#The movie would be good if Eddie and Charlie had ended up together | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dragonmuse · 2 years

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For a seasonal prompt, how about some classic trick-or-treating? Either way back in the timeline for Charlie and Alma, or maybe the Callahan Gang with Pickle?

(this one took some twists on me, but here's Alma age 12 and Charlie age 9, going out trick or treating with Eddy and Stede)

“Love, come on!” Eddy called from the bottom of the stairs.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” Stede laughed, descending. “I can’t tell who’s more excited, you or the children.”

“Definitely Eddy,” Alma giggled. “Dad, do you like it?”

She had made her own costume this year from her now too small flower girl dress from the wedding last year. Using shears, she’d put artful rips in the tulle bottom and torn the top layer of the corseted top to give her some breathing room. Fake blood had been liberally splashed onto it. Eddy had been prevailed upon for makeup help and now she looked pale as the grave, a little blood dribbling tastefully from one corner of her mouth. A stunning corpse bride.

“I love it!” He declared. “Do a spin for us.”

Alma twirled, the skirt swishing outward. “I still say I’m too old for trick or treating though.”

“Next year, you can stay home and give out candy,” Stede took out his phone, snapping pictures. “But you look too good to stay home this year.”

“Can I stay up and watch a scary movie after Charlie goes to bed though?”

“Yes,” Eddy said before Stede could put in his two cents. “I’ll watch it with you.”

“I’ll read in bed. Where is Charlie?”

“He was looking for his-”

“I’m ready!” Charlie came out of his room.

He was wearing a white lab coat, black rubber gloves, a white wig teased out at the ends, goggles and holding a green severed arm with a bone sticking out.

“I thought you said you were going to be Frankestein,” Eddy said blankly. The arm, despite the color, was disturbingly realistic.

“I am,” Charlie frowned. “Dr. Frankenstein. The monster’s name is Adam.”

“It...is?” Eddy looked to Stede, who conceded with a nod. “But you wanted to be scary this year.”

“He’s the real monster,” Charlie said solemnly.

“He did abandon his creation,” Stede allowed. “The monster was just doing its best to survive after that. And it was understandably angry.”

“Okay,” Eddy decided to let that go so no one here had to examine it. “Fun. Good job, Charlie. How’s your mad scientist laugh?”

Charlie did something that sounded more like a hyped up nine-year-old laugh, but hey, also scary in it a different way.

“Great!” Stede decided and took a few pictures of him, then one of the two kids together where Alma pretended to gnaw on the fake arm. “Let’s go!”

They went out into the street. It was already getting dark and there were shrieks of joy going up and down the street. Alma and Charlie were both armed with pillow cases (“Why not bags, honey?” “Pillow cases hold more. And it’s tradition.”)

“Would I regret asking if you ever got to trick or treat?” Eddy took Stede’s hand in hers.

“Likely,” he sighed. “What about you?”

“Oh yeah, every year until I was in high school. My mom would piece a costume together with what we had around when I was little. I was a vampire a couple of times, had this pair of teeth out of one of those coin machines in the grocery store.”

“And now you can be whatever you want, any day of the year,” Stede beamed. “My beautiful Kraken.”

“I can,” they agreed with satisfaction. “Maybe next year we should switch for Halloween. Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“I love it,” Stede said readily. “You would look amazing in the cream gown with the gold accents. I’ll need some training on the tentacles.”

“Eddy!” Alma called from the end of the street. “This house gave out full size candy bars!”

“Amazing!” She yelled back. “Wait at the corner.”

“Okay!”

They sped up, escorting the kids down the street. Charlie had clearly been sneaking treats early, his costume enhanced by the smears of chocolate around his mouth. Alma hadn’t even hid it, sticking a watermelon lollipop into her mouth, the red adding to her general bloody vibe as well as faint, but pleasant candy scent.

On a stoop, there was a scarecrow decoration and right as the kids trooped up past it, it leaped to it’s feet with a blood curdling scream. Charlie jumped back a full foot, eyes wide, a strangled cry in his throat. Eddy was about to give the guy a piece of his mind when Alma kicked him hard in the knee.

“That’s really awful!” She shouted at him. “He’s just a little kid.”

“Fu-” The scarecrow started.

“You better not be about to swear at my kid,” Eddy snarled. “What the hell is wrong with you? Save that shit for the asshole teens that’ll be out in an hour.”

“Damn right,” Stede agreed, sweeping in to put an arm around Charlie.

“Hey, it’s just fun for them, you know, laugh it off after.”

“I don’t think it’s fun,” Alma huffed. “I think it’s juvenile and cruel.”

“What are your shoes made of?” The guy groaned, reaching down to rub his shin.

Alma hiked up her puffy skirts to reveal her shit-kicker boots. “Steel toed. And I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kicked you. But you scared me.”

“I.uh...yeah. Sorry.” The guy coughed.

Stede took the kids onward and Eddy waited until they were out of sight.

“M’am?” the guy asked uncertainly.

“I know who you are,” she decided. “I hear you scared one more kid who doesn’t come up past your waist tonight and I’ll make sure your aunt knows who broke her ceramic planters stumbling home drunk last month.”

The scarecrow froze. Eddy tossed her braid over her shoulder and went to catch up with her family. The kids got back in the spirit quickly enough and they did another few blocks. Eventually Charlie was dragging his bag and Eddy plucked it from him, tossing it over her shoulder.

“Too heavy to carry means time to go home,” Stede decided. “Getting chilly too.”

Back at the house, they put on the Grim Adeventures of Bill and Mandy which both Alma and Charlie would still consent to watch. Two pillowcases were carefully spilled out. Then the cutthroat trade deals began.

“I will give you ten tootsie rolls for all five of your caramels,” Alma opened.

“Four,” Charlie contended.

“Done. Pretzel pack for cheetos.”

“No way, I like cheetos,” Charlie pushed the pack out of her reach. “You can have the potato chips for the pretzels.”

“Fine.”

“Trade all hersheys for jolly ranchers?”

“Except the watermelon ones.”

“This is...good?” Stede ventured as he and Eddy watched from the couch.

“Sure, they’re getting along,” Eddy decided. “How much are we letting them eat tonight?”

“Five piece maximum.”

“Ten,” Eddy contended. “They should get a little sick, that’s half the fun.”

“If they get actually sick, on your head be it.”

“Deal,” she laughed.

Candy traded, consumed and tucked away from the next day, Stede got Charlie scrubbed clean and into bed. Alma changed into her own pajamas, washing her face and sitting next to Eddy on the couch.

“What are we watching?”

“A classic.” Eddy assured her. “Ghosts and scares all over.”

Stede emerged a few minutes into the viewing. Eddy waited for him to say his good nights, but he just stood there watching and eventually drifted onto the couch, sitting on Eddy’s other side, apparently taken in. With the first big jump scare, he grabbed their arm, but didn’t make a sound.

“This poor boy,” he murmured.

“Just fiction, love.”

“Still.”

Meanwhile, Alma was reclining, eating her potato chips. “That headwound is gnarly.”

“Right?”

The climatic moment crested and Alma went “Ha! I knew it!” Just as Stede said, “Wait. He was a ghost the whole time?”

“The whole time,” Eddy nodded. “Mind fuck, right?”

“I can’t believe it.”

“I kind of guessed at the anniversary scene,” Alma shrugged. “It’s a good twist though.”

“Twist? It’s horrific!” Stede protested.

“Dad.” She sighed. “It’s a horror movie.”

“...yes. Well. Excellent point, thank you. And now it’s bedtime, I think. For all of us.”

Alma grumbled, but went. Eddy put her arm around Stede’s shoulders and kissed his temple.

“You going to be okay?”

“I know it’s silly to be more scared than a child, but-”

“Love, this movie scared me so bad that I slept with the lights on for a week and I was 22 the first time I saw it.”

“Really?”

“Cross my heart. Every creak in the apartment gave me the creeps for weeks. Just know it now so it doesn’t get me.”

When they went up to bed, Eddy noticed Alma had left her door open a crack. Just enough to let the light they left on in the bathroom streak over her floor. Guess she wasn’t so unaffected either. Stede picked up his book and Eddy just curled up beside him, head on his chest which was his cue to share. So he read aloud about some dry history until she fell asleep.

Hours later, she woke and sat up.

Something stirred in the house. She kept her eyes closed, pinpointing it. Not Alma, who would go straight for the kitchen to turn on the kettle so they could have hot chocolate with her if it woke them. Not Stede, who was asleep beside her, breath barely creasing the air. Unlikely to be Charlie who diligently went out like a light and wouldn’t rise until dawn when he’d settled himself somewhere with a book where someone was likely to trip over him.

Something was awake. Eddy got to her feet and prowled downstairs, tense as a wire. Alma’s door was still cracked. Charlie’s was still closed.

Eddy crossed the living room, sweeping, hand closing into a fist.

But there was nothing.

Just the wind maybe. Or her own dreams.

Eddy stood, and listened for a long while anyway, suspended in that moment for longer than she’d like to admit.

Go back to bed, sweetheart.

Eddy whirled. No one there. Just a whisper that was probably the wind rustling leaves outside. No words said out loud at all.

“Okay,” Eddy said back anyway. “I’m going”

There was no hand on her cheek, no familiar lips on her forehead. Whatever may or may not have stirred in that thin veil was gone. Eddy went back to bed and fell into a deep sleep.

#leda house and the kraken verse #ficlet #eddy teach bonnet #stede teach bonnet #charlie bonnet #alma bonnet

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ktinastrikesback · 3 years

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Alright, here it is: The meta post about Eddie Diaz and mother figures and how it all leads to Buddie (I think). Thanks to @yramesoruniverse for your help with this, and @kitkatpancakestack and @evanbucklies for inspiring it! I really have been thinking about this nonstop and had to get it all down. This got quite long, so I'll include a cut in order to spare everyone who doesn't want to continue reading!

We first get an idea of Eddie's complicated thoughts surrounding mother figures throughout his whole storyline with Shannon in season 2 when he romantically reconnects with her for Christopher's benefit. I do want to keep the focus here trained on Eddie in season 4, but I want to point out a season 2 line that is pretty fitting. As much as I don't want to use a Shannon quote as a starting point for a meta, I think this one is actually pretty useful: "...Eddie always knows what's best for everyone...God forbid you stop for a second and actually ask them what they need." While it's harsh and spoken out of spite, Shannon does make a point here which becomes relevant at the end of season 4.

We don't know a whole lot about season 4 Eddie (thanks writers) aside from the fact that he's working on being a single father (he tells Marjan in the crossover that he's "doing the whole single dad thing") and being a support system for Buck and the rest of the 118. Eddie's "arc" this season is moving on from Shannon and beginning to date again (a very small and limited arc, which hopefully season 5 will remedy). Of course, because it's Eddie, the core of this arc is him wanting what is best for Christopher. And it seems pretty clear that what Eddie thinks Chris needs is a complete family with a mother figure (note how he asks Bobby if he's "happy now, with Athena and the kids" and just assumes that Bobby is talking about Ana Flores), but the universe pushes against this idea throughout the whole season. There are a lot of examples in season 4 of unreliable mother figures (for example, the alcoholic mother who causes the wreck in Blindsided), but in order to save some space here, I'll list and discuss those in another post. The main thing I want to point out is that we've seen that mother figures aren't always perfect, and they aren't the end all be all that Eddie thinks. And canonically, the show suggests several times throughout the season that the partner that Eddie needs/wants and who is best for Chris is actually Buck.

In Breaking Point, while Eddie is on his date, it's Buck who is at home taking care of Christopher and getting him through his nighttime routine (which establishes that he knows the routine and has gotten Chris ready for bed before, hence the reference to his "cautionary tale"). On the date, when Ana says that no one has been in his life since Shannon passed away, Eddie noticeably looks uncomfortable (the will reveal makes this scene and that particular comment and Eddie's subsequent reaction so rich. Eddie knows that what Ana is saying is completely untrue, because the person he trusts most with his son is with him at that exact moment). Later, when Eddie tells Christopher about his new 'friend', he says "it's a woman." And...to be honest, what the hell was that? He could have said, "I'm dating someone" or "I have a girlfriend." But he says it like this? And it's weird...right? Christopher is the one who has to say "girlfriend." Also his tone of voice when he says it...it's suspicious to me. Anyways...Eddie talks with Ana about Christopher's reaction and her first instinct is to take a break and wait for Christopher to warm up to the idea so as to not cause him more pain. Meanwhile, Chris is out the door, in an Uber, and on his way to Buck, the person who actually gets Chris to talk about his feelings and who fixes the whole mess. So while Eddie is talking with Ana, Buck is playing a parental role AND promising Chris he isn't going anywhere, completely juxtaposing everything Ana has said and done in this episode (throwback to Fools, anyone?). Just like we see in 4x14, the perfect partner that Eddie is looking for is already putting in the work, no questions asked (and this is all before Buck knows about the will!). Yet Eddie is still trying to force it with Ana.

We see this again very briefly in Parenthood. Eddie and Buck are seen agreeing on parenting ideals on a call, similar to how we saw them work together in Future Tense to talk Chris out of playing video games. At the end of the episode however, when Chris asks to join the movie, Ana just jumps ahead and lets him in, not consulting with Eddie. Of course, this isn't a serious issue and Eddie is happy to have Chris join them, but it still carries on with juxtaposing Ana with Buck. It's also a bit interesting that Chris sits between them, parallel to the video game scene from season 3. But again, it's a very brief scene, so I don't know how much value it has overall.

We see all of this come to a head in 4x13 when Eddie becomes invested in the single mother and her son from the balcony call. Interestingly, this call happens after Eddie's conversation with Carla ("make sure you're following your heart"). On the call, Eddie flirts with the mom. This is interesting because we've seen many times in the past that Eddie...doesn't like flirting, especially on the job. Eddie openly flirting with the mom here may be his way of fighting against what his instincts are telling him Carla's comment was about (him liking Buck/a man). Eddie quickly becomes invested in Charlie (the son) and takes a liking to his mother because he relates to her. You can kind of see the gears working in Eddie's head when he's at their apartment...he's admiring her and perhaps maybe fantasizing about having a partner who gets it. And he sees a mother taking care of her son...reinforcing his love for the mother figure. But of course, we all learn by the end of the episode that this mother figure is extremely warped and not at all what her child needs.

The best part about this plot is the way it plays into the shooting scene at the end of the episode. Just before he gets shot, we see Eddie in an interesting framing choice (I am genuinely serious when I say that I want to sit down with Brenna Malloy and ask her about her directing choices for this whole scene):

The mother and son are placed into separate ambulances, and Eddie stands between the two vehicles. Visually, Eddie is literally placed between the mother figure and the son, and Buck is standing in front of him (at a slight distance). As (thank you to @kitkatpancakestack for pointing this out!) the ambulance with the mother drives away, Eddie says "shoulda gotten here sooner" to Buck (who replies, "That kid is just lucky he met you." He knows how to reassure Eddie and recognizes what is good for the child). Then of course, Eddie gets shot. But let's focus instead on why this framing before the shooting is important: the universe does scream, and it sure as hell was screaming at Eddie this whole episode. Carla calls him out for not following his heart, he idolizes this mother only for her to end up being horrid, then he gets shot with his partner standing right in front of him (you know, the same person who takes care of his son for the entirety of the next episode).

This can be read so plainly: Eddie has been fighting hard for what he thinks is best for his son, and he's stuck in this relationship with Ana because he thinks she is what will make Christopher happy. Meanwhile, Buck is in front of him and has been there the entire time putting in the work with Chris and making him feel heard, loved, and important. This ties right back to that Shannon line: if Eddie had simply asked Christopher what he needs/wants, it's very possible that his answer would be "Buck." Eddie doesn't need to be stuck in the middle of this relationship he doesn't care about because Chris' happiness is not dependent on having a mother figure.

Of course, we didn't see very much of Eddie in 4x14 so we don't really know what is going through his head regarding the shooting or Carla's comment just yet, but I'm hoping we see a lot of him working through all of the events that took place in 4x13/14 throughout next season. Because of the way the mother/son storyline ended up and the way they framed Eddie in the shooting scene, I'm willing to bet that he's going to be reevaluating just what Christopher needs and what he already has (with his Buck).

(Also side note--the welcome home party scene...when Buck is watching Eddie greet Christopher, notice the framing there too. The photo of Chris and Shannon is on the right side of the frame, Eddie and Chris in the middle, and Buck to the left. You already know what I'm going to say, so I'll leave it at that...)

Anyways. Edmundo Diaz is confused about what he and Christopher need, and it's actually a brilliant way to dive into a storyline about his sexuality and his feelings for Buck. Remember that post-finale interview with Tim where he said Eddie is always concerned with what's best for Christopher? That there will be a lot to explore with Eddie? I take everything Tim says with a grain of salt, but looking at all of this, there's quite a bit here pointing in the direction of pining Eddie. It's not wishful thinking, it's in the text.

I'm literally just applying basic film analysis to these scenes...and everything is adding up to a larger picture. I'm really excited to see what Eddie's arc in season 5 will be because there's so much set in place for it to be really great.

#buddie #911 fox #eddie diaz #evan buckley #christopher diaz #meta #mother figures #part one?#I have more to say but will save for another post #buddie canon s5 idc

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fruitydiaz-archived · 3 years

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you can have my back any day

4.14 speculation fic / eddie wakes up in the hospital

6,383 words

part two of healing together

AO3 link

The first thing Eddie feels when he wakes up is panic.

Everything’s a little foggy, a little blurry, and he can’t remember much of anything — and that’s never a good sign.

He struggles to open his eyes, his eyelids feel heavy. And then it all starts to rush at him quickly.

Charlie, Sheila, the eyedrops. She was poisoning him, her own kid, all for money — how sick is that?

But they got there in time and they had just closed the doors to the ambulance and Eddie was just talking to Buck in the middle of the street when — when —

His eyes fly open at the memory, at the sound piercing through the fog in his brain. A gunshot. A gunshot and a bullet cutting through the mass of his shoulder — and Buck.

He vaguely registers the sound of something beeping beside him, a loud, annoying sound — and there’s something in his throat. Panic claws its way up his chest and he feels it taking over his entire body. He doesn’t realize that he’s in a room surrounded by people until the nurses are at his side, gently holding his arms and easing him to relax back down against the bed.

He stares up at them with wild, panicked eyes, before he starts to relax. It’s not really a voluntary reaction, but he feels himself start to disappear into the fog again, his limbs going loose in heavy.

He’s been intubated. He’s awake in the hospital. He’s panicked. They need to sedate him again, just a little, just enough to remove the tube, enough to patch him up.

But he doesn’t want that — he wants to see Buck. The last thing he remembers is Buck, covered in blood, Buck on the ground, Buck staring at him helplessly as he bled out onto the street. He has to know he’s okay.

He tries to open his mouth to speak but, like everything else, it feels heavy. He doesn’t like feeling out of control of his body like this — hates it really. He just wants to see Buck, he just has to know he’s okay, that the shooter didn’t get him too. He has to see him.

Eddie’s unfixed gaze drops from the nurses’ faces, shifting to the foot of his bed while his eyelids start to fall shut. The last thing he sees is a blurry face — a birthmark and dark curls.

Buck.

The next time he wakes up — he’s not as panicked. His mouth and throat feel dry and scratchy, but he can swallow easier. Somewhere in the back of his mind he notes that the tube must’ve been taken out after he woke up the first time. That’s a good sign. His limbs still feel heavy, though, and his thoughts are thick and syrupy like molasses. He keeps sliding from one thought to another, never forming anything complete. It feels a little like he’s floating through time. He hates it.

Eventually, Eddie forces his eyes to open and he stares up at the bright white ceiling, before the sound of someone shifting to the right draws his attention. He blinks.

It’s Carla.

She smiles down at him, and it’s warm and comforting in a way that Eddie didn’t know he needed. Of course she would be here.

“Hey there, handsome,” She smiles, reaching out to brush his forehead lightly. He smiles and leans into the touch for a moment. It reminds him of something his sisters used to do, absentmindedly when they’d pile onto the couch to watch a movie together, when he was younger, way younger, way more innocent, when the only scars he had were from climbing trees and playing sports — not from bullets or fists.

He opens his mouth to speak but she shushes him, grabbing a paper cup with ice chips from the side table.

“I imagine you’re pretty parched after what you’ve been through,” She says, pulling a chip out of the cup and lifting it to Eddie’s mouth. He stares at her for a second and she stares back before he eventually opens his mouth and lets her slip the chip in. It's an instant relief, even though the cold is shocking. She slips him a couple of more before he nods to her and she puts the cup down and settles into the chair by his bed.

“I’m sorry you’re in a hospital again,” Eddie says eventually. His voice is rough, and it takes a lot of energy to speak, but he’s desperate to fill the silence, to hear the sounds of life around him.

“Especially so soon. I can’t imagine it’s easy being here after your dad. When Shannon died — for a couple of weeks I couldn’t even drive by a hospital without wanting to cry.”

He’s never said that before — and he’s surprised at how easily the admission slips out. But he doesn’t have a chance to feel embarrassed about it. Carla reaches out, covering his hand with her own.

“I know you’re not apologizing for getting shot by a sniper, Eddie.” He shrugs his good shoulder. “I would be here for you anytime, any day, you know that.”

He looks at her and he knows it’s true. It’s weird, if he thinks about it too long, the way that Carla has become such an important part of their lives. He was used to fighting for things, to having to do things on his own, to having to explain himself to everyone, to defend himself.

But Carla, Buck’s ex-girlfriend’s dead mom’s caretaker, wasn’t anything like that. She just stepped in and graciously offered her care. He knows that’s her job, but he also knows that she loves him and Christopher like they’re family. She wouldn’t be here if she didn’t. And that’s something Eddie never had in his life before.

“It’s no wonder you and Buck are such good friends,” She says, changing the subject. “You two are a lot alike.”

At the mention of Buck, Eddie can’t stop the emotions from shifting over his face. They move so quickly he’s not even sure what they all are — but they’re suspicious and he knows it. He’d been expecting to see Buck when he woke up, he had been wanting to see Buck when he woke up. All he’s been able to think about, in his conscious moments and unconscious, is Buck. He just has to see that he’s okay, and then he’ll relax.

“I thought he would be here,” Eddie chances saying, eventually. Carla nods, a small smile on her lips.

“That boy has been here more often than not. You’ve been in the hospital for a couple of days, honey. We’re taking turns. He took Christopher for some real food and a change of clothes a couple of hours ago. But I texted him as soon as I saw you were waking up and they’re on their way now.”

And that — right there — that makes everything okay. All of the fear, trepidation, tension in Eddie’s body basically vanishes. Buck’s okay. More than okay — he’s with Christopher. And more than just being with Christopher, he’s looking after him. Making sure he’s well fed, clean, and comfortable. It’s more than Eddie could ever ask for, and the fact that Buck just does it, no questions no complaints — he does it happily — that has Eddie choked up.

Then he realizes.

“Did he — who told you? About what happened?” Carla frowns.

“He came by the house an hour or so after getting you to the hospital. He said Bobby made him go home and clean up but he had to come tell us the news. I offered to tell Chris — but he wanted to do it. It was...not easy. For either of them.”

Eddie can imagine. He remembers having to get down on one knee in front of Christopher and tell him that he would never see his mom again. A couple of hours after getting Eddie to the hospital means there was no way they knew whether or not he was gonna make it at that point.

Buck had to prepare Chris for his dad’s death.

He doesn’t know how he’ll ever repay Buck for this — for everything, for saving his life, for taking such good care of Christopher, for looking after him like he was his own son. For having to hold it together for all of them.

But he knows what Buck would say if he mentioned any of this to him.

It wasn’t some favor I was doing you, Eddie. I have your back, always. You never have to repay me.

Eddie leans back. Buck’ll be here soon, with Christopher. That’s all he needs. Everything’s okay.

He realizes it all, several minutes too late. He glances at Carla, who’s looking back at him expectantly.

“Ana,” He says. Carla nods. Eddie’s mouth works as he tries to figure out exactly what to say next. Nothing comes to him.

“She’s downstairs grabbing us some coffee,” Carla says, folding her hands over her lap. She fixes Eddie with a look and he sighs, turning away from her.

“Can the fact that I just had a bullet in my shoulder get me out of whatever conversation I know you want to have with me right now?” She smiles and it’s not unkind. It reminds him of the way his sisters used to smile at him — right before they would expose some deeply buried truth about him that sent him into a week-long existential crisis.

“Honey, we don’t have to have any conversation that you don’t want to have. Not right now. But you should be having a conversation with Miss Flores soon, because you and I both know where your heart is, and it’s not with her.”

Eddie frowns. Ana’s nice. He likes having her around. She makes Christopher laugh — fills the house with his laughter which, really, to Eddie, seems like everything in the world.

In some ways — she reminds him of Shannon. It’s the way she carries herself, the sundresses she wears, the quiet shyness, the way she smiles at Christopher, runs her fingers through his curls.

But they don’t fight like he and Shannon did. They don’t fight at all, really. Eddie thought their polite tip-toeing-around-each-other stage would’ve ended months ago — but it hasn’t. And it’s not that he wants to fight, he hated fighting with Shannon. But he’s started to realize that fighting was the most exciting part of their relationship — the throwing down and the making up, the passion that followed.

It was undeniably toxic and unhealthy for the both of them, and as much as Eddie hated Shannon for leaving him again — she was right. They didn’t really work together.

And Ana...he’s beginning to see that they’re not working together either. Maybe it took him longer to figure out because they weren’t fighting, because all he’s ever known in his relationships is fighting — fighting with his parents, fighting with his sisters, fighting with Shannon. He thought this...this pleasantness was good. The easiness was good.

But ever since Carla planted that tiny little seed of doubt in his head at the dinner table, he’s felt the whole thing unravel.

He doesn’t want Ana here. He just wants to be with Christopher and Buck and Carla. He didn’t want to wake up to see Ana sitting next to him — was pleasantly surprised when it wasn’t her, but he wanted to see Buck. He didn’t care that Ana knew he was safe — he wanted to make sure Buck was safe.

But, most importantly, Ana wasn’t with Chris. Ana wasn’t the one who told him that Eddie was in the hospital, wasn’t the one who bravely broke the news to his son, wasn’t the one who held him and comforted him, wasn’t the one taking him to and from the hospital, wasn’t the one making sure that he still ate and took care of himself, even though he’s sick with grief.

Ana’s not with Christopher. Buck is. And that’s the most damning piece of evidence of all.

He doesn’t want anyone else in his life. He has Buck.

When Ana appears in the doorway a couple of minutes later, Eddie doesn’t even have enough energy to feel sick about it. She smiles at him, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes, and he smiles weakly back.

Carla picks her purse up.

“I’m going to give you two a moment alone. Buck and Christopher will be here soon, so I’ll see you again when it’s my turn.” She steps over to Eddie’s side and leans down to kiss his forehead. “I’m glad you’re with us still, Eddie.”

He doesn’t want her to go but he knows she has to. He doesn’t really want her to be here for what’s about to happen either. And if she’s down in the lobby she’ll be able to fend off Chris and Buck until Ana’s gone. The last thing he needs is them walking in on...whatever’s about to happen.

Ana slides into Carla’s spot, smoothing her hand over the top of her hair. She looks worn and tired — Eddie imagines they all do. He hates when people worry about him. It reminds him of when he was younger, when he would do something foolish with his friends and end up with a couple too many scrapes or a broken bone — and he would sit in bed while his parents fretted over him, bringing him soup and pain meds and whatever else he might need. It wasn’t the care that bothered him — it was the way it always came with an edge of disappointment, like he should’ve known better to get hurt, like it was an inconvenience for them.

He swallows.

“It’s good to see you awake,” Ana says, her tone falling just short of the bright and cheery Eddie knows she was aiming for. He forces a smile. “You had me really scared for a minute there.”

Eddie bites back the urge to say sorry. He didn’t ask to get shot.

“Yeah, thought I was done being shot at once I left the army,” He comments drily. Ana nods and her mouth twitches like she wants to smile, like she wants to laugh at the joke Eddie’s trying to crack, but it’s probably too on the dark side for her, because her face crumbles just a bit.

“Sorry,” He tacks on sheepishly. She shakes her head but doesn’t say anything.

The silence stretches over them and Eddie hates the fact that it’s making him itch, that it’s making him angry. He’s just been shot, just woke up to a tube in his mouth, and woke up again — waiting to see the two people he wants to see most in the world, so he thinks he should be allowed to get a little angry.

But Ana hasn’t done anything, not really. And she deserves better than Eddie lashing out at her right now.

“Ana,” Eddie starts, but his throat feels dry again. He glances at the cup of ice chips that Carla left and Ana’s up immediately, lifting a piece of ice to Eddie’s mouth just like Carla had moments before.

Her hands are shaking.

Eddie sighs and lets her slip a couple of chips in his mouth before he feels like he can talk again. She stands by his side.

“I really...I don’t want to have to do this right now,” He says, lifting a hand up to rub at his face. He wants to lift his right arm but quickly remembers its in a fucking sling, draped across his chest, and he’s quickly losing his patience.

“I know,” Ana says quickly. He looks up at her and sees her blinking back tears. “It’s us.”

“I’m sorry. This is...shit timing.”

“Nothing like a bullet in your shoulder to make you realize what you really want,” She jokes. He surprises both of them when he snorts a laugh.

He looks up at her and she’s smiling down at him, but she looks sad, not angry. He really does like her.

“Thank you for being here,” He says honestly. She reaches down and brushes her fingers against his forehead.

“Of course, Eddie. Things between us...I think we’ve both known where this was heading for a while. But...I’d always be here for you.”

“You’re really great, you know,” Eddie says. Ana tilts her head to the side and Eddie’s surprised when a tear slips down her face and onto his forehead. She moves to wipe it away with her thumb quickly, scrunching her face up, a move Eddie now knows she does when she’s embarrassed.

It’s weird, knowing that he’ll always have these tiny quirks cataloged as Things Ana Does When in his mind. He has a list of things that Shannon does too — he sees them in Christopher all the time. It took a while for him to get used to the dull ache he feels in his chest every time he sees it.

He has a list of things Buck does too, that Chris has also picked up on. He’s never quite understood how that made him feel, but he’s beginning to.

“I know,” Ana says, faking a smile. “I’m just not what you want.”

Eddie twists his mouth into a sympathetic smile.

“I don’t really know what I want,” Eddie says — and at that moment Ana’s phone pings with a notification. She quickly steps away from Eddie, turning her back to him while she digs in her bag for her phone. He hears her sniffle a couple of times but pretends he doesn’t — he knows she’s trying to hide it.

“Well, I’m pretty sure I do,” Ana says distractedly, straightening once she has her phone in her hand. She wipes away her face dry as she turns back to him. “Christopher and Buck are here — so...I guess this is the last time I’ll see you.”

Eddie’s stomach turns uncomfortably at that. He’s never liked goodbyes — even when they’re necessary. He knows it’d be unfair to ask Ana to stick around, and he doesn’t even want her to, but he feels like he needs to make it up to her somehow.

She steps up to him, brushing her fingers against his forehead again. She lets them trail down the side of his face, running along his jaw like she’s trying to map his facial features, committing them to memory. Her face starts to crumble again and before Eddie can say anything to try and soothe the pain, she presses her lips to his forehead, whispers a shaky goodbye, and disappears out the door.

He feels like shit about it for about a minute before he remembers that her absence means that Chris and Buck will be there soon.

His boys.

He feels a complicated series of emotions at that realization. First, it’s pure elation that he gets to see Christopher. He never likes to be away from him for long, it makes him feel like he’s missing a part of himself, and he knows Chris has had a hard couple of days while he’s been in the hospital. And then the reality of what he’s been through comes crashing down on top of him.

He was shot . He was shot and he almost died — he knows that. He knows he lost a good amount of blood, knows that the surgery was touch and go. He knows it was devastating for Christopher — 12 years old and grappling with the fact that he might lose his only remaining parent.

Guilt settles heavy in the pit of his stomach and he’s breaking down crying before he knows it. He almost left Christopher alone. He almost lost his boy.

And then he feels anger, anger at the fact that this is the hand he’s been dealt — this life of fighting, of feeling like he never does a goddamn thing right. He couldn’t when he was a kid, couldn’t when he started dating Shannon and got her pregnant, couldn’t when he committed to marrying her because he thought it was the right thing to do, couldn’t when he enlisted, couldn’t when he re-enlisted, couldn’t when he picked up job after job to support his son, couldn’t when he relocated them to California, couldn’t when Shannon came back, couldn’t when Shannon died. He couldn’t even live right.

He wasn’t supposed to be getting shot at anymore — he left Afghanistan long ago. How was he supposed to leave Christopher again, put on that uniform, and know that any day something could happen and he could be ripped out of his kid’s world?

He’s always known the job was dangerous, always accepted that any scene could go the wrong way and anything could happen. But he’s never come this close before.

But then he remembers that he didn’t die, he didn’t die and he didn’t lose his son, and his son is on his way to see him right now. So he pulls himself out of the fear, guilt, anger spiral quickly. He’ll deal with that again some other day, he knows it. He knows that he has months, maybe years of new nightmares ahead of him, knows that eventually, he’ll have to sit down in Frank’s office again and slowly, painstakingly, piece his life back together.

But for now — he’s about to see his son.

And he’s about to see Buck.

The wave of guilt threatens to wash over him again — because Eddie can never really escape it.

Buck who saw him get shot, Buck who got covered in his blood, Buck who watched him bleed out, Buck who risked his life to physically carry the weight of Eddie’s body to safety, Buck who got him to the hospital in time, Buck who sat in the waiting room, traumatized and shocked, Buck who went home to tell his kid, Buck who cared for his kid like he was his own.

Buck. Buck who...is his best friend...but is maybe more than that.

He loves Buck, he’s always known that. Ever since the tsunami, ever since Buck ran himself ragged walking all over the city looking for Chris — he’s known. But loving his friend and being in love with him — that’s a different thing.

Or at least, he thinks it is? He’s not sure. He just knows that in his last moments, when he was standing in shock and Buck was in front of him — something changed. Or, rather, something shifted, in his mind.

He doesn’t know exactly how he feels about Buck or exactly what he wants their relationship to look like and if he thinks about it too hard he knows he’s going to get a headache. But he knows that he loves Buck, and that for a moment he was terrified that he would never see him again, and that he never wants to leave him, and that he wants him woven into his life forever.

Thankfully, Eddie’s managed to pull himself together by the time Buck comes skidding into the doorway, Christopher over his shoulder. It’s such an entrance that Eddie’s stunned for a second, and his eyes lock with Buck’s before he breaks down laughing.

It feels good to feel such pure joy.

“We were gonna walk but Christopher was so excited to see you that he insisted I carry him and run here — and I wasn’t really gonna deny him the opportunity to see his dad as quickly as possible,” Buck explains, a little out of breath as he lowers Christopher down to the ground.

“Used his puppy dog eyes on you, didn’t he?” Eddie teases. “You’re too easy, Buck.”

“Yeah, well, I already accepted that I’m not immune to the Diaz puppy dog eyes a long time ago. I’d do anything for you two.” Buck says this naturally, as he slides Christopher’s glasses off of his shirt collar and hands them for Chris to put on. He shifts Christopher’s crutches from one hand to the other, eyes still focused on the kid.

“Do you want to use your crutches, buddy, or are you good to walk around?” Eddie’s a little stunned at how natural Buck is with Chris — and he’s not really sure why, because he always has been.

“I don’t need them,” Chris says, nodding. Buck nods back and settles his crutches down on the chair.

Eddie can’t hold back the tears. Christopher looks at him with such unfiltered joy — and the guilt lingers in the back of Eddie’s mind, the knowledge that he scared the crap out of his own kid. He holds out his good hand.

“Here, let’s go around the other side so we can be on your dad’s good side,” Buck suggests gently, ushering Chris over to the other side of the bed. Eddie can’t help but notice that Buck’s not looking at him, but he can’t focus on it for too long when Christopher’s collapsing against the side of the bed, falling into Eddie’s arm. Eddie pulls him close, presses his head against his chest, and buries his face in Christopher’s curls, pressing a solid kiss to the top of his head.

He closes his eyes and loses himself in the familiarity, in the comforting scent of Christopher’s shampoo, in the feeling of his son in his arms, where Eddie would keep him forever if he could.

“Oh mijo,” Eddie mumbles into Christopher’s hair, not wanting to pull away from him for a second. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?” Chris asks, pulling away. He reaches out to brush his hand against Eddie’s jaw and Buck’s hit with the startling memory of when Chris did that to him, on the pier, just before the tsunami. He wonders if that’s something he picked up from Shannon or Eddie.

Eddie smiles at Chris sadly.

“Because I scared you.”

“I wasn’t scared,” Christopher says, and Buck clears his throat behind him.

“Come on, buddy. We talked about being honest about all of our emotions, remember?”

Eddie quirks an eyebrow and looks up at Buck, but he’s still avoiding his eyes.

“Sorry. I was scared at first. I didn’t want to lose you too. But Buck said that he would never lie to me and he was pretty sure that you were gonna be okay because...you’re the strongest person he knows and that the doctors here are the best!”

Eddie doesn’t have anything to say to that, so he just pulls Christopher back in and presses another kiss to the top of his head. He looks at Buck again, and this time he waits, keeping his gaze steady until Buck’s eyes finally meet his.

And it knocks all of the air out of his lungs.

Because the last time he looked into those eyes — everything was hazy around the edges. He could feel himself slipping away and the only thing that kept him anchored, the only thing that kept him tethered to the earth, was the piercing blue of Buck’s eyes. The last thing he remembers is the fear in them, and the anger. He knew as soon as he recognized it that he was going to be okay — because he’s seen that determined look in Buck’s eyes a million times before.

He knows Buck’s remembering it too, he’s pretty sure that’s why Buck’s been avoiding his eyes the whole time, because he goes pale the moment they meet. He watches him swallow, watches the flashbacks echo in his mind.

Buck looks away quickly and clears his throat. He’s trying really hard not to throw up his breakfast right now, remembering Eddie lying lifeless on the street, bloody and pale. It’s not a sight he’s soon to forget, no matter how hard he tries.

He slides into the seat behind Christopher, too far for Eddie’s liking, so he stretches out his hand to him.

“Come on, Buck,” Eddie mumbles. Buck hesitates before scooting the chair closer. He stares at Eddie’s hand for a moment before he slips his hand into it. He rests their linked hands down on Christopher’s back.

They talk for a bit, Christopher catching Eddie up on the few things that have happened in the last couple of days. He’s been out of school, which makes sense. His parents are in town — he wonders when he’ll have to see them. He’s not excited about it; he knows that what’ll follow will be remarks about how it’s not safe, how Eddie could’ve died, how Chris could’ve lost him, how he’d be safer at home.

By the time Carla shows back up in the doorway, Christopher’s eyelids are drooping closed and he keeps dropping his head against his dad’s shoulder. It’s time for him to go home and rest but he protests — because of course, he wants to stay with Eddie.

“Go on, Christopher. I’ll be back home tonight and then we can stay up late and watch a movie and enjoy our fun time before your dad comes back and ruins it with his boring rules and grumpy face.”

Eddie’s heart warms at Buck calling his house home — and he wants to roll his eyes at the teasing, but he also recognizes the way Buck deflects with humor, and it makes his chest ache. It works for Chris, though, and he’s out the door with Carla after a solid hug and a kiss on his cheek goodbye, leaving Buck and Eddie alone.

Neither of them says anything for a minute. There’s a weight that settles over them without Christopher there. Something that rests heavily on their shoulders — the memory of the moment that neither of them want to talk about — when they were feet apart and watching the other lose their life.

The silence becomes unbearable for Eddie quicker than usual — he’s just not used to Buck being quiet. Buck is always full of this nervous energy, it keeps him moving at all times. He’s usually the one filling awkward silences with random facts, anything he’s read over the last couple of days, something that happened with Maddie, a random joke — anything. But right now he’s sitting in total silence, hands gripping his thighs, eyes fixed on the end of Eddie’s bed.

Eddie’s pretty sure he knows what he’s thinking about.

He reaches out his good hand again and it falls short of Buck’s knee. His fingers stretch out, flexing for a moment before curling back in, and he’s temporarily transfixed by that movement. It’s a little thing, but it reminds him so much of how immobilized he was once he got shot, once he went down, how he couldn’t even stretch out his hand to Buck like he wanted to.

He glances up at Buck, wiggles his fingers again to get his attention. He clears his throat and Buck blinks, once, twice, and then looks back at Eddie, eyes wide. He looks down at Eddie’s hand and then back at his face with the blankest, furthest off stare Eddie’s pretty sure he’s ever seen on Buck, before he shakes his head, flushes, and slips his hand into his.

“I wanted to do this so bad when I got shot,” Eddie admits, lacing their fingers together. He’s surprised at the lack of filter he’s had today. Maybe it has something to do with the drugs, or the recent brush with death, but he can’t find it in him to mull over every single thought that comes to him right now, no energy to vet the words before he says them to make sure they don’t leave him in a vulnerable spot. It’s too late for that.

Buck looks surprised but squeezes Eddie’s hand in response.

“I’m here,” Is all he says. Eddie nods.

“Thank you,” Eddie says and he watches as Buck freezes, as the words click into place in his brain, and his face twists.

“Eddie — I don’t know what you’re thanking me for. You shouldn’t.” Eddie shakes his head, cutting Buck off.

“Look, Buck, I know you. I know you’re probably all up in your head blaming yourself for me getting shot, for not doing enough. But you saved me.”

Buck looks like he wants to argue again so Eddie pushes on.

“Listen, I never thought I’d get shot at again,” He laughs bitterly. “Thought all that would end when I left Afghanistan. But...when our helicopter went down over there...we were under heavy fire. We were already transporting injured soldiers, then I got shot — it...I thought I was gonna die out there.”

Eddie pauses. He’s never really talked about any of this before with Buck. He’s mentioned having nightmares every once in a while, offhandedly mentioned getting shot at a couple of times — but he’s always tried to keep it casual. He’s always tried to cut out the dark reality — for himself and for Buck.

But what happened to him, getting shot in the middle of the street, for Buck to see, it’s dragging all of that up. And he can’t cut it out right now, because the dark reality is this .

When he goes to therapy again he’ll start to unpack his time in the army again. He’ll start to piece together his conscious moments from when he got shot to when he was in the ambulance. He’ll start to remember the fear, the anger, the deep sadness he felt that this was happening to him again.

He’ll remember hearing the sound of helicopter blades in the fire truck. He’ll remember the constant sound of gunfire, the way he screamed as Buck lifted his body. He’ll remember calling out to him, calling out for Christopher.

But he’s not unpacking that all right now. He just wants to make sure Buck knows that he knows that this time was different.

“I thought...I was never gonna come home again, never gonna see Shannon again, never gonna see Christopher. I felt helpless...and — alone.”

He turns back to Buck again, locks their eyes, and squeezes his hand.

“This time I had you. And I knew that you would do whatever it takes.” He can’t keep his voice from shaking anymore, and stops trying to keep it even, stops trying to hold back the tears. He needs Buck to know how much this means to him — how much he means to him.

Buck’s eyes are red and watery and Eddie knows he’s trying his best to not break down. In the back of his mind, he knows Buck’s had his fair share of breakdowns over the last couple of days. The guilt echoes in the back of his mind.

“I said I’d have your back,” Buck says, voice small as he squeezes Eddie’s hand. “I — I’ll always be here for you. But I’d really like it if you never got shot again.”

He laughs as he says it, but he also cries a little too, tears falling freely down his face. He forces a watery smile and grabs Eddie’s hand with his other, sandwiching his good hand between his. And then he’s fully crying, leaning forward and pulling their hands up to his forehead as the sobs rack his body.

All Eddie wants to do is pull him in, wrap his arm around him and hold him close, remember that there’s not this distance between them anymore, remember that they’re both alive and there’s no blood on either of them and they’re safe, they’re safe.

But that illusion of safety has been shattered, and for that Eddie cries too.

Eventually, they’ll pick themselves up, dry their tears (or rather, Buck will reach out to dry Eddie’s with his free hand, because his other refuses to let Eddie’s go) and they’ll talk about their experience.

Buck will tell Eddie how he felt paralyzed, stuck standing there when he watched Eddie get shot, how he could still taste and smell his blood for hours after.

And Eddie will tell Buck how he didn’t register that he’d been shot at first, that he looked up and saw the blood on Buck and how at first it scared him, until he realized it was his own, and that comforted him.

They’ll talk about that moment their eyes met under the truck, how they were both so desperate to hold onto one another’s gaze because it meant they were alive.

Buck will talk about how he had to drag Eddie’s body, how it felt listening to Eddie in pain, how Buck and the medics had to do their best on the floor of the fire truck to stop the bleeding and keep him alive until they got to the hospital.

Buck will tell him how he couldn’t get all of the blood off him until Bobby sent him home and he scrubbed every last bit of it off in the shower — before putting on fresh clothes and going to tell Carla, Ana, and Christopher. He’ll tell him how Chris broke down, how he was so scared, and how Buck held him while they both cried. And Eddie will cry at that too.

Eddie will tell him how he woke up wanting to see him, because he couldn’t remember anything after his eyes closed on the pavement, how he wanted to make sure Buck was okay.

He’ll tell him that he had to end things with Ana, because it wasn’t fair to her and he couldn’t drag her through all of this if they didn’t love each other. He’ll tell him how the last time he got shot, it was too much for Shannon, and she left them, weighed down by her own struggles and grief.

Buck will squeeze his hand gently.

“You don’t have to do this alone, Eddie,” Buck will say, sincerely.

“I was alone when I came back from Afghanistan,” Eddie will respond. Buck’s face will twist and he’ll lock eyes with Eddie.

“You have me now. And I’m not going anywhere.”

And it’ll be hard and it won’t be pretty. They’ll spend weeks staring at each other, reminding themselves that they’re okay. They’ll spend months having to adjust to loud noises that make them both jump. Eddie will struggle to regain full motion in his hand and his shoulder.

They’ll have nightmares and therapy sessions and breakdowns that make everything seem impossible.

But they’ll have each other — and they’ll be okay.

#911 fox #911 spoilers #speculation #writing #al talks #buddie #:)#idk if this is good ;sklfs i rushed to finish it but! it's done #the title is so original i know but i had to

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itisa-profoundbond-sarandom · 3 years

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Destiel, Buddie: the great love patterns and one failure.

I'm going to highlight the patterns of baiting and good storytelling. Chim sounds like the Sam to Dean!Buck. Cas!Eddie and Claire/Jack!Chris.

WARNING: not a negative post, this is from a destielshipper!POV looking to something so beautiful like 9-1-1.

As someone pointed out: if Eddie was a girl they would've already get laid. Same thing with Dean if Cas was a girl.

(my gifs)

We know Dean and Buck like to get laid with many girls...and have some homo-joke-scenes with guys.

Dean Winchester being a disaster bi (since S1)

(+ Josh and roomate!Albert - I know someone ships it xD) What I really enjoyed with Buck/Abby is the meaning of the storyline. D (who likes older women also) and B always get the part of having fun, and when it comes to express their feelings, not all their crushes understand their soul and they don't always admit those with themselves.

Abby: I think I was afraid that If I came back, I would become that person again. Because I missed you. I wanted to see you. But I didn’t trust myself.

Buck: Because being there, being with me, you might lose yourself again?

Shannon: I can’t fail him again, or you and I won’t. I’m still learning how to be someone’s mother and after that maybe I can be someone’s wife.

Eddie [to Bobby]: [...] she wanted a divorce. And I’m still mad. How stupid is that? I’m agry at a dead person and at myself because I forgave her for everything, and that wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough.

Buck [to Maddie]: You’re never the one getting left behind. You’re the one who leaves. You don’t know what’s like to watch someone you love walk away.

Dean [to Lisa]: When I do picture myself happy...it’s with you.

Lisa: You've got so much buried in there, and you push it down, and you push it down. Do you honestly think that you can go through life like that and not freak out? Just, what, drink half a fifth a night and you're good? Dean: You knew what you signed up for.

Lisa: Yeah. But I didn't expect Sam to come back. And I'm glad he's okay. I am. But the minute he walked through that door, I knew. It was over. You two have the most unhealthy, tangled-up, crazy thing I've ever seen. And as long as he's in your life, you're never gonna be happy. That came out so much harsher than I meant. Dean: It's not your fault.

Who does understand them? The best friend. Cas and Eddie are the best friends to who they talk to, they can feel judged by but it doesn't really matter (or it DOES); they trust each other and feel safe.

you gave up an entire army for one guy (dean)

thank you, for not giving up

stupid for the right reasons

maybe you could’ve come at it a little differently

The Abby-phase was very important 'cause B wanted to stop to think about just the sex part and really connect with the person, doin' romantic stuff, even VDay; feelings were in the game.

(He literally asked to the firetruck!girl to see her again...but she said no. Ali? She acted like a Lisa.)

B really tried to find someone and always felt left behind. D had two important relationships, one with Cassie (yeah, that's fun) and I liked her -but he couldn't have a black girlfriend, right(?). Always felt left behind, by his father, by his brother, his mother’ memories were a lie.

When we first see Cassie, they didn’t see each other in a very long time and they get a reunion during a case.

Much like Eddie and Shannon.

(not saying also this...but....this)

Lisa and the weird-and-bad-written-originally story with Amara...who knew Dean bc of his 'dark' side. (Amara has found Cas and Dean’s profound connection and Dean was scared by her darkness connected to his anger and loniless).

At one point Amara will find Dean thanks to Cas's heart just my reply to go fast (while Cas was possessed by Lucifer- an annoying bitch who is used as a destiel bait)

We know Buck for his autodiagnosed sex addiction with women and Eddie as a married man with a son and wife not in the picture...and the episode- I'm so sorry, but the beginning of S2 with Buddie can't be described as two hets - there are tropes.

We start to fall for them and Chim with Maddie, wait- Sam!Chim and Eileen!Maddie.

Sam and Eileen’ first episode is basically a blind date on a hunt. They flirt and make a badass duo, she's deaf and super sassy and they're so sweet together. Many start to ship it asap.

I cried with Madney asap.

What does Maddie do since Buck start talking about Chris and Eddie? Yeah.

What does happen in Fanfiction with Sam (he’s a Maddie here) and when Saileen comes back on S15?

Bros shipping their bros with their best friends, mirroring them.

Madney have Buddie patterns.

Saileen is presented as a Het!Destiel parallel...and they can kiss.

Sam asks Dean if he could start thinking about settle down with someone who understand the life, another hunter. Eileen is a hunter. Cas is an angel - the one who raised him from perdition and got lost for his beautiful soul/hunter.

I LOVE that Eddie can be just a friend to Lena and Marjan, basically (I hope not to see this ruined in the future).

Now, over the line: Dean has a mother figure in Bobby!Jody and Jody is shipped with Athena!Donna (also good friend to Dean) and he's got a sister figure in Hen!Charlie.

[Jody, Charlie]

(Jody and Donna have many daugthers figures and a spin-off who hasn't been picked bc too many poc girls, queer girls and two not young women with perfect bodies.)

Bobby!Jody helped him with his mother-plot-fiasco (that was really bad) and I loved Mary before s12.

[I'm having fun thinking about this connections, leave me alone if it'ss just a great big illusion]

I forgive you / of course I forgive you

personal space / personal space

Destiel, uncle!Sam and Jack

Destiel, uncle!Sam and Claire

*love is in the air*

oh and beside the MurphyPatterns (Klaine, Bryan&David) we do have the KripkePatterns also (Timeless, The Boys 2 3 )

One of the most loud BI!Dean eps

I’m ready for some domestic Buddie and Madney

Eileen and Cas back from the dead

Just to make you all laugh after this big movie, remember the chars:

what a destiel scene always looks like

THE END:

Yes, C*W and Fox aren’t the same, and yes producers can make the difference. all SPN writers WEREN’T the problem, directors neither, not to mention the actors.

C*W thrived on Destiel for 12 years, building a very good story that could’ve show two men accepting the love they deserved....but they failed, erasing every other (lgbtq, poc, disable) characters.

Fox doesn’t need more viewers but they WILL gain more of them showing Buddie because representation of a M/M ship with BI/PAN (I see Pan!Eddie) it’s a huge thing for TV and it matters. I always see gay love not many other possibilities, with Murphy mostly, he can make the change again.

A reminder to what C*W did

#destiel #buddie #I just want my couples to be happy

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ratingtheframe · 4 years

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Enola Holmes, The Devil All the Time and i’m thinking of ending things: Everything I watched in September.

Thank God we are almost at the end of the year. With October just around the corner and 2021 in full view, it seems like the film industry is slowly piecing themselves back together after months of being on a complete hiatus. Cinemas are slowly starting to return back to normal and streaming services are now full to capacity with content.

Netflix in particular has some exciting things to come and the successful release of Harry Bradbeer’s Enola Holmes and Antonio Campos’ The Devil All the Time, has proven that their ability to produce outstanding content hasn’t been stunted at all by COVID-19. Here are the 31 titles I watched this month and for you to add to your watch list.

Searching (2018) as seen on Netflix

Searching recently came onto Netflix, however the film was actually first released in 2018, screening at Sundance Film Festival. It had a very impressive response and grossed $75 million worldwide and with a budget of only $880,000 it was certainly a success. I rate this film highly, due to the simplicity and execution of it, with a lot of twists and turns in appropriate places. Structurally, the film is flawless and it’s clear a lot of thought had gone into the payoff of the entirety of the film. Certainly an indie filmmaker's dream and a film to watch to learn about the “less is more” rule of screenwriting.

Score: 10/10

Zodiac (2007) as seen on Netflix

I’ve been avoiding Zodiac on Netflix for a loooong time, and after watching it I wonder why I didn’t check it out sooner. David Fincher’s (Fight Club, Panic Room, the Social Network) thriller based on the case files of the “Zodiac Killer” stars the likes of Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Junior and Jake Gyllenhaal, all of which had amazing on screen chemistry. The dialogue and structure is Aaron Sorkin-esque as you figuratively become one the detectives, unravelling the case as the two and a half hour film delves deeper and deeper. You honestly feel as if you become one of the team whilst watching Zodiac and just for that, it goes down as a praise worthy film with a perfect structure and surprising twist to the end. Zodiac is the thriller of thrillers.

Score: 11/10

I See You (2019) as seen on Netflix

Now a film like I see you has me questioning

Netflix’s

choices a little. The film scores handsomely on

Rotten Tomatoes

, with a metric score of

78%,

which is quite high for a largely gimmicky film. I can’t quite fault the overall concept, however the story itself fell flat by the end. Things just seemed to mount too much to the point that it became overtly inauthentic and questionable. Instead of paying attention to the movie, I found myself picking up all the irregularities such as why a police man would suffocate someone, drive them to their own home and then shoot them in the head. Surely a policeman would just leave her in the woods? On a brighter note,

Judah Lewis’ (Babysitter: Killer Queen)

was quite praiseworthy in his performance, but it wasn’t enough to drag the film out of a hole of confusion.

Score: 2/10

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) as seen on Netflix

If there is one film that you NEED to watch from this list, it would be Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The crackhead energy in this film is OFF THE CHARTS as Johnny Depp and Benecio Del Toro play two drug addicts exploring Las Vegas. The production design in this is marvellous and really captures the psychedelic world the two men enter every time they’re high. I particularly enjoyed Depp’s narration throughout this; his voice is the most sensual yet hilarious thing to listen to for 2 hours straight. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is HILARIOUS and such a well rounded, off the wall film to watch.

Score: 12/10

I’m thinking of ending things (2020) as seen on Netflix

Even though I watched i’m thinking of ending things nearly a month ago, I’m still recovering from it. Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich) directs this satisfying yet highly confusing tale based on the Iain Reid book with the same title. Despite it’s perplexing plot, I certainly can’t fault the film’s performances or set design. Jesse Plemons, Jess Buckley, Toni Colette and David Thwelis made a surprisingly good ensemble and the makeup in this film is probably the best I have ever seen. HOWEVER and this is a big however, the waywardness of the story can’t override the success of artistry behind the film. I feel like there’s becoming a trend where films are visually perfect but make zero sense. By sense I mean a clear, concise story, that has character journeys and some sort of resolution at the end, no matter how big or small. I’m thinking of ending things that had just about NONE of these elements, and that doesn’t make it a bad film at all. It’s certainly not a film I’ve seen before and perhaps it raises the questions whether films need to make complete sense in order for them to be good. We can take a look at experimental cinema to delve deeper into that theory, for within this type of cinema, films can still be appreciated even when they are confusing. Perhaps the meaning of i’m thinking of ending things, is more powerful and higher than the average movie goer can understand, but still appreciate.

score: 9/10

Hacksaw Ridge (2016) as seen on Amazon Prime

Again, another film I’ve been avoiding for a loooong time and regret not watching sooner. The film stars Andrew Garfield as a devoted Christian who goes to war to serve his country, but refuses to carry a weapon yet lives to tell the tale. Preacher Desmond T. Doss saved the lives of between 50-100 men on Hacksaw Ridge during the Second World War. He was heavily commended for his service and the film itself earnt 6 Academy Award nominations. It’s a story that was born to be on screen and it’s hard to believe it was all true. Andrew Garfield’s performance was exemplary and he is definitely underrated as a truthful actor.

Score: 10/10

Fear (1996) as seen on Netflix

I am sucker for a thriller, good OR bad and this one from 1996 was surprisingly decent. Starring Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon in their early days, Fear follows a pair of young lovers whose strong relationship turns into a possessive one, when Witherspoon’s character, Nicole learns the true intentions of her boyfriend. It's a 90s teen flick that isn’t talked about enough and certainly an easy one to get sucked into as a guilty pleasure.

Score: 10/10

Make Up (2019) as seen at the BFI Southbank

Make Up first screened at the London Film Festival last year and was later released this year. I wanted to catch it at the festival and was glad it made it into cinemas. The eeriness of the british film directed by Claire Oakley, was a slow burnt, intriguing watch, however as artistically visual it was, a satisfying resolution to the film was missed. The payoff of the story was easy to define despite it’s ambiguity, however it wasn’t as hard hitting as it should’ve been, which is common in most indie features. The better ones expose ideas and truths in a punchy way, such as La Haine or Whiplash. The film’s genre was also undefinebale and although the story was interesting, I wouldn't be inclined to come back for more of it.

Score: 7/10

Zoolander (2001) as seen on Netflix

I’m not a huge comedy fan, however it’s about time I watched Zoolander, for it’s probably one of the most iconic films of the early 2000s. The film follows a model targeted by a fashion brand who wants him to kill the prime minister of Malaysia. Anyone who was anyone in the 00s is in this film, from Naomi Campbell to Lil’ Kim, Paris Hilton, Donald Trump, Lenny Kravitz, Natalie Porter and even David Bowie. How they managed to get these famous faces as well as the actual cast (Owen Wilson, Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell) onto this film is certainly a mastery at casting. As far as comedies go, Zoolander is iconic and a must watch for those who are thoroughly in love with these types of outlandish films.

Score: 8/10

American Pie (2001) as seen on Netflix

This is the my first time seeing American Pie and for someone who hates comedies, it thoroughly made me laugh. I definitely had to look past at the amount of misogyny and questionable scenes in this film and just sit back and enjoy it all. I felt that all four leads (Jason Briggs, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Chris Klein and Eddie Kaye Thomas) were well casted as an ensemble and were really down to earth in their performances. They were authentic in being high school boys still figuring themselves out and in the end I found each one to be highly likeable. As a comedy, this is definitely a go to and an iconic film from the early 2000s.

Score: 9/10

Clemency (2019) as seen on Amazon Prime

A Sundance Film Festival graduate, Clemency was a deeply moving and well shot film that exposed the shocking reality of prison inmates on death row in the US. The word clemency is essentially a term used to define an act of mercy by the justice system, who at the last minute of a prison’s life can grant “clemency” if they feel worthy of doing so, stopping them from being executed. Factors such as new evidence or a parole grant can influence this decision and this film shows the abrasiveness of such an idea. Imagine being a prisoner moments away from death and because of Clemency, you sit there thinking your life can still be saved. But as this film depicts, this isn’t always the case and the masterful acting of Alfre Woodard puts this grief into context beautifully. Her performance ignited this film and it was easy to see this story got to her on a deeper level, that went beyond serving a character. A seriously good film that is professional, dynamic and heart wrenching.

Score: 10/10

Gladiator (2000) as seen on Netflix

I never saw myself as someone who would like Gladiator, however Ridley Scott’s Oscar winning film thoroughly surprised me in an unexpected way. Moving past the amazing visuals and outstanding production value of this film, the actual story itself was just so damn good. It had an excellent, Hollywood worthy structure that saw a hefty and clear journey of it’s lead, Maximus (Russell Crowe). I was VERY surprised to see Joaquin Phoenix play alongside Russell Crowe, who gave a great performance as a bratty roman emperor. Gladiator was nominated for 12 Academy Awards in 2001, which is unsurprising seeing as it's a pretty much flawless film, with the character’s fierce journey being the main contributor to this.

Score: 11/10

American Pie 2 (2001) as seen on Netflix

Now sequels are known to be the downfall of some films, especially as the first films were okay on their own. However, I definitely enjoyed American Pie 2 as much as I enjoyed the first. The performances of all characters seemed to get better with time and it still remained outlandish and hilarious to watch.

Score: 9/10

3096 days (2013) as seen on Netflix

When you laugh more at a film than you should have, there’s something clearly wrong. This Netflix film based on the true story of the kidnapped Natascha Kampusch was directed by German-American director Sherry Hormann. This is gonna sound whack, but one of the most annoying things about this film was the lighting. It felt as if it was never truly dark in this film and because of that, it distracted from the fear of the situation young Natascha was in. Lighting plays an important role in thrillers and horror films, as the idea of these films is to keep people constantly on edge and the dark is something that does that perfectly. I felt safe when watching this film and although it’s meant to be a biopic, I don’t think it captured Natascha’s situation as best as it could have. Another thing that really let the film down was the dubbing from German to English. This is a pet peeve I have with films, but is understandable seeing as the majority of people are too lazy to follow foreign language subtitles and miss out on some of the best films ever made. Because of this, it forces foreign language films to cater towards an English speaking market so the film becomes more viable. I would’ve respected this film a lot more if it was completely in German and had English subtitles.

Score: 5/10

Cruel Intentions (1999) as seen on Netflix

About a year ago, I saw the Glenn Close and John Malkovich film version of the french novel Dangerous Liaisons and I fell asleep. Maybe it was the film I had seen before it that had made me nod off or the fact I couldn’t understand what the hell was going on. However, Cruel Intentions follows the same story with younger leads; Sarah Michelle Geller, Ryan Phillipe and Reese Witherspoon and is set in the modern day. As you can probably tell by now, I am a sucker for a 90s teen movie and Cruel Intentions was all that and more, for the performances and story structure in this film were top notch. Ryan Phillipe is a much underrated actor and heartthrob, playing a jealous and callous Sebastian, the step brother of Sarah Michelle Geller’s character, Kathryn. Both of them were spiteful, abrasive and mean and I LOVED IT. Their non-fuckery was enviable as they cheat and turn the lives of others upside down. Reese Witherspoon was an angel in this film, and I thoroughly appreciated the strength of her character throughout. Cruel Intentions sits highly as a film from the 90s and boasts a hoard of young talent from that era.

Score: 10/10

Wildlife (2018) as seen on Netflix

If you are in love with Paul Dano as much as I am, you’re gonna want to marry him after you find out that he’s also a director. His first feature Wildlife, stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan as a couple battling the demons in their relationship whilst caring for their young son. I really really REALLY can’t wait to see what Paul Dano directs in the future based off this film. It’s everything I love about a good indie film; well shot, a perfect cast and a touching story. It truly is a beautiful film and one I would recommend to my indie lovers out there.

Score: 10/10

The Perks of Being A Wallflower (2012) as seen on Netflix

My excuse for not having seen The Perks of Being A Wallflower is that I thought it would be yet another predictable high school blunder, with flat dialogue and basic character arcs. And I was half right in that. The first half of the film (mostly exposition) was filled with cringey dialogue and basic high school motifs that set up the film. Some moments were overtly far fetched and it took me a while to fall in love with the main character instead of feeling desperately sorry for him ALL THE TIME. Ezra Miller, Emma Watson and Logan Lerman all together as an ensemble was whack casting that just about worked. However, once we made it through the blizzard of exposition and got to the heart of the story, it truly was a touching and tear jerking movie to watch and for that, it scores highly. “We accept the love we think we deserve” was the ringing message of the film and certainly something I carry around with me daily as I reflect on the unfulling crushes I’ve had in the past.

Score: 9/10

The Devil All the Time (2020) as seen on Netflix

Probably my most favourite film on this list, The Devil All the Time is pure ART. I have a full review uploaded onto my tumblr account so please do check it out to see an in depth review of the Netflix film. All I will say is that it is a must watch film with an unreal cast and story.

https://ratingtheframe.tumblr.com/post/629443058079055872/the-south-of-america-meets-gritty-gothic-horror

Score: 11/10

Way of the Gun (2000) as seen on Amazon Prime

Ryan Phillipe and Benicio del Toro star side by side in this action packed crime thriller about two guys who kidnap the wrong woman. Simple in it’s log line with the potentiality to be limitless in its telling; ie the basis of every good film. Juliette Lewis (the it girl of the 90s) also stars in the film and really compliments the performances of both leads. Any film that Juliette Lewis is in, is a good film and she is an actor with a very impressive portfolio of work under her belt.

Score: 9/10

Judy and Punch (2019) as seen on Netflix

I’ve been waiting since the end of last year to see Judy and Punch and was thrilled to see it had been put onto Netflix. However, after watching it, that thrill deteriorated and what was left was a disheartened feeling towards this film. It’s a shame to say this, seeing as the story of Judy and Punch is so satiable and fulfilled in its possibilities of telling it. However, probably the biggest problem within this film was its pace; it was too quick of a film. The beginning was organic and smooth, but as it went on it started to become continuously rushed. There were characters I didn’t have time to get to know and actually didn’t even end up knowing their names. There’s a point in the film when Judy is welcomed into an isolated society outside of her home, most of which in that society were women. I would’ve liked to get to know them better and see how they influence Judy’s character and revenge on her husband. The film felt very rushed, which is a shame because everything else; acting, production and story were well aligned.

Score: 6/10

22nd July (2018) as seen on Netflix

I remember the 22nd July 2011 as clear as day but for all the wrong reasons. On this day, 77 people in Norway were killed by a terror attack caused by a right wing, anti-immigrant supporter, Andres Brevik, who was a member of a radical organisation and spent nine years preparing his attack on Oslo and Utøya Island. The most shocking part of this massacre was what happened on Utøya Island, which was the main body of Netflix’s film 22nd July. Viljar Hanssen was a teenager attending a political youth camp on Utøya Island in the summer of 2011. Whilst on the island with his younger brother, a bomb went off in the centre of Oslo, outside a government building, killing 8 people. By the time news of the attack got to Utøya Island, its perpetrator had also arrived, and begun gunning down the kids on the island. 69 people were killed, most of which were under 18. Viljar Hanssen was shot five times, in the head, arm, legs and hand. The attack lost him an eye, several fingers and bullet fragments still remain in his brain. He also lost close friends and the ability to perform in many activities he used to do growing up. His ordeal and that of many on the island, is captured in 22nd July, that from beginning to end, approaches this story with sensitivity and facts. Out of the many events I have heard of that include a massacre of some kind, this attack always sticks out in my mind. The perpetrator was truly merciless in his rage against immigrants coming into Norway and he made sure to express that hatred in such a shocking and profound way. The entire story is one that is so hard to believe and is important in preventing future attacks of this kind.

Score: 11/10

Les Misérables (2019) as seen at Curzon Bloomsbury

Les Misérables was nominated for Best Foreign Language film this year at the Oscars and despite it being thrilling and highly well made, I felt quite disappointed by it. The film was accurate in exposing the many communities now prevalent in France today and it was definitely one of those gritty, Cannes worthy films to sink your teeth into. It's not a bad film at all, it's just one I found hard to relate to and therefore I switched off whilst watching it. In fact, I think Portrait of a Lady on Fire was a better contender as Best Foreign Language film at the Oscars and I was left fuming when I found out it hadn’t been nominated in that category. Les Misérables is a film I’d recommend but found it hard to love it overall.

Score: 9/10

A Cure for Wellness (2016) as seen on Netflix

The logline for Shutter Island (2010) is as follows: Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule, two US marshals, are sent to an asylum on a remote island in order to investigate the disappearance of a patient, where Teddy uncovers a shocking truth about the place.

And the logline for A Cure for Wellness is as follows: Lockhart, an executive, is sent to a wellness spa in the Swiss Alps to retrieve his company's CEO. At the centre, he encounters strange activities that make him investigate the illness of the people.

Notice anything? They are literally the same film and it's not just the loglines that share an alikeness. On watching A Cure for Wellness, I noticed how similar it was to Shutter Island, from the location, to the colour grading, costumes and even lighting. Both films are almost identical and I pretty much hate both films anyway. I’ll admit, A Cure for Wellness has a better story and tells it better as well, but if it's just a rip off from Shutter Island, is it all that good? I appreciated the production value of this film yet it was hard to tear it away from Shutter Island’s own production. Overall, I found it quiet gimmicky and too close to Shutter Island for it to have much originality.

Score: 6/10

U want me 2 kill him? (2013) as seen on Netflix

The only thing that let this film down was the acting. There’s something about solely British productions that rub me the wrong way. Admittedly, their structure is always good and the story is well put together, however the artistic side of these films lacks in parts, from acting to set design. U want me 2 kill him? Is based on a true story which really alleviated the film. I thoroughly enjoyed delving into this story and it was an interesting, engaging plot. However, its production value and acting is what let it down.

Score: 7/10

After (2019) as seen on Netflix

So in short, this wasn’t a good film. The twist was satisfying, however the rest of it was just plain annoying. Any film that uses reality tv type music in its montages pisses me off. It's just such a cringey way of showing emotion on screen and I’d much rather they use music with no lyrics or music that actually conveys the emotion of the scene. The relationship between the leads, Hardin and Tessa (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Josephine Langford) was very predictable and the conflict between the two only made up like 5% of the film; 2.5% at the beginning and a further 2.5% at the end. For the rest of the 95% of the film, they were pretty much happy throughout, meaning the story had nowhere to go, besides the fact that Tessa’s mom disapproves of Hardin. But besides that and a shocking revelation..that was about it. No one died, no one was really hurt. Hardin was made out to be more troubled than he actually was (his dad is chancellor of a college for fuck’s sake) and I found myself laughing when I shouldn’t be. As for After We Collided, I can’t wait to tear it apart this month.

Score: 4/10

Miss Juneteenth (2020) as seen at BFI Southbank

Miss Juneteenth is the underdog movie of the month for me. You can read a full, in depth review of it right here:

https://ratingtheframe.tumblr.com/post/630357041253400576/she-my-dream-now-miss-juneteenth-review

Score: 11/10

Monsoon (2020) as seen at BFI Southbank

Why this film was praised by critics is unknown to me. The number one thing that this film did wrong was not showing ANY conflict on screen whatsoever, the characters merily TALKED about conflict. Conflict and actions based on those conflicts is what moves a story forward, and this film was certainly static. The story follows a man (Henry Golding) and his return to Vietnam as he learns about the war and the life he left behind. But the film shows no war, no deprivation or heartache that many vietnamese people had to go through. It's just filled with empty shots of Vietnam and Henry Golding looking out at the city. Why not just make a documentary about The Vietnam War with Henry Golding presenting it, as that is what this film was virtually. You can’t get away with nice looking shots to produce a praise worthy feature. Maybe I’m getting the wrong jist of the film, but in terms of its telling, I didn’t feel anything at all whilst watching it and if I didn’t feel anything, I wasn’t thinking about anything because it was so mundane.

Score: 5/10

The Riot Club (2014) as seen on Amazon Prime

I’ve had a strong soft spot for Sam Claflin since he played Finnick in The Hunger Games. My crush on him was further confirmed with The Riot Club a British Production based on Laura Wade’s theatre play Posh that shows the ongoings of Oxford’s Riot Club. The group of ten men are all self entitled posh twats who think their education and parent’s money allows them to act in a horrendous way, with their initiation ceremonies and club rules. Sam Claflin plays Ryan, a 1st year student at Oxford and one of the Riot Club’s newest members. Max Irons plays Miles, another new member of the club, who becomes the focal point of Ryan’s jealousy, causing him to do some unspeakable things in one night out of envy for Miles. The ten men in the film work brilliantly as an ensemble, which is unquestionable seeing as five of them went to Guildhall School of Music and Drama, three went to LAMDA, one studied drama at University and the last went to Bristol Old Vic. All the leads in this film are well trained and it's clear to see that in their performances. A really enjoyable, yet eye opening film that exposes the privilege of some living right in the UK, including Boris Johnson and David Cameron, who were former members of this heinous club.

Score: 10/10

Enola Holmes (2020) as seen on Netflix

Hmmm...there is a great deal of hype going around for this film and with a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Enola Holmes is well liked. This is understandable, seeing as Fleabag’s director Harry Bradbeer directed this film for Netflix and the cast includes the likes of Millie Bobbie Brown, Henry Cavill and Sam Claflin. I have never seen Millie Bobbie Brown in anything and yet I don’t think she’s doing anything special for me at this moment in time. As a viewer, I am 100% not into actors talking to the camera, a communication technique that I think should stay in theatre. I get this is a big part of Fleabag however I think Enola Holmes could have done without it. Another movie pet peeve is when the opening of a film explains what the film is about directly, something Enola Holmes did in an artistic, yet blatant way. Audiences aren’t dumb and will catch on with given clues, there’s no need to go through a character’s entire history in the opening of a film. For kids aged between 8 and 12, this film is great and Enola Holmes makes a great hero for many young girls. I don’t fall in this age bracket and therefore I enjoyed it a whole lot less.

Score: 6/10

American Murder: Family Next Door (2020) as seen on Netflix

Netflix is known for producing some of the finest, most eye opening documentaries out there. Despite this one being quite simple using found footage, its impact is certainly something that grew organically throughout the documentary. You can read my full review of American Murder: Family Next Door here:

https://ratingtheframe.tumblr.com/post/630780350645354496/netflix-documentary-delves-into-the-murder-of-a

Score: 10/10

Peppermint (2018) as seen on Netflix

I was thoroughly shocked to discover this film was made 2 years ago. You’d think we’re past a time of creating bad films that actually get released, but I guess we’re not. Peppermint was released in the same year as The Favourite, Blackkklansman and A Star is Born, three courageous films, all of which were showered with awards. Peppermint had two major problems; 1) it was boring and 2) the lead wasn’t orchestrated properly. The mexican drug cartel who murder the protagonist’s (Jennifer Garner) husband and child was almost insulting. Because it felt so inauthentic and gimmicky, I didn’t really understand why the drug cartel in the film was even mexican. Peppermint proves that a good story can turn bad in the wrong hands. The script was quite terrible and surrounding that was the nonsensical, half asked directing which saw Jennifer Garner get way too many injuries to still be alive in the end. The whole thing just had my eyes rolling, as nothing about it was original or provoking at all. In fact, the film didn’t even EXPLAIN how Garner’s character became a bloodthirsty vigilante. It merely showed us her training as a cage fighter. Das it. Nothing else in her character made her into this dominant and highly skilled fighter who takes down an ENTIRE DRUG CARTEL ONE HANDED. It, made, no, sense and sits a good example of how NOT to make a film. Also the only reason why it was called Peppermint was because of peppermint ice cream...yeah I don’t get it either.

Score: 2/10

And that is September, which marks an entire year since I’ve been critiquing movies and in that time, I’ve watched well over 350 films. There’s a lot more to come though, for the London Film Festival commences in October and titles such as Dune and the No Time to Die await a winter release. Stay tuned!

#movie review #netflix #movie recommendation #SeptemberMovies #movies #the devil all the time #enola holmes #zodiac #reviews #im thinking of ending things #cinema #bfi london film festival #bfi southbank #curzon

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rustybutterknife · 4 years

Note

Yo can I get some Beetlejuice headcannon. Just like, some weird shit idk. Anything. I just like reading headcannons xD

Of course!

His eyes glow reflect light (like a raccoon)

So when he goes into Lydia’s room at night (to wake her up to get up to no good) she wakes up and just sees two glowing yellow eyes looking down at her

Needless to say she screamed and punched him straight in the nose

She turns on the light and sees BJ fall straight on his ass, holding his nose as it’s bleeding

It was a fun story to tell at breakfast the next day

Also explains why BJ’s covered in blood

He chews on EVERYTHING to keep his fangs in check

(Also it’s a good stim)

The Deetz’s were tired of finding bite marks on places they weren’t supposed to be (specifically their shoes) so they buy him teething toys that are meant for babies, but he like em.

His favorite one is a necklace with these chunky black silicone pearls

He likes it because after a while of chewing, the pearls become softer

His favorite stims are flapping his hands, this one where he holds his hands and twists his arms and holds it to his face while rocking side to side, and going as fast as he can on a spinny chair. (Charles has one in his office, he’ll let BJ use it when he’s upset or he just has a lot of extra energy he needs to burn off)

He also really likes pressure stims, so he’ll sometimes get the Maitlands or Lydia to sit on his back

They found out you can make him shut up and calm down this way when he was being a chaotic little shit and Lydia told him to stop or else

“Or else what!?”

“Or else… I’ll… I’ll… I’ll sit on you!”

“Oh yeah!? I’d like to see you t-!”

And just like that he’s on the floor and Lydia’s on his back

He goes quiet for a minute while Lydia teases him before she goes

“Did I just find your off switch?”

The Maitlands catch on to it

You’ll sometimes see them having late movie nights and they’re all sitting on top of BJ

They’re all fairly light so he can handle it

He’s a pretty grimy nasty boy and he likes it that way (also it helps with dysphoria)

So when the Maitlands tell him he needs to shower if he wants to join them on the bed

He has a fit

It takes 2 hours before they can come to the agreement that he’ll shower, as long as the Maitlands join in too

Especially since they haven’t showered since they died so it seemed like a good idea

He’s kinda hesitant to undress because he’s self conscious of his top surgery scars and because he’s a little on the chunky side

They coax him into it with praise and kisses

The Deetz’s shower is pretty big thanks to renovations, so they can all fit

The water turns a gross murky greyish-brown when BJ steps in

It takes a good half hour of constantly washing him before he’s fully clean

They used up about half of the Shampoo bottle and ⅔ of the body wash

Sorry Charles

They also borrowed some of Charles’ clothes so BJ could have something to wear

Sorry Charles pt. 2: electric boogaloo

He’s a lot more pink and his hair is a lot softer (head and body)

Suddenly there’s knocking on the door

“Hey, Delia, how much longer are you gonna be in there?”

Ohshit.jpeg

They all quickly wrap up in clean towels and Adam opens the door a crack so only his head is poking out

“Hey Lydia, it’s me, sorry… uh… what do you need?”

“Oh! Sorry, I just needed to grab my hair bru- Is that Bj and Barbra in there?”

Barbra and Adam turn bright red while BJ has a shit eating grin spread across his face.

“You know what, I don’t even wanna know. Can I just get my brush? It’s in the top drawer on the right.”

Barbra nods and shyly passes her the hair brush.

“Shit, Bj, you’re really pink!”

“Please just leave so we can get dressed!”

“Alright, you got it dudes.”

They don’t talk about that incident.

They do keep BJ from being a stinky bastard

He and Charles try to bond

Bj has a hard time remembering his name (Chuckles. Charlie. And once, Gabriel.)

They bond over going to the grocery store together.

The Maitlands can’t go, so it’s just BJ and the Deetz’s.

He’s able to pass off as their chaotic college aged son

He likes to stick his head out the window during car rides

They sometimes have to keep BJ at home if they wanna go to certain stores because he’s gotten himself banned from them

He’s gotten banned from a grocery store because he’s pulled an Eddie Brock and climbed into the lobster tank

The only stores he behaves at are Lydia’s favorite places

La michoacana, the mall, and the corner store

He likes the “breather snacks” at the corner store

He’s pretty old and has a pretty busy schedule of being a bio exorcist so he hasn’t gotten around to trying foods from the 21st century

So one day Lydia buys a whole bunch of snacks she thinks BJ would like and they have a little taste test party

She also snuck a couple of snacks just to see his reaction (warheads, takis, xxtra flamin hot Cheetos)

When he tried warheads, he just went “oh, this is pretty ni-“ then immediately scrunched up his face. Think of the meme with the cat and the banana.

Lydia almost had an asthma attack from laughing so hard.

He will eat anything you give him, no matter what.

Some of the things he’s eaten are a 5 pound gummy bear (in one sitting), a bath bomb, chocolate laxatives, straight up hot sauce, and shaving cream

He’s a slut for lil Debbie snacks

He also really loves hot Cheetos and mazapán

Lydia once bought him a full pack of mazapán and it was gone within 3 days

Also once, while sleep deprived and talking to the Maitlands, she referred to him as “Beechito” (which, for those of you who don’t know, adding -ito to the end of a name is a masculine term of endearment.)

Adam and Barbra quickly catch onto it and Beetlejuice has to ask why the Maitlands keep calling him “beejeetoh” (they have the white accent)

Lydia shyly explains and he’s the embodiment of the ;w; emoji

SORRY THIS WAS SO LONG I HAD A LOT OF FUN-

#rusty speaks #beetlejuice #beetlejuice musical #beetlejuice bway #beetlejuice broadway #beetlejuice the musical #beetlejuice shitpost #beetlejuice incorrect quotes #beetlejuice headcanon #beetlejuice meme #beetlejuice x reader #beetlejuice x the maitlands #beetlejuice goldenrat #trans beetlejuice

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aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

Best Romantic Movies on Netflix

https://ift.tt/3a6cb9I

Romance movies are not that different from horror movies. Both are incredibly hard to pull off, are heavily watched during a cold time of year, and hopefully end with every character covered in blood.

With that in mind we present to you a list of the best romantic movies on Netflix. Because romance deserves it, damn it. Virtually every song ever written is a love song but poor romance can’t get a fair shake at the movies. Whether it be a rom-com or just a straight-up soul-enlightening/crushing romance, our list of the best romantic movies on Netflix will get you back in touch with your cold, dead heart.

Set It Up

Set It Up is Netflix’s most accomplished original romantic comedy yet.

Zoey Deutch and Glen Powell star as overworked assistants Harper and Charlie. Harper is an assistant to Kirsten (Lucy Liu) the woman behind a sports media empire. Charlie works for finance maven Rick (Taye Diggs). Harper and Charlie realize that their respective workloads might lesson if their bosses were more focused on their love life and less focused on work. So they…set them up.

Set It Up is a fun, novel high-concept romance movie positively filled with chemistry on all sides.

Outside In

We embrace every kind of love on our list of the best romance movies. Sometimes that includes some questionable, and some would say “icky” kind of love. So…Outside In is a teacher-student romance. But don’t panic! It’s ok.

Jay Duplas stars as Chris, a man who was wrongly imprisoned at age 18 and who is relased at age 38. When Chris is released, he immediately meets up with his old high school teacher, Carol (Edie Falco), who was his penpal when he was in prison. He wastes little time before he declares his love for her.

Despite its subject matter, Outside In is a mature, well-handled exploration of love and what it means to love someone for themselves as opposed to what they do for us.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

With a name as long as The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, the movie better be good to justify how many times we poor cultural commenters must type it out. Thankfully Guernsey is quite good!

Based on a book by the same name, Guernsey is a historical love story set in 1946. Lily James stars as British writer Juliet Ashton. Juliet begins exchanging letters with residents of the islands of Guernsey, which was under German occupation in WWII (so like two years before the movie starts). While there she meets the dashing Dawsey Adams (Michael Huisman) and romance begins to blossom.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is an excellent, watchable classical romance

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before

Oh hey! Another Netflix original with a long title based on a book. Like the Potato Peel Pie Society, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is another effortlessly enjoyable romantic romp – this time of the teen variety.

Lara Jean Song Covey (Laura Condor) experiences every young person’s nightmare when private love letters to five boys she has or has had crushes on suddenly and mysteriously become public. But fear not. This is a romance movie, not a horror movie. So this sudden reveal has to go well for Lara Jean, right? RIGHT?!?

To All the Boys P.S. I Still Love You

The To All the Boys team returns for a sequel that teaches kids the harsh lesson that there’s no such thing as happily ever after! OK, so that’s a bit harsh, but To All the Boys P.S. I Still Love You does bring back its characters for another round of romantic angst.

Movies

To All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You Review

By Delia Harrington

Movies

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before Review: A Pleasurable Netflix Rom-Com

By Delia Harrington

Lara Jean (Lana Condor) is now officially Peter’s (Noah Centineo) girlfriend. But before they can relax and enjoy their lives together, an old flame of Lara Jean enters the frame. That’s right, John Ambrose (Jordan Fisher) is here and he wants to steal your girl, Noah Centineo.

The Danish Girl

2015’s The Danish Girl tells the story of a kind of love nearly unprecedented for its early 20th century time. Eddie Redmayne stars as artist Lili Elbe, who was born Einar Wegener and is believed to be one of the first individuals to receive sexual reassignment surgery. The film follows Lili’s journey and her love with wife Gerda Wegener (Alicia Vikander).

When Gerda asks her husband to stand in for a female subject in her painting, Einar does so and quickly comes to terms with the gender identity he’s been suppressing. The newly confirmed Lili and Gerda navigate this new dimension of their relationship and Lili continues her work as a subject for Gerda’s now very much in demand paintings.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Beauty and the Beast

2017’s live-action version of Beauty and the Beast isn’t the best depiction of the classic fairy tale ever but that’s ok. It doesn’t have to be. All Bill Condon’s Beauty and the Beast really needed to be was a fun little dip into nostalgia with sumptuous visuals and a believable romance. On that front, everything goes according to plan.

Movies

Emma Watson on Beauty and the Beast: ‘I’m Very Grateful That This Character Exists’

By Don Kaye

Beauty and the Beast Disney+ Prequel Series Set with Luke Evans and Josh Gad

By Joseph Baxter

Emma Watson stars as Belle and Dan Stevens is her beast. Belle heads off from her small French town to the Beast’s castle to rescue her father. What follows is Stockholm Syndrome: The Movie. But sexier. Beauty and the Beast really does look good and Watson and Stevens have just enough chemistry to make this a worthwhile romantic experience.

50 First Dates

50 First Dates has a somewhat disappointing Rotten Tomatoes score. Ignore that. It’s probably partially due to many critics’ distaste for at least one of the actors in the above screengrab. Not that they can be blamed. The presence of Adam Sandler or Rob Schneider in any comedy is rarely a good sign. In 50 First Dates‘, however, it’s not an issue at all.

50 First Dates is a legitimately funny and romantic romantic comedy. Drew Barrymore stars as Lucy Whitmore, a woman with short-term memory loss. Due to a car accident, every day she wakes up believing it is October 13, 2002. Sandler’s character Henry Roth meets her in Hawaii and the two must overcome this bizarre condition to establish a lasting relationship.

Carol

Todd Haynes, director of Carol and Far From Heaven knows longing. And if there’s an element that makes for an excellent romantic movie experience its longing. That desperate sense is baked into nearly every frame of Carol. Based on a 1950s romance novel, Carol is the story of a young photographer (Rooney Mara) and an older woman going through a divorce (Cate Blanchette) undertaking a forbidden affair.

Forbidden because, you know, ’50s. And that’s where the longing comes in. Nothing is more romantic or sexier than a forbidden romance. Carol channels that romantic energy into something mature, fascinating and heartbreaking.

Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook is all about how generally terrible it is to be a Philadelphia Eagles fan. OK, fine – it’s only a little bit about that. This star-studded 2012 film from David O. Russell is more about the challenges in finding love when one isn’t sure they even love themselves.

Bradley Cooper stars as Pat Solitano Jr., a young man with bipolar disorder living with his parents after being released from a psychiatric hospital. Pat is determined to win back his ex-wife and to that end enlists the help of young widower Tiffany Maxwell (Jennifer Lawrence). The two become closer as they train for an upcoming dance competition and share their respective damages with one another.

Silver Linings Playbook works because Lawrence and Cooper have a real crackling chemistry. And they both just happen to be devastatingly, almost supernaturally attractive.

Runaway Bride

From stars Richard Gere and Julia Roberts to director Garry Marshall to conspicuous usage of enormous cell phones – Runaway Bride is an intensely ’90s film. And to the rightly organized mind, that just makes it the platonic ideal of a low-stress romantic comedy.

Roberts stars as Maggie Carpenter, an alluring young woman who has made a habit of leaving multiple fiancé’s at the altar. Gere is Ike Graham, a New York columnist seeking to tell the definitive story of this “runaway bride.” Runaway Bride is a charming experience that will make you think long and hard about how you really like your eggs prepared.

Loving

It feels reductive to call Loving a “romance” movie, as its more of a historical exploration of the very real, very tragic legacy of American racism. At its center, however, the film is about love.

Loving tells the story of Richard (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred Loving (Ruth Negga), a mixed-race Virginia couple challenging their state’s law against interracial marriage in the Supreme Court. The details of the Lovings struggle for basic human rights are astonishing. Edgerton and Negga’s empathetic performances make sure the film never loses sight of the humanity at play amid all the legal drama.

Always Be My Maybe

Everyone always talks about “the one who got away”, but what about “the one who was always kind of around”? 2019’s Always Be My Maybe tells of one such story.

Ali Wong (who wrote the film) stars as Sasha Tran and Randall Park stars as Marcus Kim. Marcus and Sasha grew up next door to each other and also embarked on a brief, ill-fated relationship in their teenage years. When Sasha returns to San Francisco to open a restaurant, she discovers that romantic energy remains between her and Marcus. But is that enough to spark love in the busy, chaotic adult world?

Always Be My Maybe has a lot to say about family and growth. It also features a truly winning performance from Keanu Reeves playing…Keanu Reeves.

The Kissing Booth

There’s an interesting dynamic at play in teenage romantic comedies. Oftentimes, the worse they are, the more watchable (and rewatchable) they become. The Kissing Booth is a prime example. Based on a book by the same name from Beth Reekles, The Kissing Booth isn’t exactly celebrated for its realistic portrayal of American teenagers.

Thanks to charming lead performances from Joey King, Jacob Elordi, and Joel Courtney, however, that doesn’t really matter. The Kissing Booth is all about how one girl’s first kiss turns into an emotional minefield of teen angst. That alone is enough to support 105 minutes of pure high school drama…and two sequels!

The post Best Romantic Movies on Netflix appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/38Fd7ho

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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redshirtgal · 4 years

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“Space Seed” is one of the few episodes where Sulu is not manning the helm as usual. In his place is Lt. Singh who appears to be every bit as grim-faced as his colleague, Navigator Lt. Hadley. He appears to be every bit as competent as Sulu is as well. It is Lt. Spinelli Kirk orders to lock on the unidentified earth vessel with the tractor beam.

But Lt. Spinelli has a more social side too. Look at this guy, sidling up to Miss Uhura and finagling a way to sit beside her at the dinner in honor of their new “guest,” who just happens to be named Khan Noonien Singh. No relation, of course. And we know what else happens... Khan and his “supermen” take over, the Captain is thrown in a decompression chamber while Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Spinelli, etc. are forced to watch... but then McGivers frees Kirk, who in turn rescues Spock before he is thrown to the same fate, yadda yadda. But then, you get this great shot....

“Hey, they MADE me eat those beans, Spinelli!”

Tsk, tsk Doctor. No wonder Kirk was going to give Spinelli (among others) a commendation before he passed out. He knew Bones had brought his famous Kentucky bourbon beans to the table. But all ends well, although after this incident Lt. Spinelli evidently asks for a transfer since we no longer see him after this episode. There’s only so much an officer should be made to endure. However, we soon learn that Spinelli has a cousin from India who works down in the Auxiliary Control Room.

You can tell Lt. Singh is related to Lt. Spinelli - they both have that very intense look/scowl when either something is wrong or when concentration is needed. In “The Changeling” Lt. Singh doesn’t appear to be that thrilled when Captain Kirk leaves Nomad in his care.

That stare gets REALLY intense as Nomad starts to move around the Auxiliary Control Room. I mean, look at that crease going from one eyebrow over to the other via that deep crease across the nose. Now that’s some kind of scowl he’s got going on there.

Then Singh comes mighty close to getting a Nomad probe... just kidding. Actually, Nomad has just activated itself and Lt. Singh, as requested by his captain, asks it what it needs. But later, when he realizes Nomad is headed in Uhura’s direction, he decides to call Captain Kirk. At least his facial muscles seem to have relaxed. He’s not going to meet the same fate that some of his redshirt buddies will endure later in the episode.

But let’s back up... just who was this actor with the smoking hot stare and that razor sharp jawline? His birth name is Makee Kalaikinipeapal Blaisdell , but he was known by multiple variations of that name. Memory Alpha has him listed as Blaisdel Makee. Yet he also appeared under Makee K. Blaisdel, Blaizdel MaKee, Blaisdel McKee, and 6 other similar credits. And as you may have guessed, he was a native Hawaiian. As the newspaper story above indicates, he graduated from Brigham Young University with a major in theater arts. Before that, he was a star athlete in high school as well as a swimmer and a surfer. But it seemed to take Makee Blaisdell a while to find steady work in acting. Glancing again at the newspaper article, we can see he was working as a salesperson while acting both in community theater and on television.

One of Blaisdell’s first television roles was that of Sgt. Alika in Hawaiian Eye. He appeared in several episodes before moving onto roles on other shows such as I Spy and Star Trek. But sadly, he seemed to be often cast as either a Native American or an Hispanic, such as in the role of Romeo Sangria in the Ironside episode titled “The Sacrifice” or as the soldier seen above at the checkpoint in the pilot episode of Mission Impossible.

Hey, his buddy from “Space Seed,” Eddie Paskey shows up in this episode too. It’s one of the few acting roles Eddie ever had outside of Star Trek.

But does this guy ever smile? Actually, you get the best Makee Blaisdell smiles ever in the following production.

Blaisdell did have one outstanding although not well known film role - that of Johnny Lingo in the short film (23 minutes) of the same name. Financed by the Church of the Latter Day Saints (of which Makee and many Hawaiians are members), it tells the story of a successful trader who also happened to be a highly sought after bachelor and a quite handsome one at that (who oddly also has an intense stare). One day he shows up at the hut of a poor farmer named Moki to bargain over how many cows he will offer in exchange for Moki’s daughter Mahanna. The villagers are amazed because everyone knows....

And that’s Moki saying that about his own daughter. So the villagers begin to debate just how many cows (or how few) Johnny will wind up paying. Because everyone knows he is a shrewd bargainer. The top price for a bride appears to be around about...

And then her friend just has to mention that her husband paid five for her. Oops. But that does establish the top price. Anyway, Moki is concerned he may be lucky to get one cow. And then Johnny Lingo arrives. The villagers all gather outside the tent while Johnny and Moki go inside to bargain. Moki opens with three cows and Johnny counters with...

Whoa... it turns out Johnny Lingo has been in love with Mahana since they were children and is not about to let anyone think she is not worthy, despite what they see when they look at her. So how well does this work out? Pretty well, actually. Before the couple left on their honeymoon, Johnny had ordered a rather ornate hand mirror for a wedding gift which the local trading post owner had to special order. When word spreads that the Lingos have returned, the merchant decides to bring the mirror to their hut. Johnny is quite pleased with the mirror and calls for his wife to come greet their guest. The merchant turns around and .... surprise!

Mahna has been transformed into quite a beauty. Or maybe she was actually a beauty and no one else saw it. This is the end result of Johnny Lingo being willing to build up her self-esteem by treating her as if she were beautiful all along despite what everyone else sees. As terribly dated and possibly culturally insensitive as this movie would be seen today, it does teach a good lesson in a charming way. And Makee Blaisdell turns in a very nice performance as the lead character. If you care to watch it, here is the YouTube link. https://youtu.be/pfahoLfrddU The movie has been remade into a feature length film with a slightly less offensive story but film critics still seem to think the original gets to the point a lot more clearly. And if you bother to look up the new version, its lead is nowhere close to being as handsome as Blaisdell. Plus FINALLY - we get to see that beautiful smile is its fully glory. Unfortunately, this was his crowning achievement in the movies. He managed to land the lead in one last movie based on the Charlie Manson cult murders.

(Poster courtesy of Duffy Films Limited) Many movies tried to cash in on the La Bianca/Tate murders committed by Charles Manson and his followers. The Cult is a soft porn version of the events with Makee Blaisdell (credited as Blaisdell Makee) as Invar who was plainly meant to represent Charles Manson. One third of the movie is devoted to Ivor picking up girls to be part of his family. The few bits of originality in the plot are 1) besides knives, the girls employ whips and medieval torture devices in the murders and 2) while the murders are going on, Ivor is lying inside a coffin in a hearse outside in the driveway and 3) Charlie...er, Invar.. is the way he is because of an earlier incestuous relationship with his mother . Yeah, it’s that bad.

The film is known by a host of other names, including the misleading title The Manson Massacres. Other names included The Love Cult and The Together Girls. It’s known in Germany as Töchter des Satans (Daughters of Satan). Oddly, the only way you can find this gem today is as a German dubbed version with no English subtitles. Yeah, it’s that bad. If you want to see how bad, be my guest. https://youtu.be/aFXiSEI5B6o By the way, take a good look at the above publicity photo. That’s Makee Blaisdell as Ivor on the left, but do you recognize the only other male in this photo? That’s Sean Kenney who played both the disfigured Captain Pike in the two part episode “The Menagerie” and navigator/helmsman Lt. DePaul.

Unfortunately, this seems to have been the end of the road for Makee’s career in the film industry. It’s likely he continued acting in local community theater but there does not seem to be much on him after his last film in 1971. According to several sources he died in Ventura, California at the young age of 57 in 1988. No information can be found on a cause of death.

Two final interesting pieces of Star Trek trivia. First, a piece of background to Makee’s role as Spinelli in “The Changeling.” This episode was taped before the appearance of Chekov. Makee had heard George Takei would be gone for many weeks during the taping of his part in The Green Beret. This led him to believe perhaps he might be hired as Takei’s replacement during that period of time since he had already filled the navigator’s chair before in “Space Seed.”Sadly, he found out that was not meant to be. Walter Koenig was waiting in the wings to appear as Chekov in the next episode to be filmed, “The Apple.” But that didn’t mean Blaisdel had not made a good impression on the production team. Several sources say that Makee was one of the people along with Lawrence Montaigne who was considered as a replacement for Leonard Nimoy in case Nimoy made good on his threat to leave after the second season. And take a look at those faces above. Could even Mr. Spock sustain a stare that intense?

#Star Trek TOS #Singh #Spinelli #Makee Blaisdell #Blaisell Makee

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lunarity2013 · 4 years

Text

MC — Lucy Stone

(This template was brought to you by @hogwartsmysterystory )

(Updated for Y4)

Identity

Name: Lucille Maria Stone

Gender: Cisgender Female

Age: 14

Birthdate: 16 October 1972 (Libra)

Species: Human

Blood Status: Muggleborn

Sexuality: Demisexual, hetero-leaning

Alignment: Neutral Good

Ethnicity: White

Nationality: Irish

Residence: Dublin, Ireland

Myer Briggs Personality Type: ISFP

THE MAGE

1st Wand: Acacia, 12-in, Unicorn hair, pliable

2nd Wand: N/A

Animagus: Sparrow (Post-Hogwarts, unregistered)

Misc Magical Abilities: Occulmens (partial), wandless magic

Boggart Form: Giant spider

Riddikulus Form: Cartoonish bug-out eyes as a giant swatter squishes it

Amortentia (her scent): peaches, black tea, ozone (right before a storm)

Amortentia: fresh laundry, sandalwood, hint of lemon

Patronus: Red Squirrel

Patronus Memory: Barnaby asking her to the Celestial Ball (differs from canon, as he asked her himself without prompting)

Mirror of Erised: All her loved ones, happy and safe, and not being the center of attention

Specialized/Favorite Spells: Episkey, Protego, Lumos, Expecto Patronum

Appearance

Faceclaim: Mackenzie Foy

In-Game Appearance:

Height: 5'1"

Weight: 100 lbs.

Physique: Slim, Hourglass figure

Eye Color: Chocolate Brown

Hair Color: Medium-Dark Brown

Skin Tone: Pale, freckles

Body Modifications: ear piercing (basic)

Scarring: eventual slash on side (fighting Red Cap)

Inventory: peach lipgloss, dogeared copy of Emma, spiral notebook, colorful gel pens, and a locket with an old family photo in it

Allegiances

Hogwarts House: Hufflepuff

Ilvermorny House: N/A

Affiliations/Organizations: OotP (eventually), Hogwarts

Professions: Author

Hogwarts Information

DADA: E

Astronomy: O

Charms: O

Flying: A

Herbology: E

History of Magic: E

Potions: A

Transfiguration: O

Electives

Ancient Runes: O

Care of Magical Creatures: O

Divination: A

Quidditch: Spectator

Extra-Curricular: Frog Choir (Y3- Y?)

Favorite Professor(s): Flitwick, McGonagall, Sinestra

Least Favourite Professor(s): Snape, Binns, Trelawney

Relationships

Brother: Nathan Samson Stone

Faceclaim: Young Eddie Redmayne

BD: 26 May 1963 (Gemini)

Looked up to him for years

Aspired as a kid to be more like him

Thinks he's dead

Mildly resentful of how his actions have pushed her into the spotlight

Ravenclaw (Hat Stall — Slytherin)

Always more invested in his projects than spending time with friends/family

******

Misc Siblings: Casey Andrew Stone

Faceclaim: Young Alex Lawther (by age 11)

BD: 11 August 1978 (Leo)

Loves and spoils him

Mildly relieved when he doesn't go to Hogwarts

Would 100% kill for him

Would have been in Gryffindor if he had went to Hogwarts

Very energetic

Loves to explore and get into trouble

******

Father: Sean Casey Stone

Faceclaim: Paul Rudd

BD: 14 September 1943 (Virgo)

Primary School teacher

Energetic, friendly man

Can't discipline for the life of him

Only seen him angry once

After Rita Skeeter showed up on their doorstep multiple days in a row to try and interview Lucy after Y3

Got very calm and quiet, scared everyone within earshot

Lucy inherited this, but only happens when she feels extremely betrayed

Spend time together going to the movies and eating ice cream

Makes excellent food

******

Mother: Candace Lucille Samson-neé Stone

Faceclaim: Natalya Rudakova

BD: 30 December 1942 (Capricorn)

Government Official

Calm, quiet woman

Spend time together reading in silence under fuzzy blankets by the fire

Gets louder when angry

Gets equally loud when simply frustrated

Sean says to this that she's "cute when she's angry"

Lucy inherited this

Can't cook or bake

Love Interest: Barnaby Lee

Best Friends: Rowan, Ben, Bill, Penny, Charlie, Tonks, Tulip, André, Chiara

Neutral: Skye, Merula, Murphy, Talbott, Liz

Rival: Charlie (friendly, up until Y4), Merula

Enemy: Rakepick, Snape (his decision), Ismelda

Dormmates: Rowan, Penny, Tonks, Skye, Chiara

Closest Canon Friends: Rowan, Ben, Bill, Penny, Barnaby

Closest MC Friends: TBD

Background History:

Grew up in Dublin, Ireland in a muggle household

Was so excited for Nathan when Professor Sprout came in to give him his Hogwarts letter

Wrote to him every day for years until just after he disappeared

He stopped writing back regularly about a year or so before his disappearance

By the end of his last year there, he stopped writing back completely

She believes that searching for the vaults ended up killing her brother

Was still very excited when she got her own letter

Her parents were more worried for her than excited

Felt uneasy every time someone pointed her out for her relation to Nathan in Diagon Alley

Every year, she tries not to tell her parents too much about what goes on at school

She doesn't want to worry them about the events with the vaults

She tells them that she's actively avoiding them so that she doesn't end up like Nathan

She only tells them when someone (like Rakepick) is trying to push her towards investigating

She only begins looking into the vaults when people begin getting hurt

She begins mildly investigating the vault in Y4 after Tulip ends up in the hospital wing, and then more vigorously after she gets attacked in the courtyard

She is actually a little relieved when Casey doesn't get a Hogwarts letter

She loves him dearly, and feels bad that it upsets him, but she knows he's safer in the muggle world

Personality:

Appears to be: sweet and naïve, very trusting, pretty face, easy to take advantage of

Actually: very studious, extremely trusting of her friends, uneasy around and untrusting of many adults, blames herself whenever anything goes wrong or someone gets hurt, hates being the center of attention, bit of a worrywart, and works best as part of a group

Loves to read and write, and her favorite authors are Jane Austen and Louisa May Alcott

Misc:

Aesthetic: autumn tones (yellows, oranges, browns, and greens), ivy-covered cottages, old books, warm tea in (slightly chipped) teacups, scented candles (lemon, coffee, or sometimes honeysuckle), reading curled up by the fireplace, and stargazing

Style: oversized sweaters (usually not hers), skirts (just above the knees or sometimes mid-thigh after Y4), comfortable boots, knee high or thigh-high socks, overall skirts/shorts, striped shirts, floral dresses, ballet flats, long hair down with curls or a few small braids

She begins crushing on Barnaby almost immediately after meeting him

Thinks he's cute when she first meets him

The smile he had when he said " I like you, we should fight" caused the immediate "oh no, he's cute" thought that got the ball rolling

She and Barnaby are awful with mutual pining, both thinking that the other could do better

She thinks Barnaby needs someone who isn't constantly messing up and getting her friends in danger

Barnaby thinks she needs someone as smart as her, who can actually help her solve the problems of the vaults and be there to support her fully

The Celestial Ball only made it worse, as they both knew for certain how badly they like each other

Their friends started making bets on 1) who would ask who out first, 2) when it would happen, and 3) how long it would take them to realize they were perfect for each other

Charlie won 1 and 2 (Lucy and two months after the ball), but Penny won 3 (end of their first date).

#hphm #hphm mc #hphm oc #hphm barnaby #hphm bill #hm #hogwarts mystery #jacob's sibling #jacob's sister #mc — lucy stone #oc — lucy stone #lucy stone oc #my ocs #oc by me

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theawkwardterrier · 5 years

Text

things left behind and the things that are ahead, ch. 6

AO3 link here

They take the train up from Washington. They had driven down the first time - though they hadn’t left Howard’s until Bucky was healthy enough to travel, he was still breaking in some ways, wildly fragile. They needed to have no one else around, needed the time and ability to stop on the roadside so Bucky could gasp in fresh air and scream through clenched teeth because just sitting in a car with people he trusted made him feel closed-in and trapped.

Bucky sits between them at first, all of them pretending that it’s simply the order they entered the row rather than a supportive bracketing. He switches seats with Peggy after about an hour, trying to use the scenery rushing past the window as a distraction. His fingers, both sets, curl and uncurl in his lap. He had planned on leaving the arm behind - the one Howard made for him detaches fairly easily, and he figured that seeing him simply missing a limb would in some ways be easier than the blunt, inhuman metal - but changed his mind at the last minute. This is part of him now, whenever he wanted it to be, and he tries to convince himself it will be better for everyone to face that from that start.

Peggy puts her hand over his balled fists before he even registers exactly how tightly they are clenched.

They had tried at first to get him reacclimated in New York. Howard’s large house had been fine when that just meant finding his memories again, when it was only about having a quiet place where everyone understood nightmares and knew to step loudly and never to touch Bucky when he wasn’t ready for it. It had worked well enough when it was just Steve and Bucky, the quiet and caring Jarvises, Peggy on the weekends and Howard dashing in and out. And they all had thought that the city - large and anonymous, the site of so many remarkable things - would be the perfect place to start when it came time to take on somewhere more public; any scene Bucky caused would be forgotten by the time the witnesses reached the next block. But it was all too newly familiar, too overwhelming with strangers and crowded with memories, too much.

They hadn’t had a chance to visit Brooklyn. (If Steve were a bit more selfish, it would hurt that he still hasn’t seen those ever familiar streets, the place he still goes when he dreams. As it is, he doesn't even have time to think about it as more than a hope for his friend.) On Bucky’s hoarse, wild-eyed orders, they hadn’t even mentioned to his family that he had been found.

Peggy and Steve’s neighborhood in DC was easier. In the type of close-knit environment that they had thought best avoided, where everyone knew their names and no one forgot exactly who they had seen shatter one of the cafe’s mugs into an explosion of porcelain dust just from hearing old Mrs. Eissenmann’s accent, they found compassion. Al noticed the way Bucky flinched away from photos of Korea and East Berlin on the newspaper fronts, and tucked them away so that the covers of Life and The Saturday Evening Post were visible instead. Bucky learned to answer questions about his arm from the innocent, interested ones the kids asked before they were hushed by their parents. The ticket taker at the movie house, Eddy Carroll from two streets over, didn’t say anything as Steve and Bucky left in the middle of Annie Get Your Gun twice because the sound of even comical movie gunfire made Bucky flinch and go cold and grasp for a gun of his own.

There were other people in the neighborhood who had served. There was a look that Bucky recognized when they passed each other in the street, a certain shift to alertness at car horns sounded suddenly, and when they asked him to have a beer with them, he said yes. While Steve and Peggy went out on one of their evenings together, he sat on a barstool with these men who would become his friends and talked about favorite books and movies and radio programs, about the best ballgames they’d seen, about the particular, muffled punch of a bullet entering flesh and the strange, grim, necessary realization that you were the one to put it there.

“Why did you invite me tonight?” he asked, walking home with Charlie Gibbs in the place by his side that was usually Steve’s. “You don’t even know me, but you’ve probably guessed that I’m more of a handful than most.”

Charlie chewed his toothpick thoughtfully for a moment. He took it out and held it between his fingers as he said, “We all have brothers who didn’t come back. We have to be there for the ones that did, even if they left a piece of themselves behind. Code of war doesn’t end just because the treaty’s been signed.”

And when the cold came, not as bad there as in New York or the Alps or Russia or places that he can’t quite and might never remember, when the cold came and made Bucky shiver and wish for a hot drink but didn’t leave him paralyzed with the fear of what might come, he said that he was ready to go home.

They called ahead. Of course they did.

“Can you imagine, someone you love and thought was dead just turning up out of the sky as you’re trying to eat your breakfast?” Peggy asked, eyes wide in pretend shock.

“I thought it was a good surprise,” Steve said defensively.

“Oliver in the kitchen has taken a liking to me, as you well know. I think the extra treat I get with my order is all the surprise I need.” She gave his hand a fond touch on the tabletop, regardless of her words or her arch tone.

“Fine, everyone knows you’re adorable, you can quit showing it off,” Bucky said, and it was the joking eyeroll more than anything that convinced them that he was ready.

They can see Mrs. Barnes from down the block. She is wearing a navy dress with creamy lace trim - her church dress, Steve is sure, even if it is not the gray number with the big silver broach that he remembers from his childhood. She stands on her front steps, solid as a lighthouse. Bucky’s father is most likely inside; he had always gotten emotional easily and never liked to show it in public.

It’s a chilly, overcast Tuesday, the middle of a morning that threatens rain or snow or both. The street is empty of the usual schoolkids or housewives chatting to their neighbors with shopping in hand. It makes it easier: no one to double take and recognize them, catch them up in excited conversation. It makes it harder, the overly noticeable sound of their footsteps seeming a driving echo as they move closer.

“You remember back in ‘26, when I was sick from Halloween until New Year’s?” Steve asks, because Bucky is pulling sharp breaths through his nose and his shoulders are set with a statue’s rigidity.

The beginning of the familiar story seems to ease something. “They had the priest in for last rites twice that time, didn’t they?”

“Three times, I think,” Steve says with a casual shrug, at which Peggy looks vaguely horrified. “You kept trying to play truant, coming up the fire escape when no one was looking.”

“And I started getting escorted to school, but my ma couldn’t stay all day, so she told my cousin Frankie to sit on the street corner and scream if he saw me coming.” Bucky leans over and says conspiratorially to Peggy, “I would give Frankie a penny a week to keep his trap shut. He was a soft touch.”

“But then my mother asked Sister Mary Bernardus to sit with me while she went to work, and that nun almost kicked you out the window when she saw your face coming over the sill while she was just trying to pray the Rosary,” Steve finishes with a muted smile. He bumps Bucky’s shoulder with his. “If you could still face your mother after that, you can face her now.”

And then she is coming down to meet them, slow and careful even in her sensible, square-toed shoes. She holds onto the handrail, although there’s no ice on the steps. Bucky has stopped two houses away - the Green’s place, or it had been fifteen years ago. He seems as if he can’t move forward. Any shimmer of ease has gone out of him again.

Mrs. Barnes walks the rest of the way to him herself. Steve had forgotten how small and solid she looks beside her son. She reaches her hands up and holds his face between them, and doesn’t say anything for a long moment.

When she finally speaks, it is in that husky voice with its second-generation Irish tinge. Somewhere inside himself, Steve still expects to hear his mother’s bright call twining with hers, a harmony of care. “James. My boy, come back to me.”

Bucky stays very still. “Hi, Ma,” he manages, and lets her lead him inside.

Bucky’s family had always seemed enormous to Steve, though anything would have when compared with a pair of Rogerses. Winifred Barnes was the youngest of three sisters, George had four brothers, and most of the extended clan lived close enough to take the streetcar if they couldn’t walk. The Barnes place had always been so full.

Without it being mentioned, they haven’t asked anyone over today. George is sitting in his usual chair. Bucky’s sister Josephine stands over his shoulder, her body taut beneath her neat sweater. Rebecca paces the room, a baby in her arms, and Steve’s first thought is that she’s too young for that, just a baby herself, but that isn’t true anymore. The man who must be Becca’s husband sits looking more awkward than anyone - perhaps because he’s entirely a stranger to Bucky, perhaps because he’s all gangly limbs, too tall for the furniture.

“It looks the same,” Bucky says, taking in the faded wallpaper, once a patterned green now white, the heavy old General Electric wall clock which still has the crack across the face, the good lace cloth dressing up the table. The scent of coffee from the ever-boiling pot fills the place, and it is this that makes Steve remember how long it has truly been since he was last here: growing up, he would never have even noticed it.

Mrs. Barnes has set out a stack of saucers and one of her delectably heavy lemon pound cakes on the tabletop. As she leads Steve, Peggy and Bucky over to sit around it, she still hasn’t let go of her son’s hands.

Becca bursts into tears, which makes the baby start wailing too. George covers his eyes with his palms, the unknown husband looks entirely out of his depth, and Peggy stands again. “Let’s have a seat,” she says, guiding Becca over beside her husband. She gets her settled against the cushions, then passes the baby from his mother’s arms to his startled but silent father. Peggy strokes a soothing hand over the baby’s crown as she completes the transfer; it doesn’t help but does make Becca give a shaky little smile. The radio is over in the corner and Peggy walks over, snaps it on, and tunes it quickly until she finds an afternoon symphony program on WNYC. She adjusts the volume to midlevel and turns back.

“For the neighbors,” she explains as she comes over to rejoin Steve by the table. Once again, as always, Steve is impressed: the Barnes apartment is the entire first floor of the frame house, but that doesn’t entirely mean privacy. He hadn’t even considered that anyone else might be home, but now that he thinks about it, the water rushing through the pipes isn’t coming from anyone in this room.

“How did you get here?” Josie asks suddenly. She hasn’t so much as shifted through the outburst of chaos.

“The subway,” Bucky tells her promptly, and she snaps, “Don’t give me that, James Barnes,” in what must be her schoolteacher voice now. Steve’s already familiar with it: Josie was younger than Bucky by a bit less than a year, but she had always acted the big sister to the both of them. “We got an army notification half a decade ago that you’d been killed. We got a letter from—” She turns on Steve. “And you. What are you doing here looking ten years older than you should instead of dead from saving the world?”

“Josephine,” says Mrs. Barnes, warning in her tone, “they’re back. What does it matter where they’ve been?” But her husband lifts his face and says, mastering himself with clear effort, “No, Winifred, I would also like to know exactly what’s happened.”

“What’s wrong with your arm?” Becca asks, her voice very soft, as if it is being trapped in the needlepoint pillow she has pressed against her chest.

The version they tell is one they've practiced, a snipped and pasted version of the truth, but Steve still isn’t a particularly good liar. It's not that he doesn't trust these people who have been family to him - he knows that they would never go to the police or the press with anything he told them, that they wouldn’t gossip about it in the shops. But they have never seen a person explode in front of them in a blue flash, have known his transformation only as something already completed out of sight. Their lives have been so normal, untouched by direct contact with the strange and wonderful and terrible things with which Steve is familiar.

Unless he misses his guess, the baby Rebecca's husband is currently rocking back to sleep is Jimmy Proctor. Steve has met him as a sixty year old man, a former railroad engineer with a million stories of an entirely typical childhood sparkling with the little memories his mother would recall of her brother. He doesn't want to take that from all of them.

So, knowing his own abilities, he is careful with his contributions, letting Bucky and Peggy tell most of the story: of Steve suspended in the ice, the serum effecting him in unexpected ways, of his being found and coming to Washington, the information slipped to Peggy that made them go looking for Bucky in the first place. Bucky doesn’t remember many of the details of his time in captivity anyway; Peggy glosses over it with quick compassion that brings them past without the rest of the Barnes family asking for more information.

Watching Bucky now, Steve finds himself remembering more than ever his friend as he was. Buck had always been the one to tell the stories, to make excuses and conjure the sweet, sly smiles to get them out of trouble. Bucky now, Bucky as he once would have been, is quieter. Steve doesn't mind it, but it's more noticeable back in this familiar place.

There's a silence when the story has finished.

"And now you're fine?" Josie asks finally. She has begun to lean on the back of her father's chair, not softening as much as weakening when confronted with it all. "Now you're back?"

"For now," Bucky says.

His mother looks up from the hands she has clenched in her lap. "What do you mean by that? We've a room here for you while you get yourself settled. There's no reason to go anywhere. I’m sure your things can be sent up for you."

"Ma," Bucky says gently, "I don't think I'm ready yet."

"And why is that?" She draws herself up straight, some of the strict force coming back into her tone. "You're doing just fine, and what would you do somewhere else anyway?"

Steve opens his mouth, but Bucky says, "One day I might come to stay, but now there's a life I'm trying to make down in Washington. I'd like to see how it turns out."

"So I'm never to see you?" She turns to her husband with a cry. "Listen to this boy of yours, George."

"Mama." Steve knows that it's the way Bucky sighs it that makes the difference, that brings the tension from the room. "Of course you’ll see me. I'm going to come back."

"And when will that be?" George asks.

"It's three weeks until Christmas," Bucky points out. "I think I could use a good Brooklyn Christmas."

"All of you," Winifred commands, standing suddenly and clapping her hands together. She pulls the cake plate toward herself and begins to cut slices. "You'll all come for Christmas. Unless there's some other family I don't know of?" She looks askance at Peggy.

"We shall reserve tickets on our way back," Peggy says with equanimity.

"Home again for Christmas, then," says Winifred, satisfied enough as she begins handing out cake.

Later, Bucky will hold his namesake for the first time and Rebecca will cry again, and so will George. Later, Rebecca’s husband will be introduced and will not wince as his hand is shaken three times with a bit too much force to be strictly comfortable. Later, Mrs. Barnes will try to give her cake recipe to Peggy only to have it intercepted by Steve. Later, Steve will notice Bucky taking himself into the kitchen for a moment alone before they are pressed to stay the night. Later, they will lie in the preserved bedroom with its old Dodgers scorecards peeling from the walls, and Bucky will tease Steve for not daring to mention that there’s really no reason to have him and Peggy in separate rooms based on their sleeping arrangements back home. Later, they will lie awake for a long time before they are finally lulled by the familiar sounds outside the window. But for now:

"Home again," Steve agrees softly, and digs into his piece of cake.

Previous chapters here

#Steggy #Steggy fic #Steve Rogers #Peggy Carter #Bucky Barnes #things left behind fic #early update - I'll be offline Sunday for Shavuot so happy z'man matan torateinu to you as well I guess?#my friends you will not be able to imagine the ugly and embarrassing lengths I went through #the tears I cried the amount of tooth gnashing #that went into getting line breaks into this due to tumblr's latest stupidity #(I'm absolutely furious about it and furious at myself for resorting to IMAGES OF THE OLD LINE BREAKS)

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elizascharlesdanceblog · 5 years

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CD - A Remarkable Man

Charles Dance on making Godzilla: 'The catering was sensational!'

Ryan Gilbey

Freed from Game of Thrones and waging eco-terror in the new monster flick, cinema’s go-to bad aristo talks about turning down 007 and paparazzi ambushes.

Charles Dance is 15 minutes late. “London, yer know?” says the 72-year-old actor through a mouthful of pastry. His friends call him “Charlie” and Americans call him “Chuck”, though for his mother there was never any ambiguity. “‘His name’s Charles,’ she’d say. She ’ad a few ideas above ’er station.” The voice is rougher and more gor-blimey than the one to which audiences are accustomed, as well as friendlier and less imposing. His thinning hair, formerly red and now sand-coloured, is swept back, and he is wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt over a white T-shirt. The silver bracelet halfway up his forearm could pass for memorabilia from Game of Thrones, in which he played Tywin Lannister, shot by his own son with a crossbow while on the loo.

Any confusion between the upper-class roles in which Dance has specialised throughout his 35-year film and television career, and the man he really is – the working-class son of a mother who was in service from the age of 13 – was cleared up long ago. But that hasn’t stopped him playing commanders and archbishops, monsignors and monarchs. He will soon be seen in the third series of The Crown as Lord Mountbatten, while in the new blockbuster Godzilla: King of the Monsters he reprises the aristocratic menace routine that has kept him in fancy silver clasps since the days of starring opposite Eddie Murphy in The Golden Child and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Last Action Hero.

Godzilla takes place mostly in darkened rooms or during inclement weather. Major characters drift through the film, their storylines petering out arbitrarily. I couldn’t make head nor scaly tail of it. And Dance? “I had difficulty staying awake,” he jokes, as though imitating an old duffer who’s wandered into a multiplex by mistake. Then he reverts to normal volume: “No, I didn’t say that! I mean, it’s spectacular.” He plays a former British colonel turned eco-terrorist who has a vested interest in facilitating Godzilla’s reign. Before he says a word in the film, he has already shot someone in the head and is thereafter restricted to the odd line and the occasional scowl. Was his performance cut? His laugh is booming and good-natured. “I keep hearing that! ‘I wish there was more of you.’ It’s what was offered. I just like working. Unless it’s complete and utter crap. I’ve got somepride.” There were clear compensations in this case. “The catering was sensational,” he says.

And, as he points out, it has been a while since he did a mega-budget movie. After all, Godzilla couldn’t be more different from Happy New Year, Colin Burstead, Ben Wheatley’s family-get-together film for the BBC in which he played the cross-dressing widower Uncle Bertie without a hint of camp. “Ten days we shot that in. Handheld cameras, communal green room. SAS film-making.” The character’s sartorial preferences were Dance’s idea. “I told Ben: ‘Ever since his wife died, I think Bertie’s worn women’s clothes. He’s been doing it so long, the family accept it.’ He turns up in his modestly heeled shoes and a bit of cashmere, his twin set and pearls.”

I remind him that the role marked his third foray into women’s fashion. “Riiiight,” he says suspiciously. Well, there was Ali G Indahouse, in which he writhed around at Sacha Baron Cohen’s behest in a red rubber micro skirt, thigh-high leather boots, leopardskin crop-top and drop earrings. He rolls his eyes. “Ah yes. The director said: ‘We’ve had an idea for the ending.’ I was kind of forced into that.

”And for one scene in White Mischief, the 1987 drama about the amoral British upper-class in Kenya during the second world war, the toffs interrupt their routine of polo and wife-swapping for a cross-dressing party. “Joss Ackland was there in bombazine and a tiara. I had on a mid-blue chiffon affair. Then Greta Scacchi comes out looking gob-smackingly gorgeous in this jacket with nothing underneath. Joss said, ‘This is all wrong. We should be going to each other’s wardrobe and just putting on whatever fits.’ He stormed off to complain to the director and I went with him. There’s Joss with his handbag on his arm, me standing there in me gear. I thought, ‘Here we are, expecting to be taken seriously …’

”White Mischief was pivotal for him, cementing his image as a sexy but faintly cold-blooded member of the ruling class. The ITV end-of-the-Raj drama The Jewel in the Crown had already made him a sensation three years earlier. The Sun called him “Dishy Dance” and the People claimed he had given up jogging because of the women flinging themselves under his running shoes on Hampstead Heath. Not that he was in danger of having his head turned – he had been “shlepping around the provinces” in theatre for nearly a decade before that big break, which didn’t happen until his late 30s.

And he was married with two children, so the tabloids weren’t interested in his love life until he split from his wife in 2004 and began dating much younger women. (He had a daughter with one of them, Eleanor Boorman, seven years ago.) Getting tailed by photographers in his 50s and 60s was no fun. “I was going to a shrink for a while and I got papped coming out of there. Pain in the arse. Lowest of the low.”

He was more prepared for the fuss over Jewel than he would have been if he had played James Bond, a part he was invited to test for – and refused – in 1986. “I think I’d have fucked it up. It might’ve gone to my head a bit. When Jewel happened, you couldn’t open a paper without reading about me. I was ‘the thinking woman’s crumpet’. But Bond would’ve been much bigger. I might’ve blown it.” He’s been eyeing the names currently in the frame. “Young Richard Madden is pretty good. Or James Norton. I think Daniel’s been fantastic. What he lacks in the wit of Roger Moore he makes up for in a sense of danger.”

Walking on set on his first day, he wore a T-shirt that read: 'I’m Cheaper Than Alan Rickman'

Without the slightest prompting, he identifies White Mischief as the fork in the road: the moment when he could have pushed his career to the next level, but didn’t. It was in 1988 that Michael Caine said: “Charles Dance is the one. Why? Because he wants it.” Caine approached him in a restaurant: “He told me, ‘I’ve got money on you. Don’t let me down.’ I thought: ‘Fucking hell, that’s nice.’” But Dance himself isn’t sure he ever really did want it – whatever “it” was. “Maybe if I’d had more cardinal ambition. I mean, I’m ambitious, but I don’t tread over people. And sometimes I just don’t feel like it. I thought: ‘No, I don’t want to go off to LA and sit in endless bloody meetings. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be.’ I’m a bit like that.

”Then there was the competition. “Jeremy Irons was, and still is, a few feet ahead of me. Who else? Alan Rickman, bless him.” The shallowness of the casting pool was vividly brought home when he received the script for Last Action Hero. “I get to my character’s entrance and it says: ‘The door opens and there stands Alan Rickman.’” Still, he was a good sport about it. Walking on set on his first day, Dance wore a T-shirt that read: “I’m Cheaper Than Alan Rickman.”

It has been a career with obvious highlights: he was the only person to sleep with Ripley in the Alien series (in David Fincher’s Alien 3), played the director DW Griffith for the Taviani brothers in Good Morning, Babylon, and was part of the flawless ensemble in Gosford Park. On the other hand, he was in the medieval stoner romp Your Highness and was recently seen licking Luke Evans with a long, leathery grey tongue in Dracula Untold. He has done Celebrity Antiques Road Trip and Who Do You Think You Are?, where he met the South African great-niece and the three great-great-nephews he never knew he had. He read solemnly from Fifty Shades of Grey and Mel B’s autobiography on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year to much comic effect, and is in the forthcoming Kingsman prequel.

But a significant part of his acting range is currently being neglected. When I asked earlier why he hadn’t yet written an autobiography, his response was humorously gruff: “Who wants to read another book by an actor?” The question of what is missing from the scripts he gets offered prompts an altogether gentler, more ruminative answer. “I’d like to properly front something,” he says softly, his hearty manner replaced by a note of introspection. “If anyone was brave enough to do a remake of Death in Venice, that would be ideal. I notice I tend to be brought in to give a bit of weight to something, you know? Maybe I should be more choosy. I’d just like to be fronting things a bit more than I am.”

source: TheGuardian

#CD #charles dance #a remarkable man #interview #the guardian #30 May #2019

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