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servin-up-surveys · 2 years

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survey #025

(this one’s from yesterday, just barely finished it and couldn’t bother to post it before passing out)

How many people do you live with? Are these people related to you? I live with my biological mother and our pets. Who is your closest friend? Why are they so close to you? IF we're excluding my partner, then Tez and Mazzy are tied. We've got such, such deep history and I feel like I can be myself with them. I always appreciate them just being there. Who was the last person to play with your hair? Are they cute? Girt. He's adorable. Have you ever done anything really dangerous or illegal with friends? Yes. Riding passenger with a high friend driving was one of the scariest things I've ever, ever done. I literally would have gone to jail if she was caught simply by being in the vehicle. Is there a certain person out there who gives you butterflies? It still happens with him sometimes, yes. Who was the last person you held hands with? Were they taller/shorter? Girt, and he is way taller than me. I can't remember his exact height, but I know my head only reaches his chest. If there was a real Jurassic Park, would you visit it? I'm not even gonna TRY to pretend I wouldn't get tickets fuckin' ASAP, haha. If I die well bitch I got to see a dino, life satisfactory. Do you still have your wisdom teeth? Only one (or two?) even came in at all, and there was enough room for them to fit. X-rays don't show I have any more coming. Did you have a swingset in your yard when you were a child? We did. It also had a slide attached to it and some other turning toy thing I can't remember. Have you ever played poker for money? No, and I wouldn't. I don't put money on the line with gambling. Do you eat your mac & cheese with a fork or a spoon? It varies, honestly, but I think I prefer a spoon. Where did you have your first kiss? His bed. When you were a kid, were you ever afraid of cooties? Nah, I knew it was just a joke. Do you wear skulls on your clothes? Oh yes, that's a staple. Haha, my niece Emerson particularly likes my tank tops with candy skulls on them; she'll point and ask what they are. What do you need to do tomorrow? I don't *need* to do anything tomorrow, but I *should* go with my mom to babysit the kids. She likes when I go because it takes some pressure off of her, and supposedly the kids really like me being there. I barely know my extended family at all, and I don't want to contribute to that by me distancing myself from them just because kids stress me out so easily. The interaction is good for me, too. Do you ever feel bitter about the 'way things are’? Dude, that is my permanent state of being. Some things are totally out of our control and all, of course, but if humans just FUCKING WORKED TOGETHER, we would be able to improve SO much. And yet we choose not to, every single day. Do you like to record yourself? HOLY GOD NO I feel SO awkward. Do you like the color hot pink? I love hot pink. <3 I prefer lighter tints, but sometimes that neon just hits, man. What kind of people do you respect? People that use their public position to be loud and unapologetically controversial in their beliefs and actually TAKE ACTION, more than anyone else. I have so much goddamn respect for particularly popular people not giving a shit if them supporting a certain cause and stuff makes them lose fans, etc. I just respect anyone who not only advocates for change, but is conscious enough to fix themselves to work towards said change. Are you evil? Are you good? Are you neutral? I'd say I'm a lawful good-type of person. What is the most important thing in life, quick answer? Love. is black lipstick your favorite? It sure is. Do you like combat boots? I do not "like" combat boots, I LOVE them, omfg. Add some nice studs 'n' spikes on that bitch and I would sell my soul for a pair. Do you sometimes feel dissatisfied with your love life? No, I'm very happy with what I have with Girt. Are you super generous? I mean, I try to be when I can. I don't have a lot to give, but i love the feeling of helping others. Do you feed the strays in your neighborhood? You know... I've never seen a stray around here. In all honesty, I don't know how I'd react to a stray animal. They need off the streets, but at the same time I'd feel like I was damning them to euthanasia or something... On that topic, keep your pets indoors and also fixed. would you rather live in a apt, house, or mansion? House. Have you won any trophies/ribbons? Which are you most proud of if any? Yeah, a lot for academic excellence and childhood sports stuff. I'm absolutely most proud of the plaque I got for finishing high school in the top 10% of the graduating class. I can literally see it from where I'm sitting at the desk, because I want to be able to look and remember what I'm capable of, somewhere in here. Do you think it’s ok to be selfish? It is 100% okay sometimes to be selfish. You HAVE to be sometimes if you're gonna make it through life healthy. Do you type home row or with two fingers? I type home row. We had I want to say two keyboarding classes that were required in middle school. Are you bad at basic math? I VERY much struggle with math. Do you have a celeb crush? One day, I wanna throw Mark Fischbach, Richard Kruspe, and Ollie Riedel into a pit to fight each other to the death and the winner is stuck w/ me. :^) Do you feel connected to any certain celeb in some weird way? UHHHH no, I don't think so. Like I relate to plenty, sure, but I don't have a special "connection" with any of 'em, no. have you ever cheated on your bf/gf/wife/husband? Nope. Do you like to drive a car? Well yes, but I'm not at all good at it. Would you ever be a butcher? I would honest the fuck to god rather die than be the person who ends the life of a terrified animal whose life was already probably hell multiple times a day. I would never be okay again. Do you type in all caps, lowercase only, or normal usually? In a completely average sentence, normal. However, I can sway back-and-forth between caps and lowercase if I see it suitable for the "tone" of the sentence. Like seriously, all lowercase "sounds" different to me than how I ordinarily type and is obviously different from screaming in caps. Hell, even fonts "sound" unique to me. There's an unreasonable amount of thought that goes into what case I use, haha. Do you brush your tongue with your toothbrush? It alarms me that people exist that don't. Like... your tongue HAS to be filthy. Name something that is blue that you like: Till Lindemann's eyes. ;__; If you could sleep next to a tame wild animal, what would it be? Ohhhh a deer, so long as it truly was calm with humans and wouldn't step on me. Like please I want to tell people I did that and convince them I'm some fairytale being that speaks to nature 'n' shit. Would you rather have an owl or a snake? A snake, even though I positively adore owls, too. I'm not into birds as pets though, and owls shouldn't be pets to begin with. Have you ever been addicted to cigarettes? Nope, never smoked a day in my life. Are you a good kisser? Haha I have heard that once. How many real bf/gfs have you had? Two or three, I just don't know what what Sara and I had was. Do you like '80s music? Oh, certainly, especially classic rock + metal. Name a comedy that you like: White Chicks is such a stupid fucking movie and yet it's a fave regardless lmfao What is something that would be a good birthday gift for you? I'm marrying the first person who gifts me a tattoo, js. I am THAT easy, just donate to the fund, haha. Something you would gift yourself? ... Still a tattoo lmfao. Have you ever skateboarded and failed at it? I've never really tried. Is sex a must in your life? Well considering I've gone over 26 years without going all the way, I can pretty confidently say no. What do you think about weed? I wish it would be globally legalized, but regulated much like alcohol. There are too many health issues it is known to benefit for us to keep ignoring. What is the last thing you ate? Ma made popcorn chicken and fries for dinner tonight. Who is your favorite person to spend time with? Girt. Have you ever been to a purse party? ... A what???? Do you like Gushers? Maaaaan those things were BOMB. Are you good at multitasking? NO, I am THE literal worst. i can barely focus on ONE thing. Do you have a large dog? We literally have the smallest breed of dog, haha. Are you good at playing Darts? Ha, no. Did it at a party once and I SUUUUUCKED. Are “school friends” and friends different to you? Yes. Do you like breaded chicken sandwiches? Love 'em. What part of your body are you most insecure about? I think my stomach and legs are tied. Does your best girlfriend have any talents that you don’t? Who... IS my best girl friend, lol. What movie coming out do you really want to see? Hocus Pocus 2, oh my god COME ON, HALLOWEEN. Where on your body would you NEVER get a piercing? There is no goddamn way in hell you could convince me to get a below-the-belt piercing. Who was one of your first celebrity crushes? Jesse McCartney, be still my beating heart. Did your parents ever read stories to you before bed? Mom did. Have you ever been hit on through text message? Yes. Are there a lot of seagulls where you live? Dude we like two hours from the beach and there are STILL seagulls tryna steal ya fucking food in the parking lot of large shopping centers LMFAOOO Are you Irish? Yes. Do you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? No. What is your favorite Japanese name? I think I'm bias for Mi Nuong. It's beautiful to me. There are a lot of wonderful-sounding Japanese names though, honestly. What’s one thing you think Americans should adopt from the Japanese? I'm *quite* sure it's Japan that has insanely tight gun control laws and in return very few gun-related deaths, and I heavily support it. If I'm thinking of the right Asian country... I hope I am. Have you ever listened to Jpop? No. Do you like Hello Kitty? I think she's cute, but she was more my little sister's phase. Who is your favorite Australian YouTuber? ... Do I know any??? Well I mean I know Ross from the Game Grumps crew is an Aussie, but I don't follow his personal channel or anything, so it's hard for me to call him a "favorite." Have you ever tried to surf? No. Have you ever been on an island? Yes. Do you like Australian accents or British accents better? British. Have you ever met anyone from Australia? Not yet! One of my meerkat-obsessed Internet buds who literally worked at the KMP at a biologist with the Meerkat Manor crew lives in Australia and I ABSOLUTELY want to meet her. Would you ever want to go to Africa? Going to Africa is literally my fucking dream. Honest to god I think I'll cry multiple times if/when I ever get there. Is it hot where you live? Oh god yes, we're getting heat advisories like daily. Been hitting 100 pretty regularly. Can you speak Spanish? No. Ever smacked a pinata? Well of course, it was only the best part of kids birthday parties, haha. Do you know any Muslims? I did, but he died pretty tragically. Do you know anyone who wears a hijab? No. What are some of your favorite books about Muslims? Well, I love the book Not Without My Daughter which is a true story about being forced into citizenship in a Muslim country due to the woman's then-husband, but it's... not a happy book or one that paints that lifestyle in a glorious light. Ever been to a desert? I haven't, but would like to visit one. I speak enough about visiting the Kalahari in South Africa, but even the Sonoran Desert would be fantastic to see their STUNNING pink coachwhip snakes as well as wild tarantulas. The big, pretty females are normally hunkered down in burrows, but especially at night, seeing males like permanently on the prowl isn't rare at all. There is also a species of rattlesnake there I'm quite fond of, the banded rock rattlesnake; I find their pattern to be gorgeous. Would you want to ride a camel? I might, idk. It would probably depend on how comfortable the animal appeared. I generally don't like the idea of riding animals, worrying it hurts them or is uncomfortable at all, so idk. Have you ever been to South America? No, but I think I'd be willing to go. Do you like elephants? I adore elephants. Do you listen to popular music? It's not something i keep track of because it's normally pop music, which I generally don't like. Do you dream of having two kids and maybe a dog? I don't want kids, but if I stay with my current partner, I'm quite certain there's no getting out of getting a dog, lol. …and living in a two-story house with a white picket fence? No. I want to live in the open woods, and I'm quite sure we're not gonna need two stories.

#survey #surveys #random surveys #random questions

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immaturityofthomasastruc · 3 years

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IOTA Reviews: Rocketear

The Rocketeer is a 1991 Disney movie set in 1930's America where a test pilot gets a jetpack and uses it to fight Nazis and— Wait, what? “Rocketear”? Oh, damn it!

Let's get into the eleventh (chronologically the seventeenth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Rocketear.

We start off with Carapace and Cat Noir struggling to hold back some T-Rexes brought back to life by a scientist Jurassic Park style. Seriously, they reference the movie in the same scene.

Why wasn't this the plot of the episode again?

After managing to tame the dinosaurs with a whistle of all things, Ladybug notices something's wrong with Nino after he gives the Turtle Miraculous back to her. Apparently, he's wondering why Rena Rouge (who he knows is Alya) wasn't recruited with him today. Ladybug tells him that he was the only help she needed today. In reality, it's because Alya has adjusted to her new role of supporting Ladybug behind the scenes in her new form, Rena Furtive.

And I'm not a fan of the new form. I get the camo, but it doesn't really help her blend in when her suit is bright blue. I think it's based off the arctic fox, but that animal is able to camouflage itself because it's fur matches the snowy environment. I'm sure a bright blue jumpsuit won't stand out when she tries to blend in at all. Also, the fact that Alya can just change her hero form gives even less excuses as to why Ladybug's new form is only when she uses her Lucky Charm.

Alya is struggling to keep this a secret from Nino because they don't have a lot of secrets in their relationship. Marinette says she can kind of get it because she had to keep her identity a secret from her friend and has to keep keeping her identity a secret from everyone else. Basically, she's telling Alya to suck it up because this is what being a superhero is.

So the next time she sees Nino, Alya tells him she's no longer Rena Rouge, but not about Rena Furtive, which troubles her. The very next scene shows Alya showing Marinette pictures she took of her new costume and asking her which version looks better.

You could always try reviewing Akuma fights. I heard there's one blog that does it when they're not criticizing the famous director Thomas Astruc on social media.

Yeah, in case you can't tell, Alya was only able to rent her brain for a few episodes because she really doesn't seem as understanding about being a superhero as she was in earlier episodes. In episodes like “Optigami” and “Sentibubbler”, we saw Alya use more strategy and show discretion as Rena Rouge, seemingly taking her job more seriously, but then this episode just had to go and piss it all away. I also love how the first time the animators made Alya's skin the same when she's transformed is in a single frame for a joke.

Alya thankfully deletes the picture, but Nino overhears her talking about struggling to find more content for the Ladyblog, and decides to go to the movies with her to help take her mind off things. Nino, in turn, proceeds to give the same reaction to the in-universe Ladybug movie that Astruc gives to the PV.

Apparently, that movie's already getting a sequel and it has a teaser. So was the sequel animated at the same time as the original like Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III?

Nino gets pissed the next movie in the Ladybug Cinematic Universe will feature Rena Rouge and not Carapace... even though Rena Rouge debuted first. The teaser then shows Rena Rouge falling for Cat Noir (yet another creative liberty taken by the writers or something Astruc's self-insert threw in himself), and takes it like it's the real thing. Dude, the first movie said Ladybug was afraid of cats, and the director yelled at the person it was based on for judging it. He clearly has a hard time distinguishing fiction from reality.

Alya leaves Nino early so she can go on patrol, but Nino sees Cat Noir heading out as well. He then watches a video on the Ladyblog where Alya praises Cat Noir which is totally not Astruc projecting or anything.

I don't know what your definition of a prince is, Alya, and I honestly don't want to know.

So Nino takes this as evidence that Alya is in love with Cat Noir and decides to tell Adrien, who naturally laughs him off. And just before you think we have an episode where Adrien plays the straight man, Adrien decides to visit Alya because he's afraid he accidentally charmed Alya.

Yes, because Cat Noir is so charming, girls are just fighting over him, aren't they?

We then cut to a black and white film noir monologue by Nino (dressed like a detective with a fake mustache), who decides to spy on Alya. When Cat Noir asks Alya if she is attracted to him, she naturally laughs him off, though Cat Noir is thankfully a good sport about it, even giving her a hug to apologize. Unfortunately, Nino took this the wrong way.

The next day at school, Nino takes Adrien into his “office” (it's really an excuse to reuse the boiler room setpiece), and shows him the picture of the hug. Adrien says that Alya would never fall for Cat Noir because she's always dedicated to finding out the truth and telling her boyfriend everything. What's Nino's retort?

Okay, several problems with this bit. First of all, why would Nino even tell Adrien any of this? What would it accomplish? Why not say all this to Alya while confronting her about her alleged unfaithfulness? Second, Ladybug didn't give Nino and Alya their Miraculous at the same time until it was an absolute emergency. She outright said in “Hero's Day” that she didn't have time to recruit Nino and Alya separately.

Ladybug: I'm sorry for what I'm about to do. I know I'm revealing your secret identities but I don't have time to find a good excuse to give them to you separately. Rena Rouge and Carapace, I need you both!

Nino and Alya kept their identities secret from each other until then, with Alya even keeping the fact she knew who Carapace was a secret as well. Nino didn't find out because “they don't hide anything from each other” (which I plan to talk about later).

Other than that, I actually liked Adrien in this scene. It was really investing to see him try to justify the whole secret identities rule while Nino blatantly said there was an exception. This is the kind of stuff I wanted to see when it came to Adrien doubting Ladybug, not him destroying things in his anger.

While Nino rants about how Cat Noir “stole” Alya from him, Shadowmoth sends an Akuma his way, turning him into Rocketear.

And the design he has is just boring. It's just a blue jumpsuit with some black spots that look like teardrops, a teardrop-shaped head and a visor. I think the reason this season's been relying more on past Akumas and using more Sentimonsters is because DQ is terrible at character designs. I mean, compare this suit with Aigraon from Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger (his Power Rangers counterpart is Wrench from Dino Charge).

The design does so much more with the teardrop motif, giving him a perpetually miserable face with tear lines going all over his body. Add that to a more diverse color scheme, and you have a much more visually stunning design. And this was created in real life, not rendered on a computer. I'm not sure if this is a budget thing or a laziness thing, but if it's the former, you really need to do better, animators.

The powers are meh, giving Nino the ability to fling explosive tears at enemies. It's a clever idea, and it makes sense he gets a power that parallels Cat Noir's, but I think maybe it would have been more interesting if he couldn't control the tears at all. Like, imagine if he was constantly crying like Blue Diamond, and with every tear he shed, Rocketeer could send it at whoever he felt was causing him misery, mainly Cat Noir, all while serving as a metaphor for people who blame others for their own personal issues. Better yet, make him look like the detective outfit Nino wore for the second act. It would have made him more unpredictable instead of making his tears generic projectile weapons.

Marinette and Alya see the fight and transform into Ladybug and Rena Furtive respectively, the former summoning her Lucky Charm, a projector. Is it just me, or has this been happening with Ladybug a lot recently?

Back to Rocketear, we get a good moment where Cat Noir intentionally lets the Akuma hit him so he can get a chance to resolve things diplomatically. See, this is a moment where Cat Noir's self-sacrificing nature feels heroic and not selfish like when he does it without Ladybug's permission to spite her. Unfortunately, it doesn't really go anywhere as Ladybug shows up and plays the recording Nino took (Alya found his phone earlier), while Rena Furtive uses her Mirage to give the audio to what actually happened that night.

Rena transforms back into Alya and embraces Rocketear, who apologizes to her for his behavior. And then he just... rejects Shadowmoth's power while looking like it wasn't that much effort.

At least when Chloe and Alya did it, we saw them struggling for a little longer. I guess maybe it's because Nino is motivated by his love for Alya, but I think it should have been fleshed out more. So Ladybug purifies the Akuma, gives Nino a Magical Charm, and Cat Noir is still unsure about his feelings for Ladybug at the moment, though they still pound it.

Back in his room, Adrien ponders why Alya and Nino get to know their identities while he and Ladybug can't, but Plagg points out it's because she's the Guardian. It's brief, but I do like seeing Adrien start to doubt Ladybug's judgment, and it looks like it'll foreshadow future episodes. This is a problem I've had since “Hero's Day”, and I'm glad the writers are finally acknowledging this double standard. I just hope they don't end up blaming Marinette for whatever happens later on.

Marinette, of course, apologizes for what happened between Alya and Nino, and I have to say... yeah, no. It's obviously Nino's fault here.

Nino really pushed personal boundaries in this episode, much like Marinette's friends in “Gang of Secrets”. Yes, honesty is a valuable trait, but sometimes, people have secrets they want to keep to themselves. Nino's idea of “not hiding anything from each other” is somewhat controlling, like he's demanding Alya tell him everything whether she wants to or not. The fact that he immediately assumed Alya was cheating on him without giving her freedom to make her own choices doesn't make him look good. Let's be honest, a more realistic outcome would be Alya choosing to break things off with Nino or at least lecture him about how she can do what she wants and keep the secrets she wants. But instead...

And that's how the episode ends.

Okay, Marinette just said she trusted Alya to make the right decision, but I highly doubt she meant this. Marinette strictly said Alya had to keep Rena Furtive a secret, and now she's telling Nino this despite the risk? The whole reason Marinette and Luka broke up was because Marinette had to keep her secrets from Luka, but now it's okay for Alya to be completely honest? How is this not a double standard?

This episode was just dull, and there’s not even much I can really say about it.. There were a handful of standout moments, and the stuff with Adrien was somewhat compelling, but Nino's behavior was just insufferable and dragged the episode down. The Akuma fight was weak, only lasting about four minutes at most, and while the Lucky Charm was more creative this time, the plot was just frustrating. It's really one of the weaker episodes this season.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to watch the better Rocketeer.

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castiel-kline · 3 years

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happy birthday @angelfishofthelord !!!

here’s Cas being Old and talking about dinosaurs to hopefully make you smile <3

---

“Hey, there you are!”

Castiel is tucked in a corner of the library when Dean’s voice startles him out of the book he’s reading. He stands up, a million things that could have gone wrong racing through his imagination at top speed.

“Dean. Is everything alright?”

He waves a hand in dismissal. “Yeah, no worries. Me, Sam and Jack are gonna watch Jurassic Park. You wanna join us?”

Castiel wrinkles his nose. He’s seen stills from that movie, and those plus the references Dean has made to it over the years make it sound like an inaccuracy-riddled insult to the beautiful creatures he once watched over.

But Cas has never been one to refuse time with his family, so he follows Dean through the bunker’s halls and takes a seat next to Jack on the sofa.

Sam passes him a bowl of popcorn.

“You made it!” he says, looking uncharacteristically relaxed. It’s… nice.

“Of course,” Castiel says, passing the popcorn to Jack’s eager hands and returning the boy’s smile. He’ll enjoy it more than Cas will. He cares much more about the people than the snacks or the film, anyway.

He takes in Sam’s easy smile again, and the calm in Dean’s posture where he stands preparing the DVD. Even Jack looks toward the blank television screen in excited anticipation, despite having learned by now not to trust Dean’s taste in cinema. Jack much preferred getting to explore films on his own, and Castiel was always thrilled to be included in his late night Netflix adventures.

He clears his throat, unsure why he’s so nervous. He does like dinosaurs, after all. “So… you like this movie, right?”

“Hell yeah we do,” Dean says. “Sam and I watched it in theaters when it first came out. He wouldn’t shut up about velociraptors for months.”

“I was ten,” Sam protests, pink creeping across his cheeks. “Besides, it wasn’t even velociraptors. It was... dilophosaurus.” He’d trailed off into a barely audible mumble in his embarrassment, but it was still loud enough for Dean to hear.

“Oh, that’s right!” he laughs, eyes alight with the delighted gleam of a sibling collecting ammunition to tease with. “He’d sit in the library for hours searching for any mention of the damn thing. I always said he’d be better off with a T. Rex obsession like a normal kid, but no-o.”

Castiel leans over, nodding in Sam’s direction. “Well, I think dilophosaurus is a very good choice of favorite dinosaur.”

Sam looks surprised, and Jack, who’d been watching the conversation like a tennis match, looks to Cas directly.

“You know about dinosaurs?”

Castiel frowns, confused. “Yeah, of course I do.”

They’re cut off by Dean, who keeps talking as he’s sitting down on Jack’s other side with the remote control.

“Could’ve sworn we watched this one with you before, Cas. When we found it at that movie rental place in Minnesota, after that ghoul hunt?”

“We would’ve,” says Sam, tone caked in playful bitterness. “But you wanted to get Mars Attacks instead, remember?”

Dean looks a bit sheepish. “Hey, sometimes you need a good B movie after a day of ganking monsters. Today, though, we gotta get the kid another check off the list of Spielberg must-sees, right? Cas, too. We’ve waited long enough as is.”

Castiel has just enough time to hope once more that this movie is of a better quality than many of Dean’s other favorites, and then his thoughts are swept away by the opening sequence lighting up the television.

---

Jack enjoyed the movie immensely. He liked the scares and the way it made his heart beat faster. He liked the way Dr. Grant was so protective of the kids. Most of all, of course, he liked the dinosaurs.

He’d found a book about them the other day when he was cleaning in the library with Sam, and when Dean overheard their conversation he immediately suggested this movie.

Jack thought Cas would be just as interested in dinosaurs as he was, but the angel spent the whole movie with a frown on his face and a furrow between his eyes.

As the brothers stand up, Dean to turn on the lights and Sam to collect the empty snack bowls, Jack nudges Cas’ arm with his elbow.

“Are you okay?”

Cas meets Jack’s gaze with gentle eyes.

“I’m fine. I- I thought that the ending was a bit sad.”

Jack frowns. “How was it sad? Almost everyone got off the island.”

“That’s not…” Cas shakes his head, and takes a moment to compose himself before giving Jack a small smile. “You don’t need to worry about me, Jack. It just made me remember when the dinosaurs died.”

Shocked silence falls upon the room like a fog. Jack knows he’s gaping in disbelief, and feels Sam and Dean doing the same.

Cas glances around, taking in everyone’s surprise. “What’s wrong?”

“Dude,” Dean says. “Did you… are you…”

“Were you really there when the dinosaurs died?” Sam manages, sounding strained.

Cas answers slowly, eyes narrowed. “Yes? It was very sad, but it was a long time ago. I’ve had time to mourn.”

“But you were there!” Dean repeats, dumbfounded. Cas continues staring.

“Yes, Dean, I was there.”

“I mean, what- what was it like?” Sam asks, wonder in his eyes.

“Well, um. It was hot. And fiery.”

“It was hot and fiery,” Dean says, broken record. “Wow.”

“I don’t understand. Why are you… why is this such a surprise? I thought the dinosaurs’ extinction was common knowledge.”

“Yeah, but talking to someone who saw it is… it’s amazing,” Sam says. If he wasn’t holding the butter-greased popcorn bowls, Jack is sure he would be gesturing every which way. “Why didn’t you tell us about it before?”

Cas blinks. “I didn’t know that you were interested. I thought if you wanted to know, you’d just ask me.”

“Dude. We didn’t know we could ask! I mean, we knew you were older than the pyramids, but the dinosaurs? That’s, what, fifty million years?”

“Sixty-five,” chime Sam and Jack, in unison.

“Wait a minute, how old do you think I am?”

That gives them pause. Jack exchanges hopeless glances with Sam and Dean, the three of them clambering for any exact number in the recesses of their minds. Jack draws a blank, both because Cas doesn’t really talk about his past and because time is a little twisted for him to begin with.

He knows he’s almost two, and that two years is not a long time, but to Jack it feels like forever.

He knows his mother was thirty-nine when she died, and he knows Sam and Dean are hovering somewhere near forty. Cas has lived millions of years, and though Jack can’t quite wrap his mind around that vast length of time, he knows that makes Cas near eternal. Like Jack’s supposed to grow up to be.

Oddly, it’s a comforting thought.

“How old are you?” He asks it to put an end to the silence, and because he’s realized he really wants to know the answer.

Cas hesitates, brow creasing in thought. “It’s hard to say. The first thing I really remember is the tiktaalik, so I suppose that makes me…”

“Holy shit,” Sam breathes. He must know what the tiktaalik is, Jack thinks. He’ll have to ask about it later.

“Three and a half billion. Approximately,” Castiel finishes.

Jack can almost hear Dean’s jaw hit the floor.

“That old, huh?” Dean asks. His voice is strained, and he sounds faint.

“I might be closer to four billion, actually,” Cas muses.

“Okay, whoa,” Sam interjects, before Dean’s brain melts entirely. “That’s… that’s really impressive, Cas.”

“I- really?”

“Yeah, man,” Dean manages. But Cas still doesn’t look convinced, so Jack speaks up.

“You’re prehistoric!” he says. “I think that’s really special.”

Cas takes a long moment to respond, inexplicably looking younger as he processes their praise. It’s like a weight has been lifted from his shoulders- like for the first time in eons he feels like the years behind him, drenched in blood and pain and regret as they are, can be a gift rather than a curse.

Sam and Dean clap Castiel on the shoulder and take their leave from the room, the elder brother murmuring something about “antique angels” as they go.

Jack steps closer to Cas, clearing his throat.

“I, um. I found a book about dinosaurs the other day. Dean said that this movie would be educational, but… I was wondering if you could tell me about them? I don’t think I learned very much.”

“I would be happy to.” Cas smiles, reaching out to squeeze Jack’s shoulder. “This film wasn’t very accurate, anyway.”

“Really? How?”

“Well, for one thing, most of those dinosaurs didn’t even live during the same millennium. And they weren’t nearly so lizard-like. They had feathers.”

Jack responds in kind, whispering conspiratorially: “Like birds?”

“Sort of. Come on, I’ll draw some for you.”

Jack follows his father out of the room, smiling from ear to ear. Though the full scope of Castiel’s age remains far beyond his comprehension, Jack thinks it’s incredible. With all those years behind him, it’s no wonder that Cas is such a good parent.

Time is a teacher, and Cas has had a long life in which to learn. He has so much wisdom to share- and it’s not all about the dinosaurs, not because of the things he’s seen or the battles he’s won.

No, Castiel shines brighter than the most beautiful of stars. It’s a brilliance that comes from the inside out, forged through fire and pain and a heart stronger than diamond no matter how many times it’s broken.

Castiel shines with four billion years of love.

#hope you like it!#castiel #team free will 2.0 #my fic #spn fanfic #kitkat writes

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mirkwoodshewolf · 3 years

Text

You’ll always be my brother mine; Queen x reader

*Author's note*

Okay get the tissues out my fellow readers because this one WILL make you cry. For this is the LAST chapter with John Deacon in the Rock Angel's life. After this, Deacy will only be lovingly mentioned but will not have another physical appearance. I also want ALL of you to listen to the music choices down below as well as watch the music video above (cause it will REALLY pull your heartstrings and set the mood for this chapter). Up next we're gonna make quite a huge time leap cause next chapter were gonna get into some current events that has happened with Queen/Rock Angel. So be prepared for the next chapter(s).

MUSIC VIDEO HERE

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@simonedk

@ixchel-9275

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queensdivas

@queen-paladin

@queendeakyy

@wormzteef

@bohemiansweede

@labessieisallama

@naturalswifty89

@starswin

@isabella-bby

@5sos-wdw

@geek-and-proud

@onebigfangirlworld

@ssa-sadboi

_________________________________________________________

*Nov. 28th, 1997. Deacy's POV*

I had only agreed to come here to do this one last thing. My last music video that I would ever do with Queen, I had already completed my last live performance with Brian and Roger along with Elton back in Paris but without Freddie it just wasn't the same. Now we were making the music video for a song that Brian had written years ago just shortly after Freddie died.

I was sitting by myself along Roger's bar area (we had assembled at his place to do a mock rehearsal of the song before recording tomorrow) with my bass guitar resting on my lap when Roger came in and said.

"You doing okay?"

"Define okay." I told him.

"You're right. Dumb question. But—in all seriousness John, it really means a lot to us that you agreed to do this video."

"All I keep hearing is Freddie telling me 'darling if you don't get in front of that camera, I'll kick your arse from here to Glasgow'." The two of us chuckled softly.

"Well the team's already to go for tomorrow guys, we'll start filming at 9am sharp. We feel good about this?" Brian came up to us and asked.

"Actually, we can't do this video just yet." I told them.

"Why not?" asked Brian. "It's not much like any of our previous videos have been. We're in the perfect location and we're willing to perform this live instead of going through playback."

"It's not about missing something Brian, it's—someone."

"Look Deacy. We all miss him, but he'd still want—"

"I'm not talking about Freddie, Brian." I snapped before taking a deep breath and calming myself down.

"John I don't even know if she'd be interested in wanting to return to work. After the trail she's been—" Roger said softly before exhaling deeply. "But I can give Jack a call and see."

"No need. I booked a flight to Montreux, if I can convince her, we should be back tonight. Late." The two of them looked at each other and Brian said.

"Alright Deacy, we'll let you go get her. But don't get your hopes too high if she says no."

"Believe me, I know what she's going through. I almost didn't want to do this either. It feels wrong even continuing without Freddie, but—with this being the very last time I'll ever perform for Queen. I need at least one more performance with the Rock Angel. You guys need to give me this."

"We are. Bring our angel home." Roger said as he clasped his hand on my shoulder. I nodded before packing my bass up and headed off for the airport.

After a 2 hour flight, I arrived in Montreux airport and got a cab to take me to the Kline vacation home. It was another hour, hour and a half drive but finally the driver pulled up along the driveway. It was completely silence in the front yard, almost like a graveyard.

I got out of the car and walked up the gravel road, up onto the sidewalk and finally up the few stairs before finally standing before the door. Taking a deep breath I knocked on the door and waited for a couple of minutes. Soon enough a young girl opened the door, she had long (h/c) and familiar (e/c) that she inherited from her mother.

"Uncle Deacy?"

"Hello Kelly." I greeted with a warm smile. She smiled at me and hugged me.

God she had gotten so big since I last saw her. She was really starting to look more and more like her mother each and every day.

"My dear Kelly, look at you." she looked up at me and said.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if I could speak to your mum?"

"Yeah, of course. She's down in the basement with the boys." Kelly allowed me to enter inside and the first thing I see as I walk through the door was old Sammy, the Kline family's golden retriever. Already he was showing signs of aging around his nose and eyes. But when he saw me, he raised his head up and I saw his tail wag.

"Hello Sammy. Long time ehh boy?" he stood up and walked towards me and nuzzled against my hand. I stroked down his head when Kelly said.

"That's the first time I've seen him move so much since Bucky died." I turned to her in shock. "Brain tumor. We had to put him down last month and it was hard for all of us, Sammy especially." I looked down at Sammy and he looked up at me with those sad brown eyes of his as he let out a sad, soft whimper.

I scratched through his head as I walked over toward the basement stairs. I opened the door and walked down the U-shaped half-pace staircase. All the while I could hear some orchestra music playing and the sound of some creature bellowing before finally hearing someone say.

"How fast are they?"

"Well we clocked the T-Rex at 32 mph." As I came down to the bottom of the stairs, there at a desk surrounded by books and wearing prescription glasses was my sister dear while on the leather couch playing on the big TV was a movie that I wasn't quite too familiar with.

"T-T-Rex? You said you got a T-Rex?" Georgie quoted alone with the woman on screen while the old man nodded.

"Say again?" Jackson quoted along with the actor on screen.

"We have a T-Rex." The old man repeated. The actor on screen then started acting faint while the woman tried to get him steady and that's when the old man said.

"Dr. Grant, my dear Dr. Sattler."

"Welcome—to Jurassic Park." The twins quoted along with the old man on screen. Then soon enough dinosaurs were shown on the screen and I'll admit it was quite a sight to behold.

Never have I seen practical effects like that when it came to dinosaur films. Whatever film this is, I'll have to check it out for myself.

When I turned towards (y/n) I noticed that she turned her head away from her books and paper just to watch the television. I shook my head at her. Some things never change. I even saw her mouth out the next quote that was spoken on screen.

"Some things never change with you sister dear." She turned around to face me, as did the boys and they raced towards me exclaiming.

"Uncle John! Uncle John!" soon I was tackled down to the ground by these big boys. I smiled down at them as the two of them talked over each other trying to speak to me.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat threw up. And I see you finally cut that raggedy mullet of yours." My sister teased.

"Haha, very funny." I mocked up at her.

"What brings you around here?" she asked me.

"A brother figure can't see his surrogate sister anymore?" I asked as I stood back up with the twins still clinging onto my sides.

"Not that I'm complaining but, you haven't really came around since......" she looked away before grabbing the remote and turning the movie off.

"Awww mum! We wanted to keep watching the film!" the twins whined.

"Georgie, Jackson you both have seen the film over a million times. Besides you two got chores to do that you both forgot to do yesterday."

"But, but, but....."

"Now boys. You mind your mother and don't argue back with her." I lectured them giving them my father eye.

"Yes Uncle John." They both said glumly before they walked up the stairs.

"I swear they both got their father's handsome looks but their uncle Jensen's laziness." (y/n) complained which made me softly chuckle.

"They're little boys. And believe me it'll get worse, cause they're what seven now?" she nodded. "So yeah get ready. Ten is probably the age they'll really push your buttons."

"Well thanks for the heads up."

*My POV*

Now don't get me wrong, I love Deacy and I'm always happy to see him (on the rare occasions that he does come around) but this visit has something else written all over it.

"What film was that exactly?" he asked me.

"A Steven Spielberg masterpiece, Jurassic Park. Since it gets scary at around the middle part I don't allow the boys to watch this film alone without either me or Jack in the room."

"And what's with all the books? I haven't seen you this swamped since your first days as Miami's intern."

"Well—believe it or not. I'm finishing college."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. You see since I left college once I became the Rock Angel, and with me taking a step back from the spotlight for a while. I enrolled at a University here about to graduate with an English degree."

"I'm proud of you (y/n). Really I am. And—I know he would be too if he heard that." See there it was. The reason behind his sadness. Sometimes Deacy couldn't even say his name without feeling such agonizing heartache. His eyes that were once filled with light had diminished and rarely sparked up anymore.

"What about you? How are you and the other two aging Queens getting along?" I asked as I took off my reading glasses.

"We're getting by. Day by day. We're—actually about to do a video for a song Brian's made." Okay, I think I know where this is going.

"Deacy—I appreciate the offer but I just.....don't think I'm ready to get back into the limelight just yet. Plus I got school to finish up. And then there are the kids and Jack. The press made my life hell throughout the trial and I refuse to go through that again. So you can tell Roger that I'm not interested."

"Actually it wasn't Roger's idea for me to come down here and have you work with us again. Nor was it Brian's." I looked at him in shock.

"You mean you want me to be a part of this video you're doing?"

"Yes. They told me you might not want to but please, sister dear, for old time's sake. You wouldn't want to break an old man's heart now would you?" he proceeded with the puppy dog eyes and with that greying hair on his head it just made him look like a sad old puppy dog.

"Why must you always get your way?"

"Because I'm your brother and you fall for it every time." I sighed heavily and said.

"Let me get a hold of Jack at the hospital and see what he says." I stood up as Deacy came behind me and said in an alarmed tone.

"Wait? What happened to Jack? Is he alright? He didn't do anything stupid did he?"

"Deacy, Deacy relax. Jack's fine he's with our son."

"Wait you're....." it was then he finally noticed my body shape. The post-pregnant belly and weight gain.

"Was. Yeah. Just 2 weeks ago we had our new baby boy."

"Oh (y/n). Congratulations. But—then why is he......"

"The thing is, he wasn't supposed to come till next January. I gave birth to him prematurely by 2 months." I said sadly as I finally arrived at the phone and touched it.

"I'm so sorry poppet. Had I known I would've never—"

"No need for apologizes or sympathy Deacy. Like I told you once a long time ago about my parents. I didn't tell you so you have no reason to feel sorry for me. Besides our boy's strong. He's shown great improvement. Doctor says we could possibly bring him home come this weekend."

"That's good. But knowing Roger and Brian, they'll be wanting pictures of him shortly."

"And what about you? Don't you want to see a picture of your new nephew?"

"Of course I do." There was a bit of hesitation to the way he responded but I set it aside for now as he asked me, "What's the lad's name?" After he said that, it was my turn to hesitate cause I didn't want Deacy to grow sad again.

"You promise me you won't get too heartbroken when I tell you?"

"So long as you didn't name him Adam, Paul or Steve I think we'll be good." I turned to face my brother and I said.

"It was no difficult decision, Jack and I agreed that this name just suited him perfectly and we—we knew he would've loved it too. Our last and newborn baby's name is Freddie Mercury Kline." I immediately picked up the phone and rang the hospital for Jack.

After awhile of Jack and I talking back and forth between one another, he agreed that he could handle the kids for a couple of days, man down the house, and even look over my final paper that I have to turn in in a couple of weeks for a class.

"Thanks babe. How's our boy doing?"

'Ahh (y/n) you should see him, he's glowing like the sun right now. Maybe when we do get to take him home, we can even get the rest of the Queen family to see him.'

"We don't want to overwhelm him so much." I lectured.

'I know. But I think it's time we told the rest of Queen didn't we? Especially after who we named him after.'

"Well half the job is done. Only Brian and Roger need to know."

'Yeah. Hey can you give me regards to Deacy?'

"Sure thing love. We'll stay here till you get home."

'Baby you know Kelly's old enough to keep the boys under control till I come back.'

"I don't know Jack, I mean yeah she's a pre-teen but I don't....."

'Trust me (y/n). She's clever just like her mom. She knows right from wrong. The kids will be fine. But if it makes you feel any better, I'll head home right now so that way she won't have to be responsible for too long.' I rolled my eyes and said.

"Thank you Jack. I'll be back on Monday, I promise."

'Take as much time as you need. Besides, you need to catch up with the guys.'

"You're right love. I love you Jack, give my baby a kiss for me before you leave."

'Will do mama lion. Give the guys my love for me when you see them.'

"I will." We then said bye to each other before I hung up the phone. "Alright, Jack's on his way from the hospital, he said Kelly can watch the twins until he comes back."

"She's responsible that girl of yours. Reminds me of you when we first met. You made sure everything got organized and planned out accordingly. Hell you managed to keep the four of us in line." I smiled and gathered up my school stuff to take into the study room.

After turning the TV, off and putting my books away I called the kids into the master bedroom while I packed a weekend night bag.

"Okay now listen you three, mum's going away for the weekend with your uncle Deacy to see your other uncle as well as your godfather to do some work. Your father is on his way home from seeing your brother, and until he gets back you're in charge Kelly."

"What!?" the twins proclaimed.

"You heard her." Kelly sassed down at her younger brothers.

"Now you all know the rules, stay inside, no trashing the house, no answering the phone for any reason at all unless the caller ID says its your father or another family member. And absolutely; No one. Sets. Foot. In my study or studio or else." I firmly stated to them, especially the last part.

"We promise mum." They all choired out.

"Good. Now stay safe, and listen to your sister boys. I'll be back on Monday. Now come on kisses and cuddles." I knelt down and got a hug from my three big kids.

I even told them to give their uncle Deacy cuddles and kisses, which he happily accepted, before the two of us headed out back for the taxi car to take us back to the airport.

After a few hours in the air, Deacy and I arrived into London by about 7pm and this time I paid a cabbie to take us over to Roger's place. God all this traveling is really making me jet lagged right now. I only hope I have enough energy to record tomorrow.

The next day we were all in the recording studio to film the music video of Brian's song. I was sitting at the piano with Brian who was giving me the rundown on how to play the tune when it came for my appearance in the video.

"So—how have things been for you lately?" asked Brian. I looked up at him, "I mean it's just—you went underground after the trail and we—got worried."

"I'm sorry I worried you guys. I just......needed some time to myself and my family, that's all."

"No, no we understand. God what—what happened that day was extremely traumatic for you and—"

"Brian. Can.....can we not discuss anything regarding him. Please?"

"Sure, sure, absolutely." God sometimes I hate it when Brian wakes eggshells around me.

"I'm finishing up school."

"Really?" I nodded.

"I'm studying Creative writing. By next spring I'll graduate from college and finally get my diploma."

"That's wonderful news (y/n). I'm so proud of you." he wrapped an arm around me and gave me a one armed hug and kissed the top of my head.

"Also—there's.....a new Kline in the household." He looked down at me surprised.

"You mean—"

"Had him two weeks ago. Prematurely though." His brows knitted in that familiar sympathetic way.

"Oh (y/n), I'm so sorry. Are they....."

"He is doing just fine. Even for being born 2 months early, he's already got the Kline lion strength."

"I'm sure he does. What's the lads name?" I took out my wallet from my inner coat pocket and took out a picture of him from his incubator.

"Jack and I both agreed on the name together. Bri, meet your newest nephew. Freddie Mercury Kline." His eyes looked right at mine, with awe but also a hint of sadness. But a wide smile spread across his face as he softly laughed out.

"God what he would've said knowing that he got one of us to finally name our next kid after him."

"Probably something like 'about fucking time darling. I was beginning to think I'd been neglected.'" We both chuckled softly.

"That is something he would say. Oh and I bet he would've doted on this little chap, just as he had with all of your other kids." I nodded solemnly.

"God I wish he were still here." He placed a comforting hand on my shoulder and lay his head down on top of mine, his curls gingerly stroking my forehead and nose.

"We all do poppet. We all do." I sniffled softly but pushed back the tears.

"Alright, enough of this chatter. Now for this part of the song it goes like this right?" I said shrugging him off before playing the chords he had taught me at the butt-crack of dawn before we even came to the studio.

Finally we were ready to film the video. First Brian, Rog and Deacy got into position with Bri at the piano, Deacy on a stool with a bass guitar, and Roger in the back with his drumkit.

I couldn't help but be touched at the reminder of cups full of beer and a champagne glass sitting right along the piano's edge. It was—a nice little touch that Freddie would've appreciated.

This music video......I'll admit that this is probably my favorite out of all the Queen music videos. Because now people will get to see what it was like on a daily basis with us. Almost like they are a familiar face stepping into the recording studio.

The director called for quiet on the set and I stayed back for awhile until it would be my time to go up there and soon the director called out action! The camera's rolled and I watched as a camera crane came down from the ceiling at a slow pace.

I then saw at men on the mobile camera slowly moved closer across the studio to really give that first person POV as Brian sang the first verse and played the piano. Already hearing him sing this song made my heart .

*Brian*

A hand above the water An angel reaching for the sky Is it raining in heaven Do you want us to cry?

And everywhere the broken-hearted On every lonely avenue No one could reach them No one but you

One by one Only the good die young They're only flyin' too close to the sun And life goes on Without you

Next up was Roger. The cameras slowly came towards him as he played the simple drumbeat and he took over the vocals of the second verse. By that time, Brian had switched over to his Red Special and stood a few feet away from Deacy while I took over at the piano.

But to surprise the fans; I had a hoodie to cover my entire face as I now took over playing the piano.

*Roger*

Another tricky situation I get to drownin' in the blues And I find myself thinkin' Well, what would you do?

Yes, it was such an operation Forever paying every due Hell, you made a sensation (sensation) You found a way through (found a way through)

*All*

One by one Only the good die young They're only flyin' too close to the sun *Roger*

We'll remember Forever

When it was finally my turn, I took the hoodie off and proceeded to play the piano as I sung the third voice. My heart was heavy and my throat felt like clenching up but I kept my sorrow at bay in order to get this done in one take.

Cause I knew if I didn't, then there's probably no way I could keep my composure after three takes of singing this verse. Because all that came through my mind were the good memories of Freddie, and how I couldn't even believe that he was really gone. Even though almost 6 years have passed.

*Me*

And now the party must be over I guess we'll never understand The sense of your leaving Was it the way it was planned?

And so we grace another table And raise our glasses one more time There's a face at the window And I ain't never, never sayin' goodbye

By the end of it all, the video would show Queen and the Rock Angel singing the song with such sorrow but passion as we sung it in honor of our beloved Freddie.

Soon all four of us were gathered around the piano, Deacy still sitting on his stool, but Brian, Roger and I were gathered close together with music sheets in our hands. I stood by Roger and would sing the first line before finding myself unconsciously leaning against him for support.

Thankfully he didn't see anything wrong with it as he wrapped an arm around me and took the next part before Brian would be the one to finish it since he was the one to start it.

*All*

One by one Only the good die young They're only flyin' too close to the sun *Me*

Cryin' for nothing *Roger*

Cryin' for no one *Brian*

No one but you

The video would then close off as the camera would rise up over the four of us gathered around the piano. The lights shutting off and us acting like we were now leaving the studio after a hard day's work.

"Cut! Okay Brian, come and see what you like and what we need to reshoot." The director called out and both he and Brian began speaking to each other as Bri reviewed the footage.

As I watched Bri talk to the director, I felt a slight nudge at my shoulder and I looked up to see Deacy. His eyes were sad but the smile across his face held some warmth to it. I leaned my head against his chest and I felt his hand rest on top of my head, gently scratching my scalp.

"You still got it poppet."

"Singing to the kids still keeps my pipes in check." I felt him gently kiss the top of my head when the director called out.

"Alright Mrs. Kline. We're gonna runback from your verse, your hair got in the way of your face too much." I nodded and soon someone from the hair department came and brushed my hair back out of my face. As well as take a couple of hairpins to make sure the strands didn't get in my face again.

Deacy walked back towards his stool and Brian went to grab his guitar once again while Rog twirled his sticks.

"Okay playback from the third verse." The music picked back up and the cameras rolled and I sung the third verse once again, this time I could feel myself choking up as I sang the verse again.

This continued to go on with reshoots, trying to make this video even better. By the fifth time singing it, I needed to step out and take a breather because at this point I was just about to breakdown crying. Luckily for me, Deacy was right there for me the whole time till I calmed down and was ready to go back to recording.

Four hours later, the video was complete. Once the director as well as the boys were satisfied with the results, it was time to head home. Roger insisted that I stay with him the next couple of days (because he wanted to know more about his new godson) as well as catch up with one another. As I placed my coat back on over me, I heard Deacy's voice say my name softly.

"What is it Deacy?"

"Can I—can I talk to you for a moment? Privately." The look in his eyes were full of regret, almost like he didn't even want to tell me whatever it was he wanted to say.

"Sure Deacy, let me just tell dad to wait up for me." He nodded while I raced off towards Roger and told him that I needed to talk with Deacy.

From behind his new circular prescription shades (kinda similar to what ole Ozzy has), I could see that he must've known what Deacy wanted to tell me.

I walked back towards Deacy who took my hand and led me out of the studio and out into the abandoned hallways. No one was there but us two.

"Alright John Deacon, what's really going on?" he refused to look me in the eye.

"I—the reason why I wanted you to be a part of this music video was because I......I wanted to work with you. One last time." My heart slowly sunk. "Freddie he—he was what made Queen the way it was from the beginning. Without him there......th-there just isn't any need for Queen to continue on."

I remained silent as John confessed his heartbreaking news. I could see the redness of tears at the corner of his eyes.

"I just can't continue with all this. Not without him. This—was my last contribution to Queen. And—I wanted it to also be the last time I worked alongside the Rock Angel as well." He went silent again. "I'm sorry love." He sniffled.

I reached out and softly took his hands in mine. When he felt my touch, his eyes finally looked right at me. I looked at him with pure empathy before walking closer to him till I finally embraced him.

Play video

Oh my poor brother, I felt him tense up underneath my touch. It was almost like he was expecting me to go full on hysterical about him retiring from music forever.

"I was a fan before I met you guys. I've read every interview you guys ever did, seen all the concerts. And never have I seen a band be so involved with each other as Queen has. Like me, Freddie took you under his wing and allowed you to soar. You never just became the 'bass player', or the 'quiet guy in the corner'. No you, John Richard Deacon, are the most vital and important piece that was needed for Queen to finally rise to the top. And Fred saw that in you."

I cupped his face in my hands as I continued,

"If this is what will bring you peace, I'll understand."

"You knew my reason all along, didn't you?" he said. I only gave him a soft smile before I embraced him.

"You will always be my brother mine." He slowly raised his arms and wrapped them around my back and he whispered his last words to me.

"And you'll forever be my sister dear." We remained there in each other's arms. Embracing each other as tightly as we could, inhaling each other's scents, remembering each other's touch.

Because I knew that once we let go, this would be the last time we would ever see each other again.

Finally I forced myself to release him from my embrace. I looked down sadly trying not to cry in front of him. I felt his hand cup the side of my face and his forehead press up against mine.

Our noses softly grazing one another's until I finally felt him give me one final kiss on the cheek.

When I opened my eyes, I only saw his back and heard as his shoes clicked along the hallway. That image would forever be imprinted into my brain for as long as I live.

"Goodbye......my sweet, sweet John Deacon." I whispered softly. The tears then softly fell down my face as he finally turned left and disappeared from my sights, leaving me all alone in the hallway.

After a while I finally left the studio and met Roger at his car. The hidden tearstains still glistening on my face and the occasional sniffle coming out. He didn't say a word as he looked at me knowingly, I looked up at him and ran into his chest and softly wept into his shoulder.

His father instincts toward me immediately kicked in as he wrapped his arms around me and tried his best to comfort me. God I tried so badly to not let this affect me. I knew where Deacy was coming from and I do respect his decision, I truly do, but—I just can't believe that even after this I'll never get to see my brother mine again.

It was like losing my parents all over again, except this was much, much worse. This time he'll be so close yet so far away.

*FF to May 14th, 1998*

I had done it. I was a college graduate at last. Earlier today I had finally done the famed college graduation walk that all my previous friends in college got to do all those years ago, and I was an official college graduate.

(Y/n) Kline, Bachelor's degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing.

It was late afternoon and I was sitting up along the balcony of the vacation home with a glass of wine in hand. We all had just gotten back from a family dinner in celebration of my graduation, now I wanted to be at peace and watch the sunset.

Because starting tomorrow, I decided that it was time to head back to our home in London and I wanted to get back to work.

"Thought I'd find you up here." I heard Jack's voice say. I smiled as I turned towards him.

"I was wondering if you'd be joining me."

"Well you know as well as I do that if those twins of ours are left unattended during their bath, they'll drown the entire bathroom in soap again."

"God that was such a nightmare to clean up." I laughed as he came up and sat down close beside me on my lawn chair. I noticed in his hands he held some mail. "What all did we get?"

"Well some bills, junk mail, some congratulation cards from the family back home in America, as well as from Brian and Roger, and.....that's it." I extended my hand out and he handed me the mail and I began sorting out the business mail from the personal one.

It was then I came across an interesting letter. One I never though I'd expect to see.

"What's this?" I turned the letter towards him and that's when Jack's face went pale. For you see the letter was addressed to Jack but the place it was from is what had me curious. The letter was from the London Police Academy.

"Oh shit." He muttered.

"C'mon Jack spill it, what is this?"

"I really didn't want to make a big deal out of this, especially since these past few months were all about you."

"Jack." I warned him since he was getting off the subject. He sighed heavily before he took the letter from my hands and said.

"Okay. Do you remember when I had gone up to London, and I told you that I was just going up there to check on the house?" I nodded. "Well, I lied. The truth is—I went to apply for the London Police Academy because—I want to become a police officer, and eventually a criminal detective."

"Jack."

"I know I must sound crazy but, this was my decision. After what happened to us with—you know. For the past year and a half and then....dealing with the trail. It put all of us through hell. And I—I don't want us or for anyone else to go through the pain that we went through. That bastard nearly tore this family apart, and it was because of the law that he got away with it every time. Creeps like him shouldn't get off scot-free."

I hugged my husband as tightly as I could and I said with a wide smile.

"I'm so proud of you."

"Really?" I separated from him and continued.

"You're my husband and you've been so supportive of me for years. It's about time I was supportive of you in your dream career."

"Well I don't even know if I even got in, that's probably what this letter is."

"Then what are you waiting for? Open it!" I chuckled and opened up the envelope and soon took out the folded letter and read it to himself.

"I—I got in."

"Oh my darling that's fantastic! Congrats!" I hugged and kissed him.

"Well hold on, this just means that I'm a potential candidate for a chance at working for the London Police force. There's still like a six month process when it comes to actually getting in. Right now I'm just joining the academy for some training."

"Still, that's something to be proud of. Oh Jack, you're gonna be a fantastic officer. And soon a world-class detective. A regular Sherlock Holmes if you will." I teased the last part as I bopped his nose.

"I don't think I can be that good. But—I'll try my best. For you, for our kids, and for every other stalking victims out there. The law may have failed us, but I won't let it fail for those in the future." I smiled at my loving husband and cupped his face and kissed him. "Oh and there's something for you inside."

"Really? Another surprise?"

"Well it's more like a small package. And sadly it's not from me." I looked at him confused.

"Then who is it from?" he shrugged but led me inside back into our bedroom where the small package lay at the foot of our bed. I opened it up and inside there was a single videotape. It had no marking or writing on it to indicate what it was.

The two of us looked at each other perplexed before I went towards our VHS player and insert the tape into it. I turned the TV on and the screen was blue as the tape finally began to play.

Coming up on the screen sitting right on a couch was none other than John.

"Hello (y/n), Jack. And the young Kline cubs, if they are there." He softly chuckled with a slight smile. Jack sat down beside me on the foot of our bed as we continued to watch Deacy's tape. "(Y/n), my darling sister dear. I know that—my leaving from Queen may seem like another abandonment but I swear to you it's not."

"Seems like this is just for you both, I'll just—"

"And Jack you stay right there with her because this is for you too." Jack looked at the telly surprised.

"Holy shit that was creepy."

"Our Deacy knows all." I wrapped my arms around my husband's arm as Deacy continued.

"Now—I have known you both for a long time. And both of you have equally been such an important part of my life. So it breaks my heart to know that this—might be the last time we meet face to face. But there is no doubt in my mind that you both are going to change the world. (Y/n), my lovely Rock Angel, you continue to spread your wings and fly. I know that you're going to continue to be the brightest and biggest solo female rockstar this world will ever know. And Jack, my pupil, my dearest American friend. You continue to protect your family, because if there's one final piece of advice that I can give you, it's that family is forever. Friends may come and go, but family is forever. And I know that whatever you choose to do with your life, your wife is gonna be there to support you. You both were meant for each other. I love you both so much. Continue to love, to give, to inspire, and......be happy. Bye."

The screen went black for a moment before he came back on screen and he began to say.

"Kelly, Jackson, Georgie and—little baby Freddie." At that point I stopped the tape and I turned to face Jack. I could already see the faint tears in his eyes.

Play video

"So this is really it huh?" Jack asked. I nodded. "I—can't believe we'll never get to actually talk to Deacy again." I rested my head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"This is just his way of grieving. Deacy's very fragile right now. You know how his childhood was, and losing Freddie at three years his father's age. It's like—losing two father figures to him."

"I know. It's just that....." Jack looked at me with tears in his eyes.

Jack really did look up to Deacy for everything. After all they've been through for over 10 years together, to Jack it was like he was losing a very good friend.

"I know my love, I know. But this is what Deacy needs. To be with just his family now, and not be reminded of the pain of losing Freddie. And who knows—maybe, and this is a slight maybe, we might see him again. But until then we need to respect his wishes." Jack nodded and the two of us cuddled close together as we were both thinking the same thing.

We hope that you're happy at home John Richard Deacon.

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angrylizardjacket · 4 years

Text

i’ll be in the front row {Joe Mazzello}

Anon asked: lil prompt I thought of while doing my laundry: imagine meeting Joe while you’re both doing your laundry at a laundromat. it’s nyc, so apartments with full wash & dryer are hard to come by. joe is always running lines with himself, and you both sometimes loan each other quarters when one of you runs out.

Anon asked: tbh I don’t have anything specific to request, but I am begging you to please write more for Joe. srsly you write him so well & he deserves more content!!! 🐚

A/N: 3269 words. my little garbage brain had to yell at me not to write this like the laundry scene from Dr Horrible. BIG FLUFF. set around undrafted. hope you enjoy. PLEASE leave feedback!! i love this so so very much omfg.

----

You always see him on Sundays, eleven in the morning, like clockwork. Dark sunglasses, fancy backpack, but nondescript clothes; sweater and jeans, baseball jersey and jeans, laundry day clothes if you’ve ever seen them. He’s a little familiar, but you’re not sure why. Sometimes he’s wearing a cap, but not with any sort of consistency, at least not in the six months since you’d been coming there.

For the record, you’re not staring, he’s the only person who comes in at the exact same time as you, give or take fifteen minutes, and he, like you, always waits for his laundry. It’s only been in the past few months that you’d even started recognizing each other, smiling and giving the other a wave across the machines. It’s harmless, it’s people watching, it’s routine.

One morning, he’s sitting on his washing machine, with a pen in his mouth and a stack of papers in one hand. His usual sunglasses are propped up on his head, which isn’t an unusual occurrence when he reads - is it weird that you know that? Kind of. He’s highlighting something, mouthing whatever he’s reading too fast for you to catch, and anyways, you’re trying not to stare. You’re half paying attention to a kitschy game on your phone since your washing is almost done, and you heave your damp clothes into the dryer.

“Damnit,” patting your pockets again, and searching through your change, you can’t help but scowl and come to an annoying conclusion. All you have is a fifty, and the change machine in the laundromat only spits out quarters.

“You okay?” It’s the guy with the script, your quiet laundry buddy, looking at you with slight concern, pen still in his mouth.

“Yeah,” you huff a sigh, putting on a strained smile, “two quarters short for the dryer.” Usually you had smaller bills, or just remembered to bring the right change, “can you watch my stuff while I go to the gas station to get change?”

“I can cover two quarters,” he offers easily with a slight smile, pulling the pen from his mouth and putting it, the highlighter, and the stack of papers, onto the dryer after he jumps from it. You stumble through trying to brush him off and refuse graciously, but he’s already elbow-deep in his backpack, telling you it’s no trouble.

“I owe you,” you say with half a laugh, and he shares in your amusement.

“Yeah, I’ll hold you to that,” he replies with an amiable sarcasm, which has you laughing. After you start the dryer, however, you turn back and he’s regarding you with a frown, leaning on the washing machine with his stuff in it.

“Do I have something on my face?” You ask with surprising uncertainty, and he’s quick to clear the frown from his face as he shakes his head.

“No, it’s just kind of weird that we’ve been coming here for so long but never... like, spoken.” He muses, and you feel yourself growing surprised. He offers his hand. “Joe.”

“Y/N,” you say, shaking his hand firmly, and he quietly repeats your name back to himself, like he’s committing it to memory. Something warms in your chest, and you can’t help but look at the stack of papers he’d been focusing intently on, “may I ask what you’re working on?” And he looks confused for the barest moment, quickly followed by excitement, and then what you recognize as him very deliberately restraining that excitement into something more polite.

“It’s a script,” and he kind of sounds... apologetic?

“And...?” You prompt, before backpeddling, “I mean, if you don’t wanna talk about it, that’s fine, I mean we technically just met -” and he’s waiving you off goodnaturedly.

“No, I know, I know,” he assures, “I just... another white guy writing a script in New York?” He makes a face, “get a real personality, am I right?” He laughs self-deprecatingly, but it seems to hit a little too close to home for him, and his expression falls. It’s a sentiment he’s been on the receiving end of far too many times.

“What’s it about?” You ask, gentle and genuinely curious, and his eyebrows raise in surprise as he meets your gaze. Tentatively hopeful, he explains that he’s on the fourth draft of it, that it’s loosely based on his brother’s experiences trying to make it into the Major Leagues in baseball. Most of it goes over your head, but you can’t help but be intrigued.

“I’m not super big into baseball,” you admit as he’s winding down, “but it sounds awesome, dude; let me know when it’s in theaters and I’ll be in the front row.” He grins at that.

You exchange phone numbers a month later, the pair of you getting take out at the fast food joint across the road from the laundromat, so you could still at least keep somewhat of an eye on your clothes. He’s in between drafts of the script, and they’re actually in preproduction, and you realise oh, he’s actually serious about this.

“See, that’s the difference,” you tell him, leaning your elbows on the table and pointing a finger at him, “the difference is that you follow through.”

“What?” He laughs, not yet following your train of thought.

“Every other white guy in New York could write a script, but none of them would follow through and get it made; you’re ambitious, Joe.”

“I’m not ambitious, I’m just lucky,” he shrugs, a blush creeping up his cheeks, but you won’t let it slide.

“Luck will only get you so far,” you tut, and he gives you a strange look.

“Have you... never seen Jurassic Park?”

“When I was younger,” you shrugged.

“Or The Social Network?”

“I’ve really been meaning to, why?”

“No reason,” Joe shakes his head with a disbelieving grin, and doesn’t bring it up again.

A few weeks later, he’s late by almost a full half an hour, which you’re not particularly bothered by, you get the impression that he’s a busy guy, but he runs in, laundry basket in hand, apologizing breathlessly.

“No need to apologise,” you tell him with a bright smile, putting your phone away, “everything okay?”

“Budget meeting ran late,” he explains, gracelessly lumping his clothes into the washing machine and throwing a few tide pods in along with them, “filming’s so close, I just lost track of time.”

“Oh, shit really? Wait have you already cast it?” You asked with a surprisingly genuine excitement; over the weeks, you’ve become rather invested in this project.

“Yeah, didn’t I tell you?” He asked with a grin, “casting was finalized two weeks ago; we start rehearsals next Saturday.”

“That’s so exciting!” You enthused, before laughing, “anyone I’d recognize?” And it’s mostly a joke, but Joe gives pause, evaluating you before he pushes start on his washing machine.

“I don’t know,” he answers genuinely, before conceding, “I mean, apart from me -”

“Acting, writing, and directing; does that make you a triple threat?” You asked coyly, and he breaks out into grin.

“And producing,” he reminds, and you make an impressed noise, nodding.

“Quadruple threat, excuse me.”

“But honestly, I don’t know if you’d recognize them; do you know,” and he goes back to the topic at hand, frowning a little, “Aaron Tveit?” You’re a little speechless, before answering.

“Not personally,” you find yourself answering, which gets Joe to laugh, “shit, dude, from Broadway?” And Joe’s wearing a proud little smile when he nods in confirmation, “and the Les Mis movie?”

“The very same,” Joe agrees, and your mouth hangs agape, “I told you, this is a real movie, I’m not filming this in my backyard,” after a beat, he licks his lips and jumps to sit on the washing machine, “have you seriously never googled me?”

“Why would I?” You asked, and he huffs a disbelieving laugh, shaking his head again in that way that you don’t quite understand. “Should I?” You finally ask, and Joe shrugs, smiling bright and carefree. He’s even swinging his legs, ankles crossed.

“I’m not a murderer, if that’s what’s got you worried,” he muses with a surprisingly carefree grin, “I mean, I’m kind of glad that you haven’t, it means you actually like me for me, you know?”

“Of course I do,” you answer automatically, and Joe’s expression turns fond, “I really like you, dude,” you explain, “I’m kind of in awe of what you’re accomplishing.” And you mean it with your whole heart, “if you’d prefer I didn’t google you, I won’t; I don’t make a habit of googling my friends, I won’t start with you.” When you say this, something about him relaxes, and he hops off the washing machine.

“Wanna grab lunch?” He asks with a smile, which you mirror without hesitation, and agree.

They’re filming out of state, which Joe tells you the week before he leaves, and you hadn’t realised how much you would miss him until the first Sunday rolls around, and you’re sitting in the laundromat alone.

Your phone goes off with a notification at exactly eleven.

It’s a photo of Joe and Aaron Tveit in baseball jerseys, covered in dirt, grinning.

[HOLY SHIT] you send back, following it up with [IS THAT] and then you wait a moment before adding [QUADRUPLE THREAT JOE MAZZELLO??]

[christ 😳😅🥰] he sends back, and something about his restrained but still obviously flustered response has your heart skip a beat. [is it weird that i miss the laundromat?]

[yes 😂]

[and you of course i miss you too] he’s quick to follow it up with, and your own smile grows wider. You take a photo of the empty laundromat and draw in a terrible stick figure impression of him and send it back.

[miss u too haha] and you give pause before sending [hey if u ever wanna send other prod photos.......] [u don’t just have to send them on sunday]

[you haven’t signed an NDA 😂]

[joseph who am i gonna tell??]

[your other friends idk]

[my lips are ZIPPED 🤐] [photos for personal use only]

[personal use????? 😘😘]

[dont be GROSS]

[but i wanna be gross!!]

So now you’re flustered in the middle of the laundromat, completely at a loss as to how to respond to that.

[are u flirting with me joseph?] you send back, and you watch the three little typing dots as they hover for a very long time.

[only if you’re into it]

Oh.

[the FIRST WEEK YOU’RE AWAY FROM THE LAUNDROMAT AND YOU’RE PULLING THIS SHIT] [i AM into it but fuck 😳😅]

[I’VE BEEN FLIRTING WITH YOU FOR WEEKS]

Oh!

[OH]

[THE FIRST WEEK I’M AWAY FROM THE LAUNDROMAT AND YOU FINALLY PICK UP ON IT???]

[go direct ur baseball movie 🥰😅] you send, and tuck your phone away, feeling rather like a fool, but a pleased fool nonetheless, and you’re grinning for the rest of the day.

Photos are exchanged often after that, usually selfies, or photos of where either of you were, what you were doing, the flirting turning absolutely less subtle with each day that passes until you’re just complimenting each other, and mentioning occasionally how you miss the other.

When he sends a photo of himself posing against the fence of the dugout in a way that showed off his ass, you can’t help but make it your lock screen, though it’s quickly followed by a video and a text that reads [i was told i have to send you this too,,, for context].

“This feels undignified,” says a strangely familiar voice from off-screen, presumably filming, while Joe was trying to ask for opinions on how he should pose.

“This is undignified,” comes someone else’s response, and the camera swings around to reveal an amused Tyler Hoechlin, opening a water bottle, “this Y/N must be real cute.” In the background, a few others, vaguely recognizable, all in baseball uniforms, snicker.

“They are!” Joe answered defiantly, grinning, one leg up against the wire, looking over his shoulder, “are you filming me?” The camera flips around and you get a pretty glorious angle directly up Aaron Tveit’s nose.

“No -”

The video stops abruptly, and you’re all but wheezing with laughter, though all you send back is;

[so worth it] [ur ass *chef’s kiss*]

[THANK YOU] [you get it] [knew there was a reason i liked you so much]

The moment he gets back to New York, he asks you out to dinner. Of course you say yes.

For your third date, he offers to cook you dinner, and watch a movie, prefaced with a question that you’re surprised he still asks; have you really not googled me? And the honest answer you always give: no.

His apartment has a lot of movie posters, of movies you’ve heard of but never seen, or seen when you were very little.

“Big movie buff, obviously,” you note with a little smile, and he raises his eyebrows in amusement at your observation. Even moreso when you excitedly coo about how you haven’t seen Jurassic Park in so long when he suggests it.

“Your self restraint is godlike, babe,” he snickers, and you’re not quite sure what he means, you’re kind of just happy to be here.

He cooks dinner, and you both sit down in front of his alarmingly big TV, and you feel a warm rush of nostalgia at the opening. You’re eating quietly, watching with rapt attention, but you can feel Joe watching you expectantly.

“What’s up?” You ask, turning to him, confused, and his smile grows a little wider, and his gaze flicks to the screen for a moment, and then back to you.

“Just waiting for it to click.”

“For what to click?”

“Babe,” and he says it like he can’t quiet believe it, his gaze now focused on the screen where the kids, Tim and Lex, were being introduced, “that’s me.” And follow his gaze and holy shit. A lot of things start making a lot more sense.

He’s not sure what he’s expecting your reaction to be, but the way your face lights up, and the unbridled enthusiasm and compliments that pour out of you, was not it, but he’s definitely not complaining.

“Wait!” Your eyes sparkle as you look around his apartment, the movie posters he had everywhere now having a completely different meaning, “all these...?”

“Every single one,” he agrees, a little abashed, suddenly humble, and you grin when you finally look back at him.

“I didn’t think I could be more awed by you, but dude,” you enthused, “that’s cool as hell! You’re cool as hell!” But you take a deep breath, putting your plates onto the coffee table, sitting as close to him as you could, “but I would have thought the world on you even if you hadn’t done any of this,” and he tries to brush it off, but you’re adamant, “no, I mean it, I like you for you, Joe, not for what you’ve done, but... for who you are.”

“You’re gonna make me blush,” he shoots for serious, but misses entirely thanks to his pleased little smile.

“Good,” you tell him seriously, and kiss both of his pink cheeks before kissing him. Your dinner might get a little cold after that, but you can always reheat it.

You comfort him over the weeks it takes to edit him film, Undrafted, though he’ll never let you see too much of the final product; he wants you to see it in cinemas first.

It’s still kind of surreal to you that Joe Mazzello is both a movie star, and your boyfriend. He’s still friends with Laura Dern, and he also spends eight dollars a week at a laundromat to wash his clothes. Bizarre. But you kind of like how down-to-earth he is.

What’s more bizarre is when he invites you to the red carpet premiere of his movie.

“Me?” You squeaked, and he seemed a little confused at your hesitation, his hands on your shoulders.

“You,” he nodded slowly, not understanding why you’re suddenly nervous.

“For real?”

“Yeah, of course I want you there; you said so yourself, you’d be in the front row, right?” He smiled a little and you could feel your heart melt.

“You remember that?”

“Of course I do,” he tells you gently, “it’s one of the reasons I liked you in the first place.” He’s so earnest; you agree easily.

The red carpet is a whole other world, you find, dressed to the nines, styled by someone you don’t know, cameras flashing in your face -

“Is this Y/N?” Tyler Hoechlin is saying your name. What universe is this? Joe was blushing furiously with his arm around you as the cast made their way over.

“Finally, a face for a name,” and that’s Aaron Tveit; you have to remind yourself not to get star struck. Instead, you smile and offer your hand to them both, which they shake, smiling and greeting you warmly.

“Don’t embarrass me, you assholes,” Joe warned, though his tone was amused, and the others chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Mister Director,” Aaron assured.

“You’re good at doing that on your own,” Tyler added, and Joe gave him the finger, but held you a little tighter.

“Did he send you the video of when he asked me to take that photo? You know the one,” Aaron asked, and you straightened your posture, grinning brightly.

“With an ass like his, I don’t know why you’d think it’s undignified,” you said loftily, and there was a beat as everyone took in what you said.

“I fucking love you,” Joe half laughed, pulling you in for a kiss.

“You’re good,” Tyler snorted, shaking his head with a grin, and Aaron was just straight-up laughing. The rest of the cast took to you easily, though most of the in-jokes among them went over your head, by Joe’s side, you never really felt left out.

The theater itself was cool and dark, but you could feel the whole cast and crew thrumming with excitement and nervous energy, and Joe gave your hand a squeeze where your fingers were interlaced.

It’s clear he’d poured his heart and soul into the movie, his fingerprints were all over every aspect of it, and you couldn’t quite believe you were watching it all finally completed; it had been almost a year since you’d first asked him about it, and now, here you were, hand in hand with him at the premiere.

As the credits rolled, as the crowd clapped, and you along with them, you found yourself speechless. Joe, quiet and surprisingly nervous, turns to you.

“What’d you think?” His voice is quiet, uncertain, and you all but tackle him across the armrest, kissing him until you’re both breathless.

“I’m so proud of you,” you gasp against his lips, “I’m so fucking proud of you.”

“I couldn’t have done it without you,” his voice is gentle as he takes your face in his hands, but you shake your head.

“You could have, babe, you absolutely could have, you’ve got so much ambition and talent -”

“I didn’t want to do it without you,” he admits in a rush, and you freeze, eyes on his, “I mean it.” And you’re kissing him again, hoping he can feel the pride and love that’s flowing through you. There’s an afterparty to get to, drinks with the cast and crew, and a comfortable bed waiting after that, you know, but you can’t help but bask in this one moment together, just a little longer.

#joe mazzello #joe mazzello x reader #joe mazzello imagine #joe mazzello fanfic #joe mazzello fanfiction #borhap #bohemian rhapsody #borhap cast #borhap cast imagine #bohemian rhapsody cast #bohemian rhapsody cast imagine #undrafted #undrafted cast #undrafted imagine #undrafted cast imagine #tyler hoechlin #aaron tveit #the angry lizard writes

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hopelikethemoon · 4 years

Text

first date (Javier x Reader) [smut] {MTMF}

Title: first date Rating: Explicit Length: 3,900 Warnings: Angst, Smut (fingering, teasing, sex from behind, unprotected sex, if you squint there’s a bit of a praise kink and smidge of orgasm delay) Notes: Set a couple days after The Picnic. You can follow the timeline of Maybe Today, Maybe Forever here. Also, fun note: Yuca was a real restaurant in Miami at the time. Look up the “Mango Gang” for some fun Miami restaurant history. Summary: Javier and Reader go on their first date.

Taglist: @grapemama @seawhisperer @huliabitch @pedropascalito @rogrsnbarnes@thewallpapergoesorido @twomoonstwosuns @gooddaykate @livasaurasrex @ham4arrow@hiscyarika @plexflexico @readsalot73 @hdlynn @lokiaddicted @randomness501@fioccodineveautunnale @roxypeanut @just-add-butter

You lingered in the doorway of your bedroom, leaning against the doorframe as you listened to the conversation taking place down the hallway — the way that maybe you weren’t supposed to hear. But the condo wasn’t very large and despite Josie’s giggles and squeals as she played with the new Barbie her abuelo had brought her, you could clearly hear Javi and Chucho.

“We missed out on a lot,” Javier remarked. A sentiment you were all too familiar with. He’d gotten better at discussing the things that got under his skin. You’d always known him to be the type to repress his feelings, bottle it all up until it exploded one day.

You thought of the night that changed everything, that set you both forward on a path that had led you here. The wild-eyed look as he stood in your bedroom, covered in Daniel’s blood. The haunted look he wore until the bruises faded from your skin — the way he still sometimes traced over the invisible marks he remembered.

“You’re here now, when it matters.” Chucho offered wisely. “You can’t keep dwelling on what could’ve been.” He chuckled. “You could’ve been married to Loriane

Javier huffed at that, “Fuck that.”

“Javier.” His father hissed.

“She’s heard it before.” Javier countered and he must’ve made a face at Josie because she was giggling at something. “It’s not like that. I’m not dwelling on the past, I’m just trying to figure out how to make up for it all now.”

“The best things in life are often the things we didn’t plan for.”

Javi sighed. “Yeah.”

Your heart ached a little, listening to them. You knew how much it weighed on Javi. He tried to keep it from you, but you knew. It hadn’t been easy for you either.

“I get caught up thinking sometimes, pops. About what might’ve been. If Josie hadn’t happened. If it had been a one-off thing between us and she brushed me off afterwards.”

You couldn’t blame him, you had thought about that too. More than you wanted to admit. You knew you cared about Javier — you had for a long time. But Josie had been the reason...

“She was seeing this guy for a bit. Early on.” Javier clicked his tongue against his teeth. “Nice guy; CIA, straightlaced, take-home-to-ma-type. I couldn’t fucking stand the guy.”

Lance. Javier's description of him was spot on. He’d been a great boyfriend and a great distraction about a year into Colombia.

Javier continued, “It had nothing to do with me. We were just partners then — friends. But I hated that guy. Never understood why until recently.”

“You know,” Chucho quipped. “I think you might’ve finally grown up, Javier. I always worried about you. Who you would have when I was gone.”

“Pop—”

“No. Listen to me.” He said firmly. “I never thought you and Lorraine had a shot in hell. She wanted the picket fence life and you wanted… hell if I ever knew.” Chucho sighed heavily, “Something you couldn’t find in Laredo. I ain’t never seen you look at someone the way you look at the woman in there.”

You retreated a little further into the bedroom, afraid they’d see you lingering in the doorway. You missed whatever Javier said after that, his voice muffled by the door as you walked over to grab your jacket off the bed. You shouldn’t have been listening to begin with.

You stared at your reflection in the mirror, smoothing your hands over the front of your dress. Javier had insisted that you dress up for the date — which felt ridiculous, all things considered. He’d found a fancy Cuban restaurant in Coral Gables with authentic food from an up and coming chef. Yuca was all the craze in downtown Miami. You’d read a dozen articles in the Herald about it.

The dress was your color and it draped across your curves in all the right ways. You hadn’t actually worn the dress yet; it had been purchased in Colombia while you were still pregnant with Josie as a motivation to get back to where you once were physically. You looked hot and really, wasn’t that the whole reason for getting dressed up for a date?

You hadn’t actually been on a date since… fuck. The irony of him bringing up Lance. He was the last guy you’d been on an honest-to-God date with. After him, you threw yourself into work and guys whose names you didn’t bother to remember.

You pushed the bedroom door open, heading down the hallway towards the living room. Chucho and Javier both turned to look at you and you wished you had a camera to take a snap of Javi’s face. His eyes warmed as they swept over you, his lips drawing into a grin. “You ready, baby?” Javier ran his hands over the tops of his legs before he slowly rose to his feet.

Despite his insistence that he wanted to wear a suit, you had convinced him otherwise. Settling somewhere in the middle, Javier was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a button-up shirt with his aviator’s tucked into the front of them.

“I’m ready if you are.’

You knelt down next to Josie, grinning as she toddled over to you and draped herself over your knees. “Are you going to be a good little girl for your abuelo?

“Yes!” She said excitedly, looking up at you with the sweetest face.

“I somehow don’t believe that.” You brushed your fingers through her dark curls, looking towards Chucho, “Thank you for this.”

“Any time.” He smiled, looking between you and Javi. “Don’t be late for your reservations.” Chucho gave Javier a look. “Make good choices.”

Javier chuckled. “I can’t guarantee that. Thanks again, Pops. For everything.” He remarked as he grabbed his leather Member’s Only jacket off the coat rack. “Let’s get out of here.”

“You know what’s stupid?” You questioned as you took Javier’s hand into yours, walking alongside him down to the car.

“What?”

“I’m so fucking nervous.”

Javier’s shoulders sagged with relief, “Thank God it’s not just me.” He led you down to the car, unlocking the passenger door and holding it open for you. “We’ve been doing this for two years.”

“Right?” You rolled your eyes. “Two years and a kid later and I would love to know why my stomach’s in knots.”

Javier slid into the driver’s seat, turning to look at you. “I dunno, but I do know that you’re gonna be the prettiest girl at the restaurant tonight.” He leaned over the center console and pressed a quick kiss to your lips.

“Damn, I was hoping for the hottest. I have to go change.” You acted like you were going to get out of the car, but Javier curled his hand around her leg.

“I was going to say sexiest, but this is our first date. Remember?” He smirked.

Yuca was exactly what you anticipated. A bustling restaurant that fully embraced the Cuban experience of Little Havana. You ended up ordering something called Cuban Corvina — a fish fillet with tomato fondue and coconut rice; while Javier ended up with a carne frita style pork shank. Far fancier than anything either of you made at home. In fact, the most adventurous food you’d tried was a toss-up — off-brand oatmeal that featured hatching dinosaur eggs or the dinosaur-shaped chicken that Josie was obsessed with. Everything had been dinosaurs with Josie ever since you picked Jurassic Park up at Blockbuster a couple months back.

Javier grinned at you from across the table, before he grabbed the bottle of wine and refilled your glass. “Are you enjoying tonight so far?”

You nodded, a faint smile playing over your lips. “It’s a pretty nice first date.”

“Just nice?” He pretended to be wounded by that. “I’m glad we made this happen.” Javi ran his thumb over his bottom lip, leaning back in his chair as he watched you. “We’ve got to do this more often.”

“It doesn’t always have to be fancy, you know.” You suggested, leaning an elbow on the table as you picked up your wine, taking a sip. “I’m perfectly fine with a night out at a bar. Like old times.”

“Like old times?” He cocked his head to the side, a brow arching upwards.

“Yeah.” You chewed on your bottom lip. “We’re on this date because we’re both trying to make up for lost time. But we’ve never been fancy restaurant people.” You gave him a look. “This is nice once in awhile.”

He scratched at his jaw and tapped his foot against your ankle beneath the table. “You’re not wrong.” He met your eyes, something almost sad lurking in his gaze. “But we’re good, right?”

“Of course we are.” You nudged his foot back beneath the table, before you confessed. “I heard you and your dad talking.”

Javier blinked at you, before his brows furrowed together with a worried line between them. “Ah.”

You nervously tucked a piece of hair behind your ear, leaning forward against the table. “I wouldn’t have. For the record. If Josie hadn’t happened, but that night did… I wouldn’t have blown you off.”

A small smile played over his lips as he rubbed at the back of his neck, letting his hand rest against the side of it. “Does everyone else worry about the ‘what ifs’?” He questioned, glancing around the restaurant then. “Does that couple over there worry about what happened two years ago?’

“Probably.” You laughed softly, mostly because of nerves. Nothing about this conversation was humorous. “I mean, I get it. I worry too. All the time.” You met his gaze. “I worry that we’re too much alike and completely different in the same breath. It’s not as bad as it used to be, but… I used to worry that Josie was the only reason you were still here.”

“No—”

“I know. Just like you know. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t worry. That I don’t.” You reached across the table and grabbed his hand. “Javi, I just want to be with you.” He tightened his grip on your hand. “Even though having Josie was horribly traumatic for both of us, I even… I can’t even believe I’ve thought about it, but… I even want to have another kid with you someday. Not right now, but one day.”

“Don’t panic.” Javier said quietly as he reached into his jacket pocket.

“Okay.” You arched a curious brow. “It’s not what it looks like, alright. I mean there’s a heavy implication, but…” He sighed heavily as he sat a jewelry box down on the table between you. “It’s not a ring.” Javier assured you.

You released your hold on his hand and reached out to pick it up. It was an older jewelry box, worn around the edges, and the hinge creaked as you opened it. Inside was a silver teardrop necklace with a turquoise stone inlay with a pair of earrings flanking it, similar in style.

“It was my mother’s.” Javier told you, shifting awkwardly in his seat. “Part of the reason why my pops came to visit. He wasn’t about to mail it to me.” He smiled at you, though his anxiety was clear to see in his eyes. “I wasn’t going to make a big fucking deal about it. I was just going to give it to you, but this—” He gestured around the restaurant. “Seemed like a good place.”

“It’s beautiful.” You breathed out, not quite trusting your voice as you brushed your fingers over the stone. “Javier.”

“She would’ve loved you.” Javier told you earnestly and you swore he looked like he might cry. “She would’ve loved Josie.”

“I wish I’d worn something that went with turquoise.” You said lightly, sniffing a little. Brushing your hair aside, you unclasped the necklace you had been wearing, carefully putting his mother’s necklace on in its place. You curled your fingers around the teardrop setting, smiling across the table at him. “I’m so fucking glad it wasn’t a ring.”

“You and me both.” He laughed, tapping his foot against yours. “You're stuck with me, baby.”

“Good.” You grinned at him, before you dropped your voice to a teasing tone. “Now, I want to know more about this thing about you hating Lance.”

He groaned, dragging his hands over his face. “Don’t fucking do that to me.” He shook his head. “Fuck.”

“Inquiring minds want to know.” You batted your eyes at him. “Oh, come on Javi.”

Javier rocked his jaw as he glared at you. “You and I both know, you would’ve been bored as hell with him after awhile.”

“Oh, I was.” You shrugged. “When I broke up with him, he wanted to stay friends. He took it so well.” You stuck out your tongue, before taking a sip of your wine. “Not that I think you and I are ever going to break up, but… I want some screaming, a couple doors slammed, and then I want you to try to win me back.”

“Damn, first date and you’re already planning our break up.” Javier said lightly, his lips quirking upwards at the corners.

“Just think of the make-up sex,” You mused, curling your fingers around the pendant around your neck. That was the closest you’d ever come to being proposed to. It was, within the parameters of your relationship with Javi, exactly that. You had his mother’s necklace now — neither of you were going anywhere.

“You have me interested there.” Javier swept his thumb over his bottom lip, brows drawn together thoughtfully.

You smirked. “I thought that would catch your attention.”

———

“Shhh.” You whispered, pressing a finger to your lips as you closed the front door quietly. Javier groped at your ass and you couldn’t help the laugh that escaped you — louder than it should’ve been considering Chucho and Josie were asleep in the house.

He was quick to clamp a hand over your mouth, pressing you back against the front door with a wicked grin playing over his lips. “Shh.” Javi drawled out, taunting you. His lips moved close to your ear as he shushed you again, his breath causing you to shiver in response.

“Javi!” You curled your fingers around the back of his neck as you looked up into his eyes. It was dark, but not too dark that you couldn’t see enough of him.

“How do you feel about fucking on the first date?” He questioned, leaning in to catch your bottom lip between his teeth.

“I feel like we are not alone in the house.” You whispered, playing with the hairs on the nape of his neck.

“Then we better be quiet.” Javier smirked as his hand slipped beneath the hem of your dress, dragging up along your inner thigh. He leaned in to kiss you, swallowing up the sound that rose up in your throat as his fingers skimmed over the damp crotch of your panties. You pressed your shoulders back against the door, rocking your hips forward into his touch.

Your mouth slanted over his, your tongue playing over his bottom lip before he granted you access. His tongue slid out to meet yours, tilting his head as he deepened the kiss. You moaned wantonly against his lips as he pushed aside your panties, pressing two thick fingers into you. It was a fleeting sensation, he pumped his fingers in and out of you — just enough to make you burn, before he abandoned you.

“Javer.” You seethed as you slumped back against the door, watching the way he brought his fingers to his lips and made a show of tasting them. “You’re such a bastard.”

He clicked his tongue against his teeth, smirking at you. “And you love me for it.” Javier jerked his head in the direction of your bedroom, holding his hand out for you.

You let him guide you down the hallway to the bedroom, trying to keep your steps quiet as you crept past Josie bedroom. Fortunately, she’d gotten better at sleeping through the night. But she was still a light sleeper.

Javier was on you the second he got the bedroom door shut and locked. Guiding you back towards the bed with a series of desperate touches. He dragged your jacket down your arms while you kicked your shoes off beneath the bottom of the bed. Your hands pried his belt off, sliding the belt through the loops, before ghosting your fingertips over his hardened length beneath his jeans.

His hand slid around behind you, dragging the zipper of your dress down your sides. He unwrapped you, abandoning the dress to the floor beside the bed. “Fuck.” Javier swore through his teeth as he stared down at you.

He brushed his fingertips over your collarbone before trailing downwards, running them between the valley of your breasts. “Look at you, baby.” He rasped out as he cupped your breasts through your bra, palming them roughly.

You moaned quietly, gripping tightly at the fabric of his shirt. “I bought it just for you.” You had. Most of your wardrobe was practical, but you’d slipped away to the mall to buy something nice just for the date.

Javier pressed his knee between your thighs on the mattress as he draped himself over you. “Aren’t I a lucky man?” He muttered as he leaned down to brush his lips over the swell of your right breast, dragging his thumb over the pebbled peak of your left nipple. You arched your back, grinding down against his leg — needing friction. Needing more.

Another moan escaped you and Javier was quick to press his hand over your mouth to stifle the sound. His eyes flashed to meet yours, dark and clouded with lust. “You’ve got to be quiet, baby.” He warned you, pinching both of your nipples through your bra. Desire lanced through you hotly and you bucked against his knee. Your panties clung to your slick cunt, the fabric not enough as it dragged against your throbbing clit.

“Are you going to be quiet for me?” Javier questioned as he removed his hand from your mouth, fingers sliding down to lightly wrap around your throat. “I know you can be a good girl.” His praise made you whimper against his hand. He must’ve known how badly you needed to be touched. He removed his knee from between your thighs and replaced it with his hand. He peeled your panties down your thighs, tossing them aside. He released his hold on your throat, taking a step back to look down at you.

Javier ran his hands along your inner thighs, parting your legs wider as he trailed them higher. You bit down on your bottom lip, resisting the urge to cry out as he pressed two fingers into you. “Answer me, baby.” He drawled out, “Are you going to be quiet?”

“Yes.” You gasped out, chest heaving as you tried to keep your breathing steady. But it was hard to focus on anything other than the way he curved his fingers within you, the way he dragged them over that sweet spot within you. You trembled, looking up at him. “Javier, please don’t tease.”

He leaned over you and caught your lips, kissing you fiercely with his fingers still buried within you. He pulsed them in and out of you twice more before he abandoned you yet again. “Roll over.” He ordered softly, brushing his slick finger over your bottom lip. “Please, baby?”

You nodded breathlessly. Your heart was hammering in your chest as you rolled over onto your stomach. Javier pulled you towards him, helping you steady yourself on your feet as you leaned over the foot of the bed. He stroked his hands down your back, over your hips, before he took a step back to divest himself of the rest of his clothes.

“You look so fucking gorgeous.” Javier drawled out. You glanced back over your shoulder, your eyes sweeping over his bared flesh. Desire pooled hot between your thighs as your gaze fell to his erection resting hard against his belly.

You curled your fingers, twisting the bedspread beneath you. Javier’s hands found you again, gripping tightly at your hips as he guided his cock to your center. He didn’t tease you, he spared you both that torment.

“Javi.” You moaned quietly, hips rocking back against him as the full length of his cock settled into you. You clenched around him, urging him to move.

Javier’s grip tightened at your hip, his other hand finding purchase in your hair. He drew out nearly completely before thrusting back into you, picking up the pace of his movements. His cock driving into you again and again.

You pressed your face against the blanket, muffling the sounds that threatened to escape you. The moans, the whimpers, the soft cries of pleasure. He had you careening towards the edge, your body tightening around him. Right as you reached the precipice of your release, he withdrew — leaving you empty. Your cunt throbbed, desire coiling hotly in your belly.

He didn’t give you a chance to protest, gathering you up in his arms. Javier rolled you over, keeping an arm wrapped around you to draw you in towards his chest, holding you to him as he reached between you, guiding his cock back into you.

It took two thrusts before your orgasm took hold of you, your cunt clenching around his cock, dragging out his own release from him. He sank his fingers into your hair, cradling the back of your head as his lips found yours, kissing you like his life depended upon it.

In the wake of your pleasure, you both managed to find your way to the top of the bed, sinking in beneath the covers. You curled into his side, cheek resting against his chest, your arm draped over his stomach.

Javier’s fingers played with your hair, traced fingers over your bare back. “Think you might go on a second date?” He mused quietly.

You tilted your head to look up at him with a grin, “I’ll have to check my schedule.” You teased lightly, brushing your fingers over his jawline before you leaned up to press a kiss to his lips. “I hear there’s a great place that serves dinosaur chicken nuggets and mac and cheese.” You whispered against his lips. “It’s close too.”

Javier hummed thoughtfully. “I’ll have to make us a reservation.” His fingers ghosted over the necklace where it laid against your chest.

“I’d like that,” You reached up and dragged your fingers through his hair, kissing him again. “Hey.”

“Yeah?”

You brushed your nose against his, stealing another kiss. “I love you.”

Javier curled both of his arms around you and pulled you in close. “Love you too, baby.”

Maybe you would both keep trying to make up for lost time, maybe that was just part of what your relationship would always be. But something about tonight had you convinced that you could move forward. That his mother’s necklace was the symbol, the token, the unofficial proposal that harkened the beginning of letting go of the past. You would always wear the wounds like invisible scars — but you didn’t have to let them define your relationship. Neither of you could let your self-inflicted damage keep you from moving forward. Together.

#javier pena x reader #javier pena smut #javier pena #pedro pascal x reader

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lovelyirony · 4 years

Note

my cherries and wine, rosemary and thyme (And All Of My Peaches)

@peachy-keener to the best of the best ;), and @angxlsgrxce, the extension of the prompt that she filled! the prompt was not taken quite literally: set during fall...but i think that it makes the best of it

Harley had grown up going to his grandparents’ house on his Dad’s side for years. He had grown up chasing his cousins around, Grams chastising him for being skinny as a bean pole.

“You’re just like your Papa,” she’d say, stirring the cider at the stove as Harley “helped.” (Ate most of the cranberries.)

“Good,” he’d say, mouth stained a brilliant purple.

“Not good,” Dad would say, swinging his son into his arms and peppering him with kisses all over his cheek. “That means I have two insomniacs.”

“But you also have a Pepper at your disposal,” Papa said, coming in from behind. “Hey Mama, thanks for letting our little bambino steal berries from you.”

“It’s why I buy extra,” she says with a wink.

As Harley grew up, he’d seen near-about-everything that happened. He’d heard all the stories, but his favorite was about the year Tony finally got to visit.

“They thought we wouldn’t know,” Grandpa said, cutting up the ham with a laugh. “My damn fool son thought that I wouldn’t notice when he was gone on somebody.”

“Language, dad,” he would say, and Harley would grin up at his dad.

“He doesn’t need a lesson in what not to say,” Grandpa would say. “And you’re ruining the story. Anyways, here they are, cuddled up in a blanket...”

Harley wants that. He wants to find someone he loves so much to bring home. He wants to dance with them in the kitchen when they’re supposed to be on clean-up, crooning to scratchy old records that made it past college dorm rooms.

He wants to look across the table and smile fondly, and hold hands with whoever it is.

His parents tell him it’ll be soon.

“Before you know it, my mad scientist,” Dad says, grinning. “You’ll find someone that you’ll take their breath away.”

“And hopefully it’s not because they’re asthmatic,” Papa quips.

Harley giggles.

“Goodnight bambino,” Tony tells his son. “Get good rest and wake up happy tomorrow.”

“I promise,” Harley says sleepily. “Mostly.”

Tony and Rhodey leave his room, and they smile at each other.

“It’ll be too soon,” Rhodey says to his husband. “And then he will grow up.”

“And we will be there for all of it,” Tony says, pressing a kiss to his husband’s forehead. “Besides, I can’t wait to see who Harley finds.”

Harley meets a boy from Queens who talks a bit more than necessary, accidentally slapped him in the face while emphasizing his point about Jurassic Park during lunch, and has the most brilliant smile he’s ever seen.

He can’t believe he knows him.

Also, that they work together. Kind of. It’s an internship, but they also take most of the time to discuss conspiracy theories and challenge Ned with different programming games.

“What do you think about adding some extra web spots on the sides?” Peter asks him.

Harley is staring. A lot.

Peter is wearing a good shirt. Funny pun. He is the funniest. And the cutest. He has these laughter lines by his eyes that always come up when he’s laughing really hard, and it’s so cute, and--

“Uh...Harley? You okay?”

He shakes his head.

“Um. Yeah. I’m all good. You were saying about side-lining your webslingers? Why?”

“No, moving some to the side,” Peter says. “Like this.”

Harley frowns at the diagram.

“No, you splay out your hands too much when you’re Spidey. Web gets caught, you end up getting thrown at a ninety-degree angle or something. Skip it.”

“How do I never think about the most obvious things,” Peter mutters.

Harley has it on the tip of his tongue to mention that he is completely gone on him, and everyone knows it. Including his parents, which he isn’t exactly a fan of.

Especially since Rhodey has been behind Peter at his work desk, mock-batting his eyelashes and throwing hearts up on any single display screen that Friday has control of. (She essentially staged a coup, and Jarvis let her.)

“Dad,” Harley hisses out. “Stop.”

“Stop what?” Peter asks, grin on his face. “What are you guys doing?”

“Oh, nothing much,” Dad says. “But, that does remind me that I need to be doing something, and that is discussing Thanksgiving. We’re leaving for Grams’ early, around eight.”

“Then cider!” Harley says, grinning. He turns towards Peter. “What about you, what plans you got?”

“Oh, I think I’m going to attempt to make myself a mean turkey sandwich while May’s out,” Peter says. “Had to be on-duty for this year, but she gets Christmas off this year.”

“What?” Harley says. “You’re not going over to Ned’s or anything?”

“Ned’s visiting with Betty’s family, and MJ...I don’t know what she’s doing, but it’s something with family. She’s been sending me depressing poetry for half-an-hour.”

Harley snorts.

“Well that sucks, Peter. Sorry to hear that.”

“It’ll be okay!” Peter says. “Just means I get to watch Star Wars with no complaints from you or Ned about my choices.”

"I will find a way to have you avoid watching the prequels, they all suck.”

“Sure they do,” Peter says. “That’s why everyone still watches them.”

“It’s because everyone likes to make fun of them, not because they’re quality.”

Peter laughs.

“Maybe you’re right. But I gotta get going, Aunt May is trying to cook again.”

Rhodey winces.

“You want me to call Vietnamese food to-go ahead of time?”

“I’ll see if I can help her any.”

Harley waves goodbye, telling him to text when he got home.

“I’m Spidey, I know how to get home safely,” Peter says, smiling anyways. “But I will. Anyway. Just to humor you.”

“You have run into a telephone pole as Spidey before, you truly still think I have faith in you?”

“I think a little bit of faith. Maybe a tad.”

Harley rolls his eyes.

“Go home before May successfully burns down the apartment complex this time.”

“Will do!”

Peter smiles one last time before exiting.

“You, my dear son, are in love,” Rhodey announces.

“Dad!” Rhodey snickers.

“You did not learn subtlety from me, you learned it from your Papa, which is to say: you have learned no subtlety. It’s not my fault you’re entertaining.”

“Ugh.”

But Harley keeps thinking about Peter.

He knows that Peter is going to hate being alone, no matter how much he would actually watch the prequels. Peter hates being alone anyways. He’s always at least with someone, can’t stand being by himself.

And on a holiday? One that’s usually spent with family of some kind?

Well...it shouldn’t be that way.

So at dinner, as Dad and Papa are talking about some sort of update on a phone, and Harley says it.

“Can I invite Peter to Thanksgiving?”

Dad and Papa stop.

“I’m sure he’d love that,” Papa says softly, grinning. “I’m assuming it’s because he told you that May is on duty for that day?”

“Yeah. I don’t think...I don’t want him to spend it alone.”

His parents share a look, a look that they’ve shared a million times, one filled with soft understanding and so much love.

“I’ll let Grams know we have an extra guest,” Tony says. “After all, it is my turn.”

Dad snorts.

“Sure it is, honey. Alright, Harley, call him up.”

Harley grins, practically giddy. He’s excited to share this with Peter, to have him in this life.

(And yeah, he’s hoping that it’s like the stories that Dad tells him at night, the ones over iced water and quiet reassurances late at night.)

He presses the contact information, smiles as Peter answers on the second ring.

“Harley, did I forget something?”

“I don’t think so, no. But I wanted to ask you something.”

“W-what did you want to ask me?” Peter asks. His voice sounds faint, almost nervous.

“You sound weird. You okay?”

“Yes. I am more than okay. I am perfection.”

“Okay loser, don’t tell me. But I wanted to invite you to Thanksgiving with us.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. No one should be alone.”

“I mean, I don’t want to trouble you. I can be fine on my own.”

“Peter, you are a terrible liar. You hate being alone. Besides, you’ve never had Grams’s cider before, and that clearly needs to be fixed.”

“You don’t have to twist my arm,” Peter says, laughing. “What do I need to bring?”

“A blanket and maybe a sleeping bag if you got one. If not, no big deal, we just usually stay the night since it can be a bit of a drive.”

“You sure you still want me coming?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Um...it’s family time?”

“You’re close to me, Peter,” Harley says. “And I want you around all the time. I’m just glad you wanna come. You’re gonna love Grams.”

“Okay. What time should I swing around Stark Tower?”

“Uh...lemme ask.”

Harley hops off his bed, phone at his shoulder.

“Papa, what time do you want Peter over for the ride?”

“Seven-thirty!” Tony says. “Unless you two want to canoodle before you’re stuck in the car with us geezers or something.”

“Stop!” Harley hisses, glaring at his father as he snickers. “Uh, Peter, did you hear any of that?”

“Something your Papa said made you yell, but nothing else?”

“Okay, get here by seven-thirty in the morning, if that’s okay.”

“I’ll set my alarms.”

“Alarms?”

“Well, I don’t wake up that easily.”

“And here I thought Spidey-Sense was real.”

“Hey!”

Harley decides he’s made either the worst decision of his life or the best, and it all depends on if Papa catches him staring so blatantly at Peter.

He’s cute when he’s sleepy. He leans against the kitchen counter, and he’s still in an over-sized sweater with a scarf lazily wrapped around his neck. Harley really wants to fix it, just reach out. It’d be so easy, so cute

“Harley I swear to god, please get your bag in the car before it becomes like the worst-family-picture-event,” Papa says.

Peter seems to perk up at that.

Of course.

“What would the worst family picture be?”

Rhodey already has his phone out.

“Harley forgot his bag, which had all of his clothes. Only a Wal-Mart was open, and...”

Head-to-toe sports neon. It was bad. Harley was frowning with his brows lowered in an obviously-frustrated expression while Tony and Rhodey sandwiched him, obviously bemused by the happenings of the holiday.

Peter laughs.

“Aw, you were so cute when you were little,” he says, smiling. “Really cute.”

“Even in neon?”

“Well, you’re cute in anything. Even neon.”

Harley nearly spills his coffee.

The ride there is mostly quiet. Tony hums along to the music, smiling slowly at some as Dad explains how Papa was the worst dancer on earth.

“Not as bad as Peter,” Harley pipes up.

“Harley.”

“Oh come on, it’s cute,” he teases. “The way your arms flail like spaghetti is endearing.”

“See if you get a sandwich from Delmar again.”

“Oh the tragedy,” Harley moans. “No sandwich from Delmar!”

Peter laughs.

“You two get some sleep, Mama isn’t gonna stop bothering you two,” Tony decides moments later. “Come on.”

Getting to sleep is...not easy. Especially when you’re supposed to. But Peter smiles.

“Share a playlist with me?”

“Sure.”

Peter’s music taste is amazing. Seriously. Harley usually sticks with what Papa plays, although occasionally he’ll foray into some of what MJ plays.

Peter’s music is relaxing. It’s light, easy. There are undercurrents of a deeper meaning, and what the memories make it be.

The current song reminds him of the end of the summer that year, when they had an end-of-summer-picnic and he fell into the pond, and Peter couldn’t stop laughing and took about a million pictures of Harley actually in the water.

"You remembering that time I fell?” Harley says, grinning at Peter.

“I’m remembering how good my photos turned out,” Peter says, although he smiles. “You made a fantastic model. You always do.”

Harley turns red.

“Um, thanks. I always have a great photographer, wouldn’t you know it?”

This time, Peter turns red.

“I’m gonna try to take a nap,” he says. “Mind if I use your blanket?”

“Not at all.”

And Peter settles against his shoulder.

It’s uncomfortable, but hell if Harley minds it. He smells good, and he’s so soft. He probably needs sleep. Knowing Peter, he probably stayed up half the night with homework, or something that had been a project for SI.

Rhodey catches his son’s eyes in the rearview mirror. He doesn’t say anything, just smiles and nods.

After all, there’ll be more than enough questioning when they get to Mama’s.

Harley gently jostles Peter awake as they pull into the driveway. It looks like some cousins are already there, and Mama is already halfway out the door, most likely intent on attacking her son-in-law in kisses and hugs, and seeing how tall Harley has grown. (One inch, but now he’s taller than Tony.)

“My baby!” she declares, attacking Harley in kisses.

“Grams,” Harley whines. “I need to help Peter out of the car.”

“Oh let me see him,” she says, grinning widely.

“Don’t make him scared of us.”

“Why would we be scary?”

“I’m not mentioning the incident of 2011.”

“That was one time!”

And then Peter is out the car, grinning. His cheeks are flushed from warmth, and he’s already helping take out the luggage and the dishes from the car.

“You must be Mrs. Rhodes, it’s good to meet you.”

“Call me Grams, young man,” she says, eyes sparkling as she turns to Tony. “He reminds me of you at this age.”

“I was not nearly so scrawny,” Tony says with a wink. “I was charming and devastatingly handsome.”

“Oh yes, because nothing says devastatingly handsome like train tracks for a mouth,” Rhodey deadpans.

“And yet what did we do in your room? As I recall, you--”

“Tony!” Grams admonishes. “Not in front of the kids, and not in front of me.”

Tony smiles sheepishly.

“What can I say? I have wormed my way into your heart.”

“Unfortunately,” Rhodey says. “Peter, watch out for Tony. He can get away with anything, he’s Mama’s favorite. Even though I’m her son.”

“Well when you fix a finicky Ford in freezing weather, tell me immediately.”

“Still?”

“Still!”

Harley drags Peter, holding his hand.

“Come on, you have to meet everyone still.”

Peter is just a bit overwhelmed, but mostly laughing as Harley takes him around the house.

He meets Grams and Grandpa and hears all about Harley’s embarrassing stories, and he thinks it is rather nice, the dusting of red that Harley gets on his cheekbones.

It’s a bit odd. Usually, he and May just watch Seinfeld reruns on the couch, or sometimes May has a friend’s apartment that they go to.

They’ve given up on ever fixing an Official Thanksgiving Dinner after Ben, and maybe it’s too bittersweet a memory, or maybe it’s because when Ben died, there went the last of the talented Parkers in the kitchen.

So Peter is surprised when Harley leads him to the kitchen to help him prepare the potatoes.

“I make the best roasted potatoes,” Harley says. “It’s from the family cookbook, but I always add a little extra.”

He leans in conspiratorially, and Peter catches a whiff of his cologne.

“It’s extra onion. Don’t tell Papa-Tony-he’s been trying to get it for forever.”

“I shall promise,” Peter says solemnly, saluting. “Scout’s honor.”

“Were you ever in the program?”

“For a year. I dropped out after I accidentally almost became a missing persons case.”

“Please tell me it was because you chased a butterfly.”

“How did you-?” Peter splutters. “How did you guess?!”

“It’s a you thing, and I know you,” Harley says, poking his shoulder. “Now come on, help me peel potatoes before Grams makes you set dishes with Aunt Lola. She’s nice, but...talks a lot.”

“I gathered.”

It’s peaceful, almost. Peter works easily, handing peeled potatoes to Harley, and when they’re all done, helping chop them.

“Thanks for inviting me,” he says quietly.

“You don’t need to thank me,” Harley says. “I, um. I wanted you here.”

“You...you did?”

“You’re the best person in my life,” Harley says softly. “And I, well, I--”

“Harley!” comes a yell.

He seems frustrated to Peter’s eyes.

“What, Dad?”

“Come here and help me with an air mattress for your cousin Vince!”

“Why can’t he help?”

“He’s supervising your Aunt Jeannie at the store!”

“Why does she need supervision?”

“She watched Chopped!”

Peter laughs as Harley huffs.

“Well, we’ll come back to it,” he says softly. “Don’t worry.”

Peter finishes with the potatoes, and moves onto the onions. He looks at the stained page in front of him, and sees a small addition in Harley’s unmistakable engineer-block-writing about more onions.

He smiles.

He wonders if when he grows up, they’ll have a--

OH.

Well. It’s not exactly a surprising thought. He’s been in love with Harley since freshman year of high school, after their second week of gym when Harley dramatically decided to pass out and shorten the class by about twenty minutes.

When Harley looked back and grinned at Peter, right at him, it was then and there that he fell.

(MJ called him “the most love-struck boy in the world”.)

Harley bounds down the stairs, grinning as he sees Peter at the table, helping Grams with the cider.

“You’re trusting someone to help you after all this time?”

“You finally bringing someone after all this time?”

“Grams, I’m still young.”

Her eyes sparkle as she pushes some cranberries towards Harley.

“Picked out some extra. And I remember when your Dad was your age, don’t think I don’t have the guts to tell the stories.”

She gets up from the table.

“You know the recipe by heart, love. Help your guy with it.”

Harley slides into her seat, grinning softly at her.

“Thanks Grams.”

“I’ll come and see your results in a bit.” She smiles fondly.

Peter and Harley are alone.

“So.”

Harley turns red.

“So, um. Is it okay if I’m awkward for a minute? And I don’t know how you’ll feel about it, but I think it’ll be okay.”

“You’re always awkward,” Peter says softly. He’s stopped cutting up the oranges, knife laid to the side.

“Well. Um. Yeah.”

“Harley,” Peter starts out. “You can tell me anything. I promise you that it will be okay.”

Harley looks at him. And really looks at him.

“Can I...can I dance with you?”

Peter’s eyes widen.

“Really?”

It’s getting late, the night already dark for hours. The family is quieting down, and most have retired to their respective rooms.

“Yeah, really.”

Harley drops a record on the old player, smiling as the familiar croonings of Bing Crosby lift over the house. It’s a favorite of his dads: Only Forever.

Peter stills as he hears the lyrics:

Do I want to be with you as the years come and go? Only forever, if you care to know...

“You mean...?”

“I mean it all, darling. I mean it all.”

Peter smiles and there’s almost a tear in his eye as he leans his head on Harley’s shoulder.

“I love you, Harley Keener.”

They sway like that for a moment, and all is well. Harley breathes out, and he listens to Peter’s heartbeat slow down. It’s a good moment.

For their wedding album, Tony surprises them with a picture of their first dance. The real one.

Harley absolutely does not cry and if anyone says that they saw him, they are lying liars who have received uninformed news.

(No matter what his husband tells them.)

#lovelyirony writes #peterharley #harleypeter #i like this ship a lot. i just liked making this soft #ironhusbands #rhodey #tony stark #anyways yeah #this is cute i think :)#peter parker #harley keener

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365days365movies · 3 years

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May 9, 2021: A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) (Recap: Part One)

Welcome to the future.

At this point, we’ve mostly looked at the past, present, or the near-future (as in, the next ten years, if that). Additionally, we’ve looked either at nonexistent technology in a contemporary setting, or an extension of existing technology taken to a logical next step. But no more. No more realism, no more real-world rules, and nothing that we’re even close to in this reality.

Well...mostly.

That’s genuinely impressive, not gonna lie. Anyway, yeah, from here forwards (for a bit), we’ll be looking at the future and futuristic technology. Now, there are a couple of ways in which these films tend to go. The first big way that we tend to represent the future in film is the same way we always have: flying cars, futuristic technology, smart houses, and robots.

Now, there are countless examples of this future, and it always changes a bit depending on the present. Which, yeah, makes sense. After all, what I’m doing right now, at this moment, would’ve been seen by many people as a massive technological achievement, even around the time that I was born. Which, yes, I’m old, deal with it (because I can’t). Anyway, the way that this begins is with the first major filmed view of a seemingly idyllic future: Fritz Lang’s 1927 film Metropolis.

The overly mechanized (and politically dystopic) society seen in this film, as well as the visuals and technology, would inform our ideas of the future throughout the next century. Multiple themes and common objects reoccur throughout futuristic fiction. You know the stuff I’m talking about. Flying cars, automatic food machines, robotic assistants, video watches, holograms, jetpacks, so on and so forth.

But here’s the thing about the future. It’s always ahead of us, and eventually...well, we’ve gotten to most of those things to some degree. Either they already exist...

youtube

...or is currently being developed.

Well, one of them we’re still working on. And the development of more advanced AI is something we have yet to perfect, or even fully develop. However, the development of A.I. (and the consequences of that technology) are ALL OVER science fiction. Sometimes, they’re merely used for flavor to help establish the futuristic setting.

Sometimes, they’re characters with their own agency and conflicts, which may or may not define the plot. In these cases, they’re often simply there to back up the main human characters, and help with their development, and sometimes their own. You know, manic pixie dream robots.

And then, possibly most often, they’re the abject villains of the piece. they can be mysterious alien technology, like in The Day the Earth Stood Still, or a man-made danger that turns on the race that created and/or abused it.

But then, on occasion, an A.I. is given the chance to develop as a character, without being used to define the development of a human character. Sometimes, the question of what life truly means is raised through these characters, and we become attached to them outside of any other character. This isn’t nearly as common as the others, but it’s definitely not unheard of.

And for the record...things don’t often go well for those AIs. But still, some of those characters have quite a lasting impact. So, there’s quite a lot of potential for this type of character, from a dramatic standpoint. And that potential leads us to the guy who made this.

I WILL MAKE A JURASSIC PARK REFERENCE AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE

Steven Spielberg gives us today’s entry, and this director of a classic science fiction story about science gone awry teamed up with the director of a science fiction film where an artificial intelligence went awry. You know, this thing.

I didn’t forget about HAL. And I won’t forget about him later, either.

Director Stanley Kubrick is pretty well-know for his mind-bending films, especially The Shining and 2001: A Space Odyssey. But he also worked with Spielberg on this film before his death in 1999, as this was one of his dream projects for many years, and the two directors were well-known friends.

And so, eventually, Spielberg was given the reins from Kubrick, and results were...mixed. It’s funny, because I’ve never actually seen this movie, but I remember it through its surprisingly widespread ad campaign. I used to go to NYC as a kid a lot, and there was a massive building-side plastered with the iconic logo of this movie. So, I’ve been hovering around this movie for a long time. Enough navel-gazing!

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (Part One)

It is, unsurprisingly, the future. A marrator informs us that climate change has caused the ice caps to melt, and global flooding drowns several countries. You could say that it’s a...Waterworld.

I genuinely considered watching that movie at some point, and then I decided I liked myself to much to watch 2 hours of Kevin Costner’s emotionless acting. Granted, it’s not much better now, listening to the emotionless acting of...

Professor Allen Hobby (William Hurt) is a straight-up sociopath. OK, technically, he’s a robotics engineer, but dude’s making a speech, right? He talks about how far robots have come, dissing my boi Deep Blue in the process, and notes that pain-memory response can also be demonstrated by robots. He proves this by stabbing a woman in his audience, like RIGHT through the hand. Jesus, man! Why the hell would you do that?

Oh. Holy shit, I got fooled. Advanced technology indeed. But OK, so Sheila’s a robot, and a very advanced one...to us. But Hobby wants more, and proposes to his workers to make a robot that can really TRULY love. And through love may come a true subconscious, which means making a robot that can dream. And what better robot to make than a robot child? After all, all child conception requires a license in this futuristic world, so many childless couples are yearning for a child.

Which is why, twenty months later, the first robot child is offered to Henry and Monica Swinton (Sam Robards and Frances O’Connor), a couple...with a child. Um. Guys. You JUST SAID that there are legit childless couples who need a child, and those people would be best suited to love that robot child back (a VERY GOOD question raised by one of Hobby’s subordinates). So why give it to a couple whose son is still alive? Yeah, he’s got a rare disease that they don’t have a cure for yet, and is currently in cryostasis, BUT THEY HAVE A KID! Surely, that’s going to be a potential emotional conflict! And what if the kid wakes up or some shit? This is a TERRIBLE goddamn idea. Think this shit through, guys.

And yet...

This is David (Haley Joel Osment), Cybertronics’ first child robot, brought home by Henry to essentially replace their son. Which is AMAZINGLY FUCKING TONE-DEAF AND INSANE, GODDAMN. That’s extraordinarily messed up. And, for the record, I totally get what Spielberg’s going for, but Jesus Christ, man. This was a terrible way to go about this. And it gets fucking WORSE.

See, Henry (who actually works for Cybertronics) tells Monica that, once they sign the papers and complete the updates, David will imprint on them and see him as their true parents, loving them unconditionally. Which...yeah, fuck, that’s an entire DUMP TRUCK of ethics issues right there. And, while we’re at it, David is...creepy as shit. I mean it, dude, Haley Joel Osment is a VERY good child actor, but he’s laying on the creepy robot child thing THICK. And yeah, this is BEFORE he imprints on them. Jesus fuck, man, there’s a scene where the still uncomfortable Monica is outside of a glass door, and he looks back at her THROUGH THE DOOR like a goddamn SERIAL KILLER.

And I gotta tell ya, dude does not lay off that creepy-ass dial one iota. And for that matter, the music by John Williams ISN’T FUCKING HELPING. LISTEN to this shit, and imagine a robot child that you don’t know wandering around your house. It’s amazingly fucking creepy.

AND IT JUST. KEEPS. GETTING. WORSE. There’s a scene where they’re all at dinner, right, and David’s just staring at them as they eat, mimicking their actions. After all, he’s a robot, he can’t actually eat or drink anything because of his internal working. And then, out of FUCKING NOWHERE, he starts laughing like the FUCKING JOKER, and it scares the EVER-LOVING SHIT OUT OF ME. And somehow, they laugh alongside him, in the never-ending Stockholm syndrome that is this movie! And as soon as its over, he just STOPS laughing, spontaneously. Fuck me, man, I’m tempted to stop watching here and now, and I’m only TWENTY MINUTES IN! I need a fucking break.

And after that...OF COURSE she decides to activate his imprinting protocols to make him, let me remind you, LOVE HIM FOREVER! She reads out a series of words, and after “FREIGHT CAR”, he knows his mission is to kill the Prime Minister of Sokovia. But first, he’ll settle down and love Monica unconditionally (again, FOREVER), calling her Mommy and making me shit my pants in fear. IT WASN’T ME, IT WAS FUCKING DAVID

Oh, and by the way, isn’t it kinda shitty to do that without Henry being involved AT ALL? Like, cool, he has unconditional maternal love, but Henry wasn’t a part of that conditioning at all! And he still refers to him as “Henry” instead of Dad! However, Henry definitely doesn’t care about that, because he still sees David as only a robot. Hey, guys, maybe using these two as your first experiment with a robot child WAS A TERRIBLE FUCKING IDEA, YOU IDIOTS! No wonder William Hurt was cast as Thunderbolt Ross in the MCU. Already shown he can play a character with shitty ideas before.

Anyway, after this terrible series of events, David prevents the parents from leaving one night due to his childlike antics. When Monica goes to comfort him, he asks how long she’ll live, and tells her that he hope she never dies, a COMPLETELY NORMAL THING TO SAY. Look, I get that he’s a robot, but only a goddamn emotionless sociopath would program emotional responses like this into a robot. Which, given what we’ve seen of Hobby, makes sense.

In response, she gives him Teddy (Jack Angel), a technologically advanced teddy bear with sentience, a personality, and the voice of Astrotrain from The Transformers TV series. Because, yes, I am THAT MUCH of a goddamn nerd.

Soon after, the house gets a phone call, which David receives...literally. He takes the phone and allows it to speak through him. It turns out that, shock beyond shocks, THEIR SON IS CURED! Yeah, fuck. Maybe giving David to a family with a STILL LIVING SON is a fucking ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE IDEA, for about a thousand reasons.

And, fucking understandably, Martin Swinton (Jake Thomas) is a little upset to find out that he’s essentially been replaced by a robot kid. Although, to be fair, he’s also kind of a dick to David, holding his humanity over him and treating him as a toy that he attempts to manipulate and bully. My Lord, this is a massively stupid idea. And Martin immediately shows his dickishness by asking his mother to read Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio to them. Which is meant to be a punishment for Pinocchio. However, of course, David loves it.

Still, however, there’s trouble in paradise for David, as he tries to compete with Martin for being a real boy, and eats spinach at dinner one evening. Despite Teddy’s mildly ominous warning to him (”YOU WILL BREAK”), he keeps eating until he basically has a stroke and breaks, forcing him to be repaired by some of Cybertronics’ technicians. Monica has a bit of a break down as a result, which Martin notices. This causes Martin to go pure supervillain, manipulating David to do creepy things in order to insert doubt into Monica about David. Jesus, Martin’s a creepy kid, too. No wonder Monica grew to be cool with David, her actual son is a FUCKING SOCIOPATHIC MONSTER! Are there ANY truly normal people in this world? IS THIS WHAT THE FUTURE IS?

Martin convinces David to cut a lock of Monica’s hair while she’s sleeping. And lemme tell ya, a little boy holding scissors over someone while they sleep is not exactly comforting. Henry agrees, and after stopping him, believes that they need to return him. Monica disagrees, knowing that they’ll destroy him if brought back. But David, ever the semi-sociopath himself, ignores any signs of humanity in David and dismisses Monica's feelings for him entirely. He also says this thing about “IF HE CAN BE PROGRAMMED TO LOVE, CAN NOT HE BE PROGRAMM-ED TO HATE?”, which...no. No, he cannot. He didn’t learn to love, he was programmed to. And, again, that’s ethically FUCKED, but taking that into account...no. HE WASN’T PROGRAMMED TO HATE, HENRY. Goddamn, buddy, use your head here.

It’s Martin’s birthday, and his friends at the pool party expose David to the fun world of anti-robot (or Mecha) racism, and test to see if he has Damage Avoidance Systems by threatening him with a knife. And he does. Buuut, when those systems kick in, he goes to the nearest point of safety to keep himself safe. That point is, unfortunately, Martin, whom he gets behind...and accidentally drags into the pool.

Thing is, because of Martin’s recent illness, he can’t exactly swim, meaning that David almost drowns him. When Henry and other partygoers go to save him, they abandon David in the pool completely. And now, David’s fucked. Because although this situation isn’t even a little bit his fault, he also just nearly killed Martin. And so, after seeing notes that he’s been writing to her, Monica offers to take for a “ride in the country”. Which definitely means something good. In reality, she’s planning on taking him back to Cybertronics. But once in the car, there’s a change in plans. And hear me out...it’s arguably far more horrifying.

She decides to abandon him in the woods completely, despite how hard it is for her to leave him. She’s sparing him from death, sure, but also throwing him into a world he doesn’t understand, and for reasons that he doesn’t understand. It’s genuinely terrible. And then...yeah, she leaves him forever, to an uncertain future.

End Act One.

I think this is a good place to stop. It’s early, and I need more coffee to handle this shit. See you in Part Two. Of Three. Yup. It’s a long one.

#a.i. artificial intelligence #ai artificial intelligence #steven spielberg #stanley kubrick #haley joel osment #jude law #frances o'connor #brendan gleeson #william hurt #science fiction may #sci-fi may #user365 #365 movie challenge #365 movies 365 days #365 Days 365 Movies #365 movies a year #movieedit #filmedit

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loopy777 · 3 years

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What’s your favorite composition by John Williams? And if you can’t choose just one, list your top 10.

My personal favorite is “Welcome to Jurassic Park,” the finale and credits music for the original Jurassic Park. I love the Jurassic Park theme, and this is a great suite of it combined with the ‘island theme.’ I like it even better than the concert versions of the same combination, as I think those are performed too quickly, even when Williams conducts.

And since I love talking about this, I’m also going to keep going for a top 10! Yay!

“Adventures on Earth” (from ‘E.T. the Extra Terrestrial’): Again, this is the finale and credits, which touches on all the great themes from the movie and includes the big, rousing, emotional climax. It’s funny- just two days ago I was talking about how everyone was comparing the end of Mandalorian Season 2 to the ending of E.T., and I speculated that the reason it didn’t work as well for me as everyone else is because Ludwig Göransson, while a great composer, just doesn’t do that Spielberg-sentimentality as well as Williams. But then, no one does.

“A New Hope and End Credits” (from ‘Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith’): I’m cheating with this one. I love the Star Wars music. It’s what made me aware of John Williams in the first place, and it got me to realize that the reason I wasn’t excited by all the pop music that my peers were into wasn’t because I disliked music- I just didn’t like that music. Star Wars taught me that I like the full, complicated performance of an orchestra, that the different sounds of the various instruments intrigue me more than lyrics (which I have to concentrate to understand), and that I like storytelling in music. Star Wars is probably the ultimate expression of that in the career of John Williams, not just because of how thematic it is, but also the breadth afforded by his doing nine movies spread across over 40 years. So how do I pick something to represent that? The main theme? The recurring Force theme? A suite? Yes, I have to go with a suite. But which one? I went with the one from the finale of ‘Revenge of the Sith’ for several reasons. It includes nice expressions of the themes of Leia and Luke, referencing the classic trilogy. It has “Battle of the Heroes,” which I consider one of the standouts of the prequel trilogy. And, for the soundtrack release, this suite includes pretty much all of the expanded version of “The Throne Room” from the very first Star Wars movie, which I feel was a great way for John Williams to take a bow at the end of a trilogy that can be criticized for many things but absolutely not the soundtrack. (By comparison, the soundtrack release for ‘Rise of Skywalker’ was a bit of an anti-climax, as Williams’ last Star Wars movie. That should have included a whole second CD that’s just an hour-long suite of music from the entire 9-film saga! Disney could have afford to take a loss on it! If they’re not going to release properly restored versions of the full series’ soundtracks, they owe to the John Williams fans!) And, of course, there are multiple expression of the Force theme in this piece, from the ‘binary sunset’ final scene of the movie itself to the B-segment of “Battle of the Heroes” to various parts of “The Throne Room,” and that theme might very well be the signature of the series at this point, since it has meaningful recurrence throughout the saga. The main Star Wars theme is Luke’s theme, and is reused throughout the saga as callbacks and call-forwards to that same kind of heroism, but George Lucas kind of messed up the focus there when he expanded things with the prequels. So the Force them is really the dominant theme in the saga, and that’s appropriate. I probably could have selected just the Force theme for this, but by cheating and picking a suite, I get other stuff, too, and get to acknowledge the prequel-era music (which is arguably superior to Williams’ work on the classic trilogy), so it’s a win all around.

“Out to Sea / The Shark Cage Fugue” (from ‘Jaws’): I think we have to recognize that John Williams has made an indelible mark on all of human culture- it is impossible for us include a shark in our media without a pulsating musical motif. He has literally defined the sound of sharks in our imagination. Even so, I think the soundtrack to Jaws is under-valued; sure, everyone knows the shark theme, and there’s no big thematic stuff like in Star Wars or super-emotional stuff like in most of the Spielberg scores, but it’s still a great soundtrack with really solid adventuring music that’s so wonderfully lively and fun to listen to. This suite is a great example of that, mixing samples from the second half of the movie with lighthearted moments, some of the more action-y chase music, and some darker stuff like when the ship is destroyed by the shark. I’ll often just whistle parts of this for fun even if I haven’t listened to the soundtrack or watched Jaws in over a year.

“The Visitors / Bye / End Titles” (from ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’): People are sleeping on this soundtrack, let me tell you. It starts out with weird alien sounds and standard action music, but the ending -- where mankind makes peaceful contact with aliens via the medium of music -- is one of the standouts of Williams’ entire career, one of the greatest examples of that Spielberg sentimentality. I find this music to be absolutely glorious, majestic and full and transcendent. The little joke of having an instrumental recurrence of “When You Wish Upon A Star” along with the ‘five tones’ motif is something I find actively amusing- wish upon a star, and alien life with reach out in response! XD I wish I could have linked to some of the alternate arrangements from the restored 40th Anniversary release from La La Land Records, because they’re absolutely fabulous and I love blaring them on my car’s speakers, but it seems that no one has pirated and posted them on Youtube. WHAT ARE PEOPLE DOING WITH THEIR TIME?!

“Remembering Childhood” (from ‘Hook’): Look, I don’t care what people think of the movie. I haven’t even watched it all the way through in over a decade, probably. But this is one of Williams’ best scores, no fooling. I want a 5-CD expanded soundtrack of this thing with every second of music from the film, the stuff that was recorded that didn’t make the final cut, alternate versions of the stuff that was used, etc. I love this music. Every moment is great. And Remembering Childhood is one of the standouts; it uses the main flying theme at the end, and the beginning is a big triumphant instrumental rendition of the “When You’re Alone” song that sounds great. But the showcase is the stuff that accompanies Peter Banning getting his memories back and becoming Peter Pan once again. It’s emotional and reflective and nostalgic and heartwarming. It’s a perfect musical sandwich.

“Prelude and Main Title March” (from ‘Superman’): Just like John Williams invented the sound of sharks, he invented the sound of cinematic superheroes with his score for Superman. It’s the perfect embodiment of the first and ultimate superhero, and everything that’s been written for the character since has either been a pale imitation or a deliberate attempt to do something different (to lesser effect). And I love the exuberant sound it has, like it’s shouting, “It’s Superman!”

“Love Theme” (from ‘Superman’): Two from Superman?! I didn’t even mange to fit two from Star Wars and had to resort to a suite! (Not that Superman isn’t one of Williams’ best. It’s great.) However, I feel like I had to include this one. Lots of movies have love themes, and Williams himself has written a bunch. But IMO the Love Theme From Superman is the best of them. I’ve never been in love and I don’t ever expect to be, but I have to imagine that this is what love sounds like.

“Theme from Schindler’s List”: There’s a lot of music on this list that’s warm and positive and exciting, but John Williams is also great at quieter stuff, without losing any of emotion. I think the theme from ‘Schindler’s List’ is probably the preeminent example of that, perfectly mournful and full of the proper sound, a unique sound that’s completely unmistakable. Of course, Itzhak Perlman‘s performance is a huge part of that. The theme is still good when played by others, but there’s something special about Perlman’s rendition.

“A New Beginning” (from ‘Minority Report’): Another finale, but this one isn’t a summary of the rest of the movie’s music like the others. It’s a fairly stand-alone piece, but I just love the sound of it. I’m never getting married and I don’t dance, but this is totally going to be the music for the first dance at my wedding reception.

If anyone else has favorites from John Williams’ oeuvre, feel to reply or reblog with additions. I’d love an excuse to re-listen to those.

#Anonymous #you have no idea how agonizing i found making this list #it feels like a crime that raider's march isn't here #but this was a cutthroat competition

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sanoiro · 4 years

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Lucifer 5x06 - BluBallz - Spoilers & Speculation

Warning! There is always the possibility that certain scenes might have been mixed up under their non-respective episodes.

Written By: Jen Graham Imada Directed By: Richard Speight Jr.

Jen Graham Imada has written/co-written the episodes:

3x07 - Off The Record

3x15 - High School Poppycock

3x25 - Boo Normal

4x07 - Devil Is as Devil Does

Cast: Tom Ellis as Lucifer, Lauren German as Chloe, DB Woodside as Amenadiel, Lesley-Ann Brandt as Maze, Kevin Alejandro as Dan, Scarlett Estevez as Trixie, Rachael Harris as Linda Martin and Aimee Garcia as Ella.

Season 4 Recurring Characters: None Officially Announced Guest Cast:

Andrew Steven Hernandez...Dax

Alexandra Hoover...Belinda Roberts

Alveraz Ricardez...Raul Blanco

Behind The Scenes Videos:

youtube

Locations

LUX

Marina Del Ray (Different scenes day & night)

WB Jungle Backlot & Neighbourhood Area

Precinct

Linda’s House

Penthouse

Imada, as you can tell, knows how to reach us at that point where we believe that everything is up to be resolved and for Deckerstar to begin only to be halted mid-way. What you shouldn’t forget is that in 3x25 - Boo Normal this writer introduced us to Azrael and who knows it might be time for Ray Ray to make an appearance again although that’s an extremely wild speculation so treat it perhaps as a wishful thought than anything else.

Okay so, the sixth episode of Season 5 is called Bluballz and many may have hinted yet another unsuccessful Deckerstar ‘moment’ yet it is clearly also connected to the case so it is possible to carry a dual meaning.

First, some had mentioned that it might be a drug and in an episode where a rave happens, it’s true that it would have been a plausible explanation. The other explanation is the crime scene blue led balls. Unfortunately if swallowed they can be toxic but a bts says something about shooting so at the moment no matter of how the title is connected to the episode let’s keep in mind that A) Lucifer & Chloe were not lucky in 5x05 and B) that it’s directly related to the death of this episode’s victim.

As we have several locations to explore I believe for 5x06we need to start from the case and then how the story is progressing through that murder case.

We do know 4 things about the case.

First, we have the rave at night where the murder happens in the wee hours.

Second, almost before the sun is up Ella, Lucifer and Chloe are on the scene asking questions.

^As you can see there is some stiffness in both of their bodies and as we know that Ellis and Lauren can act that in a very good way I would assume that they are keeping their distance or they are perplexed.

^if you see the video she does not meet and hold his gaze.

Third, for some reason, LUX is used for a rave party either as a sting operation or most probably because Lucifer decided to step in and help. The other possibility is that the rave at the end happens after the case has been closed but as they were shooting for days and almost 16h per day I would say it most probably be placed in the middle of the episode.

Fourth, the arrest happens back to the Marina Del Ray where everything started so the story of that case comes in a full circle, yet we do not really care about the case itself but how it relates to our main story.

We have to note that in the bts we have Chloe and Lucifer seem a bit distant during their questioning on the murder scene. Chloe is uncomfortable as is Lucifer and Lucifer is almost too afraid to approach her in my opinion while she does not really hold his gaze. Whatever happened in 5x05 didn’t work on the contrary added a slight tension in Deckerstar. Nothing major in my opinion but it is enough for Chloe to need her space and her friends.

^Prencinct scenes in between!

Now we do know that the questioning also led Chloe and Lucifer (Lucifer had his Vette there) at a house at the WB lot yet what is more interesting for me is that they were close to the Jungle Backlot. It’s where the show “The Cabin” was shot in 4x02 but the vegetation is so good that it can be used for other projects as well. For example, if you go to the tour they will always mention that it was used for Jurassic Park :)

The reason why I’m so interested in the Jungle is because in a bts I saw some props that made me wonder if they were just there because they didn’t have any other space to put them or they mixed shots from the Jungle backlot and the stages. As the camera is turned to that golden object I would be wary and add it in my “They are still searching” speculation. For what you may ask but all I can tell you is that everything is connected. Unfortunately, their quest may turn an unexpected factor to the mix. If my speculation is correct then the “Our Mojo” also involves Charlie.

Now DB has been very excited with these episodes as I have as well mainly because it seems that Amenadiel is back in the very core of the series as he was in S1 while Charlie is growing and with crawling and teething other things come up as well. Perhaps wings, or powers. Perhaps… both.

^Linda’s house shooting Kevin is probably the one on the left side.

The scene though showed that it involved Amenadiel, Lucifer, Dan, Linda and Maze. Maze, as you may have noticed as a character, has remained quite elusive in the bts and the role it plays in this season but Charlie’s existence might be the key there or perhaps the 5x04 is. We shall see!

Speaking of Charlie we had him in a wonderful lion top and there have been some scenes at Linda’s house. Now while the girls are busy at LUX which we will talk about in a bit, the boys or more specifically Amenadiel and Dan have some scenes together. Perhaps the reason for the bracelet was not Lucifer’s idea but Amenadiel’s and as such you should be prepared on Dan knowing early on that something is off if not the whole truth.

Now one of the photos that make me wonder is the bts with their director and writer where Kevin has a weird doll on how left shoulder. Somehow it seems that time is running out and that makes sense as like with every other midseason finale or season finale the 3rd episode from the end gives us the route the next will follow. It sets the foundations if you like. Think of 1x11, 2x11, 2x16 or 3x08 & 3x22… The same happens in 4x08. There is always a chain of events that lead to the end and 5x06 will be no different.

We do know we have some Penthouse scenes due to Rafferty and Graham but the content of these is a bit unclear. During a tour the couch was a bit roughed up with the cushions displaced and all that but we simply have no idea why or what will happen there. Also the book we saw in 5x03 during the Clarkson interview it’s still there on the coffee table so I would once again place my money on that one.

^ I bet you didn't know that we have a new closet as it seems or even a bathroom as this may be either a towel hunger and to the left the shower curtain or an outfit hanger. I would bet on the bathroom set as for a hanger it seems a bit tall. ;) So... a shower scene is coming our way? Who knows...

Edit: I was thinking about this and I now believe it’s an outfit valet it’s just that the wall is drilled on is also a hidden door to the penthouse set...

Moving on we get to what caught our eye on this episode the Ladies Night Out. It’s the third time we see them getting together and this time they are determined to have fun. The theme seems to be dress as crazy as you can something that is supported by Maze’s choice who perhaps consider Ella a lunatic so she decides to dress like her… I do wonder if they they just went and took everything from Ella’s closet to be honest… Although the net stocking might have been too much for Ella so no idea.

Yet what would drive Chloe and the girls to go out? I expect that Linda needs a break from motherhood even for one night while Maze explores another side of her. As many may suspect I suppose she is growing a soul there somewhere so keep an eye on her. Now Ella was always quirky if you remember the wigs in S3 so do not see anything wrong there but why Chloe?

Episode 5x05 must have left Chloe with a lot to think about herself. Whether she finds out about her miracle status or not she seems to be in her own path of self awareness and as we have seen the only time she takes rush decisions of that kind is because of Lucifer. So whatever happened in 5x05 as been interrupted but I do expect that by the end of 5x06 she will have reached a decision once again but the timing will not be perfect in 5x07 as more problems arise.

I should also mention that the setting of this episode does suggest that whatever Amenadiel, Lucifer and Kevin are up to is probably not known by Chloe and possibly by the rest of the leads aside perhaps Maze and even that is a big if. The reason of perhaps excluding Maze is because of a tangible connection that may aid or disrupt their plans yet that’s once again a speculation, yes based on actual spoilers but still a speculation on how an act will affect the rest of that plot. It is also why I connect in this episode Amenadiel with the Jungle set as well as with that set prop.

And finishing 5x06 it is funny as by the end of it a new set of problems will have begun and that includes of course a new threat. One supernatural in nature and the other as mundane as Earth killers come.

^Last but not least up to 5x06 the Hell set was still standing so they have plans for it... For which episode we simply do not know but always keep it as a Joker card and you never know in which round it will drop...

^I do love Rafferty!

#lucifer spoilers #lucifer speculation #lucifer 5x06 #Lucifer 5x06 - BluBallz #Sanoiro S&S

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rangerslayer-97 · 4 years

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Aliens Semi-Review

Well then, I was going to do an Alien Marathon, but I started quite late and the film was a little longer than I originally thought - 2hrs 43mins (163mins). Also, a film directed by James Cameron, not Ridley Scott, surprise surprise for me. However, I know James Cameron's mindset and ambition with films, so I felt the film was in good hands. Since it was my first time watching it, for a film shot in 1986, seven years after the first film (Alien - directed by Ridley Scott); I was not disappointed.

The second film did stay true to most of the original homage to the first film. The tension and the atmosphere screamed original Alien to me. Honestly, it's those scenes, not even the action ones, that had my whole body in a lock and had me holding my breath. The claustrophobic feeling was there, there's always something uncomfortable about narrow hallways or even the thought of descending a flight of narrow staircases to lower levels. In this film, there is this sense of dread of descending to the lower levels.

What I also liked, that did share a similarity was we didn't see the Xenomorphs themselves until a good 90-100 mins into the film. The first scene we see the alien, are the infamous Facehuggers latched onto the face of poor Newt's father. That child no doubt has PTSD, Ripley an obvious one, along with Hickson.

I have to say Cameron handled the action scenes well. I wouldn't say it was a shock that it went from a Sci-fi/Horror to a Sci-fi/Horror/Action. There was a nice balance of action, because you can't always rely on your guns, no matter how armed to the teeth you are. Oh, who's idea was it in the corporation to build a giant colony base that can blow up with the equivalent power of a Nuclear Bomb!? Oh yeah! Multi-billion dollar corporations. On one funny part for this sequel, I was happy the shithead cat was left behind this time, at least he was safe.

I did kind of like the team of Marines. Their banter is humorous in some way, even though they have unknowingly signed their death warrants; i.e.: three-quarters of the team slaughtered faster than I can type a paragraph of my scientific literature review. There's no denying though, facing one Xenomorph unarmed is terrifying, never mind a full nest, even if armed. I don't how Cameron and the team managed that, cause the Xenomorph in the previous film was a guy in a huge suit, and probably sweating in it. Speaking of the Xenomorphs, stealthy little feckers for their size of 8ft, even though the Facehuggers are faster. Let me just admire and marvel at the sight of the Xenomorph Queen which see at the last 20mins of the film.

Giving thumbs to the creative team, the artists and the engineers, they created the largest and most complex animatronic of its time, for 1986. That's what some of the newer films seem to lack nowadays: the art of practical effects. The Xenomorph Queen is an anamatronic sight to behold, while still being manually controlled for the more finer movements such as the legs, tail, lips and secondary mandible by puppeteers. She was an ambitious piece of art and pushing technology to its limit in a way. However, the whole Xenomorph Queen required 14-16 operaters for smooth, complete control.

When the Queen was in action chasing after Ripley and Newt, the movements were so smooth that it is hard to believe it's an anamatronic. It was a time of no CGI and no green screens. The one scene though I did find kind of funny, yet appreciating the intelligence of the Xenomorph species is when the Queen figured out to take the elevator. All I could think was, quoting Jurassic Park: "You clever girl". Yet even the Xenomorphs themselves were smart, attack the survivors from above and below. While it's nice to know Xenomorphs can be killed, there is dangers in numbers and they can outsmart you.

The cast themselves were likable, though it took me a bit of time to like some of the Marines. While the Lieutenant was useless throughout most of the movie and to add salt to the wound, was unconscious for most of it, Gorman did make it up by sacrificing himself, along with Vasquez. What's there to say about Sigourney Weaver? And yes, imagine my surprise that she worked with James Cameron again for his most expensive and CGI-advanced film Avatar in 2009. She did a brilliant reprisal in the second sequel. Thumbs up to Reiser for doing a fine job portraying the asshole Burke. Never trust corporate officials, who care about their multimillion dollar spacecrafts, stations and colony bases. Oh, insane enough wanting a Xenomorph smuggled past Quarantine to study and turn into a bioweapon? I guess that's where 'never trust corporates' trend originated from. Anyways, he got his comeuppance for his arrogance. I liked the acting from Carrie Henn who portrayed Rebecca Jorden/Newt. She worked well with Weaver, being a young child back in '86. Of course, we see another side to Ripley, being given a rare second chance to be a mother again after learning her daughter: Amanda Ripley passed away (she's a different story, since we only see her in the game Alien Isolation (2014), looking for Ripley and set 15 years after Alien; i.e.: her mother is still floating around in hypersleep. Though it was good to know her daughter wasn't sitting on her ass on Earth after Ripley failed to return in time for her 11th birthday). Lance Henrikson also done a fine job playing the Android Bishop, and being one that didn't turn hostile, because I was expecting him to.

Can we also talk about the most memorable and badass scene of the whole film? Ellen Ripley suited up in the Mech Loader versus the Xenomorph Queen. That is a pretty good scene, loved the choreography of it, the brawl was good and then we still have our classic 'shove the fucking alien out the fucking airlock'. I loved that scene and Weaver's moment of badassery.

I also want to praise James Horner (1978-2015) for composing the score. Wonderful piece of work and staying true to the Alien theme from the first film. Also, the opening score reminded me of another track I listen to that sounded familiar. RIP James Horner.

All in all, Aliens was a sequel done right and had a good few elements of the original film. I have to say, for a film of its time, there are very few space films that have me holding my breath. 1986 Aliens did that, as well 1979 Alien (and yes, the airvent scene made me jump, even though I was ready for it. I wasn't). Knowing Cameron's track record and filmography, he did a damn good job on its sequel. We just don't seem to get movies like this nowadays, which is a shame or they are becoming rare and rarer as each year passes. Sure there might be miniscule issues hidden in the film, but to me, this film is worth a 9/10 in my opinion. One of the few Sci-fi films that made me feel I didn't waste my time, never mind 120mins of it.

Whelp, onto Alien 3.

#movies #films #aliens #james cameron #sigourney weaver #review #long post

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deacied · 5 years

Text

evening sun . // one .

summary: messaging stupid things to your celebrity crush on instagram has no repercussions because it’s not like they’re going to read it anyway! obviously this doesn’t entail sexual harassment or general creepiness, but sending a meme they’d like or a picture or maybe something actually stupid like your phone number seems irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

or the one where you dm joe on instagram and your life actually changes

warnings: none other than like fluff

word count: 1.7k

she sends the stupidest message she has possibly ever typed in her entire life (eighth grade, angsty teen posts on myspace included) to him in the second week of march. the chances were low that he would open her dm, but he had been known to ever so often answer a handful at a time, and what did she have to lose if he did answer the message? she had sent him other things before as if he were her best friend, memes that reminded her of him or funny t-shirt ads, whatever it had been that she thought might have him grinning to himself--- however, clearly the response never-received wasn’t with this particular “friend”. she didn’t really know him, and he, blissfully unaware of her existence, yet she tried weakly to get the attention of him while he received thousands of others flooding his messages doing just the same. it was just a bit of fun really. a shirt that showed a t-rex wearing mickey ears, “wrong park!“ written across it had her laughing manically to herself before sending the post over to joe. she hoped she would see him in that shirt soon.

it was a hopeless cause that, well, wouldn’t crush her if the odds weren’t in her favor. nearly a month after she had sent the stupidest message, a notification of a new text pings through her phone. a glance over to it only to be met with an unknown number loses her attention as quick as it held it. she yawns. the action comes of mainly boredom though sleepiness threatens to claw its way into dominance as the summer rain continues to pummel unto the roof, warm florida air shifting through the porch, and the novel in her hand losing focus. a nap would be good-- perfect actually.

the crackle of lightning followed by a gargle of thunder shook her out of her sleep only an hour later and back into reality. every afternoon without fail, the casual shower of rain would pass over her family home just after three as if mother nature were taking her time with her garden. florida often promised hurricanes so the thunderstorms weren’t uncommon, but this particular one wasn’t supposed to hit until thursday, and with it being only tuesday, she knew this storm would last forever now: the earlier they came, the longer and harder they reined apparently. notifications sound off at a quick rate, though she easily dismisses it as something extraordinary going on in the group chat. trekking back into the house with book and phone in hand, her free fingers pass over her dogs’ heads as she passes them to head to her room. the thought of a shower to wash away the dampness from outside was the most ideal option she possessed, however, the implied doom her mother promised of a shower during a thunderstorm was the least. more notifications go off in time before she turns off the ringer entirely and plugs it into the charger. sixty-four (jesus) messages in the group chat on discord, another twenty-one from the same group on instagram, and god knows how many more on snapchat, but the one, singular cluster of notifications tucked at the bottom that held her interest had her pausing with head tipping in interest: another message from the unknown number.

lower lip curls between teeth as brows furrow an inch together. finally clicking on the messages, she feels like she might throw up as her eyes follow the pixels. holy. fucking. shit.

FROM unknown 11:18 am: It’s super dangerous giving your phone number to strangers on the internet you know? FROM unknown 11:20 am: I tried to call and kind of chickened out. I got nervous and I’m sorry. FROM unknown 11:43 am: Oh my god, did you really shoot your shot and just leave the court?

she has to read the messages at least eight times, take a screenshot, send it to her brother, and have him confirm she’s not having a stroke before she can go back to the originals with an intent to reply. thumbs hover over keys making absentminded shapes as she breathes deeply, loudly, anxiously trying not to have a whole mental breakdown. the message directly referenced her messages to none other than the boy from jurassic park, the bassist of bohemian rhapsody, the very angry baseball player of undrafted. there was absolutely no way that this was actually, truly, literally joseph francis mazzello iii. couldn’t be. nope. not happening. she doesn’t know what to reply back with for a good long moment, taking a second to collect herself and open up instagram to confirm for the hundredth time now that this is who she thinks it is.

the dm’s screen welcomes her, exhale escaping lowly as she clicks on joe_mazzello’s chat. he hadn’t replied -clearly, she most definitely would have received a notification for that or else instagram would have a very angry woman on their hands- but he had opened it. the time read 3:56am two weeks ago when he read them. her head falls backwards as the mental math floods hurriedly through her brain, trying to understand: so he had called a week after reading them apparently, and then waited another week before engaging contact again. he... he had been thinking about this for a while; it wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment ploy to entertain a fan. god, she might throw up actually this time. thumbs navigate to open the texts from the unknown number again just to make sure they hadn’t magically dissolved into thin air. a slow exhale. one more final time she moves over the keys.

TO unknown 12:56 pm: who is this? TO unknown 12:57 pm: if this is who i think it is i’m gonna Lose My McFreakin Mind

she nods to herself as they send--- vague enough that whomever was on the other side wouldn’t think something strange was going on no matter what the outcome turned out to be. it had happened once where a friend texted the wrong number instead of her, asking if “mc fuckhead” was there. (that was an incredibly fun inside joke to explain.) head tips to the side slightly, hopping her train of thought from joe mazzello and him genuinely thinking of you to how strange every inside joke must sound to people outside of the inside. another vibration of the device jerks her back to the matter at hand, unable to help her heart thumping uneasily.

FROM unknown 1:26 pm: Hi, I’m Joe Mazzello from Jurassic- I mean, Bohemian Rhapsody and you’re watching Disney Channel! FROM unknown 1:26 pm: Thank God you’re a multiple text person too FROM unknown 1:27 pm: Please don’t Lose Your McFreakin Mind! FROM unknown 1:27 pm: Wait. FROM unknown 1:27 pm: .....Is this (@ y/ig)? Did I just fuck everything up with an actual wrong number?

suspicions couldn’t get more confirmed than that. her next set of texts goes out rapidly and without much second thought, a stupidly huge smile graced on her face that probably made her look like a maniac--- but really, if any person’s celebrity crush had texted them wouldn’t they have the exact same reaction? actually, now that y/n thinks about it, she’s being really, really calm. the internal screaming stays internal -thank the lord- though her cheeks already ache from the face-splitting grin she currently wears.

TO unknown 1:33pm: if i’m (@ y/ig) then wouldn’t you be @joe_mazzello? no? just me? ok TO unknown 1:33 pm: but hi yes i’m y/n ??? holy shit ??? what the fuck ??? TO unknown 1:34 pm: definitely losing my mind rn TO unknown 1:34 pm: but also 👀 real talk i was 👀 actually asking you 👀 out TO unknown 1:34 pm: like if you wanted to hang out 👀 haha

as soon as the last one sends, her heart drops with fear. fuck, what if the actor just wanted to do a fan a favor and answer her dm just for shits and giggles, or, best (worst?) case scenario he wanted to online-befriend her. she can very easily lose the one single chance she’s gotten and--- god, yes, definitely going to throw up. she sends another message in a haste, praying to whomever was up above that her last text actually saved her ass. he responds in actual record time, the girl tucked up on her bed unable to help the excited and very, very, very ugly squeal she let out as she starts reading the messages.

FROM joe omg 1:36 pm: Interesting.... I’ll have to accept your proposal. We meet at dawn! FROM joe omg 1:36 pm: But you’re in Florida right? I think I read that on your account, I hope I didn’t just pull that out of my ass. FROM joe omg 1:36 pm: I haven’t been to Universal down there in God knows how long and I was planning to go at the end of the month funnily enough FROM joe omg 1:36 pm: If dinosaurs and King Kong and Harry Potter and whateva are your thaaaang

an anxious groan soon follows-- of course this was the alternating year she had gotten a disney annual pass instead of a universal one like last year, and upon further inspection of prices, her bills due, and her bank account, it was a couple hundred dollars she definitely didn’t have to spend. she sets her phone down to calm her now raging anxiety, skin heating up and palms sweating profusely until she fists her comforter in hopes to dry them. asking an actual rich and famous person for financial help just to hang out with them was forcing her eyes to prick with tears-- she had to find something else, right? they could work something else out and she was just overreacting. it takes her verbally saying “you’re crying over universal, chill the heck out” before she comprehends and truly relaxes, tension melting out of her back as a slow breath falls from anxiety ridden lungs.

TO joe omg 1:42 pm: i actually love universal but i have a disney pass right now if maybe that was something you wanted to do TO joe omg 1:43 pm: idk if you’ve ever been to disney world but its so much better than disneyland if i’m honest lmao i’ve gone to california once and i went and i wasn’t super impressed TO joe omg 1:43 pm: i mean it was really cool cause it was the original disney but rides and attractions wise you know what i mean??? anyway im rambling wtf

the conversation rolls with no further lulls in topics to talk about, one in the afternoon soon turning to one in the morning and her eyes threatening to droop closed. with a final goodnight text the pair decide to resume conversation in the morning, and lord, did she have something to excitedly scream about then.

#okay uhhhh heres the actual first chapter #joe mazzello x reader #joe mazzello #joe mazzello fanfic #john deacon x reader

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