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[vinylwraptoronto]

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[sumendi-blog]

I decided to make this post with all the info/hints/spoilers/etc for "what we do in the shadows S6" because yes, as much I'm disappointed I'm staying to the bitter end

■I TRIED THAT EVERY INFO GOES WITH IT'S SOURCE

■IF SOMEONE WANTS THEIR URL/TUMBLR DOWN, MESSAGE ME PLEASE

■SOME BIG SPOILERS

Will update with interviews and future trailers...

Edit 19/05 -> Harvey (Guillermo)"teases" about the final episode

Edit 20/05-> Mark (Colin Robinson) gives his opinion about the ending/Matt Berry (Laszlo) speaks about his character.

Edit 3/06-> Not really a spoiler, but confirmed that WWDITS was cancelled unexpectedly in S6

Edit 7/06-> Zach Woods will appear in S6, rol unknown

◇CHARACTERS

×Baron Afanas (Doug Jones) confirmed to return for 4 chapters

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xHarvey confirmed the appearance of his stunt, Josh Maloney, so we can assume that Guillermo will have action/fight scenes

Source: Harvey Guillen's instagram (stories)

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×Miguel (Frankie Quiñones), Guillermo's cousin, confirmed to return

...............................................

xJulian Richings could be Laszlo's father

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×Jack Copland could be Laszlo's creation/Frankestein

...............................................

xZach Woods in S6, rol unknown

◇SCENARY

×There will be scenes in the Richmond-Adelaide Centre, Toronto

...............................................

×There will be scenes in Leslieville-Toronto

...............................................

xAn area that looks like the suburbs/seaport

Source: Harvey Guillen's instagram (stories)

◇MIX

-We can assume that Laszlo created his own Frankestein stealing parts from the cementery, maybe to be the new "familiar"?. In the same episode (maybe?), Nadja brings Laszlo's father back as a ghost.

-Matt Berry, when asked about his character "Daytona", he said that "he might be back" not taking him too seriously though

-Harvey hinted that Guillermo will embrace his Van Helsing blood, having a new dream

-Harvey teases the final episode as an "emotional one"

-Mark gives his opinion about the series ending, Matt Berry says that there's "a lot of science" moments from his character in S6 (we already know one of them at least is going to be his Frankestein). Harvey...says all over again the same things about his character.

- WWDITS cancelled unexpectedly after S6

https://x.com/TheShadowsOOC/status/1800281991792734251

[notstinky]

TIMING: Current FEATURING: Van (@vanoincidence) & Thea (@notstinky) LOCATION: A quiet neighborhood SUMMARY: Van gives Thea a longboarding lesson like a good friend would.

Van thought that maybe when Thea arrived, Polly would be on her arm. Polly would be on Thea’s arm, and then Van would have to give her skateboarding lessons, too. Van would have to hold onto Polly’s arm, or maybe her shoulders, and Polly would look behind them at Thea and exclaim: look, I’m doing it! It would be like Van was watching her life from some outside view, except it would be Polly and not her holding onto Thea’s hand once Thea decided to give it a try herself. Why she hadn’t started it off, Van wasn’t sure, but the version of Thea that Van had created in her head wasn’t as kind as the one she knew. It wasn’t fair to Thea and she knew it, so the moment that her (totally cute) friend came into view, Van raised a hand in greeting. 

It was easier to be upset about Polly than it was to be upset about Nora disappearing (again), or the fact that her house had been destroyed. It was easier to think about Thea paying attention to a girl in the way that she wanted to be paid attention to than to focus on the fact that Jade went out killing people just because they were undead. Van still couldn’t wrap her mind around it, couldn’t fathom the intricacies of it, but it warped her view of the world, leaving her feeling bitter. 

The bitterness dissipated as soon as she took in Thea’s smile. Polly was nowhere to be found, and Van was grateful. She tapped on the tail of her longboard lightly, leaning down to grab the axel as she tucked her fingers around the metal. It was easier to be in Thea’s presence than it was to be out of it, and though she hadn’t yet gone back to Regan’s apartment (out of fear, loneliness, and bitterness), it still felt lonely, not having her bald (and totally cute) friend around her. “You’re like, five minutes early.” She checked the time on her pokémon watch with the bright red plastic facing before jutting out her wrist to show Thea. “That’s five more minutes of skating lessons, you know that, right?” Would Thea even need lessons? Did Thea secretly know how to skate? Had their conversation on the drive home after Van had picked up Thea off of the side of the road been a lie? The oil painting (now verified as blood) had been one, but would Thea lie about something like skating? Maybe. 

She’d been an hour early, not that Van would know, because she’d had to walk around in circles down the block just to keep herself from being the weirdo that showed up an hour early and overly excited for longboarding lessons. All of it because an idea was lodged in Thea’s head: if she was early, she got to spend more time with Van. It wasn’t a conscious choice, not like the one to wear a helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and padded gloves, but something she’d been thinking about. And thinking about. And thinking about. And then she showed up an hour early and had to walk around in circles. There was no way Van still thought she was cool—Thea’s general un-coolness had thoroughly dismantled that idea—but she knew that Van did like her, for whatever nebulous reason. But that must have been tenuous because it was always tenuous; she was always one stupid sentence away from ruining everything. If only she could be more normal, hold on to some semblance of coolness, then her and Van could… could… Could what? 

“Yep! Definitely five minutes early and not any more minutes than that.” Thea squinted at the pokémon watch. She straightened up and adjusted her pink helmet. “I think I might need all the extra time you have, Van. I was watching videos and it seems really intense.” Most things were too intense for Thea. The girl who was a bit more daring was stuck in Toronto. Would Van like Cynthia more? Probably. Cynthia was cooler (by comparison to Thea, who could make a fire look cool); sometimes, she didn’t wear her helmet when she biked. Cynthia wouldn’t have moved out and then Cynthia wouldn’t have been missing Van and Cynthia wouldn’t have showed up an hour early just to squeeze more Van-time into her day and then be too afraid to actually capitalize on her earliness. Van would’ve liked Cynthia more. 

Thea shook her head; it was definitely one of the stranger spirals her brain took her down. Why was she jealous of herself? Why was she inventing people to be jealous of? (Jealous of what?) “This isn’t one of those things where you start with theory first and then application right? Like longboarding theory? I’m really good with theory.” In theory she was. Things were always great in the realm of the theoretical: theoretically, she didn’t eat people; theoretically, she was normal; theoretically, she had more hair; theoretically, she could tell Van how she felt about... Just about! That was definitely where that sentence was meant to end. “Will there be a test after?” 

“There’s a few seconds there, too.” Van smiled at Thea, and she realized that for the first time in a while, it felt easy. She didn’t want to be all doom and gloom, no– she wanted to be present. It felt like a lifetime ago, being able to smile like this. She was smiling so wide that it was starting to hurt her cheeks. She needed to tone it down. “Intense?” Van snorted before looking down at the board that had an array of different stickers ranging from she-ra to red bull on the bottom. “You don’t need to worry about it being like, super intense or anything. We can um, take it easy. Slow. Whatever you need.” 

At Thea’s question, Van shook her head. “I don’t know what longboarding theory would even be… maybe don’t fall, or something?” She let the board fall back down onto the ground, tapping her shoe against the backend to keep it from rolling away from her. It had been awhile since she’d found the time to go boarding, too. The street they were on was quiet, and there were hardly any cars that would drive past since they were at the end of the roundabout. It was a good place to practice. She liked it here, and not just because she was here with Thea. 

“What do you want the test to look like?” She crouched down next to her board and motioned for Thea to come stand next to her. “This is where you want your back foot to go, and then your front foot.” That was simple enough, she thought. Thea should totally retain that. Van got to her feet and planted her feet down onto the board, showcasing the instructions she had just given her (totally cute) friend. “Maybe the test can be you going all the way to that mailbox and then coming back here without falling or losing the board.” She dropped her hand after pointing to which mailbox she had meant, and stepped off the board. The confidence Van wore now was only amplified by the fact that she knew what she was doing, but she knew that once Thea took her (now) outstretched hand, it might be lost. 

“Will I be able to do a kickflip after this?” Thea pulled up her sleeve, revealing a list of longboarding trick names she’d looked up in the morning. “Tail Manual? Nose Manual? Hippie Jump? Early grab?” Thea dropped her sleeve again, looking back at Van with a smile that crinkled the corner of her eyes. “I hope I get to Apple Sauce at least; that one sounds tasty.” Spending time with Van always filled her with a strange suspicion; something that spun her insides like a washing machine (but not her heart, sorry Mitski, because it was too busy sprinting), while simultaneously turning everything into an ASMR beach meditation video. Peaceful was not a state of being that Thea understood.

“Really, that’s it?” Why was it so easy to talk to Van? “I just thought it would be harder.” Why did it feel so natural? “I thought there would be a lot of stuff I would have to learn.” Why did she like it so much? “I thought I’d get a big safety lesson first.” Thought she would or felt like she needed one, Thea wasn’t sure. She wanted a lot of things to come with a set rules, a list to follow. She crouched beside Van; she smelled really good today (she always did). She watched her put her foot on the board; she looked so cool today (she always did). Thea took Van’s hand and stepped up on to the board, as her cool, cute teacher friend had just demonstrated.

“Okay,” she said. “I’m totally going to the mailbox now.” She didn’t move. “I’m going to let go of your hand and go to the mailbox now.” She didn’t do that. “I’m definitely doing it.” Thea hadn’t moved an inch, other than the wobbling back and forth on the longboard. She glanced at their clasped hands. “C-could you just…maybe just hold it? All the way there? Maybe if… God, this is really scary. I feel like I’m really high up. Am I high up? I feel like the wheels are really big on your board and I’m super high off the ground right now and I don’t know what to do.”

“On this?” Van stared down at the board. She had done it plenty of times— on a different board. That one was smaller. This one was more beginner friendly. Had more room for error. “Probably not this one, but um, we can have another lesson! You could try it on the other board. That one is smaller, made for tricks.” She smiled at Thea, delighted by her eagerness. She recalled the promise of this lesson months ago, back when Debbie’s death had stained itself on their hands. Then again, no matter how hard she scrubbed, the remnants of what happened were still there. But now wasn’t the time to think about Debbie, even if that was how she met Thea. Thea was separate from Debbie. Had to be separate from her. Thea was here in front of her, learning how to longboard, and Van had to hold onto that. Nothing else. 

“That’s it,” Van reassured, her own smile tightening the corners of her lips, making it hard to drop it. It was as if a permanent fixture. Van snorted at Thea’s comment about a safety demonstration. “I didn’t get one when I started. I sorta just hopped on, you know? Sometimes it’s just like that. But um… don’t fall…?” That was a good lesson to learn, right? “If you do fall, don’t land on your hands. You might break your wrist that way. Try and to do like a little—“ She acted out a slight turn with her arms tucked to her chest, “tuck and roll situation, like you’re trying to put out a…” She didn’t want to finish that sentence, “rug burn or something.” Van cleared her throat and looked towards the mail box that she had instructed Thea to skate to. It wasn’t that far away, and if Thea succeeded, then she’d take her up the hill a bit. 

She kept Thea’s hand in hers, willing her to kick off the ground and get moving. A gentle squeeze, then silence. Then, Thea was talking to herself— or maybe she was talking to the both of them? Van giggled (she was an anti-giggler, hated giggling, thought it made her look small), and it caught her so off guard that instead of encouraging Thea forward, she simply obliged. “You’re not high up, but it might feel that way. I get it.” She squeezed Thea’s hand tightly, pulling on it gently to get her some momentum forward. “If you fall, I’ll catch you— cause our weights will cancel each other out or something. A doctor told me that wasn’t true, but I think she was lying.” She thought of Regan in that moment, and of Nora and Wynne— of how she was standing on a street with a pretty girl while they all dealt with the consequences of what happened in Ireland. But that wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t her fault she was with Thea, hands joined, the wheels of her longboard clicking each time they rolled across asphalt. Van didn’t want to feel guilty for enjoying her time. Not with Thea, not right now. 

“So it’s like that, you just um— you gain momentum, you know?” Van was walking backwards, her hand still in Thea’s as she looked into her friend’s eyes. Something fluttered in her chest, and she eagerly pushed it down. While she didn’t want to feel guilt, she wasn’t certain she was allowed to feel whatever that was. “Do you think you want to let go?” 

Tuck and roll. No hands. She wasn’t high up, it just felt that way. Thea tried to commit it all to memory. All she had to do was let go, take herself to the mailbox, turn around, go back. “That’s not really how physics works, Van. There’s like, um, conservation of momentum.” In theory though, maybe Van was strong enough to absorb the falling force of Thea and catch her. Thea pulled her eyes away from their hands and looked at her friend, her very cute friend. Her very cute friend who was giggling. Her very cute friend who was…. What was she thinking about again? Right, her imminent demise because she was totally like, ten feet off the ground on a wild, untamed, inanimate object. Why did she think this was a good idea? This wasn’t safe. Humans were not designed to be on boards with wheels. Thea couldn’t even ride a roller coaster on a good day; something about them made her body feel like it was constantly falling. The first, and last, time she’d rode one (the Leviathan at Canada’s Wonderland) she didn’t sleep at all; constantly jerking upright to prevent phantom falls. Why did she think she could do this? 

Thea wasn’t the sort of person that took risks: she was calculated, cautious, cowardly. She couldn’t longboard, she couldn’t tell Van that she…. What? What were those words caught in the back of her throat? She couldn’t do this; she shouldn’t have bothered. “I’m going to try,” Thea said, flaring with an odd rebellion. She wanted to be the sort of person that could fly down the street on a longboard, who wouldn’t even care that there was this strange burning thing in her mind—this bizarre twisting sensation—every time she thought about Van. The new, cool Thea, who was definitely going to skate to that mailbox, would figure it out instead of stopping herself from trying. It would be nothing. She’d go down the street and the words would come to her and maybe she’d even Apple Sauce. “I don’t want to let go,” she admitted, “but I’m going to.” And then she kicked off and sailed down the sidewalk. 

The wind kissed her red face and with each thump of the wheels over the sidewalk tiles, Thea felt a surge of more confidence. She really wasn’t all that high up and unlike during a certain rollercoaster, she didn’t feel like she was dying at every spike and fall. She even felt like she could take on the Leviathan again, maybe even the Behemoth, or The Bat. “I’m doing it, Van!” This was the birth of a new Thea, a cool Thea, and Thea who definitely didn’t know how to stop on the board and didn’t realize until she was sailing directly at Van. Suddenly, she remembered that when she’d gotten to the mailbox, instinct took over and she grabbed it, using its sturdy, stationary frame to stop herself. She adjusted the board with a wide smile, and without thinking, and kicked back off towards Van, still not thinking. Cool Thea, regular, cautious Thea realized, was kinda an idiot. 

Her eyes widened. “I don’t know how to stop, Van!” Thea called out, holding out her hands. She should’ve felt more panic but, looking at Van, all she really felt was pleased; at herself, at her friend. With all the confidence of someone who’d gone just a few feet to a mailbox in a completely safe neighborhood under the watchful gaze of a friend and had been experiencing no real danger at all, she smiled. Oh well, wasn’t Van saying something about their weights canceling out? Which was obviously false, but she’d gone to the mailbox, anything was possible now, including completely rewritten laws of physics. Including— Including—

Van looked up at Thea, memorizing the way her face took shape; the low dip of her lips, the slight tremble of them— and the feeling of Thea’s hands in hers. She squeezed them again, hopeful that the eagerness and confidence she felt in Thea would somehow transfer over, mutating through sweat glands, or possibly something else— her thumbprint, planted on the back of Thea’s left hand as she squeezed gently, letting go only to watch her friend sail towards the mailbox that she had instructed her to go to. “You can go, I believe in you!” It was too late, Thea was already going.  

The temptation to chase after her, to make sure that should she fall she would be there to catch her like she had promised bit at her heels, but roots planted through the soles of her feet as she watched Thea near the mailbox. She knew that from where Thea stood, it would feel like she was going a lot faster than she actually was. Van thought about her first moments on a board and how her mom had been adamant about not letting her on one again after she scraped her knee. Van had been fearless then— a tiny terror, always built for what was to come, always pushing ahead. It had been so long since she’d been that girl, but being with Thea, it felt like something allowed her to be. Like she wouldn’t be looked down upon for finding excitement in the things she used to before it all fell apart. 

“You’re doing like, so good!” Van cupped her hands around her mouth, hopping in place as she shouted at Thea who was still heading towards the mailbox. And just like that, she had done what she was told, arms gathering the mailbox like an old friend. Van clapped her hands above her head and nodded, encouraging Thea to come back to her. She hadn’t anticipated the force at which she would do so. 

“Put your foot down!” Why hadn’t she taught Thea how to stop? That was like, one of the most important things to teach in long boarding! It wasn’t like they had stoppers, or whatever the hell those things were called like on skates! “You need to put your foot down! Put it down with the back, then—“ Now, Van felt the speed at which Thea possibly felt like she was traveling. Thea was smiling, though, and Van couldn’t help but smile back. She met Thea’s outstretched hands with her own, the velocity (or momentum— how did physics work?) knocked her to the ground as the board continued on without its rider. 

Van fell to the ground, Thea on top of her, limbs tangled. The air left her lungs as she hit the asphalt, and she could already tell that her elbows were skinned. Maybe she was the one who needed all of the protective gear! Maybe it’d been wrong to assume she could do this for Thea! But as she opened her eyes, she noticed that Thea was so close. Too close. Van could smell citrus on her breath— had all she eaten was an orange before showing up—? Van blinked, doing everything in her power not to look into her eyes. She knew little to nothing about the vast amounts of space and what colors were cast across the sky, but she knew that if she were to look into Thea’s eyes, she’d be sucked into them as if some kind of void. That the milky way would bleed of its textbook visage and look a little more like the reflection in Thea’s eyes as she stared up. “Are you— are you—“

It wasn’t right, the way she tried to get up. It was sloppy. Instead of properly getting to her feet, Van knocked her face against Thea’s, flustered by the proximity. 

Including a kiss. Maybe it wasn’t one, maybe it didn’t matter much either way because for a few short moments, Thea’s world burst open. Van moved her head up just as Thea tried to move hers and the resulting awkward motion produced a feather-light caress of Van’s lips to hers. In the realm of kisses it was more a graze, like two strangers arms brushing on a busy street, than Nicholas-Sparks-rain-soaked-passion. Thea knew this, the logical part of her brain was quick to rationalize—it was nothing, it was forgettable, awkward touches like that happened all the time with friends—and yet, a terrifying certainty claimed her. They weren’t strangers and this street was surprisingly empty and maybe it wasn’t raining, maybe this wasn’t The Notebook but did everything always have to be one thing or another? 

About fourteen billion years ago, everything that ever was, or would be, was infinitesimally tiny, hot and dense. Alone, Thea liked to imagine what the universe must have been like pre-Big Bang; just how tiny, how small. Taking the smallest things she could think of and mentally slicing them up and dividing and dividing and still, nothing compared to what the universe was, once, billions of years ago. There was an inevitability about things so small, so compact, so hot and dense and full of everything: they expand. And thus, the Big Bang, an expansion of the universe, eternally growing. How many billions of stars were created from one small thing? How much of this one feeling inside of her could she hold until it needed to grow? She’d been asking herself that since Van had found her blood-covered walking home, and she’d sunk into the worn seats of Van’s car, idly—innocently—thinking she was cute. The thought itself wasn’t new; how many hundreds of fleeting curiosities had she made up over every passing pretty girl? How innocuous it’d been: just one dense thought, buried in her head, infinitesimal. 

She should’ve known better: they always expand. 

Thea blinked at Van underneath her; a little red, a little sweaty, no less herself. It wasn’t an alluring portrait of Van, not according to Thea’s own tastes, which were officially (fine, she was admitting it) compromised, but in the objective cosmos. This wasn’t the picture of Van that’d make the back of a book or the top of a dating profile: hair askew, clothes ruffled. And yet— Thea touched her bottom lip, which burned twofold with having been grazed and wanting more. And yet, two atoms of thought brushed together and formed a new thought and then two more and more and the universe was expanding. And yet, she was certain that if there was one vision of Van to have for the rest of her life, it’d be this and then, with just as much certainty, she knew it couldn’t be just this. Something about inevitable expansions and impossible realities was telling her otherwise. 

The universe-feeling—expanding, growing, making stars and planets—didn’t need to be named. Rather, Thea didn’t want to name it. In the way that things were obvious, she didn’t think anyone ever thought to point out oxygen when they breathed it in. Maybe eventually, but not now. Now, she imagined herself as completely smooth—not like a bald head, in the suave pick-up artist sense. But not skeevy! Totally respectful and feminist. Like sometimes, when she saw a  character flirt in a movie, and fought back the desire to take notes. Maybe she should have taken notes. Maybe she should have stood up instead of staying on top of Van, staring into her eyes. All she needed was something cool to say. For example— “That was just like Naruto and Sasuke,” Thea said, and instantly, as the untamed thought flew out, she slapped her hand over her mouth. “I didn’t mean to—why did I say that,” Thea said from between her fingers. It was okay, she told herself. She could recover if she said something else that was cool. For example— “I don’t even like Naruto,” Thea continued. “I mean, I watched it, but was I really enjoying it? Oh my god, my breath smells like oranges.” Thea dropped her hand, trying to speak with minimal lip movement. “Do youb hab a mint? I wannab kib youb proberbly.” 

Van didn’t think she’d ever been kissed before, now that she thought about it. Had she ever kissed Diana? Had that happened? Her memory flickered, something locked behind a wall she couldn’t scramble around. Instead, she was brought back to the here and now, Thea overtop of her. Thea’s lips grazing haphazardly against hers. The buzzing in her head, in her fingertips— it overtook her. She was practically vibrating with the proximity. Her skin was bound to peel itself back and run off without her, leaving a pile of bones in its wake. Regan would probably like that. No, she shouldn’t be thinking about Regan, or about how she wanted to tell Jade what had just happened. She wasn’t even talking to Jade. Jade wouldn’t ever know about this, probably. Van was a little sad at the thought, but her attention was brought back to Thea, cheeks turning something just short of crimson. She stared upward, waiting for the moment where Thea would tell her a joke, probably something about her being bald, but it didn’t come. Instead, Thea stared down at her in a way that she wished she could live in forever. 

Though, maybe without the skinned elbows. Maybe without the fear that this was something she had wanted for a long time, ever since she let Thea into her car. Back then, she’d been seated next to a cute girl who was covered in blood. It wasn’t romantic, but neither was their first meeting (also ending in them covered in blood). Would this one end that way, too? She could feel something wet at her elbow. Was it blood, or was she crying, and her tears somehow traveled all the way down to her arms? She wasn’t sure. She couldn’t stop looking at Thea, couldn’t put down the thought of her lips, of how they were still close, how Thea was still close. 

Then it shattered, but not in some terrifying way. No, it was the opposite. Van felt it all at once. One, that she wanted more. That this wasn’t a kiss, that she wanted something real, something longer. She wanted Thea’s hand in hers. Two, that she liked Thea. More than she thought she did, at least. She thought about the hurt that had come with her departure from the apartment, but brushed it off. Now wasn’t the time. Three, that her elbows really hurt, but she didn’t even care, because if she did care, then Thea would move, and this would be over, and then Van would be left with the anxiety of what she could have done better. How did anyone even prepare for accidentally being kissed? Was there a way to do that? She searched for the answer in Thea’s expression, tried to piece it together like she was connecting dots with the freckles that were dusted across the bridge of Thea’s nose. Had she always had this many? Had her eyes always been this honey-golden? She could get lost in them. She wanted to dive into them. No, that was weird— that was Regan talking. 

Thea spoke, and Van hiccuped, then laughed. It bubbled upward, fell apart at the seams. It couldn’t stop, she wouldn’t stop laughing, because it was funny. Thea was funny. So fucking funny, and it was then that Van realized she wanted to go on to hear Thea’s jokes for as long as she’d tell them, even if she didn’t mean for them to be jokes. But she was drawn back to reality, that she was beneath Thea, that they had accidentally kissed, and that something had unraveled between them. It wasn’t some dark and decrepit thing. It was full of wonderment and joy, and Van felt her heart in her throat, and god, Thea was still so close. 

“Nausuke and Saruto, yeah— I— I mean, um—“ Now that she was talking, it was hard to find the words, it was hard to think of the things she wanted to say now that she had opened her mouth. Hadn’t she just been thinking about diving into the pool of honey that were Thea’s eyes? Why couldn’t she say that? Why couldn’t she talk about the freckles across Thea’s nose and how one looked like Orion’s belt, and how she only knew that because she had studied it time and time again after Thea had pointed them out the one night they watched the stars after Thea had gotten back from a long shift. The rest of Orion wasn’t there, not the weapon, not the— 

“It’s okay,” Van whispered. Why was she whispering? That was weird. She cleared her throat, then spoke up, louder this time, maybe too loud. “I would have said the same thing!” Was she shouting? She swore she was shouting. Why was she being so loud? But her words came out at a normal volume as she continued on, “but you uh, you like, beat me to it. Sasuke and Naruto,” she corrected herself from earlier. “Totally.” She remembered the scene vividly, had seen it in a plethora of different AMVs dedicated to them. “You smell like oranges a lot, like all of the time. It’s okay! It’s not like, bad. I like it. I mean, I like oranges. I like you, and oranges, but you go together, you know, and—“ She swallowed thickly, pushed the words down, felt them spinning out of control like they were on a tech deck. Oh, god. Her board. Where was it? She looked towards where it had rolled off to, and she could see it. Okay, so it wasn’t lost. 

And then, Thea said something, and Van felt herself freeze frame. She swore that as she turned her head back to look up at Thea from where she’d spotted her board, her neck had made one of those silly door creaking sounds, that the silence that warped around them had drowned everything else out. “No mint, I have.” Was she Yoda? She didn’t even know Star Wars like that— she’d only seen memes. Van stared up at Thea. Her elbows were wet (with tears or blood, she still wasn’t sure), and Thea was there, and she wanted to kiss her again? Thea Liang, not known as Cynthia, because she wanted to go by Thea here, because she felt like she deserved that instead of what came in the before Wicked’s Rest, was telling her, Vanessa Zhou— human disaster (with magic!) that she wanted to kiss her again? Properly? 

Van’s heart was in her throat, in her ears— was it going to explode out of her chest? She couldn’t even hear anything properly, couldn’t even tell if that’s what Thea had actually said, or if she was imagining it. She wanted to kiss her, too. Wanted to recreate something good out of what had just happened, but Van was sure she’d remember that forever, even if it wasn’t necessarily… what wasn’t it? Comfortable? It was awkward, sure, but Van was awkward, and Thea was, too, in her own cute way. In a way that Van thought about constantly. Van leaned up. The episode of Spongebob where he forgot his name ran through her head. Did she even remember how to do this? Kiss? The way Thea had kissed her first, or grazed her lips, actually, made her think that she’d never been kissed at all, but she pushed down those thoughts, wouldn’t focus on them right now. She wanted to kiss Thea. For real. Wanted to give in, finally. To the act, to the feelings, to the desperation she felt. 

So she did. She kissed Thea after pulling the other girl’s hand away from her mouth, and it wasn’t as awkward before. Her elbows hurt, but they grew numb after a while, because all she could focus on was the feeling of Thea Liang’s lips on her own, and how her whole body buzzed with excitement. Of how she wanted this feeling to remain forever— how she’d section out a place specifically for this to remain so she could revisit it time and time again. 

Fourteen billion years ago (just about, and as far as current scientific understanding hypothesized anyway) the universe was born. Fourteen billion years ago (yeah, okay, and so on) the atoms scattered just so, the elements crashed this way and that, and today, Thea was kissing Van. Van was kissing Thea; chicken before the egg and so on. Everything, just right, just now, just today, just here, for them. Atoms bursting, stars exploding, universe growing (always), meteors crashing into planets birthing moons, solar winds flaring—everything in a kiss. Everything here, now, with them, against her lips—their lips. Did the universe conspire to have it be just so? Was it a miracle? Did it matter? The Cambrian burst of life made this. The Big Bang made this. Thea kissed Van. Van kissed her back. All of life, all of astrophysical understanding, was here. Did Herschel mark this in his hypothesis of invisible light? Did this fall on Newton’s head? Could Kepler have calculated this? If all the greatest scientists of the world—past, present and future—came together, Thea was certain they couldn’t have guessed: she was kissing Van. 

The universe inside her exploded making planets and stars and moons and wielding the elements just so to make life as she knew it and as she didn’t yet understand it. The kiss wasn’t perfect—not that Thea cared or noticed—too much lip, an awkward slip of tongue, the brush of finger trying to figure out where to put itself. Thea’s hands didn’t know where to go. Thea’s mouth wanted more than it could take. Thea’s lungs demanded air. And yet—and yet—fear evaporated like the millions of comets that fell into Earth’s atmosphere. Nothing was ever perfect; the dinosaur before the chicken before the egg and so on. Life evolved. Long ago, they thought the planets moved in perfect circles because what else was there for these beautiful, heavenly bodies? For these wondrous, inexplicable, magnificent things above what else could there be but the orbit of a perfect circle? Thea’s teeth brushed the bottom of Van’s lip; a strange hunger pulsed in waves. The planets moved in ellipses, they found; there was a tilt and a wobble. About fourteen billion years ago the universe was born, as far as the fallible knowledge of humans was concerned. She was kissing Van and when her hands struggled to find a place to land, they drew a wetness streaked into their palms instead. 

It was odd that reality could conspire like the swing of a conductor, pulling all the strings to one tune; that everything could be just right. Kissing Van, Thea wasn’t herself; not that silly, horrific, clumsy, nauseating thing. She turned cosmic. She turned nebulous. She made life. She birthed supernovas. She orbited Van. She was reminded of the first time she saw the world. She was impossibly tiny, and her parents drove her out of the city for a camping excursion and as the pollution of southern Ontario waned, the stars emerged like unwrapped candies. A few lights transformed into a handful and then into a dozen and then far beyond what she could count. Pausing from her argument in the front, her mother explained that stars could be wished on. And Thea wished. And stopping from his frustration at navigating, her father told her that stars were thousands of miles away. And she loved them. And eaten by mosquitoes, she named them all herself before she learned who those stars were. And back in polluted Toronto, she marked her dreams by the few stars she could see. 

Among them, the brightest was Vega, which she had mistaken for the north star. Vega, her savior, her anchor in the night sky, her first love, the introduction to the stories of stars (Vega herself, a lost lover waiting to be reunited with Altair in the summer). Vega, who taught her north. Vega, who she wished on over and over again. Vega: the brightest, the most brilliant, the girl under her lips. Vega who once was the north star thousands of years ago and would be again as Earth’s imperfect wobble found her, always. There were many things Thea thought she could say and thought she could compare this moment to (a certain Spongebob episode suddenly sprung to mind) and yet nothing felt as right as Vega and the Big Bang and an alignment so improbable that for this moment alone, physicists would never breech an answer. Every year, there was only one star she looked to. Every summer, there was only one meeting she hoped for. The summer triangle was a lackluster, common asterism by hobbyist astrological standards: anyone with good enough eyes could see Vega and Altair above. And yet, to Thea, it was the common that excited her. It was Vega. It was Van.

Fourteen billion years ago, did all that density and heat know they would be making a cute, warm, flushed girl? Did those atoms know they’d make Van? For all of humanity, gazing up at Vega—naming her, studying her, charting routes by her—did they understand? One day, another little girl would look up. One day, that girl would kiss her friend on the ground. Did they get it? The world was beautiful and vast and lustrous. The universe was wide and wild and mysterious. There was Vega, ever present and bright in the northern hemisphere. There was Van, warm under her lips. There was the Big Bang once, long ago, and then again, inside of Thea. Nothing had ever felt so entirely right to Thea. The precursor of everything was here. Listen. Look. Taste. 

And feel that warm wet against your palm. What was that? Thea dared to open her eyes—just a little bit, she reasoned with herself. She expected a constellation. Instead, she saw a bright red slash against her skin and instantly understood its composition. Nothing was ever perfect. What was it that laid in the center of the galaxy but a supermassive black hole? What happened to Thea other than the inevitable consumption of the people she loved? Vega was above—yes—but when had she stopped wishing on it? It must’ve been years ago. It must’ve been just a year when she’d eaten her friends. It was hard to assign a birth to Sagittarius A at all. She could do it again. She would do it again; the universe was inevitable. What was the function of a black hole? 

Thea’s chest pulsed, pulling away from Van’s lips with a sudden jump and a reflexive whimper, Thea jumped to her feet with Van’s blood in her palm. Inexplicably, she felt hungry as her heart pounded against her ribs. “You-You’re bleeding!” At some point her stupid pink helmet had fallen off (or had she unclipped it and thrown it aside during the kiss? It was hard to tell, she’d felt too much like someone who didn’t agonize over every action) and her short hair stood up in spikes. “I did I—Oh my god. We have to get you to the hospital or the—Oh my god.” An elbow scrape was unlikely to make anyone die and yet everything inside Thea told her that Van was dying and would die and that it was her fault; that she would do it. Thea heaved, red-faced, lips burning. 

She would do this. She would do much worse. She wanted to eat Van’s skin; take her into herself and twist into one knot of person. She could eat her; she wanted to eat her. She wanted her. Thea heaved; her stomach churned. Anxiety had a weird way of making her feel like she needed to take a shit immediately. “I don’t—” If she’d stayed, she’d eat Van. “I have to—” If she stayed, she’d kiss her friend again. “I’m so—” If she stayed, she’d have to name the universe spreading inside of her. “I have to go to work.” Forever and ever and ever and as long as something would take the something else that was difficult away from her. The universe was beautiful, she understood, and the humans were ugly. Despite what the moon told her, she was still human. 

All good things must come to an end. It was said to her more than once, but not by some man with white hair. Instead, it was Nelly Furtado. Her mom loved Nelly Furtado. She remembered on Sundays that were reserved for cleaning, Nelly would burst through the speakers. Nelly burst through her ear drums the moment Thea pulled away. Van’s eyes opened in surprise, lips still numb– mind still racing from what had come before. Of what Thea felt like against her mouth, of what it felt like to be in such close proximity. She felt as though she might float away in that moment. Her mind continued to blend all of the words Thea was saying together, as if her skull was some large space for it all to combine. The brain was missing. Her brain was definitely missing. Why couldn’t she focus on what Thea was saying? Her eyes lifted from Thea’s lips, then the world filtered in around her– yes, pay attention, listen to her speak. 

The blood. She was bleeding. So those weren’t tears. Van looked down at her arm. Pieces of asphalt were stuck to her arms, sticky with sweat and blood. “It’s just– I scraped my elbow! It’s fine, it’s fine!” Thea was spiraling, and Van was watching it happen. In the movies, somebody would kiss the other person (again) as they began to spiral, but wasn’t that like, the wrong thing to do? The idea of kissing somebody while they were panicking felt wrong. 

So Van watched Thea’s descent into panic, watched it take over her expression. Her fingers twitched against the ground from where she supported herself, palms pressed into the overturned earth. She watched as Thea scrambled, words strewn, hardly put together. But Van knew what this was– she was leaving. She didn’t want to think badly of this moment, because in reality all that her mind kept bringing her back to was the feeling of Thea’s lips on her own, of the way everything put itself together as if some kind of cheap puzzle you’d get at the Dollar Store. Van wanted so desperately to feel that way again that she didn’t argue, because arguing with Thea about how she had to leave could make things deteriorate, and that was the last thing that Van wanted to have happen. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words scrambled at the tip of her tongue. 

Van looked down at her elbow, saw the red against tanned skin. It meant nothing when she could still have Thea next to her. She didn’t think that Thea was afraid of blood, especially considering the amount of time she’d spent covered in it at work. But… 

“Okay.” It came out as more of a breath than anything else, airflow constricted due to the fact that she felt she couldn’t let herself breathe in a way that mattered. She blinked up at Thea, swallowing thickly. She wanted to kiss her again, kiss her goodbye or something of the like, but that felt wrong, too. To kiss somebody after kissing them the first time, even though Van’s mind ran rampant with the idea of kissing her for hours and hours– a silly thing, something she’d never done before. 

And then it clicked. 

She’d never done this before, despite having memories of it. 

She watched Thea leave, realization swelling in her– though blocked behind something else. 

But now wasn’t the time to think about that. Instead, Van reached for her lips with her blood streaked hand, a comical error plucking itself from every rom com as if to press the feeling of Thea’s lips somewhere else– the pads of her fingers, the space between them, something else. But her mind wandered to the place that this had been the first time, and now it was time to figure out why. 

[starry-hughes]

angel running off to van is angsty, but i raise you angel running to toronto

- her and luca had a fairly big fight. she books a flight for the weekend, and tells him something along the lines of “don’t worry, i’m going to toronto. i need unbiased advice, and i feel like it’s a better conversation in person.” and basically is telling luca she’s not running away from their problems (like she did going to van) but looking for healthy ways to fix them.

and while this is going on, you have her family scrambling because she’s not answering their (weekly? monthly?) group calls. they ask luca and he’s like “no, she’s not answeing em at the moment.” (because she told him she wanted to go phone free for a weekend and enjoy her time there)

eventually she comes back and turns her phone back on to see dozens of texts/calls. she calls quinn, and is like “i’m soso sorry. i went to toronto for the weekend. i needed a little irl advice from mitch and steph.”

and quinn is instantly on the defense of “angel you can’t keep doing this! running from your problems isn’t healthy, and if you and luca are having this many issues, maybe you should take a break.”

and angel is devastated that her brother thought she didn’t learn from her mistakes, but she’s offended that he’d even suggest such a thing. “quinn i’m growing up! yeah i’ve made mistakes before, but for your information, i’ve learned from them. contrary to whatever you think, i told luca where i was going. i went searching for a way to fix my problems, i certainly wasn’t running from them. please get back to me when you realize i am in fact 19 years old (didn’t we say she’s luke’s twin? maybe? idk it’s too early-) and i’m going to make decisions on my own, some good, some bad.”

and it takes a while for him to come to the conclusion that his baby sister is growing up, but he does eventually. he realizes he doesn’t have to coddle her, and wrap her in verbal bubble wrap anymore. and he surprises her one day and is like “i’m so sorry you ever thought i doubted you. i know you’re growing up, i just never wanted to see it. i’ll always be here to support you, whenever and wherever you need me.” and they have a little sibling day.

….it’s way too early and i don’t think this makes sense. my apologies.

this is such good angst

she’s like “not that it is any of your business, but luca and i are working through things, don’t be a dick about my decisions to do things.”

and quinn just looks at her and he just realizes that this isn’t the little kid he grew up with, this isnt the little girl he taught how to swim or the little kid who needed to hold his hand during movies because the loud noises scared her.

she’s all grown up now

[empty-cryptid]

🏖️🎶📚

Hello~

🏖 My favorite vacation is a road trip I took with a friend across Canada. We went from Manitoba to Quebec.

In Toronto, we found a book vending machine in a small used book shop that gave us a wrapped up book for a dollar. We couldn't find the peculiar swing in the alley way. Both of those are found in the Atlas Obscura. I have the book, but the website is neat:

We took a ferry to Wolf Island, and that was an interesting place. We walked all the way to the other end of the island, and the shale rock shore was pretty cool. When it got dark, we took pictures of churches, hoping to see a ghost in a window. We didn't, but the pictures were spooky.

Niagara Falls was alright. We took the tour behind the waterfall, but it was very crowded. The view was pretty.

We also went on a couple of wine tours. One of the places made ice wine, and the room where they let people taste it had a bar made out of an ice block. We were the only ones to not accept a parka. The rest of them were from outside of Canada. We were just happy to get out of the heat.

The butterfly sanctuary was awesome. There were so many different kinds of butterflies and chrysalis designs. (Did you know that butterflies drink sweat, tears, and blood?)

Next, we went on a gondola that got so close to the US border that I was charged for an international text. Oops. The view was wild from up there. It went over a river.

In Quebec, we met up with my friend's sister, and she took us around to some cool places. We walked the Mount Royal park loop, which is a beautiful hike. Montréal is a nice place.

It was a fun trip and I'd like to do another road trip soon.

🎶My favorite song is Piano Man by Billy Joel. I love hearing about all the different characters in the song. I also love the melody and wistful emotion in the music. Songs that tell a story and can paint a picture in my head are my favourite.

📚My favorite book(s). I love adventure stories, and Jack London does a great job writing them. The Sea Wolf and Call of the Wild are probably my favorite books, both by him.

The Sea Wolf follows the survivor of an ocean collision (Van Weyden, nicknamed Hump) who is rescued by a sea captain (Wolf Larson). Wolf takes a liking to Hump and sort of takes care of him while forcing him to be a cabin boy and learn how to defend himself from the crew. (It's been a while, I should read that one again)

The Call of the Wild follows a dog that gets taken from his home and sold as a sled dog. He has to adapt to the harsh conditions as he fights to survive.

Thanks for the ask!

[cunninghamchrissie]

lmao doesn't grace have a film that premiered at the toronto intl film festival set for wide release and that other one she recently wrapped before/during december directed by ruben amar, a guy who's had international praise on all his projects to date? grace van dien's career will be absolutely fine loser anon

but that doesn’t align with their rhetoric that she’s irrelevant so they conveniently ignore it 😉

[carltonmorrow]

Ryan Donowho, Asia's Boyfriend from Houston

Anton quickly got ready, got dressed again and flew out into the street. The walk to Van Gogh Street was not that long, but every meter seemed like an eternity to him. The city was already plunging into the evening gloom, and the street lights created an uneasy atmosphere. Anton, full of determination, glided among the shadows, his thoughts focused on only one thing – to see Asia and try to talk to her. Toronto was a big and confusing city, but thanks to his determination and inner desire, he still found the right area. His legs were already giving out from fatigue, but the thought that this was his last chance forced him to move on.

When he finally got to the right address, he noticed that the house looked quite impressive, with high windows and a well-kept garden. Anton carefully approached the house and noticed that a light was peeking out from the living room window. Trying not to make any noise, he approached and pressed himself against the glass to look inside. Inside, Anton saw the scene he had been trying to imagine for so long.

Asia Vieira was sitting on a large, comfortable sofa surrounded by soft pillows, her face relaxed, and she was holding a glass of wine in her hands. She was wearing an elegant yellow sleeveless dress that emphasized her grace and sophistication. However, this idyll was spoiled by one circumstance – the fact is that next to her sat a man in a gray short-sleeved shirt, and what's more, his arm was wrapped around Asia's waist! The guy looked confident and relaxed, as if this moment was normal for him.

Anton felt his heart squeeze with jealousy and shock. His breathing quickened, and he felt his body tense with emotion. This guy sitting next to Asia was the one who apparently occupied her attention and heart. The guy leaned over to pick up the glass of wine and offer a toast:

"To our evening, Asia", he said with a slight smile. "I'm so glad you're back. How was the event?"

Asia smiled back, her face relaxed and content.

"It went great", she replied, raising her glass. "But I missed you".

The guy nodded, looking a little more serious as he said,

"I thought you'd be staying for a while. While you were gone, I managed to work on a new song a little. You know how much I love this music".

"I know", Asia said with a soft smile. "I'm looking forward to hearing it".

"By the way", the guy continued, "did you remember that we have an interview on Friday? I hope you'll have time to prepare".

"Of course", Asia replied, her voice full of confidence. "I've already prepared a few ideas".

The guy looked at Asia and hugged her, saying,

"You're amazing as always. And I'm glad I can be there for you. I know you're under pressure right now, and this can be tough".

Asia touched his hand, her face full of gratitude.

"Thank you, Ryan", she said. "It means so much to me that you're there for me".

Anton, who was standing by the window, realized who was sitting next to Asia – it was Ryan Donowho, an actor from Houston, who played faggots in the movies like "A Home at the End of the World". Seeing him in person, he felt his hurt and disappointment increase. He already knew that Ryan was not only an actor but also a musician, and as it turned out, he was Asia's boyfriend. Apparently, he had been at her house for a long time, waiting for Asia to return from an event.

As Anton pondered what he had just learned, he felt his dreams of living together with Asia becoming more and more unattainable. Feeling bitter and uncertain, he walked away from the window. Without losing his resolve, he knew he had to find a new plan of action to get closer to his goal. Anton, who was standing at the window of the mansion and still in a state of shock from what he had seen, did not notice Ryan Donowho, putting on his jacket, leaving the house. He continued to stand motionless, pondering what to do next, until he heard the door creak and saw Ryan approach the car parked at the curb. Ryan, noticing Anton's figure, froze. Suspicion appeared in his eyes. Gritting his teeth, he walked towards Anton.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Ryan said, his voice full of menace and contempt.

Anton, tense and hesitant, flinched and turned to Ryan. His face paled when he saw who was standing in front of him.

"I… I just got lost", Anton mumbled, his voice shaking. "I need to find… find my way back".

Ryan chuckled and looked at Anton with obvious distrust. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Lost, you say?" he said sarcastically. "What neighborhood do you think you're in that you can get lost ten meters from home?"

Anton wanted to answer, but the words wouldn't come. He could feel his heart beating faster and faster. He knew perfectly well that his appearance and behavior could probably be perceived as a threat. Ryan, continuing to raise his voice, pointed at Anton.

"What neighborhood are you from? Why aren't you in your neighborhood? Are you a robber?"

Anton, gathering his strength, tried to explain:

"I'm not a robber, I'm from Russia, and I… I just wanted to… Meet a person. It's not what you think".

Ryan, not listening to his explanation, showed obvious disdain:

"Do you think you belong here? Look at yourself, you're like a beggar from Russia! Get out of here before I call the police!"

Anton felt his inner peace quickly melting away. He knew that his chance for a peaceful resolution to the situation was slipping away. The tension between them was growing, and besides, the sounds of sirens rising on the horizon were starting to grow. Ryan, no longer holding back his anger, took out his phone and began to dial a number.

"I'm calling the police", he declared, looking at Anton with disdain. "Get out of here before I do".

At that moment, Anton realized that he had no other choice. Before Ryan could finish the conversation, Anton turned sharply and ran away from the mansion. His legs moved with difficulty on the uneven sidewalk until he found shelter in the shadows of an old building not far from where he had been caught. Anton breathed heavily, hiding in the darkness, trying to calm the frantic rhythm of his heart. He heard the sirens receding and felt the sweat running down his back in icy beads. With frantic desperation, he realized that his plan had become even more complicated than he had expected.

But Anton Skovorodnikov was not the kind of person to give up. His heart pounded in his ears, and thoughts about his dream of Asia and its peace once again overwhelmed him. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and reached for his phone to contact Dmitry Vinogradov again. An unexpected encounter with Ryan, who clearly had a taste for conflict, left Anton determined that he would continue to fight for his dream, despite the obstacles and difficulties.

An hour passed. Anton sat on the edge of the bed in his temporary refuge, a small hostel on the outskirts of the city. Feeling his body still shaking from stress, he considered the events of the last hour: the confrontation with Ryan, the disappointment and fear. His thoughts were clouded, and he was about to drop his head on the pillow, when the phone suddenly rang. The name of Dmitry Vinogradov appeared on the screen. Anton answered the call with trepidation, hoping that his friend could offer at least some solution to his problems.

"Hi, Dmitry", Anton was tense and excited. "I got into a mess here. Things didn't go as I planned".

"Hi, Skovant. What happened?" Dmitry replied with mild interest. "So, what kind of mess did you get into again?"

Anton took a deep breath and, trying to calm his thoughts, began to tell.

"Do you remember I told you about the actress, Asia Vieira? Well, I found her, but everything went wrong. When I got to her house, I saw her in the company of some guy. It turned out that he was some actor who played faggots in the two thousandths. And now, imagine that this guy", Anton continued, "is not just a random person, but her real love interest, and he is, like, her current boyfriend".

"Wait", Dmitry interrupted, "I don't quite get it. Is this the guy she was with at the event?"

"No, that was director Jorge Montesi", Anton corrected him. "And regarding this guy… I ran into him right away. I didn't have time to leave her house in time, and this guy, having bumped into me, almost tore me to pieces. He was ready to call the police to drive me away, and said that Russians have no place here!"

"Wow", Dmitry became serious. "That's really serious. But I get it. So you want to meet Asia without all these obstacles".

"Yes, that's right", Anton sighed. "I'm trying to find a way to meet her again, but things have gotten complicated now".

"Okay", Dmitry said after a short pause. "I need a little time to arrange everything. I'll try to find another way for you to get to the event where Asia Vieira won't be surrounded by these people".

"Thank you, Dmitry. You have no idea how important this is to me", Anton said, feeling his heart begin to beat more evenly again.

"Well", Dmitry sighed, "I'll try to make sure you have a chance. I'll see you in a day. Until then, take care of yourself and be on your guard".

Anton turned off his phone and, having calmed down a little, began to prepare for the next day. The next day, Anton, sitting in his temporary shelter, received a message from Dmitry Vinogradov. He quickly opened the text and began to read. Dmitry was offering him the opportunity to attend a closed event, where, as he wrote, Asia Vieira would be present without her usual companions. Unable to stand the wait, Anton immediately dialed Dmitry's number.

"Dmitry, hi!" his voice was full of excitement. "I got your message. Tell me, what do I need to do to get to this event?"

"Hi, Skovant", Dmitry replied. "It's quite simple. I managed to get you an invitation to this closed event. Asia Vieira will be there without Jorge Montesi and this guy. You just need to come and introduce yourself as an invited guest. At the entrance, just show the invitation".

"That's great news", Anton said, feeling his hopes revived. "Thank you very much. I don't know how I would have managed without you".

"You're welcome", Dmitry replied with a slight grin in his voice. "Remember, you're not alone in this city, so be careful and keep your eyes open. All you need now is to just seize the opportunity and use it to the fullest".

"Got it", Anton nodded, although Dmitry didn't see it. "I'll do everything. Thank you for helping me and for believing in me".

"Good luck to you", Dmitry said. "And don't forget, don't let go of your plan. I hope everything works out this time. Come on, keep me posted".

Anton turned off his phone and, confident in his actions, began to prepare for the upcoming event. Half an hour later, he was already standing in front of the mirror in his small refuge, pulling up the lapels of the tuxedo he had borrowed from the porter. The sleek black suit fit him like a glove, and he could hardly believe that just a couple of days ago he had been an ordinary waiter at an event. Now he was preparing for another meeting with Asia Vieira, and this time everything was going to be different.

"I hope everything works out", he said to himself, straightening his jacket and putting the finishing touches on his tie.

As the evening approached, Anton, trying not to think about his nervous premonitions, went outside. When he reached the venue, he was amazed by its luxury. The large mansion was illuminated by hundreds of lights, and from inside, the sounds of live music and laughter of guests could be heard. Anton showed the invitation at the entrance, after which he was led into the hall. Inside, everything looked even more impressive. The decor was stylish and sophisticated, guests in elegant outfits moved around the room, raising glasses and discussing the news. Anton tried not to look too nervous, and, trying to remain casual, headed to the bar.

After a while, his gaze fell on Asia Vieira. She was sitting at the far end of the room on a sofa, chatting with several guests. Tonight, she was dressed in an elegant blue dress that emphasized her slender figure and sophisticated beauty. Without Jorge Montesi and Ryan Donohoe, she seemed more relaxed and approachable. Anton took a deep breath, gathered his courage, and began to slowly move towards her. At that moment, he noticed Asia look up and notice him.

"Hello", Anton began, walking towards her. "I… I think we've met before".

Asia smiled, slightly surprised.

"Oh, really? I don't recall seeing you anywhere", her voice was warm and soft.

"Maybe it was at another event", Anton said, rubbing his hands nervously. "My name is Anton. I came from Russia, and you, well, kind of inspired me".

Asia nodded, her interest clearly piqued.

"Interesting", she said, placing her hand on her chin. "Well, nice to meet you, Anton. How did you like our event?"

"It was awesome", Anton replied, feeling his nervousness begin to fade. "I couldn't help but notice how gorgeous you look. And thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk to you".

"Thank you", Asia smiled. "You are so polite. The time spent here will be even better with such pleasant company".

The conversation continued, and Anton felt his heart fill with joy from communicating with Asia. He forgot about his previous failures, simply enjoying the moment.

[mediamixs]

Hell of a Summer: a horror comedy for teens

Hell of a Summer is an upcoming horror comedy film written and directed by Finn Wolfhard and Billy Bryk, with Bryk making his directorial debut. The film stars Wolfhard, Bryk, Fred Hechinger, Abby Quinn, Pardis Saremi, and D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai.

Premise

As the counselors are getting Camp Pineway ready the night before the campers arrive, a masked killer begins killing the staff. The film centers around an older camp counselor in his mid-20s who used to be the boy wonder and is now too old to be a counselor. It's a slasher movie where people start dying and everyone blames it on him, and it's about the ensemble of teenagers trying to survive the night.

Production

Hell of a Summer was announced in July 2022, with Wolfhard and Bryk writing, directing and starring in the film. Fred Hechinger joined the cast and also produces with Aggregate Films' Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan, and Parts and Labor's Jay Van Hoy.

Wolfhard, who was 20 years old at the time, initially struggled to find financing for the film, with potential investors often citing his age as the reason. He was determined to let the film speak for itself, saying "I don't think age defines filmmaking in any way. I think everyone has stories to tell, and if you have the chance to do it, then do it."

Principal photography began in July 2022 in Ontario, Canada and wrapped that August.

Release

Hell of a Summer premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2023, where it was named second runner-up for the People's Choice Award for Midnight Madness. In August 2024, Neon acquired the United States distribution rights and set a release in 2025. Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 50% approval rating based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. Valerie Complex of Deadline Hollywood praised Wolfhard and Bryk's direction, saying "they craft a distinct cinematic piece that is both a tribute to and a reinvention of the slasher genre". Jourdain Searles from The Hollywood Reporter felt the film had issues but was still an achievement, saying "Maybe it's enough that Hell of a Summer leaves us eagerly wondering what Bryk and Wolfhard will make next."

[chorusfm]

The Decemberists – “Burial Ground”

The Decemberists have returned with “Burial Ground,” their first new song in six years. They’ve also announced some new tour dates. Tour Dates 04/30 – Kingston, NY @ Ulster Performing Arts Center 05/02 – Boston, MA @ Roadrunner 05/03 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Paramount Theatre 05/06 – Toronto, ON @ Exhibition Place – Queen Elizabeth Theatre 05/07 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE 05/08 – Philadelphia, PA @ The Fillmore Philadelphia 05/10 – Washington DC @ The Anthem 05/11 – Durham, NC @ Durham Performing Arts Center 05/12 – Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern 05/14 – Dallas, TX @ Majestic Theater 05/15 – Austin, TX @ Bass Concert Hall 05/17 – St Louis, MO @ The Pageant 05/18 – Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theater 05/19 – St Paul, MN @ Palace Theatre 05/21 – Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed 05/22 – Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theater 05/24 – Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium 07/12 – Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater ^ 07/13 – Oakland, CA @ Fox Theater 07/15 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Bellwether 07/18 – San Diego, CA @ Humphreys 07/19 – Tucson, AZ @ Rialto Theater 07/20 – Phoenix, AZ @ The Van Buren 07/22 – Santa Fe, NM @ The Bridge at Santa Fe Brewing 07/23 – Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom 07/24 – Sandy, UT @ Sandy Amphitheater 07/26 – Missoula, MT @ Kettlehouse Amphitheater 07/27 – Spokane, WA @ Spokane Pavilion 07/29 – Vancouver, BC @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre 08/03 – Troutdale, OR @ McMenamins Edgefield Press Release The Decemberists will head out on an expansive North American tour with both spring and summer legs. The tour kicks off on April 30th in Kingston, NY at the Ulster Performing Arts Center and wraps up in August on the West Coast. Highlights include the Brooklyn Paramount Theater on May 3rd, the Salt Shed in Chicago on May 21st and the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on May 24th. The band will return to their home turf, wrapping the tour in Troutdale, OR on August 3rd at McMenamins Edgefield. VIP pre-sale begins tomorrow,  Wednesday, February 7th at 10AM Pacific. The tour will go on-sale to the public this Friday, February 9th at 10AM local time. Full tour dates listed below. For 20 years The Decemberists have been one of the most original, daring, and thrilling American rock bands. Founded in the year 2000 when singer, songwriter, and guitarist Colin Meloy moved from Montana to Portland, Oregon and met bassist Nate Query, keyboardist Jenny Conlee, and guitarist Chris Funk, The Decemberists’ distinctive brand of hyperliterate folk-rock set them apart from the start with the release of their debut EP 5 Songs in 2001. After making their full-length debut with Castaways and Cutouts in 2002, the band signed with Kill Rock Stars for the release of the acclaimed albums Her Majesty the Decemberists (2003) and Picaresque (2005), which was produced by Chris Walla. The 2004 EP The Tain – an 18-minute single-track epic – made the band’s grand creative ambitions clear.   Around this time the band’s permanent line-up fell into place with the arrival of drummer John Moen, and they made the unexpected leap to Capitol Records for their first major label album in 2006. Fans’ concerns of whether the band would alter their trademark sound quickly vanished when they delivered their most ambitious and audacious record to date in The Crane Wife, a song cycle produced by Walla and Tucker Martine (who would become a longtime creative partner) that added elements of ‘70s prog, hard rock and even quasi-disco to their palette. The album was met by wide acclaim from The New York Times, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Stereogum, and was named Best New Music by Pitchfork.   Three years later, The Hazards of Love – a full-length concept album based on Meloy’s idea for a stage musical - was a Top 20 hit. In 2011, they topped themselves yet again with their first #1 album, The King Is Dead, which featured the GRAMMY-nominated song “Down By The Water.” After their 2015 album What A Terrible World, What A Beautiful World, which included the #1 AAA radio hit “Make You Better,” The Decemberists changed up… https://chorus.fm/news/the-decemberists-burial-ground/

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[ear-worthy]

Pod-Alization: The Whale Freak, Land Of The Giants, Pen Pals Podcast

Freakonomics Radio completes three-part series on Whaling Freakonomics Radio wraps up its special three-part series "Everything You Never Knew About Whaling." Along the journey, the show visited the last remaining American whale ship; looked at the rise of the environmental movement; and spoke to, among others, a Moby Dick scholar, a journalist in a remote Japanese whaling town, and the infamous "eco-warrior" Paul Watson. Catch up on all three episodes now, and find more info on the series below. • Ep 1: The First Great American Industry Whaling was, in the words of one scholar, “early capitalism unleashed on the high seas.” How did the U.S. come to dominate the whale market? Why did whale hunting die out here — and continue to grow elsewhere? And is that whale vomit in your perfume? • Ep 2: Why Do People Still Hunt Whales? For years, whale oil was used as lighting fuel, industrial lubricant, and the main ingredient in (yum!) margarine. Whale meat was also on a few menus. But today, demand for whale products is at a historic low. And yet some countries still have a whaling industry. We find out why. • Ep 3: What Can Whales Teach Us About Clean Energy, Workplace Harmony, and Living the Good Life? In the final episode of the whale series, listeners learn about fecal plumes, shipping noise, and why Moby-Dick is still worth reading. Once you listen to this fascinating three-part series, your challenge is to meet up with friends or family and try to work whaling into the conversation. 

Thar she blows!

______________________________________________________ Land Of The Giants podcast shines its light on Tesla Remember when Elon Musk could actually make things work. That's before Twitter, or X, or whatever it will be called next week. Once upon a time, Musk began Tesla with a government loan (he hates to include that part.) 

Land Of The Giants is the Vox podcast that, for six seasons, has examined the DNA of our biggest tech giants -- from Apple to Amazon. In season seven,Land of the Giants: The Tesla Shock Wave examines the past, present and future of the company that jumpstarted the shift to electric vehicles. Automotive journalists, Tamara Warren and Patrick George team up to explore how exactly Tesla snuck ahead of the competition, the unique role Elon Musk has played in the company’s success, and the twists and turns that lie ahead in its race for EV dominance. New episodes drop every Wednesday.

____________________________________________________

Pen Pals podcast joins iHeartPodcast Network Will Ferrell’s Big Money Players Network (BMP) welcomes “The Pen Pals Podcast” to the iHeartPodcast Network, with all new and previous episodes available on the iHeartRadio app and podcast platforms everywhere. “The Pen Pals Podcast” has hosts Rory Scovel and Daniel Van Kirk responding to the letters listeners send them on topics ranging from free will to freeway etiquette, from mental health to manatees; and so much more. These letters could be seeking advice, telling a story or simply venting – Scovel and Van Kirk are ready for whatever listeners throw at them. The duo also welcomes an array of celebrity guests to talk through listener letters, including Will Ferrell, Conan O’Brien, Mandy Moore, Rose Byrne and many more. The latest episode features Nick Kroll, in which he reads a letter about his connection to his baby-to-be. The show’s next episode will feature Sarah Silverman.   Daniel Van Kirk is a stand-up comedian from Rochelle, Illinois. His album, "Thanks Diane" debuted at #1 on Apple Music, and he's been named a “Comic To Watch” by Comedy Central and one of JFL’s 42 in Toronto. Love the show, but do Millennials and Gen Zers know what pen pals are? 

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Podcast recommendations

1. Freakonomics Radio

2. Land Of The Giants

3. The Pen Pals

[torontosignsandwraps]

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[chophouse22]

Ground Beef Brant Lake Wagyu 1lb

The answers to these questions and extra are just a scroll away. Enjoy FREE supply on $200+ orders, and FREE pickup on $95+ orders. If you really want this product urgently, please contact us and we'll try our best to supply it for you.

Don’t let raw meat or juices touch ready-to-go foods, either within the refrigerator or during preparation. Don’t put cooked foods on the same plate that held raw beef. Always wash utensils which have touched raw meat with hot, soapy water before using them for cooked meats.

An necessary operate of those ingredients is to create a stable red to pink color of these products. The disadvantage of nitrite is the formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines in nitrite-treated meat merchandise and in vivo by consumption of the products . The amount of Vitamin K2 in factory-farmed meat is much decrease than the amount in grass-fed meat. Weston A. Price famously seen that the greatest quantities of Activator X had been discovered within the butter, milk, and meat of cows that grazed on lush green pastures within the spring.

This minimize is dense and lean and is best cooked sizzling, quick and served uncommon. Diced items that are beautifully marbled with intramuscular juiciness. This is a very wagyu ground beef tender reduce that is flavourful, rivaling the average tenderloin.

When you produce top quality beef, you additionally produce healthy beef. The unique benefit in Wagyu is that it accommodates a much larger proportion of the desirable mono-unsaturated fat than other beef. Dr Crowe stated the mono-unsaturated/saturated fat ratio was up to 300% larger in Wagyu than different beef. 50% of all marbling inside a Wagyu carcass was made up of oleic acid (mono-unsaturated), whereas a comparatively small portion was saturated fats. Meat products are commonly manufactured with the addition of nitrite or nitrate.

One thing you’ll discover about the chart above is an absence of recommendations about specific cuts of beef. In common, we suggest sticking with decrease fat cuts of beef should you resolve to incorporate this meals in your meal plan. Lower fats cuts embrace prime round, backside round, eye of round, flank, and strip. Aged Regular Ground Beef is packed with flavour from 30+ days of dry aging.

Steakshop.ca is an online e-commerce storefront operated by Riz Global Foods and situated in Toronto, Ontario. We ship premium halal Angus and Wagyu Steaks and value-added products on to your door; wherever in Canada. If you have extra beef than you have to use inside this time period, you'll find wagyu ground beef a way to freeze it in a cold temperature freezer. Using freezer paper, wrap the beef fastidiously in order that it is as tightly packaged as possible. Ground beef should be in a position to keep for two to 3 months, while steaks should hold for about six months.

Yes, please complete the checkout process with the transport address you want the order delivered to. Please choose a delivery day that you understand the recipient shall be home and within the telephone quantity section, please embrace the recipient's cellphone quantity so we can alert them once the supply has been made. We use our personal wagyu ground beef of refrigerated supply van to maintain your order frozen throughout transport, plus we supplement with devoted carriers. At checkout you shall be able to choose your delivery day between Monday-Saturday. We provide supply 5-days per week (Monday - Friday) to all the cities in the Lower Mainland of BC, plus Richmond & Vancouver residents can choose Saturday delivery as properly.

Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service in 2007. Producers of grass-fed beef usually are not required to comply with the USDA standards, until they wish to show the USDA grass-fed defend on their product labeling. Stick with natural Organic standards assist lower threat of contaminated feed and natural beef often has larger nutrient high quality. However, remember that natural by itself doesn't assure a pure life-style for the beef cows. Marbling gives the meat the tender and juicy qualities. Meat with less marbling is dry and normally tougher.

Additional information about the quantity of these nutrients offered by Beef, grass-fed could be found within the Food Rating System Chart. A link that takes you to the In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Beef, grass-fed, featuring data over 80 vitamins, could be discovered underneath the Food Rating System Chart. In Japan, beef palatiability is positively correlated with the amount of oleic acid in beef. The Asian markets choose beef that incorporates elevated oleic acid .

[arteestca]

Van Wraps Toronto is the most widely recognized material utilized in coloring the car base. It changes the base of your vehicle from glossy finish to matte or vice versa. This is a fluid mix that is brushed in the base of the vehicle.