#THIS WAS SO FUN TY ROSS FOR SETTING IT UP!!! we were all in call too I loved every second

[captain-ross-poldark]

Another interesting article from the Irish DM.

THE WOMAN WHO FINALLY TAMED POLDARK

By Maeve Quigley

Heartthrob Aidan Turner has a track record of dating co-stars and it seems like he’s finally found his leading lady as it’s revealed he and Caitlin Fitzgerald have tied the knot

THEY were the pictures that broke the hearts of thousands of fans — the dark-haired actor affectionately smooching his new wife on the romantic streets of Rome, as their wedding rings flashed in the warm Italian dusk. After three years of dating, Aidan Turner tied the knot with fellow thespian Caitlin Fitzgerald in a secret ceremony in the Italian capital last summer, although news of the nuptials has just broken.

The pair met on the set of adventure film The Man Who Killed Hitler And Then The Bigfoot and it seems — despite Turner’s previous protestations that he would never date another actress — they couldn’t help falling for each other.

Pictures taken on August 8 show the newlyweds days after tying the knot as they flashed their gold bands while enjoying a romantic al fresco dinner date at Pierluigi’s restaurant in Rome.

In the newly-released images, the loved-up pair seem unable to keep their hands off each other as they sip their drinks, holding on to one another as they gaze into each other’s eyes.

It is believed Fitzgerald also came to Ireland before the pandemic to meet Turner’s extended family — possibly ahead of their big day. Of course, she’s not the first woman with beauty and talent to be seen on the arm of the dashing Dubliner.

But at 37, the man whose shirtless scything in BBC drama Poldark had women everywhere a-quiver is now officially off the market.

Turner was born in Clondalkin, the son of Eileen, an accountant, and Pat, an electrician. He is the youngest of two boys; his brother works for the Revenue.

The family later moved to Walkinstown where growing up he was quite shy so his mum sent him to ballroom dancing classes as she felt it would help him no matter what career he chose. He became quite the champion and could possibly have been headed for an international career before he got bitten by the acting bug when he attended the Gaiety School of Acting, where he dated classmate India Whisker for a short time.

Even then, Turner’s dashing good looks were getting him noticed off stage.

To supplement his acting career, he got a job as a barman in famous Dublin nightclub Lillie’s Bordello, where he proved to be a big hit with the VIP guests

‘Women would come in just to stare at him,’ said former hostess now wellness guru and television presenter Andrea Hayes, who gave the acting student his position behind the bar. ‘I’m not joking.’

His first big acting break came when he landed the part of receptionist Ruairi MacGowan in RTE’s long-running medical drama The Clinic, taking the seat left vacant by another major success story, Chris O’Dowd, who also played a medical administrator on the show.

Around this time he was dating Charlene McKenna. The thenaspiring acting stars were together from 2007 to 2009 and shared a flat together in London before their relationship ended just weeks after McKenna had said in an interview how happy she was.

McKenna has recently got married in secret herself, to actor Adam Rothenburg, with whom she starred in Ripper Street, although she has said she still has a friendship with Turner.

‘He’s flying and I’m so proud of him,’ she said of Turner in a 2016 interview. ‘We still keep in touch and I knew he would do this well for himself. I always told him he would be a movie star.’

While they lived together, Turner landed his breakthrough role as tortured vampire Mitchell in the BBC Three hit Being Human.

Mitchell was torn between his blood lust and doing the right thing and was keen on leather trousers and coats, allowing Turner to smoulder on screen for the first but certainly not the last time.

He managed to gain a cult following from the role — as well as a new girlfriend in the form of his co-star Lenora Critchlow who played a ghost to Turner’s vampire.

When their relationship ended, Turner also chose to quit his role on the show.

But it was Being Human that got him his role in The Hobbit after director Peter Jackson saw him in the show and was struck by his elfin features. He never made it to the elves though, instead playing a dwarf.

And as his star ascended, he began dating another actress, this time Cork-born Sarah Greene. They had been friends for a few years after meeting on the set of Titus Andronicus, directed by Selina Cartmell at Dublin’s Project Arts Centre; but love didn’t blossom until much later.

‘I played Demetrius, her character wasn’t a named character but we met on that,’ Turner said in a magazine interview. ‘It was all very platonic and we never hooked up or anything, but that’s how we got to know each other. Then years later we just met again and it just sort of took off.’

Turner and Greene became the golden couple of the Irish drama scene, both with careers on the rise. They were together when he landed the role of Ross Poldark in the BBC revival of the Cornish drama that became a huge international success.

The fame that came with the role was difficult for both to handle as Turner is not a fan of being seen as a celebrity while Greene hated people taking photographs of her boyfriend while they went about their daily business.

Though then happy in his relationship with Greene, Turner admitted that he had been heartbroken in the past and it was something he was able to channel into his role as the brooding Ross Poldark, a man torn between two women.

‘I don’t know anyone on this planet who hasn’t had their heart broken,’ he told the Radio Times. ‘It’s happened to me. Love is love it’s the purest and rawest thing we have in life.’

As their careers progressed, the couple spent more time apart as Turner was in New Zealand with The Hobbit while Greene was working on projects like Vikings closer to home. But he insisted the distance wasn’t a problem.

‘You meet someone, you fall in love, then you can only see them over Skype or phone calls or texts and emails. And you have this whole other side to your relationship and it’s... it was fun,’ he said in a 2015 interview. He added: ‘We knew we really wanted to be together. And knew if we could do that, we could tackle a lot more. It was never: God, this is hard, bloody hell, we need to review this. This sucks. We never questioned it; it was great. So we had that from the beginning...’

But as the Poldark mania went into overdrive, so did the rumour mill and there were false reports of an engagement and even a secret wedding between himself and Greene. In actual fact the opposite was the case, with the relationship ending in 2015, five years after it started.

Turner then seemed to swear off dating those in the same business, despite his track record. In a press conference for the fourth series of Poldark, he said dating in acting circles meant you could never get away from work, admitting: ‘If you’re in my business and you find somebody who does exactly what you do and you’re living with them, then you’re in the business all the time.

‘You go home, talk about casting directors, you talk about the press, you talk about the next job you’re doing — it can become quite dull and taxing,’ he added.

So instead he was linked to a mystery law graduate, an advertising executive and then the artist Nettie Wakefield, who he dated for around a year before their hectic schedules drove them apart in what was described as an amicable split.

But obviously when he met the stunning blonde Irish-American, Caitlin Fitzgerald, 38, on a film set three years ago, Turner’s new rules went out the window, so bowled over was he by the beauty and talent of his co-star. By the time the film was premiered, the pair already looked smitten, posing on the red carpet together.

Fitzgerald appeared at a concert with Michael Sheen, with whom she starred in Masters of Sex but was seeing Turner at that time and like him, is an intensely private person.

Despite his fame and the stir his bare-chested scything caused, Turner has never been one to chase the celebrity lifestyle — perhaps because of those nights he spent observing celebrities while working behind the bar in Lillie’s.

‘If I allowed myself to let it change my life, it could,’ he has said in the past of his fame. ‘Where there’s celebrity, it’s easy to slip into that — being followed in nightclubs, or dating famous people or getting adverts. I’m just not interested in that stuff.

‘I want to do good work with good actors and filmmakers, read interesting scripts. I didn’t get into this business for celebrity. I did it for my love of film and stories and theatre.’

So although it has now been widely reported that he and Fitzgerald tied the knot in front of his parents Eileen and Pat, neither of them are likely to confirm their nuptials at any stage in the near future.

In fact, the only kissing Turner is likely to talk about is for his role in the film Leonardo, which explores the life and sexuality of Leonardo Da Vinci. In the film we will see Turner as the renaissance artist in a passionate clinch with another man as it explores Da Vinci’s sexuality and his rumoured affair with his apprentice Gian Giacomo Caprotti, better known by his nickname Salai. It is for his art that Turner intends to keep us all guessing as he’d rather we were interested in his roles than his romances.

‘It’s important to me that people don’t know too much about me because I’m trying to play characters,’ he has said in the past

‘Sometimes you see actors who are really good, but you have trouble separating that actor from the celebrity profile.

‘I don’t want to be one of those guys. It helps that people don’t know a lot about me, I guess.’

#aidan turner #leonardo

[sylvesterlestermanchester]

Love is the Fulfilling of the Law

Summary: Dan’s happy in his relationship with Phil. If only everything else could start to fall into place, that’d be great.

Word Count: 5,700

Genre: Humor, fluff, angst. Isn’t that life?

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of homophobia, allusions to conversion therapy.

A/N: This won’t make much sense unless you read the first fic in the Fearfully and Wonderfully verse, Fearfully and Wonderfully! (I was really creative with that title huh.) Also, ty for all the love on the past two fics! I don’t have much free time to write these, so I appreciate a few people actually saw it lol.

Dear God. 

Hey, God, it’s me.

Our father, who art in heaven...

Wait, am I supposed to pray to God? Or Jesus?

Dan let out a quiet groan, burying his face in his hands. It was way too early in the morning to be thinking, let alone trying to connect with a higher power. 

Why couldn’t Dan pray like Phil did?

Yeah, Dan could’ve asked his boyfriend for help with this. His boyfriend, literally the most religious person Dan had ever met. His boyfriend, who had plans for seminary. His boyfriend, who...his boyfriend…

A sleepy grin spread across his face as he pushed all other thoughts out of his mind and snuggled up closer in his boyfriend’s arms, their bodies squeezed together on the tiny twin mattress that barely fit just one of their lanky bodies. In the month that they had been dating since coming back from the retreat, Dan still wasn't tired of calling Phil his boyfriend-when nobody was around, of course.

“Boyfriend…” Dan sang quietly as he moved to play with Phil’s shaggy hair, biting back a laugh as he received a quiet snore in response. “Oi, boyfriend.”

“Shush your hush.” He hears back after a moment, voice low and tired, but still fond. “Shush your hush?”

“Mmm.” “Wow, quite eloquent. Shush your hush. I’ll write it down for later, so you can-”

“Shush!” Phil suddenly rolled on top of Dan, pressing a sloppy, wet kiss to his cheek.

“Wha-Phil, guh-ross!”

“It’s what you get.” Phil laughed, nuzzling his nose into Dan’s hair.

The sleepy cuddles only last a bit longer before they force themselves out of bed, getting ready for class. It’s only when Dan tugs on a new shirt and catches a glimpse of Phil kneeling beside the bed and looking up at the ceiling that he remembers why he woke up early to pray-or at least try to. 

Phil looks...peaceful. Transcended, almost, from their cozy but cluttered dorm room. Part of Dan winces for his knees, but part of Dan is jealous. This is something so deep, so meaningful to him, and it’s something Dan feels this need to share with him. 

How could he be with Phil if he can’t even share the most important thing in his life with him? He’s pulled out of his thoughts this time by Phil’s soft giggle. “Are you watching me?” He asks softly, pushing himself to his feet and moving over to wrap his arms around Dan’s waist. 

“W-What? No. Just zoned out. I need coffee.” He whined, running a hand through Phil’s hair and pushing it back lightly.

“You were creeping on me, creeper.” Phil giggled and tickled Dan’s side lightly, watching as he squirmed.

Before Dan can argue back, Phil leans closer and presses a lazy kiss to his lips. One month in, his knees still weaken as he feels his boyfriend’s soft lips on his. 

“C’mon, we should get going.” “We could just kiss the day away.” Dan murmurs. “We could. But I could also buy you coffee and we can try to focus on these midterms you guys keep warning me about.” Dan grumbled and pressed a quick peck to his lips before pulling away reluctantly. He was dreading the mid-semester exams that were coming up just a couple weeks from now, and he knew Phil wouldn’t be prepared at all, considering he hadn’t even known they were a thing until last week. 

Once they gather their things and share a final kiss (okay, three) they both pull away, Phil smoothing his shirt down and Dan fixing his hair before they step out into the hall.

Phil trails behind-close, but not too close. Far enough away that they look like just roommates. Close enough that it keeps Dan from reaching back and tugging him into his arms, just wanting to envelop himself in Phil.

It’s when they’re walking that Dan sees the glint of the silver cross necklace bouncing against Phil’s chest, and his eyes trail from that up to the clouds in the sky, finally getting as close to a prayer as he figures he’s going to get.

Hey, God. Speak to me, yeah? If for nobody else, for Phil. 

-

“Okay, I’ve done the math-we can do this! With a week left before everyone’s first exam, we just need to keep up the studying, and-and maybe sleep, like, three hours less a night each.” Phil rambled, hands shaking from the abundance of caffeine rushing through his veins. He looks up from his calculator before looking at Louise and Dan across the booth, a nervous smile on his face as he tries desperately to cheer up his sullen friends. “Y’know, three hours isn’t even that much, especially if we work really hard and study non-stop. These tests should be easy then, right?” PJ chuckled dryly, rubbing his temples slowly. “You sound insane. You really never had to take tests in your little homeschool world up North?” He asked, pawing through the mountain of books in front of them. The fun “study session” that Phil had suggested had devolved into madness once the sugary coffee drinks had gone through their system, and Phil was desperately trying to scrape it back together.. “Well, not really. Once a year, we did this one just to prove we were actually learning. And then I took that weird G-C-E test or whatever, but I didn’t even take that seriously, because I barely knew what it was. But I must’ve done okay, because I ended up here, right?”

Louise stared at him before groaning. “Only you could half-ass the GCSEs and manage to score high enough to get a fucking huge scholarship.” Louise rolled her eyes playfully as she reached out and ruffled his hair. “The rest of us are doomed. Hey, Speaking of the North, why didn’t Chris show up, again?”

Phil giggled a bit as PJ shrugged, slurping his Frappuccino. “Just said he couldn’t make it, that’s all.” “He’s been ‘busy’ a lot lately.” Louise rolled her eyes gently. “He’s gonna bomb if he just stops studying.”

“What is he even doing?” PJ raised his eyebrows. “Seriously, I’m getting concerned-”

 “Less gossip, more studying, c’mon!” Phil interrupted suddenly, shaking his head quickly.

Louise and PJ rolled their eyes but reluctantly grabbed their pens, but Dan is too focused on Phil’s slightly trembling hands thumbing through his textbook. His nearly-neurotic obsession with studying wasn’t anything new-Phil had been studying a lot lately, breaking both the coffee and all-nighter limit they had set earlier that semester. 

Dan...well, he wasn’t exactly doing the same.

Pre-law was boring as fuck. Dan could feel his soul dying every time he went to a seminar. He couldn’t stand anyone else in his major. His eyes glossed over if he read case studies for more than 15 minutes, and if it came between studying and, well, literally anything else, he would gladly take anything else. 

Especially when that anything else was kissing Phil. 

Kissing Phil sounded really good right now. If their friends hadn’t been around, he’s sure he would’ve dragged Phil out of here by now and to one of the dozens of hidden corners of their campus for a good secret-kissing session. In fact, he’s tempted to make up some excuse and pull Phil away now when Louise nudges him. 

“Earth to Dan? Dan, aren’t you slipping in this class? C’mon, stop zoning out and get to work.” “You’re slipping?” Phil frowns, head jerking up. “Oh, Dan, why didn’t you say anything? You know I would’ve helped you study.” Dan groans under his breath. “Okay, okay. I’ll do it. I can’t help that it’s just so incredibly dull and stupid and-” PJ rolled his eyes. “We get it, you hate it. Less bitching, more studying, all of us.” Dan ducks his head down and begrudgingly starts to read along with the rest of them. He doesn’t miss the way Phil’s eyes glance over at him, offering him a sympathetic smile. If he had to, he would. If only just so he could trudge through it and get to the other side already. 

After a moment of debating, he glances up at the ceiling. God, if you’re there-let me get through this?

-

“Remand.” “I want to re-mand you that you’re my boyfriend, not my tutor.” Dan flashed Phil a grin, wiggling his eyebrows.

His grin wavered a bit as Phil shook his head, biting his bottom lip and giving him a stern look.

“Remand.” He repeated firmly, and Dan sighed.

“Um...the case in the court below it was incorrect?”

Phil shook his head. “Close, it’s actually-” He gets cut off by a dramatic groan from Dan, only muffled as Dan buried his face in their mattress. “Dan, I know you had your English exam today, but this law test is in two days. You need to-”

“Give me another one.” He snaps, and Phil sighs.

“Preemption.”

“That’s not a word.” “Dan, yes it is.” Phil says, voice softening as he reaches out and rubs Dan’s back. “Head up. What does it mean?” “Wait....is it when two courts, can-can...they can hear the same case at the same time?” Dan asks hopefully, looking at Phil, who’s grimacing.

“Not-Not exactly.” Before Dan can start up again, he quickly jumps in. “Let’s try an easy one-Plaintiff.” “Who even cares?” Dan snapped, kicking his feet childishly. He’s being annoying, he knows. He knows it’s late, and Phil has his own studying to do, and that he’s just trying to help. But Phil’s been on him since their study session last week when Louise let it slip that Dan wasn’t doing well in this class.

“I care, Dan.” Phil sighed, looking down and speaking quietly. “I-I just want you to do well. I’m praying for you and everything, but you gotta put some work in as well.” That shuts Dan up. 

“You’re praying for me?” He asked quietly. “I mean, I pray about you all the time.” Phil lays back down and gently pulls Dan with him. “But yeah, I’m praying for you. You just-you don’t seem happy with what you’re studying, and I just want you to be happy and successful. So I’m praying you find that.”

Dan pauses, not sure how to react. He doesn’t have a chance to when Phil gently adds “Even if...even if that means not doing law.” At that, Dan turns to look at Phil. “Don’t say that.”

“Seriously, Dan, if you want to study something else-” “Phil, drop it. I mean it.” “Fine, fine.” Phil pulls away, rolling off the bed and padding over to his desk. “You take a break, I’ll study on my own.” Dan curls up slightly into himself, his stomach turning. Phil sounded...defeated, almost. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, or maybe Phil was more stressed than he was letting on. And Dan was only adding to it, oh God, what a fuck-up he was- “Pray with me?” Dan blurts out suddenly. 

Phil freezes mid-highlight before turning to Dan, eyebrows furrowed.

“You just...you look so calm when you do. It’s worth a shot, right?” Dan says, but it’s a weak lie. He doesn’t just want the calm Phil has. He wants that relationship with a God, that spiritual awareness. He wants to feel close to Phil in the way that seems to keep them apart, moreso even than the physical distance that they keep when out in public.

After a moment Phil’s expression softens and he gives Dan the kind smile that always makes him melt. Before Dan knows it he’s back on their bed, pulling Dan close. “Why don’t we do the Daily Examen?” “More exams?” Dan raised an eyebrow, smiling as Phil giggled.

“Examen. It’s a guided prayer. It helps me when I’m all over the place and can’t think as clearly.” 

Dan nods a bit, taking Phil’s hands and watching as his eyes fall shut. “Dear God...we’re now entering a space where you’re with us.” Dan watches as Phil takes a deep breath before realizing he should probably close his eyes, too.

Phil starts them by listing their gratitudes (coffee, a kind professor who let Dan finish the last bit of his essay despite being over the time limit, a sunny day), focusing on emotions (Dan’s a bit surprised with how empathetically Phil agrees with Dan’s overwhelment), picking one area to pray (peace), and then their hopes for the next day (just to get through it). 

As he leads Dan, Phil gets that serene smile on his face, and Dan opens one eye slightly to watch him. He wants what Phil has, really. But he can’t shake the feeling that, well, they’re just talking to someone who isn’t there. 

When Phil opens his eyes, he gives Dan a slightly hopeful look. “Better?”

“I feel...calmer,” Dan says, and it’s true. He feels a bit better, but he’s not sure that it’s as much because of the prayer or because of Phil’s soft, guiding voice. 

“Good. Now, let’s forget about vocab, yeah? We can study more tomorrow. Let’s get some rest.” He presses a gentle kiss to Dan’s forehead, and suddenly Dan feels the guilt build up further. He wants to feel this sense of closeness, and he’s pretty sure by the relaxed grin on Phil’s face he wants it as well.

“Night, love.” Dan whispers, watching as Phil snuggled up close before drifting off. With a sigh, Dan looks up at the ceiling.

Okay, God, I had Phil with me this time. He thinks, furrowing his eyebrows a bit. And you still can’t talk to me? Give me a break here, yeah?

-

Dan and Lou stand in the cold a couple days later when they're outside the church for study group, waiting for Phil.

PJ had to cram right before an art exam, which seemed like an oxymoron to Dan, but he couldn’t be envious of how cool that sounded. They both had tests-Phil a math exam that he was surprisingly confident about, and Dan’s law exam, which, well…

“How’d it go?” Phil asked cheerfully as he jogs up to them both, and despite the heavy feeling in Dan’s chest as he flashes back to the test-he had barely finished in time, and he knew that a lot of guessing was involved.

“It’s law. But, um, you know. Decent.” Dan lies with a small shrug. Louise quirks her eyebrow subtle, a trait that Phil doesn’t seem to pick up on as Dan asks about his exam and smiling as Phil lights up.

“Good! I know I nailed the extra credit. I’m exhausted, but-” “Chris? Hey, I thought you said you weren’t going to come!” Louise says as Chris walks over. It’s only then that Dan realizes he hasn’t seen him for more than a passing wave in the halls for about two weeks now. 

All their study sessions, and group de-stresses, and snack runs, Chris hadn’t been there. But here he is, Bible in hand and with a weird grin on his face.

“You know me!” He says, sounding just a bit too cheerful. “Unpredictable Chris. Let’s get inside, yeah?”

Phil watches as he makes his way through the chapel. “Oh-yeah, that sounds good. How is everything, by the way? It seems you’ve gone MIA-”

Chris waves him off. “I’m here now, Phil, c’mon. I need some snacks.”

They head down the stairs and make their way to sit in their regular seats, Phil and Dan exchanging quick glances. After a few minutes, they begin-brief introductions, a few announcements, and finally the starting prayer.

Before Caroline can direct them to a verse to study for the day, Chris butts in. “Can I ask a question?” 

Both Phil and Caroline smile widely and nod, and Chris flips open his Bible.

“I was reading some 1 Samuel, about David and Jonathan.” He starts, gripping the book tightly in his hands. He taps a bit of a highlighted text, raising his eyebrows. “And they talk about how “David loved Jonathan more than women,'', and how, and I quote, ‘the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David’. I mean...they were gay, weren’t they?”

The group seems a little taken aback by Chris’ bluntness, and Dan doesn’t need to look over to sense Phil shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

Caroline jumps in quickly. “I-I mean, people have interpreted it that way, yes. But they could have just had a deep, brotherly bond-”

Chris’ snort cuts her off. “I dunno, it seems pretty gay to me. I mean, they literally start smooching it up.”

“I think that they were gay, actually.” A girl across the room says with a shrug. “I mean, there had to be gay people back then. And Chris is right. They seem to act pretty romantically.” “You really think so?” A guy furrows his eyebrows. “I never read it like that. Judas kisses Jesus, but they weren’t gay.” “Yeah, well, I guess that’s not exactly the point. Here’s my question. How can you guys read and live by this book, but even though you claim that God is all-loving, some of you guys hate gay people?” The group falls silent, but that seems to only spur Chris on further. 

“Seriously. You guys talk so much about loving God, and God loving us, and loving brothers and sisters, but what if somebody in here was a guy, who happened to love guys? Like…” Dan holds his breath, eyes wide as he stares at Chris. 

“Like me?” He continues. Dan blinks a few times, looking equally as stunned as everyone else as his eyes dart around the room.

“Well-we want to be tolerant of everyone in here, so let’s start off with that.” Caroline jumps in again, but Chris shakes his head and barks out a laugh that doesn’t sound funny at all.

“I don’t want to be fucking tolerated, I want to be respected, and loved, and cared about-not just in spite of my sexuality, but because of my identity.” 

Chris stands to his feet, gritting his teeth as he slams the Bible shut and starts pacing around the circle. “It really, really fucking hurts when people don’t respect that. It hurts when I have to hear from my friends-” With that he whirls around, walking over to Phil suddenly. 

“Chris…” Phil whispers, sinking down in his seat somewhat as he looks up at him.

Chris stops in front of him, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring down at him. “When my friends talk so much about loving one another, but I’m not sure that they would love me if I was authentic with him.”

Phil sucks in a deep breath, slowly standing up. “Chris.” He says, voice shaking. “Chris, I promise I had no idea.” 

“Yeah, well, forgive me for being nervous.” Chris snaps. “I mean, you-Phil!”

Chris lets out a small yelp as Phil suddenly tackles him in a tight, desperate hug. The entire group is watching their every movement. Dan feels like his heart is going to explode. Finally, Phil pulls away, still holding both of Chris’s hands in his.

“Chris, if I haven’t shown you that I love you dearly as one of my greatest friends, I have f-failed you. As a friend. As a man. And as a follower of Christ.”

“You haven’t failed-” Chris laughed shakily, trying to hide the fact that his eyes were welling up, but then he looks shocked as a small sob erupts from Phil.

“I love you s-so dearly, Chris.” He says, quickly trying to control himself. “ ‘If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?’ “

“Chris, I-I know what love is because of the undying love of you as my brother. Through that I know God, and I know that God loves you so, so much. E-Even if you don’t believe, nobody ever-and I mean ever-should use him against you or your sexuality.” 

Chris is full-on sobbing now, and Phil pulls him to his chest, rubbing his back.

“If you’re gay, or bi, or-or whatever, I love you, and I love you b-because of it. I never want anyone to f-feel hated for that.” Phil pulled away after a moment before turning to the group. “And-And if you call yourself a servant of Christ, and you want to perpetrate this hate, or intolerance, I-I’d ask you to question why seeing someone-someone like Chris love another person with a pure heart makes you s-so uncomfortable.” Phil hugs him again as Chris’s shoulders shake and he balls up Phil’s shirt in his hands, mumbling “Thank you, thank you, thank you...”

After what seems like an hour, Caroline speaks quietly. “I think you both brought up some great points. Why don’t we wrap up early today, and-and we can try to pick this up next time, okay?” The group stays silent as Caroline leads them in their closing prayer, Chris’s quiet sobs the only noise besides her soft voice. People stand, a few shuffling over to give Chris hugs and murmur in his ear. “I think I’m gonna go for a walk with him. Y’know, help calm him down.” Phil murmured to Dan when he got a moment away. “Clearly a tough time, yeah?” “Yeah, yeah, of course.” Dan nods quickly, still a bit shell-shocked from the sudden outpouring of emotion. “Are you gonna-” He glanced between the two of them, and Phil bit his lip.

“I don’t think this is the best time to tell him about, um...that. It’s about him right now, me.” He said, glancing back at Chris nervously. “I just want to give him time to decompress. But we’ll grab dinner later, yeah?” 

Before Dan can answer Phil is back over with Chris, a supportive hand on his shoulder as he leads him out. The next thing he knows, he’s alone in the small room, and he takes a few deep breaths before looking up at the ceiling.

Why do you have to make this so hard, God?

-

It’s just about eight-thirty when Dan’s phone buzzes.

We had a long talk-tho i guess u guessed! Lol! 0_o U want 2 meet @ snake path? -Phil! 

Dan couldn’t help but grin in spite of the heaviness he had been feeling for the past several hours, practically jumping off the bed. 

Omw in five. 

Snake Path was Phil’s name for this little curvy path near the edge of campus, totally obscured by trees. The two had shared plenty of kisses and mini dates there, hiding out from the world when it all got to be too much. Some time with Phil sounded perfect-time where he didn’t have to think about God, or Chris, or coming out, or God forbid the fucking bombed law exam.

Dan can practically feel the sadness dissipating as he makes his way down, pulling his jacket tighter with a happy hum under his breath. Once he sees Phil, he picks up speed, laughing a bit as Phil gives him a small wave.

“Why didn’t you ask me to bring you a jacket?” Dan whined, wrapping his arms around Phil tightly. “You must be freezing!” “Well, good thing I’ve got you to warm me up.” Phil grinned and sat down, pulling Dan into a kiss as soon as he was sat down as well.

Dan giggled and started to speak, but Phil was kissing him again, hands moving to gently hold his hips.

“I missed you.” He murmured against his lips. “I know it’s stupid, but we haven’t had enough time to ourselves lately.”

“I missed you, too.” Dan sighs, wiggling slightly under Phil’s hold as he pulled him into another kiss. 

Phil kisses back, and for the first time all day, Dan feels good.

Dan’s totally lost in the feeling, letting out a happy sigh. Before he knows it, he’s climbing into Phil’s lap, hands cupping his cheeks. 

He doesn’t even realize that he’s sliding his tongue into his mouth until Phil makes a surprised noise, quickly freezing as he feels guilt swarm inside him.

“Phil…” He starts to push him away, but Phil giggles a bit, looking a bit stunned, before he slowly tries to pull him back. “Nobody’s out here…” He assures Dan, shrugging a little bit. “If-If you want to keep going-” 

“Phil, I-what are we doing? What am I doing?” Dan quickly moves off of Phil’s lap, hugging his knees to his chest.

Phil blinks a few times. “...Kissing your boyfriend?” He asks, tilting his head to one side. He’s giving Dan a clueless look, like he really doesn’t get what’s going on. That only makes Dan’s stomach hurt worse.

“You know I want to do a bit more than kissing, don’t lie.” Dan’s snapping now, but he can’t help it. All the frustration is bubbling up, and the way Phil’s face turns red and he looks away sheepishly. “And I think you do, too.”

“Is that such a problem?” He said quietly. “That I want to...do more, with you?”

“Yes, Phil!” Dan groans. “Are you-Are you kidding me right now?”

Phil takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry-you just came on kind of strong. I-I guess I must’ve gotten the wrong idea.” “Yeah, well, you sure did.” Dan grits his teeth, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “I’ve had the worst fucking day of all time, and now look what’s happening.” Phil looks completely beside himself, curling up a bit further into himself, but before he can speak Dan’s going off. All these things he’s been holding inside him for so long, they just seem to be exploding out.

“Everything sucks, yeah? I get that for you, it might be different. You know what you want to do with your life, and you love it. It’s your calling or whatever. And you’re naturally some freaky genius who gets to do everything right the first try.” “Dan, c’mon-”

“No! It’s true! You’re Mr. Saintly, you can do whatever you want! My parents think I’m some delinquent, and I have to become a shitty lawyer to convince them I’m not!” “Hey, hey-” ��You don’t get the pressure I’m under!” Dan snaps finally, slamming his hand against the grass. “I don’t know pressure?” Phil says, voice quiet. Dan opens his mouth to speak, but freezes as he catches the glare Phil shoots him. “You’re telling me I don’t know pressure? The model Catholc ex-homosexual?” Dan nearly shivers as the way Phil’s voice raises in anger-it’s not even that he looks that mad, but it’s so foreign that it terrifies him.

“I mean, really, Dan! I’ve never taken exams like this, I’m exhausted, I’m worried about you, I learn my-my friend thinks that I’m just as bad as the people who tried to ‘cure’ me, and now my boyfriend is getting mad that we just want to kiss after a long day and telling me I don’t know pressure?”

Dan gulps audibly, wrapping his arms around himself. “I didn’t mean to get mad.” He says finally. “Then why were you?” Phil sounds exasperated. “I don’t understand how you can kiss me like that and then just freak out and expect me not to get worried!”

Dan sniffles a bit, looking down. ”Well...we were getting kind of intense. And we’re Catholic, so I thought-”

He falls silent as Phil’s anger fades away and is replaced with confusion.

“Wait, hold on.” He shakes his head. “We’re Catholics?”

Dan freezes before looking over at him with a guilty look, feeling his insides physically ache at all of the hurt inside him. “Well...I-I’m trying to be one, anyways.” He explains shakily,

Phil gently rubs his hand with his thumb, letting Dan continue.

“I-I’m always trying, you know that? Even if I seem like I’m being a little bitch about flashcards, or-or slacking off, or just being weird and watching you pray. I’m trying! I’m trying to believe in God, I’m trying to not flunk out, I’m trying t-to not kiss you in front of everyone, I-I’m trying so hard, and it’s just-it’s not enough…” “Baby…” Phil reaches out and pulls Dan into his lap again, this time only to hold Dan as tight as possible. 

“Why isn’t it enough?” He hiccupped out as he started crying, breath coming faster. “E-Everyone else g-gets to do everything s-so easily, s’not fair!”

Phil didn’t say anything, just humming sympathetically and rubbing slow circles onto his back. After a bit, Dan finds himself slowly starting to calm down, and when his crying has been reduced to sniffles and a shaky sigh, Phil pulls away. 

“Do you want to start brainstorming solutions?” He suggested gently. Dan shrugged, rubbing his eyes. “Okay, let’s start with an easy one.” He says, voice somehow managing to be matter-of-fact and still loving. Dan feels himself shrink slightly, pressing his cheek to Phil’s shoulder. “You think you’re going to fail?” Dan laughed weakly, nearly about to start crying again. “It’s not really a question at the moment. I totally bombed that test today.”

“Do you care?” Phil said, quickly clarifying. “Do you care if that hurts your chances of having a career as a lawyer?” Dan pauses, taking a deep breath. “I don’t...I want to be in college. I don’t wanna flunk. But, fuck, if I become a lawyer I think I’m gonna be sad, and miserable, and having a miserable mid-life crisis, fuck-” Phil tugs him closer. “Hon, you don’t have to do law. You can do something else.” “You don’t get it, my parents-” “Dan.” Phil nudged Dan’s side. “Remember, I’m supposed to be an ex-homosexual and a future man of God. My parents expect me to be holy. Literally. I know it's tough. But it’s your life, right?” Dan nodded, rubbing his eyes. “I just...I don’t wanna be aimless.” “Then don’t be. Use the rest of this year to explore what you’re into, and then we can regroup and come up with a plan.”

Dan bit his lip. At first, the thought terrified him, but really after this semester there was only a semester left. Maybe Dan could take that theater class he had heard about...and the idea of not having to do another law seminar didn’t sound too bad…

“Mmm...I suppose I could.” He mumbled, rubbing Phil’s chest absentmindedly. Phil smiled and kissed his nose. “Now. About the religion stuff.” He started, sighing as Dan groaned in embarrassment before continuing on. “Are you really wanting to be Catholic? Like...really?”

“I want to be Catholic with you.” Dan said softly. “I want to share that-that idea of God with you. Because what if, when you-you go to seminary-which I know is a million years away, but still-what if you realize you need to be with another Catholic?”

Dan’s voice broke at the end and Phil cooed, rocking him back and forth gently in his arms. “Daniel, I-I...I don’t even know if I want to be Catholic anymore.” He admitted. As Dan shot his head up, 

“I want to follow God, and be a leader for Him. And I love some of the ways that the Catholic church does. But the idea of trying to be a religious leader for a religion that can’t support me and my relationship...” He took Dan’s hand and laced their fingers together. “Maybe I could check out some more, um, progressive Christian denominations.” 

Dan took in a deep breath, cupping Phil’s cheek with his free hand. “Wow. Just...wow. You see us lasting that long? Even if...I’m sorry, but even if I don’t think I could ever believe in God?” He asks, a bit doubtful. “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law...” Phil began, nuzzling his cheek. “Love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” At the blank look on Dan’s face Phil laughed. “It means love is the most important thing, out of all the rules and commandments of Christianity. I think you’re a wonderful person who acts with love as much as possible, and I think that’s why I love you, and honors God-whether you call it that or not.”

Dan blushed. “You really think so?”

“Of course. And we can share deeper, spiritual things together, if you want to get close in that way. We can try meditation sometime. Or-Or more midnight talks, you know I love those.” “And what about...getting close, y’know, in that way?” This time it was Phil’s turn to blush, looking down. “I’m not exactly saving myself for marriage anymore.” “Can’t you become a virgin again?” Dan asked, and Phil turned infinitely redder.

“I-yeah? But do I really want to do that? I mean, I did what I did. And I don’t want to be a virgin until I can sign some piece of paper. I-I don’t want to wait that long at all, actually.”

“Oh?” Dan gulps thickly.

“I want to share it with you, because I love you, so much. I’ve never done it with someone I’ve, um, loved before.” He whispered softly. “Only quick, desperate stuff when I was...y’know.”

Dan cooed and cupped his cheeks, kissing him slowly. “I want to share it with you, too, love. We can figure it out later, yeah?” Phil grinned and nodded before leaning into the kiss, Dan giggling a bit. It might sound stupid, but he just felt so good. So light. Like he could just sit here in Phil’s arms forever, and nothing bad could happen. Like-

“Are you two tonguing right now?!” Louise shrieked, and Dan yelped as suddenly Phil was scrambling away, both their faces bright red as they turn to look up and see Louise, Chris, and PJ looking down at them with amused looks. “You totally were!” “Noooo…” Phil whined, burying his face in his hands as Chris snorted out a laugh. 

“Wow, Phil, kinda bummed you didn’t show me this kind of brotherly love.”

 Dan and Phil exchanged small glances, a slow smile spreading across each of their faces. “The soul of Daniel was knit to the soul of Philip.” Dan teased.

“Oh-shush your hush!”

#fearfully and wonderfully #fearfully and wonderfully verse #phan #danielhowell #phil lester #dan howell #phanfic #phanfiction #phanfic au #au #phan au #college phan #uni phan #phan fluff #phan angst #phan hurt/comfort #phanfiction au

[writethehousedown]

Wrapped Up With You (Scyvie) - Peridot

A/N: Hey folks, merry Christmas! It’s been a while! I haven’t posted any fics in a few months but I got so inspired by this challenge that I’ve gotten back into writing! Here’s a little Scyvie fluff for y’all, I hope it gets you in the Christmas spirit! Big thank you to @artificialmeggie for being an amazing beta and for organising this entire thing, you’re a gem! You can find more of my writing over on AQ and you can give me any feedback either here or over at @artificialperidot. Hope you enjoy!

Yvie loved Christmas.

She loved the Christmas TV adverts, the cheesy Christmas cards with terrible puns, the ugly Christmas jumpers, she even loved the exhaustion of putting up the tree.

Christmas was undoubtedly her favourite season. It even beat Halloween for her, which was really saying something.

But if there was one thing Yvie just could not stand, it was wrapping presents.

And her hatred was slowly but surely turning her into more of a grinch.

Now, don’t get her wrong, she loved giving the presents. And she knew that it was what was inside the gift that really mattered. But she couldn’t help but feel inadequate when comparing her crumpled, disastrous wrapping to that of her girlfriend, Scarlet.

Scarlet’s presents were always a sight to behold. Beautiful, crisp neat wrapping paper folded around each gift; a colour-coded matching ribbon wrapped around and fashioned into a brilliant bow; a Christmas scent spritzed on the paper- chestnut or cinnamon or mint; and an extravagant tag, written in her best calligraphy, with her own original Christmas joke on each.

Scarlet’s presents weren’t just gifts; they were experiences.

Needless to say, Yvie was a little jealous.

Scarlet had always tried to help her, offering her wrapping suggestions and lending her bows and paper. Last year she even bought Yvie a few large gift bags to save her the trouble of wrapping all together. But, still, Yvie was adamant that she would wrap every single gift, no matter how horrible they looked, and the gift bags were left unopened.

But, this year, Yvie had a pretty important gift to give. And she was determined to make sure this one didn’t look like a piece of shit.

“So you’re telling me you’re actually going to let me help you wrap?” Scarlet beamed, squeezing her fists together like an excited little child. God, she was such a dork. A cute dork, though.

“Yes,” Yvie sighed, “but this is not an opportunity for you to wrap all my presents for me, okay?”

Scarlet jumped up and down, clapping her hands together with glee and producing a sort of enthusiastic squee. “This is going to be so much fun!”

With that, Scarlet shot up the stairs and returned with paper and boxes and tape and all bundled up in her arms, very nearly toppling over due to her lightning speed. Her arms overflowed with rolls of paper in golds and reds and greens, loose ribbons streaming out behind her. She dumped them all out on the table in front of them, before bolting back upstairs to her bedroom and coming back with a huge Santa sack, full to the brim with her unwrapped presents.

“Don’t get too excited,” Scarlet said matter-of-factly, “I made sure to take your presents out—no spoilers!”

Yvie shook her head in disbelief at the sheer enthusiasm of the girl. “Figures.”

“Well, what are you waiting for, Yves? Go get your presents!”

“We don’t have to do it right now, baby. There’s no rush.”

“Are you kidding me? There is a rush! We need to get started before you change your mind!” Scarlet playfully shook Yvie by her shoulder. “So hurry up, go get your gifts! There’s no time to lose!”

Yvie sighed and chuckled to herself before reluctantly heading to her bedroom to retrieve her presents, which she had ‘creatively’ hidden under her bed. She made sure to leave Scarlet’s gift, though—she’d have to face the struggle of wrapping that one alone.

By the time Yvie had made it back to the table, Scarlet had already began playing her infamous Christmas playlist, and was furiously sellotaping silver paper around a box whilst humming along to Wham’s ‘Last Christmas.’

“Took your time, I see,” she laughed.

Yvie rolled her eyes, but couldn’t help but allow a smirk to form on her lips. “Let’s get this over with then, Scar. Where do I even start?”

“Well, first thing’s first. Cut out your wrapping paper.”

“Bold of you to assume I have any wrapping paper,” Yvie replied. “I guess I’ll need to borrow some of yours.”

“Well… I suppose you could use some of the red, so long as you don’t use all of it.”

Scarlet reluctantly handed over a roll to Yvie, before immediately beginning to cut out some more paper for her next gift (which happened to be a fan that she’d picked out for her friend Katya).

“Wait,” Yvie called, “how do you know how much to cut? What’s too much, what’s too little?”

“Uh, I guess it’s just instinct. Look at what you’re trying to wrap and see how much paper would make sense.”

Yvie set down her jar of honey (a joke gift she had bought for Katya’s girlfriend, Trixie) in the middle of the paper, and quickly realised that it wasn’t as simple as Scarlet had suggested. Her first attempt was far too small—it barely even reach around one side of the gift, never mind the whole thing. Her next attempt was far too big, and once she taped down the first side and attempted to fold the corners down, loose paper was left around each edge, crumpling and creasing.

“You can trim some of that off,” Scarlet had suggested.

Well, Yvie discovered that this was no easy task either. With only a few snips of her scissors Yvie had transformed the paper from massively excessive to way too little. And, as she has already taped it down, there was no going back now. It was ruined.

Yvie tried to patch up the gaps in her wrapping with more scrap pieces of paper here and there, but no matter how hard she tried it still appeared to be a ragged, crumpled mess. Not even Scarlet’s signature bow and tag could help- she ended up tying her ribbon into impossibly tight knots rather than bows, and the only Christmas-themed pun she could come up with was something about a lesbian who ‘needs (s)no(w)man,’ which, admittedly, was pathetic at best.

Maybe the gift bags weren’t looking like such a bad option after all.

“It’s no use,” Yvie sighed in frustration. “I can’t do it.”

“Aw Yves, it’s okay! You know that it’s what’s on the inside that counts.”

“Easy for you to say, little miss ‘I can wrap,’” Yvie scoffed in a mocking tone. “Not everyone can be perfect like you.”

Scarlet bit her lip, and Yvie could tell from her puppy-dog eyes that she’d hurt her a little, even though her insult was pretty harmless.

“Oh Scar, I’m sorry baby. It’s a compliment, really. I think your wrapping is awesome.”

Scarlet perked up a little after that, her brief sadness disintegrating in favour of a small smile. “Thanks Yvie. And, for the record, there’s nothing wrong with your wrapping. It’s the thought that counts!”

Yvie chuckled, and planted a small kiss on Scarlet’s forehead. It was impossible not to find her positivity endearing.

“I guess you’re right,” she shrugged, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “Though as much as I’d love to wrap more presents with you, I don’t think I can take anymore. I think I’ll just give in and use gift bags instead.”

Scarlet smiled. “That’s okay, baby. I can finish mine up tomorrow.”

“Wanna cuddle and watch a Christmas movie with hot chocolate instead?” Yvie suggested.

“Hell yeah! Can we watch Home Alone?”

“Which one?”

Scarlet raised her eyebrow. “The first one, duh. The second one is okay too, but the others don’t count.”

“You read my mind exactly.”

***

On Christmas Eve night, Yvie snuck downstairs, arms bundled with wrapping paper and bows and scissors. She would wrap at least one present if it killed her. She was beyond the point of caring what it looked like, but she knew that she had to try her best.

For Scarlet.

***

When Christmas Day rolled around, Yvie was ready. She had her plan laid out and her gift wrapped, and she was ready to give it to Scarlet.

After the pair had opened all of the presents under the tree, Yvie produced a small envelope from her pocket, which she had attempted to wrap using the same red paper. In all honesty, it looked like a haphazard, crumpled mess; covered in rips, corners sticking out at all angles and an ungodly amount of crumpled sticky tape. It looked less like a gift and more like if someone had balled a sheet of paper to throw in the bin, to be frank. But, Yvie handed it over with a sense of pride nonetheless.

Despite the present’s appearance, Scarlet smiled at Yvie’s wrapping efforts (even though she questioned why she had even attempted to wrap an envelope in the first place.) Nevertheless, she tore off the paper, opened the envelope, and revealed a Christmas Card, with a photoshopped picture of Ross and Rachel wearing Santa hats, with Yvie’s face pasted over Ross’s and Scarlet’s on Rachel’s. She smirked and began to open the card, and, holding it up to her face, read the message that Yvie had scrawled aloud.

“To the love of my life,

Merry Christmas! Christmas has always been our favourite day, and this year I wanted to make it even more special. I couldn’t think of any good jokes to write on the tag, so I figured that instead I could make a Christmas wish….

Look down.”

Scarlet furrowed her brow in slight confusion, and pulled the card away from her face.

There she saw Yvie, down on one knee, with a perfectly wrapped small box perched on her hand. It was white with a gold ribbon and a gold tag to match, and looked just as though it had been wrapped by Scarlet herself. It was perfect.

Perhaps Yvie had picked up on some of Scarlet’s wrapping tips after all.

Scarlet’s jaw hung open and her eyes started to well up with tears. It didn’t take a genius to see where this was going.

“Read the tag,” Yvie said with a smile.

“My angel, I hope you’ll grant my Christmas wish,” Scarlet read, choking back a sob.

“Scarlet, I love you. I want to spend every Christmas with you until the end of time,” Yvie proclaimed, holding back her own tears. “Will you marry me, Scarlet?”

With that, Yvie opened the wrapped box to reveal a beautiful diamond ring, that shone as bright as the tears that reflected in Scarlet’s eye.

The ring was white gold. Just like the wrapping paper and ribbon.

With that, Scarlet let her floodgates open and uttered a stream of joyous ‘yeses’ through her tears, throwing her arms around Yvie’s neck at full throttle. Yvie stood up and held Scarlet tight, lifting her and whirling her around the room as her own tears began to stream, laughter and crying mingling into one concoction of joy.

They clung to each other for what felt like forever, emotions overcoming their words. It would be wrong to speak, to interrupt their feelings of true love with something so futile as words. There weren’t any words in the English language that could capture this feeling.

Yvie was positive that she would never let her go of Scarlet. Ever again.

“I love you so much, Yvie,” Scarlet was eventually able to murmur. “This was so perfect. You are perfect.”

“I love you too, Scarlet,” Yvie said, arms still entangled with hers. “You’re my best friend, and I never want to spend another Christmas without you.”

Scarlet reached her neck up and planted a deep, loving kiss on her lips. “You never will, Yvie.”

They stayed snuggled together on the sofa for a little while longer, each not quite ready to let go of the other yet. Scarlet tried on her ring which fit like a glove, and vowed that she would buy Yvie any ring that she wanted.

The two collided in another soft kiss, full of love and kindness and warmth. When they broke apart, Yvie looked down into Scarlet’s big, blue eyes that still had tears brimming their banks.

“Hey Scarlet?”

“Yeah Yvie?”

“You’re the best gift I’ve ever received.”

#rpdr fanfiction #scyvie #scarlet envy #yvie oddly #lesbian au #fluff #peridot #ficmas #day two: wrapping paper #submission

[supersoldierfreak]

Take It or Leave It

Hi!!!

This is something new I’m trying where the reader is a Lawyer for Tony Stark but after the Avengers get back together after the Accords Ross is still coming after them. Tony Stark wants the reader to get Ross off their backs but what happens when Ross decides to play a little dirty? 

Chapter 1 – Chapter 2 – Chapter 3 – Chapter 4 – Chapter 5 – Chapter 6 – Chapter 7 – Chapter 8

“What is this, Tony?” Steve looked from the sheets in his hand.

“It’s a resume.” Steve stared at the man. “Y/N L/N, she’s my go to lawyer. When I met her she had only just started at her firm. She had just finished a case and was handing it in to Hayden Hughes, the Managing Partner at the firm, when I was in his office. Instead of taking me to a senior partner to sign with, he told me to sign with the girl. I’ve never regretted it.” 

Steve looked back at the paper. “So you trust her.” It wasn’t a question. 

“Listen, Rogers, if there’s anyone you can get you out of your predicament, shall we say, it’s her. Her record runs on a strictly win-only basis.” 

“She’s worth a shot, Steve. I may have only met her for twenty minutes once before when she was getting Tony to sign something but she’s a good kid. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone keep him in line as well as she did apart from Pepper.” Bruce looked up from his StarkPad to affirm Tony’s praise of the lawyer. 

“Hey! I’m not that bad!” 

Natasha spoke up from her quiet conversation with Clint. “You’re only proving his point, Stark. Besides, this L/N lady can’t be that bad; she’s from the best law firm in New York, Hughes and Wood, which means she came from Harvard, the best law university in the country. She’s used to working cases which have high stakes so she knows discretion is key.”

“What’s the worst that she can do? We’re already wanted fugitives.” Wanda quipped in her thick accent. 

“Call her, Stark. Let’s see what she can do.” 

“No need, Mr Rogers, Mr Stark already called.” You waltzed out the elevator bags scattering your body. “But more importantly, I brought the Chinese.”

“We’ve already eaten.” Steve turned to look at you front on.

You laughed. “Oh that would be a good joke if takeout menus weren’t scattered across the coffee table, members of your team weren’t holding the aforementioned menus, half the people didn’t perk up at the thought of food and I didn’t get all of your favourites.” 

“How would you know our favourites? You have never met us.” Wanda queried. Her distrust for you was clear on her face and through her body language.

“Then how can I do this, Miss Maximoff?” You plopped most of the bags on the floor apart from the food. “Crispy Shredded Beef for Mr Stark, Chicken Chow Mein for Dr Banner, Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls for Captain Rogers, Szechuan Spare Ribs for Miss Romanoff, King Prawn Chop Suey for Mr Barton, Honey Pork for Mr Odinson, House Special Foo Yung for Miss Maximoff, Special Crispy Noodles for Mr Vision, Singapore Mixed Meat Chow Mein for King T’Challa, Stir Fried Mushrooms in Black Bean Sauce for Mr Lang, Shrimp Chow Mein for Colonel Rhodes, Beef Shanghai Style for Mr Wilson, Chicken Singapore Noodles for Mr Parker, and finally Crispy Chicken Fillet and Roast Duck Fried Rice for Sergeant Barnes.” You finished as you placed the final tub on the table. 

“Oh that’s it. She’s my favourite lawyer.” Clint fist pumped the air dramatically. 

You raised an expectant eyebrow. “Oh, I’m sorry, did you miss the memo? I wasn’t done. I also got Prawn Crackers, Prawn Toast, Crispy Seaweed, Spring Rolls, Crispy Wontons, Salt and Pepper King Prawns, Honey Roast Spare Ribs, Yung Chow Fried Rice, Fried Dumplings, Deep Fried Crab Claws, Aromatic Crispy Duck and finally Fortune Cookies for a bit of fun.” 

“I think I’m in love.” Scott whispered, staring at you.

Ignoring the blubbering man, you pulled out a gift bag from the collection around your feet. “Sorry I couldn’t make your birthday Mr Stark, you know I had court the next day and you can’t arrive in court under influence.” 

“Sure thing, Bunny, no worries.” The man smirked as the nickname came out again. Apparently when you were working or thinking your nose scrunched up and Tony had made it his job to entitle you with a nickname because of it; he thought of Bunny to be a sufficient name. Either way, everybody was watching with rapt attention as Tony removed the black tissue paper from the top of the bag and pulled out the box inside. Tony’s face lit up at the sight, prompting the question. 

“What did Lawyer Lady get ya, Tin Man?” Sam asked expectantly, like a petulant child. 

Thankfully Vision saved him from his despair. “It appears to be a Glen Garioch 46 Year Old 1958 Whiskey, average pricing around $2,777.” 

Low whistles ran throughout the men of the room. 

“Vis! You don’t tell people the price of gifts!” Wanda gave an exclamatory hiss in said man’s direction causing him to frown in thought.

“Damn, L/N. That’s good whiskey.” Sam addressed you but his eyes were still on the bottle. 

“If you play your cards right, Mr Wilson, you might get gifts like that too.” 

He shot you a flirty smirk. “I’ll play you any cards you want if it gets you around here more often.” 

“I’m surrounded by people like Mr Stark, and more, all day, Mr Wilson, you’re going to have to do better than that.” You pouted slightly at the man, fully enjoying the little exchange. 

“I like her. I’ve been telling you for a long time, Birdbrain, you’ve got to up your game.” James permitted himself to join the conversation. 

“Damn, and here I was thinking the only person you like was you boyfriend: The Star-Spangled Man with a Plan.” 

“Didn’t you get anything for yourself, Miss L/N?” Peter asked you as he leant forward to get his noodles. 

“I got the Szechuan Spare Ribs. They’re the best thing on the menu.” You replied with a nod towards Natasha. 

“Amen to that, sestra!” She raised her beer to you and it reminded you of the other bag. 

You pulled out the beer that you had brought with you, alongside the Chinese. “Vy khotite drugogo?” You held out a bottle for her. 

“Ty govorish’ po-russki?” She looked surprised as she took the bottle. 

You nodded. “My parents were quite pushy and strict when I was younger. They made sure I knew as many languages as I could so I would be well prepared for life.” You took a can opener from your bag; you were starting to feel like Mary Poppins. Carefully popping the cap off your bottle, you offered the opener to Natasha and she gratefully accepted. 

“It’ll be fun to have another Russian speaker in the mix.” James stirred his food quietly before taking a bite. 

“The Three Musketeers.” Clint raised his bottle to us jokingly. 

“Any other talents we should know about, Sweetcheeks?” Sam wiggled his eyebrows and you simply gave him an unimpressed look. 

“Alongside Russian and English, I also speak French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Latin, Italian, and Mandarin. Fluently. Mum made me do Ballet and Gymnastics whilst my Dad made me do martial arts whilst growing up. And I had to learn the piano at school.” You listed them off with an impressive air of nonchalance. 

“You have the skill set to join the Avengers.” Scott announced dramatically whilst chewing on his mushrooms. 

“And you clearly didn’t read the resume.” You quickly rebutted, taking a swig of your beer.

“What’s making you say that?” 

“Honestly, Mr Lang, it’s obvious.” You shook your head to yourself. “The only people who have read my resume in this room is Mr Stark about 9 years ago; Miss Romanoff, Mr Barton and Sergeant Barnes all have read it because they wanted to assess my threat level to themselves individually and the team, hence why they have been carrying most of the conversation as they are trying to evaluate me; Mr Vision will have read my resume due to the fact that he has never seen or interacted with a lawyer before; and finally Captain Rogers will have read my resume as he doesn’t trust me in the slightest right now, his feet are angled ever so slightly towards me showing interest, he hasn’t spoken at all to me apart from a defensive lie at the beginning and now he’s contemplating on how to talk to Tony about me after I’m gone without causing conflict. Tell me I’m wrong.” No one said anything. You stood up from your seat and gathered your bags. “Mr Stark, I presume I’m in the usual room?” 

Tony let out a tired sigh. “Yeah, Bunny. Please just call me Tony for the millionth time.”

“Of course, Tony.” The pair of you shared knowing smiles as you picked the bags up and disappeared down the hallway.

#avengers imagine #marvel #marvel imagine #avengers #avengers x reader #Chinese food #steve rogers x reader #bucky barnes x reader #natasha romanov #natasha romanoff x reader #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #tony stark x reader #Lawyer!au #avengers!lawyer #marvel!lawyer #lawyer!reader #Steve rogers #sam wilson #sam wilson x reader #falcon #captain america x reader #captain america #james barnes #clint barton #hawkeye #clint barton x reader #bucky barnes #winter soldier #winter soldier x reader

[jojoreadwhat]

i've been thinking a lot about your mouth /honey & smoke - m.h. x OFC story

Lucy's POV.

Time was slipping through my fingers as I indulged my extra time into an easy read of by Jane Austen looking over at the red lit alarm clock on my night stand, reading a quarter to five. I sighed to myself, fickled with emotions about what to expect tonight.

Of course it would be fun, for being someone who enjoyed space, old TV series and over read books. I was a sucker for live performances. Every weekend back in New York, I'd find myself with good friends sneaking our ways to the city to night clubs with local bands. Just for the hell of being apart of the city life.

This time being different as it was going to be Matty and the boys of all people performing. Kinda turning the tables on him trying to get to know me so well and allow me to venture him now. Even though our escapades of walking me home was something I'd hold so close. I smiled just thinking about it.

I rose from my bed and retreated to the door that held different types of styles for different occasions and different days. I was becoming friends with my closet, never had I ever had so many outfit changes. I found myself in a spaghetti strap dark teal flowy top, my black high waisted jeans and my chucks. Complimenting it all with a green army jacket and tying my hair up into a little bun with my bangs hanging loose.

I decided to go an extra step, refreshing my playlist before grabbing my makeup bag out of drawer and sitting pretzel leg in front of my mirror. Nothing too much, just some liner, mascara, and a little shade to my prominent rouge lips. I sat there admiring, taken back on my sudden outbursts of deciding to go out, looking pretty and then soon going to be hanging out in a place that served possibilities among the drinks they poured.

It was also going to be a semi-date with a boy. Something that I hadn't been on in the past year. So I feel a little rusty from my past endeavors.

I found my eyes trailing back to the red numbers, reading 5:50pm indicating that time had too much energy on it's hands. Grabbing my bag and turning everything off,I headed down to the common ground where Abby was watching some silly reality show close to the Kardashians but a British version and Liz was concentrated on her school work.

"Lulu! How are you?" Abby greeted as I sat next to her on the pale green sofa. Unwinding in the little bits of time I had to kill. Abby always had an interest in my well-being as she was majoring in psychology. I didn't mind her pry, I found a comfort in it. Liz had joined in when I began talking my Woman Studies class and how she found Professor Mullen to be just as cool as I. Coming to conclusion that we all three had a successful week of first time classes.

I was in the middle of talking about the lame book I was going to take a flight into on Sunday when the doorbell had rang. Liz and Abby had looked at each other, trying to figure out if someone had invited company over. I stood up from the sofa,

"That's for me. If I'm not out too long. Pizza and The Office?" I smiled before walking towards the door and greeting Matty.

"Hey you." I smiled, my eyes automatically landing to his wild curled mane. His black leather jacket lounging over his frame, complimenting the light blue button down. Trailing down to his signature holy black jeans and a pair of black boots. His impeccable style beyond compared to the slight comfortable standards of mine.

"Ready?" He asked, before I shut the door behind me.

-------------------------------------------------------

Matty's POV.

I rang the doorbell of the little green house on the block.

"Hey you." She greeted, closing the door behind her. Her little smile shining, and she looked good tonight.

Green was a color made for her, complimenting her hair, her eyes, everything. And what topped it all was the beat up chucks, a little punk rock princess in disguise.

"Ready?" I asked, she nodded and we headed down the walkway. Opening the door to my '88 BMW.

Our steady breathing filling in the spaces that were silent between us. Glancing at her as she glanced out the window, bobbing her head to the 80's tunes that I had burned onto a CD an hour before.

We had arrived at the pub, the boys were going to meet her for the first time. Making it official that she wasn't going anywhere yet. The place was pretty packed, Mickey was struggling with an overflow of ordered drinks as George was in the back getting ready for our gig.

With her hand in mine, I made our way to the backstage. Seeing Ross first, who was hitting a blunt. "Matty boy, where have you been?" He asked, before I brought Lucy into view.

"This is Lucy. Lucy, this is my mate Ross." Her pretty smile, so friendly as she put her hand out to shake his. Ross taken back that I was even introducing her, it was like a rare gem kind of event.

I then brought her into the dressing room the two others were, glued to their phones. Breaking entry as their heads shot up. George peering a smile because he was the only who knew that she was different for me from the rest.

She was just this intriguing puzzle piece placed into my drowned out life style. Right off the bat taking me by surprise that she hadn't slept with me yet. Taking me into a big hall of surprises when she got along with the boys, even laughing at jokes Ross told and we made him feel good about. I sat on the sofa, watching her at a close distance as she talked old tunes with George and cute dogs with Adam.

"On in five!" Celia, the barmaid had announced peering from the hall.

++

I walked back into the crowd of regulars with Lucy, buying her a drink and standing against stage, her eyes batting as she sipped and talked. Before I had jumped onto the stage, leaving her front and center. The boys joined me once they had gotten in gear near George's drum set. Agreeing on the first song of the night, the boys beginning the measures of Chocolate.

"Welcome to the party, we're The 1975" I yelled into the crowd.

The gig was a weekly ritual, we were the house band. Same people, different day. Familiar faces ranging and staggering the place.

"Hey now call it a split 'cause you know that you will Oh you bite your friends like chocolate!"

I couldn't help focusing on the sway from her, a sway that was ricocheting from the sounds of our band. As it progressed each song we played. Dancing away, with her cup in her hand.

++

My vision was becoming obviated from the bottle wine between the boys and I. Everything becoming a blur, the crowd still going and the night was coming down blissfully.

The boys, Lucy and I retreated to the bar. George's boss giving us drinks on the house and talking about whatever. My eyes were focused on Lucy who joined in most of the time, but her eyes danced around the room.

An idea had popped in my head, I had a little bit of money to spend, not that she was like that or anything. But it was far better than this, Lucy looked at me. Smiling shyly, blush erupting lightly against her cheeks.

I motioned my head to the door at her, curious if she was in. She nodded, before excusing herself to head to the ladies room. I sat waiting a few when a pair of arms wrapped around my neck.

"Matthew." Her devious voice greeted.

With a body so familiar that had laid upon my sheets till early morning risings. Her heart shaped tattoo on her hand. Her name was nowhere near my lips. Just the hazy memory of an encounter that went down the list with the others.

--------------------------------------------

Lucy's POV.

Matty and the boys were so good tonight, especially Matty. He was so into the crowd, making sure all was good and that everyone was on their feet. Not a soul was sitting just a dance party all night long.

I had gotten really acquainted with the boys too, they were all so nice and humble. Explaining the reasons behind why Matty was friends with them in the first place. They never let you miss a moment, reeling you in even if you were a pass buyer.

But things were beginning to get calm and Matty wanted to embark on other plans. Excusing myself first to freshen up.

The poorly lit restroom had definitely lots of story held. The one florescent light flickering as I reapplied my lipstick that was washed from my rum and coke. My eyes trailing to the faded lettering against the mirror reading 'Rita was here.' with a big heart around it. As I held the rouge stick to my lips steadily. Smacking my lips together for coverage before throwing it back into my bag and taking one last look.

I stepped back into the crowd. Making my way through them till I reached bar and this immediate knot in my throat tightened like a noose.

The brunette was flirty, her finger twirling one of Matty's curls. As she stood tall enough where her laced white bra began playing peek-a-boo through the side of her shirt. I expected this, the first time I ever laid eyes on him he had girls clinging to him. Which I couldn't blame because I happened to be one from a distance.

Feeling baffled as she babbled on about whatever, as he just lightly smiled. His eyes trailing around from her to other things till they landed on me. They trailed back to her as his long fingers wrapped around her hand playing with his nest. Rising from the stool and excusing himself as she looked on to him till her eyes met the direction he was heading.

Heading towards me.

"Ready, Blue?" He asked before his hand was in mine as he pushed through the crowd until we had reached the brisk air of the night.

++

Matty took control, leading us on the outskirts of town to a liquor store nearby. One by one, walking down the aisle till Matty picked up a bottle of red wine. He led us to a little park shortly after covered in trees and greenery that was pair with a little lake. We sat on the grass, splitting the wine between us and just talking... about anything to everything.

Our laughs and giggles combining with the ruffle of the trees that towered. It was dark enough that we laid out underneath the stars, so many of them that I had trouble counting. The questions kept rolling, both answering them one after the other. Getting a better view of this boy that had helped me out of the pool.

I rested my head against his arm, just caught up in the moment. Caught up in everything happening.

"So, what about this one?" I pointed to the tattoo that was embedded on his chest. Playing peek-a-boo behind his button down. He trailed over at me, "It's for my Nana, Annie. She meant a lot to me." He replied, knowing the feeling all too well. Matty propped his head on his hand, peering down at me now. I was making an abstract piece of art in his eyes with his brown ones against mine. "What?" I asked, he always chuckled when I questioned why he stared so long.

"Why do you question why I stare?" He asked, the boy with the 100 questions.

"Why do you stare so much?" I retorted.

He just chuckled louder, looking away a second before coming back again. "I don't think you're going to make it easy."

I raised my eyebrow, "For?" I asked.

"To get to know you." He replied, "You're hard to read." I just smirked, "That's why I'm a writer.. Keep you on your toes." He just smiled, "Touché Blue, touché."

Matty looked everywhere from my eyes, to my blouse till his chestnut eyes met the curve of my lips. My eyes watching him as his eyes watched my lips part, his free hand landing on my cheek. His calloused thumb running over my bottom lip. Hesitant as he took his bottom lip between his teeth.

I had a feeling where this was going. I wanted it to go there. I wanted those lips to waltz against mine. But the girl at the bar lingered across my mind. How she practically fell to Matty's feet, like the rest of them from the party and wherever he stepped.

Was I one of those girls? Did I want to be one of those girls?

Matty was something else, honestly admitting and I couldn't blame anyone who found him intriguing like I. I knew he wasn't new to the game, the boy wore his experiences like the way he wore his leather jacket. I was just uneasy at becoming something he was used to instead of a new experience like he was for me.

A few curls began to fall into his face as he began to lower himself, inches away from my mouth. An abundance of thoughts running through my mind, all too familiar from moments before. Unsure if my reflex would act fast like those thoughts did. Beginning to feel his hot breath that almost warmed me from the autumn air. I slightly placed my hand to his lowering chest, his once closed eyes now a shade of dark brown. Asking for answers as they trailed my face, almost piercing it.

"I-I'm sorry." I felt my chest sinking, unsure if I made the right decision. If I had pushed him away before he got any closer. His eyes still trailing, "For?"

I sighed with the feeling of embarrassment rushing in, dreading the words about to spill from my oozing mouth. "I don't want to be one of them." Closing my eyes to hide from his reaction.

When I opened them back up, he was still propped on his hand, his lips curled into a soft smirk that graced his face.

"Trust me." He paused, "You're not one of them. Not in the slightest."

#the 1975 fanfiction #matty healy imagines #slutforbritdick #wattpadarchives

[prettyoddfiction]

Camping

Pairing: Fem!Reader x George Ryan Ross III

Request: No. Just always bored.

Warnings: NSFW || smut.

Masterlist: Here

There isn’t anything kinky or anything like foreplay. It’s just a lot of kissing and then really sweet sexy times with Ryro. Enjoy. xx

It was a decent night. The temperature was around 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and you found yourself sitting on your boyfriend’s lap in a circle with a bunch of his and your friends around a campfire. Every couple minutes, you found yourself kissing him and giggling a bit between each one. 

A spectacular summer, at least in the aesthetic Tumblr world, consisted of: campfires, books, coffee, stargazing, going to drive in movies, music, cuddling, water balloon fights, impromptu road trips, home made music videos to songs on the radio, countless snapchat adventures, hiking, and basically any other stereotypical, yet actually fun, thing you can think of.

And being that Ryan was the guy he was, he suggested you do it all this summer. You, of course agreed, thinking it wold be funny and possible fun to try. “So, let’s get this party started.” Ryan exclaimed with a smile after he pulled away from your lips. You nodded and got off his lap, sitting on the blanket next to him as he picked up one of the three acoustic guitars that the guys had brought along. “What should I play, Y/N?” His eyes darted to you as a smile pulled on his lips. 

“The first song you ever wrote.” you shrugged, pulling your knees up to your chest and smiling. 

He nodded and looked at a few of the other guys around the fire, watching as they picked up guitars as well.

A couple hours later, the songs had been played, fireflies had been caught, s’mores had been made and eaten, stories had been told, laughs had been shared, and now you were all swimming in the lake in your underwear under the moonlight. As mentioned before, cliche.

“You suck so much Y/N.” Ryan called as you got out of the water and began to dry your hair. 

“No, I’m just exhausted. We’ve been up since dawn, and I wanna relax now.” You said, wrapping a purple towel around your body and tying it to stay up as you laid down on another towel on the sand surrounding the lake. 

Ryan came out of the water and plopped down next to you. “I can think of some other ways to exhaust you.” He smiled cheekily, cupping your cheeks in his hands and kissing you softly, but quickly heating it up by nipping your bottom lip and sucking it softly. The kiss continued, pulling a few very soft and quiet moans from you. He smirked and pulled away, standing back up and extending his hand to you. You took it and stood up with him, going back to your tent, which he had sneakily set up a bit further away from all the other. He had told you it was because he wanted personal space, but you had a feeling that he wanted to get laid, and now your suspicions were confirmed. 

As the two of you entered the tent, he pulled the towel off your body and set it on the ground. The plastic floor of the tent was uncomfortable, but that was not much of a problem. You had laid down enough quilts to basically make a carpet. The two of you laid down on the multiple blankets on the ground inside and he zipped the tent up, making sure all the screens and screen covers are up, so no one could see in. As soon as that was done, he moved over you, and looked down at you. His eyes staring into yours, a smile that was playful yet mischievous yet loving all at the same time on his lips. You two stayed like that for a second, just staring at one another happily. And then he leaned down, and captured your lips in a soft kiss.

The kiss tasted like chocolate and marshmallows, mostly from the s’mores. But you loved the feeling of his lips against yours. The way his lips fit against yours was amazing. It was sweet like sugar, and soft like silk, and precious like a rare jewel. It was all the wonderful feelings in the world, and you only felt it with Ryan.

His hands found your hips and gently rubbed small circles on your skin as he continued your kiss. 

Minutes later and the two of you had shed the few pieces of underwear that you had been wearing, and Ryan was putting a condom on. You spread your legs for him to fit between and smiled as he brought his lips back to yours once the protection was on. 

“I love you Y/N. And I know that love is a crazy thing, but I mean it.” He whispered, just loud enough for you to hear.

Although Ryan had told you he loved you before, and you had said it back, and meant it every time, something about this time felt different. “Ryan…”

“I mean it, Y/N.” He smiled, kissing you again. Your kissed back and cupped his cheeks as he slipping himself inside of you slowly. The gentleness of the situation made you moan quietly against his mouth. “Shhh.. baby. We don’t want them to hear us.” You nodded as his lips found your neck and began placing kissed all over, and then attaching to a spot under your ear that always made you a whimpering mess under him. This time was no exception.

He kissed and sucked a fresh bruise onto you, and caused you to mumble his name, along with a string of profanities.

“Ryan, I love you too.” As you spoke, his hips rocked back and forth, pushing him inside you and then retracting back. At each movement, you found yourself whining his name and clinging to him, your hands tracing up and down his bare back, trying to hold him as close to you as you could get him. He held your hips close, and continued thrusting. 

Each buck of his hips was powerful, but not hard. It was deep and slow. Each time he moved, you felt him in all the right places, making your toes curl and your back arch up off the floor of the tent. Your chest pressed up against his and you bit your lip to keep from being loud. As much as Ryan loved listening to  your moans, he knew you couldn’t be loud right now. He would wait until you guys got back to your house tomorrow.

His lips continued to move against yours as his hips continued against yours as well. The pleasure coursing through each of you was more than words could explain. You whimpered, “Baby I’m close.” He nodded and continued his movements, speeding his hips up, trying to get you to your orgasm as quickly as he could. 

One of Ryan’s favorite things in the entire world was watching you come undone beneath him. Watching you unravel in pleasure always gave him a sense of pride, knowing that he could make you feel good. 

As you hit your high, he smirked and kissed you again, his thumb rubbing sloppy circles on your clit to milk your high for all it’s worth. It took a moment and a few more thrusts before Ryan’s cock twitched and he hit his own high, spilling into the condom and moaning your name. 

Once he pulled out, he laid down next to you and pulled you close to his chest. “Every time is like the first time… I love you so much.” He mumbled, placing a soft kiss to the top of your head before humming quietly, helping you get to sleep in his arms. 

#ryan ross #george ryan ross iii #ryan ross imagine #ryan ross smut #ryan x reader #ryan ross x reader #p!atd #p!atd imagine #p!atd smut #band #imagine #imagines #band imagine #band smut #emo trinity #emo trinity smut #emo trinity imagine

[biofunmy]

Karlie Kloss, on ‘Project Runway,’ shocked with mention of Kushners

CLOSE

One “Project Runway” contestant is going viral after an awkward moment from Thursday’s episode involving host Karlie Kloss and talk of her in-laws: the Kushners.

In the episode, contestants on Season 18 of the Bravo fashion competition series were tasked with using upcycled clothes from Goodwill to create a new look for Kloss to wear to a CFDA event in Paris.

Contestant Tyler Neasloney landed at the bottom of the pack after revealing his design, describing it as “a very traditional Montauk, Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod, Americana vibe.” When Kloss asked him how he felt about the skirt and top he made, he replied and said “I’m happy with it.” 

Judge Brandon Maxwell chimed in: “Bringing us back to the challenge… It’s definitely ‘wearable’ in some place that is neither Paris nor Montauk or Martha’s Vineyard. I cannot see Karlie wearing this anywhere, honestly.”

Neasloney quickly responded: “Not even to dinner with the Kushners?”

Kloss looked shocked at the comment as Neasloney followed up by saying, “That’s your husband.”

Kloss wed Joshua Kushner in October 2018, complete with a lavish wedding eight months after tying the knot in July. Kushner’s brother is Jared Kushner, husband to first daughter Ivanka Trump and a senior adviser to President Donald Trump.

one of the #ProjectRunway designers invoked “The Kushners” last night while defending his design and this is the face Karlie Kloss made.

He was then eliminated from the show pic.twitter.com/KefAGTV0v5

— Jarett Wieselman (@JarettSays) January 3, 2020

Kloss brought it back to the design challenge at hand after Neasloney’s comments: “I was going to Paris. That was the challenge here. Keep it to the challenge.”

“I could see you wearing it at some point,” Neasloney replied.

“I know that this is not what I asked for,” Kloss said. “The fabrics are poor choices, I think they look cheap. The pockets are kind of ill-placed. And if this is your aesthetic then that’s that, but this was about my aesthetic and the influence of my stylist. You really missed the mark here on all accounts.”

Later, Neasloney told his fellow contestants that the comment “did not come out how I meant it. Sorry, Karlie.”

Neasloney was eliminated at the end of the episode before addressing the judges and Kloss.

“Karlie, I want you to know I’m not a jerk. I’m professional, so what I said earlier had no hidden agenda, no meaning, nothing like that,” Neasloney said, adding afterward that he would forever stand by his look.

USA TODAY has reached out to Bravo and Kloss’ reps for comment.

Kloss wished Neasloney “all the best as you continue your fashion journey” in a tweet Thursday night.

Thank you Tyler for your contributions to the runway! Wishing you all the best as you continue your fashion journey #ProjectRunway

— Karlie Kloss (@karliekloss) January 3, 2020

Following his elimination, Neasloney told Bravo’s “Daily Dish” that he has “a lot of respect for Karlie” and explained that he lightheartedly made the comment following playful banter with the judges on an earlier episode.

Joshua Kushner and Karlie Kloss attend The 2019 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2019 in New York City. (Photo: Jamie McCarthy, Getty Images)

“Coming off of Episode 3 where we had this really awesome banter, both me and Karlie…I felt like we had built a really cool rapport. I was laughing, they were laughing, we were going tit-for-tat. There was shade, there were jokes, and it was really fun,” he said during the interview. “So I came into the Episode 4 runway… being like I’m friendly with the judges now. We’ve spoken, we’ve kikied, we’ve laughed. I can be my normal self.”

Instead, Neasloney said his comment was “misunderstood,” when he was only trying to describe the type of woman he could see wearing his design. 

“I’m not a nasty person. I thought we were on a friendly enough playing field. So Karlie, at the end of the day, she’s a human, so I don’t want her to just hate me or feel awful about what I said,” he said. “I set the record straight at the end of the episode, so I really sincerely hope there are no hard feelings.”

Twitter was ablaze with commentary after the clip of Neasloney made the rounds on social media.

Some celebrated Kloss’ connection to the Kushners being addressed on the show.

“Karlie Kloss getting called out for her connection to the kushner family on #projectrunway,” Sarah O’Brien tweeted with a raised hands emoji.

Karlie Kloss getting called out for her connection to the kushner family on #projectrunway

— Sarah O’Brien (@fluent_SARAcasm) January 3, 2020

“The #projectrunway cameraman who captured the actual daggers out of karly kloss kushner’s eyes tonight deserves an Emmy,” @whatmaybe tweeted.

“#tylerneasloney throwing Karli Kloss under the bus with a Kushner reference was the ultimate, and deserved, shade,” @212inthe630 tweeted.

#tylerneasloney throwing Karli Kloss under the bus with a Kushner reference was the ultimate, and deserved, shade. #ProjectRunway

— HK Hall

(@212inthe630) January 3, 2020

“I’m truly fascinated that Karlie Kloss, an EP on PROJECT RUNWAY, would let that moment make it to air. Makes me think she and the network had no idea how seismic the ripple would be thanks to the internet,” Evan Ross Katz tweeted.

Others didn’t know Kloss and Kushner were married.

“why did I have to learn from project runway that karlie kloss is married to a kushner,” tweeted @trashmarquis.

why did I have to learn from project runway that karlie kloss is married to a kushner https://t.co/sxtf7yKPKq

— baby new year (@trashmarquis) January 3, 2020

Others stood up for Kloss.

“people trying to Cancel Karlie Kloss for being married to Jared Kushner’s brother but don’t take the time to realize that she and her husband are extremely liberal Democrats who are very vocal against the Trump family and her husband’s family actively hate her for it,” @juxtapoe tweeted.

people trying to Cancel

Karlie Kloss for being married to Jared Kushner’s brother but don’t take the time to realize that she and her husband are extremely liberal Democrats who are very vocal against the Trump family and her husband’s family actively hate her for it pic.twitter.com/JIprxv7B2K

— 𝒥.

(@juxtapoe) January 3, 2020

Karlie Kloss and Joshua Kushner throw an elaborate wedding bash 8 months after tying the knot

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[aion-rsa]

Avengers: Endgame - Complete Marvel Easter Eggs and MCU Reference Guide

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Avengers: Endgame is packed with Marvel Comics easter eggs and MCU callbacks. We're tracking 'em all down.

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This article consists of nothing but massive Avengers: Endgame spoilers. You’ve been warned. We have a completely spoiler free review right here.

Avengers: Endgame is the culmination of 11 years of Marvel Cinematic Universe storytelling. That’s a whopping 22 MCU movies, each of which has been packed with deep lore from the pages of Marvel Comics. That makes for plenty of Marvel Easter eggs that can be hunted down by fans and scholars.

But Avengers: Endgame is the first of these films not concerned with setting up sequels or even introducing new characters. Instead, it’s a celebration of all that has come before, and a genuine conclusion for the 22 movie saga. It also owes as much of a debt to Marvel’s big screen history as it does to the comics. In general, the MCU is a veritable feast of fan service for Marvel fans of all eras, but it also now boasts a sprawling continuity of its own that is impressive enough that it can spend as much time (or more) calling back to its previous entries as it does the comics.

Here’s how this works. We’re trying to find every single Marvel and MCU reference packed into Avengers: Endgame. But there’s no way we caught ‘em all right out of the gate. That’s where you come in. If you spotted something we didn’t, let us know in the comments or on Twitter, and if it checks out, we’ll update this and give you a shout.

Now, Avengers...assemble!

WHEN DOES AVENGERS: ENDGAME TAKE PLACE?

Avengers: Endgame takes place 21 days after the conclusion of Avengers: Infinity War (making it 23 days since Thanos first arrived on Earth). An additional day goes by before Carol Danvers rescues Tony Stark and the whole team has their meetup at Avengers HQ. Of course, then we jump five years into the future...

That five year time jump likely won’t mean much for long. With no new Marvel movies (other than Spider-Man: Far From Home, which picks up minutes after the conclusion of Endgame) until 2020, the real world will catch up to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in no time. Keep in mind, Infinity War took place in 2018, which means the opening of Endgame also takes place in 2018, so that five year time jump is really a four year jump in “our” time. Marvel currently has movies scheduled through 2022 (and of course there will be more) so by the time the next phase happens, we'll be all caught up.

Whew. Anyway, on to the rest...

IRON MAN

We’re kicking things off with Tony Stark because, well, after 11 years, 22 movies, and one heroic, heartbreaking death scene, he deserves it.

- It is cute but not necessarily significant that Tony introduces himself to his father as “Howard Potts.”

- Mungo Jerry was an early ‘70s rock band best known for their hit “In the Summertime.” You can definitely see a little Tony Stark facial hair happening in this pic. That's Community's Yvette Nicole Brown complaining about Tony's hippie beard. Maybe if Thor had been at Camp Lehigh she would have thought more Bee Gees.

- Howard Stark reveals that Tony’s mother was considering naming Tony “Alphonso” instead of “Anthony.” Al Stark doesn’t quite have the same ring, does it?

read more - Which Avengers: Endgame Deaths are Permanent?

Morgan H. Stark

As promised in Infinity War, Tony and Pepper have had a child, and Tony named her after an eccentric cousin of his. The elder Morgan Stark has never appeared in the MCU, but first showed his face in Tales of Suspense #68, back in Iron Man’s early days in 1965. It’s...not a super important story.

- Young Morgan is fond of cheeseburgers. We learned that Tony had cravings for them in the first Iron Man movie shortly after he returned from captivity.

Pepper Potts

- The blue/purple tint to Pepper’s Iron Man armor helmet (and later the armor itself) is a nod to how she appeared as “Rescue” on the Iron Man: Animated Adventures series.

Howard Stark and the Agent Carter Connections

- It’s rare to see the television arm of the MCU acknowledged on the big screen, so it’s nice to see Agent Carter’s James D’arcy return as Jarvis, however briefly. Between this and seeing Peggy Carter doing her business as director of SHIELD, this is as close as we’re going to get to a proper Agent Carter reunion.

- That’s latter-day Howard Stark John Slattery here, rather than First Avenger/Agent Carter Howard Stark Dominic Cooper.

read more - Avengers: Endgame Spoilers, Questions, and Theories

- When we first see Howard Stark in this movie, he is looking for that rat bastard Arnim Zola, who didn’t upload his consciousness to a computer until 1972 (something we see play out in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a movie that also gets plenty of love in Endgame).

The Death of Tony Stark

It appears that right before Tony says “I...am...Iron Man” a nod both to the famed Black Sabbath lyric and his final words from the first film, he seems to be staring off, likely hinting that he is experiencing the kind of cosmic awareness that the Infinity Gauntlet always brings with it, and that is made famous in so many Jim Starlin Marvel comics.

Who is at Tony Stark’s Funeral?

- In attendance at Tony Stark’s funeral you can find all the surviving Avengers, plus a few special guests, including Cobie Smulders’ Maria Hill, Marissa Tomei’s May Parker, William Hurt’s Thaddeus Ross, and Ty Simpkins’ Harley Keener from the immensely underrated Iron Man 3.

- The floating funeral bouquet contains Tony’s first arc reactor, the one that Pepper customized to read: “Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.”

We examined the significance of Tony Stark's funeral (and its attendees) right here.

CAPTAIN AMERICA

- We finally get to hear Cap declare the famed “Avengers Assemble!” battlecry, something which we were teased with in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

- Cap’s shield getting shattered in battle with Thanos is a moment right out of the original Infinity Gauntlet comic. It didn’t stop Steve there, either.

- Cap swears multiple times in this movie, something he has been reluctant to do in the past. Can you blame him? Of course, that doesn’t make him any less worthy to wield Mjolnir when the time comes, an event that has been teased since Avengers: Age of Ultron. And goddamn it might just be the single most triumphant moment in MCU history.

- Cap has hoisted Mjolnir on a few occasions in the comics, making him one of the few Marvel characters who have been canonically deemed worthy (not even a few dirty words can change that). The most notable time was during the Fear Itself event, which allowed Cap to use the hammer for maximum world-defending effect.

- Endgame also leans heavily on the entire trilogy of Captain America movies, with their events getting direct references, but also driving smaller moments in the film. For example, Tony and Steve’s trip back to 1970 is one of many things that helps heal the rift between the pair from Captain America: Civil War. But more directly…

The First Avenger

- We hear the main theme from Captain America: The First Avenger when Tony returns Steve’s shield to him.

- The location of New Asgard is Tonsberg, the same Norwegian village from The First Avenger where the Tesseract had been hidden from prying eyes by Odin worshippers until that Nazi douchebag the Red Skull came along and swiped it. You can see why Thor chose this location.

- Steve and Tony go to Camp Lehigh to find the Tesseract in 1970. Camp Lehigh is where Steve first trained to become a super soldier, and was his stateside base of operations during the war. It’s a Marvel Universe landmark that dates all the way back to Captain America Comics #1 in 1940.

read more - Complete Guide to Marvel Easter Eggs in Captain America: The First Avenger

- Interestingly enough, Steve’s phony uniform is emblazoned with the name “Roscoe.” This might be a reach, but in the wake of the original “Secret Empire” (not the Nazi Cap one) story from the comics (in the 1970s) by Steve Englehart and Sal Buscema, when Cap temporarily renounced his red, white, and blue costume, the Falcon took on a junior partner by the name of Roscoe Simons to take Cap’s place. It...it didn’t end well for young Roscoe. But Cap wearing Roscoe’s uniform here (yeah, I know, first name/last name...whatever) is a nice reversal of Roscoe wearing Cap’s in the comics.

- “Don’t do anything stupid until I get back/You’re taking all the stupid with you” is a wonderful Steve/Bucky exchange from The First Avenger.

- When Steve is fighting himself, he says to...himself... “I can do this all day,” which is, of course, Steve’s mantra that he first says in The First Avenger and then repeats in Civil War.

The Winter Soldier

- Two of the key dickbags showing up to run cleanup in the aftermath of the Avengers are Jasper Sitwell and Crossbones. Of course, we get a nice nod to that amazing elevator fight scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier at one point.

- Steve saying “Hail Hydra” is more than just another fun nod to The Winter Soldier. In 2016 Marvel took a considerable amount of shit for the infamous “Nazi Cap” story, Secret Empire, where thanks to some cosmic cube (that’s the Tesseract to you MCU fans) related shenanigans, Cap’s history was temporarily rewritten so he was a Hydra agent.

- Getting Robert Redford to return as Alexander Pierce is an impressive feat on its own.

Sam Wilson, The Falcon, and the New Captain America

- Following Thanos’ snap, Steve seemingly becomes a grief and trauma counselor, which was Sam’s job when we first met him in The Winter Soldier.

- When Falcon makes his big return he says “on your left” which is another nice nod to The Winter Soldier when we first met him and he first met Steve. It shouldn’t be a surprise that TWS looms large in this movie, as it’s the one that put the Russos on the MCU map.

read more - Avengers: Endgame Ending Explained

- Sam Wilson has spent time in the comics as Captain America. Cap has a habit of handing off the shield from time to time. The first real time was to John Walker, although Steve had no say in choosing him. Then there was the time Bucky spent as Cap (and he did an excellent job). The thing is, Cap didn’t really get a say there, either, as he was quite dead at the time.

But Sam is the only guy to wield the shield who was actually given Cap’s blessing right out of the gate, and rightfully so. Coincidentally, it happened at a time in the comics when Steve had also been “aged up” to his “actual” elderly state, much like what we see at the conclusion of Endgame. He also gets a ridiculously cool costume out of the deal...

- The fact that The Falcon and Winter Soldier are slated for a team-up series on Disney+ indicates that it’s going to take some time for him to get used to the idea of being the man with the shield, and don’t be surprised if that series deals almost entirely with the buildup to Sam finally deciding to accept the responsibility and wear the red, white, and blue. It's interesting (and a little concerning) how little Steve and Bucky interact in this movie, though.

The Final Fate of Steve Rogers

- Cap’s quest to return the stones leaves the door open to a series of Captain America movies in different time periods. Maybe. Probably not. Don’t hold your breath. Still, there's always a chance that Steve Rogers (even if he isn't Captain America anymore) can still be a part of the MCU in some capacity.

It's also worth noting that the Russo Brothers say that Cap created an alternate timeline by doing this, and figure since they directed the damn movie, they would know.

- Elderly Steve appears to be wearing the same tan jacket that pre-super soldier serum Steve wore in Captain America: The First Avenger. It fits again.

- The song playing as Steve and Peggy dance is “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” a 1945 hit with lyrics that are really, really appropriate. This appears to be the version with Kitty Kallen on vocals with the Harry James band.

Set all your worries about paradoxes aside and just enjoy the moment. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go weep for a bit.

We wrote more about the implications all of this might have for Agent Carter continuity right here.

THOR

- This is our first look at “alternate” versions of Thor in the MCU, although Jason Aaron’s spectacular run as writer in recent years has treated us to younger and far older versions of the character. None have this particular version of Thor’s particular traits or hangups, but there is some precedent for time-slid, weird Thors in Marvel Comics.

- The movie makes a valiant attempt to redeem the generally unloved Thor: The Dark World, with Thor and Rocket sneaking around in the background of recognizable scenes, plenty of references to the Dark Elves and Jane Foster’s predicament, and the touching reunion between Thor and Frigga (other than her “eat a salad” crack...Jesus, mom!) shortly before her death.

read more - Complete Guide to Marvel Easter Eggs in Thor: Ragnarok

- Aside from New Asgard’s connection to The First Avenger, the idea of Asgard having a place in Midgard really stems from J. Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel’s time as creative team on the God of Thunder, where Asgard spent some time hovering 12 feet off the ground near Broxton, Oklahoma.

- Thor turning New Asgard over to Valkyrie isn’t a thing from the comics, but it does feel very much like a set-up for future Valkyrie adventures in the MCU proper.

- So, based on assorted time travel weirdness and Loki making his escape during The Avengers portion of the time heist, does this mean that Loki can once again be alive in MCU continuity? It would seem that way. This would certainly help clear things up for the Disney+ Loki series that Tom Hiddleston is set to star in. Though it's been reported that the Loki series might follow Loki as he interferes with moments throughout history. We went into more detail about whether Loki is now alive again in the MCU right here.

- When Rocket goes to collect drunk Thor, Korg, voiced by Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is hanging out playing video games and wearing a pineapple-covered Hawaian shirt that he has busted through with his rock shoulders. It is probably a reference to the excellent possible romphim (that’s a romper for men - get it?) Taika wore to SDCC while promoting Thor. It could just be a coincidence because Taikia loves pineapples and insisted his character wear a pineapple shirt. Either way, rad casualwear for Korg.

HULK

- Bruce Banner says he started thinking about the Hulk as “a cure” rather than as “a disease” which is why he is able to be the “best of both worlds,” Banner’s smarts and sensitivity paired with Hulk’s raw power. He said he spent "18 months in a gamma lab" to merge the two halves of himself. That isn't exactly how it went down in the comics, but it's reasonable comic book logic.

read more: Hulk Movies Marvel Should Make

- There’s plenty of precedent for “smart Hulk” in the comics, as well. Perhaps the pinnacle of “smart Hulk” stories came, coincidentally enough, during the era that brought us the original Infinity Gauntlet story, the early 1990s. That Hulk was rather fond of stretchy, tracksuit-lookin’ monochrome outfits, too. There’s a whole stretch of Incredible Hulk written by Peter David that you should check out if “smart Hulk” is your thing.

- Amusingly, Banner turning his Hulk into a positive role model, complete with spouting platitudes like “listen to your mother,” feels like the 1980s persona of legendary wrestler Hulk Hogan. Of course, Hulk Hogan turned out to be an asshole in real life, but whatever.

THANOS

Thanos retreats to Planet 0259-S, which is the world we glimpsed at the conclusion of Infinity War. There’s no additional Marvel Comics connection to that planetary designation, BUT…

...apparently Thanos referred to it as “the Garden.” In the Thanos Quest series that led up to the original Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos had to claim the Time Gem from an Elder of the Universe known as “The Gardener” who had created his own “garden” on the Blue Area of the Moon (home to the Inhumans...of whom we shall never speak again after that dreadful TV series). Anyway, all of that seems like a bit of a reach, as Thanos sees himself as a god and “the garden” is his own personal eden, but hey, whatever.

read more - What's Next for the MCU After Avengers: Endgame?

- “I am inevitable.” I can’t recall any instances of Thanos uttering these specific words in the comics, but he sure says stuff like it all the time, sometimes referring to himself in the third person like the jerk he is.

- The constant references to killing baby Thanos are far more than just the old "killing baby Hitler" thought experiment, as that's more or less the plot of the current Cosmic Ghost Rider series from Marvel Comics.

DOCTOR STRANGE

- At one point, Tony and Natasha are talking about Doctor Strange, and Pepper misidentifies his address as Sullivan St, which Tony corrects to the correct (and close by) Bleecker St. For you Marvel obsessives, Strange’s sanctum is located at 177A Bleecker St in NYC’s West Village. Don’t try to find it, as it’s well hidden by assorted mystic spells. Cool neighborhood, though. Amusingly, Tony also dismisses Strange as a “Bleecker St. magician” as if Stephen is some dude who wanders around the Village doing card tricks for tourists.

read more: Everything You Need to Know About Doctor Strange 2

HAWKEYE

- Fans who felt shortchanged by the lack of Hawkeye in Infinity War get plenty to work with this time around. Indeed, the filmmakers find Clint’s journey so essential to Endgame that they used his “snap” moment as a “pre-credits” scene, the first of its kind in Marvel Studios history. Here, we see Nathaniel Pietro Barton (so named for the fallen Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron), Lila Barton, and Laura Barton all vanish into dust.

- Clint even tells young Lila, “great job, Hawkeye.” Clint will definitely be teaching more archery in the near future, as Disney+ has a Hawkeye TV series planned, where Mr. Barton will pass on his mantle to Kate Bishop. We have more info on Kate Bishop here.

- Clint’s midlife crisis/revenge spree brings him a new costume. In the New Avengers comics, he was known as Ronin in this garb, and the reasoning behind it was completely different. We wrote more about the history of Ronin right here.

- The man we see him fighting is Akihiko, played by Hiroyuki Sanada, making his first (and last) MCU appearance. In the comics, Akihiko led the Shogun Reapers, an armored science division of the Yakuza. He appeared in the recent (and very cool) Nick Fury comic book series by James Robinson and ACO.

- In the pages of Marvel Comics, Clint’s mother’s name was indeed Edith.

BLACK WIDOW

- When Natasha goes to Vormir, the Red Skull calls her “daughter of Ivan,” a detail about her own history that even Natasha didn’t know. Which is so sad.  

- “We’re a long way from Budapest” Hawkeye cracks to Natasha when they’re flying the Milano, a reference to a conversation they had in the first Avengers film. We’re never going to learn what happened there, are we?

- Natasha’s heroic death here mirrors Gamora’s in Infinity War. But her death now all but guarantees that the upcoming Black Widow solo movie will be a prequel of some kind.

- Steve and Natasha’s friendship, which was a foundational part of The Winter Soldier, is still strong here. She has been urging him to “get a life” since The Winter Soldier when she was constantly trying to set him up, although it appears that in the time since Infinity War she has lost any semblance of a life of her own.

read more - How Avengers: Endgame Prioritizes Emotional Strength Over Physical Power

- Anybody else notice that Natasha cuts her bread in a manner that Nick Fury would not approve of?

SPIDER-MAN

- The hug between Peter and Tony is a reversal of that funny moment in Spider-Man: Homecoming when Peter thinks he’s getting a hug in the car and...most certainly is not. This hug, however, is one of the purest, most touching moments in MCU history.

- We also get to see the hideous Iron Spider armor in all its “glory.” Hopefully for the final time.

- While the age difference is too great for this to ever be a thing in the MCU, Peter Parker did indeed date Carol Danvers (briefly) during her Ms. Marvel days in the comics.

CAPTAIN MARVEL

- In the aftermath of the snap, Carol Danvers cut her hair short to her iconic ‘do with what was a rather unfortunate wig, since this was filmed before her solo movie. It was controversial when she got it in the comics insofar as some fanboys hate it any time she doesn’t have long hair. Expect those who ship ValCap to love it. It’s anyone’s bet when in the timeline any possible future Captain Marvel movies may be set and therefore what hair she’ll have. The similarity to Annette Benning’s Mar-Vell hair is probably no accident, too.

We wrote much more about the significance of Captain Marvel's haircut right here.

- Rocket razzing her about the short hair is perfect, because Carol spent some time with the Guardians of the Galaxy in the comics, much of which they spent teasing each other. Once Carol was in charge of the space station Alpha Flight (which incidentally was the kind of global shield Tony laments at his cabin that they should have built - it didn’t work because Nazi Cap was the one who orchestrated it) Rocket steals a bunch of stuff from her fancy space station.

- Carol spends much of the movie in outer space doing...outer space stuff? She’s quick to remind that there are other planets in the universe, which is true, but it does seem like a very long errand for some medicine to heal Tony, at the expense of getting to see their great comics chemistry. Space is usually where Carol goes when things get heavy and she always does help people - maybe a future movie will give her more time with whoever is still an Avenger and then they can call her out for running away.

read more: Complete Guide to Captain Marvel Easter Eggs

Judging by glowy appearances and the end of Captain Marvel, it seems we’re getting the Binary version of Captain Marvel without having to deal with the torture or the white hole business, which is convenient when it comes to a souped-up powerset with no emotional fallout too early in her story.

- Carol's costume during the finale looks slightly more like the Mar-Vell version of the suit, with a nod to her Ms. Marvel sash, as well.

ANT-MAN

- The five year time jump aging Cassie Lang up to her teenage years bodes well for the prospects of some kind of Young Avengers property down the road, as Cassie has taken on the superheroic identities of “Stinger” (when small) and “Stature” (when giant) in the comics.

- Visible on young Hank Pym’s desk in 1970 is a vintage, comic book accurate Ant-Man helmet. Presumably a prototype.

WANDA AND VISION

- Vision isn’t really mentioned in the final third of the film, although he is alluded to when Wanda absolutely loses her shit with "you took everything from me." In the comics, Wanda has been known to go off the deep end from time to time, and the intensity on display in this movie certainly feels like it could lead to something like that down the road.

Since Vision requires the mind stone to exist with free will (as established in Age of Ultron), when Cap goes back into the Quantum realm, does he return the mind stone to its rightful place and bring Vision back to life? Does that make the upcoming Disney+ series WandaVision a prequel?

- At Tony’s funeral, Hawkeye tells Wanda he wishes he could let Natasha know it worked. “She knows,” Wanda tells him. “They both do.” She is seemingly talking about Vision here.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

- Rocket Raccoon is wearing his classic costume from the comics for most of the movie, which is a little more swashbuckling and old-school sci-fi than what we’ve come to know from the movies. We have some more info on the weird-ass history of Rocket Raccoon in Marvel Comics right here.

- Tony misidentifies Rocket as “Ratchet” at one point, and somebody needs to make an appropriate “Ratchet Raccoon” meme/parody ASAP.

- The Asgardians of the Galaxy are absolutely a thing in the comics, albeit with a different lineup to what we have here. However, that lineup is profoundly different than what we’re going to get here, as it consists of Valkyrie (who is remaining in New Asgard in the MCU), Thunderstrike (the replacement Thor from the ‘90s), Angela, Throg (yes, the Frog Thor), the Executioner, and Kid Loki. Don’t expect to see most of these characters ever show up in the MCU.

read more - What Avengers: Endgame Means for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

- Nebula does indeed briefly pick up the Infinity Gauntlet here, and for a moment it felt like we were going to get that classic moment from the Infinity Gauntlet comic, where Nebula becomes a god and Thanos is forced to work with the heroes to put shit right.

- Witnessing the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (notably Peter Quill’s dancing antics) from the perspective of people who don’t get to hear the soundtrack is a wonderful storytelling trick.

Does this mean that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is going to be about trying to rescue Gamora? Is it possible her story actually did end in Infinity War? The idea of having to deal with a less well-developed Gamora in Guardians 3 seems somewhat less than appealing, but perhaps its best to just trust the MCU vision. Maybe.

We wrote much more about what happened to Gamora in Endgame right here.

THE STAN LEE CAMEO

Stan Lee is driving a car with a “‘nuff said” bumper sticker. That was, of course, one of the many, many catchphrases that he often signed off the Stan’s Soapbox column with. Also, the um...the license plate says 420. We wrote much more about what seems like an otherwise minor Stan Lee cameo and its implications for the wider MCU right here. “Hey man, make love not war!”

read more - The Best Stan Lee Comics Stories

Either this or Spider-Man: Far From Home will end up being the final Stan Lee cameo. Say your goodbyes.

TIME TRAVEL

- There are, of course, plenty of references to the Back to the Future trilogy throughout Endgame, from “no betting on sporting events” to the crack about not losing Scott in the 1950s. No need to lay them all out here, right?

- Rhodey suggests killing Baby Thanos, a reference to the much-discussed ethical question: if you have the ability to travel through time, should you go back and kill Baby Hitler?

- There doesn’t seem to be any wider MCU or Marvel Comics significance to the April 7, 1970 date when Tony and Steve make their journey back to Camp Lehigh, but if anyone has any info that I don’t, please let us know.

- Tony references three bits of physics logic when discussing the difficulties of time travel. The Planck Scale is (ummm...forgive the mangling of this) an attempt to reconcile issues of relativity with problems of absolute measurements of things like units of measure in relation to time.

“The Deutsche Proposition” appears to refer to David Deutsche, a quantum physicist who has done some work with multiversal theory. If anyone can explain this to me, ummm...please do.

I’m not going to even attempt to pretend to understand what the EPR Paradox’s relation to Endgame and this movie’s time travel laws might be, however, given that it appears to be vaguely related to quantum entanglement/”spooky action at a distance” which um...I dunno, if two characters in the MCU have ever been entangled at the quantum level it sure would seem to be Steve and Peggy, wouldn’t it? Anyway, crying again...

We tried to explain all of the Avengers: Endgame time travel rules right here.

MUSIC

In addition to boasting what might be Alan Silvestri’s best, most evocative work in the MCU, Endgame features a surprising number of deep cut needledrops, the kind you might normally associate with Guardians of the Galaxy movies.

It’s a bold move to use Traffic’s mournful “Mr. Fantasy” to kick things off, with lines like “do anything take us out of this gloom” that seem particularly appropriate for the way things open for our heroes (and everyone else). Later, they digs deep into The Kinks catalogue to bust out “Supersonic Rocket Ship”  during their trip to New Asgard. With lyrics like “My supersonic ship's at your disposal/If you feel so inclined/We're gonna travel faster than light” that are appropriately sci-fi, but also “Nobody needs to be out of sight/Nobody's gonna travel second class/There'll be equality/And no suppression of minorities” it seems like it anticipated the internet’s army of babies who constantly scream about how Marvel and Star Wars are “suddenly” mixing politics with their grand epics. Lol at these clowns forever.

MISCELLANEOUS COOL STUFF

- All of the women of the MCU coming to back up Carol Danvers is not just a great moment in its own right, but feels like a little nod to A-Force, G. Willow Wilson and Marguerite Bennett’s all woman Avengers team. While there isn’t a ton of crossover between the comic book lineup and the one we see on screen here...who cares? It’s still awesome. Maybe there’s still hope for the #WomenofMarvel poker games Carol Danvers has in the comics (yes she really calls them that).

- Oh, and I'm seeing reports that Howard the Duck is visible during the final battle, just to the right (our right, not her right) of Wasp when she shows up. Keep an eye out! Howard rules. He should run for President again.

- During the group therapy session, Steve is talking to none other than Joe Russo, one half of the Russo Brothers directing team. Joe is playing the MCU’s first canonically gay character on the big screen for Marvel (there have been a handful on TV), it seems. That...that can’t be right, can it?

- One of the other members of that therapy group? None other than Jim Starlin, the creator of Thanos!

- There are not one, but two shout outs to the New York Mets in this movie. The first is, of course, the flyover of a deserted Citi Field. Of course, that could basically be Citi Field during any number of Mets Septembers when the team has been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. The other is, of course, Joe Russo’s anecdote during the group therapy scene. I point these out because Peter Parker is canonically a Mets fan, both in the comics and in the MCU, and also because even though it is never actually stated, we can pretty much assume that Steve Rogers is a Mets fan by default, as he would have been rooting for their spiritual fathers (and similarly Steve Rogers-esque perpetual underdogs), the Brooklyn Dodgers, back before he went into the ice in the '40s. In fact, it was a Brooklyn Dodgers game playing on the radio when Steve woke up at the end of The First Avenger.

The main theme from Captain America: The First Avenger plays when Tony gives Steve his shield back, which makes for one final (albeit roundabout) New York Mets connection. When beloved Mets third baseman and team captain David Wright retired last year, he left the field for the final time to that very piece of music. David’s nickname for most of his career? “Captain America.”

- The security guard watching over the warehouse where Scott Lang’s van is being stored is reading a collection of JG Ballard short stories called Terminal Beach. One of the stories contained in that volume? A little number called “End-Game.” We’re sure it is as uplifting and bouncy as the rest of Mr. Ballard’s catalogue. Oh, and the security guard in question? That's Community's Ken Jeong.

- The earthquake under the sea, “we handle it by not handling it.” On the one hand, this a perfectly normal bit of pragmatism. On the other, you have to wonder if maybe, just maybe, this is a hint at the existence of Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Assuming he does indeed exist in the MCU (and to be clear, there are some confusing rights issues surrounding the character, Marvel Studios, and Universal), he’s the kind of character who would be able to concern himself with this. Probably not, as Endgame is admirably focused on the here and now of its characters and the MCU, but it would be Easter egg malpractice not to at least mention it here.

- Vormir is described as “the center of celestial existence.” This could be a coincidence, but the Celestials are ancient, godlike cosmic beings who are central to the mythology of Jack Kirby’s Eternals, who coincidentally are set to get an MCU movie of their own soon enough. Two Celestials have already appeared in the MCU, Knowhere, from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, is the severed head of a Celestial, and later in the movie you can see Eson the Searcher on a monitor screen. 

- Rhodey’s worries that skeletons on spikes are gonna start jumping out is, of course, a generalized reference to the kinds of shenanigans that Henry Jones, Jr. gets up to in the Indiana Jones trilogy. What, there was a fourth one? Never heard of it. Anyway, during this scene, while the score certainly isn’t quoting from any of John Williams’ iconic themes from those films, it does kind of do an appropriately adventurous swell there.

DOES AVENGERS: ENDGAME HAVE A POST-CREDITS SCENE?

No. Instead, we get the pre-credits scene with the Barton family becoming “dust in the wind” (that musical cue would have been far too on-the-nose). But if you listen very carefully, as the music in the end credits fade out, you can hear a faint clanging...the sound of Tony Stark forging the Mark I armor in the cave from the very first MCU movie in 2008. We wrote a little bit more about the significance of this right here.

“I’m fine. Totally fine.” - Tony Stark, speaking for all of us.

Spot something we missed? Let us know in the comments or hit us up on Twitter!

Mike Cecchini is the Editor in Chief of Den of Geek. You can read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @wayoutstuff.

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Feature

Books

Mike Cecchini Kayti Burt Delia Harrington

Jul 31, 2019

Marvel

Avengers: Endgame

Captain America

Iron Man

Thor

Captain Marvel

Thanos

from Books https://ift.tt/2K6OFML

#aion-rsa #Books

[iviaggidianica]

giorno uno: metropolitan panic & luxury fashion stores

My flights were not pleasant, but not abhorrently intolerable. On the 5 hour stint I watched Vox Lux (weird & unnerving) and then some of The Princess Diaries (familiar and comforting). A chicken curry & pot of ice cream later, I managed to get myself on a skybus to the right terminal, and after asking for help at an info centre (yep I did actually ask), I went to the next gate. I passed Amy Ross on the way, who was going to the USA - an unlikely coincidence!

On the 12 hour flight I was determined to sleep the entire time but drifted in & out due to meals, coldness, discomfort and turbulence. I would wake up every time thinking ‘surely it’s time to get off now’, but alas. There was some passive aggressive gentle elbowing of the large old man sitting beside me encroaching on my personal space, and at one point some orange juice went flying as I knocked it in its holder in my attempt to get comfortable. That’s about as descriptive as a 12 hour flight can get.

Arriving in Milan was the part I was most anxious about. I stood in the passport line for about 30 minutes, awfully dehydrated. Eventually got in, stood at the wrong baggage collection for an embarrassing amount of time, traipsed through the airport to find the Malpensa Express and kissed goodbye to £13 to buy tickets. On the train we passed lots of green shrubbery, crumbling graffitied walls, yellow painted houses, and then all of a sudden we hit the city.

I walked around for almost an hour trying to find the hotel which was purportedly 10 minutes away from the station (it was, just not when you factor in the incompetence of Google Maps). I asked a man at a fresh drinks vendor & a lady in a chemist for some vague Italian-inflected directions, clinging onto every ‘sinistra’ and ‘destra’ I picked out, and eventually pulled my case up the stairs to reception. Proceeded to have a major panic as I couldn’t find my passport hidden in my bag lining - an Australian Consulate building flashed before my eyes in those few moments - and then entered my...room. A sink, bed, table, window, fan - a single toilet and shower located down the hall. Not going to lie - after my disheartening rigmarole throughout the city trying to find the place, running on few hours sleep and little food/water, the room was the yucky little cherry on top. I called Mum, which of course made me feel better, and pulled myself together.

(Already a MESS!)

(The holy fan)

(View from my room)

I contacted a girl, Aaliyah, who I met at UWA at the leaving meeting. I suggested we have dinner together, and so we planned to meet at 3PM at central station to go to Duomo. I was very nervous considering I’d only talked to her for all of 20 minutes in the past.

Whilst waiting for 3 to roll around, (it being around 12 at this point) I decided to walk to the station to have lunch before meeting her. The following sentence will not please Tonya: after wandering around and mainly just being unable to understand the cuisines/prices/formality of the restaurants & cafes, I stumbled into Maccas. And I felt a strange sense of peace, as even the interiors are exactly the same as at home. I ordered a burger, proud of myself for understanding Italian, and then walked to find somewhere else to sit as Maccas was packed with hungry travellers with suitcases. (Quality report: both the chicken and the bread bun in Italian McDonalds, it seems, are actually real).

I had really over-estimated the amount of time I would need to eat one burger. So I walked back to my hotel as a practice run, so that I wouldn’t endure that horrific goose chase from the beginning of the day again. Ended up resting in my hotel for a bit more and then went out to properly meet Aaliyah.

Was still early. And Aaliyah a little late. And my phone charge dying. Went and read some non fiction books about space and time in a shop at the station, called Mum again to express my nervousness, and then went to sit firstly near the steps that go down to the metro, before a cigarette-smoking bogan family drove me to another more isolated bench (more first impressions of Milan as a city in a moment).

Finally went down into the bowels of the metro, pretending to know what I was doing by walking fast and swerving at the appropriate signs. It was surprisingly easy. I bought tickets from a tobacco shop, where the Italian man was more than willing to help and graciously wished me a wonderful day. “Grazie” is beginning to roll off the tongue like second nature now, ah yers.

Aaliyah’s train would stop at my station, and then would go straight on to Duomo. I waited for Aaliyah at the tracks, but due to bad coordination I got ON the train and she got OFF to meet me. It was quite funny. Then when we arranged to just meet at Duomo, meaning she had to follow me a few minutes after on a separate train, she accidentally got off on the stop after. Truly a comedic sequence of events. Once she took a train back in the opposite direction we met beside a massive regal horse statue directly in front of the Duomo which probably has great significance which I’m overlooking. Stepping out to see the cathedral, in fact, wasn’t so much of a “wow, there’s the cathedral!” moment, but just a blind frenzy of trying to find a “girl who looks like a cow”, as Aaliyah self-described her animal-print outfit.

We met and were immediately barraged by street sellers, coming up to us and tying rainbow strings - yes, strings - around our wrists in the name of ‘peace and love’, and then asking for money. As Aaliyah is originally from Sudan, many African sellers sucked up to her, giving her discount offers. But we declined the £20 carriage ride and professional photography in front of the cathedral.

We took some pictures ourselves (better ones of me fully standing there, plus us together, are with Aaliyah and will come through at some point. These don’t do justice and I’m making weird faces, I know).

(You asked for pics with my face in them, this is what you get)

Then we went to the Duomo shopping place, which was art in itself. Looked a lot like the Melbourne arcades, but...far more impressive. We went inside the luxury stores including Prada, Chanel, Georgio Armani, Michael Kors, etc...and I suppressed my shock as Aaliyah seriously contemplated buying her parents £300+ gifts. And she probably will end up going back and doing so.

(Aaliyah + me looking like I’m grimacing, because that’s what happens when your phone is on the lowest possible brightness setting and you can’t see yourself.)

The shop assistants are SO friendly. They obviously want to sell you things, but they take a legitimate interest in you. The man in Georgio Armani talked to us about Australia & growing up in Italy & our respective interests in fashion & his fear of flying - it feels like you can just make friends with anyone and everyone in Italy. Nobody really keeps to themselves. This is great, but also a bad thing when you’re running on maybe 5 hours of sleep over 2 days and being friendly seems like the biggest chore on earth. 

Aaliyah went and got prescriptions for Ray Bans, as you do, whilst I thankfully sat on a couch and pretended to go on my phone - pretended, because it was now on 5% and I was desperately trying to preserve power for my journey home. Here is an unnecessary pictorial documentation of this incident.

We went to a pizza place someone had recommended Aaliyah, got some large slices, then went and sat inside McDonalds (don’t worry, it was just a place to sit). Then Aaliyah accompanied me to the station so I could go home, around 7:30PM; but then the most bizarre thing occurred.

A man with spiked up hair walking hurriedly suddenly stopped as and said something in Italian, to which we responded ‘parlo inglese’ and continued on our way, but then he started asking for directions for somewhere, or asking us if we knew something, and then suddenly said he worked for a modelling company and we were both really great candidates and there was going to be a party at a well known club in Milan (Aaliyah knows of it) and wants us to come, and because Aaliyah had been receiving compliments all day from shopkeepers etc for her appearance I wasn’t so much doubtful of that compliment, but it was dodgy how he stopped us randomly and didn’t even seem to know what he was talking about at first. He continued for about 20 minutes and Aaliyah showed genuine interest whilst I was thinking nononono ALERT, and in the end it ended up sounding actually real but no way my spiky haired friend. He’s going to send Aaliyah an invite for it, so she can go along and have fun - not I sir!

We parted ways and I felt very snazzy remembering how to do the whole ride back, and then walking back to my hotel without any Google prompts at all. 

Now, first impressions of Milan: an ultra-busy Fremantle. Humid and hot, you can’t walk far without putting on a sweat. Metro lines, trams etc are very efficient, if a little ill-labelled. The people are all very extroverted, happy to talk, and happy to translate. Friendships could be made from a 5 minute ride on the metro - something impossible in Perth. There is an eclectic cultural mix, with many Indians, Africans, Muslims. All the business men always look like they’re off the cover of GQ with blue suits and slick cosmopolitan haircuts. There are many gracious, slender looking women, but mainly the girls all have that curly hair black rimmed glasses sportswear look. Everyone always looks like they have somewhere to go, and are going in confidence.

I wrote the following summation of the day about halfway it:

Throughout the entire journey thus far, I’ve found myself constantly asking the question: “why am I doing this?”. I don’t know if this is a normal thing to think. I just hope I can start to feel a bit less overwhelmed.

Yet at the same time, I haven’t really registered that I’m in Italy; anywhere of particular note. In that sense, I’m both numb and also overwhelmed at the same time. I’m looking forwards to Uni, where there’ll be plenty of English-speaking people to feel comfortable with.

A good sleep & food should restore me.

...and whilst today was by no means perfect and there were a lot of bad moments, I feel somewhat more hopeful tonight.

Now, let’s see if these posts will continue at this length, or at all!

[movietvtechgeeks]

Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/behind-scenes-supernatural-director-richard-speight-jr-part-1/

Behind the Scenes of Supernatural with Director Richard Speight Jr. Part 1

I’ve known Richard Speight Jr. for a long time – a decade in fact! I loved his portrayal of the Trickster and Gabriel on Supernatural, and I’ve always loved talking to him. About the show, about the cons, about the fandom, about the business – Richard has always had the most fascinating insights. He wrote a chapter for our third book, Fan Phenomena Supernatural, which I love (and you can get it here). And it’s always just plain fun to sit down and chat with him, especially as a wonderful way to end a hectic but fun con weekend. Richard talked about wanting to direct early on, so it’s been truly awesome to watch him pursue that dream and be successful thanks to determination, talent and lots of hard work. We don’t get to sit down and chat at the end of cons nearly as often as we used to, but we did in San Francisco. And yes, Richard still has the most fascinating insights – this time all about directing his most recent episode of Supernatural, and the incredible collaboration with cast and crew that has ensured the show’s success. This is Part 1 of a two-part interview: Lynn: War of the Worlds was a huge episode – It seems like (writers) Eugenie Ross-Leming and Brad Buckner often get these episodes where they tie all these plot lines together. Richard: Right. Lynn: What is it like directing an episode like that, with three big reveals and so much plot movement? Does it feel as unmanageable as it sort of seems? Richard: Well, it’s interesting, there’s a double whammy. I mean, Eugenie and Brad write phenomenal scripts, I think they’re very smart writers and they’ve been doing it a long time, they’re very experienced writers in the field. Lynn: Which may be why they give them these complicated episodes. Richard: Yeah, and I dig what they do so I was intimidated by getting one of their scripts. I’m intimidated by all scripts, to be honest… Lynn: Well you haven’t been doing this that long! Richard: Exactly, so everything intimidates me. But especially since Bob Singer is a mentor of mine, they’ve been together for a long time doing great work, so that’s intimidating. And the size of the script was huge in terms of what was involved. This was very challenging because every day was chock full and we moved like a freight train, but I felt like the story was in great shape when I got the script. We didn’t have to have a lot of conversations about ‘what about what about what about’. It didn’t need much massaging, it was kinda ready to go, so I could start working right out of the gate on what I thought the show should be from a shooting standpoint. Lynn: That makes a lot of sense yeah. Richard: And so to me it was as daunting as anything else is, but I think the thing that was most daunting were the fight scenes, because I had several. I had Castiel in the park and then I had the big fight scene in the bar, so those are the ones I kinda obsessed about alot – especially when I had the boys being thrown around in the bar, and Asmodeus throwing Lucifer and Castiel around in the bar. So those massive moments take a lot of energy and time and stunt work. Lynn: I can imagine! [caption id="attachment_52355" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Screencaps courtesy of @kayb625[/caption] Richard: So those were challenging, and kinda weighed heavily on my mind when we were prepping. I love Pellegrino as an actor and a person, so it was exciting to work with him – and really dig Osric Chau, and David Haydn-Jones. Lynn: There were so many people who came back in this episode! (At that point, since it was the end of the con, Mike Borja and Billy Moran of the very talented band Louden Swain stopped by to say goodbye and to wish us happy holidays and a happy new year – there’s a bittersweetness to the last con of the year and everyone going their separate ways for a little while, but I was glad I got to say goodbye too.) Richard: So it was all daunting. It’s hard for me to say that one’s more daunting than another. Because of the odd structuring of Stuck In The Middle With You and the multiple perspectives, that one got to me a couple of times, to get my brain around. Lynn: That makes sense, from a director’s standpoint, a different kind of challenge. Richard: Yeah, exactly. So this one was challenging in the enormity of the story lines going on, but my brain could comprehend everything that was going on in terms of the execution of what they were going for on paper, and it was a matter of just making sure it was done right on film. Knowing all the people I was working with – I’ve gotten to a point where I know Pellegrino well, I know Osric Chau well, I know David Haydn-Jones well, so I had no X factors. I had almost nobody to cast. Lynn: I didn’t think of it that way but yes, they were all familiar. So that made it easier, I’m guessing. Richard: It did, because when I did Stuck in the Middle, I had to find my Ramiel. When I did Just My Imagination, I had to find my Sully. So much was dependent on finding those key players. Lynn: Right, they were pivotal in those episodes. And both were awesome! Richard: That was not the case with this one. I had a little bit of casting to do, but for the most part I knew all my heavy hitters and they were already pre-ordained, you know? Lynn: They were. Richard: So that’s a bit of a relief, it’s one thing you can take off your list. You know those scenes are gonna work from a performance standpoint. Lynn: So there were two things – well, there were a lot of things that stood out about this episode – but one is that this is the funniest I have ever seen Mark Pellegrino be. The scene where he ends up on a city street looking like a homeless guy and keeps trying to intimidate and zap people, to no avail, was hysterical. I was literally laughing out loud. How was it to direct him in that, and how much of that humor was your directing, how much was his acting, how much was scripted? Richard: Well Mark obviously comes in with his very clear ideas of what he wants this to be, but I had blocked it in a very specific way because I was tying it in with the shot I was doing of Osric being thrown out of frame timed to Mark coming into frame, so I had this very specific design of what the shot was. Lynn: Oh right, right Richard: And then I wanted it to be a moving Steadicam shot that sort of kept you in the mood, so it all felt very organic. So all of that performance was Mark doing what Mark does, and my blocking aided that. My goal was to block that scene like what you’d see in a movie, like what you’d see Jim Carrey do. Lynn: Yes! That’s how it looked and felt, exactly. Richard: I wanted it to feel like this is the comedy film version of Lucifer returns to Earth, so I did that and then every take or two, after we got the big one done, I said ‘Mark, when they’re gone, instead of standing there wringing your hands, walk back up the street and try to kill the background artists’. Lynn: Oh, that was your idea? That was one of my favorite parts of the whole episode! Richard: And he thought that was a great idea, so we did one take of that, and you can tell the young lady didn’t know he was gonna do it because we didn’t announce it, I said let’s just keep going, I’m not gonna call cut, and you try to zap a few people as you go up the street.   Lynn: Maybe that’s why it was so funny, it was completely organic! I have this little game I play with Jensen where I try to guess which moments are unscripted, and that’s my theory, you can tell because they have this extra bit of genuineness to them, they just play slightly differently, so you can tell. And they’re often very funny! Richard: Oh, that’s awesome. Yeah, I loved that beat, I put that in the cut, and I was hoping that Phil and Bob would like it as much as I did. Lynn: I’m so glad they left it in, it was priceless! So the other thing that struck me, which is the complete opposite – it played on Thanksgiving, so I’m at this big family gathering and my son’s girlfriend’s family is all there and they don’t know us very well, so they’re trying to be nice with ‘oh let’s all watch this show that Lynn writes about’, so we put on Supernatural. And there are just repeated scenes of torture, with screaming and wailing and people being cut, and I’m looking around going OMG what do they think of me… What is it like directing those sort of scenes? Richard: I don’t really think it’s different than directing a normal scene, to be honest. It all feels very performance driven, and you go over your shots and your design and know what you want it to feel like. The scene with Mark in the cage… Lynn: That was really awful – he did such a good job of making Lucifer look like this ruined, pathetic creature, just in a couple of minutes… Richard: Right, and I almost ruined my day of shooting by over-shooting that sequence. Lynn: What does that mean exactly? Richard: It was such a cool set, it was the teaser for the episode, and Serge [Ladouceur] had these lighting flashes going and the light flashing through and so I just shot the hell out of it and I used every angle I got, I used everything. I had a crane for the top, I had a spin move, I had a dolly move outside the room, just because I thought a) it’s Lucifer caged up, b) it’s the teaser, and c) it was just artistically a beautiful space. Lynn: I think I said that in my review, how can something so horrendous be so beautiful at the same time? Richard: Yeah, and again, it was like I just wanted to capitalize on Serge’s gifts as a lighting guru and be sure that we shot it. Lynn: You got to do a flashlight scene too. I always love scenes of the boys with flashlights, and I know Serge is really good at it, but that seems like a tough scene to shoot too. It’s such low light, but you get to see just enough. Richard: He’s great at it. Lynn: And the fight scene too, there were a lot of very dark scenes but you still needed to be able to see what’s happening. Richard: And that’s what Serge does well. It had to be abundantly clear that the power had been cut in that room, in that building, so there was no source lighting whatsoever, not from the jukebox, nothing. So that was all Serge coming up with where would the moonlight come in, what’s a light source that works and how can he utilize his lighting and my blocking to make that work well? Lynn: We’re so lucky to have people like Serge. Richard: He’s a genius. And btw, one thing I wanted to talk about, because you were talking about Pellegrino and being funny in this episode. The scenes he had with Misha in the diner, in the bar, to me were some of my favorite scenes. Lynn: Comedy gold. Richard: Yeah, comedy gold! And again, I know those dudes, putting them in the room together, letting them do their thing? I loved what they did. My thing was, when I saw what they were doing in rehearsal, I just put gas on their fire. I said go go go go go, do this, don’t worry about overlapping each other, I’m gonna make the sound department work hard because I want this to feel like the indie film of Supernatural. I want you talking over each other, I want you adding what you want – there are a couple of lines that they just added! Lynn: It all stayed in? Richard: It all stayed in, everything they added. Lynn: That’s awesome. I mean, both Misha and Mark were just incredibly funny, their timing was spot on. Richard: One of my favorites was, I told Mark, I said ‘hey answer Misha when he says I’m not Heaven’s joke’, there was no answer so I said, ‘answer him’. So Mark just goes like ‘I’m just sayin…’ Lynn: I loved that, and he’s so good with the gestures… Richard: He puts a button on it, and they were just – it felt more like Steve Buscemi and somebody else doing a gangster movie than it did like CW good looking people having a conversation. They just brought a level of honesty to it that made those two characters connect. And they built a real relationship, those guys, that supercedes ‘I wanna kill you-I wanna kill you’ to ‘hey I know we were gonna kill each other, but put a pin in that, we’ve got bigger fish to fry’. Lynn: And it was very believable, and again, Lucifer is a character that you don’t want a redemption arc for real, but in this episode you felt empathy for that character and you were amused by that character, and then you’re like wait, why am I feeling empathy for this character? Richard: Well, I’ll tell you why. Because you don’t wanna  -- it’s like Lego Batman. Batman isn’t Batman if he doesn’t have the Joker. So if Lucifer is a guy with no powers, he’s not a nemesis, he’s just a guy. So kind of, in a weird sort of way, you don’t want to sucker punch your enemy. You want to kill him at full power, not when his back is turned. Lynn: Right, it would have no impact. Richard: And also his logic was true, it was like ‘look I get it you wanna kill me, kill me later we have a thing we’ve gotta do before we all are toast’. Lynn: The chemistry between Misha and Mark… Richard: It was fantastic! Every scene. In the park, where Mark is coughing and sitting down on the bench, the scene where Mark takes Misha’s phone at the bar, it’s all just great. Lynn: (laughing) It was. Richard: I just loved watching it, it was like making an indie film. Working with those two guys, it was making an indie film. I didn’t need to overshoot it, they did all the work, I just needed to be sure I captured those bits on film and encouraged them to do more, like keep going down that road, keep overlapping, keep those bits you’re playing, keep the looseness, keep it alive every time. Lynn: That’s what you do as a director, right? You see what’s working and you make that happen. So it seems like when you’re directing, you get a vision of what you want it to look like, and it’s often not like the stereotypical television show. Is that something that comes to you after you read the script? Richard: Yeah, for me, I read the script several times  and I’m petrified because I don’t know what I’m gonna do, and then eventually the more I read it, the more it starts to be a movie in my head. Lynn: Yeah, that’s what I meant. Richard: And the more it starts to be a movie in my head, then I know what kind of a show it is. And when it’s a movie in my head, then I just write down the movie in my head. I write my shot list based on the movie I see in my head. Lynn: And then you make it happen. Richard: Yeah, and then I make it happen. And the way I direct, it’s like I always talk about how Rob and I come onstage and we just do things that we find funny and maybe the audience thinks it’s funny and maybe they don’t, but we’re laughing…. Lynn: Oh, me too! Richard: That’s how I direct. Obviously I direct with the level of discipline that I want to get the shots done and get the story told, I want the people back in LA to be really happy with those things and I want the story told correctly and efficiently, but I also see it in a certain way. So I go with my gut on these things, I go with my vision of how this should be. And of course I talk to Andrew Dabb. Lynn: It’s sort of like an instinct you go on, then? Richard: Well, it is, I mean it is instinct but it’s instinct based on being obsessed with visual imagery my entire adult life so that I’ve been a movie addict forever. And Andrew is obviously very adamant about what he wants to see in the Show, Bob Singer is very adamant, very clear about what he wants, Phil Sgriccia is very involved. So it isn’t like I haven’t gotten very clear instruction. Lynn: No, sure. Richard: And very clear guidance. I’ll ask them questions and sometimes they say yes and sometimes they say no. And I stick to their answers because they know the show better than I do and always will. But at the same time, I try to trust my instincts when it comes to how to execute some of these scenes, the more I direct. Because I’m seeing something, so that something that I’m seeing, I think is going to work. Lynn: I feel like it seems to be totally working.  Another moment that was so good that it’s now become a meme, is where Ketch comes in eating the sandwich and it sort of falls out of his mouth. Richard: Oh really, that’s a meme? Oh cool. Lynn: Was any of that ad libbing, or how did the sandwich fall happen? Richard: Eugenie and Brad wrote specifically, ‘he speaks, they turn, he’s eating a sandwich’. They wrote that he’s in the room. To me, what was going to make that scene interesting was how do you shoot it? So I made sure that the reveal was one that I thought was funny, I tried to make that funny. Lynn: And it was! Richard: Because Ketch is not a funny character, that is not a funny moment, there’s no comedy that comes out of that scene, but I felt like for Dean to be really put on his heels, it needed to be an obtusely quirky reveal. Which is why I had Jensen crossing that way, there’s no Ketch, comes back there’s no Ketch, looks forward, there he is. So that he’s just, if you watch that scene in one take – which obviously you don’t because there’s cutaway to Jared – but he walks in, walks back, and there’s Ketch blurry. And that’s the other thing, I wanted him out of focus so when Dean turned he’s like What? Lynn: I loved that moment of Dean seeing him and being like WTF, and of course then Jensen played the perfect reaction. Richard: Yeah. Lynn: So you did that multiple times in this episode, it occurs to me. It was an episode that was heavy on villains but in several cases you managed with humor to bring a little bit of vulnerability to them, which of course makes them a million times more interesting. Richard: Right. Lynn: And that scene did that a bit with Ketch. Richard: I did, I felt that he was at their mercy. Lynn: Yes, like Lucifer, beaten down and chained up at the time. So you should feel good that’s a meme. Richard: (laughing) I do. Lynn: There was one scene I didn’t quite understand. There’s a scene where Sam goes to talk with Ketch, just the two of them – and it was the scene that made me think oh, that really is Arthur, because as “Alexander” talks about Arthur, he’s very complimentary and that fits Arthur’s narcissism. But when the scene was over, I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to take from it. Richard: My interpretation of that scene is that, in the scene previous where Sam and Dean are sitting in the Men of Letters discussing, and Sam has done all this research and found all these documents, that he’s – Jensen is not, Dean is not interested, he’s made up his mind. But Jared, Sam, goes down to have the conversation. He’s watched this guy get punched and punched and punched, that scene is brutal where Dean is beating him up… Lynn: Brutal… Richard: We come in in the middle of that scene, he’s already been beaten when we show up to that scene, and it continues through the rest of the scene, and he gives no sign of budging and just sticks to the story which is that he’s Alexander. And I think it’s intriguing – these guys know how to do research online and he’s finding everything that backs up what the guy’s saying. And it’s just enough to plant the seed, the ‘what if’, in Sam’s mind. Lynn: So Sam wasn’t sure? Richard: I think it’s Sam’s version of nice guy interrogation. Lynn: Okay, so that is how I interpreted it too. Richard: Yeah, it’s intelligent chicken. He’s playing chicken, but it’s thinking man’s chicken. Lynn: And I’m gonna assume that Sam came to the same conclusion that I did from what Ketch said. Richard: I don’t think Sam ever thinks – it’s not like Sam leaves and goes to Dean and says this is definitely not Arthur. All he does is display some empathy and let the guy go to the can and the kitchen, which speaks to Sam’s character regardless. Lynn: I said that in my review too, that there was character consistency, which I love because that’s not always the case. Oh, and the FBI phone array, was that something Eugenie and Brad put in there? Richard: It is. Lynn: I loved that because it was such a nice call back to Bobby and the early days of the show. You gave it a nice treatment. Oh, I also thought Farrah Aviva did a great job as the witch. Richard: She did a lovely job. Lynn: One person who you didn’t know, I assume. Richard: No, I didn’t know her. She was great, and interestingly, completely by coincidence before I cast her, she ended up being the photographer who shot Briana’s pictures for the Women of Supernatural calendar. In fact, I cast her, then she shot Briana’s pictures, then she came to work, so it all happened at the same time. Lynn: How weird. I thought she was a strong female character who was gutsy and had courage in an episode that was otherwise very male heavy. Richard: Yeah, she did a really nice job. [caption id="attachment_52370" align="aligncenter" width="696"] Photos: Lynn Zubernis[/caption] Part 2 of Lynn's interview with Supernatural's Richard Speight Jr. will continue...

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