#and because it's too long since we've last seen Daniel

[world-of-stone]

Screenshot from Silje Brathen's reel because everyone needs to see Halvor hugging Daniel like that

#and because it's too long since we've last seen Daniel #ski jumping #halvor egner granerud #daniel andre tande #team norway #season 23/24

[athenagranted]

and what if i said that season six has been all about healing? there's been a lot of talk about how season six has picked up seemingly throwaway lines and dropped plot points from previous seasons, and i really feel like this is the season where these threads are finally winding themselves back together. as we know, season five is when a lot of these characters were at their worst mentally, and a big portion of the season was spent with the majority of the 118 and co. in a very fragmented, disjointed state....but with season six, so much of it has felt like the pieces are falling back into place.

athena getting to heal from the very first case that has been haunting her since she was a little girl and find some closure.

chimney healing from the scars that kevin's death inflicted on him and getting to trust himself and his own judgement again after that years-old wound.

bobby getting to finish the work that his old sponsor started and honoring him by living, doing the same thing for another person in need that wendall did for him, really coming full circle from the season one version of him that thought the rest of his life was meant for atonement for the apartment fire and nothing else.

buck starting to heal from the pain that his parents' neglect caused him, and finally facing his trauma and insecurities head-on and answering the question that has undoubtedly plagued his mind ever since he found out about daniel's death - yes, he is enough, yes he does matter, and slowly making his way down the path to finding genuine, true love.

hen choosing herself and her family and prioritizing the thing that will truly make her feel content instead of sacrificing her happiness to pursue being a doctor.

maddie healing from her PPD and learning to love life again, feeling safe and happy with a family that loves her.

and eddie, too, really living and being excited about life after his breakdown last season, not to mention finally acknowledging that he doesn't want to spend the rest of his life alone after shannon's death -- but not in a way where he has to put up some kind of show or play a part.

and this isn't even getting into some of the other storylines this season, such as denny asking about eva and nathaniel and the long-awaited return of ravi. i just wanted to highlight the way that we've gotten so much growth this season and so many of these characters have been able to finally face the issues that have been hurting them for so long and finally heal from them. in my opinion....if there's one thing this show definitely does right, it's playing the long game, and from everything we've seen this season, i believe that everything, even the storylines that currently seem like they're on 'hold,' will come to a conclusion that will feel satisfying and relieving.

i just. i trust this show!! i really do!! and i mean this in the gentlest way possible, but i think some of you could trust these writers to give us a good payoff as well, because i really believe they've earned it ❤️

#sorry if this has been said before btw. i'm kinda new to this fandom #so i have no idea if it's been brought up before #anyway. #pls ignore any potential typos in this #my commentary #rae.txt #911

[mosspace]

Dear PTJ, please develope your female characters

Someone complaining abt the way PTJ writes his female characters (truly, a never seen before concept); 1st Afilliate Arc and Cheongliang Arc spoilers (at this point, I think most people are up to date w/ the story, but I'm still gonna put this warning just in case)

Look, I don't take Lookism super seriously. In fact, I think I never did that, mainly thanks to the outlandish concepts it had since the beginning. I'm just here to have fun at this point, and to finally learn the truth about Daniel's 2nd body (omg, it's been 400+ chapters-).

I definitely wasn't expecting to find super well written female characters (even though I definitely should, it's 2023, for God's sake-), something a good number of fighting-related webtoons seem to struggle with. But damn, does Lookism waste its female characters in a way not many have done before.

Since the focus of the story has shifted primarly towards fighting and taking down the Four Crews and Charles Choi, I'm gonna focus on two of the characters most connected to these aspects: Mary Kim and Crystal Choi (ik Lua and Sally are also connected in this way, but I don't really have a lot to say about them and, besides, they've already been covered by another user here on Tumblr)

Mary Kim

The perfect opportunity to get her more involved came up not so long ago, in the ep just before the Allied vs 1st Afilliate fight properly started. We see Mary's reaction upon hearing Vin Jin tell her that Taejin Cheon is alive; we can see her anger asclear as day both in her expression and her words. She literally expresses how much she wants to kill this guy.

And yet, PTJ doesn't make her go and get her revenge. Instead, we have Vin Jin basically saying that he will do it for her because 'his hands are already dirty" (i heavily paraphrased his words, but you get it), which to me, at least, doesn't make sense.

Time and time again we see how close the two of them are in spite of the many jabs they throw at each other. Even without knowing the details of their shared past in Cheongliang (which comes up a couple episodes later), it's very strange that she would let Vin jin go to face him just like that.

By this point, it's already stablished that he murdered somebody, an act that even if deserved by the deceased person, takes a mental toll on the one who does it. Taking this into account, I don't see why Mary would just let who's basically her best friend go through the same thing again, alone. And I especially don't see why she would obey him and stay behind. Her, Mary, the person who never takes Vin Jin's bullshit and always calls him out.

Why not have them both go together? It would be a great opportunity to 1) deal with the last negative reminder of their past, and gain a little bit of closure once and for all, and 2) have Mary finally fight seriously and be able to demonstrate why she's called 'The Empress of Two Seconds' and why she's considered so strong.

We've only seen her take down minor opponents a very, very small number of times, all of which are altercations that don't ever last too long (i guess this last thing is to back up her nickname but, eh)

TLDR: Let Mary dirty her hands as much as Vin. Let them take down together one of the people who has brought them so much pain as the pair of strong besties they are. Stop telling us how strong she is and actually commit to showing it.

__

Crystal Choi

Oh boy, this character-

Like, you mean to tell me that the sole offspring/child of the Big Bad Guy tm the protagonist and his friends are meant to take down, who also happens to be friends with said protagonist, doesn't play a major role on the story? Absolutely insane

And that isn't even taking into account that she also has 2 bodies, which is something only one other character (Daniel, the PROTAGONIST), has and is a major plot point

I'd like to see her be more aware of her privilege as a rich person. Yeah, she was relentlesstly bullied and undermined for her appeareance (which is a horrible thing for anybody to go through) but at least she wasn't poor, too. Does she actually use her money or her status as the daughter of one of the richest men in Korea to change things or solve problems?

Jay literally bought an ambulance of the same type used by the 1st Afilliate so that Allied could sneak in, so why can't Crystal do something similar to help them, too? She helped them during the Gambling Arc by bringing Kouji

I'd like to see her realize and come to terms with the fact that her father's a horrible person. I don't think she knows everything that's going on behind closed doors, but she's definitely smart enough to have noticed that there's something shady going on with his bussiness.

Let her discover the truth. Let her pick either her father's or Daniel's side (the latter which I believe is the most plausible, since she doesn't seem the type to excuse murder, extorsion, etc.). She could act as an informant, helping Allied from the inside.

Heck, you could have her fight, too, if you wanted to. She trained with Gun, after all. And yeah, maybe she's not as strong as the other characters, but we know that she can hold her own against most people. We've seen it.

TLDR: how the hell do you set up a character with so much potential and don't do anything with it. Also, think abt the angst potential!

________________________________________________

Final thoughts, I guess:

I think that Crystal siding with Allied has a higher chance of happening than PTJ letting Mary fight. There's still a good chunk of the story yet to be told, so anything could happen.

I'm actually considering believing that the reason we rarely see the female characters is that they, also, are working secretly to take down the Four Crews and it's gonna get revealed in the last arc for the sake of my sanity

#whyyy wont tumblr let me edit this anymore #i could also talk abt how there's little to no variation in the fem character's body types #or faces #even the male background nameless characters whose only purspose is to be knocked out in 1 single panel have more diversity #lookism #lookism webtoon #i also find it weird how mary's made fun for being fat during the cheongliang arc #and rather it's always framed as a joke/a funny moment we should laugh at #it wasn't funny the 1st time #and it isn't funny now either #and what abt haera shin? the girl in charge of that one squad of people whose job is to fight? #when do we get to see her kick ass? #mospeaks #how do you fumble THIS bad? #fr #mary kim #crystal choi

[ahappydnp]

This might be controversial, I don't know. But I honestly don't like Dan's content post coming out nearly as much as pre-BIG. It used to be silly -yes- but relatable videos with one or two edgy jokes thrown in. Now it's ALL "I'm gay, horny and depressed and the world is ending but we also kind of deserve it" ... I know that last part has a lot to do with We're all doomed and Dystopia Daily - like the clue is in the names, I get it. But when it's all jokes like that... where is the lightheartedness? Where is the fun? Where is the relief from the problems of the world? Pre-BIG Dan at least had a better balance with that. Anyway, rant over. Hope it made sense.

mmm normally i'd ignore this kind of ask because it's nuanced and i don't want a dozen more hot takes in my inbox but i get that you're not just criticizing dan as a person but more his content shift so (many) thoughts under the cut:

i think first and foremost it's hard to gage dan as a content creators post BIG because the only content he's consistently made has been dystopia daily and wad (discounting gay & not proud because...you know...)

it's also hard to compare him to his content pre BIG since: 1) the video format is different- DD is a scripted persona heavy talk show format that's more commentary on culture than personal experiences 2) he's not supplementing DINOF with liveshows/regular social media posts + gaming channel videos that showed different (usually softer or more lighthearted) sides of dan and gave the audience a more well rounded perception of him as a person

which i think is one of the biggest ""issues"" people have with DD. it's not even necessarily the content itself (though i doubt anyone would say DD is their favorite content by any stretch), but the fact that the main source of perceiving dan is this heavily edited persona that's a bit too detached from real life daniel howell? because yeah like you said, we know he has a lighthearted side, we know he's actually very kind and thoughtful; however, dystopia daily is about the content, not dan as a person. the product isn't himself anymore which is a massive shift from old content. about dystopia daily as a concept- like i said, the reception from long time subscribers has been basically "i don't love this but i love you and am excited to see you again". it's not BAD it's just not what people watch dan for? it's definitely not something i would click on or enjoy from anyone else, but i love seeing dan in anything and supporting him. and some of it is good! there are some rewatches in there! but yeah if you didn't know him prior to DD you might assume this was just another ~generic angry rich white guy complaining about the world to be edgy~

i don't agree with you that it's ALL "i'm gay, horny, and depressed" and might even say it's not a crime if it was? dan spent the first decade of his career having to edit himself and if he needs a professional second puberty to feel better then go off! am i excited for him to explore more topics or stories or formats?? like absolutely!! but i'm not angry about this era of him getting his bearings. did i love him pretending he doesn't like/has never been around kids when we know for a fact he does? no it felt weird and forced but i get his thinking that he wants DD to be detached from dan. "where's the fun"?- i will say that this year in particular we've seen more of dan's personality online! like the silly little instastories and tweets, he's sharing more about his life (like seriously who would have bet he'd post anything about their japan trip????), him in phil's video + the hair clip. and it's just like the biggest breath of fresh air because that's our dan!!! that laugh!! i know that guy!!! and i do feel like he's ready to incorporate letting people see more sides of him again after giving himself the space and boundaries to readjust after a massive life change. but there have still been bits of him this whole time! the few liveshows he did on tour were fun, him at the tour preshows was PEAK classic dan and he was truly the sweetest during his m&gs (seriously i cannot recommend enough checking out the preshow compilations playlist on youtube or meetdnp on twitter because it's just....god it's so fucking nice to see him being so fucking nice and remembering why he really is special). check out the idb instastories playlists because there are so many gems from the past couple years people forget about!!

i know it hit harder because dan is such a LIGHT and it felt like we lost it for awhile. he didn't lose the kindness or silliness or creativity, he's still dan! he's older and not the same person he was in 2014, but also who is? i'm not the same person i was in my 20s which is a great thing!

change can feel scary, but dan's entire genetic makeup didn't change. i totally get if DD isn't your thing and that is perfectly fine! but i will say if you're mourning the other sides of him, you've got plenty of examples that aren't current main channel videos. i do believe we'll be let back in even more soon though :)

#anon ask

[enniewritesathing]

memory management (🔪2)

⏮️Previous || (📚Previous Stories) || ▶️Beginning

⚠️Contains the following: blood cw, knife cw, torture cw, open wound cw, stabbing cw ⚠️

(Charles inspects his 'patient', making mental notes.)

(My my. Such a specimen, this one.)

(His body has gotten taut and firm since the last time he's seen him. The full sleeved tattoo surprised him; Charles guesses that eventually the right side will be filled out as well. A shame that his veins will be obscured completely.)

(Better take advantage of that fact. His eyes sweep over The Werewolf's musculature. Certainly--)

(Charles' train of thought disappears as he hears heavy-duty locks disengage, followed by padding footsteps.) "There you are, Bernard."

Bernard: "Oh, eugh, don't say my name like that."

(Bernard looks at Charles and then his hand.) "Am I interrupting something, 'cos... you look like you need five minutes."

Charles: (distractedly) "No."

Bernard: "I don't believe you."

Charles: "I am simply studying. And curious. I've actually been looking forward to this day."

Bernard: "For how long?"

Charles: "Long enough."

Bernard: (snorts) "Oh, really? What are you planning with that big ass knife of yours?"

(Charles countinues traces the veins again on The Werewolf's arm, feeling his strong pulse bound under his finger.) "We're gonna see how fast a lycan can heal. I'm sure you've heard the stories and myths how they can shrug off a mortal wound within minutes."

"I'd figure we can put it to the test. See how that goes."

Bernard: "And you're sure he's completely under? Like, he's not gonna spring up and rip one of us a new one?"

Charles: "No; we have a two hour limit. I made sure the bags that we have contain the paralytics so we don't have to worry about dilution."

(Bernard whistles.) "Hell of a contingency."

(Bernard reaches down to caress The Werewolf's jaw, tilting his head slightly towards him.) "You know, I always thought werewolves were supposed to be big, hairy an' ugly? This one's a goddamn supermodel!"

(Under his breath, he asks, "What is his routine...?")

(He pauses.) "He's too pretty. Maybe you should start with his face?"

(Charles runs his finger across the jagged edge of the knife.) "I'll do no such thing. There's no value in cosmetic damage."

(Bernard tsks.) "You're no fun."

Charles: "On the contrary. You sound jealous, Bernard."

Bernard: "S'making an observation, that's all. You sounded awfully protective there."

(Bernard looks up with a mischievous smile on his face.) "Wait, I see what's going on. Char, you haven't stopped smilin' and admirin' since I got here. He's got you all hot an' bothered; you're stroking the knife. Haha, oh my god."

Charles: "And what does that mean?"

Bernard: "“Ooooh, you wanna fuck him sooo bad. You should see how stupid you look right now. It's an interesting look.”

(Charles looks up at Bernard.) "Shut the hell up."

Bernard: "Hey, you're the one with the big ass knife. That's not exactly subtle. You wanna fuck him~"

Charles: "Enough. We've wasted enough time with your nonsense."

(His assistant cackles and Charles briefly considers stabbing him. Unfortunately he can't because he'd be killing off help and they are very hard to come by.)

(Charles places a hand on The Werewolf's shoulder and readies the knife in the other.)

Bernard: "How long you think this will take?"

Charles: "We're about to find out."

(Charles settles the tip of the knife on one the The Werewolf's veins.)

(Such vascularity.) "Daniel, you there?"

Daniel: (over the intercom) "Yeah."

Charles: "Start on my count. One, two--"

"--three!"

(With one smooth, swift motion, Charles slashes the knife across The Werewolf's arm, spilling blood on the floor.)

(The Werewolf roars in pain.)

Bernard: "Holy shit."

(The Werewolf hisses through gritted teeth in an effort to control his breathing. Charles presses down on his shoulder to pin him him down; he watches as he flexes under his grip.)

(As sudden as the cut was made, the large wound had stopped bleeding. Charles cut near the bone and already the dermis was healing.)

Charles: "Time?"

Daniel: (over the intercom) "A minute and fifty-four."

(Charles smiles as he wipes the warm blood onto his gloved hand.) "Oh, that's just perfect."

"Bernard?"

(Bernard hesitates.) "Yeah?"

Charles: (too sweetly) "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

(Bernard squints.) "I have a guess but I have a feeling doesn't compare to yours."

Charles: "Speak it anyway."

Bernard: "You're just getting started."

"Aren't you?"

(Charles laughs.) "My, am I that obvious?"

// Next⏩

#ts4 #the sims 4 #sims 4 #simblr #sims 4 story #ts4 story #the sims 4 story #story tag: memory management #oc: the werewolf #oc: charles #oc: bernard #knife cw #blood cw #torture cw #open wound cw #stabbing cw #ask to tag #the ironic part is that uh #this also contains the funniest (?) lines in the whole thing #i when i was working on poses it came up and i had to work it in somehow #on the other hand i was just 🫣

[iwishf1wasreal]

I'm new to F1 and have no idea why ppl hate Daniel and Max...what did both of them do?

first and foremost, welcome! i hope you're enjoying f1!

secondly...this is a lot of lore to squeeze into one post. i think most of the max hate started with the 2021 championship controversy. if you've seen DTS, its goes into it all but that caused a really big divide in f1. max has been called out by the mongolian government for using slurs on the radio and he didnt really have the best reaction. his gf, kelly piquet, is the daughter for former f1 driver nelson piquet, who had some pretty nasty racist things to say about lewis (tho max did say it was wrong to say them...but also defended nelson's character :/). i'm sure theres more but that's all i have off the top of my head.

as for daniel, i was a huge daniel fan. i put time and money into that little elf. then he did an interview with barstool sports that was that start of my disillusionment. he's always been pretty douchey-frat-boy-y with edgelord humor and obvious pandering to his male fans (despite probably having more women fans but i digress). in the interview, daniel makes a joke about women driving. extremely original material, we've never heard that in the 31 years since a woman last raced in formula one. he has a long history of making jokes like that--quite literally too many examples to put into one post. most recently, he publicly supported chrsitina horner after he was accused of harassment and said he felt for him. it just felt like such a slap in the face considering how hard it is to just be a FAN that's a woman around motorsport. getting sexually harassed at races or at work and spammed online by meninist losers isn't enough, the drivers feel they need to start shitting on us too. so, i still have a lot of frustration towards him because men ages 13-65 love daniel and when he acts like that, it only emboldens them to do it too. and ten times worse because they dont have a public image or brand to protect.

but its f1, there's always a reason to hate everyone. seriously, name any driver and they have something that makes you look at them a lil different. it is the sport of war crimes, tax evaison and crusty old europeans assholes.

#i made an edit of the interview should i post i prfer my version 2 be honest

[petit-papillion]

I agree with your take.

Nyck is not really a rookie, he is 28 has experience in FE etc... unfortunately the way F1 is there is no room for him to have the time to make it there. Maybe a long time ago with testing being way more open but now I think the goal is really to have drivers that get to f1 ready.

He also did not help his own case. Pre-season he was all out saying he would lead the team etc... I get being confident, but he was maybe too much and it backfired.

Also I think for some part newer fans are a bit naïve with it. There is only 20 seats in the end. There is also budget cap and those teams are also businesses.

Also F1 is not everything and it would be nice for other series to be more hyped because those drivers can have amazing careers elsewhere. (except Daniel who kind of disrespect other series a bit lately).

Only thing I don't like : they could have waited for the summer break. And Helmut was unnecessary mean in his comments for the past few races. I think it's time for people to realize RB are really the worst for picking up drivers. They got lucky with Max but with the number of drivers they have in their academy ... results are not the best at all. And maybe they are wasting talents with their bad driver management too.

I think RB already had everything planned for a long time. They just used the test as a communication tool. Like the rumors about the times ? total PR and made up story.

Daniel : I hope for him he can perform at a high level and that McLaren was really a bad time because it did not click. I think they are also using him to put pressure on Checo. And they are trying to replace him I think so if they can't sign someone else (who ?) they might go for Daniel again in the near future.

I wonder if silly season this year could be interesting. (more than last year). I don't feel like Charles would switch teams, but I have to say for the sake of show and drama I think I could get behind it !

I hope Nyck can find a home in another racing series. We've seen several drivers be quite successful and happy elsewhere, like Marcus Ericsson and Romain Grosjean in Indy, and Antonio Giovinazzi in WEC. I do think people are exploring other series more, but obviously, F1 is the dream for a lot of drivers.

I don't think Helmut has a filter, and that's all I'll say about that.

I really hope things work out for Danny. He seems a lot more at home at RB than he ever was at McLaren or Renault. I already mentioned I think they are prepping him to take over from Checo. As much as they seem okay with each other most of the time, I get the feeling things are just not the same between Checo and Max since Monaco last year. Whereas Max and Danny seem to get along really well. Of course, I'm a Charles fan, so I only see limited stuff of RB, but that's my impression.

Not sure if silly season has more fireworks up its sleeve, but let me tell you: if Charles were to leave Ferrari, you could knock me over with a feather! Especially if it was to Red Bull. I just can't see it happening. That boy lives and breathes Ferrari. And as much as they must frustrate and aggrevate him on a regular basis, he is still living the dream of not only driving a Formula 1 car, but driving a Formula 1 car for Ferrari.

#anon ask #silly season 2023 #nyck de vries #daniel ricciardo #charles leclerc

[ehcahache]

Hi Hache! Sorry for the late answer but wow! you really thought this whole thing through!! Glad my ask could relieve your boredom a little! ✨🙈 Also I hope your trip went well!

So. Red Bull and Mercedes:

I agree 100% !! For RBR, with Max it's obvious and for Checo, depending on how his season ends it could also be that he retires soon. Maybe not this year but after 2024? We'll see. He's not an amazingly talented driver but he's for sure not bad. Otherwise he wouldn't have kept his seat all this time. Personaly I'd prefer someone new in the 2nd RB like Charles, Carlos or Daniel. 🤭 For Merc, like I said you put it spot on! And I don't see Lewis moving to any other team ever so it must be either Merc or nothing.

Aston Martin:

Tbh I have actually been wondering whether Lance will ever leave his dad's team and go to maybe Alpine? Just imagine Estie Bestie and Lance as teammates! It could be so entertaining! Ik that AM are doing quite alright for F1 team standards but... why not? Lance might want to try smth. new too. Maybe that's also what Fernando tells him? (don't really think so but it could be so interesting!! 😁)

Ferrari:

You made some really good points here! I agree on both Charles and Carlos and I wish that Ferrari finally get their sh*t together and give them a car that'll get wins next season. I'm not sure what I'd say who of the two will make the move to leave for another team first but they both really should...

McLaren:

My thoughts exactly! If McLaren <3 keeps it's success and they keep getting podiums I'd say Lando and Oscar will both stay as long as it lasts. Maybe even longer bc we've seen the faith Lando has in his team and as you said he IS kind of connected to it in a similar way Charles is connected to Ferrari. I hope they stay with them for a couple of seasons at least! 🧡✨

Alpine:

Yes I imagine there will be a few more changes coming, not sure if that includes the drivers though. Pierre might leave (or have to leave) sometime in the future but since he's not doing that bad and he has just joined Alpine after all, I guess he'll stay next season. But Jack could totally be a option as well! I forgot about him 😅 Always love an Aussie in an F1 car 🥰

Williams:

You probably are right on this one again but I'm being delusional 'cause I honestly really like Logan 🥹 He is very american yes and he isn't showing the results asked for ik but I adore his character and I just decided to tell myself he'll be around in F1 for a few more years... 🩵 Alex is quite impressive atm and deserves a much better car!! That's all I'm going to say about his case 🩵

Haas:

Nothing to add. (Except I think it's a cringeworthy team. 😅)

Alfa Romeo:

I haven't heard the rumours about Valtteri so thank you for informing me. 🤔 It'd be too bad to see him go but I guess he has been around for quite a long time and he probably wont get a contract with a top team anymore. So yeah makes sense for him. Zhou's contract renewal is in the works I heard so he'll be back for sure.

Alpha Tauri:

Daniel will make it to the next season I'm sure. He's not doing outstanding but he's doing better then Nyck. If he works hard enough and him and Max stay friends (which I don't doubt at all) Helmut will give him that 2025 RB seat happily. And Yuki might stay with AT forever. 😭

Agree on both your points about Alex and Charles. I just hope they realize sooner rather than later that Williams and Ferrari can't give them the car they need just yet. And if they are successful with other teams they will always be welcomed back in the end. So Charles could still go back to his beloved team. 🏎

Hey thank you so much for sharing your thoughts I enjoyed reading them a lot! ✨ (And sorry for this veerrryy long ask!)

Cheers, Insil

Ahahahah I REALLY had a lot of time

I think we might have been too positive for Checo because apparently, the Australian GP twitter account said they might be the silly season protagonists and RB just changed the title of the video "one the sofa one last time" to "on the sofa with Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen"

Nothing is made accidentally so... let's see how bad Checo ends up👀

[asphodel-storm]

I have many gripes about this season, but there was lots I liked too! Here's some of it:

1) Hawk having the idea to build them a training deck both as a practical solution and a gesture of good will. He trashed Miyagi-Do once and how he's helping it be better. Loved this. Demetri saying 'Eli is a design whizz' was wonderful too.

2) Kenny. Love this kid.

3) Robby's relationship with Kenny. I don't love narratively that they used it to make Robby relate to Johnny more (it was not his job to reach out at all), but I did love just seeing them training together and being buddies. Robby deserves to have a friend (I know Shawn is also his friend but we never see it).

4) Everything about the scene with Demetri and Hawk in Hawk's basement. I love that they used to make silly videos together. That they've both sung their theme song. The confirmation that they've been hanging out since kindergarten (I had assumed, but still). "Whether you're number 1 or a zero" T__T

5) Hawk joining Miyagi-Do. Johnny was never good for him, it seems like Daniel is.

6) It was great to see Aisha again. I wish she actually came back, but still. I liked seeing her and seeing thar she and Sam are still friends.

7) I like Devon.

8) I like the CONCEPT of Sam finding her own path and mixing styles as she likes. I didn't like the execution (relates to gripes I have about Johnny), but the ultimate payoff I did enjoy.

9) I pretty much enjoyed everything Terry.

10) Both of the finals fights were good, but especially Robby and Hawk. So great. How they have both studied both styles. The mutual respect. It was so good T__T

11) Eli encouraging Demetri by reminding him he's tall.

12) I am still not crazy about Robby and Tory as a couple just because I think it was kind of a boring route to go, but the execution of it was better than I thought. I really liked their prom date, after the showboaty dancing was out of the way. I liked watching them just have fun for a night. Her pulling him into the pool was really cute.

13) I liked Amanda having sympathy for Tory. I liked that it wasn't 'oh, Tory has a hard life, I no longer blame her for anything she's done to my daughter we are more privileged and thus always in the wrong'. She recognized a kid that needed help but still wanted to make sure she was putting in the work to be better.

14) Demetri's weapons display. All of them were cool, but his especially was I think the first time we've seen him really serious about this and so it felt special. He's come a long way.

15) Miguel telling Johnny he loves him and Johnny calling him Robby broke my heart and also felt so true. Like, yes Miguel is independently important to him but he has also used him in exactly the way Robby said and it was good to see that acknowledged. If heartbreaking.

16) Demetri Alexopolous! He got a last name! Yay!

17) Miguel and Daniel getting to know each other.

#cobra kai #cobra kai s4 spoilers #cobra kai season 4 #cobra kai spoilers

[xxisxxisxxis]

Gateway Drug | Part Seventy-Six

Words: 3.8k

Warning(s): Explicit language, explicit sexual situations, drug abuse, violence, domestic abuse

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I glance over as Emi starts on God, seeing her absentmindedly fumble with her cross as Mick listens intently, a small smile coming to my face. 

She's as enthusiastic about her beliefs as I am. It's a little more comforting having someone around that's on the same page as I am. 

That is until Nikki gets tired of hearing her go on and on about Christ. 

It's probably giving him flashbacks of conversations with Vanity. 

"Can you shut the fuck up?!" He yells back here to her, and she abruptly stops, looking at him. 

"Sixx, you're not even back here, just mind your own business." Mick boldly replies, too tired to fight about it. 

"What did you just say to me?" He cuts his eyes sharply. 

"He said mind your own business! It's not our fault your blood starts boiling and combusts into flames anytime someone mentions God! Shut up and deal with it and stop being a little bitch!" I state and he glares at me. 

A Jack Daniel's bottle is hurtling my way in no time, and I duck, causing it to hit Mick and Emi, soaking them in Jack. 

"Fuck you!" Nikki yells at me. "And you know what?! If God is so real why doesn't he just strike us out of the sky right fucking now?!" 

This sends Emi into a frenzy, grabbing her crucifix, praying, while Tommy and Vince join in on further terrorizing her, dropping their pants, along with Nikki, while they all shout on about how God needs to suck their dicks. 

I'd be offended if I knew God was. He's more than likely just looking down at them, shaking his head, wondering why he decided to create them in the first place when all they're doing is wasting their lives on booze, used pussy, and any drugs they can get their hands on. 

All the sudden, Tommy disappears into the pilots cabin, and within seconds we're doing a barrel roll, making Emi start screaming and crying. 

Once we get level, I'm taking a few deep breaths before coming to my feet. 

"Vivian." Fred scolds me, knowing what's coming, but I ignore him, marching to Nikki, Vince and Tommy, punching them both in the back of the head as hard as I can before slapping Vince with the same energy, Fred and Doc getting in the way before they can come back at me. 

"Fucking bitch!" Nikki barks at me. 

"Heard that one too many times, it's starting to bore me!" I bite back as Doc pulls me to the back of the plane. 

"See how boring my fingers around your neck are gonna be when I get ahold of you again!" He yells after me, Fred shoving him into a seat. 

"Maybe you'll kill me this time and do us both a favor!" I reply. 

"We have a gun at home just put it in your mouth and fire a-fucking-way!" 

"I would if I didn't know it'd make you so freaking happy, you sick junkie!" 

"God forbid you do anything to make me happy!"

"I sacrificed my dancing and my schooling to make you happy!" I throw at him.

"You threw out your chance to go to school and do what you were passionate about for me when I never even wanted you to do that! I wanted you to go to school, I wanted you to keep dancing but you didn't because you were too much of a pussy to leave 'cause you thought I'd break up with you!" 

"And we see where that fucking got me, don't me?! Married to a sick man who has no qualms about screwing his wife's best friend for over a year in the house he bought for her, in the bed they share!" 

"If that sick man didn't marry such a selfish, evil, farm fresh cunt from hell he wouldn't have felt the need to step out on her!" 

"You stepped out on me for drug love!" 

"I stepped out because I was bored with you and she fucked good!" He's venomously snapping at me. 

I want to say, "trust me, I know the feeling!" but decide not to. 

"Just be sure to mention that to our lawyers when you get back from Japan because I'm sick and tired of being married to you!" I shout. 

"Fuck you!" He screams. 

"Fuck both of you!" Doc snaps at us, heaving heavy breaths. "Now, I've had it, dammit!" He screams. 

We're all silent for a moment, before I'm glaring at Nikki. 

"See what you did, asshole?!" I accuse him. 

"What I did?!" He yells back, brows furrowing.

"Yes, what you did, since the only thing you're good at is stressing people out!" I shout at him. 

"I stress people out?! I stress people out?!" He starts laughing humorlessly. "I turned to fucking smack to escape your stress inducing bullshit, you delusional, rabid cunt!" He barks at me as Fred tugs me to the bathroom before I can get the last word in, locking me in until it's time to land. 

By the time we get to Fort Lauderdale, we've both calmed down enough to tolerate each once again, which is good considering paparazzi is on us like flees to a dog. 

"Vivian, Nikki!" Press shouts as cameras flash, Nikki reluctantly grasping at my hand as Fred clears a path in the people to car. 

When they see Vince, Tommy, Mick and Tansy behind us, they go after them next, giving me and Nikki time to duck into the car. 

"Geez." I sigh out, fixing my hair as Nikki moves across from me the second the door shuts. 

He leans his head back, cursing under his breath, raking a hand down his face. 

"You okay?" I ask him, genuinely, and he sneers, his eyes still closed as he catches his breath. 

"No, Vivian, no, I'm not okay." He huffs out with a sharp scoff, and I rub my lips together. 

"It's hard on me, too, you know. You aren't by yourse--"

"--Bab--Vivian, just shh." He catches himself before he says, "baby," and my heart tenses up in my chest. 

"Would you rather me scream at you and start an argument?" I ask him and he sits up, looking at me with smeared, running eyeliner, circles under his eyes, and ghostly skin. 

"I'd rather you just keep your mouth shut." He states, fumbling with his boot, pulling some tar, a spoon and a syringe out. 

"Oh, you aren't serious..." I say to him, raising a brow. 

"Me,Tansy, Izzy, Andy, Michael...don't act like you haven't seen someone shoot up before, Viv. If it makes you pussy out just close your eyes. I'll be done in a few seconds." He mumbles, about to start heating it in the spoon. 

I do just that, until I decide I'm not sitting around and let him kill himself anymore. 

I go to snatch the syringe and lump of smack away from him before he can stop me, opening the sunroof and throwing it out, going for his syringe next. 

"Stop!" He barks at me, guarding it, the both of us ending up on the floor of the limousine. 

"Nikki!" I scream, fighting with him to get it, but a sharp pain is soon shooting through my pointer finger as the needle stabs through the underside of my finger and out the top. 

It was by accident, being that he wasn't even holding the needle. 

"Motherfucker!" I scream to myself, Nikki's face paling further at the sight, as he lays underneath me while my tears are rolling down my cheeks as stinging pain spread through the nerves of my fingers, followed by the buzzing of the micro-amount of heroin on the tip of the needle that pierced my skin. 

I hiss as I pull it out and aim the needle at the car's carpet, getting rid of the shot, holding my bleeding finger as I sit up, Nikki still looking sick as I get off of him. 

"That shit wasn't cheap." He tells me, pulling himself up.

I don't pay him any attention, my finger starting to throb. 

He stares at me while I have my little pity party, before he takes a long sigh and grabs at my hurt finger, making me sniffle. 

"It's not like it went through the bone, Viv." He says dismissively, although he still holds to my finger as if trying to make it better. 

"Just shut up." I snatch away from him, frustrated.

"You shut up." He replies in the same harsh tone. 

"You fuck off." I kick my heel into his knee and he grabs my ankle and tugs at me, causing me to slide into the limo floor again. "Nikki!" I kick again with my other foot, this time, missing his crotch by mere centimeters. 

He slides to the other side of the seating to get away from me. 

When we stop at the next light, I'm reaching for the door handle and opening it up, causing him to pounce on me, and slam the door as I open it, yelling, "goddamnit, Sixx!" pinning me under him to keep me from opening it again. 

We both take heavy breaths, looking at each other...he smells repulsive, but I've missed the presence of his close proximity. 

The door opens suddenly, Doc and Fred looking down at us. 

Apparently we didn't stop at a red light, but our destination.

We both look up at them like guilty puppies, piled on each other, Fred, in particular, eyeing me like a hawk. 

"We're here." Doc informs us as we pull ourselves out of the car, and I brush off as Doc and Nikki walk ahead of me and Fred. 

"Don't say a word." I tell Fred.

"Wasn't going to." He assures me.

"It wasn't what it looked like." I say next. 

"Never said it was." He replies.

"Yeah, but, I know what it looked like, and--"

"--Viv, I'm not saying a word about it." He reassures me as we walk into the venue to see Steven, Slash, and Izzy sitting on the stage. 

Stevie sees me and makes a beeline for me, making a point to hug me. 

Steven was like Vince, but a hell of a lot more genuine and wholesome. He just loved love, affection, flirting, and women--especially women.

"Duff's really upset over what happened, Viv." He tells me in my ear. 

"I'll talk to him." I reply with a slight nod. 

"I don't know if just talking it out is gonna help much of anything, babe." He says lowly and I let out a breath. 

"I'll talk to him." I repeat, brushing off his warning. 

When I get on the bus, Duff's got his shirt off, shuffling through his bag, glancing at me. 

"Hey." I say to him.

"Hey." He mumbles back, grabbing another tshirt to put on. 

"Steven said you were still pretty upset about last night." I tell him, stepping a little closer. 

"Not with you...just...the situation." He explains in a low, frustrated tone. 

"Well, do you wanna talk about it?" I offer. 

He looks at me, letting out a breath, licking his lips.

"You've already said you guys are getting divorced, so, it's not like it really matters." He shrugs. "Just having a little trouble pretending like he didn't damn near kill you, but..." he trails off, seeing the look on me face before saying, "I'll get over it, Viv, alright? Don't worry about me jumping on him again or anything like that." 

"I'm not worried about that." I assure him, grasping at his hand, tugging him closer to me in the aisle, a small smile on his lips as his hand runs through my hair, our eyes locked. 

"I love you." He tells me, my arms wrapping around his waist. 

"I love you, too." I grin, and he presses his lips to mine, sweetly, before I'm pulling away. 

"Alright, your show starts in an hour and a half." I inform him. 

"Okay." He says dismissively, kissing me again. 

"Duff, we gotta go." I giggle, his lips kissing at my cheek, then my neck. 

"We will." He says against my skin, chuckling. 

"If you're late, Axl's gonna kill us both." I remind him, kissing him again. 

As always, one thing led to another, and then…

"Duff," I whimper out, my bare back wet with sweat from the humidity in the Florida air, my thighs spread as he pushes his fingers in and out of me on the table of the empty tour bus--my dress discarded to the floor, leaving me in only my heels since I wasn't wear a bra or panties, specifically prepared for this moment. 

The wet sounds of his fingers toying with my soaked pussy reverberate off the walls of the bus, only making the ache in me more hungry. 

His tongue swirls around my nipple, and he bites it teasingly, making arch into him, his fingers plunging deeply into me, purposely brushing that spot. 

I runny fingers through his hair as he goes to my other nipple, doing the same to it, making me sigh out in pleasure. 

He kisses my lips before grinning, taking a step back to look between my legs as if admiring me, his bare torso tensing with each breath in, his hand raking over his blonde hair. 

I pull my lip into my mouth, placing my heel on his chest, gently pushing him to sit down across the aisle, and I look at him smugly as he watches me, his hand palming at his crotch. 

I turn over to my hands and knees on the table, arching my ass up and my face down before reaching my hand underneath me to rub at my clit, watching over my shoulder as he takes heavy breaths. 

Two of my fingers tease at my entrance, and I moan out as they slide into me, my walls tightening around my digits as pleasure prickles up my spine. 

He keeps his eyes glued to me as I move my other hand to my clit, my toes curling as I eventually bring myself to orgasm, but I don't have time to recover before Duff's hands are grabbing my hips and his tongue is lapping at my center, sucking at my clit from behind. 

I gasp, my hand reaching back to hold his face to me, my body moving in rhythm with his tongue. 

Moans and whimpers come from me, and he pulls away for a moment, only to pull me into the aisle and push at my back until I've got my hands on the floor, completely bent over as he gets a better angle at eating me out. 

I nearly scream at the sudden accessibility he's got, on his knees, lips and tongue going to work. 

"I'm gonna come." I gasp out and he presses one more kiss to my clit before two of his fingers thrust into my cunt, making my eyes roll back at their demanding pace, curling to hit against my g-spot. 

He stands up, never pulling his hand away as the other hand holds at my hip, leaving to run over my ass cheek for a moment as I begin to spasm around his fingers, my legs shaking as cum runs down them. 

He pulls his fingers from me and I'm standing and turning to face him, sucking them into my mouth and he curses under his breath as I keep them in my mouth, my hand unbuckling his belt and pulling his hard cock out of his jeans, wanting him down my throat at the sight of precum beading at his tip. 

I keep my control, letting his fingers from my mouth as I'm licking my lips and rubbing my thighs together. 

I sit on the edge of the table, my legs spread, my hand between my legs as he steps to me, grabbing his prick and rubbing it against my sensitive folds. 

"Fuck, Vivian." He says softly, smile on his lips as if he still can't believe he's sleeping with me. 

I just grin at him and pull him down to kiss me. 

I cry out when he takes the time to push into me, hitting as deep as he can with a few more inches to spare. 

"Make me take all of it." I tell him after he thrusts a few times. 

He watches my face as he slowly inches it further and further into me, his tip hitting my cervix and pressing against it, making it give way little by little until he's buried in me to the hilt and I feel like he's in my stomach, tears in my eyes from the painful pleasure. 

"This is how deep I want you to go when you come." I tell him, sweat beading between my breasts and he watches it, leaning forward to lick it off my skin. 

"You want me to come in you?" He asks me, knowing the answer but wanting to hear me say it. 

"Yes." I nod, gasping. 

"Why?" He asks and I look down, his shaft disappearing into me and coming out glistening with my juices. 

"Because it feels so good." I reply and he grabs my jaw, his tongue meeting mine in a sloppy, passionate kiss as he picks up his pace. 

I grab his hand and guide it to my bruised throat. 

He almost pulls his hand away but stops when I look at him. 

"You're not gonna--fuck--hurt me." I assure him, my hungry pussy being fed the way its needed, making my eyes roll back and my lids close as my head tilts back.

He slowly grasps my throat, harder and harder, and the sensation sends sharp pleasure straight to my clit. 

My fingers go to play with it, but his fingers move mine from his way, staying in fast rhythm with his thrusts.

"I'm--" I can't finish what I'm saying before he moans out with me tightening around him, further wetting him with my juices as I finish

Within a couple more minutes he's breathing out, his dick twitching before he fits all of his length into my cunt and my body's being christened with his hot cum. 

Once I cool down and clean myself up, I'm going back to him. 

I pull my shirt back over my head as his hand runs up and down my back, his lips catching on the space between my shoulder blades before the fabric of my shirt can cover me, making me laugh. 

"Duff, we--" 

"Dude, we eat on that table!" We hear Stevie pipe, and turn to see him and Izzy looking at us in horror, by the door, where we're sitting on the table. 

"So did Duff, apparently." Izzy says with a crooked smile, cigarette smoke cascading past his lips as he finds it amusing. 

"Sorry." I say to them, quickly getting dressed as Duff gets up to pull his pants on. 

"We didn't see anything, don't worry. We just waited for the screaming to subside." Izzy lets out. "Axl's wondering where you guys are."

"Of course he is." I roll my eyes. 

"Not for that reason. I think he wants to talk to you about Tansy." He adds. 

"Tansy? What about her?" 

"What do you think?" 

"She's not going to rehab until she wants to." I immediately know what he's referring to. "And being that she's not enthusiastic about living, I doubt she cares whether she dies or not." 

"Well, Axl's all worried and googly eyed and gross." Izzy huffs out. 

"Plus, she's our friend, too, and we've all been trying to talk to her about getting some help." Steven tells me, next.

I get my shoes on and step past them to the door. 

"See ya in a few." Duff tells me. 

"See ya in a few." I reply, smiling at him, before going to find Axl.

The irony of anybody from Guns being worried for Tansy due to her drug addiction was exactly that: ironic. 

But I don't blame Axl for not wanting to see the girl he was miserably in love with (well, obsessed and unhealthily infatuated with) on the brink of her own final destruction. I guess because I'd been there with Nikki, myself, and knew how scary it was--even if big, bad, mean machine Axl refused to admit he was scared, I knew he was.

"Have you seen Axl?" I ask Doc as I pass him by, and he furrows his brows. 

"Might check their dressing room, I think." He replies and I nod. 

"Oh, and I'm sorry for mine and Nikki's fight earlier." I say before he can walk off. 

"Don't worry about it, Vivian." He nods a little as I offer a small smile and head to the guys' dressing room. 

The ginger isn't in there and I groan, heading to Mötley's dressing room to check in there, coming face to face with Sparkie. 

"What the hell are you doing in here?" I ask him, cutting my eyes. 

"Waiting for Nikki to get back from the bathroom...what about you?" He replies smugly. 

"Wondering why you're back when Nikki and Axl have both made it clear they don't want to see you again." I state. 

"The bitchy redhead isn't getting in the way of my business." He says, referring to dealing to Nikki. 

"You're so sick." I hiss out in disgust, turning to leave. 

"I'm kinda wanting to add a few drops of fuel to the fire, ya know...tell him about you and Duff." He starts, and I tense up, slowly looking at him. "End the last show of this leg of the tour with a bang." 

"He won't believe you." I try to say it confidently, but my voice cracks just slightly. 

"I don't think you're giving him enough credit, Viv. Sure he's high a lot of the time, but it's not hard to believe when almost all of your time is spent with Duff in some form or fashion--not to mention you lied about your friendship with him from the start, so…" he points out. 

"What gets you off about seeing people in pain? If you're not helping them destroy themselves, you're making things a lot worse for their life." I grit out. 

"I'm not making things worse for his life by telling him about your inability to keep your legs closed. You did--well, still are doing--the crime, I'm just giving him a heads up about it because he's my friend, and my friend needs to know what kind of snake his wife really is." He remarks and I grind my teeth, turning to go again, but he grabs my wrist. 

"Unless she wants to persuade me to keep her secret?" He suggests, his cruddy eyes traveling up my body like they always do. "Last chance, Viv." He adds. "If he finds out, it'll completely shatter him. You don't want that on your hands, do you?" He keeps on, stepping closer to me, his arm sliding around my waist slowly as I stand still, frozen, as my heart pounds in my chest. "It'll just take a few minutes, and then you can go on your merry way, and I won't say a word." He grins, the tip of his nose touching mine, his chapped lips grazing mine as the door opens, revealing Nikki. 

#nikki sixx #mötley crüe #nikki sixx fanfiction #nikki sixx x oc #gateway drug

[reasonsilovemywife]

Buckle up, I've got something to say

Most of you will ignore this post. I hope that you take time to read it, especially my white friends and colleagues...

I've hesitated to really speak my mind on the murder of Armaud Arbery, the murder of George Floyd, and the aftermath of these murders. I opted to not watch the videos of their murders, of their last breaths. I opted not to watch because it will only piss me off even more. I know the outcome without watching. I've seen it over and over again. I don't need to see it over and over again, again. I've hesitated because I feel helpless. I've spoken against racism almost my whole life, at least since high school. And what has that changed? Have I really made things better? Have I done all I can to end racism? I've felt outnumbered, I've felt intimidated, I remember feeling what my heart tells me is right being contrary to what others tell me is right.

Maybe I could've communicated better, but lacked the ability or lacked the information that would be more persuasive. Maybe I could have organized better, but lacked the commitment or the access or knowledge. Or maybe they just lacked the empathy for their fellow man. I still, vividly, remember the first time I saw racism play out in front of my very eyes. Innocence lost. It's still painful to this day. I've said in the past, as long as racist parents raise racist children, racism will never go away. But even worse, racism isn't just anecdotal, it isn't just individual-based. It is systemic. It has been woven into our institutions and structures over such a long period of time that it is subtle to someone who is not directly affected by it.

I feel helpless because of "all the progress that's been made", at times it feels like no progress has been made. In the 50s and 60s, it was Emmett Till, four little girls (Addie May Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, and Carole Rosamond Robertson), Willie Edwards, Jr., Cpl. Roman Ducksworth, Jr., Jimmie Lee Jackson and many others. In this past decade, it's been Tamir Rice, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, the Charleston Nine (Clementa Pinckney, Cynthia Marie Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lee Lance, Depayne Middleton-Doctor, Tywanza Sanders, Daniel Simmons, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Myra Thompson), Philando Castille, Armaud Arbery, George Floyd, and once again, many others. So when we continually see these killings play out, the progress that has been made can feel hollow and inadequate.

Just like my words on a Facebook and Tumblr post can feel. And that's mostly all I have to offer, words. I can post and opine on Facebook / Tumblr all day, but is that really going to change anything? That's why I feel helpless. During my career at UPS I was hopeful to get involved in the community, to help underprivileged children, to help the homeless, and to get involved with anti-racist organizations in order to contribute to a better, more equitable and more harmonious community. But the truth is, I just worked. I just worked 70+ hours per week for a corporation that pays me for 50 hours per week, but expects me to do more and work longer if needed. But I digress. Yet, this leads to a lack of time and a lack of energy, and that's why I feel helpless.

I feel helpless because too many white people are dismissive on the issues of race. It doesn't negatively affect white people, so there's no need to get involved, right? This is one of the most obvious proofs of white privelege. And that's precisely the reason you should fight for social justice for minorities. If you don't want to be considered a racist, then stop looking the other way, stop benefiting from white privilege then deny that white privilege exists, stop acting as if "reverse racism" is equal to or worse than racism against minorities. If you don't want to be considered a racist, then care, act and live as if you're not a racist.

If you're response to "Black Lives Matter" is "All Lives Matter" instead of "Yes, They Do", then you are part of the problem and are clearly missing the point. Stop dismissing racism as a problem Black people (and other minorities) have to deal with. It's our responsibility as White people to end racism, not theirs. They're the victims of racism in America, not the perpetrators. So fix your damn self. Stop being tolerant. Stop being complacent. Stop being dismissive. Stop acting as if it's not your problem, because it is 100% your problem. My problem. Our problem. The problem is you've benefited from it, I've benefited from it. We've benefited from white supremacy our entire lives, and usually don't even recognize it. How could we, it's normal to us - although it should be abnormal. If you don't believe racism in America is systemic and intentional, study up on redlining, study up on the inception of policing in the South, study up on the educational, financial, and even medical care disparities during segregation and how it still affects us today.

Also, stop with all the generalizations. That goes for everyone. Stop painting everything and everyone with such a broad brush just because you're too lazy or too simple to actually learn and discern. Humanity is not a monolith. People groups are not a monolith. All Black people are not the same, all white people are not the same, all law enforcement are not the same, all protesters are not the same, etc., etc. There are good and bad in all things, including humanity. I know for a fact that there are good, moral, heroic police officers out there, because I have family and friends who are those good police officers. I also know for a fact that there are crooked, corrupt, criminal police officers out there. Those are the ones that I am against, those are the ones we all should be against, especially the good cops out there. You can be fully supportive of LE and also be fully supportive of the arrest and conviction of dirty cops. It's not mutually exclusive. Also, don't confuse the peaceful protesters with the looters, they are not the same people. People marching, holding up signs are not the same people as the ones damaging property.

Speaking of protesting, if you've never protested, please stop telling other people how to protest. How would you know the right way to protest, you've never needed to. Although I wasn't a huge fan of Kaepernick, his peaceful protest was just, but it made "us" uncomfortable so "we" hated him for it. He literally stated that he was protesting police brutality and racial injustice and literally stated that he was not protesting the military, not protesting the flag, but you hated him for it and, with the assistance of this ignorant ass president of ours, Kaep's mission was tainted, blurred, misconstrued.

Now, a lot of us our finally opening our eyes that he was right all along.

Speaking of Trump, can we get him off Twitter, at least until we can get him out of the White House. This dude has quoted white supremacists multiple times, then when questioned about it, acts as if he had no idea. Multiple times. He takes no responsibility for his actions. It would take less than two minutes for him to Google before posting. He's blatantly ignorant at the least. And don't come at me about the economy, the economy has been steadily improving since 2010 but y'all didn't want to acknowledge that until Orangina got in office. But let me get off politics because I'm not supporting Biden's stupid ass either. It would be nice if we had a worthy candidate, a dream deferred.

Although I feel helpless at times, I won't give up. I still have hope for the future. But the future starts now, it starts with us. Have empathy, be sincere, treat people as you would have them treat you. That's a good starting point, but remember, that's just the starting point.

#WeveGotWorkToDo

#BlackLivesMatter

[astrojmonaf1]

A Neutron Star Merger, The Fall of A Formula One Hero, and a Belgian Maiden Grand Prix Win

The LIGO/Virgo collaboration teams, observed a gravitational wave event of a Neutron Star merger "with the probability that the source may have at least one object in between three and five solar masses" said LIGO, on September 1st.

📸: LIGO Twitter

Kilonova observations are extraordinarily rare, for when Neutron stars collide, the remnants left are showers of gold and platinum scattered into the universe. These showers bring forth metals like the ones found on Earth.

Elements beneficial to our very existence.

Although the remnants here are believed to have merged into a black hole.

Who would have imagined that to the world of Formula One, that same rip to the fabric of space and time of a binary system hundreds of millions of years in the making, could have different consequences in the racing track.

It would arrive the same day that Charles Leclerc would make his Maiden Grand Prix Win.

While one can’t be certain what Einstein meant when he said, "God does not play dice with the universe,” we can only think of this moment. The Universe may be 14 billion years old, and with that, heroes and legends can be made because heroes are not born. Through pain and tears, downforce and minimal drag, Gravity much like F=ma, can be good friends, but in one wrong Turn, all can become the enemy, to Formula One drivers.

They are made, on the track and in moments such as these.

Racing For Anthoine

Like the great Carl Sagan once said, “For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love.”

Anthoine Hubert, 22, of France, lost his life at the Belgian Grand Prix on August 31st.

The Renault French driver, was involved in a major accident with American Sauber driver, Juan Manuel Correa, at the Spa-Francorchamps. Hubert's car hit the bars then collided with Correa’s.

Correa, underwent surgery and “will remain in intensive care for at least another 24 hours to ensure that his condition can continue to be monitored by his surgical team,” read the official statement released on his website.

Anthoine Hubert, succumbed to his injuries after that tragic accident at Spa-Francorchamps.

A childhood friend to Charles Leclerc, someone he raced Karts with, laughed with, and joked with, perhaps looked up to race with head to head in this very track, the Monegasque now ran alone.

For Charles Leclerc, securing his maiden win at the Belgian Grand Prix, wouldn’t be the first place in his legacy, but a bequest to honor the memory of his now departed childhood friend. 

Notwithstanding, everyone was racing for Anthoine and to honor his memory.

This was no ordinary race and as challenging as it was it would become one to remember.

The morning of Charles’ race, he'd been seen by the media talking to Anthoine’s family.

His mother, Nathalie, Father Victhor and brother Francois, gave him their support, as Nathalie embraced him.

That heartbreaking sight will live in the hearts of fans forever.

The Love of a Mother

📸: Kym Illman

It might have instilled love and strength in the Monegasque and a little extra push to go with the respect of millions of fans as a reminder that Anthoine would have wanted him to get to P1.

His last race having been practically stolen in Bahrain, this time, nothing would get in his way.

Phased, and unbelieving that any of it had happened, Anthoine’s loss, and his win, Charles said: “We were four kids dreaming of getting to Formula One.”

Anthoine Hubert, Charles Leclerc, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly.

“We have grown up in karting together, so to lose him is a big shock for me, and everyone in the sport.”

“It was definitely the first situation for me where I have lost someone and then raced the following day. It is obviously quite challenging to close the visor and go through the exact corner —where he died— at the same speed as I did the day before.

Pierre Gasly, the Toro Rosso driver, gave Leclerc a little fuel to win the race too, had the words “ALWAYS WITH ME #AH19,” above the open view of his halo:

“I've grown up with this guy since I was seven in karting, we've been roommates, we've lived in the same apartment, in the same room for six years."

“We’ve been class mates, I’ve studied since I was 13 until 19 with him, with the same professor at a private school that the federation did. I’m still shocked.”

“You have to put it out of your mind because otherwise, you can’t race,” he added,

“I told Charles before the race: Please win this race for Anthoine, as we started racing in the same year, Charles, Anthoine, and myself. And Anthoine won the French Cup in 2005. We raced for many years and knew each other.”

Overtaken in Bahrain by a one-two Mercedes win, and getting wheel banged by Red Bull's, Max Verstappen in Austria, back in July, costing him-his first win, this one; means more.

“We lost a friend first of all — I would like to dedicate my first win to him. In my first race, we drove together, it's a shame what happened yesterday, I can't enjoy my victory fully.” Charles added.

"It is difficult to enjoy this victory, but hopefully, in two or three weeks, I will realize what happened.”

Everyone was cheering for Ferrari’s 16 to win it for Renault’s 19.

In the aftermath of Hubert’s passing, it’s hard to express what Leclerc must’ve felt like when he got to lap 19.

19 was Anthoine’s racing number, and the crowds paid tribute as well when the drivers came through.

it was no consequence that of all days, that Neutron Star Merger would be named S190901ap. The date that recorded the LIGO/Virgo's Neutron Stars Merger, which coincided with Anthoine's number.

And then you heard a solemn “This one is for Anthoine,” coming from Ferrari’s radio, said by Charles Leclerc upon finishing first.

Everyone burst, there was commotion everywhere, a good day and a sad day in Motorsports indeed for all the right reasons.

“It’s a good day but on the other hand losing Anthoine yesterday brings me back to 2005, my first ever French championship,” continued Leclerc during an interview.

📸: Kym Illman

A League of His Own

Seeing the Monegasque separate the Silver Arrows and keep good pace through and through, was what Formula One is all about, but is unfathomable to know how he must’ve felt while driving down Spa’s circuit or how he feels now that it’s been completed.

As youth of this new century, explorers and pioneers, one often forgets that millennials have much on their shoulders.

They’re here to make a name for themselves, and it's undeniable that on the way to greatness, they’re bound to lose those they love because this sport is ruthless.

Charles Leclerc won't be the exception, to the rule, but he's been the valid example of losing in every aspect and yet here he is. Racing and winning. Nothing deters his will to keep going.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver, and godson to Jules Bianchi, the last casualty to the sport before Hubert, is the living reminder that today's youth, still have plenty to look up to and much to fight for.

You could see him in the podium wearing a black armband with his entire Ferrari Team, as he raised his Trophy to the sky in honor of Anthoine.

Empowering generations of new drivers to not feel like outsiders. He might have lost a friend, his godfather, his father, that battle on two multifarious and defining races before, but on his third, he got his maiden trophy with a little help from above.

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes spoke encomiums of Charles Leclerc after the race.

"It's not easy for any driver to jump into a top team like Ferrari against a four-time world champion, with much more experience, and then to continuously out-perform, out-qualify and out-drive him. But Charles’ results speak for themselves. There is a lot more greatness to come from him, and I am looking forward to racing alongside him in the future.” 

“Then once I got in the car, as I did for my father two years ago, you need to put all the emotions to one side and focus on the job.”

Said, Leclerc “I was happy to win and remember him the way he deserved to be and, yeah, happy to do it on this day.”

"They are so much faster than us and Monza is all straights ... We will do our best, but it is going to be a tough job to match them.”

He lamented his inability to master those straights like Leclerc, before. Something the Monegasque is seemingly able to do. Monza will be the place to put the five time World Champion to a test.

"So, there's a lot more greatness to come from him and I'm looking forward to seeing his growth and racing alongside him ... Today, it was fun, trying to chase him. He was just a little bit too quick.”

Maybe, Chekhov was right after all about Entropy, that beautiful chaos that makes our universe work, It does come easy, but as I wrote in my book, “Entropy comes easy, but Love outgrows the Universe,”©️

"I was struggling in the corners, so that allowed him to get close," said Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari and Leclerc's Team mate.

"I couldn't hold him off for a very long time. I tried to obviously make him [Hamilton] lose time in order to give Charles a cushion, and in the end it was just enough, so it did the job.

"I couldn't stay in range to look after myself, and I was sort of playing a road block to make sure that Charles was gaining some time." He did everything to help his team mate achieve his first victory.

In a statement given by Daniel Ricciardo from Team Renault, he too admitted not wanting to race following Hubert’s untimely death.

“I know that, weirdly enough, the best way we can kind of show our respect was to race today,”

“But I don’t think any of us actually wanted to be here or wanted to race”

 “At least, I’m speaking for myself, but I’m sure I’m not the only one. It was certainly tough to be here and try to put on a brave face for everyone.”

 “I know a lot of people in the paddock are hurting so I think everyone’s relieved it’s done, we can move on from here, and hopefully it’s the last time that this happens.”

For the Renault fans, Ricciardo racing that day meant everything.

To know that a driver from his team had perished, how does one reconcile, to keep the morale high for the millions of fans aching so racing is the answer.

Is the one thing the Aussie does to help the fans, and he does it well. We appreciate the effort even when we know the heartbreak he's feeling. A collective effort from everyone now to help each other heed the call of the F1 neighbor even on social media.

We love him for it.

It becomes a Labor of Love.

“Since I was a child I’ve been looking up to Formula 1, dreaming to be first a Formula 1 driver, which happened last year, then driving for Ferrari this year, and then the first win today.”

“It’s a good day, but on the other hand, as I said, losing Anthoine yesterday brings me back to 2005, my first ever French championship. There was him, Esteban [Ocon], Pierre [Gasly] and myself. We were four kids that were dreaming of Formula 1. We grew up in karting for many, many years, and to lose him yesterday was a big shock for me but obviously for everyone in motorsport, so it was a very sad day.” - Charles Leclerc

📸:© Reuters/ FRANCOIS LENOIR

A day filled with grief, racing, camaraderie, and the inextricable reminder that; the Universe is always at work.

Congratulations, Charles Leclerc and Team Ferrari for a well-deserved win.

We knew you had it all along.

“And when you want something, all the Universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Paolo Coelho

Jen McCulley TM Sep 2, 2019

#charles leclerc #anthoine hubert #sebastian vettel #lewis hamilton #daniel ricciardo #pierre gasly #esteban ocon #scuderia ferrari #charles 16 #formula 1 #formula1 #essere ferrari #formula one #f1 #racing for anthoine #belgian grand prix #belgiangp #belgium gp 2019

[rndyounghowze]

Helvetica Sails On At Elm Street Cultural Arts Village

By Ricky and Dana Young-Howze

Woodstock, Georgia

On May Thirteenth around three o'clock the play Helvetica by one of our dear friends Will Coleman was dead on arrival. It was yet another theatrical casualty of this global pandemic that has shuttered the doors of theaters everywhere from the Elm Street Cultural Arts Village in Woodstock, Georgia all the way to Broadway. The notice was one of the millions just like it that Dana and I had seen in our feed and our hearts had gone out to them. As reviewers we have felt helpless sitting on the sidelines for this whole thing. Then we saw a post by director Nicole Adkins that the show was not only not dead but going live on Thursday as a digitally streamed experience. So one message later and Dana and I were sitting on our bed with our cats doing our first theatre review from our homes!

Saying that Helvetica is the story of a writer of the same name isn't doing it justice. A "deconstructed" or "exploded" life is more fitting. Narrated by her favorite stuffed bear Myron this play takes you on a journey through Helvetica's younger years with her Mom and Dad to her adult life in a marriage gone wrong, to her final months battling cancer. But we never stay in one place too long as Myron deftly moves us from one time to another weaving the story together as if it's a tapestry. This is a play about stories and how they're born.

I've mainly known Nicole as a talented children's playwright and teacher. This is my first real encounter with her directing and I want to point out two strengths she has. When you watch this the first thing you'll notice in many scenes is that you don't notice her. When you sample the wares of a baker you're not tasting the individual ingredients you're tasting the confection and this is the case with her. Like with my South Jersey cohort I love the directors that put in the time and labor over their shows but like up North she's one of the few where you don't see her metaphorical hands on actors' shoulders gently nudging them or see their handiwork everywhere. You just see the amazing work as a whole! Nicole's second strength was grand stage pictures that reminded us of the depth of this story and its journey through time. There were a couple times like in Helvetica's funeral and the ballerina scene where I felt pacing suffered for that depth but that is being completely nitpicky.

One thing I envy about K. Willow Coleman are their characters. But in this play there are some characters that offer challenges to actors which rival the feats of Hercules.

Take Myron (played by Sean Haley) in which you have to be a stuffed bear that's not just a stuffed bear. If you stepped into this role thinking, "I'm just Helvetica's teddy bear" you've failed from the beginning. Haley seems to know that Myron is also Helvetica's avatar, the only person that she has loved one hundred percent, and the only person qualified to tell her story. But he still had to also be a bear and through Haley's performance I never forgot that even though he's not wearing a bear costume.

Now there's the impossible task of playing Helvetica. Helvetica is played by three actresses: Past Helvetica (Evie Sickbert), Present Helvetica (Molly Gilmartin), and Future Helvetica (Mary Wolfson). It would be very hard to play one of these people but then you have the added hardship of making your performance work in such a way that I don't see a "seam" in the actresses portrayal and they all blend into one character. I don't know how much (if at all) they planned for this but whatever they they did it worked. If they did this purely by accident they should take that secret to their graves.

First of all Miss Sickbert was my absolute favorite performer! The scene she has with Helvetica's father needs a maturity way beyond her years and it touched me to the core. At such a young age to be emoting with her eyes and face like that is so amazing. Gilmartin's performance played the perfect balance of reserved and passionate. I totally felt her character's feeling of being stuck and she drew this emotion out of me that just wanted to yell "just punch the dumb husband and sail away with Myron!" Wolfson's performance is what grounded me and I found myself calmed by her. Playing a writer is hard already because all of the conflict is inside the head yet Wolfson allowed that inner conflict to come outside and I could see her working through it. All three of these women came together to give us only one Helvetica and they deserve a riotous applause.

Then there are the characters that form a sort of a spine to the play because even when we don't see them we feel them. Father (played by Daniel Sickbert) and Mother (played by Riley Rawson) were two such characters. These were both people who needed to be powerful performers because we had to feel their effect on Helvetica's life long after they were gone. I think Sickbert's delivery rang with me more but he may have been "cheating" because he was talking to his real life daughter Evie most of the time (although from people I know who have done it acting with real life family can sometimes be harder). At first I thought Rawson's performance left something to be desired but then I saw her start to settle in and own it. Her last monologue in the play is one of my favorites of all time and she killed it. I just wished we could have had that energy the whole performance.

Big shout out to James Cogswell for giving me a Husband that I want to punch in the face. It's very hard to play a jackass and my hat is off to him for it.

Okay I was looking in the program for the almost five other talented actresses that were in this play but it turns out that they were all Amanda Lynn Simmons. This performer is not only a talented actress and ballet dancer but also a composer! I can't believe that I'm using the word "polymath" in a review but here I am giving it to her. There you go Miss Simmons making me pull out my SAT words.

Okay I want to talk to both set designer Brian Gamel and lighting designer Megan Johnson. Because of the very monochromatic gray color palette of the stage all I could think about was that we were inside Helvetica's brain (her "graymatter") and watching her story unfold in her mind. If that was your intention you're geniuses. If it wasn't let that be your biggest secret. The grays gave a great background for Johnson's vibrant purples and the muted blues and greens and browns of Cindy Flanders' costume design. Also Flanders deserves high praise for uniting all three Helveticas with the same color scheme but giving them all different styles and tastes. Whereas the trio of actresses played a unified character the clothing clued us into their different personalities.

Also a shout-out to sound designer Zach Roe and projection designer Beth Tate. These roles hardly ever get any love and they are the unsung heroes of the theatre.

A special shout-out to videography by David Thompson Technologies without whom this production would have stayed cancelled.

Don't tell Katie Coleman this but this play has stuck with Dana and me throughout the seven or so years since we first saw the staged reading at the Hollins Playwright's Lab. We have stayed up at night in bed talking (and arguing) about this play because we love it so much. It was very special for it to be our first review from quarantine. Also even in this digital age we still feel that need to be somewhere in person. We've had eyes and ears as a species way before we got phones and cameras so there is still a drive to get around the campfire as a tribe and let our hearts sync up as one to hear a good story. However in these times it's good to be reminded that technology can help us feel present with our loved ones even in times of uncertainty like this. Hence why I was able to do a review of play done in Georgia from my home in New Jersey written by a colleague from Chicago and directed by a professor I met in Virginia. This is what reminds me that Theatre is really about community and as long as the community still thrives theatre lives on. You now have a limited time to be a part of that global community. Follow the link below and watch this play yourself. After you watch it share it with a friend. Hurry fast because after May 10th it disappears!

[salvatoreschool]

Julie Plec Tells Us How Hope's Finale Twist Will Affect Legacies in Season 2

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of Legacies. Read at your own risk!]

Legacies did the unthinkable in its Season 1 finale, and now we're not sure whether Hope Mikaelson (Danielle Rose Russell) is dead or alive or hovering somewhere in between!

The finale saw the Salvatore School under attack from Triad Industries, and the confrontation eventually left Josie (Kaylee Bryant) in mortal peril. After she jumped in front of a bullet made from Malivore mud intended for Lizzie (Jenny Boyd), the poison slowly started to eat away at her. Only Hope's blood managed to save her, but we're wondering whether or not that will end up being a great thing considering she found a magical device in Alaric's office that could eventually release a pretty huge baddie — more on that later.

As for Hope, after facing off against this week's monster (a headless horseman, of all things), Ryan Clarke (Nick Fink) got the best of Hope and Landon (Aria Shahghasemi) and threw the final artifact into the Malivore pit, raising his father from banishment. Knowing she couldn't allow the monster-eating golem to return to Earth and use Landon's body as a meat suit, Hope killed Landon (temporarily, obvi) and threw herself into the pit along with Landon's brother. As the tribrid of the three species that created it, Hope realized she was the only thing that could destroy it, finally giving her loophole existence a purpose. Girl, you are too noble for your own good.

So, is that the end for Hope, especially now that no one even remembers her? And what does her "death" mean for everyone else but especially Rafael (Peyton Smith), who might now have to remain a wolf forever? TV Guide spoke to showrunner Julie Plec about this huge finale and where we go from here when Season 2 picks back up.

So Hope is officially erased, but are all traces of her really gone? Or can we hope to stumble across some clue to remembering her and getting her back in Season 2?

Julie Plec: There is hope, and there is an actual pitch for that, so your brain is in the right place, creatively.

Is Malivore dead now or did she just prevent him from rising?

Plec: That is the question, I think, that we're left with at the end of the season, which is — technically if she had destroyed him, would she be destroyed in the process? Maybe not. So the fact that no one remembers her might mean that there's still a blackness out there that is keeping her captive. And since we've already seen a glimpse of how s---ty that is, I hope that's not the case.

Can we expect to see a Hope-shaped hole in the lives of everyone left in Season 2?

Plec: That's exactly what we can expect to see. What's fun about it, and sad about it, is we'll be able to realize just how much impact Hope had in these people's lives without them even realizing what they're missing. And just understanding that they all feel individually like there's something that doesn't feel right and that they're struggling with this feeling of not being complete somehow. It just feels like such a universal experience, especially for teenagers. I'm looking forward to having each of those characters act out on that feeling.

If feels like Raf is the one most affected by her loss, since he's kind of stuck as a perma-wolf?

Plec: Yeah, Raf is screwed. Raf is a perma-wolf. Look, when Hayley (Phoebe Tonkin) on The Originals was turned into a wolf all that time, that really did a number on her, and Raf is a new werewolf, who is still a teenager. So to be stuck in your most primal and feral state for God knows how long, if he's ever even able to get out of there, that will be catastrophic.

Landon did learn that he was intended to be a "meat suit" for Malivore to let him procreate, but does he even remember that? And if not, is that still a looming threat in Season 2?

Plec: I think that's a good question. What, if anything, of his experience and all the information that he learned about Malivore will he remember? Even more so, what does it all mean now that Malivore doesn't appear to be functional anymore? So Landon is going to have a lot of questions moving forward, and a Hope-sized hole in his heart, as you've said.

I love the chemistry between Hope and Landon! Every time they're on-screen together, you just can't help but go, "Awww!"

Plec: Thank you! It's so pure; I think that's why I love it so much. It just feels really innocent and honest and pure in a way that you don't get a lot in relationships in movies and television. So I think that's why I really like it.

Will Triad Industries play a role moving forward, considering most of their staff was just killed or consumed by Malivore?

Plec: We may have seen the last of Triad for now in that I think M.G. (Quincy Fouse) made it very clear with his mother what role he expects her to not play in his life moving forward. I certainly don't think the organization is going anywhere, so they will be out there lingering in the shadows and maybe our heroes will cross paths with them another time.

The twins seem to have found the Ascendant, which The Vampire Diaries fans will recognize as the key to a prison world. How worried should we be about a visit from evil Uncle Kai (Chris Wood) if they start messing with that?

Plec: I think when a key that would open the lock that is keeping evil Uncle Kai imprisoned shows up on your screen you should always be afraid ... and also super, super psyched — which, by the way, is not me saying that Chris Wood has agreed to come back because I have not gotten any answers out of him yet, but I would love nothing more.

Will we be seeing more of Penelope in Season 2?

Plec: Penelope was a very successful character for us, and we always love the villain that ultimately finds a way to redeem her wicked, selfish, evil ways over the course of the season and leave us all crying and wanting more. Certainly my hope is that she remains in our universe and she, in spite of being in Belgium with her family, may make an appearance again. I can't make any promises, but I certainly would love to see her.

Can we also hope for the return of Clarke? Because I was really digging the revival of the whole supernatural brothers thing!

Plec: There's going to be a hole in the marketplace right now for supernatural brothers. We have not necessarily seen the last of Clarke. Certainly wherever Hope is, it seems to be that he is there as well. It depends on where that is and what that looks like and if we want to tell that story.

So if we want Hope back, we might have to get Clarke?

Plec: Exactly. Two for the price of one.

Are you looking to introduce a new big bad for Season 2 or are you hoping to stay invested in this Malivore storyline?

Plec: We are going to take a page out of Harry Potter and hope that Malivore can be an ongoing threat, much like Voldemort was able to be over the course of all the books. That is the goal and we will see how long we are able to do that.

And are you planning to keep the monster-of-the-week format or lean into more serialized storytelling.

Plec: I think our emotional and character stories will always be deeply serialized like The Vampire Diaries, but the structure of the monster of the week or a monster that can span a couple weeks has been a lot of fun for us, and we've really enjoyed it. So we'll definitely be continuing down that road.

Are there any plans to return to monsters we've seen and spared before like that gorgon who was getting flirty with M.G.?

Plec: There's absolutely opportunity for any of the monsters that we've seen before to come back again. I know my personal favorite is the necromancer. We've got some competition... people who loved the dryad, the gorgon — if we can figure out a way to make snakes cost less in visual effects, [it] has a better shot at coming back when technology can catch up to what we want to achieve. That was a "learn the hard way" kind of character.

Alaric's (Matthew Davis) position at the school has been left up in the air, so what can you say about the impact of potentially removing him as headmaster if that's how the council votes?

Plec: I think that for a man whose last decade-plus of his life has been committed wholly to his daughters and this school, if he wakes up one morning and is no longer the headmaster, that's going to be a big dramatic shift for him and I'd wonder how he would make it through that.

#Legacies #TheOriginals #TheVampireDiaries #TVD #HopeMikaelson #LizzieSaltzman #JosieSaltzman #AlaricSaltzman #LandonKirby #RafaelWaithe #MG #PenelopePark #Malivore #Tribrid #GeminiCoven #TheMerge #Ascendant #KaiParker #SalvatoreSchool #TheCW #JuliePlec

[clexa--warrior]

Fear The Walking Dead' continues its losing streak in Sunday night's episode 'Ner Tamid.'

Credit: AMC

Sunday night's episode of Fear The Walking Dead was a little bit better than the rest of this half of the season, and I think I know why: There was no Morgan!s

Morgan and Al are off doing their own thing, and miraculously we didn't hear from either one this week. That's good! Sadly, we also didn't get any Alicia. She remains one of the only characters I still like on this show, though the past few episodes have done their level best to character-assassinate her (she's probably off painting more trees at this point).

The rest of the episode was pretty much about as pointless as the rest of the episodes in Season 5. Charlie "runs away" from the convoy to go find some place for them to stay, so that they're not always on the move. Finding a place to stay is a really good idea. Running off on your own in the zombie apocalypse is stupid beyond all reckoning, and I wish the writers and producers would stop making the characters act like such absolute dunces every week.

It appears the real problem is June, who is apparently in charge of the caravan and its 36 members. She's driving them all hard, not letting them stay in one place long, no rest for the weary and all that jazz. Even John Dorie is like "Hey June, baby, I love you but this is ridiculous," but it falls on deaf ears. I'm not sure why June is acting like this, or why she's suddenly in charge, or why they have a caravan instead of a base to begin with, but that doesn't matter. Fear The Walking Dead just does stuff, and we're just supposed to eat it up without questioning anything.

I think that's the only way people can still enjoy this show--just don't ask any questions, don't think about anything too much, don't expect anything remotely like logic or realism or human nature to figure into it at all.

In any case, Charlie makes yet another new friend while out on her own. This time it's a Jewish Rabbi, Jacob Kessner, who lives all by himself at his old synagogue. All his former flock are now zombies, calling to mind Father Gabriel from The Walking Dead (though Kessner is much less annoying than Gabriel, who I still can't stand). Charlie thinks this would be a good place for the survivors to settle down, but things don't work out. Before the end of the episode, the safe haven is overrun and Kessner is out of a home. Shocking. We've never seen the survivors show up and ruin a good thing before! (That's sarcasm, by the way. Everywhere our heroes go falls apart, from the family on the island to the Mexican villa, to the ranch, to the kids' treehouse this season).

June and Dorie show up and there's some zombie action, but we know nobody is going to actually get killed by a zombie. That hardly ever happens on this show. The last time I can think of it actually happening was when Madison died, but she died offscreen so we didn't even see it. There used to be some great zombie kills in previous seasons, but there's no reason to fear anything in Fear The Walking Dead these days.

That applies to Logan and his group of feckless, toothless bad guys. At one point they chase Sarah and Dwight--who looks ridiculous clean-shaven, though I suppose it's symbolic of his being totally neutered by the do-gooder sickness that's befallen the entire cast--and almost catch them but the tank shows up and saves the day. Of course, why they were so worried and running to begin with is beyond me. Recall last week when Morgan and Al were faced with a dozen of Logan's thugs and nothing happened. They just blocked the road and that's all. Are we supposed to think that this week things are so different that they pose an actual threat now?

Of course, it turns out that the whole thing was just a diversion. Logan wanted to distract the convoy. Apparently he's figured out where the oil fields are and he wanted Morgan's group as far away as possible which, uh, kind of sounds like what he did in the very beginning of this season by having them fly off to the nuclear power plant region. They're running out of ideas so fast it isn't even funny.

Is there even a story here? I mean, there are things that happen I guess, but is there a story? Let's try to parse it all together, shall we?

Season 5 starts with Morgan and most of the crew crash-landing a plane because they thought they were helping someone but it was just Logan tricking them so that he could take over the mill. The first half of the season is spent trying to get a new plane or fix the old plane so they can fly it back. There's also a nuclear power plant that's going to melt down, and we meet a new character, Grace, who is trying to prevent that. Eight episodes are spent on this dual-plot, with Strand and Charlie ultimately saving the day by bringing propellers in a hot air balloon to the heroes who then use their years of airplane mechanic experience to fix the plane and then fly successfully back to their own area of Texas because apparently that region has zero roads leading. It is a mystical island within the state of Texas that can only be reached by air (unless you're Dwight or his wife who apparently both managed just fine on solid ground).

So that's the first half of Season 5. Crash plane, fix plane, fly out. Logan has the mill. Then, bizarrely, at the very end of the first half of the season Logan tries to make a deal with them. This deal is not struck, we discover in the Season 5 midseason premiere, and Logan goes back to working with the thugs. I can't tell if they're working for him or he's working for them, because the show has done such a lousy, inconsistent job at explaining things to us.

Speaking of which, we learn that during the break, during the period of time that occurs off-screen between the two halves of this season, that Morgan has discovered where Polar Bear's oil fields are. And I guess he's also figured out how to refine oil into gasoline. And I guess this is what Logan was after the whole time, but they just neglected to introduce that conflict in any remotely comprehensible way. Now, five episodes into the back half of the season, the entire plot seems to be "Morgan and group go around helping people more while Logan tries to figure out where the oil fields are." Five episodes of filler with virtually nothing of any importance happening. Alicia meets the guy painting on all those trees. Morgan and Grace try and fail to spark a romance. Logan is mad at Morgan but does nothing about it. They film a stupid PSA and put it on VCRs with generators wherever they can so that people know that they're out there trying to help people.

None of this qualifies as a story, at least not really. The story, if it had to be boiled down, would be the conflict between Logan and Morgan's two groups. But that conflict barely exists, as evidenced by the times they've actually encountered one another and done nothing. At least Negan did stuff. At least the Saviors posed a threat, no matter how badly produced Seasons 7 and 8 of The Walking Dead were. At least there was a story.

Here we just have people driving around wasting gas, talking on walkie-talkies, rarely having realistic conversations or actually interesting struggles or conflicts. It's all contrived. You could probably boil down the entire 12 episodes we've seen so far into two and not lose anything.

Just take away the whole entire plane crash plot and have them tricked into leaving the mill. Then have Logan realize what he wanted in the mill wasn't there and go to war with Morgan to get the map to the oil fields. The oil fields themselves would be useless to Morgan since he doesn't know how to refine oil into gasoline, but he knows that Logan is bad news so he keeps that information from him anyways. Have Logan kill some of the good guys, and have that test Morgan's resolve to be a good person. Have Dwight show up as one of Logan's dudes, on the other side of the conflict, and have that make him question whether he's made the right choice.

I mean, I think you could probably get eight episodes out of this conflict, and then you could twist things around for the second half of the season. Morgan could snap again, go full killstreak mode. He and Alicia could break into two different groups and the conflict could continue between them somehow. This is all just spit-balling. The fact is, it would be fairly simple to come up with a better story for Season 5, with better and more natural conflicts. Actually, I'd have introduced Logan as a sympathetic character and had him join the group, had his treachery not manifest until it was too late. Make the betrayal sting.

But this is all fantasy. I want the same kind of tense conflict that drove Season 3, with sympathetic characters on both sides and no easy resolution. But what we're getting is a bunch of badly written filler episodes with no real purpose and an overarching conflict that makes no sense. Meanwhile, we get things like Al leaving all her tapes in a safe and then not bothering to even shut the lock boxes, and that's how Logan discovers the oil fields. We get John Dorie shooting a bullet at a hatchet blade so that it can split in two and kill a pair of approaching zombies. That's the kind of vapid writing this show has now. It's just sad.

Next week, Logan will use the oil fields to wipe out half of all living things in the universe and the week after that Al and June and Daniel will send Skidmark back in time in a time machine they built out of spare plane parts, and Skidmark's job will be to kill Polar Bear before he ever planted the oil seeds that eventually grew into the oil fields, but little do they know that Polar Bear is waiting for them . . . . it's a trap!

I just . . . I can't. I don't know what else to say. What a sad joke Fear has become.

#fear the walking dead spoilers

[blvirisms-blog]

We've Gone Way Too Fast For Way Too Long || Squad

naomi brought the last of her things into the small cabin, her hoodie dripping wet from the thunderstorm that was taking place outside. she thought it was a good idea, staying in the remote cabin that belonged to one of the tour guides for the night until the storm passed. she knew if the group would have kept driving— something bad would of had happened. “you guys might want to go get your stuff before it gets worse out there. seriously wouldn’t be surprised if we were flooded out. it’s crazy.”

verena squealed as she hurried into the small, yet eerie cabin. dropping her things by the door, she shook off her coat, tiny water droplets flying everywhere. “this is insane! i’m pretty sure i’ve seen this exact scene in a horror movie before…”

naomi rolled her eyes “no— don’t do that. especially not now.” she shook her head and made her way over to the living room section of the cabin, crouching down in front of the fireplace. “how are we supposed to light this?”

verena removed her jacket and hung it on the old coat rack that stood by the door. “well, i’m just pointing out the obvious.” following naomi over to the fire place, vee crossed her arms. “you don’t have a lighter and some paper?”

naomi “do i look like a walking home depot store?” she asked in an obvious tone, rolling her eyes playfully. “we’re in a cabin. i’m sure there’s some matches or like… wood around here. i don’t know.”

verena “well seeing as i saw a heaping pile of wood sitting outside and it’s raining, we might be shit out of luck on the whole fire thing…“

naomi sighed "well looks like we’re gonna freeze to death. unless we look around for something to set on fire. dare i suggest burning what’s left of blair’s soul?”

verena giggled at naomi’s joke as her eyes moved around the room looking for something to burn “sadly i don’t think there’s enough left to even get a fire lit.”

naomi “good one. every try stand up?” she stood up and stretched, looking around the room before walking over to her backpack. “i got a notebook in here. i guess we can use that. but that means you all owe me some paper.”

verena “ well, we aren’t going to get much heat if we simply burn paper! we need something…” her eyes surveyed the room again, stopping as they fell on a broken chair. “perfect! i don’t think the owners are gonna miss this.” grabbing a few of the pieces, she returned to the fireplace and began placing the wooden legs down. “we can still use the paper as kindling though.”

naomi shrugged her shoulders. “verena i’ve never been camping before so i have no idea what the fuck i’m supposed to do…” she trailed off, rummaging through the drawers until she found a box of matches. “okay now i’m starting to think we’re being set up.” she said, holding up the box of matches

verena gave naomi a pointed look “see, i told you something was fishy was going on, but noo, you wanna play naive simply to save what’s left of your sanity.” finishing with the mini bone fire structure, vee held out her hand. “paper please.”

naomi “i think we should all just forget about the horror movie cliches.” she handed verena the paper before continuing “there’s no way they’re true and all we’re doing is scaring ourselves.”

damaris entering the cabin at a bit of a jog in an attempt to get out of the rain as quick as possible, damaris pulled her soaked bandanna off and dropped it down with her bag at the edge of the door, casting a glance naomi and verena’s way. “how’s the fire lighting going?” it was a safe bet that that was what they were doing, considering where they were and all they had.

naomi “bad. unless verena here pulls some survivor shit and magically lights it. anyways i don’t think we have enough wood for the fire so we’re going to have to use it wisely.” her reply was directed to damaris and she sat down on one of the couches in the living room. “but other than that— home sweet home?”

verena “move over already and give me the matches!” bumping naomi’s hip with her own, vee dropped down to her knees and began working on the fire.

naomi threw them in verena’s direction, smiling contently as they landed beside her. “i feel like squidward when he was camping with spongebob and patrick when the sea bear attacked.”

blair stumbled into the cabin. “holy shit,” she huffed, soaked completely with one of daniel’s hoodies on her head.

damaris “have you looked round the cabin?- maybe there’s firewood stored somewhere, or something…” she didn’t want to sound too hopeful. after all, were the chances really all that high? “good luck, verena-” interrupted by blair’s arrival, damaris threw her a look of pity, “you okay?”

blair: “i’m fine,” she mumbled, looking around. “what’re you guys doing?”

verena “well naomi is lounging, i’m trying to make a fire and i think damaris is looking for fire wood. how abouts you? where’s your boy toy?” vee clapped her hands together as the fire finally took to the old chair wood.

blair looked out the window. “i think he’s trying to get as much stuff as possible into his bag. also, where are you planning to make the fire?”

naomi “no we haven’t and i’m too tired that i might knock out before the fire does.” naomi cheered as the fire started “well obviously in the fireplace. blair are you okay? has hanging around daniel really knocked some iq points off of you?”

damaris “oh… well….” looking around, reluctant to move forward into the cabin, she seemed stuck in place ‘til naomi’s iq comment and then, she was rushing to push in- “anyway- would you like to help me look around, b?”

blair “well shit naomi, i didn’t notice the fireplace, i’ve been here for like 3 seconds. i have a lighter though, if that helps?”

naomi “we found matches. i think you should help damaris look for more wood to keep it going.” she suggested.

blair “wood? in the rain? are you kidding?”

naomi “around the house. my bad for not making it clear.”

damaris “maybe there’s a basement? don’t people keep wood in basements?” even the mention of one made her uncomfortable, but, if it’d keep them busy…

blair “this place doesn’t look big enough to have a basement but we can look, i guess.”

naomi “if you guys need anything, just give us a shout. i think the owners mentioned a basement where they keep their hunting crap.”

blair “maybe we should wait for daniel to come in.”

naomi “why? so he can protect you from the dark? it’s just a basement.” she rolled her eyes “you have your best friend going with you— i’m sure she’ll take care of you just fine.”

damaris “you don’t think i can keep you safe, if there’s anything down there?-” she’d been in the middle of raising her hands up and pretending to punch the air, toughly, when she realized what she’d said- “i mean. obviously there wouldn’t be anything down there- but if there was, i could keep you safe!”

blair “maybe i just like having my boyfriend around since majority of you hate me, ever think of that?” blair snapped. she looked at damaris with a small grin and put her hands on the girl’s fists. “don’t hurt yourself, mar,” she chuckled.

naomi “suit yourself. i have to pee.” she got up and brushed pass the two girls in the direction of where she assumed the bathroom was. damaris “i don’t think the majority of people hate you, b-” sending the quickest of helpless looks at naomi’s retreating back, maris opted for just trying to keep the grin on blair’s face- even if it were only small. “hurt /myself/? pfft- if anything’s getting hurt, it’s whatever decides to come after you. just lemme at ‘em- i’ll rock ‘em, i’ll sock 'em, i’ll make 'em regret ever trying it!”

blair rolled her eyes at a lack of response from naomi and patted maris’ shoulder. “i’m sure you could.” damaris “for you, i could do absolutely anything,” she lifted her chin and gave a very sure nod, trying to seem confident in abilities she knew she definitely lacked. “but- if you wanna wait for daniel, i’ll understand. even if i think i can keep us both safe.” blair “it’s nothing against you, and i definitely don’t doubt your abilities,” blair grinned. “i just want him here,” she said quietly, looking out the window again. damaris “i gotcha,” she nodded again, this time, in understanding. she wasn’t about to say so out loud, but… she’d have felt the same way, way back when, with cristian. “d'you think he and the guys will be much longer?” blair “i don’t know, he’s probably trying to get literally everything into bags because he’s insane,” she chuckled.

naomi returned from the bathroom, her shirt soaked and her mouth ajar "okay… before you ask— yes the sink is broken and there’s only one bedroom here so what is the sleeping arrangement?” she asked, walking over to her bags and rummaging to find a clean t-shirt. blair “well actually, i was going to ask how you managed to pee that high,” blair chuckled. “one bedroom, but how many beds?” damaris “damnit, daniel,” she shook her head, but, was unsurprised. “blair-” she gave her friend a look, before turning sympathetic, “sorry you had to be the one to find out, naomi. maybe…- shouldn’t blair & daniel get the bedroom?” daniel “I’m not picky.” daniel finally appeared, bags hung over his shoulder. “just let me know where to set this stuff – the circulation in my fingers is starting to cut off.” he chuckled. “I don’t mind having one big sleepover.” he teased, grinning. naomi pulled out her t-shirt and set it aside “ha ha, very funny.i think we should all stay in the bedroom. there’s only a twin size bed in there but plenty of floor space. i guess the couple can take the bed.” she looked up as daniel entered and shrugged,“ but i’ll be damned if daniel suggests for us to split up in this creepy cabin. especially with the weather.” verena scuffed at damaris’ idea for the couple to share the room. “yeah–no. they don’t get everything because they are dating. beside’s they shouldn’t be having sex in someone elses cabin. it’s rude.” blair rolled her eyes, taking some bags from daniel. “a sleepover? how old are you?” she laughed at him. damaris “if we’re all gonna convene in the room, maybe set all that down in there?” damaris suggested to daniel, a little sad that bryce hadn’t appeared right behind him. “i didn’t say they’d be…- i just thought- nevermind.” verena “oh come on, have you met them? must i remind everyone of daniel’s birthday party where there was no safe place to sit?” pushing herself off the floor, vee plopped down on the couch, pleased that she was able to start a fire. blair “that was because it was disgusting, not because we fucked everywhere.” damaris “besides- you sit in cristian’s van /all the time/, and, he’s probably done way more gross things there.” she couldn’t help herself pointing out the obvious with a shrug of one shoulder. verena “yeah, but its cristians van. he wasn’t borrowing it from a friend– though if he was, he probably would still have sex in it…” verena shuddered at the disgusting thought that found it’s way into her head. naomi “either way we’re all covered in sex germs. disgusting to think about but we are. now if you excuse me, i’m going to go change and claim a spot in the room!” she got up and gathered all her things before walking into the bedroom.

naomi it was around two in the morning when naomi was awoken by what sounded like footsteps right outside the window from the room they were all staying in. she sat up from her spot, yawning quietly and rubbing the sleepiness from her eyes. “hey— did you guys hear that?” she asked in a whisper, shaking whoever was around her awake carefully. blair rolled over and rubbed her eyes. “what?” verena groaned, annoyed that she was being woken up in the middle of the night. “no naomi, go back to sleep for the love of all that is holy!” naomi pointed towards the window “i heard someone outside.” truth be told the brunette was still half asleep but she was one hundred percent sure she had heard something outside. “vee.. i’m being serious.” blair “naomi,” she groaned. “this is not the time for dramatics.” naomi rolled her eyes and slowly got up, tip-toeing around the bodies that were on the floor before reaching the window. she cupped her hands so she could see better and when she did, she jumped and gasped. “g-guys… i just saw someone out there.” she whisper yelled, turning back to look at the two girls. verena “i thought we agreed to nip the whole scary story shit in the bud.” vee pushed herself up on her elbows as she looked up at naomi. “just go back to bed, it’s probably like a deer or something.” daniel “what are you guys whining about?” daniel groaned, wiping his eyes before propping himself up on his elbows. “there’s no one out there, naomi. stop trying to freak everyone out – that’s my job.” blair “naomi thinks she sees someone outside,” blair hummed.

naomi shook her head. “does a deer stand upright on it’s two legs?! i’m not messing around this time, idiots.” she looked out the window once more only to see that whatever was out there was now gone. “i’m gonna go make sure the door is locked.” verena cursed under her breath and stood, rubbing her eyes. “fine, let’s go get this over with so i can return to my much needed sleep.” nodding towards the door, vee walked out of the room and into the living room. naomi followed verena into the living room. “it’s so cold in here.” she went to flip the light switch on but nothing happened. “okay… storm must of knocked it out. which direction is the door in again? i feel so disoriented.” daniel groaned, leaning forward and watching as the two girls left into the living room. “hope they have a flashlight.” he mumbled. “think we should check it out with them?” he asked blair. blair groaned. “probably, but can we not?” 

daniel “at least if we hear them scream, we can get a head start running.” blair “that’s not funny,” she huffed.  verena covered her mouth as she yawned a pointed in the direction of the door. “or the boogie man outside could have cut the power.” vee teased the other, a tired giggle escaping her lips.

naomi “ha ha very funny.” she walked around the corner towards the door, stopping in her tracks as she realized it was wide open. “uh… vee?” she called out, not moving from her spot. 

verena crossed her arms over her chest, her hands rubbing her arms in an attempt to warm them up. “yeah, what’s wrong?”   naomi “the door. it’s like, wide open.” she took a step back, “did anyone leave? did you hear anyone get up?” verena stepped up to stand beside naomi, her confusion only growing with every passing second. “i don’t think so… i know you said no more scary jokes, but this happens in horror movies.” blair “guys?” blair called, leaning to try and see out the door.  naomi ignored verena and walked back to the room. “is everyone in here?” she asked blair and daniel, “the front door is like, open.” blair bolted up in the bed. “what do you mean open?” daniel reached over and grabbed a flashlight before rising from the bed. “it was open?” he furrowed his brows, turning on the flashlight and looking around. “maybe someone went to get fresh air and forget to close it.” blair “is it still raining?” naomi shook her head “no it’s not raining anymore. is everyone in here?” she repeated, squinting to try to see how many bodies she could count. “vee is still out there in the living room, you should go check if anyone is outside.” she told daniel. blair “well maris is right here,” she pointed right next to the bed. “And I think that’s bryce,” she nodded to the person next to damaris. “i’ll go with you.” naomi “micah was next to me… where’s cristian?” she asked, realizing he was the only one missing. daniel “yeah, i can do that.” he nodded. “but it’s probably just cristian playing a prank.” verena took a few steps closer to the door, her eyes searching for anyone who might be outside the cabin. “hello? if you’re playing a prank, this isn’t funny!” blair “maybe he’s in the bathroom?” blair suggested. naomi “i’ll go check” she turned and walked back into the hallway, going into the bathroom and opening the door only to find it empty. “he’s not in here.” she called out, making her way back to the room. verena heard the crunch of gravel as if someone were walking around. “fuck this.” she murmured under her breath before shutting and locking the front door and hurrying back to the room. “well, there is definitely someone out there. is everyone here cause i shut and locked the door.” 

daniel “everyone but cristian and if he’s not in here, we’ve gotta find him.” he shrugged. “i’ll just run out and take a look, okay?” blair grabbed daniel’s hand at verena’s comment. “i don’t want you going out there.” naomi “i’m with blair on this one. i don’t think you should go out there. not alone at least.” 

verena “well, we can’t leave him out there. come on daniel, i’ll go with you.” daniel “wow, you two haven’t agreed on anything since that time you both had a crush on me.” he chuckled. “i’ll only be a second and you guys can watch from the door.” naomi rolled her eyes. “not the time to be cracking jokes. we’ll all go.” she reached for verena’s hand “if anything happens i may or may not use you as a human shield.” daniel “fine,��� he shrugged, nodding. “us four will go out and the other three stay." blair “if we all go, who’s going to watch the door inside?” she went over and made sure the others were awake enough to be aware before going back to the door. “Okay, why don’t you two go that way and we’ll go this way?”

verena “so help me god naomi if you even try to sacrifice me, i will haunt you for the rest of your pitiful, over dramatic life.” when verena said that she needed her sleep, this was why. naomi “sorry” she whispered, taking a step back into the hallway “c'mon let’s go” daniel “wait!” he called out, rushing back into the bedroom and searching through his bag. he then return to the living room. “walkie talkies.” hr smirked, passing one over to verena. “should we decide on code names?” blair “seriously?” she huffed. “why do we need code names besides to satisfy your nerd fantasies?” verena smiled and took a walkie talkie from daniel. it may sound silly, but she loved using them, she always felt so bad ass and tactical. “call me the blue falcon!” naomi gave verena a look. “seriously? fine but if something happens i’m not repeating that dumbass code name.” blair covered her face with her hand. “please don’t encourage him.” verena “fine you party poopers keep thinking about how were all gonna die and stress yourselves out while daniel and i are play capture the flag– or in this case, the cristian, in our heads.” daniel “i’m with verena on this one,” he shrugged, shooting blair a quick ‘im sorry’ look. “the sooner we bust his little prank, the sooner we can go back to bed.” blair “fine,” she grumbled, taking his hand. “let’s just hurry up?” verena “that’s the spirit blair! now let’s go before we all freeze to death.” turning the flash light on her phone, vee opened the front door and waited for others to join her before exiting. damaris it took damaris a long time to wake up enough to realize that something was going on, but, unable to ignore the rummaging and muffled voices any longer ( especially when she heard cristian’s name - not that she would ever admit to any /concern/ ) she left her bed behind. tiptoeing through the room so as not to disturb bryce or micah, she followed the voices, appearing by blair’s side, “what’s goin’ on?” blair turned to damaris. “stay here, okay? keep the door closed until we get back.” naomi “door was open, cristian’s gone and i think it’s gonna start raining again.” she briefly explained as damaris showed up “we’re gonna go check out, see if cris was playing a joke.”

damaris “uhm…” she was inclined to do just that, but, naomi’s explanation had her a little less willing, “/gone/ gone?- why would he- he would’ve told one of the guys if he was planning a joke, right?- i want to help you guys look.”

daniel extended his walkie talkie towards damaris. “take this to keep in contact with us while we’re out there just in case.” he nodded. “we should be back in a few minutes.”

naomi “i think it’s best if she comes with. you know, more backup just in case we run up on something unpleasant.”

damaris “see? naomi thinks i should go too,” she turned up the offer of the walkie talkie to straighten up, a little, trying to look as if there was no room for argument. daniel “all five of us don’t need to be out there.” he urged, shaking his head. “we need someone here on look out and neither bryce or micah are any use to us if they’re sleeping.”

damaris “you’d wanna go if it was blair,” the words had left her before she’d even fully thought them through. she scrambled, then, to save it- “i mean- i’d rather stick close to the people who’re awake, than the ones i’m pretty sure wouldn’t wake up, even if i was screaming in fear.” blair “mar we really need someone to hold down the fort. it’s the most important job right now – please? ”naomi “damn. let her go look after her man. i’ll stay.” daniel rolled his eyes as a sigh fell from his lips. “fine — naomi stays, damaris goes. is that alright with everyone?”

damaris “he’s not my man,” she muttered, internally struggling with the idea of staying behind, as much as she struggled with staying steadfast in her decision to go, “naomi can..- she can go. give me the walkie and i’ll stick with bryce, but just– just find him. and kick his butt, if this is all a joke.”

daniel “look, i’m leaving.” daniel mumbled as he started off towards the door. “and whoever is coming can follow, but i’m not gonna stand around and waste time – i’m too fuckin’ tired for this.” blair clenched his hand tighter. “let’s go.” damaris “you go, naomi-” taking a step back into the room, she paused, before adding, “stay safe, all of you.” naomi felt bad for her. “you sure?” she asked as daniel and blair made their way out the door. damaris no, she thought, but instead she gave a tiny nod, “of course. i’ll wake bryce up and we’ll hold things down here- you go catch up with those two, and find cris!” verena smiled weakly at maris, grabbing naomi’s hand and giving it a tug. “come on naomi lets go get this over with so we can come back and joke about it!” blair “you’re too tired to argue but you had no problem making up code names,” blair hissed at daniel. daniel “code names are required when using walkie talkies.” daniel grumbled. blair “you’re a fucking adult, daniel. we don’t need codenames.” she let out a sigh as she looked around. “wait… wasn’t the van…” naomi gave damaris a small smile and let verena tug her outside. “yo, where’s the van?” she asked as she noticed that it wasn’t parked in the front anymore. blair turned to naomi. “it was right here, wasn’t it? i’m not imagining it?”

naomi “yeah for once i can confirm that you are not losing it.”

blair “anyone have their phone? did he text anyone?”

verena quickly checked her phone, shaking her head no. “Nope. But I don’t have service.”

daniel “you think he left?”

damaris unable to stick out waiting, damaris pressed in the button of the walkie talkie and spoke into it, “what’s going on- did you find him?”

blair grabbed the walkie out of daniel’s hand. “mar, did cristian text any of us?”

damaris “no. no, i don’t think so- why?”

blair “babe, where’s your phone?” daniel “i left it inside i think, but i’m pretty sure i never got anything from him.

”blair “naomi, how about you?”

naomi “nope, nothing. or at least i didn’t hear my phone go off.” blair “so he just… ditched?” naomi “probably, it wouldn’t be surprising if he did.” naomi looked over blair’s shoulder as she saw something moving behind her. “or he’s hiding out there.” her finger pointed towards where she saw the shadow. daniel looked over to where naomi was pointing before taking off in that direction. “hey asshole!” he called out. “shitty joke, man!” blair “babe!” she hissed. “what if it’s not him?” her eyes widened at the thought and she reached out, grabbing daniel. naomi “cristian this isn’t funny! where the hell is the van?!” she called out after daniel, separating from verena and walking closer in that direction. “he’s being immature. and it’s not funny.” daniel pulled his arm away as blair reached for him, too determined to catch up to whatever it was he was chasing. “dude, give it up!” he called out once more. “your prank sucks ass.” naomi looked over at daniel “i’m gonna go kick his ass, join me if you want.” she made her way down the small drive way, turning the flashlight on and pointing it where the trees were “hide and seek is not so fun when you have a very cranky girl after you!” blair “guys, seriously, if this is a prank let’s just go inside and lock him out, then we’ll have the last laugh.

naomi after not getting a reply, naomi rolled her eyes and sighed loudly, now walking closer “not cute” she flashed the flashlight all around her until she saw the same figured and she let out a laugh “okay idiot, i found you. stop being a creep and come back to the cabin.” still no response. naomi’s eyebrows furrowed and she took a few steps closer “cristian, seriously c'mon.” now she was feeling scared, the way cristian was being unresponsive— well if it even was him. maybe something had happened to him and naomi was talking to some freak. she was now close enough to touch him and she did just that, arm raising to tap him on the shoulder, only for the person to turn around. it wasn’t cristian. naomi let out a loud scream, dropping the flashlight as she turned around and ran back in the direction of the cabin. blair was doing her best to pull daniel back into the house as naomi made her way over to where they thought cristian was. “babe, please,” she begged. when naomi screamed, her eyes shot up. daniel was busy going back and forth with blair when he heard a scream from naomi. “what the hellbeas that?” he questioned, furrowing his eyebrows as he moved to go towards naomi. “what’s wrong?”

naomi pushed past daniel and blair, opening the door to the cabin only to find herself tripping over the rug and falling to the floor. “ow, fuck.” she groaned, laying on the floor as she waited for the other two to come in. “oh my god shut the door and lock it!”

blair followed her as quick as she could, pulling daniel into the cabin and slamming the door shut. “what the hell?!” damaris hearing the thud of naomi hitting the floor, damaris jumped up and hopped over bryce’s sleeping form, rushing out into the main room of the cabin. “what happened? where’s cris?” 

daniel was more confused than ever, looking down at naomi as he was rushed back into the cabin. “what the fuck is going on?”

naomi didn’t feel like getting up and she rested on her elbows, looking at everyone as she tried to catch her breath. “cristian… that wasn’t him” she said, swallowing the lump in her throat “i told you guys there was someone out there!”

daniel “so wait–” he began, trying his best to keep up. “that person out there – it wasn’t cristian?”

damaris “there was someone out there?” she felt so out of the loop, staring back and forth between everyone present, “naomi- what just happened?”

blair “well, i’m fucking done,” she insisted, throwing her hands up and going to get her phone.

daniel “it was probably just someone trying to freak us out.”

naomi “i thought cristian was being a dumbass so i went after him. i kept calling his name but he wouldn’t reply so i like… tapped him and…” she looked up at daniel “really? who? who would do that?” she shook her head and continued with her story “i tapped him and when he turned around, well it wasn’t him.”

damaris “and whoever it was, is still out there?- you left cristian out there, with whoever it was you thought was him?” she didn’t mean to sound so accusatory- she was just /scared/, “someone needs to call him. we should have done that from the start, someone- who has reception?”

blair “he’s not here,” blair groaned, walking back over to them. “the van was gone and we’re all here so chances are, he ditched.”

naomi shook her head “he wasn’t out there, damaris. i didn’t see the truck and if he was around, then he would have came over here the second he heard me scream. he might be an asshole but… okay yeah what blair said. he ditched.”

damaris “cristian wouldn’t just ditch us. if the vans gone, maybe..- maybe he’s just gone… for gas? or..- or food, or something. he wouldn’t ditch- why aren’t any of you trying to call him? i-” shaking her head a few too many times, damaris turned on her heel and stalked off to the room to get her phone, throwing over her shoulder, “i’ll do it, he’ll- he’ll pick up and he’ll explain. he wouldn’t ditch us.”

blair looked over at damaris and then over at daniel. “maybe he went to get some food or something but he didn’t leave a note or even a text, did he?”

daniel “he ditched, that’s all there is to it.” daniel sighed out, shaking his head. “i don’t know who or what was out there, but let’s just try to relax.”

naomi “i wanna go home now. good guy, that cristian.” she sarcastically commented, getting up and dusting herself off.

blair “i’m with naomi. can we please go home?”

damaris “for the last time- cristian wouldn’t ditch, okay? he wouldn’t leave us here like this,” she returned with her phone in hand, though, it was utterly useless- there were no bars, “we can’t go home without the van, unless you want to pay the huge taxi far we’d be facing.”

blair “i’ll pay for whatever you want if we can just leave.”

naomi sighed “i don’t know and i don’t care.” she walked to the kitchen, trying to find something to drink when she saw a note on the table “uh, guys? there’s a note on the table.” she called out, reaching for the small sheet of paper.

damaris “see? he left a note- what’s it say, naomi? he went to get something, right?”

naomi read the note and gave damaris a small smile “ ‘decided to leave without you losers. see you in silverwood.’ it says.”

daniel “i knew that jackass was up to something.” daniel grumbled, clenching his jaw for a moment. “well, i’m going back to sleep. i’ve had enough for the night.

”blair “it still doesn’t explain why there’s someone outside.”

naomi “or the lights being cut off.”

damaris “he ditched.” even having as little trust in cristian as she did, damaris hadn’t thought that he would leave them. she’d still, somehow, thought he was better than that- and now, her expression fell. “guess you guys were right. i’m…-” she shook her head and gave the most uncaring shrug she could muster at blair and naomi’s words, “doesn’t matter. the lights probably just went out, the person could’ve been a hiker- there’s explanations for everything, guys.”

daniel “it was probably just a homeless person.” he tried to reason, willing to saying almost anything at this point to get them to calm down. “let’s just go to sleep and get the hell out of here in the morning.”

blair wasn’t convinced. “why would there be a homeless person all the way out here when there’s a town right there?” she gestured back in the direction of marblemount.

naomi “exactly. and how exactly are we gonna leave? he took the van. unless you suggest hiking out of here.”

daniel “well, it’s not like we can uber out there.” he rolled his eyes. “can you guys just drop it, please?”

blair “drop what exactly? the fact that our friend ditched us? that there’s some creep walking around outside? that we have no way home? which part am i dropping?”

naomi hesitated before jumping in to their argument “maybe daniel’s right. let’s just get more rest and talk about it tomorrow. y'know when we’re not running on three hours of sleep.”

blair spun around. “of course you’d agree with him! go ahead then, go to sleep while some random guy stalks us outside.” she turned back to face daniel. “better yet, why don’t you guys share the bed so you’ll be comfortable before we die.”

daniel shut his eyes, sighing as she dragged on. "blair, c'mon..." he groaned. "we're safe inside, there's nothing to worry about. and we'll handle cristian when we get to silverwood."

naomi ignored blair "yup. lock the doors and everything. we're sleeping in the same room so if something happens we can just... attack it as a group versus staying up all night and having no energy to put up a fight so." she put the note down "i'm going back to sleep. on the floor."

blair stood with her arms crossed. "we're not going to silverwood."

daniel "we are." daniel then started back towards the bed. "now let's go to sleep for fuck's sake."

blair squinted at him, getting angrier by the second, but had to contain it as she followed daniel back into the room where people were sleeping.

#event two #⌜ ˟ ˚ ɪᴛ’s ᴜs ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴛʜɪs ᴍᴇss — sǫᴜᴀᴅ ˚ ˟ ⌟