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twopoppies · 4 months

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Hi Gina , Do you have a category for reread fics?How can I find them

Meaning fics I’ve read more than once? I don’t think I’ve ever made one—let me see what I can do.

Danger I Can’t Hide by CelticSky (E, 227K) This one’s got all the tension and drama you’d expect of a World War II story—life and death high stakes, friends and lovers unexpectedly torn apart, battles and heroism, plus the added stakes of classism and homophobia—then add a slow burn, high risk, scorching love affair spanning years. If you want a story that’s complex and fantastically researched, plus lovers to root for, read it. It’s long. But I couldn’t put it down. When I did, I immediately picked it right back up and read it twice more.

Hats Off To My Distant Hope by orphan_account (E, 21K) This was such a pleasure to read. The writing feels so effortless as the fic explores the deep emotions of these two characters. They’re stubborn and inarticulate and gentle and passionate and finally, finally open up to each other. I really wish I knew who wrote it because I’d love to read more of their work.

Walk That Mile by purpledaisy (E, 150K) I’ve read this one multiple times and still love it. Their bickering is so realistic, their resistance to their attraction to each other is perfect, the way the author portrays all of their weird quirks and differences but still makes it believable that they’d fall fo reach other is such fun to read….I love this fic.

my heart is breathing for this moment in time by usedtothebeach (E, 160K) Probably my absolute favorite time travel fic. I’ve read it more times than I’d like to admit, and every time I love it more. One of the things I like most is how organically the author weaves in canon events…every little moment is an easter egg without it being so obvious that it pulls you out of the fic. Anyway, this one is so moving and so absorbing, I hope you like it if you give it a try! There’s an 18K companion piece to it as well, but you’ll see the link at the appropriate time when you’re reading the main fic (and when you read the scene that breaks your heart –– in the best possible way –– come and scream at me. You’ll know which one I mean).

Our Lives, Non Fiction by @indiaalphawhiskey (E, 114K) this is, quite literally, the best fic I’ve read in years. It’s so well written, clever, funny, emotional, and sexy. Its draw you in immediately and you’ll end up falling in love with these characters before you know it. Don’t miss this one.

Never Never Never Stop for Anyone (Sheylinsonverse) by aimmyarrowshigh, spibsy (E, 10-work series, 439K)Yes, here I am again, putting this series on a list. Probably 10 people in this fandom like it as much as I do, but I don’t care. I have read all 440K words more than once, and will likely do it a few more times. Yes, it needs editing, but even so…really well written, super sexy (if you like reading BDSM and can handle Larry + someone else), and such interesting character development. One of my favorite things about this fic is how the authors differentiate between the ways the different characters inhabit their Dom and Sub personalities.

Make Your Words A Weapon by HelloAmHere (E, 36K) I love everything this author writes. This one just really hit me hard for whatever reason. Maybe it’s the way they explore Louis’ anxiety and coping mechanisms and pain and the way he pushes people away and protects himself, but also wants someone to push back just a bit and love him despite all of that. And the way Harry is the perfect foil for all of it, while also feeling like a fully developed character himself. Yeah, it’s probably all of that. Plus soul marks!

Pull Me Under by zarah5 (E, 140K) One of the very first fics I read when I came into this fandom…and I’ve read it multiple times since. Zarah’s fics hold up every time. This one has it all, great pacing, ot5 friendship, banter, super sexy smut, etc etc. Plus, Louis being super jealous of Harry’s best friend.

Into The Blue by zarah5 (E, 117K) honestly, I love all of this author’s fics, but I think this is my favorite of theirs. Louis as a flirty scuba instructor? Newly single Harry who just wants a fling? Boys living on other sides of the world who only have a few weeks together? Heartbreak. Hot af smut. OT5 friendship. Please….give me all that shit.

Faking It by TheCellarDoor (M, 46K)This one is so sweet. I loved Harry's internal monologue... his insecurities and thoughts that he'd made Louis uncomfortable because he liked, him made me cry. Louis is so soft and supportive. It’s just a lovely fic.

Remind Me Again by momentofclarity / @gaycousinlarry (E, 29K) Every sentence in this fic is so effortlessly beautiful. I love that the miscommunication between them is done in a totally realistic way. The fight and make up like real people do and that makes the angst more painful and the making up more emotional. One of my favorite authors.

And Touch Me Like You Never by runaway_train (E, 36K) I really enjoyed how this author handled Harry’s confusion and growing attraction and eventual sexuality crisis. That, along with the angst and very sexy smut, made it a really good read.

may we all have a vision now and then by momentofclarity / @gaycousinlarry (M, 4K) This author is one of my favorite writers in this fandom and everything they do is infused with so much delicacy and tenderness. I literally cried through this fic because of how wounded Harry’s character feels. Read it and then treat yourself to their whole AO3 catalogue.

Seeing Blind by zedi (E, 47K) I really liked the way this author gave a twist to both Omega Harry and Alpha Louis’ characteristics. It’s a whole lot of smut and miscommunication and, of course, a happy ending.

Shake Me Down by AGreatPerhaps12 (NR, 209K) this fic will run you through the wringer, but it’s really a great read. I really like the way the author took the boys from enemies to friends to boyfriends, and how we got to see how protective and supportive Louis became towards Harry.

smell the sea, feel the sky by @lightwoodsmagic (E, 16K) This is the perfect summer pining fic. I love that they’re adults and still the same horny, pining fools for each other and it still works. It’s just very sexy, light, and fun.

we can take the long road home by @pinkcords (E, 46K) This was absolutely gorgeous. And it made me cry, damn it. Seriously though, the writing is so beautiful. I loved the characterizations and the way they both showed their vulnerability. I loved the slow pace and the hot smut. I loved this fic.

smile in slow motion by istajmaal (E, 24K) One of my favorite Daddy kink authors, this one is lighthearted and funny while also being super sexy. Plus it’s got great Zouis friendship.

all my love was down on a frozen ground by navigator (E, 16K) This is an old one that I didn’t have bookmarked for some reason. But it’s a favorite and I love everything this author wrote. This is one of those quiet, soft fics with a bit of angst and a lot of internal monologue and gentle conversations. I don’t know, there’s something so touching about it.

Thought The Song Was Sung by 100percentsassy (E, 13K) This is both a famous/not famous and a dating app AU. Plus, older Larry. Plus an author who writes great fic. And this one is just sweet and charming and I really like this one.

the way the storms blow by rbbsbb (E, 22K) What would happen if you walked in on your best friend in the midst of an orgy? Louis finds out and it’s pretty damn hot.

we can take the long way home by eleadore (E, 27K) this one is a canon divergent future fic where Louis is a “carrier” (basically, he would be able to get pregnant) and it’s just SO good. It’s beautifully written (like everything this author does), so well-paced, and I just find the way their developing relationship is written to be so touching and realistic.

The light to guide me home by Star_Henderson / @tommosgun (E, 65K) I don’t know what it is about this fic but I’ve read it so many times and I just really love the instant chemistry, the smut is stupid hot and fuels the character growth, and even with the angst, the whole thing is just lighthearted and sexy.

Speaking of Marvels by navigator, quitter (E, 101K) This was one of the first fics I read in this fandom, but I read it again recently and had forgotten how really wonderful it is. The writing is so lovely and the characters feel so well developed. I especially loved how the authors explored how differently the two of them would respond to their relationship given the different stages of life they were in. It made the romance and the attraction and the angst feel really real.

Constant Debauchery by Blake (E, 19K) Yes, yes, I know. I’ve probably recommended this 10 times. But have you read it yet? Anyway…Edwardian setting, uni ABO (Alpha/Alpha) fic. Gorgeous mood setting, I’ve said before that it reads like an Merchant Ivory film looks…just gorgeous. There’s a similar sense of repression and uncertainty about flouting societal expectations, and a character who appears one way on the surface, but underneath is quite different. I love this one, I’ve read it a number of times.

Lightening Strikes Twice by @dinosaursmate (E, 106K) It’s not often that I read a 100+K fic multiple times, but this one is worth it. It’s one of my favorites from this author, and a favorite all around. It’s an epic love story spanning decades and massive life changes. It’s sexy and well-written, and so touching, and so fulfilling in many ways.

precious little thing by mercutionnotromeo (E, 21K) I’ve read this one so many times…it’s got it all. This time the phone sex operator is Louis, and subby Harry is just beginning to realize his daddy kink.

Good Enough to Eat by objectlesson (E, 7K) This author always does such a good job with depicting young, queer love and the way their characters experience the overwhelm of realizing they’re not straight, realizing the’ve met their Person, pining, and giving in. I love a lot of their fics, but I think this is my favorite of them. Link is to a download.

One day to believe in you by mediaville (E, 8K) another author who always hits it out of the park as far as I’m concerned. This one is super funny and then super sexy. Louis gets cursed and has to tell the truth. No matter what Harry asks him. Read it!

like a bastard on a burning sea by vashtaneradas (NR, 21K) Heartbreaking, perfect writing. So well-written that the fandom hated real-life Harry for a while after this was posted. 😅

These Roads We Stumble Down by onewasturning (E, 18K) I adore this author’s writing and I’ve read this particular one multiple times. It’s just a little melancholy and very sexy and one of those fics that reminds me why I can read about the same two people falling in love 46372 times and never tire of it.

Empty Skies by green_feelings / @greenfeelings (E, 13K) I just started re-reading this the other day and it holds up so well. This author is always a pleasure to read. Their fics just are well plotted and the characters are nicely fleshed out. I loved Perrie as Harry’s bestie, the bitterness and angst is PAINFUL, and the ending feels well earned.

Wild and Unruly by 100percentsassy, gloria_andrews (E, 124K) One of the OG classics in this fandom. If you haven’t read it yet, you’re missing out. It’s just a great, original story. Plus, cowboy Harry, city boy Louis, bad guys to hate, nail biting drama, hot af sexual chemistry and smut, and a super satisfying ending.

Love Is A Rebellious Bird by 100percentsassy, gloria_andrews (E, 135K) Everything about this fic is glorious. I’m always struck by how well the characters are fleshed out, how their behavior lines up with their backstory, how ridiculously hot the chemistry is, and how agonizing the angst is. So yes, no shocker, I cried buckets. Thank god for a happy ending.

Unbelievers by isthatyoularry (E, 137K) High school Au, footie, enemies with benefits, so much sexual tension (and just tension), and really well-developed, complex characters. Most of the conflict in this (and in the companion fic from Harry’s POV) is straight up lack of communication. But, given the age of the characters, it’s forgivable (although sometimes frustrating).

In Dreams by dolce_piccante (M, 24K) This actually might be my favorite of this author’s fics, although I know it’s definitely not the most popular. It’s just soft and romantic and sweet and I’m a sucker for tattoo artist Louis winning over slightly uptight Harry.

Your Name Is Tattooed On My Heart my mcpofife (E, 87K) I reread this one recently and it's truly delightful. The characterizations are so well done. Harry is so endearing (I cried over his heartbreak). And the smut is both hot and really emotional. Love this one.

#my fic rec #Larry fic rec #re-reads #My favorite re-reads #Favorite re-reads

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cumulo-stratus · 6 months

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MASTERLIST

(absolutely lovely dividers by @cafekitsune <3)

Fluff- ☀️ Angst- 🌧️ Angst w/ comfort- 🌦️ Moodboard- 🌨️

Requests- closed :(

last updated- 4/15/24

FLUFFTOBER-

one fic for everyday of october based around a fluffy prompt, (im sure we all know the drill by now <3)

Long Gone[e.p] ☀️ - emily and reader share their first kiss in the after hours of the bau

Rainy Love [s.r]☀️ - y/n has always loved the rain, and decides to share that love with spencer (ps this was idea was inspired by a fic by the lovely user @ssa-atlas-alvez <3)

I’ll Remember for us [s.r] ☀️ - the team goes to Los Angeles, and y/n (the ever emotionless and stone cold profiler with a soft spot for spencer) is chasing an unsub when they fight and falls, getting a concussion and fractured wrist, spencer is there for him. (no prior romantic relationship, just friends)

Rain Soaked Sleep [s.r] ☀️ - Y/n and Spencer get home after a long week at the BAU and a rainy drive home, ready to fall asleep to the sound of rain.

Oh How I Love Loving You[s.r] ☀️ - Y/n and spencer share their first dance as a married couple at their fall wedding in y/ns hometown in new england

Softest Curls in All the Kingdom [s.r] ☀️ - Y/n enjoys playing with spencers hair on jet back home

“They’re Ours!” [s.r] ☀️ - My HC's around Spencer and sharing clothes over the course of your relationship.

There’s nothing wrong with being different[s.r] ☀️ - Spencer and his husband talk to their daughter when she gets in trouble for punching someone (daughter is 10)

Soaked in Adoration[s.r] ☀️ - My HC's around spencer and bathing/showering with his partner

“For Me?”[s.r] ☀️ - Y/n brings spencer an early Christmas gift relating to their shared special interest of the sci-fi fantasy series Dune

“You do this everyday?”[s.r] ☀️ - y/n has a pretty popular cooking channel and one day after y/n doesnt edit out spencer givving y/n a kiss when he gets home the fans go crazy wanting a video where you bake together so you make a vid answering questions while making a fall recipe

Love in the form of paper[s.r] ☀️ - Spencer tries to teach his best friend how to make an origami heart- but y/n still struggles

“Lend me some vanilla?” [s.r] ☀️ - Y/n goes to spencers house to ask spencer if he has any vanilla extract when theres a possible gas leak and no ones allowed to leave their aparment until the morning when someone can come check it out...

Sneaky snuggles [s.r] ☀️ -y/n is woken up to a surprise of his boyfriend being home- despite the fact that his case was supposed to run at least another day or two.

The good days [s.r] ☀️ - spencer and y/n go stargazing, and y/n indulges spencer with facts about his special interest- astronomy

Protector[s.r] ☀️ - after an unsub tries to hurt y/n, spencer steps in.

Lover -

the love story of y/n l/n and Spencer Reid

Ours ☀️ - Spencer finally has a conversation with the boy on the train

Enchanted 🌦️ - Spencer's insecurities grow in his friendship with y/n when he finds out about Gina

More coming soon…

Criminal Minds -

“They’re ours!”[s.r] ☀️ - Sharing clothes with Spencer Reid

BAU/Autism [s.r] ☀️ - How the team supports you and your autism

Soaked in adoration [s.r] ☀️ - Bath time with spencer headcannons

Dating Aaron [a.h] ☀️ - what would it be like to date Aaron Hotchner?

More coming soon…

Criminal Minds -

Like we always do [s.r] 🌦️ - (request) after Spencer proposes to his partner they decide they have to tell Spencer what they had been thinking about for months- and Spencer is always ready to support his partner

Communication issues [s.r] ☀️ - reader is from France and lived there until he was 11/12 and then moved to america and his first language is french. He also has a little bit of an accent. Basically reader is new to the team and it is their first late night back home on the jet with him. And basically they learn that when hes tired he reverts back to his mother tongue.

The fencer [s.r]☀️ - reader is a fencer and is competing in the 2023 mens saber nationals and spencer invites the team to cheer on his boyfriend. (Could be read as ftm) (Also spencer is like low key autistic in this)

Smart cookie [s.r]☀️ - (request) reader asks for readers help with a new tattoo he wants, and when reader calls Spencer a smart cookie Spencer gets flustered, and reader can't help himself

Love like a fathers [s.r]🌦️ - (request) Y/n gets hurt protecting spencer from an unsub, and they spend some time together in the hospital.

Flashback [s.r]🌦️ - spencer discusses his thoughts around having kids with his spouse after putting their daughter Diana to bed (written for @cmgiftexchange)

New Years Kiss [s.r]☀️ - You and Spencer share a New Years kiss at Rossi's house to celebrate

The Little Things [a.h]☀️ - (request) you notice all the little things Aaron does for you everyday (could be read as romantic or platonic)

Fantozzi [s.r] ☀️ - (request) The BAU decides to have a movie night at Rossi's house, and Spencer you and Spencer find a quiet corner to sit in. You both fall asleep and cuddling ensues..

Glitter Girl [p.g] ☀️ - (request) Penelope and her best friend share some banter over the phone

French Press Coffee [s.r] 🌦️ - (request) Spencer insist you take a break despite your objections

Embrace [s.r] 🌦️ - spencer doesnt feel like hes anything more than his intelligence, but ethan proves him wrong.

More coming soon…

MCU -

Ill always be here [m.j]🌦️ - you come out to your parents and they kick you out after your dad slaps you but mj comforts you and lets you stay with her.

“You know your really pretty?” [m.j]☀️ - its late and y/n cant sleep so theyre ranting to MJ, its basically just a bunch of fluff crammed into a couple paragraphs

More coming soon…

Criminal Minds -

Paranormal [bau] 🌦️ - (request) y/n has a secret, can he keep it despite the circumstances?

Picture to Burn [s.r]🌧️ - (part of lover series) Everything's falling apart, but will Spencer have the strength to put it back together?

More coming soon…

Criminal Minds -

An indie fall with Spencer [s.r] 🌨️ - (request) A moodboard for an indie fall with spencer <3

A rainy day in with Spencer [s.r] 🌨️ - a moodboard for a rainy day inside with Spencer <3

College professor AU [s.r] 🌨️ - a moodboard for a college professor spencer reid <3

One car [b.a.u] ☀️ - in which all the members of the BAU are stuck in one car for a little while

"your my pillow now" [s.r] ☀️ - spencer reid x male reader

"I can still feel you" [s.r] 🌧️ - spencer reid x gn!reader

More coming soon…

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lovelytsunoda · 1 year

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lucky people // mick schumacher

summary: the adventures of bookworm-youtuber y/n and her adorable f1 driver boyfriend mick

(shameless little plug for my own underused and somewhat forgotten about book-blr @/ cheerful-chamomile-pages)

dedicated to @flannel-cures and @paddockbunny who helped me make the final decision on whether this would be about mick or charles : )

i can see them meeting through gina (best friends brother trope anybody)

she was already decently popular on the bookworm side of youtube without mick, but once she was spotted attending a few events on the german's arm, she instantly became more interesting to a whole different crowd

obviously she's trying to keep her hobby (and almost possibly maybe side hustle) and her love life apart, but they truly are the cutest couple on the internet

she's sitting in her cute little library corner , streaming her new video live for some of her subscribers before she edits it and posts it properly to youtube.

"so i hate calling it a tbr because that just adds so much pressure and the way college is going for me right now guys, i genuinely have no idea if i will make it through all of these."

"so the first one is 'as good as dead' by holly jackson. i've been working my way through this series for a while and i finally bought this one a few months ago but life got busy and i just didn't get around to it but im really excited. this one is the grand conclusion to the good girls guide to murder trilogy and i can't wait to read about pip and ravi one last time."

and cue angie bounding into the room, cutting in front of the camera and knocking the book out of her hands as she pounces on y/n

mick is laughing in the background, super self conscious about appearing on the camera.

the chat goes MENTAL

"is that angie? does this mean mick is home?" "show mick!"

"mick," she says with a laugh, scratching angie behind the ears and looking up at the driver. "the fans want to see you."

"is that okay?" mick asks before moving further into the room, passing her the mug of hot chocolate that he had been planning on just leaving on the IKEA end table

"of course." she moves over on the carpet to make more room. "you can hold my stack of books."

"oh, great." he jokes as she passes him the stack, pressing a kiss to his cheek

"this is my boyfriend, mick. he's an angel on earth and he's going to help me film the rest of this."

cue mick shyly waving at the camera as y/n grabs one of the books from the top of the stack

"you already know that i will read anything that lauren asher writes. i have one book left in the dirty air series that i still need to finish, and this one is all about santiago, who was introduced as noah's teammate and mayas brother in the beginning of the series. i truly don't want this series to end, but this book includes grumpy x sunshine and fake dating, so im very excited to see what santi and chloe bring to the dirty air universe."

and mick is just watching her with this completely lovestruck expression

the chat goes MENTAL talking about how cute the couple is and how they all wish they had a mick (me too besties)

he's definitely present in the next video, entitled "my boyfriend and i go book shopping"

which is more like y/n just dragging mick around barnes and noble while she prepares to buy more books than she could afford (especially since she already has so many books at home)

mick is helping her look, trying to pick up books he thinks she'd like or has heard her talk about before

"babe, this book is basically porn. there's literally a half dressed cop on the front cover."

"i would have thought that the fact that it's called 'frisk me' would have given it away. the second one is worse, it's called 'cuff me'."

"i worry for your mental state sometimes, schatzi."

"what else am i supposed to do while you're gone, baby?"

that line was edited out of the final version

like the gentleman that he is, mick pays for all of the books

*cue the entire comment section swooning*

they do one video called "my boyfriend guesses the plot of my books based solely on the contents of the front cover"

"uhm im gonna take a wild guess and say that one's about death of some kind. maybe a murder?"

"that one's porn. one hundred percent. there's a fully shirtless man with a smolder and bad tattoos on the front cover. wait, there's a formula one car as well? oh dear god, this isn't what your version looks like!"

"because i bought the special editions with the pretty covers, baby. and this one does have a plot. this one made me cry, and you had to hold me for like an hour and a half while i recovered."

he definitely bought her a copy of her favorite romance book for their anniversary and went through and annotated it

paying special attention to all of the smutty parts that he wants to recreate

buddy reads with mick where they read the same book and then film a video where they both review it

the cutest couple on bookstagram

BONUS MATERIAL:

#mick schumacher x reader #mick schumacher #f1 headcanons #f1 x reader #formula one x reader #mick schumacher headcanons #f1 x you #lucky people

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silvermoon424 · 2 months

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I dreamt that a local (fictional) bookstore had to close its doors and I was among a group of loyal customers so we all got together to read the first volume of Sailor Moon Eternal Edition. Quite wholesome until we got to a panel where Chibi-Usa straight-up yelled "V*GINA!" I woke up remembering nothing else but thinking "I /have/ to tell Katy this" (I hesitated to send this ask since it's so random and nonsensical but whenever I'm unsure about my asks I send them anyway in hopes of evoking happiness/laughter :') )

I had to recreate this

#asks #vera9

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russellsppttemplates · 2 years

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What if I were like them (Mick Schumacher)

Note: english is not my first language I was listening to a couple of new (to me at least) songs the other day and came up with this idea

Feedback is appreciated 🤍 and although I'm not taking requests per se, if you have any ideas or concepts you want to share, feel free to do so!

Also, i have some ideas for a potential part 2 but let me know how you feel about it 🤍

Edit: there is also a part 2 and a part 3

Tw: curse words, mentions of alcohol consumption, being cheated on/infidelity, relationship break-up, selfconcious/doubtful reader

"I'm sorry I'm calling you at such a weird time, but are you home?", you sniffled into your phone, "Are you crying, Y/N? What happened?", your best friend said on the other side of the line, "I'll tell you later, but can I come to you? I don't want to be alone", you asked, receiving a positive answer from her. Drying your tears and taking a few deep breaths, you composed yourself to the best of your hability, knowing you couldn't possibly drive safely over to her place in this state. When you turned for the last time in direction of her house, as the gates were opening they revealed your best friend Gina dressed in her pyjama and a bit coat. Parking the car inside as she closed the gates remotely, you got out and your lip started trembling again, tears blurred your vision again until you felt her arms around you, "Hey, hey, what happened?", she tried to pry you away from her body so she could at least see your face, watching your bloodshot eyes, "we broke up, it wasn't working anymore", you finally uttered words since arriving. "Do you need anything from your car?", she asked, earning a shake from your head, "My brother is out on his motorbike, no need to park your car better, it's fine like this", Gina thought out loud, and it hit you, "Goodness, your family! Shit, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, didn't even think about it", you apologised, only now realising the extent of your disturbance, "I can leave, I'm sorry again, I-". Grabbing your hands, Gina squeezed them as hard as she could, "you're not leaving, you're staying here. My brother is out in some late meeting with his team and my mom would kill me if I let you to go back to your place like this", she reasoned with you as she welcomed you in, ushering you to her bedroom before asking if you wanted anything from the kitchen, "some water would be nice, please".

Looking around the room, you saw all the picture frames from various moments, some of them where you were lucky enough to be in, from your first day at kindergarten to some birthday celebrations and even some racing weekends the Schumacher family had invited you to join them. Grabbing a frame from what you figured was your 8th birthday, judging by the obnoxious balloons with the number, both you and Gina standing in front of the cake while a young Mick tried to get some frosting on his finger, "I have your water and some cake mum made this afternoon and dropped here when she came by", she offered, placing the tray on the bed, "Now, tell me what that asshole did for you to end up like this". And you went on about what happened. You had made some dinner plans with your colleagues once you got out of work a few weeks ago, deciding that a new restaurant in town was the ideal place to get together and enjoy some time off work. What you didn't expect was to find your boyfriend on the way back to your place. He was sitting at your door, waiting for you to get home since he wanted to spend time with you and you thought it was a nice moment until you questioned why he hadn't called you, making him reply that he had been out with his group of friends and didn't think to do so. You found it endearing until it happened a few more times, his state growing more intoxicated with alcoholic beverages he would consume over the times he payed you visits. Things started getting a little bit more complicated, and even though you suspected there was something else he wasn't telling you, only today did he sit down with you and expressed his true feelings and truthful words, going on about how he didn't feel like you were working anymore, admitting what he got up to in his nights out and how he was sorry that you both ended up in this situation. By the end of the conversation, you both had tears rolling down your eyes, prompting you to part ways as he grabbed the few things he had left at your place and bid you goodbye. And you cried, no matter how much your intuition told you that maybe he was spending his time elsewhere (and maybe someone else), it still stung that he hid all of those feelings and thoughts from you. "And yeah, that's that I guess...", you finished, grabbing another tissue and wiping your cheeks as finally the tears seemed to stop, "I'm such a mess and because of a guy...! This is a new low", you exasperated, your whole behaviour going against what you believed in, having grown up with every female role model in your life telling you how amazing you were and there should never be a man involved when you thought about your worth. "Do you want to spend the night? I think it would do you some good, I promise I won't kick you during the night", she conforted you, trying to pull a smile out of you as she pulled the sheets on the bed. Accepting her offer, you grabbed a spare pyjama from her chest of drawers and changed, going to her ensuite bathroom to splash some water on your face and then heading to the double bed.

You woke up when you heard an engine rumble outside, followed by the small noise of the gates closing and, not wanting to wake Gina up, you headed to the kitchen to grab some coffee and maybe lounge in the little outside area the house had connecting to the kitchen. "How are you feeling?", Gina asked once she arrived in the kitchen an hour later, pressing the button on the coffee machine after inserting the pod in, waiting for the dark liquid to brew and fill her mug, "For someone who cried all the water they had in their body yesterday, I feel surprisingly okay today", you humoured her as you drank some of your own coffee, looking at her, "again, thanks for letting me wallow in my misery with you", you showed your appreciation for her friendship, "Of course, what are best friends for? I'm not here just to make fun of you when you flip go karts", she replied sitting down after pressing a kiss to your forehead, "speaking of, have you seen my brother?", she asked. "I think I heard him leave this morning when I woke up", you mused, "he probably went for a workout", Gina wondered as she buttered some toast for your breakfast, "I'm going to spend some time in the stables, do you want to join me or stay here?", she questioned as she made her way upstairs after you cleaned the kitchen, "I think I'm going to stay here a bit on my own if you don't mind", you replied, earning an understanding nod from her. You sat down on one of the sofas after grabbing one of the many notebooks you usually carry with you from the totebag on your car, jotting down some words as you tried to work your way through how you were feeling. Being an introvert, you have learned a long time ago that one of the ways to stop bottling up everything you felt was to write something down, wether it just a literal brain dump or some verses.

Three weeks had passed since you went to Gina's place late at night after your break-up, and given everything you were taking things pretty okay-ish. Grabbing the things you needed and stuffing your tote bag with them, you grabbed the box that had your homemade dessert inside and headed to your bestfriend's house since she had invited you over for lunch, "Hi, hi! Oh, I'm so excited to have you here!", she greeted you at the door once you arrived, helping you carry your things inside. Setting the table and picking on some of the foods displayed, Gina informed you you would have some company, "My mother and my brother are joining us today, I assumed you wouldn't mind", she added as she passed you a tray to put on the table, "Oh, how great! I haven't seen them in a while, especially your mother. Mick I see on the TV on the races but it's not the same", you smiled as you heard the tyres on the gravel outside, "Oh, it must be them", and a few minutes later they both got in through the door, "Y/N, dear, it's been so long since I've seen you", Corinna beamed as she took you in, "always so gorgeous, you are so grown up", she hugged you and then greeted her daughter, "Angie, outside for a bit, and don't ruin the footballs, please", you heard Mick say to his dog. He too had grown up, the little boy you would once play with and read with (as you were both very shy and seemed to be happy just like that) was now a young man and, despite being a year younger than you, his body towered over yours as he turned to look at the room, "Hi Y/N, how are you?", he hugged you as you greeted him with a kiss on each cheek, "Hi, good and you? It's been a while since I've seen you in person Mr Formula 1 driver", you teased slightly. You had been almost as proud as the rest of his family when he got his F1 seat knowing how hard he worked for it and how much he deserved it, "Yeah, it's been a while", he said blushing, "Kids, the food is on the table, c'mon", Corinna called for you as you all sat down and ate the lovely meal Gina had prepared for you. "I saw a dessert platter when I arrived", Corinna said as you helped her tidy the table when you finished eating, "Oh yes, I almost forgot, I made my mum's recipe of meringue pie, I hope it's good", you winced, "I'm sure it's great. Mick! Y/N, made that dessert love", she said, entering the room with platter and placing it in the middle of the table. "I have a race next weekend but I've been pretty good lately, I think I'll have a bit actually", Mick said, forwarding his plate as his mum served everyone, "Wow, I'm shocked you're even considering eating a dessert, last week mum made some cake, your favourite cake, and you said no, thank you", Gina exclaimed, "Well, this is a pretty good recipe", Mick tried to reason his sister's light teasing, "It's worth breaking the diet a little bit just now, although I'm trusting you all to not tell my trainer on me", he pointed the spoon, "speaking of, do you want to join us these two this weekend? They're going to see the race", Mick offered, "if you're free and if you want too, of course", and it was suddenly like the shy and introverted kid you've known pretty much all your life was in front of you.

"Oh Y/N, you should come, change your whereabouts for a bit, get a chance to hang out with us...", Gina tempted you, "I'm free from this weekend on actually, I have a break from work so there wouldn't be any rush either...", you whispered, tempted to given in, "I'll email the team so they can get your passes ready, just need a picture of you", Mick said, "I can send it", Gina offered, "I have to send you mine and mum's too, Y/N sends me hers and it's done! Uhh, I'm so excited", she clapped before digging in the food on her plate.

When you moved to the balcony, you grabbed your notebook and sat in one of the sofas they had outside, appreciating how Mick and Angie played with eachother in the garden, "Still writing, dear? I always remember you having a notebook one you at any given time", Corinna said as she sat down on the opposite sofa, "It's always been a nice way to express how I'm feeling", you said as you both looked out to the dog who insisted she must rip apart every single bit of the football Mick played with, noticing how she ran to you and nudged her nose on your leg, "you want me to play with you? Is that what you want? Okay!", you said, excusing yourself as you joined the fun on the garden after setting your notebook on the sofa.

A moment later, Gina occupied your spot on the sofa, chatting to her mum, "Did you know that I always thought they would end up together?", Corinna mused, looking at how you two laughed together at something you said, running around Angie, "Mick and Y/N? Really?", Gina chuckled, "Yeah, although she was your best friend, Mick always enjoyed having her around, I think at one point the only time you played together without ripping eachothers hair off was when she was playing too, your dad used to say that could tame you both like that would go on to do great things", she mused, remembering her husband's words, "It's just, it's Y/N, you know? She's been around since forever almost and-, and she's had a rough break-up you know?", Gina said, looking back at you, now sitting on the floor next to Mick with Angie laying on her back, appreciating the belly rubs you were both giving her while settling in what looked like a comfortable conversation. "I'm not saying they will be, you know? But she is a very nice young woman, very kind, respectful, and she's very beautiful too... it's a shame she has learnt how brutal and stupid some men can be", Corinna offered, earning a hum from her daughter.

Even though you couldn't stay for dinner, Mick stayed, his sister not bothering with setting the table and choosing to eat outside and enjoy the warm night. While Gina offered to do the dishes, Mick was fixing the pillows of the sofa when he found your notebook, your initials carefully embossed on the front. He knew better than to go snooping around other people's things, his parents did not raise him like that and he felt on his own skin what it was to have people wanting to sneak and know about things no on told them about, so he chose to just grab the notebook and make a mental note to give it back to you at the race. As he grabbed it, a single sheet of paper flew away with the light breeze, landing on Angie's paw as she fiddled with it, "No, no, no Angie, no. Please don't rip it", he said carefully convincing the dog to keep the paper intact, "you don't play with balls but you play with this? You are one interesting dog", he mumbled as he picked the paper up, noticing a few drawings on the edges and some words written on it, and he caved in. He placed the sheet on top of the notebook on his lap, admiring how the drawings around the edges looked like a creeper-ivy and your handwriting.

What if I were like them

Who you wanted to be with

I did everything to be Cinderella

You seemed to think i wasn't to be praised

And I pretended I didn't notice

But deep down I always knew

Of the emotions you hid from me

From the temptations of your nights

I saw myself sinking very slowly

I think I only thought of you

I would say that we did everything

I just wanted to understand

How did we get here

Left on the side to suffer

Do you even know how much I liked you

Maybe it's not what you want

Maybe what I give you is not enough

If those you were with

Were better than I am

And maybe that wasn't enough

To make you stay here

He never allowed himself to dive deeper into his feelings when he spent time with you, after all you were his sister's friend and had known him almost all his life, but reading how you wrote your feelings down, he felt a sudden anger after reading words of self doubt and how someone had (mis)treated you. How someone had your love and affection and they let it all go to waste, how you were from now on insecure about yourself and unsure of your worth, the tightness on his chest lingering after he carefully placed the loose sheet inside the. notebook. "This is Y/N's, do you want me to keep it and give it back on the weekend?", Mick asked when he heard his sister's footsteps joining him on the outside area, "Sure", Gina added, thinking that maybe the conversation with her mum this afternoon did make some sense and maybe, just maybe, her best friend and her brother did have a chance at something beautiful.

Part 2

Part 3

#mick schumacher imagine #mick schumacher fluff #mick schumacher fic #f1 imagine #f1 x reader #f1 fanfic #mick schumacher x reader

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cantsaythetword · 11 months

Text

Finding A Motive

~A/N - OK HELLO I AM HERE!

Yes I know I have heaps of prompt fics I should be working on BUT I had to had to HAD TO write something for this post that Happy made about reward tickles cause ITS SO DAMN CUTE and it works perfectly for Jake from b99.

This is also my first ever b99 fic so I hope its good!! I just cannot get the idea of Jake being a massive lee out of my head hehehe.

I also have a v big thing about Gina knowing this about Jake and being super casual about it to the others (but ofc really teasy about it with him) hehehehe.

Also holy fuck this is long so hope you have the time to read it lmao, this might be my longest fic yet! (EDIT: YEP ITS DEFINITELY MY LONGEST YET HOLY SHIT)

(DOUBLE EDIT: I'm also adding a link to this clip cause it's adorable and is 100% Jake's tickle laugh hehehehehehe enjoy)

- Enoy! ~

Tag List: @happyandticklish

Masterpost Link

Amy Santiago was about to face one of the hardest challenges of her career.

Top drug lords, hardened criminals, serial killers - they had nothing on this. This was an impossible task. One that even the greats would never dream of tackling.

The job? Motivating Jake to fill out paperwork.

Considering the fact that a major portion of her job was often figuring out what motivated people (though usually it was what motivated them to kill), you would think this would be relatively easy. However, she knew filing was the absolute bane of his existence - something that would take him days to work up the headspace to even consider starting.

Nothing helped. She had tried every trick in the book. She had bought him some (BEAUTIFUL) new stationery and folders, scheduled time in the briefinf room so he wasn't distracted by noise, broke it into steps, bribed him with food, it was all useless.

It had been weeks, and the papers just kept piling up on his desk with no remorse. To make matters worse, his lack of motivation was starting to affect his mood. His usually cheeky quips marking his arrival towards whoever was listening had died down to nothing more than a nod of acknowledgement when he entered the office. Amy was getting desperate, and so she tried reaching out to the others.

Hitchcock and Scully's input was simply offering to do it for him, which helped ease some of the pressure but completely bypassed the point of the exercise.

Rosa's pure threats only managed to get him to sit down at his desk and stare at the paper for hours.

Terry's sticker reward chart ended up with Jake spending more time choosing what stickers to use than anything else.

And Charles' encouraging words started off strong - but quickly broke off when Jake suggested they take a lunchbreak (and the task was promptly forgotten).

It was beginning to look like all hope was lost, and as the team sat in the break room wondering what on earth to do, Gina Linetti waltzed through the doorway.

"Amy, Amy, Amy..." Gina sighed. "Why would you waste your time asking these guys for help when you have someone who's known Jake since the womb?"

Terry's brow wrinkled in confusion, "You guys aren't twins."

Gina shrugged. "We might as well be."

"You aren't even related." Rosa added.

"Guys?!" Amy interrupted. "Not important."

She turned to look at Gina, who was already walking towards Jake's desk with a confident flair only she could pull off. The group casually followed her out, curious as to what magic she was about to enact to get Jake out of his slump.

Amy watched as Gina leant down next to Jake's ear and whispered.

Somehow that was all it took.

Jake, with his face painted pink, sheepishly grabbed his stack of papers and moved past the group towards the records room without saying a word. It was like magic.

"You're welcome." Gina grinned as she sauntered back to her desk.

Now it was impressive in itself that Gina had managed to get Jake to start working, but it was astounding that he was still working almost an entire week later.

The man had become a paperwork machine, and an extremely effective one at that. The organization rivalled that of Amy's herself, and if she wasn't so awe-struck she might have been a little jealous.

She begged Gina to spill her tactics, but every time Gina responded with a laugh and some clever line around how "A lady never reveals her secrets.". But Amy had to know! She had to find out what was Gina's tactic.

Thankfully, she wouldn't have to wait for long.

It was a sleepy Thursday evening. The precinct was quieter than ever, and Amy was finishing off some last minute research. As she walked past the break room, she caught wind of a very particular sound. A shrieky, medium-pitched giggle that only came from one person doing one thing.

Well, more accurately having one thing done to them.

She peered through the window, and surely enough there was Jake. He was lying across Gina's lap, arms held above his head by one of her hands, legs kicking the couch cushions at the other end. Gina's fingers were going absolutely feral on his stomach, the speed and precision at which they moved was enough to give anyone butterflies just watching.

But it was Jake's face that was the most interesting part. Though it was a deep red and scrunched at every point, it was pulled into what was possibly the biggest smile Amy had ever seen. And nothing about it seemed forced, not even the laughter pouring out of his mouth. No, it seemed like Jake was actually enjoying it.

Well wasn't that cute. Amy laughed to herself at her little discovery. She'd have to try that out later, but for now she had to act natural.

She took a few steps past the doorway, just far enough to hear Jake's giggles subside as the tickling presumably stopped. Amy heard the door open, ducking behind a desk.

"Keep up the good work Jakey." Gina said with a smirk. "Same time tomorrow."

Oh my god.

That was it? Gina's incentive that worked perfectly was tickling? Amy was frozen in disbelief. It was so easy. So simple and yet it never would have crossed her mind.

The next morning, Amy argued back and forth with her own brain about whether to ask Gina about Jake's little quirk. On one hand, the more opportunities for motivating him the better. But on the other hand, perhaps this was something best left for childhood friendships. Should she ask to join in? Or would Jake feel uncomfortable about anyone other than Gina knowing?

There was only one way to find out.

"Hey Gina?" Amy asked nonchalantly, leaning over Gina's desk.

"Ames." Gina cocked her head in friendly acknowledgement. "How can I help?"

Amy took an awkward breath. "So last night..."

"Ahhh you caught me." Gina interrupted with a smile. "That's the best way to get Jake moving."

As if to prove her point, Jake came power-walking past with a stack of binders. Somehow, with the balance of a tightrope walker, he lowered a steaming cup of coffee onto Gina's desk before plowing off again.

Amy gave her a look. "And that's improving his productivity too?"

"Oh no." Gina laughed. "This just reminded me of how I got Jake to be my little helper through middle school."

"Moving on." Amy shook her head. "Do you think Jake would mind if I... knew? ... Or more accurately, if I... joined in?"

"Oh he'd love it." Gina grinned. "He's super fun to tickle, so try not to get carried away. Though he'd probably enjoy that too."

Amy beamed. "You're the best!"

"You know it."

Now it was just a matter of waiting for the right time to strike. And, with Jake's little productivity streak, the perfect opportunity presented itself quite quickly.

Amy spied her target almost immediately. He looked so out of place, sitting there hunched over his desk when everyone else (and usually himself) were out at lunch. The emptiness made for an ideal privacy level without putting any more pressure on the guy.

"You've been working hard recently." She commented.

Jake jolted out of his intense hyper-focused state. "Uh... Yeah. Yeah I've been... uh... On the grind. You know, it's just non stop with me!"

Amy took a moment to maintain her composure. "See I've been wondering what managed to help... Cause we tried everything."

Jake averted his eyes from Amy's gaze.

"So I asked Gina."

Oh that did it. Jake went bright red - almost as red as last night - and he brought his hand up, partially to card his fingers through his hair, and partially to hide his blushing face.

"Why didn't you just tell us?" Amy put her hand on his. "It's the easiest and most adorable solution I've ever heard."

Jake's head was now pressed into his palms. "I was worried you would find it weird."

Amy smiled genuinely. "I mean, it's not the usual route, but it's super cute."

The pair sat for a moment, before Jake broke the silence.

"Do the others know?" He asked, and Amy couldn't tell if it was worry or curiosity in his voice.

"No... Do you want them to?"

Jake hesitated, his mouth twitching into a nervous smile. "I don't know..."

"They won't find it weird either." Amy reassured.

"... I wouldn't mind..."

Amy couldn't help but break into a bright grin.

Later that night, Amy packed away the last of her work. More than ready for the weekend, she exited the bullpen to the sounds of Jake's laughter. Clearly Gina thought he had worked hard this week. And she had to agree, but her reward for him would have to wait.

Monday morning came and went, and Jake somehow still wasn't running out of steam. In fact, Amy had noticed that - since she found out about his little secret - Jake had volunteered to take some of her filing duties. While she would normally be slightly annoyed by this, she knew exactly what he was looking to get out of it. And who was she to deny him?

Once again, lunchtime proved the best chance for a little alone time with her target. As the rest of the force eagerly made their way towards the elevator, Amy inconspicuously followed Jake towards the records room.

As he pushed the door open and stepped through without a second thought, assumedly with the goal of letting it swing shut behind him, Amy slipped inside and cleared her throat.

Jake jumped, almost dropping the stack of manilla folders he was carrying. "Ames?! What are you- I mean, how come you're in here?"

Amy grinned. "Oh I was just hoping to let you know how good of a job you've been doing recently."

Jake blushed, eyes flicking to the floor, then the door, and back to Amy. "Ah... Well, thanks thats... Yep, thanks..."

Amy, barely letting him finish, took a step towards him. "I don't think you quite understand."

Jake's face tensed, his mouth twitching into a nervous smile and Amy could tell he was struggling to contain himself. His arms instinctively pressed against his sides, hands squeezing into fidgeting fists.

"What's wrong Jake?" She teased. "Is this not why you've been stealing my usual paperwork duties?"

Jake couldn't help but let out a singular barking laugh, rubbing the back of his neck (but making sure not to lift his elbow and expose his armpit).

"I'm taking your silence as a confession Jake, is this what you were looking for?" She smiled. Partially to further fluster the poor guy, but also as a subtle way of checking she wasn't taking this too far. Based on Jake's reaction, she was clear for landing.

As Jake stumbled over his words, trying to come up with some answer that wouldn't incriminate him but also wouldn't ruin his chances of getting wrecked, Amy dashed towards him.

And Jake crumbled.

It took only a few seconds of Amy's nimble fingers skittering across his torso before his knees gave out and he slid down the filing cabinet behind him. Amy followed, ending up half-crouched next to his legs, at the perfect angle to attack all up his sides and over his stomach. So that's exactly what she did.

As Jake haphazardly 'attempted' to grab at her hands and push them away, he let out the most precious giggles Amy had ever heard. The sounds of Jake's serotonin filled the room, and Amy was absolutely intoxicated.

While he definitely reacted more as Amy grew closer to his armpits, Amy found herself spending much more time around Jake's lower ribs. Something about that spot, the way the giggles just spilled out of Jake's mouth, the way he leant his head back so carefree, the way his hands gently gripped her wrists but never pushed her away (even though he definitely could). She was completely enamoured.

"You're adorable." Amy murmured before she could catch herself, taking a sharp breath when she realised she had said it out loud.

"Ahehehehames!" Jake laughed, ducking his head in embarrassment.

Grinning in relief that he either hadn't noticed or was too ticklish to care, Amy continued her soft syncopated two-fingered squeezes against Jake's stomach. This was even better than she imagined. And she was fully prepared to continue, until the sound of footsteps thumped outside the door.

Shit, how long had they been in there? The pair locked eyes, all mirth fading from Jake's as he took a much more worried demeanor at the risk of being discovered. Amy glanced at her watch - 1:52pm.

They had been in there for almost an hour? It had felt like 20 minutes... Probably even less to Jake.

Amy stood, offering a hand to Jake who clumsily took it - still a little too giggle drunk to stand on his own.

"I'll let you get back to work." She grinned on her way out.

Jake wasn't the only one who had work to do, as it was officially time for Amy to spread the word. And who better to start with than Terry.

It was such an obvious transition, Amy didn't have to think twice. Of all the people at the 99, he was the best balance of secret keeping without judgement. So as soon as Amy saw him, she pulled him aside into one of the interrogation cells.

"What's the matter?" Terry asked, immediate concern washing over his voice.

Amy pulled a slightly awkward face, perhaps she should have rehearsed this a little before jumping straight in.

Well, no use thinking about it now.

"Nothing's wrong." She began. "It's just about Jake."

Terry relaxed, half-sitting half-leaning against the table. "I've noticed he's been plowing through his work ever since Gina talked to him."

Amy nodded. "I figured out how she did it."

"And?" His eyes widened with intrigue.

She took a breath. "It's... He..."

Terry gave her a look of encouragement.

"Tickling."

There was a pause. And in that moment every cell of Amy's brain screamed into panic mode. Maybe she was wrong about Terry being one to tell? Maybe she was wrong about everyone? Would they all find it weird that Jake liked getting tickled? Would they all find it weird that she liked tickling him? Has she completely ruine-

Terry began to laugh.

Not in a ridiculing way, or even a nervous way. A genuine, entertained laugh.

"What?" Amy said, the panic still bubbling in the back of her throat.

"That is possible the most Jake answer I've ever heard." Terry said. "It makes total sense."

Amy breathed a sigh of relief. "It's definitely very Jake." She admitted with a smile.

"So," Terry cocked an eyebrow. "Have you tried out this method yet?"

Amy blushed slightly. "Uh... well, yes."

"And how did it go?"

After a conversation that lasted much longer than it should have - mostly due to Amy doting on Jake's reactions the whole time - Terry was more than eager to participate.

As the workload slowed growing closer to clock-off time, and the traffic within the compound faded to a trickle, Amy and Terry waited (rather impatiently) at their desks for Jake to return.

It was practically a ghost town, the perfect setup for their little attack, by the time Jake came back to his desk. He locked eyes with Amy, a glint of nervous excitement flickering across his pupils, and sat down. Completely missing the 6 foot 2 figure lurking behind him.

"So Jake." Terry said, having successfully snuck up behind the man. "Amy's just let me in on your little secret."

Jake's face burned, knowing exactly who it was without even turning around. Honestly, with the number of times he had gone red recently it was a miracle his face hadn't permanently stayed that way.

"And I'm keen to find out if what she's said is true." Terry continued, placing his hands on Jake's shoulders.

Jake's mouth squirmed in an anticipatory smile. Amy simply leant back in her chair, ready and eager to watch the show.

With more speed than expected for a man of his stature, Terry skewered his hands under Jake's armpits and lifted. Jake let out a shriek as his legs dangled above the chair he was sitting at moments ago, before descending into laughter as Terry's fingers started worming around his underarms.

It looked like the opening to the Lion King - just with much more laughter from this Simba. Terry conducted his tickling with the skill of a well seasoned Dad - as expected from a man with 3 daughters. Jake was unravelling in front of Amy's eyes, but he still had that huge smile on his face that let her know he was loving every second.

"Aw Jake this is adorable!" Terry cooed, unable to stop himself from dropping the tough guy facade he had put on moments ago.

"Shuhuhut uhuhup!" Jake squealed, his legs thrashing in every possible direction to relieve some of the ticklish torture that Terry was putting him through. "Saharge plehehease!"

"I can't believe I didn't know about this sooner!" Terry teased, beaming a smile in Amy's direction as he lowered Jake closer to himself. Trapping the man against his chest, he snaked his hands around Jake's still wriggling body, swapping what armpit each hand was attacking.

As Terry began to claw at the edge of Jake's pectoral muscles, Jake cackled. His body seized up, before slumping forwards into a pitiful attempt at a protective curl.

Terry's dreaded bear hug had him almost completely spent. Jake's laughter was becoming breathy, and his energetic thrashing had completely faded to the occasional twitch in his limp body when Terry hit a good spot.

"Ok Sarge I think he's had enough..." Amy said with a touch of concern, a soft smile still stuck on her face from watching Jake laugh.

Terry scrunched his face with a frown, obviously not quite finished with Jake yet. But, noticing just how tired the poor guy was, he slowly placed Jake back into his chair. Without a word (aside from the giggles still trickling out of his mouth), Jake folded his arms on the desk and resting his forehead on top.

"Are you alright?" Amy asked with a laugh.

Jake responded with a meek nod of his head. Amy didn't have to see his face to know there was still a bright beam of a smile splitting his cheeks.

Terry softly ruffled Jake's hair for a moment. "That wasn't too far, was it?"

Jake snickered in embarrassment. At Terry's worried face, Amy shook her head with a smile.

"I think that means it was great Sarge." Amy laughed.

Relieved, Terry patted Jake's shoulders. "I'll leave you two to pack up then."

Amy nodded, mouthing a 'Thank You' as Terry backed towards the elevator. He simply nodded, before turning to leave.

Over the next few days, while Amy contemplated who to tell next, she noticed that Jake had picked up some more errands for the Sergeant. And, with Terry being Terry, each time Jake put a paper or file on his desk for him Terry would give him a friendly poke or squeeze in the side and a few teases as an accompaniment. Each time Jake would walk sheepishly away from the desk, but his smile was unmistakable.

But the more public displays of Jake's reward method came with much higher risk of discovery. And of course, the most eagle-eyed member of the force picked up on the change pretty quickly.

On her way to the restroom, Amy noticed Rosa and Terry having quite the one-sided discussion in the briefing room. While initially she wasn't going to interfere, when Terry flashed her a 'help me' look she had no other option.

"Is everything alright?" Amy asked cautiously, moving through the doorway and standing next to Terry.

Rosa looked at Amy for a moment. "Do you have any idea why Sarge has been tickling Jake recentl-?"

"I tried to tell her it was just for fun!" Terry interjected, a slightly panicked look on his face.

Amy laughed. "It's alright, Jake's ok with people knowing."

Rosa raised an eyebrow curiously.

"It's the best way we- well, Gina - found to motivate him." Amy glanced at Terry briefly, who nodded alongside her.

"I thought he was working weirdly well..." Rosa considered for a moment, before giving a small chuckle. "Cute."

Amy and Terry shared another look, this time smiling softly.

Without another word, Rosa walked off with a smirk. Straight over to the man of the hour.

"Jake." Rosa gave him an inverted nod as she stopped next to his desk.

"Diaz, what's up." Jake replied, not looking up from his work.

"Amy told me about your tickling thing."

Jake lurched, caught off guard by the casualness of Rosa just announcing it. He struggled to get words out, some way to explain himself.

"It's fine you know." She grinned. "It's cute."

Jake blushed even more, bashfully scratching the back of his head.

"So." She continued, holding out a thin binder. "Reckon you could finish off this patrol report for me?"

Without meeting her eyeline, Jake nodded and took it from her hand.

"Thanks." She smirked, running her fingernails up the back of his neck a few times as she walked away.

Jake's shoulders twitched before relaxing into the sensations. As he began to read through the documents, a hand shielding his eyes from any onlookers, his mouth curled into a shy smile.

This continued over the course of the day. Rosa would hand Jake something to fill out or give him a task to do, and gently tickle the back of his neck each time. While Amy first assumed Jake would be disappointed by the lack of stimulation, she quickly realized he was almost glad of Rosa's near incognito method of delivery. Amongst Amy's, Terry's and Gina's exhausting sessions of what most would consider tickle torture, Rosa's soft scratches during team meetings or brief skitters as they crossed paths in the hall seemed to bring a sense of normalcy and casualness to the whole process. And those little ticklish appetizers seemed to keep Jake engaged and on task throughout the day between bouts of playful attacks from the others.

It was the perfect system. And though there was an element of 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', Amy knew the others would probably find out eventually. So better for her to fill them in, especially Charles.

"Why has Jake never told me?!" Charles exclaimed when Amy finally broke the news to him over a food truck hamburger.

"Well..." Amy grinded her teeth for a moment, looking for the best way to explain herself (or more accurately, explain Jake). "He's a little embarrassed about the whole thing, he didn't tell anyone about it himself."

"Who else knows?"

"Uh." Amy froze. "Only me, Gina, Rosa and... Terry..."

Charles scoffed indignantly. "So almost everyone else except for me."

"This is about Jake ok!" Amy interrupted, giving him a stern look.

And clearly it worked, as Charles calmed himself almost immediately.

"Of course." He said quietly.

"So." Amy continued. "If you see him working feel free to tickle the crap out of him OK?"

Charles grinned. "Oh I look forward to it."

With the newly accepted fact of both Jake's ticklishness, and his affinity towards it, Charles had a ridiculously easy time picking his moment of attack.

Jake had just finished his first coffee of the day, and was about to begin making his second when Charles approached him.

"We have to talk." Charles stated, using every ounce of self control to keep a stern face for his master plan.

Jake turned, worry reeling through his mind. "Yeah, of course man."

Charles gestured out of the kitchen and towards the break room. Jake naively followed, unaware of what was about to go down.

The second the door closed behind them, Charles tackled Jake onto the floor.

"Charles?!" He shrieked as the pair fell to the ground, Jake lying face down and Charles on top of him.

Without another word, Charles dug into his best friend's hips. The reaction he got was more than he ever expected.

"WAHAHAHAIT!" Jake cackled, thrashing awkwardly from side to side while trying to bring his hands down to pull Charles' off.

"How come you never told me?!" Charles interrogated, squeezing his way up Jake's sides and back down to those awfully ticklish hip bones.

"CHAHAHARLES PLEHEHEASE!"

"After all our years of friendship..." He continued, sitting more upright and attacking the muscle on Jake's back - just behind his ribs.

The poor man squealed in response, legs bouncing on the floor behind them.

"Did it all mean nothing?" The overly dramatic flair in Charles' voice soaked his words in playful sarcasm.

"CHAHAHARLES!" Jake begged, half managing to roll on his side until his attacker clawed at his belly enough to make him twist face down again.

"The betrayal!"

"I'M SOHORRY!"

Charles grinned. "How can i take this apology seriously when youre laughing?!"

At that, Jake's hands went from trying to fend off the tickling to hiding his poor face. "CHAHARLES PLEHEHEASE!"

"No can do jakey!" He tutted, but decided to have a little mercy on his poor friend. He slowed his fingers to a soft spider walk - just enough to keep Jake laughing but allowing the man to catch his breath.

"Chaharles... I... Please..." Jake giggled out, still not showing his face. "Lemme gohoho..."

"Nuh uh." Charles shook his head, not that Jake could see that. "You've been working far too hard this week for me to let you go that easily!"

Jake let out a giggly groan. "Nohohot youhou tohohoo!"

"What? You want me to stop?" Charles asked, a cheeky smirk across his face.

As his hands came to a stop, he watched the cogs in Jake's brain turn. Would he admit out loud that he wanted more? Or would he cave to his embarrassed state and stop the fun? Charles mentally crossed his fingers that he had made the right choice.

"fne..." Jake mumbled into the floor.

"What was that Jakey? I couldn't hear you?" Charles teased, pushing every button he could to get more of a reaction from Jake. God it was fun flustering his friend.

"... i said fine..." He repeated.

Charles couldn't help but let out a titter. "Still got nothing Jake."

"Chaaarles..." Jake groaned again, still covering his face (which Charles could only assume was the colour of tomato soup).

"Jaaaaaake." He mimicked. "Come on buddy, do you want to keep going?"

Jake shuffled a little under Charles weight, before nodding his head.

Charles let out a gasp of happiness, before clawing into the muscles on Jake's back.

"ACK WAHAHAIT!" Jake arched backwards, before crashing down against the floor again. He squirmed helplessly as Charles conducted the most pointy, ticklish massage he had ever endured.

Poor Jake was stuck at Charles' mercy for at least 30 minutes, before the detective finally released him. He flipped over and lay there on his back, gasping for air on the ground.

"So how was that?" Charles asked, elongating the last word in an unbearably teasy tone.

"Screhew you Chaharles." Jake grinned, covering his eyes with his forearms.

"Love you too buddy."

Life at the precinct had never been smoother. Hitchcock and Scully had the excellent idea to log Jake's work into a group-wide 'tickle tally chart' (Terry's prototype name that ended up sticking), which only prompted more work from the now unstoppable detective.

While the major displays of rewarding Jake's efforts were left to the more private hours of the work week, the building was more than familiar with the occasional shriek or giggle fit if someone had the opportunity to thank Jake in passing.

And, his closest friends definitely didn't shy away from teasing the poor man every chance they got - and, to be quite honest, Jake absolutely soaked up the attention.

"Ey look who's here!" Gina announced as Jake waltzed into the bullpen.

"Coffee for m'lady." He bowed, before handing Gina her starbucks cup. "And a donut for ma boy."

Charles gave a generous smile before eagerly tucking in.

"Damn." Rosa chuckled. "Really racking up those points today, huh Peralta."

Jake's mouth moved but no solid words came out, his confident swagger fading quickly.

"Now that you mention it, who is on jake duty today?" Gina blinked, looking around the room.

"Ginaaa!" Jake whined.

Terry grinned. "That would be me."

"You guys are so mean!"

"Oh Jake?" Amy asked genuinely, breaking the teasing tension that had been rising. "Don't forget you need to book your dentist appointment today."

Jake gave her a puzzled look, a little relieved she wasn't going to continue his torment but also a little disappointed. "How do you know about that?"

Amy rolled her eyes and gestured to his desk. "For the first time in your life you're actually using your desk calendar?"

"Oh... Thanks..." Jake muttered, moving towards his seat.

Amy tilted her head towards him. "So...?"

Jake groaned. "I have to do it now?"

"You do if you want tickles." Rosa smirked from behind him.

Caught off guard again, Jake spluttered out some semblance of an attempt at a sentence, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. The team's coos and teases about Jake's immediate reaction drove him to seek refuge in the copy room (plus some peace and quiet wasn't the worst thing for a phone call).

As he made his escape, Jake popped his head into Holt's office on his way through. He might as well check in and see if he was needed for anything before making his call.

"Anything I can do for you Captain?" Jake asked, leaning against the doorframe. Helpfulness seemed to be his default state these days, and who could blame him? He was hooked on the reward it seemed to get him, and it definitely helped to keep work flowing smoothly.

"You know Peralta," Holt began, folding his hands on the desk.

Jake tilted his chin up in acknowledgment, ready to accept whatever job he would be given.

"If you want to be tickled you can just ask."

#fic #mine #b99 #brooklyn 99 #jake peralta #brooklyn 99 tickle fic #jake peralta tickle fic #also not saying that this tactic would totally work for me but it would TOTALLY WORK FOR ME-#p.s. extra fic commentary: i am v v happy about the title of this fic hehehehehe i think its funny

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jcforsapphics · 9 months

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Hsmtmts 4x08:

Ok last episode I am so so scared but I'm so glad it's an hour longg

Good on EJ for being on his last play but babygirl what happened to your face

"Btw, who the fuck are you guys?" LMAO RICKY IS SO REAL

"Are you asking as my son or as my brother?"

I'm loving all the Kourtney appreciation because she desreve that so much

Troyella are getting very personal to rina right now

Jet being the biggest madlyn shipper!!

"I have every feeling for you" THEY ARE HAPPENING

NOT EJ PREDICTING MADLYN?? HE'S SO REAL FOR THIS HE IS US HE IS THE FAN BASE

"I feel like I don't deserve to be as happy as you make me" so I'm getting called out by every character this season, huh?

They are so not staying just friends who are they lying to

MADLYN KISS OH MY GOD THAT WAS THE CUTEST THING EVER I ?? THIS SEASON IS SO GOOD FRIEND FOR THE GAYS

Plot twist Ricky and Mack ends up together

Joshoua Bassest you have the voice of an angel

Full disclosure I actually hate public declarations of love and would not like it at all if he'll confess in front of everyone I'll probably have to skip it I can't handle second hand embarrassments

JET CALLING MADDOX HIS BEST FRIEND I LOVE THEM VERY MUCH

Hey I better get a fic expanding on Ricky feeling like he didn't deserve to get into college because??

Big Red and Ricky hug!!

Everyone singing together might have made me tear up a bit haha I don't want to actually cry I already cried last night when I prepared myself mentally (I'm attracted to this show in a very autistic and not at all healthy way and my therapist told me she's genuinely worried about me and about what will happen if rina won't end up together)

OK FIRST ANTINE IS NOT FRENCH?? ALSO WE WERE ALL RIGHT ABOUT HIM AND RED LET'S GO!!

"My dad knew I was gay since I was two!" Seb I think everyone knew

Ms Jen I'm sorry to tell you this but Gina always looks like a star

I don't have words for Ricky's speech because how dare he

GINA IS BEAUTIFUL

Gina talking about every single person and crying I can't I can't :((

"I really wish the world was as pure as you see it" is actually such a good line

Not Gina calling Jet out on his feelings for Kourtney in front of everyoneee

The camara not finding EJ when Gina is trying to talk to him??

This whole speech is really making me feel like I missed with my horrible theatre group I wish we had what they do

"I feel so seen and so understood and so known" I LOVE YOU GINA PORTER

RICKY TELL HER YOU LOVE HER YOU BITCH

MACK IS A RINA???

RUN RICKY RUN!!

This is literally the most unserious show in the world

THE SEASON ONE REFERENCE!! Loving this

"I'm in love and I know it" I'M COLLECTING MY RINA ENDGAME TONIGHT

This song is so going on my playlist

HOW DOES EVERYONE JUST KNOW THE LYRICS WHAT IS THIS GLEE

I genuinely love this song very much but I need an actual spoken confession for the edits

IT'S HIS FAVOURITE HAT <33

She did not tell him she loves him way back in season one and we didn't know??

"It's been there all along?" "Just like me." You don't know how much they mean to me

LMAO GINA JUST DECIDED THEY'RE GONNA SHOT AT SALT LAKE GO GIRL

Honestly Quinn deserve such a rise after this

MY CHILDREN

I can't believe the show is over :((

Definitely a few things I would change about this season but more on that on a later post! (Mostly the fact there was no chocolate theory reveal obviously)

Overall I'm so so happy with how the show ended but still going to ignore it and pretend it'll go on forever

#hsmtmts #high school musical the musical the series #hsmtmts season 4 #high school musical the musical the series season 4 #hsmtmts spoilers #hsmtmts liveblog #liveblog #liveblogging #ricky bowen #gina porter #rina #madlyn #seblos #cal's basement

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timelessbibliophile · 2 years

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After careful consideration and analysis of this season, i've come to the conclusion Gina was looking for a reason to breakup with EJ. That's the only way any of her actions make sense.

My guess is that all the stuff she talked about in the breakup scene were just in the back of her mind the whole relationship. She wanted to ignore it at first, and be a perfect girlfriend for EJ, but when EJ started to slip up a tiny bit on his end, she did too, making her act the way she did instead of having a rational talk with him.

When she said "i can't be a maybe anymore", it always struck me the wrong way, because EJ had showed her nothing of the sort. He had never showed her doubts about their relationship or her in general. I think she projected what she was feeling herself onto EJ. Ricky came back, and he wasn't making her cry anymore, he was actually pretty great, and there when EJ wasn't. It probably made her doubt her choosing EJ instead of Ricky, and made her feelings come flooding back. So when she says "i can't be a maybe anymore" she really means "you can't be a maybe to me anymore".

This would also explain why she was so quick to confess her feelings again to Ricky only one month after breaking up with EJ. When she was with EJ, she was trying to be a girlfriend, instead of just Gina dating EJ. And that eventually killed their relationship, because Gina was very much not in the same page as EJ.

Does that make sense?

Edit: babes, this isn't Gina hate, you're interpreting this all wrong. This is my take on how I think Gina's mind worked in season 3, I'm not condemning any of it, or throwing the blame on her. I'm actually agreeing with what a lot of Rinas had said before???

#hsmtmts #portwell #ej caswell #gina porter #hsmtmts analysis #rina #ricky bowen #tagging this in rina bc it's not really rina bashing #just something i've observed

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bobastar · 1 year

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Accused

EJ Caswell x You [not edited]

After the play was over, and you got all of your lines right you decided to stay behind with EJ while the rest went to celebrate.

“You did amazing Y/n/n!” he quickly scooped you in his arms, twirling you around excitedly. “You did too EJ! Im so proud!” you said between giggles. Right as he looked at you it seems like something changed, you slightly moved your head to the side as he set you down. Not wanting to say if something was wrong, you put a hand on his cheek.

EJ felt his stomach drop, has it been you this whole time? His eyes softened and EJ couldnt help but smile. He held your chin gently, going down to meet your gaze better. As he was about to lean closer he decided it wasn’t the right time, so instead he gave you a peck on the cheek. Little did you both know on camera, this whole scenario seemed different.

You felt your face grew a little hot. He brought you close to him and hugged you, sighing softly. You dug your face in his chest, hiding your face.

“Cmon, lets go celebrate..!” he smiled and ruffled your hair, leading you with his hand on your lower back.

-- [fast forward to the red carpet/interview thingy] --

As you walked down the carpet, you felt someone walk behind you. EJ smiled and gently squeezed your shoulder. You both sat down next to each other, and waited for them to show the final product.

[few minutes in]

It was EJ’s break-up and they caught it all on camera. But the next scene was you and EJ after the play, it when he kissed you on the cheek...it seems like he kissed you on the...oh no no no nononono.

You looked over at EJ with wide eyes, you quickly tried to explain. “He kissed me on the cheek..! It..He..I..” everything tried to spill out, but nothing was really said. “Y/ns right, I didn’t really kiss her..! They made it seem like we did!”

“We’re you with Y/n even before the break-up, EJ?” Gina scoffed, shaking her head. “I cant believe this!”

“No Gina that didn’t happen! I promise!” You sighed, a little upset that she thinks you would do that. “Exactly, Y/n and I were never a thing..” he got up, “besides, im pretty sure you left me for Ricky!”

“She left you because you kept things away from her!” Ricky was arguing back. “Just how you kept things from your past girlfriends? Ricky, you messed up everything I had.” EJ adjusted himself, “You took away Nini, Gina, my moments to show what I had, everything! I just..you cant be the one to talk Ricky, I tried everything and you took it all away.” He scoffed slightly.

You sunk down deeper in your chair and sighed. “This whole show is all a set up, I cant believe you guys would believe them over your friends.”

“Yeah, well friends can be deceiving too..” Gina mumbled under her breath. You scoffed and got out of your chair walking out of the auditorium. Ricky rubbing Ginas shoulder.

“Nice one”, EJ shook his head and chased after you. “Y/N!” EJ went over to you and sat next to you on the curb.

“I can’t believe she thought you cheated, with me of all people! i thought she would..” you sighed. “No..no none of this is on you, or anyone, she doesn’t know the whole story.” He gave you a small smile and lifted your chin up to look at him.

“Ej the thing is..i do like you, since..”

“Camp?” He looked a little shocked as you nodded in response. “yeah, since camp.”

He smiled and pulled you into a hug. He caressed the back of your head and cradled you. “We should take things slow though..I want to, you know..” you whispered quietly.

He nodded and kissed the top of your head softly. “Of course, whatever you want y/n/n”, he couldnt help but want to kiss you, but he couldnt..not here.

They almost ruined your first kiss, he cant take any chances. So it’ll have to wait.

#ej caswell x reader #EJ #ej caswell #hsm the series #high school musical the series #aaahhhh #i hope this is okay!#elton john caswell #spoilers #(:

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hitchell-mope · 6 months

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Do they watch supernatural? Hsmtmts edition

For the purposes of this. I’ll be listing if they watch supernatural and what they like about it. There will definitely be some of my Patented Unpopular Opinions. So please consider this your first and only warning. Everybody got that? Good. Then let’s begin.

Rina. Gina has caught some of supernatural. She’s not a huge fan. She prefers the Lucifer show. Ricky’s obsessed with supernatural though. His favourite episodes are I Know What You Did Last Summer and The Third Man. Needless to say he’s a massive Sam fan. And he gets incredibly angry when Sam’s mistreated.

Seblos. Carlos is certainly aware of supernatural. But he’s not necessarily a fan exactly. When he watches it he bemoans the wardrobe and fighting choreography. He finds all the angels creepy. Seb likes the show well enough. But he’s still trying to figure out the family tree from Once Upon A Time. So episodes like Changing Channels and Dog Dean Afternoon tend to fry his brain.

Redlyn. They both watch supernatural for the lore. And for Sam. And for both versions of Ruby. And for Jody Mills. Big Red knows who got Ricky and Seb into the show but he’ll never tell anyone who it is. No matter how many times Ashlyn asks him.

Jetney. They both watch supernatural. Jet loves the car. Kourtney spends all her time dragging Dean for filth. They both like Sam though. And no. Jet doesn’t know who introduced Ricky and Seb. He does, however, have his suspicions.

Ej. He watches supernatural. He just wants the car. And he’s jealous of Sam’s sideburns. He’s a little freaked out by the brother’s codependency. But he’d take that whole situation over the corpse any day of the week.

Emmy. She would love to watch supernatural. But her parents have forbade until she’s fifteen. She wants to watch it purely because she knows that Dean Forester from Gilmore Girls is in it. That is literally the only reason she wants to watch it. Nothing more. Nothing less. Well. She likes to think about the violence. But mostly it’s because she knows that Dean from Gilmore Girls is in it.

Jennzzara. Mrs Mazzara has banned Miss Jenn from watching supernatural in his presence because she keeps complaining about how they kept turning her down when she auditioned for the, ahem, “coveted” role of Unnamed Corpse Number 20 all the way back in 2007. Mr Mazzara doesn’t watch supernatural. Never had. Never will. He prefers Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

Maddox. She LOVES supernatural. However, she is a giant Charlie Bradbury fan. But hey. Nobody’s perfect, after all. Plus, she’s also the one who introduced the show to Ricky and Seb. Nobody except for Big Red knows yet, though. She lives in ever-so-mild terror that Gina and Carlos will find out before she’s got her defence ready. Big Red has sworn not to rat her out, though. And she’s grateful for that.

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not-a-cheese-thief · 1 year

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I'm finally caught up with 911 Lone Star, and I have thoughts that refuse to just sit there in my brain, so I have to write them all out;

Iris is my Love, she has my heart, and is one of the few characters out there who have accurately represented the fear of what it means to not be able to rely on your own brain. (Also she's Peggy's wife so there's that)

TK. Carlos. TK and Carlos. The whump. The pain. The DRAMA. Perfection.

I know we aren't meant to be commenting on people's bodies and all that, and normally I really wouldn't, but for real, what is Rob Lowe doing to his face?

The banter is top notch. I have no clue how it just keeps getting better but it does. Half the conversations are fucking nuts and I LOVE it. And the delivery is just *slutty French pastry chef's kiss*

Why in the fuck, when they couldn't get Billy Burke back, would they replace my beloved Billy Tyson (who has been through so much trauma, lost his whole damn family, and just like Judd did at first, reacted badly, but never had the support system that Judd had to help him deal, so stfu, he's Charlie Swan without Bella okay) with that asshole?? A creepy, overzealous police officer who we know is happy ticketing people just cos he doesn't like them, and who can easily be mistaken for a N*zi (because of his attitude, tendency to violence and threats, and general behaviour, not just looks). Billy was flawed, but had already started on his redemption arc, and what with all the chaotic fun they had, he even made Owen less annoying at times. I feel betrayed that he's been replaced with that twat.

Gina Torres can Get It.

(edited addition) I saw someone mention that Trudi (was that her name? Serial Killer Mum lady) being so pleased to hear that Carlos is gay, must have on some level been painful for Carlos even though all the trauma of what was happening. Carlos at first let her think his fiance was female because let's face it, that was most likely to be the safest option and he was well aware of that (I'm sobbing), but even though she seemed to have flawed veiws of the queer community ("I love the gays", wishing her son was gay as if that would solve him), her positive and enthusiastic reaction to discovering he's gay was everything his own mother's reaction wasn't. His coming out was so painful for him, and I bet he longed for his mum to be excited for him.

#911 lone star #911: lone star #billy tyson #owen strand #rob lowe #tk stand #tarlos #carlos reyes #iris blake

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after-nine-at-the-oasis · 9 months

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Hey guys! Time for HSMTMTS Appreciation Week Day Three: Favorite Quote/Scene/Original Song/Performance! I honestly don't think I would be able to pick for both of those, but I'll at least talk about one of my favorite quotes (if I try to talk about anything else this will most definitely be late, because it's midnight in 8 minutes, so we'll see - or maybe I'll make another post sometime lol. Coming back here with an edit from later in the post: yeah it's past midnight lol. Ignore that - I'm sure for other people it won't be xD).

And that quote is: "And now we're all here, maybe for the last time together. For some of us this has become. . ." "Family."

LISTEN OKAY!!!

XD Yeah, maybe a stereotypical quote, but it's always the first one I think of when I think of HSMTMTS quotes. It's just so relatable to almost any theatre kid, and I totally feel it. Especially given that this is in 1x06. At the end of the year before last, my amazing theatre teacher left. And last year, our musical was cancelled, shortly before we lost one of our members. I know that fear. During my rewatch, it hit me how much I did, when EJ said "I'm sorry no one will get to see you play Gabriella" (something like that). And that specifically relates to ANOTHER experience lol. My first real musical was High School Musical. I was cast as Sharpay, and I was so excited. COVID killed it, and after months of waiting and trying, we performed it on Zoom.

So I just feel this scene so much. They all have no clue what's going to happen, they're angry, they're upset, they don't want to lose this. And they're just barely starting to come together as a cast. But they know. They know that they're family. And it's right after this quote that they decide to do something about it.

And it brings me back to how much I love the Wildcats (guess I'm going to talk about that every post this week lol). They truly are a family, and seeing it from in Season 1 is just so special. And even though they keep going from here, and keep growing, this quote is the moment we know. The moment THEY know. That they're a family, and they're not going to give up on each other. Despite how different they all are, and despite their different opinions and emotions in that moment or all the time, they're not going to leave or give up. And I just love that, so, so much :').

I don't know if I managed to find all the words I wanted to there, but yeah lol :'). Now, since it's past midnight anyway, I will actually talk about the other options for today a bit lol.

Again, I could never truly pick a favorite of any of these lol, these are just examples of some of my favorites.

Favorite Performance: Stick to the Status Quo. Is this because of Seb? Maybe, who knows. But seriously xD, it's so good. The dancing, to AAHHH GINA'S BACK!!! AND SHE'S AMAZING!! To SEB MATTHEW-SMITH SLAYING THE HOUSE DOWN!!! It's just so good xD. And it's at the point during the show where they're all still having a good time, not switching roles and losing their minds yet lol. The amount of times me and my sister would be watching YouTube and see if in the search history and just. Look at each other. And immediately watch it again xD. It's just so epic.

And, this could be a point for or against it, it does make me feel some feelings (besides love for my babeys). Related to previously discussed crazy theatre happenings lol. It's kind of a bittersweet thing for me, just feeling a tiny bit off "I never got that". But it's worth it lol.

Favorite Scene: Honestly I genuinely don't know what to put for this lol. I want to put SOMETHING specific, even though this is probably harder to pick anything close to a favorite than any other category, but still lol. Okay, I thought of one lol. Yes, it includes a seblos moment, but shush, I can do what I want lol. Anyway! Carlos welcoming Ashlyn to the queer community :'). That entire scene lol, with EJ coming up after that and supporting Carlos, and then SEB!!! MY SEBLOS REUNION!! AND A KISS!!!! It's just such a good scene, I love it so much :'D. Like, seeing Carlos welcome Ashlyn and give her the pin :') - especially considering it like 100% definitely for sure confirmed it <33. And then seeing a bit of Carlos's insecurities, but EJ reminds us of that Wildcat love in saying that he doesn't have to do anything he doesn't want to do :'). And then Seb, showing up and being the cutest ever, and Ashlyn looking so happy that he's there, and Carlos seeing him, and just aAH!! I love them all so much <33 😭❤️❤️❤️🥰. I love all of those mini-scenes in one scene so much :') :'DD.

Favorite Original Song: Oh my gosh, I love them all xd. Okay, here are a few of my favorites (but it's a lot of them lol): In a Heartbeat, Born to Be Brave, Second Chance, and You Ain't Seen Nothin'. But honestly those are just some of the ones that get stuck in my head a lot or I listen to a lot lol.

In a Heartbeat: the perfect Seblos song. Also Ricky just. Being there. Always makes me die xDD. But seriously, it's SO CUTE, and it's a BOP (and Frankie's voice is amazing)! But seriously it's perfect for Seblos, like I said, and it's just so sweet :'). I have literal records (like in documents where I talk about it lol) of me freaking out over In a Heartbeat lol. It's perfect <33. Also, don't even talk to me about the homecoming suits sequence ❤️❤️.

Born to Be Brave: The icon of the series. I mean, clearly, since (SPOILERS) the last episode is named after it. Honestly if there's not a reprise of it I may riot /hj. But seriously, it's such a cute and empowering moment between Nini and Kourt, and of COURSE it's also empowering on Carlos's side :'D. And as someone who loves just dancing crazy however I want with my friends at dances? Yeah :'). Love <33. Anyway, it represents such big moments in multiple character arcs, and I just love it so much :')). Plus, again, it's a BOP!! And the ACOUSTIC VERSION!!! Don't even get the started on that :D.

Second Chance: THIS SONGGG!!! It makes me feel so many feelings 😭😭❤️. It's such a great summary of all four of their character arcs, and the VISUALS!!! They just kill me so much. Everyone back in their episode one outfits 😭😭💔❤️. And it back to the core four, especially knowing Nini's pretty much done :'(( ❤️. Honestly, I really want a song similar to Second Chance for everyone at the end of Season 4. I know we probably won't get it, but just- flashbacks to everyone's first outfits (honestly I'd take/love flashbacks in general 👀 but the point here is like Second Chance lol), everyone getting a part. And oh my gosh, if they all had individual lines? Like the little phrases the core four have in Second Chance? I don't know how that would even work (four overlapping in Second Chance works but everyone would be a LOT lol o.o xd), but it would be so cool. Anyway, Second Chance makes me so sad and nostalgic but it is SO GOOD!! It hurts but it hits xD. I just love it so much <33.

You Ain't Seen Nothin': This one, like I just said, just hits xDD. It's a BOP!!! And the video call format of it is really cool :D. But honestly, everyone gets their own part (as I saw pointed out in the comment section of it once lol, it fits everyone's voices, like Belle), and it's so upbeat and GOOD and just AGH!! I love it so much. It also accidentally makes me feel a bit of Feels™ (we're not worrying about that phrasing right now), because happy/"yeah let's make them most of this"/"we do amazing things and we will do amazing things" songs do that to me sometimes lol, but still. It gets stuck in my head SO MUCH!! Like the other songs I feel like are more appreciated/iconic than this one, but it just STUCK to me. I don't know why, but I don't care xDD. I love it <33. Also, it brings together everyone from the episode really well, just like the calls did throughout, but with music :D. And again, it's just so uplifting :). And also again, I love it <3 ❤️🥰🥰.

Also, special shout-out to the beginning of Here I Come for getting STUCK in my brain!! It's just. OUAGH!! Not that I don't love the entire song, but there's something about that beginning 👀. And also, again, the Wildcats loving each other gives me feelings xdd <33.

Anyway!! So those are some of my favorites of all those lol. This got pretty long, but I should expect that by now lol. I do hope y'all enjoyed seeing me freak out over a bunch of HSMTMTS scenes (and such) for 10 paragraphs though lol :). It's pretty much how I roll xD.

But yeah! I am so excited for Season 4 :DD. Just two days, people!!!

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homemade-ghosts · 1 year

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I know this is a kind of weird question, but why do you think you never got into EJ and Gina?

I saw a comment saying was season 3 was backtracking, "how their relationship was so genuine and supportive in the first two seasons then suddenly all the development was gone in s3 with EJ back to being inconciderate and Gina is back to having feelings for Ricky'

Not a weird question at all!

I’ll start with things I think I’ve mentioned in previous PW-related asks (just to get the repetition out of the way lol). They share no common ground beyond both initially being seen as the scheming antagonists when the series began. They don’t understand each other — nor does EJ ever make a concerted effort to understand Gina, beyond asking her (literally one time) what it feels like to be constantly moving. They don’t communicate well; EJ put no effort into maintaining their relationship. + EJ essentially refuses to support Gina the second it becomes inconvenient for him (sure, he’ll pick her flowers to congratulate her on landing the lead, but then he’ll negate that by immediately talking about himself and his failings without giving Gina a moment to celebrate her own success).

& on top of EJ & Gina being, on paper, not compatible — regardless of who they are being played by — there’s also the fact that I have never once felt an ounce of romantic chemistry watching Sofia & Matt on screen together. Chemistry is, in part, something that just is. You either have it with your scene partner(s) or you don’t. They don’t. (IMO) That’s problem #1. & even actors who establish that natural onscreen chemistry can’t coast on that alone, to really get the audience (in this case, me lol) invested, they both have to have the emotional range to back it up.

Which brings me to problem #2: I don’t think Matt has the kind of depth, as an actor, that it takes to be a good scene partner to someone as incredible an actor as Sofia. I don’t want it to sound like I’m just trying to dunk on Matt, he seems like a nice guy and I by no means think he’s a bad actor (I don’t think anyone on the show is a bad actor) but, in my opinion, he doesn’t bring much, if any, nuance to his performance. It’s always very…shallow — meaning that Sofia, too often, has to carry (most? all?) the emotional weight in their scenes together. Josh, in contrast, is a much stronger actor who can hold his own in a scene with Sofia because he’s capable of giving a layered performance. Like Sofia, there’s so much going on behind his eyes, so much in the slight change of a facial expression. She doesn’t have to do all the heavy lifting in their scenes together, it’s more of an equal partnership.

I should probably also mention that I have never exactly loved EJ as a character, for reasons completely unrelated to Matt’s portrayal of him. Even when s1 was airing and he was in everyone’s “Big Three” edits on Twitter, I didn’t really get the appeal. I thought he was funny sometimes and a necessary part of the show’s narrative, but I had a hard time rooting for him because his problems were often so trivial compared to other characters’. Like, Ricky’s parents were in the midst of a divorce and his mom was miles away, seemingly starting a new life with a new relationship, without him. Gina had finally found a home and friends and somewhere to belong, only to have all of that ripped away from her, out of nowhere, the instant her mom gets a call from work. Meanwhile, EJ…lied and lost Instagram followers because of it ?? & I’m expected to sympathize with him? Then, in s2, Gina is heartbroken, without her mom to comfort her, Ricky is forced to move out of his childhood home & Nini is finally embracing her independence and learning not to see herself through the eyes of others and EJ just…doesn’t get into one Ivy League school until his dad effectively buys his way in and again, I’m supposed to feel for him because he's sad he couldn't earn that spot on his own? The only thing I feel is that he’s incredibly privileged. & when he was desperate to please his dad in s3, I tried to care (because it's the closest he's ever come to genuine struggle on the series) but I couldn’t because he was doing it at the expense of Gina & her feelings — something he never took responsibility or apologized for, by the way. Ricky makes a mistake, learns from it and does his best to make up for it. EJ makes a mistake and…well, that’s it. He keeps making it, but it’s supposed to be okay because he’s a good guy who’s always trying to do the right thing, even if he doesn’t succeed. & I’m tired of it, honestly.

TLDR: In order for me to root for a couple, they need to have chemistry, the actors need to have comparable acting abilities & I need to sympathize with both characters, to like both of them &/or to find them both interesting (I specified the “&/or” for that last part because I do have a couple ships where I don’t necessarily like one of the characters, but I do feel for them at times & find them interesting/compelling). PW has none of that.

As for the second part of your ask, the old “EJ & Gina’s relationship was great in s2, but the writers ruined everything in s3 by having EJ go back to being selfish and Gina go back to being in love with Ricky.” Ugh. Here’s the issue with that: neither of these factors ever changed. EJ has always been an inconsiderate & insecure boyfriend and Gina has been in love with Ricky this whole time. Neither of them went “back” to being anything, they just never left. EJ had all the same negative qualities in his relationship with Gina that he displayed in his relationship with Nini in s1 — jealous, insecure & secretive, with an inability to own up to his own actions & a tendency to blame Ricky for something that was entirely his own doing. That isn’t a sign of character regression. You can't regress if you never learned, never changed, in the first place. PWs only convinced themselves that EJ had changed because he was single for nearly all of s2 and that allowed them to completely forget what he was like in a relationship. Out of sight, out of mind.

& I don’t know where PWs get the idea that Gina was completely over Ricky once her & EJ got together. She only accepted EJ’s offer of a date after making it clear (at the sleepover) that she thought Ricky was no longer an option, not that she didn’t still harbor feelings for him. There was no closure between them, they never talked about Opening Night and, in order for EJ & Gina to get together, she had to literally not be on speaking terms with Ricky.

Also, about the whole “EJ was so supportive in s2” thing: I’m guessing their idea of “support” is 1. EJ asking how she was one time — even though he didn’t ask because he noticed she was emotional and wanted to check in, he asked as in, “how do you feel about everything you’ve pulled off tonight?” because she had helped plan the entire party and performed that musical number for Carlos in front of everyone. Gina, feeling alone & dejected, took it for more than it was. & 2. EJ bringing Gina that ass granola bar from his back pocket at the airport. Both of these aren’t so much expressions of support as they are the absolute bare minimum, which required little effort on EJ’s part. Like, wow, in the entire time they’ve know each other, he’s asked her about herself twice and picked her up from the airport once — boyfriend goals, am I right?

#apologize for any potential typos in advance #it's late and my brain is small lol #hsmtmts #asks #filmmakerdreamst

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leverage-commentary · 1 year

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Leverage Season 3, Episode 11, The Rashomon Job, Audio Commentary Transcript

Arvin: Arvin Brown, Director.

John: John Rogers, executive producer and writer of this particular episode.

Chris: Chris Downey, executive producer, and this is The Rashomon Job. John?

John: Yeah. Which we played around with a couple different names for it, it’d always been shorthand, The Rashomon Job, and then it just- we wound up keeping it. This was-

Chris: You had another title, though, that you kinda-

John: This was The Five Story Job.

Chris: The Five Story Job.

John: The Five Story Job, just cause ‘Two Story’ is a classic. And also House won their Emmy with a three story job. So I figured two more stories would get us our Emmy.

[Arvin and Chris Laugh]

Arvin: I like Rashomon Job, though.

John: Thank you very much. It’s a classic. And really, it was born- this has been the free pitch that’s been kicking around for ages. This was that high-concept idea I think we even had in the first year, and just, like, all right, you have to know the characters really well for it to make any sense whatsoever and it has to be basically a standalone. And nicely enough, we hit a weird soft spot, a gap in the arc narrative this year.

Chris: Right.

John: So we had this free one. And so I took all our notes we had accumulated and basically banged this out in about a week. Which turned out pretty great.

Chris: Yeah, it has to be executed perfectly or it’s a complete disaster.

[Arvin Laughs]

John: Yeah.

Chris: And you did it in a week.

John: Yeah. [Laughs] Well, no, the boys up on set did it, because this- writing it was a bear, but- oh, “I stole it!” That was the high concept. The pitch was always, they were watching the news and “I stole it!” And Sophie Soong, who is a recurring character now, she’s the reporter from The Inside Job. Arvin, what’d you think when you got the script?

Arvin: I thought it was impossible.

[John and Chris Laugh]

Arvin: I thought this was probably the end of my TV career.

Chris: [Chuckles] Now Arvin, you have a background in theater. Now- and this one really required an awful lot of entrances and exits. What did you bring from your theater background to approach this?

Arvin: Well actually, y'know, the interesting thing is that a lot of the plays I did, particularly toward the end of my theater career before I made the total transition into television, were very impressionistic plays. Y’know, the- television and the screen has influenced contemporary playwriting more than anyone realizes. So, a lot of times I’d be in situations where I needed to create transitions, and odd appearances, and disappearances. One in particular, for example, there’s a writer, Peter Nichols, British writer. And I did a play of his called Forget-Me-Not-Lane in which people would open closet doors and there would be somebody, and then they’d close the closet door, and open it again and that person was gone. You know, so all that really played into this in fine fettle.

John: This is meant to be, really- you could do this as a play. This episode, if you had like three staging spots on a stage, you could pull this off.

Arvin: Yeah, that’s true.

John: And that was the key, is- our 1st AD, Eric- and this was also- the recurring visuals was really important for editing.

Arvin: Incidentally, doesn’t Gina look gorgeous?

Chris: Oof, wow.

John: Gina looks stunning in that dress. That dress is killer. And it was interesting, Eric, our 1st AD saw this and he said, “You’re mad.” And then as we talked about it, you realize everything really takes place in three spots. Everything else- is just, you talk about it a lot but you’re never actually there.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: You know what I mean? And that’s the key to any of this. Ah, there’s Traber, Traber Burns, he’s a local Portland actor, and did a great job for us as the main villain.

Arvin: And who had incidentally, a wonderful time doing it, and has been in correspondence with me since.

John: Oh, that’s great. No, he was fantastic. Now talk about- sort of the challenge about setting up Tim as the observer character. Because we talked about a couple different ways to establish him, and he was coming up the stairs with Gina there, as the, sort of- y’know, and there he is, he’s popping into frame.

Chris: I guess we call this the “Annie Hall” sort of narrative.

John: Yeah.

Chris: In which people appear in the flashbacks.

Arvin: One of the challenges, though, in this kind of a situation is to keep him active. Because the trap with the observer character, y’know, is that it becomes very, very passive. So that’s one of the reasons I kept finding these ways to sort of have him physically be there, appear, and visit, and suddenly be gone whether it’s in the closet or just-

John: Rather than just hanging about.

Arvin: Yeah, exactly.

John: It has to be startling and notable when he’s there. Also-

Arvin: And that creates its own sense of amusement, so that he’s got a certain color watching all of this stuff.

John: That also is an in-camera effect. The fade out. Dave Connell came up with that, right? The idea that we would have him fade out by bouncing a bright light on him and reflecting in that glass and then just killing the light.

Arvin: Right, yeah.

John: No, it was a really, really lovely effect.

Arvin: Yeah. I was- I loved that.

John: And this is where we start to get into the bones of it. Oh, that’s Juan, that’s Juan Canopii, who’s playing our minister. And this was- this was the trick, the- I’ll have on my website, you can go find it on kungfumonkey.com, or blogspot.com. There is the flowchart for where everyone is, who everyone is, and what they’re doing at any given time. And it’s three pages long.

Chris: Now, did you do it with- did you do it visually? Did you have the maps of the sets, and you had- and you had three pages, and you kind of-? Is that how you worked?

John: No, it was- I specifically built each person’s story.

Chris: Okay.

John: I figured out, what would Gina’s attack as a grifter be- and that was the fun of it, that was what really gave us the birth of Grifter, Hitter, Hacker, Thief.

Arvin: Right.

John: And nicely enough, a phrase we threw away in Season 1 became the archetype for the show.

Arvin: This guy, we should mention quickly, incidentally, is Riley.

John: Oh yeah, of course!

Chris: Riley Smith.

Arvin: Who is best friend of Chris Kane, yeah.

John: They’ve been friends since they were teenagers.

Arvin: Yeah. And he did a great job.

John: Just a great, great job. Really, really flawless. No, it was really- that was the trick, was building out Gina’s- pardon me, Sophie’s story, what everyone else could possibly play within that story, and then after that everyone’s approach to the crime fell out of that.

Chris: Right.

John: You know, why they would need to be there? Why they would need access? etc. etc. etc.

Chris: And then, presumably, the things they interacted with then were kind of things that you could incorporate into the other stories.

John. Yeah.

Chris: The ‘World’s Greatest Grandpa’ mug-

John: Yeah.

Chris: And stuff like that.

John: And we’ve got- I mean, in the room, I finally came out into the room with a bunch of paper cups and objects and folded notecards, to the writer’s room and said “All right, help me.”

[Chris & Arvin Laugh]

John: “I have- this object has to wind up in this cup. At some point through the iteration.” Cause the trick is, each person needs a perfectly flawless plan.

Chris: Right.

John: It’s five heists that have to all go wrong not independently, but interdependently.

Chris: Right.

John: I was drinking fairly heavily by the end of this one.

[Chris and Arvin Laugh]

Arvin: Incidentally, we should note, too, that I have rarely done a script that actors have fallen so completely in love with as this one. Cause of course every single member of the cast gets a phenomenal opportunity.

John: Oh, yeah. And they get ten big pages of playing a character-

Arvin: And every time they got hopelessly confused cause of the way I had to shoot this, and to try to remember desperately which story they were in, I would remind them of how much they loved this script.

[John & Chris Laugh]

John: “I know you’re really miserable right now at two o’clock in the morning.”

Chris: There’s some actor maintenance advice there from our director.

John: Yup. And John Billingsley, Oh, he’s great in this.

Chris: Now that was your suggestion, wasn’t it, Arvin?

Arvin: Yeah, John I have worked with so often and he is the most versatile, most remarkable character actor. I did a television film with him where he played a just brutal interrogator, prosecuting attorney. So he’s got tremendous dramatic chops.

Chris: But- but you needed him to swing from kind of meek to menacing. And that is- that’s a tough thing to do.

John: Absolutely.

Arvin: And have a certain believability in all of it, and also have a sense of comic timing. Which incidentally, is one of the things that the regular cast has in spades in this episode. Their timing is so good.

John: Yeah. And that was something that- we could not have a weak sister on this character. This character is as strong as the other five in this particular situation.

Arvin: Absolutely.

John: If you don’t believe that fifth act turn, you’re done.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: Really, yeah, no, it’s Noises Off, but with crime.

Arvin: [Laughs] That’s right! That’s almost- exactly right.

Chris: In a way, it’s almost his story, isn’t it? I mean, you look at it that way?

John: Yeah. Oh, absolutely.

Chris: If you had to zero in on whose story it is.

John: Absolutely. If the rule is the protagonist is the person who suffers the most, it’s definitely Cosgrove’s story.

[Arvin & Chris Laugh]

Arvin: Yeah.

John: No, it’s just- also I was delighted by the idea of the sort of cluelessness of hearing what people say and you’re not really paying attention so you assign- I love the fluidity of memory. That’s just one of my favorite things to write about. I’ve written about it a bunch of times.

Arvin: It’s wonderful- it’s a wonderful phrase, too. And I gotta tell you, while we’re looking at Gina, a very quick funny story there. We had one dark moment in prep where we had gone to Gina and she was really hoping to have complete costume and hair changes in every single story.

John: Yes. In each story.

Arvin: And of course, practically speaking that would have been an absolute nightmare.

John: Production-wise.

Arvin: So we had to convince her that she could do it completely from an acting point of view, which of course eventually she got excited about.

John: Yeah, and she does!

Arvin: She does. That’s wonderful.

John: Those are two entirely different- and that was - the hair is different, the difference between the geeky woman in the little jacket, and, you know, Gina in that dress- there’s no comparison, you know?

Arvin: Exactly.

John: And also, that’s tricky, because that was one of the discussions we had about the audience being able to track what the hell is going on.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: You know, because the entire episode is basically a series of nested flashbacks, and so if she’s wearing something different and she’s too different you lose-

Arvin: Exactly right.

John: Where in the narrative you are. Yeah.

Chris: Mmhm.

John: Also the voices are great. Because at some point in the episode, as her accent deteriorates, I actually wrote in the script, “Sophie:” and then the dialogue block just says “Unintelligible British gibberish.”

[Laughter]

Arvin: Yes! I know. I loved that.

John: And just- Gina, being a fantastic comedic actress, just tee’d off on it. Beth could barely keep herself together.

Chris: That was right, didn’t you- you got to shoot that over and over again, right?

Arvin: Oh yeah, they couldn’t control themselves.

Chris: They kept breaking up.

John: And now, also to say, Arvin, I also wrote this bear and then stranded you. Because I went straight from this into the finale with Chris.

Chris: Right.

John: So Jeff Thorne, the writer on Inside Job, who had been my writer on Inside Job, the one I directed, babysat this.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: And since, you know, we’d worked together, he knew what I was going for.

Arvin: And he did a nice job. He really did. And he has the right sense of how to deal with actors.

John: Well, you know, he used to be an actor.

Arvin: Oh, no, I didn’t know that?

John: Yeah that was Jeff-

Chris: [Laughs] We’re outing you on DVD, Jeff!

John: I know- How long was he on In The Heat Of The Night? Five-

Chris: Five seasons.

Arvin: He was on what?

John: He was on- In Heat of the Night for five seasons.

Arvin: Oh my-! I never knew that.

John: And it’s one of those things that he never talks about it in the writer’s room.

Arvin: Nor on set, let me tell you!

Chris: No.

John: And it’s like, when we found out in the writer’s room, it was like we found out he’d been involved in human trafficking.

[Laughter]

John: We were so filled with rage.

Arvin: One of the things I kind of worked on here with these little framing scenes-

John: Oh yeah, framing devices.

Arvin: Which is very important to me. Had a link with each- one actor would take us to the next area of the set that they would be in.

John: It’s a great use of space, whenever you bounce back, you know what version of the story you’re in.

Arvin: Yeah, rather than just finding people in different places, there was always a thematic element that took us to the new place.

Chris: Now this is a great little fight, John, and if I may just blow some smoke. I think you do an amazing job, in these episodes, of bringing us in media res in these-

John: Yeah, thank you.

Chris: In these Eliot fights, and they always have a great punchline to them.

Arvin: Yeah, this was- I love this one.

Chirs: They have a setup, they have a punchline, and it delivers exposition.

John: Uh, I will absolutely tell you that Jackie Chan taught me that. Jackie Chan taught me, because I worked with Jackie briefly, and he was like, you know, each fight is three acts. You know, each fight- and there’s also, if you look at the fights that I write, I wind up- you know, everyone’s got their toolbox, in a lot of scripts, in the Eliot fight, even if it’s not my script, I end up swanning in on it. He also showed me the fight line: the one line that you do the fight along. And everything else is peripheral, but as long as you have one line to shoot on, you can shoot it quickly. And that’s why you’ll notice a lot of times Christian is fighting along one axis.

Arvin: Yeah.

Chris: It’s great.

John: And then you can just throw a lot of stuff at him.

Chris: Yeah, exactly.

John: And this guy is named Gutman, of course because of The Maltese Falcon.

Chris: Oh, that’s great.

John: There you go.

Arvin: We love that.

John: There you go, this is plainly The Maltese Falcon at this point.

Arvin: We all love that.

John: Yeah.

Arvin: He did a great job.

John: He was fantastic and it’s a very small part.

Chris: And a nice menacing push in there.

John: I know!

Chris: I love a good push in.

[Arvin Laughs]

John: I also love the- love the read Christain found here on like, “You know I have to do this, right?”

Chris: Yeah!

John: “You're aware I have to punch you.”

Chris: And there's our joke.

John: There's the joke. The bit with the knife was fun.

Chris: And we got all the exposition out.

[Arvin Laughs]

John: Yeah. No this- and again, the sort of recurring shot, the reset, this is what kept me sane when writing this, was always knowing I was gonna get to the reset scene.

Chris: Right.

John: And see- and this was also a ton of fun. I actually shot this. This was crazy, I got up there-

Arvin: And I was very grateful that you did.

John: I got up there and I had not had any sleep cause I'd been working on the finale and I swung by the set to say hello.

Chris: Right.

John: And they were like, “That's great, you can shoot the second unit!” “I don’t- tired!” And Christain, I will give him full credit, Christain really powered us through this.

Chris: It's a long speech here.

John: That's a long speech and it was- we covered the hell out of it. And he nailed it every single time, and we could've been here all night.

Chris: Yeah.

John: I mean really. But that's the advantage when you're in season 3. You know- this is the longest speech Eliot’s ever said.

Chris: Right. I'd say so, and you know what's nice about it, too, is it gives you a sense- which helps you in the finale, of what his life was like before Leverage.

John: Yeah.

Chris: There's definitely- you wrote the characters in a different way than they are on the show now.

Arvin: Here’s an example of that fade out that you were talking about.

John: Yeah so you get the- him in reflection next to Christain in the shot.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: It's really a nice piece of work.

Arvin: Incidentally, you know, one quick thing that I should say, which was such a joy, you know, that I didn't do the second season. Of course I did the first season and then came back for this. And the growth in the actors, in the regulars, is really remarkable.

John: No, they own these people now. I mean, to a great degree a lot of our fun in the writing room is knowing if we toss the ball into the pit, how they are gonna play with it. And so it's just coming up with stranger and stranger balls that we can throw.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: And just alright,’’ how about this one’? You know. Yes and- also, this is where we start to put in the dueling flashback attitude.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: This was an awful lot of fun. And- [laughing] oh and the corncob pipe killed me every time!

Arvin: That's great.

Chris: Oh, the corncob pipe!

John: Kills me every time.

Chris: And the nice comedy wipe right there.

John: Yeah.

Chris: Rhhh!

John: Classic comedy wipe. No the- that's also something we don't get to do, and this is another reason it was one of my favorite episodes not because I wrote it, but because we got to do something we never got to do because we were such a plot heavy show. Show what they're like when they're actually not on a job.

Chris: Right.

John: You know, this is what they're like when they're hanging out in the bar.

Arvin: Yeah, that’s interesting.

John: And Sophie's- something we never get to address that much is Sophie's truculence.

Chris: Yeah.

John: And just the sort of- she's very hard done by, you know she's very- she's a princess in her head. You know.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: And an actual duchess we find out later in the season.

Chris: Oh, this was so funny.

John: Oh I forget- this, I believe this comes from a friend of mine’s comments about the British spelling of elevator and color. It’s like, isn’t it stupid? The ‘u’ just makes us feel bad!?

Chris: Sea roaches? Oh that's so great.

John: And yes, Eliot’s a thug, but he's not a bad guy here. I mean he's not gonna let somebody let some dude die on the floor.

Arvin: Right.

John: No, this was an enormous amount of fun. And this when you start- honestly, it's not that complicated a story once you figure out who everyone is. Great job here. And now, when you shot this, if I remember correctly, you literally parked the cameras, had them come through, do one version-

Arvin: Yeah!

John: Had them come through to do the other version.

Arvin: That's why I was so grateful that you were outside shooting the night shot. Because it was like organizing the Prussian army, I mean it was-

Chris: Oh boy.

Arvin: And also figuring out which exact lines and moments could be done that way and which couldn't because of either a change in look or a change, you know-

Chris: Or some inconsistency in blocking.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: But that’s-

Arvin: It almost is exactly the same blocking, but not really. Just enough changes.

John: That's where- I will admit, even when we were working on this. That's where the idea that everyone's version is slightly different, I knew was gonna save us.

Arvin: Yeah.

Chris: That’s right.

John: Because otherwise we'd be trying to mirror and we'd have guns in our mouths.

Chris: Right, well of course, because people accept- I mean the whole premise of this episode is recollection is flawed.

John: Yeah. So if everyones standing a little off or a little different places, it’s, you know. There's fine- and then figuring out what you had to shoot- what you had to shoot new and what you would just keep reshooting-

Arvin: Exactly.

John: Sequence of. Cause that was originally our 1st ADs thing, which was, ‘Oh my god, there's a thousand shots in this.’

Arvin: Yeah.

John: It's like no, that’s- that shot.

Chris: Oh.

John: That by the way, a comedy- a locked off comedy frame.

[Laughter]

John: There's nothing better than a locked off comedy frame.

[Laughter]

Arvin: That was-

John: A medium with, like, bullshit happening in the back, there's nothing funnier than that. I wouldn't have staged it that way in a million years, that was inspired, Arvin.

[Arvin Laughs]

John: That was great. No, love that.

Chris: And now here we see walking down with the flowers and not the gun.

John: Not the gun. Yeah. And then it goes back to a gun for Parker and you see what- yeah.

[Chris Laughs]

John: See how everyone builds it. In retrospect I might have written that the jackets were different colors.

Arvin: The jackets?

John: Like, cause that's a little close to Riley- the doctor's outfit. That’s the only thing I can think of looking back on-

Chris: Yeah, but it doesn't throw you. I mean I would say-

John: Yeah it doesn’t throw you. That was the only thing that bothered me.

Arvin: I wouldn't have thought about it, that's interesting.

Chris: Yeah.

John: I was watching it. And still never hit- oh and that is of course a- and that's the reveal of the previous shot. That is, of course, a shout out to the great British comic book writer Warren Ellis on the address label.

Chris: Oh, is that his address?

John: No that is- it’s Warren Road, Ellis County.

Chris: Oh that's great.

John: Just a little something. and this was great cause I told them it's Raiders of the Lost Ark. You just- you know, you're going through the-

[Laughter]

John: We also had an intern, because we had to do multiple takes, hiding behind him to catch the vase. And, you know, Christain’s just whipping that piece back there.

[All Laugh]

John: Just like- he's like ahh!

Chris: That's true, I imagine we wouldn't have nine vases.

John: No, we do not have nine vases.

Chris: Do they have nine vases on NCIS, Arvin? I bet they do.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: On the network show?

Arvin: Certainly NCIS LA.

[Chris Laughs]

John: On a cable show they had- we had one vase. Take good care of it.

Arvin: That's right, [laughing] it's a rubber vase.

John: No, I love the choice that Gina's making here which is Sophie’s getting more and more drunk as the night is going on.

[Chris Laughs]

Arvin: Yeah.

John: She's getting angrily drunk. Yeah, and the World's Greatest Grandpa mug.

Chris: World's Greatest Grandpa.

John: That was insane. That was the point in the writers room where I just had my head on the table because it was- what is each person trying to accomplish, what do they wind up with, and how does that object wind up in their hands because of the other humans?

Chris: Oh boy.

John: It was not- it was not a fun day.

Chris: Don't try this at home, kids.

[John & Arvin Laugh]

John: This is the one you do after forty of them.

Chris: Don't try this at home.

Arvin: It was very interesting working with Timothy on this episode, because he had to find his inner progression in the piece.

John: Yeah, when he's- cause he’s-

Arvin: Of what he's trying to accomplish.

John: He's playing chess, and the rest of them don't know it. Yeah, Tim-

Arvin: But nevertheless there are also certain things he needs to find out to bring him to the very final point of the script.

John: He's actually interrogating them. Subtly. Which is very clever.

Arvin: That's right, that's right.

John: And then you move to the dartboard, which is nice. It's really important. This was a ton of fun. And calling Apollo and going, “How do we do this?”

[John & Arvin Laugh]

John: And I originally had it with rocks glasses and just- because rocks glasses aren't that transparent but I love the teacups.

Chris: Wait, so this was all practical?

John: This is practical. The way you do it- although Beth has amazing hands, it takes a lot of practice to learn how to do that properly. There is a ball bearing inside the crumpled up bill and there is a magnet on the inside of the teacup.

Chris: Oh, this is great! This is why we do this!

John: Yeah.

Chris: I did not know that, folks!

Arvin: That was so much fun.

Chris: I work on the show!

Arvin: That was so much fun.

John: It was a ton of fun. You never know with Beth, cause she's learned how to do a lot of it, so you never know.

Arvin: And that's also the sort of thing my years at O’Neil [¯\_(ツ)_/¯] didn't really prepare me for.

[All Laugh]

John: Oh really? No? Yes, and this was a lot of fun, was the James Bond. Cause, you know, let's all face it, the female fans are thanking us right now.

Chris: Yeah.

John: They've been waiting to see Aldis in a tux for a while.

Chris: He looks pretty good.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: Yeah, this was a ton of fun and randomly picking a name off the list. Look at the- look what Tim plays there, right there, he plays that he's starting to figure it out.

Arvin: Yeah, that's right.

John: Just at that moment. No, this is lovely. That may be a slight anachronism with the phone, we'll assume he built his own sliding keyboard five years ago. He may have innovated that himself.

Chris: We'll take the emails.

John: I'll take the emails on that one.

[Chris Laughs]

John: God bless you, God bless you. Now this-

Chris: No, they had that five years ago.

John: Yeah, eh. This was also fun was the- was figuring out why he needed to be there, physical insertion versus remote attack, you know the different stages of hacking.

Arvin: Right.

John: This montage was great. Adorable. There's no reason this should've come out as well as it did.

[Laughter]

John: The only thing - the only thing- yeah and there he's presenting the flowers. It's great. The only thing I miss, and it was ridiculously impractical- oh, I love this shot.

Arvin: I love that. This one was- that was really.

Chris: They're all over each other.

John: Yeah, and taking the picture. And I'm willing to say that's canon. I'm willing to say that happened. Nice wipe, by the way, nice wipe to reveal Tim. Did you have that in your head at the time?

Arvin: Mhhm.

John: Yeah, to get him back in the shot.

Chris: That's great.

John: The only thing I regret is in that montage, in the script, there's a moment- there is one shot, which was just impossible to shoot, which he's playing chess with an old man.

Chris: Yes! That's right.

John: And [laughing] just the crowd is watching!

Arvin: Yeah.

John: It's like no, there's no way to do it.

Arvin: I couldn't figure out how to do it.

John: Surrounded by honeys.

Arvin: Could not figure out how to do that one.

John: Yeah. And this one was great, because what was also fun was Treber really has to sell this three different ways, also.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: You know, Portland actors. Never let us down. And the freeze frame.

Chris: And the freeze frame!

John: And that's great. This is a common-

Chris: That's when you go beyond the wipe. That's when you just stop the- stop the rolling.

[All Laugh]

Chris: The first one is the wipe, cause it’s like you're trying to wrap your head around it. Then you need to-

Arvin: I think this is almost an encyclopedia of film.

Chris: Yes it is.

John: You had to pull pretty much every trick out of the can on this one.

[Laughter]

John: There you go, and psychopath Eliot! This was a ton of fun to do. And again-

Chris: And the much larger knife.

Arvin: And of course Aldis-

Chris: Cause that's what he would remember!

John: Yes.

Chris: He would remember a much larger knife.

Arvin: This is Aldis’ great strength. He's just unbelievable.

John: Oh yeah, yeah. And by the way, Christain digging in.

Arvin: Oh yeah.

John: He really, there's not a lot- it's like, “Oh, so I'm psychopath?” ‘Yes, yes, you’re terrifying.’

[Laughter]

John: Yeah. He told me this was the most fun bit, this bit.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: Just the creepy bit with the knife.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: Peppermint. we got to use his signature line, ‘it’s a very distinctive smell’. Yeah, trying to figure out why he needed to be in there.

[Laughter]

John: Walk the halls in the dark. Oh yeah. This is- the little half smile, he's genuinely creepy here.

[Laughter]

Arvin: And that reaction. The thumbs up. Inspired.

John: Creepy crazy. And bang in, and where's Nate?

Arvin: He will be there right-

John: There you go.

Arvin: Right behind him.

John: And that's fun. I will tell you the day that a hacker friend of mine told me that he was running OSX- he was running his operating system off a thumb drive is the best thing that happened to us.

[Chris Laughs]

John: Don't have to lug a god damn laptop around everywhere.

Chris: Now, what was the option other than having Nate appearing in the flashbacks? Were you gonna do a voiceover? What were you playing around with?

John: I was thinking about a voiceover, but-

Chris: It becomes like the voice of god, I guess.

John: Well it's- he's talking to- each character would end up talking to the screen.

Chris: Right.

John: But that breaks the fourth wall so heavily.

Chris: Yeah.

John: You know, it's just not something we do and- yeah.

Arvin: Well you know what else you would have lost, is that part of what tells the audience how to respond to the tone is Nate's attitude.

John: You know, it really- I played with it for like a day and then tossed it. Nate had to be not just asking questions, but in the scene. Which at the point I was like, “Oh god, Arvin, I'm sorry.”

[John & Arvin Laugh]

John: In my head, cause I knew you were directing this one by that point. Which also to a great degree, I’ll tell you, is why I wrote this one in this order. Cause I knew you could, with your theater training, you'd be able to handle it.

Chris: I think that in the House he appears in- if I remember right, that Emmy-winning House, he appears in the flashbacks like that. And it was pretty- it's a bold move to do that.

John: Yeah.

Chris: You know, I mean it's-

Arvin: But I think it's vital, I think that's-

Chris: Yeah, no, it's now that you look at it again, I can't imagine doing it any other way.

Arvin: Almost the single most important element in the entire show.

John: No, you can't. Yeah, I did one version where they talked to the screen and I did one version where it was just clean, and then no, you need some sort of pipe.

Chris: Right.

John: You need exposition cause we still do four really complicated heists in this. You need to explain what the hell they're up to. Yes, and the blocking on that, the whole design of this hallway. Who’s standing where, and what are their sight lines, and how can they see?

Arvin: Oh boy that was- we spent a lot of time on that.

John: Oh my god. But the-

Chris: I mean, and the doors and stuff, this is where you get the great far sell.

John: Yes.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: Yeah, that was intentional.

Chris: Once you got people shoved into doors, and throwing people.

John: Noises Off, exactly. I’ll tell you what was interesting, I had originally envisioned the supply closet closer to the downstairs over on the other side, out of sight line of the antiquities room. Now by the way, Aldis just slapping Eddie Murphy on there, hard.

[Laughter]

Arvin: Yeah.

John: However, putting in the other place gave you the locked off comedy frame to play stuff back and forth across that door.

Arvin: That was the big-

John: Yeah, which really was- I never imagined that.

Arvin: That was the thinking of behind-

John: This, by the way, is the fun of television. You write it, and you actually make it.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: And it winds up being better than you thought.

Arvin: Right, and oddly enough, because you make it at such speed, a lot of ideas kinda crystallize that might not be there, you know, if you were thinking it out over a longer period of time.

John: And each one of them lying, each one of them not- this was- and this was fun. Actually, I'll tell you that was the hardest one to write. Was the hacker’s.

Chris: Oh.

John: Eliot’s was fairly straightforward, cause he needs to get into- because it's true that the most vulnerable place when you're transporting valuable objects is in the transition from storage to transport.

Chris: Right.

John: Figuring out why he needed to be there and what his scam was? Was the hardest one. She was easy.

Chris: Mhhhm.

John: Cause this is almost beat for beat exactly a heist she does in almost every episode. This is her thing, you know?

Chris: Right, right.

John: She's a thief. Once you're in the fourth act, you're in the home stretch, you know.

Chris: Right. And play around with- because for those of you that aren’t aware, the acts have different lengths-

John: Yes.

Chris: We knew that we were gonna end with Nate because Nate’s the one who's gonna give you the true version. But in the other order, did you always think that Parker was gonna go on our fourth act?

John: Yes.

Chris: Cause that's the shortest act?

John: Cause that's the short act. And we actually talked about it being no dialogue.

Chris: Oh.

John: We actually debated- “What, I'm a thief?” And then no explanation, that's what she is.

Chris: Right.

John: And she nailed that. We actually- remember we talked about for a while- this was before, well before we wrote it, Arvin, the idea that we would shoot this in like a really weird black and white expressionistic idea of like-

Chris: Right, right, right, right.

Arvin: Oh really? wow.

John: Yeah.

Chris: It's like the way dogs see the world.

[Arvin Laughs]

John: She just sees like- everyone would be wearing the same clothes, and just like it's just- only the objects that have reality.

Chris: Yeah.

John: And then we realized that was just from a production standpoint, impossible.

Chris: Yeah

John: Just impossible to do. And as a result, just gives us a lot more fun to play with.

Arvin: I love this little brief moment with Aldis here, cause again with the interconnect.

John: Yeah.

Arvin: And he's stuffing himself with-

John: Yeah, with freebies. This was actually- in Montreal when I was going to McGill University, the strip joints had free buffets.

[Laughter]

John: So and the- I don't know what it does now, but the meal plan at McGill University in the dorms, they are not covered on the weekends. So you would put plastic bags in your pockets and you'd go to the strip joints and fill your pockets from the buffets.

[Chris & Arvin Laugh]

Chris: Wow, pretty impressive.

John: And that's- I love that. I love her frustration. ‘I hate you all.’ She just nailed it.

Chris: There's a great little sequence too, Arvin. Cause the camera was always moving or people were moving. I mean it’s, you know, considering it's a party where somebodys stuffing hors d'oeuvres in their pockets, it had a real dynamism to it.

John: Oh this thing flies. Well Parker’s always moving.

Chris: Yes.

John: That's the key, is if you're following Parker and she's always moving you're just- yeah, you're aces up.

Arvin: And the change in attitude here, of course, was just wonderful.

John: Yes. And that was tricky because one time we talked about this being Sterling. I mean one time we talked about- it couldn't have been Nate. You know, but we talked about it being Sterling and then realized- no, we fell in love with the crush story.

Chris: Yeah.

John: Also love- this worked out. Look at the way she does that line. She knows somebody else is there.

Arvin: Oh yeah.

John: She just figured it out.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: You know, she does that great. She’s just now pissed she wants to get on the job. It's actually what motivates her to do the job.

Arvin: Right, exactly. And I love the linking of the blackout in each story.

John: That was key.

Chris: It gives you like a timing.

John: Yes.

Arvin: Yeah, and that's right.

Chris: Cause it orients you visually to- ‘Okay, I remember when that happened.’

Arvin: That's right, cause the time is complicated. I mean you go back, you go forward, you go back.

John: No, it's- the- I remember developing it’s like, we need a starting gun. And the blackout became a starting gun for when it just goes to hell.

Arvin: That's a perfect image.

John: Cause everyone’s in the party until the starting gun. And then you’re, you know, and then you're up and running. And there's the two bags cause she's got two bags. It's a ton of fun. Ton of just crazy second unit stuff here. Because there's so many- we have to look at so many plans and diagrams and maps, cause trying to make sure the audience knows where the hell and what we're doing.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: Just crazy. And she grabs the wrong bag.

Chris: Right.

Arvin: And where those bags would be in relation to each other, those are the kind of tiny details you have to figure out in this.

Chris: Oh boy.

John: I don't relish directing this one. [Laughs]

Chris: And look at that! There's a great transition, right?

John: That's the classic highlander transition.

[Arvin Laughs]

Chris: Crane up. Crane up through the floor.

John: If you actually- ordinarily that crane up is through the- it reveals a Scottish village in the 1400s.

[Laughter]

Arvin: [Laughing] That's right! Yeah, right.

John: And catching it before it broke. That was just a lift from Jackie. I love when he has fights when he doesn’t- when he tries to keep stuff from breaking while he's fighting. It just always makes me laugh. And it's not there! Yeah, there was, like, another layer of transport originally, in the original design of the script, and then it just got ridiculously complicated.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: So. And establishing that. Oh, tons of fun.

[Silence]

John: God, I can't think.

[All Laugh]

Chris: I know when you watch it- there's so many pieces in it, it’s-

John: A little sick.

Chris: It blows you away.

John: This is the fun bit, this is why you pay Beth Riesgraf whatever the hell she wants. I say this, it will come out after contract negotiations.

[Laughter]

John: I would not have come up with this! In a million years. That little sword fighty bit?

Arvin: Yup!

Chris: Child-like skipping!

Arvin: And this! And the skipping out.

John: She got the shiny thing!

Chris: Yeah.

John: Love the shiny thing. Also I love the- it’s fun, you could play her episode without dialogue, it totally works without dialogue.

Chris: It does work.

John: Absolutely works.

Arvin: Which is interesting, since there was a silent modern film that was done as a silent film called Thief.

John: Yes! Of course!

Arvin: You remember?

John: Oh yeah, the opening. No, and then we built- how did we do this shot down? Cause we did not- we did not have a ventilation shaft that went 30 feet down. How did we do this?

Arvin: It was-

John: Mirrors? Or did we do it digitally?

Chris: Ohhh! [Laughs] He just gets punched.

Arvin: It wasn't-

John: He's just having a bad day. This is digital.

Chris: That's digital? That's great.

Arvin: That- yes.

Chris: Looks fantastic.

John: That’s digital. But when she comes out of her side, I think we just built a small drop.

Arvin: That's right, that's what we did.

John: No, it was nice. And everyone still digging in on- it’s interesting, they’re each playing this realization differently. It's really lovely.

Chris: Now this was all done over the course of how many days? The-

Arvin: Seven days.

Chris: No, no, but I'm saying the framing device in the bar? How long were you in the bar?

Arvin: In the actual shooting, you mean?

Chris: Yeah.

Arvin: Uh, one day.

John: One day?

Chris: This was all done in one day? All the framing scenes in the bar?

Arvin: Yeah. All the framing scenes were done in one day.

Chris: Wow, that was a lot of pages.

Arvin: That's why I had worked out the movement pattern so clearly in my mind beforehand, so that it would be very clear what brought each person to the next area.

Chris: Right.

John: And you didn't double set ups.

Arvin: Yeah, right.

John: See that’s why it’s- interesting thing, for those of you listening for film school, you don't measure television shows when you're shooting in pages, you measure them in set ups.

Arvin: That’s correct.

John: Cause each time you set up the camera it takes about 20 minutes.

Arvin: That's right.

John: So that's your shot count. That's your shot list. That clock is- and it's amazing, no matter how complicated or not complicated the shot is, it's always 20 goddamn minutes.

Arvin: Oh yeah.

John: You know, at least.

Arvin: Well, never less!

John: Never less.

Arvin: Certainly a lot of times, more.

John: But if you can light a set- you know, like the bar where you don't have to light it like a freakin’ miracle. Then you just know- you just know what your coverage is, you know your coverage, you know how long you'll be there.

Arvin: Now an interesting thing here is the difference in Timothy's attitude when he's actually now in the story.

John: Yeah.

Arvin: Compared to what it's been throughout up to now. Cause now he's coming in with a chip on his shoulder because he's already suspicious of-

John: Also, this is our way to remind the audience he was a prick back then!

[Laughter]

Arvin: Exactly! And that was a big factor too.

John: Tim Hutton's character is not a nice- you know, Nathan Ford, not a nice guy back then. You know?

Arvin: Yeah.

John: This is- he was a lot more like Sterling than he cares to admit. So, yeah. This was- this meet cute, I love this meet cute. So, you know, that was kinda fun. It allowed him to- we kinda missed that guy.

Chris: Yeah.

John: The flashbacks, you don't really flashback to those days anymore and since we're kinda moved on past that in the character, because he's playing the thief not the ex-insurance guy.

Chris: Yeah.

John: It's always fun to watch Tim play Nate from five years ago.

Chris: Yeah.

John: You know. And he's got- John's so amazing in this.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: And just- what were the character beats? I mean the dialogue had changed, but you know, what- I mean was- I see the glasses, and his hair is done differently. And just any sort of difference, you know-

Arvin: It's a really different attitude.

John: Yeah.

Arvin: It’s what he's able to do internally that makes the-

John: I love the giving- and she's giving him the big knife in this one, kinda like Excalibur. It's just a subtle difference in each version of the story.

Chris: Yeah, and what's nice about Nate being the prick also is that, you know, usually the final version is the true version- the reason it has credibility in the audience, is because he didn't make himself out to be a great guy.

John: Yeah.

Chris: In other words, like, if he had made himself out to be the hero, you're suspicious, but the fact that he makes himself out to be kind of a hard ass jerk, and the character reveal is that Cosgrove is the sympathetic person.

John: Yeah, absolutely.

Chris: It really - I mean that really is what tells you not just that it’s the fifth act.

Arvin: And I think of all of the aspects of John's performance that are so tremendous, the fact that he achieved a real vulnerability.

Chris: Yes.

Arvin: Not a play- not just a kind of casper milktoast quality.

Chris: Right.

Arvin: But a real caring about Gina.

John: Also, we had stripped him of one of an actor's most valuable tools, which is different dialogue.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: This- it’s gotta play- he's gotta say the same words.

Arvin: Same thing, that's right.

John: Or as close to the same thing as he can and still get it. You know, there's a great Hal Hartley movie that's gone completely out of my head. I think called Flirt. I have seen that my wife is a giant Hal Hartley fan and I will say that is- and this is totally Noises Off, by the way. This bit right here with the door.

Chris: Mhhm.

Arvin: And one of the rare moments we were able to use actually the same footage.

John: Yeah.

[Laughter]

John: That is three twenty minute movies, each one using exactly the same dialogue. Not necessarily spoken by the same characters. But exactly the same dialogue. In each of the twenty minutes.

Arvin: Oh, wow.

Chris: But did with different inflections that gave it a completely different meaning.

John: With different characters, different settings, different places.

Chris: Oh, that's great.

John: And it's fantastic. And that really is one of the birthplaces of this episode. Is the idea that each person can remember even the words differently.

Chris: I'm guessing Martin Donovan was in it.

John: Martin Donovan may have been in it. You cannot-

[Chris Laughs]

Chris: Isn’t Martin Donovan in every Hal Hartley movie?

John: I'm sure at this point you can IMDb on your Google TV right off to the right hand side while you're listening to this, but yeah. Oh and he's so sweet here!

[Laughter]

Arvin: I know!

John: Everyone's such a bastard to him, I feel really- I feel so bad for him.

Arvin: Although you have to say, not cut out for security work.

[Laughter]

John: No, but you know what-

Chris: He's a little lovesick. Right?

John: But, you know, Gina's worth falling in love with! I mean that character- you know. That- you're not not gonna fall in love with her. And then the reveal the person who ran by was Eliot. A ton of fun. Yeah, we should have slicked back his hair, I missed that.

Chris: Yeah, but you know-

John: Yeah.

Chris: That’s okay. Still works.

John: And the reveal of the roses.

Arvin: There was a discussion- that was strictly a time issue, as I remember.

John: Yeah cause he would have remembered to do it.

Arvin: No, we had discussed it.

John: Oh, yeah a time production issue. The ability to just throw that suit and tie on him and walk him through those sets was a big deal.

Arvin: Yeah. And the museum stuff of course had its own issues connected with it, in terms of the time sequence.

John: Yeah. Cause this is set. The upstairs, the gallery is at the museum where we shot.

Arvin: Is actually at the museum.

John: Yeah, so we had limited time there. I mean we could- you know, this was our bank vault slash mine slash, you know.

Chris: Mhhhm.

John: Becca and the production design people do an amazing job as usual. Oh he's so wrecked up here.

[Laughter]

John: That's a great performance. And Aldis kinda- like I love also the Aldis choice here of like, just, ‘Are you ok?’ Is just-

Arvin: [Laughing] right!

John: He's not a bad guy! He just, you know.

Arvin: No, right.

John: This is a little disturbing.

[Laughter]

John: Now that I'm thinking about it.

Chris: Right, what happened to him?

John: Yeah. Again, Eliot was not a nice guy.

[Arvin Laughs]

John: By this point, I mean, this was the trick, too, was designing it so you could do shorter and shorter takes.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: Because Gina’s has to be the longest and the most narrative, and each one is a sort of a collapsing set of information.

Arvin: And I used Gina’s to really teach everybody what the shape of the thing was.

John: Yeah. Oh look at those ropes! He's so nice! I should write them a nice letter! He's just great. Also that was a big part of it, was writing down everyone's equipment. Was figuring out who would need what when. You know, why and how they can- how you can wind up screwing them.

Chris: Wow.

John: Yeah. no I was pretty much just locked in our office [laughs] for that week.

Chris: Wow.

John: Like, ‘Where’s John?’ ‘He’s in there, don’t bother him.’

Arvin: Oh this is good- there's a funny thing about this.

John: Oh this was great! Tell them what happened on set. And then boom. And he’s- oh look! He finds a strange girl in the shaft and he's still concerned about her. And the drop. And- this is not digital. We literally dropped this.

Arvin: We literally dropped it. Here's the story: this was the real thing. This was really quite heavy. And we had a rubber one, an exact duplicate which we wanted to- intended to use because we were afraid that Timothy would get hurt.

Chris: Yeah.

Arvin: It's not so easy to catch, with the momentum, something like that.

Chris: Yeah.

Arvin: To take the chance of catching it, and he insisted, god love him, you know, the actor till the end.

John: Yeah.

Arvin: He was gonna work it out that he could catch the real thing. And he tried it a couple of times and it didn't work-

John: Yeah.

Arvin: And then finally, man, the catch was perfect.

Chris: Oh it’s perfect.

John: Oh, well I remember it didn't- cause I was actually on set for that day, cause we were prepping the finale. It didn't work in the rehearsals, but he got it on the first shot.

Arvin: That's right! That's it. Yeah.

John: The first time the camera’s rolling he caught it.

Arvin: Yeah, that’s absolutely right.

John: He might've been hamming it up a little during rehearsals. Just “Oh, I don't know!” Yeah.

Arvin: Yeah, yeah.

John: No this is- and Traber’s just lovely here as the guy who never really believes he's caught.

Chris: And everything ties up here. I mean there's the, I mean-

Arvin: Yeah.

John: Why is he there?

Chris: Every thread, why is he there, what his plan is, that wraps everyone else's story up-

John: Oh my god! That was the insane thing. The insane thing is we had broken all of these great crimes to keep everyone from stealing the dagger, and then realized we still needed the crime story in the news to say it had been stolen.

Chris: Right! Right.

John: That was a bad day.

[Laughter]

John: That was- that was a bad day to realize when we pretty much finished breaking this that-

Arvin: Oh, but the logic of it came through perfectly. I mean, when you created that scene, I mean it's totally believable.

John: Yeah, that was kinda the- that was- and I'll fully admit, by the way, that's just one of those ones where you can't logic yourself out of it. That was a good four glasses of Irish whiskey.

[Laughter]

John: In the writers room.

Chris: And the-

John: And just like, ‘You know what? Here's what he did.’

Chris: And the Gutman thing ties up, too.

John: Yes.

Chris: And was that- was that after the fact when you realized-

John: No, ironically he was the easy one.

Chris: So the fact that he was responsible for the Gutman thing-

John: Yeah, it was originally all gonna be Gutman.

Chris: Okay.

John: And then it was like, wait, Gutman never owned it, so why would it matter if it was stolen or not, how would that lead to the news thing?

Chris: Okay, right.

John: Nice blocking there, by the way, moving John over to next to him. It's the- in my head, although he is unlucky in love, he gets full credit for this.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: And so we- you know, the Leverage team never hurts the bystanders. We do what we can to avoid it.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: Unless you've taken a job with a security firm, in which case you know what you're getting into. Maybe you didn't expect to get choked out quite so often on the job.

[Laughter]

John: Stripped down to your underwear, but you know.

Arvin: Now you know what I love here, is that the end- that you manage to find in the ending, John, something a little bit underlying the whole thing, which is the idea that it’s better for them to work as a team than separately. Which I think is such a wonderful-

John: Well you have to do it or else this is masturbatory. Honestly? Otherwise it's a magic trick.

Arvin: Yeah.

John: You know, it's- oh nice bit of plotting but what was the illustrative character point? And this is the illustrative character point. You know, and we really felt this way - is they’re a family now.

Chris: Right.

John: You know, the show is a family now, that's kinda the point of it. You know?

Chris: I mean, and there’s an inherent desire, I think, in the audience wanting to believe that they ran into each other. I mean that's the star-crossed lovers-

John: Yeah.

Chris: Fantasy is that we met-

John: Destiny meant for them to be together.

Chris: We met as children, you know? And I think that's something that- that’s what drove you- why we're drawn to this story.

John: And to a great degree, he is the best British asshole on Earth.

[Laughter]

John: Man, is he good at this! And what's great is we just took the stuff the guy from BP oil actually said.

Arvin: Actually- I know! I love it!

John: And it was so dickish! There was really no way to there's no way to improve it.

Chris: He’s great, look at his face.

John: Look at his face. God, you just wanna burn parliament down.

[Laughter]

John: Ugh. And they're off! And yeah that's great there's never any doubt.

Arvin: Now I gotta tell you, one of my- here’s a favorite actor moment. Watch how Timothy gets out when he decides to join them. This is a pure little actor- this is the kinda thing Timothy comes up with-

John: Yeah.

Arvin: That is somehow so unexpected to go over the bar like that.

John: Yup. And turn out the lights. If this was the last episode of the show, I would've been perfectly happy.

Chris: Yeah, no!

John: Honestly if we had never done another episode.

Chris: It's got that vibe, doesn't it?

John: Yeah, if we had never done another episode I'd be perfectly happy. Oh my god, that was a ton of fun!

Arvin: It was a joy for me, I'll tell you.

Chris: As I said when I read it John, instant classic.

John: Thank you.

Chris: And Arvin, script- we were amazed and executed to-

John: Arvin, incredible job. Incredible.

Chris: Wow.

John: Just on an impossible- and by the way, big shout out again to Bekka Melino who- Melina, pardon me, who just killed it on production design on this.

Chris: Yes.

John: The museum, the downstairs building, the set, making it- you know.

Arvin: That closet with everything- Yeah.

John: The closet, everything, yeah.

Arvin: Absolutely.

John: Alright, stay tuned - there's more of this coming up right on the next disc. Put it in, get drunk.

#Leverage #Leverage TNT #Leverage Audio Commentary Transcripts #Audio Commentary #Transcripts #Parker #Alec Hardison #Elliot Spencer #Nate Ford #Sophie Devereaux #Season 3 #Episode 11 #Season 3 Episode 11 #The Rashomon Job

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