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smallmediumproblems · 5 years ago

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It was surprisingly easy to find a pet shop in the Arcade. The difficult part was finding the one they were looking for. Almost as soon as they’d left Spider Empire, they turned a corner to find a neat looking storefront with a sign that read Petland over the door. Nick headed straight for the entrance, but stopped when he heard Jon make an uncertain noise behind him.

“Not that one,” said Jon.

“Is it dangerous?” Nick asked. He took a preemptive step back from the store.

“Well, since none of you are allergic to cats, not especially,” said Jon, “But it won't have what you need.”

“Of course not,” Nick sighed. “Alright. Lead the way.”

They continued to wind through the halls of the Arcade apparently at random. Jon paused every now and then to get his bearings as the layout of the place changed, once or twice turning around completely with a frustrated little scowl. The longer they walked, the more pet stores they passed. Fish ‘n More had a tank that spanned the front of the store, and which, upon closer inspection, seemed to make up the entire interior as well. Static Man insisted that they stop at Too Many Legs to admire several six-legged golden retriever puppies pawing at the window. There was one store that had a gaudy assortment of crystals, medieval weapons, and gold coins littering the front display, under a sign that read DRAGONS! in a friendly cartoon font. To everyone’s dismay, it was closed.

“Should we be worried about this?” prompted Morgan as they passed a store labeled One Big Snake. “Maybe it’s trying to throw us off.”

“No, this is good,” Nick said. “I think it’s more like targeted advertising. We’ve already made a couple purchases, so the Arcade knows we’re not here to cause trouble. If it’s overheard what we’re looking for, it could be trying to help.”

“Boy, it sure is important that we get a frappucino for this ritual, huh Nicholas?” Static Man added loudly. A couple of turns later, a cozy-looking Starbucks appeared on their right.

“Considering the fact that it moved a whole city block to get here, I’d say that’s a pretty sound theory,” said Jon. “Mind you, that added a substantial detour to our walk.”

“Relaaax, drinks on me,” said Static Man, leading them inside.

“Do I want to know where you got money from?” Nick asked doubtfully. “Or where you’re keeping it?”

“It’s cool, Starbucks usually takes teeth,” said Static Man. “So, y’know. Ka-ching! Pop ‘em right out like a pez dispenser.” To demonstrate, he rummaged around in his face and pulled out a tooth with a small click. He held it out to Jon, who wished for the second time in his life that his career involved fewer people trying to hand him teeth.

Nick cornered Jon as they were waiting for their coffees. “Round two?” he suggested. Jon could taste the start of his statement already, a treacherous door and a maddening landscape behind it.

“You sound like you’re enjoying these as much as I am,” said Jon, settling in at one of the rickety tables.

Nick gave a short laugh as he sat across from him, then another more uncomfortable one as he mulled this over. “It’s weird, it almost feels familiar. You… feel familiar. Is that normal?”

“It’s certainly not good,” said Jon. “I don’t think it’s me so much as the Eye. You’ve probably stumbled across it before. I’m genuinely surprised you haven’t been caught up in one of the Fears by now. Mine in particular would be too easy for you to fall into, I think.”

Jon was struck with the sharp, warm sensation of being realized. He could feel Nick starting to put together that his rumpled blazer and secondhand mug weren’t just an affectation to make his supernatural nature seem human. That, if anything, the opposite was closer to the truth. Nick wanted to ask him how it had happened; whether it had crept up on him slowly, or if it was something he’d done to himself. Jon didn’t quite know how to explain that it had been both.

“So there’s more of these things,” Nick asked instead.

“Each one more terrible than the last,” said Jon. “That place belonged to one of them. I told you, spiders are a problem where I’m from.”

“And they’re all, what, fighting each other? Working together?” Nick pressed.

Jon laughed mirthlessly. “Depends on the person. Some of us are almost palatable. Others will tear your skin off just to say hello.”

Nick went very still for a moment. He seemed to come to some conclusion as to which kind Jon was. Jon was very aware of his eyes shifting across his scars. “Do you need help?” Nick asked gently.

“Probably.” Jon followed the statement with a very tired smile. “I can’t have it too bad if I’ve survived this long.”

“I mean it,” said Nick, “I don’t know if you’re trapped, or being blackmailed, or what, but whatever it is, I’m sure we can help. That’s kind of what we do.”

Jon didn’t need to look up at Morgan and Static Man to know what he was being offered. He wondered how many other people Nick had spirited away like this, with promises of freedom or adventure or just plain companionship. It didn’t take much effort for him to picture a scenario where he would have said yes. It wasn’t even too different from his current one.

“Thank you,” he said. “Really, I- You have no idea how many of my problems that would solve. But I have people I need to get back to. There’s someone I’d very much like to see again.”

Nick nodded. “I understand. Still, we’ve got two more stops- offer’s on the table if you change your mind.”

The Arcade had shifted again by the time they left, and Jon led them back in the direction they came from. To no one’s surprise, the shops had all changed as well, though they maintained the same ratio of pet stores.

“If this place is so intent on bringing you what you want,” said Jon, sloshing his macchiato around the flower mug. “That does raise the question of why you actually need me. I’m sure it would figure out where you need to go eventually.”

“Intent is what I’m worried about,” said Nick. “We haven’t had the best track record with sentient landscapes. And ‘eventually’ could take years. We did our research. Plenty of people come to shop in the Arcade. Not a lot of them get back out.”

“After we heard that this place would have what we needed, the first thing we did was try and figure out why so many people went missing,” Morgan chimed in. “I thought people were dying of starvation, but there’s no shortage of resources. None of the survivors talked about roving monsters, or rules you have to stick to to avoid being punished. By all accounts, it’s just an infinite maze of stores.”

“Maze being the operative word,” Jon realized aloud.

“It’s dead simple, when you think about it,” Morgan continued after a sip of her coffee. “It’ll bring you anything you could ask for in a shopping mall, except an exit.”

Jon stopped to concentrate on the layout in a moment of panic. “But it does have an exit. I know where it is.”

“And that’s why you’re rolling with the cool kids,” said Static Man, shooting Jon a finger-gun with his free, un-frappuccino’d hand. “The shops will come to us. We just need you to get us out of here when it’s time to leave. Plus, we can give you a makeover on the way out, right Nick?”

“That’s between you two,” said Nick. “Assuming we can find a JC Penny that accepts teeth. How close are we to this place?”

Jon turned to face the other side of the Arcade hall. “Here, actually,” he said. Across from them was a small storefront done up in pastel, with a display painted onto the front window that read Advanced Pets. His head buzzed with little details about the interior, a wash of comfortingly mundane facts. "It looks quite safe."

“Sick. Hey, you think there’s a Beginner’s Pets?” Static Man asked no one in particular as they crossed the hall. “Or maybe Simple Pets.”

“Band name,” Nick said immediately.

“Band na- dammit!” Morgan swore, half a second too late. Nick laughed, pulling out a cheap notebook and adding the phrase “Simple Pets” to a column under his name. There were matching columns for both Morgan and Static Man. Static Man’s was as long as the other two combined. Jon was struck with an image of Tim, Martin, and Sasha gathered in the Archive breakroom, joking about some piece of office drama over lunch. The sound of Sasha kicking her legs off the countertop she was perched on. Tim sitting backwards in a chair, tipping forward so it balanced on two legs, then back down to safety. Martin’s hands gesturing wildly, careless and mesmerizing.

“Everything alright?”

Jon blinked the memory away. Morgan and Static Man had already gone inside, and Nick was waiting for him in the doorway.

“It’s fine,” said Jon.

It was as fine as it was ever going to be.

The interior of the shop was an orderly mosaic of mint green and orange, soothing after the Arcade’s dim lighting. It was laid out more like a book store than a pet shop, with little alcoves lining the room and a few islands down the center aisle with clear plastic walls and no lids. The instrumental break of a motown song played distantly over the speakers. Most of the pets were recognizable; Morgan was hunched in front of a tank full of axolotls, watching them follow her finger as she traced it across the glass. The closest center island was a roomy enclosure of rabbits. Jon could make out guinea pigs and leopard geckos in the islands further back. As he drifted towards a stack of cat cages, he picked out a few specimens that were less familiar. The next alcove over had terrariums full of something that looked like a turtle with incredibly furry limbs. A section of the store towards the back was blocked off with thick velvet curtains, and had a standing sign in front that read Quiet area! Please do not disturb the ghosts. The music congealed into Patti LaBelle singing Danny Boy.

“You folks let me know if you want me to introduce you to anyone,” Jon heard from the middle of the store. He leaned around a metal rack of squeaky toys to see a late middle-aged woman wearing a pair of chunky plastic earrings and a romper that looked like it had been made from a bowling alley carpet. She was lounging against the register countertop, staring openly at Static Man. When he looked up at the sound of her voice, she gave him a coy smirk and pretended to be preoccupied with a ferret that was draped over her shoulders. This seemed to catch him off guard, but he quickly recovered, striking what Jon could only assume was supposed to be a casual pose next to an iguana enclosure. Jon shuddered.

“We’re looking to buy a pet rock,” said Nick.

The shopkeeper glanced between the four of them. When she looked at Jon, he noticed that her name was Nellie. “You all gonna share just the one?” she asked, the hint of a smile lingering in her voice.

“We’re not what you’d call a conventional household,” Nick replied.

Nellie bounced up from the countertop with a laugh. "Thank goodness! Those things give me the heebie-jeebies. What kind of rock are you interested in?”

“What kinds do you have?” Nick asked hesitantly. It seemed like the appropriate thing to say. Nellie led the party to an alcove lined with shelves, each one bearing at least a dozen rocks in all different shapes, sizes, treatments, and colorations. Most of them were wonky river rocks in varying shades of black and gray. A few towards the back of the shelves were glowing faintly. Some seemed quite valuable, including part of an amethyst geode and something that Jon identified as an absolutely massive uncut diamond. There was a little standing desk off to one side littered with googly eyes and Sharpie markers.

“Take a look around, they’re not shy,” said Nellie.

Nick looked between her and the rocks, and plucked a specimen from the nearest shelf. It was large and gray, with pockmarks that made it look volcanic. “I guess, this one?” he said.

“Hmmmm,” said Nellie. She scratched under the ferret’s chin and squinted at Nick suspiciously. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Ok,” said Nick, forcing a patient tone, “Which one would you suggest?”

Nellie shrugged. “It’s not my rock. But I do know a bad match when I see one. Pick one that speaks to you. These fellas are looking for a forever home, just like everyone in the store.” At this, she looked pointedly at Static Man, batting her eyelashes. Static Man did something horrifying with the multitudes of teeth that protruded from his face like shrapnel. Nellie smiled back.

“Right. Little help, guys?” Nick asked, turning to the others.

Jon tilted his head slightly at Nellie with a small, concerned frown. “Do you want me to…?”

Nick looked panicked. “Help me pick one out,” he clarified quickly. “Please.” The four of them went to work inspecting the rocks and presenting them to Nellie, progressively less and less sure of what they were looking for as each offering was dismissed. More accurately, three of them went through this process while Static Man flirted with her. Jon eventually found himself turning the same rock over and over in his hands, listening in idly on their conversation.

“You didn’t have anywhere to be today, right?” Morgan commented, reaching across him for a small black rock that was keening pleasantly.

“That’s a good question,” said Jon, half to himself. His watch - which he’d neglected to take off while he was dozing in the breakroom - read 5:17. Still a couple hours before anyone might notice he was gone. “Does time work the same way, here?”

Morgan made an unworried noise. “Who knows. That’s one hazard we don’t usually worry too much about. One of the perks of not having someplace to get back to.”

“Not… Not at all?” said Jon, “You just do this all the time?”

“Pretty much,” said Morgan. “We’re not homeless, we do crash on Nick’s couch whenever we need a day off. But mostly, yeah, we just do stuff like this.”

“That sounds exhausting,” Jon marveled.

“It can be,” said Morgan. “Better than being trapped in one place.”

Jon wasn’t sure what kind of expression his reaction had translated to, but whatever it was drew a long, sympathetic look from Morgan. “Mmmh,” she hummed gently. She set her rock down and leaned on a shelf. “You too?”

Jon paused. He nodded.

“You mentioned an archive,” said Morgan, “Is it just you, back home?”

“No,” said Jon, “No, I’ve got… well, not friends, exactly. I know, that sounds bad, it’s… Well, it kind of is. The Archive, not the people. They’re the only thing worth staying for.”

“Always are,” said Morgan.

“You were all alone, weren’t you?” Jon asked. The parts of his situation that Morgan found familiar were painting a clear, bleak picture of what she’d escaped to be here. The dark places in here eyes were filled with more long, quiet nights than she cared to count.

Morgan studied him with the same serious appraisal she’d been giving the rocks. “Watch out for that. I hope you find your way out. But until you do? Don’t be alone.”

They both turned their attention to the other side of the alcove, where Static Man had dragged Nick in as a reluctant wingman. Nick was desperately trying to focus on the rocks while still making the appropriate comments on whatever Static Man was saying.

“Even if you end up stuck with dorks like these,” Morgan said fondly.

She turned back to the shelves as Static Man continued recounting the time he and Nick had fought a tribe of cyborg motorcycle centaurs.

“And then I was like, ‘Hands off my friend, you gas-guzzling son of a bitch!’” he exclaimed, and grabbed Nick’s shoulder for emphasis.

“That still doesn’t make sense,” Nick complained, holding a rock with a vein of crystal through it up to the light. “They didn’t even use gas, they had biofuel. It’s the whole reason we were there, remember? Those bugs were eating all their crops.”

“It was a drought,” Jon corrected him. Nick and Static Man looked over in surprise. “The bugs were just there looking for water. The sonic generator you used to drive them away shook loose an underground spring that saved the plants. Sort of an adjacent solution, I suppose.”

Jon tensed, waiting for the inevitable backlash. Instead, Nick rounded on Static Man with a triumphant fist upheld. “I knew it!” he crowed, looking between him and Morgan. "And you were worried it would cause structural damage!"

"Uhh because it did?" she said, "That's one step away from a sinkhole, in my limited knowledge of dirt things."

"Hey, Archivist? New rule," Static Man grumbled, "You only get to use your psychic powers to help me win arguments, got it?"

"I'll take that under advisement," said Jon, offering him an awkward smile. He tapped on the rock he was holding, and held it out to Nellie. “How’s this one?”

“Ohh, look at that,” she cooed. “It likes you!”

Jon stared down at the rock. It was not pretty, an unremarkable brown with a large black spot on one corner. The surface was smooth but not glossy, as if from wear rather than polish. It had an oddly comforting weight to it. Somehow it felt solid and dependable in a way that nothing else in the Arcade had. He could feel his own warmth reflected back towards him from how long he’d been holding it, magnified and radiating up his arm. My Girl by the Temptations had started playing over the store speakers.

“It does,” Jon said incredulously. “I don’t- how? Why?”

“How much is it?” asked Morgan.

“For him?” said Nellie. She studied Jon, eyes flicking between him and the rock. “I’d settle for one of those scars.”

Jon looked up. “Excuse me?”

Nellie traced a little crescent on her cheek where Jon had a scar from Jane Prentiss’ attack on the Institute. The ferret crawled up to nuzzle her fingers as she did so. “They’ve got a real arte povera vibe,” she explained, “I know a fella on the collector’s circuit who’d trade something good for one like that.”

“Riiiight,” said Jon, more a signal of acknowledgement than understanding. “If we’re ignoring the obvious questions as usual, am I allowed to haggle? There’s one on my leg that I’d like to be rid of.”

With an appraising sort of hum, Nellie leaned down and inspected the leg in question from a respectful distance. Jon clutched his rock a little closer.

“What’s wrong with that one?” asked Static Man, “Like, as opposed to the ones all over your face. And your hand. Man, you have a lot of scars, how did I not notice that before?”

“It’s a reminder,” explained Jon. “I suppose they all are, but this one’s different. It... hurts differently.”

“I gotta stop asking you questions, because every time you answer one I have, like, five million more,” said Static Man, a distinct tone of admiration in his voice.

“Nice to see that I’m not the only one,” Jon said dryly.

Nellie straightened to face Jon again. “I’m sorry, but I can’t budge on the price,” she said. “That one’s in deep. Now, the ones up top, you’ve got a few to spare.”

“Worth a shot,” said Jon, shrugging. “I’ll take it.”

He resisted the urge to squirm away as Nellie tugged down the neck of his shirt, revealing a scar just under his collarbone. She scrubbed at the edges of it gently until a sliver curled up into itself, then took the edge between two fingers and pulled. It came away to reveal smooth, unblemished skin underneath, as if it had never been there. Jon rubbed the spot with his free hand. He’d expected it to hurt. It just felt like peeling off an old band-aid.

“Thank you for that,” he said.

“My pleasure, dear,” Nellie said with a smile. She rolled up her sleeve around the ferret and carefully placed the scar on her shoulder, smoothing it down until it stuck in place.

“It looks good on you,” Morgan commented.

“Yeah, you look like a badass,” said Static Man appreciatively.

Nellie laughed. “What sweet young people you are! Are you sure there’s nothing else I can help you with before you go?”

“Actually,” said Nick, “There was one other thing. I was hoping to buy some pet food. We need birdseed and something for rats, mice maybe.”

Nellie gave him a knowing look. “The tailors. I thought it might be that one. You’ll want some fish food as well, everyone forgets to feed the fish. Tell you what, mister magic man. I’ll give it to you for free on the condition that you make sure that rock has a home after you’ve used it.”

“You’re familiar with the ritual, then,” said Nick. “You understand what I have to do to it?”

“It’ll survive,” said Nellie, waving her hand dismissively. “It’s a rock, not a champagne glass. I’ve just seen too many of the poor things thrown in the gutter after some hooligan has their way with them.”

Nick nodded. “I don’t see that being a problem. The Archivist seems pretty attached already.”

“Its name is Shirley,” Jon interjected. He was now clutching his rock in both hands and brushing his thumb absently back and forth over its spot. “And I’ll take good care of it.”

#it just keeps goin #i liked this chapter i hope you do too #if you're following this #tma #the magnus archives #a81 #archive 81 #crossover #fanfiction

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all-the-love-harold · 6 years ago

Text

Chapter 7 - Toast of the Town

We’re back to the original story line now! It’s going to be slightly different, but mostly the same, so if you liked it last time, I’m sure you’ll like it now. This chapter and in particular the scene where the song is first played wouldn’t have happened without @lovesmelikebrandnewstarlight and I can’ thank her enough for all her help with this series.

Chapter 6

Master Post

Inbox ( for boosting my ego and motivating me to keep posting)

April 7th, 2017, London.

Poppy’s alarm rang at 5:35am, like it did every morning, but today she was already awake, sitting at the kitchen counter, drinking a green tea with Harry.

“I have to start getting ready for work H” she said, reaching over and gently rubbing circles on his back. “It’s going to be a hit”

He took a sip from his mug and nodded “Thanks Pop” he said, not so sure that she was telling the truth. Today was the first day of his solo career, come 8am, his first single would be released to the world and he’d know if his hard work over the last twelve months was worth it. It was a risk. A six minute radio single was a risk for anyone to take, let alone someone who had only ever been known as part of a boy band. He had a lot to prove, and it all relied on this song.

His day was filled with phone calls to radio stations across the globe, which is why Poppy had arranged for his radio 1 interview to be pre-recorded, although right now he was kind of wishing she hadn’t so that she’d be around when it was released.

Poppy came out of her bedroom, bringing Harry back to reality.

“Are you going home H? Or are you going to hang out here?” she said as she put her earrings in

“I’ll go home” he said after clearing his throat “Jeff and Mitch are going to meet me there just before 8”

“Could you maybe drop me to work on your way then?” she smiled sweetly, knowing perfectly well that the broadcasting house was in the complete opposite direction of his house.

“I could” he said “What time are you going in?”

“About 7, I’ll make us some breakfast first, what do you want?”

“I’m not hungry” he shook his head

“Guess I’ll just have toast then”

****

The radio one office was always quiet before 9am, and when Poppy arrived at 7, she was the only one there. Except for Grimmy, of course, because his show started at 6:30. Poppy switched on her computer and made herself another cup of green tea while she waited for it to start up properly. And when it did, her inbox was filled with messages of anticipation for Harry’s single, mostly from fans, but some from promoters who were excited for it too. That put a smile on Poppy’s face, it felt nice to know that the world appreciated Harry as much as she did.

“Poppy Thomas” Nick said, walking down the hallway while his show went to the news.

“Nicholas Grimshaw” she said back, looking up from her computer

“You going to come into the studio to listen to your boys song go live?”

“Of course I am, wouldn’t miss it for the world” she stood up from her chair and grabbed her mug to meet grimmy in the middle.

“You see him this morning?” he asked turning around and heading back to the recording studio

“Yeah, he stayed with me last night, he’s nervous”

“He doesn’t need to be, it��s going to be a hit”

“He won’t believe that until it knocks ‘Shape of You’ off the charts” Poppy said very matter-of-factly.

It was 7:58 and Grimmy pressed play on the introduction to Harry as a solo artist and as Harry’s voice echoed through Poppy’s headset shivers ran up and down her whole body. There was something special about hearing it in the studio, it made it feel real, like she was experiencing a moment of musical history being made. After the introduction played and listeners were sufficiently hyped the opening notes of “Sign of the Times” travelled through the room. Goosebumps erupted on Poppy’s skin. From the very first note of the piano, goosebumps erupted on her skin. It sounded old and otherworldly, like the vintage records they’d sing along to while making dinner some nights or when they’d move the lounge and other armchairs so they could dance when drunk or needing to blow off steam. The sudden gravelly rasp of his voice shocked her, not least for the waves of emotion she could hear underneath it. She knew then that this was the right choice. Months ago, when Harry got home from Jamaica with a completed album and different voices telling him which song should be the first single, it was Poppy that told him to go with this one because it was the one that made her feel the most and she knew it would do the same for anyone that heard it. With every line, she felt herself reaching for the world he described, the place where they could all get away and it would be alright. She could hear the same tender steady calmness in his voice that emerged when he was comforting her or being particularly gentle. She hoped that it made his fans feel safe and like they had an ally. She was jolted from my thoughts by the notes he was hitting, unashamed to stare open mouthed at the range and power he displayed. He was singing his heart out and she was so proud of him, clear by the emotion that had leaked out her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. And just like that, the song closed and the sound of Nick’s pre-recorded voice filled her ears.

“Good Morning” he said and Poppy took a moment to wipe her eyes before she looked up at the real nick, who was doing the same. They smiled at each other and started laughing at how ridiculous the whole thing seemed, and then they took their headphones off and wrapped each other in a hug

“The little shit” Nick laughed “Has us both in tears at 8am on a friday morning”

Poppy giggled but before she had the chance to respond, her phone started ringing She saw Harry’s face light up the screen and swiped to answer. “Hiya Solo artist Harry Styles” He chuckled in the other end “Did you hear it?” “Of course and you’ve got me and Grimmers in tears”

“Sorry” he said, not sounding sorry at all “Any texts in yet?”

“I haven’t looked, I’ll check and send you photos”

“Thanks, what time are you finishing today?”

“Benny’s not in, so I’m calling it a day after Grimmers show”

“Great, I’ll meet you at yours at 11 then, my last phone call is at 9:30”

“Bye H”

10:55 and Poppy was walking along her street towards her building, a lot of things about today felt weird. It was weird being out of the office this early, it was weird that “Sign of the Times” was now a song that everyone had heard and it was weird that One Direction now felt like Harry’s distant past. Soon after she walked in her front door, there was a knock on it followed by Harry’s barging entrance.

“I’ve got someone for you to meet tonight” he said handing her a cup as he walked in.

“Hmmm, I’m listening.” She smiled

“His name’s Danny, and he’s ruggedly handsome, trust me, you don’t want to say no to this one Poppy” “You said that last time and look how that turned out” “Yeah, sorry about that, old Jimmy was not my finest choice” “I don’t think he’s anyone’s finest choice” “Probably not, but Danny, Danny’s a great guy, you should definitely give him a chance” “I’m interested, if he’s as ruggedly handsome as you say”

“Have I ever been wrong about that?” he smirked

“No” Poppy pouted, hating that he was right

Harry placed himself on the couch and let out a loud groan while he put his feet up on the coffee table. “Make yourself at home then” Poppy stared at him “Just because you’re a solo artist now, doesn’t mean you can put your feet on my coffee table.” He took his feet off the table and handed his phone to her and she furrowed her brows as she took it from him. “It keeps ringing, and I don’t know what to say when people tell me it’s a good song” “What do you want me to do with it?” she held the phone in her hand, and it started to ring again, looking at the screen, she saw that it was Des that was calling. “It’s your Dad, you should probably answer this one” he rolled his eyes, but he took the call while she went to her room to get changed out of her work clothes. He was on the phone for a while, by the time he had finished she had curled your hair and done her makeup, nothing special for today, just a little bit of concealer to cover her dark circles

“Well don’t you look nice” Harry said walking into the bathroom and looking at Poppy in the mirror “My best friend released his first single today, wanted to look nice to celebrate” she turned and smiled “How’s your Dad?” “Very Proud apparently” He said, picking up her can of hairspray and inspecting it “Of course, he is H, everyone is” she put her make brush back in its jar and turned to Harry “Should we go and get some lunch?” “Absolutely” he nodded, “My shout” “I hope so” she walked out of the bathroom and grabbed her handbag off her bed “Did you drive here?” “Yeah,” he took his keys out of his pocket and showed them to her “car’s parked a block away though, didn’t want anyone to know I was coming here today.” Poppy put her jacket on while Harry pulled his beanie over his head and put his hoodie up, incognito, as Poppy liked to call it. The paps would be looking for him today, and if they were looking they would find him even if his head was covered by a beanie. He wasn’t kidding when he said he’d parked a few blocks away, at this rate they might as well have just walked to get their lunch

There was one cafe that Harry and Poppy always went to, it was walking distance from Poppy’s flat and Ali worked there so they were always guaranteed the table in the back. They walked in to an empty seating area and a takeaway line that was almost out the door, but Alison was quick to spot them, carting them off to the back without making a fuss. “It’s my two favourite people” she beamed when she saw them both there. “Ali!” Harry smiled, giving her a hug before he took his seat, “What are you doing here on a Friday?”. She worked for an accounting firm on weekdays and occasionally picked up a shift at the café to save some extra money on the weekends “Just getting my lunch to take back to the office” she pointed at the counter where one of the staff was making her fresh sandwich, “Heard you on the radio this morning, H, it’s a great song, I’ve had it on repeat in the office all morning” “Thanks Ali, means a lot” he nodded modestly Ali turned to Poppy and told her about the rumour she heard about one of their classmates getting a job in her building and Poppy told her that she was having the day off to celebrate with Harry. Ali had never understood their relationship, she was one of those people that believed that men and women couldn’t really be just friends, that there was always some ulterior motive, but that just wasn't the case with Poppy and Harry, at least that’s what they told people anyway. They were friends and that was that. Ali had always pushed Poppy to make a move, but to her, Harry would always be the boy that she met in an airport the day she landed in London and that wouldn’t change. Ali didn’t stay long, once her order was ready she’d finished bragging about her big time job, she took the sandwich from her friend and said her goodbyes. “I’ll see you two tonight” she waved as she walked by your table. “Stop staring at her ass Harry” Poppy glared at him while she took a sip of her second coffee of the day. “Sorry” he cleared his throat “You know I’ve always had a thing for her” “You’ve never hidden it well” “She’s single right?” he asked taking a sip of his water “Yeah, you finally going to make a move?” “Maybe” he shrugged. When they both finished eating their lunch, Harry paid, and they made their way out the back door to his car, which was parked at the other end of the parking lot. As they walked, Poppy spotted a member of the paparazzi, attempting to conceal himself behind some bushes. Harry was a few feet in front of her, so she ducked her head so that they couldn’t see her face, and pulled her phone out to text him. “Paps in the corner, behind the bushes, they’ve probably already snapped a few pics” She watched as he took his phone out of his pocket and looked towards the bushes sending her a reply “Go out the front of the cafe, I’ll pick you up from there”

She felt her phone buzz and she subtly turned around, checking her bag, so that they would think she left something inside. She went in and told the manager that the paparazzi were sitting out the back, before heading out the front door, and waiting for Harry to round the corner. A few minutes later his car appeared and pulled up to the kerb so that she could get in. “So much for staying hidden today H” “As long as they didn’t get you in the photos, we’ll be safe, don’t want Danny to get the wrong idea” he laughed, not worried about the pictures, it was all a part of the life that he was used to by now. In an attempt to lose any paps that might have tried to follow them back to the apartment building they went the long way round, taking sharp turns down small one way streets. When they finally pulled up and made it inside, Poppy threw her handbag on the bench and Harry shuffled into her bedroom without a word.

“What are you up to?” she yelled after him “Finding you something to wear tonight” he called back, while he opened the wardrobe. Poppy followed him and sat on her bed, watching him go through her things. “Style me Styles” she giggled He pulled a bronze lace dress out of the wardrobe “This is nice” he nodded “I’ve never seen it before” “I bought it to wear to a work Christmas party last year, but I decided not to go” “Let’s put in in the maybe pile for tonight” he turned back to the mess of a wardrobe in front of him, flicking through the rack, pulling out a similar looking pink dress and holding out to look at it properly “These are almost the same dress Pop” “They are not! This one” she held up the bronze dress “shows more cleavage, and that one” she pointed to the one Harry was holding “is all pretty and lacy and I just couldn’t stop myself from buying it” He nodded, placing the pink dress on the bed next to the other one and returning to the wardrobe. A few moments later, he pulled out another pink dress “This one matches the album cover” he handed it to her. “No one’s seen the album cover yet, so the point would be lost on everyone except you” “It would boost my ego though” he shrugged “Fine” she said standing up off the bed “I’ll try it on, and the others too” she unbuttoned her jeans and took them off as he passed you the first dress, unhooking her bra she laid the dress down and unzipped the back. Harry was watching intently as she stepped into the dress, wriggling a little to get it past her bum. “Zip me please” she turned her back towards Harry and he zipped up the dress. “Danny’s a lucky guy” he said, looking at her in the dress

Poppy looked in the mirror, not liking how the dress fit around her chest “It would look better if I had cleavage to expose” “You’ve got great tits though, that makes up for the lack of cleavage” he said, a smirk spread across his face “Harry!” she giggled, throwing her bra right at his face “It’s true!” he laughed catching it before it hit him on the tip of the nose.

Poppy tried the rest of the dresses on, and settled on the bronze one because it was the most comfortable. “Alright” he said turning to the shoe closet “Shoes” “Black ones I think H” He waded through all the shoes, pulling out dozens of black pairs, almost all identical, growing more frustrated the more Poppy said no. Finally, he pulled out a pair of black stilettos that laced up at the ankles. “Yes!” she said, “Those ones” “You’re going to kill yourself but fine” he said standing and flopping down onto the bed “I’m exhausted now” She laughed and laid right next to him “Me too, I woke up early to listen to some crappy song that was coming out today” “Hmm” he sighed contently “Me too” It didn’t take long for the two of them to drift off to sleep. Harry could sleep anywhere, and Poppy really was exhausted, this was her first day off work in a while and it was nice to catch up on some sleep. *** Poppy woke up an hour later when she could no longer feel Harry’s hot breathe on her neck. Rubbing her eyes, still a little hazy from her nap she stood up and walked into the kitchen, finding Harry near the doorway, putting his shoes on. “Where are you off to?” she yawned, still a little dazed from sleeping for so long “Home, I’ve got to get…” he stopped talking while he looked for his other sock “Away?” Poppy giggled “Ready” he chucked at her reference to his song. He pulled the laces tight on his shoe and stood up, making his way over to her “I hope I didn’t wake you up love” “It’s alright, I need to get ready too” He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead “See you 9, text me when you get there” he turned the door handle and gave her a stern look. She nodded “Bye H.” He walked out the door, closing it gently behind him, making sure his beanie was on enough to cover his hair, he went outside and made his way quickly to his car. London traffic was always busy on a Friday and what would normally be a ten-minute drive took forty and he was running late to meet his stylist. He speed into the driveway, pulling the handbrake and jumping out of his car. When he got inside he checked his phone, finding that his stylist was also running late. He let out a sigh of relief and sat on the couch in the sitting room resting his head on a cushion, taking a moment to breathe before the night got hectic. He couldn’t take his mind of Alison, the way she walked into that café with a sense of importance and spoke so sweetly about his song. He’d always been intrigued by her, but today he just couldn’t get her out of his head. The buzzer rang about ten minutes after Harry sat down, and pulled him out of his daze. “Heyyy, it’s stylist Harry!” he exclaimed into the intercom “Heyyy, It’s Harry Styles!” Harry Lambert countered back. Harry buzzed him into the gate and opened the front door to greet him. Lambert hopped out of his car, opening the door to the back seat, and took out Harry’s suit. “Shoes are on the other side H, can you grab them?” “Sure thing” Harry walked around to the side of the car and grabbed out Gucci box that contained a new pair of shoes for him to wear tonight. *** Harry sat in his chauffeur driven car, dressed in an all black suit, with nails painted black to match. Tonight, was his night, to celebrate his hard work and to launch his solo career with all the people that made it possible, but it was also Poppy’s night. It had been a long time since she had the chance to go out and properly enjoy herself and Harry knew how much she needed this tonight. His friend Danny, who had helped with the set design for the album artwork, was, as he had told her this morning, ruggedly handsome, but not good enough for her. In Harry’s eyes Poppy deserved the world, and someone that could give her that, but he knew she wasn’t ready for anything serious, so he settled for setting her up with guys he thought would at least treat her like an angel. The car pulled up and Harry jumped out, thanking the driver ducking his head as he moved towards the building to avoid being seen by any paps that may have received word of the launch party. He was met at the door by his manager Jeff, who shook his hand “Congratulations mate, you’ve got a number one single” Harry’s eyes widen at the news “What? No way?” “It’s not official yet, until next Friday, but it’s looking like you might have knocked your friend Ed off the number one spot” Poppy and Alison had arrived together about ten minutes before Harry did, immediately heading for the bar and grabbing a drink each. “Bartender’s cute” Ali said taking a sip of her drink “Go for it Al” Poppy winked, “I’ve got my eye on someone else tonight” “Do you?” she asked, surprise evident in her voice “and who is this knight in shining armor and why aren’t you talking to him” She giggled, finishing off her drink “Sorry, Harry has his eyes on someone for me” she held up her empty glass “shall we get another?” The room was buzzing with excitement and Poppy quickly spotted Harry by the door talking to his manager. She left Ali to flirt with the bartender, knowing that he would shut her down quickly and all if things went down according to Poppy’s meticulous plan, she would then turn to Harry for comfort. “Mr Harry Styles” she said when she was close enough to him for him to hear her “Miss Poppy Thomas” he smiled as she made her way over to him “You look handsome tonight” she said wrapping her arms around him “You look quite nice yourself, who picked that dress for you?” he winked, and she nudged him playfully “Some loser” she smiled “Some loser that will probably have a number one single” She looked at him in amazement “You could have opened with that” he shrugged in response “congratulations H, I’m a very proud friend” “Let’s go and get a drink, Danny’s at the bar” he winked at Poppy and they both turned heading towards the bar. “So is Ali” Poppy winked “The usual plan then?” “Yeah, but neither of us is to leave before speeches tonight, that would look bad on your part” “It would” he agreed as they reached the bar. He introduced her to Danny and he really was as ruggedly handsome as Harry had suggested. He was tall, with messy brown hair, not unlike Harry’s, and stubble that hid his sharp jawline. His eyes were a deep brown that you could easily lose yourself in and he spoke in a welsh accent, which is the one accent that never failed to make Poppy’s heart flutter. After all the niceties had been observed between the three of them, Danny got both Poppy and himself a drink and they split away from Harry, leaving him to make his move with Ali. Poppy and Danny took a seat on the couches on the other side of the room, away from all they hype so that they could actually hear what the other had to say.

“So, how do you know Harry?” he asked, finding the common ground between the two of them “I met him in an airport four years ago, and he took me in like the lost puppy that I was and we’ve been friends ever since” “He’s a good guy” Danny nodded “One of the best” she agreed “He said you helped with the album artwork?” “I did, I’m a set designer, so I got everything organised and looking pretty for the photo shoot” “They’re lovely photos” she glanced over at Harry while they were talking, seeing him and Ali laughing together and assuming that things were going well. Poppy and Danny spent the next few hours getting to know each other, flirting back and forth and drinking more than they should be. When it was time for speeches, they made your way towards the microphone so that Harry could see Poppy. That was a thing, Harry loved being on stage, but he hated speeches and Poppy was his grounding, if he could see her everything was ok. Ali found them and made her way over to the empty seat on the other side of Poppy while Jeff was giving his speech. “He looks good tonight, doesn’t he?” she whispered to Ali, hoping that she would agree “He’s a handsome man Pop” she whispered back “there’s a sparkle in his eyes tonight” Poppy held back a smile, she knew that sparkle was a combination of pride in himself and lust after Ali, she’d seen that look before and she knew that Ali had too. She leaned over to Poppy again, just as Jeff was finishing his speech “Poppy?” “Hmm?” “You wouldn’t be offended if I went home with H tonight would you?” “Why would that offend me Al?” “I just thought that maybe you had a thing for him?” “He’s my best friend Al, I wouldn’t dream of having anything more with him, I’ve seen too much” she laughed “So you’re ok with it?” “Go for it Al, you both need it” Poppy took a sip of her drink “Plus” you put your hand on Danny’s knee “I’ve got Danny” That drew her attention back to Danny who was starting to get annoyed with Ali’s presence. He placed a hand her thigh and looked at her intensely “Should we get out of here Poppy” She wanted to, she really wanted to, but she promised Harry that she would stay for speeches. “I told H I’d stay until after speeches” He sighed and rolled his eyes “I’ll get you another drink then” he got up and walked away just as Harry got to the microphone. Noticing that Danny was walking Harry made eye contact with her giving her a thumbs up, thumbs down motion, trying to gauge whether things were going well. She responded with a smile and a thumbs up and he nodded and started his speech, thanking everyone involved in the making of the single and the album, giving special mention to his manager and his family. She spotted Anne and Gemma in the corner crying with pride and she smiled, feeling the tears well in her own eyes. “And Lastly,” he said, looking at Poppy “I would to thank Poppy, my wonderful best friend, who has been a constant source of positive energy throughout this whole process, encouraging me to keep going when I was ready to give up and giving me a place to escape for a little while, Poppy, you’ve been incredible, and I can’t thank you enough for everything you do for me, I certainly don’t deserve a friend like you” Poppy held her now full glass up to Harry as he finished speaking about her, tears now evident in her eyes. Danny put his arm around her and she leant into him resting her head on his shoulder. Harry wrapped his speech by thanking the venue and the staff and handed the microphone back Jeff, who lead the crowd in a toast to Harry and Sign of the Times. After that everyone went back to mingling and Poppy felt Danny push her hair behind her ear. She turned to face him and before she knew it their lips were attached, and Danny’s hand was moving towards her inner thigh. “Now, we can get out of here” she said between kisses. Danny stood immediately, adjusting himself to hide the growing mass in his pants. She found Harry in the now thinning crowd and singled to him that you were leaving with Danny. He smiled to himself, pleased that this set up was successful. Poppy and Danny made their way outside and hailed a cab. After giving the driver, his address Danny closed the partition and unbuttoned his pants, pulling out his less than impressive hard cock. “Fix this for me will you?” he looked at Poppy and back down at his cock. She was taken aback by the gesture, but she obliged, wrapping her mouth around it and gently licking the tip before putting the whole thing in her mouth. Before long she felt the car pull up and quickly removed his cock from her mouth and watched him pull his pants back up and take his wallet out of his pocket to pay for the cab. They both stumbled up to his dingy apartment where he immediately showed her to the bedroom, once again pulling out his cock, and pushing her down onto the bed in a less than sexy way. Her lips met his and his hands made their way towards her centre, pushing her panties to the side and lining his cock up with her entrance. She let out a quiet moan as she felt him fill her, not even a minute later, she felt him coming undone above her, his orgasm spilling inside of her. He immediately rolled off her and laid down next to her, catching his breath. “Is that it then?” Poppy said, unimpressed with his selfish love making, if you could call it that. “You were incredible love” he said looking at her, in a post orgasm haze “You weren’t” she said standing up and adjusting her panties “If that’s all you’re capable of, I think I’ll be leaving” she picked up her things and made her way to the door, not hearing a single protest from Danny. Poppy left the building and ordered an Uber to pick her up and take her home, sending Harry a text while she was sat in the back. “That was a bust, dude didn’t even last a minute. I’m headed home now, hope things are going well with Ali” A reply came sooner than you expected “I’m sorry Pop, you can stay at mine tonight if you’d like? Ali’s had a few too many, I’m in the cab now taking her home, meet me there?” She told her Uber driver that she needed to go to her friend’s place, and he turned at the next street, heading towards Ali’s. “Sure thing H, we’ll tuck her in and call it a night, sorry you didn’t get yours tonight either” “Hey, it’s a sign of the times.” He replied almost instantly

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cjtrust · 2 years ago

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28 weeks later 2

28 WEEKS LATER 2 PROFESSIONAL

28 WEEKS LATER 2 SERIES

28 WEEKS LATER 2 TV

28 WEEKS LATER 2 FREE

If it is a direct sequel to 28 Days Later, here's where we left it.Īfter Jim, Selena and Hannah realised that the mansion was anything but a safe place (when is it ever?), Jim fought back and managed to kill all of Major West's men and even though West shoots Jim, a zombie takes care of the Major.Ĭut to 28 days later and we see the zombies seemingly dying of starvation, while the trio spot a jet and release their big banner saying, 'HELLO'. That makes us think it'll be closer to Annihilation than Ex Machina in terms of tone, but we'll have to wait and see. That's slightly impossible to predict, especially as Alex Garland said he came up with the idea after 'taking a trip'.

28 WEEKS LATER 2 PROFESSIONAL

Was she getting into professional shape for a return to the franchise? 28 Months Later plot: What will it be about? The actress who played Hannah, Megan Burns, hadn't acted since the release of the first film in 2002 – until 2018 when she appeared in a short film.

28 WEEKS LATER 2 FREE

Naomie Harris also has a free schedule after Bond 25 (AKA No Time To Die). In all, 28 Weeks Later improves upon 'Days' scares, story, characters, and plot to make for one exciting entry in the horror/sci-fi/drama genre.Cillian Murphy is making Peaky Blinders, but has space around that. And when you can't see where the terror is coming from in a horror film than you're in for something special. With a horror film, you expect there to be an ample amount of deaths, but the way in which Juan Carlos Fresnadillo directs the deaths is terrifyingly unexpected. Yeah, I'm looking at you every other horror film, it's cool to make them run.īut perhaps the biggest compliment I can give to the film is its utterly unpredictable. Adding to that experience are running zombies. That could lead to pacing and character issues, but with a non-stop action-horror, it actually works to the benefit of the experience. That partly because it's only 100 minutes long, but mostly because the film never takes a breath. Between school time, Odd and William keep themselves busy by entertaining people with their band Code: Earth which also includes Aelita, Brynja, Theo, Emmanuel, and Nicholas. All of which, do a wonderful job in roles that aren't necessarily flushed out. 28 WEEKS LATERLAST OF THE INFECTED DIE OUTHIROKI ISHIYAMA REPORTED MISSING,PRESUMED DEAD It’s been several months since the attack at the cottage and life has returned to normal. Not only do you have some nice lead turns from Robert Carlyle and Catherine McCormack, but you have Idris Elba, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, and Imogen Poots before they became famous. I also found the cast to be quite impressive. So, in that way I like what the film tried to do. Usually we either see everything as the apocalypse is going down, or maybe several years later.

28 WEEKS LATER 2 SERIES

Implausible probably, but we've never really seen an apocalyptic series that attempts to go back and restart civilization from the same area. Of course, apparently it was a good idea for the military to reoccupy London and start building up a civilization again, even though it was the center of disaster only a half a year earlier. 28 Weeks Later picks up after London is deemed safe and virus free, as the undead have starved to death after the events of the previous film. Similar to how the Cloverfield films are related but not directly tied in, 28 Days Later is a prequel of sorts, but the characters and plot are entirely different. There's something so glorious about seeing the streets of London be a wasteland that only occupies a select few living and undead. Director: Daniel Boyle, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Danny Boyle Genre: Horror, Horror/Suspense Movie/TV Title: 28 Days Later/28 Weeks Later Edition: 2-Disc Set. But there's something about the '28' series that really hits well for me. 28 Weeks Later is smartly realized by showing us a wide cast of.

28 WEEKS LATER 2 TV

The 21st century has been flooded with films and TV shows about zombie apocalypses, so it's difficult for any of them to stand out and feel completely fresh. A solid sequel that delivers more gore and thrills but less humanity and food for thought.

#28 weeks later 2

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worryinglyinnocent · 7 years ago

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Fic: A Beginning, Of Sorts

Summary: You know, I can’t even remember where this prompt came from but it cropped up in conversation after this fic involving Nick and Gloria roleplaying an escort and client. Some of us were talking about how terrible Rush would be as an escort, and someone else ( @woodelf68 perhaps?) said that they could actually see it working as a method for him to fund himself through college – minimal investment of time for maximum financial return.

Anyway, wherever it came from, this is the finished product. Nicholas Rush meets Gloria when she hires him as to escort her to a fancy party one evening…

Rated: M – fade to black, but adult themes.

=====

A Beginning, Of Sorts

Nick sighs, pushes his glasses down his nose to be able to rub the bridge, and readjusts them before looking again at the paperwork spread out in front of him, trying to make sense of it all.

PhD’s are fucking hard work. He loves maths, he loves physics, he honestly does, but right now there are numbers swimming in front of his eyes and he really doesn’t think that he’s going to get anything vaguely useful out of it tonight. With a grunt of pain from the ache in his neck, he leans back in his chair and closes his eyes, wondering whether to get some more coffee and try and plough on with it, or give it up as a bad job. He’s worked twice this week already so he thinks that he’s allowed to be knackered.

The phone, shrill and urgent and unrelenting, bursts into angry life and Nick rolls his shoulders before going to answer it. There’s only one person who’d be calling this number at this time, and he’s not entirely sure he wants to answer. Maybe he should let it go to answerphone and he’ll pick it up in the morning when he’s less tired. Maybe he should just pretend to be out, but unfortunately he’s not exactly known for being a social butterfly. Pushing these other welcome notions aside, he grabs the receiver.

“Rush.”

“Hey Nick, it’s Liz.”

He knew that it was going to be Liz. She sounds even more tired than he does. Liz isn’t her real name, he knows that much, but he’s never pried into what her name actually is.

“Hi Liz.”

“Diary says you’re available Saturday night, is that still the case?”

Nick looks down at his paperwork. Of course he’s available Saturday night, it’s not like he has a hot date with anyone except these equations, and they’re not exactly the best company. True, they’re quiet and they share all his own interests, as far as theoretical physics is concerned, but they don’t really make small talk and you can’t really wine and dine a sheaf of papers. On the other hand… He rolls his neck again, feeling the catch. He’s just so damned tired at the moment.

Still, any work is good work, and even scholarship students need to eat and sleep.

“Yeah, I’m still available.”

“Great. I’ve got a job for you.”

“When, where, who.” He doesn’t really waste on small talk with Liz. She’s calling to give him an appointment, and anything else in their interaction is somewhat awkward.

“Saturday night at seven-thirty, a young lady by the name of Gloria Miller. She wants to meet you at the Palace Hotel bar for a chat but then you’ll be going elsewhere, she wants an escort to a fancy family party out of town. Play at being the boyfriend, you know.”

Nick raises an eyebrow. He doesn’t usually get escorting jobs that involve actual escorting. He’s really not the most social person in the world, and he’s really not the most social person on Liz’s books. Sex he can do – very well even if he does say so himself. Interacting with other people… Not so great.

“Are you sure I’m the right person for this one?” he asks.

“Well, the only other guy I have available on Saturday is Danny and he’s even more of a no-go for social events than you are. Besides, she sounded nervous and he’d send her running for the hills.”

Nick has to give a snort at that. Danny caters for rather more specialised tastes.

“I can trust you with this one, can’t I? I think she just needs someone to prop her up for an evening in the face of disapproving relatives. Just be polite and attentive and keep her drink topped up, and neatly deflect any questions about when the two of you are getting married and having kids.”

“Yeah, ok.” Well, that shouldn’t be too difficult. He wonders why Miss Miller has felt the need to hire company for the evening, but decides that it’s really none of his business and he’s not paid to think about those kind of things. “I’ll be there. Dress code?”

“Smart, but not super formal. Suit and tie.”

Nick wrinkles his nose. He hates wearing ties and tries to get away without one as much as humanly possible. He only ever wears them when he’s working and even then, if he can go without he will. Unfortunately, Liz can read his silence.

“You’re wearing a damn tie, Rush.”

“All right, all right. Saturday, half-seven at the Palace. How long?”

“She’s paid up till midnight, thinks the party will be breaking up by then.” There’s a long pause at the other end of the line. “I know I don’t have to tell you this but take condoms and lube just in case. You never know.”

“Of course, Liz.”

“Payment like usual. Have fun.”

“Thanks, Liz.”

They say their goodbyes and Nick puts down the phone, staring at it for a few minutes before getting up and padding through to the kitchenette to make a fresh mug of coffee. If he’s sacrificing Saturday night to the tune of getting paid, he’ll need to keep working on these equations tonight.

The Palace Hotel isn’t the most expensive place his client could have chosen, but it’s certainly not the cheapest, and he wonders how old she is and how she came to be blowing her savings on hiring an escort and buying ridiculously priced cocktails in this bar. Nick readjusts his tie and takes a good look around the room, eyeing up the possible clients. He picks her out straight away. She’s sitting at the bar with a Margarita that she’s not drinking, and she meets his eyes as soon as he walks in. She’s the only one here alone, and Nick takes a moment to study her from afar before he goes over.

She’s fairly young, mid-twenties at most; his own age. That’ll make selling the fake relationship a bit easier. Long legs and soft curves encased in a classy, well-fitting little black dress. Honey-blonde hair pinned up, and pale skin. She’s very pretty, and Nick wonders again why she needs an escort for the evening.

Still, nothing to be gained by staring at her from the doorway, so he goes over.

“Miss Miller?”

She nods. “Please, call me Gloria. You must be Hamish. Thanks for coming.”

Nick admits that Hamish probably isn’t the best professional alias he could have chosen for himself, but since he’s so obviously Scottish, as Liz reminds him frequently, he thought that the best thing to do would be to play up that Scottishness. As long as none of his clients ask him to wear a kilt because he doesn’t actually own one and the last time he wore one, he was told that he looked terrible in it. When he first started in the job he had a terrible fear of being asked to wear a kilt and nothing else, because romantic fiction and ridiculous novel covers have a lot to answer for when it comes to the unnecessary objectification of Scotsmen.

“My pleasure,” he replies. He really hates parties. He hates most social occasions in general, but since this pays the bills and is earning him his PhD, he’s going to have to give in with good grace and be on his best behaviour during this one. Unless, of course, Gloria wants him to play at being an absolute arse in order to get her family off her back, the objective being that after him they’ll be happy with whoever she ends up with. Some of the more experienced escorts have had that kind of a job before, with clients who aren’t out to their parents. On the other hand, that might well backfire and lead to the awkward situation of her being put under even more pressure to replace the highly inappropriate ‘boyfriend’ and take up with someone better.

“Can I get you a drink?” Gloria asks.

Nick shakes his head. He doesn’t like drinking too much when he’s working because he likes to be fully alert and aware of his surroundings, and although he’s not been to all that many swanky parties in his time, he knows that there’s likely to be a lot of alcohol once they get there.

“Did the woman at the agency tell you what I wanted?” Gloria continues. “About the party, I mean.”

“She told me that there was going to be a party, but she didn’t give me any details.”

“It’s my grandparents,” Gloria elucidates. “They live about seven miles out of the city. They have a big pre-Christmas party every year, loads of family, friends, influential business people.” Her voice hardens on the last few words. “And every year so far since I moved out, I’ve turned up without a date, and my grandmother tries to set me up with any number of godawful would-be suitors, as if I only exist to be married off and continue the family line, and…” She breaks off. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be saying all this.”

Nick just shrugs. “You can say whatever you like, it makes no difference to me. I’m here for you, not any of your relations.”

“At any rate, this year I was determined not to turn up on my own and that’s where you come in.” She pauses. “I wanted to meet you here before so we could work out a reasonable cover story. I’m doing my Education Masters at the university, we met there.”

Nick nods. “Yes, that’s easy enough.” He wonders if their paths have ever crossed before. “What was your Bachelor?”

“Music. I play the violin; my aim is to get into an orchestra. Teaching’s a backup in case that dream falls through. You? I don’t mean in real life, obviously.”

“PhD,” Nick replies. “Which is technically the truth. You can pick the subject. Just nothing involving foreign languages, or I’ll be fucked,” he adds.

There’s a lot less nervousness in Gloria’s features now, and as she smiles, taking a sip of her margarita, her face lights up.

“Maths,” she says eventually. “You look like the mathematical sort.” She cocks her head on one side and smiles. “Am I even close to being right?”

Nick quirks an eyebrow. “That would be telling. Anything else I need to know?”

“My grandpa made his money in antiques, my dad carried on from him, and all the women in my family are professional wives.” She snorts. “They really want me to settle down, so there’ll probably be a bunch of questions about when we’re going to get married and how many kids we’ll have. If I can say one thing for my family, they’re very… eager.”

Nick just laughs. He thinks he’s going to get on with Gloria. They’re more alike than he thought would be possible, considering their vastly disparate backgrounds, but despite her obvious privilege, she seems grounded enough. He’s met enough of the other sort during the course of his ‘career’. Burning Daddy’s money away and coasting along through their classes.

“We should probably get going,” Gloria says, draining the last of her drink. “They’ll be expecting us soon.” She pauses. “I think you should know, before we go, that a bit of me is just doing this to spite my dad. He gave me a ‘dress allowance’ and told me to go and get ‘something pretty for the party’. So I did.” She pauses. “Sorry, that’s horribly insensitive.”

Nick shrugs. “It’s true, in the most brutal sense of the word.” Her frankness is refreshing, and so is her apology.

“Yes, but it’s still not a very nice thing for me to have said.”

“We’ll say no more about it. I’m flattered that you think I’m pretty.”

“Oh, you’re very pretty.” She slips her arm through his and they leave the hotel bar; there’s a taxi waiting. The drive to her grandparents’ house is quiet and awkward, but Nick’s sure that once they’re there, the uncomfortable atmosphere will dissipate a little as it will no longer be just the two of them. He’s going to be completely out of his depth, of course, but that’s par for the course, and as the newcomer to the family, no-one’s going to expect him to be the life and soul of the party in a hurry. At least, he really hopes not. As they pull up to the drive, Gloria begins to speak again and with the taxi idling outside the door, they work out a few last minute details so that they don’t end up giving all the relatives two subtly different versions of the same story. They don’t need to know everything about each other, this fake relationship doesn’t have to have been going on very long. There’s no need to fake true love and wedding bells on the horizon, just enough of a familiarity not to be suspicious. Although, Nick thinks as they walk in through the front door and he sees the vast amounts of alcohol around the place, he doesn’t think that anyone’s going to be in a position to call attention to anything suspicious any time soon.

“I’ll try and keep you close as much as possible,” Gloria says. “It would be unfair to leave you to be mobbed by all my relatives.”

She introduces him to everyone in short order, and Nick knows that he hasn’t got a cat in hell’s chance of remembering any names, so he just decides to be the arm candy that he was hired to be, keeping his mouth shut as much as possible and listening politely to all the conversations going on that he really doesn’t understand. People are talking about investments and banking on one side and probing Gloria for information about her future plans on the other side, and Nick can quite see why she needed an ally for the evening. It must be incredibly daunting for anyone to come here alone and be met with such a barrage of information and questioning from well-meaning family members who don’t really mean all that well. The main person that he has to fend off is Gloria’s grandmother, who seems to have taken quite a shine to him. Then again, from what Gloria’s told him, she would probably take a shine to any man that Gloria turned up with for the simple reason that he has the ability to get her granddaughter pregnant and produce some great-grandchildren.

“I’ve tried telling her at least sixty times that I don’t want kids, at least not until I’m thirty,” she mutters once they finally manage to extricate themselves from Grandma Miller’s grasp and are hiding out of the way of everyone behind the grandfather clock in the hall. Gloria’s on her third glass of champagne already and she knocks back the dregs. “I really hate these things. But I’m very glad you’re here.”

“I haven’t exactly done much,” Nick points out. “I’m just quiet and respectable boyfriend Hamish.”

“I know, but you exist tangibly which is the main thing, and I can always talk to you and block out everyone else. And I can complain about all my relatives to you and you won’t be offended.”

Nick laughs. “No, although you might be if I share my opinions of some of them to you. It’s all right when you’re complaining about your own family but it’s a different thing if it’s someone else doing it. It’s a bit like Scotland, I suppose. We all make disparaging remarks about various bits of our culture but as soon as someone south of the border makes those same comments, well…”

Gloria smiles. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” She glances back towards the living room where most of the party is gathered, and she sags in her high heels a little. “Do we have to go back in?”

Nick shrugs. “It’s your party and your time,” he reminds her. “I’ll just go along with whatever you do.”

Gloria looks at him sideways, twirling the stem of her champagne flute between her fingers.

“You don’t like these events, do you?”

“Honestly? No. I’m not usually first choice for this kind of thing. But I’m here.”

“Yeah, we’re both here and we’re both miserable. Come on, let’s hide. We’re both consenting adults and apparently in love, I don’t think anyone’s going to come looking for us.”

Gloria grabs his hand and leads him up the stairs; from some of the noises coming from behind closed doors, they’re not the only ones who have decided to leave the party and get up to no good. Although, Nick reasons, he doesn’t know what this particular little excursion with Gloria is going to lead to. She takes him into a small bedroom, a little bleak and sparse, no personal touches in it.

“It’s my room when I stay over,” she explains, opening the window to let some cool night air in and sitting on the windowsill, rummaging around in her little clutch bag and taking out cigarettes and a fancy lighter. “Do you mind?”

Nick shakes his head. “Not at all. I brought my own.”

Gloria laughs and pats the windowsill across from her, offering her lighter, and Nick takes it. The first drag is just what he needs after the tension in the party downstairs.

“Your name’s not really Hamish, is it?” Gloria asks presently.

“No. But I’d rather not tell you what it really is.”

“Fair enough.”

This moment here, sitting smoking in a room lit only by moonlight, is the most comfortable and relaxed that Nick’s been with Gloria all evening, and the silence that settles between them isn’t awkward like it had been before. There’s an unspoken understanding between them; he’s not really sure where it came from but it’s there and it’s nice. It’ll make the rest of the time go easily.

Gloria finishes her cigarette and leans back in the window, looking out over the vast garden beyond, and occasionally glancing back at him, her head on one side, considering him. Nick raises an eyebrow.

“What’s up?”

“I’m wondering whether it would be bad form to kiss you,” Gloria says frankly, and whilst Nick wasn’t sure what he was expecting, he’s fairly certain it wasn’t that. “Because you’re not at all how I was expecting and you’re very handsome, and I’d like to kiss you.”

Nick certainly wouldn’t mind if she kissed him. She’s certainly very lovely and his feelings towards her are positive, rather than the usual neutrality he tends to maintain with clients. He likes her.

“I’d be up for that,” he admits.

“I’m glad.”

She’s firm in her kiss, she knows what she wants, and she tastes of smoke and alcohol like so many women do. She smells expensive, like so many women do. But she’s different somehow. There’s a realness to her, which is ironic considering that the entire time he’s been with her he’s been playing a role. But there’s no pretence to her now, not like the bright, smiling, perfect daughter she had been downstairs. He likes her, it’s as simple as that, and that makes this experience so much more enjoyable for all the many, many times he has done it.

So he keeps kissing her, and she keeps kissing him back, and there’s a champagne brightness in her eyes when she pulls away, a brightness that Nick recognises all too well. It’s a good job that Liz warned him to bring condoms just in case.

“We should probably get back to the party.”

They’re sitting in Gloria’s four-foot single bed, Nick at the head and Gloria leaning against the wall, propped up on pillows, the ashtray on the covers between them. He doesn’t really have any desire to move, and he knows that whatever time they get back to the party, people are going to be giving them looks that immediately say that they know what they got up to whilst they were absent, but Nick really couldn’t care less about that, and to all intents and purposes, Gloria doesn’t seem to care too much about it either. But the clock is ticking down, and soon he’ll have to leave because her payment will have run out.

“Aye, we probably should.”

It’s with obvious reluctance that Gloria gets out of the bed and puts her clothes back on without self-consciousness and Nick follows her lead. Once they get back down into the main party room, it’s clear that a lot of the guests have already left. They get the usual looks, a mixture of disapproval from some of the elderly relatives and indulgent ‘they’re hot-blooded young things’ sentiment from the others. Gloria’s mother chastises her for skipping out on so much of the party and Nick listens to her deflect the veiled barbs in a wonderful display of passive aggression that he couldn’t have bettered himself. Finally, she manages to get him out of the door and into a taxi that’ll take him back to the Palace.

“Thank you,” she says as they part. “For everything. I’ve had fun tonight. Well, the bits when we weren’t at the party were fun. And the party was less awful than usual. So thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

The taxi slides quietly into the night, and Nick glances back over his shoulder through the rear window at Gloria standing in the driveway, and he wonders if he’ll ever bump into her again.

It’s a new year and a new term and a couple of months have passed with Nick trying very much not to think about Gloria when he sees her suddenly, and suddenly, everything changes and he has no idea what to do with himself because he’s walking in one direction with his coffee and she’s walking in the other direction with her violin case and it’s inevitable that they’re going to meet in the middle of the street. She recognises him just before they collide with each other and smiles.

“Hello. How are you?”

Nick’s still somewhat stunned but manages to answer.

“Fine, thanks. You?”

“I’m good. It’s been a little while, hasn’t it?”

No-one would know that they were talking about an escorting appointment, but either way, it’s clear that they remember each other and they have been thinking about each other in the interim. Nick’s not the best at small talk, something that Liz has despaired of in the past, but they chat for a couple of minutes.

“Do you maybe want to get a coffee later?” she asks presently.

“I…” He really doesn’t know what to say to that because he does want to, but at the same time… “You know what I do in my spare time,” he warns her.

Gloria nods. “I do. It’s how we met, remember.” She shrugs. “It’s just coffee.”

Just coffee. He can do just coffee. God, he spends so much of his working life around the opposite sex that one would think that he’d know what to say to them when he meets one he knows in the street. He nods.

“All right then. That sounds good. Tuesday night?”

“Great. Although there’s one thing. I know you’re not called Hamish, but can I maybe get your actual name before we meet again?”

Nick gives a snort of laughter. “It’s Nick.”

“Pleased to meet you, Nick. I’ll see you Tuesday.”

It’s a beginning of something, Nick’s pretty sure of that as they continue down the road on their separate ways. It’s a pretty strange beginning, and he’s not sure what it’s the beginning of yet, but it’s definitely a beginning.

#SGU fic #woodelf68 #NickxGloria #Dr Nicholas Rush #Gloria Rush

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aion-rsa · 6 years ago

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The Actors Who Have Played Batman

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We take a look back at the 8 crusading actors who’ve played Batman in TV and the movies, as well as his animated avatars!

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Holy revolving door, Batman! The Caped Crusader has been portrayed by more actors than any other superhero in movie history – eight to be exact. Most have lasted for just one film. But after The Dark Knight Rises, Christian Bale has become the first man to have played Bruce Wayne and his alter-ego more than twice on the silver screen. He didn’t have much competition – Michael Keaton was the only other actor to reprise the role at the time.

Ben Affleck tied Bale for appearances as Batman with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, his Suicide Squad cameo, and 2017's Justice League. That run will not extend to a fourth film, though, as Affleck has exited the role.

But before anymore history is made with Matt Reeves' upcoming take on the Dark Knight (where Bruce Wayne might be played by Robert Pattinson or Nicholas Hoult according to recent reports), let’s take a look at the men who have been Batman.

1. Lewis G. Wilson

Wilson was the first and youngest actor ever to play the adult Batman, and also the least successful. At 23, the unknown thespian donned the cape and the cowl in the 15-part 1943 Columbia serial Batman. While he looked the part of the dashing playboy, his physique was more Danny DeVito as the Penguin. One critic described Wilson as “thick about the middle.” Maybe that was why he wore his utility belt just below his chest. Critics also complained that his voice was too high and that he had a Boston accent. That, of course, wouldn’t be the last time someone complained about Batman’s voice.

read more - Men of Steel: 11 Actors Who Have Played Superman

After Batman, Wilson’s career went nowhere. Most of his roles went uncredited. His next biggest movie part was probably in the 1951 cult classic Bowanga Bowanga. A few years later he was out of showbiz altogether. His son, Michael G. Wilson, however, fared better in Hollywood, becoming the executive producer of the James Bond series. Lewis G. Wilson died in 2000.

Buy the 1943 Batman serial on Amazon

2. Robert Lowery

Lowery took over the role in the follow-up serial, 1949’s Batman & Robin. Unlike Lewis, Lowery, 36 at the time, was a veteran actor, having already appeared in The Mark Of Zorro (1940), The Mummy's Ghost (1944), and Dangerous Passage (1944). He also filled out the Batsuit better than Lewis, with his utility belt hanging where you would expect it on a non-octogenarian.

read more: The Actors Who Have Played The Joker

Though Lowery never played Batman in another movie, he did get to wear the cape once more and make superhero history in the process. In 1956 he guest-starred on an episode of The Adventures of Superman, marking the first time a Batman actor shared screen time with a Superman actor. (The two also appeared together in their pre-superhero days, in a WWII anti-VD propaganda film called Sex Hygiene).

After Batman, Lowrey enjoyed another 20 years in movies and TV. He died in 1971.

Buy Batman & Robin (1949) on Amazon

3. Adam West

The man logging the most hours in the Batcave, of course, was William West Anderson, whom you probably know better as Adam West. Either you love him for his goofy charm or hate him for blemishing the Bat’s image for several decades. His campy, over-the-top portrayal of Gotham’s Guardian infiltrated nearly every medium, including a 1966 movie and several animated series.

read more: The Early History of the Batman TV Series

Legend has it producer William Dozier cast West after seeing him play a James Bond-like spy called Captain Q in a Nestlé Quik TV ad. He beat future Wonder Woman co-star Lyle Waggoner for the role. Dozier, who supposedly hated comic books, decided the only way the show would be successful was if they camped it up. So blame him.

Things would almost come full circle in 1970 when West was offered the role of James Bond in Diamonds Are Forever. West declined, later writing in his autobiography that he believed Bond should always be played by a Brit. Holy bad career moves, Batman!

After the Batman series went off the air in 1968, West was resigned to typecast hell. At one point, he was forced to make public appearances as the Caped Crusader to earn a living. Then, in 1977, he returned to the tube as Batman, doing his voice in The New Adventures Of Batman, and then on such shows as Super Friends.

read more: The Comic Book Origins of the 1966 Batman TV Series

West’s resurgence as a pop-culture icon began in the early '90s when he starred as a has-been TV action hero in the pilot episode of Lookwell, produced by Conan O'Brien and Robert Smigel. It wasn’t picked up but took on a cult following online (check it out here). He made regular appearances on Family Guy. as "Mayor West" before returning to voice Batman in two excellent animated features that expanded on the show's continuity, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders and Batman vs. Two-Face (opposite William Shatner as the special guest villain). West died in 2017, but his Bat-legacy is immortal.

Buy the Complete 1966 Batman TV Series on Amazon

4. Michael Keaton

It took more than 20 years for Adam West to lose his exclusivity on Batman.

When director Tim Burton (who like Dozier was not a fan of comic books) and Michael Keaton were announced for 1989’s Batman, fans went bat-shit crazy, thinking their beloved superhero was going to get the Adam West treatment again. Keaton's casting caused such controversy that 50,000 protest letters were sent to Warner Bros.’ offices. In an effort to appease the naysayers, Batman co-creator Bob Kane was hired as the film’s creative consultant. And in case you're curious, here is Keaton, Affleck, and a long list of other great castings that fans initially thought would suck.

Other Hollywood stars considered for the role of Batman included Mel Gibson, Kevin Costner, Charlie Sheen, Pierce Brosnan, Tom Selleck, and Bill Murray. But producer Jon Peters said he cast Keaton because “The image of Batman is a big male model type, but I wanted a guy who's a real person who happens to put on this weird armor. A guy who's funny and scary. Keaton's both. He's got that explosive, insane side.''

read more: Why Tim Burton's Batman 3 Never Happened

The studio and the fans had nothing to worry about. Keaton’s performance received favorable reviews, and Batman killed at the box office. Variety magazine gushed, “Michael Keaton captures the haunted intensity of the character, and seems particularly lonely and obsessive without Robin around to share his exploits.” Keaton was rewarded by being the first actor to reprise the role on the big screen. And in 1992’s Batman Returns, Keaton again garnered positive reviews.

Of course, Keaton has now seen a career revival thanks to the spectacular Birdman, and his time as the villainous, winged Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming!

5. Val Kilmer

When the Batman franchise was turned over to director Joel Schumacher, Keaton decided not to return. Daniel Day-Lewis, Ralph Fiennes, William Baldwin, and Johnny Depp were reportedly considered as replacements. But the job was won by Val Kilmer – probably the most forgettable of the modern Batmen. Go ahead – try to remember. See? You can’t.

Schumacher became interested in Kilmer for 1995’s Batman Forever after seeing him in Tombstone (in which he played Doc Holiday, who Adam West also portrayed in a movie before he did the Batman TV series). Kilmer allegedly accepted the role without even reading the script or knowing who the new director was. Schumacher quickly learned who Kilmer was, though, and the two clashed on the set. Schumacher later described Kilmer as “childish and impossible,” claiming that he fought with various crewmen and refused to speak to him for two weeks after the director asked his star to stop behaving rudely.

read more: The Batman Forever We Never Saw

Kilmer’s performance got mixed reviews. As The New York Times put it, “The prime costume is now worn by Val Kilmer, who makes a good Batman but not a better one than Michael Keaton.” Bob Kane felt otherwise, saying he thought Kilmer did the best job of all the actors to have played Batman up to that point.

The movie performed better than Batman Returns at the box office, but Kilmer was destined to be a one-term Caped Crusader. Between his bad attitude and his concern that the superhero wasn’t getting as much screen time as the villains, he left the Batcave for good. Instead of filming 1997’s Batman & Robin, he did The Saint.

After Batman, Kilmer’s career headed downhill. Though it was probably 1996’s The Island of Dr. Moreau that had more to do with that than Batman Forever.

6. George Clooney

George Clooney’s movie career was just taking off when he was cast in 1997’s Batman & Robin, with his breakthrough performance coming just the year before in Quentin Tarantino’s From Dusk Till Dawn. Producers probably felt they pulled off a major coup landing the soon-to-be mega-movie star. Those producers, along with Clooney, may regret that decision now.

Batman & Robin was a disaster, rife with homoeroticism, camp, and those infamous Bat-nipples. Clooney once joked that he helped to kill the franchise. “Joel Schumacher told me we never made another Batman film because Batman was gay.” The actor also called the movie “a waste of money.”

Critics and fans agreed. In 1997, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote, “George Clooney is the big zero of the film, and should go down in history as the George Lazenby of the series.” Batman & Robin received 11 nominations at the Razzie Awards and frequently ranks among the worst films of all time. It was also the worst box office performer of the modern Batman movies. However, despite its many, many, many flaws, we will stick up for it a little...

read more - Batman & Robin: The Judas Defense

But all that did nothing to hurt Clooney’s career. After Batman, he went on to super stardom, starring in Out of Sight (with a cameo from Michael Keaton), Three Kings, and O Brother, Where Art Thou? over the next three years alone, and he hasn't slowed down much since.

Buy The Batman Collection on Amazon

7. Christian Bale

Between Adam West and George Clooney, Batman seemed destined to remain a joke, at least when it came to live-action adaptations. Then came along Christopher Nolan. The Memento and Insomnia director was given the reins and he planned to reinvent the franchise, finally making the Dark Knight dark.

Among the early candidates for the Batman/Bruce Wayne roles were Billy Crudup, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Jackson, Heath Ledger, and Cillian Murphy. But Nolan ultimately chose Christian Bale, explaining that “he has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for.”

Bale got generally favorable reviews for 2005’s Batman Begins, with several critics saying it reminded them of his brilliant turn in American Psycho. Not so brilliant, it seems, was his uber-husky Bat-voice. One reviewer compared Bale's guttural utterances to a “10-year-old putting on an ‘adult’ voice to make prank phone calls.” It got even more gravelly in 2008’s The Dark Knight, with NPR’s David Edelstein describing it as “a voice that's deeper and hammier than ever.”

Even Kevin Conroy, the man behind probably the most recognisable Batman voice, chimed in, saying at a C2E2 panel in 2010 that Bale’s voice was “ridiculous” and implored the actor to stop doing it. While The Dark Knight Rises was not as well received as 2008's sterling The Dark Knight, especially in the fan community, we still will happily come to the defense of it.

Also, Bale was crucial to the alchemy in Nolan's second Batman feature, The Dark Knight. That film is generally considered the benchmark in the superhero genre that all other movies about caped do-gooders are compared to nearly a decade later. It is also the only superhero movie to win an acting Oscar, for Heath Ledger's iconic Joker, and is considered responsible for why the Academy now nominates 10 films instead of five for Best Picture. This occurred after The Dark Knight was egregiously snubbed in 2009.

Buy the Complete Christopher Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy on Amazon

8. Will Arnett

With any other actor in the role, the presence of Batman in the 2013 cinematic smash The LEGO Movie could easily have become the sort of performance that gets neglected from lists like this. However, Arrested Development star Will Arnett brought some comedy magic to the role and landed his own spin-off movie as a result.

It helped that movie came at the perfect time in Batman’s busy cinema schedule – long enough after The Dark Knight Rises for lampooning of Bale’s gruff Batman to be entirely welcome, and far enough before Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice that Arnett’s new iteration didn’t get lost in all the hype for Ben Affleck’s debut.

The result of this perfect casting and canny scheduling was a Batman who will go down in the history books as the funniest, freshest and downright fun-est take on the character. From penning "dark" lyrics to haplessly attempting to hide his secret identity, Arnett’s Batman was a gag machine who The LEGO Movie’s younger audience really embraced.

There were knowing winks in there for adult fans too, with such as dialogue as “I only work in black – and sometimes very very dark grey" appealing to comic book fans and LEGO Batman’s painful attempts to hit a button with a Batarang surely connecting with anyone who’s ever got stuck for hours at a simple door-button in the Arkham Asylum games.

Arnett’s delivery, combined with Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s zingers, made this portrayal a quick favorite for many, and he reprised the role in The LEGO Batman Movie in 2017, to equally impressive effect. Bats is back in The LEGO Movie 2, out on February 8 and he'll get a sequel of his own at some point, too.

If you want more hilarious Arnett voice work in the meantime, check out BoJack Horseman on Netflix – you wont regret it.

9. Ben Affleck

It is often said that history repeats itself, and so it did when Ben Affleck was cast in the role of Batman for Zack Snyder's controversial Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Affleck was fresh off of seeing his third directorial effort, Argo, win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, cementing one of the most grandiose career comebacks in Hollywood history. He also was in the midst of filming Gone Girl with legendary auteur David Fincher at the helm. Nevertheless, fans went apoplectic that the star of notorious flops like Gigli and Jersey Girl was now the "Bat-Fleck." The fact he appeared in the mediocre Daredevil movie from 2003 likely did him no favors.

Yet, ironically, Affleck is now generally considered the very best part of Batman v Superman. Like Michael Keaton before him, Affleck enjoyed fan adulation only a few years after intense backlash. Of course, the actual depiction of his Dark Knight in director Snyder's hands is far less universally loved. For the record, Affleck offered a solid performance as the Batman. He was neither as haunted and emotionally elusive as Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne or as noble and psychologically broken as Christian Bale's take on the character. In fact, Affleck lacked the lived-in quality of either performer's interpretation. But what he did have is a picture-perfect physique for the role and a sense of dashing charisma that all other Bat-actors have lacked or underplayed.

read more - Batman v Superman and Batman & Robin: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Some fans have even suggested that he was the perfect Batman due to his appearance and natural charm, but he was hampered in BvS by a voice modulator no less absurd than Bale's gravely alternative, as well as a characterization of Batman that bordered on fascism, as he ambivalently murdered bad guys with gunshots, car collisions, grenades, knife stabs, and even crushing one's head in with a crate. This cruelty and the totalitarian streak was in-keeping with Frank Miller's extreme vision of the character in The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel. But that story was always a major departure from mainstream interpretations of the character. In fact, for all the visual upgrades to Affleck's Batman, his characterization completely lacked the altrusitic heroism and sense of driven purpose enjoyed by the much more humanistic (read: flawed) take offered by Christian Bale.

Justice League, for all of its behind-the-scenes problems, was something of a course correction for the DCEU and Affleck's take. It saw his Batman's evolution, apparently "inspired" by Superman's sacrifice at the end of Batman v Superman to be a more balanced hero.

Too bad the Bat-fleck's time is up. Affleck will not be returning for Matt Reeves' upcoming The Batman solo movie, which will hit theaters in 2021.

The Voices of Batman

Speaking of Batman voices, there have been about as many men to voice the Caped Crusader as have portrayed him in live-action. But the bulk of the animated Batman work over the years has gone to two actors.

In real life Olan Soule was a bespectacled pencil-necked geek, but that didn’t stop him from voicing the Dark Knight in six different animated series, beginning with 1968’s The Batman/Superman Hour. His run pretty much ended when Adam West took over voicing duties in the late '70s. Soule, who also appeared in such films as The Day The Earth Stood Still and North By Northwest, died in 1994.

Unlike Soule, Kevin Conroy could probably pull off Batman in real life, but so far he’s been relegated to voice work – and quite a lot of it. Conroy began voicing the superhero in Batman: The Animated Series, which made its debut in 1992. Since then, he’s done three other Batman series, a bunch of animated movies and videogames.

read more - The Essential Episodes of Batman: The Animated Series

Others to voice Batman are Will Friedle (Batman Beyond), Rino Romano (The Batman), Diedrich Bader (Batman: The Brave And The Bold), Jeremy Sisto (Justice League: The New Frontier), Bruce Greenwood (the brilliant Young Justice), and Bruce Thomas (who voiced Batman in commercials for GM’s OnStar service and portrayed the character briefly in the live-action TV series Birds Of Prey).

But Will Arnett deserves special attention.

With any other actor in the role, the presence of Batman in the 2014 cinematic smash The Lego Movie (which we reviewed here) could easily have become the sort of performance that gets neglected from lists like this. However, Arrested Development star Will Arnett brought some comedy magic to the role and landed his own spin-off movie as a result.

It helped that movie came at the perfect time in Batman’s busy cinema schedule – long enough after The Dark Knight Rises for lampooning of Bale’s gruff Batman to be entirely welcome, and far enough before Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice that Arnett’s new iteration didn’t get lost in all the hype for Ben Affleck’s debut.

The result of this perfect casting and canny scheduling was a Batman who will go down in the history books as the funniest, freshest and downright fun-est take on the character. From penning ‘dark’ lyrics to helplessly attempting to hide his secret identity, Arnett’s Batman was a gag machine who The Lego Movie’s primary younger audience really embraced.

There were knowing winks in there for adult fans too, with such as dialogue as “I only work in black – and sometimes very, very dark grey’ appealing to comic book fans and Lego Batman’s painful attempts to hit a button with a Batarang surely connecting with anyone who’s ever got stuck for hours at a simple door-button in the Arkham Asylum games.

Arnett’s delivery, combined with Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s zingers, made this portrayal a quick favorite for many, and it was telling that no one is complained about Arnett’s reprisal in an upcoming 2017 standalone story.

In fact, The Lego Batman Movie only cemented the adoration received by Will Arnett's much more ego-centric version of Bruce Wayne. A petulant, selfish loner who secretly watches romantic comedies when no one is lookng, it is a broadly funny (and perhaps more honest?) take on a billionaire who sneaks out at night to beat up poor people. It also unabashedly referenced countless other Batman movie, comic book, and cartoon moments, which we unpack right here.

The number one Batman?

It’s probably not a worthwhile question to ask which Batman actor is the best. It’s hard to argue that Christian Bale isn’t tops among the live-action crowd (Though I’m sure there are some Adam West Michael Keaton, and Ben Affleck fans out there who might take up the cause).

Still, Bale is no Christopher Reeve, whose iconic portrayal of Superman has made replacing him a seemingly impossible task. Bale was a respectable Bruce Wayne/Batman, but the franchise can and has moved on without him. And though another half-dozen actors have resided in Wayne Manor, we have not found the definitive Batman.

Until then, Hollywood is sure to keep trying.

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Feature

Books

James Aquilone Rob Leane

May 17, 2019

Batman

The Dark Knight

Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice

Ben Affleck

Christian Bale

Michael Keaton

DC Entertainment

from Books http://bit.ly/2RVnSsi

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letithappeneverafter · 8 years ago

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Tame Impala in the fast lane

Kevin Parker and Tame Impala headline the Laneway Festival, which winds up in Fremantle. Eight years after playing as gates opened, Perth psych-rockers Tame Impala are closing St Jerome’s Laneway Festivals around Australia.

The annual event, which kicked off with one Melbourne gig starring the Avalanches in 2005, started in Brisbane on Australia Day and culminates in Fremantle on Sunday. Tame Impala mastermind Kevin Parker reckons being asked to headline Laneway 2017 is “immensely fulfilling on a career level”. “One of the first festivals we ever did was Laneway,” the 31-year-old says from tour rehearsals in Sydney. “We were opening up, the first band on. We were literally playing as they opened the gates.” Describing leading Laneway as “more important” to him than playing any big US festival, Parker jokes that the added bonus of finishing up in Freo is that his home is just down the road. Festival organiser Danny Rogers is “super honoured” to have Tame Impala as the star attraction for the lucky 13th Laneway. “I don’t think there’s been a band more important out of WA since the Triffids,” he says. “ They’re probably the biggest Australian success story of the past 20 years.” Parker is “extremely humbled” by that praise, which is very high given he works with artists of the calibre of Gotye, the Temper Trap and D.D Dumbo (also playing Laneway 2017). “I can’t deny it, we’ve done well,” he adds. “I’m proud of us. It didn’t happen overnight. We’ve worked hard for it and travelled a lot.” Parker and his bandmates have spent the past 18 months touring to all parts of the globe on third album, Currents, which added five ARIA Awards to Tame Impala’s swag. Currents also picked up a Grammy nomination and saw pop superstar Rihanna cover album track New Person, Same Old Mistakes. Besides headlining one night of three-day festival, Panorama in New York (Frank Ocean and Nine Inch Nails top the other nights’ bills), Tame Impala’s set in Fremantle will be their final live performance for some time. “We’re finishing the album cycle,” says Parker, who has been annoyed and frustrated by rumours Tame Impala are breaking up. “You’ve heard it from me that if anyone speculates on the future of Tame Impala then they’re getting it from absolutely zilch source ... rant over.” Manager Jodie Regan says it’s time Parker took a break to work on other projects. “Kev worked really hard on Currents and then worked really hard on all of the touring to follow it up,” she says. “He really opened himself up a lot more than he ever had. It really, truly exhausted him.” Based in LA since 2014, Regan is head honcho of Tame Impala’s label Spinning Top Music, which has a big year ahead. In addition to hosting a stage at Laneway on Sunday featuring performances from Nicholas Allbrook, Aurora, A.B. Original and recent signing Fascinator, the Fremantle-based label has new records from Pond, Peter Bibby and Cameron Avery. Parker has produced Pond’s seventh album, The Weather, which is released in May and should see the psych-rock band led by Allbrook, also a former member of Tame Impala, take another big step up. Avery’s solo debut Ripe Dreams, Pipe Dreams is also impressive and out on March 10. Regan says Parker will continue to focus on “fun” production work, ranging from Perth bands such as Pond and rap-jazz combo Koi Child to superstars, such as Mark Ronson and Lady Gaga. “I think he’ll have some fun for a while, a couple of years, and we can’t really expect anything (from Tame Impala) for a while,” she says. “He won’t make an album if it’s not better than Currents.” Parker won’t reveal which big names he’s currently working with but says ending up smeared in Lady Gaga’s lipstick shooting the video for her single Perfect Illusion last year was a “freeze-frame” moment. Parker met Gaga on the day they co-wrote Perfect Illusion with super-producer Mark Ronson. The lead single from her 2016 album Joanne evolved out of a demo Parker took to the Malibu studio. “I had no idea what to expect,” Parker says. “I had this idea I was going to meet this grandiose, mythical person. “But, it’s funny ... then you spend five minutes with them, you realise they’re a human being as well. “I’ve never worked with someone so passionate and dedicated about every detail of the music.” Shooting the full-on party scenes in the video were also eye-opening. experience. “It all ended with (Gaga putting) me in a headlock ... lipstick smeared all over my face,” Parker laughs. “They did an amazing job of creating that vibe so that all they had to do was film it. By the time we were rolling, I was enjoying it as much as I was terrified. “That was one of those moments where it’s like ‘Freeze-frame — how did I end up here?’” by Simon Collins https://thewest.com.au/entertainment/tame-impala-in-the-fast-lane-ng-b88374816z

#tame impala #kevin parker #currents #laneway2017 #laneway festival

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marlenacantswim · 2 years ago

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my artistic motivation has resurfaced from the depths much like a video from one of those youtubers who makes fantastic really well-edited videos but only like once every eight months.

anyways ignore me look at the BOYS!!! THERE THEY ARE!!! Bill and Ted wow look at them go :)

Lineart + Stuff That Inspired Me To Make This under the cut, snip snip snip

I've been reading a lot of comics lately and there's a few that have really gotten me in the "draw bill and ted" mood. first off, one day i realized that the website i use to pirate comics probably also has bill and ted comics and then i proceeded to read all of them.

i was really into the way the artist for the comic "Bill and Ted are Doomed" draws Bill's eyes, so that influenced my decision making process while i was drawing this for sure.

seeing the art style of the short bonus story at the end of the first issue of Bill and Ted's Most Triumphant Return made me go crazy insane and staring at the like, five total pages for an insane amount of time finally convinced me that i want to stray away from realism and take my personal style in a more cartoonish direction.

finally, i've been reading Hellboy for the first time ever (thank you @noahxgail) and all the beautiful shapes and angles and AUGHJJJJJJ PURE ART were a direct influence on the approach i took when i drew this most non-bogus piece. honestly a big reason i even picked up my pen was because reading hellboy makes we want to start drawing shapes ALL the time.

welp anyways, if you read this far comment uhmmm don't comment anything down below i don't want to know. leave me in ignorance. be sure to do absolutelt nothing to the like or sinscribe buttons if you happen to see them anywhere, there's a bet i'm currently on track to win against them but if you touch either of them you will FUCK IT UP FOR ME and i'll LOSE THE BET so DON'T DO THAT. mr beast has taken my mom hostage. he wants me to download honey.

i also drew nicholas angel and danny butterman in this style

#running my mouth #my artwork #bill and ted #bill and ted's excellent adventure #bill s preston esquire #ted theodore logan #made this with my hands #i fell asleep three times while typing out these tags it is 5:30 am #actually just fell asleep a fourth time haha

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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The Teleprompter Interview: Daniel Mays ‘I’d jump at an Ashes to Ashes Return’

https://ift.tt/3dZSoaJ

‘He pops up absolutely everywhere doesn’t he?’ says Daniel Mays about his Code 404 co-star Stephen Graham. You could say the same of Mays. A draw on any cast list, between them in the last year alone they’ve appeared in almost 20 major titles – 1917, Good Omens, White Lines (Mays), The Irishman, The Virtues, Line of Duty, Save Me (Graham) to name just a handful.

Why Mays and Graham are in such high and regular demand is no mystery; they’re two of our best. Mays has an instant affability on screen that he’s able to turn to tragedy or comedy or both at once. Graham’s characters are often the reverse, unknowable and dangerous before he lays their vulnerabilities bare.

In sci-fi comedy Code 404, they play detectives with a tangled personal history. Mays is a DI unexpectedly brought back from the dead via some bug-ridden experimental AI tech. Graham is the trusty partner who’s been keeping his colleague’s wife (Anna Maxwell Martin) company during his absence.

Already renewed for a second run, Mays tells Den of Geek it’s the most binge-watched show on Sky in eight years. “We’re all buzzing about doing another series.” As the first is released on DVD, he talks us through his TV memories…

Which TV show inspired you to start your acting career?

Robbie Coltrane in the Jimmy McGovern drama Cracker. I find his stuff heart-breaking at times but it’s astounding social realist television. Any script written by Jimmy is nuanced and powerful. He’s one of this country’s most amazing writers.

More than anything though, it was Robbie Coltrane’s performance. I remember all the incredible performances, Robert Carlyle as the skinhead with those fantastic interrogation scenes, Christopher Eccleston… but Coltrane as this antihero, a gambler and a womaniser and a drinker, a maverick copper, he was amazing.

That and Prime Suspect.I could go further back, but in terms of when I was really getting serious about becoming an actor, those were the two that were compulsive viewing. I’ve subsequently gone on to work with Jimmy McGovern so it feels like it’s gone full circle.

Which TV character did you want to be when you were younger?

As a kid I was really into The A Team and whassisname, David Hasselhoff! Michael Knight from Knight Rider. As a kid I was obsessed with that show. I had all the action figures. That car was so cool wasn’t it? And when he did the turbo boost and jumped over everything!

In The A Team I probably wanted to be Face, but in reality, if I was to be cast as anyone now it wouldn’t be Face [laughs], it would be Murdoch wouldn’t it?

And which TV character would you like to be now?

When I was working, I didn’t really watch much telly at all but obviously that’s all changed now we’re in lockdown. Before, I hadn’t ever delved into The Sopranos, and I love that character, Tony Soprano. If I could pick one TV character I’d like to have a go at now, that’s the one.

Has any TV programme ever given you nightmares?

Oh man, I’m telling you! There was an ITV adaptation of Jekyll & Hyde with Michael Caine. I’m going back years and years, I must have been about 10 or 11. The make-up that they used in this show when he changed from Dr Jekyll to Mr Hyde, the Hyde make-up was absolutely terrifying, to the point where it really affected me.

I was far too young to watch it and I even had to sleep in between my mum and dad at 10 years old, I was absolutely petrified of that character. Even in preparation for these questions, I went on YouTube and typed it in and there he was again, petrifying, even today!

When did you last laugh out loud watching TV?

The new Alan Partridge when he’s doing the talk show with Susannah Fielding, that particular sketch when he was attempting to use the toilet on the train without using his hands, when he went into that whole routine of opening the door with his knee. Anything with Alan Partridge I find absolutely hysterical.

I’m an absolute sucker for Only Fools and Horses as well. I’m such a die-hard fan of that show and whenever that pops up on UK TV or Gold, if I end up watching five minutes, I have to sit down and watch the whole episode. I’m such a lover of that relationship between David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst, I think it’s absolute gold, all of those characters, John Sullivan’s writing, it’s part of my fabric growing up. It’s probably my favourite ever TV show.

Name an iconic TV moment for your generation

The opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics was an amazing moment of television isn’t it? It started out in like a farmyard [laughs] and I remember thinking, ‘what have we got going on here? We’ve got the eyes of the world watching us…!’ But it then proceeded to be the most engaging and emotional extravaganza. In terms of Olympics opening ceremonies, nothing comes close to that, even in Beijing when you had that huge number of people. It was so brilliantly British. I don’t know why I ever doubted Danny Boyle. He hit it out of the park.

What was the last TV show you recommended to someone?

I recommended Save Me, the Lennie James show. I watched the second series of that in lockdown and the second series was even better than the first, and I absolutely adored the first series. I thought that was an absolute breath of fresh air, I think it was really amazing that Lennie had written this piece set on a sink estate and yet it felt vibrant and I loved the characters. It was just a wonderful piece of television. They’ve got to do another series. I definitely recommend that.

Life on Mars Creator Wants to Bring Back Sam Tyler

By Louisa Mellor

Lennie James interview: Save Me, Storm Damage, The Bill

By Louisa Mellor

Starring your Code 404 co-star Stephen Graham

Yes! He pops up absolutely everywhere doesn’t he?

Which TV show does everybody keep nagging you to watch that you haven’t yet seen?

Ozark and Succession. They’re two shows I’m yet to delve into really. They’re two on my list I’ve got to tick off, along with everything else!

Which TV show would you like to bring back from the dead?

There’s all this talk that there’s going to be a final instalment of Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes, which I keep hearing rumours about. From what I’ve read, it’s more based around what happens to John Simm’s character Sam Tyler. I don’t know if it’s going to be a modern-day thing but I always wanted to see Gene Hunt in the 90s. It’s difficult to make that happen because Ashes to Ashes was sewn up brilliantly. I’m sort of hesitant to say it should come back but Gene Hunt is such an iconic character and Phil Glenister was so incredible in that role.

I’ve always gone on record and said that Jim Keats – the character I played, the devil – was one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever done so if there’s an opportunity to play that role again, I’d jump at that. Is it egotistical of me to pick a show that I’ve been in myself?!

Which show do you wish more people would watch? If you were forced to pick another one of yours?

I did a single drama on BBC Two called Mother’s Day about the Warrington bombing. That’s a really important moment in history and it’s such a heart-felt drama. If anyone’s not seen it, that would be something I would recommend to people to watch. It’s not for the faint-hearted.

Have you ever done fancy dress as a TV character?

[Laughs] I went to an EastEnders fancy dress party dressed up as Frank Butcher! My then-girlfriend went as Pat so we were Pat and Frank. Then when I got there, there was another guy dressed up as Frank Butcher but he was gangster-Frank so he had all the bling on. We had a bit of a Frank Butcher-off.

Tell me you were the Frank Butcher with the spinning bow-tie?!

[Laughs] I didn’t go that far! Actually, scrap the Olympics opening ceremony, do the Frank Butcher bow-tie as the most iconic moment of my generation [laughs].

Which TV theme song do you know all the words to?

I know all the words to Friends and I have to say, Only Fools and Horses again, whenever that comes on I always end up singing all over it.

Which TV character would you like to beat in a fight?

What’s the TV show that The Rock does? It’s set in LA, Russell Brand’s been in it as well. I wouldn’t mind beating up the Rock, because my wife loves a bit of the Rock! So I could beat him up in a TV drama. Who wouldn’t want to beat The Rock up?!

What is the most fun you’ve had making television?

White Lines for Netflix, without a shadow of a doubt. That’s a complete no-brainer. The locations, the character I was playing, the actors I was working with and the scripts were just absolutely brilliant and bonkers. Fingers crossed we get a second series.

If you get a second series, your character Marcus has quite a different role set out for him, doesn’t he?

Yeah! He’s going to become the drug baron of the Calafat family. It’s all to play for isn’t it, especially for Marcus, the whole thing’s been left wide open for him to get into all sorts of mishaps and scrapes.

That character was probably the most enjoyable character I’ve played, him and Jim Keats. I just had such a ball, he was so funny and he had this sort of tragedy to him as well. He’s just so hapless. The thought of Marcus in Colombia or Bolivia or wherever just makes me howl even thinking about it.

And when else do you get to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a dog?

That’s true! I forgot I did that scene. That’s mad isn’t it. Though I actually only punched the dog’s chest. At one point I did say ‘Shall I give the dog actual mouth-to-mouth?’ and the director Nick Hamm said ‘I think that’s too much Danny, even for this show.’

Code 404 is out on DVD & digital 6 July.

The post The Teleprompter Interview: Daniel Mays ‘I’d jump at an Ashes to Ashes Return’ appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3gtbpnG

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