#like considering how tight she is with everyone in Twice and she’s clearly talented...

[jemmo]

i am looking directly at 3 & 11

eeeeeeek these are some of my faves, and ideas that have been festering in my brain for so so long 😁😁

3. barre buddies (ballet au)

this one is still very much in the planning phase but i have high hopes for it bc this is probably the biggest passion project i’ve ever undertaken. here’s just a bit of some kind of blurb i wrote to set the scene:

Pran had been in love with dance since he was a child. Something about being able to express without having to use words, it appealed to him. From before he could remember, he was spinning around in his living room, absorbing any bit of ballet content he could get his hands on, and begging his mom to find a class to take him to. She, course, disapproved initially. Naturally, she would’ve preferred if he concentrated on his studies so he could get a steady job and a secure future, but then when he was 6, she attended his first ballet recital, and the teacher took her to the side to go on about all the promise he had, how far he could go. Pran was never exactly sure why, but that seemed to change something in her, because from then on, she was so attentive and so encouraging about his dance, and before long it became a dream they shared, Pran becoming a star. He was in ballet lessons twice a week from the age of 7, and never even considered looking back, no matter the amount of snide sniggering from kids at his school about boys in tights and girly tutus. He was content with having no friends, coasting by. After all, one day he was going to be the principal dancer at one of the world’s most prestigious ballet companies, and no amount of shame or set-backs we’re going to stop him. At least, that’s what he thought when he was 7, but life didn’t always work out the way you dreamt it.

Pat hadn’t been born with a love of dance. Instead, he was born into a feud, into a competition he didn’t sign up for. Along with walking and talking, one of the first things he was taught was that that kid across the road, that was his enemy, his nemesis, someone he had to beat. So when his dad overheard prans mom chatting with friends about how their son was a dance prodigy, pat was in lessons the next day. The two boys glared at each other until pat was asked to pirouette and got his legs twisted, landing flat on his butt. Clearly, dance didn’t come easy to everyone. He had to push through recitals bounding across the stage like an elephant while pran got all these elegant solos, and he so wanted to resent him, to discount his talent like his father did, but when pat had to sit there on the sidelines watching pran perform, he couldn’t help it. He just thought he was amazing.

11. the very noble mission to see pran shirtless

this i started writing during ep 8 I think (yes it’s been that long, yes im that bad at getting fics done) so here’s a snippet:

Pat commenced phase one of his plan the day after he cemented his resolution. Look, he was an impatient guy; when he had something in his head, he just had to do it. So that evening, while Pran was busy preparing dinner, and by preparing he meant taking their take out out of the containers and putting them on plates, because ‘I might be lazy but I’m not a heathen’ Pran had said, Pat slipped into Pran’s room where the thermostat for the air conditioning was and set it to off. You see, Pran was very particular about the temperature of his room, he liked to be comfortable, especially during the sticky heat at the height of summer. So Pat figured, if the air conditioning was off, Pran might be a little uncomfortable in his usual layers, maybe even tempted to shed them.

He couldn’t hide his mischievous grin as he walked back out to the kitchen area, sliding into one of the seats at the island and picking at the food on Pran’s plate.

“What are you up to?” Pran asked, suspicion evident in the way he dragged out the sentence.

“Nothing. Why?” Pat asked back, looking up with his best puppy dog eyes as he munched on a bite of Pran’s dumplings.

“You’ve got that smile on. The one you do when you’re hiding something.”

“Why would I hide anything from my boyfriend?” Pat quipped back with an innocent grin.

“You know, you can’t just whip out that word to try and distract me. It doesn’t work like that.”

“Your face says otherwise, Mr. Dimples,” Pat crooned, poking a finger into where Pran’s face creased with his dimpled smile.

Pran swatted the hand away with an exasperated tsk but the dimples didn’t disappear, and Pat couldn’t help but grin, because the way he could fluster Pran so easily would never get old.

Pran swatted his hand again as Pat reached for another dumpling, pointing at him accusingly as Pat stroked at his hand, feigning injury.

“And don’t think I haven’t noticed you stealing. You can distract me all you want, but I know your games, Mr. Dumpling,” Pran said, leaning forward and poking his tongue out in Pat’s face before popping a dumpling in his mouth. Pat stuck his tongue out right back, which only goaded Pran into sticking his tongue out again, eyes going wide as he pulled a goofy face. Pat couldn’t help but giggle at the childishness, and ever the loser in their competitions, leaned forward and kissed the stupid look off of Pran’s face, and reeled in the way Pran’s eyes sparkled back at him with joy.

#lucky you for picking fics that I’ve actually written bits for #i seriously hadn’t even gone back to the pran shirtless one until today it’s been months god I had to dust the cobwebs off #and I rlly forgot everything I’d written i defo need to get that one out my system #but thank you for the ask lovely I hope these snippets are somewhere near what you’d hoped for #💖💖 #bad buddy

[ashauyel]

it’s kind of sick and twisted that Somi isn’t in Twice

#like considering how tight she is with everyone in Twice and she’s clearly talented... #like I get it. that Twices whole thing was everyone having a very distinct role and personality and that’s what they base their #marketability on and Somi doesn’t fit neatly into that. but still like I think they could have made it work

[geminiamethyst]

Dragon Seekers. Chapter 14

Chapter 1: click HERE

Chapter 13: click HERE

Chapter 15: click HERE

After crying for what felt like a lifetime, Jamie finally calmed down. He felt like a completely different person from who he was when he first came here. He felt so enclosed, but now he felt more open. Was that normal in a situation like this?

Jamie tried not to think about what is normal anymore. Instead he focused more on what he should do next. He wondered if he should rest more, but Ember offered for him to meet her family properly. Not wanting to appear rude, Jamie accepted. With Ember’s help, he was able to walk through the house and downstairs. That’s where Ash, Pyro and his fiancé were waiting to see him finally out of bed. Still feeling ashamed, Jamie reintroduced himself to Pyro, trying to overcome the forest interaction they had. Pyro only laughed it off, reminding Jamie that he took no offence to his actions. He excitedly introduced Jamie to his fiancé, Blake, who was just as keen to speak to the boy.

Once introductions were done, everyone was seated around the dining table. They all had had a cool beverage, much to Jamie’s relief. After telling Ember everything, he decided to come clean about how he got to where Ash found him. The family listened carefully to him. They seemed surprised at how he told them of his world and the fact that dragons didn’t exist, only creatures to be told in stories.

“So, you’re really from another world?” Blake asked, scratching his head confusingly. Jamie’s silence only confirmed his answer. “I want to say that I don’t believe you, but it makes sense when you consider everything.”

“Let me tell you, if I ever see your stepdad, I’ll beat him up so bad that he’ll think twice about picking on weak people,” Ash declared, scowling at how Jamie described how he ended up in this world. While he didn’t tell them all the details of abuse, like he did for Ember, it wasn’t hard for Ash to figure out.

“Ashley!” Ember scolded, appalled by what Ash had said.

“I’m just saying! If that guy thinks he can punch me, I’ll show him a thing or two about abusing people!” Ash scowled, banging her fist on the table furiously. Jamie felt concerned as she said that. On one hand, he’d love to see Carl get a taste of his own medicine, but on the other, he didn’t want to see Ash getting hurt. Not that he doubted her ability to fight, he just didn’t want to feel like it would be his fault. You can’t solve everything with violence after all.

“That’s besides the point, Ash,” Pyro pondered as he light drummed his fingers on the table. “Sounds to me that an old form of magic was what brought you here, Jamie.”

“So, you know how to get me home?” Jamie asked, wide eyed with hope. Unfortunately, that that hope died as the family around him looked solum.

“Sorry, kiddo. You’re looking at the wrong family for help,” Blake sighed, looking like he wished that he had more to say. Jamie felt like the world was swallowing him up. It was bad enough for him to be far from home, but if no one knew how to get him home, it only made everything more grim for him. Ash frowned a little as she looked at Jamie. She seemed to be contemplating something before abruptly getting up.

“Right. Pity party over. Have the dragons been fed yet?” she sighed as she looked at Pyro and Blake.

“Not yet, sis,” Pyro grinned.

“Good! Jamie, time for you to have a real introduction to our dragons,” Ash smiled, before dashing off somewhere. “I’ll get you some footwear.”

“Ashley, Jamie isn’t ready to walk yet,” Ember reminded her daughter.

“I know! Which is why Pyro is going to carry him!” Ash shouted back, not giving Jamie a chance to say anything. After a minute of hearing her rummage through some things, she finally came back, carrying a pair of black boots, identical to hers. “Try these. You’re roughly my size, so they should fit.” The boots were shoved into Jamie’s hands before he could say a word. Ash was incredibly insistent on him coming with her. He really should be recovering and relax, but he really wanted to see the dragons again. He gently slipped the boots on his feet, doing his best not to aggravate his injuries. The boots were more comfortable than he thought. He expected them to be quite tight and hard to wear, but his feet felt like he had stepped into something soft, like cotton. It felt great. As soon as he pulled his jeans over the boots, Pyro knelt down, back to him. Hesitantly, Jamie latched onto the young man, accepting the offer for a piggyback ride. Pyro carried him as if he weighed next to nothing. Ash stood by the door, holding a silver spear in one hand. The same one that dealt with the monster that attacked Jamie.

“Ashley, must you take that spear with you? You won’t need it,” Ember ashes, but she sounded like she knew the answer.

“Dad gave it to me, so I can fight. You never know when it comes to non-dragon creatures, Mum,” Ash sighed heavily, sick with the question that has clearly been asked before. Ember also sighed heavily as she gave up trying to change her stubborn daughter’s mind. Taking it as a sign that she’s won, Ash flung open the door, causing a blast of hot air to enter the house. Jamie flinched quite violently as the heat hit him again after being in the house for a while. Ash and Pyro were obviously not affected by the heat as they walked outside. The door gently closed behind them as they strode out towards the stable. Jamie thigh that that it would be hard for him to breathe again like last time. He was quite surprised to find that he could breathe quite well. He looked around, noticing a slight shimmering in the sky. There was a transparent dome around the area. Magic was the reason why it was so easy to breathe, it had to be. Magic as seemingly as simple as this, put Jamie’s talent of doing slight of hand effortlessly to shame. He was outmatched when it came to magic now.

Approaching the barn, Ash pushed open the large door easily. As Pyro followed her in, there was an uproar of growls with small puffs of smoke hanging in the air. The barn was bigger than he gave it credit for as it housed four dragons. The first two that he recognised as being Pyro’s and Blake’s. The third dragon was the biggest of them all, staring at Jamie with charcoal black eyes as it seemed to study him. It’s scales were a deep rouge. As Jamie looked at it, he deduced that it must be Ember’s dragon.

“Hey, Cinder!” Ash smiled as she dashed up to the smallest dragon, the size of a mini van. It was a light grey colour, the colour of ashes. It had bright, ember coloured eyes as it turned to see the got, approaching it. It bowed its head at Ash, purring as the girl stroked its head. Jamie didn’t think dragons could purr as he always thought that they growled and roared, breathing fire carelessly as they did so.

“Down you go, Jamie,” Pyro smiled, bending down a little as he stood in front of a hay block. Jamie let go as he was gently placed to sit down on it. Pyro seems satisfied as he looked over at Ash. “Come get me when you’re done, so I can help carry Jamie back in.”

“Got it!” Ash smiled back before Pyro left the barn, closing the door behind him. Jamie didn’t take much notice as he watched the magnificent creatures around him. They were fidgeting a little impatiently as Ash disappeared behind a separate door. He waited curiously as he heard her rummaging around in there, when Ash’s dragon trotted over to him. He tensed up, not sure as what to do. Ember’s dragon rumbled at the small dragon, almost like a warning. Cinder didn’t seem to take notice. It sniffed at Jamie, almost like how a dog greets a new human with caution. Jamie remained as still as he could, worried about what might happen if he made a wrong move. Cinder continued to sniff for a few more seconds, before starting to nuzzle Jamie a little. Briefly surprised by this, Jamie gently brought his hand up to Cinder’s head, brushing over the smooth scales. The young dragon purred again at the attention.

“She likes you. I’m shocked,” Ash smiled, pushing a large wheelbarrow in front of her. “Normally Cinder isn’t that friendly towards new people.” Jamie smiled back at Ash as she continued to push the wheelbarrow, which was filled up to the brim with some fresh looking meat. The dragons diverted their attention towards her, seemingly excited to receive the food she brought with her. Ash gladly obliged as she dumped the meat into a troth. As she rushed back to get more, the dragons started to snaffle up the meat. All but Cinder, as she suddenly started sniffing Jamie again. Or more specifically, his pocket.

“Hey! Cinder! Leave him be and eat!” Ash called out as she dumped another reload of meat into the troth. Cinder didn’t seem to listen as she pocked at Jamie’s pocket with her snout. Ash shook her head but finished off her chore by adding two more loads of meat.

“Cinder! Go on!” she finally scolded her dragon, gently pushing the scaled creature away. Cinder grunted, but did as she was told, finding the food more interesting all of a sudden. Ash scratched her head as she watched as the youngest dragon was finally eating. “Strange. She’s never done that before.” Jamie looked down at his pocket. At first he thought that he might had be had a sweet in his pocket that Cinder picked up on.

Then he saw the outline of a familiar shape.

How could he forget?!

Jamie hurriedly dug into his pocket, feeling a metal he immediately recognised. He pulled it out and laid the dragon statue, right in front of Ash. She turned, looking at the statue for a split second before looking back t the dragons. Then she snapped her eyes towards it again.

“Wha-how’d you get a Soul Statue?!” she exclaimed, eyes as wide as inner plates.

Jamie looked at his new friend in surprise.

What did she just say?!

#Dragon Seekers

[lastsonlost]

Comedian Ricky Gervais is clearly enjoying himself as he rides the outrage wave from his fan-loved and Hollywood-loathed performance as the host of the Golden Globes Sunday night. After gaining hundreds of thousands of followers as a result of his celebrity slamming performance, Gervais took a moment early Wednesday to provide a helpful list of reminders about humor for his “offended” critics — many of whom happen to be journalists, who Gervais also made sure to mock.

In his instantly famous opening remarks at the awards show Sunday (transcript below), Gervais announced that it was his “last time” hosting the show and then promptly proceeded to do what so many viewers have been longing for a host to do: put virtue-signaling Hollywood in its place. “Let’s go out with a bang, let’s have a laugh at your expense,” he said at the start. “Remember, they’re just jokes. We’re all gonna die soon and there’s no sequel, so remember that.” After calling out Hollywood hypocrisy — including on sexual misconduct, corporate corruption and human rights abuses — Gervais ended his blistering opening statement by telling all the winners, “If you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God and f*** off, OK?”

His brutal rebuke of Hollywood was met with predictable outrage from many, including media figures and journalists, which Gervais pointed out in one tweet Tuesday.

“I always knew that there were morons in the world that took jokes seriously, but I’m surprised that some journalists do,” he wrote (tweet below). “Surely, understanding stuff is pretty fundamental to their job, isn’t it?” He ended the post by twisting the knife: “Just makes it funnier though, I guess.”

Early Wednesday, Gervais felt compelled to help out some of those particularly suffering from a case of perpetual offense by offering a list of reminders about how humor works and doesn’t work:

1#. Simply pointing out whether someone is left or right wing isn’t winning the argument.

2#. If a joke is good enough, it can be enjoyed by ANYONE!

3#. IT’S NOT ALL ABOUT YOU!

4#. Just because you’re offended, doesn’t mean you’re right.

As The Daily Wire reported, Gervais spent Monday after the Globes having fun at his critics’ expense online, ridiculing responses to his performance from The Los Angeles Times, The Hollywood Reporter and The Independent, along with the very show he hosted.

Among his posts was one in which he slammed those calling him “right wing.” “How the f*** can teasing huge corporations, and the richest, most privileged people in the world be considered right wing?” he tweeted (post below).

He also made a point of thanking his hundred of thousands of new followers. “Welcome to the 300,000 new followers I acquired today. I promise you won’t like everything I say, but here’s a sexy photo,” he wrote.

Gervais continued to hit his critics on Tuesday, including retweeting a defense of his Golden Globes jokes by Second Amendment champion Dana Loesch, who called The Independent’s condemnation of Gervais “garbage.”

“Oh garbage,” Loesch wrote. “[Ricky Gervais] demonstrated that good comedians go after everyone. No one should be safe, but the prevailing thought these past 10+ years is that one group IS exempt. They can lecture from the stage but he can’t mock their inconsistencies? You prove his point.”

<I mean if calling out corrupt corporations and the super rich is right wing then I guess the right wing is better at being liberal than liberals.

Below is the transcript of Gervais’ opening comments at the Golden Globes:

You’ll be pleased to know this is the last time I’m hosting these awards, so I don’t care anymore. I’m joking. I never did. I’m joking, I never did. NBC clearly don’t care either — fifth time. I mean, Kevin Hart was fired from the Oscars for some offensive tweets — hello?

Lucky for me, the Hollywood Foreign Press can barely speak English and they’ve no idea what Twitter is, so I got offered this gig by fax. Let’s go out with a bang, let’s have a laugh at your expense. Remember, they’re just jokes. We’re all gonna die soon and there’s no sequel, so remember that.

But you all look lovely all dolled up. You came here in your limos. I came here in a limo tonight and the license plate was made by Felicity Huffman. No, shush. It’s her daughter I feel sorry for. OK? That must be the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to her. And her dad was in Wild Hogs.

Lots of big celebrities here tonight. Legends. Icons. This table alone — Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro … Baby Yoda. Oh, that’s Joe Pesci, sorry. I love you man. Don’t have me whacked. But tonight isn’t just about the people in front of the camera. In this room are some of the most important TV and film executives in the world. People from every background. They all have one thing in common: They’re all terrified of Ronan Farrow. He’s coming for ya. Talking of all you perverts, it was a big year for pedophile movies. Surviving R. Kelly, Leaving Neverland, Two Popes. Shut up. Shut up. I don’t care. I don’t care.

Many talented people of color were snubbed in major categories. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about that. Hollywood Foreign press are all very racist. Fifth time. So. We were going to do an In-Memoriam this year, but when I saw the list of people who died, it wasn’t diverse enough. No, it was mostly white people and I thought, nah, not on my watch. Maybe next year. Let’s see what happens.

No one cares about movies anymore. No one goes to cinema, no one really watches network TV. Everyone is watching Netflix. This show should just be me coming out, going, “Well done Netflix. You win everything. Good night.” But no, we got to drag it out for three hours. You could binge-watch the entire first season of Afterlife instead of watching this show. That’s a show about a man who wants to kill himself cause his wife dies of cancer and it’s still more fun than this. Spoiler alert, season two is on the way so in the end he obviously didn’t kill himself. Just like Jeffrey Epstein. Shut up. I know he’s your friend but I don’t care.

Seriously, most films are awful. Lazy. Remakes, sequels. I’ve heard a rumor there might be a sequel to Sophie’s Choice. I mean, that would just be Meryl just going, “Well, it’s gotta be this one then.” All the best actors have jumped to Netflix, HBO. And the actors who just do Hollywood movies now do fantasy-adventure nonsense. They wear masks and capes and really tight costumes. Their job isn’t acting anymore. It’s going to the gym twice a day and taking steroids, really. Have we got an award for most ripped junky? No point, we’d know who’d win that.

Martin Scorsese made the news for his controversial comments about the Marvel franchise. He said they’re not real cinema and they remind him about theme parks. I agree. Although I don’t know what he’s doing hanging around theme parks. He’s not big enough to go on the rides. He’s tiny. The Irishman was amazing. It was amazing. It was great. Long, but amazing. It wasn’t the only epic movie. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, nearly three hours long. Leonardo DiCaprio attended the premiere and by the end his date was too old for him. Even Prince Andrew was like, “Come on, Leo, mate. You’re nearly 50-something.”

The world got to see James Corden as a fat pussy. He was also in the movie Cats. No one saw that movie. And the reviews, shocking. I saw one that said, “This is the worst thing to happen to cats since dogs.” But Dame Judi Dench defended the film saying it was the film she was born to play because she loves nothing better than plunking herself down on the carpet, lifting her leg and licking her pussy. (Coughs) Hairball. She’s old-school.

It’s the last time, who cares? Apple roared into the TV game with The Morning Show, a superb drama about the importance of dignity and doing the right thing, made by a company that runs sweatshops in China. Well, you say you’re woke but the companies you work for in China — unbelievable. Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service you’d call your agent, wouldn’t you?

So if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg.

So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God and fuck off, OK? It’s already three hours long. Right, let’s do the first award.

#outrage culture #call out culture #Ricky Gervais #hollywood #media bias

[the-blind-assassin-12]

Misunderstanding

A/N: just another smooch featuring everyone’s favorite black hat. this one is stand alone so this is not the Logan from Oblivion/ Simplify or The Bottom. smooch #7- 12 to go! 

Warning: language

Word Count: 2,260

Prompt from: @thesumofmychoices who wanted Logan by the campfire with a kiss of relief.  giddy-up. 

 “Fuck!” 

 Logan kicked the boulder that he’d been sitting on before standing to pace around the campsite, sending a blunt pain through his foot and up his shin into his knee. “Mother fucker!” He took an uncoordinated hop, nearly falling over but catching his balance at the last second. It wasn’t clear if he was cursing at himself or at the boulder, at you or at the fact that he’d lost track of you somewhere in the park. Ripping the hat from his head he tossed it into the dusting of snow that had settled over the scrubby ground, the dark black felt in stark contrast to the pristine white glitter that had just started to fall. He looked at the way it stood out in the glow of the flames that wouldn’t last if the weather kept up. Shouldn’t have fucking let her go...no idea where the fuck she went now...goddamn it, Delos you really fucked this one up…  

 The biting cold was already working to numb the ache of what was surely a broken foot, and he considered giving the boulder another kick just to punish himself further. Feeling pain was relatively new to Logan, and he wasn’t sure that he’d had his fill. It had only been a few months that he’d been clean from the drugs that let him feel nothing in abundance, but abundance was what he knew best. If it couldn’t be an overflow of emptiness, he’d settle for another round of blinding pain. Anything was better than the cocktail of guilt and panic that was stirring his stomach and clawing at his chest. 

 “You’re being an ass, Logan.” You’d said it tight lipped with hard punctuation as puffs of white vapor formed in the cold air. He watched as you crossed your arms over your chest, tight lips turning downwards after you finished speaking. 

 He’d wanted to apologize. He wanted to take back what he’d said about how you’d only agreed to come on the trip so you could fuck your way through the wild west, about the looks he saw you giving some of the male Hosts you’d encountered, and how you should just get to it if that’s all you were here for. He wanted to grab you by the face and kiss you so hard you’d forget all about them and forget the hurtful things he said and the seemingly uncaring way in which he’d said them. He wanted you like he’d never wanted anything and it threw a wrench into the way he would normally operate. What he did instead was much worse. 

 He raised his eyebrows and gestured up and down his body at himself as he spoke. “Yeah? Well that’s me. I’m an ass.” He licked his lips, advancing on you, feeling his own eyes grow darker with anger. At himself. With every dumbass word he spoke. “So go ahead and get yourself one of those good guys back in Sweetwater, darlin’. I know that’s what you want. I know that’s why you came. Don’t let me stop you.” The fuck am I saying? He thought. Logan knew you, and knew that you weren’t a shallow puddle like the rest of the women he knew, like the rest of the eager young Delos interns that he’d “shown around the park”. This isn’t how I wanted this to go. At all. 

 You didn’t budge, even as he stepped within inches of where you stood, boot tips almost touching yours. “I’m not here to fuck dolls, Logan.” You poured acidic venom all over his name. 

 I know you’re not. “Coulda fooled me.” He knew he was sabotaging himself but he didn’t know how to stop. Normally, he wouldn’t think twice about how he’d spend a trip like this one, pushing the hair away from the ear he’d whisper into, saying things like “I’m not your boss in here, we can do whatever we want,” or “You really want the cowboy experience? Lemme take you for a ride, darlin’.” Normally, he’d take you into the tent or room or train car or carriage and he’d show you that while he was talented in the boardroom, he was even more talented outside of it. But there was nothing normal about the way he was feeling right now, the absence of any residual substance in his bloodstream allowing him to feel things that he had no prior experience with: jealousy, fear and hope. 

 You’d narrowed your eyes then, nostrils flaring. Dammit she even looks good when she’s pissed. “You know what?” You shook your head slightly, clearly frustrated as you dropped your arms. “I think I will go take a walk. Maybe I’ll walk all the way back to Sweetwater. Because I can’t with you right now, Delos.” You scoffed and turned on a dime, stalking off through the bushes that Nadia and Simon- the other two Delos employees that had been on this trip with you- had disappeared through about a half hour ago. 

 “Fine with me, sweetheart!” He spat after you. But it was not fine, not at all, and as he watched you walk away the anger started swirling with the other things he was feeling, and he thought about stopping you, but didn’t. She’s better off. Let her cool down or...or let her do whatever she wants… let her get the fuck away from me. 

 Ten minutes turned into twenty, and twenty into forty. Nadia and Simon were still gone, and Logan didn’t expect them to come back. Nadia had made eyes at Simon when they’d passed an abandoned homestead on their way out to where camp had been set up, and he knew what they were up to. It was what he wanted to be up to with you, but he couldn’t. Because he was an ass and he’d ruined everything. He sunk down onto the boulder, poking at the fire with a long stick to keep it going as the air temperature dropped and the sky darkened. Everything around him was quiet aside from the crackling logs, and he was left alone to wonder where you’d gone or if you’d taken his advice and found yourself a white hat to play with. Pulling his watch out of his pocket he realized it had been an hour since you’d stalked off, and just as he noted the minute hand passing the twelve, a snowflake fell on the watch’s face, melting against the fire-warmed glass. 

 Shit. Now it’s snowing. Why couldn’t this trip wait until fucking Spring? Another thought gripped him, and Logan felt another new sensation take hold- you’d never been to the park before. You had no idea how large it was or how easy it was to get lost. You weren’t an idiot, and you’d seen maps and pictures, knew the actual square mileage and all the details, but knowing the numbers and actually being there were two very different things. You could be lost. And cold. You could be scared. And he was worried about you. That’s when the pacing began. 

 ..  ..  ..  .. ..  ..  

 He really is an ass. I can’t believe...that’s really what he thinks of me? How dare he...? He...goddamnit why does it have to be him? Why couldn’t I just…

 You stomped away from the campfire, woolen stockings slipping in your leather boots with every purposeful step. You wanted to rip every last hair from your head. He really thinks I’d rather waste my time with a goddamn robot? When he’s right there and he’s… You grumbled aloud to yourself. You were in no way going back to Sweetwater, and you certainly were not about to go screw some bag of bolts. You just needed time to cool down before you talked to him. What am I even going to say? 

 You huffed and thought about how to bring up the fact that you were actually developing feelings for your playboy boss, and that you could barely focus on your work after he’d taken you out on two ...could you call them dates? Nothing had happened, he hadn’t even kissed you...Oh god, they weren’t dates. They were business lunches. Shit I’m… 

 You hadn’t gone far, knowing full and well that the park was huge and you didn’t want to get lost. You walked in circles, keeping the rising smoke of the campfire in your sights the whole time. You hadn’t noticed that a chill had crept into the air, too annoyed and worked up to feel it, but now a flurry of snowflakes were floating down to the dirt and you knew you had to get back before it turned into a storm. Why did we come in fucking February? 

 As you circled back to the campsite, the snow making the ground slick and the silence heavy, you heard him cursing to himself and ducked behind the twiggy branches of a barren bush. There he was, hair messed and hands tugging at his neck as he paced around the fire. Is he limping? You asked yourself the question as you saw him draw his foot back and direct another kick at the rock. You flinched. Yup, he’s limping. You were about to reveal yourself when you heard him speak, and shrunk back out of sight. 

 “Fucking idiot. The one good thing in your life...the one person who sees more than the bullshit… and you push her away...And now she’s gone...” He hopped on his injured foot and you felt your shoulders fall. Oh, Logan… 

 You bit your bottom lip as you watched him sit back on the rock he’d abused, hands in his hair and elbows on his knees. Could he actually… was he...worried? That I wouldn’t come back? You decided that he’d had enough punishment for his behavior from earlier, and you stepped out from behind the bush, clearing your throat. “What’d that rock do to you, Logan?” You tilted your head and felt your eyes soften as he looked up at you. 

 He rose, mouth falling open before he swallowed. “You’re back…” he tried to take a step towards you and faltered with a flinch from the weight he tried to put on his foot. 

 You shook your head and hurried closer, not wanting him to hurt himself more than he clearly had. “Yes, Logan, of course I’m back, did you think I was going to…” 

 “I thought you left…” His eyes were on yours and they were shining with more than the reflection from the firelight. “Or got lost or,” he sighed. “Or you had enough of...of me.”

 Not nearly. You reached for his arm, fingers closing around his wrist as you tugged him back down to a seated position to get him off his foot. “No, Logan. I didn’t leave.” You sat on the boulder beside him, close enough that your thighs were touching, and despite the snow you felt a warmth coming off of him that was unexpected. He was staring at your fingers as they slipped under the sleeve of his jacket. “I didn’t get lost. I…” you let out a little laugh. “I didn’t even go very far.” You gestured off in the direction that you came from. “I just walked in circles because I… I needed to clear my head, Logan. I couldn’t believe that you really...that you thought I was interested in the Hosts…” He looked up from your fingers as you felt his pulse quicken beneath them. “Guess I didn’t do a good enough job showing you what I was really interested in…” Well there it is.  

 “Me?” He asked the question like it was the most outlandish thing in the world. 

 You sighed, unable to take your eyes off of his. “You, Logan. I don’t give a damn about the Hosts. If I looked interested, it was just because I’d never seen them before. But...you… you’re what I…”

 He cut you off then, lips finding yours as snowflakes landed in both of your hair. Oh! The kiss caught you off guard with how soft it was, how delicate and slow. His hands came up to cup either side of your face, keeping you in place, your hand still wrapped around his right wrist, now moving up to run your fingers over his knuckles. Is this really… this is really happening. He’s… this… 

 He pulled apart and you were almost thankful- your thoughts were already scattered enough. “I was worried… about you… about… I thought I blew it. But you came back and… and you…” there were questions swimming in his dark eyes as he shook his head slightly. “You actually want… to be with me?” 

 You nodded, fully aware of how close your face still was to his. “Yes, ass.” You couldn’t help yourself, smiling and feeling downright drunk from the kiss and the way things had gotten misconstrued and how you’d watched him pacing around. He smiled, too, sheepishly, and brushed his nose against yours. 

 “I deserve that,” he laughed before placing another quick kiss to the corner of your mouth. 

 “You do, Delos.” You responded. “Now, let’s get inside so we don’t end up as popsicles, huh?” 

 He rose immediately and winced again. “Pretty sure I broke my foot…” 

 You rolled your eyes, despite your smile. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure you did too. That’s what happens when you kick boulders, Logan.” You rose on your tiptoes to drop a kiss to his cheek. Now that he’d kissed you, you couldn’t get enough of it. “Come on, cowboy, I’ll take care of your purple foot.” 

@something-tofightfor @its-my-little-dumpster-fire @suchatinyinfinity @agent-bossypants @lexxierave @thesumofmychoices  @belladonnarey @ymariejp@obscurilicious @ms-delos @songtoyou @gollyderek @traeumerinwitzhelden@breanime @drinix

#logan delos #logan delos x you #logan delos x reader #logan delos smooches #logan smooches #kiss prompts #smooch drabbles #logan delos fanfiction #logan westworld #a kiss by the campfire #for relief

[artificialqueens]

living on the edge of the law - chapter 3 (biadore) - lily2

bianca has just know met her new demise in the form of adore delano and adore isn’t so sure she wants to fulfill any part of her contract, worried about her own creative freedom and restrictions.

— *.✧ The light seeped into the car and Adore groaned, leaning back into the shotgun of the black Jeep, not exactly feeling the greatest at the moment. “I hate this you know, I liked my last manager! And now because I switched labels I have to get a new one? Fuck off.” She moaned aloud to herself and the only person in the car, Tatianna who could only focus on the road, stopping at the red light as she fixed her lipstick staring at the car mirror before finally acknowledging her best friend, smiling a bit. “Honey, these aren’t the choices I can say I make.” She reminded gently. Adore slugged, “I know, I know!” She insisted, annoyingly rolling her eyes and biting her lip, “Why can’t I just record from home? I really have to sign a formal contract and do all this shit?” She flipped her curls around and ran a hand through her long hair, reminding herself mentally to tell whoever her new assistant that her hair needed to be restyled, the white to black ombre was pretty cool but she was feeling perhaps a new color— Taitanna always wanted to see her in pastel’s so maybe a pink would work in her favor. “Well, you were under someone else for a while, this is just a bigger and more widespread label. The good thing is that you know they can spread your music around and pay you better, you can actually become a full fledged celebrity.” Tatianna teased though that set off an absolute spark in Adore who almost spat at her own best friend, “I don’t want to be fucking famous!” She quickly calmed down seeing her friend completely wince in the surprise of her anger. “I know, I was just joking.“  “I’m sorry—” she started before pushing the hair out of her own face, “I just want to get out of Azusa, I can’t handle already having this much attention and followers and just the pressure to make music scares me, I don’t wanna sit at my desk and think I have to write something, I want it to come naturally.” She explained with nothing but passion, her dream was to write music and she dropped out of college to do so, the grades didn’t matter all that much to her and a bachelor’s in music composition didn’t exactly sound like what she had ever wanted or envisioned, to go to school and wait another four years before she could even do something with her possible career. “I love you, we’ve been close since we were younger but, that’s the price you pay when you wanna be a musician who isn’t underground and struggling to pay rent at local bars, you have to put yourself out there, you’re so damn talented stop overthinking it, if a damn thing goes wrong you better call me and I will handle it, personal assistant or not.“  Adore bit her lip laughing, a corner of her mouth lifting into a smile: "You know you can just be my manager and assistant, fuck that written bullshit, let’s just get out of here.” She joked before Taitanna rolled her eyes and cursed her out again, “Far too late for that.” The reply came as they pulled into the parking lot, Adore groaning. “I just don’t have a very great feeling about all this now that I’m really thinking about it."  They both unbuckled before Adore stepped out, covering her forehead with her hand to avoid the piercing sun right in front of her face, Taitanna grabbing all the paperwork and official records they had to send and fill out for the label, she put her hands across the hem of her skirt, dusting off the crumbs from the fast food they had destroyed earlier while traveling from Azusa.  Wearing nothing but some fishnet tights and a low lying v-neck dress covered in sparkling tassles Adore twirled around, aimlessly staring down at her screen before Taitanna muttered to her to stay off the phone for now, reminding her the immense amount of security and introductions they were about to go through.  Taitanna twirled a piece of her long and straightned black hair around her finger as they walked closer towards the entrance. She truthfully didn’t need to be there but Adore asked her to be just in case "shit goes off” as Adore so kindly and truthfully put it. Not one to refuse a gesture for her best friend she wholeheartedly accepted and graciously helped her even fill out her paperwork, Adore’s focus levels were constantly bouncing off the roofs and she needed closure and someone to help her got go completely awry in more ways than one. “Just be yourself and you’ll be amazing, they’ll see how much you’re worth.” Adore nodded sweetly and turned before swiping the card they had given for to come in and then was a bit taken back at the buzzing before the doors opened thankfully. “I’m happy you’re here.” Reflecting on the past was difficult for Adore to do but she couldn’t have gotten past all her struggles without Taitanna sometimes supportively nagging or holding her hand, she wasn’t that old, she still made mistakes, she wasn’t a child either: she had her own problems to fix and music seemed to solve most of the ones she had on the tap.  “I’m happy to be here!” Her chipper reply came before they both grabbed eachother’s hand and quickly let go once they turned the corner. —  “I dropped out of my degree, out of college.” Adore sobbed out, wiping her eyes with her paint stained and ripped tank, trying not to completely turn on every single emotion she currently felt and project it onto Taitanna who sat there in a bit of a silent wake. Blinking, she observed the clearly distraught Adore and completely blanched white. “You, you— what?"  The younger girl simply screwed up her entire face and completely broke hearing the heartbreak in Taitanna’s voice, "I’m so sorry.” Terror overlooked her face before her older friend quickly took her in her arms and hugged her, stroking her hair and sighing heavily, more worried if Adore had told her parents than her, she had thick skin but her parent’s were the worry here. “Can I ask why honey?"  "I just…” She breathed in and Taitanna handed her a tissue so she could wipe her nose, thanking her quietly. “I can’t take it anymore, this isn’t what I want Tati, I want to be a singer and do it now!” It was difficult for Tatianna to process considering how badly she had hoped and prayed for Adore to finally pick college as her next stop. Not everyone had to have a degree to be successful but Adore needed a distraction from her other hobbies especially. “I have all this creativity and ability and desire to work, to post my music and no, I have to study for exams in the theory of scales and shit like that, I knew high school was gonna be a struggle but this is twice as worse because I don’t feel like myself anymore and I can’t do this anymore.” She stopped before putting her hand on her stomach.  “Does your mom know?"  The pause in Adore’s entire face and the sniffle that came after was enough to answer the question for Tatianna who wiped her eyes and nodded, "So she doesn’t.” She whispered laughing, not disappointed in Adore, disappointed that Adore felt so damn sad and overworked in an industry and degree that she chose for godsake. “You’re only twenty, you have a lot of time, don’t force yourself into school, you can stay with me, but you have to promise me—” she snapped to signal Adore to stars right at her, “Promise me, in my eyes, that you will stay clean."  Adore apprehensively gave her promise though she knew deep down what a grey area that was for the both of them, she ignored it for now, just wanting the knowledge that someone would let her live and take care of her, already jittery from what her mother would say when she was to find out.  "Party.” She laughed, wiping her eyes as Tatianna helped her up and gave her a final hug before pulling away and bending down eye level, “Now, we’re gonna get cleaned and go get some nails done and then, then we are getting pizza. I want some to and you need the good positivity, we can talk about this in depth when you’re ready to but not now."  Groaning, Adore cried out a: "You’re an angel!” to her best friend who only winked teasingly, “I know.” They both collapsed in laugher on the couch as if they were high schoolers again and pretending to study after school for the big test that was the next day.  “I’ll be a singer one day, just wait.” She swore to herself mainly but also to Taitanna who nodded in agreement swiftly, “I don’t doubt you for one second."  — After what seemed like an hour, it was really twenty minutes at most, of a degrading and sterotypical tour of the entire studio they finally focused on Adore, though she did enjoy seeing some of the recording space it only reinforced the regrets in her head she had with signing for a major record label as opposed to independence and creative freedom.  "Now if we can take you to see your space, take some pictures and meet your assistant that would be best.” One of the managers of the labels more demanded than asked. “Party!” Adore said, excited to finally see something that had to do with yourself and wasn’t shouting her face that this was for their profit margins. Tatianna wasn’t the least bit reluctant to come along, very curious about the entire assistant situation. “So if I can be nosy, why exactly does Adore need an assistant?” Tatianna attempted to not sound nosy and offended but her body language definitely told a different story, one of the men replied quickly back to her: “Adore is of course an adult who can make her own decisions but we need someone who can manage things like her dates, events, apperances, someone who can help her in and out of the studio, it isn’t any specific reason, we do it for all our big and upcoming artists."  It was about as generic and bland of a reply as she expected but she leaned away a bit seeing Adore so curiously taking in the true extravaganza of it all, she had never seen so much marble, glass and such high ceilings in her entire life. She had completely forgot about the assistant thing but hey, if it meant one person had to handle the work she didn’t want to do and helped them pay the bills that was absolutely okay with her not like they were about to dictate the music she made and what comes and goes, atleast she hoped. Her mind begun to wonder elsewhere before the men stopped her in front of what looked like an office, she curiously glared before looking back to the men who explained that she needed to meet her assistant in personal and confined conditions, some shit about safety and oath, she didn’t quite understand but she was to go in alone, much to Tatianna’s dismay, she grabbed the paperwork and hugged her best friend and told her she would simply call whenever she needed the ride back.  They all left and she was left outside the door, she put her hand on the door handle and grinned ear to ear before ripping the door open a bit too enthusiastically, a visible drop of papers falling from the desk in front of her.  She nervously shut the door before awkwardly laughing, "Oh man, I’m so sorry.” She said before picking up the stack and meeting eyes with must’ve been her new assistant after all that talk and glitz, “Party.” She whispered, feeling a bit flustered, not exactly expecting someone so well put together and well, attractively compelling before the older woman grabbed the papers from her, shaking her head.  “I’m guessing you’re Adore Delano then?” She sat down and crossed her legs, slacking in the chair a bit as she nodded her head, Bianca almost visibly pausing and glaring at her in absolute deadbeat disappointment. “Yes, I am.” She repeated, this time aloud before coughing and handing over the paper work. “And you are?” The younger singer attempting to make some attempt at conversation since they were gonna be stuck together no matter the feelings and circumstances. “Bianca, Bianca Del Rio.” She muttered loud enough for her to hear as she sorted through the paperwork and stamped it, “Bianca! I like it a lot.” She smiled, Bianca was definitely older than her but not some ancient lady who was probably close to her deathbed and on life support like she had assumed she would be which was beyond refreshing and calmed her down a bit.  “How old are you?” She asked, unaware that was the one question you really should never ask anyone. Bianca a bit stirred up bit the inside of her cheeks and smirked, “I’m 32.” She replied with complete honesty, not exactly feeling the need to piss off her client the first damn working day. “You look great.” The wink completely set off Bianca who laughed and then frowned, the corners of her lips defensively curling into a snarl, “You’re bold for someone who came dressed straight out of the pages of a fucking roaring 20’s novel."  Adore laughed wildly, "Holy shit you have an actual personality beyond work, you are so much better than I thought you’d be. I’m 22 by the way and thank you, I was inspired by your hair” She replied referring to the curls that were layered throughout Bianca’s hair, Adore slightly tilting to shake the tassles and grinning widely, attempting to keep Bianca on the edge and she was, taking offense to that a bit she almost threw her entire stapler at the girl.  Maybe if I piss her off enough she will hate me and I can just be let go and start my own album with no label, wouldn’t that be an idea?  “Make fun of my hair all you want but atleast I can never say my hair looks like the ink in the printer suddenly went out, I can let you borrow mine if you wanna restyle it, I can just throw it in, looks better than the fucking job that’s already been done.” She spat before Adore scoffed, now it was her turn to get offended just a tiny bit. “I paid a lot for this hair stylist, he’s amazing and I’m getting my hair dyed next week!” She defensively acknowledged before Bianca folded her hands and cracked he neck a bit, “Do you only give him your money to do your hair because he’s blind and you feel chartible? Be honest with me!"  The comment shouldn’t have made Adore laugh but it did, hard. Her eyes stared a bit too far into those damn irises, she was definitely playing with some kind of fire currently but was enjoying herself in absolute honesty, opening her mouth to reply before Bianca stepped in, holding up one of her paperwork sheets.  "I hate to be that person but you have to fill out the part about your, you know, housing and address.” Quickly Adore brushed her shoulders and nervously licked her lips, “If we can do that later that would be so amazing.” Bianca was definitely curious to ask but the absolute look of terror in Adore’s eyes when she mentioned her living situation said all she needed to hear, not wanting to pry into it right now, she simply nodded and set the paper down with a hard thump. “So, I’m guessing you’re in school still or have you graduated?” The question immediately triggered Adore’s fight or flight response, cracking up. “Um—” she begun nervously looking away from her new assistant, “I dropped out when I was 20, too much stress and too much work."  "Well I hate to break it to you but that’s kind of what college is about.” Bianca hissed, she had a feeling, Adore looked like someone who would drop out of college for her own personal issues or benefit, many singers did: she wasn’t trying to villanize Adore for it but the singer immediately countered, “Fuck you! College isn’t an endgoal for everyone and people have so many personal issues to deal with, a degree shouldn’t determine whether or not I can sing or if I can have a paying job that helps me eat!"  "Honey lower your voice I can still hear, I’m not that fucking old, no need to yell like I’m a senior citizen at a nursing home.” She blurted trying to stop her from absolutely screaming her feelings, “I’m not your therapist but I understand, I wasn’t trying to shame you.” She swore quietly before Adore blinked and turned her head, trying to not throw a fit. “Sorry.” Was all that came out and the tone itself screamed bitter and aggravated. “It’s fine, you clearly have some vendetta against college and I’ll respect that if you don’t fucking comment on my hair again."  "Deal!” The smile resurfaced again and Bianca had to admit something completely fell down for her, her guard a bit lowered even though they had just known eachother for all of ten minutes, at most. She was charming in a drop-out college kid, talented singer with an interesting hair color way; she seemed extremely comfortable with herself which Bianca had to admire, she didn’t look to mind skin for sure and her posture was awful but it was brushed off with her clear intent to look as comfortable as possible.  “So Bianca, you’re gonna do all my concerts and events and basically be the good angel on my shoulder?” Is that how they explained it to her? Jesus Christ. Bianca was quick to give a shaky but stable hand motion, “Well—” she begun before turning in her chair so she could shut her laptop, “I’m responsible for basically any event, anything that happens to you."  "So like, you’re my bodyguard?"  A laugh and then she stopped realizing Adore was genuinely serious about the question. "Listen bitch I would never—” she wheezed, “I get paid to basically follow your ass and manage your apperances, concerts, all the hard stuff because apperantly they don’t trust singers to do their own thing."  "Okay so not my bodyguard but still follows me everywhere? Party.” She clapped, leaning into Bianca with a small smile forming across her lips, “You seem like a fun assistant to get, I think you’ll do great.” Bianca took her hand over Adore’s face and pushed it out of her own, “That’s sweet.” “We should talk more! What’s your number?” She asked so flattered that Bianca almost couldn’t possibly refuse, “Give me your phone.” She replied before she complied and hummed to herself, “I put it in but only for emergencies or if you need something, I’m not gonna go get your ass McDonald’s at 3AM.” She warned before Adore shrugged, “Maybe one day you will, do you live near here?"  "Well I would fucking hope so if I work here."  "I’m from Azusa, that’s why I’m asking. I’m thinking about moving though since I got this studio contract and all.” Bianca not exactly familar with California too much assumed it was a decent minutes driving from Santa Monica and nodded, “Well I can’t help you buy a house but I can tell you I live about fifteen minutes away or three hours in California driving."  The joke got a chuckle from Adore which made Bianca just a bit prideful and the tiniest bit happy. Her smile was beautiful and very bright, she must’ve had some kind of whitening done or maybe she just actually brushed her teeth everyday like a normal human being, Bianca couldn’t tell.  "I don’t know California very well, I just moved back to America from Australia—” Adore gasped, “No way! The fuck did you move back here? This state is overpriced, dry and is only good for a weekend or two. Los Angeles is greatly overrated.” “Because the pay was better and I need to get all my paperwork for America in line anyway, I was only working in Australia, I’m from New Orleans.” Adore moaned, “God, it’s so amazing over there. I haven’t been in a while but I remember being beyond happy with all the atmosphere and the fashion!” She absolutely collapsed in her chair dramatically, “You guys have a lot of really good vintage and thrift stores is all I’m saying."  "Yes I know, I lived and was born there.” Bianca smirked, “I loved Australia, my best friend is a singer and I was her assistant to needless to say I’m very underwhelmed being away from her."  "Who?” “Courtney Act, she’s really popular in Australia but maybe not too well known here, deserves to be though.” Adore completely shook her hair and slammed her fists on Bianca’s desk, leaning in heavily to her face, making the older woman completely red in her face: “The Courtney Act?"  "Well I only know one."  "She’s amazing! She was Australian Idol, she literally has like millions of followers, she followed me on Instagram and I practically pissed myself, don’t tell her that but I fucking love her, her music isn’t typically what I listen to but she’s just so pretty and seems so nice!"  Bianca stopped her and laughed, gently pushing away from Adore in her chair, "I don’t tell her but that’s very sweet, I won’t get you a damn autograph so please don’t ask me about that, I promised her I wouldn’t ask her for stupid shit like that."  Adore breathed in, "I’m sorry she’s just very talented, can’t believe you went from her to me, guess I’m worthy of such a good assistant.” Bianca wasn’t good receiving compliments or any kind of praise so she immediately was turned off. “I’m fine, I just organize your messy ass calendar, not much else, I’m not about to dictate what you write or post or sing, we’re not in a Communist state."  "I know, I know! That’s so cool, see you’re so cool, you have a very strong personality so we’ll probably clash but—” “Oh I can promise you we will."  "See exactly! But still, it’s cool that you made a best friend from it, maybe I’ll be next!” She grinned before Bianca blinked, “You’re no Courtney right now but maybe if you stop sitting in your chair like a child with a temper tantrum I’ll reconsider that."  "It’s just my posture!” The girl whined before slacking even more realizing she was exactly proving Bianca’s point further. “I know I’m not Courtney, I’m Adore Delano and our styles are very different. I’m too punk to be Courtney."  "I know, I can see your dirt stained tights.” Adore laughed at the comment and stood up, “I’m way too lazy to wash my tights, I know they smell like feet!"  "And yet you chose to come to a fucking record label dressed in dirty clothes, the youth never fails to amaze me, really.” Realizing the comment made her sound like a bitter old-lady who hadn’t had her caffeine yet Adore jumped right onto the bandwagon, “I know grandma, god!"  "So, your homework is to actually fill out your damn paperwork, I’m not gonna look at it or go deep into it but just be honest, half of this isn’t even filled out.” She gave Adore the paperwork back and she sighed, not looking too thrilled to have to re-do her papers.  “Alright. I’ll get it to you tomorrow if I stop by or I’ll just text you. Thanks!” Adore yelled before slamming the door shut, Bianca finally left at peace. Adore was definitely interesting. She felt a bit jealous knowing someone could look that good in a clearly wrinkled and not washed dress, her smile was incredible and she seemed like someone who was full of passion for singing but that’s where the turn on’s stopped: Bianca was already prepared for the whining, bitching, the irresponsibility— this was gonna be much more difficult than entitled.  She would always accept a challenge though, especially from someone who seemed her polar opposite. Her phone immediately buzzed and she knew what was coming: a new notification from Adore.  Bianca! Meet me at the bar I’m gonna link tonight, it’s a more local gig and I want you to come and hear what you’re missing ;) I’ll buy you alcohol if you can sit through it you old ass hag xx She immediately replied with a clearly bitter: I’m not that old, you’re just stupid and can’t fucking count. But sure, if you’re buying, might as well. Her first thought was to immediately scope her out on Instagram, sure enough she was the first result when searching Adore Delano, who would’ve thought and was more than impressed to see the girl had already racked up over 230K followers on Instagram alone, she was more well known than Bianca thought.  “Well this’ll be interesting…"  *.✧ Shea lowered the radio and laughed listening to Bianca rant so much, she never expected it would be so interesting the first day. "So you’re not a huge fan of Adore Delano after meeting her I’m guessing?” Bianca stammered, a bit confused, not knowing how to feel exactly. “She’s very talented, I don’t doubt her but she’s such a fucking child! It’s like she hasn’t aged in ten years and is still mentally a twelve year old.” Shea adjusted the sleeves of her jacket as she grinned, “She also doesn’t wash her damn tights so she smells like shit."  Sipping her unfinished and watered down coffee she shrugged, "Sorry about that honey.” She admitted before Bianca turned the attention to Shea, “So have you spoke to Sasha yet?” The girl almost choked on her coffee and raised her finger, Bianca laughing, “Take your time."  Anytime Sasha was even mentioned in a conversation it looked like Shea completely would melt into a puddle and just start stuttering and look away, not wanting to directly speak her feelings fo someone face to face, almost hiding about it. "Okay let me ask you a very simple question, are you scared to ask her because you think she’s straight?"  "Oh no, she’s very fluid, we go to PRIDE every year together.” Bianca almost wanted to smack Shea at the back of her head for being so damn stupid and pulling out so easy. “You are so fucking dense about your feelings it’s almost incredible, I bet Sasha is just waiting for you to ask and you’re just here sitting in your car lamenting."  Her brows furrowed and sighed once more, not wanting to keep being repeative about Sasha to Shea even though it was absolutely clear to fucking anyone that something was there, "You wait any longer and I swear to god I might steal Sasha for myself.” Shea hit her in the back and Bianca almost gagged, “Bitch you better not, I’m from Chicago I’ll beat your fucking ass if you even think about it."  "See! See how defensive you fucking are about someone, that’s love bitch! How about you have that same energy and spunk telling her how you feel.” Bianca was right and Shea knew she was, it was just the idea of being rejected and possibly ruining their friendship that worried it, absolutely nothing else: just the lingering feeling that Sasha just wanted to stay very, very good friends. “Enough about me, I’ll do what I have to one day—” Bianca was about to protest before Shea shushed her, “So where am I taking you, home or to the dealership?"  "Dealership, I have to get a car and go see Adore’s fucking gig in Los Angeles tonight.” Shea smirked hearing her talk about Adore, “You know for someone who’s been shitting on her this entire time in the car you seem a bit too interested."  "I’m her new toy now what do you expect, she asked me to come and I’m expected to, besides: not like I have anything better to do expect finally finish unpacking.” Shea visibly paused to think a few seconds, “How much younger is she?"  "I think about nine years, why?"  "Not too bad.” The reply immediately made Bianca almost stand in her seat, “Now hold on bitch—” Shea cackled, “You’re not gonna play fucking matchmaker, she’s my complete and utter opposite and also my client."  "What I’m hearing is you’re too fucking scared because she’s about to be very famous, you don’t want the attention even though you’re lonely and you’re scared to lose your job!” She yelled over a visibly flustered Bianca who was very quickly shut down. “I just met her Shea besides I’m sure she has her own shit going on with a guy, girl, whatever she’s into. I’m not gonna let her come before my work even if I did like her and I don’t so there’s absolutely nothing to worry about."  Shea accepted defeat and did a visible white flag signal, "Alright, you say that now.” Bianca quickly flipping her off and groaning in her seat, “Bitch you know it would never happen.” The mutters quiet enough for Shea to hear anyway. “Never say never, like you said, opposites do attract.” *.✧ Bianca, now with a car and gas to boot wasn’t too thrilled to be driving to Los Angeles for a damn late night gig but the alcohol and Adore was enough to convince her. If she was gonna be pushed around and have to handle her for god knows how long she might as well try and form some kind of a friendship if possible. She parked her car and breathed a sigh of relief, driving suddenly on the right side of the road was an interesting experience but she quickly readjusted, it wasn’t as if she hasn’t driven in other places before that were right sided like America but it had definitely been a hot minute.  Approaching the back entrance like Adore told her proved to not be exactly the smartest thing Bianca had ever done, she was already tired and having an employee yell at her until Adore quietly came from behind and pleaded the case that indeed that was her assistant wasn’t the most shining moment in her lifetime.“I’m sorry about that—” she laughed, impressed Bianca actually kept her word about coming. “I’m so glad you came grandma!” She smirked, wrapping an arm around Bianca until she pushed it off, “Yes, I was promised free alcohol.” Adore laughed and slid her a twenty, “Tell them Adore sent you!” She yelled over the music before dancing around in the dressing room wildly, “Come watch me on the side of the stage that’s the best place to be, you see me and the crowd and the entire atmosphere.” She completely gushed.  “When do you perform?"  "In about thirty minutes which should be enough for you to get tipsy."  Bianca laughed, truthfully: "I can do a lot in thirty minutes with twenty dollars, don’t test me.” Adore sat down and applied her mascara, “Whatever you want as long as I see your toasty ass watching me in thirty minute, go have some fun, party!"  "Alright well, stay safe and I’ll sneak a glimpse, then I’ll go home.” She teased though Adore frowned genuinely, “I’m fucking kidding, Jesus!” Bianca replied quickly before Adore kicked her out smiling.  “See ya hag!” Kissing Bianca’s hand before shutting the door and hearing visible laughter. Bianca felt her entire face go red and shook her head, “No, no, no.” She pushed away any possible thought and headed to the bar, pushing her way through. “Maybe alcohol will distract me” she whispered before knowing in the back of head it wouldn’t, But god I hope it does. 

#rpdr fanfiction #bianca del rio #adore delano #shea coulee #sasha velour #tatianna #courtney act #biadore #sashea #lesbian au #living on the edge of the law #roza #concrit welcome #submission

[vortexofentertainment]

The Few Things - Chapter Eleven

Soooo, I’m sorry for anyone who’s been waiting for this (if you’re even out there). I know it’s been, like, two months. Life’s been crazy and I have had zero motivation/creativity in me. I apologize if this sucks, but I’m just glad to be (hopefully) back in the swing of things. Also, happy late birthday to @scatteredworlds ! I love you, boo ;)

*I don’t own Pitch Perfect or any of the characters

*Here’s a master post since I’ve been a dick and haven’t updated in so long.

“Okay ladies, line it up!” Aubrey said with a clap of her hands.

Beca watched as all nine girls scrambled to get into place. Emily and Stacie looked a little more lost than the other seven, but confident none the less. 

The Bellas had been practicing for a week or so now, and Beca finally held up to her promise to come and watch. Chloe had insisted that she give them at least a little more time to get ready, considering none of them had performed in a while. 

But Beca didn’t care really about the other Bellas. Her eyes were glued to Chloe and her ears were tuned to the music that really needed an update. She couldn’t help but wonder if this wasn’t the exact same routine they performed all those years ago. 

They weren’t terrible. A little rusty maybe. Stacie and Emily fit in perfectly as they went through the routine and Emily even had a solo. 

And, to Beca’s surprise, when Chloe said that they had a beatboxer named Lilly she was talking about the same Lilly that was Beca’s friend in college. Beca had no idea the girl was in an a capella group, but then again, she really didn’t know anything about Lilly. She was secretive, weird, and kind of scary. Oh, and one hell of a beatboxer.

“How do I get in on this shindig?” Amy asked as she watched alongside Beca. She had brought her blonde friend for support, to keep her from falling into Chloe’s trap of twerking and other sexy moves that had Beca practically drooling. 

“Seriously?” Beca asked looking over at Amy. The Bellas finished their performance and Chloe skipped over to Beca with a big smile on her face.  

“So?” Chloe asked expectantly. 

“I want in!” Amy blurted out. Chloe looked at her, clearly confused but also elated. 

“Can you match pitch?” Chloe asked as she stood up a little straighter. 

“Try me,” Amy challenged, and Chloe did.

Beca was surprised that her friend could match every pitch Chloe threw at her. When did all of her friends become so talented? 

“Why don’t you come to practice tomorrow, and we’ll see how well you can adapt to the choreography,” Chloe grinned. 

Amy nodded once and then she was off to socialize. Beca hoped the other Bellas were ready for someone like Amy. She could be a lot at first. 

“Becs,” Chloe said as she took Beca’s hand in both of hers. 

“You were great,” Beca told her truthfully. She pulled Chloe a little closer and kissed her. “The music is a little outdated, but you guys are good.”

“I could think of someone who could update the music and add a killer alto to our pack,” Chloe said hopefully.

“Chloe,” Beca groaned. “You guys are great, and with Amy now you have the ten you wanted to begin with.”

She could see the disappointment in Chloe’s face as she spoke. Everything inside of her wanted to give in and just agree to do it.

“How about I help with the music? I can do that,” she compromised. It was amazing what Chloe could convince her to do without really saying anything at all.

“Fine,” Chloe mumbled as she stuck out her bottom lip in a pout. “It’s better than nothing, I suppose.”

“Don’t be mad.” Beca leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her girlfriend’s nose.

“I’m not mad,” Chloe exhaled. “Just disappointed,” she added, and she wrapped her arms around Beca’s waist and pulled her closer. “But I get it. It’s not for you.”

Beca didn’t say anything, she just chewed on her bottom lip as she studied Chloe’s disappointed face. She knew the redhead wasn’t trying to guilt her into it, but she still felt that ache in her heart that came with disappointing anyone. 

“Okay, fine,” Beca broke in a huff. She couldn’t believe she was doing this. 

“Wait, what?” Chloe asked, leaning away from Beca to see her face a little better. 

“I’ll do it,” Beca said unenthusiastically as she closed her eyes tightly. “Just… yeah. I’ll do it.” She opened her eyes to see just how excited Chloe was.

“Becs, you don’t have to,” Chloe tried to backtrack. It was cute, really. The way her eyes were glowing with excitement, but she was trying to keep a serious face.

“I want to, for you,” Beca told her. “Hell, it’s not like I have anything better to do.”

“That’s the spirit,” she heard from behind her. She turned and looked at Aubrey. She couldn’t get a good read on the blonde’s expression. “Hi, I’m Aubrey Posen. Chloe’s best friend,” she said as she stuck her hand out for Beca to shake.

“Beca,” Beca replied, taking the outstretched hand. Aubrey’s grip was strong and a little too tight in Beca’s opinion.

She had heard so much about Aubrey, but nothing really to get a good read of her beforehand. Chloe just usually gushed about her and their friendship and how much she loved her best friend. It was cute, but Beca had an inkling she and Aubrey wouldn’t be that close. 

“Beca said she’s in!” Chloe grinned as she jumped up and down beside Beca. 

“Well, we’ll have to hear her sing first,” Aubrey said as she looked at Chloe. 

“I’m sorry?” Chloe asked as her brow furrowed.

“I know you said she was great, Chloe, but the rest of us need to be the judge of that as well.” 

Beca looked from Aubrey over to Chloe. The redhead looked downright offended that Aubrey would ever even consider the fact that Beca was not qualified for the Bellas. The rest of the group was crowding around them now, waiting to see how it all played out.

“You want me to audition?” Beca asked, just for her own clarity. 

“Every potential member must audition to become a Bella,” Aubrey explained. “Emily and Stacie sang for us at the first practice, and just because you’re dating Chloe doesn’t give you a pass.”

Beca raised her eyebrows a bit at the comment but a grin spread across her lips. Aubrey was a little bitchy, but Beca always liked that in a person.

“Aubrey,” Chloe said in a hushed tone. 

“No, it’s fine.” Beca turned towards Chloe, the grin still in place. “I don’t mind.”

“I’ll go first,” Amy said loudly as she stepped into the middle of the group. All the attention turned to her, including Aubrey’s, who looked confused. 

Before anyone could ask any questions or protest, Amy broke into song. She belted Since You Been Gone by Kelly Clarkson at the top of her lungs until the very end when she whispered, “Crushed it,”

Everyone applauded. Beca still couldn’t get over how her friends were all so talented as she clapped along slowly with everyone else.

“Alright Shawshank, your turn,” Amy said as she pointed to Beca very whimsically and weird. 

“Um,” Beca looked around a bit. She spotted a cup on the table beside her holding a bunch of pens. She promptly poured them all out and then took a seat on the floor in the middle of the group.

Her stomach was churning with nerves. She wasn’t used to performing in front of a crowd, no matter how small it was. She guessed it was something she should get used to since she had agreed to this whole thing. 

God, what had she gotten herself into?

She cleared her throat once before tapping the cup twice and starting the song. She had learned it from a YouTube tutorial. She spent one whole day after school working to master the Cup Song as she called it. She wasn’t sure how she came across it in the first place, or why she felt the need to be so good at it. She just knew it had never helped her in any way until now. 

When she slammed the cup down to finish the song, she looked up at Chloe’s beaming face. Her smile was big, and her eyes were bright. Even if she didn’t get into the group, that look alone was worth doing this a thousand times over in Beca’s mind. 

“Seems to me like we have two new Bellas!” Cynthia Rose said as she began to clap. 

Emily reached down and pulled Beca up, wrapping her in a hug as she let out an excited squeal. “I can’t believe you’re a Bella!” she gushed as she let go of Beca. 

“Well, she’s whipped, so it makes sense,” Stacie said as she wrapped an arm around Beca as soon as Emily let go. 

Beca felt her cheeks flush at the comment as Stacie let go. The fact the Chloe was now wrapped around her didn’t help the redness in her cheeks. Her girlfriend’s arms were wrapped tightly around Beca’s neck, bodies pressed together, as Beca managed to wrap her arms around Chloe in response.

“Beautiful,” Chloe mumbled as she peppered Beca’s face with kisses.

“Dude,” Beca giggled as she pushed Chloe away from her gently but keeping her grip on Chloe’s hips.

“Let’s celebrate!” Flo said excitedly to the group.

“Beca is DJing tonight at that club down the street,” Emily said just as excitedly. “We can all meet up there later tonight?” 

“Look at you go, Legacy,” Cynthia Rose joked as she nudged Emily. 

“Legacy?” Beca asked as she looked at Chloe. 

“Yeah, Emily’s mom used to be a Bella. That makes her a legacy.” 

“Dude, you never told me that,” Beca said as she turned to Emily. The taller brunette shrugged. 

“She used to talk about it all the time, so when I first started at Barden I had my heart set on trying out,” Emily explained. “Except the Bellas weren’t taking new members, and the next year I decided that maybe I needed to just focus on my studies…” Emily trailed off as she looked down at the ground. “I don’t know. It just never worked out.” 

An awkward silence fell over the group. 

“Anyway,” Stacie said loudly. “Club? Say around nine tonight?” 

All of the girls agreed and nodded as the split apart. Chloe stayed glued to Beca’s side until it was only the two of them and Aubrey left.

“So, you DJ too?” Aubrey asked.

“Yes,” Beca answered simply. “Maybe, if you want, I could help with some sets for the group?”

“We’ll see,” Aubrey replied and turned sharply to leave. “See you both tonight!” she called over her shoulder as she opened the door. 

Beca looked over at Chloe who was still staring at the now closed door her best friend had gone through. 

“She’ll warm up to you,” Chloe nodded, assuring not only herself but Beca. “She’s just kind of hard to get to know,” she added. She turned and met Beca’s gaze. 

“Maybe,” Beca grinned as she and Chloe started walking towards the door too. 

**

The Bellas were… something else. Not only were they easy to spot in the crowd, but they were easily the group having the most fun. 

Beca found herself looking up multiple times, a smile on her face, as she watched Chloe full belly laugh with her friends. She would throw her head back and her eyes would sparkle. Every time that happened she would she would look over at Beca as if she was in on the joke. It hurt to not be over there with them all the time. They were as close as they could get to the DJ booth, but Beca was otherwise occupied. 

That’s why, when she got a break, she immediately made her way over to the group.

“DJ!” Flo said excitedly as she spotted Beca first. 

Chloe turned excitedly, eyes shining as bright as her smile, and jumped up out of the booth to wrap her arms around Beca’s neck. 

“Hey there,” Beca chuckled as she let her hands rest on Chloe’s waist. She felt Chloe shift so that her lips were ticking her ear. It sent a shiver down her spine.

“You’re doing so good,” Chloe said in a gentle voice. “But I miss you.”

Beca could hear the influence of alcohol in Chloe’s voice. It was only the second time she had seen the redhead drunk, but she doesn’t really remember the first encounter in detail since she was also wasted. Experiencing a drunk Chloe while completely sober seemed like it was going to be fun.

“I’m right here,” Beca replied as Chloe pulled back so she was face to face with Beca. She was hovering closely, her eyes a little hooded with the alcohol. 

“Noooooo,” Chloe said, shaking her head. “Usually you’re there.” She pointed up to the booth where Beca had been confined all night. “I want you here,” she went on as she pulled Beca’s body closer to hers. 

Beca stumbled a bit but Chloe had a tight hold around her torso. Before Beca could answer, Chloe’s lips were on hers. It was soft at first, not exactly what Beca was expecting, but then it grew more passionate. Chloe slipped her tongue into Beca’s mouth effortlessly and Beca let herself get caught up in the taste of cherry and some sort of alcohol. 

“Get a room!” Beca faintly heard as Chloe pulled away with a giggle. Her heart was pounding in her chest. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to the way Chloe kissed her. 

“Here, sit.” Chloe guided a still reeling Beca into the booth where she had been sitting before. Then, she promptly made herself comfortable in Beca’s lap. 

The dress Chloe was wearing wasn’t doing anything to help Beca keep her mind straight (pun not intended but accurate nonetheless). She was wearing a strapless, tight, black dress the clung to her thighs about midway down. Now that she was sitting in Beca’s lap, the dress had ridden up just a bit.  

Beca took pleasure in knowing that it was totally and completely fine for her to rest her hand on the expanse of skin just under the hem of the dress. She gave Chloe’s leg a squeeze which caused the redhead to lean back down and kiss Beca’s temple. 

“How long are you on break for?” Chloe asked as she pulled away once more.

“Fifteen minutes or so,” Beca answered.

She took time to look around at the other Bellas, this group she was now a part of, and really take it in. Stacie was talking to Aubrey about something pretty adamantly, which shocked Beca. She was sure her best friend would have been gone by now. Emily was sitting with Jessica and Ashley who were showing her something on Ashely’s phone. From the look on Emily’s face, Beca assumed it was a puppy or some sort of cute animal. Flo and Cynthia Rose were watching Fat Amy do some sort of bottle trick that Beca was sure would end in disaster. No one really knew where Lilly had gotten off to. Then, there was her and Chloe. Chloe, who was nibbling on Beca’s ear again, her hand on Beca’s jaw trying to get her to face her once more. When she finally did, Chloe captured her lips in another searing kiss.

“What’s gotten into you?” Beca asked as she pulled away with a grin. She wasn’t complaining. Not in the slightest. PDA wasn’t her thing, but if she had a frisky Chloe Beale in her lap… she wasn’t going to stop her. 

“You just look so sexy up there doing your thang,” Chloe answered with an intoxicated giggle. Her gentle caress of Beca’s jaw turned possessive as she kissed her again. 

This kiss was just downright dirty. There was no other way Beca could describe it. Chloe was in full control as she nipped at Beca’s lower lip. She bit down a little hard, pulling a gasp from Beca in response. Her body was thrumming. It was unfair that she would have to return to the booth, all alone, in less than ten minutes. 

“Chlo,” Beca managed to get out as she pulled away from her girlfriend. 

“Bec,” Chloe replied in that voice that drove Beca crazy. 

Her whole body tingled at the thought of that voice. Her fingers dug into Chloe’s thigh on instinct. She hadn’t noticed her eyes were still closed until she opened them and met Chloe’s icy blues looking back at her. 

“Do you have time to dance with me?” Chloe asked as she slid out of Beca’s lap, landing a little wobbly on her heel clad feet. 

“Actually…” Beca said with a grin. 

It was a miracle. It really was. The timing was perfect because as soon as the word left her mouth, her own special mix of Titanium came on. 

The way Chloe lit up made Beca’s heart soar. She pulled the brunette into her arms as they made their way to the dance floor. Beca wasn’t much for dancing, but dancing with Chloe might have been her favorite thing at the moment. She remembered doing it the first time they went out, but this time there were no restrictions. 

She could place her hands on Chloe’s hips as the girl turned and backed into her. She could nibble and Chloe’s ear as the redhead reached back and tangled her fingers in Beca’s hair. She could let herself feel everything as Chloe danced against her, turning and staring at her with those lust filled eyes. It was truly amazing, and Beca hated that she had to leave her girlfriend after only one dance. 

Except, for the rest of the night she got to watch Chloe have fun with her best friends. She had even described them as her family. Beca found herself chuckling throughout the remainder of the night as she watched her three best friends intermingle with Chloe’s. It looked like they all just fit together. No question about it. 

Beca was kind of glad she had decided to become one of them, too.

#The Few Things #TFT #TFT11 #bechloe #beca mitchell #chloe beale #bechloe fanfic #bechloe fan fiction #fan fic #pitch perfect #The Few Things chapter 11 #aubrey posen #fat amy #stacie conrad #emily junk #cynthia rose #flo fuentes #lilly onakuramara #jessica and ashely

[riverdames-blog]

Disappointed But Not Disheartened: Reflections on A Wrinkle In Time

In early 2016, when it was announced that Ava DuVernay was attached to A Wrinkle In Time, I tweeted about how excited I was for it and she favorited my tweet so I screenshotted the notification and showed it to everyone on the planet and have been anxiously awaiting this movie ever since.  Jennifer Lee, one of the two screenwriters for the project, is who I aspire to be, and Ava DuVernay is, as far as I’m concerned, one of the best filmmakers of all time, and, although I honestly don’t remember much about the plot, I read at least 3 books in Madeleine L’Engle’s Time Quintet as a child and definitely really enjoyed them.  (I may have read Many Waters and completely forgotten it, but I think I was just not that interested in transitioning to the next generation and so peaced out after A Swiftly Tilting Planet.)  In the months before its release, I declared multiple times that A Wrinkle In Time would probably be the movie of the year for me.

Now that I’ve seen it, I can say more confidently: it’s not my movie of the year.  Just to be sure, I saw it twice this weekend (and I also watched the 2003 TV Movie in between to compare – it’s not great but it’s also not, like… resoundingly worse).  The second time around, I enjoyed it way more than the first, and I think it’ll only continue to grow on me with time.  Visually, it’s just spectacular: Ava DuVernay and Naomi Shohan have built a gorgeous and imaginative world.  Production design is maybe the only element of cinema that L’Engle’s original novel lends itself to easily, and they tapped that to its fullest potential.  But something about the storytelling just didn’t quite click for me.

And before I go on, I want to be clear: no one working on this movie had anything to prove.  People will frame it that way – can a black woman direct a $100 million movie? or can a little brown girl carry an action-adventure blockbuster? – but none of that is really up in the air.  Black creatives have proven time and time again that they can and will carry franchises, so we can stop pretending that was ever even a question.  And we all saw The Dark Knight Rises and were like, “hm, very middle of the road”, and yet no one raised an eyebrow when Christopher Nolan got a Best Director nod this year.  Ava is still one of the best working visual storytellers in Hollywood (and has increasingly excellent brand recognition – any studio would be lucky to have her helm another blockbuster).  Storm Reid is charming and will continue to get work.  Jennifer Lee is still my hero.  It is dumb that I’m nervous to admit that I was disappointed by A Wrinkle In Time, like if it wasn’t the perfect movie no one will ever try to make movies like it again.  Creatives do not have to break new ground with every movie they make for their work to be considered valuable.  And in a lot of ways, A Wrinkle In Time was groundbreaking.

So, bearing in mind that this movie doesn’t in anyway reflect on anyone’s capacity for great filmmaking, what made A Wrinkle In Time feel disjointed to me?

My first thought was maybe it was just a failure of casting.  They apparently searched for 7 months for someone to play Charles Wallace, and as cute as he is, Deric McCabe felt awkward and stilted to me the entire movie on first watching.  Levi Miller was the cutest stalk of celery I’ve ever seen but that’s kinda the most I can say for him.  Everyone was charming, but no one – Storm Reid included – really had the chops to carry the weight of all the bonkers exposition this movie demanded of them.

That said, the performances felt less stilted to me when I watched it a second time – Storm Reid and Deric McCabe did have some really keen and nuanced moments, and Levi Miler, despite speaking like he’s never met another human being before, gives truly excellent face.  And the adult casting was superb; Chris Pine as the affirming father of a biracial daughter seems like an obvious and sincere choice, and also ZACH GALIFIANAKIS.  Clearly Aisha Coley knew what she was doing because it takes some serious insight to look at Zach Galifinakis and think, “this schlubby comedian will play the kindest, gentlest father figure in cinematic history.”  No actor is actively wrong for their part, and no one is phoning it in – the younger folks are maybe just still figuring some things out.

So if the performances felt awkward but it wasn’t a failure of casting, I hate to even suggest it, but maybe then it’s a failure of direction.  If these actors had the potential to perform this script well, maybe Ava just didn’t direct them appropriately.  There are some moments where I think this is actually true: if you’re working with young talent struggling to create a genuine sense of chemistry, maybe don’t block things so they’re standing several yards apart as they exchange intimate dialogue.  There were multiple weirdly slow, far apart exchanges between Meg and Calvin that probably would’ve felt loaded with meaning with more competent actors but just felt bizarre and confusing with these kids.

That said, I am reluctant to criticize Ava’s work here, largely because these children have spoken quite sincerely multiple times about how kind Ava was and how safe they felt working with her.  When working with young actors, I think that’s the most important thing.  And so if these kids felt most comfortable shouting at each other from across a football field, then fine.  I’m okay with that.  And also, let’s not forget: Zach. Gala-friggin-akis.  Ava knows how to get what she needs.

So then perhaps there was something weird about the camera.  The cinematography of this movie felt deliberate, like it was meant to create a real mood around this story.  It felt like the idea was to shoot this thing in a way that was disorienting to reflect the magic and uncertainty of the world these characters occupy.  But that didn’t really click for me: I mostly just felt like the camera placement was in the way.  Maybe because the performances weren’t strong enough to come through, but maybe because cutting from a traditional over-the-shoulder shot to a strikingly tight 90 degree profile is always going to take you a little bit out of the moment.  (There were two particularly striking moments that made me chuckle they were so disorienting: one when Ms. Whatsit and Meg’s mother talk in such a tight, shallow-focus profile shot, I could’ve sworn they were about to kiss; the other when, in the middle of a conversation between Meg and Principal Jenkins, there was a cut to a close, shallow-focus shot of his name placard, and then a very artistic but completely unnecessary tilt up as the focus racks a very tight shot of Mr. Jenkin’s face.)

Weird cinematography can interrupt the flow of even the best scenes.  But maybe – and I hate to say this even more than I hate to suggest Ava’s work wasn’t as good as it could be – but maybe, I am just making excuses here for Jennifer Lee.  Maybe this was a failure of script.  And I do think that Jennifer Lee and her writing partner, Jeff Stockwell, made some really positive changes.  I think they captured and amplified the essential relationships and motivations in this story.  I think getting rid of the twins and playing around with the Murry family structure, as well as adding a lot of scenes with the dad and giving him a central character flaw, gave this story a clearer and cleaner direction than the Weinstein-produced adaptation in 2003.  And I think that the whimsy of the book was captured in a way that felt visual and cinematic in this screenplay.

But it’s hard to deny that this screenplay felt a little clunky.  There was a lot of exposition and no clear moment when a goal or central question was obviously stated, which probably would’ve helped me enjoy the film a bit more on my first watching.  It was somewhat unclear when the acts were changing, which made it hard to be totally swept up in the beautiful and immersive imagery.  The sequencing at the end is awkward – why does Calvin just watch a deeply intimate conversation between Meg and her dad?  (He’s just smiling in the corner of one shot when they hug at the end and I truly burst out laughing in the theater.)  What did Calvin and Mr. Murry do in the backyard for all that time when they tessered away without Meg and Charles Wallace?  Why did Charles Wallace get so easily distracted by the family dog (for a seemingly very long stretch of time) when he ran into the house to get his mom?  Why did Meg not laugh out loud at Calvin when he said, “Funny how it took a trip around the universe for me to have the strength to confront my crazy dad!”?  And speaking of Calvin, while I think the decision to trim a lot of the fat around the Meg-Charles Wallace sibling dynamic was a good one, it sort of begged the question: why is Calvin even here?  (It’s actually sort of nice bit of commentary – to help save the universe, men simply need to trust women and affirm that their ideas and instincts are correct – but it felt undeniably odd that Calvin came along when all he did was fall off Reese Witherspoon’s lettuce leaf body and then eat a bunch of sand.)

Having said that, it does seem like there were some fairly substantial reshoots or at least major cuts made after principle production, because based on the trailer, what seems like a big expositional scene got left on the chopping block.  I’ve also heard in interviews that they shot and were starting to animate an Aunt Beast scene between Mr. Murry’s tesser and Meg’s final confrontation with The It.  Perhaps the original script did a better job of integrating Calvin and establishing clearer act breaks and character voices.  Maybe, for reasons beyond their control, this script needed to be torn up a bit and it was too late for the writers to polish the rough edges that were left behind.   Or hey, maybe Jeff Stockwell took hostage of the whole thing and made a bunch of bad changes at the last minute that Jennifer Lee couldn’t talk him down from and her hands are clean!  (I don’t know enough about WGA rules to totally tease out what that cowriting process looked like based on the billing – that is maybe very possible – but it’s not very kind to Jeff to just assume that about the script so I won’t.)

At the end of the day, A Wrinkle In Time did not come together for me like I hoped it would.  It’s not easy to tell why major sequences got cut pretty late in the game or why the cinematography decisions and acting decisions came together as awkwardly as they did.  Whatever the reason, this movie just didn’t do it for me.  But even as I left the theater feeling a little disappointed, I was not disheartened.  This movie wasn’t anything like, say, Suicide Squad, which feels like a project that was fought over, a project where everyone involved seemingly knew the movie was a train-wreck but also “knew” it wasn’t their fault.  It’s hard to point the finger at anyone here; everyone has something to be proud of (and something to be less proud of).  No sequence feels pulled because the studio didn’t trust its creatives or because the director didn’t trust her actors.  It feels like a product that was made by a whole, a whole who struggled with this beast together.  A Wrinkle In Time feels delightfully collaborative, a movie made by committee in the best possible way.

Perhaps the biggest takeaway, then, is that adapting L’Engle’s bonkers novel is a hard thing to do.  To no one’s fault, the stakes of her story are simultaneously impossibly large and surprisingly small.  Her characters speak with a rhythm that is odd even when done well, and the world she built evokes more the concept of beauty than actual images of it.  (And let’s not even begin to unpack cinema’s troubled troubled relationship with Christian-influenced fantasy storytelling.)

But here is a group of people who all earnestly rose to the challenge.  They made the thing.  And it is flawed in a lot of ways.  But as Meg Murry knows better than most, its faults are not undeserving of love.

#a wrinkle in time #storm reid #ava duvernay #madeleine l'engle #jennifer lee #zach galifianakis #review #reflections #film #cinematography #a wrinkle in time review #jeff stockwell

[justsomebucky]

Say That Again

Summary: Soulmate AU. Everyone hears a key word or phrase in their head from their soulmate, something only heard in person when the moment is right.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader

Word Count: 2,543

Warnings: language, self-consciousness, fluff, that’s basically it

A/N: This is my submission for the lovely wonderful talented @bladebarnes’ 2k Celebration Challenge. My prompt was 35. quote: “Say that again.” I saw Baby Driver recently and couldn’t get the diner thing out of my head.

‘Say that again.’

That’s the phrase that sounds in your head nearly every time your emotions are heightened. All the experts you’ve consulted agree: that’s the voice of your soulmate (the one you have yet to meet) reassuring you somehow that they still exist.

Every person hears a word or phrase in someone else’s tone of voice in their lives.

It’s nothing as dramatic as the movies, where the phrase is the first or last thing they’ll say to you (though there have been reports, on occasion, where one-half of the soulmate duo loses it and passes out when they finally meet).

No, it’s just a phrase that you’ll hear from them in a shared moment between you when the time is right, so that you can identify that it’s really them.

A person could already know their soulmate, but until they say the words you’ve become so familiar with, they’re just another person to you.

Your aunt realized her soulmate was her freaking gynecologist after three years of a doctor-patient relationship. It wasn’t until her keyword came up in conversation that she realized, mid-exam, who he was (awkwaaaard).

Anyway, you didn’t want it to be that uncomfortable for you.

It seemed only fitting that your soulmate’s little catchphrase was a demand rather than words of comfort. You were only a sucker for validation, no big deal.

Say what again, anyways?

It left no clue as to what your soulmate was hearing on repeat from you. Was it romantic? Did you tell him off during a fight? Was it something stupid like, ‘pass the salt?’

You remember the first time you started hearing his voice in your head. It began as a gentle whisper, and every time you’d find yourself in trouble or a crying mess on the floor, the little mantra would make itself known in your brain.

‘Say that again.’

“I’m sorry, am I paying you to sit and daydream?”

You blinked up at your boss, Pepper Potts, who also happened to own this diner. Pepper’s Place was purchased for her as a gift from her very wealthy boyfriend, Mr. Tony Stark. She had grown tired of being his assistant and longed for a much simpler way to show off her business skills, so this cute little place right near the highway was converted to a classic diner.

Most of its patrons were just traveling through to someplace more exciting, including truckers who stopped to refuel themselves with pancakes and greasy eggs.

You were the newest hire, a university student in need of some extra funds for all the stupid new overpriced books you had to buy.

Being a waitress wasn’t so bad, once you got used to being called sweetheart in every which way except the way you wanted (not that you’d want any of these people to say it that way). Customers kept their hands to themselves; Pepper would have it no other way.

Plus, you got free waffles all the time, and something great was always playing from the jukebox.

“Sorry, Pepper,” you muttered, straightening up off the counter and offering her a weak smile. “Won’t happen again.”

Pepper eyed you for a second. “Good. Now could you please go pick up table six? Natasha had to sneak out for a doctor’s appointment and Jon’s…being Jon.”

“I can do that.” You grabbed your iPad (no way was a restaurant associated with the Stark name going to use regular paper and pencil for orders), and wandered over to good old table six.

There were four guys currently sitting together, looking a little bit more than uncomfortable. The first person to smile at you was a blonde man with bright blue eyes and perfect teeth.

“Ma’am,” he greeted with a nod.

You offered a smile of your own. “Hi there, welcome to Pepper’s Place. Can I get you started with some drinks?”

“I’ll just have water,” he replied, glancing to the man next to him. “Sam?”

His buddy Sam scratched his head for a second. “Coffee, please.”

You nodded, tapping your finger on the iPad. “Are you guys gonna want separate checks?”

Mr. Perfect Teeth was about to speak up, when the other blonde guy stopped him.

“No, Steve,” he cut in. “This is on me. You picked up the check last time.”

“Thanks, Clint.”

Somehow you were learning all their names. At least this would make it easier than thinking to yourself that Mr. Perfect Teeth wanted water.

Clint nodded at you. “I’ll have an iced tea.”

“One iced tea. And for you, sir?” You glanced up from the tablet to the fourth guy sitting in the corner. He was wearing a hat and jacket even though it was fairly warm inside the diner that day.

You’ve seen stranger things, so you just shrugged it off and waited patiently.

“Water,” he finally croaked out.

“You’ll have to excuse Bucky, he’s not good in social settings,” Sam explained, chuckling to himself.

“Ooookay. So that’s two waters, a coffee, and an iced tea. I’ll be back with your drinks in a couple minutes and you can let me know if you need more time to decide.”

“Thank you-” Steve’s eyes slipped down to your name tag. “- Y/N.”

He was both polite and good-looking. Thank goodness for customers like him. You gave him another smile before turning to get their drinks.

“So what’s the deal over there?”

You looked over to the waiter on hand, Jon. “What’s what deal?”

“Those absolutely gorgeous specimen sitting in your section today? How come you get to have all the fun?”

You lifted the water pitcher toward him. “Thirsty much?”

“God, yes. Look at the tall, blonde, and built one. He was flashing you a pretty sweet smile.”

“He was being polite,” you argued, reaching for the coffee pot. “This isn’t decaf, right? The handle is so worn I can’t tell.”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret, I never bothered to brew the decaf,” Jon replied, pressing his hands on the counter. “I was too busy drooling.”

“Jon,” you hissed, putting one hand on your hip. “You know that’s dangerous, right? Some people can’t have the caffeine.”

“Fine, fine, I’ll brew it right now, but you have to step up your flirting game.”

You rolled your eyes. “I’ll get right on that.”

Before he could utter another word, you grabbed the tray and went back to the table, handing out the drinks. It looked like they were just finishing up a tense conversation.

“Are you guys ready to order, or do you need more time?” Your iPad was at the ready just in case.

“Umm…what are the specials?” Clint asked, flipping the menu over. “I couldn’t find them.”

“Today’s specials are wedding soup, a roast beef sandwich with fries and gravy, or a fresh chicken mango salad.”

“I’ll have the roast beef,” he decided, handing you the menu.

Sam and Steve both ordered that as well.

Your eyes flickered to the fourth guy expectantly.

“Bucky, did you decide?” Steve asked gently.

You wondered for a second why these guys were being so soft-spoken to this Bucky.

When he failed to do anything more than stare at the menu, Clint sighed. “He’ll have the roast beef, too.”

Well that was all fine, but you weren’t going to make a move until Bucky confirmed. He did two seconds later, giving a short nod as he handed the menu over without looking at you.

Weird.

“Sure thing.” You confirmed their order and submitted it to the kitchen before leaving the table again.

Jon was thankfully busy at his own tables when you got back behind the counter, so you set the iPad down and turned to Wanda, head of the bakery section.

“Wan, have you ever seen those guys in here before?”

She glanced over her shoulder to table six before nodding. “I’ve seen them all around here before.”

“What’s their deal?”

“They’re just uni students like us. I think the two on the aisle are there on athletic scholarships. The one in the tight army t-shirt is in my public speaking class, and he’s really good with words, such a charmer. As for that other guy, I’m pretty sure he’s trying to be a doctor or something.”

“He’s wearing a coat indoors. It’s freakin’ hot in here.”

Wanda looked back at you. “He’s just probably self-conscious about his arm.”

Your brows furrowed in confusion. “What about his arm?”

“He’s got a prosthetic arm. No clue what happened, but everyone says he did something heroic.”

“Hmmm…” You glanced back at the table, catching Bucky’s blue eyes staring at you. Your cheeks heated almost immediately, so you turned away and toward the kitchen just in time to see that their food was ready.

The lunch rush was only just starting and Natasha still wasn’t back yet, so you had to take on a couple more tables and leave the four guys to their sandwiches.

The busier things got, the more your anxiety seemed to increase. Twice, you nearly took out someone with your giant tray. You hated to admit it, but that second time you’d been distracted by the fact that Bucky wasn’t at the table anymore.

He probably just went to the restroom, you reasoned as you went to shove your iPad back into your apron pocket.

The last table only wanted milkshakes, which was easy enough for you to handle. It was actually a nice change of pace, considering the table before that wanted every appetizer on the menu.

You distractedly spun around, letting out a sharp gasp when you bumped into a hard body. Your iPad slipped from your fingers and landed with a thud on the floor.  

“Shit,” you muttered under your breath, crouching down at the exact same moment the person you ran into crouched. The two of you bumped into each other again, and this time you lost your balance and fell over onto them.

You glanced up, ready to apologize profusely when you realized that you’d just landed on top of Bucky. His hat was off and you could see him clearly now.  

His blue eyes were staring down at you in total shock.

“I’m so sorry, it’s my fault.” You scrambled to get off of him, feeling your face heat up for the second time since your shift started.

You found yourself locked into place when he gently held your elbow. Confused, you looked back at him. Why the hell would he stop you from getting up? You were totally humiliated as it was. Maybe you weren’t cut out for waitressing after all.

“Say that again.”

Great, and now you were hearing your stupid soulmate’s voice amidst your anxiety attack. Perfect timing like always with a completely useless and not-at-all reassuring phrase. You huffed and moved to pull your arm away from him.

“Say that again.”

A little shock ran through you when you realized Bucky’s mouth was moving at the same time you heard your little catchphrase. Your mouth opened and closed a couple times as you tried to digest what you just saw.

“I said ‘I’m so sorry, it’s my fault,’” you repeated, unable to tear your eyes away.

Bucky shook his head in what could only be described as utter disbelief. “That’s…that’s impossible. I’ve imagined the scenario a thousand different ways and a phrase like that- it never led me to think that I’d- that we’d meet like this?”

“What do you mean?” You had an inkling, but you wanted to hear him say it.

“Say that again,” he repeated. “That’s what you’ve been hearing, right?”

This time you actually managed to get up off of him and stand upright, though your eyes never left his.

“What are you saying?”

Bucky stood too and reached for your hand as he pulled you toward the door. The little bell rang and you caught Pepper’s eye, but you merely shook your head helplessly at her and followed Bucky outside.

“My whole life, I’ve been hearing ‘I’m so sorry, it’s my fault,’ over and over in a voice that sounded an awful lot like yours,” he explained, running his hand through his hair. You caught a glimpse of his high-tech metal prosthetic, which he noticed.

Bucky pulled his sleeve up. “Do you know how this happened? Anyone back there tell you?”

You shook your head, gazing at the impeccable design.

“I pushed a woman out of the way of a bus on campus. She didn’t realize she had to look both ways and check the bus lane, walked right out in front of it. I pushed her out of the way and took the hit myself. They tried to fix it but my arm was crushed.”

To say you were completely in awe of this man was an understatement. “You’re a hero.”

He shook his head. “That’s not why I’m…I told you that because the woman there nearly said the same phrase but it wasn’t exactly right…I’ve spent the last two years thinking that fate was playing a cruel joke on me, that you weren’t actually real, or that I already missed out on knowing you.”

You couldn’t imagine feeling that way. “Until I apologized?”

For the first time since he walked into the diner, Bucky smiled. “Until you apologized for something that clearly wasn’t your fault. Then the phrase took on a new meaning.”

“And you said the phrase I’ve heard all my life.”

“I guess I did.”

You really hit the damn jackpot on this one. Bucky was a hero, a real life hero! He was beautiful and kind and smart, and you probably didn’t deserve him. “So what do you go to school for, Bucky?”

“I’m in the biomedical engineering program. I started out in a different major, but since my accident…I want to help people like me with prosthetic limbs.”

“That’s amazing,” you breathed out. “You turned something scary into something amazing.”

He looked at you evenly. “So you aren’t…I mean, my arm-“

“Clearly we need to get to know each other better, pal,” you said, shaking your head. “I’m just glad you weren’t hurt any worse than that.”

“People stare a lot…I just wanted to make sure you weren’t...”

“You’re my soulmate,” you interrupted, your voice sounding every bit as thankful as you felt. “Every single piece of you.”

“And you’re my soulmate.” Bucky’s smile widened, his eyes sparkling. “I never imagined someone so beautiful would be meant for someone like me.”

“I’m just a waitress.”

“And I’m just a guy who wasn’t even going to go out for lunch today.”

You took a step closer, sliding your hand gently up his metal arm. “So who should I thank?”

“Steve,” he supplied, letting his other arm encircle your waist. “He told me I needed to get out of the apartment.”

“Yeah, Steve’s going to get a free slice of apple pie.” You gave him a warm smile. “It’s the least I could do.”

“That’s fine by me, sweetheart. Give them all desserts. Meanwhile, I get the girl, and I couldn’t be happier.”

Bucky leaned over until you felt his breath on your lips, but he hesitated, waiting for your permission.

“Say that again,” you joked, leaning over to close the distance with a kiss.

no tags, i’m sorry - on mobile.

#BladeHits2KChallenge #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes drabble #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes soulmate au #look ma I didn't kill anyone off this time #i'm testing a theory #jsd say that again

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Home and Semi-Theater Edition 7/10/20 – GREYHOUND, PALM SPRINGS, THE OLD GUARD, RELIC and More!

I hope everyone had a good 4th of July weekend, even though movie theaters don’t seem any closer to opening, and I believe some in certain areas even closed! New York City just hit Phase 3 this week, and I’m not sure Phase 4 even includes movie theaters. Let’s not even talk about L.A. as it will just depress me. I literally have no idea what’s going on or if movies being back in theaters nationwide by the end of this month is even realistic.  There are a lot of available movies this week, and I did my best to see as many as possible, but honestly, I’m getting a little burnt out watching movies on my computer and even on my TV set (the few times I can), so we’ll see how far I get this week. Hold on tight, because this week is gonna be a doozy! (I actually wanted to write a defense of Quibi and its content, but I’ll have to save that for a quieter week.)

Believe it or not, Tom Hanks has a new movie out this week, too, but it’s only on Apple TV+, since Sony decided to sell Hanks’ fictitious submarine drama GREYHOUND to the relatively new streaming service. Surely, that can’t be a good sign, right? Directed by Aaron Schneider (Get Low), it has Hanks playing Commander Ernest Krause, who is put in charge of his first fleet of ships to sail across the Atlantic Ocean’s notorious “Black Pit,” bringing supplies and troops to Europe during America’s early days in World War II.  The area of the Atlantic got its name because the planes that normally escorted the fleet to keep an eye out for German UBoats would have to turn back. As Captain of the USS Keeling aka Greyhound, Krause is solely responsible for dozens of ships and men.

Greyhound is a classic case of “Well, it looked good on paper,” because when you have a piece of fiction by C.S. Forester and one of America’s most beloved actors wanting to make it into a movie, what could possibly go wrong? Well, I’ll tell you. As someone who generally loves submarine movies and movies with great sea battles, certainly this movie was made for me, but no, although there are a few decent CG battles, the majority of the movie involves Hanks calmly stating orders to his men from the control deck of the Greyhound, as they take evasive measures to protect the fleet from the UBoats. Really, it’s mostly about Hanks, because other than Stephen Graham in a small role, none of the other men on the Greyhound have much personality. The movie even has the audacity to waste a great actor like Rob Hunter on a nothing role as the ship’s cook who brings Krause food and coffee he never has time to eat or drink anyway, because fighting the Germans is very busy work indeed.

While some of the firefights do bring a much-needed level of excitement, there’s otherwise no real stakes or tension, because you always know that Hanks’ boat will never be sunk. Every once in a while, Hanks will ask for coffee or his slippers to change things up. That’s how boring this movie is. And then, despite all the “non-stop fighting,” they somehow have time to stage an elaborate burial at sea when the ship is hit by enemy fire. Maybe this would have been a better movie seen in theaters, but probably not. It’s absolutely astounding how boring this movie is, but if naval speak gets you hot then Greyhound might just be the movie for you!

Now that that’s taken care of, let’s try to get some of the other movies, hopefully some of them are better than Greyhound.

Andy Samberg stars in PALM SPRINGS (NEON/Hulu), the new romantic comedy and first feature from director Max Barbakow. Calling it a “romantic comedy” wouldn’t really be doing the movie justice, since it’s more of a quirky comedy that offers more than the simple Sundance rom-com formula of Samberg’s previous Sundance movie, Jesse and Celeste Forever. The movie begins with Samberg’s character, Nyles, waking up at a wedding with his horrid girlfriend Misty (a very funny Meredith Hagner). At the wedding, Nyles gives a rousing speech (despite no one knowing who he is) then connects with the bride’s sister, Sara (Cristin Milioti). But wait, maybe you think you know where this is going but when the two go off somewhere private to “hook up,” it’s rudely interrupted by someone trying to kill Nyles, and well, it just gets stranger from there.

I’m not sure how much of the plot and the early twist would be considered a spoiler, although maybe not if you’ve watched the trailer. Essentially, Sara follows Nyles into a cave where there’s some sort of dimensional thing that returns them back to the beginning of the same day over and over. They go to sleep or they die, and they’re right back at the start of the day, so yup, it’s basically a similar Groundhog’s Day premise that we’ve seen in movies like Happy Death Day, Natasha Lyonne’s Russian Doll, Before I Fall or others, but it’s all about what Barbakow, writer Andy Siara and the two leads do that make Palm Springs so much more entertaining and even deeper.

I have to be honest that I wasn’t familiar with Milioti at all before this film, so this ends up being an amazing spotlight for her talent, and similar to Rashinda Jones in Jesse/Celeste, she makes Samberg that much easier to palate. Not that I dislike Samberg, but I’ve never been the biggest fan when he’s given free reign like in movies such as Hot Rod. (But I did like Popstar: Never Stop Stopping, so maybe he’s grown on me.) I will admit that I’m a sucker for a good wedding-based romantic comedy—as seen by recent ones like Plus Oneand Destination Wedding -- and with its odd quantum physics twist, Palm Springs continually finds new ways of exploring the tenuous existence that is a new relationship. Oh, I should also mention that Roy, the guy trying to kill Nyles, is played by JK Simmons, and while it’s definitely a smaller part for one of my favorite actors, he also plays a significant role in the story.

You’ll probably know right away if Palm Springs is your kind of movie, but the mix of quirkiness and honest heart and emotion makes it one of Samberg’s better endeavor. It hope it allows us to see much more of Ms. Milioti, since I think she’s quite wonderful as well.  Palm Springs can be watched on Hulu or in select drive-ins starting this Friday, and since it is this week’s “Featured Flick*,” I hope you’ll check it out! (*I changed the name of this just to see if anyone is paying any attention… or even reading.)

Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández’s comic, THE OLD GUARD, has been turned into a movie directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love and Basketball) that will hit Netflix this Friday. It stars Charlize Theron and is written by Rucka himself, and it’s a fairly high concept action movie involving a group of “immortals” – warriors who aren’t able to die, so they’ve lived for hundreds of years and are now hiring themselves out as hired mercenaries. When they learn there’s a new immortal awakening, they seek her out to recruit her.

I generally like Charlize Theron in action mode as seen in Mad Max: Fury Road and Atomic Blonde, and she’s pretty kick-ass as Andromache the Scythian aka Andy, the leader of the Old Guard. Kiki Layne from If Beale Street Could Talk offers a nice counterpoint as her trainee in the form of Nile, the newest immortal, who discovers that she can’t die while serving as a soldier in the Middle East. The rest of the cast includes Chiwetel Ejiofor, Matthias Schoenaerts and others, who are all okay, but I just wish there was more to the story than just watching them have to deal with a lame corporate villain named Merrick (Harry Melling), who wants to harvest their blood to create life-saving pharmaceuticals for others.

While I liked the flashbacks to historic times showing Theron’s Andromache in another light, the stuff in present day is rarely as interesting. I’m not sure I ever would have thought of Bythewood doing action, even though she was supposed to do a Silver Sable/Black Cat movie at one point, but her fight scenes pretty fairly impressive, but she doesn’t lose sight of losing the focus on characterization, at least in terms of the two women.

The Old Guard isn’t bad, and it really would have benefited from being seen on the big screen, but I’m not sure it really offers enough with its concept other than a few decent fight scenes. Personally, I felt it paled in comparison to Netflix’s other recent action film, Extraction, at least in terms of the story and characters.

A horror movie that got a lot of lavishing praise out of Sundance is Natalie Erika James’ RELIC (IFC Midnight), which you may remember me mentioning last week, because apparently, it opened in a few drive-in theaters last Friday.  I had been looking forward to this due to the amount of praise it got from Sundance, comparing it to the likes of The Babadook or Hereditary.

The story revolves around Emily Mortimer’s Kay and her daughter Sam (Bella Heatchote) travelling to their grandmother Edna’s country home in Australia after she’s reported missing. Edna (Robyn Nevin) soon returns and is behaving oddly, and with Gran clearly not herself, Kay has to figure out if she’s possessed by something or just suffering from advanced dementia.

I feel like I have a general idea what James was trying to accomplish with Relic, as it explores what it’s like being the caregiver for your elderly parent once they’ve become debilitated by something that makes them unrecognizable, put into the context of a horror film. I ended up watching the movie twice, mainly because I had no clue what was going on during my first viewing, but honestly, this movie just ended up annoying me, and it was only partially due to the fact that I had very little idea what was going on since most of the movie is so dark. More than that, I found a lot of the movie to be incredibly dull, and comparisons to The Babadook are inane, since the only thing is that it’s a horror movie (sort of) directed by an Australian woman.

The movie also involves some sort of “evil presence” and a creepy old house that was on the premises when Kay’s family moved in, but this information is revealed in such a dreary and confusing manner that makes it harder to figure out what you’re watching.  In fact, if not for a number of eerie random images, it would be hard to even consider the first half of Relic “horror” since it’s more of a family drama about these three women from different generations contending with each other in this house. As someone who has had many conversations with my sister about what to do about my own elderly mother, I could see why this might connect with viewers, but planting this idea haphazardly into a typical horror movie just never worked for me. Relic has some good things going for it, such as the performances by the three actors (particularly Nevin), plus the creepy imagery and sound design do a lot to create a mood even if it doesn’t necessarily help with the storytelling.

The problem is that this story is told at such a snail’s pace and by the time the horror elements start kicking in within the last 20 minutes of the movie, almost everything is in pitch blackness, making it almost impossible to tell what you’re watching. Any earlier qualities worthy of praise are lost with some of the bad choices in lighting and editing, as well as an ending that’s dragged on for so long and at such a drowsy pace that any good will towards the movie will likely be lost. Ultimately, Relic is a disappointing high concept but single-note thriller that fails to deliver on the scares, instead delivering a dull and slightly unsettling family drama about aging and dementia.

In fact, I actually much preferred Jeffrey A. Brown’s horror film, The Beach House, which comes to the streaming network sShudder this Thursday. It stars Liana Liberato and Noah Le Gross as Emily and Randall, a young couple who travel to his father’s beach house to reconnect. Once there, their vacation is broken up by Jake Weber’s Mitch and his wife Jane (Maryann Nagel), but as the two couples get to know each other, a freak environmental event unleashes an infection that leads to all sorts of freaky occurrences. While there was just as much weirdness and not knowing what was going on as in Relic, at least this movie mostly takes place in the sunlight, so you can actually see things that are equally or even more disturbing than anything in Relic.

Brown’s film starts out so simply with this young couple wanting to spend some time alone together, but there’s this constant menace looming that’s foreshadowed in the opening credits, and as Mitch and Jane show up and start behaving oddly, you’ll wonder what exactly is happening to them. Things get even more disturbing when Emily is on the beach and experiences even odder and grosser circumstances that lead into the film’s “body horror” portion that will make even those with the strongest constitutions slightly queasy.

Part of why the film works so well is the small cast Brown has put together.  I’ve been quite a fan of Liberato for many years, and she effectively becomes the film’s lead. Certainly, there are a few common horror tropes in place including ones that can be traced back to the likes of Eli Roth’s Cabin Fever, but there’s also enough new ideas that the film doesn’t seem like retread. While I’m not 100% sure exactly what was happening in The Beach House, Brown and his cast do a good job keeping the viewer uneasy and disturbed.  

Atom Egoyan’s new thriller GUEST OF HONOUR (Kino Lorber) will premiere this week as part of the Kino Marquee (and there’s lots of great stuff on there that will help support your local arthouse while you’re checking that out!)  It stars David Thewliss as Jim, a health inspector whose high school music teaching daughter Veronica (Lausla de Oliveira) has been jailed over an indiscretion with two teen students.

Egoyan has proven himself to be quite a master at the thriller genre, and Guest of Honour involves a complex family drama narrative that scuttles between timelines in order to keep you guessing where things might be going. I’ll freely admit that the non-linear storytelling was somewhat confusing at first, as the movie is framed by a conversation between Veronica and Luke Wilson after the death of her father. It also flashes back to an important moment from Veronica’s childhood before her mother died of cancer, which led to other things that would affect her years later.

I’m frequently amazed by Thewliss as one of England’s more underrated exports, but I was equally impressed by Ms. de Oliveira, whose work I was not familiar with before seeing her in Egoyan’s capable hands.

While we’ve heard plenty of true stories about the relationships between teachers with their students, Guest of Honour isn’t just about that, and it’s the way Egoyan reveals some of the story’s more interesting complexities, like Veronica’s relationship with an obsessed bus driver (Rossif Sutherland), that builds to some of the events that happen later. Honestly, I’m hesitant to reveal too much about the plot since there’s a way that Egoyan unveils various elements that makes Guest of Honour another compelling entry in the filmmaker’s constantly-evolving oeuvre.

A really interesting crime-thriller with a sci-fi twist hitting Apple TV, Prime Video and other digital platforms this Friday is South African filmmaker Tony Dean Smith’s own directorial debut, VOLITION (Giant Pictures), a film co-written and co-produced with his brother Ryan. It stars Adrian Glynn McMorran (Arrow) as James, a man constantly down on his luck who has clairvoyant powers that he uses to get himself involved in a scheme involving valuable diamonds. Just before this happens, he meets Angela (Magda Apanowicz), a young woman who gets pulled into the problems James gets into with others wanting the diamonds, and when he sees a murder, he has to do what he can to change the future.

I feel like this column’s running theme is that I’m being deliberately vague about the film’s plot, and in this case, it’s because halfway through the movie, there’s a pretty big twist that involves time travel. While that immediately makes the movie more interesting, it also makes things far more confusing.  Up until that point, Volition felt like a rather weakly-written indie crime-thriller from filmmakers who may have seen Memento a few too many times. In fact, it opens with such a pretentious bit of narration I was worried the movie wasn’t going to be very good, and there was very little in the first half to keep me invested. When that new element/twist is added, McMorran’s character ends up on a far more interesting journey, and that turns Volition into a far more inventive and original story. Sure, it isn’t Primer, but if you’re a fan of the twists that come with time travel, Volition does a good job keeping you wondering what might happen next, and it does this with a mostly no-name cast, which is always quite impressive. In that way, it reminds me of The Wretchedwhich opened earlier in the year, as that was also by two filmmaking brothers taking a DIY attitude towards independent film. Volition isn’t perfect but it’s far better than I was expecting, and it’s a testament to the filmmakers’ perseverance to bring their very specific vision to the screen.

I was pretty excited to learn out about the quirky Japanese coming-of-age musical comedy WE ARE LITTLE ZOMBIES (Oscilloscope) from Makoto Nagahisa, because it’s the type of movie that I would usually see at the New York Asian Film Festival that would have been going on right now if not for… well, you know what. But it did play Fantasia in Montreal last year, so I’m sure it would have been fun seeing it with that audience. It’s certainly cute and quirky, involving a group of kids who come together to deal with their parents. Honestly, I don’t have a ton to say about it, but if you like oddball Asian films like the ones that play those festivals, you’ll know whether the film is for you. You can watch a trailer and find out where you’ll be able to catch We Are Little Zombies at its Official Site.

At least that was more watchable than Gavin Rothery’s sci-fi directorial debut, ARCHIVE (Vertical Entertainment), starring Theo James from the Divergent movies as George Almore, a man in the year 2038 who is working on an AI that is as close to human as possible, one that will hopefully reunite him with his dead wife in this new form. If you watch this, you’ll immediately think that Rothery must have watched Moon quite a lot. In fact, he was the conceptual artist and visual FX artist on Duncan Jones’ movie, and the influences of that film are so obvious it’s hard to get past it. Then again, Theo James has so little personality and charisma, he’s almost constantly being overshadowed by his robotic companions. So yeah, not recommended, and I’m a little shocked this was accepted into this year’s cancelled SXSW. Honestly, I couldn’t even get through it.

Also premiering in the Kino Marquee is Nicholas Leytner’s Austrian drama The Tobacconist (Menemsha Films), starring Bruno Ganz (Downfall) as Sigmund Freud and based on the bestselling novel by Robert Seethaler, which I haven’t read (if that isn’t obvious). It deals with the friendship between a teenager named Franz (Simon Morzé) and Freud during the Nazi occupation of Vienna, when the former travels there to work as an apprentice at a tobacco shop where Freud is a regular customer. When Franz falls in love with a music hall dancer, he turns to Freud for advice.

Apparently “showing only in theaters” this Friday is Michael W. Bachochin’s sci-fi/”psychodrama” Parallax (The Primal Group) starring Naomi Prentice as a young artist who is haunted by nightmares and who wakes up to a life she doesn’t recognize. At this point, I might as well just post the actual synopsis: “As she begins to uncover the truths of the life that she's found herself in, the gravity of her failing reality weighs heavily on her psychological identity and the reliability of her sanity is called into question.”

Let’s get to some docs, and you can probably safely assume that Harry Mavromichalis’ Olympia(Abramorama) is about Oscar-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, because it is. Featuring interviews with Whoopi Goldberg, Laura Linney, Diane Ladd and more, that covers the Greece-born actress as she opens up about her struggles with depression, suicide and drug addiction, as well as stories from some of the actors she’s shared the stage and screen with over the years.

The next doc is about the Chinese artist who probably has had more docs made about him than…well, anyone else? Ai Wei Wei: Yours Truly (First Run Features), directed by Cheryl Haines and Gina Leibrecht, covers how the artist developed his 2014 exhibition, @Large: Ai Weiwei on Alcatraz, inspired by his 2011 detention by Chinese authorities (which has generally inspired all his recent work?) Hey, if you’re a fan of his artwork, then you’ll probably want to see this doc, too.

One doc that I really wanted to see was Brett Harvey’s Inmate #1: The Rise of Danny Trejo (Universal), which had a virtual world premiere and is now on ITunes and other VOD, but my attempts to get a screener was met with absolute silence. The film documents the amazing life and career of the 71-year-old character actor and action hero who went from a life of drugs and doing hard time in prison to becoming an easily recognized and respected star, mainly thanks to Robert Rodriguez. I would like to see this movie, and maybe someday I will.

Film Forum’s Virtual Cinema will be adding Jacques Becker’s 1947 film, Antoine and Antoinette, this Friday, as well as the 1927 filming of the original Broadway play, Chicago, long before it was turned into a musical, although it does have Ginger Rogers playing Roxie Hart. Reinhold Schünzel’s original 1933 film Victor and Victoria (which was later remade by Blake Edwards for wife Julie Andrews) also joins the fairly hefty list of repertory films available, being shown as part of the “Pioneers of Queer Cinema” series.

Other movies I just wasn’t able to get to this week include Tito (Factory 25), I, Pastafari (Gravitas Ventures), The Medicine (1091), Never Too Late (Blue Fox Entertainment), Deany Bean is Dead (Global Digital Releasing) and Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (Utopia).

Also beginning on Apple TV+ this Friday is the new JJ Abrams series, Little Voice, starring Brittany O’Grady as Bess King, a 20-something singer trying to find her voice in the rat race that is New York City. I haven’t had a chance to watch this yet but apparently, Abrams got Sara Bareilles from Broadway’s Waitress to write some of the tunes, so it should be decent.

Next week, more movies—some in theaters, some not in theaters! But most of them watchable from home in case you don’t drive or your city is exploding with the COVID after the rest of us have been in quarantine for months. Thanks bunches.

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

#TheWeekendWarrior #Movies #Reviews #Streaming #VOD #Greyhound #Relic #TheOldGuard #Volition #TheBeachHouse #PalmSprings #GuestOfHonour

[djinmer4]

The Force

“When you first got here, I thought the Force you were so obsessed with was some sort of religion or superstition.  I know it’s more than that now, but I’m still confused.”  There was downtime between missions again, so Mitth’kurt’darcolm was catching up on office work and other administrative tasks.  Kitty, now the official representative between the Chiss Ascendancy and the refugees who were allowed to reside in their territory, had brought lunch over.  She had her own office, but it wasn’t like there were that many refugees and she did split her duties with Scott, so she usually had a lot more free time than Kurt did.  “What exactly is the Force?”

“The Force is exactly what it says it is.”  The Chiss glared at her.  Hardened officers wilted under that glare, but too much familiarity (and too many stupid near-death experiences on missions) rendered the human immune.  “Okay, you know what the four fundamental forces of physics are, right?”

“Strong nuclear, weak nuclear, electromagnetism and gravity.”

“The Force is similar to that.  It’s a field produced by all living things that exists on the quantum level.”

“So a person or a bacterium would create a force, but something like a rock or a droid would not.”

“Correct.”  She finished filling a bowl with some noodle dish and passed it to him, along with a bottle of water.  “But if everyone exists in the Force, why aren’t we all telekinetic or throwing out bolts of energy?”

“Just because people are 99.99% identical genetically, doesn’t mean that we’re all alike.  Being Force-sensitive is a talent just like everything else.  Do you have the same talents as your twin?”  Kitty had met Mitth’wagner’safis on a recent inspection tour.  They’d hit it off and kept in touch, but if Kurt had his way, they wouldn’t meet in person again.  He was rarely jealous of his Syndic twin, but he hadn’t liked how Kitty had mistaken Wagner for himself on arrival.  Wagner had managed the impromptu hug better than Kurt would have if the mistake had been the other way, but it still gave him a tight feeling in his chest that was . . . unpleasant.

“I understand that.  What I mean is what the difference is?  Why can one human or Chiss or Shistavanen can use the Force while another cannot?”

“Are there any Chiss Force users?  The X-Men haven’t seen any in the time we’ve been here.”

“There are suggestions in the records that some Chiss were taken as apprentices of the Sith, but those are ancient and unreliable.  Also, may not have had anything to do with the Force.”  He took a bite of the food she had brought.  Good, something nutty and spicy in the sauce.  “Did you make this?”

“Nope, can’t cook at all.  I think Remy made this, he’s on canteen duty today.”  She finished serving her own portion, and a few minutes passed while before she took up the conversation again.  “The Force is in every living thing, but the ability to tangibly effect the Force is not.  It varies from species to species.  Humans and Larfrarians have cells in their blood stream that grant the ability, the Shistavenen and Devaronians have a certain organ in their body.  Some species, like Grand Master Yoda have organelles that are in every cell.  All these things are rolled up under the name midi-chlorians.  If you are born with midi-chlorians you can manipulate the Force.  If you aren’t, then you can’t.”

“So some sapients have these midichlorians and some don’t.  I take it that some species have this occur more often than others?”  She nodded while she chewed.  “Are there any species that don’t have midichlorians at all?”

Kitty laughed, nearly snorting her own water up her nose, then spent a few minutes coughing it out again.  “Ugh, that’s awful.  And Kurt, you can’t prove a negative hypothesis like that.”

“You and Hank say that all the time but never say why.”

“Because there’s always the possibility for the hypothesis to be proven wrong.  Sure, there don’t appear to be any Chiss Force-sensitives around now.  But there could have been in the past that we just don’t have records of, or there may be people now who have midichlorians and just don’t know it because they’ve never been tested, or even if there have never been any, it doesn’t mean that a Chiss with Force-sensitivity couldn’t be born in the future.  Mutations do exist after all.”

He had never really thought about it that way before.  Perhaps he should cut Hank some slack.  Then he remembered that Hank could have explained it that way any time before this and resolved to put the Commander in the worst mission he could think of.  Or maybe steal and keep the next bit of weird technology that they found.

“Wait, you said people could be Force-sensitive without realizing it.  How would you tell?”

“Some spontaneously develop some abilities, but generally you need to be trained.  So if someone starts randomly shooting lasers out of their eyes one day, that’s a pretty good indicator that they’ve got midichlorians.”  He reminded himself to ask Scott how he had found out about his ability one day.  It sounded like the type of thing that would annoy the leader of the X-Men.  “In the Core Worlds, a midichlorian test is generally part of the natal check-up procedure.  So an alert would be sent to the Jedi if any new borns with a high enough midichlorian levels were born.  Then they’d come and pick up the acquire the baby.”

“So all Force sensitives were inducted in the Jedi order?”

“Nnnooo . . . I think they had to get the parents’ permission first.  The Jedi cut themselves off from their families, so a lot of people didn’t necessarily let their kids join.  And there was some sort of age limit.”  She finished her noodles, then reached into the bag to pull out some sort of fried dumplings.  Half went into her empty bowl, the other half she passed to him.  “Now that I think about, I think the Jedi Order might have been dying even without the Purge.”

“They don’t have kinder, they have high requirements to join, many people who meet the requirements don’t join because of the restrictions, and finally many of those who do join wash out.  Are midichlorian levels hereditary?”  Another nod.  “Your Jedi Order sounds impractical.  If they wanted more Force Users they should have required them to have kinder, not taken those genes out of circulation.”

“That’s where organizations like the X-Men, the Hellfire Club and Genosha get our recruits.  People like Jean who were too old to be inducted, or like Jubilee who didn’t have a high enough level to be worth the time to train.  We’ve met a lot of people bitter about the Jedi.”  He wrapped his tail around her wrist, wondering if she was one of those bitter people.  An apprentice to a Dark Side User who’d had no voice in her own fate, set aside like permanently tarnished goods.

“What abilities does the Force grant?”

“That also varies by individual.  People who are strong in the Force tend to have multiple abilites, like the way Jean is both a telekinetic and a telepath.  On the other hand, weaker Users tend to have singular, quirky abilities.  Scott’s only power is energy projection.  They’re are a lot of people like that, but he’s the only one who does it from his eyes.  Or my phasing ability; I’ve never met anyone else like that.”

“Is there anything in common that the Force always grants?  Healing, perhaps?”  She took another drink and thought about it.  “Force users do seem to heal better than normal people.  Not necessarily faster, but things like your scar,” she leaned forward and traced the red lightning bolt on the left side of his face. “As long as the parts remain, we do heal perfectly.  And longer life, yes.  Most Force Users have a maximum life span of at least twice their species average.”  She pulled away again with a frown.  “Of course, dying of a blaster bolt in the back could be considered dying of natural causes now, so take that with a grain of salt.”

Now that was interesting.  “Twice the average?  Does that mean you’re older than you look?”

“I guess that would depend on how old you think I am.”

“Sixteen?  No, you’ve were already in charge of the X-Men when you arrived.  Eighteen?”

She gaped at him.  “Why would you think I was sixteen?  Who puts a sixteen year old in charge of an entire ship of refugees?”

He flushed, but was glad that she wouldn’t be able to see it.  “Fourteen is certainly old enough to take adult responsibilities.  And you X-Men did seem rather desperate when you first arrived.”

“Chiss are considered adult at fourteen?”

“We’re considered adult at twelve.”  It was her turn to look at him suspiciously.

“How old do Chiss get any way?  And how old are you?”

“Chiss have a maximum lifespan of 80 of your Standard Years.”

“That’s not so bad.” she muttered under her breath.

“I’m 24.”

“I would never have guessed that.”

“Well, how old did you think I was?”

She bit her lips, clearly reluctant to say.  But he kept his eyes on her, and moved his tail from around her wrist to her waist.  “F-forty.”

“Do I really look that old!”

“Forty’s not that old for humans.  I’m only 36.”  They paused for a moment.  “I kinda feel like I’m robbing the cradle here.”

“Really?  I feel the same way.”

#kurt darkholme #Kitty Pryde #X-men #star wars #CrossOver #more world building #but they're definitely friends now #kurt wagner is mr not appearing in this fic #i made kurt w's core name Thwagners #i'm so sorry kurt #i never liked the midichlorian explanation in star wars #so that stuff is completely made up #age comparison #kitty's 36 is the equivalent of our 18 #kurt's 24 is the equivalent of our 30 #fridge horror if they both live to old age she will outlive him by 80 years #there are no droid jedi in the cartoons or movies so i've decided they don't exist in this universe

[fifteenleads]

due to the dead

Inspired by Sink by queenlua.

.

The tent is dark, save for the dim electric lamp on top of the supplies chest. The air is unusually chilly despite it being in an enclosed space in the heat of summer. Outside, the wailing of helicopter sirens has given way to the ringing of ceremonial bells. Hushed whispers and light footsteps go back and forth as the beachfront is prepared for the rite of sending.

Yuna waits alone inside, her hands on her lap and her staff by her side. She had considered leaving it behind at home in Besaid when she decided to move all the way across the country by herself all those years ago. In hindsight, maybe she had, at that time, wanted to run away from her responsibilities - from all the stiffness, the deafening silence, and the spirits of the dead.

It is why she decided to become a doctor, after all. She'd be more useful to the living this way than by being a summoner like her father. "Such a waste of natural talent," the admitting committee had collectively opined as they accepted her application to medical school. For Yuna, by nature, is every inch the summoner Lord Braska was - well-versed in the scriptures and traditions of Old Yevon, highly adept in the magical arts, and strongly imbued with a sense of duty to her people, befitting her station as the High Summoner's daughter. But in time, she had grown weary of it all and wanted some measure of difference for herself.

This she had once confided to Tidus while on a walk along the Besaid shoreline. "Am I being a coward?" Yuna asked him, the uncertainty plaguing her whole life in every word. It is only with him that she could be herself, beneath all the reserved formalities and layers of rank and ceremony and everything she was tired of.

Tidus laughed, and the answer she had been seeking had never been as clear as his eyes. "Of course not! You're just being true to yourself." Yuna relaxed her tight grip on his hand, and the warmth remaining in hers calmed her mind as she made her decision.

"Go for it, Yuna," Tidus encouraged. "It's your life. You don't owe anyone anything."

Everyone in the hospital had been baffled when Yuna reported for work the first time, magic-sealing armbands hidden underneath loose-fitting scrubs. But she has quickly proven to be a capable physician, learning and applying the clinical sciences like a fish taking to water. No one questions her presence on the team, and she is adored by many of her patients. The hectic hospital shifts are not much different from the rigorous summoner training from her childhood, but she greatly enjoys the freedom she has now more than ever.

After graduation, Yuna pursued further training as a pediatrician. In the eyes of every child she sends home smiling, she sees the pyreflies of her late father. "I am proud of you," she hears Braska say, again and again, and she is glad every time that she has chosen this path.

The earthquake happened two days ago, six months into Yuna's final year of residency training. The port city of Kilika was hit the hardest, most of which was submerged in the tsunami that came afterwards. Talks of Sin returning after ten years of calm raised fear and unrest in the general populace, despite reassurances from the central government that nothing of the sort has been confirmed yet.

Yuna arrived as part of the medical team sent from Bevelle to aid the survivors in Kilika. There was not much to do, as it turned out, for almost everyone had been swallowed by the waves, then washing back up on the shore hours later, already lifeless. After the treatment and resettling of the remaining residents (those poor, poor children) in temporary shelters came the matter of identification and proper disposal of the bodies. No one on the team was a forensic pathologist, but they would come up with a solution to it later on.

There was also the matter of sending the victims' souls into the Farplane - one complicated by the fact that Kilika's summoner was apparently among the dead, her body found crushed under the rubble of the temple. Bevelle would not be able to send a replacement summoner in time before the three-day period passes. The souls have to be sent as soon as possible before they are corrupted and turned into fiends.

"Yuna," the team leader looked her straight in the eye, "you're the only one who can do it." And not just the rite of sending, she completes his unsaid words in her mind.

Life, Yuna thought, was quite unfair - not in the sense that unfortunate things like this have to happen to her, but more of the fact that she clearly knows what her answer will be when she is made to choose between keeping her freedom and performing her duty once and for all. She thought of her father, the last High Summoner who defeated Sin, and how the Calm his sacrifice has brought about is ending soon. She thought of Tidus, back in Besaid, and the letters they have exchanged back and forth since she had decided to uproot herself and follow her dreams. Oh, how his heart will break when he finds out what she soon intends to do.

She thought of her patients, the children in the wards, whose bright eyes and toothy smiles give her boundless joy, and of the orphans in the shelters, whose very souls are wracked with trauma and grief at such a young age. And she thought of the staff in her unopened luggage, and how it seemed to mock her when she had considered leaving it behind for a second time in her apartment in Bevelle just the other day.

The joke truly is on her now, Yuna concluded wryly. This must be the punishment she deserves after years of denying her due to the dead. It is neither a pleasant nor unpleasant circumstance, but it is a weighty decision all the same.

That said, though, she already knew what her answer will be. (Life truly is unfair.)

The flap of the tent opens from behind her, and Yuna stops meditating. Kurgum, she recognizes the boy from the shelter, steps in, a white ceremonial cloak with red borders in his arms. She had been the one to interview him and take his vitals during the immediate aftermath of the disaster. His hollowed eyes betray his faint smile, and she sees in them the family he just lost, begging to be freed.

"Lady Yuna," he says, despite himself, "it is time."

Yuna nods wordlessly and slowly rises, picking up the staff she had almost cast away twice now. This rite of sending is but the first of many trials she will have to go through if she is to defeat Sin once and for all. It is uncommon for a woman her age to suddenly switch careers like so, but a Summoner's word is their bond, and she will see it through to the end, even at the cost of her life. It is hers to do as she sees fit, after all. She doesn't owe anyone anything, neither the living nor the dead. She has decided this for herself, and no one else.

#final fantasy x #yuna