#although MoM ties with the plot of his series

[janovavalen]

—soft skin ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

aegon Il targaryen × niece!reader

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ short story au

—part one — two — three — coming soon

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ summary: the two of aegon and y/n never got along. never—all until aegon catches the oh so wonderful, sweetheart y/n targaryen at a club.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ word count! 3257!

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ warnings! drugs (cocaine, alcohol, weed) typical targaryen incest, small obsessive/obsession if you squint, smut, arranged marriage

this fic will NOT follow the story line/plot of HOD! although i made up this au, i do not own house of dragon nor do i own the series, books, and characters! all rights

the next morning things were a little different from the night before. of course, like any other two individuals who go to a bar and end up leaving to have sex in one's house, they’re bound to wake up and feel awkward. especially when the drinks and drugs they took were off in the morning.

y/n woke up with her head turned to the window as the open bed was cold and smooth. groaning with her hand automatically laying atop her head at the pain that throbbed through it.

her face twisting in discomfort she sat up to feel her chest and shoulders be smacked with the coldness of the house. looking down in slight concern and confusion at the coldness she saw her breasts out in the air with no covering.

‘what the fuck…’ covering herself with the silk sheets she looked around at the strange environment to see the a huge window that showed the city down below. marble walls painted dark green that almost look black. the room itself was dark all around as the only light that came through was from the gray sky.

looking around a bit more hopefully to find her clothes or—hell, anything to cover up. she found a button down shirt that wasn’t the one she wore last night but it’ll do.

picking it up and seeing she couldn’t find underwear, y/n’s feet touched the cold feet of the floor below her. the smell of weed and food being clouded into the house itself as she looked around.

the dark long hallway had small pictures on the walls and random expensive things on small tables.

looking at one of them she scoffed at the architecture of a naked woman with huge breasts and the man hugging her legs almost sucking her as she looked down at him.

touching the table that held it, the coldness from it deeply into her fingers she mentally noted—everything in this place is cold.

walking herself down the hall hesitantly with her hand touching the darkened wall she went down the stairs and saw an even bigger downstairs.

the living room with a black clothed couch and dark green carpet under the couch with a glass coffee table that had some empty beer bottles on the top of it. there was a ball table off into the distance with more beers atop it.

once she settled all the way downstairs was where she met the man she fucked last night.

his white hair was lightly tied back into a small ponytail as he wore not shirt but only black sweats.

‘your awake, thought you died along the night’ he scoffed.

‘you’d wish i did…making breakfast, huh?’ she walked over to him and pressed her body against his back as he hummed in agreement to move around the eggs on the plate.

‘never knew you cooked—‘

‘oh i don’t…this is from my mom. i’m just warming it back up. it was in the refrigerator’ he admitted while y/n smiled a little.

‘i could have cooked for you, my mom teaches me some things along with the maids of my house’ y/n let her hand work its way down his back and over the scratches, her scratches.

smiling to herself a bit before moving away with her legs out in the open, welcoming the cold air to swiftly pass her. she let her fingers dance across the white marble table of which was squeaky clean…surprisingly.

walking more over to the large window that looks down on the city below she admired the view. the overlook was beautiful, the clouds however, blocked the sun itself from shining and showing its brightness.

her thoughts causing her to block out the noise around her, she thought of home. and how utterly angry her mother and father would be when she gets back home. especially since at this time they would be checking or even escorting her out of her apartment and back home to their open arms in waiting.

she never complained, never argued, never fussed, kicked or cried when it came to them being over protective. she understood to her mothers extent that’s she means extremely well and wants nothing but the best for her.

but y/n never wanted to be grown up, wrapped in bubble wrap and closed off from the world.

y/n likes to thinks that’s the reasoning to her rebellious ways.

as she looked at the overview of the apartment window, aegon made his way over to him with a new blunt in hand and glass of wine in the other. y/n failed to notice his presence before he let his head place itself between her shoulder and neck, inhaling her scent.

‘i see you’ve taken a liking to the view of the city. seems like you haven’t seen a view like this before, which i would not believe’ he scoffed as she shook her head and crossed her arms. the warmth from his chest that was pressed against her giving her comfort in a way.

‘hm…you’d be right. i have seen views such as this. much better ones actually. your window seems to only capture the darkness and gloom of the city. i promise you there’s much better than this’ she grinned while tilting her head a bit more to the side as he started to kiss down her shoulder.

‘hm, really? then maybe you can promise to take me one day?’

‘me take you?’ y/n scoffed while turning around. swiftly and softly prying the wine cup from his hand.

‘i thought that was supposed to be the other way around, no?’ she tilted her head to the side a bit before taking a small sip of the bitter sweet wine.

‘you need more wine, sweeter—i can get you some if you’ll like’ she teased while walking up the stairs as he got a clear view of her ass.

scoffing and inhaling a bit of his blunt as he felt his pants get a sudden tightening, he reluctantly followed her up the stairs a bit farther than she actually was.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

‘then that would mean i’d have to give you something in return’ he hinted while she sat down on the bed with her legs crossed and the wine in hand, taking another sip.

‘did you just completely forget about your breakfast—‘

‘no i put it away, i was only making it to impress you—if breakfast is what you want let me get you something better than some heated up. how about breakfast later?’

‘later?’ she pressed up an eyebrow with a small smile as he got closer to her, him now being closer to her face as she uncrossed her legs and allowed him to slip his way in between them.

‘mhm, later—‘

‘well then what’s now?’ she looked down at his lips before his eyes, which he noticed and did the same.

he didn’t even have to reply before he greedily pressed his lips against her own which she was quick to follow with, her head being moved up a bit at the forcefulness of which he delivered.

as she kissed back more gingerly she tried to hold her grip on the wine to make sure it didn’t get spilt on the sheets. he noticed that her hand wasn’t touching his body as he would have liked it too which made him quickly turn around to grab it from her hand and place it on the coffee table.

when he went back to her, both of his hands held her face close as he slid himself closer to her between her legs.

groaning into her mouth, she smiled a bit before kissing him more forcefully as he followed her, the two of them in sync.

the next move he did—completely startled y/n. he let go of her face and grabbed onto her legs to have her sitting on his lap. both of her knees pushed against the comforter as he held her hips down his own.

her hands now holding his face, aegon gripped her hips as his breath quickened. she noticed this and decided to moved her hips slowly making him groan into her mouth which she swallowed with her kisses.

‘fuck—‘ aegon grunted as she started to move a bit quicker.

the intensity she was feeling had her get lost in them as she completely stopped kissing him but didn’t move her mouth away. except they were caught in an open mouthed kiss as he kept his slightly lidded eyes on her closed eyes that were focused and lost in pure pleasure.

aegon ached and needed to be plushed and wrapped around her warmth, pulling her body up and off of his hips to redirect her back onto the bed which drew out a frustrated whine as she lost her high—he hurried and pulled down his sweats.

‘don’t you worry, baby. you’ll be pleasured. you’ll cum being wrapped around me. full, and tight’ aegon grunted as she looked into his eyes and nodded her head. her chest quickened up and down with heavy breaths.

pumping himself to prepare as a bit of pre cum started to leak form his aching tip, he closed his eyes before pushing himself into her making her moan out.

‘shit…oh my—‘ she mumbled while he slowly moved in and out to fit himself around her pussy.

her legs wrapped around him just like the night before he quickly went to grip her thigh. his fingerprints making small dents in the soft plush of her skin. this causes him to be in her deeper, his soft tip lightly grazing over her sweet spot making her gasp.

‘keep going—harder’ she encouraged as he gripped his shoulders with a bit of force while he worked his hips to thrust into her own.

the skin to skin contact creating an echo in the room around them, y/n went to moan out as she felt her high peeking its way through only for him to place his lips above her own, making a sloppy kiss.

‘i’m cumming…i’m cumming’ y/n breathed as he got faster with more force—‘cum around my cock’ he told her—to him it was more of a beg, a beg to feel the tightness of which would be wrapped around him.

just as aegon said this she came, her pussy clenching around his cock, making him cum deep inside herself. the both of them cumming as he softly mumbled her name in her lips while she kissed him slowly and in a daze.

the moment was completely soft. warm and slightly wetted bodies pressed against each other as their chests grazed each other with each breath they took from the rise and fall of their lungs. y/n’s still wrapped around his hips that were unmoving, still attached to herself.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

after their shared showers which resolved into round two, the two of them got dressed in different clothes. aegon had clothes from helaena’s previous stays which only made up to her moving out and back with their mom who saw it coming.

y/n at the moment was getting her hair nice and done before seeing her parents which she knew was probably beyond worried sick about her for not being home right now. especially since last night.

y/n was later informed that a bodyguard snitched and exposed that y/n had left last night and never came back home.

jace and luke were blowing up her phone—mostly jace. of how worried they were and how mother was furious—her dad did his thing and tired to keep her calm given the fact she was known for blowing up with anger a lot so this wasn’t his first rodeo.

when she was done with her hair she hurried and rushed her items that were taken out of her purse and back into the bag, hurrying to her phone and putting it into her purse as well.

aegon has just now been getting out of the shower after their moment, he caught a glimpse of her slipping on one of her boots making him hurry and wrap the towel around his waist and rush to her side.

‘where are you going?’

she didn’t reply until her shoe was tied tightly—‘i have to get back home, my parents and brothers are worried…i’ve overstayed my welcome’ she mumbled while slipping on her next shoe.

aegon’s heart was practically racing. he’s very self aware that he’s only met her last night but he’s been trying to deny himself of being slightly enfranchised with her overall behind once her mother and brother told him about her when she was born.

he’s never met her until now and the moments they shared can’t just be overlooked. he’s done this countless times—more than he’d like to admit but for once he actually caught himself being actually interested into a one night stand.

he hoped the affection they shared with each other made it out of the bedroom.

‘no…no you haven’t you can stay for as long as you like—i don’t mind, i really don’t—‘

‘aegon..’ y/n huffed out while moving her white hair behind her ear that had fallen while she was tying her shoe.

moving next to him to where his chest was close to her own and his head looking down a bit to be eye to eye with her. y/n placed a hand onto his wet chest and she passed it lightly.

‘i have to go, and if this is meant to be something more…maybe we’ll meet again…’ she gave a tightly lip smile while looking between his lips and eyes which he noticed but focused on her eyes, her eyebrows frowning sadly a bit as she kissed his lips softly. aegon subconsciously moving in sync with her.

pulling away from him slowly which had him almost chasing her lips to be back on his she stepped back—‘bye’ she mumbled while gripping her purse around her shoulder.

he watched her form walk out of the bedroom in a rush and down the stairs as he stood frozen. unable to follow her, scared to actually see her walk out of the door.

the grip on his towel grew tighter as his heart burned for her. his eyebrows frowned with the distant thought of some imagined reality that she came running back into the room to wrap her arms around him.

seeing it wasn’t true, he knew what he had to do. he had to get her back. he had to get her back into his arms where she could stay, safe and sound.

ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

back at home y/n gotten one hell of a greeting. the second she stepped foot into the doors of her parents home her mom, rhaenyra ran to her and clasped her hands along her face checking her for any bumps and bruises.

daemon—her dad—did the same hit from a distance, seeing the way she stood a little limped and how y/n would subconsciously lean forward a bit, a bit odd to him since she never faltered in her stance.

‘where were you! i was worried sick! do you know how worried i was?’ her mom yelled as she gripped her face.

‘i’m sorry! i’m really sorry i didn’t mean to leave for so long, i just wanted to go out with a friend and thought i'd be home a little sooner but it got really dark and i didn’t want to be out in the dark since i know how much your warned me about it. i'm really sorry mom, i promise i am’ y/n held her moms hands that were still upon her face with comfort.

rhaenyra looked her in the eyes with sorrow and recurrence as she sighed and gave in the tough motherly act, bringing her daughter in for a tight high immediately.

y/n always loved her mothers hugs. they were the right amount of tightness and warmth that gave her the impression she was being loved by a weighted pillow or blanket. that’s what y/n used to call her mom sometime when she was a baby, her blanket.

daemon was the same, only he gave small, short and sweet hugs. sometimes even shoulder pats or a head pat which he mainly gave to her brothers. he was only really overly affectionate to rhaenyra.

sighing as she let go and gave a small smile to y/n who gave one back, rhaenyra let her go but not before giving her arm one last squeeze to send her on her way.

which y/n openly took and went to her room after daemon gave her a small hug and kiss on the head.

as she walked to her room she couldn’t ignore the fact that jace and luke were following her.

‘stop following me like a bunch of creeps, you could get pepper sprayed for something like that out in the open’ she mumbled as they scoffed and walked to her side.

‘where were you!’

‘you seriously fucked up your chances of living in that apartment anymore’

‘what? seriously?’ y/n sarcastically gasped as she looked at jace and rolled her eyes as he lightly pushed her making her laugh a bit, luke shaking his head with a smirk.

‘there's no way you actually went out and stayed out? where’d you even go?’ luke asked as they approached y/n’s room.

when she opened her door, they were quick to follow and shut the door behind them, ready to fully involve themselves into the juicy story they were about to be told.

y/n smiled to herself at remembering the night and morning she had. body of which made her spend a night that she would most likely remember for the rest of her life.

turning around as she took off her shoes, balancing herself out with holding onto the table that held small decorations.

‘well…i drank’ y/n looked as they let their jaws drop.

‘i danced and sang, i even smoked a little’ she smiled more as they looked at each other as if they were being told the most craziest thing ever.

‘what?!’

‘no way!’ they both replied as she laid down next to them on her bed, the two of them moving to be near her more while she laid on her back and looked at the ceiling.

‘mhm…i even met someone’

this made jace’s jaw open even more if it was humanly possible. jace almost flipped the bed when she told him.

‘what….wait wait—you met a guy?’ he asked lowly.

‘hey, it could’ve been a girl—‘

‘stop joking y/n did you actually?’ he asked. y/n noticed his worrisome eyes and sat up to comfort and ressure.

‘jace it was okay, nothing serious happened anyway…we only talked.’

and fucked—she mentally thought to herself as she laid back down next to luke who played with her stuffed animals.

‘do you even know his name?’ he tested as she shrugged.

‘no, i can’t remember’

its aegon…our cousin.

‘hm…typical. you better hope this type of news doesn’t get out in the open and back to mother. that’ll be the day she really changes on you’ jace warned before walking out of her room. luke took his sign to leave and gave y/n a small smile before leaving himself.

the words of jace giving her reason to really think of what she’s done and the extent of things it could ruin for their family.

#aegon targaryen x reader #aegon x reader #aemond targaryen x reader #aegon ii targaryen #house of the dragon #hod #fanfic #smut #short story au ㆍ୨୧ㆍ

[zalrb]

I’m drawing a blank lol. Christian and Ana’s first time has her being tied up with her own underwear, the morning after they’re interrupted by his mom, and everything else is just cringe. IIRC he comes over to her apartment and spanks her because she made a joke over email and she has this horrible insecurity throughout the novel that never really gets resolved because Christian is so self-centered.

I’m not sure what would appeal to Elena. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful!

lmao well we're ignoring the actual plot/narrative, so. but yeah i vaguely remember that. although for some reason despite the fact that the entire series hinged upon bdsm, i forgot that such a huge deal was made out of spanking. i feel like there was something about a riding crop too.

[mariacallous]

A group of activist shareholders in the world’s largest bitcoin investment trust, GBTC, is plotting a coup. The unlikely patchwork of hedge funds, asset managers, and amateur investors is trying to unseat Grayscale Investments, the steward of the trust, whose management they claim has cost them billions of dollars.

Since 2015, GBTC has been marketed as a simple way for regular people to invest in bitcoin without having to deal with an exchange, send crypto between wallets, or figure out how to store it safely. The value of GBTC shares is linked to the price of bitcoin: For every new share created, a fraction of a bitcoin is added to a pot, anchoring its value.

In a series of adverts targeting the general public, some of which aired on major US TV networks, Grayscale described bitcoin as “the future” and the ideal investment for retirees and other investors that “deserve the best.” Now, GBTC shares are owned by hundreds of thousands of amateur investors. 

At the start of 2021, the shares, which had consistently traded at a higher price (sometimes even double) than the underlying bitcoin for years, slumped to 52 percent of the value of bitcoin in mid-December, meaning that for every $1 in bitcoin that shareholders own through the trust, they can only claim back $0.52 by selling their GBTC shares on the market. In aggregate, the discount created a multibillion-dollar hole in investors’ pockets.

“Investors are in limbo,” says Christian Galíndez Beltrán, a shareholder who claims to hold around $200,000 in bitcoin via the trust. “I’m really worried about not being able to redeem the totality of my money.”

Another investor, who asked not to be named for fear of repercussions from the brokerage at which he works, says he purchased roughly $30,000 in bitcoin through GBTC with the goal of hedging against inflation as he prepares for retirement. Although his financial situation has not been too badly damaged, he says the performance of the trust has “ill-affected” his marriage; his wife, who “fears the loss is permanent,” has taken to calling him a “bitcoin bozo.”

Thousands of GBTC shareholders like these have registered their support for the activist campaign, according to David Bailey, founder of BTC Inc and hedge fund UTXO Management, and leader of one strand of the movement.

“That’s what makes this a unique situation,” says Bailey. “This product is sold on brokerage platforms in individual retirement accounts. This is your mom and dad thinking they are diversifying their portfolio.”

WIRED spoke to six GBTC shareholders, all of whom told similar stories. One person said they have the entirety of their savings tied up in GBTC, while another has taken on additional work to ensure he is able to sustain himself into retirement. 

Bailey claims that more than 50 institutions, some of which hold several hundred-million-dollar stakes in GBTC, are also involved in the rebellion to unseat Grayscale, representing a total of at least 20 percent of GBTC shares. He claims to be unable to provide proof, citing investor privacy and legal considerations, but supplied WIRED with web traffic and form submission data that suggests at least 2,000 investors have joined the campaign.

Michael Sonnenshein, Grayscale CEO, says his firm is going nowhere. “We have absolutely no intention of stepping down from our role,” says Sonnenshein. “Our trust agreement explicitly states that we would have to voluntarily step down—and our work is not done.”

But the activists are unperturbed. “Our expectation is that, through the pure groundswell of people that want to get out of this thing, pressure is going to be put on,” says Steven McClurg, chief investment officer at asset management firm Valkyrie, another ringleader of the campaign to overthrow Grayscale. “There are a lot of ways to affect change.” He refused to elaborate on what he meant. McClurg describes this information as “secret sauce.”

Crossed Wires

The group spearheaded by Bailey, called RedeemGBTC, wants Grayscale to reduce its 2 percent management fee, which it describes as “predatory,” because it’s calculated against the trust’s bitcoin reserves, not the price of the severely discounted shares. The group also wants Grayscale to allow investors to exchange their shares directly for the underlying bitcoin—in a process known as redemption—as soon as possible.

The nature of the trust’s fee structure, lawyers representing Bailey’s hedge fund have claimed, creates a “perverse incentive” for Grayscale to maximize the number of shares in the trust and restrict redemptions: They argue that the greater the number of shares in the trust, the larger the pot of bitcoin, which swells the revenue generated by management fees. 

McClurg describes this arrangement as a “hostage” situation: Investors cannot exit without absorbing a large markdown on the price of bitcoin.

However, the demands mapped out by Bailey and RedeemGBTC are an unhelpful oversimplification of the situation, suggests Grayscale, which claims to be doing everything in its power to do right by its investors.

Namely, Grayscale has entered into a legal battle with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its campaign to convert the trust into an exchange-traded fund, or ETF, which would let investors cash in their shares for the bitcoin in the pot. 

On June 29, 2022, the SEC announced it would not grant permission to convert the trust, citing fraud and market manipulation concerns. Grayscale has sued the SEC over the decision, which it calls “arbitrary and capricious.” The two parties are scheduled to present their respective cases to a judge on March 7 and Grayscale expects a final decision to be reached by the autumn. The firm is bullish about the prospects of an ETF of this kind coming to market: “It’s a matter of when, not if,” says Sonnenshein. 

Although Grayscale could reduce its fees in the meantime, Sonnenshein argued in a recent interview with crypto journalist Laura Shin that the funds are best directed toward the ongoing legal battle with the SEC. Once the trust has been converted into an ETF, Grayscale promises to reduce its fees immediately.

There has also been a “meaningful misunderstanding,” Sonnenshein tells WIRED, among frustrated investors, who say that Grayscale could apply to the SEC for exemption from rules that prevent them from cashing out. The only way to apply for exemption, says Sonnenshein, is to pursue conversion to an ETF.

Bailey’s lawyers have also argued that Grayscale could allow investors to cash out without dealing with the SEC at all. But it’s not that simple either, says Sonnenshein, because of a cease and desist letter issued by the SEC in 2016 that prevented the trust from issuing new shares and allowing shareholders to cash out simultaneously.

The complexity of the securities laws that apply to trusts like GBTC creates opportunity for disagreements of this kind. “It’s a spider’s web,” says Andrew Parish, a veteran crypto founder with close relationships to parties across the industry. “It’s a mess that can hardly be understood by anyone other than accountants and lawyers.”

Pretenders to the Throne

Contenders to take over from Grayscale have emerged from the ranks of the rebellion, including McClurg’s Valkyrie. Bailey also has skin in the game: Not only does his hedge fund hold $2.5 million in GBTC shares, but his companies also have a combined $113,000 stake in Valkyrie. If Valkyrie were to succeed in its bid to take on the management of GBTC, it would absorb hundreds of millions of dollars in annual management fees, and Bailey would profit indirectly.

But Bailey also says he holds a stake in DCG, Grayscale’s parent company, that’s greater in value than his Valkyrie position, so he also stands to lose if Grayscale is forced out. “This started because we were frustrated our fund had lost some money on its [GBTC] investment,” says Bailey, “But once we started to receive comments from people about how they had been affected, it became something else. [We realized that] people need immediate relief.”  

While Sonnenshein says Grayscale is always willing to hear investors out, he has reservations about the credibility of the RedeemGBTC campaign, which is run almost exclusively through Bailey’s personal Twitter account and a simple website.

“We always appreciate the opportunity to engage with any and all of our investors,” says Sonnenshein. “[But] it’s tough to take seriously a Twitter account as a standalone, as compared to the nearly 1 million investor accounts we have across the US … Anyone could go to the website and say they have one share or 10 million shares—and there’s no verifying it.”

But RedeemGBTC is not the only group Grayscale has to contend with. In December, investment firm Fir Tree filed a lawsuit against Grayscale in an effort to force the firm to hand over information that might assist in an investigation into potential mismanagement and conflicts of interest. The lawsuit asserts that Grayscale’s “shareholder-unfriendly actions” have harmed Fir Tree customers that hold GBTC shares, many of which are pension funds.

This was followed in late January by a lawsuit filed by asset management firm Osprey Funds claiming Grayscale made “false and misleading statements in its advertising and promotion” that gave investors the impression that GBTC’s conversion into an ETF was a “foregone conclusion.” Osprey also claims Grayscale’s approach to advertising has made it impossible for competitors, including itself, to accrue meaningful market share.

Like Valkyrie, Osprey has called on Grayscale to step down as sponsor and put itself forward as a replacement. In an open letter, Osprey CEO Greg King promised to cut the management fee by 75 percent, seek immediately to implement a redemption program, and collaborate with regulators instead of pursuing litigation.

The Fir Tree and Osprey lawsuits were described by Jennifer Rosenthal, vice president of communications at Grayscale, as “baseless” and “frivolous,” respectively. “We remain steadfast in our belief that the conversion of GBTC to an ETF is the best long-term product structure for investors, and are 100 percent committed to that endeavor,” she says.

As it stands, the various parties are locked in a stalemate; Grayscale says it’s not going anywhere and remains confident in the strength of its case against the SEC, while the activists are scratching their heads over how to remove the firm.

In the meantime, the situation threatens to devolve into a mud-slinging contest, says Parish, as Grayscale tries to ride out this difficult period.

It is not necessarily in Grayscale’s interest for the conversion to an ETF to take place too quickly, he says, because the recent negative press around DCG and its subsidiaries (the lending unit of one subsidiary, Genesis, filed for bankruptcy in January) would likely cause investors to run for the exit at the earliest opportunity, taking millions of dollars in management fees with them.

“The entirety of Grayscale’s strategy here is to limit redemptions and then PR, PR, PR. And to fight legal battles on whatever field they have to fight,” claims Parish.

Sonnenshein contests the idea that activating redemptions would trigger a customer exodus, arguing that the “regulated, battle-tested” ETF structure will attract an even larger audience and an even greater amount of capital into bitcoin. He also says that converting the trust into an ETF has been the plan from the outset. “This is something that investors want and deserve,” he says.

If the courts were to rule against Grayscale and the company exhausts all remaining legal avenues of appeal, Sonnenshein says it would pursue a tender offer whereby a portion of shareholders are bought out of their shares at a price established with “investor fairness” in mind.

But RedeemGBTC and Fir Tree do not share Grayscale’s conviction in the strength of its case against the SEC, which is described by the pair as “doomed” and “wasteful,” respectively, and point to the need for an urgent resolution to the situation.

“If we thought Grayscale was going to be successful [in converting GBTC to an ETF], we wouldn’t try to stop it. We just don’t think it’s going to happen—so something has to be done,” says Bailey. 

Three other shareholders say they believe it is unlikely for an ETF to be approved while Gary Gensler, sitting chairperson of the SEC, remains in charge. (Gensler’s term is due to end in 2026.) The SEC declined to comment.

“They [Grayscale] are going to dig their heels in and fight to the very end, but it’s not going to bode well for them,” says McClurg. “Financial services is a confidence game; when your clients lose faith, you’ll never get them back. In the long run, I think they’re done.”

[cineflections]

Kdramas are all about the twist and turns and add to that ill-fated relationships across several lifetimes and blood galore, and you get a series that manages to engage the viewer for the full 16-episode count.

I'm, of course, talking about Bulgasal - immortal souls on Netflix.

This had been on my list on Netflix for ages it feels like. I love costume dramas, court intrigue and what not, and I truly thought this was going to be one such, the 2 first episodes fooled me enough that the first 5 minutes in modern time didn't put me off. But the switch to modern times was well done and served the plot well.

Having gotten a new hobby in embroidering, it was easy for me to get through the 16 hours without getting bored and itching to look up episode summaries that I often do with C- and K-dramas. Ofc, the plot itself is right up my alley.

Halfway done with this, first time cross stitching for like almost 20 years (damn, I feel old now) so I will accept any mistakes I make on this.

I was really impressed with the cinematography and costumes in the first 2 episodes (in particular, it was quite stellar throughout), it felt grounded and real, and having the monsters be "humans" (with modification) added to this grounded style. The series uses make-up and prosthetics rather than cgi (although i did notice some here ans there) for the monsters and "monsterfication" effects on our protagonist and I always appreciate when a show/movie does that.

The cast of characters are quite small and they are reused for the different times shown in the story - showing where each character ended up reincarnating. And the reason why they're connected each life is because like our Bulgasal Hwal has said a few times (paraphrasing heavily): ties of destiny are not easily broken, and will endure across time. We have two characters that start as siblings, become mother and son, to lastly be platonic roommates (happy surprise by this tbh, I thought for sure the show would make them lovers even to the last 5 minutes).

The beginning made it so easy to root for Hwal who has had to suffer throughout his whole life, and at the end of a particularly harrowing experienced left him with nothing except his life - which he, too, wanted to lose at that point - but immortality was forced upon him. Cursed to become Bulgasal - a monster that has no soul and drink human blood for sustenance.

The beginning of the show was so effective at making me like and sympathize with him and the people he loved, that the whiplash was quite hard when we are thrust into the POV of the woman who cursed him to become a monster, this time reincarnated as a young girl.

The girl in question living her life with her mom, twin sister, and younger sister, somewhere in Korea. The twin sister almost never leaving the apartment and forcing the girl, Sang-un, to wear a mask to cover her face "Because Bulgasal will come for them". It's a direct parallel to how Hwal grew up. Always afraid that Bulgasal would come and get him.

The viewer has followed Hwal on his quest for revenge, but then following the POV of the girl he hunted, I just couldn't get behind him killing them. I felt that him murdering the whole family would really sour him as a protagonist for me. I actually wondered how the show was going to justify him going through with it.

Spoilers: he didn't.

But we don't really find that out immediately. The show smartly continues the main POV of the girl Sang-un, now grown up, with some switches back to Hwal as we find him seemingly looking for the one who got away from his murder of Sang-un's twin sister and mother.

And when they finally meet, we find out that he was actually not responsible for their deaths. He was certainly aiming to kill the twin sisters and their entire family, but someone got there first.

The show at this point starts the classical enemies to lovers trope and starts bringing up the questions on how this apparent blood feud started. Why did Sang-un, as Bulgasal, kill his entire family and then curse him so she could become human? Why is Sang-un important when it was her (now dead) twin sister that remembered all of her past lives? And the eternal question: why is no one talking to each other about their issues.

Which is my main critique of this drama. It often hinges itself on characters acting from misunderstandings and ignorance. A character would not explain anything to another and then be surprised when that character doesn't listen to them. Again and again I felt like if they would just talk we wouldn't be in this situation. And then, in the last episode, we find out what started it all - and it's a misunderstanding! And it just escalates from there. It felt so cheap. The resolution to all the conflicts, I feel, was good enough to satisfy me. But when the show really tried hitting me with the "emotional damage", I guess I was partly checked out and didn't feel anything in particular. I would've loved a good cry.

The conflict resolution was bittersweet, but the ending montage made it just sweet. And while the "how" can be questions and critiqued, I find it was good it did end like that anyways. Makes its easier to let go.

Overall, I liked this drama, it was not as bloated with unnecessarily long shots every scene (tho it certainly could've have trimmed the almost Naruto style flashbacks and One Piece style reaction shots), and so the pacing felt quick and each scene felt like they had purpose. The music was reminiscent of HBO's Westworld at times (especially the softer notes) and I really liked the drums that signified the arrival of Bulgasal. The acting felt mostly genuine and real, with some exceptions (I kinda dislike the excessive "whining" or "aggressiveness" characters sometimes act when talking to each other, which happens in every kdrama I've watched, is that how they act in reality or is it for "TV-drama"?).

I wouldn't recommend this one if you're looking for a romantic story, there is a romance, but it's very toned down and develops naturally over the course of the series, but the romance is not the point of the story and conflict.

But I do recommend this one if you like a good plot with reincarnation and recurring destiny. With some twist and turns that feel earned and not like bullshit.

#series #kdrama #bulgasal #bulgasal immortal souls #netflix

[sterek-ao3feed-archive]

Claws Fangs Magic and Cousins

https://archiveofourown.org/works/51093427 by Juju_or_Anya In the intricate bond between Stiles and Tyler, the connection transcends blood ties. Despite not having spoken for months, Stiles senses that Tyler is in trouble. When he discovers Tyler in his room, the pack welcomes Jericho's Hyde, setting off an intriguing plot. How will Tyler's arrival impact them, and what secrets does he bring? The answers lie in the unexpected twists awaiting in this tale of familial connections. Words: 5155, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English Series: Part 3 of Wednesday and the weird crossovers Fandoms: Wednesday (TV 2022), Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M, M/M Characters: Wednesday Addams, Tyler Galpin, Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Sheriff Stilinski (Teen Wolf), Peter Hale, Lydia Martin, Isaac Lahey, Erica Reyes, Vernon Boyd, Enid Sinclair, Ajax Petropolus, Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), Allison Argent, Donovan Galpin Relationships: Wednesday Addams/Tyler Galpin, Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Additional Tags: Wednesday Addams is Soft for Tyler Galpin, Hyde Tyler Galpin, Tyler Galpin Needs a Hug, Mates Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Pack Alpha Derek Hale, Tyler and Stiles are cousins, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Scott is a Bad Friend, Bad Friend Scott McCall (Teen Wolf), allison is a bad friend, Bad Friend Allison Argent, Banshee Lydia Martin, Lydia loves the ground Wednesday walks on, Not in a romantic way, Peter is a creepy guy, And he wants Scott's mom, Tyler is a swiftie, Stiles is a Livies, Wednesday shows that she has patience, Although he has the desire to kill Stiles more than once read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/51093427

#Sterek #Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale #Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski #IFTTT #ao3feed #ao3feed Sterek #fanfic

[signofthestriking]

They are in love your honor!!!

I need to actually explain the plot of this story, so if you're into oc-driven stories feel free to read below-

Ignore the fact that there's only 2 of em shown for now, the 3rd one is gonna take some buildup

Ignore the fact that there's only 2 of em shown for now, the 3rd one is gonna take some buildup

The setting: A version of U7 that was made as a replacement for canon's, after the inevitable destruction of canon U7. There's a lot of drama in space involving the collapse of an empire, the Saiyan rebellion that caused the collapse, and 3 different groups fighting each other in the aftermath. Earth is left out of all this because most people view it as innocuous and not worth their attention.

TLDR: I didn't want to worry about writing canon characters/events so I just made my own version of U7 to play with.

The premise: Maize and Konnie meet in real life for the first time, after being long-distance friends for 3 years. They meet up in order to find the Dragon Balls scattered across Earth, and to have an adventure along the way. Their ultimate goal is to use the wish to learn more about Saiyans, as the two know little about their alien heritage and want to learn more. However, they aren't the only ones after the wish, and there's a lot more to their Saiyan blood than they think...

TLDR: Two idiots try to figure out why they have monkey tails, while beating up a mercenary gang along the way

The musketeers: Maize Onigiri and Konnie Sai, a pair of Saiyan girls who barely know what Saiyans are!

Konnie's dad, Okkoro, has told her that she's half Saiyan. But he refuses to talk about much more than that, beyond telling Konnie not to look at the moon for too long. In fact, he's reluctant to train her fully, afraid that she'll get dragged into "something dangerous".

Konnie thinks that's kinda fucking stupid and wants to find out more, with or without her dad's help. Other than being part Saiyan, Konnie leads a normal human life.

Konnie's mom, Serenity, is a royal scientist who also disagrees with Okkoro's stubborn secrecy. Although she can't make her husband talk about it, she can certainly make Konnie a Dragon Radar.

Maize is a pure-blood, stranded on Earth after the death of her father Auber. Another alien, a Namekian named Limax, took her in and trained her. While Limax despises Saiyans, he isn't going to leave a child to fend for themselves.

While he isn't exactly the best parent, Maize genuinely cares for Limax, despite his insistence that he isn't her true dad. In fact, Limax wants Maize to avenge the death of her Saiyan father. Maize doesn't really get why, but since it's Limax telling her to do it, she still trains to one day seek revenge. Limax does genuinely care about Maize, even if he doesn’t want to, and perhaps for the wrong reasons.

In all honesty though she doesn't really understand what's so good about vengeance. Maize doesn't understand a lot of things. For example, she doesn't understand why Limax disappeared when she was about 14.

Maize and Konnie met online, after Maize stumbled onto the Internet by some miracle.

Idk what else to put here so here's some spoiler-ish tidbits

Currently working on a 1st draft of the story.

The 3rd "musketeer" is a three-eyed mercenary named Prism Lockwood, who starts off as an antagonist.

Given that I’m putting this in a separate iteration of U7, I’ve changed certain details and thrown in a lot of headcanons. For example, instead of a Lookout, there’s a series of underground caves that the Guardian resides in. Instead of climbing a tower, you train by surviving the caves.

Seriously tho I’ve made an entire rework of the gods/demons just for this storyline pls send help /s

DB and DBZ’s events are vaguely referenced as being the previous iteration of U7, however GT and Super’s events are not. Mainly because of certain extensions I’ve made to canon that clash with GT/Super.

A lot of Okkoro's hesitancy surrounding Konnie is tied to what’s happening in space, as he’s experienced a lot of the conflict first-hand and wants his daughter to stay out of it. And this story eventually does go into all the space drama.

In this U7, the lower-class Saiyans staged a rebellion against the elites and the Acrosian emperor they worked for. The rebellion was a partial success, causing the collapse of the Acrosian empire but also causing the near-destruction of their home planet.

The following conflict in space surrounds a bandit clan made of surviving Saiyans, a gang of disillusioned Namekians who hunt Saiyans and Acrosians alike, and a shady cult with questionable practices.

Okay that’s all I have for now byeeeeeee

#dbz #dbz fanfiction #dragon ball z #dragon ball #dbz oc #dbz ocs #dragon ball z fanfiction #small artist #oc art #oc artwork #oc artist #oc #oc ref sheet #oc reference #[story] three musketeers #[oc] konnie sai #[oc] maize onigiri #sewer rat art #dragon ball oc #dragon ball z oc #original character #art by SDC

[blangg]

I swear if Loki’s in MoM and we’ll get more Strangefrost content,,,,,,,, my heart will simply explode ive been starving for so long

#i wish it wasnt a rarepair :// #i think ive read every fanfiction of them on ao3 #i need content alright #lokis not exactly confirmed yet tho to appear #although MoM ties with the plot of his series #that is our only clue #doctor strange 2 #multiverse of madness #doctor strange: multiverse of madness #marvel #mcu fanart #loki odinson #Loki Laufeyson #doctor strange #Stephen strange

[revengeisourlullaby]

If I Never Knew You Pt.1

Pt.2   Pt.3   Pt.4   Pt.5   Pt.6

Warnings: 18+, eventual smut, arranged marriage plot, kinda royal au, some fighting, secret relationship, angst.

a/n: This is going to be a six part series. I’ve never done a series before, but I write so much anyway I thought why not make one. I’ll probably upload each part daily unless there is demand for them to come faster. I hope you enjoy. Requests/asks will be open if you wanna send smth to me! Although I will admit I am kinda slow in finishing requests. I have a lot to balance in my life so my apologies if I don’t get to them immediately!  

Word count: 1.8K

Loki x female!reader 

The sun shone through the window of your home, the golden rays warming up your cheeks and waking you from your slumber. Sitting up, you stretched, feeling the sleep vibrate out of your body. Tossing the sheets off your body, you swung your legs out of the bed and walked to the bathroom to begin your morning routine. Finishing with tending to the mass of hair on your head you trailed back into your bedroom to change into clothes appropriate for the day. An array of dresses always leaving you indecisive about what to wear.

Settling on an olive green one you walked towards the mirror and fastened the ties around the back of your neck. The loose sleeves draped over your shoulders, cascading down your back, and gold accents adorning the neckline. Finding your shoes, you slipped out of your bedroom, closing the door behind you, and walked down the hallway, the chatter of your family becoming more clear as you near the entrance of the main room. 

 “Good morning, mother. Father.”

It seemed you had slept in quite a bit, given your parents already eating breakfast. Your mother piped up

“There’s a portion left for you on the counter, my dear.”

Eying the food you decided you weren’t all that hungry yet. You had just woken up and your body had yet to settle. Declining, you grabbed your satchel and began to walk towards the door.

“But Y/N, you should really eat something before starting your day.”

“I’ll be fine, Mom. I promise. I’m just not that hungry right now. I’ll eat when I get back.”

Finally reaching the door, your father chimed in,

“You know, Y/N, just because you try to avoid the obvious, doesn’t mean it’s going to go away any sooner.”

Dropping your head, you sighed. You couldn’t seem to escape the duties of being a young woman in a world where royal obligations were something you were expected to partake in. Upon reaching the age of 18, you were supposed to be on the lookout for a decent suitor of a husband. The fact of the matter was, you were now approaching 22 and had yet to find someone acceptable, not only by your standards but by your parents. 

For this uniting of peoples would also be a uniting of families. You had until your 21st birthday to find a man suitable to everyone's liking and if you didn’t, arranged marriage was the next option. No one wanted to be known as the woman in Asgard who couldn’t get a man to offer his hand in marriage, yet here you were in all your glory. It was frustrating. 

If only they knew. 

“I know, Dad. Things are a little bit harder when I have to seek my parents' approval for my marriage.”

Your tone became short, frustrated at the entire situation. You already had someone, for a while now actually, but you hadn’t the guts to inform your parents because you knew they would shut him down. So you loved in silence. It was more than painful, not being able to be truly open with your lover, but you had yet to find the right time to pour out your heart to your family. Taking a deep breath, your grounded yourself and turned towards the door,

“I’ll be back later, I love you.”

Your mom got to responding before your father did,

“We love you too dear. Make sure to pay attention to who you’re around. Be safe.”

Smiling lightly you finally walked out the door and stepped into the fresh air that was Asgard. It never got old. The scent of the trees and freshwater that surrounded this place sent one into such serenity. Just being outside could allow your mind to drift elsewhere and forget about the troubles in your life. Walking as far as you could from your home you spaced out in the direction you were going. 

Coming back to when you accidentally kicked a pebble across the ground. Looking up you found yourself in one of the many gardens that surrounded Asgard. Walking to a marble bench, you scrunched up some of your dress in your hands, folding one leg under you before sitting atop it. Crossing your other leg across it and letting the fabric of your dress fall to the ground. 

Pulling your satchel into your lap, you grabbed your journal out of it and began to sketch the garden in front of you. Paying special attention to the detail of the flowers, wanting to make sure you entirely captured the essence of their beauty on paper. Lost in concentration, you failed to hear the footsteps approaching behind you. It wasn’t until you felt a hand rub small circles into your shoulder that you turned around. 

Hair fell in your face, obscuring your view of who was in front of you. Bringing your hand up to place your hair away from your face you dropped your pen on the ground. You went to reach for it, but a separate pair of hands grabbed it first.

“You seem to be quite the mess today, my darling.”

A genuine smile stretched across your features before looking up into the enchanting blue of his eyes. 

“Loki, hi! What are you doing out here?”

Sitting down next to you, careful to avoid your dress he spoke,

“Well, I was informed that a beautiful lady was sitting in the garden in front of the palace so of course, I had to go inspect the situation. And upon seeing a stunning shade of green draped over the bench, I had to introduce myself.” 

An airy laugh left your throat, blithe being showcased across your being.

“If I didn’t know any better, it sounds like you fancy this beautiful woman.”

“How could I not? Her beauty extends beyond the physical. She's incredibly intelligent and the only one to unconditionally show kindness and love to those who deserve it. It’d be incredibly injudicious of me to not be aware of that.”

“Alright, alright Loki, you’ve buttered me up enough.” you chuckled

“It’s never enough, darling. And it’s not buttering you up if it’s true, which it is. So, against your wishes, I shall continue to do it.”

You rolled your eyes and smiled. Looking down at his hands, you placed yours on top of his and gazed into his eyes once more. Glancing down to his lips and back up to his eyes, you slowly leaned in, Loki meeting you halfway. A kiss so tender you forgot it was Loki whose lips were tangled in a dance with your own. 

Loki moved his hand out from underneath yours and placed it on your cheek. You pulled away from the kiss and nestled your head into his hand, his thumb caressing your cheek allowing you to relish in the moment of being with each other. Flashing your eyes back up to his you asked,

“Shall we go for a walk?”

“Why not?”

Stuffing your journal and pen back into your satchel you untangled your legs and got up from the bench, Loki helping you stand up so that you didn’t trip on your dress. Taking your hand in his own, you two walked through the garden on a path that would eventually lead you to the entrance of the palace. 

“I’ve missed you Loki. I always miss you, I hate being away from you.”

“I know my love, I do as well, but you of all people know our predicament.”

You stopped in your tracks and turned in haste to stop him as well, making him face you. You brought both your hands up to cup his face, an idea flashing bright behind your eyes,

“Well, maybe we can change it! We can be the change to get rid of this stupid rule. I can’t imagine my life without you Loki. I don’t want to have to share my world with someone else. It’s only ever going to be you.” 

Bringing his hands up to your wrists, he looked deep into your eyes, sorrow and hope swimming behind his facial features. 

“Maybe we can, although we have to prepare for the worst...but that doesn't mean we can’t try.”

Giving a small smile, he moved his hands to the back of your head, thumb caressing your temple, and leaned in to kiss you. Giving you all the reassurance you could’ve asked for. Pulling away from each other you continued down the path hand in hand. Closing your eyes you took a deep breath, serenity washing over you. 

Opening your eyes, you realized you were closing in on the front of the palace meaning you would now be in the public eye and the last thing you wanted was more gossip to fall upon you. Looking at your lover, you stopped walking, halting him in his tracks. Forcing him to turn around and look at you.

“What is it?”

You sighed, suddenly being overcome with emotion.

“Well, if we walked any further, everyone would see us and I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble for you…”

“...Trouble? For me?”

Loki scoffed, his signature smirk following.

“Love, all I’m known for is for causing trouble, I wouldn’t mind another notch on my belt.”

You were hesitant. You loved Loki and you knew your feelings were reciprocated through him, but it was difficult breaking from the chains of what you ‘were supposed to do’. It left you in such dissonance and yet you felt in your heart to rebel so fiercely that Asgard would immortalize your change. Your silence alerted Loki and he spoke again,

“Y/N, if we are to ever make any sort of change we cannot hide in the shadows anymore. We cannot separate and scatter like roaches when the light is shined upon us. We must bask in it. That is the only way we can possibly aspire to reach our goal of loving one another in true fulfillment.”

“You’re right.”

“I always am.”

You placed your hand back in his and Loki smiled down at you. 

“Ready to have the target on your back, Y/N?”

“As long as you’re by my side, I can handle anything.”

Walking out of the secluded area of the garden, you finally stepped into the light. For the first time in the last year being open about your courtship with Loki. Asgard’s God of Mischief and your parent’s worst nightmare. You felt armored for anything to be hurled in your direction with Loki was by your side and always would be. 

The anxiety of it all had yet to drain from your bones and you couldn’t help but draft up ‘what ifs’ in your head. As if Loki was scavenging through your brain, he gave your hand an inspiriting squeeze, bringing you back into your body and out of your head. If only you knew how the whispers of your choice in partnership would rain the fires of hell all too soon.

#loki #loki fanfic #Loki Laufeyson #loki x reader #marvel fanfic #loki imagine #loki laufeyson imagine #loki laufeyson x reader #marvel imagine #marvel x reader

[only10tion]

Blueming has left me with emotions™ and most of them are good

I just...the artistry of it all

It felt so real...but in such an unreal way

Ugh I adore the "(rich)main lead wants to visit the other person's house all the time bcs he wants a close family" trope so much but this drama gives it such a bittersweet flavor as Siwon fights with his mom and then her not apologizing oh my goodness I just know either the manhwa author or a writer or smth had some biographical stuff put in there like Siwon put in his film

Yes this is a romance whatever but really...at the heart of it...this is a coming of age series/long seperated film

I really don't relate to either of the characters in their experiences/traumas but also somehow...I do bcs they are just so human and at the same stage of life as me (but older slightly) and just UGGHHHGGHGGH

Also frick that one senior guy he was literally the worst...although i do wish they would have tied up the plot hole of Daun literally bribing him to get outta Siwon's business...like i know "the girls are FiGhTinG" was more important but still

Anyways this was long and rambly but TL:DR would recommend, will probably stick in my head for awhile, and the silhouettes thing was hot (like in an "art is sexy" kinda way)

#blueming #long post #rambles

[adrinoir]

Random thoughts from Adrinoir:

I actually don't mind the fast-paced episodes as long as it's done well. I have the attention span and focus of a squirrel, so moving the plot quickly instead of dragging it out forever just works for me.

I just think of SpongeBob and how they were able to squish a fantastic, hilarious plotline into 11 minutes. It was fast-paced yet still easy to digest.

I also love watching the NBC drama This is Us. The other night, they had a very fast-paced episode because the entire series is almost over, and there's a lot of loose ends that need to be tied together. This was easily one of their best episodes for the sheer fact that they were able to bounce between past, present, and future scenes that fit all into one plotline/timeline. It was incredible. Although, when I asked my mom, she couldn't stand how fast-paced it was.

With good ol Miraculous, there was a lot of bases to cover in the finale, but I feel it was done well. Ladynoir had their fight after Risk hit them. Felix quickly developed a fantastic plan to get the yoyo and make the deal with his psychotic uncle. And then, Hawk Daddy threatens all of Paris while Ladybug is being comforted by Cat Noir. And ending all of that on a cliffhanger? I love that. They've never done that before. It means this plot isn't over yet despite how much was covered in the episode. What a banger of a finale.

But I know not everyone likes this format. They need more time to digest. For me, I know if I didn't pick up on every detail, I rewatch anyhow (also so I can write my analysis posts lol).

#random thoughts #random thoughts from Adrinoir #fast paced #miraculous ladybug #tales of ladybug and cat noir #miraculous #this is us #tiu season 6 #spongebob #spongebob squarepants #ml season 4 finale #ml season 4 #ml strike back #ml risk

[yel-it]

Alright I've finished Fate so here are my thoughts:

•They never should have attached Winx to it, keeping only 5 names and 2 powers the same while changing everyone's personality does not an adaptation make.

•However, they chose to do that so the whitewashing is inexcusable. The actors weren't so amazing and I'm sure they could have found Latine/Asian actors on par with Eliot's and Elisha's acting skills if not better.

•Even if you divorce Fate from OG Winx, it is still a badly written, poorly developed, bigoted, and barely cohesive show and here's why:

1) the dialogue is some of the weirdest nonsensical shit I have ever seen. The writer throws in random buzzwords and pop culture references to try and hide his clear misogyny and homophobia. I'm not sure why they hired a guy who professionally goes by Speed Weed to write the script but it was a mistake.

2) the pacing is bad, really bad. People's personalities change with no explanation or development, plot points are brought up and then dropped (Stella becomes nice all of a sudden and Dane likes Beatrix now when they've had barely any interaction and Bloom's mom becomes nice and caring, Aisha's struggles with her powers and Stella being "broken" by her mom's teaching methods are dropped and now they are totally fine.) and the show drags until you hit episode 4 and then everything happens.

3) the only developed relationship is Silva and Sky's and it is very clear that the writer's favorite is Sky since he's the only likeable character.

4) the girls didn't need to be friends at the beginning but the way they acted was weirdly catty and rude and not how anyone acts when first meeting people. Aisha and Bloom have some weird animosity throughout the entire series and the rest of the girls are... cliquey? Musa and Terra and Stella stick more together and have more interaction. There is no friend group dynamic at all and it's out of the blue when all of a sudden they're all buddy buddy and Bloom is laughing with them at her parent's house.

5) The climax was a let down with barely any loose ends tied up and I understand that there's going to be a second season but it was just kinda meh. I don't care what happens in the second season because the end is so confusing and not exciting at all.

6) The list of bigotry is long with this one.

- Racism- Black main characters are sidekicks at best with zero personality, overall even the background characters are overwhelmingly white.

-Homophobia- Riven is extremely homophobic and although Beatrix calls him out on it she still hangs out with him. I'm not even sure if Riven is bi because the "flirting" he does with Dane just seems like weird bullying. He actively mocks Dane for being bi and yet Dane still hangs around him. The optics for having your two bi characters be villains is not good though.

-Misogyny- writing girls as catty brats who aren’t nice to each other for no reason and fight over boys is a dumb misogynistic trope. Riven also constantly objectifies women and is never called out. 

-Fatphobia- bringing in a fat person for “body diversity” who is constantly belittled, barely fights back, and has no self-love arc is not as woke as you think it is Fate.

-Ableism- the concept of changelings is well known to be how autistic children were perceived way back when. Bringing this tale back and applying it to the main character, with the narrative of her being a troubled child but not autistic is... troubling? offensive? neglectful? All of the above.

In conclusion, Fate sucks as a show and was a nostalgia baiting cash grab wrapped in bigotry. If you must watch it please pirate it, but honestly it’s not worth your time.

#fate the winx saga #netwinx #not fanfic #yelhatesfate

[wallyaxiom]

THE HAWKINS.

WALLY HAWKINS 

Wally never imagined in life they would be where they were now. they dreamed of it night and day. they just just never thought they’d be one of the lucky ones. jim had been a blessing in disguise. after almost giving up on love they found it once again with jim. he was supportive of wally’s endeavours and amazing father. the pair worked well together. support and love flowed both ways equally. wally worked hard to make their career happen. there was never a right time especially with two kids so wally stopped waiting for something to fall into their lap and took matters into their own hands. soon they went from doing local musicals to eventually getting their big break when they were cast as pippin’s understudy in yet another revival of the show and a true sutton foster moment happened for them. when the lead was sick wally went on and as they say the rest was history. after a few more broadway shows wally was cast in a movie musical that cemented their star quality and allowed them to transition from the stage to screen. the role they’re best known for is captain alcyone in the astra odyssey trilogy. as for today ? wally is still acting. they’ve dabbled in other facets as well but the screen is their home. besides their career they forged a beautiful life with jim. together they have five wonderful little stars. wally’s little family ( and extended family because let’s be honest the hawkins kids have so many pseudo aunts and uncles ) mean everything to them. with jim back from space they’ve put off any major projects to spend time with their husband. they’re dealing with the feeling of an impending empty nest. when percy eventually moves out wally will be a mess for at least two months. 

JOSH AXIOM-HAWKINS

the oldest of the hawkins clan josh has always been the quiet one though that never made him weak. he’s protective of his siblings and those around him. being part of fight club also made him brave. it was hard not to be when he had such strong willed people as his friends. while he doesn’t apologize for his existence anymore josh is still very much the the soft one of the group. opting to suffer in silence or in his words than letting someone see him crumble. josh became a successful author and is working on the second book in his lost galaxy series. although he’s the child of a famous parent and has found fame himself, josh prefers a life away from the spotlight. he’s been dating dante mcqueen for a while. last time we saw josh he was freaking out about marriage and being a good father to carolina. after a talk with his father, any doubts josh had have all but vanished. life had come full circle. he is now to carolina what jim was for him. beautiful isn’t it ? he’s still not keen on marriage but he’ll happily spend the rest of his life with dante. ring or no ring.

abilities: chlorokinesis. it’s heavily tied to his emotions. when his feelings are intense plants correlating to said feeling will pop up on his body ( i.e thorn when he’s angry, weeping willows when he’s sad etc. )

fun links:  pinterest. playlist. connections guide.

wanted connections: josh has many connections as it is so i’d like to give my other kids a chance in the sun. if you’d really like to plot with him let me know. 

ASTERIA HAWKINS

a little name change never hurt anybody. while andi took after their dad, asteria was soft like their mom. she’s always put others before her & doesn’t really stand up for herself. bubbly as can be and kind of boy crazy, asteria is a little naive, sure, but one of the kindest girls you will ever meet. fashion is her passion. as a teen she fell head over heels for a boy who didn’t exactly have the best reputation but asteria saw the good in him anyways. her father disapproved ( most of her family did ) but she didn’t listen. so when she fell pregnant asteria imagined she’d have the perfect family she always dreamed of. it was perfect until their daughter, emily, was born and her boyfriend left her without a word. he said she deserved better than him but asteria wishes he would have figured that out sooner before leaving her with a child to raise alone. despite how soft she was asteria knew she’d be fine. she was a hawkins aftereall. that was two years ago and asteria and emily are happy just as they are. she currently has an internship at vogue. she hopes to take over her mom’s fashion business in the future to carry on the legacy.

abilities: gravity. similar to ochako uraraka from mha. she’s able to make things float but if used too much she gets motion sickness from the zero gravity. 

fun links: pinterest. playlist. connections guide.

wanted connections: asteria got a soft restart !! she’s in need of some connections. i’m open to anything and everything with her.

ANDI HAWKINS

asteria might have been five minutes older than andi but that never mattered much. she’s her father’s daughter to a t. loves to question authorities, loves to get into fights and loves to be right. she’s the girl that will stand up for what’s right even if it means standing alone. she didn’t get her siblings charisma or approachability. andi is prickly at best. a no bullshit kind of gal. if you think jim is intimidating wait to you meet her ! she’s brutally honest and will make you cry if she doesn’t like you or if you mess with her family. the only people who ever sees her softer side is her fiance nina mcqueen or her father. her dad is her favorite what can i say ? she’s recently graduated from harvard law and is ready to do big things.

abilities: photon energy. similar to captain marvel. she can fly and blasts photon energy from her hands. if she uses it too much she gets overheated. 

fun links: pinterest. playlist. connections guide.

wanted connections: a rival of sorts andi is very competitive so i’d love for her to get her frustrations out, maybe an ex-hookup ?? a small, small fling before nina. an enemy, andi can be brutal so i’m sure she’s hurt some feelings along the way.

#waltnextgen #* .・ got me upside down spinning around queue » this is a queued post.

[willddheartt]

24 Days | Wilbur Soot

30 days to fall in love with someone? Sounds easy right? It would be if that person wasn’t so unbelievably annoying in almost every sense.

You’re not sure how you found yourself in this situation, but you were positive there was no backing out now…

Series Warnings: Mostly fluff and angst, and a very poorly constructed enemies to lovers plot.

Word Count: 1685

Masterlist Series Masterlist

24 Days

It was Friday, you were in the middle of doing your two-hour-long stream that you did every Friday. Since you took weekends off from your own streams you did a long one every week. It worked out, you seemed to get a lot more views on Friday anyways.  All the donos seemed to ask about you and Wilbur, you forced a smile to tell everyone you guys were well and that you’re very happy together. The viewers seemed to be happy with your responses and didn't catch you falter.  You were on the DreamSMP cleaning up things and repairing things from any creeper explosions, as having holes in the walkways annoyed you to no end because it didn't look pleasing to the eye. Many ties you were passed by Fundy, Tubbo, and even Tommy.  The in-game chat stated to be spammed by Tommy, VC 2 VC 2 VC 2 over and over again. 

“Well chat, let’s see what Tommy wants,” You giggled and switched to discord.  “Hello Tommy,” You smiled, wondering what type of shenanigans he was up to today, you noticed he was also streaming so you knew it was something that was going to be very entertaining to the stream.  “Y/N!” He yelled  “Tommy!” You yelled back, matching his energy.  “How do you do?” His sudden calm tone almost made you burst into a fit of laughter.  “I do well, Thomas. What are you up to tonight?” You asked, smiling to yourself when using his full name.  “Well, you see, Y/N. See here’s the thing. I am out of supplies, I don’t even have iron to my name Y/N-” “Do you want me to help you get some?” You offered, cutting him off  “Well, actually I was hoping you could just give me some.”  “Tommy,” You laughed, “That’s- unfortunately, that not how it works my friend.” You paused, taking a sip of your water, “I am more than willing to help you go mining, I know a pretty good spot actually, but I’m not going to just give you stuff for nothing.”  “C’mon Y/N you could write it off your taxes as a charity donation,”  You had to give it to him, although Tommy could be annoying at times he was so effortlessly funny, you were almost certain that he didn't even have to try. 

“Ah yes, hang on let me see what I have to give to Tommy’s charity fund,” You laughed, looking through your inventory, pondering for a few moments, making it look like you were going to give him half your stack of iron only our stream before clicking to the three seeds you’d picked up some time ago and throwing them at his feet. His character's head went from looking at you to the seeds, then back to you and back to the seeds again, you pulled up his stream on your other monitor so you could see his face, trying so hard to not burst out into laughter when you saw his unamused look. 

Feeling bad you pulled up a donation, giving Tommy Five bucks so the text-to-speech would work, “Tommy Charity Fund.” You sent and waited for it to go through.  He paused, hearing the dono tts voice, before looking back up at you in the game.  “Fuck you,” He said running away. You couldn't suppress your laughter any longer and it all fell out at once, chat exploded into laughter and emotes, everyone found it hilarious.

A few seconds after you were still in the voice chat with Tommy, he had ventured off to go mining, I guess stealing from people wasn't going well. Since the last war, nobody has really been gathering supplies, taking a break from the lore to just get things done around the server. Tommy still bringing up the ‘charity fund’ you found it hilarious. 

“You’re a bitch you know that,” He mumbled, you knew he was only joking, with Tommy you never took anything to heart, if he had a true problem with you, you know he would message you privately.  “Tommy,” Wilbur's voice came over discord, making you jump slightly.  “Hi Wilbur,” He said, sounding like a little kid when their mom gets them in trouble.  “Apologize to Y/N.'' Wilbur's voice was playful, yet stern, sounding exactly like the older brother who was put in charge of his younger siblings. 

After a second, you could see Tommy bow his head on his stream that was still pulled up on your other monitor.  “Sorry, Y/N. You’re not a bitch.” He said  “It’s okay Tommy,” You chuckled  “Thank you.” Spoke Wilbur before leaving the voice chat. 

You and Tommy stayed on call until his stream ended. You were left alone, talking to your chat. Without anyone else there to keep a consistent conversation you started to daze off, forgetting you were on stream, yawning and leaning forward onto your desk. Your back hurt from how long you’d been sat in front of the monitor. 

Your discord made a noise again, but this time you didn’t bother tabbing out to see who had joined.  “Hey, Y/N,” Wilburs soft voice came across your headphones  “Will,” You smiled, sitting up  “You look tired, how long have you been up?” He asked 

You looked at the clock, it was only 11 PM but you could have sworn it was later.  “Since one,”  “AM or PM?” Will asked  You looked down, “AM,” You mumbled. “You should go to bed,” He said You sighed, knowing he could break you eventually, as your eyelids were drooping shut and your eyes were burning. “Its not even that long, Wil, I’m fine.” You argued 

“How long have you been streaming?” Wilbur asked  “I’m almost at my five hour mark, I’m like forty-five minutes away,”  “End your stream early and get ready for bed than we can chat,” His voice was soft and warm speaking over your stream, your chat exploded, loving Wilbur and you together.  “But I’m so close, just a few more minutes,” You sighed, tabbing out of your game and switching the stream to a full face cam. “I’m sure they wont mind if you end a little early, you've been streaming for a while, love.” He continued, slowly wearing you down. “I can even entertain your chat for a bit while you go get ready for bed, or even make yourself a cup of tea, then when you come back, it will be close enough that you can end the stream, how does that sound?”  You sighed, knowing he had won. You looked at chat and back to the timer of how long you've been on stream, “Okay.” You nodded. 

“Alright Chat, I’m sorry for ending early but you heard the man. Next week will be extra long to make up for this, I promise.” You said, looking at the chat, everyone was spamming ‘goodnight’ and ‘goodbye’  “It was nice spending this fine evening with you all, but I must go now, I will see everyone Monday. Bye!” You ended stream 

“Hi, Wilbur,” You smiled to yourself after ending stream  “I’m going to call your number now, and you can go get ready for bed, okay?” He said  “Alright, Wil,” you nodded, closing all the windows you had open on your pc. 

After shutting everything off you grabbed what you needed and went to the bathroom. Wilbur called you halfway through taking your makeup off, you had eyeliner smudged all around your eyes when you answered his facetime.  When his face popped up on your screen, he was wearing his glasses and a big smile, his hair was a mess and he was already in bed. 

“Getting ready for bed?” He asked, as if he didn't already know.  “Of course,” You shook your head, leaning closer to the mirror making sure you had all the bits of makeup taken off before washing your face with warm water  Picking up your phone you held up a peace sign, making Wil laugh and attempt to take a sneaky screenshot.  “Hey, no, delete that, I look terrible.” You quickly argued after hearing the noise.  “You do not.” He was fast to respond. “You look refreshed, you're glowing.” you shook your head at him as you walked back to your room through the dark house. 

Your roommate had already gone to bed, close to an hour ago. You were always the last person up, being an internet person with many American friends who are in a different time zone and a night owl at heart. You flopped down into your soft pillows, pulling your duvet over yourself and propping your phone up on your laptop so you could still see Wilbur and he could see you. You pulled the corner of the blanket up to hide your face. 

“Don't do that, I want to see your face,” Wilbur frowned.  “No you don’t,” You shook your head  “Yes,” He spoke, “I do.” You moved the blanket so it wasn't all the way covering your face but it was still pulled up enough that your shoulders were covered.  “You realize next week you’ll be here for your stream?” Wilbur said.  “I do now,” You pinched the bridge of your nose, “I’m sorry, I didn't think of that,”  “Its okay, you can stream from my computer,” He smiled. “It will surprise chat,”  “Oh my god, can you imagine, they're going to go crazy,” You chuckled  “They will,”

Wilbur continued to tell you about how he was truly getting excited to have you meet him in person, but his soft voice had been lulling you to sleep, your eyelids struggling to stay open and your warm bed weighing you down. Eventually you were out. Wilbur didn't notice until he asked you a question and did not respond. Your laptop screen was still shining light on you, and he saw you were asleep against the black screen, smiling at you. He snuck another screenshot, making sure the sound was off this time. 

“Goodnight, Y/N.” He said sweetly before getting comfortable in bed himself and slowly drifting off. 

#wilbur soot #wilbur soot imagine #tommyinnit #tommyinnit imagine #tubbo #tubbo imagine #ranboo #ranboo imagine #technoblade #technoblade imagine #dreamnotfound #dreamwastaken #dreamsmp #dreamwastaken imagine #sapnap imagine #sapnap #georgenotfound imagine #georgenotfound #philza minecraft #karl jacobs #karl jacobs imagine

[myevilmouse]

2020 Fic Year In Review

This disaster year was my second of writing fanfic for the Star Wars fandom, focused as always on my handsome Jedi and charismatic Grand Admiral.  Here’s the same thing I did last year:  basically share the idea of the fic I wanted to write and the result of what came out of that idea.

Because I don’t outline or plan, it is often as much a surprise to me as to my readers as to where the story winds up.  But I enjoy the magic that is surrendering to the muse / autonomous typing hands, so I doubt that will change anytime soon.

Context:  2020 began with the fic whining circle’s discussion of the sad dearth of blowjobs for Luke Skywalker in fandom.  We resolved to remedy this with the creation of the Luke Deserves All The Blowjobs Challenge, our 12-month mission to provide our man with 12 blowjobs, detailed lovingly for your (and his) pleasure.  We all agreed to contribute and so my first offering was:

1.    Anomaly

Idea:  In 2019, I participated in the Star Wars Rare Pairs Fic Exchange.  Shanlyrical had requested the pairing of Guri/Luke, which I’d never considered.  I didn’t get assigned that one (I got assigned Thrawn/Original Art Forger), but the idea stayed with me.  The blowjob challenge was the perfect opportunity.

Result:  A one-shot I am quite proud of, written from droid POV attempting to seduce our Jedi (who is quite difficult to seduce damn his perfect ass), full of technical and cyborgian terminology.  Since shanlyrical had put the ship in my brain, it was gifted to her.

2.  Comfortable

Idea:  Write an “old married Skywalkers” smutfic for a Valentine’s Day gift to my Luke/Mara cohorts.

Result:  A rather florid one-shot that is overstuffed with choice adjectives and bursting at the seams with love for my Jedi’s happy ever after.

3.  The Problem With Prophecy

Idea:  Write a Thrawn/Pryce fic for the Thryce Discord’s Valentine’s Day.  The prompts shifted, from “blind date” to “soulmates” or maybe vice versa as a theme.  I had already started it when the prompt changed so made them both work.

Result:  Another “how they got together fic” (of which I seem to write many for Thryce) that was a lot of fun to write, with a little contemplation about free will vs destiny in there.

4.  Proxy

Idea:  The Luke Deserves All The Blowjobs Challenge needed more fic, and no one wrote that Asajj Ventress/Luke pairing I had requested for SW rarepairs 2019… *cracks knuckles*  If you want something done, gotta do it yourself!

Result:  This was an interesting challenge.  Whilst I typically attempt to create scenarios for Luke to bang all the ladies that are SOMEWHAT realistic, I decided the only way to make this happen was to assume whatever plot was required to set this up had already occurred, so it starts *cough* right before the action, so to speak.  I also sort of low-key ship Ventress/Kenobi (what is that called?  Ventrobi?) so operated throughout with the idea that since she couldn’t have Obi-Wan, she was settling for another Jedi as a plaything.  Since I used only pronouns for Ventress in the fic, I suppose the reader could imagine any wicked woman or Nightsister or whomever on the other end of Luke’s cock, but in my brain it’s Asajj and she is a lucky woman (and Luke is a lucky man).  Anyway, it was probably one of my least popular fics this year but I still like it!

5.  Thranto 400 Works Celebration Ficlet (Ch 3:  Everything To Lose)

Idea:  @jessko-fic​  asked me to contribute to this collection to commemorate the Thrawn/Vanto ship hitting 400 works on AO3.  Me:  Slash?!?!

Result:  I don’t write slash in general because I just…don’t really enjoy it, doesn’t float my boat or melt my butter, although so often I wish that weren’t the case.  I have read a lot of Thranto thanks to Jess’s evil influence though, and thought I could tackle this ship.  I wanted to write something exactly 400 words for the 400 works thing, and the result was a little “missing scene” that I hope was true to the spirit of the collection while also slotting into Thrawn and Eli’s storyline.

6.  Creativity

Idea:  For The May The Fourth fic exchange, try to hit my giftee’s likes and stuff as many MacGyver-inspired easter eggs as possible into the story.

Result:  14 “original series” MacGyver-isms crammed into this thing, including winks and nods to names and dates, and  plenty of Luke and Mara banter to accompany the mission. One of my most researched fics this year and one of the most fun to write!  And my giftee loved it, which is the best result possible.

7.  Physical Graffiti

Idea:  Agreed to a one-on-one fic exchange with @jessko-fic​, since we never get matched in “regular” exchanges.  She requested Luke x Sabine, which tied in perfectly to my never-ending goal of Luke x All The Ladies.

Result:  A (hopefully) sexy multi-chapter that required a lot of research on timelines to get them together for this “missing scene” and Mandalorian stuff.  My septuagenarian mom has proclaimed it’s her favorite of any of my stories, so I call it a success.  O_O  Yes, she reads my fic.

8.  Strangers When We Meet

Idea:  Write a reader-insert fic for @enmudecer​.  I love setting challenges for myself, and writing a smutty reader insert was something entirely new to tackle.

Result:  I think reader inserts sometimes get a bad name but they can be a lot of fun.  I avoided the (y/n) convention because I find it pulls me out of the story, tried hard to keep it gender neutral, and hopefully everyone who reads it can feel like they just banged Luke Skywalker 😉 Also I have a long-standing goal of writing songfic, and while I didn’t do it here, at least the title is from a Bowie song that seemed appropriate.  So not just my first reader-insert, my first song-titled-fic!

9.  Infectious

Idea:  The Thryce Discord, and in particular @handsofthrawn​, had been asking/lobbying me for ages about writing a quarantine fic since the world was in lockdown.

Result:  Well, this is what I achieved this year, when I look back at what I accomplished.  My longest fic ever, and a particularly ambitious premise of getting from an awkward, miserable (and hopefully realistic) fuck-or-die scenario to a happy ever after for my evil OTP.  I unashamedly love this story and I’m so happy and grateful to the readers who loved it with me—their comments and kudos gave me life when the stress of reality made me want to curl into a defensive little ball and hide for the rest of the year.

10.  Evilmousetober 2020

Idea:  I couldn’t choose what X-tober prompts to use for my October drabbles this year, so I used whatever felt right that day.

Result:  A compilation of my tumblr drabbles from various October prompts.

11. Dis Manibus

Idea:  I am not going to write this fic.  I am not going to write this fic.  Crack and ridonc and no way is there any conceivable way it would work.  And then I wrote it.  The basic concept as my muse nagged me was to write the “nightmare comfort” trope with Luke and Pryce.  WHY?! I HAVE NO IDEA I DON’T CONTROL THIS BITCH.  Anyway, the idea wouldn’t go away.

Result:  This fic is the perfect exhibit of how I never know what the heck is going to happen when I start writing.  Everything was a surprise to me, including the Thryce element to what was SUPPOSED to be a Luke/Pryce fic.  Also I didn’t get the smut I wanted.  *curses*  But I like it anyway and it worked, timing-wise, for Halloween-y themes.

12.  Alone Time

Idea:  After swearing not to write fic for the rest of the year, @contentment-of-cats​ put out her Merry Chissmas bingo card and my ambitious ass decided to try to knock every single prompt out with a one-shot.

Result:  Thrawn jerking off in the shower and thinking verrrrrry naughty things.  I apologize for nothing.

So in 2019 I wrote 26 fics and this year only got to about 12…but fanfic is for fun, and we all needed fun this year.  I enjoyed writing for you and I hope you enjoyed reading my output.  I look forward to providing more smexy silly and strange fic for you in 2021.  <3

#luke skywalker #grand admiral thrawn #mara jade #arihnda pryce #MacGyver #sabine wren #thryce #governor pryce #thrawn #tropes #fanfic is for fun #myfic #fandom #fic exchange #the gift of smut #luke x reader #Guri #asajj ventress #luke x all the ladies #welcome to my kinks #fuck or die #romance #too many things to tag here #I love you all

[cookiedoughmeagain]

Haven DVD Commentaries; 5.22 - A Matter of Time

Commentary with Joshua Brandon (writer for the last episode), Brain Millikin (writer for this episode) and Colin Ferguson (who plays William and directed 5.20)

BM: This was written really as one big two hour episode with 5.21. We did that a bunch of times this year and I think it does feel that way. In a perfect world they would have maybe aired in a two hour block, because this is the most two-partery episode we’ve done all season long. CF: It does feel that way.  And I like how in this episode, in every plot line there is someone who’s stuck. Stuck in the fence, stuck in the cave and stuck to a chair. BM: Yes, well that was an edict going into this episode, we needed this one particularly to be a bottle episode. Which for those who are unaware, that is when you spend as much as possible, if not the entire time shooting the episode, on your stage. We typically do it to save time, maybe save some money. Or you’re just gearing up for a bigger episode down the road. It can be a challenge, because on the one hand you’ve just got a lot of people stuck in a room. But the opportunity is really high for some longer stronger scenes and interactions between the characters. It becomes a bit more like a play than an epiosde of a TV show. CF: And when you’re a guest star coming in, your job as a supporting actor is to support the other actors. Now at this point in the season, 21 episodes in, Lucas is tired, Emily is tired, everyone’s just burnt. So I come in and I have to know my lines, and we ended up shooting all of my coverage for the epiosde in about an hour and a half at the tail end of one day. JB: Wow. CF: Anything in this direction [the camera facing towards William in the cave] we did in about an hour and a half, because we spent so much time the other way, with the thinny when it appears and all the other stuff that’s happening. There’s so much more movement there that took the lion’s share. And then turn around and hose down Colin. BM: That is unbelievable. Because that’s like ten pages of dialogue! CF: It was a lot BM: Oh my gosh.

BM: I can’t go any further without giving props to Steven Wright our costume designer - I love Emily’s coat. Emily has had exceptional coat game over the course of the series.

[As Audrey and Duke discover Hailie stuck in the fence] CF: Wow! That’s disgusting when you see it there BM: You know, that was somethign that we talked about for a long time. Number one, in the bottle episode way that we had to shape this, we knew that although we had all these outdoor scenes that we needed to keep them contained pretty much to one place. So that we could shoot as quickly as possible. But at the same time we had the season laid out and we knew the tent poles of the story that we had to hit. We knew by the end of this episode that Duke needed to kill her and take her Trouble, and it was going to be a big deal that he would be taking a Trouble now sort of willingly, to use it. And that was going to start him on a much darker path for the rest of the season. So we just needed to try and dramatise that as best as possible. And it just made sense, given how we had already set up Hailie’s mom dying in the same way - becuase all Troubles have a down side, and hers gave out on her at the exact time she needed it most, when she was passing through a fence.  So we were watching a cut of that episode [about Barbara] and we figured the same thing should happen with Hailie. And it winds up telling a story about repeating what’s happened before. The sins of the father, destiny, all that stuff. CF: And a great performance by Tamara [as Hailie] too. That sort of squeal that she had there was not over done. It was gross. JB: She was great. And right from the beginning when she was cast in 5.15, as soon as they started seeing the dailies come in, we were all thinking that if there was a way to bring her back then we should, because she was really terrific. BM: Yes and she did not have an easy job on this one. She spent an entire day standing in this - I think painful - rig, with that fence going half into her. And she couldn’t move. CF: And the issue with that is you can’t go to the bathroom. Or, you can but it’s a time suck, you know if it takes 20 minutes to get out of the thing and 20 minutes to get back in again. BM: Yeah. But the fence was also sort of a practical thing, in that we needed her to be in a situation where she’s probably going to die, but where we could still talk to her. So she couldn’t be cut in half or something. So the fence was just kind of, logical really. And we had looked into some real life accidents where people have been impaled and this idea that the shock means you don’t really feel it, at least for a little while - and that was important because she needed to be able to have a conversation and not just be screaming in pain. JB: And also knife victims; leaving the knife in can prevent you from bleeding out. CF: By the way that fence was built by production, it was not an existing part of the location.

[Dave about to get hypnotised] BM: So this side of the story was probably the most important one. This was the other big tent pole that we knew coming into this was that this was going to be John [who plays Dave] Dunsworth’s last episode. John is fantastic, but we were losing him to another show already, and we had always intended that as we got towards the end game of the season that we would see some of our characters lose their lives. It just felt that with the stakes as high as they are, it wouldn’t really be realistic that everyone would make it through. So it just made sense given the story we were telling, that it would be Dave. But we had some problems because we knew that he was going to be tied up for the whole episode. Because it’s a bottle episode but also because last time we left him untied up he started killing people. So we needed our other characters to be smart enough to tie him up, but we also needed him to have a story that took him beyond just sitting there. So that’s where this whole ‘mind palace’ experience wound up coming from. And the same thing with what’s happening here [Vince and Dwight realising they’ve lost time]. We’d never really leaned into the lost time of it all, it happened on a couple of occasions, but knowing that we were going to dispatch with it this episode, we figured this should be one where we really kind of go crazy with some lost time stuff. I think it wound up really working well, because it gave Adam and Richard [as Dwight and Vince] a lot to play with. Again, as a bottle episode, just standing in the room.

CF: That wide shot of the cave is amazing; it makes the room look significantly bigger than it actually is. That first shot that started the scene. The room was not that big, it was probably only maybe 20 feet square. BM: Wow. You two were terrific in these scene. I wish we could have done more. But we knew we only had you for two episodes CF: Yes, I was contractually on other things before and after BM: Yeah, so we knew where we were going with Nathan and William throughout. We all really liked William, and sort of understood where he was coming from, in a good way. I think all good Bad Guys, you can kind of relate to how they wound up the way they did CF: And you guys did a great job of that, through and through, of making the reasons why he’s doing it real, and defensible. JB: The original title of this episode, I think, as “A Fool For Love” BM: That’s correct. I was like; I love that title, let’s use it - why do I love it so much? And then realised, it’s the title of an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Which I love that episode, it was the one that was all about Spike, also about their bad guy and getting to know what’s the matter with him. So if I’d had my way, we would have had more of Nathan and William in this cave. I think originally they were going to be stuck in there for a whole act CF: Oh wow BM: You were going to be running around, there was more stuff outside. A lot of that got pushed into about two minutes of episode 5.21

CF: I came up to Halifax for this with my girlfriend and my son, first time I’d gone on location with them. So when I come home at the end of the day I’m handed a baby to take care of. So for me, I had a ton of dialogue to learn JB: That’s a lot CF: Well you’re learning, your’e learning how to do it. It’s just a life thing that you deal with. BM: Well and you had just directed the previous episode a couple days before hand, right? How much time did you have off between directing and then having to sit in a cave for a day? CF: About ten hours. JB: Wow BM: Wow.

BM: It was a bit of a chllange this episode because we had three story lines, or four if you think about Dave in his own mind. And we’re just cutting between them all, they basically each get one scene and act, is how it winds up working out. And each one, they’re still in the same place they were before. So we had been really worried at the script stage, that it was maybe going to feel a little too static. But I’m happy to say that you guys killed it. CF: Well and watching it now, Tamara does such a good job of that kind of Faustian moment, of; I’m going to ignore the consequences/oh no here are the consequences. And it’s so hard to make that likeable, because if you do it badly the audience is just going to be going; Well you knew it was coming, you idiot. But she actually pulls it off JB: She’s amazing BM: Yeah, it was a little bit like what happened with Lisa Hawkins in 5.21. We had set up this, well Matt McGuinness had felt that in season four and some previous seasons, we had ignored the reality of the situation a little bit. So he had wanted where possible to really have people just react the way that you and I would. So we felt that this was another example of that, that Hailie’s going to be pretty pissed off about what’s happened to her. And that if Duke came to her and asked for help, she’s not going to be like; Yeah I’m going to be a hero and do the bigger thing. Real people don’t do that, she would instead probably be pretty mad at him and blame him for what’s happened to her.

JB: I love what they did here with this mind palace stuff. We talked about this a lot when we were conceiving these episodes. And it should be no surprise that Brian and I are Star Trek fans, and there was a DS9 episode right towards the end, it wasn’t a great one, it was called Extreme Measures, and it was O’Brian and Bashir’s last adventure, and they wind up in a sort of a mind palace. And I was reading some behind the scenes stuff that they wanted to treat the set differently and have psychedelic images on the walls and really make it different from - Oh we ran out of time and money so we just re-used these sets. They couldn’t do that there because they had to play on a whole thing of; Oh it might be reality, it might not. We didn’t have that, so that’s why you’ve got the tree and the bike and everything. CF: The tree is the best one because as soon as that goes up you’ve got the iconography of being some place else. JB: Exactly, and we really got to play with that. BM: I would like to be able to say that I got the idea from DS9, but I took it from a Stephen King book, Dreamcatcher, which they made into a movie with Damian Lewis and his character spends a good chunk of the film in his own head. It’s visualised as a sort of library, he’s running around looking for books trying to find the right bit of information. And so like so many things we’ve done in the show, we try to pull from other Stephen King books, or the Stephen King universe, and that was another way we were able to do. I’m kind of surprise that it worked and we were able to sell it through - it was kind of a dicey thing. I think Sherlock helped us a lot too. JB: And John Dunsworth is so good in those scenes BM: Yes, which were not easy because he was just there by himself. He had to spend a day just wandering around the Haven Herald alone, and then the next scene he’s talking to a disembodied voice on a radio. Because we couldn’t yet reveal that Croatoan is William Shatner. CF: And on the day when you’re shooting stuff like that it’s always the script supervisor, way off camera, shouting out the lines, and you have to react like it’s coming from … wherever. It’s always a bit of an exercise. BM: And to make it worse, it was his last day on the show. Five years of work, and the big send off for him is that he gets to work by himself. CF: I was there for the send off, it was a lovely lunch and it was quite emotional. And everyone came down from the office, it was quite a send off. BM: That’s great. He’s been fantastic. JB: I really liked John, he was one of the first actors I got to talk to on the phone (becuase I never went up to Canada) but he was one of the first people I dealt with when I started here and he was just telling jokes and being hilarious. Really sweet guy. BM: Yeah it speaks super highly of him that I was - well I still am a nobody, but I certainly was a nobody when I was doing my first episode back in season two. And I was walking home through the parking lot, everyone else had already gone home, and this car comes peeling out of nowhere and starts doing doughnuts around me. Then he slams his breaks on, rolls down his window - I thought I was going to die, but it was John Dunsworth asking me if I had dinner plans, and we went and had some food. He’s a great guy.

BM: So this was something else that we knew we’d have to do at some point in this episode - 5.21 was Audrey and Duke coming back together again, and this episode was going to have to be a bit of of the shit hitting the fan. And she has to ask him to do the thing that he left town for, and that he doesn’t want to have to do. And she’s right. JB: Yeah and on some level Duke knows that. Because it’s all about destiny and that’s the vision he saw, and he can’t escape it - the worst thing he ever had to do was kill becuase Audrey told him to, and now he has to do it again. BM: It was a tough one. We at this point knew where Duke’s story was going, which also made us sad, for Duke. So all of this episode for him, was just about dealing with inevitability that he’s just kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.

CF: I can’t believe that Duke and Audrey just left Hailie there on her own again to go and have another conversation BM: We got that note from the studio, and the way that we were able to get away with it, is that this episode takes place in real time. So she’s only there for about 42 minutes in total. Both of these episodes take place over the course of a couple hours; which is crazy when you think about it.

CF: You guys did a great job of making William’s appeals to Nathan logical. I find the biggest problem is when you get a scene where what you’re being asked to do, no one would do. Where there’s really thin logic that doesn’t really work and you’re supposed to pour your heart into it, but you’re just thinking; why would anyone do this? But with this I feel like I’m in the right. JB: Well it’s also not interesting otherwise. And Brian did such a good job with all that because, we do care for William. Even though he’s done these horrible things. And I think this episode is about him redeeming himself; in his own eyes as well as the audience’s. Because he’s been a fool for love, because he’s done things that he probably wouldn’t have done if he hadn’t felt so strongly for Mara. Who didn’t really care as much about him as he did for her. I think we’ve all been there. BM: I’ve been really attached to this idea that we ended up doing at the end of the episode, where Nathan’s wearing one of those rings around his neck, and we’ve spent a long time this season revealing what they were and what they could do for people like William and Mara. And I had really wanted to try to get to a place where Nathan could give one to Williiam. JB: Definitely. BM: That had been our goal - our stretch goal (if we can get there then great) - for the end of this episode. And there was a bit of push back, because Nathan had been wearing that ring around his neck since season two, and it had been his dad’s and Lucy’s and everything else. But I was just like; Nah, he should give it to William. But I think it wound up working, because it actually required William meeting him half way. JB: Yeah and he deserved it; he deserved to go home. I think that great line, I don’t remember exactly, but it’s like; You don’t deserve to die, I don’t know if they want you there, but you don’t deserve to stay here.

JB: In the cave scenes I also love the play on status, that Nathan is the one whose body is breaking down, he’s getting weaker and weaker, but William is the one pinned under the rock. So in theory William is at a disadvantage, but he’s just watching and he can wait it out if necessary. BM: Well that came out of necessity a bit, because originally they were both going to be in the cave but free, so they would fight for a bit and then get to a detente kind of a place. But enough people were like; That will never happen - they will fight until one of them dies. So it was like; OK, what about if one of them is trapped? So if William’s trapped, he’s smart, he’s a little Loki-ish, his biggest power is maybe his voice and he can break Nathan down that way.

[Vince with a gun pointed at Dave’s head] BM: Oh, so sad. JB: It is really sad, and this is what happens when a show goes on and you have to make big decisions, you don’t want to do it. I remember coming home and my wife was watching the show, the first half of the season, and she was saying; It’s getting dark - I don’t like where it’s going. And I couldn’t say anything, but in the back of my head I knew where it was going. But that’s the beauty of telling a story like this, is you get to have real consequences. You’ve got to make some sacrifices if the story is taking these dark turns. BM: I’m super happy that that voice mail bit with Dwight actually worked. It was an 11th hour save, because we were like; How are these guys ever going to figure out what the hell is going on? Because they keep having their memories wiped. I was like; Maybe Dwight gets a voice mail?? And everyone else was like; That’s a great idea! And I was; That’s a great idea???

BM: And we’re coming up on an Oprah Winfrey call back here [with Vince and Dave]. The first of many callbacks. This was just the idea that there’s some sort of untoward relationship or fascination with Oprah Winfrey that Vince and Dave both share. And that seemed like a good idea because we needed a litmus test to prove it was Dave, and a call back always works. JB: We never established what that was though, did we? BM: No. JB: We just know that it’s something between them. Duke knows about it too because he brings it up at the beginning of season four. BM: Exactly. You’d have to ask Gabrielle Stanton about that one. But it was the first of a few call backs that we tried to squeeze into this episode. Heavy shows up later on, and even Maddie Irons, we brought her back. We really start doing that a lot in this episode and the next few. We didn’t know whether this was going to be the end of the series or not, but regardless it was going to be a big season and we wanted to start looking back to the past a little bit. I think we varying degrees of success.

BM: So we knew that Dave was going to die at the end of the episode and that Croatoan was going to leave his body. But nobody wanted Dave to die in vain. We wanted him to have a hero moment. So we decided really early on, that he could do something to take away the lost time power that Croatoan has. Mostly because, as we tried to break what was happening in the following episodes, the fact that Croatoan could erase the memories at any point in time, made it completely impossible. So we realised we needed to get rid of that, and that gave us an opportunity to have Dave do something, which then beget the wall of clocks and his mission to go back into his mind palace here. But then again, if Dave *knew* he was going to die, that makes him less heroic, so we had to kind of do this whole dance were Dave was going to be spared. We had conversation after conversation for weeks about the levels of heroism - like, too heroic? not heroic enough? But you talk about all of that, and then it goes away when you watch John Dunsworth here because he is fantastic. And those two guys, their last two scenes together, all of those concerns just go by the way side.

CF: They got a sunny day for these scenes with Hailie, that’s great. There had been a lot of rain in the weeks before. JB: Yeah you wouldn’t really think this was shot shortly after the scenes with William and Nahtan in the woods. They got really lucky. BM: And we were just so lucky that Tamara was available to play Hailie. When we had here in 15 and 16 on that Duke side story, at that time we had not intended to bring her back. But we really liked her and found an opportunity, and now, I couldn’t imagine it any other way because Duke’s relationship with her in those episodes, that he started her Trouble and that he knew what happened with her mom - it all plays into what’s happening here. So it makes it so much better. And they were great. Unfortunately he has to kill her here - we talked for a long time about how to do it. There was this idea that he could snap her neck, but that felt kind of cruel, and so what we liked what this idea that he could kind of embrace her and pull her, so that he makes her injuries worse and that was what was kill her. But iti was the idea that he could hug her instead of some brutal thing. You know, he could have suffocated her or various things but that just felt too cruel. But they both sold it. JB: Beautifully directed moment too. BM: Yes. And unfortunately for Duke, and for Eric Balfour, he’s had to do a few really harrowing things like this to people over the course of the series. I think it’s because he started out the show as this kind of care-free, fun-loving guy, it just sort of makes sense with the nature of television that you start torturing people for season after season. But he does such a good job with it, that it was just only natural.  He is as good at dealing with the dark things he’s had to do as any body.

CF: I’m happy that Emily’s walking better. I mean just standing there was an issue when we were shooting 5.20. BM: Even then you can see, we did start re-writing stuff so that she wouldn’t have to walk around as much. He can walk over to her, there just to be more running around in that story.

CF: By the way when you’re working with foam for days, everyone’s walking around on it, the ground gets completely crushed and pulverised into tiny little pieces, so its … your lungs aren’t happy by the end of it. Becuase it’s foam, it’s not meant to last more than a few days BM: That’s a great shot though. It looks great, worked out really well. CF: Yeah they do a great job as a crew, all the prep and getting the right lenses for that super wide angle - because it makes the scene to give it some scope.

[As Nathan takes a handful of aether] BM: So we always knew we were going to try and get to this point in the episode where Nathan was sort of forced to do waht William wanted him to do. And this moves them into a different tone of what’s going on between them.

JB: The controller crystal there, that was kind of modelled on the kryptonian crystals from the 1978 Superman movie CF: And that aether stains anything it touches. So we had to cover our hands with silicone barrier cream and just take it off immediately afterwards or it would stain permanently. BM: It’s funny there’s a bit of a vestige of previous versions of the script where your foot was stuck rather than your arm. So it was still in the script that William would cup the aether with both hands and then open them up again to reveal the balls spinning. And I realised after we shot it that was impractical now - but you did such a good job selling it. CF: Well we had a long discussion about how much pain I could show. Because if your arm is trapped by a boulder you’re going to be in pain, but if I leaned on that through a whole episode, that gets old. Because also Tamara would be doing something similar with Hailie’s story. So I sort of played that it was more numb, so that I could make the point of the scenes be the dialogue.

BM: For the longest time we didn’t have Heavy back, Robert Maillet, but he was such a good sport, he flew up just for the day. I think we got him on a break from The Strain. Really nice guy.

[William, about Duke and Mara; “I should kill you just for putting that image in my head”] *general agreement this is a great line* JB: We were talking about this section and wondering how William would react [to William learning about Mara using Duke] and I think all of us figured he’d be like; Yeah that sounds about right. As opposed to be upset or angry. CF: I did a few versions of that, some were more jokey but I can see why they didn’t get in because you can’t go too light there or the stakes go away BM: You guys really sold it. The idea of how Nathan gets through to William had always been, not that he would make some great argument and convince him, but that he would sort of challenge William, almost insult him so much that he finally got through to him. That felt the most realistic. CF: Well I take my hat off to you guys as the writers and Eric on the lighting, because when you’re reading a script thinking; Oh ok I’m trapped under fake boulders for an episode, … You’re thinking; This could be bad. But it doesn’t feel take.

[As Duke cuts his hand to let out the Trouble] JB: Can I just say, I’ve seen people do this on television a lot and it looks incredibly painful. CF: Yeah I cringe. If I had to cut myself, I wouldn’t use my palm. I’d use the back. JB: I’d be going for a pinprick, not dragging the knife right across my skind.

BM: So this is the place we wanted to get to where William is not a bad guy, not a good guy, somewhere in between. CF: Well and I like that you didn’t make him all of a sudden all like; *overly happy voice* Golly Gee, I’ve seen the light and I was wrong. You know he still has a bit of swagger where he’s just like; Get out of here JB: Yeah; Before I change my mind. Because I might. CF: Yeah. BM: It felt realistic for him. And in a strange way, I mean it’s a cliche, but him and Nathan wind up having more in common than perhaps either of them would care to admit. They are more similar characters. Nathan could have been William if the circumstances were different. JB: I love this too, this wasn’t quid-pro-quo, it was; “get out of here I’m letting you live” and then Nathan decides to hand over the ring. I really like that they don’t strike a bargain as such; it’s just two independent things that these characters decided to do for each other. CF: I like that moment, because I’m thinking William doesn’t get a lot of gifts. Birthdays, christmas, he’s not getting a lot of presents, so. BM: Yeah. And he’s spent a long time in the void.

BM: It’s funny William’s last words to Nathan there. We had always thought that he’d give us some clue that they could use in the next episodes. But then we shot the episode and coudln’t put the clue back in. He just gets a bit of advice - that it’s going to be bad - but it wasn’t really something we could call back to. Missed opportunity.

[Nathan; Where Hailie] JB: That very obliquely references the scene in 5.21 where Duke tells Nathan to talk to Charlotte, and Nathan says, I can’t, and Duke realises she’s dead. And now Nathan’s realising that Hailie is dead. BM: Wow. JB: You didn’t catch that the first time did you? BM: No. I wrote that, too.

[Vince saying goodbye to Dave] BM: So this was a scene we were looking forward to, in a sad dramatic kind of way. We knew that there needed to be a moment between these two. So we wanted Dwight to sign on to Dave’s plan early on, and then give Vince and Dave a moment, because this is their last scene together. And we just felt like we needed Dave to step up to the plate here. These guys have spent their entire lives protecting Haven and it’s secrets, and they’re in uncharted territory here but it’s like; Who are you really and what are you going to do? And we knew that Dave was going to step up in this episode and then Vince is going to do the same thing, pretty much, two episodes from now. It ends differently for Vince, but even going back to the pilot, these two had all of the secrets. And the idea had always been that eventually the show would catch up to them, and bring them along with it - like they would be swept up with it. CF: I love that idea that everything has a cost. That if you want to be the gatekeeper, or the holder of secrets, you’ve got to pay that bill at a certain point. JB: That’s a really sweet moment; Dave’s “Copy that big brother.” BM: Yeah I think we took that from some of the radio speak that Dave did in Roots, 2.05, when he was talking over the short wave radio. JB: That moment really gets me, where he smiles as he goes under BM: When I wrote this I originally imaged the exact same device as Men In Black, for some reason. But then we looked into it and it turns out that is what some people use for hypnosis, these little hand held strobing devices.

[Dave shouting at Croatoan] BM: John Dunsworth is great here. And again, it’s tough; he had to shoot all this by himself, just shouting at a disembodied voice. But you don’t even think about it, because that’s what John Dunsworth can do. JB: And you wouldn’t get many takes at this, either [Dave smashing up the clocks and the wall] BM: No.  You can maybe tell, it might be a bit too obvious, but there’s a late addition to the scene here when Dave writes in his notebook, Because we needed everyone else to know that Croatoan’s plan is to go after Audrey, but there was really no way for them to know that. So we realised it was maybe one little last beat that Dave could do for them, something that he has figured out how to leave a message on himself. And that gave us a cool last beat of the episode. But it was literally added in I think a couple days before we started shooting. CF: John gave a really nice speech that day at lunch when he was retiring from the show. He was quite choked up about how much the show had meant to him. I think he said he didn’t appreciate this coming at this point in his life; having five years on a show and a huge extended family. BM: We got super lucky with both John and Richard. When we were casting the show we knew we were going to be shooting in Chester Nova Scotia, and we needed to cast Vince and Dave as pretty local guys. We didn’t want to have to be flying them in and out, we were hoping to find someone in the area. Those guys both lived a few miles away from where we were shooting, had both done tons of work, and they auditioned and got the job instantly. They were fantastic and everyone could not believe their luck. And they I think had only known each other a little bit, but had this incredible raport. John had lived right in the area forever; his family are like the Kennedy’s of Nova Scotia. CF: Oh yeah they’re everywhere BM: And Richard Donat built his house with his own hands out there in the woods, it’s remarkable, and has been there for decades. They’re both great guys, we were so lucky to have them.

[As Nathan Duke and Audrey discuss the controller crystol] BM: Thiis scene wound up being a bit more important than I think any of us really thought that it would. I thought it was just be funny if they talked about the fact they had no idea how to use this thing they just spent the last two episodes getting, and now they have no idea what to do with it JB: Yeah I think in an earlier draft it was more comedic BM: But this is the last time these three are really together again on the show. And certainly in slightly nicer circumstances. So it really wound up being about them appreciating that. The Three Musketeers together again. So it actually wound up being really moving. And coming right on the heels of what just happened with Dave; it’s pretty sad.

CF: And by the way just so you know, those aren’t the colours of real life. That house is not that yellow. The jeep is not quite that blue. Everything’s racheted up a little bit. I mean just a little; 10, 15%. I guess they were making the fall colours really punch because we’ve never really been in the fall before.

[Croatoan talking to Vince and Dwight via Dave’s body] BM: So this had been part of the plan from way back when; we knew that we would have Croatoan in Haven for the last four episodes of the season, so we knew that the end of this episode would have Croatoan pouring out of Dave. And there was a lot of talk about what that would look like. There were some people pushing for Dave’s body to explode, but that just felt cruel. So I’m so happy that he’s pouring out as this mist. And this made it a bit spookier because the next episode is about what is Croatoan? Because they don’t really know and i’ts not until the end of the next episode that we see that he now looks a lot like William Shatner. And here’s the note [on Dave’s arm] we were talking about that this wasn’t originally in here, and we added it really late. But I’m really happy that we did.

#haven syfy #haven dvd commentaries #5.22 - A Matter of Time

[tabloidtoc]

National Enquirer, March 15

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Tiger Woods' car crash

Page 2: Bruce Springsteen has beaten the DUI charges leveled against him after federal prosecutors couldn't find a drop of evidence he had been drinking over the legal limit -- with an acceptable blood alcohol level of 0.02 well below the 0.08 threshold at the time of his arrest in Sandy Hook, New Jersey, prosecutors backed off two of their charges for drunken and reckless driving -- the rocker did plead guilty to a third charge, admitting he had two small shots of tequila on federal parkland and for that, he was fines $500 plus $40 in court costs

Page 3: Patrick Dempsey's dreamy return to Grey's Anatomy was a big hit with fans but his well-received cameo left series star Ellen Pompeo seething with jealousy -- Ellen may have permitted Patrick to revisit his old stomping grounds in Meredith Grey's fever dreams in season 17 but she doesn't want him coming back permanently and swiping her hard-earned glory and she considers herself the anchor of the show and thought she was rid of this guy after making the show her own, but now fans are begging for him to be brought back and Ellen is furious -- it's no secret Ellen hated the first 10 years of the show when Patrick was the star and she feels the series got better after he left and she became a big-shot producer, something she'd been demanding for years -- she likes being in control and calling the shots and clearly thinks she got this deal on her merit alone but it's also because she's the star who's lasted the longest; most of the original cast had already left and bosses had to cave in to keep her -- unfortunately being in charge hasn't amounted to better ratings and show has been slipping consistently in recent years and the main reason they brought Patrick back on was to spike the ratings, which it did and now producers are considering offering Patrick a full-time gig but Ellen will do everything in her power to prevent Patrick from stealing her thunder again

Page 4: Home reno gurus Chip and Joanna Gaines are clashing over his wild spending, and she's desperate to rein him in before they land in the poorhouse -- Chip and Jo are rich on paper and worth $20 million in property and assets but they were hit hard by the pandemic like everyone else and recovery has been sluggish to say the least -- they're just getting back on their feet and under a ton of pressure to get their Magnolia network off to a running start but Chip, as usual, is casual when it comes to money and it frustrates Jo to see him buying things they don't need, like new tools and equipment when the old ones work just fine and overpaying on lumber and masonry -- Chip is always shopping and not always for the house; he's got a boot fetish and has dozens of pairs, plus he treats the crew to free cappuccino and treats from their coffeehouse several time a day and Chip wants the best of everything for himself and everyone else

* Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are ready to welcome baby number four through adoption -- the couple who are parents of daughters James and Inez and Betty hope to find their next child in South America and they've invested time and money sponsoring immigrant children and they're warming up to the idea of providing an orphaned baby or toddler with a forever home -- a 16-year-old girl they sponsored through the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights was deported back to Honduras and they were heartbroken, and Blake and Ryan are now determined to provide a child with a happy home and opportunities he or she wouldn't have in their native country

Page 5: Newlyweds Pamela Anderson and Dan Hayhurst are itching to start a family and are already trying for a baby of their own -- 53-year-old Pam tied the knot with the 40-year-old handyman on Christmas Eve at her Vancouver Island home and she's been telling pals they hope to have happy news soon -- Pam wants to build a whole new clan with Dan and he's on board even though they each have kids with their exes and Dan's two kids from a previous relationship are living with the couple at Pam's pad -- the couple love the idea of adopting or going the surrogate route and it's not something they want to waste any time over

Page 6: Weary Kelly Clarkson is juggling her skyrocketing career and brutal divorce battle with estranged husband Brandon Blackstock on less than six hours sleep a night and Kelly has also been pushing to sell her homes in Nashville and Encino, while running her L.A.-based talk show and recording new music -- she's been running herself ragged for months and she's feeling the burn in a big way but despite her exhaustion, she can't sleep and nothing she tries works and the most shut-eye she catches is two, three hours at a time; she lays awake in bed at night worrying and crying

* Suddenly remorseful Kanye West has spiraled into depression and despair since soon-to-be ex-wife Kim Kardashian filed for divorce -- for all their problems, Kanye realizes she was the one person who was there for him whenever he went off the deep end and now he knows he's alone and seriously doubts he can hold his life together -- without Kim and her family to keep his wild impulses in check, he may succumb to the poor judgment and wild mood swings that have marked his chronic bipolar disorder as they were the ones who reminded him to take his meds and steer clear of recreational drugs and now all he has is a circle of yes-men he doesn't listen to anyway -- since the split, Kanye has shuttled between his ranch in Cody, Wyoming and a hotel in L.A. near the sprawling mansion he once shared with Kim and he's been blowing up her phone to beg forgiveness, but she won't take his calls and it's driving him off the deep end again

Page 7: Kourtney Kardashian is fed up with Shanna Moakler's online barbs and is plotting her revenge against the ex-wife of her new squeeze -- since Kourtney and Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker went public with their romance last month, former pageant queen Shanna has been throwing social media shade and Kourtney's tired of taking Shanna's crap and she's going to fire back soon and Kourtney's using her wide network of contacts in Hollywood to bad-mouth Shanna and she's placing calls to casting directors and perspective suitors to put as many potholes in her love rival's path as possible and she plans to make Shanna regret messing with her

Page 8: Nearly two years after Johnny Depp was forced to exit Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean franchise following ex-wife Amber Heard's allegations of abuse, the company has kicked him while he's down by considering her for a plum part -- Johnny is fuming over news that Amber is reportedly in contention to play fairy-tale heroine Rapunzel in the studio's upcoming live-action remake of Tangled -- for Amber to be in the running for a Disney pic is the ultimate insult to him especially because he believes the company made millions of dollars off his name

Page 9: Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle had a whopping $500 million motive to betray Queen Elizabeth -- outraged at being cut loose by the British royals, the couple retaliated by secretly negotiating backroom Hollywood megadeals and going public on TV -- Harry and Meghan see themselves as victims of an out-of-touch monarchy and want revenge and selling out Harry's family is the way to get it and cash in big-time; Meghan's convinced they'll have deals totaling $500 million by the end of the year but they better act fast because Hollywood is a fickle town where even royalty can be chewed up and spat out

Page 10: Hot Shots -- Amelia Hamlin stuck to the shore while pink-haired beau Scott Disick made waves in Miami, Steve Martin nibbled on a pretzel while filming Only Murders in the Building in NYC, Floyd Mayweather turned 44 and celebrated with a birthday bash in Miami, Bachelorette reject Tyler Cameron showed off his toned tummy in Florida

Page 11: Drew Barrymore feels deeply for dad-controlled Britney Spears because she's been there: she said her mom locked her away in a loony bin for over a year when she was just 13 -- Drew said it's hard to grow up in front of people and she empathizes with Britney and Paris Hilton and any star who can't escape the glare of celebrity -- Drew's mom put her in a place that was a full psychiatric ward and says she used to laugh at those Malibu 30-day places because she was in a place for a year and a half called Van Nuys Psychiatric and you couldn't mess around there and if you did, you would either get thrown in the padded room or put in stretcher restraints and tied up

* Eddie Murphy famously bragged he has never changed a diaper in his life despite having so many kids and now he's set on having another baby with fiancee Paige Butcher and this will make baby No. 11 for Eddie -- he says his genes are incredible as ever, so why stop; he's super fit and Paige is in amazing shape at age 41 and wants at least one more baby so they're going to go for it and are already trying

Page 12: Straight Shuter gossip column -- CNN could blitz news veteran Wolf Blitzer as the network revamps its lineup and TV is a young person's game and no one knows that better than Wolf and after 31 years at CNN, he sees new faces getting promoted and knows his days are numbered and Jim Acosta and Poppy Harlow are the future of CNN, not Wolf -- although Wolf's airtime has been cut as Jake Tapper's role expands, he isn't bitter or angry but instead he's grateful for an amazing run

* Love It or List It star Hilary Farr is moving on to her own show and leaving partner David Visentin in the dust -- Hilary's new show is basically the same one she and David have been doing for years, with him edited out and David was blindsided by the news and he knows HGTV has sent out a casting notice for the new show and he's hurt and angry especially because Love It or List It hasn't been renewed yet

* Sacked Dancing with the Stars host Tom Bergeron has reached out to Chris Harrison after he stepped away from The Bachelor amid a racist scandal -- Tom wasn't fired over a scandal, but he knows exactly what Chris is going through because both of them thought they had a job for life, but nothing lasts forever -- Tom is a good guy and wants Chris to know he's around if Chris needs anything

* Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, spruced up for the camera (picture)

Page 13: Brooke Shields isn't letting a busted leg keep her down but she's taking her recovery one step at a time -- she shared an Instagram video showing her cautiously hobbling on crutches and explained she broker her femur and she was beginning to mend -- she didn't reveal what caused the unlucky break

* Outspoken actress Rose McGowan is living a charmed life in Mexico and the Harvey Weinstein accuser has headed south of the border and vows never to return to the United States -- she got her permanent residency card from Mexico and is grateful to have it and says it's a really healing land and it is truly magical -- she moved at the dawn of the COVID-19 pandemic because she knew it was going to get really bad in America and she had a moment to figure out where she wanted to be

* Picky perfectionist Blake Shelton listens to around 300 songs to choose what to record for each of his albums, according to his longtime producer -- music pro Scott Hendricks said he wades through nearly 3000 tracks by professional songwriters to select tunes for Blake to consider and then Blake methodically whittles down the nominees until he's certain which songs he wants to record but Scott admitted that process is more difficult for him culling the 300 from the 3000 -- Scott, who has worked with Blake for most of his career, said of their close professional relationship that the chemistry works and they have recorded several hundred or more songs together and they are getting ready to go do some more

Page 14: Crime

Page 15: Killer kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's busted beauty queen bride will be marked for death behind bars -- if Emma Coronel Aispuro snitches to the feds about the bloodthirsty Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel long run by her caged husband, she'll put a big fat bulls-eye on her back -- according to a federal complaint, Coronel was intimately involved in her husband's multibillion-dollar drug-running racket and acted as his criminal agent while he was on the lam and the mother of El Chapo's two young daughters helped mastermind her spouse's daring 2015 tunnel escape from a Mexican prison and also paid him $100,000 for another failed bust-out a year later -- they are going to put the heat on her to spill more details on other top operatives in the cartel and take them down, too, but if she spills, it will be open season on her on the inside

Page 16: Dr. Dre appears to rap about estranged wife Nicole Young in a song filled with angry, explicit lyrics calling someone in his life a greedy bitch -- DJ Silk previewed part of a new track from Dre full of digs presumably at Nicole, with whom he has been locked in a nasty divorce -- his lyrics include: Trying to kill me with them lies and that perjury/ I see you trying to f--k me while I'm in surgery / In ICU death bed on some money s--t / Greedy bitch take a pic / Girl you know how money get

* Hollywood Hookups -- Lorenzo Lamas is set to wed for the sixth time to model Kenna Scott, Justin Hartley and Chrishell Stause are officially divorced, Adam Rippon is engaged to Jussi-Pekka Kajaala

Page 17: Former Home Improvement kid Zachery Ty Bryan has pleaded guilty to two felony counts of domestic violence -- Zachery, now 39, has been sentenced to three years of probation and will also have to take part in a batterer intervention program

* John Mayer has dated a succession of famous singers including Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and Halsey and he hopes they write chart-topping songs about him and admitted he'd be jazzed if his exes enshrined him in song, saying sometimes a song is so good he hopes it's about him and he even scours their lyrics for clues -- Taylor already has several tracks that have been linked to John including Dear John

* Ruthless chef Gordon Ramsay said he's cooked up his own plan to keep his kids humble -- he has five kids with wife Tana: Megan, twins Holly and Jack, Tilly and Oscar but said he plans to leave most of his reported $200 million fortune to charity -- Gordon explained his kids must tidy up after dinners, can only fly coach and are expected to learn how to cook for themselves and he's forbidden them from taking costly taxis and the foulmouthed foodie insisted they don't swear

Page 18: American Life

Page 19: Roseanne Barr was blindsided by a humiliating new scandal after risque photos from the early '90s recently emerged which appear to show her teenage daughters licking her boobs -- Roseanne posed for the shots with her two youngest girls at a Glamour Shots studio in Iowa more than 25 years ago and the photographer who claimed he snapped the fake lesbian lovefest but did not want to be named dished Roseanne and daughters Jessica and Jennifer who are now in their mid-40s happily hammed it up for the camera but decades later Roseanne and her daughters are all mortified and embarrassed by these pics; they were horsing around years ago and never thought they'd see the light of day

Page 20: Cover Story -- Still recovering from agonizing back surgery, Tiger Woods was pushing himself to the limit when he flew off a California cliff into a career-crushing car accident -- lawmen said the golf legend was lucky to be alive after the horrific wreck that shattered his right leg -- the accident only added to Tiger's physical problems; his movement has been restricted since a fifth back operation in December and he was unable to play golf despite an appearance at a local tournament the weekend before the bloody wreck -- at a press conference days before cheating death, Tiger admitted he was worried about his physical condition and his ability to play again, saying a lot of it is based on his surgeons and doctors and therapist and making sure he does it correctly and he doesn't have a lot of wiggle room left -- Tiger could barely move, and it seemed to get him down and his back rehab has been brutal and he was hobbling around and distraught but he refused to give into his condition and his tough-as-nails mindset could have contributed to the crash: when a person is overwhelmed by physical pain, that dominates everything they do and if you're behind the wheel of a car and in physical pain, it can distract you and likely lead to this kind of disaster -- Tiger was eager to get to a TV taping on the morning disaster struck and he seemed impatient when he left the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, an L.A. suburb, just after 7 a.m. and although traffic cameras show he was driving within the speed limit, his Genesis GV80 SUV crossed the center median onto the opposite side of the road and flipped -- authorities said Tiger appeared lucid to first responders and there were no signs the recovering addict was under the influence of alcohol or drugs and they did not request a blood test when Tiger was rushed to the hospital from the crash site and the incident was an accident -- Tiger was taken to nearby Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, where doctors said his broken bones protruded through his right leg and they put a rod in his leg and used screws and pins to stabilize the break and his ankle -- it will take three to four months to heal and then eight months of physical therapy and it is unlikely he will ever run again and he may have a limp and in terms of golf, just walking for extended periods of time will be a big deal and recovery will be agonizing; it's a very real possibility that Tiger's taken his final swing

Page 21: Addiction experts warned Tiger Woods' recovery will test his sobriety after his stint in rehab for prescription painkiller use and it is very, very common for a patient in recovery to relapse after a trauma like the one suffered by Tiger and exposure to painkillers administered directly or prescribed after a physical trauma is highly likely to trigger a relapse -- Tiger will probably need painkillers to get through this, but he'll also need to be connected with like-minded people to keep him away from his old thinking that pills are the solution to his problems

Page 22: Desperate Ghislaine Maxwell has offered to renounce her British and French citizenships in a new bid to get out of jail -- the disgraced socialite's last two stabs at freedom including one package offering $22.5 million as bond money were rejected by a judge who deemed her a flight risk -- now according to her lawyers, Ghislaine will formally commence the procedure to renounce her foreign citizenship to satisfy any concerns the court may have that she may try to seek a safe haven in France or the U.K. -- Justice Department officials were concerned Ghislaine would flee to France, where she was born, since the country has no extradition treaty with the U.S.

* Woody Allen claimed his own words are being used to attack him in the bombshell Allen v. Farrow documentary -- Woody has repeatedly denied adopted daughter Dylan Farrow's claims he sexually abused her when she was seven at her mom Mia Farrow's home -- Woody blasted the documentary which rehashes the claims as a shoddy hit piece and a hatched job riddled with falsehoods adding the filmmakers stole from his autobiography

Page 26: Twice-divorced Ricki Lake's engagement to California attorney Ross Burningham has insiders fearing she may suffer yet another heartbreak -- she announced her happy news on Instagram but Ricki has seen far more than her share of bad luck in the romance department and everyone is praying this final shot at love doesn't end in despair and it's never Ricki's fault, but she's never found a man who could keep her happy

Page 28: A lurid landscape of drug-fueled orgies, suicidal thoughts and fake sexual enthusiasm will play out in a new television series based on model and reality star Holly Madison's X-rated confessions from her shocking 2015 biography Down the Bunny Hole -- Madison first exposed the sleazy details of how she and other young women were plied with drugs and coerced to participate in sex parties with Playboy founder Hugh Hefner in exchange for acting as his girlfriends and getting to live inside the iconic L.A. mansion along with a weekly $1000 stipend -- the limited series will star actress Samara Weaving as Holly, who was a member of Hef's harem between 2001 and 2008 -- Holly, Kendra Wilkinson and Bridget Marquardt became the notorious stars of the reality show The Girls Next Door which debuted in 2005 and focused on their seemingly glamorous life with Hef but glossed over the dark secrets behind the scenes -- in her bombshell confessions, Holly revealed the 22-bedroom manor was actually a foul pigsty filled with stained mattresses where Hef's live-in ladies were forced to perform weird bedroom rituals and look excited by it

Page 29: Jack Osbourne has listed his sprawling California home for rent at $16,500 a month -- the 35-year-old son of Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne is offering the five-bedroom, 5600-square-foot home in Studio City unfurnished -- Sharon was recently seen outside the home with moving vans helping Jack prep the property -- Jack, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, bought the home in 2014 when he was married to Lisa Stelly; the couple divorced in 2018 and share three children: Andy, Pearl and Minnie

* Heidi Klum has snipped all threads tying her to dad Gunther Klum after the cosmetics and modeling honcho skipped her wedding -- Heidi dumped her manager dad after he snubbed her August 2019 ceremony in Capri with guitarist Tom Kaulitz of the band Tokio Hotel and she has also ended her German enterprise Heidi Klum GmbH, originally overseen by Gunther -- Heidi and her dad had a falling out over Tom and Gunther never really approved of him and was dead set against the marriage and it drove a wedge in their relationship

Page 32: Health Watch

* Ask the Vet -- an African Gray Parrot with a feather-picking problem

Page 34: Barack Obama broke a buddy's nose over a racist remark -- he revealed the two classmates were playing basketball when his friend hurled a racial slur and he popped him in the face and broke his nose, Obama told Bruce Springsteen on their podcast Renegades: Born in the USA -- Obama said he doesn't think his pal even knew what the word meant, just that it was meant to be hurtful

* Country singer Keith Urban has shrunk to 140 pounds as the former addict is hooked on a bizarre diet of nuts and berries and even worse, the five-foot-ten crooner appears to be growing thinner and friends are worried the stress of his demanding career and his desperate desire to be a good husband to Nicole Kidman may push him over the edge -- no one sees him eating much more than handfuls of raw almonds or sunflower seeds and berries washed down with gallons of water -- though he's been sober since 2006, pals fear the struggle to avoid giving in to temptation as well as hearing Nicole purportedly mended fences with ex-hubby Tom Cruise may be weighing on the star -- despite his bony appearance, Keith thinks he looks great

Page 40: Evil ISIS terrorists are using the COVID-19 pandemic as cover while they rebuild their network and mastermind new attacks and both Iraq and the U.S. are in their crosshairs -- because the West has been focused on dealing with the pandemic, ISIS and new groups sprung from their shattered forces have been reloading and plotting revenge, according to Ryan Mauro of the terrorist-monitoring Clarion Intelligence Network -- the pandemic has brought decreased confidence in Western governments, which has emboldened the terrorists to launch sleeper cell attacks on foreign soil

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Anya Taylor-Joy

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