#pat is such an underrated driver as well !!

[christiangeistdorfer]

STIRLING MOSS congratulates his sister PAT MOSS for winning the 1955 LADIES HANDICAP RACE

[httpsdana]

Alejandro Balde 130 🙏🙏 he’s so underrated

Clingy~Alejandro Balde

*GIF isn't mine. credits to the owner*

Another Ale request cause why not 😙

you can request from my prompt list

this is my master list

players/drivers I write for

130-"Are you planned to stay glued to my side the whole day?"

y/n's job at the club of Barcelona was pretty simple but tiring at the same time. She was Xavi's assist. Always following him around in the training sessions and in the locker rooms and around the stadium

But the best thing she loves about her job was the fact that she met Alejandro through it. They had a few disagreements when they first met, but after they hit it off, they realized that they felt attracted to each other. Soon enough they started dated, of course without Xavi knowing. Pedri, Gavi, Ansu and Ferran were a few of the only people that knew about them.

They didn't mind Xavi knowing, but they didn't want him to scold them about how unprofessional what they did was.

The season was coming to an end as the team has a few more games only.

y/n was gathering some papers from her desk, taking them to Xavi so he can sign them, when Ale appeared through the door.

"holaaa mi amorr" he sang, his hands behind his back as he slowly walked into the room. He stood behind her, while she still didn't look at him focusing on the papers in her hands, he put his arms around her waist, placing his face in the crook of her neck, with small kisses ob her neck

y/n gently pushed him away when she finished organizing the papers for Xavi. Alejandro whined, when she didn't spare him a single glance

"Ale I have to give those to Xavi to sign, then I'm supposed to be planning the next team meeting. and aren't you supposed to be in training?" she started walking, knowing he's gonna follow her either way

"well coach gave us a 15 minutes break so I thought I'd come and see you, but clearly the feeling isn't mutual" he said in an annoyed voice, while y/n chuckled

"I told you we're not supposed to see each other a lot. The staff won't hesitate to tell Xavi if they sensed something between us" she was speed walking now, afraid she won't find Xavi

" who cares? Its not like he cares if we're dating" he said, making y/n stop dead in her tracks

"I care Alejandro. I live from the money I make from this job, so please stop with the reckless behavior or else I might get fired" she started walking again, Alejandro still walking behind her too

"you know I wouldn't let that happen" he said, waving at the people who greeted him while passing by

"yes I know but you also can't do anything about it if it happened" she waved at Xavi to get his attention as he appeared in her sight

She ran to him with the papers in her hands, Alejandro too running behind her

"you've got to sign those, and then read this at home and give us your opinion. its about everything related to the new and future signings" she said

Xavi signed the papers quickly before he noticed Alejandro behind y/n

"the 15 minutes are over. Go back to the feild Balde" he said, nodding his head towards the team

"um actually I'm feeling a bit nauseous and I was wondering if I could leave early today?" he asked, making y/n look at him suspiciously as he was doing just fine a few minutes ago

"yeah yeah whatever. get a good sleep and take a visit to the doctor. we're winning the league tomorrow" Xavi said before walking away

y/n looked at Ale with an annoyed look, while he gave her a cheeky grin. She started walking back to her office and Ale was trailing behind her like a puppy

"Are you planned to stay glued to my side the whole day?" she asked as she noticed his presence behind her

They entered the room, y/n sitting down on the small couch she had while Alejandro locked the door

"yeah. I missed you all day and all you did was ignore me" he pouted, a desperate tone evident in his voice

y/n looked up from her laptop at his pouty face. She closed the laptop and smiled at him, as his face lit up.

She patted her lap, Alejandro lying down and placing his head on her lap, while she ran her fingers through his curls

"I missed you too love. but you know how much my job means to me and how afraid am I to lose it. how about making it up for you by dinner at mine tonight?" she suggested causing Ale to grin widely

"I'd love that thank you honey. now gimme a kiss" he puckered his lips at her. She smiled and leaned down towards him, pecking his lips a few times before settling them on each other for a while

[romanceyourdemons]

one perhaps underrated element of david cronenberg’s style, as exemplified in the dead zone (1983), is his ability to stay incredibly faithful to the tone and style of his source material in adaptation. as with m. butterfly (1993), this film does not bear much of the twisting, surreal, associative qualities cronenberg’s more classic films are known for, and indeed the literary flavor of stephen king is as always strong enough to overlay most other adaptational artistic influences. compared to other king adaptations, though, this film is more concise and cohesive than any i have seen except perhaps for christine (1983), neatly avoiding the pitfalls of excessive meandering worldbuilding and poorly established stakes that dog king adaptations from salem’s lot (1975) to the shining (1980). unlike (for instance) stanley kubrick, cronenberg knows how to step back as an adaptor, and his visual style in this film is unobtrusive and understated, allowing the semi-rural american northeast aesthetic so central to king’s writing to shine through in all its beiges and browns and gazeboes and pervasive fundamentalist christianity. i certainly appreciate the respect he shows for his source in adaptation. however, an element of cronenberg’s style that i wish he had retained in this film is his brilliant skill for depicting the slow detaching of a character’s perceptions from reality—shown off to great effect in videodrome (1983) and dead ringers (1988) and central to martin scorsese’s taxi driver (1976), which shares similar plot devices with this film. calling into question the veracity of the central character’s perceptions would not only establish him as a more effective foil for the delusional politician whom he is convinced he must assassinate, but would also add more urgency to the plot, and more ambiguity to the very pat ending. regardless, the dead zone (1983) functions very well as a king adaptation and shows off cronenberg’s skill for faithful but still artistic adaptation, and is overall a very good film

[ihatetaxes99]

With Saul Gone coming very, very soon, I decided I might like to take one last look at Jeff's character. After all, depending on how the episode plays out, we have either already seen the end of his story or we shall very shortly. Spoilers below, by the way, but you all saw that coming.

Jeff the cab driver, played by Don Harvey, first appeared in the first episode of Season Four, during the season's Gene Scene. In his first appearance, he's seen as a menacing figure, this imposing, intimidating almost inhumanly cold cab driver whom were only see through glimpses in the rear view mirror. It's clear from his first appearance that he is being set in the minds of the audience as a formiddable foe to a broken Gene. This is only further bolstered in Season Five, which features the first appearance of Buddy, as well as Jeff's second role. And here, we see even more of him. We see more of the coldness, more of the intimidation, but we also see him as an entirely calm figure, someone who can wrap Gene around his finger and, more so, was cunning enough to learn of Jimmy's identity. He openly confronts Gene in public, and gets him to crack under the pressure, so much so that he nearly retreats to Ed the Vacuum cleaner before deciding to stand his ground.

Cut to Season 6B. Jeff has been recast as Pat Healy due to Harvey's obligations, igniting much controversy as well as some hilarious memes (my personal favourite was "These recasts are getting out of hand" while showing Jimmy disguised as Howard.) And with this recast, we see a new side of Jeff. Far from the intimidating figure he presented himself as, now that Gene is gaining the upper hand, we see the true side of Jeff. A bumbling forty-something who has a dead end job, still lives with his mother, dresses like a child, was arrested for public urination and is ultimately a complete clown.

And I kind of like this. Don't get me wrong, Harvey Jeff was a great antagonistic figure, but Healy Jeff is frankly sublime at representing Gene's descent into his old ways. In some ways, he becomes more heinous than Jimmy or Saul ever were. In Episode Eleven, after deciding to continue to pursue the cancer patient, we see Jeff driving Gene to the house. And in this, we see a repeat of what happened in Season Four, Jeff staring through the rear fiew mirror at Gene. But this time, it's different; This time, Jeff is showing true fear. He's in over his head and he's only just realising how low Saul has sunk. In the end, he cracks under the pressure and, in a last ditch attempt to distract the cops and save Gene, he crashes his cab. From there, he is arrested and with Marion now knowing Saul's identity, God knows what may happen to him.

In the end, I feel Jeff is going to be one of Better Call Saul's most underrated characters. He isn't deeply complex like Mike, Kim, Jimmy, Howard, Chuck, Nacho or any other mainstay, nor is he a fantastic villain like Lalo. He's a manchild who has gotten far too deep into matters that he doesn't comprehend and his true role in the series has been to reveal to the audience who the true final villain of Better Call Saul is...

And that villain,

Is Gene Takovic/Saul Goodman/Jimmy McGill.

[rattyoakenbitch]

youtubers: “don’t touch her” ₊˚ ⸝  corpse husband x reader

❝i don't wanna think about, think about you. drink up, drink up i'm so fucked up, all i want is you.❞

gif credit: n/a song: lykke li - sex money feelings die

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥

pairings: corpse husband x reader

warnings: angst, cursing, drinking, smoking, violent language, and minor mentions of anxiety.

summary: i can’t make summaries rn hhh just read it (:

“Sean, there is no way in hell I’m going!”

“Oh, come on, Y/N. It’ll be fun!”

“That’s what you always say!”

“Ugh, you and Corpse are so stubborn. At least I was able to convince him to show up! You know what you need? To get out of the house more often and come hang with us.”

“Uh huh, yeah, y’all have fun, I got some stuff to finish.”

“Yeah? Like what? Your ten hour nap?”

“HEY! Excuse me -”

“7PM, [club address], you’re showing up.”

“Sean - !”

With that, Sean hung up. You let out an exasperated huff, crossing your arms and pouting like a toddler who was just denied a toy. You were invited, or more accurrately forced to celebrate whatever the hell Sean and his friends achieved. With lives like theirs, it seemed like there was always something to celebrate. 

You, on the other hand.. Well, you were just little old you. You met Sean by mere chance. It’s a very long story, but you shared some things in common, like your love for video games. However, that was about the only thing you could relate to with Sean and his little friend circle. You were more passionate about writing, as well as reading short horror stories. 

Now, that’s where you clicked with Corpse Husband. 

He was an underrated YouTuber, whose main uploads were narration videos on creepypastas and horror stories. That’s until he blew up with his Among Us gameplays, collaborating with big names like PewDiePie, Jacksepticeye, and CrankGamePlays (EEF!!!).

You met over an Among Us stream with said YouTubers and immediately hit it off. You shared a dark sense of humor, love for horror, and music. You knew of Corpse before, but only then did you discover that he produced music, which you absolutely enjoyed (and blasted in your house for days on end).

When you found out you lived not even twenty minutes away from each other, you’d occasionally meet up, mostly at his house considering he only went out once in a blue moon. You’d sometimes even spend the night at his place, staying up late, gazing up at the stars, getting deep into conversation and opening up about things you never blurted out to people. But when you were with Corpse, everything just came naturally. You felt safe with him, and hopefully, he felt the same. 

Night approached, the clock striking 5PM. You figured you’d get ready since Sean was dead set on you coming to the party. You showered, did a minimalist glossy makeup look, and chose an outfit, which consisted of a half neon green and black skirt that stopped mid thigh, and an oversized distressed band tee which you tucked into your belt. You slipped on a pair of ripped, striped thigh-highs with mismatched colors, (white stripes on one and neon blue on the other), and your platform boots that made you look like a Bratz Doll. You didn’t bother with your tangled hair. You teased it with a brush but didn’t put any effort into styling it, since it’d get messy anyways. To finish your look, you clipped on a choker and dangled a couple of layered chains around your neck.

Corpse would tease you, saying you had a “dog collar”, but you knew he secretly liked it.

All dolled up and ready to go, you hopped into your car and followed the GPS to the address Sean sent you. Drunk couples stumbled out of the club, dates headed inside, and old wasted guys were thrown out. Oh boy, you were not ready for this.

You were the anxious, anti social type. Not because it was edgy or cool, but you simply didn’t know how to handle social situations. However, it comforted you to know Corpse would be there by your side so you didn’t need to chat and flirt with strangers. 

It’s not like you wanted to meet anybody new, anyways. Though nobody was aware of it, you had feelings for Corpse. Cliche, right? You knew you shouldn’t have, but you developed feelings for him. It made you feel strange and weird, considering you haven’t caught feelings in a while.

You came up with the bright idea of slowly drifting away from Corpse to maybe help de-escalate these feelings, but you were going to run into him at the club, so what the heck.

You headed inside, your eyes scanning the crowd and pushing through, searching for your friend group. You spent a couple minutes cluelessly looking around the club, but to no avail. Then, it was as if a light bulb clicked on over your head; you never thought to phone Sean.

“Ugh, I’m so stupid.” You reached into your purse to get ahold of your phone when a pair of strong, manly hands and cold metal which you assumed to be rings wrapped around your shoulders, gripping you tightly. 

“Boo!” 

You felt your heart stop and ran out of the man’s grasp, spinning around to look at who it was.

“Oh, did I scare you?” 

The man’s deep, monotone voice rumbled above the sound of the music and shouts. Then you recognized that unique and distinctive voice. 

“Corpse!! What the hell?”

His nose and jaw was covered by a black mask, with a print that looked like Frank from Donnie Darko, which was also Corpse’s signature look, seen in his channel art. 

Despite Corpse being a faceless YouTuber, only very few people have seen his face, including you and Glam&Gore who he featured in his narration videos. You thought he was very handsome, his baritone voice matching his appearance. You had to admit, you were a little disappointed he chose to wear a mask. You loved seeing his facial expressions, especially his precious smile that would light up the room when he’d let out little fits of laughter. But you got over it and respected the fact that he wanted to remain anonymous.

“You dickhead,” you scoffed, smacking Corpse lightly on the shoulder. Corpse towered over you, looking admittedly both intimidating and seductive. If you were a stranger, you’d probably be running off, but you weren’t scared of Corpse. He was a big softie and a teddy bear.

Corpse chuckled lowly, slinging his arm over your shoulder and leading you to Sean’s group. He was protective like that, even if you were just friends. Now you could see why Sean, at one point, speculated that you and Corpse had a thing going on. 

“So, Sean forced you to tag along, too?”

“Pfft, yeah, that’s Sean for you.”

“Hey, there’s my favorite couple,” Sean joked, patting your shoulder. You rolled your eyes at his drunk antics.

“Shut up, don’t make me choke you like I hate you,” you mocked in return, eliciting a fit of laughter from the group. 

“Remind me to never hang out with you losers again,” Corpse mumbled sarcastically under his breath.

The night went by in a flash. Sean, Thomas, Felix, and everyone else was blackout drunk. Luckily, Mark was there to assist them. Since Mark couldn’t drink, he would be the designated driver that night. Corpse hung out by himself, sometimes getting approached by women who he politely turned down.

You, on the other hand, were downing alcohol like your life depended on it. For you, it would take more than the average number of drinks for you to get wasted.

“Y/N, don’t you think you should slow down?” Corpse questioned cautiously, resting a hand on the small of your back.

“Does it really look like I’m thinking right now?” you drunkenly slurred, following with a giggle. You waved to the bartender, calling for another shot, which he slid over to you, but not without hesitating after noticing your state. You pushed Corpse off of you, probably more harshly than you intended, and took the shot. 

“Okay, Y/N, fuck this, I’m taking you to my place. We can’t stay here and you certainly can’t drive back home when you’re drunk,” Corpse scowled, stepping closer to you. Again, you shoved him back.

“No.. No..” You sighed, holding your pounding head in your hand. “Don’t do that.”

“Do what? Y/N, you’re drunk -”

“I’m not letting you of all people take me.”

Corpse blinked. “What does that mean?” He knew you were drunk, of course, and you were probably just blurting nonsense.

All of a sudden, tears escaped your eyes, racing down your blushy cheeks.

“No.. I’m so sorry. It’s my fault.” You began to shake and tremble as tears started to uncontrollably spill down your face. Corpse didn’t waste another second to take you in his arms, hushing you. “Your hugs are so warm.. I hate it. I hate feeling this way. It’s all my fault.”

“What did you do, sweetheart? You can tell me.”

Your heart ached when you heard his pet name for you.

“I think I may like you more than you like me.. I-I didn’t mean to! Please don’t leave me. You’re all I have,” you sobbed into his white tee, clinging onto him. “I love you so fucking much, it hurts. I shouldn’t have!”

Corpse stopped for a moment, processing your words.

You.. felt the same?

Corpse had to tell you. You were drunk, but he needed you to know. 

“Y/N, I -”

Suddenly, you had a moment of clarity. Realizing how close you were to Corpse, you backed away, wiping away the mascara tears under your eyes.

“I - I think I had too much to drink.. I just need a smoke..” 

Without giving Corpse the chance to protest, you ran off into the crowd, struggling your way through. 

Corpse began to get worried when you didn’t come back. He waited impatiently on the barstool where you left him, anxiously playing with his rings.

He was just about to get up and look for you, when he caught a glimpse of you stumbling out the exit with another man who guided you, gripping your arm tightly.

Corpse fumed, his face going red and heartbeat speeding up. He went after you, knowing damn well you didn’t know this man. 

The man took you to his car, placing you atop the trunk, your legs dangling over the edge. He stepped in between your legs, caressing your face. Everything was a blur. If your mind was clear, you wouldn’t be stupid enough to trust this random guy, who was probably ten years older than you. 

“You’re too pretty to be crying,” he whispered, leaning in closer to your face, until a yell stopped him from proceeding any further.

“Hey, asshole, she’s drunk! Don’t you fucking touch her!”

“C-Corpse?” You hiccuped, hopping off the trunk to get a look at the approaching figure. It was indeed Corpse. His eyebrows were pressed together angrily at the sight.

“You know this dude?” the man said loudly and smugly, just to get a reaction from Corpse. “Relax, my man, I’m just tryna take this pretty girl home.”

“Well this pretty girl happens to be mine, and I won’t let you take advantage of her,” Corpse growled. 

You stood by the stranger, clinging to him as you watched Corpse’s face twist into an expression of heartbreak when you didn’t budge. He then noticed the bruises around your arms and wrist, supposedly from the man’s strong grip. He was unbelievably furious. 

“Ha, doesn’t look like she’s your girl anymore.” The man’s lips twisted upwards into a devilish smirk, only pissing Corpse off some more. Oh boy, was he ready to snap. He reached into his pocket, when..

“Wait,” you managed to slur out, breaking up the argument. You reached out towards Corpse like a child. His facial expression immediately softened. He gave you a loving smile and immediately took you into his arms, holding you protectively. 

“Now, I suggest you get in your car and never come back,” Corpse threatened.

“Oh, yeah? Or what? I’ll kill you and take your girl, you motherfucker!”

Without hesitation, Corpse took out his switchblade, looking the man in his eyes.

“Say that again?”

You watched as the stranger’s whole tough act fell apart. Without another word, he ran to the driver’s side of his car, fumbling with his keys. 

“Yeah, that’s right,” Corpse mumbled, not taking his eyes off the man until he reached his own car. You held his hand the whole way, processing what had just happened. Corpse noticed your distant expression. You got into his car, shutting the door and slumping back into your seat. He tore off his mask, taking in deep breaths to calm himself. Then he looked back to you. 

“Princess?”

You looked to Corpse, your eyes teary. “Hey, Corpse.” You didn’t seem to be as drunk, your mind a lot clearer after the incident. “D-Did you mean anything you said back there? About the..”

“About you being my girl?” 

Corpse took your hand in his, squeezing it comfortingly. He leaned forward and cupped your face with his free hand. “Absolutely.” 

With that, you leaned towards him, hesitantly pressing your lips to his. Your lips tasted of alcohol, but Corpse didn’t care. He was admittedly taken back, his breath hitching, but he released the tension from his body and kissed you back, pulling you over to the driver’s seat atop him. There wasn’t much space, forcing you to press closer to Corpse, deepening the kiss. 

Still being a bit drunk, you were clumsy and kind of ‘out of it’. 

“I’d hold onto something if I were you,” Corpse mumbled, breaking the kiss momentarily to guide your hands to grip his shoulders. But you were impatient and reconnected your lips with his, no doubt causing him to blush even more than he already was.

You couldn’t help yourself and giggled into the kiss, causing Corpse to chuckle along with you, departing from the kiss again and resting his forehead against yours.

“I’m sorry, you’re just so fucking adorable when you giggle.” 

You hummed in response, offering Corpse an innocent grin as you pecked all over his face. 

“I’m so glad you’re mine.”

[oingos-bitch]

The ABCD ask game for devo? He needs more love imo (I don't even know if you write got him)

This man is so underrated it’s criminal. With that being said, hell yeah I’ll write for him! He definitely needs more love

Also kudos to a discord server I’m a part of for 

Based on this post

TW: child abuse, light gore

Headcanon A: what I think realistically

Loud and vulgar, but to a lesser degree than Rubber Soul.

He’s had Ebony Devil since he was about 7 years old.

7′0″ tall.

He likes to enjoy a good cup of coffee or tea on his time alone.

His favourite song to have a smoke to is “Don’t dream It’s Over” by Crowded House.

Used to have a zeal for learning languages. He hasn’t practiced enough to speak fluently, but well enough to surprise people.

He’s probably gotten some pretty interesting piercings at some point.

Speaking of Soul, he’s more quiet/on-edge around him, but loud everywhere else.

Tends to clash with others, namely Soul and Nukesaku.

Likes to prank others and laugh at their misfortune.

Once he scared Boingo by sneaking Ebony Devil into his room and he nearly avoided getting beaten to a bloody pulp by Oingo.

Devo just laughed and dared him to go on with it, even making a few requests as to how he wanted to be hurt. Oingo just sneered at him, disgusted.

The “crazy ass” of the group (like in that one meme).

Gets too cocky about his abilities.

The fact that he’s got an impressive body count boosts his ego even more.

Whenever he and Steely Dan see each other it’s more or less like “that moment when you wear the same dress 😬.”

Of course, Devo thinks his stand’s ability is superior.

Devo’s really careful about his hair and he’ll cut your hand off if you even try to touch it.

If you’re very special to him then maybe he’ll consider letting you braid his hair -- just the fact that he considered letting you braid it means that he holds you in high regard.

Respects his elders. . . mostly.

Quite nervous about letting his guard down; his keen sense of alertness is what caught DIO’s eye.

Headcanon B: what I think is fucking hilarious.

He always hits his head on every doorway because he always forgets to duck.

He hates wearing stuffy/formal clothing and rips it off as soon as he gets the chance.

For his orientation at DIO’s mansion he had to wear a suit and tie and he visibly struggled to stay in it.

He used DIO’s announcement for “Funtime!” as an excuse to rip off the suit and he walked throughout the mansion that way, he didn’t give a fuck.

When he laughs too hard, he drools.

He has trouble pronouncing “Sassafras.” Any other word is fine, it’s just that one word.

Hates Speedos with a burning passion.

He would show up to his victims’ funerals sometimes just to see how much damage he caused.

He’s bragged about this to his co-workers numerous times.

He would definitely try to one-up anyone else’s body count/gory stories.

Hence the clashing with Soul.

Headcanon C: what is heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends.

His first victim was his father.

It wasn’t his fault.

He knew his father was a strict man, more so now that his mother wasn’t around, but he didn’t feel as if he deserved to have his milk teeth forced out of his mouth by the impact of a brick just for the tiniest of errors.

Over time, however, he began to accept his father’s view that he was indeed deserving of such treatment.

His father had said it was all for his good, after all.

No matter how he’d begun to find comfort in his father’s logic, there was always something in the back of his mind nudging its way to the forefront.

And it would all come to a peak.

He was only 16, barely starting to make sense of the world and his mind was racing and he knew he had to get away but he couldn’t, he couldn’t but he knew he had to push him away, to kick him, spit at him, scream, anything but he had to get away and he just couldn’t decide what to do and it all just happened so fast.

He didn’t know that Ebony Devil would react like that.

He just knew that he felt the tiniest glint of resentment for his father and the next second the man’s face lay at his feet, his faceless stump of a head smacking against Devo’s forehead on it’s way to the ground.

Devo didn’t know what would follow after, all he knew was that he couldn’t stay there.

DIO was the only “family” he’s had in a while, even if his words were just an illusion.

Devo preferred to play dumb, but he knew about the flesh buds, he had seen countless recruits slaughtered before his very eyes, and yet. . .

It’s not like he hasn’t been in that situation before. 

At least DIO’s lies were more convincing.

Headcanon D: what would never work with canon but the canon is shit so I believe it anyway.

Anything to do with Those Three™ -- a.k.a Rubber Soul, Devo, and Steely Dan.

You can separate them, but it’s not recommended. They each bring about pandemonium in their own way, but they’re surprisingly more calm together??

Probably because Devo is their voice of reason (and that’s saying something. . .).

When they’re not committing crimes against humanity, they fulfill their roles as public nuisances in much calmer ways, some of which include:

Devo writing diss tracks for Rubber’s SoundCloud account.

Him participating in said SoundCloud account (or rather, Soul’s YouTube channel) by appearing in his music videos.

They record these god-awful homemade videos in front of random buildings and he and Dan stand around and throw up awkward hand signs while Rubber raps.

Speaking of Rubber’s YouTube channel, he also does those prank videos quite often.

Devo’s the cameraman.

He likes to piss Rubber off by zooming in on random stuff while he’s talking.

Sometimes he feels a bit sorry for the victims of the pranks (like Chaka, poor baby’s on the verge of tears!) and occasionally comforts them with a pat on the shoulder, or his signature, a sympathetic shrug.

Devo’s the designated driver whenever they go to a bar.

That’s not to say that he doesn’t drink, though.

Should they get pulled over he’d just kill the cop and head on his merry way.

(This is just the tip of the iceberg; feel free to ask for anymore hc’s about him! :D)

[euthymiaei]

Fornell- Maybe Next Time

! Gif not mine !

Word Count: 1733

Warnings: None really?

Requested by: @psychicexpertlover​ :)

Prompt:  *Hiiii! May I request some Agent Fornell x ncis probie reader? Post Diane's death? Tobias is such an underrated cutie :3 Could feature dad-like Gibbs but doesn't have to. Love your writing!*

This is my first Fornell fic...you have no idea how nervous I was while writing this!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Gibbs, you’re not going to like this.”  You stated as you walked out of the elevator.

“What is it Y/N?”  Gibbs asked you while taking a slow sip from his coffee.

You hesitated. You weren’t really sure what kind of mood Gibbs was in so you didn’t know how to tell him.

“Uh, I just met with Vance in the elevator…” You started and clearly captivated his attention.

“Go on.”

“The case that we’re working on, the one with the marine who may or may not have leaked information about our agency…”  You took a deep breath and waited for his reaction.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“Vance said that he wanted the FBI on this too and then he told me to tell you that it’s final whether you like it or not.”

Gibbs stood up suddenly and peered into your eyes.

“Hell no.”

“Sorry Gibbs, I couldn’t do anything about it.”  You frowned slightly as he walked briskly towards Vance’s office.

“But I can.”  He seemed to be more aggravated than usual.

You had heard from Tony that Gibbs wasn’t overly fond of working with other agencies but from what Tony had told you, he wasn’t one to make a huge deal about it.

“Tony! Tony!”  You called him as he walked in.

“Hey! How’s my favourite Probie?”  He asked as he ruffled your hair and you rolled your eyes.

“I told Gibbs that we have to work with the FBI on this case and he stormed off to Vance’s office. Why?”  You asked him and he frowned.

“I honestly don’t know. Could be because he secretly blames Fornell for Diane’s death, even though he really can’t be blamed.”  Tony shrugged and sat down at his desk.

“Right. Diane.”  You nodded and sat down too.

“Great. Just great. We’re working with the FBI.”  Gibbs announced as he stormed out of Vance’s office.

“Good morning everyone!”  You looked up and saw a man walk in. You had never met this man but it was clear to you that everyone else knew him.

“Fornell, meet Y/F/N, Y/L/N.”  Gibbs mumbled and you stood up.

“Pleasure to meet you!”  You shook his hand and he smiled at you.

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”  He said as he looked over at Gibbs who was not acknowledging either of you.

“Oh have you?”  You raised your eyebrows and Gibbs coughed.

“We’ve got a case to work on.”  Gibbs said as he grabbed his coat.

You looked at Fornell and laughed. It would appear as though neither of you had seen Gibbs like this.

“Y/N, let’s go!”  Gibbs shouted from the elevator.

You jumped and grabbed your coat. You looked at Fornell to see if he would be coming with you. He nodded and followed you back to the elevator.

“Where we headed to Gibbs?”  You asked him as you got into the elevator.

“Crime scene.”

“Yeah, thanks.”  You rolled your eyes at his response.

“So Y/N, tell me about yourself.”  Fornell asked you suddenly and you hesitated.

“Well, what do you already know about me?”  You grinned at him and he laughed.

“Not that much, to be honest.”

“Alright, that leaves me plenty to work with. I was originally a detective in New York but I was moved to D.C. because they needed me for a case and I ended up staying here longer than what I had originally planned for. Then one day, I had to work with NCIS, and Gibbs offered me a job and that's how I ended up here."  You looked over at Gibbs but he was staring at the ceiling.

“Wow, that’s one hell of a story.”  Fornell smiled at you and then looked at Gibbs.

“What?”  Gibbs had finally snapped and he looked over at the two of you.

“You’re in a bad mood. Why?”  Fornell asked and you held your breath.

Gibbs wasn't one to take a question like that easily. You knew that it would be a bad idea to ask him but Fornell just went for it. You decided the man had a death wish.

“We have a case that is clearly very difficult but you’re here chatting up my agent.”  Gibbs glared at you as he said that.

“Didn’t realize you were so attached to her. You guys got something going on?”  Fornell smirked and you blushed.

“No! Absolutely not! Now if you’ll excuse me.” You walked out of the elevator as soon as it reached the desired floor.

“You like her.”  Gibbs said simply as he followed you out.

“Maybe I do.”  Fornell replied and shook his head in disbelief at what he had just said.

“Good luck with that.”  Gibbs said back to him.

Fornell frowned. He had no idea what that was even supposed to mean. He pushed it to the back of his mind and followed Gibbs to your car.

“I’m driving!”  You shouted as you got to the car.

“Shotgun!”  Fornell shouted back, leaving Gibbs to sit in the back.

“How is this even happening?”  Gibbs mumbled to himself.

You started driving off to the given location. It was better for you to drive because Gibbs would probably kill everyone and you didn’t know how Fornell’s driving was.

“You wanna slow down?”  Gibbs asked suddenly.

“She’s driving ten over, calm down.”  Fornell responded on your behalf.

“That’s still technically illegal.”

“Yeah, but no one gives a damn.”

"Well, I do."

“That’s why you aren’t driving.”

“Yeah, because you’re a better driver than me.”

“Will you both shut up? I can’t focus!”  You finally decided to end this argument.

Both men went silent immediately. You smiled slightly and turned the radio on. Backstreet Boys was playing on one of the stations. You turned up the volume and continued driving.

“Backstreet? Really?”  Fornell asked with a light laugh.

“What the hell is this?”  You heard Gibbs mumble in the back and you stifled a laugh.

“90’s heartthrob.”  You replied.

“Stop the car.”  Gibbs said suddenly.

“Jeez Gibbs, we can change the song ya know.” You said as you pulled over and put the car in park.

“We’ve gotta head back to the office.”

“Why?”

“Abby’s got something more important.”

“Fine.”

You put your signal on and made a u-turn. As you were driving back, you noticed that Fornell looked uncomfortable.

“Are you ok?”  You decided to finally ask him as it was kind of bothering you.

“Yeah! Why?”  He looked over at you.

You shrugged and continued driving. If he said he was fine, there was no reason for you to pry. Unless he was only saying that so that you wouldn’t worry.

“Because you look uncomfortable and it’s making everyone else uncomfortable.”  Gibbs spoke up suddenly, causing you to snap out of your thoughts.

“I’m fine. Just a bit...never mind.”  He shook his head and looked out the window.

Gibbs frowned slightly but brushed it off. You, however, could not brush something like this off. It was bothering you but you didn’t want to make him more uncomfortable.

Once you got back to the office, the three of you made your way to Abby’s lab. You were nervous as hell. It had to have been something insanely important for Gibbs to leave the crime scene unattended.

“Gibbs! Good, you’re here. So I was re-assessing the DNA because it just didn’t look right to me and I found something interesting. The person who the DNA matched with the first time is not the same person who matched with the DNA the second time I ran it. Or the third time. And for fun, I tried it again for a fourth time and that person didn’t match the first three.” Abby said the moment you walked in.

“Glitch in the system?”  Fornell suggested.

“I thought that at first but the system wouldn’t glitch that many times.”  Abby replied.

“So what’s wrong?”  Gibbs asked finally.

“That’s the interesting part. I think someone is hacking our system and changing the output.”

You looked at the computer. Someone might have been hacking it. But if they were, wouldn't that mean that all of the data on the computer was at risk?

“Wipe the computer.”  You said suddenly.

Gibbs turned around and looked at you. You had a look in your eyes that he had never seen before. He nodded at Abby and she began wiping the computer, complete factory reset.

“Wanna share?”  Gibbs asked you as the three of you left Abby to her reset job.

“If someone was able to hack into the system and change the output, all of the files on that computer are in danger of being exposed.” You said simply as you sat down at your desk.

“Smart. You’ve got some serious skills.”  Fornell said as he pulled up a chair beside yours.

“Why thank you.”  You smiled at him.

“Hey, I was wondering if I could talk to you? In private?” He asked you suddenly. You nodded and led him to an abandoned hallway.

“I wanted to tell you something earlier-“

He was cut off by your phone ringing.

“Sorry, I have to take this, shouldn’t be long.” You said and he nodded.

He backed up to give you some privacy but he could still hear some parts of the conversation. More specifically, the words: love, tonight, sounds great, see you soon.

“Sorry about that. What did you want to tell me?”  You asked him as you hung up.

“Uh...you’re a really good agent. Just wanted to let you know that if NCIS doesn’t work out for you, you’re welcome at the FBI.”  He said with a sad smile.

“Oh! Ok, thank you!” You were really hoping he would say something else but he didn’t.

You walked back to your desk, a little bit sad, and started looking for anything that could get your mind off of this.

“What did he tell you?”  Gibbs asked as he walked over to you.

“Just that I’m welcome at the FBI if things don’t work out here.”  You smiled sadly up at him.

“But you wanted him to say something else?”

“Yeah. Maybe next time he will.”  You looked up at the ceiling and smiled.

“I know the look he was giving you. He’ll be back. Just give him some time.”  Gibbs patted your head softly and went back to his desk.

Everything would work out in its own time. You just knew it would.

[grownups-are-the-real-monsters]

Home For The Holidays

Summary: “Oh, don’t remind me.” Ray frowned, setting his knitting aside. His mother was due for a visit because she’d been dying to see his new apartment. And though the roommate was expected…she did not know he’d been dating his roommate since Junior Year of high school. Which was a long time to not know about something considering they were both Juniors in College these days. 

{Chapter 2 is a flashback to how Ray & Pete got together in High School}

{I know I said the next chapters would be posted to my 2nd King account BUT something went wrong with my drafts on that account??? IDK but it’s an issue}

(I turned this request into a full fic, oops.)

Chapter 2 : Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer

Words: 14,897

Ships: Gavries. Stephen King’s ‘The Long Walk’.

 ~~~~{Some years before the afternoon of Mrs. Garraty’s visit}~~~~

{September}

An old blue ford pulled into the tortured looking parking lot in the early morning, with the stamina plucked straight from a small, tired dog after a hard run. A bright and painful sun-glare lingered on his mothers rear-view mirror and irritated the boy’s bleary morning eyes. He became increasingly aware of the pile of books on his lap just as it became too late. Opening the passenger side door, they toppled off their jean seat and slapped the dark pavement. Behind him, his mother gasped as any doting mother would. He elected to ignore the sound as his fingers curled around the tiny student ID card, nails scratching unpleasantly on the yellow space-line.  

GARRATY RAYMOND DAVIS

POWNAL MAINE

JUNIOR

ID NUMBER: 49801

Go Tigers!

Collecting his things, he made to turn to his mother who was sat plum-still in the drivers seat with and half-grin. He was somewhat able to deny the fact that she was weary of his growing age. All mothers were for their children. Be it because of fear of losing moments with them or because it shined light on the underlying fact that they too were growing older than they wanted to be. He expected his mother thought a little of both. Just then, he noticed the little wrinkled lines around that oh-so familiar smile. It was a little unsettling.

“I’ll walk home afterwards. So you don’t have to make the journey back out.” He said a little sarcastically. Mrs. Garraty widened the smile and handed him his forgotten schedule. That tightness returned to her expression and Garraty felt inclined to say something about it. “It’s just junior year, mom.” He shrugged. Truly, sometimes he felt as if he couldn’t get older fast enough. Time moved so slow these days that he swore he was perpetually young.

“Well I don’t like it.” She frowned, shifting the car into reverse but still remaining frozen in the lot as she gave her son the once-over.

“Mom.” He returned the frown, hoping his tone would give her the hint that it was time to go which turned out to be a success. He looked over the retreating car-roof and lightly observed the others that were littering the parking lot. His eyes fell on a boy with dark hair exiting his own car. He stood slack against the door, elbow propped atop as he took in the school. His expression was tired but what really drew Garraty in was the large white scar marking his cheek. He did not recognize him from his previous years at the school but he figured he should’ve just going off the distinct way he stood.

The man held his attention for a few moments but as high school was full of odd peers, Garraty’s eyes fell elsewhere. The chosen sight was a slightly hunched over blonde kid who was bopping his way towards the school doors with an oddly blank expression. As he was staring at the kid, he failed to comprehend just where he was heading. The kid had no problem shoving past Garraty to make that point while his expression twisted to something of amusement.

“Might wanna cover your books soon!” was the sentence Garraty thought he’d heard as he rubbed his arm and the guy passed him. He scoffed at the ambiguous and strange thing to say and was about to question his hearing when a droplet of rain splashed delicately on his skin. The rain falling above him quickly increased it’s speed and immediately began to drench him. The blonde kid got under the ledge of the school building safely and without a single drop on him.

A frustrated yet small growl passed Garraty’s lips as the guy pulled a Ziploc bag of sandwiches from his jacket pocket and really went in for a large bite. He cringed a little at the sight before shaking himself a little and making his way to the building.

                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The excitement didn’t stop there. Garraty managed to get through his first three classes with no lasting effects other than the growing bags under his eyes and syllabus pages he’ll never read.

However, he did encounter that blonde guy a couple more times. Each time unsettled Garraty more but he kept finding himself waiting for the next one with some kind of mixture of eagerness and disdain. He brushed it off for a few minutes as he trudged down the hall.

His favorite part of school days was the time he spent lingering at his locker. He’d discovered the idea of bringing himself a snack to stash inside his locker at the beginning of the day would feed him for at least the rest of the day. It was a minimal joy to have amidst the passing days of agonizing work and annoying people. It was a small tradition he’d carried from Freshman year and he didn’t see an end in sight.

Jan, the miracle he got to call his girlfriend, always thought it was a little odd. She’d twitch her nose in that classic way whenever he’d reach in the metal locker and snack on something. He could almost hear her thought each time she shook her head, ‘Boys’. It was the same look she got when he was bored to death on Sunday afternoons and went about strolling through the Sears in their town mall. Or maybe that look was more about boredom...considering she just trailed around with him.  

Jan had transferred to another school in their district just before their Sophomore year due to a small move. That had been an incredible bummer. He was embarrassed to say they’d acted as if it were the end of the world. Like going to a school a bit farther away would mean they’d never get so see each other again. He rolled his eyes.

They had decided to throw her a big send off party which consisted of a small summer campfire in celebration with five or six friends....well more like Jan’s friends. Garraty had never been too great at keeping friends.

He’d had his first taste of alcohol that night...which sounded lame. But it had been Jan’s first time too and that was comforting. He’d been teased relentlessly by most of the guy’s there because it was apparently a race for guys to start drinking as soon as possible. Jan got the pass because she was a girl. The complications of differences in the way men & women were treated on such trivial things, like drinking or sex, was annoying to Garraty.

Garraty reached his hand in his locker for another handful of his snack for the day, peanut M&Ms. He’d been told they were a boring candy but he actually liked them...Hell, he liked Almond Joys too and those never got a good enough reputation. It was a crime, wasn’t it? Peanut M&Ms were far too underrated and had a certain edge over the other flavors, at least he thought so-

“Hey Garraty.”

Shit! Garraty must have jumped eight feet into the air from pure shock. He banged his head on the edge of his locker and let out a few choice swears as he rubbed the sore spot.

He turned and faced what he’d expected yet feared. The blonde guy. This time he was smiling in a friendly way. “How do you know my name?” Garraty scowled, still rubbing the back of his head like a child.

“I know a lot of things you don’t, Ray.” He grinned and Garraty literally felt his fight or flight senses igniting deep in his gut. But they instantly relaxed as the boy laughed joyfully. “I’m just kidding man. I passed by that photo of the swim team from last year and you're in it with your name listed. Relax.” He reached out to pat Garraty’s shoulder, who instantly pulled back a little.

“Anyone ever tell you you’re a little creepy....?”

“You can call me Stebbins. And yes.” He shrugged, seemingly immune to the insult. “Can I have an M&M?”

Garraty rolled his eyes and was tempted to say no but he took a few in his hand and water-falled them into Stebbin’s pooled palms before really thinking twice about how much he had left. “Knock yourself out.” He lowered his voice to a bored tone. He turned back to actually start getting his books together for his next few classes but he could tell Stebbins hadn’t left by the sound of his crunching.

“You wanna go to Denny’s after school?”

What?

“What?” Garraty was probably never going to understand this guy. That is if he ever hung out with him again and he planned not to. “No, I don’t wanna go to Denny’s with you.” He almost let out a small laugh at the sheer oddity of the moment. Stebbins once again didn’t seem to be phased at all. He continued to munch on his newly acquired snack and shrugged. He felt like questioning the guy a little more but when the bell rang, he was gone before the sound even ended.

It was a little spooky. Garraty chuckled and pushed another M&M passed his lips. Yet very interesting...

                               ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a long school day, Ray was ready to split like a banana...or whatever the hell that saying was. He got to experience the luxury of missing his last period, gym class, to hang-out in the office to straighten up some things so his mind wondered who might be sharing that class with him.

Garraty had planned on paying Jan a good, long call after he got home but decided he didn’t much want to. He suspected she was staying after for some club or something anyway...but he wasn’t sure. He never was one for talking over his whole day. He thought it was sort of pointless but Jan had some appreciation for it. She was into things like that.

Girls did a number on his brain. He could never completely wrap his mind around them. His least favorite thing he’d ever tried to understand was the thing where they said one thing but meant something entirely different.

He recalled one afternoon where he and Jan were sitting around his home with a couple of her friends and she’d made a joke about his small feet. He’d simply retaliated with a joke about her big feet. Boy....had that been a mistake.

Jan had told him she was just fine which he foolishly believed. She froze him out for a solid two days before he apologized. It was confusing.

And he fell into that trap more than just often. So he was sort of glad that he wouldn’t have to work his way through her maze of conversation for a little while longer.

He strolled down the hall slowly with thoughts of peanut M&M’s dancing in his head. His locker was luckily at the tail end of the hallway, only requiring one neighbor who he had yet to meet.

Just as he was entering his combination he felt a presence behind him. He took in some air and wouldn’t you know it-?

“Who's tripping down the streets of the city

Smilin' at everybody she sees....”

Garraty heard muffled music first, he almost didn’t want to turn around. Maybe he could get away with just bolting down the hall. He might’ve actually done that too if it weren’t for the small side of him that kind of wanted to know what the guy had to say this time.

His shoes squeaked in time with the clicking of Stebbin’s mouth, a smile now large on his face. He had the funkiest, most out-dated pair of huge headphones basically pillowing his head and the music just poured out. ‘Might as well just play it out-loud.’ Garraty rolled his eyes and leaned back on the lockers.

“Is there something I can help you with?”

Stebbins expression didn’t change at all, that smile still plastered on his face. It was funny for a couple seconds before it started to feel like he was looking into his soul or some shit. Garraty’s skin crawled uncomfortably- “What?”

Stebbins finally clued him on what was going on. The asshole hadn’t heard him at all so he knocked the man’s headphones off (a little rougher than he usually was with people). “What do you want?”

The headphones slid down his sweaty neck and sat still against his skin, the music still seeping through. The sound quality was that of a walkie-talkie. Garraty had been a huge fan of those as a kid but they didn’t serve much of a purpose when you had no one to play with on the other end.

“Denny’s, remember?” He scoffed and rolled his eyes. He proceeded to shove his locker closed for him before starting off down the hall without even checking to see if Garraty would follow. It irked the man just the same as it entertained him. So he stomped over towards the blonde’s side. His body language seemingly pulled directly from an upset child. Arms crossed and angry smirk across his face. “I’m gonna get pancakes, what about you? I probably wouldn’t order the grits because they’re no good. IHop’s are better but the rest of their menu leaves a lot to be desired-”

“This is gonna work a lot better if you start talking about why you invited me instead of what you’re going to eat.” Garraty swallowed the lump in his throat and continued his steady pace to keep by the guy’s side.

Stebbins expression turned into a look of superior confusion, which was odd. He pulled at the green sleeves of his jacket and burrowed his hands inside. “I figured it was pretty obvious?” He spoke in the form of a question but there seemed to be an ulterior motive of that being a general statement that Garraty was just supposed to nod along to.

“Obviously, It’s not.” He shrugged and dodged the pointy shoulders of his classmates.

Stebbins let out an amused chuckle as the chilly air hit them both on the way passed the doors. The school year was just beginning but the air was already beginning to crisp as if Autumn wanted to drop by earlier than scheduled. Stebbins rubbed the pad of his finger under his eye and grinned. “This is a date.”

Garraty snapped his head to his side and almost took a tumble from the huge crack in the sidewalk. “Dude, what the fuck? This is not a date.”

The happy energy within the stranger didn’t take any hit from the harsh tone. He actually seemed quite pleased.

“I’m not-...” Garraty slid his hand from the pocket of his jacket to gesture but found that due to embarrassment...he could only let it hang there. Stebbins shot one eyebrow up as if daring him to continue the path traveled by most high school dicks and that one History teacher. “I’m not gay. I have a girlfriend, man.”

Stebbins hummed and curled his fingers around the passenger side door handle of what Ray assumed was his car. “Ok, so you have a girlfriend. Sorry. We can still go to Denny’s as friends though. I don’t think they’ll mind much.” The guy laughed and didn’t seem to be embarrassed at all by his assumption and it’s subsequent rejection which kinda irked Ray.

But he still allowed the Stebbins character to hold the door open for him and drive him to a Breakfast joint in the middle of the afternoon.

                             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Sherry baby (Sherry baby)

Sherry can you come out tonight...”

There was a small drop of syrup peeking from the corner of Stebbins smile as he thumped his spoon against his mug. He was absolutely blissed out which Ray found easy to believe considering the food that had just been placed in front of him was looking....for lack of better words...mouthwatering.

Ray slurped down some of his orange juice through the thin blue straw and rolled his lips together, finding them filmy and with bits of his dry skin caught up in the orange remnants. “What made you think I was gay?” Ray spit out the word like it was the biggest insult to him in the world.

Stebbins glanced up, some of his blonde strands falling in front of his eyes. If this were the sixties, the kid would not be let into Disneyland with a hair-style like that. “Ahh, well. To be perfectly honest, just took a chance.” He shrugged with a comical grin which became a smirk when he saw how unsatisfied that answer made his new friend.

“Ok fine. I saw you checking out that guy in the parking lot.” He licked his spoon clean of the...egg juice which it had been previously slimed with and Ray scowled. Part of it was the disgust.

“I wasn’t checking out any guy in the parking lot-!”

“It’s fine, Raymond. You say it’s so, I’ll take that word.” Stebbins leaned back against the bench and smiled.

Something in that expression suggested ‘Hell yeah, I’ll take it free. I just won’t buy it, that’s for sure.’ Ray frowned even deeper.

“His name’s McVries. Peter McVries.”

“Ok...” Ray rolled his eyes and shrugged because he couldn’t care less. Stebbins didn’t care a lick about that fact though and kept egging him on.

“He’s in our gym class-”

“Shit. We share that class?” Ray frowned and noticed a flash of hurt in Stebbins eyes when he rolled them that time so he bit his lip with regret.

“We do. And with McVries too-”

“I don’t give a shit, Stebbins.” Ray scowled, growing more and more heated by the minute. The blonde was starting at him with something of recognition which pissed him off further. His eyes bore down on Garraty yet somehow remained pleasant and gentle. They thirsted for something from him and Ray thought if he focused hard enough that he might hear a suckling sound. ‘Brain juice’ Ray thought with a morbid little chuckle. ‘Slurp it down with a straw buddy but don’t even think about sending it back if the pink chunks are too large’

One brow quirked up and started wrinkling Stebbins forehead.

‘Don’t chew, swallow them hole, huh?’ Ray paused. The voice that had bounced that in his brain did not sound like his own rather....  

“You gonna finish that meat, Ray?” Stebbins tilted his chin towards the side-order plate of bacon. Garraty surprised himself by gagging at the sight of food which by all means, was just the same as it had always been. But something about it now...might as well have been a pile of sewer muck. ‘Slurp it down Ray! Loosen the ol’ throat and suck it down.’ That voice maybe sounded like his own.

Garraty shoved the plate to Stebbins, intending to knock it off the table and maybe into a sweaty pile on the lap of his purple pants but it was nowhere close enough to the edge. His companion only followed the dishware with his eyes flushed in amusement. “Fuck off.” Ray started to shove his way out of the booth chair but Stebbins managed to looked surprised enough that Ray realized he may be overreacting.

“What, are you a vegetarian?” He chuckled and took a large bite of one piece.

Ray pathetically shook his head ‘no’ and sat back to take a long swig of his coffee. The bacon was no longer dressed in gross costume but all Ray’s appetite fled his body quicker than it had during that week long food poisoning incident in the 6th grade.

Bot something bothered him whenever the waitress-Sheila-would pass them up and find he’d eaten next to nothing off his plate. Ray felt it was important that she like him so no-he didn’t eat any meat. He just stuck the the grits which tasted no better than licking the pavement outside but Shelia seemed satisfied. How polite of Ray. He might even please her some more by puking it up all over her shoes. ‘How big were her feet?’, he wondered.

“We got off one the wrong foot, Ray-”

‘How big were Stebbins?’ Garraty shuffled in his seat and restrained himself from looking just under the table.

“I’d say so.” Ray mumbled.

“So let’s hit the brakes on this, huh?” Stebbins smiled and the corners of his lips picked up kinda like a smirk. “You go on and leave. I’ll pay for the meal and see ya in school tomorrow.” He mock-saluted and Ray hesitated for a few seconds.

“Shouldn’t I...?” Ray reached into his wallet but Stebbins rolled his eyes.

“I asked. I was irritating. It’s only fair.” He laughed in a tone so odd and weirdly-charming.

Ray mock-saluted back and got outta there as fast as his feet would take him.

                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jan played that Eddie Rabbitt 45′ over and over at nausea. The sound stayed comfortably between herself and the walls of her pink bedroom. But her parents could always tell whenever it was ‘a Rainy Night’ by the expression she had coming through the door after a school day. She was easy to read-which Garraty just seemed to be naive to.

There was a sharp patterned 3-knock routine on her door that warmed her heart. She bounced to it and welcomed her boyfriend into the bedroom, making sure to leave the door open 3-inches though...they never really did all that much. Some girls in her class had already been around the corner and down the block but herself...

Jan picked at the end of her sleeve and rolled her lips into a thin line. “What’s buggin’ you? And don’t try to deny it, you’re doing that funny dance.” She giggled and pointed to her guy’s fast-feet. Ray glanced down and froze in place atop her soft-tan carpet.

He recalled that one day last Summer when he & Jan had gone down to the beach with some of her gal-pals. Her long blonde had hair hit her waist and danced just above the fine line of her yellow bikini (not polka-dotted, mind you). Ray wasn’t even sure if the girl had gotten it wet once. ‘Roll out those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer...’ an old tune played in back of his head. The giggle bunch had buried him in the sand.

‘Just fill your basket full of sandwiches and weenies...’ He had a friend once. They took off their clothes-Ray swallowed and mustered up a grin for Jan.

They had buried him in the sand. The juvenile fun had covered up the twitch of interest he’d felt below his waist when-...the man with the sodas went past-

They had buried him in the sand.

Ray shook his head. “Just had a weird day, s’all.” He shrugged and hoped for Jan to take the bait.

She pursed her lips, considering it. “Did I miss your call or did you just show up here instead?”

Ray smiled and Jan grinned back. From there, they sunk into conversations of their first days and swapped fun anecdotes about their teachers or classmates. Though Ray didn’t dare open his mouth about anything to do with Stebbins.

                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bitter and disgusting taste of Tuesday morning was sitting uncomfortably at the back of Ray's throat as he trotted down his steps. He took a long sip of the coffee his mother had made for him to wash the unwanted taste down. He jetted down the pavement and began his long walk to school. Sore feet be damned, he’d rather walk than be driven by his mother everyday.

Jan, bless her sweet heart, had received a car for her big sixteenth birthday. He’d been quite jealous for a bit after that before he realized just how much he liked being a passenger. He could freely doze off with the company of the fuzzy scenery behind the glass without doing any of the work. It was nice. And it wasn’t as if he desperately needed one in the small-town where everything he needed was basically walking distance.

The end of summer was bleeding into a cool autumn. Colors were beginning to darken and the skies would soon be gray. But for now, they were trapped in the between stages. The air was attempting to stick onto the last bit of heat there was, leaving it syrupy with little pockets of chill breaking through. Uncomfortable was the best way to describe it really.

Ray trudged his way through the syrup and let it smother his memory of his Pancake breakfast with Stebbins.

But as luck would have it, when Ray was pretty close to school, Stebbins came around from a block over. He was slightly hunched over which seemed to just be his natural position. It made Ray wonder what kind of mother the dude might have, didn’t she ever advise him to ‘Sit up straight or you’ll never get a date...’? Which was the funny little rhyme his own mother had sing-songed to him when he was young.

The blonde drifted closer and It was then that Ray got a good look at what the guy was wearing. An old tie-dyed shirt from some summer camp he must’ve gone too (He didn’t look the type but Ray stared momentarily at the disastrous handwriting those kids had signed their names with on the fabric) . And a purple jacket sat nicely on his shoulders. “I can see you dressed up.”

The lesser of two evils, he decided, was just to keep conversation with the guy. Stebbins cocked his head to the side and looked down at his own outfit. “It’s not mine.” He shrugged.

The response wasn’t totally abnormal...but something seemed vaguely threatening and obscure about it. Ray took another swig of cold coffee and nodded slowly. “Cool.”

With that, he turned on his heels and started on the last bit of the way to their school. Stebbins looked ahead for a few seconds before he started trailing after him. “You got anymore of those peanut M&M’s in your locker, Raymond?” He asked behind some odd suckling sounds.

Ray turned to discover that under the bright morning sun and just a few feet from the school, Stebbins was sucking on his sleeve like a child. What else did his mom neglect to teach him? “Sure I do, but if you’re gonna be hanging around me can you please do so without that...” He pointed to the sleeve between the guy’s teeth. “I don’t wanna listen to the sound of your spit.” Ray shrugged and climbed up the steps of the school building.

Stebbins slid the purple fabric out of his mouth and happily followed behind him. “By the way, don’t you have a car? Why are you walking?” Ray quirked a brow and spoke even though he wasn’t too sure Stebbins was even still behind him.  

“I do. But the car I’ve been using was my mom’s. Mine’s been in the shop...not for much longer though. You’ll know it when you see it.” Stebbin’s giggled which was oddly chilled. Ray rolled his eyes but continued on until he could clear the path to his locker and shove a handful of his snack into the blonde’s open palms.

Stebbin’s water-falled them into his wide mouth and tilted his chin back down for a departing grin. “See ya in gym, Ray.”

Again, with the wind, Stebbins was off into the crowd of classmates. Ray stared after him for a few seconds before throwing back his own handful and getting ready for first period.

                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another uneventful day was mostly over for Ray apart from this gym class that had him a bit worried. Just as he assumed, Stebbins approached the doors in a record time to match his own.

“Don’t worry, I can catch you up on what you missed yesterday-”

“I doubt it was anything important.” Ray rolled his eyes again, knowing the first week of the class was spent doing mostly nothing but sitting on the bleachers and waiting for uniforms and locks.

Stebbins tilted his chin up and hiked his bag further up his back as they strolled across the shiny floor. He caught Ray’s endearingly absent expression as he made his way over with him. However his admiration of such was interrupted when he slowly passed the last lonesome looking bench of the bleachers and got a good kick around his hip. He whipped his head around without making a sound of shock and saw the outstretched shoe of some classmate who was asleep.

He came closer to take a look only to have the guy jump up from where his ass was planted in-between the first and second benches, Stebbins wasn’t at all scared but he did step back to make room and knocked right into poor, currently absent-minded & oblivious Ray. They both tumbled straight for the hard gym floor underneath them.

That was until the man shot up and used his shockingly amazing and convenient reflex skills to grab for one of their arms.

And it worked. Mostly…

Stebbins popped right back up so Ray took the fall for the both of them. Stebbins grinded his teeth together in horror as Ray hit the ground. And the man tightened his grip around his forearm on reflex.

“Hey Kid!…You ok?” Peter McVries’s voice was familiar for Stebbins and it carried over his shoulder to Ray specifically. Stebbins shook from his grip and pulled Ray up who was pretty bouncy for someone who just fell right onto the floor in-front of his new class.

“I’m good, thanks.” Ray shrugged and grinned at him to let him know he didn’t need to worry, not that that would stop him. He then sharply took in all that was the guy from the parking lot once again...McVries as Stebbins called him over breakfast food yesterday.

McVries looked Ray up and down and shifted his weight from one foot to another. “What’s a fine looking guy like you doin’ hanging around him?” The man asked as he tilted his chin towards Stebbins. Though it seemed to be in playful gesture. Ray found himself a little flustered as he tried to collect himself. 

“-I have a name. It’s Stebbins, if your small-mind can recall? And I’m right here. Thanks.” The blonde narrowed his eyes but didn’t look too irritated though there was something there that Ray couldn’t dissect. 

“That’s a hell of a way to say thanks for saving you from tasting the dirty gym floor.” McVries halfheartedly scowled as he fiddled his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

“Yeah, my hero. It was just my friend here who got the taste of the bottoms of our sneakers, huh? You also caused the accident if you remember correctly.” He said smartly, tilting his head and smirking.

McVries spared a quick look over to the guy but drifted his eye-line right back to Ray, without any hesitation. It was oddly personal for a first meeting. But Ray kinda figured that the man might just be a personal kinda guy. Lopsided and slanty described his stature and his grin. Grin-not smile. No, what McVries gave away could only be described as a grin. “What’s your name?” 

Ray felt a tad bit heated under his gaze and briefly remembered a time at which he was 14 years old and demanding for more freedom in the home. It was subconscious second nature for him to be a brat at that tender age. His mother was practically mortified or maybe appalled at his behavior. ‘Remember your name before you act like that. You’re putting that behavior onto this family-’

“Garraty.” He spoke without thinking much. “-Ray. Ray Garraty.” He quickly added while feeling a little sick to his stomach. 

“Peter McVries.” He stuck out his hand, Ray looked down at the shadow it casted before taking it into his shaking grip. 

                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ray was fiddling with the new gym lock on the Thursday of the much colder week. Fingers pressed into the metal and swirled the dial around. 

Since last Tuesday, Stebbins had kept some distance which Ray thought he would enjoy. But alas, the dude seemed to trigger some deep interest inside him that he didn’t know existed. He quirked a brow and spun that funky dial again. It was nothing weird-just....Stebbins was quite a show. And school was sort of boring without him traipsing around behind his back and sneaking around. 

“Hey stranger.” 

Ray turned and found one Art Baker. He’d found a friend in the guy the other day when he let him borrow his gym shoes. They happened to be the same size and there was no way he’d make a habit of sitting out...that was too dangerous a power for Ray to obtain again. Sophomore year...well, he’d almost never participated. 

Ol’ Art, one of two people to share this area of the locker room with Ray, had no problem with that at all. He simply offered up his own grass-stained shoes with a slightly freckled smile. 

“-Stand on you tip-toes, punch me in the dick and maybe I’ll feel something then!” The wicked laughter of his other locker hall neighbor came from near the entrance of the room. Peter McVries came from around the corner and stopped just short of Ray’s open locker. He’d be an idiot to think so but it seemed as if he hadn’t been expecting his prompt classmate to be there yet. 

“What are you yellin’ about?” Art shoved his left foot into his shoe and rested his palms on his knees. 

McVries shook his head and curled his hand over Ray’s locker door, turning a smile in his direction. “Barko-Bitch over there-” He paused to tip his chin over his left shoulder. His voice was loud enough to carry the lame-ass insult over a few rows of lockers. Ray chuckled. “Thinks he can put up a fight and I was just tellin’ him that he could barely reach my-” 

Pete paused, eyes shifting a little in Ray’s direction again, before he gestured to his crotch...area. Art burst into loud laughter...boy’s laughter as Jan called it. It was always loud and more rambunctious than the situation earned. But Ray liked it....a lot. Boy’s laughter...was just more pleasing to the ear, they always meant it 100%. Jan just giggled. 

“The dude’s...” Pete bumped Ray’s arm and waved his hand just below his waist with a large smile. “Short.” 

“I gathered.” He bumped back and slid his shirt from his locker. 

Art and Pete’s talk dissolved into the background of Ray’s focus as he realized that today he’d have to fully change in front of his only two locker-hall buddies which he’d been purposely avoiding by coming early. 

He peeked behind him and swallowed. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t changed in front of dudes before, several years of previous gym classes proved such. But there were always more people and loud distracting conversations. Something about it just being the three of them....wigged him out. 

So he quickly shoved his body into the gym uniform and slammed his locker-shut, turning to lean back on it. He intended to wait for his two sorta friends out of sheer politeness. What he didn’t count on (Because he could really be an idiot sometimes) was the fact that they’d be changing too. 

Art was mostly done, all that Ray caught was the last slip of the skin on his waist while the red shorts climbed high enough to rest. But Pete...

Well, the man was standing there in his underwear maintaining a hardy round of boys laughter with Art....pants around his ankles. He slowly lifted one leg to pull his foot free from the cuff but paused to enhance his reply to Art with a wild hand-gesture. ‘They took off their clothes...’

Ray swallowed and ignored the familiar yet odd feeling of a twitch-‘They had buried him in the sand...’

He heaved his eyes away and broke for the gym-door at the other end of the hall. He didn’t much care if the abrupt exit was noticed because all that was getting to class. Nothing else. 

As it turned out, Gym provided him with an excellent distraction. The whole class was trudging it’s way outside almost as soon as attendance was over. 

“The weather today is like...did you ever see the movie where that babysitter girl is getting stalked by that dude....?” Stebbins started his first conversation with Ray in some days as the class marched the lawn towards the track. The bitter chill had warmed slightly but that was about all he could say about it. 

“Can you be more specific? There’s more movies like that than you may think.” Ray laughed, shaking his head. 

“I know that. I’m thinking.” Stebbins rolled his eyes. “He’s got the white mask and he falls out the window at the end?” He poked Ray’s arm. 

Ray paused when the class took the field and crossed his arms, taking a long deep breath of that crisp Fall air. “’Halloween’. Are you trying to say it looks like the movie ‘Halloween’ outside? Cause you could just say it’s starting to really feel like fall out-or you know, something else normal like that?” 

Stebbins rolled his eyes. “I wanted to be specific-” 

“And relate it to a movie where a dude stalks and tries to murder someone?” Ray chuckled and moved to look at their teacher. Stebbins smiled but fell silent after that, sticking to Ray’s left. 

The Mile Run. That’s what today was all about. 

Ray frowned and looked around him at some of their classmates groaning. Though a few of them started stretching as if they took it seriously. He scoffed and fell into a strut with his little buddy (apparently). “I can’t imagine you running-”

“Do you imagine me often, Ray?” Stebbins smirked and was only rewarded with a hard stomp onto his foot. “Ow! Shit.” He hopped after him but before he could catch up again, one Peter McVries approached Ray with the brightest of smiles and slid into a stride matching his. 

Stebbins scowled lightly but took a new position. 

When the coach blew the whistle, Ray did not break out into a gentle and comfortable beginning speed like he might’ve when he used to do track. He shivered thinking about that damn sport. This time he just put one foot in front of the other and mindlessly strolled while hoping the chilly four laps would just be a nice way to end the school day. 

A few other people were walking along just the same including Stebbins who was just a ways behind them, slacked forward with hands deep into his pockets per usual. Ray was so busy looking behind himself at the blonde that he tripped on his own feet and stumbled just the slightest. 

McVries seemed to be the only one to notice because he threw a special smile. “You better be careful, Ray. If you fall, I won’t pick you up. I’m really committed to winning...” He slapped his palm against his chest to convey genuine meaning to his statement and then gestured to the large open space between the two of them and the majority of the class that was actually running.

Ray grinned. “I’m truly threatened, McVries.” He chuckled. 

Pete felt his stomach tighten at the sound and shook his head. “You’d better be, boy.” He nudged Ray’s arm gently and started on a little faster. “People ain’t always gonna be so nice to you about their agendas as I am.” The dark haired boy was now walking backwards and turning Ray’s mind upside down.

“What are you on about?” Ray narrowed his eyes and followed him with confusion and something close to puppy-like curiousness. 

“People live and learn but you're still learning, Ray. Your peers just might try and crush you without so much as a warning. Now me? I have the decency to say this...-” Pete stopped in place and Ray nearly bumped into his chest. 

Astoundingly close to his sort-of friend and nervous as ever, Ray swallowed. 

“I’m gonna leave you in my dust, Garraty. This mile is all mine.” Pete broke into a mad little chuckle and turned off, jogging up to Art Baker and starting conversation with him. Ray stayed still in his spot, eyebrow raised and ready to just keep walking on alone in confusion. However, instead he found himself taking off with built up track speed to pass the two of his friends. 

The rambunctious Boy’s laughter couldn’t help but slip past his lips when he heard the thundering slap’s of Pete’s sneakers approach his back. 

                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I'm tired, Ray.” Pete’s voice was husky and very close to Ray’s ear which he strangely didn’t mind. They’d both slowed all the way back to a peaceful walking pace very shortly after their racing burst. Remaining at each other’s side. 

“It’s your own damn fault for starting a race-” The man paused when he glanced behind him and saw that his friend had stopped in the middle of the track. Some of their classmates passing him. “What are you doing-?”

“I’m gonna take a little rest. Sit down a little, you go on without me.” Pete was being mighty dramatic and laughing as he did so. His hand waved out in front of his body. “I think you can win this thing, Ray. Win it for the both of us?” McVries stepped a bit closer before squatting and hitting his ass to the ground. 

Ray strolled on over with a smile. “We’re both a lap behind everyone but Stebbins...-” He broke to observe his odd friend “Who’s pace is remarkably and unnervingly slow.” 

Ray had that simple and carefree grin on his face which he sported so casually. It was no wonder all of Pete’s attention was right back onto the young man. He kicked his shoe and dipped his chin down like he was being shy before running his tongue across his lips. ‘It almost played off as if it were a move?’ Pete tried to think against but Ray’s moistened lips parted just slightly and the fall afternoon breeze ricocheted throughout his body which just had to make him tilt his chin to the sky. The smooth skin of his neck now exposed to the suggestive heat- 

“Get up, you lazy asshole.” Was all Ray said before turning away and starting his long walk again. He pulled back sharply and quickly from that slow moment with a refreshing amount of pleasure.

It nearly gave Pete whiplash as he was sent reeling. He let go of some of his heaviest breaths and stared up at the crisp sky for a few minutes, willing himself to look away from Ray’s retreating back as he fell deeply in love with him. No exaggeration. He never exaggerated!- A dopey smile took over his face when he heaved himself up and went after him. 

                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{November} 

The sun bounced flattering light over the glittering peach roof of the car which was seating Jan as she hung her legs over the front, brushing them against the grill. Stubbornly but patiently she waited. She threw open her book and clicked her tongue. The glossy pages easily flipped and flung from her fingers. She smacked a page down, gliding a finger down the spine and landing it happily on top of the black and white fuzzy photo of herself & Ray which was her favorite bookmark. She smiled to herself and snapped the book closed, laying it over her lap. 

She only picked his head up when he heard the slapping of shoes on the sidewalk in front of the school and sure enough, Ray was bopping down the pavement. He was twirling his house keys on his finger and clutching his books in the other. “Saturday night I'd like to make my girl but right now I can't make ends meet...-” Ray mumbled quietly in his sing song voice. He caught sight of Jan’s annoyed eyes and flashed her a bright grin, slowing the twirling keys to a stop.

“You’re ten minutes late.” She reminded him with a twitch of her nose. Ray gritted his teeth and back-handed his own pocket while he attempted to shove his hand inside. 

“How mad are they-?” He tipped his chin towards the home in-which her kind parents were probably stewing over early-dinner.

“My parents?” She repeated in a mocking tone and hopped off her vehicle. “Mildly inconvenienced at best.” She finished with a gentle smile and crossed her arms. “But this is the sixth time Ray. What’s going on?” 

Ray sniffled in the cold and shrugged his shoulders, re-positioning his heavy green plaid coat. It was freezing these days. Jan puffed her cheeks with a passive aggressive and shook her head. “Soup might be cold but you can fill up on the sides-” She gestured for him to start on inside.  

“I was with Art Baker, he’s a classmate. We just lost track of time-”

Jan put on that hurtful smile again and Ray was 100% certain she thought it was passing for genuine joy. “This isn’t a confessional, Ray. This is my front lawn. We took our homecoming pictures here, remember? If you’re still interested in the idea that you have to confess this event to me like I’m accusing you of something, maybe you can unload it to our sad-sack Santa blow-mold. He’s in charge of that ol’ list, ain’t he?” She clicked her tongue and slapped the head of the decoration gently before strolling past him and entering her home. 

                   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Can you stop screaming so I can give you the directions?” Pete mumbled miserably in the passengers seat of his Mother’s car. He was trying desperately to sink into the material of the seat and ignore the horrid expression on her face. It helped to rub his palm harder into his eyes, it earned him the fuzzy kind of vision that usually only got when he was drunk. The different kind of streetlights bled together and he could almost pretend he was in any other situation.

“I’m not screaming. Trust me, you’d know the difference if I was-”

His mother paused just time to catch Pete mouthing those words along with her in a mocking gesture.

She did one of those half-chuckles of disappointment and tightened his hands on the steering wheel. Pete wanted nothing more than to escape the scene entirely. It wasn’t fun to admit but he was highly embarrassed and angry with himself just the same as he was pissed at him. He shuffled in his chair and lifted his legs to tuck them under his body. His knees hit the door with a loud thump which sounded eerily close to an angry reaction and maybe it was. For a few painful seconds, it made the air even more awkward.

Pete did not often fight with either of his parents. Their little family actually got on quite well. Sure, they had their moments here and there but for most of his young life, he’d known nothing but love from them. He took no pleasure in participating in such a trivial fight but he was a little pissed.

“Don’t make this into a fit, Peter.”

“I’m seventeen, Mom.” He spit. “I’m not having a fucking fit.” He dug into the bag at his feet and pulled it onto his lap. Logically, he could get out of the car so much faster if he could gather all of his crap ahead of the parking lot cruise.

“You sure about that? Because to me, it looks as if my seventeen year old is pouting in my car-”

Pete leaned over and turned the radio back to F.M. to avoid conversation even further and block out whatever she was gonna say next.

The car rolled to a complete stop at the next red-light. Pete’s head thumped softly against the headrest, nails dragging painfully hard into his lip.

“Pete, sweetheart. I work, is all. This is a huge waste of my time-” She glanced at her son. Her face softened slightly and she sighed. 

“Eyes on the road, mom. If we get into a car accident, that’d be on your head.” Pete pursed his lips and frowned as he curled his body forward. “What would your co-workers think, huh?” He put on a scandalized voice and felt a little sick to his stomach when she gripped the wheel harder.

It was a shit thing to say but it had also been a shit thing to hear. Part of him knew very well that his mother was only trying to protect him from shit but it still burned when her first concern to the situation of him staying out late with a boy seemed to be the thoughts of her co-workers. 

And ok so, the boy might’ve been her boss's son and they may have engaged in a...make-out session in the back of his car in a store parking-lot. And he also may have left his head-lights on for the entire 3-hours they were in there and his car proceeded to die. 

But it still hurt a little to come out that way and to have a punishment overshadow any kind of reaction. 

“I want you out of my car right now.” She mumbled mostly to herself but he couldn’t help but notice they’d slowly turned onto a quiet side-street. There weren’t many passing vehicles and an open sidewalk wasn’t far from his view.

“Fine.” he reached out and grabbed the passenger door handle and cracked it back, sending the thing flying outwards. He attempted to unbuckle but there wasn’t much more he could do to escape after his mother swung her arm over his body and reached for the door handle.

The car swerved but luckily the road was completely empty. The tires skidded, wind blew heavily and for a moment Pete thought he might actually fall out. But the car door banged closed next to him and made him jump as he recovered from sensory overload.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” His mother screamed as soon as he centered the car and pulled into the video store parking lot.

Peter McVries really hated himself in that moment and felt his eyes water. “I didn’t want things to happen this way...” He frowned and watched his dear mom soften again as she pulled into an empty spot. 

She shifted the car into park and rubbed her palm into her forehead. “Me neither, Peter.” She spared him a glance and gently reached out to pat his knee. “We can discuss this further at home. I love you and have a good day at work.” 

McVries nodded and slowly crept out of the vehicle, hoping he wasn’t edging it too close to late. He pushed the heavy doors and slid the red visor onto his head. The neon lights buzzed as he steadied his hands and regained his way of walking with purpose. He held firmly onto that argument though. There was no way that was leaving his mind anytime soon.

Hank Olson was standing at the counter and carefully stacking a useless tower of DVD cases, tongue edging out the corner of his grin. 

“Oooh, look at you.” Pete couldn’t help but chuckle and playfully clap as he passed the scene even though Hank was clearly trying to avoid distraction. “Good job.” He whistled when the man leveled the tower higher with a copy of ‘E.T.’

Hank peeked around the DVD’s and rolled his eyes. “You have a box of discs to clean-”

Pete frowned but observed the empty box at the foot of Hank’s counter and took a longer look at DVD mountain, giggling. “Is that them?” He slung his thumb out to point. 

Hank nodded. “Yup.” And with agile swiftness, he pushed his palm forward and knocked all the DVD’s down. Some of them landed in the box as they were supposed to but others thumped against the old green carpet. 

“Oh, you give me hell, Olson.” McVries shook his head, casually kicked some discs off his feet and bent down to gather the loose ones. He tossed them in the box and hiked it up to rest on his hip while he walked into the back room.

Most of his work day these days consisted of wiping down discs with a little spray bottle of cleaner one by one. Then he stocked the shelves and repeated the process. He truly didn’t mind the busy-work because it was low-effort and he got the back-room to himself for a good chunk of the day. Olson or Abraham usually operated the main desk and dealt with customers more often. So Pete couldn’t complain except to express that his own wasted potential was starting to unnerve him. 

He was dragging the blue cloth down a scratchy copy of ‘The Big Chill’ when Hank swung around the doorway with a wide grin. “Stebbins and that funny dude you always talk about are here. Thought you might wanna say a quick hello.” He smirked. Pete flung the DVD back into his box and happily shoved past his co-worker. He stopped right behind the main desk and...

Sure enough, in the stuffy old building stood his funky blonde friend and one Ray Garraty. They were browsing the selection of ‘classics’ and bickering softly as they walked. 

McVries raised his arms in mock defeat and smirked with genuine joy. “I don’t have the strength for this guy today. Nope. Olson, you take care of him.” he playfully shook his head and turned away to call-out to Hank, who sauntered over to him with an annoyed face. It seemed that he didn’t care for Pete’s little ‘play’. 

Ray looked up and caught Pete’s eye when he shouted and only returned the boyish smirk. He handed two films over to Stebbins and slowly glided past McVries, bumping his side, and trying not to chuckle. 

As Hank rung up the guys choice of two movies, Pete and Ray seemed to communicate over his shoulders. He could tell by the way Ray lazily shot up the finger with a glowing smile. Hank shared an annoyed look with Stebbins. He also seemed to hate witnessing this interaction. 

“Dirty Dancing, Ray?” Pete giggled and waved one of the DVD’s around before Hank could hand it over to his customer. 

Garraty rolled his eyes. “Movie night with my girlfriend, Pete.” He ripped the movie out of his friends hand and smirked. 

“Oh I’m not knocking it, Ray-darling. You’re mistaken. I love Dirty Dancing.” McVries shoved Hank a little as he laid his forearms on the counter to lean in closer. 

His friend was about to open his mouth again when Stebbins stole the moment from the clueless pair by smacking the DVD out of Ray’s palm and catching it in the air. “I’m leaving with both movies if you’re planning on staying to finish this conversation, Ray.” He smirked and walked out of the building. 

Ray sighed, crossing his arms. “See ya at school tomorrow, Pete.” He glanced back at the dark haired man and gifted him one of those magical grins. 

When he walked out of his little store, McVries slid his arms further down the counter and sighed, a sound of joyful music. “Isn’t he somethin’?” 

Hank rolled his eyes and smacked the back of Pete’s head as he fled the room. 

                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ray was curled up on the bleachers of the school, picking apart an orange and trying to keep the torn up peel pieces curled up in his spare hand. It was too windy to put them down anywhere.

He wouldn’t usually spend a Saturday on school grounds but the special exception today was the dread of hanging with Jan. He bit into the orange and juice slid down in tiny drops down the side of his chin. Catching it with his tongue proved useless so he wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.

“Hey, Ray.”

Ray looked up, the orange juice dripped down his chin and his cheeks turned slightly rosy. Without thinking too much, he sucked the liquid off his finger as he stood and walked over to the edge of the row he’d been sitting on. McVries was standing in the grass, arms resting on the slanted railing of the bleachers and his admiring face was completely missed on Ray. He glanced up and accidentally made a tiny popping sound as he slid his pointer finger from his mouth.

“That’s real cute.” McVries rolled his eyes like he was disgusted and Ray leaned on the railing from the other side, a beautiful smile on his face. “Y’know, I figured we'd be seeing a lot more of each other.” Pete waved his hand out and let it fall.

Ray rolled his lips together and laughed. “How do you figure that...?” 

“Well, now that you know I have a job...I was thinking you might drop Stebbins as best friend and promote me. You know, because you get to mooch off of me.” He spoke so very casually and with a large grin on his face. 

Ray rolled his eyes. “I’m not so shallow.” 

Pete slowly shifted his body and flung himself over the railing so that he could be next to the guy. “Maybe not BUT I would spoil ya, been told I’m a true nurturer.” He smirked and Ray just had to giggle.

“By who?” He wiped his mouth again, those orange peels still curled up in his fist. 

“Lots of people.” Pete looked fake-offended but nonetheless, swiped the handful of garbage from Ray. He slowly dragged his fingers down the man’s curled palm and felt that wonderful sense of body-heat as the orange peels now pooled in his fist. He tossed them in the can over the other side of the railing and leaned back with an eager smile. 

Somehow, Ray found the strength to pull his hand away with lightening speed. His wrist leaving the odd place of Pete’s upturned and sweaty hand which it had found strange comfort in. Abrupt and startling, it did not go unnoticed by his friend. “You think Stebbins is my best friend?” 

The question sounded a lot like an accusation that Pete hadn’t expected. So he just let the confusion roll off his shoulders in a shrug. “Is he not?”

Ray looked off in thought and retraced his steps since the first day of the school year. Imagery did suggest such sweet invested time with the blonde weirdo who preferred to add trail mix to his popcorn on movie nights and once dawned a pearl necklace with his pajamas. Ray rolled his eyes at that silly memory. But Stebbins had also tried to take him on a date once...

Ray bit his lip and pulled at his thinning jacket. “We’re not that close or anything.”  ‘They had buried him in-...’ He scratched at his forearm which felt as if it were clotting up with wads of wet sand, breaking through skin. 

Pete shrugged again and adjusted the bag on his shoulder. He looked ready to part ways. 

“If anything, I’m the closest to Jan.” Ray suddenly burst and watched as Pete jumped a little. “She’s my girlfriend.” He nodded his head and attempted to play it cool but judging by Pete’s face...it came off odd. 

McVries paused momentarily and scratched under his chin. “Oh? I didn’t know you had a girl, Garraty my boy.” He chuckled though it seemed rather clouded with a husk in his tone. He jumped down some of the bleacher steps and looked off towards the field. “She pretty?” 

Ray opened his mouth and shut it a few times. “Yeah-yes, she is.” He chuckled and followed after his friend.

“Lucky you. You should tell me about her sometime...” Pete nodded and slowly started backing away once his feet hit the ground. “Anyway, I should go-”

Ray was suddenly very aware of the fact that he didn’t want Pete to leave. “I think she might be breaking up with me though.”

McVries stumbled a little and quirked a brow. “Oh-?”

“Because I’m pretty shitty at relationships, according to her.” Ray added. Pete’s face paled a little bit as he tried to gather something to say but before he could open his mouth- “I don’t make time for her and I don’t satisfy her in bed...-” He trailed off, red in the face because how in the hell did this just start coming out of his mouth? 

Pete choked on his spit

“I was late to a dinner with her parents the other night.” Ray figured he might as well go on. “But I make great small-talk so she gave me a pass, right? But then she wanted to fool around, y’know?-In her room. But see-...she’s got this little window in there with a light-up Santa face.” Ray shook his head with something like disgust. “I told her I couldn’t do anything with his face staring at us.”

“SO, she moved it and tried to get back into it. But I could tell she was mad so I lost the spirit and-...” Ray read the utter shock on Pete’s face and finally felt he could laugh at the situation which had been causing him intense stress lately. 

It finally made it funny. He didn’t know if that was good or bad. But he started to giggle. “I slept on her bedroom floor and the Santa head was curled up to my left, unplugged and all...sad....” He started to lean over the railing as he collapsed with laughter. Pete looked almost disturbed at his out-burst, not that Ray could see now.

“Oh, it’s so....it’s...-oh it really isn’t funny, sorry.” Ray stood up straight again and tried to collect himself. He held in the rest of his laughter and wiped the bit of tears in his eyes. There was a moment where neither of them spoke and Ray felt that was probably due to the painfully odd outburst he’d just had in-front of someone he didn’t know all that well.

“Could’ve had me fooled there for a second.” McVries said as he finally climbed back up the steps and planted his feat next to Luke’s on the bleachers. A cool breeze blew past them while he got a good honest look at the man. ‘Yeah, it really wasn’t funny, not a bit to Ray’. Pete wasn’t all that sure what to do so he sighed slowly and shoved a hand in his pocket while the other gently directed Ray to sit down. “So, we’re not laughing about it anymore...how are we feeling now?”

Ray curled up on the bench and shrugged. “I like Christmas a lot less now.” 

“How much do you like this Jan girl?” Pete ignored the dumb joke and found a sincere question that Ray didn’t really want to answer. 

“A lot.” It was true. He did love Jan. 

Pete’s gentle smile twitched a little but he quickly pushed it away. “Then...talk to her and get back on her nice list, huh?” He pushed their arms together and Ray giggled a sweet gentle sound which made his heart skip lightly. 

                     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{December}

The jolly fat man had around a good three weeks before he had to slide down every family’s chimney. But his decapitated head was still laying all slanted against the wall and on Jan’s bedroom carpet. 

The long cord trailed after it miserably and Ray poked at the prongs with disinterest and a lack of entertainment. Jan was on her bed, faced with piles of homework she wanted to get done as quickly as possible. But it seemed to Ray that she was subconsciously stalling by inviting him over for the day. 

Slowly, he rose from her floor and opened her window. As soon as he got the thing all the way open, he laid his forearms across the ledge and sighed. Sucking in his breath and attempting to relax. The record Jan had picked out was fuzzing as Ray leaned his head back and let the frozen air pass his lips in rings. It was the Beatles...he thought maybe it was a greatest hits ditty. Ray always pegged his girl as a ‘Please Please Me.’ kinda chick. ‘Yeah, if Jan were to be any Beatles album, that’d be her alright’. 

The warm sunlight was bouncing off the crevices of Jan’s lounge pillows and Ray leaned farther out so it could dust across his cheeks. He was mouthing his inner thoughts slowly and drawing out the words carefully. The moment was unspoiled and sweet, the wind was blowing in few small bursts that curled his baby hairs to his temple. 

His curled knee brushed against Santa so he wrapped his hand around the edges of small light-bulbs and waved it in the air. “You want me to hang this back up?”

Jan picked up her chin where wispy baby-hairs sat plastered to skin from what Ray guessed to be stress-sweat. Her hum was light and breathy but provided no stable answer until she managed to actually shove away her work pile over and crawl closer to the side of her bed. “Nah. Just leave him there.” 

Something about that answer unsettled Ray. But he left the decoration on the floor all the same and slowly took a place next to her on the fluffy pink blanket. Jan laid across the length on her belly and blinked up at him with a sense of nostalgia and meek appreciation. It carried her into the next position; sitting up with her folded legs sorta opening a little to support Ray as she shifted closer.  

“Are you bored with this relationship?” She asked, eyebrow raised but no clear aggression in the tone. But Ray still felt like it was some sort of trap so he shook his head. 

“No.”

Jan licked her lips and leaned all her body weight on her flattened palm behind her with a sigh. “I wanna have a Christmas party, over break-” She made gentle eye contact and smiled. “Small. And with our friends.”

Ray stopped himself from rolling his eyes at the use of the words ‘our friends’. 

“You could invite some people from school, if you’d like. You must have made some new friends since I left.” She giggled which threw him for a loop because that would almost make the party worth it. 

“Sounds fun.” 

                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{December, three days before Winter Break}

Ray leaned against the stage in the gym and watched Stebbins and McVries chase each other around with a basketball which neither of them seemed to realize was for shooting into the basket. Instead, they were dribbling it illegally and chucking it at their heads. 

It was probably the most active Ray had even witnessed Stebbins being. But he seemed strangely satisfied whenever he could shove McVries a little lately. 

Pete, was happily skipping and galloping away on his fit looking legs that Ray couldn’t help but observe when they were only covered by loose gym shorts. 

The red shorts were paired with a thick looking green sweater instead of the usual school shirt. There was an old & peeling iron-on patch of Frank Sinatra, which Ray recognized by the name above his head. The piece of clothing looked as if it were just lifted from a Grandmother’s closest. 

“What do you guys say? There’s gonna be food and-”

Pete stumbled but caught himself and the basketball that Stebbins pitched his way but slid across the gym floor on his knees anyway. “You know, I’d do anything for you, Ray-Baby, but I got a date on that Friday.” 

Pete hauled himself up and dribbled to himself as Stebbins paused and looked his friend over. 

“I’ll go-” Stebbins started only to get cut off by Ray approaching Pete and stealing the ball. 

“Date? What unlucky girl said yes to you?” He chuckled but his throat felt mighty tight for some odd reason. 

Pete smiled and stole the ball back, bouncing it around with no real goal other than to just keep it away from his friend. He was silent for a couple minutes which left Stebbins time to burn dangerous holes into the back of his head with annoyed eyes. “Eric is borrowing his pop’s car and we’re gonna cruise or something.”

Ray froze in his place. “A guy?” 

This question didn’t seem to bother Pete in the slightest, he just kept on playing and even started shooting towards the basket. “He’s the son of my mom’s boss. Which didn’t go over to well with her but we talked. She’s cool for now.” 

The basketball flew right past Ray’s frozen stare and into Stebbins open hands. The blonde’s expression faded from anger to genuine appreciation. “You’re into that?” He asked, a smile easing onto his face. 

Pete nodded. “Yeah. I don’t eat all my vegetables at dinner, my bedroom’s a mess, some people say I look like my dad and....” Pete paused but not because of hesitation, no. He just wanted to stretch this out as he glanced at Ray. “I’m into that. I’m bi.” 

With that, the teacher blew his whistle, Pete winked and shuffled off towards the locker room doors. Stebbins watched him with a mixture of amusement and interest. 

"Isn't that nice?" He chuckled and tossed the basketball Ray's way only for him to jump away instead of catching. "Am I still invited?" 

Ray watched the ball dribble itself towards the corner of the gym and nodded. "Yeah. See ya at Jan's."

His walk didn't suggest anger but the emotion was so overwhelming that Stebbins had to roll his eyes. 

                  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{December, party night} 

Jan had a friend back in the sixth grade, a sweet and kind Irish girl who taught her how to make brownies and how to sneak snacks into the movie theater. Tonight she copied the brownie recipe the best she could from her old memory stacks but with an added touch of crushed candy canes. 

They were laid out atop a decorative Holiday plate that Ray’s mother gifted her last Christmas. She hoped at least one guest might pick and choose from the collection of treats which sat under a shining galaxy of colorful string-lights, in the kitchen where Fiona taught brownie mix and later betrayal. 

Her eyes lingered on the snacks as Ray mindlessly rubbed the tips of his fingers up and down her back and made small-talk with their friends. She could hear how uninterested he really was through the tone of his voice but he just kept on. Ray would probably do anything she asked him to. 

Good Ol’ Ray and Jan. Surely, there was a couple like them in every suburban high school. Living life without a chaperone and getting french fries from the place along the busy street; cause the town’s small enough that there’s no need to be specific. They make all the old folks go ‘look at the handsome couple’ as they share a Vanilla Cone in a car she got as a gift. 

Except it was the turn of the season and the Vanilla Cone was now 1 Hot Chocolate because Ray couldn’t splurge on two with his minimum payment. The radio poured Christmas tunes out but it took all Jan’s strength to get that plain song by The Knack out of her head. 

Ray glanced up at her and smiled, everything around him blurring because it truly had that power over her still. But visions of Santa’s decapitated head in her bedroom danced in her mind to a soundtrack of ‘Good girls don't, Good girls don't, but I do...'

“Can you get me some iced tea?” She blurted to her boyfriend who seemed rather perky about a chance to escape this conversation. 

“Sure thing.” Ray hopped up, patting her arm and took off for the kitchen. 

:

:

:

Stebbins was making toast in Jan’s kitchen when Ray entered and fetched himself an empty glass. He turned with his blonde boy brightness which gave him a false sense of sweetness every-time Ray glanced at him. 

“So, you didn’t make her up after all.” He chuckled, taking a bite from pure burnt to Hell bread. 

Ray chuckled and filled the glass up with tea, getting ready to leave. “Come introduce yourself to my little group, Stebbins.” He was highly aware that this sudden eagerness was mostly just to break away some of the tension he had with Jan’s friends. But he also did want to see if they’d kick the same kick outta this dude that he did. Stebbins had surely grown on him since they’d first met. 

So he dragged his friend over to Jan’s group and handed over the cool drink which she could drink comfortably since the heat was on. 

“Jan, this is Stebbins. Remember I told you about him?” Ray stuck his thumb out behind him to point at the blonde, who was sharing a secret smile with the floor before glancing up and shaking the girl’s hand. 

Their group politely chatted Stebbins up and Ray was very much enjoying it until the front door let in some new guests, including a very familiar man who’d refused his invitation-

“-Charlie Rich. ‘The Most Beautiful Girl’, that was your Grandmothers favorite song, wasn’t it-?” Stebbins had just asked a laughing Jan as Ray excused himself and fled for the door. He had no way of knowing that the look of annoyed jealousy was mirrored in Stebbins just the same as it was in Jan. 

:

:

:

Peter McVries was leaning against the wall in the little room just past the front door, where all the shoes were lined up. There was another beautiful row of string-lights above his head that glittered all sorts of colors over his skin like freckles. 

Ray strolled over, trying not to let the eagerness slip so obviously onto his expression. “Look what the cat dragged in-” Pete smiled adoringly at that comment and looked off. “What happened to...Eric?” 

Pete swallowed and rubbed a curled finger under his chin. “He got...-” He looked back and sighed. “Eh, no use in stretching the truth, huh? Eric was a real drab and I was missin’ my friends. Wondered how the party was.” He shrugged like it was that simple but Ray found his heart bounced at the sentence. “Eric was fine for some filler company but you’re my favorite boy in town, Ray-baby.” 

Any of the words Ray was planning on saying were currently sticking in his throat. “Why-...um...why do you say things like that to me?” 

Pete froze, as if he hadn’t been expecting Ray to actually acknowledge that weird thing between them. The moment of panic fled quickly and was replaced with his easy-going smile. “Oh, Ray...” He started, eyes looking large and fragile. “Here you are again.” Was how he finished and with the instant relief of a man just done running 10 miles. Those words just fell from his lips and laid over him like sweet honey. They were nonsense to Ray...he wasn’t sure what that could possibly mean but they meant something. That much could be gathered by the way Pete looked so pained yet sincerely loving. It made Ray heat up a little...

‘They'd buried him in the sand...’ popped back into Ray’s mind. He coughed. “Want to meet Jan?”

Pete shrugged his jacket off and nodded. “Love to.” He dropped the subject so easily, with only a flicker of pain that Ray might have usually missed but due to his hyper-nerves he picked up. It broke something in him. Something that Ray desperately tried to hold together until Santa’s shitty decapitated head scared him off of sex from his girlfriend for the final time. 

“You have a crush on me...” 

Pete paused before turning sharply on his heels and making easy eye contact. “Since we’re blurting this out now...-” Pete chuckled. “More than that Ray, I’m in love with you.”   

Ray would have fainted if he weren’t so damn locked up from nerves. But Pete, looked nothing short of melancholy. His smile was still there but was probably causing a great deal of pain to keep. He shrugged, tongue poking out of the corner of his soft smile. “Yeah. That’s out there now.” there was a giggle and a cough to cover up the hiccup. 

The air grew thick but it didn’t seem to bother him. “Anyway, I don’t expect you to say it back to me, obviously. Hell, it’s idiotic for me to say considering we’ve only known each for a short time.” He broke for strained laughter. “But I feel my shit, Ray. I know that it’s for a fact. You... ” He shrugged again and quickly moved to nudge Ray on the shoulder. Their eyes met and Pete’s were slightly watery and serious.

“I didn’t plan on saying this to you...ever. You know? You’ve got your gal and Jan’s...she’s lucky and a sweet girl from what you’ve said. My feelings for you have no place in your life. But since you said it first...” Pete chuckled.

Ray’s face probably read as horrified...which might not be far from the truth. He thought of Jimmy Owens and the man on the beach that day which felt so long ago. Santa’s dumb face lit up in his head, as if it had been finally plugged back in and hung up against his mind’s window. 

Quietly. Ray took Pete’s wrist and calmly dragged him to the back coat room area of Jan’s home. He closed the door behind them and sighed against the wood. It was breathy and hot, dripping with sweet relief that he wasn’t aware had been burning in his lower stomach for ages. 

“I need to try something...” Ray stepped forward and Pete looked heart-flatteringly shy for probably the first time ever. “I just have to know and...you-...I trust you so...” he paused, looking up with his beautiful eyes. 

“Will you be there for me? Please?” 

Oh how that broke Peter McVries into a million pieces. This boy...well, he was going to be the death of him. This sweet, sweet boy. “Oh honey.” 

Ray blushed a sweet shade of red and tried to look less hysterical. 

“Oh, I don’t give half-a-damn if you decide to forget me tomorrow, Ray-baby. You deserve a kiss from someone who fucking loves you more than anything in this world. I’m gonna give that to you, if you’d like?” Pete licked his lips and tried not crumble when Ray nodded and approached him. “I want you to feel how much you’re loved. I don’t think your girl Jan is doin’ that.” 

Ray didn’t answer but pulled Pete closer and waited. 

                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

{January, returning from Winter Break}

After the party, Ray didn’t see much of Stebbins, Jan or Pete. They all seemed to keep a careful distance from him but Ray found the space comforting. 

It would break in gym class of course, where Pete & Stebbins would be waiting for him. Ray’s chest thumped at the thought of facing the first boy he’d ever fully ‘made-out’ with in his entire life and he was sure that Pete wouldn’t make this easy on him. 

But Pete acted as normal as ever. If anything, Stebbins was out of sorts. The blonde kept away from the pair and when the time came to go back to change, he darted off before they could question him. 

It wasn’t until this time that Pete reached out and gestured for Ray to sit with him on the bleachers. It hit Ray with a mixture of fear and eagerness. A sharp burn ran down from his stomach to his thighs as he sat down. 

“So...”

“So.” Ray repeated, not wanting to speak first. Pete rolled his eyes fondly when he realized this and immediately took over. 

“Listen Ray. About the party-”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Pete. I-...it was a mistake. I have Jan and I’m not...not into that.” 

The air between them got thick and Pete nodded. “Ray...I didn’t expect you to love or even like me back, ok?” He paused to watch the man nod before continuing. “I don’t want to pry into your personal life, not my style, but you dragged me into this when you made-out with me, Ray-baby.” 

Ray opened his mouth but was not quick enough. 

“It’s a journey of self-punishment, way you’re going with Jan. It’s only hurting yourself and her in the long run. It ain’t me...I accept that, Ray...” Pete’s voice strained at that comment. “But the experimenting won’t stop with me either. You’re guilty for hurting the girl you think you love but you’re not really ashamed either. I’m not the exception, I’m not reason that you went astray....you’re not satisfied because...-” 

“I’m not that way.” Ray interrupted, finding his voice which was now harsh and hurt. 

“It’s not an insult, Ray...I just don’t wanna see ya hurt cause I damn well love you in my stupid little way, ok?” Pete looked away and maybe let out a few loose tears which horrified Ray to think about. “And I-...”

“Just because I told you shit about my relationship on the bleachers that day, does not mean you know anything about me & Jan, asshole.” Ray stood and tried to run off to the locker room but found his feet to be asleep and weak. 

“Ok. Listen, I don’t want to be that asshole, Ray. Trust me. I can’t tell you what you are. You have to figure that out for yourself. I know that. But-...” 

Ray spun around again and glared down at Pete with pure rage. “Really? If you knew that, I don’t think you’d be here telling me that I’m gay just because you got off on our kiss at the party, ok?” Ray screamed and surprised the both of them. 

But Pete, being Pete, just nodded and shrugged. 

“What is with this shit, man? First Stebbins assumed this shit from me and tried to put the moves on me and now you. NO- wait...” Ray broke off into that hysterical bitter laughter from weeks ago; it scared Pete a little. “It really started with damn Jimmy Owens. And then the...fucking hard-on I got from looking at some dude on the beach-HA! Thank God I was buried in fucking SAND! Or else my friends would have seen it in my trunks. Isn’t that pathetic, Pete? They buried me in the sand and saved me from letting my girlfriend know that a dude with sodas turned me on in a way that even she couldn’t; bikini and all!” Ray fell back onto the bleachers, clutching his stomach. 

“Roll out Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days Of Summer, Pete!” He wiped his eyes and finally began to slow on that nervous laughter. “Fuck, I’m confused.” 

Pete felt his stomach twist and his heart drop. He slowly scooted closer and laid his hand over the boy’s shoulder gently. “Ray-”

“You said you wouldn’t care if I wanted to forget about the kissing, at the party. What if that’s what I wanted?” Ray glanced up through glassy eyes. 

“I meant it. I wouldn’t try to stop ya, Ray. I just don’t think our friendship would go on...you know, it’d be very painful for me.” Pete giggled but his friend did not.

Ray and Pete remained utterly silent for a while and thanked anyone that would listen for the miracle of no interruption. They had the gym all to themselves for some odd reason. Pete tried to treasure this short bit of time he had to be close to Ray because soon it would all be over. 

“Fuck. I’m gay.” Ray mumbled miserably into Pete’s shoulder and his friend tried not to burst into happy tears. Instead, McVries gently turned his head and sighed. 

“You sure?”

“I gotta tell, Jan. I-...I don’t want to do that Pete.” He continued to sound like he was on the edge of tears which broke Pete’s heart a little. He too knew this struggle all too well. His own coming out had been a journey of confusion and fright but a happy ending of acceptance indeed. “She won’t be mad, you think?” He chuckled because he was joking but somehow Ray found the dumb hope in the question to make it far too real. 

All Pete wanted to do was comfort the man, make him coffee and tell him everything would be alright. But he couldn’t do that and he shouldn’t. Not only did he already have a problem with coddling Ray but it was not wise to make promises to him that he wasn’t sure would go exactly the way Ray wanted. Pete had faith that this would not be the end of the world for him. But there was no doubt that with a mess like the one they’d made it would put a hard strain within their circle of relationships.

“I’ll be seeing her after school and I don’t want to tell her but I have to...” Ray looked utterly exhausted at the thought. “I’m not a very strong person on my own, Pete.” He looked up and seemed to suggest an idea that was in Pete’s opinion, awful. 

“Bullshit, Ray-baby. You’re strong as Hell.” Pete smiled and gently shook him. “But you do understand that I can't come with you, don’t you?” He tilted his chin down a little and his brow raised as if to counter it.

“I just think you’ll be able to-”

“This is something you have to do on your own.” He spoke softly in hopes Ray would hear him out. The thing Pete quickly learned about Ray in these short months was that when he felt he’d done something wrong, he desperately craved for someone to be on his side. So he wouldn’t be alone in his thinking. The man was an expert in punishing himself whether he was aware of it or not. And there was a comfort he took in having someone to lean on during the strenuous events following a mistake. 

“You think my being there will deflect some of the attention off of you and that I will be able help you better if I was with you.” Pete spoke the reasons for Ray, who opened his mouth to explain just why that was truthful and the right thing to do.

“I’ve intruded on your relationship enough as it is, Ray. I’m sorry but you’ll have to do this one alone.” He grabbed the boy’s hands and gently rubbed the pad of his thumbs over his soft skin. “This ain’t my fight.” 

Ray sighed but seemed to accept this as a fact. “But...You love me?” 

McVries took his hands away and licked his lips. “I’m so in love with you, Ray. But...You’re gonna need some time to figure things out.” He paused. “And I don’t even know that you have actual feelings for me, sadly. Could’ve just been sexual frustration that made you make-out with me and I won’t say that I hated it.” Pete chuckled but gently flicked some hair from Ray’s face. 

Ray frowned, looking very tired and sad. “I always thought Jan and I had...like movie love... or that we were like Jack & Diane, you know? From that song?” 

“And you don’t feel that way anymore?”

“In a way.” He shrugged, suddenly looking very pained. It was a look that Pete knew had been on his face several times when he was knee-deep in the questioning phase. 

“Yeah, it’s movie love. I’ll admit it.” He waved his hand out and Pete opened his mouth but never got a word out. “Just not the kind I thought. I like Jan because I think I’m supposed to.” He half-whispered that to himself and Pete nearly felt like he was intruding.

“I think...” He spoke with an earnestly kind voice. “I really think you should talk to Jan as soon as possible.”

Ray glanced up at him again. His eyes were filled with anger and confusion. “Do I have to?” He rubbed his hand against his forehead.

“If you really feel that way, then yeah.” McVries sighed and slid a little closer again. He softly shoved his shoulder and took more of the space next to Ray who was too busy to really care.

“It was Jimmy.” Ray mumbled, miserably.

“What?”

“Jimmy Owens. My old friend when I was little..we took our clothes off....” Ray shrugged before thinking to explain. “I think maybe...that was my first real clue.” 

Pete nodded with wide eyes and tried not to think too hard about that weird burst of information. 

Raymond Garraty was under his arm now and Peter McVries felt a flicker of hope that one day...very soon...they could be something special together. He was so far gone on this kid that it was unbelievable and maybe he kissed Ray so the guy would feel some real love...but Pete felt a little spark back from Ray. 

Maybe it wasn’t love quite yet but....soon? 

[aion-rsa]

Best Movies Coming to Netflix in July 2021

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Movies are back. It at least feels that way when you see the numbers that films like F9 and A Quiet Place Part II are earning. But more than just the thrill of going back to theaters, July signals what is typically considered to be the height of the summer movie season. On a hot evening, there are few things better than some cold air conditioning and a colder drink of your choice while escapism plays across a screen.

That can prove just as true at home as in theaters. And as luck would have it, Netflix is pretty stuffed with new streaming content this month. Below there are space adventures, comedies, dramas, and more than a few epics worth your attention, either as a revisit or new discovery. And we’ve rounded them up for your scrolling pleasure.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997)

July 1

When the first Austin Powers opened in 1997, it was intended to be as much a crude love letter to the popular cinema of the 1960s as a modern day raunchy laugh-fest. Now with the benefit of another 20 years’ worth of hindsight, Mike Myers and Jay Roach’s spoof of Bondmania is itself an amusing time capsule of 1990s comedy tropes. There’s Myers’ cartoonishly larger-than-life characters—beginning with Powers but most dementedly perfected with Dr. Evil, the comedian’s riff on Ernst Stavro Blofeld—as well as the pair’s embrace of what they considered to be the defining trappings of the late ‘90s.

The film’s nostalgia for the ‘60s and its value as a piece of kitsch ‘90s nostalgia makes this Austin Powers (and to a lesser extent the second movie, The Spy Who Shagged Me) a fascinating relic, as well as a genuinely funny lowbrow symphony of sex gags, bathroom humor, and multiple digs at British stereotypes, including bad teeth. In other words, it’s a good time if you don’t take it too seriously. Just avoid the third one, which is also coming to Netflix.

The Karate Kid (1984)

July 1

1984’s The Karate Kid is the cultural apex of Reagan America’s obsession with martial arts movies and Rocky-style underdog stories. It offered ’80s kids the ultimate fantasy of learning martial arts to defeat local bullies and finding time to squeeze in a love subplot along the way. Granted, the Cobra Kai series has thrown a wrench into this film’s seemingly simple morality tale, but just try not to root for Daniel by the time you reach arguably the greatest montage in movie history.

There’s also something eternally comforting about watching Pat Morita beat-up ’80s thugs while validating parents everywhere by suggesting that you to can one day grow up to be a great warrior if you just sweep the floor, wax the car, and paint the fence.

Love Actually

July 1

Christmas in July? Sure, why not. This Yuletide classic likely needs no introduction. Writer-director Richard Curtis’ Love Actually is the ultimate romantic comedy, stuffing every cliché and setup from a holiday bag of tricks into one beautifully wrapped package. Perhaps its greatest strength though is it mixes in a touch of the bitter with its sweet, and doesn’t hide the thorns in its bouquet of roses. Plus, its use of “All I Want for Christmas” is still a banger nearly 20 years on.

Admittedly, we aren’t particularly inclined to watch this in July ourselves, but if you don’t mind the Christmas of it all, there are few better rom-coms in your queue at the moment.

Memoirs of a Geisha (2005)

July 1

This adaptation of the Arthur Golden novel of the same name was one of the highest profile literary adaptations of the early 2000s. It’s the story of a young girl sold to a geisha house in the legendary Gion district of Kyoto who then grows up to be the most famous geisha of 1930s imperial Japan… right before the war. The film (like its source material) had controversy in its day due to having a somewhat exoticized view of Japanese customs, as well as for the casting of Chinese actresses Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi in the roles of icons of Japanese culture, with Zhang playing central geisha Sayuri.

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But whatever its shortcomings, Memoirs of a Geisha is still an exquisitely crafted melodrama that provides an often delicate window into one of he most graceful and misunderstood arts. The film won Oscars for its costumes, art direction, and cinematography for a reason. Plus whenever Zhang and the actually Japanese Ken Watanabe share the screen, unrequited sizzle is hot to the touch.

Mortal Kombat (1995)

July 1

Look, 1995’s Mortal Kombat isn’t a great movie in the classic sense of the word. Those looking for notable ’90s schlock might even have a better time with 1994’s Street Fighter and Raul Julia’s scene-stealing performance as General M. Bison.

Yet at a time when video game movies still struggle to capture the magic of the games themselves, Mortal Kombat stands tall as one of the few adaptations that feel like an essential companion piece. It might lack the blood and gore that helped make 1992’s Mortal Kombat arcade game a cultural touchstone, but it perfectly captures the campy, shameless joy that has defined this franchise for nearly 30 years.

Star Trek (2009)

July 1

The idea of a Star Trek movie reboot wasn’t greeted with universal enthusiasm when it was first announced but then J.J. Abrams delighted many fans by creating a Trek origin story that was both familiar and new. Chris Pine shone as the cocky Kirk, bickering with Zachary Quinto’s Vulcan Spock while trying to save the universe from a pesky Romulan (Eric Bana). This was a standalone that could be enjoyed by audiences completely ignorant of the Star Trek legacy which also achieved the feat of not annoying many long-term followers of the multiple series. It was a combination of humor, heart, action and a zingy cast that won the day – it’s still the best of the three Star Trek reboot movies to date.

Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2005)

July 1

Alongside Step Brothers, Tallageda Nights remains a a biting snapshot of the 2000s zeitgeist from writer-director Adam McKay. Eventually he would drop (most of) the crude smirks in favor of dramedies about the excesses of the Bush years via The Big Short (2013) and Dick Cheney biopic Vice (2018), however Talladega Nights remains a well-aged and damning satire of that brief time when “NASCAR Dads” were a thing, which is all the more impressive since it was filmed in the midst of such jingoistic fervor.

So enters Will Ferrell in one of his signature roles as a NASCAR driver and the quintessential ugly American who’s boastful of his ignorance and proud that his two sons are named “Walker” and “Texas Ranger.” He’d be almost irredeemable if the movie wasn’t so quotable and endearing with its sketch comedy absurdities. There’s a reason Ferrell and co-star John C. Reilly became a recurring thing after this lunacy. Plus, that ending where adherents of the homophobic humor of the mid-2000s found out the joke was on them? Still pretty satisfying.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

July 1

This is the movie that changed everything. Filmmakers had been experimenting with computer-generated visual effects for years, including director James Cameron with 1989’s The Abyss. But Cameron, as usual, upped his game with this 1991 action/sci-fi epic in which the main character — the villain — was a hybrid of live-action actor and CG visuals.

Those of us who saw T2 in the theater when it first came out can remember hearing the audience (and probably ourselves) audibly gasp as the T-1000 (an underrated and chilling Robert Patrick) slithered into his liquid metal form, creating a surreal and genuinely eerie moving target that not even Arnold Schwarzenegger’s brute strength could easily defeat. There were moments in this movie that remained seared into our brains for years as high points of what could be accomplished with CG.

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This writer prefers T2 to the original Terminator. It’s fashionable to go the other way, but the first movie, while excellent, is essentially a low-budget horror film, Schwarzenegger’s T-800 a somewhat more formidable stand-in for the usual unstoppable slasher. The characters in T2 are far more fleshed out, the action bigger and more spectacular, the stakes more grave and palpable. It was the first movie to cost more than $100 million but it felt like every penny was right there on the screen. And Cameron tied up his story ingeniously, making all the sequels and prequels, and sidequels since irrelevant and incoherent. We don’t need them; we have Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Underworld (2003)

July 1

Is Underworld a good movie? No, not really. Is it a scary movie, what with the vampires and werewolves? Not at all. Well, is it at least entertaining?! Absolutely. Never before has a B-studio actioner been so deliciously pretentious and delightful in its pomposity.

Every bit the product of early 2000s action movie clichés, right down to Kate Beckinsale’s oh-so tight leather number,  Underworld excels in part because of the casting of talent like Beckinsale. A former Oxford student and star of the West End stage, she got her start in cinema by appearing in a Kenneth Branagh Shakespeare adaptation, and she brings a wholly unneeded (but welcome) conviction to this tale of vampire versus werewolves in a centuries-long feud. Shamelessly riffing on Romeo and Juliet, the film ups the British thespian pedigree with movie-stealing performances by Bill Nighy as a vampire patriarch and Michael Sheen (Beckinsale’s then-husband who she met in a production of The Seagull) as an angsty, tragic werewolf. It’s bizarre, overdone, and highly entertaining in addition to all the fang on fur action.

Snowpiercer (2013)

July 2

Before there was Parasite, there was Snowpiercer, the action-driven class parable brought to horrific and mesmerizing life by Oscar-winning Korean director Bong Joon-ho in 2013. The film is set in a future ice age in which the last of humanity survives on a train that circumnavigates a post-climate change Earth. The story follows Chris Evans‘ Curtis as he leads a revolt from the working class caboose to the upper class engine at the front of the train.

Loosely based on a French graphic novel, filmed in the Czech Republic as a Korean-Czech co-production, and featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest stars, with dialogue in both English and Korean, Snowpiercer is not only a truly international production that will keep Western audiences guessing, but it packs an ever effective social critique as we head further into an age of climate change and wealth inequality. Also, there is a scene in which Chris Evans slips on a fish.

The Beguiled (2017)

July 16

Sofia Coppola’s remake of the 1971 film of the same name (both are based on a Thomas Cullinan novel) is a somewhat slight yet undeniably intriguing addition to the filmmaker’s catalog. It’s the story of a wounded Union soldier being taken in by a Southern school for girls–stranded in the middle of the American Civil War–with salvation turning into damnation as the power dynamics between the sexes are tested. It is also an evocative piece of Southern Gothic with an ending that will stick with you. Top notch work from a cast that also includes Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, Elle Fanning, and Colin Farrell makes this a bit of an underrated gem.

The Twilight Saga

July 16

In July, not one, not two, not three, not even four, but all five of the movies adapted from Stephenie Meyer’s young adult phenomenon book series will be accessible on Netflix. Indulge in the nostalgia of Catherine Hardwicke’s faithful and comparatively intimate Twilight. Travel to Italy with a depressing Edward and Bella in New Moon. Lean into the horror absurdity of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2. Or marathon all five for maximal escapism into a world where vegetarian vampires are the boyfriend ideal, the sun is always clouded, and the truly iconic emo-pop tunes never stop. 

Django Unchained (2012)

July 24

The second film Quentin Tarantino won an Oscar for, Django Unchained remains a highly potent revenge fantasy where a Black former slave (Jamie Foxx) seeks to free his wife from Mississippian bondage and ends up wiping out the entire infrastructure of a plantation in the process. Brutal, dazzlingly verbose in dialogue, and highly triggering in every meaning of the word—including quickdraw shootouts—this is a Southern-fried Spaghetti Western at its finest.

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Perhaps its other great asset is a terrific cast of richly drawn characters, including Foxx as Django (the “D” is silent), Christoph Waltz as German dentist-turned-bounty hunter Dr. King Shultz, Leonardo DiCaprio as sadistic slaveowner Calvin Candie, and Samuel L. Jackson as Stephen. While Waltz won a deserved Oscar for the film (his second from a Tarantino joint), it is Jackson’s turn as a house slave who becomes by far the most dangerous and cruel of Django’s adversaries who lingers in the memory years later… 

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[shadowracers]

Shadow Racers - The Hero - Prologue

In a junkyard, somewhere in Massachusetts, rests the burnt and destroyed chassis of a Ferrari 512 BB. It once belonged to a legend of the streets, a man who was feared by all but loved by those who knew him.  On one faithful day in 2015, the man made a brave and heroic sacrifice in order to protect his family and friends from an unstoppable foe.  His sacrifice led to his loved ones’ victory and survival.

That Berlinetta remains there as a memento to the legend this man once was.  He was the scum of society - a street racer - and yet, when he died, he died as a hero.

He told a young man close to him, before his heroic sacrifice, that he wanted the young man to continue his legacy - to take up the throne he worked so hard to claim and defend it from their enemies on the road.  

So much for that.

===========

Present Day

November 3, 2017

7:00 AM

Boston, MA

A Condo in Downtown

A light turns on in a dark room.

A young man, still drowsy, walks over to the bathroom. There, he brushes his teeth, washes his face, and wanders to the kitchen to get some breakfast. After pouring himself a bowl of cereal, he moves towards his table to eat.

It’s like this every morning. Get up, eat, get ready for work. For Dillon Tsuchiya, age 23, it’s always been the same for the last two years. Ever since his life got turned upside down due to an...incident, he’s been struggling to find a purpose in life. At one point, he was a rising star in the world of street racing in Japan. Then, after moving to America, became the most feared driver in a high-stakes rally competition. But this is now ancient history, according to Dillon. Now, he works at a retail store, helping to stock shelves of food, appliances, and so on.

While he eats his cereal, he notices a bird outside his window. Strangely, this reminds him of his past life.

Dillon: The memories of old… The Complex, the cars, the smells… the life.

A phone buzzes near his table. An alarm is going off. It’s time to go to work.

After showering, and putting on his uniform, Dillon heads to the condo’s garage, where his car awaits him. Pulling out the ‘Acura’ key, he starts it up (rather quietly), and drives to the store, where he’s spent the last two years trying to find a life for him.

On the way, he reflects on what he thought at the table, the memories of former glory.

Dillon: There’s nothing left for me in that world. You told me to continue the trend… but I can’t without you.

With that, he continues on his way.

===========

8:00 AM

Cambridge, MA

“Another day, another car.” Steel thought to himself.  He was up early, and had been occupying himself by reviewing his to-do for service work this day.  A bunch of everyday commuter cars...And a Ferrari. A 458 Italia, in bright red.  The Ferrari was a regular at his workplace, and the man often bragged about being a street racer.  Every time Steel hears the stories, he dies a little inside.  He lost something valuable to him -- his mentor and father figure.  Dag died two years ago.  Since then, he hasn’t been able to look at a car without flashing back to that charred chassis.

“Well, ain’t much to do without the boss.” he muttered to himself.  He grabs a Chevrolet key off the coat rack in his apartment and heads down to his car to drive to work.  He had to give up all of his monster cars when the Mafia came for him.  They took all of the cars as collateral.

His phone buzzes.  “Unknown Caller” comes up.

Steel: “Yello, Jacob speaking.”

???: “Have you seen him?!”

Steel: “Oh...Hey Aria.  No, haven’t seen him because he’s dead.”

Aria: “HE IS NOT DEAD!  I WILL FIND HIM!”

The call abruptly drops.  Steel shakes his head and goes to another boring day of work.

“I wonder how the kid’s doing…?”

===========

11:30 AM

Service Center on Interstate 93

A little Toyota SF-R pulls into a service center and parks near a gas station.

For October, it was surprisingly humid.The owner hops out, heads to the restroom, purchases some food, and heads back to the car. While eating his burger on the hood of the Toyota, his phone rings.

???: “Hello, Eddie Wood speaking”

???: “Hey Ed, we got the parts you asked for. Shall we send them to your house?”

Eddie: “No no, actually I’m out of town at the moment, so just hold on to them for now.”

With that, he hangs up his phone and returns to his burger.

Eddie Wood, age 18, graduated from high school back in June. His parents don’t really care what their son does with his life, as long as he stays safe and always comes back home to visit. He probably didn’t get the “safe” part, since Eddie wants to be a racer. He wants to be at the top of the racing world, and be admired by millions of people, around the world. However, with only a little Toyota sports car, nobody’s taken any notice of him. But it doesn’t phase him. Eddie’s main inspiration to becoming a racer stems from a team he used to follow intensely, known as the “Shadow Racers”. They won almost every event they entered, and had a vast amount of cars to choose from. Two years ago, they mysteriously pulled out of every single racing event in the country, and disappeared. From that point, Eddie always planned to find out what really happened to the famed team, and join them. So much did he want to join them, he decided to drive 500 miles from his hometown down to Boston, where the team was based.

Eddie: Oh, better get a move on. I need to start my search for my dream team.

With that, he threw out the wrappers of food, hopped into the SF-R, and headed back out onto the interstate in search for the legends of his childhood.

2:25 PM

Downtown Boston

Eddie: “EH?! You’ve never heard of them before?!”

???: “Nope, sonny-me-boy.”

Eddie let the old geezer continue his walk to the park. That had to the 52nd person he asked if they knew what happened to the “Shadow Racers”.

Eddie: I for sure thought they would be big here! The amount of attention they got… HOW CAN NO ONE KNOW ABOUT THEM?!

Frustrated with his lack of progress, Eddie leaps into the Toyota, revs it to the redline, and peels rubber out of the car park. For a mere 150 HP, it laid down a decent set of elevens.

Eddie, determined to not give up, decided to drive around and look for street racing hot spots in the hopes of finding any clues related to the Shadow Racers.  By chance, he keeps finding himself at the same junkyard over and over again.  Something seems to be pulling him in from outside…

After coming to junkyard for the 4th time, he decides to look around. It was an average place; minivans, Corollas, pick-up trucks, the usual sort of crap.   And yet, something called to him.  Some kind of intangible presence that he could not identify.

On his fifth drive-by, he spotted something vaguely familiar deep in the back of the junkyard.

A burnt chassis of a 70s supercar, but he couldn't tell what. Intrigued, Eddie got out of the Toyota, and walked over to the block of steel. Once he got close enough, he spotted a name on the chassis rails.

“Ferrari”

Then it hit him. The low slung body, the four round taillights, he was staring at the shell of a Ferrari 512 BB, one of the more underrated cars the company made.

This made him gasp.

Eddie: The leader of Shadow Racers had a Ferrari 512…

And once he realized that, he went berserk.

Eddie: “I’VE FOUND IT!!! THE LONG LOST RELIC THAT IS THE DEVIL!!!”

Steel: “And you’ll be quiet about it.”

A powerful hand comes down on Eddie’s shoulder.  When Eddie turns to look, he’s met with a muscular, large man.

Steel: “Couple of fellas told me you were looking ‘round for the Shadow Racers.  That charred chassis is all that’s left of the team leader.”

Steel sighs.  He glances at Eddie.

Steel: “You look like a high schooler.  They had a kid a little above your age on the team.  He watched this -” He gestures at the Ferrari. “ - unfold before his eyes.”

Eddie: “Wow… That must have been painful. What happened to this kid?”

Steel: “Ain’t seen him since.  Story goes that he was supposed to inherit the leadership.  Never heard from him again.”

Eddie ponders this. If the old leader...died, then this kid must be the guy to talk to.

Eddie: “But wait, how do you know this? Were you a member?”

Steel: “Nah.  Ain’t that dumb.  You’d be surprised who comes through auto shops these days.  If I were you, I’d keep this Ferrari a secret, yeah?”

Eddie: “Y-yeah, of course.”

Steel: “After all...Hiding in the shadows is what we do best these days.”

Steel pats Eddie on the back with a bit of force before turning and walking away.  Eddie only catches a glimpse of Steel’s Camaro before it peels off for destinations unknown.  Now he’s alone with the destroyed Ferrari…

Eddie: No… It couldn't have ended like this. I'm sure the old leader would have wanted his legacy to continue. This kid, I must find him.

With that, he hops into the little sports car, and drives to the hotel where he is staying at for a few days. After obtaining his room card from the receptionist, he opens his room door, puts his bags near the TV, and flops onto the bed. His head is spinning with how he could find this kid. A kid? Owning one of the most popular teams in the country, and abandoned it? It didn't make sense.

6:00 PM

Then, he remembered what the muscle man said.

“After all...Hiding in the shadows is what we do best these days.”

Eddie: We… He was one of them, and there's more out there.

This got his attention. If there were more, there was still a chance of finding someone who wants to bring back the team to it's former glory.

But, the search would have to wait till tomorrow. It had been a pretty long day for Eddie, since he was driving for most of it. It was late afternoon, on a Friday, all he wanted to do was relax.

Except he remembered he had no food.

Unwillingly, he got up from the bed, exited the hotel, and walked two blocks over to a big superstore. It looked pretty new, since it had a modern design on the outside. The theme continued once he entered. Eddie thought he was in a hospital, given how clean the floors were. Snapping out of his daze, he heads over to the ready-made area. He figured he eat something light and reasonably priced, given that he had Mexican food for the last week. Eddie couldn't decide what he wanted. There are so many options, you would have thought that this was a restaurant. Seeing a worker over at the produce section, he hollered the guy over. The poor guy nearly dropped all the boxes he was holding when he heard Eddie's cry of dismay. Setting them down, the man walked over. He was a young chap, average weight, with thick, black glasses.

???: “Yeah, what do you need lad?”

Eddie: “I was just wondering what you would recommend from this selection?”

The worker looked at the menu for a long time, before finally saying “Get the roast chicken”. Eddie thanked him, and the worker turned around to finish his task. The guy had a moody expression, liked he was suffering from some sort of illness. As Eddie looked at him, his chicken arrived.

Eddie: “Ah, the perfect meal for a Shadow Racers recruit.”

A large crash follows immediately after Eddie said that sentence. The worker knocked into the boxes he set on the floor. Luckily, they were empty, so no mess was made, but the sound of the crash pierced that section of the store.

Bewildered, the worker got up, and walked over to Eddie. He looked a little pissed off about something.

???: “Hey kid, forget about that team. It's dead.”

Eddie didn't understand...

…for about 10 seconds.

Eddie: “You… You’re the kid that inherited Shadow Racers!”

===========

6:00 PM

Canton, MA

Steelworks Auto Shop

“I wonder where that Ferrari went…” Steel thought to himself as he waited for another client to come in.  He looked over at the work floor and a decent-sized crater that sit in the middle.  He shakes his head.  He was trying to work on Dillon’s AE86 a second time before the engine block dropped out and damaged the floor.

“Glad that thing is gone.  What a piece of shit it was.”

He sighs and starts scrolling through local and foreign BBS services.  Some talk here about a Corvette, some talk about a LaFerrari, bla bla bla.  “As active as ever, huh...” he muttered before moving on.

He looks over at his Camaro.  He can tell it wants to be free of the traffic and road laws.

“Not right now, old girl.  I gotta live my life.”

===========

A Superstore in Boston

The two men locked eyes. The air was cold. It looked like a heavyweight title fight was about to take place on the produce aisle of the store.

Despite the fact that both men looked skinnier than strands of noodles.

The worker, who was indeed Dillon, the inheritor of the Shadow Racers team, spoke first.

Dillon: “Who told you about...it?”

Eddie: “I’ve been a fan of the team ever since it started, back in 2015-”

Dillon flinches a little, upon hearing “2015”. The year where everything changed.

Eddie: “- and I’ve been a fan ever since. Watching you guys tear up the Gumball Rally tournaments, you guys are my heroes. Or should I say, were.”

Dillon: “Why waste your time finding them? They died two years, along with their leader!”

Eddie: “Whose Ferrari still sits at a junkyard? That’s how you honor him? Whatever happened, he died for the team, for you! To continue the life he wanted! You can’t let the legacy die, when there are other teams out winning races, your races!”

Dillon looks down, his hair covering his eyes. He knows it. Dag wouldn’t have wanted this. He said it himself. But how, how could he bring back the team out of the shadows?

Eddie feels saddened. He never thought he would meet his heroes this way.

Then, he asks Dillon the nagging question.

Eddie: “Why did the Shadow Racers end?”

Dillon turns away, thinking, remembering the past. He promised himself he would never think about those times again, that it will only bring him sadness and pain.

But he couldn’t help it.

He sighs deeply, and motions Eddie to follow him. Dillon mutters “It was the end of my shift anyway”, and takes his keys out.

Eddie follows Dillon to the back of the store, and out to the employee parking lot. There, he sees a silver NSX light up.

Eddie: At least he still drives a sick car.

Dillon again motions to Eddie, this time to get in the passenger seat. Eddie does this, and Dillon hops in the driver’s seat. After closing the door, Dillon sighs again, and begins to tell his story.

Dillon: “We weren’t a normal team. Usually, racing teams sign their drivers through contracts, and they have a working relationship. We weren’t like that. We lived under the same roof, bonded with each other, and deeply cared for one another. All this was possible through the leadership of one man, Dagurasu Trenton. To the outside world, he was a dark, cold man. The “Devil”, as they called him. But to us, he was a gentle, kind, respectful man, with great wisdom, and good sense of humor. He helped train me and a couple of others to be better. Not just as drivers, but in general, too. That rally championship….. the Gumball, as you called it. That broke us. At first, all seemed well. We were competitive, and managed to win some events. We raced with all our strength, but respected every other competitor to the fullest, and they did so to us as well. Except the organizers… They had other plans. Little did we know the Russian Mafia was behind the whole event, which makes sense now, given the prize for winning outright was $50 million. They went to great lengths to stop our progress, and when we discovered them… We fought back. One day, in California. Me and Dag were being chased by a group of them. His Wangan Devil 512, and my White Rocket Mazda RX-7. Gun shots flying everywhere. Suddenly, Dag slammed the brakes, and trainwrecked the Mafia SUVs. Next thing I know, I hear a giant explosion, and turn around to see fire everywhere. I had to keep going, knowing that's what he would have wanted. When I got back to the team in Easton, news broke of his death from our trusty mechanic. After the hearing of his will, I received ownership, 3/4s of his wealth, and the property that was our base. But I’ve done nothing since then. He was the man, the one who lead. I, meanwhile, was just a bratty university student trying to drive faster.”

Eddie was shocked, to say the least. He could NEVER imagine what they could have gone through. The pain, the sorrow, a life-changing experience.

Time passed as both men sat in the hybrid supercar, motionless. It was now 7:00.

Eddie: “I met a man at the junkyard where the Ferrari is, he told me about you, and what happened to your leader. Drove a red Camaro, says you two haven’t seen each other since the incident.”

Dillon chuckles to himself.

Dillon: “Ah Steel, that mechanical genius. We really haven’t seen each other in so long…”

Eddie: “Then, let’s go see him!”

Dillon turns to Eddie slowly. He knew the memories would keep coming back if he went there. But, seeing Eddie’s expression, it reminded Dillon of how he was when he first joined the team. Maybe, just maybe, the racing bug was coming back to him…

Dillon: “Well…. Alright. Put your seatbelt on.”

The NSX roars into life. Despite the electric motors, it still sounded like an event. It pulls out of the lot, and onto the busy streets of Boston, heading for what used to be the old base.

===========

Canton, MA

7:00 PM

Steel stretches out as he checks the lobby to his business one last time.  Nobody came after the cancelled Ferrari appointment.  He locks the doors to the building and arms the on-site security before turning to his car.

“Well, seems like traffic sure died out.  Maybe I’ll take you to extra-legal speeds.”

Steel gets in the car and cranks the key. The Camaro lazily rumbles to life and then grumbles as Steel drives off towards his house in Cambridge.  After a few minutes, he pauses and contemplates something...He makes a U turn and starts driving towards Easton.

Once he reaches a quiet part of Route 138, he takes a deep breath and checks his mirrors.  No one in sight.

Perfect.

He pins the throttle, causing the car to sink hard as it digs in.  It takes off accelerating with a vicious roar, and he tears through traffic light after traffic light.

It doesn’t take long until he tears past Town Spa Pizza, a popular joint in Easton.

“Oh, shit.” he says out loud.  He quickly gets on the brakes, causing the car to throw itself forward against its tyres.  The strips of rubber can only let out agonized screeching in response to this, as they cling to what’s left of their traction.

Steel made sure everything was sorted out and drove like a good boy the rest of the way.

He pulls into the complex he used to call home.  Outside is a rotted Lotus Esprit, a project he never got to finish.

“Heh.  Wonder where Erich went…”

He hears a car in the distance…

===========

At the Same Time…

Eddie: “Hey… Is that big building it?”

Dillon: “Yes. It hasn’t changed a bit.”

As they get closer, Dillon notices a red Camaro parked in the driveway.

“Never remembered a Camaro being part of the fleet”, he thought. He switches off the NSX, and steps out into the dusk-environment. The air is cold, like a spirit hangs over the place. Nevertheless, Dillon tells Eddie to get out, and the two start walking up towards the front door.

That is, until they notice someone standing by the old Esprit.

Dillon: “S-steel?”

Steel: “Well, shoot!  Dillon, what brings you around here?  And who’s the kid?”

Dillon: “Me? What brings the ol’ mechanical genius back? And as for this lad, I thought you would know…”

Eddie steps forward, looking a little shy.

Steel: “Ain’t you that kid from the junkyard? ...Right, you are.”

Steel shakes his head and glances at Dillon.

Steel: “Ya make sure you weren’t tailed?  Aria’s back in town...Got a call from her this morning.”

Dillon: “Oh for God’s sake… Probably the only thing I didn’t miss was her craziness.”

Dillon turned to Eddie, and then back to Steel. His expression dampens.

Dillon: “This boy showed up at my store, talking about the Shadow Racers. Apparently, he’s one of our biggest fans, and wants us to return with him as our new recruit…”

Steel looked at the Esprit, and pondered.

Steel: “Ah, well...We ain’t a team right now.  None of us had any reason to keep running.  ...Shit.”

Steel looks like he just remembered something.

Steel: “Fellas, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go inside.  I hope it’s still there…”

Steel heads straight for the old main entrance to the building and kicks aside a brick on one wall to reveal a key.  He heads inside without hesitation.

Eddie: “Where is he going?”

Dillon: “Beats me. But, he’ll probably come back. Eventually…”

They can hear a few things shifting around, Steel cursing, and then rapid footsteps as he hurries right out of the building holding a folder and something in his right hand.

Steel: “Good God!  There’s a rat nest in there!”

Dillon facepalms while Eddie frantically searches the ground for any rats that may have escaped.

Steel: “Dillon, read this when you can.  I gotta take care of this little jumpin’ spider I found hiding in it.”

Steel shoves the folder in Dillon’s hands and heads off for the closest patch of grass.  

Dillon closes the folder, and looks over at Eddie, who is still looking for rats.  Steel is by a grass patch, trying to release the spider.

“All that’s left of the Shadow Racers…”

Dillon: “Hey Steel! Got a minute?”

Steel: “Yeah, what’s bothering ya?  I take it you read the file…”

Dillon: “No, but maybe later. After hearing what the boy over there said to me... I should be better than this. We all should be. He wouldn’t have wanted this. Screw the Mafia, I want to bring back the Shadow Racers.”

Eddie nearly pisses himself. The Shadow Racers are coming back???

Steel: “Well...Shoot.  Ya got me in a bit of a pickle there.  If we’re gonna get this started, we oughta work loosely.  No fixed bases until we got what we need, aight?”

Steel took the folder from Dillon, and held it between his arm and chest.

Steel: “Well, I oughta go find my good tool set.  I don’t see why we ain’t starting any sooner!”

Eddie: “Count me IN!!!”

Dillon and Steel look at him strangely.

Steel: “Hold your horses, kid.  You gotta prove yourself.”

Dillon: “You sure do. I will test you personally, to see if you have what it takes. But before that, I better contact Chris. Wherever the guy is…”

Steel: “Probably annoyin’ some amateur about the circle of traction and why his car is oversteering.”

With that, the three men look into the sky, just managing to catch the sunset over the horizon. Their shadows grow in the fading light, as do they rise. The Shadow Racers have begun to emerge from the darkness...

Sort of.

Steel: “Which one of y’all farted?!”

End.

[massmurdera]

Best/Worst of 2017

Objectively speaking, 2017 was a tire fire of a year in America and I knew that going in. I’ll leave out the Trump bullshit and how I feel. Americans/people like being outraged, but it gets old to wake up every day in a panic. I did when Deflategate was happening to Tom Brady, but that had no real-world implications. Everyday, I was waking up to check Twitter to see what bad shit was happening. I think I did a solid job cutting it out as best I could and not letting it make me go mad.

It was a mostly boring year and then it picked up towards the very end. I might not feel good about America and where we’re I think we’ heading while holding out hope that this ends soon (I’m naïve and think we’re completely/totally fucked) but I guess I feel all right about where I’m going and how I feel about those close to me in my life. I’m controlling what I can control. Things could be better, but I’m all right. 

TV Funniest go-to show: Desus and Mero Late Night/Politics: John Oliver Favorite TV show (non-Game of Thrones): American Vandal TV SHOW (non-Game of Thrones): 1) Legion 2) Stranger Things 3) Godless 4) Dark 5) Sneaky Pete 6) Mindhunter 7) Marvelous Mrs Maisel 8) Better Call Saul 9) the Deuce 10) Fargo 11) Ozarks 12) 13 Reasons Why 13) Lethal Weapon 14) Riverdale 15) Mr Robot 16) This is Us TV Comedies: 1) American Vandal 2) Big Mouth 3) Nathan for You 4) Rick and Morty 5) GLOW 6) Veep 7) Brockmire 8) Atypical

I’m biased that a family friend of mine co-created American Vandal and his brother is on the show too in a minor role but it REALLY is great. It sounds stupid that older family members scoffed at or were bewildered by, but it’s far smarter social commentary than it appears. It nailed high school so well.

BEST NEW CHARACTERS Funniest: Hormone Monster/Monstress (Big Mouth) Best Jeff Spicoli that should get a spin-off: Dylan and the Wayback Boys (American Vandal) Best Philip Seymour Hoffman: Edward Kemper (Mindhunter) Most fun/crazy role: 1) Aubrey Plaza (Legion) 2) Susan Sarandon (Feud) Perfect role: Marc Maron (GLOW), Nikki Swango (Fargo) Best drunk: Brockmire Sorely Overlooked: Clayne Crawford in Mel Gibson’s role (Lethal Weapon) Star-Making: Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why); Rachel Brosnahan (Marvelous Mrs Maisel)

DISAPPOINTING FROM GREAT SHOWS: Curb Your Enthusiasm; Fargo; the Americans; Game of Thrones; Silicon Valley; Veep Shows I half-watch but could give up on: Big Little Lies; Feud; Preacher; Runaways; Shameless; the Sinner; SMILF; SNL; This is Us; White Famous WORST Shows: 1) Twin Peaks 2) the Leftovers 3) the Defenders 4) Taboo 5) Top of the Lake Didn’t work but should have: Vice Principals -had moments Absolute Worst: any and all political panel/news shows (Fox News, CNN, MSNBC). Burn them all to the ground.

Still need to watch: American Gods; BoJack Horseman; Brooklyn 99; Carmichael Show; Catastrophe; Good Place; Halt and Catch Fire; Handmaid’s Tale; Master of None; Punisher

Overall: the new shows were damn good, but the established great shows were all letdowns.

MOVIES 5 STARS: CLASSIC: 1) Get Out 4 STARS: 2) Free Fire 3) John Wick II 4) Dunkirk 5) Star Wars 6) Logan 3 ½ stars: Brawl in Cell Block 99; Good Time; Logan Lucky 3 STARS RENTALS: WATCHABLE: Atomic Blonde; Baby Driver, Babysitter, Big Sick; Blade Runner 2049; Fate of the Furious; Okja; Shot Caller, Spiderman, Split; War for Planet of the Apes; Wind River; Wonder Woman 2 STARS-DIDN”T LIKE BUT DECENT PARTS: Girls Trip; Guardians of Galaxy 2; Ingrid Goes West; Lego Batman; War Machine Most boring/dumbest critic favorite: Personal Shopper Cool twist made up for okay movie: Split Coolest soundtrack/score: Good Time, Dunkirk Most Over-the-Top Violent: Brawl in Cell Block 99 Overrated: Baby Driver, Wonder Woman Disappointed: Lego Batman

NEED TO CHECK OUT AFTER I READ BOOK: Lost City of Z; It HAVEN”T SEEN: Call Me By Your Name; Coco; Columbus; Darkest Hour; Disaster Artist; Florida Project; Justice League; Lady Bird; Molly’s Game; mother!; Mudbound; Phantom Thread; the Post; Shape of Water; Thor; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri

I’ve got catching up to do. But I think the year in movies wasn’t good.

Best Documentaries: 1) the Defiant Ones 2) Get Me Roger Stone 3) the Keepers 4) Jim & Andy BEST NETFLIX STAND-UP SPECIALS: 1) Dave Chappelle 2) Patton Oswalt 3) Ali Wong 4) Marc Maron 5) Neil Brennan 6) Bill Burr 7) Rory Scovel 8) Mike Birbiglia

Burr’s my favorite comic and seeing him live he is the best comic alive but it didn’t translate live. And he cut out so much of his best stuff.  Chappelle might be more natural and have a sense of the moment though. Overplayed controversy -outrage over Chappelle’s jokes. Yeah, I don’t think they actually saw his act and just listened, out of context, to the jokes. He’s still as good as it gets. People just want to be outraged and have things be PC. Comics maybe hype that up, but it’s true. Underrated/Lost moment no one saw: Def Jam 25th Anniversary Special wasn’t good but Chappelle’s 7-minute improv off-the-cuff bit is secretly funnier than anything he did in his 2 specials. I don’t think any other comic alive or ever could have pulled that off as smoothly/naturally.

Worst special: Amy Schumer (like her, but she wasn’t ready to be released and nothing worked: felt like she wanted in on Netflix $ guys like Chappelle/Seinfeld were getting. I get the fairness, but uh, Chappelle’s specials felt like an event.

OTHER SPECIALS (comedy album/non-HBO) SOLID: TJ Miller; Joe DeRosa; Kurt Braunholer; Brian Posehn Didn’t totally work for me but I like them: Jerrod Carmichael, Tiffany Hadish

STILL NEED TO CHECK OUT: Ari Shaffir; Jerry Seinfeld; Brian Regan;  Jen Kirkman; Judd Apatow; Hasaan Minaj; Michelle Wolf; Chris Gethard

Just loaded with too much good comedy. It’s never been better with podcasts, Netflix.

Favorite Podcasts: 1) Chapo Trap House 2) Pardon My Take 3) Frotcast 4) Bill Burr 5) Fuck the Chargers 6) Inactives 6) Revisionist History 7) Dollop 8) My Favorite Murder 9) Hound Tall Best Dollop Episodes of the Year: 1) Falling Pilot 2) Falling Pilot 3) Uber 4) Trump 5) Trump part 1 & 2 5) Enron 6) Phantom of the Open Dollop can be hit-or-miss. But the hits? Are as good as podcasting gets for history, comedy, and understanding the times we live in now. They would make for classic movies/docs. but specializes in overlooked, ridiculous stories that may have had massive historical ramifications (Dope Lake, Falling Pilot qualify for that except the ramifications part). Every once in a blue moon, they nail something timely (Enron) or current (Opium; Uber; Trump). They are the calm in the eye of a storm of utter insanity. Best individual episodes: -Bertcast (#217: Dave Anthony/Gareth Reynolds)-funny stand-up stories -Joey Diaz on Rogan/Bertcast -Tom Segura/Bert Kreischer Weight Loss Challenge (Joe Rogan) first episodes of the year)-funny/strangely inspiring. They did another challenge later in the years  -Revisionist History-Miss Buchanan’s Period of Adjustment (Brown v Board of Education)-the unintended and disastrous consequences still felt today of why the decision was awful in a way you didn’t consider. It’ devastating to hear -Crabfeast #292 (Gareth Reynolds) talks about being hired to entertain kids birthday parties for 5 years as a side job while trying to make it in comedy. I love stories of failure/struggle at shit jobs Funniest podcast: 600 Dollar Podcast-bummer it ended Frotcast is my next favorite for humor (Best of 2016/2017 episodes are most accessible rather than just being dropped in). Bill Burr always. Best guest on a podcast: James Adomian as Gorka (Chapo Trap House) Best political: Chapo Trap House (and, yes, I am a Grey Wolf) Best Sports: Pardon My Take Best fan hate/schadenfreude: Fuck the Chargers Most underrated: Butterfly Effect (Jon Ronson)-only 6 episodes 3 hours 30 minutes; does what Malcolm Gladwell does but more long-form on the porn industry History: Dollop (over Common Sense/Hardcore History) Best local radio show/podcast: Matty & Nick Overrated/Lukewarm/Forgettable: Crimetown; S-Town; Pod Save America, Larry Wilmore Crimetown and  S-Town’ are basically just accents. I didn’t like them the way other people did. Pod Save America is for boring people who don’t listen to podcasts and don’t know or bother for better alternatives. They are inoffensive dudes: it’s VERY basic. I think ‘Lovett or Leave It’ is better depending on the panel. Worst: Missing Richard Simmons Other podcasts I enjoy-Binge Mode, Bodega Boys, Dumb People Town, Emotional Hangs, FOFOP, Handsome Rambler (Hannibal Burress), Lovett or Leave It, We’ll See You in Hell Need to check out more-Crab Feast, Cum Town, In the Dark, Mogul Listen to if they have a good guest -Bertcast, Joe Rogan, WTF, You Made it Weird BEST EVENTS: 1) Pats-Steelers AFC Championship  2) Pats-Texans AFC Divisional  2nd half 3) Chance the Rapper: Boston Calling 4) 1975: Boston Calling 5) Thrice/Circa Survive: House of Blues sadly I couldn’t see Thrice or the stage at all in the mezzanine but I wasn’t mad 5) My Favorite Murder: Wilbur 6) Turnover: Royale 7) Hannibal Burress: Boston Calling 8) Frightened Rabbit: Boston Calling 9) Norm MacDonald @ Wilbur Theatre: Netflix taping 10) watching my friend mosh to Converge while I held his sweatshirt

WORST EVENTS: 1) My cousin at Boston Calling -just a disaster I won’t explain, but it was the probably the most disappointing thing that I experienced all year and shit on my weekend with my friend from LA. I basically had to become a babysitter and ditch my friend. 2) Pats-Texans AFC Championship Game -freezing 0 degree cold January game (expected) in the upper 300-level section and ours was the ONLY one not standing for a playoff game. Sat next to two kids under 8. Then someone brought in a newborn fucking baby that, no hyperbole, could not have been more than a month old. Insane. We snuck into the 200-level section at halftime and it ended up being a fucking party and playoff atmosphere that I wanted, expected, and had enjoyed before. 2) Migos  -last minute replacement for Solange: just looked/sounded completely unprepared and they knew it. Crowd didn’t seem to be into it (Boston is mainly white) and didn’t know the lyrics to chant back: when they did so, it failed, and they were laughing it off but knowing it wasn’t a good setting for them. 4) Bon Iver  -I liked his new album but doesn’t translate well live and to festivals. Super boring. Watching white people LOSE their shit to lukewarm Kenny G-esque saxophone solos (5 people playing the sax) was ridiculous.

MUSIC 1a) Brian Fallon-’If Your Prayers Don’t Get to Heaven’ 1b) Brian Fallon-’Forget Me Not’ 2) Menzingers-’˜Lookers’ 3) Lorde-’Perfect Places’ 4) Carly Rae Jepsen-’Cut to the Feeling’ 5) Turnover-’Breeze’ 6) Vallis Alps-’Fading’ 7) Kendrick Lamar-Humble’ 7) Calvin Harris/Frank Ocean/Migos-’Slide’ 9) Night Game-’the Outfield’ 10) Kesha-’Praying’

Album: Menzingers-’After the Party’ New Artist: Khalid Late pass: Turnover Late pass song: Lord Huron-’the Night We Met’

WORST POLITICAL: the chaos that comes with Trump-Waking up everyday in anxiety to check what happened on Twitter in America with politics/everything. It was, objectively, a trainwreck tire-fire. There’s too much news (which he obviously likes, even if it’s bad: he likes the attention and is a cable news addict). So, yeah, I don’t want to just be overloaded with it all the time, so fuck you forever. A year’s worth of shit is dumped every week. Thing is, I don’t hate Trump the most. He’s a stooge and he’s only doing everything the Republicans want anyway. It’s just that he’s such a dunce.

Worst music moment: 1) Katy Perry dancing w/ Migos, her music videos 2) Taylor Swift album rollout 3) Eminem’s cringe-y Trump freestyle that sounded as bad as Hamilton

Favorite debacles: Uber, Juicero, Fyre Festival Only because I can’t enjoy the Trump presidency debacles since it’s everyday life. Favorite Online Writer: Drew Magary Best health choice: switching to shoes with arch support -I can’t wear any of the major shoes like Nike anymore. I’ve got super flat feet. I was walking around for 2 months feeling like my foot was broken. I was in agony. Instant relief when I got better shoes. Most Confused thought: How the hell is Martin Shkreli the only evil rich asshole to go to jail? Sweetest/Coolest: Remember, Remember the 5th of November and beyond (super dumb inside joke to only person that might read this BS). I’ll leave it at that. I mean, I totally want to write about it, how awesome/funny it is, a phone call I made to my friend that was 12+ years in the making that he didn't expect. But yeah. I’ll just say it’s really sweet and just not jinx it.

Look ahead 2018 MUSIC: 1) Brian Fallon 2) Thrice 3) Chvrches 4) Wonder Years 5) Arctic Monkeys 6) Carly Rae Jepsen 7) 1975 8) Bruce Springsteen 9) Justin Timberlake NEW HBO: 1) Barry-Bill Hader as an assassin 2) Confederacy 3) Mosaic NEW NETFLIX SHOWS: 1) Maniac 2) Altered Carbon OTHER NEW SHOWS: 1) Corporate 2) the Terror 2) Counterpart 3) the Alienist 4) Waco 5) Good Girls  RETURNING TV: 1) True Detective 2) Atlanta SHOWS ENDING: the Americans  BOOKS: 1) Stephen King-’the Outsider’ 2) new Game of Thrones? 3) Michelle McNamara Gillian Flynn is overdue for a new book MOVIES: 1) Death of Stalin 2) Incredibles II 3) Soldado: Sicario II 4) Bodied 5) First Man-Chazzelle 6) Where’d You Go Bernadette-Linklater 7) Predator -Shane Black 8) Halloween -David Gordon Green/Danny McBride 9) Widows -Gillian Flynn/Steve McQueen 10) Creed II 11) Deadpool II 12) Hold the Dark 13) Scarface-Coen brothers 14) Black Panther 15) new ‘Cloverfield’ NEW COMEDY SPECIALS: 1) Bill Burr 2) Chris Rock 3)Tom Segura 4) Bert Kreischer, 5) Mike Birbiglia

Biggest bummer: no Game of Thrones until 2019, but I’d rather they not fuck it up

LOOK AHEAD TO 2018: -moving out of parent’ place in 2 weeks while still saving up to buy a house/condos  -uh, I just turned 31, so that took forever. I have a decent amount of $ saved up to secure a house, but I want a decent one. -brother’s wedding in April -and bachelor party -cousins getting married and engaged -happening in droves -Pats playoff run and maybe the last best stand in the Belichick-Brady era. Brady could easily play 3 more years, be a top 3-5 QB (he still is the best, most durable/toughest, consistent), break every record, but something to be said about going out on top. -Shows/Tours Hoping to see: Boston Calling, Bill Burr, Brian Fallon, Bert Kreischer, Thrice, Chappelle, Pats -Gaslight Anthem reunion shows for 10-year anniversary of ‘the 59 Sound’ AND hopefully coming back again

[claryaastark]

Would I love me?

062418

Isn’t it strange? To look at someone and see yourself. Not the virtual but the real image of you. Isn’t it strange? To see your thoughts on someone, to feel your emotions on someone, to see the things you admire on someone, to have a taste of your favorite food on someone. To have a sip of your favorite coffee on someone. To fight the ideas that you believe on someone. Isn’t it strange? To have a glimpse of your soul on someone, someone who isn’t you, and someone who is different from you.

Well, perhaps yes, perhaps no.

It was a very long and tiring day. I was on my way home, thinking about how bad I am on fixing the right format of my final thesis output. I really suck at revising. But instead of thinking about acads, I divert my attention into the bustling city. All I hear were the loud blasting sound of the vehicles, the gossip of two high school students on the right part of the bus. The gentle utterance of the woman in front who wears a red polo shirt with a coca-cola logo on the left side. And judging her looks, I think she is some sort of a saleswoman, maybe a manager? Or simply an employee as she talks to someone over the phone. Meanwhile, on the back part of my mind, it feels weird but I can also hear the clicking of coins as the bus’ conductor collected our fare. I hate being this meticulous and observer sometimes.

I almost throw myself in front as the driver stepped on the break. A hint, either someone will come down or someone will ride. And the latter thinking was right, a man on his mid-20s I guess? I looked away and focused myself on the street lights which are unsurprisingly blurred because of my myopia. Without looking, I felt that the man sat beside me, and for no apparent reason he pushed himself beside me. Wtf?

“You’re occupying too much seat and with the right comprehension, I regret to tell you that this seat is for two passenger, and YOU ARE OCCUPYING TOO MUCH.”

He repeated his first statement with diction and sarcasm.

“I’m sorry,” that’s all I said, I want to argue because of his reckless and improper behavior but I’m too tired to fight with an arrogant stranger.

But he rolled his eyes instead. And for the second time, I ignored his disrespectful behavior. It was a one hour ride to reach the street of our home. So I busied myself on scrolling the gallery of my phone.

“Are you okay?” He said out of nowhere.

“Huh? Me?” I said while pointing myself awkwardly.

“No, I am actually talking to myself” he said sarcastically and he rolled his eyes. For a man, this one is really arrogant.

“Uhh, I’m doing good I guess, and why do you asked?” I said awkwardly.

It was weird, after he freaked out because of the seat, he is now asking my current state like we were close or something? What’s with this man?

“Nothing, is it bad to ask? You should be thankful that I asked if you’re okay. You seem stressed and by looking at you, I can already tell that no one really cares for you, and everybody is ignoring you. Like you don’t belong anywhere”

And he laughed. He fucking laughed. First he mocked me, and now he is insulting me? Which I found very offensive. I’m dealing with too much stress right now, and I can’t even breathe properly because of so many reasons, and now, a stranger is insulting me like he knows what I’ve been dealing with? I felt a sudden pang on my chest. I am offended.

“Fuck-off” I said bravely, despite the fact that I nearly cried.

He was shocked, I can tell.

“Ooh. I’m sorry, I was just joking, and... I thought that it was the most unique way of telling sorry. I’m sorry for freaking out”

And that’s where we started. I do not know as well, what power of Gods and Goddesses had put us together. He was an arrogant man, disrespectful and talks a lot of offensive things, so am I. But I loved him anyway, and I admit, that I learned a lot of things from him. We were mainly pragmatic. He is no sweet, gentle and showy. But he was pure, sincere and mature.

But just like anyone else, he left. He came for no apparent reason, and he left for no apparent reason as well. Maybe, just maybe, on a scientific basis, what happened to us is repel. He is he and I am me, we are the same and attraction is really not working with us. I guess?

It was a normal Sunday afternoon. I was bored, and the only thing that gives me comfort during tedious times on this very dull life is : coffee. I made my way on the nearest coffee shop downtown.

The aroma of sweet vanilla and bitter cocoa welcomed me. The dream catcher that was hanging on the door had clicked, a signal that someone is making their way in or out. I look for my favorite spot, where I can peacefully sit and be drowned by the deafening silence. I ordered my favorite matcha coffee, and a piece of custard cake. I pulled the Young Adult novel series that I was reading since last week, I am on the third book of the series. It was Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Wings and Ruin, and damn, I just love the character of the God-like Rhysand. Most of the time, I wished that I was like the protagonist or the fictional characters on books, and movies. Might at least get a happy ending despite of struggles. But the fuck, no matter how good you are on escaping reality through arts and fictions, at the end of the day, you will sleep and wake up on the bitter slap of reality.

I put my earphones on, browsed my phone and look for my favorite app, the spotify. I am no great person, but I can brag that I got a very good taste when it comes to music. I can enumerate a lot of artists, genres, bands, albums, and the likes all day if someone would let me to. Though I’m bad at singing, at least, I got a big contribution through appreciation. I got them all! I played Movements’ Feel Something, one on the lists of my Album of the Year. Then here we go, my kind of escaping shits in life. What a very peaceful moment for me.

I was sitting alone and peacefully for almost one hour, in fact, I was halfway on finishing my cake and coffee until I noticed a man who’s staring at me. I faked a cough and tilted my body on the other side, to at least stop him from staring at me. But ugh! I can see on my peripheral vision the he’s still looking at me.

“What are you staring at?” I put my book on the table, loud enough for him to hear.

I didn’t get a verbal response, instead, he pouted his lips, a sign that he was pointing on something. Then I waved my book upward.

“On the book?” I asked with irritation, he is damn lazy. Can’t he speak?

“Yup, I love Feyre since day 1, and I didn’t trust Tamlin since then, that psychopath-sex-addict-obsessed-and-pseudo-lordshit.” He said coldly.

Ohh. So he read Maas’ ACOTAR?! My irritation suddenly turned into amusement. I removed my earphones and smiled at him. I patted the seat next to me, inviting him so we can talk more about this series. I mean, it is odd, to find someone who reads the same goddamn book that you are reading. Reading is a cool interest after all.

He sat hesitantly. I pushed the lock button to see what time is it. It’s 4:35 in the afternoon.

“Woaaah, man?”

I was taken aback when he spoke.

“You listen to Movements?”

Then I forgot that the album is still playing on my spotify app. And I guess, he saw it on my lock screen. But wait...

“Yup, and you too?” I said with amusement on my voice.

“Yeah, damn same man! Patrick is a wholesome piece of shit!”

And we laughed. Those laughter turned into weeks, months and years. A stranger that I met unexpectedly, is now a person that I used to know. Again, someone left my life.

We had the same interest in almost everything, we attended a lot of book signing, book launch. We bought a lot of albums from our favorite bands. We attended concert, gigs. We watched countless movies, we drank a lot of coffees. We travelled places to taste various delicacies and kind of foods. We jogged at sunrise, and walk at sunset. We were happy. Or... should I say, we were almost happy?

It is weird but he was totally just like me. We share the same interests, we fight the same ideologies, we have the same belief in almost everything. But again, he came to me, without me, asking for it, and now he didn’t even give me a chance to ask again, to ask why he left. I loved him, and I guess, things won’t really work on the way that we want them to be. So is us. And it’s sad.

It’s almost the end.

The end of the semester. And after all the hardships, sleepless nights, frustrations, failures, we are finally wearing the black toga! It’s the graduation season.

“Congrats, B!”

It was Kat, one of my thesis group mates. I returned her congratulations with a nod and smile. I’m too lazy to speak, it still overwhelms me that I survived and finished College with a Latin honor. Not to brag though.

I’m so excited to share this to him. I smiled, my heart is beating fast as I make my way to our favorite spot : under the mango tree.

It was a peaceful and underrated spot. Underrated to the point that we’re the only people who knew this place. I guess not all accidents are bad, because I found this place accidentally, so is he.

I smiled as I saw him playing the guitar again. He seems too preoccupied that he didn’t notice my arrival. I pouted my lips then a silly idea entered my mind. I tiptoed carefully then I cover his eyes from behind. He stopped his fingers from moving along with the guitar strings, and I felt him smile.

“Uhm, since I don’t want to mess with your tricks, let me pretend that I didn’t know it was you. So, who’s this?”

He joked.

I kissed his cheeks from behind and whispered.

“Your future wife saw her name on the final list of graduates and guess what, a Cum Laude!”

“Wow! Congrats, B! I’m proud of you. You finally made it!”

He hugged me tight.

I opened my eyes with the bittersweet memory. It’s been a year since I graduated College, and it is the first time that I visited this place again. Still peaceful, the only different thing is that, the people who used to own this place, are now the people who used to know each other.

For the third time, someone left me again. He is one of the kindest persons that I know. He brings out the kindness in me. A responsible man, very family and school oriented. He’s the one who makes me realize the essence of being responsible. He taught me to appreciate little things, and the most important thing that he planted me is, I realized that I am not bad. That we’re like each other.

He used to sing me a lot of songs, he motivates me to always do better not just for myself but for my family. I was happy. We were happy. But I guess, happiness is not enough to bind people together. There are things that are more important than being in love.

And that’s my biggest realization.

The stories that I’ve told you is just a piece of a whole. I didn’t tell you the hardships, the pains, the sleepless nights that I experienced when they left. It was hard, to be left behind. With or without explanations, it was hard.

I started asking myself what’s wrong with me. I started doubting myself, I hated myself. And I started feeling afraid of taking risks. I began to wonder, do these wrong people deserve my time, invested feelings, and love?

I met a stranger on a bus, and I took a piece of him. I was an arrogant, sarcastic and disrespectful being sometimes, so is he. We were the same. I saw my bad sides in him. And I fell in love with those evil. I learned to accept that there is good in every wicked.

I met a stranger on a coffee shop. I took a piece of him. I saw myself in him. The things that I admire, my interests, my ideologies and all the stuff that makes me happy. He will always be my real life reflection.

I met a stranger under the mango tree. I took a piece of him. I saw my good sides in him. I was kind, compassionate and I realized that I really care for those people around me. He made me love my soft spots.

I always see myself in them. They are like a reflection of my different sides. It was bitter, that they made me doubt myself. They made me feel insecure for leaving me behind. They made me hate myself. But after all, it was all about me. Piece by piece, I assemble myself into whole.

Funny because, I just fell in love with myself. That they are just the representation of who I truly am, that they are me. I was the stranger in the bus. I was the stranger in the coffee shop. I was the stranger under the mango tree. Every piece of them is equal to the remnants of myself that I was trying to build.

If I were them, would I love me? And I got the answer, yes, because I just did. I fell in love with myself.

© to owner of the photos.

️

[othersportsnews-blog]

Boston Celtics ahead Gordon Hayward discusses absolutely free company system - Boston Celtics Weblog

New Post has been published on https://othersportsnews.com/boston-celtics-ahead-gordon-hayward-discusses-absolutely-free-company-system-boston-celtics-weblog/

Boston Celtics ahead Gordon Hayward discusses absolutely free company system - Boston Celtics Weblog

In an prolonged job interview about his absolutely free-company system, All-Star ahead and new Celtic Gordon Hayward visted with ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski to explore the courtships of Boston, Utah and Miami in a wide-ranging pay a visit to on The Woj Pod, launched on Monday afternoon.

On his marriage with Celtics coach Brad Stevens:

“It is really been 7 several years given that he coached me [at Butler], and promptly, although, he called me July one, and right after that telephone call I considered like this just isn’t heading to be any distinct. With him, it was a single of those items wherever he built me really feel like even if I never go to Boston, it’s going to be good and we’ll however have that fantastic marriage and he’ll however be in my corner and he’ll however be rooting for me and supporting me. So I bought that emotion, much too. We did not have a driver. He’s the a single that picked me up and the a single that drove me to the resort and we bought lost a pair instances on the way. All those ideas were being put to mattress.”

On leaving his Miami pay a visit to right after Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra’s recruiting pitch:

“I consider the text I despatched to [agent] Mark [Bartelstein] was, ‘Wow, that’s heading to be really hard to conquer.’ … I asked [my wife] Robyn, and she reported anything like she could see herself dwelling there and that would be a really fantastic spot for us to be. ‘I really liked such and such of the wives and I could have a excellent marriage with them.’ It was all constructive things. It was anything wherever it was like ‘OK, now let us check out to just put that apart and go into Boston with a thoroughly clean slate.'”

With the highlight on Gordon Hayward this summer months, the absolutely free-agent swingman selected Boston. Ezra Shaw/Getty Visuals

On the Jazz consulting with Hayward prior to trading for place guard Ricky Rubio:

“It sort of was a tough predicament because I never want to be any individual that states, ‘You go get this participant and I am one hundred per cent in. If you trade for so and so, you get rid of this male, you go get him.’ … I did not want to make calls for because I did not know if I was heading to finish up there. It was not a positive factor. I had explained to them I preferred to check out these other groups, and that staying reported, they asked me, ‘How do you really feel about these fellas?’ and I would notify them and Ricky was a male that was higher on my listing.

“I consider he is an underrated place guard and can really move the ball and does a ton of items well, shot the ball well toward the finish of final year, much too. I consider I was actually in Miami when I observed the trade happened. It was a move in the appropriate path for the Jazz. … It was a good line of ‘I do not want to sit listed here and make calls for and assure I am heading to arrive back’ or anything at all like that, but at the very same time I considered there was a opportunity I would be again in Utah, so I would have cherished to participate in with Ricky.”

On leaving the Western Convention for the East

“When we are heading through this system and you keep viewing some of the massive-title fellas and it can be like, the West is loading up much more and much more and much more, it can be not anything wherever, like, I am heading to go East just so I never have to participate in them, ’cause you never want to operate from levels of competition at all. Which is not how I am. But there is a sense that it can be most likely a smarter factor as significantly as you’re not heading to have to fight it out with all these groups just to make it to the 2nd round, make it to the third round, supplying on your own a better opportunity versus a Golden Condition. So it undoubtedly crosses your intellect, one hundred per cent.

“You look at the division the Jazz are in, and that is a hard division. Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Portland, Denver. Like that’s heading to be a really hard division and you’re playing those groups 4 instances a 12 months. The All-Star factor is heading to be tough no subject what division you’re in, but surely with the volume of stars that are in the Western Convention now, particularly at the ahead placement, much too. It is really loaded, and you better have a really excellent first half of the year if you want to get in [to the All-Star Game]. A ton of that to me normally will come down to how your staff does. If your staff is profitable, then it can be heading to be a ton less difficult for you. Like I reported, that for positive crosses your intellect.”

Supply connection

[junker-town]

9 can’t-miss sporting events this weekend

“You want basketball? We got basketball. You want hockey? We got hockey. You want...”

May is one of the most underrated months of the sports calendar. We’re heading into sleepy summer, when the days are hot, long, and perfect for sitting in a ballpark, drinking cold beers and eating way too many peanuts. But we still have a lot of exciting sports before the doldrums set in, like NHL and NBA playoffs, as well as exciting golf, NASCAR, and horse racing events.

And I’m of the opinion that there are few things better than beautiful weather paired with beautiful dunks. So, without further ado, here’s a list of the best way to spend your sporty time this weekend.

WHAT TO WATCH

BASEBALL

The Brewers play the Cubs is this weekend, which should be good, because the Cubs are fun and the Brewers are currently in first. You can catch the game at 2:20 p.m. EST on CSCh, FSWI.

PREAKNESS

The Preakness Stakes are this weekend, and you can find our full coverage of Pimlico here. If I were a betting woman — which I am, I lost $26 at the Kentucky Derby — I’d put my money on Always Dreaming or Classic Empire. If Always Dreaming wins, we’ll have a Triple Crown bid on our hands. And wouldn’t that be fun?

NBA CONFERENCE FINALS

Get your brooms out of the closet, Cleveland and Oakland, because it looks like both the Cavaliers and the Warriors are on their way to doing some serious sweeping. The Celtics face off against the seemingly unstoppable LeBron and Friends for Game 2 on Friday at 8:30 pm on TNT. The Spurs will fight to keep their heads above water in the Warriors whirlpool for Game 3 on Saturday at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN. Then the Celtics and the Cavs will face off again for Game 3 on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. EST on TNT.

WNBA

There are a bunch of good games this weekend: You can find the full schedule here.

NHL CONFERENCE FINALS

Things are heating up on the ice (sorry): All games are on NBC: We’ve got the Penguins vs. Senators Game 4 on Friday at 8 p.m. EST. Predators vs. Ducks Game 5 on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. EST, and then Penguins vs. Senators Game 5 on Sunday at 3 p.m. EST.

Also, the the semifinals and gold medal game of the World Championships are this weekend. The last countries standing are Canada vs. Russia and Sweden vs. Finland. America isn’t in the running, so you might not care, but in the event that you do: you can watch on NHL network.

GOLF

Falling the week after The Players, the AT&T Byron Nelson is sometimes overlooked, but this year’s field actually has four of the top six players in the world: Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Jason Day, and defending champ Sergio Garcia are all in Dallas this week. Our golf guru Brendan Porath says: “That’s a legit field playing on a course that can yield super low numbers and get a little crazy on the weekend.”

You can watch Friday on the Golf Channel from 4-7 p.m. EST, and then Saturday and Sunday from 1-2:30. Head over to CBS on Saturday and Sunday from 3-6 p.m. EST to watch the rest.

NASCAR

The All-Star Race is when 16 drivers go around the track 70 times — with strange rules we won't get into — in an attempt to win a million dollars. You can watch it on Saturday at 8 p.m. EST on FS1 (the green flag will be at 8:25 approximately).

INDYCAR

Interesting in watching more cars go very fast around a track? You’re in luck: The Indy 500 qualifiers are this weekend! Coverage begins on ABC on Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. EST.

WRESTLING, DUDE

The Backlash pay-per-view is Sunday night: You can watch starting at 8 p.m. EST on WWE Network.

WHAT TO READ

ON SB NATION

Here’s our Texas Longhorns college football preview.

The Players Championship is golf’s biggest festival, by Brendan Porath.

All-NBA teams were released this week and the Warriors Death Lineup beat All NBA First team.

The NCAA moved forward with championship at Ole Miss despite Confederate flag concerns.

An afternoon with David Ortiz at a Barnes & Noble in NYC

The NBA draft lottery is endearingly stupid.

The Bears are becoming the NFL’s biggest punchline

Devonta Freeman can't escape the Super Bowl loss

9 ridiculous LeBron James stat lines from his 9 playoff games so far

The Sixers actually hold the keys to the NBA draft

Why the Celtics should take Markelle Fultz first in the draft

The Bachelorette bios are out and the dudes want you to know they’ve had sex before

VIDEO: Emery Jones is an elite quarterback.

OFF SB NATION

Is Always Dreaming a Triple Crown threat? Pat Forde, Yahoo! Sports

LeBron’s bizarre, rim-rattling struggles from the line, Tom Haberstroh, EPSN

The Lakers should draft De'Aaron Fox, NOT Lonzo Ball, Andrew Sharp, Sports Illustrated

Kelsey Plum and the audacity of hoops, Hallie Grossman, ESPN

Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar apologizes but still has work to do to win back his ‘gutted’ fans, Kaitlyn McGrath, The Athletic

The Orioles Always Win More Than They Should. There’s A Reason For That. Neil Paine, FiveThirtyEight

[aion-rsa]

How Marcia Lucas Saved Raiders of the Lost Ark’s Ending

https://ift.tt/3xcHHf5

Many people (rightfully) talk about the opening, tomb-raiding sequence of Raiders of the Lost Ark, which introduces adventurer archaeologist Indiana Jones to the audience as he lifts a golden idol from a booby-trapped Peruvian temple. But it’s not as common to hear about the movie’s ending…

No, I’m not talking about the scene in which the supernatural force inside the Ark of the Covenant melts the Nazis’ faces, or even the long, ominous final shot of the Ark being packaged away in some nondescript government warehouse—we talk about those plenty. I’m referring to the final scene between our hero, Dr. Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), and his partner-in-adventure Marion (Karen Allen). In the Raiders denouement, Marion meets a grumpy Indy on the steps of a Washington D.C. building (actually, the San Fransisco City Hall) after his fight with government bureaucrats, the latter of whom said they’ll be taking care of the Ark from here on out. Marion offers to buy Indy a drink, effectively cheering him up and leaving the characters, and their winning dynamic, on a positive note.

It’s the story beat that wraps up Indy’s first adventure in an emotionally satisfying way, but it wasn’t in the original cut of the film. We owe its inclusion to Marcia Lucas, the Academy Award-winning editor behind movies like Taxi Driver and Star Wars, who also happened to be married to George Lucas when Raiders of the Lost Ark was made. She’s one of the most underrated artists from this era of Hollywood filmmaking, and we don’t talk about her contributions on some of the biggest nerd blockbusters of all time enough. Today, we’re taking the excuse of Raiders‘ 40th anniversary to do just that.

The Feminist History of Hollywood Editing

Movie editing is both an underappreciated aspect of filmmaking and one of the more women-friendly roles in a Hollywood moviemaking apparatus that’s mostly unwelcoming to women in positions of creative authority. Historically, women were able to more easily enter the field of editing because jobs like physically cutting the film negative was viewed as more of a menial task. As Lawrence of Arabia editor Anne V. Coates once said: “I was taught, or I must have heard it somewhere, that as [editing] became a more important job, men started to get in on it. While it was just a background job, they let the women do it. But when people realized how interesting and creative editing could be, then the men elbowed the women out of the way and kind of took over.”

While more men have elbowed their way into the position as soon as it became cool, there remained and remains a slightly higher percentage of women in editing than in other positions of creative control. According to Women in Hollywood’s 2019 report, for the top 100-grossing films of the year, 23 percent of editors were women, compared to 20 percent of writers, 19 percent of executive producers, 12 percent of directors, and only two percent of cinematographers. (Women were best represented in the producer role, at 26 percent.)

“There are more women editors than people realize,” editor Thelma Schoonmaker, a frequent collaborator of Martin Scorsese, told The Telegraph in 2015 (via Film Supply). “I think we’re more able to keep our eye on what the film needs. Between men, sometimes it’s a real ego battle, and that’s very bad for the film.”

Editors control the pace of a film, and therefore have a huge impact on the story. “It’s all about tension,” explained Sally Menke (via Variety), who edited Quentin Tarantino’s films before her death in 2010. “So you follow the emotional arc of a character through a scene, even if, as in the opening of Inglourious Basterds, they’re just pouring a glass of milk or stuffing their pipe.” Menke described editing as “all emotional, impulsive, instinctual.”

Marcia Lucas, Editor and Story Collaborator

Marcia Lucas was an editorial voice in crafting movies like American Graffiti, Star Wars (for which she won the Oscar, alongside Richard Chew and Paul Hirsch), The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. It’s difficult to completely understand Marcia Lucas’ impact on George Lucas’ films, as much of her role (both credited and uncredited) in his films has been downplayed since the Lucas’ divorce in 1983, but there are some choice quotes from those integral to the making of these films that help shed light on the scope of her impact.

“You can see a huge difference in the films that he does now and the films that he did when he was married,” Mark Hamill said of Marcia’s impact on George’s films in Michael Kaminski’s 2008 book, The Secret History of Star Wars. “I know for a fact that Marcia Lucas was responsible for convincing him to keep that little ‘kiss for luck’ before Carrie [Fisher] and I swing across the chasm in the first [Star Wars] film: ‘Oh, I don’t like it, people laugh in the previews,’ and she said, ‘George, they’re laughing because it’s so sweet and unexpected’—and her influence was such that if she wanted to keep it, it was in. When the little mouse robot comes up when Harrison and I are delivering Chewbacca to the prison and he roars at it and it screams, sort of, and runs away, George wanted to cut that and Marcia insisted that he keep it.'”

Kaminski devotes an entire chapter in The Secret History of Star Wars to Marcia, writing: “Marcia, along with many of George’s friends, critiqued which characters worked, which ones didn’t, which scenes were good, and Lucas composed the script in this way. Marcia was always critical of Star Wars, but she was one of the few people Lucas listened to carefully, knowing she had a skill for carving out strong characters … Often, she was a voice of reason, giving him the bad news he secretly suspected—‘I’m real hard,’ she says, ‘but I only tell him what he already knows.’ … She kept her husband down to earth and reminded him of the need to have an emotional through-line in the film.”

It was Marcia who suggested that Obi-Wan die during Luke’s first visit to the Death Star. In the original draft of the script, Ben Kenobi escaped alongside Luke after a fight with Vader, as George explained to Rolling Stone in 1977 (via Syfy Wire).

“I was struggling with that plot problem when my wife suggested that I kill off Ben, which she thought was a pretty outrageous idea, and I said, ‘Well, that is an interesting idea, and I had been thinking about it’… Her first idea was to have Threepio get shot, and I said impossible because I wanted to start and end the film with the robots, I wanted the film to really be about the robots and have the theme be framework for the rest of the movie… But then the more I thought about Ben getting killed the more I liked the idea.”

Marcia also reshaped Star Wars‘ climactic trench run scene, which sees Luke Skywalker making a near-impossible run at the Death Star’s thermal exhaust port in order to take out the massive Imperial base. Darth Vader, in hot pursuit in his own TIE fighter, almost takes Luke’s X-wing out before Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon swoop in to knock Vader out of play, giving Luke a fighting chance at making the shot.

“The Death Star trench run was originally scripted entirely different, with Luke having two runs at the exhaust port,” Kaminski wrote in his book. “Marcia had reordered the shots almost from the ground up, trying to build tension lacking in the original scripted sequence, which was why this one was the most complicated… She warned George, ‘If the audience doesn’t cheer when Han Solo comes in at the last second in the Millennium Falcon to help Luke when he’s being chased by Darth Vader, the picture doesn’t work.'”

Marcia rarely gives interviews, but she did talk to Peter Biskind for his 1997 book Easy Riders, Raging Bull. In that interview (via New.com.au), she characterized her and George’s relationship like this: “I felt we were partners, partners in the ranch, partners in our home, and we did these films together. I wasn’t a 50 percent partner, but I felt I had something to bring to the table. I was the more emotional person who came from the heart, and George was the more intellectual and visual, and I thought that provided a nice balance.”

She continued: “But George would never acknowledge that to me. I think he resented my criticisms, felt that all I ever did was put him down. In his mind, I always stayed the stupid Valley girl. He never felt I had any talent, he never felt I was very smart and he never gave me much credit… When we were finishing Jedi, George told me he thought I was a pretty good editor. In the 16 years of our being together, I think that was the only time he complimented me.”

How Marcia Lucas Saved Raiders’ Ending

While Marcia Lucas did receive a credited role in the making of Raiders of the Lost Ark, she was instrumental in crafting the film’s denouement. Duwayne Dunham brings up the story in the above interview with Marcia (around the 6:30 mark) when he said, “Marcia was the last person to see [the rough cut of Raiders]. And the movie’s over, and we’re all patting one another on the back—Steven [Spielberg] and George, and [editor] Michael Kahn… and all of a sudden, Marcia says, ‘Say, fellas. I don’t want to rain on your parade, but just one thing…’ And everybody goes, ‘What?'”

“What happened to Marion?” Marcia jumped up to reenact the moment. In the rough cut of the film, the last time the viewer sees Marion on screen is when she’s tied to a stake having just narrowly avoided the same face-melting fate as those Nazis. And none of the male filmmakers working on the picture had noticed it. Apparently, the Marion and Indy scene on the steps that we get in Raiders‘ final version was a part of the original script, said Marcia, but Spielberg never shot it.

Marcia continued: “They didn’t think they needed it. I said, ‘I don’t want to leave Marion on the stick. We need to shoot that.’ So George went out and George shot the second unit scene of them coming down [the steps] … The movie needed it. It needed that little bit of closure.”

Read more

Movies

How Raiders of the Lost Ark Continues to Influence Pop Culture

By Kayti Burt

Movies

Indiana Jones 5 Set Photos Reveal Harrison Ford Back in Costume

By John Saavedra

It’s the kind of basic story edit that is obvious to many—and, for what it’s worth, did become so to Spielberg, Lucas, and company once Marcia Lucas pointed it out—and an example of just how homogenous the creative teams behind most major Hollywood blockbusters truly are.

Marcia Lucas is a brilliant editor whose contributions to Hollywood filmmaking are hugely underrated. That legacy should not be discounted. And part of her contribution to culture-changing movies like Star Wars are grounded in a basic emotional intelligence most girls and women are socialized to possess, and excel at employing… if only we’re let in the room.

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from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3giKw8R

[massmurdera]

2016 Favorites/Worst

Favorite Movie: the Nice Guys TV DRAMA: Game of Thrones

TV EPISODE: Game of Thrones’ finale TV COMEDY: Veep LIFE CHOICE: getting a new double-sized bed First bed I’ve had in 30 years now. Game-changer. I guess if THIS is the best thing about my year, I suck. But it’s the simple things, really.

SHIT: messing up my shoulder   Physical Therapy for tendinitis in my shoulder—lost 15 pounds down to 165, gained it back and now back around 180. Took 9 months for my shoulder to feel right again to lift or do really any basic shit.

BEST GAMES I ATTENDED: DIVISIONAL: Pats-Chiefs

Pats-Ravens was dope and felt like a playoff game on Monday Night. 10 rows from the field. But nothing beats a playoff win though and hanging with my brother. WORST GAME: Pats-Seahawks Pats lost—plus the crowd was REALLY fucking dead, Seahawk fans are underrated for how annoying they are. I did not know they had their own chant: “Sea” “Hawk”. It’s dumb. Raven fans remain my most hated with their ‘Seven Nation Army’ chant.

Favorite Live Show: Rihanna @ TD Garden Honorable: Thrice (House of Blues) Missed out on seeing Brian Fallon & Chvrches. Bummer.

BEST STAND-UP SHOW: Bill Burr & Robert Kelly @ Comics Come Home Didn’t go to any shows this year other than that. Went to a shit ton the year before. Favorite Podcast episode: Joe Rogan’s End of the World election night podcast: just because of what Bill Burr FAVORITE PODCAST: Bill Burr’s Monday Morning Podcast BEST NEW PODCAST: 600 Hundred Dollar Podcast Best Sports Podcast: Pardon My Take Favorite Record: Brian Fallon-‘Painkillers’ FAVORITE SONG: Francis & the Lights & Bon Iver: ‘Friends’

HONORABLE… Bon Iver-’33 God’; Brian Fallon-‘Rosemary’; Car Seat Headrest-’Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales’; Chance the Rapper-’No Problem’; Thrice-’Hurricane’ OTHER… Beyonce-‘All Night’;  Desiigner-‘Panda’; Explosions in the Sky-‘Disintegration Anxiety’; Fifth Harmony-‘Work From Home’; Hotelier-‘Goodness Pt 2’; Naked & Famous-‘Higher’; Pinegrove-‘Old Friends’; Sia-‘Reaper’; Sing Street-‘Drive It Like You Stole It’; Struts-‘Could Have Been Me’; Tegan & Sara-‘Boyfriend’; Tribe Called Quest-‘We the People’; Weeknd-‘Starboy’; Zayn-‘Like I Would’ (Remix)

BEST COVER: Dustin Kensrue-‘Round Here’ (Counting Crows) & ‘Down There by the Train’ (Tom Waits) Julien Baker-‘Photobooth’ (Death Cab for Cutie); Brian Fallon-‘Atlantic City’ (Bruce Springsteen) & ‘Won’t Back Down’ (Tom Petty) JUST CAN’T GET INTO: Drake; Solange BEST SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE PERFORMANCES: Chance the Rapper (‘Same Drugs’); Tribe Called Quest WORST SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE PERFORMANCES: Lady Gaga (like watching a 50-year old woman perform: Tony Bennett aged her); Solange; 21 Pilots

Late Pass bands: Beach Slang, Lana Del Rey, Story So Far Favorite Celebrity Death: Antonin Scalia (Supreme Court Justice) Just a cancer for America for my whole life. Unfortunately, GOP’s are cunts—and they withheld long enough to nominate someone somehow worse than him probably. Least Favorite Thing in America-Donald Trump is President, Neo-Nazis somehow being a thing

Favorite Sports Moment: Tom Brady being Tom Brady—enjoying that as a Pats fan is unreal. Don’t want it to end, but it’s going to soon. Least Favorite Sports Moment: Pats losing to Denver in AFC Championship Least Favorite Sports Story: Deflategate/Roger Goodell Trash.

Favorite non-Boston sports story: LeBron bringing a title to Cleveland and near-dunk over Draymond to cement the Finals. Favorite longreads: Anonymous rape victim’s reading to Brock Turner, the Stanford swimmer rapist douche who got off with a ridiculous light sentence, is made public

-‘Voyeur Motel’ (best accompanied w/ Justin Halpern podcast) -Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos takedowns (the whistleblower and the Vanity Fair profile). Frotcast mocking Holmes’ voice/mannerisms & wannabe Steve Jobs-isms were fun to hear in association wih this.   Favorite Snapchat follow: Kelly Oxford

Favorite Other: my brother getting engaged New Year Day—and 2 of my other friends being engaged (childhood friend; former roommate) Fucked Over Moment: Dentist abruptly leaving office for San Diego—and being footed with a $2,000 dollar bill—going back to 2012 I always thought this family dentist who took over overcharged, but this capped it off. My whole family got footed with bills going back years when we thought we were all paid up. I pay TWO different dental insurances to maximize what I get. 2014, I paid $5,000 out of pocket for a root canal and to get a crown in. Less than 6 months later, same tooth was fractured and I got an implant put in: $5,000. So $10K on 1 single fucking tooth, easily more than one third of what I make a year working full time. So I think I am in the clear—no. I got it knocked down in half when protesting it and feeling like it’s fraud. Still, that is well over one month’s pay when I had money stashed away for new car tires, Christmas gifts, etc. To be blindsided just sucks. At no time did my family receive notice that we owed anything in the mail or in person when we go every 6 months or less.

Best Stand-Up Performance in person: Bill Burr at Comics Come Home (bad airplane ride bit) Honorable: Robert Kelly (Comics Come Home)

BEST COMEDY/STAND-UP SPECIALS: Roast Battle (the Wave, everything)—super fun  OTHER -Goddamn Comedy Jam—hear Bill Burr talk about this on his podcast and then to see it done? Awesome. Went overlooked. -Pete Holmes-‘Faces & Sounds’ -Kyle Kinane-‘Loose in Chicago’ -Pete Davidson-‘SMD’: some jokes felt curbed from my own life/shitty college experience. He’s this young and this good already, goddamn.

-Patton Oswalt’s clown story is real good—but it’s not his best special. I tried going to that taping in San Francisco but it was the same time as Chvrches on Treasure Island. If they were on different days, I would have purchased a flight out in a heartbeat. Bummer. -Gary Gulman’s bit on Conan with the state abbreviation bit was great.

SOMEWHAT DISAPPOINTING… Hannibal Burress (saw him live—special didn’t capture how great he is)

RANDOM SPORTS MOMENTS -Allen Iverson’s 30-minute Hall of Fame speech. He gives shout-outs to Dipset and Jada Kiss. Amazing. -Kevin Harlan’s Idiot on the Field call during 49ers-Rams game. Better than that shit game.

Favorite books 1) Stephen King-11/22/63’ Time-travel + love story in 1960s + adventure. The time travel is cool, but you find yourself caring more for the love story. It’s magical. King is super readable—the book flies the fuck by. 2) Paul Neilan-‘Apathy & Other Small Victories’ Like Jonathan Tropper said, ‘funniest book that no one has read’. Just about every line is boiling with humor. 3) Jonathan Tropper-‘This is Where I Leave You’ Movie sucked even with a loaded cast, but good book. I love this and ‘the Book of Joe’ (that SHOULD make an awesome movie—but it will probably be fucked up). Tropper is an American Nick Hornby but better: lot of heart, humor. And his TV series, ‘Banshee’, was pulp fiction action that was the shit (kind of a rated-R ‘Justified’)—except the final season sucked. 4) Gillian Flynn-‘Sharp Objects’ Amy Adams is starring in a David Fincher mystery serial killer series on HBO. It’s going to be fucked up, dark, and excellent. 5) Ben Fountain-‘Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk’ Excellent Iraq war novel. Kind of reminded me of ‘the Outsiders’ and if you kind of view it like that, it becomes cooler: the soldiers don’t TOTALLY belong in the setting they are in and are being used to promote a war. All takes place at a football game with flashbacks. 6) David Mitchell-‘Slade House’ Kind of a Sci-Fi version of ‘the Shining’. Quick book—I plan on getting more into Mitchell. I know his books all link up and I missed something in the last chapter that related to the ‘Bone Clocks’ or whatever. 7) Gillian Flynn-‘Dark Places’ Doesn’t flow as well as ‘Gone Girl’ or ‘Sharp Objects’ but it’s got killer twists and a cool plot. 8) Emily St John Mandel-‘Station 11’ Survival apocalypse + Shakespeare. 9) ‘Second Life of Nick Mason’ Solid crime thriller that could be a solid movie. 10) Lev Grossman-‘Magicians’ Didn’t get into this the way I wished. Harry Potter meets Chronicles of Narnia with some Rated-R shit; I thought that would make it more cool/fun, but nope. Like Quentin, you’re just left feeling incessantly let down. 11) Craig Clevenger-‘Contortionist Handbook’ Kind of Chuck Pahlaniuk-ish when he was on fire-ish.

OKAY… -Stephen King-‘Joyland’ MEH -‘Between World & Me’ (boring; short book—but felt like one big run-on sentence; felt like it needed an editor; I’ve read Coates stuff before that’s good, but this was boring. Like Kendrick Lamar’s music, I acknowledge this is important and doing something good, but I don’t think it was for me?) -Chuck Klosterman-‘But What if We’re Wrong’ (disappointing, forgettable, meh) -Denis Johnson-‘Jesus’ Son’ (lot of praise for this collected short stories of drugs and a lot of my favorite writers cite this as among their favorites—but didn’t do anything for me) -Drew Magary-‘the Hike’—Best online writer for a decade now. But I was glad when I finished the book that I was done with it. MOVIES THAT SUCKED -Ghostbusters Wrongfully hated before it came out for starring women by weird dudes. But, uh, no way to sugarcoat this, but this was a complete piece of shit. I want to fire Hemsworth’s character into the sun and it crescendos at the climax. Funny people are in the cast, but it’s like they wouldn’t let them be funny. Just awful idea and bad tone. Lenny Clarke, in a throwaway scene as a Sox fan, should not have the funniest moment of the movie. Movies that were as bad as everybody said they were -Batman vs Superman worth watching if only for the ‘MARTHA’ scene twist they had; holy shit, it’s stupid. I bought the uncut version just to see if it in full because Joe fucking Derosa said that this was the best Batman movie ever; so I bought it just to see how stupid he is—and I’m the moron now.

-Suicide Squad Honest Trailers breaking down Enchantress’ dancing is great. CRITIC MOVIES I Thought Sucked: the Lobster; the Witch

DISAPPOINTING SEASONS FROM GOOD SHOWS: Banshee; Mr Robot DONALD TRUMP: I don’t think I’ve felt sadder/shocked/crushed. I was in a daze/cloud for 3 days or so—luckily I took the day after the election off work in case something unimaginable happened (Trump being elected). There was always the fear it would happen, but I just didn’t think it would or even imagined how I would feel until it happened. Just complete despair and disbelief. Hillary winning would have been awful too, but Trump? THAT guy? Next 4 years are going to be interesting: there’s going to be a ton of protests/strikes to fight off madmen politicians, corporations, Neo-Nazis, everything-Occupy Wall Street never got off the ground with a unified message. But people like me just might end up protesting for the first time in my life because everything will be at stake. I don’t know what will happen, but it’s naive to not be scared and fear the worst (war; climate change; water shortage causing mass migrations/deaths in my lifetime; corporations fucking over workers; a country splitting; power being in the wrong hands in a surveillance state; violence; regressive agendas; Wall Street getting more power and another bubble collapse) HILLARY OVER BERNIE: because Bernie would have won. Democratic establishment rigged the system and chose the worst possible candidate in an election in which establishment politicians were hated and anger was tapped into (good: Bernie, Bad: Trump). Choose the candidate that people are enthusiastic about. ‘It was her turn’ is bullshit. It was her turn in 2008 but she lost to a guy with a Muslim-sounding name, basically lost to a 70-year old Socialist Jew, and then to Donald f’n Trump. When Democrats start choosing better candidates, they will win every election. Shut the fuck up about politics -oh, right.