mt-home

[georgieluz]

i would like to report that it only took the pacific 17 minutes and 35 seconds to go gay, and whilst it doesn't quite beat band of brothers who only took 6 minutes and 20 seconds to go full i'll-take-you-to-chicago-my-love, it was a very tom hanks effort, indeed. i mean c'mon, a book of poetry and an "i wish we were going together"

[obessedwithfictionalmen]

Co-Stars pt.3

Callum Turner X Actress! Reader

Summary: The moment Callum and Y/n got together, and the interviews that followed...

Warning: Kissing/ allusion to sex/ use of Y/n/

Word count: 1.1k

Before they admitted their feelings, they flirted a lot. Especially on set, but today, they were filming a sad scene. It was Bucky finding Y/n character letters letter after she got captured. She didn’t tell anyone except the makeup artist, but she wrote real love letters, only changing the name. She confessed her feeling for Callum and decided to make him read these love letters as his character. But the letter that Bucky was reading was already recorded by Y/n. Tom Hanks asked her to write a love letter so he could react to one. But today, Callum was getting make up on, by the only person on set that knew… ‘’Callum, you should know that the love letter that your about to read, Y/n wrote it for you, confessing her real feelings for you’’ she whispered. The makeup artist wanted to help the two of them getting together, so that’s why she broke her silence vow. ‘’How do you know that?’’ he asked. ‘’She told me’’ she winked. Callum didn’t know how to act, but he sure was going to read every line of this letter.

‘’Action!’’ the director yelled. Callum came in the room, showing the emotion that needed to be shown. He grabbed the letter and opened it. He was nervous to read it, but he had to act.

Dear Bucky,

When we met, I couldn’t have predicted the place that you were going to have in my heart. You’ve been there for me since the beginning. I am truly thankful for you. You’re my best friend, my partner, my other half. I never told you how much I love you, more than a friend. I don’t really believe in the soulmate stuff, but you and I, I think we’re soulmate in every universe. I love you so much, it pains me to just be your friend. The sleepless night I’ve spent, thinking about you and I. You have the special ability to make me feel like the most important person on earth when I’m with you. My body aches when you’re not in a room with me, my heart hopes that you feel the same way. Because I’ve suffered enough, I want to be with you. I want you to be my tomorrow. I want to wake up next to you, and smile because my dreams are finally reality. When we’re in the same room, I feel like a 12-year-old again, waiting for my crush to look at me. You belong with me Callum Bucky. I loved you yesterday, I love you today, and I will love you tomorrow.

Forever yours

Rose

He couldn’t believe what he just read. When the director said cut, he stayed seated, that letter was filled with true emotions. He had to find her, to tell her that he was feeling the same way. He got up and walked towards her trailer. Y/n heard a knock at her door, when it opened, it was Callum, with her letter in his hand. She looked at the piece of paper, then her gaze went to his eyes. ‘’Callum I, uh, someone told you? Right?’’ she whispered. He nodded. ‘’Listen I – ‘’ Callum cut her off by walking up to her. Their face was so close, Y/n tried to hold eye contact, but she was panicking. She took deep breaths, waiting for him to say anything. ‘’Y/n, you have no idea how long I’ve waited for you. I was afraid to ruin our friendship. I love you too, I love you so much’’ he said, smiling. Y/n blushed and put her hand of Callum’s cheek, caressing his skin with her thumb. ‘’Please, can I kiss you?’’ she asked. Callum nodded and they pressed their lips together. It was gentle, but filled with passion, a tear of joy rolled down Y/n cheek. She was finally with the men of her dreams. ‘’I wanna be yours, Callum’’ she whispered. ‘’You’re already mine, Y/n, and I’m yours’’ Callum replied, between kisses.

-

‘’It’s time to address the rumors about you two!’’ Jimmy Fallon said, taking out pictures. The first pictures were one of Y/n and Callum passionately kissing/ making out against a telephone pole. The crowd screamed, and the couple wasn’t official yet, so it was awkward. ‘’You two are clearly kissing.’’ Jimmy said, laughing. ‘’Uh, we wanted to give the paparazzi something. I mean, they followed us all night, so we wanted to give them good content’’ Y/n blurted out. It was the first thing that came to her mind. ‘’Okay, I’m not convinced, what about this one?’’ he said, switching this picture. It was Callum carrying Y/n that was in a koala position on him. ‘’She twisted her ankle, and I offered to carry her’’ Callum said. They both looked at each other, blushing and trying their best not to giggle because they knew what happened after these photos. They went back home and had sex. ‘’But your hand is on her butt’’ Jimmy argued. Callum giggled and Y/n, too. ‘’You don’t but your hand on your friend’s butt?’’ Y/n laughed. ‘’I, no I-I-I don’t’’ Jimmy stuttered. Even if the internet wasn’t convinced, at least they tried to avoid more damage.

-

They with Drew Barrymore, after the date thing, they tried to act normal. ‘’What’s your favorite Rom-Com?’’ Drew asked. ‘’The Weeding Singer’’ Callum said. ‘’10 things I hate about you’’ Y/n replied. ‘’Wait, you love The Wedding Singer’’ Drew said, with tears in her eyes. ‘’Yes, the gestures are amazing and yeah, it’s really great’’ Callum says. ‘’Yes, chasing her on the plane. Y/n what’s your favorite love gesture a man as ever done to you’’ she asked. She thought about it. ‘’Uh, I think it was when I was 17, I was feeling really sad, and this guy drove 2 hours to come and give me a hug. Or when I was 24, I really wanted a ring, it was so pretty, not as an engagement ring, just to have jewelry, and the guy bought me the ring. I still wear it today.’’ She was talking about Callum. She showed the ring to Austin and Callum, to not be suspicious and when Drew saw it, she gasped. ‘’That’s so sweet! If a man gives me a ring one day, I think I’ll cry’’ she said. ‘’I did cry’’ Y/n laughed. Callum remembered that day like it was yesterday. She drunkenly said to him that she wanted to have a ring to fidget with, when the passed in front of a jewelry store, she pointed at a ring. The next day, he went to buy the ring and gave it to her when he got home. Saying it was a promise ring of friendship. Y/n bawled her eyes out and fell more in love with Callum that day.

[fleurywiththesave]

@whatsaboomlakalaka sent me this and then things just kind of spiraled. i have no idea when this fic is supposed to take place, so it's whatever your little heart desires.

Leon knows while the wall is rushing up at him that it’s going to be bad, and there’s nothing he can do about it. At least it’s not my head, he thinks when his knee makes contact, but it’s cold comfort. There’s no way he’s going to be able to skate off the ice. He lets himself lie there in a ball and debate how difficult it would really be to just stay put forever. Davo would bring him food, probably. They could make a movie with Tom Hanks, maybe put up a little plaque. Here lies Leon Draisaitl. He’s not dead, we just can’t get him to leave.

“Can you hear me, Drai?” one of the linesmen asks. He nods. “Okay, how about we get you to the bench?”

“Can’t,” Leon tells him.

“What did you hit?”

“My knee.” The linesman hisses in sympathy.

“I’ll help you.”

“Nope,” Leon says. “No way for me to stand up without making it way worse. I live here now.” The linesman sighs and Leon hears him skate away. Probably to get reinforcements, but maybe to bring him a blanket and some hot chocolate. That would be nice.

At Worlds, of all places? It might, might, be worth it for the Cup. But Worlds? That’s like setting your kitchen on fire for a frozen pizza instead of Baked Alaska. Leon needs to write someone a strongly worded letter.

“All right, let’s try this again.” He did not bring a blanket and hot chocolate. Rude.

“Still no way for me to stand up,” Leon says.

“I can help you there.” Leon looks up at that. Matthew is kneeling on the ice next to him, smiling. His real smile, not his media smile. “Come on, Leo.”

“I really don’t think I can get up,” Leon repeats.

“You don’t need to.” Matthew and the linesman each wrap an arm around his back and get him vertical, then Matthew tucks his other arm under Leon’s legs and lifts him up, like it’s nothing.

“Jesus,” Leon manages, clinging to Matthew’s shoulders. He knew Matthew was strong, obviously – he’s personally experienced it before – but not like this. He’s skating. He can hold Leon and skate at the same time.

“Nah, just me.” There’s a lot of cheering coming from the audience, but Leon has a feeling there are also a lot of confused looks coming from their teammates. He doesn’t look around to see.

“I don’t think we’re going to be a secret anymore,” he murmurs in Matthew’s ear.

“Good, I was getting pretty bad at hiding it. Besides, Taryn is always saying I should do something really dramatic about it. I don’t think this is quite what she had in mind, but it does the trick.” And they’re at the tunnel, medics waiting to take Leon back. “I’ve gotta get back out there, but I’ll be in as soon as the game is over, okay?”

It feels like a very long wait, even though it’s probably only about an hour. Leon is lying on a bed with his knee wrapped and elevated, feeling extremely sorry for himself, when the door opens.

It’s not Matthew. It’s Connor. Who does not look pleased.

“What are you doing here?” Leon asks. “You don’t play until tomorrow.”

“Well, when I got messages from roughly fifty different people asking why Matthew Tkachuk was carrying you off the ice, it seemed like I should probably come investigate.”

Leon winces. He’s really not in the mood for a lecture about mixing business with pleasure or distractions from the game or whatever disapproval Connor is about to hand down.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me.”

Well. He can’t say he had that one on his bingo card.

“We didn’t tell anyone,” Leon says. “Except our siblings, and that was mostly just because Brady walked in on us once.” Connor shudders. Leon throws a ball of paper at him.

“You still should’ve told me. What, did you think I’d be mad?” Leon raises his eyebrows and Connor rolls his eyes. “Come on, Drai. Anyone with eyes knows you’ve been stupid gone on him for years. It would’ve been nice to know that I didn’t have to worry about you pining for the rest of your life.”

“I’m deeply touched,” Leon says, but he actually kind of is. He would have felt really bad about it if Connor were genuinely angry or hurt, but now he mostly just looks satisfied to have been right. Plus, if he can handle it, then most other people probably can too.

“Hey, sorry I—oh.” Matthew looks a little flustered. He’s still in his gear and his hair is wild from his helmet.

“I guess congratulations are in order,” Connor says.

“Thanks,” Matthew says cautiously.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to bite your head off. I’ve been wondering for years if Leon was ever going to get his shit together about you.”

Matthew may have been talking a big game on the ice, but he’s clearly relieved by Connor’s reaction. “He took his sweet time, but we got there in the end.”

“Then I’ll let you take care of him,” Connor says. He pauses on his way out of the room and adds, “By the way, that was pretty impressive.”

“Stop ogling my boyfriend,” Leon snaps. Connor just laughs at him while he leaves.

“What’s the verdict?” Matthew asks.

“They want to take me to the hospital for x-rays,” Leon says glumly.

“Fuck.”

“Yup.” Matthew takes his hand and runs his thumb comfortingly along the back. “Can you talk about something else to distract me?”

“Whatever you want,” Matthew says agreeably. Leon grins.

“So once my knee is better, what else do you think we can do if you pick me up?”

[burrcapts]

Paw Protocol: Beneath the Hood

God damn it! Michael had been in the secret service for too long not to sense when something really fishy was going on. Vince thought so too and didn’t try to hide it since the day senator Caldwell decided to indefinitely move all of them to his holiday residence out of the blue. This was the middle of the election year, what did the man have to do here, in the middle of the woods that was so damn important? Then came the way some of the guys on the team started to behave pretty much overnight. The last thing Michael expected to see after working for years covering the security of a conservative politician was for Paul and Grant, two married men who previously couldn't shut up whenever they spotted some ‘sexy babe' at one of senator’s rallies, to suddenly become so completely obsessed with each other, fucking like a pair of rabbits every chance they got, no longer giving half a shit about their jobs.

Then the exact same thing somehow happened to Ryan and Mark the following day, both turning into a pair of absolute horndogs as well. Yeah… that was not a bad way to put it, Michael chuckled when he remembered Vince swearing he heard them barking at each other in the single bedroom they've begun to share together. While Michael couldn't give a rat’s ass about what his co-workers did after their shifts were over, it was like all blood had drained from their heads straight to their dicks because all four seemed to have lost half their IQ points after finding their new calling. No matter how hard you tried, you simply couldn't get through to them and have them talk about anything normal.

And what did the senator think about all this? God knows, he’s been spending every minute of the day holed up in his office to the point where it’s been nearly the entire week since Michael had seen the man! If that had been it, he might have chucked it up to just a freaky coincidence, but then the same thing started happening to others. Blake, then Tom the next day… Vince told him he was going to report it to the higher ups but when Michael saw him this morning he was behaving like the biggest doofus of them all! All he said was that he ‘needed to be a good pup for the alpha and they shouldn't be talking about this anymore’ before he hurried off with an ashamed look on his face. What the fuck… was this some kind of code? If so then Michael sure as hell wasn't able to crack it until now! There was no way around it, Michael knew that he will have to make a few phonecalls despite how fucking ridiculous all of this sounded whenever he repeated it in his head.

He knew there had to be far more to it, he just had to find something concrete… something that would help him avoid being turned into a laughingstock of the entire agency. If he had to turn this whole mansion upside down to find it, then so was it! The report could wait one more day!

***

Holy shit… what the fuck was this…?! After failing to find out anything new the entire day, Michael decided to finally bite the bullet and began working on his report. It was already way past midnight by the time he was finishing up, when suddenly he overheard some strange noises. They seemed to be coming from Hank's room… somehow, Michael just had this hunch… telling him that no matter what he mustn't come out of his bedroom right now, not until they were gone. He'd been in this line of work long enough to know that such gut feelings were always to be trusted 

Once it got quieter, Michael cautiously went outside and found that the door to Hank's bedroom was unlocked, inside a bunch of items from his bed and desk were scattered all across the floor. Signs of struggle. Hank was nowhere to be found, but Michael could still hear something going on upstairs. This time he began to follow it without hesitation, staying just far enough behind to make sure none of those fuckers knew they were being trailed as he figured out where they are heading and what their plan might be.

It had to be a whole team… how else would they have taken out everyone stationed outside before they managed to activate the alarms?  But why out of all things would they take Hank from his bed in the middle of the night and drag him off to… to the senator's home office?! Fuck! Now, this was no longer about staying inconspicuous and trailing them from behind but rather protecting the senator's life! Michael cursed and began to sprint across the hallway towards the half open door of the office. He might have originally been fully prepared to fight tooth and nail whoever was waiting inside, but definitely was not ready for what he would be met with once he reached that door.

He spotted Hank immediately. He was laying naked in the middle of the floor, except he wasn't completely naked… They covered up his face with something that looked like a rubber dog mask and put a collar around his neck and then… jesus christ… something was also sticking out of his ass, something that looked like some kind of a dog tail dildo! Michael could tell because all those freaks who surrounded him were dressed exactly the same too!

Michael wasn't sure if even the most roided up bodybuilders he'd ever seen could compare to just how ridiculously muscular they were. They were just standing there, beating off their gigantic cocks while making horny animal noises, their near inhumanely hirsute bodies grinding wildly against each other. Then there was also this other one… he by far the biggest of them all, his gargantuan body completely covered in the black rubber suit. Oddly enough he seemed far more collected than the others… calmly talking to Hank as he sat comfortably behind the senator's desk and slowly stroked his humongous rubber clad erection. Only for some fucked up reason he kept on calling Hank, ‘Milo’ as he explained that there was no point in putting up so much resistance because soon he will understand how much more fun it is to be a good, horny pup than some boring, tiny human.

Michael's stomach sank as he suddenly recognized his voice. No matter how unbelievable it was, the person wearing that freakish perverted costume was Senator Caldwell himself! Lord Almighty… what was going on here?! Michael stood completely frozen watching his colleague squirming helplessly on the floor as if he could no longer control his body at all, only letting out those short, strained groans. To Michael's absolute horror, he saw Hank's cock beginning to grow hard as some of the sounds started changing tone, far more closely resembling excited and pleasurable moans instead. 

He must have been finally losing it from all the adrenaline in his system because in that same moment it looked as if Hank's entire body began to swell, covering itself with salt and pepper hair so thick it almost seemed like he was growing an actual pelt of fur all over! His moans getting even deeper and more lustful as he laid spread out wide on his back in pure bliss, only his swollen cock bobbing up and down as it throbbed from unending pleasure. Yet then, suddenly Hank let out one more desperate, exhausted groan and clutched his fingers around the dog mask those freaks have put on his face, trying as hard as he possibly could to pull it off.

Right away a peculiar kind of buzzing reached Michael's ears, he'd been faintly hearing it in the background for a while without paying too much mind to it but now it abruptly got so intense that he could immediately pinpoint its source. That tail-like thing they've stuck up his ass! It was vibrating like crazy, making his entire body seize up as it contorted into a near perfect arc while uncontrollable howls of pleasure erupted from his mouth. His muscles were swelling so much more rapidly now, he was getting almost as big as… no… no, no, no, this couldn't be true!!! Michael now understood who all those people were!!!

“Please, I… can't fight it any… aaahAAAARRrooooooooooo!!!”

With a lustful, inhuman howl Hank's cock started to uncontrollably spray cum in all directions, leaving that enormous, hirsute body of his totally drenched as he laid there in complete bliss, the entire massive form now completely limp and free of tension as he panted loudly out of exhaustion.

“Now… that wasn't so bad, was it, Milo?”

The response to the senator's voice was immediate. Almost like a soldier who was getting ready for a salute, Hank found himself on all fours in the blink of an eye. His ass up in the air, with that freaky dildo making him look like a dog who was happily wagging his tail as he allowed his tongue to loll far out of the mask's mouth.

“Ruff! Yes, Alpha was right! Being a good, horny pup is so much better than being human! I never want to go back! Never!!! Ruuuuff!”

Good god… this… this was far more than he could handle. Michael began carefully backing away, no longer thinking about anything other than simply getting the hell out of here as soon as he could… until he suddenly felt his shoulder bumping into something…

“Aww… you're being a naughty pup and snooping around again Rusty! But it's okay, I bet you just couldn't wait for your turn so you could have all this fun with everyone just like Milo!”

It was Vince… but no longer the same Vince he knew… Now he was a towering mountain of fur and muscle, wearing the same dog mask, the same perverted shit, a collar with the name ‘Skipper’ inscribed on it... when he grabbed him within his gigantic arms and carried him inside there was nothing that Michael could do. He was kicking and screaming, begging Vince and Hank to snap out of it. They didn't budge and continued to hold him down as the senator prepared a mask and a collar for him. 

Michael soon understood why. Hank had really made it seem like it was something that one could try to fight and resist. How wrong he was to ever think that… Michael’s cock was already rock hard seconds after they slid the tail inside him… it felt so impossibly good… pleasure filling his entire body. But that wasn't what got to him… it was that voice… it appeared as soon as they placed the hood on his head. Telling him that he had to be a good pup… that he had to listen to Alpha like a good pup would… his name was no longer Michael… it was Rusty… he loved that name… he loved being a pup… a good pup…. a good, good pup for Alpha… 

If you liked the story and would like to read more bear themed transformation fiction, or have something written for yourselves consider subscribing to my Patreon! This one in particular was a request from one of my subscribers!

I have also set up two extra accounts on twitter and bluesky for caption purposes! https://x.com/burrcapts https://burrcapts.bsky.social/

[feralgodmothers]

I think I cracked it you guys. A part of why Elvis (2022) has such a hold on me (and why you should watch it too if you haven’t already).

The first time I watched it, I didn’t really have any expectations - I wasn’t a fan of Elvis, because my mother hated him, and I grew up without any real exposure to him or his music. I also wasn’t a fan of Baz Luhrmann, because I found his directing style to be too over-the-top, chaotic, and truthfully - obnoxious. So neither of those two big names attached to it were a draw-in for me. And on top of that, I didn’t know Tom Hanks was in it, and I didn’t know who Austin Butler was - not to mention there’s been an abundance of music biopics lately. The only thing that captured my attention was how accurately the trailer portrayed the fangirl spirit. I was like ‘Yeah, that’s exactly what it’s like. I can relate to that’, lol. So with that being the only thing that held my interest, I put it on and just shrugged and thought ‘Who knows, this might be fun’.

I was completely blown away.

I had seen a few clips of Elvis prior to this at some point in my life, so I had just enough reference in my memory to go on while I watched Austin do his thing, and he nailed it. It took no time at all for you to feel like you were actually watching Elvis Presley, not just some guy playing him. Austin Butler was flawless - he’s received a tremendous amount of praise for his performance, and quite frankly - I don’t think there could ever be enough praise for what he was able to accomplish here. It is one of the best performances of all time, and that is no exaggeration. It was so exciting - the amount of movie magic (that’s been sorely lacking from films lately) was on full display here, and it gave me new life. I felt a real connection to a completely different era in our history, a connection to a whole other generation of people/fans, and to a music legend that I knew almost nothing about, and who pop culture had twisted into some mythical caricature of himself. This film accomplishes so much, and I was caught up in a whirlwind of something truly eye-opening and magical. The main takeaway I had from my first time viewing was pure excitement and adrenaline, from just being transported somewhere else entirely, both emotionally and spiritually, and from unlearning some misconceptions I had about Elvis Presley. And, as a bonus, I now had a new celebrity crush in Austin Butler (and we all know - stumbling across someone new to thirst over will always be a profound part of the fangirl experience, lol).

The second time I watched it, I was going in still riding that high that I felt - and I was ready to immerse myself into full, thirsty fangirl mode. And obviously I did thirst - but by the end of the film, I was so incredibly emotional. I cried so much, and felt so sad. Of course, I felt sad by the end the first time I watched it too - Elvis died tragically early, and the way the movie highlighted his final performance was so effectively heartbreaking and moving. But I think the more positive feelings I had experienced before had prevented me from sinking too low into my feelings. But by that second viewing, man… the dam just broke, and I was legitimately mourning this man. I’m not kidding when I say this is probably the best biopic I’ve ever seen, and possibly one of the best movies period that I’ve ever seen. I cannot express strongly enough how much it truly resonates with me.

Anyway, my whole point in saying that I cracked it, I say as a fangirl through-and-through - I think the two biggest impacts that can ignite a fangirl’s spirit into a full, dazzling and glorious blaze is: thirst and heartbreak. And this movie provided both of those things in spades. It’s so beautiful to watch - Austin’s beautiful, the storytelling is beautiful, the cinematography is beautiful, the care, dedication, and craft is beautiful. To me, it is absolutely perfect, and it has completely taken over my mind, heart, and soul. I cannot recommend this film highly enough. It is everything to me right now, and the more people who are willing to give it a chance and enjoy it, the better.

[hayanwulf]

Ironstrange but make it from the movie 'Splash' (With Stephen as Tom Hank's character Allen Bauer and Tony as Madison?)

I am in love with my mermaid boy now.

Stephen stepped out to the deck of the yacht, closing his eyes and inhaling the fresh, crisp air of the sea.

Exhaling the breath, he stepped closer to the ledge, resting his hands over the metallic railing that looked out at an endless expanse of water under a night sky adorned with a thousand stars that glimmered like jewels, the soothing acoustic of waves crashing over each other and against their yacht being the only audible sound.

It was a breath of fresh air — literally — compared to the bustling, crowded city of New York, where you’d spot a twinkling star or two only on the luckiest of nights, where the air always smelled stale and noise followed you wherever you went.

Stephen didn’t really do ‘vacations’, never had time for such indulgences, what with giving utmost priority to his career as a doctor. But Donna had wanted this, had wanted to escape their busy life at the city without being reminded of any of the ache and associations to their past. And so Stephen had rented this yacht and hired a crew for a week, just for the two of them.

As he closed his eyes and relaxed against the railing, feeling the cool air melt away all the tension from his shoulders, he thought that maybe it wasn’t too bad to take a vacation every once in a while.

There was a barely audible, yet distinct sound of a splash in the water, prompting Stephen to open his eyes and look down at the source.

He frowned when his eyes caught.. something shiny right below the surface of the dark water for a second, but it immediately disappeared into the depths, the darkness of night only hindering his sight further.

Stephen scanned his eyes over the waters, wondering if he could manage to spot whatever it was again. He knew that this place was a hotspot for dolphins, but dolphins never traveled alone, so it couldn’t be that. Unless it was a lonely dolphin, which might indicate that it was hurt or lost.

And then he spotted it again — further towards the back of the yacht, the very end of a fin flicked through the water, flirting with the surface but not quite revealing itself.

A shiny, golden fin.

He was sure that it was golden. It had to be.

But it didn’t make sense. No fishes or mammals of that size were supposed to have such a golden, shiny fin. At least as far as Stephen knew, and he knew a lot.

What he’d just seen.. it was unnatural.

Wanting to catch another glimpse of the thing, Stephen walked down the deck towards the back of the yacht, eyes vigilantly scanning through the waters, wanting to see that creature, wanting to know what it was.

It was hard. Mostly all he could see was the darkness of water, the crests of waves reflecting back the light sources from their yacht. He strained his eyes, trying to peer inside the water.

And — there it was, the shadow of a large creature under the water, just barely visible with the water already being so dark. It lingered there, never peeking even an inch out of the surface, and Stephen found himself drawn to it, wishing that it surfaced, wanting to see more, and his steps continued along the railing by themself, then down the stairs of the stern, moving right along the unprotected edge of the swimming platform as he chased after the thing, never lifting his eyes from it. And then—

When he finally realized how far he had walked off, one of his feet was no longer on the yacht’s platform.

He yelped in surprise as he tried to bring his footing back to the platform, overbalanced, and fell sideways into water. 

An ice-cold spasm of pain shot up his side which had hit the water, the teeth-clattering cold sensation immediately spreading to his entire body as he got surrounded by water. Only practice prevented him from trying to breathe and hence accidentally filling up his lungs with water. You need to get out, a small rational part of his mind managed to command him while the rest of him still struggled to overcome the shock of being suddenly drenched in cold water at night.

But.. where is surface?

His heart fell to his stomach, suddenly feeling like all of his remaining oxygen had been sucked out as he frantically looked around and realized, all he saw was darkness.

No, don’t panic. This was fine, he would reorient his sense of gravity in just a second and then he’d find his way back up.

Except, the water moved in uncoordinated waves, crashing into him, pushing and pulling him in all directions.

He couldn’t tell which way was up.

Panic surged through him as he tried to determine which way he was supposed to go, feeling his heart quicken with each moment that he stayed under the surface, hyper aware of how it drained his oxygen just that much faster.

He couldn’t. He needed to breathe. Reflex forced his lungs to suck in a breath, coughing when all that entered his mouth was water.

No. No!

Basic survival instincts kicked in, causing him to flail his limbs as he tried to reach the surface, still having no idea which was the right way.

He needed to get out. He needed to get back to Donna. He couldn’t die, not here, not like this.

He needed to.. get out..

As he fought the pull of unconsciousness, the last thing he saw was the shadow of a vaguely human body, and a beautiful, long tail that shone red and gold.

When Stephen came to, the first thing he registered was an unfamiliar voice talking away in the background.

“..m sure he’ll be fine, I mean he’s breathing alright.”

Stephen blearily blinked his eyes open, realizing his back was lying on a bed of wet sand. He turned to his side and immediately coughed, throwing up some sea water.

“Yeah. Oh look, now he’s awake too.”

Stephen heaved a couple of breaths as his mind came back online. A shiver came over his entire body. It was very cold, and he was very wet. He frowned, recalling that he’d slipped off the yacht in the dumbest way possible.

‘World-renowned neurosurgeon slipped off his vacation yacht and drowned.’

Yeah, that would’ve been the most embarrassing way to die.

He craned his neck, looking up at the source of the voice to see who was his savior—

And immediately choked at the sight of a buck naked man, sitting there on the sand completely unabashed, Stephen’s phone at his ear as he talked to someone.

The man only raised an eyebrow at Stephen. “You good there?”

Stephen quickly looked away, eyes instead looking to the sea. “Y-yes, I’m fine.”

“Stephen?” The voice on the phone spoke, loud enough for Stephen to hear and perk up at the voice of his sister.

“Donna—” he sat up, turning towards the man again, before remembering, ah. He looked away again, feeling his face heat up despite the rush of cold air against his damp skin making him shiver.

His unnamed savior, thankfully, passed him the phone, which he took without turning back to the man.

“What the fuck, Stephen! Just what in the world were you doing!?”

Stephen winced. “I.. slipped.” The excuse sounded incredibly lame in his tongue.

But between that and saying I was so distracted by some imaginary sea creature that I didn’t see where I was walking, that was probably the less humiliating thing to say.

“You.. slipped.”

“Yes..”

There was silence and then a tired, exasperated sigh. “Christ, Stephen, I was terrified when we couldn’t find you in the water.”

Stephen felt a pang in his heart, imagining what she must have felt thinking that she was about to lose her last remaining family. “I’m sorry. I’m fine, sis.”

“You better stay that way. And don’t you dare move your ass from that island, we’re on our way.”

Stephen blinked, realizing for the first time that he was in some island. He twisted his neck to look around — carefully avoiding looking at the unnamed man who was still sitting near him wearing nothing, for some reason — and found that the island was small, perfect for private resorts and the like, but it was entirely abandoned with nothing but greenery visible in the tiny expanse.

“I’ll wait,” Stephen told her, turning his gaze back to the ocean in front of him.

They ended the call.

“Well, it was nice meeting you, stranger,” his unnamed savior spoke, and from the shuffling sound of skin and sand, Stephen could tell without looking that he had stood up.

He sighed. “Could you put on some clothes?”

The sound of sand shifting under feet echoed, and oh god no.

The mystery man came to deliberately stand in Stephen’s field of view, and Stephen closed his eyes with a stifled sigh. “What, you embarrassed of my naturism, Doc? I thought you guys saw naked humans all the time in your hospitals.”

Stephen looked away, opening his eyes to look out at the other dark horizon. There was no point arguing with a naked man, even less so when the said naked man had saved his life. Somehow.

“Do I at least get a name?” He instead asked the man.

He could practically hear the other man smirking. “Sure.. if you can work up the courage to look me in the eyes for longer than a second.”

Stephen suppressed a growl. It was just a bait, he shouldn’t fall for it.

“Fine then. Thank you, unnamed person who likes to walk naked in beaches, for saving my life.”

The man laughed then, a delighted, amused sound. Somehow, it sounded like a melody to Stephen’s ears, his voice simply so rich and lively, like it was made to spread joy. “You couldn’t have sounded more unthankful, dragging the words out of your throat like that, Doc.”

Too focused on the mystery man’s voice, Stephen didn’t realize when a decent-sized wave crashed into the beach, sweeping over half his body in the process. He grunted at the sensation of more water washing over his already hypothermic body.

“Ah, shit,” the man murmured, prompting Stephen to look his way and—

Stephen’s breath hitched, his heart coming to a halt for a second at the sight in front of him.

The man was down on the sand now; where his legs had been, now there existed a long, slick tail, gold scaled gleaming beautifully under the moonlight, interspersed with patterns of red and fins of indescribable elegance.

Stephen could only watch slack-jawed as the tail moved, its motion as smooth and natural as any other sea creature with fins.

For the first time, Stephen looked straight at the man’s — the creature’s — eyes, and found then to be a beautiful, warm brown, with such a depth that Stephen thought that he could be lost in them.

He was a creature of ethereal, otherworldly beauty.

“You..” Stephen whispered, finding his voice once again. “I saw you, at the deck.”

His eyes grew guarded at that, the warmth of the browns suddenly vanishing. He turned away from Stephen, towards the ocean, and flicked his tail, sending himself towards the retreating waves.

“No.. wait!” Stephen called out, but he gave no indication of hearing Stephen’s call.

Within a second, the brilliant shine of the gold scales disappeared into the depths of the water.

Stephen stood on the beach all alone, wide eyes fixated on the spot where he had seen the last shine of a golden fin.

[queenimmadolla]

Eddie Munson

Dentist

Humorous or comfort I can’t decide 🩵

gave you a little mix of both!

𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐟𝐥𝐮𝐟𝐟

“Baby, c’mon,” Eddie cooed, arms folded over the lowered window and chin resting on them. Eddie was leaning through the passenger side, an over-exaggerated pout on his pink lips, eyes wide and forcibly filled with something you could tell was meant to be innocence, “For me?”

  He even went a step further, eyelashes batting in your direction.

  It probably would have worked had you even been looking at him, but your icey gaze was locked forward, staring out of the dirty front windshield as you remained buckled into your seat even though you’d been parked for a good fifteen minutes. Your arms were crossed and the furrow of your brow clearly displayed your stubbornness.

  “No.”

  You weren’t getting the hell out of that van.

  Eddie sighed, facade dropping as he glared at you, “Baby.”

  “No.”

  “Fine.” Eddie had had it. You’d had a follow-up dentist appointment to your initial check-up, just had to get a minor cavity filled. Only, you hated everything to do with the dentist and had tried to cancel a number of times, always thwarted by Eddie who either walked in right when you were in the middle of the phone call–and always successfully ended it–or stopped you before you could so much as dial the number.

  He’d coddled you and comforted you before the appointment, did the same thing on the way to the appointment after you’d finally agreed to go, and then the moment Eddie parked and got out of the car, you’d refused to exit it. He’d been in the parking lot with you trying to negotiate you out since.

  Eddie reached for your door handle and tugged, glare intensifying in disbelief as it refused to open and he spied your hand moving away from the top of the car door, having pushed the lock in, “You do realize the window is rolled down, right? As in there is nothing present to stop me from pulling the lock up.”

  You finally turned to look at him, holding his stare as your finger moved back to rest over the lock–and stayed there.

“So, this is how it’s gonna be?”

  Sensing what was about to happen, you placed your entire hand over the lock and doubled down by placing the other hand on top of it, “Take me home.”

  “I’m sorry, baby, but I can’t do that.” Eddie went for your hands, easily overpowering your admittedly weak resistance, popping the lock up and the door open.

  You yanked your hands back to your sides, fingers curling to grip onto the seat below you.

  “I'll fight.” You threatened.

  And Eddie knew you would, you’d go kicking and screaming if he tried to force you out, so instead, he went back to bartering as he’d intended. Now, there weren't any barriers between the two of you and he pried your right hand from the seat, raising it to his lips for a kiss and holding it there, mouth moving against it, “Alright, what do I gotta do, huh? I promise I’ll take good care of you after. We can get something to eat–whatever you want–and pick up a movie, or we can go out. Anything, sweetheart. We can go straight home and cuddle after if you don’t want to do anything, but this is important, baby, and I won’t make fun of the way you talk when your mouth is still numb this time.”

  You were scowling, not at him but scowling nonetheless. You hated the dentist, the sensation of having your tooth drilled away was not one you enjoyed experiencing, but cuddling with Eddie was. And you did want to nip this in the bud before it got worse and required more than a little drill. 

  Damn it.

  “. . . Can we get pizza?”

  “Of course.” Eddie grinned, his bright teeth on display for you as he reached to release your seatbelt from the buckle.

  “I wanna rent Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Splash and I don’t want to hear any negativity about Tom Hanks and I require you to cuddle me the entire time, too.” You added as he pulled the belt over your chest before reaching for your other hand to encourage you out of the van. 

  “I’m just sayin’, he–”

  “AND I want a milkshake, too.”

  “Whatever flavor you want.” He promised, intertwining your fingers as he closed the door behind you and the two of you made the brave trek to the front office.

  “Will you hold my hand?” You whispered, glancing up at him with big, nervous eyes. 

  “They’ll have to pry it away from me, baby.” He leaned over, pressing his lips to the side of your head as he gave your hand a squeeze. You knew you’d get through it with him.

  And after the appointment, which had gone by relatively fast, you found yourself cuddled into his side, with his arm holding you to him. An open pizza box rested on the table with two empty milkshake cups near it. He lived up to all except one promise.

“This guy is a doofus, baby, c’mon!”

[cherish--these--times]

Important information. SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE. UPDATING AS I WATCH THE MOVIE ALONG BEAR WITH ME. The film they watched at the hotel is You've Got Mail, this is Sam and Rebecca's story. When they messaged each other not knowing who the other person was. Ted said Sleepless in Seattle was far superior. This is the one where airports play a significant part and it's about a man who lost his wife and has a son finding love again with the woman he never knew until the last second would be the one. He first sees her in an airport and is knocked sideways. By all accounts the last of Ted we will see will be in an airport based on previous seasons with first and last shot being a character’s face in the same location.

Also Rebecca mentioning she has a private jet and the thing with airports; SUSP AS HELL.

Keeley assumed the moment Rebecca spent with Dutch Guy was "Magic" This is also a quote from Sleepless in Seattle. Turns out it was Gezellig instead. But this is definitely where we're going. And that'll either be Dutch Guy or Ted. Both fit the man who lost their partner and have a kid formula. Definitely not Sam. But Ted tripped over the Red String of Fate, has the matchbook, loves Kenny Rogers, bakes the biscuits who are home to her, she carries his army man everywhere she goes. She hasn't been struck by lightning yet which to me means it's not Dutch Guy; Ted is leaving which means her world is about to be turned upside down. I keep the faith. i don't care.

AND there's a tear in Meg Ryan's wedding dress and she says oh no it's a sign to which her mum says "You don't believe in signs!" And Rebecca doesn't really believe in signs either! All the signs have been pointing to different people except the obvious one! They're there so she can see something about herself she completely missed.

FUCK MY LIFE. It's about making wishes!! Tom Hanks' son in the film wishes for his father to find a new wife!! His son is worried about his dad!!!

The psychiatrist on the radio is called Dr. Fieldstone FUUUUUUCK MEEEEE. IT WAS RIGHT THERE ALL ALONG.

Sam and Annie speak the same words at the same time in two different places, soulmatism right there!

Annie thought Sam sounded "Nice" on the radio and Ted is one of the "nicest" humans Rebecca has ever met!!

Quote from a guy : "This is fate, she's divorced and you need a new wife." (not talking about Annie here, it's another woman) "What is that thing when everything intersects?" To which Sam replies: "The Bermuda TRIANGLE."

One woman who writes to Sam after he was on the radio lives in OKLAHOMA!

Dr. Fieldstone tells Sam she can tell he is a good dad just like Beard told Ted!!

One woman says on the radio: "Why do you want to be with someone who doesn't love you?" (Michelle, anyone?)

"Sam, tell me what was so special about your wife?" "It was a million tiny little things then when you added them all up it just meant we were supposed to be together. I knew it the very first time I touched her it was like coming home, only to no home I had ever known!"

Annie asking a friend: "But when you met her (his wife), did you believe she was the only person for you? That in some mystical, cosmic way, it was fated?"

Sam's friend about relationships:

"Things are different, now. First, you have to be friends. You have to like each other."

Annie talks to her best friend about the concept of DESTINY.

Annie hires a private detective to run a background check on Sam!! Ted wanted Rebecca to do it with Dr. Jacob!

Wonderful addition by @doctorbeverlycrusher : Rebecca’s mom said a couple times that when she loves something, she loves it forever. The main song from Sleepless in Seattle, When I Fall in Love, starts with the lyric “When I fall in love, it will be forever”.

ANNIE MUNCHES ON SUNFLOWER SEEDS ON THE PLANE.

Sam's son to his dad: "Jessica says you and Annie never got together in that life, and your hearts are like puzzles with parts out of them and when you get together the puzzle's complete. The reason I know this and you don't is that I'm younger and purer so I'm more in touch with cosmic forces."

There's even a mention of Horticulture!

We spotted the word Rainbow in the pub game, the romcommunism episode was called Rainbow. Let me leave you with the quote from Ted again.

"Now, it may not work out how you think it will or how you hope it does, but believe me, it will all work out. Exactly as it's supposed to."

I might be setting myself up for disappointment but the writers are building every step up to the cliff egde, baby!

Thank you for coming to my Ted Lasso Talk

[be-side-my-self]

Watching Season 4 of Only Murders In The Building. (E9)

Rewatch of ONLY Murders In The Building to prepare for season 4:

<Part I> // <Part II> // <Part III> // <Part IIII> // <Part V> // <Part VI> // <Part VII> // <Part VIII>

<S4 E1> // <S4 E2> // <S4 E3> // S4 E4 // <S4 E5> // <S4 E6> // <S4 E7> // <S4 E8>

This is no rewatch but my new posts can also easily be blocked because I'll continue to use #OMITBRewatch as a tag. I'll also tag #OMITBS4. While quoting, I use M, O, C for the main characters.

Beware spoilers! (watching on wednesday)

S4 E9

Let's see... who killed Sazz?

Who tried to kill Glen?

I feel like when someone says "He is going to ge the death of me!" it is more figuratively than literally.

Getting a job offer after being hit by a car... the american dream.

Okay... the nurse is irish too?

Going back because how big is the chance to have an irish nurse as an irish patient in america? I genuily asking.

Also I would have banned Charles and Oliver too...

A witchy board.... it's weegee board, Oliver! (in before I know it's Ouija)

That looks like really good beer... I want to try it because I like beer even though I'm no fan of pils. I'll survive though. I am a peasant though.

C: "You know, I've been thinking. You're getting married in a few days, and what if I took you out and bought you a non-beer drink to, uh, celebrate?" O: "Charles, are you offering to throw me a bachelor party?" C: *inhales* O: "I don't care what people say. You're not an ice prince."

Oliver, do you really want the kind of party that Charles would throw as you bachelor party?

I feel like i've seen the bartender before... gotta check out the actor... maybe not?

Only Sazz, Glen and the director knew what happened... is the director Dudenoff?

RON HOWARD?!

Love Olivers reaction... I paused and he is like >:0, while Charles is mildly surprised and Mabel looks like she has no idea who that is (tbf I mostly know him from The Simpsons). Anyway I guess Oliver does not like Ron.

LMAO I WAS SO WRONG XDD

O: "Finally, a celebrity this season!"

aww in the theme song we now see Howard walk his cat and dog.

nice how they hide the protegés face.

O: "Ron-Ron and I are close personal friends."

When Oliver says it like that I will now assume that Ron dislikes/hates Oliver.

Or does not remember him.

Why are we hearing about Ron Howard's nipples?

... what a mess... also yeah invite Tom Hanks to the Bachelor party

W - hiskey A - List Celebrities N - aughty S - ecret

C: "Got it. H-E-L-P."

Of course Mabel asks Bev.

Okay, let's take notes of the drink receipe because that starts out promising and with that I mean disgusting. 1 can (0.5 l) of Red Bull original (barf) 2 BiFi or mini salami ??? In a mixer and mixing it until it's a nice... barfy colour. I was expecting some kind of alcohol...

Oh Bev hates Ron?

Crew Member: "Everyone, we need all 'Escape from Planet Kongo' NDAs signed before entering." That explains the title... and autobiographic???

... I love that they are all overestimating their importance.

That security guard is really nice.

lmao

great casting scene.

GLEN IS AWAKE!!

With an irish nurse.

"Couple old men and their caretaker?"

You learn everything about a person while sharing off-menue soup.

Uh-Oh...

No! Don't cut off the oxygen to Glens brain!

Also what is up with American hospitals (in TV shows)? Everyone can just walk in an kill people, huh?

oh god... yes please discuss this while the whole set is watching you... what kind of lovers squarrel is this? Besties at it.

omg... it's aliens.... Kongonians are aliens. Certainly autobiographic.

Why does the nurse sound like she knew Glen since forever? Did they? Did she know him before?

Someone give Mabel a broom so she can go "There, there."

"Breaking news. Nicky 'The Neck' Caccimelio, the Dry Cleaning King of Brooklyn, has been reported missing. Though he has ties to the Caputo crime family, officials say they do not suspect foul play at this time." <- Putting this here for later reference.

... so... uhm... is this about the Irish vs. the Italian Mafia?

HOOOOOOO!!! wait a second! In that flashback scene the director assistant is the same as the one with Ron Ron? That would explain why he recognised Charles as Brazzos! He knew Sazz!!

.... right because it was a Ron Howard movie xD Forgot about it again because I watched that part yesterday.

Besties are at it again... and with "at it" I mean being angry at each other.

Awww Oliver is the emergency contact for Charles :']

They really are besties.

BESTIES ARE BEST MAN FOR EACH OTHER! and get colonoscopies together.

Of course ... lmao holy shit!

That was not a Dialog Marshall... it's a Monolouge

Important: that super light, long hair of the stuntperson.

RIP Ron Howards eyebrows.

I bet there is something important in that crate of beer.

Of course there is...

It's the correct sole on those shoes. ... Ron-Ron is the murderer!!!!1

Rex Bailey ....

Add a Beard and some glasses... don't tell me it's Howard... don't don't

OH... okay...

lol okay.

Uh Oh...

Also wow, Sazz wanted to talk with Charles about the movie but as in, she wrote a script. That is why she wanted to talk about the plot holes. To get the script right!

Wow. Oh gosh, Mabel is hardcore. She is in a room with a double-murderer and does not give a shit.

That is the reason for Sazz to be killed... bUT

we still don't know how to fill the plot-holes. Who wrote the notes?! Is there even a big bad in the background? .... is it Uma? j/k It's probably Howard.

[bumpkinspice0]

Recovery Time: Chapter 4

Joel Miller x Fem!Reader

No use of y/n

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 3k

Summary: He has a guitar and a quiet place to play now. Joel is starting to appreciate slowing down a little, but still wants to be useful. Finally off of his crutches, maybe he can be.

Warnings: A little angsty this time. Little bit of pining

Series Masterlist

Previous - Next

AO3

_______________

Chapter 4: Trust

He hates it. He fucking hates it. Sitting all day. The simple act of walking a few feet exhausting him, but he can’t seem to do much else. Like a lazy house cat. It’s foreign to him— being looked after. He didn’t like feeling so weak. Being so goddamn helpless. It’s simply not who he was. He protected the helpless… or used them if he needed to. But he was never one of them— pathetic and small. 

Joel didn’t like it at all. 

He doesn’t know what to do with all this time. He thinks he’s forgotten how to simply just live anymore. Survival was all there was for so long, and now he could actually take a moment for himself— and it was too much. Like he was suffocating on nothing but the air he could finally stop to breathe.

Then there was you. 

You and that impenetrable cheery attitude. Yet another thing here that was completely alien to him. 

He doesn’t deserve this— Any of it. Being catered to. Staying in the little paradise you’d built. Bleeding out in a field alone for the birds to eat was the death he deserved. So why did you take pity on him? What made him so fucking special to be given yet another second chance? You wouldn’t have taken him in if you knew who he was— what he’d done. He knows that for sure. 

You were a capable woman, smart and kind— but so fucking stupid. 

Everyone he knows would have just left him there. He would have if he were in your position. A stranger beaten to hell in the middle of nowhere, there were too many risks with it. Yet you dragged him right through your front door.

You welcomed him in with open arms. That’s just not how it goes anymore. All your time up here alone must have made you thick in the head. You gave him your bed. You feed him your food and put clothes on his back. Why? For nothing in exchange? He still can’t wrap his head around it. 

Has the world really made him so callous? It’s what’s kept him alive for so long. It’s how you survive another day without being able to ever sleep through the night. He wonders if you had the same problems as him. As everyone else. 

You, in many ways, were an enigma. 

You talked. You talked all the time. To him, to that damn dog, to yourself. After years alone it’s probably all you had. Like that movie with Tom Hanks and the volleyball. You’d been alone for so long, it was only natural… and he wasn’t entirely unhappy to oblige some of your ramblings. Some.

While you did build something amazing here, he still pitied you. Pitted the fact that you had only yourself to share it with. 

Christ, even someone like Bill had Frank to share his little safe haven with. 

How did someone like you end up all alone here? Someone beautiful and kind and with valuable skills— someone who should never be alone. The story was probably a sad one. Sad stories were all there seemed to be anymore. He saw it in your eyes sometimes, despite the smile underneath them. That deep pain no one can really hide. Eyes that have seen horrible things. He’s sure his eyes looked the same. 

You turned that pain into this place. Pouring your soul into everything here. He turned his pain into… something else. 

He’s ashamed to admit he was obsessing over what your angle could possibly be, why you would keep him here. What you could gain from him. 

What changed his mind was so stupid. You brought him that cup of coffee and eggs and he could just see it in you. He’s not sure what was so different about you that time. You weren’t pitifully leaving food next to the bed. He didn’t ask for anything. Just a kind gesture to say you were thinking of him as more than a hurt man. A cup of stale coffee in some faded old Garfield mug. Then it was just so obvious—there was no angle here. This is just who you were. 

A good woman. A loving woman. The rarest thing in the world now. 

Or maybe Joel just really missed coffee. 

You’d made something truly beautiful. Not only surviving but thriving all alone. You’d left the property vastly under-protected, but in a way you worked smarter rather than harder. You camouflage yourself rather than make something conspicuous that needs constant maintenance like Bill’s stupid giant gate. The house was almost completely eaten up with overgrown vines sprawling all over every inch of it. Instead of a wall, you planted flowers. Ridiculous… but effective. He’d taken a short walk on the outside of the property the other day and once he got a good few yards away it was just another mass of overgrowth in the forest. 

It couldn’t be sustainable. Nothing these days was. It would all have to be abandoned one day. Just another memory. Yet you put the effort in to make it a nice place to live. Not just a passive temporary shelter, but an actual home. It’d been so long since he’d been in a room that was actually loved. Bill and Frank’s place was loved but in a different way, like Bill was preserving something. A little time capsule of the past— But you somehow embraced the oddity of your situation. 

Random junk decorated your walls and yard. Old rusted things that had no use in them anymore. Yet you displayed them as if to say this was something once. A reminder maybe. The walls of the cabin were lined with old magazine pages, dried herbs and flowers, and old relics of the past. Even a few candy wrappers hung there like family photos. Proof of humanity. Plants in every corner. You used every inch of space selfishly. 

He noticed a few strings of Christmas lights hung around the house and across the property. They were useless now but he can almost picture you dancing at night with the property lit up and music blasting. You seemed like the kind of woman that’d like to dance. 

I was a cluttered mess, but a beautiful one. Chaos yet everything had its place. Everything had its purpose here— except for him. 

He’d been toying with the guitar on the porch for the last 2 days. At first, it sounded like familiarizing himself— scales and reluctant plucking. Seeing if he could still do it. Then a few licks that could resemble an actual song. You didn’t recognize most of them, but it was still nice to have something new to listen to. It was nice to have something to listen to at all.

He was skilled with it. Not a rockstar but well enough to hold his own— Not that you could really tell. You were a little tempted to start shouting song requests once it sounds like he’s got the hang of it again. 

Art had one or two song books lying around— Mostly consisting of classic rock and country. Still, Joel mulled them over all the same. You hadn’t found any chores for him to do while remaining mostly immobile. You gave him a basket of beans to shuck and he had them finished in less than an hour. So you dubbed him the title of radio instead. He didn’t seem amused by it, but it didn’t stop you from leaning into the nickname. 

“Next station!” You playfully shout from the garden. He’d been driving himself half mad for the last 20 minutes trying to get a particular riff just right. 

 “The station changes when I say it changes!” He shouts back, frustration pricking his words. He attempts the riff one more time and stumbles over his own fingers yet again. He mumbles something under his breath and flips to a new page in the country songbook. You hide a smile. 

“Freebird!” You enthusiastically request for roughly the billionth time since he started playing that thing. 

“If you say that one more time, I swear I’m leaving,” He grumbles, coming to a new page. He scans it briefly, recognition flashing in his eyes. “I know this one.” He mumbles, positioning his fingers.

A few practice picks and he starts a slow and clunky melody you didn’t recognize but was still overall pleasant. All of his slow playing was. You glance over and notice him mouthing some words in rhythm with his plucking. He’s putting a song together.

Is he going to sing? You wonder. Now that’d be a show. 

For once since he got here you decided to just keep your mouth shut and enjoy the moment. He was finally relaxing. Comfortable with the situation. It took over a week but you finally didn’t feel like you were walking on eggshells around him. You hope he felt the same towards you. 

You have lunch together— A fresh salad with a boiled egg and some rabbit jerky. You have most of your meals together now. For the first time in a while, you were enjoying mealtimes. It was just something passive you had to do to just fuel yourself. It was a chance for you to slow down too— and learn a little bit more about each other. 

“You said you’re from Texas, right?”

“Austin,” He clarifies, pushing around the greens on his plate, “Came up here when it all started. Been here ever since.”

You nod, your eyes looking back down at your own plate. You didn’t want to push anything, he obviously didn’t like to talk much but neither of you liked sitting in silence. You were both trying.

“Saw a Generator back there,” He breaks the latest awkward silence that brewed, “Looks like it still works?”

“Barely useful,” You grumble, “Gas powered. Only have so much juice left for it. I only turn it on for emergencies or… special occasions.”

“Special occasions?”

“Holidays. My birthday. Or just… bad days” You feel almost embarrassed to admit it, “I use the stereo or watch a movie. It’s like a… treat.”

“A treat,” You catch a glimpse of a smile on his lips. He’s amused at the idea of your little parties. It was a little silly, yes, but it’s certainly kept you sane a few times. 

Entertainment like that was a rarity these days, so whenever you had it you felt like the richest person in the world. Art didn’t have the best selection of music and movies for your taste but it was still something. You’ve unwillingly become a big fan of The Eagles and a lot of Clint Eastwood movies.

You both finish lunch in silence and move on to the next item on the docket. You see his face drop when you come back out with your medical bag.

“Bandage change already?” he asks. You’d been changing his bandages daily right before bed.

“Not yet actually,” You take a seat on the floor in front of him. “Today you get to come out of crutch jail. Can I see your foot?”

He scoots closer to you and gently places his wrapped foot on your lap. He’s eager. You can tell just how much he hated being so immobile. The image of him making a run for it as soon as you take the stabilizers out flashes through your mind. It’s a little cartoonish and funny but from what little you know about him he’ll be leaving as soon as he can walk a straight line halfway decently— Then it’ll be just you and Gus again.

“You sure the pain’s gotten better?” you ask one final time, “Nothing feels… off?”

“I know what broken bones feel like,” he assures you with a small eye roll. Well, without an X-ray machine, his intuition was the next best thing you had. What could go wrong?

“Okay,” you nod and begin the process.

He winces as you unwind the bandages and slip out the makeshift braces. The swelling has gone down considerably but there’s still a little stress on the skin. You gently roll his ankle through a series of movements to assess the damage. He gives an answer for each position through gritted teeth. Overall, it’s not too bad and likely not broken. The time for resting was over. Now he had to move if he wanted to speed up his recovery.

“Do those stretches twice a day. Feel free to walk around as much as you’d like, just don’t stress it too much. Use a walking stick if you need,” You instruct him as you gently roll the compression bandages around your hand and place them back in the bag, “You can put your boots on, just tie them loose. Move it around whenever you’re sitting, keep the blood flowing. Movement is your friend now.”

“Goody,” He groans as he leans down to roll his sock over his now only moderately swollen foot. “Alright, what do you need help with?”

Already back on the grind. 

“I don’t–” you cut yourself off and actually think. He needs to move around. He’s healing up amazingly. Sitting around won’t help him anymore. You haven’t had the option to have help in so long that you don’t actually know what you need. There had to be something for him though, “What are ya good, Joel Miller?”

“Lately, just sitting around and lookin’ pretty.” You pause in shock before a laugh slips out more like a raspberry. It’s the first honest-to-good joke he’s told since he got here. He smiles at your reaction and you notice how the lines on his face change when he does. The dimples in his cheeks. The creases around his soft brown eyes. He was rather pretty… you suppose. 

“I’m good at huntin’, I suppose,” he finally answers. “Noticed we went through those pheasants and rabbit you had.”

“We did,” You confirm. 

“You have any traps set up?”

“I do not,” You confirm again, “Never learned that one.”

“Then I’ll set up some traps nearby,” He stands up with a grunt, taking a moment to regain balance. You hop up and offer your elbow for support but he waves you off, leaning on the railing instead. He wants to do it himself. That’s fine.

You’re a little worried about him going off on his own but he wouldn’t have offered if he wasn’t going to come back…right?

“I’ll go with you.” You offer.

“You have plenty to do here. I can manage if you at least point me in the right direction of some rabbit trails.”

“I can do that. Gus’ll probably go with you. He’ll show you all the good spots and the way back, hopefully.” You look at the lazy dog sitting on the doorstep. His ears perk up at the mention of his name and strolls over to you, “Whadda need for supplies?”

“Rope and wire if you have it. A hammer would be nice.” He takes an experimental step. It’s clumsy but manageable. The next few days are gonna be rough for him but it’ll be what’s best for his ankle in the long run.

You lead him over to the Buck Shack, where you kept most of your miscellaneous supplies. He’s slow but steady, still getting the hang of it. You fill a bag with rope, some rusting wire, a hunting knife, and a hammer. 

“I’ll tie a few here and I’ll head out and place ‘em,” he says, walking over to the workbench.

“Whatever you gotta do,” you say, turning to leave him to his work. You pause at the door. This could be an opportunity to get to know him more. For him to actually show you something. You’re debating your next words, but they still come before you can stop yourself, “Will you show me?”

“What?” his brows knit together.

“Show me… how to make a trap.” You let the request sit a moment before you start to regret it, “Actually, you don’t have to—”

“Okay,” He nods, gesturing you over to him, “Come over here.”

You skittishly walk to his side as he takes the spool of thin wire out of the bag. He cuts a length of it and spins a loop around his fist. 

“For just a simple snare there’s not much to it, actually. Just a noose really. Most traps start the same, it just depends on how you set ‘em up that’s different,” Joel says as he ties a loose knot at the top of the loop, wrapping the wire around itself several times. You watch his large hands work with intensity. Callous, worked hands doing such small delicate movements— His knuckles still a little bruised from whatever fight he had been in. Your imagination runs a little wild at the sight of such strong things doing such small, purposeful movements.

“Just like this,” he holds up the small noose and pulls the loop tighter around his fingers, “This is for a still snare, good for rabbits and squirrels. Tie this up for them to run through on the ground and that’s about it. Nothing fancy. You try.”

You silently cut yourself a length of wire and copy his movements, wrapping it around your fist to make a loop and then twisting the wire around itself loosely at the top. He was right, it wasn’t anything fancy but you can’t help but feel like yours is inferior to his. 

“Like this?” You hold up the completed trap. 

He slides two fingers through the loop and pulls it taut. His eyes burn into yours as he does so— slowly. You immediately feel your cheeks start to heat up as he curls his fingers and gives a small tug. It wasn’t forceful but you can’t help but take a step closer to him.

“Perfect, darlin’.”

[vivianbernadetteaurora]

Oprah the devil act one scene one

I think we can all agree that this woman here is part of the problem, I’m by the look what she said and then look what she’s done, wanted to take Michael Jackson down, and David Gaffin well, her connections with him as suss, apparently according to blind item lore, Gavin who funded the documentary along with Oprah leaving Neverland, I’m not saying I don’t believe Michael Jackson didn’t do what he did because I do I know these powerful people, abuse their own meaning people in the industry with them because of their connections but to a civilian they might or someone is not enter the chat Evan Rachel wood, it is tale as oldest time, and unfortunately it doesn’t seem to be stopping, they seem to just migrate, yes you the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz Russell Simmons yes Tom Hanks, Tom Hanks didn’t you even in the Simpsons movie?, Covid oh unsurprised surprise you were the first person you have it., moved to Greece where the age of consent is 14 we know about you and your weird picture taking.

But as you can see, all these people know about Weinstein and Hollywood I believe, I mean in Gwyneth Paltrow speech where she thinks Harvey Weinstein she’s holding back the tears and I believe she’s holding back the tears because she realised she had to thank that fat bastard who treated her so badly, that Brad Pitt even had to step in and have a few words at him about his behaviour with women about his grotesque ways. I’m so glad Rowan Farrow doesn’t have any problem or didn’t have any problem in taking him down. Many people tried to and we couldn’t but he had his mother., had a sister to one stepsister one adoptive I believe, Rowan Farrow allegedly came out of Woody Allen’s ball sack no way, he looks far too much like Sinatra and he has so much more respect for women, as do most gay men well not all, in fact I can think of some who can be really disgusting. Enter Barney from how I Met your mother., Winehouse cake after she died Hollywood and you’re all coming out and you be seen for wicked ways but Oprah promoted so many things games having weird people on your show fans and people like Russell Wilson and Harvey Weinstein come on girl have a bit of class, we need to bring down this corruption in Hollywood but your supporting foundation of it these women why do you need to support these men so badly as well.

There’s even a cult leader called son of God John of God who essay women and children Oprah knew this she didn’t care she didn’t care , she just moves on that’s proper Hollywood where you don’t even say it. That’s your PR team. You just don’t talk about it. It happens but we don’t talk about it. It happens but let’s move on. It happens but what a shame but now I’m going to stand over here. I’m sorry the people are getting sick of it and your way your way being at parties and looking like you’re high on cake with Harvey Weinstein that’s a typo I’m gonna leave in., he would be high on cake, you obviously know I meant Coke right,. You know the white snowy stuff.

This woman has such audacity it’s beyond belief, and I’m sorry to say I hate to say it I really do but this is why Rita Ora has gone so far with little talent, yachting it up and then, understand and look at the first picture and read it and you’ll see what I mean, that means and now it’s just common folklore in blind items. Oprah, we do we see you and Gayle king .jail king if you know you know.🙇🏼‍♂️🤬😠👹🤮

[youcalledmebabe]

The pacific episode eight thoughts

sledge digging out ack ack’s book from the trash. it’s what Leckie would’ve wanted

ugh I miss Leckie

Rip snafu you would’ve loved Web MD

Company being two guys. Okay.

Thinking about Toccoa and Sobel now… ah memories

Another woman?? In an HBO war show?? No way

Lena making Basilone wake up early to get a date as she should!

Lena’s story about her dad 🥹

John is going back to the front??? Dude you just found a good reason to stay

PARATROOPER

John getting happily married has convinced me he’s going to die

It’s kinda funny that there was basically no (canon) romance in band of brothers. Tom Hanks was like eh winnix is close enough.

Well. Just because I knew it was coming doesn’t make it any easier. Poor Lena.

Now that I know John’s arc I can see why they had the home front stuff because bringing him back just to die wouldn’t have been impactful but I still think they didn’t do it in the best way for the cohesiveness of the narrative

[the-rewatch-rewind]

I love Poe Party too much to feel like any words will do it justice, but I keep trying.

Script below the break.

Hello and welcome back to the Rewatch Rewind! My name is Jane, and this is the podcast where I count down my top 40 most frequently rewatched movies of the last 20 years. And today I will be discussing number 13 on my list: Shipwrecked Comedy and American Black Market’s 2016 mystery comedy Edgar Allan Poe’s Murder Mystery Dinner Party, directed by William J Stribling, written by Sean Persaud and Sinéad Persaud, starring Sean Persaud, Sinéad Persaud, Mary Kate Wiles, Sarah Grace Hart, Joey Richter, Lauren Lopez, Ashley Clements, Tom de Trinis, Blake Silver, and a whole bunch of other incredibly talented and underrated actors.

Edgar Allan Poe (Sean Persaud) wishes to impress the beautiful Annabel Lee (Mary Kate Wiles), so he enlists the help of his ghost roommate Lenore (Sinéad Persaud) to throw a murder mystery party for Annabel and a group of famous authors. But then guests start actually being murdered.

So, first of all, I realize that this isn’t technically a movie; it’s an 11-episode webseries available to watch for free on YouTube, which you should absolutely pause this podcast to do if you haven’t seen it yet (link in the show notes). But there is a feature cut that’s about an hour and 45 minutes long, and that’s what I counted as a movie. If I’d kept track of the number of times I watched each episode, I’m sure that even my least-watched episode would easily beat number one on this list. But as for the feature cut, I watched it 12 times in 2017, three times in 2018, four times in 2019, twice in 2020, and three times in 2021. To a certain extent, every movie on the Rewatch Rewind has changed my life in some way, but this one has changed my life to a degree that I would never have believed possible. Every single day of the last seven plus years of my life would have looked different if not for Edgar Allan Poe’s Murder Mystery Dinner Party. All of the guests I have had on this podcast who are not my siblings, I met either directly or indirectly because of this show. So fasten your seatbelts: this episode is going to be a ride.

My journey to Edgar Allan Poe’s Murder Mystery Dinner Party, or Poe Party for short, or Edgar Allan Poe’s Murder Mystery Invite-Only Casual Dinner Party/Gala for Friends Potluck for long, began years before the project itself was even written. In the late 2000s-early 2010s, my sister was relatively plugged into the YouTube scene, at least compared to me, and she first introduced me to a group called Team Starkid around 2009-2010-ish. At the time, they were a bunch of college theater kids who had put together a Harry Potter parody musical and on a whim posted it to YouTube, where it went viral, so they started making and posting other musicals – which they are still doing. I feel like I might still have discovered Poe Party if I hadn’t been a Starkid fan, but that definitely helped. A more crucial step on my road to Poe Party started on April 9, 2012, when my sister posted a link to a new YouTube video on my Facebook wall, with the message, “Fictional vlogs by Lizzie Bennet. (actually Hank Green.) There’s only one so far, but I’m kind of crazily excited for this!” Hank Green, of course, along with his brother John, is basically one of the fathers of YouTube. I don’t think I’d seen a ton of their videos at that point, but I was familiar with and liked them. And of course, I knew Lizzie Bennet was the main character in Pride and Prejudice, a story that I loved very much – more on that in a future episode. So I was also very excited for this new show, called The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, but I could not have imagined the intense emotional journey it would take me on, through two short episodes a week (plus spinoffs) for almost a year. There had never been a TV show that I was more invested in than LBD. I was double majoring in college and working part time, but the main thing I cared about was these modern Pride and Prejudice characters. The show was clearly very low-budget, but I was blown away by the writing and acting. I was particularly impressed by the person playing Lizzie, Ashley Clements, and the person playing Lydia, Mary Kate Wiles. And, like, it wasn’t just me – LBD had a huge following for what it was. Not, like, millions of fans, but hundreds of thousands by the end. As the finale approached, the producers launched a Kickstarter to release the show on DVD and – ostensibly – pay significantly more to the cast and crew who had been incredibly underpaid. If you’re at all interested in hearing more about that, I highly recommend checking out The Look Back Diaries on Ashley Clements’s YouTube channel; she just did a whole deep dive into the show and its aftermath in honor of its 10th anniversary that I found fascinating. But anyway, coincidentally, right around that same time, Starkid also launched their first Kickstarter, since most of them had graduated from college and no longer had access to the same resources but wanted to keep making more musicals. So they were raising money for Twisted, a Wicked-style villain redemption retelling of Aladdin, which sounded interesting. I had never pledged to a Kickstarter before, but I backed both the LBD DVDs and Twisted on the same day: March 25, 2013, according to my emails.

After that, I kept following Starkid and some of the cast members of LBD, but not particularly closely. In early 2014, Mary Kate Wiles was in a webseries called Kissing in the Rain that I think I watched part of at the time, and I thought it was fine, but I wasn’t particularly into it (imagine, me, an aromantic, not particularly into a show about kissing!) and there was a lot of other stuff going on in my life so I honestly can’t remember if I saw all of it when it was first coming out. I definitely couldn’t have told you that it was on a channel called Shipwrecked, or even the name of the actor she was kissing. But in May of 2014, a new Kickstarter launched for a series called Muzzled the Musical, which was going to feature several cast members from LBD as well as Joey Richter from Team Starkid (Lauren Lopez also ended up being in it but I don’t think that was known during the Kickstarter). And I thought, whoa, cool, worlds colliding, and backed it. And promptly all but forgot about it.

A lot of strange, confusing, and rather upsetting things happened in 2015 that I don’t really want to get too deep into here, but I will say that in hindsight most of them had to do with a combination of amatonormativity and heteronormativity, and I started feeling pretty bad about myself. Before then I had managed to convince myself that I was too young to seriously fall in love anyway, but suddenly I was 25 years old and had never had any interest in dating anyone, and I felt like there was definitely something wrong with me. I didn’t exactly want to change, since I liked not dating, but I had always thought that that would just automatically change when I got older, and facing the fact that it wasn’t changing meant facing the fact that I didn’t know what the point of my life was. I liked my job but I didn’t want it to be my sole purpose. I loved movies, but that didn’t feel like it mattered. All my life I had taken in the message that finding a spouse and creating a family was what made the struggle of life worth it, and I felt lazy for not even trying to pursue that. I remember hearing at some point in my late teens that if you didn’t find your significant other in college, you needed to look online, but I didn’t even know what I would be looking for. And I truly don’t know where this line of thinking would have ended up if it had gone on much longer uninterrupted – I may have discovered my identity a bit sooner, or I may have ended up hurting someone by trying to pursue a relationship I ultimately didn’t want, or I may have just continued to spiral – but what actually happened was I got an email in late October that that random fantasy musical series I had backed on Kickstarter a year and a half earlier was being released on YouTube.

So I watched Muzzled, and it was very fun and silly, but the main thing I got out of it was, man I miss the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. So I finally opened that DVD set I’d gotten from the Kickstarter, and I binge-watched the whole show (I didn’t count it as a movie because there’s no feature cut, and also it is very long). And then I re-watched the whole thing with the DVD-exclusive commentary. And then I thought, I wonder what this cast has been up to lately, so I started searching for them on YouTube. And that’s when I learned that Mary Kate Wiles had been posting two videos per week on her channel for years, and I had been missing it. As I got caught up on her videos, I learned that I had just missed a Kickstarter for a musical she was going to be in called Spies are Forever, made by the Tin Can Brothers, which were a group of people who were also involved with Starkid, and that she seemed to be getting ready for a new Kickstarter with a group called Shipwrecked Comedy, the same people who had made that kissing show. They had also made a show called A Tell Tale Vlog about Edgar Allan Poe and the valley girl ghost Lenore who was haunting him, in which Poe had been played by Sean Persaud (the guy from Kissing in the Rain, who was apparently dating Mary Kate in real life) and his sister Sinéad (who was in the second half of Kissing in the Rain, which I definitely hadn’t watched before). Mary Kate had made a brief appearance in A Tell Tale Vlog as Annabel Lee, and this new show was going to be related to that, but bigger. I was so intrigued by this new project that I started supporting Mary Kate on Patreon to ensure that I didn’t miss any updates about it.

The Poe Party Kickstarter launched on February 2, 2016. By then, I had watched and enjoyed everything on Shipwrecked’s YouTube channel, but that Kickstarter video was my favorite thing they had made. I initially pledged the same amount that I had given to the Lizzie Bennet DVDs, thinking that would be my final pledge, but I ended up giving almost six times that much by the end of the campaign. Every $5,000 they raised, they revealed a new character and cast member with a poster, and each reveal made me more excited. Joey Richter was playing Ernest Hemingway?! Ashley Clements was playing Charlotte Brontë?! Lauren Lopez, who frequently played male characters, was playing George Eliot, a woman with a male pen name?! They got Jim O’Heir from Parks & Rec?! And then, as if the reveals weren’t enough, they had weekly 4-hour livestreams that I found incredibly entertaining. It had become clear that Shipwrecked Comedy now consisted of four people: Sean, Sinéad, Mary Kate, and Sarah Grace Hart, who had played Emily Dickinson in a stand-alone video and would be reprising that role in Poe Party. Various other cast members showed up in the streams with the Core Four, and I distinctly remember thinking, if these people are this entertaining to watch when they’re just hanging out, this show is going to be so amazing! In the second livestream of the campaign, they started writing people’s names on papers to stick on the wall if they pledged or raised their pledge during the streams, which was an excellent incentive, but I would have kept raising mine anyway, because I was desperate for this show to get made. Apart from a few weird troll messages, the stream chat was full of lovely conversations between people who seemed like my kindred spirits. I had never felt more at home in a community. And I had never been more excited than when the Kickstarter exceeded its goal.

And I’m telling you all of this because I need you to understand how astronomically high my hopes and expectations for Poe Party were. Some of the movies I’ve talked about so far ended up in my top 40 partly because I had fairly low expectations going into them and was pleasantly surprised, but that was absolutely not the case here. I had seen excellent work from several of the people involved before, and they seemed particularly dedicated to this project, and I knew they were going to make something incredible. I also desperately needed something in my life to go really well, and this seemed like it might be it, although I knew it wasn’t fair to put that kind of pressure on these independent filmmakers. I tried to temper my expectations, reminding myself that they had only raised a little over $72,000, and Kickstarter was going to take a chunk of that, and some of it had to go to perk fulfillment, so they weren’t going to have nearly enough to make anything super fancy. They released some prologue videos that were very fun but also very small, and I tried to tell myself that the actual show was also going to be small. And I kept reminding myself how long Muzzled had taken to come out, and that I was probably going to have to wait a while for Poe Party too, so I needed to chill. But then in late July – only four and a half months after the Kickstarter had ended – Shipwrecked released a trailer for Poe Party, which said it was starting in less than a month, and there was no tempering my expectations after that. The trailer looked fabulous. It was witty and clever and dramatic and intriguing, the music was perfection, and, shockingly, it looked like an actual studio movie. Not like a super high-budget one, but like they had at least a million dollars. Certainly way more than $60k. My already-ridiculously-high expectations soared to new heights. Part of me was sure I was setting myself up for disappointment, but I couldn’t help it.

And then it was August 22 and the first episode (Chapter 1: The Bells) dropped and it was so much better than I was hoping for. First of all, the look set the tone perfectly. The lighting was exquisite, and the location – incidentally the same house where Muzzled was filmed – was perfect. And then there was the writing. One thing the Persauds had mentioned during the Kickstarter was that they were inspired by the movie Clue, which will be featured in a future episode of this podcast, so I was expecting similar vibes to that, but I was not expecting there to be so many direct references to Clue. All of them made me extremely happy. It felt like the show was made specifically for me. It was like Clue, but even better. I already loved every single character and knew I would be sad to see some of them get murdered. It was also very clear from even just that first episode that this was going to fall into the “everybody was having way too much fun” category of film that I love. But while most movies like that tend to have pretty weak stories and just overall mediocre scripts, and the cast having fun makes up for that, Poe Party was different. The writing was fantastic, AND the acting was perfect, AND it looked gorgeous, AND everybody was having fun. Again, I tried not to have unrealistic expectations, I tried to tell myself that not every episode could be quite the banger that the first one was, but I was still incredibly excited for the rest of the show. And I was not at all disappointed. Somehow it just kept getting better. The running joke about everyone forgetting Emily Dickinson was there or who she was just kept getting funnier. Ditto the joke about George Eliot thinking she needed to convince everyone she was a man when everyone was clearly fine with her being a woman. I remember at one point, when around three or four chapters were out, Mary Kate tweeted that they were working on editing her favorite part of the show, and I thought, surely it doesn’t get better than what I’ve seen already. But it turned out she was talking about chapter 8, and yes, it absolutely was better. The constables, Jim and Jimmy – played by Jim O’Heir and Jimmy Wong – and everyone else trying to fool them, are so delightful to watch. Even though chapter 8 features probably the second saddest death in the series, it’s overall the funniest episode. This show touches an incredibly wide range of emotions and moods, especially considering it takes place in one house over one night.

I want to make it clear that I would still love Poe Party even if I’d stumbled upon it years after it came out, and even if I didn’t recognize any of the actors. The show is excellent enough to stand on its own. But being part of it from the Kickstarter, being familiar with some of the actors, and being online as it was coming out, certainly enhanced my enjoyment of it. Shipwrecked had a weekly “competition” of sorts where they would give a vague prompt and people would make fan art or write fan fiction and post it on social media (#PoePartyFTW), and each of the four members of Shipwrecked would pick their favorite to re-post. I wrote a fic after each of the episodes, and several of them got chosen by Shipwrecked, and I hadn’t felt that good about myself in years. I loved the show so much that I couldn’t confine it just into weekly fics; I was shouting about it on every social media platform. I also started weekly speculation Tumblr posts, using Clue references as my guide, many of which led me astray – I was convinced there must be a secret passage between the kitchen and the study that didn’t turn out to exist – but I did figure out part of the solution relatively early on. While the mystery aspect of Clue is ultimately nonsense if you think about it too hard, Poe Party actually tracks. And if you’ve listened this far and you still haven’t seen Poe Party, please go watch it now, because I’m going to start getting into story specifics and spoilers, and I think everybody should get to see it once without knowing what’s coming. (I’m also going to spoil some of Clue, so you could go watch that too if you want, although I don’t feel like Clue spoilers matter that much.)

In her episode of A Tell Tale Vlog, Annabel mentioned that she had started seeing a banker named Eddie, and then in the Poe Party Kickstarter video, she asked Edgar if she could bring Eddie as her plus one to his party. So Eddie (played by Ryan W. Garcia) shows up late to the party with Annabel, and then becomes the first murder victim. EXCEPT, spoiler alert: he’s actually NOT DEAD, and is, in fact, one of the murderers. And from the very first episode, I recognized Eddie’s similarities to Mr. Boddy in Clue, who is also not dead when you first think he is, and I was therefore suspicious of him from the get-go. But I was still very much open to any possibility (or so I thought) because the Persauds had done an excellent job of making everyone at least somewhat fishy. But there was one thing I was not prepared for, and that was the end of chapter 9. Because it absolutely never occurred to me that Poe’s beautiful Annabel Lee would die, and I’m honestly still kind of devastated about it, even understanding why it had to happen, and at the time I was almost inconsolable. Mary Kate Wiles had led me to this brilliant show, in which she played the kindest, most likable character, only to be brutally murdered? Some fans at the time had thought Annabel might be the killer, which I never did, and honestly I would have been kind of angry if she had been because we need to have more genuinely nice characters in things. I was upset that she died, but I would have been more so if she’d turned evil. (Not that I have anything against MK playing villains – I’m all for it, under the right circumstances. And thankfully the Persauds know when the right circumstances are.) And like, okay, I know I complain about too much romance in stories, but Annabel’s “It was always you” as she died in Edgar’s arms – that got me. Annabel had been planning to marry Eddie because he was more respectable than the unhinged poet she actually loved, and I think that that whole trying to fake the life you think you’re supposed to have thing spoke to me. I had been so tempted to try that, and this was almost as clear of a message as the constables’ “Don’t Do Murder”: Don’t Fake Romance.

At that point, I was pretty much convinced that Eddie must have had something to do with this; why would anyone else kill Annabel? Also, chapter 9 reveals that Annabel wrote the invite list, and I thought it made sense that Eddie, her boyfriend, could have told her whom to include, especially since it had already been established that most of the guests had some connection to Eddie. The prompt for that week’s Poe Party FTW competition was “Confession,” so I decided to try something different from the short stories I’d been submitting, and I re-wrote the poem “Annabel Lee” from Eddie’s perspective as if he was the murderer. And I know this episode is already longer than most of my solo episodes and I have a lot more to say, but I’m still proud of this poem (even though it’s not completely accurate, since it turned out that Eddie didn’t kill everybody), so I need to share it with you:

It was many and many a month ago,

           In her cottage by the sea,

That I first read the words that Edgar wrote

           For my girlfriend Annabel Lee;

And he said that she lived with no other thought

           Than to love and be loved by he.

“He’s just my friend and I’m just his friend,”

           She quickly explained to me;

But we loved with a love which was worse than love –

           I and my Annabel Lee –

With a love that was founded on secrets and lies,

           Fueled by jealousy.

And this was the reason that, later on,

           Faced with opportunity,

I took advantage of an offer made

           To innocent Annabel Lee;

For when Lenore asked whom to invite

           To that cad’s dinner party,

Annabel deferred to my input

           Which I gave most willingly.

All authors, not half so worthy as bankers,

           Who had e’er quarreled with me –

Yes! – they were the ones (no one would know;

           I’d met them all secretly)

That Edgar would invite to his house that night,

           At the behest of “his” Annabel Lee.

For our love it was weaker by far than the love

           Of vengeance I carried in me –

           Of justice toward those who’d wronged me –

And neither the psychics who bring back the dead,

           Nor the cops fresh from Academy,

Can hinder my murderous plan; no one can!

           No, not even my Annabel Lee.

As I watch them point fingers I find my gaze lingers

           On the beautiful Annabel Lee;

When they mention invites, she suspects, knows she’s right,

           Out the door runs my Annabel Lee;

Can’t let her get away: who knows what she might say?

So I kill her – I kill her – my eleventh kill today.

           Instead of revealing me,

           Her last breath says it was always he.

So yeah. I was deep into this. But then nobody in Shipwrecked chose it that week, and I thought, okay, maybe it wasn’t that good, or, maybe my theory is laughably far off the mark. Maybe Eddie’s too obvious. Maybe he really is dead. Then in chapter 10, Charlotte Brontë confessed, and revealed that her sister Anne had been there the whole time helping, and at that point I was pretty sure Eddie was also involved again. We clearly saw that Annabel’s killer was wearing pants, unlike either Brontë sister. And then it was Halloween and the finale finally arrived, and I was right about Eddie, but I was still completely unprepared for how awesome that final chapter would be. I think there was still a small part of me that didn’t believe it was possible for the end to live up to the buildup of the first ten incredible chapters. But it absolutely did. The finale was everything – everything, I say – that I wanted it to be and much more. The evil slow clap. The revolving villain trio of creepy neck touching. The flashbacks. The fights. The pet rock’s revenge. The literary references. And of course, the surprise reveal of Jane Austen, played by Laura Spencer, who had also played Jane Bennet in the Lizzie Bennet Diaries. The episodes were posted at 9 am on Mondays, when I was at work, so I couldn’t watch them right when they dropped, but after the first one I couldn’t wait until I got home either. My work’s wifi blocked YouTube, and I had an extremely limited data plan at the time, so on my lunch break I would walk to the McDonald’s down the street and watch the new episode using their wifi. And when the camera panned to Jane Austen, it was all I could do not to yell “OH MY GOSH IT’S LAURA SPENCER!” in that McDonald’s. I definitely audibly gasped, but I don’t think anyone noticed. The thing is, I would have still been blown away by the finale without that extra surprise. But that’s what Shipwrecked does. They make things that can appeal to a wide audience, and then they sprinkle in some extra treats for people who have been following them for a while. Of course, LBD was not a Shipwrecked project, but finding Shipwrecked through LBD is a fairly common path. And I’m still so impressed with how well they kept Laura as Jane Austen a secret. As a Kickstarter perk, I’d had a video chat with the Core Four that summer, and I’d mentioned that Jane Austen was my favorite author, and I was disappointed that she wasn’t going to be in Poe Party, and they were just like, “Yeah, we thought about including her, but we figured she would be too similar to Charlotte Brontë,” and betrayed not a SINGLE HINT that she was, in fact, in the show. Which is another thing Shipwrecked does: make a very specific, deliberate plan about what to reveal when, and stick to it.

As another example of that, the Poe Party Kickstarter had reached a stretch goal to produce an epilogue. I had completely forgotten about that, but other backers remembered and started asking about it after the finale. Shipwrecked was pretty cagey with their answers, but then directed us to a mysterious Twitter account that was dropping strange clues. I watched as the Shipwrecked fan Facebook group decoded them and ultimately unlocked the epilogue a day before it was released publicly. The epilogue is not included in the feature cut, and now I don’t really think of it as part of the show. Chapter 11 ends so perfectly – Poe stares at the floor as the heartbeat grows louder, a floorboard creaks, fade to black: chef’s kiss. But at the time I was feeling so many overwhelming feels about this show that I desperately needed that epilogue. I was so utterly relieved to see Annabel and HG thriving as ghosts. And I was so thrilled to be surrounded by such a great fandom, who all worked together and helped each other to solve the puzzles – it was a beautiful weekend. And it was also the last weekend before Donald Trump was elected president of the United States and I had to face the fact that the country was more broken and divided than I’d wanted to believe, which definitely adds to my nostalgia for that epilogue adventure.

The show may have ended, and the world may have been falling apart faster than usual, but I could not have gotten Poe Party out of my head even if I’d wanted to, which I didn’t. For over a decade I’d been searching for something that felt like a classic movie, but with some modern sensibilities, and these independent filmmakers had made exactly what I was looking for, zillions of times better than I’d imagined it. That clever, witty dialogue, perfectly delivered by quirky characters, almost felt like it came from a 1930s screwball comedy. But it also felt fresh and new and different from anything I’d seen before. It had so many similarities to Clue – in fact, I taught myself how to make gifs, or [other pronunciation] gifs, in order to highlight specific parallels between Poe Party and Clue – and yet remained unique. Where Clue was mostly just comedy, Poe Party was comedy, tragedy, romance, and intrigue, and absolutely nailed all of those. (Sadly no ravens, though, they didn’t have the budget for that.) Anyway, the series held up shockingly well upon rewatch, and I could not get enough of it. And despite the socially anxious part of my brain that remains convinced that everyone always is annoyed with me, that I have nothing worthwhile to say, that I should just shut up and stop bothering others with my existence – people seemed to like what I was posting about Poe Party. Other fans would engage me in conversation, and I started making internet friends for the first time. And, shockingly, the members of Shipwrecked seemed to genuinely appreciate what I was saying as well. After the finale had aired, Mary Kate reblogged my Annabel Lee poem on Tumblr and said, “I legitimately thought this was brilliant, and only didn’t choose it that week because of spoilers. Every single fic Jane wrote for this ftw has been wonderful, and I have so enjoyed them all, but this was above and beyond.” And maybe it sounds like I’m just boasting at this point, but the reason I’m sharing this is because a year earlier I had felt like a failure of a human who had no place in the world, and now this incredible actress/producer I greatly admired, who had just made my new favorite show, was saying that I had enhanced her experience of releasing it. People were liking and appreciating me, just for being myself and enthusiastically enjoying a movie. And I no longer felt like I was supposed to change who I was.

In early 2017, I got the rest of my Kickstarter perks, including behind-the-scenes goodies that featured not one but two fabulous commentaries. I love them both, but the second one is particularly chaotic in the best way. Ashley Clements and Ryan W Garcia, true to the villainous characters they played in the show, keep derailing the conversation and it’s incredibly amusing. The commentaries are over the feature cut, so many if not most of the views that I counted were with one of the commentaries. And I also bought the feature cut without commentary so I could show it to other people and still count it on my list. Now I tend to watch it episodically because I want the Shipwrecked YouTube channel to get more views for the algorithm, although I’m not sure that actually helps. But anyway, the feature cut and commentaries and other bonus features are still available to rent or buy on shipwrecked.vhx.tv, which I will also link in the show notes, if you’re interested.

Also in 2017, the first episode of Poe Party was shown at a festival near me, so I got to meet the Core Four members of Shipwrecked and some fans in person. That was very exciting, but I was also extremely nervous, although I didn’t need to be. The Shipwrecked people were so lovely and actually wanted to talk to me and the other fans who were there. And then I got to see Poe Party win some awards, which was awesome. And then a few months later, Shipwrecked launched another Kickstarter, and I pledged even more to it than I had to Poe Party even though the goal was lower, and then they kept making more stuff and I kept supporting it, and also continued to love everything they made (yes, even the Fart Feud with the Tin Can Brothers). I continued to support Mary Kate on Patreon, and I also started supporting other cast members on Patreon, like Whitney Avalon who had played Mary Shelley and does a lot of her own stuff on YouTube, and of course Ashley Clements, as I’ve mentioned previously, and as soon as Shipwrecked finally got their own Patreon, I was all in at the top tier. And, like, I don’t want to go on about this too much, because I do truly believe that I would love their work even if I’d never interacted with them, but I don’t know that I’d be quite the die-hard, take-all-my-money-to-make-more-things Shipwrecked fan that I am, if I hadn’t had so many wonderful interactions with the members of Shipwrecked over the years. I didn’t set out to become friends with them, but I kind of have – although I still feel a little weird and presumptuous to claim that. I feel like this will sound to some people like an out-of-control parasocial relationship, but like, it’s not that, because they do know me. Other people in my life have referred to Shipwrecked as “the people you pay to be your friends,” but it’s not that either: I give them money so they can keep making things, and we also happened to hit it off as friends – which again feels like a presumptuous label, but I can’t come up with a more accurate word. They make what they love and I love what they make, so it’s not that surprising that we’d get along. And for similar reasons, it’s not surprising that I’ve made so many very close friendships with other Shipwrecked fans. Our love for these projects brought us together, and then turned out to be far from the only thing we have in common.

I feel like I’m talking way too much about my own personal experiences, I’m so sorry if this is boring. Back to Poe Party itself. I’ve hinted at it already, but I need to emphasize again both how incredible the script is, and how amazingly the cast brought it to life. The story was so well thought out: every scene, every character, every moment was there for a reason. Like, I thought George Eliot disguising herself as a man was just a nod to female authors having to use male pen names, but then that turned into an important clue that led to the Brontës. Yes, you can poke plenty of holes in Poe Party if you want to – not all of the characters based on real people were actually alive at the same time, some of the technology is anachronistic, etc – but none of that stuff really matters. It’s clearly meant to be silly and fun, so you don’t really need to know what year it is. But the fact that they managed to write something silly and fun that didn’t completely devolve into absolute nonsense is so incredibly impressive. Sean and Sinéad wrote an absolutely brilliant script, and then they assembled the perfect cast for it. Every actor is on the exact same page about what this project is, and they each know exactly how their character fits in. Even when they’re in the background, everyone is giving 100%. I want to especially shout out Joey Richter, since Ernest Hemingway is drinking all night, and Joey did a tremendous job of tracking how drunk he was supposed to be. By the finale he’s having to slap himself to stay awake in the background, and it’s hilarious. Everyone else is also a delight to watch, and I feel like I’m still noticing little background moments I hadn’t clocked before. There aren’t very many close-ups, which I think was mainly because they didn’t have the budget for the time it would take to shoot them, but it works perfectly because a lot of the funny moments become even funnier when you can see multiple characters’ reactions at once. If you’re watching the background acting closely enough, you may notice a few instances of people almost breaking, but personally I just choose to interpret that as the characters finding it difficult to keep it together when other characters around them are being silly, and who can blame them? I appreciate that the writers and director trusted the cast enough to let them play around and improvise, because some great ad-libbed lines ended up in the final cut, and many more went into the best blooper reel ever, which is 24 minutes long and I love every second of it. There are some moments from the bloopers that I find myself saying sometimes when I’m watching the actual show – Ashley’s “Don’t be mean to me!” is probably the one I quote the most.

There is definitely romance in Poe Party – the whole reason for the party is because Edgar is in love with Annabel. Lenore and HG Wells develop feelings for each other over the course of the evening…until he dies. And several other characters flirt with each other. But none of the romances end well, and throughout the story, there is a lot of emphasis on friendship, and acquaintanceship, and other types of relationship. And that’s a running theme in most of Shipwrecked’s projects. There hasn’t been a kiss in any of them since Kissing in the Rain. Of course, much of the Poe Party fandom was, and is, into shipping characters with each other – for any listeners who may not be terminally online, shipping characters means that you want them to be in a romantic relationship with each other. I joined in somewhat, mostly because I felt like I was supposed to, but I couldn’t have articulated that at the time. And, as I mentioned earlier, I was particularly fascinated by the Eddie/Annabel dynamic, but I was only able to fully comprehend how much I needed the “don’t fake romance” message in hindsight. This show and its fandom made me feel less alone and adrift, but I still didn’t figure out I was aroace for a few more years. Although it was friends I made in the Shipwrecked fan community who first really helped me understand and accept that part of my identity, so I can still say that Poe Party was an important step on that journey.

I want to say so much more about this utterly brilliant show – I don’t feel like I’ve even come close to doing it justice here – but there truly are no words to adequately express my love for it. It still holds up nearly 7 years later, but Shipwrecked has come a long way since then. When their most recent webseries, Headless: A Sleepy Hollow Story, was about to come out, they said it made Poe Party look like it had been done by a bunch of kindergarteners, and I was upset at the Poe Party slander, but once I watched that series, I understood what they meant. Headless is so far above and beyond, but unfortunately it came out too recently to make it into my top 40. Currently they’re releasing an audio narrative called The Case of the Greater Gatsby, which should be on the same platform you’re listening to this on. That is a sequel to their short film The Case of the Gilded Lily, which I will be discussing in a future episode. I really hope that someday Shipwrecked gets the level of recognition they deserve – their fandom is still relatively small, although we are mighty and devoted. At the very least, I hope that the current strikes will help enable them to make a living from writing and acting.

Thank you for listening to me discuss another of my most frequently rewatched movies, or at least attempt to. Following this will be a two-way tie of movies I watched 25 times, both of which feature Cary Grant, my favorite leading man apart from Sean Persaud. As always, I will leave you with a quote from the next movie: “Hi! Mellow greetings, ukie-dukie!”

[the-technicolor-whiscash]

Honestly if we're talking accuracy of events in space movies even though I hate it i do think First Man is the most accurate. I think Apollo 13 is the best out of the three by far because it is fundamentally a good movie and I think the passion of the production team really comes through but in order to make it a good movie they needed to sacrifice some levels of historical accuracy including adding arguments and drama and making Swigert seem almost incompetent when really he was probably the best man for the job. And it kind of wraps the astronauts who did simulator work all into the character of Mattingly (who was genuinely a pretty great guy and did not want to take the sole credit for the work) when in reality there were other astronauts who helped with the process there. It also overdramatizes certain aspects of the event while simplifying others (like the bursting helium disc, which would have likely required a correction burn). But these things all combine to make it a good movie, if not the most accurate. First Man is pretty accurate, albeit leaving out major parts of Neil's life like the house fire that nearly killed him and his children. But overall, the actual spaceflight events are handled fairly well and to my knowledge fairly accurately. I just hate the movie i do not think Gosling was the right choice for Neil (no offense to Gosling i actually really enjoy the guy but he's just. He's not my first choice for Neil and the fact he clearly tries and fails to maintain some kind of accent is truly horrendous. I cant believe they told him that was a good idea. The guy in From The Earth To The Moon didnt do that! And he played a fine Neil if lacking a little depth) and I think the movie outside of the actual flight segments is fairly slow and that is due pretty much to the fact Neil was not a man who lived a blockbuster life. He loved flying, he was an engineer by trade, and he knew how to dodge drama. He was the first man on the moon, yes, but outside of that he was not really all that stand-out and that is what makes him interesting to me specifically and why i keep his biography on my bedside table. But that a good film does not make. Neil is not a blockbuster main character. In Apollo 13, Jim Lovell works as a main character because A) Tom Hanks is Tom Hanks i mean really, B) Lovell has always been excellent at telling a story, and C) it is an extremely specific incident theyre facing. Lovell is just a good speaker. He's always had a camera presence. Neil could certainly be a good talker and i think could explain the task of a mission well but Lovell has a dramatic flair for TV where Neil had much more subtlety and always focused less on himself. He was never really looking for attention that's why his authorized biography wasn't published until 2005. And why it should not have been made into a blockbuster movie. Frankly if you wanna watch something really good about Apollo 11 just watch the documentary Apollo 11 from a few years back it's got a lot of phenomenal content and it's edited extremely well.

[positivelybeastly]

Did you see Gillen and Brevoort said Beast (used to be/could have been) was the most romantic x man? Veeeeery interesting. Gillen seemingly wanted to redeem beast in SWORD through his love for Abigail but feels that’s been taken off the table at this point. If only there were some other person he held near and dear to his heart who might be able to give him both love and time to grow past this unfortunate moment

"I'm through with love hangovers,

It's best that I stay sober.

No rolling in the clover,

No Gretna Green trip over.

No honeymoon in Paris,

I only feel embarrassed for the,

Cool cats,

The charmed kittens,

Both smitten by the love songs

That he's written.

Caught in the sights of a,

Deadly sniper:

The magic piper of love.

The magic piper of love.

Of love, of love!"

Anon, you beat me to this - the instant I saw that thread on Reddit, I was just besides myself with jimmy legs because I wanted to get back home and post about it immediately.

SO. CONTEXT.

Over at AIPT Comics, they have this segment called X-Men Mondays, where they'll send out various themed questions to people at the X-office to answer, usually as just kind of a fun, fuckabout sort of thing.

Today's was Valentine's Day themed, because, well, it's the 12th of February, there's not a ton else to talk about.

The question naturally came up.

AIPT: Who, in your opinion, is the most romantic X-character? (And why?)

Everyone gets a look in, from Xavier to Wolverine to Havok to Mystique, but. Okay, so, like. Kieron Gillen answered four times in this thread, and most of it was just funny answers, but in response to THIS question, he said this in response:

Kieron Gillen: You know, Beast in the timeline where my S.W.O.R.D. got past issue 5 would have been good for this, but the timeline we ended up in had (er) somewhat less romance interested Beast. Perhaps someone could go back in time and try and do something about it. “We have to time travel to save Beast!” “Why? Is it all his genocides?” “No, he has to carry on devotedly making blueberry muffins.”

. . . . . . . .

Ladies, gentleman, non-binary individuals. S.W.O.R.D was cancelled 14 years ago. It died in 2009. But Kieron Gillen refuses to stop being salty about it, and you know what? You know what? Fucking good for him, because I'm fucking salty about it too!!!

But, like, this is such a wild answer to me! Just, unprompted, one of the premier comic book talents of the day just being like, hey, fuck you all, I really liked my little Beast-Brand OTP book. This man is one of my people, I know this. Well. I already knew this, to be fair, I got him to sign my trade paperback copy of that exact series, but that was over a decade ago, and he's STILL flying that flag???

HE REMEMBERS THE MUFFINS.

LOOK AT MY FUCKING OOC TAG.

IT'S OUTOFMUFFINS.

Then Brevoort, who, by the way, is the incoming editor for the X-Men books, said this:

Tom Brevoort: Back in the day, it was the Beast, before he threw over human needs and desires in favor of science. Nightcrawler also had some moves, but he doesn’t really use them as often anymore. So these days, Gambit is the clear winner. Angel wants to be, but he’s mostly all talk. But Gambit thinks about this stuff.

These are.

Interesting comments.

Beast literally could not be less relevant to the wider Krakoan story arc. X-Force exists in its own little bubble of black ops and body horror, and yet, unprompted, both one of the headline members of the talent (who has made sure to put Hank and Abigail in books for no real reason other than he likes them) and the incoming editor are both like, y'know, Hank was a real romantic back in the day. There's some affection there. It gives me hope. It makes me smile.

Now, I hasten to point out, this is not #WonderbeastConfirmed. We have no idea how these last two issues of X-Force are going to play out. But it is.

Interesting.

Oh, I also want to take a moment to call out Anthony Oliveira, who said this:

Anthony Oliveira: If you want the truth, you go to Emma. But nobody wants the truth. So they go to Jean, who can throw you a reality TV and ice cream pity party like you wouldn’t believe. She has those top-of-the-line flowy pajama pants that facilitate conversation, you know? Worst is Hank McCoy, who has been giving bad advice for decades before his war criminal era. One time he took Angelo Espinosa on a car trip that bummed me out so bad I’m still thinking about it 30 years later.

THAT bummed you out, bro?

Pssh, okay, dude.

Anyway.

Kieron Gillen remains my guy.

[thebestpartofwakingup]

God asteroid city is such a beautiful movie on its own but it’s even more meaningful if you’re familiar with Wes Anderson’s other work it really feels like this culmination of ideas and motifs from his earlier works, its a shame it came out in the midst of Barbenheimer

Anderson’s works are often centered in or particularly interested in eccentric personalities and this feels like one of his first attempts to de-abstract and tie it to a specific history. The story of Asteroid City is framed as a play written by an older gay man in the 1950s, with his director also heavily suggested to be queer and the cast close knit through this world, that the world of stage theater is understood and respected as a refuge for queer artists even if not all members themselves are queer.

But the play itself is distinctly about heterosexual characters, a man mourning the death of his wife, two teenagers falling in love at a summer extracurricular program, an affair between a widower and a high profile actress too busy to have a typical domestic relationship with her daughter (that is both directly addressed but not demonized, that despite it the daughter is still ok and no weirder for it than anyone else)

There’s even a sex scene between minor characters of a cowboy and school teacher, arguably the pillars of American heterosexual bachelor and bacholette caricatures.

There’s also notably a head female scientist and black military commander, neither of which is commented upon as unusual for the time period or whom seem particularly mistreated by anyone else.

And, as is rare for Wes Anderson, all the relationships more or less end happily. At least in the run WE see, which is markedly distinct from the original script as Jones walks off stage, misses a scene, and is implied to have also later fallen asleep on stage, causing the director to improvise and cut additional scenes and dialogues and conclude all the side stories peacefully,

And then Tom Hank’s (the father in law of Auggie) tells him that even though he’s never personally liked him that he’s still going to accept and love him as family because that’s what his daughter did and he loved her enough to trust her judgement but more directly, because the personal hang ups he has over Auggie just aren’t as important to him as his relationship with his son-in-law and his grandchildren, that it really isn’t worth the drama to not just suck it up and love his son-in-law flaws and all. This in parallel with their decision to bury part of his daughter’s ashes in a Tupperware container at the insistence of his young granddaughters in Asteroid City before they leave forever — remarking again that it isn’t something he ever wanted for his daughter, isn’t something he’s happy about doing, but he loves his granddaughters and wants to do whatever he can to help the passing of their mother easier for them.

And with Jones playing Auggie every night he gets to perform and express and explore the grief he feels for the death of the play’s writer and his gay lover in a way that is not only socially acceptable (he’s an actor playing a man sad his wife died! Whose gonna question that?) but is also potentially financially viable and career supportive. But it’s not just about him, even if Auggie’s grief is central to the play, because the other actors and stagehands and director knew the writer too and presumable thought well of him, and so now they get to dedicate their time to not only promoting his creative work but in replicating a fictionalized environment he envisioned to support and facilitate a story of grief. They are working on de constructing and facilitating and performance grief in parallel to their own feelings on the writer’s death

And the alien doesn’t just represent death in that it comes and goes at random, taking and giving at random — but that it is something that the 1950s US GOVERNMENT has quarantine off all discussion of, that does not officially recognize and even denies the existence of, and threatens to shoot those who leave their quarantine.

And it’s that experience, of going through something so profound and unexpected, while being a random amalgamation of people with no prior relationships, and then corralled off by the US government and forbidden to leave or communicate with anyone on the outside

While in the background the US government also tests nuclear bombs in proximity to the quarantine, that at the time nobody believes is dangerous, but will surely cause cancer and health problems for all present decades down the road…