One of my favourite understated moments in the 2016's Arrival, set during the arrival of extraterrestrials and the world's response to them, is when Louise and Ian are first brought to the military installation and meet the teams they're leading.
Ian, the physicist, gets introduced to his team of about half a dozen people.
Then Louise, the linguist, gets escorted into the next tent and she's introduced to her team...
... of roughly two dozen people.
Denis Villeneuve absolutely understood audience expectations for this story and then, on and off through the movie, he flips those expectations in different ways. But this lil scene about 20 minutes into the movie is just a small reminder, in case you forget: Louise is the main character. Louise is the one who is going to save the world in this story. Everyone else is just there to help her along.
You gotta give it to the nhl tho. They are dedicated to their story telling. The 'next great one' finally making it to the stanley cup finals just to be losing three games to none. But wait! They won the fourth game, and then the fifth. And now they're playing game 6 in front of their home crowd, vying for their chance at victory, at hoisting the cup in edmonton for the first time in more than 30 years! And oh how amazing to win game 7 of the finals in Florida. Not only will they have won, but they will have won against matthew tkachuk, someone who remained a thorn in the oilers side for years, even after he moved to a different country, to play for a different team, in a different division.
Today’s mental gymnastics is why does Melissa seem like such a cuddler that in every fic she’s written that way but she doesn’t have that vibe with Gary
If Barb had been waiting for her with flowers she’d have been straight to affection not standing with no contact while trying to read something
I mean she’s shown more affection to Barbara just standing in scenes than to her boyfriend who’s surprising her on valentines day
so - i had another idea for cabaret based on my kk universe fantastico. which is also lowkey based off something i said and something @allbeendonebefore drew a while back.
Morning After
Étienne flips a page of his newspaper and takes a sip of his morning coffee. It’s a quiet morning and the day promises to be beautiful, if he’s to judge by the gentle sunlight coming in through the living room bay window. He’s about to start the crossword puzzle, when he hears shuffling coming from the bedroom. He pauses, puts down the paper, and then heads off to the kitchen to assemble breakfast for his husband, when he hears the shower go off.
By the time Edward joins the land of the living, he’s still a grumpy morning mess, but Étienne loves him like this. He calls this look the grumpy morning queen look and Étienne is immensely fond of it. Edward shuffles to the kitchen table and lets himself fall onto one of the chairs as he grumbles about something or other. Étienne can’t help the ever so fond and enamoured look he throws his way as he finishes assembling his breakfast and brings it over.
Edward manages a sound that resembles a thanks and his look softens for a fraction of a second, before he grimaces as he shifts in his chair. Étienne takes a moment to look him over, from the fuzzy slippers to the even fuzzier bathrobe with bedazzled monogrammed initials on both sides of the front. One side says E.M. the other K.K. The bathrobe is pink, it’s fluffy, and it had been gifted by one of Edward’s friends, some years ago. Étienne thinks it’s a riot, loves the way it envelops Edward, and it’s a much better improvement from the ratty old thing Edward had worn for so long.
There’s even a towel wrapped around his hair and Étienne steps behind him to gently unwind it. Edward’s hair falls down to his shoulders and he lets out a small sigh when Étienne scratches at his scalp for a moment, before he places a kiss to the top of his head. Edward leans back for a moment and Étienne lets himself rest against him. He lets him go after some time has passed and takes back his place at the table, across from his husband and watches as Edward takes his first sip of morning coffee and slowly wakes up.
Edward shifts and winces again and puts down his mug of coffee, “I’m too old for this shit, I’m gonna retire,” He mumbles as he massages his leg and Étienne would be concerned if he hadn’t heard the same thing for the past god only knew how many years. Instead, he rolls his eyes fondly and placates his husband with a soft “mm-hmm” and lets him go off on his little morning tangent. It’s part of the routine, by now, and Étienne loves their little routine.
“I’m not twenty anymore – I’m sore everywhere and I still don’t know why anyone ever decided stilettos were a thing that needed to be placed on feet.”
Étienne chuckles softly and watches with fascination as Edward skewers a piece of cantaloupe with his fork and then chews on it with more force than necessary, as if the melon is at fault for all his aches and pains. Edward has a point though, they aren’t twenty anymore and he feels it himself – feels it in the stiffness in his shoulder and the way his fingers will cramp up after he’s been working too long. Edward’s been at this for decades now – for as long as he’s known him and he knows his husband has aches and pains of his own. Even though he can recall a time when Edward had touted that the bigger the heel, the better, he knows they cause him pain now.
“So, does that mean I can officially actually start planning your retirement party, or is it too soon?”
Edward looks at him for a moment, frowns, skewers a strawberry next, and ponders his answer as he chews. There had been a fiasco, some years back, when Edward had said that he was really retiring – that this time was the real time – he was done – he wanted out, and Étienne, being ever the loving husband that he was and thoroughly enjoying spoiling Edward, had gone ahead and had started planning a surprise retirement party for him. Cake had been ordered. Caterer had been called. Invites had been sent out.
And then Edward had decided he wanted to do one more show.
Étienne had been – mildly upset.
It was a good thing he enjoyed throwing parties.
“Maybe you should wait a bit,” Edward tells him and they exchange a look before he returns to his breakfast. Étienne lets out an amused sigh and shakes his head. He knows better – he knows Edward won’t retire, not now anyways. Not when there’ll be another special show for such an event or this occasion. Not when he can still get up there and when he still loves it even with the aches, the pains, the rehearsals, and the late nights. It’s one of the many things he loves about him – loves the passion he has for this and Étienne knows that he’ll go to every show he’ll be in, until the real very last one. He’d been going for over fifteen years, knew he would go for fifteen more, and another fifteen after that.
“If you keep that besotted look on your face for any longer, it’ll stay permanently etched on your face,” Edward says and he returns to his breakfast and coffee. Étienne laughs, throws his head back and returns with an even more besotted look, if that’s possible and Edward groans, but knows he can’t do much else about it. Étienne has always been like this.
They fall quiet after that and Étienne continues his morning pleasure of watching his husband eat. He likes seeing him like this – likes the contrast between his bathrobe and his still manicured painted long nails and the stubble on his face. Likes the flecks of glitter that haven’t fully come off with the chest hair peeking out from the front of the bathrobe. Étienne gives a content little sigh and Edward rolls his eyes in reply, but this too, is part of the routine.
When Edward is done with breakfast, Étienne is out of his seat to clear the table and shoos Edward off to the living room. Normally, on any other given day, Edward would protest and insist on helping, but with the years, Étienne has been able to have this one victory. He supposes, it’s what he likes about these mornings – that Edward lets himself be doted on. He gets to fuss about him as much as he wants and Edward lets him without trying to reciprocate.
For as long as he’s known Edward, his husband has always been under the impression that he needs to look after others and that others should not bother looking after him. It had led to some arguments, many heated discussions, especially since Étienne wanted nothing more but to spoil Edward with attention – splurge on him, buy him pretty things and such. Étienne wanted to take care of Edward whenever Edward needed it, but Edward had often brushed himself off, told him he was fine and not to worry. It – hadn’t sat well with Étienne. At all.
They had needed to navigate around that, had learned to talk things through – to meet halfway and see things from the other’s point of view. It hadn’t always been easy, had sometimes been more frustrating than anything else, but – they’d managed, had gotten better at it and had learned to let the other have small victories.
But on these mornings, Étienne can fuss to his heart’s content. He’s still not entirely sure why Edward lets him, figures it has to do with Edward being so totally wiped-out that there’s no fight left in him, but Étienne doesn’t care; it means he can return to the living room after the dishes are taken care of, sit by Edward’s side and take a hold of one of his feet without much fuss from his husband.
Edward lets out a breathy little moan as Étienne works on the arch of his foot and Étienne grins, self-satisfied. He watches his husband from the corner of his eyes – watches as he grows slack, eyes closed, as Étienne makes good work on his feet. There’s no more bite to him, he’s gone completely pliant and soft and Étienne knows that if ever he had some insane demand to make at him, a time like this would be the best moment to strike.
He works meticulously on both feet, knows exactly where to add what pressure and he’s only aware that Edward is still awake by the soft gasps and sounds he makes every now and again, yet he knows he could get him to sleep easily this way if he wanted to.
When he’s done, he lets his hands run over Edward’s calves, up his leg and then back down and he takes comfort in the quietude of their living room. Edward’s breathing eventually evens out and Étienne’s heart protests the fact that it can’t beat out of his chest. He slowly and gently disentangles himself, not wanting to rouse him and goes to busy himself for the time being, knowing that this little nap won’t last very long.
It doesn’t, like always, and by the time Étienne has put away the laundry and started a new load, he returns to find Edward grunting as he rolls over to sit up.
“Fell asleep,” He slurs and Étienne plops himself besides him and gathers him in his arms. Edward goes, too sleepy to protest even though he loves it there and Étienne manhandles him until he has Edward right where he wants him, curled up by his chest, face by the crook of his neck. It’s a great vantage point for him to press soft kisses to his forehead and tip of his nose all the while holding him close.
“That’s quite all right, my dear,” He reassures running a hand through Edward’s now dry hair. It’s nice and fluffy this way – still not combed and dealt with – a little wild and untamed and Étienne likes it this way as well. He marvels at the streaks of grey in it – remembers the dramatic fuss Edward had made when he had first found his first grey hair, but Étienne secretly likes him with a little bit of grey – likes that Edward stopped dyeing it a few years back. Likes the dark metallic grey of it and how handsome it makes his husband look. Likes that they’re growing old together – through changes, grey hairs and aches and pains.
He also likes that Edward’s let it grow in again – likes to braid it when they watch TV together.
He likes using different pet names for Edward, has a whole arsenal at his disposition that he’s developed over the years, but he obviously has a few favourites. My dear is one of them – one only for Edward, whereas he has others he keeps for Katherine only, such as my darling. Edward’s questioned the logic a few times, but had let Étienne be – he didn’t mind the pet names anyways.
“Please tell me we don’t have plans today,” Edward mumbles from the folds of his arms and Étienne can’t help but chuckle softly.
“No, we don’t, you can be a lazy, grumpy legume all day if you want.”
Edward mutters something about being grumpy and how he’s not and Étienne humours him through it. It doesn’t matter though, for Étienne loves Edward even when he’s grumpy and acts like an old man. Loves him when he complains about his aches and pains, for he knows he’s just looking for an extra cuddle and more attention, and Étienne is always ready to give it to him. Loves him when Edward holds on to him and makes himself comfortable in his arms. Loves these quiet moments together when Edward is pliant in his arms and he feels ever so loved.
He shifts a little, if only to be more on level with his husband and caresses his face instead, quietly amused when he finds specks of glitter here and there, before reaching for one of his hands. He kisses every knuckle in turn until Edward opens lazy hazel eyes at him. He smiles, softly, and kisses him then, pleased when Edward kisses him back.
“I love you,” He murmurs against his lips and Edward offers him a smile in turn. Étienne watches the way the corner of his eyes crinkle slightly, the way they light up, amused, fond and full of love for him and Étienne’s face breaks out into a bright smile of his own as Edward holds him close.
It scares me that the children now might not grow up with high school musical. I wasn't even alive when it came out but I do know all the lyrics religiously in all three movies. Don't know if that's a good thing... Kids these days all they got is.. actually I have no idea.
I have to get this off my chest when I first watched season 4 I did not recognize Gary until Return to Malice so I had to go back and watch the first 2 episodes of season 4 again
