#no wait scratch that. i hope shes a DYKE!!!!! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

jeniffercheck · 4 years

Text

they show their truth one single time (they lie and they lie and they lie)

a/n: i wrote a 7.9k theo coming out character study in 2018 and never posted it but now i’m feeling feelings again so here you go ✨CW under the cut

read here or on ao3

CW for homophobia, slurs, and slight violence.

“Stay away from my sister.”

Theo clenches a fist as Steve’s voice booms from behind her.

Theo doesn’t like it when Steve gets in her business. Scratch that. Theo doesn’t like it when anyone gets in her business, but she especially doesn’t like it when Steve gets in her business.

It’s just not his fucking business.

“I can handle it, Steve.” She doesn’t turn to face him, her gaze instead falling to the ground. The heat waves from the September sun are visible on the asphalt.

Daniel Conley’s shoes are ugly as fuck, she thinks.

“Yeah, Steve,” Daniel says, “Little sis here doesn’t need us guys for anything, I guess.”

Not as ugly as his personality, at least.

“What’s it matter to you anyway, huh, Danny?” Theo asks, “You got a crush on me? That it?”

She makes eye contact that time, but the look in Daniel’s eye frightens her a bit, more than she’d care to admit. She breaks it for a second, hoping her smirk is enough to make her look a little more mean.

“Theo, just go, I can handle this.” Steve tries to grab her but she shakes him off.

“Don’t touch me.” She pulls away from Steve a bit, in the process bumping into Daniel.

“Hands off, dyke!”

Before Theo knows what’s happening she’s on the ground and her collar bones are burning where Daniel’s hands had shoved her. She’s stunned for a moment, she didn’t think he would actually try to hurt her, but he did. She sees red as she looks back up to Steve staring dumbfounded at her and Daniel fuming, and before either of them can stop her she curls her right hand into a fist and stands, hooking Daniel square in the jaw.

“You fucking bitch.” He croaks out, and Theo just looks at Steve, and quirks her eyebrows as she brushes past the both of them.

“I told you I could handle it.”

“Theo, wait!”

“Stay out of my shit, Steve.”

“I won’t,” he follows her from where they were hidden behind the school, “I’m your older brother. Let me protect you.”

“I don’t need protection,” she whips around fast, Steve stopping short in his tracks so he doesn’t bump into her, “I can take care of myself.”

She winces as her fists curl again, the throbbing of her right set of knuckles finally setting in. She turns from him quickly and walks through a side door back into the school, rushing into a girl’s bathroom before Steve can follow her. She locks it when she hears him start banging and she leans back against the door, letting out a shaky breath as she takes a moment to go over the situation.

She was meeting Trish out back after school. They kissed. Trish left, and then Daniel showed up.

Dyke. He kept calling her that.

She fucking hates that word.

And then Steve showed up and the whole thing turned into a shit storm. She looks down at her knuckles. They’re already bleeding and she knows that trying to move her fingers would be pointless.

“Fuck.” She mutters under her breath. Steve’s knocking stopped, so she assumes he left. She rocks back against the door before peeling off and heading to a sink. She debates for a moment whether to use hot or cold water, but she’d rather numb the pain than clean the cut so she goes with cold. Her fingers twitch as she shoves her hand under the cool stream, and the water running through the deep cut across her knuckles makes her hiss.

Her phone vibrates in her back pocket and she grabs a paper towel to dry her hands before reaching for it. Her knuckle won’t stop bleeding, so she presses the paper towel on it.

Steve (4:46 PM): I haven’t left yet if you still want a ride.

Theo (4:47 PM): go, i’ll walk home.

Steve (4:47 PM): What if Daniel’s still outside? Let me take you home.

Theo (4:48 PM): he won’t be. either way i’m not getting in your car.

She stares at her phone for the next few minutes waiting for Steve’s response. She knows he’s just trying to help, but sometimes he can’t understand that she just doesn’t want it.

Steve (4:51 PM): Mom’s going to ask me where you are.

Theo (4:52 PM): and? i’m at school, and i got caught up with something and i’m walking home. there’s nothing to ask about. i’ll see you at home.

She turns off her phone and puts it back into her pocket. Her hand is throbbing even more from texting and she can tell it’s starting to swell. Mom. She didn’t even think about her. Dad is oblivious, he won’t even think twice about whatever Theo tells him, but Mom, she’s too intuitive.

If Steve says anything she’s going to rip his fucking throat out. With her bad hand.

She huffs a bit at the inconvenience of it all and unlocks the bathroom door, the loud click of the gears echoing in the empty room. She shoves open the clunky door and exits into the hallway, starting the long trek back home.

When she arrives, she makes note to shove her right hand into the pocket of her sweatshirt as she enters the kitchen. Mom is getting dinner ready and Theo knows it’s her night to set the table but the thought of having to sit there and eat and hide her hand and glare at Steve and tell Dad about her day when it sucked is too much.

“Theo?”

She looks up. Her mom is watching her with that look and it makes her hand twitch in her pocket.

“I’m um, not feeling well,” She clears her throat, “I think I’m going to skip over dinner tonight.”

She nods to herself, as if that alone is justification for lying to her mom, but what is she supposed to say? “Hey Mom, the guys at school hate me because I won’t date them, and the girls hate me because they think I want to date them. By the way, I am dating one. A girl. And I had to punch a guy square in the jaw because he caught us kissing and didn’t like it-”

“Oh sweetie, do you want me to take your temperature?”

Her mom pauses, the pot of what Theo knows is going to be Steve’s favorite stew retired gently on the counter.

If Steve got to pick dinner then Steve should have to fucking set the table anyway.

She notes the way her mom’s hand reaches forward along the kitchen counter, stopping abruptly when she realizes that she’s reaching out for a touch that won’t be reciprocated.

Theo can’t remember the last time she let her mom hug her.

“No, it’s more of a stomach thing. I’ll probably feel better after laying down for a while.”

“Okay,” Her mom smiles that smile that always comes after that look, and Theo feels the throbbing of her fist pounding in her heart, “I’ll keep a plate warm for you in case you feel hungry later. The twins can set the table tonight, so why don’t you go on and lay down.”

Theo nods. “Thanks.”

“I’ll come check up on you after dinner.”

She nods again and makes her exit. She knows her mom wanted to say more, would have said more. Theo can’t deal with that. She doesn’t want to hurt her more than she already does. She wills herself not to cry before reaching her bedroom door, and she accidentally knocks into Steve as she speeds down the hallway.

“Theo, wait-”

Fuck Steve.

She lets a tear fall as her bedroom door slams shut.

iv.

“Fuck.” Theo curses as her phone vibrates on the dresser.

Trish (6:48 PM): On my way!

Theo wouldn’t call herself high maintenance, but she definitely could use more time than the distance between Trish’s house and hers to be ready.

She’s about to apply mascara when there’s a knock on her door.

“Who is it?” She calls out.

“Me.”

She hears the gentle voice of her mom and quickly finishes her eyelashes before opening the door.

“Yeah?” She doesn’t mean for it to come out rude, she hopes it doesn’t, but sometimes her mom flinches when she talks. As if she’s afraid Theo will say something so terrible that it’ll ruin her.

Theo’s afraid of that, too.

“I mean, I’m just finishing getting ready. My friend is going to be here soon.”

“Where are you going again?”

Theo hesitates for a moment. She doesn’t want her parents to know about Trish’s existence yet. Not even as a living, breathing, human. It’s too risky. On the other hand, she’s tired of lying. What harm would them knowing her name do?

“I’m going to a study group for stats,” Lie. “We have a big test on Thursday,” True. “My friend Trish is driving me.” Not technically a lie.

Mom eyes her for a moment but seems to accept it. Theo wants to release the breath she was holding, but she can’t, not yet.

“What time do you think you’ll be back?”

Theo checks her phone.

6:55 PM.

“Probably around ten,” Theo says, “If that’s okay with you and dad.”

Her mom cocks her head and smiles.

“As long as you get an A on that test you can stay out as late as you want. Just remember you have school tomorrow.”

The same moment Theo nods her head her phone dings. She looks down to a text from Trish.

Trish (6:57 PM): Here!

“Um, my ride’s here.”

“Alright,” Her mom says, “Just be safe. Call me if you need anything.”

“I will.” Theo gives her mom a tight-lipped smile and slips past her as she heads to the front door.

She pretends not to notice when her mom’s mouth quickly opens and closes shut, words Theo yearns for but doesn’t will her mom to say.

“See you later,” her mom calls after her instead. She knows she won’t feel hurt by no response.

iii.

“Your room is cute.”

Theo blushes as Trish walks around her room. It’s adorned in old photographs and band posters from when she went through her punk phase, and the light lilac walls don’t do anything to uphold the more matured, badass image that she tries goes for these days, but it’s her. Her bedroom walls are the only walls she has that don’t hide the true her, she thinks.

“Thank you.” Theo leans back on her bed, eying Trish as she stops in front of the bulletin board. Trish is so fucking pretty.

“Hey, what’d you get on that math test? I never asked.” Trish turns from the photos she’d been looking at, and Theo can’t help but stare at her in awe. Trish’s cheeks flush red red when she notices Theo’s gaze. “What?” She asks.

“You’re so pretty.”

Trish blushes even harder, if possible, a smile blooming across her face and Theo’s heart swells at the sight.

“Not too bad yourself,” Trish says. She sits down on the bed next to Theo. “Test?”

“Aced it.” Theo turns to look at her, finding Trish’s head already turned toward her.

“Yeah?” Trish smiles, her body slowly inching toward Theo.

“Yeah.” Theo says, finding herself doing the same. Their lips are just about to connect when there’s a knock on her bedroom door. They lock eyes.

“Welcome to the Crain residence.” Trish bites her lip as Theo pulls away, Theo’s smile dissipating as she faces the door.

Fucking Crain Residence.

She cracks open the door, peering out into the hallway to find Nell. She cracks the door open a little wider.

“Mom said to tell you that dinner is almost ready,” Nell tries to peek through into the bedroom, but Theo moves to block her view. Nell lowers her voice, “Is she here?”

“Hey, Nell!” Theo rolls her eyes as Trish shouts from her spot on the bed, but can’t help but crack a smile as Nell laughs.

“Tell Steve that if he says anything, I’ll slit his throat.”

“Will do.” Theo can tell that Nell is trying to hold in a smirk. Nell never takes her seriously.

“Bye, Nell.” Theo pushes Nell’s forehead away from the door and slams it shut, just barely hearing the muffled, “Be down in five minutes!” from behind the wooden frame. She turns her back to the door, leaning against it, hands behind her back.

“So, where were we?”

She smirks as Trish stands up from the bed and makes her way over.

“I believe,” Trish reaches out for Theo, “We were just about to go have dinner with your family.” She reaches past Theo and grabs the doorknob, cracking the door open just enough to bump Theo off of it.

“Or,” Theo grabs Trish’s hand, “We could just skip dinner and make out all night.”

“You’re only saying that because you’re nervous,” Trish finds Theo’s eyes as she tries to duck her head.

“Let me meet them,” Trish says softly.

“You already know them.” Theo tries to argue, but it falls flat as Trish gives her a pointed look. Them. As in mom and dad. Theo huffs.

“Ladies first.”

When they get downstairs, Luke and Steve are setting the table while Nell helps Mom and Dad get the rest of the food ready.

“Wow,” Trish whispers, “It’s a whole family affair, isn’t it.”

“It’s fucking hell, is what it is.”

Trish laughs under her breath, the sound hearty as she nudges a reluctant Theo further into the kitchen. Theo tries not to stare in awe as Trish effortlessly introduces herself.

They sit down for dinner and it’s almost scary how perfectly Trish fits in, how excited Mom and dad are to meet her and how well they all get along. She watches Mom and Trish interact and feels a pang through her heart because it’s so nice, but it’s not real. And once it is real, it won’t be nice. It can’t be, she thinks.

And then when Trish leaves, Mom hugs her, and Theo’s not upset because that’s just what her mom does, but she can’t take knowing that it’s probably the only time she’ll see that happen and it’s not even for the right reasons.

She’s pacing back and forth in her room when there’s a knock on her door. She slows.

“Come in.” She doesn’t know why she says it. She never says come in. It’s always questions first, knowing beforehand. She hates hindsight. It’s fucking useless.

The door opens and it’s her mom who slips in, likely surprised she was even allowed to step one foot through the door at all. She closes it behind her, and the action makes Theo’s heart race.

“Hey, Mom,” She clears her throat, “What’s up?”

“You disappeared so quickly after dinner, we just didn’t have any time to chat.” Theo eyes her mom as she leans back against the desk by her door. “Did you have a good time?”

“Yeah,” She speaks wearily, “Dinner was really good.”

“Good,” Her mom looks around for a moment, looking unsure of her place in the room, “Nell and Steve are making cookies if you want to come down later for dessert.”

Theo snorts.

“Steve is making cookies?” She’s smiling, and it makes Theo’s heart swell when her mom’s eyes light up at the fact. Even if she is making fun of Steve.

“Yeah,” Mom looks sorry as she grimaces, “You might want to skip the cookies.”

They both laugh. It makes Theo sad.

“Did you finish your homework?”

“I have a psych packet to finish up.”

“Alright, well, I’ll leave you to it.”

Her mom closes the door softly behind her and Theo almost wants to reach out and grab her, stop her before she disappears behind the wooden pane, but she doesn’t.

She never does.

ii.

“Why can’t you just tell them?”

Theo pauses, one hand resting beside Trish’s head on the brick exterior of the school and the other grasping behind her neck. Really?

“You are so not asking me that right now.” Theo’s voice is breathy, but she makes no attempt to recover as she leans back in for more. Trish pushes her back.

“What?” Theo backs away.

“Why can’t you tell them?” Trish repeats, “Things went so well last night. Aren’t you tired of making out behind the school every day?”

“That’s not fair.”

“How so?” Trish crosses her arms. Theo’s mouth gapes. She doesn’t appreciate the attitude.

Out of the all fucking words in the history of the universe..

“ How so?” Theo scoffs. “Sorry if my fear of admitting a potentially life-ruining fact about myself to the people who dictate the quality of said life isn’t something I’m buzzing with excitement to do.”

Trish slumps. “Theo...”

“No.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Then what did you mean?”

Trish reaches out to grab Theo’s hand, but Theo jumps back.

“Don’t touch me.”

Trish’s eyes turn.

“Okay, you know what?”

“Enlighten me.” Theo deadpans. Trish exhales a sour laugh.

“You’re so caught up in your own shit that you don’t see that everyone around you loves you. Things get real for two seconds and you shut people out, waiting-“

“My business is my business, Trish. I don’t need everyone crawling around in my relationship status.”

Trish rolls her eyes and Theo knows she hit a nerve.

“Your relationship status is also my relationship status. This business is our business. Okay?”

Theo huffs, trying to find a way out of this argument with both girls satisfied. She kicks a rock against the brick of the building.

“Even if it is our business, it’s still something that I don’t want to do. End of story.”

“No, not end of story. God, Theo, why can’t you just tell them?”

“Because I don’t want to! How fucking hard is that to understand?” Theo huffs out her nose, the outburst causing an obvious shift in Trish.

“The whole school knows, Theo. Your brothers and sisters know. What’s two more people?”

“Three,” Theo deapans, “Shirl doesn’t know.”

“Fine,” Trish spits, “What’s three more people.”

Theo clenches a fist. Trish doesn’t get it.

It’s not Trish’s fault, really. Trish is smart, she’s an only child, she’s the fucking golden child. She couldn’t do any wrong. Theo, on the other hand, is the middle child. Dead center. Two ahead of her and two below. Shirley’s the perfect good girl, the gifted kid. She had an accelerated course of study and graduated high school early. She’s studying business in college now, not even because she likes business, but because she “Wants to be successful, Theo”. Out of all of the Crain siblings, Shirley’s the one who’s going to make it. They all know it. Then there’s Steve. The daddy’s boy and the mommy’s boy. Winning literary awards, getting perfect SAT scores, publishing stories at just 18, for fuck’s sake he’s going to win a Nobel by the time he's 25! And the twins. The attention is put off you pretty fast when two kids come after you. It’s like Theo herself wasn’t enough to round off the family so they had to add two entire human beings to fill out what she lacked. She knows it isn’t true, but there’s a small part of her that believes it.

Science may not work that way, but fate does.

But so be it. So what she’s an A and B student at best, with the occasional C. So what she waits for her siblings to finish their extra-curriculars while she sits behind the school everyday, either reading, making out with her secret girlfriend, or getting into fistfights (apparently). So what she goes home and shuts herself in her bedroom. Yeah, maybe she makes zero effort to interact with her family, but she doesn’t see any one of them racing up the stairs to see what she’s doing. At this point she doesn’t even know if she would consider it middle child syndrome.

Baa Baa fucking Black Sheep.

She’s come to terms with that. But that doesn’t mean she wants to give her parents another reason to see her as a screw-up.

Still reeling with the sudden anger, her mouth starts moving before her brain can catch up, “Maybe if we want such different things we shouldn’t do this anymore.”

Trish’s eyes widen and Theo swears she can see a layer of tears beginning to form, but she looks away.

“You want that?” Trish’s voice sounds broken, as if the last seven minutes never actually happened and Theo was just springing it on her out of the blue.

“I-I guess so.” That’s not what she meant to say, but the ground isn’t providing her with any compelling conversational material.

Trish scoffs, this one sadder than the previous and nods to herself.

“Alright,” She picks her bag up off the ground and hesitates for a moment before speaking again, “See you around I guess.”

Theo still doesn’t look as she walks away.

—

She races home after the debacle (is there even a right word for a breakup like that?), the force of the front door slamming shut behind her shaking the whole frame of the house.

“Hello?”

She hears Mom’s voice ring out, the clack of her wedges quickly moving towards the foyer. She forgot that A, Mom gets home early from work on Thursdays, and B, Theo didn’t think to wait until her siblings got home from their after school activities.

Way to be an exemplary student, Theo.

Theo is halfway up the stairs by the time she’s seen.

“Theo?” Mom calls out to her, mostly in a tone of shock, but there’s also a bit of hesitancy there. Theo ignores her, sprinting the rest of the way up to her room and slams her door shut, clicking the lock as she rests her back on it. The tears fall as soon as her back hits the door.

“Fuck!” She bounces her head off of the wood, and holds her breath in an effort to ward off the sobs that she knows want to break through.

She hears a light knock on the door but she ignores it, squeezing her eyes as tight as they can go.

“Theo?” Mom’s voice calls out. She pretends not to hear it.

Suddenly the doorknob starts wriggling.

“Theo, unlock your door!”

She rolls her eyes.

“What do you want, Mom?” She calls out. Her voice shakes.

“Did something happen? Unlock your door.” Her voice is muffled through the wood.

“I’m fine,” Theo sniffs, “I just want to be alone.”

“You sound upset, unlock it.”

“I don’t want to.” Theo grumbles.

“I’m not asking if you want to, I’m telling you to do it.”

In the back of her mind, Theo knows she didn’t mean to get vicious, but the pressure of the day has piled up on her and Mom is the last barrier standing between her and the depression nap of the century.

“I just want to be alone.”

“You can be alone with an unlocked door.”

“Mom-“

“I won’t say it again, Theo.”

“God just fuck off, Mom! ”

Theo’s stomach drops the moment she says it. The silence is enough for her to know she fucked up. The words themselves were enough to let her know she fucking fucked up.

She needs to stop saying that word.

She unlocks the door almost shamefully, and avoids her mom’s eyes as she speaks.

“Mom, I’m sorry, I didn’t-“

“You will leave your door open for the rest of the night.”

“Mom-“

“Let me finish.” Mom’s voice is eerily calm, and Theo’s mouth clamps shut. She ignores her gaze, wiping a silent tear that escaped. “Your door will stay open. If I find that it’s been closed, even an inch, you’re grounded into the next decade. Is that understood?”

Theo’s eyes shoot up to her mother, her regretful expression turning angry.

“That’s not fair-“

“You lose fair the minute you come into my home thinking you can slam all the doors you want!”

Theo rolls her eyes. They feel tight as she does it, whether from the crying or it being her hundredth eye roll of the day she isn’t sure, but she’s beginning to think that maybe the adults are right about your eyes getting stuck.

“Theo!”

“I’m sorry!” She blurts, “I’m just not feeling good.” She’s trying harder than anything she’s ever attempted in her entire life to steady her voice, but she knows her own autonomy is betraying her right now. She searches for her mother’s eyes, a last ditch effort at convincing the world that she’s fine. It doesn’t work.

“You haven’t been feeling good for a few months now.” Mom’s face softens, her tone back to the mother she’s used to, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” Theo crosses her arms across her chest.

“It doesn’t seem like nothing.”

“Well, it is.” She changes her glance, looking to the ground, willing for anything in the world to interrupt this moment. Anything.

Where’s Steve when you actually need him?

Her mom steps forward a little, a soft touch landing on Theo’s shoulder, and she ignores the feeling of comfort she gets from her mother’s embrace.

“Honey, if something’s bothering you, you can tell me.” She searches for Theo’s eyes, “Anything.”

Anything.

Theo’s eyes snap away. She leans away from her mother’s hand and turns to face the bed, her expression stoic.

“I just want to take a nap! Okay?”

“No, it’s not okay. ” Her Mom’s voice rises to match her own, and it’s enough to make Theo turn back around, “You’ve been coming home every damn day the last few months with a frown on your face, picking fights with any person who will humor you, slamming doors, not to mention the fact that I can’t even count with both hands anymore how many times you’ve skipped dinner-”

“I’ve told you a thousand times I just don’t-”

“Feel well, yes, I know, Theo.” Her mom wipes a tear and Theo frowns, “You need to give me more than that. ‘I’m not feeling well’ doesn’t help me understand what’s going on with you when I have to worry about what you’re going to do every time you close that goddamn door on me.” Her mother chokes on the words.

Theo’s eyes widen at the implication.

“I didn’t-I wouldn’t-” Her mouth opens and closes as she fights to find the words, but she’s not even sure what she can offer up at this point. Finally she settles. “It’s not like that.”

“Then what is it, Theo? Give me something.” Her Mom’s voice is watery and Theo has to look away as she sends the final jab. Anything is better than the truth.

“I’m not feeling well.” She spits the lie through her teeth. Her voice is quiet and unconfident, but she turns her back to both the door and her mom before she sees her reaction. Theo lays down on the bed, back still turned. She feels a tear run across the bridge of her nose as she squeezes her eyes shut.

“Okay, well,” Theo winces at the dejected tone of her Mom’s voice, “I’ll save a plate for you in case you want to come down.”

Theo pretends not to hear her. She pretends not to hear the small creak of her bedroom door as her Mom closes it, just a crack, and she pretends she never saw her mom sleeping right outside her door when she finally wanted that plate at 3 am.

“You’re in my spot.”

Theo looks up from the book she was reading. A hulking figure—well, as hulk-y as a 17 year old high school boy can get—is doing its best to loom over her. Fucking Daniel Conley. She looks to the left and the right of her, finding nothing but empty brick wall beside her. She thinks for a second that she could just move, but she’s still in a mood from last week since Mom can barely look at her, and Steve made them late to school today which means that now she’s one strike away from a detention, so she doesn’t really have the desire to deal with her fucking high school bully in the current moment.

“Since when?” She looks into Daniel’s eyes. There’s still a light bruise along his jaw from where she punched him.

“Since now, faggot.”

She stills, slowly closing her book before standing up.

“What did you call me?” Her blood boils when Daniel smirks.

“I think you heard me.”

“Right,” she clucks her tongue, “You know, I’d like to hear the sound of your jaw popping again. Wouldn’t you?” Theo steps up closer to him, trying her best to look intimidating even though he towers over her by at least five inches.

There’s a reason you didn’t get into Honor Society, Theo.

“Yeah?” He pushes her back against the brick wall. She grits her teeth as her head smacks against it. It’s significantly less arousing when it’s not a girl doing this to her.

“Yeah.” She speaks with conviction, but Daniel’s smile only gets bigger.

“I don’t have all day, Crain. You wanna move?” His face is too close to hers for comfort, and she can feel his breath on her face as he speaks. She tries to calculate the various outcomes of this situation, deciding that none play out in her favor, but still, she won’t let up. She’s tired of being pushed around.

“Lucky for me. I do have all day.” She smiles at him, cocking her head, and she feels a small burst of victory when his nostrils flare a bit.

“I’m gonna ask you one more time,” He rests a hand beside her head, “Move.”

“I think that was actually more of a statement and less of a question. You might want to go back and rephr-”

Air. Theo realizes there’s no air left in her lungs to speak, an explosion of stars clouding her vision as she doubles over, her knees hitting the asphalt feeling like clouds compared to the pain taking over her abdomen. She doesn’t know if it was his boney ass fist that hit her or one of his knees that he decided needed a boxing workout today, but what she does know is that in the future, he really needs to pick on someone his own fucking size.

“Fuck! ” She grunts, only able to take in small gasps of air, wishing for once she wouldn’t have the nerve to fight back.

You run your mouth like you’re fucking Ronda Rousey. Stupid bitch.

Too busy insulting herself and not breathing, she doesn’t notice Steve approaching the pair until she hears his voice, deja vu of a few weeks earlier running through her head.

“I thought I told you not to fucking go near my sister!”

The sound is loud, and it momentarily draws Theo out of her own pain, the sight of Daniel crashing to the ground next to her, his nose pointing in a direction that she knows shouldn’t be possible. His screams echo against the brick.

“Holy shit,” She breathes out, her gaze moving up to Steve, who is hunched over, right hand clenched in the other as he exhales heavily. Before either of them can get a word in there’s the rushed sounds of loafers hitting the concrete.

“Hey! What are you kids doing back here?”

---

Theo’s knees throb as she shifts in the faded leather of the armchair in the principal’s office. She can feel her mom’s stare burning through the back of her head. She realizes she must’ve missed a question when she looks up to find the principal staring at her. Before she really has time to fumble, Steve comes to her rescue, hesitance clear in his voice but a glimmer in his eye that Theo recognizes from earlier.

Let me protect you.

“It was my fault, Theo got there after everything already happened.” Steve eyes her, pleading silently with his eyes to follow his lead and for once, she thinks he’s right. The truth is too much.

“Theodora?”

She resists the urge to roll her eyes at the sound of her full name.

“I wasn’t with them when the fight started. When I got there Daniel was already on the ground.”

The principal eyes them both for a second before sighing.

“Very well. Theodora, you can wait outside.” He points to the door, Theo’s eyes following to the seating space outside his office. She nods, avoiding eye contact with her mother as she exits the room. She shuts the door behind her as she walks out and sits down on one of the ugly wooden chairs.

This is bad. She knows it is. If Steve had just fucking stayed out of her way, none of this would even be happening right now. She could be home, laying in her marshmallow of a bed, watching reruns of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. She could be texting Trish about all the restaurants they’ll go to once they graduate or arguing over the best show on The Food Network, or some stupid shit, but instead, she’s heartbroken and single, her brother smashed a kid’s face in, and she had to sit in the principal’s office with her mother staring her down like she brought a fucking gun to school. All because Steve had to get involved. She’s pretty sure a few extra bruises would be less painful than another incident being added to Mom’s list of growing suspicions.

Even so, she can’t say a small part of her isn’t thankful that Steve showed up. He better not do it again.

The door opens suddenly, pulling Theo out of her thoughts. Steve steps out first, head hanging low, Mom trailing right behind him. Theo’s hands fall to her sides, unsure of where to move.

“Come on, Theo.” Mom calls her over and she can’t tell what kind of infliction is in her voice, what kind of movements she’s making as they walk out to the car. They step outside and Mom hands Theo Steve’s car keys.

“Take the car home and wait for us at the kitchen table when you get back.”

Theo grabs the keys and nods, Mom’s shortness making her feel uneasy. There’s no way she bought the story. Her hands tremble as she searches for the unlock button, and she heads in the opposite direction towards Steve’s car.

She blasts the music on the radio in an attempt to drown out her racing mind as she drives home, and she’s a little thankful for it when she does beat Mom and Steve back. She parks in his spot and heads inside, finding Luke and Nell hanging out in the living room, which happens to be right next to the kitchen.

“Where have you been?” Nell says, noticing Theo first.

“You guys might want to go upstairs.”

“Why?” Luke turns from the TV.

“Mom is about to murder me and Steve and use us for dinner.”

Nell pulls a face. Before she can respond, their Mom walks in and drops her purse on the counter, Steve trailing behind slowly.

“Nellie, Luke, will you two please go to your rooms?”

Theo watches Nell and Luke trade looks, and Nell nods as the two slip silently away. Theo wills herself to turn around, just barely.

“So,” Mom huffs, “Are either of you going to tell me what actually happened after school today?” Her hand is on her hip and her eyes are a little wild, Theo hasn’t seen her like this since she caught Luke smoking pot in the 8th grade.

She is not ready to be caught up in that rage again, but still, Theo isn’t ready to be caught up in other things either.

“Steve already told you what happened.” Her words are monotone, and Theo prays she can keep a neutral mood for the remainder of the conversation.

“You’re right,” Theo almost sighs with relief until Mom starts speaking again, “Steve told me what happened to him. Not you.”

Theo rolls her eyes. What? She can’t help it.

“I was walking out of school when I found them, Steve already said all of this in-”

“The truth, Theo.”

“That is the truth, Mom.”

Theo gulps after the words come out of her mouth, not knowing how convincing she’s actually being. Her mom crosses her arms, and Theo knows she’s in deep shit.

“Why are your knees skinned?”

Theo looks down. Of course she had to wear jeans with fucking holes in the knees. She contemplates all of her options for a moment, and somehow decides on the worst one.

“I fell.”

Mom stares blankly back at her.

“You fell.” She repeats. Theo can’t really tell if it’s a question or not, so she just silently nods.

“And you just happened to fall right next to where your brother was getting into a fist fight?”

“I fell in gym class.” Theo’s mouth is speaking before her brain can even catch up at this point.

“So now you fell in gym class?” Mom’s tone is accusatory and makes Theo’s veins boil a little bit. She just wants this to be done with already.

“I guess so.” Theo crosses her arms, her tone coming out short.

“Your brother punched some boy so hard in the face that he has to get reconstructive surgery, meanwhile you’re walking like someone removed one of your ribs, and you’re expecting me to believe that you fell in gym class?”

“That’s what happened, I don’t know what you want from me.”

“I want you to tell me what actually happened! You’ve been running in circles around me for months and I just want you to tell me the truth! I don’t want some lie about you being tired, or not hungry, or that you have homework or stayed at school late! Just tell me what the hell is going on!” Her mother’s eyes are wild, and Theo feels the same energy boil up inside of her.

“I tripped!” Theo doesn’t mean to burst, but it’s happening before she can stop it, “I tripped in gym class and that’s it! What Steve does with his own free time is his own fucking prerogat-”

“Theodora Crain!” Theo’s mouth clamps shut, her nostrils flaring from the shock of the use of her full name. She’s pretty sure today in the principal’s office was the first time since birth. What comes next stuns her even more. “Did that boy hurt you?”

Theo blinks, her brain trying to reconcile with the fact that her mother is an actual human being who can come to conclusions.

“What?” Her expression is fierce, but Theo speaks softly, as if speaking too loudly would spill the truth out all over in a way that couldn’t be cleaned up.

“Did that boy hurt you?” Her mother repeats herself, emphasizing each word to get her point across.

Theo looks down, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes, and she wills herself to stay silent. She hears Mom murmur a quiet, “Steve?”, but he doesn’t need to respond to confirm what Mom’s already figured out.

She sees her mom’s shoes move closer to her and then there’s a hand rubbing up and down her shoulder. She still doesn’t look up.

“What’s going on, Theo?”

Theo bites her lip as a tear rolls down her cheek.

“I can’t be here right now.”

She runs out of the house.

vi.

Theo shivers.

Should’ve picked up a fucking jacket before she bailed.

She looks around, the trees surrounding the small pond blowing in the breeze, the October leaves rustling in the way that she feels.

It’s dark. She watched the sun set, and then watched the stars come out, and now she’s watching water as if it’ll come to life if she just stares at it hard enough.

It’s not impossible, she thinks.

She watched video on youtube once of some guy who could make a tin can move with his chi. Some kind of meditative bullshit. She doesn’t normally believe in stuff like that, but it’s kind of like her mood is affecting the weather at the moment. And maybe the weather is just affecting her mood, but if she can spend enough time wondering if it’s possible that her physical energy can change wind and tides then she doesn’t have to think about the fact that her life just blew up in every single way possible.

“Right.” she mutters. She can still feel the ache of her ribs, and although she doesn’t think anything’s broken, just the thought of sitting up straight sends a wave of pain throughout her body.

The sad part is, she could care less about Daniel Conley and his stupid nose and the fact that he happens to be a raging homophobe. Whatever. She would take a million more slurs, a million more hits, or whatever that boy thinks she deserves if it meant things could’ve just stayed the way they were for a little while longer. The only people she cares about in this whole mess are the ones she’s losing, and she doesn’t know how to salvage what she’s already wrecked.

Trish? Gone.

Her mom? Hates her, probably.

“Theo?”

Steve.

Steve’s voice rings out from behind her. She doesn’t make an effort to move, and she doesn’t turn around, even if she maybe wants to. She doesn’t deserve him. She knows it.

His rushed footsteps slow as he comes to a stop beside the picnic table and Theo can hear the huff of his breath. She lets her hair fall in front of her face as she looks down. Leaves crack under Steve’s feet as he walks closer, the noise going dull when he plops down next to her.

Theo sniffs. Steve doesn’t say a word, focusing on catching his heavy breath.

They sit there in silence for what feels like an eternity. Theo watches the water ripple under the breeze, and she watches the foggy clouds slowly inch towards the moon. She can feel Steve’s eyes on her.

“You should go.” Her voice is rough. There’s no point in trying to act tough now, she supposes.

“I’m not leaving.”

She can hear in his voice that he’s telling the truth. That no matter how much she pleads with him, or insults him, or tells him to genuinely fuck off, he’s not going anywhere. It should make her feel good. It should make her feel important, and wanted, even loved but, it just makes her feel worse, somehow. She doesn’t know what to say, so she doesn’t say anything.

“Mom is worried sick,” Steve continues, “I checked like five different places before I came here. Can I at least tell her I found you?”

Theo’s eyebrows shift downward involuntarily, and she has to bite her lip to stop the quiver as tears form in her eyes. She nods slightly, looking to the other side, out of Steve’s view.

She hears the pads of his thumbs typing on his phone, and judging by the amount of time it takes him to stop, he definitely said a lot more than just a, “Found her.”

She feels his own shiver when the wind picks up again, and Theo finally looks over at him. She can’t tell if his hands are bruised from the fight, or if they’re just purple from the cold.

“You really can go. I won’t be offended.”

Steve looks surprised at the eye contact, but his gaze stays calm. Theo wishes she had more of his resolve.

“I said I wasn’t leaving and I meant it. We’ll starve out here together for all I care.”

It’s a lame attempt at a joke, and neither of them laugh. Steve never was the funny one.

Theo shivers again.

“Do you want my jacket?”

“Why do you care so much?” Theo blurts the words out, causing Steve, who was in the middle of shrugging off his coat, to pause.

“Are you serious?” He laughs a little, but stops when he notices that Theo was, in fact, serious. Theo watches his expression go from amused to annoyed. She shrugs in response.

“I guess so.” She hates that she sounds so defeated. Her usual bite is gone, replaced with something, lesser, somehow.

“Theo-“ He cuts himself off, and Theo can tell he’s searching for the perfect response, “I’m your older brother.”

“I know that. You remind me almost every conversation we have. It doesn’t mean you have to care.”

They’re still making eye contact, and Theo watches as an array of emotion flashes through Steve’s eyes.

“The fact is that I do,” He says it pointedly, like he wants his words to really hit her, and she wants them to, but..

“I just-“

“Just what?” Steve interrupts her. He hasn’t raised his voice, but she can feel his impatience. It’s like all of it pours out of him at once, the need to pound whatever is going on in his head into Theo’s too strong to subdue. “You can’t stop fighting this, Theo. I care about you, Mom cares about you, Trish cares about you.”

Her heart plummets.

“You’re the only one who thinks you don’t deserve whatever good things life is throwing at you. Why are you so obsessed with being miserable?”

That one gets her. She feels it hit, her stomach pangs in a way that’s reminiscent of where Danny had kneed her. She thinks about it, the why.

Why it’s so much easier for her to push everyone away rather than let them help. Why it’s easier to instigate rather than ignore, or to break up with someone rather than just work it out. Why it’s easier to lie to her mom rather than tell her the truth, tell her just one, simple detail.

“If I’m in control, then I’m in control of my pain.” Her own words surprise her. “When I get hurt, at least I know it was my own doing.”

She looks over to Steve, tears pooling back in her eyes and a sad smile takes form of her face. She can feel her lip start trembling even though she desperately wills it away.

“Fuck, ” She sniffs.

“Theo,” he tries to get her attention, but she won’t look. She can’t.

“Please just come home. Talk to Mom.”

“I don’t know what to say to her.”

“Just the truth. That’s all she wants.”

Theo looks at him. The tears are hot in her eyes and her chest feels like a ticking time bomb, her heart one beat away from exploding through her skin.

“Fine.” She blurts.

Steve looks surprised. Honestly, Theo is too. She’s just too cold to argue anymore.

“Really?” Steve asks. He looks like he’s afraid that Theo’s going to change her mind, and she wants to, but she wont. She can feel the nerves already building up inside her, and she wishes Steve had taken his car. He needs to learn how to break the rules every once in a while.

She nods her head, and he pauses, but gets up, she assumes before she can change her mind. The walk is longer and colder than she remembers, but when they get to the door of their house and find their mom waiting, ready with open arms full of nothing but love, Theo knows she doesn’t have to be alone anymore.

#theo crain #the haunting of hill house #the haunting of bly manor #yeah im being evil and tagging thobm what about it #jfdklsfjd #this has been sitting in my drafts for like 2 and a half years now JFDKSLDJF #enjoy!#mine #duskfalls

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agentnico · 4 years

Text

WandaVision (2021) Review

I’m sorry but someone needs to address the elephant in the room - if Wanda and Vision are in a relationship, does that mean Vision - a robot - has a penis? Look, I cannot be the only one thinking this, right? Right??

Plot: Living idealized suburban lives, super-powered beings Wanda and Vision begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

So Marvel’s first Disney+ series has reached its finale, and I’m certain many fans will be left disappointed due to all the outlandish rumours and theories that the fanbase are known to come up with not coming to fruition, but I personally admire this show for sticking true to its guns by being something that is very different compared to anything that Marvel has done before. Well, mostly. When its different, its hugely different, however when it gets to the usual MCU antics its pretty generic Marvel.

At the beginning the show left a lot of audiences scratching their heads as to what was going, as in the first few episodes especially there isn’t much of a plot per se, and instead we are taken through the various stages of American TV sitcoms, starting with the black and white old-school The Dick Van Dyke Show styled format, with the first episode going as far as being filmed in front of a live audience just like they would’ve back in those olden days.....at least that’s what history tells us happened back in those days, honestly take that with a grain of salt as I wasn’t even alive back in the 60s so for all I know history is a massive conspiracy and all of this is a massive pile of tosh! But setting deceitful plot schemes, supposedly everyone back in the 60′s were black and white and there was no colour in the world... okay, I’m kidding, I’m not that stupid, but I digress. As I was saying before I rudely interrupted myself, we are taken through various phases of American tele-sitcoms and eventually entering into the usual MCU territory. What works at the beginning of the series is the way it pays homage to those sitcoms back in the day, and I’m certain there was a lot fun has on set by the production designers recreating visual look of those old shows and also with the actors biting into every opportunity of playing up to acting style that was used back then, with the winks to the camera and the purposeful pauses as they wait for the laugh track to die down, or there’s an episode akin to Modern Family and The Office where our stars act as if they’re in a mockumentary and even answer questions to the camera to great comedic effect.

In between this sitcom format we constantly get little clues and teases towards what may actually be going, and there is this sense of constant mystery that really motivates you to get excited for the next episode (as Disney+ releases their shows one episode per week) and as such WandaVision turned out the be very exciting simply from trying to come up with the most out-there theories of what’s to come. And it seems like the showrunners were fully aware of this by playing up to the fanbase by ending episodes on massive cliff-hangers (people who have seen this series can now easily agree with me that “Please Stand By” is an even bigger Marvel villain than Thanos!) as well as featuring certain surprises and appearances that suggest much bigger plans for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole, so to be fair this show really felt good simply from the anticipation factor and the discussion that it built among audiences. Naturally with huge anticipation it’s difficult to then fulfil that promise, and as such to the second half of the series where the show goes full Marvel on us, we do kind of get stuck in more mediocre territory, with the final episode especially serving some disappointment by ending with the typical generic Marvel superhero battle we’ve all come to expect at this point. In other words, WandaVision comes off a tad anti-climactic at the end, but its the journey that makes it worthwhile.

Typically to most Marvel projects, you can expect the cast to be great, and here in WandaVision that’s the same case. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany are both stellar as Wanda and Vision, and first and foremost this show is about their romance and their love, and gosh aren’t them two just the biggest lovebirds! So adorable with only me and my girlfriend offering competition as the more gushier and sickly cheesy couple! Hey, we’re cheesy and proud, that’s all I’m saying!!! Anyway, the show is mainly about Olsen and her character’s grief and evolution, and Olsen proves her chops as a leading lady and I’m really looking forward to seeing what she’ll get up to in the Doctor Strange sequel. Bettany is both innocent yet smooth as her robotic boyfriend, and basically proves that if you want to get with one of the Olsen sisters, you have to accept every single chip that Bill Gates sends you to have a shot. We also see the return of a couple other MCU side characters, with Kat Dennings and Randall Park returning as Darcy and Jimmy Woo and to be honest WandaVision gives these characters proper justice. Kat Dennings in the Thor films always came off more annoying rather than funny, yet here on the show her character is both useful and her humour is sarcastic yet funny. And Jimmy Woo in the Ant-Man & the Wasp was stuck in the stereotype of the goofy FBI agent who is stupid and oblivious to everything, however here you can tell his character has become more wiser and better at his job, yet still with the wit and charm that Randall Park usually provides (and he’s the learnt the card trick from Ant-Man!!). We also have Teyonah Parris appearing as grown up Monica Rambeau who we saw as a young girl in Captain Marvel, and Parris is quite pleasant and does well with what she has, but I’m hoping she gets to have more interesting material to work with in the future Marvel projects she appears in. Then there is Kathryn Hahn as the mysterious nosy neighbour character, and though I don’t want to spoil anything about her role, I’ll say that Hahn gets to overact her face off and also gets a fun musical at one point that is annoyingly catchy!

WandaVision is a great sign showing Marvel attempting to branch out and go to new and different places, however with its ending it still proves that they need to learn how to break away from the repetitive formula they have gotten themselves stuck in. All we need is Deadpool proclaiming “Big CGI fight coming up!”

Overall score: 7/10

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lesbianlovelanguage · 4 years

Note

37. "Don't touch me there. Like, everywhere else is good, just not there." ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Thanks for the prompt bb!! Sorry it took forever, but I hope you like it!!! ❤️❤️❤️

Steve felt a scream building behind his teeth. Everything was a mess and he was stuck in a fucking jail cell.

He had just wanted a fun day out with Robin, but now Billy had to take the day off to come bail him out of jail and Dustin would never let it go that he lost another fight and Robin was probably pissed because she told him to stop and-

Before he could spiral further down the rabbit hole, a uniformed officer came to the back and unlocked his cell. Steve immediately stood up and hustled to follow the silent cop back to the front of the station. Billy and Robin were waiting for him, Robin looking her usual mix of annoyed and amused while Billy looked pissed. Steve knew better now though, after over a year of dating and two years of close friendship, Steve knew the wrinkle between his brow and the twitch at the corner of his brow weren’t signs of anger, but signs of fear. Billy was worried.

And he had a right to be. Steve hadn’t gotten in a fight since that night in November and even then he hadn’t thrown the first punch. It took a lot for him to attack first. But a lot had happened after all.

Steve remained silent all the way through signing the release papers and the walk to the car, only muttering enough to say goodbye to Robin and that he’d catch up with her tomorrow. Then he pulled open the passenger door of the Camaro and climbed in with a huff. While he waited for Billy to say his own farewells to Robin and walk over to the driver’s side, Steve took stock of himself. The adrenaline was beginning to wear off, and he felt overall achy with bright flares of pain in his ribs when he breathed too deep, and he could only see out of his right eye. He reached up to touch the cut on his lip, only to hiss when the gentle prodding caused it to split open again.

He was a certifiable mess. And Billy was never going to let him hear the end of it.

When the man himself settled into the driver’s seat and revved up the Camaro’s beastly engine, Steve sank further into himself and prepared for an interrogation. Instead, the oppressive silence continued all the way back to their apartment above Melvald’s General Store. They got all the way upstairs and into their apartment before Billy broke.

“What the fuck Pretty Boy? You’re lucky your parents sent you enough cash to cover your bail for Christmas.” Billy’s voice was rough and sharp, frustration clear. They were supposed to use that money to begin saving for a better apartment, of course he would be pissed.

“I- I don’t know Billy. It- Everything just happened so fast.”

“Well, you gotta do better than that babe. Need more information as to what drove you to assault a fucking police officer,” he snarled the last few words.

“That, that was an accident. I didn’t realize he was behind me.” Steve looked down sheepishly, and fell back onto the bed. Elbowing Officer Powell had been what snapped him out of his blind rage, but by then it was far too late. The damage had been done, and Steve had officially assaulted a police officer.

“Okay. At least Hopper won’t kill you for that. But what started this whole thing? Robin said you took a flying fuck leap at the guy, but wouldn’t tell me why. Why Pretty Boy?” He asked as he sat gingerly on the bed next to Steve.

“He uh-” Steve scratched the back of his neck as he thought of how to word what happened. “He asked me why King Steve was hanging out with a dyke.” Steve dropped his hand and sighed.

“That’s not the end is it?” Billy asked, quieter, picking up Steve’s limp hand.

“No,” Steve shook his head, “It gets worse. After his like, his squad or whatever laughed, he kept going. Said it was probably for the same reasons I waste “an ass that won’t quit on a guy with a limp dick.” I… I kind of lost the plot after that.” Billy sighed and shifted to face Steve’s hunched form.

“Babe, look at me?” Billy tried to nudge his head up, but Steve just shook it again, more violently than before. “Come on Baby, show me those pretty eyes? Please?” Billy’s nudges became more insistant until finally Steve lifted his head and met his eyes. “There’s my Bambi. It’s okay. I understand, yeah? But violence isn’t the answer to intolerance.”

“I know,” Steve whined, “but he was just so… so smarmy about the whole thing too. Like he was God’s gift for calling me out. Not like it’s been three years since I’ve been King Steve.”

“Yeah, now you’re my Princess and I love you. But you still can’t go around acting like that. We ain’t kids anymore Stevie. Shit won’t fly with Hop much longer.” This time Steve nodded, and then seemed to deflate onto Billy. “Wanna cuddle and watch a movie?” Another nod prompted Billy to stand up and help his boyfriend back towards the living room.

It was when he tried to help Steve settle on the couch that a whimper broke free.

“What’s wrong Stevie?” He paused, taking his hands off of Steve’s ribs, where he had been trying to hold on and keep him from falling off the tiny couch.

"Don't touch me there. Like, everywhere else is good, just not there." He lifted up his own shirt. “He, uh, he kind of kicked me while I was on the floor. Probably bruised a rib or something. ‘S what the doc said at least.”

“If I hadn’t literally just said that violence wasn’t the answer, that punk would be dead.” As threatening as his words were, Billy’s hands were gentle as they ran lightly over the bruises beginning to form along Steve’s torso. Steve let his shirt drop back down and then proceeded to sprawl over Billy like a cat.

“What are we watching?” Steve asked, turning over to look up from where his head had settled in Billy’s lap.

“Whatever you want, Pretty boy. Whatever you want.”

“How about the King of the Rings prequel thingy Dustin was bugging me about?” Billy shook his head in mock exasperation and sighed.

“Yes, we can watch The Hobbit.”

Tag Team: @a-magey @trashmouth-hargrove @gideongrace @catharrington @stevefuckingharrington @lostnoise (Feel free to lmk if you would like to be added/removed from the list!)

Also! This prompt came from an awesome ace fic/dialogue prompt list that Gideon made!! Check it out and feel free to send me more prompts from it :)

#tay writes #harringrove #harringrove fic #billy hargrove #steve harrington

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finalcreacher · 5 years

Text

Chapter One - That Summer, And Many More

It was that summer that Richie confessed, and time froze for me, and we spent the day together talking and holding hands. And that one where the clown came, and the one the year after- where Beverly left. Worst of all, not when IT came back- but 1992. The day they left.

A series of vignettes of Loser's club member, Y/n L/n, and all the summers that went right, that went wrong, and went the worst.

T/W - Homophobic Slurs (Enter At Your Own Risk)

13 years old

It was 1987, and we had just gotten out of school. Already the heat of the sun souring my mood. I must have been twelve, maybe thirteen? It was the least of my worries how old I was- Richie was late today. He and I had made a commitment to meet just outside of school every day of the working week. Often times, he'd be a few minutes late, not a whopping twenty minutes. This had me worried. I had a large, silver watch from my father; he thought it was essential to keep track of the time. With Richie, the hour hand never moved before he got there. Imagine how frantic I was, my heart beating quick, quick, quick! It was dizzying how many times I looked back and forth. Finally, I had had enough. It was back into the school for me.

We also made a promise not to go back into the school, in fear of the Bowers gang. I figured it was dire enough a situation to go back and check. It would be easy enough to avoid those meaner big kids unless they were with Richie(which you hoped he wouldn't be stuck with them, he was smart enough to avoid them, I thought), or they had moved from their usual stalking ground. To my great horror, it was not the latter. When I turned the corner, I was face to face with a leering Henry Bowers. We were so close, I could see every inch of dirt and grime on his face- it nearly made me gag(I didn't, that would have sent me to an early grave).

"Is this fag yours? Lose him on your way here?" Henry taunts, giving me an open grin with lots of teeth. It was then I noticed Richie, cowering between the bully's other friends. I chose not to say anything, as to not aggravate Bowers- it was clearly the wrong choice.

He grabbed me by the tuft of my hair, yanking me down. "Ow!" I seethe, "Let go a' me!"

There wasn't much for him to grab onto, my hair was short. Too short for what was coming to me. Really, it's Richie's fault. He had stuck gum in my hair, he chewed it really loud all of class time, then slapped it on as we were leaving. He thought it was hilarious, as did I before my mother saw. She made me wear a hat to school because she was so embarrassed.

"What you gonna do, ya' little dyke? Tryin'a rescue this fucking animal? He's filthy."

This is where the Richie in me came out, he says a lot of things he shouldn't. "You got that wrong, your absolutely stinking! Maybe you should take a bath."

Remember, he's still got a fist clenched around my hair, practically holding me by the neck. He pulls it- real hard- and I nearly screamed. "Yer' gonna 'pologize, or have to face that mangy mutt." He turns my head to face this tall, skinny boy, his black hair in tangles. He's smiling, something big and mischievous. "Eee-tha deal with me, or whateva he's got. What's it gonna be?"

Then he removes his hand from my neck and yanks my wrist up, my watch wrist! "Ooh, this yours?" I whimpered, a noise I didn't want to come out. What I wanted was to disappear into the background. I still needed to get my ass and Richie's, out of this mess, though. "Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick..." he mimicked a clock sound, tapped my watch, and waited for an answer.

I didn't know what to say, he was going to do something terrible to my watch, and my father was gonna kill me for that! But the way Patrick looked at me, made my skin crawl. Every time I looked at my second option, Richie would shake his head, very adamantly, no. No, no, no. Suppose what my father had in store for me, would be less than that creepy asshole. "F-fine! You can have it! Just leave Rich alone!"

Bowers' grin practically widens, and focuses his attention on the watch, fumbles with it, and then slides it off easy. "I'm gonna break it!" He announced. My face, to anyone else, would look pure white, like a ghost. He couldn't really...could he?

"I can twist it," he fakes twisting it, "or I could stomp it against my foot!" He throws the watch down, playing around like he's about to step on it, but he doesn't. A teacher, rushing out from one of her later classes(detention, probably, or a club), and had stopped mid-step to stare at us. She looked appalled at the scene before her.

"What's going on here? Bowers, Hockstter, Huggins, and Criss, I think I made it very clear to you boys that you would be serving your detention in my class today, it was disappointing not to see you there." Oh, so it was detention. "You boys, especially you, Bowers, should be attending summer school. Now, run along, leave these poor kids alone."

I looked back at Bowers, his face flushed bright red. "Come on, these kids ain't worth our time." With that, he was gone.

"If these boys ever give you trouble again, I'm just down the hall."

"He-he had me by the scruff of my neck!"

"Well, I'll see to it that they get to detention next time, sound alright?" She pays no mind to the assault- but Richie and I nodded in agreement nonetheless. Of course, she wouldn't, she was just as scared of the Bowers as all the little kids running around were. She continued on, making her way out of school- as we should have done nearly half an hour ago. We both let out a sigh of relief when we were finally alone.

"Gee, Rich, how'd you get into this trouble?" I smile, kneeling down to pick up my watch, there was only a scratch or two, father wouldn't be too mad- as long as he didn't stare at it too close. I figured as long as it works, it should be fine. I place it back on my wrist. "It's nearly time to meet Eddie an' everyone else!"

"Oh, we'll catch up just fine. I finally got my bike fixed, after last time, and it's faster than ever!"

"Woah! Really? I forgot my bike at home today, my mother claimed I'd get a stroke riding out in this weather. She made me leave it."

"Well, I have room on my bike for another person..." he fidgets with his thumbs, looking outright abashed(a look no one ever- really- saw on him).

"I don't know, Rich. Might be dangerous." I pipe up- while he leans over, and checks the time.

"Only if you want to get there on time," I look down again. Christ, we were going to be late- again!

"Sure, but you're going in back!" I tease, running down the halls.

"Oh no, you aren't! That's my bike!" He chased after me.

"Last one there sits in back!" I hollered.

#it #it chapter one #Richie Tozier #Richie Tozier x Reader #x reader #reader insert #it reader inserts #eventual polyam #queer characters #multi-chapter #eventual romance #romance #angst #queer romance #fanfic #fan fiction #reader insert fanfic #adventure

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marvinswriting · 4 years

Text

Prompt: “Get away from here.” *** read the fic courtyard to understand this one ***

Me and bear often write really similar fics, we don't copy each other we swear- so today we're doing the same angsty prompts to see just how many brain cells we actually share! Here is my angsty take:

Tw: d-slur

So, the teacher found out Regina didn't do her part of the assignment, as any teacher would, and forced them both to redo it. Which Janis did not think was quite fair.

Still, she sat in the courtyard, redrawing plants. She still wasn't sure what they were to learn from this lab, but drawing was drawing.

Janis just needed to get it done in time for Damian to finish play rehearsal. He was her ride and she didn't want to make him late. Her drawing was a lot sloppier this time around and her handwriting on the notes was chicken scratch. Regina appeared to be in no rush as she slowly doodles plant leaves.

Which was fine, Janis just needed her half done and she could leave.

She walked around to al the previous plants she had drawn from the week before, drawing them hastily and adding in little notes.

"Got a date or something?" Regina teased.

"No," Janis said pointedly, not really in the mood. "I friend I would like to not keep waiting."

Regina laughed a high pitch, nails on chalkboard giggle.

Janis could go with hearing that never again.

"If I were him, I wouldn't even bother waiting."

"It's a good thing you aren't then," Janis said, turning over a leaf to draw the bottom, trying to tune Regina out.

Not the day for this shit.

Regina didn't seem into it either, because she dropped the conversation to go back to her own work.

The giant door to the courtyard opened across the outdoor area and Janis instantly stiffened.

It was too early for it to be Damian, so whoever it was, Janis didn't want them there.

Probably a plastic for Regina.

Janis glanced up at Regina before turning around to see the person, but the cocky nature on her face was gone.

She looked-

scared?

That did nothing to reassure Janis as she turned around to see Shane Omen walking over.

"Jesus Christ." She mumbled under her breath, tucking her pencil behind her ear and closing her sketchbook.

"What do you want Shane." The strength in Regina's voice was back, but her tone sounded strangled like she'd rather be running away crying.

Not so tough without your plastics, huh.

Janis backed up away from the edge of the platform as Shane got closer, trying to put as much distance between them as possible, but it was futile. Shane's strides were longer and he was next to the platform in an instant.

"Hey, Gina," Shane said, he sounded condescendingly sweet, its made Janis' skin craw as she backed up slightly.

"Shane," Regina said, standing her ground. "Please leave. I'm trying to do work."

"Why are you working out here alone with space dyke? People might think you're a lesbian too."

So Regina gets called a lesbian and Janis gets called a homophobic slur. Great.

"Shane, please do inform me why you came here to be a pain in the ass." Regina's confidence was starting to come back, but Janis was still worried on why it left in the first place.

Shane lifted his hand and Regina flinched backward.

Okay, nevermind. No confidence.

Guess Regina is nothing without her possy of pushovers.

"Come on, Gina. I'm not here for you, you should know that."

Janis froze like a deer in headlights.

She did not like what Shane implied one bit.

"I'm-" She started, taking a few steps back, her legs working again.

She felt a tree against her back as Shane grinned, clearing enjoying this sick joke.

Janis's eyes flicked past Shane briefly to see the big clock that was at the edge of the courtyard. Damian should be out of play by now.

"Please leave us alone," Janis said, trying to find strength in her voice, but sounding rather pathetic.

"And why should I do that?"

Regina was glaring at Shane like she wanted to step in but decided it wasn't worth her risk.

Because when does Regina do anything for anyone else?

Janis made eye contact with Regina briefly, a silent plea she hoped Regina caught onto.

"Get away from here,” Regina said finally.

Janis felt herself let go of a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Shane grinned. "What you gonna do about it, Gina? You're the size of my pointer finger."

"I can expose you. You'll get suspended from school for sure, kicked off the soccer team, you'll be even lower on the social chain then Janis."

Ouch.

"There is so many wrong and not to mention illegal things you have done, not to mention the new drug dealing business you've just opened. It'll ruin your whole future."

Shane was silent, as if mentally weighing his options. "Fine whatever. I still think you two are screwing." He said before walking away leaving the courtyard in a dead silence.

One beat passed.

Two.

"You tell anyone about this and I'll kill you," Regina said, not making eye contact. She simply went back to her drawing and Janis finished packing up her work. Just in time for Damian to walk into the room.

Full disclosure, when I saw this prompt I wanted to write scary Damian but I didn't wanna copy the fic Bear posted earlier, so if she wrote that then I'll take it, we share a mind. If not, I'm sure its still angsty..... ill write scary damian next time

taglist: @musicallygt @realmisspolarbear @smallsoysauce @sourishlemons

#g/t mean girls #g/t writing #g/t fanfic #fanfiction #g/t #sfw g/t

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shirorozutriea · 5 years

Text

Ways of getting Jealous in a Gay Way

Hope you guys like this one. Day 4: Jealous

At the Rose-Xiao Long residence, there sat an heiress typing on her computer. Her eyebrows knitted together, and her eyes seems to narrow at the screen, minus the part where she is actually wearing glasses and is actually glaring at the screen.

The door suddenly opened, revealing Ruby Rose in a black t-shirt and grey pants, bare footed, carrying a cup of coffee.

“Hey, Weiss. How are you?” Said Ruby, placing the cup near the alabaster girl.

“Aren't you supposed to be with Penny?” Spat Weiss as she continuously glare at the screen, aggressively typing her report.

Ruby blinked before smiling slyly. She sat near the girl and began playing with the latter's hair.

“Is my princess jealous?” Asked Ruby.

Weiss scoffed. “Me? Jealous? No, why would you think that?”

“Because, you've been glaring at the computer typing “I'm going to kill Penny.”.” Smiled Ruby.

True to her words, it seems that Weiss wasn't writing a report and had gone proceeding to silently planning to murder Penny Polendina, ironically her girlfriend's ex who still like her.

“Schnee’s don’t get jealous.” Gritted Weiss, taking a deep breath.

Ruby leaned in and kissed Weiss’s ear.

“Well, there's first in everything.” Whispered Ruby, gently nibbling at the latter's ear.

Weiss bit back a moan. “That's unfair, Ruby Rose.”

“All is fair in love and war.” Smiled Ruby, seductively.

“You are so going to be the death of me.” Said Weiss, chuckling before kissing her lover full in the lips.

Ruby cut off the kiss and kissed Weiss’ nose. “Now, tell me why are you jealous?”

“I'm not.” Grunted Weiss. “I don't get jealous.”

“Are you really?” Grinned Ruby. “I specifically remembered when Cardin somehow get a little interested in me and tried to hit on me. The keyword is “tried”.”

***

At Beacon Academy, all students are chatting and laughing all around the cafeteria. All talks varying from soul mates to exam results and to utter misfortune and many more.

Everything and everywhere is rowdy, shouting here, shouting there. Plates and utensils clanking here and there. You can tell everyone is busy, including our resident jock and bully, Cardin Winchester.

His group are all around him, his trusted three musketeers are following him. People are looking at them, curious and in wonder.

Why, is Cardin Mcfucking Winchester is carrying roses and chocolates on a late February?

The answer is pretty surprising.

“Hey, Cardin. Whose this flowers and chocolates for?”

Cardin grinned and brushed his hair. “To a wonderful woman.”

“Weiss Schnee?”

Cardin scoffed. “That bitch is just as scary as Glynda, no.”

Cardin sighed and closed his eyes and spoke in a dramatic way.

“I am talking about the wonderful and oh so gorgeous rose.” Stated Cardin.

All eyes on him.

“Ruby Rose?!” They chorused.

Cardin blinked in confusion. “Why?”

All eyes averted and shook their heads.

“Well, good luck then. You'll really, really, REALLY, need it.”

Cardin nodded and proceed to the table of our resident popular group, RWBY and JNPR. He saw Ruby eating with the rest of her friends. He approached the girl and tapped her shoulder.

“Hello, Ruby.” Grinned Cardin, shyly. “Here, roses and chocolates. Hope you liked it.”

Ruby blinked in shock and the rest had their jaw dropped.

Ruby took the gifts. “T-thanks..”

Cardin scratched the back of his neck. “So, would you like to, hang sometimes?”

The question baffled the whole group and stared at Cardin, then the others looked at Ruby, then at Yang, and then lastly, at Weiss.

“Why?” Asked Ruby, still in the stage of shock.

“Well… the usual. Guy and gal.. hang.. date… yeah.” Shrugged Cardin, averting his eyes.

Ruby stared at Cardin. She then looked at Weiss, who looked livid. She gulped at the sight and looked back at Cardin.

“Sorry pal, can't do. You see, it's not just because you're a bully. But the fact that you are a guy, gives a zero romantic impression to me. Sorry.” Apologized Ruby.

Cardin blinked.

“O-oh… okay.” Cardin sniffled. “Well, hope your day is good. And sorry for bothering you.”

“That's okay, buddy.”

Cardin left crestfallen. Ruby sighed and looked at Weiss. Her eyes bore holes towards Cardin’s back, her jaw clenched as well as her fist.

“W-Weiss?” Called Ruby. Weiss looked at her with menacing eyes, making Ruby flinch.

Upon seeing Ruby flinch at her gaze, her gaze soften a little bit and spoke.

“Ruby Rose. You're mine and mine only. Got it?” Snarled Weiss.

Ruby smiled and nodded.

“I'm always yours, Weiss. Nothing can change that.” Said Ruby, giving Weiss a peck on the lips. “Now, let's just continue eating.”

***

“I don't remember that.” Said Weiss, feigning ignorance.

Ruby giggled and pinched her cheeks.

“I could vouch that that actually happened.” Vouched Ruby. “I could ask Yang if you want.”

“Humph. Fine, I do get jealous. But not as jealous as you.” Smirked Weiss. Ruby stiffed at the statement and laughed nervously.

“Me? Psh, nah! When?” Asked Ruby, looking concern.

“Just a couple of months, before we actually managed to tell the rest about our relationship.”

***

“Is anyone ready for the upcoming exams?” Asked Pyrrha.

The blondes groaned.

“Do we have to? Could we just sit here and listen and write, instead of answering a bunch of crap lectures we won't probably remember when we graduate?”

Yang brushed her golden mane and slumped on the table with an audible groan.

“Yeah.” Mumbled Jaune. “What she said.”

“I'm surprised you aren't reacting at all, Nora.” Nudged Ruby.

“Oh, I'm dying inside alright.” Chided Nora, clawing her face in frustration.

“Hey, Weiss!”

The group looked at the one who called their friend's name(in Ruby's case, girlfriend). Their eyes met with a blue and blonde pair, with the blonde waving and the latter looking absolutely terrified, like he might piss his pants any second.

“Hello, Sun. Neptune.” They greeted.

“Sup!” Grinned Sun, making a double finger guns.

“What brings you here?” Asked Blake, her eyes narrowing.

“Nothing! Well, something.” Said Sun, rubbing the back of his neck. “Professor Goodwitch asked for us to talk to Weiss here, y’know, tutor us. Oh, and Blake too.”

“I don't mind helping you. Yang?” Said Blake, looking at Yang for permission.

“As long as no one will flirt with you, that's fine.” Said Yang, scowling. Sun whistled and grinned.

“Possessive girlfriend.” Laughed Sun. “Don't worry. I won't let anyone flirt nor touch, Blake here. I'm your best man.”

Yang grinned and fist bumped Sun. The group chuckled at their antics, with Blake slightly flushed.

“How about you, Weiss?” Asked Blake.

Weiss blinked and straighten her posture. She looked at Ruby, the latter shrugged and urged her to agree.

“Well, I suppose I could, help you, that is.” She said rather slowly, albeit a bit reluctant.

Neptune’s eyes twinkled and grinned, which didn't go unnoticed by Ruby.

“Really, snow angel?” Asked Neptune in glee.

Weiss just simply nodded and said nothing. Sun nudged Neptune.

“Can we sit with you?” Asked Sun.

“Sure, the more the merrier.” Said Yang.

“Now, onto the embarrassing stories.” Grinned Nora, Yang burst out laughing.

“That's a good idea! We all know what's Jaune’ moment.” Snickered Yang.

“Him getting caught wearing Weiss’ clothes, twirling around!!” Blurted Nora and Yang, giving each other a hi-five.

Jaune frowned at the secret information and crossed his arms.

“Ha ha, very funny.” Said Jaune, rolling his eyes.

“As much as it was funny, it was pretty disturbing to see him do that. And in my clothes nonetheless.” Stated Weiss.

The group burst out laughing.

“H-hey, Weiss.” Called Neptune.

“Yes?” Asked Weiss.

Neptune brushed his bangs and clasped his hands. “Would you like to go on a date with me this Saturday?”

The group howled and cheer, except Weiss, Yang and Blake, especially Ruby.

“You go, bro!!” Cheered Sun, whistling.

Weiss nervously laughed. “Why now?”

“What do you mean?” Asked Neptune, tilting his head.

“Why now of all times?” Pondered Weiss.

“I was looking for a time to actually tell you, but I'm too much of a coward.” Said Neptune, looking down. “I'm sorry if you have to wait for so long, Weiss.”

“Yeah, right.”

The group looked at Ruby who is playing on her phone. Ruby noticed the stares and fidget at her spot.

“What?” Asked Ruby.

“Nothing, sis. Thought you said somethin’” Blinked Yang.

“Look, Neptune. I appreciate your “effort” now, but I think we're better off as friends.” Smiled Weiss, apologetically.

“But, you said you like me. A-and you, ask me to the dance.” Persuaded Neptune.

“Neptune, that was in the past. Move on.” Apologized Weiss.

“But I like you, Weiss. No—I love you! I want to be with you. And even if everything is against us, I'll still fight for you.” Declared Neptune. “Plus, your father approves me for you, surely you can't say no, right?”

Weiss blood ran cold. Her father wants Neptune for her. He's making his move on her, trapping her again on his chains.

“Dick move, Neptune.” Snarled Ruby.

The group looked at Ruby in shock. The youngest, cussed. Oh dear.

“I repeat. Dick move, Neptune. Mentioning her father at the most shitty time of the day.” Hissed Ruby.

Neptune raised a brow. “What is it to you anyway, Rose?”

Ruby stood up and slammed her fist in the table, making everybody flinch at the sound and action.

“What is it to me? Weiss is my friend. And her father, is a bunch of bullcrap mixed together to form the shittiest, most asshole of a father extraordinaire imaginable. And don't get me started with all the bunch of shit labor he's doing to the faunus and his harassment towards his own daughters. Bullshit, I repeat, an utter fucking bullshit. He's name should be Jacque-ass.” Snapped Ruby, growling and glaring at Neptune.

Neptune gulped, then chuckled. “Something tells me it's something more. Say, are you jealous?”

Ruby's mouth clamped shut at the statement.

Neptune laughed. “So you like her, huh? What a pity. Jealous? You should be. After all, her father approves of me, not you, dyke.”

Ruby growled and grabbed his collar in anger. The group separated the two with Ruby shouting profanities at Neptune, who continue to laugh and insult her. Ruby broke free from her friend's hands.

“Shut up! You piece of scumbag! So what if I'm jealous!! I have the right to! And I don't fucking care if her father won't approve of me! Well he better shove a bunch of sticks in his ass to find my fucking care!!” Cussed Ruby, pointing at Neptune.

“Aww. A pissed dyke. Screw yourself.” Dismissed Neptune.

“Text CARE to 6666 to get a chance to win my fucking care, you piece of flowery shitty Marigold.” Grunted Ruby.

“Marigold?” Asked Weiss.

“Yeah, shitty Neptune, Marigold.” Scoffed Ruby.

“What?” Said “Neptune”.

“You may have your hair dyed, but your personality isn't.” Spat Ruby.

“So, you're the shitty Neptune flower Weiss was saying to us, huh?” Grinned Yang, punching her fist with her palm. “I so, wanna punch the hell outta ya, for harassing my friend. Guess it's payback time now, huh?”

All of Ruby and Weiss friends glared at the numbskull. Marigold gulped at the sight.

“Lemme hit him first.”

Smack!

Neptune was standing and glaring at Marigold.

“That's for stealing my identity, son of a bitch.” Said Neptune. Marigold cowered in fear then ran away from them.

“Ruby, aside from the surprise cussing. That was badass.” Cheered Sun. “Never thought you had it in you.”

Ruby sighed. “Agreed.”

“You're like, “Fuck you—urghhh!!”.” Laughed Sun. Everyone laughed alongside him.

“But wait, why are you jealous?” Asked Jaune, his eyes narrowing at Ruby, who gulped.

Ruby stared at Jaune wide eyed and looked away. “Uhh.. umm… well… ehhh..”

Ruby gave Weiss a look, asking for permission. Upon seeing the look, she sighed and nodded. Ruby smiled.

“Well.. Weiss and I have an announcement to make..” Ruby looked at everyone in their eyes and took a deep breath. “Me and Weiss are together.”

“Wait, like, together together?” Asked Nora.

“Yes. We are, indeed together. A couple you might say.” Confirmed Weiss. “Needless to say, I'm quite happy with our relationship.”

The group grinned at the information.

“Finally! After all the hint drops, you finally got it!” Cheered Nora, clapping enthusiastically.

“Indeed. We were so worried you might not end up together by the time you realized your feelings with each other.” Nodded Ren, smiling.

“I guess it's unavoidable. The looks and the smiles, you can already tell it base on those.” Grinned Jaune.

“How lovely. Congratulations, you two.” Congratulated Pyrrha.

“Way to go, sis!!” Whooped Yang, raising a fist, waving it.

“I guess you both owe me now, Sun, Neptune.” Smiled Blake, slyly, looking at the two guys.

Sun grinned and handed her lien, while Neptune shook his head smiling, also giving her lien.

Weiss looked at the three bewildered. “Did you just bet on us?”

“I wouldn't say that. They bet, but I didn't.” Smiled Blake, murmuring about books to be bought.

“Well, Weiss. Care to go on a date with me later, after class?” Winked Ruby. Weiss blushed at the action, then nodded.

“AYYYYIEEEEEEEE!!!!”

***

“Okay, you proved your point there. But I still hate that damn flower.” Scowled Ruby.

“I do also hate him. He's like, a more dumb, idiotic, and prideful version of our Neptune. Do you think their somewhat related?” Pondered Weiss.

“Not that I know about Neptune’s lineage.” Shrugged Ruby.

Ruby grinned at Weiss and nudged her. “Still jealous about Penny?”

Weiss huffed in frustration. “Most definitely. I could still see the girl liking you.”

Ruby laughed out loud.

“Don't worry, I assure you it's one-sided. Besides, I already have a wonderful girlfriend whom I would like to be called my wife soon.” Smiled Ruby, fondly.

“Are you proposing?” Smirked Weiss.

“Soon, snowflake. Soon.” Said Ruby, pressing her lips at the alabaster haired girl.

Weiss broke the kissed, smiling. “What if I proposed?”

Ruby grinned and leaned again. “I'll outrun you. I'm proposing first.”

“Deal.” Weiss smiled at the kiss.

#rwby #white rose week #wrw2019 #white rose rwby #weiss schnee #ruby rose rwby #day 4 #jealous #otp: thank me later

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notbemoved-blog · 4 years

Text

Books, Books, Books

Lists are all the rage at the end of any year and this plague year is no exception. Since I’ve read a fair number of books by friends this past year or so, I thought I’d send out my “Goodreads” reviews of all three books that I’ve enjoyed with the hope of giving each a bit more recognition (and perhaps a bump in sales) in the New Year. The reviews are presented in the order that I reviewed them. All three books are available on Amazon or through your local independent bookstore. Also try IndieBound, the online independent bookseller.

[End of Year Note: My apologies for not being more active on social media lately. I’m working on my own follow up to “We Shall Not Be Moved” and have tried to stay away from all forms of distraction, including social media. With any luck, my next project, the story of the Tougaloo Nine Library Sit-In, will be on its way to the publisher at the end of 2021.]

And now, for our 2020 BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS!

Wave On: A Surfing Story by Michael E.C. Gery

(Amazon Digital Services, 2018, 432 pages, Autobiographical Fiction)

[Reviewed August 2019]

"A wonderfully adept stoner’s diary for the boomer generation."

I was thoroughly enchanted with “Wave On” from beginning to end. Even when I wasn’t sure exactly where we were going, the ride was exhilarating. Perhaps it was because I knew many of the places where the action takes place: Williamsburg, the Outer Banks, Annapolis, Ocean City, College Park, and even The Who concert back in 1971 [or was it ’70?] at Merriweather Post Pavilion, which I also happened to attend!! I read very little fiction but a fair amount of biography and memoir, and I must say that I rarely find a work of fiction that is as engaging and heart-driven as “Wave On.”

Part One is a pure, lovely, romantic love story that is contemporaneous with our early adulthood and, thus, easy for me to put myself in the shoes of Cro as he tries to navigate the strictures of young adulthood in a laissez-faire new world of the mid-1960s. The fact that he has been schooled at an Episcopalian Boys school and loves all of those old hymns and prayers makes it all the more real for me, having attended a 4-year Catholic high school seminary. Cro’s goofiness, uncertainty, and (initial) shyness around women also resonated.

What I loved about Part One is that Gery establishes a voice for Cro, the Narrator, that is immediate, engaging, alive, and consistent throughout the entire novelization of what I believe is Gery’s young adult life. (A new term I just picked up--“autofiction” i.e., autobiographical fiction--seems to apply here.) Cro is so normal in his struggles to understand how the world works, so honest in his mistakes, so in love with his environment—the ocean, the waves, the shore—that he makes us love them, too, perhaps a bit more than we already do. But it is that voice that intrigued me throughout. No matter what kind of scrape Cro and his interesting band of friends and lovers gets into, there is a confidence that they are up to the challenge. [I must admit that Cro’s drift during Part Two with regard to his professional aspirations and even his family life was a bit baffling, but I came to think that the weed had a lot to do with his lack of ambition and direction.]

Part Two, of course, gets a bit more complicated as real life intervenes and our little Love Couple begins to encounter troubles from within and without. I hated to see that and was certain that Cro was going to lose his wonderful Ella and Adam and couldn’t see my way through to how it all might resolve, particularly when Maryanne enters the picture and the Neil Young Concert kiss betrays a problematic (if not fatal) flaw in our hero. But I suffered through all of that, wanting to see how it all came out in the end. Although there was no deus ex machina, the surprising turn of events that helps resolve these dramatic arcs is shocking yet consistent. It all made narrative sense and helped explain why we were taken on so many to such a happy ending.

“Wave On” is a wonderfully adept stoner’s diary for our boomer generation. I can’t wait for Gery’s next work of autofiction to continue the journey with him.

Hard Road South by Scott Gates

(Blue Ink Press, 2020, 254 pages, Fiction)

[Reviewed, May 2020]

“A little jewel box of a novel.”

“Hard Road South” is a little jewel box of a novel set during the early days of Reconstruction Virginia. This beautifully rendered tale imagines a naïve Connecticut Yankee—a former Union soldier—who travels South to visit and potentially settle in some of the lush foothills of the Shenandoah Valley where he once engaged the Confederate “enemy”. Hoping to find peace while helping to reform a culture that wishes to be left alone, our hero, one Solomon Dykes, finds fast friends but also fast enemies amidst the verdant pastures of his would-be Old Virginny Home.

An early scene sets the tone: A down on her luck woman is stopped in the town of Middleburg—the place that would become the enclave of the likes of millionaires John and Jackie Kennedy and Jack Kemp Cooke a century later—by some Union soldiers still on the scene occupying this “foreign” land to ensure compliance with Union directives. Her transgression? Wearing the Confederate uniform jacket of her dead husband. The three Confederate buttons on the jacket must be removed or she will be arrested and charged with treason. Such is the over-reach of conquering heroes.

Our damsel in distress is aided by the swift thinking of one Jeb Mosby, a local farmer, who pulls out his knife and gently removes the buttons so as to spare his life-long neighbor the embarrassment of arrest. “Such was life now,” Mosby observes. “Filled with reminders—small as they may seem—that life would not soon be returning to how he’d left it before the war.” It is small observations such as this that gives this book its charm and its weight. Representations of what life must have been like for the conquered South are constant reminders that the likes of Solomon Dykes were not at all welcome and most likely would be rebuffed should the opportunity arise. Scott Gates is new to novel writing, but you wouldn’t know it from his sharp eye for detail and his pacing. Gates gives his story and his characters plenty of room to breathe and develop while providing the reader with glimpses of the specifics of their war-torn lives. A Southerner by birth, Gates offers a sensibility of one trying to bridge the great divide while not shying away from the difficulties building that bridge might require. This is a tale for our time, as well, as our nation is once again fraught with deep divisions perhaps not seen since the ending of that great Civil War more than 150 years ago. We are stuck and unable to move forward until some fundamental rift gets settled. “Hard Road South” is a highly readable, thoroughly enjoyable yet cautionary tale for our time. Perhaps we can learn from the past and this time get things right. Perhaps …

Small Business Big Heart: How One Family Redefined the Bottom Line by Paul Wesslund

(Highway 61 Communications, 2020, 242 pages, Nonfiction)

[Reviewed, August 2020]

“Big-hearted Book Teaches That Care for Others = Good Business”

In the midst of a global health crisis—the worst we’ve seen in generations—and while we struggle as a country, as a people, to find our footing morally and culturally during a reductio ad absurdum political creep show, Small Business BIG HEART lands as a corrective, a balm to soothe frayed nerves and intemperate minds. That is not to say that this big-hearted book is pablum. No, the stories it brings are all too real—people who often have lost their way through drugs, alcohol, and bad choices; refugees who have fled horrific circumstances and are looking only to start a new life but can’t due to the stigma of being different; and one family in particular that is faced with its own dissolution as well as the loss of its dream of a thriving family business. The high-stakes rollercoaster ride that journalist Paul Wesslund takes us on is dizzying not only for its incredible highs and sometimes tragic lows, but also because it introduces a concept too often forgotten … no, disregarded … in modern business life—what corporate governance experts would call “the duty of CARE.”

Sal and Cindy Rubino are two hard-working business owners who, through the course of their trials and tribulations, manage to hold on to the dream of a creating their own business from scratch while also enduring the inevitable personal strains that such a dream exacts. The two met and fell in love while working toward Hospitality Management business degrees in Miami, but the real story starts when they try and apply the lessons of their training in the difficult day-to-day drudgery of actually running their own restaurant—simply named “The Café”—in an offbeat, run-down section of Louisville, Cindy’s hometown. It is here that their skills and wills are tested to the limits and each will have to adjust their visions to fit the realities not explored in textbooks. And it is here that their hearts will be broken, and then opened to the truths that adaptability and innovation can be applied not only to recipes and business models, but to the very people you employ and the methods you use to build a team for success.

Along the way, we meet all manner of broken individuals. The restaurant business is notorious for laying waste to lives due to its thankless dawn-to-dusk hours and the constant requirement to please the customer at all costs. Wesslund has an expert’s eye for the telling detail and the wrenching story line. [I found myself tearing up at any number of stories throughout this engaging, nonfiction tale.] His twenty years as editor-in-chief of Kentucky Living, the largest circulation monthly magazine within the state, shows in the well-drawn portraits of individuals from as far away as Bhutan and as near as Pricilla’s Place, a half-way house just a few blocks from the Café, where Cindy and Sal would find some of their best employees. Perhaps Wesslund’s (not to mention the Rubinos’) refusal to judge people by the standards of upwardly mobile middle-class values but instead, with extraordinary discernment, to look deeper into their souls to spot their special sparks and unique talents is the hallmark of this extraordinary book.

It is rare outside of evangelical circles to find a book that so openly espouses Christian principles, but Sal and Cindy make no bones about the fact that their faith community helped to save their marriage as well as their business, and Wesslund recounts the strength of those relationships and the power of religious inspiration with rare delicacy. Yet the book is not all seriousness and drama. We get, of all things, recipes (!) at the start of nearly every chapter—a creative way of introducing a new topic or the next development of this constantly churning story. And we are introduced to Cindy’s creative cooking style, to Sal’s winning smile and to their gracious, open approach to hospitality.

Small Business BIG HEART runs the gamut of the small business life cycle. It is a soup-to-nuts (literally) primer on the ups and downs of small business management. As such, it is tough medicine for anyone daring to think of creating their own start-up. Given that, however, it provides a deeply affecting microcosm of how we as a society—as a culture—might live if we, indeed, saw everyone we encountered as a member of our own family. It does not skimp on the tough decisions that must be made to keep a business afloat—the “tension between compassion and the bottom line”—but it provides a template on how to “run a business with heart”—where everyone can be a winner.

Wishing you a New Year full of new books, new ideas, new opportunities, new promise.

#Michael Gery #Wave On: A Surfing Story #Scott Gates #Hard Road South #Paul Wesslund #Small Business Big Heart #Top Books of 2020

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incredibeale-archive · 7 years

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Steca kid is teased at school and his moms' reactions

‘A Galaxy is a system of millions or billions of stars, together with gas and dust, held together by gravitational attra–’ Before he can get through the sentence, his book is ripped from his hands. He looks up with a frown to see two of his classmates snickering, one of them holding the book up by the page and it causes Mason’s fingers to twitch because he’s sure that with one wrong move, the page will rip.

“Hey!” He says, standing up to his full height. “That’s mine!” He goes to reach for it, but the boy holding it just moves away before dropping it to the dirt.

“Oh? Is it?” He lifts his foot up and lets it hover over the book, a malicious smirk creasing his lips.

Mason’s eyes widen and he steps forward. “Don’t! My moms gave that to me for my birthday!”

The boy raises a brow, seeming to forget about stomping his foot onto the book for the moment. “Moms? What, like two moms?”

Mason frowns, confused as to why that has anything to do with… well, anything. “Uh, yes.” He finally says warily.

The boy sets his foot down a moment, narrowing his eyes at Mason. “You don’t have a dad?”

“No,” Mason shakes his head, still unsure of what’s happening. “Mommy says that love is love and that sometimes kids will have two moms, or two dads, or a mom and a dad and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

The boy wrinkles his nose, looking disgusted. “Your mom is a liar.” He growls. “My dad says being gay is a sin and that it’s sick.” He frowns at Mason as he continues. “Your moms are sick, they’re gonna go to hell where they belong.” And with that, the boy stomps down on Mason’s book and rubs it in the dirt.

Anger spreads like wildfire throughout Mason – he’s never felt so angry before. It’s enough to bring tears to his eyes.

“Look, he’s gonna cry!” The boy says to his friend. “You’re gonna go to hell with your stupid dyke moms.” He laughs, stomping on the book again.

“Shut up!” Mason yells, shoving the boy roughly. The boy lets out a startled yelp as he falls to the ground. Mason is quick to crawl on top of him, fist coming back and punching the boy in the face. The boy tries to fight back, managing a punch of his own, but Mason seems to be stronger as he rears back again, readying his fist for a punch. Just as he’s about to hit the boy again, he’s being pulled off of him. Everything is a blur after that and Mason doesn’t remember being dragged off to the principal’s office until he’s sitting in the chair outside his office, nose gushing blood.

–

When Stacie had received the call that her son had been in a fist fight, she almost laughed. Mason had never done anything like that and he was seven… What seven year old gets into an all out fist fight? But the principal was insistent. So Stacie had called Beca from work and they met up at Mason’s school.

The second she sees her son sitting in a chair with his head back, blood covering his shirt, she nearly loses it. Beca has to hold her wife back from banging down the door and demanding who hit their son.

Instead, they rush up to Mason who looks sullen and like he’s been crying. His face is flush and he’s got two tissues stuck up his nose with his head tilted back. “Mason, buddy… What happened?” Beca asks, kneeling down in front of him.

Stacie lifts his head slightly, concern etched across her face. “Baby, tilt your head forward a little, don’t tilt it back. Blood could go down your throat and you could swallow it and it’ll irritate your tummy.” She says gently, fingers scratching gently at the back of his neck.

Mason does as he’s told but sits quietly for a moment, seeming to try and hold back tears. Beca huffs before standing up and knocking on the door of the office. Stacie can already tell that she’s beyond pissed.

Gently, Stacie scoops her son up into her arms(she knows he’s getting a little too old for it, but she doesn’t care), and waits behind Beca.

The door opens and a heavy set man steps aside. “Ah, Mason’s parents… come in.” He says ushering them in.

“What the hell happened?” Beca growls. “Why is my kid out here, bleeding?”

The principal clears his throat. “Right, straight to the point. Well, your son shoved a boy to the ground and punched him. The boy managed a punch back before we could intervene.”

Beca raises a brow and Stacie glances down at Mason who is resting his head on her shoulder. “What’d the other kid do to provoke him?” Beca asks, crossing her arms.

The principal frowns. “I wasn’t aware he did anything.”

“Mason has never hit anyone in his life, dude. He’s never shown any sort of aggression towards anyone, so something would have had to provoke him enough to the point where he couldn’t take it.” Beca says, glancing back at Stacie and their son.

“Regardless of whether he was provoked–”

“Look, dude,” Beca cuts the principal off. “I’m not condoning violence or anything like that, but I want to be sure that all parties are punished properly, and I want to know why my son got worked up enough to actually hit another kid.”

Stacie waits, fingers trailing softly up and down her son’s back.

The principal sighs and picks up a familiar looking book and holds it out to Beca. Stacie can see it’s the book about stars and galaxies that they got him for his seventh birthday, but it’s covered in dirt and shoe prints. “Well, I think this is your son’s, no?” The principal asks.

Beca takes the book and frowns, nodding. “Yeah, but that can’t be all of it.” She turns to Mason and brushes a few strands of dark hair from his face. “Buddy, you gotta tell us what happened.”

Mason lifts his head and glances between Beca and Stacie before taking a shaky breath. “He–he said you were going to hell.” His voice is quiet and it quivers. “Because you’re gay.” His fingers move to play with the necklace around Stacie’s neck. “I got angry. He said you deserved to go to hell and then he took my book and stomped on it. I’m sorry, moms. I just – I got so angry.” His eyes start to water and Stacie’s heart nearly shatters at the sight. She pulls her son closer and cards her fingers through his hair.

Beca looks like she’s going to actually explode with anger. Stacie thinks she’s going to yell, but instead, she rubs their son’s back before turning back to the principal who looks a little ashamed.

“I trust this kid is going to be punished as much as mine, correct? And some sort of meeting is going to be held with his parents?” Stacie has to smirk a little as Beca seems to intimidate the heavy set man even though he’s two times her size.

The principal clears his throat and tries to straighten his tie. “Yes, yes of course, Mrs. Mitchell. We will be on that right away, we don’t tolerate that sort of thing, here.”

Beca nods. “That’s good. I’d hope not. How long is Mason going to be suspended?”

“Just two days, same as the other child.”

“Fair enough. One of us will be here tomorrow to pick up any missed assignments.”

–

As soon as they get home, Stacie goes about cleaning Mason up and giving him an ice pack for his nose.

“He okay?” Beca asks as Stacie sighs and collapses onto the couch next to Beca.

“He’s… upset. His nose is fine, a little swollen, not broken or fractured, just a bloody nose that’ll probably be sore.” Stacie replies with a frown.

Beca wraps an arm around Stacie and sighs. “Let’s give him a chance to think and then we’ll talk to him.”

–

Mason sighs as he slips out of his bed and steps out into the living room where both of his mothers are talking. Wordlessly, he walks over and climbs into Beca’s lap and leans into her.

Beca smiles softly and easily wraps her arms around Mason’s waist. “Hey, little dude, how’re you feeling?”

Mason shrugs, not looking up even though he can feel both of his mothers’ eyes on him. After a moment, he glances up to meet Stacie’s eyes. “I’m sorry about today. I just didn’t like what he was saying about you guys. Why did he say those things?”

He watches as his moms seem to share a look before his mommy cups his face and gives him a sad smile. “Baby, when people don’t understand something, they tend to treat it with disrespect. Love is love, no matter what gender or race. You just have to remember that it doesn’t matter what other people say or think, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

Mason misses the smirk Beca is giving Stacie but he feels his momma chuckle against him. “Thanks, Dr. Seuss.” She quips.

Stacie just chuckles and shoves Beca playfully. “Hush. It’s a good quote.” She brings her attention back to Mason and smiles lovingly at him. “Understand, baby?”

Mason thinks for a moment, the words rolling over in his head. “The people who mean a lot to us will love us no matter what, so it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks?”

“That’s right, buddy.” His momma says, from behind him, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “There’s always going to be someone out there who doesn’t agree and who will be mean, but you just ignore them and keep your head up, because they don’t matter.”

Mason nods, feeling a bit better since he’s been home. “Okay. Am I in trouble?”

His mommy sighs and brushes his bangs to the side with her fingers. “At school, yes, but not here. You’ve gotta learn to keep your cool, baby. I know it’s hard. I’ve seen your momma punch a dude for making similar comments, but that doesn’t make it right. If your momma can learn to keep her cool, than so can you. Understood?”

“Yes, mommy. I promise to keep my cool, next time.”

“Good. Now, why don’t you go wash up, dinner is going to be ready, soon.” Beca lifts him from her lap and sets him on the floor.

“‘Kay, momma!”

–

“So I have to learn to keep my cool, too?” Beca asks as she presses Stacie against the kitchen counter.

The leggy brunette turns around in Beca’s arms and smirks down at her. “Yes. He clearly has some of your anger issues.”

Beca scoffs. “I don’t have anger issues, I just have issues with assholes who make shitty comments and try to hit on my wife.”

Stacie smirks before leaning down to press a kiss to Beca’s lips. “Call it what you like, but you need to keep your cool.”

“I thought you liked it when I got jealous.” Beca chuckles against Stacie’s lips.

“I do. But, for the sake of our son, I’d rather you keep your cool.”

Beca huffs, fingers digging lightly into Stacie’s hips. “Fine.” She grumbles.

Stacie grins and nips at Beca’s lower lip. “Good, girl.”

“You’re lucky you’re so hot.” Beca says on a sharp inhale.

“I know.” Stacie winks and moves out of Beca’s embrace to continue making dinner.

#steca #steca fanfiction #( pitch perfect tag )#i hope you like this nonny!#Anonymous #( you call it a dude || steca ff )

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y-hweh · 7 years

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I'm a girl and I don't dress in an feminine manner. But my parents especially my mom gets mad and calls me a dyke and wannabe lesbian. It hurts and it gets worst when she says God didn't make me a man so I have to dress more like a girl and stop looking like a man. I just dress comfortably which typically looks like a man. Am I a failure as a girl and does God hate me for it? I feel as if he hates me for being like this and it hurts alot. My mom makes it seem like God hates me & it makes me cry

The first thing that I want to say to you is this. Jesus still loves you. He doesn’t hate you. Not one bit.

Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

We’re all failures. We’ve all sinned. We’re all not up to scratch. But we have a hope and a future, because Jesus died for us. Because He loves us, He loves you, despite your shortcomings. So, don’t think He doesn’t love you. He died because He loves you. You are worth so much. So much, dear.

As for the dressing dilemma. This is something that I’m kind of looking into at the moment, so I cannot exactly give you a solid answer. But, I’ll tell you what Bible says about it.

Old Testament Law doesn’t exactly count because we now look to Jesus. But, there are some New Testament scrippy’s that talk about this. We still have to look at context though.

There are a couple of times when writers mention that women shouldn’t be going too glam. In 1 Timothy 2:9, Paul says “I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes” and in 1 Peter 3:3 it says “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes.”

Both verses go on to say where real beauty should come from. Paul says good deeds and Peter says it should be the woman’s inner self.

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul talks about how men should have their head uncovered and women should have their head covered. The context is this: the Corinthian Church lived in an age when if a man wore a head covering, he was considered feminine. If a woman was caught without her head covering, she was defamed and called a whore or a prostitute (excuse my french). If she did have her head covering, she was protected from this and treated with the amount of respect that was considered decent at the time. So, when Paul is telling the Corinthian Church to dress like this, I think he is trying to allow Christ to be glorified through them. He is protecting them and their image. If the whole Church is perceived to be a group of homosexuals and prostitutes, then the people in Corinth would not see the appeal of it. They could get the same thing at a brothel.

So, in my opinion, (which is not completely well informed as of yet), I don’t think this passage can really be used in this context. Even though it commonly is.

I really wish that I could give you solid answer. But, I’ll leave you with this verse and your thoughts. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

I would pray, and ask Jesus to reveal to you what this means in this context. Pray and wait for Him to answer. If He has something to say, give Him the time and the ear to tell you. And be ready to go with that answer.

You are so loved by Him. I promise.

Please feel free to message me if you would like to talk.

xx - c

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furederiko · 7 years

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A bit later than planned, but today's Random-News-Digest is MAINLY (yes, not all) occupied by Disney-related news. Owing that to the Disney D23 Expo 2017 that took place over the weekend, of course. So... as the San Diego Comic-Con International 2017 officially kicks off today (July 20th, PST), let's take a quick detour to see what hit the world by storm last week...

Disney Live Action

During the D23 Expo 2017, Disney announced and confirmed several of its upcoming live action remakes. Niki Caro's "Mulan" has entered production, as well as Tim Burton's "Dumbo". Dwayne Johnson is also set to headline "Jungle Cruise", while "The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" has been given an official release date.

Cast for "Dumbo" has been confirmed to consist of Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Eva Green, as well as Nico Parker and Finley Hobbins. Roshan Seth, DeObia Oparei, Sharon Rooney and Douglas Reith round up the set in supporting roles. Farrell is set to play Holt Farrier, a former circus star who has a rough life following the war, while Parker and Hobbins are set to play his children. DeVito's Max Medici is an owner to a struggling circus, who then hires Farrier to be the caretaker of Dumbo, the elephant with oversized ears. Keaton plays V.A. Vandevere, and Green plays Colette Marchant, both who are interested in turning Dumbo's aerial ability into fame.

A life-size statue of Dumbo was showcased during the panel, though I'm not sure if it's from the movie or just a replica from the 1941 animated movie. Burton is bringing MANY of his previous collaborators on "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" and "Alice in Wonderland" to work on this movie. That alone is enough to give us a sense of 'what to expect' from it. The movie will be filmed entirely in England, and it is set to be released on March 29th, 2019.

"The Nutcracker and the Four Realms" will star Keira Knightley as The Sugar Plum Fairy, Helen Mirren as Mother Ginger, Morgan Freeman as Drosselmeyer, and ballerina Misty Copeland. As the title suggests, the movie will feature four different realms, and two of them are called the 'Land of the Flowers' and the 'Land of the Snowflakes'. Charles Riley is in charge for CG creation and motion capture, and it will be released on November 2nd, 2018.

Three lead actors for Guy Ritchie's "Aladdin" have been announced. Will Smith has been confirmed to play the iconic Genie. Joining him are Canadian-raised Egyptian actor Mena Massoud... who will obviously playing the titular character, and actress Naomi Scott in the role of Princess Jasmine. While Massoud is poised to be getting a bigger buzz due to his upcoming involvement in John Krasinski's "Jack Ryan" series, Scott is the more well known one for the time being, having had her high-profile big screen debut through Lionsgate's recent "Power Rangers" remake.

Apparently, this casting was harder than it looks. A few days before the announcement (on July 11th), The Hollywood Reporter ran a coverage describing 'the struggle' that the House of Mouse faced in their global search to find the right actors for the characters. Around 2000 actors and actresses from London, Egypt, Abu Dhabi, and India have read for the lead roles, but without any easy result. The process even dragged the project so much, that apparently Ritchie had to go back to the drawing board multiple times. "The test process was a mess", said one agent... whose client obviously didn't go through. The team even consulted with musical veterans Marc Platt and Chris Montan to solve this issue.

Coming from a credible site that rarely made a mistake, this report obviously became a hot topic of debate, putting Disney's supposed-effort into a giant question mark. Because seriously though, was it really THAT hard to find natural brown-skinned Middle Eastern actors who CAN sing and dance? Especially considering Disney ended up casting an Egyptian actor and half-Indian actress for the role instead of going full-on Arabian? I mean, don't these countries have talent shows (like "India's Got Talent") that almost always features young aspiring talents who CAN dance and sing? Not just that, the glaring fact that Bollywood is FAMOUS for its MUSICAL movies had me scratching my head. No offense to Massoud, but we have so many aspiring young South Asian or Middle Eastern actors who ARE popular as both singer and dancer while also looking more appropriate for the part. Just throw in names like Shahid Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra, Hritik Hroshan (who is yes, prolly too old, but he nails Aladdin's look perfectly), or even Turkish hot-throbs like Emre Kivilcim and Serkan Cayoglu with vast TV experiences. And I'm positive you'll find yourself slapping your own face in confusion for why Disney needed to even... 'struggle' to find one. They can even cast one of those young and undeniably handsome-looking Arabian princes from the royal palace! And I'm NOT kidding.

It's more than clear than Disney, Ritchie, and casting director Randi Hiller (also white) only searched those who have a North American and/or Hollywood presence, because the names being talked about was none other than the likes of Riz Ahmed, Dev Patel (which would've been fantastic), and Tara Sutaria. They've also seemingly focused more on non-natives who grew up in Western countries, like Dutch Achraf Koutet, American George Kosturos, and also Massoud and Scott themselves. This clearly made many questioned... why call it a 'Global Search' then? For the time being, the studio is also in search for a well known name for the antagonistic role of Ja'far. Should we even make a wild guess who they are going to cast? I won't be surprised if Disney returns to Sir Ben Kingsley for the part *sigh*. I mean... who else, right? Aaah... Riz Ahmed!

Anyways, let's just hope this casting is good and that it won't generate negative whitewashing feedback. I've repeatedly said that I do NOT think Smith is a good choice for the Genie, because even an Oscar-calliber like him would have a genuine hard time following the footsteps of the late Robin Williams' iconic performance. However... as much as I dislike that particular decision, I'm willing to let it slide if Massoud and Scott can nail their parts gracefully. According to Massoud, Williams was his inspiration to pursue acting, and I'm pretty sure that will be winning the hearts of "Aladdin" fans. If not one of the reason why Disney turned their heads towards him, of course. LOL. I'm now hoping we'll be seeing a different casting scenario with "Mulan", because I fully expect an ACTUAL global cast for that movie. Come on Hollywood, there ARE gazzilions of Asians around the world who CAN sing and dance! So if you're ever spout nonsense like 'difficult to find' and all, I'll belt out a tune and make a man out of you guys. For real! Crossing my fingers that Caro will get it... 'better' than Ritchie, though I'm not that particularly certain about it. It's a white world after all, right? "Aladdin" is set to begin production in August for a 2018 release. Probably for August 3rd.

Actress Emily Blunt and director Rob Marshall were present to debut the first look for "Mary Poppins Returns". The footage grabbed the crowd's attention, and despite being absent on stage, Lin-Manuel Miranda's performance brought out their wildest cheer. As has been widely reported, this movie serves as a sequel to Julie Andrews' original classic. The movie takes place in a familiar, but different setting: Chery Tree Lane. Ben Wishaw and Emily Mortimer are playing Michael and Jane Banks, the kids from that first movie who have grown up to be adults now. Michael is also a windower with three children. Colin Firth is set to play a heartless bank manager, who brings trouble to the dark and gloomy London, as well as the Banks family. Miranda plays Jack, a lamplighter who helps Michael's eldest son Georgie to get his kite. Meryl Streep is playing Mary's eccentric cousin Topsy, the great Angela Lansbury as the Balloon Lady, and Dick Van Dyke returns as the bank Chairman.

According to various report, the footage gave off an 'Old Hollywood' style with high production value, dance sequences, and grand musical numbers. There's also a 2D animation/live-action hybrid scene, sounding very similar to the first movie. Blunt said that she only saw 15 minutes of that movie, so that she can try to deliver her own version of Poppins. "No one is ever going to out-Julie Julie Andrews. She’s just unbelievable. There will never be anyone else like her. So I just had to do my version of her and I think we were very loyal to the books.", she said praising Andrews' performance. Will Andrews be making a special cameo appearance in the movie? This is Disney, so highly likely, but we'll see. "Mary Poppins Returns" will arrive in Christmas 2018.

Vying for attention, was Jon Favreau's "The Lion King". He didn't announce the cast (which I've been waiting for, particularly with that speculation of Hugh Jackman being approached to play the antagonist Scar!!!), but did bring out a footage to please and WOW the audience. Said footage was the exact mirror recreation of the 1994 animated movie's opening scene, where the baboon Rafiki introduced a lion cub Simba to Mufasa's animal kingdom, on top of the Pride Rock. Complete with Elton John's "Circle of Life" playing in the background too! The only difference was that it looked photorealistic, as if it's a scene taken from Favreau's massive-hit Oscar-winning "The Jungle Book" from last year. There were plenty of animals of all kinds depicted in their own nature, but an ultra-adorable baby Simba was undeniably the scene-stealer.

Favreau received similar, if not greater thunderous applause to when he debuted the footage for "The Jungle Book" two years ago. He made the audience went wild this time, eventhough it was Anaheim California, and not the African savannah. "We know how important this is", he said, assuring fans that his team will be delivering the best live action retelling they can muster. I'm a huge fan of "The Jungle Book", so I have huge faith in him. I personally can't wait to see this footage online, but I'm not sure it will be released in the near future. Not to mention, the movie itself is still two years away from release! Ouch!!! I guess we just have to practice patience and... wait. "The Lion King" arrives on July 19th, 2019.

The last but equally attention-grabbing piece of the panel, was Ava DuVernays' "A Wrinkle in Time". Buzz for this project have been really huge and loud even before production began, so expectation have been high. During the panel, DuVernay along with several core cast members delivered the first official teaser trailer while an official poster was released via social media. And it looked... weird but mesmerizing. We saw Storm Reid's Meg Murry, adventuring with brother Deric McCabe's Charles Wallace and classmate Levi Miller's Calvin O'Keefe to find her missing dad. Mr. Murry, played by Chris Pine, was seemingly trapped after discovering a new planet and travelled there using the 'tesseract'. Meg then encountered three Astral Travelers on her journey, Reese Whiterspoon's Mrs. Whatsit, Mindy Kaling's Mrs. Who, and Oprah Winfrey's Mrs. Which, who would somehow guide the trio in their journey. One that's likely involving the many other characters played by Zach Galifianakis, Michael Peña, and more. As well as CG actions with monsters and all... because the trailer suggests that.

Now... not unlike many folks, I'm not familiar with the novel, nor what it's all about. So I can't really describe how I feel about this. Somehow, those three Astral beings reminded me of the fairies on "Sleeping Beauty", if not the three Ghosts of "A Christmas Carol". That is, in both puzzling and creepy ways. The teaser also reminded me of "Doctor Strange" and/or "Legion" which was a good comparison, but at the same time, it also gave off a strange "Tomorrowland" vibe, which was NOT a good comparison. Then again, my mom immediately said "This looks amazing" (paraphrasing from our native language...) after seeing it... and that's totally saying much. As in, I'm definitely checking this one out when it hits theatres! For now, you can check out a few official stills from the movie, debuted by Entertainment Weekly as part of their 'First Look' season. "A Wrinkle in Time" will premiere on March 8th, 2018.

Disney Animation

It's Disney Animation Studios and Disney Pixar time! I somewhat expected Pixar's "Coco" to be getting all the big attention this year, but surprisingly that's not the case. Two other titles stole the attention on this Animation panel instead!

Fans have been asking for sequel to 2004's "The Incredibles" for many years, more than a decade even! Thus when it was finally announced, anticipation for "The Incredibles 2" has been growing like crazy. That must've been the reason why it's one of the two most talked-about title of the panel. Writer/director Brad Bird attended the panel alongside Disney Animation Chief John Lasseter, as they delivered official concept art, first raw footage, and give hints of what we can expect from Pixar's very own Fantastic Four-esque team.

For start, while many fans have been voicing their hopes to see a 10 years passed after the first movie (with all the kids grown up), Lasseter revealed that this sequel will instead works as a direct continuation. "It starts right as the first one finishes, so it just carries on", he said, confirming that only a minute have passed after the arrival of John Ratzenberger's Underminer. Family, is still the major theme of this movie. "One of the unique things about the Incredibles is it’s really a story of a family set in the world of superheroes. This one carries on that theme. It’s awesome, the idea we came up with — simple as that. … We love to really look at our own lives and look at what’s going on, and find themes that we know will resonate with the audience", he stated. Bird also reiterated that "It's fundamentally a story about family".

The main star for this one will also be Holly Hunter's Elastigirl alongside their children Violet and Dashiell (voiced by Sarah Vowell and Huck Milner, taking over from Spencer Fox), as Craig T. Nelson's Mr. Incredible will spend more time taking care of baby Jack Jack who's developing his unique powers. If it wasn't obvious enough from his social media shoutouts, Samuel L. Jackson has been confirmed to reprise his role as Frozone, while Bird himself will reprise his role as the famed superhero costume designer Edna Mode. "The Incredibles 2" opens in less than a year, on June 15th, 2018. Here's hoping Pixar will release a trailer soon! Perhaps on SDCC?

The other title that gained a huge amount of cheers and praise came from Disney Animation Studios, in form of "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2". Similar to how "The Incredibles 2" put more focus on the female lead, it seems this one also shifts the primary attention to Sarah Silverman's Vanellope von Schweets. Namely, due to her being acknowledged as a Disney Princess... alongside, the previous Princesses! Yes, Silverman and directors Rich Moore and Phil Johnston presented a clip from the movie, where Vanellope stumbled upon a website called OhMyDisney.com. That's where she runs into all the Disney Princesses, who was having slumber party filled with rapid-fire meta jokes about their histories and tropes.

But that's not even the best thing, because most of the Princesses are voiced by their iconic voice actresses! To prove that, Disney brought out these dream team on stage: Jodi Benson (Ariel of "The Little Mermaid"), Paige O'Hara (Belle of animated "Beauty and the Beast"), Linda Larkin (Jasmine of animated "Aladdin"), Irene Bedard (of "Pocahontas"), Anika Noni Rose (Tiana of "The Princess and the Frog"), Mandy Moore (Rapunzel of "Tangled"), Kelly Macdonald (Merida of "Brave"), Kristen Bell (Anna of "Frozen"), and Auli'i Cravalho (of "Moana"). Creating a historic meeting, that obviously caused a prolonged ovation and wild cheers from audience of around 7000 people. I simply can't imagine how the audience would react, had other confirmed but absent voice actresses like Ming-Na Wen (of "Mulan") and Idina Menzel (Elsa of "Frozen") were able to attend as well! With the first movie focusing on the love of retro-video games that in a way also felt more directed for 'boys', this one is definitely a conscious and brilliant decision to captivate the 'girls' as well!

As for how and why John C. Reilly's Ralph and Vanellope get to meet them? That's because the plot forced them to. How is that possible? Apparently, the Sugar Rush game had an unexpected break down, so both Ralph and Vanellope alongside the other characters have to explore to the world 'wild' web to find replacement parts required to fix and keep it alive. There, they will run into Yesss, a trend-aholic algorithm who is voiced by Taraji P. Henson. Yess is the savvy, smart and sexy owner of a trending site called Buzzaholic (obvious nod/pun to Buzzfeed, eh? *grins*). According to Henson via an external statement, Yesss "knows about everything cool and on trend. And she does spell her name with a triple ‘s'". This is the character who would guide Ralph and Vanellope toward the various sites, including OhMyDisney (that also includes reference to other Disney's properties from Marvel and Lucasfilm). What a really interesting premise! The subtitle might have hinted that the sequel to 2012's favorite is set to break the internet, but to be honest, it already is... LOL. "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2" officially breaks the theatres next year, on November 21st, 2018.

By the way, Bell and co-star Josh Gad refused to let it go, as they brought news for the sequel to everyone's favorite animated movie. The as-of-yet un-subtitled sequel of "Frozen" became the talk of the town, eventhough the duo's intention was totally to promote the upcoming "Olaf’s Frozen Adventure", a holiday-themed short set to debut alongside "Coco". A special clip from this short was screened, and Gad sang one of the four new songs set to debut in it. Directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee along with the core cast are all confirmed to return, and "Frozen 2" is set to hit theatres on November 27, 2019.

There were other minor bits from both Pixar and Disney Animation Studios. Dan Scanlon who did "Monsters University", is currently developing a personal project on Pixar based on his own experience of not knowing his father (who passed away when he was just one). This project is currently untitled, and doesn't have a release date for now. Scanlon was inspired to make this, after discovering a recording of his late father. It will be a mix of fantasy and mundance, set in a world where unicorns are said to be a norm of everyday's life. Josh Cooley has been announced as the sole director for "Toy Story 4". He was supposed to co-direct with Lasseter before. Lasseter himself remains as producer for the June 21st, 2019 movie. And Disney Animation Studios is working on a spin-off of "Cars", spotlighting a plane (but NOT part of the "Planes" franchise) that will go all the way into space. This untitled movie will be released on April 12th, 2019.

Last but not least, "Coco" did get the utmost privilege to wrap off the entire presentation via an elaborate musical number. Director Lee Unkrich, producer Darla Anderson, and writer Adrian Molina arrived on stage to preview a new clip from the movie. They revealed that music for this movie will combine the talents of songwriter Germaine Franco, the "Frozen" couple Robert and Kristen-Anderson Lopez, with Michael Giacchino composing the score. Newcomer Anthony Gonzales is playing the lead character Miguel, with Benjamin Bratt, Gael Garcia Bernal, and Edward James Olmos lending their voices to the others. "Coco" is set to arrive in a few months, on November 22nd, 2017!

Star Wars

Lucasfilm didn't deliver a new trailer for Rian Johnson's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" during D23 Expo 2017 as fans expected. But the cast did bring a special behind-the-scenes video that... well, in a way showcased many things as well, and delighted avid "Star Wars" fans nonetheless. You can visit Collider to get screengrab images of this video. Official posters for the movie have also been released via social media. The one featuring late Carrie Fisher's General Leia seemed to breaking many fans heart. Overall though, there's a sense of danger looming through this posters, as everyone is shaded with the color of blood-red. Is it a sign of death? Oh no...! "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" will arrive on December 15th, 2017.

DC Films

Let's have a quick intermezzo from Disney, as we visit the other side of the... fandom. Yes, Warner Bros gets their category here! Though admittedly, I only included them to avoid postponing too much for the next R-N-D. LOL. Anyway, it'll be a quick one.

First, director Jaume Collet-Serra is said to be the frontrunner to helm "Suicide Squad 2". Yes, it's been an unanimous verdict that the first movie was... bad, and I personally don't see any reason for this sequel to exist. But money talks louder, especially to WB, so the studio is making one anyway. Think of it like the "Transformers" franchise. I'm not that familiar with Collet-Serra, and I haven't even seen "The Shallows". But even if I HAVE seen "Non-Stop", I can't really say if this is a right choice or not. Those movies and "Suicide Squad" are completely different in genre. Both Will Smith and Margot Robbie are poised to return though, so there's that.

Matt Reeves has publicly stated that he won't be using Ben Affleck & Geoff Johns' script for the tentatively titled "The Batman"! He said this himself on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast while promoting the critically-acclaimed "War for the Planet of the Apes", practically confirming previous report by Slash Film that many had considered to be false. Perhaps, script issue was the problem that broke down Reeves' negotiation with WB before? With the script being rewritten from scratch, many have wondered what will happen to the news we have heard so far, particularly about the casting of Joe Manganiello as Deathstroke. There's always a possibility that Manganiello will no longer appear in the solo movie, right? I'm sure we'll hear more about this in WB's upcoming panel on SDCC 2017 tomorrow.

One last thing, WB have also somewhat bullishly announced two more release dates for the year 2020. Yes, they are now planning to release FOUR effing movies that year, as if making two bad ones a year wasn't enough. Looks like someone hasn't really learned from their past mistake, huh? I can't really remember the previous two dates (if I'm not mistaken, they were reserved for "Cyborg", and "Green Lantern Corps"), but the new ones are set for February 2nd, 2020 and June 5th, 2020. It is speculated that the June one will be a sequel to this year's "Wonder Woman", due to its achievement of inching closer to become the most successful Summer movie of the year. The February one, might be a bit tricky considering WB has so many DC Films projects on the works, that even I had lost count of it for a long time now. Could it be that "Gotham City Siren", because it's a Valentine's Day release? Or Joss Whedon's "Batgirl". How about "The Flash". Hmmm. Maybe SDCC 2017 will help enlighten us if this bad.... news. Not that I could care any less though...

Marvel Studios

Back to Disney! Let's first talk about the biggest news of them all. Because while items and props from "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Black Panther" were put on display at the Marvel booth, they weren't on par with what transpired on the Live Action Panel.

Yep, Kevin Feige attended the D23 Expo 2017, and as expected he wasn't alone. Nope, far from it, because he brought a HUGE number of guests. In order of appearance; Josh Brolin, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Pom Klementieff, Karen Gillan, Dave Bautista, Don Cheadle, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr., and co-director Joe Russo; all joined him on stage, because they were celebrating Marvel Studios' 10 Years. With a new Anniversary Logo... and also first teaser for next year's "Avengers: Infinity War" that easily brought the crowd of 7000 people on their feet, driving them wild and overpouring with emotions.

Said footage began with around two minutes of clips from roughly 13 previous movies that have been produced by the studio, before continuing with a completely new scene. It started of with Hemsworth's Thor crashing into the Guardians of the Galaxy's spaceship, followed by a reel of action-packed sequences, and was wrapped with Thanos having a fully assembled Infinity Gauntlet in his hand, about to pummel his enemies using debris in space. Various sites (ComicBook, THR, Daily Super Hero, Collider, Buzzfeed, and many more) have published their rundown of the sequence, revealing plenty of tidbits from the mindblowing Avengers sequel. Each one complemented the rest, by filling up missing details that was missed by one another, so do take your time to visit them and read them on spot. Seriously though, reading them alone has already made me giddy and anxious. So much that I'm actually really glad Marvel Studios hasn't put it up online. Otherwise I'd probably suffered an instant heart attack and died before the movie even arrives.

After the rousing panel presentation, the Marvel booth officially unveiled additional characters for the movie. Joining the huge life-size statue of Brolin's Thanos that has been decorating the hall since day one, were four of his right hands... the Black Order. Brolin himself was on hand for the official unveiling of the team, that will instead be called 'The Children of Thanos' in the movie. Confirming theories gathered by fans after seeing the set pieces in Scotland and Atlanta, this antagonistic team consists of Corvus Glaive, his wife Proxima Midnight, the super intellect with manipulative ability Ebony Maw, and the Hulk-like Cull Obsidian.

Some of the core cast like Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner (who suffered an unfortunate injury on set), Paul Rudd, and many others were notably absent, including co-director Anthony Russo who remained in Atlanta to work on tentatively-titled "Avengers 4". Yes, "Infinity War" had just wrapped on the first day of D23 Expo 2017 (the Russos announced this themselves), but the production team are now moving on with the next giant project! WOW, talk about marvelous dedication to work. But surely, we can expect them to appear this weekend on SDCC, right? "Avengers: Infinity War" opens less than a year from now, on May 4th, 2018.

Presumably because production has only begun for "Ant-Man & the Wasp", none of its cast were present at the D23 Expo. The event officially revealed the first look for Hope van Dyne's the Wasp on one of the hanging-banner though, and actress Evangeline Lilly herself happily shared this news. Also actor Walton Goggins has officially joined the cast. I'm not familiar with this actor, but I've read many folks were excited about him, because apparently he's a terrific actor. His role is currently undisclosed, and speculations are saying that he might be playing the villain of the movie. Clearly he's not playing that character rumored by That Hashtag Show, right?

Which reminds me... that site reported an 'exclusive' saying that the studio is actively looking for an African-American actor between the age of 55 to 65 for a highly intelligent role. Everyone's easy guess is Dr. Bill Foster, a.k.a. Goliath who's in a way connected to Giant Man. Since Rudd's Scott Lang did demonstrate that ability in "Captain America: Civil War", linking it to Foster would be fantastic. Then again, That Hashtag Show isn't particularly a credible source, having falsely reported many stuffs in the past (Shang-Chi? Pffftttt). So I wouldn't really bet on their horses. Anyhoo, here's hoping the cast will stop by on SDCC this weekend, if only to have an actual confirmation or two. "Ant-Man & the Wasp" will arrive on July 6th, 2018.

"Black Panther" didn't have a huge presence (Boseman and director Ryan Coogler had a signing session), but that's because it already made a separate headline earlier that week (on July 11th). By showing up as the cover story of EW! The magazine ran a detailed coverage of the movie, dishing out the many aspects from the many lores of Wakanda, the various characters, and what to expect from the story.

Wakanda produces and is riched with a nearly-mystical metal called Vibranium. The people has mined it, experimented, and used it to develop medicines, technology, and others. Its fields also grows the Heart-Shaped Herb, a plant that grants superhuman strength to its leaders. That's the reason why it has closed itself from the whole world. John Kani's T'Chaka's death in "Civil War" will shake the illusive African-country's ground, as threats coming towards Boseman's T'Challa from inside and outside. The outside refers to Michael B. Jordan's Erik Killmonger, an aspiring prince who is colluding with Andy Serkis' Ulysses Klaue (with a new hand, in form of sonic mining equipment) to bring down T'Challa from his throne. The inside refers to the turmoil that fears T'Challa might be engaging too much with the outside world, just like T'Chaka. This might be where Winston Duke's M'Baku (who will NOT be addressed as Man-Ape) enters the equation. Coogler compared his movie to politics, saying that there's an ambiguity of who's good and bad. "The film very much plays with those concepts, looking at conflicts and different motivations, and who’s with who", he stated.

Producer Nate Moore, likened the movie to a fusion of "The Godfather" and the "James Bond", serving as tribute to both franchises. It's "a big, operatic family drama centered on a world of international espionage. So hopefully we’re getting the best of both worlds", he hoped. Boseman also stressed out, that Wakanda is "a very matriarchal society", hinting that the female characters in this solo movie shouldn't be taken for granted. This refers to Angela Basset's Queen Ramonda, Lupita Nyong'o's Nakia who is an undercover spy with a knack on 'Ring Blades', Letitia Wright's genius and intellectual Shuri, to the Dora Milaje guards like Danai Gurira's Okoye and Florence Kasumba's Ayo. Meanwhile, Forest Whitaker is playing Zuri, a shaman who is also the keeper of the Heart-Shaped herb. His character roots the movie in a unique element of spirituality, the way it's always been depicted in the comics. "Black Panther" will premiere on February 16th, 2018.

Marvel Studios might have left quite a massive impression last week, with "Spider-Man: Homecoming" running in theatres, the EW cover story for "Black Panther", and a D23 Expo presence that many people might still be talking about until now. Not to mention the pairings of characters, on set interactions, talk of future movies, actor's fancasting, etc. But that doesn't mean its hype is ending soon. This Saturday (precisely tomorrow evening, US time), the studio will return to SDCC 2017's Hall H for a special presentation with extended duration. Perhaps, that "Infinity War" footage will be delivered online for every fans to see? Or should we hope for another version, because Rufallo had openly teased something mind-blowing in the event. I'm merely spitballing here, but I'm positive we'll at least be seeing the cast of "Ragnarok", "Black Panther", "Ant-Man & the Wasp", and most definitely "Infinity War" on the panel. All I can say, we need to brace ourselves for another tide (or tsunami) of Marvel Studios news in the next few days. Because whether you like it or not, it's a great time to be a Marvel fan! Excelsior!!!

Marvel TV

It was a bit odd that Marvel's "The Inhumans" wasn't heavily showcased in D23 Expo 2017. I mean, excluding that Lockjaw's goodies available on Marvel booth, or the only three character posters that can be found on their official Twitter account. After all, ABC is still part of Disney, thus it felt odd that it wasn't even getting proper 'spotlight'. Of course, the series will have its own panel at SDCC 2017, so that might be the case. Nevertheless, the cast of the series continued to share details about the mini series outside of the panel.

Eme Ikwuakor confirmed that his character Gorgon as well as Ken Leung's Karnak, will be similar to the comics. "I act 5 times before I start thinking. I think that plays into a lot of the dynamics as well, especially with Karnak who is the exact opposite who think 5 times before he acts" he said. Sonya Balmores likened her Auran's job as the Royal Family's secret service. She works very closely with the King and Queen, and acts as their eyes and ears eventhough she's not related by blood. Serinda Swan praised her character, because "The great thing about Medusa is that she’s taking on two roles, not molded into one. That’s what makes her such an interesting character". She also affirmed that audience can expect to see Medusa's hair-play in amazing action sequence, likely to ease fans' concerns that has been growing rapidly ever since EW debuted her first look. She even added that "You will definitely see her hair have moods. There will be some moody hair because that’s her". Let's just hope that she's not giving us false hope.

Anson Mount revealed that the intricacies of Black Bolt was the reason he was drawn to portray this character. That's why he immediately agreed when Marvel TV Head Jeph Loeb personally offered this role (outside of auditions), and has even dedicated time developing it with sign consultant and all. He stated that the major theme of the movie is about family, namely about his somewhat Shakespearean love-hate relationship with brother Maximus, played by Iwan Rheon. Rheon by the way, is the most famous actor on the show, hence we can expect him to be more than just an antagonist.

Problem is, Mount also talked about why his character and also the entire series needed to be 'grounded', in order for them to be... "more accessible to a viewing audience than a reading audience". This one, is easily the part that rubs me off the wrong way. Grounded this, grounded that? I'll be honest, all these 'grounded talks' is making me feel iffy. Why shy away from going all out bizarre and outlandish? It's okay to do that with the Inhumans on Marvel's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." considering they are Earth-bound (then again, even they weren't afraid with the visuals)... but the Royal Family? They should be larger than life! Embrace all the weirdness and fun, not unlike the Guardians of the Galaxy. And don't ever forget! Scott Buck's idea of 'grounded' tends to be... 'different' or a 'bit warped' than what you and I had in mind. It means the mystical dragon Shou Lau is two bulbs of red-light for Marvel's "Iron Fist"! A proof that someone clearly didn't learn from the mistake done to that series.

Isabelle Cornish who plays Crystal, also brought a different but equally interesting notion. She revealed that audience can expect the IMAX 'movie'-size feature to be... "just really introducing us as a family and discovering the characters in the first 2 episodes. Seeing how we all mix together, how we intertwine, the different powers we all have. I mean, its such a large family. We’re essentially cousins. To have cousins that are brothers, its kinda cool and different.". Wait, WHAT? You're kidding, right? WHY would I waste my money on IMAX theatres just to see a prolonged intro? Isn't that like... NOT the point of filming a movie in IMAX format? I'm sure Christopher Nolan and his "Dunkirk", and even the Russo Brothers would be completely angry to hear this kind of treatment.

I've honestly lost all kind of goodwill and faith for this show. You can even say that I've joined a weird group among Marvel fans, essentially becoming a naysayer, because that's more or less accurate. The trailer, and every cast interviews so far, eerily reminded me of the whole "Iron Fist" scenario. Things haven't been looking good on my gut feeling, and I simply refuse to be fooled twice. But of course, my opinion doesn't necessarily apply to every Marvel fans out there. After all, there are those who actually enjoyed "Iron Fist" sooo much more than I did. With that said, perhaps it's indeed a wise decision for me to have such a really low expectation to this show. Who knows? It might flip me upside down and win me over instead...

Netflix

Similar to "Black Panther" that was featured by EW's First Look exclusive, Marvel's "The Defenders" got their share of publicity via a new poster released by the outlet, and also through UK's Empire Magazine. I'm sure we can expect the coverage from these magazines pretty soon. The EW poster, along with an exclusive one designed by Joe Quesada for Jon Bernthal's Marvel's "Punisher", are set to be available at Marvel's booth during SDCC 2017. Don't forget, "The Defenders" is also expected to have a huge presence at the Con, so prepare to hear more details as well as hopefully a new trailer for the mini-series. All 8 episodes of "The Defenders" will arrive on August 18th, 2017.

On a side note, actress Lucy Liu has been confirmed to direct the Season 2 Premiere episode of Marvel's "Luke Cage". Could she have a role in the series too? I certainly hope so. I personally want to see Liu joining a Marvel Studio movies for a significant role. But even if that's not the case, her appearing in one of the Netflix series sounds right too.

"Stranger Things" unveiled a sinister new teaser early last week, with a tagline "1984 only gets stranger". The teaser also confirmed that the 2nd Season will be available on October 27th, 2017. There weren't any details about this new season following that, but we can expect ones in the upcoming SDCC 2017.

Last but not least, I can't believe I missed this last month, but turns out the 3rd Season of "Voltron Legendary Defenders" has had an official release date! Via the trailer that... I oddly couldn't find on Netflix' official Youtube channel, it was revealed that the new season will arrive on August 4th, 2017. That's... really fast! Possibly due to the delay on Season 2 (it was meant to be released last year, but got delayed to January this year), I honestly didn't expect it to arrive so early. But who am I to complain! We need the 3rd season right away, especially after how the 2nd season abruptly ended. LOL. Also... if this teaser is any indication, things aren't looking good for the team. Because while the Paladins can't form Voltron, Emperor Zarkon's son Prince Lotor has taken command of the Galra Empire and starts brewing trouble in the galaxy. Here's hoping we'll get a longer and better trailer when the showrunners and cast members hit their SDCC 2017 panel this weekend!

Disney XD Series

New sneak peak clip for "DuckTales" was released during D23. Taken from the episode entitled "Daytrip of Doom!", the clip showed Huey, Dewey, and Louie having a dart gun fight against a very serious Webby, that caused plenty of... chaos in Scrooge McDuck's Manor. Many fans seemed to be annoyed with how the nephews sound when they saw the First Look before, a sentiment that was very understandable. For me personally, at least their new voices are growing in me, to the point that I no longer feel that much bothered by it. Many seems to have been voicing criticism to the Carl Barks-inspired design too, but I personally never had any issue about it. Most of the comics I've seen was drawn in that style anyway. LOL. "DuckTales" is set to premiere with a one-hour TV movie on August 12th, 2017, before starting its series on September 23rd.

Disney XD also unveiled the first look for "Big Hero 6 the Series". Based on the one and only Oscar-winning superhero movie so far, this much-anticipated series will tell the story of Hiro Hamada along with Baymax and friends, as they become the heroes of San-Fransokyo. Similar to "Tangled the Series", the design might not work with everyone, especially those who were expecting lush CG animation like the movies. The "Big Hero 6" one was very close, and clearly inspired by the actual 2D character designs from the movie's production though. So in a way, it's accurate. You can catch the series Main Title on Youtube!

Kamen Rider

The first official image for the 19th Heisei Rider "Kamen Rider Build" has been revealed! The image clearly showed that Build shared similar dual-colored design of "Kamen Rider W", but one that utilized a combination of technology and biology.

As rumored before, his initial form with the color Blue and Red is a fusion of Tank and Rabbit respectively. These powers will be accessed through the season's collectibles, Full Bottles, as the hero inserts a pair into his Build Driver. His transformation catchphrase for this initial mode will be "Using 2 Bottles, Find the Best Match! Are You Ready?! Moonsault of Steel! Rabbit Tank! Yeah!". Different Full Bottles can then be mixed and matched to produce a variety of forms. The biological side revealed so far includes Rabbit, Gorilla, Hedgehog, and Hawk, while the technological side includes Tank, (Vacuum) Cleaner, and Gattling. It's safe to say we can expect a lot more in the future. The picture also teased the antagonist Knight/Night Rogue, and the second Rider called Kamen Rider Claws/Close.

The story is said to take place in a post-apocalyptic world where souls are bound to bottles. "Second Build" is the cause, as it destroyed the world 10 years before. Kamen Rider Build will then have to deal with evil souls called "Builders" who seek to commit crime. Surprisingly, while it was previously assumed that "Build" will start airing as the "Kamen Rider" franchise changes timeslot in October, it has been revealed to debut much sooner. The currently airing "Kamen Rider Ex-Aid" has been confirmed to end with 44 episodes (with episode 45 serving as a bridge to the next), thus "Build" is set to begin in September. Is it because "Ex-Aid" isn't doing well in the toy department? Hmmm...

If you ask me, the overall concept, design, and story premise of this new series is solid, and they are more than enough to make me want to see it. I was actually sold thanks to the FireHedgehog form! LOL. Of course, execution doesn't always rhyme well with expectation, so it's still unclear if I will end up following to the end or not. Heck, the actor casting might also play as a make-or-break situation for me! So it's definitely not set in stones. But for now, I honestly want to see this show in action.

Square Enix

Since the "Kingdom Hearts" franchise is a mixture of their original characters as well as Disney world, of course Square Enix was present at the D23 Expo 2017. And as promised, the company introduced a new look and trailer for "Kingdom Hearts III". The new trailer particularly unveiled a new "Toy Story" world, while teasing an action adventure in the world of Disney's "Hercules"! Other confirmed new worlds include Disney's "Tangled", "Big Hero 6" and the "Olympus Coliseum" world.

The "Toy Story" part will have Sora, and his travelling companions Donald Duck and Goofy exploring Andy's room alongside Woody, Buzz Lightyear, and the other toy characters. They need to investigate the disappearances of their fellow toys, and also Andy himself. Both director Tetsuya Nomura and Pixar Animation Studios story supervisor Jason Katz have confirmed that it will be a brand new storyline, but is still on par with Pixar's standard of storytelling and animation quality. In terms of timeline, it will take place after the events of the "Toy Story 2" movie. Nomura expressed his excitement for this world, because he had always wanted to include one on "Kingdom Hearts II".

The company also confirmed that the game will be released in 2018, which is probably not a concidence. It will be available for PlayStation 4 and XboxOne, with Nintendo Switch being considered. A second playable character will also be available, but apparently the director thought that's information for another time. LOL.

Pocket Monsters

Niantic is set to hold their first "Pokemon GO" real-world event this very weekend, with the "Pokemon GO Fest Chicago" taking place on July 22nd, 2017. They have posted details surrounding the big event happening on location, revealing that players from all around the world will also be able to 'contribute' during the same timetable. During three Challenge Windows at the event from 11:00AM to 08:00PM Chicago Time, players worldwide will help attendees to unlock rewards, and vice versa. Later, if players at the Chicago event catch enough Pokemon during the Catch Challenge, a special Mystery Challenge will be unlocked for the last hour of the event. If said Challenge is completed, then an 'extra special bonus' will be given for players around the world in form of Global Reward on July 23rd-24th.

This sounds a bit complicated to understand, and the gap between time zones alone is already feeling unfair to some parts of the world who have to stay up during midnight to dawn to participate. Response to this has been mixed as well, due to various reasons. But despite constantly getting server issues over the past week, Niantic is working hard to appeal its players. One of it, is by directly flying high-level Pokemon GO Youtubers from all around the world into Grant Park Chicago to participate in the live event. Many have been speculating that the Global Reward will be the first official reveal of Legendary Pokemon. We'll have to wait and see if that's really the case.

Those in Europe can then participate in a "Pokemon GO Safari Zone" events, in partnership with Unibail-Rodamco shopping centers. Copenhagen and Praque will be holding one on August 5th, Stockholm and Amstelveen on August 12th, and Oberhausen, Paris and Barcelona on September 16th. These events will give European players the opportunity to catch variety of Pokemon, among them are those only available as region-locked like Kangaskhan and Tauros. Unique and powerful Raid Bosses will also be available. For the United Kingdom area, Niantic will be holding a "Big Heritage Festival" event in Chester on July 22nd-23rd. This is a joint collaboration with UK heritage organization, Big Heritage.

Last but not least, Yokohama area is set to have a "Pikachu Outbreak" event on August 9th- 15th. It has been an annual event for The Pokemon Company, but this time, it will also include a Pokemon GO experience.

Tekken

I did NOT see this coming!

Geese Howard, who was recently revived by SNK Corp for "The King of Fighters XIV", has been announced as the new DLC character for "Tekken 7: Fated Retribution"!!! Bandai Namco unveiled this via one thrilling and intense trailer, during the Evolution Championship Series 2017. It just felt... right seeing Geese pummeling the Tekken characters one by one (particularly Heihachi, who is a natural jerk just like him), and sending them to misery. LOL. Geese will be available in Winter 2017, along with his own unique 'Geese Tower' stage.

The company did already state that they will be adding exclusive guest characters from other video game franchise, following the game's release on June 2nd, 2017. But I honestly didn't expect them to actually go with fans' wishes that openly called out Geese with the reasoning that his fighting style and 'badass' mannerism will be a great fit to "Tekken 7" (it's accurate, though). With "Street Fighter" very own Akuma already in the title, "Tekken 7" is growing to be a rendesvouz spot for powerful characters from various franchises. Now... who will the next DLC be for Spring 2018? Someone from "Dead or Alive"? "Mortal Kombat"? "Guilty Gear"? This is exciting...

Street Fighter

The 4th "Street Fighter V" DLC character for Season 2 has been revealed! And continuing the trend since Gouki/Akuma, it's a supposedly-new character that is also NOT really a new one... *sigh*. NEW, because the "Street Fighter" franchise hasn't had them as playable characters until now, but NOT new, because they have already existed as either supporting characters in previous games, or from entirely different game. Proof? No explanation necessary for Akuma, Kolin was Gill's right hand in "Street Fighter III", and Ed showed up in "SFV" various Story Modes since the very beginning. The fourth character joining them, hails from CAPCOM's very own "Final Fight" series. In form of big brute Abigail.

Yoshinori Ono announced Abigail during the Evolution Championship Series 2017, and an official reveal trailer for the character immediately hit the internet. This towering Mad Gear Leader that's even taller and bigger than Hugo albeit with a goofy personality, has attacks based on armors. The face paint is said to be an homage to King Diamond, who is a heavy metal musician. He is set to be released next week on July 25th, 2017, alongside his unique new stage called the 'Metro City Bay Area'. You can visit Gematsu to read a detailed description of this new DLC character.

Intriguingly, this reveal didn't surprise fans, because his name has been repeatedly rumored and reported before. The Event Hubs user who goes by the name of Flowtron has gotten his 'leaks' proven with the reveal of Akuma and Ed, and now his street cred had just gotten much higher with the confirmation of Abigail. Assuming his leak are all true, then the remaining two DLC characters will be Menat and Zeku. Menat is supposed to be that Egyptian-looking 'Fortune Teller' who already and rather pointlessly debuted in Ed's Story Modes. I also had the exact same suspicion, the moment I saw her design on that ending sequence. Not to mention, it fits with CAPCOM's goal to increase diversity in the game (with Rashid's inclusion). Zeku on the other hand, is Guy's teacher. Meaning he's also a "Final Fight" alumn. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a confirmation to his inclusion in Abigail's Story Mode.

Flowtron also stated an insider information regarding the 3rd Season DLC characters. According to him, Sagat and Sakura Kasugano are pretty much confirmed, but they won't play out like their "Street Fighter IV" counterparts. The previously rumored characters like Oro, C. Viper, Q, and Necro aren't accurate. For now, these should be treated as rumor until proven otherwise. But let's just say, I will not be surprised if it turns out to be true.

As for the real deal, CAPCOM will be releasing new special stages and costumes on July 25th as well, as part of the game's 30th Anniversary. This includes: Classic Ryu's "Suzaku Castle" stage from "Street Fighter II", Capcom Pro Tour 2017 Exclusive "Ring of Pride" stage (the Kanzuki Family Stadium), Nostalgic Costumes (for Alex, Ibuki, and Juri), and The Champion's Choice costume designed by CAPCOM Cup 2016 winner Du "Liquid|NuckleDu" Dang (for Ryu, Ken and Guile). Do visit Event Hubs to see their pricings.

Marvel vs Capcom

Meanwhile, "Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite" officially added Jedah from "Darkstalkers" series as playable character. This was revealed during the Evolution Championship Series 2017 tournament. Following this sequel's odd tradition, Jedah debuted during one of the fight and was not officially announced via individual trailers. You can visit Gamespot's Youtube channel to see him in action. "Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite" is set to be released on September 19th.

ARIKA

Many fans have been itching to see characters from "Street Fighter EX" to spring back into action. But considering ARIKA no longer collaborates with CAPCOM, that seems like a wishful thinking. Well, until now.

A new currently untitled 'EX' Fighting Game was showcased during The Evolution Championship Series 2017. The teaser video (provided through ARIKA's official Youtube Channel) showcased favorite 'EX' characters like Kairi, Shirase/Hokuto, Garuda, Skullomania, and Darun Mister. ARIKA officially announced that it will be the newest entry in the 'EX' series.

It was announced that there will be a limited time beta/server test at the end of 2017, and it has been confirmed to be a worldwide PlayStation 4 release for 2018. It is expected to be playable on April Fools, and pre-order has been made available for Japan players. Considering the company DID first tease this several months ago on April Fools 2017, I think we can safely assume that April 1st, 2018 will indeed be the release window for the title. Hopefully we'll hear more about this in the near future...

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