#Let's add a little metaphors to the studio

[clj-art-blog]

Dongfang yanwai & Lanhua niangzi | Drowning in her eyes...

#He's the one I want to drown in happiness #苍兰诀 #Let's add a little metaphors to the studio #clj fan art #clj #cang lan jue #dongfang qingcang #xiao lanhua #xlh #dfqc #love between fairy and devil #lbfad #clj-art-blog #my 38th | 39th clj art

[armageddon-generation]

What The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Could Have Been

(All the deleted scenes, cut concepts and studio notes that could've saved this movie)

(Sequel to this post on TASM deleted scenes)

COMPILED FROM:

deleted scene compilation 

Comparison to a rough cut

An analysis of an earlier draft, from the International Business Times

Badass Digest’s look at the earlier script

Kevin Feige’s notes on the movie for Sony

BTS footage of Mary Jane scenes

OPENING

“There are too many story lines and we need to choose which ones we are focusing on and lift out the other ones, ie; could reduce father arc to just Roosevelt?

 "Could cut out plane crash and Richard destroying spiders”

Young Peter and Harry play chess at the Parkers’ Wake, mentioned in the director’s commentary:

“Peter was this lonely child in this room of adults, and he snuck off to his Dad’s study, and in walked Harry … They started playing chess, it was kind of a metaphor and I can’t remember the exact dialogue, but it was this lovely moment of these boys connecting and finding each-other. [Before this] Their relationship had been all about going to their fathers’ labs … They turn and there’s this silhouetted man in the beginning of his degenerative disease holding onto his cane.”

Starting the movie in Richard Parker’s study (just like hide and seek in TASM) creates a thematic through-line with the first film

Much stronger setup of Harry and Peter’s friendship

Better setup of the disease and Norman’s shadow over Harry and Peter

Ties into Fiege’s recommendation:

“If you cut Richard from the opening and the plane crash maybe you could instead do Harry coming home and seeing Norman at the top of the movie as a cold open.”

TRUCK CHASE

MJ is waitressing at a café during the opening truck chase

“Don’t start with Spider-Man….let the danger/stakes to NYC build first and then have Spider-Man enter the scene heroically.”

“Tone down Paul Giamatti performance, so he seems a bit more menacing and less cartoonish.”

“There could be a better way to reveal that Peter is missing graduation – maybe when you cut Gwen you cut to the wide shot?” 

“Tiny note – don’t think Peter would lie to Gwen about sirens --- maybe he just downplays it…”

“Stan Lee Cameo – maybe need a little more emphasis on Peter here trying to get out of his costume and not be in seen…set up a little more the pressure of the principal getting closer and closer to calling his name.” 

“Instead of seeing the ghost of Captain Stacy, can just here the voice in Peter’s head and maybe flash back to the last movie?  Don’t think we should add Cap Stacy back into car chase.”

Flash at Graduation

Just a cute little character moment, and more continuity from TASM. Webb does these so well 

“There is too much back and forth with Peter and Gwen – can we recut the Dim Sum scene so that it doesn’t feel so repetitive of their break-up in the last movie – Can Peter be more honorable and definitive and less wishy-washy?”

TIME JUMP

“There’s an entire year gap between the high school graduation and most of the rest of the film. This year gap makes Peter’s forlorn attitude towards Gwen cute instead of creepy, and it establishes that they’re college students. Gwen’s application to Oxford make more sense – in the finished film it’s like she decided to go to college at the last minute.”

Max’s Mother

Max is looking after his bed-bound mother, who is emotionally abusive - she doesn’t remember or care about her own son’s birthday

Stronger setup of Max’s isolation, more personal than just his rejection by Spider-Man

His freakout here plays better than the one at Oscorp for ‘disrespecting’ Spider-Man

Links to an important deleted scene later on 

Gwen and Max in the elevator

“It must be pretty cool, to have the whole world see you like that. I wish I was like him.”

J Jonah Jameson

Peter, now a student at Empire State University, brings his first Spider-Man pictures to JJJ, who gives him a tour of the Daily Bugle offices in Times Square. 

We meet Robbie Robertson and JJJ complains that the internet is killing print media

Electro in the Subway / wandering New York

Electro returns home

He finds his supposedly bedridden mother walking, and cashing in on his death

Much stronger, personal reason for Max’s psychotic break as he heads to Times Square

Extended Times Square Battle

“Spidey and Electro’s first fight send them crashing through the Daily Bugle offices and the printing presses-” 

JJJ gets his scoop

This could’ve fed into the city treating Max like a freak 

Peter Meets MJ while working on his Electro-proof webbing

MJ and her drunkard father have just moved in next door. She builds motorcycles as a hobby and has a spider tattoo on her wrist; she’s a Spidey fan and has a crush on Peter

Peter and Gwen angst in their rooms after Times Square

Harry tells Peter Oscorp is watching him

Cool introduction of the Goblin suit, and we establish the power plant for the finale

More Felicia. Another moment showing Harry’s disease

“He spent more time watching you than me.”

The boys are united in their quest for answers about their dads

“Surveillance scene should be about following Harry not Peter…no one should be following Peter.”

“Harry story feels like the main plot of the movie – Peter should look into the past b/c of Harry – maybe find some photos of them together as kids…use obsession wall more to set up this part of his past not just what happened to parents.”

Feige seems to want the order to go:

Gwen and Peter angst in their rooms

Surveillance scene (focusing on Harry)

Obsession Wall (focusing on Harry)

Spidey vs Copycat

Just a cute Friendly Neighbourhood scene, this movie did them so well

Spidey Confronts MJ's Father

Something we never got from the Raimi version, fitting for this version of Peter. Another cool Neighbourhood moment

DR RATHA

“[In TASM] Dr. Ratha seems to have been killed in deleted scenes, but the actual movie leaves him alive … He shows up in the script for TASM2, filling the same role as Donald Menken... the Oscorp stooge who engineers Harry’s dismissal from the company.

Nice continuity [from TASM]. All of the basic elements of Ratha’s role are in the finished movie, there’s just a different name attached.”

ALTERNATE GOBLIN SUIT BACKSTORY

“In the original script the Goblin suit isn’t for military use but was specifically built in secret to heal/help Norman Osborn [After] Richard Parker wouldn’t give his blood to Osborn (the Parker DNA still being the key to it all). The suit went into Norman’s boathouse where Harry finds it.”

Harry finding the Boathouse parallels Peter finding Roosevelt 

Norman making the Goblin suit emphasizes how Harry is being manipulated by his father from beyond the grave 

“Don’t like the idea that May tells Peter his parents were spies b/c two seconds later he finds out they are not.” 

Gwen is accepted into Oxford

This is such a brief moment, why didn’t we actually see it?

Gwen Writes a Letter to Peter

Replacing the voicemail she leaves him in the Theatrical cut

After escaping Ravencroft, Max meets Harry at his father’s grave

Max considers killing Harry as revenge for his accident

They consolidate their partnership. Doing this at Norman’s grave foregrounds his influence on Harry

Spreading Max and Harry’s union across two scenes is just better pacing, considering they’ve never met before Max’s escape

Gwen visits Aunt May as she’s leaving for Oxford 

Gwen meets MJ: 

MJ asks how she can find someone like Peter, all the guys she attracts are “dickheads”. Gwen replies “date a nerd”

Aunt May encourages Peter to go after Gwen

MAY: Peter, what is the matter with you? You love this girl with all your heart and soul. Does she know that? Have you told her?

PETER: No.

MAY: Then give her that. The rest of it’s up to her. And you don’t have forever, none of us ever do.

Great character beat alluding to the loss of Ben, foreshadowing Gwen’s death, and setting up “I love you” on the bridge

Another mirror to TASM, where May encourages Peter to pursue his relationship with Gwen (“If there’s one thing you are, Peter Parker, it’s good.”)

Extended birth of the Goblin/ Harry attacks Oscorp

Love the body-horror here 

Pumpkin bomb!

Menken's [or Ratha’s] death. Plus it just gives Harry more to do 

Alternate final Electro battle

Spidey cocoons Max in his new webbing. 

Instead of blowing up,  Max is drained and ends up in the river- I prefer Spider-Man not outright murdering his villains

“Spider-Man needs to feel more directly responsible for preventing the planes from crashing.”

“Don’t show New Yorkers looting.”

Peter nearly kills Harry

Harry is still conscious and laughing after Gwen’s death. Peter beats him and nearly impales him with his own Glider

we hear Uncle Ben's words from the first film. He doesn't kill him and tells Harry the serum did it to him.

“Need to underscore capture of goblin…more sirens as you linger on the clock 1;21, 1:22 am (nice touch)”

Peter asks for forgiveness at Captain Stacy’s grave

Much better expression of Peter’s guilt than the ghost

“Like the idea that May finds out he’s Spider-Man – finds his costume instead of just the rosemary harris wink-wink all the time.”

“Maybe intercut the ending montage and hearing Gwen’s speech with someone going into special projects and revealing more easter eggs and see that the rhino case has been broke into and the suit is missing…great way to transition to rhino ending.”

Other stuff that isn’t better:

Peter gives Harry his blood

Although this makes Peter a better friend, it also makes him directly responsible for the creation of the Goblin

Extended Goblin Fight

Harry keeps chasing Peter as Gwen falls and breaks her neck with his own hands 

Gwen’s last words encouraging Peter

I prefer her instantaneous death, also Peter quitting for months immediately after she says this makes him a huge dick

Richard Parker approaches Peter in the graveyard: 

I’m torn on this one. On one hand it finally gives closure to the ‘Untold Story’ subplot Webb allegedly originally envisioned finishing in Film 1

“With great power comes great responsibility”

Andrew acts the shit out of this scene

However you’d need to keep the opening plane crash to properly pay this off and the Parker Blood Destiny gimmick is bad

Post-credit scene: Norman’s Head

An extension of the 'Special Projects' Easter-Egg vault, Michael Massee's Gustav Fiers visits Oscorp Vault #3. There we see Norman Osborn's disembodied, frozen head. Fiers ends the scene with "wake up, old friend"

Norman actor Chris Cooper said:

“We shot the scene -- it's so weird -- but it didn't make it into 'Spider-Man 2.' I’m sure it would probably have been one of the opening scenes in 'Spider-Man 3' if they had gone ahead. But he was coming back. It's very bizarre, what they came up with.”

TLDR; We could've got a more cohesive, character-focused film driven by Peter's relationship with Harry. A better-developed Electro, more continuity from TASM to stop the film feeling like a reboot, expansion on Harry's illness and Norman's manipulation. MJ could've been our representation of Spider-Man's 'Friendly Neighbourhood' impact, and the worst of the Super Spy Parents would be gone.

It's just a massive, massive shame, man.

#tasm!peter parker #tasm 2 #peter x gwen #andrew garfield #emma stone #jamie foxx #green goblin #harry osborn #peter x harry #parksborn #dane dehaan #marc webb #sony #spider man #marvel #kevin feige #peter 3 #the amazing spider man #tasm #tasm 3 #peter parker #gwen stacy #shailene woodley #peter x mj #mj watson #mary jane watson

[dekusleftsock]

So, I've seen a lot of people getting mad at Bones for seemingly erasing bkdk moments and replacing them with Izu//ocha. As someone who began as an anime only and migrated over to the manga, I never really saw this though? I got bkdk vibes pretty fast, even when I was just watching the anime. Besides that, a lot of people forget that Bones has added shipping material for every ship, not just specific ones. They added the Kabedon (wall pound), and they also animate plenty of added little winks to the audience. I think a lot of them slip by the western audience though because I think they're more Japanese specific. I only found out because I was hungry for bkdk content and looked up the eastern side of the fandom and cultural meanings in Japan XD. Another person explained what Bones might actually be doing. Usually studios add shipping moments for multiple groups in the interest of making money, since animation is expensive. Due to this, they might be doing more filler for ships that don't have a whole lot of canon content, while moving ships that do get canon attention along through use of the plot. Idk, I just don't understand the arguments others have made. Bkdk is incredibly popular in Japan, Japan's culture on bullying means they don't (usually) have the same issues that we do with Katsuki himself, and they've added shipping moments for KiriBaku and bkdk, which means they're open to the idea. I think it's less discrimination and more about what makes sense monetarily. Business is really difficult to run, especially in the entertainment industry. Finally, for all people have complained about the distance, I noticed that in season 5 they started moving bkdk closer to each other in general. I also feel like the adding distance thing could come down to a lot of factors. They had a lot of moments of bkdk sitting next to each other or (in one case) outright leaning on each other, only to randomly be back to distance again. It could make a nice visual metaphor for how Bakugo has gotten closer to Deku, but is still internally rebelling against it. Idk, I feel like that could a lot of ways. All depends on how you view it.

Now, okay, here’s my take on this

It’s not necessarily bones as a company rather the audience they have to conform to. And they most definitely leave in a lot of bkdk scenes, yes, but that’s quite literally because they can’t go around it, not only for plot but also that like, unless you were completely clueless most people KNEW Katsuki was going to get a redemption or atonement arc of some kind. We just weren’t expecting horikoshi to make it so… romantic. And intimate.

Bones isn’t necessarily homophobic, the amount of kiri//baku scenes in the movies and in the show is undeniable. Ntm the fact that Rody and deku had a whole romantic song montage in their movie. But there’s a REASON why kiri//baku is seen as the “most straight gay ship” and that’s simply because every other boy in the show (excluding Katsuki) has a “main woman” if you will. Kaminari has jirou, kirishima has Mina (I know I’m contradicting but I’ll explain later), Izuku has ochako, etc etc.

My point is that the reason that Katsuki is never the one getting comments like “bakugou is straight” like they say “deku is straight” is because he is the most queer mother fucker you’ve ever seen. He doesn’t HAVE a love interest (see in Katsuki meta👀) like every other boy does. Some people say it’s camie but, let’s be honest here, in every scene she’s in she doesn’t even pass the bechtel test. The friend group is fun and awesome, and she teases him a lot, but, in reality, she just doesn’t have enough scenes or screen time to be a full character and develop out of a rare pair.

And bones is aware of this, just as the fandom is. Katsuki simply doesn’t have a woman to establish him as straight AND ALSO has a lot of queer coding by fitting the “gay delinquent” trope. Kirishima also fits a lot of the Japanese ideas of the “gay delinquent”. This, was entirely purposeful.

In a way bones, like many mha fans, fell for a lot of the bait hori threw and then even exaggerated it. There’s this scene in the anime where ochako is changed to questioning why she likes Izuku and then says how she’s going to “lock away these feelings”, but in the manga she says “what the hell am I doing? He’s trying his best to be a hero, I also need to try my best.” This is paraphrasing ofc, I’d need to rewatch the scene and grab the panel but I don’t currently have access to my mha books. (Which is currently my only way of getting the official translations for older chapters lol)

In some cases, it’s a stretch I won’t lie. But, while bones isn’t exactly HOMOPHOBIC, it doesn’t change how bones tries to appeal to, ultimately, a bigger audience. Shonen needs a girl and boy ending and because mha is a shonen then it will have a girl and boy ending.

Another aspect is that homophobic fans just straight up hate Katsuki. Not only because they’re usually bullied white boys that fell down the alt right pipeline, but also because Katsuki gets in the way of any of their straight ships. He’s competition for not only ochako but also Mina. And they don’t like that, but since they can’t be outwardly homophobic they just say that he’s abusive or completely un redeemable. (Which is also weird bc these people tend to also like endeavor ?????? I don’t get it. Like, I like endeavor too but what)

There’s no getting around Katsuki being a VERY queer coded character. Not only with Izuku but also with kirishima. Bones doesn’t want to take away from izu//ocha so they put their eggs into one basket; aka kiri//baku.

Anywho, there’s a reason why so many anti bkdk shippers are anime only’s and that’s both because bkdk is “cringe” in mainstream media (thanks alt right pipeline) and also because a lot of the subtext and magic was lost. Ultimately, anime is just an adaptation. The only thing that REALLY matters IS the manga. So, in the case of bkdk being canon, there’s going to be an influx of anime only’s that say that this wasn’t implied, rushed, he was forced, etc etc etc and they will ultimately just have to cope and cry and wine about it in their own pity party.

Yada yada, I kinda rambled, but yeah. I do think bones censors and then pushes a certain narrative. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing either since, well, like I said before, anime is an adaptation of the manga. It’s not going to be accurate a LOT and that’s just a fact we kind of have to accept. I watch the anime to get the scenes I love animated now. I started out as an anime only (who started shipping them after dvk2) and I’ve re read most of the manga at this point. A lot is different and I’d honestly recommend to anyone who has the time and patience to read the entire manga. It truly is a different experience. Bkdk was more implied in the manga and izu//ocha was even more boring too. The only reason I even like izu//ocha is because of the first two seasons of mha, and then ofc fandom content. Otherwise, I’ve stopped caring for it mostly. They’re boring and have been boring for a long time. The only reason they WERENT is because of bones.

Again, anime adaptations are just that, adaptations. I don’t think it’s really a bad thing.

#midoriya izuku #bkdk #mha deku #bkdk brainrot #bakudeku #bnha deku #bakugou katsuki #mha analysis #deku midoriya #mha bakugou #leftsock rambles #maybe unpopular opinion but yeah it’s what I think

[touy-touy-two]

Band au hc’s:

:///:

- tenko chose the name. he says it’s because if they didn’t have music they would’ve probably turned into “villains”/ other deep reasons. in reality it’s because of league of legends.

- tenko has a great singing voice but isn’t confident

- likes writing deep, poetic songs full of imagery and metaphors while touya likes being more upfront with his lyrics- which lead to fights in the beginning

- dresses in a more gothic fashion. black makeup, elegant and lacy shirts, long embellished coats heeled shoes and macabre jewelry. he doesn’t always dress extravagantly but when he does he goes all out.

——

- twice sometimes gets a bit too exited and speeds up the tempo, annoying dabi especially, but they are used to it.

- he creates copies to have the sickest drum solos.

- creates copies of him to sing choruses

- makes a copy and gets down to crowd surf in a giant hamster ball/ uses them for mr compress’s tricks/ interacts with fans etc.

- he hypes up the show big time

- he likes to take pictures of the band while they perform and keep them as little memories

——

- toga and twice like to sing duets. their voices go really well together.

- she likes to dress in a very cute yet macabre way. bows, frilly dresses and skirts, cute blouses, with splashes of red to look like blood. or a headless teadybear purse.

- touya helps dye pastel streaks into her hair whenever she wants a new color

- her guitar and keytar are pastel pink with lots of stickers on them

- she does really cute dances while on stage

- has a game where she puts stickers in the boys while they aren’t looking

——

- dabi prefers the bass but is still equally as good on guitar. when he plays he can perform sick guitar solos.

- practices his guitar all the time. like seriously. ALL. THE. TIME. it’s basically a joke amongst them that he never lets go of his guitar.

- his favorite guitar, his first ever bass, is covered in nasa stickers. he never plays it on stage but he always uses it when he’s writing a new song.

- has a special bass he can light on fire while playing which looks super cool.

- all his guitars are black or black and white

- duets with twice or compress

- he’s likes to dress up in a punk fashion. either casual or old school punk. ripped shirts, crust pants, leather jacket covered in spikes and pins, slightly burnt band tees, old doc martens or even platformed boots if he’s feeling dramatic. all his clothes are stapled and slightly burnt, that’s his aesthetic.

——

- compress likes to plan the lights and effects.

- he is good on the guitar but his calling is to entertain he others with his performance

- use his quirk to carry the stuff, especially the heavier equipment.

- whenever they need to change out a guitar he throws them over in a marble to add some extra flair.

——

- spinner is a great dj and remixes the songs on stage in real time. also adds auto tune sometimes during songs to make them have more flair during the events

- he’s great at guitar too but seems to prefer being the turntableist a bit more

- sets the songs list for every concert

- mixes the music in the studio

- doesn’t like singing. he’s really shy.

#tt’s band au #this band au is so fun

[fineartsjournal]

213341 Art Studio IIIA ⋆ Week 3 - Delaying the inevitable

John Oswald! We're overdue talking about him. While we've made a fair bit of mention towards the second, isolated invention of plunderphonics in the Bronx; John Oswald's definition of the genre saw more 'academic' origins.

With works stemming as far back as the late 1960s, his time at the Simon Fraser University would see him participating in the 1968-onwards World Soundscape Project (an ecologically-focused wildlife sound collage which is quite self-explanatory); using these sound collage methods, and informed by the literary Cut Up Technique popularised by William S. Burroughs, Oswald would perform various sampling experiments from the mid-70s onwards

The week three critique was quickly approaching and I still hadn't the courage to christen the sampler. I was getting pretty used to the (generally finicky) Audacity layout, so I chose to stick with my guns and work from there.

In-line with my IPO, this presentation would demonstrate, through a groovy, sampledelic track, the delight of plunderphonics.

No particular overarching narrative to the samples I would use either - just anything that came to mind to best fit the flow of the track worked for me.

I had casually made mention earlier of presenting my work on the sampler, so I addressed these claims with a prelude - the namesake track begins with the following sentence, constructed entirely from the following samples:

While working on the project, I also discovered a little quirk when it comes to YouTube's video recommendations: If you're looking at a video with not a lot of views, YouTube will recommend videos with a similar view count. This is a really quick way to find some decently obscure material.

Of course, I did none of that for the 24 samples I used here, but I could utilize that later... perhaps.

With not much time to add delicate texture to the track, each sample in the subsequent song played an important role.

Bop Hop provides a soft background beat to keep the rhythm going, the synths from Pacific 202 give a layer of atmosphere, and the Grapefruit Technique Video is....uh... there.

Here's the finished result.

After some technical difficulties, I presented my work to the class, paying little mind to flashiness. I had hooked my laptop to my mum's blown-out Bluetooth speaker, playing straight from Audacity with the computer turned around so that the class could gather around and see the individual track layers.

CRITIQUE TIME, BABY.

Following a single playthrough (plus a readthrough of the list of samples), came the comments:

Immediate connections were drawn to the sampling styles of J Dilla and Kanye West. It was like quickly changing through radio stations, delivering an impatient, intentionally cacophonous, yet confident sound; with an aspect of humor.

Bryce compared the listening experience to trainspotting, letting the ears deduce what sound came where, and with that, my decision to unveil the samples afterwards worked against that experience. The glitchy 'surprises' of my song owed to obscurity, working better with a less technical viewing experience.

Representing sound through video, perhaps in the degree of objectification of sound offered in the metaphor of the bandstand. Other ways that I could go about showcasing this could draw from the swirly graphics that would play on Windows Media Player whenever you loaded music on an older PC:

On a slightly different note, when tinkering around on YouTube later that day, I stumbled this track: Slow by Amanati. I know nothing of the artist, care even less about the song, but GOODNESS ME does it sound good when given the ol' 'YouTube sampler' treatment.

The resulting chopped composition I got from it is a personal favorite of mine, and I wish to reuse it elsewhere shortly.

A few days later, I found myself with juuust enough time before work to hook up the sampler and get things going. Or so I thought.

Low and behold, there was an online manual, and my preliminary conceptions on how easy it'd be to start making sounds were a fair bit off. For starters, I needed some sort of USB middleman between the analogue line-out jacks, the SP-202, and my computer, to which I had neither, let alone that there needed to be some kind of audio set aside for me to feed into this machine.

It was a learning experience, and most likely one of many.

Made for a good photo, shame that I didn't even get time to turn the thing on before I had to head to work.

[freaxs-blog]

Happy Birthday to the legendary American guitarist and Doors' founding member, Robby Krieger! Let's take a trip down memory lane to celebrate the man who brought us the mesmerizing guitar riffs of 'Riders on the Storm' and contributed to The Doors' iconic sound.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Krieger's musical journey began at an early age, inspired by the vibrant music scene of the '50s and '60s. His love for flamenco and jazz guitar set him apart from the crowd, and little did he know, he was destined to be a key player in one of rock's most influential bands.

In 1965, Krieger joined forces with Jim Morrison, Ray Manzarek, and John Densmore to form The Doors. The name was inspired by Aldous Huxley's book, 'The Doors of Perception,' reflecting the band's desire to explore new musical horizons and challenge societal norms.

Fast forward to 1971, and The Doors unleashed 'Riders on the Storm.' This haunting masterpiece, featuring Krieger's ethereal guitar work, took listeners on a journey through a musical storm. The song's moody atmosphere and Morrison's evocative lyrics create an otherworldly experience, making it a timeless classic.

The track was part of The Doors' final studio album, 'L.A. Woman,' which went on to become a massive success. The album's bluesy undertones and experimental elements solidified The Doors' status as musical innovators, and it remains a testament to their enduring legacy.

L.A. Woman' marked The Doors as the first American band to achieve eight consecutive gold LPs, showcasing their unparalleled influence on the rock scene. Krieger's guitar prowess and the band's collective brilliance left an indelible mark on music history.

Digging into 'Riders on the Storm,' the song's meaning has been subject to interpretation. Some say it's a metaphorical journey, while others see it as a reflection of life's uncertainties. Either way, Krieger's haunting guitar licks add an enigmatic layer to the storytelling.

Join me in raising a virtual toast to Robby Krieger, the man behind the magic! Let the 'Riders on the Storm' guide you through the musical wonders of The Doors.

#the doors #music history #music #rock #classic rock

[keepingupwithlinmanuel]

They Fought to Make ‘In the Heights’ Both Dreamlike and Authentic

An important change is the decision to make the character of Nina, the elite student played by Leslie Grace, an Afro-Latina woman. She even refers to herself as a trigueña, which implies this was more than just a random casting choice.

HUDES One thing I’ve learned is if you want to make a nontraditional or strong casting choice, you actually have to write it into the dialogue or else it’s so easy for the production to get away from that. So a word like trigueña gets put in there for that reason. I wanted to consciously make Nina Afro-Latina in this version of “In the Heights.” Since we opened the show on Broadway, this national conversation has happened around microaggressions and really interesting stuff that I feel like would be applicable to Nina’s situation.

Was there a number that any of you felt was a deal-breaker and needed to stay?

HUDES At some point, for various artistic or budget reasons, many of the numbers were up for being potentially cut. You really had to make a strong argument for why the film needed them. Because the piragüero [who sells the Puerto Rican-style shaved-ice dessert] is a peripheral character, at one point the “Piragua” song was up for cutting. I tried to talk to Lin gently about this. He was really heartbroken and I was like, “I have one idea for how the studio would let us keep that song.” So I pitched him on playing [him]. That’s how that one stayed.

Lin, why did you feel that the piragüero was so significant to the story?

MIRANDA That song is maybe the fastest song I ever wrote. Although, I don’t know that I wrote it. I think I just caught it. The metaphor of the entire musical is inside that song. Piragüero is every character in this movie. They’re doing their best against impossible odds. They take a breath, then they keep scraping by. It’s a minute-and-45-second song, but somehow the DNA of the entire show is in that minute and 45 seconds. I was very proud that that kernel got to stay. My performance was a testament to my grandfather. He passed away the week after “In the Heights” opened on Broadway. He’s the one member of my family who did not get to see everything that came after that opening night. So I have his espejuelos [reading glasses] around my neck. I have his [Marcial Lafuente] Estefanía cowboy novels in my pocket. I’m wearing my socks up to my tabs and the same kind of shirt he had to wear. I’m really cosplaying as my abuelo.

Quiara, how did you come into the role of producer and why did you decide to take on that responsibility?

HUDES It was a lot of little things that happened organically. When we went to Warner Bros. and Jon came on board, they weren’t saying, “Where are the pages?” They were saying, “What do the pages mean?” I loved having those conversations and saying, “I don’t want to see stiletto heels on any of the salon workers. They’re women on their feet for eight or nine hours a day. Put them in tennis shoes.” Then Jon started asking me, “What would the food look like?” And I was like, “Can we also talk about the pots?” Then I started talking to the choreographer Chris Scott about the dance casting call. I don’t know much about dance, but I did know that at Abuela’s house and out on the street, you’re going to see elderly people dancing and they are going to be schooling the young’uns. At some point I said, “I want to be a producer on this. I’m not just writing words on a page.”

The choice of shooting on location is really compelling, especially when some locations would have been much easier to conceive on a soundstage. Tell me about shooting in Washington Heights and what that adds to the experience.

MIRANDA On paper it’s risky, right? It’s expensive to shoot in New York. It’s hard to shoot on location. It’s harder to shoot in Washington Heights in the summer when we all live outside for a few months a year. But the advantage is you get a million authenticity checks every day because your neighborhood is rolling up with folding chairs to watch this movie you’re going to make about them. Your characters better be dressed like the folks who are on the side, your food better be right. Everything you’re putting in the frame should be an honest reflection of the surrounding everything that’s outside of the frame. I give Jon so much credit for leaning in and listening and finding these corners of the neighborhood that have additional layers of meaning for those of us like Quiara and myself, who still live in the neighborhood.

The concept of the dream, or sueñito, is different for each character. The musical seems to say that you can attain your aspirations without losing who you are to assimilation. That’s a profound notion for immigrants and their children.

MIRANDA It’s that simple and it’s that complicated. You’re talking to first-generation writers whose parents were born on the island of Puerto Rico. You grow up with the “Sliding Doors” thinking: “What if they’d stayed? Who would I be if I grew up in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico?” The nuance that we always fought for is to say, “I can accept the sacrifice of my ancestors. I can accept the responsibility that bestows upon me and still find my own way in the world.” It’s not an either-or, it’s not about, “Forget your dreams. It’s my dreams.” It’s thinking, “I accept the incredible journey you had to take for me to even be standing here and still my job is to make my own way in the world and define home for what it is for me.”

#lin manuel miranda #quiara alegria hudes #nyt #in the heights #interviews

[eternally-writing]

chain reaction 02 | jjk

genre: fluff and angst 

rating: PG 

pairing: Jungkook x reader

theme: college!au , enemies to lovers, series 

word count: 4.6k

warnings: light swearing

synopsis: A semester with your mortal enemy, Jeon Jungkook, as your lab partner was bound to be an experience to remember. 

banner by me!

read part 1 here! 

 If you want to be tagged in future parts, send me an ask! 

--♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡--

When you had imagined what Jeon Jungkook’s apartment would look like, you had definitely thought it would look something like an evil lair (except messy, because Jungkook definitely struck you as the messy type). 

However, upon stepping into his surprisingly well-finished apartment, you found the exact opposite case. Before this, you had planned to make a ton of jokes based on whatever you would find in Jungkook’s apartment. And the truth was, you still could. 

Jeon Jungkook was an absolute neat freak. You watched the way he subtly shuddered as a fleck of dirt from your shoes travelled off of his doormat and you took note of how his kitchen counter was so clean you could probably eat directly off of it (which was especially rare from someone in college). If he had a roommate, there was no trace of him right now, as the apartment pretty much looked like a showhome.

“I didn’t know you were such a clean freak, Jeon,” you said with a smirk.

For the first time, you saw Jeon Jungkook look the slightest bit timid. 

“I like to keep things tidy, I guess,” he said while rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand. 

He gestured for you to enter his quaint but somehow spacious living room as he sped to the kitchen to grab you a glass of water (he may not like you, but he’d be damned by his mother if she found out he let a guest into his place without giving them a beverage).

You had a very clear game plan when it came to entering Jeon Jungkook’s apartment: Enter. Talk about the project (and nothing else). Grab the chemistry notes from the class you missed on Monday. Leave. 

It definitely seemed like an easy peasy 4 step plan  -  except that all seemed to flow out the window once you saw the photo Jungkook kept on his coffee table. From what you could decipher, it looked like a high school aged Jungkook in a music studio, right in front of the mic, with some of his friends around him. You had never seen Jungkook smile as big as he was in that picture, and it even managed to pull at your heartstrings.

Before you could open your mouth to ask about it, Jungkook had already come over to you and slammed the picture to be face down on the table, leaving smiley high school Jungkook out of sight. 

“An invitation into my apartment isn’t an invitation into my private life, Y/N. Don’t get it twisted.” he said coldly, dropping the glass of water hashly onto a coaster by the picture frame. 

To be fair, you kind of deserved that (and looking into Jungkook’s personal life definitely wasn’t part of your 4 step plan to seeing him today), but he didn’t have to be that mean.  As a peace offering you moved as far away from the photo frame as you could.

“Let’s just get this over with, Jeon. I have a pilates class in an hour on the other side of campus.”

Now Jungkook couldn't pass up that opportunity to make a joke. 

“Pilates, mmm.”  He let out an overexaggerated moan to make his point. 

“ Think you can slip my number to the hot girls there Y/N,” said Jungkook with a smirk. 

“In your dreams Jeon. You’re lucky if any girls will still want your number if you fail organic chemistry, which is what you’re going to do if we don’t work on this project.”

“I think you’re forgetting Y/N.” he said as he bent down, bringing his lips to your ear - “if I go down I’m taking you with me sunshine”. 

Ignoring how his close proximity to you was making your heart race (it was probably due to anger, right??), you jumped away from him and pulled out your macbook.

“Our group contract is due tomorrow so let’s just finish that up and then I’ll be out of your hair okay?” you said with an air of desperation and potentially sexual frustration.

For the most part, you and Jungkook worked in silence besides the occasional sound of you typing or clearing your throat. Looking at the live google doc in front of you and the progress you both were making, you were starting to think that working with Jungkook might not be the worst thing in the world. 

Jeon Jungkook and Y/N L/N : CHEM 251 LAB PRESENTATION CONTRACT

Topic - Green Chemistry 

1. Answer all communication from your partner (emails, messages) within 24 hours

2. Complete all portions of assignments at least 1 day before it is due. 

3. Any changes to your availability should be communicated to your partner. 

4. Y/N will handle the background literature and introduction of the presentation. 

5. Jungkook will look for future applications of Green Chemistry and direct applications of course material in the field of Green Chemistry. 

6. Don’t fall in love with your partner. 

As soon as you saw Jungkook type the last point on the document, you glared at him beside you on the couch. 

“Seriously Jeon? I forgot you have the mindset of a 13 year old boy,” you muttered as he looked at you cockily. 

You took a deep breath as your internal monologue started to run: 

Okay, Y/N. you’re not here to let Jeon Jungkook mess with you. 3 strikes and you’re out of here - there’s no reason to need to keep up with his bullshit (especially since at least the first part of your project was over).

Jungkook had then had to add more rules to your group contract. 

7. Y/N will give out Jungkook’s number to any hot girl at her pilates class. 

You groaned and hastily deleted off the document. 

That was strike 1 for Jungkook. 3 strikes and he’s out. 

Jungkook was still relentless in his attacks. 

“Seriously though Y/N, do you really not think I’m attractive at all? You really don’t want a piece of this?,” he said as he wiggled his eyebrows and gestured to his body all too suggestively. 

“Cut it out Jeon, I’m not dealing with your shit today,” you hissed, your eyes shooting metaphorical lasers into Jungkook. 

Strike 2: He’s getting close. 

“C’mon Y/N, what’s the chance that you’ll ever be able to bag someone as hot as me. I mean, look at me and look at you!”

Strike 3: you were DONE  with Jeon Jungkook today.

Not even stopping to put on your shoes fully, you took one last glance back at him before you walked out the door. 

“Fuck you, Jeon Jungkook.”

The glass of water he got you sat untouched on his coffee table, drops of water spilling onto the photo frame beside it due to his apartment shaking from you slamming his door.

Mirroring the new droplets on his coffee table, you found tears starting to drop across your face as well. 

--♡--

Even though you loved your chemistry lecture, you’re not sure why chemistry labs had such a bad vibe to you. The most obvious explanation for this would be having Jeon Jungkook as a lab partner (especially after your last meeting, the situation speaks for itself). But what could be is probably at least part of the reason is because of what happened in your first year 8AM chem lab. After getting through a grueling 3 hour titration (that you messed up and got no results for in the end), you walked back to your dorm to find your (now ex) boyfriend Jimin in bed with your roommate, Soomi. 

Needless to stay you left that day with one less friend, no boyfriend (and you had also gotten 16/30 on that lab… yikes), so chemistry labs did leave a little bit of a bad taste in your mouth. 

It had been months since that incident, but even after getting a new lease and cutting any ties you remotely had to Jimin, you still carried the insecurity that Jimin instilled in you by cheating on you with someone who you thought of as a sister. 

You had yet to run into Jimin against post-breakup, and had managed to successfully avoid him, until now.

“Y/N?” 

You knew that voice all too well. Turning around, you were met with the sight of your ex, Jimin. As if that wasn’t bad enough, as you looked him over you noticed your old roommate, Soomi, hanging off of his arm. You had no clue that they were still together (you had lost all contact with anyone remotely related to Jimin), and somehow seeing them together hurt you even more. 

Jimin looked even prettier than you had last remembered him; his prince-like hair shone in the afternoon sun, his charming smile seemed even brighter. Knowing Jimin was still with Soomi made you feel that he didn’t even feel a pang of regret for cheating on you, like he didn’t need to take some time by himself to reflect (like you definitely did) or stop to grieve your relationship. From your point of view, it seemed like you never even mattered to Jimin. 

You suddenly felt self conscious of everything under the judgmental gazes of Jimin and Soomi. Those baby hairs that you didn’t bother to pin down with a bobby pin this morning now felt like they were sticking straight out of your head and the pimple that was poking through your concealer on your forehead suddenly felt like a volcano. In your mind, compared to Soomi, you looked like a hot mess.

Your brain was on autopilot for all the small-talk you made with the two of them, and you didn’t snap out of your trance until you heard these words from Jimin. 

“I only wish the best for you Y/N”

You internally scoffed at this statement. Who the fuck was Park Jimin to say that he “wishes the best for you”. You took months to get over him and the hurtful words he said to you. Every mean comment and snarky comparisons he made to you felt like it was tattooed onto your skin and stuck with you forever. But now he was standing in front of you like nothing was wrong?

In a different world, you probably would’ve slapped Jimin across the face. But instead you rose above like your mom taught you to. 

“You as well Jimin.” you said courtly with a nod, trying to stop the tears that were pricking at your eyes from escaping your tear ducts. 

After receiving a small nod from Jimin as a response, you turned around as if you had somewhere to be (in reality, you didn’t have class for another 2 hours).

Getting as far away from Jimin was all you could think about at the moment, and you moved as far as your legs could take you in whatever direction you thought would take you out of your college’s quad, even as the tears falling from your eyes blurred your vision.

You didn’t know how to feel. You had imagined what seeing Jimin for the first time after the break up would look like; maybe he would grovel at his knees and beg to have you back (it’s not that you wanted to date him again or that you had feelings for him, but it would feel nice to feel wanted), maybe you would just throw a drink in his face and walk away like a bad bitch, maybe you could’ve flashed a new boyfriend in front of his face. 

All of a sudden your phone started to ring.  Your first fear (and somewhat hope) was that it would be Jimin calling you, but little did you know that it was something so much worse.

Incoming Call: Jeon Boy 

“as if this day couldn’t get any worse,” you thought to yourself as you pressed decline. You had yet to talk to Jungkook since that day at his apartment (you didn’t even call to congratulate him on his 

Incoming Call: Jeon Boy 

You groaned and hit the decline but at the speed of lightning again.

Incoming Call: Jeon Boy

Seriously, could this guy not take a hint? You were tempted to turn your phone off all together, but settled for hitting the decline button again.

Incoming Call: Jeon Boy

You realized that for whatever reason, Jungkook was not giving up, so you either had to answer him or listen to your ringtone of “Love Killa” by Monday X play every 10 seconds. Praying that your voice wouldn’t betray you, you took a deep (albeit shaky) breath and tried your best to wipe your tears before clicking “answer”.

“Look Jeon, I’m - uh - sorry but I really can’t do this right now okay? I’ll call you later.” you choked out, your voice obviously wavering as you tried to be as professional as possible. 

Before you could press the “end call button” you heard Jungkook’s concerned voice through the speakers.

“Y/N, wait, you don’t sound too good. Are you okay?”

Ah yes, “are you okay” - probably the most loaded question a person could ever ask. 

You probably could’ve kept it together if he had asked any other question, but his “are you ok” truly pulled at your heartstrings.

You felt your chest tightening but you tried your best to help the feeling subside. You had yet to show weakness about how Jimin had affected you to anyone, and you sure as hell weren’t going to start with Jeon Jungkook. Clutching at your chest and taking a few deep breaths in an effort to calm your racing heart, you continued on. 

“Is that genuine concern I’m hearing from you Jeon? Be careful, you’re losing your bad boy persona,” you said as you tried to make a joke to distract him. 

“Y/N, no. I’m serious. are. you. okay.”

You couldn’t handle it anymore. Sobs broke free from your chest and you heaved into the phone, your whimpers and whines striking Jungkook on the other side of the phone. 

“I, I can’t- I just-“

The words barely broke through your sobs. Your chest was tightening and you could barely hear Jungkook through the ringing in your ears. 

“Y/N where are you, I’m coming’” said Jungkook. You could hear the jingling of his car keys and the rustling of him putting on shoes. 

As if mother nature felt your pain, the rain started pouring down on you at the same time.

You barely got out any more words to Jungkook,  but he didn’t hang up on you. He just kept whispering comforting phrases, trying to calm you down from afar as you could hear his car engine roaring in the background (in another world, you definitely would’ve yelled at him for using his phone while driving). You barely even registered that Jungkook was there at all. Every memory of you and Jimin seemed to reopen like a fresh wound, and you couldn’t feel anything except the pain. All you could do was sit on a random curb by the edge of campus, your wails probably reaching the sorority houses nearby. 

You felt broken. The sound of the thunder overhead mixed with your cries as the rain pelted you, soaking your thin sweatshirt. You don’t know how much time passed there. In your head, it felt like time was frozen, while for Jungkook it felt like he was wasting hours zooming through campus (he truly was zooming - a month later he found out that he had accumulated 3 speeding tickets trying to find you, but he would never tell you that).

“Oh, sunshine,” he murmured, voice laced with pity and concern as he pulled over his car on the curb in front of you. 

You and Jungkook hadn’t even said a word to each other since the feud at his apartment, and you had absolutely zero clue how he even managed to figure out where you were through your jumbled phone call. But all you knew is that right now you needed him. You needed someone to give you a bit of comfort, and Jungkook was somehow here to do that for you. Despite everything between you twom you couldn’t hide the feeling of relief that ran through your body as you looked up and saw Jungkook in front of you.

Coming to your side, Jungkook crouched beside you. 

“Jungkook”, you wept as he pulled you into his chest. It was probably one of the first times you had actually addressed him by his first name, which came as a surprise to him. 

Holding you closer, Jungkook couldn’t help but feel protective over you. He couldn’t help but hurt with you as he saw your fragile figure shaking in his arms. 

“You’re gonna be okay now Y/N, okay? I’m here. I’m here for you. I’m not going anywhere.”  

And in that moment, on a dirty curbside off campus, you weren’t Jeon boy and little miss sunshine,  mortal enemies and chemistry lab partners. Instead, you were just Jeon Jungkook and Y/N., and nothing else seemed to matter at the moment.

--♡--

To your surprise (and the surprise of anyone else who knows you), you and Jungkook had not been stepping on each other’s toes as much. What had started out as extreme, extreme dislike had turned into a mild dislike (maybe even a very slight enjoyment of his presence, although you weren't about to admit that anytime soon). And of course, you both refuse to acknowledge the “Jimin incident” that had occurred a week ago and you both refuse to believe that it may have had something to do with you and Jungkook not hating each other. Your emails stopped being signed off with “do your part Jeon, or else” and instead now usually started with “Hey Jeon!” and “Thanks, Y/N”

That brought you here, in your apartment on a Friday night, eating old pizza in an old sweatshirt, no bra, and some comfy shorts that had definitely been through the wash one too many times. Researching for your chemistry project, you chuckled at how much of a londer you would look to an outsider. Sending off the articles you found on Green Chemistry to Jungkook, you closed out the email with some casual pleasantries and then turned to continue rewatching episodes of your favourite kdrama. You definitely weren’t expecting a response from Jungkook until Monday. You were sure that someone like him was at a frat party (was he even in a frat? You had no idea). Either way, Jungkook probably was lounging around in some party house with like 6 girls on his arms, while you were doing quite the opposite. 

Surprisingly, Jungkook was actually doing quite a similar thing to you. Instead of watching kdramas, he was watching Iron Man (for what was probably the 50th time), and was huddled under a makeship blanket fort like a child and scrolling through reddit. Don’t be mistaken though, Jeon Jungkook was definitely a partier, but he also knew when he needed to give his head (and liver) a break.

He saw his phone chime with a gmail notification. He took a brief scroll through the articles you had sent over to him (those were definitely work for another day since there was no way he could digest academic jargon without at least 3 cups of coffee in him), but he was pleasantly surprised with what you had come up with. 

At the same time, the Facebook tab he had open on his Macbook also lit up. 

It’s Y/N L/N’s birthday today! Leave a message on her wall to celebrate!

Jungkook’s jaw dropped. 

It was your birthday and you were sending him chemistry research papers?? Jungkook chuckled because he could already think of 1000 bad jokes to make fun of you, but he also felt some other feeling that he couldn’t quite place.  

Jungkook’s mother had always taught him that it was important to celebrate birthdays, and that is was bad luck that it was  He wasn’t sure if it was just a farce that his mother had come up with to make sure that he still attended those family-wide facetime birthday celebrations once he went to college, but either way, he still believed it to some extent. 

He had no clue why he was doing this, or how he even got here, but somehow Jungkook found himself in sweatpants and a hoodie in front of your apartment door at 10pm on a Friday night, cake in tow in one hand, his other hand out ready to knock on your door. 

On the other side of the door, you were equally astonished. It almost felt like you were seeing a hallucination, as if your email to Jungkook had somehow summoned him to your door. You couldn’t help but rub your eyes in disbelief, just to make sure he was actually there. 

“Jungkook?”

Bashful Jungkook seemed to make an appearance again as he tapped his feet in anxiety. And before he could stop himself, words were already tumbling from his mouth”

“Happy birthday?” he said as a question , posing it as if he didn’t know whether facebook was just playing a prank on him (which he honestly didn’t know). “Can I come in?”

You didn’t even really know how to process this situation, but all you could mutter was a “uh, thank you?” in a similar inquirable tone and gesture for him to step into your apartment. If Jeon Jungkook showed up at your door at 10pm on a Friday night, he probably deserved to be heard out.

“You can make yourself comfortable on the couch. Sorry, I wasn’t expecting company otherwise I would have cleaned up a bit.”  You were sure that Jungkook’s neat freak brain was probably frying itself into overdrive based on the empty now-empty pizza box sitting on your coffee table and stray utensils and crumbs on your kitchen counter. You felt a little embarrassed that he had to see this.

Mirroring Jungkook’s hospitality last time you were at his place, you brought him a glass of water and hoped that this evening would go a LOT better than the last time you and Jungkook were alone together in an apartment. 

Jungkook’s cake was still held in his hands. It was a little cake from the 24/7 cafe on campus; he could only find one that said “happy” with little sunflowers and smiles, so hopefully the “birthday” part of it was implied. 

“I, um, I brought cake - for you. I mean your birthday.”

You sat down across from him. 

“Oh you didn’t have to Jungkook, uh that’s really nice but you didn’t have to do that,” you said as you leaned further away from the cake, as if it was an item that scared you. “I’m not big on birthdays anyways, just usually me chilling in my apartment!” 

However, Jungkook was not planning on taking no as an answer. He tried his best to plead with you, but was still getting nowhere. 

“you… you have to do it for my mom!” he said as he thrust the cake even closer to your face. 

You tilted your head in confusion at his statement. 

“I mean uh-, my mom says that it’s bad luck if you don’t blow out candles on cake on your birthday and that if you don’t do it then you won’t live to your next birthday. And um- i know we’re not friends Y/N but I’d rather see you alive next year”.

 Jungkook tried to look as nonchalant and cool as possible, and when he realized his statement was a little too thoughtful he followed it up with a “i mean you could do whatever you want i don’t care it doesn’t matter to me”. 

You were beginning to like this side of Jungkook, the one that was more thoughtful than he was a selfish, inconsiderate dude.

Taking the cake softly from his hands, you muttered a soft “thank you”. At this point Jungkook didn’t know whether you took it from his hands to throw it on the ground or actually use it for its intended purpose. As you leaned over to grab the lighter by your candles on your coffee table, Jungkook let out a breath of relief. 

Throwing open the cake box, you lit the candle in the cake and stared patiently in front of it. 

“Well Jungkook, I believe if I am going to be blowing out candles there should be singing too, no?” You joked with a silly smile on your face. 

Knowing he had no way out of this (and to be honest, he secretly wanted to anyways), he began to sing. 

You had never heard a more beautiful rendition of happy birthday in your life. Jungkook turned the most mundane song, one that you didn’t have many happy memories with, into a tune that made your heart start to swell with joy. You wished the song was longer, because as he stopped to sing you wanted nothing more than for him to keep going. 

“Make a wish, Y/N” , he whispered. 

You didn’t know what to wish for. There were a lot of things that needed to be fixed in the world, and lots of things that you needed too (like a new toothbrush, or the experience of true love). It seemed fitting that since you were only blowing out these candles because of Jungkook, you should at least dedicate the wish to him. So all you wished for was for you and Jungkook to get along just like you were in this moment. 

You looked up at Jungkook from the cake, and from there all you could say was a sincere “thank you”.

The moment was all too sincere, and you and Jungkook could feel the atmosphere shift to one that was all too intimate and friendly for your relationship. As moving away from a hot flame, you both picked up your phones and mumbled excuses to move away from the situation. 

Jungkook was the first to break the ice again. 

“I don’t know how good this cake is going to be, the expiry date was at least a week and a half ago”

“Well Jeon Jungkook, if you brought an expired cake into my apartment, it feels like a right of passage that you have to try this cake with me.”

You couldn’t stop yourself from picking up a piece of cake on a fork and shoving it into his mouth. Immediately, his face scrounged up in disgust, and you could pretty much see him gag. 

“That cream is… very creamy to stay the least,” he said as he thickly swallowed it down, grimacing the whole time. 

His expression made you chuckle. There was something about the way his naturally fluffy hair seemed to move as he swayed like a piece of seaweed on your couch (a mannerism that you had picked up on quite quickly), that made you feel warm inside.

“Considering me sacrificing myself to this cake as a birthday present to you, Y/N” 

The laugh that bubbled out of your chest almost made that gross cake worth it to Jungkook. And some words of sincerity slipped out before you could hold them in. 

“Best birthday present ever, Jungkook, thank you.

--♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡--

Taglist: @apollukee , @mrcleanheichou , @monvieesdaebak 

If you want to be tagged, please send me an ask! 

 If you liked what you read, please interact/follow! Thank you for reading♡

- Emily

#bangtaninn #kwritersworldnet #btsghostie #thebtswritersclub #btscreatorscorner #jungkook fic #btsfic #jungkook fluff #jungkook angst #bts x reader #armywriterssupport #bts x you #jungkoook x reader #jungkook x you #jungkook #jungkook imagine #bts imagine #bts scenario #bts fanfic #bangtan sonyeondan #bts #jungkook fanfic #jeon jungkook #jungkook scenario #bts college au

[washipink]

Yu-yu Kondo and Vanguard overDress’s Greatest Flaw

    I love Cardfight!! Vanguard. It means so much to me, more than I have time to articulate here. Which is why it disappoints me so much to have to have this discussion. Let’s take ourselves back to earlier in the year. Why don’t we? Cardfight!! Vanguard overDress is announced to be a real, actual seasonal anime. A seasonal anime with a real, renowned animation studio and character designers. On top of this, the actual card game is about to become the best it has ever been. We are shown new artwork of the story’s main characters week after week to hype us up even more. Then, WSlasher releases a video. “What Bushiroad isn’t Telling About Vanguard Overdress”. This was the beginning of the end.

    In WSlasher’s video, released 3 months before the airing of the first episode, he asserts that Yu-yu will wear girls’ clothes and a wig in Vanguard overDress. He also liberally uses the word Trap, doubling down when confronted about its modern transphobic usage. This alone would worry me as a trans card fighter. The worst possible outcome in my mind was WSlasher’s video being accurate. Despite my fears, I held out hope that Yu-yu would be handled with respect and care, rather than being used for transphobic comedy at his own expense. 

    The first episode of overDress came and went. People loved it. It saw rave reviews from Vanguard Fans and non-Vanguard Fans alike for its gorgeous animation and beautiful soundtrack. I was so happy to see Cardfight!! Vanguard winning and yet… Something bothered me. Yu-yu was forced into clothes, even forced into lacy underwear by his family. It was all very uncomfortable to watch. Add this to the show’s very reductive view of gender. Megumi comments on Yu-yu wearing “boys’ shoes” and a “boys’ backpack”. The show tells us this is a contradiction. The show threatens that the slightest nuance in gender presentation will out Yu-yu as not what he appears. The cherry on top was the fact that Yu-yu wasn’t even the one to tell the others he wasn’t a girl. That was Tomari. If you think about the situation in any realistic context, there was a high chance Tomari Seto outed a transgender teenager against their will while they were far away from home in the middle of the night. She did not know Yu-yu’s side of the story. Yu-yu did not give her permission to say what she said. Tomari seemed to be unaware of the potential consequences of her actions. It hurts to see and quickly establishes Tomari as someone I absolutely would not trust. overDress was off to a rough start for me. I was not allowed to enjoy it as much as my cisgender and/or heterosexual peers. That feeling only got worse as every other episode seemed to add in playful, joking, gay scenes between Yu-yu and the 7-years-older Danji. Before the first episode aired, we were told a core theme of the show would be diversity. Instead, the diversities held by very real people were used as quick jokes. 

    However, overDress was not quite hopeless in this regard. In episode 2, the topic of Yu-yu’s clothes is broached once more. Zakusa says some words to him that borrow from very common gender metaphors. As he sketches butterflies he asks Yu-yu, “Do you think butterflies know how to fly as soon as they leave their cocoons? Perhaps they know that they will one day soar from the moment they are born.” Butterflies change their form and learn to fly, much like a trans person coming into their true self and becoming stronger and happier for it. Lines like this being uttered so early in the show’s run gave me hope. I genuinely had faith that perhaps Yu-yu’s relationship to gender and even to his sisters would be explored. Perhaps Yu-yu would come to realize that the problem wasn’t that they were girls’ clothes. The problem was that they were not clothes he CHOSE. Yu-yu doesn’t even have to straight up be a trans girl to be an inspiration for gender non-conforming teens watching overDress every week. Is this a turn for the better? Is this a major struggle of Yu-yu’s that the show explores? No. No, it is not. Instead, Yu-yu and dresses are brought up together for the sake of throwaway gags. In episode 5, we see Yu-yu don the dress his sisters gave him again so that he can be a ring girl at Danji’s Cardfight Pro Wrestling match. This is complete with the audience fawning over him and Megumi being angry that he receives attention from men that she does not. In episode 7, a member of Team Blackout asks Yu-yu to wear a frilly, pink dress so that he can watch. Tomari buys Yu-yu a little girls’ pretend doctor outfit in the same episode, expecting him to wear it. Tomari is the one who makes the most jokes at Yu-yu’s expense. When combined with her outing Yu-yu, it’s not a good look. 

    Cardfight!! Vanguard overDress’s greatest flaw is not its pacing, its lack of conflict, or any animation errors. The greatest flaw this show has is that a significant portion of its viewerbase is treated as a joke. It is acceptable to make fun of the idea that Danji or Yu-yu could be gay. It is acceptable to call Yu-yu a trap and ridicule him for being “reduced” to wearing dresses. In turn, it is acceptable to turn that mockery on queer cardfighters who want something better. While doing so, the show sprinkles little hints that maybe it does care and maybe it does wish to be kind to us in hopes that we don’t stop watching. Cardfight!! Vanguard means so much to me. It means much more than I could ever articulate here and it’s a shame to see it turn its back on people like me. 

#cardfight!! vanguard #cfv #cardfight vanguard #vangaurd overdress #essay #queer studies #queerbaiting #lgbt media #transphobia #transgender #trans women #anime #kondo yuyu #tomari seto #danji momoyama #zakusa ishigame #megumi okura #yuyu kondo

[yurimother]

LGBTQ Visual Novel Review - OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos

If you are at all interested in Yuri or visual novels, you will have undoubtedly heard of OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos. The Yuri rom-com was one of Steam’s top 20 February releases, and it hit the trending page on the platform. These accomplishments are incredible, and it is lovely to see both a visual novel and a Yuri game get so much love and recognition. However, whenever a title succeeds and manages to make an impact outside of the Yuri community, it always brings up a few questions. Mainly, does it deserve to be one of the few Yuri titles to obtain “mainstream success” and is it a positive ambassador for the genre, one which can further Yuri’s popularity and pull new consumers into it? These concerns boil down to one question, is it good? Usually, this inquiry is pretty quickly answered, with most elements of a product either being positive or negative. However, OshiRabu delivers more of a challenge. There are some fantastic parts to this game which I applaud and gush over, yet there are also several problems, both major and minor. The dichotomy between OshiRabu’s highs and lows is possibly the strongest I have ever seen in a Yuri title.

OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos is the debut game of SukeraSomero, the new sister brand of the excellent Yuri studio, SukeraSparo. The plot follows Akuru Hayahoshi, an otaku with an obsession with her “husbandos” from gacha games and seriously bad luck. One day she bumps into a cute and bubbly student, Ren Furutachi. After Ren shows off her uncanny good luck to Akuru, a miscommunication sees Ren believing that Akuru confesses to her. For Ren, it is love at first sight, and she persistently negotiates her way into living with the older woman.

The rest of the game flits between comedic moments as Akuru and Ren live together. Examples include the girls shopping for a new bed, since Ren insists on sleeping next to Akuru, and Akuru creating boys’ love doujinshi with her friend Shino. There is, of course, a climax, which will not be spoiled in this review, and three possible endings, depending on two-player choices. An optional 18+ DLC expands on one of the endings and offers several explicit scenes.

There are some enjoyable aspects of this plot. For one, it is light and pleasant, never letting itself settle too much or grow stale. The situations are not hilarious but enjoyable and well suited to the with the characters’ personalities, and establishing several recurring themes and jokes, such as Shino teasing Ren and Ren accusing Akuru of cheating. There is an excessive amount of adorable fluff, which matches well with the overall tone of the game. These delightful moments cater to a variety of interests and fixations, so every reader is likely to find something they like. My personal favorite was a brief imagination sequence where Ren and Akuru have a child together, cute Yuri stories about women raising a kid are one of my weaknesses, and the reason Voltage’s Lovestruck has stolen hundreds of dollars from me.

The writing is also fantastic. The descriptive prose makes me laugh at the poor quality English translations we had a decade ago, and sometimes still unfortunately get. SukeraSomero deserves a great deal of praise for the simultaneous English, Japanese, and Chinese release. It is amazing that everyone got to experience this game together all over the world, without having to wait years for a possible license and translation. English translator Meru is one of the best in the business, and her work shines here. Her adaptation is amazing and fits the games’ modern setting and feel. I personally do not care for the amount of internet culture language included, such as Ren calling Akuru a “thot,” simply because such terminology tends to become dated quickly. However, I will defend the creative choices as accurate to Oguri Aya’s original story.

There is one more major compliment I have to give this game, and it is a big one. OshiRabu is extremely queer. While most Yuri titles exist as lesbian or lesbian adjacent content with little construction of LGBTQ identity, for example naming, displaying meaningful sexual and romantic relationships, or showing any aspect of queer culture, OshiRabu does all of these. I was floored when, early on in the story, Ren confesses to Akuru that she is a “lesbian.” The word lesbian is actually used directly in the visual novel, an unfortunate rarity for the Yuri genre. I even swapped the game into the original Japanese to confirm, and there again was the coming-out moment; the word “lesbian,” in all its glory, was planted right on the screen. This fantastic scene was not a one-off occurrence either.

Throughout OshiRabu, Ren continuously mentioned her homosexuality, which is usually juxtaposed by Akuru pondering her own sexuality, which she defines as an attraction to 2D men and nothing else. Although, her identity obviously changes because you know the women must end up together by the end. Some other excellent scenes feature queer representation. For example, at one point in the game, Akuru goes to a gay bookstore where another woman approaches her. When trying to explain that she is not interested, Akuru almost exclaims, “I’m normal,” a sentiment which she quickly realizes is hurtful and prejudice with some spectacular self-reflected narration. Moments like these offer nuanced and thoughtful presentations of LGBT culture and are the definite highlight of the game.

Sadly, not every aspect of the visual novel is as fantastic as these. In fact, many parts of it range from unfortunate to downright atrocious. First, the characters, while not awful or unlikeable, have some harmful qualities to them. Akuru is distant and introverted, which often leads to her being cold or even rude to Ren, which is never confronted or resolved. On her part, Ren is sadly the stereotypical aggressive lesbian, and frequently invades Akuru’s personal space, a topic which is again never reconciled. It is fine to have a character make problematic choices, but when their actions do not have consequences and conflicts have no resolution, it is a significant issue. The only character I unequivocally enjoyed was Shino, as she spends the whole game humorously teasing the two.

Speaking of conflicts, the final dramatic twist comes about as a result of Ren running away and refusing to communicate with Akuru. It turns out, minor spoilers, that she was testing her, which is a pathetic and ridiculous action which in real life can and should have serious repercussions or even end the partnership. Additionally, the topic of Akuru’s shared affection for Ren and her virtual husbandos, which is an immense source of stress for Ren, is not addressed in the base game, only the DLC. The extra content has its own set of problems too.

It is not uncommon for visual novels to include adult content in a separate patch so they can sell the base game on Steam. However, such adult patches are usually free, and OshiRabu’s is not, instead it sells for $4.99. This price is on top of the $24.99 base game, which means you are shelling out 30 dollars for the complete experience. An experience which, mind you. only clocks in at about 3 hours, hardly what I would call a value. It is an additional shame because the adult content is really well done. All the 18+ scenes, except for maybe the brief first one, showcase a tender loving relationship and skillfully written erotic content, although one or two metaphors did not land very well. However, not every player will want the 18+ content, and OshiRabu essentially forces them to play through it if they are going to see all the base game’s conflicts resolved.

There is also an unfortunate amount of service. While most of OshiRabu’s service is just sweet and cute moments between the characters, there is plenty of exploitative artwork designed to cater to specific players of a more perverted persuasion. Ren is usually the subject of such content, with shots featuring her panties and one extremely revealing cosplay outfit consisting of little more than two strips of cloth. Obviously, some players will enjoy these aspects of the game, but they did not work well for me, especially when I compared such clumsy service with the robust adult content.

However, this exploitative artwork, along with the rest of the game’s art, is phenomenally well crafted. Artist and character designer DSmile creates detailed and colorful illustrations that match the light comedic tone of the game. The adorable and vibrant artwork, drawn in a light watercolor style, makes my heart sing! There are also plenty of CG pieces, over 20, including the DLC, which adds six more. Given the games short length, this means you will see a new CG every ten minutes or so. The UI is also incredibly clean, easy to navigate, and blends well with the aesthetics of the art. My only complaint visually is that the sprites are entirely static. Except for different facial expressions and a few outfit changes, they are always the exact same, standing like flat mannequins against a backdrop. There is no animation or even alternative poses for them.

The voice acting is similarly high quality. Voice actors Nekomura Yuki, Kitaooji Yuki, and Waou Kirika all give fantastic performances in Japanese, and the quality of the recordings is consistently amazing. Even the adult scenes are voiced and showcase the range of talent present. The music is not nearly as good, but it does not intrude either. There are enough tracks to prevent the music from getting too dull, although the central theme and one of the tracks, “Let’s Go Out!” push this boundary a little far. Unfortunately, none of them are too memorable either, and I can guarantee that I will never be touching the BGM tab of the extras menu.

OshiRabu: Waifus Over Husbandos is a highly polished and visually impressive experience. The visual novel contains incredible artwork and is well constructed, showing the promise and talent of SukeraSparo. The stellar, although unfortunately necessary, adult DLC, and inclusion of LGBT themes are superb aspects that could have made playing this game a blast. However, a poorly constructed story, weak characters, and a high price tag compared to the amount of content offered severely detract from the game’s success. If you do not mind excessive service or are interested in lots of cute Yuri moments, pick this one up when it goes on sale.

Ratings: Story – 5 (6 with DLC) Characters – 4 Art – 9 Voice – 10 Music – 5 LGBTQ – 10 Sexual Content – 5 (9 with DLC) Final – 5

The visual novel is available on Steam and MangaGamer

#yuri #reviews #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtq+ #queer #gay #lesbian #visual novel #oshirabu #oshirabu: waifus over husbandos #girls love #gl #wlw #video games #gaming #game

[10dance]

10 Dance ch. 29 Highlights

This is the start of a series of posts talking about my favorite parts of each chapter in volume 6, beginning with chapter 29 - Que Sera, Sera. This link takes you to the more thorough summary instead of my bad jokes and fangirling. 

Click on the keep reading line to see some new panels!

(vol 6 chapter highlights: 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | booklet)

Skipping the first 7 pages or so because it’s all angst (and I’m trying not to spoil everything), the first panel I’m including is this little scene where Aki and Suzuki talk about her new hairstyle. Aki mentions that Sugiki picked this style for her and they even went to the salon together. The thought of that makes me want to squeal because how cute is that? Though it’s not shown onscreen, Sugiki and Aki had become good friends as well and that warms my heart. 

During their group training session, both Shinyas are trying to act like they didn’t just get their hearts broken, and this panel of Sugiki pretty much sums that up. I keep thinking of the “they ask you how you are and you just have to say that you’re fine, and you’re not really fine but you can’t get into it” meme. (I love poking fun at the melodrama of it all but I’m still crying inside :’).)

Next up is this page where Sugiki thinks about what it would mean if they didn’t meet for 2 weeks. Other than even more sad Sugi faces, I’d just like to point out that I love that Suzuki is facing away from him in all three panels, including the flashback to their kiss on the train. They’ve lost their connection and can’t understand each other anymore, and not being able to see Suzuki’s expressions is a very literal take on that. I’ve also read an analysis on Weibo about the fact that there’s a metaphorical barrier between the two, which is emphasized by putting Sugiki in a separate panel from the other three. A lot to think about.  

(Also, what is Aki doing in that bottom panel??)

After their session, Aki sits in the back of Kanda-san’s car and thinks about Sugiki’s face she just saw. I don’t have much to add aside from Aki looking absolutely adorable getting embarrassed like that, and Fusako letting her hair down is so nice as well. (Yes, I not only simp for the Shinyas but also the girls, the more characters to fangirl over the merrier!)

Back in the studio, Max barges in while the Shinyas were trying to connect with each other with “Nice to meet you Shinya! My new lover/sweetheart!”. I read that Inoue-sensei wasn’t sure if people would like or hate him, and I’m pretty much on the Max hate train. This is probably one of his only lines that I found funny just because of how ridiculous it is to call someone your lover the first time you see them. 

(Also, the line he blurted out on the next page was “I know this is sudden but I’m a virgin” and um... we really didn’t need to know that...)

Because Max just strolled into the studio like it’s his own house, the Shinyas take a moment to stare at him in confusion while keeping their hands connected. I love how quickly they could change their mood in a second. 

I’m picking more of the smaller moments about side characters and not the beautiful dance scenes because it’s a delightful experience seeing those pages for the first time in the volume so I hope you don’t mind :).

You can find the rest of the chapter links at the top!

#10dance #10 dance #10 dance volume 6 #ch 29 #suzuki shinya #sugiki shinya #text #highlights

[phoebehalliwell]

Prue gets together with Mitch (reincarnated Micah) and lives. How does their relationship evolve over the rest of the series?

okay so fr because like i've been thinking about this I've Been Thinking About This. WHY give us that connection if we're not gonna do anything with it??? WHY make it worse my literally giving us the guy THE EXACT SAME GUY and then never mention him again What is the motive?????? okay okay okay so here's what i'd do: 2.6 undercut lmao

because prue has really only had two boyfriends in the series so far: andy & jack (bane doesn't count as he was more of a tryst and also he's in jail :'( could have been fun tho! he could have sacrificed himself for somebody else and become a whitelighter he already knows the ins and outs of the underworld like. could have been something there. but as they were only together twice, once when prue was posing as a hitwoman and then again when he kidnapped her, he, tragically, does not him boyfriend status.) so here me out andy is a cop he represents protection and familial ties / ties to the past (prue's childhood best friend, already friends with the sisters, he's also a third generation cop so like there's that too). he represents prue's early stage, where she feels like she has to be the protector of the whole family, of which she is basically the matriarch. she doesn't get to have fun, she has to protect her sisters and now the whole world, and her past is having some very real effects on her life right now. that's her andy era.

jack era is at buckland's, it's her breadwinning era. we even saw in morality bites (which, i am once again bringing up, is fake) that she goes on to be superbillionaire whatever. so jack kind represents professional ambitions, amplified by the fact that the fonet also served as a blatant metaphor for their relationship (prue, the world is made up of almost perfect. it's nothing but near misses and necessary compromises. in this case, i think we got a little bit of both. that's okay, i know how you feel. i'm just asking you not to look so close. nothing bears up under that kind of scrutiny. are you talking about the monet? yeah, that too.) and that their relationship ends when she decided to leave bucklands to pursue a career in photography.

so now we enter season three, which is prue's artist era, her passionate like zeal for life era she finally seems to have a weight lifted off her shoulder for the first time in a long time like you can tell she like. trusts her sisters more than she ever has before she sees them in a new light and knows that they are strong and smart and independent and she doesn't need to protect them every waking hour. this era's for prue. so i'm pitching that micah mirrors this by being an artist, too. i wouldn't say the same medium (photography) as prue because like. prue's definitely someone who would compare herself to him just like subconsciously constantly that's the type of woman she is, but maybe like a painter. not a writer because they're all insufferable. lmao 🤙🤙. but someone who lives in a hella nice studio type loft filled with art and just like life. passion. something prue hasn't really allowed herself in like. a hot minute. and i would make micah (mitch??) a witch. haha it rhymes. scratch that i'd make him a warlock. or a darklighter i'm cashing in my half-darklighter character. it's mitch now. idk how this would fit into phole narrative foils maybe or we scrap phole but they're really coming from two different perspectives where cole is entering the joint like i am evil and here to murder and then he catches feelings whereas mitch would be like yes i have some dark past but i'm not letting it define me bonus points is prue is able to piece together the clues of his origin just by looking at his paintings. this also adds to the rift between prue and phoebe on prue's cole stance like oh your evil boyfriend is fine but mine, for some reason, is still evil? yes. oh you know what we keep the source's heir in this au let me continue.

instead of introducing mitch in p3 because like WHAT WAS THAT, we instead, parallel their first meeting. mitch's origin story is

his mom was a future whitelighter knocked up by a darklighter this was not intentional on anyone's part mom wasn't trying to become mom dad wasn't trying to become dad Nor did dad know mom was a future whitelighter. because well he's not great at being a darklighter in spite of maybe being like the. head darklighter's son he's like the fucked up son who doesn't wanna run things. he doesn't know he has a kid!! until something something an oracle or something tells him he has a son But he can't find mom because she's cloaked by her whitelighter. mom dies doing something heroic idk (maybe mom was a firefighter??) and then cloaking on mitch is lifted when he's in his late teens his dad finds him his dad is now like proper leader of the darklighter clan and is trying to bring mitch into the fold which initially he is game for because mitch has all these powers black orbing touch of death that he doesn't understand and finally a community to explain that to him! he gets a crossbow (which is lit) but um. quickly catches on to how blatantly evil the whole thing is. he's secretly teamed up with some whitelighters (not his mom tho. friends of his mom, but he's not allowed to see her :'/ ) to help get other halflings like him out and cloaked.

leo's been taken hostage by the darklighter something something something a plot a plot a plot we do some solid pleo angst we maybe have cole drop some thinly veiled advice about the underworld without coming out as a demon, something that will help the sisters later. but what's really important here is they're sneaking through the underworld maybe they've been split up and they need to find leo so either they're looking for him Or they're looking for a darklighter to interrogate. and prue hears shifting behind a rock and goes over to look and it's mitch and some kid and the kid immediately summons his crossbow but mitch knocks it away just like prue did with piper in the past and piper's like prue u see anything and she's like no nothing here and then mitch and the kid blackorb away which just leaves prue with this sinking feeling like what the fuck?? because. what the fuck??? a) that was the same guy from puritan times and b) she still feels the same she felt back then and c) it's clear he does do but d) --and this is the crucial one-- D) he's fucking evil????? so blah blah blah we save leo but now prue is left with one crucial question what the fuck is going on?

so what she's gonna do is research the town the colony whatever that melinda warren was born in she astral projects to salem or whatever and steals. maybe the mask mitch wore at the party she recognizes it from all hallows eve. and she brings that home and scrys with it. and she finds him!! and um bonus points looking at his place she sees he's an alum of the college she went to because backstory!! when prue was in college back when she was still pursuing photography before grams got sick, they had met before! once before, at a party, and it was this instant spark, this instant connection, but then something pulled them apart be it one of them was already in a relationship or their ride was leaving something but like. again! this connection has always been there. so like blah blah blah prue has broken into mitch's place she sees their college connection she sees his art and starts to pull together a life story he sees maybe some paperwork that just says like in bold letters like saving kids: good person activities something real obvious you know and that's Right Next To his crossbow. ~juxtaposition~ so like. what the fuck is this. but whatever that'll be dealt with later she has to get to work! but!! at the magazine her boss is like hey prue some guy came by here earlier asking for you you know [description of mitch], [description of mitch], [description of mitch], you know him? and prue's like ummmmmmmm. no. ?. and her boss is like ?? i don't really care. photography! but now she knows that while she's been digging up on him, he's been doing the same with her. so that night at p3 prue's like okay i've got to come clean with u guys remember micah and phoebe's like oh yeah that hottie from the past who was like . spiritually in love with you? and prue's like yeah i found him. and piper and phoebe are like 🤗🥳😃 and prue's like. and he's a darklighter. and piper and phoebe are like 😳😶👎 and prue's like yeah remember when like we were trying to save leo and you asked me if i saw something? well i did. it was him and and this kid and i think he was trying to save him and phoebe's like wait you think? and prue's like well i mean yeah phoebe like. it was like the same thing when he saved us in the 1700s. and phoebe's like well no because we're good witches and he saved us you saved a darklighter? and prue's like he's more than that phoebe and phoebe's like but how can you know (flash forward to her sparing cole in about three episodes and being like hmm 😐 those words are gonna bite me in the ass).

the point is they're hashing it out phoebe's devil on the left and piper's trying to be angel on the right But he is in the clan that kidnapped her husband so like..... but prue is explaining the good person papers she found on his desk, the fact that she went to college with him, she's like. she thinks he's only half darklighter and he's helping others like him and piper phoebe are like ....................do you just want him to be half darklighter and helping others like him but prue's not even listening but look who's coming down the stairs!! so she beelines over and phoebe's about to follow but piper holds her back bc wait let this play out they'll watch from afar and piper will freeze the room if she has to.

and something something something blah blah blah they tal and there's this tense like. what now. because like. What Now? you're evil and i'm a charmed one but this invisible string pulling me here whether i want it too or not. and i think prue kinda shifts back into her earlier seasons self where. it's family above all else. like i need you to steer clear because if i see you again i will vanquish you. and mitch knows she's bluffing. because he know that if he tried, even if he really wanted to, he couldn't harm a hair on her head. and it's clear she's like. suffering from the same ailment so to speak.

something something something maybe they have a couple quick brushes but not actual meetings And Then we get another time travel/past life episode where!! as it turns out. prue and mitch r soulmates cursed by a spurned lover to always be on opposite sides. meanwhile we just got cole demon reveal/cole's still alive reveal so prue's like hi mitch you're. evil. evil-adjacent. what do you know about belthazor/cole turner. and mitch does his due diligence and like. the stuff on belthazor is appalling. genuinely terrifying. but then there's some stuff on cole turner that's like kinda okay. this is were mitch does is big tragic backstory reveal, kids born of dark magic falling in with the wrong crowd blah blah blah and this kind of. supports our theory moving forward it's not really a theory. our endgame moving forward of healthy!cole. also prue and mitch still have not gotten together through all of this in spite of the cosmic pull and the past evidence of like. soulmatism. because they're both a bit too pragmatic they both think it's kind of a lost cause. blah blah blah pining we give prue a mini love interest here someone to keep her mind off mitch and we do make him good. kind, attentive, caring, smart, hot, but like. it's so painfully obvious she's not all in. so he calls it off. heart to heart with piper because piper's like hi you're in love. and prue's like yeah with a doomed relationship i think i'd rather not and piper's like hello you're talking to the queen of doomed relationships you wanna know the secret? and prue's like yes :( and piper's like just go for it. the time you have together is. it's better than anything else you'll ever have. there's gonna be heartbreak, but hell there's always gonna be heartbreak in the halliwell family. wouldn't you rather spend your time with someone you love?

something something something leo/mitch/cole buddy episode b plot. leo/mitch/cole/DARRYL buddy episode b plot. :D. prue and micah get their big first kiss in a very tv show build up way my heart is saying new years and all the fireworks go off around them.

we're bringing in paige because i love her she's first introduced by some seer oracle whatever as your other sister and the girls are like respectfully, bullshit. but micah's like hey......... she's half whitelighter. because he can sense those kind of things, being a darklighter. and piper and leo are like patty's affair....................... and all the pieces are falling together and in this one. paige either gets a witch love interest a cupid love interest or we keep henry because fwiw i do really like mortal love interests. if we do do the witch love interest it won't be richard i love him to piece i do but he sucks <3. source!cole time.

oh we introduce paige thru mitch trying to help one of his kids and that lands him at social services.

source!cole. idk what happens here but like. using our nifty-difty tool box the squad has been assembling over the years helping all of these wayward souls born from evil, things mostly work out fine. source's heir is born, a girl, but since prue isn't dead her name is either colette or victoria. depends if cole died or not.

prue moved out at some point and lives in a hella nice studio apartment with mitch they r both artists (who the fuck is paying for that?) phoebe moves back in the manor post-source fiasco paige moves in the manor but spends a lot of time with her sister prue and soon to be brother in law (??) mitch. (paige is like fr dude when are you gonna pop the question and mitch is like woahhhh pump the break because paige is new here and when she saw them she's like oh. married couple. but then they're not married. engaged? nope. no just loosely dating? okay. lame. bad idea. but as it turns out one of them always dies so they're just trying to avoid that for as long as possible) but paige spends a lot of time at pritch's place because not only is it The Art Zone it's also the rehabilitating kids zone, of which paige is a grand help. prue jokes about how much paige reminds her of phoebe as a kid, and since we're already muddying the timeline, we're having paige enter and solid advice columnist, married phoebe and paige is like haha what the fuck??

source's heir born twice blessed born magic school located under the charmed & co squad becomes integrated with children born of all magic and like our season 8 wrap up saccharine finale is like how magic has reached a new era of peace n understanding. <3

#its stream of consciousness plot pitch time again!! idk if i love it if i'm sold on it #i might come back with an entirely separate mitch pitch #because there's really nothing there the world is my oyster at this point #but i think this could be a fun one #charmed #prue x micah #💌 #margaretsminiessays

[purpleyellow]

Paper bonding

BTS 8th member

Sunny’s masterlist

“Sunny get’s an unexpected help”

a/n: Thanks to the anon who requested this!! Your opinion is very important for me, send feedback anytime 💜 Also, don’t be shy and interact a little, ask box is always open!

After many hours of staring at the computer screen without typing in any words, Sunny finally decided to give herself a break. Putting on some work out clothes, she walked a few blocks towards a park to just jog around for some minutes,  secretly praying that would clear her mind from everything that was blocking her from doing her job.

It didn’t take long for her wishes to be granted, within ten minutes of her run, the girl started playing the melody in her head and, unlike when she was in the studio, lyrics started pouring in on her brain. From metaphors, to love confessions, Sunny kept repeating them on her mind while cursing at herself for not bringing her phone with her. 

Without a place to write down her ideas, and she could not afford to forget them until she walked back to the building, she looked around, still mentally singing the lyrics she had put together, and spotted a little ice cream shop in the corner.

Walking there with determinate steps, she replayed the now made up chorus and decided to beg for a pen to write on a napkin with. That plan was actually cut short when she spotted a girl sitting on a bench closer to her than the targeted place, she was peacefully carrying a notebook and a pencil case while talking to a boy holding up a bike.

“Bee!” The BTS member called out without actually processing what she was doing, her mind more focused on saving her ideas than looking like a normal person.

Turning around to where the noise came from, Bee and Jeno, Sunny was pretty sure that was his name, frowned, and quickly bowed to her as she ran to them, looking as determined as ever.

“This may seem weird, but can you please give me a piece of paper and a pen,” Sunny said when on her side, the girl promptly ripping off a blank page and showing her an array of different colored pens, to which Sunny grabbed a standard blue one and sat down next to her on the bench.

Placing the paper on her thigh for support before rapidly scribbling on it, Sunny missed the girl and her groupmate staring at each other confused before shrugging their shoulders.

“So… I’ll get going,” Jeno dragged his words, getting on his bike and nodding to the younger girl “In thirty minutes I’ll come back so we can return to the dorms, okay? Bye bye”

Looking at the BTS member unsure of what to say, he felt a little relieved when she quickly raised her head and gave him a goodbye, probably too focused on what she was doing to understand he wasn’t talking to her at first.

Waving to him as he drove off, Bee wondered if she should say anything or just let the girl do her thing on her side, opting for the second since she wasn’t sure if the older was even blinking from how fast her hand moved.

Sunny on the other hand had completely shut off from the world, the only noise in her brain was her silent humming and occasional mumbling as she crossed things off and added them on the paper. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she finally looked up and stretched her back from the hunched position.

“I feel like I can breathe again,” She said relieved and smiled at the girl on the side, a little embarrassed since they had interacted once before and now she had just witnessed her going full-on crazy. “I’m really sorry you had to waste a piece of paper with me, but if it’s worth something, you might have saved my life”

“It’s okay” Bee laughed at her relaxed expression, and shrugged her shoulders “It looked like it was urgent anyways”

“Just some lyrics I had to get off from my chest” Sunny held out the paper to her and watched as she read over the words “Tell me what you think of it, some second opinion is always good”

“Oh, but I don’t have much experience in writing lyrics” Bee looked up with wide eyes making her laugh and shake her head.

“It doesn’t have to be technical, I can get professional help back at BigHit, just tell me what you felt and if anything stuck out to you” The girl cocked her head to the side and nodded to the paper, encouraging the younger to read it more carefully.

“Wow, I mean… Wow” Bee breathed out after rereading the last line “This will sound amazing Unnie”

“Thank you, so what would you add?” Sunny asked looking down at the paper and missing the panic spreading on Bee’s face.

“What? I- There’s nothing, it’s perfect as it is” She chuckled nervously.

“It was the first time I wrote this thereof is far from perfect. I know you said you don’t have experience but I think anyone can have ideas, so what would you add?” The older pointed at the paper and waited for a few seconds before she spoke

“I guess, I’m not sure how you’re imagining the melody, but I guess this can be the pre-chorus,” The girl said pointing at a part “And then, you can add another section here for it to become the chorus before going to the second verse”

“So, you don’t think the chorus is there yet?” Sunny hummed still looking at the words.

“No, well. I haven’t heard the melody, so-” Bee quickly tried explaining herself.

“No, no. You’re right” Sunny cut her off, nodding and taking the paper back “This totally needs a better chorus. Oh, if I had my phone here I would let you listen to the melody Yoongi Oppa made, just think sad but still EDM if you get me”

“I think I do” The younger nodded confused and Sunny looked up, giving her a supportive shoulder pat.

“Well, this is only the first verse and the pre-chorus as we established. Time to brainstorm ideas for the second verse and bridge” Sunny closed her eyes and let her head back as she felt the breeze on her face and her mind wondered for ideas. Quickly opening her eyes, she turned to the short girl with a worried gaze “I’m not keeping you from enjoying your afternoon, right? You can ignore me and do whatever you came here for”

“Unnie,” Bee giggled holding up her blank notebook “I wasn’t doing anything, so it’s fine”

“Okay, good.” She sighed looking around before deciding to just enjoy the afternoon for a little “I shouldn’t make you work more than you have to though, so tell me, as a thank you gift, what ice cream do you want me to buy?”

“Oh, you don’t have to. I’m sure Jeno is coming back some time now anyways”

“Well, I’ll get one for him too if he gets here on time, let’s go” Sunny got up from the bench and pulled her by the arm, giving her a side hug as she led the NCT member to the ice cream parlor. “Let’s do something that’s fun for the both of us”

#bts 8th member #bts au #bts oc #bts extra member #bts addition #bts additional member #bts female addition #bts female oc #bts female member #bts imagines #kpop addition #kpop oc #kpop au #kpop female oc #k pop oc #k pop au #k pop addition #k pop fanfiction #kpop female addition #female!addition #female!oc #female!kpop #female!koc #koc #Sunny

[allie1804-fan]

Kerensa

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5 , Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8

Chapter 9

The Griefcast Record

Keanu got out of the taxi at Whistledown Studios and headed in. Cariad and the recoding team greeted him and they got set up with teas, biscuits and a box of tissues on the table

“God, it’s just like a therapist’s room!” he joked

“Best to be prepared! They might be for me anyhow” she laughed.

Before we start though, can I just spend a moment being a fangirl and just say how amazing it is for me to meet you. There are so many films of yours I love – and my kids adore Duke Caboom!”

“ahh yes, Canada’s Greatest Stuntman” he boomed - “that was a fun role”

“and so perfectly cast right?”

“Yeah yeah I guess. I’m glad they picked me from the roster of Canadians they had lined up!”

“Ok, so thanks for letting me just gush for a moment! Are you ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be!”

“First tell me the story of how we managed to get you as a guest.”

“Ok so right, so errm my friend Kerry is the link. I was filming in Cornwall this past year and uh, after we wrapped I was so charmed by the place that I decided to stay and rent a place for a couple of months down there. Kerry was my landlady and one day I came across her walking along the beach, tears streaming down her face and she was listening to your show which she highly recommended to me. I admit it took a bit of persuading to listen, given the crying thing!, but she told me it was more reassuring and uplifting than upsetting. Anyway, so sorry, this is turning into a shaggy dog tale!, so I did give it a go, really loved it

“Oh thank you”

“So then one day we were discussing an episode about baby loss, something we had in common and had talked about before and she said I should do the show. Now THAT took a lot more thought and persuasion, but she said it would do me good and there would be the angle of the man’s perspective and being someone with a public profile going through loss and you know yada, yada yada so here I am, finally!

“That’s amazing and thank you so much to Kerry for listening to the show and for your persuasive talents in getting this lovely man here today. So Keanu, as you know we always start with this question. Who are we remembering today?”

“Today we’re remembering my daughter Ava who was stillborn 23 years ago this year.”

“Ok so would you mind telling me a little bit about what happened.”

“So, ahh, it was in the spring of 1999. The Matrix had just come out and my life was pretty full on. My girlfriend Jennifer became pregnant around that time. It was unplanned and I’ll be honest, I wasn’t super happy about it at first, but she wanted to keep the baby and I said I’d support her, you know, and as time went on I was more excited than worried about becoming a dad.”

“And how was the pregnancy? How far along was Jennifer when Ava died?”

“Everything seemed fine, she, Ava was growing and developing normally. Jen was healthy. Then I was away filming, a god awful project as well! And, Um, ahh, give me a minute” Keanu cleared his throat and took a drink of water.

“I swore I wouldn’t do this” he said gesturing at himself tearing up, his voice cracking slightly “but sometimes, the memories can be, uhhh, very powerful, very vivid”

“Yes you can be taken right back like it just happened can’t you, however long ago - you know I’m 20 plus years out now and still very occasionally I can be catapulted back there. So, everything looked good but you were away, filming - and I’m sure it can’t have been an awful film”

Keanu snorted

“I assure you it was!, yes anyway, Jen went for a last check up at a little over 8 months and uh, there was no heartbeat. Ava had died and so I flew home and she had to, you know, give birth in a maternity unit, hearing all the other babies being born - I mean they have to do it there because you still might need, you know, that expertise and they tried to keep us private but those places they get busy and she had to go through all that with those sounds sometimes breaking through”

“Yes I hear that that is a common experience here in the UK too and one that SANDS, the still birth charity is trying to address. It’s interesting your choice of words: “she went through that”, presumably you were there so didn’t you go through it too?”

“Yeah, yeah - I guess, I just meant that it was worse, more traumatic mentally for her and obviously physically too”

“Sure sure, but awful for both of you nonetheless”

“Indeed, it was” Keanu paused a moment as though something important had just occurred to him “and she was beautiful too you know”

“awwwww” Cariad moaned sympathetically

“she was beautiful, perfect and warm, just silent, still”

Keanu looked up at Cariad, his eyes filled with tears once more and they both just sat for a moment, taking in the pain of his loss. Eventually, Cariad started the conversation again.

“And did you both hold her? Did the hospital staff help you, you know, to say goodbye to her?”

Yeah yeah, we did hold her. They left us be for a good amount of time, they took prints of her hands and feet and a photograph. You know they were supportive in that way, especially as we knew already, you know, that she had died, they were prepared. I don’t think we were, I mean I don’t think you can prepare for that, right? Your brain won’t let you, not really.”

“Yeah yeah, we talk about that a lot on the show, there are people who say it’s better when someone dies of an illness so you know it’s coming whereas with a sudden death you suffer more shock but I still think there’s a degree of shock you experience even when you have some warning.

“Yeah yeah and it’s so stupid, we’re all just so dumb because death is coming man, to us all but we just don’t want to think about it!” He chuckled

“So are you someone who thinks about death a lot?”

“Yeah yeah it’s always there in the back of my mind, spurring me on to do things, make that film, write that script, build that bike!”

“And do you think that’s because of losing Ava?”

“I don’t know, no not really, well maybe a little but that’s come more with getting older I think - I didn’t really have that reaction at the time”

“So what was your reaction, how did you grieve for Ava?”

Another chuckle came from Keanu.

“A more appropriate question might be how didn’t I grieve for her, at the time I mean!”

“Oh?”

“Hee hee you’re like a therapist, leaving the gaps for me to fill!”

“Some of my critics say I interrupt too much and start talking about me so…..”

“We’ll that’s not very nice is it? And also not true!”

“Thanks - Comes with the territory I guess, so please, go on, fill the gap”

“What was the question again?”

“It was about how you did or didn’t grieve for Ava after her birth?”

“Mmmm well we buried her, in the new year, she was born on Christmas Eve, which is uhhh, another tricky thing about it”

“Oh that’s awful, death on high days and holidays just adds another layer right?”

“Yeah yeah. They do - so um after that I went to Georgia to shoot a movie!”

“So you threw yourself into work then?”

“Yup, my trusty friend in times of crisis. In fact I did, let me see, 1, 2, 3, yes 3 movies in the next year and then started training for the Matrix 2 and 3 so I guess the answer is I put my feelings in a tightly locked metaphorical box and didn’t open it for quite some time!”

“And was there intrusion from the press , I guess this is pre the days of the internet being so developed and social media but how was that side of it?”

“Yeah there was some, you know photographers with long lenses at the cemetery”

“God! I can’t imagine”

“Yeah pretty low, right but in a way because of the taboo of stillbirth, people, you know interviewers and stuff, didn’t ask me about it. I mean I would sometimes say “no personal questions” but at other times that hasn’t stopped people.”

“Oh like what?”

“I’m thinking of when River, River Phoenix died, even if I said I wouldn’t answer anything personal they would still ask how I felt, did I miss him. I mean, fuck! Oh sorry I can swear right?”

“Swear away, sure, and god, fuck yeah, that deserved it. I mean obviously that’s a bit of a contradiction coming from me given we’re here and I’m making you talk about private things but”

“But I agreed, that’s the deal here, it’s not the deal to segue from “how was it jumping onto a moving bus to “how do you feel about your best friend dying!”

“Absolutely. So you said you dealt with it, but much later? What about Jennifer, how did she cope?”

“Umm, I don’t know - I mean what’s normal in that situation? She cried, she wailed like a wounded animal. Her mum moved in. I was away and not there to support her like I should have been. We weren’t really a couple either by then. We were going to co-parent but not as a romantic couple you know so it was complicated. To be honest I think a little bit of her died right then - and then she died herself the following April so you know, what you see before you is the last man standing of that family unit that might have been.”

“Woo that’s tough. You’ve really been through the mill as it were.”

“Yeah, yeah but you know I AM still standing. I’m lucky.”

“And how did Jennifer die?”

“Car wreck”

“I’m so sorry”

“Thanks, me too”

“So how is that, being the only one left? Some people talk about losing key people as losing their witness.”

“Yes! That’s it, exactly. Now it’s just me here to remember Ava, to remember her coming in and out of this world”

Yeah yeah that’s hard. So you said you dealt with it later? How did that come about?”

“Midlife crisis I guess - when I turned 40, I had a bit of a meltdown, you know, wondering about my goals, what I had or hadn’t achieved. I basically “ran away” alone to Paris on my 40th birthday, to escape any awful surprise party! And you know, I quietly fell apart in a vat of wine! When I went home my friend Janey was just like “Keanu, it’s time, time for therapy!”

“Ahhh it’s great isn’t it, big fans of that on the show!”

“Yeah I guess, I mean, ahhh I wasn’t that comfortable taking the lid off but yeah it did me a favour and helped sort my shit out. And a lot of the guilt and pain of losing Ava was gone through belatedly during that process”

“And why did you feel guilty?”

“Mmmm well I think I started to think I was a curse - my sister had been sick with leukemia, Ava had died, Jen had died, River, others as well and I felt guilty for that stupid film I was working on when it happened! So yeah, there were lots of rocks to lift up, inspect what lay beneath and deal with my emotions.”

“Well you seem like you have your shit sorted now”

“I’m a work in progress!”

“So now you’re, 23 years on, how do you remember Ava and Jen now.”

“Well it’s hard to forget the day for Ava what with it being Christmas Eve. I sometimes visit their graves - after dark if I can to avoid being hounded”

“What has the world come to when a person can’t be left in peace to visit a loved one’s resting place”

“Yeah it’s fucked up right?”

“Precisely.”

“And what else? , well I do have one little thing that my friend Alex who’s an artist, made for me. It was because of something she said she did to remember her lost loved ones. She would get a Christmas ornament that in some way represented the person and hang it on her tree at Christmas. So she made this beautiful little stained glass bird to hang up on my tree or in the house if I don’t have a tree which sometimes happens. So, uh, Ava’s name in Latin would mean bird or bird like so that’s why she did that, yes so I always think of her then and you know I would think about where she would be at a given point like when my friends kids have started school again after summer break I would think “oh Ava would be starting you know kindergarten or elementary school etc.”

“And do your family share in that?”

“Yeah, yeah - especially my mom. She has no grandchildren so yeah she remembers and we’ll have a moment sometimes yeah but it can be lonely, not having the other parent there who shares the same loss.”

“Yes I’m sure it is. Grief can be very lonely sometimes. Well, Keanu I really can’t thank you enough for coming on my little podcast and sharing your experience of baby loss and loss in the public spotlight with us today. Thank you so much for telling us about your beautiful baby girl Ava and her mum Jen.”

“Thanks for having me - I know this might sound weird, but it’s been a pleasure talking with you and remembering them today so, thank you and thanks to Kerry who suggested it. She said it would be good for my soul and she, as always, was right!”

@fortheloveoffanfic @omg-imagine @iworshipkeanureeves @toomanystoriessolittletime @ladyreapermc @paperplanesandwallflowers @patric9

#keanu reeves fanfic #keanu reeves fanfiction #keanu #keanu reeves #keanu reeves ofc

[bannedfromtheaters]

On Defusing Tension & Healing

So many takes have come across regarding the “holding grudges / poison” conversation between Jester and Beauregard. Adding my take to the pile seems like adding to the noise. But what I’ve missed so far in these discussions is the actions that Jester took towards Beauregard. Let me explain.

There was a tremendous tension in that room, I certainly felt it behind a laptop screen, I can’t even imagine how stiffening that tension must’ve felt like in the studio.

I’m familiar (like it seems, many in this community) with people/family implying all kind of ugly things while on the surface it appears like a ‘civil’ enough conversation. The conversation between Beau and Thoreau went nowhere. Beau couldn’t get out words, she was metaphorically held by the throat and with one off-remark, even the slightest suggestion, either Thoreau or Beau would’ve snapped and things would’ve gotten real ugly.

But here’s the twist that I’ve come to understand regarding my own baggage: neither person is going to snap. That’s the trap of it all. It’s like walking on a minefield, doing everything you can to avoid an explosion. “But I swear, if the other person does one misstep, I’ll be the one exploding! I’m not making that step, they have to do it!” And it never happens, so that tension remains.

And I saw that exact intricate and nauseating back and forth between Beau and Thoreau. They were dancing around each other, because they were communicating on different levels. That’s the whole thing. There would never come a satisfying conclusion to this conversation - Beau would probably either implode or explode if this would’ve gone on any longer.

So what does Jester do in this incredibly tense situation that is literally going nowhere? She defuses the tension by removing Beauregard from the conversation. Not to berate her or tell her her dad isn’t “as bad”, but to let Beau take a goddamn breath and give her the distance from her father she needs in this moment.

We can turn over every syllable that Jester says in that moment, but these moments go both so incredibly fast and so excruciatingly slow, that nobody will ever say the perfect thing. The only reason we can even do that is because this is all recorded. Most memories aren’t that good. Words slip, sentences get reconstructed. It’s what memories do.

What this little sidebar does - the action Jester takes - is remove Beau a bit from the situation, giving her the distance she needs. And what do you know? When Beau returns to the table, actual words manage to come out of her. Really good ones, might I add. About how much work and effort Beau has put into the past months of becoming a better person, of healing her old wounds. And how little she sees that being returned to her from her parents (which is true).

And to come back for just a bit to what was spoken by Jester. The exact quote is: “There is not a lot to be gained from holding grudges. Y’know? It feels like poison inside of you.” To me, the key word is ‘gain’. Because, nowhere does Jester even insinuate Beau should “forgive” her father. Just that if Beau keeps holding on to that inflicted pain, it can damage her real bad, and what she should do is heal from that pain instead.

Forgiveness is only insinuated because Beau asks how Jester forgave her father so quickly. But holding a grudge and forgiving are two different things. Hell, forgiving itself can be situational. As someone who had to step back from an emotionally abusive household more than 7 years ago, only now am I able to give this a place, and letting go of some grudges I’ve held for over 7 years.

And if you’re not in that place right now, I understand. I’ve been there too. But please understand that sometimes, letting go of a grudge is saying: “I understand now that your presence in my life is toxic to me. I wish all the mistakes you’ve done to me, will help you better navigate your future relationships. But this right here, our relationship, is too broken, too damaged, too mistrusting, to ever build up again.”

That’s at least how I (perhaps generously) interpreted the “poison” Jester mentioned. How can you heal, if that poison is still in your body? If your abusers are living rent-free in your own brain? Give yourself a breath. Remove yourself from the situation and give yourself time to reflect, and heal.

That’s what I saw in Jester’s actions: support, reassurance, understanding. Not once, not twice, but three times: 

Before they went into the estate, telling Beau “whatever happens [your father] was an asshole” - not giving him an out-of-jail free ticket. Reassuring her that “Fuck ‘em. You got us. And we love you so much.”

Secondly, when Thoreau comes in and accuses Beau immediately, to  which Beau rolls her water-y eyes and barely gets a word out. Jester lays a hand on Beau’s back and checks in, asking if Beau still wants them to stay, now that she’s come face to face with Thoreau. When Beau answers with ‘please’, Jester stays.

And then finally, Jester manages to step in and defuses that incredibly tense conversation, after which Beau manages to get out the words she wanted to get out all along and they manage to leave the estate in what is possibly one of the better outcomes of what could’ve happened.

I definitely think Jester made the right action, even if her words might not have perfectly fit the situation, as words tend to be.

--

Oh, and as a closing note: opening the can of worms how Jester wants everything to be perfect (like holding on the hope that her parents will get back together) is a whoooole different conversation, that I wouldn’t even be able to describe in a 25k thesis, and I’d much rather see played out through roleplaying anyway. In Laura Bailey we trust.

#critical role #beauregard lionett #jester lavorre #beaujester #cr spoilers #2x92 #my stuff #sometimes the acting is so good we forget it's all improv #and as organic as a real conversation #and when it's organic it's also messy

[connorgoldie604]

Artist Research

Tetsuo Aoki (1940 - unknown)

"The theme of my artwork is to express the pleasure, the deepness and the importance of touching each other. The original world of woodblock with Japanese paper (Washi) and Chinese ink (Sumi) is my basis."

Tetsuo Aoki – 青木鐵男 is a Japanese woodblock printmaker, who was born in 1940. He utilises wood to engrave his designs and uses a black and white colour scheme consistently throughout his prints. 

His elongated, disproportional and overstretched characters immediately caught my eye and he is now one of my biggest inspirations. I love the layouts he uses and the overall distorted aesthetic of his work. Aoki’s graphic style is far from ordinary. He utilizes defined shapes and little shadowing which creates a sense of sentimentality. 

Bryan Nash Gill (1961 - 2013)

"Art is (or should be) an authentic experience, which brings you closer to understanding yourself in relation to your surroundings." - Bryan Nash Gill

Bryan creates large-scale relief prints from the cross-sections of trees. It is up to us as viewers to find meaning in Bryans art. Personally, I find his art both beautiful and thought-provoking; it portrays the idea of growth and change yet makes me think about sustainability and the living things that surround us humans. 

Bryan believes that the journey is more important than the destination; "Strict concentration on the making, the process, is more important than the result." His take on the process of art is almost a metaphor for all things organic - he lived in the moment and did not let his thoughts guide him.

Gill creates patterns from fallen or damaged trees which he rescues from the property surrounding his studio. He prepares blocks of recycled wood, coats it in a thin layer of ink then makes prints by carefully pressing the contours of the wood until the intricate designs transfer from tree to paper. It is important to Gill that the entire tree and all it’s intricisies is documented.

Hulya Ozdemir

“I think my paintings are timeless. My portraits do not remain imprisoned in a single statement. Their gazes are changing, just like us. One day in the same picture is sad, another day is possible to see a happy face.” - Hulya Ozdemir 

Hulya Ozdemir  is an illustrator and painter of watercolor portraits who was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1972. Hulya focuses predominantly on female portraits and showcases women becoming self confident and breaking out of social norms created by a make-dominated society. Hulya does not sketch her work beforehand, she draws directly onto paper, adds patterns and then paints; “I can say, I rarely know what will happen in the next step.” 

Her work displays womens beauty and individuality through the use of texture, bold colours and many patterns. Her use of colour, pattern and texture stould out to me, and I used it as inspiration for a mixed media print.

Glenn Jones

Glenn Jones found internet fame in the 2000s with his unique T-shirt designs. His tees have even be worn by stars on the Big Bang Theory. He is an illustrator who’s work is now being published as prints. Glenns collection of prints are inspired by growing up and living in NZ, he has stated that he want’s to put  “my own spin on our pop culture”. 

His prints are some what comedic, he depicts relatable Kiwi experiences with a humorous touch. One source states “his prints are a statement in a picture about our collective identities and the shared experiences of living in Aotearoa in the early 21st century.” His kiwiana style and clever twists with a touch of nostalgia is inspiring. I find his work both quirky and fun.

Barry Ross Smith 

"I like to create a rapport with the viewer by playing with our reminiscences. Creating icons from our shared Kiwi past, the beach, the bach, the farm but mostly the people. We can identify with these characters as family, friends or someone we know." - Barry Ross Smith

Barry Ross Smith is a visual artist born in Kamo, Northland, New Zealand. When he first started producing art his medium was sign writing, and he has now been painting for over 25 years. As stated by New Zealand Fine Prints Ltd; “His work typically engages with the conception of myth and cultural identity, often exploring these avenues from a New Zealand male’s perspective.”His art is inspired by the relationship between individuals and their immediate environment, specifically our communion with the land & encompassing oceans. His work has been described as “hymns to rural New Zealand … tellingly observed and cleverly rendered” by NZ Hearld Critic TJ Mcnamara.

I admire Barry because his work showcases our beautiful land and animals. Aswell as how work, Barry inspires me as a person. He is involved with Pest free NZ; and helps restore native wildlife from extinction. He values New Zealand land not only in his work but in his day to day life, which I find extremely inspiring as I value sustainability and our saving our environment. I also find his use of surrealism and kiwiana themes interesting as it is something I want to experiment with in the future.

Tony Ogle

"Screen-printing allows me to express my love of the New Zealand landscape and ocean environment with strong colours in a direct and graphic manner".

Tony Ogle was born in 1959 and is one of New Zealand's most successful printmakers. Ogle’s prints are full of colour, vibrant and celebrates New Zealands coastal landscapes. His works are extremely technically complex and handmade, with only one edition ever produced. Ogle’s joyful prints celebrates the Kiwi beach life and showcases his authentic connection with New Zealand coastal landscapes.

He is inspired by locations off the beaten track and untouched stitches of the NZ coastlines that portray "unchanged timelessness". Tony strives to capture what he calls a "sense of place" in his art prints. 

His work is inspiring since I can relate to it as a Kiwi and I admire how he uses texture to convey a sense of calmness, he perfectly captures Aotearoas essence. 

Charles Frederick Goldie

Charles Frederick Goldie was born in Auckland, New Zealand, on 20 October 1870.   He is an ancestor of mine, who painted Māori history paintings and portraits of tattooed chiefs. His paintings have been turned into many prints nowadays, I’ve even seen his paintings on postcards and magnets whilst travelling the South Island. 

Goldie's career began in 1900 when he started painting images  depicting elderly Māori with moko, the 'noble relics of a noble race'. By 1904 Goldie was considered the leading portrait painter of Māori, and was renowned for his technical brilliance.  His portraits have become vitally significant to New Zealand art.

Goldie feared that Māori were about to die out or be assimilated by the pakeha so he set out to record the last survivors. This is reinforced through the poses of his elderly subjects and the titles of many of his paintings eg; Last of the Cannibals, A Noble Relic of a Noble Race. Two of his most celebrated works, Darby and Joan and The Widow, portray Goldie’s awareness of the hardships Maori were experiencing. Many Māori individuals see Goldie's works as taonga which represents irreplaceable ancestral images of koroua and kuia. Māori believe the wairua( spirit) of the subject resides in each picture. 

I am inspired by Goldie not only because I feel a cultural connection to him but because of his love for Māori culture. His paintings are full of intricate details, and his paintings often look like they can breathe which I find incredible. 

Lauren Liess

A crooked smile, wildflowers from the side of the road, a chip in the good china; I love it when things are slightly off and tell a story, because to me, that’s real life. And it’s beautiful.

Lauren Liess is an interior designer who’s style I find inspiring and aesthetic. What caught my eye is her use of prints and nature in her interior design. Her style is simple, relaxed and authentic. She utilizes natural materials, thoughtful art and decor that focuses on people rather than things. 

She has a toes-in-the-stream aesthetic and is obsessed with the outdoors, “I’m obsessed with what’s going on outside,” and utilizes a black, white and wood pallet paired with lots of greenery, “When you bring in bits of nature …artwork, interesting accents and fabrics, [the colors are] a museum showcase for it. It’s a textural, natural base.” 

I relate to her as we are both inspired by the outdoors. I also like how she incorporates living plants and wood into her modern style.