#that whole scene where olivia read the writing on his clothes to him and he started LAUGHING at the horrible mistake he made. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

whoslaurapalmer · 3 years

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so i never do this but i put a lot of thought into really specific details about the structure and scene layout of (the three-part folding mirror) and i really really really want to talk about it so here are some of my notes and some general commentary

-the crux of the fic, at least the way i had envisioned it, is what vfd does to family, how it becomes biological family vs the family created by vfd

-what vfd did to specific families: -physically separated the calibans -morally separated the denouements and the snickets -somehow brought the anwhistles closer together

-in terms of ramona and olaf, ramona was there to stress the distinction of biological family vs. vfd family but also how they’re so inextricably intertwined with each other, and olaf, this is harder to tell bc he doesn’t have a point of view here, but olaf is scoping out potential candidates for his personal group of firestarters – his own sort of “family” (ramona bc she’s a duchess, ernest because he has a similar line of thought, josephine because her husband is working with the mushrooms, the white-faced women because, well they wind up in his troupe and I have very vague headcanons about how that happens)

-related; the reason frank asks olivia about miranda at the end is because, at that point in the fic, frank feels so terrible about what he said to ernest that he’s trying to reassure himself that his family is still okay because (dewey’s right) at least they’re together, compared to the calibans, who haven’t seen each other in years. it was one of the first ideas I had when I was jotting ideas down in april and it stuck with me the whole way through. I really wanted it in there. I went back and forth before I got to this plot, though, on whether or not frank or ernest would be the one asking it. but I think it fits frank. -(ahahahahahaha the kicker being that miranda really was at the party the whole time and olivia didn’t recognize her) -anyway

-the parallels in the fic were: -the denouements start the fic together, and end the fic alone (by being honest about how they feel about each other) -the snickets start the fic relatively separated, and end the fic together (by being dishonest about what happened during the party) -the denouements start the fic by playing their game, and the snickets end the fic with theirs -frank is mistaken for ernest, ernest is mistaken for frank -frank pretends to be ernest on accident, ernest pretends to be frank on purpose -dewey has never slammed a door in his life; towards the end of the fic he slams the tray -i….think that’s all of them. I think

-character-wise, jacques and frank both see themselves as the people holding their families together; when in fact for the denouements, it’s dewey, which I think is clear in this, and for the snickets it’s lemony, which is less clear here? but definitely something I agree with -dewey and kit see themselves as the most ‘normal’, and they both have relatively solitary positions of acquiring information -ernest and lemony clearly both vibe on a ‘question vfd’ wavelength -i was also interested in kit and ernest, as siblings who feel stifled by an older/perceived older sibling, and dewey and lemony, who are sometimes unnecessarily protected by their siblings because they are the youngest/perceived youngest -this doesn’t show up in the fic bc olaf’s parents are still alive, but I thought ramona and olaf were also interesting foils re: reacting to their parent’s deaths

-some narration notes: -frank never refers to ernest and dewey as his brothers, except in the scene where he argues with ernest. because frank doesn’t necessarily see the split of biological family vs vfd family but has definitely swayed more to vfd family -ernest and dewey always refer to each other as brothers. -similarly, frank refers to the members of vfd as associates, most everyone else refers to them as friends. -ernest refers to vfd as strictly VFD because he’s distanced himself from it, while everyone else calls it ‘the organization’ -frank doesn’t swear even in his narration when he’s thinking them and not saying them because it’s, still his narration. he still wouldn’t quite completely say the words. (oh, he’s like gansey, like that. the raven cycle is still on my brain. i had so many scene sketches where ernest and frank were way too callous to each other bc they kept coming out like ronan and declan.) -kit’s line at the beginning is “someone in this very room has betrayed us” which is jacques’s line from the building committee meeting in unauto. the clock saying wrong afterwards is because the someone who really betrayed them (lemony) isn’t in the room.

-the costumes, which i did decide very arbitrarily: monty: clearly a snake. olaf: sigh. wolf ramona and olivia: oh, there was actually a slight distinction that just no one notices because none of them have looked at an insect (and also because describing clothes properly but succinctly is the hardest thing. i've written fic for a long time!!!!! i did my time in block paragraph clothing description hell!!! it haunts me!!!!!!!!!!), but ramona was the butterfly and olivia was actually a dragonfly. their masks are roses because, well 1) I thought that would be cool 2) butterflies and dragonflies land on flowers…. jacques: the boxwood, but a lion otherwise. josephine: ocean widdershins: the octopus with the pirate hat jacquelyn: the gold star suit (because gustav said she should do it for a play on. star. like. actress star.) miranda: uranus’s moon named miranda. it was very vague and I put that in the fic before I decided to have her in the little scene with esme. and then i thought i would put her in that scene too. gustav: phantom of the opera. haruki: tree frog hector: tree (not because of haruki’s costume but because i literally could not think of a damn thing for hector to be) lemony: uhhhhhh I had vague ideas he was. a cloud or something. like a stormcloud???? couldn’t pan out though. I like him in grey anyway. kit: I really just wanted her in red. with a big cape. and i spent so much time mentally deciding if i wanted her to have glasses or not in the archives that i forgot to mention her mask. everyone has one i swear to god white faced women: did anyone recognize that was them? :) it’s not mentioned in any way at all but in my head they were all dressed identically as flappers

esme actually doesn’t have one, because I, forgot, to give her one. I’m taking suggestions.

-references to lyeekha’s fics: -“that which is essential is invisible to the eye” is what frank says to jacques at the end of edge, and also the title of their snicket/denouement series -it initially wasn’t in there, because I was worried it wasn’t, like, in the right tone, re: what happens in edge vs how I was interpreting jacques and frank? but i liked it a lot. so i put it back in. -“frank quit smoking, but you didn’t” is a reference to frank smoking at the end of rigged -guess the guest and the clock alcove are from the end of fragments, with dewey and ernest watching hotel guests. this is my favorite thing in the whole world and something i actually keep forgetting is not canon because it is SUCH the perfect beethoven parallel -kit’s tattoo, which I was specifically imagining as the giant bombinating beast tattoo from ink on her back, which is definitely not around her neck but that was the only spot of skin she was showing so it was available and my thought was, it was kind of a low-cut in the back dress, and she was wearing the cape to cover up the giant tattoo on her back because beatrice was not there to cover it up with makeup (also bea picked out the dress.) (bea: if I can’t be there you have to make a statement) (kit: I have to what) -lemony being a “powerful, mythical figure” to the sugar bowl gen was actually something I wrote a long time ago, back in 2013, and I put it in the fic because I thought it fit, and then happened to reread double edged VERY late into the rewriting, literally THE DAY after I wrote that line in, and i saw a similar line of thought, and I was like “*cooper voice* sometimes you just get lucky ~ ” -jacques being in a lion costume, from the masquerade outfit sketches

additionally – -yes I am still cackling about ‘angel of my apple’ -angel of my apple -ANGEL OF MY APPLE -writing olaf is constantly like, he can say the funniest fucking things. and then turn around and say the absolute cruelest shit and the balance can be difficult. -but, angel of my a p p l e

-i can’t believe that out of all the people here, frank and jacques are the ones having the most semi-successful romantic relationship. well, ramona and olivia, too, but frank and jacques actually kiss so good for them -i know it was very vague and it’s because writing romance is physically embarrassing, but yes that last line was supposed to be them kissing, i’m so sorry

-undercover underwater was a last-minute addition because I didn’t want to take the time to try and google something real and good because I didn’t have the time. my guilty pleasure is super shitty hallmark murder mystery movies (I like good murder mysteries as well, thank you.) and my mom’s been reading terrible murder mysteries during lunch (where I was sitting across from her, also eating lunch, but also hiding behind my laptop and writing the fic) so I just came up with undercover underwater on the spot, but my mom came up with the tagline. it was originally ‘sleeps with the fishes’ (especially because i love the godfather movies which also, clearly has a very big stress on family vs The Family) but I thought ‘diving for the truth’ was funnier. -my mom and my brother (who has no interest in shitty murder mysteries, but loves to verbally smack them down with me re: their predictable tropes) and I decided that the plotline was something like, single woman scuba dives and keeps running into stuff (you know, hidden treasure, dead bodies, the like); her love interest drives the boat; her overbearing family member is an aunt; this is definitely like, book four in the series. there’s probably twelve books or something. (she goes on vacation on like book six and still finds a dead body, come on it practically writes itself.) (she probably owns a little fish tank......it’s a small sunny beach town.........etc etc.........) (it’s so easy to do this.) -oh, fixer upper is the worst hallmark murder mystery series, murder she baked is the best. in my opinion.

-dewey and lemony were supposed to have an actual conversation at the hors d’oeuvres table but every time I tried to put lemony in earlier he just wouldn’t work. it didn’t feel right. so he got saved for the reveal. -but i’m still delighted by the idea of lemony literally doing the shot of gazpacho. -dewey uses a spoon because he doesn’t have the composure or the guts to do a shot of cold soup -lemony was also supposed to have a scene with kit and one with jacques, i’m pretty sure, to lead up to the gazpacho conversation and the commiserating re: siblings. but again, didn’t work out. so then dewey had to fare alone in the scene. -oh!! the line about how lemony hides, in the least likely places, was actually something that was in my initial write of lemony’s scrapped pov of my ellington fic. jacques being responsible for sending olivia to the hinterlands was from a scrapped jacques fic. -steal from your unused fic.

-because I had to take scenes with lemony out, I had some, gaps in the night that I had to fill in (especially because this is a party more people are there than the snickets and the denouements), so that was how esme, the herpetology squad, and olaf and josephine came to be. (also olaf needed to show up again somewhere else otherwise he kind of, disappeared awkwardly, I thought?) -also because initially there was going to be a scene of bea and bertrand, elsewhere, but I wanted to keep the fic contained to the hotel, because one of the ideas I wasn’t able to put into the fic all that much was the sense of the hotel being its own world -oh, bea and bertrand don’t know that lemony used them as cover. the assignment they were working on instead of being at the party? planning the opera. the scene would’ve come right after ramona and olaf’s conversation. -the herpetology squad not only serves to highlight that people can’t tell the denouements apart (part of the foreshadowing that ernest would pretend to be frank), but was also me roasting myself because writing like a million different characters I had never written like this before had me very concerned about if their characterization was consistent, specifically for kit. (specifically, her with dewey.) also defining a character down to one base trait can be helpful when writing and creating characters, but for people no it’s not ideal. -haruki’s estimation of the denouement’s traits were not how i was mentally keeping track of them, because i definitely do do the ‘one base trait’ sometimes, but i had a lot more going on when i was thinking of them -but yes dewey is kind. in the way that bertrand is kind, but bertrand’s like, way more smooth about it.

-lemony does not have his own pov because, for me personally, I can’t fathom writing him in any other way besides first person, and it just would not do to have one scene out of the whole fic not in third person. unless he was secretly narrating each scene, which, he clearly was not. i would’ve had to do it in a whole different style.

-i love that dewey and kit are like ‘ahaha we’re the normal ones though’ and their normal conversation is them literally going ‘hey these creepy fish are AWESOME THOUGH’ -i looked at so many fish. for hours. -ALL BECAUSE I came up with the phrase ‘oceanic intrigue’ as a fun phrase and decided I had to commit my soul to it and never look back. -oh, the fairy shrimp are really very cute though. and i think the cookiecutter shark is, fucked up but a neat little guy.

-i’m eternally going to be laughing about this too kit: where the fuck is frank frank: /three floors down, making out with jacques

-oh!! 40-49 is unassigned in the dewey decimal system (which I googled. many, many times.), and was previously biographies. there’s another section for biographies now, but because biography was the closest I could come to like, some sort of, identity category, I thought it was more fitting if it was the section that used to be biography but was now as blank as frank felt.

-dewey is the one responsible for the clock sounding like it does. he just thinks ‘wrong’ is a fun word. that, and frank recognizing jacques by sound, were from my earlier scene sketches for this when i thought this fic was going to be much, much shorter.

#lulu talks about the sad lemon man

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lucas-grey · 3 years

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I started to talk about the Hitman 3 locations. You can see my opinions on Dubai and Dartmoor here and here. Today I want to talk about my favorite mission, mission number 3 in Berlin. You can also read an amazing analysis of the location on @a-gromova s Blog! Spoilers ahead!

There are many reasons I love the Berlin level. One is a personal reason and I want to begin with that.

I live in Cologne, Germany and even if I’m not the party girl at all, I know the party scene in Germany. The Club Hölle (which is Club Hell in english) looks very similar to typical (or also alternative) German clubs we also have in Cologne like Odonien or Bootshaus. Here are some pictures of these locations, and I think there are some major similarities with the club in Berlin:

But it’s not just the look of the Club, it’s also the people there. Most of them are kind of alternative, I like the very modern look of their clothes. It’s like the whole bunch of clothes you can buy at Monki or Pull & Bear, which really fits the style of this whole community.

So for me as a German, I really enjoyed a Hitman level taking place in my homeland and I like that it really catches the feeling of the alternative Clubscene here.

That’s it for the personal level why I like this Location. But there are other reasons and they are connected with the whole trilogy.

As a huge Lucas Grey fan I was shocked from the cutscene that takes place right before we start in Berlin. I cried and I had to turn off the game for about a day before I was able to continue. The feelings I had were a bit lost, I felt confused, very angry and a bit helpless. And I started to play again. No informations. No handler. 47 stood there in the middle of nowhere, wearing Greys coat (sorry 47, you are a good looking man but the coat fits your brother way better).

This moment exactly reflected my feelings. We start there, totally lost, with no one by our side, at the ass end of nowhere. We just see a closed gas station. Only gradually we receive some informations by finding a a flyer for the Club Hölle, some cars and than a corpse. Finally, going through a dark wood, we get the redeeming call from Olivia. The Club has been infiltrated by the ICA and she was able to escape after killing one of the agents (the corpse we found earlier). But we are not going anywhere. 47 wants to send a message. I think to everyone. To the ICA. To providence. He wants them to see what happens when he’s acting on his own, making his own decisions and that you should not fuck with him. Really, don’t do it. Don’t kill his brother, he can get fucking mad!

Entering the Club we learn that there are many agents around and we have to kill at least five of them. We can use different disguises, but in the end, they will see through them. They are ICA agents, the best of the best, after all.

But it’s no coincidence that the mission is called “Apex Predator”. In the end, 47 is the best agent the ICA ever had. So we make or way through the club, finding one agent after another. I loved how 47 whispered their names to himself. I know that many Hitman fans were annoyed by Diana’s “THAT is target xy” and it’s fun to see that 47 does it for himself, when she’s not there. You see? He loves to hear her voice haha!

There are so many details in this Club. The location is HUGE! What I, as a console player, really loved was the fact that when you enter the dance floor the Controller starts to vibrate and the closer you get to the turn tables, the more intense it gets. I love IOI for such small details!

After finding the agents, we have to find a way to kill them. We find out that there are different informations on them. Some of them are new to the agency, while others, like Montgomery, are there for a long time. My favorite kill? I love to dress as Rolf Hirschmüller, the owner of the Club (who also knew Grey) and lure Montgomery and four other agents into his office. He knows that it’s not Hirschmüller, sitting on the other side of the table, so he starts to talk shit about Grey, trying to intimidate 47. So 47 kicks the table, where a Shotgun is hidden and we can shoot five agents in a row. I think I yelled “that’s for Grey, asshole!” doing it haha!

Berlin is my favorite location, because it really fits the feelings I had after Greys death. It’s not just a beautiful location, but it is emotional. For other locations like Dartmoor, Dubai or most of the others in the games before, it didn’t matter. But in Berlin it does and they did catch these emotions very well.

What do you think of Berlin? Did you like it? Tell me in the comments or feel free to write me a message!

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rioskingdom · 4 years

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Amor Pasado

Chapter 3

"I think I'm gonna puke," I slammed my eyes shut, taking the precaution of even covering them with my hand.

"Why did you come into an empty room," Cesar shouted. I heard the sound of objects being stepped on.

"Oh were gonna be judging me for coming into an empty room, not the sex-crazed teens, getting it on, in the teacher's desk!" I cringed at my own comment, shaking the thought of the kids having sex. "I have a free period, so I come into this room, it has the best signal in the whole school," When the room fell silent, I opened my eyes, moving my hand away.

Monse and Cesar both stood straight up, looking guilty as ever. "so we're just gonna go," Cesar tried walking away, Monse following close behind him but I called them out.

"how long has this been going on," I asked them.

Cesar was scratching the back of his neck, "the first time was before camp,"

"Then it started again about two weeks ago" she added. "Don't tell the crew," Monse pleaded. Why she was scared of telling Ruby and Jamal beat me, but it wasn't my secret to tell.

"Monse, I'm honestly trying to forget about it myself," I sighed, rubbing my hands against my face.

"I always did find you two very cute, even when you were kids," Both of them beamed, "You know you cant keep it a secret forever," they both nodded their heads. "Be careful where you guys are having sex, next time it'll be a teacher" I warned, as they left the room.

This room would forever be scarred in my head, not making me want to sit here anymore. I darted towards the library, while you still had a free period.

---

"You sure you dont want to go to the dance?" Olivia was picking pieces of clothing, shoving them in a bag. I shook my head, lowering my laptop screen.

"Dances aren't my scene, plus it's gonna be filled with ninth and tenth graders, no offense," she laughed, grabbing her bag. "Ok, have fun alone in this room," She giggled.

"Im gonna have so much fun, working on my homework!" Ruby came in, talking nonsense about being woke, after a few years with him, I learned how to turn my hearing off with him. Once they left, I focused on my homework. My grades had to be perfect, I had to give Cornell no reason to reject me.

There was a knock on the door, at first, I was gonna ignore it, but when I heard the second knock, I got up heading to the door.

When I opened the door, Victoria stood there, "Hey Carmen," I leaned against the doorway, examining her. "I missed you,"

"I dont," I responded, making her take a step back.

"I talked to the headmaster," she continued. "she's willing to forget the past and let you back into the school," Of course she would, hoping I dont tell the school board about her rendezvous with her students.

Her hand moved to hold mine, "we could be together again,"

I considered the possibility of returning, missing my friends, my professors, actually having a shot of going to Cornell. I looked down, watching as her hand, which once felt warm and comforting, now felt cold and stonelike. I peered up at her, my hand slipping from hers.

"I think its time for you to go," I mumbled. Focusing my attention on the flower pot, outside the door.

"Come on Car' we all missed you up there," She leaned closer.

"Dont call me that," I snapped at her, pushing her back. "you lost that right when I caught you screwing the headmaster," I spat at her.

"It wasn't like that, you're naturally smart," she defended herself, "I had to find a way to keep my grades up to stay in Gardensfield,"

"Are you expecting me to feel sorry?" I asked her. Whatever excuse she tried giving, it didn't change the fact, she cheated on me. Her eyes fell on my wrist.

"You took off your bracelet?" I walked away, going to my room, grabbing the bracelet that I threw on the floor weeks ago. I got to the door, handing her the bracelet.

"Have a nice life, Victoria," I slammed the door shut, resting my back against the door. My breath growing ragged as my chest felt heavy. Someone came from behind me, giving me a hug. I turned to them, seeing Abuela.

"Abuelita?" She backed up, coughing behind her, I'm assuming to not cough on me.

"Im sorry you had to see that Abuelita," I apologized, taking in a deep breath.

"no need to apologize, you should go out, have fun, forget this Victoria person,"

"I have homework," I tried to explain, but abuelita started nudging into my room.

"Nonsense, youre only young once," she was right. I couldn't go back to writing math problems. But where would I go? I'd never step foot in a high school dance. I sent Cesar a message, see if maybe he knew of a party, since he was in the gang.

there's a party at Monse, dance got canceled

Good enough excuse. I grabbed my phone, heading to Monse's.

----

I was getting lost in Jasmine's story, as I finished downing my beer. I walked to her fridge, grabbing another one.

"You sure thats a good idea, thats your third one," Monse told me. Who was she to judge?

"Hey im the adult here," I told her, keeping my sentences short and sweet.

"You're 17, "I stuck my tongue out on Monse, opening up my beer.

I looked to Jasmine cheering her on, "Jasmine, so tell me that story about your third nipple," I started drinking my beer, walking to her as she started gushing on how she discovered it. The minute I sat on the couch, I stood back up, coming to the realization that I had to pee very bad.

"I have to pee," My memory was pulling tricks on me, I couldn't remember where Monse's bathroom was. I've been here a few times, so why can't I remember the location. I stumbled into Monse's bedroom, realizing this wasn't the restroom. My eyes fell onto Cesar, who was on the phone.

"Cesar," I whispered, trying to be quiet. He looked up at me.

"Oscar hold on," he turns to look at me

"That's Oscar?" he nodded his head, "tell him he's a poopy head," Cesar smiled, saying something on the phone. I looked down, spotting a penny on the floor. It must be my lucky day.

"Yup," He hung up the phone as I reached down for the quarter. I shot up, acting as if I didn't have my hand on the cookie jar.

"Cesar I'm lost, I need the bathroom," He looked confused.

"What?" he laughed, not understanding me.

"I have to pee," His mouth shaped into an "o" taking me to the bathroom. Once I finished using the restroom, I went to the sink, washing my hands, before spattering some of the water onto my face.

I stumbled outside of the bathroom, seeing Jasmine passed out on the couch. I walked outside, taking my bottle with me, needing some fresh air.

I sat on the porch, looking at the night sky. Oscar came up to me, sitting next to me, "Aren't you a little too grown for this party," I asked him, giving him a smile.

"I would say the same to you," He said.

"I can do whatever the hell I want," I answered, lifting the beer bottle, getting ready to take a sip. Oscar grabbed the bottle from my hands, moving it away from me.

"Pendejo!" I cursed, turning to him.

"Que te pasa?" he scolded. Okay, dad.

"Nothing," I told him, but his face read that he wasn't gonna give up. By now I was tired of Oscar's bullshit. I haven't even forgiven from last week, leaving me hanging that way. My anger sobered me up pretty quickly, causing me to stand up, so I could face him.

"Oh my god, what is up with you, no quieres ser mi hermano, pero jodes de ser mi amigo, you dont want to kiss me?" I ranted to him.

"Not this shit again," He rolled his eyes, getting up but I pushed him back down so that I was the taller person here.

"yes, this shit again," I scolded him, he leaned back, resting his arms against the steps, almost enjoying my outburst.

"I said no to going back to Gardenfields because of a past relationship biting me in the ass, and now you-" I massaged my temples, feeling an incoming headache.

"I mean am I crazy? did I read the signs wrong?" He had a smirk, written on his lips.

"Why the fuck are you smirking," I ranted. He stood up, pulling me flush against him. Bending down, he crashed his lips on mine. The mixture of cigarette with spearmint caused my body to melt into his, as he held on to me, keeping me upright. As he pulled away, he brushed his thumb against my lips.

"you're not crazy," he breathed. I gasped, running to the bushes, puking the contents from my stomach.

#oscar diaz #on my block #netflix #spooky diaz

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lizzybeth1986 · 4 years

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Quick Thoughts on The White People Waambulance, Chapters 18 and 19

• Sorry this QT is coming out so late, guys. I regret to say my heart wasn't really in this one...and it hasn't been with regards to my QTs for a while. This one might be my last, unless we count me finishing them off for the (not rewritten) Book 1. It's been two years since I began, and the last two books made the process honestly really exhausting.

• I clubbed the two finale chapters together because I really couldn't be bothered to do separate ones for both.

• In fact...I won't be doing any of what I have been doing for my QTs so far. I'll be honest to you: I usually do multiple replays, the last few in tandem with the other routes on YouTube. I go through the scenes one by one. I keep note of differences and variations and carefully choose screenshots that will reflect the gist of the scenes.

But I couldn't be bothered to do any of that this time. I pressed the "continue" and then the "end book" buttons as soon as I finished my first run of those chapters. I'm drained, guys. And I don't think I'll be coming back to the TRH series at least, not even for Liam or Hana or Kiara. Maybe my mind will change by the time the second book comes out (update from present-day Lizzy: no it didn't) but I'm not counting on it. And you'll probably know why by the time this QT ends.

• TW: Discussions on racism, both fandom racism and from within the narrative. The last section of this QT is going to be...pretty heavy, guys.

There's also going to be a lot of anti-Drake, anti-Olivia, anti-Madeleine and anti-Penelope content here, so if you like any of those characters...well, you've been warned.

The ensuing post is going to be LONG, and I know a lot of you have good reasons not to deal with long posts, so here's a tldr:

1. The TRR writing team stick to their weird obsession for jobless whiny white men.

2. Read this book once and you'll feel like you're drowning in an ocean of white tears.

3. WOC continue to get scraps from the writing team, even as they boast of being diverse and inclusive. In fact, they're regularly treated as mere tokens, exotic eye-candy or non-entities, while their behaviour is measured on standards that are very different from their white counterparts (this happens in other books as well).

...okay I wasn't expecting for the tldr to be long too 😅

• Me @ my QTs then:

Me @ my QTs now:

• I'll probably be finishing off my TRR Book 1 QT series when I'm a little less burnt out, but for now this is where it ends, I guess.

• So...here is to summarize the last two chapters: Accident happens. LIs mad. Paparazzi sad (but largely get away scot-free). MC and baby safe. At the Council meeting Kiara slam dunks the murderer of Liam's mother with the style and elegance this fandom still refuses to acknowledge her for. The MC is nice to her for like half a second. Last Apple Ball. New clothes for everyone as if they had a Diwali bumper sale the week before or something. Godfrey is somehow responsible for the security (who thought this was a good idea) and seeing the Auvernese Royal Guard outside our doors is SO not-creepy.

We get to see if we impressed our Auvernese and Monterriso allies enough. Bradshaw compliments Kiara for like half a second. Olivia sees the dude from the Q&A session (Jin) at the Ball and (if you pay) you get to see her catch, interrogate and lowkey flirt with him.

Leona and Bianca make it to the ball (where is Bartie Sr. Where are Xinghai and Lorelei. Where is Regina) and this time the narrative makes sure to shoehorn a plot element into their presence here: Leona is there so we can do something about the reveal that she constantly ratted us out to the press for money. ("oh look! Walker Ranch was plot related after all! We have a reason (albeit a flimsy, paper-thin one) to set 9 whole chapters in Texas. Even though we had to literally come up with this bit in the last minute, because really - all we wanted to do as a writing team was nut collectively over Drake Walker")

(I also can't believe that between the time I wrote this line and the time this QT finally came out - they literally found a way to re-fucking-write Book 1 so they could nut collectively over Drake Walker earlier)

• Why were we required to dress down in Texas for these assholes when they couldn't even bother to dig up their Sunday best for this ball??? Oh right, they're Walkers. Hypocrisy runs in the family.

• Good thing is you can choose to banish Leona if you want. She's angry about it for a second then accepts it and leaves. But like what is the point of banishing her when she hardly even bothers to come there in the first place? She's not going to be bawling her eyeballs out saying "boohoo, they threw me out of this country that I spent like five minutes in and never even wanted to visit in the first place".

• Bianca is present at the end of Chapter 18 mainly to deliver to us a plot point at the very last minute: a clue about where we could find proof about Queen Eleanor's murder. Bianca mentions conversations Jackson had with her, and a secret room somewhere. Her leaving the palace and abandoning her children is addressed, and the MC gets to berate her. It's...short.

• Why this important piece of information was given to Bianca when idk LEO could have pitched in and spoken about it, no one knows. Oh wait. I keep forgetting. Bianca is Drake's mother. That's why.

• Okay so Amalas valiantly found out about Leona's involvement in this and gave us tangible proof via photographs. But we're kiiiinda forgetting that the scrutiny and privacy invasions were happening even before we hauled ass to Walker Ranch? Who was responsible for those? Who was the "source" that the Chapter 17 paparazzo was referring to, the one that mentioned they would triple the price for more photos of the Queen/Mother of the Heir (Coz like why would she do that. She's already broke)? How did Amalas come by this information so easily and why was she really that invested? Why is no one asking these questions? Why isn't the group asking these questions? Why are they stupid. Jesus, they're all so stupid. HOW ARE YOU SO STUPID, SQUAD.

• Shortly after they get rid of Leona and Bianca, the rest of the group give the happy couple a choice of toys for the nursery - and that's our final nursery purchase. You can either go for the corgi - which is on brand for the series by now I think - or the lion, which is seen as very Cordonian.

• More party shenanigans. We're nice to Kiara for another half-second. Kiara arranges a photoshoot for us. The team can't pretend to give a fuck anymore about its fans so they will ask us to pay for an edit that I've seen millions of edit-creators in the fandom do wayyyy better. Like let's be honest - compare the engagement shoot pics (messy as they were) to the shoots we eventually got this book. You can see the difference. You can tell which one required more work.

• Anyway, if you choose this scene you wind up going back to the ballroom, dance with your spouse, aaaaand it's time for another diamond option. This time your spouse gives you something you've been craving (mousse parfait for the Liam MC, chocolate chip cookies for the Hana MC, handmade chocolates for the Maxwell MC and a choice between bacon and a veg version of it for the Drake MC. Damn, team TRR. Your favouritism is showing). The couple also writes a letter to the baby that the child can read growing up, in a bit of a parallel to Eleanor's letter to Liam that we see at the end of the chapter.

• After this, Liam reveals he has been pondering over what Bianca said, and wants to find out where they could find that secret room. Cue Liam's own flashback scene for free. Godfrey bringing to Queen the same goblet that the RoE MC found in a flea market in Book 2 for Regina (or perhaps just a similarish one). Liam and Eleanor reciting a rhyme that turns out to have clues for the secret room.

• To give the team credit, they seem to have (finally) put some thought into this. Like this actually feels like Liam's scene. Not one that delivers information about his family but is really about another character. They seem to incorporate all the things Eleanor seemed to be known for - things that were hardly addressed in the books when it came to talk of her. She is shown with a love for books given that books and poetry form an important part of the clues she leaves for Liam. One of the books is about foraging, which is unsurprising considering her love for gardens that was established in Book 1 of TRR.

• So...like...nice job but why was practically everything about Eleanor (including the way she'd stand up to Constantine, her displeasure at the sound of Godfrey and Bartie's names, her nature that Liam not only inherited but also learned) left only for your finale? Why no buildup? Why was I seeing you lot constantly pandering to Drake's family the entire time? Why do I know way, way more about Jackson than I do about Eleanor whose story this WAS? Why is she and her son suddenly getting this burst of attention at the tail end??

• They still manage to push young!Drake into a scene focusing on Liam and Eleanor, so we can see how Eleanor's teaching of how to be a responsible royal began to make inroads into Liam's way of thinking. It's the ultimate irony, that Liam took his mother's advice so much to heart that he lets Drake stay in his home, eat his food, and complain about those dastardly nobles to his heart's content for free.

Poor Eleanor in her grave is like

• Very fitting, how Constantine's proposal to Eleanor happens in the hedge maze, very much like Liam's first declaration of love in Book 1.

• If you're married to Liam, you get an extra letter that's addressed to Liam's future wife. She clearly knew her days were to be numbered by the time she gave birth to that second child at least.

• Lmao @ how the team somehow managed to remember that Eleanor would have been Leo's stepmother too. He's mentioned a couple of times. They didn't have enough time to develop a sprite for young!Leo but somehow had all the time and resources to make one for young!Savannah who had literally no purpose in Drake's flashback scene? Hmm. Hmm.

• They somehow manage to find the twin to the RoE MC's gifted goblet that Godfrey gave Eleanor the night she died, and Liam reveals that he's been obsessed with poisons enough to know that it wasn't the drink that was poisoned, it was the cup itself. Everyone is shook.

• Love that extra little detail about Liam's obsession with learning about poisons and how it's a sign of how deeply Eleanor's death affected him. But tell me honestly if you remember this plot point coming up even once before in any significant way. Even during the one time a person is poisoned in the previous book (by the laws of karma, the victim in this instance is Godfrey's only daughter) Liam shows very few signs of this "obsession". At a time when he has also lost a father. Convenient how something that could have added more depth to Liam is kept aside until there's a scene where his knowledge is required. Convenient indeed.

• I kind of understand why Liam acts on impulse, okay. The man just discovered who murdered his mum, at least some amount of irrationality is allowed (esp considering he hardly got to express ANYTHING when his goddamn father died). But you'd think Liam's friends would hold him back and help him think this through? Convince him that there are more effective ways to confront and get a confession out of Godfrey who after is in charge of security at the moment? You seriously think charging into the ballroom and suddenly stripping this man of his titles is going to actually work??? You couldn't figure out how to make him vulnerable instead so that he wouldn't be able to escape???

• I mean like, sure, one could always rationalize it all as "well see Lizzy, they needed a dramatic end to this story and they needed to wrap this mystery up quick". But there were other ways they could have spread it out than make it all sound so...so random. And you bet we all know why the narrative had to scramble around last minute to solve this. It's because we spend half the damn book in a dilapidated ranch with a shit family!

• Anyway, Godfrey escapes...and the MC tells her spouse that she's going into labour after...two contractions? Um. Okay.

• So. That ends Book 1 of this new series. And with it my QTs, for this series at least. My QTs for Book 1 (the OG, not the rewrite) might continue, but I'd need to repeat my failplay again because I lost most of those screenshots 😭

General Thoughts on the Book:

• So far, this is what I can see as happening in the next book:

- The birth, obviously

- Any extra perks from our purchases (ie. the nursery and the garden)

- Subplots involving the LIs' conflicts regarding parenthood and their own childhoods

- The mystery behind Eleanor's death isn't quite over yet, nor is the truth behind the constant paparazzi presence in TRH. Leona was the scapegoat this time around, but how did Amalas get all this information so quickly?

- Where is Eleanor's other child? Olivia's investigations may or may not lead to that answer. I'm pretty sure Jin might be involved as well.

- Another possibility is that Madeleine may give us important information since she was potentially aware that Eleanor was pregnant at the time.

- The mystery behind Jackson's death and what he knew regarding Eleanor's condition.

- What part did Bartie Sr have to play in all this? How involved was Constantine in the murder (if in fact he was)? What more dark secrets will we learn about Constantine, Godfrey and Bartie Sr during this time? What ultimately caused the breakdown in Constantine and Jackson's relationship, since Drake mentions Jackson being around when Regina was Queen as well?

- Speaking of Regina, how involved was she in any of this? We know she was Godfrey's cousin-in-law and Bartie Sr made a comment on her during the announcement about the heir, and that she married Constantine a couple years after Eleanor's death, but was she aware of any of this or was she largely out of the major plot and brought in later to cement Godfrey's position and power?

- I'd mention the possibility that Lorelai could know something, but they didn't really give anyone connected to Hana any time at all, so I have my doubts.

- Operation Swan, and possibly a visit to Monterisso. Liam's younger sibling must be in one of these places but my guess is on Monterisso.

- I'm guessing the team will write a nice wedding for Penelope and Ezekiel next book, while Kiara continues to get scraps from the same team.

- Drake and Olivia will continue to eat into the plot. Madeleine will join this unholy trinity as well because they've set the stage for her to have plenty of angst.

With that over, these were my thoughts once this book was finished:

WHERE ARE THE DUCHESSES?

Remember how, back in Book 3, we all marvelled at the number of women in this country who were in positions of power? Adeleide and Emmeline were powerful duchesses while their husbands were secondary figures, and Joelle though married into a noble family is an influential artist and - according to Liam - the embodiment of King Fabian's values. It seemed like, despite the underlying sexism and racism in the story, women were at least at the forefront of Cordonian politics.

This is virtually gone in TRH1. Godfrey (who wasn't even interested in Krona in the first place, much less Cordonia) and Landon (whose only concern seemed to be Penelope, leaving Emmeline to manage the duchy) have a seat in the Council. In fact we never even see either of these woman in the book. I can maybe understand the logic behind not appointing Adeleide, but the fact that Emmeline is passed over for her far-less -qualified husband is a mystery to me!

Also, has anyone noticed how white-male-centered the whole Eleanor story is? Notice how we never see Eleanor's friends, besides Jackson? We never see any of the courtly ladies of that era? She's the Queen. She'd have her own court. I find it impossible that Eleanor would have no interactions of importance among her own goddamned court, that Joelle, Emmeline or Adeleide wouldn't even be mentioned in her story thus far. It's fascinating that forget being part of her story - these women are largely forgotten in the book itself.

(Note: It's also important to add that none of Kiara's family - besides Zeke - makes an appearance this book. At all. One member of Penelope's family and one member of Madeleine's family is in the council, but we never really see or hear anything from Kiara's, even though Hakim was Constantine's old friend and Joelle could have easily been connected to Eleanor, given that Eleanor was exactly the kind of ruler Joelle would have loved and respected.

While we're on that subject, Lorelai could have been connected to Eleanor as well - considering that we know next to nothing about her years in Shanghai. There were ways Hana's story could have been tied into the overall plot as well that were largely ignored. The fact that both the main and secondary WOCs presented opportunities for better plot and story, and despite that they were largely ignored in the books...I think that says a lot. But I will get into more of that in detail in a different section).

LI SPACE AND STORY

• Now...as we all know, The TRR/TRH series is primarily a romance-focused book first, with an underlying plot about royalty and politics. So it makes sense to evaluate the book based on what it gives its love interests. That includes the number of scenes they get, and the kind of focus their story is given. So...here's the rundown of how that goes in TRH Book 1:

Liam: Overall, not too bad. He gets one individual scene, a free and paywalled childhood scene (though the free one is essential for the group's realization of who killed Eleanor). The letter his mother writes to Liam includes an extra section towards the end, meant for the MC who marries him. However, we must note that a lot of this "attention" was thrust into the very final chapter of this book, and 99% of the same book didn't exactly make an attempt to explore his inner thoughts on anything - his mother's death, the dealings with the foreign countries, his political activities. Eleanor being pregnant came from a scene that made Olivia the center of attention, the MC had the opportunity to ask him how he was feeling only once or twice, and most of the time the narrative relegated it all to "the matter is still being investigated". It's a slight improvement from the absolute lack of concern the MC and the narrative showed about Liam's emotional state post his father's death in Book 3, but not much.

Variations wise, the team did step up on the basic ones for most of the LIs, so clearly we've moved past the days of seeing cut-paste scenes and the likes of Liam and Hana saying "I'm so dumb in love with you". However, in playthroughs where the MC is Liam's wife and Queen of Cordonia, her lack of genuine concern for her country and lack of curiosity about the place she's ruling, sticks out like a sore thumb. The fandom loves to highlight how the plot is "written for Liam" or is "easier in Liam's playthrough", but besides his own child being the heir, nothing else from Book 3 onwards seems like it was particularly written with him in mind.

Drake: Hoo boy. So 2019 was clearly the year that many people didn't believe me about Drake eating up space, and the year they had to eat their words because in TRH it was too obvious to be ignored. On an overall scale you cannot avoid the extra perks even his LI scenes got - his Valtoria scene in Chapter 4 was longer, set in a different place and he was allowed to expand on his decision to say yes to Liam's request in a way Hana and Maxwell never were. We learned way more about his familial relationships and dynamics than all the LIs combined. His childhood scene was the first to be given variants depending on whether the MC was his wife or not. His sister's wedding takes up almost half the book, leaving little to no space for either the intrigue, or even the pregnancy that was supposed to be THE most important part of the book.

An insane amount of retconning was done to emphasize strongly on the "marshmallow" part of his personality, having him state time and again that for the MC he can even "sport a tutu if you said you had a thing for the Sugar Fairy". Part of these changes could be attributed to the backlash the team got for having him call a pink cake "girly".

There is a strong possibility that Jackson might be explored further in the second book, and it's no surprise considering that he's the one parent that is most talked about in the series. The book looks like it was truly written with Drake in mind, with a heavy dose of Olivia, and everyone else was added as a bit of an afterthought.

Maxwell: Pretty awful treatment for a character that the head writer of the team claims to like. He has no individual character scenes, and one childhood scene where his older brother Bertrand is given more focus. Ironically, Maxwell was more wary of Bartie Sr in TRR Book 2 than Bertrand was, but somehow they changed this little detail so that Maxwell could be written out of his own story.

His LI scenes were also not given much effort - some were badly written, and some scenes (like the free ones) showed little to no variations between the friendly and romantic playthroughs. One that comes to mind is the baby announcement photoshoot, which was so poorly done it added nothing of value to the character or the relationship.

Like the last book, Maxwell isn't allowed much development in TRH1, and he's still forced into a largely "court jester" role in the story. This reflects very poorly on him in certain situations, such as the chapter where we finally get glimpses of his book. The aim was to be humourous and light about the events of the series, but he comes out of it sounding thoroughly insensitive towards his friends, none of whose consent he took to write this self-centered pile of garbage.

However, there is hope that they might do things a bit better for him next book, if the rewrite of him in TRR 2.0 was anything to go by. However, it would be awful if they tried to do a better job of him and then left out Hana. Speaking of which...

Hana: I'm going to begin this section with a comparison to another character, someone who should have been treated as a secondary character - Olivia.

Olivia in this book has 2 character scenes (they're very plot driven, but they also explore her outside of her friendship with the MC and dynamic with the group). The spy scene with Auvernese royalty, and the scene with Jin, the Auvernese spy. An entire chapter is spent in her duchy (by now we've seen Lythikos four times and I'm now sick of the place), and she winds up taking over Maxwell's Q&A scene as well.

So that's technically 2.5 scenes AND a childhood scene that revolves around her even though it's about Liam's mother. In addition to this, Olivia also gets her own mini-book, The Royal Holiday, that revolves (again) around her duchy and has the group clamouring to give her attention when no one else wants to.

Here are the stats for Hana, who by virtue of being an LI, is also a potential co-protagonist in the series:

Nothing.

Zilch. Zip. Zero. Nada. Nothing.

She has one childhood scene that is part of the group's scenes - a beautiful, heartbreaking one that serves as a slap in the face to anyone who'd dared to be dismissive of what she went through earlier - but none after that, and no individual scenes either. The team - in one of their most offensive choices this book - force a storyline where she has fertility issues just so the MC can be the one carrying the child, and the same MC can opt(!!) to ask about her well-being after two days. The same MC has the chance to whine about not getting pregnant soon enough in front of Hana.

There have been a few efforts made to make the MC appear more caring towards Hana: she can angrily defend Hana against Isabella's jibes, and she can make Hana relax for once during the baby shower (unlike the wedding reception where the same MC treated her like a bridesmaid). The MC even gets to tell her wife that she should never consider herself secondary or unimportant.

All of these are nice, but at the end of the day they're all scraps. I'd equate it to how we're allowed to give Kiara compliments on the final two chapters, but the white women around her still get a far bigger chunk of space, story and attention dedicated to them. The team have a pattern of adding these tiny tidbits that will temporarily satisfy stans while still maintaining the status quo, and that's precisely what's happening here. Its important for us to understand this. Underneath all this surface concern and all these scraps, Hana is still getting dust in place of actual story and characterization. And given that they made ZERO major changes to Hana's scenes in TRR 2.0, I'm not expecting that to change.

As for the book in general...I don't have to go into why this book is a mess, do I? We all know. We've all witnessed how disproportionate the writing has been and while I'm glad more and more people recognize what I've been seeing since Book 3, it's sad that it took 9 whole chapters in Walker Ranch for so many to understand exactly how much space Drake has been eating up for no good reason.

BLACK HOLES AND WHITE TEARS

I'll begin this section by talking about Drake Walker. He's the most prominent sign of the larger problem.

Drake Walker is what I call a Black Hole LI. And yes I mean black hole as in the one that exists in space (Beckett from TE also fits into this category). He is the kind of LI that sucks up everything. Love. Light. Joy. Common sense. Other characters' spaces.

He is the kind of love interest that will have Liam's traumatic experience centered around him. The kind of love interest for whose problems - largely created by his mammoth ego - we have to resolve in Shanghai, the home of the lone female LI. While that same female LI gets nothing, and then disappears in a subsequent chapter. The kind of love interest whose love confession can take precedence even over the MC's own issues (remember the Beaumont House chapter in Book 1? The one that took place the day after Tariq nonconsensually kissed the MC? 98% of the dialogue revolved around Drake's feelings. Not about the faulty lock, not the possibility that the MC's security had been tampered with - Drake's feelings). The kind of love interest that was given an entire extra wedding and artwork for his mother in Book 3 itself - none of which were given to any other LI.

A Black Hole LI is totally the kind of LI that would get 9 whole chapters in their home while we have never even visited the homes of the others since the early books of the previous series.

This wasn't something that began just this book. It's been a constant since Book 2, and you can even see signs of his story gaining way more importance in Book 1. It's also not something we can - in all honesty - blame simply on finances and fan popularity: the writers confirmed Drake to be one of their favourites, and attempts to give his scenes additional perks (eg plot elements pushed into both the Whiskey scene and the Beaumont Office scene) happened long before they could make any conclusions about his popularity. I bought the Beaumont Office scene to find out more about that family. I bought the Marshmallow scene so I could find out more about Liam and Hana's conversation post Coronation (remember - Hana was never even allowed to speak about her return to Cordonia because that scene was given to Drake). I bought the Italian Restaurant scene to learn more about Liam's assassination. The funny thing about all these three is that these were their stories to tell, yet Drake is the focus. Quite a few of Drake's initial scenes sold because the team consistently made the effort, consistently ensured that the information from his scenes would benefit us in the long run. The narrative allowed for Drake to have his own story, and additionally let aspects of his story overshadow that of the other LIs' (see the examples I've given above). Even though he has very little of value to contribute to the larger story (no job, his friendships are shallower than a wash-basin, and no genuine communication with any commoner in the story - only endless whining).

The treatment Drake gets that no other LI does, is a problem in itself, but it also is a small part of an even bigger issue. He isn't the only white character who gets this sort of attention and detail to his story.

Take Olivia, for example. Started out as a rival to the MC, before her sad sad childhood and her genuine love for Liam was revealed in the Book 1 finale. Over the course of the story, her role changed from petty rival to Warrior Duchess to reluctant bff. Over the course of the original series, Olivia became one of the most prominent characters in the story, on par with the male LIs. I'm not sure how many people realize that Lythikos is the ONLY duchy in the kingdom we've seen thrice (four times if you count Holiday). To give you an idea of how big a deal that is, here's how many times we've visited other duchies besides the capital and Applewood:

Fydelia - 2

Portavira - 1

Castelserraillian - 1

Ramsford (the home of our sponsors!) - 1

Hana's mother's home - Never.

Lythikos has a detailed familial and cultural history, and I wouldn't be lying if I said we know more about this one region than we know about the entire country of Cordonia. And honestly for me, the obsession with this one duchy has reached saturation point. Lythikos is not Cordonia. Lythikos is not all there is to Cordonia or even the only place that should matter. Yet it seems the team is more than eager to flog that horse until there's nothing of interest left.

Olivia is the only character who gets an entire mini book that revolves around comforting her and making her feel better about her background and origins. I don't think we've ever given Hana this much attention when she left her home for us. Or when she was being bullied by Madeleine. Or when she was the other bride in that grand wedding. Or when we received the news that carrying a child to term would be dangerous for her body. Or --

We were given an entire mini-book to comfort Olivia - the woman who continued to call Hana "damaged goods" and " a failure" for not marrying a man, while Hana's friend/wife stood by and watched. The woman who didn't have to think twice before making snide remarks about an equally skilled courtier who never did her any harm, only because she could get away with it. Istg when I heard that most of the court snubbed her during that first event in Holiday, this was my reaction:

Like girl I feel bad for you but at least now you know how it feels to be held responsible for shit beyond your control!

Hana, in the meantime, is forced time and again into situations that would break most people - but with very little payoff. Her arc with her parents was given a resolution that confirmed that Hana could only be considered worthy if she was useful. She was made to interact time and again with the woman who harmed her with such glee in Book 2. The MC - as a friend or as a wife - is at best neglectful of her issues and at worst someone who uses and discards Hana as she sees fit. And now...in her romantic playthrough she's given a storyline that doesn't allow her to bear children easily, and the MC spends less than two minutes to actually check on her. Hana is one of the co-protagonists, yet a side character given the treatment she should be getting. One could technically blame finances for the way she's being treated too, but keep in mind that the bad treatment goes as far back as the Applewood chapters in Book 1. Technically a time when she was bringing in money.

I get it. Olivia is a fan favourite. Many in the fandom wanted her to be an LI, the writers didn't, so they carved out this middle path where she'd have a major portion of the story anyway. But keep in mind that a lot of this attention came - and is still coming - at the cost of Hana. The team pretty much gave Olivia what they'd been refusing to give Hana all along.

On a smaller scale, you see similar patterns with the secondary characters - especially the women of the court. Madeleine and Penelope had elaborate backstories designed to make people forgive and sympathize with them, and Kiara - even though her backstory in Book 1 was inherently tragic and deserved to be handled sensitively - was given validation with great reluctance from the team, and with no consequences if we treated her cruelly. Even now, the team has only tossed Kiara a couple of scraps in the final chapter, while already setting the stage for Madeleine to get her own tragic "patriotism" arc for TRH Book 2, and a possible wedding for Penelope in the near future.

The difference here doesn't just lie in who gets attention and who doesn't. It lies in how the MC is supposed to view these women as well. A lot more sympathy and understanding is automatically extended to the white women, and the MC faces consequences if she fails to acknowledge their pain. Far less sympathy is offered by default to the black and the Asian woman - the MC may be friends with Hana but a huge chunk of their relationship is mostly about the MC benefiting from Hana's skills without giving much in return.

Even though their misdeeds are acknowledged and spoken about, both Madeleine and Penelope are written in such a way that the problems they're currently facing matter more than anything they've ever done in the past. Hana is made to sweet-talk Madeleine despite being bullied by her in a previous book. The MC herself never gets ANY opportunity to directly address what Penelope put her through in Portavira, because what the MC went through matters less than Penelope's condition.

Compare this to the relatively small scale of Kiara's "misdeed" (being honest about not continuing with an alliance - I'm surprised people think this is an actual thing to be offended about!), and the way the MC is allowed to mistreat her sans consequences afterwards. We're even allowed to call Kiara a snob in the books - which isn't at all true if you look at any of her scenes in canon - and constantly make fun of her desire to learn (in fact, if anyone in the series could be called a snob, it would be Olivia). If I were to sum up how a woman of colour is spoken about in the books, vs a white woman - this screenshot would do the trick:

(Notice how none of the options to speak about Penelope allow us to speak rudely of her, yet in Kiara's case we're allowed to make judgements on her as a person. In Hana's case, while we don't exactly drag her the way we can drag Kiara - we get precious few opportunities to actually defend or support her when others talk rubbish about her).

When you explore the series overall, it's impossible to ignore the casual racism that makes disrespecting people of a certain race/colour easier than on another. It's impossible not to see where the narrative chooses to give consequences to an MC who treats a white woman badly, and where it allows the very same MC to suspect, and then (optionally) gaslight, a woman of colour a couple chapters later. It's impossible not to see which people are meant to be respected despite their bad behaviour, and which people can still be treated badly despite their better behaviour. It's impossible not to see a pattern emerging.

This is not even a problem that plagues only the TRR series. From TCaTF to ACOR to Platinum to even MoTY, there is an ongoing pattern of discrepancies between the way white people and people of colour - particularly women - are treated. Many POC characters are placed in situations where it's easier for them to suffer/die/be shown disrespect, than it is to show them kindness or mercy. MOC are regularly either exoticized (Prince Hamid is the most glaring example of this) or placed in very traumatic situations for which the payoff isn't always going to be that great (I know this happens to Dallas, but I don't know about the payoff for Syphax).

WOC particularly suffer quite a bit in a lot of PB novels, in comparison to their white counterparts. Rowan Thorne of TCaTF, as a character, didn't deserve for her death to be made easier than her survival (in contrast to Diavolos, who was given far more opportunities AND will live simply by virtue of allying with Kenna), any more than Kiara deserved to be interrogated by the people who should have been concerned for her safety or Xanthe deserved to be shipped to slavery. All this, while a Vanessa (who is in a position of power and who plays an active role in rendering the MOTY MC financially helpless) gets a diamond scene where she "explains" her situation and a Madeleine doesn't even have to hear about her bullying from her victims.

The fandom, too, has contributed to this on a number of occasions. Speaking specifically of TRR, how many times have we seen Hana being dragged on Olivia posts? (also, if we were really measuring Olivia by the impossible standards that we held for Hana's characterization, Olivia would appear pretty damn one-note too: after all, 80% of her characterization consists of knife jokes). How many times was Hana being looked at with disdain for either her niceness or the poor writing for her, while the same fandom would regularly coo over a nice-presenting Penelope (whose characterization is one of the most inconsistent in the series)? How many times have we seen Kiara being called a creep/obsessed for merely looking at a man, while almost no one judges Olivia for kissing a man without his consent? How many times have people forgiven a traitorous Penelope and hated on a far more innocent Kiara in the same breath? How often did the fandom hate on Liam for accepting the MC's advances after she rejected him, yet not say a word when Drake did the same thing? How many times has Maxwell been loved for his humour and childlike nature while people of colour with a similar personality (Lily from Bloodbound, for example) were hated on instantly? Clearly, there have been more instances of people in the fandom sympathizing automatically with the white character, than with characters of colour. Time and again, brown and black characters - particularly women - have been required to match up to impossible standards (if they're nice they're boring. If they don't like the MC they're <insert every gendered sexist insult you can think of here>). The standards are far more relaxed for white characters, and they're often given more breathing room and to most of what they want without the constant judgement that black and brown women get. The standards set up for both are grossly different.

Racism is a beast that assumes many forms - and not all forms of racism will appear obvious to some, especially when such stereotypes are so normalized in media and popular fiction that we almost accept it at first. Almost. To get to the root of why there's such an imbalance in this series - among others - we need to first acknowledge the sexism and racism that are such a vital part of its narrative, and that its fandom regularly buys into and (sometimes unwittingly) promotes.

At this point, it's important to understand that having queer characters or characters of colour simply exist in the books isn't enough. Token rep can be found in PB's books by the dozens, but at the end of the day it means nothing if there is a constant reluctance, over and over and over, to treat those characters with the same care and sensitivity that they treat their white ones (or their "exoticized brown" ones).

• Like I mentioned earlier, I won't be playing TRH from this point forward, but I do hope to finish my TRR QTs soon. I have a LOT of thoughts! If you'd like to be tagged on those, do tell me!

#long post #tw: racism from pb #tw: fandom racism #trh quick thoughts #trh qts #king liam #hana lee #maxwell beaumont #anti drake walker #anti olivia nevrakis #anti trr madeleine #anti trr penelope #trr kiara

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marwritesgood · 5 years

Text

Collateral | O. Diaz

Pairing: Oscar x Matinez!Reader

Timeframe: Post-Season One

Summary: When Y/n’s life is placed in jeopardy, everyone she loves is worried sick. Especially since it isn’t just her life on the line.

A/N: This imagine is pretty intense, so please just keep that in mind before reading. Am also considering writing a second part, so tell me what you think x

“Does it show?”

I looked at Oscar through his reflection in my full-length mirror. He had spent the night at my apartment, and was lounging on my bed, watching me intently as I got ready for Olivia’s quinceanera.

“Baby, you’re only a few months along,” he laughed, his smile growing wider as I rubbed my stomach. “- And I still don’t get why this is something you need to hide.”

As he spoke, he slowly got up from my bed and stood behind me, snaking his arms around my waist placing light kisses on the crook of my neck.

“It’s not that I wanna hide my pregnancy,” I began, turning and and looking Oscar in the eye. “Olivia’s just had a rough couple of months... Today should be about her. But, as soon as the Quinceanera is over, I will tell everyone, okay?”

“Whatever you say, babymama,” he whispers, before leaning in and kissing me softly. As he pulls away, I scrunch my nose at him.

“I thought I told you not to call me that,” I said, before wrapping my arms around his neck. He pulls me closer and smiles. He did a lot of that- smiling and holding me close to him, even more so after we found out we were expecting our first child together. It was definitely something I could get used to.

“I’m just excited,” he murmured. “And I like knowing your my babymama... I like knowing we’re gonna be parents soon.”

And I liked it too. I really really did.

******

After Olivia and her court made their entrance, Cesar was helping me bring out the last platters of food to my mum, who was organising where everything was going.

“Are you sure you’re okay carrying that?” He asked, as I reached to pick up the last platter of quesadillas. “Because I can finish it up, so you can rest. I read that heavy lifting isn’t good for the-”

“Cesar, I will be fine,” I reassured him. “It’s just a plate of quesadillas. You and your brother are way too much alike, I swear.”

He picks up the last platters and follows me to where the food table was. People were already dancing in the middle of our driveway, my abuelita included.

“But, forreal, Y/n, if there’s anything I can do to make this whole thing easier-”

“Make what thing easier?”

My mother turned around abruptly, and snuck her way into our conversation. As she took the patters off our hands and organised them on the table, she managed to maintain eye contact with either me or Cesar throughout.

“Uh-”

As soon as Cesar spoke, I shot him a look and shook my head subtly. He nods and turns back to my mother, who was waiting for a reply from one of us.

“He means cleaning up,” I answered. “- After the qunices... Remember how I said I would help clean up, mami?”

“Oh... okay,” she replies, before turning her attention back to a distant relative who made their way over. I quickly pulled Cesar aside.

“I’m telling them after this is over, Cesar,” I began. “So can you please please not tell anyone for the next twelve hours? I want them to hear it from me.”

“Got it,” he nodded, before smirking at me. “Anything for my brother’s babymama.”

“Okay, whatever,” I laughed, before nudging his shoulder lightly. “Don’t have a certain Mose to be dancing with? I think they’re gonna be playing a slow song soon.”

As he walked away and headed towards where Monse was standing, I went back inside to get a head-start on cleaning the dishes. My mother had been cranky the entire week, so the least I felt I could do was make her workload as small as possible.

As I turned to grab the rest of the dirty dishes from the kitchen table, I noticed a hooded figure heading towards the entrance to where the dance floor was. Whenever you see something like that happen on our block, the first thing you need to do is warn the people who might be in harms way.

So I quickly headed towards where everyone was gathered, and I tried to look for where the hooded figure was walking. And then I found him, heading straight towards where Ruby, Olivia, Monse and Cesar were dancing. I knew instantly, then, who the figure was.

Racing straight towards where the kids were dancing, I pulled Ruby behind me and instinctively shielded him from getting in harms way.

“Cesar!” Ruby yells, prompting Cesar to pull Monse behind him.

Latrelle pulled out an object from inside his jacket, and before I realised what he was about to do, a loud noise sounded throughout the perimeter and I felt a strong burning sensation on my right shoulder.

“Mija!”

The last thing I remember seeing was my mom racing towards me, and my brother cradling my head. Everything else became darkness in what felt like a spilt second.

******

As everyone fled the scene, either to follow the ambulance that carried Y/n, or to rush home to safety, Cesar sat on the steps of the Martinez’s front porch and waited for his older brother to arrive. Needless to say he was terrified of what was about to happen. And rightfully so.

“Cesar, I am gonna kill you.”

Never in his life had he ever seen his brother so angry. But Cesar understood why. Hell, he was just as angry at himself. It was because of him that the lives of his brother’s soulmate and their firstborn were on the line.

“Oscar, I’m so sorr-”

Before he could finish crying out an apology, Spooky’s fist collided with his jaw.

“The one time, Cesar.” Oscar’s voice began to crack, something Cesar was not unfamiliar with, but knew was a significant sign. He really messed up. “The one time I count on you for something, you let me down.”

“I know, I’m so so-”

“No.” Oscar kissed his teeth loudly and aggressively kicked the rocks on the pavement. “You fucked up, Cesar. You fucked up really bad.”

“What do I do, Oscar?” At this point he was begging. Begging for his brother to do what he had done his whole life: save him and clean up his mess. “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

“You can’t do anything,” Oscar replied monotonously. “Come pick your stuff up from the crib tomorrow, and don’t ever show your face to me again... You’re done.”

“No,” Cesar cried, following after his older brother like a lost puppy. “Please. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I didn’t know this would happen. Please just help me fix this. Please, Oscar.”

With fought back tears and a lump in his throat, Oscar turned around and engulfed his little brother in a hug.

“I love you, mana,” he whispered. “But you’re on your own.”

******

The next thing I saw was the ceiling of my hospital room. After a few more days of being in the hospital, I was finally discharged and my parents brought me home where I agreed to stay until I felt safe and well enough to go back to my apartment.

“Thank goodness you and the baby are okay,” my abuelita commented, as she tucked me into bed. The same bed Olivia used. I never wanted to leave home as much as I did when I found out that’s where I would be crashing until I healed up. “I can’t believe I’m gonna. be a great-grandmother.”

“I can’t believe I’m gonna be a Grandmother,” my mother chimed in, as she began unpacking my hospital bags into the drawers.

“I didn’t want you guys to find out this way,” I muttered, as I leaned back against the headboard. “Are you... Are you two mad?”

Before the twins were born, I was the only girl in my family. With that in mind, both my mother and grandmother have always held high expectations when it came to me and my future. As much as I loved Spooky, and loved the fact that we were gonna be bringing life into the world, it would mean just as much to me to know that they were okay with this too.

After exchanging looks with one another, my mother sighed before placing my clothes down and sitting on the edge of the bed. Abuelita does the same.

“Of course we aren’t, mija,” my mom whispers, before gently grabbing hold of my hand. “Do we think this maybe could’ve happened a bit later in your life, sure. But, with everything that’s happened, and everything we’ve been through... Mija, you are so strong, and courageous.”

“You don’t have to-” I began, wiping the tears away from my eyes.

“I saw what you did for your brother that night,” she whispered. “You’re gonna be an amazing mother, and I cannot wait to meet my grandchild.”

“-and great-grandchlid,” Abuelita added.

They both leaned towards me for a hug, before pulling away after hearing Ruby knock on my door. After they let go of me, we all turned to the doorway. There, we saw Oscar holding a duffel bag and a bowl from the Chinese takeaways places located across from my apartment.

“We’ll give you some privacy,” my mother whispered, before following Ruby and Abuelita out the door. “- Pero, keep the door open! One grandbaby is enough.”

I rolled my eyes, and sat up, before patting the empty space next to me so Oscar could sit down. I hadn’t seen him since I first woke up in the hospital. It was needless to say I missed him. Very much.

“I got you that combo you like,” he explained, before placing the bowl of food on the nightstand. “I know it’s one of your cravings.”

“How’d you figure that out?” I asked, smiling at how much attention he paid to the little details. I always appreciated that about him. It showed a lot.

“You used to like the other combo, remember?” He smiled, before reaching for my hand. I did remember. “Then, when you became my babymama you started getting this one... Like everyday.”

“I missed hearing you call me that,” I whispered. “How come you didn’t come visit me the past few days?”

I was asking more out of concern than anything else, but it still did hurt not seeing him, even if it was just for a few days.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he said, crinkling his eyebrows at the realisation that he hurt me, even if it was unintentional. “I... had to deal with some things.”

“Yeah... like the truce?” Oscar raised his eyebrows. Shocked that I knew about it so quickly. “Jamal kept me company in the hospital, before I was discharged this morning.”

He laughed, and continued to rub his thumb across the back of my hand. I stared at our hands intently for a while, until I noticed the faint trace of bruising along his knuckles. I had a small idea as to who he might have punched.

“You kicked Cesar out didn’t you?”

He coughed lightly, and straightened his posture, which gave me more than enough answer.

“Spooky, c’mon, he never meant for this to happen.”

“It’s done, Y/n.” His mind was already made up, and I knew better than to try and convince his stubborn ass to think otherwise. I also knew he would come around eventually. He loved Cesar too much to just leave him out in the cold.

I did too.

*****

It was New Years Eve, and around about a month since Olivia’s quinceanera. I had excused myself from the party going on at home, because I noticed a familiar figure standing in front of the memorial we made to Olivia outside of our gates.

Cesar was standing in front of her photo, with his head down and tear running down his cheeks. I slowly walked behind him and draped my blanket over his shoulder.

“How many times have I told you to wear something warm when you’re out at night?” I whispered, catching him by surprise.

He looked different. Like the light had been sucked out his soul. It broke my heart to see him like that.

“Y/n? What are you doing?”

“Making sure you don’t catch a cold,” I joked, before wrapping my arm around him for extra warmth. “And also making sure you don’t enter the New Year alone.”

“Wh-why?” He seemed to be genuinely confused. “After everything, I thought you never wanted to see me again.”

“Cesar...”

“I wouldn’t blame you,” he cried, looking at his feet. “It’s my fault all of this happened. It’s my fault you got shot. It’s my fault Olivia...”

“Hey, stop that,” I murmured, before lifting his chin up and holding his face with both of my hands. The way I used to with Mario and Ruby whenever they would get overwhelmed. Which happened a lot. “Cesar, this was not your fault... None of it.”

“You mean that?”

“Of course I do.” Without thinking twice, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him into a hug. “If I hadn’t been on bed rest for the past month, and if this baby would stop kicking me every goddam second, I would have told you this earlier... Stop beating yourself up about this, Cesar. You never meant to hurt anyone... I know that. Olivia knew that... Hell, even your niece knows that.”

“Niece?” He finally broke a smile, and it finally felt like the light was coming back. Both into his soul and mine. “It’s a girl?”

“I found out two days ago. You’re the only one who knows.”

“Really? You haven’t even told Oscar?”

“No, not yet,” I replied. “But when I make the announcement, you have to act surprised. Ruby will never forgive me if he finds out I told you and didn’t tell him.”

Cesar and I stood outside the gate laughing. And for the first time in a month, I finally felt okay again. Now that Cesar knew I didn’t blame him for what happened, I finally felt like I had my family back.

Even if him and his brother hadn’t quite reconciled yet.

NEXT PART

#oscar #Oscar Diaz #oscar x reader #oscar diaz imagine #oscar diaz x reader #spooky imagines #spooky imagine #spooky x reader #fanfiction #on my block #on my block masterlist #on my block imagines #on my block fanfiction

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camillemontespan · 4 years

Text

first man [drake walker] [one shot]

@moonlightgem7 @emichelle @ibldw-main @jovialyouthmusic @sirbeepsalot @katedrakeohd @saivilo @burnsoslow @dcbbw @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore @pug-bitch @marshmallowsaremyfavorite @mskaneko @rainbowsinthestorm @gardeningourmet

This is pure fluff.

I was kinda missing my dad so thought of writing this - the McDonalds scene, btw, is a real life thing my dad did for me and remains a really nice memory for me.

I was also inspired by the song First Man by Camila Cabello.

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

Amongst the sound of laughter and bubbling champagne being popped, the soft tinkle of a glass being tapped trilled around the room, bringing everything to a warm silence.

Drake Walker stood up and surveyed the room, giving his audience a smile. ‘Father of the bride now requesting permission to speak,’ he joked.

To his left, his wife, Camille grinned up at him and took his hand, squeezing it gently.

To his right was his daughter dressed all in white, a veil framing her delicate face as she looked up at him with wonder.

'Now I know I’m not the best at speeches,’ Drake began, eliciting giggles from the guests. 'I always have to prepare weeks in advance otherwise I’ll trip over my words, say something I shouldn’t and end up swearing.’ He shot a look down at his daughter.

'Don’t panic, Lily, I’m not gonna swear at your wedding.’

Lily giggled and kept her eyes on her father, a smile on her face as she watched him.

'But for this, I didn’t need to prepare,’ Drake continued. 'I already know what I’m going to say. Hopefully I won’t embarrass you but I can’t make any promises, I am your dad after all.. But looking at you right now, how happy you are and how beautiful.. Everything is clear.’

'Awwww!’ the guests chorused. Lily wiped her eyes which were filling with tears. Her new husband, Milo, reached out to wrap his arm around her shoulder, keeping her close.

'I’m going to use this speech to take you down memory lane,’ Drake said. 'Nothing has made me happier than being your dad, honey. You’re the light of my life - as is your sister but today’s your wedding day so right now, you’re the favourite.’

'Dad!’ Luna piped up, adopting an offended expression. Lily laughed and reached out along the table to squeeze her little sister’s hand.

'I’ve always been the protective dad,’ Drake said. 'I didn’t want you leaving home until you were fifty.. Well you’re twenty seven now so well done, you somehow managed to get away with that! But looking at you and Milo right now, I feel good. I’m happy to step back and let Milo take the reins on this. He will look after you now. I promise I’ll always be here for you, baby, but it’s not my job to make sure you’re happy. That’s your husband’s now. But I gotta say.. It’s been an honour to be the first man to ever love you.’

Lily’s eyes were watering as she clasped Milo’s hand around her shoulder. Drake gave her a wink. 'Now, my life changed forever when you were born. I was terrified, excited but mainly terrified.. Jesus, I thought I was going to break you, you were so small..’

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

Camille gave one last push, letting out a visceral cry as she felt her body give way. Drake had his hands out and caught the baby.

'She’s here, Camille!’ he told her, his eyes wide. 'She’s beautiful!’

Camille let her head fall back onto the pillow, exhausted. It had been a difficult labour, long and excruciating. It turned out Camille used very colourful language when giving birth. But as she watched her husband with their baby girl in his hands, she knew it had been worth it.

The nurse smiled. 'Do you want to cut the cord?’ she asked. Drake blinked, a look of sheer terror on his face.

'How do I do that?’ he croaked.

The nurse showed him and Drake delicately cut the cord, so carefully. The nurse took the baby to clean her up before wrapping her in a blanket, passing her back to her father.

Drake looked down at his daughter. 'I can’t believe I have one of these..’ he whispered. He stared at the newborn with a dopey smile on his face, unable to tear his eyes away from her. 'Hey there little lady,’ he whispered. 'I’m your daddy.’

He suddenly wrenched his eyes away from her to stare at Camille.

'Baby, she’s got your eyes! She’s opened them! Jesus, they’re brown with gold flecks, just like you. My little owl.’

Camille’s eyes filled with happy tears. Drake moved towards her with the baby in his arms and settled down on the bed beside his wife. Camille let out a breath as she looked for the first time down at her daughter.

'She’s beautiful,’ she whispered. Drake smiled and passed her to Camille.

'I’m worried I’m going to break her,’ he told her, stroking a lock of Camille’s hair that was slicked with sweat. ‘She’s so tiny.’

Camille took the baby’s hand and pressed a gentle kiss on her bunched fist. 'You won’t,’ she replied softly.

'Do we still want to call her Lily?’ Drake asked.

Camille smiled. 'Do you think she’s a Lily?’

'100%.’

Camille grinned. 'Lily. Hi Lily.’

The baby gurgled and Camille let out her throaty laugh that Drake adored. 'Yeah, that’s your name, baby girl. Lily,’ Camille cooed. 'Lily Olivia Walker.’

Drake pretended to wince. 'Olivia? Really?’

Camille giggled and swatted his hand gently. Lily yawned and settled in Camille’s arms, closing her owl eyes.

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

'Liv, stop shooting daggers with your eyes at me, we gave her your name,’ Drake said, rolling his eyes good naturedly. Olivia, who was sat at the table nearest the Walker’s, gave him the middle finger before laughing.

'Jokes on you, Walker, your daughter loves me.’

Lily grinned. 'I really do, Aunt Olivia!’

Olivia raised her champagne glass towards her goddaughter and tossed it back. Drake turned back to address his daughter.

‘So, I think everyone who knows Lily knows how girly she is,’ he said.

‘Yessss!’ everyone cheered. Lily turned red and hid her face with her veil as Milo elbowed her gently, laughing.

‘Therefore, I know that picking her wedding dress would definitely have been the highlight of this whole day,’ Drake continued. He smirked at Milo. ‘Sorry, Milo.’

Milo shrugged happily and like he didn’t mind at all; he had the girl of his dreams. Drake sipped his whiskey and began to speak again.

‘Lily has always been girly,’ he told the room. ‘She loved playing dress up when she was growing up. And often, she would drag me into her dressing up games..’

‘Good on ya, Drake!’ Leo crowed from his seat beside Olivia. ‘Betcha looked beautiful!’

‘Ladies and gentleman, I believe Leo is drunk,’ Drake said, raising an eyebrow. The guests giggled and began to clap their hands as Leo stood up to bow.

‘Thank you, thank you, I’m here all night,’ he joked, raising his glass before sitting back down to listen to another story.

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

‘Daddy, you have to wear the pink tiara!’ Lily cried, holding out a plastic pink tiara to her father. ‘I’ll wear the silver one and then we can play Princesses!’

Drake took the pink tiara and placed it on his head. ‘How do I look?’ he asked. ‘Pretty?’

Lily giggled. ‘So pretty!’

She was wearing a purple velvet princess dress and Camille’s high heels. Drake watched as she tottered around her bedroom, singing to herself as she played. He was sat on the floor with her teddy bear on his lap, absentmindedly stroking the bear’s fur.

‘So what do princesses do?’ he asked.

Lily grinned. ‘We rule the kingdom!’ she said. ‘Just like Uncle Liam!’

‘Of course, just like Uncle Liam,’ Drake agreed. ‘What’s your kingdom like, Princess Lily?’

Lily chewed on her lip thoughtfully. ‘It’s.. happy,’ she decided. ‘It’s always happy and you get to play everyday. We can read lots of books and drink tea.’

‘Sounds lovely,’ Drake told her. ‘What kind of tea? Earl grey?’

‘Noooo daddy!’ she giggled. ‘Chocolate tea!’

‘You mean hot chocolate?’

Lily blinked slowly, as if Drake had just asked her a stupid question. ‘No, chocolate tea.’

‘Ah okay,’ Drake said, bowing his head. ‘Apologies. Where do we get chocolate tea from?’

Lily played with her long dark hair, pulling it through her fingers. Whenever she thought about something hard, her pixie nose crinkled in concentration and her fingers always moved as she thought to herself.

‘My kingdom has a lake filled with chocolate,’ she finally said. ‘You can swim in it! And get tea.’

‘Where is this lake, huh? Why don’t we have one in Cordonia?’

‘I know right?!’ Lily shrieked, bouncing over to Drake to throw her arms around his neck. ‘We need a chocolate lake!’

Drake chuckled and held her close, inhaling the lavender scent of her hair. ‘I’ll get you a chocolate lake, baby girl,’ he whispered. ‘You can drink all the chocolate tea you want.’

She drew back with a happy grin on her face. ‘I need to wear my feather boa!’ she decided, suddenly changing subject as she often did without warning.

‘Do princesses wear boas?’

‘Always,’ Lily said, opening her little closet and rifling through her clothes. ‘They’re fluffy and pretty.’

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

‘Now, she may be really girly but she’s also a Walker,’ Drake warned. ‘Milo, you gotta know that my baby girl can make campfires and toast smores like a badass.’

Milo chuckled and rolled his eyes at Lily who was looking very pleased with herself.

‘Be prepared for a lifetime of energy, emotions and joy,’ Drake told him. ‘Because that’s what Lily is. She’s my little pocket rocket.’

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

‘Smores are delicious!’ Lily squealed. Drake was teaching her how to toast smores over a campfire. She was six years old and in thrall of her father who was making it his mission to make this Walker Family Weekend the best weekend ever.

Her baby sister, Luna, was in Camille’s lap. They were sat around the fire and Luna’s eyes were lit up from the flames; she was hypnotised.

‘I want to eat these all the time,’ Lily said seriously. ‘They’re the best food ever!’

Drake held her tightly and pressed a kiss on top of her head. ‘You’re my little girl, you know that right?’

His eyes met Camille’s. His wife gave him a warm smile and she looked like she could burst from happiness. Drake could feel it too. This was the life he had always dreamed of. Just peace. The simple things. Smores.

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

‘So Lily is marrying the love of her life,’ Drake said. ‘Lily and Milo have known each other since they were four years old but their long relationship hasn’t been without its ups and downs. For example, they were best friends for the most part while Lily brought home many, many, many, many unsuitable boyfriends..’

Luna let out a laugh. ‘So true!’

‘Shut up!’ Lily protested, glaring at her sister. Luna stuck her tongue out, making Lily smile. She could never stay angry at Luna for long.

‘We all had bets on when Lily would get together with Milo,’ Drake said.

‘What?!’ Milo cried. ‘No way!’

‘I bet he would ask her out after the hockey player!’ Maxwell shouted out loud, raising his hand. ‘I got 50 euro!’

‘Damn you, Beaumont!’ Leo growled. ‘That was my hard earned money!’

‘Money doing what exactly?’ Olivia asked, nudging Leo’s knee with her foot. Leo turned red and downed another glass of champagne.

‘There was Matthew, Ethan, Eli, Patrick, James..’ Drake droaned. ‘Hockey guy.. Swimmer… guitar player..’

‘I’m surprised you let Lily out to be honest,’ Bertrand quipped, making everyone laugh. ‘I wouldn’t have.’

‘I was very tempted to keep her under lock and key,’ Drake admitted. ‘But no, instead I just got my rifle ready and gave those guys plenty of warning.’

Lily held her head in her hands. ‘Dad…’

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

‘So what are you doing after graduating?’ Camille asked the boy in front of her as she poured him a glass of juice.

‘Uh, I’m not graduating this year, Mrs Walker,’ Ethan drawled. ‘At all. I’ve dropped out.’

Camille kept her smile on her face as she sat down. Don’t judge. Be kind. Maybe he had a hard year. She could feel Drake tense beside her and willed him to keep quiet. She held out the bowl of salad, offering Ethan some greens.

‘Yeah, I failed like.. all my classes,’ Ethan explained, clearly not fussed that he was setting off alarm bells in Lily’s parents heads.

‘Oh,’ Camille said. ‘Tough year? I know Lily was struggling with maths-’

‘Nah, I just didn’t go,’ Ethan interrupted. ‘School is a prison, you know? You learn better outside the constricts of education! We gotta get outside, see the world, forge our own path.’

‘That sounds very freeing,’ Camille told him, trying to be polite. ‘Very forward thinking.’

‘So while my daughter is studying at university, what will you be doing?’ Drake asked, his tone thin. Lily was turning bright red, looking like she wanted to be anywhere but at the dinner table.

‘I’m just gonna see what life is, you know?’ Ethan drawled, leaning back to rest his arm around Lily’s shoulders. Drake’s eyes flicked to his arm while his hand gripped his knife.

‘Will you be working then?’ Camille asked. ‘I used to work as a waitress while at school. I used my cash to help my grandmother.’

‘My parents put a lot of importance on work..’ Lily whispered to Ethan, wanting to help him out a little.

‘I work on the side,’ Ethan said.

‘Doing what?’

‘I work with my buddy at the weekend,’ he said. ‘He’s got clients.’

‘Clients for what?’ Camille asked, taking a long, long sip of wine.

Lily quickly reached out to take the bowl of spaghetti. ‘Great pasta, mom!’ she cried, her voice high. ‘Delicious!’

Ethan grinned wolfishly. ‘You won’t be interested, Mrs Walker.’

Drake stood up abruptly, making Lily jump. She was on the edge of her seat, clearly waiting for Ethan to say one thing that would lead to disaster. She had been dating him for two months and she had been oddly quiet about him to her parents. She watched as Drake stalked out of the dining room.

‘Thanks for cooking, mom,’ Lily said quietly. Camille gave her a wink and twirled spaghetti around her fork.

‘So, Ethan, what would you like to be when you’re older?’

‘Jeez, that’s a loaded question..’ Ethan mused. ‘Again, I’d be in a box, working for the man..’

‘DAD!’ Lily shrieked, knocking over her glass of juice. Drake had returned with his rifle in his hand.

‘Don’t mind me,’ he called out. ‘I just remembered I need to clean my rifle!’

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

‘Ugh, I hated that guy..’ Milo groaned. ‘Such a dick.’

Lily was tomato red now. She could only listen as her family commented on all of her previous boyfriends, not kindly.

‘Patrick was a babe,’ Luna said. ‘But so, so vain..’

‘Hayden was very handsome,’ Camille joined in. Olivia let out a gasp. ‘Oooh Hot Hayden!’

‘What?!’ Lily screamed. ‘He was eighteen!’

‘He was legal,’’ Oliva said dryly.

Drake cleared his throat. ‘Okay, my speech is being ransacked. Back on track now, people, please. So, yeah, we watched a lot of boyfriends walk through our front door and leave just as quickly. It was like a conveyor belt of acne and hormones.’

‘Dad, you’re embarrassing me,’ Lily warned him.

Drake grinned. ‘Then be prepared for my next story!’

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

The front door slammed, making Drake and Camille pull away from each other and jump to opposite sides of the couch. ‘Fuck, that was close,’ Camille whispered, re-arranging her hair. Drake smirked and opened the living room door.

‘Lily, that you?’ he called out.

He could hear crying. Hysterical crying.

‘I’ll go,’ Camille volunteered.

‘Nah, I will,’ Drake said. ‘She’s home early though. Didn’t she have dance practice tonight?’

‘Maybe Harper’s mom dropped her off.’

Drake shrugged and wandered upstairs to Lily’s bedroom where he could hear crying and wailing coming from the other side of the door. He knocked and waited patiently for permission to enter.

‘Come in..’

Drake opened the door and found his fifteen year old daughter lying in a heap on her bed, crying. He rushed over to her. ‘Baby, what’s wrong?’

She burrowed her face in the pillow, her sobs muffled but still so very loud.

‘Lil?’ Drake murmured. ‘Baby, what’s wrong?’

She sniffled and raised her head up to look at him. Her eyeliner and mascara was streaked over her face; Drake winced. His daughter did not need makeup but because of her social circle, Lily felt pressure to always try and look perfect. She had to have the right hairstyle, the right perfume, the right clothing.. When really, she was perfect just the way she was.

‘He.. he.. He dumped me!’

Drake blinked. ‘Who?’

‘K..K..KYLE!’

Drake blinked again. Okay, who was Kyle again? Was he the footballer? No, that was Logan. The hockey player? No, that was Will. Who the fuck was Kyle?

‘Lily..’ he said, keeping his voice steady. ‘Who was Kyle?’

‘MY BOYFRIEND!’ she screamed, throwing a pillow to the other side of the room. ‘He dumped me! I thought we were so good! He called me.. He called me beautiful!’

Her voice cracked and she broke down again. Drake pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

‘Shhh, it’s alright..’ he whispered. ‘It’s okay, baby. Shhh..’

‘He made me laugh..’ she whispered. ‘And we had all these inside jokes..’

Drake sighed. The inside jokes were what got you.

‘I’m gonna be alone FOREVER!’ she wailed.

Drake closed his eyes. He was so used to hysterical female teenagers now, thanks to Lily. He could write a book on how to manage a hormonal daughter.

Lily was like Camille in that she wore her heart on her sleeve. She felt everything deeply and she loved very hard. But, she also had that Walker steel inside her heart that meant she wasn’t a pushover. So it was very odd that she was getting so worked up over a boy.

Until it occurred to Drake that Lily had never been dumped before. She always dumped them.

‘Okay baby, you know what we’re going to do?’ he said, his voice soothing as he rocked her.

‘What?’ she asked.

‘We’re gonna get you McDonalds and we’re going to make you smile again, okay?’

Her eyes lit up. ‘Really? What if mom doesn’t let us?’

Drake gave her a wink. ‘Mom doesn’t have to know, does she?’

Thirty minutes later, they were in McDonalds, chowing down on chicken burgers and inhaling fries.

‘Oh my god, I wish mom let me eat this stuff all the time!’ Lily said with her mouth full. ‘It tastes so good!’

Drake laughed and watched as his daughter became more animated and happy, like the Lily he was used to. They talked about school, Lily’s friends and new films they had to watch on a dad and daughter date. Eventually, talk turned to Kyle.

‘So, can I ask how you met this guy?’

‘He’s in my English class,’ Lily said, sipping her coke.

‘How long were you dating?’ Drake asked. ‘Sorry, my memory is a little hazy. You date a lot of boys, honey.’

Lily giggled. ‘A week.’

Drake paused, his burger held in his hands. ‘A week?’

‘Yeah.’

Drake stared at Lily. ‘You were in pieces over a guy you had been dating.. For a WEEK?’

Lily nodded. ‘Yeah. What’s the problem?’

Drake scoffed and picked up her burger, shoving it in the paper bag. ‘Hey!’ she protested. ‘I was eating that!’

‘No,’ Drake said, tossing the burger in the trash. ‘McDonalds is pity food for when a guy breaks your heart after months of dating. McDonalds is pity food when you fail an exam. McDonalds is NOT pity food for a guy you have only dated for a week!’

Lily’s lip trembled. ‘But I really liked him..’

‘What would Aunt Olivia do?’ Drake asked bluntly. ‘If Leo dated her for a week and dumped her, what would Olivia do?’

Lily frowned. ‘Uhh.. stab him?’

Drake was beginning to agree when he realised he shouldn’t. ‘No!’ he said. ‘She would pick herself up, put on her highest heels and she would forget him! What would your mom do?’

‘She would drown her sorrows in a bottle of wine.’

Drake sighed. ‘After that.’

‘Um.. She would see her friends?’

‘Damn right she would,’ Drake said fiercely. ‘So why are you hangin’ out with me? Go see Violet or Harper. See someone who isn’t that asshole and just have a good time. It was only a week. Forget the douchebag, he ain’t worth it. Hell, go see Milo! I like that kid!’

Lily was staring at him as if he had grown two heads. ‘Dad.. why do you go all Texan when you’re emotional?’

‘I don’t know, I just do!’

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

Milo was laughing as Drake regaled the room of Lily’s dating escapades. He could see Lily smiling so he knew it was alright; Drake hadn’t overstepped. He was really looking forward to being part of the Walker family. He practically was family anyway, from years of knowing Lily, but now it was official.

Drake’s laughing eyes met Milo’s. ‘So,’ he said. ‘I remember when Milo asked me if he could ask for daughter’s hand in marriage. He was so nervous and had clearly prepared his speech, not that he needed it. I was gonna say yes. Hell, you could have just asked her and I wouldn’t have minded!’

Milo blushed and felt Lily squeeze his hand. She was always a comforting presence for him. Ever since playgroup when Milo was too shy to join in with their classmates, Lily would take his hand and make him feel safe.

‘I was always gonna agree to you marrying my daughter, kiddo,’ Drake told him honestly. ‘Doubt never crossed my mind.’

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

Milo was sat out on the front steps of the manor with Drake, their usual spot for talking. Drake had brought out a bottle of whiskey and poured him a glass before toasting to their health.

‘Remember at your prom and you were waiting for Lily to find you a leaf?’ Drake asked. ‘So I offered you whiskey but you couldn’t drink it because you were seventeen?’

‘Heh, yeah,’ Milo said. ‘Now I can. Because I’m an adult.’

Drake nodded. ‘Indeed.’

They sipped their drinks until Milo broke the silence. ‘Mr Walker, I need to talk to you about something,’ Milo said, speaking quickly, keen to get the words out. Drake turned to him and regarded him seriously.

‘Sounds ominous..’

‘It’s not,’ Milo said. ‘It’s important though. I.. I guess I just wanted to ask.. I wanted to ask if I could please marry your daughter.’

He thought Drake was going to punch him. This was Drake Walker. He was known for being protective of his daughters. He was known for bringing out his rifle and ‘cleaning’ it in front of her boyfriends. Why did he ask? What made him think Drake would say yes? He would say no and make sure Lily was sent off to a convent or wherever adult women were sent to avoid marriage and men and dicks.

‘I just think she’s incredible,’ Milo continued, his breathing turning rapid. ‘She makes me happy and I’ve known her for so long. She’s like my other part of my soul, you know? No, she is my soul. She’s everything to me. I love her. I want to marry her but I wanted to ask for permission first. You can totally say no, I get it-’

‘Milo.’

‘I’ll step back and won’t ask her-’

‘Milo, of course you can.’

‘Then she can just marry someone else - wait, what?’

Drake was trying not to laugh. Milo looked like he was going to faint. ‘Mr Walker..’

‘Yes, you can marry Lily,’ Drake said. ‘Jesus, dude. Calm down!’

‘But..’

‘What? You trying to convince me otherwise?’

‘NO!’

Drake smirked. ‘Then shut up and drink your whiskey like an adult.’

Milo tossed back his whiskey, letting it burn his throat. Drake clapped him on the back.

‘Welcome to the family.’

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

Later that evening, Drake and Lily joined on the dancefloor to dance together. Drake marvelled at how stunning she looked in her wedding dress; she had chosen a boho gown with flowing white silk and she had taken off her veil to show off her dark hair that was decorated with silver leaves. The leaves were a nod to her and Milo’s childhood- leaves were seen as declarations of love at their playgroup and Milo had gifted Lily many leaves over the years.

As they swayed together, Lily felt tears prick up in her eyes.

‘I love you daddy,’ she whispered.

Drake blinked. She never called him daddy.

‘Honey, you okay?’

She nodded, laughing at herself. ‘Yeah. I’m just emotional. Plus your speech was amazing.’

‘Heh, I talked too much,’ Drake said, twirling her around.

‘You tell good stories.’

‘I’m a Walker,’ Drake said. ‘We love stories.’

Lily grinned. ‘I’m keeping my last name by the way.’

‘Really?’ Drake asked. ‘Milo’s not offended?’

‘Hell no!’ Lily cried. ‘I’m Lily Olivia Walker. I’m your daughter. I’m a Walker through and through.’

Drake chuckled and brought her in close to hug her.

‘You’re the first man who really loved me..’ Lily whispered in his ear. ‘I’m forever thankful for that.’

Drake held her tightly. ‘I know, baby girl,’ he whispered back. ‘And I’ll always love you.’

#drake walker #drake walker x mc #trr fanfic #play choices #the royal romance

61 notes · View notes

who-is-olivia · 4 years

Text

Track 3. Carolina

Harry Styles x OC

Olivia travels to Jamaica to help Harry on his album but finds him with another girl. [6.9k]

Genre: smut, fluff

Warnings: sexual language

October 2017

Harry’s freaking out. For the last three weeks he had been brainstorming and writing songs almost automatically, pushed by the presence of so many creative people and the relaxing environment of Jamaica. But these couple of days, he’s been stuck. No two words seem to combine and make a perfect verse no matter how hard he tries, and he’s trying.

Mitch can’t stand his wallowing anymore. He’s grown to love Harry as he is, but if he could delete the relentless perfectionist, he would. They’re running out of time and inspiration, so Mitch pulls out his secret weapon, getting his phone and walking to a far away corner of the manor. He dials the number and waits for her to pick up.

“Hey Mitch! How’s Jamaica?” Olivia asks.

Harry and Olivia grew apart. They were still dear friends and nobody could replace each other in their hearts, but they still weren’t able to tune in the same frequency. One moment they had big plans for their wedding, the other they were on a break. When he booked the tickets to Jamaica, Mitch thought Oli was coming along – as she worked with Harry more than anyone in the team and is a brilliant songwriter – but she wasn’t in the plans. In fact, they barely spoke for the whole trip because Harry supposedly wants to rid himself from every other influence. Mitch was the one checking in on her, and that has been going on since they first met.

Mitch and Olivia were more than just good friends. When he met her through Frank, he was of course intrigued. But then, working on her third album became something that he cherished, she’s a grand spectacle when she’s in action and it’s a privilege to watch. He grew extremely fond of her, it was almost offensive when Harry didn’t bring her along but it was also an opportunity for him to make a move.

“Fucking hot” he replies and welcomes her giggle on the other end of the line, “how you doin’? Everything good?”

“Good, yeah, Frank and I got some work to do, writing, producing, stuff like that”

“Are you terribly busy?”

“Not really... why?” she lingers on the last word with suspicious.

“We need you, Harry can’t write songs anymore” he blurts, looking around to make sure nobody’s listening. On her end of the line he hears a sigh.

“Mitchie, he doesn’t want me there”

“I do” he replies with a vocal pout, “I miss you, Oli”

He knows she’s smiling when she talks. “You’re such a softie!”

“Can you make it or not?”

“Ugh... fine, I’ll pack my bags” he hears someone approaching.

“Great! Let me know when to pick you up, bye!” he quickly ends the call and hides the phone in his pocket. The estranged visitor is Harry, half naked and wet from the seawater, coming around to hug his shoulder and look at the landscape. “What’s up?”

“It’s fucking awful man, I lost it” Harry mumbles, pulling him closer. “I was doing so good now I don’t feel it”

“Just give it a day or two, it’ll come to you” he bites back a smirk and rejoices in his clever use of words.

“Can’t wait” he unlaces Mitch and taps his back playfully. “We’re going out tonight, you coming?”

“Hm...” he stops, if Olivia arrives tonight he might need to get to the airport. It’s actually good that he’s away from the manor, it’ll make for a bigger surprise. “No, I’ll stay”

“Alright, grandma!” Harry taunts and takes a leave.

Night comes and, as predicted, Olivia arrives at the airport. Mitch waits until all the guys leave the house so he can call a cab and meet up with her. Harry takes a lifetime to get ready and leave, but when he does he looks stylish and fresh, his perfume leaving a trace of him wherever he passes.

“You look smart” Mitch regards and he makes a little twirl.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been out but I still got it”

“Harry! Let’s go!” Ryan calls and he paces up to meet them, making sure to hi-5 Mitch before leaving the room. Once he hears the door closing and the engines leaving, he gets up and calls the cab.

Harry and the boys end up in a club that looks a lot like a pool party with a privileged view of the Jamaican coast. For the first time in months he feels a bit like an alien, not only for his skin color but for the over-the-top stylistic clothes, as everyone else seems to wear swimsuits and very relaxed t-shirts.

“Thought you said it was a club” he complains to Ryan.

“This is a club, fancy pants!” he laughs despite Harry’s uncomfortable antic.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m gonna get a drink”

Harry turns to the right and steps down the stairs, aiming for the bartender. The loud Caribbean music is enjoyable but he’s not in the mood to dance, after the first embarrassment of walking in he’s quite unwilling to be here. He asks for a strong Sangria and takes a stool, focusing on his smartphone for a while. Every time he checks his texts, he hopes Oli will talk to him. Everything went south when she announced a tour right after he got the hiatus, and all the months he planned to spend with her went down the drain. Maybe she misinterpreted the fact he didn’t bring her to Jamaica, she might feel as if he’s trying to get back at her but that’s not what happened at all. He just doesn’t want the distraction, and their imperfect relationship is too distracting, when they’re together he can’t think of anything other than their difficulty to communicate. So they’re on a break, and he doesn’t like how that feels.

“Hey” a random female voice calls him and he turns to find a beautiful blonde lady smiling at him, “you’re not from here, right?”

A grin creeps on his face as he puts the phone back in his pocket. “What gave it away?”

“Honestly? The whole set” she points at his outfit and laughs, he does look dramatically out of place. “Where are you from?”

“England”

“Where in England?” she insists, sipping on some orange-reddish drink. As his eyes divert to inspect the drink, he unconsciously diverts to the creek of her shirt where he can see a faint outline of her breasts.

“Cheshire. You?” he shifts his gaze back to her face and notices her eyes wandered too, and by her sly grin she likes what she sees.

“I’m currently living in L.A, but my family is from Carolina” he nods, something in her accent made him frown when she answered L.A. Not only that, but the way she speaks makes him feel very welcome, as if he could do no wrong in her eyes.

“I love L.A” His drink finally arrives and he sips on it while she messes with her honey-colored wavy strands of hair. It’s hard to look away from her and it shows when he almost lets the liquid spill.

“It’s nice... but it’s not home, you know?” she squints her eyes, almost trying to hide how homesick she really is. “I didn’t want to move, but there was not much to do in my hometown so my grandma gave me some money and sent me to the big city”

“I know how it feels, Holmes Chapel was quite small”

“Do you miss it?”

“Just my mum, really. I like being out and about”

“Out and about?” she tries to mimic his accent but it doesn’t sound accurate, just really endearing.

Back at the manor, Mitch helps Oli inside with her bag while she takes in the luxurious place. She looks around the living room then goes straight to the kitchen, him following short with an amused smile. She takes some fruits from the fridge and makes a small dish for herself, taking a seat on the isle counter as she so fondly does.

“Honestly, this place is beautiful” she says, biting on a green grape. “And look at you! You even got a tan line!” she mocks, fiddling with the collar of his shirt.

“I told you, it’s fucking hot out here”

“Mitch, I’m from Rio. You don’t know what heat is unless you’ve been there in the summer” he giggles while nodding, she’s got a point. “Hey, do you have coconut oil here?”

“Probably” he turns to check the cabinets and finds a small pot with a coconut logo in it. “Is it this?”

“Let me see” he hands it to her and after reading through quickly, she opens the lid. “Yeah, this is it. Turn around”

He frowns. “Why?”

“‘Cause your hair is disgusting” she insists, holding his shoulders and forcefully turning him. To make him more comfortable, she slides backwards and make room for him to lean his back on the counter between her legs. At first he’s a bit stiff, but when she runs her fingers through his scalp he feels something he can’t quite name. Her oil-soaked hands run from the root to the ends, massaging the length of his hair gently. He closes his eyes, leaning into her touch until she makes him face her to adjust the small hairs that frame his face. She’s close, so close he can feel her breath fanning his eyelashes, but before he can say anything all the boys walk through the front door.

“Hello there Mitch” Ryan greets walking into the intimate scene. “Who’s your friend?”

“This is Olivia” he helps her out of the counter and introduces her to the crew. “She came to help us with the writing”

“Oh! You’re the Olivia!” one of the guys points out. “Harry talks about you all the time”

“Really?” she smiles flattered.

“Where is he, by the way?” all the grins in the group fade a bit as they all stutter to find a decent answer that won’t offend her.

“He’s uh- he was with a few friends-“

“We didn’t want to take him, he was having fun”

By their confusion, it’s clear they’re trying to tell a lie.

“Why don’t we settle you, huh? You can stay at Harry’s room, he won’t mind at all” Mitch tries clumsily to change the subject.

“I don’t think so” she shakes her head uncomfortably. He’s probably with a lady friend, judging by their embarrassment, and he doesn’t know she’s here. If he arrives with said lady friend and find his ex laying there, it’ll be so painfully awkward she can’t even fathom. “I’ll take the couch”

“Absolutely not! You’re a guest, take my room, I’ll share Derek’s” he suggests and Derek nods.

“Thanks Mitch” she smiles faintly and takes her bags.

Down the coast, Harry and his lady friend – who’s called Townes – walk with their feet on the sand periodically being hit by small waves of seawater. She’s terribly sweet and captivating, he’s awfully kind and charming, they can see no other way for this night to end than with each other. At some given moment, Townes points a nice little bungalow with connection to the beach and walks them there.

“This is my place, do you wanna come inside?” she asks anxiously biting her lip.

“Sure” he nods and waits for her to make way. The place is clearly a summer house, there isn’t much furniture and the ones there are crumbling with rust due to the proximity to the ocean. Some of the rooms smell like mould and make him sneeze, but the overall charm of the house make it quite cozy. “This is nice” he plays with the shell lamps decorating the walls.

“You like it?” she leans on the same wall as he does, mere inches between their bodies.

He takes some time to answer, his head buzzing with alcohol and the desire to wrap an arm around her slim waist. “Yeah... I like it a lot” he opts to take a blonde strand of hair out of her eyes and she shies away, her eyes averting his. For a moment he wonders if he overstepped but then she moves, running her fingers over the open collar of his button shirt.

“Is this a butterfly?” she asks, trying to peak inside the fabric.

“It is... the other tattoos are just as stupid” he giggles embarrassedly.

“Can I?” she looks up at him, her pointer finger lingering over the next closed button and he nods. She tortuously opens them one by one, her eyes locked in his tanned stomach until she reaches the last one and pushes the fabric aside, gently leaning her touch against his warm skin. He tenses, urging to touch her in the same unapologetic way as she’s touching him. She slides her fingers to his ribcage, where some of the older tattoos are. Then, with one last subtle look at his eyes, she runs her finger down his stomach sparking a reaction wherever their skins meet until she reaches the vines on his v-line, tugging on the fabric of his trousers. He exhales sharply and she notices how... tense... he’s become.

Instead of saying anything, Harry grips a handful of her hair and presses his lips on hers. She tastes of liquor and peach, her mouth warm and welcoming to his tongue. He regrets making it such an intense kiss at first, not taking the time to savor and please her, but the sensation of her curious touch worshiping his body loosens his reins. He presses her body against the wooden walls still with their lips attached, it’s his turn to feel her skin. She wears a orange shirt tugged inside her jeans, so he has to pull it up a bit clumsily before running his hands teasingly over her sides, the fabric clumping on his wrists, chilling hands sending goosebumps over warm skin. Just as a payback, he runs his touch over her stomach painfully slow, from her naval up to her bra and back down to the button of her trousers.

“Mhmm” she moans in his mouth and he smirks, having just confirmed she wants exactly what he does. He leaves the button there and slides to cup her ass, grabbing a nice handful of both cheeks and squeezing them apart.

“Townes” he parts the kiss momentarily but she plucks his lips.

“Yeah?”

He sighs, pulling her hips to crash against his. “I want you” she grins, breathing out a satisfied giggle.

“Come here” she pulls him to her bedroom, lights all down except for a window with a privileged view of the sea. She shuts the door and gets rid of her own shirt while Harry seats on the mattress still trying to process the situation. She cups his cheeks and kisses him intently, the strength unbalancing him for a moment as they almost fall backwards but get it right into a steamy make out. Aching for more, she takes his hands and presses their palms over the cup of her bra, urging for him to touch her. He squeezes them at first with her incentive, testing how they feel against his grasp, but then he digs into the fabric and looks for the two nubs throbbing inside the bra. He pinches her nipples curtly, sending tingles down to her core that immediately soaks. “Oh yeah...mhmm”

“You like that?” he pinches harder, wrenching a moan out of her. No one ever did that to her, she only ever had sex with her ex-boyfriend, and they barely experimented other than the missionary position. Although... there’s this one thing he always praised her for...

She kisses him one last time before pulling his hands out of the way and getting on her knees. Harry’s breath quickens in anticipation as she undoes his button and zipper, struggling to reach the inside of his underwear and pull out his lean and long shaft. At first, she gives it teasing strokes from the base to the head, feeling his size, then she reaches to kiss his balls, earning a struggled groan.

“Right there... mhmm” he grasps a handful of her hair, trying to hold it out of the way. She makes her way up from his balls peppering his length with small kisses, his hardness doubling the length she has to take. He exhales sharply as she closes her mouth across the head, her soft tongue stroking the most sensitive parts of him. “Such a good girl... you’re gonna take it all in?” she looks up with his head on her mouth and smirks, slowly pulling him inside her hollow cheeks until her lips touch his base and all he can feel is the warm velvet of her mouth. “Fuck...”

She bobs her head until she’s gasping for air, pulling him out and stroking his sticky shaft. The salty taste of precum is leaking and sliding over her tongue, so she recomposes quickly and hollows her cheeks once more, giving him the reins to thrust at will inside her throat, fucking her mouth until she pushes him away.

“You feel so fucking good” he strokes the hair he previously grasped, trying to provide at least some relief to her tension. He knew this night was going somewhere, and having her kneel between his legs was just the beginning for sure. She takes him inside her mouth again, and this time he thrusts her head faster, the warmth and the softness of her tongue against his stone hard shaft taking him closer and closer to an orgasm. “I won’t last long” he warns and she lets him out.

“You can come inside” she grins, putting him back in again in a haste so he won’t lose it. He humps inside her throat, she feels so good around him, so tight, he’s about to burst inside her delicious throat. With one final hard grip on her hair, he releases his thick cum inside her mouth and leaves it there for her to swallow. Taking his cock out feels sinful after such a good blowjob, he almost begs for another but it’s better to give her a break... and a reward.

“That was so good” he wipes the drool out of her chin and kisses her, tasting some of the salt he just dispersed. “Why don’t you climb over the bed and I’ll show you what I’m good at?”

Back at the manor, Olivia lays awake in Mitch’s room with her earpods, listening to some of her favorite songs. The salmon bed sheets hug her body but give her no comfort, maybe it’s the jet lag, maybe it’s the anxiety of seeing Harry after a while, maybe it’s the fact that he’s probably getting some right now and it’s not with her. Sex with Harry is always wonderful, either when it’s flirtatious and exciting or when it’s passionate and calm, they never had troubles in their sex life. Maybe this is what they’re missing right now, a nice shag to remind them how connected they still are. Sadly, that seems like a distant prospect – for her, not so much for him.

Right now, he has a beautiful woman on her fours screaming his name as he fucks her senseless. His grip on her waist tightens as her pulsing cunt throbs around him, showing the first signs of her orgasm. Townes reaches behind her, wrapping her fingers around his wrist as he violently thrusts inside her, skin slapping against skin, his long shaft reaching the perfect spot to make her gasp in pleasure.

“Harry, I-I... fuck I’m so close mhmm” she cries, leaning her head down but he pull it back up by the hair. Just a bit more, he’s close too, just a few more well placed thrusts and he cums, pushing all the way inside her. To help her get there, he humps in one more time, violently, making her lose balance. He keeps doing that and reaches between her legs to flick her pinky clit, causing her to scream in pleasure and tighten around him, her muscles tensing and twitching until she gives into her weight exhausted.

Harry pulls out of her stretched cunt and removes the rubber, tying it on a knot before throwing it on the trashcan beneath the study. He turns to Townes, spread out in her bed and panting, the tingles of her orgasm still running through her veins. He climbs over her and strokes a few strands of hair out of her sweat drenched forehead, she eyes him and smiles tiredly.

“Hope you’re not passed out” he kisses her cheek and runs a teasing hand down her sides, “because I’m not done with you”

“Oh yeah?”

“I’m gonna fuck you all night” he whispers sensually on the shell of her ear. Olivia used to say a gentleman makes his lady cum three times before falling asleep beside her. Fuck... why did he remember her?

He can recall vividly that time when she whispered those same words straddled across a fucked up post-orgasm version of him. The way her braids bounced on her shoulders while she rode him, her tongue sucking on his finger when she was about to cum, the way her dark skin rubbed against his fair one when fucked her from behind, hugging her warm body close, hearing her soft moans when he reaches that particular spot...

“Then we better get started” Townes replies, dragging him back to reality.

At daybreak, Olivia wakes from her short nap with the sunlight creeping through the blinds Mitch forgot to close. She gets up a bit sore after playing with herself for most of the night to compensate for her loneliness, but she’s smiling nonetheless. Nothing like giving yourself some love to start the day with a bang. She hears knocks on the door and immediately try to lessen her grin.

“Come in” she yells and so Mitch walks in with swim shorts.

“Morning Oli” he greets.

“Good morning, Mitchie” she walks to hug his stiff self only to be reminded she’s only on her knickers and tank top. “We’re going swimming?” she tugs on his shorts.

“Yeah, we rented some stand up-paddles, do you wanna come?”

“Sure, but... aren’t we here to work?” she mocks, getting a bikini from her bag.

“We work after lunch, we’re not that lazy” he replies, walking back to where he came from as to let her change.

Harry still hasn’t returned, confirming her theory that he got laid last night. Mitch says nothing and neither do the other guys, and she’s thankful for that. They’re on a break but it still stings that he’s getting some and she isn’t in anyway included in that.

The party that walks to the beach takes lots of chairs, a cooler with foods and drinks, all that along with the stand up-paddle equipment. Back in her hometown – where beach outings are basically routine – things were simpler: she’d take only her bag and a silky towel to sit over, nothing more. While the guys establish themselves, she drops her bag with her silky towel and undresses.

“Harry just texted, he’s on his way” Ryan informs, “we better wait for him”

Oli and Mitch exchange an understanding look of tension, and she’s not in the mood for that. “Alright, I’ll just take a dip then. Mitch, you coming?”

“Yeah, he is” one of the men mock and the others tag along with laughter, messing with the tiny bikini she’s wearing.

“Very funny guys, can’t believe I’m stranded on this island with a bunch of 12-year-olds” he complains, walking along with Oli to the shoreline. She has no trouble walking in the sea but he refrains. “Too fucking cold”

She laughs at this stiffness. “I’ve got a trick for that...”

“Oh god...”

“You have to run and jump at once, no hesitation. Ready?”

“God no” he whimpers. She takes his hand anyways.

“On three. 1... 2... 3...” they run together until Mitch slips his hand out of her grasp and runs out of her reach, leaving her to play on the ocean alone. From a distance, he could mistake her for a mermaid, she’s just really at home swimming on the salty water. Thinking about it, this is the closest he’s ever seen her to her home, and that’s a privilege.

On the sand, Harry walks in hand in hand with a blond girl none of the boys recognize. They smile and laugh in their bathing suits, carrying all the beach paraphernalia to join them. Instead of basking in his arrival, the men tense.

“Guys, this is Townes, she was in the club last night remember?” he introduces to the bunch, who stop preparing the paddles and boards to stand around awkwardly.

“Hi!” she waves shyly to the guys, who just nod embarrassedly.

“This is Mitch, he wasn’t in the club” he guides her to greet him and once again he’s also quite stiff.

“I love your hair” she comments, trying to break the ice.

“Thanks”

“It looks good, what did you put in there?” Harry strokes his hair and immediately the smell of coconut oil spreads in the air. It triggers him.

He knows that smell, he would recognize it anywhere. How many nights did he fall asleep beside it and woke up to a pillow with that particular scent? It takes him back to nuzzling a silk sheet soaked with coconut oil, to sleepless nights when he would put her hair sheet back in place gently and pin it down so she wouldn’t wake up with messy roots – which made her very moody, as she turned out to be very vain. The smell brings everything about her back.

Once he turns to the ocean his jaw falls agape. Few feet away from him is Olivia, the estranged love of his life, walking out of the ocean perfectly without even losing her balance, parading in a tiny and provocative bikini, twist rope braids framing her face beautifully. She smiles in his direction, not missing the presence of the other girl in the crew. The last thing she wants is to create an uncomfortable atmosphere where she wasn’t even invited, so she goes along with the ride. Who knows, the girl can be nice. She’s above letting a guy create discord between ladies.

“Oli... what are you doing here?” Harry rushes to close the distance and hug her wet body. This might be awkward but it doesn’t change the fact that he missed her. She laces his neck and squeezes him in a tight embrace before taking some distance to check him out.

“Mitch said you needed backup”

“Of course he did” he notices Mitch shrugging.

“I guess I’m overstepping a bit” she comments between them while looking at Townes. Before he can think of a clumsy excuse, she makes a move to greet her. “Hi, I’m Olivia”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Townes” they smile at each other.

“Sorry, my hands are cold, the water is freezing” she plays a bit to break the ice while Harry shoots Mitch with a furious gaze.

“Don’t look at me like that, you were annoying me” Mitch crosses his arms over his chest, trying to keep his voice down.

“Then you though you could just call her here and be done with it?”

“That’s exactly what I though”

“Bloody hell...”

“Sorry, I didn’t think you’d find another girl in one night” he excuses, watching Oli and Townes at a distance. “Maybe I lacked imagination”

“You did”

“Or, you know, in my brilliant mind I knew that if you just talked to her that’d give you the spark” Harry shakes his head dismissively, but slowly cuts the movement thinking he might have a point. “And since you wouldn’t call her-“

“Let’s go everyone, before the tides stop helping” one of the guys calls out.

“Are you coming?” Oli asks.

“No, I’ve got a flight to catch tonight, better pack up” she replies looking behind her, at where Harry and Mitch are arguing. “It was nice to meet you”

“Nice to meet you too” she smiles, hugs her quickly and leaves to get her paddles while Townes walks up to Harry. Oli watches from the corner of her eye the way they say their goodbyes, exchanging phone numbers, giggling, whispering in each other’s ears... she looks away and sighs, missing the times when she used to do the same. When she realizes the party is heading for the water, she picks her board and tags along.

“Harry, you coming?” Ryan asks.

“In a minute” he replies. Mitch hurries a bit with his materials to meet up with her.

“That went alright” he drops with a hint of irony.

“Shut up” she dismisses lightly with a chuckle.

She lands the board over the water and calmly paddles through small waves, the sea is very gentle. When they pass the shore break, it’s just a matter of standing up and paddling through. Underneath her, she can se the fish swimming in groups, taking cover under the reef, around her she can see distant islands, popping from the light blue surface. The sun is yet to reach it’s peak so the heat isn’t unbearable, when she sits on the board and closes her eyes, it feels like home. The other guys make a circle far from her and mess around with each other, but she enjoys a little private moment – that is, until her ears catch the sound of water breaking on another surface and look around to find Harry watching her from his board.

For a moment, they speak nothing, just look at each other with a bit of heartache. “You changed your braids”

She smiles fondly. “You grew a stubble, finally” he laughs, “it looks good”

“So do you. But then again, when did you ever look bad?”

“Not a day in my life” she taunts smugly and they return to a more cheerful quietness.

“I’m sorry about Townes, I didn’t know you were coming” Harry breaks the silence.

“It was meant to be a surprise”

“It was a nice surprise, I’m still happy to see you” she smiles bittersweetly and looks down.

“No, you’re not”

“I am” she still averts his eye, so he holds her board and climbs over it, making her almost lose her balance while exhaustedly shaking her head. “It was just a one-night-stand”

“Harry... you don’t need to explain yourself to me, we’re not together anymore” she replies gently, not willing to take a trip down memory lane and reevaluate their whole history.

“So what? You’re still important to me” he presses. They were together for 5 years, few months ago they were engaged, of course he owes her at least the decency of candor.

“I knew this was a bad idea” she grunts, burying her head on her hands, before recomposing. “Look... I’m not here to get you back or mess up your love life, I’m here because we work great together and you need help-”

“And while we’re at it, we could figure out what’s going on between us” she notices some of the boys can hear them from afar so she slides closer to him.

“What’s going on is that you can’t live with the fact that I also have a career!”

“What?!”

“You heard me!” she huffs angrily, “I’m not a huge popstar, I have to work to get myself out there, I can’t quit everything and play dollhouse when you finally get some time off!”

“That’s not true-“ he objects.

“Then why the fuck did you come here? Without even telling me? Do you know the mess I was when I finally got home and you weren’t there?”

“I told you I wanted to go!”

“Wanting and planning are very different things!”

He chuckles humorlessly, “Alright, that’s fair. But before you went on tour I though we planned on getting married, or was that also a wish?”

“Fuck off, I was going to marry you. Don’t get clever with me”

They stand at an impasse. “I thought we made decisions together, love. The fact we both worked so well is what made me want to marry you in the first place”

“Do you still think about that?”

“Of course I do!” he takes her hand to grab her attention, “I spent 5 years of my life with you, I made loads of plans, do you think I could just forget that?”

“It sure seems so” she raises a brow.

“Do I need to pull a ‘we were on a break’ moment right here in the middle of the ocean?” she tries to hold it but it’s stronger than her. She laughs hysterically as Harry takes advantage of her openness to get closer. “Also, am I supposed to believe you haven’t shagged anyone in three months?”

“That...” she lifts a finger, “is true-“

“Knew it!”

“I was sad and horny, leave me alone!” she raises her voice and pushes his shoulder lightly.

“Who was it?”

“I’m not gonna tell you”

“Was it Matty?” she raises an eyebrow at him in disbelief.

“Really? That’s your first guess?”

“Come on, I need to know for professional purposes” he insists mockingly, “so I know who to diss in the album”

“You’re such a child” she rolls her eyes, “It was Andy”

“Who?”

“Andy, Andrew?” it doesn’t ring a bell, “Hozier?”

“Fuck no” he chuckles, trying to picture the logistics of this exchange. “He’s twice as tall as you!”

“It doesn’t matter... horizontally speaking” she smirks fairly proud of herself.

“Can’t believe you fucked ‘Take Me to Church’ guy” they both snort at the title while they both let their short-lived laughter fade naturally.

“You know what? I’m really happy that you came here” her smile dies to a smirk. Despite getting caught in all of that relationship conundrum, she’s still the funniest, loveliest, most tantalizing person he’s ever known. “I missed you”

“I missed you too” she replies.

He leans closer to her, invading a bit of her personal space but she doesn’t back away, “Can’t we just pick up from where we left? Forget about the wedding, the tours and everything, just stay with me?”

“Do you think that could work?”

“It better work, ‘cause you’re all I can think about love. It’s ridiculous, I’m coming up with a whole album about you-“

“Oh, you didn’t...” she shakes her head in disbelief.

“I had this plan to reach out after we went back home, maybe pick up the wedding plans and then give this album made of a bunch of silly love songs-” he mocks himself, rejoicing in the feeling of breaking through her walls.

“You’re fucking ridiculous, you know that?” she replies, tired of fighting against his persistence.

“I know” he leans to kiss her and she doesn’t shy away, just welcomes his cold lips against hers. He cups her cheek in a way his hand seems to fit perfectly, and it feels like a punch in the guts how perfect she feels against him. Townes is good, all the other girls he ever hooked up with were incredible people in their own way, but Oli is extraordinary. A kiss is not just a kiss, a touch is not just a touch, being with her is an art even when they don’t see eye to eye.

Olivia is the first to break the kiss. “We’re getting so predictable, why do we keep breaking up just to get back?” he laughs.

“‘Cause we’re not boring, love”

“Alright, but we gotta fix this communication thing” he nods vehemently. “Because I don’t know how many more years I can go on with that messy ‘now I’m here, now I’m there’ thing”

“I was thinking the same thing” he pecks the corner of her mouth, “See? Totally connected” he licks her cheek and in a spasm she pushes him in the water.

The rest of the morning they spend on the ocean, even when the other guys retire to the manor. She lays on her board, back flat against the harsh surface and Harry sprawled over her, head on her chest, her legs sunk in the seawater to make room for him. If he was mad at Mitch earlier, he’s not anymore. Nothing in the world feels as peaceful as the soft rumbling of the ocean and her fingers running against his scalp. It’s almost torture when they have to leave, paddling back to the house and walking in everyone else’s lunch.

“Thank god you’re back, we have to work on something, anything Harry!”

“Alright, I’ll just get a shower and meet you in the studio” he replies, leading Olivia with a hand on her waist. Mitch’s gaze on them lingers a bit longer, as he soon comes to realize he had no chance to make a move. “Where did they put you?”

“Mitch’s”

“Why don’t you bring your stuff to my room?”

“Because I’m fucking lazy, that’s why” she mocks. “I’ll be there in a minute” before she pulls away, he holds her close and presses a lingering kiss against her lips, brushing his stubble against her chin.

“Ok” he untangles from her and walks in the opposite direction.

Few minutes later, she drops her bag on the bed and looks around the luxurious bedroom. She takes particular notice on how distinctly Harry makes a room his own, leaving few clothes scattered but not in a messy way: some are folded over the table, some are draped over the chair’s backboard, everything is organized except for one of them which is just thrown over the bed. She picks the flowery blouse and it is a bit wet – it’s the one he was wearing at the beach, he probably carried it with wet hands – but she dresses it anyway, checking herself out in the mirror with it. It looks great, as often his clothes do, that’s why they often wore each other’s clothes, but there’s something strange. Inside the pocket, there’s a piece of paper.

She’s got a family in Carolina

So far away but she says I remind her of home

She’s got a book for every situation

Gets sent to parties without invitation

There’s not a drink that I think could sink her

How would I tell her that she’s all I think about?

Oli puts the paper back in the pocket and muffles a gasp. If she came to help him write songs, she’s awfully late. Something in her stomach turns and she feels like an alien in the room, in fact, an alien in the house. Completely out of place.

She doesn’t mention the paper when he leaves the bathroom, nor at lunch, nor at the writing session where he also doesn’t bring that up. The tension of that unnamed subject plagues her all day as she fears the moment it will rise so much that she wants it to happen soon and be done with it. So, later in the evening, after they all retire to their chambers, she addresses it.

Harry is helping her to dry the braids with a towel, one by one, while they watch a silly romcom. With her cross-legged between his legs, he notices her mind isn’t really at it. “You’re strangely not-chatty today, what happened? Am I... rushing a bit?”

“No... That’s not it, it’s just... I’m sorry Harry, I wasn’t sneaking, I tried on your shirt and I found something...” she vaguely explains but recognition immediately dawns on his face.

“Right... about that-“

“You should take it to the guys” she interrupts, turning between his legs to face him. “It could be good”

“You’re not mad about it?”

“Who cares if I’m mad? It’s your album!”

“Yes, but are you mad about it?”

She huffs, opting for the truth. “I am, but it’s not what you’re probably thinking!”

“I’m thinking that it’d be awkward to help your fiancée write a song about another person” he argues, knowing better than to assume she’s jealous or petty or that she feels replaced. Olivia might have changed, but the foundations are still the same, and he knows her architecture by heart. She’s not jealous at all, she often taunts him about both of them being with other people, she never objected to his affairs with Victoria Secret models – she often participated on them –, so it’s quite far fetched to believe she’s jealous of Townes.

“Alright, it is what you’re probably thinking” he smiles smugly, leaning against the bed’s backboard. She picks on his hand earnestly. “Be honest with me”

“Always” he toys with their intertwined fingers.

“Do you want me to go home?” he ponders for a while, trying to examine his feelings and finding the perfect answer.

“I want a piece of you in the album” he explains, leaving the backboard and adjusting himself in the cushions until she’s on breathing distance. “I want to write that one song that, when I’m onstage about to perform it I have to give a bit of backstory about you, and about how this song was made” she smiles fondly, reaching to stroke his sweet cheeks while she drowns on his love drunk eyes. “After that, you pack your stuff and get the fuck out of here-“

She pushes his face away but he holds her close, trying to kiss her despite the resistance. “Yeah? And after I get the fuck out you can write about that pretty American girl you hooked up with”

“Deal”

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cindytingle-blog · 5 years

Text

silk | spiderman.

two

summary: wouldn't everyone like to be taken in by THE tony stark? i mean, you get to hang out with the freaking avengers everyday right?

cindy moon begs to differ.

word count: 2,035

A/N: sorry it lowkey sucks, im not the best at writing fight scenes to be honest

–

"ELLA CAN WE go?" I groaned as I laid there on the bleachers, back against the cold metal as I watched her doing sprints across the track field. "If I don't get food in my stomach in the next twenty minutes, I will kill you."

She stops running in front of the bleachers, hands on her hips as she caught her breath.

"You're talking to the girl who eats like 2,000 calories in one sitting," she breathes out, letting out a breathy chuckle afterwards. I rolled my eyes as I sat up, fixing my hair as I did so.

"You've been running out here for like an hour and a half now, I literally finished my homework forty-five minutes ago. You should be tired," I complained as I stood up, grabbing her water bottle from her bag before tossing it over to her. "You don't wanna get a heat stroke do you?"

"Relax, I'm not gonna get a heat stroke," she assured as she took a big sip from her water. "Just five more minutes."

"And after five minutes you'll only have fifteen minutes to get food in my stomach before I murder you," I replied, groaning as I sat back down.

"I can work with that."

I once again watched as she practiced her sprinting drills, literally flying across the track. Meanwhile, I pulled out my phone from my pocket and scrolled through social media. I scrolled past the numerous posts about Iron Man and the Avengers, not interested in reading them at the moment.

I ended up finding a photo of Ned and Peter, posted on Ned's account, which showed them posing with a Lego tower. I snickered, scrolling past it before I see a pair of sneakers in front of me.

"You ready to go?" I looked up to see Ella standing there, a sweat towel pressed to her forehead before she let it drop on her shoulder.

"Finally," I groaned, grabbing my backpack before we walked down the bleachers, heading for downtown.

We walked into the cafe, quickly ordering before sitting down at our usual table by the window.

"You're lucky you got all that money, you buy like five hundred sandwiches," I laughed as we got situated.

"Listen, when you're a true athlete like me, you get hungry a lot," she explained as she grabbed her phone. "Whether it's protein or not."

I mean, I swing on webs and fight criminals after school, isn't that sort of the same?

"Yeah, okay," I chuckled as we hopped onto our phones.

"Did you see Liz's new hairstyle?" She questioned, which I replied with shaking my head. She pushed her phone into my face, showing me the picture of the senior girl Liz, posing in a picture with her best friend Betty, her hair now straighter with a slight wave.

"It looks good on her," I replied, not really caring about it that much. I zoned out right when Ella went on a rant about something irrelevant as I looked at my phone to see that the attempted robbery yesterday was actually on the news.

'He just pointed a gun at my head,' the cashier of the small convenience story, Emma Ferguson, explained. 'He forced me to give him the money from the cash register, and obviously I was like scared for my life so I did it. But then this like, superhero girl thing came and beat the crap out of him, it was crazy! She quickly bought something before running out of the store quickly'

"Oh god," I groaned under my breath, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"Something wrong?" Ella questioned, trying to lean over the table to see what I was looking at. I was quick to shake my head, playing if off as nothing.

"It's nothing, just really hungry," I replied as I continued to read the article.

'Could you describe the girl's appearance?' We asked Ferguson.

'Well, she looked kind of young, but that's just from judging by her face above her nose. She wore a red mask thing on her nose which covered everything below it, and her suit it was like some sort of black, white, and red spandex suit,' Ferguson explained. 'The arms and legs were black meanwhile the torso part was white with a red like webbing pattern.'

My thoughts were interrupted by the employee setting our food down in front of us.

"There you go," he spoke, shooting a friendly smile down at us. "Is there anything I can grab you guys?"

"Nope, I think we're good," Ella replied, sending the guy off before she began stuffing her face once again. I sighed, locking my phone before placing it on the table besides my plate. "What were you so focused on?"

I looked up at her, sending her a questioning look.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, what were you looking at on your phone?" She questioned through a full mouth. "You were like glaring down at it, was kinda creepy."

I rose my shoulders up in a shrug as I took a bite from my sandwich.

"Just reading something I found," I replied simply, hoping she would drop the subject. Fortunately, she just shrugged her shoulders and continued eating.

"So Cindy," she spoke up, dropping her third sandwich onto her plate. "What'd you get for number nine on our biology homework?"

I raised an eyebrow at her, shaking my head disappointedly.

"I thought we talked about this Ella," I sighed. "No more copying off my homework."

"But Cindy-"

"No buts Ella, do your own homework," I rolled my eyes, finally finishing my food. She groaned, throwing her head down as she stomped her feet.

"Come on!" She whined, grabbing my arm. "Please just one more time?"

"I thought I told you no," I scoffed, ripping my arm out from her grip. She pouted once again, crossing her arms as she leaned back in her chair.

"You just aren't being fair right now," she mumbled, eating the rest of her third sandwich.

"I'm being fa- are you being serious?" My eyes widened as I stared at her, watching her every movement.

"Yes, you aren't being fair," she stuck her tongue out afterwards as she took a bite from her pickle.

"Whatever."

___________________

After finishing up at the cafe, we began our walk to Ella's house, which thankfully wasn't very far at all.

"You don't think your foster mother will actually kill you right?" She questioned as she played with the straps of her backpack. I chuckled, elbowing her.

"I'll just have to run off before she can."

We both laughed, but it ended almost as soon as it started.

"Down on the ground!"

Our heads both snapped to our right to see a woman on the ground, her face pressed against the concrete while a man holding long, unusual looking gun pressed the gun to her temple.

"Holy shit," Ella muttered before grabbing my wrist. "Cindy, we have to go. Come on!"

She tried to drag me away, but while running I slipped away, digging into my backpack as I ran into an alleyway. I quickly stripped out of my clothes, changing into my suit before hiding my backpack under the dumpster. I pulled my mask on before running out from the alleyway, approaching the man and woman.

"Hey buddy!" I yelled to grab their attention, the man's eyes turning upwards to me.

"Who the hell are you?" He questioned, keeping his foot on the woman's head as he pointed his gun at me.

"I'm literally about to kick your ass, don't think my identity is really important right now," I spoke. He glared before firing a bullet, which I was quick to dodge before I shot a web towards his wrist, twisting it which caused him to yelp in pain and let go of the gun.

"For a criminal, you're kind of a dumbass," I commented before running towards him, swiping his feet out from under him. He grunted but got up back onto his feet, quickly going for his gun.

He began firing numerous bullets, which I jumped out of the way every bullet he shot before shooting another web, grabbing the gun from him.

"What the hell?" He yelled as the woman scrambled up, running away from the scene. Running up towards him, I swung the gun to his head, which seemed to have knocked him out of consciousness. I chuckled before spinning a web around his body, completely trapping him. "That was just too easy, I swear."

I pulled him up, shooting a web onto his mouth as well just to prevent hearing his voice if he were to wake up before we got to the police station. I quickly threw him over my shoulder before beginning to walk away from the scene.

As I walked, I was quick to notice that multiple people had been videoing the whole thing.

"Great," I mumbled under my breath, breaking out into a sprint towards the police station.

Quickly running inside, I toss the man over to the first cop I saw.

"Bad guy, tried to shoot me and someone else!" I informed before quickly running out of the station, back towards the alleyway where I left my backpack. "Oh, ew."

Cautiously going onto my knees, I dragged my backpack out from under the dumpster before quickly changing back into my regular clothes.

"Gross," I complained from touching the dirty dumpster, grabbing my hand sanitizer before squeezing some onto my hands and rubbing them together. "I really need to hide my backpack somewhere that's not a health hazard."

I sprinted across the street as I searched for Ella, only for her to not be found. Quickly grabbing my phone from my backpack, I was quick to notice all the missed calls from Ella. I sighed as I pressed the call button.

"Hel-"

"Cindy Moon, where the hell are you?" Her voice screeched into my ear, causing me to hold the phone away from my ear.

"Jesus Ella! You don't have to scream!" I grunted, shaking my head.

"Oh I'm sorry that I'm worried for your ass! You just disappeared while someone was about to get murdered right in front of us!" She yelled, panting afterwards. "Tell me where you are!"

"I'm like three blocks away from where they were," I mumbled, pressing my back against the building beside me.

"You're three blocks-" she scoffed. "Just stay there, I'll be there in a few minutes."

She hung up, causing me to let out a sigh of relief.

She was gonna kill me.

_____________________

"Olivia, I'm home!" I announced as I walked through the door.

"Cindy!"

The hair on the back of my neck stood straight up, causing me to quickly look to my left and catch the football before it could smack me in the face.

"Charlie what have I told you about this?" I scolded, throwing the football back. "Stop throwing balls at me when I get home."

He stuck his tongue out tauntingly, causing me to roll my eyes before heading towards the stairs. Before I could head up the staircase, the news quickly caught my attention.

"Witnesses say the masked figure was spider-like, shooting webs out from her fingers before tying the shooter up with the webs."

My eyes widened as a video played of me, fighting the man from earlier.

"Shit," I muttered.

"She looks so cool," I looked over to Charlie whom's eyes were glued to the television. "Wish I could shoot webs from my fingers. Pew!"

He then pretended to shoot webs at me, causing me roll my eyes before running up the stairs and into my room. I shut the door quickly, throwing my backpack down on the floor next to my bed before slipping my shoes off and throwing myself onto my bed.

I looked over to my open backpack to see my suit peeking out from the side. I sighed, turning onto my side as I stared at it.

If only I wasn't bitten by that stupid spider, I wouldn't have to risk my life everyday like this.

But I had no choice, I had to have gotten these powers for a reason.

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douxreviews · 5 years

Text

Quantum Leap - Season Three Review

"I always do the right thing, Al. And where does it get me?"

Season three is when the formula started to wear thin a bit... and I got a little tired of "Oh, boy," even though Scott Bakula valiantly did his level best to make it sound different every single time. Al hitting his hand link also got a little old. It was also pretty obvious by this point that God has a sick sense of humor. The way Sam is dumped into ridiculous and/or dangerous situations with no knowledge of what is going on is like an ongoing practical joke. Why would God leap Sam into a magic box being pierced by swords, or just in time to sprinkle talc on a naked guy's underwear?

What works

Just like season two, the best episodes of season three are the premiere and the finale. In fact, the premiere is considered to be the best episode of the series, because Sam finally got to leap home. Sort of.

3.1 "The Leap Home, Part 1 (November 25, 1969)": How many of us would give nearly everything for a chance to go back in time and fix what went wrong in our own lives? It's tragic that when Sam leaped into himself at sixteen, he longed to save everyone in his family, but had to face the fact that it was not what God sent him there to do.

In a way, "The Leap Home" paralleled "M.I.A.", where Al refused to believe Ziggy's projections because he wanted the leap to be about saving his marriage to Beth. Here, Sam also refused to believe what Al was telling him because he was certain he was there to save his brother from dying in Vietnam, his father from dying of lung cancer, and even that he could keep his little sister Katie from ruining her life by marrying an abusive man. It's so easy for the audience to put themselves in Sam's shoes. I confess that I've often fantasized about going back in time somehow so that I could find a way to save my sister's life.

But no, you really can't go home again. With the possible exception of Al dancing with Beth in "M.I.A.," "The Leap Home" gave us the strongest scene in the series as Sam told his little sister Katie the truth about time travel and the bad stuff that was coming, and tried to prove it by singing his favorite song that hadn't been written yet. (A beautiful vocal by Scott Bakula, and by the way, "Imagine" is, coincidentally, my favorite song of all time, too.) Katie's face as she slowly realized that she'd never heard the song before and that it meant their brother Tom would die was genuinely heartbreaking, and Sam was forced to say that he was making it all up. This scene was made even more poignant, if that's possible, by Al almost wordlessly telling Sam not to share with Katie what happened to John Lennon. Honestly, I'm dripping tears just writing about it.

In the scenes that followed, Sam for the first time expressed his anger at what God was forcing him to do, to save other people but not the people that Sam himself loved. Al, who had also lost his chance to fix his life with time travel, was the one to remind Sam that God also gave him an amazing gift: the chance to spend Thanksgiving with his family one more time.

Scott Bakula played both Sam and Sam's father. That was okay, but it felt too much like a gimmick. I wonder if maybe some of the scenes might have worked better if I hadn't been distracted by Bakula playing two roles?

That's a nitpick, though. This is an excellent, emotionally resonant episode.

3.2 "The Leap Home, Part 2 (April 7, 1970)": Part two was also terrific. It felt like God was rewarding Sam for his sacrifice in part one by allowing him to save Tom's life. Andrea Thompson (Babylon 5) gave a good performance as dynamic reporter Maggie Dawson, who died for her Pulitzer. It made me think about whether or not it would be worth dying to create something that would live forever.

But I was unhappy that the unsuccessful mission was all about rescuing Al from his POW prison back in 1970. It felt like the writers were rubbing in the fact that Sam and Al couldn't use time travel to change their own lives... except that Sam actually could, this time. Why was Sam rewarded but Al punished? (Maybe I'm taking this too personally.)

3.6 "Miss Deep South (June 7, 1958)": I dislike pretty much everything about beauty pageants, but couldn't help loving this episode. Maybe I really liked the feminist slant, that Sam had to perform well in the pageant so that the young woman he'd leaped into could become a doctor and save a whole lot of lives — or maybe it was that he was also there to save another young woman from making an epically bad choice in life, like his sister Katie.

Okay, okay, it was probably Scott Bakula singing "Great Balls of Fire" while dressed like Carmen Miranda.

3.12 "8 1/2 Months (November 15, 1955)": Another excellent episode where Scott Bakula played a woman, this time an unmarried, pregnant sixteen-year-old girl. I particularly liked the emphasis on how helpless an underage pregnant girl was and how few choices she had back in the fifties. I also want to mention again what a strong actor Scott Bakula is. He's a masculine-looking guy, but he can wear women's clothing, even flowery maternity clothes, and I'm still focused on his performance instead of what he's wearing.

3.13 "Future Boy (October 6, 1957)": Sam leaped in to help Moe, the star of a children's TV show about time travel. Moe constructed a faux time machine in his own basement, and his adult daughter Irene believed that Moe was losing his marbles and wanted to have him committed. Touchingly, Moe built the machine because what he wanted more than anything was to go back in time and be a better husband and father. I don't know whether or not it was intentional, but there was some ambiguity in this Moe situation, since it was pretty clear to me that Moe really had lost touch with reality and should have been hospitalized. But it was still touching that Sam was able to bring Moe and Irene back together as family.

3.22 "Shock Theater (October 3, 1954)": As I've mentioned before, many Quantum Leap episodes feel like homages to specific movies. Here, it was One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, as Sam was subjected to shock treatment against his will, which made him dissociate into various personalities. The best part was that all of those personalities were the real people that Sam leaped into, and that this time, Sam wasn't faking it -- he actually was his leapees: Tom Stratton, Jesse Tyler, Samantha Stormer, Jimmy, Kid Cody.

Nearly every episode of Quantum Leap puts Sam in some sort of danger, but we usually feel that he'll be okay in the end. In this one, it felt like things were spiraling out of control as Sam suffered abuse and was in genuine peril. In the end, Sam was forced to ask for the shock treatment that he dreaded, and he and Al somehow wound up leaping together, leaving us with a pretty serious and unusual cliffhanger.

Okay, there were a couple of problems with this one. Al rapping to teach Scott Lawrence's character to read made me uncomfortable. It was also hard not to wonder what happened to Sam's unfortunate leapee after the treatment, and how unfair that whole thing was to him.

Honorable mention

3.17 "Glitter Rock (April 12, 1974)": It's always fun when an episode features Scott Bakula singing, and for some reason, I absolutely loved the technicolor pseudo-Kiss makeup. But what the hell was Al wearing? A decorative stop sign? Wouldn't that be dangerous if he were walking down a road somewhere?

3.18 "A Hunting Will We Go (June 18, 1976)": It's hard to pull off this much slapstick in a single episode and do it well, but I thought they did: this episode was pretty darned funny. Good job by Scott Bakula as well as Jane Sibbett, who gave a vibrant performance; I always saw her as David Schwimmer's bland ex-wife on Friends, and didn't realize she was capable of stuff like this. I also appreciated the homage to the famous Clark Gable/Claudette Colbert hitchhiking scene from It Happened One Night.

What doesn't work

There are a few weak episodes, but this one's awfulness stood out from the crowd:

3.5 "The Boogieman (October 31, 1964)": This truly idiotic and poorly written episode is about a dream Sam had, while unconscious, of mysterious murders at a Halloween spook house. It included a replica of Al as the devil trying to stop Sam from fixing things while leaping — possibly Dean Stockwell's poorest performance of the series — and a teenage Stephen King with his dog Cujo.

Bits and pieces:

-- Famous people: Jack Kerouac, and as mentioned above, Stephen King.

-- Notable actors: C.C.H. Pounder, Kurt Fuller, and Peter Noone from Herman's Hermits. And Olivia Burnett, who did such a terrific job playing Sam's little sister Katie, also played another little girl named Susan in season two's "Another Mother."

-- Here's a question for those of you better at this online app stuff. Is Quantum Leap available for free at nbc.com (with commercials)? If it is, what did they do about the music replacement issue?

To conclude

I thought season three was good, but not quite as good as season two. And in fact, rewatching season three drove home for me that as a series, Quantum Leap was episodic, not serial. Honestly, I'd forgotten. But as my mother used to say, it is what it is.

On to season four.

Billie Doux loves good television and spends way too much time writing about it.

#Quantum Leap #Sam Beckett #Al Calavicci #Scott Bakula #Dean Stockwell #Quantum Leap Reviews #Doux Reviews #TV Reviews #something from the archive

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silviasutton1989 · 6 years

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T.T.K. Chapter 19.1 “To The Death”

A/N: Hey guys!!! Boy it’s been a minute since I posted from any of my series. If you all are still reading, THANK YOU! You all don’t know how writing fan fiction has change my life...I’m not going to go on my soap box right now (I plan to make a post in detail some time soon). Ok so this chapter is a bit long and it’s a 2 part-er (next chapter is NSFW and if you know where I am in TRR canon then you know what’s about to happen)u and there is a LOT going on. If you’re not doing anything tonight take your time because I go from couple to couple I don’t want you to get confused. Also every person in this chapter every scene is important for reasons explained later (just going to leave that there lol).

Rating: Mature (Course Language Threats of Physical Violence)

Summary: The Costume Gala is finally here: Will Drake and Riley finally rekindle their flame? What about Liam and Olivia? Love may be in the air but foes at every turn may cease the night from having a happy ending.

Songs: I listen to so many songs writing this but the one that I couldn’t stop is

Laura Welsh Undiscovered

Catch up: I plan to update my Masterlist tonight

Drake fiddled with his collar for the 3rd time in the last 5 minutes.

"Will you relax Drake...you look fine. Almost like you're one of us". Leo chuckled at his own words, giving Drake a harder pat on the back than he intended. "At least the royal King Liam didn't make you a jester."

The brother's eyes meet as they sat in the billiard room waiting for the Costume Gala to start. Leo was making yet another unannounced visit to the castle since his abdication, he could always find time to come home right when before a lavish party.

With a sigh Liam tuned to his brother. "You're not a jester, you're a bard."

"Same difference." Leo adds fixing himself yet another drink. "I use to be Zeus every year I don't see why--"

"Because things are different now, Leo." Liam snaps. He realizes both men where staring at him and straightens his spine. "Don't be nervous Drake, you and Riley will have a great time tonight."

Drake opened his mouth to speak but Leo beat him to it.

"Oh yeah I forgot about her...can't wait to see her again." Leo snickers as his brother gives him a hard look.

"Hey don't get mad at me. Their whole break up is all your fault from what I hear. You never did learn to leave what belongs to others alone."

Drake and Liam's eyes locked. The king knew he was on borrowed time with his best friend. Drake hadn't spoken to him in months since he left the tour, he thought everything would go back to normal when Drake asked him out of the blue for help with a costume but deep down he knew everything couldn't be fixed with a few borrowed clothes.

"Leo you're drunk." Drake chuckles awkwardly and switches topics "Hey i saw your article with Olivia it looked great."

"Thanks Drake...but it's Olivia's article I was just going for support and they wanted a couple photos of us together."

"You took that too didn't you." Leo mutters gulping down his glass as the men ignored him.

"Well I must say rarely had I ever seen Olivia smile like that."

"Yeah..." The image of that magazine cover was burned into Liam's mind. Since it came out he had been staring at their photo every night. But it wasn't Olivia's smile that looked so unfamiliar, it was his own.

Leo gives his brother a hard look then shakes his head. "Are you kidding me...Liam! You're in love with Olivia?"

"What! No...I'm not. I mean I love her and we... well---"

"They've had sex." Drake adds in, watching Leo's eyes widen as Liam blushes.

"It's not like that...we're not like that...I don't see her that way I mean she's like my sister right? She's like a sister to all of us...right?"

"Well... she's not my sister." Leo quips. "People don't usually have sex with their sisters, Liam...right Drake?"

"Take it from someone who has a sister, if you have to ask that question then she's not your sister." There's a slight chuckle in Drake's voice as he watches his friend hide his face in his hands.

A quick wrap on the door grabs the men's attention.

"Your Highness the commencement has begun." The guard announces holding the door out and waits.

"Well, wish me luck."Drake starts to walk out the door before turning around "Leo you coming? You know the King has to make his entrance alone."

"How about we do it together little brother?" Leo splays a drunken smile.

"How about you go ahead I will see you out there." The King walks over to a nearby mirror checking himself from every angle unaware of the look his brother gives him before walking out of the room.

The party was amazing,beautiful decorations, delicious food, the band even played a eclectic array of music from classical to county that even Drake would have enjoyed...if he was here, Riley thought at she stared at her plate.

"May I have this dance?" Riley spun around expecting it to be Drake only for Liam to be behind her with his hand stretched out for her to take.

"Yeah...sure."

Riley used the dance to keep on with the search, scanning through the array of faces for the one she needed to see

"Drake is here." Liam whispers in her ear."

"How did you..."

"You should go talk to him."

"Yeah...I should...If I could find him. I never knew love could be so...scary."

"Tell me about it..." Liam holds Riley close, as he spots Olivia in the crowd sitting alone staring at her empty glass. It had been the first time he'd seen her in weeks. Well that's not true he had seen her every night for the past week if that magazine counted.

"Why are you afraid?" Riley's words woke him from his thoughts.

"I'm going to talk to Olivia tonight."

"So you do have feelings for her? I knew it."

"That's the thing I don't know. Olivia is one of my closets friends I've known her longer than I've known Drake. I can't just go to her and say "Hey I don't know how I feel about you but I feel something and I want to explore that....she will eat me alive. She deserves more than that."

Riley tried not to smile as the dance came to an end. "Well it's now or never."

Liam bowed to her before slowly walking away giving himself a couple of deep breathes as he started towards empty chair next to the sunning red head. But his nerves got the better of him, and he turned on his heels quickly walking in the opposite direction.

Th second she found Drake her heart immediately skipped a beat. When his eyes landed on hers the world stopped. Riley couldn't hide her smile as she waved at him, she couldn't calm the frenzied butterflies that filled her as he began to walk in her direction. No, everything was a haze, everything but the tall man walking her way with the hidden smile on his face.

Riley saw nothing else, not even Olivia until she stood in front of her blocking Riley's vision of Drake.

"I see you're still here. Thought Drake calling off the wedding would have had you back to dining tables in New York by now." Olivia had her usual smirk but Riley could tell something was different, it was in her eyes, they usually were filled with fire now looked tired, and jaded.

"Hello to you too Olivia, if you'll excuse me I need to speak to..."

"Oh let it go Riley...honestly I'm surprise you didn't wear your wedding dress tonight...could have put some use to it."

Riley's attention was now fully on Olivia. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me!" the Duchess took another step towards Riley the fire slowly rising in those emerald eyes, but not fully.

"Olivia what is your problem...did you're little vacation from my unity tour leave a bitter taste in your mouth or something?"

"Stop playing dumb Riley. You told me to tell Liam how I felt just for you to run into his arms the second your fiancee leaves...to think I thought you were my friend." Olivia intentionally hits Riley's shoulder as she passes her out the ball room.

"Wait Olivia! I am your friend." Riley calls following behind her, Drake vanished somewhere in the crowd.

"Will you stop and let me talk to you for a second!"

"Oh just go back to bouncing from man to man, Riley...it's what you do best."

"Shut up Olivia! I'm not with Liam. I don't want Liam. And.....and he doesn't want me."

The words stop her in her tracks, she didn't want them to. She ordered her feet to move but her mind was too busy processing Riley's words.

"If you want him. Go get him." Riley tries to touch her shoulder but she brushes it away."

"I don't want your charity Riley. I am a Nevarkis and I--"

"I leave you for 2 weeks and you're already cat fighting over a boy...god did I teach you nothing?"

Olivia and Riley both look towards the voice, to find Lucretia not too far away.

"What are you doing here?" The Duchess scans her aunt from head to toe hard. Hard to believe someone who seemed to have dirt permanently under her fingernails could look naturally noble.

"I came to help you. I thought that once you got the information you needed you could use some assistance in..." She gave Riley a hard look choosing her words carefully "...going further with the plan."

"Hi! I'm Riley." she extends her hand out to the lady. "I'm Olivia's friend."

"Bite your tongue." Olivia spats "Aunt Lucretia, go home there is no plan."

Lucretia rolls her eyes at her niece completely ignoring Riley's hand . "See this is exactly why I'm here, to see how mighty this new king really is. You dear are just too love sick to think clearly." Lucretia scoffs "It's pathetic really, Olivia. Liam has no interest in you. If he did you would be queen by now."

"Yes... I know all this." she states with her head down.

"That's not true Liv, listen.. I just spoke with him and he---"

"Riley I think I've had enough of your input for a life time." Olivia looks to her friend motioning her towards the party.

"Fine. I will stay out of...whatever this is..." She quickly takes Olivia's hand pulling her in "But he does have feelings for you...just come back to the party. Talk to him."

Olivia takes her hand back and waits until Riley walks away dispersing behind the ballroom door.

"Why are you here?" She doesn't look at her aunt her eyes doesn't leave that ball room door.

"Well I told you, dear...I'm here to help. Clearly you are sidetracked so I came to steer you straight. To remind you of your duty."

"I'm not doing it...I will not take the throne from Liam." Olivia felt her aunt's cold hands touch her shoulder before turning her to face her.

"Of course you're not dear." there's a tight smile on her aunt's face as if she wanted to scowl instead of smile. "You're not ready. It took your mother years to go through with her plans...but eventually she figured out who Constantine really was, and you will see who Liam truly is...eventually." Lucretia takes her hand away. "If you need me I will be in Lythikos, the winter festival is only months away I assume you will need help making arraignments. Go. Have fun at your little party. Who knows, maybe he does actually want to be with you...and maybe if you're really lucky it wont be for a one night stand...again."

Riley spots Drake standing in a dark corner, staring into his almost empty glass.

"So you came?"

"Heh. I thought I could make an appearance." He did a little spin to show his costume. "What do you think? Do i look royal?"

Her eyes dance over him landing at the bulge through his white pants. She exhales hoping it would calm the tingles that immediately sparked at the sight. "Drake, you look perfect." she managed a light whine creeping out.

He gives a bashful smile, and she had to look away to stop herself from kissing him.

"Thank you Sutton, you look beautiful." Their eyes meet, and maybe it was her own desires taking over, but there seemed to be hunger in his eyes, like he wanted her as much as she needed him. "Would you like to dance, Riley?"

"I would love to."

Olivia made it back to her table in the ball room, a fresh drink waiting for her. She sat and sipped as she watched Drake and Riley dance. Their bodies were so close and they couldn't hide the foolish grins on their face. Damn them..damn them both.

"We....I...I missed you." she turned around to see Liam taking a seat behind her.

"Oh I'm sure you found a way to manage...I heard you and Riley were quite a team dealing with the riots."

Liam cleared his throat, his knee bobbed up and down underneath the table, so he quickly stood. "Will you dance with me?"

She wanted to say No to treat him with the same indifference she could easily do with any other man...but he wasn't any other man was he? He never was.

She took his hand and let him lead her to their own spot on the dance floor.

"You look enchanting tonight Olivia." The king's hand is placed firmly on the small of her back as he bends his head, looking at her through his lashes. Liam knew full well what he was doing, Olivia did too but why? Why was he doing it? It was hard to figure him out when he's looking at her like that.

The song ended but neither Drake nor Riley moved away from their dance. And as a new song began Riley laid her head on his shoulder. Her vanilla scent bringing tears to his eyes.

"Guess what..." Riley speaks in his ear.

“Hmm"

"I know this song."

"You actually know a county song...wow."

"They used to play it in the bar." She rocks with her love and begins to sing the song to him.

You may think that I'm talking foolish You've heard that I'm wild and I'm free You may wonder how I can promise you now This love that I feel for you always will be But you're not just time that I'm killin' I'm no longer one of those girls As sure as I live, this love that I give Is gonna be yours until the day that I die

Oh, baby, I'm gonna love you forever Forever and ever, amen

Drake didn't stop the tears were falling from his eyes, they were falling down hers as well. So they stood there on the dance floor swaying back and forth wiping each other's tears as Riley continued to sing. That is until they collided with another couple.

"Oh this is by far enough!" Neville's words ring out through the dance floor. "You two commoners come here and ruining our elegant night with your bluegrass and and your two left feet. Get out!"

"Neville, last I checked you are not King. You have a problem with us being here? Take it up with him!"

Olivia tried to keep her wits about her to not let her nerves show. If only she knew Liam was tying to do the same.

"You look amazing tonight." He smiles wide then quickly softens it.

"You already told me that...and thank you."

"Oh...sorry. Hey, have you seen your article?"

"Yes I read it. I was so excited, only for it to be some gossip column about us secretly being together. We've been friends since we were 5 if we wanted to be together it would have happened by now... right?"

Liam opened his mouth to speak, it went dry, stuttering before something finally came out. "W..Well it's funny you should mention that I wanted to talk with you about---"

"How dare you speak to me like that!"

The sound of Neville's raised voice takes both of their attention as it did the rest of the ball room.

"You're nothing but trash...the both of you! It makes sense the wanna-be noble ends up with the King's whore!"

"Neville speak one more word about Riley and I will knock your teeth in." Drake's stepped into Neville's face with clench jaw and fist.

"What's going on here?" Liam tries to interject.

"Good. I'm glad you're here Your Highness, your charity run for these two ends tonight." Neville takes a white glove from his suit jacket and smacks Drake in the face with it. "Drake Walker you want to be noble? Over my dead body. I challenge you to a dual...to the death!"

Tagging:This Tag List is randomly selected with some permanent in as well) let me know. If you DO NOT want to be tagged ever just send me a message I will not be upset.

@walkerismychoice@darley1101@speedyoperarascalparty@mfackenthal @jadedpixiescribbles@boneandfur @andy-loves-corgis @blackcatkita@missevabean@snyggflicka@stopforamoment@agent-bossypants@endlessly-searching-for-you@indiacater@tmarie82@umccall71@hopefulmoonobject@choices97 @blubutterflyy@fluffy-marshmallow-heart@itsmychoicebih @kinkykingliam@blznbaby@viktoriapetit@alicars@mrsdrakewalkerblogold@butindeed@greyeyedsmile14@gingerjane15@barbaravalentino@mymandrake@client327@choicesbyjade@drakesfianceee@caroolhr@drakelover78@drakewalkerrosenberg@youwontlikewherewewillgo@grumpycommoner@drakewalkerfics @choicesteamdrake @choicesbyjade@alesana45 @thequeenchoices @pug-bitch @

#the true kings #chapter 19 #mc x drake #liam x olivia #costume gala #choices fanfiction

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thebarsondaily · 6 years

Text

Secret Santa Exchange Participants (2017)

Tumblr: khughes830 (x) Favorite Episode: Lessons Learned or December solstice Favorite Barson Moment: Liv and the Barba’s Favorite Barson Trope: Forst kiss in an office What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): I’m not picky Anything else you’d like your Secret Santa to know: the more Barson material that is out there the happier I am.

/--/

Tumblr: the--beautiful--monster (x) Favorite Episode: Wednesdays Child Favorite Barson Moment: When Rafael got upset with Olivia in Undercover Mother, protective Barba. Favorite Barson Trope: I don’t really have one, but I love the fics I read when they’re a family. What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): (please note: this was left blank so I’m assuming this participant will take whatever you want to make)

/--/

Tumblr: roseinutopia (x) Favourite Episode: Hard question. But in the end, Barson-wise I guess it’s Twenty-Five Acts. Favourite Barson Moment: *starts crying in distress* there are so many… every time she called him Rafael or Rafa so far. When Liv told him about Sheila Porter and he jumped into action assuring her that nobody could take Noah away and tries to build her up though he doesn’t know about parenting. All the nods in the courtroom… every time they told each other that they can do something. Favourite Barson Trope: I guess everyone likes when their OTP is being trapped somewhere together for laughs and pushing them together, right 🤗 only me? Okay. Also I love everything Barson family, including the whole Barba family 😊 and maybe the squad as family too. What is your desired present: Fanfic or drabble collection, please 😊 Anything else you’d like your secret santa to know: Hey there. I love fluff and humour, so I would be over the moon if it were something like this. Also if you write family - I love Jesse and Noah being cute. Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ll do in the end!

/--/

Tumblr: r-o-s-e-h-i-p-s (x) Favorite Episode: SO MANY, but right now probably “Collateral Damages.” If we’re talking favorite Barson episodes specifically, either Favorite Barson Moment: I have a lot, but currently it’s that moment at the end of “Betrayal’s Climax” – a perp threatens Benson, and Barba is immediately furious and protective but still intimidated, so he directs his response to the perp’s lawyer (“you need to tell your client to shut his mouth”) – meanwhile Benson is cool as a cucumber and actually eggs the perp on a bit. I love when he forgets that she’s the more badass of the two and gets all puffed up on her behalf and meanwhile she’s like “I got this.” And how much he loves that she’s got this but is also infuriated when she puts herself in danger. This is turning into a whole long thing so I’ll stop now, you get the point. Favorite Barson Trope: Best friends to lovers!!!!!!! What is your desired present: Fic Anything else you’d like your Secret Santa to know: I love hurt/comfort and long to see Barba cry. Because I love him. This makes sense.

/--/

Tumblr: barsonaddict Favorite Episode: December Solstice Favorite Barson Moment: “Rafa” Favorite Barson Trope: Reveal of a long-running secret relationship What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): fanfic Anything else you’d like your Secret Santa to know: I love having Noah and Lucia as part of the story, but it’s certainly not necessary.

/--/

Tumblr: barbaxbenson (x) Favorite Episode: October Surprise Favorite Barson Moment: "Disenchanted?“ from 18x21 Favorite Barson Trope: Deep talks at the bar What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): Anything would be great! But if it helps you with planning this out, I’ll take a fic :) Anything else you’d like your Secret Santa to know: (optional) I picked kind of a fluffy favorite moment, but angst is also great! My other favorite Barson moments are when Rafael finds out about Tucker and when he tells her about Ashtonja.

/--/

Tumblr: raul-e-esparza (x) Favorite Episode: October Surprise and December Solstice Favorite Barson Moment: the “squabbling with you” moment Favorite Barson Trope: When everyone knows they love eachother except them, or the contrary, when nobody knows and they hide it until someone finds out by accident. What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): I love fics, but anything would be nice for me. Anything else you’d like your Secret Santa to know: I havent seen the new season, and i dont know when i will be able to see it. So if I get a fic or soemthing like that, I would prefer if its set before that season.

/--/

Tumblr: Amagicalshipper (x) Favorite Episode: Know It All Favorite Barson Moment: The final scene of Know It All Favorite Barson Trope: Barson Family What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): fanfic! Anything else you’d like your Secret Santa to know: I like happy ending ❤️

/--/

Tumblr: FearlessBenson (x) Favorite Episode: Any where they actually have a conversation with each other 😂 Favorite Barson Moment: Barba standing up for nosh & Liv, back with Johnny D & now. When she calls him Rafi Favorite Barson Trope: Established Barson, Daddy Barba & little Noah What is your desired present: FanFic

/--/

Tumblr: motherbearof03 (x) Favorite Episode: that’s a question? They’re all wonderful. No seriously, I don’t know if I can think of one I don’t like. I am totally taken by these two characters. When I watch reruns, I don’t even pay attention to the plot anymore. I’m too busy watching their expressions, how close they stand to each other, the details in his clothes, the background items in their offices and homes. Well, her home because we’ve never seen his. Ooooooh, there’s an idea! Favorite Barson Moment: um, all of them, but honestly what is stuck in my head recently is when he asks if she’s involved with Tucker and then tells her “We’re done talking”. I feel like she just broke his heart and he wants to lose it on her and will if she doesn’t leave. Sorry, I can’t remember the episode name. Favorite Barson Trope: well I haven’t seen a bed sharing one, so… What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): surprise me! Anything else you’d like your Secret Santa to know: (optional) oh hell idk. I’m totally new to tumblr and sometimes feel like I’m making as ass of myself because my daughters don’t get it (which totally think teenagers should!) my husband certainly doesn’t get it, and my friends IRL don’t get it, but thanks to you all I can do this and not have eyes rolled at me. Oh! You know what I might like to read? Cuz I’d feel a little weird writing myself in a fic, but it would be fun to read one where I met Olivia and we talked mom things. And about Barba of course! We are about the same age, my kids are just way older. (22, 15 and 14)

/--/

Tumblr: notesfrome (x) Favorite Episode: S18E15 Know It All Favorite Barson Moment: The first time Liv called Barba “Rafael” and the hand over heart at the end of Know It All Favorite Barson Trope: Friends becoming lovers :) What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): fanfic, but I’m happy with anything, really. Anything else you’d like your Secret Santa to know: I am not opposed to smut…hahaha

/--/

Tumblr: tribalvipe (x) Favorite Episode: oh god…anything that makes him emotional or vulnerable Favorite Barson Moment: hand over the heart in Know it All and the nickname thing Favorite Barson Trope: friends to lovers? I’m honestly open to all tropes with this couple. What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): fic if possible but I like all types of Barson goodies

/--/

Tumblr: scintillateworld (x) Favorite Episode: 18x15 Favorite Barson Moment: at the end of episode 18x15 where Olivia holds her hand over her heart and Barba looks back at her. Favorite Barson Trope: the looks they share in the courtroom. What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): fanfic

/--/

Tumblr: cool-veggiesword (x) Favorite Episode: “Legitimate Rape” Favorite Barson Moment: Barba confiding in Benson in “Know It All,” the hand on heart scene Favorite Barson Trope: calling each other by name <3 and Barba touching Liv’s shoulder, (non-canon: blushing Barba) What is your desired present (fanfic, drabble sets, graphics, icons, etc.): fanfic or drabble set

13/14 (x) = gift received

#& Secret Santa Exchange #Secret Santa Participants (2017)

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ellanainthetardis · 7 years

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I know this is a very random prompt (and I understand if you don't write it), but I would love to read a story about Effie's hair. I would love it if it was one that matched with important parts of her life e.g. being compared to her sister when she was young, dying her hair for the first time, getting her first wig, Haymitch seeing her hair, it being cut off in prison and growing back in MJ etc.

This is a very longone, more Effie centric but there is hayffie in there of course.

Since it is so long,there won’t be a prompt tomorrow but I will be reblogging the vampire au because… the requested sequel is coming on Wednesday;) [x]

Dye, Wig And Style

Lyssa’s hair is perfect.

Even at eight, Effie can see that very clearly.

She watches from her sister’s doorway as theirmother lovingly brushes Lyssandra’s hair. The hairbrush never gets stuck in thelovely straight blond strands like it does with Effie’s. From there, it looksglossy and soft, something you would like to run your fingers through… It looksa bit like liquid gold and it is sopretty.

Lyssa is a very pretty girl as a rule, though,everyone agrees on that and nobody agrees more than Effie. She loves hersister, worships the ground she walks on, even if, at eleven, Lyssa tends toconsider a mere baby. Even when she’s jealous of the high heels she’s not yetallowed – having to make do with babyheels, as Lyssa dubbed her shoes – she can recognize her sister’ssuperiority. It is so very obvious that it’s not that difficult to admit.

She wraps her silk dressing gown tighter aroundher, shivering a little in the big cold corridor. She wants to go in, she wantsto jump on the bed – or rather sitproperly and fold her hands on her lap like a lady ought to – and marvel atthe beauty of her mother’s dress, she wants to join in the hushed whispersabout the boy Lyssa likes, she wants to tease her sister about the blush on hercheeks…

She knows she wouldn’t be welcomed and that shewould only be intruding.

Mother will only have time for Lyssa tonightbecause their parents are going out to one of those glamorous parties Effiedreams of attending. Elindra’s dress is a deep crimson, there is a bustierembroidered with tiny sparkling gems – that she thinks are rubies – and a puffyvoluminous skirt that spirals around her mother’s thighs but never moves, keptin place by metallic wires Effie marveled at in the shop. Geometric forms arethe latest fashion – or so her sister claims.

“Euphemia, what are you doing here?” Elindra’svoice suddenly asks. “Wandering the corridors in your night clothes. Truly. You should know better.”

There is nothing hush hush about it and the tone doesn’t bide well for her.

“I forgot my book downstairs, Mother.” sheexplains innocently, waving the aforementioned book for her to see.

Elindra sneers a little. “Books. I do not understand why you choose to waste your time likethis. It is magazines you should read. You do so need to learn about current celebrities’ affairs. You almostembarrassed me with your lack of knowledge at your latest pageant.”

“My apologies, Mother.” she mumbles.

“Do not mutter, Euphemia. It does not become a lady.” Elindra huffs. “Now.Where is the nanny? Why do we pay thatwoman, I wonder… Ah, Tadius. Very good. Be a dear and make sure your daughtergoes to bed.”

Effie whirls around with a bright smile. Herfather got caught walking out of his room and looks startled by the task thatis required of him.

“Don’t we have a nanny for that?” he frowns.“We pay her enough.”

“It might be time to find a new one.” Elindraconcedes.

Effie and Lyssa exchange a disappointed glancebecause they like they current one – but nannies and governesses have beenwaltzing in and out of their lives every few months since they were born and theyare used to it.

“Very well.” Tadius sighs, outstretching hishand with hesitation. “Come along, Effie.”

She beams as she takes it and she lets herfather steer her back to her room. It is a veryrare treat when their father tucks them in. He seems embarrassed and not quitesure what to do. She’s a bit disappointed when he leaves her at her door with astern reminder that she shouldn’t wander around wearing night clothes becauseit is improper, but she feels filled with a warm fuzzy feeling when he pecksthe top of her head and bids her goodnight.

She’s tempted to hug him but controls thespontaneous idiotic gesture before it can get her in trouble.

The Trinkets don’t hug.

They verypolitely shake hands or exchange air kisses.

Once the door is closed and she’s alone again,she tosses her book on the bed and wanders to the dresser in the corner of herroom. She sits down to grab the hairbrush. There has been no miracle when shelooks in the mirror though. Her hair still looks wild and impossibly curly, abit reddish where the light directly touches it, not at all liquid gold butmore like dark honey… Ugly.

It is no wonder their mother likes taking careof Lyssa’s better, really.

With a soft sigh, she places the brush at thetop of her head and runs it down very slowly.

“One.” she whispers. She counts out loud as sheruns the hairbrush down.

A hundred brushes each night.

Elindra promises it is the only way to haveglossy shiny hair.

Effie wantsglossy shiny hair.

She wants to be pretty like her sister.

Effie watches the hairdresser’s reaction in themirror like a hawk.

The woman doesn’t betray anything. She smilesand happily chats and Effie has been answering in kind since their mother has lefther and Lyssandra at the salon. Everyone had oohed and aaahed atLyssandra’s purple hair. Everyone also agreed that Effie badly needed a dye jobtoo, once she had taken her wig off – which is why she’s here in the firstplace, because Elindra finally caved and authorized her to dye her hair instead of just wearing wigs.

She’s nine and she knows this will change herlife.

She will finally be pretty like her sister.

Elindra warned her there would be no walkingaround with her hair in its natural unruly state, even if it doesn’t look its usualplain color. If she wants to be allowed to forego wigs, she will need to takecare of it. It means straightening it every day and making sure it lookshealthy.

Effie doesn’t really mind wigs. She loves them,even. It’s funnier to be able to change color and style every day. But Lyssaproudly wears her hair natural and Effie wants to be like her so she begged and begged…

“Here.” the hairdresser says, done assessingwhat needs to be done with her. She presents her with a card on which there areseveral shades of purple. “You can choose the one you would like.”

She glances at her sister, a few chairs away,who is laughing with her own hairdresser as she gets her hair trimmed. There’sanother woman doing her nails at the same time and Effie looks down at her ownhands, at the impractical fake nails that she keeps damaging – to Elindra’sutter annoyance. She so desperatelywants to look like Lyssa…

But even with the same shade of purple, sheknows she will only suffer in the comparison, so she takes the card and studiesit very attentively and then turns the page back and smiles when she spotssomething she likes. She points at the small square. “This one.”

“It’s pink, Miss.” the woman winces. “Your mothersaid purple.”

“She won’t mind.” she lies.

“Still…” the hairdresser insists. “Purple is really the latest rage… Everyone haspurple hair…”

“Precisely.”Effie grins, flicking her soon-to-be pink strands away from her face. “I do notfollow trends. I launch them.”

She makes her claim haughtily, as if there isevery ounce of truth to it. For a moment, she allows herself to believe it.It’s a game after all, just a game, and in that game she’s famous. She’s… An actress. Or maybe a model. An escort, why not?

She doesn’t want purple. Purple will only makepeople remark how well it suits Lyssandra and how sad it is it doesn’t becomeher as much.

“Miss…” the woman hesitates.

“Please, Olivia.” Effie cuts her off in thesame polite but dismissive tone her mother often uses. “Dye my hair pink.”

She flashes her a charming grin – or what shehopes is a charming grin – and the hairdresser caves.

It takes a long time for the whole thing to bedone but when she sees her reflection in the mirror, Effie gapes. For a fewseconds. Time enough to remember ladies do notgape like common girls.

But she’s beautiful.

Straight hair that falls to her shoulders, thestrands a vibrant bubblegum pink that makes her heart soar with how bright itlooks.

“Mother said purple.” Lyssa comments when shejoins her, done with her own beauty treatment.

“Pink looks better.” she claims.

Her sister runs her fingers in her hair with asmall smile. “It does look good butyou will get in so much trouble…”

She juts her chin in the air and refuses to admitshe might be getting a tad nervous. “But it looks pretty.”

“Yes, but purple is fashionable, not pink.” Lyssa sighs. “Mother won’tlike it.”

“Pink is a kind of purple.” she argues, gettingreally agitated now but trying hard to hide it. “And if I am pretty, won’t shebe happy?”

Lyssa pouts but eventually runs her fingersthrough her hair again. “You are alwayspretty, Effie.”

“Mother does not think so.” she laments,looking at their reflection.

Lyssa is still a lot more beautiful with herbright blue eyes and her fake feather eyelashes Effie isn’t yet allowed. Shelooks grown up. She’s twelve but every head turns in her wake.

“Of course, she does.” her sister soothes her.

She wishes time would freeze or that their motherwould forget them but, unfortunately, ten minutes later Elindra waltzes back inthe saloon with her arms full of shopping bags. She stops dead in her trackswhen she spots her youngest daughter.

It is a disaster.

She makes such a scene Effie doesn’t know whereto hide.

The hairdresser gets a earful and Effie knowsshe is next on the list but that it will probably wait until they are back inthe car on the way home. A part of her is still overjoyed when the salon’sowner, who hastily came out of her office, says that they can’t die her hairpurple now, that it would damage it, that they need to wait a few weeks…

At least she gets to keep her pink hair.

Olivia doesn’t get to keep her job, on theother hand.

Effie is devastated and mortified because itwas her tantrum that put the woman introuble. However, no matter how many times she tries to explain, nobody willlisten to her.

She’s crying when Elindra drags her daughtersout of the shop but an icy glare from her mother convinces her to swallow backthe sobs – and to do it fast. Lyssaslips her hand in hers and she clings to her sister’s fingers like to alifeline. She feels sorry for the kind woman she has accidentally gotten fired,she feels sorry for herself…

The second the car’s door closes behind themand the driver starts the car, Elindra launches into a rant about how Effie always has to be an embarrassment and about how she should just take example onLyssandra.

“I think pink suits Effie.” Lyssa manages tocut in when her mother takes a breath.

“That isbecause you are too sweet on your sister.” Elindra snaps. “And do not get involved in conversations thatdo not concern you, Lyssa, dear.”

Properly chided, Lyssandra remains silent forthe rest of the drive. But she often squeezes Effie’s hand in support and forthat she is grateful.

Later on, once she escaped the madness and sheis back in the safety of her room, she studies her reflection in the mirror anddecides pink is her favorite color.

Effie storms to her room, sweaty and disgustingfrom her third round of the day on a treadmill. It doesn’t matter how manyhours of exercising she squeezes in an afternoon though or if she sticks tosteamed vegetables and soup: she doesn’t get any less chubby.

Puberty sucks.

Being thirteen sucks.

Being thirteen and chubby when your sixteenyear old sister is a successful model sucks even more.

Effie goes straight to the shower, having longperformed the art of not getting a glimpse of herself in the mirror while inthe bathroom. She hates her reflection. She hates the disappointment in hermother’s eyes every time she glances at her.

She is supposed to go to one of Lyssa’s fashionshows tonight. A treat if there ever was one because ever since she put onweight, her mother hardly takes her anywhere. Elindra’s embarrassed because herfriends giggle behind her back about her curvy daughter.

Effie likes fashion though and she loves fashion shows so she’s determinedto look her best. She puts her dress on first, a lovely white and silver piecethat manages to hide any small pouch on her not-flat-enough stomach. Then shecomposes herself a cheerful face with make-up. She’s getting very good at this:inventing herself masks with eyeshadows and lipsticks…

The last thing to do is put on her blue wigbut, naturally, that is when she starts wasting time. Her hair won’t stay inits bun and the wig looks crooked, forcing her to start over and over again.She gets so frustrated she seriously wonders if she shouldn’t just take hermother’s advice and shave it all. What is even the point of having hair sinceshe will never ever allow anyone tosee it?

The thought is fleeting though.

She tears the hair tie off and runs her fingersthrough the strands, making a face at the reddish hues. She hates it. But notenough to get rid of it.

She thinks she is too vain for that.

Better ugly hair than no hair at all.

Herwhole body is hurting.

She’s been going from fashion shows tophotoshoots and back to the catwalk for days on end. She has been crazily busylately and, although she is happy with the attention and the fame that comeswith it, she cannot help but be tired.

She waits for the steam to clear from themirror after she steps out of Stelan’s shower, eager to start her morning.There will be more photoshoots that day. Faun Harwyn’s latest collection iscoming out and she is its face, his star model…

At only seventeen.

The last couple of months have been crazy butshe thinks she did pretty well for herself.

She has a job, fame, money that she will beable to get her hands on in a few months when she would turn eighteen, and anolder boyfriend who is rumored to be the next great photographer. Even hermother is impressed.

The bathroom door suddenly opens and Effiestartles, her eyes growing wide. Stelan makes a face, still looking a bitsleepy, as he rubs his orange dyed hair.

“Sorry, babe. I thought you were gone already.”he mumbles, pressing a kiss on her shoulder.

“Stelan…” she protests, embarrassed to becaught looking like this. She doesn’tmind being naked. She is very confident in her body nowadays. She worked reallyhard to chisel it to what it is now and she looks perfect, if she said so herself. But the bare face and the plainhair? She looks for something to hide behind but comes up empty handed…

“Don’t worry.” he chuckles. “I’ve seen plentyof models during prepping. I know you all look like crap under all that powder– we all do really, that’s whatmake-up is for.”

He brushes her wet hair aside to press anotherkiss on her shoulder and leaves her the bathroom. There is no malice to hiswords and she knows he’s right. Only District people and Avoxes would walkaround looking plain. Beauty needs to be nurtured.

She has always known she doesn’t look goodwithout artifices.

So why do the words hurt so much?

“Come on…” Haymitch insists, an amused note inhis voice.

She bats his hand away and turns to her otherside, showing her his back. “No.”

The Sixty-ninth Hunger Games are dragging inlength and they have been fooling around for days, bored out of their minds andabsolutely done with the Capitol’s thirst for blood, waiting for a victor thatwould allow them to put this season behind them. They are a well-oiled machinenow, on a professional level as well as on a more… intimate one. Wasting time in bed – or against a wall – isn’t theworst way to wait for the end of the Games as far as she’s concerned.

Besides, staying locked up in the penthousealso allows them to avoid the hungry crowd for a little while. Effie loves thefame, she does, but… There are timeswhen the fame is harder to bear than others.

“I’ve already seen every inch of you,sweetheart…” he scoffs, nuzzling her nape with his nose, unwilling to take nofor an answer. “I’ve seen you without make-up…”

“Only because you are a rude man who does not understand the concept of knockingbefore entering a room.” she retorts. “And it is different anyway.”

“Why?” he pouts, snatching another pin from herpink wig. She’s too slow to bat his fingers away, this time.

“Because I say so.” she snaps. “You are allowedto take my bra off but not my wig.”

The clasp of her bra immediately comes loose inanswer and she takes the offending piece of lingerie off. It’s the last thingshe had on her anyway because they never got around to removing it. It is a bitridiculous to be naked only from the waist down in the arms of an equally nakedman.

And she’s more comfortable like this anyway.

She doesn’t ask or wonder why he hasn’t lefther bed yet. She supposes he’s aiming for another round as soon as he will beready for it – hence why he is teasing her instead of storming out. The wig isan old and familiar argument between them. He often requests that she takes itoff and she always refuses, even if he argues that she looks ridiculous withher wigs and make-up and puffy clothes… She knows she looks even worse withoutthem. And if he finds her ugly when she looks at her best, she doesn’t want toknow what he will think of her at her worst.

“What are you afraid of?” he taunts, trying tosnatch another pin. She grabs his wrist and brings his arm back around herbefore he can do much damage. “Are you actually bald under that? ‘Cause I’vebeen joking about it all this time but… That’s it, sweetheart? You’re bald?”

It started as a joke but she can feel him gettingmore and more serious.

“I am not bald.”she denies. “Do not be preposterous.”

He tightens his grip on her waist, tugs hercloser to his chest. She feels him shrug. “It’s okay if you are. Won’t lie…It’s probably not that sexy but… It’s fine. You can show me… Won’t make fun ofyou for that…”

“For heaven’s sake, Haymitch, I am not bald!” she snaps, not at allassuaged by the hand that distractedly runs up and down her front. She huffsand puffs and huffs again. “Very well. Since you wants this so much… Let mebook an appointment at the salon. I haven’t dyed my hair in years, it is very plain. And it willneed straightening too… Once I am somehowfit to be seen without a wig…”

“I don’t need any of that shit.” he grumbles. “Hell, I don’t want any of that shit. Iwant to see you. I want to see whatyou look like when you’re not busy playing at being a parrot.”

“I am ugly.” she replies. The words pass herlips before she can think them through. It is not like her to flaunt her flawsor her weaknesses and she immediately brushes it aside with a dismissive hand.“Everyone is ugly in their natural state, Haymitch. Grooming is…”

“Am I uglyto you, Trinket?” he sneers.

“Of course not!” she protests. “It is not whatI meant…”

“You see me getting… groomed every day?” he challenges bitterly. “I’m pretty muchnatural all the time, sweetheart. You never seemed to mind. Or what… You just wanted a taste of theexotic caveman? Should have made you pay for it like everybody else. Would havemade some money out of it, at least.”

He tries to take his arm away from her but sheholds fast to is.

“It isn’t like that.” she breathes out. “You know it isn’t like that.” She rollsaround and cups his cheek. He won’t meet her gaze but he isn’t really trying tobolt away from the bed either, she will take what she can get. “I do not thinkyou are ugly. You are handsome andyou know it.” She brushes her thumb against his lips until he finally meets hereyes again. He doesn’t look pleased, he has that particular expression thatusually means he will go on a binge soon. “It was a poor choice of words.” she admitsquietly. “I just meant… It is different from the Districts, here. You knowthis…”

“But I’m from a District.” he scowls. “And Iain’t one of your Capitol playboys. I just want to see you, what’s wrong withthat?”

Plenty is wrong with that because it’sflirting with a line they have always been careful not to cross. Mentor andescort fucking each other is onething. Haymitch and Effie having sex, on the other hand…

“I am ugly.” she repeats. She feels ashamed butshe doesn’t want to vex him again. He will forgive her any offense in time – orhe will grow too desperate for a quickie to care long – but… She doesn’t wantto hurt him. The Capitol hurts him enough as it is.

“Bullshit.”he scoffs, rolling his eyes. “And cut the crap. You’re the most arrogant personI know. The insecure woman act… It’s not you.”

“I am certainly not insecure.” She wrinkles her nose in distaste at the notion. “I am oneof the most beautiful women in Panem, thank you very much.” She licks her lipsand looks away. “When I wear the proper make-up and…”

He grabs her chin and gently forces her to lookat him again.

“You’re actually serious.” he snorts indisbelief. “You think you need that crap.”

“I do need it.” she argues. “And mind your language, won’t you.”

“Tell you what…” he frowns. “When did I everlie to you, sweetheart? If you need it, I’ll tell you. If you don’t…”

“I am not actually keen on being told I look… plain.”she hisses. “Why must you…”

“Trust me a little.” he cuts her off. “You’veseen every bad thing about me. You’ve seen me puke, you’ve seen me freak out‘cause of bad dreams, you’ve seen me wasted out of my mind… Pretty sure you’veseen me cry a time or two when I was too wasted to care…”

“It is different.” she sighs.

“How?” he scoffs.

“Because nobody is requesting you to be perfectall the time, Haymitch.” she growls. “I come with an expiration date. You do realize this, I hope? I am paid to be beautiful, to be a fantasy… Fantasies are not supposed to be any less thanperfect. Fantasies…”

“You ain’t a fucking fantasy. You’re flesh and blood.” he spits out. “I don’twant you to be perfect. Fuck, Effie,you’re so far from perfect it’s ridiculous.”

She pouts, a bit hurt by that assessment butalso strangely pleased by what he is trying to say.

“Everyone wants perfect in the city.” shewhispers.

“I’m not from this city.” he reminds her. “I hate this fucking city.”

“Seriously, Haymitch, language.” she rebukes, studying him with rapt attention. “Isuppose… I suppose if you want to see thisbadly… But be warned I am not playing coy. It is really not pretty.”

She sighs, sits up, and starts unpinning herwig. He sits up too and his fingers are back in her synthetic hair, making amess rather than helping. He seems eager to have it off though and she’sreminded of children unwrapping presents. It is strangely endearing.

Eventually the wig loosens and he tosses itaside to attack the bun she keeps her hair in. She lets him do that by himself.She stares at the wall as he frees her curls and she braces herself for thecomment she knows is coming.

Haymitch doesn’t lie.

Not to her and never to make her feel better.

She feels her hair tumble on her shoulders,feels his fingers tentatively running through the strands…

“It’s reddish…” he murmurs, almost in awe.

“Certainly not.” she huffs. “It is the light. Iam blond. There might be reddish hues in there but I am blond. Strawberry blondif you must be specific.”

He’s not listening to her, she can tell. He’stoo busy burying his hands in the wild mane of curls, crumpled by a whole dayunder a wig.

“It’s curly.” he remarks. “Didn’t expectcurly.”

He coils a strand around his finger and watchesit bounce back in place.

Effie clears her throat and keeps her eyes onthe wall. “I told you I needed to straighten it…”

“Don’t you fuckingdare.” he almost snarls, petting her hair almost protectively. “So beautiful… It’s the make-up all overagain… How do they make you think you need all that crap? You’re so much betterlike this… So much better…”

Her heart is racing in her chest but sherefuses to believe him just like that. She refuses to… “Please, do not mock me.You can just say it is…”

“If you say uglyone more time, I’m gonna fuckingflip, sweetheart.” he grumbles, using his grip on her hair to pull her into akiss. “Fucking beautiful.” he mumblesbetween two pecks. “Fucking shame tohide it.”

It takes her a while to accept he isn’tactually playing a prank on her or pretending so he wouldn’t hurt her feelings– when has Haymitch ever worriedabout her feelings anyway? She only starts to believe him because he seems veryeager to have her again all of a sudden and because he spends the whole timepetting her hair. He is still playing with it afterwards, once she is unusuallyallowed to cuddle against his side.

“Don’t dye it. Don’t straighten it.” herequests.

“You like me ugly.” she accuses. “I should haveknown.”

“Who said it was ugly?” he snarls, apparentlyoffended on behalf of her wild curly plain hair.

“Everyone?” she snorts. “It is so common andunoriginal… Nobody likes that around here.”

“Then, they’re blind.” he declares. “’Causeyou’re fucking beautiful. Just like this. All that shit… That shit doesn’tmake you beautiful, it makes you like them.”

She gets a thrill every time he calls herbeautiful. Nobody has ever looked at her plain face or her plain hair andcalled her beautiful. All peopleusually see are the flaws that nothing hides.

“Being like them is what allows us to survive.”she whispers, low enough that it won’t carry much further. Just in case.

“Just another mask then.” he taunts. “Masks areall well and good, sweetheart… But don’t forget who you are underneath.”

She presses a kiss to his heart.

It’s an answer and a promise.

He tugs the wig off her head because she is tooexhausted to do it herself.

The Quell’s Reaping took too much out of her,the knowledge that the train is rushing to the Capitol where a certain deathawaits the children doesn’t help. The fact that she has been forced to callHaymitch’s name…

She kept up her cheery persona for the childrenbut she cannot do that with Haymitch.

So she lets him undress her like a doll andslip her nightgown over her head. She lets him wash away the make-up from herface because it gives him something to do, an excuse not to think about what isgoing on, what almost happened and what isgoing to happen as a consequence. And she lets him take pin after pin offher wig, her unfocused eyes staring straight ahead.

“ Now,that’s fucking stupid, Effie.” hespits out when the braid tumbles loose from the wig.

It is neat and she loves how it looks on her.It makes her look… fiercer, not aspowerless as she feels. It makes her braver.

“It is just a braid.” she whispers.

But they both know it’s a lie.

It is a Katnissbraid.

It is a statement.

Just like the golden tokens.

She stands with Katniss. She stands with hervictors.

She might be wearing a Capitol mask but sheknows who she is underneath.

She looks at the wall with a blank stare when they cuff her to the chair.

She doesn’t move, doesn’t try to flee when theybrutally cut her hair and then shave it.

Her cheek is still stinging from an earlierblow. She thinks the bone might be broken. She thinks she will never make it outof here.

I don’t know anything, she keeps repeating like a mantra,like a shield. The words don’t protect her. Nothing can protect her now.

She doesn’t know if she really wants to beprotected anyway.

Regardless of if he meant to or not, Haymitchleft her behind to die and that thought hurts more than their punches and theircruel gibes.

She’s stubborn about not letting them see howmuch she’s hurting. From the feeling of betrayal. From the torture – that sheknows to be tame still, she knows it will get worse, she knows… From anything.

She sees the blond strands falling to the floorin the corner of her eye but she doesn’t react. She keeps a neutral face, ablank stare, she pretends she doesn’t see. Eyesbright, chin up… The smile, she cannot quite muster. Chin up, though. Always.

Effie Trinket has her pride and they won’tbreak her so easily.

They won’t.

She remains collected even as they push her andcall her names, even as they tell her she was nothing but Haymitch’s fuck toy, a District whore, and that no decent man will everwant to touch something as ugly as her ever again. Haymitch’s bitch, they call her.

She doesn’t protest the title.

Her stoicism annoys them and it makes them moreaggressive.

She knows she should give them what they want,that it would end quicker if she did. She should cry and scream and beg formercy. She will come to that soon enough, she suspects. But not yet.

Not when they just stole her hair

Not when they just stole her armor.

She only breaks down later. Once they throw herback in the cold little cell with Portia’s battered body.

Then, she touches her bald hair and shecries.

Effie wishes she still has a gift for notcatching her reflection in a mirror when she steps in and out of the shower.

Haymitch’s room at the presidential mansion isso lavish that it regularly throws her. She hasn’t been here long. It took along time for the hospital to release her – she understands it was mostlyHaymitch and Plutarch’s meddling, that the two men felt she was safer in herhospital room for the time being because the new rebel President was callingfor blood – and she still feels a bit disconnected from reality.

It’s difficult for her to admit she’s not inher tiny cell anymore.

Her memories are sluggish. She doesn’t know howlong she was locked in there all alone. She doesn’t know if she dreamedHaymitch scooping her up from her bed of filth and blocking her eyes from thepainful light that blinded her. She doesn’t know if this isn’t a more elaboratehallucination or maybe drugs that the guards gave her for kicks out of boredom.

She only knows that the thing that looks backat her in the mirror isn’t her.

It’s a corpse that forgot to die.

Her every bone are jutting, as if eager topierce the thin layer of flesh. There are dark bruises still that are takingforever to fade and accidental fresh ones because she cannot bump into anythingwithout it leaving a mark anymore. There are scars, swollen and angry looking,her back is the worst and she’s happy not to have to see it on a regular basis.

There was a brief period, a couple of years,when she had learned to love herself without make-up and wigs – mainly becauseHaymitch kept telling her just how beautiful she was, and she had started tobelieve him.

Now…

Now she has hollow cheeks and there are deeplines at the corners of her eyes. Now the blond peach fuzz on her head makesher want to throw something at the wall.

She wants to get angry – at Haymitch, maybe,because she needs someone to blame for all of this, she needs someone she canhate for what happened to her.

She doesn’t have the energy for it – and sheneeds Haymitch too much right now, he’s the only thing keeping her sane, theonly one who is there for her, the only one who accepts her for who she iswithout condition.

She startles when someone knocks on thebathroom’s door. Her heart hammers in her chest and her first reflex is to lookfor a potential way to escape – naked and still dripping wet, that doesn’tmatter at all.

“Sweetheart, you’re in there?” Haymitch’sfamiliar voice asks and she relaxes. He left before she woke up that morning,presumably to check on the children.

It’s odd between the two of them but Effiedoesn’t have enough energy to care about that either. She usually falls asleepclinging to him, fighting against her exhaustion to stay awake, staring at thebright lamp on the nightstand because she never wants to be in the darknessagain, and when the nightmares come – and they always come – she lets him hold her and whisper in her ear untilshe’s sure this is the real world and not a dream.

They share his room and it’s weird how not weird it is. They’ve known eachother for a long time, they know how to make space for each other. Effie doesit automatically, a bit wary that he will get tired of her and turn her away.He, on the other hand, seems worried about her suddenly starting to hate him.

He needs her, she thinks in her most lucidmoments, as much as she needs him.

He pushes the door open before she can call forhim to come in. He never waits for her permission anyway so she never bothers givingit. He gets nervous when he doesn’t know where she is and he never leaves heralone for long, if he can he asks her to come with him. She thinks he’sterrified sick of losing her again.

It makes her feel warm inside.

It’s a nice change from feeling dead and empty.

He frowns when he sees her standing there andimmediately snatches a towel from the rack where she insists he keeps them –because he has a bad habit of leaving them damp on the floor and it just won’tdo, it won’t, and she doesn’t mindthat he laughs at her with unmistakable relief when she lectures him about itor that he claims she will be ranting about manners with the last breath in herbody. She lets him rub her dry, not really minding the fact that she’s nakedeven if they haven’t been intimate since her rescue, and she helpfully liftsher arms when he wraps it around her chest to keep her modest.

“You’re okay, yeah?” he asks quietly. “You’rehere.”

It’s half a statement and half a question. Hewants to know if she’s having a flashback, she figures.

“Yes.” she answers, a bit laconic.

His face softens and he forces a small smilefor her. He brushes his hand on her shoulder, up to her nape. It’s new, thisconstant need of him to touch her. In complete contradiction with her suddenaversion to being touched.

He’s the exception though.

He’s always been the exception to a lot ofthings and it doesn’t surprise her this is another example of it.

She relaxes when he squeezes her nape, thefamiliar gesture having long become a source of comfort. It used to bepossessive. Then it became a proof of affection.

“I’ve got something for you.” he says and hesounds a bit smug, very pleased with himself. She follows him to the bedroompart of the suite and she blinks at the heap of blinding fabrics on the bed,next to empty shopping bags. There are shoes too, she realizes, heels and flatboots. And wigs. When she doesn’t move, he clears his throat awkwardly.“They’ve reopened shops on Main Street so…” He shrugs. “You can’t go alone yet, it’s not really safe for you, but… Ithought it might cheer you up…”

It is certainly an improvement over the greyuniforms they gave her.

She isn’t sure how she feels about colors.She’s been locked in a grey cell for months, then in a white hospital room… Ina sense, the grey is familiar.

And now colors…

She brushes her fingers against the fur of ablue dress’ neckline…

“Thank you.” she whispers. And she means it.

It’s not the clothes that touches her as muchas the fact he went to get them.Haymitch hates shopping maybe more than he hates fashion. But he went andbought all this for her and that… Sheturns around and plants a kiss on his lips. It’s a chaste thing but his eyessoften so much that, for a minute, she thinks he might cry. She’s a bit too aware he’s been hanging by a threadlately, still fighting against his rampant alcoholism because she and thechildren need him when it would have been easier for him to drown in the nextbottle. She doesn’t think he will hold on long on that front but sheappreciates the attempt nonetheless.

“Thank you.”he replies with a shrug, almost sheepish, hands in his pockets.

Her eyes fall on a bubblegum pink wig and shepicks it up automatically, turning it over in her hands.

“You hate wigs.” she remarks. “Do you… Do youwant me to wear them now?”

She cannot blame him. She looks awful. There isnothing remotely attractive to the peach fuzz on her head. Certainly not whenhe liked tangling his fingers in her hair so much.

“I want you to feel better.” he grumbles.“You’ve always liked you wigs in public and you’re not exactly thrilled aboutyour new haircut so… I thought you’d want them.”

She analyses his answer carefully beforeturning to him with a small frown. “But do youwant me to wear them? I know I am not really pretty to look at and you have tolook at me almost all the time. Do you…”

“Hey.” he cuts her off firmly, taking the wigfrom her hands and tossing it back on the bed before cupping her cheek. “Idon’t care what you look like and I don’t mind looking at you, let me tell you.I’ve spent months thinking I wouldn’tget to look at you again. Sweetheart,I can spend the rest of my life doing nothing but that.”

It’s more of a declaration than she everexpected from him and she blinks, completely unprepared and taken aback.

“I look terrible.” she argues for the sake ofit.

“Kinda do, yeah.” he snorts. “But you’ve beenthrough hell, princess. Even you can’t do that with style. It’s fine, it’ll getbetter.” He presses a kiss against her forehead. “You’re beautiful to me.You’re always beautiful to me.”

She takes a step forward and lets him wrap hisarms around her, burying her face in his neck. I love you she mouths against his skin.

If he understands, he doesn’t let on.

But his grip tightens.

“If anyone knew I do that for you, myreputation would be done for.” he grumbles but keeps on carefully running thehairbrush through her blond curls.

A grin bursts on her lips. She doesn’t bothertrying to hide the amusement in her voice. “You love it.”

Her accusation prompts him to snort but shehears no denial.

And Effie lovesthose quiet nights. She was sitting cross-legged on their bed, brushing herhair, ready for the night, when he came out of the bathroom and sat behind her.She didn’t ask him to take the brush out of her hand. He knows when it’s coldthe shoulder she injured during the war hurts her – and, she also thinks, heenjoys it because he worships her hair.

“Youlove it.” he retorts.

And she does.

She thinks back to all those times she watchedher mother brush Lyssa’s hair and wished she would have done the same with hers…This is one hundred times betterthough. Not only because it is a proof of caring from Haymitch’s part butbecause it’s a secret they share, something intimate.

She leans back against his chest and hediscards the hairbrush to wrap his arms around her and press a kiss against herglossy curls.

And, as far as she’s concerned, it’s perfect.

#hayffie #effie trinket #haymitch abernathy #prompt #pre games #hurt comfort #book!verse #about e past #no wig no make up #hbic effie #post prison effie #protective haymitch #haymitch with feelings #coconuts friends #established #live from the cells #elindra #lyssa

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Sundance Day 8 'Wound's' queer perspective plus 'Throughbred,' 'Sidney Hall'

The 2017 Sundance Film Festival is nearly over, and as we’re basking in the glow of fresh air and theater lighting, it’s exciting knowing that some amazing treasures found here will be resonating with today’s world. Some of our favorites picks of today are John Trengrove’s fascinating The Wound which really gives an eye-opening look at a South African secretive rite of passage for boys entering into manhood.

Thoroughbred is another very interesting one that many people can relate to about two friends trying to rekindle their connection. It reminded me of when you home five years or more after high school and run into some of those same people who never left your town. You realize how much you’ve changed in that time and trying to connect again is nearly impossible, especially for those that haven’t changed at all in that same timeframe.

‘THE WOUND’ PRESENTS A QUEER PERSPECTIVE ON A SOUTH AFRICAN RITUAL OF MANHOOD

For his enthralling debut feature, South African filmmaker John Trengove lifts the veil on the secretive rite of passage from boyhood to manhood in a remote area of South Africa. The Wound follows Xolani (Nakhane Touré), a forlorn factory worker, as he travels to an obscure mountain camp where teen boys go through the traditional Xhola initiation. Xolani has been assigned to mentor a friend’s son, Kwanda (Niza Jay Ncoyini), who notices the attraction between Xolani and another caregiver, Vija (Bongile Mantsai), who is not only secretive about his sexuality but also prone to bursts of explosive behavior.

Following the screening, Trengove, who is white and self-identifies as queer, said he made the movie because there’s a complete lack of queer imagery in the African film canon. “It came out of a sense of urgency,” he told the audience. “For myself as an outsider, it’s something I could speak about more freely than someone who is inside the culture. I’m speaking about same-sex desire. As a queer filmmaker I was able to introduce the subject into this very intricate world and practice.”

Describing the project as the result of profound collaborations, Trengove revealed that to achieve authenticity he spoke with a South African novelist who had been through the initiation himself, and the two men began to create the story together. The three principal actors in the film each in his own way made a formidable contribution to the film, not just in terms of what an actor does but in making the characters their own and contributing something quintessential and unique to their own experiences.

Trengove noted that the film’s subject matter is very controversial in South Africa, despite being the subject of various documentaries and news articles and even being mentioned by Nelson Mandela in his autobiography. “I think our film comes at a moment when there’s a growing conversation about a sensitive subject,” he stated. “The ritual has come under fire for reasons of relevance and safety. I think equally it’s still regarded as a meaningful process that boys go through that shows them their place in the world of men.”

The director praised the courage of his three lead actors for taking on the roles. “I was very fortunate to have the bravery of these three actors to collaborate on what you saw tonight,” he said. “They did it for their own very personal reasons, primarily out of a conviction that these are stories we need to begin to speak out.”

THOROUGHBRED: OLIVIA COOKE AND ANYA TAYLOR-JOY CONSPIRE TO MURDER

With his debut film, Thoroughbred, Cory Finley finessed his way through two major challenges that could confound another first-time filmmaker. The first, as he told the audience during a post-screening discussion on Thursday at the Yarrow Theatre, was a transition from theater to moviemaking. And the second was pulling off a nuanced tone that at once straddles comedy, drama, and thriller.

The film stars Sundance Film Festival veterans Olivia Cooke (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl) and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) as Amanda and Lily, two old school friends who uneasily try to rekindle some kind of connection. Though Amanda is emotionally blocked, incapable of showing or perhaps even having feelings, chilly Lily slowly reveals herself to be in greater crisis, as she bristles against a stepfather whose strictness is driving her to entertain wicked thoughts.

Finley talked about how Thoroughbred started out as a play but became a film. “When it was a play it really was a kind of philosophical, moral discussion between these two characters on one couch. It started with asking questions about myself, and attacking some of my own fears and anxieties about my own mind and moral compass, through writing,” he said. “As I started getting towards the later drafts of the play, I realized that there was something about it that was very film noir. And even though it was contained in one household, I started becoming aware of all the things I could do cinematically.”

Producer Alex Saks talked about her first conversation with Finley, after coming across what was still a play. “Within five minutes I knew that even if he didn’t know it yet, he was going to direct the movie — and that he was a filmmaker,” she said. Finley described trying to make up for his inexperience by reading books, watching movies, and visiting film sets in the months before his first shoot. “I tried to cram in as much preparation as possible so that I could communicate effectively with the whole crew,” he said. “But I was certainly learning a lot on the job.”

And as for that fine-tuned tone, Finley said it was something they consciously refined from rehearsals through the shoot and then in editing. “We talked about [the tone] as being a narrow tightrope,” he said. “I was lucky to get a couple of days of rehearsal before we started, with the two leads, and we came to a clear understanding of the tone that we were all aiming for. And then in the editing process we had another chance to really look carefully at these scenes and play very specifically with timing and pauses and different takes. There’s a fun balance to be had in trying to provoke an audience to laugh and also to be slightly afraid. The two emotions, if you can balance them, go well together.”

Though he said he still plans on producing more theater, Finley’s first foray into filmmaking has him hooked. “I’ve fallen in love with the tools to which a director has access,” he said. “So I’m definitely looking forward to playing around in this world more.”

WINNIE: A DOC ABOUT WOMEN, POLITICS, AND MISOGYNY

With WINNIE, the new documentary about Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Pascale Lamche offers an illuminating portrait of the complex story of the woman, who is often cast in the shadow of legendary human rights activist Nelson Mandela, her husband of 38 years, even though she fought on the frontlines to end apartheid during the 27 years he was imprisoned.

While Winnie’s story has been capably told by other filmmakers and documentarians and through countless books and articles, Lamche manages to create a fresh, thorough, and likely definitive study by using revealing new interviews, as well as a veritable treasure trove of newly uncovered archival materials.

“I interviewed Nelson twice for previous films, and each time it was a great honor to meet him and speak to him and spend time with him, but I was always very intrigued by Winnie,” Lamche told the audience at the post-screening Q&A. The director noted that, while Winnie is mostly venerated in her home of Soweto, South Africa, Lamche learned that her subject was also widely demonized in many European capitals for her crusade against racism, and a smear campaign was launched against her. “That seemed like a space to explore,” the director offered.

Through a meeting and conversation with Mandela’s daughter Zindzi, who also speaks on camera in the doc, Lamche was eventually introduced to Winnie. She ended up interviewing her subject four times over a period of two years, including once just after the death of her former husband, when she was still dressed in her black mourning clothes.

“On each occasion, I tried to pull back another layer of the story,” Lamche shared. “Each time I met her I uncovered more in the story because I’d been digging away and making progress with the people who’d been her enemies. I never went to her with specifics and said I interviewed this guy who waged this warfare campaign against you. As our relationship progressed over time, it deepened. I hope that’s apparent in the film.” As her film skillfully explores the intersection of women, politics, and misogyny, it’s not a challenge for audiences to draw a strong parallel between Mandela’s story and the current political climate in the U.S.

PERSON TO PERSON: A SUBTLE, OPTIMISTIC COLLAGE OF EVERYDAY NEW YORKERS

“I made [this movie] with a lot of friends. And it’s about tenderness, it’s about friendship, it’s about wanting to have a friend, and what it’s like to be a friend, and what it’s like to lose a friend,” explained director Dustin Guy Defa as he introduced his latest project, Person to Person. Defa makes his return to the Festival after his 2014 short film of the same name.

The feature, shot in retro 16mm, follows various characters throughout one day in New York City, including a moody teenager putting up with her best friend’s antics, an endearingly simple man trying to buy a rare vinyl record (Bene Coopersmith, who also starred in the short film version of the story), a depressed guy attempting to reconcile with his girlfriend after hurting her, and an anxiety-ridden rookie reporter who feels completely out of place her first day on the job. But unlike other films that depict a large ensemble of characters with different story lines, this one doesn’t aim to connect them in any obvious way other than the fact that they’re in the same city.

Defa said that when he first thought of the idea for this project, “I got very excited … to make such a variety of people and to not necessarily connect them. So I got very excited [about how to] pull it off. I developed all the characters separately. … But once I started actually working on the outline and the writing, I was interconnecting it in other ways that aren’t visible. … Even though they all had such different things and different tones and things like that, I was still connecting them thematically in many ways. And so I needed the flow to really work even though all these people had such different things going on.”

When asked which characters he relates to the most, Defa revealed, “They’re all me in many ways. I’ve done stupid things in my life, I’ve treated people weirdly, and then friendship is very important to me [like it is with Bene]. And Wendy the teenager is definitely me as a teenager in many ways. … But I don’t have a favorite.”

The characters don’t necessarily go through anything captivatingly dramatic, but Defa’s purpose wasn’t to have audiences on the edge of their seats. He explained that, amid many abrasive, visceral depictions that often appear on the screen, he simply wanted to create “a nice place to go for an hour and a half” — to which the audience applauded in agreement.

SIDNEY HALL: A PRECOCIOUS WRITING TALENT DRIFTS INTO OBSCURITY

Sidney Hall, which premiered on Wednesday night at the Eccles Theatre, spans 12 years in the life of the eponymous character, from the moment that the precocious high school kid becomes a celebrated author to his apex of fame and emotional nadir, and to his time disowning all that he’d become and drifting into obscurity. Remarkably, those 12 years mirror the 12 years it took writer-director Shawn Christensen and writer Jason Dolan to see the project to completion.

“Shawn was in a great band called stellastarr*, and when he was on tour I sent him the first couple of pages of the script, and we went from there. It was the summer of 2004,” Dolan said during the post-screening Q&A. “We wanted to tell a story about perspective — what it’s like to think about how you were at 18, 24, and 30. We chose those ages because those were the ages we were at when we were writing the script.”

The breadth of time covered presented challenges for both the crew and the performers, including Logan Lerman as Sidney and Elle Fanning as his neighbor and later wife, Melody. “The transitions between ages — sometimes we had only hours in which to do it,” Lerman recalled.

“We shot 10 days of [age] 18 first, then we shot the [age] 24 segment, and then we shot the 30, with the intention of having a weekend in between each era,” Christensen said. “But actually for Elle and for Logan I had to break the news to them that we were going to have to switch from 18 to 24 over the lunch break.”

Though it seems like such a quick shift in age would be challenging, Fanning explained, “You can’t really think about playing older or playing a certain age, because what does that really mean?” She continued, “I was more interested in where Melody was in her life.”

The script doesn’t take a straightforward chronological approach to those eras, and instead interweaves them throughout, such that it’s only at the end that you know how the characters resolved each of those dramatic moments. Dolan explained that he hoped audiences would connect to that structure because “your life is sometimes a mess in your own mind.” He said, “What we wanted was to give people a puzzle to put together, to reflect on this character and also themselves.”

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#Featured #Sundance Film Festival #The Wound #Thoroughbread #Winnie

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