#I super appreciate it when an actor does a shoot just for me

[notfreetoday]

MPW Ep 2 Subtitle Corrections

Subtitle Corrections: Ep 1 here

Cultural/Language Tidbits: Ep 2 here

Same translation disclaimer applies. Thanks to everyone reading the first post and geeking out with me in the notes, I really appreciate it XD Ok, Ep 2, let's go! Sorry in advance for the length!

If you're wondering why Yoh's freaking out about the rainy season even though they've been together for 3 years, the manga artist posted a clarification on twitter:

By the way, “it’s been 3 years since then” – that phrase refers to it being 3 years since that conversation regarding the slave contract. As for living together, they’ve only just started (to do so) around Mar/April*, so (at this point) it’s only been a few months (for them). What if (I) got it wrong…. I remember making a note of it, but the file that I wrote it in and passed over (to the crew) couldn’t be found right, so… (was it) a dream?” *Japan's rainy season comes around June/July, so this means that this is the first rainy season these two have been experienced together.

[Y: まずっ] Y: Tastes bad In case the original "that sucks" sounds like Yoh might be talking about the news of the young forecaster - he's really just talking about the food here.

[S: 遅くなるからいらねぇっつっただろう] Original: I told you not to bother since I returned late Mine: I told you I wouldn't need it cause I'd be late right? This is actually a pretty harsh sounding line tbh. It's sort of inkeeping with Segasaki's curtness, but still pretty harsh - so this tells us he's tired after a long day, and explains the frown on his face that Yoh just wipes away with his cuteness

Nikujaga literally means meat and potatoes. It's a stewed dish and a very well-loved comfort food. Super easy to make too (link goes to an easy to follow recipe, and the site also explains a little about the dish).

[Y: 本当、顔だけはいいよな] Y: Really, it's only his face that looks good.

I've talked about this in my cultural/language tidbits for this episode (linked up top) but I'll add it here for completion's sake

[Y: あ、いや。なんでもない…です*] (Ah, iya, nandemonai…desu*) Y: Ah, no, it's….nothing* Yoh let's his sentence trail off before tacking on a "desu" at the end. "Desu" is an ending verb characteristic of "polite" speech, which Yoh doesn't use frequently with Segasaki (in fact, by this point, he has not used polite speech with Segasaki at all, except for maybe saying the full form of the word "welcome home", and even that's pushing it). Here he adds it at the end as an afterthought (the polite form of "iya" would be "iie", if he had wanted the whole sentence to be polite from the get go), which tells us that Yoh's feeling a little off-kilter here, and does introduce the slightest distance between him and Segasaki. We'll see this distance increase as the episode goes on.

[Y: いや、どう考えても食べ過ぎだろう] Y: No but, no matter which way you look at it, (he's) eaten way too much hasn't he? Btw, if your hair started standing at the spoon scraping the pot - in the manga artist's post about visiting the shooting venue (as well as during Ep 1 twitter space) it was mentioned that Mashiko, the actor, can actually cook, so during filming they had to tell him what someone who can't would likely do, and also asked him to do the housework poorly (because Yoh's not supposed to be good at cooking or housework hahaha)

この人*、明日も朝早いんだよな。たぶん。 Original: This guy, has an early morning again tomorrow. Probably. Mine: This person*, has (to leave) early tomorrow morning too. Probably. *The word here is "kono hito", literally "this person". There's actually nothing wrong with the translation "this guy" tbh because that's a fairly neutral term in English, but I'm highlighting it here because in his monologues, Yoh usually refers to Segasaki using much rougher language, such as "koitsu, aitsu", except when he addresses Segasaki directly in his head. I'll talk more about how Yoh addresses Segasaki in the analysis post, but for now - this sentence hints that Yoh has clocked Segasaki's tiredness (subconsciously or not) and is feeling a little bad for him. Then again he quickly hides that by adding on "probably". (Adding the word "probably" behind your sentence is a common way to express doubt/negate what you just said, and incidentally is commonly used by comedians to deliver a punchline).

[Y: あの*…あの…寝るなら部屋でとおもって。] Original: Um… Hey… You should go back to your room. Mine: Um*... Um... if you're going to sleep then, (it would be better to sleep) in your room - at least that's what I thought...

*"あの…" (ano…), translated as "um" here, is a common sound you use when you want to get someone's attention but don't want to sound too demanding - it actually isn't being polite per se, but it does show the hesitancy with which Yoh approaches him. Contrast this with the way Segasaki gets Yoh's attention (so far it's just been "Yoh" or "Oi" - the latter of which you would NOT use unless you were close to the person, or looking for a fight).

As a general rule of thumb, the level of politeness in Japanese is directly correlated with the length of the sentence and just how far you can beat around the bush. So, Yoh's suggestion that Segasaki goes to sleep in his room is literally just "if sleeping, then room..." and everything else in that translation is assumed. He may not being using polite speech forms here (that would be "to omoimashita" instead of "to omotte") but this is still a common way to be polite because he's making a suggestion that is so mild Segasaki can choose to ignore it. This is a great example of Brown & Levinson's "negative politeness" which we'll revisit when analysing their speech patterns, and which you can read about in entirely too much detail here (free to read).

[Y: じゅあ、俺は寝るので** あの、その、そういうことで、おやすみ] Original: Then, I’ll go to sleep. That…sort of thing. Good night. Mine: So then, I'm going to bed, therefore**... Um... that... with that... night!

"Therefore" is an awkward translation for the word ので (node), which is more often translated as "so". I've chosen to use that word because "node", whilst again not a polite form per se, is less colloquial than the more commonly used "から(kara)", to mean the same thing. It tends to pop up more in writing than in speech. "Therefore" doesn't make a sentence polite/formal in English, but it's definitely less colloquial than using the word "so". The use of "node" is just that tiny bit out of place in this sentence paired with the informal pronoun "ore" for "I" as opposed to the more formal choice of "boku".

Again, Yoh answers Segasaki properly here with a "はい (hai)" as opposed to his usual "un" (which is a sound that expresses agreement), when told that Segasaki will be late again. There actually aren't very many moments where Yoh does speak politely to Segasaki (he's definitely rude when he talks about Segasaki in his head hahaha), so these moments stand out. This whole short exchange, together with the random -desu he added earlier, just make Yoh's sentences a little more stilted/awkward, and more distant. Individually they don't deserve much mention at all, but together, and in the context of his jealousy, show just how unsure Yoh is about where he stands with Segasaki.

[Y: あの人の帰宅が遅くなり] Y: That person returned home later and later

"That person" - similar to the above usage of "this person". This sentence is incomplete - the verb form of the last word - 遅くなり (osokunari) indicates that there should be a second part to the sentence (the "completed" form would be osokunatta). But after he says this, there is a pregnant pause, as Yoh puts his phone down and continues cooking alone. The pause continues all the way into the next scene, before the sentence continues, highlighting the loneliness that Yoh feels.

[Y: 当然、触れられることもないままに] Original: Of course, he did not touch me at all Mine: (and) of course, (I) remained untouched (by him) as well

The literal translation for this would be "(the situation in which I) was not touched (by him) continued on as well". Yoh uses the passive form of the word "touch", which places the emphasis on Yoh "receiving" the action of being touched as opposed to placing the emphasis on Segasaki "carrying out" the action of touching Yoh. Consider the difference between the sentences "I was hurt by him" and "he hurt me". The former is the passive form, and is super common in Jp, much less common in Eng. If this is confusing - welcome to Jp grammar just know that the emphasis of this line is more on what Yoh does not have, rather than what Segasaki has not done. It accentuates Yoh's feelings of emptiness and loss.

Y: すっかり日々は過ぎて Y: The days pass by completely ...

Similarly, this sentence is "incomplete", and is instead continued by Segasaki walking in and telling Yoh he'll be late again. (This whole bit just hurts my soul tbh, Yoh is so lonely. )

This is a teruteru bouzu aka a charm of sorts for good weather. See the cultural tidbits post for Ep 2 linked up top for more info!

This is said really strongly, and gives the "what the hell are you doing" feel. Yoh's truly upset here.

I try not to care about some of the subs in these side conversations because they don't add much to the main story and these posts are already too long, but this sentence should really be "Dammit, maybe I should (go) troll the chat" (and the previous sentence should be "If this was broadcasted in a certain country it would be instant death" aka N.Korea ^^;) and I just think it was a nice touch to hint at the fandom wars/flaming that goes on between fans hahaha

[Y: しんどい] Y: This is too draining The word here used is "shindoi", which is a term used when you're feeling mentally/physically exhausted/drained, and carries a sense of frustration (at feeling this way) and sometimes (emotional) pain.

This. Is. Huge. Segasaki does 2 things here - one, he rejects an after-work meal, which you rarely do because Japan is all about the group and rejecting a group invite, to welcome a new member, can make you seem like you aren't a team player - two, the guy who invites him is his senior, which you can tell because Segasaki sticks to polite speech forms whilst the other guy does not. It's still relatively casual, so you can tell he's got a good working relationship with them (probably why he's not worried about rejecting them) but still. In Segasaki's world, Yoh is the No. 1 priority.

This is more accurately "WTF". There are many sounds in Japanese that aren't exactly words, but carry a lot of meaning - "Haa?!" is one of them, and is a very rude way to express a lot of anger and shock. Please, never say this in real life. You will royally piss off whoever it's directed at and if you are outside a Shibuya bar you will get punched.

The word used here is てめぇ (temee), which is a really rude way to say "you", and has the same energy as "you bastard". Segasaki usually uses the informal pronoun "omae" for "you" when he talks to Yoh, he's definitely pissed off here.

This is the same word, "shindoi" again.

I'm going to put the rest of the whole argument here with just my translation because it's too long to screencap the whole thing.

[S: 何なんだよ？このエロい惨状は Y: うるさい。 Y: 俺は売れっ子エロ漫画家になるんだ S: なんだそりゃ。おい *takes away beer can* Y: 売れっ子さんが　シコリながらネーム描くと　いいのができるって言ってた S: なんも描けてなかったぞ。 S: おい、だめだっつってんの S: 飲みすぎ　出すもん出して　寝てただけだろう Y: 黙れ！ Y: 俺はエロくて　抜ける漫画描いて　いっぱい稼いで Y: 早く　こんなとこ出ていくんだ S: はあ？　おい、お前　どういうつもりだよ Y: どうもこうもないよ！ Y: 平気で抱かれてると思うなよ 。 Y: 俺のこと、好きでもないくせに Y: 便利な奴隷としか思ってないんだろう？そんなにやりたきゃ隣のキャスターとやってろよ S: お前　さっきから　何を... Y: 俺はあんな風に笑いかけられたことない]

Breakdown: S: What's up with this? This lewd disaster of a scene Y: (You're) annoying! ["うるさい (urusai)" is often translated as "shut up", but it literally means someone is being "noisy", and here is more of a complaint that Segasaki is being bothersome] Y: I'm going to become a hot-selling erotica manga artist! [the word used here is 売れっ子 (urekko), which literally means "someone who gets huge sales" and mostly refers to idols, entertainers, TV personalities etc. So Yoh is not just saying he's going to become popular, he's saying he's gonna be like a celebrity manga artist, which is why Segasaki snorts a little at this] S: What's with that? Hey. *takes away beer can* Y: The hot sellers say that if you jerk off whilst drawing your storyboard, you'll come up with good stuff [urekko-san is a pretty cute way of referring to these popular artists] S: You've not drawn anything, you know? [this is said with a really indulgent air, which contrasts directly with the more authoritative tone of the next line] S: Hey, I'm telling you no more *grabs beer can* S: You drank too much. You just shot what you shot and then went to sleep didn't you? [And this is back to an indulgent tone - also, everyone knows Segasaki is talking about cumming here, he just doesn't actually say it so directly] Y: Shut up! ["黙れ (damare) - contrast with "urusai" earlier. The former is used much less commonly and really does mean to "be quiet". This is why Segasaki pauses and looks at Yoh. Up until now Segasaki just thinks Yoh's gotten drunk and is whining cutely, but this word means things are serious.] Y: I'm going to draw manga that is erotic, that you can wank off to, and then earn lots of money [this is a call back to the conversation with Man-san over the phone in Ep 1, which I did not include earlier because I didn't think it was important to the story when Yoh says "the work that was released last month was amazing! There was a big buzz around the topic "I can't wank off (to this)" - Yoh was being sarcastic here, meaning that he got reviews that his work wasn't erotic enough] Y: and leave this sort of place soon! S: What? Hey - what (the hell) are you thinking? [Again, "haa?" here shows he does NOT like what Yoh's saying, but he does soften the end of the sentence with a "yo"] Y: I'm not thinking of anything! Y: Embracing me so easily - don't think you can (keep on) doing that [again, this is the passive form, so the emphasis is on Yoh being embraced, and here has the nuance of "don't think I'll just (keep on) being fine with being embraced (by you) like it's some sort of norm"] Y: when you don't even like me [this line has quite a bit of bitterness in it - the emphasis here is strongly on Segasaki and his apparent "non-liking" of Yoh my english is dying.] Y: You think of me as just a convenient slave, don't you? Y: If you want to do it that much, go do it with that forecaster next to you! S: You... from the start... what have (you been saying?) Y: I have never been smiled at like that before [again, this is in passive voice]

It's obvious from the acting alone that this entire argument is pretty emotionally charged - this is also reflected in the language because Yoh uses the pronoun "ore (I)" a lot. Pronouns are frequently dropped in Japanese - often you can go an entire conversation without ever uttering the words "I/me" or "you", in part because the pronouns are assumed and also because emphasis on an individual can come across as too selfish/narcissistic or direct. Segasaki uses them often enough with Yoh, which fits his personality, but Yoh normally doesn't. So, when he uses "ore" here it stands out - his plans to be successful and leave, his feelings, his interpretation of Segasaki's actions - all of the emphasis is on his own self. The message is very clear - Yoh is hurting a lot more than he is blaming or accusing Segasaki.

[Y: もう疲れた。あんたといると疲れる。嫌いだ S: お前　酒入るとめちゃくちゃしゃべるんだな Y: ねぇ、何で雨の時はだめなの？ S: はあ？　だって、お前が言ったんだろう] Y: (I'm) tired out. When (I'm) with you, (I) get tired. Hate it. [We've lost the "I" pronouns here, because the emphasis is on the extreme sense of physical and emotional fatigue as opposed to Yoh himself, and on how much he dislikes that feeling. Of note, "hate" here is closer to "detest/really dislike" - the word is "kirai" - which is not as strong as the word "nikui" which we talked about in Ep 1 when Yoh said he hated the part of him that always listened to Segasaki. Also, this is the first time Yoh has addressed Segasaki with the pronoun "you" out loud - he uses "あんた anta", which he also used in his head in Ep 1, after they did it. Again, we'll talk about this in the analysis post in the future, but for now just know that this term is usually used between older couples.] S: You... once you start drinking you really start talking huh? [literally, you "become able to talk"] Y: Hey...why is it when it rains, (we) can't do it? S: What? Because, you said so didn't you? [the last "haa?" from Segasaki! This time expressing his surprise and slight indignation.]

[S: 俺は優しいんだ] S: I. am. Kind. Great example of Segasaki's use of the "ore" pronoun here to quite literally emphasise how great he is. "優しい (kind)" in Japanese carries the connotation of being thoughtful, anticipating the other person's needs and wants and then meeting them etc. It's a characteristic that people often say they look for in their potential partners.

[S: そもそも、なんだ先の言いぐさは 好きじゃないだの　出ていきたいだの お前　俺のプロポーズを受けといてよくそんなことが言えんな S: 養ってやる*っつってんだ　プロポーズ以外になに] S: In the first place, what was with those things you said earlier? That you don't like me, that you want to leave... You... that was rich, saying all that after accepting my proposal. S: I was saying I'd provide and care* for you. If that's not a proposal than what is? ["養ってやる" is a pretty possessive way to say I'll provide for you - it's the same word used when referring to parent providing for a child, or an owner providing for a small animal. It's not rude per se, but it does imply a power imbalance. Segasaki actually sort of has a point here because... this is not something you say to someone else unless you're in a relationship ^^;]

S: ていうかお前、俺のこと嫌いなんだ S: どうなの S: Actually about that... so you hate me huh? S: Which is it?

S: ふーん。あ、そ S: Ohh..? I see. ふーん (Ohh..?) - Segasaki says this a lot, especially in this episode. This is another one of those sounds that isn't a word but carries a lot of meaning. It has a dismissive sort of tone to it, like you've already assumed something or when you're pretty nonchalant/not impressed about whatever the other person has said and are just playing along with them by giving them some attention (so again, if you use it wrongly, it can piss people off). Segasaki uses it whenever Yoh goes mute or shy, as a way to tease Yoh - though Yoh seems to think Segasaki is dismissing/not interested in his answer. あ、そ (A, so) - again, Segasaki says this a lot - can be interpreted as "oh really?/I see/is that so?" - Combined with the above, you can see why Yoh often thinks Segasaki isn't interested in his answer, and even when he does recognise it as teasing, he gets too flustered to do anything about it.

This seems to have gotten longer, if you reached the end - congratulations! I hope this makes it a little clearer why it's so obvious to us as the viewer that Segasaki is really quite patient with Yoh, and is waiting for him to come to terms with his feelings, but at the same time so confusing for Yoh, because of the way many of these interactions can be read both ways. In Ep 3, we'll really be able to get into their dynamics because they've got so much more interaction together.

#my personal weatherman #taikan yohou #体感予報 #MPW subtitle corrections #mytranslations #finally got it out #doing a breakdown of the argument was very fun #this is like the most indulgent t/n ever #i am indulging myself the same way segasaki indulges yoh #thanks to everyone for reading my indulgent notes #please geek out with me more #these two are so perfect for each other #sorry I wanted to get Ep 3 and the analysis out before Ep 4 but it's not happening

[justanotherstarlightmonger]

Helsinki ch 13: Bruises and repercussions.

Helsinki syndrome is a term sometimes used incorrectly in place of Stockholm syndrome. It’s use in literature is often ironic and deliberate and literally means when a captive refuses to cooperate with their captor.

Summary: A war of wits does have some rules too. But if one party refuses to acknowledge the sacred rule of leaving family out of it, the other must retaliate stronger to quell any such advances for the future… Or at least that’s what Min Yoongi told himself when he abducted Kim Namjoon’s younger sister. That was before he realized that this elaborate game of chess didn’t have just two players and before he had promised Namjoon he’d keep her safe, But also before he realized that one month was enough to leave his whole life in chaos.

Genre: MAFIA AU, slight yandere themes, smut, a happy sprinkling of fluff/comfort, and a truckload of ANGST.

WARNINGS: If Taehyung was your favorite character, I sincerely apologize. 

Pairing: Main pairing: Mafia!MIN YOONGI X READER

Others include: Collegeboyfriend!Hosoek x reader + Mafia!Taehyung x reader + Kidnapper!Seokjin x reader.

Word count: 3.5k words

Previous II Ch 13 II next (coming soon)

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Taglist: @rosquilleta @minniesvenus @parkdatjimin @bebejungkook @gaeguuliii @themochiverse @sugasbultornebae7 @silentkei @badbyeyoongi @zae007live @princess-sunshyn

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The first thing you noticed when you woke up was how impossibly soft the pillow was. The second thing was how incredibly sore your body was, and the third were soft snores coming from somewhere near your feet.

“Yoongi?” you whispered into the semi-darkness.

No answer.

What time was it anyways?

You scooted over to the other side of the bed, to lean to look at the sky from the window. It was super early, the sunlight weak.

You felt well rested though, and were aware by now that this was Yoongi’s room. Something told you you should return to your own room before Taehyung wakes up. You tip toed to the door.

“Are you running out on me again kitten?” a gruff, grumpy voice sounded from behind you.

You froze. Truth be told, it was a little awkward…but you steeled yourself. You were a big girl, you could face Min Yoongi. Even after he had wrecked you last night.

“Um, no. I was just going to get a glass of water.” You lied.

“I’ll get you some.” He sat up, hair sticking up and cheeks puffy. He looked so cute. You needed to see more of soft, just woke up Yoongi.

“It’s okay Min, you didn’t break me.” You teased him.

His shoulders shook in a silent laugh.

“I have to go change my sheets, too.” You reasoned, opening the door softly, and stepping out, rushing to your own room, that was still in a disarray, and closed the door behind you.

When you came out again, you saw Yoongi mixing something into some eggs, presumably to make an omelet. Before you could even register how out of place Yoongi looked in a baggy t-shirt and in the kitchen, Taehyung’s door opened and he stepped out.

Your eyes widened and a little blush sat on your cheeks.

Yoongi the actor, looked up at both of you, “Good morning sleepy heads. Come have something to eat.” He said as if he was meeting you for the first time this morning. You giggled, causing Taehyung to shoot you a confused look, as to what had gotten you so happy so early, especially because the last time he’d seen you, you were passed out in bed.

.

“Y/n!” Taehyung gasped, eyes focused on your neck.

“Wha-?” you asked him, alarmed at his wide eyes.

“I’m gonna murder Seokjin.” Taehyung said through clenched teeth.

Yoongi nodded easily, but you were still confused. Before it hit you. The bruises on your neck. Not the ones Seokjin left, the much clearer, much more numerous ones Min Yoongi left on you.

You choked on your coffee, grabbing the edge of the table for support as your face reddened and you lost the ability to breathe.

Nonchalantly, Yoongi, who was sitting closer to you, rubbed your back to soothe the coughing, hands shaking with the effort to hold back his laugh.

.

“I’ve had snipers stationed outside since last night. They scanned the whole area. It’s all clear. You can move there immediately.” Yoongi told Taehyung, who was nodding in agreement, as you sat with your arms crossed on the couch, refusing to believe what he was saying.

They were moving you again. This time to escape Seokjin. You didn’t mind jumping around anymore, it was the second part that bothered you. Yoongi was going somewhere else. They were counting on the fact that Jin would think Yoongi took you along, and would follow him.

“I don’t understand why we can’t all just move.” You frowned.

Yoongi’s gaze met yours and softened. “We’ve been over this.”

“He has men working for him. Tens of them if he’s anything like you. What makes you think he won’t follow both of us?” you countered.

Taehyung sat beside you. “His little minions don’t scare me. It’s about who he goes after.”

“I can’t believe I’m in real life twilight.” You mumbled.

Yoongi laughed a little. “If we were all vampires, I would have snapped his neck centuries ago.”

You let out a weak smile. You hated this. Every time Yoongi had left, nothing good had come of it. Yet here they were, so sure that this time it’d all be okay.

“What about here? If we retract all security from here, it’ll be too obvious.” Taehyung pointed out.

“We’re not being discreet. We want him to know we’re leaving.” Yoongi said simply.

Your stomach was uneasy. The breakfast you had, was sitting uncomfortably. Yoongi was straight up exposing his back with a big target sign on it for Seokjin to strike down. You couldn’t help but feel that you’d been nothing but trouble. Even though you weren’t here on your own accord.

“Did you unpack anything?” Yoongi asked you.

You shook your head, you had been living out of the suitcase you had brought along.

“Good.” Yoongi nodded. “Tae?”

“Nothing. But I need a shower before we leave.” he said.

“Sure.” Yoongi rose. “Then it’s settled.” He brought out his phone and called someone. “I’ll leave in ten minutes, make sure to tail me thoroughly.” He said to whoever was on the other end.

He turned back to a questioning gaze from you, and Taehyung had gone to shower already.

“That was the body double for Taehyung. We’ll have someone pose as you and I’ll take her along. Our fake Taehyung will follow me for a good while before we split so that they see ‘you’ with me.” He clarified.

“Yoongi, I don’t like this one bit.” You rose from the couch.

“Me neither kitten. I’m sorry I dragged you into this mess.” His eyes were sad as he regarded you.

A pang of sorrow stabbed your heart to see him this troubled. Your hand rose to stroke his cheek, as his downcast eyes turned up to meet yours again.

“If I could send you back to your brother right now, I would. But he can’t do much against Jin hyung. He’s a psychopath in the truest sense of the word, just likes to make me suffer any way he can. Namjoon and the Seoul PD don’t stand a chance against him, or I’d send you back in an instant.”

Tears crept into your eyes. Tears of the helplessness you saw mirrored in Yoongi’s eyes. The helplessness and the ache.

“When will I see you again?” you whispered.

Yoongi shrugged, the movement seeming like it weighed tonnes on his shoulders. “When I’m done with him hopefully.” He said, monotonous.

A chill ran up your spine. You reminded yourself how dangerous the man standing before you was, something that you had easily forgotten because all he’d shown you was softness and gentleness. His hands found yours as he pulled you to him. “Can I kiss you?” he asked.

“Please.” You nodded, smiling against the addicting feeling of his lips lowering on yours as he pressed a sweet kiss on your lips. “Miss me, okay?” he whispered into your cheek before pecking it and pulling away.

“I will.” You nodded, not a single doubt in your mind.

The sound of water running in Taehyung’s shower stopped and you pulled away from Yoongi, resuming your position on the couch as Yoongi stepped back to look out the window. He knew Seokjin’s men were probably in many of the cars that were parked in the street outside. He wasn’t afraid of any of them. Hell, if it came to it, he wasn’t afraid of their boss either. But right now, his heart was thudding in panic.

Panic at the idea that if his plan failed, he’d not be around when Jin caught up to you and Taehyung. Once again.

“Where were you Yoongi?” your words replayed in his mind as a shudder went through him. The thought of what could have happened had he been a moment later yesterday, had already invaded Yoongi’s nightmares all last night, the only thing that had kept him calm was your still, sleeping form in his bed, so close to him, reassuring him you were safe.

What would he do when you were miles upon miles away?

He shook his head.

He could handle it. He could handle anything. He was Min Yoongi, god damn it. He owned a quarter of the entire Korean mafia’s wealth and power. He could get rid of an ant that claimed to be next in line to the throne by some stupid claim of blood.

He heard Taehyung come out and turned around.

“I’m leaving.” He announced.

“Hyung.” Taehyung came and rested his hands on Yoongi’s shoulders, “Take care.”

“You too Taehyungie.” Yoongi said softly, before his eyes flitted over to your pale face. “See you later kitten.” He smiled at you, trying to calm your anxiety.

“I better see you later Min.” you threatened. He laughed softly, taking in the sight of you for a moment longer, before turning and striding to the door, already calling the body doubles to assume their position.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Ilsan shipment had passed through seamlessly. Namjoon had the entire Seoul PD running around chasing petty criminals all over the city just so no one had time to intercept the massive trucks passing through the suburbs in the early hours of the morning.

He had withdrawn his forces completely and as far as he knew, Yoongi’s trucks had passed through unhindered. But he was restless and worried, because he hadn’t received a single call.

A single sign of your wellness.

And then, his phone rang. He snatched it off the table, “Hello?”

“Detective Kim Namjoon,” an unknown voice sounded on the other end.

“Who’s this?” he asked.

“Someone that you’d like on your side.” the stranger replied.

Namjoon frowned. “I suggest you don’t waste my time and reply to my question.” he pulled his most threatening, silent tone.

“I think my time is more precious than yours, little detective. But there is one thing that might be more precious. For you see, I know exactly where your precious little sister is.”

Namjoon said nothing for a whole minute. Then, “Go on.”

“Min Yoongi took her to Gwangju. And today, he’s moving her out of the city. If you’d like me to keep my guarding eye on her, how about you promise me the Seoul shipment will sink next week?”

Namjoon quirked an eyebrow. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew full well that this was one of Min’s rivals and he could be walking straight into a trap. That, or this was a set up from Yoongi himself. But, uptil now, the only thing he had been trusting was Yoongi’s word. Which, granted, wasn’t the best thing to trust. But what could he do, when the last time you’d talked to him, you had assured him you were fine, that he was keeping you safe?

And if that was truly the case, then who was this idiot?

“Tell me who you are and we’ll talk.” he said finally.

“That’s not important, detective.”

“Then, neither is your proposition.” he said and cut the call.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been a whole day. There had been no word from Yoongi. By now, even Taehyung, who was lying down on the tiny couch in the living area, was worried. You looked down at your ripped, bitten knuckles, a stupid habit that you had when you were anxious, and winced to see tiny droplets of blood sitting there. This was going to get you nowhere. You rose from the bamboo mattress you were sitting on, and nudged Taehyung, who looked sideways at you.

“Are we really going to stay here in the dark like this?” you asked incredulously.

“I mean,” Taehyung sat up, not a hint of mirth in his face, “We have clear instructions to not contact anyone till contacted ourselves.”

“Tae…” 

“Hey, he’ll be fine. For now, let’s just focus on not dying ourselves, yeah?”

“Dying?” you choked.

Taehyung’s eyes widened. “No- fuck… no.”

“What do you mean dying?” your voice rose.

“Nothing, honestly. It was a slip of the tongue.” he reassured you.

“Are you saying, if Seokjin finds us first, he’ll kill us?”

“No.”

“Taehyung, you’re lying to me.”

“I am not. Drop it!” he sounded cross.

You rolled your eyes and huffed, kicking the couch and going back to your mattress, looking round at the tiny quarters you had rented for a few days. You understood that Taehyung was stressed, maybe even more than you were if his throbbing temple was something to go by, but something in you told you that you might not see Yoongi ever again if you didn’t get up and do something. 

You started thinking of something, a small plan. Not very dramatic, but enough to attract attention to you. Just enough attention to shake Seokjin off Yoongi’s tail. You cast a look at Taehyung, who seemed to be sleeping. Or was he just acting?

“Tae?” you whispered.

No response. 

You tiptoed to the covered window and pulled the curtains back slightly. You could clearly see the sniper on the next roof. And you knew there were more at every vantage point in the vicinity, because those were Yoongi’s orders.

You had to stay inside. Stay inside and stay safe and listen to what Taehyung said, for just a few days and you’d be fine. You shook your head. There would be no fine if there was no Yoongi, you reminded yourself. 

“What are you doing?” a deep voice said right next to your ear. You jumped and smacked his arm, “What is wrong with you?”

“What is wrong with YOU? Why are you peeking out?”

“Oh, I can’t look out either?”

“No, you can’t.” He pulled your shoulders and dragged you back to the couch. “Sit down. What do you want for dinner?”

Wow, the audacity. You rolled your eyes. “I’m not hungry.”

“Ok, kimbap it is.” he announced and pretended to clap happily. 

“How are you not bothered Taehyung?” you asked, annoyed beyond belief.

Taehyung whipped around to face you at that, all softness drained from his face, the icy glare he had fixed you with the first night you met, looking back at you. “Do you think you’re more concerned about my brother’s safety than I am, little girl?”

You got whiplash, and had to steel your nerves to stand tall. 

“You’re gonna leave in a week. You’re never coming back. Why are you pretending to be so worried about him? He’s my brother, he’s all I have. And yet I’m not the one losing my shit. Do you have anything to prove here?” he egged on.

“That’s not what-”

“That’s not what you meant?” he tilted his head, “Tell me y/n, what is it that you meant? Why are you suddenly so worried about Min Yoongi, the man you loathe? Was the answer to the question I asked you in that garden an eternity ago my brother?”

You gasped. How was he bringing this up at this time?

“Did you lie to me about someone waiting for you at home? Does our little y/n-ie have a secret?” he mocked.

“Why are you being rude?” you said, dejected.

“You’re deflecting. Answer the question.”

“I don’t have to answer anything.”

“And why is that?”

“I’m not answerable to you.”

“And who exactly are you answerable to little one?”

The use of the nickname that your brother used, sent you fuming. “Don’t call me that.” you spat.

“I’ll call you whatever I want!” his tone was icy. Foreign. Nothing like anything you had heard from him. If you weren’t so angry, you’d register the fear that instilled in you. And you’d also realize why to him,it felt like everything in his world was going wrong ever since you came.

If you weren’t so angry, you’d realize that to Taehyung it felt like you were the root of all evil. That he had spent a lot of time last night thinking what would have happened if he had let you talk to Seokjin, and not let Yoongi overreact so much, which would mean that his obsessive older brother wouldn’t be chasing his sensible one to the edge of the country right now, while he sat fidgeting and worrying over the person who caused it all. Nothing had gone right since you came. Even Yoongi had changed. And now that he was looking at you, effectively losing your mind even though you had claimed time and again that you hated Yoongi, he firmly believed that that simply was not true. 

Anger surged through him. Anger and confusion. He hated you, but he also wanted you. He had wanted you since the night he had spent talking to you. He had wanted you even when you cried and broke down in his arms. And revolting as it felt to him, he wanted you even now, as you stood adamant and cross in front of him, a living proof of the fact that Yoongi had won again.

And somehow, in the sea of sudden bitterness in his heart, he wanted to sit down and cry. He wanted to cry because he hated you and felt like he’d hurt you if he saw you much longer, and he wanted to cry because he couldn’t understand what was wrong with him. He wanted to cry for his brother, who was in danger, and was the only person he had in this world. And he wanted to cry because for a moment there, he had hated him. He had hated his own flesh and blood for a temptress like you.

His head snapped to yours, his face looked like it was carved in granite. You blanched under the smolder he regarded you with.

“You can’t love me because you love my brother.” he said coldly.

“What?!” you scoffed, incredulously. How did the conversation go from worrying about Yoongi to accusations of loving Yoongi. Your heart fluttered in your chest. He was lying. It wasn’t true. It couldn’t be true.

Yoongi’s soft, concerned face as he leaned in front of you as you sat crying on your bedroom floor flashed in front of your eyes. The ghost of his arms that held you against his chest in the throes of pleasure squeezed you gently. Blood rushed to your cheeks and you stole your gaze from Taehyung.

“After everything I’ve done. After every time I’ve stuck my neck out for you… you love him…” nothing about his eyes changed, they were still empty. 

And they began to scare you.

“Tae-”

“Don’t call me that y/n,” he threatened and took a step towards you. You retreated, heart beating, “Don’t call out to me like you have any right on me. It’s because of you. All this is because of YOU!,” suddenly he was screaming.

You gasped as your back hit the wall, terror freezing you in place. 

“I didn’t ask for this.” you whispered.

“You fucking asked for it y/n. How could you let this happen? You were supposed to be ransom. How did you become the main character?” he slammed his palm into the wall next to your head. “None of this would be happening, if you weren’t here.” his other hand made his way to his pocket. 

Your wide eyes followed his hand’s movement and caught the flash of silver. A scream ripped from your throat as soon as the gun came into view, shooting adrenaline through your systems. How did the situation get here?

You shoved Taehyung away with all the strength in your body and ran to the door, struggling with the massive extra lock, but sliding it open just in time as he lunged for you, making it out and shutting the door behind you and running as fast as your legs would carry you.

~~~

Up on the rooftop next to the house you just ran out of, the sniper who had his gun trained on the building next to you, saw you running out and immediately aimed his gun at you, following your path. His radio buzzed and one of his partners said, “Taehyung’s running after her, is she trying to run away?”

“I have no idea.”

“Do we engage?” the semi amused voice asked.

“Engage on who?”

“Her, of course.”

“The boss ordered us to keep her safe. If any one of you shoots her, you’ll have to answer to him.” he warned.

“I say we shoot a warning shot.”

“And call everyone’s attention?!” another voice chimed in.

Meanwhile, the initial sniper was already calling Yoongi. “I’m calling him, standby.” he said as the line connected and Yoongi picked up. 

“What?” he asked urgently.

“Boss, the girl just ran out of the house.”

“What!?” Yoongi yelled, “What happened? Who’s after her?”

“Your little brother.” the sniper said calmly.

“What the fu-”

“And sir, he’s holding a gun.”

“Do not engage. Get your men out of there, and you stay in touch with me and follow those two idiots. The rest of you disperse.” Yoongi hung up, his heart hammering in his chest and hands trembling as he called Taehyung. And called Taehyung again. And again.

#mafia min yoongi #min yoongi #min yoongi fluff #yoongi smut #min yoongi angst #bts suga #bts min yoongi #mafia bts #suga angst #yoongi x reader #suga x reader #bts x reader #bts angst #yoongi angst #mafia suga #Fic:helsinki

[gillianthecat]

Walking up and down the stairs is exhausting right now.

Fahlanruk – episode 8

Ok, we're getting philosophical now. Whose voice is this?

I appreciate that Fah experiences all of his feelings in the shower. The actor did well on the body sculpting.

My favorite disaster child. You don't need to start this out by lying about Fah's game. Oh baby. Someone else stepped in to take care of him while you were gone pretending to be cool. Oh baby. You silly lying liar.

Is this the girl Tap went on one date with and then failed to hook up with before? If so, bold of him to call her to take care of him after that. Also she must really like him if she's willing to come help. Honey, I like you, but go focus your attention on someone more available please.

These goodbyes are cute. (So was Fah's and Sher's from the last episode). I love it when people don't want to leave each other, but things are too new for them to say it exactly, so they're just sweet and fumbling and reluctant.

Stalker BLs have got me trained: I fully expected that to be a box of photos of Gear. Instead it's just a product placement 😂 And barely a placement, more like they just interrupted the show for an ad that happens to star one of the actors.

The Significance of the Two Toothbrushes strikes again!

Is she going to check the closet too? Yes, she's checking the closet too.

All these BL boys are the neatest college students ever. I can guarantee you that my beloved disaster child's room would not be anywhere near that organized if he didn't have a set designer doing it for him. Perhaps the Ping & Tap labels; my boy does have a crush after all. But there would also be clothes strewn everywhere.

Oh shit 😂 She caught you sleeping in the café, disaster child. And she caught you lying about the tennis game 😂 The question is, what is she going to do with all this information? Is she going to look at this mess of codependency and decide it's not worth her time and go off and find some other cute boys to kiss? Or is she going to double down and become an interfering, manipulative faen fatale? Given the track record of this show I suspect the latter, but I can always hope.

Wait. Is this Mark's apartment from Love Mechanics (the second one)? The furniture is different, but the kitchen area and the shelf by the door look familiar. @callipigio, do you recognize it (visible around 10:35)? Should it get added to the list? Or maybe it's just a standard look for cheap modern apartments in Thailand. I'd have to look at Love Mechanics to check.

$25 Ping is drinking morosely alone.

Oh look. I owe myself $25 💳

Is that Rabitat shirt also from First's brand?

My babies 🥺

Also, I haven't said this yet, but I really like Ping's grey plaid pants.

My babies. Trying so hard to take care of each other and not get in each other's way 🥺

Was there always a voiceover? I don't remember it from previous episodes. Anyways, it's unnecessary, the actors and script are already conveying everything.

Ping. Oh my baby. Oh Ping.

Tap's pajama game is excellent.

Ooh, finally the tables turn and Fah is giving someone else relationship advice.

I think that every time Fah claims to be committed I'm just waiting for the inevitable moment that he grows bored or cheats or something. So I'm like Sher, apparently. I mean, presumably they end up together eventually but we do see Sher sobbing in the title montage every week, so clearly Fah's going to do something to break his heart at some point. All that is to say, it's hard for me to get excited about his expressions of devotion.

Also, I want to be happy for Pai to be shooting his shot with the campus hottie, but he's being such a creep about the whole thing that I can't 😕

Oh my god this fake ass injury and this fight 🙄😂 But who is this other tall super protective dude? Lol, for once Pink and I are on the same wavelength. Who is he? Not the mysterious Apo?

Ah, no. A "Charles" who knows Sher's twin. Lol, it's their half-brother. Thank goodness. It was either a relative or a whole new melodramatic plotline, and we don't need any new melodrama.

Speaking of which, where is Tam's amnesiac stalker ex? We haven't seen him in a while.

Sher, don't be so mean to poor Gear. Do make Fah jealous though, it's good for him.

Yay Prince! Set your boundaries. Don't start something with Gear if he's going to be jealous of your friendships. Also I like your blue shirt.

I would also say that Sher needs to set boundaries with a jealous possessive Fah, for the same reason. Except I like seeing Fah unhappy. Something about him just kinda makes me want to torture him. But also Fah, not cool, not cool at all.

Oh yeah Fah you fully deserved that slap.

And don't push Sher! He's got a injured ankle! I've returned from my brief vacation to Tolerating-Fah-land and am back in Loathing-Fah-ville. Get a grip dude. And wipe that pathetic look off your face, this is all on you.

Gossip about Fah that's actually relevant to their work and not just invasive nosiness? I'm honestly shocked.

Wait. Why is Charles there?

Oh Ping. My baby. You make me sad when you cry. At least you have a beautiful setting in which to be sad. It's probably good for them to have this rupture to move them to something beyond this pining stuckness, but it's so hard for both my boys. 50 missed calls 😢

Oh Tap. You are sad and confused both.

Oh god, everyone's heartbroken. We're having a cry-off. Prince, your tears make me sad too.

Fah. What the fuck. Are you doing. Is this an intentional thing to "get back at" Sher and try and make him jealous? Are you just living in your own head, oblivious to the people around you. I continue to not understand your brain.

Oh Sher. How I wish Fah was worthy of you risking your heart.

Wait. So no answer to the who is Apo question? It seemed like such a dramatic cliffhanger last episode I was sure they were going somewhere with that. Will we ever find out? Will the amnesiac stalker ex reappear? Only four more episodes to fit it all in.

Oh wait, looks like Apo at least will show up next week. And Fah is going to the creepy over invested girl for relationship advice? Eh 🤷🏻‍♀️

#fahlanruk ep 8 #fahlanruk #fahlanruk the series #gillianthecat reacts to bl #kind of like liveblogging

[chibi-pix]

Chibi watches V3D 01

Heyo, lovelies! Been a while since my last "Chibi watches", huh? Well, I'm back. And we'll see how long I can do this because I've got Voltron: The Third Dimension to get through. And. Well. It may be an episode at a time thing. Now, as a preface to this, here's a couple things. I have seen an episode for certain courtesy of @lion-time suggesting one to me. And it's possible that I may have seen an episode or so as a kid with my little brother; but I've been hit in the head way too many times over the years, I can't be sure. There were a handful of CGI shows we would catch on weekends visiting Grammy. Anyway, without further ado, let's see if I remember how to do these watches.

Anyway. Episode 1. Something about Bastille-12.

I don't have much to say about the intro and battle. Sorry 'bout that. And by not having much, I mean I have absolutely nothing.

And. Seeing Zarkon? I just don't trust him being good. Something feels off. And if I'm right or wrong, please do not spoil it. And watching him move and sway. Like, dude? You acting like you're all that and a bag of chips with swagger. What the hell, man? Well, whatever. You do you. But it is nice seeing him move around instead of just sitting on his throne for the most part in DotU. Good on you for finally getting up. It's good for you.

And Lotor. Didn't miss you, man. "But he's not gonna win any beauty contests." Damn, Zarkon, I knew you were a jerk to your son, but still. "If you don't wanna talk to me, I brought someone who is a lot prettier." Ooh, self burn? But he's not wrong. Though, I gotta admit, I'm not too used to/big on this CGI style, but I do like how he looks in it.

Allura speaking and offering friendship and peace. Feels forced. Honey, I like to think there's good in folks, but... this is Lotor. A toxic bastard. There's no helping him.

And hearing Lotor speak. I'm just... Look. Don't get me wrong, I love the actor. But I for the life of me cannot hear Lotor. I only hear Tim Curry.

With the team retired, it feels nice seeing Lance doing stunt shows. And his piloting through the course, it reminds me of my childhood of playing Star Fox on the Super Nintendo (yeah, I'm getting old, I know). Except he's good at it. I always crashed. Of course, I spoke too soon with that one when he got ballsy and crashed. I'm actually not surprised. And I appreciate his sass. Gotta love that attitude a bit.

Poor Pidge feeling old. Buddy, wait until VF, then you can feel a little old. Not that you being 24 there is old. "Will you sign my jpeg?" Gods, that comment. I was gonna ask, "What is this, the 90s?" because that felt like a 90s comment and... uh... this came out late 90s, didn't it?

But, overall? I did enjoy seeing Hunk and Pidge. But poor Hunk didn't have his headband. C'mon, creators! Why'd you take his headband!?

Ah, Keith on his little solo mission. And I love Lance sneaking on. Also, watching Lance, does he have a tiny ponytail? Awww! And Keith giving in and letting Lance join. “Alright Lance, I’ll take you along. I don’t know what I’m gonna tell the high command.” “Tell them I’m your little brother. Mom said you have to take me along.” This dialogue made me giggle. I love it.

And seeing the portal open, my first thought is a wormhole. Okay, that may be my VLD coming in.

“What?! You brought me out here on a ship with no blasters?” “I didn’t bring you out here; you snuck onto my ship.” Ah, more sassy dialogue. I love it. And Keith calling it a "vector jump", I just wanna call it a hyper jump.

What is with Coran's appearance? Go figure. And it's almost amusing at how ready he is to shoot the others down. Not that I blame him. He just wants to protect the castle. "It's changing course! As if some power is guiding it." Ah, welcome to the 90s, with cheesy yet oddly amusing dialogue.

"Still crashing into everything. "You really ought to let me give you a flying lesson." Damn, Allura. But perfect.

"Cut the trip down memory lane, Pidge." Awww! C'mon, Lance! Let Pidge have his memories! He deserves to have memories and be happy about them. Or maybe that's just the part of me who loves stories and memories. I love Hunk just yeeting the equipment to the side. "We'd go to the end of the universe for you, Princess." Hunk, you're adorable.

"You always were kind of a bucket head, Lotor." Okay, look, I'm a Pidge supporter. But. That tone and comment. He's a bit of a little shit, isn't he? And his actions and teasing to get a reaction out of Lotor. I mean... Hmm. Well, in time I'll get more about this Pidge.

And seeing Lotor escaped? That doesn't surprise me.

"Ah gee, we'd love to stay and help you panic, but we better go catch up with our friends. See ya!" Hunk wasting no time. I love it.

Lance calling that robot dude a glorified calculator made me grin. That's the sort of thing I'd say, too. I love it. And I support him going off. Yeah, man! Screw the orders! You do you, man! His team better go and help him. They're a team. They shouldn't listen to orders telling them to stand down. They're the defenders of the universe for a reason.

Well, how about that. Going through the episode. Twice. I turned it on for my initial watch and for notes, and turned it on again while writing this. Go figure how I survived watching the episode twice in a row. But, here I am.

Anyway, that is the first Chibi Watches for this series. Hopefully I can get myself to watch more episodes over time. It'll be slow going, but I've got this. Hopefully. Wish me luck. Until next time!

#Chibi Watches #chibi watches v3d #voltron the third dimension #V3D #chibi writes

[wolves-etc]

thoughts on The Last Of Us episode eight (uh-oh), largely in the order I had them:

[thoughts on: 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | X | 1.9]

[for folks not familiar with the episode: content warning for vague references to grooming, CSA and rape]

— I've heard vague things about this ep - nothing specific, just Oh Boy There May Be A Lot Here - so I'm starting off wearing socks this time in case of spooky moments and with a hot chocolate to ward off angst. let's do this.

— I'm really growing to appreciate how impressively fleshy the fungus in the title credits is

— for a moment there the revelations bible reading with a girl starting to sob in the background felt like a mass suicide rapture cult thing about to happen, but THANK FUCK, it looks like they're just grieving.

— "just"

— the necessary practicality of "the ground is too cold to dig, we'll bury your father in the spring," and the extra grief that comes with the interruption of a ritual we use to acknowledge someone's death and start to move on from it.

— y'know it's nice that we get some interesting faces on here - faces a little outside the standard range of TV attractiveness. I sent my friend a few screenshots to point this out and express appreciation and I'm being treated to an update on all the actors in this who were voice actors for the games. it's very cool and i approve.

— "I sensed doubt" as an accusation from a religious leader (even if it's about his role more broadly as a community leader) makes me feel pretty stabby, not gonna lie

— I think that was pus on joel's wound and honestly kudos to the show for showing it! it's not leaning into the gore super much - netflix does that for shock value, I think, and to emphasise the, well, casual violence of the casual violence - but this kinda just feels realistic.

— ellie telling joel she's gonna be right back, I think more for herself than for him </3

— oh her nose and cheeks do not look good. I had to reassure myself she's been travelling with joel in that weather for A While now and probably knows what to look out for in the cold, but ouch.

— there's this nice thing here where we KNOW she was in military school and she can fire a gun, but joel still had to give her pointers; we know she's hardy and can fight well, but still doesn't know much about hunting, still makes noise when she walks and falls on her face and is clearly trying but will need luck if she's going to succeed.

— also I'm pretty sure that was an infected noise.

— or apparently not.

— impromptu rifle range!! you go, girl!

— oh no

— ellie's clearly not holding the rifle in a way that would LET her shoot them right between the eyes and they're so clearly humouring her a bit and it's this really odd mix of "she's genuine danger" and "this is just child-wrangling and children can be volatile"

— good enough with guns to know how to deload the others' rifles though

(still not sure what the correct term for deloading is - unloading just sounds like you're firing the damn thing everywhere. my friend suggested "decocking." which is just great. /s)

— "I actually started believing after the world ended." yeowch

— "so you went from teacher to preacher 'cos what, it fuckin' rhymes?" "yeah, exactly."

THIS IS SWEET OH NO yeah of course he was a teacher, he's got that good-at-kids vibe. (as opposed to good with kids, admittedly.)

— (my friend said that was an interesting distinction. I said: "he's good at reading and understanding her, knowing most of her threat is bravado but taking it seriously anyway, but he's not relating to her. there's a potential for manipulation - trying to get her to do what he wants or needs from her. which in this case would be handing over all or most of the meat.")

((listen. it was mostly vibes but this show is good at vibes.))

— I'm sorry is this dude a preacher advocating for revenge murder 'cos holy fuck I'm gonna knock him unconscious with his own holy book

— had to pause to be very angry at this for a moment because hi the "god put this murder opportunity in front of me, isn't that nice of him" line of thinking is. bad very bad it's very very bad

— he got an entire deer out of the bargain and he's still going to devote resources to vengeance, isn't he, the motherfucker

— ellie not knowing how to give joel the penicillin is so REAL. she really is very competent! she's also a fourteen-year-old with minimal life experience and education and her caregiver and relative expert in these things is currently incapacitated. I really hope she didn't just inject a fatal amount into his liver or something.

— lying down with a hand on his chest oh fuck

— "what is [the meat]?" "…venison." I really hope that guy looks naturally shifty.

— at least it's not like it could be random people meat or something

…oh fuck

oh fucking fuck fuck NO

"we'll bury his body in the spring" YEAH SURE I'M SURE THAT GUY JUST NATURALLY LOOKS SHIFTY AND IT'S FINE. look I can't even judge them for making this call to survive but it's fucking grim.

— excuse me he did fucking NOT just slap a teenager so hard he knocked her to the floor

okay now I'm starting to get why the mood in that community is so fucking atrocious. they're scared of him and he's using that fear to keep things working.

— "bless us with christ, the living bread" while they're sitting down for a meal of human is especially grim

— I'm glad ellie hasn't forgotten about the horse 'cos I kinda did

— I do like this show's quiet moments

— "how dare you decide that the girl dying is god's will. I decide what deaths are god's will." (paraphrased. but listen. I know evil preacher dude hasn't actually said he wants joel dead, but I can tell what he means by justice will, eventually, be death, even if he puts on a big show about coming to that decision grudgingly.)

— hang on I need to get some knife emojis in here 🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️

— ellie breaking my fucking heart here with her instructions to joel

— okay I did admittedly expect her to be more subtle but yelling "hey, motherfuckers!" and shooting at them IS very her

— I'm a wimp about some things so asked my friend for assurance that they don't take joel captive.

I didn't even think to ask whether they'd get ellie.

— (when I find myself in times of trouble helena from orphan black comes to me, speaking no words of wisdom but rather dealing with whoever needs to be dealt with then setting the place on fire.)

— at this point and for my own comfort I looked up just enough to know that joel and ellie are free and alive at the beginning of the next episode.

— "did you hear me say the others want to kill you?" "yeah." "but I stopped them." "fuck you." ellie <3 <3 <3

— yeah he's being sorta condescending here I called it. talking down to her and trying to bully her into doing what he wants. I'd actually like him better if he were taking the straightforward tess approach of "please be honest with us so we can figure out whether you're worth transporting as cargo."

— ellie's fear at the end of that first cage scene is brutal. major props to the actress and holy shit I'm glad she's still defiant (the fight response to immediate danger is kinda less painful to watch, for me) but fuck.

— JOEL IS SUCH A COMFORT TO SEE RIGHT NOW

— and now it's a torture scene and honestly still such a comfort. love a character who'll threaten to pop someone's kneecap off in defence of a child.

— the deeply inappropriate joy I felt when joel got the guy to point out the location with the knife shoved in his mouth

— "it'd better be the exact same spot your buddy points to" holy SHIT he did this earlier, with the nice hermit couple who gave him soup, this is practised and familiar

that's a heck of an insight into the kind of stuff he used to do and I'm not even sure what to feel about it

— …what's ellie seen

— THAT'S WHAT ELLIE'S SEEN

— can this guy not talk about cordyceps like I talk about cordyceps please. like yes it ISN'T evil yes it IS just multiplying and protecting itself and its progeny but shut up I don't want to agree with you

I guess I'd argue for its inherent amorality more than its goodness anyway. what the fuck, dude.

— "I'm a shepherd surrounded by sheep" you absolute motherfucker, a shepherd can't keep their sheep in fear or they can't do their fucking job. yes I'm pretending to know a lot more about sheep than I do for the sake of a grudge. WHAT OF IT.

— "if he leaves us in peace, they will just let him go." bastard knows exactly what he's doing.

— this dude appealing to ellie "as an equal" is deeply fucking creepy. I know I said I'd prefer the tess approach but THIS IS NOT THE TESS APPROACH. this is the creepy groomer approach. this is the "I want to manipulate you into being my attack dog" approach.

— okay I said creepy groomer as a fucking metaphor. look, this show did such a good job NOT leaning into the standard post-apoc rape and creepiness tropes that I straight up forgot creeps like that could exist here.

that in the context of him having "violence in his heart" that he struggled to come to terms with, and having been a school teacher, I-

— "tell them that ellie is the little girl who broke your fucking finger." holy shit I love her I love her I lo

— I know it's bravado I know she's scared but I love her and joel's coming to get her

— WHEN I ASKED MY FRIEND EARLY ON WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF ELLIE BIT SOMEONE I DIDN'T EXPECT IT TO ACTUALLY HAPPEN. YOU GO GIRL

— YES, GIRL

— …I think the fact that this show didn't lean into the turbo-boosted-rape-culture tropes that are so typical for the genre makes it so much fucking creepier when it. actually happens.

— the triumph of ellie managing to kill him is a lot, the tragedy of ellie having to kill him is a lot, her terror and violation as she just, can't stop stabbing is. so much.

— JOEL

— JOEL AND ELLIE JOEL AND ELLIE

— "it's okay, baby girl. I got you."

— I love them both so much I love them both so much I lov

#not tagging the TWs but mind the warning at the top #long one this time! and I'm sparing y'all most of the angst in the screenshots. #the last of us hbo #the last of us spoilers #tlou spoilers #angst tag #orig #this ep was a lot it was so much actually. possibly too much. #leaving the one positive comment in near the beginning is causing me pain #but I tacitly promised the liveblogging-but-better experience so here you go

[signalwatch]

Raquel Watch Party Watch: Kansas City Bomber (1972)

Watched:  02/17/2023

Format:  Amazon Watch Party

Viewing:  First

Decade:  1970's

Director:  Jerrold Freedman

So...  Picking movies for Friday watch parties is always a challenge.  We talk over the movies, so it can't be anything too complicated.  It has to be fun because we're not watching a movie on a Friday to be miserable - and that's not the vibe for riffing, anyway.  

While Raquel Welch is an international icon, and I wanted to use the Watch Party to celebrate her the week of her passing, and thus I was also looking to find a movie in which she played the lead.  Plus, I like Roller Derby.  So, I picked Kansas City Bomber (1972), not really knowing much about it.  But that is not to say that I saw the trailers and was not dazzled that the romantic co-star was Kevin McCarthy.  I mean... 

Look, I'm not a an expert on 1970's filmmaking, but there are some various strains of what happened during the decade, and I don't think it's entirely a mistake that by the early 1980's we pivoted and movies have built on what some directors were doing during the 70's while what others were doing shows up in indie film but isn't what makes mainstream film or blockbusters.  You can love Altman, but meandering movies with sprawling casts and confusing audio are not still super in vogue.  

Kansas City Bomber (1972) could have been a fun movie about the wacky world of pro-Roller Derby, a third-tier sport that mixed actual competition with pro-wrestling hucksterism, ginned up rivalries and general ludicrousness.  But this is 1972, and someone decided this movie needed to be a working class drama about a woman who rolls away from the life built on certain expectations that didn't work out.  She's more or less abandoned her two kids from a failed marriage to live with her mother and she's making a living as a regional Roller Derby pro, a career that literally can't pay much.  Which really just opens the door to all sorts of questions like:  but why?  and... what for?  and... does this really pay any better than literally any other job?  

It's a movie that - like a particular flavor of 1970's movie - believes we're to just catch snatches of conversations and bits of story with a sort of fly-on-the-wall observation of the characters more than ever being right alongside them.  And, because our hero, KC (Welch) never says what's going on with her, it's a lot of inference.  Which, as it turns out, is pretty tricky when it comes to movies and characters.  We can kind of infer, gather and guess as to how KC is doing, what she wants, etc...  but you're never really on sure footing.  I'll argue, this can be done well.  This ain't it.

The end result is that you get the feeling Raquel Welch, who is a good actor, is doing her best to turn in a performance as a lead - a messy, imperfect protagonist - and you're watching someone from thirty feet away through a screen door.  The journey her character is on is hazy - it feels more episodic than a clear through-line as we try on some montage filmmaking.

Anyway, I like Kevin McCarthy.  He's been a big part of making me enjoy many-a-movie.  He is a supremely weird choice for the romantic interest for KC.  He's got 26 years on her, and isn't exactly Tyrone Power and seems like a walking red flag (in this film).  

The movie wants to show the They Shoot Horses, Don't They? lifestyle of the blue-collar world of Roller Derby.  To that end we get a few predictable and not well fleshed out b-plots, like Jackie - the former hot skater who has lost her crown to Welch and is now drinking heavily.  We have the Lenny-like Hank who has "doomed" written all over him because he is nice and not corrupt and exists to be a cautionary lesson to KC.  I assumed Jackie would be the necessary "has a bad night and KC watches and then we never see the character again" character, but it was Hank.

BECAUSE ROLLER DERBY WILL DESTROY YOU.  

Anyway, I appreciate what everyone thought they were doing.  It's a shame it isn't a great movie because it has pretentions of being one. But this was kind of that era of film school grads deciding they were going to make "realistic" films, and with budgets what they were, we got Hal Ashby movies and even Scorsese films.  And some of that works.  And you have a whole lot don't work for audiences in 2023, I suppose.  Or me, I guess.

If you're looking for a movie with well-drawn characters about Roller Derby, just watch Whip It!  You'll be happier.

Does Welch look amazing in a roller derby uniform?  Sir, that is not a serious question.  Do I buy that she'd throw an elbow or knock someone over?  I assume she did that, anyway, without direction.  

Anyway, I wish I'd picked 100 Rifles, but here we are.  I'll watch that one later.

https://ift.tt/9xy0goZ

from The Signal Watch https://ift.tt/De8E6Am

[moviewarfare]

A Review of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)”

I enjoyed the first Doctor Strange film even though it followed the same format of superhero origin stories. The exploration of the magic side was just an interesting aspect of the universe and I just love how they portrayed it visually. So I was gutted when the director of the original, Scott Derrickson, left the project. However, it was then revealed that legendary director Sam Raimi, director of the Evil Dead and Spider-Man trilogy, would direct it and I was super excited again. So does it deliver a multiverse of fun or is it a multiverse of dullness?

Firstly, this is definitely a Sam Raimi movie. All the usual flairs that you would expect from him are completely in here and I love it. The stylistic way he shoots a scene, the way he portrays New York feels like what he did in Spider-Man, the slight goofiness, the horror elements and jump scares are all here. There are some great visuals during the magic sequence and multiverse stuff. There are also some horrific scenes that genuinely surprised me as it felt too gruesome for a PG 13 movie. It's a Sam Raimi film through and through and his direction elevates this movie to new heights.

There are also some great action set pieces that were very creative and a blast to watch. The music is composed by Danny Elfman and he does a great job. There is a fun action sequence with the use of music and Danny does a great job with the music score to illustrate that battle. The actors are also all doing a great job. Benedict Cumberbatch is still the perfect Doctor Strange and delivers on every scene. I also love how he portrays the other Doctor Strange variants from other universes. Benedict Wong is great and his chemistry with the other Benedict is still fun to watch. Rachel McAdams returns as Christine but unlike the first film she has more to do this time and I appreciate that since she is wonderful in the role. Xochitl Gomez is good as America Chavez and I like her interaction with Doctor Strange. The other supporting cast does a good job as well even with their small screen time. The biggest standout is Elisabeth Olsen as Wanda. She does a phenomenal job in her performance. I just love how she did in every scene from the emotional to the scary. She is the core of this film.

However, that is also part of the reason I didn't enjoy the story as much. For a movie titled Doctor Strange, he isn't even the complete focus of the plot as he shares equal screen time with Wanda as well as having to share it with America Chavez as well. All 3 of them have story arcs but none are done to a satisfying degree. Strange still loves Christine, Wanda still loves her children, and Chavez doesn't trust Strange and this is their character for almost the whole of the movie. They all lack proper characterization and depth which makes them all feel one dimensional. Chavez ends up feeling like a MacGuffin for the plot and a person to spout exposition, rather than an interesting foil to Strange or Wanda. There is also a pacing drop around the second act where it is just a lot of walking and talking which went on for a bit too long. Ended up making the movie feel longer than it is. The ending is also great and very Sam Raimi but the mid-credit scene just undoes any impact of the ending and that is such a shame.

Overall, I am thrilled by the return of Sam Raimi to the superhero genre. While the screenplay lets the movie down a bit, Sam Raimi was still able to make this movie feel unique. It's clear that the MCU didn't restrain Sam's wackiness and I am glad about that. Thanks to his amazing direction and the terrific performance from the cast, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ends up being extremely fun to watch.

For more reviews like this visit:

moviewarfarereviews.blogspot.com/

#movies #films #movie review #Film Review #MCU #marvel cinematic universe #marvel #Avengers #doctor strange #doctor strange 2 #doctor strange in the multiverse of madness #Scarlet Witch #wandavision

[if-th3n-else]

This episode is a masterpiece. It’s obviously the best Machine’s POV episode. I love how the writers slowly showed us how the Machine works through the seasons, and how over time she really became a full character of her own and not just... a machine. We grow attached to her, but this episode is really the one I knew I would love her unconditionally. The flashbacks with Harold explaining why she’s making this decision today. She runs all the simulations she can, and delete every ones who have one her team members dying. To her all lives have the same value, that’s what Harold taught her and she listened and she learnt. She’s not a super efficient computer because she has access to all electronics devices to spy on, she’s very efficient because she knows what to do with the informations she get. We’ve seen multiple times flashbacks showing us that learning, and more specifically learning the value of human life is the central point Harold focused on to create Her. And damn did he made an absolute marvelous job. Harold is such a genius. So in the end she decides to pick the option were they all have about 2% of chances of survival. You’d think it’s a bad choice, but first of all she doesn’t have time to calculate billions of possibilities, and second she does pick the option that one, assure the success of Her plan, because if they’d die without even succeeding in what they’re supposed to do here in the first place, then what’s the point? Two, they all have equal chances of surival. Sure these chances are low, but she doesn’t prioritize one human life over another one, not even her own creator. And that’s why I love her so much.

But not only that, on a lighter note, she does know her team so well it’s amazing. Not lighter, but the fact that she knows all of them would sacrifice themselves in no time makes me want to throw myself into the void. But also how she guesses all their little talks, sassy remarks etc. The fact that she decide to lose precious seconds to save a freaking painting because she knows Harold would appreciate it 😩 And when she simplifies the simulation with simple descriptive responses for each characters, and it’s exactly the tone and type of responses they would use!!! Poetic cinema. Also hat off to the actors for acting this without bursting into laughter. Also when she makes Lionel kiss Root for no reason and you can see through the characters’ reactions that she, herself, is like “this doesn’t make any sense”. Honestly the whole thing looks like reading the scenario. You have the basis of what the writers chose for their characters. And let’s not forget that the Machine is Shoot number one shipper. They were literally no good reason for her to make that discussion between Root and Shaw in the simulation. What is the purpose to her calculation? There’s none. But she chose to incorporate it, because one: she has eyes and hears everywhere and she obviously can’t fucking miss the obvious, not to mention she probably had to deal with Root more than anyone else in the show, so she knows better than anyone else. Let’s not talk about the “Maybe someday”, this lesbian cannot stand that phrase anymore without wanting to throw myself over the window. Anyway, the Machine is like, they better be talking their feelings out or I will take matter in my own hands. Yet she did not betray Shaw’s characters and chose the appropriate response for her. Dismissing her feelings dfdfezeff

And then we’re back to reality. I remember when I first watched this episode I was so shocked the first time we see Finch dying before we understand it’s a simulation. Like I went completely unresponsive for at least five minutes trying to process what was happening. This time, the second the first simulation hit, I was already crying lmao and basically I watched the whole episode with tears in my eyes. Probably cause I knew what was going to happen, but seeing the Machine’s process, it really feels like she’s not just calculating, but she’s having a mental breakdwon calculating. Remember how in the flashback she was scared to make the first move in the chess game because she was afraid of making the wrong move? Yes. That’s what I’m telling when I say this show is absolutely insane. And when Shaw finally appears and you can see the percentage rising up, like first time I was like “YES YES YES” and this time I was like “NO”. Also the fact that Shaw has the queen role. The most powerful piece in chess, she can change the whole game, she can move the way other can’t, and she’s a very important piece to win the game, but that doesn’t mean she has to survive the whole game. But in that case, it wasn’t the Machine’s choice, it’s Shaw who came and chose to sacrifice herself to make sure everyone else would get out of here alive. And the fact that she admits having feeling to Root just like the Machine predicted, not by words but by kissing her... I need another full year to recover. Look, I know what happens to Shaw, I know it but it’s so well done. That’s how you write a great end for a character. Just like **** But yes it still makes me wants to lay on the ground. And I vividly taking lot of episodes before admitting it was not another simulation.

Also this episode is just great in general. The visuals, with the slow motions effects, the close ups, all of it, it’s absolutely gorgeous and emphasize the whole drama of the episode. And Fortune Days. Damn that song. All picks on this show always fit so well. But this one fits particularly well. First of all it’s literally from a band called The Glitch Mob, which is already fitting enough for the Machine, but the song is structured like it’s restarting multiple times, like the Machine re evaluate her option. I don’t know who picked it but they deserve a raise just for that decision.

Anyway that was my love letter to this episode but also I want to die.

Sorry about the misspelling and shit, it’s 1am and I’m having thoughts.

#poi #if-then-else #next time i'll be talking about root having beef with the maching one single time throughout the whole show #and it's about shaw #but first i need to recover

[needtherapy]

Liu Haikuan and an unnamed violin.

#liu haikuan #cql cast #the untamed cast #the untamed #cql #mdzs #mo dao zu shi #if you know where these came from feel free to tell me #I’m always happy to credit #I super appreciate it when an actor does a shoot just for me #also featuring: hands

[eyrieofsynapses]

Redemption Panel Highlights and Reactions

GATORS

i.e., Beth Riesgraf and Christian Kane (mostly Beth) talking about filming the scenes in (what I presume is) The Rollin’ on the River Job, where they’re pulling some stuff out of the water, and finding out the next day that there was an absolutely massive alligator pulled out of the same place just a little while after they filmed it

Beth’s impression of the wildlife folks warning them about the alligators

Beth scaring the hell out of Noah Wyle by yelling “GATOR” at him just after he finished his scene

seriously that was an absolutely WILD part of the panel

Everyone showering Aleyse Shannon with literally all the love!

Aldis Hodge in particular big-brothering her, and also the older actors calling her out for not giving herself enough credit, and Dean Devlin talking about how she blew him away at the auditions with her ability to turn on a dime

Seeing Kane with his glasses off wiping at his eyes, momentarily thinking “you okay dude?” and then realizing that he was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes

(same)

The The Bucket Job clip! I’ve been a bit meh on a lot of Redemption, just in how it didn’t feel quite right, but that is possibly the absolute closest I’ve seen it get to the original in the best way. Brilliant

Which comes as no surprise since BETH RIESGRAF directed the episode!!! And apparently put an insane amount of effort in!

Beth’s utter delight and joy at both directing the episode and having the crew behind her

THE CHAIR

So apparently she and Christian went to town on the fight scene and he winds up tied up in a chair somewhere along the line and there’s a whole wild scene, which I am really looking forward to

Beth knowing how insanely particular he’d be about things like zip ties vs rope and what kind of rope e.t.c. e.t.c.

Apparently this is also tied into a VERY DEEP scene with Eliot? It sounds like they’re going to go super hard on his backstory, which is terrifyingly exciting

Just. Beth and Christian going very hard on that episode together

Speaking of: the panel’s going amazingly, I’m laughing so hard my stomach hurts, things are relatively light, and then, of fucking course—

Kane hitting us over the head about Eliot being a mass murderer who can’t be redeemed, is trying to stay static so that he can maintain the place he’s in, and is thus LIVING VICARIOUSLY THROUGH HARRY

What the FUCK. This is of course incredibly insightful and perfectly on point (because it’s Kane) but also, EXCUSE ME, OUCH, why would you DO THAT to us?

Everyone talking about having their families on set and their kids!

Beth’s son growing up on the original Leverage set and now going into being a director himself!

Gina’s daughter also growing up on set!

Noah Wyle’s daughter is playing Harry’s daughter I REPEAT NOAH WYLE’S ACTUAL DAUGHTER IS PLAYING AS HARRY’S DAUGHTER

Gina Bellman remaining relatively stoic throughout much of the panel (seriously, this woman, how the heck does she do it) and then losing it when they’re asked about running/inside jokes

A lot of them are, of course, apparently not appropriate to be spoken on-panel

(A lot of the others are the little inside ones that are special enough not to be ones they want to share, which is sweet!)

Everyone collectively losing it over having LeVar Burton on for The Bucket Job

Devlin and everyone laughing about collecting the various Star Trek people on Leverage

Beth talking about Burton coming over while she’s getting ready and asking her if she’s living on coffee and water, her laughing because he was absolutely right, and then him gently reminding her to remember to eat, which is the sweetest thing in the world oh my gods

Kane apparently choreographing an intense scene with Burton and being scared out of his mind, because Burton really wanted to go for it, but to Kane it was like he’s a figurine that’s not to be messed with because he was so worried about hurting him

Kane choreographing a massive amount of the show, which I knew already, but seriously, this guy blows me away

Gina and the crew talking about how he’d be away for a day of shooting a fight and all of them would be missing him and thinking about him

Family Vibes

Everyone talking about how they’re very noisy and loud together on set and it’s a bit like walking into a group of people having Christmas dinner (or something to that effect) because they’re just Like That together

Aleyse being the most surprised by Beth when she met her because she was like a little angel of light during the auditions but turned out to be an absolute ball of wild energy on set

Gina going “wait you were a MODEL” at Beth

Aldis talking about how much he loved how Parker and Hardison’s relationship had developed and grown!

Also, Aldis apologizing when the New York (iirc) background noise got loud and everyone going “no no we get you”

His outfit is ON POINT today

Gina saying that Christian is the goofiest and wildest out of them in terms of humor

(she goes “some of you may not know this,” which, fair, but also, if you’ve seen more than ten minutes of this guy outside of character you know he’s an absolute ball of sunshine)

Gina, Beth, and Christian talking about how they’d challenge each other to stay off sweets back on the original set, because they knew they needed to stay in shape and also just because they’re competitive (apparently all of them are major sweet tooths) and hide brownies and things from each other, while Aldis is just. doing pushups. eating all the healthy stuff. and then wanders into the room with a literal cupful of chocolates

(and Aldis going “well yeah I have to work off the sweets SOMEHOW”)

Beth explaining that sometimes they’d order a “Kane burrito” from Christian and he’d alter it slightly

Like, you know, chopping up hot jalapenos super fine and mixing them in, and Beth practically not being able to talk after the first bite

Apparently Aldis still went back a lot even after that

(Christian just seems very pleased with himself over it)

(THESE PEOPLE)

Gina goes “hey we should have an episode where we all swap roles,” Devlin going “WAIT FOR SEASON ONE TO BE DONE,” and then somebody (maybe the moderator?? I don’t remember exactly) going “uh actually. We did that”

Cue immediate scramble of “WAIT WHICH JOB WAS THAT”

(paraphrasing) “Yeah you remember the bit where you put on Parker’s harness and went off a building?”

Turns out half the cast had actually forgotten that that existed and only remember when reminded

The original cast all think of the episodes as “jobs”!!!!

Everyone talking over each other, Devlin going “it was with Sterling when we blew up the offices,” deciding that it was the season one finale, and then trying to figure out what episode title it was (eventually they figure out it’s the David jobs)

Moderator and Devlin accurately commenting that the fans know the show much better than they do

Noah Wyle very correctly explaining how Electric Entertainment is like a family and Devlin just. Keeps people

Aleyse and Aldis talking about typing when they’re hacking and going “WHAT THE HECK DO WE TYPE”

Aldis goes “yeah I just type all the bad words that we’re not allowed to say”

Aleyse saying that she’s always a little worried they’re hiding a Word document behind the blue screen and they’re going to pull up what she’s typing at the end of the day and print it out and put it in her trailer going “what the HECK is this”

Noah talking about filming The Golf Job and just getting to direct Jason Marsters and Christian together

Apparently their dynamic in that episode accurately mirrors the one with their characters in Angel!

Which promptly goes straight to the comment that it was very hard to make Marsters look like a golfer (pfft)

(Also apparently Christian plays golf for fun with his friends? Not necessarily something I would’ve thought of!)

Aleyse happily talking about how she loved the dynamic on set and it was very different from what she was used to

Also Aleyse talking about doing stunts and everyone else praising her for going whole hog

Beth especially praising her for the bit where she’s hit with the paralysis injection (I don’t remember which ep it’s from) and her acting for it, because it was incredibly hard to drop off screen in the particular way she did

Aleyse promptly answers that she was terrified with some of those, especially one where she had to keep a clock from falling and breaking

Everyone discussing how they see a new aspect of Breanna’s character in The Train Job

Also, to get serious for a moment, Kate Rorick in particular talks about how Breanna’s part of Gen Z and how we didn’t get the “days of yore” where everything was chill. We’ve basically been living in a world of hostility the whole time. It’s something I deeply appreciate, as someone who’s part of that group, and I love how they emphasize that for us.

This panel was pure chaos and I loved every moment of it! My stomach was actually hurting from laughing so hard, I swear. They had me cackling well over half the time. I would happily take panels double or triple the length of this, this was amazing. I also adore how the second you drop these six people in a room together, they immediately take off and literally just run and give you everything you wanted and more. (It is also evidently very hard to get them to STOP talking.)

I’m also just going to stop and take a second to fawn over the effects for the 3D room. It’s gorgeous—I love how they replicated the headquarters, especially with the stained glass ceilings! Super impressive, especially with all the photos, and I just love the whole thing. Kudos to whoever put that together.

Anyway, I’m definitely missing some stuff too; seriously, there wasn’t a second wasted in this thing, they were cracking some kind of joke or dropping some really interesting piece of information practically every thirty seconds. (And I haven’t even gotten into the clips OR the bloopers. I miiiight do a separate reaction purely for those.) It’s still up right now if you missed it and you want to watch it! I’ll probably watch it again, honestly.

#leverage #leverage redemption #leverage redemption panel #synapse reacts

[smutty-ki113r]

🎥It’s been so long 🎥||

Comfort one-shot reader x creepy pastas (Slenderman, Jeff, Toby, E.J, BEN, Sally, Masky, Hoodie, Jane and L.J.) ((Beauty and the beast spoilers))

Inspired by: The living tombstone

The following morning you got ready to go to Hollywood studios. It was pretty chilly so you wore a jacket, bunched up in the car with everyone else. On the way there BEN wouldn’t stop talking about the new Star Wars exhibits.

Parking in one of the spots you all rode the tram to bring you to the entrance. All of the creeps stood in awe at the decorations at the entrance. Slender had to shoo them to disperse before they could hold up the other people coming in. Jeff looked irritated, probably cause he left his knife at the hotel as instructed.

A lot of people were dressed as people from the 50’s and such for Halloween weekend. Some of them gave strange looks at your groups’ costumes, but there was definitely compliments too. At least L.J was happy because there were less annoying children.

First up was the tower of terror, which you guys had a hard time finding since it was to the farther side of the park. BEN kept whining that he wanted to go to the Star Wars rides, but Jeff and you were pretty headstrong on wanting to go on this one.

The line was long too, about an hour in the hot Florida sun. Thankfully it was windy, and you sat on the ledges for the wait. Hoodie and Sally opted out since she was too short and he had a slight fear of heights. Slender could actually fit this time so he was pretty excited.

Jeff was pretty restless the whole time, fiddling with his hands in his hoodie pocket. BEN sat next to you on the ledge with his head on your shoulder, he seemed tired. Probably because he brought his Nintendo and played it all night even though you advised him not to.

Eventually you all made it inside where you looked at the “spooky” decorations. If slender had a face he would have one of disgust at the cobwebs. There was no comparison to his mansion, not creepy at all -in his opinion.

“Spooky does not mean unclean” he kept muttering to you guys telepathically.

Jeff rolled his eyes and Masky nodded his head, his arms crossed as you guys moved along. Then you were moved in to a separate room to watch some recording giving a backstory to the hotel. You were really focused on the video, there was even ominous music in the background.

There was this annoying whirr in your ear, you had to swat off the wind blowing on it. If the place really was haunted you were the victim. You felt a pair of hands grab your waist and you jolted, looking behind to find a cackling BEN.

“YOU SHIT” You slapped his arm- obviously- he deserved it.

He kept trying to fend you off until Masky gave both of you a really dangerous look. At least you didn’t need to be scared of ghosts anymore, Masky was the scariest thing there. Plus, BEN wasn’t exactly a terrifying ghost with those cute ears of his.

Finally it was time to get on the ride, slender looked really excited in his own way. He had his hands over his lap, the seatbelt buckled securely. You sat on the end with Jeff next to you and BEN next to him and then Toby after.

LJ was on the row behind you with Masky and EJ, you gave them a look as the cart moved. Then the doors opened and there was a stiff in the movement. Abruptly it shot upward, staying still for a second. You got to look at the beautiful view of the whole park before it dropped.

You felt your stomach drop as you clenched your hands on the handles, screaming along with LJ in the back. Glancing at him you saw the feathers on his shoulders fly up at the fall, Slender had his arms up, it was adorable. Toby was CRYING, holding onto the handles for dear life just like you.

After a few times of rising and going down Jeff started yelling at BEN, “STOP TAMPERING WITH THE CONTROLS”

“I’M NOT” he screached, holding onto his hat and trying to shake off a clingy Jeff. The outdoor daylight flashing onto his face, making his wide smiling face illuminate.

“STOP IT BEN” he kept repeating until there was one last drop. He gave a sigh of relief.

The people on the opposite rows looked mortified, scooting past you as you checked the pictures. They were absolutely hilarious, Jeff was gripping on for dear life to BEN, with Slender blocking the family in the back row and there was an open mouth shot of you.

It was a bit dizzying, so you held onto BEN until you regained your balance. He was a bit shocked too, a look of terror displayed at how Jeff yelled at him 50 feet in the air. Toby was pretty petrified too, his ticking increased and you had to rub him on the back to calm him down.

“I liked it” E.J said, shrugging at the picture and moving to the exit. Masky agreed with him, going to find his buddy Brian outside.

Toby needed something to take his mind off of the ride, so you took him and Sally to the Beauty and the Beast show. E.J tagged along too, which was pretty bizarre but hey maybe he liked theatre. The others went to the guitar ride while you waited for the next show to start.

The four of you sat in a back row to have the whole view of the stage. Needless to say that Toby and Sally really enjoyed themselves listening to the actors sing. When the conflict started Sally got anxious and you had to hold her in your lap.

Jack was quieter than usual watching the show, occasionally shushing Toby’s whimpers so he could concentrate. Gaston got on stage and started singing about killing the beast. You looked over at EJ who had his fists balled up in rage, he was really getting into it.

Giving a snarl when Gaston killed the beast but a huff of approval when he turned out to be okay. He didn’t say it but he kinned the beast, and he secretly wanted the happy ending. When the show ended you could have sworn there was tar rolling down his mask, you have him a little pat of affection.

He smiled at you under his blue mask and stood up, excusing himself for a moment. You shrugged as he went behind the stage, probably to get a snack. Leaving the gaston actor with one less kidney than when he started the show.

Then you pushed him out of there with the other two creeps, going across the road to find the rest of the group at the guitar ride. Slender was outside waiting with Hoodie and Jane, Sally ran up to give him a hug.

“They’re in the line for another round” he sighed, “go join them” he called to you and E.J.

You swerved through the other people, excusing yourself because you had to find your group. They told you all about how exciting it was, in the dark and super fast. Jeff was ranting, impatient once again. When you got inside BEN played with the marbles on the door, Masky was shooting him a disapproving look.

Jeff and BEN went in the cart in front of you, you went with L.J who wouldnt stop grinning. It would have been creepy if you weren’t used to it, but the lady making sure you were buckled seemed pretty terrified. Masky and E.J were behind you.

The car took off with a blast, music bursting in your ears as it climbed the tracks. You were overwhelmed with glowing decorations and unplanned curves, taking loopdy loops and hearing BEN and Jeff scream in delight.

You had to give heavy pants when it finished, catching your breath from all your screaming. You laughed along with L.J, whose hair was messed up. Reaching over to make it neater as the cart reached the exit point. The pictures made you cackle, especially since Masky and E.J on the same row had the same void expression.

After that you all headed to the toy story world. Admiring the green army soldiers and amazing childish scenery on the buildings. There were giant abc building blocks and gears making it seem like you had really shrunk.

Upon seeing the Toy Story mania BEN was teething. For some reason Jane too.

Finding out soon enough when she made you ride with her. Basically it was you and Jane in one cart with Jeff and BEN in the next.

She ignored the objective of the game and instead focused on shooting Jeff with the lasers. You kept telling her she had to shoot them at the targets but she shoved you off.

“I need to shoot this fucker” Jane kept muttering.

“You’ll never get me Jane!” Jeff yelled back.

Jeff aimed his cart towards you guys and started fighting back with the light filled lasers. You and BEN looked at each other like 😐, it was useless to break them up.

So you tried to win as much points as you cold but eventually BEN got more, he probably cheated. He did a little victory dance as you exited, you would definitely hold that against him later.

Slender wanted to go on the movie ride, which Jeff protested against but he wasn’t given much of a choice. Slender really liked the infographics and the interactives. Appreciating the realistic scenarios from the Indiana Jones movie and the Wild West.

Jeff did have a laughing fit when he saw the Alien from the Alien movie, saying it looked just as bald as slender. You were sure to give him a smack at that too. Overall though, you all enjoyed it, even Masky did too.

Next was the muppet show, so you all headed that way. While you all waited for the next viewing to start Toby was playing with the 3-D glasses. He kept walking with his arms out and pretending to be dizzy. Then he started “accidentally” bumping into Masky, poor Masky.

Thankfully for him, the doors opened and he sat as far as possible from Toby. You were sandwiched in between him and BEN. You guys lightly chattered until the lights dimmed and you had to put on your glasses.

L.J was having a laughing attack during the show, joined by Sally who actually really liked it. Then there was a part where the little muppet started spitting water, landing onto the audience. Now here was the part where a certain someone started screeching like a little girl, and it wasn’t Sally.

Benny was shivering in fear trying to cower on the floor, your ears rung as you tried to calm him down. You had to assure him like 20 times for him to come back, drying his seat so he could go back. Jeff was laughing but you quickly shut him up.

“It’s gonna be ok BEN, the show’s almost over” you said, giving him your jacket to warm up.

To compensate for BEN’s panic attack you convinced Slender to go to the Star Wars world next. At least BEN was pretty excited for that one, so you managed to diverge his attention to that instead.

His eyes widened and he started jumping up and down when you guys got there. Since there were so many rides you guys started just by walking around. It was pretty incredible, like straight out of the movies.

The architecture was amazing, with rusted technological buildings and the makeshift rocky terrain. The roofs of each buildings were domes, most of them were circular and extraterrestrial.

The stone was so realistic, some the walls were painted with a light aquamarine and some buildings with a yellow. The roofs were made up of a chipped bronze.

Even the ship which stood at the center was unbelievable, Slender made you and BEN take a picture together. You could see the grin of a lifetime on his face follow as you waited in line for the live action ride.

It was so fun! Even slender loved it, he knew he intimidated the storm troopers and if he could grin it would be a smug one. The design of the ride was amazing, the inside was like the real ships.

After you bought BEN a green milk and got a Blue one for yourself. It was sweet on your tongue, cold like a slushee too. You let BEN try yours after he gulped his own down and then he nagged you until you let him have the rest of it.

The next ride was the interactive one, this time you went with Masky and Hoodie. He had been quiet most of the time but this really fired him up. It was a three person ride, the mission was to get to a certain planet in the galaxy while escaping an evil ship.

Masky took all the control on this one, he was the pilot. He put Hoodie as the repair guy and you were the ammo man. He was solely concentrated on maneuvering that ship, swerving left and right like a pro. When the other ship started attacking he began commanding you too.

“SHOOT” he yelled back at you. He sure was bossy sometimes. “ARE YOU SHOOTING?”

“I AM” you said, pushing the button a million miles a minute to see the red laser shoot out on the screen.

Your wrist hurt from how hard you pushed it time and time again. “SHOOT THE GODDAMN SHIP” he said before you landed a good shot and got it out of the way, giving a sigh of relief that he would stop telling you what to do.

Hoodie was on repair duty so he just made sure you guys stayed a flight, silent and concentrated on his task.

Coming out of the Star Wars world you guys moved on to the Indiana Jones show, leaving Toby and Sally at the Frozen sing along with L.J as a chaperone. He was in literal hell, with so many little kids. He did like any reasonable adult and left, leaving the irresponsible person and Sally alone.

The Indiana Jones was one of the evening showings, probably the last one of the day before the main event. The whole thing was really thrilling, full of action and suspense. It was very exciting, and Jeff got a little too hyper.

He saw the weapons and started bouncing his legs on the floor. You eyed him suspiciously for a bit, he got so pumped he started raging. Luckily you covered his mouth before he could start yelling.

The smiling killer gave you a deadly look as he took his illegal knife out if his pocket. The very knife he promised he left at the hotel. You wondered how he snuck it in, probably his pants this time.

“You fucker” you deadpanned, moving out of his knife range. This was all while Indiana Jones was rolling over makeshift buildings with that dramatic music in the background. Thank goodness for the music, or else people would start calling security.

“BEN, E.J, HELP ME” you whisper yelled at them. They took Jeff by the arms and made him calm down, through your hand he gave muffled remarks.

His lidless eyes only widened as swords came into view, he simped over those blades like no other. Pulling and fighting for you to let him go, he wanted to cause rampage with his knife.

“I COULD BEAT THE SHIT” he paused to lick your palm which you made a squirmy face at but refused to let him go “OUT OF THOSE GUYS” you took his knife at this point.

You had to keep him restrained until the show ended, meeting up with the other half of your group then as you were walking to the restroom your group was encountered by a double line of storm troopers.

They stopped to make a round, approaching Masky and E.J, since they had masks. First was E.J, where they interrogated him with questions about if he with the first order cause or not.

“Are you part of the resistance” the trooper asked in a filtered voice.

“No” he said calmly.

“How can we know for sure?” the man in the white suit asked.

“I’m not one of the good guys, trust me” he said with a light chuckle. You laughed a little too and they moved to near Masky.

“Trooper get back in line” they said. You almost levitated, it was so funny you had to take a picture. Side by side his mask kind of resembled the storm troopers’.

“I’m not one of you” he said, boiling with anger as a few other troopers marched their way over to him.

“So you’re a Jedi in disguise then?” Another asked, face inches away from Masky.

“No” he said, the boy was about to burst with rage, too serious to take this as a game and gripping his fanny pack in anger to refrain from punching the guy.

The commander in a black mask passed by and spoke “Cleared”, the troopers dispersed, leaving a less distressed Masky behind.

Jeff was laughing at least, and L.J too, who appeared behind you mysteriously. Slender towered over him and asked where Sally was, the monochromed clown just gave a toothy smile and told him he dropped them off at the little mermaid show.

When that was over you guys got good seats at the fantastmic show, with the exception of BEN who feared water and was still having flashbacks from earlier. He gave rounds on the guitar ride with Jeff who opted to skip out with him, its not like he could sit still any longer too.

You hoped they didn’t kill anyone (they probably did), while the show went on. It was a beautiful display of lights in the water. There was a story told on the mountain and then the dancers came out. You smiled at the sight, it was another heartwarming day spent with the creeps. Holding Sally in your lap as she squealed at the pretty lights you were happy and at peace.

#slenderman #creepypasta #ben drowned #jeff the killer x you #jeff the killer x reader #jeff the killer #slenderverse #ben drowned x reader #masky x reader #creepypasta masky #brian thomas #eyeless jack x you #eyeless jack x reader #eyeless jack #ticci toby #jane the killer #sally williams #creepy

[evanpeterssource]

Evan Peters and Billie Lourd Discuss the Art of Dying Onscreen

BILLIE LOURD: Let me set the scene for you: I’m sitting outside my house in my never-washed car, because that’s the only silent place in my home, and it’s not even in my home. I have a wireless breast pump with me, so if you hear a weird sound, that’s what that is.

PETERS: I’m in my bedroom, currently in my PJs. I worked a night shoot last night and am doing a night shoot again tonight. So, I’m drinking coffee and trying to wake up and get back into it.\

LOURD: I know how that goes. My hands are on my temples for you. Okay, Ev, I’m fucking obsessed with Mare of Easttown. I do not watch any shows because if I ever have free time, it’s usually spent napping or just lying in a silent room. But I failed all my nap times with watching this show. You’re a fucking genius.

PETERS: Thanks Billie. I appreciate it.

LOURD: Tell me the story of how it all came to be.

PETERS: They sent me the script and it said that Kate Winslet was going to be the lead, and that it was an HBO crime drama. So I was like, dude, I’ve got to really work on this one. I did the self-tape thing, so it was super awkward and weird.

LOURD: It was a self-tape? Wow.

PETERS: Yeah, I sent that in, and then the director and writer and showrunner were like, “You want to have some lunch?” And I was like, “They’re going to tell me to redo the tape, I know it.” And then they offered me the part, thankfully.

LOURD: That’s when you know you’re a really good actor, is when you get a part off a self-tape. I’ve never done that.

PETERS: Oh come on, you’re a great actress. You can do that single-tear thing.

LOURD: I do have a single-tear thing!

PETERS: That’s incredibly hard to do.

LOURD: Only when there’s a promise of bratwurst at Krafty’s will I do a single tear. What was the scene that you had to tape?

PETERS: The earlier scenes, where I’m coming in and meeting Mare and she just does not want me there at all.

LOURD: I was going to say, if you had to do that drunk scene, or the breakdown scene, that would be a nightmare. Did you know you were going to die? How did that make you feel? I’m a therapist now.

PETERS: It was a little stressful trying to navigate that. You had a finite amount of time to cram in all this stuff. Because you knew how it was going to go, and you wanted it to have an interesting arc, but… poor Zabes.

LOURD: Dude, it was fucking devastating. Zabel is so sweet, and you’re like, “No, he was on such a fucking upswing!” You’ve gotten shot in the head a couple of times now, which is pretty rare for an actor.

PETERS: Yeah, he’s got to work on that quick draw. But it was a cool scene to shoot. We kind of stretched out time and it was like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, where it was a stare-down, and you’re like, “God, this feels like a really long time to be staring at people.” But Craig, the director, was like, “We’ll edit it. It’ll look good.” And nowadays, everything’s CGI, so back in the day they probably would have used blanks to help with that, but it was just a click. Or the other actor going, “Bang!” and all of a sudden you would have to get shot in the head. And you’re like, “What are we, 12, playing with guns?” It was such an awesome set that they built. They found this property that was like an abandoned bar, with a house on the back. And then set dressing came in and made it that amazing, creepy, disheveled, messed-up house that it was. So it was really cool to be in there and feel like, “Oh my God, we got the guy.”

LOURD: It’s amazing to watch you piece it together and look at each other and hear the pipe banging. It’s so suspenseful. We’ve got to talk about Kate. Can I call her Kate? Should I call her Kate Winslet? She’s so fucking magical. What was that like working with her.

PETERS: I was pretty terrified and nervous and stressed out before meeting her. I’m such a huge fan, and she’s one of the best actresses of all time. But she was so warm and down-to-earth and immediately disarming. What’s really cool is that she’s very collaborative. I thought she was going to be like, “Nope, I’m right. You’re all wrong.” You know, because she’s brilliant. But she was very open to new ideas and exploring things. I found that really reassuring, and surprising, since she’s set at such a high caliber.

LOURD: That’s so cool to hear. I feel like every actor’s dream is to get to work with her. Did you stay in your accents all the time? I always wonder that when people do accents.

PETERS: I was in it the whole time. I’m not good enough of an actor to be able to pop in and out of it. Somebody on set said there are different levels. There’s the learning it, there’s the “I have to stay in it,” and then there’s, “I’m so good that I can pop in and out of it.” Kate was that. She was incredibly English throughout the whole thing. Like [in British accent], “Oh, hi, Zabes. How are you doing babes? You good? Everything good? Okay, great.” And then she’d be like [in Philadelphia accent], “Let’s go get a hoagie. Let’s go down to the shore and check out the store.” I was just like, oh my god. How do you do that?

LOURD: That is so trippy. I don’t think I could do that.

PETERS: No, I could not do that. She’s really impressive that way.

LOURD: What was your favorite scene to do with Kate? I have to stop calling her that. Lady Winslet?

PETERS: There were so many. The bar scene was pretty awesome because it was so improvised.

LOURD: Oh, really?

PETERS: Yeah, it was just kind of fun to be at a bar with Lady Winslet.

LOURD: That’s my dream.

PETERS: But there was another scene that I really liked too: When I first got in the car, and I’m like, “Hey, are we carpooling?” And she’s like, “Ugh, this fucking guy.” And then I get in the car and she slams on the gas and I almost smoke my head. I thought that was really fun because it was one of the earlier scenes that we shot, and it set the tone for how much Mare was annoyed at Zabel being there.

LOURD: How did you do the bar scene? Are you allowed to get drunk?

PETERS: No, you can’t get drunk unfortunately. But I would say I’ve done a ton of research over the years. You know, at a couple of your birthday parties.

LOURD: Would you rather do a death scene or a killing scene?

PETERS: Oh, that’s a hard question. It really depends on how you’re killing or dying. Dying is such a challenge, as an actor.

LOURD: I don’t like dying.

PETERS: It’s so hard. It’s like, how do you do it? And does this look believable? Can they see me breathing? It really depends on how you’re getting killed as well. There’s so many questions and so many ifs.

LOURD: Killing me in American Horror Story was such a laugh. I hope they put in parentheses, “She said sarcastically.”

PETERS: Yeah, that was a pretty horrific day.

LOURD: That was a rough one. I’ve watched it back and I can definitely see myself breathing. And the eyes are so hard, like to actually keep your eyes open. I feel like I’ve made the decision to close my eyes. Do you do open-eye or closed-eye deaths?

PETERS: I like to do a little halfsies—a little open, a little closed.

LOURD: I like it. Split the difference. Have you been on the streets since Zabel died? Do people come up and hug you and thank god that you’re actually alive?

PETERS: No. I’ve gotten some text messages that were like, “Sorry, man. You’ve got to work on that quick-draw.” I’m super stoked that people like the show.

LOURD: It’s one of those shows that’s now part of the zeitgeist. Even my baby loves it. How long did it take to shoot?

PETERS: Gosh, we started in October 2019, and then I was supposed to be done at the beginning of March 2020. I had about two or three weeks left. Then the pandemic hit and they punted it to September. I was like, “Oh man, I’ve got to keep learning this accent for six months.”

LOURD: And not eat all the double doubles in sight. You had to keep that accent and keep that bod.

PETERS: Yeah, it was a challenge.

LOURD: What do you think would have happened with Mare and Zabel if Zabel didn’t die? It’s a real thinker.

PETERS: Ooh, that is a real thinker. I think they would have gone on a few more dates and then Mare probably would’ve realized that Zabel’s not the one. Zabel would have been devastated again.

LOURD: I think they could have had a shotgun wedding in Vegas and lived happily ever after. It could have been great.

PETERS: I like that for Zabel. That sounds good.

LOURD: Do you think you would have moved to Easttown or would he have gone back?

PETERS: I think he definitely would have had to move out of his mom’s place. For sure that would have been step number one.

LOURD: Were you sad when he died or did you think that this was the perfect ending for him?

PETERS: I thought it was an interesting ending to the character. He kind of came in, and then it was so shocking, but that’s the way death is in real life. You’re never really expecting it, and then it happens.

LOURD: It’s amazing you got to know the whole arc of the character before you played him.

PETERS: Yeah, it’s rare to get all the episodes beforehand. You make a choice in episode two and then you get to episode seven and you’re like, “Oh wait, that was totally wrong, what I did in episode two… Can we go back and reshoot that?” And they’re like, “No.”

LOURD: Did knowing the ending affect how you played him? He was so lovable anyway, but did knowing he was going to die make you play him even more lovably, if that’s a word?

PETERS: Yeah, that did play into it. There was talk about making him a little bit more arrogant and cocky. But I thought, when he dies, it’d be more tragic if he wasn’t that. So we tried to make him a little bit bumbling and not as good of a detective and really trying. We wanted it to be as shocking and sad as we could.

LOURD: Did you do any actor-y stuff? Like, a cologne you wore? Or did you wear a special hat?

PETERS: That’s so funny. I wish I wore a special hat to work every day , like an old-school 1940s detective hat. I did always have my coffee mug. There was a little bit of a Zabel-mug thing going on. And there were rituals. I would write in the mornings and try to get into it, stuff like that. But god, I wish I wore a hat.

LOURD: We should incorporate that into our future careers, to make sure we have a hat for every role we play. And then you could have a case at your house of all the hats you wore.

PETERS: That’s so goddamn funny.

LOURD: People are going to be like, “Billie Lourd is a psychopath.”

PETERS: Oh, you know what I did do? I wore a cross. You can’t see it, but when he died, I wanted you to see the cross on his neck. He’s got this weird thing with religion where he was raised religious, but then being in the line of work that he’s in and seeing all this death and awfulness, you start to question that. And then his mom is very religious. So I wanted him to be, underneath it all, a little bit religious and hopeful and needing the protection of god when he went out into the field.

LOURD: That’s way better than a hat.

#evan peters #billie lourd #interview #mare of easttown spoilers #txt #ours #extraordinaryxmen

[annab-nana]

Is There Something There - Tom Holland

During an interview that you were doing with Tom for Endgame press, some of the questions catch you both off guard and one leads to you two talking about something you’ve both been feeling about each other.

A/N: I’m going to be honest. I don’t really like this one because I already feel like I use a lot of dialogue as a writer and this is an interview so there is a lot of dialogue, but I also like the story here so that why I decided to post it. Also, it’s my first Tom fic so I hope you all enjoy and feedback is greatly appreciated!

Warnings: some curse words

Word Count: 4.1k+  

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“I can’t believe you didn’t know who Obadiah Stane was,” you giggled with Tom as you two left the room you had just been in doing an interview to head to another one in a few minutes.

“He asked what an Obadiah Stane was, so I thought it was a thing, not a person,” he defended, his smile stretching as his words brought you more laughter.

“I’m sure Robert would love to know that his little buddy didn’t even know the name of the villain in the first Iron Man movie,” you teased Tom while he chuckled along with you. “But I will give you the infinity stones question. All I could remember was the reality stone and the time stone, but you rattled off the first five in a matter of seconds and then the last one came to your mind shortly after. It was impressive.”

“Thank you, thank you,” he stated sarcastically with a bow and a tip of his head. “You know what was funny? When you said Sebastian would be a bad baby name. That was hilarious,” he brought up before dying of laughter again at the joke you made earlier in the interview.

“Yeah, and I can guarantee you that he said my name too when they asked him which MCU name would be the worst as well,” you told him while laughing along with him.

“This is it I think,” the man who had been leading you to your next interview announced to you both before opening the door.

“Ladies first,” Tom said to you while holding a hand out to show you the way. You playfully rolled your eyes at the dork you had been paired with for the day as you walked into the room.

It was no secret that Tom Holland could not keep his mouth shut when he needed to. He just gets too excited and has to tell someone. He along with Ruffalo were terrible secret keepers and when it came to interviews, they had to do them with someone who could pay attention to them and catch them before they slip up. Benedict got paired with Mark and you obviously were with Tom.

“Good morning you two! I imagine you both have been very busy today,” the woman who would be conducting the interview asked when you and Tom walked over to her and got settled in your spots on the couch after you each shook her hand.

“Yes ma’am, we have been busy, but it has been loads of fun I would say,” Tom responded first while he got comfortable on the couch and stretched his arm to lay against the back of it before you nodded your head in agreement at his previous statement.

“Super fun especially since we get to do it together,” you spoke to the lady before meeting the dashing brown eyes of your partner for the day.

“She’s just saying that because she has to be with me. She actually hates me,” Tom teased while you rolled your eyes at him.

“I do not hate him. Does he get a little aggravating from time to time? Yeah, but I don’t hate him,” you played along with the boy’s joke as he chuckled lightly at you.

“Wait, y/n has to be with you, Tom?” the interviewer inquired, her eyebrows drawing together in confusion as to why you were forced to be with him. She probably thought it was a little weird that you, the actress who plays Guardian of the Galaxy Willa Adler, and Tom, the actor of Peter Parker who was also known as Spider-Man, were doing press for Endgame together. If she saw Infinity War, she knew you were both onscreen together a good bit in that movie, but still she most likely was wondering why you were not doing interviews with Chris Pratt like you normally were since he played your older brother figure in the past few Marvel films you have done.

“Well, yeah, someone has to be with me because I can’t keep my mouth shut and y/n is good at telling when I’m about to say something I shouldn’t, so she is here to help me not spill the beans on anything,” Tom laughed while a slight blush of embarrassment dusted across his cheeks.

“Yeah, I have been told I’m good at reading people and we’ve become really good friends lately, so I guess I better at reading him than some of the others. I don’t know. I think it’s funny that he has to be with someone, or he’ll spill all the information on everything,” you giggled as you responded to the question too.

“Oh well, I guess it’s good you two have been paired together and later on I’ll have some questions specifically for the both of you. Anyway, I spoke with Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan and that pair,” she paused for a chuckle, “They like to tease you two, don’t they?” As soon as she mentioned their names, you both knew where the question was headed and you and Tom both nodded towards the woman.

“Yeah, we have quite the rivalry with those two, don’t we?” Tom led the answer for you to continue.

“Yes, but it’s all out of love,” you reassured the interviewer while you all shared a laugh.

“It’s all love, for sure. I think it’s because we are the youngest and easiest to pick on because we take the jokes well and we’ll shoot them right back. I find it funny how it's them against us. We will tease them and they’ll tease us, but at the same time, we split it up and it’ll be me and Mackie going at each other, and y/n and Stan will pick on each other quite a bit. It’s like the big brothers teasing their younger siblings and they each have their favorite one to pick on. I love it. I find it so hilarious,” Tom told the woman, a chuckle falling past his lips.

“Especially the juice box joke,” you laughed. “That one is my favorite.”

“Juice box joke?” she asked, her emerald eyes dancing between you and Tom while you both wore huge smiles on your faces from all the laughing you both had been doing.

“Yeah, Mackie likes to joke and say that ‘I need my juice boxes or I’ll go crazy without them’ that I need the sugar or something,” Tom expressed using air quotes with his fingers to show Anthony’s words. “They say I need juice boxes and y/n needs water bottles.”

“Why’s that?” the lady quizzed at the second part of his sentence as a light laugh escaped her mouth. You audibly groaned, knowing which story was about to come up next.

“She forgets to drink water sometimes and then she’ll get dehydrated and when we’re shooting harder scenes or if there’s a lot of light on her and it gets hot, then it doesn’t end well,” Tom told the interviewer honestly before she looked to you to continue or confirm his statements.

“It was one time and I just forget to drink water sometimes. I’m okay,” you reassured before taking a sip of water from the glass next to you.

“One time?” the blonde woman inquired further. You loved doing these interviews, but at times the people conducting them tended to be a little pushy and don’t pick up on the hint that you don’t want to share this story. You knew she wasn’t going to give so you spoke.  

“Tell the story, Tom,” you instructed with a sigh before turning in your chair to face him better. His hand still rested on the back of the couch behind you and he brought it down slightly to rub at the top of your back and play with your hair a little, a friendly and comforting gesture that you were very thankful for at the moment as he was about to share one of your more embarrassing experiences.

“Okay, so you know that scene in Infinity War where the Guardians, Strange, Tony, and I are in that spaceship and the Guardians are coming at us because they think we’re with Thanos?” When she nods her head, Tom continues with the story.

“Well, that particular day, y/n forgot to drink basically anything and in the makeup and suits and stuff, it gets really hot. It’s the scene where Willa has Peter Parker in a chokehold and Peter Quill has a gun to my head. So, when we were shooting that, y/n has her arms around my neck, not tightly obviously. She’s not actually trying to choke me, but you can feel it, you know. So, as I said, she wasn’t holding me tightly, but I felt her arms loosen from around me before she was supposed to, and she leaned against me a little.” The interviewer let out a slight gasp before looking at you and you nodded towards her, letting her know his words were true.

“I turned my head and asked her if she was okay, but she just nodded her head. She didn’t say anything, just nodded her head, and right then I knew something was wrong just by looking at her. I turned around and grabbed her before she fell and sat down with her. Chris came as well and was checking on her while Benedict and Robert went to get help and some water. But we got her some water, and she was good to go shortly after.”

“That must’ve been scary for the both of you,” she commented while her widened eyes jumped from yours to the set of honey brown ones to your left.

“It was honestly one of the scariest days on set for me,” Tom added before looking to you, his fingers still switching from rubbing small circles into your neck and twirling your hair between them.

“I was in and out of it, so I don’t remember much. All I remember is leaning against him and him helping me down. It was more embarrassing to me and I hate thinking about it, but now I will never get to forget about it because Anthony and Seb won’t ever let me live it down,” you told the woman with a small laugh which she joined in on along with Tom.

“Your characters both have this relationship with someone older than you that you look up to, Peter Parker with Tony Stark and Willa Adler with Peter Quill. How was it for you both to do your death scene in Infinity War with those people?” she asked you and Tom. Tom looked to you for you to start off the question so you do.

“Both Willa and Peter have had it rough as far as a mentor or someone who can really help guide them in life because they keep losing them. Peter lost his parents when he was younger, then his uncle, and then he disintegrates in Tony’s arms. Willa lost a lot of people in a short amount of time. Quill and Willa were both taken by Yondu at different times for their own good to save them from their terrible fathers, so she didn’t have anyone to look up to on Earth. Then she lost Yondu and feared she lost Quill when things with Ego went down. Then in Infinity War when they are all trying to take the gauntlet off Thanos, she finds out that she lost Gamora, the only girl Willa has ever had by her side, so that breaks her even further. Then after the snap, she watches all of her found family turn to dust around her. She watches Quill turn to ashes right before she can get to him and then she tries to run to Nebula who is the only person she has left before she goes with the rest of them. Right after that, we watch Peter and Tony hold each other and Peter goes so the scene overall is a terribly sad one. It took a lot of emotion for both of us I think.”

“Yeah, like she said, both of them have experienced great loss. Peter is a little more used to it while Willa loses someone before she’s done grieving the last person she lost. She definitely had to put a lot more emotion into it, but Willa is also the kind of person who holds her emotions in. You can see in that scene she was talking about, Willa tried to hold it in when she found out about Gamora but started to break down as she saw everyone she loved dissipate into nothing. Peter was emotional of course and he didn’t want to go like he just saw everyone around him do but at least he went out in the arms of someone he loves and looks up to a lot,” Tom added to your explanation with his own.

“I would say that scene after the snap with you two is the saddest in my opinion. So, to lighten the mood a little, there is a lot of talk about the family feel that the cast has, and the people wanted to know if that is true?” she asked as she flipped through her cards.

“Yes!” you immediately agreed.

“Of course, we all get along and it is super fun especially in films like these where we get to be together. Peter got to be with Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy and it was amazing filming with everybody. I loved it, didn’t you?” Tom pushed the question over to you.

“Yeah, it was super fun. I always get to film with a large group of people, but I got to film with Chris Hemsworth and then later on with RDJ and Benedict and Tom. It was great to work with so many amazing people,” you commented while you shifted in your seat a little, trying to get comfortable again.

“Mackie and Stan are like our annoying older brothers as I said earlier,” Tom mentioned with a light chuckle.

“Yeah,” you giggled before continuing with his analogy. “RDJ, Evans, and Hemsworth are like the fathers, the founding fathers really since they’ve been there since the beginning. Umm, Pratt and Rudd are the funny uncles. Elizabeth, Zoe, Karen, Scarlett, and Danai are the cool aunts. And then you’ve got people like Benedict, Chadwick, Pom, Letitia, and Tom who are absolute sweethearts. Everyone is just super cool and fun and sweet, and we couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with.” The lady awed at your words while Tom’s eyes softened at them.

“That was really sweet, y/n, and you are amazing to work with as well,” he grinned as he spoke which you returned him on as well while you nodded at him. His hand shifted down to your shoulder and he kept it there, something you didn’t mind at all. “Everything she said was spot on and everyone we get the opportunity to work with is awesome and they’re great people. I couldn’t have said it better myself.”

“Do you think your characters will appear onscreen together in the future?” the interviewer questioned before she looked up from her card to the both of you.

“Um, I’ll take this one,” you said to both of them, but mainly to Tom so he knew he wouldn’t have to add anything or spoil anything without knowing it. “So, Peter normally protects Queens, and Willa’s territory is all of outer space. In Infinity War, you saw that Peter’s experience in space wasn’t the best and Willa had a terrible life on Earth though she didn’t know it at the time because she was so young when Yondu took her. I don’t see them crossing paths again in the future if everything gets ‘fixed’ like everyone is hoping for, but if another space titan comes to destroy half of all living things or something big like that, then yeah maybe you’d see Willa and Peter onscreen again, but I don’t think it is likely,” you told the woman as she nodded her head.

“Marvel is full of surprises though, so you never know what is going to happen,” Tom added, earning a laugh from you since you knew firsthand how true the statement was.

“The fans love seeing you two together and you both clearly have good chemistry so what is it like working with one another?” the blonde asked before pushing some fallen hair behind her ear.

“I’ll go first,” Tom stated as he turned a bit in his seat and smiled your way. You playfully rolled your eyes, getting ready for him to completely roast your ass.

“She’s mean, a total diva, a drama queen,” he started listing off several false claims before busting out laughing at your pouting face. “I’m kidding,” he chuckled while he leaned over to grab your chin, forcing you to look at him.

“No, go on. I’m thinking about teaming up with Mackie and Seb and all three of us can rip you to shreds,” you sarcastically smiled at him before you dropped the grin and shot him a death glare.

“Okay maybe I wasn’t lying about the mean part,” he joked causing you to smile again. His brown eyes lit up at the sight and he finally continued with answering the question.

“No, but for real, she is amazing, as a person and as an actress. Every time I watch her, I am reminded of how phenomenal of an actress she is. You all have seen the gag reels of me and how I can’t keep a straight face if my life depended on it, but I watched her and the person she was filming with slipped up. She kept a straight face until they started laughing so she started laughing too. If that was me, I would’ve started laughing before anyone even messed up. And even when she’s feeling poorly, she performs so well. Y/n is so incredible to watch and work with. She is truly a great person and an even better friend. I’m glad we have each other to lean on when we get teased for being the youngest out of everyone,” he chuckled after literally just melting your heart. You leaned over to wrap your arms around his torso, his arm going around your back to rest his hand on your side.

“That was really sweet, Tom,” you whispered while giving him a little squeeze before pulling away from him. He did not remove his arm from around you though, so you scooted closer to make it more comfortable for you both.

“He may say my acting is good, but I’ve got to brag on his as well. He is so good at improvising and going with the flow of things. I am a very ‘follow the lines and stick to the script’ kind of person, but his improv makes his scenes and character so much better. That may be because he is basically Peter Parker in real life so when the cameras are rolling, it is truly interesting to see. He lights up any room he walks into and makes every day easier when we are working. He is a delight to work with and just generally be around and I’m glad we’re friends.”

“Thanks y/n,” he grinned down at you and you smiled right back.

“How is he like Peter Parker in real life?” the woman further inquired as she adjusted herself in her seat to sit more comfortably.

“For one, he is a major dork,” you started before snickering at Tom’s furrowed brows and stuck out lip.

“You just said all that nice stuff and then called me a dork,” he huffed and turned his head from you. He dramatically removed his arm from around and placed his hand in his lap.

“Oh, come on. You know it’s true,” you told him to which he sighed.

“Yeah, it’s true,” he gave in before nodding at the interviewer.

“So, there’s that,” you continued to answer the question. “He’s a little awkward, but in a charming and lovable way. He cannot keep a secret at all. There’s probably more, but that’s all I can think of right now. Everybody loves Peter Parker and everyone loves Tom Holland. I mean it when I say they are the same person.”

“So, there is a good bit of speculation of a budding romance between the both of you and the people want to know if there is something there,” she stated before playing with the rings on her fingers.

Before you could open your mouth to deny the suspicion, Tom grabbed your hand in his, interlacing his fingers with yours. A blush crept up on your cheeks when he placed his lips against the back of your hand.

“Do you want to tell her, babe?” he asked as he shot you a wink, the small act telling you it was a joke. The growing grin on his face told you his actions were false as well, but you couldn’t help how your heart fell that it was all a lie. You once again rolled your eyes at the boy who held your hand.

“You can tell her, sweetheart,” you giggled while Tom held your hand in both of his and you leaned your head on his shoulder.

“Y/n and I have been in a relationship for a little while now and that relationship has been completely platonic and we are just friends,” he laughed as he placed your hand back in your own lap. You would be lying to yourself if you said you didn’t miss the feeling of his hand in yours, but now was not the time to think about that.

“Yeah guys, we’re only friends,” you chuckled, making eye contact with the camera that was filming the whole thing while you lifted your head from its previous resting place on his shoulder. “Nothing more.”

Later after the interview, you and Tom are walking to the car that was going to take you both back to your hotel and the events of earlier kept circling through your mind. The way it felt to have his arm around you and you leaning into his side. You craved that feeling. His hand in yours and his lips pressed to the back of it. You wanted more of that. Just being with him, you strived to have more moments with him, but you always thought that it was because you were really good friends and you liked having his presence near. However, you feared that you were into something more that he was not going to be interested in.

“You did good with the whole dating joke. That was funny,” you giggled lightly as you bumped his shoulder while walking by his side.

“Hopefully, you didn’t think it was too funny,” he mumbled, his own eyes widening at his slight confession. Your eyebrows drew together in confusion and your feet stopped moving forward.

“What?” you spoke the only word that was running through your mind at the moment. Tom stopped walking as well and turned to face you.

“I kinda liked holding your hand and I kinda like you,” he stated sheepishly, his gorgeous brown eyes looking everywhere but at you.

“What are you saying, Tom?” you asked, knowing exactly what he was saying but you wanted to be sure. He stepped forward a bit and took your hand in his, interlocking your fingers just as he did before.

“I’m saying that I like you, y/n, and I want to be with you. We can just try it out for a little bit?” he asked more than stated.

“You mean we can try out being together?”

“Yeah, we can keep it quiet until we’re sure and then if you want, we can go public with it. I was not lying when I said I love working with you. It wasn’t because you’re great to work with because you are. It was because you are great to be with. So maybe we try this out and see how things work with us while we do press and see how things work after this when we are separate and doing our own thing. We can go from there and see if this is something we want to continue or announce?” he questioned nervously while his eyes finally locked with yours. The corners of your mouth turned upwards in a huge grin, happy to be hearing what you had wished to hear for a while now.

“I’d love to be with you, Tom,” you gushed, grinning ear to ear.

“Well, that’s great, babe,” he chuckled after using the nickname he called you earlier. His other hand slid around your waist, pulling you closer to him. You felt his breath fan over your lips before he closed the space between you two.

“But you know that Mackie and Seb are going to pick on us about this too right?” you reminded him when you pulled away slightly and he giggled.

“Yeah, we’re never going to hear the end of it.”

--------------------------------------------------

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#tom #tom holland #tom imagine #tom x reader #tom fanfic #tom fanfiction #tom holland imagine #tom holland x reader #tom holland fanfin #tom holland fanfiction #marvel

[beneaththetangles]

First Impression: Love of Kill

When Love of Kill first debuted as a manga, I was super intrigued. I ended up starting it and while I enjoyed the manga, I have since unfortunately fallen behind.

However, when I saw the trailer for the anime, I knew this was one I had to watch!

It went well above my expectations!

Chateau is a bounty hunter who arrives on the scene a little too late as there are multiple gun shots that have been fired, a man dead, and a killer, Ryang-Ha Song, who now has his eyes on her. When she aims to shoots at him in self-defense, what she doesn’t realize is that Ryang isn’t out to kill her, but to get to know her better.

So begins her unexpected “adventure” with a wanted killer who wants to know her name and take her on a date. But what happens when the company she works for puts Ryang on their next target list?

My first thoughts: This is so good!

While I have read up to volume two of Love of Kill, I enjoyed the anime a lot more. I think it better captures the romantic element that Love of Kill is marketed as and creates a more humorous atmosphere that I found especially enjoyable. The anime format really allows the interesting personality and antics of Ryang-Ha Song to shine and be even more thoroughly conveyed. I know Chateau’s “grumpiness” in regards to his said antics did! I absolutely loved it and caught myself smiling on more than one occasion! The animation studio truly did an excellent job of capturing these two light-and-day characters!

Similar to the manga, the bloodiness of certain scenes still caught me off guard, especially in anime form because it has an overall lighter feel in the first episode. Don’t get me wrong! The first episode opens with shots fired and someone dead as said before, but as the episode continues, it’s quite relaxing (but only to a degree since these are bounty hunters and killers after all). Plus as was prominent in the manga, the anime does not shy away from featuring bloody scenes and people being shot. Thankfully and unlike the manga, I am able to close my eyes while watching the anime, but it is still something that leaves me a little disoriented at times.

Though it’s not related to the storytelling necessarily, I am a huge fan of the voice casting! The voice actor of Ryang-Ha Song, Hiro Shimono, was the perfect choice, and I deeply loved Chateau’s voice as well. They both nailed it! I also really appreciated how faithful of a manga adaption this was as that is something important to me as a viewer.

Also, the opening song is excellent! I will definitely be adding that to my playlist to listen to often!

I’m usually a very slow anime watcher and rarely keep up with new anime airing, but Love of Kill is one I’m eagerly anticipating more of. Just from what I know of the manga, I know the lighter atmosphere found in episode one won’t be continued much longer, but seeing more of the romantic vibes on screen was something I wanted more of from the manga and I was very glad to see it here in the anime!

Definitely recommend watching Love of Kill this season!

=====

Love of Kill can be streamed on Crunchyroll.

#Anime #First Impressions #Koroshi Ai #Love of Kill #Winter Anime 2022 #Articles #Author: Laura A. Grace

[disappointingyet]

Jesus De Montreal (Jesus Of Montreal)

Director Denys Arcand Stars Lothaire Bluteau, Johanne-Marie Tremblay, Catherine Wilkening, Robert Lepage, Rémy Girard Canada/France 1989 Language French (with English subtitles), English, a couple of sentences of Italian 1hr 58mins Colour

Actor loses the plot during The Passion

The bit where they put together the team is one of the big pleasures of heist movies. It’s one of the things that saves the first season of The Wire from its ponderousness. The simple idea is clearly appealing enough that we got Avengers Assemble as the UK title of Marvel’s first collective film. In short, it’s a reliable, endlessly repeatable storytelling element. And yet I had forgotten how crucial it is to the momentum of this stylish, ambitious satirical drama.

The basic idea is very simple (and signalled by the title): an actor/director is hired to update the annual Passion play at a Montreal shrine and (fairly quickly) over-identifies with the role. But before we get to that, we have Daniel (Lothaire Bluteau) looking for collaborators. He starts with his generous-minded former stage-school classmate Constance (Johanne-Marie Tremblay), who is volunteering at a soup kitchen and has been in previous productions. Martin (Rémy Girard) is dubbing dirty movies. René (Robert Lepage), by contrast, is doing a voiceover for a film on the origins of the universe – his main request is that gets to incorporate Hamlet’s soliloquy into their script. Finally, they go to see Mireille (Catherine Wilkening), who is shooting a vacuous perfume ad (which would be no different in 2022).

During the central section of the film, we get fairly big chunks of their production, in a dramatic hill-top setting over the town. It’s a compelling mixture of historical research and chunks of Christ’s teaching (just don’t let yourself get caught up – as I do – trying to figure out how they would do the costume changes etc…)

The ambiguity of the film is how seriously we are meant to take Daniel’s rebellion in the spirit of Christ. This is a movie that otherwise is busy taking the piss out of the Montreal theatre scene, advertising, the showbiz media, the church etc. From the start, Daniel’s ever-present ecru linen not-quite-suit has him set up as a character who feels he is above this world but in a suspiciously chic way. At what point does an inspiring idealist become an unhelpfully self-deluded prick? I think the film always leans towards the former, but both interpretations are in there.

And that ambiguity helps carry the ending – no spoilers, but this has an early version of a trope that has been used by far crasser movies and TV shows in the years since.

This is a gorgeous-looking film – the BFIplayer version is impeccably HD. Much as it mocks advertising and what passes for the glamorous world in Montreal (again, the idea that this isn’t LA or New York is something the characters are acutely aware of), there is plenty of attention to beautiful spaces and costumes and to a charismatic cast. My only big quibble with the production is the score: there are horrible chunks of wailing guitar that feel like 1980s-European-movies-doing-Pink-Floyd.

I saw this film when it came out – I was in my first year of university and I was blown away. It was a foreign-language film (pretentious plus points) that seemed to be saying something weighty (likewise) but also had jokes (crucial for me), looked super-cool (important) and had a pretty female lead.

I’d like to think that my appreciation of films might be a bit deeper these days, but that could be self-delusion. There are certainly elements of the story that feel a little obvious to me, bits of the satire that are quite crude, but overall? I think this stands up – it’s an excellent film.

#jesus de montreal #jesus of montreal

[rosesloveletters]

As we approach the anniversary of Heath Ledger’s passing, I would like to use my platform to discuss a few things I find increasingly important that we, as fans, keep in mind: Do NOT mock his death. Do NOT harass his family, friends, etc. (don’t ever do this, but especially not this week or the day of.) Do NOT use his death to signify your online presence. Those of us who appreciate this hard-working, loving, giving soul deserve the freedom of expression granted to us, given that we remain within the bounds of positivity, consideration for others and for Heath Ledger himself. 

(image: Heath photographed for The West Australian on June 9th, 2001.)

I implore you to treat everyone with respect and to honor Heath in a way in which you would honor a loved one; be kind, courteous, respectful and tactful whenever you are discussing his passing and remain conscious of others and their feelings regarding this subject. It is a subject of sensitivity for many and I ask that you consider how others might feel when approached with the topic. Do NOT pass around photos of him that the paparazzi took on that fateful day. This is a blatant disregard for Heath and his privacy; He was unable to consent to having those photos taken, for obvious reasons, and I am certain that he would not have consented, given his distaste for the paparazzi and having felt as though his life was ‘on display’. 

Remember to treat him and others with respect. It is the bare minimum of common courtesy when dealing with such a raw topic; Heath would be honored by how most choose to remember him and I think that he would be humbled by the legacy he’s left behind.

On another, more important note, we must to remember a few things regarding the late Heath Ledger: 

He did not die because of his role as The Joker in ‘The Dark Knight’. 

He did NOT die of a suicide. 

Heath was struggling with insomnia, illness, his break-up with Michelle and (presumably) depression (though I don’t believe that was ever officially confirmed) at the time of his passing and we must remember how sensitive a subject this is, for his family, loved ones, friends and fans alike. 

For more factual information on his passing, I recommend visiting these links provided: 

Friends and Family Remember His Final Weeks 

Some important quotes from this article to take into consideration: 

“Gerry Grennell, Ledger’s friend and dialect coach who lived and worked with the star while he was shooting The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus in the final weeks of his life, spoke with PEOPLE in 2017 for a cover story on Ledger, nine years after the actor’s death. He recalled his friend being “exhausted, emotionally and physically” while battling a lingering pneumonia-type illness.”

“Grennell said the star’s mood was low. “He missed his girl, he missed his family, he missed his little girl — he desperately wanted to see her and hold her and play with her,” he added, referring to Ledger’s former girlfriend Michelle Williams and their then-2-year-old daughter, Matilda. “He was desperately unhappy, desperately sad.””

But in his final weeks, Grennell said Ledger knew he was spiraling. Still, he couldn’t stop himself from taking the pills. “He said, ‘I got to stop, it’s not helping, I’m not well, it’s making me feel more upset,’” Grennell continued. “It wasn’t helping with the relationship issues, it wasn’t helping with missing his kid, it wasn’t helping his sleeping — and he knew that.”

“Being such a social guy, having to be a bit of a hermit, or wear hats and glasses was super annoying,” he added, describing the lengths to which Ledger went to avoid the paparazzi. “His happiest I remember was times like when we were in Bondi on the beach catching waves, and nobody really looking his way, and when he moved to Brooklyn and could walk around with nobody bothering him.”

Heath Ledger’s Father Kim Speaks of Son’s Death - Trigger Warning: Kim Ledger mentions seeing EMS removing Heath’s body from his home in new York. This video and its message is EXTREMELY important; if you choose to view no other material listed here, please watch this short interview. 

Statements Made by Heath Ledger’s Sisters

Heath Ledger’s Sisters Clear Up Rumors About His Death In New Documentary

Some important quotes from this article to take into consideration: 

Though the doc doesn't elaborate on the "demons" that plagued Ledger's final days, it does change the narrative about his mental state at that time. According to the actor's family, Ledger's role in The Dark Knight didn't depress him, as so many tabloids had reported. It energized him."It was coming out that he was depressed and it was taking a toll, and we were going, 'What?'" Bell said. "It was the absolute opposite," Kate Ledger added. "He had an amazing sense of humor, and I guess only his close family and friends really knew that. But he was having fun. He wasn’t depressed about The Joker."

That's about as far as the film delves into Ledger's death. Instead, I Am Heath Ledger chooses to focus on his life. It may not be a complete picture of the actor, but after nearly a decade of rampant rumors and tabloid gossip, it's nice to see Heath through his own lens.

Speculation into Heath’s passing has been vast, leaving much to the media to exaggerate and perpetuate; there is very little evidence or proof that lends to the fact that Heath was an ‘addict’ as has been portrayed, however this statement can be found on his Wikipedia page: 

“Ledger was "widely reported to have struggled with substance abuse.” Following Ledger's death, Entertainment Tonight aired video footage from 2006 in which Ledger stated that he "'used to smoke five joints a day for 20 years” and news outlets reported that his drug abuse had prompted Williams to request that he move out of their apartment in Brooklyn. Ledger's publicist asserted that some reportage regarding Ledger and drugs had been inaccurate.”

When discussing his death, please keep in mind that a large portion about his personal life has been over-exaggerated and therefore, research is key.

Heath’s private life is not something we should pry into and we should be respectful of the fact that we simply do not have the information to conclusively determine certain theories. It is among human nature to ask questions and want answers, but it is our responsibility to know what is appropriate and how we should go about researching such a topic. 

Do not pry into Heath’s private life; be mindful of the information you choose to share and treat him as you would treat any other person. Just because he is a “celebrity” does NOT mean that every detail of his life should be public access. Treat him how you would want to be treated; you are not entitled to his private life, nor is anyone other than those he was closest to. 

We have countless interviews and testimonies to his character from family and friends, those of which prove to be the most accurate. 

Check out this video: Famous People Talking About Heath Ledger to hear some of these positive testaments to his character.

Drug abuse is a very serious matter; I do not condone Heath’s decision to abuse prescription drugs, nor should any fan; his death provides a testament to the dangers of prescription pills and we should remember to be mindful of their effect. Prescription drug abuse is a serious matter and we should not overlook the seriousness of it.

If you or someone you know is suffering from Opioid drug abuse, visit the link provided for the CDC’s help and resources

Please remain respectful while researching his passing and use discretion. Information perpetuated by the media has proved time and time again to be harmful to those in the limelight and Heath was a victim of that as well. Respect the fact that we do not know of his private life and accept that we do not have the right to know. There is a large amount of information present, providing speculation into this subject and I advise you to research with caution, as some of it is damaging to Heath’s character. 

Most importantly, use this time to remember Heath for the incredibly gifted and talented soul that he was. As fans, it is important not only to understand his passing, but to keep his legacy alive through the ways in which we choose to honor and remember him. 

Heath Ledger’s death was a tragedy. His family and friends still grieve his passing and his daughter, Matilda, is without a father due to his premature death. Please be respectful and courteous of this and honor Heath in a way in which he would be proud of. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy post. With much controversy surrounding Ledger’s death, I felt it necessary to speak out on a couple of things, especially with the anniversary of his death coming up. Please feel free to add onto this post any way you would like, especially if you find more information that is factual and important to share within the community.

 I will reiterate: BE RESPECTFUL. BE COURTEOUS. BE KIND. Do NOT harass his family and friends. Do NOT mock his death. Do NOT share offensive/upsetting images or media that is damaging to his character, now or ever. Respect others who choose to use this time simply to remember this wonderful man for all that he was and do not discuss his passing with anyone who might be triggered by the mentioning of it. 

This community is a loving, caring and amazing place where we choose to remember Heath in our own ways and keep his memory alive through the creations and art we all share. Build each other up and listen to one another; treat each other as if you are looking at Heath directly and show the world the same kindness he showed while he was among us. 

Thank you. 

#heath ledger #tw: death #tw: suicide mention #tw: drug abuse #tw: drug overdose #tw: drugs #my stuff #okay to reblog #I triggered myself so bad to make this post please appreciate it and take it all into consideration