GODLESS.

THE BEAR | 2.01 "Beef"

andromeda tracks the mangled fuchsia mane for as long as she's able — until it bounds and disappears alongside a larger group of children, deep into the festive crowd . instinct tips her forward, a cautioning glare towards her current companion as she forgoes pretenses and promises and moves fast to tread on the heels of her daughter . “          don’t say a word .           ” she cautions @corroding before judgement comes, maternal instinct clouding her initial commitment to be cool, as dora insisted . “          i'll keep out of sight .           ” she commits, recalling the feeling of being a child on a leash . but that doesn't heed her concern . after all, also remembers her cousin and his friends at this age, and what the lack of a leash might look like . “          remind me of all the trouble you used to find yourselves in ?           ”

nymphadora  practically  glows  when  put  against  a  backdrop  of  small  children  and  beige  stone.   she’s  a  quick  little  thing,  like  an  outdoor  cat  evading  capture,  with  the  way  she  ducks  /  bobs  /  weaves  through  the  myriad  and  mayhem  and  away  from  her  mother.   a  grin  tilts  at  his  lips  when  he  looks  to  andromeda  and  holds  up  his  hands.   “  you  say  that.   you  sure  you’ll  be  able  to  hold  to  it?  ”   but  andromeda’s  already  drawing  a  similar  path,  and  james  knows  he’s  expected  to  follow.   he  does,  if  only  out  of  curiosity  alone.   “  trouble?  ”   he  repeats,  like  he’s  chewing  on  it.   there’s  a  click  of  his  tongue  as  he  sidesteps  a  man  in  a  shirt  emblazoned  with  blinking  lights  and  the  ireland  national  logo.   “  my  parents  used  to  say  they  were  the  oyster  and  i  was  the  pearl,  you  know   – " this is, verifiably, an untruth, " – does that sound like trouble to you?  ”

he’d  prefer  to  be  on  the  grunt  shift  in the office than  find  himself  in  the  middle  of  this  festive  hell  .  the  jam-packed  market  might  be  his  last  choice  of  station on earth  .  it  feels  erroneous  to  feign  contentment  for  the  season  as  the  conflict  rages  on  in  the  background  .  to  brush  the  shoulders  of  the  suspected  monsters  hanging  red-lined  on  his  evidence  board  .  the  orders  are  clear:  keep  his  attention  sharp  for  dealings  regarding  the  obscura  or  anything else  abnormal  .  to  frank,  the  most  abnormal  and  disturbing  thing  about  this  is  the  deliberate  ignorance  of everyone here  .  his  bristling  mood  doesn’t  settle  on  sight  .          “           no,  i  haven’t  seen  my wife  .          ”          a  non-greeting  for  @corroding,   sullen attention  still  on  the  mindless  crowd  .

“  i’ll  fuck  back  off  to  greece,  then,  i  guess,  ”  marlene  snipes  as  she  steps  into  place  at  frank’s  left.   she  follows  his  straightforward gaze, steady and precise as a knife,  to  level  her  attention on  someone  digging  obatzda  out  of  a  ramekin  with  their  finger  and  dumping  it  on  the  ground  behind  the  pretzel  stand.   they  pocket  the  ceramic  dish  and  walk  off  to  the  next  vendor.   festive.   “  do  they  ever  let  you  enjoy  these  things?  ”   asked  as  if  she  didn't  already  know  the  answer.   (  it’s  no.   she  leaves  it  open  for  answer  regardless,  taunting.  )   the  cup  of  butterbeer  between  her  palms  verges  on  scalding  when  she  takes  a  sip,  but  she  finds  it  to  be  better  than  the  gentle  chill.   “  you'll look more suspicious than anyone else here if you keep holding court in one spot. walk with me.  ”

ADRIA ARJONA as Madison Figueroa HIT MAN (2024)

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (2021) dir. Edgar Wright

Alex Fitzalan as Harry Bingham in The Society (1.01)

is anybody else learning to tend to the vulnerable child who lives in your heart and begs you to seek the painful magic of loving the world and everyone and everything in it