#but at least i got some rock star chris <3 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

gingergofastboatsmojito · 23 days

Text

Season 3 Predictions (?) Part II

Critics, teamwork, awards (?)

If interested, please check Part I right HERE.

I will stay away from Sydcarmy for a whole minute here, guys. But later on I will get into to it, because... why not?

In terms of The Bear, I think the key is gonna be in the critics.

That's why Storer made sure to wipe out the 1st S3 teaser that came out, where Fak and his brother called Carmy in and showed him the wall full of critics’ pics. It was a HUGE tell and Storer doesn't like to show all his cards at once. He's into breadcrumbs.

So, the critics → Some are under pseudonyms, like Sue Chan and Chris Black. Some others are not, like Julian Black.

That article above also mentions that this season of the Bear could be about positioning for the top — perhaps even for its own James Beard Awards. No mention of a Michelin Star, which I think very well could be the show's grand finale, in S4, if they don't get it this season that is, which let's face it, would be far more realistic. Although there's this little voice in my head that thinks that if Storer made a point outta mentioning that when Ever opened it won Best Restaurant in the World and got 3 stars THE SAME YEAR, that's foreshadowing Storer style right there, so The Bear might follow Ever's steps (Chef Terry's steps). I don't listen to the voices in my head that often though. I will make up my mind about that one once I watch S3. 📌 Putting a pin on it for now.

So back to the critics, they are real food critics IRL, Storer doesn't fuck around. That's no coincidence, he could have easily come up with original fictional characters, but he didn't. Now, there's a chance that because that scene got leaked, he will cut it out and it will die in the Editing room. But we all saw it already, so it doesn't matter. If you haven't seen it yet, here it is:

Source ↑ : @portraitofariel (thanks!)

Carmy and those guys on the wall go way back. They also made him who he is. Carmy knows them all, Carmy owned them in the past. He obviously didn't get to where he was: "Most excellent CDC at the most excellent restaurant in the entire United States of America" without owning their asses. But the price he paid for that was "too high", that's why when Syd said they were going to get a star he was not amused. Nothing new here, moving on.

Here's where the rock & roll really begins, Storer's style:

Some say that Sydney's character is inspired by the James Beard Award Nominee Mariya Moore-Russell (there's the M word again).

Mariya is from Chicago and was the first black woman to be awarded a Michelin star in 2019, when Storer was working on The Bear's script.

So clearly, those critics will play a pivotal role in all those awards and reviews that pave the way for those accolades.

[We are now entering Sydcarmy territory] Let's not forget that this is not really about The Bear or the awards for Carmy, it's about what he told Syd under the table:

And on the table:

So IMO is pretty safe to say that Sydney will follow Mariya's steps and be at the very least a JB award semifinalist, or will actually take the price and thus match Carmy. Now, that star, well... IF, and I can't emphasize this enough IF The Bear doesn't get its 1st star during its 1st year of tenure (back to the aforementioned Ever's foreshadowing), then that's because Storer will keep that ace up his sleeve for the series finale (S4), that is being shot as we speak. I'm not putting any money on a 5th season ever happening, but I don't think I ever wanted to be more wrong in my entire life. * fingers crossed *

My point is: S3 will be all about getting those awards, slaying the critics, and paying whatever price has to be paid to make that happen.

According to THR the 3 main characters that will carry the weight of the whole season on their shoulders are Carmy - Sydney & Richie, naturally our dynamic duo in the BOH and Cousin in the FOH. And according to FX's description of S3→ their bonds will be put to the test. I'm guessing Syd and Carmy will at some point be at each other's throats, well past the point of the "sorry" sign. This makes total sense because Sugar will be more focused on her baby and struggle to balance The Bear and her cub. (also, mending her relationship with her own mother). And also because Syd, Carmy & Cousin are the 3 characters that “love taking care of people”. Carmy makes Sprite for preggos, Syd makes omelettes for preggos and Richie loves taking care of his daughter whose his only soft spot. All of it was breadcrumbed in S2. Sugar doesn’t count on this one because basically she’s such a sweetheart that mothers everything that moves, it’s not a special trait of hers.

I also think Clairmy will not survive even if at some point they get back together, Carmy is gonna be in a relationship with his old Psycho self, and therefore he won't have any capacity to be in a romantic relationship with anyone else. The only exception, I hope, could be Sydney, because she will be on the exact same journey, which Storer foreshadowed on 02x02:

So, let's go! I'm sooooo ready for this!

#sydcarmy #the bear #the bear fx #the bear hulu #syd x carmen #carmy berzatto #carmy x sydney #sydney adamu #the bear season 3 #the bear s3 #gingerpovs

20 notes · View notes

writernotyetauthor · 11 months

Note

I so excited for your CanLiet Scott Pilgrim vs the world au idea

I who love to read that fanfic, omg i so excited

So my AU idea—

It’s not a 1:1 comparison of the story/characters for obvious reasons 🫥 spvtw has got its own issues but AnYwAy:

Our boy Matthew takes the place of Scott Pilgrim as he attempts to win the heart of Ramona Flowers *cough cough I mean* Tolys! And by defeating his seven evil exes. The ideas for the exes are as follows (some I’m more certain of than others):

Eduard: kinda iffy on this one, but I could see him fighting with the nyos as a tie in to the “demon hipster chicks”.

ALFRED: need I say more? American movie star slash skating star played in the movie by Chris evans of Captain America fame???? Match made in heaven.

Feliks: so this one gets interesting. Tolys and Feliks are exes, but who is the singer of The Clash at Demonhead? The ex of Matthew and current gf of Tolys ex #3? I think Ukraine. The vegan (or whatever else gives Feliks his special powers) police are Czechia and Slovakia.

Natalya: “You had a straight phase?” I think we’d all prefer this battle to play out like in the comics instead of… what happened in the movies 😬. But I also think she would totally rock Roxanne’s outfit!

⬇️

Lovino & Feliciano: So these two I feel like is the biggest stretch, esp since I’ve never really seen any feli/ tolys stuff but dangit I needed another pair of siblings Tolys has some connection to and I’m starting to run out 😭. When it comes to the battle of the bands, I keep imagining some kind of Måneskin thing for them & I think that’s be sick.

Ivan: 🥲🥲🥲

When it comes to ideas for a Knives Chau-ish character (bc euugh Scott why) the ppl who came to mind were either like, Ludwig or Gilbert. Who are in college at least. I’d be leaning towards Gilbert because of the prucan precedent and because of Tolys and Gilbert already having somewhat of a rivalry. He’d be some kind of international grad student or something.

For other characters I…. Havent thought about as much 😅. Sex Bo-Bomb would probably consist of a bunch of Matthew’s friends/exes who haven’t already been giving roles.

If I were to develop this more, I think it could be cool to expand on the music aspect of it, esp with alternative punk/rock/whateva music from the different countries. My knowledge of that is kinda limited but I’d love to learn more about it!

So yeah! That’s the bulk of my idea. Ya mentioned reading it as a fanfic but I think it could work as a real fun hetagame too! If I wasn’t bogged down with other projects & hetagame ideas I’d make it mself. Until then imma keep rolling it around in my brain and maybe draw Tolys with a bunch of different hair colors.

16 notes · View notes

gaykarstaagforever · 6 months

Text

This is a list of scripted ABC shows from the last season. I haven't heard of most of them because I'm not 63 so I'm going to guess what they are about from the titles and then check and see how right I was. Or if my idea is better.

1. The Conners was that reboot / sequel of Roseanne. But then Roseanne was insane and racist in real life so they kicked her off of it. I assume it was retooled to now be about the family becoming private eyes and traveling from town to town in a gadget-loaded super RV, solving mysteries.

You should all note before I go on that most of what I know about network television comes from the 70s and 80s. Back when it was also cheap and lame, but at least fun.

2. Abbott Elementary. Probably just Community / The Office, but in an elementary school filled with a diverse cast of quirky characters who only seem to date each-other. I bet they do a lot of jokes about helicopter parents and people getting offended by seemingly innocuous things. There is probably a sassy brown person whose culture is played for light-hearted comic relief.

3. Station 19. Firefighter show, where all the firefighters look like soap opera actors. Most of the show is people having arguments and making out, then like 3 times a season stunt people in face-hiding fire gear fight a big fire inspired by some thing that happened in the news around the time they were filming the show. I bet the tag line is "And you thought the hottest action would be the fires!" Occasionally old actors from 80s movies will cameo as someone's parents. I am falling asleep just typing about it.

4. Grey's Anatomy. Oh my god. In real life these people would have retired from being bad doctors by now. Or be in jail.

5. The Rookie. I looked this one up due to the last post. Nathan Fillion plays a 50 year old rookie LAPD officer. Because they wanted to do a cop show with him but he's too old for that, without the premise. He probably has to learn about diversity and drugs or something. No one ever gets shot and they don't show LAPD white supremacist cop-gangs doing dog fights or anything. Wasted potential.

6. The Goldbergs. I've heard of this. It was some writer's Everybody Hates Chris about his 80s secular Jewish family. Obnoxious old people watched it to be reminded about how they just don't make good rock music like that anymore, man, because they are too old and lazy to go find new music they might like via streaming platforms. It has been cancelled. Good, if only to spare me that recurring conversation with people I don't like.

7. Home Economics. A rich white homemaker lady gets divorced and has to get a job as a home ec teacher at a public junior high to make ends meet? And she slowly learns to laugh and love again, while also coming to realize that poorer people are good for more than just mowing your lawn. There are hijinks about her wearing $600 shoes that get covered in cake batter. She has to rent part of her house out to an Indian immigrant family. Starring Delta Burke from 1995.

8. The Good Doctor. Ha ha ha. That show about an autistic doctor, except Hollywood doesn't know what autism actually is so he's just a deranged lunatic who gets away with shitty behavior because he's good at hearts.

But not in the fun, House MD, way.

9. The Rookie: Feds. This got cancelled so that means it was bad, even by low network TV cop show standards. I don't even know how to do that. Uh...some 50 year old TV actress I probably wouldn't recognize quits being a crime professor to become an FBI agent, after her son FBI agent goes missing under mysterious circumstances? And it ended in a cliffhanger when she got attacked by a polar bear in the middle of the jungle.

10. Not Dead Yet. My Name is Earl, but if Earl was a nice zombie. He has a best friend guardian angel played by Jaleel White.

...This actually just sounds like Highway to Heaven, if Michael Landon had been a zombie. And instead of brains he eats Jell-O, and he can take his limbs off and send them into air ducts and up drain pipes to help people, like trained rats.

...I'd watch a couple episodes of that, I guess.

11. Will Trent. Oh give me a break.

Okay. There is guy named Will Trent, who is on the run from the...CIA, because he was with them but then someone framed him for killing the Speaker of the House with a poisoned lapel pin. He now travels from town to town, helping average people and their sexy sisters out of jams, while also trying to figure out who framed him and what their master plan is, to clear his name.

The last season ended with it looking like the real villain is the First Lady, who belongs to some ill-defined anti-America cult.

It's probably based on a book series from the early 2000s that only the loudest uncles read.

12. Big Sky. Some cowboy thing, probably. Where all the cowboys are hunky stoic white men who are millionaire ranch owners. But you are still supposed to sympathize with all their "we gotta keep a-hold of this land at any cost" violent toxic male shit, because you are a postmenopausal my mother and want to have sex with these men.

It's one of those shows that just "accidentally" has zero POC cast members, who aren't one-shot drug-runners or coyotes or thugs hired by rival ranch owners.

One-shot because that is how all of their characters are killed.

It probably got cancelled when some writer got smart and tried to do a thinly-veiled anti-Trump allegory and all the Evangelicals turned on it. Tucker Carlson probably got mad about it for 3 minutes, before he interviewed some Russian politician about how the Ukrainians hate Jesus.

13. The Company You Keep. Black women try starting and running a bakery. It quickly devolved into a romantic melodrama. Black audiences never cared and white audiences wanted more sexy rich cowboys.

I don't know. It's ABC. Every seasonal lineup has at least a couple token shows starring POCs that get immediately cancelled after one season, because they aren't serious attempts at anything outside of the politics and so never connect with an audience.

Also all of them are still written by white men, so what chance could any of them have, really?

14. Alaska Daily. Northern Exposure, but the protagonist edits a news blog when not busy solving quirky small-town mysteries. The Janitor from Scrubs might be in it.

...Well. WAS in it.

This Twin Peaks thing is hard to pull off in a compelling way unless you are willing to go kookoo-bananas with it.

15. A Million Little Things. This one "ended," which means the cast wanted too much money after so many seasons, so "the producers had always planned from the beginning to wrap things up after 5 seasons."

It was probably one of those shows that just follows a "typical American family," which happens to have soap opera problems every week based on things the writers heard CNN say people in the Midwest are mad enough over to vote for Trump again.

It probably had a regular cast of like 16 people, and was on the giant TV in the showroom of every US car dealership at least once. Until someone changed it to that show which is just Kitchen Nightmares, but Gordon Ramsey has been replaced by a balding round man who lacks his charm and good heart and is just an asshole to struggling restaurateurs.

You know the one.

Or, at least, your parents do.

Update: The Conclusion

#abc #network television #no I'm not tagging all these shows

2 notes · View notes

twiststreet · 2 years

Photo

The first few episodes of the new “prequel” Star Trek show people have been talking up are all pretty crappy, at least if you don’t like that modern stuff-- I just like the original show which is about sailors who’ve been cooped up on a ship too long (except in a space filled with flat colors and design), not the especially terrible post-Abrams stuff like Discovery or Picard. The original show knows what it’s about (being a horny sailor), the way the Chris Claremont X-Men knows what it’s about (being horny and into BDSM)-- second generation nerds always run into the room and are like “Star Trek is about diplomacy” or “no, no, Magneto’s a metaphor for Malcolm X”-- wrong, Magneto is a metaphor for what it’s like when you’re horny and Jewish and also wearing a helmet for some reason; grow up, nerds-- embarrassment’s not interesting.

But that fourth episode Momento Mori really goes, by Trek standards at least (which-- you know: are not very high but quality’s not the point of the exercise!). I’m happy I stuck around for that one. That is a pretty solid episode of Trek, at least for me. It harkens back to one of the Original Series “war story in space” episodes like Balance of Terror or the Doomsday Machine-- both, two of my favorites. The thing Abrams & co. never got was the Enterprise is more like a submarine than a Tie-Fighter. But Momento Mori is a submarine drama, with groaning hulls and everything. There’s 3 or 4 “everything goes as badly as possible for the team” stories that-- it doesn’t all add up 100% perfect in the end, maybe 1 or 2 of those didn’t land for me. But the “everything goes to hell” quality of the episode is just a lot of fun.

I thought that was a fun hour of TV-- that was the one I looked up who wrote and directed it afterwards, to remember. Hopefully they lock those people in to make more-- not more war episodes (which I think the mistake would be "more gritty episodes like those” ... that’d just be “have all star wars be darth maul” old-fan noise), but just more episodes where they’re just telling a fun/cool/interesting story about being on some stupid spaceship (which the first handful of episodes ate pavement on-- one episode was just about Uhura humming to a space rock...???).

#All I Ever Write About on this blog is Television...

5 notes · View notes

jackalsinthekitchen · 4 months

Text

pop report #6 (billboard 200, week of 2/3/2024)

on dicks, or things that sound like them

I’ve mentioned it before, but my late buddy and I had a different relationship with the pop charts. I was raised – digesting the star-ratings in my dad’s giant album guides like gospel – to distrust the pop cultural world around me. I always felt out of step (like that girl in the Onion article) with the trends of my time; I was always making heroes out of bygone artists out of step with theirs. My bestie similarly distrusted new culture – it being the early 2000s, what was popular was often mean-spirited and overly prefab. But an odd affection for numbers (innate) and a higher tolerance for boomer-sanctioned fluff (instilled) made him pleased as peaches to ride around to the local oldies station. We doubled down on our anachronisms in a bunker of a band, but when we broke up and stepped separately into daylight, we each had new pop epiphanies. Because somewhere between ‘07 and ‘13, radio music got juicy.

Strong melodies are rarely in short supply, but other things had been adjusted. Hip-hop and pop production became indiscernible, the hook emphasis and contrapuntal construction of the latter absorbing the atmospheric and rhythmic virtues of the former. Spearheaded by artists like Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, women (many non-white) took pop over, tamping down indie tumors like Mumford and Sons and keeping the bros at bay. The most conventional such superstar, Taylor Swift, opened her music and mind to the new sonic fashions, while maintaining her foundation of catchy, emotionally inhabitable songs. A vision of a braver, more equitable world felt represented on the radio, and it was a trip to listen to. With digital production outgrowing its ungainly hallmarks, everything started to sound a little like a dream, and by six or seven years ago, what most people wanted to listen to was wonderful.

But pendulums have a way of swinging back, and while I can’t put my finger on what’s changing, I’m at least equipped to note a few data points and go hmmm. For instance: the top five albums currently perching atop Billboard’s 200 chart are by male artists. I’m a lot less savvy when it comes to analyzing the album charts, in some part because my friend talked about them less than the song charts. It’s often a mixed bag of rap platters, country platters, pop platters, soundtrack platters and evergreen old faves (Thriller; Rumours; Queen’s greatest hits; Elton John’s greatest hits; these days every Taylor Swift album). But with the influx of country bros up said charts – who as far as I’m concerned are always named Luke or Zach, even when they’re named Blake or Chris – you wonder why the Eagles’ Greatest Hits isn’t the hotcake it once was.

It bears mentioning that none of country-pop (much less country)’s women – Taylor Swift hasn’t counted for a while – are selling like the dudes are. I mused a few blogs ago that MAGA might partially account for the whitest genre’s ascendence, but if I’m being cynical I could go bigger. The resistance #metoo engendered (as progress does) obviously includes more than just the red hats. Not that I figure All Men are bulk-buying Morgan Wallen CDs solely out of spite, but it’s hard to imagine any mild-mannered or self-reflective men even streaming him. “Last Night” is one of many smashes he’s racked up to date. His country-rock is inflected with a steely pop sheen, and beefed up with rap-adjacent beats, not to mention a looser and less laconic vernacular than Southern-drawl singers are usually armed with. But that cocky song and its album were each the #1 sellers of 2023, which seems a shame when the best stuff (“Anti-Hero”, “Kill Bill”, “Flowers”, any Barbie single) came, yet again, from the better side of the battle of the sexes.

Unrefined as he may be, Wallen isn’t a menace – if grassroots red meat like “Rich Men North of Richmond” was always on top, things would be less nice. But he does seem likea dick, and it’s a shame when dicks win. Wallen’s album isn’t at #1 anymore, and I’m not super familiar with superseder 21 Savage’s work – though he was half of Drake’s sus Her Loss, which definitely had an indulgent-resentment-of-women vibe. And although from the opening monologue, his album American Dream codes sincere (sincere almost never being preferable), it’s nice in theory to have an album called American Dream at #1 when that album is by a Black hip-hop artist making no overt pop concessions. Anyway, like I said, I haven’t given it sufficient attention, and maybe it’s great. But it’s not revolutionary I’ll betcha, and a scan of the reviews solidifies this enough for me to write all this on my blog without worrying about doing 21 Savage too dirty.

Wallen’s album is at #2 – on the charts for the 47th week. I wonder, without caring to do the work to find out, if its preeminence is comparable to that of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, enduring bestseller Elton John’s half-century-old blockbuster. That was a 2-LP set with 17 songs, and because Elton was the biggest artist in the pop music galaxy at that time, it listed for $5 more than a normal LP ($6.98). Wallen’s albums always contain something like 200 songs, so in theory, that spiffs up his sales. Also, his occasional loose tongue (“take care of this n*****”) and the “I’m a jerk but you love me” aura hallmarking his biggest hits almost definitely guarantees a dose of racists and douchebags in his audience share. But you don’t get to #1 without a portion of your constituency being honest-to-goodness Very Fine People. Then again, a lot of people sit out elections – just like Ariana says, “in case you haven’t noticed/everybody’s tired”.

Drake’s latest is #3, and while the title and imagery of For All the Dogs is less self-celebratorily male than Her Loss, it’s still a bad look from a distance. Drake really is the Elton John of his generation – every one of his albums and mixtapes and “playlists” has gone #1 on the Billboard 200, except the very early So Far Gone (#5 pop, #1 elsewhere) and something called Dark Lane Demo Tapes (#2 pop, #1 elsewhere). His reign has just about tripled John’s heyday (though the double-disc compilation Diamonds wouldn’t be a perpetual top 40 staple if John didn’t have decades’ worth of hits to his name). Though when his streak began, it was the Degrassi alum’s sheer niceness that set him apart – to where, when he came on strong to nominal work friends Nicki Minaj and Rihanna, you had to stifle a smirk – he’s been on something of a Dark Aubrey kick for a while. His flow remains a highly agreeable sound, but the charm’s been low (which is never Jay-Z’s problem), and his invention has never been strong enough to counterbalance it.

Next is Green Day. Green Day! A band, with guitars! At this point Green Day are an American institution, at a level above many of their diverse bands-with-guitars ‘90s peers – it doesn’t seem likely Billy Corgan, for instance, will be asked to turn one of his concept albums into a Broadway musical anytime soon. The band’s staying power, although they capitalized on fashionable liberal resistance and indie-derived pretentiousness with American Idiot, can be chalked up to the fact that they’ve always been more of a pop band than a punk band. But coming on like a punk band still helps. “The American Dream* is Killing Me”, Saviors’ opener, couches its good old-fashioned generalized protest in generic, Beatley melodics, and couches that in hard-within-reason guitars. The Tik Tok time-warping that tosses aging acts up the charts is heartening. Whether or not Saviors is good, Green Day feel like old-guard underdogs now, or at least old friends.

Rounding out our Penis Quintet is Noah Kahan’s Stick Season, the indie-boy fluke du jour. Every once in a while, people want to open the window of the pop palace we’re living in to more organic styles, e.g. the Green Day pop-punk model. When indie started really selling in this country, it wasn’t the soundscaping experimentalists or mordant wordsmiths – it was the real teary-eyed and sincere (wuh oh)-sounding people, leading up to people like the Lumineers, who lived at the crossroads between Arcade Fire and Mumford & Sons, and had about as much depth as the Archies but pretended otherwise. You can hear why Kahan is setting himself apart – the unconventional tinge in his voice helps lend a unique air to his lyrics, which are also unconventionally tinged. This isn’t the same as “clear-eyed” or “incisive”, though (much less mordant); the trick is to make you think you’re hearing something more outside the box than you are, which on the pop charts is sometimes just outside the box enough to be compelling. Nevertheless, he doesn’t seem like a dick – his music is as nice as it sounds, and his words’ heart is in the right place despite the weakness of the sauce. They aren’t very funny, but Kahan certainly is, at least when he’s talking about sunflower seed shells.

The rest of the top ten discontinues the pattern. Taylor bookends – #6 is her latest, which happens to be the long-awaited, marginally-differentiated re-recording of the album that launched her into pop super-stardom. Nothing she says isn’t calculated, but she’s right to tout her own prescience in the liner notes. There was liberation as well as mercenary benefit in roping pop into her music, in all its Nashville-bucking, cybernetic glory – and using the tradition of sexualized pop stars as a vehicle to amplify her rich-young-woman-about-town themes. But if 1989 wasn’t a money move (it was, at least a little), 1989 (Taylor’s Version) begins in that category. I note that “Is it Over Now”, her 9000th hit, has more of a self-repetitive vibe than usual. Then there’s Lover at #10 – on the wings of “Cruel Summer”, surely. The notoriously sunny album, brimming with shrewder pop gestures than her more consciously “artistic” last three, increasingly hits like a pre-COVID time capsule if not balm.

In between are two girls and a guy. #7 is last year’s from SZA, an always thoughtful, rarely compromising album auteur whose music rides that line between art and commerce better than most. #9 is country’s best example of same – the self-titled from Zach Bryan, foremost among the Luke and Blake crop as a singer and writer even if he’s no Tyler Childers in either department. Sandwiched between at #8 is Pink Friday 2, sequel to an album that back in 2010 felt like the shape of things to come. Well before huffers and puffers tread on the toes Taylor was dipping into pop waters, Nicki was getting slammed for loving pop and showing it. Now Pink Friday is regarded as the kind of classic none of her subsequent albums, which are always overlong and (how do I safely say this) temperamentally disagreeable, can hope to measure up to. Back around PF1, her verbal invention and shapeshifting ubiquity had me thinking, rockistly, “new Dylan”. Well: she wasn’t. But I’m glad she’s still selling some records.

I never turned my observation of the top five’s all-sausage status into a hypothesis; I’m not really good at hypotheses. But I wonder if there’s also a connection to the #1 song in the country right now, which is by Jack Harlow and is called “Lovin’ On Me”. On sight, Harlow is like a post-Post Malone, a beardy, dirtbaggy-looking white guy who’s sort of hip-hop and sort of not, and he’s been a big star for a minute. (My editor: “he doesn’t look like he has a stylist… or a shower, maybe.”) Like Drake, his flow has a downtempo, low-effort-seductive quality, and he’s possibly hotter than Post Malone – you can sort of see why Dua Lipa dated him, even if it took him putting out a million-selling mash note called “Dua Lipa” and it doesn’t look like it worked out. But I have to admit, I just don’t understand why “Lovin’ on Me” is number one. It’s one of those club-style songs so totally unmelodic it almost feels like an insult, and though “I’m vanilla baby/I’ll choke you but I ain’t a killer baby” is more on the gentlemanly side than is common for this playa-hype stuff, the attitude and verbiage are mostly not mold-breaking.

That line does give me pause; if your partner wants to be choked, and consent is properly brokered, then obliging is not only nice, but, lovin’, even. And while the chorus is a rejection, not an embrace, of BDSM predilections, it still hinges on “you can’t tie me down”, an age-old I’m-a-man-and-I-can-do-what-I-want trope. If American elections have proven anything, it’s that Americans don’t always pay careful attention to what they’re giving power to. The single’s lyric is all over the place (“I keep it short with a bitch, Lord Farquaad”), but one thing it is not is self-effacing. So maybe “Lovin’ on Me” is the druggy-hangout or night-at-the-strip-club soundtrack staple of the moment – for the kind of white bro who likes to pretend he’s (his idea of) a Black bro, or for Black bros united with them via sexism and taste for a certain sound. It’s also worth entertaining that, given its current primacy, a number of women like the song too.

I know it’s dumb and dangerous to speculate along dichotomous demographics (he says, right after doing just that). I remember quizzing my Black Lyft driver about his passion for Luke Combs’ “Fast Car”, which he did not know was a Tracy Chapman song and did not listen closely to enough to hear Combs refer to himself as a “checkout girl”. Instead, he felt drawn to it because of the nature of the narrator’s care, the I’ll-do-whatever-it-takes-for-us of it all. The reasons people love the music they love are often more visceral than complex. It’s not only conceivable but inevitable that “Lovin’ on Me”, by a white rapper who’s on record as a BLM supporter and has been praised for his self-interrogation, appeals to otherwise irreconcilable categories of listeners. But not the category I’m in, which is something like “well-intentioned, open-hearted, bi-vibes older millennial who loves music more than anything.”

Men are people too; I’m one, albeit a self-hating one. And lest I slip into misandry, let me concede that some forms of male aggro do relate to necessary strength, rather than the typical insecurity/emotional avoidance/urge to violence. Hip-hop’s strivers are economic cousins to Nashville’s nouveau riche, because some class disadvantages necessitate hardness to thrive and provide. Inherited toxicities can enflame this already combustible component something awful, but DJ Khaled (for example) insisting he deserves oral sex but his wife doesn’t because he puts food on the table (“ya gotta understand, I’m the king, I’m the don”, he actually said, not in a song but an interview) is an especially low bar. But men sometimes do live up to their projected strength – and there are times when what they’ve got is just what somebody needs. Looking askance at any consensus, like what song or album the biggest number of people are listening to, is a slippery slope if you don’t try to understand it first. Still, I’m playing American Dream right now, and still not sure how it’s won over this many people.

Maybe there's another key to what’s going on here. Many of today’s top hits are het-up and horny, just like “Lovin On Me” – Tate McRae’s “Greedy” (#3) which is plenty feminist, or Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” (#4), a different twist on America’s main racial binary (country-looking white dude belts out barn-burning gospel/soul), or Tyla’s blissfully lubricious “Water” (#11). So maybe that’s why people keep banging “Lovin’ On Me”, which is also the first hit single since Rihanna’s “S&M” a bajillion years ago to turn on the phrase “whips and chains”. The cold is keeping people indoors, and Harlow’s hit is giving them ideas, so they’re jamming to it. Not here to knock your love, America: you fuck to what you wanna fuck to. But maybe being a straight man (ugh) is why I just can’t get it up, be it on a dancefloor or behind closed doors, to anyone who comes on like a dick.

*not the 21 Savage album

#jack harlow #21 savage #morgan wallen #drake #green day #noah kahan #taylor swift #sza #zach bryan #nicki minaj

1 note · View note

creatiview · 1 year

Text

[ad_1] Presley's 1968 TV special proved that Elvis was back! I was astounded to learn that Elvis Presley, prior to his ’68 NBC “comeback special,” had not performed live since he got out of the Army. One of the most dynamic performers, Elvis wasn’t doing what he did best. Instead, Presley cranked out what was once called "drive-in movies." The response to his TV special was so great that Elvis did a Las Vegas residency a year later, and then took to touring with a vengeance—which may have been his undoing. Though Elvis Presley's special was the number one show of the week, when it aired Dec. 3, and the highest rated program of the 1968-9 season, it got zero Emmy nominations. This reminded me that Elvis won three Grammys in his music career—for his gospel music. Sometimes the greatest artists in their fields are the least rewarded when it comes to awards from the industry. Elvis Presley decided to shake up his stagnant career with this TV special. Allan Blye and Chris Bearde wrote the special, and they later went on to write for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, which also gave those flagging pop stars’ a big career boost. At first, Elvis’ special was to be Christmas themed, per manager Colonel Tom Parker's wishes. But Presley thought that was too square, as did director Steve Binder. It's been noted elsewhere that Elvis performing casually surrounded by musicians and audience was a preview of MTV Unplugged. This was a unique opportunity for Presley to strip away the glitz of his movie image and proved that he was still the King of Rock.Elvis sharing a laugh with director Steve Binder, on the set of Presley's TV special. Elvis Presley easily showed that he still looked and sounded great. He performed some his favorite songs in a loose storyline. For the mini-concert/jam session, Presley wore the memorable black leather jumpsuit. He also sported some awesome suits, one that made him look like a rock version of Rhett Butler. What is outrageous to me is that the show’s creators had to scramble for an audience come taping time, because Colonel Parker was lackadaisical in the handpicked audience he had promised. So, the producers found most of their audience in nearby restaurants and bars! The special opens with “Trouble” and “Guitar Man.” This is done so dang stylishly, that it looks like a forerunner to an MTV video. Elvis in huge close-up, then shown in black, save for red scarf, performs both numbers with great energy and confidence. The background gradually changes to silhouettes of guys with guitars in blocks, recalling “Jailhouse Rock.” The number ends with Elvis standing in a giant red neon light version of his name—talk about branding!Elvis Presley in the red-hot opening number, "Trouble/Guitar Man." The iconic Black Leather suit session starts with one of Elvis’ early numbers, “Lawdy Miss Clawdy.” Presley had an amazing voice live, his small audience is enraptured, and Elvis is obviously having a great time with them and his one-time playing buddies. “Baby, What Do You Want Me To Do?” stops when Elvis makes fun of his lip curl, "which I did for 29 pictures.” He then stands up for his next song, looking like a million in that suit, which would make Harry Styles green with envy. Funny, I thought Elvis was on the short side, like so many of his contemporary heartthrobs. Presley looks long and leggy in that slim cut black leather. And I love that powerhouse rock opening to “Heartbreak Hotel.” The audiences goes nuts when he launches into “Hound Dog,” and is that really pre-stardom Cheryl Ladd in yellow, sitting in the front row, as rumor has it? Ladd would have been 17. Probably not, but it does look like her!Some folks on the Internet think this is a young Cheryl Ladd in the audience. Likely not, but there is a resemblance. “All Shook Up” gets the sexy treatment, grunts and all. Elvis is very physical here, agile and all animal energy. Presley effortlessly slips into ballad mode in one his best, “I Can't Help Falling in Love with You,” though the orchestration and back up is

intrusive. Elvis gives a wow version of “Jailhouse Rock.” Some critics compared his energy unfavorably to the past... like when he was 18. Presley's a pistol here! He then plays around on “Love Me Tender,” but then gets serious and sells the song.Elvis Presley in the "unplugged" mini-concert segment, with very adoring fans! Presley introduces the gospel segment, one of the show's best, by talking about how he and others who have come along in rock music owe a debt to gospel and rhythm and blues. This belies the notion that Elvis just appropriated black music. He grew up with it, was actually immersed in it, and always acknowledged those roots. Love Elvis in his red suit and Darlene Love and the Blossoms with their white dresses, who come out snapping their fingers to the beat! “Where Could I Go But the Lord?” gets things started. “Up Above My Head” kicks it up a notch, with the back-up singers and dancers getting their moments to shine. With Elvis in charge, he leads them into the showstopper “Saved,” and they all knock this one out of the park.Elvis and The Blossoms (the great Darlene Love at right!) --love Presley's red suit! Then, back to the black leather jump suit mini-concert, where Elvis’ guitar-playing was showcased on “Baby, What Do You Want Me to Do?” Presley then segues into “Blue Christmas,” an all-time fave of mine. And Presley’s, too! The effect Presley had on his audience is demonstrated here. Elvis is very playful with the audience and increasingly relaxed as the show goes on. “One Night with You” gets them standing up, with his musician pal holding the mike stand for Elvis! “Memories” has the women melting. Again, Presley was a great ballad singer as well as rocker. The mesmerized looks of adoration... wow! The “Nothingville” segment shows Elvis in all denim, backed by neon highway lines! He then reprises “Guitar Man,” which leads into him slumming through a shady side of town. Shouldn’t have this come before the “Gospel” section, finding redemption?Elvis Presley takes a walk on the wild side in blue denim in "Nothingville." The sexiness of this segment is very ‘60s, like the other staged segments, but comes off a bit dated. Still, it’s fun and there’s some great classic tunes mixed with the new material that strings these songs together. “Let Yourself Go” gets by but “Big Boss Man” and “Little Egypt” are great fun. The latter has Elvis sporting a glittering gold suit, another nod to the past. Elvis the peacock changes suits several times here, during another chorus of “Trouble.” Back to his audience and in black leather, a finale of “Guitar Man” and he walks off into the highway set.Elvis sings one more chorus of "Guitar Man" before heading off that highway set. "If I Can Dream" was specifically written for Elvis by Earl Grant, for this special. Grant took how Presley felt about the recent Martin Luther King assassination and wrote this song. Also noteworthy, Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated during the making of this special. Naturally, controlling Colonel Tom Parker didn't like the song, but Elvis insisted on recording the number, and it later became Presley’s biggest hit in years. “If I Can Dream” was a nod to Martin Luther King much in the way Judy Garland performed “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” on her legendary series as a tribute to JFK, who had just been assassinated. In both cases, their respective networks were leery, but both stars insisted. And the result was two memorable, heartfelt performances.Elvis Presley gives his all for the finale, "If I Can Dream." This finale, so powerful, has Elvis singing his heart out in a white suit, who just says a simple farewell when he’s done. Elvis has been gone 45 years this Aug. 18, 2022—one of many singers gone before his time. This special proves that at 33, Elvis Presley still had a few great years left.Stay golden, Elvis Presley! Here’s one of my favorite Presley pictures, Loving You, with Elvis at 22! https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2019/08/elvis-presley-fans-still-loving-you-1957.html

And here’s my take on the very first bio pic of Presley, 1979’s Elvis, with Kurt Russell, directed by John Carpenter: https://ricksrealreel.blogspot.com/2022/07/kurt-russell-excels-as-elvis-1979.htmlElvis Presley's "Comeback Special" proved that he hadn't left the building just yet. [ad_2] Source link

0 notes

harrisonarchive · 2 years

Photo

George Harrison, “[a]fternoon in the Bahamas. Paradise Island some years later; photographed by Jerzy Kosinski.” - I Me Mine

“In the beginning there was a period when I was heavy into chanting and I had my hand in my bead bag all the time. And I got so tired of people asking me, ‘Did you hurt your hand, break it or something?’ In the end I used to say, ‘Yeah. Yeah. I had an accident,’ because it was easier than explaining everything. Using the beads also helps me to release a lot of nervous energy.” - George Harrison in conversation with Mukunda Goswami, 1982

“I had the idea for Pinball at least ten years before I wrote it. George Harrison came to visit me at a ski resort in Switzerland. I was convinced that when he came there would be a riot. It was Christmastime and tens of thousands of students from around the world were there.” - Jerzy Kosinski, Passing By: Selected Essays 1962-1991

“[George] told me, ‘Jerzy, they won't recognize me.’ So he arrived at the resort where I spend my winters and nobody recognized him. There I was walking with George Harrison, the Beatle, and people would come up to me and say, ‘Hi, Mr. Kosinksi, how are you?’ There *he* is dressed in his trench coat, looking the way he always looks, and nobody recognizes him. I asked him why nobody would and he told me, ‘Because they would never assume that I was here.’ He said, ‘I could make myself visible if I looked at them a certain way, or stared at them, then I would invite recognition.’ So even if you are a big rock star, you can be invisible.” - Jerzy Kosinski, Critics At Large, 3 November 2010

“Like Chance, the main character in Being There (one of George’s favorite books [written by Kosinski, and played by George’s friend Peter Sellers in the film version]), he wanted to just ‘be there’ in his garden, in his solitude, with his hands in the dirt. He didn’t want to ‘be’ anything but a man who loved music, the earth, women, and God.” - Chris O’Dell, Miss O’Dell (x)

#George Harrison #quote #quotes by George #quotes about George #Harrison spirituality #George and gardening #1970s #Jerzy Kosinski #Harrison songwriting #George and fame #fits queue like a glove

91 notes · View notes

avenging-fandoms · 3 years

Note

cevans + #37 (smut) and #2 (fluff) <33

2: Oh my god, did you just say that out loud? 37: She may seem like lollipops and rainbows but i bet behind closed doors she’s latex and whips.

warning: use of sex toys, sub!evans

*words: 1804

tags:@operation-spot @thatoneperson5000

⇩

chris sat at the bar with his forth beer in hand, your hand on his thigh as you looked over to where he stared. he took a sip of his beer, smacking his teeth and shaking his head. “i don’t know, yn, should i try it?”

“try what, chris?” you smile and look at him, chris nodding in the direction of a girl who kept glancing at him. “try hitting on her?”

“yeah, why not? she seems nice” you shrug and finish your drink, chris biting his lip and finishing his beer, standing up and stumbling a bit. you chuckle and he looked back at you, and you looked away as you ordered a new drink. chris headed over to the girl and you slyly watched, rolling your eyes and drawing your eyes to your cup as you watched chris hand over his phone.

chris came back over and sat back down next to you, showing his screen. “wow, nice one” you said monotone, taking a sip of your drink. chris looked at you with a confused smile, putting his phone in his pocket. “seriously, congrats”

“what?” chris asked and you looked at him, shaking your head. “she’s nice, i like her. if you talked to her you’d think the same. but.. i think she’s got a secret side to her” he said softly and leaned in, his tipsy eyes catching yours. “at first, she was nice. very sweet girl. then she started to make these comments. she may seem like lollipops and rainbows.. but i bet behind closed doors she’s latex and whips” he bit his lip and you smile, laughing in his face.

“oh my god, did you just say that out loud?” you laughed and he backed away. “chris, that girl is vanilla. she’s got no latex skill unless it’s a balloon”

“oh yeah, how would you know?” he pushed your shoulder and you side eyed him, tilting your head to the side and downing your drink. you grabbed chris’s shirt, pulling his face close to yours.

“we’re going to my place. i’ll let you crash on my couch” you smile, chris nodding slowly and following you like a lost puppy out the bar doors and to your car. he plopped himself in your passenger seat, looking over at you as you started the car, and he wondered what you had planned up your sleeve as you drove without once looking over at him.

you unlocked your front door and you and chris stepped inside, your cool ac house feeling so nice from the warm summer night. you looked back as chris and held out your hand, chris looking at your hand and then at you with a curious smirk playing on his lips. he slapped his hand into your palm, and you took him upstairs to your bedroom.

chris sat on the edge of your bed, watching as you opened your closet doors. you took a breath and spun on your heels, chuckling as you let out a breath. “i’ve only showed about 3 people what i’m about to show you. and if you don’t want to see it anymore, i understand”

“what, you’re not a serial killer, are you?” chris joked and you pulled out your cardboard box, setting it next to chris. his eyes followed the box, his fingers pulling it up and widening his eyes as he saw the contents. chris took out the tassel whip, running it over his fingers. “yn.. this is..” his sentenced trailed off and your stomach churned as you waited for his response. “this is so hot”

you smirk, picking up your head. “yeah? do you.. wanna try them out? you can say no”

“fuck yes” you smiled and stood in between his legs, kissing him slowly. the whip fell on the bed next to chris as his large hands cupped your ass. he pulled you forward and you pulled away, shaking your head. “you are mine, chris” you whisper, pulling his shirt up and picking up the whip. you run the leather tassel over his chest and on his back, smacking it onto his stomach softly. “get naked, chris. i want you laying on the bed” he nodded and stood up, pulling off his jeans and boxers. you smacked the whip against his thighs, smirking as you heard a whimper.

chris listened and laid against the pillows, and you moved the box to your desk. you grabbed the vibrator taking off your shoes. “safe word system is red, yellow and green. understand?” he nods and you hit his stomach with the tassels, chris jumping slightly. “words, pet”

“y-yes yn” you smile and turned on the vibrator, pressing it under his cock. chris gasped and trembled, closing his eyes and letting out a soft moan as the new pleasure. “yn, y-your mouth”

“my mouth, what about it? you want it on your cock, chris?” he nodded desperately, making you laugh in his face. “you have to work for that, pet. how are you feeling?”

“green” he moaned out, his cock twitching and his pre cum dripped down his shaft. you moved the vibrator down slowly, chris humming as the new wave of pleasure rushed through him, leaving a funny feeling at the pit of his stomach. “holy fuck” you wrapped your hand around chris’s cock and you pumped him slowly, the vibrator moving up and down at an awfully slow pace. “please.. please fuck me”

“you sound pathetic, chris. do you think that girl from the bar could make you tremble like this? having you begging like i do?” your mouth kissed along the bottom of his stomach, chris moving his hips up.

“no, o-only you, holy fuck” he trembled and you pulled the vibrator away, chris letting out a whine. he grabbed your hand and you looked at him, pulling it away and grabbing the handcuffs. you secure them behind his back and rolled him back over, sitting on his thighs after taking off your clothes.

your hands wrapped around his cock again, the pad of your index finger slowly rubbing around the tip. you smile and look at chris, his face flushed and lip trembling as he needed you. you grabbed the vibrator again, pressing it to your clit and shivering.

“please, yn. can i at least taste you?” he asked quietly and you let out a small chuckle, leaving the vibrator against his cock as you straddled his face. “thank you” he moaned before flicking his tongue against your clit. you let out a sigh, running your fingers through his already messy hair as you moved your hips. chris moaned against you, making you shiver.

chris's hands gripped the seats underneath him as he drank in every ounce of you. his tongue left no place untouched, and he whimpered as you gripped his hair. you pulled away and sat back on his thighs, his beard glistening with your juices.

"how bad do you want me, chris? how bad do you want your cock buried in me?" you smirk and he bit his lip softly, watching as you rubbed up and down his chest and stomach slowly.

"so bad, yn, please, i want you so bad. i want to fuck you so fucking bad, yn, please"

"spit" you held your hand to his mouth and he did, watching you closely as you stroked his cock. you held it as you sank down slowly, pulling your hips up and teasing his tip. chris uttered 'please' over and over and moaned as you sat down all the way. "fucking shit, chris" you whispered and pressed your hand against his chest, the other holding a vibrator against your clit, chris feeling it as well.

you moved your hips slowly, you and chris moaning as the pleasure washes over the both of you. you leaned forward and kissed chris slowly, chris thrusting his hips into you. you gasp softly as his thrusts hit your g-spot, holding his chin and biting his lip.

"you like my cock, yn?" he grunted and you nod, chris's tongue tickling the roof of your mouth as you opened it to moan. your hand moved to his throat, digging your nails slightly into his skin.

"you're the one handcuffed here, i don't know why you're talking to me like that" he tugged on the handcuffs and you smirked, pulling him out of you. you helped chris sit up and he knelt on the bed, and you bent over in front of him. you guided his cock into you again and you turned off the vibrator, throwing it on the rug. "be a good boy and fuck me hard, chris"

"could you take off the handcuffs? i promise i'll make you cum so hard you see stars" chris panted and you smiled, unlocking the cuffs and chris threw them to the side, gripping your hips and pounding his hips into yours.

the bed rocked against the wall you were sure the headboard was putting holes in the wall. your nails scraped up chris's thigh, chris flipping you over onto your back and throwing your legs over his shoulders.

"yes chris, fuck, right there, holy shit. such a good listener" he smiled and kissed you sloppily, the both of you moaning into each other's mouths. his fingers rubbed your clit fast, your eyes rolling as wave of pleasure rushed through your stomach. "make me cum, chris, make me cum all over your cock" you mumbled into his mouth, chris nodding and picking up the pace of his hips, repeatedly hitting you g-spot. "fuck" your back arched and you pressed your chest against his, trembling as you came around him, chris not stopping as he brought himself to an orgasm.

chris pulled out and you stroked his cock, chris whimpering and letting out a moan as his cum painted your stomach and breasts. you both sigh contently, chris kissed you and grabbed some tissues from the box on your nightstand, wiping you clean and throwing it away.

you and chris laid down against the pillows, chris grunting. he pulled the tassel whip out from under his butt, making the both of you laugh. chris threw it into the box and looked at you, brushing his thumb against your jaw. "so.. are we still friends?" you ask quietly and he laughs, nodding.

"more like friends with benefits, yn. where did you learn all of this shit?" he asked and you shrugged, scooting closer next to him. "well.. i would definitely like to learn more"

"maybe you can call that girl from the bar" you tease and he held your throat, making you look at him.

"i don't think she can make me feel as good like you just did, yln" you smirk and kiss him hungrily, chris pulling you on top of him again as your tongues pressed together, giggling into each other's mouths.

559 notes · View notes

midnightsnyx · 4 years

Text

Consequences - Matthew Tkachuk: part 8

summary: you absolutely hate Matthew Tkachuk so it’s just your luck when you wind up pregnant with his child.

here is it! the last part! please let me know if its too corny lol. epilogue will be posted either this week or next.

couples notes: 1. i don’t know anything about childbirth aside from what google taught me so i apologize for any wrong info! 2. i’m sorry this story was pretty short lol ya girl is doing the best i can😅 3. i wanna throw a couple quick thanks now and then the rest when i post the epilogue.

first of all i wanna send a thank you to @hannahmb who let me bounce ideas off her, gave me feedback, listened to me complain about not knowing where to go with the chapters and also, helped name baby tkachuk! so thank you hannah! you rock 🖤

i wanna thank @notanotherhockeyblog95 for also listening to me whine about not knowing what to write 😂 also, for giving me loads of encouragement and letting me throw ideas at her! you’re the best!!🖤

anyways here’s part 8! i hope you guys like it and thanks again for reading<3

word count: 2.3k

warnings: none

Part 8

41 weeks

“Matty. Wake up.” You whisper, shaking his shoulder in attempt to wake him. He doesn’t budge so you pull the blankets off him in hopes that it might work but again, he doesn’t move. It’s quite disappointing considering you’re now five days past your due date and if you were in labor, he won’t wake. Luckily, Chantal is sleeping just down the hall. After many conversations, you and Matthew agreed that it was probably a good idea to have her stay with the two of you in case you were to go in labor while Matt was playing a game. Yes, you had friends around but it comforted you much more having Chantal here because she’s went through this before.

With one last look at Matt, you roll out of bed and waddle like a duck, because that’s what you looked like according to Matt and Brady, to the kitchen. You were trying to wake Matt up because you felt like a snack but you didn’t feel like getting out of bed.

You’re digging through the freezer for some ice-cream you’re sure Brady had bought when he last visited when you feel the first cramp. It’s a little uncomfortable but you’ve been having some braxton hicks contractions on and off over the past few weeks, some feeling real enough that you went to the hospital only to be sent home which was very embarrassing even though Chantal told you it happens all the time. It wasn’t exactly the fact that you got sent home that you felt embarrassed about, but that Matthew left practice because he thought you were in labor. You just thanked your lucky stars that it wasn’t while he was in the middle of a game because it would’ve been ten times worse.

So you brush it off, cheering silently when you find the tub of chocolate ice-cream, idly wondering if it’s weird to eat it in bed at three o’clock in the morning. You decide it’s not, walking back to the bedroom and crawling in bed. You sit up against the headboard and grab the PS4 controller so you can put Netflix on since you know you won’t be falling asleep any time soon.

Matt rolls over and throws and arm over your legs and nuzzling his face in your side halfway through an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. It’s gives your belly a weird feeling again, not pain this time but something else. Something a little unsettling because you haven’t felt this particular feeling in quite some time.

You’re pretty sure you’re in love with Matt which makes you equally frightened as it does happy. You’ve realized that your hatred for him stemmed from that one night when he did something to make you angry when your breakup with your ex was so fresh and you were emotionally vulnerable.

Just like Johnny had told Matt good things about you, he’s mentioned things about Matt to you, obviously in hopes that the two of you would hit it off. It gave you a little hope that despite what you had heard from some of the girls, he wasn’t that bad of a guy which you know is true now.

Your only problem now is that you have no idea how strong his feelings are for you. Part of you is afraid that what he does feel is only from seeing you carrying his child. You know what he told you at the baby shower, that he liked you since you met but you still can’t shake the feeling that maybe what he feels for you might just be temporary.

That one day he’s going to wake up and decide that he doesn’t want you the way he does now and it breaks your heart thinking about it.

“You’re crying.” Matt mumbles and you look down to see him now wide awake. “What’s wrong?”

You didn’t realize that you were crying and you can’t wait for the day when everything doesn’t make you cry like a baby.

“I’m fine.” You say, swiping the tears away. “It’s the show.” This is a lie because you haven’t been paying attention to the show for about five minutes.

He looks at the TV and then looks back at you with an eyebrow raised. “It’s a sex scene. Something you been wanting to tell me?”

He has a tiny smirk on his face and it’s temping, it really is, but you shake your head and try to come up with some other excuse.

“My ice-cream melted.”

“Do you want more?” He frowns, sitting up and it drives you insane sometimes, how willing he is to do anything for you at any given time.

“No, I just -” you sigh, putting the tub on the night table. “I’m tired.”

You know it’s a lie and so does he but he doesn’t push like he normally would. You let him tug you down so you’re laying on your side and he’s wrapped around you, hand resting on your belly and face tucked in your neck.

“What about Jasper?” He whispers and you smile.

“I like it.” You tell him and he nods.

“We’ll put it on the list.”

. . .

It’s later that evening and you’ve been having what you’re telling yourself are braxton hicks contractions all day. You refuse to go back to the hospital already because you know you’ll just get sent home again. Besides, Matty has a game tonight and you’re determined to go because it’s the last game of the season. The Flames won’t make the playoff’s this year and you know Matt is upset about it but he said that what’s more important is that he’ll be here for when and after the baby is born.

His words made you fall in love with him a little more.

You and Chantal arrived at the arena early enough that you can go down to see Matt while she finds your seats. You text him when you’re outside the locker doors and he looks happy when he walks out to see you. You can see the hint of disappointment that tonight is the last game until next season but he smiles at you anyway.

“How’s Jasper?” He asks, resting a hand on your stomach.

“I don’t remember agreeing to that name.” You tease and he shrugs.

“Jasper Tkachuk. Has a nice ring to it.” He says, giving you a soft smile. He looks like he wants to say something else but somebody yells his name and you know he has to go.

He smiles apologetically. “I’ll come find you after the game.”

You nod, letting him kiss you before heading back to the locker room. You find your way to Chantal in the stands, trying to ignore the way the braxton hicks contractions won’t go away. There’s a small part of you that knows you shouldn’t be brushing them off but now really isn’t the time for you to go into labor.

You can’t hide the winces from Chantal though because halfway through the first period, she frowns.

“How long have you been having them?”

You wince when another one washes through you. It’s much closer to the last one.

“Since this morning?”

“Y/N.” She scolds gently but firmly.

“It’s his last game! I don’t want to miss it.”

“Honey, you’re in labor.”

When those words leave Chantal’s mouth, it feels like somebody smacked you because it’s suddenly so real.

“C’mon. Let’s get to the hospital.” She says, helping you out of your seat.

“Matt-”

“We’ll get a message to him.” she assures you. “he won’t miss it.”

. . .

As you watch the game from your hospital bed, Chantal paces around the room on her phone trying to talk to someone who can get a message to Matt.

Your water broke shortly after you and Chantal arrived at the hospital and you know how quickly things can progress so you’re terrified that he won’t make it in time. You know that it’s something that the two of you had talked about early on, in the case that he was on a road trip and wouldn’t be here but knowing that he is here but you can’t get a hold of him, is hard.

“I know it’s an unusual situation.” Chantal snaps. “Figure it out.”

When she ends the call, she sighs and presses a hand to her forehead. You know how stressed she is about the situation but when she turns to you, there’s a gentle smile on her face.

“He’ll be here.”

You admire her attempt at trying to reassure you but you know that you need to get yourself in a good mindset to be okay if he’s not here.

“Did you call Becca?” You ask, hoping for at least some good news.

“Yes, she’s on her way.”

A little bit of good news. Finally.

You start to ask if she’s called anyone else but a nurse comes in the room to check you. When she tells you it shouldn’t be much longer, your heart sinks, realizing that Matt’s probably not going to make it here in time.

“I just got word that Matthew Tkachuk will be out for the rest of the game.” you hear Elliotte Friedman say and your head snaps up. You forgot that the TV was still on and it’s now intermission. “I didn’t see him get injured during the game, Chris. Did you?”

“No, and he didn’t take any major penalties. Maybe we missed something.”

Your heart leaps when you realize that he’s probably left the game because someone got the message through to him and you’re proven right when your phone buzzes and his name appears on the screen.

“Matty.”

“Hey, baby.” he says in a rushed voice. “I’m on my way to the hospital, okay?”

“Yeah?” You sniffle, knowing you’re going to cry.

“Yeah.” He promises. “Fifteen minutes, okay?”

He stays on the phone with you until he reaches the hospital and even until he reaches your room.

He takes Chantal’s place on the chair next to your bed as soon as he walks in.

“Ready?” He asks, taking one of your hands in his and pressing his lips to it.

“Not really.” You joke, trying to lighten the mood because you’re scared out of your mind. Your entire life is about to change but when you look at Matt sitting next to you, eyes kind and warm and with the smile on his face, you know you can do just about anything with him by your side.

. . .

“I guess we need to pick a name now, huh?” Matt whispers, cradling the baby in his arms. He was natural from the moment he held him and it was like your heart exploded. If you thought you loved Matt before, you know that you love him now.

“What about Henry?” You ask, watching him walk around, bouncing the baby gently.

His mouth turns up in a tiny smile. “I love it.” Then he looks up at you and tilts his head a little as if he’s coming to a realization.

“What?”

He shrugs, looking back down at Henry before walking over and sitting on the bed next to you. He lets you take the baby out of his arms so you can nurse him.

“I just realized something.”

“And what’s that?” You ask, raising an eyebrow when he smiles.

“I love you.” He says easily and when your eyes start watering, he just laughs gently. “I love you so much it’s crazy.”

“Really?” You ask and he nods.

“Really.” He grins and you can’t help but laugh when he pulls his phone out of his pocket and waves it in the air.

“Now, shall we make this Instagram official?” He asks and you roll your eyes fondly.

“You’re such a dork.”

“But you love me.” He says and you smile, pulling him close enough so that you can kiss him.

“I really do.”

#matthew tkachuk imagine #matthew tkachuk fanfiction #matthew tkachuk #hockey imagine #hockey imagines #matthew tkachuk imagines #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #calgary flames imagines #calgary flames fanficton

302 notes · View notes

elen-aranel · 3 years

Text

Stars Above the Desert

The Engineer’s Adventures

1-1 • 1-2 • 2 • 3 • 4

For: @autumnleaves1991-blog Writer Wednesday. Thank you so much for these prompts, Autumn, because without them the Engineer wouldn’t exist. Pairing: Captain Christopher Pike x F!Reader (no Y/N) Warnings: fluff WC: 1600 words Tag list: @jusvibbbin A/N: I didn’t think I had inspiration for today’s image and yet...

Alnath III is a desert planet, just on the borderline of Class L and Class M. The briefings you had read did go some way to explaining why the colonists had chosen this planet to settle: some were agriculturalists who wanted to develop drought resistant strains of crops; some were scientists who wanted a world they called ‘pristine’ for some biological experiments to do with the formation of life; and one or two were geologists who thought the planet might have resources they could exploit. Not the most obvious basis for a community but they seemed to be getting along, making it work.

The little town they have built is charming in its way; they have made an effort to make it feel like a home, with a little town square, and adobe-style buildings rather than prefabs. Still, you think, as you lie sweating in the sand under an empty water tank just outside town, powering down your phase compensator, you’d have chosen different a planet to colonise. One where the ground water wasn’t so deep you needed mechanical assistance just to get to it, or so laden with minerals and inorganic compounds that it was poisonous until purified.

At least this time it was Louvier rather than Chris who had ordered you to join the away mission, so Number One couldn’t complain.

“Try it again, Ensign Devrin,” you yell to your Tellarite colleague who is some twenty metres away at the control terminal for the well and purification plant you’re trying to fix.

“Aye, Lieutenant,” he shouts back. Everything is silent for a moment, then you hear the sound of water in the pipes below. But just as you’re about to get your hopes up there is an ugly metal grating sound and everything grinds to a halt.

“Sounds like the gears got stripped as well,” you mutter, entering your findings into a PADD.

You check the time. It’s more than half way through beta shift – 21:00 ship’s time but only 16:00 local time.

“Ensign, you might as well return to the ship. Take this to Louvier – he can add these to the fabrication list, though I’m guessing they won’t be ready until the end of gamma. We can get them installed tomorrow.” You stand and stretch, before handing the PADD to Devrin who has come closer to see what you’re working on.

“Aren’t you coming too?” Devrin looks at you, concern in his expression.

“Nah, there are still some things for me to do before the installation, and I want to check on the solar plant while we’re here – make sure all the batteries are nominal, that kind of thing. We don’t want to get called back next month for something else that’s gone wrong.”

“Well, if you’re sure...”

“I’m sure. Have a good evening, Devrin.” You smile at him as he calls for a beam out. You’ve sent the rest of your engineering team back to the ship because you want them fresh for tomorrow, and the things you have left to do don’t take more than one person.

You finish up installing new software to the water plant to accommodate the new components going in tomorrow, then take a walk over to the solar plant.

You’re glad you checked it – while the hardware is all okay – batteries all full at the end of the day, solar panels operating within tolerance – there’s a slight memory leak in the software. You’ve seen this issue on this type of controller before – it’s the kind of thing where it will be fine for ages then suddenly fail, plunging the colony into the dark and causing a lot of heartache. It’s an easy fix, but you make a note to suggest the colonists recruit an engineer on your report. You will not be volunteering.

It’s around 01:00 ship’s time when you finish everything, but only 20:00 local time. The colony is in the planet’s northern hemisphere, and it’s summer, so the sun is only just going down. Part of you considers returning to the ship, but really you had always planned to stay over. By the time you have some food, get back to your quarters, shower and lie down, it’ll be time to get up again. And much as you wouldn’t want to live here, it is nice to breathe fresh air for a while.

You call the bridge to let them know you’re staying. You’re not going to be the only one planetside overnight; almost the entire exobiology department beamed down, wanting to make the most of the Enterprise’s stay – it’s a change for them from endlessly cataloguing species on new planets and they don’t want to pass it up. The Ensigns at least are having a sleepover at one of the scientists’ houses, but you would rather not hear any more about drought resistant triticale variants. You had brought a sleeping bag, your own water and some protein bars.

You walk through the square, nodding to the couple of colonists who are about, and stop a bit away from the edge of town. You find a large flat rock to sit on, and eat a couple of protein bars as you watch the sun set peacefully below the horizon.

You drink some water, then set up your sleeping bag, hoping to get some rest. You’re usually okay at sleeping in uncomfortable places, but it’s cold. You force yourself to shut your eyes, and you keep your breathing slow and steady even as you shiver slightly. You go to pull your sleeping bag around you tighter, but as you do you feel a gentle weight settle over you. You frown and open your eyes.

“Chris?” You lean up on your elbows. “What are you doing here? You should be asleep.” You soften your chiding tone with a smile as he sits beside you, pulling the blanket he settled over you over himself as well.

“And miss the chance to spend time in the desert?” He presses a kiss to your temple and you move to sit up, leaning against him. “I’ve been looking for an excuse to beam down, and when I heard you were staying over I thought I’d come check on you. I thought you might be cold.”

“For somewhere that’s been so hot during the day the temperature sure does drop at night,” you say, enjoying the warmth of his body against yours. You unzip your sleeping bag to make it into a blanket for both of you. Chris helps, and with the two of you together with the sleeping bag and blanket over you, you feel yourself warming quickly. “But even so, it’s nice to have solid ground beneath me, and—not be running away from anything.” You look up at him sidelong.

He huffs a laugh. “Yeah, that’s a good feeling,” he says, slipping his arm around your shoulders. “Is this your first time in a desert at night?”

“First time in a desert at all. Well,” you pause to consider. “Technically second time, because we had a family holiday to Monument Valley when I was eighteen months old. I don’t remember it though.”

“You never visited when you were at the academy?” You hear the surprise in his voice.

“No – my survival training was in the Alps, and then the Amazon. And my friends and I would take a shuttle to Mars or New Berlin when we had time off.” You look around at the dunes, stretching into the distance to mountains on the horizon, then back to him. “How does this compare to the desert where you grew up?”

“Less alive,” he answers instantly. “There were lots of plants growing – grasses, mesquite. I miss the smell. And animals, too – I found a burrowing owl nest as a kid, once. And there were sheep, tortoises, jackrabbits...” his eyes go a little faraway as he remembers. “But there are some similarities.”

He tips you both back, gently, pulling the covers over you. You’re looking at him, so you don’t understand what he’s doing at first, but you follow his gaze upwards, and gasp.

Above you is the Milky Way, almost like a sparkling splash of paint across the sky. You have never seen so many stars; the constellations are unfamiliar but you almost feel like you’re looking down on them. Like you could reach out and touch a star. “I can’t believe the colours,” you say, as you try to take it all in.

He squeezes you a little and you rest your head against his shoulder, still looking up. “This is why I joined up, really. I would sneak out at night and lie there, looking at the stars. It took Admiral Marcus to help me see that command track was the right path, but...” he lapses into silence for a while.

“There’s something magical about seeing them like this, isn’t there? Even though we get to call space home.” You feel him nod, and you can’t resist anymore.

You turn, reaching out, touching his jaw and tilting his face toward you. You kiss him, gently at first, but he turns, pulling you flush against him as he nips at your lower lip. You open your mouth into the kiss and press your body against him, and for long moments it’s just the two of you and the stars wheeling overhead.

There will be plenty of time for you to worry about getting the well fixed, for him to worry about everything that goes into running a starship...

But for a short while you can let everything go.

#writer wednesday #Christopher Pike #Christopher Pike x Reader #Christopher Pike x You #Captain Pike #writings of the girl from outer space #fanfic #fanfiction #star trek discovery #star trek strange new worlds #The Engineer's Adventures

39 notes · View notes

rextasywrites · 3 years

Text

Sweeter than milk - Chris Redfield x Jill Valentine

“You are talking bullshit right now, my Love.”, Chris shook his head, one hand now moving from her belly to her chest, placing it right above where her heart is. “You are still breathtakingly beautiful. I love you and I will love you forever.”

“Will you even love me when I am old and gray?”

“As long as you won’t be a grandma like the Baker grandma - sure.”

Warnings: pure smut and some fluff, lactation & pregnancy kink

enjoy <3 <3 <3

Read on AO3

This pregnancy had been nothing but a bitch on Jill so far. At first, all of her bras didn’t fit anymore. She went up enough cup sizes to make every porn star jealous, but for her it was nothing but annoying. Thankfully Chris was up to the task to buy more with her. Then Jill started to gain weight everywhere, once again growing out of clothes she loved so much. Who said having a baby would be fun and a great experience?

Jill stood in front of the mirror in their bedroom, shirt pulled up over her belly. Her fingers trailed along the stretch marks on it, pulling a face as she came to realize once more how huge she had gotten.

“Everything okay?”, a voice came from the door. Chris was leaning against the doorframe, his eyes fixed on his girl. Jill shrugged and looked back to the mirror, seemingly in another world. “Jill?”, Chris asked, but once more she didn’t give him an answer. He sighed and walked over, standing behind her.

“I don’t like this.”, she muttered as her hands moved further down to where most of her stretch marks were. “On the internet, they always write that stretch marks make you feel like a tiger. Right now I feel like an overweight household cat.”

Chris had to chuckle at her words, but tried his best to help her. In his eyes, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and nothing and no one could stop him from treating her like the goddess that she is. “Oh Jill, my Jill…”, Chris said, placing his hands a bit lower than hers. Under his rough fingers he was able to feel the faint marks, left by their baby growing inside of her.

“Just say that I look like a walrus so we can get over this.”, Jill pulled a face while saying those words, and Chris was shocked. A walrus? Not even in a million years she’d look like a walrus! Hell no, she was looking like the woman he loves!

“Will you even love me when I am old and gray?”

“As long as you won’t be a grandma like the Baker grandma - sure.”

“Oh, don’t remember me. You showed me the pictures, that was nasty!”, and a laughter spilled from her lips - mission accomplished! Chris moved his hands from her belly to her chest, placing them on the side of her boobs.

“Do they still hurt?”, Chris lovingly asked, his fingers stroking against the soft flesh of her breasts - much to his dislike still covered. Jill nodded as a blush crept upon her cheeks. This didn’t go unnoticed by Chris, who was still watching her expressions in the mirror. “Jill? Do you wanna tell me something?”

Jill’s blush only worsened as she looked down on herself once more and she placed her hands on Chris’. “I think my milk came in a few days ago, and ever since they hurt like bitches. I don’t know what to do.”, she confessed with a heavy sigh, then cupped one of her breasts. “I miss my small ones!”

The mere thought of helping his lady with hurting boobs got Chris all different kinds of excited, and he pointed to their bed. “Sit down. I have an idea.” And Chris never had a bad idea! Okay, at least most of the time his ideas weren’t that bad…

While Jill sat down, Chris headed to the bathroom to grab some towels. Confusion was written across her face when Chris walked in, grin so big it’d reach around his head if he didn’t have ears, towels in his hands. “Uhm...Should I be worried now?”

“Absolutely not! My girlie is in pain and I cannot let this happen!”, he smirked and sat down behind Jill, her situated between his legs. “There we go…”, Chris muttered as he placed the towels on her thighs, and Jill...let him do his thing. She stopped questioning him a long time ago. Especially since he tried to upgrade their lawnmower and accidentally set their garage on fire. That’s why she loved him so much.

“Take off your shirt and your bra!”, Chris ordered Jill while rubbing his hands together, a big grin on his lips. The mere thought of boobs made even a grown man smile like it’s Christmas morning. Jill shrugged and did as she was told, freeing her upper body from any clothing - but not without whimpering at the full and tender feeling of her tits. “You know I could eat you up whole like this?”

Jill laughed and leaned against Chris’ chest, relaxing the second she felt him. Chris’ hands wandered up and down on her upper body, feeling the soft curves she had developed over the past few months. The swell of her belly, the tenderness of her breasts. “Do you trust me Jill?” “I let you knock me up, isn’t that answer enough?” Chris laughed as he pressed a kiss on her shoulder, she could feel his smile against her skin. She wasn’t wrong.

“Okay okay. If it hurts, I can always stop. Just say it.”, Chris reassured Jill as his hands moved from her belly to her breasts. While they were talking, Chris had moved the towels on her thighs. Jill nodded and closed her eyes, showing Chris her full trust over her body.

Chris hummed as he started to press around on Jill’s breasts. They felt sore and tender under his touch too, and he didn’t want to imagine the pain she was feeling thanks to them. But something she hadn’t told him - the pain caused a certain level of excitement too. Jill let out a groan, her expression from relaxed to pained in mere seconds. But Chris didn’t stop just now. She hadn’t said the word. “Don’t worry, my love. I know what I am doing.” “Do you? That’s news to me.” “Aw, come on.”, Jill and Chris both had to laugh, and Jill turned her head, pressing a kiss on his cheek.

Chris’ big hands continue to massage Jill’s tits, feeling her up and relieving pressure, just waiting for the big moment. “What the fuck”, Jill muttered as she felt the pressure going down, but also...wetness? A few drops of milk were dribbling down her breasts, making their way down. Chris quickly grabbed one of the towels, wiping her clean. “You feeling better?”, and as reply came a breathy ‘more’. It was embarrassing how much this turned her on.

Jill closed her eyes again, letting all the feelings just happen. In the end, it was helping her, and why should she bite the hand that feeds her? Chris’ hands felt so good on her, pressing out more of the milk produced by her. By now, the few drops had increased to a steady flow down her breasts, a spray happening when Chris hit a sweet spot. Soft moans fell from her lips as she became putty in his hands. When Chris stopped for a moment, Jill wanted to complain but was greeted with a wet finger on her lips. “Try it?”, Chris suggested. Jill was hesitant at first, but after a few seconds, she wrapped her lips around his finger, feeling the sweet milk on her tongue. She hummed while cleaning Chris’ finger, every last drop was savoured by her. And she swore she could feel him twitching against her back.

“Now that was hotter than I previously anticipated.”, Chris muttered against Jill’s shoulder, a giggling came from her side. “You are the one who is having a field day with my boobs right now!”, she threw in, gently slapping his thigh. Chris shrugged and made another squeeze, and this time Jill couldn’t hold her moans in.

“Ah? Moaning already?”, Chris smirked, pinching her wet nipples, making her flinch - but not in a bad way. Without thinking too much about it, Jill grabbed hold of Chris’ wrist, moving it down to her pussy. To Chris’ surprise, she was more soaked than the towels he had prepared. But he wasn’t complaining. Not at all. The sweatpants Jill had started to wear once her jeans became too tight were wetter than anything she had ever felt before, and the lust boiling inside of her core, ready to spill over.

Jill sat up straighter, gently rocking her hips against Chris’ hand as he continued to milk her dry with his other one. He knew her body better than his own even with all the changes and new curves to explore. Chris knew what drove Jill wild, and a simple fingerfucking often opened the door for a night of pleasure. “Come on Jill, be a good girl and spread ya legs for me.”, Chris muttered into her ear, a kiss behind it followed. Jill, who was already needy and desperate for more, spread her legs as far as she could, giving Chris access to what was his.

His fingers moved through her folds, savouring the wetness and the feeling of how she bucked her hips towards his touch. “Ah ah, stay calm Jill. We have the whole day.”, Chris teased her, earning a disappointed groan from her side. Every stretch mark, every little insecurity was long forgotten the moment Chris dipped two of his fingers inside of her, drawing a soft moan from her lips. “Fuck, Chris!”, Jill whimpered out as her grip on his thighs increased, surely would leave marks afterwards.

Chris moved his fingers in and out of her for a short while, the wet sounds echoing off the walls as she became a waterfall under his touch. Soon enough he changed his movement. Instead of in and out, Chris moved his fingers in a motion as if he was telling her to come here. But instead of coming here, she was close to coming around his fingers. The soft spasm around his fingers made his own hard cock twitch.

Jill groaned in disappointment when Chris removed his fingers from her pussy, having been so close to a surely mind breaking orgasm. But Chris gave her no time to complain. With a few quick movements, he got rid of his clothes, his hard cock leaking precum already. Jill licked her lips at the sight, but there was no time for any of this. She needed him inside of her - now!

“Come here”, Chris said as he grabbed Jill’s hips, pulling her close to him. She moved herself up a bit, just right in position for Chris’s cock to brush against her folds, earning a low groan from him. “Shit…”, he muttered as he grabbed hold of his cock, dragging it along her wetness, just enough to lube himself up - and there was more than enough of it.

“You ready?”, Chris asked, Jill nodding in reply. With a nearly painfully slow movement, Chris pushed inside her pussy, both of them moaning in relief. To their surprise, Jill’s tits started leaking again. “Wow.”, was everything Chris managed in this moment to get out. Jill started to move her hips, sinking down further on his cock, needing more of him.

Soon enough, the room was filled with soft moans and groans, Chris’ hands wandering over her body for he couldn’t contain himself. Her breasts, her hips, her pussy, everything was delicious and if he could, he’d eat her up. But instead of doing this, he focused on her pleasure to make her fall apart. Every brush over her clit made Jill’s whole body shake, squeezing her eyes shut as she came closer and closer to her orgasm.

“Chris, I...I’m gonna cum!”, Jill whimpered out as she leaned against Chris’ chest, him pounding into her from under her. She held onto her breasts, squeezing more of her milk out as the knot inside of her tightened, ready to burst at any moment. “Cum for me. Cum for me Jill.”, Chris groaned out and focused on her clit even more.

This was enough for her to explode in an orgasm like never before. Jill stilled on top of Chris, her whole body shaking as she came. Chris followed suit, his own orgasm approaching only seconds later. While he painted her walls white, Jill milked his cock how he milked her before.

The wet sounds soon came to an ending as Chris’ cock slipped out of Jill’s pussy, leaving the sweetest mess behind. Jill groaned and got off Chris’ lap, dropping on the bed next to him. “Nobody told me having sex while pregnant would be that exhausting!”, Jill chuckled, wiping the sweat off of her forehead. Chris grabbed one of the towels they had previously used, cleaning her pussy from any cum left behind.

After throwing the towel into the washing machine, Chris found Jill deep asleep in their bedroom. He smiled at the sight, tucked her in. “I love you, Jill.”, he whispered, earning a soft sound from her. A soft kiss on her forehead followed, and he knew she was the most perfect woman in the whole wide world.

#valenfield #jill valentine #chris redfield #resident evil

29 notes · View notes

crowdvscritic · 3 years

Text

round up // JULY 21

‘Tis the season to beat the heat at the always-cold theatres and next to fans set at turbo speed. While my movie watching slowed a bit with the launch of the Summer Olympics on July 23rd, I’ve still got plenty of popcorn-ready and artsy recommendations for you. A few themes in the new-to-me pop culture I’m recommending this month:

Casts oozing with embarrassing levels of talent (sometimes overqualified for the movies they’re in)

Pop culture that is responding or reinterpreting past pop culture

Stories that get weEeEeird

Keep on-a-scrollin’ to see which is which!

July Crowd-Pleasers

1. Double Feature – ‘90s Rom-Coms feat. Lots of Lies: Mystery Date (1991) + The Pallbearer (1996)

In Mystery Date (Crowd: 7.5/10 // Critic: 6/10), Ethan Hawke and Teri Polo get set up on a blind date that gets so bizarre and crime-y I’m not sure how this didn’t come out in the ‘80s. In The Pallbearer (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10), David Schwimmer and Gwyneth Paltrow try to combine The Graduate with Four Weddings and a Funeral in a story about lost twentysomethings. If you don’t like rom-coms in which circumstances depend on lots of lies and misunderstandings, these won’t be your jam, but if you’re like me and don’t mind these somewhat-cliché devices, you’ll be hooked by likeable casts and plenty of rom and com.

2. The Tomorrow War (2021)

I thought of no fewer movies than this list while watching: Alien, Aliens, Angel Has Fallen, Cloverfield, Interstellar, Kong: Skull Island, Prometheus, A Quiet Place: Part II, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith, The Silence of the Lambs, The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and World War Z. And you know what? I like all those movies! (Okay, maybe I just have a healthy respect/fear of The Silence of the Lambs.) The Tomorrow War may not be original, but it borrows some of the best tropes and beats from the sci-fi and action genres, so much so I wish I could’ve seen Chris Pratt and Co. fight those gross monsters on a big screen. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 6/10

3. Dream a Little Dream (1989)

My July pick for the Dumb Rom-Com I Nevertheless Enjoyed! I CANNOT explain the mechanics of this body switch comedy to you—nor can the back of the DVD case above—but, boy, what an ‘80s MOOD. I did not know I needed to see a choreographed dance routine starring Jason Robards and Corey Feldman, but I DID. All I know is some movies are made for me and that I’m now a card-carrying member of the Two Coreys fan club. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 6.5/10

4. Black Widow (2021)

The braids! The Pugh! Black Widow worked for me both as an exciting action adventure and as a respite from the Marvel adventures dependent on a long memory of the franchise. (Well, mostly—keep reading for a second MCU rec much more dependent on the gobs of previous releases.) Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

5. Liar Liar (1997)

Guys, Jim Carrey is hilarious. That’s it—that’s the review. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7/10

youtube

6. Sob Rock by John Mayer (2021)

It’s very possible I’ve already listened to this record more than all other John Mayer records. It doesn’t surpass the capital-G Greatness of Continuum, but it’s a little bit of old school Mayer, a little bit ‘80s soft rock/pop, and I’ve had it on repeat most of the two weeks since it’s been out. Featuring the boppiest bop that ever bopped, at least one lyrical gem in every track, and an ad campaign focused on Walkmans, this record skirts the line between Crowd faves and Critic-worthy musicianship.

7. Double Feature – ‘00s Ben Affleck Political Thrillers: The Sum of All Fears (2002) + State of Play (2009)

In The Sum of All Fears (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), Ben Affleck is Jack Ryan caught up in yet another international incident. In State of Play (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10), he’s a hotshot Congressman caught up in a scandal. Both are full of plot twists and unexpected turns, and in both, Affleck is accompanied by actors you’re always happy to see, like Jason Bateman, James Cromwell, Russell Crowe, Jeff Daniels, Viola Davis, Morgan Freeman, Philip Baker Hall, David Harbour, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Liev Schreiber, and Robin Wright—yes, I swear all of those people are in just those two movies.

8. Loki (2021-)

Unlike Black Widow, you can’t go into Loki with no MCU experience. The show finds clever ways to nudge us with reminders (and did better at it than Falcon and the Winter Soldier), but be forewarned that at some point, you’re just going to have to let go and accept wherever this timeline-hopper is taking you. An ever-charismatic cast keeps us grounded (Owen Wilson, Jonathan Majors, and an alligator almost steal the show from Tom Hiddleston in some eps), but while Falcon lasted an episode or two too long, Loki could’ve used a few more to flesh out its complicated plot and develop its characters. Thankfully, the jokes matter almost as much as the sci-fi, so you can still have fun even if you have no idea what’s going on.

9. Double Feature – Bruce Willis: Die Hard With a Vengeance (1995) + The Whole Nine Yards (2000)

Before Bruce Willis began starring in many random direct-to-DVD movies I only ever hear about in my Redbox emails, he was a Movie Star smirking his way up the box office charts. In the third Die Hard (Crowd: 10/10 // Critic: 7.5/10), he teams up with Samuel L. Jackson to decipher the riddles of a terrorist madman (Jeremy Irons), and it’s a thrill ride. In The Whole Nine Yards (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10), he’s hitman that screws up dentist Matthew Perry’s boring life in Canada, and—aside from one frustrating scene of let’s-objectify-women-style nudity—it’s hilarious.

10. This Is the End (2013)

On paper, this is not a movie for me. An irreverent stoner comedy about a bunch of bros partying it up before the end of the world? None of things are for Taylors. But with a little help of a TV edit to pare down the raunchy and crude bits, I laughed my way through and spent the next several days thinking through its exploration of what makes a good person. While little of the plot is accurate to Christian Gospel and theology, some of its big ideas are consistent enough with the themes of the book of Revelation I found myself thinking about it again in church this morning. (Would love to know if Seth Rogen ever expected that.) Plus, I love a good self-aware celebrity spoof—can’t tell you how many times I’ve just laughed remembering the line, “It’s me, Jonah Hill, from Moneyball”—and an homage to horror classics. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 7/10

July Critic Picks

1. Summer of Soul (…or, When the Television Could Not Be Televised) (2021)

Even director Questlove didn’t know about the Harlem Cultural Festival, but now he’s compiled the footage so we can all enjoy one of the coolest music fest lineups ever, including The 5th Dimension, B.B. King, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, and Stevie Wonder, who made my friend’s baby dance more than once in the womb. See it on the big screen for top-notch audio. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

2. Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Robin Williams takes on the bureaucracy, disillusionment, and malaise of the Vietnam War with comedy. Williams was a one-of-a-kind talent, and here it’s on display at a level on par with Aladdin. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 9/10

3. Against the Rules Season 2 (2020-21)

Michael Lewis (author of Moneyball, adapted into a film starring Jonah Hill), is interested in how we talk about fairness. This season he looks at how coaches impact fairness in areas like college admissions, credit cards, and youth sports.

4. Bugsy Malone (1976)

A gangster musical starring only children? It’s a little like someone just picked ideas out of a hat, but somehow it works. You can hear why in the Bugsy Malone episode Kyla and I released this month on SO IT’S A SHOW?, plus how this weird artifact of a film connects with Gilmore Girls.

5. The Queen (2006)

Before The Crown, Peter Morgan wrote The Queen, focusing on Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren) in the days following the death of Princess Diana. It’s a complex and compassionate drama, both for the Queen and for Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen, who has snuck up on me to become a favorite character actor). Maybe I’ve got a problem, but I’ll never tire of the analysis of this famous family. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 9.5/10

6. The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)

This month at ZekeFilm, we took a closer look at Revisionist Westerns we’ve missed. I fell hard for Roy Bean, and I think you will, too, if for no other reason than you might like a story starring Jacqueline Bisset, Ava Gardner, John Huston, Paul Newman, and Anthony Perkins. Oh, and a bear! Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 10/10

youtube

7. New Trailer Round Up

Naked Singularity (Aug. 6) – John Boyega in a crime thriller!

Queenpins (Aug. 10) – A crime comedy about extreme coupon-ing!

Dune (Oct. 1) – I’ve been cooler on the anticipation for this film, but this new look has me cautiously intrigued thanks to the Bardem + Bautista + Brolin + Chalamet + Ferguson + Isaac + Momoa + Zendaya of it all.

The Last Duel (Oct. 15) – Affleck! Damon! Driver!

Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Nov. 11) - I’m not sure why we need this, but I’m down for the Paul Rudd + Finn Wolfhard combo

King Richard (Nov. 19) - Will Smith as Venus and Serena’s father!

Encanto (Nov. 24) – Disney and Lin-Manuel Miranda making more magic together!

House of Gucci (Nov. 24) - Gaga! Pacino! Driver!

Also in July…

Kyla and I took a look at the classic supernatural soap Dark Shadows and why Sookie might be obsessed with it on Gilmore Girls.

I revisited a so-bad-it’s-good masterpiece that’s a surrealist dream even Fellini couldn’t have cooked up. Yes, for ZekeFilm I wrote about the Vanilla Ice movie, Cool as Ice, which is now a part of my Blu-ray collection.

Photo credits: Against the Rules. All others IMDb.com.

11 notes · View notes

rebellionbeach · 3 years

Text

Thanks for the tag @rockanrolljunkie , very interesting questions!

1. What is the first song you remember hearing?

I don’t have any cool stories but it’s probably one of the numerous children DVDs I’ve watched for like developmental learning my parents used to show me when I was younger. Disney Learning Adventures or something like that.

2. What is the first band you got into?

Rick Springfield and I know he isn’t really a band but he was the first artist I really latched onto aside from my mother’s influence. However, I suppose it was partially her fault since I first saw him live after Night Ranger had opened up for him I think in the summer of 2015. I didn’t want to stay anymore but then once we were leaving I remember hearing Jessie’s Girl and for the rest of the night I couldn’t stop singing that verse and well, the rest is history.

3. Do you collect music on any physical format?

Haha, yes, I often make many bad financial decisions due to this. Well, my mother is also a very big collector and lately I’ve been collecting many used CDs that I’m able to find and vinyls from Mercari. I like both CDs and vinyl but I got to admit vinyl is slightly cooler just because seeing that large disc spinning and hearing that slightly tinged sound knowing that somebody maybe half a century ago was listening to this same disc never fails to shake me.

4. What is your favourite piece of music-related memorabilia/merchandise?

I’ve accumulated a large amount of Burrn magazines from the 80s and 90s but my favorites have got to be the 1985 Ritchie Blackmore one:

I also have a large Nelson poster across my bed which is a great conversation piece:

5. What is your favourite concert you've been to?

I really enjoyed the Rick Springfield concert I went to in the summer of 2019 at a fair. It was actually accompanied by an orchestra and I remember time going by so fast. Something funny though is that there was a pretty large seating area and everyone was standing except my small section which for some reason refused to stand. When I tried to get up I felt the glare of somebody behind me but besides that it was a great concert!

6. If you could see one artist (or band) who is no longer alive in concert, who would it be?

Damn, that’s really hard. Technically DP and Rainbow are still playing today but I’d absolutely love to see Mark 4 of Rainbow live, I’d do almost anything to go to that Monsters of Rock show in 1980. Just to see Cozy play with Ritchie, Graham, Don, and Roger, that would be something truly magical.

7. Have you met any musicians?

Mostly through my mom but I’ve met Night Ranger and I remember once even at an airport which was pretty surprising. I’ve also met Firehouse which is another one of my mother’s favorite bands but they’re all really talented and humble people. I’ve also met Rick Springfield which was...very nerve-racking for me. I remember looking forward to that all of 8th grade...ha good times. My mom actually was on the same plane as Chris Impellitterri but didn’t want to go up to him because she didn’t know him too well. She also met the Queensryche guys and Daryl Hall so if anything you know, my mom has been places.

8. What is your go-to song/album when feeling sad?

I like listening to happy music when I’m sad actually but often times I find myself listening to After the Rain by Nelson. This past year when I was in a bad mood or whatever I would put on In the Aeroplane Over the Sea which, I know, is a interesting choice to say the least, it’s really good at either releasing the tension or creating more.

9. What is your go-to song/album when feeling happy?

I mean, Down to Earth and Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow come to mind. I also have been listening to a lot of Come Taste the Band and Private Eyes by Tommy Bolin as well as Because They Can by Nelson.

10. What is one music-related documentary you love?

I’ve watched lots of DP and Rainbow documentaries but I really adore the one aired on BBC and was part of the Rock Family Trees series. It has lots of great interviews with Jon Lord and David as well as some Cozy segments talking about the Rainbow period. I cited it a lot while writing my research paper too.

11. What is one concert DVD that you love?

I’m not sure about concert DVDs per-say however my favorite filmed concert would have to be either Deep Purple at California Jam 1974 or Operation Live Crime with the concerts in Madison Wisconsin. The former because it’s an iconic moment in all of rock and roll history and David and Glenn just kill it and the latter because the band just sounds phenomenal and I wanna know if anybody here in Madison, Wisconsin believes in love?

Well I don’t....

12. Do you prefer listening to playlists or full albums?

Before I listened to playlists but lately I haven’t touched them. I usually listen to albums, they’re kind of already like playlists except created by the artist lol. If I don’t like certain parts or are in a hurry then I don’t mind skipping.

13. Do you tend to listen to albums in order or on shuffle?

In order, shuffling can be fun though like one time I shuffled Machine Head to pick my future wedding song and Space Truckin’ came on so I guess that’s going to happen.

14. What is your favourite deep cut song by your favourite artist?

I have several favorite artists but starting with Deep Purple, songs such as Blind, Chasing Shadows, The Gypsy, Love Child, Mad Dog, and all of Who Do We Think We Are besides Woman From Tokyo come to mind. Then for Rainbow I think Self Portrait, Makin’ Love, and Midtown Tunnel Vision are just phenomenal. For Nelson I really enjoy Nobody Wins In the End which is the final song on their second album and Written In Rock by Rick Springfield is probably my favorite song from his.

15. What is your favorite CD/vinyl/cassette that you own in terms of packaging?

I really enjoy the No Bad Habits vinyl that I own from Graham Bonnet just because I think the cover is gorgeous and the blue suede suit just fits him perfectly. It always sits in front of my vinyls lol.

I’d like to tag @whodoesntlikewho , @houseofaffuso , @ritchieblackless , @high-way-star , @inthemidnightmeme , and @vibesfromepicforest and anyone else who wants to do it!

#personal #this just in: I'm a Nelson fan #go listen to their albums #trust me it's better than you think #winger too #rick too #but especially winger and nelson

6 notes · View notes

merinelsa · 3 years

Note

Have you ever done a ranking list of your favourite episodes?

not really , the thing with me is that i never rewatch tv shows . i binge through them once and then just watch few scenes in yt , but never rewatch any of it even if it was one of my favourite show. Glee is the only exception , though i really only watch very few eps from the earlier seasons and rewatched s5-s6 twice , though i’d skipped 100, new directions and the wedding during both my rewatches. there are eps like new new york and wonderful that i watch time to time as comfort eps playing in the background . from s3, first time and big brother are the only eps i have rewatched

i’d only watched glee for the first time last year , so like it’s not been that long to warrant a rewatch , but since i’d binged most of it in one stretch ( had taken a one month break b/w s3ep7 and ep8 because of how much i was getting tired of the shitty storylines of s3 , hence it being my least fave ) i forgot a lot of the non klaine stuff.

but i’ll try to rank the eps , just know that i’m very biased to klaine/kurt/blaine storylines . and the seasons too are ranked in the order i like them

6 . season 3

22. i kissed a girl

21. pot o gold

20. prom-asaurus

19. yes/no

18. i am unicorn

17. mash off

16. the spanish teacher

15. asian f

14. on my way

13. props

12. choke

11. hold on to sixteen

10. saturday night gleever

9. michael

8. goodbye

7. big brother

6. nationals

5. heart

4. extraordinary merry christmas

3. dance with somebody

2. purple piano project

1. first time

5. season 1

22. the rhodes not taken

21. funk

20. showmance

19. vitamin d

18. hairography

17. ballad

16. mashup

15. throwdown

14. the power of madonna

13. mattress

12. acafellas

11. dream on

10. home

9. pilot

8. hell-o

7. sectionals

6. preggers

5. bad reputation

4. wheels

3. journey to regionals

2. theatricality

1. laryngitis

4. season 4

22. britney 2.0

21. sweet dreams

20. lights out

19. shooting star

18. all or nothing

17. feud

16. thanksgiving

15. the role you were born to play

14. glease

13. swan song

12. sadie hawkins

11. naked

10. makeover

9. girls and boys on film

8. diva

7. glee,actually

6. i do

5. dynamic duets

4. the new rachel

3. break up

2. guilty pleasure

1. wonderful

3. season 2

22. britney/brittany

21. the substitute

20. comeback

19. special education

18. a very glee christmas

17. the sue sylvester shuffle

16. night of neglect

15. new york

14. funeral

13. never been kissed ( except for the klaine part, the whole ep is a mess)

12. rocky horror glee show

11. rumours

10. audition

9. sexy

8. grilled cheesus

7. blame it on the alcohol

6. prom queen

5. born this way

4. silly love songs

3. duets

2. furt

1. original song

2. season 6

13. the rise and fall of sue sylvester

12. hurt locker part 1

11. child star

10. homecoming

9. we built this glee club

8. what the world needs now

7. hurt locker part 2

6. a wedding

5. dreams come true

4. 2009

3. jagged little tapestry

2. transitioning

1. loser like me

1. season 5 ( i’m not going to rank the quaterback )

19. opening night

18. 100

17. tina in the sky with diamonds

16. city of angels

15. bash

14. a katy or gaga

13. new direction

12. end of twerk

11. previously unaired christmas

10. trio

9. movin out

8. the back up plan

7. puppet master

6. love love love

5. old dogs new trick

4. untitled rachel berry project

3. frenemies

2. tested

1. new new york

now top five glee episodes over all

5. original song : don’t ask me what happened besides klaine in this because i truly don’t remember . but the klaine parts are pure heavenly. s2 klaine is something i missed a lot and didn’t appreciate enough during my first watch but rewatching some klaine centric eps has made me appreciate their friendship a lot more. even the stuff leading upto the kiss is fantastic , it’s also an ep that shows how rachel and blaine can get similar but how they react to criticisms and how blaine tries to include everyone when pointed out unlike making a fit out of it with rachel is where they diverge and makes these incredibly different personalities .and the kiss was just to good and sparks were flying everywhere and it is something that glee could never recreate with any other couple. and “ reminds you of your mom’s funeral doesn’t it “” the casket was bigger but yes “ just proves that they are equally dumbasses that fit each other so well

4. wonder-ful : this is just pure comfort ep. it’s so bright and upbeat in the middle of the previous dark eps. so much kurt and klaine . a bit more focus on kurt’s mental health issues, which will later be forgotten but it’s good over here. supportive blaine as always just highlighting how much they understand each other. a lot of burt which is always a plus . a very good mercedes plotline which should’ve been given more time but still is one of the better ones she gets.just seeing how light and loving kurt turns once burt is finally in the safe zone. and ‘you get kinda cute when you get nervous’ and ‘with you in it a wondeful life’ and whatever homoerotic stuff that is going on b/w rachel and cassie

3. Loser like me : the pure angst . i love storylines where they hit the rock bottom from such a happy place and have to find their way to the top by leaning in on each other and supporting each other. great klaine scenes, s5b we where pushed to believe that kurt had it all together, but we finally got to see kurt being an absolute mess and realizing how he contributed to their relationship not working out instead of pitting it all on s4 cheating . confident got help all by himself in a better position blaine , rachel finally getting a storyline that’s interesting and makes her one to root for . This ep always gives me the chills and makes me excited for the rest of the season

2. Tested : It’s genuinely one of the funniest eps ever. amazing rachcedes moment . the guys presenting one of my fave family dynamics in the show. great samcedes and klaine plotline . and i love the way liab is shot , such a well choreographed performance and it really looks like chris and darren had so much fun doing it.

1. New new york : this ep is the perfect mixture of fluff , comedy and angst. And on top of that we get never tried before combination of dynamics like rachel and artie as well as our favourite dynamics like klaine, blam, kelliot . also , out of all the klaine plotlines, this feels to me the most realistic one and really shows how much they want to work out their highschool relationship into an adult setting but they’re still young clueless inexperienced couple who doesn’t really know what they’re doing but still trying to work it out the way they think is the best one to protect their relationship , showing how much they care for each other as we enter into the crazy hard parts of their relationship. also , to see these whole set of highschool friends trying to navigate their way into this busy adult life is so fun to watch .

#mer answers #1908jmd #thanks a lot for the ask #i'm really sorry for responding late #this has been in the works for the past two days working out each seasons one by one lol #also i've not been the best mentally and physically #i've got this terrible cold that i'm trying to contain before i have to travel #and i'm just emotionally drained for absolutely no reason #but yeah this was fun to do and think about #but i'm pretty sure all of this ranking will change once i get to rewatching the show maybe several years later

5 notes · View notes

earthingoddity · 4 years

Text

so you know how y’all are constantly like: “what’s there to like about season five???”. i decided to make a list *-*

1. the discussion of disability in a teenage show. how many teenage shows can you name featuring disabled characters? and how many of those feature a character becoming disabled in the course of the show and having to adapt to that? i was very surprised when i realized this was the route they were going to take this season and i think it was very well done.

so let’s break that down:

1.1 they actually made sure to talk about other disabilities. i know some people will say they were just doing the bare minimum, but i disagree. that is such a complex theme, they could’ve easily said representing other disabilities respectfully would be a lot of work for only ten episodes, but they did their best with the limited amount of time they had.

1.2 the representation of the deaf community wasn’t limited to their disability. it actually pisses me off hearing people say “wow, for a while there, i even forgot arthur was deaf!” as if he *has* to let you know everytime he’s on screen. disabled people are more than their disabilities, thank you very much.

1.3 overall, it was a positive representation. they could’ve spent so much time going through all the things that would be too hard for arthur, but they actually had an entire episode where arthur was completely deaf - he took his hearing aids off - and it was a very happy and positive episode. he was having fun, clubbing, dancing, laughing with others, and i think we took a lot of that for granted in the midst of everything that was going on, but that was a really positive representation that didn’t limit itself to stereotypes around deaf/disabled people. i actually expected that they’d drag a lot longer the feeling of loneliness and discomfort of the first couple of episodes, but they quickly changed that rhythm, so that instead of focusing on what arthur was “losing”, they focused on everything that arthur was gaining - new friends, a new love interest and a new way to see the world. also, in relation to the whole implants thing, they delivered very in depth opposite perspectives on the matter and never felt like they were shaming one group or the other.

2. SyMbOLisM! skam france is very good at it and they nailed this aspect in season three. but there was a lot of it in season five as well. like the 7am clips in episode 2, that were used to show the lack of progression in arthur’s hearing and his growing frustration and how those clips were incredibly dark, to match his mood. episode 7 also had such an interesting meaning. with arthur taking the chance to explore the world without his hearing aids, he got to explore a whole *new* world, and not a lacking one, which ties very well with what i just said about being a positive rep, but also shows that the entire episode wasn’t about arthur finding a new layer of himself, but rather him just uncovering one that was already there.

3. use of music/sound effects. it can be hard to represent deafness in a media like a tv show, but skam france did it so well. the use of music is always very conscious in this remake; while others really go hard in the soundtrack, skam france hardly ever has background music, unless it means something. another small thing but that i loved was whenever arthur was taking off/putting on his hearing aids, if he was to put the left one first for example, the sound on the left side of your headphone would start first. it was such a small thing but made the experience a lot more immersive imo, as well as the use of muffled sounds, pitching, etc.

4. Arthur. i am always surprised whenever i hear people say that they liked arthur better when they were not in his pov. i completely disagree, but then again, i feel like this fandom has very unhealthy expectations on their mains, as if they haven’t watched already 4 seasons of the main making mistakes over and over again, lol. i loved getting to know more of arthur - he’s loyal AF and protective of the people he loves. he struggles in letting people in, though, and never wants to be a burden or worry others. he’s perceptive and quick to notice when his friends need help. he is also short-tempered and when he gets mad, it is explosive, but he doesn’t hold grudges for long. he was a much more complexed character than i imagined and he totally made this season for me.

5. le gang. this boysquad is the best, sorry. they’ve always been the funniest and warmest, but it was really nice how s5 explored all the sides of that relationship, including the not so pretty ones. they were the relationship i wanted the most angst from, and i am so happy i got it. i loved seeing how chaotic, but supportive they were of arthur though and they brought so many laughs this season.

5.1 the lack of toxic masculinity. i think this ties well with arthur, because it is amazing to me that even though we were following a straight white boy as a main this season, we had no moments of unhealthy masculine competition; le gang could actually talk about other things rather than just porn stars and jerking off (other boysquads Wish!); and arthur would literally flirt with anyone without a care in the world, because he’s certain of his sexuality like that. it was *refreshing* for once not to be confronted with these tropes that have become so common in teenage shows.

7. alexia. i have to talk about alexia separately here, because that’s the most we’ve ever seen from a chris character (not counting eskam cris, ofc), and i loved her so much. she wants to be a videogame designer and she’s creative and adorable. she always knew how to make arthur laugh, but also knew when he needed words of affirmation and she was never shy in telling him how much she loved him. it was also amazing seeing her open up about some of her insecurities, and that her confidence is something she had to work on as well. she was such a great friend & girlfriend and just ugh the best.

7.1 the female characters are badass and unapologetic. i am aware that the love triangle was unnecessary and a mess. but i am not mad about the way both characters were represented, because they were both great characters. i liked alexia more simply because i was already attached to her from previous seasons, but noée was badass as well and teaches arthur so much, and not only about her experience as a deaf person, but about life/love in general.

8. arthur’s relationship with his mom. we LOVE and STAN parents in the skamverse. arthur and his mom had the best relationship ever; i loved how they truly became a team by the end of the season. but since the moment she showed up, it meant so much that arthur could have at least one supportive and loving parent, no matter how much he screwed up or felt lost. his mom was really trying her best and i adored her.

9. *actual* adult advice. i understand why all the adults in the skamverse are a bit cringey and weird, but i feel like this results in these characters relying on each other’s poor advice throughout an entire season before they realize what they actually should do. and the talk with the school’s nurse and his doctor by the end of the season was meaningful AF and i wish something the remakes would explore more often, because it could resolve so many of their issues just talking to someone who knows better, lol.

10. the relationships with the girlsquad. i know this is actually very intentional of skam france - to build a specific kind of dynamic between the main and all the side characters. we saw that in season 3, and i think it’s a lot more evident here, but it still made a lot of sense and warmed my heart so much. arthur and imane were the purest - she was the first one to notice that something was wrong with him and also reached out to give him advice on how medical school could still be a possibility even with his disability when she absolutely didn’t have to, but she’s just a sweetheart like that. arthur and daphné had a lot more tension, which is understandable, because both are protective of their own best friends (bas and alexia) and would defend them to the ends of the earth. i think they honestly have a lot more in common than they think. but my favorite dynamic was arthur and emma. i totally did not expect for emma to have such a part in this season, but every single one of their interactions was Gold. emma could see a lot of herself in arthur and i think that’s why she was so quick to notice that he wasn’t interested in becoming a surgeon at all. that scene when she says it would’ve been nice to have arthur as a brother was the sweetest thing Ever.

11. i’ll finish with the acting. y’all, the guy who plays arthur literally CARRIED this season and i hope his back is doing fine. he was So powerful - he made me cry, and laugh, and feel frustrated. he delivered every single emotion perfectly. i also think that the fact these actors are friends irl (i assume? lol but i think i’ve seen them in each other’s personal IG stories) really helps their chemistry on camera. le gang feels like a group of brothers/best friends and they were always so natural and effortless in their interactions. the new actors also Rocked and delivered so much emotion even if they were using a completely different language and it was awesome.

(also, this just literally applies to *me*, a lucas lallemant HOE, but it was so nice seeing lucas up close from a different perspective. the fact we could still see so many layers of him: his emotional self, his bratty self, his supportive self, even a touch on his abandonment issues and everything made me so happy. i think sometimes i forget the lucas character was real and not something i made up because he feels too good to be true, and it was really interesting seeing him from arthur’s POV).

i’m not here defending the mistakes they made in s5, i don’t think it’s a perfect season either, but tbh i have yet to find what i consider to be a perfect season in the skamverse, so here’s just some things i liked about this season that i feel like y’all should take into consideration as well. thx

#skam france #i am aware that no one cares bc judging is easier than listening #but i had this on my drafts for weeks now so i was like hm might as well post it #:)

195 notes · View notes