#mikkel johnson

[crossingbaranduin]

Guessing Games

(Teen | The Almighty Johnsons | Anders & Mike | 1.4k words)

Summary: Axl found out that saying “guess what” will lead to Mike knowing the “what” in question, since it was a game. Naturally, Anders figured out how to exploit that. (Or, five times Anders made Mike “guess what”, and one time he couldn’t but asked anyway.)

Notes: A quick, fun work spawned by a Discord message from @blairsanne: “I need someone to write a 5&1 where Anders annoys the shit out of Mike and then uses that Guess What game for a good purpose”. I’ll never turn down writing about my two favorites, so… here it is! Enjoy! : )

Read on AO3 here!

----------

As with many things in their family, it all started with someone being just a bit too curious. This time, it was Anders — about Mike's powers in particular.

“There’s no way you can know what I’m thinking if I say ‘guess what’. That’s bullshit!”

“One, no it’s not. Two, how did you even find out about that?”

“Axl told me. You’re god of games, not god of being psychic!”

“It’s a game where to win, I have to know what you’re thinking. It’s not that hard, Anders.”

“Fine,” Anders rolled his eyes. “Guess what?"

A thought that was definitively not his own filled his mind. Ty and I were the ones who broke the window crank on your old truck. Ty tried to crank the window closed on me.

Mike stopped, all thoughts of proving his point abandoned at Anders’ admission. "That was you?!"

"Holy shit, it does work," Anders said, astonished.

"Yes, it does, but my window crank doesn't!"

"It didn’t; that truck is long gone now, anyways." Anders grin only grew as he continued. "Oh, I'm so going to abuse this."

And with that, Mike realized just how critical of a mistake he had made in mentioning this ability to Anders.

"...Goddamnit."

----------

It wouldn't be Anders if he didn't immediately test the limits of something.

Unfortunately, knowing that did nothing to stop it, as Mike found out not long after Anders' original discovery. The bar was empty, and oddly quiet for once, as the two of them waited for the rest of the gods to arrive.

Or, it was, until Anders spoke up out of the blue. “Guess what?”

What if—

…

…Mike refused to repeat the rest of what Anders was thinking, even within the confines of his own head. Frankly, he wasn’t sure what of that was Anders’ own fucked-up ingenuity and what was Bragi’s gift with words used for horrible purposes.

It was a vivid mental image, that was for sure, and one he'd like to never have again.

He didn't dare turn around, his jaw clenched as he nearly glared a hole into the shelves in front of him. “Anders?”

Mike didn't have to look at Anders to hear the shit-eating grin he was wearing. “Yes?”

“You have three seconds to start running.”

If the other gods walked in a few minutes later to a couple barstools knocked over and the two of them tussling on the floor… no one really needed an explanation.

(Or wanted one. No one wanted to get in the middle of that — or find out what they had done to start it.)

----------

Of course, even that didn't stop Anders' plan, as he tried once more — this time from Mike's couch upstairs, rather than at the bar.

“Guess what?”

Mike responded without missing a beat. “No, I’m not playing this game, Anders.”

And he really wasn’t intending to. Nothing said he had to agree to play, and guessing games took two participants to work.

The unfortunate thing was, as much as his mortal half didn't want to give Anders the satisfaction... resisting the will of his godly half was another story. From the insistent nudging at the back of his mind, he figured he could get a headache from Ullr, or a headache from Anders.

The choice was easier than it should have been, really.

Bracing himself for the impending disaster, he huffed. “Goddamnit.”

I was wondering how long this thing would last since you just have to guess what I’m thinking but that doesn’t have a limit on how long that guess is going to be—

It turned out that if Anders didn’t need to breathe, he really could talk forever. Mike would be impressed, if he had any room to think over the constant stream of sound now in his mind.

—so if it’s all one thing to guess I just have to not take a break and keep talking blah blah blah—

"Will you shut up?!"

—absolutely not I'm nowhere near done Mikkel did you really think I'd stop talking this quickly you've known me too long for that—

"Oh my god, stop—"

—that won't stop me I can keep thinking even if you try and interrupt me haha I can go on forever—

With a groan, Mike blindly reached for the whiskey bottle across the table. He thought he'd been done with Anders tiring himself out by talking decades ago.

("God, my head fucking hurts," Anders muttered a good bit of time later, rubbing his temples.

Mike, who was doing the same with one hand and a glass in the other, leveled Anders with a blank stare. "I feel absolutely no sympathy for you.")

----------

Mike had — rather mistakenly — assumed it would be a quiet night in for him. That is, until a seemingly innocuous text flashed across his phone screen.

> Guess what?

"Great." He'd never had someone try it over text, but if that curious tingle in the back of his brain said anything, Anders had figured out yet another way to exploit it. He opened the messaging app, ready to chastise Anders for abusing his power yet again, when—

Ty and I are headed your way; situation happened with Loki. We'll explain when we get there.

Mike's heart dropped. Loki never meant good news, and if Anders was willing to admit that himself—

> Guess what?

We're fine. Loki just crossed some lines he shouldn't have. It's taken care of.

A breath he didn’t realize he was holding suddenly escaped him. They were alright — somehow, if Loki was involved yet again. He could bitch them out about it once they got to the bar. They weren't burnt to a crisp, or spontaneously combusted, or smited, so he could still chew them out.

(It was a horrible, relieving thought.)

Sitting down less steadily than he'd ever admit, he closed his eyes, breathing out as he let Ullr wash over him.

He could feel them approaching the bar — they were nearby. And still alive. He could handle the rest when they got here.

> Guess what?

Oh yeah, and Ty is Hodr again. Surprise.

...Probably.

----------

The world was ending, or damn near close to it, and by morning, none of them would be gods anymore.

It was a weird feeling. Mike had been a god for as nearly as long as he hadn’t been one, now.

Michele had stepped away for a moment, leaving Mike and Anders in an uncommon shared quiet, sitting back and observing the bustle of the casino around them.

"Guess what?"

Mike turned his head at Anders' sudden question, barely murmured above the background din of the room. He prepared himself for some quip, but instead—

It was the first time Mike had gotten more of a feeling that a coherent thought, and it was nearly overwhelming. A combination of thankful-relieved-peaceful-happy washed over him, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words.

(For a split second, it was as if a much younger Anders was superimposed over the one sitting in front of him, smiling and carefree before everything had gone to hell.)

He couldn’t send the feeling back, not in the same way, but he hoped his own smile and the light knocking of their shoulders together got the point across.

(He thought it did, from the way Anders leaned ever so slightly into him, even as Michele returned.

And of everything he was going to miss come the next morning, that would certainly be one of them.)

----------

"Guess what?"

Mike didn't have to answer Anders. He really didn't, this time; there was no pull from the now-gone Ullr, and even if he did, it wasn't as if it'd work the same way.

Maybe it was the lack of sleep from the night before, or maybe it was simply not giving a fuck in comparison to all the shit they'd been through recently. (Or maybe he knew he'd miss it if he didn't.)

Regardless, Mike turned around, an eyebrow raised as he finally answered Anders' question. “What, Anders?”

(“Nothing!”

“What?”

“Nothing! That was it.”

“You can’t just ask me what and then say nothing!”

“I sure can if it bothers you that much—“

Anders’ bright laughter was audible even over his own groaning into his hands, and if he cracked a smile of his own— well, no one would ever know. They couldn’t guess it, after all.)

#the almighty johnsons #anders johnson #mike johnson #mikkel johnson #ao3 #anders & mike #5+1 things #cb writes

[jprgirl]

The Almighty Johnsons, S1E5 "This Is Not Washing Powder, My Friend" first aired 12 years ago, March 7, 2011!

#the almighty johnsons #almighty johnsons #axl johnson #emmett skilton #ty johnson #jared turner #anders johnson #dean o'gorman #dean o’gorman #mike johnson #mikkel johnson #tim balme #timothy balme #olaf johnson #ben barrington #agnetha #alison bruce #stacey #eve gordon #michele brock #michelle langstone #ingrid #rachel nash #taj airdates

[silvermoon-scrolls]

No improving on perfection

Anders is in a bad mood, but Mitchell knows exactly how to cheer him up.

Content: Playing hard to get (not really), pre show(s) Pairing: Anders Johnson/John Mitchell Rating: Teen Words: 1200

Read on AO3

-

Anders kicked his apartment door closed behind him, dropped his keys on the coffee table, and threw himself down on the couch. His head draped over the armrest and his legs dropped nonchalantly in the lap of a slightly amused Mitchell – all in all, his form was doing a great impression of a wrung out cloth.

“Finally. It’s over,” he declared exhausted with all the bearings of someone who had vanquished the ultimate evil and saved the world with the smallest possible margin. In reality, the ‘beast’ that had been slain was ‘Christmas dinner with the Johnson family’. 

“Oh c’mon,” Mitchell said with a smile while putting away the book he had been reading. “It can’t have been that bad.”

“Trust me. I did you a huge favor not dragging you along.” Anders said, addressing the ceiling from his prone position.

“If you say so.” 

Anders frowned. It had sounded like a lighthearted comment, but Anders didn’t like the feeling of being questioned. He hadn’t even wanted to go. He might have been expected to show up, but he knew he wasn’t really wanted. The only reason he went was because Mitchell – stressing the importance of family – had insisted he’d go. Of course, Mitchell had also insinuated that he could come along, if Anders wanted to; but that was a firm ‘no’.

They had only known each other for about 3 months! They weren’t even really a couple. Were they? Surely, it was more of a long-distance, booty call sort of thing?

Annoyed by his own thoughts, Anders raised his resting head off the armrest – ready to defend himself. “Even if Mikkel likes to pretend he is a ‘regular, innocuous human’,” he said letting his disdain shine through, “he is still Ullr whether he wants to or not. I don't know if ‘vampire hunting’ is included in the Norse God of Hunting’s sets of skills, but personally I wouldn't be surprised if he could ping you as non-human right away.”

Mitchell looked like he was about to interject, but Anders had managed to work himself up into a temper and so he plowed on with a little more bite than he had intended. “And if you think that ‘surely he wouldn’t turn on his own brother’s guest without provocation’, then you should know that being my guest is likely all the provocation Mike needs. ‘Cause in his mind, the only reason I would show up to Christmas dinner with a vampire on my arm would be to purposefully stir up trouble. While I don't think he would stake you right then and there – with oblivious humans like Val and Axl present – I wasn’t keen to risk it.”

A lot of different emotions had played over Mitchell’s features during Anders’ heated monologue, but by the end a small smile appeared on his lips. “Careful there. It almost started to sound like you worry about me.” His teasing words were accompanied by a hand that playfully caressed the inside of one of Anders’ conveniently placed legs.

A grin spread across Anders’ face – his bad mood gone in an instant. But when he sat up, Mitchell withdrew his hand with a smug smile. Playing hard to get, eh? Anders thought, not at all discouraged.

“Forget about Christmas and my Anders-prejudice family.” He used a one-hand grip to loosen his tie – signaling that he was more than ready to take on Mitchell's offered challenge. “New Year’s is coming up. Now that’s a holiday much more in my speed.” He swung his legs down from his companion’s lap and with a grin seated himself next to Mitchell. “Booze. Partying. Girls in skimpy outfits.” He placed a hand on the other man’s thigh and squeezed while humming in his most seductive voice: “What more can you ask for?”

“How about some snow?” Mitchell said with a soft laugh pretending to ignore Anders’ advances by turning his head to look outside at the summer twilight. “Celebrating the new year during a heat wave seems wrong somehow. Does it even get dark enough for fireworks here?” The words might sound nonchalant, but the way the turn of the head exposed Mitchell’s neck was anything but. It was all part of the game. Anders should know; it was a move he had used numerous times to incite his guest’s vampiric cravings. And Anders had to admit it was doing a wonderful job on him too.

“Of course it gets dark enough.” Anders leaned in, placing several light kisses on Mitchell’s exposed neck. “But I’m usually busy creating sparkling fireworks of my own.”

Mitchell’s breath hitched pleasantly in response to the attention, but otherwise played successfully at being unaffected. “Have you planned any New Year’s resolutions?” he asked, still looking out the window as if he was determined to try to catch a glimpse of a small speck of frost in the New Zealand summer.

“No,” Anders snorted with a huff. “Why?” He was too busy nibbling on Mitchell’s earlobe to make any lengthy comments.

“I don’t know. Maybe you’ve got –ah– a change you want to make? To try to improve yourself?”

Anders congratulated himself on the wobble in Mitchell’s voice but decided that was enough subtleties. He grabbed hold of the other man’s shoulders and pulled himself on top of his lap, straddling him. “There’s hardly a need for improvements when you’re already perfect.” He smiled smugly from his new, superior position. “Or do you think I’m lacking?” His smile widened into a grin, and in case there was any doubt as to what his innuendo was referring to he slyly rubbed himself against Mitchell’s lap, making sure that all of him could be felt.

Mitchell laughed appreciatively. “Definitely not lacking.” He wrapped his fingers around Anders’ tie and pulled him in for a deep kiss before lightly shoving him back again. “And what about me?” he asked with a devilish grin, still with a tight grip around the tie.

The kiss left Anders hungry for more, but Mitchell’s sparkling eyes told him that they still weren’t finished with their little game. He angled his head and with a self-satisfied smile pretended to inspect the tantalizing body in front of him carefully before giving his verdict. “ You might be close to perfect,” he agreed, but then he scrunched up his face and pinched the sleeve of Mitchell’s washed out t-shirt. “But your clothing is anything but. If you really want a New Year's resolution you should let me take you shopping, get you some nice, tailored outfits to really show off your–” his eyes dipped low before coming back up again, “assets.”

“Since when do you care what I wear?” Mitchell laughed. “You're just gonna strip it off me anyway.”

“Can't argue with that.” Anders grinned, sensing that his persistent pursuit was about to be rewarded. “But think how stylish the pile next to my bed would look.” He hooked his index fingers in Mitchell’s belt loops, slid off his lap, and prepared to coax his willing prey with him to the bedroom when he was unexpectedly trapped by a long leg that wrapped behind him, pressing him forward.

Mitchell’s eager grin filled his vision. “How about a pile right next to this couch?”

~

Thank you for reading! Comments and reblogs are always appreciated ❤️

#britchellcontributionfest2024 #fanfic #the almighty johnsons #being human uk #anders johnson/john mitchell #britchell #mitchers #anders johnson #john mitchell #silvermoon writes

[blairsanne]

Pretend to Be Nice - 1 - Oh No

For the @deanobingo 2023 event!

Prompts: Anders Johnson - Honesty The Almighty Johnsons - Anders & female Reader 4619 words

Summary: You are secretly in love with your friend, Anders Johnson. When your other friends find out, they encourage you to let it go.

CW: Alcohol consumption, discussion of hookups (mild). Angsty? Slow burn I guess? (This is a multi-part story.)

You stood in the kitchen of Michele’s house, topping pieces of baguette with various things while music filtered in from the living room. 

The gods and goddesses surrounding the Johnson family had gotten into the habit of weekend parties, and you were having a quiet moment inside while the crowd was in the yard, enjoying the summer weather.

Anders sauntered in through the back door and flashed you a smile as he looked you over.

“There she is.” “Here I am.”

He walked up to you and leaned in as though to tell a secret as he pinched at the fabric of your dress. “This thing is dreadful. Bin it.”

“Oh? What would you have me wear then, my lord?” you asked sarcastically. 

It wasn’t completely out of the norm for Anders to tell you whether or not he approved of your fashion, but this might have been the harshest he’d been to something you were actively wearing.

Still, it seemed mostly light-hearted.

He was grinning back at you, his blond hair aglow in the late afternoon sun shining through the window behind him, looking every bit like the piss-taking god he was.

“Well if we’re talking druthers, I’d prefer you without, but I think killjoy Mikkel would complain.”

You rolled your eyes. “Ha ha.”

Anders snickered to himself and ate one of the appetizers you were still preparing, earning him a brief dirty look from you which only served to make his dimples more prominent. 

He could tell he was pushing your buttons, but you always indulged his mischief, so he figured you’d forgive him.

He gestured to the chilly bin. “Can I get you a drink?”

“I dunno. Last time I drank with you, you left me alone at the bar.”

“Hey, you left me.” He pointed, recalling your night out together the week before. “I went to the bog for a quick pash and when I came back you and Axl had gone home.”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “You have a skewed sense of quick.”

He shrugged, unapologetic. “What can I say? I’m a generous god.”

You snorted, and he let out a humming giggle in reply as he pulled two beers from the bin. He opened the first one and placed it on the counter beside your handiwork before opening his own.

“So how’d you end up on food duty when there’s a perfectly good handmaiden present?” “You’d best hope she doesn’t hear you talking like that.”

He grinned as he sipped his drink.

“I’ll take my chances.” “Brave man.”

He gave you another lookover and winced. “Seriously, you look like an old woman in that frock.”

You raised your brows in offense. “Understood, Bragi. I shan't damage your eyes with it again.”

Sensing that you were taking it personally, he tilted his head and added lightly, “I liked that purple one you wore to Ty’s.”

You snickered, knowing which - revealing - dress he meant. “Wonder why that might be.” “Just saying, you should play to your assets.” “My ass-ets?”

Anders wagged his eyebrows, turning to stick his own ass out as he gestured at his chest to imply large breasts.

You shook your head and went back to your task. “Always so charming.”

His bright laugh won you over, however, and you couldn’t help but smile when you looked up to see his eyes wrinkled and his dimples in full view.

He caught sight of Michele and Stacey walking over and winked at you, as though to keep his previous comment a secret.

“Need help?” Stacey offered.

Anders snickered, but turned away to sip at his beer in an attempt to hide it. You threw him a warning glance despite your own amusement, then offered Stacey a warm and genuine smile. “I’d love that, ta.”

Michele hummed and leaned against the counter, giving Anders a lookover as Stacey started helping you. “It’s not like Anders is of any use.”

“I don’t see you cooking,” he retorted.

She shrugged. “I’m not very domestic. My talents lie elsewhere.”

He nodded, his eyes training over her form. “I’m sure they do.”

Olaf stepped in the back door. “Ah, sustenance!”

Before anyone could stop him, he nabbed a couple of the completed appetizers off the plate.

“Leave some for the rest of us, eh?” Anders teased.

Stacey shooed Olaf away. “Get out, both of you. We’ll take them outside when they’re done.”

When Olaf began to protest, Anders put his hand on his back to steer him toward the door. “C’mon Grandpa, let’s let the women do their work.”

“Like it’s the role of goddesses to feed useless gods?” Michele challenged.

“Well not you, obviously; we don’t want to be poisoned,” Anders called behind him as he exited.

Michele flipped him the bird, though he didn’t see, then turned to you and shook her head. “Dick.”

You laughed under your breath and got back to work.

--

Later on, you found yourself standing with Anders outside, talking about plans.

“Axl and I are gonna hit up that new club on Fort Lane tomorrow night. You should come with.” “So I can keep Odin company while you get your end away?” He grinned. “We can trade off.”

You grimaced, then looked away, playing it off. “Yeah, nah. I’m not up for it.” “What?” Anders nudged you playfully. “You always come.” You shook your head. “Mm. Not this time.” “Oh, is it that time of the month?”

You smacked his arm. “No! God.”

He let out a humming laugh at your reaction. “Then what’s your problem?”

“I just…” You rubbed your arm and looked away again, shrinking somewhat into yourself. “I just don’t feel like hooking up with anyone right now. That’s all.”

“You should hit him harder,” Michele suggested, walking up with a glass of wine in hand.

You snorted as she and Stacey joined you.

Anders scrunched his face up in mild offense. “All I did was invite you out. Usually you’re keen on it.”

“Finally get sick of babysitting the Johnsons?” Michele wondered. “You’d know all about that, eh?” Anders challenged.

You shrugged, wanting the topic dropped now that there were more people involved. “I’m just not up for it.”

Anders pointed, squinting his eyes at you playfully. “Or maybe you’ve got some boy toy on the side you haven’t told us about.” He fingered the fabric of your dress again. “Would explain your sudden off-putting attire.”

“Anders, couldn’t you just pretend to be nice?”

He clucked and winked at you. “Nah, I respect you too much to be dishonest.”

You snickered as Stacey rolled her eyes.

“Oh please.” Michele crossed her arms. “As if you have any idea how to respect goddesses.”

Anders placed his hand on your shoulder. “Just the ones I like.”

“The ones who put up with your crap, you mean.” “The ones who aren’t frigid bitches? Always a pleasure, Michele.”

He turned to you then, pointedly ignoring her and squeezed your shoulder a couple times. He flashed a crooked, conspiratorial grin, his tone coaxing. “We’re gonna have fun…”

“I’m sure you will.”

He clucked again, but gave you a wink as he started walking off. “Change your mind, you know how to reach us.”

Michele watched him walk off, then turned to you with a raised brow. “I don’t know how you can stand going out with him.”

You shrugged defensively. “It is usually fun. And he usually pays for my drinks.”

“You don’t need a wanker god buying your drinks.”

“Well I don’t need a mum telling me who to hang out with either. Besides, it’s good for Axl to have someone a little less…” You glanced towards where he was now joining up with Olaf to partake in a joint. “-Anders with him.”

Stacey and Michele both laughed. “That is true.”

--

A while later, Stacey leaned over toward where you were sitting against the back wall of the yard.

“Alright, so spill.” You looked over at her with raised brows. “Spill what?”

“Why don’t you want to go out with the boys? Was Anders right? You’ve got your eye on someone?”

“Oh.” You took a swig of your beer. “Yes and no. It’s- not going to happen.” You laughed under your breath and shook your head.

“No way, you’re a catch,” Stacey argued, pushing your shoulder playfully. “And Anders can totally talk any mortal into bed with you.”

You snorted. “Yeah, that’s not the issue. I’m sure he’d be down for a root, but that’s not-” You shook your head again. “I don’t want that.”

Stacey’s teasing air faded and her voice turned soft. “You really like this guy, eh?”

You shrugged, but nodded. “Mm.”

“So what’s the deal? Is he, like, married or something?”

“Nah.” You shook your head and took another deep drink of your beer.

Michele walked over and sat down facing you both. “What are you two plotting without me?” “Nothing.” “She’s fallen for some guy.” “Oh? Who’s the lucky mortal?” “Not that lucky. She hasn’t made a move.” “Oh, no. That’s pathetic. You need a little Sjofn push?”

“No!” you said a bit too panicked, putting your empty hand up. “Definitely not. I’m just going to swallow it down until it goes away.”

Stacey laughed, but Michele narrowed her eyes. “Why?” “Because it’s just never going to work out.” “You don’t know that.” “I’m serious. If I told you who it was, you’d laugh at me.”

“No way!” Stacey insisted. Michele crossed her heart, confident she could get you to tell her. “Goddess’s oath.” 

You contemplated it, looking around. You seemed to be alone in the yard, and the music from inside the house was loud enough that talking quietly should make it impossible for anyone to overhear you.

“You can’t tell anyone.” “Promise.” “Absolutely.” “Not even Ingrid. She’ll mean to keep it quiet and then tell Colin or one of the Johnsons by accident or something.”

They laughed but nodded in agreement.

You let out a quiet groan. This is probably a mistake.

“It’s…” You leaned closer and whispered. “Anders.”

Stacey nearly choked, laughing incredulously before falling into a coughing fit.

Michele just stared at you in alarm for a beat that faded to pity. “Oh, no.”

You huffed and rolled your eyes. “I know. I know. Hence nothing coming of it.” You got up and walked away before they could tell you any of the countless reasons it was never going to work out for you. You’d already agonized over them yourself plenty. 

Sure, you could probably talk him into a root or two, but you’d only end up upset and hurt when he didn’t want more from you.

Anders did not have partners; he had notches in his bedpost, and that was it. There was no point making things awkward for everyone by trying to change that and becoming a bitter ex. 

--

A week later, you were back at Michele’s for another god-party, arriving late after debating whether to come at all. 

It wasn’t that you didn’t want to be around them, but you knew that Stacey and Michele would be judging your interactions with Anders now, and you knew that he was probably going to talk about his exploits - which shouldn’t hurt your feelings, even though they did.

Eventually the barrage of texts - from your goddess friends as well as Anders and Axl - had convinced you that you should just suck it up and attend. The more you acted out of the norm, the more they would question why, and Michele or Stacey might let it slip.

Your two goddess friends spotted you the moment you arrived, and before you could stop them, you found yourself whisked into a bedroom to be stared down.

“Finally!” Michele crossed her arms. “Is this really about Bragi?”

You wrapped your own arms around yourself as your shoulders raised defensively. “Look, I’m here now, okay?”

“You need to get over him.” “She’s right, it’s for the best.” “I’m not trying to be under him! I can’t help how I feel-”

“Yes, you can,” Michele argued. “Stop playing along with his bullshit, and letting him treat you like the wanker-wingman he’s trying to turn sweet Axl into.”

You looked up and sighed. “So, what, just stop being friends with him?”

“Absolutely.” “I can’t do that. He hasn’t done anything wrong.” “Except be himself,” Stacey muttered.

You winced. “I like Anders. He’s funny, and smart, and he’s nice to me.” Michele raised a brow.

“He is!” You shifted, breaking eye contact. “In his own way.”

Michele softened, realizing that arguing with you about the subject of your crush might not be the most efficient route to solving this problem.

“And yet, boyfriend material he is not. So swallow down the butterflies, have a few meaningless roots, and for the love of Asgard, move on.”

You shrugged, pouting. “Yeah, that’s… more or less the plan.”

Michele wrapped an arm around your shoulders to lead you back out into the party. “Perfect.”

--

Michele and Stacey hovered around you for a good while, but eventually Michele went off to find Mike, while Stacey helped Ingrid to not destroy the food that she was trying to make for everyone.

You found yourself standing alone in the backyard, staring up at the sunset painting the clouds in warm hues. The soft blue that was fading from the sky suddenly reminded you of Anders’s eyes, and you felt a twist in your gut.

It wasn’t fair, you thought, to be so close to the man - indeed, a common companion on pub crawls and confidante of drunken exploit reports after his trysts - and yet unable to cross that invisible barrier.

Maybe he would be down for a root; it was Anders, after all. The problem with that was you; too much of a romantic to be satisfied by a bit of fun, you knew you’d feel lower than dirt to see him bedding mortals again after having his way with you. Being a meaningless root would be worse than being his undesirable friend.

“Ah, here she is. The cause of my sexual frustration.”

Anders’s voice caught you off-guard as much as his comment, and you raised a brow as he stepped up from behind you. You felt a flutter of anxiety, but played it cool.

“Excuse me?”

He placed his hand on your shoulder and leaned in close. “Went out with Axl as planned, but since you weren’t there, I wasn’t able to have any fun. Could have taken this fit blonde to the bog but Ax’ was getting into trouble without your supervision.”

You shut your eyes and pursed your lips, swallowing down the feelings of rejection that were rising like bile in your throat.

“And I’m sure that’s stopped you from Bragi-ing anyone else to bed since, eh?”

Anders laughed brightly. “Well, no. Of course not.” He gave you a glancing look-over. “Nice dress, by the way. Much better than the last one- But come with us next time. It wasn’t as fun without you there.”

You rolled your eyes. “To keep Axl company?”

“And me? And to have fun? Why are you being so weird about it? You usually like coming out with us.”

Anders hadn’t missed the offense in your voice, but he meant what he was saying; he just had a better time with you there.

Which is why he’d texted you multiple times trying to coax you to join them that night; why he’d been bothered by your lack of response.

He shook the beer he was trying to give you enticingly.

“Pass.” You took the bottle from him, but turned and walked off, feeling irritated that he really had no idea how you felt.

No, it’s my fault…

How would he possibly know, after months of following him and his baby bro to the bar, watching him take chick after chick home (or to some dark corner), that you didn’t want to hear about his sex life?

How could he know that finally voicing your feelings to Michele and Stacey had made them impossible to ignore; a dam that had secretly burst.

It wasn’t fair to treat him differently as a result, but you had to somehow. You simply couldn’t stomach it no matter how much you wanted to be around him.

Ugh… Michele is right.

He caught up to you before you could make it inside, blocking your path.

“What’s your problem?” “Sorry?” “Is there something the matter?”

You took a defensive step back. “What would be the matter?”

His nostrils flared, his voice low with irritation. “I don’t know, you’re the one suddenly too good to go out with us.”

You scoffed and tilted your head. “I never said that.”

“Then stop being so fucking weird-” “Stop asking me to babysit your brother so you can fuck every blonde in Auckland!” “Okay, fine!”

You could read the confusion and offense in Anders’s expression even as he took a step back.

“But just so you know, you’re starting to act a lot like your friend Michele.”

You knew what he meant, but you couldn’t help the offense you felt at him implying that was a bad thing. She was your friend, after all.

“So what if I am?” “Kinda prefer you acting like you?” “Oh- well- let me just change my personality to suit your taste then! Just like my wardrobe.”

Anders frowned. You’re offended by that now, too?

“Why don’t you go boss around a mortal?”

You saw the subtle twitch of his cheek as he clenched his jaw, his eyes searching yours.

He didn’t get where this sudden disdain was coming from. You’d never been so pissy with him, and never about him using his powers.

You felt your heart in your throat, anticipating some biting retort as he glared at you, but instead he suddenly turned and stormed off, leaving you alone outside again.

--

Anders stalked through the party until he found his brothers standing around chatting.

He threw himself into the conversation, acting aloof and lighthearted despite his mind being distracted by your odd behaviour.

He’d assumed you declining the invite last week had been a one-off, but now it seemed like the mere idea of going out with him and Axl - a longtime regular occurrence - was entirely bothersome to you.

He wondered if it had to do with your little goddess friends giving you shit; he knew they didn’t like him much. Or maybe you really did have some beau you’d neglected to mention. Neither option sat particularly well with him.

The light-hearted conversation was interrupted by the sound of a smoke alarm going off in the kitchen.

“Shit-”

Mike and Ty immediately ran toward it, even as Stacey started shouting that everything was fine - ‘just a little cooking mishap’ - over Ingrid’s apologies.

Anders laughed at the chaos and looked up at Axl. “Hey, while I’m thinking of it-” He leaned in close to ask Axl if he knew what was going on with you.

“What d’you mean?” “She doesn’t want to come out with us all of a sudden.”

“Really?” Axl cocked his head in surprise. He hadn’t truly questioned you not being there last time, but now that he thought about it, Anders did usually drag you out with them.

“When I asked her why not, she acted… fucking, weird, I dunno.” He sipped his beer. “Pissed off at me, but I can’t suss out why.” He glanced up at Axl. “Thought maybe you knew something I’d missed.”

“Nah, she seemed fine last we talked, but…” “But?” “Well… You can be kind of a dick, even if you don’t mean it.”

Anders scoffed, an insulted grin on his face as he briefly tucked his bottom lip into his mouth. “Love the vote of confidence from the baby bro.”

“Nah, just- you know how chicks are. You probably- didn’t even realize, or- didn’t mean it however she took it, you know? Just say you’re sorry, I bet she’ll forget all about it.”

Anders pursed his lips. He wasn’t exactly a stranger to upsetting people, though he couldn’t think of what he’d done this time. He was used to being himself around you - blunt and teasing - and you’d never gotten upset with him about it before.

In fact, that was part of why he liked hanging around you over the other gods and goddesses.

He had fun getting you to laugh despite yourself at the inappropriate things he said. You always took things the way he meant them, and you always seemed happy to see him. You never made him feel like he was some monster for using his power, or wanting to root. 

So then, whatever he’d done to upset you, it must have been pretty bad.

Maybe Axl was right that he just needed to apologize. Still, he wasn’t the sort to apologize without meaning it, or knowing what he was supposed to be sorry for. He was going to have to ask you what was going on, which he’d already tried with poor results.

“Goddesses,” he muttered in annoyance, resigning himself to having to talk to you about it.

“Chur.” Axl let out a small laugh and clinked his bottle against Anders’s.

--

You stayed outside while the fire alarm chaos went on, sitting at the edge of Michele’s pool to kick your legs in the water. 

You’d come out at their insistence, but all you wanted now was to go home. I’m not even in there anyway.

Once the commotion seemed to die down, you dried off using one of the towels Olaf had left out and slipped your shoes back on.

You found Stacey and Michele pouring themselves glasses of wine in the now-empty kitchen and gestured for them to follow you into Michele’s bedroom. 

With the door shut for privacy, you let out a defeated huff.

“Right. I’m gonna head out.” “No, stay,” Stacey whined. “No, I’ve made enough of an ass of myself for one night.”

Michele frowned. “Meaning?”

“I’m pretty sure Anders hates me now.”

Michele and Stacey answered over top of each other. “Well that’s no issue-” “I’m sure he doesn’t-”

You winced and let out a groan.

Stacey’s tone was full of concern. “What happened?”

“I was pathetic.” You held one hand to your forehead. “I got cross with him for no reason.”

“That’s not possible,” Michele muttered, rolling her eyes. If you were cross with Anders, it was probably justified.

“It’s not his fault that I fancy him and he doesn’t fancy me. And it’s childish to get hurt by it. I just need to…” You sighed and gestured half-heartedly. “Get over it somehow. It’s pointless.”

“True.” Michele nodded. “I could help you find a man for the night?”

“No, I just want to go home and sleep. Ta.”

Stacey patted your head, then pulled you into a hug while Michele shrugged.

--

Anders spotted Stacey and Michele coming into the living room after seeing you off, and he stepped over with a raised chin to ask where you were.

“She just left,” Stacey replied without hesitation, thumb pointing toward the door.

Michele elbowed her, but before she could say anything to Anders, he was already heading for the exit.

“Way to go, Stace,” she hissed.

--

Anders caught up to you just as you were about to get in your car.

“Hey!”

You raised your shoulders and sucked in a breath as you turned to face him. “What’s up?”

“You don’t say goodbye anymore?”

It was true that you normally made a point to do a goodbye lap at god gatherings, but you hadn’t been up for it tonight.

You shrugged. “Bye.”

“No- wait.” Anders put his hands on his hips and licked his lips. “Clearly there’s something going on.”

“No, nothing,” you lied.

“Look I know I’m a prick, but I am actually capable of behaving when I need to. Whatever I’ve done to upset you, if you just tell me, I’ll stop.”

You read the sadness in his face, and felt a tug in your heartstrings. Not only were you feeling like shit being around him, you were making him feel bad now too.  Oh, well done.

“No, Anders- I know that. You didn’t do anything. You’re fine.” You reached out to tap his cheek consolingly. “You’re perfect.”

“Then why do you keep looking at me like that?”

You retracted your hand, hunching your shoulders. “Like what?”

“Like that. Like I hurt your feelings or something.” “No. No, you didn’t. Really. There’s nothing wrong.”

Anders scowled, his cheek rippling in frustration. “Don’t lie to me.”

You swallowed, then looked down. “It doesn’t matter, really. It’s no worries.”

“What’s with you? Just tell me.”

It wasn’t like you to be so vague with him. The idea that you wouldn’t tell him what it was pissed him off for reasons he couldn’t explain to himself; maybe more than the idea that you were upset. You’d always been so open with him before. Did this mean you hated him so much you wouldn’t even give him a chance to make it right? Did you think only the worst of him suddenly?

You hugged yourself, not wanting to be honest, but knowing things were going to keep escalating if you didn’t. You could easily imagine the drunk texts or the scene he’d make at the next god gathering; him blaming Michele or trying to rope Mike into figuring it out for him. Your stomach turned and you fought back a wave of nausea.

“I thought… I could just get over it, or ignore it, or whatever. I wasn’t going to say anything, but- Now I guess I’ve let it ruin things.” 

You groaned, holding a hand to your face. This is pathetic.

“What?” Anders stared at you in confusion, still convinced that he’d done something and you were being too polite to tell him what. It must have been pretty bad to upset you this much, but he couldn’t think of anything out of the ordinary or particularly egregious that he’d done - particularly to you, who he’d considered one of the better gods in the group.

You met his concerned blue eyes with an earnest expression. “Anders, the truth is I-” You licked your lips, fighting the sting of tears. “I’ve sort of- Fallen in love with you? And I know nothing will come of that, so I didn’t want to make things weird by saying so.”

His face was slack with dumbfounded shock.

In love with me?

That was the opposite of what he’d been expecting to hear. You’d been so cold and avoidant that he was sure you were going to tell him how awful of a person he was; you wouldn’t have been the first.

But in love with him? Sure, he’d heard that before from mortal women who he’d Bragi’d to bed, who didn’t really know him at all but found him charming. He’d always shrugged it off as a bit of an insult, or an unintended lie. They loved some incorrect idea of him.

But you knew him better than that. You’d been there through messed up god business, and kept his secrets that even Dawn had no inkling of. That meant that you’d seen all the bad parts of him - bickering with his family; using his powers on everyone; drunk, and high, and being a prick - and concluded that he was lovable?

Really? Even his own family was always chastising him.

You took his stunned silence as confirmation of what you’d already known; he didn’t feel the same for you.

“Sorry,” you managed in goodbye, then climbed into your car.

He watched as you drove off, blinking and at a loss for words, Bragi no help this time.

---

Part 2 here

---

A/N: I wasn't sure I'd end up finishing any of my bingo WIPs given what's going on IRL right now... Shoutout to everyone who has been posting so much for the bingo event! And special shoutout to @laurfilijames, whose fic broke my writer's block.

Tags: @the-poldarkian @i-did-not-mean-to @the-butterfly-blues @laurfilijames @midearthwritings @feeweeeee @ichoosechoasandbeingqueer @missihart23

As always if you'd like to be added or removed from tagging (for a specific character/fandom/everything) just let me know any time!

#deanobingo2023 #the almighty johnsons fanfiction #the almighty johnsons #anders johnson #anders johnson fanfic #anders johnson x reader #anders johnson x female reader #anders johnson x goddess reader

[gatheringfiki]

The following ficlet was written by @lazysaturdayonthebeach​ based on this photoset.

Britchell, Rating TBC

You might also be able to read this story on AO3.

If you’ve enjoyed this story, please leave a comment either in replies or on AO3. :)

A Very Happy Christmas

---

Christmas Day was always spent at the Johnson family holiday barbecue. Hosting rotated, but Mikkel always manned the grill and Anders stocked the cooler and had some sides catered. Olaf usually brought his special cookies. Axl and Zeb brought cheap beer. Ty brought Dawn and cupcakes for dessert. Whatever current squabbles upset the brothers’ relationships were forgotten or at least ignored.

Christmas Eve belonged to Mitchell and Anders alone. Anders had made reservations at a 1930s themed restaurant atop a fine hotel in downtown Auckland. He also reserved a room for the night. None of the brothers would know where they were. They would turn off their phones so no one could interrupt them. Only Mikkel, as Ullr, would be able to find them if there was that big an emergency.

The whole evening almost ended before they left the apartment. Anders was chatting with the goldfish and feeding them for the evening when Mitchell walked out of the bedroom in a new burgundy suit. He stopped talking and just stared.

Mitchell smirked.

“John…”

“Nope! None of that. You have to wait.”

Anders almost cried.

John picked up both bags and headed for the door. If they kissed, the night would be over. Maybe a quick smooch in the car on the way to the hotel would be safe. Probably not. Best to wait until they went to bed.

The club was beautifully decorated in art deco style. Bold geometric designs and bright colors harmonized with chrome and ebony. Mitchell compared it to his memories while they dined. Both started with clams and scallops, eschewing the roasted asparagus. They sipped wine and held hands while awaiting their lamb with cabbage and parsnips. Mitchell suggested that it might be a little better with potatoes.

A band started playing while they awaited dessert: spiced pineapple for Anders and cheesecake for Mitchell. Their first song was Cheek to Cheek and was smoothly followed by How Deep Is the Ocean. Mitchell smiled dreamily during Night and Day.

While The Way You Look Tonight played, Anders checked his watch. They had half an hour before their Uber arrived for Midnight Mass. He started to suggest that they leave, but As Time Goes By, from Casablanca, started playing and he pulled Mitchell to the dance floor instead. They danced close and slow.

Anders' phone beeped just after the song ended, letting him know that their Uber was on the way to pick them up. He had turned it on, briefly, just for this necessity. He memorized the driver’s name and turned the phone back off. He whispered to Mitchell, paid the bill, and they walked out hand in hand.

In the Uber to St Paul’s College Chapel where Anders had found a traditional latin Mass. Still, Anders questioned taking a god to an important Catholic celebration.

Mitchell frowned at him, “Can any of you create something from nothing?”

“No.”

“Then maybe someone created you.”

Mass went as expected. Mitchell remembered all the old responses. Bragi helped Anders understand the language.

The same driver waited outside when Mass ended. They cuddled happily on the way back to the hotel. Perhaps in response to the generous tip Anders had added to the payment, the driver made a few detours so they could see Christmas lights and decorations displayed throughout the city.

Back in the hotel, Anders quickly divested Mitchell of the suit that had tormented him all evening. Mitchell kissed him with all the passion that they had been holding back since he emerged from the bedroom back at the apartment. The sex was desperate and quick. So much pent up anticipation and passion just refused to go slowly.

The aftermath was just the opposite. The two men relaxed, naked and sated, in the soft nest of their hotel bed. There was cuddling and slow kissing, talking and laughter. A second round of slow passionate love-making ensued.

Anders called for housekeeping to change the sheets while they took a long steamy shower.

Presents were exchanged.

Anders gave Mitchell a virgin cruise through New Zealand’s fjords. It was twelve nights from Auckland to Wellington to Timaru to Dunedin, where he hoped they would see the southern lights, around Dusky, Doubtful, and Milford Sounds, then on to Hobart, Melbourne, and Sydney. He whispered so softly that even with vampire hearing, Mitchell wasn’t sure he heard, “It could be a honeymoon if you want.” Anders would barely admit in public that they were a couple and here he was proposing .

Mitchell gave Anders a miniature that he had been sneaking off to pose for all year, and a yes.

He was terribly self-conscious about it, but he had hundreds of pictures of Anders. Anders loved it and was deeply touched, though he would never admit it to anyone else. Mitchell determined to get the same artist to do their wedding portrait.

They lay tangled together discussing wedding plans until sunrise. It was nearly six o’clock. They had time for a long nap before going to Mikkel’s at noon. Both turned their phones back on and made a last minute bet about who would wake them and when.

Dawn texted Mitchell five minutes later to ask how his proposal went. He replied with a happy face and “Shh.”

Anders mumbled about winning and snuggled closer, already asleep.

Mitchell kissed his fiancé’s forehead and whispered, “Happy Christmas.”

#submission #Gathering 12 Days 2023 #Mitchers #Britchell

[runilafancasts]

Fan Cast: Raiders From the Sea - Lois Johnson (Viking Quest, 1)

Briana "Bree" O'Toole - Amybeth McNulty Devin O'Toole - Art Parkinson Mikkel - Ty Simpkins Hauk - Shawn Ashmore Nola - Susan Lynch

#fan cast #historical fiction #Christian fiction #middle grade #runilafancasts #amybeth mcnulty #art parkinson #ty simpkins #shawn ashmore #susan lynch #viking quest #lois walfrid johnson #raiders from the sea

[filmspun]

2023 Oscar nominations :

Best Picture

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Malte Grunert, Producer

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers

“Elvis,” Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick and Schuyler Weiss, Producers

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang, Producers

“The Fabelmans,” Kristie Macosko Krieger, Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, Producers

“Tár,” Todd Field, Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert, Producers

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, David Ellison and Jerry Bruckheimer, Producers

“Triangle of Sadness,” Erik Hemmendorff and Philippe Bober, Producers

“Women Talking,” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Frances McDormand, Producers

Best Director 

Martin McDonagh (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Steven Spielberg (“The Fabelmans”) 

Todd Field (“Tár”) 

Ruben Östlund (“Triangle of Sadness”)

Best Lead Actor

Austin Butler (“Elvis”) 

Colin Farrell (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brendan Fraser (“The Whale”) 

Paul Mescal (“Aftersun”) 

Bill Nighy (“Living”) 

Best Lead Actress

Cate Blanchett (“Tár”) 

Ana de Armas (“Blonde”) 

Andrea Riseborough (“To Leslie”)

Michelle Williams (“The Fabelmans”) 

Michelle Yeoh (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Best Supporting Actor

Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”) 

Judd Hirsch (“The Fabelmans”)

Barry Keoghan (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett (“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”) 

Hong Chau (“The Whale”) 

Kerry Condon (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) 

Jamie Lee Curtis (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) 

Stephanie Hsu (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”)

Best Adapted Screenplay

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Screenplay by Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson & Ian Stokell

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” Written by Rian Johnson

“Living,” Written by Kazuo Ishiguro

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Screenplay by Ehren Kruger and Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie; Story by Peter Craig and Justin Marks

“Women Talking,” Screenplay by Sarah Polley

Best Original Screenplay

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Written by Martin McDonagh

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Written by Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

“The Fabelmans,” Written by Steven Spielberg & Tony Kushner

“Tár,” Written by Todd Field

“Triangle of Sadness,” Written by Ruben Östlund

All Quiet on the Western Front”, James Friend

“Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” Darius Khondji

“Elvis,” Mandy Walker

“Empire of Light,” Roger Deakins

“Tár,” Florian Hoffmeister

Best Documentary Feature Film 

“All That Breathes,” Shaunak Sen, Aman Mann and Teddy Leifer

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras, Howard Gertler, John Lyons, Nan Goldin and Yoni Golijov

“Fire of Love,” Sara Dosa, Shane Boris and Ina Fichman

“A House Made of Splinters,” Simon Lereng Wilmont and Monica Hellström

“Navalny,” Daniel Roher, Odessa Rae, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller and Shane Boris

Best Documentary Short Film 

“The Elephant Whisperers,” Kartiki Gonsalves and Guneet Monga

“Haulout,” Evgenia Arbugaeva and Maxim Arbugaev

“How Do You Measure a Year?” Jay Rosenblatt

“The Martha Mitchell Effect,” Anne Alvergue and Beth Levison

“Stranger at the Gate,” Joshua Seftel and Conall Jones

Best Film Editing

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen

“Elvis,” Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Paul Rogers

“Tár,” Monika Willi

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Eddie Hamilton

Best International Feature Film 

“All Quiet on the Western Front” (Germany) 

“Argentina, 1985” (Argentina) 

“Close” (Belgium)

“EO” (Poland) 

“The Quiet Girl” (Ireland) 

Best Original Song 

“Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman,” Music and Lyric by Diane Warren

“Hold My Hand” from “Top Gun: Maverick,” Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and BloodPop

“Lift Me Up” from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Music by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler and Ludwig Goransson; Lyric by Tems and Ryan Coogler

“Naatu Naatu” from “RRR,” Music by M.M. Keeravaani; Lyric by Chandrabose  

“This Is a Life” from “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Music by Ryan Lott, David Byrne and Mitski; Lyric by Ryan Lott and David Byrne 

Best Production Design 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Production Design: Christian M. Goldbeck; Set Decoration: Ernestine Hipper

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Production Design: Dylan Cole and Ben Procter; Set Decoration: Vanessa Cole

“Babylon,” Production Design: Florencia Martin; Set Decoration: Anthony Carlino

“Elvis,” Production Design: Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy; Set Decoration: Bev Dunn

“The Fabelmans,” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara

Best Visual Effects

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Frank Petzold, Viktor Müller, Markus Frank and Kamil Jafar

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon and Daniel Barrett

“The Batman,” Dan Lemmon, Russell Earl, Anders Langlands and Dominic Tuohy

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Geoffrey Baumann, Craig Hammack, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Ryan Tudhope, Seth Hill, Bryan Litson and Scott R. Fisher

Best Animated Feature Film 

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio,” Guillermo del Toro, Mark Gustafson, Gary Ungar and Alex Bulkley

“Marcel the Shell With Shoes On,” Dean Fleischer Camp, Elisabeth Holm, Andrew Goldman, Caroline Kaplan and Paul Mezey

“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” Joel Crawford and Mark Swift

“The Sea Beast,” Chris Williams and Jed Schlanger

“Turning Red,” Domee Shi and Lindsey Collins

Best Animated Short Film

“The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” Charlie Mackesy and Matthew Freud

“The Flying Sailor,” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

“Ice Merchants,” João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano

“My Year of Dicks,” Sara Gunnarsdóttir and Pamela Ribon

“An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It,” Lachlan Pendragon

Best Costume Design 

“Babylon,” Mary Zophres

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Ruth Carter

“Elvis,” Catherine Martin

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Shirley Kurata

“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” Jenny Beavan

Best Live Action Short

“An Irish Goodbye,” Tom Berkeley and Ross White

“Ivalu,” Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan

“Le Pupille,” Alice Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuarón

“Night Ride,” Eirik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen

“The Red Suitcase,” Cyrus Neshvad

Best Makeup and Hairstyling 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Heike Merker and Linda Eisenhamerová

“The Batman,” Naomi Donne, Mike Marino and Mike Fontaine

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Camille Friend and Joel Harlow

“Elvis,” Mark Coulier, Jason Baird and Aldo Signoretti

The Whale,” Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Anne Marie Bradley

Best Original Score 

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Volker Bertelmann

“Babylon,” Justin Hurwitz

“The Banshees of Inisherin,” Carter Burwell

“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Son Lux

“The Fabelmans,” John Williams

Best Sound

“All Quiet on the Western Front,” Viktor Prášil, Frank Kruse, Markus Stemler, Lars Ginzel and Stefan Korte

“Avatar: The Way of Water,” Julian Howarth, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Dick Bernstein, Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers and Michael Hedges

“The Batman,” Stuart Wilson, William Files, Douglas Murray and Andy Nelson

“Elvis,” David Lee, Wayne Pashley, Andy Nelson and Michael Keller

“Top Gun: Maverick,” Mark Weingarten, James H. Mather, Al Nelson, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor

#oscars #oscar nominations #2023 oscars #academy award nominations #oscar nods

[boardchairman-blog]

2023 Oscar Predictions

Best Picture

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Banshees of Inisherin

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Tár

Top Gun: Maverick

The Whale

Women Talking

Best Director

All Quiet on the Western Front- Edward Berger

The Banshees of Inisherin- Martin McDonagh

Everything Everywhere All at Once- Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

The Fabelmans- Steven Spielberg

Tár- Todd Field

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett- Tár

Viola Davis- The Woman King

Danielle Deadwyler- Till

Michelle Williams - The Fabelmans

Michelle Yeoh- Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Actor

Austin Butler- Elvis

Colin Farrell- The Banshees of Inisherin

Brendan Fraser- The Whale

Paul Mescal- Aftersun

Bill Nighy- Living

Best Supporting Actor

Paul Dano- The Fabelmans

Brendan Gleeson- The Banshees of Inisherin

Barry Keoghan- The Banshees of Inisherin

Ke Huy Quan- Everything Everywhere All at Once

Eddie Redmayne- The Good Nurse

Best Supporting Actress

Angela Bassett- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Kerry Condon- The Banshees of Inisherin

Jamie Lee Curtis- Everything Everywhere All at Once

Dolly De Leon- Triangle of Sadness

Stephanie Hsu- Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Original Screenplay

The Banshees of Inisherin- Martin McDonagh

Everything Everywhere All at Once- Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

The Fabelmans- Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner

Tár-  Todd Field

Triangle of Sadness- Ruben Östlund

Best Adapted Screenplay

All Quiet on the Western Front-   Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokel

Glass Onion-  Rian Johnson

Living-  Kazuo Ishiguro

The Whale- Samuel D. Hunter

Women Talking- Sarah Polley

Best Animated Feature

Marcell the Shell with Shoes On

Pinocchio

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Turning Red

Wendell and Wild

Best Documentary Feature

All That Breathes

All the Beauty and the Bloodshed

Fire of Love

Moonage Daydream

Navalny

Best Foreign Language Film

All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)

Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)

Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Mexico)

Decision to Leave (South Korea)

The Quiet Girl (Ireland)

Best Original Score

Carter Burwell- The Banshees of Inisherin

Alexandre Desplat- Pinocchio

Hildur Guðnadóttir- Women Talking

Justin Hurwitz- Babylon

John Williams- The Fabelmans

Best Original Song

“Applause” from Tell It Like a Woman

“Hold My Hand” from Top Gun: Maverick

“Lift Me Up” from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

“Naatu Naatu” from RRR

“Stand Up” from Till

Best Cinematography

Greig Fraser- The Batman

James Friend- All Quiet on the Western Front

Janusz Kaminski- The Fabelmans

Claudio Miranda- Top Gun: Maverick

Mandy Walker- Elvis

Best Film Editing

All Quiet on the Western Front- Sven Budelmann 

The Banshees of Inisherin- Mikkel E. G. Nielsen

Elvis- Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond

Everything Everywhere All at Once- Paul Rogers

Top Gun: Maverick- Eddie Hamilton

Best Costume Design

Jenny Beavan- Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Ruth E. Carter- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Catherine Martin- Elvis

Gersha Phillips- The Woman King

Mary Zophres- Babylon

Best Production Design

All Quiet on the Western Front- Christian M. Goldbeck and Ernestine Hipper

Avatar: The Way of Water- Dylan Cole, Ben Procter, and Vanessa Cole

Babylon- Florencia Martin and Anthony Carlino

Elvis- Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy and Bev Dunn

The Fabelmans- Rick Carter and Karen O'Hara

Best Sound

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

Elvis

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Top Gun: Maverick

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

All Quiet on the Western Front

The Batman

Crimes of the Future

Elvis

The Whale

Best Visual Effects

All Quiet on the Western Front

Avatar: The Way of Water

The Batman

Thirteen Lives

Top Gun: Maverick

Overall

All Quiet on the Western Front: 10

The Banshees of Inisherin: 9 

Everything Everywhere All at Once: 9

Elvis: 8

The Fabelmans: 8

Top Gun: Maverick: 6

Avatar: The Way of Water: 4

Tár: 4

The Whale: 4

Babylon: 3

The Batman: 3

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: 3

Women Talking: 3

Living: 2

Pinocchio: 2

Till: 2

Triangle of Sadness: 2

The Woman King: 2

#oscars #oscar predictions #2023 oscar predictions #95th oscars #95th academy awards #academy awards #everything everywhere all at once #eeaao #avatar #elvis #the fabelmans #spielberg #austin bustler #colin farrell #brendan fraser #michelle yeoh #stephanie hsu #angela bassett #paul dano #michelle williams #cate blanchett #the batman #lady gaga #top gun: maverick #ke huy quan #paul mescal #babylon #tar #james cameron #john willliams

[isupportzaynxliamxziam]

✒ Friday, 6 December 2019

Liam finally releases his debut album LP1, not only a standard edition with all his hit singles, but also a Target edition with bonus tracks like Hurting Me, which is written by Liam with Simon Willox, Steve McCutcheon and Andrew Wotman, also known as Andrew Watt, wil handled the production . Before It Ends is also written by Liam with David Gibson, Ian Franzino and Andrew Haas. Afterhrs is the producer of the song

🙏 -> tarnished-butsogrand

Liam also releases a Japanese edition of his debut album with bonus tracks like Down, written by Marcus Lomax, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen. Stefan and Jordan Johnson. The Monsters & Strangerz produce the song with Stargate and Ben Rice

Trouble is written by Liam with Ronald Spencer and Aaron Zuckerman, while the production is done by Ronny J and Jeremy Zucker

🙏 -> tarnished-butsogrand

Nobody Else is also written by Liam with again Simon Wilcox, Mikkel S. Eriksen and Tor Erik Hermansen, as well as with Isley Juber and Bilan Lambroza, who also handled the production with Stargate

🙏 -> liam-93-production

#✒ Friday 6December 2019 #❤ Liam Payne #🎵 LP1 #🎧 Down #🎧 Trouble #🎧 Nobody Else #SoundCloud

[2022movieonline]

欧美10部有内涵的爱情动作电影片 你不能只把它们当apian来看

欧美10部有内涵的爱情动作电影片 你不能只把它们当apian来看，里面的故事情节，人物构造，画面风格都值等你细细品味! 1.情欲九歌九首歌/情欲九歌/9 Songs 影片原名：9 Songs 国家地区：英国 上映时间：2004-05-16 影片时长：66分钟 导演：Michael Winterbottom 主演：Alex Kapranos，Courtney Taylor-Taylor，Gruff Rhys，Guy Garvey，Jason Stollsteimer，Kieran O’Brien，Marcie Bolen，Margo Stilley，Peter Hayes，Robert Levon Been 影片介绍：在广阔寂静的南极上空，一位年轻的冰川学家马特（Kieran O’Brien饰）回忆起自己与丽莎（Margo Stilley饰）的恋情，他们在伦敦的布里克斯顿音乐学院的音乐节上相遇，那个欲望初绽的夏天，几个月的时间里，他们一起追求相互之间的滚床单. 在那个夏天，九首歌典相对应他们的一次次高潮，一次次缠绵，有笑有泪的爱情故事片，由于大尺度的演出被定义为情色禁片，而主角之间的爱情却也不失甜美…… 拍摄性爱场面时，拍摄现场只有导演、摄影师和录音师。该片预计拍摄10周，但实际只拍了5周。 2.安娜情欲史 影片原名：All About Anna 国家地区：丹麦 上映时间：2005-11-24 影片时长：91分钟 导演：Jessica Nilsson 主演：Gry Bay,Adrian Bouchet,Eileen Daly,Morten Schelbech,Ovidie 影片介绍： 女主角Anna是一名模特，是个不想受感情束缚，享受自由独立生活的女子，不过与前男友重逢后，她有一丝心动，但同时又挣扎着不想失去好不容易拥有的自由，其中两人多场情欲戏一次次都以失败的性高潮结束…… 3.五十度灰 五十度灰/Fifty Shades Freed 影片原名：Fifty Shades Freed 国家地区：美国 上映时间：2018-01-17 影片时长：105分钟 导演：James Foley 主演：Dakota Johnson,Jamie Dornan,Eric Johnson,Luke Grimes,Rita Ora 影片介绍： 一名纯真的21岁女大学生安娜塔希娅·史迪尔（达科塔·约翰逊饰）因为要为校报作一篇报道，便前去采访28岁英俊的企业家克里斯钦·格雷（杰米·道南饰），两人之间擦出了爱的火花，但很快安娜就发现格雷的一个惊人的秘密——他喜欢SM（性虐待）。得知真相的安娜在爱与痛的边缘之间不断挣扎，结果不断发现自己不为人知的阴暗面。本片自上映以来，评分一般，但是关注度极高，IMDB的评分次数达到53000次。 4.黑帮大佬和我的365日 黑帮大佬和我的365日 影片原名：禁室365天(港) / 禁锢之欲(台) / 365天 / 365日 / 365 Days/365 dni 国家地区：波兰 上映时间：2020-02-07 影片时长：116分钟 导演：Barbara Bialowas 主演：Anna Maria Sieklucka，Michele Morrone 影片介绍： 马西莫·托里塞利是一个西西里黑手党家族的年轻英俊的老板，在他的父亲被暗杀后，他别无选择，只能接掌位子。 劳拉·贝尔是一家豪华酒店的总监，事业有成，但私生活却缺乏激情,她努力来挽救人际关系，和朋友一起去西西里岛旅行。劳拉没有料到岛上最危险的人马西莫会绑架她，囚禁她，给她365天时间爱上他。《365 dni》是根据波兰同名畅销小说改编。 5.苦月亮 苦月亮Bitter Moon 影片原名：Bitter Moon 国家地区：法国 上映时间：1992-09-02 影片时长：139 分钟 导演：Roman Polanski 主演：Hugh Grant，Kristin Scott Thomas 影片介绍： 听到她的故事后，游轮上的一名乘客对一个截瘫患者的妻子产生了难以抗拒的迷恋。 6.罗马的房子 罗马的房子/Room in Rome 影片原名：Habitación en Roma 国家地区：西班牙 上映时间：2010-05-07 影片时长：109分钟 导演：Julio Medem 主演：Elena Anaya,Natasha Yarovenko,Enrico Lo Verso,Najwa Nimri 提名： 高雅奖最佳女主角， 哥雅奖最佳新人女演员， 高雅奖最佳改编剧本奖 影片介绍： 《罗马的房间》是一部2010年的西班牙情色浪漫喜剧电影，描绘了在罗马的旅馆房间里，两个女人在一个晚上的情感和性关系。该情节松散地取材于另一部电影《躺在床上》。《罗马的房间》是胡立欧·麦登的第一部英语电影。 7.枕头上的爱 枕头上的爱/Le Repos du guerrier 影片原名：Le Repos du guerrier 国家地区：法国 上映时间：1962-09-05 影片时长：102分钟 导演：Roger Vadim 主演：Brigitte Bardot,Robert Hossein,Jean-Marc Bory,Michel Serrault,Jacqueline Porel 影片介绍： 《枕头上的爱》是由罗杰·瓦迪姆执导的1962年法国电影，由碧姬·芭铎主演。在法国，它被称为Le r​​epos du guerrier 8.你的妈妈也一样 你的妈妈也一样/Y Tu Mamá También 影片原名：Y Tu Mamá También 国家地区：墨西哥 上映时间：2001-06-08 影片时长：106分钟 导演：Alfonso Cuarón 主演：Gael García Bernal,Diego Luna,Maribel Verdú,Daniel Giménez Cacho,Diana Bracho,María Aura 影片介绍： 《你的妈妈也一样》是2001年墨西哥剧情电影，由阿方索·卡隆执导，并与弟弟卡洛斯合作编剧。剧情描述两个青少年为了即将到来的成年时刻，于是与一个美丽成熟的女子同行，展开了一趟公路之旅。电影由墨西哥演员迭戈·卢纳和盖尔·贾西亚·贝纳以及西班牙演员玛莉贝尔·维杜主演。 9.巴黎野玫瑰 巴黎野玫瑰/Betty Blue 影片原名：37°2 le matin 国家地区：法国 上映时间：1986-04-09 影片时长：185分钟 导演：Jean-Jacques Beineix 主演：Jean-Hugues Anglade,Béatrice Dalle,Gérard Darmon,Clémentine Célarié,Jacques Mathou,Consuelo De Haviland 提名： 凱薩獎最佳男配角獎， 凯萨奖最佳影片奖， 凯萨奖最佳女主角奖， 影片介绍： （Betty Blue）是一部1986年的法国情色心理剧情片。它的原始法语名称是37°2 le matin，意思是“早晨37.2℃”。电影由Jean-Jacques Beineix执导，主演BéatriceDalle和Jean-Hugues Anglade。 10.皇室风流史 皇室风流史/En kongelig affære/A Royal Affair 影片原名：En kongelig affære 国家地区：丹麦 上映时间：2012-03-29 影片时长：137分钟 导演：Lars von Trier 主演：Mads Mikkelsen,Alicia Vikander,Mikkel Boe Følsgaard,David Dencik,Cyron Melville,Trine Dyrholm 提名： 凱薩獎最佳男配角獎， 凯萨奖最佳影片奖， 凯萨奖最佳女主角奖， 影片介绍： 讲述18世纪60到70年代丹麦-挪威王国皇后玛蒂尔德与宫廷御医施特林泽之间所发生的“婚外情”。 由于丈夫、丹麦国王克里斯蒂安七世狂躁、轻狂、无礼，智商情商皆不高，因此刚嫁给他的丹麦王后卡洛琳（来自英国，自由派）很郁闷。带着秘密任务接近克里斯蒂安七世的德国医生施特林泽（自由改革派人物）很快获得国王的好感，并顺利掌控国王，影响政局的积极变化。原本一切变革顺利进行，但由于他和王后发生关系并生下一个女儿，最终被保守派抓住把柄，施特林泽和另一人被送上了断头台秘密处决。

[anglophiletraveler]

Chapter 5

You Can't Pick Your Relatives

Note: I finally got around to making a collage to go with this fic that I've been writing based on The Almighty Johnsons. The female lead in the story, Charlie, isn't based on anyone in the show, but in my mind she's a fiesty, beautiful red head from Canada! I did find a picture of the above actress that is similar to how I envision her. I hope this helps you enjoy the story more!

Anders was looking at his face in his bathroom mirror.  It was as bad as Dawn said, and it will definitely not be any better by tomorrow’s meeting with Charlie.  And he really had wanted to see her face after she received his basket.  He was going to have to text her and tell her that he’s sick and won’t be at the meeting.  He really hated to tell her in a text, but if she talked to him, he was afraid that she would figure out that he really wasn’t sick.  “That damn Mikkel!!” Anders yelled!  Of course he had a headache from the hit, so he took some medicine for that.  He wanted to drink some vodka with it, but he talked himself out of it, so he grabbed a bottle of water and sat down to test Charlie.

“Hello blue eyes!”

“Lol! I could be calling you the same!”

“Well yours are much prettier than mine!”

“Well aren’t u just full of 💩 tonight!  How are you?”

“Lol!  Well, that’s actually what I’m texting you about.  I’ve come down with a flu or something and I won’t be able to make it to the meeting tomorrow.  Dawn knows everything I do, so she’ll be fine to run it.  I’m sorry  🤢.”

“Oh no! I was looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!”

“I know.  I really wanted to see you too.”

“Well, can I bring you over some soup or ginger ale or something?”

“Oh you’re so sweet.  But I don’t want you coming over and catching what I have.  But thanks for the offer.”

“Gosh you were fine yesterday.  I must have worn down your immunity! Lol!”

“That’s probably it!  I’m going to go lay back down.  Thanks for understanding.”

“Oh you poor thing!  Take care of yourself! ❤️”

“FUCK!” Anders yelled again.  “Damn you Mikkel!  You fuck up everything for me!!”

Anders grabbed his phone and called Ty.

“Anders?  What’s up?”

“Ty!  Everything is fucked up now with this fucking eye of mine.  It’s going to take at least a week for it to go away!  A week Ty!  What am I going to do??  What am I going to tell Charlie? I just texted her that I can’t be at the meeting tomorrow and she wants to bring me soup!  Soup Ty!  I can’t avoid her for a week, she’ll think I don’t like her!  She’ll think I’m, I’m, just playin her!”

Ty sighed.  “Anders, try to calm down. I know that sounds stupid right now.”

“Fuckin’ right it sounds stupid!”

“Screaming right now isn’t going to make things better! If she thinks you’re sick, maybe she won’t push getting together with you for awhile.  If she thinks you’re contagious she won’t want to come around, and maybe your eye will be better by then.”

“Maybe.  And that’s a big maybe.”

“Besides Anders, what’s the big idea if Charlie did find out how you got the eye.  You weren’t the one that was doing the swinging.”

“I just wanted to keep Mike and Axl out of our relationship.  I didn’t want them to taint our relationship.  You know how they are, they spew all sorts of shit about me to anyone.  And if they find out I might have a.. a…”

“Girlfriend?”

“She’s not my girlfriend!  She’s just a friend.  And if they find out about her they’ll tell her a bunch of shit and chase her off.”

“Well Dawn and I won’t say a word to them about her.  Just try to calm down and get some sleep.  You might be getting upset for nothing,” Ty said.

“Right.  Fat chance of that.  I’ll see ya.  Thanks Ty.”

***********************

The next morning, Charlie’s secretary Evan, was preparing for a busy day ahead with his boss when an unusual package was hand delivered from a delivery service for Charlie.  Evan raised an eyebrow at the package and signed for the delivery so the delivery person could leave.  It almost looked like a fruit basket the way it had been wrapped in that slippery cellophane wrapping paper.  It was purple so he couldn’t see inside it and tied with a big bow and a card that was sealed, so he couldn’t see who it was from.   He picked it up and knocked on his boss’s door.

“Come in.”

“Charlie, I have something for you,” Evan announced.

Charlie was reading some paperwork and didn’t look up right away.  Evan was awkwardly standing there until she gave her attention to him.

Finally she looked up, “What is that?”

“I’m sure I don’t know, but your name is on the card,” Evan handed the card to her.  “Where do you want me to put it?”

Charlie was looking at the envelope to see if she recognized the handwriting, “Well, just leave it here on my desk I guess.”  Evan set it down and was hoping that she would open it so that he could see what was inside the package.  Charlie hadn’t opened the envelope yet, but she was curious about the package.  “You know Evan, it could be a bomb.”

“Oh good God!” Evan replied in an alarmed voice.  “Who would want to send a bomb to you?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe it’s really meant for you!” Charlie teased.

“Oh Charlie, for God’s sake open the damn envelope!”

Charlie let out one of her bawdy laughs.  She carefully opened the envelope like it could be tainted.  

Dear Charlie,

I tried really hard to find a florist to make an arrangement out of maple leaves to send to you, but none of them would cooperate with me.  So this will have to be the next best thing.  Ty and Dawn love baking cupcakes, so they created these maple flavoured creations for you.  Enjoy!

Anders

Charlie let out a gasp, “Oh my gosh!!”  She ripped open the package which caused the maple leaves to spill out everywhere on her desk.

Charlie was laughing even louder and she grabbed some of the leaves and threw them up in the air!!  “I love it!”

Evan was looking at her like she lost her mind, “What on earth is all of this.  Who is it from?”

Charlie looked at Evan, “It’s from Anders!  His card said that he couldn’t find a florist to make an arrangement with maple leaves, so he made this basket!  Isn’t that sweet!”

“What’s the deal with all of the leaves?” Evan asked.

“Don’t you get it?  I’m Canadian!!  Our symbol on the flag is the maple leaf!  Duh!  What else does he have here?”  She pulled out the bottles of maple syrup which made her cackle.  Then she pulled out a plastic container and when she opened it, it was filled with white cupcakes with little red maple leafs on them.  “Oh look at the cupcakes Evan!  Here, try one!”  She gave Evan one and he bit into it and chewed, “It’s good but I can’t tell what the flavour is?”

Charlie bit into a cupcake, realising right away the flavour, “They are maple flavoured!  I love it!  And look at these decorations!  Wow, they did a really good job, I’m impressed!”

Evan was finishing his cupcake, “So did Anders make the cupcakes?”

“No, the card says that his brother and Dawn did.  Oh by the way he texted me last night and he’s not going to be at the meeting this afternoon and Dawn is going to run it.  He said he’s really sick.”  She started picking up the leaves from her desk.

“My my Charlie, you and Anders are certainly getting close,” he gave her a knowing smile.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” she wasn’t about to tell Evan about the weekend that she just had with Anders.  This basket of goodies gave her hope that Anders was feeling the same about her, that she was about him.  He could have just sent some ordinary roses, but she loved the fact that he went the extra mile to be different and quirky and sent this basket to her. 

Evan was wadding up the cellophane wrapping paper to clean up her desk, “Do you want me to throw these leaves out?”

“Evan, don’t you dare!”

********************************

The meeting with the commercial director, editor, and Dawn had wrapped up, and Evan was showing everyone out, when Charlie stopped Dawn.

“Dawn!  I just wanted to thank you for the cupcakes, they’re delicious.  And so clever!”

Dawn smiled at Charlie, “Oh I’m glad that you like them.  My husband Ty did most of the work.  He and Anders were so cute with their heads together on what to send you since Anders couldn’t find the right flower arrangement to send you.”

“It was very original.  I assume that all took place before Anders got sick?” Charlie asked.

Dawn had forgotten that Anders was supposed to be sick.  She didn’t know what to say, “Oh, oh yes!  Anders, he um,  started getting sick when he was still at our place.  And so he didn’t want to get Andrea sick, so, he went home.” She didn’t like the weird look that Charlie was giving her. It probably didn’t help that Dawn tapping a pen on her leg and she was fidgety.

“Dawn, why do I get the feeling that you’re hiding something from me?” 

Dawn sighed.  She looked around to make sure nobody was in the conference room that they were in, and she closed the door.  “Anders is going to kill me for telling you this.”

Charlie started to panic inside and spilled her guts out to Dawn.  “Dawn, I know he’s been a player in the past, but we just had a really good weekend.  Do you think he regrets that now? I wonder if I came on too strong?  Is he trying to avoid me?”

Dawn was surprised by Charlie’s confession and shook her head, “What?  Nooo, that’s not it.  I think, yes, Anders has been a player in the past, a very big player.  But I think he likes you.  But he was afraid to see you today, because his eye… can we sit down?”

The two women sat down.  Dawn let out a big sigh.  “Anders was afraid to come to the meeting today because he was afraid of what you and the others might think of him.  It wasn’t Anders' fault. I felt so bad for him. His brother Mike is a big bully sometimes.  And…” 

Dawn wasn’t making sense, and Charlie was getting more confused, “Dawn!  What wasn’t Anders' fault?”

“Anders got a black eye yesterday.  A really bad one.  He’s not really sick, but he was afraid of what you would think if he came in here today with a black eye.  We tried icing it but the swelling just wouldn’t go down.” Dawn finally explained.

“I don’t understand.  Did he get into a fight with a woman’s boyfriend or something?” Charlie was starting to doubt her feelings for Anders now.

“No, no it wasn’t anything like that.  It happened when he was trying to pick some maple leaves from a tree.  His brother Mike spotted him from his truck and pulled over, and went over and confronted Anders about a family issue, and in order to get away from Mike and not get into a fight, Anders turned away and started walking away from Mike.  Well that made Mike even more angry, and so he grabbed Anders and punched him and gave him the black eye.” Dawn huffed.

Charlie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.  She remembered the few times she tried to mention Anders’ family he always changed the subject.  “That’s crazy.  Did Anders hit him back?”

Dawn shook her head, “No, I don’t think so.  He knew it wouldn’t have done any good.”

“Well, whenever I’ve tried to talk about his family, he’s avoided the subject.  I guess this is the reason why.  So he’s at home?” 

“Yes, he has been working from home.  He’s planning on doing that for the rest of the week until the eye gets better.  But I think it’s going to take longer than that.  It’s pretty bad.  I’m starting to think he should’ve gone to the clinic or A&E,” Dawn said.

“Oh my gosh.  Poor guy.  Where does he live?” Charlie asked.

“Oh Charlie, he will kill me if you go over to his flat,” Dawn said.

“You let me handle that,” Charlie said.  “Just tell me where he lives.”

*******************************

Anders had worked from home all day.  Dawn had said the meeting had gone well and that Charlie had liked her basket.  He was kind of disappointed that he never heard from Charlie herself about the basket, but then again she did think he was sick.  He was just about to make some supper for himself when he heard someone knocking on the door.   He didn’t know who it could be because he didn’t buzz anyone through the main door.  They knocked again.  He opened the door slowly and was shocked to see Charlie standing there with a big smile on her face.  She quietly started singing, “Oh Canada! Our home and native land! True patriot love thou dost in us command.”

Anders started laughing and opened the door, “Get in here before the neighbours call the coppers!”  He noticed that she was carrying a large pot.  “Here let me get that for you.  What is it?  Smells delicious.”

“Well, I heard someone was sick, so I made some chicken noodle soup to help them feel better,” said Charlie.

Anders sat the pot down on the stove and opened the lid to look at it, “Wow, thank you.  You didn’t have to do that.  I was just getting ready to scramble an egg.”

Charlie was still smiling, “Well, now you don’t have to.  It should still be hot if you want to have a bowl now.  I’ve brought some crackers to go with it.”

Anders leaned on the counter, looked down and swallowed hard.  He didn’t know what to say.  Obviously Charlie had seen his eye by now.  

Charlie started looking through his cupboards, “Where are your bowls, I’ll ladle you some out.  Oh here they are.”

Anders cleared his throat, “Are you going to have some with me?”

“Sure, I’ll join you.  Where do you want to sit?”  Charlie was busying herself to get through the awkwardness between them.

“The couch is fine.  Would you like something to drink?” Anders wanted to crawl under the nearest rock.  Why is she being so nice to him after he’s lied to her and has a black eye.

“Um, water is fine for me,” She carried the bowls over to the table in front of the couch.  She 

pulled the crackers out of her bag and jumped up to get napkins and spoons.

They both finally sat down to eat.  Anders finally looked Charlie in the face, “Thank you for bringing this over.  You didn’t need to.  I assume that Dawn told you where I live?”

“Yes she did.  I twisted her arm,” Charlie said.

“Yeah I bet you did.  It didn’t take much I’m sure. I assume she told you about my eye also?” Anders asked.

 “What eye?  I don’t know what you’re talking about?  How’s the soup?” Charlie said with a twinkle in her eye.

Anders chuckled, “It’s delicious, thanks again.  And I’m sure that my neighbours are relieved that you’ve stopped singing ‘Oh Canad’ as well.”

Charlie placed her hand on her throat, “What!  I’m hurt that you don’t appreciate the Canadian National Anthem. It’s a beautiful anthem I’ll have you know!”

“I didn’t say that it wasn’t, all I said was that my neighbours are probably relieved that you’ve stopped singing it.  Dawn said the meeting went well.”

“Yes it did, no thanks to you, ya egg!”  Anders laughed at her use of the slang word.  “And I loved the basket you sent me.  It was awesome.  Nobody has ever sent me a basket of leaves before.  Thank you for going out of your way to make it special.”

Anders swallowed hard and his eyebrows raised as he looked at this woman in front of him.  “I, um.  You’re very welcome,” Anders said in a soft voice.  Charlie raised her hand to gently touch his eye.  Anders laid his hand on top of hers and closed his eyes, then touched her hand.

“Does it hurt?” Charlie asked.

“Just a bit.”

“Maybe we should get it checked out.  It looks pretty bad.”

Anders smiled, “Nah, there’s nothing they can do.  I’ll just keep icing it.”

“Anders, I really think it should be checked out.  You could have some damage to your cornea or retina or something.  Please? For me?”  Charlie was giving her best puppy dog look to Anders.

Anders rolled his eyes, “Jaysus how can I resist you?!”

************************

After spending five hours in A & E, a tired and frustrated Anders and Charlie finally made it back to his place, complete with an eye patch covering the black eye.  They both collapsed on the sofa.

“The next time you try to convince me to go to the A & E, I’m going to remind you of this night,” Anders growled.

“It was a long night, but obviously you needed to be checked out.  I had no idea it would be this busy in the emergency room on a Tuesday evening.  But from what the doctor and the ophthalmologist said, I’m glad you went.  Your cornea is nothing to be messed with.   If you’d like, I can spend the night and help you put the medicine in your eye in the morning,” Charlie offered.

Anders smiled at Charlie and teased her, “I’m never going to stop you from spending the night!”

Charlie chucked at the insinuation, “Okay, sounds good.  I can sleep on the couch so that you can rest better.”

“Like fuck you are!  You are sleeping with me!”

That brought out Charlie’s deep laugh, “Anders, the eye doctor said you need to take it easy for the next couple of days.”  She was trying to sound all innocent.

“Listen here, he said take it easy.  I don’t think that meant no sex!”

“I think you’re wrong Anders.  It says right here on these discharge papers no sex for two weeks!”  She loved teasing Anders.

Anders tried to grab the papers from her but she was holding them out of his reach!  “Now I know it doesn’t say that in the paperwork.  Let me see!”

“Mmmm with which eye?”

“Ohhh you are a cheeky little thing aren’t you!” Anders finally grabbed the discharge papers out of Charlie’s hands and was reading them with the one good eye he had at the moment.  “Ha!  Nowhere does it say no sex!  So that means you are sleeping with me.  And as luck would have it, my housekeeper put clean sheets on my bed this morning.”  

“You have a housekeeper for this little apartment?” Charlie asked.

He grabbed Charlie and started tickling her.  She ended up on Ander’ lap with his arms wrapped around her waist, while he was nuzzling her neck kissing her all over.  She quickly rolled her head to give him more room to work, running her fingers through his hair.  

Anders inhaled her scent, “Jaysus how do you still smell so good after all these hours?”

“I’m special like that!”  They both giggled at that.  “Anders?”

“Hmmmm”

“Where’s your bedroom?”

*******************************

Charlie woke up before the alarm on her phone went off so she quickly shut it off and reset it for a later time, then sent a text to Evan letting him know that she would be late getting into the office.  She quietly got up to go to the bathroom, and then returned to bed to snuggle in with Anders.

Anders stirred, “What time is it?”

“It’s early.  I just reset my alarm to go off at 8:00.  Go back to sleep.”

Anders wrapped his arms around Charlie and gave her a lazy kiss to the side of her head. It didn’t take long for Anders to drop back to sleep.  But Charlie stayed awake a little longer wondering where this was all going.  She already felt herself falling for this adorable kiwi, but the question was, what did he think about their relationship so far?  At this point she was nervous too bring it up.  She didn’t want to risk scaring him off.  

“You are thinking way too loud.  Go to sleep Charlie,” Anders said.

Charlie smiled, “I thought you were asleep?”

“I was but your loud thinking woke me up.”

Charlie slid further down into his arms, “Sorry, I’ll try to go back to sleep.”  She felt the warmth of his hand caressing her backside.  She sighed and started to fall back to sleep again.

**************************

When Dawn told Ty about Anders having to wear an eye patch because of the injury to his cornea, Ty was livid.  Anders could have lost his eyesight!  So after Dawn came home that evening, Ty paid a visit to Mike’s Bar.

When he walked in the bar Axl and Zeb, sitting in their usual spot in the corner, but he didn’t see Mike.  

Axl was surprised to see Ty at the bar.  Since the baby was born Ty was rarely at the bar.  “Ty! Hey bro how’s it going?  Haven’t seen you in a while.”

Ty nodded at him, “Where’s Mike?”

Axl could tell something was up, “He’s downstairs bringing some supplies up.  He should be back in a minute.  Is something wrong?”  Just then Mike came up with a crate of booze.  He spotted Ty and had a feeling why he was in the bar.

Mike set the crate down on the bar and leaned against it, “Ty.  What brings you here?  Everything alright?”

“No Mike, everything isn’t alright.  You hurt Anders the other day Mike.  He had to go to the hospital because your fist caused some damage to his cornea!  So no, I’m not alright.  You need to get over your need to hurt Anders NOW!  Anders didn’t deserve getting hit in the eye, Mike.  You need to grow up and get over whatever it is that you’re pissed at Anders about.”

Mike stood up straight, “I didn’t even hit him that hard.  He’s just being a pussy that he always was.  And I’ll stop being pissed off at Anders when he starts taking responsibility and starts thinking of others instead of himself.  He needs to go see Grandpa ….”

Ty interrupted him, “Anders does go see Grandpa, at least once a week, and he even pays for some of his expenses.”

“I don’t believe that.  He’s never signed in to the visitors book.  He’s just filling you another load of shit Ty.”

“He doesn’t sign in because he doesn’t want anyone to know he’s there.  He doesn’t make a big deal out of spending time with Grandpa like you do Mike.  Dawn has told me how much time he spends with him, and how much he pays for his expenses.  When was the last time you paid for some of Grandpa’s expenses?  Hmmm?”

Mike looked dumbfounded, “I didn’t know that,” he answered in a quiet voice.

Axl spoke up, “Way to go Mike.  You fucked up again.”

Mike spun his head around to Axl, “Shut up Axl.  When’s the last time you saw Grandpa?”

“It’s not a game or a competition Mike!  Get over yourself!” Axl answered back.  “I can’t believe you hurt Anders like that.  How���s he doing Ty?”

“He has to put drops in his eye three times a day to help heal the cornea, and he has to wear an eyepatch for five days.”  He looked at Mike, “Dawn has already said that she doesn’t want you coming over to the house at the same time Anders is there.  You keep this up and she won’t want you there at all.  So call before you come over from now on to make sure Anders isn’t there.”  Ty turned around and left without giving Mike a chance to speak again.  He didn’t want to hear anything else that Mike had to say.

Ty stopped over at Anders on his way home to check on him.  He rang the buzzer and a female voice answered.  It threw him for a moment, “Uh hi, this is Ty, I was just wanting to see my brother Anders.”

“Oh sure, I’ll buzz you up.”

Anders' door was open when Ty got there so he just went on in.  He saw a woman cooking in Anders’ kitchen before he saw Anders sitting on the couch.  

Anders stood up, “Oh hey Ty come on in, grab a beer.  Charlie, this is my brother Ty, Dawn’s husband.  Ty this is Charlie.

Charlie wiped her hands on a kitchen towel and held out her hand to shake Ty’s hand, “Ah yes, it’s nice to finally meet you Ty.  I really love Dawn.  She’s fun to hang out with.  I’m just cooking us some supper, would you like to stay?”

Ty smiled at Charlie, “It’s nice to finally meet you!  Dawn thinks a lot of you.  And no, I’m sure Dawn will have supper ready by the time I get home.  I just wanted to check up on Anders and see how the eye is doing.”  He went over to the seating area and sat down with Anders.  “I like the pirate look that you’ve got going.”

Anders chuckled, “Yeah too bad it’s not Halloween.  So how’s my beautiful niece?”

“She’s good, she’s good.  She’s starting to sleep better.  Anyway, I just wanted to let you know, that I just saw Mike.”

“Oh wow, how did that go?”

“Fine as far as I’m concerned.  He tried to defend himself for hitting you but I let him know that it’s not acceptable and that he has to leave you alone and stop treating you like a punching bag.”

Charlie was listening to the two brothers talk, and that comment made her smile.

“Wow thanks bro.  I don’t know what good it will do.  But anyway, I don’t plan on seeing him anytime soon.” Anders said.

“Well, I also told him that Dawn doesn’t want him at our house the same time you are there, and that he’s supposed to call first from now on before he comes over to make sure that you’re not there.”

Anders was stunned at that news.  He didn’t want things to get this far.  “Ty, you don’t have to do that.  I don’t want the family to split even more than it already is.”

Ty raised his hand, “It was all Dawn’s idea.  She doesn’t want Mike being a prick in front of Andrea.  Maybe this will make him think a little before he does something stupid again.  He has to realise that we don’t have to answer to him anymore.  We’re all grown ups and he and Axl both need to grow up.”

“Was Axl there?”

“Yeah, he and Zeb were in their usual spot.  I didn’t talk to him much.  I can only hope that he has straightened up and is working.  I didn’t stick around to find out.”

Anders looked down, “I haven’t seen or heard anything from Axl in months.  Well I appreciate you talking to Mike.  Hopefully he’ll start thinking about his actions.”

Ty stood up to leave, “Well, I need to get going.  I just thought I’d check in on you.  If you need anything let us know.  Charlie it was nice meeting you.  Maybe sometime Anders will bring you over for dinner and you can meet Andrea.”

Charlie smiled, “I’d like that. Thank you Ty.  It was lovely to meet you.”

Anders walked Ty out, “Thanks for stopping by bro.”  He gave Ty a hug.

“No problem.  Hey uh, you better hang on to that one, she’s nice,” he smiled at Anders.

“Alright, alright, get out of here!” said Anders.  He closed the door behind Ty and walked back to Charlie and put his arms around her waist.

“I like him.  He seems very nice,” Charlie said.  She leaned in to give him a kiss.

“He is.  He used to be a twat but married life has been good for him,” he kissed her again.

Charlie leaned over and turned the stove off, “Time to eat!”

Anders got this devilish look on his face, “Yes it is.”   He pulled the apron off Charlie and led her to the bedroom, Charlie laughing all of the way!

#work in progress #dean o'gorman #the almighty johnsons #anders johnson

[crossingbaranduin]

Well, this was supposed to go on Discord... and then I wrote so many words that I broke the character limit. So, dumping it here instead!

TAJ headcanons post: Johnson brothers + their nicknames! (Light spoilers for entire series)

Mike: Okay, as much as I am a sucker for tiny!Anders calling Mike "Mikey" in the smattering of deaged!Anders fics on AO3, I had a thought the other night. From what we see in the show, by the time Anders would start talking, there isn't anyone in their lives who would likely call Mike anything but Mikkel. Both their parents solely use Mike's full name, and they're so young that they probably aren't interacting with anyone who'd call Mike something different than what their parents use. (Even Olaf calls Mike Mikkel a decent amount during the show, so if/when he'd visit during this period, it's unlikely he'd be the odd one out here.)

If Anders only knows Mike as Mikkel at this point, I doubt he'd be able to say Mike's full name at first, since Mikkel is a bit complicated to pronounce for a kid just learning how to speak. So… proposal that tiny!Anders' attempts to say Mikkel came out more as "Mik", and that's what stuck. Only gets used for a couple of years, and Ty/Axl never pick it up, since Mike has already started to go by Mike at that point. Gets used on very, very few occasions post-show once everyone's on better terms for the same reason as Andy below, with the additional caveat that Anders opts not to use it if it's not just him and Mike talking.

Anders: Two different degrees of nicknames here. Name is slightly shortened to "Ands" on occasion, mostly by Mike and Ty. Stemmed from their teenage years, stopped being used when Anders was estranged from the family, and slowly worked its way back in over time. Becomes more common post-show when everyone's on better terms again. However, Anders' original nickname was "Andy", started by Mike when Anders was very young. Lasted for a good chunk of their younger years + was also picked up by Ty when he started talking; stopped being used sometime mid-late elementary school. Not used at all for multiple decades; used on very, very rare occasions once everyone is on better terms — means either there's a rare emotionally open moment or shit has hit the fan horribly.

(PS: Dawn is also allowed to use both nicknames. She tries not to abuse said power so Anders won't get defensive about it, but Anders secretly likes it.)

Ty: Solely goes by his nickname; doesn't like being called Tyrone. Put up with their mom using it, but that's the extent of it. None of his siblings have ever called him anything but Ty; even when the brothers are arguing, using Ty's full name is off limits. (Mike did once, very early on into being Ty's guardian. The situation was immediately made ten times worse, and that was never repeated again.) Dawn also only calls him Ty.

Axl: Never really needed a nickname due to how short his name is, and there were no younger siblings to struggle with pronouncing things. However, tiny!Axl felt left out being the only sibling without a nickname, so Anders and Ty occasionally call him "Ax", though that's less of a nickname and them half-dropping a syllable while saying his name out loud. Zeb, however, has given him a litany of goofy nicknames — so many that nobody but Zeb remembers all of them. (Axl may roll his eyes at most of them, but he'd miss the hell of out them if Zeb ever stopped.)

#the almighty johnsons #mikkel johnson #anders johnson #ty johnson #axl johnson #mike johnson #headcanons #(still no idea on how to tag for mike consistently lol) #taj #this is 50% ‘I put so much thought into this’ and 50% ‘canon doesn’t get to be this sentimental but I sure do’

[jprgirl]

The Almighty Johnsons, S2E8 “Man-Flu” first aired 11 years ago, April 18, 2012!

#this time it's double michele #agnetha has left a hole in my formatting and idk how else to deal with it rn #the almighty johnsons #almighty johnsons #axl johnson #emmett skilton #ty johnson #jared turner #anders johnson #dean o'gorman #mike johnson #mikkel johnson #tim balme #timothy balme #olaf johnson #ben barrington #dawn #fern sutherland #stacey #eve gordon #michele brock #michelle langstone #ingrid #rachel nash #gaia #keisha castle hughes #zeb #hayden frost #taj airdates #taj s2e8

[silvermoon-scrolls]

Names of the Almighty Johnsons

Almost all of the given names in the Johnson family tree are of Scandinavian variety. Even if it’s only ‘Olaf’ that is a strictly Old Norse name; Johan, Mikkel, Anders and Axl are all Scandinavian variations of old Greek/Latin/Hebrew names that have been in use in Sweden/Denmark/Norway for hundreds of years, and they are all still common today.

So clearly the family has made an effort to keep some of their Norse ancestry culture even though they are in hiding.

You’ll notice one name missing, though. Tyrone? I’m not even sure I have heard of this name before I saw the show. Of Irish origin apparently, and definitely not common in Scandinavia.

Why was he given such a different name? Poor Ty. Gloomy Hod and this, he never was meant to fit in within the Norse Gods club, was he?

What’s fun about Mikkel is that it is a name strongly associated with the fox. Specifically the sly and unreliable nature of the fox. I think it's a fitting name for Mike, but it would also have been an excellent name for Colin/Loki. Or maybe that would have been a little too on the nose for him?

I also think it's fun that even though it has nothing to do with the etymological origin of the name, Axel does also mean axis/axle in Swedish. Meaning, something revolves around him. Like the world, or the fate of it.

Also, Anders (via its root Andreas)  means manly, masculine.

#random thoughts #names are fascinating okey? #the almighty johnsons #taj

[blairsanne]

DFP Actors August: Timothy Balme

NZ actors tend to end up in a lot of the same shows over the years it seems. I have a lot of fun spotting familiar faces, so I thought this would be a fun and silly little project, seeing which actors have repeatedly been in things that Deano was also in (not necessarily alongside). Just a bit of trivia. Enjoy!

Shortland Street (1996/1994-1996,1999)

Dean played Nurse Harry Martin in 1996. Tim played Greg Feeney (IMDB says 1994, 1995-1996, 1999).

Not gonna lie, seeing "Mike Johnson" as a scruffy bad boy sent me for a loop.

The Legend of William Tell (1998/1998)

Dean played Darek in S1E12 "The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior". Tim played Alum in S1E15 "Combat".

Scrubbing through for these stills, all I could think was... what the heck is even happening in this show? I was so confused.

The Almighty Johnsons (2011-2013/2011-2013)

Dean played Anders Johnson throughout the series, and Tim played his older brother Mikkel (Mike) Johnson! Tim was also a writer & storyliner for many episodes!

One of my favourite shows of all time.

-

In addition to writing for The Almighty Johnsons, Tim also wrote the episode of The Brokenwood Mysteries that Dean was in, and is also credited as a writer for Under The Vines! That's pretty cool imo.

And that's what I've got for these two! Did I miss anything?

#deano filmography project #actors august #tim balme #timothy balme #dean o'gorman #dean o’gorman #almighty johnsons #the almighty johnsons #shortland street #the legend of william tell (1998) #dfp familiar faces

[runilareads]

Review: Raiders From the Sea - Lois Walfrid Johnson (Viking Quest, 1)

Title: Raiders From the Sea Author: Lois Walfrid Johnson Series: Viking Quest, 1 Release Date: August 2003 Publisher: Moody Publishers Rating: 1.5 stars

Favourite character: I didn't care enough about the characters Least favourite character: Once again, didn't care

Mini-Review: This was… annoying. Very preachy, not enough Vikings and too much inaccuracies to how faith in God and prayer actually works. You don't just tell God you want to forgive something and it immediately disperses, it's a process. Also not enough pillaging for a Viking book.

Fan Cast: Briana "Bree" O'Toole - Amybeth McNulty Devin O'Toole - Art Parkinson Mikkel - Ty Simpkins Hauk - Shawn Ashmore Nola - Susan Lynch

#book review #historical fiction #middle grade #Christian fiction #viking quest #lois walfrid johnson #raiders from the sea #runilareadsposts