#and most scenes were constructed around the music. so it really is important

[ohitslen]

About to say something horribly obvious, and I’m still going about Kni and the piano, well UM

In the last episodes there is this brief flashback of Vash humming a melody, and Kni asks what that melody is, to which Vash answers that he isn’t sure that it just comes to him and brings him comfort, and- LOOK I SAID IT WAS OBVIOUS BUT- that is the same melody present in all of Knives songs

So, maybe maybe, it was Kni the one who brought the melody to the piano, like composed it? I don’t know music terms sorry but I think you get what I mean

Then, when we see Knives appear on Jeneora Rock, Vash is able to tell its him because of the piano, he knows it’s his brother, perhaps not the first time he does that sort of entrance but it’s the melody that gives it away instantly (again. Very obvious I’m aware)

A melody that once brought Vash comfort and solace, he now sees it as a telltale sign of an incoming tragedy caused by his brother, something he should be afraid of and it’s no longer something that makes him feel at peace, on the contrary he just, you know, you know what I mean

Like. I’m. I.

I need a moment, I need to sit down.

#IT WAS VASH. HE WAS THE ONE THAT BROUGHT THE MELODY TO KNIVES. #IT SHOULD NOT BE THAT BIG OF A DEAL #BUT TO ME IT IS #they have such a fucked up relationship #I will never shut up about how their bond twists into something nasty and depressing #compared to before finding out about Tesla. and the Bible. OQNNS #IM exclusively talking about TriStamp very obviously so like #you can relate this to the manga if you want but pls know I haven’t read it yet so it really is just #tristamp yk. considering how it’s the only iteration in where the piano plays such an important part in his character #I think it’s important to be looked at and considered #the layers that this has. excuse me but how do you turn something someone loves into something that will make them terrified of #just by the fact of hearing it Vash is sent into immediate very well based panic #yeah all ive been doing is listen to the soundtrack for weeks now so I like to talk about it #and most scenes were constructed around the music. so it really is important #and again I don’t know about music but I like to think a lot and also get caught up in the littles things #like the fucking piano #trigun #vash the stampede #vash #millions knives #Kni saverem #Kni #nai saverem #trigun stampede #yes I know most ppl write the name as Nai. but ever since that one scene with their files I haven’t been the same #it’s written as Kni and it really stuck with me so sry bout that even though I’m not #lenssi rambles

[kwangyadetective]

🗄️ Mystery in Seoul Teaser Thoughts Part 1

Part 1 of my initial thoughts of what happened in NCT 127's Mystery in Seoul teaser series before the MV release. I divided this into two parts and two member units,

Reality (Nighttime)

Taeyong, Doyoung, and Haechan

In Between

Taeil

Dream (Daytime)

Johnny, Yuta, Mark, Jungwoo, and Jaehyun

Read the Dream (Daytime) unit here.

Explanation on why Dream is daytime and Reality is Nighttime etc.

Also!! Note that I will focus on some members more than the others because of their character significance and mostly on whom I have more ideas on. Hence, some would only have brief overviews or combined in one paragraph so that this note won’t be too long to read too.

Taeil

I wanna start off with Taeil, which I found the most interesting.

Initially I thought Taeil was in the Reality (as shown to be in the night in the very beginning). But then I realized that to indicate where he really is is by looking at the lighting color, which is actually the Reality to Dream Transformation Color Scale.

He was in a nightclub but in his own world. Contrasting to the club music, he appears to be surrounded by classical music. Plus he is on his own, sitting down with tea, as if no one notices him. Whenever he is shown in individual shots, the lighting is Green, hence he is in between Dream and Reality. Then he moves on to the Dream stage by entering another room (Red lighting). There, he was greeted by a bald man who then offered him a cup of tea. The bald man seemed to be expecting him already and offered him a handful of sugar and a green folded note on top of it. I have my suspicions about this bald man because FIRST OF ALL there is a SNAKE tattoo on his head.

It may not be Black Mamba since aespa defeated them but Taemin’s Criminal did hint at the existence of 3 snakes, this may be one of them. Plus the presence of a snake in the Neo’s Universe had been around since Favorite.

The tattoo ‘Real Eyes, Realize, Real Lies’ was also on the man’s head; considering that Taeil had been in his own world this whole time, does he actually know where he is? What if the dream he was in is actually a corrupted dream (a lie?)? Did the snake set him in a trap or is it setting all the members in a trap through the message given to Taeil? Well, I hope the MV will reveal something about this. Honestly, it is weird too that Taeil was grinning along with the man..

Nighttime (Reality) Members

Starting with Doyoung, he appears to be working in an aquarium shop. This is HIGHLY fitting for the lore because recently Doyoung has always been associated with water, which is supposed to represent Ether. This goes way back from NCT2021 in YearDream: Stage 1 - Seeing Myself in a Dream and even in Golden Age MV (water falling out of a glass in between DY's piano scenes). He closed his eyes for a moment then there were flashes of scenes of buildings and a passing train, the fishes, and more(?). As if he was given glimpses of the future? But note that this scene is pretty similar to the YearDream video. In a theory post I wrote of the YearDream, I speculated that someone was contacting him because Ether is a medium that connects people. So is this a similar situation?

As for Taeyong and Haechan, there isn't much that I want to talk about. Taeyong's situation was confusing because I still don't know why he appears to be working as a money changer and is seen slacking off. But one important thing to note in his teaser was the part when he was given a key, reminding me of Golden Age MV. The person that gave it to him was apparently one of the queueing customers and wasn't shown anything significant? Though the key got me thinking that perhaps it is used to open a room to this?

This is a mobile filing cabinet that has wheels on the side to lock it. We have an Exhibit & Storage ver. pictures, so perhaps it has something to do with that?

Haechan seemed to be constructing a device similar to a laptop.

Looking at the screen, especially the Ouija and the Validation screen, the device is like a computer but specifically to look up answers and check the validity or accuracy of something? Literally 'Factchecking'. Perhaps what makes it different than regular computers is its ability to look from deeper sources?? In the end, he received an email from a still unknown source (probably from the others for a meeting?) and he left like Taeyong. Now that I think of it; Haechan also received a message like Taeil, but unlike him, Taeil's source is questionable.

That's all that I have for this unit! I will wrap up this teaser series' thoughts in the next post. The final conclusion of the theory will of course come after the release of the MV.. and that also depends on whether it has a plot or not...

(Part 2) Read the Dream (Daytime) unit here.

#nct 127 #fact check #taeyong #haechan #doyoung #nct #nct theory #mystery in seoul

[hectormcfilm]

NAPOLEON

Ridley Scott's newest historical drama has hit the big screen to a very mixed critical reception. On the lead up to this film I was very excited, loving both the director and lead actor. I was expecting some strong Oscar contenders in this film until the early reviews came out and it was mostly along the lines of mediocre to good nothing amazing but I still went in with relatively high expectations. Personally I think this film is good... but not great.

I'm going to start with the positive aspects which for me mainly shine within two sequences, the battle on the ice and the invasion of Russia. The battle on the ice is a perfectly tense battle scene, it is slow and methodical and really gives a great sense of Napoleon's systematic nature and his pure tactical genius. The way the music builds up with an ominous ticking clock (as a side note the music throughout this whole film might be the best part, the use of classical and traditional French music is beautiful and so atmospheric). The strategic ways Napoleon's army give messages to each other and ready an ambush, forcing their attackers to retreat and then striking them with their most dangerous and intelligent move of destroying the hidden ice, completely outsmarting and Annihilating the combined forces of Russia and Austria. This sequence is visually gorgeous, tense and satisfying, proving how well Ridley Scott constructs and frames battle scenes, the most spectacular shot being one of a horse charging across the ice dodging cannon balls. The other best sequence is the Invasion of Russia, I adore the way the film becomes desaturated and gains acold colour palette to reflect the harsh winter that defeats his army. The scene of Moscow burning and Napoleon's realisation of complete defeat is riveting.

Disappointingly, I am not as positive about most of the film as these two sequences. I believe Joaquin Phoenix's performance is good but nothing amazing, it feels like he doesn't actually get much to do and his character never felt like he was changing too much both mentally and physically. One major problem I have links to this as despite the story spanning around 40 years Joaquin looks the same age throughout, the only change being a slightly receding hairline. I didn't need him to be recast when younger but some slight makeup or hair change like how Nolan made Cillian seem younger in Oppenheimer flashbacks would've been appreciated. Vanessa Kirby has a very strong performance but her character really let it down for me. Within two short scenes of Napoleon and her meeting where they had little chemistry or dialogue exchanged they are married, then instantly she cheats on him and they argue, it felt like their entire relationship was side-lined and rushed, focusing more on strange and kinky sex scenes between the two that just made me uncomfortable and laugh. I also wish we got to see her final moments instead of her dying off-screen.

Now to get onto my biggest problem with the film... the pacing. The first act of this film was a huge shock to me as it felt like it was trying to speed run through Napoleon's history as if it was a slideshow or a YouTube video explaining his history instead of a deep historical character study. The rapid pacing gave me no time to take in the location or really comprehend what year we were in, similarly character would have no introduction and just appear, being given nothing and most of them becoming forgettable or just disappearing. I definitely believe a longer maybe 3 and a half- 4 hour cut of this film would benefit it greatly as it felt simply like important scenes were cut out.

One smaller issue I have is the lack of accents or foreign languages, there is only one use of subtitles for two lines of German dialogue but no French spoken. Most of the actors even keep their American accents and it feels so jarring and unnatural. Something that tackles this issue well is the Vinland Saga manga where if a character is speaking French they write in French what they say then translate it to English underneath, giving an authentic experience whilst allowing the audience to understand them.

[hmslusitania]

75+77 for buddie

75. Bed Sharing + 77. In Vino Veritas

I didn't mean to actually end up turning this into a ficlet but, uh, anyway here we are. I think it’s my penance for the fact I’ve had two prompts from you in my inbox for literal months that I haven’t gotten to yet 😬

tw: alcohol use. Nothing happens with it, there isn’t even drunken kissing, but they are drunk for this ficlet, because as the prompt says, there is truth in wine.

-----

The wedding goes off without a hitch.

Buck has never been happier to see Maddie happy. He’s done this one before – walked her down an aisle – but he likes this one so much better than the last time. He likes everything about this wedding better, from the groom (Chimney, of course) to the setting (a vineyard, with the entire attached villa rented out for the wedding party to stay at).

But the party’s wound down now. Mr and Mrs Lee are watching Jee-Yun, and Maddie and Chimney have been bundled off to the bridal suite, and the only people left in the main reception hall are Hen and Karen, slowly revolving in place together even though the music stopped maybe an hour ago.

All that’s left is for Buck to go find his room.

Of course, when he does, it’s full. Buck considers the scene before him, hands on his hips, and finally shakes his head. The three boys – Harry, Denny, Chris – have constructed a pillow fort out of all the bedding in Buck’s room and are sound asleep, still in their formal wear.

Buck’s phone looks a little blurry when he pulls it out to text Athena, Hen, and Eddie to let them know exactly where their boys are, and then he’s got to find somewhere else to sleep. He tiptoes past the kids to get his toothbrush from the bathroom, and as is so often the case, notices exactly how drunk he still is when he catches sight of his own face in the bathroom mirror.

He collects his toothbrush and talks himself down a little and then heads off to try and find somewhere to sleep that hasn’t been utterly ransacked by eleven-year-olds. He only makes it halfway down the hall before he stumbles into Eddie, who seems soberer than he is for all of three seconds before he starts plucking at Buck’s suspenders.

“You’re wearing suspenders,” Eddie announces, hooking his finger under one of the straps and letting it snap back against Buck’s chest.

“Yeah, it’s fancy,” Buck replies. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Chris, I was gonna check on Chris,” Eddie says. He plucks at Buck’s suspender again and giggles at the snapping sound it makes.

“Chris is good, they made a fort in my room,” Buck says. “So I was gonna sleep on the…”

He trails off when he realises he doesn’t actually have an endgame here.

“On the?” Eddie prompts.

Buck shrugs broadly, and with the amount of wine he’s had that night, it messes with his equilibrium enough that he tips backwards. It’s only Eddie’s fingers wrapped around his suspenders that keeps him from going over.

“On the other side of my bed,” Eddie says, and starts pulling him down the hallway. Buck can barely walk backward while he’s sober, so he’s very impressed by Eddie’s ability to do so now.

“Can I borrow your toothpaste?” Buck asks, because it is suddenly the most important thing in the world that he brush his teeth.

Eddie’s face goes deadly serious. “No,” he says. He lets go of one of Buck’s suspenders to open the door behind him and pulls him inside. “No, man, there’s a line in friendship and toothpaste is just—”

Before Buck can do more than tilt his head, confused, Eddie breaks and starts giggling again.

Buck’s never really seen him drunk before, he realises. And when he’s been tipsy, it’s been on beer. Wine-drunk is a whole different ballgame.

“No, of course you can use my toothpaste,” Eddie says. “Do you need to borrow my toothbrush, too?”

Buck holds his own up obligingly.

Brushing your teeth when you’re drunk and giggly and your best friend is also drunk and giggly and keeps bumping into you while trying to brush his own teeth turns out to be a challenge, but they somehow make it through and finally collapse on Eddie’s bed.

They start off in their full suits from the wedding, but after lying there for a few minutes, Buck sits up – ignoring the sudden surge of dizziness – and takes off his jacket so he can slip the suspenders down off his shoulders. He lays back down, spreading his arms out flat across the surface of the bed to try and get his head to stop spinning. A moment later, Eddie sits up and removes his already loose tie from around his neck and drops it off the edge of the bed, followed quickly by his jacket. When he lays back down, it’s on his side and Buck only notes that they forgot to turn the lights off when he realises he can see every detail of Eddie’s face while Eddie stares at him.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Eddie asks at something that is probably supposed to be a whisper.

“Yes, absolutely, please do,” Buck says.

“I love weddings,” Eddie says.

Buck grins at him, oddly endeared that this is a secret.

“Shh,” Eddie says, pressing a shushing finger to Buck’s lips.

Buck goes cross-eyed trying to see Eddie’s finger, and Eddie goes cross-eyed doing the same and then shakes himself.

“I mean, shh,” he says again, this time pressing the finger to his own lips.

Buck makes his best solemn, nodding face.

“Not – not the big ones? With the frilly white dresses and the bridezillas and the terrifying mothers-in-law and stuff,” Eddie says. “But the ones like this where – where you know the sky could fall down around everyone but it would be okay because the people getting married love each other so much.”

“It was nice,” Buck agrees. “Nicer than the last time Maddie got married, too. That was a big frilly dress wedding. I didn’t like that one.”

Eddie wrinkles his nose in distaste. “What about the other weddings you’ve been to?”

It’s hard to tilt his head sideways in confusion when Buck is already lying down but he gives it his best effort. “What other weddings?”

“The other weddings you’ve been to,” Eddie says, which is just the same thing he said before but in a statement instead of a question. “What were they like?”

“I haven’t been to other weddings,” Buck says.

Eddie gasps. “What?”

“The only weddings I’ve been to are Maddie’s,” Buck says.

Eddie doesn’t seem able to comprehend this. “What about your cousins and stuff, though?”

“Don’t have any,” Buck says.

Eddie makes a face at him like this is utterly unacceptable. “Well, when we get married, it’ll be like this. It’ll be nice.”

Buck’s heart does a full three-sixty in his chest. “Say that again?”

“Maybe not a vineyard? Like, somewhere – I don’t know, but I like this with everyone staying over, maybe like a cabin or something? I don’t know,” Eddie says.

“Eddie, we’re not dating,” Buck says.

The look Eddie gives him would be funny in any other circumstance except Buck is way too drunk to handle it right now.

“We’re not?” Eddie asks.

“No,” Buck says. And then, suddenly, he’s second guessing himself. “I don’t think we are, at least?”

“Well, that’s stupid,” Eddie replies. “We should be dating.”

“Obviously,” Buck agrees. “Probably, like, years ago.”

“Yeah,” Eddie says. “Duh.”

“Duh,” Buck echoes, and then bursts out laughing. When Eddie starts laughing again as well, Buck rolls over and tucks his head into Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie wraps and arm around him and Buck hooks a leg around one of Eddie’s.

They’re still entangled when the sun comes up.

Fanfic Trope Mashups!

#the ghost ship scribbles #9-1-1 #buddie #9-1-1 fic #buddie fic #the ghost ship answers questions

[lokis-army-77]

If You Please

Chapter Twenty-five

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 4520

This is technically a reader insert but without the (y/n) and all that. She also has no name mentioned so feel free to imagine as you please.

Follow the reader through the events of the Captain America movies and experience her love for Bucky Barnes.

Warnings: Smut, this chapter is 18+, if you are under 18 or do not like smut, sorry, I am not responsible for your media consumption, you have been warned.

A/N: Hey so, the second scene in this is smut, so If you don't want to read that, just skip it. it is not that vital to the storyline, I was just writing and that's what happened. It was also supposed to just be like a quick scene, but I got carried away. I have also never really written smut before so please if you do criticize, let it be constructive.

Also, I wanted to mention that I changed the date that Bucky gets his mind back, on the MCU timeline it is supposed to be in January of 2018, but for plot purposes, it was changed to January of 2017.

<< Previous Next>>

Masterlist

Another month has passed and a busy one at that. After finally being released from the trigger words and being given a clean bill of health, Bucky has completely stopped going to see Shuri in the lab. Which has opened up more time in our lives for helping the locals in the village to farm and take care of the community goats.

Although, Bucky usually stays far away from the goats, considering one particular mother goat has somehow turned the whole herd against him. So when it is time to help with them he runs off to play with the many children who gleefully run amuck around us. They have begun to call him White Wolf, which I think is a fitting name change from Winter Soldier.

I smile as I think back over the last half a year that we have been here. I wouldn’t want anything to have happened any other way, knowing that in a few minutes I will be experiencing one of the most important events of my life.

Shaking my head I turn away from the window and situate my dress behind me. Although I knew this day would eventually come, I didn’t think I would be this nervous. My heart was practically beating out of my chest. The only thing that would make this day better would be if our families could be here, but Steve is MIA and we were never able to find out if Becca, Bucky’s baby sister, was still alive. I look over at myself in the floor to ceiling mirror, admiring the simple 1940’s inspired dress before I place my veil over my face and walk out the double doors of my room.

The sound of soft fabric gliding over the floor and the tapping of my shoes are all that can be heard as I make my way down the hall to where Iwee stands with a bouquet of delicate blue flowers.

“How are you feeling?” She asks.

“Like I am going to throw up.” I take a deep breath. “I have known him my whole life, why am I so nervous.”

“It’s because you love him, you wouldn’t care this much if you didn’t.”

“I guess you’re right.” I take the flowers from her hand and line up with the center of the double doors. “You’ll be right behind me won't you?”

“I will,” she affirms while she fans out the small train of my dress and veil.

“Good, because if I don’t have someone walking down with me then I might just die,” I said, being a little dramatic.

“You will be just fine. Just look forward, go one foot in front of the other, and breathe.” As soon as she finished fiddling with the back of my dress, the double doors opened into the large room which was set up with six rows of filled chairs to the left and right of me. I put a smile on my face as the music began to play for my walk down the aisle.

I could feel my heart beating in my throat as I spotted Bucky with his back turned to me. Seated to both sides of me were the villagers and many of the Dora Milaje I had made friends with. King T'challa, Shuri, and the Queen mother were also in attendance, all three taking seats in the front row. The priest was standing to the left of Bucky and I stifled a laugh as I watched him poke Bucky's shoulder and then motion for him to turn around, directing him like some sort of lost puppy who didn’t know what was going on.

As soon as Bucky's eyes were on mine I felt tears well up in my eyes. I had to take a few deep breaths to keep them from falling down, ruining what little makeup I had on. He held his hand out to me as I reached the small stage and the end of the aisle. I took his hand and allowed him to guide me up to his side. Quickly he leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “You look more beautiful than words can express.” I blushed heavily, glad for the small coverage the veil gave me.

We both turned away from one another when the priest cleared his throat and began to speak. Once he started I began to zone out, not caring much for the welcoming words. I only came back to reality when Bucky gently grabbed hold of my left hand and turned me to him. I could see the water rimming his eyes and he prepared to recite his own vows. He took a deep breath and started.

“Doll, from the moment I met you when we were both just kids, I knew that we would end up together. I didn’t know how and I didn’t know when but I knew for sure that nothing would ever stop me from having you as my wife. I have loved you, do love you, and will love you with a passion and an undying fierceness until the day that I am called from this earth. I know life didn’t play out like we thought it would, hell, I never thought we would be getting married well into the twenty-first century, but no matter the century I will be right here, always. I promise to you my love, respect, and devotion from this day forth. And from this day onward I will not only be your husband but most importantly I will be your best friend and your support.” His words fell from his lips so softly that I knew they were only meant for me to hear. Although he held back his tears, I no longer could and by his second sentence, I was a mess.

He let go of my hand momentarily to take the wedding band from the priest. I held my hand out to him and sniffled a little as he slipped the silver band onto my ring finger. Then it was my turn. I handed my bouquet to Iwee, who was off to the side, before bringing my hands up under my veil to wipe the tears from my eyes. I returned my hand to his and gazed lovingly into his eyes.

“Bucky, my love, I want you to know that my love for you has never been stronger, has never been more of an integral part of who I am, than right now in this moment. I hope that it will continue to grow and overflow out of me as we proceed along this path of life with one another. We have been through the highest of highs and the very lowest of lows any couple could go through and I know that going forward we will continue to persevere as we always have. Growing up when we did has ingrained many things into me but one thing that sticks out above all the rest is that once you have something you cherish to the ends of the earth, you never let that go. I will never let you go. I promise my patience, my understanding, and my whole being. I am my own person but without you, I am half of a whole.” I took a long deep breath once I finished with the vows. I looked to the priest with my hand held out open to him. He placed Bucky’s ring into my hand and when I brought it closer to me I rotated it in my fingers for a moment, admiring its shine and the small engraving I had placed on the inside. ‘Love your Doll.’ It started in a looping font. I smiled once more and brought Bucky's hand into mine and placed the ring onto the finger of his right hand.

“Now with rings, you are now husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.” The priest announced loudly.

Bucky hesitantly let go of my hand and proceeded to lift the veil over my head so my face was now exposed. His hand then came to rest on my cheek, his thumb lovingly wiping the tears that were spilling out. I placed my hand over his and leaned forward into him. Our breaths mingled for a second before the gap between us was closed by Bucky tugging me to him. Our lips met, in what I believe to be one of the best kisses he has ever given. My hands both made their way around his neck and into the loose strands at the back of his neck, I pulled him closer into me not caring that we were in a room full of people. I had waited for this day for a very long time.

My lips are slowly taken off of his as he moved back a fraction. “Mrs. Barnes.” He smiled as he said the new name.

“Mr. Barnes.” I couldn’t help the giggle that came out as he looked at me.

“Shall we?” He motioned down the aisle.

“We shall.”

The rest of the day was filled with congratulations and a long reception, which I feel as though the whole city was invited to. Weddings here, no matter who they were for, were a big celebration I came to find out. It wasn’t until the sun went down that I looked to Bucky, who was seated beside me at the head table, and raised my eyebrows and motioned my head to the door in a silent question, asking if he wanted to leave. He just nodded his head and took hold of my hand. We both stood up and watched the room to make sure not everyone’s eyes were on us, thankfully no one was watching too closely as we made our quick getaway.

Once we reached the side door I almost sprinted my way up to the room we were given for the next few days before we went back to our village hut as a married couple, the same one we stayed in on our first night here. Bucky chased after me as I laughed loudly, the joy I felt in this moment brought me back to my childhood when I would play tag with Bucky and Steve through the streets of Brooklyn.

Our bedroom door was just in my sights when I felt Bucky’s strong arm wrap around my waist. He stopped us in the middle of the hall, we were both laughing now, smiles wide and excitement in our eyes. We began to walk slowly to our door and once we were inside it became very quiet. I had walked in first, so I turned around to look at Bucky when the door closed. The look in his eyes had changed from excitement to something completely different in mere seconds. I eyed him as he slowly paced toward me, his one arm outstretched, reaching for me. In one step I was near him, having him pull me into his chest. The strange look was still swirling in his eyes but now it was mixed with love.

“I have waited for this for such a long time,” he whispered, voice gravelly in a way I had never heard before. It made a shiver run down my spine and straight to a place I felt needed him. I pushed into him at his words, moving my hands from his sides to cradle his head before quickly and fluidly bringing our lips together.

His lips were plump and felt like white-hot irons on my skin, burning me with his touch, but I didn’t mind. I opened my mouth slightly, just enough to let my tongue slip past my own lips to swipe wantingly at his own. He opened his mouth immediately and our tongues collided in a dance.

Bucky pushed on my hip, backing me up, leading us to the bed. Clumsily, while we moved, I slipped my shoes from my feet and started to undo the bowtie around Bucky’s neck. The piece of cloth was quickly discarded as the back of my legs came into contact with the foot of the bed. Before I could fall back, Bucky stopped me. His hand came to the back of my dress and felt around for the zipper. When he found it, it took only a moment for him to pull it down. Backing away he watched as I took my arms from the satin sleeves and let the dress just fall, pooling around my feet, leaving me in just my underwear and nothing to cover my chest. When I looked up into his eyes again, I realized what that strange look was, lust.

I could feel the desire radiating off both of us as I slowly climbed to the middle of the bed and watched as Bucky took his time taking off his button-down shirt and pants. “I love you so much,” I said, my voice full with yearning. At this moment I wanted nothing more than for him to take me, slow and hard and all at once. I let out a slow, needy whine as I watched him toss the pants haphazardly across the room.

“I know, Doll. I know.” He hushed as he slowly lowered himself onto the bed. The blush creeping onto my face made me feel blazing hot. I could feel my heart beating almost out of my chest as he moved up my body. Goosebumps began to rise as Bucky sensually trailed his hand up my left leg, over my stomach, between my breasts, and around my neck. Pulling me up a bit, he brought his lips to the skin of my shoulder. The kisses he peppered there and across my collar bone to the other shoulder sent a pang into my stomach which in turn sent a low breathy moan shooting from my mouth. I felt his lips curve into a smile as he continued to kiss and suck on my skin.

“Bucky,” I breathed out, the feeling of his body so close to me was enough to make me feel drunk on him. He laid me back down on the bed gently before moving down my chest and gave special attention to each of my breasts. I writhed under his touch, arching my back in small amounts, trying to press further into his mouth. The new sensation was exciting while also maddening, but I wanted him somewhere lower. Sensing my need, but not giving in to it, Bucky’s mouth left my breast with a dull popping sound. I looked down at his smirking face, frowning.

He began to move slowly back up my body and when we were again face to face, he kissed me. While his only arm was propping him up by my head, I took it upon myself to shimmy out of my underwear and start to pull at his. Once we were both freed from the confines of the clothing, Bucky sat up and moved between my legs, opening them wide.

When his fingers were suddenly touching the area between my thighs, I began to buck my hips upward in the hopes he would touch the one spot I so desperately needed him to. His hand came away quickly along with a tut from him.

“I know you’re ready, but you have to be patient.”

“I have been patient, for a long time. I just want you to touch me. Now, quit teasing.” I bucked my hips again, trying to make my point. Bucky just shook his head before continuing his previous movements but this time he touched that little bundle of nerves at the apex of my thigs, sending a glorious shock throughout my body. My breathing deepened at the feeling, it was unlike anything I had ever experienced before.

“Bucky,” I gasped as he brought his finger lower and slowly inserted it into me. The sting of the stretching around his thick finger was enough to elicit more strained, happy moans. After I had gotten used to the feeling of him being still, he began to move his finger in and out over and over. Pretty soon I could feel a tight feeling in my abdomen. My moans were becoming louder the more he moved his finger within me. “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

“I won’t Doll,” Bucky answered before slipping a second finger in. He said something else that I couldn’t hear as the beating of my heart became like a pounding drum in my ears. He started to pump his fingers in faster, I could feel the wetness seeping out of me and he continued.

He finally touched that same bundle of nerves again with his thumb, sending another, longer, more intense shock through my body. My eyes shut tightly as I cried out as the tight feeling finally snapped and I felt like I was spasming uncontrollably all over. I could feel his fingers leave me and he moved back up my body. “You did so good Doll, you are amazing.” He kissed me. “Are you ready for more?” he asked tentatively. Opening my eyes, I nodded to answer.

Bucky placed himself between my open legs. I peered down the length of our bodies to watch as he took himself into his hand, swiped the head through my folds twice then slowly he delved into me.

The sting was sharper this time but no less pleasurable. My legs instantly wrapped themselves around his waist as he inched his way inside, joining us together once and for all. When he bottomed out I could feel myself squeezing around him. He kept still, waiting for me to adjust to his size. While he waited, he leaned his head down and began to kiss my face all over, starting on my right cheek, over to the next, up to my forehead, down my nose, he left no inch unkissed.

“Move, now,” I demanded breathlessly. My eyes fluttered shut again at the wonderful, moderate pace he was setting, how he filled me up and left only a second later had me on edge. My hips moved of their own accord in order to meet his shallow thrusts. I could hear his deep grunts and moans in my ear as he rested his head near my left shoulder.

“Please, Buck, I need you to go faster,” I whined. No sooner had the words left my mouth, than he snapped his hips at an ungodly pace, pounding into me. I gasped, mouth hanging open, not ready for the sudden intense change. The force at which he was going had me reaching for his shoulders in search of stability.

“God, you feel so good.” He grunted out, placing a rough kiss on my lips. “So good, Doll, so good.”

He continued to pump in and out at a ferocious pace, the wet sounds from us coming together were filling the room along with both of our gasps, grunts, and moans. The tension in my stomach was building up once more.

“I’m almost there Buck, keep going. Don’t stop.” I felt like I was almost screaming with pleasure at this point. The slap of skin on skin was beginning to be too much for me as our hips continued to connect.

“Me too Doll.” He heaved. His hips started to falter the longer we went, they started to become erratic, going by no rhythm at all.

I could feel the pleasure in my bones, begging for release. I was almost to my breaking point, and with a few more snaps of my hips to meet Bucky’s thrusts, I was coming undone. My mouth opened wide in a silent scream as white-hot pleasure ripped through my body. My fingers dug into Bucky’s shoulders, nails almost drawing blood. My legs tried to close themselves due to the immense sensitivity I was starting to feel, but I couldn’t because Bucky was still pumping away, so close to his own satisfaction.

“Fuck,” he let out as he sputtered to a stop. He spoke my name like a prayer as he came into me, filling me so full of himself. I had never felt so satiated as I had at this moment. “That was,” he took a deep breath.

“Amazing,” we uttered simultaneously. I smiled lazily and leaned up to kiss his mouth before letting my head fall limply back to the mattress.

I whined loudly, locking my legs around Bucky’s waist as he tried to pull out. “No, not yet,” I pleaded.

“Okay then, but I’m not holding myself up anymore.” Just by the sound of his voice, I could tell he was smirking. Then he lowered himself down, squishing me under his body weight. I puffed out an exasperated breath.

“God, you are heavy,” I complained.

“Not my fault.” He quipped. I just shook my head, he could be so annoying, in a good way. My hands found their way from his shoulders into his hair, and they stayed there, playing with the strands until I was almost asleep.

“Okay, Doll. I think it’s time to get up and wash off. We can’t sleep like this.” He picked himself up and pulled out and away from me slowly. I shuddered at that and felt myself clenching around nothing once he had left. When he was off the bed, his hand grabbed mine and hauled me onto my feet where he then led me into the bathroom to clean ourselves up.

“I’m so glad we were able to do this,” Bucky muttered into the back of my neck as we were cuddled up together under the covers.

“What? Have sex?” I asked.

“No, yes, but no. I meant getting married.” He moved my hair out of the way and kissed the skin of my shoulder that was not covered by my shirt.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “ I just wish everyone could have been here to see it. I had always planned for Steve to walk me down the aisle.” My voice became downcast.

“I know you did, Doll. I wish he could have been here too, that and mom and Becca. God, I miss them. Ever since I gave you mom’s ring, I always hoped she would get to witness us being married.” He hugged me tighter to him as we reminisced on our early days of courtship and the family we wished could be with us.

“Bucky.”

“Yeah Doll?”

I turned around to look at him. “I know when we were younger, we talked about making a family of our own, but I’m not even sure if we can.”

He looked at me with a raised brow. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we both were turned into super soldiers with two different serums. Who’s to say it didn’t sterilize either of us. Yes, it turned both of us into our best selves, but it's the US government and HYDRA we are talking about, who wants their peak soldiers becoming parents?” I buried my head in his warm chest as I spoke.

“That doesn’t matter at the moment, I don’t think either of us is ready for kids at this point in time. But if we have them, we do and if we don’t, we don’t. After we were given the serum, our lives changed for the unknown.” His voice was soothing as he rubbed his hand in a circle on my hip.

“You’re too sweet, you know that?”

“I’ve been told.” He smiled big and laid his forehead upon my own.

I leaned in and gave him a long, loving kiss, giggling as his scruffy chin tickled mine. I was so in love with him at that moment, I never wanted to let him go.

Married life was much the same as life before, except for the fact that anytime Bucky could get his hands on me in private, we would not be seen for the next few hours.

We would often take walks around the outskirts of the village we lived in. Talking of our future and things we want to do. How, at some point, we wanted to move somewhere remote, like how we talked of the farm in Romania.

The walk we were on at the moment had taken us from around the goat pasture to a small pond a mile or two away from the village. It was covert in lush plants and several trees, almost like an oasis in the grassy hills surrounding the village.

Hand in hand, we walked over to a large boulder lying next to the water. We sat down and watched the ripples in the pond contently, enjoying one another's presence.

“Can you believe that we have been married for a month?” Bucky's voice broke the silence.

I leaned into him, letting him wrap his right arm around my waist to pull me in closer to him. “I know, it’s crazy. A whole month feels like a lifetime.” He leaned in and gave me a short kiss at the temple. “I wish we could have had a honeymoon, I would love to go somewhere for a while and it will be just us two again.”

“I know Doll,” he sighed. “But we are safer here until we can figure out how to have me pardoned in the states and by the UN. The moment we leave Wakanda, I’ll be put in a maximum-security prison. You probably will too, since you ran off with me to Romania.”

I groaned. “God, that's so stupid. It wasn’t your fault HYDRA did all that to you, I don’t see why they want to hold you accountable for something that you could not control.” My hands started to shake in my anger. He lifted his hand from my waist to rub my arm, soothing my temper.

“I know, but someone had to take responsibility and I am the only one alive, so it’s not like they have anyone else to blame. I’m sure when we see Steve again, he may be able to help us.”

“Yeah, but he’s on the run too, remember? They’ll probably lock him up for treason or something. He did break the others out of prison,” I admitted.

“He what?” Bucky was shocked.

“Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you that. He apparently left the night we arrived here and broke the three other people out of the Raft. It’s this high-tech security prison out in the middle of the ocean. I doubt the government was happy with him after not signing the accords, protecting you, and then doing that.”

“Wow. Have I ever told you that your brother is crazy?”

“He’s your brother now too,” I held my hands up defensively. “You should be happy that I’m not as crazy as he is.”

“Yeah, says the girl who helped break into a HYDRA fort, not knowing what she was getting herself into.”

“I was coming to save you, thank you very much.”

“Stil, crazy. I know no one who would voluntarily do that except the two of you.���

“Well, I bet you’re glad we did.”

“Yes,” He laughed. “I very much am.”

Tag List: @ginger-swag-rapunzel @underc0vercryptid-reads @geek-and-proud @intothesoul @leyannrae @starkleila @andy-is-gay @mvaldez7821

#james buchanan barnes #bucky x y/n #bucky barnes #bucky x reader #bucky x female reader #bucky fic #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x rogers!reader #winter solider x reader #marvel fic #marvel fanfiction #bucky barnes smut #bucky smut #smut #winter soldier #marvel smut

[zazzander]

Octavian headcanons

He likes sewing and finds it relaxing. He usually sews up the stuffed sacrifices so they can be reused. Eventually they get too worn out that he retires them.

He owns over a hundred stuffed animals but most of them are in retirement.

He writes poetry

He plays the keyboard, usually with headphones plugged in (so no one hears) and sometimes puts his poetry to music.

Also does remixes and mash-ups in his spare time.

He's a cat person and Aristophanes is his cat.

He's got a good singing voice but hasn't been allowed to train it. Good Romans don't sing! (One of the reasons Nero was hated lol)

He can't heal, but (as a legacy of Apollo) he can "take away the pain". Unfortunately, when he offers, it sounds very sinister so no one ever accepts the help.

An unclaimed child of Summanus. His mother refuses to acknowledge it and insists he's his "father's" son, his "father" being a wealthy New Roman.

He doesn't look or out it. But he is very protective of the legion, especially the First Cohort. They are all his family, as far as he concerned.

He can be really intimidating. He keep 40~ kids/teens in line after all.

Just "knows things" sometimes, but has to consult the teddies to confirm it / get details / make it make sense.

Dating-but-not-dating Michael Kahale

He's ace. He wears a black ring but no one else knows what it means.

Has scars on his back from various corporal punishments (not very good at taking orders btw). He got a tattoo artist to cover them up with mythical scenes after he became centurion.

He was once bound in a bag and thrown into the river. He's has never been able to learn to swim because of it.

Was part of the artillery division before he made centurion. He loves massive weapons. Why mess around with a bow when you could fire a ballista?

Was never close to his family and was overjoyed to meet Apollo. Apollo was the older brother "he never had" (he's got older brothers he just doesn't like them). And, yes, he looked up to the god and often praised him. Because Apollo is freaking cool.

His mother, legacy of Apollo, is what some might call a "free spirit". And they aren't close because Octavian was never athletic and she didn't really know what to do with a kid that didn't like hiking, camping or traveling of any kind really.

Because the First was the best, they did the most quests in the Titan War. (Jason did the "undesirable" ones). And Octavian was also the augur. Basically, the war was long and brutal and Octavian was not the shy kid who went in.

Before the Titan War he and Jason were friends. They even made jokes about being brothers, because they both had lightning powers. Secretly, Octavian had hoped he was a child of Jupiter too but eventually he resigned himself to the reality that he was not.

He was the one who persuaded Jason to try and change the legion. But it was Jason who wanted to change the name. Octavian's plans had been a lot more subtle (inspired by Augustus his favourite emperor).

Undiagnosed autism, his special interest is prophecies but he also reads about myths, symbolism, poetry, linguistics, and riddles because hidden meanings.

Knows Ancient Greek (no natural talent, he studied it). Purely so he could read a lot of myths in their original languages.

His first language is Latin and frankly prefers it to English.

He identifies as a (New) Roman not an American, damn what his birth certificate might say

Has a decent grasp of the most popular Romance languages

Thinks American food is weird

His family was once part of a different legion but it was destroyed. They fled to the USA and joined the legion in the early 1900s. Their family annals recorded the Shen Lun incident. And they were very important in moving the camp and construction of New Rome. A lot of the public buildings and temples were built by them.

Fluffy, curly hair, it gets really obvious when it's long. He hates when it's like that.

Has a complicated relationship with food, especially when he's told he has to eat - because he likes being in control.

#octavian headcanon #octavian pjo #octavian hoo

[true-blue-megamind]

FAN THEORY THURSDAY – Why Did Metroman Retire?

Happy Almost-Friday, everyone! And even though Minion threatens to smother everything he cooks in old Limburger cheese each time I say it: SPOILER WARNING!

Yes, I know, it’s three a.m. and it’s technically Friday, but I’m still calling this Thursday night, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Okay, let’s be honest, Metroman is a character who seems, on the surface, to require little explanation in the film Megamind. He’s only present in the beginning and end, and we spend half the movie believing he’s dead, and we learn that Metroman has done something almost unheard of among superheroes: he’s chosen to retire. The question is: why? There is a tendency to think that he's simply a spoiled rich boy who, (in his social life, at least,) does what he wants without regard for others, but is that really fair? Or could there be other possible reasons? Well, let’s take a look at a few fan theories that may explain why he chose to abandon heroism for a music career.

Metroman Didn’t Want to Be a Hero

Although he’s clearly based on—and perhaps even poking a little fun at—the Man of Steel, Metroman was no Superman. (I mean, okay, he was technically a super-man, since he had strength, speed, and powers far beyond what a human would possess.) Except, here’s the thing: he’s not a carbon copy of the Man of Steel; Metroman and Superman have completely different lives and personalities. This remains true despite the fact that they share a similar origin—that of being aliens from a dead planet—and identical powers—including laser-vision and flight. Even their code names are comparable. However, if we look deeper, it becomes obvious that Metroman and Superman are two very different characters.

Superman is all about being an upstanding hero. Although he can be annoyingly persnickety, and sometimes displays nearly oppressively unyielding strictures about right and wrong, one thing you can say about the Man of Steel is that he’s generally integral. He is exactly what his public image portrays him to be: a Good Guy through and through. The same isn’t true of Metroman, and in some ways that makes him a more complex and interesting character.

The childhoods of the two heroes are extremely different. As I’ve mentioned in Why Was Megamind Raised in Prison, when a boy, Metroman was a bully, not only making young Megamind an outsider and the object of everything from teasing to physical attacks, but also inspiring other students to do the same. Superman, on the other hand, far from being a bully was bullied by Pete Ross. Rather than using his powers against others, he was too responsible and good-hearted to use them even against Pete Ross. Metroman is adopted by super-wealthy parents, and is essentially a trust-fund baby, while Superman was adopted by a farm family. He grows up with a good work ethic and hometown values. Indeed, this economic discrepancy continues into adulthood. As far as we can tell, Metroman doesn’t need to work and has no job outside being a superhero. Superman, conversely, has to earn a living as a journalist. Finally, in the majority of comics, Superman avoids most public appearances, unless he feels they serve some beneficial social purpose. Indeed, he goes to great lengths to keep his identity a secret and avoid the public eye as much as possible. The first time we see Metroman in the film, however, he is basking in a crowd’s adoration at the dedication of a museum in his honor. Indeed, in the original script, then called Mastermind, Metroman’s real identity seems to be widely known. (In case you’re wondering, this is where the name Wayne Smith, commonly used in the fandom, originates from.) So, we see that these character are actually very different: one is a hero strictly for the greater good, and the other, while he certainly does a lot of good things, is also in it for the fame.

This may seem like I’m being harsh toward poor Wayne Smith, but his flaws do not, in fact, make him a bad person. The issue is that we’re comparing him to Superman who, while still certainly imperfect, is intended to be a better-than-average person in every way, including moral. Make no mistake, Metro City’s former hero isn’t any sort of villain; what he is is normal. If we’re honest, most of us would be pleased by wide-spread accolades and honors. He reacts to positive fame the same way nearly anyone would because, at his heart, he’s really just a typical guy. That is the material point: Wayne Smith really only wants to be an average citizen—a music star, perhaps, but still a relatively ordinary person. In that way, he and Megamind are alike: they both desire, more than nearly anything else, to be normal. The key difference is that Megamind’s sincere and driving concern for his city also makes him ideal for becoming a hero. (You can learn more about this particular fan theory in The Warden and in Megamind and Identity.)

So, why did Wayne Smith become a Defender in the first place, then? Again, I’ve briefly touched on this in previous posts, but it appears likely that Metroman was pushed into heroism just as much as Megamind was pushed into supervillainy. Because he was a bully with superpowers, it’s likely that adults around him realized something had to be done about Wayne. Otherwise he was a danger. So, they constructed an environment—the Li’l Gifted School—where he could be conditioned to seek the praise of others as well as to fight Megamind, who had been singled out as his future nemesis. (In fact, that conditioning is probably why he opted for a career that would put him on stage, aside from a probable love of music.)

Because the path chosen for Megamind involved more hardships and pain, it’s easy to forget that Metroman was in essentially the exact same plight. However, the fact remains that these were both children, and they were both being coerced into perceived destinies they didn’t want. Neither of them were given a choice and, in the end, both of them cast off the expectations pressed upon them to become the people they really wanted to be. The difference is that, because of our natural biases, Megamind’s rise to Defender of Metro City seems more noteworthy than Metroman’s step into Mr. Average Joe. The truth, however, is that both characters were basically doing the same thing: being true to themselves.

Metroman May Have Had Health Concerns

We know Megamind and Metroman are close to the same age—although the latter appears to be about a year rather than days old when he lands on Earth—but what that age is is open to supposition. We know, however, that they are almost certainly in their thirties, probably in their mid- to late-thirties. (Take a look at How Old is Megamind for more information about that.) However, we can see that Wayne is already going gray around the temples. Of course, some people’s genetics simply cause them to go gray earlier, and that’s certainly a possibility, but one fan theory suggest there may be more going on. The idea has been put forward that Wayne’s super-speed may be having an adverse effect on him, forcing his body to work overtime to keep up. The resulting physical stress could be making him age prematurely.

That’s not the only factor to consider. As hard as heroism may have been on his body, the effects on Metroman’s mind would have been even greater. Before the events in the movie, Metro City’s authorities—and, indeed, all its citizens—became too reliant upon their superhuman hero, and as a result that hero was run ragged. That isn’t a mere hypothesis. A scene that was storyboarded but never included in the final film makes Metroman’s plight perfectly clear. We see him being called from one end of the city to the other for everything from a massive explosion to an old lady needing help opening a jar. Keep in mind that, when hearing a cry for assistance, the hero would likely be unable to tell who truly needed him urgently and who was simply making unnecessary demands, thus he would have to rush to every call he heard. Even the city’s law enforcement seems to take him for granted, refusing to take criminals he just hand-delivered to jail because they’re on lunch break. The cumulative effect is that Metroman looks nearly frantic with stress.

This is important because, aside from the obvious mental and emotional concerns, this sort of stress accelerates aging as well. According to an article in the Huffington Post, when glycation and telomere shortening, as well as the over-oxidation, are caused by enduring heightened stress for prolonged periods of time, it can result not only in graying hair and premature wrinkles, but heart trouble as well. Even the memory can be affected, as one study by the University of Wisconsin found that stress can age a person’s brain up to four years faster than normal, and contribute to cognitive problems later in life. (The study was part of a presentation—you have no idea how badly I wanted to write that word in all-caps—and is thus currently unpublished, but information about it can be found in an article from Over Sixty.)

Metroman Retired for the Good of Everybody

As you can see, in a strange way, having a super-powered Defender was actually crippling Metro City. In fact, it may be truly damaging to the local infrastructure and official organizations. Youtuber Olaf Scholtens, in his video Megamind: Power and Identity, uses the metaphor of an airplane manufacturer to explain what’s going on. (If you’ve read my own post Megamind and Identity, you’ve seen this before.) Engineers and factories put a lot of effort and expense into making certain aircraft are as safe as possible, but what would happen if they felt they could confidently assume a superhero would simply catch any plane that crashed, saving everyone on board? Safety standards would probably become far more lax, and people might be in far more danger as a result. Given the way that nearly everyone in Metro City seems to assume Metroman will always save the day, it’s possible that, within the urban area, the same thing could be happening with things like building code enforcement, large construction projects, and even public safety measures. Bridges might not be properly built, fire hazards might not be addressed, and, given the blasé attitudes of the cops in the storyboard, law enforcement officers might not even be bothering to keep an eye on things. By retiring, Metroman forced the city to become more self-sufficient again.

That, however, may not have been the only problem Metroman was trying to solve. Remember the whole discussion about the former Defender’s school boy bullying and the apparent conspiracy to turn one boy into a hero and the other into a supervillain? It’s possible Wayne may have felt remorse for the former and found out about the latter. Having battled Megamind so much in the past, he also may have realized that the blue man never actually hurt anyone, and in fact went out of his way to stage their confrontations in abandoned places. (Again, you can read more about that in both Megamind and Identity and The Warden.) It may be that Metroman real “brilliant plan” wasn’t simply to fake his death, but in doing so to prod Megamind into becoming a hero and thus accepted by society.

There is an alternative theory, put forward in a Reddit post, that Megamind and Metroman’s parents may have known one another, and may have sent both children to Earth with the intention of them becoming a dynamic duo, fighting evil together with Megamind as the brains and Metroman as the brawn. This could have been what Megamind’s father meant when he told his son: “You are destined for greatness.” While there is very little support for this in the movie, it would explain why, in the vast cosmos, both of the young survivors were sent not only to the same planet, but even to the same city.

Whatever the reason may have been, one thing is certain: there certainly is some evidence that Metroman intended his one-time nemesis to become a hero. One of his lines, after Roxanne and Megamind discover he’s still alive, supports this. You know the one. “If there’s bad, good will rise up against it. It’s taken me a long time to find my calling; now it’s time you find yours.” Then, of course, there is another line, when Music Man is watching his former enemy take the role of Defender of Metro City: “way to go, Little Buddy. I knew you had it in you.”

If Metroman really did purposefully help Megamind step into heroism, that could also explain why he didn’t stop Megamind from taking over the city—perhaps he trusted the blue man not to harm anyone and to eventually come to his senses—as well as why he refuses to overtly help defeat Titan. He does, however, clearly subtly assist Megamind, as the latter almost certainly went back to Wayne’s hideout to scan his appearance and voice into the holowatch. All of this together makes it seem quite plausible that Metroman not only wanted to retire, but also wanted the blue man to take his place.

Megamind and Metroman by White-Night-56 on Deviant Art

Maybe this means that, now that Megamind is the Defender of Metro City, he and Music Man occasionally get together to commiserate over the more difficult aspects of being a superhero and joke about the old days.

It’s also quite possible that all of these fan theories could be true. The film Megamind is, among other things, surprisingly subtle, complex, and subversive for an animated movie. Every time I dive deep into some aspect or other of the plot, I am once again impressed by the amount of thought and detail that went into this work. No wonder Megamind—and its characters—have so many dedicated fans.

#Megamind #Megamind movie #Metro Man #Metroman #Wayne Smith #Megamind fan theory #Megamind fan theories #DreamWorks #hero #Defender #Metro City #fan theory #fan theories #Fan Theory Thursday #Megamind fandom #Youtube #megamind

[ordinaryschmuck]

What I Thought About "Eda's Requiem" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won’t read this! I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

...

...

...HOW IS SEASON TWO SO GOOD?! WE'VE HAD SEVEN EPISODES SO FAR, AND EACH ONE OF THEM WAS A HIT!

Take "Eda's Requiem," for example. It's yet another episode where I have NOTHING bad to say about it! That's two weeks in a row where that happened! HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?!

HOW!

HOW!

...But anyways, "Eda's Requiem." It's another fantastic episode, and I'm about to dive into explaining how and why. Just keep in mind, it's gonna require spoilers to do so, so be wary of that as you keep reading.

Now, let's review, shall we?

WHAT I LIKED

Eda’s Checklist and Grom Photo: Within the first second, "Eda's Requiem" perfectly sets up Eda's central conflict in the episode. Despite spending years being on her own and looking after herself, she now has two kids that she's constantly caring over. Eda can try all she wants to say that she doesn't care, and I bet she has in the past. But given the hard work she's putting into getting King and Luz what they need and having a grom photo of the three of them together pinned in her mirror, it's pretty clear that those two knuckleheads wormed their way into her heart and are never getting out.

Eda’s Worried About King and Luz Leaving: And thus, that's precisely why something like this bothers her so much. Eda inadvertently adopted two rambunctious rapscallions (Yeah, I know. I'll get to it), so the idea of them not being around her anymore is going to be terrifying. That is a situation most parents, especially mothers, can identify with. It’s called empty nest syndrome and it proves just how much Eda loves Luz and King that she can't stand the thought of her babies leaving the nest. It's yet another well-made, wholesome, found-family moment that this series continues to excel at each week, making me extra excited for more like it to come...while also readying myself for heartbreak when one of them eventually does leave Eda.

Eda and Raine’s Music: Ok, I don't know the exact instruments that were played during this episode, but I also don't care because it was all (for lack of a better term) music to my ears. Every time Eda and Raine played resulted in melodies that are so beautiful and filled with so much emotion and feeling that I'm honestly tempted to listen to them again, multiple times, on repeat. Shows rarely do that for me, as background music doesn't always draw me in as much as lyrical songs do. Usually, it takes something so extraordinarily composed to give me the desire to listen again, and that's the case here. So huge congrats to Brad Breek for doing so. Seriously, the man's been killing it this season.

Eda’s Bard Magic Causing Things to Turn to Ash: This was assuredly a surprise side-effect of the curse. The fact that Eda can sort of do magic at all was its own shock. To then reveal that a specific type can do dangerous things to people and environments is...Well, it definitely brings up its own fair share of questions. Like, how can she do this? Will she do it again, one day? And are there other types of spells that can be negatively affected by Eda's curse? We don't get answers for any of these questions, and odds are, we never will. But that's alright with me. Because if a show makes me consider these many possibilities after a brief amount of time, it is a show that has to be doing something right. Even if I don't get the answers I want, the fact that it caused such a reaction makes me less willing to care.

Raine Whispers: Hey, would you look at that. Another fun, interesting, and compelling character added to the list of this shows' other fun, interesting, and compelling characters...how is this series so good at this!?

Joking aside, Raine's pretty good. I like Raine. They could have been this super serious leader who lost all their fun after years apart from Eda, but I'm glad that they're not. There are moments when Raine takes their job as leader of the BATs seriously, as one would, but I still prefer the fact that they kept a jovial nature despite how grim their situation is. It's an admirable trait to have, and it avoids the trope of making leader characters boring just because they're the ones who have to take things seriously.

Oh, and also, Raine's Disney's first non-binary character who has a stake in the plot. This is a tremendous deal, as you don't usually see that many non-binary characters in children's animation, let alone ones that hold importance to the story. So it's pretty cool for the writers to feature Raine, as it helps several kids feel as though they're finally seen and respected. And the fact that Disney of all companies gave the thumbs up is even more impressive. I hear people say that Dana Terrace should have pitched The Owl House to more progressive networks to avoid pushback, and while I absolutely see your point, I'll have to respectfully disagree. Disney is the largest entertainment industry of all time, so if you want to make LGBTQA+ representation normalized, you gotta stop making splashes and start making waves. Because if the same company that made three racist cats in the span of a few years manages to say that being gay is a-ok, then you know there's something wrong with you. Yes, Disney ended up screwing over the show anyway. But for that one moment, when kids felt pride after seeing a character like Raine, then, in the end, it's kind of worth it.

Also, if you're still having issues with more representation like this popping up in kids' shows, then allow me to redirect you to the complaint department.

...I made that post earlier today for this bit. YOU HAVE BETTER APPRECIATED IT!

Day of Unity is meant to be a Secret: At least, that's what I got when Raine stumbled over their own words. So if it's true, then I wonder why? Why does Belos want to keep the most critical change in the Boiling Isles a secret? Does he want to make it a surprise for his grateful subjects, or does he not want to spread worry and fear amongst the wild witches? It has to be something big if he doesn't want his followers to even say the words "Day of Unity." Whatever reason he has, we most likely won't know until the future. A future that I grow more and more afraid of each week.

Hooty Eating Echo Mouse: My heart sank in that brief moment when I thought that Hooty intensely screwed Luz over in getting back home. But looking back...it is pretty funny.

Just the suddenness of Hooty eating the poor creature that Luz desperately tried to earn its trust is priceless in how shocking it was. And also, Luz's expression.

That was the look of a young girl who immediately shoved her hand down an owl demon's throat the second the scene cut away. The Owl House may not always be a hit in the comedy department, but scenes like this prove that when it's funny, it is hilarious.

Luz and King Entering the Grand Prix: Not much to discuss here. It's just a cute subplot that adds frivolity to the intensity of what's going on through Eda and Raine's story. But I will say that I love how both stories occasionally interconnect with each other through the many moments of Eda being worried about King wanting to leave to find his father and avoiding any conversation about it. It helps both plotlines feel like they belong together, without being something like "Through the Looking Glass Ruins," whereas both stories could have been in their own episode. Which is neat.

How Bard Magic Works: I really love how this season is diving into how the other magic types work. More specifically, the ones that seem a little vague. I mean, stuff like healing, potions, and plants are easy to figure out, but what does it mean when a witch's talents are construction, beast keeping, and bard magic? We've been getting a lot of clearing up lately, with bard magic looking like a witch can control their environments and enemies through the power of music. Which is fair. Music is pretty powerful in the metaphorical sense, and I actually love that it's powerful in the literal sense when in the Boiling Isles.

The BATs: Not much to comment on these three either. The BATs have the potential to have an entertaining dynamic, but they do very little in this episode that I can't say much other than I hope they make a return in the future. But I will make this claim: Amber is my favorite. I'm sorry, but her screaming "You're not our mom!" to then go, "Bye, mommy Eda" is just too precious for me not to love.

I'm a simple man who falls for cute s**t. Leave me alone.

Raeda (RainexEda): Well, EdaxCamila, you were a fun crack ship while it lasted, but I'm afraid that this is now goodbye. The current canon has provided an incredibly adorable and believable relationship that I would be a monster not to support with my whole bi-heart. It's been real.

Ok, back in serious mode: I love these two together. Eda and Raine are grown-ups, and they still act all flustered near each other as if they were still Luz and Amity's age. It's definitive proof that you're never too old to get flustered near a crush, and seeing them interact adds a sense of wholesomeness when seeing them together as well as heartbreak when they're forced apart. Plus, we get confirmation that Eda's LGBTQA+! Whether she's bi, pan, or whatever, now that we know Eda can catch feelings for someone like Raine, it's yet another case that The Owl House is the most important series to the community. Because having the main character be queer is fantastic in its own right. But having the same apply to the motherly mentor figure? That's is an extra bit of normalization that anybody would be willing to appreciate.

Unique Guard Designs: Not many fans are going to appreciate this, primarily compared to everything else this episode does perfectly. For me, I actually like that you see a few Coven Guards looking differently from the others, as it helps make them less like clones and makes it seem like anybody of any body type could be a part of the coven.

Gus Looking Uninterested when Presenting Grand Prix with his Dad: I am positive that you didn't notice this (I didn't even notice it until someone else pointed it out), but there's something to dissect here. It hints that perhaps Gus isn't as interested in his father's field of work as one might think. If he did, he would look a lot less bored and much more excited to be helping Perry Porter present the race. It could just be the race itself, but judging from Gus' expression, it really seems like the kid would prefer to be anywhere but there. And why would he have that reaction to a race that his best friend is competing in? To me, this seems like an inkling of what Gus' relationship with Perry could be, which may not actually get time to shine, what with how little wiggle room the series has now (Thanks Disney). Regardless, it is interesting to notice, and it will certainly have fans thinking for a while.

Bump Being Smug of Luz Being in the Lead: That's it. Principal Bump looking smug as his human student is beating the students of his rivals is yet another moment that proves why Bump is easily the best cartoon principal.

Darius: First of all, this guy is f**king fabulous, and I love him. *Snaps*

Second, he is definitive proof that you do NOT want to f**k around with Coven Leaders. Lilith may have had her intimidating moments, but none of them compare to the guy who can turn himself into an abomination monster where only magic that hasn't existed before can take him down. It's genuinely scary to see Darius lose control, and I fear for the day when Luz inevitably ends up in his crosshairs.

With that said, Darius' still a ton of fun! He may be threatening, but he's just a flamboyant guy that hates the idea of getting his outfit the tiniest bit dirty. And I love that. I love that these Coven Heads have actual personalities instead of being generically evil. I consider it preferable to make villains entertaining rather than blatantly scary as I'll remember the personalities first and the villainous acts last.

Eberwolf: But this one's my favorite. I told you: I'm a simple man who gets easily swayed by cute s**t. And Eber? I mean, just look at her:

She's just a cute widdle rascal! I just want to pinch her cheeks, give her a belly rub, and--

...Eberwolf is not a cute widdle rascal. She is a strong, independent woman, and I will respect her as such from this moment forward...lest I feel her wrath.

That is all. Let's move on.

Eda and Raine Attempting a Final Performance: This was the best scene of the episode. It looked gorgeous, it shows the dedication Eda and Raine have for stopping Belos, and it says so much through so little. Go back and look at how Eda and Raine regard one another when performing Eda's requiem. Through their expressions and a few short words, you know they understand that if they complete the song/spell, they probably won't make it in the end. And yet, they don't care. They both know bad stuff will happen if Belos wins, so Eda and Raine put everything to the side, both their feelings for one another and the people they leave behind if it means putting an end to a tyrant. That level of dedication...Words can't fully describe how powerful that is.

Raine Sacrificing Themselves Instead: But in the end, Raine can't do it. Not when they know the life that Eda has and the people she'll be leaving behind. It's an extra bit of nobleness to the character seeing that Raine refuses to take away a woman from two kids who need her the most. A tad bit selfish, sure, knowing what Belos has planned. But when it comes to love, the romantic, familial, or platonic, the best decisions aren't always the logical ones.

Eda Crying: Luz crying tears me up, but seeing Eda cry is a whole different level of heartbreak. Like Lilith, Eda has her emotions locked up tight, with the closest she came to weeping were those two tears in "Young Blood, Old Souls." In "Eda's Requiem," she cries but almost quickly stops herself. As if she knows that doing so isn't going to save Raine. That is...even worse than seeing Luz break down after losing Eda. The fact that Eda refuses to give herself time to mourn losing someone she loved is tragic because crying is the most natural way of showing grief. Turning that off isn't healthy, and seeing her do it with little resistance is sad to me. It's sad to see a character I love can easily shut off all emotions despite how badly she may want to embrace them. It's one of those moments that, again, by doing so little, it shows so much.

“No one watches Crystal Balls anymore. It’s all about streaming.”: Oof. Even I felt that burn towards cable.

King’s Message: King's message was the pick-me-up I needed after the heart-wrenching sadness this episode put me through a few minutes ago. Seeing King say who he is and listing all the things he loves is nothing short of adorable. On top of that, I adore that Eda willingly recorded the whole thing. She may not want King to leave, but that doesn't mean she'll sabotage the one thing he wants. Especially not after Raine gave up everything so Eda could be with her kids. The opening scene may prove how much Eda cares about a rascal like King, but this heartwarmingly sweet moment reveals just how far she'll go to make him happy.

King’s Dad Reveal: ...ok, I'll be honest, I did not think we'd get that reveal this soon. Dumb of me to say, considering the number of times I've said that these writers don't waste time getting to the s**t, I know. But still, it's pretty cool knowing that King's dad is alive and well, added with the fact that we've got a fair idea of what he looks like. At this point, it's only a matter of time before we see him figure out where the Clawthorne residence is and witness the tear-jerking moments that will follow.

King Changing his Name to King Clawthorne: Not the official adoption I was expecting Eda to make...but DANG IT, is it still diabetes-inducing levels of sweetness!

Personally, I feel like the main reason why Eda breaks down this time is not only because she shouldn't be worried about King leaving her life, but also because Raine's sacrifice wasn't in vain. Her kids really do need Eda because no matter how far apart they'll be, she will always be a part of their life...dang it, I'm going to cry too!

What those Coven patches really do: Well...that was horrifying to see.

...Writers, if you kill off the best non-binary character in animation (it's a short list, I know), we are going to have PROBLEMS!

IN CONCLUSION

"Eda's Requiem" is--surprise surprise--another A+. The emotions hit hard, the representation hits harder, Raine is a fantastic addition to the cast, and it was all surprisingly cute at times. Season Two is currently on a hot streak, constantly winning with every episode that's come out so far. When a bad episode does eventually show up (IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!), I'll be sure to sing my requiem then. For now, I'm just gonna enjoy the ride.

#the owl house #the owl house season 2 #the owl house reviews #eda clawthorne #raine whispers #raeda #king of demons #toh darius #toh eberwolf #what i thought about

[willow-salix]

It’s here, Virgil’s FabFiveFeb

A nice little bit of Virg fluff for @gumnut-logic

"I think he'd like someone that has an interest in creative pursuits," Gordon mused, poking one of the boxes to tick it. 

"And someone that likes to go for walks, you know what he's like for wanting to wander and take in the scenery, maybe even snap some pictures to paint later," Scott added, touching another box to tick it. 

"More of a home body than an adventurer, he gets enough of that with work," Gordon added it to the list. "And they definitely have to believe that family is important, he can't have someone that won't understand his commitments."

"OK, next, all about him," Scott scrolled down to the next section. "His interests…"

"Classical music, obviously."

"Enjoys visiting art galleries and concerts."

"And eating out."

"Don't we all?" 

Gordon nodded at that, there was nothing they liked more than picking up some tasty food. 

"Ideal date? What's that movie he likes? The one with the lake house?" 

"Oh, I know the one you mean, with the…the…" Scott's brain failed to make the connection, romantic comedies were not his thing, that was what Virgil watched with Selene, not him. 

"Doesn't matter," Gordon assured him, brushing it aside. "He liked the date so I'm putting it down. A relaxed stroll along a lake side at sunset," he murmured to himself as he quickly typed it out. 

"That's the one," Scott nodded. "He-" 

"Allie! Have you seen Scott?" The sound of Virgil's voice floating up from the kitchen made them both jump guilty. 

"I think he's in the lounge," Alan shouted back. 

"Shit!" 

"He's coming!" 

"Quick, submit it, submit it!" Gordon smacked at the submit button, growling in frustration when a flashing red 'incomplete field' warning mocked them. 

The sound of steel capped boots thumping up stairs spurred them on. 

"Just tick anything!" Scott yelped, fingers flying as he randomly poked boxes in between Gordon whacking the submit button like it had personally offended him. 

"Yes!" Gordon sighed as the 'congratulations' sign appeared in green. "Done!" 

Scott just had time to hit the x and pull up a report before Virgil strolled his way in. 

"What are you two doing?" he asked suspiciously, stopping dead in the doorway when he was greeted by the sight of the two brothers least likely to be discussing a report seeming to be doing just that. 

"Nothing!" Gordon yelped just as Scott yelled "Reports" which was definitely upping the suspicion levels. He didn't believe them. 

"I don't believe you," Virgil told them firmly, attempting to give them the kind of 'don't lie to me' eyebrow raise that Selene or John managed to pull off but knew he had failed. Damn the fact that he was the nice one and they both knew that any and all threats he might issue would go unfulfilled. 

"You doubt me?" Scott gasped in mock outrage. "Me? Your big brother? The one that always has your back?" 

"And me, your wingman? The one that always fixes your hairdryer fuse?" 

"One time Gordon! That was one time! And it wasn't my hairdryer!" 

"I don't know, you bought it, you keep it in your bathroom and you warned us all that we couldn't borrow it on pain of death, so that evidence all points to it being your hairdryer…" 

"I won't stay here to be insulted," Virgil sniffed indignantly, "I'm gonna go find Kayo and see if she'll help me with the inlet manifold, at least she can take instructions and won't lie to me."

They watched him stomp away in a huff, breathing a sigh of relief when the sound of his boots faded into nothing. 

"Damn, that was close," Scott gulped, clicking back onto the dating website to check it had worked. His eyes widened when he looked at the screen. 

"What? What's wrong?" 

"He's got three inboxes already."

"Seriously? Already, it's been what, five minutes?" 

"Yep."

"We’re gonna be spoilt for choice."

"I guess that just means we have more chance of picking him a good one, he needs to get out more."

"He'll thank us for it in the end."

       ***

"I don't understand, why do I have to dress up?" Virgil groaned. "I'm tired, I've had a long day, why do we need to go to the mainland just to pick up pizza?" 

Gordon glanced at Scott for help. None was forthcoming. He nudged him for emphasis. 

"Fine," Scott sighed, admitting defeat. Honesty was always the best policy anyway. "We arranged a blind date for you."

"You did what?" Virgil exploded. "Why the hell would you do that?" 

"We thought you needed to get out more," Gordon shrugged. "We were trying to help."

"I don't need your help, I didn't ask for it."

"Not like you were going to meet anyone on your own, was it?" Gordon continued to needle.

"John did! So did Scott. I am perfectly capable of getting my own dates."

"John is an enigma that none of us understand and Cat's my ex, I was recycling, that doesn't count."

"Do not let her hear you say that," Gordon laughed. 

"My point still stands," Scott insisted waving away the worry about his girlfriend, "we don't have a normal job or the chance to socialise much, and unless fate decides to be nice and throw someone at you like it did for John or you have an ex hidden away somewhere, you can't use us as an example."

"You don't want to let her down, do you?" Gordon tossed in, knowing that his softie brother would feel guilty as hell if he upset anyone. "How would you feel if you got dumped before you'd even met the person?" 

Virgil wanted to argue the point some more, but honesty and his vow never to lie to himself stopped him. They did have a point, a small one, but still pointy and therefore he was unable to ignore their logic. He decided to give in, although he refused to do so gracefully or with any forgiveness of their plotting. Plus, they were right, he wouldn't want to be responsible for anyone feeling like they weren't good enough in any way, shape or form.

"Looks like I don't have much of a choice…" he started only to be interrupted by the victorious cheers of his brothers. "Do you have a picture of her?" 

"Nope," Scott grinned. "We signed you up with that new site where pictures aren't allowed, you pick based on shared interests and compatibility, not looks."

"That's…actually a nice idea," Virgil acknowledged reluctantly. He wasn't one to judge people on looks, he cared more about personality and morals. 

"See, we knew you'd approve," Gordon grinned, slapping him on the back. 

"I didn't say I approved of this-" 

"Come on, hurry up, you don't want to be late for your date!" 

   ***

Virgil waited nervously on the picnic bench, clutching the single sunflower Scott had thrust at him like it was a weapon, ready to fend off anything if his blind date turned out to be some kind of psycho.

They couldn't be too careful, they were far too used to people trying to find out details about them or to trick them in some way. No one was ever as they seemed. 

Scott had assured him that they hadn't used his real name and that no one would associate it with him but he couldn't help the little nagging doubts that gnawed away at the back of his mind. 

Plus he still hadn't forgiven them for pulling this stunt on him. Did they really think he was that bad at dating that he needed such help? He wasn't bad at dating, he got plenty of offers for a hook up, they all did. Well, not John but he was hardly ever out on rescues and Selene was common knowledge now but, to the rest of the world, him and his "single" brothers were all fair game. 

Butt gropes and comments about their hard muscles were a common occurrence, so much so that he often felt like a piece of meat being squished and tested before purchase. Another reason why he rarely managed to meet anyone that he could actually see himself wanting to date. 

Maybe their idea, while badly executed and heavy in trickery and taken liberties, hadn't come from a bad place. He'd worried the whole way to the meeting spot that they might have picked the worst candidate they could, but he firmly forced the thought out of his head. His brothers might like to indulge in mutual pranking and to push the limits sometimes but they would never do anything to hurt or embarrass someone, especially not a stranger. The thought had calmed him down enough that he hadn't had to make use of Two's on board bathroom facilities for an emergency freshen up because he'd stress sweated through the nice shirt and jacket they had forced him into. 

He'd managed to relax a little but, now that he was sitting here alone, waiting and looking out for someone he had no clue about, he was starting to worry again. 

Seeing an abandoned pen on the picnic table he snatched a few napkins from the dispenser and let his eyes roam the scenery. 

It really was a gorgeous place, something often referred to as a little slice of heaven in the city. The urban park, man made in the center of the mass of concrete and steel, sported a carefully constructed lake that was home to a teeming ecosystem of endangered species that exhaustive conservation efforts had made possible. 

The sun was just beginning to lower towards the horizon, painting the sky and the surface of the lake with the most beautiful colours. Virgil's fingers itched to paint them but he settled for snapping a couple of pictures on his phone. 

Trees of all types surrounded the lake, creating an attractive backdrop to the whole scene and before he even realised he was doing it he was deep in concentration as he sketched the lake area on the napkin. 

The process was calming, helping to soothe his nerves and slow his thumping heart, allowing him to stop and breathe for a second, helping him to resist the urge to cut and run. 

"Are you Virgil Grant? You have a sunflower." 

The voice behind him made him jump and drop his pen. 

"Yes, yes I am," he admitted as he turned around to face his date. 

      ***

"So, how did it go?" Scott asked when they arrived to pick Virgil up, less than half an hour after he'd text for a ride. "Did you have a good time?" 

"I had a great time," Virgil smiled. 

"You were gone a long time," Gordon grinned, nudging his older brother playfully with his elbow. "Did you go back to her place or something?" 

"Yeah, we did."

"You did? You dog you!" Gordon leered with an exaggerated wink. Virgil just smiled, taking the teasing with his usual good grace. 

"You gonna see her again?" Scott asked, pleased that their plan seemed to have gone so well. 

Virgil nodded. "I told her I'd drop in as soon as I'm free."

"Come on, give us all the juicy details, tell us all about, Emma, wasn't it?" Gordon pushed, desperate for gossip. 

"Nothing much to tell," Virgil shrugged. "She's sweet, we had a nice time hanging out, she gave me her number."

"That's it? That's all you can tell us?" Gordon groaned, disappointment evident in his voice. 

"No, that's all I'm going to tell you," Virgil corrected. "You've interfered in my private life enough already, thank you."

"Oh, come on, Virg," Scott pleaded. But the big guy wouldn't budge, staying smugly silent the entire journey home. 

Gordon and Scott had given up by the time they eased the little jet back into the hangar, going off to do their own thing, hopefully to remove his dating profile, leaving Virgil alone. 

Selene and John were cuddled up together on one of the couches, watching something on the holoscreen when he made his way into the lounge. 

He hadn't meant to disturb them, especially when they were actually getting some time alone for once, and was about to make his excuses but Selene had other ideas. She patted the couch beside her, shifting over to make room for him. 

He accepted the offer, sitting down and getting comfortable. He didn't know what they were watching, possibly some kind of documentary. 

"Cookie?" he offered, pulling a baggie of what looked to be pretty decent cookies out of his jacket pocket. 

Selene glanced up from the screen, looking first at the bag of cookies and then at Virgil, her eyes widening in surprise. 

"You're all dressed up."

This got John's attention as he reached for a cookie. "Have you been somewhere?" 

Selene selected a cookie and took a big bite. "Oh, damn, these are so good, where did you get them?" 

"My date made them for me," Virgil grinned, consuming almost half a cookie in one bite. 

"Wait, wait, back up, date?" Selene actually paused the documentary, something about William Shakespeare by the looks of it. 

"You had a date? That wasn't on the calendar?" John frowned. "Were they cleared by security?" 

"The romance is strong in this family," Selene drawled, rolling her eyes. 

"Scott and Gordon decided that signing me up to dating sites is their new hobby," Virgil sighed. 

"They arrange the date? What were they like? Did you have a good time? Witchy needs details," Selene gently shoved John's face away from her as he chewed loudly in her ear and leant closer to Virgil.

"We actually had a nice time. Emma, my date, is a local, lived there all her life. She's been a bit lonely so her friend set her up on the site. We wandered around a lake for a bit and then we went back to her place."

"Awww, so romantic," Selene sighed dreamily before mock glaring at her husband. "Why don't you take me on dates any more?" 

"Because we only got back off our honeymoon a few weeks ago and we live on an island?" 

"No excuse."

"Dinner on the mainland next week?" 

"Thought you'd never ask," she stole a quick kiss as he rolled his eyes in defeat. "Got any pictures?" 

"Of the restaurant? Are you needing to inspect my reservation making skills now?" 

"I was talking to Virgil."

"Oh, then carry on."

"Virg, pictures?" 

"I did take one, yes," he pulled out his phone, scrolled through for a couple of seconds then turned the phone to show them the screen. "I took a selfie of us at the lake." 

Selene and John blinked, unsure if they were seeing the right picture. 

"Erm… not to be a judgey judgerson or anything but…" Selene trailed off. 

"But she has to be older than Grandma," John finished for her, blunt and to the point as always.

They both looked at the picture again, showing a goofily grinning Virgil next to a sweet older lady, her blue rinsed hair set in a helmet of curls, her half moon glasses perched on her nose. 

"Again, not with the judging, you do you, but does she have to watch her heart? She needs to be careful if she's going out picking up handsome young men."

"Stop, please stop," Virgil groaned. "She didn't know how old I was. Gordon and Scott set it up and apparently they somehow, and I choose to believe it was unintentional, managed to upload my profile to the over 60s side."

"And you didn't correct her?" John had to ask. He knew his brother was the nice one of the family but that was a little ridiculous. 

"Of course I did, but we were there and she hadn't been out in a few weeks. Her grandson moved away for work and her husband died a few years ago so I bought her dinner and we had a nice walk around the park. She wasn't actually looking for a romantic date, she just wanted a companion, someone to chat to, go for a walk with and maybe see an exhibition or two. Her friend at the widows club set it up for her."

"So you were both set up by others?" 

"Yep. She's a really nice lady."

"And that walk around the park turned into cookies at her place?" John's fingers snuck into the bag again to take another. 

"And banana bread. She mentioned that she was going to hire a handyman to fix her sink because her daughter was too busy and she didn't have any help now."

"Ahhh," Selene could see exactly where this was going. 

"And so I offered to unblock her sink for her."

"Of course you did," John sighed, hiding his smile against Selene's shoulder. 

"And while I was there I put up some new shelves for her and took her trash cans out to the kerb and retuned her TV. She made me cookies to say thank you."

"She sounds lovely," Selene cooed, already in love with the thought of her. She could take or leave it when it came to little kids, usually leave if she was being honest, but she was a complete suckee when it came to the elderly. 

"She is, smart too. I complimented some of the paintings she had on her walls and she told me she'd painted them, her and her husband met at art school and used to go on vacation to different countries to visit galleries and take classes. I showed her a few pictures of some of my pieces and it turned out she'd seen one of mine in a gallery in New York, you know that one of the Sphinx I did from that picture I took after that rescue?"

"Do I take it that our darling brothers don't know any of this?" 

"Nope," Virgil grinned. "I'm letting them stay curious, they asked me all sorts of questions on the way back but I stayed quiet. I'll tell them eventually, once all the cookies are gone." He picked another out of the rapidly depleting stash. 

"I have never heard a more Virgil story in my entire life," Selene laughed, shaking her head. "So when are you seeing her again?" 

"Gonna try and visit next week to mow her lawn," Virgil admitted, looking somewhat sheepish. 

"Hey, no," Selene grabbed his hand, squeezing it tight. "No looking embarrassed. You're amazing, it's a totally you thing to go on a date, not get what you were expecting and still come away with an old lady best friend and having had a great time. That's one of the many reasons I love you, because you're just so you."

"She's right," John added, patting his brother's shoulder. "One thing I've learnt the last few years is that you shouldn't make excuses for who you are or try to change. Don't belittle the fact that you have probably made her happier than she has been in months just by giving her some time and treating her with respect. Don't undervalue that."

"Yeah," Virgil acknowledged. "I know I did the right thing, it doesn't hurt to help someone and I had fun too." 

"And that's all that matters," Selene said, patting his hand one last time before she let it go. 

"Yep," he smiled, settling back against the cushions, munching on his cookie, his cheeks bulging like a hamster's, muffling his words. "That and the fact that her granddaughter is a nurse and she's going to introduce us next month."

#Virgil Tracy #fabfivefeb #Scott Tracy #Gordon Tracy #John Tracy #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirdsarego #thunderbirds #thunderbirds 2015 #thunderbirds fanfiction

[sanstropfremir]

the hotly anticipated kingdom episode 7 review is here!!

this episode was a lot less spectacle-y than the last one (the last episode with stages, i mean), and i think that was a good choice for all the groups on the whole to tone it down on the run up to the finale, because at the rate everyone was headed there would be no room to go any higher. i'm very glad that there was actually a collab stage and not just a song swap, especially because it gives a chance for the boys to work together and make friends when they otherwise arent going to be able to interact much. love love love to see them making friends and having fun doing these stages!

i'm not really sure why mnet didnt put the vocal stage this episode, because what on earth else are they going to put in the next episode with it??? i know it's a content stretch but still, it seems like a weird choice to me. anyways, there’s four stages for me to talk about this time and i'm going to try to not ramble out of control, but we’ll see. i did enjoy watching all of these, but we’ve all got favourites and i'm going to rank by which group i liked better out of the two for each stage, and then i put a few conclusions at the end. strap in folks this is another long one.

rap stages

skz + btob + atz

i was actually really surprised at how much i liked this stage. i would not classify myself as a rap fan and believe it or not i actually do not place a lot of importance on lyrics when enjoying music. although i have very high lyric retention and comprehension, i focus more on the sound than the literal words, so a fair amount of rap is swing-and-a-miss in my personal listening. plus when you add a language barrier on top of that, a lot of the nuance and technical skill of it just flies over my head. so i really dont have much to say about the sonic elements this time around, sorry. also.....i know i joked that nobody from the kingdom staff is reading my reviews.....but is someone from the kingdom staff reading my reviews????? i specifically mentioned that i think skz should do an art themed stage and then we got one????? i know i manifested the punk ateez stage but did i manifest this also??? am i just that powerful???

costume

obviously these are pretty basic rap/hiphop stage looks, but the white was a really good choice for visibility’s sake, and also thematically: it reflects the colours in the lighting really well.

i am DYING to know who the designer of minhyuks jacket is. if somebody knows please tell me i love it so much. it looks like some of the recent belted jackets that dior was putting out, but the drawing on the front armscythe piece reminds me of the superm/kim junggi collab for tiger inside. say whatever you want about superm, but you cannot deny that that is not some of the coolest merch on the kpop scene.

loved the traditional korean elements that came through in addition to the western references: the screens, hongjoong’s fan, minhyuk’s big fuckoff brush, the masks, and the sleeves on the dancers at minhyuk’s bit. those are a costume feature from a style of korean traditional masked dance called bongsan talchum. the masks themselves are versions of hahoetal masks, which are used in a very specific archetypal ritual dance in andong. i think these are imae masks, who is the servant/fool archetype that mocks the nobleman and the scholar. i suspect that was a deliberate choice, but i can only speculate.

another point about the masks which is not relevant but maybe a fun fact for people who don’t know. i actually thought at first that they were western theatre half masks, which are a very old style of mask that, like with hahoetal masks, represent a number of archetypes/stock characters. maskwork is a very common training practice in theatre schools, because it teaches body language and control, because half your face is covered and you cannot speak in your own voice (sometimes you cannot speak at all, this is one of the rules of full mask). the tradition of usings masks to portray emotion goes all the way back to the ancient greek chorus, but more commonly people in the west sometimes know it from the italian commedia dell’arte, of which you will have definitely seen some of the character archetypes before. i just find it neat that the same types of art pop up in different places seemingly independently of each other. humans are cool.

set

not much to say here, it's pretty bare with just some propwork. thought the screen use was fun and they used it smartly in a couple of transitions. 

thought changbin’s bit of ‘interrupting’ the artists was cute and fun. there’s obviously a picasso reference there, and the four technicolour paintings are a reference to andy warhol’s pop art silkscreen portraits, most famously of marilyn monroe, but he also did many other celebrities in the 70s and 80s.

lighting

i LOVED this lighting. super bright and fun, lots of use of colour, obviously. the projections were there to enhance the visuals and weren’t distracting in any way. i thought the transition to black and white/ink with minhyuk was smart and had good contrast, it gave a strong rhythm to build back up to for the climax.

sound

bang chan’s ‘spelling colour with a u’ bit had me SCREAMING with laughter. we spell colour with a u normally bang chan, the americans are the ones that are wrong. 

staging

i don’t really have a whole lot to say here, it was pretty straightforward and fun. like i’ve said in previous reviews, i wish they were more conscious of the steadicam direction and would stop showing extended bits of the production crew. at least everyone was wearing full blacks this time.

fun use of the upward angle combined with the groundwork/leg choreo during hongjoong’s verse, that was a highlight for me.

sf9 + tbz + ikon

nothing against this stage, the other one just hit harder for me. bobby is the best rapper on the show and he really carried this stage with his charisma. he’s a fun performer to watch and he knows how to command a space. i'm sure there’s technical notes that people have about the raps themselves, but i'm here looking at visuals as a priority, which i'm sure you’ve all grasped at this point.

costume

these were clearly extensions of these idol’s personal styles, with is a perfectly fine choice, especially for a rap stage where the emphasis is more on authorship. LOVED bobby’s 11yro girl at recess look.

amusing that both rap stages involved paint in some way? loved the backup dancers shooting supersoakers filled with paint at them, but i wish i knew the reason for it? i'm glad i saw this stage first because i would have been underwhelmed by the paint throwing if i had seen this after rainbow bonanza.

set

almost no set at all here, just a few props. i'm not judging as harshly on lack of set this round because these stages are meant to be more about skill than anything else. 

lighting

i loved the projections, i thought they were unobtrusive and i admit, i LOVE outer space themed anything.

i liked that they did more concert lighting and had no projections in the first half to put more focus on the performers, it really highlighted the fact that this stage was about them, and not about anything extraneous.

sound

it was indeed a song.

staging

i do wish there had been a bit more control of the space, because it did look very empty at some parts and they could have staved that off by keeping tighter camera shots. this stage is so fucking big, holy shit.

they really brought their onstage chemistry and they looked like they were having a blast, which FINALLY!! 

i actually really liked hwiyoung’s opening, i think there was a lot of potential there for some sharp contrast work that i wish had been played through a little more, especially with the cool white light overtop the black costumes. it actually reminded me a bit of the intro in the music video from a rapper i do actually listen to, bewhy’s gottasadae.

glad to see some more use of camera effects with the black and white, but why did they do it over the paint throwing? it just made the trajectory of the paint invisible because there was no colour contrast.

performance stages

sf9 + tbz + ikon

ok obviously im gonna have a lot more to say about the performance stages, nobody is surprised there. this one was the better constructed of the two and my personal pick for better stage, but i actually liked watching the both of them equally.

costume

king shit, literally. we love contemporary hanbok in this house. there was good colour and style distinction between the three of them without clashing. 

costume change was fun and neatly blocked, it's pretty common to see backup dancers and chorus hiding quickchanges but i liked how this was a more unusual formation.

taeyang rocking the organza skirt and the big purple eyeshadow, thank you for keeping it cunty as always.

i really liked juyeon’s underlayer look. finally we get a good tbz costume look thats thematically relevant!

set

like all the stages this round, pretty minimal. the setting was almost entirely established through the costumes and the projections, which is some really good designwork. it's pretty much just the litters (the lifted chairs they entered on), and some smaller props. they managed to not make the stage feel empty because there was a lot of projection visuals to compensate, which is difficult to do without being overbearing, but i think they mostly pulled it off.

i originally thought it was gonna be weird to try and mesh the traditional korean architectural aesthetic with the weird mnet deco, but i ended up not noticing it as much as i thought i would.

lighting

like i just said, projections very well done and do a fantastic job of conveying setting without being overly distracting. like with the atz/skz/btob rap stage there’s a really broad range of colour use here that they offset by brightening and properly fill lighting the faces so you can actually see what’s happening.

the use of the strobing lasers and more concert style lighting fit really well with the change in the music from traditional instrument sounds to electronica and the more hiphop/isolated movements.

sound

i liked it well enough! i think it had a good arc that we can see echoed through the rest of the piece, like previously stated in the lighting and movement style. 

staging

like i mentioned with the quickchange, there was some really interesting formations using the backup dancers here, especially as a lead toward/away from the camera

having the three of them enter on litters; again, literal king shit, love to see it.

this has a pretty clear narrative that doesnt really need an external explanation, which is good. i have to assume that the burning of the paper with 妃 (concubine) is intended to be a gesture of ‘burning’ the love out of their hearts, but that was the only thing i'm still confused on. this may very well turn out to be a reference to a specific story that i just have no idea what it is, but we’ll see once the subs are out!

i loved juyeons solo bit with the alcohol drinking and the table flip, that was the choreographic highlight for me. i just really wish he would use the other muscles in his face more often. we know youre pretty, you dont have to blue steel your way through all your performances!! take a page out of donghyuk’s book and make some ugly faces, it's good for you!!

i though taeyang’s swordwork was fine, but since i do actually have a decade of sword training i'm very judgemental. it's not bad, he obviously has practiced with the weapon and he knows how to control it, but he doesn’t have the same understanding as someone who has trained with a sword as a weapon and not just as a prop. if we hadn’t seen another stage with swordwork in it i probably wouldn’t have brought this up (that's a lie, i still would have brought it up, i have a third dan), but you can really see the difference between how minhyuk moves with his sword and how taeyang moves. a lot of this has to do with the proper weighting of the blade, which i mention briefly in my second episode review in btob’s section (and also this ask here, where i talk about properly weighted weapons in relation to the gun choreo in sf9’s and ateez’s previous stages); minhyuk is likely using a ‘real’ sword (it’s blunted but still made using proper methods and materials), and taeyang is using a cheaper-made replica (unless you’re doing full contact striking a LOT there’s no way a properly made blade breaks like that. also you would never tape it together hello??? respect the blade). if you know what you’re looking for, you can tell from the movements themselves when someone has training. minhyuk did a load of real training for a film where he was a swordsman, and you can tell; the sword is an extension of his arm, all the movements lead with the tip of the blade first, because that’s your first, your fastest, and your most dangerous point. you do 90% of your cutting with the first eight inches of blade, but it takes a lot of specific training to get your hands and arms to a place where that kind of movement is possible. taeyang’s movements are driven from his hands, which is unsurprising, because that’s where he’s used to his extensions stopping. the tip follows rather than leads. wow this got insanely sidetracked i hope you liked this crash course on swordwork.

this is pretty much what i expected to see from this unit. these three groups all have standout soloists, so i wasn’t surprised to see these three boys as the picks. juyeon and taeyang especially, theyre both from groups that are more likely to do experimental stages and choreography that highlights them as soloists and skilled dancers.

skz + btob + atz

this was a letdown from ateez’s last two stages, because they knocked those out of the park, but it's only fair that they have a bit of a fall. that being said, i did really enjoy watching this for its sheer ridiculousness; i’m forgiving the wolf concept this time because well, it’s wolf. you can't cover wolf and not do a wolf concept, that’s against the law. also, like i’ve said before, i'm all for dark concepts IF you give them thematic weight. is it on the nose? yes. is it thematically relevant? also yes. is it dumb? also also yes, but that’s never stopped a single kpop group in the history of ever.

costume

friendship restored with ateez stylists, rivalry started with skz stylists. the fur shoulder fluffs??? stupid and i love them. perfect in every way. however i keep seeing the same fucking costumes on the skz boys and i will come directly for the stylists at jype if they dont get their shit together. be! more! creative!!!

i really really wish they had gone more 2013 kpop with it, we need more of that ugly ridiculous styling. peniel was actually pretty close, with the overly long tunic and those yellow lenses. very vixx on and on (yes i know they were vampires from outer space, let me live)

i actually thought the wolf gloves were fun? the small bits of uv paint actually worked instead of looking out of place, and i'm glad they put them on wooyoung because the uglier an outfit, the better he pulls it off. 

set

same dice, just the long table and the camo net at the beginning, which i thought was unnecessary. the table was useful for levels though, so happy to see they utilized that.

lighting

there is so much happening all the time. lots of lasers. it's definitely aiming for camp territory, and i dont actually hate it as much as i did on my first watch. it actually wasn’t as dark as i thought either, because its mostly lit with blue and amber. but it doesn’t really have that great of an arc and its not really that good on the whole.

the projections are a bit much for me, but that’s only when i'm actually looking at them. true to form, i didn’t even notice the excess of red slashes until like my fourth rewatch because i was too busy watching the performers.

sound

rookie exo my beloved. the original wolf goes so hard for absolutely no reason, so i’m not knocking this stage for being ridiculous. in fact it should have been more ridiculous. i think they did a fine job updating the song for a.....less 2013 sound. 

i like that they didn’t bother to live sing the stage even though they recorded vocals for it, it gave them all a chance to actually focus on just the dance.

that being said, i am kind of missing all the adlibs from the original. but even though there’s some strong vocalists in this unit, they aren’t made of the same stuff as baekhyun, luhan, chen, AND d.o.

i literally just realized that peniel had already debuted when this song came out AND is technically exo’s senior because btob debuted like two weeks before exo officially did.....oh no

staging

choreographically this feels a lot more like the skz stages that we’ve seen rather than the ateez ones, so i'm curious as to who the choreographer was. 

the tricking was definitely more ridiculous in this one, but i can't really say any of it was there for no reason because it all had elements of fighting in it. the scale of the tricks was quite large though and not very well blended with the rest of the choreo, which ending up making them look awkward. i thought it was a nice detail that they shone a green toplight on the dancers that made up the cliff wooyoung climbed up so that it looked like there was grass on it. cute.

the blocking is lacking a lot of fluidity, and i think that’s partially the scale of the tricking and also the editing, because this editing is TERRIBLE. there’s so much cutting, why is there so much cutting!! haven’t we already learned that longtakes are the best for this???

there’s a lot of stuff here that had good potential but could have been pushed a little farther. i feel like i say this for every mediocre stage, but what can i say, i'm good at constructive criticism. 

they should have given more showcase to the tree and the scratching arms; it's the most iconic move!! i also wish they had kept some kind of iteration of the different unit ‘leaping’ in over the exiting one, i always thought that part of the original choreo was really fun and did a lot for establishing them as wolves. 

i LOVED peniel entering with all those backup dancers in chains, thats some fucking iconic shit. very ‘im the alpha wolf,’ which is valid because he’s like at LEAST five years older than everyone else on the stage. i wish that instead of being the backup dancers it was the actual members, because THAT would have been an image. theyre all wearing harnesses and collars anyways, just clip em in! he’d be like one of those dogwalkers!

me last week: specifically talking about how krump is an uncommon style in kpop and it's very hard to get right kingdom, throwing the manifesting dodgeball at me for the third time: here would you like a KRUMP SOLO?

if you didnt believe me before that krump is hard to get right, i sure hope you do now. peniel did fine, but you can see how easily you can veer off into looking ridiculous.

some conclusions

i mentioned this really briefly in an ask i got earlier today, but i do think it's important to establish that the two performance units are doing two different types of performances. i can understand why people are underwhelmed by the atz/skz/btob stage and wanted it to be less of a traditional kpop dance stage and more like the experimental stages we’ve been seeing for the last few weeks. and i agree! i think they could have done more with it. but i also think that this kind of stage was a good choice for this particular subunit. unlike with the sf9/tbz/ikon unit, there are not really any standout technical soloists in ateez or skz. ateez has, in my opinion, the highest ratio of dancers with actual stage presence of any of the 4th gen groups ive seen. they’re at a solid 75% for any given performance, and occasionally they can bump that higher depending on the stage. that high of a stat is rare. it's extremely rare for a group to have all its members have good stage presence (i can think of like, maybe two or three?), and to get over 50% is pretty damn impressive. but ateez’s strength isn’t in how good they individually are as dancers, but it's in how well they work together. there’s a reason why they put FIVE of them in the performance unit. one of the first things i said about ateez to hanya is ‘i love wooyoung but he doesn’t stand out when he's not centre.’ which is for good reason!! he’s not supposed to! they all willingly give up centre and take it back when they need to, because they have that charisma. there’s a very cohesive push and pull to watching ateez that speaks to their strengths as performers. dancing in a group where you are all meant to be equal is a very different skill than just being a talented soloist. you have to understand what to prioritize in a different way. taemin dances differently with shinee that he does in his solo career, especially since they’ve been back. he understands when to step back; more often than not i find key to be the standout dancer in shinee choreo.

this is a very long winded way of saying that wolf was a good choice for them even though the stage didn’t turn out as well as it could have. also the fact that they made a cohesive performance at all, with a week of rehearsal and while working with essentially strangers is a feat and speaks to all of their skill at their job. performing in a group is a huge part of kpop, and they did call this the performance stage, and not the dance stage.

i'm not entirely sure on what the breakdown is on why each of the subunits were formed. i know the team sizes are extremely uneven, with sf9/tbz/ikon clocking in at 26 people and atz/skz/btob clocking in at 17 (i'm not counting changsub because he's not there and probably has a scheduling conflict), which is like, a whole extra group of difference. but atz/skz/btob utilizing their whole groups for each of the units (5/3/1 for performance, 1/3/1 for rap, and 1/1/1 for vocal, for 7/7/3 total), verses sf9/tbz/ikon only bringing out six people for these two stages and then six for the vocal stage is......weird? that's over half of their group number that’s not performing. i do think the groups brought out their standout performers and made smart choices with the stages but the balance still strikes me as odd. i do wish tbz had actually done some group choreo because they are very strong group performers and it would have been fun to watch.

ateez really played the long game here, good job boys. teaming up with the group who gets the highest fan votes AND the group with the strongest technical skills? i see you.

i think this is probably too wild of an assumption and is only based on circumstantial evidence but.....i think hongjoong might actually have a lot more creative sway than i previously thought. all the stages he’s been a part of have been very well designed, and i know he provided suggestions for the two ateez stages prior to this... i’m probably thinking too much. 

ok you know what i know there were some other points in my brain somewhere but this is already 4000 words so i’m going to stop. if i remember anything else its probably gonna end up in the answer to some of the asks i’m inevitably going to get because i think my opinions on these ones are a little bit more controversial, whoops!

not entirely sure if ill do an extensive review for next week’s stage, because i'm not really a ballad fan and i dont really do vocal reviews, but i could do a quick one. i guess it also depends on what else they put in the episode. we’ll see!!

#kingdom #kingdom review #ateez #btob #stray kids #the boyz #sf9 #kpop analysis #if you read this i hope you like fun facts about theatre and swords! #despite having never seen me hanya managed to clock that hongjoong and i are extremely similar #so that might be why ive jumped to this nonsensical conclusion #also tbh i do have an opinion on why the unit breakdowns are like that but its mean so i will keep it to myself #ok im done now #i patiently await my asks #text #lol forgot to tag #ikon

[blondsauduun-reads]

The Revolution That’s Been Singing In The Rain (JATP Reggie X Reader)

Pairing: 1995!Reggie x Reader

Word count: 1.5K

Warnings: some swearing?

Plot: Ok so, it’s a pride parade/riot/demo, in 1995 (or so), and the boys go to support Alex, but surprise! There’s music there too! And Reggie likes the person playing the electric violin at the march. But like it starts to rain and they gotta stop with the instruments and get off the stage but they don’t stop singing. So anyway Reggie is in first row and the band was singing a cover of We Will Rock You and Reg of course knows the lyrics as does everyone. So they start singing and dancing very energetically and passionately in the rain. At the end the violin person gives Reggie their number

A/N: nonbinary reader (they/them pronouns) The link to the electric violin cover of we will rock you without the lyrics. Also. This is the first one-shot I’ve ever written and stuff so please be nice :) yes I accept constructive criticism too.

After practice, Alex had finally mustered up the strength to ask his best friends/bandmates,

“So, there’s this gay thing, on Saturday, and I wanted to ask if it you guys wanted to come with me?” The three other guys were listening closely to him, while fiddling around a bit with their instruments.

“It’s okay though, if you don’t.” Hadn’t even given them time to react, let alone answer. “If you don’t wanna come, I mean.”

A second of silence, the three of them surprised, exchanging looks, the blond one dreading the answer.

“No, yeah, dude.” Luke finally said, leaving his guitar on the stand. “We’ll totally go with you!”

“Yeah! We were just shocked that you’d wanna go.” Bobby said, because he and the two other guys had heard about it but weren’t going to bring it up if Alex wasn’t.

“We’re really proud of you, bro,” Reggie said, hugging his neck from behind. Kinda looked awkward. “I wish I was half as brave as you.”

With the whole AIDs thing, the President, his parents, and you know, the anxiety he lived with, Alex couldn’t really live his whole truth most of the time without fearing for his life, so yes, going to a Pride thing was no small feat for the boy.

“Yep, you can let me go now, Reg.” He chuckled, or coughed, because Reggie wasn’t exactly a spaghetti build person, and was hugging his neck rather tightly.

“So when’s the date bro?” Luke sat down on the couch, spreading himself out like pancake batter on a pan.

It was Saturday. Somehow, Reggie convinced them all to paint lil rainbows on either their cheeks or hands. They all looked adorable, sitting in the metro pressed together like anchovies, all with backpacks loaded with water, their respective lunches, and whatever the hell more fitted in the backpack.

Once they got to the station, they went out, following another group of people dressed for a parade, and in a bit more than five minutes, they were smack in the middle of the parade, chanting something in favor of LGBTQ+ rights.

“Do you hear that?” Reggie asked Alex, but like, screaming.

“Yeah, its about to storm, or something.” He said, looking at the sky, which was getting grayer by the minute.

“Not thunder, it’s like,” The black haired squinted in thought. “it’s like, music, I think. Queen.” He said. “Imma go, be right back!”

Reg disappeared in between the queers at the parade, following that sound.

“Reg, no! Shi…” Alex opened and closed his eyes in disapproval and desperation. “Luke! Bobby! We got a rogue bassist!” Bobby and Luke’s reactions to that were similar to Alex’s.

Meanwhile, Reggie had successfully found the source of the music. At a nearby park, was a stage, like those kinds of stages that can be built in like a day, and on top of it, a rock band.

Said like that, it probably doesn’t sound too special, but the thing was, they were playing a We Will Rock You cover, with an electric violin, or that’s what he could tell from a hundred feet distance from the actual stage, so, continuing squishing himself through the crowd, feeling some droplets of rain on his face, he got closer to the band, until he reached a six feet distance.

Shit, the violin was so incredibly pretty, like, it looked like some sort of futuristic weapon. The guy was loving it. The person playing it though, divine; the way they moved their arms and feet and carried themself. Also, yeah, probably the prettiest person Reg had seen to date.

The band, apart from having the violinist, who also was the backup singer, had a drummer, a bassist, and a guitarist, also the lead singer.

Anyway, the scene, everyone stomping their feet on the ground, singing the song with the band, remembering the now dead Freddie Mercury and how iconic he was, the energy of all those people, together in the fight for freedom and equality. The revolution. And the fucking rain.

Droplets were suddenly drops, which then started falling faster, and suddenly the band started panicking a bit, they couldn’t break up these vibes, these people.

So, the three with the string instruments put away the instruments, amps, cables and everything as fast as they could, and the drummer rushing his music cylinders into safety, the only ones carrying the music were the people, among which was Reggie, tearing out his vocal chords singing along the various hundreds of people singing too.

Once all the electric shtick on stage was cleared up, the whole band jumped down from the stage, joining the crowd, singing and stomping.

Buddy you’re an old man poor man

Pleadin’ with your eyes gonna make you some peace some day

The violinist, which had seen Reggie look starstruck at them and later on give his all to the music, joined him to sing (and stomp).

They were almost dancing, doing a duet, smiling like children on Christmas morning, being completely soaked through with the rain, and looking at each other with a feeling I can only describe as electricity (and if they looked at each other more electricly, they would have electrocuted themselves along the way.)

You got mud on your face You big disgrace Somebody better put you back in your place

The violinist shot him a wink, he tried to not get flustered, and in return winked back.

We will we will rock you

One last verse to the song, everyone still as excited as they were at the beginning. And yet, this one was sung with intention, with motive, as if they were shouting at the world that they’d rock it to achieve their goal.

We will we will rock you

And that was it. After a couple of seconds, the crowd calmed down and scattered.

“Hey, what are your pronouns?” The violinist asked.

Reggie remembered both the dictionary meaning of pronoun and the context in which it was asked (which Alex so kindly explained to them earlier), “He/Him, I’m Reggie.” He smiled.

“You’re in that band, right? Sunset Curve?” They asked.

“Tell your friends!” I’m pretty sure you can imagine how exactly he said this quote. “I’m the bassist.” Ah yes, and now the important question, “What about you, pronouns and name, I mean.”

“Oh, yeah, that.” They thought for one second before blurting it out, “They/Them, the name’s Y/n.” Y/n stretched out a hand, he seized it and made a mental note to ask Alex about those pronouns after, “So, what brings you here today?”

“Oh, well, my best friend’s gay, but,” He leaned closer to their ear, “I’m like, 90% sure I’m bi.”

“Damn boy, same!” They laughed.

“Anyway, I gotta go now, the instruments are only safe from the rain, not from people,” Y/n scratched the back of their neck. “But, in case I’m not only bi and yearning,” They whipped out a marker from their pocket and scribbled their number on Reggie’s forearm, “give me a call. Maybe we can try to rock out again together.” Wow, so full of confidence, must be the adrenaline that implied losing their instrument over getting a cute bassist as a date.

“Uh, yeah sure,” Y/n was already walking away, smiling at him.” I’ll def give you a call!” There was no answer to that. Only a distant holler.

“Yo! Reggie!” Luke.

“Coming!”

And he did walk over, fishing from his backpack a piece of dry paper and a pen to write down the number on something a bit more permanent. Anyway, he found the guys.

“Remember when I told you I might be bisexual?” He asked, copying the number.

“Yeah, when we were watching Indiana Jones, why?” Alex remembered. Indiana Jones is hot, that’s so not up for discussion.

“Yeah, well” He ripped the page with the number out and stuffed it in his pocket. “now I know, I’m bi.”

“Yeah man, no shit.” Luke teased him. Joke’s on you bitch you’re too.

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #jatp imagine #julie and the phantoms imagine #jatp one shot #julie and the phantoms one shot #reggie jatp #jatp reggie #reggie julie and the phantoms #jatp x reader #reggie imagine #reggie jatp imagine #reggie jatp x reader #jatp reggie x reader #alex jatp #luke jatp #bobby jatp #sunset curve

[youllallriseintheink]

Put in his Place

Here is a one-off of Bertrum and Nathan playing a prank on Joey. This is going to be really goofy.

After this, I’m doing the two-part Lacie x Abby story. That’ll be a lot more serious. So if this kind of thing isn’t your cup of tea, stay tuned!

—-

Bertrum’s visits to oversee the construction of Bendyland were rarely eventful. Lacie generally had everything under control, as she did now. Seeing all his men (and women) constructing the rides that he’d designed was like watching the coming together of a masterpiece, or the precise work of a machine.

“You there!” he boomed at one of his men, who turned to him, terrified. “Those bolts need to be tighter. Keep up like that and you’ll get someone killed!”

“O-okay, sir!” The young man replied. Bertrum smiled and nodded to let him know it was okay. And it was- Lacie would have caught the mistake.

Despite the client, coming out of retirement had not been a mistake.

“Oooh, Beertiee!” came a voice.

Oh, the client. Joey Drew. The young man turned to look at the unfolding scene, but immediately turned back to his work once he caught Bertrum’s glare. Bertrum took a deep breath, and turned to the most loathsome part of his job. “Yes, Mr. Drew?”

“A very important person is coming to the studio. I was just wondering if you could make it look... I don’t know... better in here? I mean, the air is just thick with sawdust, and the lighting conditions aren’t exactly the best... and maybe you could have at least a few rides up and going for tomorrow afternoon?”

Bertrum clenched his jaw, took a deep breath, and managed to answer this callow excuse for a business owner in a dignified manner. “Mr. Drew, in case you haven’t noticed, we’re in a warehouse. There is going to be sawdust everywhere no matter how often we sweep because people are cutting pieces of wood. The lighting conditions of the warehouse you rented are not in my control. As for getting the rides up and going, no, I cannot do that three months before our negotiated deadline. Do you understand?”

“Oh, but I thought you could do it. With all your experience and competence... I kind of thought I’d show it off to my good pal Mr. Arch! He’s coming for a tour tomorrow and I want to impress him. And I mean, what does it say if you can’t pull it off?”

Bertrum was unphased by Joey’s attempt at manipulation. “You do not judge a chef by how a meal looks when it is half-cooked. Wait, did you say ‘Mr. Arch?’” Nathan Arch supplied Bertrum with the steel for his rides, and Bertrum had met him a few times at business conventions and fancy parties and the like. They’d gotten along well enough.

Joey nodded.

“Trust me, Mr. Drew- Nathan knows what a construction site looks like. Because he’s a business man who has overseen a few of them in his lifetime. He won’t see this as a mess but as a well-functioning machine.”

The condesension Joey was used to, but he was stunned as soon as he heard the word, “Nathan” from Bertrum’s lips.

“Yes, Joey, we've met. Perhaps the three of us should do this little tour together.”

“Sounds like a great idea, Bertie! Meet me in my office at nine tomorrow!”

---

Joey was on cloud nine. Nathan had been letting Joey take him on these annual (well, aside from the ones Nathan missed, which was most of them) tours for a decade, and each time Joey had done his best to impress him. This year, he’d wanted to show Nathan some Bendyland attractions, but this was even better! What better way to show Nathan that he was in the big leagues than to have this tour alongside the industry legend he’d befriended. On his way to his office, Joey checked his suit and hair for the millionth time- which was really unnecessary, since he’d decided on black everything to avoid ink stains, but one couldn’t be too careful.

Joey opened his office door to find that Nathan and Bertrum were already there, sitting in chairs facing the door and smiling at him. Suddenly, Joey felt a lot less confident. And he should have- Berturm had been pleased to find out that Nathan thought of Joey as just as much of a try-hard nouveau-riche as he did, and they had made a plan to put him in his place.

“Nathan. Hi. I see you’re already acquainted with my business partner, Bertie. How was your flight from New Orleans?” In hindsight, the fact that Bertrum didn’t react to his nickname should have been the first sign.

“Wonderful. Joey, Bertrum and I were just talking about how you’ve bloomed as a businessman since he started working with you. He’s very proud. I never realized that you were real deal until now, but, well! I have to apologize. All this time I was refusing to treat you like a rich man. Are you ready to be treated like a rich man, Joey?”

Joey was stunned and ecstatic. He’d been vying for Nathan’s respect since they’d met, and he’d finally done it! “I- I- yes! Thank you for finally realizing how brilliant I am, Nathan, old buddy! Now, are you ready for a tour?”

“I am.”

With that, they went. Joey took Nathan on a tour of the animation department and showed off his fancy new technology, the toy department complete with waterfall, the plans for Bendyland (but not the dirty, dusty warehouse), and even snuck in a tour of the music department while Sammy was on lunch- he wasn’t about to let Nathan know that he let Sammy call shots on when he could visit his own music department! Today, he was to be large and in charge.

At fair amount of time into the tour, as the trio overlooked the toy department, Nathan spoke up. “It seems like your company is growing, Joey! When did you start investing in the steel wool of this place?”

There was a pause as Joey tried to figure out how to respond.

“Oh come on, Joey. Steel wool. The thing that all successful businessmen know about. The measurement by which other high-class men will know to judge your business’ future chances of success. When did you start investing in it?”

Joey’s face was beginning to flush with embarrassment as he looked into Bertrum and Nathan’s completely calm, understanding faces. “Um, I, started investing in it in 1936. Can we take a little detour, boys? My company is just doing so well that I think I should go order more steel wool right now. Nathan, how much would you suggest?”

“Hmm... about seventy or eighty tons should do it.”

“Great! Follow me.”

Joey led the two of them to the accounting and finance department and knocked on the door of their director of finance. The door opened to a weary-looking man who did not seem at all happy to see them.

“Grant- I’d like you to increase our stockpile of steel wool. Increase it to ninety tons!”

Grant nodded slowly, trying to work out how much that would cost. When one’s boss regularly asks you to account for items such as coffins and electric chairs, one learns not to ask unnecessary questions.

Bertrum, not wanting his financially precarious client to throw out so much money over a prank, shoved Joey aside and whispered something in Grant’s ear.

Whatever it was, it put a coy smile on Grant’s face. “Wow. Ninety tons of steel wool this year. Well, Joey, it sure is good to work under such a rich man, and with such a promising company.”

Joey beamed. Thank God Grant was playing along with him having bought it previously. But soon, he’d have that important status symbol, and respect amongst his peers.

The door closed, and (over the faint sound of snickering) Bertrum spoke up. “You know, Mr. Drew, steel wool isn’t just an item. It’s also in one’s personal style.”

“Oh? And how would you rate mine, Bertie?”

“Hmm... middling,” Nathan replied.

“Yes, ‘middling’ is a good word for it.”

Joey’s face fell. “Oh. Well, I was about to update my wardrobe. Maybe you could help me find something better?” God, he hated asking for help, but clearly he didn’t know much about being a rich man yet.

“We’d be pleased to!” Bertrum beamed, putting an arm around Joey’s shoulders. “It’s been so long since I had a young, inexperienced, callow little business boy under my wing!”

Given the circumstances, all Joey could do was smile and fantasize about rearranging Bertrum’s anatomy.

Soon, they were in a high-end tailor shop. “Just tell him what you want,” Nathan advised, “he’s a rich man, he’ll know what to do.”

Joey nodded and rang the bell on the front desk. The tailor, who had been at the other side of the room at his sewing machine, came right over.

“Hello, I’d like to buy an outfit that lets people know that my company has a lot of steel wool.”

The shopkeeper squinted at Joey like he was an alien.

“Why don’t we help you find the style he’s looking for while he takes his measurements?” Nathan suggested.

As soon as Joey getting his measurements in the changing room, Bertrum and Nathan explained the situation to the tailor, and by the time Joey came out, they’d selected the perfect outfit for him. It was a glittering silver suit with a purple tie. The light from an open window hit it and nearly blinded Joey.

“What... is that?” Joey asked, starting to wonder if he was being messed with.

“I believe we have found your new outfit,” Bertrum asserted, “the perfect embodiment of steel wool.”

“Cutting edge- in a few months, everyone will be wearing them, but you’ll be among the first,” Nathan added.

“No, it can’t be. I mean, you’re saying this, but the two of you are wearing plainly coloured stuff...”

“No, they’re right,” the shopkeeper interjected, “I’ve actually received many, many orders of these from wealthy business owners. In fact, this is the last one I have!”

Joey grumbled, but he put on the suit, which was stiff and uncomfortable and was shedding glitter into his hair and leaving a trail behind him. He paid the shopkeeper a sizable amount of money and left in a huff.

The shopkeeper stuck his head out the door. “Remember- we do exchanges, but no refunds!” he called.

The summer sun was beginning to dip below the horizon. Bertrum and and Nathan had talked about taking Joey to a party to be laughed at, but Bertrum had decided it would make it too obvious that this was a prank. And anyhow, they’d come up with a better idea.

“Well, Joey, I think I should be getting back to my hotel room. But, maybe you could come with me, and I could show you one more aspect of what it means to be higher class. It’s obvious that you could use the help.”

“I- fine. Whatever. I don’t care.”

“Wonderful idea,” Bertrum said, “and on the cab ride over, I could give you some pointers of my own.”

“Oh, and Joey? Step into the shade, please. It seems that that suit turns you into a blinding hazard when the sun is low.”

After a miserable cab trip listening to Bertrum ramble incoherently about things Joey barely understood and using terms he’d never heard of (which made Joey feel simultaneously even more like he knew nothing and even more like he was being toyed with), the trio pulled up to the hotel that Nathan was staying at. Once they were in Nathan’s hotel room, Nathan kicked off his shoes and socks and laid on the bed with his feet hanging off of it. Normally, Joey would have some sort of teasing quip for him, but he was feeling a little worn down and just wanted to get the rest of the visit over with.

“So, Joey, the last thing we’re going to teach you about acting like you’ve got it, is how to give a good foot massage.”

Joey flinched in disgust. Then, he stopped. “Actually, I think it’s time I taught the two of you a lesson- this one on storytelling. You see, there’s this thing called the suspension of disbelief- and you just broke it. There is no ‘steel wool,’ this suit is a crime against humanity, and there is no way that it’s custom for rich men rub each others’ feet.”

Nathan laughed, and Bertrum laughed with him, doubling over in laughter and using Nathan’s shoulder to steady him once he collected himself. “Mr. Drew, you do realize that the only way you could believe that is if no other rich man had ever offered you a foot massage, right?”

“Humiliating.”

“You really told on yourself there.”

Tears were forming in Joey’s eyes- which was ridiculous because he was still sure that this was fake. He also knew that surviving two plagues had left Bertrum a considerable germaphobe. “Alright then, Bertie, show me your technique! Show me how a rich man does it!” he took off his shoes and threw them one at a time into Nathan’s arms.

“Okay, okay, we were joking!” Bertrum admitted before Joey could remove any more clothing.

“But... I think we made our point.”

“What point could you have possibly made except that you’re a bunch of assholes?!” Joey yelled.

“That compared to us, you’re new. We know it, you know it, stop trying to convince us or yourself otherwise. You wouldn’t have fallen for any of that unless some part of you realized that we know better than you on some things. And disrespecting Mr. Piedmont isn’t going to change that.”

Anger built up in Joey’s chest. He screamed in rage, punched a wall, and left, slamming the door on his way out. Then, less than a minute later, he knocked on the door. Bertrum opened it.

“Uh, could I use the phone? I need to call my accountant so he won’t buy dozens of tons of cleaning supplies.”

“Oh, we explained it to him. He won’t be ordering a thing. See you at our next weekly meeting.”

Without another word, Joey left. He could never look Bertrum or Nathan straight in the eye again.

#Bendy and the Ink Machine #bertrum piedmont #nathan arch #joey drew #my fanfiction

[jasonndeans]

young gods - shane “dio” morrissey x reader

word count: 1,990

warnings: brief scene involving harassment and brief use of the f slur at the end.

chapter: 1/?

summary:  You weren't looking for anything when you met Dio, but you also couldn't take your eyes off of him. You were drawn to him, shrouded in black mystery and his softer side he kept well hidden under that duster. A part of you knew when you first saw him, he was destined to fly too close to the sun. At first, it wasn't really anything he said or anything he did. It was the feeling that came along with him. You'd never felt this way before, and the crazy thing is, you didn't know if you should. You knew his world moved too fast and burned too bright, but...how can the Devil be pulling you towards someone who looks so much like an angel when he smiles at you? Maybe he knew that when he met you, too.

Dio didn’t have much to bring with him on the day he took you up on your offer to live with you in your small New York City apartment; small, albeit big enough for two. He carried almost all of his earthly possessions with him in his pockets — the keys to his father’s ancient, barely running Honda, a pack of cigarettes, loose cash and change, and his trusty switch. The rest would have to be crammed into his car and hauled over, mostly consisting of clothes and shoes, thrifted or stolen. 

“I was wonderin’ when you’d rescue me from the Smack Shack,” he’d quipped, lips curling.

“The Smack Shack” is what he’d dubbed the worn-down, abandoned place he and his buddies — all of them pursuers of a list of drugs, some of them sellers like Dio — often crashed in when a softer, more secure sofa couldn’t be reserved for the night. Thus, The Smack Shack. You’d visited a handful of times despite the fact that it gave you the creeps. Dio had your trust, as did…some of his friends. The neighborhood just wasn’t the safest in Manhattan, needless to say, and there was no guessing what shady characters were looming about in these hollowed out homes. You’re just glad he’s out of there. And with you.

“Ohh, I rescued you, huh?” You’d teased back, your voice lilting in a sing-song tone. “I must be your knight in shining armor.”

He hummed in the back of his throat with a mock grimace, leaning forward to kiss you. “Don’t make me sick, birdie.” His lips were chapped and tasted of smoke, and as much as you detested the habit, it was something so purely Dio. A smirk played on his lips upon pulling back with decorated fingers idly tapping out a rhythm onto a tabletop of a squat little sandwich shop you worked at. “I seem to remember things differently.” Expectant, he cocked his head, casting a shadow of his star-shaped earring onto his neck -- one of many, many things that endeared you to the boy in black.

As if on cue, you turned sheepish with a duck of your head and a bashful smile cast downwards. He was referring to the day you two first met. Officially, that is. Along with the thrill of waitressing and constructing sandwiches, you worked behind a cash register at a record shop -- Empire Records. Music’s always been a constant comfort for you, in your ears when you needed a voice to scream your sorrows, your rampages or your little victories. You’d amassed quite the collection of records as you grew and your music taste with you for a player you’d fixed up and obtained from a seller when on the hunt for more important things like furniture and necessities to fill your then new apartment. You didn’t consider yourself to be one of those douchey vinyl connoisseurs, but you liked the place well enough. It was only a matter of time before you noticed the tall, dark, handsome boy who’d frequent the place without buying anything. He’d stick to the Industrial Rock or Post-Punk ailes and he definitely looked the type, decked head to toe in grungey black attire, adorned with silver jewelry and chains. Every so often the two of you would lock eyes, make slightly painful small talk about whatever was playing through the speakers. You even inquired once if he’d learned your shift schedule with how often he’d appear when you were working, and, leaning suavely on his elbows before you, he’d replied:

“Maybe I have. Maybe I haven’t. That all depends...would you think I was a creep if I said yes?”

Perhaps a normal individual would confirm this, but you had to admit the guy was cute. Okay, he was hot with his dark eyes lined in black, brow piercing and air of confidence. So you smiled and shook your head. Dio smiled back.

You recall during one of your early morning shifts, Dio asked for your coffee order, motioning to the cup in your hands. You gave it to him and he advised against grabbing your morning coffee the next time it was scheduled on your calendar. With curiosity, you obliged and on that day and each day after, in he strolled with your cup in one hand, his in the other. So you carried on like that for a while, chatting over coffee, much to the dismay of your manager.

“Your boyfriend’s a distraction,” she’d remarked one day. “And a loiterer. I don’t care how dreamy he is, he can’t keep hanging around here if he’s not gonna buy anything.”

Admittedly, that caused your heart to sink a little. Yeah, you understood her frustration from a business perspective, but despite not even knowing this guy’s name, his gloomy presence brightened your otherwise dull work days.

When you transferred your manager’s message, Dio issued a breath of...disappointment?

“I don’t believe in money,” came his confession, almost hardly classifying as one what with how casually it was delivered. He chuckled at your raised brow. “Everyone’s a slave to these meaningless pieces of paper and metal, even you. ” A nail painted black pointed at you. “If I want something, nine times outta ten, I’ll find my own way to get it. Seems a little fucked up to work for the essentials for survival, don’t you think?”

For a moment, you sat with this new information. Yeah, it was a little fucked up to fork over hard-earned cash for things like basic needs, but how else was someone expected to live? Mulling it over, you sipped your coffee, once again brought by him. You shot Mr. No-Name-Kid a knowing look. “Am I drinking stolen coffee?” Your smirk couldn’t hide from him.

Dio only laughed.

One night as you closed up shop, you were disheartened at the absence of a certain trench coat clad “customer” in the store that day. You couldn’t place where this was coming from. After all, the two of you were only..what? Acquaintances at most? Names hadn’t even been exchanged, and yet you found yourself scanning the streets outside for any sight of him at the door; reminded of his face when bands like The Cure filled the shop.

Your sigh deflated you as you dug for your keys in your bag -- both to lock up and for your car. It was whatever. This guy had a life too and was under no obligation to visit you as you worked.  You turned the key to Empire Records, locking it shut and gave the doors a pull to be sure, Yup. All good. Nodding to yourself, you turned to locate your car in the lot next door. The night was brisk, pushing past the fabric of your cardigan as you walked an empty sidewalk. Under the glow of buzzing streetlights and neon business signs, you tugged it closer to you. The work day was dwindling, at least on this street, cars every so often rolling past. You’re about halfway to the car park when your ears catch a second pair of footsteps behind you. Your lips and spirits lift with the hope that they might belong to the heavy boots of Dio after all and you turn to greet him.

“Nice night, huh?”

This guy’s not Dio. His hoodie covers shaggy chestnut hair, hands in his front pocket as he trudges along. This dude reeks of weed and booze. You ignore him and continue on your path.

“Not a talker. Got it. Listen, honey, you don’t gotta clam up around me, I’m a swell guy. I’ll walk ya’ to your car, that’s where you’re goin’, right?”

Jaw clenched, you ball your cool hands into fists at your sides, keeping your car key poking out from between your fingers should this douche not get the hint. “I don’t need an escort, thanks.” Your reply is sharp, eyes remaining en route. Other than that, you try your damndest to ease calm through your body. Tempting as it is to dash to the safety of your vehicle, you’re not about to put any fear on display for him. You’re okay. Breathe. The lot’s less than a block away now.

Then a hand snakes its way around your waist.

“C’mon, baby, ‘m just tryn’a be a gentleman. Isn’t that what broads want?” His breath is rancid in your nose.

You jerk away, shooting daggers. “Offer declined, now leave me alone.” Now you pick up the pace with your destination in sight. You don’t make it far before you’re jerked back by fingers at your forearm that tug forcefully. The bastard opens his mouth to spew more drovel, but you don’t give him the chance to speak. Screwing up your face, you reel your arm back and jab him with your key in the ribs.

Pain sputters through his lips. No skin was broken (unfortunately), but he’s stumbled back a few paces and grabs where you’d struck him. “You bitch!” He spits, his glare glassy. “Fuck’s your problem?!”

You’re halted by a chilling mixture of fear and shock at your own actions, snapping out of it when the drunk stranger lunges forward. No time is wasted in absolutely fucking booking it now. He may be hammered, but you’re taking no chances. You pay no attention to the string of swears and slurs from behind you and finally reach your car. The vibrations in your hands make unlocking the door difficult, and glancing up you can see your pursuer drunkenly heading toward you.

“Fuck!” You cry. “Stupid fucking--!”

“If I were you I’d stop right there, you piece of shit.”

The familiar voice that hadn’t been there prior snaps your head up, scanning the darkness to catch Dio crossing the street looking more menacing than you’ve ever seen him. You could get in your car and peel out of there right now, but you’re frozen in place watching the scene unfold.

Your attacker finds his way to his feet again, looking dumbfounded at the character who’s walked onto the scene. “Who -- who the fuck’re you?!”

You catch a smirk on Dio’s lips under flickering streetlights. “That all depends on what your next move is, jagoff.” He looks pissed as all hell, though there’s a layer of calm to his words that stirs your stomach. Dio now stands in front of the other with his hands in leather pockets, like he’s provoking him. He’s always exuded this...intimidating aura, clad in all black and chains but you’ve never seen this side of him in action. Maybe now is a bad time to come to this realization, but you have to admit: it’s sexy.

“Oh that’s, ‘s cute,” Mumbles the brunette guy, snickering. “‘S this your boyfriend comin’ to the rescue? Looks like a fuckin’ faggot if I’ve ever seen--”

Dio’s boot to this guy’s crotch cuts him off in the middle of his “insult” and he crumples to the concrete with a groan; if that isn’t enough, Dio lands a second kick to his temple.

You can only stand there lamely with your jaw agape and watch him swagger over after he just knocked a dude in the nuts.

“Sorry I was late,” he says smoothly. “I was in a meeting. You alright?”

Stupidly, you blink at him in the low light. “I--um...I’m…” Real nice. You shake your head to jumpstart your brain. “Yeah, I-I’m okay. I’m good. Thanks. Really.” So he’d come to see you after all.

Dio nods, appearing grateful to hear you’re unharmed.

You two begin to speak at the same time and chuckle in unison. He falls silent, ushering you to continue. You look your rescuer in the face, unable to swallow a smile. You’d missed those eyes, seeming so warm in the cool of the night. “So, do I get to know the name of my savior?” You prod.

He laughs once, low in his throat. “Dio.”

#shane dio morrissey #shane dio morrissey x reader #pedro pascal #dio x reader

[marinerainbow]

Alright I think I've held off on this long enough...

Reala headcannons since I'm bored and I saw people make awesome headcannons for the jester.

(I warn you guys though, these can be triggering. Be sure to check the tags before reading)

At first, Reala didnt really care for the visitors, Nightopia or the nightopians. They were either a source of ideya for him, or entertainment when he was feeling bored or stressed. However, after NiGHTS left him for Nightopia and the visitors (at least that's how he sees it) then he started actually resenting them and seeing visitors and nightopians as the real enemy.

Considering how Wizeman treats him, I wouldnt be surprised if Reala only saw worth in him based on how his master sees him. For example, he doesn't really accept praise from others unless it's from Wizeman, and he will take criticism- for lack of better word- from Wizeman much more seriously then he would if it came from someone else (hence why he didnt care when NiGHTS called him a coward). The reason why is because Wizeman has twisted and abused Reala so much, especially after NiGHTS left, that he made him believe that he's nothing without him.

That's not to say he doesn't have pride! He knows that he is good at his job, he knows that he is one of the most powerful nightmaren in Nightmare, he knows that he was created to be the best of the best. His problem is that Wizeman is a large part of him (at least he's been led to believe that) so when Wizeman calls him worthless, he starts wondering about his own self worth. If the power he holds, his status, and everything else are all worth it if his master doesn't think he's good enough.

NiGHTS is a very important part of Reala, as he is for them. They are opposites, yet one in the same. Two sides of the same coin if you will. Reala would help NiGHTS keep control of themselves and take things seriously, while they helped him relax more and was the only nightmaren that could convince him to have fun and see himself as more then just Wisemans asset. Now that they are not only separated but fighting on opposing sides, it's clearly taking a toll on them both (they just show it in different ways). Of course, this doesn't mean that they can't live without each other, far from it! It's just that they never really had the chance to live without each other before NiGHTS' rebellion (and we all can see how that is turning out.)

I imagine Reala is indeed materialistic, and has plenty of hobbies of his own outside of work. However, as mentioned above, will treat himself based off of how Wizeman treats him. If he is praised, then he'll treat himself (him saying he's earned it) But if he's 'scolded' then he won't allow himself to indulge in what he likes/wants (him punishing himself for disappointing his master).

Reala longs to be more then a tool. He will go above and beyond to prove his worth to those whose opinions he actually cares about, like Wizeman or NiGHTS before their betrayal (it's why he got so offended when NiGHTS called him a puppet) There is a part of him that is aware of how Wizeman really sees him and that how he treats him isn't right, however it is quickly pushed down by him trying to deny it all ("Why would my own creator do these things to me if I don't deserve it?"). If Reala actually gets the chance to be around NiGHTS without fighting them, then I'm certain that they could help him break out of that mindset. It would take awhile, but it's possible.

Although Reala is indeed a victim of Wizeman, that doesn't mean he's completely innocent either. Like any abuse victim can, he's picked up on behaviors and habits from Wizeman and- subconsciously or not- will act out on them sometimes. The times he does this consciously are when he manipulates visitors to distrust NiGHTS (that scene where Reala was talking to Helen? I'm sorry but there is no way that Reala didn't mean to make her think NiGHTS was a bad guy). Times where he acts on the subconsciously though is when he speaks harshly, almost in a commanding or uncaring way, to NiGHTS (I'm certain there are better examples, but we dont really get to see much of Reala in either games). Of course, if given time, Reala could break away from these behaviors and habits.

Ok, now with all of that out of the way, here are some fluffy headcannons.

Reala does enjoy self care (i.e baths, massages, grooming in general, etc), even if he does focus alot on his job. When he and NiGHTS were on better terms, they would set aside spa days for each other, just them spending time with each other while also keeping up they're appearances.

Even though he can be cruel and rough, Reala does have a soft spot for the softer things in life (materialistic or otherwise). He has a far too rough life and goes through all sorts of backbreaking training to ensure he's on top that he has grown fond of anything that can provide comfort (a soft bed, a warm fireplace, a comforting friend, etc).

Reala is a lover of the arts as well. Particularly music and literature. So much so that he has his own invisible instrument (violin) and writes his own poetry and music sheets. However, since Wizeman won't allow anything like that in the castle, Reala hides them away from everyone else. The only one who knows of his artistic hobby is NiGHTS.

Reala is a cat person. He likes cats. If he had a pet, it would be a feline of some kind. Not much more to say here.

And that's all I have! What do you guys think? Dont be afraid to give constructive criticism!

#my own headcannons #Reala #NiGHTS #Wizeman #NiGHTS into Dreams #NiGHTS Journey of Dreams #NiD #JoD #angst #some fluff #sort of #tw abuse #tw munipulation #i tried to do the gif thing. do you guys prefer it if i add the gif? #friendship #or NxR #you decide

[foreverdavidbyrne]

David Byrne’s interview in NME magazine

In 1979, David Byrne predicted Netflix. “It’ll be as easy to hook your computer up to a central television bank as it is to get the week’s groceries,” he told NME’s Max Bell, sitting in a Paris hotel considering the implications of Talking Heads’ dystopian single ‘Life During Wartime’.

He predicted the Apple Watch in that interview too: “[People will] be surrounded by computers the size of wrist watches.” And he foresaw surveillance culture and data harvesting: “Government surveillance becomes inevitable because there’s this dilemma when you have an increase in information storage. A lot of it is for your convenience, but as more information gets on file, it’s bound to be misused.”

In fact, over 40 years ago, he predicted the entire modern-day experience, as if he instinctively knew what was coming. “We’ll be cushioned by amazing technological development,” he said, “but sitting on Salvation Army furniture.”

The 68-year-old Byrne says today, “You can’t say that you know,” chuckling down a Zoom link from his home in New York and belying his reputation for awkwardness by seeming giddily relieved to be talking to someone. “It’s crazy to set yourself up as some sort of prophet. But there’s plenty of people who have done well with books where they claim to predict what’s going on. I suppose sometimes it’s possible to let yourself imagine, ‘Okay – what if?’ This can evolve into something that exists, can evolve into something more substantial, cheaper – these kinds of things.”

It’s been a lifelong gift. Byrne turned up at CBGBs in 1975 with his art school band Talking Heads touting ‘Psycho Killer’, as if predicting the punk scene’s angular melodic evolution, new wave, before punk was even called punk. In 1980, Talking Heads assimilated African beats and textures into their seminal ‘Remain In Light’ album, foreshadowing ‘world music’ and modern music’s globalist melting pot, then used it to warn America of the dangers of consumerism, selfishness and the collapse of civilisation. Pioneering or propheteering, Byrne has been on the front-line of musical evolution for 45 years, collaborating with fellow visionaries from Brian Eno to St Vincent’s Annie Clark, constantly imagining, ‘What if?’

The live music lockdown has been a frustrating freeze frame, but Byrne was already leading the way into music’s new normal. Launched in 2018, the tour to support his 10th solo album, ‘American Utopia’, has now turned into a cinematic marvel courtesy of Spike Lee – the concert film was released in the UK this week. The original tour was acclaimed as a live music revolution. Using remote technology, Byrne was able to remove all of the traditional equipment clutter from the stage and allow his musicians and dancers, in uniform grey suits and barefoot, to roam around a stage lined with curtains of metal chains with their instruments strapped to them. A Marshally distanced gig, if you will.

“As the show was conceptually coming together, I realised that once we had a completely empty stage the rulebook has now been thrown out,” Byrne says. “Now we can go anywhere and do anything. This is completely liberating. It means that people like drummers, for example, who are usually relegated to the back shadows, can now come to the front – all those kinds of things – which changes the whole dynamic.”

With six performers making up an entire drum kit and Byrne meandering through the choreography trying to navigate a nonsensical world, the show was his most striking and original since he jerked and jived around a constructed-mid-gig band set-up in Jonathan Demme’s legendary 1984 Talking Heads live film Stop Making Sense.

The American Utopia show embarked on a Broadway run last year, where Byrne super-fan Spike Lee saw it twice and leapt at the chance of turning the spectacle into Byrne’s second revolutionary live film, dotted with his musings on the human condition to illuminate the crux of the songs: institutional racism, our lack of modern connection, the erosion of democracy and, on opener ‘Here’, a lecture-like tour of the human brain, Byrne holding aloft a scale model, trying to fathom, ‘How do I work this?’

“I didn’t know how much of a fan Spike was!” Byrne laughs today. “He’d even go, ‘Why don’t you do this song? Why don’t you add this song in’. We knew one another casually so I could text him and say, ‘I want you to come and see our show; I think that you might be interested in making a film of it’.”

Are the days of the traditional stage set-up numbered? “Yes, I think so,” he replies. “At least in theatres and concert halls the size that I would normally play, yes. The fact that we can get the music digitally [means] a performance has to be really of value. It has to be really something special, because that’s where the performers are getting their money and that’s what the audience is paying for. They’re not paying very much for streaming music, but they are paying quite a bit to go and see a performance, so the performance has to give them value for money… It has to be really something to see.”

How does David Byrne envisage the future possibilities of live performance?

“I’ve seen a lot of things that hip-hop artists have done – like the Kanye West show where he emerges on a platform that floats above the stage,” he says. “I’d seen one with Kendrick Lamar where it was pretty much just him on stage, an empty stage with just him on stage and a DJ, somebody with a laptop – that was it. I thought, ‘Wow’. Then he started doing things with huge projections behind. There are lots of ways to do this. I love the idea of working with a band, with live musicians. ‘How can I innovate in this kind of way?’ It’s maybe easier for a hip-hop musician who doesn’t have a band to figure out. The pressure is on to come up with new ways of doing this.”

In liberating his musicians from fixed, immovable positions, American Utopia also acts as a metaphor for freeing our minds from our own ingrained ways of thinking. As Byrne intersperses Talking Heads classics such as ‘Once In A Lifetime’, ‘I Zimbra’ and ‘Road To Nowhere’ with choice solo cuts and tracks from ‘American Utopia’, he also dots the show with musings on an array of post-millennial questions: the health of democracy; the rise of xenophobia and fascism; our increasing reliance on materialism and online communication; the climate change threat; the existential nightmare of the dating app; and, crucially, the distances all of these things put between us.

“The ‘likes’ and friends and connections and everything that the internet enables,” he argues, “even Zoom calls like this, they’re no substitute for really being with other people. Calling social networks ‘social’ is a bit of an exaggeration.”

Byrne closes the show with the suggestion that, rather than isolate behind our LCD barriers, we should try to reconnect with each other. In an age when social media has descended into all-out thought war and anyone can find concocted ‘facts’ to support anything they want to believe, is that realistic?

“I have a little bit of hope,” he says. “Not every day, but some days. I have hope that people will abandon a lot of social media, that they’ll realise how intentionally addictive it is, and they’re actually being used, and that they might enjoy actually being with other people rather than just constantly scrolling through their phone. So, I’m a little bit optimistic that people will, in some ways, use this technology a little bit less than they have.”

A key moment in American Utopia comes with Byrne’s cover of Janelle Monae’s ‘Hell You Talmbout’, a confrontational track shouting the names of African-Americans who have been killed by police or in racially motivated attacks – Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd and far, far too many more. Does Byrne think the civil unrest in the wake of Floyd’s death and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement make a serious impact?

“We’ll see how long this continues,” he says, “but in projects that I’m working on – there’s a theatre project I’m working on in Denver, there’s the idea of bringing this show back to Broadway, there’s other projects – those issues came to the fore. Issues of diversity and inclusion and things like that, which were always there. Now they’re being taken more seriously. The producers and theatre owners realise that they can’t push those things aside, that they have to be included in the whole structure of how a show gets put together.”

“At least for now, that seems to be a big change. I see it in TV shows and other areas too. There’s a lot of tokenism, but there’s a lot of real opportunity and changed thinking as well.”

Elsewhere, he encourages his audience to register to vote, and had registration booths at the shows. He must have been pleased about the record turnout in the recent US election? “Yeah, the turnout was great. Now you just got to keep doing that. Gotta keep doing it at all the local elections, too. It was important for me not to endorse a political party or anything in the show but to say, ‘Listen, we can’t have a democracy if you don’t vote. You have to get out there and let your voice be heard and there’s lots of people trying to block it.’ We have to at least try.”

Will Trump’s loss help bring people together after four years with such a divisive influence in charge?

“Yes. I think for me Trump was not so much a shock; we knew who he is. He was around New York before that, in the reality show [The Apprentice], we knew what kind of character he was. What shocked me was how quickly the Republican party all fell into line behind him, behind this guy who’s obviously a racist, misogynist liar and everything else. But it’s kind of encouraging – although it’s taken four years and with some it’s only with the prospect of him being gone – that quite a few have been breaking ranks. There are some possibilities of bridge building being held out.”

But, he says, “It’s too early to celebrate,” concerned that Senate Majority Leader and fairweather Trump loyalist Mitch McConnell will use any Republican control of the Senate to block many of Biden’s policies from coming into effect. “[This] is what happened with Obama… I want to see real change happen. [Climate change] absolutely needs to be a priority. The clock had turned back over the last four years, so there’s a lot to be done. Whether there’s the willpower to do everything that needs to be done, it remains to be seen, but at least now it’s pointing in the right direction.”

How will he look back on the last four years? Byrne ponders. “I’m hoping that I look back at it as a near-miss.”

American Utopia is as much a personal journey as a dissection of modern ills. Ahead of ‘Everybody’s Coming To My House’, Byrne admits to being a rather socially awkward type. He claims that a choir of Detroit teenagers, when singing the song for the accompanying video, had imbued the song with a far more welcoming message than his own rendition, which found him wracked with the fear that his visitors might never leave. How does someone like that deal with celebrity?

“In a certain way it’s a blessing,” Byrne grins, “because I don’t have to go up to people to talk to them – they sometimes come up to me. In other ways it’s a little bit awkward. Celebrity itself seems very superficial and I have to constantly remind myself that your character, your behaviour and the work that you do is what’s important – not how well known you are, not this thing of celebrity. I learned early on it’s pretty easy to get carried away. But it does have its advantages. I had Spike Lee’s phone number, so I could text him.”

Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz’s recent book Remain In Love suggests that the more successful Byrne got early on, the more distant he became.

Byrne nods. “I haven’t read the book, but I know that as we became more successful I definitely used some of that to be able to work on other projects. I worked on a dance score with [American choreographer] Twyla Tharp and I worked on a theatre piece with [director] Robert Wilson – other kinds of things – [and] I started working on directing some of the band’s music videos. So I guess I spent less time just hanging out. As often happens with bands, you start off being all best friends and doing everything together and after a while that gets to be a bit much. Everybody develops their own friends and it’s like, ‘I have my own friends too’. Everybody starts to have their own lives.”

The future is far too enticing for David Byrne to consider revisiting the past. “I do live alone so sometimes it would get lonely”, he says of lockdown, but he’s been using his Covid downtime to cycle around undiscovered areas of New York and remain philosophical about the aftermath.

“We’ll see how long before the vaccine is in, before we return to being able to socialise,” he says, “but I’m also wondering, ‘How am I going to look at this year? Am I going to look at it as, “Oh yes, that’s the year that was to some extent taken away from our lives; our lives were put on pause?”’ We kept growing; we kept ageing; we keep eating, but it was almost like this barrier had been put up. It has been a period where, in a good way, it’s led us to question a lot of what we do. You get up in the morning and go, ‘Why am I doing this? What am I doing this for? What’s this about?’ Everything is questioned.”

Post-vaccine, he hopes to “travel a little bit” before looking into plans to bring the ‘American Utopia’ show back to Broadway, and possibly even to London if the financial aspects can be worked out. “Often when a show like that travels, the lead actors might travel,” Byrne explains, “but in this case it’s the entire cast that has to travel. So you’ve got a lot of hotel bills and all that kind of stuff. We wanted to do it. There might be a way, if we can figure that out.”

Once we all get our jab, will everyone come to recognise that, as Byrne sings on ‘American Utopia’s most inspiring track, ‘Every Day Is A Miracle’? “Optimistically, maybe,” he says. “There will be a lot of people who will just go, ‘Let’s get back to normal – get out to the bars, the clubs and discos’. That’s already been happening in New York; there’s been these underground parties where people just can’t help themselves. But after all this it’d be nice to think that people might reassess things a little bit.”

And with the algorithm as the new gatekeeper and technology beginning to subsume the sounds and consumption of music, what does the new wave Nostradamus foresee for rock in the coming decades? Will AIs soon be writing songs for other AIs to consume to inflate the numbers, cutting humanity out of the equation altogether?

“It seems like there’ll be a kind of factory,” Byrne predicts, “an AI factory of things like that, and of newspaper articles and all of this kind of stuff, and it will just exaggerate and duplicate human biases and weaknesses and stupidity. On the other hand, I was part of a panel a while back, and a guy told a story about how his listening habits were Afrofuturism and ambient music – those were his two favourite ways to go. The algorithm tried to find commonalities between the two so it could recommend things to him and he said it was hopeless. Everything it recommended was just horrible because it tried to find commonalities between these two very separate things. This just shows that we’re a little more eclectic than these machines would like to think.”

And in the distant future? Best prepare to welcome your new gloop overlords. Byrne isn’t concerned about The Singularity – the point at which machine intelligence supersedes ours and AI becomes God – but instead believes that future technologies will emulate microbial forms.

“I watched a documentary on slime moulds [a simple slimy organism] the other day,” he says, warming to his sticky theme. “Slime moulds are actually extremely intelligent for being a single-celled organism. They can build networks and bunches of them can communicate. They can learn, they have memories, they can do all these kinds of things that you wouldn’t expect a single-celled organism to be able to do.”

“I started thinking, ‘Well, is there a lesson there for AI and machine learning, of how all these emerging properties could be done with something as simple as a single cell?’ It’s all in there… when things interact, they become greater than the sum of their parts. I thought, okay, maybe the future of AI is not in imitating human brains, but imitating these other kinds of networks, these other kinds of intelligences. Forget about imitating human intelligence – there’s other kinds of intelligence out there, and that might be more fruitful. But I don’t know where that leads.”

His grin says he does know, that he has a vision of our icky soup-world future, but maybe the rest of the species isn’t yet advanced enough to handle it. But if we’re evolving towards disaster rather than utopia, we can trust David Byrne to give us plenty of warning.

December 18, 2020

#david byrne #talking heads #music #new wave #post-punk #art pop #avant funk #worldbeat #interview #nme magazine #2020

[miloscat]

[Review] Zelda’s Adventure (CD-i)

At last, my white whale of Zelda games has been conquered.

You can’t be a connected Zelda fan for too long without hearing about the infamous trio of games released under begrudging licence from Nintendo for the Philip CD-i, a failed early 90s multimedia console. They’re widely derided but not many people bother to play them, preferring to take at face value the sneering of reviewers and Youtubers and write them off pre-emptively. I try not to be so dismissive, and the nichest corners of a franchise are often the most interesting to me, so I’ve always wanted to try Zelda’s Adventure for myself. Especially as it’s even more overlooked than Animation Magic’s paired sidescrollers, with their meme-ified cartoon cutscenes.

Part of the problem with playing it is the real hardware and game are prohibitively expensive, and the CD-i is tricky to emulate. Support for this game in particular was broken in later updates of MESS. I believe I followed the terse instructions in this post, and with much tinkering and finagling was able to play it in tinycdi without the game softlocking on the first screen. This method unfortunately lacks support for savestates and crashes if you die, so the opening sections can be very frustrating to get through, requiring repetition to regain lost progress; if you do manage to save and quit in time though, you will retain all items and rubies. However you are able to map a fast forward button, which can greatly accelerate you through the console’s initial bootup, reduce load times between screens, and more easily navigate the slow cursor around the menus.

I was also aided in my monumental quest by a helpful overworld map by Dadaph (the dungeons weren’t complex enough to really require external maps) and the recently created but unquestionably essential and comprehensive written guide by Mundy. I used these extensively as a crutch, to help fight back against the game’s high difficulty, awkward design, and confusing progression.

Yes, it’s fair to say that many criticisms of this game are warranted. The template for the game’s structure is The Hyrule Fantasy, the original Zelda title: a top-down view of single-screen rooms, an overworld and a handful of dungeons, useful(?) tools to acquire, debatably helpful NPCs. It’s just all so messy; the hit detection is way off, there’s no music—ever—and sound effects play sparingly and at a remove from actions, your inventory is flooded with items and spells that have situational or even no use at all. The oddballs that populate the world are often of little help. The worst of it is the graphics, which are all made with the then-cutting-edge techniques of digitising photographs; let’s just say they haven’t aged well, and at worst can affect navigation and playability.

Despite the deeply flawed design and thorough jank, I find I have a soft spot for this train wreck of a game. That early FMV culture it emerged from, with its crunched live action cut scenes, bizarre and ugly pre-rendered sprites, copious amateur voiceover, and characters made from sloppily photoshopped “actors” is morbidly fascinating from a game history perspective. It’s cool to build up a vast arsenal of spells, even though most of them work the exact same way and the best strategy is invariably to stand in one place, swinging your basic wand and waiting for enemies to approach. I liked the boosts in power and defence each mystic sign gave me as I clawed my way up the food chain of monsters. Although clumsy, the universe of the game has a sense of mystery and worldbuilding to it thanks to the chatty villagers and dubiously menacing voiced bosses. Also, having Zelda as the playable hero is an immensely satisfying flip that Nintendo are still too cowardly/boring to do themselves in the now 35 year-old series.

I’m left to assume that the game’s female director and co-writer Anna Roth is to be thanked for that, and it was also nice to see other women’s names in the credits under art, production, and casting roles. Speaking of development, there are some illuminating and baffling anecdotes about the game’s production out there, such as a preview shared here in which the co-designer claims the game would contain 600 rooms, 300 hours of gameplay, and 160 NPCs. This interview (also containing fun tidbits, like how the staff included a model maker who constructed the buildings and interiors that were photographed and included in the game) talks about the testing process at Philips that ran for an exceptionally-long two years while the programmer had moved on, implying that problems discovered could not be easily fixed. This may explain the item cruft, the existence of purposeless areas and NPCs, or suggests a large amount of cut content. Although I’ve critiqued their work, I have no contempt for the developers, who were doing their best to make something new and interesting under all sorts of pressures on unsuitable hardware; I appreciate their work on this, and it’s a shame it didn’t all come together perfectly.

Whatever the case, I’m pleased I could get this working. It was worth it to me to play it for myself and having done so, develop a kind of liking for it. The kind that makes you grimace as much as smile. Zelda’s Adventure is... unique. It’s got a strong and consistent style to it, you can’t deny that. And I’ll be defending its dubious charms for the rest of my life, I’m sure. Oh and by the way, judging by Zelda’s outfit I’ve decided that it should fit into the timeline shortly after A Link to the Past. This is important.

#zelda #the legend of zelda #zeldas adventure #viridis #cdi #review