#the stupidity keeps the metaphorical rent low
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performing-personhood · 6 days ago
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I had to reblog from this user specifically because they clearly get it.
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DOCTOR WHO | JOY TO THE WORLD + TUMBLR REACTIONS
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izzy-b-hands · 1 year ago
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daisy, plumeria, and lavender!
Ella!! Thank u 🫂❤️!
Daisy— what is your idea of the perfect date?
I want to say something fancy, because I do have Dream Date Ideas that are v fancy (a night to the theatre, or going on a slightly longer drive to visit something interesting, a nice dinner somewhere normally neither person could afford but you can if you split the bill, etc) but all of those rely on me being in the right frame of mind and prepared to deal with any new or weird sensory stuff. And unfortunately, my brain isn't doing so hot in regulating that at the current time.
So for now, I would definitely lean towards something like a regular movie date, or even better for me personally:
Rent a hotel room, split the cost (so neither of you have to know where the other person lives if you aren't at a stage to be trusting them with that info yet), and have a movie night and/or gaming night there. You can order room service, be comfortable and assured that if the person winds up being an ass, you can call downstairs and get the fuck out of there. Plus, if it gets to the point of fucking, you're already on the bed and can multitask with whatever you're watching.
It's admittedly a weirdly lazy one (or so I've been told lmao), but I don't like the idea of putting high expectations on this stuff if you don't have/want to. It should be enough to want to hang out together at all, see how you feel abt each other, and go from there to different/fancier/etc date stuff.
Plumeria— are you currently working on any creative projects? if so, what kinds?
I'm working on my Izzy Hands Bingo Card prompts (six done! But more to go if I want to get a blackout on the card!) and also plan to do some of the prompts for the Our Flag Au-gust post that's been going around.
Aside from those I should really be trying to make a video poem for Button Poetry's video contest (opens in a few days!), but I've such low confidence in my writing at the moment that I'm not sure i can be vulnerable enough to write a decent poem lmao.
Lavender— what is currently on your mind (aside from this ask game)?
I'm stoned off my ass, so a stupid number of things, which is only slightly more than when I'm sober, but-
I want to be more productive, but I keep burning out whenever I even vaguely try to put the metaphorical pedal to the metal and I don't know how to fix myself. There are dishes I need to do. I need to remember how to be vulnerable and a little more stupid and vapid so I can get out of my own head and be brave enough to post more writing, original and fic. I need another tattoo. I need to ace my job interview tomorrow so I can make more money faster and be able to afford said tattoo. I need my grandfather to be okay after his knee replacement sx this fall (he probably will be but he's got high blood pressure and our family has an unfortunate pattern of dying during routine medical procedures, and he already nearly did that once with his appendix while he was in the Air Force, but who's to say that doesn't mean this time it would be The Time?) I should be better. I want to learn to be okay with being worse.
And I have a slice of cake Housemate bought for me tonight, sitting beside me. If I can manage even three more calls on my next shift (930-1215) then I'll let myself eat it as a reward, even though I need a lot more than three calls. But I'm trying not to think about that last bit too much.
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just-some-sad-kiddo · 1 year ago
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Today has been nice and productive. I finally was able to start running again this week. What sucks is that during the winter it rains a lot, so I can't run in the muddy grass and I have to run on the hard path instead which really hurts my legs. Oh well!
Anyway, got loads done.
Work was alright. Dennis scolded me again and threatened to fire me for the third time since I've started there but, you know. It is what it is.
Calvin's girlfriend stopped by. He was attempting to keep his girlfriend business on the down-low but Jayne had already told everyone in town so there was no use hiding it.
Also, there's a new competing Chinese place in town. Oliver brought home some takeaway from there on Wednesday when I had my ballet class, so I had their leftovers. Jayne somehow already knew that I'd done this, because of course she knew.
Anyway, It's not much competition. The Golden Cottage just has a more authentic vibe to it and I doubt people will stop coming any time soon.
Shannon is having issues. Apparently, Dad has been charging him $200 in rent per month and Shannon somehow owes him $500 worth of truck repairs.
Dad has always been a "sink or swim" kind of parent. The problem is, those kinds of parents never consider that their kid is gonna be the one to sink. Shannon is a sinker. He needs help.
On top of that, Shannon hates welding school. And everyone knew it was a bad idea. It's just that Shannon just goes with the flow. He settles for the simplest possible solution because Dad isn't guiding him properly. Why did nobody talk him out of stupid welding school.
And that truck. That truck sucks. It's a total gas hog and it has dad's name written all over it (metaphorically.) So now Shannon is stuck going to school for something he doesn't want to go to, paying for a shitty beat-up truck he didn't pick out, and Dad is barely helping him.
It's all so annoying.
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andythane · 4 years ago
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HOLY WATER CANNOT HELP YOU NOW  I’VE COME TO BURN YOUR KINGDOM DOWN
MAY 19TH, 2021. OUTSIDE OF LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA. notes & tw: this is literally all just bloody, brutal violence of every kind. andy, along side wes and wyatt, gets revenge on the rogue’s responsible for attacking rowan in february. italics are flashbacks, ps. tw for very graphic murder, lots of blood, violence, gore (eye, specifically), stabbing, decapitation/dismemberment,  tc ahead. please read at your own discretion, it’s a lot.
The first time he kills someone, he’s twenty years old. Four months after he’d been officially patched into the club, reconciled with Rowan, and started this new chapter of his life. He knew what the patch sewn to his cut meant -- He had grown up next to it, had seen his father come home at all hours of the night covered in blood with a smile on his face as he slapped his gun onto the kitchen table and happily declared he needed a beer. That being said, doing it yourself and hearing stories were so comically different it made his head spin. 
Most of the ride, he’s quiet, staring out the window of the Wyatt’s jeep as they drive through the backroads. There’s not much conversation to be had once they’ve gone over the plan, all three men knowing exactly what they’re going to this warehouse for. It’s roughly a two hour car ride, giving Andy enough time to go mentally go over the weapons he’s brought with him -- The gun tucked into his cut, one tucked into the waistband of his pants, one strapped to his ankle; The knife tucked in his boot strap, the other in the sheath of his belt. He’s nothing if not prepared. Andy goes over their placement for the thousandth, unneeded time, thinking through every what if scenario he could find himself in. It’s not often that his paranoid nature actually becomes a benefit. 
They know the layout of the building, where each of them will cover, and the amount of people that will be there -- But he likes to prepare for the worst and the best, knowing from experience that they’re likely going to meet a mixture of both. Andy’s planned and executed this kind of thing enough times to know how to go about it blindfolded. At this point, it’s just like riding a bike. 
He wonders what Wes is thinking, if his mind drifts back to Jace asleep at home, unaware of the violence going on around him; If Wyatt is imagining Iris in her hospital bed three months ago, scared of the oxygen mask strapped to her face. All Andy can think of is Rowan, sobbing in his arms while struggling not to move and potentially injure herself further, tearfully telling him why she hadn’t shown up to dinner.
It’s been a while since he’s found himself in this kind of mindset, having hung up his metaphoric hat when it comes to hitman jobs in the last few years. After his time in prison, Andy knew he had to lay low -- Being on parole, and having a daughter to raise changed his priorities. While the money from his ‘freelancing’ had been nice, he and Rowan had enough saved to last them a lifetime, especially with his cut of the guns the club sold, and her salary. There was no need for it now, not like when they were struggling to pay rent and put Rowan through school. Though, he couldn’t deny the high that came with planning a job was one Andy didn’t know he desperately missed. It used to scare him, how exciting he found this -- The rush that came from a stake out, figuring out each detail all the way down to the small possibility, the thrill of actually pulling his gun and breaking through the door. Now he welcomes it like an old friend. 
He always imagined it would be a fair fight -- Or at least, not like this. Whenever the thought came to mind, he pictured himself wrestling some bond villain looking guy, the two diving for the gun that had been cast aside. It was naive, childish even -- But he didn’t expect that he’d be pointing his gun at someone who couldn’t be much older than him, one who was sobbing through swollen eyes, pleading for his life. His father kept his hand’s firmly planted on the kid’s shoulder’s to keep him from squirming out of the rickety chair, acting like this was a prize for a job well done. This could easily have been me, Andy thinks. Had this job gone wrong, he has no doubt Cronus wouldn’t hesitate to put him into that chair, make an example out of his son. Only, it didn’t. It was nothing short of an absolute success. 
His father says something, but Andy doesn’t hear it. Jason is somewhere in the background cheering him on. Andy’s heart is pounding in his ears, both hands holding tightly to his gun, fighting to conceal the fact that they’re shaking. The gun is pointed directly at the poor kid’s head, Cronus’ steady hands keeping him from getting away from his obvious fate. Andy glances to his father for a moment, the wild look in the man’s surely meant to be read as adrenaline fueled pride. This is Andy’s first job after being patched in, and he had proved himself thus far. Now he just needed to finish this. Andy wishes he had the strength to lift his arms just that much higher, and put a bullet in his father’s head. 
In that moment, he thinks of Rowan; Part of him wishes he hadn’t, based on the way his jaw clenches and his chest constricts -- He doesn’t want her to ever know about the horrible things he’s going to do, the horrible thing he’s about to do. Rowan shouldn’t have to see him for what he really is, what he’ll grow up to be: A monster. The rational part of himself reminds him that she already knows, and she’s still waiting for him at home, ready to pull him into open arms once he passes through the front door. 
He pulls the trigger. 
The kid’s blood splatters across Andy’s face.
They move quietly, each taking different sections of the warehouse. Wes covers the open space where the guns lie, Wyatt takes the small offices turned into ‘bedrooms’, while Andy takes the conference turned war room. He knows this is only a piece of the Rogues puzzle, but it’s a step in the right direction. They don’t plan on leaving anyone behind to tell the others what happened -- The grizzly scene and blood splattered across the walls will paint the picture for them. 
His back remains against the wall, pulling his gun from his cut as he moves quietly, the three men in the conference room too distracted by their own conversation to notice Andy slipped into the dimly lit room. He makes presence known by firing a bullet into one man’s -- His name is Sam, based on the conversation Andy heard before entering -- knee, which creates a flurry of action as everyone tries to dive for the guns on the table. It’s the obvious move, one that Andy had anticipated. His hand reaches for the underside of the table between the four men seconds after his gun first fires, sending the flimsy plastic table over, their guns scattered and out of reach. 
Sam fits one of the descriptions Will gave him, of a shorter, stocky man, blacked out ink covering him aside from a poorly done mermaid tattoo covering his throat. The man across from Sam fits the bill, as well  -- Blonde, long hair, scar across his cheek, entire right arm covered in blacked out tattoos. Jack, Andy’s memory recalls. The man in question tries to make a run for one of the guns, but Andy stops him with a bullet to the stomach. Enough to knock him down, but not enough to immediately kill him. He wants them alive for this, to feel the same terror and pain Rowan did that night. They’re not going to be lucky enough to get a bullet to the head first. 
The third and final man is one Andy recognizes now that he’s face to face. His name is Danny, but he’d been called Tex during his time in the club. (The nickname was stupid then, and it’s stupid now, Andy thinks.) He had his ink blacked out and left town roughly ten years ago after screwing the club over. The surprise reunion is enough to catch Tex off guard, enough that he hesitates, eyes narrowing as he takes in the scene in front of them. Both Sam and Jack bleeding on the floor, the former clutching his leg and screaming to the third to Do something, you fucking idiot. So, he does. The man charges forward, managing to knock Andy to the ground given the fact that he’s got about a hundred pounds on him. 
They struggle as Tex tries to wrestle the gun away from Andy, before it gets thrown to the side in the fight. Punches are thrown on both ends, a ringing settling in Andy’s ears after a particular blow to the side of his head, though it doesn’t deter him. Andy manages to roll them over, holding the other man down with knee pressing down on his throat. Tex claws, scratches, and hits Andy in an attempt to get out from under him, but the cut off of oxygen makes it more difficult. He gets a few good blows in, though -- There’s blood dribbling down Andy’s arms from scratches, bruises that have already begun to form. He doesn’t notice, too focused on keeping the man under him from getting out of his grip. His hands move to hold Tex’s head, Andy’s thumbs digging into the inner corners of his eyes, gouging them as deeply as he can manage. 
He can’t help but wonder if the three men have realized this isn’t about killing them; It’s about watching them suffer. 
The fact that Tyson is still breathing is enough to send Andy into a tailspin. He had hoped the spineless piece of shit had fucked off somewhere, given that he hadn’t made an appearance in his and Rowan’s life in quite some time. Andy’s attempts at optimism always seem to be met with harsh reality, though, one that consistently proves the obvious: It’s childish to try and see the best out of a situation like this. He knows this as he throws the man off his front porch, knowing he has to take care of this problem himself -- Restraining orders and the local cops just aren’t going to cut it. Not when he and Rowan have a fragile six month old daughter sleeping in a crib down the hall.  
His downfall is the fact that he reacts, he doesn’t plan. Andy knows better. The reason he’s been so successful with the club is his commitment to discretion, detail, and planning. He analyzes that night over and over for the next three years from the comfort of his prison cell, imagining how he would have killed Tyson if he had taken the time to do it properly -- Instead of grabbing his baseball bat, and kicking the front door in. He would have made it last longer, Andy decided. Prolong his suffering, before letting him gain a shred of hope that he’d make it out alive — Before finally putting him in the ground. That being said, the satisfaction that comes from the look of pure fear on Tyson’s face the moment he sees Andy come through the door? Unmatched. 
The mental image is one that never fails to bring him a swell of pride. He can still hear the sound of his bat crushing bone, feel the way his heart skipped a beat with each and every hit. It didn’t matter if there was blood flying, covering him in the evidence; The fact that he hadn’t been quiet in his entrance; The sound of distant sirens headed their way, after a loud, shrill scream rang out. All that mattered was crushing Tyson’s skull, ending the iron grip he’s had on Rowan’s life for the better half of a decade. He didn’t care what happened next, as long as his wife and daughter were able to live in a world where Tyson Grant didn’t. 
He only regrets not being able to finish the job that night. 
It occurs to him, as his foot comes stomping down on Sam’s already shot knee, that he hasn’t done anything like this since prison. He’s gone on runs, jobs, the works -- Hell, he even threatened to brain Will in his own home. Everything pales in comparison, though. In prison, they had to be more creative; Breaking bones, cutting off fingers, slitting throats before the guards showed up. It was all quick and dirty, done by hand. There was no choice in the matter -- If he wanted to finish out his sentence, see his wife and daughter, even have a chance of making it to the end of the week at all, Andy had to get rid of the other guy. The protection that came with being a Primordial didn’t go as far as one would hope. There’s a reason they used to refer to him as the Grim Reaper. Years later, and he’s made it clear that he hasn’t lost his touch. 
This man doesn’t want to fucking die, though. The way he keeps clawing at Andy, yelling obscenities between each scream of pain. He makes proclamations about how he’s going to kill Andy, calling him every name in the book as he tries and fails to fight for his life. A hard kick to the head shuts him up for a moment, disorienting him enough before Sam musters up enough energy to stab Andy in the calf, almost successful in knocking him to the floor. Clearly, the man got a last surge of something, accompanied by a knife he hadn’t realized Sam had on him.  This only provokes an annoyed grunt and eye roll from Andy. He stumbles down onto one knee from the surprise of the movement, a stab to the man’s arm with the knife from his boot strap gets Sam to let go. He does, going limp as his knife is stuck in Andy’s calf. It doesn’t stop him from continuing the effort though, within a moment Andy’s on top of his unconscious victim, stabbing him in the chest over and over again like he’s in a cheap horror movie. 
In that moment, he loses himself  -- Something snaps, taking him back to the night he’d gotten a call that Rowan was in the hospital, the way he so desperately pushed down all of the anger and rage that came with knowing she’d been hurt at the hands of these assholes. Everything he’s fought to hold at bay for the sake of his wife, the kids, his sobriety, the club -- It all bubbles to the surface now, when he’s not worrying about keeping the kids safe and Rowan above water. When all there is is this room, and him, and the people that have to pay for the crimes they’ve committed. 
Every emotion he’s expertly avoided, every ounce of it boils over as he stabs the Rogue over and over until they’re both covered in blood. The need for vengeance for what they did, the way they turned Rowan’s life upside down and left her afraid to look over her shoulder; Guilt over the fact that Andy, yet again, couldn’t protect the person he holds so dearly; The power that comes with knowing these men are at his mercy, ready to beg for their lives in a last ditch effort to survive what’s coming next. It all hits him like a freight train, leaving him a little dizzy. Though, that may be from the hits he’s taken himself, blood he’s lost -- Andy doesn’t take the time to find out. Instead, he comes to once he realizes the man under him is long dead, having succumbed to the injuries inflicted after the first few stabs. 
The revelation stuns Andy momentarily, as he tries to catch his breath. If there was any witness to this, they’d see how frenzied the moment had become, that there was far more pent of emotion attached to this than Andy initially realized. Eyes glance to the two men left -- Tex, having passed out, and Jack slumped against a wall trying to stay conscious, a string of profanities passing his lips in a hoarse voice. His attention turns to his hands after that, steady but covered in a mixture of Sam’s blood and his own. A blood soaked piece of hair falls forward and onto his cheek as Andy wipes his hands off on his shirt, a wave of frustration running through him. Of fucking course he’d get blood in his hair, and now -- More on his face. He makes a mental note to book an appointment for a haircut. 
They cut the man’s fingers off one by one, moving slowly and deliberately. The man in question, Gerald, is tied to a chair in the kitchen of the prison, thanks to a guard that’s on the MC’s payroll. No one is going to give a second thought to the sound of muffled screams or a hacksaw from the locked up tool shed going missing for the night. Andy’s only been out of the hospital for a day at this point -- The guy he’s torturing, having been responsible for his brush with near-death.  Gerald felt bold enough to go after Andy with a homemade shank, trying to get even for some issue he held with Cronus. It was laughable to him, considering Andy hated his father just as much as this sorry bastard.
Andy had hoped to make it through his sentence by keeping his head down (for the most part, at least) doing what he needed, sticking with the right crowd -- Club members who were serving life sentences. His name gained him respect, plenty of other inmates happy to keep an eye on Cronus’ boy, but the revenge he’s getting tonight is what gains him his reputation. He becomes the go-to for these kinds of things, the one his fellow club members call on to take care of problems they have behind bars. Rowan’s words ring in his head -- Do what you have to do to stay alive. Come back to me. Playing executioner for the club wasn’t his first choice, but if it’s what kept him safe and gets him home, so fucking be it. Plus, killing the man who had tried to murder him in the showers brought Andy plenty of satisfaction. What kind of person would he be if he let some jaded idiot get away with almost killing him, right?
First the fingers, then his hands, and so on and so forth -- Dismemberment isn’t something new, Andy himself has had to cut up a few bodies so they can get rid of the evidence before. Though, typically speaking, the person isn’t still alive as they do it. Watching this guy suffer was just icing on the cake. Each time Gerald passes out, they cauterize the wound and pull out the smelling salts to give him a fake sense of safety -- That now they’re done, eye for an eye, the message is sent. Only each time he’s lulled into a half-dazed security, they stuff the rag back in his mouth and cut off another limb. It was going to be a long night.
He finds himself with a moment where he can tend to the wound he’s gotten — It's not a particularly deep stab, but it hurts like a bitch and that stupid knife looks fucking dull once he pulls it out and can actually get a good look at it. Not wasting anytime, and to  make sure he doesn’t lose too much blood, Andy works quickly. The last thing he needs is to pass out and run the risk of getting himself killed, or having to have Wes haul him out over his shoulder. He has to get creative for now, knowing they can’t exactly make a pit stop at the ER on the way back and he doesn’t want to call Rowan after, given the fact that they’re bringing one of the Rogues back with them to get information out of -- So he moves to rip off part of Sam’s torn pant leg so that he can get pressure on the wound. Using a piece of folded up denim, he holds it against his injury, tying a piece tightly around his calf to keep it in place. It’s not great, but it’ll do for now, until he can get to a proper first aid kit. Andy can practically hear Rowan in the back of his head, scolding him for getting hurt in the first place. Once she knows the context, he’d imagine she probably wouldn’t think much of the injury after. 
The sound of Tex’s screams pulled his attention, the man having regained consciousness and begun to panic -- The knee jerk reaction from Andy is to pull his gun back out, silencing Tex with a bullet to the chest. Andy unloads the rest of his clip into the man as he approaches, finding himself feeling lighter and lighter with each shot, despite the fact that he’s now limping. An unbearable amount of helplessness has weighed on him the last six months — Like all he can do is watch these terrible things happen from the sidelines, only able to help tend to the aftermath rather than keep his loved ones safe. What has left him lying awake at night as been the feeling that he’s constantly one step behind, always a minute too late — Whether it’s the shipment getting hijacked and Blake getting to him hours later, homes being burned down while he’s shooting up a warehouse, his own wife lying beaten and bloody in the middle of the street while he sits at a restaurant waiting for her. One thing after the other.
It’s unclear what kind of man it makes him to take such pleasure in revenge -- That he isn’t haunted at night by the people he’s killed or the homes he’s wrecked for the right amount of cash. Maybe it’s proof that he really is his father’s son, or that he’s just as heartless as people believe him to be. Andy’s not sure if it matters much at this point. The idea of knowing he is sending these assholes to an early grave gives him a sense of peace he hasn’t felt in a long time, one he wasn’t sure he’d ever know again after Valentine’s Day. This isn’t the end of the Rogues, but it’s retribution for what they’ve done, bringing him more clarity than ever before. Anyone who hurts the people he loves deserves to die screaming. 
Confusion finds him when the sound of a gun firing fills his ears with a familiar ringing, a bullet hitting the dead man on the ground in front of him rather than its intended target. Andy follows the direction it came from to find a wild eyed Jack, having managed to pull himself across the floor in a bloody heap, far enough to get to a gun, clearly struggling to hold himself up right even while propped against the turned over table. He had the element of surprise on his side, but Andy has the benefit of not having been shot in the stomach -- So he moves quickly across the small room, easily smacking the gun out of the man’s hand. It’s clear Jack is running on pure adrenaline and spite, though now that he got his one shot in, it’s running out. Fists colliding with the man’s jaw only speed up the process, though before he finally gives up and slumps over to side and lands on the floor -- He spits blood back at Andy, clearly trying to get in one last fuck you before he dies. Jack doesn’t get much of a reaction out of Andy, instead he stands up fully, giving the half-conscious man a good look before the heel of his boot meets his head over and over until he is long dead and unrecognizable. 
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allie1804-fan · 3 years ago
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Kerensa
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 , Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8
Chapter 9
The Griefcast Record
Keanu got out of the taxi at Whistledown Studios and headed in. Cariad and the recoding team greeted him and they got set up with teas, biscuits and a box of tissues on the table
“God, it’s just like a therapist’s room!” he joked
“Best to be prepared! They might be for me anyhow” she laughed.
Before we start though, can I just spend a moment being a fangirl and just say how amazing it is for me to meet you. There are so many films of yours I love – and my kids adore Duke Caboom!”
“ahh yes, Canada’s Greatest Stuntman” he boomed - “that was a fun role”
“and so perfectly cast right?”
“Yeah yeah I guess. I’m glad they picked me from the roster of Canadians they had lined up!”
“Ok, so thanks for letting me just gush for a moment! Are you ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be!”
“First tell me the story of how we managed to get you as a guest.”
“Ok so right, so errm my friend Kerry is the link. I was filming in Cornwall this past year and uh, after we wrapped I was so charmed by the place that I decided to stay and rent a place for a couple of months down there. Kerry was my landlady and one day I came across her walking along the beach, tears streaming down her face and she was listening to your show which she highly recommended to me. I admit it took a bit of persuading to listen, given the crying thing!, but she told me it was more reassuring and uplifting than upsetting. Anyway, so sorry, this is turning into a shaggy dog tale!, so I did give it a go, really loved it
“Oh thank you”
“So then one day we were discussing an episode about baby loss, something we had in common and had talked about before and she said I should do the show. Now THAT took a lot more thought and persuasion, but she said it would do me good and there would be the angle of the man’s perspective and being someone with a public profile going through loss and you know yada, yada yada so here I am, finally!
“That’s amazing and thank you so much to Kerry for listening to the show and for your persuasive talents in getting this lovely man here today. So Keanu, as you know we always start with this question. Who are we remembering today?”
“Today we’re remembering my daughter Ava who was stillborn 23 years ago this year.”
“Ok so would you mind telling me a little bit about what happened.”
“So, ahh, it was in the spring of 1999. The Matrix had just come out and my life was pretty full on. My girlfriend Jennifer became pregnant around that time. It was unplanned and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t super happy about it at first, but she wanted to keep the baby and I said I’d support her, you know, and as time went on I was more excited than worried about becoming a dad.”
“And how was the pregnancy? How far along was Jennifer when Ava died?”
“Everything seemed fine, she, Ava was growing and developing normally. Jen was healthy. Then I was away filming, a god awful project as well! And, Um, ahh, give me a minute” Keanu cleared his throat and took a drink of water.
“I swore I wouldn’t do this” he said gesturing at himself tearing up, his voice cracking slightly “but sometimes, the memories can be, uhhh, very powerful, very vivid”
“Yes you can be taken right back like it just happened can’t you, however long ago - you know I’m 20 plus years out now and still very occasionally I can be catapulted back there. So, everything looked good but you were away, filming - and I’m sure it can’t have been an awful film”
Keanu snorted
“I assure you it was!, yes anyway, Jen went for a last check up at a little over 8 months and uh, there was no heartbeat. Ava had died and so I flew home and she had to, you know, give birth in a maternity unit, hearing all the other babies being born - I mean they have to do it there because you still might need, you know, that expertise and they tried to keep us private but those places they get busy and she had to go through all that with those sounds sometimes breaking through”
“Yes I hear that that is a common experience here in the UK too and one that SANDS, the still birth charity is trying to address. It’s interesting your choice of words: “she went through that”, presumably you were there so didn’t you go through it too?”
“Yeah, yeah - I guess, I just meant that it was worse, more traumatic mentally for her and obviously physically too”
“Sure sure, but awful for both of you nonetheless”
“Indeed, it was” Keanu paused a moment as though something important had just occurred to him “and she was beautiful too you know”
“awwwww” Cariad moaned sympathetically
“she was beautiful, perfect and warm, just silent, still”
Keanu looked up at Cariad, his eyes filled with tears once more and they both just sat for a moment, taking in the pain of his loss. Eventually, Cariad started the conversation again.
“And did you both hold her? Did the hospital staff help you, you know, to say goodbye to her?”
Yeah yeah, we did hold her. They left us be for a good amount of time, they took prints of her hands and feet and a photograph. You know they were supportive in that way, especially as we knew already, you know, that she had died, they were prepared. I don’t think we were, I mean I don’t think you can prepare for that, right? Your brain won’t let you, not really.”
“Yeah yeah, we talk about that a lot on the show, there are people who say it’s better when someone dies of an illness so you know it’s coming whereas with a sudden death you suffer more shock but I still think there’s a degree of shock you experience even when you have some warning.
“Yeah yeah and it’s so stupid, we’re all just so dumb because death is coming man, to us all but we just don’t want to think about it!” He chuckled
“So are you someone who thinks about death a lot?”
“Yeah yeah it’s always there in the back of my mind, spurring me on to do things, make that film, write that script, build that bike!”
“And do you think that’s because of losing Ava?”
“I don’t know, no not really, well maybe a little but that’s come more with getting older I think - I didn’t really have that reaction at the time”
“So what was your reaction, how did you grieve for Ava?”
Another chuckle came from Keanu.
“A more appropriate question might be how didn’t I grieve for her, at the time I mean!”
“Oh?”
“Hee hee you’re like a therapist, leaving the gaps for me to fill!”
“Some of my critics say I interrupt too much and start talking about me so…..”
“We’ll that’s not very nice is it? And also not true!”
“Thanks - Comes with the territory I guess, so please, go on, fill the gap”
“What was the question again?”
“It was about how you did or didn’t grieve for Ava after her birth?”
“Mmmm well we buried her, in the new year, she was born on Christmas Eve, which is uhhh, another tricky thing about it”
“Oh that’s awful, death on high days and holidays just adds another layer right?”
“Yeah yeah. They do - so um after that I went to Georgia to shoot a movie!”
“So you threw yourself into work then?”
“Yup, my trusty friend in times of crisis. In fact I did, let me see, 1, 2, 3, yes 3 movies in the next year and then started training for the Matrix 2 and 3 so I guess the answer is I put my feelings in a tightly locked metaphorical box and didn’t open it for quite some time!”
“And was there intrusion from the press , I guess this is pre the days of the internet being so developed and social media but how was that side of it?”
“Yeah there was some, you know photographers with long lenses at the cemetery”
“God! I can’t imagine”
“Yeah pretty low, right but in a way because of the taboo of stillbirth, people, you know interviewers and stuff, didn’t ask me about it. I mean I would sometimes say “no personal questions” but at other times that hasn’t stopped people.”
“Oh like what?”
“I’m thinking of when River, River Phoenix died, even if I said I wouldn’t answer anything personal they would still ask how I felt, did I miss him. I mean, fuck! Oh sorry I can swear right?”
“Swear away, sure, and god, fuck yeah, that deserved it. I mean obviously that’s a bit of a contradiction coming from me given we’re here and I’m making you talk about private things but”
“But I agreed, that’s the deal here, it’s not the deal to segue from “how was it jumping onto a moving bus to “how do you feel about your best friend dying!”
“Absolutely. So you said you dealt with it, but much later? What about Jennifer, how did she cope?”
“Umm, I don’t know - I mean what’s normal in that situation? She cried, she wailed like a wounded animal. Her mum moved in. I was away and not there to support her like I should have been. We weren’t really a couple either by then. We were going to co-parent but not as a romantic couple you know so it was complicated. To be honest I think a little bit of her died right then - and then she died herself the following April so you know, what you see before you is the last man standing of that family unit that might have been.”
“Woo that’s tough. You’ve really been through the mill as it were.”
“Yeah, yeah but you know I AM still standing. I’m lucky.”
“And how did Jennifer die?”
“Car wreck”
“I’m so sorry”
“Thanks, me too”
“So how is that, being the only one left? Some people talk about losing key people as losing their witness.”
“Yes! That’s it, exactly. Now it’s just me here to remember Ava, to remember her coming in and out of this world”
Yeah yeah that’s hard. So you said you dealt with it later? How did that come about?”
“Midlife crisis I guess - when I turned 40, I had a bit of a meltdown, you know, wondering about my goals, what I had or hadn’t achieved. I basically “ran away” alone to Paris on my 40th birthday, to escape any awful surprise party! And you know, I quietly fell apart in a vat of wine! When I went home my friend Janey was just like “Keanu, it’s time, time for therapy!”
“Ahhh it’s great isn’t it, big fans of that on the show!”
“Yeah I guess, I mean, ahhh I wasn’t that comfortable taking the lid off but yeah it did me a favour and helped sort my shit out. And a lot of the guilt and pain of losing Ava was gone through belatedly during that process”
“And why did you feel guilty?”
“Mmmm well I think I started to think I was a curse - my sister had been sick with leukemia, Ava had died, Jen had died, River, others as well and I felt guilty for that stupid film I was working on when it happened! So yeah, there were lots of rocks to lift up, inspect what lay beneath and deal with my emotions.”
“Well you seem like you have your shit sorted now”
“I’m a work in progress!”
“So now you’re, 23 years on, how do you remember Ava and Jen now.”
“Well it’s hard to forget the day for Ava what with it being Christmas Eve. I sometimes visit their graves - after dark if I can to avoid being hounded”
“What has the world come to when a person can’t be left in peace to visit a loved one’s resting place”
“Yeah it’s fucked up right?”
“Precisely.”
“And what else? , well I do have one little thing that my friend Alex who’s an artist, made for me. It was because of something she said she did to remember her lost loved ones. She would get a Christmas ornament that in some way represented the person and hang it on her tree at Christmas. So she made this beautiful little stained glass bird to hang up on my tree or in the house if I don’t have a tree which sometimes happens. So, uh, Ava’s name in Latin would mean bird or bird like so that’s why she did that, yes so I always think of her then and you know I would think about where she would be at a given point like when my friends kids have started school again after summer break I would think “oh Ava would be starting you know kindergarten or elementary school etc.”
“And do your family share in that?”
“Yeah, yeah - especially my mom. She has no grandchildren so yeah she remembers and we’ll have a moment sometimes yeah but it can be lonely, not having the other parent there who shares the same loss.”
“Yes I’m sure it is. Grief can be very lonely sometimes. Well, Keanu I really can’t thank you enough for coming on my little podcast and sharing your experience of baby loss and loss in the public spotlight with us today. Thank you so much for telling us about your beautiful baby girl Ava and her mum Jen.”
“Thanks for having me - I know this might sound weird, but it’s been a pleasure talking with you and remembering them today so, thank you and thanks to Kerry who suggested it. She said it would be good for my soul and she, as always, was right!”
@fortheloveoffanfic @omg-imagine @iworshipkeanureeves @toomanystoriessolittletime @ladyreapermc @paperplanesandwallflowers @patric9
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nobody-wants-ice-cream · 5 years ago
Text
Everything Wrong With The Umbrella Academy. Episode 2, Run Boy Run.
Link to the first episode!
Same disclaimer as last episode: This is all in good fun! I wanted to do a really nitpicky re-watch of the series and found some really cool and interesting things I didn’t notice before. This is meant to have a Cinema Sins-esque tone. However, I did take off a lot more sins than Cinema Sins would have because I do genuinely like the series and the people that made it possible. So all of the good things got one sin off and all the bad things got one sin added. This is a really long post, so grab some popcorn. If there’s anything that I missed, feel free to add it!
Run Boy Run 
Grace started the Herr Carlson record before the kids even arrived. How are they supposed to learn if they miss the first few seconds of it?  What is the point of the record if they’re not even around to hear all of it?+1
The kids all have their hands on the chairs except for Five, showing that he will do something out of the ordinary. -1
Diego is causing property damage to Reggie’s chairs and Reggie allows this. Be consistent, show! Is Reggie lenient or strict? You could make the argument that Reggie doesn’t care about the chair because he’s rich. In that case, sinning for capitalism.+1
Klaus is already into drugs at the age of 13. We can see him rolling a blunt, and doing it quite well, presumably. +1
Ben is straight up allowed to read at the table. So then what is the point of the record if the kids don’t have to pay attention to it? +1
The kids expressions when Five stabs the table. The ones that we see are pure gold. Especially Klaus’s. Well done Dante Albidone. -1
Diego’s side eye when Five starts arguing with Reggie. This is the perfect expression for “my sibling is about to get in trouble”, so props to Blake Talabis. -1
Vanya’s side eye is also good. TJ McGibbon did well. -1
We see Five jump faster than a bullet, but he’s significantly slower when jumping across the table. +1
Reggie is a dick to Five, who just wants to explore his powers. We know that it’s dangerous because we see Five getting stuck, but Five doesn’t think that that is really a possibility. Reggie only talks in confusing ice and acorn metaphors. +1
Five’s face when Reggie presents the ice and acorn metaphor. -1
Vanya and Allison both give Five a look in this scene. This is what makes Five hesitate. Two of his siblings tell him it’s a bad idea, but he does it anyway because he’s a stubborn bastard. +1
Grace’s face drops when Five starts running out the door. Allison and Vanya also look absolutely horrified. -1
“Run Boy Run” is a little on the nose. Especially once you remember that The Boy is Five’s hero name in the comics. +1
No one cares that a 13 year old popped into existence out of nowhere when Five starts traveling into the future. +1
Easter egg! There is an ice cream cart outside the academy. If you’ve read Dallas, you know why I think that’s significant. Also, it happens to be my icon. -1
Five’s look of complete disbelief and horror when he is faced with the apocalypse for the first time. -1
“Vanya! Ben!” This has created a lot of curiosity in the fandom. In the comics he left before they were named, but in the show it looks like he chose to keep Number Five. Why? +1
The apocalypse looks very believable. -1
Title screen umbrella! -1
The awesome scene with Ellen Page and Aidan Gallagher continues in the next episode. -1
Where would Five have heard that rumor about Twinkies having an endless shelf life? It’s not like he was very exposed to pop culture as a kid. +1
Vanya doesn’t keep her Violin in the case. She leaves it proped on a chair, which is basically begging gravity to come and fuck up your instrument. +1
Five plays the pronoun game and doesn’t tell Vanya about Dolores. +1
The last thing Five heard for 40 years was Reggie’s stupid metaphor. That’s a sin for the metaphor and a sin for Five’s pain and suffering. +2
Vanya gives someone with a thirteen-year-old’s liver a few shots worth of hard liquor in a tall glass. +1
“You think I didn’t try everything to get back to my family?” This quote is Five at his core. It shows his exact motivation. Aidan Gallagher really could have screwed up with this line because it’s so raw, but the delivery doesn’t suck. Well done. -1
Is that liquor real? Aidan Gallagher’s face suggests that it is and he only takes two sips of it. Also, Five takes a sip when it’s just a bit, pours more, then takes another sip, and doesn’t drink any more of it. Sin for showmakers possibly giving a kid real alcohol and sin for Five only taking a sip after pouring a lot out. +1
However, if the alcohol is fake, which I really hope it is, sin off for Aidan Gallagher’s acting. -1
Five expects Vanya to believe his crazy apocalypse story. I had a hard time believing it when we were shown flashbacks as the audience. It wasn’t until they brought in the Commission that I actually believed it. If Five had explained the Commission, just like he did to Luther, then Vanya would have had an easier time believing him. +1
Vanya calls Five crazy and then expects him to not be hurt and want to stay in her apartment. +1
Vanya takes the pills after an emotionally charged scene. Pills-foreshadowing. -1
Five’s hands are shaking when he’s looking at the eyeball. This shows both his uncertainty, with this being his only clue, and shows that he is unwilling to leave his sister again even after she called him insane. -1
Mary J. Bilge. -1
The Lunar Motor Lodge has rates by the week, day, and hour. The Commission is super sleazy for putting Hazel and Cha Cha in a place that also rents by the hour. +1
Hazel and Cha Cha are an underrated duo. The “It smells like cat piss” dialogue is honestly really funny. -1
Obvious villains are obvious. I know they’re meant to be obvious, but it doesn’t change the fact that a show with a lot of subtlety just kind of thrust Hazel and Cha Cha in there with no subtlety at all. +1
Hazel stores the briefcase away and throws a screw, foreshadowing that this will be an important detail later. -1
No one, including police, notices the blinking and beeping, neon green tracker. +1
Patch is sort of right. Five made a jump in the middle of two of the local hires, which caused them to shoot each other. -1
“The guy had an eclair and the kid had coffee”. Patch’s side eye says that she thinks Agnes is getting her story mixed up. If we didn’t see what happened, then the audience wouldn’t believe Agnes either. Great acting Ashley Madekwe. -1
Agnes doesn’t stay in the back room. She crawls out so her head can dramatically pop up over the counter after Five leaves. This is a stupid decision on Agnes’s part.+1
Agnes is seen handling American money. Somehow we as a fandom didn’t notice this. Klaus also uses American money to buy drugs later in this episode. Sinning the showmakers not specifying which state at the very least, but reluctantly because I know that’s a reference to the comics. +1
“What other detective”. Camera cuts to Diego exiting Griddys. -1
Diego is a vigilante. What he is doing impedes the law. In this instance, we want him to stop Patch’s investigation because we know that the answer leads back to Five, which would be bad for the plot. However, Patch’s annoyance suggests Diego has done this to her before. How many murderers have gone free because Diego intervenes in Patch’s cases? +1
Diego did not consent to being searched and having his personal belongings taken. +1
Ebay exists but there is no internet or smartphones. What? +1
Diego thinks that this looks like a botched robbery. No way in hell does this look like a robbery of a doughnut shop in any universe. A bank robbery, yeah sure, but not a doughnut shop. What kind of doughnut shop has the kind of money that requires multiple guys with very large weapons, Diego? +1
The way Patch is described to Five by Diego in a later episode does not match the personality she actually has. +1
A whole crowd of people had nothing better to do than to watch the cops investigate a murder scene in a densely populated city. +1
Is Luther hitting his head after he wakes up a character choice? He does it again with the model airplane. After the low ceilings on the moon for four years, you would think that he would learn to duck. +1
Emmy Raver-Lampman gives an amazing performance when talking to Luther about Claire. -1
Allison has multiple posters of herself in her room. I am sinning for her younger self’s narcissism. +1
However, this narcissism goes hand in hand with Allison as a character. Props to the set designers for making these posters and hanging them up. It adds detail to Allison’s room and really shows who she was as a character. -1
“When Claire was little I used to read her books about the moon. I’d tell her her Uncle was living up there” Allison doesn’t remember that Luther was on the moon and therefore shouldn’t know about her divorce in the first episode, but says this in the second episode. +1
Luther looks so genuinely happy at being Claire’s personal superhero. -1
The ghosts torturing Klaus. +1
That fucking animal print thing Klaus is wearing. +1
Robert Sheehan is very, very attractive. This makes up for the monstrosity Klaus is wearing. -1
“You know you talk in your sleep.” “Oh there’s no point. You’re out of drugs” I love Ben as a character so much. -1
“Shut your piehole, Ben. Said with love” smooch. I love this line. -1
“I’ve got a crazy idea. Why not try starting your day with… a glass of orange juice or some eggs”. Justin Min’s delivery of this line kills me every time. -1
Pogo is really vague about why the papers in Reggie’s box are important. If he said something about the papers detailing the Academy’s powers in explicit detail, Klaus would have tried harder to get them back. +1
We don’t see Klaus pull out the Red Journal in episode one. +1
“Liar” “Drop dead” “Low blow”. This is an iconic interaction for a reason. -1
Pogo knows that Klaus can talk to ghosts, but remains offended when Klaus tells a ghost to shut up. +1
“Really awful, terrible, depressing times” Reggie is a dick to his children. +7
Vanya sleeps with the door to her bedroom open, even though we saw her close it. So she must have gotten up to open the door and didn’t notice Five was gone. +1
Where did Five go all night? Did he sleep back in the Academy? It couldn’t have taken him this long to get to the MeriTech building, so what happened to him? He changed to a clean uniform, so presumably he went to the Academy, but why did the show vague this? Did he walk into a department store and buy/steal a clean shirt?+1
Only the plot relevant person notices Five. The front desk girl doesn’t question why he’s there. And that is her literal job. I would know, I run the front desk at a medical office. If you don’t greet the patients then you’re not doing your job, front desk girl.+1
“Must have just [click] popped out.” iconic.-1
Five decides that violence is the best course of action to get the information he needs, directly contradicting “I know how to do everything” +1
The 1938 fingerprints may be Five’s. However, police usually discard this kind of evidence because there is a very reasonable doubt. Not to mention that anyone could have touched the knife. It’s a public place. Forensic evidence is not as reliable as it is portrayed in the media. +1
Diego is an asshole to everyone, but especially to Patch. She’s right, Diego is obstructing justice. How many murderers have gone free because Diego interfered in an investigation? +1
Diego’s boiler room is way too big to be a boiler room. +1
Luther’s reflection in Diego’s mask shows that Luther wants to know what it would be like to be number two instead of number one. Luther can’t lead for shit and subconsciously wishes that he didn’t have to. -1
With an aerial shot of the Academy from the outside, we can see that Reggie never bothered to take the laundromat sign off the mansion or that Reggie sold ad space on the mansion exterior. +1
Reggie is a dick to animals. See: the animal skeletons and the taxidermy. +1
Part of the mansion is painted an ugly neon green for no reason. +1
“Sorry I left without saying goodbye”. The “both times” is unspoken. -1
Vanya apologises for calling him crazy and being dismissive, but still suggests he needs mental help. He does, but maybe suggest it later when he isn’t convinced you think he’s insane? +1
Five lies to Vanya about something stupid. If he said that he was having Klaus help him with the apocalypse, I don’t think she would have minded. +1
Why does Five have so many toys in his room? Including a baseball? +1
Klaus comes out of the wardrobe as loudly as possible. The mansion does not have sound proofing (see: I Think We’re Alone Now dance party). There is no way in hell Vanya didn’t hear him. +1
This is the last time Vanya and Five interact. +1
Five’s room is more childish than a thirteen-year-old’s room should be. It honestly looks like he was the favorite because his room has so many toys in it. Like Reggie wanted to win his favor or something. Sinning for the weird set design choice and for Reggie being an asshole. +1 
The fake circumstances in which Five was born in their cover story gives me immense joy. -1
In one camera angle, if you look carefully they cut two takes of “what a disturbing glimpse into that thing you call a brain”. In the one where we can’t see his face properly, Aidan Gallagher is openly smiling. Corpsing. +1
Robert Sheehan is funny. -1
Syd the tow truck guy doesn’t really look like Sean Sullivan (actor that plays adult Five) enough for Cha Cha, a trained assassin, to not see that he isn’t their mark. +1
Hazel eating a sandwich in this scene. Also the “Italian for dinner line”. -1
And Cha Cha sees the differences between Syd and Five later! +1
“Time travel’s a bitch” “Especially without a briefcase” There's other time travel methods than briefcase or being Five? Elaborate. +1
Patrick is a dick to Allison. We understand why later, but really Patrick, you’re going to be an asshole when her father just died? Don’t get me wrong, Reggie abused the hell out of her, but still! Patrick should have let Allison talk to Claire. +1
Vanya tries to comfort Allison even though she knows nothing about the situation other than that it happened. She’s never even met Patrick! +1
Allison is clearly trying to get away from this conversation with Vanya, but Vanya presses on. +1
“Well if I wanted advice, Vanya, no offence, it wouldn’t be from you”. This is why Vanya doesn’t take Allison’s advice about Leonard. Also, Allison is a dick to Vanya. +1
This scene with Allison and Vanya is interesting. Allison is projecting her pain and taking it out on Vanya, who really should have seen and heard what happened enough to leave her alone. Both of them are the bad guy here regardless of how you slice it. I am sinning the show for this moment because they really tried to villainize Allison for this scene, but she does have some well thought out points and is in an emotionally compromised state. Or in other words, the fight between Allison and Vanya is stupid. +1
Grant/Lance/whatever gave Klaus and Five valuable office time. Doctors do not have time for this sort of crap. Shouldn’t this guy have patients? +1
Aidan Gallagher looks to the actor playing Grant/Lance/whatever as if he’s waiting for him to say his line. I see this all the time with younger kids in theatre, but they can get away with it if their character has a reason to look at that character. That being said, Five would have no reason to do this.+1
The sound effect that plays when Klaus slaps Five is really out of place. +1
Seeing Robert Sheehan slap Aidan Gallagher. -1
Klaus pauses as if he’s listening to Ben before he picks up the snowglobe. -1
The snowglobe. Robert Sheehan pretending to be Klaus pretending to be Five’s crazy dad. Acting. -1
Five looks like a proud grandfather when Klaus gets Lance to show them the records. -1
Five doesn’t pay Klaus for that brilliant acting. Also, how was Five planning to give Klaus $20. He doesn’t have any money nor do we ever see him with money. Five is a cheapskate. +1
Klaus calls Five “old man”. I thought that was just a fandom thing lmao. -1
“You must be horny as hell”. Great Klaus line, but super weird that he’s saying it to someone that looks thirteen. +1
Klaus is wearing the shirt that goes with his nicest outfit underneath Reggie’s pinstripe suit. -1
“Goodbye Dolores”, a song from the soundtrack, starts playing when Five starts talking about Dolores. This is good placement of that song because we later learn that he left her in the apocalypse when he left to work for the Commission. -1
Five is a dick to Klaus. Klaus is really trying to connect with his long lost brother, but Five jumps away. +1
That taxi driver doesn’t freak out and cause a car accident when a random kid appears in his car. +1
Also, how did Five pay for that taxi? Did he jump out of the moving vehicle too? +1
Leonard is so obvious from the start. So charming that he’s slimy. +1
Vanya can’t see this and is actually attracted to him. This may go back to that conversation with Allison when she asks if Vanya has ever been in a relationship. For all we know, the answer is no. +1
Leonard took three years of German in prison. I don't think American jails are that nice. +1
Leonard picks up another person’s instrument without their consent. As a musician, this is very, very painful. +2
Diego is paranoid, but also observant as fuck. -1
But how did he get his weapons back from the police? Are knives open carry in whatever state this is in? There are some states where Diego’s harness would be legal so it’s possible. I’ll have to look into this. Sinning the show for being vauge as fuck. +1
Luther didn’t notice the boiler room door open. +1
Diego throws weapons on his siblings. +1
Reginald Hargreeves died March 21st. The funeral is on March 24th. This is way too soon. It should have been a week or two not two days between the date of death and the funeral. Especially considering Luther suspects Reggie was murdered. And if you say that Reggie, Pogo, or Grace bribed them, then I’m sinning for bribery.+1
Diego eats a raw egg. Salmonella headass. +2
David Castaneda eats a raw egg. Why did you make him do this? It adds nothing to the character other than making Diego look dumb as hell. +1
Vanya interrupts her student while he’s playing and doing well. Whenever my teacher does that I get a minor heart attack. +1
Leonard is already lying to Vanya. He manipulates her by saying his Dad was into music and that's why he’s taking violin lessons. +1
An actual place named “Bricktown” in a place called “The City.” Sigh. +1
It is four o’clock when Leonard takes his lesson, but then after the lesson we cut to night time. What happened in those couple hours, show? Are you really saying that these characters did nothing interesting for all that time? +1
Emmy Raver-Lampman clearly isn’t smoking. Which is fine because she’s a Broadway actress and needs her voice/lungs for that part of her career. It’s weird because it shows that Allison isn't smoking. +1
Pogo scolds Allison for her language. Allison is an adult, Pogo. +1
Klaus made a drink at a young age and Reggie didn’t stop him. Or talk to him. He recorded Klaus drinking, but didn’t care. +1
The showmakers show us Allison’s face for dramatic tension instead of showing us the tape. This was a good choice and I feel it helped the narative.-1
They show a sign “Gimbel Brothers Seniors Tuesdays 10% Off.” after Five walks by. -1
The most awkward and dopey smile in existence when Five finds Dolores. -1
They play “Goodbye Dolores” after he finds her. That could have worked if they transposed it to the major key. Hello Dolores. +1
“Goodbye Dolores” transitioning into “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen. -1
This action sequence is great. -1
Hazel’s wrist splint. -1
Five cuts Cha Cha with a trowel. -1
The dual screen thing is cool. -1
Five literally jumps over a stand and somehow doesn’t get shot. Hazel and Cha Cha have Stormtrooper aim. +1
How did Hazel and Cha Cha leave? You would think the police would notice someone leaving through the back. +1
Similarly, how did Five and Dolores get out of this? Did he wait until he could jump and teleport outside the store? Can he teleport that far? +1
How did Diego get another police scanner so quickly? Unless that’s the scanner Patch confiscated? +1
“I gotta show you something” +1
Once again, Five should be a lot sweatier. What are these magic, sweat absorbing things you can buy in a department store and where can I buy them? +1
Five sees an eyeball and immediately picks it up for no reason. He doesn’t even know that’s Luther’s body yet. He just picked up an eye for no reason. +1
Five as a thirteen-year-old boy saw his siblings' dead bodies. Sinning for trauma. +1
Aidan Gallagher portrays this trauma well. -1
Overall Review: 
I love this episode and had a hard time finding things wrong with it. I genuinely like this episode and I think that it could have stood alone as the pilot. 
Some acting things I noticed, David Castaneda, John Magaro (Leonard), and Ashley Madekwe were the standouts this episode. All three brought something interesting to the table this episode and I look forward to re-watching their scenes. I wish Madekwe and Magaro all the best as I know that they probably won’t be returning for season two. 
The plot thickens! Hazel and Cha Cha were introduced in a very obvious way compared to the subtle way they introduced Leonard. There is a reason I adore this episode, and it’s not just for Klaus slapping Five (though that is part of it). 
Total: 52
Sentence: We saw Diego eat a raw egg. That’s punishment enough for this episode. 
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lampd-intheface · 6 years ago
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sanders sides as witches
me: please... write what the people want... my lizard brain: witch au. now.
they all coincidentally live in the same apartment building? mostly becos there’s a ley line right through the building so there’s a lot of magical energy there
the rent is cheap too so that kinda helps
their apartment complex is in a more rural place so there’s a lot of trees and parks and stuff around them too
alongside being witches, the five of them are also just students at a nearby college
i mean, witchcraft brings in the bucks but witches have to have a plan b in this modern world, you kno???
becos they live on top of a ley line, a lot of supernatural trouble comes their way and so they just kind of try to deal with it a much as possible
patton, logan and roman know each other since they’ve been childhood friends and their families have been friends too
virgil and desmond (deceit) are kind of soloing right now which is a surprise becos they’re also helping with the supernatural disasters
i guess just so far??? virgil or desmond will like do something to help with a fae problem or with some wandering lycanthropes while patton/logan/roman had been planning on doing something???
patton: did you... do something about that one problem we talked about?
roman: no... i thought logan did?
logan: it was certainly not me
and it just never occured to the three that there were two other witches there
patton/roman/logan know virgil and desmond
it’s kind of hard to live in the same apartment building and not know each other
but they don’t know that the two are witches
virgil and desmond are kind of aware that patton/logan/roman exists and they kind of know that there’s something magical about them? but they’re not so much aware that each other exists?
which is weird becos virgil and desmond used to be childhood friends that just drfted apart becos of a stupid fight
to virgil’s knowledge, desmond is out in the world doing something
and to desmod’s knowledge, virgil goes to the same college but like... lives... somewhere else?
logan 
a very intellectual witch
he has floor to ceiling bookcases just filled with tomes and scrolls and spellbooks
when he’s in his room, books are hovering everywhere. he’ll waggle a finger and a book gently flies off of a shelf and into the space in front of him. sometimes there are multiple??? books??? at the same time??? in front of him??? and the books’ pages are flipping by themselves???
king of multitasking. he’ll be reading while writing while listening to music? he’ll be going through roman’s notes on a book while reading said book? or he’ll be researching through three or four different books at the same time? his multitasking skills are a type of magic all on its own
all of his books he gets from book sales or antique shops or like estate sales (where old houses’ contents are sold for a low price becos the owners can’t afford the estate anymore). logan kind of makes it a hobby to collect as much accurate magical literature as possible
roman and patton obviously tag along whenever they can, especially to the really fancy estate sales
his favorite kind of witchcraft is arithmancy (the practice of magic using numbers) and astrology (the practice of magic using celestial bodies). the arithmancy is becos he’s really good at it. the astrology is because he just. really loves. stars??? and the night sky??? and space???
like i said, childhood friends with roman and patton. so, patton and roman will oftentimes go to logan if they don’t know something not just becos logan is very intelligent but also becos logan’s room is basically a library of magic?
patton: hey logan--
logan, already levitating a book towards patton: i believe you’re looking for this book?
often, logan will also be found on the rooftop of the apartment building just stargazing and he’ll sometimes bump into virgil when he’s up there. as far as logan knows, virgil is just another student at the college he attends and both of them are just super into stars
he’s very good at spells on knowledge (gaining it or finding it or anything of the sort) 
roman
roman is a very musical kind of witch
he has a lot of instruments in his room, most of which play themselves at times when roman can’t be in more than one place. roman will be playing the violin and his electric piano will be playing at the same exact time, accompanying him
patton, happily: *hears an entire orchestra through the walls* that silly ol’ goober is up to his musical shinanigans again!
logan, slightly irritated: *hears an entire orchestra through the walls* roman...
he has milions of scented candles in his room and he never really lights them unless necessary? he just loves smelling them. the candles he uses for rituals and stuff are usually unscented but they’re in fun shapes (like flowers!) because why not? 
idk he just has a lot of candles around???
he has the kind of voice that’s perfect for spells??? he’s super good at enunciation and just volume and his voice is so pleasant!!! it also kind of helps that he knows a lot of languages (french, italian, spanish, latin) and he’s on his way to learning more
roman has always had a fascination with the way words work and the power behind words. a lot of his spells are spoken and they end up very strong and sturdy
he could literally and metaphorically talk himself out of any situation
whenever logan needs help translating something, usually it’s in latin so roman helps with that a lot. it’s really nice when the two of them are just chilling together quietly, roman translating things while logan reads
roman also loves using magic to levitate, animate and even project things! people can’t physically touch his projections tho (which makes patton sad whenever roman projects a cute lil animal he can’t pet) 
his specialties are incantations and spells that require any drawing of any sort (like runes and spell circles)
patton
whenever anyone needs a potion or some sort of concoction, they go to patton. need a treat for a fae? need some sort of potion for divining? just plain ol’ hungry? patton’s got you covered
his room is very messy but his kitchen is practically immaculate (in a sort of homey comfortable type of way). 
everything is sorted in all of the cupboards (which are overflowing and almost won’t close), the stoves are taken care of, his pots and pans and cauldrons are spotless
he prides himself in the large assortment of glass bottles and containers he owns. he tries to keep all of them clean but, sometimes, he’ll use one and then put it somewhere (not in the sink) and he’ll forget to wash it
it’s difficult for patton to get ingredients but some of it he just grows on his own. it’s not a perfect system but it’s decent. he can do the easy ones like rosemary, basil or mint. anything harder than that and he struggles with it a little. if he can’t grow it, he’ll find it somewhere else
he’s the type to buy those lil potted herbs at wholefoods or whatever and try to grow it but he only has a 50% successful growth rate and he always feels bad when the herbs end up dying
patton enjoys a lot of different magic but nothing gets him happier than mixing and cooking things up! logan and roman don’t understand it but patton just really loves it!
patton’s also a powerful empath so he’s very emotionally intelligent and can really strongly sense how people feel. he’s very good at comforting people too and cheering them up
he doesn’t force them to cheer up with a spell or anything. usually, he just listens and, really, sometimes, that’s all people need.
patton, when someone is upset: my friend distress senses are tingling!
unfortunately, being a powerful empath also means that, when the emotion is strong enough, he doesn’t just sense it. he feels it too. but he’s very good at sensing which emotions are his and which emotions he’s just getting from other people
patton’s specialties are obviously in cooking and in brewing (potions, concoctions, etc)
virgil
virgil is a very quiet witch
he keeps to himself a lot and just does what he needs to do without really asking for anybody else’s help. he’s self sufficient (though it doesn’t mean he’s happy)
virgil loves growing things. he has huge wire shelves in front of all his windows for all of his plants so they can get all the nice sunlight they need!
he’ll grow basically anything he’ll need for everyday potions and spells as well as succulents! he just loves all of his beautiful wonderful succulents! every single one of his plants has a name too!
virgil totally talks to his plants whenever he’s taking care of them and it’ll be just little things like how his day is going or things that are happening around him or how he’s really sorry when he’s pruning them
it’s very rare for a plant to die on him and, when that happens, virgil always knows that there’s something wrong (usually magic related)
virgil has a spell that’s basically a ball of light for those long winter months where his plants won’t get enough sun
herbology aside, virgil is also very talented when it comes to divination
he has a lot of decks of different kinds of cards and a bag of stones with runes on them. he can also read tea leaves and stars 
the reason virgil is alone often is because he believes he’s cursed. he brings bad luck to a lot of people he cares about and nobody ever believes anything he says about the future
that’s the reason he and desmond had a falling out. virgil was always so worried about bringing desmond bad luck that he ended up pushing desmond away
his specialties really are mostly divination (specifically cartomancy or divination using cards) and growing plants
desmond
very talented when it comes to creatures
he’s extremely intelligent and deals with the fae very well. he knows the fae court like the back of his hand and he knows the rules of the fae too
it kind of helps that he’s pretty much just as trickster-y as the fae
he’s very good at riddles too which he kind of has to be because the fae love riddles and rhymes 
desmond runs out of milk and honey on an almost daily basis and he has ingredients for fae porrige at all times just in case. sometimes, he’ll leave his window open and just leave a bowl of something on the window sill
he’ll make his own butter or cream (since the fae don’t really like industrially produced butter/cream) and he tries to buy organic milk and foods. he’s not too picky about it when he’s the one who’s going to eat it
he has two or three bird feeders but only one of them is really for birds. the others are for whatever flying creature wants a quick snack
you know he has a protective ring around the entire apartment building and that he wears iron rings just in case because, yes, he may be friends with the fae but he knows them well enough to know he should never put his guard down
he has two pet snakes (which he’s lovingl named flotsam and jetsam) and a fire salamander. he doesn’t call his fire salamander a pet becos he feels they have a mutually beneficial relationship. 
also there’s a brownie living in his apartment and they’re very good friends (but sometimes desmond will do stupid things and his brownie will get upset)
desmond has a pot he grows lavander in and he has named it virgil (after his dear friend virgil). he cast a spell on the plant so, if virgil is in danger or is hurt, that the plant will start wilting. it’s desmond’s way of keeping tabs on virgil
his specialties really mostly on the fae and how to deal with magical creatures
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sansllura · 6 years ago
Text
Playing with fire you’re bound to get burned Chapter 1: Touch
Summary:  Her rent was overdue and Allura was running out of options. Not wanting to ask her father for any help she turns to a flyer looking for a nude model.
AN:  Sometimes it be 3 am and you just want a good hot Kallura artist/nude model fic. But guess what? There aren't any so you have to make it yourself. Be the change you want to see. This is my first full Kallura fic, I’m getting wild boys
Allura stood outside the old apartment complex, shifting in her heels, unsure. Her heart was racing and she bit her lip in concern as she once again checked the address on the flyer. The paper had become withered and misshapen as she had handled it on many occasions since ripping it down from the job board on campus.
Her father had offered to pay off this month's overdue rent, something that did not surprise her, but she had stubbornly refused. He was already paying her tuition for her to attend law school, the least she could do was fund her own living situation. Unfortunately, the small cafe she worked at was closed for the next two weeks as the young owner ventured off on his honeymoon with his newly wedded beau. Allura was happy for the man, though a bit distressed at suddenly lacking a paycheck.
Ao3 Link
Contemplating backing down and running for hills, Allura closed her eyes and took some calming breaths. The fear of her witch of a landlady, Honerva, sent shivers down her spine and her finger pressing down on the buzzer. She toyed with the end of her braid as she waited in anticipation. After a moment's pause, a voice finally trickled through the speaker.
“Hello.” The voice was deep, clearly belonging to that of a man, with a low grumble of enticement that sent Alluras already erratic heartbeat into a further panic.
“Hi- yes, I saw your flyer about the modelling,” Allura spoke quickly, struggling not to let her nerves get the best of her. “If you're still looking of a model, I-”
“The elevators on your right, my place is right across the hall on the fifth floor.” The intercom cut off and a quiet buzz let her know that the door had been unlocked. Pushing the door open Allura let out a breath of air. She was slightly irritated from being cut off rather rudely by the man upstairs, the flyer still clutched in her grip. As the elevator began to climb the floors she took a last look at the abused piece of paper.
Art student looking for a nude model
Ability to stay in position for an extended amount of time
$300/per session
Before she could chicken out and run the lift was opening on to the fifth floor and Allura found herself knocking lightly on the door across the hall. Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she shook at the sound of the lock clicking. The man that greeted her was young, around her age. He had long dark hair, pulled loosely back into a ponytail with some longer strands framing his face. He wore all black, save for a red flannel he left unbuttoned. His dark brow was furrowed as he looked at her with eyes she couldn’t decide the colour of. They seemed to flit between a violet and indigo hue. He had a scar on the right side of his face which she quickly diverted her attention from, not wanting to seem rude.
“I’m Allura.” She stuck her hand out politely, ever the daughter of a politician, and gave the alluring man a pleasant smile. After a moment's pause, he grasped her hand. His grip was gentle, his calloused fingertips firmly pressed against her own soft skin. Her hand burned at the contact.
“Keith.” His voice sent a shiver down her spine. As he let go of her hand Allura could still feel the searing touch of his embrace linger. He stepped back, making room for her to enter his home. The apartment was larger then she suspected, with high ceilings and large windows. It was simplistic and tidy, an unusual feature compared to that of the previous homes of young men she’d been to. Though to be fair, Allura hadn’t been to many homes owned by young men, but she definitely didn’t think Keith's place could be what was expected of the majority.
She jumped slightly at the door closing behind her and spun around to once again face the young artist. Still clutching the flyer in her hand she quickly stashed it away in her purse. “You have a lovely home.”
“Thanks but it's not mine,” Keith walked past her, flicking his head forward, indicating for her to follow. “It's my brothers, he just lets me stay with him.”
Allura let out a little hum of acknowledgement. An older brother explained the nice place and took away the tiny ounce of jealousy she’d originally fostered. Keith lead her to the back of the apartment into a room that was clearly being utilized as an art studio. The floor was draped in white bed sheets that were covered in various hues of paint. A large window let in the early afternoon sun and illuminated a single couch covered in another bed sheet. Keith walked towards an easel positioned before the couch. He began to pull out various tools from a paint-splattered workbench that he set upon a small table next to the easel. Allura swayed in her spot, nerves once again eating away at her courage.
“Do you have a restroom I may use?” There was a slight pitch to her voice, caused by the nerves that made her cheeks flush pink in embarrassment.
“The room right next door.”
Allura gave a nod of thanks before heading towards the bathroom. She faltered at the door, poking her head back into the art studio. “Does your brother know this is happening?”
“There's no need to worry, he’s out of town at the moment.”
The fear of being walked in on fully nude disappeared and with a sigh of relief, Allura once again left the room. She took her time undressing, folding each article of clothing carefully before placing it within her purse. Her skin prickled with goosebumps as the chill from the apartments air conditioning met her bare skin. She paused when it came time to remove her undergarments. The matching pink set lined with lace was now the only article of clothing keeping her decent. Thinking over having to walk back into the studio fully bare, Allura opted to keep the set on.
It would have to come off eventually, but at least having some sense of modesty initially dulled her nerves. Scooping her purse back up she made her way to the art studio once again. Avoiding eye contact Allura deposited her bag in the corner of the room. She had her back turned to Keith and after letting out a sigh Allura pulled up her metaphorical big girl panties. Pulling her long plait over her shoulder she brought her hands to the clasp at the back of her bra. Just as she unclipped it she felt a feather-light touch on her shoulder.
Letting out a startled gasp she turned her head to face Keith, quickly grabbing the unclasped bra and holding it to her chest. Her shoulder burned from where their skin had met and the goosebumps were suddenly not just caused by the cold.
“You-you can keep it on.” Keith rubbed the back of his neck, the faintest blush gracing his features.
“The flyer said-”
“I know,” He cut her off once again, but this time there was a nervous tremor to his voice. Good Allura thought It’s easier to act bravely to help someone else. “But if you’re uncomfortable-”
He paused awkwardly, still struggling to maintain eye contact. They stayed like that excruciatingly long. Allura clutching her bra to her bosom looking at the timid artist over her shoulder. It was oddly endearing, his embarrassment at her nudity. She’d expected him to be much more comfortable with their position, seeing as he was not only an artist but a rather attractive man as well. Allura doubted she was the first woman he’d seen naked. However here he stood as though he’d just been dragged into a lingerie store for the first time and was embarrassingly flustered at the sight of the scantily clad mannequins. She hugged herself a little tighter, smiling at the amusing thought.
“Perhaps we should talk for a bit.” She suggested, breaking the silence.
“What?”
“Maybe if we did a bit of talking that would ease up any awkwardness.” She felt almost childish recommending it. They were both adults and shouldn’t be as bothered by her nakedness. Tucking her chin against her chest she shrugged her shoulders. “I’m free all day, so if this takes a little longer than necessary there's no worry.”
The following pause left her wanting to drown herself in a bucket of paint. Pointing out the discomfort had been a stupid move and Allura anticipated being asked to leave. She didn’t dare move, too nervous to lock eyes with the quiet man. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt Keith place the flannel he’d been wearing over her shoulders. The material was thin and soft from clearly having been worn countless times. It hung over her petite frame, sitting just below her bum. Warily she let go of the bra she’d been holding.
She let the straps slide down her arms, making its way off her form as though it were a water droplet trailing down a rose petal. The feel of Keith's warm breath against her back moved her arms to carefully pull the shirt tighter to her body. His breath hitched as her bra hit the ground and she could feel his hands stiffen from where they hovered just above her shoulders. Eventually, she turned her body to completely face him.
Quickly, as though she was a flame threatening to scorch him, he withdrew his hands. This time he maintained eye contact. Her heart was pounding erratically, as though it were threatening to burst out of her chest at any moment. His stare was intense and she felt herself being pulled into the galaxies within his eyes, an adventure she found both frightening and exhilarating. A loose strand of hair had fallen from her braid, and as though they were synced together they both went to fix it. Their fingers brushed and the familiar burn once again returned and she wondered if they were, in fact, both flames.
It did feel as though she were playing with fire. Keith was a stranger with gentle hands and dark eyes, a mystery. Being in his home was a gamble, exposing herself as she was doing right now was dangerous. They say if you play with fire you were bound to be burned, but as her ear became charred by his hand tucking her hair back, Allura doubted that it was really a punishment.
“It’s okay,” His voice was soft, he caressed each syllable as though it were a tender embrace. It was almost as if he was hesitant to speak too powerfully as if she were a frightened animal. “If you’re comfortable that's all that matters, I can paint.”
Her tongue darted out and brushed her lips in anticipation. She gave him a nod and Keith stepped back, distancing himself from her. Sustaining eye contact she pulled down her panties, kicking them off and flinging them to the side. Her cheeks burned in embarrassment, but she was not a child and she would not back down. Keith's gaze never left her face, never lingered on her body that peaked out from beneath his shirt. His eyes were alight and resembled the flames she knew danced beneath his touch. The shirt would come off, they both knew it, but for now, she savoured in its soft embrace. She lowered her face closer to the collar of the flannel, taking in the fragrance, a moment he did not miss. The shirt smelt of detergent, light and fresh, but there was the slightest musk of timber that she knew was caused by Keith. She was certain. “I’m ready.”
“If you need anything, a break, a drink, don’t hesitate to ask.” He offered her his hand. “I will do anything that you need Allura.”
It was a bold declaration. Though his remark could be taken as an act of common courtesy, with the way, his voice had deepened upon saying her name she couldn’t help but sense there was a profound meaning behind it. It felt as though she could give the most obscure of requests and Keith would go racing to fulfil it. Allura didn’t know what scared her more, the weight of his words or the fact she believed every one of them. Still gripping his shirt she placed her free hand within his hold.
“And I will do anything that you ask of.”
AN: i don’t know what I’m doing. Chapter two will be posted tomorrow.
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qqueenofhades · 6 years ago
Note
Third time's the charm? See, the other two were clever, but I don't want to be clever if this gets eaten again (you're killing my creativity here, tumblr), so instead I will just ask straight up pretty please for some Kastle smut. /blows kiss
We will say this is how it happened for the first time after he unofficially moved in with her, prior to Foggy finding out and Soft Dinner and Movie.
Rated M, so hence (mostly) below the cut, and apologies to mobile users because the app is the devil.
It’s two weeks since Karen told Frank that he could stay just for a couple nights, and it’s already been more than that. It’s unsettling how easily Karen, who has lived alone for a long time, has gotten used to having him around, though he’s usually gone before she wakes up. He’ll do little things around the house, fix stuff or take out the trash or re-hang a crooked door, as if paying tithe for his presence along with a share of the rent. She told him that he doesn’t have to, but of course, he didn’t listen. He is stubbornly determined to give her no reason to regret letting him stay, and in its way, it’s sweet.
The one subject on which Frank has proven willing – indeed, eager – to complain is that of Karen’s couch bed. She knows it’s not great, loose springs and decaying foam, but when made up with quilts and pillows, it’s not an iron maiden, and Frank Goddamn Castle has obviously slept in far worse places. Frank, however, informed her that it is in fact a piece of shit, and Karen was briefly tempted to tell him he could bunk up in the alley again if it’s that bad, but he and she both know she won’t actually do that. He turned up tonight again, after she hasn’t seen him for a few days, and insisted on mending the leak in her bathroom ceiling before he agreed to eat dinner. Then he looked at the couch bed, didn’t actually say anything, and before she knew what the hell came over her, Karen found herself suggesting that if it was that bad, he could share hers. God, Frank. This is definitely not the worst thing that’s ever happened to you.
That is how they are now lying carefully as far apart as they can in her double bed, staring at the ceiling and watching headlights go by on the curtains, as Karen wonders if this was in fact a good idea. It’s not like there’s tons of extra room, their legs and arms and shoulders are brushing, and she is hyper-aware of him every time he moves. He’s an ex-Marine, of course he can knock off in the most inhospitable of places, but he seems likewise wary of her, of moving too far into her space or intruding somewhere he is not wanted. He rolls over once, almost into her, and freezes like he’s touched a live wire. Karen feels it down to her toes, and knows that they are, in fact, playing with fire.
It takes a long time, with their respective hangups, but they finally manage to actually fall asleep. Like a knight and his lady in some Arthurian romance, they have abided by the metaphorical sword in the bed, which is why Karen is so confused when she wakes up the next morning, and her first and overwhelming sensation is of warmth, hardness, closeness, engulfment. Her nose is buried in something that smells distinctly male, her cheek roughing against an unshaven chin, and as her eyes fly open, she realizes that she’s tangled in Frank’s arms. How they arrived that way, or when in the night, she doesn’t know. Her knee is between his legs, his arm is thrown heavy as a weight over her back, their faces are very close, and she is in fact tucked up against his collarbone, nose in the hollow of his throat. She can feel the soft rise and fall of his breathing.
Karen lies very still, not sure how to pull away without waking him up, and not sure she wants to. There’s tension coiling in her, low and wet and distinctly hungry, and she is not so oblivious as to claim that she didn’t know this was a possibility when she invited him to share. What it is with her and Frank – it’s anything but simple, perhaps, but it’s strong. It’s drawn them together over and over, even when it shouldn’t, in more ways than either of them can count or feel entirely comfortable with. She wants him, and she’s never been in any doubt that he wants her too, whether or not he can articulate it or feel ready to do or say anything about it. It’s difficult, of course, but it’s there. Oh God, it is.
As Karen is wondering if she should just pull away anyway, rather than having to explain this, Frank’s eyelids flutter, and she sees a crack of brown under his lashes. Of course he is sensitive to waking up with someone nearby, or in a new situation, and for half a second she thinks he might rip away, but he doesn’t. He peers at her, confirms that it is in fact her, and lets his head fall back on the pillow with a muffled sigh. His grip tightens, as if he wants, he needs to feel her against him, warm and pliable and soft and living, safe. Neither of them, therefore, are the first to pull away. Then he says, low and hoarse, “Mmm?”
Karen doesn’t know what mmm means, but she knows that she has been alone and sore and ragged and apart from him for a long time, and it is maybe making her defenses a little lower than they should be, her self-control, her reminder that they can’t do this, a little less acute. She shifts up on him. “Morning.”
Frank utters a short, deep sound in his throat as this moves her hips up over parts of him that clearly are not objecting at all to their proximity, and Karen can feel it quite, ahem, firmly through the thin cloth of her pajama pants and his boxer shorts. Maybe they’re not quite awake, maybe they’re in some liminal space where this can be explored a little, and her hand settles on his shoulder, tracing absent circles. Frank has almost too many scars to count, some of which she’s seen and some of which she hasn’t. Her fingers make a line along the rugged white ridge of this one. Does he remember how he got all of them, or do they just fade into monotony after a while?
They lie there, exquisitely aware of the tension, for a very long moment. Karen should get up, should shower, should definitely not do anything stupid like kiss him (especially when she is sure she has morning breath and doesn’t want it to be like this – she knows she’s thought about it, imagined it, and it should be better than this, slick, sanitized, perfect, even if that is the last thing they are). But Frank’s hands are on her, and hers on him, and he shifts her a little, and their heads turn toward each other. In the next, softly as an unfolding flower, their mouths meet and open.
They kiss lightly at first, chastely, slow. It’s not the first time they’ve done that, but it’s still new enough to be strange and unfamiliar, a territory they venture to but are not certain if they have any claim. Frank shifts position, rolling her over on top of him, and Karen ends up on him at full length, cradling his head between her hands, as he runs his fingers through her hair and the kiss stays innocent for exactly half a second more before it goes full speed into frantic. Their mouths cling and claw and command, asking more and more from the other, and there is almost no hesitation on either of their parts in giving it. Of course Frank kisses like he shoots. Never misses a target. No mercy.
They roll over in the sheets, as he ends up between her legs, and Karen pulls at him. He wears an undershirt and boxers to sleep in, not exactly the biggest obstacle to escalating this, and the muscles in his arms bunch as he braces his weight on his elbows. He bends his head and kisses lightly down her cheek and jaw and throat, to the hollow between her breasts, and when he stops, she utters a little moan. “Frank,” she whispers. “Come on.”
He closes his eyes briefly, as if the sound of his own name whispered by a woman, a woman who very clearly wants him and has no illusions what she’s asking for, is still not something he entirely knows how to bear. He keeps his eyes closed as he kisses at the tops of her breasts, and Karen represses the unworthy, fearful thought that he’s just pretending she’s Maria. Could she really deny him that, if he did? Maybe not. But God, how she wants it to be her.
Frank keeps kissing at her, slow and intense and thorough, as Karen makes an inarticulate noise and arches her back, pressing herself into his mouth. His hands slide up, then stop before dipping under the hem of her shirt, and she makes another sound, urging him to it. It feels like a boulder rolling downhill, as if they’ve finally set a match to a long-burning fuse and it would be foolish to get in its way. If they’re going to stop, they really need to do it now.
They don’t. Frank’s eyes open, he looks down at her, and waits for her shaky, whispered “Yes” before he deftly peels her pajama top off. Karen fumbles to return the favor with his undershirt, and their arms tangle around the other’s bare torso as they devour each other with a renewed and even more ferocious kiss. They roll again, Frank ends up beneath her, and his hands cup and caress her breasts, rough thumbs circling the nipples, running up and down her sides as both of them make half-whimper, half-groans. “Karen,” he mutters, cords standing out in his throat as if struggling not to totally snap. “Jesus, Karen.”
Something about that is murder on Karen’s remaining self-control, as if she knows it’s not just the ghost of a dead woman for him, and she straddles him, bending down to grind him between her legs, hot and very hard and with the remaining clothing being a distinct imposition. She grabs his hands and guides them to her waist, with the clear implication being that he should relieve them of this burden, but his eyes meet hers in question. “You… Karen… you sure we…”
She knows it’s a foolish idea, but maybe it was to ever trust in the first place that the terrifying Punisher was more than a madman with a gun, and since it’s led them to this, she can’t regret it. She nods again, shaky. “Yes,” she says. “Yes, Frank.”
He hesitates an instant more, and then, with permission granted, wastes no more time. His hands shake as they pull her pajama bottoms down over her hips, as she rises on her knees to let him take them the rest of the way off and throw them on the floor. She thought she would be self-conscious about being fully naked in front of him, but she’s not. He’s seen her flaws and her secrets and her dark places in ways arguably far more intimate than the basic fact of physical nudity, and she has nothing she wants to hide from him. He stares at her, pulse going visibly in his throat, then sits up halfway and kicks his boxers down his legs. He is raw and sinewy and strong and fucking beautiful.
Karen looks at him a long moment, at all of him, as he lies there as if in wait of her approval, wondering if this scarred mess of a man would be anything that a beautiful blonde goddess could possibly want. “You got…” It is a visible and titanic effort for him to remember coherent speech. “Condom or anything?”
“I’m on the pill,” Karen says automatically, and slides back up to where she was, sitting low on his hips, as he is close to her, nudging at her, but not quite inside her. She needs him, she needs him in her, she is wet as a spring rain and practically shaking with it, but the final bit of hesitance remains. “You… are we?”
Frank grins wryly, as if to remark that if they somehow aren’t, this is a hell of a time to say so. But once more after she nods, he reaches out, grips hold of her waist with both hands, and lifts her up and onto him. He slides against her entrance, just a bit, and Karen swallows a gasp. Then, slowly, she spreads her hips, braces herself, and sinks down, taking him into her inch by inch – and then, deep and hot, to the hilt.
Both of them swear, in some register of “Oh God” or “Oh fuck” or just “Jesus,” because there’s nothing else you really can say, just then. Karen pants, leaning forward to brace herself on her elbows and letting him slip in still further, their bodies making soft slick sounds, as she tenses and clenches herself around him and he utters a totally done-for grunt. His hands keep rubbing at her, hips and thighs, easing the fit and letting her have a moment to adjust to him. Karen drags herself up, sending a shock of friction through them both, and he swears again. “Jesus fucking Christ.”
Karen is briefly tempted to point out, blasphemous as it sounds, that he definitely is not fucking Christ, but there is no question that Frank knows that. He grips hold of her thighs, pulling them to either side of him, and she reaches down to grab his hands, as the two of them start to rock and ride on each other. It takes a few tries to establish a good rhythm, give him the right spot to hit, but they figure it out fairly quickly. Oh, lord. Oh God. Yes, there. Yes, there.
It’s ragged and raw and hungry and unformed, slick and quick and soft and deep, and it’s been so long for both of them that neither of them are about to win many prizes for stamina or endurance, not when they need each other so badly. Frank moves his hand up to finger between her legs, circling the pad of his thumb on her clit, and Karen gulps and whines, pressing into him harder, riding him faster, as they jounce and grind and jerk together. He digs his heels into the mattress, lifting his pelvis into her, as she throws her head back and breathes in stabbing short gulps. She can’t get enough air. She sees spots.
It is only a few more minutes until they are both quickly losing it, unspooling, undone, and Frank makes a wild grab at her forearms, pulling at her, as if finding some way to brace himself or both of them as he loses it. Karen is not long in following, as her vision goes white and she tumbles forward on all fours, their bodies still reflexively jerking and their foreheads touching. He turns his head, blind with need, kissing at her sweat-damp cheek, her mouth, her eyes. “Karen,” he mutters, over and over. It seems to be the only word he remembers how to say. “Karen. Karen. Karen.”
She doesn’t say anything, still shuddering, feeling oddly and halfway to tears, until at last he grunts and shifts himself out of her as he softens. They lie there entangled, breathing as if they have been chased by a train, until all at once, Frank sits up like he’s been hit by lightning. Swings both legs over the side of the bed, gets up, and practically runs into the bathroom.
Karen, not that steady either, leans back on the pillows, breathing hard and trying to control herself, as the residual waves of climax wash over her in shallow echoes. She can hear the water running in the shower, which it does for another fifteen minutes, and Frank looks as if he would have kept going indefinitely when he finally emerges. “M’ sorry,” he mumbles. “Used all the – you know. The hot water.”
“It’s fine.” Karen doesn’t begrudge him that, not in the least. Her voice sounds thin and strange. “You – you’re heading out?”
“Yeah. Maybe for a while.” Frank blunders practically blindly to the door. “I’m – I’ll see you around. Right. Okay. Okay.”
(He’s gone for a week, and she wonders if she’ll ever see him again, and if it was the worst mistake imaginable. Then he turns up one evening with flowers, and stumbles through some speech where he clearly has no damn idea what to say. She looks at him, and then she goes to kiss him, and they do not talk, again, for the rest of the night.)
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yoshimickster · 6 years ago
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WELCOME TO THE ANGST ZONE-RWBY Volume 6x02 “Uncovered” Micksterecap(Rwby volume 6 spoilers)
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HEY EVERBAH-happy Saturday-WELCOME BACK TO MICKSTERECAP! I’m sure this episode will start out with  something completely norma-
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HOLY SHIT-Cinder’s corpse!  OOOOOOOOOOOOR  IS  IT?!
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1:49 HUZZAH-she’s alive-OR IS SHE?!  I ask because I’m  live-blogging here, FRESH reactions today!
But seriously, TURNS OUT-this isn’t a dream sequence and she IS still alive...for NOOOOOOW! Cinder than punches her way out of the cave using what LITTLE strength she had left after her Avatar battle with Raven “Mother of the Year” Branwen, and upon escaping-SHE MEETS-
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2:57 SOME RANDOM LADY WITH  FOOD! Man THAT was convenient eh Cinder? Will she beg for food, or just murder her and take the basket-LET’S FIND  OU-
3:11  We need to take the relic to Atlas?
GAH-I forgot this show had multiple plotlines-CURSE YOU SHOW I LOVE!
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AW  NEAT-a  pointless flashback, taking place in that house that they...rented? Or did Qrow or the school own it? They never explained WHOSE house that was and it will always always ALWAYS bug me despite it never mattering in terms of plot.
BUT-said flashback ALSO features Weiss’ initial response  to going  back to Atlas!
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3:20
“You’ve GOT to be joking”.
I feel for  ya Weiss, escape your shit  dad in Atlas, pay a plane to leave, get attacked by  bees, get kidnapped by one of your possible love-interest’s moms, go to a school, fight bad guys, get IMPALED, get healed by ANOTHER of your possible love-interest( I said POSSIBLE, don’t hate me) ONLY to learn your going  back to the place you escaped! MAN-how she don’t have whiplash from that I don’t know HOW she wouldn’t!
They also  bring up a nice secondary reason for bringing the  relic to Atlas that I admittedly didn’t think  of-
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3:33
Qrow: Without the Spring  Maiden here to  seal the relic back in its vault,  its our best option.
Yang:  And I just want to say its NO-ONE’S FAULT for not having Raven  seal the  vault back up after verbally decimating her for years of neglect.
Ruby: Yang its cool, you needed a cry.
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3:50 We ALSO LEARN why their going to Argus in the first place, its the last Atlas  military installation that still has soldiers...and considering Adam  MOST PROBABLY hijacked the train to Argus they  BEST get  to steppin’ after this flashback is  done!
Through that they figure through  either asking nicely, or telling them they found  one of three of Jacques Schnee’s abuse victims that they could get to Atlas. After they set up the low-down, Jaune asks Oz-
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4:38
Jaune: Speaking of, what does it(the  relic) do, exactly?
Oz: HAHA-definitely doesn’t attract monsters-DEFINITELY not!
But seriously, turns out it can answer ANY three questions(GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENIE) once every 100 years about the present or past. NORA of course geeks out about it-
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5:29 
Nora: CAN WE ASK FOR MORE QUESTIONS?! CAN WE ASK WHY ME AND REN HAVEN’T KISSED ON SCREEN YET?!
Ruby: Yeah what’s up with that, y’all are CLEARLY a couple!
Ren: I’m as confused as you are.
SADLY THOUGH-the magical knowledge genie can’t answer ANY of our deepest ship questions as  it turns out they were all used up before it was sealed-OR WERE THEY?! Seriously I’m legit wondering, for all we know Oz is lying.
5:40 Ruby: Well, we’ll be sure to keep it safe.
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Yang: GIMME THAT STUPID LAMP-I’ma SMASH IT! 
Ruby: Isn’t that more Nora’s thing?
Yang: I DON’T CARE I’M JUST PISSED AT OUR STUPID PRINCIPAL IN A FARMBOY’S BODY!
But seriously everyone is LOGICALLY pissed off about the current  run of events, half their party is gone, Yang’s gonna push her motorcycle she should’ve left at home through  snow-
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6:11 -and they  now have ANOTHER mysterious mystic old person who REEKS  of  mysterious mysticism...AAAAAAAAAAND THE PROOOOOOOOOOOOOM IS TOMOOOOOOOOOOOORROW! Remember that joke? Practically dissapeared.
LOGICALLY pissed off at Ozpin for LYING about how the ancient relic of ultimate destiny attracted murderous chimera after them, and I’m sure he won’t pull some bull-shit line like-
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6:47
Ozpin: I did not lie  to you.
PFFT-look at Maria’s face here, her bullshit detectory is on POINT! Because not  informing them of the dangerous GRIMM MAGNET wasn’t a half-truth. Can we get a wizard who DOESN’T give the main heroes the run-around with their bullshit for a change, CAN WE PLEASE?!
Oz than  explains that the reason he  held  the truth  is because  he wanted to save them from anxiety and negativity, AS WELL as that being the reason for why he had it so Lionheart wasn’t revealed to be a traitor after his death, in what KINDA sounds like  a villain speech, even going  as  far  as saying “The people of Remnant  deserve more than the truth”, (because THAT line is never condescending) as WELL as saying he’s been betrayed so many times he’s straight up used to it.
Oz than  puts it all to a head when he asks where the relic is and TURNS OUT-
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8:32 RUBY HAS IT! Way to stay on task girl, especially in quite possibly the most STRESSFUL year of your LIFE! Remember the silly school dance? I miss that.
Ruby than LOGICALLY calls him out for saying he had so much faith in humanity in these years when the opposite is true. Its also a good thing that he didn’t lie about the relic not being able to ask questi-
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9:10
Oscar:HURRY...he’s trying...to stop you...he’s afraid you’ll find out...what  he’s hiding!
...well that’s ominous but as long as it turns out the relic still can’t work I say its o-
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9:31 
Oscar: Her name...is Djinn...say her name to summon her.
...well that’s good to know but AS OZPIN SAID-the relic TOTALLY doesn’t work so saying it won’t do ANYTHI-
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Ruby:...Djinn?
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9:45 ...OKAY-time just happened to freeze, I’M SURE NOTHING ELSE OZPIN MURDERINGLY MAGICAL HAPPE-
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10:33 Djinn: Wonderful!
...OKAY-so there was a genie in it that every single person on planet Earth saw coming, but SURELY it still can’t answer 3 questi-
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10:40 Tell me, what knowledge do you seek?
SON OF A BITCH OZPIN-not ONLY did you lie about the lamp housing a genie whose PRIME waifu material, but ALSO lied about the questions being used up! Because just saying “Don’t use the relic to ask questions” would be SO hard you dis-trustworthy ass old man!
Well surely the next thing to happen is Team RWBYOMQ asking how to best murder Ozpi-
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10:47 ...or cut to a random dirty ass alley, because the writers like to TORTURE us!
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10:55 DAMN-Cinder, you even stole the bitch’s CLOTHES! What are you, the Terminator?!
Cinder walks through the rainy ass street of scum and villainy-UNTIL SHE SEES-
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11:37 RANDOM SPIDER-MAN GRAFFITI! Didn’t know Remnant had such a Marvel fan-base, NEAT!
But seriously, it turns out to be the INSIGNIA OF-
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PURPLE CLAD GANGSTERS! I gotta  assume they are like, REALLY good criminals becasue DEAR GOD do her two guards look silly, LOOK AT THEIR SCARFS!
Cinder than bribes her  for information-
Cinder: You’re little Miss Malachite?
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Malachite: Is that a fat joke or color joke? Because I’ve TRIED changing my name to Violet, but UGH the system.
She then tells Spiderlady that she’s looking for team RWBYJNR by SHOWING HER-
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12:35 SEASON THREE SCREEN SHOTS! ALSO-yes those are all from the Vytal festival, for some reason I thought the JNPR pics were from the placement exam. And now we wait for the Pyrrha fans to be mad she was cropped out!
AFTER Little Miss Malachite(Her name should STILL be Violet dammit, or maybe Amethyst) gives a spooky spider speech, she tells Cinder she’ll find the team in a few days-BUT IT TURNS OUT-
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13:34 
Chaps: Little Miss, we all ready know where they are.
Little Miss:  Oh really, we do? Why don’t you say it louder SO THE MYSTERIOUS MURDER LADY WE DON’T KNOW CAN HEAR YOU?!
Cinder: What was that?
Little Miss: Nothin’ sweetie, just makin’ creepy spider metaphors!
A THEN CUT BACK TO-
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13:55 MARIA-adjusting her broken ass cyborg eyes to double-check if she’s not looking at a floating Navii from Avatar.
And WOULDN’T YA KNOW IT-turns out Djinn can still answer TWO more questions this era! ALSO-
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14:25 
Djinn: A-heh, its a pleasure to see you again old man.
AND-she’s met Oz before, PROBABLY since he asked the first question.
Ozpin pleads Ruby not to ask Djinn a question, which prompts Qrow  to ask-
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Qrow: Hey-
Weiss: WANNA DIE OLD MAN?!
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Qrow: GAH-I was just gonna tell Ruby to do what she felt was right!
Yang: Well excuuuuuuuuuuuuuuse us if we can’t trust OLD PEOPLE RIGHT NOW!
Ruby than asks Djinn what is Ozpin hiding from them WHICH CAUSES OZPIN-
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14:56 ...to...attempt to  tag her...slap her...push her-WHAT WERE YOU ATTEMPTING TO DO TO MY DAUGHTER YOU WEIRD OLD MAN?!
BUT-before Ozpin  can  commit attempted assault and/or attempted game of tag-TEAM RWBYQOM-
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A FREAKY ASS VOID-that turns INTO-
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“Once upon a time, there stood a lonely tower”-
ALSO-
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Blake turns into Qrow because...genies? BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT-
“-that sheltered a lonely girl...named-
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“-Salem”.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH SHIT-Salem used to look NORMAL ONCE! BACKSTORY MOTHER FUCKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERS!
AND THAT’S SEASON SIX EP TWO-following the classic RWBY formula of exposition episode after action episode and I gotta say we learned...A LOT! FOR ONE-Ozpin pulls a full Rose Quartz in revealing he’s not the ethical leader we all thought he was, AS WELL as showing he has a secret connection TO Salem, implying...A BILLION possible things  that I won’t put here because this is a recap blog and not a theory blog perse. HOO BOY-what a cliffhanger, NEXT WEEK-backstory time baby! SEE YOU NEXT WEEK on MICKSTERECAP!
   If you like what you read, donate to my paypal here, or my Kofi page here. I put the link for my Paypal and Kofi here as I have JUST now realized the paypal link is under the search bar on my Tumblr homepage and is impossible to click so THERE ya go!
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kittkaleen · 8 years ago
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Where I End And You Begin
Hurt is a toxin, a fast moving poison that can turn you into a bloody fool. It crumples you up like rubbish, sits in your chest like a 100 ponze weight and rents out a luxury apartment in your mind. The remedy? You distract, you cry, you scream, talk it out, let off steam and hope it passes before you say or do something stupid. Tonight, like the capable and conscientious healer I am, I’m working the toxin out. Rain patters as I sit on the sofa near the fire. Sandalwood incense wafts across the room, music plays low and I’ve a large mug of very strong, very black coffee to hand. I breathe in deep and let my breath out slow. I’m ready to lance this wound.
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I run my fingers across the cobalt blue glass box and pick it up gently. People don’t take me for being sentimental but they don’t know me, do they? This belonged to my mother and is one of the few items I posses that she once touched with her hands. I keep favorite photos in here, old love letters, a faintly pink, oval  beach stone worn smooth by wave and sand, my first silver thimble and a few other trinkets. I’m nostalgic before the lid even opens. They say, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and as I look through the first few pictures of my now ex-husband and me, I hope there’s something to that. I certainly do not have any words. I am speechless. These make my heart lurch and turn unpleasant flips before falling into the pit of my stomach. 
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Isn’t it curious how we hope love will last forever, despite endless evidence to the contrary. Belief, not in absence of evidence, but when faced with irrefutable facts. This is called ... faith. I cradle the hot mug in my hand and take a sip, willing the bitterness of the coffee, to chase the tartness of cynicism away. I look carefully at the pictures. Love. When you are in this place, you think no one has ever loved as much or as hard as you are loving. You believe your beloved's “always and forevers”, you trust their sincerity, you bank on their caring. You think your love is titanium, when in truth 'tis often pretty, shiny, worthless ...  fool’s gold.
I sigh. But these pictures are older now, a bit dated. More recent pictures tell a different story. Like this one. This picture says ‘caution, there -- is -- distance --moving --  between -- us’.  It begs a conversation.
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I am mesmerized. Struck by the TRUTH of the image. Relationships aren’t always sunshine, endless adventures, champagne and cuddles at midnight, good sex and giggles.  Sometimes you have to talk things out, work on it. Hard times demand the coin of vulnerability, and in exchange, provide opportunity for trust and intimacy to grow. Mind, as recent events so clearly demonstrate, not everyone is willing to part with the coin. ‘why fix it when you can go get a new one?’ Trust and intimacy isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, some prefer a mug of deception, chased with a shot of betrayal.
Carefully, with deliberation, I feed the older images, one by one, into the fire. The flames kiss them and they curl, blacken and disappear until all that is left is ash. A fitting metaphor. I save the last image; a momento mori, a reminder. 
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There's a gap in between / There's a gap where we meet / Where I end and you begin / And I'm sorry for us ... X will now mark the place/ Like the parting of the waves/ Like a house falling into the sea/ Into the sea / and there'll be no more lies ... [Part 1]
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elle-stevens · 5 years ago
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The Break Up Blog - Day Thirty Two
I am beyond exhausted. 
After finishing my break-up blog when I got home from Game Night at C’s, I stayed up till close to 2am before I finally dozed off. I woke up this morning at 8am, lazed about, ate breakfast and finally took a shower closer to 10am. Then I met C and AS at 10:30 so we could take AS grocery shopping and to buy a few things like a new coffee maker. 
What I anticipated would be a maximum 4 hours of running errands and having lunch turned into 7 hours, which is why I was so tired. There I go again with my stupid expectations - they always let me down. At least AS got some things she likes and needed as well as both C and I. It was mostly an excuse for me to spend some of my money that I got from my recent bonus, most of it happening at IKEA, but it was fun spending money and not caring too much. Plus I got some yummy baked treats at Tous Les Jours, which always puts a big smile on my face. Plus I had fun with C and AS, they’re a laugh riot.  I’ll be good tomorrow and hopefully only withdraw my rent money and only spend money on eggs and maybe a pedicure. I’m growing eagle’s talons on my toes, so it’s definitely time for a nail trimming and some foot scrubbing. 
I honestly don’t feel like I have the energy to exercise after this, that’s how tired I am. It’s getting harder and harder to keep up with my exercise schedule and write my break-blog entries every evening after all the things I do in the mornings and afternoons, even on my days off. This is probably part of the reason why I don’t always hang out with people. It’s not that I don’t enjoy social interactions and activities with my family, friends or colleagues. I just have a tiny social battery life that lasts for up to 2 hours at a time. On a good day - maybe 4-6 hours. I’m definitely OCD when it comes to controlling my schedule so I have enough time to do all the things I want and need to do in a single day. 
Meh. 
Worst-case scenario: I do the exercises I can manage and skip the ones I can’t or simply don’t want to do. It’s only a workout programme on a phone app, not a serious committment like a marriage proposal. I might go into work for a bit on Sunday to start marking some of the written assessments that are complete. I’m not going to stress that much over it since the grades my students get at school is mostly fiction anyway. 
C told me earlier that the supervisor for all the foreign teachers at school, ML, was the one who told her that our new vice-principal didn’t want to renew C’s work contract for next year. Seeing as the man started working at our school only a week ago, I find it hard to believe that he has such a strong opinion already about high or low turnovers of teachers coming to and leaving our school. Which makes me think that it’s really MH who cares about the turnover issue and actually just wants C out. Never mind the fact that MH is planning on leaving our school next year too - what does it matter apparently if she takes a few more teachers out the door with her, right? 
I’m really starting to dislike shady people in general. Honesty, how hard is it to admit that you have a shady agenda? You might as well come clean and save yourself the trouble of getting found out later by a couple of metaphorical teenagers playing detective and their meddling dog. Hopefully I get to stick it to my school when they find out I’m leaving as well. That means H will have to train two new teachers in the Elementary department come next year. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not leaving school because of how C’s been treated. I’m grown enough to know that’s between her and our employers and has got jack shit to do with me and my teaching abilities. It’s just time for me to go, especially when I already feel like nothing I do at my job actually matters. 
Still, there are silver linings to everything. I prayed to God this morning and got emotional in a good way thinking about all the wonderful students who have come into my life in the last 5 years while I pursued a career in ESL Education. Sure, the path has had its ups and downs, but what a wonderful and fulfilling path it’s been so far. I can’t wait to look back on this chapter in my life 20 years from now and see how far I’ve come. I hope I’m lucky enough to meet a few of my old students in the future and see what they’ve accomplished. Since most of my students have been Asian so far, I firmly believe that they’ll accomplish a lot in their lives. I don’t want to ever forget what my teachers have taught me over time and what I’ve learnt while being a teacher. I chose this path 7 years ago after I broke up with KA and I’ve managed to see so much more of the world along the way. It’s been hard and challenging, but there’s nothing I would change about the journey that got me here. 
While in one of the department stores with C and AS, I saw a display of backpacks that I previously bought in the last year: a black one for X’s birthday a few months ago and a grey one for me not long after that. I ended up giving my backpack to X while we were in Manila and she was stressing about how to take all of her gifts for her family and her clothes back home in her tiny suitcase. At the time, it was a wrench to give up the backpack, but not so serious that I couldn’t buy another duplicate for myself here in China. Now I’m thinking about whether I still want to get another grey one or get a different colour altogether. I don’t want too reminders of X hampering my future progress, but it also seems to dwell too much on semantics. Certain, useless memories will fade over time; hopefully when that happens, I’ll still get to keep the good memories of X that won’t be too bittersweet for me. It took some time for me to view my memories with KA and even CH, my first boyfriend, as good moments. But I got there eventually. Despite some of the tough moments that happened after the break-up with both of them, I hope that KA and CH don’t hold it against me and that they’ve moved on completely for the better. 
As far as X is concerned, I could give two flying fucks and a left nut-sack what she thinks of me. I’m already winning the break-up just from not lying to her about money or lying about having a terminal illness. Who knew those things would actually be relationship deal-breakers? I guess it’s because it’s only been a month since the break-up and the hurt and resentment is still fresh. I hope it gets over time not to treat every good memory of X with patronising disdain. 
It sucks that my mind inadvertently travels to more intimate moments with X, like her soft, unrushed kisses and the way she would rub my back when I’d wake up in the middle of the night after having a violent coughing fit. I hate that she was so tender in those moments and so rough and unkind with my feelings in the months before our break-up. Did she really hate me that much or did she just not have enough human decency in her to set me and herself free to move on and be happier by ourselves? 
I wish I knew. I also wish I could confront her and actually get the fucking truth out of her. But that’s just my wishful thinking talking again. The reality is that I’ll never know the truth, even if X deigns to feed more useless crap.
The more I type, the less tired I start to feel. So I think I’ll end off here, get dressed into my workout clothes and exercise for a bit. Then I’ll enjoy my cream doughnut and garlic bread from Tous Les Jours while vegging the night away. 
I hope I can just sleep and then sleep some more, till that peaceful feeling of nothingness takes over my brain. I need to slow down and start resting more. So maybe when my latest workout programme is done, I might also take a break from writing my break-up blog entries. 
Life sometimes happens when you’re out there actually living it. It might soon be time for me to take my fingers off of the keyboard, go out of my apartment and start living and maybe even loving again. 
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neoraven · 8 years ago
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Movie Reviews from February and March
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I did not watch that many, and I had words to write about even fewer. But here are all the movie reviews I typed into Letterboxd dot com over the last couple months. 
Midnight Run 1988 ★★★★★   31 Mar, 2017 One of my favorites.
Jaws: The Revenge 1987 ★   25 Mar, 2017 would rather be locked in attic than watch this again
Mission to Mars 2000 ★★★½   23 Mar, 2017 De Palma has a blast playing Kubrick and cobbling together the best parts of The Abyss, Apollo 13, and 2001.
MST3K Hercules against the Moon Men ★★★   21 Mar, 2017 Not sure to rate the riff or the movie. But it was a very decent riff.
Vampires 1998 ★½   20 Mar, 2017 Very occasionally dug up some grindhouse flair, but generally dull.
Office Christmas Party 2016 ★★   12 Mar, 2017 There are like 15+ very funny people in this movie all giving their C- effort, not that anything in the boring script deserves better. Wasn't The Interview Randall Park's breakout? It hurts on a few levels to see him as a one note mommy fetish accountant here.
This Is Spinal Tap 1984 ★★★★★   08 Mar, 2017 Have a good time all the time. That's my philosophy, Marty.
Prom Night 2008 ★½   04 Mar, 2017 Pays homage to the original not with any plot similarity, nor energetic soundtrack, nor inspired lead performance, BUT with a total lack of effort in every part of the movie. Let the PG 13 rating fool you, this prom is totally sanitized and chaparone friendly, and the after party is even worse.
Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny 2006 ★★★   03 Mar, 2017 A lot of stupid fun.
The Presidio 1988 ★★½   28 Feb, 2017 Kind of a weird 80s buddy cop riff with some military stuff thrown in. Mark Harmon is such a weird "movie star". Peter Hyams turns in one of his less-entertaining hacky action movies. Ah, to yearn for Timecop.
The Dead Zone 1983 ★★★½   24 Feb, 2017 The ICE.....is gonna BREAK!
The USA show was underrated too.
Pineapple Express 2008 ★★★★   22 Feb, 2017 Shnicklefritz
Step Brothers 2008 ★★★★   21 Feb, 2017 dale, got, hulk, hands,
Galaxy Quest 1999 ★★★★½   20 Feb, 2017 Pitch Perfect.
hashtag review a movie with another movie
Cobra 1986 ★★   18 Feb, 2017 I'm certain 45 has jerked it to this movie.
Kill the Irishman 2011 ★½   18 Feb, 2017 This is such a bizarre pastiche of better movies. The music is all much shittier, much like the characters and action and writing and everything. It just straight up gets nothing right, or even close. It being set in Cleveland is some kinda metaphor. Scarface bombings. Low rent montage. These bombs are really cheap-looking, I'd rather see Blown Away or Godfather or even Casino. Pf. Goodfellas, I wrote that too soon before Paul Sorvino himself graced the screen.
Ted 2 2015 ½   18 Feb, 2017 I don't usually log partials. But just in the dim hope I stop myself next time I think this is worth the time. I lasted through three instances of the teddy bear reacting to male homosexual physical affection with revulsion. Then the musical number and live action-ish remake of the Family Guy opening credits started and I was done.
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood 1988 ★★   15 Feb, 2017 There's a lot going on packed very tightly into a short slasher movie. Some of the killing scenes feel very much on fast-forward and hacked (sorry) to pieces. I think this is one of the movies with an infamous much-gorier workprint or alternative cut.
Anyways, the absurd here is pretty much given equal weight to the "serious" plot, which climaxes in an ending so dumb I don't wanna type it out to explain. The violence trends more slapstick in every regard here, with way less blood than Carrie, a movie and third act nearly always referred to because of all the telekinesis. I'm guilty too of "Jason vs. Carrie".
The late 80s/early 90s keeps pushing out some of the chill 70s vibe hanging around the early movies. A yuppie preens about the "burnout dopehead" smoking weed instead of thanking him. The Madonna Material Girl calls something "outrageous". I <3 NYC is next.
Sniper: Special Ops 2016 ½   15 Feb, 2017 This is so dumb and bad and lazy. Seagal doesn't snipe much.
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