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aliwritesss · 3 years

Text

~ Nothin’ like us

Pairings: Hyunjae x reader

Genre: idol au, angst, happy ending

———————————

You didn’t expect it. Not in the slightest.

No one from your group prepared anything and now you have to pull up something or you’ll be embarrassed on national TV. You can feel the stares and uncomfortable shifts from your members, no one thought they’d ask so suddenly to sing, since it was supposed to be a interview. Answer some questions, joke around for a bit and you’ll be able to go home.

- These days your group is quite famous for doing covers! One even went viral a few days ago... When I saw it I got so emotional, it was really touching -. Oh god, I can’t do this you think. You feel the hand of one of the girls touch you slightly, telling they’re here. If they’re talking about the one you did on vlive, it’s not going to end well. You were live just chilling with your fans and suddenly that song popped up, making everyone ask you to sing a bit.

- So I hope I’m not asking too much, but (Y/N) would you sing a bit for us? - You can feel sweat dripping from your back. That song meant the world to you, and you were not ready to sing it live with so many people staring at you. One thing is doing it in a live in your practice room where you are with your fans, being safe from tricky questions but this was different.

- I know you didn’t prepare it but I really hope it’s okay -. Says the MC looking at you with puppy eyes and you see how Sonbok, the leader of your group, is going to kindly decline the offer but that’ll be worse, it’ll look unprofessional and will make the atmosphere tense.

- Yeah, okay -. You say before she can say anything and you feel her looking worriedly at you. They know you weren’t ready to do it, they might ask questions after and will make the situation worse.

- Great! We even prepared a piano, we knew you wouldn’t let us down -. Says the MC happily and you see the staff taking out a small electric piano. You let nervous sigh and and go to take a seat.

- So... The song is Nothin like us... I hope you like it -. You say trembling. The song that makes your heart break for Hyunjae, your ex-boyfriend.

(...Lately I've been thinking, thinking 'bout what we had.

I know it was hard, it was all that we knew, yeah...)

You start singing with a trembling voice. All the memories suddenly come to you, hitting you like a car. It’s been almost a month since you broke up with Hyunjae and you didn’t move on, the pain felt the same way as it did the first day, unbearable.

You two met two years ago in a music show and since that day you’ve been in love with him. The way he’s shy at first, looking at everyone so serious and only standing there, it made you curious. “Why doesn’t he say anything? Maybe he doesn’t like me?” Boy, were you wrong... Once you started to get comfortable with each other, it was chaos.

He made you laugh, could make you shiver like no one did before, knew how you were feeling by just looking at you. He even was there when no one was. Didn’t leave your side even in the darkest times.

But it’s all gone now.

(...Have you been drinking to take all the pain away?

I wish that I could give you what you deserve…)

That’s what you wanted to say to him. Are you doing okay? You deserve the whole world and I’m sorry I can't give it to you.

Kevin and Changmin told you that he was miserable, he wouldn’t eat for days and couldn’t focus properly when they practiced. They begged you to talk to him, to tell him that it's gonna be okay, that you were there for him but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. No when you knew he deserved better. Someone who could be there for him.

Even though the breakup was mutual because of your schedules, you both knew you didn’t want to do it. And that’s the worst part, when you can’t be with the person you love.

(...Cause nothing can ever, ever replace you

Nothing can make me feel like you do…)

You feel your voice starting to break, but you keep going. The day after you broke up, the first thought that came to your mind was “ I can’t do this, I can’t do this without him.”

You remembered the first night you spent together, both of you just finished your promotions for your comeback and were tired as hell. But one day you received a message from him telling you “ Pack some things, we’re going on a trip. Picking you up in 20.” Till this day, that is your best weekend ever.

You went to the outskirts of Seoul, nothing too fancy. Only a little house in the middle of a forest to have some privacy, and since it was the end of September it wasn’t too hot or cold.

He was so excited to be there with you and kept saying the whole ride how he was going to prepare some fancy dinner, but that ended up with the two of you making a mess in the kitchen and eating ramen on the floor.

You still have this pic of him, having flour all over his face, trying to kiss you with the biggest smile.

(...You know there's no one, I can relate to

And know we won't find a love that's so true…)

You start to feel tears in the corner of your eyes but at this point you don’t care anymore.

“ I just want to tell you before I go that you made me so happy, and I’m thankful to have met you. You’ll always be my first love and I hope I can find you in another life, one that we can be together forever” That’s what he said the day you both broke up. You were so angry with the universe, Why did you have to meet the love of your life only to not be together?

The hardships, the rumors, the stress, the fans, the pressure… No one could relate like him. No one understood you like him.

And you knew you needed him to keep your sanity.

(...I gave you everything, baby, everything I had to give

Girl, why would you push me away? yeah….)

You both gave everything in this relationship.

He was your first time and you were his, in every aspect. He was so caring, it made you feel like a goddess. Every time your skin touched his, you felt the electricity.

Thanks to him, you were able to finally understand what true love is. What it means to have a friend, a lover, a confidant, a partner in crime all in one person. He was the reason you could keep going everyday.

But as the days went by, both of you started to grow apart because of schedules… So many things to prepare. You couldn't see the difference between day or night anymore. However even though you both tried with all your power to make it work, it wasn’t possible, the day only had 24 hours and no matter how hard you tried, you couldn't find time for your relationship.

(...Lost in confusion, like an illusion

You know I'm used to making your day…)

You remember the nights you spent in their practice room, watching them dance and practice for their performances. How many sleepless nights you spent with them, but you didn’t care the slightest because every hour was worth it.

How many times have you called him crying in the middle of a day because you thought you couldn’t do this anymore? But you only needed to hear him laugh to make you feel better.

How many times did you send selcas in between your schedules? Or how many times did he send you dorky and cute videos telling you how much he loved you?

You still have every single pic and video in your phone, and you weren’t going to delete them any time soon.

(...But that is the past now, we didn't last now

I guess that this is meant to be, yeah

Tell me was it worth it? We were so perfect…)

This part hits you home and that’s when your tears start to fall.

You would live this life again if that meant being with Hyunjae. You love him so much, and are so grateful to have met him that even if you didn’t get your happy ending, you would go through hell again only for a last kiss.

Every single minute was worth it.

(...There's nothing like us, there's nothing like you and me

Together through the storm

There's nothing like us, there's nothing like you and me

Together…)

You’re not singing anymore for the people.

You’re only singing to Hyunjae and you mean every word.

There’s nothing like your relationship.

There’s nothing like him and you together.

There’s nothing like your love.

You finish the song with your eyes closed and trembling hands. Everything is so quiet that you are afraid to open your eyes.

And after that everything goes in a blur, you only remember the MC thanking you many times, the arms of one of the girls wrapped around you, taking you to the car and raining non-stop.

You finally get home and can’t wait to go straight to your room and cry your eyes out. You get out of your car and start running to your dorms, only to find someone sitting in the rain.

To find the love of your life waiting for you.

You stare at each other for a few seconds, and once you realize he’s actually there you go straight to him running and wrap yourself around him. How much have you missed his arms, his kisses. He was your safe place.

- I saw it -. He says quietly and you know he’s crying too. - You don't know how much I missed you, love-. You feel the rain pouring but you don’t care anymore, if you are with him you’ll get together through the storm.

- I’m not gonna let you go ever again. Because there’s nothin like us -.

#the boyz #the boyz au #the boyz series #the boyz imagines #the boyz scenarios #tbz imagines #tbz x reader #tbz fluff #tbz hyunjae #the boyz hyunjae #the boyz drabbles

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rosyrosethings · 4 years

Text

Harry and Y/n take a road trip.

Y/N IS A DARK SKINNED BLACK WOMEN. If you have a problem don't read it then. This has smut and Y/n is top energy (dominate over Harry.)

Y/n and her friends had been planning this road road trip all year! They were planning on going from Michigan to Florida to Texas to California. Everyone was excited to be going on this trip with their friends considering that they have seen each other recently since school, but it was Summer break and they always spent their summers together and this summer they were going on a road trip together

Y/n walked outside of her house seeing her boyfriend Kevin putting stuff in the trunk. Luke in the backseats of the car with Neik. Luke and neik weren’t dating but you could tell they were in love with one another. Harry and Lauren making out on the front of his car. She scrunched her nose at the eighth of them stuffing there tongues down each other’s throats.

“Ya know when I introduced you to my neighbor Harry. I didn’t think you were gonna treat him like a pudding cup.” Y/n said to her friend Lauren. Lauren pulled away from Harry’s mouth.

“Well, when you became my best friend. I didn’t plan on you fucking my brother every Tuesday but yet you do. So we are even.” Lauren responded. Y/n laughed

“You’re right. But Harry if you ever need help because you can’t breathe because all of her tongues being shoved down her throat. I’m right next door just throw a rock at my window I’d save you.” She said as she placed his shoulder. He laughed

“Okay everyone let’s get on the road!!

They were all driving. Harry behind Kevin. Harry was having a hard time keeping up with Kevin. So we pulled over. Because Lauren was probably distracting Harry because they both act like they can’t keep their hands off each other for one second. So there they all were on the side of the road debating who’s gonna switch with Lauren.

“Okay. So Neik can you switch with Lauren?”

“No me and Luke have been watching movies and I rather not leave because well Luke has the movies and this car has WiFi.” She said as she got back into the backseat of the car.

“I’m with Neik,” Luke said following her into the car.

“Okay how about I’d switch with Lauren. And you Lauren can sit up here with her brother.” Y/n said, referring to Kevin. Lauren and Kevin are twins brother and sister.

“But Baby I will miss you,” Kevin said as he kissed her cheek. She smiled

“It’s fine babe. I can make sure Harry doesn’t get lost and you can keep your sister from distracting Harry and besides Harry's mouth needs a break. So c’mon harry!” She said as she grabbed Harry’s hand. Leading him back to the car.

“Be kind to my Harry!” Lauren yelled.

Y/n and Harry’ drove quietly. Y/n Looked over at him.

“Harry tell me how’s life?” As she turned over and looked at him.

“Ya know, just living life.

“Do you still draw pictures?”

“Of course I do, Lauren hates it tho. She says I spend too much time drawing and not with her.” He said with a sigh.

“I understand, Kevin never lets me do anything if he doesn’t know where I am he goes crazy. Because his last girlfriend cheated.” She said,

“But your art is way too beautiful to stop. When I use to come over before you started dating Lauren. I love seeing all your art around.” He quickly glanced at her with a smile.

“I have my sketchbook maybe you can look at it later if you want.”

“I’d love too.” She responded.

They enjoyed each other’s company. Y/n asking stupid pointless questions. Him laughing at all of her stupid questions.

“Would you rather kick the feet of a barefoot homeless man orrr ...” she paused as she thought about the next thing she was gonna say.

“Or kiss Kevin.”

“I rather kiss my girlfriend's brother.”

“Hmm, good choice Kevin is a pretty decent kisser.”

“Pretty decent ?” he questioned

“Idk he does this thing where his tongue stabs mine. It’s weird.” Harry burst into laughter.

“And it is better if we didn’t have to sneak around all the time.”

“Sneak?”

“His parents don’t know we are dating and we’ve dating each for 3 years.” She said as she looked out the window. Kevin still stayed with his parents so whenever Y/n went over she had to say she was over to see Lauren.

“Why is that?”

“Well because I’m black and he’s white.” She said sadly. “I don’t know sometimes it feels like he’s ashamed of me..” She whispered quietly but since no music was playing Harry heard her clearly. Harry's face scrunched up. His hand tightens on the wheel.

“What does he do?”

“He says stuff..like you should straighten your hair..or that you should stay out the sun you don’t wanna get too black.. it just always little things.” Now Harry was pissed.. how could he say those things to someone like Y/n. He thought she was amazing. Her skin tone was even more amazing.

“Y/n you really don’t deserve that asshole as a boyfriend. I never really was a big fan of his in the first place. He’s always so protective of you but to know that he’s saying those things to you. Just makes me want to punch him in the face.” Harry said, Y/n kinda smiled. It felt nice since Harry cared. Y/n and Harry use to be a lot closer before he started dating Lauren. Since Harry was her neighbor. They use to talk all the time especially since their bedroom windows were right across from each other. Harry used to have a huge crush on her. He still kinda does. But then Y/n sat him up with Lauren about 6months ago and him Lauren has been sat for about 4 months.

Y/n reached over and kissed his cheek.

“You’ve always been so sweet to me Harry.” Harry’s face immediately lit up red. She giggled “you’re so cute.”

They continued to enjoy each other’s company. Y/n ended up dosing off while Harry continued to drive. He didn’t use GPS he thought he’d follow Kevin. But he’s been following the wrong car the entire time. They’ve been driving for hours. He realized that they were supposed to stop in Georgia and he saw a sign that said, West Virginia. So he was lost.

Y/n woke up and looked over at Harry. It was now dark outside.. so she thought they were arriving at their first destination. She could tell by Harry’s facial expression that something was wrong. But her phone started to ring.

“Hey, guys where are you? We are in Georgia and we realized you guys were not behind us.” Kevin asked, y/n bit her lip.

“Yea me and Harry are lost,” she said, Kevin was about to lose it.

“How tf did you guys get lost?”

“I don’t know maybe all my talking.” She shrugged. She did really stress it too much. Kevin kept going on about how we need to use the GPS to drove to Georgia right now. Y/n sighed and looked at a tired driving Harry. “Look Harry’s been driving and he’s tired and I’m too scared to drive at night soo we are gonna find a rest stop to sleep and continue driving tomorrow.” She said firmly. Kevin wanted to drive to her but he didn’t know where they were. He didn’t like her solution but there is no way to change her mind.

“Fine. Just be safe baby. I love you.”

“Love you too bye.” She said as she hung up the phone.

“I’m sorry I got us lost,” he said as he took an exit for a rest stop or gas station.

“It’s fine I don’t mind. And I brought blankets and snacks in my backpack. So we could sleep in the back seat of your car.” Harry’s face got red immediately. Sleep in the back seat with Y/n? The thought was making him blush like crazy.

“You’re blushing? You don’t have to sleep in the back with me if you don’t wanna..”

“No! No!! I want to.” He said eagerly. She laughed. They pulled up to the rest station. Y/n climbed into the back seat of Harry’s truck and Harry got out the car and went into the back.

“I only have one blanket. Hope you don’t mind sharing.” She said as she opens her book bag pulling out the blanket she got closer to Harry as she put the blanket over them.

“No, I don’t mind.” Harry looked over at her skin as out the blanket over them. He noticed that she was wearing a bra. He saw her collar bone. He wanted to kiss it so badly. He had a thing for collar bone and her brown skin.

“You’re skin is so beautiful.” He blurted out. Shit. He didn’t mean to say that.

“Thank you, Harry. You’re very beautiful.” He blushed and mumbled a thank you. They continued to talk and She pulled out a few snacks and a bag of chips and a bottle of liquor.

“I brought this to celebrate our first stop but now it’s just me and you. So I’m gonna drink some. Do you want some?” Harry shrugged and she opens the bottle with pop and took a swig right out the bottle handing it to Harry. He did the same. They drunk it until half of the bottle was gone. Harry didn’t really feel much of the liquor but Y/n on the other hand who was a major lightweight she was definitely feeling it. She laughing at everything Harry said.

“Have you had too much to drink?” He asked as he laughed at her. Y/n laid her back against the car door and laid her legs across Harry’s lap. Her longs legs were laying across him. Harry grabbed her feet with his hand. Not bothering to answer his questions.

“Wow, you made yourself comfortable. What if I hated feet?” He said as he swung her feet back and forth. She giggled.

“Well if you do hate feet. You’re the one who grabbed it with your hand. Soo you must have some kind of feet fetish.” She laughed and he rolled his eyes.

“Well, I guess you gave pretty nice feet.”

“Okay, Harry lets play 20 questions!” She said cheerfully as she sat up in her knees. Her faces close to Harry’s. Harry bit his lip and nodded.wheneve he thought about this game. It always leads to sexual things. But Y/n knew what she doing. Harry just always looked so good. In his tank tops and all his tattoos showing. She saw him staring at her. She knew Harry wanted her and her also. She shouldn’t because well she had a boy and He has a girlfriend. But no one ever treated her how Harry did and she wanted him so bad. She’s wanted him for years.

“Favorite tv show?” He asked

“That’s hard I watch a lot of tv. Probably the office.”

“What’s your favorite movie?” She asked,

“Probably.. die hard.” Y/n laughed at his response.

“Diehard? So you're a tough guy.”

He gave her a side smile. “I try to be.”

“What about you? What’s your favorite movie?” He asked

“If I tell you. You’re gonna laugh at me.”

“I’m not I promise.”

“It’s 50 shades of grey.” She said, looking at him right in the eye. Harry face lit up red again.

“I actually never saw that movie... but I know what happens.” He says, he looked down at his hands. Y/n always knew Harry was shy. But he was so cute it was fun to embarrass him.

“Yea it’s a lot of fucking in that movie. But I enjoy it.” He didn’t respond. He didn’t know what to say. He was a little nervous. ‘What is this girl doing to me?’ He thought time himself.

“Do you like sex, Harry?”

“Y-yes.” He answered a bit nervous. She pouted out her bottom lip. Harry didn’t even look up at her. She placed her hand under his chin and turned his face towards her.

“Am I making you nervous?” She asked. If Harry's face got any redder it was going to explode. “If you wanna stop playing this game. We could.”

“No, not at all. We could keep going.”

“Well, aren’t you gonna ask me a question?” She said as her face got closer to his. Harry had to take control he wanted to do this. He wants her so badly for so long.

“What turns you on?” He asked,

“Tattoos.” She whispered. Knowing he had tattoos all over him. Kevin didn’t have any. So she had to be talking about him.

“I have tattoos.” He said, she smiled and looked down at his arm. Her finger started to trace the tattoos on his arms. His other arms have the most tattoos. She crawled over his lap. Now straddling him. Harry's breath hitched he didn’t know what to do or what to say. Her fingers tracing up his other are to his collar bone.

“You turn me on.” He said. She smiled in response.

“Do I?” She said as she kissed his cheek. And his other cheek. Harry was getting hard. He knew she could feel it.

“If you want me to stop. Say stop.” She whispered. But he didn’t want her to stop he’s dreamt of this moment since he met her. She continued to kiss the corner of his mouth followed by the other corner. She kissed his lips as soon as her lips touched his. He took his hands and placed them on her hips. His lips moving against hers eagerly wanting to put his tongue in her mouth. She parted her lips slightly for his tongue and Harry didn’t waste any time sliding his tongue in her mouth. She started to grind her hips on his dick. He let out a little moan. She couldn’t help but smile at how excited he was.

“I’ve wanted you since the day I met you.” She moved to the side of him. She took off her tank top and her and her shorts and her panties. Harry followed suit. Taking off his joggers and his take top. Y/n got on her knees with her ass in the air. Her head down by Harry’s lap she hooked her fingers around the band of her briefs pulling them down till his cock popped out smacking against his stomach. Harry was in disbelief about how she looked. She placed her hand on his dick stroking it softly and she kissed the tip of his dick. Harry thought he was gonna cum any moment but he held it back as he watched her intensely. She looked at him through the corner of her eye as she started to stroke him faster. He threw his head back in pleasure. She slid his tip in her mouth and swirled her tongue all around it.

“Fuckk Y/n. Please stop being a tease.” She didn’t respond she just decided to deep throat him instead. She shoved all of his big cock down her throat. Harry continued to moan her name. As she started bobbing her head up and down and using her hand to jack him off. The sloppy noises and the moans she let out we’re getting him closer and closer.

“Fuck Y/n. I’m gonna cum. I’m gonna cum.” He moaned out. She didn’t stop though. She kept sucking and shoving all of his dick deep inside of her mouth. She pulled away from his dick and continued to jack him off.

“Come for me, baby. Cum right In my mouth.” She said and she licked up the shaft of his dick and putting the tip of his big juicing cock right back in her mouth. Harry couldn’t take it he tried to hold back he felt as if he was cumming to quickly but she so good at this. He ejected into her mouth and she swallowed every bit of him. She pulled away still jacking him off. She looked over at Harry who head was against the seat he looked exhausted. The pleasure of cumming and her still rubbing his cock was too much. He couldn’t even talk. She leaned up against his ear.

“We aren’t done yet, baby. I want you deep inside of this pussy baby.” She said and kissed his ear lobe. Then she straddled his lap and position his dick at the right at her entrance and she slowly let herself down. Both of the moaning loudly. Harry was exhausted but yet he was still hard and she felt so good around him. He placed his hand on her hips. She bounced up and down on his cock. He got so so good inside her. Kevin wasn’t nearly as big as Harry was and Kevin never gave her an orgasm (Kevin was the only guy she’s been with.) this was a whole new world for her.

“Do you like me bouncing up and down on your dick baby?” She asked Harry was too focused on her boobs bouncing up and down in front of him and the contrast of her dark skin bouncing on his white cock.

“I asked you a question.” She said, she grabbed his chin making him look her in the eye. The bossy ness was turning him on more and more. He loved her dominance. He loved to see her take control. He nodded his “yes, I love it.”

“Good boy.” She said and she started to bounce faster and faster. He lost it when she said that he had to cum again.

“I’m gonna cum.” He mumbled. Y/n was on the pill so she had nothing to worry about.

“Cum baby. I’m close too.” She said she bounced faster. Feeling close to her climax. She let out a loud moan as she road Harry as she slowed down at the height of her climax. Harry came inside of her. He laid there unable to move. Y/n got his lap back to sitting at her side. Her tired too. But the orgasm feeling was amazing.

“Did you like that?” She asked Harry could barely keep his eyes open. He looked at her. That was the first time he ever came back to back.

“You’re so fucking amazing.” He said well more of a mumble.

“So are you.” Maybe she should tell him. He gave her his first orgasm but she didn’t. She helped Harry pulled up Harry’s briefs and took a deep breath laying her head on his shoulder. They both laid their weeks until both of them fell asleep.

Y/n woke up dressed in her clothes. With the blanket over her. Laying in the back seat of Harry’s truck. Harry in the driver seat. Driving. She sat up. Immediately regretting it. She was hungover. She closed her eyes. Realizing it was too bright outside. She placed her hand on her head. Followed by a groan.

“Rise and shine sleepyhead,” Harry said, the thought of last night still gracing his memory. His dick still limp and tired from last night.

“Ugh, Harry. How much did I drink last night?”

“Well, considering you were lightweight. You drank probably 1/4 of the bottle and you were drunk off your ass.” He said with a laugh. She tried to think of last night. Memories of her and Harry. She sucked his dick and rode him. Her eyes grew wide she made eye contact with Harry through his rearview mirror. They both know what she was thinking.

“I had my first orgasm last night.” She said lowly. Harry's eyes grew wide. “We had sex... I’m sorry. I’m soo sorry. I get really horny when I drink. We were both drunk-.”

“I wasn’t drunk. I was basically sober.”

“Harry we can't tell anyone. This is our secret. We can’t tell anyone.”

“Y/n can we just talk about it first?”

“No Harry there isn’t anything to talk about nothing happened.”

“Y/n.”

“No.”

They sat the rest of the ride in silence. Awkward silence. Both of them having the best sex they did ever. Harry who crush on Y/n seems to go bigger and Y/n wanted Harry way more. It was her first orgasm and she wanted him against and again. But Y/n refused to talk to him. Once they arrived at the gas station the other guys were at. Y/n quickly got out of the car and was greeted quickly by Kevin with his mouth. She didn’t kiss back she just kissed him slightly. Harry watched as he got out of the car. His jaw tensing up. But he could tell that she wasn’t really interested in kissing him. But his thought was interrupted by Lauren jumping on him kissing him deeply.

“Aww, baby I missed you soo much. “ She said as she kissed all over and around his face. He had to figure out how to talk to Y/n alone.

Y/n looked over at him while Lauren was kissing all over him. She rolled her eyes and looked back at Kevin who was lecturing her about getting lost. She sighed. Why didn’t she feel bad for cheating on him? Why does she want to do it again? She feels worse for Lauren than she does him. But her body was craving Harry and Harry was craving her.

“Okay Lovers!! Enough kissing. We need to get going so we could go camping in Miami!” Luke yelled. Everyone got in there cars this time Lauren, Y/n, and Niek in one car and all the boys in another car. Harry and Y/n both thinking about each other for the rest of the ride. Neither of them knowing what to do.

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #harry styles fanfic #hstylesedit #watermelon sugar

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gifted-burnout-archive · 4 years

Text

Jim’s Best Friend

Part Six - With Festivities Comes Chaos

Word Count: 2072

Author’s Note: Bless Jim Halpert

WARNING: None.

December, 2005.

The past two months had been touch and go for you, but you were finally coming out the other side of it all. After Jim and Pam had taken care of you on Halloween, you had spent the rest of the week out of the office, and when you came back and still had a cut over your brow and a bruised cheek, you went with the cover story of slipping and being too proud to admit it.

Of course, you broke your silent treatment against Michael to tell him what actually happened, Jim and Pam flanking you in his office for emotional support. And Michael apologised, for everything since Packer. And now your face had finally healed up (though your side was still bruised pretty badly), everything was getting back to normal, slowly but sure.

—

"There was one day, in the break room, and we weren't doing anything important, but Phyllis told a joke." Jim explained to the crew, biting his lip as he smiled. "And it was the first time I had heard Y/N laugh in months. It was just... She's finally moving forward. Got a restraining order on Brian..." his fist clenched as he spoke his name. "Moved apartment too, somewhere closer to work. Which is great, because I pick her up everyday before work now."

"Well, if your friend went through that, you'd want to make sure they're safe." Jim shrugged. "And look, the rest of the office don't know, obviously. Just Pam, Michael, Toby and I... So keep in under wraps, will you?"

—

Michael was out of the office for a big deal with corporate, and mid afternoon, Pam had found it.

The screenplay. Threat Level: Midnight.

FBI agent Michael Scarn, Catherine Zeta-Jones, impossible feats, illustrations, the lot. After uncovering it, she rushed over to you and Jim, sharing her findings.

"Oh, Pam, good work..." Jim laughed, reading through it, and you winked at Pam, agreeing. It was completely ridiculous, and so very long.

"What do you say to maybe gathering up the office? Having a read through?" You suggested, biting the cap of your pen as you glanced at the pair, Pam letting out a squeal of delight and taking the script from Jim to photocopy.

"Dream team, that's what us three are." Jim smirked, and got up to start gathering colleagues. You finished off the report you were working on, and raided the kitchen for snacks to keep Kevin fed for the next few hours.

The entire team met in the conference room, Pam handing out the screenplay to everyone, and Jim taking charge.

"Do we all have our copy of Threat Level: Midnight by Michael Scott?" Jim asked, and when met with nods and murmuring ascent, he smiled. "All right, let's get this started. I'm gonna be reading the action descriptions, and Phyllis, I would like you to play Catherine Zeta-Jones." Jim offered, and Phyllis snorted.

"That's the character's name?" She asked, but before Jim could respond, Dwight, who was hovering in the doorway, spoke up.

"Okay, you guys should not be doing this!" He announced, Jim looked over at him.

"Why not, Dwight? I mean, this is a movie." Jim turned to the table, staring into the distance for the following emotional words. "This is for all of America to enjoy."

"You took something that doesn't belong to you-"

"Dwight."

"-Brought it in here and made copies of it-"

"Do you want to play the lead role of Agent Michael Scarn?" Jim asked, and that shut Dwight up immediately. He took the spare script from the table centre, sitting down in a spare chair, the room smiling as Jim began to set the scene.

—

After Pam had chatted with Roy about staying late, and Dwight had discovered that he was originally the useless sidekick, Jim called an intermission, and you took a very much needed rest from your tiring role of Assistant Number 3/ Shop Clerk/ Hot Babe. You got up to stretch your legs, about to follow Jim and Pam into the kitchen when a cough caught your attention.

"Y/N." Dwight stood in front of you, Kevin hoovering a few feet away.

"What's up Dwigt?" You asked, intentionally mispronouncing his name. He pursed his lips, but decided whatever he needed to say was more important than ignoring me.

"We don't have a lighter for the fireworks..." he sighed in defeat, and you walked over to your desk, bending over and picking your hand bag, wincing as pain ran up your side. You shook it off, opening the meticulously organised accessory, and beside a packet of unopened cigarettes and your black moleskin notebook was a lighter and matches. You handed them both over to Dwight, and nodded.

"I need them back before we all leave tonight." You reminded him, and the pair nodded like children entrusted with adult scissors before running off, across the street, to play with their fireworks.

You had a look through the office, unable to find Jim and Pam, and with a few moments of thinking, you headed down the stairs and out the building, still holding your handbag, standing in the car park to supervise Dwight and Kevin's misadventures with fire. And while you could hear the whooping of two grown men jumping around a rather pathetic firework box, muted chatter came from closer by. You glanced around, trying to find the bodies to which the voices belonged, but there was no one outside expect you, Dwight and Kevin.

And then you heard Jim laugh.

You looked up, and not quite being able to see anything, you crossed over the road and squinted. Against the darkness, a few candles lit up Jim's face, and the giggle that followed a few moments later confirmed to you that Pam was with him. And the conversation Meredith, Kelly and Phyllis has all those months ago filled your brain.

Jim, Jim with the girlfriend Katy, had the hots for Pam. Pam Pam. Pam with a fiancé Pam.

"What's up Y/N?" Kevin asked, and you walked over to the pair, taking back your matches and lighter, leaving the latter out and pulling out the box of cigarettes, holding one between your lips and lighting it quickly.

"You don't smoke." Dwight said quickly, and you took a long drag, blowing the smoke into the cold night air.

"I do now."

—

The following weeks leading up to Christmas were filled with rumours and suspicions. From Jan and Michael to Angela and Dwight to Pam and Jim... and you needed to know the truth. It wasn't that you didn't want both of your friends to be happy, but that you knew Roy and Pam, how important that relationship has been for them. Heartbreak was hard, and it was up to you to make sure neither side were left feeling that way.

So, when the Christmas Party rolled around, after the terror that was Dwight and Michael's 8 foot tall Christmas tree, and Phyllis' stellar attempt to find the right Christmas lights, it was time for Secret Santa.

"Oscar!" Dwight called, tossing the present over while showing off his elf hat and ears.

"Oh neat, a shower radio." Oscar smiles, and Kelly raised her hand behind him.

"Yeah, That was me." She said with a smile.

"Oh you I was going to buy one of thes-"

"Boring! Next! Jim." Dwight tossed over a plastic bag, and Jim lifted out a flannel that looked about twenty years old. It was from Creed, go figure.

And then came Pam, and by the look on Jim's face it was clear he had bought it for her. She opened the boxed carefully and let out a squeal after moving aside the tissue paper, lifting out a beautiful turquoise teapot, displaying it to the room. You sent a smile over Jim's way, and he grinned back, proud of himself.

"Ryan!" Dwight tossed the next present over, and Michael let out a yelp as it flew through the air. Ryan caught it with ease, unwrapping the box and muttering a soft 'wow'.

A video iPod.

A $400 video iPod, on a $20 spending limit.

And then Phyllis made Michael an oven mitt and all hell broke loose.

For those unfamiliar with White Elephant, or Nasty Christmas, or, as Michael named it, Yankee Swap, there a few rules. You can either steal a gift from those already opened, or you can pick a new gift. No take backs, no more than one gift. And by the end, only about two people are actually happy.

So, after an hour or so of passing presents, and Pam's teapot going from Pam to Meredith to Oscar and then finally to Dwight, you sat with a choice to make: steal or take the gift in the middle. You glanced over at Pam, quite happily clutching her new iPod, and you glanced at Jim, who looked more than done with the entire day.

"I'll take the teapot." You say, walking over in your red Christmas inspired dress and pulling the teapot from Dwight's arms, much to his dismay.

"Fine! I'll take the coffee mug." He muttered, and you sat down in the free chair, holding the teapot to your chest. Once everything had finally finished, Phyllis marched out, upset, with Meredith quickly following.

"What is she so upset about?" Michael scores, and you rolled your eyes.

"You did the whole Yankee Swap thing just because you didn't like your present." You said, shaking your head.

"Everybody loves Yankee Swap. And I still ended up with Dwight's stupid paintball pellets!"

"The point is Michael, we all bought gifts for specific people." Jim chimed in, though he gave me a look of gratitude for taking the teapot from Dwight.

"You should have stuck with the $20 limit." Stanley scolded Michael, who jumped from his seat.

"Yeah, well I didn't. I got a big bonus because I fired Devon and I used the money to buy something awesome. Sue me!" Michael exclaimed, and the room was silent.

"You got a bonus check?" Oscar asked first.

"How much?" Pam quizzed.

"Uh, it wasn't that much it was... It was 3,000." Michael admitted, and Stanley laughed.

"No, I'm done now." He said, turning away. And the rest of the room, you included, was just in shock. 3,000 dollar bonus for firing a staff member? You glanced over at Jim, who just walked back to his desk and cleared his stuff away for the holidays.

It was supposed to be a Christmas party, not that anyone was in the mood. As the office stood around, catching up with the guys from downstairs, Jim pulled you aside into the conference room.

"Thank you for taking the teapot..."

"No problem... You know, I'm a fan of shamrock key rings." You said, glancing at the gift Jim had ended up with. "Trade? You can give this to Pam properly?" You suggested before Dwight popped up out of nowhere.

"There's no trades allowed!" He snapped, and the pair of you shared a look.

"Then Jim can buy it from me-"

"Not a chance. If you don't leave the building with that teapot I will get you fired Y/N." Dwight threatened, and Jim laughed.

"You realise Michael likes Y/N way more than he likes you, or anyone for that matter." Jim folded his arms, and Dwight started with a comeback. You took your teapot in one arm, and Jim in the other, and you led him away from Dwight, away from Pam and Roy, and out into the corridor.

"Jim, we need to talk about what's in this box." You said softly, the music playing loud enough for no one to eavesdrop.

"What do you mean Y/N?" He asked, and you opened your mouth to respond when Michael barged past you both with more bottles of vodka than you could count. "Well, he's making up for that bonus check."

"Jim... Stay on topic." You pleaded, walking further away from the noise of the party. The two of you ended up in the staircase, and Jim watched you open the box, and then remove the card. "Is this what I think it is..." You said slowly, and Jim looked down, running his hands through his hair.

"Y/N, I'm in love with Pam. I've... I've been in love with Pam since we started here... And I need you to help me win her over." Jim admitted.

168 notes · View notes

lockdownfest · 4 years

Photo

Lock Down Fest Masterpost PART I (20-30 March)

1917

feed me just enough that i’ll never need a cage by Cunninglinguist. (E) 7.4k, Tom Blake/William Schofield. “Come on.” Sco stops walking, runs a hand over the faintest marking on a tree trunk. “It’s just a little farther now.” “I’m coming.” Tom huffs a sigh, yanking his shotgun strap over his shoulder so the barrel lands in his hands. They’ve been on the road for nearly a week now, an unfortunate consequence of their last shelter getting swarmed by an army of dead ones. Though skinning rabbits to eat over hastily made fires and taking turns sleeping against trees, spending the days and nights consumed with fear, and jumping each time a stick cracked were hardly desirable circumstances, it certainly wasn’t their longest or harshest stint on the run. They had endured worse, by far, and Tom had no doubt that this particular stretch of time would come to an end when Sco said it would. He knows the way, he always knows the way. Plus, Tom wouldn’t want to spend this time with anyone else in the entire world.

If The World Was Ending by RisingShadows. (not rated) 3.7k, Tom Blake/William Schofield. When a dangerous virus begins spreading across the country William Schofield and Tom Blake quickly find themselves the last two standing of the team working in their lab.

AKB48

#unmeida by summoninglupine. (G), 788 words. Sashihara Rino/Watanabe Mayu, Kashiwagi Yuki/Watanabe Mayu. Ready for an all-girl vacation in Okinawa, Watanabe Mayu doesn't see why she has to be the one to nursemaid their sick tour guide. Things would be different, she is sure, if Yuki was there!

ALL FOR THE GAME

I see truth somewhere in your eyes by DeyaAmaya. (M) 2.8k, Kevin Day/Thea Muldani, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, other background relationships. In a moment of insanity, Kevin decides to check Instagram. In the multitude of inane celebrity posts telling the mass people to stay home, he finds a lovely, recent photography of Thea. Someone from their College took it. The lighting perfectly captured the dried tear tracks down her unmoving face. Kevin disregards the emotional caption and instead checks the date. 18 March, the night he- (The night he thought he had a hallucination.)

Quarantine and exy by Fornavn. FANART. (G) 116 words, Andrew/Neil. The monsters is stuck at home while coved-19 is terrorizing the world. They are bored.

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES

Alone and in a Circumstance by middlemarch. (T) 700 words, Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley, Marilla Cuthbert & Anne Shirley, Diana Barry & Anne Shirley. Anne had a key, so she let herself in, quiet as a mouse, arms laden with bags from the market. Her sophomore class's papers on A Tale of Two Cities were poking out almost jauntily from the quilted bag Diana got her for her birthday.

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE

Worry by Neverever. (T) 2.4k, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark. During the pandemic, Steve wants help the best he can but immuno-compromised Tony worries about his company and his health.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Poetry and Plants by the_many_splendored. (T) 1.9k, Adam/Belle. It's amazing how much you can open up to a person when you're locked in a bookstore reading together.

BELLEVUE

Knives and Lighters by goreds. (M) 2.1k, Annie Ryder/Peter Welland. Annie Ryder finds herself in Bellevue's psychiatric hospital. She pretends to tolerate the whole experience, even if she really hates it. When a new, quiet guy comes to the ward, though, she finds herself intrigued.

BLACK SAILS

If this is Our Last Night by remuirius. (E) 2.3k, Captain Flint/John Silver. Silver and Flint are locked up together on the Walrus. Certain of their looming death at an enraged crew’s hands, Silver finds the courage to do things he’d only dreamed of until now.

BLACKKKLANSMAN

Someone Like Him by cowboykylux. (M) 2.2k, Flip Zimmerman/Reader. 'If there was one thing true more than anything else about all the reasons you loved him, it was that once your husband had his heart set on something, he was going to accomplish it.' Or, a sudden snow-storm cancels your plans for a date, and Flip Zimmerman decides that nothing, not even snow, will get in the way of treating you to something special.

BOKU NO HERO ACADEMIA

Tell me it won’t always be this hard by Graendal. (T) 4.3k, Midoriya Izuku/Todoroki Shouto. He’d met Midoriya a few months ago during a field trip to the library. The kids had adored him, of course, even the ones who were usually shy about participating in new activities. Midoriya had a way of projecting a sense of all-encompassing safety and comfort with just his smile.Shouto had adored him too, maybe, even back then. A silly crush that had only grown during every subsequent field trip — which is truly absurd, considering the vast majority of their interactions at the time consisted of occasional eye contact while singing children’s songs.But now that they’ve spent hours talking almost every day for the past few weeks… calling it a silly crush might be an understatement. The idea that he’s actually been able to help Midoriya through this is inordinately pleasing.If there’s a silver lining to this at all — for him personally, at least — it’s that he’d seen Midoriya’s post requesting a virtual board game buddy. And that Midoriya is a patient enough person to teach Shouto how to play everything from scratch. He’d actually seemed excited at the opportunity.Maybe the opportunity for any sort of ongoing social interaction is worthy of excitement. These are strange times.

CALL THE MIDWIFE

Sanctuary (In Each Other) by WednesdayGilfillian. (T) 2.6k, Bernadette-Shelagh Turner/Patrick Turner. Set during the Christmas Special in S2. Specifically, during the unsettled night that Shelagh turned up on Patrick's doorstep.

CAPTIVE PRINCE

When We Went from Strangers to This by Aerica_Menai. (T) 3.5k, Damen/Laurent. Laurent is really sick, and decides to shut himself in his apartment and deal with it alone. His downstairs neighbor, Damen, gets worried enough to check on him, which went just fine - and then Damen got himself locked in. Featuring Star Trek TOS, coming outs both accidental and intentional, and Damen being his usual sunshine puppy self.

DCU

would you lie with me by Glove23. (G) 660 words, Diana (Wonder Woman)/Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne. Bruce catches a virus, and Diana and Clark come to help him.

DEADPOOL/SPIDERMAN

Avengers Monopoly by MsCaptainWinchester. (E) 1.4k, PeterParker/Wade Wilson, James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers. The Avengers are quarantined in Avengers Tower, and Peter and Wade see this as the perfect opportunity to try the new Avengers Monopoly set. They have their own house rules for property negotiation. No one told Tony. Oops?

omg they were quarantined by Jdragon122, LunaStories. (M) 2.6k, Peter Parker/Wade Wilson. Spidey has a cold and Deadpool, being the sexy boyfriend he is, goes to take care of his baby boy. But they're under quarantine and oh no, there's no more lube? What should they do?

Superheroes Don’t Get Scared by DefendersofMCUniverse. (T) 3.6k, Peter Parker/Wade Wilson. Peter, fresh out of college, gets invited to the tower to stay in one of the guest floors that has been left unoccupied for some time since the previous tenant ‘hero’ decided to leave for unknown reasons. Of course, a few weeks into living there and getting into a routine, the last hero pops onto his balcony. Peter offers for him to stay on his old floor because the dude looks like he could use a familiar place, and also dude is kinda terrifying, and like hell he is gonna admit that to the other heroes in the tower.

DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN

Games. Family. Love. by heizl, NickEllis1314. (G) 1.8k, Carl Manfred & Markus. Because of some rebellious protesters, Androids, and owners of said Androids, were ordered to stay inside. It'd been a long day of restlessness, and boredom, and Markus was almost genuinely excited to get Carl to bed so it could all finally be over. Carl wasn't exactly tired yet though, so they reminiscence for awhile.

DOCTOR WHO

What We Did During Our Quarantine by badxwolfxrising. (M) 4.6k WIP, Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler. Rose and the Metacrisis Doctor return to Torchwood from Bad Wolf Bay and are placed in a mandatory 72 hour quarantine. However will they pass the time? }:-)

DRAGON AGE II

shaking fingers, open palms by asexualf. (T) 2.4k, Fenris/Merrill. Kirkwall has issued her people remain in their homes until the sickness overtaking the city is gone. As always, the Alienage suffers the most under this new rule - and those who enforce it.

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Three in a room by Tagus Knoll. (T, Underage) 4.6k, Kazuto/Darius Maynor/Chester Hayes. When Kazuto finds out they all have to be in the same room, he didn't expect that Chester, Darius and him end up dating.

FALL OUT BOY

‘Cause Everything Else is a Substitute for your Love by PadawanRyan. (G) 1.9k, Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz. Patrick and Pete are each self-isolating with their kids during the coronavirus pandemic but well, Patrick’s in Chicago and Pete’s in LA.

quarantine, or: how to land a boyfriend in 14 days by TooRational. (T) 6k, Patrick Stump/Pete Wentz. Patrick turns his head in Pete's direction and sees him, Patrick sees him, and his frown goes up a notch, and a fisted hand settles on one hip in that typical Patrick-is-a-grandma-pose, and Pete grins and runs full-tilt into Patrick's arms, disbalancing them both until they slam into the side of the house, tangled and half-frozen and definitely soon-to-be-bruised. He interrupts whatever rant Patrick had prepared that starts with 'you idiot' by tucking his frozen nose into Patrick's neck and sucking the warm air coming from Patrick's skin into greedy lungs, and grins even wider when Patrick yelps, offended as he always is by a breach of his personal space.

FIRE EMBLEM SERIES

Shelter from the Storm by Dameceles. (T) 4k, Elincia Ridell Crimea/Tibarn. It's a dark and stormy night when Elincia lends aid to Tibarn. He wants to return the favor, but she doesn’t have wings.

FRONTIER

Fever 1793 by goreds. (M, MCD) 2k, Samuel Grant, Cobb Ponds. Cobbs Pond and Samuel Grant experience the yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, 1793. One of them gets better.

FROZEN

It all comes out in the wash by middlemarch. (G) 1.1k, Anna/Kristoff. She'd knocked. Really, she had. It was their en suite bathroom, the room he said was over-the-top and extravagant and aggressively tiled, so it wasn't exactly her fault that she'd effectively barged in on him.

GAME OF THRONES

The Luckiest Man in the Whole F***ing World by OrangeTabby. (M) 7.2k, Sandor Clegane/Sansa Stark. Sandor Clegane is in isolation at home after picking up the virus in the line of duty. Luckily, he’s got his cat for company and plenty of rubbish TV to stream. Then Stranger decided to go next door for a visit…. A story about friendship, food, romance and dubious television. And a pandemic.

GARGOYLES

Cabin Holiday by Isimile. (M) 1.2k, David Xanatos/Janine “Fox” Xanatos, Owen Burnett/ David Xanatos/Janine “Fox” Xanatos. After everything that happened, they decide to spend a week away in a cabin, to relax and to perhaps talk about their relationship. They're unexpectedly snowed in, which triggers memories of the Unseelie War.

GILMORE GIRLS

How dare the robins sing by middlemarch. (T) 900 words, Rory Gilmore/Jess Mariano, Dean Forester/Rory Gilmore, Dean Forester & Jess Mariano, Luke Danes & Jess Mariano. The two of them, the diner, for how long? At least the coffee shipment had made it in time. What he wouldn't have given for a fifth of Jack-- or anyone else. Literally, anyone.

HAIKYUU!!

Anchor by farfetched. (G) 5.3k, Semi Eita/Tendou Satori. Spreading their arms out either side of them, they stare at the ceiling. This is pulling on them in so many ways they didn't expect; laying here, on Tendou's floor, in Tendou's clothes, right down to their underwear because who expects a lockdown to get enforced overnight? They didn't bring anything much. They should have. They ought to chance going home. But they can't, so they don't. Home is an empty place right now anyway, and here there is food and laughter and music and in between all that is their realisation that they're not so over this Tendou thing after all.

Lockdown by needles. (T) 1.5k, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru. You never know what will escape from a box when you open it, just ask Pandora. For some it may be a disaster, for Iwaizumi could it be a golden opportunity?

Lockdown With A Fox by runningfromrealitytoanime. (T) 4.1k, Miya Atsumu/Sakusa Kiyoomi. Sakusa Kiyomi was a very careful person when it came to cleanliness so what happens if a certain setter with no sense of hygiene crashes at his place when Japan goes under a 2 week lockdown period?

HANNIBAL

Crumbles of unfulfilled expectations by Cinnamaldeide. (M) 11.9k, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter and other multi. Collection of ficlets of the length of a tweet or two ❀

Professor Graham’s Cheekbones Hotty & Extraordinary Foodie Husband by TheSilverQueen. (T) 3.3k, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter. Online classes due to the quarantine are Professor Graham's students learn that: 1) Professor Graham has a cute dog; 2) Professor Graham is married; and 3) Professor Graham's husband is smoking hot.

HARRY POTTER

A Long Night on The Bus by CuriousEmWanders. (E) 3.5k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. In which Draco & Harry are Auror partners stuck on a bus overnight. Draco has some memories that cause him to make some choices. Smut ensues, obviously.

A Pandemic by Theodore_Writes. (T) 611 words WIP, Luna Lovegood & Weasley Family. A new strain of Dragon Pox breaks out becoming a global pandemic. Many were unaware due to Fudge covering it up in an attempt to look better as a minister but when Xenophilius Malfoy/Lovegood reveals to his long time friend Arthur Weasley about what is happening around the world the entire Weasley family is horrified and takes immediate action. This is the story of what happens when a pandemic hits the Magical and Muggle world's.

A Welcome Distraction by MaesterChill. (E) 2.9k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. Draco and Harry get trapped in a Ministry lift. Whatever shall they do to distract themselves?

An Intangible Embrace by Drarrelie. (G) 365 words, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. Harry is bored. Thank Merlin his husband had finally agreed to start using Muggle mobiles after Score was born, or he would've surely gone mad now.

And on the Seventh Day... by slytherco. FANART. (T) 0 words, During an Auror raid, Harry and Draco are separated from their partners and end up being hunted by the wrong people. Desperate times require desperate measures, so both men are sent to an unmarked location where a temporary safe house was set up for them. Stuck for Merlin knows how long, they have plenty of time to examine their turbulent relationship.

“Are you sure you know how to play that?” by julchen_in_red. FANART. (G) 0 words, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. Harry and Draco offer comfort and entertainment to their neighborhood under lockdown by performing a traditional wizards' evening ballad on their balcony.

Better Side of the Bed by gnarf. (T) 2k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. It was all Malfoy's fault. Harry could be at the Burrow right now, but instead he was trapped in Malfoy's tiny flat. All because that dick couldn't stop bothering him about a stupid life debt he didn't even care about.

Breaking Point by Drarrelie. (T) 365 words, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. After almost two years as Auror partners, they've learned to function quite well together most of the time. Right now, though, Malfoy seems to be more on edge than ever.

Civil Hands (Unclean) by p1013. (E) 8.5k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. While he and Malfoy reached something like a truce in the years between the end of the War and now, their Quidditch rivalry has only grown. And with it, a simmering tension that is absolutely not sexual, no matter how many times Hermione raises her eyebrow when Harry's drinking at her and Ron's house. Not even when his head is resting on the kitchen table next to his empty glass, and he's moaning about Draco bloody Malfoy, and his bloody perfect seat on a broom, and his bloody perfect technique.But as Harry stares over his teammates heads towards the Puddlemere United bench, he catches a flash of wet white-blond hair and flashing grey eyes, and he thinks that Hermione's eyebrow might have a point.

Conservation for Beginners by Aneiria. (E) 4.6k, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy. Hermione Granger didn't think twice about taking guardianship of Hoddholm Island for the summer. A deserted, peaceful island among the endangered Golden Snidgets is just what she needs to escape the anxieties that the end of the war brought with it. When Draco Malfoy arrives as the other guardian and they are left to themselves for a month, they both seem to be struggling in their own ways. Can they be there for each other when they most need it?

Exposure by Bridgette_Hayden. (M) 2.6k, Harry Potter/Severus Snape. Snape and Harry volunteer to quarantine themselves for charity, and to comfort the world. Isolation leaves them feeling exposed.

Flames by Aneiria. (E) 3.9k, Hermione Granger/Theodore Nott, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Draco Malfoy/Theodore Nott, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy/Theodore Nott. The whole of the Ministry of Magic and its workers are forced into an in-place lockdown quarantine following a magical accident at the DMLE. When Hermione Granger and Theo Nott are put into isolation away from their boyfriend, Draco Malfoy, how will the triad cope?

G Guess I'm Stuck With You by LittleSixx. (T) 4k, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy. Draco and Hermione are stuck in a Ministry lift on New Year's Eve.

In a Week by Suchsmallhands. (M, MCD) 12.4k, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin. Sirius goes under quarantine in his flat, but fortunately he was able to get some reading material and a friend to keep him occupied during isolation.

Into the Wine Cellar by vivi1138. (E) 2.5k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. Harry should know better than to touch random objects that do not belong to him. Getting stuck in a cellar with Malfoy, of all people, leads to an interesting development.

Lockdown with the Malfoys by a_reader_and_writer. (G) 1.2k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Lucius Malfoy/Narcissa Black Malfoy. Dracos's parents are just visiting Harry and Draco for their weekly dinner when the Ministry of Magic announces a total lockdown. Awkward situations happen.

Lockdown Husband by Houseofmalfoy. (T) 4.7k, Rodolphus Lestrange/Augustus Rookwood. "Got ready to leave after a hook-up for the guy to break the news that we’re on lockdown. We’re stuck together. this is the start of my bad rom-com."

Risk and Reward by nagemeikenu. (G) 2.6k, Rodolphus Lestrange/Augustus Rookwood. Augustus (Gus) Rookwood manages to survive completely alone in a burned down cabin for nearly three weeks. He's rescued by a gorgeous state trooper. Fluff ensues.

She’s A Rainbow by Ladderofyears. (M) 4.8k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. Draco never dreamt that he'd have to give birth without Harry, but when his beloved husband is put under MACUSA quarantine, he finds that he doesn't have a choice. With all the bravery he can muster, the best friend in the whole world and a pilfered magic mirror, Draco discovers that hope can be found even when you least expect it.

Stay with me through the storm by Pinkelephant42. FANART. (NR) 23 words, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. Dragon Keeper Draco finds ways to keep his boyfriend Harry on the dragon retreat longer. Harry probably doesn’t mind.

Ten below and falling by agentmoppet. (E) 8.6k, Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter. In which a pandemic results in Harry being locked in the Astronomy tower with Malfoy while they struggle to find the cure.

The Question of When by Misdemeanor1331. (G) 5.3k, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy. When a global pandemic emerges, Draco and Hermione are once again called upon to discover a vaccine.

Unlikely Quarantine fellows by Isimile. (T) 861 words, Neville Longbottom & Blaise Zabini. Neville and Blaise are quarantined together following an accident in their potions class and they get talking.

HAWAII FIVE-O

Spring Break by stephmex. (T) 3.5k, Steve McGarrett/Danny Williams. Danny had been looking forward to this trip for weeks, ever since the Christmas holidays when he had planned the Spring Break vacation together with Grace. But as much as he’d been looking forward to it, boarding the plane with Charlie's small hand grasped tightly in his own feels slightly off. One thing feeling off is this stupid new virus that you just can’t ignore because the news coverage is all over the place. The other thing feeling off goes by the name of Steve—and Danny is leaving him behind with insomnia and a concussion and the sure knowledge that there is something that Steve is not telling him.

HOUSE OF CARDS

Skilled Hands and Talented Tongues by goreds. (M) 1.2k, Remy Danton/Jackie Sharp/Alan Cooke. Frank Underwood's made enemies, so it's no surprise that Jackie Sharp and Remy Danton get locked down due to a threat during one of their meetings at the White House. But Alan Cooke's there too, which just creates a brand new dynamic.

Isolated by Slashaddict96. (T) 1.3k, Connor Bowers/Richie Tozier. Richie and his parents get stuck isolated at the hospital when a dangerous outbreak occurs. What's worse it's with his least favorite person

IWATOBI SWIM CLUB (MAZE RUNNER CROSSOVER)

Free from the Maze by runningfromrealitytoanime. (Graphic Depictions of Violence, MCD). 33k, WIP, Gen. Haru finds himself without his memories except for his name before he was chucked into the Glade populated entirely by boys. As he tries to make sense of his new life amongst the Gladers, Haru realizes there is only one goal in mind: to run and escape the Maze.

KINGSMAN

Rarely Pure and Never Simple by andthenshesaid-write. (T) 2.3k, Harry Hart/Gary “Eggsy” Unwin. Eggsy and Harry get stuck in a train. Some important things need to be said.

LITTLE WOMEN

a party hardly ever goes the way it is planned by middlemarch. (G) 900 words, Theodore Laurence/Amy March, Friedrich Bhaer/Josephine March. Teddy had written she must come. He had run out of arguments.

Distances by MercuryGray. (G) 1.5k WIP, John Brooke/Margaret March. A Modern March AU - In the midst of global pandemic, the March and Brooke families are trying hold it together.

MCU

Bracing by babywarg. (G) 2.5k, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange. In which Tony Stark makes a few declarations in response to a disease outbreak, and brooks no dissent.

Must Love Dogs (Right Here at the End of the Line) by bookjunkiecat. (G) 2.3k, Bucky & PTSD, Bucky & Pal (dog), Bucky & Steve. During the virus pandemic, an already fragile Bucky has to venture out to pick up more of his very necessary meds. Returning home, he has a panic attack and retreats into an alley. While there he rescues a dog...or rather, the dog rescues him. Once he calms down, Bucky calls a veternarian's office, and reaches a warm, calm man named Steve.

Take Two by heyjupiter. (T) 14.1k, Bruce Banner/Tony Stark. When Tony Stark is injured in Afghanistan, he wakes up in captivity to find that a mysterious American doctor has plugged his heart into a car battery and saved his life. Tony is determined to repay the favor; when he escapes from the Ten Rings, he's taking Bruce Banner with him.

MERCY STREET

I took my Power in my hand by middlemarch. (G) 1.9k, Jedediah Foster/Mary Phinney. It wouldn't do to consider just what it was that had spilled. It was war, it was a kitchen with a corrupt steward, it was a rapidly warming April in Virginia and the man she wasn't supposed to have any finer feelings for was looking at her quizzically.

MERLIN

Merlin Versus Quarantine by coconutknightshade. (T) 1.3k WIP, Merlin/Arthur Pendragon, Leon/Morgana. Merlin isn't quite 50 Shades of Done with Quarantine, but he and Arthur do have dry-erase "Day's Since Last Meltdown" boards mounted in the kitchen.

The Night Is So Long When Everything’s Wrong by Hum My Name. (G) 4.2k, Merlin & Arthur Pendragon. One month after banishing Merlin, Arthur's given a message in the form of a dirty red neckerchief. His ex-manservant's been captured and the captors want the king to pay the ransom.Going after Merlin is the easy part. Spending a long night in a small cell with no one but Merlin with him is a bit more difficult.

MIRACULOUS LADYBUG

Love Bug by onetruthree. (T) 3.3k, Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Marinette feels the safest with her friends by her side. But when the dead come back to life, that safety is tested.

Quiet by BookGirlFan. (G) 669 words, Chat Noir & Ladybug. Ladybug and Chat Noir sit on a rooftop in an empty Paris.

MIRAGE

Murder Scarecrow and His Pissed-Off Handler by goreds. (M) 1.7k, Gabriel Taylor/Doug Marsh. Gabriel screwed up a fairly simple mission, and now he and Doug are trapped in a tiny safe house somewhere in Eastern Europe. Sort-of romance ensues.

NCT

I Go Where You Go by CocoaBop. (T) 5k, Dong Si Cheng/Lee Taeyong. Taeyong thought he was prepared for another global pandemic. But this pandemic was different. In just a few weeks of isolation, Sicheng went from the shy, awkward roommate Taeyong rarely saw to his only anchor to the outside world.

OCEAN’S 8

Every Princess Needs a Castle by ShadowHaloedAngel. (T) 1.3k, Lou Miller/Debbie Ocean. Being stuck inside is sending Debbie a little bit crazy, even though she knows it's for a good reason. Fortunately she has Lou and a foster dog to help keep her sane.

Your Princess Is In Another Castle by ShadowHaloedAngel. (T) 3.3k, Nine Ball/Tammy. Nine Ball decides if she's going to be locked down, she'd rather it was with Tammy and her kids.

ONE DIRECTION

and the sun will shine by leighbot. (G) 5.1k, Zayn Malik/Harry Styles. They're practicing self-isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two little boys shouldn't be too hard to entertain, right?

PITCH PERFECT

Basic Sickness by CamGray. (M), 1.3k, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell. Chloe snaps the mask over her face and replies, “I was always smart, you just weren’t paying attention. Vet school didn’t hurt either. Now come on. I’m going to rest, why don’t you go get some work done. You can’t nanny me all day. You’ve got more important things to do.” Beca shakes her head. “What could be more important than this?” She says, stressing each syllable.

Dry Spell by aliciameade. (E) 2.7k, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell. Tumblr prompt: Just imagine Beca and Chloe casually watching a porno together and when I say “casually” I mean “getting horny and ending up doing it right there.”

High-Speed Connection by aliciameade. (E) 4.1k, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell, Chloe Beale/Aubrey Posen, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell/Aubrey Posen. So Beca is a bit of an exhibitionist. So what? What could possibly happen when she decides to play with Chloe while she Skypes with Aubrey?Sin. Sin is what happens.

Ready Or Not by aliciameade. (E) 4.6k, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell. In a time of social-distancing, Beca and Chloe finally find a way to pass the time.

She’s Such a Bad Girl by CamGray. (E) 711 words, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell. “Chloe!” Chloe pauses her singing to call back to Beca. “Yes, love of my life?” Beca rounds the corner. “You’ve sung ‘Work From Home’ every day for the past 128 days. You know I love your singing voice, but can you please, for the love of the Carona gods, do something else.” Chloe pouts. “Well what should I do?”“I don’t know. I’m about to clean the house.” Chloe flips her hair flirtatiously and rests her arms loosely on Beca’s shoulders before saying, “You do too much. You’re not Superman you know.”

Watch Our Bodies Intertwine by tmylm. (E) 7.2k, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell. Beca and Chloe are quarantined (yes, another "and they were quarantined!" fic) in Beca's Los Angeles home. Beca has managed to push away the feelings she harbored for Chloe back in college—they're adults now, she can behave herself. Or so she thinks.

you are my favorite thing by iPhone. (M) 3.2k. Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell. Beca and Chloe find themselves alone in their apartment after the instruction comes to self-isolate. Set pre-PP3. Just pretend PP3 doesn’t exist.

POLDARK

Tenderness is not like money by middlemarch. (T) 599 words, Demelza Carne/Ross Poldark, Demelza Carne & Dwight Enys. What was the real crime?

QUEEN

Stay Right Where You Are by Stormtrooperinclogs. (T) 2k, John Deacon/Brian May, Freddie Mercury/Roger Taylor. Brian and John are under government-mandated quarantine because of the virus. What are they gonna do???

RED WHITE & ROYAL BLUE

bend the rules by perfect-porcelain. (E) 6.8k, Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor. Alex is stuck inside with his roommate Liam and Liam's boyfriend Spencer and he thinks he's going to go insane but when his neighbor in the alleyway across from his window moves in he supposes that the quarantine won't be so bad after all.

Just Checking In by JessJesstheBest. (G) 1k, Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor. In an au where COVID-19 happens to Henry and Alex, they try and stay connected through self-isolation.

SHADOWHUNTERS

Malec Malaise by Fluxx. (G) 2.9k, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood. Magnus has a cold! In the absence of his magic, it seems he managed to catch some common Mundane bug. Well, that should be fine. Nothing a little rest and tea can't take care of... right?

SHERLOCK

Going Viral by trillian_jdc. (G) 1.1k WIP, Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade. Mycroft Holmes has been exposed to the coronavirus and prepares to self-quarantine, which he's very used to. His isolation is accidentally interrupted by Greg Lestrade, who winds up sheltering in place with him.

Thank You John by AnAnYaH. (G), 352 words, Sherlock Holmes/John Watson. Quarantine day fic.

SHETLAND

Remote Communities by aurorlaura. (T) 3.4k, Duncan Hunter/Jimmy Perez. Jimmy Perez, Duncan Hunter and their daughter Cassie experience the Covid-19 lockdown in Shetland.

STAR TREK: PICARD

Of Malady and Mother by Boldlynyooming. (G) 4.1k, Elnor & Zani. There was an outbreak of Beluxian flu on Vashti, and Elnor was not allowed to go out.

STAR TREK: VOYAGER

Confined To Quarters by ShayneyL. (E) 1.6k, Harry Kim/Tom Paris. Tom and Harry are in trouble again. Will they find a way to entertain themselves while confined to quarters? (Spoiler: yes.)

Social Distance by MiaCooper. (T) 1.2k, Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway. The terrible trials of a captain in quarantine.

STAR WARS

Fever of Love by ladyofreylo. (E) 8.1k, Rey/Flip Zimmerman. Rey and Flip shelter in the library overnight during a flu epidemic. Rey believes Flip is part of a racist group, and Flip can't tell Rey he's undercover because it jeopardizes his investigation. He asks her to trust him. Will she? And will she allow him to help her friend's brain-damaged brother escape the clutches of the evil organization?

I Know You by Idrilhadhafang. (M) 739 words, WIP, Poe Dameron/Kylo Ren. After a dogfight outside the Raddus, Poe Dameron and Kylo Ren are trapped on a planet below, with no memories for either of them and only being able to rely on each other.

Please don’t take him just because you can by middlemarch. (T), 911 words, Finn & Rey, Rey/Ben Solo, Finn & Rey & Rose Tico. It wasn't a terrible job, it was the pandemic. Rey kept telling herself that, hoping she'd believe it. Or that it would all turn out to be a bad dream caused by eating government cheese before bed. Still, there were bright spots.

Something To Look Forward To by spacewitchqueen. (G) 1k, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren. While self-isolating, Kylo manages to make a new acquaintance. Perhaps even a new friend? Perhaps in time something more.

There’s been a Death, in the opposite house by middlemarch. (G) 100 words, Kylo Ren/Rey. Crisis was supposed to bring out the best in people. That was the silver lining, Rey was pretty sure that was the line anyway.

STAR WARS LEGENDS

Cabin Fever by Keldae. (G) 1k, Gen. Theron hates being locked down in one location on the best of days. Being isolated with only a Sith Lord, an irate Wookiee, and (the head of) a protocol droid that won't shut up for company? He's pretty sure he's in at least the second Corellian hell.

Pinned Down by Keldae. (T) 696 words, Female Jedi Knight/Theron Shan. The only option is to stay hidden inside and hope for a rescue.

The Waiting Game by Greyias. (T) 4.4k, Female Jedi Knight/Theron Shan, Satele Shan & Theron Shan. The worst part about all of this was the waiting. Theron hated standing on the sidelines as everyone else risked their lives. He needed something to do. Anything to keep him distracted from his own thoughts.

SUPERGIRL

Darkest Before The Dawn by Val_Creative. (T) 1.4k, Kara Danvers/Lena Luther. Lena ends up diagnosed with a serious virus. Kara gets a little panicky about this and worries enough to visit her.

SUPERNATURAL

Fourteen Days and Four Dozen Eggs by Mandala Rose. (E) 5.6k, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester. As the Milton-Winchester household prepare to hunker down and #flattenthecurve, Dean makes a trip to the grocery store, for what was supposed to be their normal weekly grocery run. After all, they aren't the kind of people to panic and over-buy, right?

Hickory Dickory Dean by Carrieosity. (M) 2k, Castiel/Dean Winchester. When Castiel's library has to close because of the coronavirus pandemic, the librarians need to get a little creative in order to keep serving the community. Castiel has no problem recording virtual storytimes, but when it comes to adding in songs and things, he needs to call in a little extra help.

Knock by hit_the_books. (E) 2.5k, Castiel/Dean Winchester, past Dean Winchester/Lisa Braeden. Dean and Cas have been living together as roommates for about a year when the COVID-19 pandemic forces Douglas County health officials to issue a "stay at home" order. With Dean working from home and Cas trapped there with him, Dean starts to realize that he doesn't really know much about the younger man he's living with. And then he knocks on and opens up Cas's bedroom door one day and discovers far more than he was expecting.

It'll Be Fine. by ChloeDarling. (G) 1.4k, Castiel/Dean Winchester. Forced to self-isolate, Castiel finds himself succumbing to the boredom as he runs out of ways to keep himself entertained. Luckily, Dean Winchester has a plan to save the day.

Next Time, I Choose Death by CeliPuff, Winchesterlovr0508. (M) 1.2k, Castiel/Dean Winchester. In light of this pandemic, I decided to write some daily journal entries on how we survived the 14 day quarantine. It’s me, my brother and my best friend, what can go wrong?

No Dent by spnsmile. FANFIC AND FANART (E) 7k, Castiel/Dean Winchester. Because the Impala is the best place to lock Dean and Castiel away when in the middle of another fight. They really need to talk and close the distance created by their stubborn heads. At least, Jack thought so.

Throw Away the Key by CeliPuff, Ketch22. (E) 2.1k WIP, Castiel/Dean Winchester. multiple other relationships. After his father dies and leaves him nothing but the coolest car ever manufactured, the whole world turns to shit. Caught in the middle of a pandemic while attending the funeral, Dean is told he can’t return home and has to find somewhere else to ride out the mandatory month-long quarantine. Out of options, he calls his best friend Benny.Cas has lived with Benny for awhile - the bed was comfy, rent was cheap... the orgies were just a bonus. It wasn’t a half-bad place to live out a permanent bachelor lifestyle, or an irritating lockdown - but he’s about to get more than he bargained for when Benny takes in a stray.

Outbreak 2019 by spnsmile. FANFIC AND FANART (T) 1.7k, Castiel/Dean Winchester. There's a spreading virus around and against it the medical staff are in the front lines. Castiel is a doctor and he just texted his husband he's positive of the virus.He awaits his fate in silence thinking of Dean.

THE 100

In Fair Corona by eternaleponine. (M) 8.3k, Clarke Griffin/Lexa. While returning from a service trip abroad, Lexa volunteers to take another flight when theirs is overbooked, and Clarke is forced to accompany her. When someone on the flight gets sick, they find themselves quarantined far from home with only each other for company. Can they overcome their differences and realize that they're in this together?

THE AVENGERS/MASS EFFECT TRILOGY

Stuck with You by sgteam14283. (G) 3.3k WIP, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Female Ryder/James Vega, Kaidan Alenko/Female Shepard. Adults can handle being stuck somewhere for a long period of time. For the most part.

THE EXPANSE

How to Have Fun in Quarantine at the UN by goreds. (M) 1.4k, Chrisjen Avasarala/Sadavir Errinwright, Arjun/Chrisjen Avasarala. Chrisjen Avasarala and the whole of the United Nations, including Sadavir Errinwright, are on lockdown during a pandemic. Mild non-social distancing ensues.

THE FLASH

Between Hope and Fear by Purpleyin. (T) 4.1k, Cisco Ramon/Hartley Rathaway. During the pandemic, Hartley tries to help. He tries to keep going and do whatever he can, from a distance. Everything is going as well as can be expected, until his world comes crashing down with one phone call from Caitlin Snow.

THE GRISHA TRILOGY

watch the world go by by JemDoe. (T) 823 words, Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov. “The plague of 758 was a very serious issue, made worse by the Fold, Alina. Supplies were so hard to reach to the other side of the country…” “Wipe that smile off your face before talking about a plague that was made worse by your actions, then."

THE HOBBIT

Cave in by Isimile. (T) 1k, Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield. Of course the cave in has to happen just when Bilbo is accompanying Thorin to a visit of the newly re-opened mines. Thorin just have the worst luck.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS

Nowhere else by Roselightfairy. (T) 1.2k, Gimli/Legolas Greenleaf. In preparation of an anticipated attack from nearby Dunland, Éomer has ordered that Aglarond go into lockdown.At least Legolas and Gimli are together.

THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES

a melody played in a penny arcade by aguntoaknifefight. (T) 2.7k, Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims, Elias Bouchard/Peter Lukas. Jon is trapped in the Institute. Things change.Or: Peter Lukas’s post-divorce pettiness inadvertently saves the world.

THE SIMARILLION AND OTHER HISTORIES OF MIDDLE-EARTH

A WORLD WITHOUT GRANDPARENTS by bluehair. (G) 1k, Maglor & Finwe. I really didn't plan this. But it wanted to be written.

THE SOFT DOCTRINE OF IMAGINOS

On the Wrong SIde of the Mirror by Imaginos_Buzzardo_Desdinova. (M) 2.1k, Gen. Trapped on the wrong side of mirror, Imaginos must find his way back to stop the evil Desdinova. He finds only one other person who also was tricked into the mirror.

THE TERROR

Lift Fire by Gigi_Sinclair. (G) 2.5k, Thomas Jopson/Lt Edward Little. "Tom doesn't speak, either, until there's a strange grinding groan, the lights flicker, and the lift shudders to an unexpected stop.Oh, you have to be joking, Edward thinks, as Tom says, 'I'd heard they'd been having some problems with this one.'"

Look for the Helpers by goreds. (T) 1.2k, Captain Francis Crozier/Commander James Fitzjames. Dr. Francis Crozier, stuck at home, lends a hand to his sick next-door neighbor, James Fitzjames.

THE TRANSFORMERS

Maybe it’s enough by choomchoom. (T) 2.8k, Drift/Rodimus, Prowl/Starscream. The boys deal with the pandemic.

Quarantined by pipermca. (G) 2.7k, Gen. Even when the Decepticons are forced into quarantine to stop the spread of a deadly disease, Soundwave still has work to do. If only his cassettes would keep it down...

THE UNTAMED

The Usefulness of Bunnies as Messengers is Strictly Dependant on the Bunny In Question by theskyandsea. (G) 2.8k, Lan Wangji/Wei Wuxian. Wei Wuxian is quarantined in an apartment with Jiang Cheng and it's going about as well as one would expect. Which is to say, the second Wei Wuxian discovers just how hot his across-the-street neighbour is he jumps at the opportunity to talk to someone else.Even if that talking is through the medium of messenger bunnies.

We’re on a boat and... by chatcolat. (T) 1.4k, Gen. Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian get stuck on a boat and accidentally end up talking to each other for five minutes while they wait for rescue.

THE WITCHER

Carefully We Gather by tackytiger. (M) 2.4k, Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier. They've been snowed in at the inn for six days now, and Jaskier still isn't speaking to Geralt.It's just, killing monsters is what Geralt does. Just because this one came a little bit too close to killing him first, doesn't mean that Jaskier has to get in a sulk about it. And why does he care so much, anyway?

Distanced Dears by jaskiersvalley. (T) 2.2k, Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier, Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach/Geralt of Rivia, Geralt of Rivia/Yennefer z Vengerbergu, Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach/Jaskier, Geralt/Jaskier/Yennefer/Cahir. Given the fact Geralt worked in the Accident and Emergency department, it was highly likely he would catch the virus, even with every precaution. Not wanting to put his whole family at risk, he and Cahir move into Cahir's old flat and they try to weather the storm by themselves when Geralt does get infected.

No More Water, but Fire Next Time by ladivvinatravestia. (T) 7.7k, Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon & Jaskier, Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier. Jaskier and Ciri take shelter at a refugee camp following the fall of Cintra, where they find that Pestilence and War often ride together.

oh my god they were plague-mates by wombatpop. (T) 4.3k, Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier. “They’ve closed the streets, Geralt. We’re stuck in here.” Jaskier and Geralt stuck in an inn together. What could go wrong?

The Fortnight by Elizabeth. (E) 7.5k, Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier. A plague is ravaging the Northern Kingdoms. First Oxenfurt is locked down, and then Novigrad. Geralt is immune, but Jaskier isn't. Rosemary and Thyme is a pretty nice place to spend a fortnight, but it's still a long time to spend with just one person--even if that person is your best friend.A lot can happen in two weeks.

Trouble In Here by Val_Creative. (M) 2.5k, Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier. Jaskier accidentally barricades himself into Geralt’s room when he’s been cursed, forcing them to isolate together.

YU-GI-OH! DUEL MONSTERS

And they were quarantine-mates by Alecto. (T) 4.8k, Jounouchi Katsuya/Kaiba Seto. The order came down while they slept. Now Kaiba was stranded at Joey's place for the foreseeable future.

YUYU HAKUSHO: GHOST FILES

Six Feet Apart by Penguiduck. (G) 2.4k, Kurama/Reader. You've only been living in your condo for two months, but you have yet to meet your neighbor. When you're sentenced to working from home due to the recent COVID-19 virus, you step onto your shared balcony for the first time. You meet Shuichi and really like him. The only problem? You have to stay six feet apart.

#lockdownfest #lockdown fest #Masterpost #Week 1 #fanfic #fanart #fanfest #multifandom event #multifandom #multiship #cw: coronavirus #cw:quarantine #long post

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harryandmolly · 6 years

Text

i could write it better than you ever felt it - one

A/N: I’m dedicating this fic to the author of the first fics I fell in love with as a curious middle schooler on Quizilla, soxlongxjimmy. Thanks for the memories.

Warnings: Language, miscreants being miscreants

Word count: 3.2k

Val rolls over, blindly scrabbles for the cherry red Sidekick blaring “Miss Murder” under her tufted black PB Teen comforter.

“Raf Calling”

Val stifles a knowing smile, though she’s alone in her bedroom. She answers, lifts the phone to her ear.

“How much do you love me?” he asks, a self-deprecating chuckle in his voice.

Val giggles back. “Enough.”

Rafael and Valentina Moreno were born at 6:43 and 7:04 (respectively) on the morning of April 22, 1985. From then on, it was chaos.

Two was quite enough children for ambitious professors Miguel and Fernanda Moreno. They were scholars, children of knowledge, who wanted a small, quiet family. They envisioned docile walks on the beach, Saturday trips to museums, maybe the occasional University of Miami football game.

They got Raf and Val instead. The twins were at each other’s throats nearly from the time they were born – Miguel tells a story every holiday season of placing both babies in the same crib to bond when they were a few months old. The new parents turned around for a minute and looked back to see Val rolling on top of Raf trying to smush his face into the cushions.

From then on, separate cribs.

But the twins, despite their ongoing hostilities, couldn’t be separated. It was as though their energies thrived on one another. One summer when they were 12, Raf left for sleepaway soccer camp. A few days in, Val woke her mother up in the middle of the night in tears begging them to bring her brother home. He came back at the end of the summer and two days later she threw an ice cream cone in his face.

Miguel and Fernanda were faced with a new reality – noise. Their kids were loud before they even picked up their respective instruments. The Morenos thought music lessons would be a good outlet for their wild children, so they had them classically trained from a young age. Once again, their good intentions wrought chaos. Valentina was a menace on the drums – though a very talented, well trained menace. And Rafael was a gifted guitar player.

It wasn’t until they were 14 and started sharing practice space in the Morenos’ garage that they could be in the same room without ripping each other’s heads off.

And then, against all odds, they joined forces. The Moreno twins finally discovered they were stronger together than apart. That’s not to say they didn’t still fight like cats and dogs, but they loved each other just as viciously as they bickered. Miguel and Fernanda could live with that. They had to.

Streets of Gold was a stupid pet project, it wasn’t supposed to be anything. Until it was.

Val was original music buff of the family. She used to sit in her closet with the door shut and the lights off listening to her dad’s record collection. It made her feel cool, listening to old vinyl. But she didn’t really get it until she got around to hearing The Ramones’ “Rocket to Russia” for the first time. Everything changed then for the Morenos.

Raf was hesitant at first – could he really let himself like something Val discovered, something Val thought was cool? But he couldn’t hold out long. Because it was cool. It was really cool.

Valentina became the Encyclopedia Brown of pop-punk. You could name a song and she could tell you what band, what album, what year it dropped, whether or not it was a single, and what label released it. She was a goddamn savant. Raf started using her like she was a walking party trick with his friends, some of whom also started to think pop-punk was cool.

Streets of Gold started, as many shitty garage bands do, as a blink-182 cover band. They played birthday parties, then house parties, then veteran halls, then underground Miami clubs. They were signed by Stuck in the Suburbs Records in 2002 and struck out on their first supporting tour. They’ve barely been home since.

Everything changed once again for the Moreno family when Val took a step back. She loved the band, loved the music, even loved touring, but there was a piece of her that was more like her parents than she ever realized or wanted to admit. She craved learning and missed academia after she finished her GED. She secretly applied to the University of Miami and sought out her replacement for the band, gearing up for a fight.

Raf lost it, at first. They had the worst knock-down, drag-out sibling fight of their entire lives. It ended in tears with Raf holding Val against his chest as they sobbed. They started training her replacement Naveen the next day.

Among Val’s fondest memories of drumming in Streets of Gold are the two years she spent with the band on Warped Tour. Warped was every scene kid’s wet dream, every garage band’s Woodstock. It was the be all, end all of pop-punk music. Warped is a fickle mistress – it makes and it breaks, it gives and it takes and it’s not for the faint of heart.

They call it rock band summer camp, and it is. It’s day after day of heat and sweat and drugs and sex and music, so much fucking music. But the showers are scarce and sleeping in a van with five guys, driving through the night to reach the next stop, it wears on you.

But it’s all about the kids. They come in droves, self-professed outcasts in girls’ skinny jeans, hair Manic Panic-ed and razored past the point of recognition, the uniform of kids without a cause. They gather like the Island of Misfit Toys for a chance at community, to throw themselves into a world they recognize, a world they’ve created for themselves. It reflects them, it accepts them, it inspires them, and Warped Tour is where it truly comes alive.

The kids wait for hours in the heat, withstand insane conditions to see their favorite bands. They go hard, they leave it all out on the fields, in the amphitheaters, screaming their lungs out as thanks for giving them somewhere to belong. It’s a chorus of angst and otherness and, somehow, hope. It’s Valentina’s favorite song. And she misses it.

Raf dropped the hint two weeks ago that there might be a chance at return for Val. Things are different now – Streets of Gold is starting and finishing the 2007 Vans Warped Tour on the main Lucky Stage, a far cry from their humble beginnings playing to a handful or a dozen curious onlookers from Hot Topic Kevin Says. They have a bus now with a shower and actual air conditioning and, holy shit, they have actual bunks.

And their merch guy Jamie, Raf told her casually, has to step away from the tour due to a family financial situation. Can’t be avoided. They’re checking their network for replacements, but, if they can’t find someone in time, could he beg her to come along? One last summer on the Warped Tour before she leaves for the UK in the fall?

Val played it cool – “I’m exhausted,” she reminded him, “After everything this year…” (And she doesn’t need to elaborate, because he knows all too well) “And I just graduated…”

But the truth is, Val found herself wondering about it. She hasn’t been on tour in three full years. She’s gotten her fixes visiting their shows, bobbing her head from side stage singing the words she still writes for the band with her brother, but it’s not the same. It’ll never be the same.

After only a few days, Val wasn’t just wondering – she was hoping. She had it wrapped around her heart now, this idea of returning to something that always brought her hope and comfort when she needed it. And like she told Raf, after the year she’s had…

She got the call four days before the first stop in Pomona. Raf needed her. She’d better start packing.

She couldn’t wait for the summer at the Warped Tour, she remembers the first time that she saw him there.

“Oh, thank fucking Christ!”

Shawn rolls his eyes and throws the lurching white van into park. It scuttles to a stop.

“Shut the fuck up, dude,” Shawn mumbles, wrenching his rusty door open and stepping out onto the grass to survey the area.

Francis’s head pops up over the roof of the van wearing a disapproving glare.

“All in favor of banning Shawn from driving for the rest of the tour, say aye!” Francis crows.

A chorus of ayes fall out of the sliding doors of the 15-passenger van as they open and pour smelly 20-somethings out. Shawn sighs and plants his hands on his hips.

“I got us here an hour before we were supposed to be, I deserve credit for that,” he whines, sliding his Ray Bans up into his dark curls.

Francis looks unimpressed. “You nearly killed us all at least four times. You don’t get shit.”

“Maybe this was his strategy,” Bobby offers with an eyebrow lifted conspiratorially, “Maybe he pretends to be a shitty driver so he can get out of driving the van between stops.”

Shawn smirks. “I’ve been a shitty driver since I was 15. That’s a long con.”

“Alright, assholes, time to start unloading,” calls a voice from near the trunk. Shawn groans and licks his lips, flicking at the black enameled ring he got pierced there a couple months ago.

He ambles back to where the truck has pulled up beside their rickety van. Andrew climbs out and runs a hand through his hair. “Shawn, man, you’re fucking impossible to follow. You were doing 85 on the freeway, you know that?”

Shawn opens his mouth to defend himself when the rest of his band starts choking on laughter. He holds up his hands in surrender. “Fine, fuckers. Drive yourselves.”

Shawn turns and looks around at the Pomona Fairgrounds. He’s never seen anything more beautiful in his life. There are stages going up left and right, tents and skate ramps and those inflatable floating human-shaped things that flop around and wave at car dealerships. It’s mania, and he’s so fucking excited about it.

Warped Tour has always been the dream. It’s always been a reality just out of reach. Always a spectator, never the spectated.

He’s been nomadic for the past few years since he first picked up a guitar and started playing old The Starting Line and Jimmy Eat World covers. He’s been in at least eight different bands, all of which showed promise at the start and ended in various states of the decay of teenage boredom. No one wanted to go the distance with him, not until he met Francis, Bobby and Seth through friends of friends of friends. Then suddenly, Warped Tour wasn’t just within reaching distance, it was fucking happening.

Shawn’s a sentimental sap so he’s standing on the hill overlooking the manifestation of his dreams. Seth, the band’s fan-anointed “quiet one,” claps a hand on his shoulder.

“We fuckin’ made it, man,” he reminds Shawn breathlessly. Shawn chokes on an emotional inhale and nods.

They’ve gotten good at load-in now. Everyone has their assigned tasks and Andrew’s a seasoned enough tour manager to be able to wrangle them into efficiency. Or, near efficiency. They’re a little distracted today, overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all.

They’re quieter, too. They’ve felt big in their britches for awhile, having been invited out on tour supporting bands like Valencia, My American Heart and All Time Low. But this is a new ballgame. They’re very much little fish in a giant fucking pond, a very intimidating pond.

They stare at the buses of pop-punk legends as they wade past with amps and instruments and risers in hand, feeling like it’s the first day of kindergarten and the eighth graders are all settled in and looking cooler than anyone ever has ever. Shawn actually, embarrassingly enough, nods in reverence at Streets of Gold’s bus. He’s glad none of his band and crew notice and razz him for it.

Being new and not a huge crowd draw, they’re one of the first bands of the day on their designated Smartpunk stage. Shawn doesn’t so much mind playing Smartpunk. It’s a small stage but plenty of amazing bands have gotten started there. He’s just happy to be on the tour. And if they impress and end up drawing in some attention and wind up spending a couple of tour dates on Hurley.com or even, dare he dream it, the Hurley stage, he’ll be a happy kid.

But at 19, with his best friends at his side and their sophomore album release date coming up in only a month, Shawn feels like he’s at the edge of the world looking at the start of something he can’t quite make out yet, but it feels so fucking good.

Val is already sweating her balls off, no surprise there.

She’s had some merch girl experience, naturally, having been with the band since its infancy, a time where everyone wears a lot of hats. But now that Streets is a bona fide Warped Tour Band, a destination, a band people make the trip to see, it’s a new ballgame.

She unloads box after box of shirts, hats, hoodies, wristbands, CDs, booty shorts, whatever else they can hawk at an upcharge. Raf and Naveen eagerly help her and she suspects they’re trying to play nice because they know she didn’t have to come on tour and help them. Val doesn’t want to get used to it – in about a week, they’ll be a lot less eager to haul boxes around and will make themselves scarce.

As she’s setting up the tent above the table, she looks around with a smile.

Returning to Warped feels a little like coming home. It’s a dry, hot, smelly home with sun-scorched grass underfoot and an overabundance of men in women’s jeans but there’s just something about it—

“BABYYYYYY!” cries a voice that belongs to a woman who soon careens straight into Val’s side.

“Oh my fucking god!” Val squeals, throwing her arms around the violet haired cling on. She bounces back and forth as they laugh and babble incoherently.

Finally, she pulls away and Val holds her by the shoulders to look at her.

“Why, Bea Easton, look at you!” Val giggles.

Bea, all four-foot-eleven inches of her, strikes a pose complete with duck face and popped hips in her low-slung Bullhead skinnies. She breaks into a laugh, shaking her head.

“Miss me, Moreno?”

“So much that I’m back on tour with these hooligans again,” Val sighs, angling her head at her bus where her tourmates are arguing over the Xbox.

Bea chuckles. “Thank god. It was getting dull in the scene without you.”

Val shoots her a suspiciously amused glance. Bea makes an exasperated noise, throwing her hands up.

“Well the scene is never fucking dull, that’s kind of the point, but I missed you, kid! You’re not so easily replaced, you know.”

Val scrunches her face and pulls Bea into a proper hug, tucking her face into her freshly-dyed hair and rubbing her back. “Ditto, dude. College was cool but… I couldn’t really resist one last shot at all this.”

Bea stands back and loops her arm around Val’s waist as they observe. After a moment, Bea pinches Val’s side gently.

“Hey, how are you?”

Val’s body tightens instinctively. She knows Bea feels it. Bea only asked a question everyone’s been asking her for months. And Val’s still shit at pretending it doesn’t bug the fuck out of her.

“I’m fine. Really. I went to the doctor recently and he did some tests and confirmed that I’m human and not a big walking china doll.”

Bea’s bleached eyebrows lift as she smirks. “Point taken. Have you started checking out the talent, then?”

Val scoffs. “You and your locker room talk.”

“This is what equality looks like, bitch. But seriously, tell me that’s not half the reason you’re here. A little palette cleanser.”

Val runs her tongue across her lower lip. Bea knows her oh so well.

She elbows Bea gently. “Stop that, I already have a reputation,” she hisses teasingly.

“Mmm, that’s right,” Bea replies, playing along, “The biggest slut in the scene is back on Warped Tour. Better start lining up for a taste.”

Val laughs heartily, shaking her head. “I swear to god, Bea, you—”

She stops dead in her sentence, words have failed her. Her brain fritzes out. She stares straight ahead, exhales in a loud puff. Bea notices and turns to look at what, or who, Val has spotted.

He’s tall. That’s probably the first thing anybody ever notices about him. He’s really fucking tall. He’s also not as scrawny as the rest of the twiggy white boys that populate the scene these days. He’s built – broad in the shoulders and the thighs. He’s wearing the uniform black skinnies, though, so he’s probably a band member rather than a volunteer. And he’s got the presence, somehow, of a frontman. Maybe it’s because Val’s pretty well versed in scene guys, but she can just tell he’s a lead singer.

His dark curls are tucked under a backwards Blue Jays hat and his eyes are unreadable under black Wayfarers. His facial structure is sinfully architected, marred only by the black lip ring that’s pierced through his full lower lip.

His hands are tucked in the pockets of his impossibly tight jeans as he cruises easily on a skateboard through hordes of bands and crew prepping for the day. He seems unbothered by the hard work going on around him, content to observe and take it all in. It gives him an ethereal sort of glow, that he’s untouched by reality.

Val swallows like a fucking cartoon character and watches his mighty leg strike the ground, black leather high top Chucks kicking up a cloud of fairground dust as he propels himself past the tent without a glance. She feels like a ninth grader who’s caught her first glance at the senior quarterback. She sniffs. It’s been a while since she’s felt like that at all.

Bea elbows her again. “Holy damn.”

“Say it again, sister,” Val chuckles, watching the back pockets of his jeans stretch over his very fine ass as he launches himself down the sidewalk, weaving and bobbing through the crowd.

“HOLY DAMN!” Bea crows, throwing an arm around Val’s shoulders and shaking her. Val sniggers and peels her eyes away, nibbling on her pillowy lower lip.

“I’ll do some recon, find out who he is,” Bea offers, smirking. Val isn’t about to turn that down. Bea’s the most well-connected merch girl on the tour, being as seasoned as she is, having toured with New Found Glory since ’97. She nods her thanks and waves goodbye as Bea rushes off to check on the status of her own merch tent.

Val turns back to her table, fumbling through price tags and pushpins. Her mind is elsewhere. Specifically, it’s somewhere in the back pocket of that skateboarding guy. She can smell trouble on him from here.

She doesn’t mind. She could use a little trouble.

Boys, raise your glasses/Girls, shake those, go, go, go/We're the party, you're the people/Let's make this night a classic

Taglist: I literally don’t know who my taglist is anymore so lmk if you want to be added but for now here @smallerinfinities @the-claire-bitch-project @stillinskislydia @achinglyshawn @infiniteshawn @alone-in-madness @alone-in-madness @singanddreamanyway @accioalena

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes fan fic #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fan fiction #shawn mendes au #shawn mendes fic #shawn peter raul mendes #punk!shawn #warped tour

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eyesopen2019 · 5 years

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Eurostar to Paris

On the 4th June we caught the train back to London and got on the Eurostar to head to Paris. We had watched some videos of the making of the tunnel and were all interested to see what going on a train under the water would be like. The train travels up to speeds of 300km per hour and covers the 490km in 2 hours and 15 mins with 50 km of tunnel under The English Channel. The journey is very smooth and you can hardly notice you have entered the tunnel or exited it and certainly don’t see any fish or sealife much to Lani’s disappointment. We arrived in Paris in the afternoon and made our way to our Airbnb in Izzy. Navigating the subway system the first time was a challenge especially as I had no data on my phone and we couldn’t use apple maps! When we arrived at our house we found a 3 storey home with views out to the Eiffel tower from the upstairs bedroom. There was heaps of room to stretch out and the kids made themselves at home. Hung and I opened a bottle of French champagne, one of several bottles of wine, which had been left in the fridge for us. Lani was excited to find some kids toys in the house to play with and spent ages making up games with them.

On our first day out in Paris it was overcast and drizzling and we caught the bus into The Arc de Triumph and wandered down the Champs-Elyssees. We found our lunch of baguettes, cheese, ham and salami in a local supermarket. I enjoyed looking at all the gorgeous buildings and tree lined boulevards which reminded me of our trips to Saigon.

The next day was a lovely sunny day and we took the opportunity to head to the Eiffel Tower where we climbed the stairs to the second level then took the elevator to the top. It was a fairly easy climb up the couple hundred stairs but we took it pretty slowly. The view from the top is amazing and it’s interesting to try to pick out all the major landmarks throughout the city. We again bought lunch in a nearby supermarket and sat in the park under the Eiffel tower for lunch. During our time in Paris we enjoyed the amazing baguettes bought very cheaply everywhere as well as the amazing variety of cheeses. Each day we would buy a baguette to stick in the backpack for when Leon or Lani were suddenly starving! Leon also especially enjoyed the chocolate croissants and I think was trying to get a record when he had 6 in one day.

Another day, Hung and I had a day out with Lani and left the boys at home. We wandered around the Notre Dame Cathedral which unfortunately suffered a huge fire a few months ago. We explored the area around the Louvre and over several nearby bridges. Lani loved to checkout all the love locks which had been placed around, and see which were the oldest ones. Hung and Lani each bought a special leather hat from a small shop down an alleyway which were all made onsite and handcut and sewn. Hung’s hat reminds me of his Dad’s hat he used to wear everywhere and I think it will be his ‘old man hat’ now until he is very old and it will be passed down to the kids! Lani choose a black leather beret which looks really cute and she says reminds her of Ong Noi’s hat. We had a lovely lunch out at a little French café near the Notre Dame Cathedral and Hung and I enjoyed a glass of wine while watching the passing traffic. Lani bought a slime making kit which she enjoyed putting all the bits together to make her own slime when she got home.

There are so many museums to visit in Paris but we only ventured to The Louvre but on the day we had planned to go we arrived to find it sold out. We were a bit more organised the next day and bought tickets online but unfortunately when we did get inside it was so crowded and hot that it was not very pleasant to wander around. We made a beeline for the Mona Lisa and checked out a few other areas before retreating to the open space outside again. The kids were fairly unimpressed with the Mona Lisa and couldn’t really see what all the fuss was about. They were more interested in the sculptures, especially one called ‘The Fisherman’. Leon was puzzled why everyone in the paintings and sculptures was naked and why in all the paintings people had no eyebrows!

We wandered a lot in Paris, seeing many gardens, statues, palace’s and plaza’s throughout the city. It is a very walkable city and you can venture from area to area easily. Everywhere there are small coffee shops and restaurants with an endless array of food to try. Eating out was generally expensive, as was coffee at $7-9 a cup, needless to say we didn’t eat out much! It was also very difficult to find public toilets and often we had to pay for them!

One of my favourite days was when we went to a flea markets which was not that great but from there we wandered up the hillside to Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris (Sacre-Coeur) which is a Roman Catholic church set on the highest point in Montmarte hill. It was built in 1875 and since 1885 there has been constant prayers, day and night, by patrons within the church. We had seen the basilica from the Eiffel tower when we climbed to the top and had wondered what it was. We looked inside the church and then climbed the stairs to the dome for an amazing view of the city and saw all the landmarks we had visited over the previous week.

On one of our last days Kai and I decided to check out The Catacombs where we patiently waited in the drizzling rain for several hours. The Catacombs, a series of tunnels under the city which were originally dug out in the 15th century for the stone and used in the buildings of the city. The quarrying stopped after a series of land collapses and remained abandoned for many years. In the 1700’s when the population of the city grew and the officials were worried about diseases from the dead they placed the bones of millions of graves in the tunnels. There are hundreds of kms of tunnels, many of which are not mapped. You are able to explore a series of 1.5kms of tunnel which is a bit morbid but it was interesting to see how the bones have been placed and presented for viewing since the 1800’s.

We left our lovely Parisian Airbnb on 11th June to check into a very budget hotel (IBIS budget) near the Paris Orly airport which was not very pleasant and definitely not one I would recommend. We were due to leave Paris on the 11th June but we changed our plans so we could see a friend of Hung’s, Kevin, and his family who were in town on holiday from Colorado. We were only sleeping at the ‘hotel’ so we survived – but only just, especially Kai. Hung and Kevin were friends in their 20’s and hadn’t seen each other for over 20 years. We had a lovely dinner out with their family and ours and I’m sure we will see them out in Australia sometime.

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davidcampiti · 5 years

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A LIFE WITHOUT STAN LEE? -- Part One

This is the first month of my life without Stan Lee alive in it.

I think it’s appropriate to post this essay today, on Stan Lee’s birthday, the first one without him actually here to celebrate it. I couldn’t bring myself to write about Stan the day he died, just shy of 96 years old, and the week and month that followed were no better. Today I can put down some thoughts.

I am a child of Stan Lee. His work with Jack Kirby and John Romita appeared in the first comic book I remember reading – the Marvel-produced America’s Best TV Comics, a 25-cent comicbook that promoted the ABC Saturday morning cartoons. It's one of the first powerful memories of childhood that have stayed with me for all this time.

Across my formative years, Stan Lee's words encouraged me to learn, to read more of everything -- not just comics. I spent much of my early years in the library and ordering Scholastic books every month through school. I read everything -- fiction, biographies, histories, science books.

Yet I grew up loving the comics that blazed brightly with his public persona and, while my parents toiled at just earning a living and staying alive, I learned much from "The Man." Stan taught me a lot about being a decent human being. It wasn't all, "With great power there must also come...great responsibility," though that was there, as well.

In recent years we corresponded a bit about the morals and messages of his words in his scripts, his Stan's Soapbox, and his many lectures and interviews. I told him we should assemble a book, Everything I Know, I learned From Stan Lee.

He wrote back -- "The paperback you suggested, 'Everything I Know I Learned from Stan Lee,' sounds like it could be funny. Especially if it consists of only one page with only one thing learned -- how to spell 'Excelsior!' Keep the faith, David. You're one of the good guys! Excelsior! Stan"

We discussed it a bit more but, soon after, Stan's eyesight worsened and he stopped answering his own mail; whoever took over had no idea what we'd been talking about. I let the idea drop.

Back when I was 12, I decided my career goal was to work with Stan Lee. Eventually, I achieved that goal but not by submitting stories in my teens and 20s but much later in my life, as an agent and book author. By the time I was 14, he'd gone from editor-in-chief to Publisher -- which meant he'd need more writers, right?

The first time I met Stan Lee and got to take a photo with him, I looked up at him and said, “Smile, and look as much like my Uncle as you can.” He laughed and gave my artist friend Scott Rockwell and me a good half-hour of his time, looking at art and answering questions. That was in 1978 – fully 40 years ago – and I remember it all as if it were yesterday. Stan was a memorable guy who could make you feel like the most important person in the room. I only wish I still had that photo; maybe Scott has it buried somewhere.

Four years later, I sold my first professional comics scripts to Pacific Comics and two years after that was writing a Superman assignment for DC with Kevin Juaire. Instead of ending up at Marvel as I’d hoped – which would’ve required moving to New York and being involved in daily office politics – I became a comics packager, then a publisher, then an agent. That’s how Stan knew me professionally, as a writer and an artist’s agent.

In early 1989, at a Capital City Distribution trade show, my Innovation Publishing was set up promoting the books we would be releasing into comics shops in a few weeks. Stan was walking by, and I suggested to my assistant Paul Curtis that we should invite Stan to dinner. He ran over, asked, and Stan said yes! He not only brought along Carol Kalish and regaled us with two hours of stories about life at Marvel, Stan insisted that Marvel pay for the meal! Nobody thought to bring a camera, but the memories stayed with us. As I recall, Steve Sullivan, Paul Curtis and his girlfriend Amy, and I were the happy Innovation team at that dinner. Kevin VanHook came on the trip but was elsewhere at that time. He made up for it later at a party by chatting on a couch with Stan and later dancing with Carol.

In the '90s, Stan and I would chat at every opportunity at conventions.

When Marvel released a limited edition hardcover reprint of his 1947 book Secrets of the Comics, I decided to give in to my fannish impulses and use its endpapers as my autograph book.

Stan, of course, was the first to sign it in 1996, and a batch of Silver Age stalwarts followed.

By then we made it a point to get photos together every year across two decades. It was a clear timeline of the both of us getting older.

As the internet blossomed, I helped Stan a little when he first joined AOL. He asked me how AOL Instant Messenger worked, how to turn it on when he wanted to communicate and off when he didn’t want to be bombarded with Messages, and so on. Another time, an article he wanted to read was behind a login/password, and he asked me help get him through that. It tickled me to help Stan “The Man” with such basic web-things.

From the mid-'90s through the early 2000s, Stan would call the Glass House offices about once a month to ask for my perspective on what was going on in the comics biz, since we dealt not only with all the Marvel editors but everyone else as well. Real conversations, not the "'Nuff said, Pilgrim!" stuff. He'd graciously take an extra few minutes to chat with my assistant Graeme, who loved talking to his childhood icon.

Around 1997, Marvel's savvy publisher asked Glass House to create two dozen project proposals for a line of second-tier titles that my company would package. We ended up over-achieving and submitted 28 of them -- one of them for the first-tier Fantastic Four that I understood we had little chance of getting, but I had to try. The art was Joe Bennett's doing a Kirbyesque style.

Stan was kind enough to read over my FF proposal/outline and fine-tune my dialogue for the pages, before I submitted.

Likely worried about how an outside packager controlling so many titles would affect his own position, the editor-in-chief buried all 28 projects until, two years later, he assigned an editor to reject every proposal outright; that editor told me my FF dialogue didn't capture the essence of the characters -- not realizing the words were Stan's.

(Sidebar: It was so ridiculous, that editor even rejected a proposal that another Marvel editor already saw, bought, and published!)

When Meryl and I got married in 2001, Stan sent us a gift -- a lemon cake and a note saying he wished he could've made it to the wedding. We still have the note; we ate the cake.

In 2006, Stan's POW! Entertainment launched Who Wants to be a Super-Hero? on The Sci-Fi Channel, and my Glass House Graphics contributed all the cover artwork for both seasons of the TV show. We even drew the comicbooks that starred both winners -- Matthew Atherton and Jarrett Crippen, both of whom became our friends.

When my friend, then-GHG artist Will Conrad, worked with him on the Dark Horse Feedback comic book, Stan took the time personally to choose Will out of our roster of artists, and to phone him in Brazil for a long talk before sending him the plot. (And yes, it was a full page-by-page plot.) They spoke several times during Will's month working on the book, each time helpful and upbeat.

The second book, with The Defuser, was more problematic. The network and producers weren't honoring their commitments to the winner, so I reached out to Stan who said, "I don't see any compelling reason to bother doing it, since we weren't renewed for a third season." I replied, "Because you said you would? Because you have the power to do it, and with great power there must also come great responsibility?" He made it happen, and Glass House Graphics's Kajo Baldissimo did the art.

We also drew the box art and insert comic books for multiple DVD animation projects that POW! released, with art by GHG's fabulous Fabio Laguna.

Stan always made time to meet privately with my artists, and my family, for which I was always grateful.

Of course when Comics Buyer’s Guide published a big feature issue for Stan’s 75th Birthday, I contributed an essay and hired the great Marie Severin to do a caricature cover for it and sent Stan a giant print of the art.

Around the time of Stan's 90th birthday celebration, I had Tina Francisco create a new birthday cover for Comics Buyer's Guide, and I penned a long article about him, too.

Of course, we sent to Stan a poster of the color art, and he sent back this card -- as always, written in his own handwriting.

TO BE CONTINUED -- IN PART TWO!

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iamcinema · 3 years

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IAC Reviews #19: Wishbone (2000)

Hey, is anyone still alive out there? I hope so.

Coming off of last year was a disaster, and well, we didn't enter 2021 on the highest of notes. I guess you could say I've been burned out and not having a ton of motivation to do a lot, even with how much I've been grinding on Letterboxd over the past few months. I think I'm ready to come back, and since there's a storm is brewing outside, let's make today a movie night...and boy, do I have a treat for you.

I think I've made it kind of apparent that I have a weakness for terrible, low-budget, trash fires. There's something oddly charming about them where they always find a way to lure me in, and given the scene on Letterboxd, there's a bunch of SOV masochists out there waiting to get their next fix. While digging around for material to cross off my lists on titles to find and add, I was reminded of a terrible, low-budget film that was shot in my hometown over 20 years ago. I'm full of fear for what's to come, and you should be too.

________________________________________

Wishbone is a 2000 horror film directed by Timothy Gaer and co-created by Michael Fasciana, centering on a woman named Laurie who receives an unusual artifact from her eccentric aunt she acquired from a pawn dealer that causes those around her to disappear when they make wishes on it. Hmm, seems simple enough. Let's what we're in for, and I'm absolutely not ready because the IMDb page says this shit is over two hours long, despite a version on Youtube having it just a bit over 90 minutes. Let us pray.

Wishbone in One Gif:

This acting is might be the death of me, but I'm not sure what's going to be the catalyst that causes me to fall down the stairs and break my neck: the sound quality, the weird editing, or the music...oh, god what the fuck is the music doing? So much noise, noise noise!

Okay, so let's dig into this before I take too long of a break and I don't come back to this. I've already had to pause the movie a few times to catch my breath or just rewind and go back because there's a good amount that I keep missing because, apparently, the star of the film is the score and not Laurie. This is so, so slow. I've seen a lot of long horror movies, but at least with those, it feels like things are happening. Even Blood Lake had filler that did something to some degree, and with that, it was consistently bad. This movie doesn't even know what it wants to do. So, as a disclaimer, there's a good chance I'm probably missing some key details that I didn't hear because it seems that characterization isn't important if the music insists on talking over everyone.

________________________________________

So, to date, this might be one of the worst horror movies (and movies in general) that I've ever seen and it might be one of the slowest things in the entire megaverse. This is over 90 minutes of, somehow, nothing and something happening simultaneously - if that makes any sense.

This takes its sweet ass time moving along and there's so little pay-off. The majority of the characters are either nameless or we aren't introduced to them in a way that matters enough for us to care about them. It's kind of like with Violent Shit and other low-budget slasher films where the majority of the characters serve no purpose but to be disposable. Next to the two main leads, Laurie and Joe, and maybe a few others, everyone is just forgettable and even then I couldn't honestly tell you anyone's name if it was explicitly brought up. IMDb isn't helpful either, and at this point it just makes me care even less. I'm not sure if my patience has been tested too much with this, but it's kind of sad that I'm more invested in seeing what the background characters are doing than Laurie and Joe - even though I can't really hear what the hell they're saying.

Yeah, I really can't move on without talking about the sound and the music. Why is it always the audio with these movies? This has an estimated budget of $100,000, or $154,779.43 today in August 2021. How do you have the ability to somehow not make this look like a potato for the most part, well for the day shots that is, but you don't have it in you to get a good mic and someone who knows how to mix and edit correctly? I would sort of understand if you spent the majority of the money on talent to cut corners, but this is just ridiculous. Did they use the cameras' built-in mics to catch the audio here?

I feel like I need to interrupt the movie constantly to tell them to speak up because if I turn up the volume, I'm just getting bombarded with this really weird soundtrack that doesn't fit. I shit you not, during one of the kill scenes, the music booming over it sounds like it was ripped from Kevin MacLeod's "lounge" library and then the reverse happens where ominous music is playing over a more touching scene - and that's not even a dig at Kevin as an artist. That's just how inappropriate and unfitting this editing is. The weird fucking thing about this specific kill scene is that it sounds like the audio is stacked, so there are two different instrumental tracks going on.

How do you fuck something as basic as tension up like that? The audio choices are so painfully inconsistent and it doesn't know what it wants to do. There are moments where you can hear the dialogue just fine, but then the music comes in out of nowhere to segway us into the next scene and it starts to muffle things out. If it isn't that, then the dialogue is just so soft that you'd think there was a pillow on the mic or we're hearing them from the opposite side of a sound-dampened room.

This is what I meant earlier when I said I apologize in advance if I miss anything crucial because I can't make out half of these conversations. So, I'm having to keep going back if I care enough or just having to pause and take breaks because there's only so much I can handle. This means that there's a good amount I'll blank on because I have to keep going back because I can't remember the majority of these no-named characters. Who the fuck are you people? Why am I supposed to care?

If I'm understanding the non-existent rules of the wishbone, you're connected to whoever dies in some way. So, why is any of this relevant to what's going on? If it's random, then it's another reason for me not to care just because some frat kids made a wish at some point. Again, who the hell are you and why am I supposed to lament over them? Why is there so much useless filler here? Did I mention that this is over 90 minutes long and there are *three* fucking party scenes? Party scenes are to Wishbone as ten-minute-long jetskiing and beer game scenes are to Blood Lake.

Oh, speaking of other shit that's annoying. Let's talk about general editing because the sound isn't the only thing that's a mess here.

I swear that almost every single scene in this ends with a fade-out/fade-in shot. Only one or two scenes come to mind where this doesn't happen, and the first time it did I thought my browser was freezing because it abruptly cut to black and then smash cuts to a party scene. I've never, ever seen a movie that abused this that much before and it's on par with something I would have seen made by a bunch of high school kids. So, when we have a moment where this doesn't happen and it plays out normally, it feels like a breath of fresh air. I'm sure this movie's run time could have been shaved down by at least a minute or two if this wasn't a problem, along with all the useless close-up shots that serve nothing to the plot.

It's such a waste of time. I'm so fucking tired. How was this movie's budget $100k? Did they spend most of it on renting the Scranton Police Department for a few shots or did it go towards their impromptu trip to Party City? I'm so tired and I don't care anymore.

Do you want to know what the real kicker is? With just barely twenty minutes left, the whole lore about the monkey's wishbone paw comes back and that's when Laurie and her friend Karen think something is weird. Isn't this whole realization trope that happens within the first or second act, not now with your Great Value brand version of the Dream Warriors?

Also, it's not specified how much time has gone by since the start, but it has to have been at least a week or two. It's incredibly weird how they paint the main characters and the unnamed background ones as such good friends that they don't think it's weird how almost all of them have disappeared - especially one girl who doesn't seem off-put that her boyfriend (or ex) disappeared after getting into an argument at one of the parties and none of his friends could reach him either at his own house.

The final showdown is an utter pain in the ass to get through because the conflict ends as abruptly as it starts and it's so unsatisfying. We get to see the face of our villain, I guess, and then more or less cut to our leads holding hands down the street set to the same looping lounge music we've been dealing with for over 90 damn minutes. Is everyone else who went with them dead? Did they live? Who cares! That's one thing the movie and I can agree on since we never see them again. We end on a shitty cliffhanger that's supposed to prepare us for a sequel, which thankfully never happened.

________________________________________

And that was Wishbone. Holy fucking shit, I've never been so thankful for a movie to be over in my life. It's 11:07 PM as of tinkering with some minor revisions and I've been in purgatory with this for over five hours, and yet, it feels like an entire lifetime has gone by.

I've raved about how bad Blood Lake was with its incredibly bad pacing, but this is next level awful and a testament to bad filmmaking if I've ever seen it. I expect a lot of the things I complained about from super amateur filmmakers who are shooting on an actual shoestring budget, not people who had that much money to fuck around with. How did they have that kind of a budget, and the most they can give us is bad audio, Windows Movie Maker levels of basic editing, three wrap parties, and a few crumbs of gore that we could see?

This was physically painful to see and I'm in much worse shape having endured it than I would have been if I sat through something liked Boardinghouse, and that has a two-and-a-half-hour-long version tied to it. This is just a marvel and I mean that in a so-bad-it's-bad way, not like how SOV enthusiasts who love this stuff pine over. If I had to give one thing going for it, one single granule of gold that I enjoyed from this, it's the limited shots we get of the area so I could make a game out of seeing what local spots I recognized. If playing I Spy is the only way for someone to endure your movie, then I don't know what else to say.

Wishbone is a hot mess where shit's happening, but also nothing is happening at the same time. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. In fact, I wish this movie never existed or would die in the ether and never return to our mortal realm ever again. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go have a smoke and hope I don't get run over by a hearse tomorrow.

RATING: 0.5/10

#wishbone #wishbone 2000 #film #horror #horror movies #horror film #iac reviews #horror review #review #low budget horror #sov #shot on video #sov horror #shot on video horror #2000s horror #2000's horror #00s horror #00's horror

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mediconico · 6 years

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Quetzaltenango

9.6.2018

We get into Guatemala city in the early afternoon around 1. We are put up in a hotel called “Patricia’s BNB” only about 2 minutes away from the main airport of Guatemala city. Everything has been arranged for us by my program, The Guatemala Initiative-UVA, given how dangerous Guatemala City is known to be; upon arriving at the airport, we’re picked up in a pretty run-down mustard-colored Mitsubishi minibus that is prototypical to the Central American region.

Although we arrive relatively early in the afternoon, our program director has advised that we don’t leave our gated neighborhood of our hotel due to the relative danger of the city. A big, polluted city with high rates of crime, writes Lonely Planet. Your time is best spent exploring other parts of the country that have more beauty to offer at much lower risk. They’re not wrong; in 2016, the National Guatemalan Police Department (PNG) reported more than 4500 homicides, 5800 assaults, and 3500 kidnappings throughout the country, largely centered in the City.

So we decide to stay in “Patricia’s” for the rest of the day. But it’s not a problem; I decide to take a rather long nap after having traveled over 24 hours straight in arriving to Guatemala and having slept in the Fort Lauderdale airport the night before. Actually, that’s a lie. Airports are like hospitals; nobody sleeps there.

At “Patricia’s” with me are 5 other girls from the study-abroad program here in Guatemala (I’m actually the only guy in a group of 9...), so we hang out talking throughout the rest of the night, and order some Chinese takeout for dinner from our hosts. It’s not yet the “cultural experience” I’m hoping from Guatemala, but I already know that it awaits me in the city of Quetzaltenango (more colloquially known as Xela), 4 hours to the west of Guatemala City, shrouded in the mountainous volcanic mist.

* * *

Here in Xela, I live with a Guatemalan host family which is all arranged for me through my Spanish school, “Celas Maya”. The grandmother of the family is named Sandra and she is kindly and deftly hosting a group of 7 (!) composed of her grandchildren and other students in the house. Sandra’s grandchildren are of various ages and are named Abigail, Jemima, and Jose Miguel. I’ve given them some nicknames: Abigail is “La Alumna” because she’s always studying, Jemima is “La Gemela” (this sort of annoys her, but it’s worth it), and Jose Miguel is “El Jugador” because he’s always playing video games. I’ve found that nicknames are a good icebreaker with the family, and we typically joke around during each meal.

There’s another student from my school who lives in the room next to me, Tsai, who is from Taiwan. He’s pretty quiet, but joins us at all the meals and has been a good buddy. Lastly, there are two other students living in the house, Marlo and Junior. Marlo is also a medical student in Xela, and Junior is studying English. Junior and I have become friends here; he’s quiet and mild-mannered, and I’ve learned that he likes to lift weights together at the gym, and supports himself by selling used motorcycles. In summary, it’s a house that is pretty full of people, but we get along well and I’ve been enjoying living here.

Here’s a picture of the view from my room in Sandra’s house:

* * *

After class one day at Celas Maya, we go on a trip to a small mountain-town pueblo to the northwest of Xela named San Andrés Xecul. The trip is the archetype of getting around in Central America; we get there on 3 different modes of transportation. First, we get on a minibus packed with people that reminds me of the colectivos I rode in Mexico last summer. Next, we get on a Chicken Bus which is actually a heavily outfitted and remodeled school bus, equipped with speakers that blast reggaetón during the entire trip, painted on the surface with brilliant colors, and named for wome–ours is named “La Princesa”, painted in hot pink across the windshield. Finally, we arrive to San Andrés Xecul by taking a “tuk-tuk” que is actually a motorcycle that’s been equipped to carry 5 people seated tightly underneath a cloth covering. I’m skeptical of their safety.

Here’s a shot from inside the Chicken Bus:

And another from inside the tuk-tuk:

After arriving to the pueblo after a tumultuous trip, we are welcomed by the striking church in in the main plaza:

Constructed in the 18th century, the church illustrates the history of the influence of the Spanish conquistadores on the Mayan culture in Guatemala. It’s a Catholic church, but the outside of the church is painted with a scene and colors that come from the Mayan culture.

Our guide from Celas Maya, Luis, tells us the history of the church. It has 3 principal Paint colors, yellow, green, and red, each of which has significance in the Mayan culture. The yellow, which forms the majority of the walls of the church, signifies the importance of yellow corn to the culture. Luis points off into the distance, showing us the countryside extending beyond towards the horizon, full of corn. It’s obvious that corn still forms a critical pillar for San Andrés Xecul, 200 years later.

But I interpret this information as a sad story behind the corn that supplies this Guatemalan pueblo: although it’s a major product, it’s not exported to the rest of the world in a way that would support the economy of San Andrés Xecul. In reality, the people of the pueblo essentially only use the corn they grow to put food on their dinner tables. Maybe this illustrates a history that is common to the Guatemalan pueblos–that they have a horizontal economy in which their people can survive, but it’s difficult to achieve a better economic standing and a stable career.

The other colors on the outside of the church, green and red, illustrate the fauna and flora around San Andrés Xecul and the blood of the Mayan culture, respectively. Ironically, one can see in the surrounding countryside rampant deforestation, the hills stripped of their natural guardians. In that moment, it’s perfectly illustrated the juxtaposition between the Mayan culture and its modern counterpart: one is trying to protect and cultivate the land beneath us stretching off into the horizon, while the other is seeking nautral resources in the name of “progress”. At what cost, I think. That same vermillion blood of the Mayan culture, disappearing into the cracks of the fractured sidewalks in San Andrés Xecul. In the name of the future, technology, the richness promised by the city life.

San Andrés Xecul, as seen from the hill above town:

* * *

15.6.2018

My Spanish classes have gone very well. Before going to class, however, I go every day to the “Casa de Yoga” in the zócalo in Xela to take a yoga class from 6:50 to 7:50am. The cost of the studio: 150 quetzales (Q150) per month, which is equivalent to about $20. There are studios at home in the U.S. that cost the same in dollars. It should be noted here the privilege that we have to think that Q150 is inconsequential; the miminum salary in Guatemala is ~Q2700 per month, or ~$360. And there are many who don’t even reach this minumum, as they are working in the streets, they have their own business, or they have to maintain a family.

We are a diverse yoga class. The Dutch yoga teacher, Samantha, leads us through our Hatha style yoga classes with poise and elegance, even including a short meditation at both the beginning and the end of class. For me, it’s been a good way to come into the day, setting an intention and relaxing my body and mind with the breath. To remain centered in ways such as this while one is traveling is imperative in order to overcome the culture shock experienced upon arriving to another country.

Casa de Yoga also holds a weekly potluck on Sunday nights after their late afternoon class from 5:15-6:30. I’m lucky enough to be invited this week. The crowd is diverse and interesting; I meet two girls from Holland, one from France, several local Guatemalans, and the owner, Kevin, from the United States who opened Casa de Yoga over 10 years ago. It’s a mix of both students and teachers, and I enjoy hearing stories about how everyone has come to live in Xela. At the end of the night after a cathartic yoga class with our teacher Joel and having attended a dinner with such a rich sense of community, I’m left with a warm feeling in my chest and smile spreading across my face as I fall asleep.

Casa de Yoga, as seen from the street:

* * *

My Spanish teacher, Ingrid, lives in the suburbs around Xela and arrives every morning to practice conversation with me. Although I speak Spanish well, I have been improving significantly with respect to more advanced grammar, sentence and speech fluency, vocabulary, and my understanding of Guatemalan culture. Every day, we talk for 5 hours from 8 o’clock in the morning until 1 o’clock in the afternoon about themes ranging from the healthcare system in Guatemala to the concept of depression to our life stories.

It’s worth briefly discussing the concept of healthcare and personal health here in Guatemala. There are three major centers in which Guatemalans can seek their healthcare, Puestos de Salud, Centros de Salud, and hospitals, ranging from least equipped to most equipped. Puestos are small health outposts typically present in the more rural communities in Guatemala and do not typically have doctors present; they are run by medical students and nurses, may have a small pharmacy, and a few might also have a lab for basic tests such as urinary analysis and blood draws. Centros are closer to hospitals but are not fully equipped; they are often places where mothers will go to deliver babies if they are not delivered at home. Hospitals in Guatemala are viewed with trepidation, as many Guatemalans believe based on stories of loved ones that people only go to hospitals to die.

Traditional medicine handed down through generations of the indigenous Mayan culture is pervasive in Guatemala. While it is less likely to see locals walking through the streets of Xela dressed in the traditional Mayan huipil (top shirt) and corte (bottom skirt), most of the population still believes and practices in many of their ancient family traditions. And as an American coming into Guatemala to help deliver healthcare in one of the many under-equipped hospitals here, it’s important to realize the importance of these traditions to many of the Guatemalan patients. For example, mal de ojo is a disease widely believed by Guatemalans to affect their infant children. Essentially, if someone with too much energía looks at their baby or is even too near to their child, their child will become sick in some way. Mal de ojo is more dangerous with individuals who have blue or green eyes, but can also be caused by “bad blood”. Therefore, in the indigenous Guatemalan culture nobody aside from the direct family of an infant is allowed to see the child for the first 40 days of life. This is a practice still maintained by some families.

Some professionals from the Western medicine tradition might cringe at this suggestion. But it’s important to remember to avoid ethnocentrism, and to offer culturally sensitive healthcare that includes both the patient’s traditions in addition to more evidence-based medicine. In the end, a combination of more modern medicine and traditions that are more comfortable for the patient will end up producing the best results.

* * *

On Friday, Ingrid and I go to a market, San Francisco El Alto, for our class. I decide that a class mixed in with a cultural experience will help me more in understanding Guatemala and its people than staying in the courtyard at school again.

In the market, there is a cacophonous mix of food vendors, clothing, electronics, shoes…anything that one might want. With Ingrid as my guide, we meander among the narrow streets packed with vendors selling typical Guatemalan goods, such as seafood including shrimp and dried fish, vegetables from the surrounding farms, and even livestock in a dirt field near the top of the hill. Unfortunately, I don’t bring my camera to the market for fear of losing it to a thief. It’s only later that I realize that the market is relatively safe, and that I might have taken some photos that reminded me of the rich colors, smells, and sounds of San Francisco El Alto.

But the purpose of traveling isn’t only to take photos, and I’m glad to be immersed in such an authentic experience. After walking for a little while, we sit down in the middle of the market to eat a small lunch. Ingrid recommends the classic: a fresh tortilla folded about chicharrones bought from a street vendor, topped with fresh squeezed lime juice and served with a typical Guatemalan drink named atol. We choose to drink the atol de elote, which is made from the cob of the corn plant, pulverized and mixed with spices including cinnamon and cardamom. The thick yellow drink is served steaming hot, warming the spirits of these cold Guatemalan mountain pueblos. Delicious, I say audibly, thinking of the late Anthony Bourdain and his adventures among the street markets like this around the world.

I suppose this is how I’ve always wanted to travel: fully immersed in the culture, fee to explore and say yes, learning the customs and traditions of our global community. Because in the end, it turns out that traveling like this shows me that we’re not as different as we might think.

#guatemala #xela #travel #quetzaltenango #spanish #español

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weekendwarriorblog · 4 years

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The Weekend Warrior February 28, 2020 – THE INVISIBLE MAN, GREED

Welcome to Leap Weekend (if there is such a thing) as we get that one extra day of February for the first time in four years before we leap (get it?) headlong into March’s proverbial lion on Sunday.

This past weekend, 20th Century’s Call of the Wild did far better than anyone had projected as it benefited greatly from being one of the most Disney-friendly movies produced by the former Fox-house, as well as the solid reviews. Even though I probably had one of the highest projections for the weekend at $17 million, it ended up blowing that away with $25 million, coming out just below Sonic the Hedgehog. This coming weekend it might surpass it. Brahms II fell short of my already-low prediction. (Also, Impractical Jokers: The Movie ended up making $2.6 million in 357 theaters last weekend, just missing the top 10. Makes me curious how many more theaters it will expand into this weekend... but we’ll get back to that in a bit.)

Thankfully, this weekend we only get one new wide release, and it’s a good one, as Saw and Insidious co-creator Leigh Whannell takes on HG Wells’ THE INVISIBLE MAN (Universal) with Elisabeth Moss playing the unseen killer’s primary victim, one who believes her toxic and abusive ex Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen from “The Haunting of Hill House”) is dead, but in fact, he’s just invisible! I know, it sounds cornier than it actually is. By the time you read this, I’ll have probably already written my full review so you already know that I kind of dug what Whannell did here.

This will be an interesting test to see if Moss can bring her popularity from shows like “The Handmaiden’s Tale” and “Mad Men” to the big screen since she really hasn’t been the lead in many big studio releases. Obviously, she had a fairly big role in Jordan Peele’s Uslast year, which was also produced by Jason Blum for Universal, and that did decently by opening with $71 million. (That movie got a huge boost by being Peele’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning Get Out with the amazing Lupita Nyong’o.) A few months later, Moss’ co-starring role in the WB graphic novel-based crime thriller The Kitchen tanked even with support from bigger stars like Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish. The Invisible Man will be a good test to see if Moss can carry a major wide release, already having a strong fanbase, especially among critics thanks to last year’s indie Her Smell.

There’s a pretty long history of Universal’s Classic Monsters being brought back to the screen with Dracula and Frankenstein getting the most iterations -- some more successful than others. Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 movie Bram Stoker’s Dracula was one of the bigger hits for the time, grossing $82 million after a $30 million opening, and this was 1992 money, mind you.

Just ten years ago, Universal’s The Wolf Man opened with $31.5 million over the Presidents Day weekend and ended up grossing $61.9 million, the name value of its title character helping quite a bit but only for that opening weekend. Even though it was universally (ha ha) panned, Tom Cruise’s The Mummy reboot also opened with $31.7 million (in the summer) although it failed to kick-start Universal’s planned “Dark Universe” shared universe of films. The lack of quality for those projects may hurt The Invisible Man with moviegoers who have felt like they’ve been burned too many times before, but we’ll have to see how the critics feel about it. (Reviews so far are mostly positive, at the time of this writing.)

Going back further, the Paul Verhoeven thriller Hollow Man, starring Kevin Bacon, opened with $26.4 million on its way to $73.2 million, so I can’t see any reason why 20 years later, The Invisible Man can’t find similar success.

Sure, there’s been a serious downturn on horror over the past two months with so many pretty mediocre horror movies getting released, few of them doing well. The name brand of The Invisible Man and the Blumhouse branding (not to mention Universal’s marketing, which has done a decent job with the trailers and commercials) should allow it to make $26 to 30 million (maybe more?) – it won’t have a problem being the #1 movie at the box office this weekend regardless.

My Review of The Invisible Man

My Interview with Leigh Whannell over at VitalThrills.com

The Invisible Man shouldn’t have a hard time taking #1 whether it ends up on the low point of projections or breaks out with something closer to $30 million or more. Even more interesting to watch is the bottom of the top 10 and whether last week’s Emma or Impractical Jokers: the Movie might break into the top 10 depending on their respective expansions. The latter might have a slight advantage since it might be targeting 700 to 800 theaters or more while Emma is only expanding into about 100 theaters before its nationwide release next week.

Also, apparently the popular manga series “My Hero Academia” is coming to the big screen starting tonight with the nationwide release of My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising, but since I know almost nothing about the series or how many theaters it might open in, there’s not much more I can add. Maybe it’ll do well enough to break into the top 10, but who really knows? The previous movie grossed $5.5 million domestically with an August ‘18 opening, and presumably, its sequel can do even better with the series being even more popular. I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt that it could end up with $3 million over the weekend if it opens in 500 or more theaters, but it’s really a stab in the dark here.

1. The Invisible Man (Universal) - $30.6 million N/A (up $2 million)*

2. Call of the Wild (20th Century) - $15.4 million -38%

3. Sonic the Hedgehog (Paramount) - $14 million -47%

4. Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey (Warner Bros) - $3.5 million -48%

5. Bad Boys for Life (Sony) - $3.5 million -40%

6. My Hero Academia: Heroes Rising (FUNimation) - $3.1 million N/A* (based on 550 theaters - note that this opens Weds i.e. today)

7. 1917 (Universal) - $2.6 million -38%

8. Brahms: The Boy II (STXfilms) - $2.5 million -57%

9. The Impractical Jokers Movie (TruTV) - $2.2 million -15%* (based on 750 theaters)

10. Jumanji: The Next Level (Sony) - $2.1 million -35%

11. Emma. (Focus Features) or Parasite (NEON) - $1.7 million (down .3 million)

*UPDATE: Giving Invisible Man a little boost since it’s opening in about 600 more theaters than my earlier projection plus the reviews have mostly been positive which will definitely help. Still no actual theater counts for My Hero Academia and The Impractical Jokers movie, so I guess we’ll have to see when numbers come in Saturday where they end up.

LIMITED RELEASES

This week’s FEATURED MOVIE is GREED (Sony Pictures Classics), the new collaboration between Michael Winterbottom and Steve Coogan, whose earlier films, 24 Hour Party People and “The Trip” movies (a fourth one coming out this summer!) are some of my favorite British comedies. In this one, Coogan plays Sir Richard McCreadie, the “King of High Street,” who has earned a reputation for his billion-dollar fashion store empire by negotiating wholesalers’ prices down, even when it means the already poorly-paid workers overseas are deprived further of anything close to a fair wage.

The film is told through a pseudo-doc format as McGreadie’s family and staff are preparing for his lavish 60th birthday soirée in Greece, complete with a facsimile version of Rome’s Colosseum so that “Greedy” McCreadie can fulfill his fantasies of being Russell Crowe in Ridley Scott’s Gladiator. What could possibly go wrong? The story is told through McGreadie’s biographer Nick (the amazing David Mitchell from Peep Show in a rare movie role!) who is going around the world talking to those who know McGreadie to get interviews for a video profile to be shown for the event.

Greed takes on a fairly standard mockumentary format with Winterbottom (who also cowrote this screenplay himself, another rarity for the filmmaker) putting together an impressive cast that includes Isla Fisher as McGreadie’s wife Samantha and Shirley Henderson as his mother (despite her being the same age as Coogan). Much of the humor comes from the comedy-of-errors surrounding this celebration with one thing going wrong after another but things getting progressively worse whenever McGreadie steps in to try to fix things.

The funny thing about watching Greed is that I spent most of the movie convinced it was a biopic about a real person ala 24 Hour Party People, vaguely remembering certain events as something I remember hearing about. Thanks to my old Beat editor Hannah Lodge for pointing out that the movie was in fact loosely based on the true story of billionaire Sir Philip Ross Green, someone I wasn’t even remotely familiar with but clearly was enough in the public consciousness to make me realize this film was loosely based on fact. (I’m sure that many will touch on the toxic masculinity clearly displayed by McGreadie which lines up with accusations about Green, who has repeatedly had his knighthood in danger of being repealed for his behavior and actions.)

I found Greed to be very funny but with a clear and poignant message about what the likes of “Greedy” are regularly getting away with at the expense of beleaguered workers in poverty-stricken countries. In that sense, it doesn’t hit the viewer too hard over the head with its message but still gets it across as well as any actual doc might. There’s also a great Knives Out style turn that will appeal to those who have gotten tired of the wealthy doing whatever they want and getting away with it.

There are other movies I’ll probably be watching this week and a few others that I won’t have a chance to watch.

Andrew Heckler’s BURDEN (101 Studios) premiered over two years ago at the Sundance Film Festival, but it’s finally being revived and released. It involves a Ku Klux Klan museum opening in a small racially-diverse town in South Carolina in 1996 and how it affects the people of the town. The story mainly revolves around Garrett Hedlund’s Mike Burden, a top soldier for the local KKK head Tom Griffin, played by Tom Wilkinson, who is odds with the local preacher, Reverend David Kennedy (played by Forrest Whitaker) about that museum. When Mike falls for a single mother (Andrea Riseborough), he has to start deciding whether he can leave the KKK despite his inbred hatred for blacks, including Kennedy, who helps him when Griffin turns the town against Mike. This is a decent drama that I wanted to like more because it deals with a really important message about allowing love to overcome hatred. It’s a strong story (based on true events) that features some amazing performances, but particularly from Riseborough (once again virtually unrecognizable!), but also Hedlund and Whitaker, both playing very difficult roles. I guess the problem is that Mike’s inevitable road to redemption is so bumpy with so many ups and downs, you love him, you hate him, he’s good, he’s bad… it really created quite an erratic tone whereas a tighter script could have made this a movie as good or better than Spike Lee’s BlackKklansman. It’s a shame, but I still it’s worth watching since it does deal with issues like racism and hatred that seem to constantly raise their ugly head even when we think there’s hope for a better world. It’ll open in select cities this Friday.s

Speaking of Sundance, Benh Zeitilin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild was all the rage at the festival all the way back in 2012, eventually getting four Oscar nominations, and he finally releases his follow-up WENDY (Fox Searchlight), a re-envisioning of the classic Peter Pan mythos. It once again features a group of no-name non-actors with Devin France in the title role and Yashua Mack playing Peter Pan.

Albert Shin’s moody thriller DISAPPEARANCE AT CLIFTON HILL (IFC Midnight) stars Tuppence Middleton (“Sense 8”) as Abby, a young woman who witnessed a kidnapping at Niagara Falls when she was a girl, who decides to return to home there to see if she can figure out who was responsible.

Apparently, John Turturro’s THE JESUS ROLLS, in which he reprises his bowling character from the Coens’ The Big Lebowski,is opening in select theaters this weekend. Turturro directed the movie that co-stars Bobby Cannavale, Audrey Tautou, Susan Sarandon and Sonia Braga, and for some reason, I thought it was opening on March 20 but apparently, it will be at the IFC Center starting this weekend!

Matthew Pope’s feature debut, the thriller Blood on her Name (Vertical), stars Bethany Ann Lind (from “Ozark”) as Leigh Tiller, a woman who discovers a body of a dead man with his blood draining out onto the floor, and she decides to cover it up while also feeling like she needs to return the body to the man’s family. It will get a special screening at the Nitehawk in Wiliamsburg on Thursday night with Pope, Lind and co-writer Don Thompson doing a QnA, and then will be On Demand (and other select cities) on Friday.

Next up is The Whistlers (Magnolia), the new film from Romanian filmmaker Cornelio Porumboiu (12:08 East of Bucharest, Police Adjective), and it’s a rare Romanian film that’s less than two hours long! It’s a policeman trying to free a crooked businessman from a Romanian prison, first travelling to Gomera, one of the Canary Islands, where he has to learn the local dialect that includes hissing and spissing. Bummed I missed this one. It will open at the Film Forum downtown and Film at Lincoln Center uptown, plus other cities.

Alex Thompson’s Saint Frances (Oscilloscope) is written by and stars Kelly O’Sullivan from “Sirens” as 34-year-old Bridge, who finally catches a break and gets a much-needed job taking care of a six-year-old (Ramona Edith-Williams) and also meets a nice guy but when she gets pregnant, it avoids to unexpected complications with her young liege.

Opening Thursday night at the IFC Center is James Sweeney’s rom-com Straight Up (Strand), starring Sweeney as Todd, an obsessive compulsive gay twenty-something who suddenly gets the existential feeling that maybe he isn’t gay after all. Meeting Karen Finlay’s Rory, a struggling actress, the two form a bond around their conversations. Sweeney and some of his cast will be doing QnAs at the IFC Center on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Lastly, D.W. Young’s doc The Booksellers (Greenwich) looks behind the scenes at the world of rare books with appearances by Parker Posey, Fran Lebowitz and Gay Talese. It opens at the Quad in New York and other cities.

Also screening at the IFC Center Weds night is Stuart Sweezey’s excellent music doc Desolation Center, which looks at the efforts by an L.A. concert promoter to hold indie rock/punk shows in the Sahara Desert in the early ‘80s featuring the likes of Sonic Youth, Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Red Kross, Swans, Einstürzende Neubauten and more! The special screening will include a QnA with Sonic Youth’s Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley, and having seen it at Rooftop Films last summer, I highly recommend it to fans of any of those bands.

LOCAL FESTIVALS

The big regional film for the New York area, and it’s one that I have yet to be able to attend, mainly since it takes place so far uptown, is the 10thannual Athena Film Festival, which is quite an amazing achievement for my friend Melissa Silverstein and her Women and Hollywood for putting this on for ten years.

This year’s fest runs from February 27 (this Thursday) through March 1 (Sunday), kicking off with Unjoo Moon’s I Am Woman, a biopic about Helen Reddy, who famously wrote that song in the ‘70s. It closes on the 1stwith Suffragette director Sarah Gavron’s Rocks, starring newcomer Bukky Bakray as a teen girl trying to take care of her younger brother and herself. The centerpiece films are Liz Garbus’ Lost Girls, starring Amy Ryan; Haiffa Al-Monsour’s The Perfect Candidate and the Oscar-nominated documentary For Sama. The festival includes a mix of new and already-released films including Harriet, Toni Morrison: the Pieces I Am and lots more. Click on the link above for the full schedule and program of films.

REPERTORY

METROGRAPH (NYC):

Metrograph wraps up its month-long “To Hong Kong with Love” this weekend with the fictional anthology Ten Years (2015), James Leong’s 2018 film Umbrella Diaries: The First Umbrella (chronicling the recent revolution in Hong Kong) as well as a work in progress screening of Leong’s If We Burn. “Climate Crisis Parables” continues with Lars von Trier’s Melancholia (2011) shown again, as well as Bong Joon Ho’s Snowpiercer from 2013, Antonioni’s cRed Desert (1964) and Tarkovsky’s Stalker (1979). Also this weekend, Welcome To Metrograph: Redux will screen the ‘80s classic Beverly Hills Cop (1984), starring Eddie Murphy, as well as Abel Ferrara’s equally classic Bad Lieutenant (1992), starring Harvey Keitel. Also screening Saturday evening is Jeff Kanew’s Black Rodeo (1972) as well as Vincent Gallo’s Buffalo ’88 (1998) and then Claude Chabrol’s 1960 film Les Bonnes Femmes on Monday night. This weekend’s Late Nites at Metrograph is Ingmar Bergman’s Persona (1966) while Playtime: Family Matinees is David Lynch’s The Straight Story (1999) a good introduction of Lynch for the kiddies?

ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE BROOKLYN (NYC)

Tonight’s “Weird Wednesday” is 1985’s softcore gladiator film The Perils of Gwendolyn (hosted by my pal, the wonderful Heather Buckley!). Showing earlier this evening (but sadly sold out) is the Tom Cruise/Brad Pitt classic Interview with the Vampire (1994). Thursday begins the Alamo’s “VHStival” with a screening of the 1987 flick Video Violence, and then next Monday’s “VHS Vortex” movie is Evil Spawn, also from 1987. Next Tuesday’s “Terror Tuesday” is the 2005 movie House of Wax and then next week’s “Weird Wednesday” is the classic Robocop 2 (1990) plus there’ll be a screening of William Friedkin’s Sorcerer from 1977 earlier next Weds, which more than likely will also sell out.

Over on the West Coast, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Downtown Los Angeles (which would earn you 4,256 points in Scrabble if you could even fit it on the board) is playing Voyage of the Rock Aliens (1984) as its “Weird Wednesday” tonight (it’s sold out) and then Thursday night is the J-Horror Bloodbath double feature of Demon Within and Biotherapy that New York got earlier in the month. (Also, sold out! Sorry!) Also on Saturday, the appropriate Amy Addams comedy Leap Year will screen in the afternoon. Sunday is a double feature of Destin Daniel Cretton’s movie Short Term 12, starring Brie Larson, is paired with Brett Haley’s new film All the Bright Places with Haley and writer Liz Hannah on hand to answer questions. You can either choose between that or Pawel Pawlikowski’s 2005 film Summer of Love, starring a very young Emily Blunt. Monday’s already sold-out “Out of Tune” hosted by my buddy Jeremy Wein (who keeps forgetting to tell me about these before they sell out!) is the Electric Light Orchestra and Olivia Newton-John collaboration Xanadu from 1980. Next week’s “Terror Tuesday” is Brian Yuzna’s Society from 1989 with the director in attendance.

THE NEW BEVERLY (L.A.):

Wednesday’s Afternoon Classic is Vincente Minelli’s An American in Paris (1951), starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, while the Weds/Thursday double features are Freebie and the Bean and Busting, both from 1974. 1992’s Candyman will screen as this week’s “Freaky Friday” and then Friday’s midnight movie is True Romance (again) and the Saturday midnight movie is Arthur Hiller’s The Hospital (1971) starring George C. Scott. This weekend’s Kiddee Matinee is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix from 2004 and the Monday’s matinee is Wesley Snipes in Passenger 57 (1992).

EGYPTIAN THEATRE (LA):

Friday is the rescheduled Retroformat 2020 screening of 1913’s Traffic in Souls while Saturday begins a series of “Weinmar Variations” (free with RSVP!), German films made between 1919 and 1933 with musical accompaniment. Pandora’s Box from 1929 will screen on Saturday night and then Sunday’s “Sunday Print Edition” is Vincent Minelli’s The Clock (1945). Lav Daz will appear in person on Sundayfor a screening of a restoration of his 2001 film Batang West Side with a series on the Philipino filmmaker shared with Aero.

AERO (LA):

Thursday’s “Antiwar Cinema” matinee is The Mouse That Roared (1959), starring Peter Sellers and then Thursday night is a double feature “Salute to Kelly Reichardt” with Old Joy and River of Grass with Reichardt in person. Saturday is a series called “The End of History: The Cinema of Lav Diaz,” screening 2013’s Norte: the End of History with Diaz in person. Sunday evening’s double feature continues the Kelly Reichardt series with two of her picks: 1953’s Ugetsuand 1970’s Little by Little.

MOMA (NYC):

Modern Matinees: Jack Lemmonwraps up this week with 1954’s It Should Happen to You on Weds, Blake Edwards’ 1962 Days of Wine and Roses on Thursday and 1968’s The Odd Couple on Friday. (The next series will focus on the great Cicely Tyson!) The “Theater of Operations” film series also continues with Werner Herzog’s Lessons of Darkness (1992) on Sunday. The “It’s All in me: Black Heroines” series will screen David D. Williams’ 1993 film Lillian and All by Myself: The Eartha Kitt Story (1982) on Wednesday and more running through the weekend. “Television Movies: Big Pictures on the Small Screen” also continues through Friday.

NITEHAWK CINEMA (NYC):

Out in Brooklyn the Nitehawk in Williamsburgwill show the 1998 horror sequel Bride of Chucky on Friday night at midnight and Allison Anders’ 1993 film Mi Vida Loca as part of its “California Love” series on Saturday morning. (Not rep but another option for Saturday morning is seeing Rashaad Ernesto Green’s Premature which will screen at the Nitehawk on Saturday with the amazing Zora Howard and cinematographer Laura Valladao doing a QnA. (Also on Monday, the Nitehawk will screen the incredible 2018 doc Varda by Agnès, which I highly recommend. Meanwhile, Prospect Park will screen Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain from 2005 on Saturday morning and then IT will screen Premature on Monday, again with Howard and Valladao doing a QnA in case you have to miss the event on Saturday.

BAM CINEMATEK (NYC):

Starting Friday, BAM is doing a special series “Kelly Reichardt Selects: First Cow in Context” which will offer screenings of movies that inspired the indie filmmaker’s upcoming film, First Cow, which opens March 6. This weekend’s offerings include Agnès Varda’s The Gleaners and I, the 1953 Japanese film Ugetsu, Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali (1955), the 1978 Italian film The Tree of Wooden Clogsand more, as this runs through Weds with Melville’s Le Cercle Rougefrom 1970.

MUSEUM OF THE MOVING IMAGE (NYC):

This weekend’s “See It Big! Outer Space” offerings including Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi classic Alien and John Carpenter’s 1974 film Dark Star, which was said to be an inspiration for Scott’s film. As usual, Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey will screen on Saturday afternoon as part of the exhibition.

FILM FORUM (NYC):

Elem Klimov’s Come and See will continue through the weekend, as will Visconti’s L’Innocente, while the weekend’s “Film Forum Jr.” is Barbra Streisand’s Yentl from 1983 and then keep an eye out next week a new series called “The Women Behind Hitchcock,” which should be fairly exciting.

ANTHOLOGY FILM ARCHIVES (NYC):

Dušan Makavejev’s 1971 film WR: Mysteries of the Organism screens tonight and Sunday, as part of “Dušan Makavejev, Cinema Unbound” (that should really pull people in) while “Dream Dance: The Films of Ed Emshwiller” runs through Friday. To be perfectly honest, I know nothing about either of these filmmakers and if their films interest you, you’d be better off clicking on the links and doing some reading. Sorry.

IFC CENTER (NYC)

This week’s Weekend Classics: Luis Buñuelis Diary of a Chambermaid from 1964, while the Waverly Midnights: Hindsight is 2020s is Tim Burton’s 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes, starring Mark Wahlberg, and Late Night Favorites: Winter 2020, it takes the weekend off.

QUAD CINEMA (NYC):

Pandora and the Flying Dutchman will run through the weekend to next week but with only one or two screenings a day, but then on Friday, the Quad will pick up the new 4k restoration of Horace B. Jenkins’ Cane River (1982) that has been playing at BAM the past couple weekends with the filmmaker’s son Sacha Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.

ROXY CINEMA (NYC)

Thursday’s Nicolas Cage movie is Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans from 2009.

LANDMARK THEATRES NUART (LA):

Friday night’s midnight movie is WilliamFriedkin’s Cruising (1980), starring Al Pacino.

STREAMING AND CABLE

This week on Netflix, we get Brett (The Hero, Hearts Beat Loud) Haley’s romantic drama All the Bright Places, starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith, on Friday, as well as the first season of I’m Not Okay with This, a new series from the Stranger Things team, starring Sophia Lillis from It, and the South African spy thriller series Queen Sono, as well as the second season of Altered Carbon with Anthony Mackie.

Next week, it’s March, and the latest Disney-Pixar movie Onward takes on Ben Affleck in Warner Bros’ sports drama The Way Back. I’m not sure if I’ll be given a chance to see either.

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or send me a note on Twitter. I love hearing from readers!

#Greed TheInvisibleMan ElisabethMoss Movies Reviews Streaming Festivals Repertory TheWeekendWarrior

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cinemamablog · 4 years

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Make Your Own Film School

I invested in a MasterClass membership this year and was watching some of Spike Lee’s lectures when I realized: if you know how to use your online resources to your advantage, and maintain an inquisitive mindset, actual film school becomes more and more irrelevant. You can save yourself thousands of dollars in film appreciation and history classes by a simple YouTube search and you can learn the basics of a movie set just by reading a $12 book. What a time to be alive!

One of my goals with CineMama is to help readers take full advantage of the resources that make film so accessible in the year 2020. There is no wrong way to watch a movie (except maybe staring at your phone the whole time and not actually watching), but there are always opportunities to enhance your viewing experience and enrich your life through the art of film. I want to share online resources, books, videos, podcasts, and subscriptions that have helped me deepen my own appreciation for movies and better understand the work that goes into creating any movie, let alone a great one.

Read

For perspective on the behind-the-scenes ingredients of filmmaking, read the short and sweet, but beyond informative book, Making Movies by Sidney Lumet. (You might recognize his name from a couple little movies called Network and Dog Day Afternoon.) Though written decades ago, most of the working parts of a film set haven’t changed and the artistic process largely remains the same, so his expertise and insight prove invaluable to any young filmmaker or film devotee.

Anyone who knows me knows that I strongly believe in rewriting the generally accepted film cannon to better spotlight the accomplishments and contributions of women in filmmaking. Backwards and In Heels by Alicia Malone provides a reader-friendly primer to the under-recognized history of women in Hollywood. If you take care to learn the names of D.W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin, familiarize yourself with the work of Lois Webber and Mary Pickford.

Explore http://davidbordwell.net. Film historian and professor David Bordwell, and his wife and partner Kristin Thompson, write in-depth and transformative analyses of films and film history. You can peruse their shared blog and enjoy essays by Bordwell, as well as video essays that help visualize his words. (I especially enjoy the video essay on CinemaScope, which you can watch here.) Bordwell and Thompson do a great service to film fans and autodidacts everywhere by keeping so much of their work accessible and free online. (You can also invest in their published works and support their scholarly pursuits with your wallet, if you’re able and so choose.)

Read film criticism. Some of my personal favorite critics include Pauline Kael and Molly Haskell, but I also respect Roger Ebert and Haskell’s other half, Andrew Sarris. You can read many of their articles and reviews online for free after a quick Google search, or you can purchase or borrow entire books of their work. Reading criticism can teach you how to best apply your subjective judgment to a film and thus put your unique viewing experience into words. No two people see a movie the same and you have nothing to lose by learning others’ perspectives.

To keep yourself open to diverse voices, I encourage you to follow the @femalefilmcritics account on Twitter. I’ve personally discovered many insightful and contemporary film critics through this site and enjoy participating in the progressive environment fostered there. Social media is a great place to discover voices and opinions you might otherwise be deaf to.

And speaking of criticism, you can download a copy of The Permanent Crisis of Film Criticism by Mattias Frey, here. The book covers an interesting and vital aspect of film history: film’s journey to acceptance as an art form and the perpetual argument over the purpose of criticism.

Read screenplays. Every year, film studios provide free access online to the screenplays for their major awards contenders. I usually check www.thefilmstage.com to keep up with the recent output of free screenplays. (You can read 2019’s most hyped screenplays here.) Read them and watch the movies so you can witness how a cast and crew translates the written word into film’s unique grammar of image, sound, and performance.

Watch

Film historian Kevin Brownlow’s Hollywood: a Celebration of the American Silent Film first aired in 1980 and was made available on VHS and LaserDisc, then never again on physical media. The series utilizes primary sources in the form of interviews with some of Hollywood’s most beloved artists: Buster Keaton, Lillian Gish, John Wayne, William Wyler, and Louise Brooks, just to name a sampling. Film fans have no official means to access to the series, but you can watch 12 of the 13 50-minute episodes on YouTube, starting here, but you will need to visit here to view the 12th episode, as it was removed from YouTube.

Almost everyone knows of Martin Scorsese’s passion for cinema, both for foreign and classic Hollywood features. In A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Cinema, he covers the history of American filmmaking from his viewpoint as a fan and a filmmaker: the movies that inspired him, the ones that made the biggest impact on his appreciation for cinema, the ones that he pays homage to in his own work. You can watch the documentary in parts on YouTube here.

Listen

Listen to commentaries. Whether you stream movies, rent them from RedBox, or straight up buy them, most discs or digital copies give you access to audio commentaries from cast, crew, critics, or historians. You can learn about film history and appreciation from the critics and historians, filmmaking tools through the crew’s anecdotes, and actors’ methods straight from the mouths of professional actors. Commentaries give you a front row seat to a film’s production history, so take advantage of that “special features” tab on your DVD menu.

Listen to podcasts. Beloved movie critic Leonard Maltin hosts the podcast Maltin on Movies with his dear daughter and fellow movie fan, Jessie Maltin. Every week, they interview a legend or legend-in-the-making of the movie industry. The Maltins conduct the interviews with a wealth of respect, knowledge, and enthusiasm, since both Leonard and Jessie have spent at least the majority of their lives observing the movie business, one for a living and one by association. Some previous guests include Mitzi Gaynor, Greta Gerwig, and Christopher Guest, to give you a sense of the variety of personalities and perspectives your earbuds will encounter.

Hosted by writer April Wolfe, the podcast Switchblade Sisters invites a different guest every week to choose and discuss a genre movie at length on the show. All of the guests work in the film or TV industry and give a lot of insight into their own work while dissecting and appreciating the work of others.

Another genre-loving podcast, on Faculty of Horror, Andrea Subissati (executive editor at Rue Morgue magazine) and Alexandra West (freelance writer) analyze horror movies from an academic perspective. The hosts make a point to include show links that serve as a bibliography, so you can continue to learn about an episode’s specific subject after you’ve finished listening.

These recommendations cost money, ranging from $9 a month to hundreds of dollars a year. If you have the cash to spend, and want to, these resources can help you access movies and lectures, with an emphasis on quantity of content and convenience.

Can’t afford investing in physical media, but want access to a better selection of classics without subscribing to multiple streaming platforms? Party like it’s the early 00s and consider a DVD Netflix subscription. You can use the service to a keep a steady stream of movies coming your way. Not sure what to add to your queue? Check out popular lists like “1001 Movies to See Before You Die,” or if you want to keep it local, peruse the reviews and lists published on CineMama for inspiration.

For $10.99 a month or $99.99 a year, you can access hundreds of movies on the Criterion Channel. In addition to a treasure trove of classic and critically-acclaimed films, you also have access to enlightening video series like Observations on Film Art and Split Screen. As if all of that wasn’t enough, you also can enjoy and learn from countless supplementary materials related to the movies currently streaming. If the movies sold by the Criterion Collection are “film school in a box,” then the Criterion Channel is film school in an app.

For $180 a year, you can sign up for MasterClass and enjoy hours of lectures with filmmakers with decades of experience, including Spike Lee, David Lynch, Ron Howard, and Jodi Foster, as well as screenwriters and dramatists and other leaders in their respective fields. The upfront fee seems steep compared to the monthly payments to which audiences have grown accustomed, but the program’s still cheaper than paying some bozo at a community college with only a couple more years of education than you. (If that.)

If you want to stay up-to-date on recent releases and have an AMC near you, I would consider investing (at least) $20 a month in the AMC Stubs A-List program. For a monthly fee, you can attend three movies every week (regardless of the ticket price or if you’ve seen the movie already) and also earn rewards points to save on concessions. Though less of a necessity now that so many filmmakers release their films straight to streaming or VOD, the A-List can help you save money if you’re a frequent moviegoer.

I wouldn’t recommend this program for parents of small children, because unless you have magical powers, I doubt you’ll have the time or energy to go to the movies more than once or twice a month. However, you may want to remember the AMC Stubs A-List program for when the whole family can enjoy a night out at the movies. Even if you just go once a week as a group, you could save on tickets and concessions by paying for your monthly subscriptions.

And finally…

Visit your local library for an abundance of free and quality resources! See what sparks your interest by browsing the shelves. Not just in the film section, but I also strongly suggest skimming the biographies. (That might just be the history nerd in me, though.) Check out the e-books and audiobooks available through your library’s online program. I know for a fact that the Sioux City Public Library hosts an impressive DVD collection. (It’s where I first borrowed a copy of Paul Leni’s The Man Who Laughs.) You can also do some research online and provide your local research librarian with a list of books to request for you through interlibrary loan.

For resource recommendations on any particular film-related subject, reach out to your local CineMama on social media and I can help point you in the right direction. Also, let me know if any of these links break over time and I can update them as necessary.

#personal #resources #reference

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besthindimovieonnetflix · 5 years

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Amazon Prime Vs Netflix: A Video Streaming Battle Is Being Waged by Amazon Instant Video and Netflix

Netflix

Do you remember Blockbuster? Envision it. You drive 5-10 min to the local branch. You then spend 15-20 min just sifting through their selection. Pick out 2-3 movies and go wait in line next with a bunch of other people doing the same thing. Get to the checkout "Oh good choice, that's going to be $9.27 also you have a late charge on your account of $5.25. These movies will be do back in 3 days." drive 5-10 min home and watch your movies. You've just spent about an hour of your time and $15 only to go do it again in a few days. LOL. A lot has changed since then.

I started by using the mailing service offered through Blockbuster and thought it was great. Until one day a few years ago I found Netflix. It was awesome! A few bucks a month for streaming videos and a mailing service under the same membership! Needless to say I got a lot of movie watching done over the next few months. And as time has gone on and technology has improved Netflix streaming service has kept improving consistently. The Netflix membership was eventually split so that you had to pay $7.99/mo for streaming and $7.99/mo for the mailing service. The Netflix Membership is still $7.99/mo for all the streaming movies. They have consistently added more and more content over the years, and they even have their own original series they are making now. House of Cards if you haven't seen it is amazing Kevin Spacey is a character you love to hate, but that's another story altogether... Point is the content is great.

Amazon Prime

I have been an Amazon member for years. Its simply the best website around for shopping, gifts, and selling items online. Now I have to say that comparison to Netflix aside; the Amazon Prime Membership is well worth the $. Its $79/mo, and its benefits are laudable. First, free 2-day shipping on all Prime eligible items. You may think well there can't be that many Amazon Prime eligible items then. Wrong! Almost every product has a Prime eligible option. Sometimes you can get the items cheaper from different sellers, but you usually the 2-day shipping with Prime will tilt the scales back to Amazon (Just another way they undercut people selling on their website). Now if you're thinking that 2-day FREE shipping is not that great... It is. What's the most you have paid for shipping when shopping online? $4? $20? $75? It happens, and whether you buy one big item or a few items using the free shipping option with Amazon Prime... It pays for itself!! Second, with a membership there will be deals you get anywhere from 5-70% off random items. The amount you can save after you have paid for the membership with just the free shipping is just icing on the cake. One more awesome point for the Amazon Prime (and to get back to what this all about) is the streaming videos. Do you have to pay extra for this on top of the $79/mo? Nope. It comes along with the membership. Final conclusion... Prime is worth it whether you compare it to Netflix or not.

Amazon Instant Video Vs Netflix

Now for the straight comparison of these two great services. Which is better Netflix or Amazon Instant Video? First we're going to take a look at the accessibility/user experience of the two.

You can access Netflix Instant Video on pretty much any platform. Not only that, but you can access them from up to 4 separate sources at once. At one point my roommate had a membership that was used by him, me, and 2 more friends at the same time for months. Its accessibility is great. As to user experience... When it comes to the experience Netflix is overall the best its the easiest to use. My kids with little experience in using Xbox or the computer were able to figure it out after a couple tries, and if a kid can use it... well you should be able to as well. If you can't its not Netflix's fault you have other problems. The Netflix App for the iPhone is easy to use and navigate. You lose little of the experience that you get from using a browser, and for Xbox, PlayStation, and other similar platforms its is even smoother.

Amazon Instant Video, on the other hand, when it comes to other platforms leaves me wanting, and has no-where near the accessibility that Netflix offers. WTF Amazon? Fix this. Now in they're "defense" Amazon is about shopping so the user experience of Amazon Instant Video is set up to sell/rent movies to you at the same time. Just differing goals their Netflix wants you to enjoy the movies and the experience; while Amazon wants you to consume (and of course they make that very easy).

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mnranger5 · 5 years

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The BIG 4-0, Kansas City, MO, 1/18/19 - 1/20/19

Let me hit you with 40 un-interesting facts about my 40 years on earth!

I’ve woken up and gone to bed 14,600 days in my life.

I’ve put shoes on at least 50,000 times.

I’ve traveled to 31 of our 50 states.

I can’t drink more than 3 beers without waking up to a terrible headache.

I’ve purchased 1 mattress in my lifetime. For as much time as you spend on them, good ones are worth every penny.

I have a pile problem. I have piles of laundry on my floor. I have a pile of mail 4 months old. I have a pile of paperwork on my desk that stresses me out to look at. I have a pile of junk in the glove box in my car. I have a pile of fishing tackle that I swear will one day be organized in tackle boxes.

I have owned eight cars in my lifetime: 1987 Pontiac Grand AM, 2001 Pontiac Grand Am, 2011 Ford Explorer Sport, 2005 Ford Explorer Limited, 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited, 2011 Ford Explorer Limited, 2012 Jeep Wrangler and 2017 GMC Sierra.

I have called nine different cities home: Kansas City, MO; Raytown, MO; Waseca, MN; Duluth, MN; Bismarck, ND; Bloomington, MN; Eagan, MN; Rosemount, MN and Apple Valley, MN

I’ve broken five bones in my life: both arms, nose, foot, ankle…

…and only the ankle hurt on a similar level to my torn ACL/MCL.

My first day working at Blue Cross Blue Shield was September, 11, 2001. What a memorable day that was.

My starting salary was $31,000. I turned down a competing offer to work at a Plymouth small B2B business that essentially lined up maintenance companies (heating, plumbing, electrical) with businesses that needed urgent maintenance at their facilities. That job paid $40,000/year. I would have accepted it on the sole basis of salary, but Mom and Dad recommended I take the job at the stable company, BCBS instead. Which was a great recommendation. The other company went out of business 6 months after offering me the job. Thanks Mom and Dad!

I’ve spent nearly 50% of my life (18 years) working at BCBS. In those 18 years…

…I’ve had 19 bosses at BCBS: Marv, Karla, Rob, Cheryl, Phil, Kevin, Gary, Mary, Terri, Shawn, Deb, Patrick, Rajat, Jim, Zachery, Maggie, Karen, Janet & Jay

I used to manage a team. I used to want my boss’ job, and the job of my boss’ boss. No more. I love being an individual contributor. I love the flexibility to be a Dad whenever I want or need to be a Dad and not be tied to the office.

I’ve enjoyed video games since Dad got us an Intelevision with Dungeons & Dragons, Baseball and Racing. As video games have advanced in technology, I’ve played some pretty awesome games. My favorites over the years were Super Mario Brothers 2 (which Dad apparently waited in a long line for at KB Toys), Starcraft, Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 4, Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Call of Duty Black Ops 4 (Blackout).

My back, knees and feet hurt all the time.

I always order the same thing off of a restaurant menu, never changing up the order.

Unless I am going to the lake, I have the hardest time getting out of bed in the morning.

My favorite cereals now are the same cereals that were my favorite as a kid – Corn Pops, Apple Jacks, Sugar Golden Crisp.

I prefer to have Diet Pepsi over any other beverage, even if it’s warm cookies or breakfast food.

Due to #18 & 19, I’ve put on an unwanted 20lbs in the past 5 years.

I have been planning the 12 Bars of Christmas for 35% of my adult life.

I love the smell and look of a freshly mowed yard.

I watch the stock market daily, and usually make poor investment choices that are based on my gut feeling (e.g. I saw a huge line at Home Depot this weekend, so I better buy some HD stock!)

I enjoy vacations so much more now then I did 20 years ago.

It took 17 years, but I am finally student loan debt free as of 2018!

In 2011, I ran a half marathon in 2 hours and 1 minute. The day after making that run, I found out I had caused a stress fracture in my right foot.

Dyan and I posed in this picture together 6 months before we ever met.

On our first date in November, we went to Carbone’s in Rosemount. We both ducked out of work a couple of hours early (nobody would notice, right?). We sat at the bar, each sipping on a drink. She only had one drink before switching to water. In my head I was thinking, this must not be going well if she is done after one beverage. We continued conversing but I couldn’t focus on any of the conversation because I was being blinded by the sunset as it’s shine was perfectly aligned with me through the front door. I am sure my ugly squinting was a very attractive first impression. I left the bar less than 2 hours later thinking I’d never hear from her again….

A few weeks later, she came to 12BoC with me. The rest is history. I’ve have checked off some bucket list fishing destinations such as Caddo Lake in Texas/Louisiana, Lake Fork in Texas, and the Atlantic Ocean in the Florida Keys..

...and the biggest bass I have caught to date came from a a small lake (Lake Marion) just 5 miles from my house. This largemouth was a whopping 5.25lbs.

I’ve been on the losing end of fishing tournaments WAY more than the winning end. The only tournament I’ve ever won was the Twin City Fishing tournament on Shields Lake in 2013. It was my very first tournament. Aaron and I weighed a giant, 21lb, sack of fish that only won by mere ounces. This might be my most favorite fishing story to tell.

If I could be in a different profession, my #1 would be a lawyer. I think I also would have made a good weatherman, pilot or engineer.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and crave a Diet Pepsi. I will literally chug the entire can of pop at 3AM. Oh, the burn is so good!

My favorite guilty pleasure is playing video games with Josh.

My ideal retirement would be Arizona for Jan-Mar, and a cabin on a MN lake from Apr-Dec.

What does all this mean?

I AM GETTING OLD!

I complain to Dyan about 40 times per year about how much I miss seeing family and how little I get to spend with them. So for my 40th, Dyan planned a trip to KC to spend the weekend celebrating with my family!

Traveling from Minnesota to Missouri in January. What could go wrong?

Only a big ol’ snowstorm.

Great. We decided we’d get on the road early. Like 4AM-early. Based on the forecast, if we hit the road by 4, we should be just on the leading edge of the snow before it hits southern Minnesota and northern Iowa. So, here was the radar when we left Apple Valley vs. the radar when we hit Mason City.

We beat the storm!

We arrived in Kansas City early, around 11AM and spent some time bumming around at Bass Pro Shops so the kids could stretch their legs a bit. Daddy had to get a couple Alabama Rigs for the April tournament in the Ozarks. We then made a quick stop for lunch at Carrabba’s Italian Grill where mom and dad joined up with us.

After lunch, it was back to Bass Pro for some target shooting. Grandpa challenged the kids to some shooting with the laser rifles, which was a hoot. Next, we decided to see if we could check-in to our Airbnb. We had never rented a house through Airbnb, but Dyan suggested we book a house on this trip so that my parents and us could all stay in the same place. The Kansas City area had some unique rental homes, but we fell in love with pictures of The Fillmore Manor on the grounds of Unity Village. Neither of us had ever stayed in a house that had an official name!

From the moment we spotted this beautiful English Cotswold style home nestled among the gentle hills of Unity Village, we knew we had made the right decision. What a gorgeous setting for a beautiful home.

The kids made quick work of staking claims on beds and exploring the winding passages through the house. Josh and Melanie met up with us that evening and we all went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse, where yes, I got to ride in the birthday saddle while the restaurant sang Happy Birthday to me! Later that evening, we began assembling a very challenging 500-piece holographic puzzle.

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast at Unity Village (which was unexpectedly good) before heading back to the house for some more puzzle time. And we finished!

We lounged around most of the morning while the kids overloaded on Melanie’s birthday cupcakes and Mom’s World Famous ALL-CRISPIX Chex Mix and Scotch-a-Roo’s. Then we split up. The boys went to play Call of Duty at Josh’s house, while the girls went to the Trampoline Park.

Apparently, the trampoline park was a stitch!

And tuckered everybody out!

Around 1PM, we all met for lunch at Jack Stack BBQ, which was AHHHH-mazing.

We then returned home for some Scabble and an unsuspectingly fun game called, Farkle.

With as much Farkle as we played over the weekend, we’ve decided we need to own this game at home!

We spent a few hours that evening at the arcade having some drinks while playing laser tag, air hockey and video games.

We all had so much fun!

Unfortunately, the following morning we all had to say goodbye, and hit the highway for our homes.

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