the Shire, and it made Dan a mess

-Phil said the best thing was the giant tree on top of Bilbo’s house, which is made out of steel, and Phil said, “It’s STEEL there!” Dan gave him a classic “this guy” look at the pun, and then the livestream broke. Dan: “I think Phil just made a pun so terrible, it crashed the app”

-After seeing their friend try to take a picture leaning out of the Hobbit-sized door that looked like they were sticking their butt out, Dan told them they looked like they were “Backin’ it up the Bilbo.” (For Bilbo? Idk, they were laughing too hard to understand). When the waitress at the pub wanted to take a group photo of them, Dan said they should all say that instead of cheese and the waitress seemed confused and horrified

-Phil told Dan to “let me talk about the glowworm thing.” Dan said he wasn’t going to stop him.

-They loved their glowworm cave tour guide’s accent because he sounded kind of like Taika Waititi’s character in Thor Ragnarok

-They bantered about the difference between stalactites and stalagmites, Dan got so annoyed with Phil that he shifted the angle of the live stream so he was the only one in frame to talk about the cave

-Dan said they shouldn’t have told them what the glowworms were before they went through, because they are basically giant maggots that hang from “spider silk” stuff coming out of them to catch bugs

-Phil said it was a beautiful experience, like looking at a galaxy, but they weren’t allowed to take pictures. It was apparently a bright, satisfying blue that he would have flown straight to if he were a fly

-The ice cream place they went to doesn’t let you see the ice cream before you ordered it, they just show you an iPad, and it comes in some weird cones that go around your face? Phil got honeycomb, Dan’s was really difficult to eat, but really good. You could also get ice cream inside a Yorkshire pudding

-Dan: “You got your toast violated by a strange person.” Phil: “I did! Someone buttered my toast for me!” They went on a tangent about how personal the “buttering” experience is, and Phil said he started thinking about how much the person must have touched the bread while doing it. He still ate it, though

-The bath in their 32nd floor hotel room had a window that showed the entire city. Dan used a bath bomb, climbed in with the window shade closed, then opened it to look, but then the window steamed up so he couldn’t see anything. Phil said he likes when windows steam up because you can draw pictures. Dan: “Someone has to clean that, Phil.”

-They saw some “urban explorers” next to their hotel who were balancing on the edge of the skyscraper across from them, and they made awkward eye contact through their hotel room window. Phil apparently peed moments before, and he thinks they probably could have seen him through the window next to the toilet

-Phil: “Swish, swish, bish, another fly in your mouth!” Dan said Phil’s song was worse than actually getting a fly in your mouth

-Phil showed off his Friends t-shirt. Dan said that Phil is a combo of Ross and Phoebe. Dan said he is mostly Chandler, but also a bit of Monica. They said Friends was highly problematic by today’s standards, but everyone should go back and watch it

-They “smashed” all of Olan Rogers’ Final Space episodes. Dan is happy that people are finally appreciating Olan’s work. Phil said it was very emotional, and Dan is excited for more

-Phil about AHS: “Sometimes they put all of their eggs in one basket, and I’m just like, ‘Guys. Don’t ruin the basket.’”

-They finished Big Little Lies, Dan’s official review: “Dank AF”

-Phil had to remind Dan about the rest of the bath story, as Dan “repressed” it. Dan apparently got in the bath, then housekeeping knocked on the door and came in to replace the towels. Dan was waiting for Phil to do “LITERALLY anything,” but Phil didn’t think about Dan being in the bath. Dan screamed “NOOOOO” to stop her from coming in, Phil said it was a haunting scream, and the lady just left.

-Phil: “I forgot. It was fine. She didn’t see you. You were showing your naked body to the whole city anyway!”

-They apologized for the Manila mix up, and said there are bound to be some hiccups on a big tour like this. (If you’re still confused, check the FAQ on the tour page!)

-Someone told them to get a cat. Phil said he’s more allergic to cats than dogs, so that wouldn’t be a good idea

-They dodged giving details about the ii movie, they still aren’t allowed to say anything. They ARE putting ii tour merch on the website on FRIDAY though

-Dan said Phil doesn’t wear his Introvert jacket enough because he wears his blue one more

-They started up Truth Bombs with “What animal does Dan look like?” to which Dan’s answer was a tired, greasy rat

-The first person’s audio came through, but not video. Dan asked if they were existing in the space between dimensions, and they said yes. They said their group chat decided Dan’s spirit animal is Big Bird from Sesame Street (because he’s big and awkward). Phil said he used to have nightmares about Big Bird being in his bedroom when he woke up

-The next person’s video worked, and they were wearing a Phil hoodie. Dan complimented their nails, which were black on one hand and colorful on the other. They had an answer for Dan and Phil, which was Timon and Pumba if their personalities were switched. Dan said it made perfect sense on “like five different levels…Freaky Friday Lion King edition, the AU that nobody asked for”

-They tried the dice option to call a random person, it didn’t work. Twice.

-The next person was the one to get Phil the Polaroid shirt. Dan said it’s covered in Sharpie now

-Their answer was that Dan is a howler monkey. Phil: “Dan HOWELL-er monkey!” Dan disapproved of the pun, but declared them the winner

-Next week’s question is “If Dan and Phil were a superhero duo, what would their powers be?” Phil said he probably shouldn’t be trusted with powers

-Before the great mosquito hunt last night, Dan went to get a drink and found a lizard. He wasn’t scared of it, he just kind of closed it up in the room to let it do its thing

-They tried the ice coffee Tim Tams, they both liked them and said they would dip them in coffee later. Phil: “Dip, dip, bish”

-They went back and forth with the chat on how to pronounce “mukbang”

-Dan hasn’t listened to Bloom yet. He was going to listen on the plane, Phil told him not to so the plane noises wouldn’t interfere. Dan agreed because he wants to take it very seriously to see how Troye has matured as an artist. Phil suggested that he “eat it with his ears.”

-There will be another “fun” DAPG video with “the thing with the thing” that is coming “soon...ish.”

-Phil tried to say he hoped we were having a nice day, and accidentally said “I hope you’re having a nice guy”

-They might do the next liveshow on a Thursday because they’ll be settling in Manila next Tuesday

[cursivebloodlines]

CONTINUED FROM HERE | @overnightheartbeats​

It was impossible to ignore how Logan’s face changed as if he had just seen a ghost. Was her question really that bad? It wasn’t a serious question, she didn’t mean to suggest anything if that’s what he thought. That was always Danielle’s fault, not measuring the weight of her words. Usually she noticed when it was too late, when she had already said something irrevocable. Why didn’t he answer? Was something wrong? Perhaps he was just focused on his work, or something along those lines. “Cat got your tongue?” She asked playfully, a smile on her face. Danielle had grown used to their friendship and its dynamic, the one where he teased her and she would fall for all those bad jokes every single time. Over time though, she had begun to do the same, teasing him left and right. It was great, she couldn’t ask for more.

“I knew it, of course, why wouldn’t you love me?” She replied in a teasing manner, her smile only growing wider as he answered her question. Hearing that made her happy, having someone like him made a big difference in her life, and she loved him for it. She loved that he had made a positive impact in her life; it was reassuring to hear that he loved her too. It made her feel appreciated, and made her so much more grateful for their friendship. She was so lost in her own thoughts of appreciation that she barely caught on to his nervous answer. All that she had previously heard was the first part of his response. Logan was acting weird, and not the kind of weird that she found funny and that teased him about. It was a bit concerning honestly because it was very unlike him. He had never acted like this in front of her, at least not that she could remember. He was stumbling over his words, and he had said ‘obviously’ twice…once seemed normal, but emphasizing it more than necessary was a bit odd. It took Danielle so long, but she was finally catching on to his behavior.

What he said afterward only made her more unsure about what was going on. In love? What did that have to do with anything? There was a deafening silence after he said that, this didn’t sound like one of his jokes anymore. Usually he begins laughing, that’s how she could usually differentiate a joke from his more serious conversations. This was beginning to sound like a more serious conversation. She didn’t like it, it was beginning to make her feel anxious. Everything else that came out of his mouth afterwards didn’t help. Oh. That was certainly a handful to process. Any trace of her smile disappeared, Danielle’s eyes widened in shock. Her heart was racing so fast, she could almost hear her heartbeat. It was as if The Flash was running inside it. She felt like her heart was going to jump out of her chest, how could she even begin to respond to the truth bomb he just dropped? Danielle wanted to look away, with his confession, a bright spotlight was placed on her and it couldn’t be worse for her. She didn’t want him to see her reaction, but she found it impossible to look away, especially now that he closed his laptop and met her gaze. “I…” She found it impossible to continue, so many different things were running through her mind, but her voice was nowhere to be found. She was speechless, and she couldn’t say anything more. That, and he brought back her previous answer to what she thought was a joke. He had known since then? And instead of talking about it, he said it was a joke? This was another truth bomb, one after the other, it was too much for her. Danielle’s feelings were all over the place, she was angry but she wasn’t. She wanted to comfort him, but she couldn’t. Not anymore. However, she kind of understood why he reacted that way, because at the time, classifying it as a joke made her feel better about her answer…as if it never happened. But it was a lie, all that guilt was flooding her. After what seemed like forever, Danielle finally managed to look away from him, she let out a shaky sigh, oh no. Was she about to cry? No no, that couldn’t happen. This couldn’t be happening. She closed her eyes, trying to pull herself together and she took in a deep breath before finding the courage to look at him once more and talk. “I..I can’t believe you’ve been pretending this whole time, and this whole time, I’ve been making stupid jokes and teasing you. I completely disregarded any boundaries between us…I’ve only made it worse, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize what I was doing, I’m so stupid. You’re a great guy. You’re so funny, so kind, so understanding..you deserve better.” She paused, realizing she had to be cautious with her words now. Where was she going with this? Perhaps she was just trying to rationalize everything, trying to understand why she didn’t feel the same way. He was amazing, she wasn’t lying about that, but she couldn’t continue telling him that. Danielle couldn’t hurt him further. “You should’ve told me before…” she said, her last words in a barely audible whisper.

It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt. Or catches feelings. Or both. Stupid, stupid, stupid. What a fucking idiot, Logan constantly reminded himself. The words ‘stupid’ and ‘idiot’ replayed over and over in his head like a mantra. Why did he even need to say anything at all? Logan wished he could have kept his mouth shut and carry on with the charade, playing along with every joke and jest thrown in his direction. Every word from Danielle’s mouth felt even more painful but why? Why did it have to be? He couldn’t even bring himself to laugh at her comment about the cat getting his tongue, nor could he force himself to reply to the rhetorical question of why wouldn’t he love her. The weight of it all felt so heavy and up until now, he’d been waging a war inside his head. To tell her, or not to tell her. A war between his head and his heart. And now they both knew the answer to that question.

This time, he knew he couldn’t say he was joking again. It was something he briefly considered until he ultimately came to the realisation that would never work. The first time, maybe. He’d done such a good job at passing that off as one of his usual jokes, one of those with the pure intent to see her reaction. It wasn’t uncommon for him to do that. Anything he could make a song and dance out of, he would. He knew she was used to that by now. But pulling the same joke twice? Not so much. He was a forensic computer analyst, not an actor for Christ’s sake. Likewise, on the other hand, he was tired of fighting it. Tired of over analysing every reaction elicited from her from his words to make sure he was not overstepping a boundary or giving the game away. Tired of wondering if she actually did feel the same way -- even though she told him before that she didn’t. Yet still, he couldn’t help but get his hopes up, even if he struggled to come to terms with that fact. Over time, he knew he would get over it. That’s what time does. But if he doesn’t give himself that chance to move on, to stop himself from holding back, then he’d never get that.

Much to his dismay, this was all very new to him too. Opening himself up to rejection, especially from one of his closest friends. Having feelings for someone who didn’t reciprocate felt foreign, he was usually a better judge of character. And he wouldn’t have jumped at the chance unless he knew it was mutual...but this was a different circumstance, one he struggled to deal with. Not because he was egotistical enough to think he’d been ‘friendzoned’ or that he was God’s gift to women because that wasn’t the truth. It was just...everything was different. That was the only way he could describe it. Logan lived in the moment, never gave much thought to a before and after up until recently when his feelings for his friend became more and more noticeable. He had never been one for pretending, after all. He saw the smile wiped right off her face and that was when he knew that he screwed up big time. His confession was in no way an attempt to guilt her into feeling the same way, and he certainly never intended for her to feel bad about it. It is what it is. But he knew he had to tell her, had to get the weight off his chest so it was out there in the open with no more secrets between them. “You don’t have to say anything,” Logan tried to assure Danielle when she seemed at a loss for words. If he was in his usual bantering mood, he would have attempted to lighten the situation by joking about making her speechless. But this wasn’t the time. She seemed so taken aback by the whole thing. He couldn’t blame her, it sort ot came out of left field...but had it really? Okay, yes, it did. From an outsiders point of view , it may have looked like Logan had just dropped the worst news possible like someone passing away or something. Who knew a confession of love could have such an impact on a person? It was news to him, that was for certain. Or he was trying to make it lighter to himself so he didn’t dwell too much thinking about it. Whatever.

Confusion painted his features when Danielle began apologising. His brows furrowed, his lips drew into a thin line as he mulled over her words. The more he listened to her, the more he shook his head. “Don’t apologise. Please.” He sighed, ruffling his hair as he tried to articulate what he wanted to say. He’d never been great with this kinda stuff. Was used to brushing it off and laughing about it like he normally would. “You haven’t done anything wrong. How were you supposed to know that I’d been serious this whole time? You’re not psychic, Dan. I turn everything into a joke so I can imagine it wasn’t so hard for you to believe it was a joke.” If he’d have known the conversation would have grown this painful he probably would have thought twice before spilling it out. Inhaling sharply as she started going on about how great of a guy he was, unable to help but scoff at that. If he was such a great guy then why didn’t she feel the same way about him? Logan nipped that thought in the bud before it progressed further. He couldn’t think like that. He wouldn’t. “Stop, please. Just...stop. I don’t want you to try and make me feel better about it. It’s fine, really.” This was so embarrassing. Possibly high ranking on te list of most humiliating moments of his life. He didn’t have many of those.

A rueful smile flitted across his lips as she insisted that he should have told her before now. “Why? It’s not like it would have made a difference,” he said, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. He looked up at the ceiling as though it would proide him assurance. Sighing shakily without looking back at her, he added, “Look, embarrassment aside, I don’t want to screw up our friendship over this. I don’t expect anything from you. I just -- I thought you should know.”

[choiceslife]

When Worlds Collide: Part Three (Limited Series)

Disclaimer: Based upon characters in Choices - Endless Summer, It Lives in the Woods, The Royal Romance, #LoveHacks, Home for the Holidays, and The Elementalists series. All characters presented are the property of Pixelberry Studios. I claim no ownership. This story is purely the work of the poster as fanfiction.

Overall Series Rating: 18+

Warnings: Adult Language, Adult Content, Sexual Discussions. Future chapters may contain SMUT and Gratuitous Sexual Descriptions

Overall Series Summary: The sisters are together again and Ava Cunningham believes only they can help her.

Author’s Note: This Limited Series is a companion/sequel to Divided By Circumstance. I suggest you at least read that series in order to understand this one. As with most of my stories, this is a crossover and is part of my interconnected Chromatic AU. My MC’s are as follows: Carrissa Monroe (TRR), Abby Bennett (#LH), Scarlett Joy (HFTH), Taylor Reed (ES), and Donovan Bailey (TE). Previous Chapters can be found in my Master List located in my header.

Tag List: @cinnamonroll-duffy @darley1101 @brightpinkpeppercorn @debramcg1106 @regrettingnathan @katurrade @teamtomsato @luxurylives @akrenich @riseandshinelittleblossom @ladynonsense @kinkykingliam @jlouise88 @wescott-imogen @eileendannie @littlecrookedheart @i-choose-liam @tmarie82 @bobasheebaby @boneandfur @europeanguy @walkerismychoice @pixieferry @sstee1 @endlessly-searching-for-you 

***

Penderghast University

“We have to do something now,” Beckett pleaded with the others. “The Learned One, while indeed smart for not being naturally born of magick, doesn’t know the potential consequences of her actions. If she convinces The Sisters to use their power, the floodgates of villainous and sinister beings could be upon them all in minutes.”

“Beckett’s right,” Shreya nodded. “We must get to them once they are all out of the main public space.”

“Stop disagreeing... Wait what? I’m right? First Griffin and now you?” Beckett looked confused. He wasn’t used to any of Donovan’s friends agreeing with him. “Are you both under some sort of enchantment?”

Donovan clasped a firm hand onto Beckett’s shoulder. “Relax buddy. When you’re right, you’re right. Griffin and Shreya are nothing if not honest.” He felt the tension release in Beckett’s shoulder and watched as his sour expression dissipated. “So, how do you think we should handle this?”

“Leave that to me,” Griffin replied before Beckett could answer, stepping through the mirror portal without warning.

The others stood dumbfounded for a moment, but quickly followed Griffin through, not sure of what to expect.

“Oh I guess we’re doing that,” Zeph commented before following his friends through the mirror.

___

New York City, New York - Manhattan

Carissa never experienced the swanky VIP rooms of New York nightclubs when she lived in the city. She never imagined that it would take her becoming Queen of a small kingdom to gain her access to one, nor did she expect her first time would be shared with two new siblings and a group of college-aged kids. However, her life was anything close to normal these days. Which made the pronouncement she just heard even more shocking. “You wanna tell me that again?”

“You’re a witch, Queen Carissa,” Ava said rather flatly. Typically, she would have eased into a truth bomb like that, but she sensed that the Queen was the type who preferred a direct approach. “And so are your two new sisters. And I don’t mean witch as a play on bitch. I’m talking legit spells and powers witch.”

“I don’t know what’s in these drinks at this place, but damn. Witches?�� Abby said with a laugh. She had heard some far-fetched stories interviewing subjects before, but none as outlandish as being a witch. There was one interview subject that did come close though. He swore on his life that Raines Corporation CEO, Adrian Raines, was immortal. Abby didn’t believe him, but she looked into the story anyway. It was an excuse for her to meet the fetching billionaire. She managed to interview Adrian and, as she suspected, nothing ever panned out with the man’s claims. Abby managed to score few dates with Adrian, however, before moving to San Francisco. But being a witch? She very much doubted it. “Why couldn’t you find me in college? I would’ve put a curse on Amy to stop being a thunder...cat. Thundercat. You know what I’m saying.”

“I agree,” Scarlett added, highly doubtful of Ava’s sanity. “Three sisters. All witches. I’ve seen that show. It’s called Charmed. Is there a slayer named Buffy, a pair of hot brothers that roam the country hunting demons, and a group of attractive werewolves residing in Beacon Hills too?”

Ava opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, a voice from the shadows replied. Everyone spooked for a split second, before their attention turned towards the sound. Mara immediately drew her weapon and trained it in the general area of where the voice was emanating.

“All of that is indeed true,” the deep male voice said. His form was still obscured in darkness. “Buffy is a real person who secured a dimensional passageway in Sunnydale. The Winchester brothers are quite the skilled demon hunters, although the show takes some liberties with the number of times the two have averted the apocalypse. And Scott McCall is quite a dashing looking werewolf. Although, if you ask me, Deputy Jordan Parrish is the sexiest being in Beacon Hills.”

“Show yourself,” Mara demanded, her weapon ready for use should the situation escalate.

“The Queen should consider a new security detail,” Jake chuckled in a whisper as he lightly elbowed Dan in the ribs. “Everyone keeps getting the drop on Agent Scully over here.”

The figure slowly emerged from the shadows, followed by four others on his heel. “What better way to operate in the world undetected than to have pop culture depicting you as fiction?”

As his face came into view, Ava’s mouth hung agape, unable to believe her eyes. “Griffin?” she questioned curiously. “Is that really you?” Ava ran over and wrapped her arms around the broad shouldered teen who equaled her in height. “I haven’t seen you in forever. Damn you’ve grown!” She clamped her hands on both of Griffin’s muscular shoulders in complete awe of his size.

“Ma’am you know him?” Mara questioned, her weapon still drawn.

“Yes. He’s my cousin.”

___

Ava excused herself and Griffin from the group, finding a secluded corner while Mara holstered her weapon. “What are you doing in New York? Did you see me in the club? How the hell did you and your friends get in here? Does your mom know...” Ava cut herself off before pulling her cousin back into a second hug. It had been about a decade since she last saw the kid. Back then, he was an 8-year-old pain in the ass and she was a moody pre-teen still dealing with the trauma of her friend’s death. But time and friendship have helped to Ava cope, which allowed her to appreciate Griffin’s sudden appearance. “How are you?”

His megawatt smile could put even the most harden person at ease and Griffin flashed it proudly helping his cousin relax. “I’m here to help you Ava. My friends and I know why you’ve sought out The Sisters. You have to know there is danger involved with telling them.”

“Danger? What kind of danger?”

“Without getting into too much detail, I know that you’re a witch and able to conjure magic. You’re actually known as The Learned One in our realm.”

“Seriously? I’m famous?” Ava beamed with pride before the rest of Griffin’s comment sank into her mind. “Wait. Your realm?”

Griffin nodded. “Not you per se, but magical people are aware that there is a non-magical human with strong, learned powers developing. My friends and I are students at a magical university that helps us hone our naturally attuned abilities. It exists in a realm parallel to this one. Because of some of our research in trying to solve something else, I was able to sense your situation and danger. There are forces in my realm trying to seek out power tied to my friend Donovan.” Griffin motioned to the tall, blond guy that looked like he stepped off the pages of an Abercrombie ad.

“He’s cute. Just a friend?”

“Maybe something more. He’s close with Beckett too though. The guy in the blue blazer. So I dunno what will happen.” Griffin realized the conversation veered off track and he playfully tapped Ava on the arm for talking about his love life. “Anyway, I have a feeling that the power The Sister’s possess may be similar in nature to Donovan’s, only their power is tenfold.”

Worry and panic appeared in Ava’s eyes. “So you’re saying if I help them find their power in order to aid Taylor’s return to Earth, I’d be endangering the whole world?”

“It’s a possibility. You need to be prepared for the worst. Shreya, Zeph, and Beckett helped me prep a few things to assist with your mission.” Griffin pulled a talisman and two vials of potion from his pocket and passed it to his cousin. “The talisman will help obscure your location whenever you perform the ritual. The vile of red liquid will help bind The Sister’s power once more when you use it in conjunction with the incantation I know you have memorized. And finally, the blue liquid will help erase the memories related to the discussion of The Sister’s abilities and will replace them with a false memory of your creation. It will help to keep you all safe. If nobody remembers The Sister’s powers exist, then nobody can accidentally expose them to the world.”

“And what about you and your friends? You all know now.”

“I enchanted the portal we came through with the same power as the potion and already chose a memory of us dancing the night away in a New York nightclub. Once we return to our realm, we’ll have no recollection of ever being here with you.”

__

“Damn. Ava’s been holding out on the fact that she has a super-hot cousin,” Cade whispered to Lucas. “And his friends look good too.” He kept his voice low so Ava wouldn’t hear him, but it wasn’t low enough to avoid Stacy’s attention.

“You’re dating my brother,” Stacy barked before smacking Cade with a moderately hard backhand to the chest. “If he heard you...”

“I’m pretty sure he’d have the same thoughts,” Cade interrupted with a smile as he gently massaged the spot on his chest where she had hit him trying to alleviate the sting.

After meeting Griffin’s friends, Ava escorted her cousin and his group over towards the others in the room. She still had a ton of questions she wanted to ask him. How did he discover he was magically born? What was he talking about with Buffy being real? When was the last time he went to visit Grandma Mabel? But first, she just needed to introduce him to the group. “Your Majesty. I apologize for the interruption. This is my cousin. Griffin Langley. And these are his friends.”

As Griffin nodded to everyone assembled and introduced his friends, Jake sat back in one of the VIP room’s plush chairs. He had questions for Ava and was sure he wasn’t the only one. But he’d let Hermione have this moment of happiness with her long lost cousin.

“You’re over here contemplating nicknames aren’t you?” Dan asked as he pulled up a seat beside the pilot.

Jake smiled. The kid knew him too well, even though it’s only been a few days. “Guy Candy, Sabrina, Prep School, Golden Boy, and Zephyr.”

“Wait. That Zephyr guy gets to keep his name? And Sabrina? Like the teenage witch? You think Griffin and his friends are...”

“Yup. I do. And Zephyr is a cool fucking name,” Jake replied. He and Dan shared a laughed between themselves before they noticed Griffin about to address Queen Carissa.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Your Majesty. I wish it were under different circumstances of course,” Griffin said flashing his great big smile.

The Queen nodded her head. “Agreed Mr. Langley. Question though. How did you get in here? The door is locked and there is an armed member of The King’s Guard stationed outside.”

“Maybe they stuffed Eagle Eye into a closet like we did,” Jake snickered under his breath to Dan, who was barely able to contain an outburst.

“About that,” Griffin answered before doing a series of hand gestures causing the nearby plants and soil to twirl around in the air. They danced into a weave of intricate patterns, zipping back and forth across the room. It was extremely simple, and well below Griffin’s skill level, but still an impressive display of magic for those in the VIP Room to see. “Locked doors really aren’t a problem for us.” Apathy was all that met Griffin’s effort in return. “Really? That usually gets some kind of reaction.”

“We fought off a bunch of moss creatures in high school, so...” Lucas shrugged.

“Fought a giant crab and a three-headed sea monster in La Huerta,” Jake added.

“Well we’re impressed,” Abby remarked motioning to herself and two sisters. “The most magical experience I’ve had is my friend Brooke’s Sphere of Prettiness.” Abby immediately regretted doubting Ava earlier. “Sorry I didn’t believe you before,” she said to the tall woman standing beside Griffin.

Ava nodded her understanding to Abby. She got it. Skepticism was to be expected. Ava was still honing her craft and, if she could, she would have done some kind of demonstration to prove magic existed.

“Right. Great. Okay then. So magic and monsters exist and my sisters and I are powerful witches,” Carissa began trying to refocus the group’s conversation. “And our mother fits into all of this somewhere. So let’s start there.” Carissa sat down between Abby and Scarlett on one of the many large sofa’s the VIP Room had to offer as the others pulled up seats throughout the private area. Only Mara and Jake remained standing. Neither one wanted to be caught off guard a second time.

Ava cleared her throat once everyone had settled and she had command of the room. “Right. Okay Your Majesty. Scarlett. Abby.” Ava nodded with each name she spoke. As much as she had prepared for this conversation, she never expected to have an audience quite so large. Ava had expected that the Queen would ask to speak with her privately to discuss the matter. But regardless of the number of people present, it didn’t change the facts as Ava knew them to be. “Everything I know begins when your mother paid a visit to Cora Pritchard.”

***

(To Be Continued)

[thecoolkidsbasement]

Just finished playing Danger by Design (DAN) and hi, welcome to my TED talk (tread carefully, it’s gonna be a long post with possible spoilers and pointless analyzing of an almost 10 year old game)

JJ’s presence is virtually useless. I barely saw her throughout the game and you only really had to talk to her once or twice, and once was for an autograph for a dude (Zu) that Nancy just ASSUMED would know what Noisette’s plaque signified because he was a ‘professional catacomb spelunker’ (???). A believable alternative to that whole pointless interaction would’ve been a French to English dictionary with pictures. Nancy could’ve seen a photo of hazelnuts next to the French translation and been like; “!!!there it is!!!1!111!!” and gone on with her mystery

that being said, JJ is also hella annoying imo. If Nancy had been an actual apprentice for Minette and was told by some model to make her her cookies or she wasn’t going to go, despite knowing what Minette’s like in her tantrums, in turn leaving Nancy FIRED, is absolutely ridiculous. I know that JJ probably didn’t care because she was tricked into a contract with Minette but that doesn’t give her a free pass to ruin Nancy’s career (and I know the games aren’t wholly realistic but this serIOUSLY GRINDS MY GEARS). After that little interaction I tried to avoid JJ as much as possible (which might lead back to me thinking her presence in the game isn’t necessary, sorry not sorry)

her apartment’s super cute though not gonna lie

Noisette’s story was so heartbreaking, I actually started tearing up when Nancy was reading her letter explaining why she did what she did. I can’t imagine the pain she went through, how helpless she must’ve felt in the end where all she felt she could do was leave a trail of bread crumbs and hope someone goodhearted would let the truth come to light (there’s an easier way to hide treasures that make more sense but I loved a lot of the puzzles/decoding so I’ll let it slide, and plus she was a bad ass lady in her youth so that’s double the brownie points in my book)

HANS WHY. WHY DIDN’T YOU COME BACK FOR HER YOU GOD DAMN OBTUSE BRICK >:,U

it would’ve been more interesting storytelling-wise if Hans was Dieter’s father or grandfather and not his great uncle. It would’ve driven a subtle and yet poignant realization that he got married and had kids after Noisette while she died alone as a private woman, and it’d be more heartbreaking knowing that then knowing that he, too, died unmarried and without children. There was no reason for them not to be together after the resistance unless Hans had moved on to someone else or he only saw Noisette as an ally and not a lover

on top of that, Dieter says the building his office is in belonged in his family for a couple generations and the clock key he got was from Hans. Does that mean Hans came back some time after the war was over? Did he buy the property during?? I’M SO CONFUSED

Jean Mi skeevs me out. He reminded me of Sinclair from SSH and the fact that Sonny scribbled the same thing had me gagging (I love Sonny’s cameos in these games I liVE FOR IT)

and speaking of SSH characters, SWEET PRUDENCE RUTHERFORD. I don’t remember her sounding like that in SSH, though, like it was a male pretending to sound like a little old lady. It skeeved me out, too :c

since Minette’s a designer for plus sized fashion, does that mean Prudence is plus sized?

I work in plus sized clothing retail (size 10 to 30) so when I saw some of Minette’s models/JJ and was told they were plus sized I was like “LMAO WHAT” but I forgot that size 12 back in 2006 was wholly considered plus sized, sorry <3 (I personally don’t consider sized 14 or below to be ‘plus sized’ given the women that I service that are this size, but the straight sized fashion industry still does :/)

I wish the fashion portrayed in the game (Minette’s designs, Heather’s designs, Prudence Rutherford’s outfits) were actually high fashion for the time or something along the lines of The Devil Wears Prada. I wanted fashion that, sure, didn’t look wholly reasonable, but still screamed ‘couture’ and I feel like HER missed a huge opportunity here with it. Especially since Minette’s designs were described as being for ‘the modern woman’ in that magazine article Jean Mi wrote, to see Prudence’s options were ATROCIOUS

a bunny mask and ears. a massive head bow. furry boots made from the hair of Minette’s pet angora. seriously???

the bomb put on Minette’s door by the bad guys (was it paint or some kind of fumes/explosive?? I’ll never know) was hilariously counterproductive to Minette’s work. They said they kept sending her threats as incentive to remind her to keep working, but the bomb was in such close proximity to the dress it would’ve wholly ruined their plans if Nan never found and disarmed it

on the same subject of weird plot holes or misgivings, it was never seriously explained why Minette broke up with Dieter. When I took a chance and asked her about it, she got very emotional and barked at Nan to leave her alone. To me that implies that she still has feelings for him although Dieter seems to think the opposite. Was she forced to break up with him when the bad guys came around and wanted the dress done (unlikely)? Was it just another weird ‘Minette Moment’ to show her bizarre turns of mind and attitude, or the stress of her new collection (likely)?? Or, my personal headcanon, did she find out somehow that Dieter had initially dated her to get access to the moulin and she was hurt by the deceit???

[maetaurus]

hmmm 18?

combining this with another prompt from another anon

18. “What’s the matter sweetheart?”30. “Be you. No one else can.”

General Audiences / TW: mentions of suicidal thoughts, depression, and anxiety

send me prompts

read on AO3

Phil was having one of those days where everything seemed off. Nothing bad had happened, he wasn’t even particularly stressed, he was just feeling off. He tried to hide it from Dan, but he failed miserably.

Dan knew something was wrong with Phil. But he also knew that Phil was never one to shy away from talking about his problems when he needed to; Phil didn’t bottle things up like Dan did. So Dan kept an eye on Phil but didn’t mention his sour mood, knowing Phil would come to him when he was ready.

As Dan predicted, Phil plopped down on the sofa next to Dan late in the afternoon. He sighed and pushed Dan’s laptop off his lap so he could put his head there instead.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” Dan asked softly. He closed his laptop, he’d just been mindlessly scrolling anyway, and turned his attention to his boyfriend.

Phil sighed and looked up at Dan. “What if nobody likes me anymore?”

Dan frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Like, what if everyone only follows me on Twitter and stuff to keep up with you? What if they’re only interested in me because they like you?”

Dan’s frown deepened. He reached down to thread his fingers through Phil’s messy quiff. “Why do you think that?”

Phil shrugged. “I dunno. I just-” he sighed. “You’re so creative and inspirational and you do all these great things. You’re talking about your depression and working with Young Minds and you’re doing good things in the world. And I’m just tagging along for the ride.”

“Aww Philly,” Dan murmured. “That’s not true at all. You aren’t just tagging along. You’re the one who encouraged me to talk about my depression in the first place. And you’re super creative. You came up with Truth Bombs and the 7 Second Challenge, and you came up with most of the ideas for TATINOF and Interactive Introverts. You’re the most creative person I know.” 

The corners of Phil’s lips turned up in a half smile. “Sometimes I just feel like people like you more cause you’re edgy and relatable. And I’m just your weird roommate who you used to stalk.”

Dan couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Well I mean I did stalk you, so they’re not wrong about that. And sure, I might be relatable because I talk about my depression and make fun of myself but you’re like- fuck, how do I explain it? You’re like the light at the end of the tunnel. You’re always there to make people smile and feel good. You tell funny stories and do silly things because you enjoy it, and other people love watching it because you enjoy it. You’re like the safe space people can go to when they’re feeling down. They watch one of my videos and then go binge on your channel to feel better. You’re just so good and bright. You have a way of making people smile, even if they’re feeling depressed and hopeless and they don’t want to go on.”

Phil bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling, knowing that if he looked at Dan, he would see Dan’s raw emotions and then he’d end up crying. “Maybe I should talk about my depression and anxiety too.”

“If you really want to, then of course I’ll support you. But don’t do it just because you think that’s what everyone wants to see. Because I promise you, it’s not. People love you for you, just as you are. So be you. No one else can.”

Phil met Dan’s gaze finally and he smiled. “You really think so?”

Dan nodded. “I do, I know so. Remember what that one viewer said to you?”

Phil sighed sadly and nodded. “Yeah, I remember.”

Dan kept playing with Phil’s hair, knowing it calmed him down. “You saved their life, Phil. You. Not me, but you. You helped them when nobody else could, and you didn’t even know you were doing it. And in their letter, they opened up to us about what they were going through. They thanked me but you’re the one they credited for saving their life. Think about what could’ve happened if you weren’t making videos you enjoy.”

“I know,” Phil said softly. “I’m glad I could help them.”

Dan leaned down and kissed Phil’s lips. “See? You did that. You, Phil, you as you are. I’m not saying never change, I’m just saying don’t feel like you have to change to make people like you. Because so many people already love you.”

Phil sat up and hugged Dan tightly. “Thank you,” he whispered. 

“I mean I’m Phil Trash #1, but think about how many Phil Trash’s there are out there! #2, #3, #4, #10,000.”

Phil laughed and rolled his eyes. “Those are all you, Dan. You’re Phil Trash #1-10,000.”

Dan laughed as well and hugged Phil. “Accurate.”

[sunnyupsidedown]

barely breathing 3 / 4

[part1] [part2] [AO3]

A/N: Goodbye open ending, hello happy ending. Well, not yet.

Renee was humming softly under her breath as she hung up the last of her clothes when a knock came at their dorm door.

“I’ll get it,” Dan said from the living room. The old, beat up recliner creaked as Dan stood, her footsteps soft on the carpet.

“What are you doing here Andrew.”

Renee paused at Dan’s tone.

“Renee.” Andrew’s voice drifted into her room.

At the obvious summoning, Renee set her last shirt on the bed to put up later. Out by the door, Dan held the door open but blocked Andrew’s path in. Renee examined Andrew closer. She saw him at the court earlier but now was a little different. His expression was neutral, like the times before he stepped onto court for a game when he was off his medicine. But it was worse now. So much worse. Before, mania creeped into the edges of his expression, a ghostly imprint of the drugs still in his system. Now, it was like a blank slate, a face slack in sleep or in death but with the eyes still open to the world.

Their eyes met and it was like looking into a void. Andrew gave the barest of nods before leaving. Renee understood and went to change into some looser clothes.

They met up at the usual place in the Fox Tower’s basement. The air chilly compared to the higher floors. Andrew slid into a starting stance the moment Renee walked in and she followed suit.

They stared each other down, slowly circling around the room. Andrew moved first, a little unusual in their spars. Renee reacted quickly and Andrew was on the ground from an easily dodged maneuver.

“You’re distracted,” Renee said to Andrew’s supine form.

Andrew didn’t say anything and got up to start again. It was a repeat of the first time; Andrew was back on the ground.

Renee had enough. Andrew got into a starting position but Renee sat down cross legged and stared up at Andrew pressuring him to do the same. He submitted and sat.

“What’s wrong?”

Andrew was silent for a long time before he spoke. “I seem to have some gaps in my memory. Is he one of mine or one of yours?”  

Renee’s eyes drew to his neck, to the bandages peeking out from the edges of his collar and suddenly she knew what had happened while Andrew was at Easthaven. And she knew who Andrew was referring to as well. Her own faded scars ached for a short second. It was harder to breath like her throat was clogged despite the emptiness she knew was there.

“What do you want to know?”

“Neil Josten.”

Kevin grabbed two shots from Neil’s tray and downed them in quick succession. His eyes were already glazed from the first round of drinks and the packet of dust he inhaled earlier, but Neil still played it safe and spoke German anyway. “Why does Roland think you’re tying me down?”

There it was again in Andrew’s eyes, a deep emptiness like part of his soul was missing. “He probably thinks you’re as bad at following directions as he is.” Neil frowned. That wasn’t quite what he was looking for. He tried again. “What’s outside of coach’s pay grade?”

“It’s irrelevant since I don’t exactly know who you are.” Andrew closed his mouth and Neil knew he would get no more answers out of him for the night.

Neil frowned while he turned Andrew’s words around in his mind. He was careful. Andrew couldn’t know everything about him except the things he’s told him and Kevin wouldn’t say anything.

And then it hit him and his stomach clenched like his drink was spiked again.

Neil was smart. He wouldn’t have survived as long as he did if he didn’t have some deductive reasoning skills. He ran through every interaction he’s had with Andrew since he came back from Easthaven. The clues were everywhere: the way he ignored Neil at first, the coldness that everyone said was normal when Neil knew Andrew was far from heartless, the bandages that were around his neck and the scars that lie under them. He didn’t know how he could be so blind especially since he suffered from the same disease. Neil was going to puke but this time not from the flowers.

And that’s when the second realization came.

Andrew was in love with him.

But not anymore.

The world tilted on its axis, nausea sat rooted in the pit of his stomach, and pain blossomed in his chest. He never expected anything to happen between him and Andrew, but the cold truth still stung. Neil planned on running at the end of the season, but there was no use to it now. If his father doesn’t get to him first, the flowers will take care of him. Either way, he was doomed to an early death.

--

The days passed slowly and Neil found himself seeking Andrew out. It would never be anything. Every moment spent with him, another spike of pain lodged itself in his chest, but being with Andrew, was like being on an exy court. With every meaningless conversation they had up on the rooftop and the secrets exchanged in their game of truths, Neil felt like himself. Not Chris or Alex or any of the personas he’s created while on the run. He felt alive. When he was gone and he was just a footnote in the Foxes’ yearbook, he knew that there at least one person who cared about him, that he left some type of mark on the world, that someone would remember the insignificant man named Neil Josten.

His birthday came and blood dripped from his locker, a number counted down on his cell phone. The game was a blur. He vaguely knew they won but it was like watching everything through binoculars from the top of the Fox Tower.

Everything snapped into focus the next day when Andrew gripped the sides of Neil’s face and leaned in. Their lips crashed together and Neil’s heart stuttered to a stop. It was brief, lasting seconds before Andrew backed away with a storm in his eyes.

“Andrew--” Neil began, desperately trying to catch up in their conversation. “No,” Andrew frowned. His eyebrows creased together. “This is nothing.”

“Didn’t you say you wanted nothing?”

Andrew’s gait faltered briefly before he kept walking.

Something warm stirred in Neil’s chest. Andrew was not someone who would do something he didn’t mean. Neil didn’t want to say it was hope, but even he was foolish sometimes. The warmth grew until it burned through Neil’s veins. He could feel it coming and whatever hope bloomed in his chest was choked by the poisonous vines growing, thriving, constricting his lungs. He leaned over the side of the roof. Wind pushed his hair out of his face. It was a long way down.

He puked.

He wiped his mouth, his throat raw, his hand stained red like the blood that poured from his locker.

It was nothing, like Andrew said.

He was fine.

“How are you today Andrew?” Betsy asked. Andrew’s face remained mostly blank, but his eyebrows scrunched together. A frown, Betsy has learned. The mug in front of him has long cooled off.

“It hurts Bee.”

“What does Andrew?” Betsy asked, straightening in her chair.

“It hurts Bee but there is no longer anything there.” Whether he knew it or not, Andrew’s hand moved to grip his shirt over his chest.

“Ah. I was afraid that was the case.” She tried to keep her voice neutral with the sudden anger rushing through her veins. Easthaven has some explaining to do and if it didn’t end in a malpractice lawsuit she would damn well make sure the doctors responsible were punished. “Since you came back, I noticed the injuries around your neck. I had a guess but I hoped it wasn’t true. I did some research anyway. Would you like to hear what I found?”

Andrew didn’t say anything. Betsy continued.

“Hanahaki disease is unique in how it’s a virus that attacks the emotions, specifically feelings of love. Left unchecked it will kill you. Most cases end that way, but since the discovery of the removal procedure, the fatality rate has dropped significantly.”

Betsy paused to checked Andrew’s reaction. He was still slumped on the couch but his eyes were alert with interest.

“When it’s removed, you have to remove all of it and what it feeds on. Any shred left will leave room for relapse. The surgery is sometimes lifesaving but it’s also a double edged sword due to the memory loss.

“Andrew. You’re a smart man. Just because the flowers are gone, it doesn’t mean you lose the ability to feel. There’s nothing holding you back from what you want. I want you to think about that for our next session.”

Neil Josten. Neil Abram Josten. The name tasted like dust on Andrew’s lips. The aching hole in his chest consumed him whole.

“Andrew.” Neil’s voice was soft. Andrew looked up at Neil leaning over his bus seat and he continued, “Let me ask you this. Do you believe in fate?”

The question sounded familiar and Andrew didn’t have to think about his answer. “If fate were tangible, I would destroy it.”

Neil smiled like he knew something Andrew didn’t. The sun streamed through the window, making Neil’s hair glow like fire and his eyes burn like dry ice. “Then, Andrew, you have to let me go.”

Andrew swallowed. He felt like he was backed into a corner with no way to escape except through the path Neil provided. He didn’t like it. It was unsettling how much he trusted Neil, how he was going to break his promise because it was Neil who asked. It left a sour taste in his mouth, but Andrew never really knew what sweet was supposed to taste like.

The little black ‘4’ was a blemish on Neil’s face. Death, in so many languages. Bad luck. His heart hammered in his chest.

“Okay.” Two sides of Andrew’s mind were at war and a bomb just went off. It was a punch to the gut that felt worse than waking up in Easthaven with a spotty recollection of the fall semester. In the settling dust, only one thing remained. “Okay,” he said again because he was getting into the habit of saying useless things.

“Thank you.” Neil smiled wider and the look burned itself into Andrew’s memory. A weight should have been lifted from a promise he no longer need to keep but it was like gravity tripled since the word ‘okay’ left his mouth.

Neil trailed behind and when Andrew stopped to look at him the words slipped from his throat. “Thank you.” For the keys, the promises, the flowers both gone and sprouting within his chest. For letting him go. In his life he never knew he would have the chance to feel like he does towards Andrew. He never knew someone would feel that way towards him. If their timelines lined up a little different, if Neil fell a little faster, if Andrew refused to go to Easthaven, Neil wondered what could have been. Could they have avoided the tragedy of missed opportunities? Could they have shared more than that one short kiss? The sobering zero and Romero and Jackson reminded him that whatever way it went it would end with him in a body bag so maybe it was best if the thing between them remained in the starting gates. Neil was a dead man walking and Andrew didn’t deserve a love built on a ticking time bomb. He deserved to have some sort of happiness in his life and he knew that he only brought misfortune. “You were amazing.”

Andrew’s eyes narrowed in thought. He opened his mouth to say something but they were pulled outside and the final act of the tragedy of Nathaniel Abram Wesninski began.

[this is where part 4 goes when it’s done] [AO3]

[manchestereyes]

claire imma get sappy, so its 1am meaning its now the 28th july, three months ago today i met dan and phil at 10:44am and felt more cared than i have ever been if that makes sense, i cried into phils arms because it was hard, 4years of not hugging a single man to hugging phil lester it meant a hell of a lot, i met some amazing people, in earlier march a gc was made for the brighton matinee group which we all met up with at the show, it felt strange bc we all came together bc of dnp (1/?)

(2/?) in the middle of march i sent a message to the gc like “hey we should make signs since its their first show” as a joke thinking everyone would find it sappy and it wouldnt work, we spent a month and a half planning, the week before the show i printed off 450 pieces of paper and there was 1100 between us, the night before meeting dnp i was round my friends writing “hold up @ the end ty x” on these pieces of paper for two and a half hours, i wrote a 14 page letter for them

(3/?) for me to run on 5 hrs sleep, a sip of water and no food, i was so anxious, a bag full of paper truth bombs and a uke jfc that was heavy, i cried into phil, felt warmth from dan, it felt like they cared, 11:45 we queue outside and i make friends with a load of people, they’re lovely and i miss them, 1pm we’re let in, the atmosphere changed it was nice, i felt accepted, me and my two friends all wait and sit outside the doors to go to sit down and i play wybsk? one for the road

(4/?) and absolutely smitten on the uke and these three girls join in and it was lovely, me and the kids who made the signs (6 i think it was) was running round the venue handing out these signs to the ladydoor remix, for at the end of the show when dnp sing the last chorus for me to shout and these signs to work, for dan to take one and said he likes them, my friends mum said kids walked out the venue clutching these signs as a souvenir just bc 6 13-15 yr olds wanted to thank dnp

(5/5) the moment straight after the show wnded i cried so hard, tomorrow im meeting up with the kids who went to the show again outside brighton dome where we first met bc we all miss each other, every single one of us is still in shock, three months later (im sorry i sent u so many asks im just like shit its three months since ii)

omg daisy 😭😭😭 don’t be sorry!! imma get sappy now and say that my heart is so freaking FULL knowing you had (dare i say) the perfect ii experience! as a self diagnosed Lonely Person, it makes me sooooo happy to know that you guys were all able to come together like that and being there for the first ever show makes it a thousand times cooler!! i think everyone in the world deserves to feel all these things at least once in their lives, if not unendingly for years on end with a special someone. honestly it’s astounding to me to think that the first show was three whole months ago already?? like, it feels like a completely different time and i feel like a completely different person even if i am probably as much of a mess as i was then lol. i’m so glad you guys are meeting up again though!! i really regret not trying harder to meet up with people at my show (although to be fair, it was pretty overwhelming and the service inside the venue was SO BAD) but!! this does give me the idea to have a chicago phannies meetup at some point if anyone’s up for it! because like, i need to gush about this show with actual people and phannies are literally my favorite people so it sounds perfect tbh. i hope you guys have the best time!! even if you aren’t seeing the show again at least you’ll be with each other and who knows, that might be even better anyway! 💜💜💜