#maybe cos of that whole incident [stares off into the distance dramatically]

[playbarbies]

gonna move my hatchetfield muses over here methinks

[capcarolsdanver]

Why Her? (Part 4)

Summary: This fic is based off a request from an anon after some speculations that have been made on my blog. Brie enlists the help of the reader to get a date with a girl that reader knows from class, only for unexpected feelings to be caught. Drama/angst/fluff to come! Pairing: Brie x Reader

A/N: The final chapter is here!! This was a fun one to write. Thank you to everybody who read it, and most importantly, thank you to everybody who liked/reblogged and gave me feedback!! You guys don’t know how important it is to writers. I look forward to hearing what you think of the last chapter! I hope you enjoy!

Please do not repost my writing anywhere without my permission.

PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3

You once again find yourself sitting on your own at the campus library, surrounded by textbooks that you’re trying to convince yourself to focus on. The rest of the weekend after you’d left the diner had been fairly uneventful, aside from the onslaught of texts and phone calls from Brie that you’ve been evading.

You weren’t trying to be hurtful in your actions, but seeing her and Sarah talking together, and standing so close, made you realise how careless you’d been. You had let yourself develop feelings for Brie. You’re certain of that now, after spending practically the whole weekend going over and over the reason why you’d run from the diner.

And now you’re just trying to protect yourself and give both you and Brie the time and space you think your friendship deserves, if you still can even call what you had a friendship. You know that if you continue the same kind of routine that you and Brie had fallen into, then it would only lead to more confusing, damaging feelings arising.

And that would be unfair to the both of you.

As if aware that your thoughts had drifted to her, Brie is suddenly sitting opposite you at the table, fixing you with a hard look.

You would be lying if you said you were shocked by the presence. You knew it was only a matter of time before she would confront you over your ghosting her.

“Well it’s good to know you’re alive,” she says. It’s hard to interpret her tone, especially because you refuse to meet her eyes. Partly because you’re still trying to keep your distance. But you do also still feel embarrassed by your dramatic exit only two days ago.

At the time, you hadn’t even been thinking about the repercussions, but after the fact, you had realised how confusing the situation may have been for Brie, especially with your radio silence afterwards.

“Hi,” you say sheepishly. You still hesitate to look at her but you already know that her hard stare doesn’t waver.

“That’s it?” Now you hear the snippiness of her tone. “You ignore me for two days and ‘hi’ is all you’ve got to say?”

“I wasn’t ignoring you,” you try, but she cuts you off quicker than you expect.

“Really? What do you call it, then?”

You stutter, failing to come up with an answer. You were ignoring her, after all. Though you don’t want to admit that to her, because then you would have to explain why you were ignoring her. And you’re fairly sure that would ten lead to you talking about seeing her and Sarah at the diner together, and what exactly that might mean.

“I was busy,” is all you can come up with. Brie scoffs from the other side of the table.

“You were too busy to let me know you were okay?” You sense a more fragile emotion leaking into her tone and finally you tentatively meet her gaze. “I was worried about you,” she admits softly, her vulnerability on full display.

“Well maybe you should stop worrying about me so much,” you bite out, immediately regretting your unintentionally heated response. Brie looks taken aback and you can practically see the wall she starts putting up around herself as her features harden.

“Yeah,” she says, her voice unnervingly dropping any signs of emotion. “Maybe I should.” She abruptly pushes her chair back to leave and you feel an incredible pang of guilt again.

“Brie, wait,” you say hastily. You half expect her to continue on her way without a second glance, but instead she freezes where she is. She looks at you expectantly. “I’m sorry. You didn’t deserve that.”

“You’re right. I didn’t.” Her words are clipped and you don’t blame her for her attitude at all. After all, it’s your feelings getting in the way of things, not hers.

“I’m an asshole.” You shake your head at yourself. “Forgive me?” You plead, your apologetic eyes on Brie. You watch her resolve begin to crumble and her tense muscles seem to relax a little. Eventually she nods.

“Okay. Only if you explain why you ignored me, though.” It’s a fair request, though of course you can’t exactly answer it truthfully.

“I didn’t lie when I said I was busy,” you decide to supply, even though you know full well you had spent the last two days hiding out in your dorm room doing almost nothing but thinking about how to deal with your emerging feelings for Brie. “I barely looked at my phone all weekend.”

She seems to accept your answer and turns to face you more directly again. “Well how about now? Are you too busy to go grab a coffee with me?” She is casual in the way she asks, though her tone betrays her in revealing a hint of nerves in her words.

You know you probably shouldn’t go. You know, really, you should be putting at least some distance between you and Brie to salvage the friendship and spare either of you hurt feelings. But then how were you ever expected to say no to her? Especially when she’s standing right in front of you and you still feel guilty about your behaviour over the last couple days.

You force yourself to hold in the sigh that you almost release, because of course you know you’re going to say yes to her.

————————

Coffee with Brie goes pretty well, if slightly less relaxed as your usual time spent with Brie is. You do feel better for agreeing to go, though, mainly because Brie seems much happier when you part ways than when she had first shown up to talk to you at the library that morning.

You avoided the topic of Sarah completely, and you’re not sure if it was intentional but Brie seemed to do the same, also. You’re not sure how to interpret that just yet, but you choose to ignore the gnawing feeling it gives you. Was she deliberately not bringing Sarah up around you for a reason? Or had she just perhaps not even thought to bring the other girl up in conversation?

You must admit, that possibility seems odd, seeing as it was literally the entire reason why you had started talking to Brie in the first place, and since a lot of the time you spent together hanging out was at parties where Sarah also was.

Though, of course, there were also the times you spent together where Sarah wasn’t even so much as mentioned. The movie night only a handful of nights ago immediately comes to mind.

You shake your head to clear your thoughts on your walk back to your dorm room after your final class of the day. This is the exact reason why you feel like you need to put some distance between you and Brie for a little while. This constant questioning over every interaction you and Brie shared would surely do no good for either of you in the long run.

Once you make it inside, you thankfully find your room empty. You do have a roommate, though you rarely see her at all, which works for you just fine. Especially when you have so much on your mind and want nothing more than to just be on your own. You throw your bag down next to your desk and throw yourself down on your bed, heaving out a heavy sigh before you fish your phone out of your pocket.

You’ve barely checked it all day, but you’re still surprised to see a text from Brie waiting for you.

“I’m glad we’re okay.”

You stare at the text for probably far too long. You’re not too sure how to interpret it, though maybe there isn’t really anything to interpret from the seemingly simple text.

“Me too.”

You bite your lip anxiously, knowing that Brie will likely reply at any moment, but feeling entirely unprepared for it. On one hand, you could so easily fall back into your easy pattern of talking with Brie, but on the other hand, you are fully aware that you have to keep some kind of boundary between the two of you right now.

When you do receive another text from her a moment later, you again stare at the words staring back at you on the screen.

“So, what are you up to tonight? Impromptu movie night?”

You so badly want to say yes. The last movie night had been so nice, and you had loved the time spent with Brie. But then what happened shortly after that is in your head again, and that’s enough to make your mind up for you. You certainly don’t want any kind of reenactment of the diner incident, especially if Brie and Sarah have taken the next step and have started talking as you suspect they may have.

“I can’t, I have to study tonight :(“

Another easy lie that goes towards putting some space between the two of you.

“Aw, okay then nerd :P”

You would normally chuckle at Brie’s light teasing, but all you do is sigh in disappointment, because you so wish you could be on your way to Brie’s for a movie night right now. Instead, you leave her text unanswered and put your phone aside, staring at the ceiling and silently praying for the universe to just give you a break.

Brie sends several more invites to hang out over the next few days, and you would pat yourself on the back for finding an excuse to turn them all down if it didn’t make you feel so terrible. You’re slowly starting to think the space from Brie is just making you want her even more.

As if on cue, your phone vibrates on your bedside table.

“I hear there’s a party tonight…”

“Oh yeah?”

In all fairness, you haven’t really been looking out for any parties lately. Mainly because you’ve been trying to somehow push away your feelings for Brie, and you doubt going with her to a party where Sarah would likely be would help you with that.

“Yeah. I hear Sarah will be there…”

You sigh, getting the confirmation that you aren’t at all surprised to receive. Of course this was all just another step in the Sarah plan. You don’t know how to respond, and you half consider just ignoring the message when Brie sends through another.

“Will you go with me?”

“I don’t know”

You don’t even really have any fake excuses left to use to get out of it, but you just hope that Brie picks up on your reluctancy to go and lets you off the hook.

“Please?”

Apparently not. Still, for a single word, her text does wonders at making your resolve slip. You close your eyes for a long moment and take a deep breath, slowly letting it out while you mentally prepare for the night ahead of you.

————————

You agree to meet Brie at the party, as it’s almost exactly halfway between your respective residencies. When you step through the open doorway, you’re hit with the overwhelming sounds of people yelling, desperately trying to be heard over the almost deafening volume of the music.

You keep a look out for Brie as you walk but there’s no need. You’ve only taken a few short steps when a gentle hand finds your waist and you twist around to see Brie’s wide smile.

“Hey,” she shouts, or at least you think she does. Seriously, if you made it through the night with your hearing intact it would be a miracle.

“Hey, yourself,” you shout back. Brie also seems to realise the problem with trying to have a conversation where you are. She looks around and spots a large open doorway opposite where you stand, grabbing your wrist to pull you towards it.

You make it into the kitchen, which you’re happy to discover doesn’t seem to have the same acoustics as the room directly attached to it because it is significantly quieter in here. There’s also only a small handful of people standing around, another startling contrast to the room full of people you had just come from.

Brie stops and takes a dramatic breath, quickly releasing it and she offers you an easy smile.

“You know, I kind of half expected you not to show up tonight,” she admits, but her smile stays in place. “I’m glad you did, though.”

You ignore the slight stab of guilt you feel, knowing full well that you couldn’t blame Brie for not even fully trusting that you would show up. You have been dodging every plan she’s tried to make with you for the last week.

“Well, you did say please,” you shrug and Brie’s smile grows in size, chuckling at you. You’re left standing facing each other for a moment in as much silence as the party will allow, and in the absence of talking, your eyes roam over Brie without your permission.

She looks good tonight. Not that she hasn’t looked every bit as good every other time you’ve seen her, but there’s something about her tonight. You look at her face and notice what you think is the slightest bit of nerves, and she clears her throat and takes a look at all the alcohol sprawled across the countertop.

She turns and takes it upon herself to make up two drinks. You watch her as she focuses intensely at the task at hand, before she grabs the cups and hands one to you.

“Thank you,” you say, a small smile of appreciation, and you make a move to take a sip, though you never quite get there as you’re startled by the sudden outburst of Brie’s voice across from you.

“I need to talk to you about something.”

You slowly lower the cup, not moving your eyes from her as you study her carefully. She looks far too serious for your liking. You try to play it cool, though your stomach sinks, realising what she was likely about to tell you. That her and Sarah had hit it off that morning at the diner, and that they had continued talking and hanging out together. Brie had finally earned that date she was after. You should have wondered why Brie had asked you to a party where Sarah would be even though you saw with your own eyes how comfortable the two were when they talked now.

“Aren’t we already talking?” You say stubbornly, immediately trying to find a way to end this conversation before it can even begin. You are nervous to admit that you hadn’t thought about what your friendship with Brie might look like if her and Sarah actually did get together, especially considering your feelings for Brie that only seem to be growing stronger. You can’t hold eye contact with Brie anymore, so you look away at anything that isn’t her. Your eyes land on a figure in the adjacent room. Sarah.

In a feeble attempt to avoid dealing with this conversation for the time being, you point her out before Brie can even get another word out.

“I found Sarah,” you say. Brie barely even offers a glance over her shoulder towards the other girl before she’s looking back at you again. “Go get her,” you say, a forced smile on your face.

“I just need to-“

“Seriously, you’ll miss your chance if you don’t go to her now.” You pointedly keep your eyes on Sarah, avoiding looking directly at Brie at all cost. You can feel your own emotions quickly beginning to rile up and you know you have to put a stop to this before you lose it.

“Y/N, please.” She reaches for you and the second her hand makes contact with you something within you snaps.

“Brie, what are you still doing here?” You growl and you can physically see Brie recoil a little. “Just go to her. We both know she’s the only reason we’re friends, anyway, so you might as well stop wasting your time.”

At this, Brie takes a full step back, as if she’s just taken a physical hit. “The only reason?” She asks in disbelief, hurt crossing her face as her features crumple slightly.

You at least have the decency to feel a little guilty. You know you have the tendency to snap like this when you’re trying to protect yourself. You’re an emotional person; you either snap, or burst into tears when dealing with anxiety-ridden situations like this. But nonetheless, you feel completely terrible for so clearly hurting Brie’s feelings.

“Listen, Brie. You just have a good night, okay?” You say, remorse on your face before your feet carry you back through the sea of people and the thumping music until you’re back outside, keeping a brisk pace as you begin to walk down the road, in what you hope is the direction of your dorm.

“Where are you going?” You hear Brie’s distinctive voice from the front of the house, actually surprised that she’d even followed you this far. You ignore her, not even looking in her direction, figuring she’ll give up and head back inside. You’d already ruined the night, you don’t want to do any more damage.

Only a moment later, though, she’s catching your hand with her own and trying to slow you down. You can hear her rushed breath from behind you and at her continued efforts and you wonder if she’d had to run after you to catch you. You eventually sigh and come to a stop. As soon as she gets the opportunity, she stands in front of you, almost as if to stop any other attempts at running away that you might try.

“What the hell was that?” She exclaims. She looks somewhere between mad and concerned. You of course hadn’t planned on any of this happening, so you’re at a loss for what to do. You’ve barely had control over your emotions over the last week and it feels like you’re just about at your breaking point.

“Talk to me,” she whispers, and of course that is what seems to break you as you feel tears sting at your eyes.

You slam them shut to stop any tears from leaking out, but when Brie tugs you into a tight hug, her cheek pressing against the side of your head, you can do nothing to stop the first tears from falling.

God, what the hell was happening to you tonight?

Brie shushes you calmly when she hears your cries, as if the night couldn’t get any more embarrassing for you.

“I’m sorry,” you sob into her shoulder. Her hand rubs soothing circles on your back and you focus on that, taking in some deep breaths. You seriously want to crawl into a dark hole somewhere out of pure embarrassment once you eventually calm down enough.

“You don’t need to apologise.” Brie breathes out, remarkably patient with the blubbering mess that you’ve become.

“I should have just listened when you wanted to tell me about you and Sarah, but instead I had to make the whole thing about myself. I’m such a bad friend.”

Brie’s hand on your back falters, stopping those soothing motions and she gently pulls away from you, her furrowed brow emphasising her apparent confusion.

“Me and Sarah? What are you talking about?”

“That’s what you wanted to tell me back there, right? That you and Sarah have started seeing each other?”

Brie doesn’t so much as blink at you as she continues staring at you, but you notice her features changing. One eyebrow seems to arch in question and one side of her mouth curves up in a kind of half smile.

“What gave you that impression?” She asks, and is that a hint of amusement you can hear in her voice?

“Um,” you start, blinking a few times and suddenly feeling very much put on the spot. “Well, I saw you both at the diner last weekend talking, and you both seemed awfully happy together,” you say, becoming more and more unsure of your words as you explain. Brie’s smile widens and you feel the need to further your explanation. “I saw her touch you on your arm.” You say it as if it explains everything, but it sounds ridiculous to say out loud now, especially with Brie looking at you like she was.

“Wait, is that why you left the diner that morning?” Brie asks, something clearly clicking in her head. When you remain silent and your cheeks redden slightly she lets out a surprised little laugh. “I knew you were ignoring me!”

“I wasn’t,” you mumble, but you know it’s no use.

“So you think that I started seeing Sarah, and chose not to tell you immediately, just because you saw us talking one time?”

“Oh god,” you say, even more embarrassed than when you’d just been crying into Brie’s top only a few moments ago. You drop your face into your hands. “I’m an idiot.”

“Not an idiot,” Brie says. You look back up at her and she’s wearing a cheeky kind of grin as she watches you. “But a little jealous, maybe?”

She’s right, of course, but you can’t just outright admit that to her. Instead, you change the topic in the first way you can think of.

“I suppose that explains why you wanted me to come here tonight, then.” Brie tilts her head curiously at you, waiting for you to clarify further. “I’m assuming you still want help with Sarah,” you shrug.

Brie watches you, her expression remaining unchanged. “You really think that, don’t you?”

It’s your turn to look at Brie quizzically now.

“Y/N, I’ve been trying to make plans with you all week. I asked you to come with me tonight because I thought if I told you Sarah would be here, you would say yes because of our agreement.” You still don’t quite follow, but Brie suddenly shifts from foot to foot nervously, so you give her a moment to continue. “I wanted to talk to you about something, and I knew it was a conversation for us to have in person.”

“So, you didn’t invite me here because of Sarah?” You ask dumbly, feeling several steps behind Brie. She smiles at you like she wants to laugh. When she reaches out for your hand, your breath catches slightly.

“Do you remember after that first party we went to together? We were walking back to your dorm and you asked ‘why her?’, remember?”

You nod. Of course you remember. It’s only the very thought that has been playing on repeat in your mind since the moment you asked it.

“Well, at the time I thought nothing of it. I mean, I didn’t really have a good answer, but I didn’t think I needed one. But that question just kept repeating itself in my head.” Huh, well at least it wasn’t just you who was apparently haunted by that thought. “It made me realise I was chasing some girl who I had already put up on a pedestal. I’d never even had a conversation with her before that night.”

Brie drops her gaze to your hand that she has clasped in her own and begins lightly fidgeting with your fingers. The feeling of it brings an instant smile to your face, despite how heavy this conversation feels.

“I was too focused on one girl who I didn’t even know, when really, it turns out I actually should have been focusing on another girl who I was actually enjoying spending time with.”

You pause, your mouth falling slightly open in shock as you take in Brie’s words.

“Wait, what?” You say, because… what? She’s not implying what you think she is, right? “What about the diner? I saw Sarah there with you…”

“She wasn’t there with me, we just ran into each other. Actually, I think that’s when I realised there weren’t any feelings there for me.” Brie clears her throat, looking up at you. “I like talking to her. She’s nice and everything. But when I saw you leave, that was when I felt something.”

Well, this certainly was not how you predicted tonight to go. But the warmth that runs through you at Brie’s confession is probably one of the best feelings you’ve ever experienced, and you know this conversation is far from over. You’re still at a loss of words, though you hope the way you return Brie’s gaze is enough to tell her how you feel too.

“How about instead of asking me ‘why her?’ you ask me ‘why not her?’”

You’re puzzled to say the least, but still do as Brie asks.

“Why not her?” You ask, and the smile that spreads on Brie’s face as her eyes travel over your features before returning to your eyes has you returning a nervous smile of your own. She steps closer, her hand dropping from yours in favour of resting it on your side instead.

“Because she’s not you,” she says, barely a whisper, and the blush that immediately warms your cheeks is no surprise. You genuinely don’t know how to react at this smooth-talking side of Brie that you’ve never really seen, so you duck your head, though it isn’t enough to hide the enormous smile your lips curve into.

“That’s so cheesy,” you say and Brie bursts into laughter, probably more because of her own nerves than you actually saying anything funny.

“Well my name is Brie,” she shrugs. “I was born to be cheesy.”

“Oh my god.” You laugh now, too, lifting your head back up to meet Brie’s eyes again.

“Forget cliches, I’ll be exclusively bringing you Brie-ches.” She grins, clearly finding herself hilarious, but you just shake your head at her, another laugh escaping your lips.

“Please shut up,” you chuckle, and immediately her eyebrows are dancing, a playful glint in her eyes. You know what she’s going to say before she’s even saying it.

“Make me.”

And it’s perhaps the biggest cliche of them all, but you would be lying if you say it doesn’t have an effect on you. As if on its own accord, your body presses forward. Brie, who anticipates the movement, slides her hands around your waist to pull you closer, and before you know it your body is pressed into hers and your lips meet hers in a searing kiss.

Her hands tighten on you and she hums against your lips. She pulls back only slightly and only to swipe her tongue across your bottom lip, and you’re eagerly opening your mouth for her, her tongue meeting yours in a kiss that seems too fast, but not fast enough.

The kiss feels like relief, but also excitement. It feels dangerous, but also safe.

It feels like home.

After a long, heated moment, you and Brie finally separate yourselves from each other. Your skin is flushed all over, both of you breathing heavily and her eyes don’t hide the fact that they roam freely over your body now.

“God, I’m glad you agreed to help me get with some other girl,” she says, her voice noticeably deeper now, and she easily pulls another laugh out of you. You shake your head at her and push her shoulder. She responds with a fond smile, and she lets her fingers dance down your arm before she reaches your hand, entwining your fingers with hers.

“Come on,” she says, leaning over to press an affectionate kiss to your cheek. “Let’s get out of here.”

[findmyrupertfriend]

Strange Angel - “Augurs of Spring”

(This is a recap/review of the first episode of Strange Angel. There are spoilers, so proceed with caution!)

The first episode opens on an ancient hunting scene, beneath a bright red moon. The hunter (Wan Hu portrayed by Telly Liu) strikes against a large tiger. The scene is bathed in deep reds, with dramatic music. A whistle interrupts the action, and we are introduced to Jack Parsons (Jack Reynor). He’s on his lunch break, reading a comic, Amazing and True, The Path of the Hunter by Christopher Dexter. His boss orders him back to work, and we immediately discover Jack’s resistance to authority. 

Turns out Jack is a janitor at Pueblo Powder Co. He steals some gunpowder on the sly and gets to work in his garage building his experiment, before driving out into the desert to meet his partner, Richard Onstead (Peter Mark Kendall). 

Jack: “Ad astra…”

Richard: “Per aspera.”

(Per aspera ad astra (or, less commonly, ad astra per aspera) is a popular Latin phrase meaning "through hardship to the stars.”) Jack lights the fuse, and the rocket falls well short of their hopes.

Susan Parsons (Bella Heathcote) is at home reading the Bible, waiting up for Jack. She hides it in the mattress. Jack arrives home and fills his wife in, casually lying about the distance the rocket reached. Then he hits his wife up for more money when they’re behind on their mortgage. Nice!! (Blowing shit up is expensive, honey!!) 

What’s even nicer is having sex with your wife while she lays still, looking uncomfortable as fuck. I didn’t quite catch this on my first watch, but thanks to Sydney, it looks like Jack pulls out before coming (because he never wanted to have kids, per the book. Susan gives Jack a sex rag to clean up. The whole scene shows their awkwardness and stiffness with one another.  The music is also a little creepy here, just a piano playing simple keys before a slightly fuller sound. Jack hears a noise outside, and that’s when he sees Ernest Donovan (Rupert Friend) moving in next door.

Jack: “Who moves in the middle of the night?”

The next morning, Jack heads over to Caltech for a big meeting with Richard and Professor Mesulam (Rade Serbedzija). Again, you see Jack breaking rules, going where he is not allowed. Richard is clearly not happy with him and doesn’t think they are ready to present their proposal. However, Jack is not deterred one bit, maybe because Richard has his professional career at stake. 

Jack: “Have a little faith, Rich. They’ll be naming buildings after us by the time we’re done.” (clever, eh?)

Professor Mesulam is not convinced and warns Jack and Richard about biting off more than they can chew.

Professor Mesulam: “Small advances needed before big ones can be made.”

Jack: “What if we’re not content to be someone else’s stepping stone?”

Jack continues countering Professor Mesulam, even minimizing the fact that he did not complete his undergraduate degree. Protocols just “weigh him down.” The meeting ends on the wrong note, so Jack returns to convince (exaggerating along the way) Professor Mesulam to observe their next demonstration. Much to Richard’s anxiety, the professor agrees. 

The objective of the meeting was to get approval to build a functional rocket motor, but of course, Jack misrepresented their work as they already built one. Can you spell L-I-A-R?

Richard: “I just wish that you’d stick to the facts once in a while.”

After the meeting, Jack once again stretches the truth to Susan, who seems to be very much invested in her husband’s success. Next, the Parsons decide to walk over some banana bread and introduce themselves to their new neighbor.

Ernest answers the door with his lovely, calm goat in his arms. His oversized clothes and he, himself, look rather dirty.  Ernest sports a semi-confused/bemused look on his face at the Parsons and all their neighborly pleasantries. Susan invites Ernest and his wife (who is not currently present) over for dinner. Ernest fixes Susan with a creepy smile, as if he’s slightly mocking them, and adds, “Well, that’d be swell.”

The next scene returns to the comic Jack enjoyed. He reads it out loud to his wife. The ancient hunter is naked in bed, surrounded by naked women writhing around him. Wan Hu is seeking more thrills, but is he is filled with “restless longing.” The comic is used to illustrate Jack’s own relentless pursuits in life. 

Susan: “I know. This man wants to glimpse the sublime.”

Jack: “Yeah. exactly.”

Susan: “They could make that clear enough without all the lurid detail.”

Jack: “Yes, but then who would want to read it?” (ha-ha)

The couple waits for Ernest and his wife to join them for dinner, but Ernest had other plans it seems. He stands them up, and the Parsons are left to finish their awkward dinner alone with one another. There’s a lot that’s not being said between these two.

Jack is working in his shed again when he hears Ernest return home on his motorcycle. He crashes/slides into the garage. Jack helps him up and tries to engage a drunk Ernest in discussing why he didn’t show up for dinner. At first, Ernest just ignores him, walking off.

Jack: “Hey. I’m talking to you.”

Ernest: “Eh, I didn’t feel like it.”

Jack: “You didn’t feel like it?”

Ernest: “I’m trying to find my true path. How can I do that talking about barbecues and lawnowers?” 

Ernest looks incredulous when Jack tells him he’s never gone up to the oil derricks on the hill above their house. He persuades Jack to follow him, while Ernest sings, almost chants, really. It was described as dirge-like signing.

Ernest: “A ka dua…tuf ur…biu…bi a’a”

Jack and Ernest make small talk as they make their way to the top. They come across a mountain lion. Jack looks scared. Ernest looks…delighted.

Ernest: “Look at that. Step outside your yard, never know what you find.”

Ernest extends his right arm out, with index and middle fingers pointed at the mountain lion in the shape of a handgun. 

Ernest and the mountain lion stare each other down. Ernest shapes his hand into a fist, and the standoff ends with the mountain lion walking away. Ernest continues on as if nothing happened, but Jack is still shaken. When Jack declines to move further, Ernest mimics a chicken, arms, body, voice and all. I totally snickered at this part, because now Ernest is the one goading Jack into taking risks, whereas Jack is always the one pushing the other people in his life to accept more risk. And what does Jack do? He runs after Ernest…

Their small talk continues, and Jack attempts to explain Newton’s third law of motion. Ernest is sharp and picks up the gist of it in a flash.

Ernest: “So there’s a part that’s trying to burst free, and another part that needs to keep it in control.” 

Interesting…so is Jack the part that’s trying to burst free? And who is keeping him under control? 

Jack offers to light Ernest’s cigarette. Ernest cups his hands over Jack’s and takes a deep drag while staring straight at Jack. The flame from the cigarette lights up Ernest’s face, and you can see his intense eyes. Ernest appears to be on the verge of leaning forward as he smokes, but Jack takes a clear step back from Ernest. Jack’s face looks hard, and this time he stares back at Ernest, suggesting he should head back home. Ernest’s face is covered in shadows now, but you can see some clenching of his jaw and the angles of his cheekbones. It’s an odd, intimate moment followed by more eerie-sounding music. (Can’t wait to hear that soundtrack!)

Jack and Ernest are now walking together on the street, presumably headed back home as Jack suggested. The street lighting and old cars lining the curbs are just beautiful in this scene. Here, you also see more of Ernest’s gait. He walks in an almost bow-legged and bouncy fashion. 

Ernest: “You know, my teacher always told me there’s only two kinds of people in this world. The ones who want to follow the rules, and the ones that want to break them.”

Jack: “Oh yeah? What kind of teacher is that?”

Ernest: “Only teacher ever taught me anything worth learning.”

Jack: “Now you take all these houses here, (Ernest outstretches his arms to gesture towards the houses surrounding them.) with their walls designed to keep us out. Now why should we obey that?”

Jack: “Cause the law says we have to.”

Ernest: “Whose law?” (Ernest takes off running.)

Jack: “What are you doing?” 

Ernest: (Ernest turns around and yells, wide-eyed.) “There is no law, beyond “Do what thou wilt!”

That Ernest jumped the damn fence into someone’s yard. This guy is full of surprises! And what does Jack do? He follows Ernest once again…

Jack finds Ernest at the bottom of a pool, and he won’t come out. So Jack jumps in to find a smiling Ernest. 

Jack pulls him out of the water as laughter bursts from Ernest’s mouth. Of course, Ernest thinks he’s funny. Of course, Jack isn’t amused. I find it amusing because Jack is getting somewhat a taste of his own medicine. And who better to give it to him, than Ernest? Oh, but Ernest keeps pushing Jack further…quite literally, Ernest pushes Jack’s head under water until Jack frees himself. Ernest tries to pull him back in.

Ernest: (laughing) “You are gonna have to try harder than that.”

Jack elbows Ernest in the face and draws blood.

Jack: “Is that what you wanted?”

Ernest: “That’s what you wanted.”

Ernest is most pleased, wiping some blood on a finger and loudly sucking it off with his grinning mouth. Jack climbs out of the pool, and Ernest howls like a wolf, arms raised, almost chasing Jack out of the yard. But the whole incident was not for nothing. Being held captive under the water with the air bubbles rising gives Jack an idea on how to fix his problem with the demonstration.

Jack explains his plan to Richard at a bar. He just needs methanol, liquid fuel, to eliminate air pockets. Richard has access to methanol at Caltech but doesn’t want to budge, even when Jack enlists the help of two young ladies at the bar. Jack presents Richard as an up-and-comer to the ladies. 

Woman: “Caltech, huh? We don’t get to meet a lot of smart guys.”

Richard: “I’m not surprised.”

Wow. Richard is quite the wet noodle. These two have a push and pull relationship. We learn Jack and Richard knew each other as kids, with Jack beating up other kids who picked on Richard. 

At the end of the discussion, Richard has an epiphany on inverting the launch and holding it in place.

Later that night, while Jack is sleeping, he hears a noise and walks outside. (The noise was our poor little goat bleating and being slaughtered off-screen. You can actually hear the blood flowing.) Jack sees Ernest walking from his backyard to his motorcycle, carrying two glass milk jars filled with some very red blood. Ernest wipes off a long, slightly curved knife onto a rag, hops on his motorcycle, and leaves. (He’s wearing a great, light-colored leather jacket in this scene, by the way. It looks filthy, but still cool.)

Jack follows Ernest to a gorgeous house in a very nice neighborhood. Jack watches Ernest walk into the home along with many well-dressed (well, better dressed than Ernest, that’s for sure) people. Jack approaches the house slowly, then moves quickly, peeking through a window to see two people pouring and mixing a glass jar of blood into a bowl of some kind? Maybe it’s a pot on the stove because you can hear the bubbling as the blood is poured and stirred (blech). Jack hears the singing, the same singing that came from Ernest when they walked up the hill. He follows the sound, climbing on top of a carport, up to the second story of the house. 

Jack sees people standing in rows, as a man in vestments pronounces himself as “priest and king.” The man reaches for a knife, and Jack is clearly stunned. As the man approaches a naked woman, who he calls a virgin, he raises his knife. Jack yells out, causing everyone to stop and turn. It’s dead silent. Jack slides off the carport and falls onto the ground as people run out of the house. Jack makes it to his truck and speeds away as Ernest rushes out of the house, just in time to see his neighbor. Ernest has a sly look on his face. You know he has more games planned for Jack.

 In the next scene, Susan is at work for her father (Virgil Byrne portrayed by Michael Gaston), typing up collection notices to delinquent borrowers while he dictates. He adds a lovely piece of scripture at the end of the note, and the irony is not lost on me.

Virgil: “As it is written in Psalm 37, the wicked borrows but does not pay back, but the righteous is generous and gives.”

Susan’s father is quite over-bearing and strong-arms his daughter into coming for dinner on Sunday. He especially wants to speak to Jack about their delinquent mortgage. 

Meanwhile, Jack and Richard are working on their demonstration. They have a nice little heart to heart, where Jack once again lies to Richard. He gives Richard a hug, and there’s a strange awkwardness. I wonder if Richard has some kind of repressed feelings for Jack - maybe…maybe not. But the hug was just a ruse to pickpocket Richard, getting his wallet, and impersonating him for some methanol at Caltech. 

(There’s a scene on the comic with Wan Hu again while Jack dreams. This time, Wan Hu attaches rockets to his throne.)

Susan wakes Jack the next morning, and he hurries off. Jack and Richard travel along in one car, followed by Professor Mesulam. Jack speeds up in order to come clean on the methanol before the demonstration begins.

Jack: (to Richard) “Do what thou wilt.”

The demonstration gets off to a shaky start, so Jack floors the methanol to illustrate they could launch a rocket into the ionosphere.

Richard: “That’s enough.”

Jack: “You can’t know what’s enough til you know what’s more than enough.”

The readings show they achieved their objective, and the professor is impressed.  While they celebrate, the apparatus catches fire. As it catches fires, Jack imagines Wan Hu.

Wan Hu: “If you never face down death, you’ll never glimpse what’s on the other side.” 

Wan Hu lets a fiery arrow loose, but it’s really a piece of debris from the explosion. This time, Richard saves Jack by pushing him out of the way. And Jack laughs like a hyena…kinda like someone near and dear to our hearts.

While Jack is blowing shit up, Susan comes home from praying at church to find a note impaled by a knife, into their front door. Jack returns ready to celebrate, but Susan is shaken and shows Jack the piece of paper.

Susan: “What could it possibly mean?”

I really enjoyed this first episode. Jack is definitely an exaggerator and a liar of all sorts. For all the risks he is taking in his professional life, he is taking close to none in her personal life - yet. Susan appears to be...unhappy, yet she is a very supportive wife. They just both seem so repressed in their lives together. 

Ernest is everything and then some, as we have gathered from various articles and interviews. I cannot look away from this character. I can sense he is absolutely a catalyst to change the Parsons’ lives completely, and I can’t wait to see more! Til next week...