#briarcliff

American Horror Story #2 - Asylum (2012)

The Trump origin story, written by Gabriel Sherman and directed by Ali Abbasi, stars Sebastian Stan as the future president and Jeremy Strong as his consigliere Roy Cohn.

The Apprentice, Ali Abbasi’s hot-button film about the young Donald Trump, has been acquired by Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff Entertainment for a pre-election U.S. release on Oct. 11, as well as an awards push, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The film was written by Vanity Fair’s longtime Trump chronicler Gabriel Sherman and stars Sebastian Stan as the future president and Jeremy Strong as his one-time consigliere Roy Cohn.

The Trump “origin story” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20, and quickly proved to be a bit of a hot potato. Dan Snyder, the pro-Trump billionaire whose Kinematics company put up equity for the film against domestic rights, reportedly was displeased with the film’s depiction of Trump and sought to block its release; and the Trump campaign issued legal threats to potential distributors.

In the end, THR has learned, Kinematics’ interest in the film was bought out, allowing the Briarcliff deal to move forward.

In the relatively brief period between now and Oct. 11, The Apprentice will begin appearing at some fall film festivals, and a full-on awards campaign — something with which Ortenberg is very familiar from his days at Lionsgate overseeing Crash and at Open Road overseeing Spotlight, both of which won the best picture Oscar — is already being organized.

Scarred

Warnings: bit of a sad fic, talk about Briarcliff abuse/scars, just a short sweet fic for my baby Kit 🫶🏻🫶🏻

—

Months after Kit had finally gotten out of Briarcliff, he met you, the new warehouse worker at the mechanic shop he had started work at.

You.

You were sweet, nurturing, humble, and oh so beyond kind.

Everything Kit could ask for in a woman and more. You were, quite literally, perfect for Kit. And he wasted no time in his attempts to make you his.

First subtly. He’d glance at you often while working together. Make up excuses for new parts he needed just so he could see you a few extra minutes of the day. But you caught on quick, not that you minded. He wasn’t too bad to look at himself, and you were flattered by his want to see you.

Then he got more confident, sharing some cheesy jokes with you, throwing a pick up line out here and there, anything just so he could hear your contagious laugh and see your beautiful eyes light up.

But soon, your eyes lit up at just seeing him walk in the room, as his did yours for the few months prior. He knew he had won you over and so, he took his shot. Asked you to supper which you happily accepted. One date turned into four, then you were spending most of your evenings with him. Before long, you were his girlfriend, you were staying the night, and you even brought some belongings to keep at his place.

Kit was a gentleman, though. The two of you hadn’t had sex yet. You’ve come close, but anytime you initiated anything further than making out, he would stop.

“I want our first time to be perfect, y/n. I want to be everything you could ask for and more.” He’d reassure you when you questioned why he didn’t want to. You couldn’t ask for a better partner, a better boyfriend. He truly cared about your comfort.

But you had no idea the deeper reason he hadn’t wanted to have sex yet. Of course, he wasn’t completely lying when he’d reassure you, but he wasn’t being completely honest. Of course he wanted to have sex with you, he couldn’t wait and sometimes it physically hurt to stop the intense make-out session. He’d, truthfully, take you then and there, if you were truthfully ready for that step. But, he wasn’t ready for you to see his scars on his body, and he wasn’t ready to have to dive into the terrible details that came with knowing he was ever in Briarcliff. You had no idea, and he wanted to keep it that way as long as possible.

He knew he’d have to tell you one day, he just wanted it to come very later in life.

But later in life wasn’t as far away as he thought it’d be.

Kit was currently in the shower. He was under the impression that you wouldn’t be over for another hour, so he gave himself the time to enjoy the hot water on his sore muscles while not having to worry about you walking in. He never showered when you were around, something else you wondered about but never asked. You respected his boundaries, always showering at your own home unless you were running late, to which you’d shower quick and careful not to be too revealing of yourself for his comfort.

But you had finished getting ready quick, and you had exciting news to share with Kit that you barely comprehended that he was half naked when you walked into his room without knocking. Your excitement overtook you, that your parents had sent two airline tickets to Florida to spend a weekend away with your current and most serious lover. You just wanted to share the news with Kit so he could share the excitement with you.

“Look what I’ve received in the mail, babe!!” You grinned wide, ear to ear, not even noticing his naked torso. Kit nearly fell over his bed when he heard your voice in his room, still having not expected you and given no time to prepare so you wouldn’t see his scars.

“Babe! Don’t ya know how to knock?!” Kit hissed as hurdled to the other side of his bed, reaching down for a shirt. You watched, confused. Seeing that he had a bare torso, you still didn’t understand the problem considering he had his jeans on. The most intimate of his places was completely covered.

“I… mean, yeah. I do. I’m sorry. I was just so excited that..” you trailed off as your eyes landed on his back when he stood to his feet to pull his shirt on. They remained there until his shirt covered the area, your eyes flickering to his face.

He didn’t look at you. He knew by the way your voice trailed, you had saw some scars. You noticed his clenched jaw as he looked down at the ground, silent.

“Kit? What were those?” You asked quietly, unsure of how to approach the subject but needing an answer. They weren’t even all of them and it made your stomach turn. You knew he had went through something traumatic and that hurt your heart. You needed to know so you could understand and be there for him the way he needed you to be.

“It’s nothin’. It’s… they’re just— they’re not important. Can we just go?” He decided to avoid the question, grabbing his nice jacket and walking past you, his hand taking ahold of yours to walk out but you stood your ground, pulling him back just barely. Kit looked straight, out into his living room, knowing you weren’t going to give this up. He also knew you deserved to know, now that you’ve seen them. He had avoided letting you see them for months on end now. It was only a matter of time.

“Kit, please” you said, your voice barely above a whisper as you were not turned towards his body, your hands finding their way to his biceps where you held him gently, your thumbs rubbing reassuring circles against his skin. “Please talk to me about this, babe.” You begged.

You felt his body sigh, relaxing in your comforting hold. You stepped closer to him, your front torso against his back and your arms falling around him in a hug. His head fell backwards against your shoulder, the side of his face leaning against the side of yours.

You both remained here, him silently preparing to explain everything to you while you just held him, silently letting him know you were there to listen, and love him regardless.

“It’s a really long story, y/n.” He sighed.

“We have all the time you need.”

Your dinner plans with each other were cancelled as he led you back into his room, letting you sit on his bed. You faced him while his back faced you, watching carefully as he slowly slipped his white shirt back off. You immediately took in the scars you hadn’t yet seen on his back and now, being up close, the severity of them. They, alone, brought tears to your eyes as you wondered what kind of monstrous human could do this to someone as sweet and kind as Kit Walker.

But your eyes widened as he slowly turned around, now facing you. You blinked repeatedly, as if trying to fix your vision in case you weren’t seeing clearly. But you were, seeing clearly that is.

His entire chest and abdomen were covered in more scars, just the same as the back. Kit still avoided your eyes, but you watched as he unbuckled his jeans and slowly pulled them off, revealing his scarred and burned legs.

Your breath was gone. You were winded. You didn’t know what exactly you expected, but it wasn’t this.

Kit stood now, nearly completely naked, in front of you. He adjusted his weight awkwardly as he still avoided your eyes, not that they were on his yet. You rose from your spot on his bed and approached him, slowly, Kit not moving giving you to O.K. to come close to him. Your hands carefully found his chest, tracing the deepest scar across from his chest to his abdomen, stopping right above his waistband of his whities. You truly couldn’t believe what you were seeing.

“Oh, Kit.. my love” you shook your head, your eyes now trying to find his though his remained on the wall to his left. Your hands found either side of his face, gently pulling him to align with yours which he hesitantly allowed. He looked down for a moment before his eyes finally flickered to meet yours.

They were glossy. You knew this was hard for him. You couldn’t even imagine. It scared you to find out what these were from. And you knew it scared him for you to find out.

“Nothing will ever scare me away from you. I promise that.” Your thumbs caressed his cheek. “Nothing you’ve gone through will make me love you any less.”

Kit studied your face, your eyes holding nothing but sincerity. You were telling the truth, and he knew you’d never lie to him. Not about this.

His hands met over top of yours that were still holding his face, he grasped them and carefully brought them down to between your chests, holding onto them for fear life it seemed.

“Have you ever heard of Briarcliff?” Kit finally spoke, his voice shaky. You thought for a moment, knowing the name sounded familiar but not quite sure where from.

Until it dawned on you.

Briarcliff, the insane asylum. You’ve heard horror stories about the place, but never actually believed the place was real. It was always told to you as a child that if you didn’t behave, your mother would drop you off and let the monsters inside teach you a lesson. You truly believed it was a made up place by your mother to keep you from acting out in public.

“I thought that place was just a myth.” You whispered, truthfully.

Kit just shook his head, sighing sadly.

Then you thought about the horror stories you’d heard as you grew up. Believing it was a place all mothers made up together. You had friends that talked about it, about the terrible things that their parents told them happened to their families there. It scared you, but eventually you had forgotten about it completely.

“So… it’s real. But, it’s an asylum, right? Why would you have ever needed to go there?” You questioned. Never once did Kit seem to have any “problems”. He was just too perfect to have had any kind of mental illness or to have done something so extreme that he’d end up in a place like that. You couldn’t believe it. You wouldn’t.

“I was wrongfully accused awhile back. About two years ago.” He nodded. You nodded along with him, letting him guide you both to sit back down on the bed, his hands remaining on yours. “I had an amazing life before. I had a wife..” he glanced at you, your eyebrows raising high in surprise. But you nodded, telling him to continue. “I can’t really explain it, something weird happened. My wife disappeared, and I was told later that she’d been murdered, and that I was the main suspect. I then was accused of being Bloody Face, killing other women in town.” Kit stared hard at your guys’ hands as he talked about this. “I was put in Briarcliff, beaten and burned daily to try to break me. They believed I did it, and that I was crazy. They almost had me believing them.” He chuckled lightly, your head tilting to the side as you just listened. “But I knew I didn’t kill no one. Especially not my Alma. Eventually, I was proven not guilty and released. And Y’know, I even forgave Sister Jude.” He met your eyes as you gazed at him. “She did the worst of it all, and I forgave her.”

“Because you’re a kind human, Kit.” You stated, giving his hand a squeeze. It didn’t surprise you that he’d forgive his abuser. That’s just the kind of person he is.

He smiled slightly, “yeah, I suppose you’re right.” He went quiet for a moment, then continued. “A lot of things about Briarcliff and even before are blurry. Some things don’t make sense. But I had to learn to stop questioning or it was gonna drive me mad. And that’s when I met you.” His eyes met yours again, lit up in a way you hadn’t seen since this conversation started. “You helped me stop asking questions and just let it be. You took my mind off of everything. Made it seem like nothing more than a bad dream. But then my scars… they had to be there to remind me that it all really did happen. And I didn’t want you to judge me, or think I was crazy. I was scared of losing you when you were the only thing to keep me sane.” He spoke, honestly.

You let out a small sigh, leaning forward until your forehead was against his. Your eyes closed, feeling him so close. His hands found their way to either side of your face, holding you to him, almost afraid to let go.

“I’ll never leave you, not for anything, especially not for this. I’m just so sorry you ever had to go through it, and that I couldn’t have been there sooner for you.” You felt him smile against your skin before bringing his lips to your forehead for a long, deep kiss.

“I should’ve known that sooner, suga. I’m sorry for keeping this from you.”

You pulled yourself back just enough to meet his eyes again before leaning into his lips this time. Your lips lingered on the others for awhile before parting.

“You don’t have to apologize for anything. Just know your scars are apart of who you are, they’re apart of your story, you know? They make me sad, but they don’t bother me or make me not want to be here with you. Don’t ever be ashamed of them around me, okay?” You looked at him hopeful, and he nodded with a small smile.

“I love you, so damn much.” He mumbled as he pulled your face back to his in another kiss, this time much more passionately, not that you minded at all.

When he pulled back again, he immediately pulled you to his chest, hugging you so sincerely, finally releasing all the stress he ever held onto now that you finally knew. You finally knew, and you stayed. He couldn’t be more grateful.

“I love you too. So damn much.” You smiled against his chest.

—

lana winters 💞 ~ icons

Ansel and Celaena lay on their backs on the side of a dune and stared up at the stars.

Her hands tucked behind her head, Celaena took a long, deep breath, savoring the balmy night breeze, the exhaustion ebbing from her limbs. She rarely got to see stars so bright—not with the lights of Rifthold. The wind moved across the dunes, and the sand sighed.

"You know," Ansel said quietly, "I never learned the constellations. Though I think ours are different from yours—the names, I mean."

It took Celaena a moment to realize that by ours" she didn't mean the Silent Assassins she meant her people in the Western Wastes.

Celaena pointed to a cluster of stars to their left.

"That's the dragon." She traced the shape. "See the head, legs, and tail?"

"No." Ansel chuckled.

Celaena nudged her with an elbow and pointed to another grouping of stars.

"That's the swan. The lines on either side are the wings, and the arc is its neck."

"What about that one?" Ansel said.

"That's the stag," Celaena breathed. "The Lord of the North."

"Why does he get a fancy title? What about the swan and the dragon?"

Celaena snorted, but the smile faded when she stared at the familiar constellation.

"Because the stag remains constant—no matter the season, he's always there.

"Why?"

Celaena took a long breath.

"So the people of Terrasen will always know how to find their way home. So they can look up at the sky, no matter where they are, and know Terrasen is forever with them."