#sarah as tori is completely right too

[tkwrites]

First Fight - Quinn Hughes x ofc

Title: First Fight

Author: Tory / @tkwrites 

Relationship: Pre-established: Quinn Hughes x Original female character 

Warnings: Angst, history of a bad relationship 

Summary: Quinn and Sarah have their first fight - we learn more about Quinn’s previous relationship

Word count: 3000

Comments: Angst isn’t something I feel I write very well, so if you have any ideas of how to make this better, I would welcome any and all constructive feedback. 

First Fight

A Quinn & Sarah Snapshot

Hey, I met someone. I want you to meet her when you’re in town. 

Sending this text was like setting off a bomb in his life. Not because Quinn thought it would destroy things, but it would open up this fated little world to outside forces, something he’d protected against so far.  

He wanted Brady and Emma’s opinion first before he started introducing the idea of Sarah into the rest of his relationships. They had been the only ones brave enough to tell him they didn’t like June. Everyone else in his life told him they felt the same only after he’d called it off completely. His own family hadn’t even told him. 

Everything with Sarah felt different than it had with June. He didn’t expect the same outcome, but he wanted to be sure. June taught him he couldn’t always trust his own judgment. 

Things with June were always complicated. In so many ways, their relationship had been easy. She entertained herself for the most part, looked good on his arm, and the sex wasn’t bad, but it never went beyond that. Quinn used to think their relationship could lead to marriage, but she never gave them that chance. 

Looking back, he wasn’t sure if she ever actually liked him. She liked the lifestyle he offered, and liked being seen with him at events and after games. She would often flirt with other people, even after they decided to be exclusive and was happy to tell him how there were taller, more handsome, better dressed men she could get with when they fought. A few days later, she would always come back apologizing, telling him she loved him and that she wanted to be with him. 

At one point, Brady had told him he didn’t want to hear about their relationship drama anymore. “You don’t even like her, Q,” he’d said, exasperated, “like, not just her body, but her.” 

Eventually, Quinn had been forced to admit he was right. 

They’d been on and off for more than a year, and it never went anywhere other than around in circles. They had the same fights about how long he was gone, how she wanted him to dress better, and that she was flirting with other guys all the time. It was exhausting, and not in a way that made it worthwhile.

You met someone? Brady responded. Who? When? 

Her name is Sarah. We met two months ago. We've been dating since then. 

It wasn't totally unlike Quinn to keep something so private, but the fact that it had been two months and he'd kept it all to himself made Brady wonder. 

Do you think Emma could come out? 

If he was asking for Emma's opinion, this was serious. Quinn trusted her judgment. 

I'll ask her. 

As soon as Emma’s flight was confirmed, Quinn brought it up while Sarah was at his house. 

When he'd asked her to come over earlier in the day, she had initially turned him down, explaining that she had a deadline to meet. 

“I just want to see you,” he said. “You could do your homework here.”

“I don't know if that would work…” 

She wanted to see him, too, especially knowing he was headed out of town again too soon for her liking, but finals and year end deadlines were coming up swiftly. She didn’t have the time, especially now that she was spending so much time with Quinn, to put things off. 

“Could we just give it a try? I'll leave you alone until you're finished, I swear. And then we can spend some time together.”

She'd agreed, and was pleasantly surprised to find that he kept every word of his promise. 

By the time her first draft of the research publication she was writing was done, Sarah had been at Quinn's table for more than two hours. True to his word, he left her alone other than to bring her a plate of cut vegetables and kiss her forehead around the one hour mark.  

Now, she wandered through the penthouse, looking for him. 

“Quinn?” she finally asked when she didn’t find him downstairs. 

“I'm up here.”

She climbed the stairs and found him in the gaming room. It was where he had all of his video game equipment set up, along with squishy arm chairs, couches and bean bags. He had enough controllers, he could probably host the entire team. 

Glancing away from the screen, he asked, “you're done already?”

She shrugged, “I write fast.”

She did. He was impressed. “I’m almost done with this level, and I'll be done.”

“No rush.” 

She wandered down the hall to one of the guest bathrooms. When she got back, he'd tossed his headset and controller away from him and was standing. 

The hug he wrapped her in was warm and comforting. She snuck her hands under his shirt just so she could feel his warm skin.

They kissed for a long time, standing in that gaming room. 

As they walked down the stairs hand in hand, he broached the subject, “my best friend, Brady is going to be in town on a road trip from Ottawa Thursday. I hoped we could all go to dinner together.”

“Oh.” 

“What?” 

“I have a cohort review on Thursday night.”

“So? Can't you just move it?”

“No, I can't. It took us a week just to find a time that worked for everyone, and I already told them I would be there.”

Quinn pulled his bottom lip into his mouth, thinking. “Just - he's only in town Thursday and Friday, and they leave Friday night. His wife Emma is coming in.” 

“I'm sorry, Quinn, I wish you had given me more advanced notice.” 

“Can’t you meet with your cohort after class or something?” he asked, “you all live here.” 

Sarah bristled, feeling more and more disrespected as this conversation went on. “Quinn,” her tone was a bit sharper than she intended and she tried to bite it back, “it’s not my fault you didn’t tell me about this until two days beforehand. I can’t just move my schedule around because you forgot.” 

“I didn’t forget,” he said indignantly. 

“Then why didn’t you tell me before?” 

“We just made the plan!”

“You can’t just make plans without consulting me! I have a life and responsibilities outside of you.” 

He blew a breath through his nose, “I know that.”

“Do you? Because it seems like you're expecting me to just drop everything for your schedule.” 

He groaned. “That’s not what I mean. Brady and Emma will only be in town for a day and a half. They live on the other side of the country, and I want them to meet you, and you to meet them, and you’re saying you can’t because of some school thing with people who live here and could reschedule.” 

Sarah pursed her lips. “So it’s up to me to reschedule.” 

“They’re going back home on Friday after the game!” 

“Could we not have lunch on Friday or get together before the game?” 

Quinn paused. It wasn’t ideal, but he supposed it could work. “I mean, I guess so.” 

She nodded. “So when I said I have plans, your first call is to ask me to cancel them, rather than seeing if there’s something that will work for everyone.”

“Jesus, Sarah. I just want you to meet my friends, and dinner would give us more time.” 

“I get that, I really do, but this review is really important, and I’d just…” traitorous tears rose to her eyes. They always did when she was frustrated. “I’d just like you to respect that I have important stuff going on that I can’t cancel.” 

Shit. Now she was crying. Over something he did. Fuck. 

They were real tears, too - frustrated ones she was trying to sniffle back - not like the over dramatic tears June would dredge up in a fight. 

“I know you’re used to being single, but you need to respect my time, too. You’re not the only one working around a demanding schedule.”

The truth of it socked him in the stomach. June worked as an influencer. Other than modeling gigs, which weren't that often, she could change her schedule at the drop of a hat, and often did. She liked the spontaneity of it. He had rarely planned ahead with her.

His shoulders sagged, “I’m sorry.” 

“Thank you. It’s just, I already move so much stuff around because of your hockey schedule.”

That made him stop short. “You do?” 

“Yes! I have to move my work and my research so we can spend time together while you’re in town. Last week, I canceled this same review group so I could come over here before you went off to the midwest, and I can’t cancel it again.” 

“I didn't know that. I can't know stuff you don't tell me, Sarah.”

“It’s not really even about the review, it’s about -” he scoffed and she stopped talking, pursing her lips together.

Quinn crossed his arms over his chest. How could he have known she changed this meeting before? How could she possibly be mad at him for something he didn’t know?

They stood that way, at the bottom of his fancy, metal and glass stairs, each staring at the other for a long while. The longer they were there, the longer Quinn stayed silent, the more frustrated Sarah became. Didn’t he understand she was upset about the lack of respect in this conversation?

“Maybe I should go,” she said. Not because she didn’t want to talk things over, or figure them out, but because she knew herself well enough to know that with his silence and her frustration dipping into anger, she would say something she didn’t really mean if she didn't step away. 

Great. This is just great, Quinn thought. If she wanted to leave, fine. He wouldn’t stop her. 

It was only after she’d left with a sad, emotionless smile, and he’d torn the cap off of a beer from the fridge that the reality of what happened came crashing in on him. 

He let her walk away. Over a dinner - over wanting to be right about a dinner. He was such a fucking idiot. 

In the midst of his realization, his mind grasped hold of something his Grandpa had told him when he had asked for relationship advice the summer before. “Quinn,” he’d said, “I like to ask myself, is this my pride fighting? And is it worth whatever the outcome will be?”

With June, that line was always a little blurred. Right now, though, he could see he’d clearly crossed it. And being right wasn’t worth the outcome this had caused. She’d been gone for 15 minutes, and was likely already on a train home. If he left now, he might make it there when she did.

He grabbed his keys and ran out of the house. 

Once he’d followed another resident into the building and ran up to her apartment, he knocked, frantically. 

Eunice opened the door. 

“Hey, Quinn…” she said, slowly. 

“Is Sarah not here yet?” he asked. 

“No. I thought she was going to be at your place tonight.” 

“She was. I mean, she was there, but -” he didn’t want to get into this with Eunice. 

“Did you fight?” she asked, cocking her head to one side, and looking at him like he’d just proved her wrong in all the ways she’d been hoping he wouldn’t. 

“We argued, and I came to apologize. Do you mind if I wait for her?” 

“I mean, sure,” she said, opening the door further, “but you could just call her, you know?” 

In his haste, he hadn’t even considered it. Would she even answer if he did? Reaching into his pocket he found he’d left his phone at home. 

Sarah walked from the train station, feeling lead-footed. This was a horrible day. Failed experiments all day at work, and the time actually spent with Quinn was spent arguing. Maybe she had been too harsh on him. She hadn’t told him about moving her plans last week, and that was on her. She’d jumped on the defensive too quickly.

She paused before going into the lobby of her building, digging her phone out of her bag. She didn't want to make this call with Eunice in the house. It rang seven times before the generic voicemail picked up. 

“Damnit,” she swore as she pulled her keys from her jacket pocket to buzz into the lobby. 

Eunice greeted her nearly as soon as she walked in. “Hey, Quinn is here,” she said, quietly, catching the door before it could shut. “He said you argued. He’s waiting in your room, but if you don’t want to see him, go in my room and I’ll get rid of him.” 

Tears pooled in her eyes as much for Eunice’s care and concern as for Quinn showing up. “He’s here?” 

She nodded.

Pushing past Eunice, Sarah ran down the hall to her bedroom. 

He jumped to his feet as soon as the door opened. 

“Quinn, I’m sorry,” she said at the same time he was saying, “I’m such an idiot.”

She let out a watery little laugh, and he went to her, wrapping her in his arms, backpack and all. 

“I’m sorry,” he said into her hair. “I never want you to feel like your time isn’t important.” 

She pulled out of his embrace to look into his eyes. He looked a little like a lost puppy. Her heart twisted. “I’m sorry I got so defensive.”

Quinn shook his head, “You had every right to be defensive. I shouldn't have expected you to just change your plans like that. That wasn’t fair.” 

She gave a hearty sniff and tucked her face into his shoulder. 

They stood there for a while, swaying gently. 

“Does this mean I'm forgiven?” Quinn asked after a few moments of silence.

As she pulled back to look into his face, she said, “yes.”

He pulled her against him. “I'm sorry,” he said again. “I’ll call Brady tomorrow and figure something out that works for all of us.”

Her grip tightened around his waist. “Thank you.” 

They stood in that little bubble for a long while. Soaking in each other and letting the bad day roll off. 

Feeling settled, he couldn't hold back his question any longer, “do you golf?”

She stepped out of his embrace and finally took off her backpack, “what?”

“You have clubs,” he gestured to her door, where a purple bag of golf clubs was tucked behind it. He hadn't noticed it until today, when he'd been alone in her room, distracting himself by looking around at everything Sarah held in high enough esteem to keep in her space. 

“Oh, yeah. My dad taught me. We used to golf every Sunday as a family. I was on my high-school golf team and walked on in undergrad. I got a scholarship my senior year.”

“Really?” he said, beaming like a little kid. 

“Yeah. I don't have much time to go these days, but I'm pretty decent.” 

Quinn knew enough about her to know that if she said she was decent, she was much better than she was letting on. She often downplayed her talents and accomplishments.

“Why?”

“I love golf,” he confessed. “Want to go together when I get back next week? I could get us an evening tee time.”

“I like the sound of that,” she said, smiling as she leaned up to kiss him. 

They broke apart at a wrenching sound from the hallway. 

“You guys are so disgustingly cute,” Eunice said. She was smiling as she said it, though, obviously happy things had worked out. “I'm making Mac and cheese if you want to stay,” she said with a nod at Quinn. 

He glanced at Sarah. 

“Stay,” she urged. “I make a mean turkey sandwich, and believe me, you don't want to miss out on Eunice’s mac and cheese.” 

Even though he had practice in the morning, and knew all the carbs and dairy would make him sluggish, he agreed. 

“Where did you even park?”

“On Nelson, across from the courts.”

“There’s no parking there, you’ll get towed.”

“I just found a free curb and ran up,” he confessed. 

Shoving his shoulder playfully, she said, “let’s go move your car.” 

They did, and the rest of what she said was true - Sarah did make a mean turkey sandwich, and Eunice’s mac and cheese wasn’t something to be missed. He had fun getting to know her roommates, and catching Sarah’s looks when Eunice said something unhinged. It felt like they were starting to create their own private language, and he was ecstatic over it.

It was also true that the carbs and dairy from the night before did make Quinn sluggish at practice in the morning. 

“What’s up with you today?”

He shrugged off the question, “just an off morning. I’ll be fine by tonight.”

By the time the game had ended - vs the Jets, lost, in a three round shoot out - and he’d finished his media duties, Sarah had called him twice.

He called her back on the way home. 

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked when she answered. 

“Bryan’s sister went into labor, so he has to go home,” she said. 

Quinn had no idea who Bryan was. “Okay?”

“So we had our cohort review tonight before he left for Calgary. I had to miss your game, sorry.” 

If it was between her watching a game and getting dinner with his friends, he'd rather she missed the game. 

“So you can do dinner tomorrow?” he asked, relieved, and also angry with himself. If he’d just let it lie, it would have worked out for the best anyway. 

“Yep. Do you think Brady is still free?” 

“I’m sure, but I’ll call him and ask.” 

Want more Quinn & Sarah? Check out the Snapshots Masterlist

To read all my fics, check out the Fanfiction Masterlist

#quinn & sarah snapshots #quinn hughes #quinn hughes fic #quinn hughes imagine #quinn hughes x oc #quinn hughes fan fic #nhl fanfiction #nhl imagine #quinn hughes fanfiction #hockey fic #hockey romance

[abucketofweird]

Heartstopper Live Reaction: Ep. 7 Sorry

Ep 7: Sorry

- THE FOKELORE POSTER IN TARA’S ROOM

- Ben just leave him alone jeez

- Awww Elle’s gonna get to be in here and queer for her art

- Tao’s mom is so adorable

- The angst is gonna kill me

- FAMILIES TOGETHER IK HOW THIS GOES ITS GONNA BE BADDDD

- yesss nicks mom get David’s ass

- I’m definitely sad Charlie and Tori’s little brother isn’t in the show

- But I get why with time

- Oh bby Darcy I’m so sorry your home life is shit it seems

- The automatic assumption abt a kiss it’s rough

- I don’t think Darcy is going to be comfortable in a suit with her family probably being homophobic

- DARCY IN THE CROCS I CANT

- everyone lending her money is so sweet

- Oh Issac thank you for representing how it feels to be aroace

- NOTHING IS WRONG WITH U BBY

- NOT THE RIGHT PERSON LINE THATS NOT WHAT U SAY

- I’ve been crying since the last so with Issac

- Issac honey I understand completely

- Expect a whole Issac post once I get emotionally ready to talk abt it

- That realization is so real I can’t

- he’s figuring out that other people feel the same way

- Oh Imogen u were so close but ur the token straight (maybe)

- Her art is def going to be abt Tao

- JESUS BEN GO THE FUCK AWAY YOU ARE SO CREEPY

- at least he apologized a little

- I still hate him

- YAY NO MORE BEN

- being messed up doesn’t give u the permission to be an ass and treat ppl horribly

- YESSS CHARLIE YOU ARE AMAZING

- AGAIN CONSENT CONSENT CONSENT

- YOU NEVER HAVE TO FORGIVE SOMEONE

- SORRY DOENT MAKE IT UP

- thank god his “redemption” we were scared of didn’t happen

- The little ocean bit was such a good addition

- Here comes the shit show

- Nick doesn’t owe him anything that’s right Sarah

- Tori is so annoyed with David I love it

- YES TORI I LOVE YOU

- Awww Nick you deserve to be honest

- SARAH IS A QUEEN I LOVE YOU OLIVIA COLMEN

- show don’t tell your actions are more than words

- I like that they showed David not being important to his dad too

- At least dad is being nice abt the bi thing

- GET HIM TORI

- Oh Darcy you deserve so much better

- the angst was real

This episode is probably the most angsty one this season! So much happened that was amazingly great and sad!! The words aromantic asexual were actually spoken on a tv show with millions of viewers!!!! That really got me and how he felt abt the discovery was so relatable!!! Issac had such a similar experience with his identity that I had so it’s really great for me to see that!!! The whole dinner scene was amazingly done!!! Nick was amazing and his father needed to hear them!!! He isn’t a dad and he can’t judge Nick!!! Tori was just THE BEST!!! And Darcy’s home life is finally being revealed!!!

100/10

#heartstopper s2 spoilers #heartstopper s2 #heartstopper spoilers #heartstopper #heartstopper season 2

[to-hell-and-beyond]

Start of Something New Pt.2

Eli “Hawk” Moskowitz x Reader

Requested: Yes : No

Request: hello! can you do 25 from the fluff list for hawk? i love your writing so much <3 - @sinicalh4wk​

I know this is probably not what you expected when you requested that but..I’ve been writing so many Pt.2′s and I had to do it! And what better to put our new Cobra Kai bullies in the mix? I enjoyed writing this so much so I hope you enjoy!

Summary: It’s been a rough year but now its the Valentine's Day dance. A dance full of fun times and memories! Or another plot for Kylar. Guess him joining Cobra Kai has really boosted his ego. What will happen when he mixes his new friends in the mix?

Words: 1879

Pt.1

It definitely was the start of something new. Hand holding turned into sweet kisses, sweet kisses turned into passionate kisses and well...you know the rest. It was the start of a passionate first love, a flame that burned so bright it couldn't be put out. Even when Hawk flipped the script it still burned bright. It was that kind of love that everyone wishes that they had. But only a few were lucky to have it, you two were very lucky.

“Alright, listen up boys! And, well girl.” Kylar called as they all sat in the library. Rory, A.J, Brucks and Sarah were sitting down as Kylar flipped a chair around and sat down. He wanted to be “cool” like that. They had all become friends when they had joined Cobra Kai.

“The Valentine's day dance is coming up and that only means one thing.” Everyone had known of Kylars hate of Hawk. He is 100% sure that “Hawk stole his girl” even though you told him numerous times you didn’t like him. This was another one of his ridiculous plans to get him to be yours.

“Free drinks?” A.J asked as Kylar scowled at him.

“No. If Cobra Kai has taught us one thing, it’s to not give up-”

“I thought it was Strike hard, Strike fast, No mercy?” Sarah interrupted. She was picking at her nails in boredom as she talked. She had loved Cobra Kia, giving her a sense of family, but she was sick and tired of Kylars endless plots.

“Can you just be quiet for like 5 minutes?” Kyalr asked as he curled his fists. If there was no such Anti-Karate rule that was enforced in the school he would have already tried to kick Sarah’s ass.

“She just needed something to shut her up!” Brucks shouted which caused Rory and A.J to start laughing. The librarian came and shushed them. Sarah rolled her eyes wondering why she put up with them.

“Look, the only reason I'm here and not on a date with Tory is because you said there would be free food. I see no food so get along with it before I push you to the end of the world.” She threatened as they all took a step back away from her. What cowards.

“Well now that that is over, I have a plan.” Kylar said but yet again Sarah cut him off.

“If this is another one of your plans to put anonymous love letters in Y/n’s locker I’m leaving and going to tell Sensei Kreese what you did in the bathroom last friday.” Kylars turned an ugly shade of red as Sarah threatened him.

“Dude, what did you do?” Rory asked as he tried around to face his friend.

“It doesn't matter what I did.” He turned to face Rory and then back at Sarah. “If you don’t want to be a part of this fine leave, but don’t complain we don’t have time for Pussys. That’s why we need to show Y/n what a good man looks like and not Hawk and at the same time show those losers what Cobra kai can do. So what do you say? You all in?” Kylar asked as they all looked at eachother. Had Kylar actually said something that was not idiotic?

“I’m totally in dude, let’s go beat up some losers!” Brucks yelled as they all yelled in agreement with him. The librarian then came and kicked them out for being too loud.

---

“Are you sure this is the place?”

“Yes now shut up.” Oh how Sarah hated this. She could be on the couch cuddling with her girlfriend but instead she was here helping these idiots. Couldn’t they just get the materials themselves? Or even pair her with A.J instead of Rory?

“Did you get everything?” They turned around to see A.J covered head to toe in black. Guess Kylar wanted him to be incognito.

“Did you set up everything?” Rory asked as he passed A.J a bucket. He was starting to get flashbacks when they did Carie for their school play. He had played Tommy Russ and trust him when he says that the bucket scene was not fun.

“I’m so glad you're here. The last few hours have been hell and I couldn't even tell Tory!” She hugged A.J who was surprised. Sarah never showed much emotion but when she did it was really weird.

“Dudes! Everyone is in the gym! They don’t suspect a single thing!” Brucks laughed as the rest of them shushed him, including Rory. The man never seemed to use the appropriate voice at the appropriate time. The group was not sure if it was a blessing or a curse.

“Great! I just got the rest of the plan for Kylar. “Wait for the text and then unleash the storm”good, he couldn’t go with a better metaphor?” A.J said as he looked through his phone.

“What does “Unleash the storm” mean?” Rory asked as he helped Sarah climb up into the ceiling. It was her job to be the one that let go off the rope when Kylar told her too. 

“I swear to god, It feels like sometimes you're stupider than a prissy ass white boy here!” Sarah mumbled as she securdeed the rope.

“Hey!”

“I will drop you.”

“Aaaand we have confirmation. Unleash the storm Sarah.” That’s all it was to them. A simple game of tug-a-war. Spilling the contaminants of Kylars envy on to an innocent couple and watching as their love crumbles to the gourd. So that Kyler can swoop in and play hero. It was funny how things turned out…

“Wow...You look beautiful.” Hawk said as soon as he saw you. You looked like a marble statue carved by the most amazing artist in the world. It felt like deja-vu, feeling the same feelings he had when he first saw you. All the worry and fear seemed to leave his body when he saw you. It was like it was happening all over again.

“Thank you.” You laughed as you took his hand. Even though so much had changed in the past year he was the same boy you had fallen in love with. He still had that sweet smile and caring heart. You never wanted to let it go.

But you did...thanks to a bucket full of green slime. It stuck all over your body and completely ruined your outfit and hair. You heard a “clunk” as the bucket fell beside you along with the rope that held said bucket in place.. That was when you knew this whole thing was a set up. Someone was trying to do this to you. And you knew exactly who had done it.

“I thought that Hawk wasn’t supposed to be there when you let go?” Brucks asked as the group watched. They watched from the corner of the hallway as you and Hawk were covered in green slime. A.J, Rory and Sarah actually felt bad for you as they saw your heartbroken look. This was supposed to be your night but they had taken that away from you.

“You idiots!” Screeched Kylar as he ran to his group of friends, phone in hand.

“You were supposed to wait for me to get here and then hide! I would text Sarah when to let go off the bucket and then we would run! Your god damn lucky we didn't get caught! We're supposed to be in there now, people are going to be wondering why!” Kyler yelled. The group was pretty sure at the point everyone was hearing him.

“No dude, that’s not what you texted to me.” A.J said as he helped up his phone. Low and behold as Kyler was wrong and A.J was right. Sarah snorted while Rory and Brucks looked at Kylar with confusion. How could he have messed up a simple text?

“You guys do know that you're yelling right?” They all turned around to see you and Hawk both dripping in Green slime. Hawk looked like he was ready to bust all of the kneecaps in one kick and you looked...happy?

“I am so sorry you had to go through this Y/n.” Kyalr told the girl as everyone in the room rolled their eyes. “I was trying to show you how much I love you and how much Hawk doesn't love you! I mean look at him! He hasn’t even tried!” You grabbed Hawk’s hand as you saw he was pretty much growling.

“Don’t listen to him Y/n.” Sarah said as all eyes turned to focus on her. 

“Yah! This entire thing was Kylars plan!” Rory continued. He wasn’t a bad person per say, he just hung around the wrong crowd. He was heavily influenced, that was all his fault.

“This isn't the only thing he tried to do Y/n. He has been sneaking letters into your locker and even following you home some times. It's becoming borderline stalkerish.” A.J continued.

“Hey it’s not Kylars fault! He’s just doing what every man-” Brucks started to say to defend his best friend.

“If you continue that sentence I will hurt you worse then what I did the last time at the Dojo.” Hawk threatened. Was he really gonna start off with this misogynistic bullshit? Brucks took the hint and closed his mouth shut.

“Look I didn’t mean for you to get upset Y/n-” Kylar started to say.

“So you confess that you did do all that stuff to Y/n?” Sarah said as she popped a piece of gum into her mouth and began to chew. 

“Look-”

“It's a yes or no question idiot.” 

“Ok yes! Are you happy now?”

“Very happy.” Sarah continued as she took out a recorder from her Cobra Kai jacket pocket. She had never been so glad that these things could carry so much and still look incognito. She smiled at Kyler as she passed the tape to Y/n.

“We women need to look out for each other. I’m sorry about what happened to you and that I even went along with.” Sarah flashed a rare smile as she put a hand on your shoulder and turned to look at Kyler.

“If you touch Y/n or the tape I will tell Tory, and Tory will tell Kreese who will notify the authorities. Because we all know Tory is Kreese’s favorite after Robby left, and well Kreese is that good old soldier guy.” She gave a small wave to Kylar, who looked like he was going to blow his head off.

This day had not been perfect, but it was then the end of something new. Not a flame that no one could put out but, a boy with a huge ego. It was also the start of a few things. A start of a friendship, a start of a peaceful end to a long and cold war and a start of a clear ending all enjoyed. There was peace in the air for that very moment, a peace that had not been there for a while. Overall, all was well and all would be well.

#eli moskowitz #eli moskowitz x reader #hawk x reader #hawk #hawk x you #hawk cobra kai #hawk imagine #valintines day #kylar #kylar cobra kai #tory cobra kai #tory nichols #brucks #brucks cobra kai #a.j #A.J cobra kai #rory #rory cobra kai #cobra kai #sarah #sarah cobra kai #robby keene #kreese #john kreese

[everyhowlmarksthedead]

❛ THE PROPOSITION ❜

with Angel Reyes.

Chapter Three, final. Index.

Request #1: Hola! Angel asking for Felipe to have Marisol's ring cause he went to propose to his girlfriend. But Felipe says No cause he thinks EZ deserve its more. ( And cause WE know he love EZ more ) So Angel is like " Fuck this shit" And either is breaks in Felipe house to steal this ring Or Either he go brought the biggest and perfect ring ! 🤩

BY ANON

Request #2: Hey! Angel do something very impressive for his girlfriend ( like big and impressive asking for marriage or Travel 5 states just for see her) and this ending by Felipe being very impressive by his Sons and take conscience he is a bad dad for Angel. 🙏❤️🤟🤟

BY ANON

Warnings: none.

Word count: about 3k

Aurora says: this writing hasn't been edited, you may find some grammar mistakes, I'm sorry about that!

Gif credits: @pantherclawz

Masterlist.

Almost one week without hearing his voice. Receiving one or two text messages per day, just to tell you that he's tired or that he's working. You know he is hiding something, confirming your suspicion when EZ began to decline all your calls. And, when you talked with Felipe three days ago, the only thing he told you was that he didn't know anything about his kids. So you started to think the worst. At first you thought that maybe Angel had an accident and his brother was trying to cover him, but when you called Bishop this morning, you heard your boyfriend's voice saying that he was ‘going to pick up the girl’. And now, you don't know what to think.

Licking your lips, sitting in the back garden of the house, you play with your phone between your fingers. It's almost midnight and it's a little cold outside, wearing nothing but an Angel's shirt. You decide to call him again, but it's his voicemail who answers again, even if you shouldn't be doing it after drinking too many beers, while your friends are sleeping and resting for the last seminar the next morning. But you wait for the last tone.

“Hey, it's me… your girlfriend, remember? I've been calling you… I don' know, maybe the fucking whole day. Where the fuck are you, Angel? And don't you fucking dare to tell me that you were working, 'cause I heard you this morning talking about some bitch to pick up. But fo' say something, first you have to answer the fucking phone!”

Sounds pathetic the way you are talking to him, saying all the things that you wouldn't say to him being sober. Hiccuping, you find yourself crying unconsolable, with an agonic pain oppressing your chest and squeezing your heart.

“Just… two fucking weeks, Angel! You couldn' keep your fucking dick inside your pants, for two fucking weeks! Is that the… shit I mean to you? Two years thrown overboard because of what? How many times have you done it, ah? All these… shit about not calling during a run… were you doing the same shit, Angel? How many fucking times has you betrayed me?!”

You can't help but laugh bitterly, cleaning your tears with the back of your hand, trying to calm yourself and to not wake up anyone.

“I fucking love you… with all my heart. I didn' complain about anything, never…” Although your voice sounds low and a little bit calmed, inside you there's a storm devastating you. “I put you first, always, since the first moment I met you… I can't fucking believe you're gonna lea—leave me and… the way you're doing it… I thought you were different, but I guess I was wrong”.

Hardly sniffing, you close your eyes letting go everything inside your chest, before finishing the message. Curling up your legs to surround them with both arms, you rest your chin over your knees. You can't avoid thinking about all those times he has promised you a future together, living in a big house and having children. Or about all those times he has been crying clinged to you, talking about how his father has been always putting him apart. You have cared about him more than anyone in his life. You have given him all. Without asking anything back, more than loyalty. And you wouldn't even have to ask for it.

Even so, you're starting to regret all the things you have said, without knowing if it's true or not. But how are you going to find it out, if anyone says nothing?

“Oh, shit… Oh, shit, shit, shit…” Angel is sitting on top of his bike, with a hand holding his phone and the other rubbing the bridge of his nose.

His brothers are looking at all the gestures that he's drawing unconsciously on his face. Rage, sadness, incredulous… When the message ends, he lies down over the handerball, softly hitting his head against it. He tries to call you, but your phone is practically dead, off of battery. Bishop walks towards him, having a sip from his beer.

“All good, Angel?”

“She thinks I'm fucking cheating her, because he heard me say about picking up Leti, this morning”. Stepping out from his motorcycle, he looks for Tori's number, hoping she answers the call.

Walking around the parking like a locked lion in the zoo, he's starting to think about driving right now to Los Angeles.

“The hell is wrong with you, shithead?” The female voice sounds tired, being interrupted by a long yawn.

“Tori, listen. Find (Y/N). She's drunk, thinking I'm cheating on her”.

“Yeah, 'cause you have been ignoring her ass”.

“I've been workin—”.

“Nah, c'mon, Angel. Tell these tales to someone wh—”.

“I was working to buy a wedding ring”.

Silence. Tori suddenly sits up on her bed, turning on the lights and waking up Sarah. The girl who was sleeping peacefully, now is being woken up by shaking her left arm. Having some growls as response, she looks at her girlfriend frowning, while she hears Angel's voice through the speaker.

“Just listen, please. Calm her down, okay? 'Am coming tomorrow to LA. I already talked to your boss and I can't tell you anything else. Just… calm her down, please”.

“Okay, we got this, Angel”.

Hanging up the call, both girls jump off from the bed, walking towards your room. Empty. But following your crying, they stick out their heads by the window, finding you in the garden. This hurts them too. They were with you the night you met Angel, and they also love him a lot. They know how much he cares about you and even if Sarah and Tori couldn't believe that he was with another girl, it wasn't normal his way to act the last days. But now, everything has sense, and they are pretty excited to see him tomorrow and discover what he has been preparing for the proposition.

Going downstairs and trying to hide their happiness, your friends sit by each side to hug you. A collective hug to make you feel somewhat better, but you can't stop crying.

“Baby… what's up?” Tori asks, caressing gently your hair.

“This… fucking bastard… I fucking gave him all, the best of me!”

“You talkin' 'bout Angel? C'mon, (Y/N)! He told you he made the most of his time to work a little more, and not miss you. Two weeks is too much time for you both”.

“I heard him talking about another girl”.

“So, what? Since when he can't have friends, ah? I have slept with him at his house… hundred times, and that doesn't mean that I cheated Tori, or he cheated you. And believe me, your boyfriend is a fantasy even for me”. Sarah says, making you chuckle in some way. “I'm sure he has been working hard, as you do when he is traveling. So, don't think any bullshit about Angel. He loves you more than anything, okay?”

“Let's go to bed, okay, honey? We have to be awake in five hours for a long, long, long seminar. Lucky it's the last one”. Tori says standing up on her feet, helping you to get up from the grass.

Angel comes into the clubhouse with an excited smile on his lips, like a child on Christmas Day, rubbing his hands and clapping happily calling everybody's attention.

“You got it, hermano?”

He nods energetically, walking fast to the main round table, where the oldest were waiting for him to come back from the jewelers. The Reyes tucks a hand inside his pocket in complete silence, putting over the wood a small red velvet box. Between his fingers, he supports the bottom part to open the top, showing the ring for what he has been working too hard the last two weeks; without sleeping, without resting, without a drop of alcohol, without partying. Nothing. Just working hard. The fine gold ring is perfectly resting inside a small gap, showing only the top of it. A king's crown with a diamond in it, that shines so easily with natural light that could illuminate a whole room. The crew is looking at it fascinated. And yes, the ring couldn't be perfect, but it's the feeling of pride for Angel that makes them smile.

“Fuck, brother… If she doesn' want to marry you, I will”. Creeper is captivated by the jewel, with his eyes fixed on.

“Why the fuck she wouldn't want to marry me, dumbshit?”

“Ignore him, carnal”. Coco palms his back, resting his arm on a shoulder.

“So, what you say, ah?” He asks, anxious to hear Bishop, Tranq and Taza's opinion. Without them, it couldn't be possible.

“Fuck, man, I would marry you too if you propose me with this ring”. Che is the first one, taking the step to grab the small box and have a closed look from it.

“You did a good job, Angel. You deserve it”. Tranq just says with both arms on the table.

“Prez?”

Bishop keeps looking at the box, seeming thoughtful, slowly raising his eyes to the others after some seconds in silence.

“I think you are doing the right thing for the first time since I know you. That girl deserves a man like you, Angel. And I know she is not the kind of woman who would care about the ring, but you found the perfect one”.

Your boyfriend can't feel more proud. It would be impossible.

“Go change your clothes, you have four hours of road ahead”. El Presidente places a hand on Angel's nape with a soft narrow over it.

He just nods, keeping again the box inside a pocket to get up and leave the place to his dorm, where he has been sleeping the last two weeks. The black jeans and the white shirt are perfectly stretched over his bed. The Reyes hurries up to have a shower, not wasting a second more, brushing and doing his hair with trembling fingers. He hasn't known anything about you since he talked with Tori and Sarah some hours ago, hoping that they finally calmed you down and got you rid of those ideas about him cheating you. When he's already dressed, sitting on the edge of the mattress to put on his boots, Angel grabs the black bomber jacket trespassing the box from a piece of clothing to the other, zipping the pocket to not lose it.

Coming back to the main room of the clubhouse, his brothers receive him between whistles and cheers.

“Man, you smell good”. Coco says coming too close.

“Ah, ah. Take care, brother. Don't want you to stain my fresh clothes”. He says taking a step back.

“My apologies, your grace”. He chuckles.

“Bishop?”

“Templo”. Taza says having a sip from a coffee.

Checking the hour on his phone, assuring himself that he has enough time, the Reyes leads his steps to the meeting-room, closing the glass colorful door behind him.

“Already leaving?”

“Yeah, prez, I just… want to thank you for giving me the three k left. I will continue working to gi—”.

“Take it as a wedding gift”. The mexican stops him with his own words, shaking his head and making a light gesture with a hand.

“I couldn't do it without you, Tranq and Taza”.

“I heard what you told to your brother. In the office”. He says then, lying back on his chair. “I am not going to… give you my opinion about your father, but he shouldn't behave like that, Angel”.

“I know, Bishop. And… I would thank you for not telling anything about it to (Y/N). She loves my pops”.

“That honors you”.

“Don't know, but I don't wanna be like him”.

El Presidente simply nods.

“Bring back Mrs. Reyes”.

Your head hurts like hell, having to use your glasses because of the blurry gaze you have got by the hangover. The seminar is turning out eternal. The last thing you care about right now is how to operate with an open heart, you have already done it and you could skip this part. But it's for compulsory attendance. So there you are, drawing nothing on your iPad as if you were taking notes, fighting against the pain, the tiredness and the uncertainty about Angel. He continues not answering your text or calls, and you can't help but think about what Sarah told you last night.

“... you for coming, and I hope that these two weeks have been productive for your learning”.

The claps flood the conference room, while the other doctors begin to pick up their stuff and finally leave the place. You can't believe that it's already done and that you're allowed to come back home, checking again your muttered phone expecting to find something. But the notifications bar is empty.

“Ladies and gentlemen, if you don't mind, I'm going to steal you a couple minutes. Sit back, please”. The voice of your boss through the speakers makes you raise an eyebrow.

“The desire to be noticed by that man fucks me up”. Tori chuckles with a low tone, sitting again over her seat.

“I know that we all are tired, but it's just going to be a couple minutes, I promise. I just want to help a friend”.

“No…” Sarah looks at her girlfriend really surprised, making you frown confused.

“Girls, the fuck you did?”

“You just… enjoy the show, my dear”.

You can see your boss making a gesture to someone by a side of the stage, to come closer. But when your eyes find Angel walking over it, your blood freezes and your heart stops. Lucky you're between almost more than two hundred doctors and surgeons. Leo gives up the micro to your boyfriend, looking for you. And obviously, your two friends start to yell like crazy to call his attention.

“Hey, ahm… You don't know me and I don't know you, but… I'm Angel. Dr. (Y/L/N)'s boyfriend and I came to… give her an important message”. He says with a nervous tone, before smirking at you, clearing his throat. “Hey, baby, can you… can you come here, please?”

“Go”. Your friends push you to get up, but your legs feel like butter about to fall downstairs.

As soon as he's able to hug you, he does, not caring about the claps from the people in front of you.

“Okay, okay, listen”. Holding one of your hands and pulling himself away, he laughs a little bit nervous for a second. “We met two years ago, in the middle of nowhere. I was fuc— sorry. I was hurt because of a fight. And you fixed up my wounds with so much love, patience and care, that I fell for you”.

“Angel…”

“Sh, listen. I think I'm going to have a heart attack, so let me talk before falter to the floor. Listen, you have been my best friend, my anchor, my reason to live since then. I love you more than I could ever love anyone... I can't live without you, baby. And before you say anything else like last night, no. I didn't try and I'm not going to do it, because I'm lost without you, (Y/N). So, ahm… Hey, boss, can you hold the mic'?” Turning to Leo, the man takes it back.

You're trembling, looking at your friends for a moment trying to find an explanation. But when your gaze is again on your boyfriend, he's already kneeling with a hand inside a pocket grabbing something. A small red box. And you can't believe what's happening. Taking a step back and covering your face with both hands, you start to cry like a child, with your pulse racing under your skin.

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N), would you marry me?”

The crew is waiting anxiously at the porch, after not receiving any news back from LA. But they all get up from their seats on the sofas and the stairs, when they hear Coco's car being driven by Angel coming closer. As soon as he parks it close to the bikes, not finding you on the passenger seat and looking at the devastated gesture on his face, they know that the proposition wasn't as they were expecting. Stepping out of the car, he just shrugs his shoulders.

“Hey, carnal, it's okay. She will reconsider it”. Coco says hugging his friend, trying to comfort him.

“She will say yes, Angel, don't give up”. Bishop palms softly his nape.

And you are drowning in laughs hidden on the floor of the back seats. Looking slightly through the window, you find the crew very affected because supposedly you said ‘no’. Taking some air, you jump out of the car yelling with a huge smile on your lips.

“Surprise, madafakas!”

“Jesus fucking Christ! I'm too old for these frights!” Taza shouts at you back, indignant with a hand on his chest barely breathing.

“I'm confused”. Gilly says from nowhere.

“What? Doesn't sound good Mrs. Reyes for you?” Walking towards them, raising the hand with the amazing ring, they all look surprised.

“I'm going to fucking shoot you, Angel”. Bishop threats him, before leading his steps to yours. “Welcome home, querida”.

“Thank you”. Hugging him, you rest your head against his chest. “Angel told me you help him”.

“It was nothing, kid”. Clicking his tongue and pulling himself away, he caresses your cheek for a second.

“Yo! Mami! You look stunning now that you're engaged”. Coco lifts you up between his arms, narrowing you under his grip.

“Yeah, you see?!”

“Hey, hey, social distancing”. Your future husband takes you off from his friend's hands, to hold you closer with an arm surrounding your neck.

“Look at you, Mr. and Mrs. Reyes”. Creeper says very proud, nodding in accordance.

“Let's celebrate it that you didn' kick my ass, mi dulce”.

✨ Tag list:

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#mayans mc x reader #mayans mc #mayans mc imagine #mayans x reader #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes imagine #angel reyes x reader #angel reyes

[hobeymakar]

Something Better | N. MacKinnon

Words: 2,608

A/N: Since I’m sad about the Avs losing Game 7, I figured the only way to not fall into a depressive state is to write something cute to turn the failed breaking of the 2nd round curse (it’s been almost 20 years) to something positive :) In this, COVID-19 is still going on and yes, the playoffs did go on as it did this year

Warnings: swearing and alcohol use

-

You wake up and feel a wave of nausea run through you. You run straight to the bathroom and manage to make it to the toilet before emptying the contents of your stomach out. After the nausea goes down, you brush your teeth and wash your face before heading to the kitchen to take your prenatals and make some breakfast. Yesterday, officially started your 10th week of pregnancy and you can’t believe how quickly your pregnancy is flying by. It seems like just yesterday you found out you were pregnant alone, while Nate was playing his exhibition game with the Avs in Edmonton.

You didn’t want Nate to find out about your unexpected pregnancy while in the bubble, so you tried to keep it as secretive as possible. The only people beside your family that knew were Mel and Gabe Landeskog and Erik Johnson, because EJ apparently finds out everything like he’s some FBI detective or whatever. Luckily, EJ and the Landeskogs can keep their mouths shut and vowed to not tell Nate. You wanted to tell him in person, not over FaceTime.

You finish your breakfast and clean up the kitchen, before heading back to the room to get dressed for the airport. You shower and wash your hair before changing into one of Nate’s old Halifax Mooseheads shirts, leggings, and Adidas sneakers. You need to buy some maternity clothing soon since you’re almost done with your first trimester and your bump is starting to actually show. You blowdry your hair and put on minimal makeup before grabbing your things and leaving the house. You get into the car and drive off towards the airport. 

After a while, you arrive at the airport and make your way towards the arrivals terminal and greet all the Avs WAGs. The ones who are moms can tell right away that you’re pregnant but vow not to say anything to anyone, until you’re ready. After what feels like forever, but it’s only half an hour, you see the players starting to come out. The second you see Nate you run straight into his arms, throwing caution to the wind. It’s the longest you’ve been without your husband since you two started dating in 2014.

“Y/N!” he smiles, holding you in his arms tightly.

“I missed you so much, baby!” you cry out, a couple tears of joy starting to slip from your eyes.

“I missed you even more, baby!” he replies, kissing your forehead.

You stay in each other’s arms for a few more moments before he gently places you back on the ground again. He takes your hand in his and you guys leave the terminal together and head back to the car. You both get into the car and finally take off your masks.

“How was the flight?” you ask, as you start the car.

“Long and depressing, but I’m glad I get to come home to you again,” he smiles, kissing your hand.

You put the car into drive and leave the airport, while he puts on WHATS POPPIN (Remix) by Jack Harlow, Tory Lanez, DaBaby, and Lil Wayne. You know Nate is back when only rap music is being played in the car again. After a while, you make it back to the house and Nate goes straight to the room to unpack, while you take the time to go to your office and call Mel.

Mel answers on the third ring and you can hear Linnea crying in the background.

“Hey Mel is this a bad time?” you ask, not wanting to take her away from her motherly duties.

“No, not at all. Linnea’s just cranky because Gabe accidentally dropped his gear and woke her up from her nap,” she explains.

“God, he better get her back to sleep then,” you reply, shaking your head.

“Oh he is! He’s in the nursery right now, trying to get her to go back to sleep,” she explains.

“Good! Serves him right for ruining her nap schedule,” you tease. “Anyway, are we still on for Nate’s belated birthday party surprise?”

“Yes, we are! I’ve been in contact with the other girls and the guys and we should all be there for 6. So, you should tell him you’re taking him out for dinner and then when you come back from dinner, everything will be set up! He won’t suspect anything,” she explains.

“Alright, awesome. Thanks Mel,” you smile, glad your surprise party for Nate is gonna go off as planned.

What you don't know is that Nate is outside your door and heard you mention the birthday party surprise. He leaves the hallway quickly so that you don't know that he was listening to you talk with Mel. You get off the phone with Mel and exit the room, glad to see that Nate is nowhere near your office. You find him in the living room, getting his laptop set up.

"Hey babe, are you hungry?" you ask.

"No, I ate on the flight. I'm gonna zoom with my parents and sister if you wanna come join," he offers.

"Of course!" you smile.

You love talking with the MacKinnon family. They all love you and are so glad that you turned Nate into a man. Nate starts the zoom call and you're instantly greeted with the faces of Graham, Kathy, and Sarah. 

"Hi, Y/N! How are you?" Kathy greets, a giant smile on her face.

"I'm great, Mrs. MacKinnon, now that your son is back home. How are you?" you ask.

"Y/N darling, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Kathy? We're family now, sweetheart. I'm doing well. I'm so happy to see you again," she replies.

"It must really suck to have my brother back home, eh?" Sarah teases.

"I won't get peace and quiet anymore, that's for sure," you tease back, causing Nate to groan beside you.

"I don't appreciate this spousal abuse!" he whines.

"This is why you're my favorite sister-in-law, Y/N!" Sarah giggles, having way too much.

"She's your only sister-in-law, Sarah!" Graham informs her.

"I know that, Dad! She's still my favorite!" Sarah shushes him.

Yeah, you definitely love the MacKinnons. You all catch up on what's going on with the MacKinnons informing you and Nate on what's going on back in Cole Harbour. You also inform them what's going on in Denver without of course telling them about your pregnancy. Although with the looks Kathy is giving you, she must already suspect it. Moms tend to have a pregnancy radar like that. After a while, the MacKinnons have to go and the Zoom call ends.

You and Nate take advantage of a lil nap time, since the pregnancy makes you take naps more frequently.

"Babe, get ready. I'm taking you out to dinner," you inform him.

"Why can't we just have dinner here?" he pleads.

"Because we haven't had a date night since the pandemic happened and I want to go out," you explain.

"Whatever m'lady wants, m'lady gets," he teases in a stupid accent.

"You're insufferable," you groan, shaking your head in disbelief.

You two get ready to go to dinner and you had already set up a reservation at a nice steakhouse for 6pm. You arrive at the steakhouse downtown at 5:40pm and valet park it. You make your way inside and wait for your table to be ready, before being escorted by the hostess to your table. You both sit down at the table and look at the menus.

"Hi my name is Alex and I'll be your waiter tonight. Can I get you both started with some drinks?" the waiter asks.

"Can we get a bottle of your best red sauvignon, please?" Nate asks.

"And I'll just have this water," you add.

"No problem," Alex smiles.

He pours you a glass of water from the water pitcher as Nate gives you a look of confusion. Alex then leaves to get the bottle of wine.

"You're not gonna have any wine?" he asks.

"No, not tonight, babe. Not really in the mood for it," you lie.

"Okay," he replies, not totally buying the lie.

Alex comes back with the bottle of wine and you both place your orders. You check your phone and see that Mel texted you saying that everyone is at the house setting up for the surprise party. You two pass the time talking and Nate brings up heading back to the offseason house in Cole Harbour and you tell him you're unsure if you wanna go back since it's basically the end of summer anyway and the offseason is so short this year.

"So you wanna stay in Denver then?" he asks.

"I just don't know if it'll be worth it to only be there a month or two," you reply, when in reality you wanna stay here for your entire pregnancy.

Your food eventually arrives and the both of you dig in. You quickly realize how much you miss date nights with Nate and how much you just missed being with Nate in general. Dealing with the majority of your first trimester alone was definitely challenging and something you thought you would never have to deal with. 

After a while, you finish eating and the waiters bring a piece of cake for Nate and start singing happy birthday, while you record it on your phone.

"Happy belated birthday, baby!" you cheer, after the waiters finish singing.

Nate blows out the candle and everyone claps. The waiters all walk away and Nate throws you a look.

"Really?" he asks in annoyance, shaking his head.

"Stop being a baby! You really thought I wasn't gonna make up for missing your birthday?" you ask.

He starts eating his cake, anyway and you eat half of it. You finish eating the cake and you pay the check, much to Nate's dismay.

"Babe, I can pay for things too. I run my own million dollar business," you glare at him.

"Sorry," he replies, raising his hands up in defense.

You leave the restaurant and check your phone, seeing that Mel texted you that the house is all set up and everyone is there.

You decide to drive, much to Nate's dismay, but you sternly remind him that he had a whole bottle of wine. You arrive at the house and park in the driveway. You walk up to the front door and go in first, seeing the house completely dark. Nate follows in and turns on the lights.

Everyone shouts surprise and Nate acts like he didn't know about it ahead of time. Gabe cues the music and everyone goes up to him and wishes him a happy birthday.

"Thank you baby," he smiles, kissing you.

"You're welcome," you smile back.

All the kids are running around and the girls and guys are chatting about offseason plans. After a while, Mel brings out a cake and everyone starts singing happy birthday. After singing, they take pictures of Nate with the cake, before pictures of different groups with Nate and the cake. After all the pictures are taken, Mel cuts the cake and serves a piece to everyone, even some of the kids. After the entire cake is cut and everyone has finished eating their pieces, you go to your office and take out a bag with Nate’s gifts in it, nervous to see what his reaction will be. You bring it out of the office and bring out to the open area where everybody is. Mel notices this and cues for everyone to be quiet and shuts the music down.

“What’s going on?” Nate asks in confusion, not understanding what’s going on.

“I got some special birthday gifts for you, but you need to close your eyes when you pull them out!” you smile, handing him the gift bag.

Nate shoots you a look of hesitation before opening the bag and taking out the paper. He pulls out the first item and hands it to you, before taking out a 2nd and 3rd item and handing them both to you. You arrange them nicely, so that he can see them clearly when he opens his eyes.

“Okay, you can open your eyes now,” you inform him, biting your lip nervously.

He opens his eyes and is immediately hit with a baby Avs jersey with his number on it that says Daddy in the back, as well as little Avs booties and your first ultrasound photo. His brows furrow in confusion at first before he puts two and two together and his mouth drops at the sudden realization that you’re pregnant.

“You’re pregnant? I’m gonna be a dad?” he asks hopefully.

“Yes, babe! I’m 10 weeks pregnant and I’m due in early April!” you smile, placing a hand down on your little bump.

“I love you so much!” he cries out, before kissing you and lifting you into his arms.

Everyone cheers and yells out their congratulations, with the WAGs already talking about planning the gender reveal party and the baby shower. Nate doesn’t keep his hands off your bump for the rest of the night and doesn’t shut up about how he can’t wait to meet the baby. The team, because they’re all competitive gambling bastards, place a wager on whether or not it’s a boy or girl, and secretly you want a mini Nate running around, even though you know he would be an amazing girl dad.

After a while, it gets late and everyone cleans up before heading home. Once everyone is gone, you guys shower and get ready for bed.

“When’s the next appointment, babe?” he asks you, as you crawl into bed to cuddle him.

“In two weeks for the first trimester screen. You’re gonna be able to hear our baby’s heartbeat for the first time,” you inform him.

“I can’t believe you were going through this all alone,” he sighs, feeling guilty that he was playing in the Edmonton bubble.

“I had Mel here with me and she was pretty awesome helping me out after every freakout and breakdown I had since finding out I’m pregnant,” you assure him.

“How long have you known?” he asks, the “without telling me” implied.

“I found out 5 days after you left. I had missed my period and was feeling like shit, so I bought a few tests and they all came out positive. So I freaked out and figured I’d wait til I saw you again in person to tell you,” you explain.

“I hate that I wasn’t here for you these last 6 weeks, but I’ll be by your side for the rest of this pregnancy, baby,” he assures you, kissing your forehead. “When do we get to find out the gender?”

“In 10 weeks during the mid-pregnancy ultrasound. It’s a 3D ultrasound that will show us every detail of the baby,” you explain to him, in between yawns.

He crawls down under the sheets and brings his face up to your little bump.

“Hey little one, I know you don’t know me yet, but I’m your daddy! I can’t wait to meet you little guy or girl! Your mommy and I make me so happy. I know I haven’t been here because I was busy trying to win the Stanley Cup, but I’m glad I didn’t. You’re already a million times better than winning the Cup,” he explains, leaving kisses on your bump.

You quickly wipe the tears from your eyes so he doesn’t see how emotional that made you. He’s right however. Finally starting a family is way better than winning the Stanley Cup. 

#nate mackinnon #nathan mackinnon #colorado avalanche #hockey #nhl imagines #nhl players #nate mackinnon imagine #nathan mackinnon imagine #hockey imagine #nhl writing

[haveamagicalday]

My reads of 2020

My top ten is in a separate post but here are the rest of my reads!

5 Stars

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen 

This is a memoir about the Shelley Knotek case. It focuses heavily on the relationship and struggles of her three daughters that were just children when Shelley’s tortures started. This book was fantastically written for such a morbid tale but be warned, it is not for the faint of heart. Trigger Warning: Abuse, torture, murder

Wayside School Beneath the Cloud of Doom by Louis Sachar 

The Wayside school books were some of my favorite growing up. I made sure to reread them all before reading this one. It felt like no time had past at all. This is a great blast from the past that won’t disappoint old fans of the series. 

4 Stars

All Your Twisted Secrets by Diana Urban

A group of seemingly unrelated students are invited to a scholar dinner that turns out to be a trapped. Once all the students arrive, they are locked in with a bomb and the the option to choose one person to die or they all die. As the night slips away, we learn the secrets and connections the students share that brought them to their predicament. Surprisingly not as suspenseful as you would think it would be and the secrets/bad things the students had done in the past really weren’t that twisted. Still it was very fun with an explosive ending.

Beyond the Shadowed Earth by Joanna Ruth Meyer

This is a sequel to Beneath the Haunting Sea and actually focused on the hero from the first’s books antagonist, Eda. Eda overthrow our hero from the first book as heir to the throne, blamed the king’s death on her and had her wrongfully banished to an island that launched the story of the first book. After that we never visited Eda again as the book focused on a different story instead of getting her kingdom back. So in this one, we see what happened to Eda after she took over. She is not a good person and the author isn’t afraid to make her unlikable at first, but also redeemable through her adventure and misfortunate. 

Break Your Glass Slippers by Amanda Lovelace

Another book of poetry from Amanda Lovelace that delivers profound and touching poems.

Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier 

A classic retelling of The Six Swans. This story takes place in a medieval/fantasy version of Ireland. Marillier is one of my favorite authors of fairytale retellings. This book is definitely a slow read but is gorgeously written and rich in character development. The story follows the fairytale with little variation. Trigger Warning: Rape (graphic depiction).  

Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer

Nonfictional account of female serial killers. I liked that this wasn’t written like a wikipedia page and took a more narrative approach. After the first few women, they all start to blend together though. Lots of poisoning happens. It would have been nice for some variety. 

Malorie by Josh Malerman

The sequel to Bird Box that we probably didn’t need but was still good nonetheless. This one focuses more on Boy and Girl (now named thankfully) as teenagers and their view and challenges of the world they’ve grown up in. This book introduced new concepts that were interesting and creative. Somehow this managed to have a relatively happy and satisfying conclusion.

The Monstrous Feminine by Barbara Creed  

A look at horror films through a feminist and psychological lens. I absolutely loved this book and the ideas it presents. The first half of the book takes a look at certain horror films (such as Carrie, the Exorcist, Alien, ect.) and “challenges this patriarchal view by arguing that the prototype of all definitions of the monstrous is the female reproductive body.” I liked the first section of the book more than the second part where I felt it focused too much on Freud and his findings and challenging them through horror films.

No Judgements by Meg Cabot

A cute, fluffy romance that takes place on a small island preparing for a category 3 hurricane. Bree finds herself forced to shelter with the island’s resident heartbreaker and they don’t get along. At first ;)

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Alicia, a famous painter and wealthy wife, shocked the world when she killed her husband and then stopped speaking afterwards. Now committed to a mental institute, Alicia is still refusing to speak. Theo is a therapist who jumps at the opportunity to work with Alicia and discover what really happened with her husband. Some of the twist was easy to pick up on at first but there was plenty that kept me guessing. This was a real page turner.

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey

Alexis and her group of friends have one very big thing in common; they are able to preform magic. One night, Alexis’ magic causes an accidental death of a classmate and the friends have to ban together to make things right. This was a creative and moving read. There’s plenty of magic but it almost comes secondary to the friendships and blossoming love between two of the friends. 

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

Immanuelle lives in. a patriarchal society where the prophet’s word is law and the town is bordered by the evil and forbidden Darkwood. In the Darkwoods lurks four witches that seem to be calling out to Immanuelle. This book had fantastic world building and the story was unique and engaging. Sometimes it felt like we were just skimming the surface of possibilities and I felt that the book could have been longer or divided into a series. While the story wraps up in the end it does turn out there is going to be a sequel so I’m excited for that! Trigger Warning: Mentions of Rape

3.5 Stars

The Cousins by Karen M. McManus

Jonah, Aubrey and Milly never knew their rich grandmother. Her children were all cut off ominously with a note simply saying “you know what you did.” Now their grandmother is reaching out to the cousins and inviting them to work at her island resort for the summer. Lots of secrets and twists await them! This book was a lot of fun and probably my favorite of this author’s so far. Some of the twists border on zany but the overall tone of the book is a little zany so it works.

Horrid by Katrina Leno 

After her father’s death, Jane and her mother are forced to move across the country into Jane’s mother’s childhood home. The manor has many secrets hidden within that Jane must face. The book was well written and intriguing. The books deal with grief and mental illness with a touch of the supernatural. I felt that the overall pacing felt off though. Very little happened in the beginning and then a lot happens in the last 30 or so pages and then it ended abruptly. It was a great concept though and I'm interested in more from this author!

One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus

A sequel to the hit novel, One of Us is Lying. This book focuses on one of the character’s from the first books little sister and two of her classmates. The stakes in this one didn’t feel quite as serious as the first book but it was a fun read with interesting twists!

The Return by Rachel Harrison

Julie went missing, leaving her 3 best friends grappling with tragedy. Then, exactly two years later, she comes back with no memories. The four friends decide to spend a weekend together but something is not quite right with Julie. This book was creepy! However, it focuses more on the relationships of the four characters and dealings with grief with a touch of supernatural sprinkled throughout. It’s a gripping novel from start to finish that will keep you guessing.

3 Stars

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

Nicolette returns to her hometown for the first time in ten years after the mysterious disappearance of her best friend. Shortly after arriving another girl goes missing, forcing Nicolette to relive what happened years ago. What made this book a page turner was that it tells the story backwards. Once she gets to her hometown it starts on her 10th day and works backwards to what happened on the day of her arrival. Unfortunately, while the concept works at first it builds up to a lackluster and disappointing ending. If you were to put the book in the correct order, it wouldn’t work as there are stuff that is found out in the first few days that the reader doesn’t know about but the characters do that wouldn’t make sense in a narrative sense.

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

From the outside Jack and Grace come off as the perfect couple but behind closed doors, everything changes. No twists here, Grace is Jack’s prisoner and she is desperately trying to get away. The book alternates between past and present about her current situation and how she got there. This involves a lot of suspension of disbelief. Jack is a cartoony type of villain with no real motive and he would never be able to get away with what he was doing. Grace is also not the smartest person, there were a lot of different ways she could have escaped but for the sake of the story she doesn’t. Don’t get me wrong, this was still a suspenseful and fun read but also questionable and some points.

The Blue Salt Road by Joanne M. Harris

A quick, fairytale like story about a selkie who was tricked into becoming human and now longs to return to the sea. I feel like there was a message being preached in this story, but I can’t really pinpoint what it was. Regardless, this was a magical little read.

Clown in a Corn Field by Adam Cesare

Clown in the corn field is a slasher film put on page. It starts off like a typical YA novel and sets up a mystery as to who the clown is, but then the clown attacks at a party and the rest of the novel is that one night as the clown wrecks havoc and the teens have to escape. I think I wold have preferred and more drawn out mystery but fans of slasher films would really enjoy this!

Coral by Sara Ella

A sort of retelling of the Little Mermaid. Sort of. This book focuses on strong themes of mental health. The mermaid/fantasy side is minimal and almost completely disappears in the 2/3rds in to the novel. It was a slightly confusing read but had a powerful depiction of depression. Trigger Warning: Suicide

The Doll House Murders by Betty Ren Wright

A sad but sweet little mystery novel about a preteen girl who discovers a dark secret via an old dollhouse and its mysterious moving dolls. The subject matter was dark but the story was written for middle graders and thus mystery is handled with simplicity and strange charm to it.

Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson

The sequel to A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. This book hasn’t been released in the US yet but you can still get the British/original version on amazon which is what I did. This novel requires a stretch of disbelief and I didn’t think the mystery was as good as the first one. However, if you are a fan of the first one, you will still want to check this one out as well!

I Know Who You Are by Alice Feeney

You definitely have to suspend your disbelief when you read this one. It's gripping and while some twists were easily guessed, the final one took me for a surprise. It's equal parts dark/chilling and cheesy/silly. I'm still left with a lot of questions after the ending. It makes the book fall apart when you think about it but if you just take it for what it is, an entertaining but cheesy thriller, you'll enjoy it.

The Harp of Kings by Juliet Marillier 

This book features the children of the main characters from the Blackthorn and Grim series but you don’t need to read that series in order to read this one (though you should!). The book features three teenagers that are training to be warriors that are selected to go undercover in a nearby kingdom to find the stolen Harp of Kings before the new king’s coronation can take place. It was slow in the beginning and I felt there wasn’t much character development but it was an enjoyable read.

In Darkling Wood by Emma Carroll

Alice’s sick brother is getting a lung transplant and Alice is forced to stay with an estranged grandmother. Her grandmother lives on the edge of darkling wood, a place rumored to be filled with fairies. This book reminded me of a less dark version of When A Monster Calls. It deals with some of the same themes but this is more aimed towards children with a feel good ending.

The Lost Girls by Heather Young

In the summer of 1935, six year old Emily disappeared leaving her two older sisters and parents devastated. Sixty years later, both sisters are dead but one of them left behind her house and a notebook detailing what happened that summer for her grandniece, Justine. This book wasn’t so much of a thriller but focused more on Justine’s current issues with her daughters and ex boyfriend. I found the chapters with the notebook pages in between chapters more interesting than the modern story.

Love, Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli 

I read the first Stargirl years ago but reread it before reading this one. This sequel doesn’t manage to capture the same charm as the first one did. The book is a series of letters that Stargirl writes (but doesn’t send) to Leo from the first book following her over the course of a year. I found it surprisingly boring at times and Stargirl seemed far to normal as compared to the first book. It was neat to see what she was up to after the first book but overall I didn’t think it was a necessary sequel. 

A Psalm for Lost Girls by Katie Bayerl

Callie’s older sister was considered a saint in her small town before she tragically passed away. Now the city is trying to have her canonized, but Callie knows her sister wasn’t a saint, and the pressure is what ultimately killed, so now she’s on a mission to prove that her sister was just a normal girl. This book involved a missing child that Callie’s sister was supposed to find before she died but couldn’t. The mystery there was very predictable and was kind of on the back burner to Callie’s story. I think this would have been a more interesting story if it had been from the sister’s perspective and how it felt to be a teen saint while she was still alive.

The Rose Without a Thorn by Jean Plaidy 

The story of Katherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry. I was looking for a novel that painted Katherine as sympathetic, as most adaptations make her out to be a seductress. This novel was strange as it read as a wikipedia entry in a narrative form. It was all telling and no showing and lacked real emotion. From the minor research I’ve done, it seems to be pretty accurate in terms of events that happened. Trigger Warning: Sexual Abuse featuring a minor (but isn’t presented as such)

Sadie by Courtney Summers

Sadie’s sister was murdered and she is determined to bring the killer to justice. In between each chapter about Sadie is a the transcript for a podcast that is covering the case, as well as Sadie’s future disappearance . This is a very popular book but to be honest, I'm not sure what the point was? The podcast was an interesting idea but it basically just rehashed everything we already knew. Not much was added by it. The ending just fizzles away and the story tended to drag in places. It was very well written though and I think I was just not the right audience for it.

The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher

A creepy retelling of Bluebeard. It reads like a YA in some places but Adult in others. It was definitely unsightly and out there but I found it confusing in some places. It has some great creepy imagery and slight body horror to it.

The Supervillain and Me by Danielle Banas

Abby’s brother is a superhero beloved by the whole crime ridden town. But when a supervillain comes into town, Abby finds her paths crossing with him again and again. Okay, so the supervillain wasn’t even a villain and the reason for wanting Abby to help him was not a very good one. The book is mostly about the romance between the two which was nice but nothing spectacular. I found myself more interested in the musical Abby was starring in. It was about a cannibalistic royal family whose oldest son falls in love with a servant and he has to save her from being eaten by his family. Now THAT sounded interesting!

Winterdream by Chantal Gadoury

A Nutcracker retelling. This was a sweet retelling of the story. It didn’t add much to the original tale or the ballet but it was a good winter read to get into the spirit of Christmas.

They Wish They Were Us by Jessica Goodman

Freshman year, Jill’s best friend was killed by her boyfriend., Graham Now it’s senior year and Jill is the president of an elite school club but someone keeps texting her about Graham’s innocence and she can’t keep herself from diving deeper into the mystery to unearth what really happened to her friend. Gripping and twisty, this book was a solid teen mystery!

Not Rated

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

I read this almost a year ago and I still don’t know what to think about it. I can’t decide if the story was genius or simple shock value. Did the twist make sense? I don’t know honestly. I read this before I even knew there was a netflix adaptation coming and I while I read this book in one sitting, I only made it halfway through the movie. I personally don’t think it translated well to screen. If you are looking for a quick disturbing read with an ending you WILL NOT be able to guess, then I highly recommend this one.

The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Mallory Ortberg

There’s a pretty popular post on his webiste that has a link to a horrifying retelling of Curious George. This is a collection of retellings/unrelated short stories by the same author. I didn’t read all of the stories in this because some of them were just too difficult to get through and confusing. However, the dark retellings of fairy tales and children books were really enjoyable. I particularly liked the retellings of The velveteen rabbit, the frog prince and the six swans. I think they can all be found online and not just in this collection.

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

Is it good? No. Is it garbage? Yes. Did I still read it any way? Yes. Team Edward for life.

#books #book recomendation #all your twisted secrets #when we were magic #the silent patient #the return #daughter of the forest #malorie #the year of the witching

[slytherinbarnes]

Oof okay, massive rant incoming:

So, I'm not sure if you know but in the UK, Sarah Everard was kidnapped and then murdered. By a police officer.

Of course this has sparked off the stupid debate of: not all men! It was her fault!

Which is absolute bullshit because she did everything right - she wore bright, distinguishable clothing, texted her loves one where she was, and she still got murdered.

On Saturday a peaceful, mask-wearing and socially distanced vigil where a lot of people spoke about how difficult it is to be a woman in the UK - 97% of women have been harassed/assaulted (a fact that I can testify to by the fact that I was catcalled for the first time when I was 11 in my school uniform), and it is illegal to carry any form of self-defence (not even pepper spray).

And of course, at the vigil a bunch of coppers turned up, which is quite respectful as a colleague (who had already had a few offences to his name) was the one who killed her. It was all peaceful during the day, when the cameras were out. But as soon as it got dark, and the press went away the police started kettling all the people there, restraining and even arresting in some cases. Which is absolutely insane - it was a peaceful vigil (not even a protest) for one woman out of many, who is a victim to male and police privilege, and then for them to go and best women up? Ridiculous.

Not to mention, virtually every week anti-maskers actually protest, and no force is used meaning that the excuse of breaking it up due to social distancing is complete and utter dog shite.

What makes matters worse is that Priti Patel is driving for a new bill, which basically means that if a protest causes any noise disturbance, then the police have the right to shut it down???? The right to protest is a fundamental human right and the government is slowly trying to take it away and it makes me so fucking angry.

Not to mention that she is also advocating for the police to have more rights which is absolutely stupid.

Also the silence from many of the tory male MPs is deafening - they can't even pretend to care.

Oof, sorry this is a bit long but I needed to rant about the rise of literal facism in the UK right now and I just

ugh this sounds achingly familiar to the dumpster fire bullshit that is regularly happening in the us. I'm sorry you guys can understand and relate to it too. I also hate that women (esp trans women) are so at risk for violence against them just bc men want to be shitty fucking humans.

here's hoping our governments can get their shit together and we can live in a safer world sometime soon 🥴

#wonderful lil nina!!!! #sb answers

[dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram]

Lab/LD anon here, thanks so much for answering! This will be long, sorry! 1/? For me, Labour’s position on Brexit isn’t good enough because it’s still neutral, and I want them to want to Remain because I strongly believe it’s the best thing for the country. I think we’ve seen that no one really understood what leaving meant and lots of people support it from an ideological standpoint but from a practical standpoint I think it’s clear that it would be better for the country if we stay in the EU

and I’m still very angry that Cameron even asked the general public the question. The UK is not used to referenda and it’s such a complex issue that no one really knew what they were voting for so Brexit is happening based on a tony majority of people who voted on an issue that no one really understood/understands. To me that is wrong and I believe our elected officials should be protecting us from this.I do agree with you that it’s difficult to take the LD position totally seriously but I’m 2/?

not entirely sure you can take Labour’s position on lots of other issues seriously either- it’s very easy to make things sound good when you’re not in power and don’t have to follow through on any of it for now. I do agree with you that the ideal solution would be some sort of democratic legitimacy and it’s difficult to see how to achieve that without another referendum but I am wary of a referendum and not sure that it would work to calm the angry leave voices anyway. Finally, I do agree 3/4

completely that if choosing between the tories and labour it’s obviously a complete no brainer to choose labour, I’m sorry I didn’t make that clear before. I like lots of Labour’s other policies I am just worried about their Brexit policies and I confess that part of that is because I know that Jeremy Corbyn is not exactly pro-Europe so that worries me. Thanks v much if you read all this! Not sure it’s a question but if you want to keep discussing, I really enjoy and appreciate your thoughts 4/4

******Hi anon

Sorry this took me so long to respond. Whenever I had time it seemed like a bad time, because Brexit always feels like everything is happening, but nothing is changing.  But now is a good a time to answer as ever.

I understand your desire to feel represented by a party on an issue that is so important to you.  I also don’t know where you live - and if Remain is the most important issue to you and you live in say Rotherham - I understand not voting for Sarah Champion.  

But I also think two things are true. The first is that the only reason we haven’t left the EU yet has been the work of the Labour Party (and particularly Jeremy Corbyn - both in wider political terms if Labour had done worse in the 2017 election we would have left long ago - but as recently as the other week spending days calling Labour MPs to get them to vote against the programme motion).  And the second is the only path to remain is through a Labour goverment and the second referendum they’ve promised.  I’ve genuinely never understood where the idea that Jeremy Corbyn was a secret leave supporter came from.  Everything I’ve seen has shown thathe’s someone who has real questions about the EU project (which I do too!), but who didn’t think leaving now would make the lives of people in the UK better.  

Labour is not a party of ‘Remain’ the identity - and I support that, because I spend a lot of time with people who voted leave who I think should feel represented by a Labour government.  But it is a party of remaining in the EU.

The other important point is that I don’t think the Lib Dems can be trusted at all.  I think given the opportunity they’d go into a coalition government with Boris Johnson in exchange for a second referendum on his deal.  And for me knowing the terms of a referendum that a party would support (which Lib Dems have been very vague on) is really important, because we can’t guarantee that remain would win. (I also think a lot of their decisions over the last few weeks show that they care more about the fate of their party than with stopping Brexit).

But the thing I want to respond to most is the idea that you can’t take Labour’s policies seriously.  I think it’s important to believe that it doesn’t have to be this way.  That austerity, wage stagnation and wild inequality are all the results of choices governemnt’s make.  And the government could make different choices.

An end to universal credit, nationalised rail service, free tuition fees, more rights for workers and unions - those are all possible and would make people’s lives so much better.  One of the biggest weapons that the Tory has is cynicism - and the idea that what we’ve got now is about as good as it can get.  But a better world is possible and worth fighting for.

#I'm very happy to continue this conversation #if you want to share more of your thoughts #I'm really here for all political conversation for the next six weeks #I've got a lot of asks about the way Louis has been talking about his album #and I will answer them #but only once I've figured out how to include a 'Vote Labour' message in the answer #(kidding I just haven't had time and energy #maybe tomorrow #But do vote labour #Anonymous

[xuxibelle]

Rush (2)

Pairing: Harrison Osterfield x Reader

Word count: 4,941

Warnings: swearing, angst, fluff

Summary: Part 2 of Rush… What happens in the aftermath of the accident… Does Y/N survive? What happens to the two friends… Do they go their separate ways… Do they become a couple?

“I-is she… gonna be okay?” Harrison asked.

“We’re gonna do the best we can,” they tell him. “She needs an operating room. From what we can see here, she’s bleeding internally and we can’t fix that here, too many risks. If we can get her to the hospital fast enough, she should be able to pull through,” one of them explains. Harrison reaches over and takes your hand in his, leaning over where you can hear him. He’s not sure if you’re still conscious, but he doesn’t want to lose you.

“Y/N/N… don’t die on me… please,” you hear him softly say as he squeezes your hand.

He barely feels you squeeze his hand back before you lose consciousness and he panics.

“What’s happening?” he asked the EMT’s as they worked on you.

“Her blood pressure dropped. She’s bleeding too much,” they told him. Once they get to the hospital, the have Harrison stay in the waiting room while they take you back to an OR. He’s sitting in a chair with his elbows on his knees and his hands in his hair when Tom and the girls come rushing in.

“Haz!! What happened?? Dean wouldn’t tell us anything. He just said we needed to come here,” Tom says worriedly as he takes in the state of his friend.

“Sh-she uhm… she tried… she ran out of the club… and Dean said she tried to cross the street,” he stumbled a little over the words, still not wanting to believe it was really happening. “They said she was bleeding internally and if they got her here soon enough, she should pull through,” he told them as his voice cracked over his words before he broke down. Tori sat on one side of him and Tom on the other, both putting an arm around him.

“I’m sure she’s gonna pull through,” Sarah told him. “She’s always been a fighter.” He nodded his head after Sarah spoke.

“She’s always burned so brightly… until last week… and I fucked it all up… that’s what led to this. We were talking at the club and she ran out,” he said before he put his head back in his hands.

“This is no one’s fault,” Tori said softly.

“She’s right,” Tom told him. “Not your’s. Not Y/N’s. No one’s.” They sat there for what  felt like an eternity before a doctor came out to talk to them.

“Are you all with Y/N Y/L/N?” he asked.

“Yes,” Harrison said quickly. “I-is she… okay?” The doctor sighed before he spoke.

“She will be… We almost lost her but she has a strong will to live. It’s going to be a lengthy recovery process, but we managed to stop the bleeding and nothing else was damaged on the inside. There are a couple broken ribs and the left arm, other than that, she’s in recovery now. We can only let family back to see her, so if any of you are, you can follow me,” he tells them. They all looked at Harrison.

“I-i can’t go… he stammered with tears in his eyes as he looked at Tom.

“You have to. You’re the one she’s gonna need,” Tom tells him.

“Can y-you… at least walk… with me?” he asks softly. He was terrified of what he was going to see. He wasn’t even sure if he could walk. Tom stood up and motioned for Harrison to do the same. He took a deep breath and stood from the seat to follow the doctor. Tom turned to the doctor before they started walking.

“I’m just gonna walk him back, I’m not actually going in yet. I’m not family or anything, just good friends. I just want to make sure he’s okay,” Tom tells him and the doctor nods.

“That’s fine. We see that all the time, and thank you for that. We wouldn’t want another patient on our hands,” the doctor tries to joke as they begin walking towards where you were. You still weren’t in a room yet, just recovery, which is like one big room with other patients. Luckily tonight, there weren’t that many others. They reached the door and Tom reached up to squeeze Harrison’s shoulder.

“This is where I stop, mate. You’ve got this,” he tells Harrison before he smiles at him. Harrison nods and takes a deep breath as he follows the doctor to the curtain where you are. He knows he’s not ready to see the damage, he only hopes it’s not as bad as he thinks.

“Here we are. Y/N Y/L/N. If you need anything, just let the nurses at the station over here know,” the doctor tells him before walking away. Harrison takes another deep breath and walks around the curtain to see you lying on the hospital bed and hooked up to a bunch of machines. He wasn’t sure what to think, if it was good or bad. Pressing his lips in a tight line and holding back the tears as he walked over to sit in the chair beside your bed. He reaches out and took your hand in his, rubbing his thumb in small circles across the back. He looked up at your face as you lied still.

“You… you have to come back,” he started as he felt the tears spill over his eyes. “You can’t leave me. Not now,” he pleaded with you. He sat in silence with you as long as they would let him stay there. After about an hour, they told him he would need to go back to the waiting room until they got you transferred to a room. He leaned down to kiss you on the forehead. “They’re telling me they’re gonna transfer you to a room and I need to wait out with Tom and the girls until they get that done, love. I’m still here. I’m not leaving,” he tells you before kissing your forehead and backing away from your bed. He makes his way back out to where Tom and the girls are before he breaks down completely, barely making to the chair before his legs give out. Tom caught him mid fall and helped him to the chair.

“Okay, okay. You’re okay, she’s okay. Breathe, mate,” Tom tells him and he tries to take in a few deep breaths to steady his breathing.

“I just...I can’t take seeing her like that…” he cries. “It feels like it’s my fault. Like I’m the cause of… that”

“No! No, no, you’re wrong. It’s not anyone’s fault, mate. You both got upset. These things happen sometimes and they really suck, but she’s okay, you saw that. She’s gonna be okay,” Tom tells him. Harrison nods his head after Tom speaks. Half an hour later, a nurse walks out and tells them that you are in your room and they can go up. They get to your room and knock before walking in to make sure they don’t interrupt a doctor or nurse. Harrison immediately takes the seat beside the head of the bed and reaches for your hand. The girls stand around the bed and talk to you for a few minutes before they take seats around the room as well.

“Y/N, we’re all here,” Tom starts as he reaches for your other hand, “I know you’re gonna be okay, but can you just wake up soon so you can stop giving poor Haz a heart attack.” The girls laugh as Harrison glares up at Tom. “We all love you and we’re all gonna be here for you as long as you need us,” Tom tells you as he squeezes your hand before he takes a seat against the all near the girls. They all sit around your room talking to each other and watching you the rest of the night. By now, it’s going on 5AM, no one’s slept or ate so Tom suggests someone or a couple of people making a food run. Harrison said he would run to the drink machine since it was just down the other end of the hall while Tori and Sarah went in search of food. Tom took Harrison’s place holding your hand while he and Jade talked. He felt you squeeze his hand and looked up at you. He saw your eyes move and he turned to Jade. “Go get Haz, now!” he told her before she ran out of the room. “Hey, Y/N, thought we’d lost you there for a bit,” Tom tells you as you stare up at him.

“What happened?” you ask groggily making him giggle.

“You don’t remember?” Tom asks and you shake your head.

“Not really. I remember arguing with Harrison and running off,” you tell him.

“You ran to try and cross the street in front of the club and got hit, sweetie. You had some internal bleeding which they fixed, and you have a broken arm and 3 broken ribs,” he tells you.

“Of course,” you scoff. “That’s my luck” you say as you roll your eyes.

“You’re gonna be okay,” Tom tells you.

“Where’s Haz? I need to talk to him. Last thing I said was for him to never come back,” you say softly as you bite your lip and look at your hands.

“Should be here any second. Jade went to get him. We had sent him to the drink machine for us,” Tom laughed. “Figured he needed to stretch his legs. He hasn’t left your side except for when they told him he had to when they were bringing you up here.”

“Really…?” you ask as you feel your chest swell and hold back tears.

“Of course, Y/N. He wouldn’t let you be alone for anything. If he wasn’t here, at least one of us was, but it was mostly Haz. He… he really loves you, you know?” Tom tells you. You nod your head as you feel the tears spill over your eyes. “Don’t cry, sweetie. It’s okay.” You shake your head as you look up at him.

“It’s not. I caused all of this,” you tell him making him laugh. You look at him confused.

“You sound just like Harrison. He’s been saying the exact thing all night,” Tom explains to you.

“But, how did he cause this?” you ask.

“He says that it’s his fault for talking to you at the club. He thinks he should have gotten you to go back to your place to talk,” he tells you as you shake your head.

“I shouldn’t have drank so much, I wouldn’t have gotten so upset,” you confess as you look up at Tom.

“That is true,” he laughs, “but we all make mistakes, and what matters is that you’re going to be okay.” Less than a minute later, the door was swinging open and Harrison was running in. Jade had taken over at the drink machine so he could get back. He rushed over to the bed and looked down at you, reaching for your hand.

“Hey,” he said with a soft smile as he saw your eyes blinking up at him. “How are you feeling?”

“Ugh,” you groaned. “Like hammered shit.” He laughed at your response and Tom walked out of the room to get the nurse.

“You had me scared for awhile there, love,” he said as he lifted his hand to rest on your cheek. You leaned into his touch and your eyes fluttered shut, making him smile before there was a knock on the door. He leaned down and kissed your forehead before he backed away from the bed. “I’m not going anywhere, love. Nurse just has to check and make sure everything’s okay,” he tells you when he sees the scared look in your eyes as he backs away. You relax when you hear this and let the nurse do what she needs to do. She adjusts your bed so you’re in a sitting position before she turns to speak to Harrison.

“Everything looks good so far. I’ll be just outside if you need me,” the nurse says before she walks back outside. Harrison resumes his seat beside the bed and reaches for your hand. You stare at his hand holding yours before you glance up to meet his eyes. You open your mouth to say something but nothing comes out.

“It’s okay. We don’t have to talk about it right now,” Harrison tells you.

“No… I need to say this,” you tell him as he watches you. “I-i’m sorry…” you start as you feel your eyes line with tears before you glance back up to meet his eyes again.

“No, love. You have nothing to be sorry for,” he tries to tell you.

“Yes I do…” you tell him as the tears fall. “I was trying to push you away because I was scared of what might happen with us…” you say before you take a breath.

“What… do you mean exactly?” Harrison asks, not entirely sure what you’re trying to say.

“I was worried that if I admitted how I felt, too, that maybe it wouldn’t work out and I’d lose you completely…” you breathed out as you watched Harrison’s eyes go from confusion to recognition to love when he understood what you were saying. “I’m so sorry…” you said as you let tears fall from your eyes before he reached up to wipe them away. You reached your hand out to rest on his face and he leaned into your touch as he closed his eyes. You took a deep breath before you spoke again. “Harrison…” you said to get him to open his eyes and look at you, and he did. “I-i… I love you,” you tell him softly as you watch his lips grow into a smile before he leans towards you.

“I love you, Y/N,” he tells you before he places a soft kiss on your lips and returns to his former position. “I’ve been waiting for so long to tell you that,” he says with a tear in his eye as he smiles at you.

“I’m sorry I made you wait longer,” you tell him and he shakes his head.

“Nope, none of that,” he tells you. “I won’t hear it.”

“Kiss me?” you ask him. He leans back down to press a longer kiss to your lips, more passion behind this one before he pulls back.

“Can’t be doing that too much for a while, love” he tells you with a wink.

“Why’s that?” you ask.

“You’ve got broken ribs, love. If your breathing gets too heavy it’s going to hurt like hell to breathe.” he explains. There was a knock on the door before you could respond and in walk Tom and the girls with smiles on their faces.

“There’s our girl,” Tom smiles at you. “Doing okay?” You nod with a smile.

“I am now,” you tell him as you look up at Harrison.

“I see you two have made up then,” Tori asked.

“Yea, I believe we did,” Harrison smiles down at you.

“Good, cause I was about done with all this crap,” Jade laughed before everyone looked at her. “What? Just saying….” You were released from the hospital a week later and Harrison never left your side. Before releasing you, the doctor told Harrison you would need someone to be with you pretty much 24 hours a day for at least 3-4 weeks, so in light of this, he told Tom he was going to be staying at your apartment until he could be sure you were good enough to be on your own, which Tom agreed with. He actually said you could have just stayed with them both at their place, but Harrison argued that it would be better to stay at yours because all of your things are there. Over the next 4 weeks, Harrison stayed with you as planned and helped you with anything you needed help with. You tried to tell him you didn’t need help, but he’s stubborn and he wasn’t having it so you just gave in and let him do whatever. When you went back for your check up, the doctor did x-rays to see how your ribs and arm were doing and said they were both healing very nicely.

“The bones seem to be healing very well, nothing looks out of place. I would say you are well on your way to recovery, young lady, just make sure you don’t over do it,” the doctor tells you before the nurse leads you both out.On the ride home, you place your hand over your ribs to try and ease the pain.

“Hurting again, love?” Harrison asks.

“Yea, a bit,” you tell him as you look out the window. He reaches over and takes your free hand in his with a squeeze.

“We’ll be home soon. Then you can rest and I’ll get your pain meds, yea?” he offers before he glances at you. You nod your head before you lean it against the window, the cool glass against your forehead giving you a tiny bit of distraction. Once home, he made sure you got settled on the couch comfortably enough and covered you with a blanket before he walked into the kitchen to get your medicine. He came back into the living room with two bottles of water, your medicine, and a bowl of popcorn. “Thought we would put on a movie to help you relax and get your mind off of it,” he explains. You smile up at him as he takes the seat beside you and you cuddle into his side.

“Thank you,” you tell him softly.

“For what, love?” he asks you. “I haven’t done anything.”

“Yes… you have. You’ve done everything,” you say as you look up at him with tears threatening to spill over. “You didn’t have to take care of me, but you have. You’ve stayed here and done everything I’ve needed and more… and I can’t begin to thank you enough. You don’t know what it means to me,” you tell him as your voice cracks over your words and the tears fall down your cheeks as he reached up to wipe them away. He smiled down at you as he cupped your face in his hands.

“Y/N…” he sighed as he kissed your forehead. “You know I would do anything in the world for you. You knew that before I told you how I felt and you should know that even more so now, love. I love you… and nothing is gonna change that,” he tells you softly before he leans down and presses a soft kiss to your lips. He leans his forehead against yours and meets your eyes. “You know I’m always gonna be here… for anything you need,” he says quietly before you slightly nod your head. You reach a hand up and rest it against his cheek as he leans into your touch. “I need you to know that, Y/N. Always…” he almost whispers. You close your eyes as you let a tear slip past and suck in a breath.

“I do…” you whisper back to him as you open your eyes to meet his again. “I know you will, Harrison. You always have been,” you smile up at him before you press your lips to his. He moves to pull back but you slip your hand from his cheek to the back of his neck and pull his lips back to yours. Feeling him smile into the kiss, you begin to move your lips against his as you feel his hand come back to rest on your face, thumb running across your cheek. You slide your hand into his hair as you hold him to you, not wanting him to pull away. Tilting your head to the side, you deepen the kiss and swipe your tongue across his bottom lip making him moan against your lips. He lets his tongue glide against yours as he slips his hand into your hair. He almost forgets about everything… where he is, your injuries that are still healing, until he hears you whimper against his lips when you feel his arm slide around your waist and pull you closer. You bite his bottom lip as he pulls back and looks down at you.

“I’m sorry… was that too much? Did I hurt you?” he rushed out all at once making you shake your head.

“No… No, not at all,” you grin up at him as you bite your lip. “Just been waiting a long time for that.” He reaches his thumb up to pull you bottom lip from between your teeth before placing a soft kiss on your lips… then another… and then another.

“So have I, love,” he whispers against your lips.

******************  6 Months Later  ******************

“I don’t know, mate. I just… is this gonna work?” you hear Harrison rush to ask someone on the phone as you walk in the door.

“I’m home,” you call out as you drop your keys on the table and kick off your shoes.

“Yea, I’ll call you back. Y/N just got home,” you hear him say as you walk into the living room. “Hi love, how was work?” he asks as he stands up to pull you into a hug.

“Ugh, terrible,” you laugh. “April didn’t know what the hell she was doing so of course I had to be the one to help her, which basically means I was doing my job AND hers, and Jack wouldn’t leave me alone. He’s been weird lately,” you tell Harrison.

“Weird how?” he asks.

“He keeps excessively flirting with me when I’ve made it clear that 1-I’m not available and 2-I’m clearly not interested, because he’s weird anyway,” you laugh at the end of your sentence.

“Hmmm, wonder what brought this on all of a sudden,” Harrison thinks out loud.

“I don’t know, but if it doesn’t stop soon, he’ll be reported, so you don’t have to worry,” you say as you smile up at him. He leans down and presses a few soft kisses to your lips.

“You need to go get ready,” he says quietly.

“For what?” you ask. “I didn’t know we had plans.”

“It’s a surprise,” he tells you with a wink. You bite your lip as you look up at him and notice the sparkle in his eyes is a little brighter today.

“Okay…” you laugh. “What do I need to wear?”

“Whatever you like,” he tells you. “We’re just going to Tom’s.” You nod your head with a smile before you reach up and press a quick kiss to his lips.

“I’ll be ready in no time,” you tell him before you walk to your bedroom and went to your closest to find what you wanted to wear. It was warm out still, so you decided on a cute sundress with a pair of black slip on shoes. Your hair and makeup was still good from work so you just retouched your lips and you were set to go.

“I’m all ready,” you say as you walk back into the living room. Harrison stands from the couch and wraps you in a hug.

“You look beautiful, love,” he tells you before he kisses your forehead. “Ready to go?” You nod your head before he takes your hand and leads you out of the apartment. Once you’re at Tom’s, he knocks on the door and you wait to be let in as you hear voices on the other side.

“Y/N, Haz! Come on in,” Tom says cheerily as he opens the door to see you standing there. You walk in and see all of your friends gathered in the living room.

“What are we doing here,” you ask Tom.

“It’s just a party... “ he tells you. “We just wanted to get the friends together and all of us hang out.” You felt oddly suspicious about his answer. You knew something was up but you weren’t sure what. Harrison lead you to the loveseat and put his arm behind you once you were sat down. You sat and enjoyed your friends’ company until Tom said it was time for dinner and you all moved to the dining room. Your mouth dropped when you walked in the room. It was all decked out in roses and daisies (your two favorite flowers), as well as candles and flower petals strewn across the table. It was like nothing you had ever seen.

“What is all this for?” you ask.

“Just wanted tonight to be a little… special,” Tom smiled at you. You had a feeling in the pit of your stomach but you weren’t sure what it was. Something was up that someone wasn’t telling you. You looked over at Harrison and he shrugged.

“I had nothing to do with this,” he laughed. You all took your seats at the table, Harrison beside you, and began your dinner. Tom had hired a catering company to take care of the meal so that everyone could focus on the evening. When dessert came out, Harrison stood up and was walking away as you turned to him. “I’ll be right back,” he told you. He mouthed the word ‘bathroom’ and you nodded in understanding. You turned your attention back to the table and didn’t notice when Harrison returned a minute later standing behind you. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of your head before pulling his chair out and sitting beside you. You noticed he looked nervous now.

“You okay?” you ask him quietly.

“Yea, I’m good, love,” he smiles at you. Out of your line of sight, he puts his left hand in his jacket pocket and fiddles with a box. He takes a breath and looks at the people around the table noticing Tom was already looking at him. Tom gives him a nod of encouragement and he smiles in return. “Guys, I have something to say,” he says directed at the table. Everyone stops their conversations and focuses on Harrison. “I just want to thank you all for everything you’ve done over the past 6-8 months for me, and for Y/N, for us really. It means the world to us that you would be there through everything with us no matter what, and we want you to know we would do the same for you. Isn’t that right,” he smiles as he looks at you. You give him a big smile and nod your head as you wait for him to continue. “What I really wanted to say tonight was… to Y/N....” he pauses and looks at you again. Your eyebrows knit in confusion as you wait for him to finish what he was saying. “Y/N… you’ve been my best friend since we were little kids… and you’ve never left my side, and I hope you never do… You… are the most important thing in my life, and you always will be. Six months ago, when you were in the hospital and the doctor said they almost lost you, you can ask anyone here, I couldn’t take it… thinking of living in a place without you… You make everything better, my days are brighter, hard times are easier with you…” he says as he watches your face while he talks. He can see the tears start to form in your eyes the longer he speaks. You close your eyes when he pauses. You feel him take your hands in his and you open your eyes and take in a sharp breath when you see him on a knee in front of you. “Y/N… what I’m saying is… will you make me happy for the rest of our lives… and marry me?” Your hand covers your mouth as the tears start to fall from your eyes as you see him pull the box from his coat pocket and open it, holding it out to you. “Stay with me… and be mine forever?” he almost whispers as he looks up at you. You raise your eyes to finally meet his, making more tears fall from your eyes. You nod your head as you try to take in a deep breath to speak.

“Y-yes…” you stammer out quietly before you see his face break out into the widest smile you’ve seen. He pulls the ring from the box and puts it on your finger before he presses his lips to yours and you hear the room cheering behind you. Tom, of course, filmed the whole thing because he knew what was happening. He had asked Harrison what your favorite flowers were so he could have them there. You wrapped your arms around Harrison’s neck and pulled him to you. “I love you,” you tell him in his ear as you feel his arms wrap around your waist and pull you up.

“I love you more,” he says as he pulls back and smiles down at you before placing a soft kiss on your lips. The girls pull you to the side, of course, to see the ring, as Harrison walks over and stands with Tom. “Thank you for this,” he tells Tom. “I couldn’t have done it without your help.”

“No worries, mate. You know I love you and Y/N both and I want to see you both happy,” Tom tells Harrison.

“Still, thank you, again,” Harrison smiles at him before he hugs Tom.

“Just keep her happy or you’ll be dealing with me,” Tom jokes making Harrison laugh.

“I’d do anything for her,” Harrison says quietly and Tom smiles at him knowing that his two best friends were in good hands.

@nerdraging4point0 @summernykole @sunshine112 @sleepwalkingdragon @bearsbeetsbarnes @staringmoony

#harrison osterfield #harrison osterfield x reader #Harrison Osterfield imagine

[bbclesmis]

The Guardian: Les Misérables' Andrew Davies: 'I haven't added much sex to it. Sorry to disappoint'

Britain’s greatest transformer of literary classics on his BBC One adaptation of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece

We’re just minutes into our interview and already the conversation has turned to brothels and sadomasochism. But perhaps this is not entirely surprising. Sauce is, after all, Andrew Davies’s trademark. As Britain’s greatest transformer of literary classics into raunchy, bodice-busting primetime TV, Davies is the man who added incest to War and Peace, put daddy-issue sex into the backstabbing Westminster drama House of Cards, and reinvented Mr Darcy from Pride and Prejudice as a wet-shirt-clad Colin Firth. None of those things, purists note, appear in the original texts.

Despite all these achievements, the 82-year-old writer never quite managed to smuggle his steamiest offerings into the nation’s living rooms. Take his adaptation of Fanny Hill, the 18th-century “memoirs of a woman of pleasure” that became one of the most prosecuted and banned novels. “This is a pornographic book,” says Davies. “There are lots of whips and sadomasochism – and I did try a couple of more explicit brothel scenes. But one works with a producer and a script editor, and they might say: ‘Um, we don’t think this is quite right for the BBC, Andrew.’ And so OK, it was worth a try.”

Speaking with Davies, who lives in Kenilworth, Warwickshire, is not unlike watching one of his dramas: innuendo and humour keep appearing, to spice up the serious and the considered. Conversation can quickly take on the slight sensation of romp, like when he talks about visiting sets. “I tend not to go much during filming,” he says. “As the writer, you don’t have a job so you’re hanging round like the spare prick at a wedding. I’ll go a couple of times, arrive before lunch, tell the actors they’re brilliant, and then leave shortly after.”

It’s easy to forget his advancing years: Davies has a mischievous laugh and still writes every day. But the biggest difference between now and when he started out comes whenever he goes to an award ceremony. “I’ve got a bad back,” he says, “so I don’t do as much dancing.”

As we speak, he is excited about Les Misérables, his much-heralded adaptation of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece of the 1832 Paris uprising. Three years in the making, and about to headline BBC One’s new year schedule, the series is spread over six hour-long episodes and boasts a principle cast of more than 100 – including Dominic West, Olivia Colman and David Oyelowo. The aim, clearly, is to be every bit as epic as the original 1,400-page novel – and, possibly, to banish memories of Russell Crowe bursting into song in the 2012 Hollywood musical version.

“Our tagline is ‘nobody sings’,” says Davies, who has won five Baftas and two Emmys. “It will be interesting to see how fans of the musical react, because I think they will be surprised by how much of Victor Hugo’s original story never made it into the musical. There’s so much more to it than many people know: about the cat-and-mouse relationship between Javert and Jean Valjean, and about Fantine and her early life – her happiness before the misery. We have explored all that. We’ve done it properly.”

The big question is of course this: how has he sexed it up? There have been rumours that Dominic West’s rear end gets an airing. He laughs. “You know, I do think sex is a huge motivation in a lot of these great 19th-century books but not so much in Les Misérables. I don’t think I’ve put a great deal in that wasn’t there. I’m sorry to disappoint.”

In reality, Davies rarely disappoints. He is a master of his craft. His gift lies in taking complex, sprawling novels and, while retaining the original spirit, boiling them down to something fast and fierce, full of fun and frolics. In his adaptations, nothing is sacred. Classic scenes are hacked away and completely new ones added, while beloved characters get killed off early or just never appear.

In House of Cards – his 1990 take on Michael Dobbs’ novel about Tory party skullduggery – he decided he wasn’t keen on the story’s original ending. His solution? To reverse it entirely and have the bad guy win. Dobbs liked it so much that, in a re-released edition of the book, he did likewise. When Netflix transferred the drama to Washington for a new US version in 2013, it followed suit.

“I think we all have this feeling when we’re reading a book: ‘Oh, I wish they’d written a scene between this character and that character.’ Or: ‘I wish this person wasn’t quite so prominent.’ And for me, it’s a question of being alert to those feelings, then writing them in. I do what I would like to see and hope the audience goes with me.”

Generally, it does. His credits read like a best of British TV and include definitive Dickens adaptations of Bleak House and Little Dorrit (in which the reclusive Miss Wade was transformed into an insatiable lesbian). Then there was Tipping the Velvet, complete with taboo-busting dildo revelry, not to mention Sunday night favourites Mr Selfridge and Doctor Zhivago. Among his fans is none other than Vladimir Putin: the Russian president said 2016’s War and Peace “captured the Russian soul, the epoch and the depth” of Leo Tolstoy’s original. “I’m certainly no fan of Putin,” says Davies. “But I’m happy enough he’s a fan of mine.”

He hopes Les Misérables, which has been made by the same team, will receive similar international acclaim. While writing it, he found himself surprised by its relevance, finding parallels between 19th-century France and the world in 2018. “This huge difference between the haves and have-nots still exists,” he says. “People are taking to the streets in Paris right now, but the inequalities are here in Britain too. And you wonder if anything has been learned. We had a very grand BBC launch in Piccadilly and it was pouring with rain and you had beggars sitting there on the wet pavement with nothing as we tiptoed past them in our best clothes and went in for a champagne reception.” He seems momentarily troubled. “There is a huge irony there. I see it, but I don’t know what can be done.”

Davies is rumoured to be the highest-paid screenwriter in the business but he comes from a background more aligned to the have-nots. Born in Cardiff, the grandson of a miner, his main dream as a young writer, he once said, was to “go to London, get drunk a lot and have loose women”. His first TV play, called Who’s Going to Take Me On?, was broadcast when he was 29, yet it was another 21 years before he became a full-time scriptwriter. In the meantime, he moved to the Midlands with his wife, Diana Huntley, had a couple of children and taught at schools and universities while continuing to write screenplays.

In a way, the teaching was a great apprenticeship. “I spent years trying to bring these classics to life for students,” he says. “In a sense, doing it on screen is just a grander, more expensive way of doing a lecture.” He chose to focus on adaptations, he has said, because his original works were always autobiographical – and this was a problem. “I live a very quiet life. There’s not very much to write plays about.”

His most famous work is perhaps 1995’s Pride and Prejudice, a Jane Austen retelling so filled with life, lust and laughter that it revolutionised costume drama. “We wanted to show that these were young people with all the same passions that we have,” he says. “They weren’t just bonnets.”

He is currently working on a new Austen adaptation. Sanditon, which will begin filming in spring, is a reworking of her great unfinished work about the transformation of a fishing village into a seaside town. ITV has described it as “lavish”. “She only wrote 100 pages or so,” he says, “which I’d used up midway through the first episode. So the rest I’ve had to make up. It’s been a blast.”

Yet there have been critics of the project. Some have asked if it is still appropriate for a man to transform the work of a woman. The word “appropriation” has been used. “To adapt a novel,” he says, “whether it’s by a man or a woman, it doesn’t matter what sex you are. You just have to know a lot about novels and a lot about adapting – which I do. You know, Sarah Waters didn’t have any problem with me doing Tipping the Velvet, which is not only by a woman but about lesbians. And I’m not one of those either. Will people say you have to be a murderer to write a convincing killer? It’s barmy.”

Sanditon is not the only thing he’s working on. He may be in his 80s but Davies hopes this decade will be his most productive yet. Another project is his upcoming version of A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth’s majestic novel set in post-colonial India. It will be the BBC’s first drama featuring an entirely non-white cast.

Another is a series based on John Updike’s Rabbit novels, which may be Davies’s first work made for a streaming service. “It’s early days but that might be on the cards,” he says, mentioning both Netflix and Amazon as potential platforms. “It would be a thrill.” And neither, I suggest, is averse to turning up the phwoar factor. “I know,” he says and gives that mischievous laugh one last time.

• Les Misérables starts on BBC One on Sunday. (x)

#les mis bbc #bbc les mis #Andrew Davies #Interviews

[ryanmeft]

The Favourite Movie Review

If you happen to suffer from Anglophilia, The Favourite may very well cure you of it. America’s obsession with everything British owes a lot to the fact that movies and TV have painted our overseas cousins as being upstanding, intelligent, and just a little above it all. If Brexit hasn’t killed off that impression for you, take a look at this movie: the court is petty, the most common language is insults, the royal helpers fight like bloodthirsty schoolgirls, and the Queen is mad. How delicious.

It’s the early 18th century, and there are a few issues surrounding the rule of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman); namely, that she’s battier than a thousand-year-old attic. Among her many lovable antics: telling off the servants for things she told them to do, being pushed around in a completely unnecessary wheelchair which she likes being rolled very fast in, falling on the floor and screaming, demanding royal courtesy be paid to an army of rabbits, deliberately making herself sick on sweets, and generally being so out to lunch she frequently forgets there’s a war on with France. In fairness to her, this is England, so remembering when there is and is not a war with France is a full-time job. My only serious regret about all of this is that, while having wheelchair races with herself, she at no point shouts “Vroom vroom”.

These days, we might have sympathy for such an unfortunate soul, but Queens then and now are not so much persons as objects of political desire. The Tory party, here identified only as the opposition, wants to end War With France Number 76b quickly, because the taxes needed for it are taking money out of the pockets of wealthy landowners and, as Tory leader Robert Harley (Nicholas Hoult) sneeringly informs us, putting it in the hands of those darned merchants; one is reminded of the airline shareholders who griped that the employees were getting paid before they did. Anne’s primary confidant is Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz, and yes, she’s his ancestor), the Duchess of Marlborough. She wants the war, in which her husband (Mark Gatiss) is a leader, to be funded and fully supported. Just as you think she is the one of the two with the more honorable intentions, the movie corrects you: her support for her husband has more to do with the benefits of being married to a war hero than with any real affection. She is, in fact, shtupping the queen, something left in absolutely no doubt. This is a movie far more frank about sexuality and especially lesbianism than even most indie films dare to be. In that regard, it is incredibly forward thinking; at one point Anne is quite explicit about tongues and her preferred use for them. In other regards the movie’s attitude toward sex is less progressive but no less frank, as it is frequently used to attain power.

This fine arrangement is threatened by the arrival of Sarah’s cousin Abigail (Emma Stone) who has fallen on hard times after her father, from what I could gather, burned down both their house and himself. She initially becomes trusted by the Queen entirely by accident, in fact through the only unadulterated show of good Samaritanism in the entire movie. She will soon learn that in this place, no good deed goes unpunished. She evolves, if you can call it that, until she fits right in with the nearly murderous intrigues of royal life. Sarah pushes: she threatens her life, has her beaten, and attempts to humiliate, ruin and tear her down. Eventually, Abigail will become the better fighter, even engineering a scenario that leaves Sarah rotting in a brothel while she moves to solidify her own position. Nor are Sarah and the Queen the only ones to be used or abused by her. The film goes as far as to subtly suggest she, unlike Sarah, is not even that into sex, as she pursues marriage to a randy nobleman (Joe Alwyn), then loses interest once she has him, and the royal benefits the marriage provides.

What to make of the ensuing battle of wills between the deteriorating Queen, her bickering fixers, and the Parliament? I’ll tell you what not to make of it: the idea that this movie has a feminist viewpoint. It seems that way initially, with both nominal and real power in the hands of a woman. One of the founding, most cherished myths of the movement, though, is that the world would be an inherently better place if women grasped the shorthairs of power. It’s impossible to say if that would be true. What I can say is that the screenplay, written twenty years ago by historian Deborah Davis and “freshened up” more recently by Tony McNamara, practically dies laughing at the idea. It will be tempting for those who want to see Sarah and Abigail in a certain light to say they are only responding to the viciousness of the world they live in, but they voluntarily go far, far beyond any schemes cooked up by the pompous, white-wigged men of the government. The simple truth an attentive viewer might notice early on is that it really, truly would have been possible for the two women to come to some agreement. The other simple truth is that neither wanted to; both wanted to win at the expense of the other. It is not that the men are spared---they are variously pompous, corrupt, callous, or incompetent. It is that power in film is usually shown as mostly corrupting or being corrupted by men, and here women are equally as eager to get in on the game. Sarah’s complicity in this is the most tragic, as it’s clear she really does care about the Queen; yes, at no point does she actually stop trying to manipulate her. No one is spared: even the scullery maids are needlessly cruel.

The main triangle that comprises the heart of the drama is infused with three of the most gripping performances you’ll see at the movies. The irony of Rachel Weisz having her big breakthrough as the nerdy, shy girlfriend of then-more famous Brendan Fraser in The Mummy is strong; she’s since gone on to be the more dominant actor, and it isn’t close. She has one of those mannerisms that can control a room; later, when her more subtle ways of squeezing the Queen have begun to falter in the face of Abigail’s tactics, she gets more forceful, and such is Weisz’s presence that we are shocked when it doesn’t work. Stone’s big hit role in Zombieland was more hard-bitten, but she too would need meatier roles to display what she can really do, and here gets her best to date. She starts out truly just wanting a second chance after going through a hellish youth and being dumped into another bad situation. Eventually, those who would push her to be horrible learn a lesson, as she can be far more vicious than they ever intended.

Somehow, Colman’s Anne is constantly on the verge of sheer, out-in-the-yard-barking-at-the-moon lunacy, yet never devolves to the level of parody, and maintaining her insanity while also not becoming a Jack Sparrow-esque joke must have been among the more demanding things asked of an actor. Most of the water cooler talk centers around the more widely recognized Stone and Weisz, but Colman needs to be both stark raving mad and entirely sympathetic or the movie falls apart; we need to believe this is a person two intelligent, driven, vivacious women would be willing to get in the mud for, even as they manipulate her to their own ends. This is one of the few cases where we can safely impose modern ethics on the past. Anne is mentally ill, and should have been cared for, but there was no chance of that ever happening.

The world her court inhabits has been recreated by director Yorgos Lanthimos, working for the first time since before his critically acclaimed Dogtooth with someone else’s script, as a place that lacks the sumptuousness with which English finery, English dress, English buildings and English everything else are usually treated in American cinema. That’s probably because Lanthimos is Greek, and whereas Britain to us is the ideal parent---upright and mature yet far enough way that we don’t need to call that often---to him it may be just another country in Europe. The halls of St. James’s Palace (My best guess; the film never says) are not particularly ornate or beautiful, or at least they are not portrayed that way. Robbie Ryan chooses to shoot many scenes in near darkness, with candlelight, and the result is that much of the palace appears gloomy, close and not especially grand or even inviting; there is one moment in which Sarah speaks through a door whose other side is hidden by a tapestry when we could well believe the house as a setting for a ghost story. Nor are the actresses spared the visual signs of moral decay. Though the costume department drapes them in every bit of finery you expect from pompous royals, both competing women are literally drug through the mud, and Anne shows little care for her personal hygiene. We are reminded that this was a dirty world in more ways than one, and whatever glamorous ideas we might have of the past are shot out from under us. Like the highly underrated Marie Antoinette, almost the entire movie takes place within the cloistered walls of the royal residence; I doubt most of those involved in the drama ever spare a look for an actual citizen of the crown.

Lanthimos’s last film, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, inspired strong feelings in me. Specifically, it inspired the desire to beat it with a stick. I am morally opposed to films that seek to prove how much smarter they are than the audience. Similar to his more popularly received film The Lobster, The Favourite is quite intelligent in the way it approaches its themes: power, political games, and the puncturing of the myths we build for ourselves surrounding both royalty and the romance of the past. It ascends to greatness because it never once alienates the audience in order to say these things. Just leave your fantasies of ladies and gentlemen in flower at home; those guys aren’t in this movie.

Verdict: Must-See

Note: I don’t use stars, but here are my possible verdicts.

Must-See

Highly Recommended

Recommended

Average

Not Recommended

Avoid like the Plague

 You can follow Ryan's reviews on Facebook here:

https://www.facebook.com/ryanmeftmovies/

 Or his tweets here:

https://twitter.com/RyanmEft

 All images are property of the people what own the movie.

#emma stone #rachel weisz #the favourite #england #movies #olivia colman #joe alwyn #nicholas hoult #mark gatiss #yorgos lanthimos #winston churchill #britain #brendan fraser #france #the mummy #zombieland #robbie ryan #deborah davis #tony mcnamara

[grimelords]

​My March playlist is finished and posted on time for once! Please enjoy three and a half hours of my new and old favourite music. A lot of post-hardcore, country of a few different flavours and a thirteen second long song that goes beep beep boop. Enjoy.

Old Money - Omar Rodriguez-Lopez: Who among you will join me on my podcast ‘Omar Podriguez-Locast’ where we discuss one of Omar Rodriguez’s 60+ insane solo albums every week and grow gradually infuriated with the very existence of each other until listeners are just tuning in each week for the episode where one of us finally snaps and attacks the other with a microphone?

America’s Most Blunted - Madvillain: It’s weird that this song about the wild and wacky world of jazz cigarettes opens up with a Steve Reich sample before moving into some real Reefer Madness type lameness at the end. Songs from so long before any type of legalisation are so lame like 'recent research shows that it’s not so darn harmful!’. This song is still very good though. I only found out that Lord Quas was just Madlib recently but I really respect the idea of having a rap alter-ego that’s just you with a pitch pedal.

Love My Way - The Psychedelic Furs: An underrated part of Call Me By Your Name is when Armie Hammer hears this song playing from a car and sprints over to dance with a woman who looks like she’s doing the monster mash.

Seven Stop Hold Restart - Bear Vs. Shark: Despite their bad name Bear Vs. Shark are a very good band and the best lyric in this song is when he says 'I am nine years old with short legs and arms.’ What I like about this song, and this band, is that the screaming is not the sort of affected scream-singing of a lot of their contemporaries it’s just a stocky guy absolutely yelling his guts out, which I appreciate.

Turncoat Revolution - Hot Cross: I think that’s close to what I like so much about Hot Cross too, I’ve never listened to Saetia either (the other band this guy sings for) but maybe I should because I just love this guy’s voice. The central hammery riff is so appealing to me but my favourite part of this song is the ending where the three chords just shrink away as the whole thing mellows down, it feels like realising you’ve been mad at something that happened in a dream this whole time.

Mag11 P82 - Venetian Snares and Daniel Lanois: Venetian Snares is apparently doing an album with Daniel Lanois who produced a bunch of U2 albums so my dream of a Bono/Venetian Snares team up is one step closer to reality. I like collaborations like this where you can very clearly tell who did what part. It’s hard to mistake when and how Venetian Snares is involved in a song a lot of the time. I really like this team up because freeing Snares from any kind of melodic responsibility allows Lanois to give the song a huge amount of space, unprecedented in a Snares song where the melody is often just as frantic as the rest of it.

Cornflake Girl - Tori Amos: Do you remember when Tori Amos had that album called American Doll Posse where she was doing a bunch of characters or something and it’s got one of the worst covers of all time in my opinion and I think about it a lot. Had a song called Big Wheel on it that I get stuck in my head a lot. But this isn’t that song so never mind! I was thinking about the production on this song, and how crazy it is to have whistling as a big part of your song while avoiding having everyone think of it as 'that whistling song’. All the instrumentation on this is great, the mandolin and acoustic next to each other making a huge bed for the piano to move under, then the harpsichord sounding keyboard and the guest vocal near the end, there’s just so much happening I love it.

The Field That Touches My House And Yours - Sarah Louise: This is probably the upcoming album I’m most excited about right now. Sarah Louise (who’s one half of House And Land who I’ve posted about before) is pulling a real James Blake by releasing a lot of amazing instrumental music and then suddenly revealing she’s an absolutely incredible singer and songwriter as well.

Jezebel - The Drones: The Drones have a lot of good songs about how it’s the end of the world and we’re all fucked and we’re all gonna die but this is one of my favourites. The sort of wide ranging scientific nihilism of an opening line like 'strontium 90, removed from milk’ really sets the tone for the rest of this song as it lays out every war like an ongoing nightmare that you have no option but to participate in as your body and the earth turn to muck in their wake.

How Sweet It Is - Karen Dalton: Everyone always talks about Karen Dalton as this mercurial folk phenomenon but I really love her second album where she just does standards with a full band. Hearing her bring her insane, complete chaos sense of rhythm to these regular-ass songs is such a delight to me. The way she just swoops in on the first line with absolutely no regard for whatever else is going on really cracks me up. That the song has backing vocalists for the chorus just makes it better, I imagine them singing while glancing at each other with panicked eyes as she just wildly darts around the microphone and sings absolutely whenever.

Bang Bang - Vanilla Fudge: Pitchfork had some video about the origins of heavy metal and I lasted about ten seconds becuase they mentioned a 60s psychedelic metal forerunner named Vanilla Fudge and my brain went 'funy’ so I looked them up instead. This song is a nightmare I absolutely love it, there’s simply not enough organs around anymore. The organ sounds absolutely immense and balanced against their cursed harmonies it sounds even bigger, what a jam.

Ride For Me (feat. Young Thug & 24 Hrs) - A-Trak and Falcons: Young Thug has finally brought back his insane Harambe voice and I for one couldn’t be happier. I have no idea who 24hrs is but he for real sounds like when Justin Beiber first came out so that’s a thrill.

Space Song - Beach House: This might be the platonic ideal of a Beach House song, it’s just beautiful and I don’t think I really have anything more to say about it. Beach House put out two albums in 2015, they put out the on that this song is on and then like three weeks later they surprise released another one and I was so shocked by the deluge of content that I have never listened to the second one. A powerful lesson for Beach House.

Anna - Will Butler: This song is so good I have no recollection of what the rest of the album sounds like, I just listen to this song over and over and over. Every part is good. The brass, the 'ba ba ba’s, they way he says 'you Got to get Mo-nay’, the piano breaks that sound like he’s just slamming it with flat hands. What a gift.

Hawkmoon 269 - U2: Here’s the straight up truth that nobody wants to hear: Rattle And Hum is U2’s best album. It’s literally just The Joshua Tree except better. It’s every bad instinct of U2 turned up to 11, which is what makes it good. He mentions preachers like twenty times on this album and there’s a gospel choir on two songs, it’s all happening all the time.

Silver And Gold - U2: Here also, is the straight truth: this is U2’s best song. A proper straight up political song about a specific idea, incredible instrumentation and Bono realising halfway through his speech that the crowd unfortunately does not care about Desmond Tutu’s request for economic sanctions against South Africa.

Hunting For Witches - Bloc Party: Post 9/11 war on terror indie is such a good genre. Kele’s always been a bit of a lame-o and he’s really on display here but when the instrumentation bangs like this it’s forgivable. Bloc Party have always seemed like a band where absolutely everyone is pulling their weight and doing the most in every single song and this is a good example. The drums! Matt Tong deserves a trophy!

All Of The Lights - Kanye West: I literally remember where I was the first time I heard the drums in this song, that’s how good it was. I can’t believe I only just found out that every single famous person features on this song. I thought it was just Rhianna but it turns out it’s La Roux in the 'fast cars shooting stars’ bit, Cudi in the 'getting mine’ bit, and fucking Fergie in the 'unemployment line’ part PLUS Elton John and Alicia Keys in the outro? This song is ridiculous. It’s almost a shame that such an incredible song in every aspect features some of Kanye’s most boneheaded verses but I suppose that’s what I love about him.

Let’s Hear It For The Boy - Deniece Williams: I’d like to invite you all now to stand and give a round of applause for my dipshit miser boyfriend that dresses like shit and can’t sing, I love him. I love this song a lot because I feel like she’s talking about me. This is a great song that’s right at the top of my long list of potential wrestling entrance themes.

Hey! - The Go! Team: I was premature when I said that new Go Team album wasn’t that great because it is in actuality very very good. This song would make a good wrestling theme too now that I think of it.

Monument - Royksopp & Robyn: I put the T.I.E. version of this song on my list last month and that prompted me to give the original another listen because it’s honestly just as good in a totally opposite direction. A long bit of space-jazz instead of a monolith threatening to crush you.

Merrymaking At My Place - Calvin Harris: My friend sent me this song and said it reminded him of Mother! which is very funny in my opinion. Loads of people come to my house, they take stuff inside of my house, and smoke stuff outside of my house, lots of people at my front door, lots of people in my front door, trying to get into my house. At my place [leaning into the mic] Baby. [panicked] Baby at my place.

Precious Lord (Take My Hand) (Parts 1 & 2) - Aretha Franklin: I was searching spotify for a good version of The Day Is Past And Gone and ended up finding this Aretha Franklin album that is absolutely incredible. It turns out it’s her first ever recording from when she was 14, which is mind boggling. It sounds like it was recorded from the back row of the church so it has this incredible amount of space to it and she just completely fills it with immense power. Even her piano playing is amazing. The whole thing is just an astonishing piece of music.

Big Iron - Marty Robbins: I was camping this month and thinking about country music, and so this and the next few songs are the result of that. I think Taylor Swift should not only pivot back to county for her next album but pivot back to this kind of cowboy story-song country. She should, in fact, just cover this song. This is The cowboy album and I feel like Marty Robbins may have been the most American man that ever lived, he used the money he made from cowboy songs to finance a NASCAR career.

Country Dumb - Josh T. Pearson: I spent a long time on the fence about Josh T. Pearson because music like this always raises the question of authenticity. He sort of feels like the country version of Nick Cave to me, straining for a very very authentic thing but in actuality a Berlin art boy. The main difference between Pearson and Cave though is that Pearson is actually very good. So I reconcile it by telling myself he’s a sort of Lana Del Rey character singer or something like that. This song is so great and I especially like his guitar style of letting the words lead and the guitar follow, where the lyrics are at the forefront and every part of the music is purely in support of them. 

Angel From Montgomery - John Prine: I’m so glad that John Prine is enjoying a bit of a late life resurgence in popularity among the Youth right now because he really deserves it. He feels like the songwriter that every songwriter loves but nobody else has ever heard of. I love this song, it feels like it was custom built to be some 70 year old country woman’s 'Hurt’.

Bogota Affair - Kid Creole And The Coconuts: A good and tropical song about getting cucked on an island and absolutely loving it.

Mientras La Veo Sonar - Rx Bandits: I figured out the reason I like this song and it’s honestly just that it sounds like watered down Mars Volta and I’ll take all of that you’ve got.

Joan, I’m Disappearing - City Calm Down: The way the first line of this song is an unexpected anacrusis makes me laugh cause it feels like the guy from The National just suddenly stepping into your room and collapsing into a seat to complain. I absolutely love this song, I’ve been listening to it on repeat. It’s melodically brilliant in the chorus, it just keeps giving, and structurally it never gets boring by just getting bigger and expanding the entire time to this huge emotional outpouring. I love the lyrics to this song because they’re so pathetic, which sounds like a strange and cruel thing to say but it’s true. It’s such a specific misguided melodramatic plea for a childish love that went on for too long and it’s just so heartbreaking and pathetic, and when it’s turned up to the emotional peak it’s believable and you sympathise. I wish this song went for five minutes more.

Footsteps - Dardanelles: This album was the critical darling of Australian music in 2006 and then this band just totally disappeared and I couldn’t find it for a long time before someone added it to spotify last year and now all their songs have <1000 plays. Very mysterious. I go through stages of being totally obsessed with this song, every part of it is just my favourite kind of pretentious art rock shit. 'This trail of breadcrumbs below your feet whispers like muscle cars on heat’? That’s good lyrics!

Queen Majesty - Techniques: I heard this song late at night when I was listening to ABC RN to fall asleep and some old guy was explaining how rocksteady was better than reggae and now I agree with him.

Opal (Four Tet Remix) - Bicep: The way this song builds around the central strong chords is just incredible, it’s a really simple motif and the way it comes back and sits foundationally through the whole piece. I love in the later half how the extra off-time melodies that seem to have no relation at all to the just come swooping through and almost destabilise the whole thing before those strong strong chords come through again. Also I have a strong suspicion that the snare sound in this is just Four Tet slapping his desk which I respect.

Jesus Came To My Birthday Party - The Middle East: I can’t overstate how much this song is directly wired to my brain stem. It is just perfect. This song is so simple but it feels like it came from another dimension to impart wisdom to me. It honestly makes me feel crazy. This whole album feels like the long lost brother of In The Aeroplane Over The Sea thematically and it really deserves a similar spot in the canon in my opinion. Please listen to it.

Eden - Talk Talk: The dynamics in the guitar playing is what really gets me in this song. The huge crescendo where it feels like the sound is being pulled apart from the inside dissipating to steam as soon as the groove kicks in. I don’t know, there’s not much to be said about Spirit Of Eden that hasn’t already been said, it’s transcendental music. It’s cliched but this is great driving music, music to space out and think about the universe to.

Outlaw Blues - Queens Of The Stone Age: What a treat to suddenly discover that one of my favourite bands has covered my favourite Bob Dylan song and done a great job of it too!

No Condition Is Permanent - Marijata: Ok this is embarrassing but the way I found out about this song was some goober on the overwatch subreddit had made playlists for every hero (Torbjorn’s was all electo-swing and pirate metal so who knows what the fuck was going on) and this and the next song were both on the Doomfist playlist, which was a lot of 70s afro-funk and highlife music which personally isn’t really telling the full story of Doomfist but that’s a whole other post. Anyway this song is great, and I’m glad I listened to this whole dumb-ass playlist to find it. I have a real affinity for songs like that that feel like the recording only ended cause they ran out of tape or the singer collapsed from exhaustion. This song could go for another 20 minutes and I’d only love it more.

Love And Death - Ebo Taylor: The groove of the drums in this song and the melodies of the horns are just hypnotising, and combined with the lyrics this feels like some very dark magic that I completely love. The guitar is really amazing in this as well actually, especially the solo where he switches back and forth between jazz soloing and just frantically strumming open chords.

Automatic (12" Version) - The Pointer Sisters: Huge fan of the extremely powerful megaman synth that comes in about halfway through this song and just charges the whole place up. I love how rich and deep her voice is, how it’s built on by the harmonies in the prechorus and then unleashed in the chorus. I also love how simple the chorus is, it doesn’t overshadow the rest of the song and the verses are just as good which is exactly what you want from a long mix like this. Huge fan of the deep guy’s voice just saying 'au-to-ma-tic’ during the fade out too, give that guy some more to do.

White Girl - Soul Coughing: Lyrically most Soul Coughing songs sound like somewhere between echolalia and reading out every street sign that you see, which is very appealing to me because that’s essentially how I communicate, but this one feels like a dire warning about an approaching conqueror. Also the ending of this song make me laugh because it’s the same as at the end of New Noise by Refused where he just screams 'THE NEW BEAT’ over and over and over after the instruments have all finished and in my eyes that’s a very very funny thing to do with the phrase 'white girl’.

Tone Tone Tone & Tone Tone Two - Shuta Hasunuma and U-zhaan: This album feels like some real Tiny Mix Tapes-core; a collaboration between two Japanese composers - a found object orchestra composer and a tabla player but against all odds it’s actually good. Unfortunately my favourite part of it is this 13 second piece of music that sounds like the brand ID for a very high-end podcast network.

I Won’t Be Found - The Tallest Man On Earth: I listened to this song eight times in a row and sang along the whole time on my drive home from work the other day. His voice is so uniquely good, a cowboy yodel with a slight swedish accent. I’m hooked right from when he sings 'morning’ as 'morning-AH’.

Now U Got Me Hooked - A.A.L: I can’t get over how good this new Nicolas Jaar side project album is. It’s just wall to wall bangers, a perfect party album. I love the really raw sound of a lot of the drums in this song; the huge clap that’s on the edge of being over-distorted mixed with a huge rumbling kick blowing out the low frequency that eventually cleans up and brings the sample back in and almost eliminates the bass entirely before it drops again and the sequence starts over. I love how long a lot of the songs on this album are, every idea is given so much room to completely stretch out.

Ride - Lana Del Rey: I saw Lana live last night and as soon as the first notes of this song played the girl in front of me absolutely screamed 'BITCH!!’ and I felt a real kinship with her. I really think this might be my favourite song of hers. It makes me so emotional every time and I can’t even pinpoint why. The way she sings 'fucking crazy’ the huge, sweeping chorus. It’s just amazing, I love her so much! Bitch!!

listen here

#playlists

[libertariantaoist]

The newly-installed US ambassador to Germany, Richard (Ric) Grenell, is at the center of a Trumped-up “controversy,” after having given an interview to Breitbart saying that he’s looking forward to encouraging beleaguered European conservatives. The NeverTrumpers went wild: neocon Anne Applebaum accused him of being part of a conspiracy on the part of the Trump administration to back "nativist, pro-Russia and anti-pluralist" forces – as opposed to the globalist, neo-liberal, cravenly pro-Washington (as opposed to pro-American) sock puppets we’ve been backing previously. Applebaum was joined by German Communist leader Sarah Wagenknecht, a leader of the far-left wing of the far-left “Die Linke” Party, who demanded that Grenell be expelled from Germany.

This little brouhaha underscores the utter hypocrisy of US political elites: ever since the first cold war, Washington has routinely utilized its diplomatic apparatus in the service of client parties and movements, most of which are directly funded by Washington. We funded and supported the Ukrainians who overthrew the democratically-elected President of their country and installed a new regime: the long list of _recent _regime-changing campaigns, complete with US-funded “democrats” in the front lines, is too long to even list – and of course our record of overthrowing governments and installing “friendly” ones during the cold war era stretches back to the late 1940s and early 50s, from the Middle East to Latin America. Now, suddenly, neocons like Ms. Applebaum are objecting to US “meddling”! Gee, why the abrupt turnabout?

The reason is because the populist rebellion against commie-Europa, a.k.a. the European Union, is in full swing, with the Brexiteers champing at the bit as the Tories betray them and the Italians driving out the pro-EU parties and demanding that Brussels get off their backs. Both Hungary and Poland are defying the Euro-crats, with the former saying no to the open borders edicts coming from Brussels and the Poles refusing to kowtow to the demands of the Eurocrats on the judiciary and other matters. The very last thing the Euro-weenies want to see is an American ambassador, who loudly supported Donald Trump during the presidential campaign, openly rallying the populist right.

[Read More] (https://original.antiwar.com/justin/2018/06/06/populism-and-the-end-of-the-european-union/)

#justin raimondo #antiwar.com

[jeremystrele]

This Revitalised Motel With Old Hollywood Vibes Is Byron Bay’s Newest Design Destination

This Revitalised Motel With Old Hollywood Vibes Is Byron Bay’s Newest Design Destination

Stays

Sasha Gattermayr

How good are those crazy-paved floors?! Photo – Jacqui Turk.

Pops of colour add contemporary touch to the space, with a Hug bench by the Fearon Brothers nestled in a corner. Photo – Jacqui Turk.

As well as old Hollywood, there’s a Hawaiian vibe going in places, exemplified by this Sarah Ellison side table! Photo – Jacqui Turk.

The library is filled with treasures from local designers including Soft Edge Ceramics and Heath Wae. Photo – Jacqui Turk.

The louvred round window is a quirky addition that fills the main lounge with light. Right: The worn exposed brick mantle contains some salvaged treasures. Photo – Jacqui Turk.

The worn exposed brick mantle contains some salvaged treasures. Photo – Jacqui Turk.

Communal spaces are an essential part of the motel experience – the brick fireplace was therefore an important feature! Photo – Jacqui Turk.

Light-grey rendered walls and polished concrete floors are hallmarks of contemporary beachside living, and complement the original features of the space. Photo – Jacqui Turk.

One of the twelve bedrooms in the main building is accompanied by a Chub stool by the Fearon Brothers. Photo – Jacqui Turk.

Orange details are a nod to the motel’s retro roots. Photo – Jacqui Turk.

Jess and Dave commissioned Five Mile Radius to create 12 bench tops from salvaged concrete! Photo – Jacqui Turk.

Inside one of the six freestanding private bungalows! Photo – Jacqui Turk.

Timber panelling was removed from the rooms and de-nailed and re-purposed as the entry doors and joinery for the bungalows. Photo – Jacqui Turk.

The exterior of the motel looks almost exactly the same as it did when it was constructed nearly four decades ago! Photo – Jacqui Turk.

The jazzy poolside bar and cabana have an tropical island-inspired palette, including a brass countertop and seagrass bar. Photo – Jacqui Turk.

The poolside bar is a tropical dream! Photo – Jacqui Turk.

It wouldn’t be a motel without a neon sign! Photo – Jacqui Turk.

The branding was done by Studio Muse Muse. Photo – Jacqui Turk.

Byron Bay might just be the low key Hollywood of Australia. There seems no end to the creative energy in this increasingly dynamic coastal town… everywhere you look there is an amazing new artist or designer to discover, or a beautifully curated shop or home worthy of a snoop inside. And now, there is The Sunseeker accomodation – a rejuvenated retro gem!

For Jess and Dave Frid, uniting the surfy feel of old Byron Bay with its current generation of bubbling creatives was a must, when renovating their newly acquired accommodation, tucked into the backstreets of Tallow Beach. After receiving the keys to the tired 80s motel in May of last year, the pair completed whirlwind renovations in just six months – being careful to balance the original vintage vibe, with some slick contemporary tweaks.

‘Reflecting on our favourite holidays, it was the memories of simple times as children that resonated the most,’ says Jess. ‘Whether it’s the concertina doors to close off the cosy bunk nook, the communal fire-pit, or preserving the 80s brick facade, we wanted to infuse those feelings of nostalgia throughout the project.’

The pair decided to keep the structure relatively intact, retaining the twelve-roomed main building and six freestanding weatherboard cabins, and focusing their energies on revitalising the interiors. Drawing on references spanning from Flamingo Estate in Los Angeles and beach huts in the northern end of Ibiza – Jess and Dave wanted to capture the essence of a casual holiday destination, in a jaw-dropping location.

In this spirit, a light-grey Spanish render gives the walls a cool Californian feel, while the original plaster ceilings were knocked out to reveal soaring timber trusses above. The pair salvaged, re-used and repurposed elements of the original finishes as they went, being careful to minimise waste, and avoid losing too much character.

Seeing as it’s Byron, the outdoor spaces are just as good as in! Beside the pool (re-poured with red concrete), the cabana and poolside bar create a tropical-inspired oasis. And while we’re on the topic of showstopping features, each room in the main building contains a crystal-adorned terrazzo benchtop, made by Five Mile Radius using waste concrete!

In addition to their own creative direction, Jess and Dave gathered their dream team of collaborators to realise the project. Notable amongst these were Tory Bauer (‘our creative consultant across the whole project on oh-so-many minute details’), interiors consultant Julia Ashwood – a multitalented creative (and founder of The Vista travel website) who sourced much of the furniture and artwork, Laughlan Rabbidge and the team at Land Company team for landscape architecture, and Balanced Earth designer builders, who were responsible for the interior fit-out, joinery and in-built furniture design. We’re also VERY enamoured with the suitably sunshine-infused branding for the project, completed by Byron Bay based graphic designer Lila Theodoros of Studio Muse Muse. Jess and Dave are also keen to mention Chrissy Caplice (‘an early champion and connecter’); and, General Manager Bec Villanti who, according to the founders, is ‘The Sunseeker’s philosophy personified’.

‘We were ready to deep-dive into a creative endeavour together – one that would allow us to reflect the heartbeat and rhythm of a community that had given us so much,’ says Dave of the group’s shared mission. They found some real treasures along the way… a Soft Edge Studio ceramic here, a Heath Wae painting there, next to a Chub stool made by the Fearon Brothers… The whole space is a showcase of the flourishing Northern Rivers creative community.

If you’ve been craving a slice of that dreamy Byron lifestyle – now’s your chance to get it!

The Sunseeker  100 Bangalow Road Byron Bay, NSW

Got itchy feet after a year at home? Book a room at The Sunseeker here!

[sambinnie]

How are you? I wish I had something more incisive to greet you with, but the speed with which everything occurs means it would be irrelevant, distasteful or a viral punchline a few hours later. 

I have been to the cinema for the first time in six months, and continued my regular habit exactly where I’d left it by attending a first-thing-in-the-morning screening of Tenet with only one other person in the cinema, sitting miles away and also on their own (the only way to watch a film, I say). Fucking Tenet, though. I mean, I have really missed going to the cinema, partly because I love films and partly because there’s such a small-scale decadence to occasionally going there solo at 10am on a Tuesday morning, and those tiny pleasures (which, of course, are currently no longer tiny) are just the things to keep me going.

But the film. Oh god, the film. I wish… I wish I could collate my thoughts into something which doesn’t just rapidly descend into a frustrated scream. I wish success didn’t mean people couldn’t say no to you. I wish I liked Nolan’s Batman films, for a start, since so many seem to get so much from them (see also: Breaking Bad, Killing Eve and Line of Duty), but I’ve always found them silly, really dumbly written, and badly made — I can’t hear much of the dialogue, and the action sequences are frequently shot with so many cuts and movement that’s it’s impossible to follow, something George Miller could teach him about so beautifully — and they’re so bloody solemn. Gotham is a grim place, but there’s a boring pomposity in fetishing that one-note grimness, and Nolan has it nailed. Having a character genuinely laugh at something doesn’t render your film light-weight; it creates contrast, and human engagement, something these serious (but sci-fi)/serious (but fantasy)/serious (but adult man dresses in a cape) films too often lack, as if a strained, one-note way of speaking will cancel out the frivolous, actually enjoyable genre aspect of the film. 

That lack of humanity is shared by Tenet. After a certain point, I simply don’t care. Is the nuke going to explode before Batman can something something something? *shrugs* Will the Tenet team manage to stop some sort of bad thing happening? Yes? No? Don’t mind, fine either way. Is Tenet nice to look at? Yes, but in a sort of “Christ, are we still holding up billionaire oligarch lifestyles as an aspirational thing at the moment?” very pre-2020 mood. Does it make sense? No, but that alone doesn’t mean it isn’t good — some great films, and some great Nolan films, take several goes to fully enjoy, and some are more enjoyable with every watch. Do I give a single fig about the outcome of the film or for any character after 20 minutes? Nope.

One major issue is that Nolan has made Inception, a masterpiece of film-making meta-commentary. How, once you’ve watched Cobb and Ariadne discuss the leaping-about way of conversations in films/dreams (stopping and starting in completely new locations) can you take the same thing seriously between Neil (Neil. Neil.) and The Protagonist? (I would like to see how many women read this screenplay along the way and just gave a small, inner sigh at the main character being named 'The Protagonist’.) As their boring expositional chats chop between pavement and public transport and plaza, one can’t help remembering how well Nolan previously pointed this out, yet has reverted to that self-conscious device to no benefit at all. It’s like he’s never seen his own films.

Similarly, the much-lauded aeroplane scene is completely without the necessary ingredient of tension because we’ve already been shown what happens, not just in other films but in this one, about fifteen minutes before. It’s like Bill & Ted promising they’d do whatever it was they needed right now, but in the future, and their momentary problem being solved by a loose sense of timey-wimey future self-ness. There’s nothing at stake at the airport, and between us being shown what happens and the scene beginning, nothing has happened for us to even hope the mission isn’t completed. It felt like the criminally underused Himesh Patel was in an instructional video for fuss-free plane-borrowing; compare it to the similar scene in Casino Royale (perhaps the only modern Bond film worth bothering with) and the flatness and mechanical nature of Tenet is all too apparent. The twists of the film, such as they are, are likewise foreseeable for even the least Pauline Kael among us. Who could it be under the mask? WHO COULD IT POSSIBLY BE? 

The Prestige, an earlier film of Nolan’s, is such a contrast to this that I’m stunned I didn’t watch it the moment I came home to clear my brain out. It’s smart, logical, moving, tense, engaging, and if there are plot holes (probably) I didn’t care because a) I really, really cared about what happened to each person, each of whom spoke and behaved like humans, not AI script-bots, and b) it gave this household a v useful shorthand nickname for anyone who wanted something one day but completely inexplicably changed their mind or denied it the next. I recommend it. I do not recommend Tenet. 

Of course, I feel guilty for caring so much about this, and writing about some fucking multi-squillion-dollar film with everything else happening. I am feeling extremely, crushingly ineffectual presently, and have completely come off all social media which from time to time would remind me of the efficacy of protest, of letter-writing and petition-signing and contacting one’s MP, so change feels hopeless and November’s blows seem inevitable. I am trying to knit my mind back together before then with small acts of body-work: cooking and running, drawing and swimming. I worry that I will drown in guilt and fear if I stop for a moment. It is pathetic, but I am still breathing, for now. 

My cynicism-filter is also at its finest mesh, because it cannot cope with the reality of our leaders and the UK’s political discourse: only small-fry stuff gets through, the Sali Hugheses and Jack Monroes, small-time fantasists who manipulate and virtue-signal to build lives of back-slapping consumerist celebration and Twitter Power Leader Boards. I’ve listened again to The Purity Spiral, and also to Desperately Seeking Sympathy, and wondered how many intelligent, kind-hearted people waste time supporting these innocent, victimised mini-Trumps just because they use the right buzzwords and also appear to hate the Tories. 

I wish I could give you some of the lights in my heart that keep me going — the occasional pure moon-eating delight of the people I live with — but here are more feasible treats instead.

Mike Birbiglia’s podcast Working It Out is a treasure, particularly the first episode with Ira Glass, which I think everyone who works in a creative field will listen to and wish they had an Ira Glass to critique their work. I like the idea of documenting works in progress, and not carrying any shame when things don’t work yet.

The Rose Matafeo episode of The Horne Section podcast, because I love her and I love stupid and brilliant songs. Several housemates have discovered Taskmaster too, which makes this a nice bridge.

Sarah & Duck, the BBC programme for tiny children. We never really used kids’ TV when they were little, but this now functions as a salve for when we’ve watched something truly terrifying like Poirot or a Marvel film, and besides the fact that Duck is absolutely fucking hilarious, the animation is staggeringly beautiful. The Islamic geometric patterns of the garden hedge; the soft blue-green hum of the “glow” section of the library, filled with lamps and luminescent books; the motes of dust caught in the sun-rays of Scarf Lady’s window. It’s a balm. 

Thanks to two housemates becoming great cooks over lockdown, I’ve rediscovered lots of my cookbooks and found 2015’s Simply Nigella to be a real corker. The rice with sprouts, chilli and pineapple, the drunken noodles and the Thai noodles with cinnamon and prawn are worth the entry fee alone. It’s quite chicken- and pomegranate seed-heavy, but even if you don’t like those, it’s extremely nice to be eating something that isn’t on our usual five-meal rota (and is also extremely delicious).

I was solo for some of the summer, and managed to watch a few excellent films, including BlacKkKlansman, The Peanut Butter Falcon and Love & Friendship. Cannot recommend these highly enough (*whispers* particularly the latter because it’s as painfully sharp as Austen should be, and we’d made the mistake of watching Emma. and I’m still so cross I’m not sure I’m ready to discuss everything that was wrong with it publicly yet).

I read Esther Williams’ memoir, The Million Dollar Mermaid. Perfect for anyone who loves that period of Hollywood, and full of juicy (as well as some pretty traumatic) episodes from the swimmer and actress’s amazing life. To give you a sense of it, chapter one is called “Esther Williams, Cary Grant, and LSD”. Super good. 

I hope you all keep well, pals x

#film #influencers #podcasts #TV #food #books #recommendations

[bughead-fic-request]

I would like to thank @leaalda for making these amazing banners.

This is an effort to spread the word about all fan fiction writers in our little fandom. If you would like to be featured or nominate a writer, please contact me. Please reblog this post if you can and check out some of @ficmuse work!

1. First things first, if someone wanted to read your stories where can they find them.

I post all of my work on AO3

2. Tell us a little about yourself.

I’ve been a writer and a poet since childhood. Professionally, I’ve worked for a major Internet service provider, been an executive secretary, made collections calls and even sold windows door to door. I just completed an art history Capstone in Roman and Greek art and am contemplating graduate school. I’m also a mom and a wife. I’ve worn a whole lot of hats in my life.

3. What do you never leave home without?

Something to read. I carry my Kindle in my purse. I read a lot of romance, mystery, and historical fiction.

4. Are you an early bird or a night owl?

Depends. If I’m really immersed in something I’m writing, I’ll pound the keys until 2 am or later. Ideally, I’m in bed by eleven.

5. If you could live in any fictional world which one would you choose and why?

Westeros! Ice zombies? Dragons? Bring it on.

6. Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met.

I’m a fangirl with a travel budget, so I’ve met some actors from my various fandoms, including James Marsters from Buffy and William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy from Star Trek. I like attending conventions. I’ve met Charlaine Harris, one of my favorite authors. That was a big thrill, too.

7. What are some of your favorite movies/TV?

TV: X-Files; Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Friends. Movies: While You Were Sleeping; Fifth Elements; Pride and Prejudice (2005).

8. What are some of your favorite bands/musicians?

Music is a really important element of my life. I need music while writing, cooking, driving, you name it. My all time favorite bands include Coldplay, Depeche Mode, Garbage, and Muse. Musicians? Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen, Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan.

9. Favorite Books?

Jane Austen; I waffle between Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. Charlaine Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries. Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles. Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries.

10. Favorite Food?

Any configuration of a potato. Baked; fried; mashed. I’m a potato fan.

11. Biggest pet peeve?

Passive aggressive people. Just tell me what I’ve done to piss you off and I’ll try to make it right. If you can’t do that, we’re at an impasse.

12. What did you want to be when you were little? What do you want to be now?

I’ve always wanted to be a published author and that’s still my dream.

13. What are your biggest fears? Do you have any strange fears?

Oh, boy. I have a phobia about driving on the highway. It’s very weird. I’ve gone way the hell out of my way to take side roads instead of highways.

14. When you are on your deathbed what would be the one you’d regret not doing?

When I was fifteen, I had the choice to go to boarding school in England. At the last minute, I backed out and went to a school in Pennsylvania instead. I really regret that; my whole life would have been on a different path.

Okay… lets talk about your writing!

15. Which is your favorite of the fics you've written for the Bughead fandom?

I’ve only written a few, but the BLT universe (Bizarre Love Triangle, Long Live Rock) is my baby. That’s my blood, sweat and tears, right there.

16. Which was the hardest to write, in terms of plot?

Fugue. The idea of Jughead as a murderer was so preposterous, I had to figure out a way to make it real and believable.

17. How do you come up with the ideas for you fic(s)? Do you people watch? Listen to music? Get inspired by TV/movies?

I get inspired by music more than anything else. Usually, finding the right song is the key to unlocking a story for me. But it can be other things. I eavesdrop like crazy and I also am very moved by neon signs and photography. I often look at moodboards and listen to a fic specific soundtrack while I’m writing.

18. Idea that you always wanted to write but could never make work?

I’ve been writing a fic with Betty as the POV character. The plot is inspired by the movie Groundhog Day. She keeps repeating the same night over and over. It’s funny on film, but I think it’s too repetitive as a story. I haven’t given up on it yet, but it is really kicking my butt.

19. Least favorite plot point/chapter/moment you’ve written?

Archie and Betty hooking up in Long Live Rock was just such a bummer.

20. Favorite plot point/chapter/moment you’ve written?

Jughead’s backstory about how he got his beanie in Bizarre Love Triangle.

21.Favorite character to write?

Jughead, for sure.

22. Favorite line or lines of dialogue that you've written?

For Long Live Rock, I had to write a lot of song lyrics. I’m particularly fond of some I wrote for Jughead: Fortunes have been made and fortunes have been lost /Princes earning money by moving rocks Princesses waiting tables in a neon glow/What we had we'll find again and never let it go.

23. Best comment/review you’ve ever received?

I really love it when people just get so flipped out that they can’t even articulate their feelings and it’s a lot of capital letters and exclamation marks.

24. How do you handle bad reviews or comments?

Unfortunately, I have a thin skin. I can handle the occasional nasty comment, but when it’s message after message of people hating what you do, it’s demoralizing.  My husband has repeatedly suggested not reading the comments on Ao3, but I feel an obligation to respond to each reader unless they are being a complete and utter asshat. The hate mail I received on Tumblr for parts of Long Live Rock was just unbelievable. That stuff, I just delete and try to ignore. That being said, constructive criticism is great. But that’s rare and far between. I get a lot of “this is great” or “I hate this with the fire of a thousand suns” and not much in the middle.

25. If you could change anything in any of your stories, what would it be?

The inevitable typos that I can only notice after I post them. Each one causes me physical pain.

26. What is your favorite story you’ve ever written? Any fandom?

My first real labor of love was a story called The Countess which was based on the BBC TV show of Robin Hood. I had a massive fangirl crush on the bad guy, Sir Guy of Gisborne. I shipped him with Maid Marian and despite the fact that she DIED, I still wanted a happy ending for my OTP. Did I mention that he killed her? Because that was the canon ending of that ship! So, I literally resurrected her, made the hero of the canon story the villain, and gave the full monty love story and a happy ending to Marian and Guy. It made my heart happy. It still does, because that canon just pissed me off to no end. One of the great joys of fan fiction is the ability to tell canon to go screw itself.

27. What are you reading right now? Both fan fiction and general fiction?

I haven’t read much Bughead fic because it lessens my ability to get into the headspace of my own AU. However, I am fortunate to have a plethora of fic recommendations from my dear @jandjsalmon waiting for me. As for fiction, I am currently reading a historical mystery called Instruments of Darkness by Imogen Robertson.

28. Do you have an advice for writers that want to get into this fandom but might be scared?

Don’t be afraid that your work isn’t good enough. Your work is always better than you think it is! You are your own worst critic. Trust that there is an audience for every story. We are a very welcoming community and you are guaranteed to find someone who will appreciate the work of your imagination.

#bughead author spotlight #fan fiction #fan fiction writers #bughead fanfiction #Bughead #ao3 #betty cooper #jughead jones #jughead x betty #betty x jughead #riverdale #bizarre love triangle #long live rock #fugue #ficmuse