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lostloveletters · 5 months

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Bruised Fruit Chapter 7 (Michael Corleone x OC)

Summary: Gloria's last night out before she's a married woman only fuels her hesitations about marrying Michael, but despite her attempts to distance herself from him, he pulls her in deeper with an earth-shattering revelation.

Note: This takes place pre-Vatican II which changed a lot of things in the Catholic Church, including how mass was celebrated (seems like weekday mass has always been short though, lol), but it’s nothing too significant for now. Additionally, the name Ciro is pronounced Chee-ro in Italian.

Warnings: Angst, descriptions of pregnancy, mentions of abortion. Predominant Catholic themes and symbolism, mainly involving guilt.

Chapter 6 | AO3 Link | Masterlist

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“Okay, so my parents are watching the kids tonight, and I know your people will be there, but I left the number for the club anyway,” Gloria said, slipping her foot into a black heel.

“Alright, darling. Don’t have too much fun,” Michael said, though she knew he loathed the idea of the bachelorette party the moment Vivian brought it up just two weeks prior.

It didn’t help that Connie and Sandra jumped on the idea too, even though a wedding date hadn’t even been set yet. Gloria hadn’t heard anything about the annulment in a while. She supposed the other Corleone women were just as antsy as she was to get out and go somewhere for the night.

Vivian insisted as soon as she sniffed out the slightest resistance from Michael, claiming it was only fair because the Corleones had already thrown their own engagement party in Lake Tahoe, and Gloria’s parents certainly wouldn’t do anything of the sort. He only conceded when Connie mentioned a nightclub the family operated in Manhattan. Gloria was itching to get back to that scene, thoroughly bored by domesticity.

“I’ll probably be back late. Don’t wait up for me.”

Michael smiled a bit, the purplish-gray bags beneath his eyes betraying yet another days long bout of insomnia. While Vivian and Jackie were over for dinner just two evenings before, Vivian had offered to get him in with one of the doctors at Sacred Heart to write him a prescription for sleeping pills. Michael had politely refused, insisting he was fine and had his own doctor.

Pride wouldn’t allow him to resort to turning to medication to cure his insomnia, not when he was already so reliant on it to manage his diabetes. Knowledge of his having that condition was so closely guarded, Gloria wasn’t always sure who in the family knew and who didn’t.

At times, Gloria wondered if Michael considered his suffering through his insomnia a form of self-appointed penance. Then again, that would require him to feel guilt about something. She tried not to think of Fredo, his memory potentially haunting his brother, but it was difficult not to when her own brother was around more often.

A car horn outside signaled the arrival of her partying companions for the evening. Michael had arranged the driver, a newer family associate who had worked for the man who previously lived in their house before he passed away.

“If you need anything, call the house. If I don’t pick up, someone else will,” he said. “I love you.”

She gave him a quick kiss. “Love you too.” She grabbed her purse and rushed out the front door. Off to the races.

Connie was halfway out the back window of the car parked outside. “C’mon Glo, there’s room back here if we all squeeze in!”

Gloria shook her head, opening the front passenger seat instead. “I’ll sit up front with Ciro.”

The young man smiled at her remembering his name. They’d only spoken twice before, though she saw him more often when she’d bring the kids into the city after school to meet Michael at Genco and go for dinner. Ciro usually stood guard outside the olive oil company’s modest office building, stoney and suspicious-looking until he’d see her and smile, betraying his youthful face.

“Good evening, Mrs. Corleone,” Ciro said.

Sandra reached over the seat, playfully shaking Ciro’s shoulder. “Not Mrs. yet Ciro! That’s why we’re going out tonight!”

Vivian cheered, and Ciro laughed, smiling once more at Gloria before driving off. He entertained their antics, even bashfully acquiescing to Connie’s invasive question as to whether or not he had a girlfriend.

“No,” he answered, “not for some time.”

“C’mon, a good-looking guy like you?” Vivian asked.

“I’m focusing on work right now,” he said. “It wouldn’t be right for me to have a girlfriend and not be able to spend any time with her.”

“Aw, Gloria, tell Michael to give Ciro a vacation so he can find himself a nice girl,” Sandra said.

Gloria scoffed, “That’d go over well.”

They arrived at the nightclub not long after that, greeted by a bright, neon green sign for The Archer.

Ciro pulled up to the valet, all of the passenger doors opened for them upon their arrival. He parked directly in front of the club’s main entrance, the only car allowed to do so.

“I’ll be out here. You find me when you need to be driven home,” he said.

“You can’t come in for one drink?” Gloria asked.

He shook his head. “Thank you, I really can’t.”

Their coats and bags were collected at the door, the host emphatically reminding them that all drinks were on the house as he led them to a VIP booth.

The Archer had recently been remodeled, the walls covered in emerald green, scale-shaped tiles that resembled a snake’s glimmering skin beneath the club’s dim lighting. The booth was a sleek, modern white, deceptively creamy yet plush to the touch as it wrapped in a semi-circle around a crystalline table with gold accents.

Funny, Michael wouldn’t be caught dead in the very nightclub he owned. Instead, he preferred old-fashioned, kind of run-down family-owned places with generous servings, strong wine, and attentive table service. The owners would always come out from the back to personally greet him, offering antipasto or a bottle of wine on the house. It almost made Gloria feel like being with a celebrity. And he was, in a way, among this eccentric group of people to whom he was more important and influential than the president.

A waitress came by the table to take everyone’s drink orders, Gloria requesting her usual rum and coke. As soon as she walked away, a waiter practically ran to the table with glasses of champagne for all four of them.

“Courtesy of Mr. Corleone,” he said.

Gloria smiled. “Thanks.”

“How about a toast, huh?” Connie proposed.

“Alright, may you and Michael have at least fifty wonderful years of marriage and half a dozen kids running around,” Sandra said.

“You’re supposed to be wishing her luck, not her worst nightmare,” Vivian joked, though it was clearly missed on Connie and Sandra.

“She’s kidding,” Gloria quickly said, shooting a glare at her sister-in-law.

“Nothing but happiness for you and Michael, god knows what he would’ve done if you weren’t around, Gloria,” Connie said, not missing a beat.

Vivian grinned as she gave her toast. “Here’s to committing to the same cock for the rest of your life.”

Sandra laughed loudly, nodding in agreement, “God willing!”

“This is getting out of hand,” Connie snickered.

“Alright, cheers,” Gloria said, clinking glasses with her companions.

Gloria threw back the champagne, not caring for the taste but dealing with it for the significance of the occasion. Still, she wanted it gone by the time her rum and coke came around. She tried to pace herself on her first drink, sipping while listening attentively to Vivian dishing the latest gossip from the hospital. Though it seemed she was catching Sandra and Connie up on just about everything that had happened since she started working there nearly fifteen years before.

“There’s this woman who works down in the maternity ward, her husband used to be a priest,” Vivian said.

“Hold on, was he a priest when they met—“ Sandra’s eyes widened as Vivian nodded, “Madone , and I thought I’ve sinned.”

“I mean, there are plenty of ‘em around at Sacred Heart. I’m just surprised they didn’t fire her.”

“All those nuns probably aren’t so innocent themselves,” Connie said.

Gloria laughed. “God, if my mother heard you all right now.”

“Oh, I don’t tell her half the stuff that goes on there. She’d have a heart attack,” Vivian said.

After another round of drinks, Gloria decided it was time to dance. She wasn’t particularly great at it, but it was fun, and dancing on her own in the house wasn’t the same. Michael refused to join her, especially when it came to the more upbeat, contemporary songs she preferred, but late at night, in tender moments when it was just the two of them, she could convince him to share a slower dance with her in the confines of their bedroom.

She loved Michael best in their bedroom. She didn’t have to restrain herself there, not when they were in bed together or just in each other's company. He showed unprecedented vulnerability there, the way he had during their clandestine rendezvous in Las Vegas hotel rooms, when he didn’t have to be Don Corleone. Any time she’d been with Michael outside of a bedroom, whether as his mistress or his fiance, there’d have to be distance, restraint, like they were respectable people when they both knew they were the opposite.

So she let loose on the dancefloor, probably the last time she’d be able to go clubbing like that. The end of an era. She downed another glass of champagne in memory of the soon to be deceased party girl. She’d made it last longer than most. Wincing at the taste, she quickly ordered another rum and coke.

Her rotation of dance partners was dizzying as everyone moved about haphazardly. She wasn’t sure if rock n’ roll was on The Archer’s usual rotation, or a special request someone had made on her behalf that night, but at least she was going out with a bang.

Leaning against the bar, feeling sweat begin to roll down the side of her face, the bartender offered to pour her a shot. She accepted, throwing it back just as ‘All I Have To Do Is Dream’ began to play. One of the few contemporary songs Michael would dance to with her. She wouldn’t sit that one out in his absence.

Her gaze fell to Ciro, now standing by the coat check. Maybe it'd gotten too chilly waiting outside.

She waved him over.

His dark brows furrowed and he pointed to himself.

She nodded.

“Will you dance with me, Ciro? I love this song,” she asked when he walked over.

“I don’t know…I’m supposed to be working—“

“Just this one?”

He nodded, reluctantly taking her hand in his. He kept a safe distance between them, almost laughably farther apart than the other slow dancing couples who were wrapped in each other’s arms.

“Ciro’s a very Italian name,” she said over the music.

He chuckled softly. “Well, I am Italian.”

“You probably have half a dozen brothers and sisters.”

“Eight of us,” he answered. “I’m the fifth.”

“So I bet we all don't seem that crazy to you.”

“No, not at all.”

“How old are you, anyway?”

“Twenty-five.”

“Me too,” she said. “Y’know up until a few months ago, I used to work in a place like this.”

“Out in Las Vegas, right? Don Corleone mentioned it once.”

“I can imagine what else he’s said about me,” she joked.

“He cares about you very much. At least what I overhear,” he said, quickly adding, “I don’t make it my business to eavesdrop.”

She smiled. “It’s alright, Ciro. Your secret’s safe with me.” The song came to its end a little too soon for Gloria's liking. “Thanks for the dance.”

He nodded. “I should get back now.”

Thinking she should do the same, she made her way back to the table. Dancing with Ciro felt nice, almost normal, though she didn’t have much of a comparison for what normal was. Before she was engaged, she supposed.

Vivian reached for her hand, patting it. “I gotta call it a night.”

Sandra nodded. “Me too.”

“Lightweights,” Connie teased.

“Too old is more like it,” Sandra said. “Gloria, I’m gonna be asleep before you and Michael even have your first dance at the wedding party.”

“Thanks for coming out tonight,” Gloria said with a smile. “It was fun.”

They parted with kisses on the cheek, and she watched as they made their way over to the coat check, gathering their things while Ciro got the car ready outside.

“More drinks?” Connie asked.

“I could get a few more rum and cokes in me,” Gloria said.

By the time a server brought over her fifth of the night, she was beginning to doubt her own statement. By Connie’s own admission, she hadn’t restrained herself when it came to the near-endless shots of tequila that were brought to the table every few minutes it seemed. She switched things up with a martini, however.

“You know Sandra and Tom are—”

“I kinda figured,” Gloria said. “Takes one to know one.”

“I feel bad for Theresa, but I mean, after Sonny was killed, Tom was the only one who could get through to Sandra. Sonny loved all of us, but Tom was his favorite brother even though he’s not blood. I guess it was only natural for them to share their grief that way."

“I can’t imagine,” Gloria said.

She really couldn't. Michael seemed larger than life, impervious to death itself. If anything, he was to be feared over the great unknown, colder and more distant than death and whatever lay beyond it could ever hope to be. If even a fraction of what she read in the papers were true—and she knew they were—he dealt death like a deck of cards. No matter the hand, it was always in his favor.

“Sonny would’ve liked you,” Connie said. “I think–he would’ve been glad for Michael. He always saw the best in people. At least, to me he did.” She downed the rest of her martini, nearly slamming it on the table when she finished. “Then Michael blamed Carlo for it, and he—Carlo could be a mean fucking prick, believe me, but he was my husband. What gave him the right to—”

“The right to what?”

“But Sonny was hot-headed. It could’ve been anyone who set him up. Then right before we moved to Nevada—dead. It’d been nearly ten years, but that didn’t matter. An eye for an eye. I don’t think I’ve really been happy since,” Connie lamented quietly.

The noise in the bar became muffled. Gloria’s lungs burned with each breath she tried to take, as if she were suddenly dropped into the deep sea without oxygen. Her vision blurred, watery and uncertain. Maybe it was how Fredo felt when he drowned. Drowned.

She realized then the extent of Michael’s unwillingness to forgive–inability sounded more like it.

Connie grabbed Gloria’s shoulder, shaking her a bit. “Hey, I’m drunk, what do I know?”

Gloria forced a smile.

She could hardly concentrate when Connie steered the conversation elsewhere, and within an hour, they decided to call it a night. Ciro had returned from dropping off Vivian and Sandra, and Gloria felt almost bad asking the guy to drive back to Long Island again. He didn’t seem to mind, though, helping Connie into the car when she nearly tripped over her coat on the way in. Gloria sat in the back with her this time, her gaze drifting between the buildings out the window and the back of Ciro’s head.

He dropped Connie off at her place first, walking her to the door and making sure she got in alright.

“Ciro, will you drive around just a little bit more?” Gloria asked when he returned to the car. “I’m not ready to call it a night yet.”

He hesitated, but nodded, driving down a side street instead of continuing on the way back to the house. As homes and street signs passed by, she knew the direction he was heading. Her eyelids grew heavy, yet she awoke when he parked near the Long Beach boardwalk. The cool sea breeze reinvigorated her when she stepped out of the car.

He followed her to the boardwalk, the both of them leaning against the wooden railing just a few inches apart.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“Not really, but what can you do?”

Nothing. There was nothing he could do. He was young, and in the family hierarchy probably a buttonman or soldier, whatever it was called. Maybe not even made yet. From what she'd gleaned working in Vegas and conversations with Michael, it took a long time for someone to officially be considered part of the family, and besides earning trust and respect, one task was almost certainly required of these men. It wasn’t like she could ask outright ask him, ‘Hey Ciro, ever killed someone for my fiance?’ Regardless, she didn’t want to know.

They watched the ocean waves in silence, the moon glittering off of the water in the pitch dark night. She wished she could dive under and emerge somewhere far across the sea.

“It’s getting late. I should bring you home now,” Ciro said.

Gloria wordlessly began making her way back to the car. A melancholy swept over her as they neared the house.

“Thank you for everything tonight, Ciro. It means a lot.”

“Good night, Gloria.”

She smiled, waving at him as she made her way up the short walkway to the house.

For the next few days, she avoided Michael when she could. Something about being around him made her feel uneasy. Or maybe it was the morning sickness, which she made attempts to hide from him by going on early walks and throwing up in neighbors’ flower bushes. The first time it happened, she attributed the sickness to food poisoning. Except food poisoning didn’t last for weeks on end.

Gloria spent more time at her parents’ house, knowing Michael would generally steer clear of there unless absolutely necessary to go. Ironically, she spent more time with Anthony and Mary as a result, the kids asking her to bring them with her whenever she’d express her desire to go over. Her parents doted on them. Her mother and Mary were usually occupied in the crafting room, probably painting while Julia educated Mary on the ins and outs of New York's Democratic politics. Anthony had quickly grown close with her father, the two of them watching Yankee games in the living room whenever they were on. When they’d all walk to the park up the street, they’d play ball, Julia and Mary playing outfield while Gloria would referee from the wooden park bench nearby.

“Mary says you’re sick all the time in the mornings,” Julia said one afternoon, taking a seat next to her daughter.

“I drink too much,” Gloria lied. She hadn’t drunk since the bachelorette party, when after two days of vomiting she began to suspect the worst.

“When was the last time you bled?”

“Stress can cause that too.”

“You should make a doctor’s appointment.”

“They’ll tell me it’s nothing.”

Julia held up her hands in acquiescence. “Whatever you say.” That didn’t mean her mother was finished throwing hardballs her way. “When was the last time you went to mass?”

Gloria groaned. “Mom—“

“Drop the kids off at school tomorrow morning and then meet me at the church. St. Catherine's still has daily mass at 8:30.”

Anthony and Mary had been enrolled in the same Catholic school Gloria had gone to growing up. Even though there were parishes closer to Gloria and Michael, it had become their parish by virtue of her family already going there. They certainly weren’t going to turn down the generous donation to the parish on behalf of the Corleone family.

During the tour of the school before Michael had enrolled the kids, Gloria felt an indescribable deja vu sitting in the principal’s office again. Except she wasn’t in trouble, and the nun behind the desk was relatively young and incredibly nice, far more so than Sr. Margaret had been. Sr. Jeanne expressed that she’d do everything she could to make Anthony and Mary feel welcome despite starting there in the middle of the school year.

“I’m gonna drop the kids off at school tomorrow,” Gloria said later that evening. “I’m meeting my mother at 8:30 mass.”

“What brought this on?” Michael asked.

“She asked me. I guess I figured I’d humor her.”

“You’ve been spending a lot of time at your parents’.”

“So?”

“Nothing. It’s good to spend time with family,” he said, almost dismissively, but she could hear his displeasure lurking beneath the surface.

He noticed she was avoiding him and clearly thought her parents’ dislike of him had something to do with it. But he couldn’t protest it, not a man so obsessed with tradition and hierarchy. Despite how Americanized she was, Gloria and her family were still Sicilian, so as long as she and Michael weren’t married, her parents preceded him.

The following morning, Gloria drove her own car to drop Anthony and Mary off at school. It was a nice drive with the weather getting warmer, so they left the windows rolled down, Gloria’s favorite rock n’ roll station playing on the radio while the kids sang along to the songs they’d begun to recognize.

When she pulled up to the school, she parked just between it and the church. She walked them up to the front doors, giving each of them a hug and extra lunch money.

Her mother arrived at St. Catherine’s just as Gloria made her way up the steps of the imposing church. The last time she stepped foot in St. Catherine’s was her high school graduation nearly a decade prior. It looked exactly the same as the last time she was there—marble floors and brick walls that led to a high ceiling supported by wooden rafters with ornate gold leafing. Each step one took inside the building would echo throughout. It was pretty much impossible to leave in the middle of mass unnoticed, which some people tried to do after communion.

She genuflected before getting into one of the wooden pews, her mother following. A few minutes went by, and they were joined by a friend of her mother’s, an older woman who also seemed to attend mass daily.

“Gloria, it’s been so long! Good to see you again, dear,” she said.

“Thank you.”

“And congratulations on the engagement. About time for a woman your age.”

Gloria smiled as politely as she could. 25-years-old and these people considered her nearly dead for not having a husband. If she had it her way, she wouldn’t even be engaged.

“Any plans for kids?” she pried.

“Believe me, we’re trying,” Gloria said, feeling especially pleased at the scandalized expression that fell upon the old woman’s face, unable to react as mass was starting.

Though it’d been a while, Gloria knew weekday mass was always shorter than Saturday night or Sunday morning mass. She could endure half an hour of it.

As mass proceeded, she could still vaguely follow, though her Latin was rusty. St. Catherine’s offered four languages to its high school students. Gloria found French confusing despite her mother’s near insistence she take it, and Spanish was too close to Italian which was highly discouraged by her parents. She settled on Latin, and it ended up being one of the few subjects she consistently did well in, occasionally earning As on her report cards amongst the usual Bs and Cs.

She went through the motions of mass almost mechanically, her muscle memory of the service emerging from the mental depths she’d buried any piety under. The only reading for the mass came from Matthew, toward the end of chapter 18. Among the half-comprehensible verses, she caught one word in particular. Dimittam. To let go of or release-forgiveness.

Her chest tightened at recognition of the verse: Lord, how often shall my brother offend me, and I forgive him?

Jesus’ answer was symbolic, the nuns had told her. Forgiveness was limitless, to be doled out generously whether to one’s own brother or to those who didn’t deserve it.

She thought back to what Connie had said at The Archer, the reason why she’d been avoiding her finance ever since. Coincidence, or a sign from a distant god that her suspicions about Michael were right. For as long as she’d known him, he could never let things go. She hadn’t minded it when it was for her benefit, like on their first trip to LA together. They had gotten dinner with Johnny Fontaine at a swanky nightclub he recommended. Gloria had nearly passed out when Johnny introduced them to Liz Taylor. Yet, later on that night, some up-and-coming actor wouldn’t give her the time of day despite her being a fan of his, complimenting his performance in his latest movie. The following morning he sent over a bouquet of flowers and personally called to apologize for his behavior, claiming he hadn’t been feeling well the night before when they met. Funny…she couldn’t remember his name anymore.

What had been on her mind wasn’t a perceived slight from an actor, though. If his own family wasn’t spared from his wrath, then neither was she. The priest’s homily was about forgiveness, something Michael rarely if ever doled out. Gloria could certainly hold her own grudges, but she couldn’t exactly do anything about them like he could. Maybe she understood the reasoning behind his ordering Connie’s first husband to be murdered; she'd want the same if someone had set Jackie up to die. But she couldn’t shake Fredo from her thoughts. What could he have possibly done to be denied forgiveness by his own brother?

Her gaze drifted up toward the large crucifix on the wall behind the altar. Try marrying Michael Corleone.

Miraculously, she wasn’t struck down by a bolt of lightning, but after receiving communion for the first time in years, she prayed for Fredo’s soul, wherever it was.

Mass ended not long after, and she left her mother to talk with her obnoxious friend. She froze upon seeing Michael waiting outside for her.

“Michael, hi,” she said.

He smiled a bit, “Just ‘hi’? No, ‘I’m glad to see you’?”

“Of course I’m glad to see you.”

She gave him a kiss, a bit awkward and chaste, but she could chalk it up to being outside of a church.

“It’s a nice morning for a walk,” he said.

She nodded. “There’s a garden behind the convent. It’s pretty this time of year.”

He took her hand in his, and they meandered to the convent behind the church, following the worn stepping-stones to the prayer garden. Colorful and full of flowers, beautiful in the springtime, each blossom at its peak in May when they’d celebrate the Blessed Mother. She paused to look at a rose bush. Probably only a few days away; she’d know if she’d been paying attention.

“Darling, are you alright?”

She hummed. “Sure, I’m fine.”

“If you’re trying to convince me, you’re not doing a very good job.”

“The homily today was about forgiveness.”

“And?”

Her fingers twitched against his palm. “It’s just–you seem to have a hard time forgiving people.”

“Forgiveness isn’t compatible with what I do. You know that.”

“Is it worth it?”

“Does it matter?”

“I guess not.”

“Forget about all of that. I have great news.” He squeezed her hand. “We got a letter from Cardinal Spellman this morning. The Vatican approved the annulment.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh my god. This is actually happening.”

“We can finally set a date.” He smiled. “How does this summer sound?”

Too soon. “Perfect.”

“Why don’t we head home? I’ll drive us back in your car. Ciro has to run an errand for me, anyway.”

The drive back to the house wasn’t nearly as pleasant as the one she took earlier in the morning. No rolled down windows taking in the spring breeze or rock n’ roll stations playing her favorite songs. It was almost eerily silent, and a foreboding grew in her stomach as they neared the house. Or maybe she had to throw up again.

Something was off when they walked inside.

“Where is everyone?” Gloria asked, the house unusually empty for a weekday.

“I sent them out, gave them the day off. There’s something we need to discuss alone.”

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, it’s just something I want to keep between us. We can talk about it in my office.”

She nodded, though she was sure her heart was going to jump out of her throat when she followed him into the room. He closed the door behind her despite their being alone. A heavy dread set over her body, and suddenly she felt cold, shaking as she sat down on the couch. He leaned against his desk, lighting a cigarette in his mouth and handing it to her.

“Very few people know what I’m about to tell you, Gloria. Kay didn’t know. Most of my family still doesn’t,” Michael said. “You cannot repeat this to anybody. Do you understand?”

“I won’t.”

“You’re not going to be my second wife. Kay was my second wife.”

“What happened to your first wife?” Her curiosity was slaughtered the moment she asked. Looking into his eyes suddenly felt like being dragged to the second circle of hell.

His words cut through her curiosity with a closely controlled violence. “She was killed in Sicily by a car bomb that was meant for me. Her name was Apollonia. We were only married for a few months.”

Gloria froze. There it was, that drowning feeling again. Limbs heavy, lungs burning, sound muffled, everything moving in slow motion as the cigarette fell from her hand and onto the carpet. Her head drooped, and she let out a pained wail.

Her father’s words from just a few weeks prior echoed in her ears. ‘Has he got you living in some fantasy world? Where all that shit won’t touch you? That if you look the other way or keep your head in the sand, nothing will happen? He has no right promising you peace or safety when he deals in the opposite.’

Michael approached her cautiously, the way one does a wounded animal as not to frighten it.

“Why would you tell me this?” she asked, looking up at him through the mess of black hair that had fallen in her face, voice strained as she held back a sob.

He knelt beside her, brushing her hair back to reveal black tear tracks that streaked down her cheeks. “So that you understand why I do the things I do, things I can’t always tell you about. Kay never understood, I don’t think she wanted to, but now you do. I’ll do everything in my power to protect you, and our baby. I had the man who did it killed, and I’d do the same for you, but it won’t come to that. Do you understand?”

There was no denying it anymore. No use in throwing up in flower bushes on early morning walks in the neighborhood to hide the clear signs of morning sickness from Michael. Whatever was inside of her, she wanted it out. Wished she could reach inside of herself and give it to him if he wanted it so bad. Kay’s abortion wasn’t so puzzling anymore.

Against all better judgment, she clung to him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Trapped with him, by him, his arms wrapping around her like a snake. She’d heard being burned alive was the most painful way to die. Unless it was instant, Apollonia spared the agony and passed it onto Kay, who through her abortion passed it onto Gloria. But there was no one else to turn to or confide in, no one who could do a damn thing about it.

“Gloria, it’s alright. As long as you listen to me, nothing will happen to you. No one will touch you.”

“You can’t promise that! You don’t know!”

“I love you,” he said, holding her tighter. “I love you.”

“More than you loved her?”

He was silent.

#michael corleone x oc #michael corleone x ofc #michael corleone #the godfather #the godfather x oc #the godfather fanfic #michael corleone fanfic #the godfather part ii #bruised fruit fic

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magnumdays · 1 year

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Magnum PI 5.04 - ‘NSFW’ review

I think this might be my new favourite episode! Seriously, this had all the bits I love and nothing I didn’t so doesn’t that make it the perfect Magnum PI episode? I’m inclined to think so...

Everyone be Worrying (this be da theme of the week?)

So maybe a strange thing to start off with but this episode has a lot of worrying about each other. Higgy worries about Thomas (hand touching again!), Thomas worries about the guys, Gordy worries enough to risk his career, TC’s girl notices and is worried, Rick worries that he wasn’t there for Ruthie and even the case is, at the core about worrying something has happened.

I did really enjoy Higgy being worried, though I can’t decide why the line“I don’t want anything to happen to you, especially now.” is bugging me. Just a little.

Like sure, I get that things are different, but would she really have been that much less devastated six months ago if he got hurt? It just felt a little strange for some reason to me. I did love that we finally got another Miggy kiss, and they’re being so super adorable with the kissing and banter and worrying! Just making my day.

Also is Thomas/Jay saying “now I don’t want to go” not the sexiest thing anyone has ever said? Like what did he do to make his voice all raspy and grrr? Very much enjoyed. Big time enjoyed. Can’t wait for more because damn NBC you’re killing it with the Miggy content. Like it’s just perfectly woven into the rest of the episode.

The Case

So I think I cared the most about this case out of the four we’ve had so far this season. We can see that the client Jordan really is concerned about Sandra both on a personal level and because if she’s not there for the big meeting the company might go under. A company doing good thing, possibly being at the forefront of clean energy.

So yeah, half meeting in, I care about Sandra and this company and I want everything to work out.

Spoilers - things do not work out - neither for Sandra, Jordan or (I’m assuming) the company.

I enjoyed both Magnum and Higgins investigating, Magnum pretending to be ‘Tom’ and Higgy hacking and checking garbage and just them putting things together.

Leaving it a little ambiguous with if the prosecutor ended up going after Jordan or Zoe was an interesting deviation from the normal ‘justice is always served’ theme of Magnum PI. Will, the janitor guy was saved from being falsely incarcerated though which is very on brand.

Little sad about the energy company presumably going belly up. It would have been interesting if the Mom had confessed and then maybe part of her motivation could have been ‘this way the company lives on’ even as she took the fall. Because it did sound like she was into creating it too and cared about Sandra too.

Wonder if we get to see Zoe again. There was something a little sweet-creepy about her... and she did kill Sandra and is going to get away scot free. Wonder what that does to a person... (she could be a odd sort of return bad guy for season 6. Maybe.) Also how would it be like to live with your kid knowing she’d killed your husband’s mistress? Weird I’m guessing.

Ruthie & Rick

I thought this was a really interesting dynamic, like Rick expects screw-up Ruth but she’s grown up and even has the audacity of having kept a secret from him for decades(?)! Rick goes from worrying what’s wrong and how he might help her to worrying about not having been clued in, to worrying about not having been good enough/been what she needed. In the end she shows she very much thinks of him as someone very important to her by asking her to give her away at her wedding.

It showed up a bit of a different side to Rick, which was nice, we got a feels plot + positive representation and a kind of interesting take on how someone might feel about a person coming out. Rick isn’t upset about her being gay but about the secret and not having known. I really liked that, because it showcases that you can be okay with someone’s sexuality but still struggle when you learn something surprising about someone you’re close to and maybe feel sad and upset they didn’t trust you sooner. I think.

Also I want to meet Tammy now. She seems like a blast.

TC & Mahina (Cade)

So we finally got word Cade is coming back! I’m looking forward to that and I’m loving how sweet TC and Mahina are and it’s nice to see TC having someone look out for him. I hope we get to see more of Mahina, maybe something with her job as a fire fighter (I do remember that right and she was a fire fighter right?)

Greene case

So Gordon getting Magnum the case file *chef’s kiss* that just shows how different things are now and how important the Ohana has become to our favourite (ex) cop.

I like that it’s in every episode so far, but in the background enough to not be super distracting. Still it’s very present and great to have as an extra incentive for people to come back and follow along each week to see how it develops. So far doing that great, much better than earlier seasons where the bad guy of the season tended to just be forgotten for a few episodes and then randomly pop up again.

Already mentioned the worrying, which I loved, and I like that Thomas is letting people in and admitting to being worried and scared and yeah, being set on facing things together. I think that’s important and I hope we get something similar, like a moment, with Higgy where she’s also ‘we’ll do it together’ because she’s always been so determined to go at everything alone too. She’s very much a protector, as we saw in this, when she tried to make Magnum stay back at the office and be ‘safe’. I’m excited to see where this Greene case goes and how it all ties back to what they did on that mission in Afghanistan.

Next Week!

We finally getting our lift-kiss scene and we got TC and Rick starting to really get suspicious (at least if the trailer is for next weeks episodes is to be believed). Also Magnum still has Roberto II! The mouse is making a comeback as well as Zeus and Apollo!

#magnum PI #My Reviews #magnum pi review #magnum p.i.#Miggy #Thomas Magnum #juliet higgins #this show just makes me so happy

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aleksa-sims · 2 years

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RL Sims-Story (18+)

⚠ CW: addiction, drugs, adult content ⚠

When we got home, I wanted to talk about Irena. I didn’t hate Irena! Honestly not! But even before this fight, I always had an unpleasant feeling in her presence because of him. I put myself in her shoes! How I would feel, if Nico suddenly lived with another woman in our apartment, where I have furnished everything. 😔

I asked Daniel why Irena was suddenly so jealous of me? But Daniel wasn’t in the mood to talk about Irena, he was just fucking high! But I wanted it to work out with him and me! So I thought about telling him? Well, you know? About my feelings. That I fell in love with him, and who knows? Maybe he’ll finally tell me too!? 🤷‍♀️ 😬

Me: Maybe Irena is so mad at me because she found out I’m living here with you? I feel totally stupid about it. Kind of bad. 😞

Daniel: There’s no reason for that at all! And I gave her part of the money back when she moved out. I wanted to stay fair and did the right thing! I even wanted to leave so she could stay here.

Me: Were you happy with her? 😟 I mean, you wanted it to end, or she just left you, because of your addiction?

Daniel: You know the whole story! Why are you asking me all these questions now? 😕

Me: Well...I don’t want to lose you or get it wrong!

Daniel: You’re NOT doing anything wrong! I want you to stay with me! Here in my apartment. And....I hope you will stay! I haven’t forgotten your promise to Philip! I just wanted a fair chance and so far, you’ve always been fair to me! 🤍

Me: You think I’ll go back to P.? 😦 This promise was totally stupid and naive of me! I just hurt P. with this! 😞 I told him, that I can’t keep this! But I’ll be there for him as a friend. I want only you! You changed everything! I never would have believed that 3 months ago!

Daniel: I didn’t plan on living with a woman again, so quickly. But circumstances have led to this.

Me: You mean my crazy dad, who kicked me out! 😒 But you know, we can be together even if I don’t live here with you. If you prefer, I can go to Sandra. But...I’d miss you so much! 🙁

Daniel: No! Now you’re here and you stay with me! I love being with you. When I come home from work and you’re waiting for me, I don’t want to miss it.

Me: Do you love me, D.? 😟

Daniel: 😄 .... What kind of question is that? I could ask you the same!

Me: I’m just so insecure.

Daniel: If you really want to know what I feel, come sit on me and find out.😏

I did what he said and hoped he would finally tell me. At some point, while we were.....doing it, I just told him, I love him. I expected something similar from him to come back, but instead he just told me that he’s crazy over my ........hot ass. 🤨 I mean, that’s nice too, but not what I wanted to hear from him! I was just hoping that my... “hot” ass alone, will be enough to stay with me. Because as it looked, I was a bit right about Irena and him. 😞

However, the next morning I was busy with a completely different thing. My “new” job! I was afraid to be bullied again.😩

Me: Thanks for your help with my outfit. I don’t think anyone will notice me! I look perfectly boring! Just right! 👍

Daniel: You’re a fucking hot bore! 😏....I’m sure you’ll like it there, even without Dilek!

Me: Hm, Idk? 😟 I wish I could take you with me as support.

Daniel: You can do it! But I’m coming to pick you up!

Me: Ok! Can’t wait! And.... you know, last night was really hot, but I still don’t know, if you love me. 😳

Daniel: Then we have to repeat it so many times until you’re sure! You’re so amazing & I constantly want you.

Me: Daniel! 😕 Can you try to be serious?😔 If I only knew you loved me, this would make everything easier for me.

Daniel: But I’m serious! Honestly! And now stop thinking about me, focus on your job, babe, and I’ll pick you up. Just trust me, okay.

Me: Yeah, see you later. 🙁

And what awaited me on my new job, I will tell next time. Just so much, this office was a total madhouse! To be perfectly correct, it really was a madhouse for elderly. 🤣 🤦‍♀️

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#ts4 #sims 4 #sims 4 story #my rl with my simself #simself #myrlgameplay #18+ content #cw addiction #cw drugs #adult conten

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scrapyardboyfriends · 1 year

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So...the funeral stuff was great. The whole Faith voice over, shots of her writing, interspersed with Eric reading the letter in the church were perfect and really got me. Vinny’s speech was nice too.

(Although I don’t need to hear Aaron talk about how he wasn’t good enough anymore. It’s okay Aaron...you’re leaving soon. Back to your husband because you’ll be in off screen land and we can make it so.)

Having the whole adult cast be there when they were walking down the street with the flowers was a lovely gesture and honestly this was the first episode in the entire anniversary month that actually felt like a celebration of the show to some degree. That feels like a flaw.

Faith’s wake at the pub was great too. I love the cardboard cut out and the drink special and I love that she had instructions to make Cain give a toast. And the toast was lovely. This is the Cain I like. I better enjoy him today cause I have a feeling after Monday, he’s going to be backsliding into the Cain I don’t like.

The little impromptu wake for Liv back at the Mill was a nice idea but it really starts falling apart when you realize none of those people really interacted with Liv. Certainly not in the last like...three years. I mean obviously she and Gabby were good friends back in the early years and she had at least featured in the Sandra story. Liv and Jacob dated for a bit so sure. The last time she interacted with Noah he was either getting falsely accused of assaulting her or he was making fun of her being asexual and them not consummating the marriage or whatever. So...yeah. Doesn’t really work. I’m not sure Liv ever spoke to Sarah or Amelia. But the videos were nice. Although I would have very much liked to see more of that side of Liv when she was alive. See that kind of fun at work is exactly what we should get more often up at the Hide. This episode is just exposing all of their flaws the rest of the time they’ve been running this show.

I’m just so tired of Chas. Haha. I’m glad Aaron saw her and Al. That makes Monday make a bit more sense. I still wish he was going to actually reveal the affair before he leaves. Maybe they’ll surprise us and he will tell Paddy before he goes. I want it so badly.

The Chloe/Kerry reveal...dear god. I mean what was the goddamn point? First of all, I can’t believe they actually went there. Second, I can’t believe it took them until days/weeks before Kerry is going to be leaving again. Third, that was the most anticlimactic reveal ever, especially because she’s been acting like her mother anyway this whole time. But back to the first point...WHY!?!?!?!? Why must we have even more convoluted connections between characters?!! It’s so unnecessary. And it makes the fact that they never got to Chloe’s dad even more stupid if all of that was going to matter with this reveal. I mean I get that Laura having another baby wasn’t in their plans but it’s been a year. Surely they could have started that story at some point?? And what...are they going to pick it up while she’s on maternity leave or string it along until she comes back and then truly no one will care cause guess what? No one cares now!

So yeah....half of this episode showed that these producers are capable of decent content and then the other half proved exactly why they should all be fired. Well done.

#emmerdale complaints corner #ed lb

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queer-and-dear-books · 2 years

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Title: Epically Earnest

Author: Molly Horan

Genre: YA Fiction | Romance | Friendship | LGBTQ+

Content Warnings: Abandonment

Overall Rating: 9.0/10

Personal Opinion: This book is short and sweet. Not too much drama, some decent comedy, overall just a relaxing read. Janey Worthing was found in a bag as a baby by her father. She doesn’t know who her biological family is but it doesn’t matter because she already has everything she needs. Still, when her best friend Algie steals her spit for a DNA test, they find a match. And Janey has to grapple with whether or not she wants to discover her bio family or not.

Do I Own This Book? Nope.

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- Janey is automatically a sympathetic protagonist. She was abandoned as a baby in a bag. But she has a very loving family and she loves them very deeply, regardless of how dorky her dad can be. She also wants to be a social worker so she can help kids like her. Ones that lost their homes and need to be placed elsewhere. She’s kind, funny, and she genuinely wants the best for people.

- Algie is less sympathetic with his heartbreaker streak but he loves Janey and that much is obvious from the page. He wants to help her whenever he can and not just because he caused the #BagBabyBabe incident. But because he truly adores her. He wants what’s best for her.

- Gwen was a bit of a question mark for me at first but the fact that she donates her wealthy allowance and wants to be a social worker to put out good in the universe makes me respect her so much.

- Cecil is just plain adorable. Honestly, Janey’s entire family (including Sandra and Emily) are adorable. But Cecil had the most appearances and he was just adorably awkward for shouting random shit. And for keeping a diary. And yet despite those adorable traits, he was the one who became Algie’s savior at the bowling alley.

- Raina is hilarious. She is the weird girl representation that we need. But also, she might legit be psychic and that’s cool too.

Dislikes:

- This book might be too short for my tastes? I don’t know, I guess I expected more. Like, I’m not completely sure how/why Janey and Gwen fell in love. Okay, the promposal was cute as shit but it was mostly Algie’s idea. I guess seeing them chat while watching Rings of Saturn was cute too. I don’t know, I just feel like the romantic relationships could’ve been developed further. But I’m not necessarily mad at what we got.

- I don’t like heartbreakers like Algie. He can have his opinions on monogamy but did he really have to make out with a guy while taking another guy to a dance? Like that’s just rude and disrespectful.

- When 100% of the cast is white and 50% of that is rich, I get kind of bored. Not to say the story was boring in any way. I found it to be very humorous and sweet. I just personally want to see more stories with POC.

#Booklr #Booksbooksbooks #Book Review #Book Blog #Book Recs #Epically Earnest #Molly Horan #LGBTQ #Queer Books #Queer Lit #Queer Representation

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bubblegum-snowdrop · 2 years

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YES. like i actually get excited when i see a voice actor i like in something. (for example, i totally fangirl when cristina vee or sungwon cho voices in something) but whenever i see a celeb in a movie that isnt sandra bullock i just go sorta numb. Like if illumination made a movie and cast cristina vee, sungwon cho, cameron bowen, zeno robinson, kellen goff etc etc i would literally not shut up ab it. How hard is it to not slap a celeb voice. Get a well known VA and most of the people on the internet will see it, the acting will be good, and itll probably vost them less too.

YESSSS EXACTLY OMG

Plus those actors have been here and know the business- honestly the only actor names I know are VAs like 99% of the time. And the only celebrities outside of that I know are usually Canadian [because we maple syrup folk take pride in that lmao]. Plus we all know that those people would do a great job!!!!

People got hyped hearing Alejandro Saab was going to voice Cyno because we know him, know his work and know he does good, and people wanted Charles Martinet for the same reason;;;; like the second my brother and I saw Chris Pratt there we both said "uh oh" and were actually kinda pissed. It would have just been such a great marketing move to stick with their guy!!! The dude who just IS Mario anyway!

Also Chris Pratt just sounds like himself and it's super disappointing. There's just no passion and people can see that kind of thing! That's why we love VAs out here, because they love the craft and have so much passion.

It's super sad because the movie trend lately seemed to be studios recognizing that quality content brings the big bucks, but this slips back into the soulless period I felt that cinema was in for awhile.

Then again, The Hobbit movie trilogy did make me pouty for quite awhile there, so maybe nothing changed and I'm just trying too hard to be optimistic XD either way, it was a super baffling choice from the get go. Especially with an audience so loyal who LOVES Charles' Mario. The internet loves their VAs!!!! Just give the money you would've paid Chris Pratt to the VAs you should have had and BOOM you get way better audio for every dollar spent. Which in turn means MORE money because people love it!

#*sees stupid changes be made in a film* *angrily waves fabric Princess Peach crown*#''How many times do you need to fuck up and re learn this lesson companies?!''#Also if Peach's voice is bad I will flip tables #THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO FUCK UP MY WIFE #Do I sound crazy? yes. But I realized I was a baby bi because of Peach; Rosalina and Daisy soooo they must have the ultimate treatment #yet. I have so much fear because if you screw up my homeboy wHAT WILL YOU DO TO MY WIFE #Also had a heart attack while typing this #Didn't realize my laptop's cursor could move to my ipad screen and I lost track of it #had a mini stroke which bhfvdhbvfbhjfdhjfjhjfhjhvdfhbbhfj nooo my half baked fanfics are on there!!!!#MY WIPS AND DRAFTS AND STUFF I WANNA FINISH BUT FALL ASLEEP IN THE MIDDLE OF MAKING #BECAUSE I CAN SEEMINGLY ONLY WRITE AT THE DEAD OF NIGHTTTT

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noisykate · 2 years

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Faroes!

16 June 2022

Well, not quite, actually. More below. But first,

Pierowall 3 - finding the family Seat!

(Pierowall 2 got posted twice – sorry about that, although you did get a few extra pictures. Bit of a delay appearing, so I thought it hadn’t worked, so typed it all in again.)

On our last day in Pierowall, I wanted to have one last try at finding the family farm, occupied by my father’s family from around 1841 to perhaps sometime after 1871. Sandra came with me, and we headed north from the harbour, following vague directions from various people.

At random, turning right at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere, the first house we found was called ‘Mid Ouseness’. The next house had no dogs out the front, and smoke coming from the chimney, so I knocked at the door. It was confirmed as Nether Ouseness, the family house.

It has clearly been a subsistence croft for generations. The lovely, lovely lady who answered the door was a Mrs Thompson, now living in the New house with her son.

She married in 1952 and moved into the old farmhouse, a tiny single-story thing with a stone roof and no insulation, about 12m long and 3m wide, part of a vague square of similar buildings, all also semi-derelict. The censuses show up to 20 people living on this one farm.

This single building would have been the family home at the time my family lived there, other buildings occupied by farm hands and others. It is still there, semi-derelict and used as a barn, but still holding vestiges of its occupation as a home. No ceilings, which was a surprise – when you look up you see the roof timbers, and the underside of the stone roofing. The short roof span is apparently to reduce the reliance on long timbers, which are impossibly precious on this treeless island. The hardship of such a building in the long, long dark winter is beyond our modern understanding.

The whole farm totals about 20 acres, possibly less now, and is clearly hard, hard living, speaking far more eloquently than I can of hardship, and a lack of money for investment. The ‘new’ house was built in the 1950’s, and would have been an extraordinary luxury after the stone-roofed old house, but by any modern standards it is tiny, and utterly basic. When Mrs Thompson moved in to the old farmhouse in 1952, it is likely much of it would have been as it was a century earlier – the Orkneys did not get mains electricity until the 1970’s. She must have cooked over a peat fire.

Papa Westray is visible across the Sound, now dotted with fish farms. The desolation of the spot is difficult to convey. It is utterly impossible to imagine how someone could live – as Mrs Thompson has - in that same place for an entire lifetime. She gave every impression of being perfectly content.

Faroes – or not.

We left Pierowall with every intention of heading straight for the Faroes. It was not to be, the weather window we had so carefully surveyed proving inadequate. The forecast was accurate, but our estimate of the enjoyableness of the conditions for any extended period was over-optimistic. After about 12 hours and 60 miles, three of us were seasick and feeling less than heroic, the boat entirely safe and going well but the motion was horrible, so the decision was made to turn away from the wind, and head for Shetland. A very much easier point of sailing, and reasonable humour was restored in a short while.

Shetland!

At the point we turned, it was about 75 miles to Shetland, so we expected to arrive in the early morning. Sailing at night up here is a new experience - It doesn’t get properly dark, just dark grey. The sun eventually rose, to reveal a lighter grey.

The approach to Shetland is difficult, and without modern charts and GPS would have been highly dangerous, threading through a maze of little islets and rocky outcrops. We arrived in Scalloway, on the west side of the Shetland Mainland, at about 7am. A decent breakfast was organised quickly, after which all parties retired to bed for most of the morning. Sleep. Wonderful, peaceful, restorative, quiet sleep.

Today – 16th June – Mike and I hired electric bikes and had a pedal around. The bikes were GREAT, although we had some battery issues, as they were not fully charged when we picked them up. Fortunately, we found a little fabrication company with an open door, and the LOVELY owner allowed us to charge up, which takes about half an hour. Even better, she put the kettle on, brought us tea and biscuits, and sat with us for a chat while we waited. We then cycled over to Lerwick, and had a very enjoyable day. Nice place, some lovely old buildings, a charming waterfront, if somewhat blighted by the sight of a cruise ship, as usual dominating the skyline, far too many of its 2-hour excursion trippers over-running the little town.

Barrie and Sandra were less enthusiastic about bikes, so spent the day in Scalloway, exploring every known feature of the place, scouring all the marks on every tourist guide. They did get chased out of the museum by the arrival of three coachloads of cruise shippers, bussed over from Lerwick, who regularly descend on the place. A plague, wherever they land. Too many people, too little time, their spending carefully managed by the cruise ships and their guides.

The wartime heroics of the 'Norway Bus' operators deserves further research - small boats manned by fishermen and other volunteers took personnel and supplies in both directions between Shetland and Norway, avoiding german surveillance by using small boats, and travelling in the winter storms. Unthinkably awful.

Shetland is a surprise after Orkney - greener, hillier, much wealthier, more densely populated - it even has a few trees. The buildings are often painted, mostly in bright colours, which cheers them up no end. The cars are all roadworthy, with decent tyres and no rust. On Orkney, it was clear that the MOT rules were not rigorously enforced. There is some sort of waiver in place, as there is nowhere (on Westray at least) where an MOT can be obtained. The police visit occasionally, arriving by ferry, but the locals are given enough of a warning by bush telegraph to hide away anything which is too obviously unroadworthy.

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rowlandespinoza · 2 years

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loving-villanelle · 2 years

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"What does it feel like to get it SO wrong?" Lol Kayleigh girl we feel you. That's the only sentence to describe the finale and the shit takes Laura has about it.

But really, how can you get it so wrong when it has been so simple? This last season GAVE us Villanelle wanting to be good (for Eve, for to be loved), wanting to stop killing, actively getting away from the Twelve nonsense. It also GAVE us Eve embracing her darkness, not giving a fuck about anything and being on this suicide mission not caring if she died. It also gave us Eve saying in the second to last episode "I survived but for what?". She had already kind of completed the mission and Villanelle was not there to distract her. She had every chance to go back to "normal", - hell, to be carefree and happy with Yusuf even - (who clearly cared about Eve a lot) but she didn't want that, because that didn't feel like ANYTHING. Eve CHOSE to continue with the killing spree, she chose to be with Villanelle and for the first time in the whole series we saw both Eve and Villanelle truly happy together. It was like all of the pieces finally had clicked. They accepted that they have hurt each other and forgave each other. It was so so beautiful to witness their happiness when they finally were with the person who "loves you and understands your very soul". There was so much freedom and acceptance in that they can truly be who they are, all the bad and the good, and be loved. They had everything they both have been craving all along. Both the excitement and danger and the domesticity and "normalcy".

And then, what? We're supposed to suddenly believe that when Eve was dancing with the strangers she was like "oh wait, here is where I'm happy, this is what I want" and V killing just because that's all she's made of? We're supposed to see, that after everything the end take is just "they realize they are different and want different things"? That is so unbelievably stupid that I can't even.

When Eve was dancing, she was happy and free because of Villanelle. Villanelle had the strength to kill the 12 because for the first time in her life she had something to fight for, her future with Eve. I don't understand how delusional or homophobic you have to be to not get that. It was written from the very start, you can't just chance the course and fuck up the meaning of the show in the very last minute.

That's exactly what she did though. She fucked up the meaning of the show in the last minute. I have seen numerous posts that basically say "if you had asked me what Killing Eve was like before 4x08 I would've told you one answer, but after 4x08, I would give you a completely different response". Because the show and these characters have almost become unrecognizable to us. Jodie and Sandra are absolute powerhouses who saved this season. They did, because without them I wouldn't have even bothered finishing the series. That's what just makes this all the more heartbreaking though. This is was the grand finale. The last chance to write as much quality content for Villaneve as possible. And instead of honoring their story and their journey, Laura decided to create one of her own making. Instead of ensuring that they ended up in the same room together, she ensured that they were torn apart in the most vile and cruel of ways I can ever recall bearing witness to.

#villaneve #killing eve

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calzona-ga · 3 years

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Since 2005, Shondaland has produced groundbreaking television. And over the course of 17 seasons, Grey’s Anatomy has made more than its fair share of bold choices. From the killing off of Patrick Dempsey’s beloved McDreamy to the still-controversial ghost-sex story line, the ABC series has seen, and done, it all. But perhaps no episode was riskier than turning the popular medical drama into a musical for “Song Beneath the Song,” the infamous season-7 hour in which a pregnant Callie (Sara Ramirez) gets badly injured in a car accident and, while her fellow doctors work to save her life, sees her hallucinatory self burst into song — with the rest of the characters quickly following suit.

Coming from the mind of series creator Shonda Rhimes, a vocal fan of both Broadway shows and TV musicals like Buffy’s “Once More, With Feeling,” the Grey’s musical episode was a monumental moment for the show and for television. Many viewers praised its audacity and swooned over the vocal chops of stars like Ramirez and Chandra Wilson.

“Song Beneath the Song” made for one of the most memorable hours of television, earning strong ratings and leading the soundtrack, particularly Ramirez’s show-stopping rendition of Brandi Carlile’s “The Story,” to Billboard success. A decade later, its impact is still growing, thanks in part to the countless teenage Grey’s fans who’ve only recently discovered the series via Netflix. Like the show itself, the musical has become an indelible part of TV history — and so, 10 years after its premiere in March 2011, we spoke to the episode’s cast and crew to get the story of how it came to be.

Featuring thoughts from Rhimes; writers, producers, and co-showrunners Tony Phelan and Joan Rater; and actors Wilson, Kevin McKidd, Jessica Capshaw, Kim Raver, and Eric Dane, this is the oral history of “Song Beneath the Song.”

Finding the Inspiration

Inspired by a 2008 benefit concert in which several stars of Grey’s and its spinoff show Private Practice performed songs to support out-of-work Hollywood workers during the 2007-2008 writers’ strike, Rhimes decided to turn her long-held desire to make a Grey’s musical episode into a reality.

Rhimes (series creator and writer): I remember thinking to myself at a certain point, I have this sort of murderers’ row of Broadway people. Like, Chandra had been on Broadway and singing; obviously, Sara Ramirez had won a Tony on Broadway [for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, in 2005], which is how I first met her; and then I knew that Kevin could sing. There were so many people in the show with beautiful voices. ... It felt like it was leaning in that direction in a good way.

Rater (writer, producer, and co-showrunner): The first iteration for, like, two days when we first started batting around the idea was that we would write original music. It was all gonna be original music. And then we quickly realized that a) who’s gonna write that music?, and b) no, it doesn’t feel like the right thing. And then Shonda, I think a day or two later, came in with the idea that we would use these iconic songs.

Wilson (Dr. Miranda Bailey): But the studio wasn’t quite on board with this whole idea.

Convincing a Skeptical Network

After coming up with the episode’s plot and deciding that the characters would sing classic songs from the Grey’s soundtrack, like Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars” and the Fray’s “How to Save a Life,” Rhimes pitched the idea to the network — but, in a surprising first, she was told that they were going to pass.

Rhimes: By that point, I wasn’t getting notes on anything; nobody was saying no to me about anything. So it was really bizarre to me that there was all this resistance to doing a musical episode. And I remember somebody at the network saying, “Can’t you just do one of your love-triangle thingies again?” And I thought, my head’s gonna explode, because the show is not a bunch of “love-triangle thingies.” You guys have missed the point entirely. I felt like, no, every year of the show is a completely different show, and this year the show has a musical episode. And that’s the story.

McKidd (Dr. Owen Hunt): Tony, Joan, and Shonda basically said to us, “We are trying to convince Disney to give us actual money to do this musical episode, and we feel like we want to do a show-and-tell to show them what this musical episode could be. Are you guys willing to give your time to help us create this show-and-tell?” And we were like, “Yeah, of course.”

Wilson: So we gave them a concert. Sara, Kevin McKidd, and I, along with musicians, got together, and we performed this script that Shonda and Tony Phelan put together. Shonda did the narrating. And we went through what the entire episode would be, based on those iconic songs.

McKidd: I remember Sandra Oh came to the concert for the execs just to be moral support for us. And she became like our groupie — she would stand and cheer and whoop and holler in between all the songs.

Phelan (writer, producer, director, and co-showrunner): Once [the executives] saw it, and saw it could work, then they gave us the okay to do it.

Rhimes: I still feel like they thought we were crazy. But you couldn’t deny the talent in the room.

Getting the Cast on Board

Once the episode was greenlit, the team began the task of persuading a cast full of non-singers to simultaneously sing, act, and — in some cases — dance on screen.

Wilson: The offer was put out on the table from the beginning from Shonda — anybody that’s not interested in singing, you’re not required; you don’t have to do it.

Rater: I think Sandra from the beginning was like, nope.

Rhimes: She looked at me — it was her very deadpan face — and she was like, “I’m not singing.” And I was like, okay! If that’s not your thing, that is not your thing — that’s completely okay. And it didn’t feel like she was afraid to sing or push past this barrier. It felt like Cristina Yang doesn’t sing. And that made sense to me.

Rater: Ellen [Pompeo] has a great voice. She could’ve done more. ... Ellen was very gracious about, like, “I’ll doo-wop in the back; don’t worry about me. Let’s hear Chandra, let’s hear Sara, this is theirs.”

Capshaw (Dr. Arizona Robbins): In addition to Sara having this powerhouse voice, she was always very generous about others and never made anyone feel smaller because of her giant power. But singing with her was like, “Aw, man [laughs], how about you get this one? You got this leg of the race.”

Wilson: Probably the most frightened person was Kim Raver, bless her heart.

Raver (Dr. Teddy Altman): It was super-exciting and terrifying at the same time. We all love singing, but unless you’re Sara Ramirez or Chandra Wilson.

Dane (Dr. Mark Sloan): I don’t fancy myself a singer, so I said, “Shonda, in this particular episode, I want the least amount of lines.”

Rhimes: Eric Dane surprised me, because his voice had this lovely quality to it that was really nice.

Dane: I set her up for a catastrophe, so she had very low expectations.

Starting Rehearsals

For months leading up to the episode, the cast embarked on a grueling series of rehearsals and voice lessons, adding hours onto their already long daily schedules.

Capshaw: I had just had a baby, and I was really taking my life one day at a time. I knew it was going to be a big episode, but, timeliness-wise, it was a tough time. I think I was still breast-feeding.

Phelan: Usually in the writers’ room, you’ve got maybe six-to-eight weeks from the time you come up with an idea to the time that it’s shot. This we needed almost the entire season to plan for.

Raver: It was like riding a bike but then adding, like, six more wheels to it, and you had to kind of figure it out.

Capshaw: We were all bringing our A games. In normal days, it feels like there’s a familiarity, you can feel a little more casual, a little more off-the-cuff, but there was nothing off-the-cuff about this. It was all very high stakes because it was life or death, literally.

There were some silver linings, though.

Dane: We had these little earbuds in our ears, I guess like how you film musicals, so you can sync what you’re mouthing with the music in your ear. And so I went to the sound operator and said, “I can buy one of these earbuds, right? And I can create a content-receiver pack and connect it to an iPod and pipe music into this too theoretically, yes?” And he said, “Yeah, you could do that if you want to.” So I said, “So when I’m performing surgery in later episodes on this show, and I don’t have very many lines, theoretically I could be listening to music, and nobody would know?” And he said, “Yeah, theoretically, that would work.” So I had one made, and I shot many episodes in the surgical theater, sometimes with lines, listening to music, many times.

Filming the Episode

“Song Beneath the Song” revolved largely around the seriousness of Callie’s condition, but there were also some light moments, including a sexy, dance-filled take on “Running on Sunshine” featuring several of the show’s couples.

Capshaw: When Sara and I are in the car in the clouds — oh my god, I’ve never felt so goofy in my life [laughs].

Raver: Scott Foley [who played Teddy’s love interest Henry] and I had so much fun working together. He’s so funny, and so choreographing that dance singing number was really fun.

Wilson: Debbie Allen sent in Eartha Robinson, one of her choreographers from the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, who I knew from Fame, the television series. So this is who was coming in, teaching us how to twirl. And I was like, oh my god, I’m on Fame!

Early in the episode, McKidd’s Owen sing-shouts at his crew of doctors to “calm down” — a moment that, years later, became a widely shared meme for its over-the-top nature.

McKidd: In the scene, I think it was Kate Walsh — she’s brilliant; she’s a prankster — and Patrick and Eric Dane. And they were all arguing. And I’m sitting there and [the cameras] push in on me and I go, “Calm down.” And they couldn’t keep a straight face. Every time we did a take, they just would fall over laughing. And they were on camera giving me the eye line, and I had to sing this song seriously with those two actors just doubled over, like sidesplitting. It just tickled their funny bones so much. That was one of the hardest acting days of my life [laughs].

Capshaw: For sure, many, many, many shots were taken at Kevin McKidd for his “calm down” [laughs]. ... He really took on the rock-&-roll part of it.

McKidd: My daughter, who’s big on Twitter, she said that “calm down” thing’s like a serious meme thing now, which I guess is an honor. I don’t know.

The biggest moment of the hour came at the end, when Ramirez, a Tony winner for Spamalot, sang “The Story” as Callie fought for her life.

Phelan: When Sara came to Grey’s, she had this idea that she absolutely wanted to be known as an actress not a singer. And so for her first couple seasons on the show, she kind of left that side of her behind. Then, here was Shonda and I coming to her and saying, “No, we want to re-engage that part of you and put it on the show.” And so I think that she got nervous about that ... but to hear that amazing, magical voice come out of her ... that was the moment that was going to be able to sustain the music [of the whole episode].

Rhimes: When she sings “The Story,” I mean — I wrote the episode; I know what’s gonna happen. I’ve seen it a thousand times. It has nothing to do with me. But I always tear up a little bit because of her extraordinary voice and extraordinary performance.

Wilson: What a showcase it was for Sara Ramirez. I’m so glad that she got to share that part of herself with our audiences.

Reading Those Reviews

On March 31, 2011, the episode aired. While it garnered strong ratings, viewers’ reactions to “Song Beneath the Song” were mixed.

McKidd: I think we all went into it with our eyes open, and we knew there was gonna be mixed reviews. Because some people are gonna love it, and some people aren’t. But that shouldn’t stop people from taking a few risks in what we do, you know?

Rater: I remember being shocked that there were people who didn’t like it. I was like, come on!

Capshaw: It didn’t feel like [the reviews] were gonna affect anything either way. It wasn’t gonna be like, “Oh my gosh, that was too silly, and I’m never watching Grey’s again.” It had already found its place in people’s hearts.

Rhimes: I learned very quickly [on Grey’s] that if you’re gonna believe the good things people say about you, you have to believe the bad things people say. So there’s no point in paying attention to any of it. ... Nobody’s gonna like everything that you do.

Phelan: I know there are a lot of people who don’t like it, who felt like it bent the show too much, but it’s season 7 of a show, and if you’re not taking big swings when you’re on season 7 on a show, something’s wrong.

Creating a Legacy

Despite the critical reactions, the episode has developed something of a cult following over the years, thanks to live benefits and TikTok memes. A decade later, its creators all look back fondly on the hour and its impact.

Wilson: [The cast] watched it together, and I remember feeling like, wow, look at what we did!

Capshaw: When we showed up to do that benefit concert, I remember coming out onstage ... and being completely, completely overwhelmed with the people that responded to Arizona in that episode, and to the love story between Callie and Arizona.

Phelan: As a director, it was the biggest challenge of my career to do that, and it’s one of the things that I’m most proud of.

Raver: I’ll be in my car singing along, or at work if we’re in the hair-and-makeup trailer and we’re listening to [the soundtrack], it’s just an immediate flashback. It kind of feels like yesterday.

Wilson: The soundtrack is on my playlist on my phone [laughs]. So I will pop that thing out in a minute, because it’s just absolute happy memories.

Rater: If I’m cooking, that is what I put on. That’s what I tell Alexa to play for me.

Rhimes: I feel like that episode just always reminds me of having so much fun. That was what was really great. We had so much fun. And how much do you get to say that about just being at work?

Dane: As a cast, contrary to what some of the entertainment media might have speculated, we were all very close. We all spent a lot of time together, and a lot of that stuff felt really real to us. It was easy to access because of how we felt about each other off screen.

Raver: I just remember it being such an incredible experience, being able to work with all these incredibly talented actors and creators.

Rhimes: It’s right in my top 10 of episodes we’ve ever done.

Dane: I don’t particularly want to do it again, but I’m glad I did it.

#grey's anatomy #7x18 #jessica capshaw #eric dane #chandra wilson #shonda rhimes #kevin mckidd #kim raver #tony phelan #Joan Rater

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st-just · 3 years

Note

Begging you for those post canon Pact/Pale fic ideas. Your post about Rose & co as exterminators of last resort was such a great concept, and I’d love to hear what other ideas you have. I honestly just want all the Otherverse content I can get.

I entirely agree. Absolutely tragic lack of fanfic for it.

So the Exterminator of last resort idea’s the biggest one, really. I really need to reread Pact to remind myself of however much characterization as the rest of their little coven/circle had. But like I said, vague beats/ideas

-The distinction between being a Scourge/using and binding the Abyss, and being its sworn agent, and what that means for Rose and her interactions with her ‘colleagues’ in the field. -Long term effects of having Liquid Colonialism on tap at all times whenever you need a power boost, slowly leaking into your Self. -Really generally ‘got out form my soul being sold before I was born to the worst possible power source by mortgaging it two that are marginally less bad instead” is kind of interesting, character-wise? Also something something societal oppression. -That nakedly political marriage with Alistar, given that marriage oaths are, uh, pretty heavy when you have to follow them literally. -The complete clusterfuck that is Toronto’s political situation after Pact, and what the Sisterhood of the Flame or whatever it’s called actually wants. -The hints we’ve got about how the Duchamps have shifted and changed with the times are interesting, and I do wonder what Sandra’s up to. -Also, Maggie Holt! What the fuck is up with Padriac and co, given what we know about faeries now?

Beyond that, a while back an anon mentioned the idea of Rose being brought in as an instructor at the Blue Heron institute, and that idea’s been bubbling in my head since.

Also, expanding on what Mag’s life is like, expanding off the tantalizing hints we got in Poke. I’m, like, 60% sure that Wildbow’s eventually going to get around to resolving the story with the redcap, but if not it needs resolution!

#reply #anon #pact web serial #parahumans #wildbow #long #Anonymous

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scrapyardboyfriends · 2 years

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So I finally caught up on the like three and a half weeks of Emmerdale that I had missed/skipped...

It wasn’t as terrible as I thought it would be so that’s something. I think I’m just still in that period where I’m just happy to see more people in the pub interacting and stuff. I don’t know. Haha.

Chas was of course absolutely horrible for so much of it. I just kept correcting everything she hypocritically said. And I hated that she forced Faith through another round of chemo when she didn’t want one. And I hated just as much that I had to agree with Cain in that moment. They’re both still so loathsome for so much of it that by the time we get to their little special episode where they get drunk in the pub and have their little chat, I just don’t really care. Which is a shame because they actually almost resembled the characters I used to like in those scenes.

And I’m still just annoyed at the idea that Cain still needed to work through all of this stuff with Faith because that was really half the point of that flashback episode back in 2018 or whatever. They had worked through things. Cain was totally fine with her and before Chas even really until the stupid Nate story. And then they just forgot about that and reset to his initial issues with her and that never really rang true to me so I was just super frustrated with the whole thing. Also, it’s like they brought Faith back and knew that they were going to kill her off at the 50th anniversary and then had to make up reasons for Cain to continue to hate her for another couple years it really was very tiring and made him seem really awful and ridiculous. I don’t know, we’ll see how it goes now that he and Chas are being slightly less monstrous.

The Faith/Eric/Brenda content was great though. I want more of that before she goes. And Mary too if they can squeeze that in maybe.

The Chas/Al affair stuff is so cringe and I don’t know what he sees in her either cause she’s terrible to him too most of the time but also it’s kind of some of the best Chas content we’ve had in years. She’s just so ill suited for Paddy. She’s definitely like Aaron in that capacity, neither of them work with the safe, boring nice guy. They need someone with a little edge. I mean Al is no Carl (or Robert) but he’s certainly a step up from Paddy in being able to stand up to her a little bit and that’s a good thing. I feel like she thrives on a relationship where they can be a little mean to each other. Haha. I don’t know, I also look forward to it all blowing up in her face.

The David money stuff was...ridiculous. The only thing it did for him and Vic is that it did give them at least some marginal screen time as a couple, which made me feel slightly less blah about them.

The Nicola stuff is interesting and I like seeing Bernice and Laurel involved and I didn’t even mind Rodney. And I love seeing the King kids again even if it was all too brief. Also, Dotty is adorable. I can’t believe Jimmy still hasn’t come back or been informed though.

The Charles/Ethan/Marcus scenes were so weird. Why is Charle THAT clingy when Manpreet is away for a bit? That was a lot. And I do not like all of those vague references to Pierce. I’m still concerned on that front. All that said, I did like Naomi and I hope we will get to see more of her. I’m still really expecting her to randomly be the “I’m sorry” girl from Nicola’s attack and that’s why she went off the grid for a while or something. Because they absolutely cannot resist having a convoluted connection to someone else in the village.

I’m super ready for the Leyla coke story to end or reach its climax because I’m over Liam misdiagnosing her. I also still don’t quite know what the purpose of this Holly stuff is but I mean...I don’t hate it. It’s nice to remember when the show was better. Haha.

Sandra’s fourth personality is uh...pretty horrific. Almost makes Chas look like a saint. And that’s hard to do. I don’t mind totally the idea of Liv (and Vinny) getting scammed or whatever, I just DO NOT WANT A RELAPSE. If they want to touch on it further in the future, fine, but not right now. Just let her stay sober. I did really love seeing her have actual scenes with Gabby though. I don’t understand why they cannot maintain that friendship regularly.

Probably for the same reason Matty and Amy only get one 2/3 episode mini arc once a year and they call that a relationship. It’s so annoying. Every time I see Ash posting about being happy to be a part of Emmerdale, I’m just like “but are you though? You clean their tables and that’s about it.” I just want more for them. Amy apologist and all, but it is funny that Matty went and yelled at Suzy for being a murderer when he’s dating someone who in part caused someone else’s death and his mother directly killed someone, forcing his brother on the run. Haha. Only in soap land.

Not that I really want more Noah the creep, but if he’s just magically fixed mostly off screen in prison the way Liv always got sober in prison, I’m going to be a bit annoyed. (I laughed when Liv said she’d followed that program. I was like...no...you just went to prison again). Also, Amelia...get yourself some self respect girl.

Oh and if Billy and Dawn ever break up because she doesn’t want kids and he does, I’m going to be very annoyed. The number of times that plot comes up is so frustrating. Just let people A) talk about this stuff before they get married and B) just allow some couple to want kids and actually have one or C) let people both not want kids/more kids.

That Marlon and Priya scene was really nice though. More of that please. And I hope she really is there at his wedding without her jacket.

#emmerdale complaints corner #emmerdale #belated live blogging #ed lb

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maraudersbutmuggle · 3 years

Text

Summer, 2013. Part 2

Check out Part 1.

Content Warning: Homophobia, Conservative and toxic religion.

They had been calling each other. Remus and Grant. Remus locked up in the bathroom, with the water running, because he wasn't ready to tell The Marauders about Grant. He was his secret.

Remus told Grant everything he could about Hogwarts, his friends, Sirius. And Grant always had a funny comment that made Remus smile for the day.

"I'm tellin' her Remus" he said one night while they talked over the phone.

"Who? What?"

"That I'm queer. To Margot"

"Oh..."

"She was givin' a lecture today" Grant sniffed "Somethin' about how homosexuals deserve to rot in hell, that we are perverts corrupting children''

"Shit, I'm sorry Grant"

"I almost yelled at her and hit her with the Cross" he said "You know, the big Cross"

Remus snorted "That sounds like the perfect crime"

"I'm gonna tell her, sweetheart" Grant said, he sounded sad "And then I gonna get the hell out of here"

And Grant disappeared sometime on March. After he called to wish Remus happy birthday. And Remus called and called. But Grant didn't pick up again.

Remus hoped he was alright. And he promised himself to come looking for him in the summer. But Hope's illness and depression didn't let him.

Until now.

Remus had seen Grant's house from outside. Obviously he never came in. But he knew exactly where it was. He was determined to find out where Grant was.

The house was big. It looked like a school from outside. And it seemed creepy. Like those houses in horror movies. Remus tried not to think too much about it.

As he crossed the yard, he saw a little girl on the swings. She must've been around 9 or 10. Sandy curled hair. Like his. But hers was really tamed, probably with some product. She waved. And Remus waved back.

Remus got to the door. And knocked. He could feel the girl's stare on his back.

A lady opened the door. She was old, with a black dress, a white sweater and a cross around her neck.

Remus knew she was Margot.

"We don't buy anything..." she snapped. She was about to close the door but Remus stopped her.

"I am looking for Grant" he said "Grant Chapman"

Margot frowned and stared at Remus up and down.

"Jesus will condemn you sinners" she said "That ungrateful brat is not here"

And she slammed the door closed. Remus jumped. He sighed. Everything that Grant had told him was true. Margot was scary. And Grant wasn't there.

Remus crossed the yard again to leave, when a voice stopped him.

"You know Grant?"

It was the little girl. Her green eyes were full of hope and curiosity. She turned to look if they were alone.

"Are you his boyfriend?" she whispered.

Remus smiled and blushed.

"No...am... He is my friend" he said "Do you know where he is?"

The girl looked down.

"He told me. And only me because I am his favorite sibling"

Remus smiled again. Grant had told him how much he loved the children there. How much he loved children in general.

"What's your name?"

"Isobel"

"I'm Remus" he smiled "Look I really need to talk with Grant. Can you help me?"

Isobel took a minute to answer.

"Would you tell him I miss him?"

Remus nodded. Feeling sorry for her.

Isobel took out a piece of paper from her pocket.

"Grant gave me this address" she whispered "I'm keeping it. So I could go and visit him when I get out of here"

Remus' heart melted. Isobel must've really liked Grant.

"I'll take a picture of it" he whispered back "And you can keep it"

Isobel nodded and showed him the paper. Remus took out his phone, and took a picture of the address.

"Cheers, Isobel"

"You're welcome, Remus"

"ISOBEL!" A voice yelled from inside "TIME FOR SUPPER!"

Isobel looked to the house "I have to go"

"I'll tell Grant you miss him"

"Cheers" And Isobel ran inside.

It took forever for Remus to walk to where Grant was. Hope called him several times. And Remus answered at the fifth one.

"Remus, where are you?"

"I saw dad with his new girlfriend. Her name is Sandra"

"I didn't know he was dating someone"

"I'm pissed mum. Aren't you?"

Hope sighed "Are you arriving home soon? Groceries don't take all day"

"I'm visiting a friend... Peter" he lied "We're watching movies with the boys and eating pizza. I might stay the night"

"Take care, sweetheart"

Remus felt like crying. He felt guilty for leaving Hope alone.

"I'll do the groceries tomorrow" he sniffed

"Remus... I love you so much baby"

Remus felt tears run down his face. His lips trembled.

"I love you too, mum" Remus cried "Please take care of yourself. I need you"

"I'll be alright" Hope said after a while "I'll see you tomorrow, love"

When Hope hung up, Remus bursted crying.

By the time he arrived at the place of the address, he had managed to compose himself. And it was almost night time.

The neighbourhood was not nice or cozy. It seemed like garbage and weed. The houses were old and rotten. The address took him to a small house on the street.

Remus didn't mind. He didn't judge Grant or anyone else who lived there.

He knocked on the door. But seconds later he panicked. What if Grant didn't want to see him? That's why he didn't answer. What if he gave Isobel the wrong address on purpose, to never be found?

A man opened the door. He looked to be in his mid 20s. He was shirtless. With tattoos across his chest and black long hair. Somehow he reminded him of Sirius.

"Wha' cha want?"

Remus blinked, realizing he was staring. The man was muscular and... handsome. Remus blushed.

"Grant" he muttered. Then he cleared his throat "Does Grant live here?"

The man sighed, and rolled his eyes.

"GRAANT!!" he yelled inside "I told yer ass not to bring more boys here anymoor"

Remus freezed. More boys?

"BLOODY HELL.... I DIDN' BRING ANYONE!"

Grant's voice came from inside. And Remus smiled with hope.

"THERE'S A SKINNY LAD ON THE DOOR. ASKIN' FOR YA!"

Grant appeared on the door. He was shirtless too. Remus reasoned he'd never seen Grant shirtless before. A cigarette behind his ear, as always.

"Hi..." Remus swallowed.

His eyes widened when he saw Remus.

"What'chu doin' here?"

Grant seemed upset. Almost as if he didn't want to see Remus. Or was annoyed by his presence.

"Sorry..." Remus said, looking between the two men.

Fuck. It all made sense now. Probably he had interrupted them.

"I'm gonna go..."

"No. No. No...." Grant reacted "Don' chu dare, sweetheart"

He smiled. And Remus smiled relieved. That was the Grant that he knew.

"Blimey! I'm jus' surprised to see ya" Grant grinned and took Remus' arm "Remus John Lupin" he said pointing at Remus and smiling at him "This is Vince" he gestured to the older man.

"Grant..." he grunted

"Oh come on, Vince" Grant pouted "Remus is just a friend. We're good pals, aren' we sweetheart?"

Remus nodded.

"We're not gonna shag" Grant said to Vince. Then he turned to Remus "Unless he wants too" he smiled

Remus blushed at that statement.

"I... I...."

Grant bursted laughing.

"Ah, I bloody miss ya, sweetheart" he said "I was jus' jokin'"

Remus giggled embarrassed. He had missed Grant so much.

"You always say that. But me home is not a motel"

Remus turned to look at Grant. Grant simply laughed.

"Come in, sweetheart" he said "You look like you're freezing out there"

"I will be able to hear everything" Vince said and went inside "The walls are thin"

Grant snorted "Remus is jus' my mate" he smiled at Remus "A very special mate"

Remus wasn't that cold anymore.

#marauders era #muggle au #marauders muggle au #remus lupin #trans remus lupin #grant chapman #hope lupin #wolfstar #sirius black

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