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mysteriesofloves · 2 years ago

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just a little something i wrote for @terrainofheartfelt. a small sequel to this fic from forever ago. happy birthday liz 🤍

The thing he can’t quite wrap his head around is what Blair is doing with him.

Something about Milo, and the wobbly way he walks, makes Dan want to take risks; but he’s still riding the high of getting one date, let alone five.

He’d looked her up, that first night, after he put Milo down. Mostly to see what other exhibits she’d curated, but maybe also to see a photo or two, because she had these little freckles, these beauty marks, dusted over her face, and these pretty round cheeks and these big, curious eyes and he didn’t think he could wait a whole week to see it all again.

There was more than a photo or two. Her name had headlined every website from Buzzfeed to TMZ. She was a wife, once upon a time, and he’s astounded by how many people chose to believe that’s where her story ends.

Because he’s had a front row seat for five dates now to the rest of that story, and he’s gotta say: it’s one of his favourites.

But the point is: he has a small life. A quiet life. Every once in awhile he publishes something that makes someone important and immature mad enough that they make a series of tweets about him and he gets some entertainment for the night, but mostly, he doesn’t have a lot going on. He’d taken her to see the new Agnès Varda doc on Vanessa’s recommendation and he stared at the bowl of popcorn and the sparkling water (because she doesn’t drink soda) between them, and thought, what the fuck are you doing?

And then she’d sniffled next to him, and he’d caught the way she discreetly tried to swipe at her eyes, and he thought, I could love you.

They had their own luncheon in the park, last week. The three of them, Milo bouncing on Blair’s knee, smiling a small, gummy smile up at her, and Dan fisted a hand in the picnic blanket and thought that adding could made it better. Something oncoming was easier to swallow.

He’d kissed her, when they’d dropped her home. With Milo slumped asleep on his shoulder, it was bumpy and chaste and awkward but it still made his face heat; his heart snag in his throat. He’d thought for sure he was done, after that.

He’d thought for sure he was pushing his luck when he texted her, Dinner at my place?

But she came and she ate and now they’re on the couch with a glass of wine each and she’s telling him about the group of scientists that used x-rays to uncover how Rembrandt mixed his paint, her fingers running through her hair and her lips stained just a little on the inside and he’s thinking could could could.

“Anyway,” she says. Her lips roll together. She seems to realize all at once that she’s been talking nonstop about paint recipes. She laughs, shy, so different from that first day, and he says, “Why me?”

She blinks at him. “What?”

“Why’re you going out with me?” he asks. “I’m not…I mean, I’m not what you’re used to.”

Her posture goes rigid, and there she is: the girl he first saw at the gallery before he’d found a way under her skin. She shrugs, rickety like a shutting latch.

“You asked.”

“I’m sure I’m not the first guy to ask you out at work.”

“No,” she presses on. “But you’re the only one who seemed interested in what I actually had to say.” Her spine straight, she smoothes down her skirt, takes a careful, practiced sip of her wine. “You’re the only one who seemed to not care who I really was.”

“I didn’t know,” he says. He sets his wineglass down. “And that’s not—that’s not who you really are.”

“No?” she says, smile starting to return. “Who am I?”

“You’re the girl who rambles about synchrotrons for fifteen minutes.”

Blair laughs, blushing. He takes her cheek in his hand and marvels at how she leans into the touch.

“You’re intelligent,” he says softly, “and intuitive…you weep while watching feminist filmmaker documentaries. Whoever you were before, that’s not really you. You’re—“

Maybe it’s the wine, but he hardly notices when she starts kissing him. It seems so familiar, so right, like the road was always going to lead here. She’s kissing him like she feels it, too, and it clicks into place all of a sudden: Dan’s heart is a house with the door left open, no wallpaper—or peeled wallpaper never replaced. He’s a renovator, caretaker, but a neglectful owner.

She doesn’t see what he sees.

Her knees dig under his ribs, her wineglass trapped between them, her fingers clawing at the back of his neck, and she sighs, and fuck could. Fuck easy to swallow. He’ll choke on this if he has to.

“This isn’t—“ he pulls away to set down her glass, “this isn’t what I had in mind when I invited you over, you know.”

“It isn’t?” she says.

“Oh, no, not—not at all,” he slides a hand in her hair, lips grazing her forehead, her browbone, dropping kisses to the side of her nose, her cheeks, just above her mouth, every mark on her face he’s spent the last few weeks memorizing, “I just wanted to share a meal. A—a friendly game of Scrabble, maybe. I’m always trying to get Milo to play with me but he keeps trying to eat the pieces.”

Her head tips back on a laugh, and he uses it as an opportunity to kiss the exposed line of her throat.

“I thought for sure I was being seduced,” she says, toying with his collar. “Cooking me dinner, pouring me a drink…”

“Nah, that’s not how I’d seduce you.”

She sits back on his lap, meaning at some point she made it into his lap. His lips tingle. He runs his hands down her sides and nearly groans.

“And how would you seduce me?”

“Uh, well, it’d go something like…” he leans closer, picks her hair off her shoulder and brushes his lips over the shell of her ear and whispers, “The first known writer in the world was a woman, Enheduanna, Sumerian High Priestess.”

She laughs, a whipcrack of a noise that startles through him. She shakes her head, fingers tangling in his hair. “That’s good,” she whispers. “But the food was better.“

“I am excellent in the kitchen,” he says. They can’t really kiss, because they’re both grinning too wide. “Not too shabby in the bedroom either.”

“Oh, really?”

“Oh, yeah…pretty decent in the laundry room, too. Always just the right amount of detergent.”

“Okay, that’s enough out of you.” She stands, straightening her skirt, then holds out her hand.

Jane Austen said we’re all fools in love. He’s counting on that.

#listen. i have wanted to write this forever and then it just HAPPENED tonight so it’s a liz birthday miracle #(it’s still technically your birthday here so it counts!!)#dair #dan x blair #gossip girl #mysteriesfic*#minific*

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peanuts-fan · 4 years ago

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'A Charlie Brown Christmas' at 50: The Making of a Classic Soundtrack

Producer Lee Mendelson, drummer Jerry Granelli reflect on enduring seasonal favorite

By Liz Pelly December 9, 2015

“The fact that it's become such a permanent part of the holiday season is surreal," says original 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' producer Lee Mendelson. United Feature Syndicate Inc./ABC

The legend goes like this: In 1963, producer Lee Mendelson made a documentary about Peanuts cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, for which he needed music. One night, Mendelson was driving over the Golden Gate Bridge, tuned into a San Francisco jazz station. "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" came on the air, a drifting cut where melodies appear and then disappear, and bouncing elation is matched by tiny moments of despair. The track was pianist Vince Guaraldi's mini-hit that year, and Mendelson was struck by how it sounded simultaneously adult and childlike. The next day, he called up the San Francisco Chronicle's jazz critic, Ralph J. Gleason. "Do you have any idea in the world who Vince Guaraldi is?" Mendelson asked. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I'm having lunch with him tomorrow," Gleason said. Mendelson met Guaraldi a few days later, and they agreed to work together.

The documentary ultimately didn't sell. But two years later, Coca-Cola, who had seen the doc, called up Mendelson, and asked if he'd ever thought of making a Christmas special. Mendelson said, "Absolutely!" and hung up the phone, then called Mr. Schulz. As Mendelson remembers it: "I said, 'I think I just sold A Charlie Brown Christmas.' And Schulz said, 'What in the world is that?' And I said, 'It's something you're going to write tomorrow.' There was a long pause, and he said, 'Alright. Come on up.'"

The rest, of course, is history. A Charlie Brown Christmas aired 50 years ago today, on December 9th, 1965. Over the years, the special has become a perennial classic: the 25-minute story of wistful Charlie Brown and his struggle to find the true meaning of Christmas in the face of holiday-season commercialism. "I almost wish there weren't a holiday season," he sighs, at the story's beginning. "I know nobody likes me. Why do we have to have a holiday season to emphasize it?" The genius of A Charlie Brown Christmas was the way it channeled the looming sadness and anxiety that come with the holidays — and the way its timeless, best-selling soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi Trio tapped into that narrative seamlessly, with muted, melancholic jazz.

Indeed, to create such an unabashedly anti-consumerist story with the backing of both Coca-Cola and CBS was a subtly radical accomplishment in 1965, as it would be now. The executives at CBS were displeased with the finished product: its slow-moving animation, its religious undertone, its jazz soundtrack. They had no choice but to air it, though — they had already advertised it in TV Guide.

"They wanted something corporate, something rousing," says drummer Jerry Granelli, the lone surviving member of the Guaraldi combo. "They thought the animation was too slow. They really didn’t like that a little kid was going to come out and say what Christmas was all about, which wasn’t about shopping. And then the jazz music, which was improvised — you know, the melodies only take up maybe 30 seconds." Yet A Charlie Brown Christmas was an immediate, massive success.

The first of many specials that Schulz and Guaraldi would collaborate on with Mendelson and animator Bill Melendez, A Charlie Brown Christmas came together in just six months. "We brought Vince Guaraldi in to reprise the music he had done for the documentary, plus some Beethoven and some traditional music," Mendelson says.

Employing his background in easygoing, West Coast jazz, and working with a local children's choir that sounded perfectly off-key at times, Guaraldi crafted future classics through original compositions and re-arrangements of holiday standards. Like the characters themselves, the songs merge bits of Schroeder's bookish sophistication, Charlie Brown's heavy heart, and Snoopy's unpredictable mischief. The songs are both smooth and snappy, with Granelli's brush and stick sounds pushing them steadily along.

"Guaraldi never wasted a note," says author Derrick Bang of the pianist. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

"We went in and did it in three hours," recalls Granelli, who was only 24 at the time. "That's just the way jazz records were recorded. I think we even went to work in a club that night." Some of the songs were already part of the group's repertoire. "We were improvising all the time, so each night, the song kind of evolved."

The trio's version of the 1824 German carol "O Tannenbaum" exemplifies this process. Guaraldi, Granelli and bassist Fred Marshall took the song's harmonic foundation and ran, moving the composition into more explosive, bluesy territory. In the special, the song plays as Charlie Brown and Linus look around for a Christmas tree. "This doesn't seem to fit the modern spirit," says Linus, when Charlie Brown picks out the smallest, most dilapidated one he can find. The funny sound of flat piano keys chirp as the tree's twigs fall to the ground.

"Linus and Lucy" was one of the holdovers from the Schulz-documentary days; in A Charlie Brown Christmas, it is the centerpiece of the soundtrack, capturing a moment when inner anxieties subside and the season feels fleetingly fine. "My playing is really very simple on that record, but it's exactly what captures the story," says Granelli. "It moves the music forward doing very little. Just the way the brush starts on 'Linus and Lucy,' so it doesn't conflict with the bass line, and then it goes to the Latin part, and then it goes back to the left hand, the conga drum part."

"Christmas Time Is Here" was originally an all-instrumental piece. "Guaraldi had written a very beautiful melody for the opening skating scene, but about two weeks before it was about to run on the air, I thought, 'Maybe we could get a lyricist to put some words to this,'" remembers Mendelson. "I called a few lyricist friends of mine, and everyone was busy. So I sat down at my kitchen table and I wrote out a few words, and we rushed it to the choir that Vince Guaraldi had been working with in San Francisco. And he recorded it, and we got it into the show about a week before it went on the air."

"They really didn’t like that a little kid was going to come out and say what Christmas was all about, which wasn’t about shopping." —Jerry Granelli

"It's deceptively simple, but at the same time, impressively complex, kind of the way Charles Schulz approached his newspaper strip," says Derrick Bang, author of Vince Guaraldi at the Piano and multiple books on Peanuts, of Guaraldi's soundtrack. "He never wasted a line; Guaraldi never wasted a note. Every note was important."

"We’re living in times where so much is done to manipulate us," reflects Granelli. "And things last for, what, a news cycle? A few minutes? This [album] is something that’s lasted 50 years. And not only lasted, but grown ... I think there’s just a humanness."

"The whole thing from beginning to end has been surreal," Mendelson says. "The fact that it's become such a permanent part of the holiday season is surreal. And every time I hear it on the radio, or I hear it in a store, or someone says, 'wah, wah, wah,' I realize we're very lucky to have been associated with Mr. Schulz and his characters. It all comes back to his characters, and his philosophy, and his humor."

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/a-charlie-brown-christmas-at-50-the-making-of-a-classic-soundtrack-20151209?page=3

*Note: The picture at the top of the article is NOT from “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, it is from another cartoon, probably “It’s christmastime again, charlie brown”.

#charlie brown christmas #Peanuts #Peanuts gang #Vince Guaraldi #lee mendelson #Charles M Schulz

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roguesandsaviors · 4 years ago

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Searching for the Facts

Fandom: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Jon Bernthal characters

Characters: Mr. McCarthy, Elizabeth McCarthy (OFC)

Pairing: Mr. (Joey) McCarthy x Elizabeth McCarthy (OFC)

Summary: After Greg poses the question about cancer, Mr. McCarthy heads home to his wife but can't shake the news. He knows she would have the answers.

Word Count: 1,888

Rating: SFW

Warning: Mentions of cancer

AN: This idea popped into my head as soon as the scene where Greg asks Mr. McCarthy about Leukemia played out. Joey was also the first name that came to mind for the character since we don't get a first name. Not sure why. Enjoy!

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The gentle hum of jazz was the first sound that greeted him as he walked through the door. It brought a smile to his face as he toed off his boots and settled his keys onto the hook set by the door. A few new books lay scattered on the ottoman, along with a notebook and various colored pens. He would have taken a moment to peek over what the work of the day had been if he hadn't been as eager to see his wife.

While they had been together for some time, it was only recently that they married and there still was that new sense of pride in being able to call her his wife. The thought was enough to put a smile on his face. A couple of his co-workers had asked about the ring that they had spied and it had generated some talk around the school. It had been an amusing addition to the day. No one had expected him to settle down. He kept quiet about his personal life normally so any sort of change would come as a surprise to any of them. No one needed to know every little detail. Besides, the longer that no one asked, the longer he could just keep her to himself. Not that he had an issue showing off the relationship. Joey had never really been shy about much. No, it was more of a desire to spend what free time they had together unencumbered, enjoying the company of the other soul that understood. Perhaps it was selfish but he couldn't bring himself to care.

Joey found himself leaning against the door frame leading to the kitchen. The sight before him warmed his heart and reminded him of just why he loved coming home. Liz was swaying softly, singing just under her breath to the steady rhythm coming from the small speaker in the corner. The kitchen smelled wonderful and he realized just what she was making while enjoying the soft moments to herself. One of his favorites, cutting noodles while the soup had to be simmering in the pot on the stove. He was a lucky man and coming home to this just reminded him of that. He cherished each of these small moments.

Coming up behind her, his hands found her hips as he pressed a kiss to the back of her head. A deep breath in and he found the soothing scent of lavender still clinging to her. He had never found any sort of scent on a woman soothing before Elizabeth had entered his life. Now he couldn't help but relax when the familiar smell carried in the air.

"Evening sweetheart." He heard the soft gasp that left her, knowing that he had surprised her, before laughing as she slapped at him blindly. The waving motion barely tapped his side and he had to suppress a laugh.

"Joey McCarthy! What have I told you about sneaking up on me?" She whined playfully but never stopped working on dinner. He loved that even rattled, she rarely lost her composure. It was one of the first things that he had noticed about her when they met.

"I couldn't help myself. You looked so peaceful. Love it when you sing and dance like that."

"And you had to go and ruin it." He kissed the back of her head again, swaying to the music with her. He didn't have to see her cheeks to know that she was blushing. For as fired up as he could be in school, these soft moments were far more common in the household. Not that he didn't get excited and child-like in his enthusiasm, but he was a bit more mellow here, with her.

"Nah. Just added to it and that's a fact." He teased. "What made you decide on Khao Soi tonight?" He rested his chin on her shoulder and watched as she finished cutting the noodles.

"Thought it might be a nice surprise. Didn't know what your day was going to be like and I had to take a break."

"I saw the notebook." Forced to step back so she had room to continue cooking, he moved to grab himself a water. "Did you get stuck?" It was rare that she would abandon her own research in favor of cooking, no matter what. It must have meant that she had to leave it. Now that he was looking at her, he could see the frays on the well worn long sleeve shirt of his that she had taken. Apparently it was comfortable and comforting while she worked but the sleeves told him how frustrated she had been when or working.

"Hit a snag." He could hear the frown in her voice. "The data didn't add up so I had to backtrack a bit and dove into some similar projects to see what was found and what problems they may have run into. It's just not making sense. So either I'm missing something I'm not seeing or the experiment itself was flawed."

"I'm sure you'll get it figured out one way or another." He wasn't even going to attempt to understand what it was that she had been working on. He was skilled in a lot of areas and knowledgeable in many but when it came to the hard research she performed, he was lost. He tried to look it over and understand, always willing to expand his knowledge. Even if it was over his head.

"It just feels like if something is wrong, all of those people wasted time that they won't get back. Things they could have done with loved ones, bucket list things. Their time is limited and they were generous enough to grant it to try to help others. And if there's nothing to show for it…" She paused and Joey could see just how affected by it she was. He stepped forward again and turned her around so they could look at one another.

"It isn't a waste of time and they wouldn't feel that way. They knew what they were getting into and wanted to do it. Just like you said, to help others. If something is wrong, then you know it for next time. It's all a step in the right direction. Data to be compiled and figured out, giving you the opportunity to just improve on it." She didn't look at him right away but found herself sighing and nodded. He tilted her chin up and pressed a kiss to her forehead, cheek, and finally lips. "If there is anyone who knows how to handle this, it's you sweetheart." Finally a small smile came from her and he felt relieved. She took this all to heart, and being a cancer researcher, he couldn't see her being anything but empathetic and passionate about it. It was part of what had drawn him to her in the first place.

She pressed a hand over his heart, eyes dropping for just a moment to where it lay, before they raised again.

"What would I do without you?" Now would be the time for teasing.

"Be locked away in that awful one bedroom apartment you had, crouched over your research, and probably not eating the way that you should." She rolled her eyes but was clearly more at ease than she had been before. "And you know it's true. Can't deny it."

"Yeah yeah. As if you are any better," she grumbled playfully before giving him a little push back. "Let me finish dinner." He allowed the push and backed up with a smile. She looked adorable right now. He had left her in a better mood than when he had found her so it was mission accomplished.

"I'm going to go shower. I'll be out soon." Letting her finish cooking in peace seemed like a good thing now that he had cheered her up a bit. She could enjoy what she was doing rather than focus on what she hadn't been able to figure out. He fully understood the need to take a break from the research if things were not going the desired way. He had been there himself plenty of times.

The dinner was a quiet affair, though it often was. They took the time to enjoy the food and each other's company after the long days that they each faced. There wasn't a need to fill the silence. It was soothing enough to be sitting across from one another, sharing occasional glances.

It was only after he helped her clean up and they were settled on the couch did he bring what was on his mind up. The new documentary that he wanted to watch would be on in a few minutes so he had a little bit of time before he ended up throwing their normal evening routine off.

"Had a student ask about leukemia today…" Immediately, her head snapped. So quick he actually was worried about her neck. His hand came up off of her shoulder to rub at her neck for a second before dropping back down.

"Why?" Liz knew the answer but needed the confirmation. She didn't like to assume but most high schoolers only asked questions about cancer for a small handful of reasons. All of them were personal. Joey was quiet for a moment.

"Another one was diagnosed with it. One of his friends. He doesn't have too many so I think it's weighing on him more than he realizes. Didn't know much about it and was looking for some answers." He sighed and held her a little closer. "Kid spends lunch in my office daily. He isn't great socially. I think the friendship with the girl is good but I'm worried about the outcome if things don't go well." Liz shifted to face him a little more, rubbing his chest absently.

"I'm sure I have a few articles and a book or two that would be reachable enough to a teenager if you want to offer them. It might help ease his mind, at least understand what is happening a little better. Create some reasonable expectations of what this is going to do to her. In case things don't turn out well. Better to be prepared even if it isn't easy." He had been hoping that was how she would answer. Any sort of help that he could get for Greg, he would. He had seen how the kid was closed in on himself. The fact that he was even asking showed that he cared. Even if he liked to pretend that he didn't.

"That would be perfect. I think Greg will actually take the time to read them. This means more to him than he's letting on."

"It's not an easy concept for anyone to understand, let alone a teenager. If he needs to talk…" She left it open ended, not wanting to seem too forward.

"I'll let you know. I don't see him being the sort that would have any desire to though. He has a hard enough time talking to his peers." Joey sighed and gave her another squeeze. "Thank you." She leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"Nothing to thank me for." The documentary started and the two quieted down, settling in for a routine night between them.

#my writing #my fic #my oc #Mr. McCarthy #Mr. McCarthy x OC #Elizabeth McCarthy #tw cancer #cancer tw #mentions only #fluff #Jon Bernthal characters

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wordsofaworld · 5 years ago

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Letting Go

My dad would tell me for years, when I was going through something and upset, he would say ‘just let it go’. It was so hard to find what this meant and how to do it.

For years I would try different things like; saying ‘let go’ to myself hundreds of times and waiting to see if it worked. Nope.

The things that i wanted to let go of, the things that were really hurting me, seemed too big for me to be able to just let go of. You see, I had many strong relationships with people, my family, my friends and even the relationship with myself. These all came crumbling down throughout the years and i carried that loss with me, every day, until it built up and triggered a dark depression.

I poured my body into exercise and my mind into creative writing and prose poetry, in an effort to change my physical self and understand my inner mind. I thought this would be my ticket to letting go of my troubles. Although a good start, it wasn’t. Still, something inside me knew that i didn’t have the answer and wasn’t ready to let go yet.

Life can get so hectic and our brains get so caught up in what’s going on in the physical world in front of us, it makes us feel like we are separate to the world were living in, we feel lonely even though there are 7 billion other people with us in the world right now. The overload of choices can make us feel overwhelmed and question are we making the right choices. Jeff Lieberman once said that ‘a side effect of having the most evolutionary, advantageous tool in your head is that you have no control over it’.

My first experience with spirituality and the spiritual world was when i was 16, on summer holidays and reading Eat, Pray, Love. This book spoke to me in ways i didn’t understand but what i did know was that i wanted to start meditating to get whatever it is that Liz got from it. Liz Gilbert, a woman who had never been religious in her life, suddenly speaking about and living through her ‘God’. And throughout her journey she was able to let go of a past life and experience a new one. I held on to her story.

I’ve been on a spiritual journey and what i’ve learned is that... before human beings existed, the world and everything in it, was conscious in itself at that time. All the tiny atoms interacting with each other and travelling at the speed of light, which seems impossible, because we can’t see it. But the energy that existed then, is what we are made of now. Evolution has developed that energy, or conscious experience and shaped it into a human being. When I used to meditate as a young teenager, before i experienced the ups and downs of mental health and consuming relationships and self beliefs, I had no troubles. I remember doing it everyday and feeling like I was separate to my body and i felt great.

Now i know, from hours of watching documentaries about quantum physics, ted talks about science and spirituality and studying the psychology of the brain.. meditation leads to the direct experience of feeling ‘oneness’ with what i call the universal soul. This is when i was truly able to let go of my past trauma. When i became aware that my body and my mind, were my limitation. Now i don’t live my life thinking about myself and my problems, but that which i can’t see (my soul) is actively experiencing my mind going through these programmed negative thoughts and beliefs, and i know that I exist in a way that is beyond perception. That my inner voice exists even though no one else knows its there. This inner voice, is your consciousness, your soul, your energy.

And through a ‘spiritual enlightenment’, I was able to let go.

11/04/2020

#prose #spiritualpath #spiritualjourney #spiritualinspiration #spirit work #spiritualguidance #spirituality #spiritualgrowth #i feel enlightened #enlightenment #spiritual enlightenment #wordsofaworld #scribbled words

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cinema-tv-etc · 4 years ago

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg's Late Husband Marty Was the 'Only Boy Who Cared She Had a Brain'

"He was smitten pretty quickly," the justice's son, James, says of his father. "It might have taken my mother a little longer"

By Liz McNeil December 19, 2018

When Martin Ginsburg met Ruth Bader, a fellow Cornell University student, back in 1950, he first thought: “She’s awfully cute.”

But that wasn’t his only thought. “Then he noticed, she’s awfully smart,” says their son James Ginsburg, 53. “Mom said Dad was the only boy who dated her who cared that she had a brain.”

“He was smitten pretty quickly,” James recalls. “It might have taken my mother a little longer.”

But not too long. They married in 1955 and both enrolled in Harvard Law School. In an era when Ruth was one of nine females, out of 552 students, in her class, and who, upon graduation was unable to get a law firm job (“We hired a woman the last year, we don’t really need you,” she was told) their 56-year relationship, based on mutual adoration and respect, was an example of what equality of the sexes was all about.

The Ginsburgs Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States

Their love story, from their first blind date to Marty’s death due to cancer in 2010, is the subject of two films. The upcoming feature film, On The Basis of Sex, starring Felicity Jones as Ruth, and Armie Hammer as Marty, (written by Ruth’s nephew Daniel Stiepleman) and the highly acclaimed documentary, RBG, which includes stunning footage of the young couple. (The documentary has been shortlisted for an Oscar nomination, come January.)

Both films reveal a softer side of the Supreme Court Justice, whose brilliant legal mind made her one of the foremost experts in gender discrimination law and an unlikely pop culture icon, The Notorious RBG.

Through it all, Ruth has credited Marty, whom she calls “my best friend and biggest booster.” As she wrote in a New York Times Op-Ed in 2016, “I betray no secret in reporting that …without him, I would not have gained a seat on the Supreme Court.”

“My father really believed in her,” says their daughter Jane Ginsburg, 63, a Columbia Law School professor.

RELATED VIDEO: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Joins the #MeToo Movement with Story of Her Own Sexual Harassment

“They each understood what the other was all about,” says longtime friend Judge Harry Edwards. “Ruth gave to him the same way that he gave to her. They were unbelievably compatible.”

Their bond was cemented early on when Marty was diagnosed with testicular cancer (and given a five percent chance of surviving.) Ruth, who cared for their baby daughter, Jane, after a day of classes, organized his friends to take class notes, which she typed up so he could study when he woke up after midnight. (At the time, he was undergoing radiation and slept much of the day and night.) At two in the morning, she would begin her own studies.

At home, they were equal partners. When James temporarily hijacked the elevator at his grade school, the headmaster called his mother. “She’d been up all night working on a Supreme Court briefing,” says James, a producer of classical music. “They said ‘You must come to school right away.’ And she said, ‘This child has two parents. You must alternate the calls from now on, starting with this one.’ ”

The Ginsburg family Collection of the Supreme Court of the United States

Marty’s take was different James says: “When they said your son has stolen the elevator, he said ‘How far could he have taken it?’ My behavior did not improve but calls to parents diminished greatly!”

As for cooking, Marty gladly took over. After they received the classic French Escoffier cookbook as a wedding present, he learned the recipes from front to back “for his own survival,” their son James says with a laugh.

“She was the kind of chef who had seven dishes for seven days of the week and all of them were bad,” says Daniel Stiepleman, including her tuna fish casserole which her family begged her not to make.

After she became a Supreme Court Justice in 1993, Marty’s support continued. From taking her clothes shopping for her confirmation hearings to joining the court’s “spouses club” and cooking for them when they got together.

The Ginsburgs Ed Bailey/AP/REX/Shutterstock

“Marty was a caretaker for her,” says her childhood friend Harryette Gordon Helsel. “He made sure she ate three meals a day, or two meals a day, and he made sure she got a physical trainer after her bout with cancer.” (Ruth has survived both colon and pancreatic cancer and still works out with a trainer twice a week, plank exercises included.)

In turn, Ruth was at Marty’s side when a tumor was discovered near his spinal cord in 2009, and she became his caretaker once again, doing double duty, caring for him at night after a day on the bench.

For the full love story, pick up the current issue of PEOPLE, on stands this Friday.

On his deathbed, Marty left his wife note which read in part: “You are the only person I have loved in my life, setting aside a bit parents and kids and their kids, and I have admired and loved you since the day we first met at Cornell some 56 years ago.”

He died ten days later.

Friends and family say he’d be thrilled by the Notorious RBG phenomenon. “There is no doubt in my mind that without Marty, there would be no RBG, the RBG we have today,” says another childhood classmate Ann Kittner. “What a kick he’d be getting out of what has happened to her, becoming an icon. She’s amused by it but he would have been delighted by all the publicity and the bobbleheads! He would have been kvelling!”

https://people.com/politics/ruth-bader-ginsburg-husband-marty-only-boy-who-cared-she-had-a-brain/

#RBG #Ruth Bader Ginsburg #Martin Ginsburg

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thelittlesttimelord · 5 years ago

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The Littlest Timelord: Cracks in Time Chapter 7

TITLE: The Littlest Timelord: Cracks in Time Chapter 7 PAIRING: No Pairing RATING: T CHAPTER: 7/? SUMMARY: A little girl escapes the Time War when the Timelord’s return in “End of Time Part 2″. The newly regenerated Doctor must now raise the little girl while trying to find out why cracks in time keep following them around.

[A/N - We’re onto “The Beast Below” I figured because it’s Christmas, I’d give you two chapters instead of one!]

“Are you sure you don’t want to try it?” the Doctor asked Elise. He was currently holding Amy out of the TARDIS by her ankle.

Elise shook her head.

“Come on, Pond”, he said pulling her inside, “Now do you believe me?”

“Okay, your box is a spaceship. It's really, really a spaceship. We are in space! What are we breathing?”

“I've extended the air shell. We're fine”.

The Doctor turned to Elise. “You’re scared, right?”

Elise nodded.

“That’s okay. It’s okay to be scared. But here’s the thing, as long as you’ve got me nothing bad will ever happen to you”. He put his hand out and Elise placed her small one in his. He slowly walked forward and Elise floated out into space.

Her hearts were beating out of her chest and she grabbed onto the Doctor’s wrist with her other hand. She kept her blue eyes on his green ones as she floated there.

He finally smiled and pulled her back in. He smiled as he kissed her forehead. “Good girl. My brave, brave girl”. The Doctor looked out the door and saw a city floating there. “Now that's interesting. Twenty ninth century. Solar flares roast the earth, and the entire human race packs its bags and moves out till the weather improves. Whole nations”.

Elise and the Doctor ran back to console as the door closed.

“Doctor?” Amy asked.

“Migrating to the stars”.

“Doctor?”

“Isn't that amazing?”

“Doctor!”

The Doctor ran over to the doors and opened them.

Amy was hanging onto the side of the TARDIS.

“Well, come on. I've found us a spaceship”, he said. The Doctor pulled her back inside and they observed the spaceship from a screen. “This is the United Kingdom of Britain and Northern Ireland. All of it, bolted together and floating in the sky. Starship UK. It's Britain, but metal. That's not just a ship, that's an idea. That's a whole country, living and laughing and shopping. Searching the stars for a new home”.

The Doctor sounded kinda sad, so Elise wrapped her small hand around his and he smiled down at her in thanks.

“Can we go out and see?” Amy asked.

“Course we can. But first, there's a thing”.

“A thing?”

“An important thing. In fact, Thing One. We are observers only”. He held a magnifying glass up to his eyes and then put it down. “That's the one rule I've always stuck to in all my travels. I never get involved in the affairs of other peoples or planets”.

Elise hadn’t known the Doctor for long, but she had a strong suspicion that he was lying.

A video of a girl crying popped up on the monitor.

“Ooo, that's interesting”, the Doctor said.

“So we're like a wildlife documentary, yeah? Because if they see a wounded little cub or something, they can't just save it, they've got to keep filming and let it die”, Amy said.

The Doctor and Elise slipped out of the TARDIS and ran over to the little girl. The Doctor stopped to talk to her, but she ran off. He turned back to the TARDIS and motioned for Amy to join them.

“Welcome to London Market. You are being monitored”.

Amy came out of the TARDIS. “I'm in the future. Like hundreds of years in the future. I've been dead for centuries”.

“Oh, lovely. You're a cheery one. Never mind dead, look at this place. Isn't it wrong?” the Doctor asked as they started to explore the marketplace.

“What's wrong?”

“Come on, use your eyes. Notice everything. What's wrong with this picture?”

“Is it the bicycles? Bit unusual on a spaceship, bicycles”.

“Says the girl in the nightie”.

“Oh my God, I'm in my nightie!”

Elise giggled at the embarrassment in Amy’s voice.

The ginger looked down at her. “Oi. Hush you”.

“Now, come on, look around you. Actually look”, the Doctor told her.

“London Market is a crime-free zone”.

“Life on a giant starship. Back to basics. Bicycles, washing lines, wind-up street lamps. But look closer. Secrets and shadows, lives led in fear. Society bent out of shape, on the brink of collapse. A police state. Excuse me”. The Doctor ran over to a table and grabbed a glass of water.

“What are you doing?” the man sitting at the table asked him.

The Doctor set it on the floor and looked at it for a moment before returning it to the table.

Wait. Why wasn’t the water moving? If they were on a ship, wouldn’t there be vibrations from the engines?

The Doctor looked down at the small Timelord. He could practically see her little brain working it out. She would be a clever one, he could tell.

“Sorry. Checking all the water in this area. There's an escaped fish. Where was I?”

“Why did you just do that with the water?” Amy asked.

“Don't know. I think a lot. It's hard to keep track. Now, police state. Do you see it yet?”

“Where?”

The Doctor snapped his fingers and pointed to the little girl from earlier. “There”. He walked over to the little girl, leaving Elise with Amy. Eventually the Doctor walked back over to them and they sat on a red bench, watching the girl.

“One little girl crying. So?” Amy asked him.

“Crying silently. I mean, children cry because they want attention, because they're hurt or afraid. But when they cry silently, it's because they just can't stop. Any parent knows that”.

“Are you a parent? I mean, besides to Elise”.

The Doctor was silent for a moment before he started talking again, completely avoiding the question. “Hundreds of parents walking past who spot her and not one of them's asking her what's wrong, which means they already know, and it's something they don't talk about. Secrets. They're not helping her, so it's something they're afraid of. Shadows, whatever they're afraid of, it's nowhere to be seen, which means it's everywhere. Police state”.

The Doctor and Amy looked back and saw she was gone.

“Where'd she go?” Amy asked.

“Deck two oh seven. Apple Sesame block, dwelling 54A. You're looking for Mandy Tanner”, the Doctor told her. He pulled out a wallet. “Oh, er, this fell out of her pocket when I accidentally bumped into her”. He handed the wallet to Amy. “Took me four goes. Ask her about those things. The smiling fellows in the booths. They're everywhere”.

“But they're just things”.

“They're clean. Everything else here is all battered and filthy. Look at this place. But no one's laid a finger on those booths. Not a footprint within two feet of them. Look. Ask Mandy, why are people scared of the things in the booths?”

“No, hang on. What do I do? I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm not even dressed”.

“It's this or Leadworth. What do you think? Let's see. What will Amy Pond choose?”

Amy looked at him for a moment and you could see her decision on her face.

“Ha ha, gotcha. Meet me back here in half an hour”.

“What are you going to do?”

“What I always do”.

The Doctor stood up. “Stay out of trouble. Badly”. He hopped over the back of the bench and picked Elise up, setting her on his shoulders.

“So is this how it works, Doctor? You never interfere in the affairs of other peoples or planets, unless there's children crying?” Amy asked.

“Yes”.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Doctor climbed down the ladder and set Elise on the ground. “Really need to come up with a better way to carry you”, he muttered. He ran his hands along the walls and watched as Elise did the same. “Can’t be. Can you feel it?” he asked her.

Elise nodded.

He pulled out his screwdriver and scanned the wall.

Elise noticed a glass of water on the floor, just like the Doctor had done upstairs, and tugged on his jacket.

He got down on the floor on his stomach and looked the water that still wasn’t moving.

A woman came towards them with a mask on her face and dressed in a red cape. “The impossible truth in a glass of water. Not many people see it. But you do, don't you, Doctor?” she asked.

“You know me?”

“Keep your voice down. They're everywhere. Tell me what you see in the glass”.

“Who says I see anything?”

“Don't waste time. At the marketplace, you placed a glass of water on the floor, looked at it, then came straight here to the engine room. Why?”

“No engine vibration on deck. Ship this size, engine this big, you'd feel it. The water would move. So, we’d thought we'd take a look”. He walked over to a control box and opened it. “It doesn't make sense. These power couplings, they're not connected. Look. Look, they're dummies, see?” He knocked on the wall next. “And behind this wall, nothing. It's hollow. If I didn't know better, I'd say there was…”

“No engine at all”, they spoke in unison.

“But it's working. This ship is traveling through space. I saw it”, the Doctor told her.

“The impossible truth, Doctor. We're traveling among the stars in a spaceship that could never fly”.

“How?”

“I don't know. There's a darkness at the heart of this nation. It threatens every one of us. Help us, Doctor. You're our only hope. Your friend is safe. This will take you to her. Now go, quickly!” The woman handed the Doctor a tracking device and turned to leave.

“Who are you? How do I find you again?” the Doctor asked her.

“I am Liz Ten, and I will find you”.

The Doctor looked down at Elise and then the tracking device in his hand. “Come on. We have to find Amy”, he told her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

According to the device, she was being held in a room.

Outside the door was Mandy, the little girl.

The Doctor soniced the lock and burst in.

A video recording of Amy was playing on a screen. “Listen to me. This isn't a trick. This is for real”.

“Amy?” the Doctor asked.

“You've got to find the Doctor”. Amy turned off the video.

“What have you done?” The Doctor scanned a device hanging from the ceiling. “Yeah, your basic memory wipe job. Must have erased about twenty minutes”.

“But why would I choose to forget?”

“Because everyone does. Everyone chooses the Forget button”, Mandy told her.

“Did you?” the Doctor asked.

“I'm not eligible to vote yet. I'm twelve. Any time after you're sixteen, you're allowed to the see the film and make your choice. And then once every five years”.

“And once every five years, everyone chooses to forget what they've learned. Democracy in action”.

“How do you not know about this? Are you Scottish too?”

“Oh, I'm way worse than Scottish. I can't even see the movie. Won't play for me”.

“It played for me”, Amy told him.

“The difference being the computer doesn't accept me as human”.

“Why not? You look human”.

“No, you look Time Lord. We came first”.

Oh, well that answered one of Elise’s many questions.

“So there are other Time Lords, yeah? Besides you and Elise”, Amy said.

The Doctor looked down at Elise. He needed to be very careful what he said in front of her. “No. There were, but there aren't…Just us now. Long story. There was a bad day. Bad stuff happened. And you know what? I'd love to forget it all, every last bit of it, but I don't. Not ever. Because this is what I do, every time, every day, every second. This. Hold tight. We're bringing down the government”. The Doctor slammed his fist down on the “protest” button.

The door shut, trapping him, Elise, and Amy inside.

The Smiler in the booth became a Scowler and the floor opened up.

The Doctor picked Elise up, who hid her face in his neck. “Say wheee!”

Amy and Elise screamed as they fell down the chute.

#doctor who #doctor who imagine #doctor who fanfiction #eleven doctor #eleventh doctor imagine #eleventh doctor fanfiction #amy pond #amy pond imagine #the littlest timelord #the littlest timelord: cracks in time

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wellesleyunderground · 4 years ago

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WU Reviews: Knock Down the House & Surge reviewed by Shloka Ananthanarayanan ‘08 (@shlokes)

This review originally appeared on Shloka’s blog, Pop Culture Scribe.

It’s October and people in many US states have already started voting, either in person or via mail-in ballots. I received my mail-in ballot last week but will be heading to my in-person early voting center on October 24th because I need the thrill of voting via a machine to feel like I gave this my all. If you are an American voter, make a plan and ensure you vote this year. And if you need a reminder of how important elections can be, I give you two wonderful documentaries that highlight all of the work that goes into political campaigning, all of the unnecessary horror of voter suppression, and what it looks like when truly deserving political candidates fight for the chance to represent their fellow citizens in a democracy.

Directed by Rachel Lears, Knock Down the House tells the story of four female Democrats in different parts of the country who ran for election in 2018. These women were not career politicians, but were all inspired to run following the 2016 election, where the shock of not seeing the first woman President get elected quickly gave way to sweeping anger and resolve to go into office themselves. The most famous candidate in the documentary is Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She serves as the star of this film and gets more screentime than any other candidate, which is a bit unfortunate as I thought the other ladies were rather brilliant too. But in Ocasio-Cortez's case, what's intriguing is that she isn't a Democrat looking to flip her district - instead she is a progressive looking to upset the establishment Democrat, a complacent white man who can't even be bothered to show up to a debate and thinks that the voters in his district will just vote for him out of name recognition and sheer misinformed laziness. But with her grassroots campaign, Ocasio-Cortez convinces the people of New York's 14th Congressional District to vote with their best interests at heart, and thank goodness, they did. In the two years since she was elected to office, we've seen how great it can be when someone who actually gives a damn about the world and her constituents comes to Washington.

The other women featured in this documentary are Amy Vilela from Nevada, Cori Bush from Missouri, and Paula Jean Swearengin from West Virginia. They are all incredible women who are running to protect their people from greedy self-serving Republican interests. None of them won their primaries in 2018, but Swearengin and Bush both won in 2020 and I will be eagerly following their races this November to see if they flip their districts/states blue (Swearengin, in particular, is a fascinating woman who bucks the stereotype that West Wirginia coal miners can only be Republicans, and she is running for Senate, which would be such a coup for the country). All three women have incredible stories of why they chose to run in the first place and serve as a great reminder that politicians do not all have to be corrupt, amoral snakes. Sometimes, they can be women who want to protect their communities and serve their country proudly. Also, Netflix put this movie out for free on YouTube, so really, you have absolutely no excuse not to watch it.

Directed by Hannah Rosenzweig and Wendy Sachs, Surge tells a nearly identical story of three women running for Congress in the 2018 midterm elections. Like the women of Knock Down the House, they were all "activated" following the 2016 election and are determined to make a difference. This movie does a better job of giving each woman equal time to tell her story and following her campaign, and it also showcases some of the challenges they face on elections days with poor infrastructure that seems designed to discourage voting. There's also an incisive look at how the Democrats' Primary Machine works and how candidates depend so much on the support of the Party for monetary and logistical support that could give them a boost and much-needed name recognition during their races.

The film follow Lauren Underwood in Illinois, Jana Lynne Sanchez in Texas, and Liz Watson in Indiana. Again, these three women have different levels of political savvy, and different reasons for why they are running, but they are all united in their passion and commitment to the people of their districts. All three women win their Democratic primaries, but then we get to see how difficult it is to actually flip a district in the General Election when they are up against moneyed Republican interests. Millionaires and lobbyists (and racists and misogynists) aren't going to let these women win without a fight. Devastatingly, in Indiana, Liz Watson's grassroots campaign generates high voter turnout, but the Election Office in one county runs out of ballots as they never expected so many voters. Which causes a delay and results in her losing a lot of people who might have voted for her in the first place. While Underwood and Watson get Party support and have people like Obama, Biden, and Sanders show up to their rallies to get out the vote, Jana Lynne Sanchez's district in Texas is deemed too impossible, so the Party doesn't help her out. She ultimately loses the election, but because of her efforts, Democrats discovered it was actually winnable, and they will be investing in the candidate who runs there in 2020.

Politics is a complicated and dirty business, but what these two documentaries (that were directed and edited and shot and produced by women, FYI) reveal is that there are still idealistic and determined people that we can get behind. More specifically, idealistic, determined women, who face an uphill battle because women simply aren't treated fairly in the political arena. It was thrilling to see how excited they were to see other women running for office and formed a supportive clique to cheer each other on regardless of whether they won or lost their own elections. That's the kind of energy we need in today's toxic political climate. In addition, these women aren't taking corporate PAC money and they have a slog ahead of them, but they are fighting for the right to represent us fairly and decently, and they deserve our attention.

So before you vote this year, and in every election following, pay some attention to the people on your ballot. See if there's a new candidate who is more deserving of your vote than the establishment candidate you've been voting for all your life but who has never actually pushed any policies that you want. In Surge, someone talks about how party affiliation has become like a religion - you'll vote for the person from your Party even if they're ripping you off. Let's stop doing that and only vote in the people who actually want a better life for us and our families, instead of pocketing millions from corporate interests. Read up on what these candidates stand for and don't just vote for someone because they have a (D) or an (R) after their name, but because they actually represent the values that matter to you. Get out there and vote, America. We're all counting on you.

#wu review #knock down the house #surge #documentary #movie recommendation #voting #us elections 2020

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fancycaroline · 5 years ago

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Seen and heard around Tumblr:

In defense of Rederina...

I do not see why some fans think that Rederina is transphobic bs? What does that even mean? I’m sure I don’t understand, but even if the Mother Theory is viewed as a transphobic outcome of the show, doesn’t change that many facts point to Rederina endgame, whether you like it or not. Assuming some higher authority deems Rederina badly told (which I do not feel is the case... I actually don’t know... It is what it is and I enjoy the show... 🤷‍♀️).... anyways...just bc a story is told badly, doesn’t mean the story makers are not allowed to tell it. Transgenderism doesn’t belong to any one person or group. It is a human condition that every human being on earth may discuss , or write about, or draw about or depict etc. Human conditions effect all humans directly or indirectly and levels of understanding are on a vast spectrum, but where you are on that spectrum does not dictate if you may or may not create art about it. This fact applies to everything under the sun! You may be an expert in a field and deservedly respected bc of that expertise, but that does not mean you are the only person permitted to discuss the topic in question. Bottom line, if Rederina does prove to be canon, it wouldn’t be the first time a topic on fictional tv was told inaccurately, and make sure your criticisms speak to your disappointment rather than to your judgement of how the story is told. It is not your story to tell. If you are Keenler and you don’t get Keenler, or Keen2 and Tom dies, Lizzington and Red is Liz’s Mother, or Resslington and Red and Ress are platonic, well you have a right to be disappointed, but you really can’t say the show is bad or bs, bc we’re all still here, enjoying the show regardless and still hoping for our preferred endgame. It’s a fictional fantastical tv show, not a documentary and inherently inaccurate when it comes to scientific or socio-demographic facts.

As to the other criticim levelled against Rederina theorists, that they are incapable of accepting that Red does not need to be a biological relation to Liz in order for him to care about her.... Well, this is just a ridiculous claim. To say that I believe Rederina to be plausible for the sole reason that I am incapable of accepting non-bio attachments?! Am I reading this right?! That hypothesis is a leap to say the least! What about Red and Dembe?!?!

Let be be clear, I believe Rederina to be plausible bc, as far as I can tell, the puzzle pieces fit. My conclusion by no means precludes the conclusions of others, but do not presume that I, or any other Rederina theorists, have come to that conclusion bc we desperately wanted it to! 😂 That’s just laughable. For me, it’s about following the breadcrumbs , determining if the pieces fit to reasonably draw this conclusion. I couldn’t care less about the morality or accurate correctness of this outcome. That is not for me to determine. It’s a fictional story and if the story facts had led in different directions... so be it. But I would never bend a story to adhere to my preferences. If I like what I see, great. If not, I move on. Simple as that. I have no emotional investment in Rederina theory or Keenler. If they do not go that way, I’ll move on. But I will not hold the storytellers accountable for my tastes. By now, we should all have realized that, regardless of outcomes, we enjoy the show for the colorful, thought-provoking journey that it is, and we are all taking the risk of not getting our way in the end.

But this prejudice against Rederinists is completely unfounded and unfair and I hope folks can become enlightened enough to stop making these kinds of statements. It’s hurtful.

#the blacklist #theblacklist

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stainedglassgardens · 5 years ago

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Watched in April

Queen of Earth Black Christmas Dogs of Chernobyl Firecrackers Les Misérables The Evil Dead The Daughters of Fire (Las hijas del fuego) The Fallen Idol The Wailing (곡성, Gokseong) Inherent Vice Sorrowful Shadow Mistery Lonely The Grand Bizarre Zombieland: Double Tap Waves '98 Uncut Gems The Last Séance Too Late to Die Young (Tarde para morir joven) Room Queen & Slim The Holy Mountain (La montaña sagrada) The Chaser ( 추격자, Chugyeokja) Made in Dagenham The Color of Pomegranates (Նռան գույնը, Nřan guynə) Lost Girls Ghost Town Anthology (Répertoire des villes disparues) And Then There Were None Doctor Sleep Meshes of the Afternoon Circus of Books Catfish Wildling Delphine The Strange Love of Martha Ivers The Red Balloon (Le Ballon rouge) Nona. If They Soak Me, I’ll Burn Them (Nona. Si me mojan, yo los quemo) The Lodge Invisible Man Sans Soleil

Did not finish

Horsehead (Romain Basset, 2014) Sinister (Scott Derrickson, 2012)

Did not like

Sorrowful Shadow (Guy Maddin, 2004) Mistery Lonely (Harmony Korine, 2007) Uncut Gems (Josh and Benny Safdie, 2019) The Last Séance (Laura Kulik, 2018) The Holy Mountain (La montaña sagrada, Alejandro Jodorowsky, 1973) Doctor Sleep (Mike Flanagan, 2019)

Okay

Queen of Earth (Alex Ross Perry, 2015): The way it was filmed reminded me of The Midnight Swim and Always Shine. I watched it because Elisabeth Moss is in it but was rather disappointed in the end -- it was beautifully shot but went nowhere

Black Christmas (Sophia Takal, 2019): Like Assassination Nation, this is a film I'm glad young people today have -- and it was fine, and if there’s anything I’ve got to say about so-called raging feminists it’s that we need more of them, but yeah the ending was disappointing and I felt that I had aged out of the target audience a good number of years ago

The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi, 1981): Finally saw this! Love me a a good campy horror story once in a while

The Wailing (곡성, Gokseong) and The Chaser ( 추격자, Chugyeokja) (Na Hong-jin, 2016 and 2008): A healthy dose of wtf in both of those, I’m still not sure I “correctly” grasped the intended tone. I also just lost all interest in The Chaser when (spoiler) the girl died. What’s the point of that? Are we in Game of Thrones now? I may still be angry about that, actually

Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2014): I know it’s a good film but it bored me to death. I don’t like stories about men or drugs

Zombieland: Double Tap (Ruben Fleischer, 2019): A sympathetic, slightly disappointing sequel

Waves '98 (Ely Dagher, 2015): I don’t remember much about this short but I did think it was good

Room (Lenny Abrahamson, 2015): I couldn’t watch this as separate from the book, it felt more like a companion film to me than anything else. It was good I think, but I’m definitely not the best judge on this one, because the book was so amazing and I’m still not over it, apparently

And Then There Were None (René Clair, 1945): Was it good? Who knows. They changed the ending and added in a crap love story, so who cares, really

Wildling (Fritz Böhm, 2018): I liked it? I didn’t really see the “feminist themes” in this but it was good

Delphine (Chloé Robichaud, 2019): This is one of those short films that are a little too “slice of life” for me to really enjoy. I can tell it’s good, tho

The Red Balloon (Le Ballon rouge, Albert Lamorisse, 1956): This is apparently a classic short film, and I think I would have enjoyed it a lot had I seen it in 1956. Seeing it today, when everything in it has been used in a hundred thousand other films, made it fall flat a little

Nona. If They Soak Me, I’ll Burn Them (Nona. Si me mojan, yo los quemo, Camila José Donoso, 2019): Watched this because it was directed by a woman! Did not know what to expect at all. The non-linear narration kept me trying to remember if there was something I could possibly have skipped that would have made more sense of it. I think the premise (old woman throws Molotov cocktail at former lover’s car) is better than the finished product, although it is very well-shot and the acting is amazing

Good

Dogs of Chernobyl (Léa Camilleri & Hugo Chesnel, 2020): Short documentary that had me on the verge of tears several times (you can watch it for free on YouTube!)

Les Misérables (Ladj Ly, 2019): It’s hard to talk about films like these. It is very good, very important, I think everyone should watch it. Think a new La Haine

The Daughters of Fire (Las hijas del fuego, Albertina Carri, 2018): Loved the reflection on pornography. The pornography itself was a little more... boring... but I appreciate the intention, and the guts it took to shoot something like this

The Fallen Idol (Carol Reed, 1948): An amazing British classic (adapted from Graham Greene!) that I had somehow never heard of. Great acting, especially considering the main character is a small child

Too Late to Die Young (Tarde para morir joven, Dominga Sotomayor Castillo, 2018): There will be people in this world to say that "uhh nothing happens in this film", a statement to which my reply will be twofold: first, it's beautiful so who cares, and second, how many other films have you seen that take place in a commune in the 1990s in Chile? That's what I thought. Shut up

Made in Dagenham (Nigel Cole, 2010): Films like this and Suffragette, that is, mainstream films about the working classes and political activism, are almost bound to be flawed, but I'm grateful they exist all the same. And how many of those have we seen that are about workers’ unions, with an all-female main cast, and nuanced dialogue about communism and the place of women in the home and of men in feminism? I’m glad that male directors have finally figured out that one of the best ways to avoid showing a one-dimensional idea of women is to have lots of them in one film. And Sally Hawkins! I love her

The Color of Pomegranates (Նռան գույնը, Nřan guynə, Sergei Parajanov, 1969): Another one of those classics I had never heard of (until I got Mubi!). Indescribable, beautiful

Lost Girls (Liz Garbus, 2020): Really liked the speech at the end about the police failing the victims and their families, really liked that the old inspector guy wasn't made to be someone who was on the side of the victims instead of on his own side. Bleak, sobering. When I watched this I didn't know Garbus was the person who directed that Nina Simone documentary, which I also love.Will definitely seek out more Liz Garbus in future

Ghost Town Anthology (Répertoire des villes disparues, Denis Côté, 2019): I watched this not knowing anything about Denis Côté or the film, and I loved the atmosphere even before the supernatural element really kicked in. Films like this and The One I Love or Everything Beautiful is Far Away are my kind of low-key science fiction

Meshes of the Afternoon (Maya Deren and Alexander Hammid, 1943): Aaaand another classic I finally saw! It just warms my heart to see that stuff like this was being made (by a woman!!) in the 1940s

Circus of Books (Rachel Mason, 2019): I saw a headline calling this “the queer Stories We Tell” and I loved Sarah Polley’s documentary and wouldn’t go quite that far but I can see where it’s coming from. A good autobiographical documentary about the complexity of families

Catfish (Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, 2010): I think everyone going into this today knows what this is going to be about, but let me tell you, it does not reduce the impact

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (Lewis Milestone, 1946): Barbara Stanwyck and Lizabeth Scott! Murder! Intrigue! Love and sleaze!

The Lodge (Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala, 2019): This was so efficient. It is so well-done, and Riley Keough is amazing as usual. More subtle than Franz and Fiala’s last effort, Goodnight Mommy, and at least as good

Sans Soleil (Chris Marker, 1983): It’s hard not to be disappointed by this after hearing every film bro I’ve ever met describe this as his fave ever. It is... pretty racist and sexist... but yes, very pretty, very nice if you can get past that

Faves

Firecrackers (Jasmin Mozaffari, 2018): Is this a coming-of-age story? Anyway it’s about two working-class teenage girls in small town Canada who are this close to making their dream of leaving for New York, and one of them is fuuuuucked up...

The Grand Bizarre (Jodie Mack, 2018): I think this is what I want from a non-narrative documentary. I’m tired of seeing pretentious Godfrey Reggio knockoffs. This quite simply blew my mind and is one of those very rare films I can see myself rewatching ten times

Queen & Slim (Melina Matsoukas, 2019): I can’t not compare this to Natural Born Killers and Thelma and Louise, both of which I used to love and haven’t seen in a number of years -- but Queen & Slim is quite possibly better than both of those. The tone, the breadth, the acting -- even the soundtrack. It’s a masterpiece

Invisible Man (Leigh Whannell, 2020): This is about a man who creates an invisibility suit. This is also about a woman who is being stalked and abused by a controlling man who just won’t rest until he has completely destroyed her -- but of course, since this is cinema and the woman in question is Elisabeth Moss, she ultimately beats the shit out of him. This was very difficult to watch for me but I’m glad I stuck through

I got Mubi this month! So glad I did. It’s so much better than both Filmstruck (RIP) and Amazon Prime. I like that choices are made for me up to a certain extent -- and those choices often turn out very good, and always interesting. And yes, we’re still in lockdown, I’m still unemployed, hence the number of films watched this month. Hopefully we can get out in May and I’ll end up watching less!

#watched in 2020 #films

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five-hour-anxiety · 6 years ago

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Valentines Day (and the Events Leading Up to It)

Summary: “Roman, why are you asking me for advice?” “I don’t know! Because normally I would go to Logan, but I clearly cannot for this!” (Or: five times Roman tried to ask Logan out, and the one time he really didn’t.)

Pairing: Logince

Taglist: @zerogettie @spacevirgil @tree4life25@thebiggestnaturaldisaster@pailettehazel@jordandobbertin@thecityofthefireflies @the-fabulous-kimball@azuranightsong @virmillion@erlenmeyertrash @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @the-sanders-sides@punch-you-with-friendship@moonshadowsiren @clovenpinetree@jughead-is-canonically-aroace@aplaceinthevoid @that-random-fandom-girl@zennyo @unring-this-bell @liz-a-bell @vir-gull

Author’s notes: hey what’s up, it’s another collab fic done with @liz-a-bell. Go yell at them too. Also, Deceit is in this one, and falls entirely in the sympathetic category. He just wants to be left alone, Roman, leave him alone.

Can be read on ao3 here!

Virgil:

“Roman, why are you asking me for advice?”

“I don’t know! Because normally I would go to Logan, but I clearly cannot for this!” Roman flopped onto Virgil’s bed as he spoke, whining.

“Okay fine. Let’s see, you could just ask him.” Virgil drawled, holding out ‘could’ for a good four seconds.

“No!” Roman whined, stamping his foot, “It has to be special! This is me you’re talking to!”

“Okay, okay. What about, like, a sampling box of Crofters? You know, instead of a chocolate sampler?”

“Perfect! He’ll love it!”

Attempt One:

Roman thought he was being sneaky. He really did -- but there’s only so much he could do to keep this idea secret. Logan was picky about his jelly, even more so about Crofters. The side liked them all well enough, sure, but he had favorites and therefore only those flavors would be good enough for the box.

Only the best for Logan, after all.

So by the time he had all the flavors chosen, he was sure Logan knew what was going on. As much as he was loath to admit it, Roman was anything but subtle when he had breezed into the logical sides room and asked for the top ten flavors of Crofters.

So it came as a complete surprise when the idea crashed and burned faster than his pile of notebooks from middle school.

“Ah, how thoughtful Roman -- a box of Crofters in honor of our fan club anniversary!”

Roman thought, for just one moment, the air had been punched out of him. He squinted his eyes and tilted his head, hands holding the Crofters sampler lowering down to his waist.

“What?”

“Why this is wonderful Roman! Would you like to join me for a tasting? I could even make some tea to go with it.”

“No, that’s okay. You have fun with it.”

Patton:

“Padre! You’re the heart and I need advice over matters of the heart!” Roman sighed, collapsing into the small couch Patton kept in his room for sleepovers.

“Roman, hey! What can I help you with?” Patton, Roman guessed, must have been taking a nap. He fumbled around for his glasses as he spoke, and his cardigan was wrinkled and creased in odd places. “What kind of heart matters?”

“How do ask I out a… shall we say endearingly dense man?” Roman asked, hands twitching as he resisted the urge to fix Patton’s appearance.

“Hmmm, oh! How about a card? They make cards for everything!”

“Yes, that could work! If I can make the right card it could make everything so much easier!” Roman sprang up, charging towards the door with a new sense of purpose.

“Perfect! So glad I could help kiddo!” Patton laughed, waving as Roman threw the door open and left after dipping down into a bow.

“Well, I’ll see you later Padre, I have a card to make!” He called over his shoulder, already halfway down the hall.

Attempt 2:

“Ah, Logan! Wait just a moment, I have something for you!” Roman huffed, coming to a stop behind the logical side.

“Did you just-”

“Run across the mindscape to find you? Absolutely, this simply could not wait.”

Logan raised an eyebrow as Roman reached into his jacket, pulling out a handmade card. He presented it with a flourish, all but throwing it into Logan’s hands.

“A...card?” Logan asked, holding it between two fingers as glitter fell off it in waves. “Thank you…?”

“Open it, please! I worked so hard on it!”

After shaking the card slightly to get rid of the extra glitter, Logan opened it up and read it.

“Thank you very much, Roman, I appreciate the gift. I’m sure you are aware, given its nature, today is National Give a Card to a Friend day,” Roman’s jaw dropped as Logan spoke, “I regret to inform you that I have failed to procure a card to give you in return, but if you allow me a few hours I’m sure I could come up with a card almost as… lovely… as the one you’ve made?”

“No, that's okay. I appreciate it, but I just wanted to give you something nice, there's no need to reciprocate,” Roman grumbled, turning away. “Have a good day.”

Deceit:

“So you’ve tried twice already and it hasn’t worked?” Deceit sighed, trying and failing to walk away from the creative side.

“Yes, clearly,” Roman huffed, throwing his hands up.

“Well, you could just tell him how you feel.”

“Yes, you’re right, that would never work,” Roman sighed, bangs flying up and off his forehead with the movement. “You’re no help!”

Deceit watched as Roman did an about face and stomped off down the hall, slightly annoyed that Roman misunderstood. Not enough to chase him down and explain, though.

Attempt 3:

Deceit stared down at the trash can, a sigh tearing its way out of his chest. There, clear as day, were two bouquets -- one of red roses and the other a mish-mash of flowers that, if he could be bothered to do some research, probably meant something.

He didn’t care enough though, so he let it be.

Thomas:

“Wait, so let me get this straight-”

“You can’t and you know it, Thomas,” Roman interrupting, hands flying up to form handguns with an eh, eh?

“Whatever, let me get this right. You, an aspect of my personality, want to ask out Logan, another aspect of my personality.”

“Think of it as self-love, Thomas.”

“...Yeah, okay,” Thomas sighed, “So, you want my advice?”

“Yes! Please! I’ve already asked all the others and none of their ideas worked!” Roman groaned, shoulders slumping as a hand came to rest on his forehead.

“Well, I always like trivia. It lets you show off your knowledge of a subject, something Logan would definitely appreciate, while also letting you learn more about your date.”

“Yes! Of course, you brilliant man! Oh, you’re just too clever sometimes!” Roman cried, halfway sunk out of the room already. “But it’s no surprise, Logan is your logic!”

With that the prince was gone, leaving a confused Thomas behind.

“Good luck?”

Attempt 4:

“Okay, so the other two wanted to have a trivia night -- will you be my partner?” Roman batted his eyelashes as he asked, having cornered Logan against the kitchen counter. Logan looked around and cleared his throat, a slight blush spreading over his cheeks.

“Of course, it- it only makes sense you want the smartest side to be your boy- partner,” Logan stammered, slipping out of Roman’s range as he spoke.

“You think I want you as my partner because you’re smart?”

“Well, yes, that would be a logical conclusion.”

“No, I want you to be my partner because you’re my friend!” Roman cried, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

“Oh. Well, in that case, I suppose I can do so,” Logan conceded, raising a hand to his chin. “Do you know of the categories, yet? May I propose Valentine’s Day as one, seeing as the holiday is so close?”

“No, we can’t do that one -- you know Patton will win that one in a landslide,” Roman laughed.

“Oh, I see,” It may have been Roman’s imagination, but he could have sworn Logan frowned for a moment. Oh, well -- at least he got to spend time with the logical side tonight.

Joan and Talyn:

This was going to be a bit hard to explain, but Roman was out of people to ask for help. So, much to Thomas’s surprise, he popped up while Joan and Talyn were over. Thomas was the first to notice him, of course, and upon doing so was quite animated as he frantically gestured for Roman to sink out. That, however, caught Joan’s attention and they quickly turned around, freezing at the sight of Roman standing in the corner before slowly turning back to Thomas.

“....Thomas, what am I seeing?”

“Uhh, Joan, meet Roman? Roman, Joan,” Thomas sighed as he moved to stabilize Talyn, who had been looking a bit light headed.

After explaining the existence of the sides -- which took the better part of an hour -- Roman finally got to explain why he had chosen to pop up now of all days.

“You want to ask out Logan, who is another part of Thomas’s personality, and you need our help?” Joan asked, rubbing at their temples. “Thomas, aren’t you like, oh I don’t know… a little concerned here?”

“It’s like self love, Joan, just taken to a new level. I take it the trivia didn’t go well, Roman?” Thomas asked.

“You’ve already had this conversation? You know what, no, nevermind. Roman,” Joan turned back to the prince, “Have you tried a movie night? With just Logan?”

Roman was quiet for a moment, brow furrowed in thought.

“I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. Thank you, you magnificent human!” Roman cried, beginning to sink down, before popping back up once more. “Thanks for these marvelous new outfits, by the way. May I suggest a bit more gold for the next one?”

He was gone before anyone could respond.

Attempt 5:

“Logan!” Roman cried as he flounced into the logical sides room. “I would like to propose a movie night! We could watch a documentary, I do believe there’s a new one on the formation of black holes out on Netflix.”

“That does sound fun, but might I suggest we watch something you would enjoy as well? I don’t want you to fall asleep in the middle of the movie after all,” This statement was accompanied by a fond smile, but Roman seemed to miss it. He focused instead on what he felt to be a rejection.

“No, no, that’s quite alright Pocket Protector. I’ve, uh, I’ve just remembered I’ve got some work to do before the next video,” Roman sighed and turned to leave. Logan watched him go, a frown quickly replacing the smile he reserved only for Roman.

As he sunk out to retire to his own room, he failed to see the tv on with the documentary already queued and ready to go.

Roman (+1 Success):

Roman hadn’t slept well that night. After leaving Logan in his room, he had stomped into his own, proceeded to take a page out of Virgil’s book and put on a playlist consisting of pg-13 music. By the time he had grown tired of the music, it was three in the morning.

Not to mention Patton waking them up all up at six am so that the fam-ILY could start of Valentine’s day with plates full of heart shaped pancakes, resulting in a mere three hours of fitful sleep.

It was noon by the time Logan was alone and by then Roman had had it up to here with romantic gestures. He was on his fifth cup of coffee and still in his pajamas when Logan asked him to come into the kitchen.

“Roman, thank you for joining me. I was hoping to get your opinion on a few things.” Logan said, smiling at him as he gestured for Roman to sit with him.

“Sure, Specs, what can I do for you?”

“Well, I have this dilemma. There’s this person I like and I have been attempting to ask them to join me on various outings all week, but have been continually misunderstood,” Logan sighed, leaning back against the counter, “As the creative aspect, I had hoped you would offer some insight so as to make him understand my intentions?”

Roman, in a fit of sleep deprivation, snorted. The snort turned into a full-blown laugh and soon he was doubled over at the knees fighting to catch his breath.

“Are- are you kidding me?” He asked, still short on breath, “Go ask someone else, I am nothing but a failure in that department!” He turned to leave but stopped short when Logan grabbed his elbow.

“You… are trying to win over someone?” He whispered a look on his face that Roman couldn’t quite name. “How- Could you walk me through what you have attempted? Maybe that could help me… or, well, nevermind.”

“No, hey, Specs -- I’m sorry. It’s just,” Roman rubbed at the back of his head as he spoke, a shy smile on his face, “I was trying to ask if… well if you would go out with me, all week. But I realize now that your lack of interest must have been due to your own infatuation with another.”

“You...you think I like someone else? And turned you down because of it? Roman, that couldn’t be any further from the truth! I have been attempting to ask you out all week as well! We must have both become so caught up in our own attempts that we missed the others.”

To say Roman was shocked would be an understatement. He stared at Logan a good thirty seconds before he could say anything.

“You...were?”

“Yes! I asked you join me for tea when you gave me that Crofters sampler, I wanted to make you a card in thanks for the one you made me, I suggested Valentine’s Day as a trivia category, and I even wanted to watch a movie you would enjoy.”

“Oh. I guess I was just being rather dense then,” Roman blinked, his brain still trying to process the new information. “So, hypothetically if I had shown up at your door earlier this week with a dozen roses and flat out told you how I felt… it would have been reciprocated?”

“Why, yes -- I had also obtained a bouquet for you, but threw it away when I decided it would not be a grand enough gesture for you.”

“Deceit will never let me live this down,” Roman groaned, but quickly perked up and grasped Logan’s hands. “So! Logan, my dear -- will you do me the honor of being my Valentine?”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Logan laughed. Roman whooped and picked Logan up into a twirl. “No really, I thought you’d never ask. What a wonderful, unforeseen event!”

“I tend to bring about a lot of those, yes.”

#sanders sides #roman sanders #logan sanders #sanders sides fic #thomas sanders #deceit #sympathetic deceit #virgil sanders #patton sanders #joan and talyn #ali writes

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hymn2000 · 5 years ago

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Chiquitita - MCU AU fanfic - C22

Story summary: Something strange is happening. Someone from space has made their way to Earth, armed with a strange weapon. Targeting teenagers, their ray gun, when fired, turns the victim into a toddler. The Avengers set out to stop this, and find a way to reverse the effects. However, they don’t all come out of the battle unscathed.

Previous chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21

Part of my Frostiron and Spiderson series.

Warnings/themes: de-aging, family stuff, corporal punishment (early chapters only), mental health stuff, hurt/comfort, hospital/medical stuff

Chapter 22 - Old Friends

“The last few months feel like they’ve gone on for years” Tony said one quiet evening.

Loki looked up from his book, and sighed. “I know what you mean”

“Your brother hasn’t been in touch for ages”

“I know. He said he was giving us false hope by coming back so regularly”

“What’s taking them so long? Was Kindsprengen really from somewhere so complicated that they can’t figure out his gun?”

“Maybe. I haven’t really been thinking about it. Not to that extent. I just think they’re bound to find a reversal eventually. There’s nothing we can do to change things, or speed them along”

Tony sighed. “I know. Just it’s been three months, and I didn’t think it would even be as long as three weeks”

“I know darling, I know”

“Wait, Loki? Where’s the kid?”

Loki looked over to where Peter had been a few minutes earlier.

“Oh” he said. “Peter!”

There was no response. They heard something, and looked at each other.

“Was that the front door?”

“It can’t be Peter; there’s a seal at the top of the stairs” Loki said, standing up. “I’m going to go and have a look”

“MUMMA!”

Loki and Tony looked at each other and rushed out to the corridor, where they found Peter in Carol’s arms.

“Carol! Wh-what are you doing here?!”

Carol smiled at him. “I had a bit of free time, so I thought I’d stop by. I’ve gotta say, I didn’t expect him to still be tiny”

“I’m not tiny!” Peter said, pouting. “I’m big!”

Carol kissed him on the nose. “Alright baby, you’re big”

“How long are you gonna be around for?” Tony asked, coming over and taking Peter from her, tickling his tummy.

“Hey! Daddy!”

“I’ll be around for a bit” Carol said, touching Peter’s cheek gently. “So, how are you doing?”

“Why don’t we go and grab a drink?” Tony said quickly. “Then we’ll talk”

Carol sat at the breakfast bar, bouncing Peter on her knee.

“Hey baby, I’ve got something for you” she said, handing him a marshmallow lollipop.

“Oh! Thank you!” Peter grinned, taking the lolly and pulling the wrapper off.

For once, Tony chose not to complain about it. He sat a mug down in front of Carol, and then sat down on the other side of the table with Loki.

“So” Carol said, stroking Peter’s hair. “He’s still a toddler”

“Yeah” Tony said. “They haven’t managed to make the reversal yet”

“Must be something more complex than any of us expected” Carol said. “How are you finding it with this one, then?”

“I think he’s great” Loki said. “He’s so sweet and funny and happy. He’s fun to have around. We’ve settled into a routine now, and we know what we’re doing, so it feels quite natural now”

Carol looked at Tony. “How about you?”

Tony looked at Peter, who was happily gumming his marshmallow.

“Well, it’s much easier than it was” he said. “I love the little thing. Loki’s right; he’s a funny little thing. It’s been quite fun at times, but I’m still gonna be relieved when the reversal is ready”

Carol nodded, and looked down at Peter. “What about you, baby? How are you doing?”

“I fell in the pond at the park!”

“Did you? When was that?”

“Um. Last week, I think. Last week..? I scared the ducks!”

“You scared me too!” Tony said. “He went all the way under, you know. Poor thing”

“He thought it was hilarious” Loki said. “After he’d gotten over the initial shock, anyway. You should have seen him! Screaming with laughter, he was. It wasn’t the reaction I expected. He toppled in so heavily”

“I wasn’t allowed to go on the swings” Peter pouted.

“You were soaked through, chick” Tony said.

“It just had to happen on the one day that I didn’t bring a change of clothes” Loki sighed, shaking his head.

Carol laughed. “Sods law. Were you hurt, little guy?”

Peter shook his head. “I dropped my ice cream”

“Oh dear! That sounds like you had a bit of rubbish day”

“He laughed about it pretty quickly, especially when he realised his rocket hadn’t succumbed to the water” Loki said. “Still, we had to take him home and put him straight in the bath. All that filthy water... I think the other parents round the pond were more scared than he was”

“Bless him. How have the press been?”

“My press manager has been surprisingly good” Tony said. “So we haven’t had too much hassle. People do keep trying to get us to meet up with other people affected by Kindsprengen though”

“I’m guessing that’s not an idea you’re on board with?”

“Nah, I’d rather just get on with it as a family. We’re fine just being the three of us. Most of the time, anyway. Still get a bit of help from friends and stuff sometimes. We don’t need to meet the other de-aged kids”

“Some of them have met up with each other though” Loki said. “Some people at the hospital showed me a few articles in some tat-mags, and apparently there was a documentary the other week. I didn’t watch it though”

“Can’t say I blame you. I don’t think I would have watched it. I might have read the articles though”

“Tragically, Loki doesn’t allow tat-mags in the house, otherwise I’d probably have some to show you” Tony said. “You could always look online. I read a few of them”

Loki looked at him. “You did?”

“Yeah, it was interesting. It’s all the same kind of thing. Like, them not having memory memories, but remembering their likes and dislikes, and some people. There's this one kid who knows their mum, but not their step-dad. How weird is that?”

“How long had they been together?” Carol asked.

“About five years, apparently. That’s still a bit weird”

“Yeah, but Peter doesn’t remember May” Loki said. “Or Liz. Maybe it’s just a bit of a pick-and-choose oddity”

Peter looked up at Carol. “Daddy said I can have a garden”

“A garden? Really? That sounds... lovely”

“It’s just an idea” Tony said.

“It’s a stupid idea. How are we supposed to have a garden? If this house was made with a garden, fine, but it wasn’t” Loki said. “There’s no provision for it!”

“Wait, how did this come about?”

“Well, yesterday when we were out, he kept asking for one of those kids climbing frames they have displayed in toy shops” Tony said. “And I said no because we don’t have a garden, and he asked for a garden, and I was like, uhh, no. But then I started thinking about it, and I thought it’d be a cool project, making a garden”

“I admire your ambition, but you can’t really have grass inside, can you? Don’t you need specially adapted spaces for indoor gardens? And aren’t they basically just greenhouses?”

“I was thinking of using one of the balconies, actually”

“Not my balcony!” Loki said.

“No! No, one of the other ones, the ones we don’t really use” Tony said. “I started drawing up some plans last night. Peter gave me some input, didn’t you, chick?”

“Yep! We’re gonna get one of them big benches that swings! AND we’re gonna have a little pond!”

“No, sweetheart, I never said a pond” Tony said. “Especially after you fell into the one at the park! Maybe a water feature”

“So what are you gonna do? Make a huge soil bed to stick grass on?”

“Maybe. I’ll show you my plans if you like” Tony said, standing up. “I left them in the other room”

Carol shook her head fondly as Tony went off. “He’s having one of his creative spurts”

“Hm, maybe” Loki said. “Our balconies are big, but I think making a full garden is a bit too ambitious. I just don’t think it would work”

“Well, I don’t see how you could do it either” Carol said. “Maybe just something that looks like a garden, then?”

“I’ll humour him” Loki said. “I just don’t want him doing something stupid. You can’t really make a garden on a balcony, especially not one that would support a big play area thing with swings”

“Wouldn’t it be a bit of a waste?” Carol said gently. “I mean, he’s not gonna be like this forever. What are you gonna do with a kids play area dealie when he’s big again?”

Loki didn’t say anything. Luckily, Tony came back into the room at that moment, shuffling some papers.

“Here, look at these. I’ve drawn the grass in, but I’m not sure how it’d work yet”

Carol looked at his carefully drawn plans. Peter put his lolly stick down and pointed to bits of the drawing.

“This bit is all big plants! And this bit goes against the glassy bit. Daddy said it’s safer that way” he said. “This is the swinging bench! Daddy said we can get a slide too, that’s what this is! It’s a, um... daddy, what is it?”

“It’s a novelty slide”

“Yes!” Peter grinned. “Oh, oh! Daddy, water!”

“Water?” Tony said. “Oh, are you thirsty?”

“Water! Water!”

Peter scurried down from Carol’s lap, running over to the sink and pointing.

“Water, water, water!”

“Ooh, you wanna play, don’t you?” Tony smiled, getting up.

Carol watched while Tony filled the washing up bowl and set it on the floor. She watched him handing the toddler some plastic cups and little rubber bath toys. Tony knelt on the floor, rolling Peter’s sleeves up to stop them from getting too wet.

“It looks like you’re doing well” she said to Loki.

“Yes, well, it took some getting used to” Loki said. “Tony was rubbish the first week, but then he stepped up. He’s had a few rocky days, but ultimately, he’s been great”

“He’s such a dad. He looks so comfortable with him even now he’s a toddler”

“He’s cute” Loki said. “...Peter’s gotten really into water lately. I thought about getting him one of those big water troughs, but Tony said no”

“That makes sense. Have you considered what you’re gonna do with all this kids stuff after he’s been zapped back to normal?”

“Not really” Loki said vaguely, looking back at Peter and Tony. “He ends up spending ages in the bath now, since he’s got so many bath toys. He loves those little water mills”

“Have you taken him swimming? He might enjoy that”

“Oh yeah, he loves it! We’ve taken him a handful of times. He adores it, especially this little slide they have there in the shape of a whale”

“That’s cute. What about you, though? You never go swimming”

“Well, with the baby, we’re just in the baby pool and the shallow end, and I’m fine with that. Tony takes him into the deeper parts a little bit, but not much. Peter likes being able to splash around”

“Nice. So, you’re doing well?”

Loki nodded. “I’m enjoying it, if I’m honest. He’s a lot of fun, and it makes it a lot easier to deal with the whole situation”

“So you’ve not got any idea how long he’s gonna be like this?”

“No. Thor said he’ll let us know about any progress on the reversal as soon as he knows”

“Something must have happened to slow their progress. How long has it been now? Three months?”

“To the day” Loki nodded.

Carol sighed, looking at Peter. Tony was squirting water at him with a little toy frog, and Peter was laughing like it was the funniest thing ever.

“He looks happy” she said. “But he deserves to be given his life back”

Loki looked at her. “Isn’t happiness more important?”

Carol looked at him. “He won’t be like this forever. Regular Peter might have been through some horrible stuff, but he still has a good life. He has a family, and good friends. He’s a superhero. Secretly, yeah, but still. He deserves to have that life back. Even if he’s a toddler now who can’t remember anything from before he got zapped, he still has the same past. You’re never going to be able to change that”

“If it’s a past he’s forgotten, why would we need to?”

“You’re thinking dangerously, Loki” she said. “As soon as that reversal is done, Thor’s gonna come here first. He’ll zap Peter back to normal, and then he’ll go and zap all the other kids back to normal. This was always a temporary thing. As soon as that guy popped up, you all started talking of a way to reverse the effects, isn’t that what you said?”

“Well, yes, but-”

“But nothing. You knew how it had to go even before Peter got hit. Do you really think all those kids are better off now? I’ve heard bits about this, Loki. The first one to get zapped was like, four months ago, right? They're exactly the same as the day they got zapped. So there’s a chance they’ll be stuck as toddlers forever if they don’t get that reversal gun. Is that better than giving them their lives back?”

“I don’t care about the other kids: I care about Peter”

“Stop talking mad, then” Carol said. “You’re allowed to enjoy the toddler version, but you’re not allowed to contemplate keeping it this way forever. It’s not gonna happen”

“I know that” Loki nearly snapped. “I never outright said to you that we should keep him this way;- that was just your assumption. You’re putting words in my mouth”

“I’m taking them from your mind”

“Mumma, mumma!” Peter called.

Carol stood up and went over to him. “What’cha doing over here, baby?”

“You can make the water bubble!” he said. “Make it bubble!”

“I’ll make it bubble, but only if you promise not to touch”

“Promise!”

Tony smiled at Peter’s fascination and amazement at the bubbling of the boiling water when Carol heated it. He was a little impressed himself. Carol’s glowing hands weren’t something he’d had the pleasure of seeing in action very often.

“You know, if you’ve got some free time, maybe you could stay the night and come out with us tomorrow” he suggested.

“I’m up for staying the night. What are you doing tomorrow?”

“We haven’t really decided yet. If the weather is good, we were thinking about this outdoor splash pad thing. It’s like a big water-based play area. If the weathers not so good, well, I’m not sure. Maybe just something boring like going out for lunch and then going shopping”

“Getting stuff for your garden project?”

“Maybe. I kinda wanted to go to a garden centre anyway. We did up May’s grave recently, and I wanted to see if I could find another nice statue or one of those little coloured lanterns for her. Garden centres are gonna have ones that’ll last outside, more than normal shops”

“Was she into that kinda stuff? Like, gnomes?”

“God no; she hated gnomes. Peter once hid one in her bed so when she pulled back the covers she got the fright of her life. Peter said it’s the only time he can remember May properly hitting him” Tony smiled slightly. “I don’t know why gnomes freaked her out. She always hated that one Loki used to have by the front door”

“Oh yeah. What happened to that?”

“Peter smashed it in a fit of rage after May died” Loki said, draining his mug. “Somehow I never got round to getting another one”

“Huh” Carol lowered her hand, letting the water go still again.

“Oh!” Peter said. “It’s stopped bubbling!”

“Yeah, but it’ll still be hot, so you can’t touch” Carol said, picking him up and giving him a cuddle. “What time do you go to bed, baby?”

“Usually around midnight” Peter said, very matter-o’-fact.

“He’s lying” Tony said unnecessarily. “He goes at eight. I guess he can stay up a bit later tonight, since you’re here”

“Aww, that’ll be fun” Carol said. “I’ll read you some stories if you like, baby”

“Ah, maybe don’t suggest that” Loki said. “He’s really into his reading right now, and he won’t let us read to him: he has to read to us”

“Ooh, you can read?”

“Yep! Daddy taught me!” Peter grinned. “I get stuck on the really big words though”

“I’ll help you along. Do you wanna read? Or do you wanna do something else?”

Peter thought for a moment. “I want hot chocolate!”

Carol laughed. “Better ask your dads”

Peter blinked at her, and then looked at Tony. “Hot chocolate?”

Tony smiled. “Sure thing kiddo. Just give me five minutes”

Peter decided he didn’t want to read after having his hot chocolate. Instead, he wanted to show Carol all of his toys. He had a lot, so this was quite a time consuming venture. Tony and Loki left him to it for a while, and Peter may have got through everything - if he didn’t feel the need to explain every single toy in detail to Carol. His enthusiasm may have been endearing, but it certainly ate into the evening too.

“Bambino” Tony said at quarter to nine. “I think it’s time to go to bed”

“No!” Peter protested. “I haven’t finished!”

“You can show mumma the rest of your things tomorrow. It’s already past your usual bed time”

Peter looked at Loki for help. “I can stay up, can’t I?”

“You’ve already stayed up, chick” Loki said. “It’s time to put your toys away and let us take you to bed”

Peter looked at Carol. “I can stay up?”

“No, I think it’s definitely bedtime now” Carol said. “We’ll tidy up your toys, and then you’ll go to bed”

Peter pouted. “I don’t want to”

“You still gotta go”

“Can you take me?”

“Sure, I can take you” she said, looking at Tony for permission. “But first you need to tidy your toys”

Peter nodded and started throwing his toys back into their boxes.

“Careful!” Loki said. “You’ll break something if you throw them about like that”

Peter looked at him, and then started putting his toys away in a much more gentle fashion. Carol gave him a hand, and once everything was away, she gave him a little squeeze.

“Good boy. Are you gonna say goodnight?”

Peter nodded and ran over to Loki and Tony, who lifted him up and gave him a big hug.

“Goodnight, darling” Loki said. “See you in the morning”

“Night, chick” Tony said. “Be good for mumma, ok?”

“I will!” Peter said. “Love you, daddies!”

“We love you too”

Peter happily trotted along to his room with Carol, thrilled to be seeing her again after so long. He decided he had to be good as gold, and he went straight to his en suite, climbed up onto his little stepping stool, and grabbed his toothbrush.

“You know exactly what you’re doing, don’t you, baby?”

Peter did his teeth and then let Carol wash his face and help him into his pyjamas.

“You’re so good, you know” she said.

“I try” Peter grinned.

“You ready to get into bed?”

“No! I need a wee!”

“Ok, ok. I’ll go and sort your bed out then” Carol said, taking his rocket and leaving him to it.

It felt a little odd, seeing Peter’s room filled with all this little-boy, toddler-sized stuff. Most of regular Peter’s stuff was still there, like his elephant and his shelf of trophies and his little collection of Steiff toys. But other stuff had obviously been put away for safekeeping, like his school things and his workshop things and his laptop. The photo of May and Peter that had been on the bedside table for so long had been moved. Carol understood why, but it was still weird seeing it was missing - it made the bedside table look bare.

“Mumma?” Peter said, coming out of the en suite. “Are you gonna be here tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’m staying over” Carol said.

“Are we going out?”

“I'm not sure yet. I think your dads were thinking of taking you out”

“Oh!” Peter said, climbing up onto his bed. “You too?”

“Yeah, me too” she smiled. “Do you wanna read a story before you go to sleep?”

Peter shook his head. “Tell me one of your stories!”

Carol laughed. “Sure, but you gotta lay down first”

Peter flopped down onto his back, hugging his rocket close. Carol sat on the bed with him.

“Ok, I’ll tell you something that happened a few weeks ago. So, there I was, minding my own business, when suddenly, out of nowhere-”

Loki and Tony looked up when Carol rejoined them in the living room.

“Is he asleep?” Tony asked.

“Yep” Carol sat down beside Loki. “He’s a good kid. He’s excited about going out tomorrow, even though I told him I don’t know where we’re going”

“I think we should go swimming again” Loki said. “He enjoys it so much”

“Well, I’ve been looking at the weather forecast, and it’s supposed to be pretty hot tomorrow” Tony said. “We don’t wanna go to the main pool and waste the hot weather by being inside”

“Didn’t you say something about an outdoor splash pad thing?” Carol said.

“Yeah, but there’s also an outdoor paddling pool in this other park” Tony said. “There’s not really any pictures of it online, but it sounds like it could be a good thing. Just a basic pool, apparently with a kiosk nearby, so we could have an ice cream or something too”

“What if it’s busy?” Loki said. “It might be a bit much, having three of us with the toddler”

“It’s probably not gonna be too busy. People go to the coast and theme parks and stuff when it’s hot. Those are the places that are gonna be crowded” Tony said. “We could go earlier too. Then go for lunch afterwards? And the garden centre. Like I said; there’s some stuff I need”

Loki looked at Carol. “What do you think?”

“I don’t mind, but I don’t have a swim suit”

“We’ve got some here you could use” Tony said. “Peter’s friends have kinda got a drawer full of swim stuff here for some reason”

“Ok, but somehow I don’t think a fifteen year olds bikini will fit me”

“You’re not exactly huge, Cap” Tony said. “I’m sure Millie’s stuff will fit. She’s a bit fat”

“Millie isn’t fat!” Loki said. “She’s just a bit chunky”

“She’s bigger than the other two. She wears bigger sizes. You could always go and see”

“You’d wake Peter up, rifling around in his room for the swim stuff” Loki said. “Maybe we’d better think of something else to do tomorrow”

“I’ll have a brain storm over night” Tony said. “We’ll see what we can come up with. Any suggestions?”

“Hey, I’m easy” Carol smiled. “Now, do you mind if I raid your kitchen?”

Tony laughed and passed her his phone. “Order a takeaway. Loki and I were gonna get something in anyway. May as well feed you too”

#my writing #fanfiction #mcu fanfiction #marvel fanfiction #frostiron #irondad and spiderson

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mdwatchestv · 6 years ago

Text

Best Television (Of the Things I Watched) 2018

IndieWire's Liz Miller put together a staggering list of all the television shows that aired this year, excluding most reality and children's programming, to help narrow down top ten lists. If you would like to view it and despair, you may do so by clicking here.

Per her list there were o/a 554 shows on television this annum. Stare into the gaping void of that number, and let it, in turn, stare back into you. Of the television shows on this list, I have seen, at least one episode, of 136 of them. Although I am not a "professional" television "critic" who "gets paid" to give opinions, I am a "television professional" who also writes about it as an "amateur" "hobby". What I'm really trying to say here is that I have never seen an episode of The Americans.

But what I'm REALLY trying to say is that I watch a lot of TV, and work in TV, and love TV and have only seen 25% of the shows currently on television (and yes, I had to Google how to do that math). 25%! That's a quarter! That's an F- -, that is a paltry drip in this vast ocean of content. How is anyone supposed to keep up with that! The only thing I keep up with are the Kardashians, and that show isn't even included on the list of 554 shows!

And so with the disclaimer that any true distillation and subsequent ranking of the current landscape of television is, for all intents and purposes, impossible- I present to you my picks for the best shows of 2018. Or perhaps more accurately ~*~my~*~ favorite shows, or the shows that brought me the most joy, or who managed to rise above the froth of the seething hoard of content, or shows I’d like you all to watch so we may talk about them.

Killing Eve - BBC America

Okay so forget everything I just said about the insurmountable tv landscape and the inability to make an accurate judgement of quality, because Killing Eve was the BEST show this year. Watching this show, the latest outing from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, felt like suddenly finding out you've been holding your breath your entire life and finally filling your lungs. Killing Eve is the show I have always wanted to watch, and yet could never have previously imagined being possible. It is a spy thriller that maintains a heady tension, it's a pitch black comedy, it's a love story, it's violent, it's stylish, it's sexy, and it's unapologetically female. I could write an entire blog about this show in regards to women's spaces, sexuality, violence, and the female gaze but there WAS other television this year that I GUESS you want to read about. Real quick: the music was amazing, the clothes were amazing, Jodie Comer has shamed all other psychopath performances, and Sandra Oh held this whole jumble together with a deeply grounded yet intimately vulnerable performance and that shit AIN'T EASY Y'ALL. Also this is on Hulu now....so....

The Terror - AMC

I can say without question that The Terror is the most enjoyable show I've ever seen about men rotting to death on a boat. AMC did a terrible (lol) job of advertising this gem of a series based on an 800 page novel, which itself is based on a real (doomed) expedition to find the Northwest Passage. Yes, the The Terror is about all the ways men can die (many!), but it was also easily the most aesthetically beautiful series I watched this year. Sure, it was scary and there were zombie polar bears, but it also created a subtle unease as delicate as it was unsettling. The natural world is unforgiving and unknowable, but is it more dangerous than what lies in the hearts of men? (Free tagline for you AMC) Everyone slept on this show like they were dying of hypothermia.

Queer Eye - Netflix

Imagine you're you, and you've had a really rough couple of years. I mean, the news is terrible, the planet is dying, and you're never going to be a homeowner. The only thing that brings you joy is lying listlessly on your couch playing cooking games on your phone and trying to pretend that you don't have to haul your corporeal form to work tomorrow. Suddenly, there is a knock on your (over-priced apartment's) door. Who could be visiting you here, at such an hour? Who is there left in the world that cares? You pull on a bathrobe and shuffle over, opening the door and blinking owlishly into outside world. Before you are five beautifully appointed men, they have gifts, salsa, bomber jackets, soft-silken hair, their energy is non-threatening. They join you on the couch and you cry in their toned arms for hours, for days, for weeks. For the first time in a long time you think maybe humanity is worth saving after all.

Sharp Objects - HBO

I have never fully boarded the Gillian Flynn train, my reaction to watching Gone Girl and reading Dark Places was "Oh...that's it?" So despite the creative heavy hitters (Marti Noxon, Marc-Jean Vallee, Amy Adams) attached, I had reservations about this HBO miniseries. On its surface Sharp Objects is another one of Flynn's lurid mysteries, but its on-screen adaptation created a fully realized world for this particular mystery to inhabit. A world that at turns felt stifling and magical, that oozed resentment, and pain, and fear. A world filled with women who had anger simmering under the skin, caught in their hands, trapped in their mouths. For once this wasn't a story where the twist was the final destination, but rather an inevitability of cruelty wrought on women by their world and by each other.

The Good Place - NBC

Everything on this list so far has been new series. Maybe that's because newness is more interesting, or maybe it's because goodness is hard to sustain. However everyone's favorite philosophy comedy just seems to be getting better and better the longer it goes on, continuing to invent itself from season to season, and even episode to episode. The Good Place is the only show that can make you a fan of Blake Bortles and also a genuinely better person.

Okay those were my five best shows of the year and now I'm tired. Here are some rapid fire honorable mentions!!!!

Honorable Mentions:

Barry (HBO)- The season finale didn't stick the landing for me, but I can assure you Barry’s actor struggle was documentary-level. Cannot speak for hitman authenticity.....publicly...

GLOW S2 (Netflix) - Improving on the promise of its first season, GLOW can sometimes be a bit messy in delivery but I admire their go big or go home attitude. This season dealt with workplace sexual harassment, parenthood, the AIDs crisis, race, and even had time for a lesbian dream ballet and an anti-kidnapping PSA. Betty Gilpin forever.

Doctor Who (BBC America) - Jodie Whittaker is a sheer delight as the Doctor, and a breath of fresh air for the series. This new season has also taken the back-in-time episodes (always my fav) to a new level- I LEARNED STUFF.

Aggretsuko (Netflix) - Aggretsuko is a Sanrio anime about a red panda named Retsuko. She is 25, she works in an office for a sexist pig boss, she hates her life, and at night she sings death metal karaoke. She is....extremely relatable. Sam please watch this.

The Magicians S3 (SyFy)- I may be biased, but at the same time, I have always loved The Magicians. This is another rare show that gets better the longer it goes on, having carved out a strange little genre space with a tone all of its own. Within the forest of snappy quips and surly fantasy characters, is a beating heart and an ability to achieve real emotional catharsis.

The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix) - I said earlier this year that I had never found a television show truly scary, but this was before I had seen Haunting of Hill House. I have not yet finished this show because it started giving me nightmares and I can only watch it in the light of day. That being said, the Bent-Neck Lady episode alone is such a tight, terrifying, piece of storytelling it deserves a shout out on this list. Also A+ kid casting, that shit is HARD.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine (NBC) Probably the time I felt most alive this year were the harrowing hours between Brooklyn 99's cancellation by Fox and subsequent saving by NBC. During that wretched purgatory it was decided by the internet that B99 was the Last Good and Pure Thing Left and its salvation would mark some sort of victory in the losing battle against the darkness that will one day overtake us all. Luckily, the day was saved (no thanks to Fox), but the abyss still looms.

That's it! This is everything I thought was good on TV this year! If you thought something else was good, or you would like to shame me for something I did not watch, feel free to do so in the comments or on Twitter. There are over 550 after all and I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT watch them all.

The television wheel begins inexorably turning again in a few scant weeks, so buckle up buttercups!!! If you read the blog this year, or are reading right now - thank you for your time! If you thought the writing was poor, at least I gave you some entertaining gifs.

XO MD

#other tv #martha writes #tv lists #best of 2018 #best tv of 2018 #queer eye #the terror #killing eve #the good place #sharp obects #tv gifs #tv writing

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