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mel-the-fangirl · 3 years

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The Escort

Walter Marshall x Reader

Words: 2,064

Warnings: none

Happy super late Valentine’s, Cavillry! As usual, this is a very very late upload but in my defense, it does say in my bio that I am a procrastinator soooo... Anyway, I’m really excited about this miniseries because I love the movie (The Wedding Date, 2005) and I really wanted to write Walter, I hope I do him justice!

Feedback (good and bad!) means the world to me as rookie writer, so I hope you’ll like, reblog and leave me some replies!

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You could not believe you were doing this. You just couldn't. But there you were doing it, even though your mind screeched at you to stop and save a little dignity for yourself.

The fact that you even considered doing this was already a serious loss of dignity points, so what the hell. People did this all the time, didn’t they? There wouldn’t be a whole network of people clumped into this app if it wasn’t a normal occurrence.

It just wasn’t a normal occurrence for you.

Once you filled your head with rationalisations to make yourself feel better, you took a deep breath and began browsing through what the great city of New York had to offer.

Z, 6’, loving hands, fit, athletic, good manners, for water sports, caramel complexion.

For water sports? What in the hell did that mean? And that single initial in place of an actual name? Serial killer vibes. No, thank you.

Lenny, 6’2”, pretty fit Italian, excellent dinner companion, all occasions catered.

Alright. Okay. Now we’re talking. Tall, European, excellent dinner companion equals to good conversationalist, accommodating. Lenny goes on the list of possibilities.

Terry, 6’, my soft voice will arouse you, my strong hands will pleasure you, let me show you how a woman should be treated, hourly/overnight rates.

Oh no no no. Major creep vibes from Terry. That ad alone had you reaching for another long swig of wine.

Joey, 5’8”, are you into champagne?, bodybuilder, will treat you like a queen.

“If you like piña coladas…” you sang in not even remotely the right key, topping off your drink

Josh, 5’9”, I can make you feel sexy and wanted. Fit, sensual, strong.

“Well!” you exclaimed drunkenly, almost spilling wine on your couch, “Tough beans, Josh! I don’t need a man to make me feel sexy and wanted!” you faltered a bit, your drunk mind still seeing the holes in your logic

“I just… Need a man to help me not look like a tragic spinster in front of my family and my ex...”

With that thought fresh in your mind, you reached for some more wine.

The ads went on and on as you scrolled through your phone, it was all a little overwhelming, how were you going to make sure you weren't hiring some psychopathic serial killing pervert to pose as your date to your sister's wedding?

The groan you let out bounced off the walls of your apartment. The reality of your situation was sinking in little by little.

Yes. You were hiring a male escort for your sister's wedding. It was your baby sister's wedding, by the way. You were a hundred percent aware that what you were doing was completely and utterly pathetic but you’ve already weighed the pros and cons in your head countless times.

Showing up alone: pitying looks, whispering behind your back, having to face ex by yourself, staggering levels of embarrassment.

Showing up with handsome -hired- date: mother can finally get off your back, date is more handsome than ex, ex will want to shrivel up and die, no one will know date is male escort except you and him.

Now, let’s break down some of the guests just for the sake of being thorough.

There’s your slightly overbearing mother (slightly meaning every call you have with her opens with the question: “how's your love life, dear?” or “I have the most amazing man to set you up with!”), all of her judgy eagle-eyed friends (mostly rich widows whose sons your mom shamelessly shoves your way), your extended family (some terrifyingly old school great aunts and uncles who will definitely ask if you’re married and smile sympathetically when you say you’re not), and last but certainly not the least, Jeffrey, your ex-fiancé (best man, but apparently not the best man for you, his words not yours).

"Lordy fuck." you exhaled hard, chugging your wine straight from the bottle

How on earth did you get here? Sitting alone in your apartment, working your way through your second bottle of wine (or third? Who was keeping count?), clicking on ads that spoke of "hot single males in your area" waiting to meet you.

Would it be fair to pin it all on the end of your engagement?

Picturing that moment, you decided that it was only fair. Those were five years of your life you would never get back, you were prepared to sign on for more but, yeah.

You were blindsided, that's the only way to describe it. All the while, you thought that you and Jeffrey were on the same page, at the same place in life. You were the golden couple, the couple that all the other couples wished they could be, when you two walked past, girlfriends would give their boyfriends a slap on the shoulder that meant, "Why can't we be more like them?"

It was so out of nowhere, one minute you were discussing wedding cake options over dinner, then suddenly you're putting the ring in his palm, completely in shock.

After that, you threw yourself into your work despite the fact that you were already a budding workaholic to begin with. That's how you ended up earning six figures a year.

Six figure salary, check. Doing pretty well in life all things considered, check.

But even with all that, there weren't any conversations over casseroles and cobblers about your many achievements. Nope, your mother and her friends would much rather discuss their worries that you would essentially, die alone.

Your little sister, Amy, getting married before you didn't exactly help to put a lid on all the chatter. And with Jeffrey being the best man? And you being maid of honour?

It was a disaster waiting to happen.

Maybe you could make up an excuse believable enough to get you off the hook so you wouldn’t have to go?

Were you really thinking about bailing on your little sister’s wedding? If she wasn’t taking cues from your mother, it would be the only one she ever had.

Not one of your finest moments as a sibling.

With the complications of your situation fully realised, you took to reading the ads with a little more effort. Luckily, you didn’t have to look for long.

Nick, 6’, male, tall, good looking, strong build. You will not be disappointed.

The ad was considerably less flashy than the others but you supposed that’s what drew you to it in the first place. It was understated, simple, and his ad wasn’t entirely made up of overcompensating flexing pics.

Mostly because he didn’t need them.

Call off the search, send the boys home. You had a winner here!

Staring up at you from your phone screen was the most handsome man you have ever seen in your life. Literally.

A mane of thick, artfully disheveled curly hair, eyes that were a light shade of blue that had a sort of dark intensity and intelligence that you could spend days trying to understand, and a smile. Oh, that smile was absolutely suckerpunching. It was odd though, something in your head was telling you that this man did not smile often.

You couldn’t tell if the warmth blooming in your chest and creeping towards your cheeks was from all the wine or from examining this prime specimen. Jeez Louise!

“Phew!” you fanned yourself upon stumbling on a photo of him crossing his arms in a tank top. Good God, you hoped he had a license for those guns!

You had to set your phone down for a minute to think things through although it seemed absolutely nuts that you had to think twice at all. It’s just that after the initial excitement and hormones wore off, it was becoming more and more evident that this man was too good to be true.

Just look at him! Were there actually men that looked like that? And why didn’t they live closer to you? A quick sweep of his profile placed him in Minneapolis.

What were the crime rates like there? And did they have a high rate of murders relating to escort services?

Before you could even google anything related to that, you stopped yourself. If you kept at this rate, you would never get anything done! Finally, after a methodical deliberation (aka ogling the pictures on his ad), you saved Nick’s contact number to your phone.

Aaand that’s as far as you’d go for the night. You could call him tomorrow when you weren’t a floundering drunk. It was like your mother always said, “Always be sober for a business transaction, but anything else calls for a cocktail.”

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The following morning, you sat at your little breakfast nook, eggs still piping hot and untouched, and a hangover in full effect. You’ve been staring at the phone number for so long, you could say it in your sleep.

Come on, Y/N, the wedding is five freaking days away.

What if this guy was fully booked? You didn’t want to spend five days surrounded by family with Mr. my-soft-voice-will-arouse-you, did you?

You slammed your finger down on the call icon and stuck the phone to your ear. Your heart beat faster and faster with every ring and your palms became so slick with sweat that you almost dropped your phone a couple of times.

Maybe you should have taken your mother up on the multiple occasions that she wanted to set you up with someone. Alright, on second thought, you didn’t really want to be with someone who only looked good on paper but was actually an insufferable mama’s boy.

“Hello?” a male voice answered, catching you off-guard

Oh, God. Okay, you’re really doing this.

“Yes, hi! Hi. Uh, I’m looking for Nick!” you chirped, in a startled high pitched squeak you didn’t dare recognise as your own

The silence on the other end was starting to make you sweat behind the knees. It suddenly dawned on you that you didn’t mention any specifics.

“Uh, sorry! I got this number from the, uh, the ad. I’m looking for Nick?”

“Yes! Yes, that’s right, but Nick isn’t in right now. This is his manager.”

Was that a good sign? That a male escort had a manager? Did all male escorts have managers? You clearly didn’t know enough about this stuff.

“It’s a pleasure, Mister..?”

There was another beat of silence before the person on the other line answered, you tried your hardest not to overthink about what that could have meant.

“Foley! I’m Foley, Nick’s manager.” Mr. Foley’s voice returned to your ear, sounding much too bright for your liking.

Christ, what were you, a cop? To be honest, you were exhausted. Despite all the alcohol in your system last night, you barely got any sleep. You spent the rest of the night reading through some reviews of Nick’s service as an escort.

He had a glittering five star rating.

One woman hired him to pose as her husband at a high school reunion and by the end of the night, she ended up proposing to him. He respectfully declined and even bought her dinner afterwards.

That review alone was enough to convince you that you would be in good hands. So, it was time to buckle down, swallow the nerves, and handle your business like the adult you were.

“Mr. Foley,” you shook your hair out and put on your professional voice. “I’d like to book your client for five days, give or take. I need a plus one for a wedding. Is he available to leave on the-”

“Please hold. I’ll check his schedule.”

“Oh. But I didn’t mention when I-”

“He’s available. Would you prefer to pick him up at JFK or will he meet you at your place of residence?”

“Oh. Uh, I guess I could pick him up. Do I pay for his ticket or..?” you were feeling a teensy bit of whiplash at how fast this was all going

There was some rustling on the other line and the muffled sounds of bickering. You tried not to let that concern you.

“We’ll handle that, Ms. Y/L/N. We have your number, we’ll be in touch for further details. Good bye.”

The line went dead and you were left staring at your phone in confusion. Did you tell him your name?

#walter marshall #walter marshall x reader #night hunter #nomis #henry cavill #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill imagine #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill fic #Henry William Dalgliesh Cavill #geralt of rivia #the witcher #the man from uncle #napoleon solo #cavillry #fanfiction #fan fiction #fanfic

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aion-rsa · 3 years

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Riverdale Season 5 Episode 7 Review – Chapter 83: Fire in the Sky

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Riverdale meets The X-Files in a bizarre, hilarious outing.

This RIVERDALE review contains spoilers.

Riverdale Season 5 Episode 7

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“Something very strange happened in Riverdale last night.”

It’s increasingly difficult to review Riverdale because this remains a show that has transcended criticism.

To be blunt, it just does not give a single fuck. Not that it has to at this point.

We’re not even ten episodes into the series’ fifth season yet and the sheer volume of things happening right now is whiplash inducing. This latest episode featured, ahem, UFOs, serial killers, art forgery, irresponsible firefighting, ham-fisted commentary on contemporary issues ranging from fiscal crises to veterans suffering from PTSD, and a dance off. I’m sure I missed something just there, but that’s forgivable seeing how Riverdale remains a show that jarringly transitions from one increasingly inexplicable plotline to the next, pausing only when it deems fit to throw in a baffling musical montage.

So as someone whose job it is to parse the subjective quality of the show, installments like the one that just aired make such a task a fool’s errand. I mean seriously, how can you even begin to sum up such an experience other than to sigh, and get started on the confounding work that lies ahead?

This episode made me feel simultaneously concussed and giddy. Was it a great episode? Or a terrible one? With Riverdale who can even tell anymore, and that’s probably the whole point. I’ll tell you this though, it was ridiculously entertaining.

There’s nothing as daringly go-for-broke that the series’ has attempted before as the current Jughead storyline. A failure as a writer, he has resorted to working at Pop’s (is he even teaching at Riverdale High anymore?) and drinking his days away. Oh yeah, he’s also immersed in the sort of psuedo-scientific happenings that are the stuff of a Leonard Nimoy In Search Of… fever dream currently plaguing his community.

Since Riverdale doesn’t believe in understating anything, Jug is investigating Mothmen and UFO’s now. Let that sink in for a moment. Clearly the producers are going for a The X-Files thing here, even if its maple syrup-drenched stank is more of the Baywatch Nights sci-fi variety. But I digress. As with everything in 2021, it’s unclear exactly what the hell is happening here. It is established here through a charming flashback featuring 1970s Pop Tate that the town has a heretofore unrevealed supernatural past. Maybe Tabitha is right, as Jughead’s UFO experience was just a result of his budding alcoholism. But you just know that this is all leading to some big science fiction reveal, and you should know how much this thrills me given what website you are reading these words on.

The only problem with the Jughead storyline right now is it takes us into “how you gonna keep ’em down on the farm once you’ve they’ve seen Karl Hungus?” territory by immediately making anything else that happens in this episode/on TV this week woefully dull by comparison. The Swedlow Swamp bodies and Betty’s fear of the return of the Trash Bag Killer as well as the Veronica Lodge equivalent of The Big Short featured here are great…and immediately undercut narratively by the fact that there’s a MAPLE DRENCHED MOTHMAN SKELETON chilling in Pop’s backroom. In any other episode I’d be swooning. Here though they are swept away in Jughead’s riptide of science fiction insanity.

As for the other plot developments, the Vixens saga is only interesting in that it sets the stage for the inevitable Choni romantic reunion. Archie’s firefighting crusade is just the latest manifestation of his messiah complex. Again, these things happened in an episode that featured an extended Close Encounters of the Third Kind homage, so yeah, no.

The biggest problem with Riverdale remains its divide and conquer strategy when it comes to its storytelling: Busying characters with their own detached plots that may or may not intertwine fully eventually. Sticking the landing hasn’t really been accomplished gracefully since the first season finale. Which isn’t to say that plate-spinning isn’t a beautiful thing to watch sometimes, especially when said plates are smeared with the maple-soaked skin of decaying Mothmen.

Keep getting stranger and dumber, Riverdale. You magnificent bastard. Let’s get weird.

Riverdale Rundown

• In case you think that UFO’s are a bit much, even for this show, let me remind you that the original Archie comics are an absolute hotbed of alien abduction storylines.

• This episode features an appearance by Katy Keene supporting character Bernardo Bixby (Ryan Faucett) as Archie’s firefighting mentor. Although the CW may be done with that specific corner of the Archieverse, it’s a welcome sight to see figures from that show popping up in Riverdale. And indeed on Riverdale.

• It occurred to me that this series still has yet to feature a cover of Elvis Costello’s “Veronica.” Shocking.

• Jacker Cracks are the lastest in Riverdale‘s long line of glorious fake products.

• As per usual, Cheryl delivers the episode’s best line: “I’ve seen a porcelain doll possessed by my dead brother move faster than you lot.”

• It bears repeating, Veronica is a terrible teacher.

• Nurse Nightingale is in the employ of Riverdale High School. Naturally.

• This show’s licensees need to release Riverdale High School mugs and Pop Tate bobbleheads ASAP.

• We learn that during Archie’s army service overseas he mistook a wolf for a dog and was subsequently mauled. Classic Archie!

• So what is Mr. Lodge’s “endgame” hinted at here tonight? My bet is that it involves working with the military on whatever testing/Mothman shenanigans they are involved with.

• Only in Riverdale for five minutes and Eric Jackson (Sommer Carbuccia) already has Hiram’s number, summarizing him as “another fat cat trying to line his pockets by gaming the system.”

• Point to ponder: Are the bodies turning up in Swedlow Swamp related to the Trash Bag Killer’s murder spree, or is this merely an anxiety-inducing red herring for Betty?

• Pop’s yearning for “the lights to come back” was weirdly heartbreaking.

• Am I the only one yearning for a Nana Rose/Dr. Curdle Jr. spin-off?

• Next week: Riverdale holds a key party! Don’t ever forget we are living in an era of peak television.

The post Riverdale Season 5 Episode 7 Review – Chapter 83: Fire in the Sky appeared first on Den of Geek.

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thoughtfulpaperback · 5 years

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Love triangles

Okay so I think I've mentioned this multiple times now that love triangles arent my favorite, but I do like them when they are well done and I wanted to mention three types of triangles that I identify and I have liked.

1) The equal footing triangle:

What is it? Everyone in it has just met or has known each other the same amount of time and is in the same place relationship wise. Example: the Wayhaven Chronicles N and A love triangle. Each character is just getting to know the MC the feelings and relationships are building differently, but they are are more or less equally building.

Why I like it? Usually love triangles are tilted to one side already. Two people have fallen in love or having feelings they are denying and then you throw in another party who has little development outside of being the second love interest or being perfect or the foil to the OG LI. Which can get sloppy, lazy, and toxic depending on where the writer takes the MCs actions. Or worse, which still falls under this LT is when the MC or LI was in love with someone else and therefore one of the LT participant is expected to suffer or compete for the affection of the other. Usually cheating happens the most in this type of LT and I just dont approve.

2. I thought you were dead and I moved on but knowing you are alive is confusing but I am not going to cheat and I actually care about my current partner LT

I have only seen this in Novelas and believe it or not the OG LI doesnt always get the girl/guy. But why is it different than the i am in love with someone else but in a flirtation/relationship with someone else LT that I said I didnt like. Here it is:

The Person actually moves on. They thought OG LI was dead. They grieved and then genuinely built a relationship with the other LI, not trying to forget the OG LI or to "get over it". Essentially, the kind I mentioned before has the MC or LI entering a relationship with someone knowing full well that they have feelings for someone else(and arent fully invested or committed to the other relationship) or worse using the one person as a means of getting over the other rather than because of genuine feelings of caring.

In the kind I like when the OG LI comes back into thier lives they are legitimately confused. The swirl of feelings makes sense and it doesnt diminish the other relationship. But!!!! I have seen these things turn toxic when a) it turns into OG LI actively trying to damage mcs other relationship or "convince" them to rekindle thier relationship not respecting the mcs space and feelings, and adding to her confusion and an increasing rift between them and the other LI.

b) when the other LI becomes possessive and untrusting (usually but not always in response to (a)). You basically undo most of the character development with this and I hate it. Unless it was built in from the beginning (the character showed possessive traits and was always going to turn out like this and it is foreshadowed or evident in little clues and details) I think it is a cheap shot. And I have never felt bad in novelas where that guy (usually a guy) does not get the girl in the end because of his possessive or actively crappy behavior

That's it for me on the subject. Except to say that I consider pining a seperate troupe from the LT even if you include another LI. Because usually when it is just the pining troupe both characters are interested in each other but there is some barrier ( imagine, real, and/or self-imposed) keeping them apart any added LI is usually not permanent or isnt deep. Ex. Character A loves character B but because either both or one of them is not willing to pursue the relationship character B does on dates throughout the book or season but no one is a serious partner or love interest.

Having the OG LI return and the MC being confused because while they are no longer grieving, and have built a relationship with someone else, those feelings didnt die. Having to interact with the person and being reminded of the good times and the things that made them fall in love in the first place is the angsty and interesting part, but the OG LI isnt actively pursuing the MC. Better yet if New LI is understanding and gives MC time to sort thier feelings too. So then it is just the fustration of having interactions with these two amazing characters who the MC has feelings for and MC eventually having to choose, Or one of the LIs backing out (always makes me cry). No one is a prize, no one is putting down the other, and all have an understanding that it is a confusing situation and they all just need to be understanding, patient, and not pushy.

3) We are all best buds LT

Usually these are my favorite and the ones I wish could just be polyamorous. Not necessarily the same as the equal footing one, but there is some over lap. Also only seen this in novelas, but it is were the members all are or eventually become really good friends. The LT occurs because no one wants to hurt the other. Mc has feelings for buddy 1 while buddy 2 has feelings for MC but no one is willing to act because they are painfully aware of the feelings and do not want to ruin any of the dynamics, which usually causes angst and trouble anyways. Bonus points if the character dynamic gradually change and the feelings change-meaning it isnt all the pining of one character or the friendship being the only barrier, as they grow and experience more things feelings change (ex. mc starts noticing other LI more or viewing them in a different light) as the story goes on but still all based on friendship, mutual respect, and love.

I dont like it when one or two members of the LT are "friend zoned" like they are still pursuing the other and even though the other isnt interested. That is gross. But a situation where one has feelings for the other but neither act on it and eventually as dynamic change all end up having feelings which confuses them all and thier dynamic get messed up but thier friendships are still strong and come first . . .

If yall know of any other LT types or have examples of them from books or shows let me know.

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sophie-turner-fan · 5 years

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Sophie Turner interview for Glamour UK

‘He loves me more than he loves himself’: Sophie Turner chats romance with Joe Jonas as she joins Maisie Williams for GLAMOUR’s SS19 cover shoot

Yass Queens! Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams became megawatt stars as the slaying Stark Sisters in Game of Thrones. Here, in their first-ever joint cover shoot, they let us in on the friendship and the fierce attitude that will take them beyond Westeros. Words By: Josh Smith

“People always think Maisie and I are a couple. I mean, I am obsessed with her, so you never know,” Sophie Turner deadpans about her Game Of Thrones on-screen sister. “She’s my drug. I’ve got an addiction to Maisie Williams. I actually stalk her hashtag on Instagram!”

When the two actors are united on GLAMOUR’s shoot there are squeals, huge hugs and even – to prove the above point – a bit of dry-humping. The on-set vibe? A sticky floor away from a Saturday night out OUT.

Anyone who might suggest their chemistry isn’t real off-screen would likely be met with the full ‘Stark sister’ wrath; an electrifying on-screen pairing that has helped turn Game Of Thrones (GOT) into the biggest TV show in the world, with a global audience of millions. Yet the world of ‘Mophie’ (as fans have dubbed them), is as free from Hollywood artifice as you could wish for.

Maisie, 21, and Sophie, 23, met aged 12 and 13 respectively during the audition process for GOT, back in 2009. Practically love at first sight, email addresses were exchanged and, “Honestly, we’ve been best friends ever since,” says Sophie. Following many raucous nights in and out (more on that later), their constant stream of text messages to one another, and the matching ‘07.08.09’ tattoos on their forearms (the date they landed their roles), these two – in true GOT fashion – have pledged allegiance to each other for life.

“Put us in the same room and we pick up where we left off,” adds Maisie. “We’ve always been really open with each other. As you get older, the stakes are higher, the problems get worse – so it’s built into a lifelong friendship. Sophie knows too much about me to not be my friend.”

Sisters In Arms

Despite coming of age in the public eye, the pair have managed to avoid the child-star curse of burning out too soon. And they both credit each other with getting through it.

Pushing her vegan meal around a takeaway box with her fork as they both take a break from shooting, Maisie serves a refreshing dish of disclosure. “I can’t tell you the amount of times Sophie said, ‘Go to therapy,’ before I actually did. She really helped me through some messy break-ups and some friend break-ups. Whenever I’m like, ‘I need help! This is bigger than anything I can sort out on my own,’ Sophie is my point of call. I think therapy is so important. You should absolutely speak to someone, even if in your head you go, ‘Yeah, I knew that!’”

Sophie agrees, “We’ve helped each other through a lot of mental-health problems, especially around body image. She’s been my crutch in that, and I’ve been hers because it seems everything she goes through, I go through. You know when girls are together a long time, their periods sync up? It’s like our emotions and personalities sync up, too.”

While many high-profile actors may balk at being open about their mental health so early in their careers, both Maisie and Sophie feel passionately about sharing their struggles. With a combined social-media following of 20 million and counting, they’re fully aware of how their position enables them to help others. “I’ve gone through some lows in my life and I want to come out of them in a positive way and help people,” says Sophie. “I actually have a really big problem with not being able to stand up for myself,” she adds. “Especially if I’m arguing against a man. Jessica Chastain [who Sophie worked with on new X-Men film Dark Phoenix] is the one that said it to me, ‘You need to stand up for yourself more!’” She’s referring to the time when an actor she worked with “walked off set” when it was time for her to say her lines, and a writer stood in for him. “She [Jessica] said, ‘Just go and talk to him, go and say something to him!’ I’m a bit of a shy, pushover person, but I’m getting there, I’m working on it.”

The work is paying off: in January this year, she went into battle on Twitter with Piers Morgan after he said celebrities were making mental-health problems ‘fashionable’. Sophie blasted back: “Or maybe they have a platform to speak out about it and help get rid of the stigma of mental illness, which affects one in four people in the UK per year. But please go ahead and shun them back into silence. Twat.” Don’t mess with a Stark.

Sharing The Throne

While they seem incredibly in tune with their bodies on GLAMOUR’s set, like anyone constructing an identity in our social-media age, the topic of body image has been part of their lives since GOT first drew swords in 2011. How has playing tomboy Arya Stark – who is largely devoid of sexuality – during her formative teenage years affected the way Maisie perceives herself? “I’ve never felt very pretty because I’ve never been portrayed as very pretty on screen. I actually think that’s really great, but in terms of how I personally feel, it’s been difficult sometimes,” she says.

But being on set with women of all ages, shapes and sizes, from Emilia Clarke and Lena Headey to 6ft 3in Gwendoline Christie – has helped both actors. “I’ve met incredible women who all look very different. They all had really positive messages for us,” adds Maisie. “But I don’t know that you can ever really get away from the intense pressure of body image when you’re an actor. It was something I never cared about. I never thought I was fat until I became an actor – and I’m not fat! I don’t know any young woman that I’ve spoken to in this industry who hasn’t struggled one way or another with their appearance. I just think it’s very hard to escape.”

Building a positive body image is something Maisie has struggled with outside the bubble of GOT’s seven kingdoms, “Especially when you get down to the final three for a role. You can all be really talented, but ultimately it comes down to the way you look. It’s hard not to obsess over that. I try to nip it in the bud because it’s self-destructive.”

These doubts have also, in turn, sadly affected Sophie. “When I first started out acting, I thought, ‘Arghhh, I’m going to have to be really skinny for the rest of my life,’ and I’m not naturally that kind of person. But when it came to filming X-Men [Sophie started playing Jean Grey in X-Men: Apocalypsein 2016], I saw Jennifer Lawrence, who is small, but curvy and not your typical ‘skinny star’. It made me feel so good that people see these women as powerful superheroes, and they don’t have to be stick thin – that’s how it should be. That’s how women should be depicted in every film.”

The Wedding Is Coming

Sophie’s life has transformed, over the past two years in particular, with one fashion ambassadorship for Louis Vuitton and one blindingly huge engagement ring from her pop-star other half – Joe Jonas – who proposed in October 2017 after an 11-month romance. In true Gen-Z fashion, an Instagram announcement followed, along with his and hers Addams Family Halloween costumes, two pooches and a Swiss ski holiday with her in-laws to be, Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra(who Sophie affectionately nicknames her J-Sister).

But the biggest changes, she says, have actually come from within. “I think for the longest time I didn’t have a real sense of myself. I had a bit of an identity crisis where I was playing all these people and I’d grown up faster than I probably should have done. I hadn’t been able to experience university, or just spend a lot of time with friends, so for a while I kept thinking, ‘Who am I?’

“A lot of [my happiness now] is to do with being with a person I’ve fallen in love with, who loves me more than he loves himself, and who wants to see me find my own happiness. That was probably the biggest thing that pushed me to find who I am – and find my happiness in things other than acting.” Her happy hobby: “I love a painting sesh. It’s actually really tragic; it’s like the worst painting you’ve ever seen, but I love doing it!”

As someone who fiercely protects her private life, talk of Joe is usually off limits. How has the prying media reshaped her life? Showing a hint of exasperation with the situation, Sophie says, “I appreciate the private moments more than the public ones; I don’t go out as much as I used to. I’m a hermit. As an actor, it’s important to be able to dissolve into a character, to maintain some sort of anonymity and it’s hard if you’re dating a Jonas brother. Well, I think they [the paparazzi] follow Joe – I’m just the tag-along!”

Faced with following the wedding of 2018 (sorry Meghan!), of Priyanka and Nick, a leaked ‘save the date’ suggests Sophie’s dream wedding will take place in France this year. While Sophie won’t confirm or deny any of the details, her bridesmaid Maisie revealed that she’s got a full-throttle hen do planned. But how much of a planner is Sophie? Did she ever foresee getting married at just 23 years old? “I’m actually not a planner at all,” she laughs. “I’m more of a procrastinator. I plan at the last minute and definitely don’t have a five-year plan. I’m not thinking, ‘I wanna have an Oscar by the time I’m 30.’ I just like to ride the wave of life and see where it takes me, rather than setting a plan out for myself. It’s more fun that way, it’s more spontaneous.”

Stark Solidarity

Growing up on set, hundreds of miles away from their homes in Warwickshire and Somerset, meant Sophie (who has two elder brothers) and Maisie (also the youngest in her family, with three older siblings) became each other’s standard bearers on set. How much did this closeness help when working in an industry at the centre of #MeToo? “I never experienced any of that,” Sophie says. “But Maisie is definitely my protector and I’m hers, too. I know if anything happened – especially if it was on Game Of Thrones, which it never, ever would – she’d go fucking crazy and protect me. To have a sister there, a woman who gets how degrading and awful it can be, and how you’re expected to be so submissive in your work, can be very comforting. Maisie is my strong home.”

And the feeling is mutual: “Sophie is someone who really looks out for me. I could call her at any time, and she would pick up. I think that goes a long way in this industry, because you have a lot of friends, but you’re never quite sure of how deep that goes. People surprise you all the time in life.

“I broke up from a best friend in a really messy and difficult way. It was so hard because I like to stay in touch with the people I grew up with. I couldn’t figure out what I’d done and whether I was a bad person – it was tough. Sophie helped me realise I wasn’t the bad person I thought I was.”

Does Maisie still worry about fame affecting her friendships? “Oh God, yeah. It’s all I think about. Well, it’s not, I think about boys a lot, too!” She has remained notably low-key about her long-term relationship with Ollie Jackson – who she met at school – except for the odd exchanging of fire emojis on Instagram and public Trivial Pursuit disputes.

As well as being there to support each other away from The North, Sophie and Maisie are also partial to a prank on set. “Even though we’re sisters [in GOT], we tried to sneak a kiss into every scene we did together to freak everyone out a bit,” Sophie laughs. “It kept them on their toes; making sure they were following the script.”

This sense of fun has helped them cope with the unblinking barbarity their characters face in GOT. Spoiler alert – by the close of season seven, Arya (Maisie) had murdered 64 people and Sansa (Sophie) had been forced into an arranged marriage and suffered continuous abuse. But they have become each other’s escape off camera. Maisie recalls one memorable night out-out when they went to [London nightclub] Fabric the night before flying to LA for the GOT premiere, two seasons ago. “I don’t think either of us went to bed. That was good fun!” Although, she admits, “Our nights in are better than our nights out. We put on Frank Ocean’s Blonde, go to Tesco and get a meal deal. We love watching clips of people on X Factor who get aggressive.”

It gets better, “When we were filming and staying together, we would give each other makeovers,” says Sophie. “I turned Maisie into a Goth once – and just ran around the hotel. We also like to play Ding Dong Ditch a lot, just stupid, childish shit.”

Done Playing Games

Fundamentally, what makes this friendship so remarkable is that there’s zero competition between them. They even constantly recommend each other for potential new roles, something that Maisie thinks is rare in the industry. “For a long time in my career, I didn’t really meet anyone whowas mean or acted like a diva, but then I did,” she says.

“There’s a real lack of respect when people are bitchy on set.” For someone who was heavily bullied when she returned to school after filming the first series of GOT (Maisie even discovered that an anonymous account abusing her online was set up by someone she knew) this experience brought back painful memories of playground politics. “It felt like I was back at school,” she says. “It’s like, ‘We’ve all been given this amazing opportunity and now you’re making it unpleasant for me.’”

It’s hardly surprising that Maisie and Sophie’s anti-Mean Girls approach applies to supporting other young actors they know, too. “Sometimes I think, ‘Oh God, we’re probably all going up for the same roles,’” says Sophie. “‘We’re all the same age, [are we] just going to be catty towards each other?’ But all the women I’ve worked with have been very supportive – and vice versa. I want them to do well because women should be all in it together. I go for a lot of roles that people like Zoey Deutch go for, or Chloë Moretz, but they’re my friends – I really want them to get those roles, and half the time they’re better at the roles than me anyway, so I’m fine with it. I’m glad I didn’t embarrass myself!”

The End Is Coming…

As they both venture into a post-GOT world – Maisie will follow Sophie into the X-Men franchise, with a new, separate film: The New Mutants. Don’t bank on seeing them reunited on screen any time soon, though (sigh). “Everyone on set is sick and tired of us being so loud and laughing so much!” says Maisie. “I don’t know if we’ll work together again. I don’t know if people would cast us in something together because we are so known for these two characters. Game Of Thrones will be some of the funniest days of my life.”

However, their rallying call to young women will outlive GOT. “It’s about what’s in your mind and how clever you are at playing the game – that’s more important and will get you further than how you look,” Maisie adds. “Being switched on, aware, analysing, and understanding people is going to get you so much further than being pretty.” Advertisement

So, what about those final series plot spoilers? While Maisie jokes that you’d have to get her “very drunk”, to reveal the ending, someone else is already in the know. “I’ve just told Joe [Jonas],” confesses Sophie. “But he’s so mad at me – he loves the show!” She shrugs sheepishly. “Well, I have to tell someone, otherwise I’ll burst.” That’s right, Mophie play by their own rules.

Game Of Thrones season eight airs on Sky Atlantic and Now TV on April 15. To watch Sophie and Maisie share their hilarious life advice stay tuned to GLAMOUR UK ON MONDAY

GLAMOUR UK’s Spring/Summer 2019 issue is on sale NOW [Source]

Sophie Turner interview for Glamour UK was originally published on ♔ Sophie Turner Fan ♔

#Sophie Turner #sophie turner #game of thrones #got cast

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littlemisssquiggles · 6 years

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RWBY Musings #44: A Squiggle Meister’s Views on Whitley Schnee. The Proverbial Black Sheep of the Schnee Siblings or the overlooked Diamond in the Rough?

An uncommon character for me to muse about, I know. I don’t generally make it habit to ponder about this character but, oddly enough, recently I got thinking about Whitley Schnee. Mind you, Whitley didn’t exactly receive the most favourable of introductions back during the events of RWBY Volume 4.

However, in spite of this, it didn’t deter from making him come off as a less than interesting character.

I wanted to take today to not really do any sort of in-depth analysis on Whitley but rather share one or two ponderings about him that I’ve considered. To think, this all started with just one thought.

Whitley with the Good Hair

Imagine...the same Whitley Schnee we all know from RWBY but with fluffy, unkempt, wavy, hair.

I am not even joking with this. Not gonna lie either. Whitley’s hair kinda bugs me a little bit. It’s so perfectly well-kept all the time that at moments when he’s onscreen, it almost appears too perfect if you actually get what I’m saying and I don’t sound like a complete imbecile bringing up this point. Never have I figured I’d have to use the words ‘outlandishly neat hair’ to describe a character.

In an odd way, I pegged Whitley to be the type to be born with hair that’s not exactly like his sisters. I noticed from the Schnee Family portrait in their residence that Jacques’ hair doesn’t seem to be as naturally white as snow as he’d like others to presume.

As a matter of fact, in the portrait, Jacques’ hair is predominantly black but while his mustache is still dark, you can tell that his hair was starting to grey a bit from age. That’s right, I said, grey. Not white.

However, when we met Jacques in the series, both his hair and mustache were completely chalk white. Give the man a big red and white bucket of fried chicken and he’d be Colonel Sanders.

A dye job perhaps? I wouldn’t put it past him. The series has already painted Jacques as such a ‘wannabe Schnee’, that it wouldn’t surprise me not one bit if he did change his hair colour to fit with his new Schnee title. This actually makes me curious about Jacques’ origin.

What kind of upbringing and background would a man such as that have to come from to become this kind of tyrannical person? So far, we know naught of Jacques’ previous life beyond the fact that he married into the Schnee Family and was only interested in Mama Schnee for her name. This is a man who wanted to the wealth, power and status that the Schnee name brought that he was willingly to feign romantic interest in the Daughter of the Head of the Schnee Dust Company to do so.

This is a man who wanted to be somebody. So with that thought in mind, this pegs the question. How much of a nobody did Jacques used to be before becoming a Schnee?

This makes me wonder if even having children, the proclaimed heirs, is nothing but another superficial front for Jacques to hide behind. It makes me wonder if Jacques has any real intention of ever giving up being the Head of the Schnee Dust Company. This is a man who stole the integrity of a well-known and trusted name in Remnant and tarnished it for his own egotistical greed.

Would a man as devious as that wholeheartedly and willingly just hand the reigns to someone else, even if that someone was his own spawn and rightful heir? I don’t think so. I think Jacques might even end up double crossing Whitley, the current heir, in the end and using him to heighten his running in the company.

This brings me back to Whitley again. This post is supposed to be about the youngest Schnee Sibling after all and not his bad-minded father. However Jacques will be mentioned now and again because the type of person Whitely is now, is as a result of Jacques’ grooming.

Resuming talk about his hair. Soft, silky, snow-white hair seems to be a hereditary trait amongst the Schnee bloodline. That being said, what if...like his father, Whitley’s hair is different from his sisters. Though it may be white in colour as a Schnee’s head would be, the texture of his hair is not of his family.

Imagine if...Whitley’s hair is naturally wavier than his sister’s, creating this constantly dishevelled look that he hates because it’s not the vision of him that his father wants of him and because of this, Whitley desperately tries to keep it under control. Whitley certainly strikes me as the type. He’s so snooty all the time and his hair oddly mimics that level of contempt.

I’m kind of chuckling to myself imagining for Atlas Arc where Whitley is forced to play nice and befriend our heroes because Jacques is making him act the part as a means of gathering intel. But that’s not why I’m laughing. I’m laughing because I’m envisioning Whitley hanging out with the Rosebuds: Ruby and Oscar and the two, mostly Ruby’s idea, drag the poor Schnee boy to an area where there’s water.

And while Ruby and Oscar go for a quick dip, Whitley cautiously chooses to stay dry, remarking that he doesn’t quite enjoy going to pool areas because he doesn’t like getting his hair wet. However Ruby and Oscar don’t buy the excuse and hatch a plan to get the Schnee boy to join them. So while Ruby distracts Whitley, Oscar sneaks up behind him and playfully shoves him into the water.

It was originally meant as a playful joke to get the pretentious rich boy to loosen up a little but the entire act ends up infuriating Whitley. Turns out, Whitley is just as harsh with words when he’s pissed like his sister Weiss.

But as Whitley is uncharacteristically yelling at our veteran rose buds, Ruby and Oscar are in awe.

Not for Whitley losing his cool, which was a first, but because of what the water had done to his hair. When Whitley had fell into the water, it washed away whatever chemical hair products that was keeping it at bay because Whitley now stood with a full head of the fluffiest curly white locks the two had ever seen.

He looked like a completely different person; albeit while also looking like an angry lollipop with a head of white cotton candy.

And upon realizing what had happened based on Ruby and Oscar’s shared surprised reactions, Whitley becomes incredibly embarrassed at the fact that his secret was out and before anyone could tell him to stop, Whitley immediately climbs out of the water and storms off.

If Whitley had tougher hair, he’d probably trust Klein to comb it because he’s the only one who fully understands Whitley’s need to please his father.

Just picture, Whitley Schnee---the real Whitley Schnee with his natural fluffy ‘bed head’ posed disgruntled before a mirror, looking disgustedly at himself, surrounded by varying hair styling utensils and products while Klein works his magic to get the young boy looking like a proper boy; just as daddy would like it.

Yup. Whitley definitely strikes me as that type. The type who would have wild, unruly hair but is able to pull it off quite handsomely because, though a little more difficult to maintain that his sisters’, Whitley actually has really good hair. Whitley with the good hair. He just needs to learn how to maintain it but unfortunately doesn’t want to.

To Whitely, while the wild natural ‘bed head’ look might suit him better because he’d look less like a mini-Jacques with it, due to the young man’s obsession with living up to his father’s expectations of him, he keeps this side hidden because...the real him isn’t up to his father’s standards. Neat Whitley is and that’s how he wants to keep it.

Yep. Though this is all mostly me just speculating, I can totally see this being canon because as I’ll say again, Whitley strikes me as that type of character. The type that probably has another side to him that feels more true to himself but chooses not to show it often or at all. The type that would need someone to help him with his hair and other things because he doesn’t know how to maintain this delusion of himself on his own. Someone to help him keep his guise up, quickly painting all the cracks in his mask whenever one of his many pretences start to fall apart and his real nature and feelings start to leak out.

The type where if the slightest thing isn’t perfect, he’ll completely unravel and wouldn’t know how to piece himself back together without help from those who truly care about him because he’d been forced to suppress himself for so long. At least, this is how I’m interpreting Whitley’s character.

Apple Doesn’t Fall Far From the Tree

‘...It’s foolish, not to do what father asks...’

‘Are you jealous? Is that it? Whatever do you mean? Is that why you hate me? Are you jealous of my abilities? Of Winter’s? Hmm. Not really. Honestly I find it barbaric. It’s beneath people like me, like father...’

Y’know what’s funny? If you pay attention to some of Whitley’s dialogue from V4, you can interpret a lot about his character regardless of whether it was the writers’ intention for this assumption or not. For starters, what I’m gathering from this is that Whitley, contrary to what Weiss might think of him right now, doesn’t hate his sisters’.

Between Weiss and Winter, I feel a stronger connection with Weiss resonating from Whitley. I certainly get the vibe that he likes her more than Winter.

‘...You’re strong, like Winter. You never liked Winter. True. But you can’t deny her resolve...’

What’s interesting to note is when Weiss called Whitley out for disliking Winter, he didn’t deny it. As a matter of fact, he openly admitted it without the slightest hint of remorse. However when Weiss questioned Whitley about hating her, he never exactly said he did. His answer was a nonchalant ‘not really’. So Whitley dislikes Winter but not Weiss. So why is that?

Here’s my deduction. I think the reason why Whitley may resent Winter is because in his head, not only was she the first to defy their father but she was one whose actions encouraged Weiss to follow in her defiant footsteps; choosing to study to become a huntress away at Beacon rather than in Atlas where Jacques continue to keep a very tight reigns on her.

Winter was the first to break free from her cage and started this whole debacle of disobedience. If Winter had just stayed in line, then Whitley wouldn’t have lost not one but both of his sisters.

‘...You seem different. And you’ve been gone. I’ll have you know, I didn’t stop growing while you were away at Beacon...’

In rewatching this scene where Whitley was first introduced, this line he said to Weiss really stuck out to me. It kind of implies Whitley’s true feelings about Weiss leaving here. It tells me, as the viewer, that Whitley might be harbouring some unspoken feelings of bitterness towards his sister’s departure for Beacon.

I’m not sure how close the Schnee Siblings were growing up but it is safe to assume that there was some level of closeness as family, right? The impression I got here is that to Whitley, with his sisters around there was the slight comfort of knowing that he wasn’t alone. Even if their relationship was shaky, his sisters were always present in his life at all times. But because Weiss chose to defy their father, like Winter did before her, for a second time in his life, Whitley lost yet another sister.

His big sister had left home...left Jacques...left him and why? To forge her own path outside of the sheltered lifestyle their father had laid out for them.

There is no doubt that Whitley is loyal to Jacques to a fault. He’s such a trained canary with the way how he just blindly follows Jacques around and adheres to everything he says and does; that it makes me wonder if this kid is even human and not some robo-child programmed to be subservient to the whim of Jacques Schnee.

Even Penny Pollendina felt more human than machine than Whitley and she was the real deal.

That being said, I also believe there is no denying that Whitley...in his own Whitley way, loves his sisters. Particularly Weiss and when they both left...it probably hurt. A lot more than he alludes to. Perhaps he feels like his sisters both abandoned him. While Weiss and Winter stayed close and held on to each other, Whitley was left alone with only Jacques as his guide.

Not even Mama Schnee was around, as it would seem. Too preoccupied with her own drunkard stupor to be there for her own son.

Speaking of which, did anyone else notice that in V4, Jacques keeps a picture of Whitley on his desk in his study but one of his own wife on the shelf in the corner of the room?

What does that say? Whitley is certainly special to Jacques. I mean, he is the only he has left. The only one that hasn’t pulled away. His little perfectly groomed puppet that he occasionally likes to parade around for all of Atlas to see what a caring father he is including every wealthy Atlesian aristocrat dumb enough to fall for their act and invest in Jacques. It’s a never-ending game of manipulation where Whitley is the sole MVP.

However the weird thing is, I don’t get Whitley’s real motive for following Jacques. Though he’s painted as a puppet, the way how Whitley played Weiss---oh I’m sorry, based on the way Weiss claimed Whitley played her like a fiddle while he himself didn’t deny that that was his intentions from the start, makes me wonder if he could have his own schemes underway.

Whitley is such an elusive character to me that I can’t tell if his faithfulness to Jacques is out of blind love, a son’s desperate need for his father’s constant appraisal and acknowledgment or...could Whitley have his own plans for the Schnee Dust Company and Jacques is just too ignorant to notice his own son’s deceit?

I brought up this hunch in another musing about Whitley. Sure Jacques is probably just manipulating Whitley and using him in the same fashion he does for everything and everyone around him. But what if...the twist is that Whitley is also using Jacques and plans on giving him his just desserts.

They say karma is a cold-hearted bitch so wouldn’t it be ironic and a fitting punishment for Jacques to get taken down by the very perfect child he’s been grooming to be like him in the same fashion he duped Mama Schnee? A nice addition to Whitley’s character is if of all the Schnee children, he’s the one that cared about their mother the most.

Though like father, like son, I like the idea of Whitley being a momma’s boy too; sharing a close bond with Mamma Schnee from since birth. I imagined, before Weiss’ 10th birthday, Mamma Schnee was probably a very loving mother who adored all her children. However Whitley was the spoiled one because he was the baby of the bunch. But after hearing the truth that the man she’s been married to for years didn’t truly love her, the news changed Mamma Schnee and suddenly, she just wasn’t the same caring person anymore.

What if...as a young boy, Whitley was very close to his mother and hated the pain his own father caused her growing up. So much so that he’s been plotting his own devious scheme for years, smartly playing the role of ‘the good child’ as a ploy to gain Jacques’ trust before removing him from the picture as revenge. That’s one cool hunch for Whitley’s character story, dontcha think?

The Phantom of the Schnee Dust Company

Speaking of ideas for Whitley’s character story, this brings me to a next theory I’m wanna talk about.

Does Whitley Schnee secretly have summoning powers like his sisters?

Winter Schnee once told Weiss that every member of the Schnee family has the ability to summon and have done so for generations. She made mention of this back in V3. That being said, I wonder if the same can be said for Whitley, who isn't a huntsman per say, but certainly has the potential to unlock this kind of power given his lineage, right?

What’s to say he hasn’t already? Perhaps, Whitley already awakened his semblance but no one else knows of this. Not even Jacques. I believe Whitley Schnee probably does possess summoning powers but unlike his sisters, who have both fully embraced their potential, Whitley despises his powers and thus, suppresses his abilities.

We’ve seen two Schnees accept their powers upon unlocking them. What would happen to one who’s unlocked their power but shows resistance?

This is going to sound weird to say but perhaps, Whitley’s Schnee power is surprisingly the strongest of the three siblings; even more powerful than his sisters’ combined; probably mirroring that of their grandfather’s skill level at that age.

Wouldn’t be surprised if Whitley associates the Schnee’s hereditary semblance with being a curse due to the rebellious nature that its current wielders seem to adopt once fully realizing their potential. After all, look at Winter and Weiss. They both left Jacques’ cold clutches upon acknowledging their strength as huntresses.

What if...Jacques has drilled into Whitley’s head that having such powers is a curse in itself because it made his sisters’ insolent and thus, Whitley sees it the same way too.

The more I consider it, the more I’m falling in love with the concept of Whitley having summoning abilities but because he chooses to ignore the existence of such powers within himself and thus represses his own semblance, he’s lost control of his own summoning.

Imagine...Whitley being haunted by a summon he unintentionally manifested in the real world? Besides having an arsenal of summons to chose from, both Winter and Weiss seem to have a signature summon that they call upon the most. For Winter, it’s her Beowolves. For Weiss, it’s her Arma Gigas.

So what if...Whitley’s summon is a Geist? A literal phantom that can take the form of anything it possesses. A creature of many masks, no different than its amateur summoner.

The Geist, being a summon, acts on the will of Whitley, its summoner. However because Whitley has been suppressing his powers for so long, he doesn’t quite know how to control the summon. Similar to how Weiss lost control and accidentally summoned a Boarbatusk at the charity ball out of her frustration with one of its disrespectful patrons, imagine Whitley’s Geist manifesting itself during moments when his emotions at its peak and the creature acts out on those negative emotions.

I’m just envisioning a side story for the upcoming Atlas Arc where some strange occurrences have been happening around Atlas that put the Schnee Dust Company in the spotlight. Competitor company buildings going up in flames. Missing former employees who were all reported to have quit the job in recent times. Severe injuries and in some cases, death, surrounding people who were in recent alleged heated contact with head of the company: Jacque Schnee; etc. At first the incidences were suspected to be White Fang activity, even though the White Fang haven’t been relevant since the Triumph of Haven and the reformation of the Brotherhood. But due to the unusual nature of the cases and the fact that no evidence was found at the scene of the crimes, these incidences eventually became closed cases. But that didn’t stop it from creating negative propaganda that brought the Schnee Dust Company to the forefront of the Atlesian headlines; catching the attention of the public including Weiss and Winter.

Imagine...Weiss and Winter working together to solve the mystery of what was going on within their family company while subsequently concocting a plan to remove Jacques Schnee once and for all under the assumption that he’s been orchestrating the events as an interrogation tactic to ward off competition while gaining the sympathy of the public eye. So in the beginning, Jacques Schnee was believed to be the main culprit. However, in the midst of it all, all traces of added evidence started pointing towards the true mastermind: Whitley Schnee who had been using his newly awakened semblance to get his father ahead and keep him at the top.

But do you know what the bigger twist would be? That Jacques was oblivious to Whitley’s powers and his intentions of using them the way he did.

Even better. Wanna hear the biggest twist? Whitley is oblivious to his own powers or at least, decides not accept that they aren’t real and his to control. While the rich boy was aware of the strange occurrences was due to a monster, he called ‘The Phantom’, what he didn’t know was that the beast was his summon. He always figured the beast was a ghost sent by karma to haunt him. But what he didn’t realize was that the wild summon was a manifestation of his own suppressed powers he’d been trying to hide even though they’d been growing stronger. So strong that’d become erratic with the summoned Geist appearing chaotic in form.

I just would love to see Whitley as a summoner; particularly an antagonistic one. I wonder if this is what the CRWBY Writers might be alluding to with his character or at least it’s one way to look at it. At first I figured he might’ve been the one to have no powers. But imagine if he does but uses them for all the wrong reasons; be it intentional or not.

Picture....a Battle of the Schnees where for the first time in RWBY history, Winter and Weiss tag-team to take down a crazed and broken Whitley who is revealed to be a summoner like his sisters and whose own summon had been attacking victims on Whitley’s behalf.

Of course, like I mentioned before, Whitley is unaware of this because he’s been suppressing his powers just he’d be suppressing so many other things about himself, forcibly trying to keep it all at bay to maintain his facade of perfection.

But in the end, it all falls apart and the Schnee boy suffers a mental breakdown with his own monstrous phantom lashing out because of it. So it’s up to his big sisters to come to his rescue.

Doesn’t that sound like a cool story to tell?

I want so much from the Atlas Arc. So many side stories I wanna see done and this is one of them. And if it leads to Whitley receiving an inkling of redemption; y’know reconciling things with his sisters with the three Schnee Siblings finally coming together as a family which then leads to them working together to put an end to Jacques’ reign, wouldn’t that be an interesting way to conclude Weiss’ story arc with her family on a positive light?

I know this is something I’d love to see as part of the Atlas Arc. But again, I’m not a writer for RWBY so I am curious to see what Miles and Kerry has in store for us going forward, particularly for Whitley.

A Better Whitley

Although I originally wrote him off as a bad character, I’m actually intrigued as to where the CRWBY Writers are going to go with Whitley’s development, particularly regarding his role in the upcoming Atlas Arc.

I know for a fact that Whitley will be a major player in Weiss’ side of the story, for sure.

Don’t get me wrong, I still desire for Whitley to be an antagonist or rival character to Oscar Pine in the arena for Ruby’s affections.

While I doubt Whitley would have any genuine affection towards Ruby beyond using her in a similar fashion his own father used his mother, I think Whitley would be the perfect Ying to Oscar’s Yang to give the farm boy a well-deserved shove towards realizing his true feelings for the Silver Eyed Girl.

I love the idea of Whitley being a rival to Oscar. But believe it or not, I also like the idea of the two becoming allies too if possible. Whitley looks like he could use more people in his life that care about him besides his father. Maybe even Klein cares deeply for Whitley---the father figure he deserves but he just never acknowledges it. I think Oscar can be a good friend for Whitley.

While I don’t ship Rich Farmers as a relationship (proud RoseGardener over here), I do like the thought of them being a friendship. If Rubes becomes Oscar’s closest best friend, then can the precious farm boy begrudgingly become the snooty rich boy’s best friend or...the closest thing to it?

The kind of friendship that I imagine Oscar and Whitley having is the one where either originally hated each other’s guts but when you eliminate the object that made them butt heads in the first place (like Whitley pursuing Ruby and Oscar becoming jealous for of it), turns out the two might actually get along quite well. May even like each other...or at least respect the other enough to not kill them in their sleep when they piss them off.

An unlikely friendship that thrives on a shit ton of inside jokes and even more sarcastic quips at the other’s expense. The kind of friendship that makes others question why and how the two participants befriended each other when their attitude makes it seem like they hate each other when in actuality, they love each other like two inglorious bastard brothers bred from the same illegitimate father called anarchy.

So yeah, while I’m drawn to the concept of Whitley being a rival and a mini boss character, I’d also like to learn more about his character in hopes that he may be redeemed.

Though not much was revealed about Whitley back in V4, it did hint of there being more layers to him and I’m hoping we get to explore those layers once the group returns to Atlas.

I just don’t want for Whitley to be another throw away character who’s just there for the sake of moving the plot along or being an unnecessary red herring. I don’t want Whitley to be another Vernal or Professor Lionheart. Both characters had the potential for more, the writers just chose not to flesh them out before cutting straight to their inevitable deaths in the Haven Battle.

While very straightforward, this left me feeling more like these two characters were merely just plot devices rather than what they’re supposed to be---actual characters. While the CRWBY writers didn’t necessarily have to keep these characters around for future arcs, my complaint here is that they could’ve done a much better job at fleshing them out.

As I said, make them feel more like characters. Never mind that they were meant to die, at least make me care about their deaths.

I don’t want this to be the case with Whitley or any character during the Atlas Arc. Which is why I’m hoping that the Conclusion to the Mistral Arc in V6 leading into the Atlas Arc would be handled much better. Regarding Whitley, the writers have already established some keen plot points to assist with composing his part in ongoing story.

I just pray that Miles and Kerry learnt from their mistakes during the last two seasons and will work towards making sure that the seasons ahead are done much better.

Despite being painting as this conniving person, when I recall V4, I don’t remember Whitley actually doing anything that’d suggest that. As a matter of fact, all the allegations that Weiss made about Whitley were pointed out by her without the show visually showing that he committed these crimes. There was a lot of ‘Tell. Not Show’ for volumes 4 and 5 and I sincerely hope this is a habit that the CRWBY will drop for the upcoming V6.

They could’ve easily not have given Weiss a brother at all. This is the thing though. Why was Whitley introduced? In the scope of things, his character wasn’t really necessary because the past seasons had already established the tension of Weiss’ relationship with Jacques and that was enough to drive her own arc during the V4 Split.

It’s not like Whitley’s introduction in V4 actually acted as a good catalyst for the events that happened to Weiss during the season that lead to her outburst at the charity ball after party to her fall out with Jacques to even her departure.

Did Whitley give Weiss the brilliant idea to present an expensive painting as part of an auction to help raise funds for Beacon, knowing full well that Weiss would fail in that regard? No.

.Did Jacques give Weiss reason to bring up the painting during their fight so that Weiss could have leverage to make mention that Whitley supported her in her idea only for the boy to turn on Weiss in the moment and take Jacques side, showing just how two faced he could be? Nope. The charity painting and the Atlesian Elite’s total disregard for the People in Vale following the Fall of Beacon was what drove Weiss to spiral out of control the way she did. Whitley Schnee played no part in that scene yet somehow Weiss blamed him like her being punished by Jacques was his doing when really...what did he do though?

Seriously. In the grander scope of things, Whitley did nothing for V4 except talk. And even when he did talk it’s not like he was being a clever snake, whispering in Weiss’ ear and encouraging her to pursue her own personal ideas that in hindsight, would please her but knowingly irk Jacques.

Nope. All he did was play nice the entire time yet when Jacques took away her heiress status, there was Weiss accusing Whitley of being devious the entire time and there he was smiling and acting like this was all true. But in reality, nothing happened on screen to prove this.

You could remove Whitley from the story in V4 and the plot wouldn’t have played out any differently. I’m sorry to say this for all the diehard Whitley fans in the FNDM but his character added nothing more for V4 beyond giving Weiss a punching bag to point fingers at for the consequences of her own actions against Jacques; which wasn’t even necessary. Up until V4, there has been no prior mention of Weiss ever having a brother. We knew she had Winter since her debut in V3 and we knew of Jacques because he was already established as the authoritarian father she was trying to avoid. The one whose crimes she constantly found herself having to pay for and whose royal test she had to shoulder.

But there was never any mentioning of Whitley at all. Neither Schnee sisters didn’t even comment about Whitley being in the picture during their one on one talk before Winter’s leave in V3 C6. Jacques was mentioned, naturally. But no Whitley.

So then why does his character exist? What are the CRWBY writers’ setting him up to truly be? Is he indeed the proverbial black sheep of the siblings, driven by the negativity of feeling abandoned by both of his older sisters or...will he be the diamond in the rough---a conniving trickster on the surface but his trickery is merely another one of his acts to conceal the ambitions of more caring soul.

Whatever it is, I hope it isn’t another poor plot device and actually fits within the context of the story and the overall direction the Atlas Arc is leading towards.

So to conclude...

As I’ll say again, I don’t want Whitley to be another Vernal or Lionheart otherwise it’d just be boring. If he does have a bigger role to play, I hope it’s a well conducted one that gives him more depth than what was glimpsed in V4.

I’m even hoping for a twist or perhaps twists with his character like what I theorized. Overall, whatever Whitley’s story is, I hope it’s handled with enough tact to leave his fans happy and satisfied.

♦ More RWBY Musings by Squiggles

~LittleMissSquiggles (2018)

#rwby #whitley schnee #oscar pine #whitley and weiss #rwby volume 6 predictions #rwby theories #jacques schnee #rwby musings

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darksided-words-blog · 5 years

Text

The Messenger

Original short story by Ryatt Clark

Jess & Sophie make a confession that has the potential to either destroy or empower both of their lives.

Part 1 - Jess Logan

Where it all went wrong...

The cursor blinked on the screen for what seemed like an hour. Sophie waited for Jess to respond, but the cursor just kept blinking. Three little dots flickering in succession, taunting her with the idea that Jess was writing back, but what?

Sophie rubbed her hands together nervously waiting for the woman to respond. For the two minutes between her message and the one she received back, she squirmed in her chair, waiting for some kind of reply to the message she just sent.

“I think I am in love with you, you know.”

Rubbing her hands over her eyes, she suddenly felt stupid and silly.

In Love? She asked herself. That’s impossible. How did I just say that to a virtual stranger; a literal virtual stranger. I don’t even know her!

Her internal monologue did nothing to stop her fear from rising. But, what if she thinks I’m crazy?

“I’m in love with you too. Have been falling for a while now.”

Nearly three thousand miles away, Jess sat behind her own computer and sighed. A sense of relief coated every inch of her as she hit enter on the keyboard. A small giggle escaped her lips as she reread Sophie’s message.

She loves me… how is this actually happening? Her thoughts were erratic and spiraling, her body tingling at the idea that there was someone in the world that loved her. Not JUST loved her but was IN love with her loved her back.

It had been at least two years since she had felt the love from anyone other than her son, but even now as he got older, he would say or show it less and less. Ian was a good boy, always sweet and kind to her, but now that he had hit the official milestone of being a teenager, he couldn’t be bothered to be her sweet boy any longer.

S: “Really?”

J: “Yes, really.”

S: “I’ve never been in love with a woman before, scares the shit out of me.”

J: “Oh, same. Trust me.”

S: “I just don’t get it. I mean, we don’t even know each other.”

J: “Don’t we though? I tell you more than I ever tell him.”

S: “About him… about them both. What now?”

J: “I honestly don’t know babe. I just know that I love you. That I am IN love with you.”

S: “I guess we’ll figure it all out. Just feels good to finally tell you.”

J: “Same baby… Same.”

For the next two months, Jess and Sophie fell deeper in love and lust. Through talking, laughing, sharing, writing together and everything in between. They found something in each other that had been lacking in their lives, despite of the fact that they both were committed to other people. They found love and comfort within each other, in addition to a friendship that felt more important than just about anything else.

Jess Logan

The summer months had transitioned to autumn. Brightly colored leaves scattered the walkway to Jess’s house as she muddled up the path with the bags of groceries. Noticing his truck was in the driveway, she thought maybe Henry would have heard her approaching and stepped in to help.

Fumbling with her keys in the lock, she swung the door open only to find him laying on the couch, his eyes wide open and plastered to the television.

“Could you maybe help me here? I got at least another dozen bags,” Jess huffed, dropping the plastic sacks that were digging into her wrists.

“Where’s the boy? He can help,” Henry grunted, his eyes not leaving the screen.

“He’s out. Remember? I just dropped him off at practice and stopped by the store. It’s not a lot Henry, please?”

Groaning with effort, Henry rose from the couch and adjusted the waist of his jeans. Jess watched him as he slowly made his way towards the front door, only stopping to slip on his shoes. Henry never looked away from the television.

Rolling her eyes, Jess picked up a few of the bags she’d stumbled in with and headed towards the kitchen. After packing away the essentials, she turned on some music and went about the daily grind of cleaning and preparing a meal for her husband and son.

Checking the clock, she noticed it was half-past four, and grabbed her cell phone from her jeans pocket. There were no notifications of any kind, which was unusual for that time of day. By then, she normally had half a dozen messages, at least, from Sophie, not to mention numerous notifications from a variety of social media apps where they had connected.

Today, there wasn’t one. A hint of unrest settled into her stomach, but she did her best to blow it off and continue about her business.

An hour later, Ian had made his way home and was helping Jess set the table for dinner. She laid out the meal and observed the two men in her life go about devouring it without saying a word to her or to each other.

“So, how was practice?” Jess asked after swallowing a bite of her salad. “Did you get the time the coach wanted you to achieve?”

“Yup,” Ian responded before shoveling a spoon full of potatoes into his mouth while scrolling his newly received cell phone. His brilliant green eyes were even more illuminated by the glow of the screen and it immediately reminded Jess of Henry. That thought caused a shiver of fear to spiral down her spine.

“Hey, bud? Please not at the table, ok? This is supposed to be a family dinner. Not a grunt and scroll sort of thing.”

Looking up at his mother sheepishly, the boy turned off the screen and laid it face down as he’d been instructed many times before.

“Thanks,” Jess said and offered her boy a smile. “So, tell me about practice.”

Jess distracted herself by listening as Ian prattled on about the new guy on the team and how he would never meet the time needed to qualify to run the mile for the Fall trials. Back in the recesses of her mind, she was waiting for the vibration from the phone letting her know that there was a message for her. But it never came.

Dinner was cleared, Ian and Henry both left the table and wandered into the living room where they argued over some sports team and a call that was made. Standing in the corner of the kitchen, she pulled out her phone and navigated to the app where she and Sophie chatted the most. The only visible item was the last message she had sent in their chat from the night before.

“Goodnight baby, I love you so much.”

Nothing. Sophie never responded to that, which was unlike her. Sighing, Jess initiated a few of the other apps and noticed that Sophie hadn’t posted anything, anywhere all-day long. Biting her lower lip, she hesitated over the keypad that would dial Sophie directly. Calling and chatting on the phone wasn’t something they had done more than two or three times in the six months they’d known each other; only once since saying those three words that seemed to change everything.

Stop being ridiculous, she’s just busy, sick, I don’t know… but stop panicking… Jess tried to calm her anxious mind. But it was the feeling in her stomach that concerned her most. She knew her mind could get carried away and lead her down a path of problems that don’t exist, but her gut was always right. It was where her intuition lived. Right at that moment, it was screaming at her that something wasn’t right.

Ian went off to bed about a half past nine, and Henry had fallen asleep on the couch an hour earlier. Jess finished cleaning up from dinner, put the laundry away and made sure that both Ian and Henry had their lunches and bags ready for the morning.

Finally falling into the recliner, exhausted and worried, she passed a glance to her sleeping husband and sighed deeply. Knowing he was fully asleep, she picked up her cell and checked the round of apps again. Still nothing. Calling wasn’t an option, as it was the middle of the night where Sophie was laying her head. It didn’t stop the fear that had gone from her gut to her heart though as she began nervously scrolling through her timeline.

None of the posts she’d made for Sophie had been reacted too; none of the funny memes laughed at. Jess knew that there would be days when they wouldn’t speak, there had to be. They both had very busy, active lives, but that day hadn’t come yet. It was logical it would, but Jess still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, and it caused her to become unhinged.

The next morning dawned and Jess went about her daily morning routine of sending Henry and Ian off to work and school. Settling into her home office, she opened the spread sheet and began to focus on the data that needed to be added.

Sipping the steaming cup of hot coffee, she heard the familiar ping of the messenger app where she and Sophie would talk. Her heart fluttered at the notion that Sophie was finally there, but also the apprehension from the day before still lingered, causing that initial bout of excitement to quickly fade.

Drawing in a deep breath, she used the mouse to maneuver to the small bubble icon at the bottom of the screen and expanded it.

S: “Hey, you there?”

J: “Of course! I was worried about you. Are you ok?”

S: “Not really. Look, I can’t right now, but will you be home in a few hours? I need to talk to you.”

J: “Yes, I’ll be here all day. Working atm.”

S: “Ok cool.”

J: “Alright, ttyl. I love you <3”

Jess waited for the usual, I love you too, but it never came. That’s when she knew it was over before it could even start.

The afternoon muddled on and Jess tried to concentrate on her work. Plugging in the data and numbers into the right places on the spreadsheet was becoming more and more tedious as her thoughts were constantly floating back to the brief and somewhat cold message from her friend.

In the hours that past, she replayed their entire relationship through her memory. Sophie had been the first friend after Jess decided to join a new social platform. It was for writers and artists to share their work, find others to help edit and critique what their projects and even connect artists and contractors looking to work with each other. She had joined to do that, to start sharing some of the stories she’d been scribbling down in between jobs and seeing if there were people out there interested in helping her write.

It had given her something to do on the nights Henry fell asleep on the couch and Ian was tucked away in his room with video games or some girl on the phone. Jess wanted something other than just nightly binge watch sessions of some random show or reading another book that did nothing but fill time.

Lonely, bored and feeling as if her life was nothing special, she loved the process of writing. Jess found herself daydreaming about a dozen different kinds of lives she’d like to live and paired them with new scenarios to develop a collection of short stories about empowered women.

The more she wrote, the more doors of her own personality were opened to her. Jess was able to rediscover things about herself that she never realized to be possible. So, she took the leap and dove in, finding a sense of self and self-worth. What she didn’t expect to find, was this person with whom she fell in love with. Now she sat with the notion, and pretty strong gut feeling that she was about to lose this all, too. She’s already lost passion and desire she had for Henry, as she assumed he did for her, she was losing her son to adulthood, losing her mind in mind work data, and now, she was going to lose the one thing that made her feel anything... Sophie.

#writblr #writers of tumblr #short story #ryatt writes #am writing #spilled ink #spilled thoughts #original story

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