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thebrochtuarachs · 3 years

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Something in the Rain - “Interruptions”

A/N: I hope you like it. As always, your comments and suggestions are very much welcome.

A modern day meet cute instance between Jamie and Claire.

AO3 / C1: A Day In June : C2: Definitely, Maybe : C3: So We Meet Again : C4: Friday Lunch : C5: Finding Solid Ground : C6: Situations

XXXXX

“What should I wear tomorrow?” Claire texted Jamie on the eve of their first official date. She wanted to have an extra time to shop should the need there be.

“What do ye mean?” he replied.

“I want to dress appropriately to wherever you’re taking me, James Fraser.”

“I see. Smart casual would do. :) Sorry, I dinna thought of informing ye earlier but wouldn’t it be hilarious if you dressed to the nines and we’re going to some sort of cattle farm”

“Exactly.” Claire replied with the eye roll and laughing emoji. “Can I know where we’re going?”

“Don’t ye want to be surprised?” Jamie messaged back and saw three dots typing afterwards.

“Hmm, thinking about it, yes. I’m excited to see the Jamie Fraser Date Experience.”

“Hope it doesna disappoint. I, too, am excited to see the Claire Beauchamp Date Experience. ;)” he replied, knowing the use of emoji will make her smile as he rarely uses one.

“I hope it doesn’t disappoint, too.” she replied with a winky face too. “Are you back in Edinburgh?”

“Just about to arrive home. I might just wash and then hit the sack.”

“Rest then, Jamie. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Thanks, Sassenach. I’ll message ye tomorrow when I’m on my way”

----

It has been four weeks since their accidental meeting at the sidewalk. After countless run-ins, lunches, and an absurd amount of consumed soy chicken, the day of their date has arrived.

When Claire accepted his invitation three days earlier, Jamie went into a slight overdrive trying to plan what to do. He meant to ask her out when he got back - but when he found out that she met Laoghaire, something pushed him to go for it before Claire had any wrong idea about his connection with Mrs. Fitz's granddaughter.

His first idea was to go all out - book the fanciest rooftop restaurant in the city, get the best chef he knew, and plan a private dinner for them. Fancy and exclusive seemed like a safe choice and a sure hit.

Then he thought about Claire and all their interactions so far - hole in the wall kitchens, asian street food, very light and casual. Jamie pondered on the idea and realized that jumping from that to an uber private dinner might not be the best, so he kept that card to play for later.

It was then he decided to just take their casual lunch to a casual dinner. He’ll just exchange one-hour savory chicken meetings for a comfortable, popular city restaurant and longer conversations. He also decided on wearing more casual clothes, opting out of his office suits that she’d seen him often in for a navy turtleneck, khaki pants and white sneakers.

Arriving at her front door, Jamie took one last stock of himself, suddenly feeling a wave of nervousness, and knocked on her door.

What he saw next knocked him out.

Claire opened the door wearing a burgundy sleeveless jumpsuit that was both modest and sexy, yet casual enough. Pairing the ensemble with black heels, the garment hugged Claire’s curves in just the right places that left Jamie staring for a hot minute.

“Hi” Claire broke through his thoughts and he remembered his manners.

“Hi, Claire. Wow, ye look beautiful”

“Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself. Going to stop traffic pairing blue on blue like that”

“Ye ready to go?”

“Yeah. Are we going to walk?” She asked as she locked the door to her place.

“Yes, I hope ye dinna mind. Ye live close by all the nice places to eat.”

“No, I don’t mind and also, very true.”

It was a short 10-minute walk before they arrived at Howie’s Restaurant.

“Howie’s. Interesting choice.” Claire commented as they walked to the hostess.

“We can go somewhere if ye dinna like it here.” Jamie offered.

“No, I actually quite like it here” she had to stifle a laugh at how adorable she found his tenseness was.

The hostess pointed them to the bar to wait for their table. Claire excused herself to the bathroom and Jamie ordered a light whisky for some liquid courage.

When the bartender served his drink, a familiar bloke sat beside him and greeted him.

“Jamie Fraser, hello!”

Jamie gulped the drink and turned to the man beside him. “Joe! It’s good to see ye, man!”

The two shook hands and exchanged more pleasantries.

“I’m actually meeting my wife.” He looked at his watch and then to the front door. “Oh, good, she just arrived!” Joe quickly waved her in and introduced her.

“Jamie Fraser, meet Gail Abernathy. Gail, Jamie.” he paused when Jamie extended a hand to her. “He was the guy who volunteered at our center two weeks ago. All the kids were just drawn to him.”

“No wonder.” Gail observed, her comment earning a jokey sigh from her husband. “So, Jamie, what brings you to this side of town on a Saturday evening?”

Jamie was about to share that he was on a date, but then right on cue, Claire arrives to greet the trio.

“Hello, everyone!”

“Claire!” Gail squealed as she gave her friend a tight hug.

“Lady Jane, you clean up good!” Joe remarked.

As they finished their greetings, Jamie quietly whispered to Claire to order any drink she’d like. The husband-and-wife duo caught on and couldn’t resist to pry.

“You guys on a date?” Joe asked frankly.

“First one, actually.” Jamie replied as Gail raised an eyebrow while Claire returned to his side, drink in tow.

Joe leaned closer to Jamie and pretended to whisper in his ear, “My date advice is don’t challenge her or don’t allow her to challenge you to a drinking game. You will lose”

Claire groaned while the rest laughed at her expense.

Just then, the hostess approached the pairs and told them their tables were ready. They exchanged their goodbyes and were led to their areas.

---

Jamie had been a perfect gentleman.

He opened her seat, allowed her to order and choose whatever she wanted from the menu (They both went to the steak and fries!), and is making just the right amount of banter.

Claire actually liked this dining choice - Howie’s comfort food really brought out the easy ambiance and conversation to their date. She didn’t mind going to a fancier place but she knew that if they were there, things would be too formal, delicate and shy. This was much better and she’d Jamie props for this.

Moreover, what made this official first date a little bit more fun is much of the first date awkwardness is gone. They’ve covered much of the basics about their life during their lunches - their families (both their parents are alive and have retired away from the city, Claire’s an only child while Jamie had an older sister), how they chose their careers and where they went to school (Jamie is Oxford Law while Claire is Cambridge Med, the school rivalry something they joke about), their current or main interests (horses for Jamie, herbs for Claire) and many other things.

So the evening was more or less less a continuation on what they’ve normally done - catching up on their days, sharing an interesting story at work or a photo they found on the web, asking more random questions - the only difference now is, there’s a more clear and intentional purpose for knowing these things and whole lot of shameless flirting in between.

Forty-five minutes in and halfway through their steak, a man approached their table. “Dr. Beauchamp, it’s nice to see you here!”

Jamie and Claire looked up and saw a slender man, not much older than they are with grey eyes.

“Tom, hi!” Claire swallowed a fry and grabbed a cloth to clean her mouth.

“I’m sorry to interrupt your evening but I saw you from the bar and just had to pass by and greet you. I mean at least, this time, not at the hospital or during check ups”

Claire smiled and made the introductions. “Oh, I’m sorry. Tom Christie, this is Jamie Fraser. Jamie, Tom. He is a teacher at the public elementary school. We met when I did the annual medical checkup for the kids. Also, I’m the peds of his kids, Allan and Malva.”

The mention of the word kids made Jamie release the tight fist he didn’t know he held beneath the table. He didna like the way the man eyed Claire but it was not his place - not yet at least.

Jamie gave the man a nod but ultimately wished he’d go. When neither said or did anything, Tom said his farewells and confirmed his kids check-up schedule in two weeks.

---

They decided to share a slice of chocolate cake and one last glass of wine each to cap off their dinner.

As they waited for their order to arrive, they got startled with a loud noise.

“Jamie, is that ye?!” one man said.

“Oh, heavens, tis!” another man replied.

Jamie could not hide the embarrassment he felt as the two blokes approached their table. Once they noticed Claire, they did not waste time introducing themselves.

“Hello, I havena seen ye before. My name is Angus” the thin, beardly man extended his hand. “And ye are?”

“Hi, I’m Claire.” she reached out but eyeing Jamie for confirmation that he knew these people.

“I’m Rupert.” the other man said. “We’re Jamie’s cousins”

“Distant cousins” Jamie retorted back. “What brings ye here?” he asked while glaring at them to leave.

“We have a double date” Angus shared, pointing to the table where two ladies were indeed waiting for them.

“Then I suggest you return to your dates then.” Jamie replied then proceeded to converse with the two men in Gaelic.

When the conversation was apparently over, Rupert sighed and turned to Claire. “It was nice meeting ye, lass. Please ask Jamie here to bring around one of our office events and meet the rest of the clan. I’m sure they’d love to get to know ye as well.”

Jamie stood up quickly and had to push the two back to their table before they said anything else that may ruin the evening.

“I’m sorry about them, Claire. They are quite the more, erm, rowdy members of my family.” he said as he sat down again.

“It’s alright. They seem really nice” Claire said, smiling. “So, clan huh? Just how big is that family of yours really?” She brought the conversation back up again hoping it would ease his discomfort.

Jamie visibly relaxed and then, they were back in their bubble, “How many generations back?”

---

Desert went by swimmingly with the chocolate cake and red wine proving to be a winning combo. After an almost three-hour dinner, Jamie asked for the check and insisted on paying for the meal.

They were one their way out of the restaurant then Claire was greeted by incoming guests.

“Dr. Beauchamp!”

Claire turned to look who called her. “Oh, please call me Claire. It’s nice seeing you here”

“Likewise. Please call me Meredith.” she quickly signaled to the man beside her. “This is my husband, Derek.”

“Of course, Dr. Shepherd.” Claire politely acknowledged him with the man insisting to be called casually as well.

“Anyway, I’d just like to say that I just read your latest paper in the Journal of Pediatrics. I look forward to hearing all about it in your visit to Seattle.”

Claire graciously accepted the complement with a smile and bow. “Thank you. We’ll catch up in Seattle in a few weeks, then.” Remembering her companion, she turned to her back where Jamie was patiently waiting for her. “Oh my, where are my manners. Meredith, Derek, this is Jamie Fraser. Jamie, this is Meredith and Derek Shepherd. They’re visiting doctors from Grey Sloan Memorial in Seattle.”

Jamie returned the pleasantries and shook hands with the doctors.

“Alright, I’ll let you guys go on with your evening. Sorry for the sudden call out” Meredith said.

“It’s no problem at all. A good night to you both as well.” Claire replied as she looked at Jamie and motioned for them to head out.

Once they we're out of the restaurant, Jamie lets out a light laugh.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“I was just thinking that I’d never unexpectedly run into that many acquaintances in one evening, let alone in a date!” he shared, chuckling more as the thought further sank in his mind and Claire joined him in his mood. “It isna exactly part of the Jamie Fraser Date Experience”

“I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t be, there’s nothing to apologize for. I mean, who would’ve thought, right?” Jamie retorted, his humor infectious.

She was touched by his honesty, not just with the situation but the entire night. He was caring, makes great conversation, and is always authentic with who and how he carries himself. She cannot make a full judgement of his character yet, as that is something she is still getting to know, but she likes what she is seeing so far.

Taking a bold step, she wrapped her arm around his as they started walking side by side back to her place.

Jamie looked at her hand, smiled and hoped it conveyed to Claire the joy he felt at the moment. “Is this part of the Claire Beauchamp Date Experience?” he asked nonchalantly.

“Only to a rare few” she said as she slightly tugged him closer.

The walk back seemed shorter than the one they did earlier. Before they knew it, they were already standing in front of Claire’s building.

“Oh, before I forget!” Jamie exclaimed as he fished out his car keys and a grey miata lit up open beside them. He pulled out an exquisite posey bouquet of red roses and handed it to her. “These are for you.”

Claire took them and smelt it, “The flowers are beautiful”

“I hope ye had a good time, Sassenach”

“I had a great time, Jamie. Thank you”

After a beat, Jamie took a deep breath, gathering strength to what he was about to say next. “Claire, we’ve known each other for about a month now, became unexpected friends in a short amount of time, had our lunches and now, our first date. I hope ye dinna think this is too forward of me but...I like you and I would like to see you again or keep seeing you, I guess.“ They we’re holding each other’s gazes as he laid out his intentions and waited for her reply.

Claire sighed and was just amazed by him. Her previous encounters are usually with male friends who constantly hang out with her then a few months down, asks her “what they are” as if she had to know or feel that something was happening from the get go. So, Jamie's forthrightness and old-fashionedness was truly refreshing and she was more than willing to give it a go.

As a final check to their chemistry, she stepped closer, tilted her head and leaned in to him. Quickly responding to her actions, he held her face on one hand and placed the other on her hips to pull her closer. He followed her lead until their lips crashed into each other in a single deep kiss.

In that moment, both Jamie and Claire knew something big shifted in the dynamic of their relationship.

This was not usual.

This is different.

And oh so good.

They felt each other smile against their lips just as they pulled apart for air.

“I like you too, Jamie and yes”

A/N: Maybe not the first date you might've thought of but hope you liked it! As always, thank you for reading! Your comments, suggestions, and questions are always welcome. If there's a story or scene you'd like to know, feel free to drop it! :)This was my original idea for the date but as I was writing it, I was going back and forth about scraping the entire thing and think about something else. But the original thought kept developing in my mind so I went back and stuck with it and cross-fingers, hoped it worked and made sense. I knew she had doctor friends but adding the Greys Anatomy characters just came about since I've been binging the show and thought it'd be fun to crossover. Hope you're keeping safe and in line to get vaccinated for the COVID-19 shot! See you all in the next one!

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westallenfun · 3 years

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Two's Company (2/3)

Westallen secret santa gift

For: Lauren (@backtothestart02) (Happy holidays! I hope you like this fic!)

From: Lina (@cheryls-blossomed)

A/N: A special thank you to my beta, Caroline (@ginandweas).

Inspired by Jane Austen’s Emma and the blissfulness and hardship of tumbling into true love. On the eve of publication of the most important article of her professional career thus far, Iris West realizes that she is head over heels in love with her best friend Barry, but she grapples with revealing her feelings, for fear of ruining their friendship. But a weekend trip to Metropolis sets in motion a series of events, romantic mishaps and conundrums abound, that may force Barry and Iris to face some long-awaited, romantic truths.

Rating T (Warnings: Mild Language)

The mirror in the bathroom is foggy from the steam of the shower, and as Iris traces circles on its surface to clear the mistiness, she feels more relaxed than she has in days. The hot shower was exactly what she needed, and perhaps this impromptu vacation is a blessing in disguise, for she knows she had been overworked and overtired the past few weeks as she agonized over the research for the McCulloch Tech exposé. Even now, the article is not far from her mind, and the last few days have been hectic: Carver had immediately filed a defamation lawsuit on Tuesday, and Iris had had Cynthia file a response on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the public response to the exposé had been overwhelmingly positive, with Iris and Kamilla already being praised for their meticulousness in investigative reporting, and the news world is currently buzzing with anticipation about the long-term ramifications of the piece. Iris hopes that truth will ensure that justice will be done.

As Iris contemplates truth and justice, she steps out of the bathroom and sees the two cocktail dresses that she had laid out for tonight: a red, shimmery number and a lacy, black fitted dress that comes half-way down her thighs. The fact that she is attending a party tonight comes as a bit of a surprise.

When Iris, Barry, Cisco, and Cynthia had arrived at The Time Metropolis, they had been checked in rapidly and told that Eddie Thawne had invited them to a cabaret performance that night.

“Mr. Thawne is sorry to have missed you, as he is in meetings this afternoon, but he has asked us to invite you to our Friday night cabaret at the Trajectory Club on our terrace. He has told us that he will meet you there and hopes that you will join, even though the invitation is last minute,” a lady at the concierge informed them

“Sweet!” Cisco had exclaimed, but Barry and Cynthia had seemed far less enthused at the prospect of having to attend a cabaret and socialize that very night. While Iris had been somewhat surprised at the invitation, especially because her father and Cecile are only arriving tomorrow for the gala, the concierge had confirmed that this was a night for the young people invited to tomorrow’s gala. Iris found this odd, given the fact that this weekend was meant to celebrate her dad and Cecile. Still, not wanting to be rude, given the effort Eddie seemed to be putting into this weekend, Iris had accepted. She had privately told Barry, Cynthia, and Cisco that if they did not want to attend, they didn’t have to.

“It’s fine,” Cynthia had responded. “While I would have been perfectly fine binge-watching Netflix, I’m not going to leave you without a wing-woman.”

“I need no convincing,” Cisco had said. Barry, who had gone very quiet up until that point, agreed to come, albeit very reluctantly,

“I have no idea why this guy would plan an event tonight when Joe and Cecile won’t even be here to attend. But since we’re invited, I guess we should go.”

Thus, Iris finds herself having to prepare for an unexpected night at the hotel’s terrace club. The red, shimmery dress is a favorite, but it’s for very specific occasions, and unsure what the atmosphere will be tonight, Iris figures that the lacy, black dress is the safer option, and she picks out the eye shadow and earrings that would best suit the dress. As she adorns herself with her garnet, dangling earrings, she hears a knock at her hotel room door.

“Just a minute!” she calls, as she adds the soft backs to her earrings. Upon opening her door, she is greeted by the sight of Barry in a dark shirt and jeans, holding a small, red bag. “Bear,” she smiles, just as he says,

“Iris.” And he’s looking at her, wide-eyed and apparently speechless, and Iris feels both stunning and powerful under his gaze. They’re staring at each other, neither saying a word, and Iris wonders who might speak first, but she does not have to wait long, because Barry shakes his head quickly, relieving some of the intensity, and smiles, “You look absolutely beautiful.” (And when he says that to her, so unassumingly, Iris is absolutely sure that she would love to run through a field of daisies and into Barry’s arms right about now, but she manages to compose herself.)

“Thanks, Barry. You look good, yourself.” She lets him into her room and shuts the door. “You’re early. I thought we were meeting by the elevator at ten to eight.”

“Yeah, we are… we were, but I have something for you,” he says, holding up the red bag. “I wasn’t able to give this to you on Tuesday, and then there was all the craziness of this last minute trip, and I know you’ve noticed that I’ve been preoccupied lately, which I am sorry about, by the way, and I know you definitely deserve an explanation.”

“Bear, you don’t need to apologize. Or explain.”

“No, I really do. And I want you to know that I’m glad we’re here. I really am. I kept telling you you needed a vacation, and I stand by that, and I want this weekend to be absolutely great for you.”

“Well,” Iris says. “You’re with me, aren’t you? So it’s bound to be a pretty great weekend, no matter what else happens.” Barry chuckles, but there’s a forlornness to his laugh.

“So, I got this for you. For your incredible journalistic achievements and for all your successes that I know you’re going to have in the future as the greatest journalist this world has ever known.”

“Barry, you shouldn’t have,” Iris whispers, overcome with emotion, as she takes the bag from Barry and finds a small black, velvet box, which she removes from the bag, carefully. Setting the bag on the bed, she opens the box, revealing a white gold wedding band set on a delicate chain. Iris takes a deep breath as she realizes what she is looking at: the wedding band is the same as her mother, Francine’s, wedding band. Or rather it’s a perfect replica, for her mother’s wedding band was misplaced when her father sold their old home after Francine had passed away, and Iris had been distraught then. But here, in her hands, is a stunning replica of the wedding band, and she cannot imagine the trouble Barry must have taken to have the band replicated perfectly, especially because he did not have the original. “Mama’s wedding band,” Iris starts, but is unable to continue, tears spilling from her eyes. She feels Barry’s thumbs underneath her eyes, brushing away her tears, and Iris looks up and sees him watching her with such ineffable tenderness that she is unable to hold his gaze for too long, bashfully looking down at her toes.

“I remember when this wedding band was misplaced in the move between houses, and I remember how devastated you were, because that was one of the few tangible things you had of your mom. I asked Joe if he had a photo that clearly shows your mom’s wedding band, and luckily he had one, and so I took it to the jewelers, and they were able to replicate it perfectly. I know it can’t compare to the original but…”

“It’s perfect, Barry. I don’t even know what to say. That you remembered, that you took so much time to give this to me… I… I can’t even tell you what this means to me. I’ve waited so many years to have some closure, and I just…” Iris’s voice breaks, and Barry pulls her to him, cradling her head against his chest. “…Thank you, Bear,” she says, softly. Silence descends upon them, and Iris feels Barry’s hands slip to her waist, and she shivers, lifting her head slightly to look up at him, and his gaze is… so loving, so reverent. One hand remaining on her waist, he reaches his other hand down to tuck a loose strand of her hair behind her ear, and his touch lingers on her cheek, caressing the skin just below her earlobe. And she’s not sure which one of them moves first, but she feels this invisible pull, pushing her up to her tip-toes as Barry bends his head towards hers, his hand gently tilting her chin upward, and their lips are just inches apart, and Iris cannot possibly rationalize what is about to happen, but her heart is racing, and all she feels is longing and desire and love.

But there’s a loud knock on her door, and Cynthia is yelling,

“Iris, where are you? We need to get going.”

The moment evaporates, and Iris is flooded with disappointment, as Barry’s hands fall to his side. She can’t quite gauge his expression, as he’s not looking at her, but towards the door, rather pensively. It frustrates her that she is unable to determine what he’s thinking now, when usually he’s an open book to her.

“We should go, yeah?” Iris asks, as she puts the necklace on, and Barry nods, still not meeting her eye.

“Yeah,” he whispers, hoarsely, following her to the door. Cynthia is impatient when Iris opens the door, but when she sees Barry, her eyes widen, and she gives Iris a desperate look, which Iris figures is meant to be apologetic. As they head to the elevators, where Cisco is waiting, Iris in any other situation may have been left to wonder if yet another person to whom she is close is aware of how she feels about Barry, but instead she cannot quite believe that she and Barry had been about to kiss and what this could possibly mean. Did Barry feel the same way she did? He had to, right? People don’t nearly kiss people they don’t have feelings for. Iris’s mind is reeling with the possibilities of Barry reciprocating her feelings, but a betraying voice in her head reminds her: What if this is all too good to be true? And just like that, she feels sick to her stomach.

The Trajectory Club on the rooftop terrace of the Time Metropolis is a sight to behold, with its sleek architectural finish of black marble and its incredible views of Metropolis. High tables of black marble and ivory cushioned stools circle the perimeter of the club, and a dance floor is at the center of the terrace, although nobody is currently occupying it. There are several microphones, however, no doubt for the upcoming cabaret performance, and servers are providing beverages and finger foods to customers.

“This is noice,” Cisco remarks. “It’s a good thing you invited me to this shindig, Barry.”

“Anytime, man, although you should be thanking Iris,” Barry chuckles.

“Thanks, Iris.” Iris nods at Cisco with a smile, but she’s so preoccupied that she can barely concentrate on the conversation; indeed, it’s certainly atmospherically a very nice club, but Iris finds herself hardly enjoying that fact, and unlike Cisco, she’s dreading the night out. Cynthia nudges her side and asks in a low voice,

“What’s wrong?” Iris opens her mouth to answer, but sees Eddie Thawne headed in their direction with a suspiciously familiar woman and mouths,

“Later,” to Cynthia, who, in response, fixates Iris with a look that conveys that this is a conversation that they absolutely will be having at some point in the near future.

“Iris West,” Eddie exclaims when he is close enough, wrapping Iris in a hug, which startles Iris, as she and Eddie are acquaintances at best. She returns his hug, politely, but from the corner of her eye, she sees Barry tense and that agitated energy that he’d been carrying with him for days is now particularly palpable. “Good to see you again. Thank you so much for coming.”

“Eddie, hi. Thanks for inviting us. I’m sorry that Wally and Linda couldn’t make it,” Iris responds, quickly extricating herself from Eddie’s embrace and crossing her arms over her chest. “These are my friends: Barry, whom you’ve met before, and Cynthia, and Cisco.”

“Nice to meet all of you. Good to see you again, Barry.”

“Likewise,” Barry responds tightly, and when they shake hands, it feels distinctly unfriendly, which confuses Iris, because she’s sure Barry and Eddie have met only once before, and they had been cordial with one another at the time.

“Thanks for inviting us all out here,” Cisco then interjects, and the tension seemingly dissipates, as Eddie and Cisco shake hands, and then Cynthia and Eddie exchange pleasantries.

The woman accompanying Eddie steps out from behind him, and Iris is shocked, for she has met her before, which would, she figures, explain why the woman had looked so familiar from a distance.

“Patty?” Iris queries, and Patty smiles brightly,

“Hi, Iris! Wow, I didn’t realize you and Barry were Eddie’s friends. Small world.”

“You two know each other?” Eddie asks, although his tone suggests that he’s not actually interested in the story behind that, more that he’s inquiring perfunctorily.

“Not exactly, but I ran into Iris and Barry on a line at a coffee shop in Central City. Iris was nice enough to entertain my rambling.”

“Not at all. I enjoyed our brief, random conversation. Strangers on a queue waiting for morning coffee? There are always good stories to be had there,” Iris responds, and Patty smiles gratefully at her.

“So how do you two know each other?” Barry asks.

“Oh, Patty and I are old friends. We went to MetU together. Figured she could use a break from studying for her masters, so I invited her here for the weekend,” Eddie explains quickly. “Anyways, shall we? I have a table for six back there.” The group moves away from the entrance, and Iris sees that the table in question is a bit larger than the rest. Like all the tables in the club, it is made completely of black marble with a sun-burst design adorning the center.

As they take their seats, Iris finds herself sitting in between Barry and Patty, with Eddie on Patty’s right, Cisco on Barry’s left, and Cynthia between Cisco and Eddie. Cisco and Cynthia start chatting the moment they get settled, still arguing (rather flirtatiously… and Iris is impressed at how flirtatious they have managed to make patents) about whether or not Cisco should strengthen his future patent, and while Iris is unsure how long they can keep discussing that, they also seem very engrossed in this conversation. Barry nudges Iris’s elbow with his own gently, and she turns to him, and upon seeing his rather conspiratorial grin, she smiles back immediately. Simultaneously, though, Iris can’t help but wonder if Barry hopes to return to the status quo with her.

Would he pretend they hadn’t just nearly kissed? The trouble is, if he planned on not acknowledging the elephant in the room, Iris is unsure if she too can just pretend it didn’t happen. Still, she is aware that they are in public, and this is hardly the place to discuss almost kisses.

“We knew they’d hit it off,” Barry says. “But I don’t think we realized just how well they’d hit it off, especially considering their topic of choice is patents.”

“They’ve made patents flirty, which I think is a feat that we can’t take credit for. Or maybe we can, tangentially,” Iris teases. “But we definitely can take credit for the secret ingenuity of getting them to meet.”

“You know, I think Linda might have been onto something about that match-making side hustle, after all.” Iris raises her eyebrows, jestingly,

“Change of heart, already? Because I have this distinct memory of you saying that you thought match-making was a bad business to get into.”

“Well, that was when Linda was suggesting it as a solo side hustle for you. But I think if you and I went into business together, this could be quite fun.”

“Perhaps. But what would we call our match-making company?”

“Hmmm, how about West-Allen Matchmakers, Incorporated? Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

“If this were truly a thing, I would reluctantly acquiesce, only because you and I are kind of a dream team.”

“You and I are the dream team,” Barry corrects emphatically, and he’s smiling widely at her and refusing to break their gaze, and she thinks…. she thinks he too must be feeling this intensity that has persistently lingered between them since their almost kiss, and she wonders for just a moment that maybe, just maybe, he feels the same way. Her hand comes to rest on the wedding band, just above the bodice of her cocktail dress, and his eyes track the movement, first tracking her neck, then her collar bones, and then the dip of her cleavage which disappears beneath her dress. She thinks she sees his tongue dart out momentarily over his lips, and she feels hot, suddenly, and she’s sure it has nothing to do with the warm, summer night.

In the end, it’s Patty who interrupts, when she says,

“You know, when I first saw the two of you, despite you saying, Iris, that that gift basket which I presume was for Barry was just for a friend, I could have sworn you two were together.” Barry and Iris are both startled by the reminder that they are not alone, and Iris recovers more quickly and replies with a smile,

“We’ve been best friends for ages.”

“I guess that explains it, then,” Patty observes, although she doesn’t sound entirely convinced.

“Explains what?”

“How the two of you are in your own world together. You didn’t notice, because you were so focused on each other just now, but it’s like it was just the two of you in this world and no one else exists.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Sometimes we get so carried away in our conversations.”

“Yeah,” Barry adds quickly. “You’ll have to forgive us. It’s easy to just get caught up…”

“No, no, please don’t apologize,” Patty laughs, waving off their apologies. “It’s nice, is what I’m trying to say, but as usual, I’m having trouble putting it to words. You both clearly have such a deep connection, and it’s rare to see that. Rare, but nice.” Iris is unsure of how to respond to that, and it seems Barry is equally at a loss for words, but it doesn’t seem to faze Patty, as she continues on, “You know, it’s funny, because Eddie’s family and my family really want us to get married, and we’ve been friends for so, so long, and you know, I joke…,” and here Patty seems slightly less chipper, so Iris wonders if she actually is joking… “That maybe we should just bite the bullet and get hitched, but Eddie thinks it’s a terrible idea.”

“I don’t know if it’s a terrible idea, but I do know that we don’t have feelings for each other,” Eddie responds gruffly, clearly taking offense to what Iris thinks is a rather innocuous conversation. “Our families do want us to get married, and it’s complicated, because we want to oblige our parents, so we often show up to things, like tomorrow’s gala, together for show.” Iris ponders Eddie’s bitter tone, observing that it never ends well when families try to pressure their children into romantic entanglements that are good for business and image. And while she cannot blame Eddie for his anger, she also notices Patty’s expression, and it’s wistfully sad, and Iris realizes then that while Eddie may not have any romantic inclinations towards Patty, Patty does towards him.

So, evidently, she is not the only one dealing with romantic conundrums.

“Barry, Iris, you both know Katie Rogers, right?” Eddie asks, abruptly changing course, and Iris is now completely perplexed, because how in the world did Eddie Thawne know Katie Rogers, who was an old school friend of both Barry and Iris’s, and why was he even asking about her in the first place? Iris had mostly lost touch with Katie after she’d left Central City to join the Gotham City Ballet as a principal ballerina, but Barry had mentioned a couple of weeks ago that he and Katie had recently reconnected.

“We do. We used to go to school together,” Barry replies. “I actually tutor her cousin in organic chemistry, and we know her grandmother, Annette Rogers, quite well.”

“Yes, Katie mentioned to me that she had met you again recently, Barry, at her grandmother’s. She was in town not long ago visiting her family.” Barry nods, but Iris notices Eddie appraising Barry carefully, which is yet another mystery she is itching to solve, because these two seem to really dislike each other, and their sheer distaste for one another makes no sense at all, really, given that they hardly know each other.

“And how do you know Katie?” Iris inquires, immediately in reporter mode, for if she can’t deal with her feelings right now, she can surely get to the bottom of this rather puzzling interpersonal revelation.

“Katie and I met when she danced for the Gotham City Ballet, before she left for the Metropolis Ballet Theater. I was attending the Swan Lake, and she was dancing as Odette and Odile, and I was enchanted, so I waited by her exit point… perks of knowing the theater owner, and I introduced myself. Now, we’re good friends. She actually now performs at the cabaret here.”

“Excuse me?” Barry says, his brow furrowing, just as Iris seeks clarification by asking,

“Katie dances at the club at your hotel?”

Eddie shrugs nonchalantly in response, as if what he’d just proclaimed made perfect sense, before replying,

“Once in a while, when I beg her. She’s such an exquisite dancer, and we’re old friends, plus she lives in Metropolis now, so every now and then I ask her if she’ll perform at Trajectory.” Iris takes note of Eddie’s emotional tone when he claims that he has to beg Katie to dance at the club, which is so different from his usual mild-mannered disposition; indeed, there is just something about this whole situation that simply does not add up. Maybe it’s the sheer coincidence of it all (and this is the second massive coincidence, the first one being Patty showing up here after Iris’s chance meeting with her on the line at Jitters), but there is something rather unusual about Eddie and Katie’s acquaintanceship. “In fact,” Eddie continues, as Iris scrutinizes him carefully. “She’s dancing here tonight. That’s why I asked about her. In fact, she should be on any minute now.”

“What?” Iris asks sharply, and she notices Barry’s whole demeanor shift from semi-relaxed to overtly alert beside her, but before she can press Eddie about this particular revelation, the lights on the terrace dim, and sultry musical instrumentals fill the speakers of the club. The dance floor lights up, and five dancers appear, performing a rather unexciting number, Iris notes, but despite the choreography, the dancers are still very talented. The principal performer is taller than the rest, and her hair is in a Dutch braid, unlike the high buns on the other dancers, and Iris recognizes her, for she is Katie Rogers. Given how dull the choreography is, Iris is surprised Katie had agreed to perform at Trajectory, because she is clearly quite an impressive dancer, and this cabaret performance seems to be an inadequate display of her skills. The dancers are soon joined by singers, whose styles range from operatic to pop, and the spectacle is most certainly haphazard, but enjoyable enough.

At the end of the cabaret, Iris joins her fellow audience members in polite applause, although some people are emphatically cheering and whistling, and she wonders if they too are putting on a performance. Beside her, Barry seems guarded, his applause perfunctory, and he’s keeping an eye on Eddie instead of the performers, while Eddie is smiling widely at Katie, as the lights return to the rooftop terrace. As Iris’s eyes adjust to the new lighting, she notices that Katie is resolutely avoiding Eddie’s gaze (or perhaps she has not noticed him grinning like he just won the lottery, although that seems unlikely), and instead she’s focusing her attention elsewhere, just a few feet away from Eddie, and in Barry and Iris’s vicinity.

“Barry!” Katie suddenly shrieks, and before Iris can turn questioningly to her best friend, Katie brushes past her, and flings herself into Barry’s arms, before he is even fully off of his feet. Already unbalanced, therefore, with the force of Katie against him, Barry topples backwards slightly, grabbing the edge of the table in an attempt to steady himself, while holding her with one arm. Not quite able to catch his balance, though, he nearly falls backwards onto Cisco, who steadies him with both hands.

“Careful, man,” Cisco warns with a bemused grin, before glancing at Iris questioningly, but Iris simply shrugs, as she, herself, is equally confused. The night, it would seem, keeps getting progressively more bizarre.

Though, Cynthia, for her part, is staring daggers at Katie.

“Sorry,” Barry says, hastily, over his shoulder towards Cisco, before he turns his attention to Katie. “Katie, hi.”

“Barry, it’s so good to see you,” Katie laughs, backing away slightly, her hands lingering on his chest. “I was told you were going to be here, and I had been meaning to call you, because we had had such a good time at dinner two weeks ago… thanks for that amazing dinner at Marano’s, by the way, I definitely needed that, but when I heard you’d be here, I thought what a funny coincidence.”

“Yeah… great to see you too… your performance out there was great,” Barry replies, haltingly, still evidently reeling from Katie’s exuberant greeting, before nodding towards Iris, “Iris is here as well.” Katie swivels around and smiles tightly at Iris,

“Hi, Iris. Gosh, it’s been how long? How are you?”

“It has been a very long time. I’m doing well, Katie, how are you?” Iris responds, warmly, although her mind is working in overdrive, after having witnessed both Katie’s reaction to seeing Barry and the confession that they had had dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant two weeks ago.

It couldn’t possibly be, could it?

“I’m great. Thank you for coming. Eddie mentioned that your father got married to his godmother, recently. And that Wally has a baby on the way. Time flies.” At the mention of his name, Eddie’s gaze darkens, and he’s regarding Katie almost angrily, at this point, but she still refuses to even look at him.

What the hell is going on here?

On the one hand, Iris is sure that she does not want to know anything more than she absolutely has to about Katie Rogers or about Eddie Thawne, for that matter, but on the other hand, her investigative reporter instincts were getting the better of her. Or, as Barry frequently says when she gets excited about a potential story, her ‘Spidey’ senses were tingling.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t think I know the rest of the you. I’m Katie Rogers,” Katie carries on, oblivious to Eddie’s haughty gaze, and Cisco introduces himself, cordially, while Cynthia is curt and makes it a point not to shake Katie’s hand. Patty and Katie, who have met before, do not seem particularly friendly with one another, but they exchange perfunctory greetings nonetheless. Notably, Katie fails to acknowledge Eddie at all, which seems to confuse everyone, but nobody is willing to pry. “Anyways, Barry,” Katie continues, turning back to Barry. “It’s wonderful to see you. I really had a great time at dinner and was hoping we would see each other soon. There’s so much we have to catch up on, and hopefully I can wrangle one or maybe more dinners out of you.”

“Right,” Barry replies, and he is distinctly uncomfortable, but then Katie reaches up and cups his face, and the atmosphere amongst the group shifts immediately. Barry immediately extricates himself from her grasp, removing her hands from his face, and taking a step back, and somehow manages to make the whole act look polite, but Eddie is seething at this point, Patty looks utterly confused, and Cynthia appears to be about one step away from bringing litigious action against Katie Rogers. But Iris can barely concentrate on anyone else, for her heart is pounding in her chest.

“Sometimes something incredible is right in front of you, and you just have to tell yourself it’s time to throw caution to the wind. A matchmaker can’t tell you that, only you can know that.”

Because Iris remembers, clear as day, what Barry had said at her dad and Cecile’s wedding reception almost a week ago. And ever since, she has been forced to contend with the fact that Barry might potentially be in love with someone, just as she was simultaneously realizing the extent of how deeply in love she is with him. To receive confirmation that Barry’s heart is with another, though, is what she had been absolutely dreading, but nothing could prepare her for the feeling of gut-wrenching heartbreak. It is as if her heart is made of glass that shatters all at once at the realization that Barry and Katie must have gone on a date (because Marano’s is surely not a place that friends who just met up again after many years go to for dinner), and Katie must have been the person Barry was thinking of on Saturday. The timeline makes sense.

Barry’s reaction to seeing Katie is, however, confusing, for he seems very unenthused at the moment, but Iris is also aware that Barry is extremely polite and dislikes undue attention, so he merely could be uncomfortable by how exuberant Katie is around him, and furthermore, he likely wanted to tell Iris, himself. Barry would not have wanted her to find out he’s dating someone randomly by chance at a club, of that Iris is sure.

The only piece of the puzzle that does not fit with the rest is the fact that Barry had been about to kiss her just a few hours ago. That seems so far removed from anything that Barry would ever do, when he is in love with someone else, especially because Iris knows how caring and respectful Barry is, but maybe she had misread the situation. After all, they had not actually kissed, as Cynthia had interrupted them, and perhaps, Barry was going to hug her instead. But at the same time, she could have sworn he was staring at her lips in the moments leading up to their near kiss.

Iris closes her eyes, momentarily, attempting to find some equilibrium in order to carry on for the rest of the evening, but a wave of exhaustion washes over her, and she knows she has to leave. She cannot continue to dignify this ridiculous night with a plastered smile and false cordiality, but she also refuses to ruin Barry’s night or anyone else’s.

“Iris? Iris?” a soft voice calls out, accompanied by two gentle hands on her bare arms, and Iris knows that voice as well as she knows her own, and of course Barry is already worrying about her, but she also cannot stand to see his concern. Nonetheless, this is a hurdle she must overcome, so she blinks open her eyes to meet his concerned gaze. “Are you alright?” From her periphery, she can see everyone else watching her as well, so she musters up her remaining strength and smiles,

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Look, guys, I’m sorry, I’m just feeling a bit tired, so I’m going to head back to my room, if that’s okay?” Eddie and Patty mention that they hope that she feels better, asking if she needs anything, a query that she politely waves off, while Cisco and Cynthia appear very worried, moving closer towards her, but it’s Barry who is going to be the most difficult to shake off, for he pointedly refuses to leave her side.

“I’ll come with you,” he says, reaching for her hand, but she moves away from him slightly, and when she sees his confusion, she feels terrible, because the last thing she wants to do is give him the impression that she is mad at him, but truthfully she is as angry as she is heartbroken (because she knows they were having a moment earlier in her hotel room, no matter how much she tries to rationalize otherwise… he gifted her a wedding band, for god’s sake), and regardless, she needs space from him, because every time she looks at him, she is reminded of her shattered heart.

“No, Bear, you should stay. Don’t leave on my account, besides don’t you want to catch up with Katie?” That last part comes out with more acidity than she intended, and Barry’s eyes widen,

“Iris, no, you’ve—”

“I’m sorry, Barry. Honestly, all the traveling today is probably just catching up with me. Anyways, I want to give Kamilla a call to make sure there are no new developments from Carver’s end, and I don’t want to be calling her too late, you know? I’ll be fine.”

“Iris, please let me come with you. We need to talk,” Barry sounds desperate at this point, and Iris just cannot take it anymore, for she absolutely cannot stand the thought of listening to him tell her about why he didn’t mention the extent that he had reconnected with Katie before, and so she shakes her head firmly,

“No, really, Barry…”

“I’m coming with you,” Cynthia interjects, for she clearly has no remaining patience listening to this back and forth, and before Iris can protest, Cynthia steers her away from everyone else. When Iris glances over her shoulder, a few moments later, Barry and Cisco have already drifted away from the group, heads bowed closely, and appear to be engaging in a very serious discussion, judging by their solemn expressions.

“Hey, Iris, wait up!” Eddie calls out, and Iris reluctantly turns around, forcing a polite smile on her face, when all she wants to do is scream that she would like to be left alone. “Sorry, I won’t keep you long, but I just wanted to say thank you for coming.”

“Of course. Thank you for planning such a lovely night,” Iris lies, for she had had a, quite frankly, terrible night, but that was hardly Eddie’s fault, and he had gone to all this trouble to invite them for what he’d planned to be a nice outing. Before she can turn back, though, he wraps her in a quick, unexpected hug, which she awkwardly returns, patting his back uncertainly.

“Really, Iris. I truly appreciate you attending,” he says, with a smile, and she nods, trying her best to maintain a façade of politeness,

“Thank you for inviting me. All of us, for that matter.” They exchange goodbyes, and as Eddie heads back to the group, Iris sees Barry watching her, looking utterly forlorn and dejected and like his whole world has come crashing down around him, and she thinks… god why is he looking at me like that… for surely he can see the heartbreak in her eyes, but then Cisco nudges him, forcefully, and shakes his head firmly when Barry turns to him.

Cynthia then takes Iris’s hand in her own, before motioning towards the doorway back into the hotel, and Iris nods, and the two make their way out of the club together. In that moment, Iris thinks that the best decision she made was inviting Cynthia to Metropolis, because she cannot imagine surviving this nightmarish weekend without her.

For a few blissful moments when Iris awakes the next morning, the debacle that was last night, culminating in the sort of agonizing heartbreak that she had only previously believed existed in romantic literature, is simply a hazy, improbable dream, but as soon as she becomes aware of where she is, namely in her hotel room at the Time Metropolis, the events of last night come crashing back, like wave after wave upon a shore. Iris groans, tugging a pillow over her face, her head pounding from the onslaught of emotions, and even though she had had one Martini last night, she now figures that having just one was a mistake, and she ought to have taken full advantage of the fact that she was at a club, given how the night turned out.

She reaches for her phone and sees that the time is just after 6:30 AM, which means that she has a couple of hours before she has to decide whether she can make the trudge down to the dreaded breakfast hall. The thought of having to plaster a smile on her face, in order to curate a false sense of normalcy, and converse with people is utterly nauseating. Plus, she knows full well that Barry might be waiting anxiously to speak with her, and she just cannot face him, not when seeing him would surely reinforce both her heartbreak and anger tenfold. And yet, she also cannot shake how profoundly she loves him. Even just thinking about potentially seeing Barry at the breakfast hall, Iris is reminded of how deeply he is and always has been intertwined with her very soul; there are very few moments in her life that she can recall that do not involve Barry in some capacity. For in her most pivotal memories, Barry has always played a role, at least tangentially, and she realizes then that their relationship has been complicated for years, the two of them constantly hovering on the precipice of romantic love and walking, hand in hand, on a precarious tightrope between the safety of friendship and the unknown expanse of unexplored feelings.

She recalls nights spent at bowling alleys, where they were playfully competitive, but still never failing to cheer loudly when the other got a strike or a spare. She remembers wiping remnants of ketchup from Barry’s lips, after he’d eaten more than three-quarters of the fries that they would order at Big Belly Burger, the local Central City burger joint, with her fingers. Then, there were those times when he was stressing over his application for the Wells Scholarship for Excellence in Science to fund his DSc, and she would bring over an inordinate amount of baked goods and cheesy films. He’d mumble, sleepily, after they’d worked through all of the sweets and watched at least three movies, about how absolutely amazing she is.

One of her most telling memories is from her twenty-fifth birthday party, which had been an elaborate surprise that Barry had shockingly manage to pull off, even despite Linda’s usual tendency to tell Iris literally everything, surprise birthday parties notwithstanding. Barry had hosted the party in his old one-bedroom apartment, and there were some thirty people who attended, but lack of square footage aside, he had managed somehow to get Bette Sans Souci, a former high school classmate of theirs, now celebrity chef extraordinaire, to cater for the party. Bette had allegedly told him, “Only because it’s for Iris,” when she’d agreed to cater the event, although Iris still suspects Barry is exaggerating a bit whenever he retells this story, but she appreciates the sentiment all the same. When Iris had arrived at Barry’s, fully expecting to enjoy a quiet night comprising of takeout and a movie, she had been genuinely shocked when she was instead greeted by thirty of her friends screaming, “Happy Birthday!” Barry had snapped a photo of her face, claiming that her look of sheer joy was beautifully priceless. Towards the end of the party, Iris had managed to steal a moment alone with Barry, when she’d found him standing by himself, gazing out of his kitchen window.

“What are you thinking about?” Iris asks, approaching him slowly. Barry smiles when he sees her, holding out his hand to her, which she takes. He interlaces their fingers.

“You,” he says, simply, as if it’s the most obvious answer in the world. “More specifically, I’m hoping that you had a good night, because nobody is more deserving of the world’s best party than you, Iris. Not that this is the world’s best party, because honestly, I mean, this small apartment? I think it’s too crammed for the number of people I invited, right? And I’m pretty sure the paint’s coming off the walls in a couple of these rooms, no… I know it is, but I’m glad Bette was able to cater, because that might be the saving grace here, and honestly I’m starting to think I should have hosted it somewhere else…”

“Barry,” Iris interrupts, placing a hand on his cheek. At the feel of her hand against his cheek, he immediately ceases talking and swallows very slowly. “This is the world’s best party. I’m the luckiest girl in the world to have a best friend who plans this for her. I couldn’t have asked for a better night, and the party is amazing, but it’s not the party that I’m lucky to have, Bear. It’s you.” He looks down for a moment, before surging forward, leaning his forehead gently against hers, and she gasps at the sudden movement, but quickly relaxes, savoring the intimacy of their embrace.

“Iris,” Barry whispers. “Do you even know how much I…,” he pauses, for a moment, measuring, perhaps, the magnitude of his words carefully, “…how much I care about you?”

“I think so,” she laughs softly, hoping to diffuse some of the tension that has built up between them. “I hope so.”

“No…,” he sighs. “No, I don’t know if you do, and I don’t… god, it’s my fault, because if I had just… I don’t even know where to begin now.”

“Hey,” Iris says soothingly, framing his face with her hands. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say anything, Bear.” He nods against her forehead, closing his eyes, and they stay like that for a few moments, before Wally races over, seemingly oblivious to Barry and Iris being wrapped up in their own world and apparently in need of Iris’s advice about asking Linda out on a second date.

This memory is particularly painful for Iris, as she wonders what Barry was struggling to tell her that night by the window. She dares not hope that he was attempting to convey that his feelings for her were something more than just friendship, because hope is a most dangerous thing when it came to matters of the heart. If she was not so utterly sure that if she spoke to him now, Barry would simply inform her about whatever it was that was going on between him and Katie (albeit tactfully), Iris might have agreed to speak with him, for (against her better judgment) there was still an ember of hope that burned within her. But for the sake of protecting herself from further heartbreak and humiliation, she could not entertain any remaining hope that she may have, and thus she arrived at the only possible course of action: Avoid Barry Allen. That was really the only option here. Avoiding him during the day would not be particularly challenging, for she would just stay in her room and stealthily sneak out to meet her father and Cecile when they arrive later this morning, but it was the gala that could be cause for some serious trouble, because Barry would be there, and Iris could not possibly dodge him at every turn without it becoming extremely obvious. There is also the likelihood that she might very well lose her resolve completely the moment he looks at her again the way he had last night, like a lost, sad puppy.

Her phone buzzes, and she glances over at the screen, where she is alerted to the fact that she has one unread message from Cynthia (and none from Barry, which disappoints Iris more than she expects, and the ember of hope dims considerably). The message from Cynthia reads:

“You promised we’d chat this morning, so consider this your reminder. I know you’re going to hide out in your room, which is totally fair, but I’m coming over right now.”

Iris is unsurprised by Cynthia’s adamancy, especially because she had indeed promised that they would have a long talk this morning. When Iris had returned to her room last night, she had managed to avoid having to admit to Cynthia that she was in love with Barry and that she was absolutely devastated by what she’d just learned, by citing exhaustion. Cynthia had reluctantly acquiesced, but only after Iris had promised her that they would talk tomorrow morning, and it would be typical of Cynthia to show up before 7AM.

Sure enough, there is a knock at the door, and Iris opens it and sees her friend standing before the threshold.

“Hey,” Iris says, tiredly.

“Hey, you okay?” Cynthia asks, concerned, and Iris is not sure what comes over her in that moment, but perhaps it’s the realization that she is absolutely not okay that overwhelms her right then. And now, having to face the reality of finally vocalizing how she’s been feeling, while trying to protect the shattered remnants of her heart, the notion that she truly is not okay is the catalyst. She had not cried last night, but now tears spill over her cheeks, a sob escapes her, and soon she is weeping, her hands covering her face, and Cynthia murmurs, while closing the door behind her,

“Oh, Iris.” And then Iris feels Cynthia’s arms come around her, holding her, soothing her, and finally, she allows herself to be comforted.

“You know,” Cynthia remarks, while clasping a crystal encrusted barrette onto her hair, slightly left of her parting. “I can always sue Katie Rogers, Eddie Thawne, and Barry for NIED. Say the word, and I’ll do it.” They are currently readying themselves for the gala, which officially begins in one hour, and Cynthia is positively stunning in a floor length, backless forest green gown, adorned with a myriad of sequins.

“And who would the plaintiff be, exactly?” Iris asks, still not dressed for the night yet, as she is trying to figure out what jewelry she is going to wear to accompany her red, floor length gown, a feat that was proving difficult, because she keeps eyeing the velvet box which contained the replica of her mother’s wedding band, which makes it nearly impossible to pick out a different necklace.

“Honestly? Me. Because I found what happened last night to be extremely, negligently harmful no matter how forcefully Barry will likely argue that he was unwittingly involved. Thawne is getting sued, specifically for inviting us to that crap show, which, just by being present at, mind you, had a dire effect on my psychological state.”

“We don’t even know what happened last night or what’s really going on, and even if we did know, your argument is a non-starter, especially because you typically find the vast majority of people that you meet to be annoying and claim that they are somehow guilty of NIED.”

“True, but I can spin a legal argument from nothing,” Cynthia smirks, and Iris rolls her eyes, but chuckles nonetheless. She is unsure of how Cynthia manages to come up with the most ridiculous and unsubstantiated legal arguments when not in a courtroom, but then again, she supposes that as a top litigator, Cynthia’s occasional legal theatrics are most definitely forgivable.

But then, Cynthia says, “I got you to smile and that was the ultimate goal.” Iris looks up at Cynthia, who has a soft smile on her face, and she smiles back, once again reflecting on how very glad she is that her friend is here with her. She knows Cynthia wants to properly converse about what happened last night, but she isn’t rushing Iris into the conversation, despite the fact that they did spend the entire day together and still had not really talked about last night.

To be sure, they had not spoken much about anything, though, because they frankly had not had the chance to. Cynthia had stayed with Iris that morning, first comforting her, as she had cried for a good half hour, and subsequently they had ordered room service and flipped through the channels available via the hotel’s cable service for a couple of hours, until Iris’s father called her to inform her that he and Cecile were roughly fifteen minutes away from the Time Metropolis. As Iris had gotten ready to meet her family outside the hotel, Cynthia had offered to join Iris, a request for which Iris had been eternally grateful, because she knew her dad would notice immediately that she was not herself, and so she could use the additional moral support. Upon meeting her father and Cecile, Joe had indeed commented that Iris appeared very tired, and she had shrugged it off, citing the cabaret the previous night as the obvious reason for her exhaustion, but Joe hadn’t been convinced.

“No, you look like somebody crushed your world,” he had commented, concern evident in his voice. She had laughed at that, because it sounded so dramatically absurd, and yet it was also truer than her father even realized.

“Dad, come on. I’m fine,” she had replied, quickly ushering her father and Cecile into the hotel lobby, as a couple of staff members took their luggage. Hoping to sway her father away from his suspicions, she had asked, “How was your flight?” Joe did not answer, instead watching her closely, but Cecile started chatting about their journey, which was a most welcome distraction for Iris. At the time, she knew her father was not going to let up so easily, for the mere fact that she was trying her hardest to appear nonchalant was enough to cause him concern, but he was unlikely to press the issue right at that moment.

Now, Iris knows that the longer that she stalls, the more likely it becomes that she will have to confront her heartbreak in her father’s presence, so she gathers her gown and makeup and heads to the bathroom to get ready, for there is only one mirror in the room, which Cynthia is currently utilizing. After laying her gown out on the edge of the marble counter, Iris stares at herself in the mirror and takes a few deep breaths. I can get through this. I need to get through this. Barry had not called her the entire day, nor had he messaged her, and in a way, this made Mission Avoid Barry Allen considerably easier, but she cannot help but feel a pang of sadness, because if Barry was not making the effort to speak with her now, then her original understanding of what had been revealed last night must be accurate. The shattering pain of heartbreak only worsens at this realization, but she refuses to allow this to dictate her night.

Instead, she busies herself by getting ready, first applying her makeup and then turning to her outfit for the night. Her red gown is a sight to behold, and she is aware of this, as she puts it on; the bodice hugs her figure like a glove, while the skirt tumbles elegantly over her legs and down to her feet. When she glances back up at the mirror to put on her dangling earrings, she makes a decision: as difficult as this night would most certainly be, she is going to make the most of it and ensure that her father and Cecile have a memorable soirée.

As she contemplates this, she hears a knock at the hotel room door outside, and subsequently, the door opening.

“Hi, Joe.” She hears Cynthia greet her father, and Iris is aware that her father has decided to come by, no doubt, to speak with her. So much for making it through the night.

“Hi Cynthia, I just wanted to stop by and see if Iris is around to speak for a few minutes,” Joe replies.

“Of course. Iris, your dad’s here!” And then Iris can here some shuffling around, before Cynthia announces, “Got my shoes. I’ll give you some time to speak with Iris privately. Anyways, I told Cisco that I would meet up with him before the party starts.”

“Thank you. I will see you at the gala.” Iris hears the door close, and she presumes that Cynthia has left. Upon hearing that Cisco and Cynthia are meeting up early, Iris smiles. At least they seem to be enjoying each other’s company very much, so perhaps there is a silver lining to this weekend, after all.

But, Iris is also acutely aware that her father is waiting for her and that she cannot put off this conversation any longer, so she looks into the mirror one last time, releasing a final deep breath, before exiting the bathroom. Upon her reentrance into the main area of the hotel room, her father looks up and smiles. “There you are,” he says. “You look beautiful, baby girl.”

“Thanks dad,” Iris replies, returning his smile, just as Joe walks over and envelopes her in a hug.

“What’s going on, Iris? And don’t say nothing,” he interrupts, just as she opens her mouth to protest. “I know there’s something wrong. I knew it from the moment I saw you this morning, but I wasn’t going to press you then. But clearly something happened this weekend.”

“Dad, please. It’s not a big deal. I’m just stressed from work and Carver suing the Citizen, and I don’t know… I guess the exhaustion from the last few weeks has caught up with me finally.” To be fair, that is not wholly untruthful. She is feeling the aftereffects of stress from the amount of work that had gone into the exposé.

“Iris, if I thought that was all this is about, I wouldn’t ask. I know you can handle pretty much anything, but this is different. And I know you’re grown and can deal with whatever it is going on, but I don’t want you to pretend you’re fine, because that solves nothing.”

“Yeah,” Iris murmurs, closing her eyes momentarily, and when she opens them, her father is regarding her earnestly. Taking a deep breath, she continues, “You’re right, it’s just… it’s Barry.” Joe’s lips quirk up slightly, a ghost of a smile touching his lips. “I don’t know, dad. Barry and I have been fine, you know. I mean, we’re always fine. Until I… I’m not even sure how it happened, because one minute we’re friends. As we always have been. Seeing each other almost every day and catching up. And I don’t know when I realized it, but I… I love him, dad.” Her voice breaks slightly on love, for it is such an overwhelming feeling, being able to vocalize that she’s in love with Barry. She immediately feels her dad’s arm come around her shoulders as he hugs her to him.

“This might come as a surprise to you, but I’ve known you’ve been in love with that boy for many years,” Joe says, and Iris looks up at her dad, startled. Had her feelings been that obvious that her father knew she loved Barry before even she had realized it?

“How…”

“I know you, Iris. You’re so kind and so good, and you’re always trying to help everyone. But when you and Barry first met as children in the playground, and you ran over and reached out a hand to help him up when he tumbled off the swing and into the dirt, there was this different energy between the both of you, and it only became stronger over the years. You don’t know the way you look at him, but I see it. You probably don’t realize the way he looks at you either. But I know Barry too; he grew up just two doors down, and he looks at you like you are the sun and he has since the moment he first saw you.” At that, Iris is further surprised and confused, shaking her head,

“Dad, no, that’s impossible. Barry isn’t in love with me; he’s in love with someone else.”

“And you know that how?” Joe asks, raising his eyebrows, completely and utterly unconvinced at the implication that Barry Allen is in love with someone other than Iris West.

“Because it all came out last night. It’s not… it doesn’t matter.”

“Did Barry tell you he was in love with someone else?”

“Well, he didn’t say it in so many words,” Iris begins, just as Joe asks,

“Did he say it any words at all?” This gives Iris pause, for Barry had not said specifically that he was dating Katie, for that matter, but surely that was what he had been attempting to explain to her, before she had left. Katie revealed that they had gone out to dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant, and it is not as if Barry disputed the fact, although he had been distinctly put off by her exuberance. But that might have simply indicated that he was uncomfortable by the level of scrutiny directed his way, thanks to Katie’s apparent inability to keep anything private. And yet, Iris can’t get that look he had given her, like his world had just been completely shattered, as she was leaving the club, out of her head.

Because if she is being wholly honest with herself, Iris knows that part of the impetus behind Mission Avoid Barry Allen is the fear that in whatever conversation she has with Barry, she would have no choice but to tell him the truth, and their equilibrium will be completely altered forever.

“No,” she finally replies. “I left before he could say anything. And honestly, dad, part of the reason why I ran away before speaking with him is just that… I guess, our friendship has been a safe harbor. We’ve always sought solace in one another, but the moment I tell him, everything changes, and I risk losing that safe harbor.”

“It seems,” Joe says with a knowing smile. “The two of you have a lot to talk about.” Iris nods, silently, as her father continues, “Iris, the most important thing you can do is be honest with yourself and with him. Sometimes, change is inevitable, and it is often a good thing, because you may not necessarily be risking anything. Talk to him and see what happens.”

“Yeah, I suppose that I can’t keep avoiding the inevitable,” Iris replies, before smiling gratefully at her father. “Thanks, dad.”

“Anytime, baby girl. Remember, I am so, so proud of you. Of the woman you have grown to be and of all that you have accomplished. And I always will be.” A wave of emotion washes over Iris, and she looks up at her father, who appears equally emotional.

“I love you, dad,” she says.

“I love you too, Iris.” Joe then mentions that they can head down to the gala whenever Iris is comfortable, but as grateful as she is for her dad’s concern and support, she knows they ought to not keep Cecile waiting, so she tells him she’ll meet them by the elevator.

“Are you sure?” Joe queries, but Iris is certain in her convictions now, which is a most welcome change from the lack of clarity she had been grappling with all weekend.

“Absolutely, dad. I’m okay. I’ll be right out.” Her father nods, kissing the side of her head, before exiting her hotel room. Now, there is just one thing left to do; she walks over to the small bedside table and picks up the velvet box containing the replica of her mother’s wedding band. Upon opening the box, she carefully removes the necklace, unclasps the hook, and puts it on.

Now, come what may, she is ready to face the world.

#westallen #westallen secret santa #submission

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random-th · 4 years

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Pride and Prejudice - 2005 movie highlights

So, here I go rambling again.

This time: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE MOVIE (2005)

So, I fucking love this movie. I think is a masterpiece. Is so well directed, the attention to detail, the scenerys, the cast, the music... just splendid. I think if you caught a movie on air that has already started but you keep watching is because is a good fucking movie. This one is.

Is not just the casting, is how the director decided to portrait the characters and the story. How Joe Wright choose to do some of the transitions in the story I think are marvelous. (PS: I love Joe Wright’s directing, he has a very particular view).

So, a few things to notice if you haven’t before:

1. My favourite scenes (non-romantic related)

So, everyscene with Keira and Matthew are: (not having enough words to express my sentiments). I just love everysingle one of them.

I want to highlight some moments in the movie that maybe are not taken in consideration and make the movie a lot more.

a. The “is he single” scene.

It shows so much about the family and how is portrait. Expecting the news of mister Bingley, a lot is going on. First, Mary is paying the piano, Mary we know is the one that focuses on the studies and drives away from all the “hot news” or being interested in man. So, when Elizabeth drags her in is a way of forcing her to be part of this family event.

Then at the end all kinds of little things happen that I adore.

When Mister Bennet says that he invited Mr. Bingley to the ball, the chain raction is lovely.

The kiss between Mr. and Ms. Bennet.

Playful younger sisters with the eldest sister

Slowly the house going away

That is the Bennet’s house. No more, no less.

3. The ball scene

Again, skipping the lovely and wonderful part where Elizabeth and Darcy dance, I think this full scene is really good. There is something here, that happens again later and I’m going to adress it, that is the matter of time in this story. If you have ever read Pride and Prejudice, you know that things occur in a space of long days, hours and even months between events.

So, in this case, to show that the party is “moving on” there are a few things that gives away that concept without saying “oh, it’s late” “Oh look how much time has passed”.

Mister Collins trying to ask out Elizabeth

First, mister collins looking for Elizabeth. If you’ve read the book maybe is more easy to catch it, but I think the acting and the way it’s shown is obvious. The most obvious of them all.

One...

Two...

Three XD...

Mrs. Bennet getting drunk!

Beginning of the evening...

Ending the evening...

Mr. Bennet and Mary’s disgust

If you pay attention to the first gif of Mr.Collins looking for Elizabeth, you’ll see that Mary (after Mr. Bennet stops her from playing the piano) gives a constern and embarrasing look to Mr. Collins. This is because, if you read the book you already know, that Mary actually has a crush on Mr. Collins. So she wanted to impress him. So that’s at the begining of the party. At the end Mr. Bennet looks for her and consoles her.

I think is really cute ♥ n_n

3. Charlotte’s engaged with Mr.Collins

Alright everyone: this scene it’s not about Elizabeth turning around and around in the swing for nothing. Between the time time tells Lizzie she is engaged to Mr.Collins and the actual visit to her new home a few months pass by. With these beautiful scenes is trying to convey that pass of time.

4. Darcy’s almost proposal.

This is me: I’m Darcy everytime I’m trying to invite a guy out.

I know it seems ridiculous but this scene IS SO RIGHT ON. I REPEAT, I’M FUCKING MR. DARCY EVERYTIME I TRY TO INVITE SOMEONE OUT.

HE’S TRYING TO FUCKIN PROPOSE, GIVE HIM A BREAK.

5. After Jane’s proposal

Another example showing of a lot of things happening at the same time in the same house. Lovely.

LAST COMMENTS:

There is a lot more to say but I just wanted to focus on these scenes to expose them better for the ones who have’t noticed. If you have read the book you really appreciate them, because Pride and prejudice (the book) is mostly about Elizabeth thoughts, and of course there is a lot more going on, but these little details shows that in the movie. How is the family conformed, hoy much time pass between event and event, and the sentiments. The feelings.

I think the feelings in these movie are everything.

Here’s a recopilation of Elizabth and Darcy, just by their looks you can tell everything. And the hole movie is about that. The looks, the expression in each charachter says everything.

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thedeaditeslayer · 3 years

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Crash Palace Interview: Catching Up with Dana DeLorenzo.

This interview briefly brushes over Ash vs Evil Dead and Dana’s latest projects.

Even though it has been over two years since Ash vs Evil Dead has been on the air, fans still clamor for their favorite badass, Deadite slaying heroine, Kelly Maxwell. Dana DeLorenzo, the actress behind her is equally adored and cherished by admirers of the Sam Raimi legendary horror franchise.

So, as always, I was thrilled to speak with her about life after Ash, her latest movie, the heartwarming holiday comedy, Friendsgiving and what she has on the horizon. Welcome to the Crash Palace Interview with Dana DeLorenzo…

The Denouement of Ash vs Evil Dead Crash Palace: Thanks for speaking with me, Dana. It’s always a pleasure. Let’s talk about life after Ash vs Evil Dead. As you know, Lee Cronin is helming the latest installment in the Evil Dead franchise, Evil Dead Rise. Fans were hoping that the Ghostbeaters would be a part of that venture. While we know it is going in a different direction, do you think Kelly Maxwell could show up some time in the future?

Dana DeLorenzo: One can dream, right? Let me take this moment, right off the bat to say something I say often because I mean it, and I can’t say it enough. People who know me know this is not fan service. I say it when I’m not doing interviews; I say it to my closest friends and my family on the regular.

I am so grateful to the fans of Ash vs Evil Dead and the Evil Dead franchise all over the world. They have truly been my Jiminy Crickets throughout this insane, bizarre year that is 2020. They have gotten me through so many of the toughest days, just by keeping the bloody love alive. With every year that passes, even though we haven’t filmed a season of the show for three years, it feels like it’s fresh because of the fans .

So, to all you Ghostbeaters out there: I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope I get to meet all of you someday. But I can’t convey enough how your passion and love of the show has gotten me through this 2020 roller coaster; thank you for keeping Kelly’s ass-kicking spirit alive! On that note, I have really missed the show, I’ve missed playing Kelly. I posted some things recently about Ash vs Evil Dead, photos I hadn’t looked at in a while. I miss it a lot. I like to keep hope alive that someday, somewhere, the Ghostbeaters will be reunited. Even just for a quick Ghostbeaters fist bump.

Is Kelly Maxwell going to show up in this film? No. I won’t say never, but from what I understand, this is an alternate universe for Evil Dead Rise, separate from Fede Alvarez’s movie with Jane Levy and it’s separate from Ash vs Evil Dead. It’s a new adventure in the Evil Dead universe. And I can’t wait to see the new blood and guts journey Lee Cronin takes us on. I would like to think in the Ghostbeaters’ universe, we’re still kicking it and we’re still fighting evil. But I am loving that the fans are clamoring for it! They can keep pestering Rob, Sam and Bruce the way they have for twenty-five years before Ash vs Evil Dead came to be — their persistence is what got me that dream job.

So, if they want to continue to pester to bring us all back, I won’t stop them! Because we know the fans have the power to persuade. It might take another twenty-five years. But I am always down to play with those guys and our great crew.

CP: Do you keep in touch with anyone from the show?

DD: Yeah, I try and keep up with what everyone is doing and shoot them a message to tell them I miss them like the sap that I am. I just miss seeing their faces every day, you know? I miss Lucy’s face pretty hard, and not just because she’s ‘Lucy Flawless’! She’s got new shows left and right, she never stops! Ray and I randomly text Pablo and Kelly’s catchphrases to each other. “How are you holding up? / What is happening?!” We said that pretty much every episode so it still makes me laugh. Arielle and I chat often even though she lives in Australia, she’s like my little sister! Bruce often responds “ in character” with the latest Snapchat filter. He loves those — just check his Twitter feed — and it’s all my fault. I showed him how to make them while filming Season 3. He could probably do a show solely with Snapchat characters — I’d watch.

Fall from Perpetual Grace

CP: Let’s shift gears for a moment and talk about another series that you appeared on. You had a great run on EPIX with Perpetual Grace, LTD working with the talented Jimmi Simpson, Luis Guzman and of course, Jacki Weaver and Sir Ben Kingsley. There was some talk about a possible movie to tie up all the storylines after the show ended. Do you know if that is in the works?

DD: I have no idea, but I really hope that happens. Steven Conrad is a genius and so was that cast. If you haven’t seen or become a part of the cult following of Patriot on Amazon or Perpetual Grace, you should. But the people he casts and the stories he writes and the beauty of the cinematography, all create a piece of art that is in its own category. He has such a strong point of view, aesthetic and vision, you always know when you’re watching a Steven Conrad show.

I’ve been very lucky to be part of two shows where both casts were like extended family. Like Luis Guzman. We talked recently, I adore him. Side bar: I feel like in a crazy, crossover world, Luis could be Pablo’s other uncle because of his giant heart and comedic delivery. Anyway, we’re both working on my friend Joe Ahern’s indie comedy, The Disappearance of Toby Blackwood, which he co-wrote with Doug Mellard. And I can’t wait for people to see Luis slay the screen, yet again. The filming process is pretty innovative during COVID, where everyone but the two main characters filmed their parts at home using an app. These guys were doing it before anyone else, so kudos to them.

Friendsgiving: The Gift that Keeps on Giving

CP: I had the pleasure of watching Friendsgiving the other night and it was an enjoyable holiday film. You had some hilarious bits as Kat Dennings’ wise cracking sister, Barbara. What drew you to the project?

DD: Thank you for watching the film and I’m so glad you enjoyed it! It’s the kind of original comedy we all need right now.

I knew I was auditioning for Kat Dennings’ (Abby) sister Barbara, whose part of Abby’s Jersey-Italian family. Within the first two lines of that family exchange, I was cackling. I’m drawn to anything that grabs my attention on the page and holds it for the entire sitting of reading the script. Those lines of dialogue, the way the family members are unapologetically who they are, and the fact they mean well but are constantly giving you their two cents when you don’t want it or ask for it, hooked me. And that kind of art-imitating-life comedy held up for the rest of the script for me. Nicol Paone hit it out of the park, both on the page and behind the lens. And I’m pretty sure it’s loosely based on a Thanksgiving that Nicol and Malin Ackerman shared.

The subject matter was also relatable. I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving with my family as well as a couple of Friendsgivings. And the bottom line is, the holiday is just dysfunctional, always. It might be a lot more fun with your friends but it’s still going to be dysfunctional.

That concept makes me laugh. It’s not funny when you’re the one going through the stress and drama of Thanksgiving. However, it’s very funny watching someone else go through it. It’s cathartic. That’s why I loved it.

CP: With so many talented actors in the cast, do you have any behind the scenes anecdotes?

DD: There was a lot of laughing in between takes. It’s always a good sign when the crew laughs. Abby’s (Kat Dennings ) Jersey-Italian family was cast perfectly, and the actors were so damn funny! Rose Abdoo plays our mom, Nadya Ginsburg as Aunt Anna and Johnny Williams plays Uncle Sal. Like I said, it was already funny on the page, and Nicol being a New Jersey Italian herself really captured the essence of those family conversations. The actors brought Nicol’s words to life, and on a few takes she let us riff. In one scene the Aunt Anna character was telling the scripted story of a sexual gesture; I remember laughing so hard at her adlibbing additional euphemisms for that particular act by referencing Italian food.

One of my favorite things Nicol did was add some of the funniest ad-libs and bloopers in the end credits. I love seeing those! Now everyone who sees the film will get to see those behind the scenes moments.

The Show Must Go On

CP: When we were coordinating this interview, you told me that you were going into the studio to do voiceover work. Can you give us a hint about this upcoming effort?

DD: The show features a cast of familiar faces that might have worked together recently. I just realized what everyone is probably going to think when they read this.

CP: Sorry everyone, it isn’t Ash vs Evil Dead. However, you have more work on the way. According to IMDb, you have completed a short film called PCH. What else can your fans look forward to?

DD: The Disappearance of Toby Blackwood which I mentioned before but we’re still filming that. I am so excited about this voiceover project because it’s completely original in every way, it really hasn’t been done before. And of course, Friendsgiving is out now in select theatres and VOD. It’s the perfect film to watch this Thanksgiving when we can’t celebrate as we usually do. You can laugh at the characters’ holiday drama and maybe even be grateful to take this year off.

CP: Will you be appearing at any virtual conventions like Bruce and Ted are doing for Wizard World events?

DD: There are a couple in the works. But in the meantime, I’ve teamed up with this new platform called, Real Talk Live, which is both an app and on the web. It’s like a virtual convention where you can live video chat one on one, basically like a Zoom call. You can schedule the video call in advance or whenever catch me whenever I’m live. I think it’s a great solution, and personally I’m really looking forward to connecting with Evil Dead fans this way until live events pick back up. And it’s accessible worldwide so this will be great to finally see the amazing fans I hear from overseas. I miss interacting with them in the flesh, hearing their stories and seeing their badass cosplays! And do I miss pose-punching them in our epic photos. So I end with this, because I can’t say this enough: “Thank you, Ghostbeaters! I love you more than Ash Williams loves his Delta!”

Many thanks to Dana DeLorenzo for spending time with me at Crash Palace. For those of you that haven’t had the chance to catch Friendsgiving, it is available online by buying or renting it as a video-on-demand on iTunes, FandangoNow and VUDU.

#Crash Palace #Dana DeLorenzo

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classicmollywood · 4 years

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TCMFF Home Edition Must Watch List

Hello friends!

I was supposed to be on a plane today to go to my first TCM Film Festival, but stuff happens and then you have a pandemic and everything gets canceled and you have to stay home! ANYWAYS, TCM decided to bring us some joy by playing programming for all of us, giving us the film festival, but at home.

I have decided to list my must watch films for this Home Edition of the festival!

Thursday, April 16th

8 pm: A Star is Born (1954, George Cukor)

Starring Judy Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, and Charles Bickford

On TCM’s website, this was listed as the inaugural film for the 2010 TCMFF. It’s also a film that is Judy Garland at her best. Garland lights up the screen as Esther Blodgett/Vicki Lester. This film has fantastic musical numbers, beautiful colors, and is the best starting film for this festival.

11 PM: Metropolis (1927, Fritz Lang)

Starring Gustav Frohlich, Alfred Abel, Brigitte Helm, and Rudolf Klein-Rogge

If you have never seen a silent film or a German Expressionist film, watch this! Metropolis is the film that aged so well. A futuristic utopia from the lens of the 1920s is very interesting to watch and also some of the themes of this film can be translated to life today. I will say, the film can be described by some as “weird” but I wouldn’t let that stop you from watching it!

Friday, April 17th

2 PM: Eva Marie Saint Live from the TCM Classic Film Festival (2014)

Eva Marie Saint is one of my favorite classic film actresses. She has class, she has poise, and she is very talented. In 2014, TCM had a sit down with the actress to talk about herself and her films. This is such a treat to see!

3 PM: North by Northwest (1959, Alfred Hitchcock)

Starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason, Jessie Royce Landis, and Martin Landau

Another case of mistaken identity and suspense! Hitchcock knew what he was doing when he hired Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint to “sex” up in the screen during the 1950s. Their chemistry is electric. The airplane scene is such an intense watch. And James Mason seems to be good at playing a suave bad guy.

5:45 PM: Some Like It Hot (1959, Billy Wilder)

Starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, Joe E. Brown, George Raft, and Pat O’Brien

Men witnessing a crime and then parading as women so they don’t get murdered! What a farce! Let’s be real, the best chemistry in the film is between Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. They play off each other so well. I will say, I do believe Marilyn Monroe was at her best in this film! Need a laugh, watch this!

1:30 AM: Grey Gardens (1975, Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, and Muffy Meyer)

Starring Edith “Big Edie” Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale

This documentary is fascinating. It is fun but at times absolutely heartbreaking. Big Edie and Little Edie were definitely a fine pair. It is interesting watching the aunt and cousin of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, because they aren’t living in luxury, which would be expected due to their relation. Big and Little Edie are characters that you have to see to believe. The irony is, they are real people and not acting roles.

5 AM: Kim Novak: Live from the TCM Film Festival (2013)

Kim Novak is so much more than her looks and this interview opened my eyes to how amazing she is as a person as well as an actress.

Saturday, April 18th (AKA MY BIRTHDAY)

6 AM: The Man with The Golden Arm (1955, Otto Preminger)

Starring Frank Sinatra, Eleanor Parker, and Kim Novak

This is one of the grittiest films from the 1950s. It depicts a heroin addict during their ups and downs. I was honestly surprised this film got made at all during the Production Code Era, but am very glad it did. Sinatra is so raw in his performance and Eleanor Parker creates a complex character as his wife. Of course, Kim Novak is wonderful to watch because she is more than just beautiful, she is an actress. This film really showcases her talent.

1:15 PM: Safety Last! (1923, Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor)

Starring Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, and Bill Strother

Zany antics a plenty! That’s the best description of this film. Harold Lloyd films are always great to watch because he wasn’t afraid to do crazy things to get a laugh. This film has the infamous clock scene too!

2:45 PM: They Live By Night (1949, Nicholas Ray)

Starring Farley Granger, Cathy O’Donnell, and Howard Da Silva

If you only watch one movie on this list, THIS NEEDS TO BE THE ONE. It’s ironic that it airs on my birthday, because this is one of my favorite films. The story of doomed lovers who try their best to reform from a life of crime to survive wasn’t a new concept, but man, Farley Granger and Cathy O’Donnell make you fall in love with their characters and hope that they somehow, someway make it to their life of happiness together.

10 PM: The Magnificent Ambersons (1942, Orson Welles)

Starring Joseph Cotten, Dolores Costello, Anne Baxter, Tim Holt, and Agnes Moorehead

This film is another case of a film that got cut down by the studio, and in case you were wondering, Orson Welles was pissed. I would hope and pray one day we all get to see the full version (kinda doubtful), but this film isn’t so bad. I think the all-star cast really makes it worth it!

Sunday, April 19th

6 AM: Jezebel (1938, William Wyler)

Starring Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, and George Brent

I am not gonna lie, my first viewing of this film enraged me. Henry Fonda’s character made me so mad because he was a jerk. But I have decided I need to rewatch this film and see if my attitudes have changed. This film did so many great things for Bette Davis and Henry Fonda, so we should all give it another (or first) go around. Also this was the film Jane Fonda was born during! Just a fun fact.

3:30 PM: Auntie Mame (1958, Morton DaCosta)

Starring Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Coral Browne, Jan Handzlik, and Roger Smith

I want to be Auntie Mame. She is so much fun and so unique and I love it. The costumes are so grand in this film and Rosalind Russell really does a great job of bringing Mame to life. This film is so fun!!!

6 PM: Singin’ in the Rain (1952, Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly)

Starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, Donald O’Connor, and Jean Hagen

This is in my top 5 musicals. This musical always makes me smile and it is one of the few musicals where I know most of the words to the songs. The trio of Kelly, Reynolds, and O’Connor is something magical. Cosmo Brown is also one of my favorite characters in any film (and one of my cat’s namesakes). The film history alone with this film makes it worth watching! JUST WATCH THIS MUSICAL, OKAY?

9:45 PM: The Hustler (1961, Robert Rossen)

Starring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Piper Laurie, and George C. Scott

Paul Newman is so cool in general, so he was born for this role. I never knew a movie about pool would have my interest, but here we are. The tension between Newman and Jackie Gleason is so well played and the way the film is shot, you feel like you are in the room with them. Also Piper Laurie does a great performance as the conflicted girlfriend of Newman’s ambitious pool shark.

12:15 AM: Baby Face (1933, Alfred E. Green)

Starring Barbara Stanwyck, George Brent, and Donald Cook

THIS IS PRECODE HEAVEN! You have a woman who uses sex to get ahead in life and men become entranced, and usually destroyed, by her. Barbara Stanwyck plays her character so well that you have a love-hate relationship with her. She can be cruel, but you understand why she is doing what she is doing.

#tcmff #a star is born #metropolis #eva marie saint live from the tcmff #north by northwest #some like it hot #grey gardens #kim novak live from the the tcmff #the man with the golden arm #safety last #they live by night #the magnificent ambersons #jezebel #auntie mame #singin in the rain #the hustler #baby face

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dontmindthefangirling · 5 years

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Catfish {t.h.}

part 9

gif by @peteparkrrs

Summary: What happens when you start to fall in love with a boy online, completely unaware that it’s Tom Holland behind the computer screen?

Warnings: swearing

part 8 | series masterlist

You were beginning to think that you should have had Jane or one of your other college friends come with you on this impulsive trip because you legs were shaking so bad you didn’t know if you were going to make it to your seat. Tom somehow picked you out of the crowd, and he somehow knew that it was you. Hearing his voice say your name after so long brought back all of the giddy emotions you used to feel when you’d talk for hours on the phone late at night.

It was hard to believe that was almost a year ago. But you were nineteen now, and you had to pull it together.

You and the rest of the fans were led into a large auditorium, with seats facing a stage that only held a couch and a few chairs, which you assumed would be for the cast members. You were grateful that Tom wasn’t on the stage yet because you’d rather be sitting when you saw him again. It would be so embarrassing to pass out in front of all of these people.

Holding your ticket shakily in your hand, you were led to your seat which was about three rows from the stage, and as you sat down in the red plush chair, the bright lights seemed to illuminate your entire body. A part of you had hoped that you were seated further back, but maybe this was good. Tom would see you again.

But did you really want that?

It hurt to see him, especially after all this time, and you truly thought that you had moved on but as soon as he spoke your name and he stood a few feet in front of you, it felt like you never moved on. So many mixed emotions were running through your entire body, and the last thing you had read about Tom was an article claiming that he and Zendaya were dating.

What if that was true? You were just setting yourself up to get even more hurt than before.

It was too late now. He had seen you, and you figured you weren’t going to leave until you talked to him. But that was also wishful thinking. He was a movie star now, and he may be too busy for a common person like yourself.

The fans around you were buzzing with excitement, but you couldn’t stop your knee from bouncing up and down as you kept your eyes glued on the stage, waiting impatiently for Tom to come bouncing out. You were sending updates to Laura, wishing that your friend was here with you to steady your racing heart and mind.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the cast of Spider-Man: Homecoming!” a loud voice said over a microphone. The fans around you erupted into cheers, standing to their feet, but you were too stunned to do so as you spotted Tom walk onto the stage, waving to the audience, followed by his co-stars. He looked even better than you thought while he stood in the light.

When the fans around you sat back down, and the cast took their seats, you saw that Tom’s eyes were scanning the crowd. You wondered what he would do when his eyes fell on you, if they would fall on you.

Your heartbeat was loud in your ears, and you felt your veins pulsing against your skin as his gaze slowly made its way towards your side of the seating. It was almost immediate when his eyes spotted you in the third row. The rest of the cast was thanking the fans for coming to this event to promote the movie, while Tom’s move was slightly ajar, his eyes wide. It was like he wanted to communicate with you via his eyes, but the longer he stared at you, the more your heart began to hammer your chest. You looked down at your feet, feeling his gaze burning holes into your body.

“Oh, yeah! Um, thank you guys so much for coming,” Tom said suddenly, after Jacob nudged his leg with his own. Hearing his voice over the microphone, loud in your ears, and echoing along the walls of the theater, made your heart twist and flip. You closed your eyes tightly, wishing that you never came here.

“We’re very excited about this movie,” Tom spoke slowly, because his eyes kept flickering over to you. Your head was down, and your eyes were shut tightly, and it was hard for Tom to focus on the fans that were present. He felt terrible about it, but you were literally right in front of him. His mind was clouded with thoughts of you, of how he had wished he had been honest with you from the start and maybe you both wouldn’t be feeling this pain that pierced your two fragile hearts.

And he couldn’t get over how beautiful you were. He never tried imaging what you looked like during your online affair because he knew that he would’ve loved you no matter what you looked like. You were already the most beautiful girl in the world to him.

But seeing you in person took his breath away.

Laura and Jacob started bantering about some funny behind the scenes jokes they had causing the audience to erupt into laughter, but Tom couldn’t bring himself to smile because he was so fucking wrapped up in your presence. He watched you, as you kept your head down, refusing to look at him. And it hurt.

“What was your favorite scene to film, Tom?” Laura asked, smiling as she looked at Tom from across the couch.

“My favorite scene?” Tom repeated, as he wasn’t completely listening. “Um, I don’t know. All of it?”

The crowd laughed again, but Tom only gave them a close-lipped smile. “I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, but...”

He trailed off when he spotted your figure stand from your seat out of the corner of his eye as you quickly made your way towards the exit of the theater. And he knew he had to follow you. He wouldn’t lose you again.

“I-I’m sorry, I, uh, I have to go,” Tom mumbled into the microphone before standing from his seat.

“Tom, what-” Jacob started, as the crowd began to murmur, but Tom was already jogging down the stairs and rushing out the door that you left through only moments before.

The exit that you took brought you into an alley behind the theater, and you groaned, not knowing what street it would have taken you to. You figured you could wait outside by your school’s shuttle bus until the interview was over because you couldn’t stand being in that room with him anymore. Hearing his voice was so painful especially when you knew that he could never be yours. It just made you think about all the times you talked on the phone last year.

You hugged yourself as you took a few steps away from the door, walking slowly towards the street. You shouldn’t have come. You knew it was stupid, but you thought that maybe seeing him would make you realize that you had moved on. But it did the exact opposite.

“(Y/N)!” a voice panted, and you turned to see Tom almost falling out of the door. You stared stunned, as he approached you.

“What are you-”

“Please, don’t go,” he begged. He kept a respectful distance from you, but this was closer than when you made eye contact in front of the theater, and you couldn’t help but stare.

His hair was curly, with one stray curl falling in front of his forehead, and you never realized how pretty his brown eyes were until you saw the flecks of gold that danced in them.

Your mind was racing through everything you wanted to say, everything you wanted to yell at him for hurting you the way he did, but in that moment, your mouth went dry and you couldn’t so much as breathe let alone yell at him.

Tom seemed to feel the same way because for a solid five minutes, you both just stood in the alley behind the theater, staring at each other, as if you were both trying to figure out if the other was real.

Eventually, Tom cleared his throat and looked down at his feet quickly before looking back at you.

“Why, uh...why did you come here?” he asked gently.

“To be honest, I don’t know.”

Tom’s lips pulled at a frown, and you could tell he didn’t like that answer. But it was the truth. You didn’t know why you put yourself through this.

“Don’t you have an interview or something to be at?” you asked softly, pointing to the door that he came through. Tom shook his head and took a small step towards you.

“No, (Y/N), you’re more important than any interview,” he said gently.

“Why?” you croaked. “We haven’t talked in almost a year.”

“I don’t care,” Tom said, taking another step closer to you. “My feelings for you never changed.”

You didn’t know how to take his words. When you found out who he really was, you assumed that everything was a lie, that he was just playing you as a dumb fan who fell for a prank. He was an actor after all.

But the fact that without ever seeing a picture of you before, that he was able to pick you out of a crowd just by the look of pure emotion on your face, or that he was skipping an interview to talk to you in a crummy alley behind a theater in the middle of a city he’s never been to before, made you start to think that maybe he wasn’t lying about everything after all. He even knew your voice.

“I...I don’t know how to take that,” you admitted, still hugging yourself.

“Look, (Y/N), when you found out that I wasn’t Peter and I was Tom, I was so mad at myself for lying to you in the first place,” Tom began. “But I meant what I said. Everything else was true besides my name.”

“You have a pretty important name,” you almost scoffed. “It’s not like you’re just another Joe Schmo from England.”

“I know,” Tom groaned, running a hand through his curls. “I was being an idiot.”

“Yeah and a fucking jerk!” you exclaimed.

“I’m trying to fix it!” Tom shouted back, but groaned and tugged at his curls when you looked away from him. Your heart was hammering against your chest as you tried to remain calm, but your hands were shaking.

“Do you know how much I was hurting...and I still am,” you said, lowering your voice as you tried to steady your breathing.

“Yeah, I think I have a pretty good idea,” Tom breathed.

“Why did you lie?” you asked suddenly, looking up at him. Tom stared at you for a few moments and let out a deep breath.

“I wanted to get to know the real you,” he whispered. “Without you acting different because it’s...y’know, me.”

You scoffed and shook your head. “That’s so fucking hypocritical, Tom.”

The anger came back quicker than you were expecting, but it was like you had been transported to that summer night almost a year ago and your world came crashing down all at once.

“You wanted to get to know the real me, but you were hiding yourself!” you spat, tossing your hands to the sides.

“I know! Okay, I know it sounds hypocritical, but (Y/N), everything else was true besides my name,” Tom said, sounding defeated, like he knew you would never believe him. You stared at him as a few silent beats fell between you, the only sound coming from traffic.

“Why should I believe you?” you finally said, barely above a whisper. Tom took another step closer to you.

“Because, even after all this time, I still remembered your voice,” Tom whispered. You kept your eyes on his as he took another small step towards you.

“And I remembered that this was your home state, which is why I looked for you,” Tom said softly. You could feel his breath against your face now, and you felt frozen as you stared up at him, your heart hammering against your ribs.

“And I wouldn’t be here, if I didn’t care about you,” he whispered. He had a sad look in his eyes, but you were so close now that you were sure he could hear your heart.

“You care about me?” you whispered back, your whisper cracking mid-sentence.

“I care about you so fucking much,” he sighed. Slowly, he brought his hand to your cheek, and just the contact of his skin on yours sent goosebumps throughout your entire body.

“And, I don’t think you would be here, if you didn’t care about me too,” he whispered, his breath gently fanning onto you. And he was right. There had to be a part of you that still cared if you were willing to get on that hour bus ride by yourself, just to see him in person.

You looked up at him, as he gently placed his other hand on your waist, and your breath became hitched in your throat.

“I do care,” you breathed. “I don’t think I ever stopped.”

Tom’s breathing was shaky as he rested his forehead against your own, and being this close to him allowed you to feel every part of him that you always dreamed of feeling. You could smell the clean scent of his cologne, and his curls tickled your forehead. You closed your eyes, listening to the sound of both of your breathing.

“(Y/N)...” Tom whispered. You opened your eyes, enough to see the way his eyes flickered to your lips. “Can I-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence because you had already closed the gap, pressing your lips to his in a kiss that had sent shivers down your spine. Tom kept his one hand on your cheek, and the other on your waist, pulling you closer as your lips moved in sync in a dizzying kiss. The kiss was desperate, and it was as if you were both trying to convey to the other everything that you felt over the past year. As angry as you were about the whole ordeal before, feeling the neediness in his kiss made you believe every word he said. And he was right- you never stopped caring.

His lips tasted like a cherry chapstick, and your hands had snaked their way behind his neck, playing the curls at the nape of his neck. You didn’t think it was possible to get closer to one another, but Tom pulled your flush against his chest. You knew you needed air, but you couldn’t stop.

Reluctantly, you both pulled away, but only far enough so that your lips barely brushed against the other’s.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a year,” Tom gasped, and for the first time in a while, you laughed.

“Me too,” you chuckled. Tom’s lips curled into a heart-fluttering smile before he pulled you back to him, crashing his lips onto yours once more. This time, you couldn’t help but smile into the kiss, knocking teeth as you both began laughing, falling into one another like two halves of a heart that finally became whole.

“I’ve missed you,” you whispered against his lips, looking up and meeting his eyes that were now twinkling.

“I’ve missed you so much, darling.”

You buried your face in the crook of his neck, hiding your smile as you realized how ridiculous this whole situation seemed to be. Two people who would have never met if the internet didn’t exist, and now here you were, refusing to let go of the other.

“What is it?” Tom asked, as you hid your face. You leaned back, and looked up at him.

“Nothing...I just missed hearing you call me that,” you sighed. Tom smiled and pressed a kiss to your hair.

“You can hear me call you that anytime you want, darling.”

You hugged him tightly to you, inhaling his calming scent. In that moment, you knew that this was better than any late night phone call.

part 10

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#tom holland #tom hollander #tom holland imagine #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland x y/n #catfish #spider-man #Spider Man: Homecoming #spider-man imagine

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dailyaudiobible · 4 years

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05/26/2020 DAB Transcript

2 Samuel 9:1-11:27, John 15:1-27, Psalms 119:49-64, Proverbs 16:1-3

Today is May 26th welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian it is wonderful to be here with you today as we continue through this final full week of this 5th month of the year. It is wonderful to be around the Global Campfire together and just know no matter what's happening we are not alone. We are in this together. We always have been and here we are now together, allowing God's word to come into our lives for today. So, we’re reading from the English Standard Version this week and continuing our journey through second Samuel. David, this little shepherd boy who became famous for killing a giant and then had to run for his life and grow up really fast and sort of live as a national hero, unwittingly, and has…has arisen to become the king of all Israel. And, so, we’re kind of moving through a patch where we’re…we’re understanding his reign. He is now the full-blown king of Israel. So, today, second Samuel chapters 9, 10, and 11.

Commentary:

Okay. So, Jesus is having a really moving, very profound conversation with His friends and this is obviously before He moves into His time of suffering. And, so, it's a very, very intimate conversation that's happening. And what He's telling them is that that they need to abide in Him, to remain in Him, to stay in it. And the example that He uses is of a vine and branches. So, we can of a vine, we can think of a tree, we can think of branches that come out from that tree and we can say that we, you know, we know like if you go to cut the branch off the tree the branch is gonna die because it is disconnected from its source of life. And, so, Jesus is saying, “remain, endure, abide, stay where you are. Don't disconnect from your source of life.” And I’ve been watching the trees. I watch trees a lot as the seasons go by. And, you know, we came out of winter and everything looks like it's dormant, right? There’s…the trees are there, but there's no life. It seems as if there is no life there. And yet then springtime comes and the season changes and life springs forth and then the season changes and its in full bloom. Like, life is a seasonal thing. And sometimes we can be in like a winter season and feel dormant and feel dead and fuel stuck and just like try to figure out a way to get away, like just become a part of a different tree, just get out of here even though that will disconnect us from our very source of life and we will die. If we would abide, if we would remain, the seasons will change, new life will come. This is often that we don't see things…I mean like the seasons are in front of us in nature. The seasons of life are before us, but we rarely ever pay attention. And, so, things can be like we can be having a difficult season and decide we don’t want to have anything to do with the tree anymore. Like, we want to just go find something else even though if we would abide, if we would remain, if we would wait the seasons change. It’s just that so often we’re kind of sold this concept that we should be in complete overwhelming sense of harvest and blessing at all times. Like it should always be that way for us. We should just walk around with gold falling…falling out of the sky, like everything should work right for us. When that's really not the nature of things. And we can be like, “yeah but I'm a child of God and the most-high God owns the cattle on a thousand hills” and all of these things are true, but if we’re…if we want to understand life on earth then we have to look at God in the flesh. Like, we have to look at the example that God gave for us in human form in the person Jesus and see how He lived and then set our expectations accordingly. And in our reading today He was telling them, “if they hate me, they'll hate you too. Like, basically if you wanna bring light into the darkness, then this is so noble, and the harvest is ripe, and so ready, and I will be with you in it all. Like, you are intertwining yourself with God. Like the vine is God and you are the branches. Like, you have this chance to be a part of something really cosmically monumentally important, but it won’t be easy.” This is like sometimes when so…so often…and man…I have to like wave both hands over my head…like…I’m the chief…like me…me…me. When things aren’t going so well it’s so easy to go like, “what's happening What have I done wrong? What's going on? Why are you mad? Like where are you? Where have you gone?” When these are the very, very times to abide, right? Like to be rooted and to be still and to wait for the season to change.

Prayer:

Father, we invite You into that and we take it to heart. It's so beautiful…it's so beautiful, the kindness, the compassion, the instruction, the love that it is in today's reading. And, so, as we personalize it, as we take it on board into our own lives, we invite Your Holy Spirit. And may we abide, may we rest in You, may we stay connected, may we remain in You and You in us today. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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Be aware of the Community section of the website. That's where you find the different links to the social media channels. The…like the women's group or DAB Friends or the Daily Audio Bible Announcements and stuff like that. It’s also the home of the Prayer Wall, where prayer is continually happening. And, so, you can reach out there or reach in there any…any time. So, be aware of that. Stay connected in any way that you can, in any way that want to. This is all going on before there was a coronavirus and it will be going on long, long after. No matter what, we have a place to stay connected. And, so let's do that. And let's pray for one another and let's shoulder each other's burdens. And let's be in this journey of a lifetime to through the scriptures. Let’s be in it together.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com. There is a link on the homepage. I am profoundly humbled that we are even here and that we have been here every day for these years. That has happened because we've been in this together. There's no other way or reason. And, so, it's humbling. So, if Daily Audio Bible’s bringing life to you then thank you for throwing a log on the Global Campfire. So, there's a link on the homepage. If you're using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if you prefer, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi Daily Audio Bible this is Maria a missionary in Mexico. I’m out here in the barn so you might hear a lot of animal noises. Man, there’s so many people I want to call…shout out to. Was it, Jane that did the focus fix on Christ until still? Thank you. That was beautiful. God’s Smile and her hubby Peter. Wow, what a blessing you guys are. You always make me smile. I can feel your love God’s Smile. Michaela from Gloucester, I love it that you praying for the people who are Muslims, during Ramadan. Thank you. Stephanie from Banglador, Joanne from Happy Valley, Lady of Victory and Kingdom Seeker Daniel. Rosie in Oklahoma thank you. Rachel and Ben from Pennsylvania. Merinotha from Georgia. There’s Denise, airport missionary. So many people. I could just go on and on. Thank you. I think about you, I pray with you and pray for you. I want to lift up right now the people who are the unreached people groups. Another lady prays for them. Thank you. With voice of the modern prayer request. That is why were in Mexico. I never thought I’d come as a missionary to Mexico because I’ve always had a heart to reach people who never had a chance to hear the gospel. And this COVID is really hard on some of those unreached people groups who might even live in the city, but they don’t really speak the language, Spanish very well. They speak their indigenous languages. And, of course, this COVID is hitting them hard. The schools are saying, “teach your kids to read, teach you kids math.” While they’re literate, a lot of those parents. Their kids are in school, but they don’t know how to teach their kids. So, please be praying for us as missionaries here in Mexico reaching the indigenous people groups of Mexico. And pray for wisdom, pray for the people groups in Mexico, that they would come to know the Lord Jesus. Thanks guys. Bye.

Hi this is Rachel from Pennsylvania. Dear Lord, I want to lift up Ben who ran away. I pray that he will be safe and that You will bring him home and that You will address whatever it is that is making him want to run away from home. I pray that he will grow up to be a strong man in You Lord. I also want to pray for Rachel and Emily for their protection and healing and for the woman in Ohio who is church planting. I thank You for her and her desire to start a church. And I also want to pray for her sister’s salvation Lord. You know what is holding her back from You and I just pray that You will soften her heart and change her and…and bring her to You. I also want to pray for Joe in Pennsylvania and his family as they have a family member who’s transitioning from this life to the next. Lord please give them peace and comfort and I pray that You will be with Joe’s Father and that he will not suffer and that he will be with You in heaven. I also want to lift up the lady who has 100-year-old house. I pray for…for her. Please give her direction and show her what You have next to her Lord. Bless her and make sure that all her needs are met. I pray that You will help with the sale of the house and bring some…

Hi this is Arizona Steve. I’m just calling in today for the first time ever and asking you all for prayers my wife Nancy. She’s having surgery today because she broke her femur and is going to have a partial hip replacement. She’s been struggling over the last 30 years with rheumatoid arthritis, multiple surgeries for joint replacements, and a lot of pain and suffering. Anyway, I just ask you for prayers for a successful surgery and healing, so she’ll be able to come home. Thank you all. I love this…I love this podcast. I listen every day. And that’s all.

Thank you thank you everybody. It’s Lisa from San Jose and I’m calling to thank you for your words of encouragement and your prayers over me during this time. It’s been like a week and half since my husband passed and I…I’m going through the emotional roller coaster part of it all. I’ve got a lot of work to do. And yet I feel like I have to take time to breath. I just bless the Lord I bless the Lord for his mercy. Thank you, Lord for taking Craig in such a peaceful way. And thank you everybody for holding me up in praying for me. Thank you, God’s Smile for reading that chapter in Revelation. And that…there’s been many you who’ve prayed for me. Thank you. God’s been answering my prayers holding me up letting me know that Craig is in heaven with Him. He’s dancing a jig right now. Anyway, friends and family are surrounding me, supporting me in so many ways. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Just bless the Lord. Thank you, family. Okay family. I’ll let you know how it’s going a little bit later but keep the prayers coming they’re keeping me together. Lisa from San Jose.

This is Tired but Trusting in Texas but I’m changing my name to Trusting in God in Texas because even though I’m still tired…I apologize that my voice is always like this from my sinus problems…and even though I’m still tired I trust is in God and God alone and I’m trusting Him to strengthen me for all the work He’s called me to do to take care of these children and that even some adults with these disabilities. Will you pray for our clinic, pray for us, pray for me and my husband to be able to keep on going and do what God has called us to do. But I’m also calling in today to pray for Chris a lay pastor from New York who now lives in Washington with his wife’s family and his new baby. And he’s had his church fall apart and he’s losing faith. I’m just praying God that you will help him be faithful and that you will help him to remember that you are a God and that you have him and that you will keep him as the apple of your eye. Zechariah 2 verse 8 - for thus says the Lord of hosts, he sent me after glory to the nations which plunder you for, he who touches you touches the apple of his eye. Please help him Lord Psalm 17 verse 8 - keep me as the apple of your eye. Please just help him Lord to cry out to you to cast all his cares upon you. First Peter 5:6 and 7 - For you are the one who holds his hand. Psalm 18 verse 6 - you hear his prayer. Thank you, God Almighty in Jesus’ name.

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lostinprocrastination · 5 years

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So I just got home from Endgame and I got some things to say (spoilers ahead, tagged as such):

1. ALL THOSE FIERCE WOMEN HOLY SHIT THAT SCENE!!!!! Make a movie (or two, or ten) focused on Marvel heroines NOW pls!!!! (And get Lupita too when she isn't busy doing awesome stuff with Jordan Peele pls and thank you.)

2. Clint and Nat's friendship is so intense and pure I can't even take it

3. Incidentally, I liked that they didn't really retcon that awful Nat/Bruce nonsense, because that would have been even more ridiculous, but scaled it waaaaaaaaay back to put laser focus on her connection with Clint instead. I used to ship them back in the day and when it was revealed he had a wife and kids - who she actually knew and was friends with, if I remember correctly - I was kind of pissed, but it was so much better the way they did it... A depiction of true, incredibly committed and loving relationship without any hint of romance/sex sends a really powerful message. They are just wonderful.

4. Rest in peace, Nat, you beautiful soul. I love how she's platinum blonde right after the events of Infinity War, but then five years later she has long wavy hair with her natural red color and the tips are still blonde because she doesn't have time for hairstyling bullshit. It's those little details that made me appreciate the movie even more.

5. What sucks the most about Nat dying is that now we can be 100% sure that the Black Widow solo movie will be a prequel/origin story and at this point is it really necessary? I mean, I'll still watch it, but it should have been done YEARS ago.

6. Another detail I loved was how skinny Tony is in the very beginning when he's in the ship with Nebula and then when Carol gets them to Earth he's weak in a wheelchair with and IV. The hairstyle and makeup and probably graphics teams really nailed it in this movie.

7. Speaking of Tony, r.i.p. Mr. Stark. You really had a heart afterall.

8. Anytime an Avengers or Iron Man movie comes out I say this, but regardless of how you feel about Gwyneth Paltrow, you have to admit that Pepper Potts is a fucking goddess, and that her chemistry with RDJ is off the charts. (And he *was* Mr. Potts and NOT the other way around, wasn't he?)

9. I don't think Iron Woman movies would actually work, but I wouldn't object to seeing her as an actual Avenger in the next movies.

10. I think I was the only one in a cinema full of youths and elderly people, because even though the thought had obviously already crossed my mind I laughed out loud when Tony called Thor "Lebowski", and I'm not exaggerating, literally no-one seemed to have gotten the reference except me. WTF.

11. Oh, and I gotta say, if they ever do a Big Lebowski prequel (I hope they don't because these things rarely work, but Hollywood never seems to have original ideas so it's possible), it's Hemsworth for The Dude or don't even bother. Thor is ACTUALLY The Dude in this movie, and I love how he's still pretty fat when it ends and he makes Valkyrie Asgard's queen (which, you know, AWESOME). Another win for the makeup and hairstyle department on this one (I don't think they used CGI on Thor, to me it looked like Hemsworth was wearing a fat suit).

12. If only Natalie Portman would get off her high horse and be Jane again...well, there's still at least one opportunity.

13. Was that really Rene Russo (oh wait a second...) playing Frigga? Because if it was there was some serious CGI going in there. She looked younger than in the first two Thors...? Actually, younger than The Big Hemsworth tbh

14. If (As)Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is just Quill and Thor bickering while trying to find Gamora I'll be delighted. Get Taika to direct and Goldblum back somehow and I'll be in heaven. (Although isn't Gamora actually for realsies dead? Or because they prevented Thanos from getting the Soul Stone that was reversed?)

15. I was already upset that Evans was short-haired and beardless in this movie even though he was in full gorgeous glory in the couple of minutes he appeared in Wakanda in Infinity War and the post-credits scene in Captain Marvel. Did they really have to make me actually watch him shave though? Russo bros, you are terrible people who love to make me suffer.

16. What a GORGEOUS sendoff to Steve. I kept thinking he was gonna be killed, yet he came back an old man having spent his life with Peggy. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it, and left the cinema right after that last shot of them dancing in the 50s. Only a couple of minutes later I remembered there were supposed to be two post-credits scenes and I was already gone, so...if anyone cares to tell me what they were or have a link to videos of them I can watch, please hit my inbox!

17. Is Old Steve Joe Biden? I mean, the makeup was, again, very well-done, but geez, guys, be less obvious with the references lmao (also Steve would never be toutchy-feely, so, you know, no soup for you)

18. I'm gonna assume Carol's hairstyle is a reference to Annette Benning's in Captain Marvel.

19. Let's be VERY clear here: Thanos only managed to punch her because he used the Power Stone, because otherwise she would have kicked his sorry ass right then and there.

20. OF COURSE Steve was worthy of Thor's hammer, I mean, c'mon.

I'm sure I'll think of many other things after I post this, but for now that's what I have. SO. MANY. FEELINGS.

#avengers: endgame #avengers spoilers #endgame spoilers #marvel #mcu #avengers

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raccoonpatriotism · 5 years

Text

260 [Random, Useless Headcanons 📂] from @homeofthevan | Part 2 Explosive Boogaloo

1-100: Here

101: He’s always had an, uh, ‘excellent’ temperament with old women - starting from being forced to help out at Old Folks Homes to get him out of the Orphanage.

102: He yells to show he cares.

103: He also yells for the sake of it.

104: You have to constantly say his name if you want him to continue to be part of the conversation.

105: that’s why he so often repeatedly uses names, nicknames, a simple ‘son’ when speaking to people.

106: He assumes everyone’s just like him until proven otherwise.

107: Along with what I said earlier about him not being empathetic; he really isn’t able to visualize himself in someone elses shoes unless he’s been walked through, like, a specific a few times.

108: He respects Miss Pauling the most out of everyone he knows.

109: Smissmas and Thanksgiving are tied for his favorite holiday.

110: Jane really likes Halloween though, and isn’t a grump on Valentines day.

111: <- Jane’s password for anything he owns that requires a password. More 1s if necessary.

112: When he’s thirsty he’ll go to the nearest form of water for hydration - catch him just drinking out of the bathroom sink - leaning up as he wipes his mouth, chirping, “Hello, private.”

113: He guzzles coffee like it’s fuel, but he has a very strict, No Caffeine after lunch protocol.

114: Decaff is for WIMPS.

115: Jane plays the trombone.

116: Subsequently, in most music, he appreciates and hums along with the bass parts.

117: Modern AU-Jane may be a Call of Duty fanboy, but he respects Halo for being another accurate depiction of life on the battlefront.

118: Speaking of modern Jane, the Military didn’t accept him in the 80s either.

119: His love for the military lead him to believe for sure he’d be accepted he was the Perfect Patriot and his enlistment would be a surefire way to help fund his transition--

120: But of course, as strong as he had become he’d spent his youth very sick and with the possibility of the illness to return along with a terrible psyche eval and 80s typical transphobia that lane was firmly closed.

121: At least he had DOOM to fall back on. And he was physically strong enough to hold down jobs to at least pay for testosterone.

122: And then Call of Duty came out and he became an early era streamer. (Went viral as one of those guys who basically RPs being an actual soldier in the voice chat.)

123: BACK TO CANON JANE because those headcanons just.. plain, aren’t useless. canon jane doesn’t have to deal with transphobia. tch.

124: He’s not the best to have on your football team as menacing as he is. He’ll start tackling everybody. Running the wrong way. Trying to steal the ball from his teammates.

125: If you tell Jane something’s American after he criticizes it, watching him backtrack is really fun.

126: Jane doesn’t get sick often, which is good because he is insufferable. Either goes full isolation straight up outside somewhere. Or is whining to everyone and everyone how it’s not allowed that he can’t be burrowing somewhere outside.

127: His hands are always warm - if they’re cold he’s probably having an Episode of some sort.

128: Rock and Roll helps his tinnitus, though he’ll still refer to it as Hippy Garbage. Like most music.

129: Jane could probably tapdance if given proper shoes. Mmm no, he’d stomp through the floor. Horse level clomping.

130: He’ll be the hype-man for anyone on his team.

131: Despite not being a fan of mint flavoring, he loves himself a candy-cane.

132: His thumb isn’t double jointed - seeing someone showing off their double jointed-ness would have Jane proclaiming magic was necessary.

133: LT. BITES lightning round!! Lt. Bites sees jane as its “General”

134: It got the bite taken out of its ear fighting over sour cream - it won.

135: Jane doesn’t give any raccoons a higher rank than Bites.

136: Lt. Bites doesn’t crave human flesh or anything, but it likes the sensation of biting people!

137: Jane has tried to get his raccoon a job at RED.

138: You can tell when Jane is having a really good day on the battlefield because you’ll round the corner and there’s Naked Soldier.

139: He’s waxing poetry about the beauty of the Male Form, take it in you soft quivering maggots.

140: I can’t get the image of Jane crowd surfing out of my head? That’s, like, his ideal dream for being recognized for his heroics. Medals and a mosh in his Honor.

141: Anytime he sees a Bald Eagle he entirely stops what he’s doing to place his left hand over his heart.

142: Jane loves The Art of War and is still awaiting Sun Tzu’s next book.

143: [ Alcohol ] Jane only sees ghosts when he’s starving, drunk, or suffering from a concussion. And it’s merely a way for such a boar minded guy to internalize what’s going on around him.

144: He can touch his toes keeping his knees straight.

145: Jane has minor ice-skating knowledge, as most growing up in the midwestern united states do. He’s not, good, though, he’s really intent on Taking Steps instead of gliding.

146: Put him in front of a piano and he’s holding out on finger and pressing down on one key at a time like an old man at a desktop keyboard.

147: Jane is ready to beat up your father.

148: Especially if your dad is shitty, unleash good ol’ Solly on him.

149: While he favors picking his nose with his pinkies, neither of his pinkie pads have any feeling.That makes them a little less dexterous when the time comes.

150: He’s always aching to be active, his brain will take things literally if it means he’ll be doing something.

151: Rum pineapple juice and malibu caribou -- Er. He doesn’t like pineapple flavoring. Isn’t a fan of mixed drinks in general?

152: He’s capable of staying out of the picture and not picking his nose, often times if things aren’t focused on him he’ll just sorta.. Stand out of the way playing with his hands - rifling through his pouches. Some times he’ll even, *gasp* pay attention.

153: He really likes to but in with his opinion is the thing.

154: He’s an American and his ideals must be heard.

155: Merasmus out here having doing the most for Soldier, in helping him reintegrate back into society. You think he’s bonkers now?? Psh. You should’a seen him fresh home from Poland.

156: He’s shown up to Civil War reanactments with a real gun.

157: Jane is incapable of yawning silently.

158: Stairs are overrated.

159: Catch Jane with a lukewarm mug of water pouring coffee grinds directly into it and saying “Damn, that’s a fine cup of Joe.”

160: Only. 100 left? Sweet Joseph Wetnurse of Jesus He’s got dirty blond hair leaning toward brunette.

161: Any righteous death deserves a warrior’s burial - That’s why you’ll find Jane, helmet over heart, giving a stirring eulogy about the Toilet from the Men’s Restroom that Got Unearthed and Shattered By... Nobody In Particular.

162: He will just join in large groups of people - like protests? He’ll just fall in line and preach his own stuff which sometimes doesn’t exactly align with the group at large.

163: i asked myself, would jane pick someone else’s nose? Yes.

164: His hugs are always really warm.

165: He would notice his wallet being pickpocketed - unless it was replaced by something the same weight. He’s like a temple from Indiana Jones.

166: Mentally? Jane’s fine with being alone, but. That leads to him living in a box or a room straight out of that “Damn, bitch, you live like this?” comic.

167: Despite deep cold being triggering to him (SEE HC, 67.), he loves snow-forts and hot chocolate because those are great American past-times.

168: next one is this post’s 69 brace yourselves! Jane’s never truly in silence, the constant whistling in his ears will see to that. That’s why sometimes, when it is quiet, you’ll catch Jane looking into space like he’s trying to see where the sound is coming from.

169: Important to note, he ain’t popping a boner any time he’s fighting nude. Or, really, fighting any time. Intent is really important for him. (If he gets all rubbed up on, though, Well,)

170: Jane is under the assumption that everything he comes up with is ingenious and people like Red Spy are holding society back by ignoring such wide plans.

171: He’s secretly soothed by everyone on his team’s voices.

172: First off, himself. He loves to hear himself talk. Mostly fueled by self-important intent, the tenor of his own voice also soothes his eardrums.

173: Pyro’s is muffled yet energetic - and never fails to get Jane pumped up.

174: Scout’s got that accent that is pure and simple, American. Soldier may not listen to half of what he says, but for background buzz and funny colloquialisms

175: And, Engie's accent garners a whole other sort of American respect out of the Soldier. As far as soothing goes? Engie’s is like butter.

176: Soldier hate’s Heavy’s accent on principle, but below his American Stubbornness is a love for the deep, thoughtful symbols Heavy provides. Plus, y’know, he appreciates a fellow loud guy.

177: Demo’s voice makes Solly a happy man. It used to make him furious, an all Scottish accents did, but more recently it makes him feel nostalgic.

178: Jane would swear up every mountain he can that there’s nothing positive to be found in Spy’s accent, but zoning out to such poised speech patterns and rounded vowels is a common occurrence.

179: When Sniper gets that gravelly tone going on, when he takes things really seriously? Jane like that.

180: Jane can’t find it in him to be really put off by anything Medic says during surgery, so his voice only causes a feeling of safety throughout the Soldier. He can’t get enough of hearing Enthusiasm in the Medic’s voice.

181: He doesn’t believe the Police can arrest him because they aren’t the official Government.

182: He looks at a baby and is like “What animal is this?”

183: Big hands.. talented at giving massages.

184: BEWARE HIM BREAKING YOUR SPINE - just specify ‘and don’t kill me’!

185: Jane doesn’t gossip so much as, be around people who are gossiping which makes him want to make up some Hot Goss. Also, he’ll act like every rumor someone else shares is spoken truth.

186: Jane picked up finger guns from Scout. He either uses it constantly or doesn’t use it for weeks at a time.

187: He lifts, broskis.

188: Jane will talk about trucks because the Average American Male is expected to. He knows nothing about cars.

189: He’s an impulsive liar, so caught up in in his web of ‘things he says to impress people’ that he believes everything he says. So are the woes of being an adult with ADHD.

190: He goes between being smell-blind and having the scent skills of a bloodhound. It’s probably a mental thing, because there’s no in between, but Jane doesn’t know anything.

191: i’ve been working on these for 5 days at this point... i hope they’re appreciated JANE prefers..soft food. jane Does Not lov the cronch.

192: Which is what makes cashews his favorite nut. they’re soft-ish. and they have just enough crunch to not gross him out.

193: He loves immediate gratification.

194: Beyond joining the Military? Jane’s never had a solid plan for his future. Lives too in the moment.

195: As long as he’s having fun, Jane’s a pretty content guy.

196: Any artistic skills he may have once had go into making Maps for war planning sessions.

197: He’ll fall victim to Sleep Paralysis occasionally and, once able to move, will spend the rest of the day curing ghosts and Merasmus’ magic.

198: He was SUPER into Howdie Doodie Time in his youth, and being put in front of any reruns will have him basically hypnotized into silence.

199: He’s proud of his ass.

200: Jane can keep marching pace for hours at a time. And if he’s not lugging around his rocket launcher he can keep marching for an entire day no pausing.

201: Jane isn’t shy about telling jokes, because he believes everyone has the same sense of humor as him.

202: He knows karate but refuses to use his knowledge because it is not an American Form. He will stick to brute strength and loud yelling thank you very much.

203: He’s the type to state every time he’s going to use the bathroom. Like, people can be having a serious conversation and hes like, “I am going to take a shit now!”

204: Jane’ll go a week without washing his hair, but he always brushes his teeth two times a day.

205: He gives a damn good kiss.

206: All Human Nudity is safe for work. As it was God’s Intention to make people strongest when not held back by fabric.

207: All he wants is recognition.... for his good deeds...

208: He’ll have staring contests with the Sun. He’s yet to win, but that damn star shouldn’t get too comfortable.

209: Much like his pinkies, his feet have been crushed, blown up, and bruised so many times that he doesn’t have much feeling in them either.

210: He’s never washed his bellybutton.

211: He prefers savory to sweet, but he prefers sweet to sour.

212: Half assing is not in Jane’s vocabulary.

213: His brain will get stuck on simple Math - like, he tries his best to figure it out, it’s just.... Numbers..... they are a construct. And so he’ll end up pondering what 5+7 is for, like, 5 minutes.

214: Jane is constantly torn between wanting to be a Figure of Authority and also being a man born in the trenches following orders.

215: Have I mentioned lately Jane fucks?

216: Jane’s room is sparsely decorated, but it’s only because he’s not materialistic and doesn’t generally receive gifts.

217: He’s more than willing to strip Right This Moment and fight something.

218: Jane’s not afraid to call other people losers.

219: He crops his own hair once a week. Same day he’ll do his wash.

220: Jane’s stubble grows in really fast, but he can’t deny the feeling of having a freshly shaved jaw is amazing.

221: If a teammate is struggling emotionally..... Jane walks away.

222: If they’re struggling again, /then/ Jane will give them some uncalled for American Advice. Like, meaningfully yelling “GET OVER IT, YOU SLOBBERING FOOL.”

223: He has a very, very high pain threshold.

224: He accidentally walks into walls all the time.

225: He can’t magically see through his helmet - he just knows everyone’s feet super well.

226: It’s good that Lt. Bites is a wild, self sufficient animal because Jane is terrible at pet care. And child care. And any sort of care.

227: On the very rare occasions Jane gets overwhelmed with depression he’s a shadow of his former self questioning the sanctity of American Ideals and wondering aloud if War really is the answer to his problems.

228: Next day he’ll be fine and forget he was ever upset.

229: He’s never gotten a real back massage before, if he were to get one he’d probably literally melt? Some women he’s slept with liked to say sensually ‘oh what a big tense man you are’ and, like, weakly rub his back. they didn’t get paid to fix this man’s back muscles LMAO

230: Any backwards period-typical beliefs about women went out the window upon meeting Miss Pauling.

231: His love for America is truly as pure as it gets.

232: Jane’s pretty xenophobic, but he can learn better, I’m sure. he’s gotten his ass kicked for being ignorantly racist and he grew to be a better person.

233: He takes really well to learning things through violence, the only issue is.. dealing with Soldier Being Violent.

234: There’s nothing a fist to the face won’t fix.

235: He’s not much of a napper, his brain being far too active to let him rest during daylight hours.

236: He’s constantly moving, even in sleep.

237: Hell, give him a few hours after being knocked unconscious and he’ll start wiggling something around.

238: He doesn’t stop to smell the flowers, because if they wanted to be smelled they’d approach him.

239: He believes in the good of all humans, it’s just buried down past his Fight Everyone radar.

240: He only likes musicals about fighting Hitler.

241: His biggest regret is not punching Hitler.

242: He does not fear death, he does not fear punishment. He lives for his ideals and if he’s taken down believing in himself? Then that’s okay.

243: Jane needs deodorant reminders.

244: He takes personally being betrayed as people betraying the country of America.

245: (oh shit i slacked off it’s been like two days since i wrote something, Who Is Soldier?) CEREAL THEN MILK, MAGGOTS

246: Jane doesn’t know the word migraine so he really can’t describe how he feels.

247: Look, he loves his friends, he loves his guns, but he’s stingy with the word.. Love because that’s what he feels for America and the country will always be number one.....

248: Jane’s not too partial to sarcasm outside of combat, but it’ll find it’s way into his speech. His tone is usually hammed up to signify he’s joking around or being cruel.

249: He’s like a cartoon character, he can only understand sarcasm if it’s Funny to at the moment.

250: Jane likes his hair being pet.

251: He likes his hands being played with as much as he likes playing with other people’s hands. (A lot.)

252: He loves dogs, but is more of a cat person. Dogs and him just echo energy and HYPE feelings back and forth at each other until they pass out and then Jane feels more emotionally exhausted than hanging out with people.

253: The weirdest parts of rom-coms make him cry.

254: He appreciates a good non-american explosion, but he has his preferences.

255: You show Jane genuine kindness and interest and he’s like, Yours. Jane vc: Are you the vice-president?

256: If he were to have a reptile for a sidekick instead of a raccoon, he would have a turtle.

257: He can be delicate when he needs to be, but cracking eggs is a different story.

258: While not too partial to sugary beverages - he has a figure to maintain, root beer and ginger ale are his go-tos.

259: He can appreciate a salad! Jane Doe will eat his greens!!!!

260: Soldier has no tattoos, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be open to getting any. Just never crossed his mind.

SWEET SPIRIT OF JOE BIDEN AM I FINISHED?

thank you,... for reading my garbled thoughts.. for respecting The Soldier... and for being a creative individual. But mostly the respecting Soldier thing.

#patriotic headcanons #patriotic answers #like hell im gonna proofread lets go baybeeeeeeee #//THANKS AGAIN #I LOVE SOLDIER TF2 #tf2 soldier

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joeandtaylorfanfiction · 6 years

Text

Lessons (AU) | Submitted Anonymously

Chapter two: “Oh wow! Now that's unfortunate”

“Let’s go, let’s go guys!” Elizabeth could hear her husband Richard and their only granddaughter giggling away across the hall in the living room. They had picked Poppy up from school so they could help her get ready for the Christmas Concert. She was dressed in a white sweater with red dungarees and candy cane patterned tights. Her long blonde hair had been put into two pig tails and a small bow was placed on her head.

Christmas was the Alwyn’s favourite holiday so going all out was not an option, it was a necessity. The Christmas tree along with outdoor lights and a singing Santa had been up in Elizabeth and Richard’s house since late November. Elizabeth had begun buying presents for their children and relatives in September and she was so happy everyone was finally getting into the Christmas spirit.

“Nana, is it time to go?”

Elizabeth nodded at the five-year-old holding out her red Matilda Jane’s. Poppy quickly placed them on the floor, slipping her feet into them and doing up the buckle. She let out an excited little squeal before following her grandparents out the front door.

By the time, Richard had driven to and parked at the school Poppy had peacefully fallen asleep in the back seat of the car. Elizabeth brushed her granddaughter’s hair from her face and gently tried to wake her. Poppy stirred a little before letting out a whine about wanting her Dad.

“It’s Nannie, Pop” Elizabeth picked her up, holding her head in the crook of her neck trying to shield her as best she could from the rain that had decided to start falling. She could feel Poppy beginning to cry feeling disoriented and wanting her Father.

“I want Daddy” she mumbled into her Nana’s shoulder. Elizabeth held her tightly trying to open the door to school building before Richard managed to catch up and help her. They walked down the hallway towards Poppy’s classroom. Elizabeth could tell Poppy would not want to let go. Missing her Father was something Poppy really struggled with, they had such a close bond and now Joe had been working more often it has been difficult to adjust. Of course, she loved spending time with her grandparents and Abbie but nothing was stronger than her and Joe’s bond. She was completely and utterly a Daddy’s girl.

The three of them were the first to reach the bright yellow and bumblebee painted door with Poppy still softly sobbing into Elizabeth’s coat. She began to place the little girl softly on her feet but Poppy started to cry even harder, stomping and throwing her arms around in frustration. Elizabeth wasn’t used to seeing this side of Poppy, she was normally very well behaved however clearly she was tired and ready for the end of the school term.

“Hey Poppy, do you want to come in with me?” Miss Swift appeared from the hallway behind Elizabeth, “You’re the first one here!” she continued. Poppy nodded shyly with a sniff trying to get rid of her tears. Elizabeth pat her head gently before waving goodbye and walking towards the performance hall.

“You know, being the first one here is super awesome” Taylor walked towards her desk “it means you get to pick the best colouring page and find all the good pencils!” She continued enthusiastically trying to make Poppy feel better. The little girl smiled slightly before her face fell back to a frown.

“Come here” Taylor pat her lap motioning for Poppy to come sit with her. She knew this wasn’t the most professional thing to do but her heart couldn’t help but ache for the sweet little girl. As a child Taylor herself had a workaholic Father, he was still very present but just once she wished he could’ve come to her plays or piano recitals. She picked Poppy up placing her in her lap, Taylor pulled out the colouring pens from her bag and they both started to colour in the Santa.

“What are you going to ask Santa for this year Poppy?” The teacher asked.

“I think I just want a new Barbie doll and maybe a new soccer ball, I think Daddy will like playing with me. And I need some new nail paint so I can paint Daddy’s nails when he is asleep” Poppy giggled to herself and Taylor smiled at the thought. She was hoping to get Poppy’s mind off her Father but clearly he was her everything.

“What do you want Santa to bring you Miss Swift?” The little girl stopped colouring.

“I haven’t asked Santa for anything yet this year, I am just very excited I get to go and see my family” Poppy looked confused. “My family live far away in a different country, I don’t get to see my Mummy and Daddy very often.”

“I don’t have- DADDY!!” The little girl couldn’t finish before she burst with excitement. She jumped off the teachers lap and ran into her Dad’s arms.

Joe had been so excited all day, he couldn’t wait to see the look of surprise on his little girls face when he turned up to the concert. He hated not being with her, but his job meant he could give Poppy the best possible life and that was something he always wanted. He had managed to pry himself away from his desk before five o’clock which was very impressive and then have his driver race across London so he could be at the school by six. Turned out he was actually early for one of the first times in his life but his Mum had told him Poppy was incredibly upset so he had decided to come and surprise her in the classroom.

“Hey Pop!” Joe picked the little girl up and twirled her around slightly. She threw her head back giggling.

“I didn’t know you were coming Daddy!”

“I thought it would be a surprise. Is it a good one?” He kissed his daughters head gently.

“Yes!” The little girl squealed squeezing her Dad’s cheeks in excitement. “Of course!” She continued pushing his cheeks together before giving him a quick kiss back.

“Look, Miss Swift and I were colouring.” She pointed in the teachers direction. “I thought Santa would be cold so I made him blue.” Joe let the little girl carefully to the floor, and she tugged his hand towards the desk showing him her colouring before sitting back on her teachers lap.

Taylor looked up almost immediately when she realised Joe was walking towards her. He was wearing a suit again. It was slightly different to the one worn the previous evening, and this time he wore a Christmas themed tie.

“Hey, Taylor right?” She hadn’t realised she’d been staring for so long until he held out his hand to shake hers.

“Taylor? Who’s Taylor?” She heard Poppy say which made her chuckle a little before answering.

“Yes, it’s Taylor. Joe?” Taylor of course remembered his name, how could she forget. Not only was he one of the most attractive people she’d ever seen, she also was a teacher so was trained from day one to remember names and faces. That helped a lot.

“Yes” he nodded.

“Cool”

“Cool” Joe almost whispered back.

They were surrounded by an awkward silence until another child came bursting through the door. Both adults whipped their heads around, Joe quickly grabbing the door before it smashed against the wall.

“Olivia!” Poppy yelled startling Taylor a little.

“I guess that’s my cue” Joe laughed.

“Yeah, well, hope you enjoy the show” she waved as he walked back through the door and down to the performance hall.

“We want to welcome our littlest and last performers from Miss Swift’s class to the stage” the announcer took to the stage to introduce the kids. The group of twenty-four and five-year olds following behind getting into their correct positions. Taylor helping place them and handing them their props that had been made for the special day.

Joe’s eyes kept flicking between his daughter and Taylor, she was wearing red pants with a red and white striped blouse. Very candy cane. She looked absolutely beautiful though, in-fact she looked more than beautiful. Joe decided in that moment he definitely needed to ask her to dinner. He knew it may be inappropriate, although he wasn’t sure, he just knew he had to ask, to try.

He felt bad for staring but just couldn’t quite take his eyes off her and she could feel it, his piercing eyes on her as she couldn’t help but turn to smile.

“She’s very lovely” his Mother interrupted his train of thoughts. “Ask her, I think she would say yes” Elizabeth continued.

Joe stared back, bewildered. Only his Mother could know exactly what he was thinking. She smiled at him before turning her attention back to the stage.

As he turned back he saw Taylor had made her way to the corner of the room and was sat at the piano. The announcer counted them in and she began to play the intro to ‘When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney’. Poppy stood front and centre on the stage, belting her heart out. Her eyes connected with Joe’s and suddenly she couldn’t stop herself from waving, she was absolutely beaming with excitement. He couldn’t be more proud, although she was growing too fast he loved her ‘big girl’ personality.

The kids sang three other songs, all accompanied by Taylor on the piano. The best had to be ‘Jingle Bell Rock’, it included twenty young children all trying to remember hand actions to go along with the beat and completely failing. It was so sweet yet so hilarious, the parents couldn’t help but laugh to themselves.

“Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, did you like it? Did I do good?” Poppy ran from the stage and leapt into her Father’s arms. He pulled her tightly, kissing the top of her head multiple times.

“Of course you did pumpkin, you sounded like an angel!” Joe held her in his arms and placed a big kiss on her cheek. He’d never made it to one of these concerts or shows even the ones from preschool, but seeing how happy it made her, he decided her would really try to make it to everything.

“Miss Sw-Taylor!” The little girl smiled at the blonde tried to walk past.

“Hello Miss Poppy, you did awesome” Taylor high-fived the little girl who was still being held in her Father’s arms.

“Hey…” Joe butted in before quickly racking his brain to fill the awkward silence he had caused. “So I never actually thanked you, for earlier, for cheering her up, so I just wanted to say thank you.” Joe paused for a moment “And I really want to repay you so Poppy and I are going for a treat to the bakery. If you don’t have anything else planned we would love it if you could join us.”

“Oh um, ok.” Taylor paused “that’ll be nice, thank you!” she smiled at him ”I will be a little while though. I need to help clean up and grab my things.”

“We can help” Joe said placing Poppy to the ground before waving goodbye to his parents and beginning to fold up the chairs.

Poppy sat quietly on the edge of the stage whilst the adults cleaned up. The two of them along with a few other members of staff had to stack the one hundred or so chairs, place the kids benches back along the wall and deal with all the props that had been used during show. These including confetti and glitter which just so happen to be two of the worst things to clean up.

“I think using glitter is the biggest mistake I’ve ever had” Taylor chuckled to herself. When working with five-year olds, everything is a possibility for disaster.

“I have to say, I can’t disagree” Joe said grabbing the broom to sweep the floor, ”it’s fun at the time but the clean-up is hellish” he continued ”kids will be finding this stuff on the floor for weeks.”

“Daddy! Look at my Valentines cards I made with Nana!” A three-year old Poppy squealed with excitement, running into her Father’s office. He was in the middle of an email as she jumped into his lap grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh it’s beautiful love, and that glitter” Joe paused looking up at his Mother who was stood at the door frame ”will definitely not be stuck to every surface of the house for the next four years!”

“Will you be my Valentine Daddy?” The little girl turned to look at him, her big blue eyes staring straight at his.

“Of course silly! I will always be your Valentine”

“So what would you two ladies like to eat?” Joe grinned as he held open the door for Taylor after the ten minute car ride across town.

The little North London bakery had been Joe’s favourite since he was a child. His Grandmother used to bring him and his brothers there. The owners were like family to him and now Poppy too. It’s the pairs favourite weekend spot for hot chocolate and treats. They had gorgeous cakes and great coffee’s, the interior was old school yet chic. They used fancy cups and saucers with stunning intricate designs.

“I’m not a lady, I’m a Poppy” the little girl said seriously whilst Joe lifted her down from his shoulders.

After a few minutes of decision-making, the trio ended up with one giant chocolate chip cookie for Poppy, a blueberry muffin for Taylor and a chocolate muffin for Joe. They found a table by the window and began chatting whilst watching the evening rush of cars go past. Their comfortable silence occasionally broken by Poppy mumbling about how good her cookie was.

“So Miss Taylor” Joe grinned making fun of what his daughter had said earlier. “How did you come to be the best Kindergarten teacher in London?” She chuckled in response. “Seriously, this kid doesn’t shut up about you!” He pointed at Poppy who was sat next to him very focused on her giant cookie.

“Well, I grew up on a farm in upstate New York actually. My Father worked on Wall Street so I never really spent that much time with him other than dinner and an hour or so before bed. My Mother looked after my brother and I along with all our animals. My Mother always says I had a caring nature even with the animals, but I began tutoring elementary and middle school kids when I was in high school and really loved it. Then whilst I was studying for my degree in teaching I got the opportunity of a transfer to London and I took it. It was great because I got to get away from everyone and everything I knew and just be a new person almost. With some help from savings and the teaching job, my friend and I now rent a little place in Ealing so I just jump on the tube every day at 7am and then ride it back again in the evening.” Taylor paused and took a bite of her muffin. “What about you Mr Joseph? What do you do that makes you fancy enough to have your own chauffeur?”

By the time Joe had finished telling her all about his company and how Poppy came to be (very delicately due to her presence at the table), all three of them had finished their treats and Poppy was half asleep in her chair. Tired from the busy day at school and the performance.

“I think your little miss is falling asleep” Taylor laughed and pointed towards the little girl whose eyes were desperately trying to stay open fighting the sleep. “And I need to get home because I teach piano at the school on Saturday mornings!”

“Oh” Joe didn’t really want her to leave, but her couldn’t think of a reason for her to stay any longer. “We’ll drive you back” he gestured towards the door.

“No it’s ok, you get her to bed” Taylor began to shove her things in her bag that was also filled with sheet music from the performance, packets of glitter from the props and various other Christmas themed items.

“I wouldn’t want anything to hap-”

“Joe I get the underground home every night, I will be fine” she knew he was just trying to be nice and he was very sweet but this entire situation was slightly inappropriate. She didn’t know what she was thinking earlier. She was pretty sure as a teacher she was not supposed to spend time with her students Father’s outside of school.

“Do you know, you getting the tube home is actually really handy for me?”

“Oh really?” Taylor raised her eyebrows.

“It just means that I get to ask for your phone number so I can check that you get home safely.” There was a sudden wave of confidence and Joe had no idea what he was saying, but the words were just coming out of his mouth.

“And what if I say no?” She was intrigued by him, the last two minutes of conversation had completely switched his personality. He was being cheeky and she couldn’t help but throw it right back at him.

“Then that would suck because I can’t think of another way to get your number and I definitely need it for when I want to ask you to dinner next week.”

“Oh wow! Now that’s unfortunate” she poked her tongue out at him playfully. “Anyway Joseph I have to get going, I don’t want to wake up late tomor-“ she got up from their table and walked towards the door.

“Wait what about-“

“I’ll see you later Joe” She quickly walked out the door knowing that if she didn’t, she would cave. He was very sweet and he wasn’t bad to look at either but he was her students Father. The whole tube ride back to Ealing had her heart and brain fighting, her mind was swirling, her heart said yes but her brain just kept telling her how ridiculous it was.

When she walked in the door, her roommate Lucy was sat on the sofa in her pyjamas watching the latest episode of a show they’d been bingeing together on Netflix.

“I started watching it without you because you took too long, where the fuck have you been?” She yelled into the kitchen where Taylor was putting down her stuff on the counter.

Their place was only small, a little squishy for the two of them but they made it work. Ironically neither of them actually spent much time in the flat apart from in the evenings, and Taylor more so on the weekends. Lucy was a teacher too, she was a few years older than Taylor and taught in the local primary school a five-minute walk away. It was crazy to Taylor how different the mainstream and prep schools were, they would often compare their schedules and Taylor felt like she was constantly at that school doing something or other. She wouldn’t change it for the world though. Her job was her favourite thing.

“What took you so long?” Lucy said walking into the kitchen to put the empty bowl from her popcorn in the sink.

“You know the really cute Dad I was telling you about who I’d never seen before until yesterday?” the friend nodded “well his daughter was upset and I was looking after her and after the performance he asked if I wanted to go get a cake with them after as a thank you. And I said ok-“ Lucy squealed with excitement. “So we went out and we were talking and he was very sweet and then I realised that I was being so stupid because Lucy this is my students Father! So when he asked me for my number I had to say no-“

“You said no? Are you crazy? You didn’t shut up about this guy yesterday!”

“I know, I know but you’re telling me that you don’t think it’s inappropriate?” She questioned.

“Oh it is weird but I don’t know the rules at your ‘kids with trust funds’ school.” Taylor laughed, “besides you’ll only be the kids teacher for one year, it’s not like she’s going to stay in Kindergarten forever. There’s only six months of it left now!” Lucy grinned poking her in the shoulder.

“You’re no help whatsoever” Taylor huffed and rolled her eyes.

“Well you’re welcome anyway” she grinned cheekily. “I’m going to bed and you should too because you have to be back at that school at an ungodly hour for a Saturday morning.” The brunette walked up the stairs leaving Taylor alone with her thoughts. Part of her now wished she had have given him her number, maybe they’d be texting right now rather than her just thinking about texting him.

#taylor and joe fanfiction #Taylor swift + Joe alwyn #Taylor and Joe fanfic #taylor swift fanfiction #lessons #au #series #family #dad joe #teacher taylor

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robbyrobinson · 6 years

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Channel Awesome. Admittedly, there was only one web show on the website that I frequented for a few years. That being the Nostalgia Critic. I was once a huge fan of the Nostalgia Critic, in fact, you could say that it was Doug Walker who had inspired me to share my thoughts on movies or TV shows. While I didn't agree with a lot of the points that the Critic would give to why a movie was terrible, I was nevertheless always entertained by the show. I also watched a bit of Doug's other series such as Bum Reviews or Ask That Guy with the Glasses. As for the anniversary specials.... yeah, didn't watch them. They seemed to have been made by amateurs with half a budget. I guess the only one I really liked was To Boldly Flee which was supposed to be the swan song of the Critic. When Doug announced he was retiring the Critic, I was disappointed at first, but like any fan should do, I was in full support of his Demo Reel idea. I tried to watch some of it. And it sucked ass. With that, I started to leave the site and watch some of the other contributors. For instance, I now find people like Phelous as being definitively more hilarious than the Critic could be. I especially love that Creepypasta story time segment with that old man from that one bad Beauty and the Beast film. But of course, people only subscribed for the Nostalgia Critic, which forced Doug to revive the character. I did start watching some of his videos, but I noticed some drops in quality with them. For one, he includes skits in the video that sometimes aren't essential to the plot of the review at all. Sometimes, they last mind-numbingly long. I am glad that Malcolm was able to find some use after the failure of Demo Reel, but he isn't funny (I do like his portrayal of the Devil, though). The series also seemed to make Doug more preachy than he would usually be. But the one thing that made me dislike the Modern! Critic is that he was...boring. There was nothing memorable about his recent reviews because they lacked any of the recurring gags that made the Critic memorable. The final review of his I watched was his Woody the Woodpecker review. It was honestly not to my liking, and at that point, I dropped the show. But everything was only going to get more worse than I would’ve thought for the website. The day after April Fools’ Day, several co-contributors to Channel Awesome released a 70-page long document on Google Drive entitled “Not So Awesome” in which they gave their several grievances with how the business was being ran. While Doug was at most seen as a “nice guy,” I will not hesitate to say that this guy was a frickin’ idiot if several of his business decisions are to be believed. For instance, deciding to pay the other contributors who worked on his “ambitious” anniversary specials with “exposure” rather than legitimate payment; had to be made to provide food and water to the crew; offered a woman who had passed out a Gatorade rather than taking her to a hospital, etc. By far the worst claim, however, is that Doug didn’t really seem to realize how pivotal the Nostalgia Critic is to the whole website having apparently neglected to inform his fellow contributors that he was retiring the character, ergo threatening to cause a decrease in the traffic for the website. With Doug, I’m just immensely disappointed in him. While he may not be as bad as that damn Mike, he is still very much culpable in the elements of the downfall of Channel Awesome. I used to really look up to this guy and wanted to meet him a few times, but it gets to the point that I must ask: who is Doug? Is he nice and charitable? Or is he an incompetent megalomaniac who simply does not understand that the other contributors simply cannot perform the same work ethics that he does? Then came their response. It was a terrible excuse for an apology that I could ever see. It didn’t come off as an apology at all. Instead, it just felt like a passive-aggressive attempt to not-so-subtly say that the ex-contributors of the site were to blame for their own problems. Naturally, this caused more users like Chris Stuckmann or Angry Joe to jump ship. I do not know who was the one that made that horrible excuse for an apology, but it might’ve been Mike, but that’s beside the point. Just recently, they tried to make another response to the Not So Awesome document. Except, they didn’t really prove or disprove any of the points made. For whatever reason, they decide to tackle the rumors of sexual grooming in the company by providing screenshots of when the alleged comments made by that one jane Doe happened…. except, they shot themselves in the foot there. The dates so happened to line up to when one of arguably the most beloved members of Channel Awesome – Justin Carmical – was let go. And with some confirmations from people like JesuOtaku, Justin was outed as the sexual deviant. When I heard this, I didn’t know what to believe anymore. While I may not have watched his videos as his character JewWario, his “You’re Not Stupid” video was what really helped me during times when I felt down, and I was genuinely saddened to here that he had decided to commit suicide, especially because he was well-liked by not only his fans, but most of the members of Channel Awesome who also decided to make tributes to him. This is like Bill Cosby and Kevin Spacey all over again; to find out that someone you looked up to and idolized was a scumbag. In fact, that puts a lot of the events into a new light. While Justin was allegedly depressed, did he also kill himself because he was afraid of this rumor coming out? And that even transcends onto Doug’s and others’ motivations for throwing memorials to Justin. Doug, Rob, and Mike would CLEARLY have realized about the accusations the moment that Justin was let go from the company, so they are potentially trying to cover up an actual crime. I’m currently waiting to see if they’re going to try to make a third “apology” for the events that are transpiring from the website, but at this point, it doesn’t even matter anymore. The website is dead. Several of their contributors have abandoned the website – well except for one who was going to stay on the site because of mistreatment by the others – they are losing more subscribers by the minute. All of this because they don’t want to live up to their mistakes and try to bury them. They cancelled the tenth anniversary for the site because of this whole shit storm. Their YouTube channel and website are dead. No chance of reviving this corpse.

#channel awesome #channel not so awesome #jewwario #Justin carmical #tgwtg #nostalgia critic #doug walker #austindr #robbyrobinson

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howwelldoyouknowyourmoon · 6 years

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“We grew up in a cult...”

youtube

https://youtu.be/XcpIHvsQMBk Kate Flowers

Published on May 8, 2018

Kate: “This is a sensitive subject that I never thought I'd share but hey, I share just about everything else with you guys so why not! My brother Elijah and I grew up in a cult and this video explains a bit of what that was like for us and how it all took place.

It definitely took some level of courage to make this video. It's a personal topic for both of us and we hope that in sharing our story we are able to spread some awareness of how these things happen in the first place. Thank you for watching and being supportive as always <3 ”

Comments:

Keia Kato-Berndt Kate Flowers hollllyyy sh*t! Ive never ever commented on a youtube video before but i love your channel and when i saw this i was like “huh. I grew up in a cult too. I wonder which one?” And then you mentioned mass weddings and I KNEW IT WAS THE SAME ONE! Anyway it was funny watching this and so glad you both are following your own path. Much love from another ex church kid.

Zonbi's Workshop Holy cow. I watched this video and know exactly what cult you're talking about. I grew up in it too and went through a lot of the same weird stuff. It's not something I really talk about, so it's a huge relief to watch this and know someone else out there and can be so open about it. Thank you guys for doing what you do!

The mass wedding makes me think of the unification church, the Moon cult

Joe Pearson When I was growing up they were called "moonies". They came to mind right away for me too.

Hakuna Matata Very educational, thank you. Love bombing really hit me, it is very present and not just in cults. It reminded me of one gathering I went to when I was a child. Sometimes bombers genuinely believe they're doing good and friendliness is not fake while in other scenarios love showering can be a powerful manipulation tactic. I think I'm vulnerable to this and feel extremely stupid now. Obviously both you and your parents are very intelligent, the fact that you laugh about it now says a lot.

Kaitlin Oetting To Hakuna Matata Don't feel stupid about being vulnerable to "love bombing", most people are. You should always accept love from people but know their motives. That's the part that makes you prepared and aware that yes, you need accept love because it's a beautiful thing but understanding that not everyone will give it without expecting something in return.

Sarah Johnson We don’t have to speculate which cult or the specifics of things. Take it at face value and just be easy on them! Thanks for sharing that vulnerable story. It’s very cautionary and informative. Loved this video so much!

Sarah Jane Thank you Kate & Elijah for sharing such a personal and intimate story. I know it took courage to make this video. Light & Love

Su-hyun Mcknight I'm almost positive I grew up in the exact same cult. I was only in my teens when I started realising something wasn't right. I would feel so guilty for dating or even liking a boy because they would tell us the ideal way was to get matched. It's good to see you got out because they basically will brain wash.

LilacsAdore As I am watching this, I think it may be UC after all because they are using the right terminology. "Matching" is what they call setups in the church. However, it really isn't as crazy as many people think. My best friend's family is in this church; in fact my best friend was recently matched herself because she didn't want to break up the family. Many are just normal people like us, attending university and going out, etc.

Katie Grant Thanks for sharing, and thanks for what you said at the beginning to humanize people that are in cults. I think it is important that people realize and understand their perspective !

veridian roots Scientology doesn't do the mass weddings and they couldn't care less about people's lives – they care about their "thetans' and clearing them. They bring you in via personality tests, not through intellectually stimulating talks. And they definitely don't work towards world peace lol

Joie Lynn I think that this video is so effective when entering any type of new theology, small or large. Research is so important before commitment. It's almost like sometimes people commit before they are fully aware of the "consequences" that come with these "groups". Hopefully this will help encourage other people with similar experiences to speak up. Thanks Kate!! Love your channel lady! Your more of a support than you know!!

Krista Belle My parents were also in this cult. They had 5 kids in hopes of us joining the next generation of the “church”, but none of us are part of it. Thanks so much for sharing, I rarely speak upon this touchy subject and it helped me not feel so alone.

Jessica Ayanoglu wow! i never comment on youtube videos but, i was born from the same movement as you guys were. As i watching I was thinking " wait.. noo.. are they talking about....?? Ahhh!" haha really cool to hear you guys share this, thank you.

aeonlives I can relate in ways, growing up myself in a crazy church following, it really messed with my head and it was very fear based and not positive at all. Still dealing with the fall out from that 17 years later.

Cassie Says If I am correct in guessing which cult you were raised in. I was also raised in this movement and have since separated myself. It is nice to feel connected and find others who have gone through similar upbringings.

GreenieLo Holy ... Yeah, me too guys. Same church, basically same parent stories getting together, literally same church. Man, y'all have grown, cudos. But seriously, I'm glad you didn't get any of the lasting affects most of the bc's I know have to deal with after stepping off, either by themselves, or even their whole family finally stepping off.

Ra Sunlight Thank you for making this video. I also grew up in a cult. It took me many years to undo all the conditioning I was subject to. I really appreciate you talking so openly about it. Thanks again.

peacexo11 'Parents are intellectuals' ya right, is that why they were dumb enough to get caught up in a freaking cult ? Lol

Bree Gullette To peacexo11. I’m going to have to respectfully disagree after watching the documentaries and reading about people getting out of cults. It has to do with what the people are searching for. Even the smartest people want to belong and if they are searching for something like a higher power or a greater purpose and that can be found in a group. Scientology is a prime example. Very smart and powerful people got pulled in with the promise of getting a higher understanding of life and their purpose here. Some people are just looking for a sense of purpose.

Cassandra Lexie Definitely reminds me of the cult by Sun Myung Moon

#cults #recovery

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ecsundance · 3 years

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A very Long (yet very awesome) Week of Sundance

Organisers of Sundance say in Tryon’s discussion that “If a filmmaker wants to create his or her own idiosyncratic vision, it’s often not worth looking around for a big budget, waiting for others to say it’s okay to make it. You have to stand up and make the film yourself…” (pg.164) and Kevin MacDonald in Tryon’s discussion talks about how basically all you need to make a movie is a laptop and a video camera, and how amazing it is that we live in a time which we can do this (pg.156)

This is similar to the idea that you can complain about not having enough time or experience to do something, but if you get over yourself and do it either you fail and learn, or you succeed and gain confidence. If you have a great idea then nothing should hold you back from making it a reality. Movies with billions of dollars behind them have fallen flat. So it stands to reason that a movie made on weekends with only a couple bucks could be amazing.

According to Chuck Tryon’s discussion of “Reinvented Festivals” (pg. 160), because there are a lot more independent bloggers/critics now due to newspapers not hiring many, there is a consistent stream of new reviews being released even minutes after a film finishes premiering.

Taking part in this class and festival and constantly thinking about what I thought about a film plays into this as I (along with my classmates) were some of the first to review some of these films. It’s such a fun experience to think and talk about film as everyone will have various ways of perceiving and connecting to each film.

Favourite Film From the Festival

It feels hard to choose a favourite because there were so many incredible films which affected me in different ways like Coda, How it Ends, Flee, and honestly most of the films I saw in this year's festival . However, I fell in love with The World to Come when it wasn’t even a movie I initially planned on seeing.

The world to come felt like a poem. It made my heart ache deeply, marinating in feelings of melancholic love, and unexpected loss. Maybe it hit me especially hard because I lost one of the most amazing people I’ve ever had in my life along with family and pets (since they are family too) since the start of Covid: I have regrets and things I never got to say. Maybe it’s because I’m fiercely fighting with my own identities right now. Either way, it was hard to watch. Parts of it still haunt me and still leave me breathless on the brink of tears. It struck a chord in me which I have a hard time fully putting to words. I didn’t originally even want to watch this film, it somehow ended up on my list of on demand films, and my mom convinced me to watch it (and I’m so glad she did).

It is a story which about two women which takes place in the 1800s, together in their loneliness who fall for each other behind their husbands’ backs. They secretly rendezvous in the forest and tucked away corners of their homes when their husband’s are working. It is beautiful in story and dialogue; it doesn’t get stale. It feels modern somehow, though it is set in the 19th century, and I’m still processing it all to figure out why exactly.

Least Favorite Film from the Festival...

Eight for Silver by Sean Ellis wasn’t the worst movie I’ve ever seen, but it was certainly not the best; I would not actively choose to watch this again. It had interesting concepts such as only natural lighting being used throughout the film and those turned into the werewolf emerging, negatively changed, from the dead animal. The movie would have gotten 4 stars rather than 3 from me simply by not having a CGI werewolf (unless it was so brilliantly terrifying and amazing it had to be shown) and by keeping the original plot of the Roma’s spells/curses (fueled from the massacre which the targeted village caused). The scarecrow and buried teeth, and the strange dreams which followed were such a great piece, but they just fell away more and more. The addition of the religious text (which mentions 30 pieces of silver is unnecessary, and just recycles old vampire movies/myth ) took this film from a great timepiece and cheapened it in combination with the subpar CGI creature, while also making it feel far too Hollywood in a bad way. Again, some of the ideas, like the person within the wolf were great, but they could have kept it that way and not shown the monster otherwise.

A list of All Feature Films I Saw:

During the 2021 Sundance film festival I have seen and rated the following:

Coda ***** Sian Heder

The story of a teenage hearing girl who wants to be a singer living with her otherwise deaf family who run a fishing boat.

Cryptozoo **** Dash Shaw

A woman’s attempt to protect mythical creatures in a world where everyone wants to harm them or use them as weapons.

Misha and the wolves ***** Sam Hobkinson

A chilling documentary about holocaust tale with a twist.

Users **** Natalia Amada

A mother’s view of the world, global warming, technology, her children and the relationship between all of this.

Prisoners of Ghostland **** Sion Sono

Samurai meets the gunslinger Western World in this colourful action-horror (featuring Nicholas Cage).

Censor **** Prano Bailey-Bond

The story of a woman whose sister disappeared as a child and how her job as a horror film censor helps her uncover the truth.

How it ends ***** Daryl Wein, Zoe Lister-Jones

A walk through the last day on Earth with a woman and her younger self as they make peace with their lives, relationships with others, and their own inner selves.

Strawberry Mansion ***** Dan Deacon

A dreamy/nightmarish surreal tale of a dream tax collector as he falls in love with the younger version of his client.

Cusp ***** Isabel Bethencourt, Parker Hill

A documentary on the lives of teen girls in Texas which delves into rape culture, poverty, and what it’s like to be a young woman.

Eight for Silver *** Sean Ellis

Werewolf lore set in the 19th century.

John and the Hole **** Pascual Sisto

A young teenage boy puts his family in a hole in the woods as he tries to deal with the stressors of being a kid and what adulthood holds, entwined with fable.

R#J ***** Carey Williams

A modern retelling of Shakespear’s Romeo and Juliet through the age of social media, with a twist or two.

Coming Home in the Dark ***** James Ashcroft

A horror story of a family who are abducted by two strangers who they later learn they share a deeper, darker history with.

We’re All Going to The World’s Fair **** Jane Schoenbrun

A showing of loneliness and desperation through an online roleplaying game and it’s after effects.

First Date **** Manuel Crosby, Darren Knapp

A story of a first date gone VERY wrong.

The World to Come ***** Mona Fastvold

A 19th century story of the growing connection between two farmhouse wives.

Violation ***** Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli

A film about a woman’s trauma and how she… Deals with it.

Marvelous and the Black Hole ***** Kate Tsang

A story about how a young teen girl gets through the loss of her mother through forming a connection with a local magician.

The Blazing World ***** Carlson Young

A traumatised young woman tries to bring her sister back from “the other side” but must really fight her own inner demons.

Mayday ***** Karen Cinorre

A story of a young woman overcoming trauma and fighting back against the man in a dreamlike state.

Night of the Kings **** Philippe Lacote

A new storyteller is anointed in a prison run by its inmates and he must keep telling these stories until the moon sets to stay alive. (It helps to understand the specific culture more with this one, otherwise it sort of goes over your head.)

Life in a Day 2021 ***** Kavin Macdonald

A grounding compilation of scenes from across the world on the same day, July 25th, with scenes one after the other which either connect or contrasted in an impactful way.

Flee ***** Jonas Poher Rasmussen

A biography told through animation of a young gay immigrant.

Short Films

Bj’s Mobile Gift Shop- Jason Park

A story of a young guy in Chicago who makes money to support himself and his grandparents by running a mobile gift shop out of a large suitcase.

Flex - Josefin Malmen, David Strindberg

A visual telling of a bodybuilder rubber-banding between insecurity and self obsession through surreal imagery and dialogue.

The Affected- Rikke Gregersen

A retelling of a college student preventing the deportation of a man back to Afghanistan through the interactions of the bystanders.

You Wouldn’t Understand- Trish Harnetiaux

A time-warp involving a picnic, a strange character looking for “horsey sauce” and a grocery store clerk armed with a food scanner.

Animations

Ghost Dogs- Joe Cappa

A family's new dog is “haunted” by the family’s many deceased dogs in squishy colourful 90s/early 2000s style animated short.

GNT- Sara Hirner, Rosemary Vasquez-Brown

A woman obsessed with social media tries to make yeast infections popular.

Trepanation- Nick Flaherty

A showing of depression through a disturbing hole ridden entity emerging from a hole and taking the place of the house's owner.

Little Miss Fate- Joder Von Rotz

A cleaning bird interrupts the fate of a couple going out on a date, leading to disastrous consequences.

Indie Series

I had really wanted to see Seeds of Deceit by Miriam Guttman and Would you Rather by Lise Akoka, (I tried viewing 4 Feet High by María Belén Poncio and Rosario Perazolo Masjoan but there was an issue which Sundance staff never got back to me about, sadly) but I ran out of time.

However, I did see These Days by Adam Brookes which takes place in New York City during Covid, showing a young woman living alone and how she survives living alone and being unable to work as a dancer.

New Frontier Experiences

Sadly, I kept thinking I’d have endless time. I did not engage in the New Frontier experience except for in class on one occasion. I think it was a great idea and fantastic opportunity and I regret not planning my time better for this specifically.

Talks or Events

Ignite x Adobe featured shorts films from artists aged 18 to 25 and was very inspiring since I’m in the age range of these artists.

A few I especially enjoyed were Vigincita, Personals, and Joychild (Although I honestly enjoyed the whole compilation).

Virgincita - A sexual coming of age/ look at mother daughter relationship mixed with religion.

Personals - A sexual encounter between two insecure individuals who find comfort with one another by the end.

Joychild - A documentary piece showing a child discovering and opening up about their gender identity.

Q&As

I attended a few Q&As, but my favourite I believe was CODA’s.

They spoke about how they worked around language barriers and learned sign language before and throughout production. Everyone just seemed at ease and like they had a great time in production of the film.

- - -

Overall, I’m quite pleased with how this festival went virtually. It was a truly amazing experience which I am so glad I was able to take part in. It was as Immersive an experience as I think could be created virtually and seemed to go relatively smoothly for the most part for having it be the first time this has happened.

I’m also extremely grateful for the inclusivity which allowed for those who may not be able to travel as easily due to disability, financial reasons, or anything else. I don’t know if I’d have been able to go otherwise.

This experience was more amazing than I even hoped it would be. I feel so inspired that I plan to find out how to submit to Sundance so that I can possibly try to get a short film idea I have done for the short film/18-25 year old category. I feel like I can actually do this now and I have so many new ideas.

Thank you!

Tryon, Chuck,

On-Demand Culture: Digital Delivery and the Future of Movies

Mae McCloskey

#sundance sundance2021 sundancefilmfestival indie indiefilm

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better-not-said · 6 years

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Ophelia’s eyes are focused outside, watching the freezing rain blow sideways across the parkway. Her father is confident in his driving skills, despite living in California for the past 13 years.

“I grew up driving in this rubbish,” Joe Dunphee had announced as they climbed into their rental car, the wind pelting the rain against the windows.

They’ve almost arrived and Ophelia is still shaking with nerves. She feels as though the wind from outside has reached the depths of her entire being, tearing through her, destroying everything in its path. She’s left hollow inside, feeling so fragile that one wrong move and she might fall apart.

Her dad pulls the car up beside his brother’s and they all climb out, hurrying across the parking lot and into the old folks’ home. Ophelia shoves her clammy hands in the pockets of her jacket, a hundred different scenarios running through her mind as the Dunphee’s are led to a rec room where Leo is this morning. Ophelia bumps into Harper who’s come to a halt behind her parents. Ophelia steps to the side, knowing exactly what she’ll see.

The Horan’s are there already, standing in disbelief, eyes flickering between Leo Dunphee and Edward Horan, sitting together on a couch, golf on the TV in front of them.

“What’s going on here?” Ophelia’s father huffs.

Niall takes a seat between the two older gentlemen, leaning his elbows on his knees. Ophelia walks past her family to take a seat in an open chair.

“You two set this up?” Bobby Horan realizes.

“Just listen to them,” Niall pleads.

Both their families get as comfy as they can be in such an unpleasant situation. Ophelia can see her father and her uncle look completely distressed by the whole thing and she has to focus to swallow the lump in her throat.

Leo and Edward share their story. It’s short and simple; they’ve been friends for over 50 years.

“Did you tell them to say this?” Nicholas directs at his niece.

Ophelia can’t find her words. “N-no.”

“O’course not!” Niall howls and the two families begin to talk all at once.

Ophelia slumps down in her chair, her eyes meeting Niall’s, and they share an exasperated look.

It’s then that Ophelia notices the leather book in Edward Horan’s lap. He lifts it and hands it over to his grandson who flips it open. The bickering dies down and all eyes focus on Niall as he scans the pages.

“There, that’s us,” Leo points, looking over Niall’s shoulder.

“Oh, this one. That was on our trip to Scotland,” Edward reminisces.

“You guys did a lot together,” Niall murmurs, the corner of his mouth lifting in a lopsided smile.

Everyone stares at each other, in complete awe at the fact they’ve been lied to for 50 years. Ophelia can feel her palms sweating as she awaits a reaction from somebody.

Her mother is the first to move, stepping closer to see the photo album. Harper follows, indulging in her curiosity.

“Here,” Niall hands her the book and stands up, allowing Harper to take his seat. He walks over to Ophelia while their families pass the book around, occasionally asking about a picture or two.

Ophelia heaves out a breath. She feels Niall’s hand come down to rub softly at her shoulder, still covered in her jacket. She’s still shaking, watching the scene before her with unwavering eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Nicholas asks, a hint of resentment lacing his tone.

“It’s complicated,” Leo Dunphee sighs. “On the one hand, we wanted what was best for our families. At the end of it, though, we realized maybe that wasn’t what was best.”

“Both pubs gained popularity as the rivalry grew stronger...but it tore two wonderful families apart,” Edward explains. “There’s no reason the pubs can’t co-exist.”

“And a reconciliation between the pubs will likely generate more publicity,” Leo adds.

“That’s...a lot to think about,” Nicholas murmurs.

“What!?” Ophelia sits forward. “It’s not that difficult!”

“Ophelia Jane!” her mother, Fawn wails. “This is not your place.”

“How about we enjoy lunch today and discuss this further at another time?” Bobby suggests. “We could host dinner at ours...say on Sunday evening when the pubs are closed?”

“That sounds very reasonable,” Ophelia’s father agrees. “C’mon, Dad, let’s go get some lunch.”

***

“They seem to really enjoy each other,” Leo muses, his younger granddaughter sitting beside him at the table the Dunphees and Horans have dined at.

“Yeah, they do,” Harper smiles, watching her cousin feed Niall a piece of chocolate chip cookie, thinking nobody is watching them. He and Ophelia had gotten up from the table and headed over to the dessert buffet for one last bite of something sweet.

“I’ve seen such a change in him since they met,” Maura sighs wistfully. “He’s had a tough time since Greg moved back to Ireland but...she’s brought out the best in him.”

“Yeh, he’s smilin’ again,” Bobby agrees.

“Ophelia’s had quite the attitude shift as well,” Joe Dunphee huffs. His wife Fawn shakes her head.

“Quite disobedient. She’s never been like this,” Fawn sighs.

“Well, you gave her reason to feel the need to hide this from you,” Maura points out.

“With good reason, yes!” Joe nods. “After what happened to Blake, we just wanted to protect her.”

Blake turns at the sound of his name, his eyes growing wary.

“I sure hope you’ve talked some sense into that boy. Niall’s certainly learned his lesson; I hope Blake has, too,” Bobby rustles.

“Lesson? My son got sent to A&E three days before his rugby tournament,” Nicholas yelps.

“Did he fail to mention he sent our son into A&E for 12 stitches on the back his head?” Maura frowns.

Ophelia and Niall hear the voices rising and they start slowly making their way back to the table, unsure if it’s a good idea to approach their families.

“Blake, is that true?” his mum Lena asks.

Blake stares into his coffee. “Yeah, ‘s true.”

“Why did you lie, son?” Nicholas asks.

He shrugs. “Didn’t wanna seem like the bad guy.”

“We were both the bad guy,” Niall says, slumping back down into his seat. “It was a mad scrap. Just...we got drunk and got outta line.”

“It shouldn’t even be a matter of discussion anymore,” Blake shakes his head. “It’s done with.”

Niall nods in agreement, looking around the table. “If we can move past that, you guys can get past this.”

***

“Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise. If I told you, you’d not want to go,” Niall squeezes Ophelia’s hand, pulling her along the busy street.

He had surprised her that Saturday morning at the doorstep of the flat her family is staying in during their visit to England. Ophelia hadn’t seen Niall since they parted ways at the old folks’ home in Brighton two days ago, but it had felt like a week apart.

She hurries to keep up with his long strides and soon, they’re walking up to a large cream-colored building with excessive brown trim.

Ophelia barely reads the word Liberty before Niall tugs her inside. They weave through shoppers, past counters selling various things, through different rooms displaying different brands. When they reach a room filled with sparkling jewelry, Ophelia has a guess at what’s going on. She expects prickles of fear to creep up her spine but instead, she feels excitement begin to fill her up.

Niall stops at a counter where a woman is busy speaking with another customer.

“You ready to get your ears pierced?” he asks, smiling down at Ophelia who is already beaming.

“You set all this up?” She is in awe of him. He didn’t have to do this for her but he knows how happy it’ll make her, how much it means to her.

“‘S all paid for and everything. Just gotta pick out the earrings you want,” Niall hums, pressing his lips to her hairline.

“Thank you,” Ophelia smiles. Niall nods, giving her a quick kiss.

Niall holds her hands as she gets each ear pierced, a beautiful small earring placed perfectly. Ophelia’s eyes tear up as she admires them in the mirror.

“Happy?” Niall asks her, his eyes meeting hers in their reflection.

Getting her ears pierced and wearing earrings contains a much bigger meaning for Ophelia. In her eyes, this simple act is just the beginning of her taking charge of her own life. She is finished seeking the approval of her parents. From now on, she is putting herself first. She’ll show them she is strong and she can be independent. Looking at her brand new earrings, Ophelia has never felt more powerful.

“So happy.”

***

“Come on in,” Maura gestures to Ophelia who steps inside the Horan’s home with a bounce in her step. Fawn and Joe Dunphee follow their daughter with much more hesitance. Maura is a gracious host, offering to hang up everybody’s coats. Ophelia has always liked Maura. She looks for the best in people and she can tell that the small Irish woman is really trying to make this work. It makes Ophelia’s teeth grind, knowing the reluctance comes from her side of the family.

She can see that her cousins and their parents have already arrived, their coats all hanging up. To confirm her suspicions, Blake’s laughter drifts down the hall only to be quickly overshadowed by Niall’s howling laugh. She’s happy to find that they’re getting along after everything that’s happened but when she steps into the large kitchen, the tension surrounds her like water, cold and heavy against her skin. Ophelia decides to ignore the way her aunt and uncle are awkwardly standing opposite Bobby Horan, and she drifts over to Niall, giving him a quick, soft kiss on his cheek. The two of them decided not to shy away from their families. They want them all to know that no matter what their families decide, they’re going to be together.

“Has she noticed yet?” Niall asks Ophelia quietly, his fingertip just barely brushing along her earlobe, still a little tender from being pierced yesterday.

“Nope.”

“Still love them?” he wonders.

“Still love them,” Ophelia hums.

***

Dinner had gone surprisingly well. Bobby Horan cooks a mean Sunday roast. Wine was consumed and conversation remained relatively light. Ophelia was impressed by her father and her uncle who remained on their best behavior while discussing thoughts and plans for the future of the two pubs. She was surprised how little they spoke about the pubs. They agreed on comfortably co-existing on their opposing ends of Tide Pool Lane for the time being and then the conversation drifted to golf...again. Ophelia owes her gratitude to that damn sport’s entire existence. The common ground made the night much easier.

After dessert and more enthralling conversation, the families decided it was time to part ways. Ophelia grabbed her bag from her family’s rental car and hopped into the passenger seat of Niall’s old standard.

Half an hour later, she finds herself in her pajamas, her face free of the minimal make-up she’d put on for the evening. The buzz from all the wine she had that night is starting to wear off, her eyes growing heavy as Niall lazily strums his guitar at the end of the bed.

“Tonight went well,” she hums, her fingertips toying with the pillowcase beneath her head.

Niall pauses his strumming, resting his arm on the body of the guitar and propping his chin on the back of his hand. “I can’t believe we’re doing it,” he speaks, his head bobbling up and down with the movement of his scruffy jaw. “Bringing peace to our families. Feels good, like a weight’s been lifted.”

Ophelia nods, unable to fully understand how Niall feels. He’s lived with this feud hanging over him his entire life. Ophelia hadn’t known about it till she arrived in England twelve days ago.

She decides to change the subject.

“That song you played...on New Year’s Eve, the new one...can you play it for me?” Ophelia asks, crossing her legs at her ankles beneath the sheets.

“The Tide?” Niall checks, sitting up straight again. Ophelia nods. “‘S about us, ya know?”

“I thought so,” she admits.

“I wrote most of it in my head while you were making that painting of me...” Niall tells her. “Some parts I made up to fill in some gaps but...for the most part, it’s about us.”

“I’d like to hear it again,” Ophelia smiles softly.

Niall complies and begins to play. This version is a bit more languid than when he played it live at the pub but it’s just as powerful.

When he finishes, Ophelia is still smiling at him.

“I’m going to need a recording of that before I go back to California,” she says. As soon as the words leave her mouth, she realizes the reality behind them. She is flying home in two days.

From the look on Niall’s face, he is just realizing this, too.

He leans over to set his guitar in its stand before slipping under the duvet beside Ophelia, pulling her into his arms.

“I wish I could stay here forever,” she breathes as anguish takes up residency in her heart. There’s nothing in California for her anymore. She’s done with school; she can quit her job at the gallery in LA.

“The gallery,” she breathes.

“Wha’?” Niall’s eyebrows knit together.

“The gallery here in London wants me to do a solo show this summer,” Ophelia’s eyes light up and Niall’s heart swells. He wants her to always look this hopeful, to always have a dream in her eyes. “Think how much easier it’ll be to be located here.”

“It’s expensive, Ophelia, you know that,” Niall reminds her. “You know I believe in you but do your parents? You’re going to have to work hard if your parents aren’t going to support this.” He smoothes some hair away from her eyes which are still aglow.

“I want to do this. I want to be here...with you.”

Niall’s lips form into a smile and he nods before a fleeting thought crosses his mind. No...he couldn’t possibly suggest that. They’ve known each other for twelve days. Niall feels as though this is where Ophelia’s meant to be. Before she had arrived, Niall felt like he was swimming in circles, going nowhere. Now, his path is clear and he won’t stray from it, no matter how rough the water gets.

“What if,” he adjusts his position nervously. She can’t possibly agree to this. “What if you...lived here?”

“Here? With you?”

“It’s where you said you wanted to be,” Niall points out.

Ophelia’s heart feels as though it might tear through her chest. Her bloodstream is fizzling once again this evening. This time, it’s not an aftereffect of alcohol. Niall just has that effect on her.

“D-do you have room for me?”

“O’course I do!” Niall laughs. “I’d love for you to live here.”

Ophelia’s smile is impossible to ignore and Niall leans forward to give her a kiss.

“Just think about it,” he tells her. “There are still a lot of other factors.”

Niall’s right but Ophelia feels so strongly about him that it doesn’t matter to her if their parents accept her decision or not. All that matters is the two of them and if all they end up with is each other, then that is perfectly okay with them.

***

Tuesday morning comes way too quickly. Ophelia stands outside Niall’s building’s front door, the sun barely beginning to show itself. Something inside of her believes the longer she waits to say goodbye, the longer she’ll remain in England. This is just simply not true. Her plane will take off at 10:40am regardless of how long she stands outside Niall Horan’s door. Tears are beginning to swell in her sleepy eyes as her finger presses the buzzer. She waits and waits before finally, his crackly voice comes over the intercom.

“C’mon in,” he says. Ophelia knows she’s woken him up but this is her only chance to say goodbye.

She makes her way inside and up the stairs to his flat. The door is already unlocked, awaiting her arrival. Ophelia opens and closes it quietly, locking it behind her. Niall is just settling back in his bed, fixing up the pillows beside him so Ophelia can sit down. She sheds her coat and shoes before shuffling across the floor to climb into the bed. The paper she’s carrying drops onto Niall’s lap and she curls up into his chest, his left arm wrapping around her, bringing her close.

“Wha’s this?” he asks, his fingertips lifting the paper.

“It’s us,” Ophelia murmurs, her cheek finding a delightful spot upon his chest where she can feel the warmth of his skin seeping into hers.

Niall’s eyes take in the painting before him. Two figures are in the center, simple black lines show them sitting together. Despite the minimal detail, he can tell the boy and the girl are enthralled by each other. The boy is highlighted with hints of yellow while Ophelia gave accents of a sea green color to the girl. Surrounding them are tons of little dots of red and orange.

“It’s us?” he whispers.

“Mhmm,” Ophelia closes her eyes, embracing the moment for as long as it’ll last. “Those are California poppies. There’s a whole field of them. We’ll have to go someday when it’s sunny, or else they won’t be open.”

“We will,” Niall confirms. “I promise.” He leans down and presses an unsuspecting kiss to Ophelia’s lips. She responds, deepening it, not knowing when she will see him next.

All too soon, Niall pulls away.

“I’ve sent you an e-mail with a recording of The Tide,” he tells her as she melts into his chest once more.

“It’s all I’m going to listen to on the plane,” Ophelia admits. Niall chuckles quietly, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “Mum noticed my earrings. She likes them. Said it was kind of you to take me to have it done.”

“I’m glad,” Niall murmurs, his lips kissing her hairline.

“Do you have a title? For the painting?” he wonders after a moment. Ophelia glances down at the painting she created a few nights ago. Her mind wanders back to the night they met, inside the Irish pub at the end of the street, where they lost track of time, where Niall ignored her family name and let himself become enthralled by her.

Ophelia’s lips lift in a small smile, remembering that night so clearly.

“Tide Pool Lane.”

#bad news: it's done #good news: there will be an epilogue #I don't love the ending of this #TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS #I got so stuck and still am so this is rough but that's okay #Niall Horan #Niall Horan fanfiction #Niall #Niall fanfiction #Niall Horan AU #Niall AU #One Direction #my writing #TPL #Niall Horan story

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weekendwarriorblog · 3 years

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The Weekend Warrior November 6, 2020 – LET HIM GO, JUNGLELAND, KINDRED, PROXIMA, THE INFORMER and More!

It’s November, which under normal circumstances, would be the holiday season, the thick of awards season, the beginning of the end to the Oscars, but this year? Not so much. Instead, we’re suffering the after-effects of a hugely close and contentious election, although thankfully, there’s quite a few decent movies to check out as we still wait for the whole COVID pandemic to settle down with no end in sight. (And as promised, I got this down to six reviews this week. I wouldn’t expect that next week.)

The biggest wide release this weekend (into 2,200 theaters plus) is Thomas (The Family Stone) Bezucha’s thriller LET HIM GO (Focus Features) starring Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Montana ranchers George and Margaret Blackledge, who after losing their son James, must try to rescue their young grandson Jimmy, who has been taken to North Dakota to live with his stepfather’s dangerous family, led by matriarch Blanche Weboy (played by Lesley Manville).

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie. The commercials I’ve seen sell it like a straight-up revenge thriller ala the recent Honest Thief, which also isn’t necessarily a straight-up genre film. (Odd coincidence is that this one also has Jeffrey Donovan playing a jerk – I hope it’s not type-casting.) The movie was adapted by Bezucha from a novel by Larry Watson, and it puts Costner into another role where he’s able to ride horses. If you’re a fan of Costner, that might be enough to watch the film, but he gives also gives a typically strong performance as does Lane, as Bezucha reunites Ma and Pa Kent from Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.

At first, this is more of a family drama where we don’t learn too much about their son before he’s killed – nor do we ever find out who actually killed him. Instead, this is about caring grandparents who worry about how their young grandson might be raised by his new stepfather and his family. It’s particularly suspect when Jimmy’s stepfather leaves for North Dakota in the middle of the night, taking his new wife and stepson with him. It’s enough to make anyone suspicious.

It starts fairly slowly as things are set-up but it leads to more than a few crazy and violent moments including the last act where things really come to a head. Oddly, it isn’t Costner acting like the “tough guy” so much trying to get back Jimmy, despite his background as a sheriff. Instead it’s Lane who impresses with her ability to act super-sweet one moment in order to get results but then fully throwing herself into the film’s violent climax. Oddly, I wasn’t that into Manville’s performance as a malevolent matriarch, and that really surprised me. I do have to call special attention to the amazing Booboo Stewart who plays a Native American lad who helps the couple, this being his second great role/performance of the year after The Grizzlies.

Despite Costner’s presence, Let Him Go feels much more like some of the recent Clint Eastwood movies, and while it has a few issues in terms of tone and pacing, Lane and Costner are more than enough to make this quite enjoyable for what it is.

Even so, that isn’t this week’s “Featured Flicks”…

No, that would be Max (Ceremony) Winkler’s JUNGLELAND (Paramount), an amazing drama starring Charlie Hunnam and Jack O’Connell as brothers Stan and Walter “Lion” Kaminski, the latter who is a brilliant bare knuckle boxers who is constantly dealing with his older brother Stan getting them into trouble with his gambling debts that have left them near to poverty. When Stan gets further into debt with the loan shark Pepper (Jonathan Majors), he agrees to go on a road trip to a big underground no-holds-barred boxing match in San Francisco, but along for the ride is a young woman named Sky (Jessica Barden) who the brothers need to drop off in Reno to the despicable man from whom she ran away in the first place.

This ended up being a far more complex and emotional movie than I expected, although as a huge fan of the movie Warrior, I was interested in seeing how this one diverged from what was one of my favorite movies the year it was released. Well, Winkler does not disappoint, as he finds a way to create a “boxing movie” that’s unlike any other due to a number of elements. We’ve certainly had a few “brother fighters” movies, but what separates Jungleland is that it’s the younger brother played by O’Connell who does all the fighting, his brother acting more as a domineering manager who makes all the decisions for them. You can really feel the love between these brothers and the interesting dynamic that Barden’s Sky brings to the mix.

Maybe you can figure out that there will be some sort of romance between Lion and Sky, but they’re such unique individuals due to the performances by always great O’Connell and an actress who I’m not as familiar with but insures that Sky is not just introduced merely as “love interest.” Sky is bratty and sassy, and she isn’t going to just do what Stanley says even though he always acts like he’s the smartest of the trio, and it’s that attitude that brings so much to the dynamics between the three of them.

There’s a lot of tension leading up to the final fight, as well as a lot of emotion, all enhanced by a gorgeous score from Lorne Balfe that bolsters the performances rather than overpowers them. The way Winkler uses Bruce Springsteen’s cover of Suicide’s “Dream Baby Dream” is the perfect punctuation to a film that keeps you enthralled from beginning to end.

This is just a wonderful film from Winkler, one that really shows his tremendous growth as a filmmaker, and it’s very much the kind of movie that I absolutely love, especially because it’s always going in different directions from the typical boxing movie.

Another nice surprise this weekend was Joe Marcantonio’s psychological thriller KINDRED (IFC Midnight), starring Tamara Lawrence as Charlotte Wilde, who discovers that she’s pregnant by her boyfriend Ben, but when he dies suddenly, Charlotte finds herself trapped in the large estate of Ben’s mother Margaret (Fiona Shaw) and Ben’s creepy half-brother Thomas (Jack Lowden). She soon realizes that Margaret plans on keeping her trapped there in order to keep control of her son’s baby.

I went into this British thriller not really knowing much about it other than its small cast including the generally decent Shaw and Lowden. I wasn’t familiar with Tamara Lawrence at all, but she does a pretty amazing job carrying the film as a woman trying to deal with some sort of pre-natal depression on top of mourning for her ex while also feeling trapped, probably rightfully so. The dynamics between the three people – this is very much a three-hander – is what keeps Kindred so interesting, because Margaret probably blames Charlotte for her son’s death, but Thomas seems to have more lecherous intentions. The whole time, Charlotte has dreams and visions, sometimes horrifying ones, about birds.

Over the course of the film we learn more about Charlotte’s background and her own mother’s issues dealing with “perinatal psychosis,” which could be a big clue to what is happening with Charlotte. Lawrence is absolutely amazing at giving the film a strong heroine who works hard to try to outsmart her captors, and it’s a film that never really goes far into the most expected realms. Marcantonio’s direction works well at maintaining a steady pace, and the musical choices greatly add to the tension even the few times it’s using overused stock classical musical themes.

Kindred works quite effectively as a tense psychological thriller in the vein of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? I expect we have not seen the last of either Lawrence or director Marcantonio.

Eva Green stars in Alice Winocour’s PROXIMA (Vertical) as Sarah Loreau, an engineer and astronaut who has gotten the plum assignment to spend a year aboard the International Space Station. Unfortunately, that would mean being apart from her young daughter Stella for a year, and the film deals with Sara’s tough battle to get through the training necessary while dealing with her emotions over being separated from her daughter.

For some reason, I had lost track of Winocour since her amazing breakthrough film Mustangs, and though it’s odd that this would premiere at the same TIFF as Natalie Portman’s Lucy in the Sky, it’s quite a different movie despite a few similarities, mostly that they’re both about women astronauts. Oddly, Lucy in the Sky is based on a true story, although Proxima feels far more grounded, both literally and figuratively. Much of that is because we only see Sara’s journey before getting on the rocket into space.

In many ways, Proxima means to show how tough training for a space mission is on women, particularly having to leave their children behind, and Green does an amazing job in the many demands of the role. Part of Sara’s issue is that she’s dealing within a very heavily competitive male-dominated environment, as typified Matt Dillon’s Texan astronaut Mike, but there’s also the aspect of her not wanting to show any signs of weakness. (It’s a rarity for women, particularly a French one, to have this opportunity.)

Much of what’s keeping Sarah from giving up is because she wants to be a great role model for her daughter, and honestly the scenes between Green and young Zélie Boulant are so wonderful they almost make the movie in themselves. It’s to Winocour’s credit that she continually shows how well she does at casting younger and newer actresses. I’d be neglect if I didn’t mention the gorgeous score by Ryuichi Sakamoto, who seems like such a great get for Winocour, being that he hasn’t scored as many movies in recent years.

Winocour has created another beautiful film, one that really sticks with you because she and Eva Green manage to convey the story of a woman we rarely get to see in movies in such a truly authentic and emotional way. Sadly, Proxima isn’t getting a theatrical release, but it will be on digital and VOD this Friday.

Bryan Bertino, director of The Strangers, returns with THE DARK AND THE WICKED (RLJEfilms/Shudder), an eerie horror thriller mostly set on a farm where sister and brother Louise and Michael (played by Marin Ireland and Michael Abbott Jr.) return to see their dying father only to find their mother (Julie Oliver-Touchstone) behaving erratically. They soon learn that there’s something dark and wicked (hence the title) holding sway over anyone who enters the place.

I was pretty excited to see this movie, because while I wasn’t the biggest fan of The Stranger, I could see from his debt that Bertino definitely had talent as a director in terms of creating a mood and tone that can keep an audience on edge. While I haven’t seen his other two films since then, The Dark and the Wicked proves that my earlier instincts were correct. With a fairly simple premise, location and relatively small cast that’s usually one or both of the two main actors, Bertino has created an enigmatic and eerier horror-thriller that does both the two elements that makes for good horror – create interesting characters with depth and then proceed to totally fuck with them in any way possible.

In this case, the set-up might seem slow to match its Southern setting, but this is one of those rare cases where slow isn’t necessarily bad. Ti West’s The Innkeepers and House of the Devil is a pretty gauge for whether this is your kind of horror. If you liked those, you’ll probably like this.

Once the gory and quite disturbing stuff starts happening, Bertino rarely lets up. Although some of the imagery isn’t as original – a woman chopping off her fingers for the third time this year! – there’s just a lot of things that are done in such clever and unique ways. There’s little question that Bertino knows how to creep viewers out and put them on on edge, but it’s all greatly helped by the two main actors who really sell the scares. I won’t get too into what the evil is that’s causing people who enter the house to savagely mutilate themselves, but it is of a demonic nature

While at first, this might seem to be in the vein of the recent Relic, of which I wasn’t too big a fan, it also delves into territory ala The Witch (without the historical setting), and that might in fact be the best barometer to decide whether Bertino’s latest is for you. Be warned that like this year’s The Lodge, The Dark and Wicked lives up to its title because you witness a lot of truly awful things, and you should not expect it to end cheerfully. (I also want to give credit to Bertino’s DP, since I’ve watched so many horror movies this year that are so dark, you cannot make out what’s going on, which isn’t the case here.)

A movie that was supposed to be released way back in March by Aviron Pictures is finally coming back via Vertical, Noriva as Andrea Di Stefano’s THE INFORMER finally sees the light of day in the U.S. after being released all over the world. It stars Joel Kinnaman as Peter/Piotr Koslow, a Polish assassin and mercenary, who has been working as an undercover FBI inside man to help them bust criminals. Rosamund Pike plays his handler, Agent Wilcox, while Clive Owen is her immediate supervisor. After a drug bust that gets an undercover cop killed, Piotr finds himself being investigated by a local detective, played by Common.

The Informer starts as as a fairly typical crime-thriller that seems to be inspired a little too much by Breaking Bad, but in fact, it was adapted from a Swedish crime thriller called 3 Seconds, written by Anders Roslund and Borge Hellström. What’s interesting is that it transforms itself from being a passable but bland entry in one of the most overused movie genres ever into something halfway interesting when Peter is sent back to jail to get closer to the drug kingpin known as The General.

If you’re a fan of Joel Kinnaman, then maybe you’ll enjoy this, but I don’t think Kinnaman has very much charisma as an actor and that really hurts the first half of the movie where he’s required to do a lot of heavy-lifting, especially opposite Pike. But it takes a while to adjust to the fact that everyone in this movie, other than Common – showing less range than usual – has taken on some sort of accent. It’s certainly a decision, though I’m not sure it’s the best one.

I have to admit that I didn’t fully understand the dynamics between the characters, and it didn’t get much easier once Peter goes back to prison, but in general, I felt like there was a lot of talent wasted here, particularly Ana de Armas as Peter’s wife. It also is a little devoid of thrills, but again, that’s mostly through when the movie turns into a prison drama, which is where it gets quite a bit better. That said, I’m still not sure if Common is supposed to be one of the good or bad guys…

The Informer may not be the most inspired crime-thriller, and Kinnaman’s typically stiff performance doesn’t help, but there’s some good moments towards the end that makes it not feel like wasted time to watch it.

Opening in 200 theaters this Friday is True to the Game 2 (Imani Media Group), which as you might guess is the sequel to movie called True to the Game, which I have not seen. It’s a street level gangster crime thriller that begins with a lot of black people shooting at each other, which seems rather ill-timed for the current situation in the country (and New York in particular). The movie stars Erica Peeples as Gina, the love interest of Quadir Richards, a drug dealer murdered in the first movie, who decides to leave Philly to recreate herself as a New York journalist. While in L.A. on an important assignment, her past in Philly follows her as Quadir’s killer Jerell (Andra Fuller) wants revenge for a hit against his crew in revenge for them getting revenge for Quadir. Oh, the movie also stars Vivica A. Fox as a woman named “Shoog.” I’m not going to review this, partially because I don’t think I’ll have much to say without having seen the first movie, but this is also not my kind of thing nor am I the target audience for it, so writing a review might just be a waste of all of our time. (Hint: It isn’t a good movie.)

Jeff Roda’s 18 to Party (Giant Pictures) is set in a small town in 1984, as it deals with a group of 8th graders who have been dealing with UFO sightings, missing parents and recent suicides as they try to get into a club despite being underage. Boy, does this have a lot of ‘80s references, so it should really be my thing. Sadly, it’s very talkie and not particularly well-written while being derivative of so many other things like Stand By Me and the It movies as filtered through Richard Linklater. Roda does get some points for his choice in music that includes Big Audio Dynamite and one of my own ‘80s favorites, The Alarm. (And yes, U2 DID steal much of its sound and schtick from the Alarm, so kudos for the movie acknowledging it.) Unfortunately, it’s used as awkwardly as most of the interactions between the kids, and yet, I still didn’t hate this. 18 to Party will open via virtual cinemas on Friday through the Laemmle in L.A. in Alamo on Demand (New York and other cities) but then will get a VOD release in North America on December 1.

From Sweden – running the gauntlet of almost every single genre festival since its release overseas in the summer of 2019 -- comes the dark fantasy-horror Koko-Di Koko-Da (Dark Star Pictures) from filmmaker Johannes Nyholm, about a couple terrorized by a sideshow artist and his entourage in the woods. I honestly didn’t get too far into the movie, because like many Swedish movies, this one is so dark and grim that it starts with the couple losing their 8-year-old daughter in the first ten minutes and when the horror element shows up, I just couldn’t get too far. Maybe I’ll give this another chance when I’m in a better head.

Similarly, I saw but don’t have much to say about Alastair Orr’s Triggered (Samuel Goldwyn Films). It’s a stylized horror-thriller in the Saw vein where a group of nine friends are out camping and partying in the woods when they wake up to find suicide bombs strapped to their chests with different countdown clocks, but in order to survive, they need to kill their friends to get more time on their clocks. It’s another high-concept thriller ala the recent No Escape and considering how much I hated that movie, I knew this wouldn’t be my thing either. I’m a little surprised that it’s being released by Samuel Goldwyn since they normally focus on more arty films and not C-level genre fare.

At my beloved local theater, the Metrograph, which I miss deeply, they’re continuing their “Robert Kramer Retrospective,” now showing Milestones from 1975, while Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli’s So Pretty will run through Thursday night. This Friday, the terrific doc Decade of Fire, directed by Gretchen Hildebran and Vivian Vazquez Irizarry, will debut as part of Metrograph’s Live Screening series, and I have to say tht this is quite a fantastic doc about the series of building fires that decimated the Bronx in the ‘70s. Monday will see the debut of the 1974 doc Frame-Up! The Imprisonment of Martin Sostre, directed by Steven Fischler, Joel Sucher and Howar Blatt, and I remind again that the Live Screening series can be accessed with an annual Metrograph membership, which is still just $50 a year or $5 month-to-month, and you cannot get a better deal right now within the world of Virtual Cinema with the number of movies being offered for that price.

Metrograph has also begun a “Ticketed Screening” series where you can pay per film, and the second one in that series is the 1965 French anthology Six in Paris (Icarus Films), that has the likes of Chabrol, Godard, Pollet and Rohmer telling short cinematic stories set in Paris, which is a must-see for fans of the French New Wave of the ‘60s. That’s available for $8 for members and $12 for non-members, so being a member is STILL a pretty good deal.

Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema continues King Hu’s Rain in the Mountain, Frederick Wiseman’s City Hall and more, joined by a double feature of Fellini’s Toby Dammit (1969) and Chris Marker’s La Jetée (1962) (the basis for Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys) starting Friday.

Also, just want to throw a quick shoutout to my much-missed neighbors uptown at Film at Lincoln Center, who also have a fairly hearty Virtual Cinema going with new and repertory offerings.

Also, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

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