#and the actors had to try and redirect us while still in character

[theresattrpgforthat]

Howdy!

I have a friend that really wants to get into other games that aren't just mostly combat like pathfinder and dnd but they're a shitpost kinda player so they aren't fond of horror or angsty games.

Do you have any good suggestions for more light-hearted/comedic rpgs? They like Risus if that helps,just it's a bit too light for me to run it.

Sorry if this is a lot.

THEME: Shitpost Games

My friend, this is not a lot, there are plenty of great shitpost-style games out there of all kinds of genres! Let’s see what I’ve got that might be up their alley.

When it comes to the “lightness” of Risus, I’m not sure if you mean that there aren’t enough rules or if there’s not enough setting. These recommendations will have much more specific settings, although shitpost games tend to be pretty light on rules all-round, so hopefully there are some rules systems here that still appeal to you!

Pride and Extreme Prejudice, by Grant Howitt.

A hand-created one-page RPG about proper ladies of a marriageable age and their giant robots powered by a malign eldritch intelligence. Will you find a suitable husband? Will you repel the French invaders? Will your eternity reactor leak and drive you and your sisters irrevocably mad, haunted my whispers from the dark between the stars?  And - will you be late for the ball on Thursday eve?

Combining Regency styles of flirting with giant multi-pilot mechs is a game that I didn’t know I wanted until I found it. It involves 4 players and a GM, with each character embodying one of four young women, all looking for a husband while also fighting off giant French clockwork dragoons.

 Each situation will be a combination of a social outing and a military action taken by the opposition. Each turn, your players will have to figure out how to pursue true love while also redirecting power, how to unleash hell with a shot cannon while also coming across as cool, calm and collected, and how to charm someone with your earnest opinions while also charging an enemy before they can shoot the gentleman you’re flirting with. 

I think the only thing more hilarious than playing this game, is playing this game absolutely 100% seriously. Go ham.

Never Send A Barber to do an Assassin’s Job, by Silver Hoof Games.

You are a professional. You are a…  Confectioner, Architect, Fisherman, Gravedigger, Barber or Actor. But you couldn't find proper employment for yourself! You had no other choice, or perhaps by mistake, you became none other than an assassin.

You would need some d6, friends and no DM! 

As a GM-less game, this might be a great way for the person who usually runs the show to get in on the action with everyone else. Using only d6s, you’ll find ways to use your confectioner’s bag of sugar or your barber’s strong perfume to play as assassin’s who are just trying to pay the bills. Something about using a round peg to fill a square hole - right now it’s just a page with rules, but the designer is hoping to use whatever funds they raise with it to turn it into something more complete.

OSHA Violations: The Game, by Alex Kingsley.

Regulations are in place to keep workers safe. But c’mon, in this economy? The goal of the game is simple: commit as many OSHA violations as possible without getting caught. The player with most OSHA Violations at the end wins-- unless they get shut down by the Safety Inspector! 

This game selects one person to play the role of Safety Inspector, while the rest of the group will present themself as Site Managers. The Safety inspector will create a tragic backstory, a dirty secret, and their favourite OSHA violation. The Site Managers will design their construction sites and roll a d6 to determine how many OSHA violations they MUST have on site (although they may have more). What specific violations those are will be determined by a roll table. 

This game heavily relies on improv, but there’s a win condition: the Inspector must guess who has the most violations. If they guess correctly, the player with the second-most violations is the winner - if they do not guess correctly, the player with the most violations wins the game!

Games I’ve Recommended in the Past

My Silly Games Post.

My TragicComic Games Post.

Something is Wrong with the Chickens, by Elliot Davis.

Clown Helsing, by Planarian.

Untitled Ghost Game, by Alice V.

Everyone is John, by Gamer Nation Studios.

#dnd #game recommendations #shitpost games #indie ttrpgs #tabletop games

[mionghairearracht]

leverage disability headcanons:

eliot has poor vision. he technically needs bifocals, which is why whenever a con requires him to read or use a computer he has glasses, but prefers to go without them most of the time due to their limitations.

he also has chronic pain due to his various injuries. he often ends up in the kitchen cooking as a form of destressing on difficult days

parker and hardison quietly went about making everything in the kitchen was as ergonomic and low energy as possible when they figured out

parker has ptsd and is autistic, crime is her special interest (i'm aware this is basically canon). hardison has an extensive library of true crime, case reports, and criminology books he reads so he can have discussions with her

parker also has a mild form of ehlers-danlos syndrome. her strength from climbing allows her some protection against dislocations but its still an issue for her. she often wears supports and or wraps under her clothes

she had a pretty restricted diet because of poor experiences when trying food before, though she doesn't have many sensitivies with food hers are very strong

eliot is the one who ends up helping her the most with food problems, she trusts hardison just as much but eliots knowledge of cooking and food makes her feel more comfortable trying

hardison is autistic with adhd, he had a ton of trouble with social skills when he was younger but eventually was able to learn. part of the reason he ends up being able to read parker and help her is because he had similar struggles before being given the opportunity to learn

he has a special interest in a few scifi series and as a kid that lead him to being into computers amd technology

he forgets to eat when he's into something, the orange soda started because he needed something to keep him from crashing and the sugar from it was perfect

its now one of his safe foods and something of a comfort item to have around

sophie has pure-o ocd, the reason many of her characters have specific tics and backstories is due to how her ocd manifests with her cons. she can't make them less complicated because the backstories and actions are part of her way of redirecting intrusive thoughts and without that she can't focus enough to read people

this is also why she has trouble with acting unless its part of a con, her character can be an actor as part of their backstory but as soon as she is the character she needs to have a backstory and full work up behind them

she currently struggles largely with morality ocd and the times she took a break from the team were because the constant moral questions around what they did were a struggle for her. running cons on her own gave her time to question things and work through triggers in a way she couldn't while on the team

this is also why the return of arthur was such a huge shake up for her. while she struggled with ocd her entire life the results of that con lead to her ocd shifting from social based to morality based ocd and even thinking about it the vaugest terms is a trigger for her

#smile rambles #leverage #disability

[itsbinghebitch]

ok so here’s the tea

this is gonna be about build and the whole shitshow of last week. consider it more of a public diary entry on my part.

i want to preface this with saying i really regret my anger outburst. i think it’s a really complicated situation and it lacked a lot of tact on my part to insult other fans no matter how angry i was feeling in that moment. i consider myself a thoughtful person but idk sometimes i deal with severe mood swings that i can’t control which. yeah, that doesn’t excuse attacking other people. and yeah even if i perceived homophobia/bigoted attitudes in the fandom, i recognize that i there are fans who are really going through a hard time right now and painting their moral dilemma as ‘excusing homophobia’ is not helpful. 

i totally get that. i believe there can be productive conversations in this fandom. on the other hand, i don’t believe it was right for people to outright block me and alienate me when i expressed that, as a queer person, i cannot tolerate emerging attitudes in the fandom that excuse what build has said as simply manipulation on poi’s part. it’s a very difficult issue, because on the one hand you have the toxic/abusive relationship he clearly was in, and on the other you have an individual that has an enormous amount of growth to do, and an individual we all don’t know personally at that. it is, at the end of the day, a projection. who you think build is depends on your own experiences and philosophy on abuse, rehabilitation, nature vs nurture... so on and so forth.

it’s really heartbreaking to say, i’ve had so much trouble writing any vegaspete fic for a while now because however much i want to stick to the characters and not the actors, a little voice in my brain always reminds me of the whole build dilemma. and while before there might have been plausible deniability, that build had been wronged on so many fronts, now i can’t help but think of the comments he made on bible’s appearance. like did he think bible was ugly when filming with him. did he have bigoted/homophobic views as he was making vegaspete a reality, etc. 

so that’s where i’m at folks. i might be able to dispassionately discuss this issue, still engage with kpts for its narrative merits, love vegaspete for what it has meant to me for over a year. but at a gut level, i can’t help it. i am an INFJ cancer moon bitch which means i make judgments with my third eye or pussy or something and i believe that’s a feature rather than a moral flaw.

i will always find sympathy for other marginalized people in fandom. i really hope your time here has been a respite, however brief, from the general shittiness of everything (at least that’s what kpts fandom has been for me). but i think the moment fandom subsumes your identity in any way, the moment you start judging emerging fandom topics as ‘us vs. them,’ you really have to take a step back and ask yourself what the real issue is.

is the real underlying issue the fandom or is it the overall lack of transparency from the person we’re debating? is it some rando on the other side of the world in a forum of 200 people or is it celebrity culture, which is opaque by design? is it social media, meant to maintain your interest, endlessly tweet, endlessly consume, keep the money making machine going with just one small nudge? with just a few well-placed hashtags? with its slot game mechanism and gambling level addictiveness and constant abstraction of real people? what is that is *really* making me angry? 

because i don’t believe it’s another fan who, just like me, is trying to make it through today. that’s what i think. and that’s why i choose to step back and redirect my anger to the people with real power in this world. and that’s what i urge everyone to do when the going gets too crazy. 

#thots on fandom and celebrity culture

[insistonyourcupofstars]

Okay, so in doing an unofficial rewatch of Justified, I was watching 1×07 and WOW was That Scene between Boyd and Raylan gay.

I am about to go on a madman rant, so best put this under the cut.

Look, I am no expert on cinematography, so this is more of personal observation/opinion.

For context, in the seventh episode of the first season, Raylan has been trying to figure out who put a hit out on his girlfriend/witness, Ava, after they were ambushed in the middle of the night by a hired gunman. Because Ava is on bad terms with the Crowders for killing one of their family members (he abused her when they were married), Raylan assumes that the assault was planned by the Bo Crowder, the family patriarch, and goes to prison to talk with Boyd. who is also in prison.

See, Justified understood the usefulness and creativity that comes with cinematography, and that's how the director and lead cinematographer were able to elaborate on the homoerotic subtext that exists between Boyd and Raylan.

(shout-out to @dyinglikeastar for being my soundboard for this lol)

Now, in both scenes between Raylan and Boyd, there is a noticeable intimacy between the actors and the camera.

Here is where we start to dive in on the homoerotic subtext.

It is important to note that up until this point, anytime Raylan went to visit Boyd, there was always a glass partition between them. We see, especially in the pilot, how Boyd and Raylan are very physical with each other (greeting with a hug, the lingering touch on Raylan's arm in the church, Boyd touching Raylan's hand in the hospital after the shooting). The two of them have been established to have a complex and physical dynamic with each other, but since Boyd got arrested, they always had a physical barrier between them, and even when they leaned so close to each other (the blocking of their scenes when talking almost always shows the other's head in tighter shots of one of them, suggesting the actual closeness of the two), they could never touch. Now, they are left alone, in a room with no barriers between them.

It's interesting to note that there is a transition between long-shots and close-ups, and whereas the former is steady, the latter is much more flexible. The close-ups are constantly moving, never still. They cut back and forth between Boyd and Raylan because this is a game of tug-of-war. It isn't until Boyd calls into question Raylan's trust in him that the camera starts to tell a greater narrative.

The next shot cuts to Raylan, a close-up, and while it starts with his face in the center (as close-ups do lol), his face lifts out of frame, but the camera lingers on his lips for a good five seconds before lifting itself up to re-center his face. This grabs your attention, as it is the rule of thumb that when a character moves, so does the camera. But in the world of art, rules are made to be broken. Therefore, my hypothesis is that the camera is starting to dive into the POV of both men. Like many people do, when we are attracted to people, we pay attention to physical characteristics that catch our eyes.

(this is seen in another show, Gossip Girl, when two characters want to sleep together in season three, and the camera focuses on many aspects of both characters, elaborating on the tension and desire both have)

After a long shot is used to redirect the audience into a third-person perspective, it becomes even more obvious how the use of the close-ups is giving the audience a look into the visual POV of the characters.

Shots start to linger on both men as the first scene and second continue. Whereas the first scene eases into the use of close-ups, the second almost dives straight into it, focusing on Boyd's big green eyes as Raylan walks back into the room.

And just like how the first scene used the close-ups to show the cerebral tennis match between Boyd and Raylan, the second goes even farther.

Almost every shot is used to highlight certain facial features of both the men.

For Boyd, it's either his big eyes, his nose, or his lips. The camera is seen to focus on his face for a split second before moving down straight to his mouth, repeating multiple times.

For Raylan, the camera focuses much more on his lips, his lashes (the position of the low-key lighting from the sunlight providing a contrast, highlighted by the extreme close-up to his eyes), and the beauty mark under his eye.

By using the camera as a POV for both men, not only is the audience able to stay immersed in their conversation, but they are also led to appreciate and notice these certain aspects of each character, and gain a sense of tension.

In conclusion, these two middle-aged men want to fuck each other so badly.

#okay I am a little sleep deprived but hopefully this makes sense #I did in fact have to loom up cinematography terms but I think it is worth it #justified #boyd/raylan #I love my southern gothic comedy #this is the longest piece of meta I have ever written #justified meta

[veirsewrites]

Halloween 🎃 ask how would the ROs react if they went to a haunted house with MC and they got so scared they latched them self into RO arm

Eddie would be a bit surprised that MC was scared of a haunted house... Filled with human workers... However, they would walk in front of MC, with their arm behind them for them to hold. They'd insist the MC can close their eyes and that they'd lead them the fastest way out.

Arlo/Aida would hold the MC right back, tugging them forward because they also want to get tf out of there. While they're not necessarily scared, they're definitely not a fighter so it's probably best to just leave. Does, however, enjoy the proximity of the MC. Might take them the long way out just to enjoy it a bit longer.

Amelie would also latch right back on. She'd get really frazzled having the MC so close, which would result in her actually getting jump scared. She'd squeal a bit, half of her irritated they got the upper hand on her and made her look bad in front of the MC; and the other half a little happy about it because look how close the two of you are clinging to each other.

#fun fact me and my partner got stuck in a fake hallway in a haunted house #and the actors had to try and redirect us while still in character #because we're stupid #ch: eddie #ch: arlo/aida #ch: amelie #wtb react

[starfire-s]

here’s a list of the best, mediocre and worst kdramas i watched in 2020

no one asked for this but it’s happening because i have thoughts (also all opinions are my own if you disagree then get well soon i guess... no i’m kidding make your own posts about it don’t hate me please) ahsjsj anyways click to read a lengthy post and if you actually read the whole thing then thank you i hope you enjoy this wild ride! 

THE BEST KDRAMAS -

mystic pop up bar - this show had everything i ask from a kdrama literally i can name it all found family (to real family), well thought out characters, a mystery plot, special effects, soft romances that were well written, a happy ending! no show in 2020 even comes close to how good this one was! the writers literally guided you throughout the whole thing so you could come up with theories and didn’t do a ‘aha! gotcha’ thing where they want to prove the audience wrong but they wanted us to be right and satisfied! the worst part about the drama is that it’s still so underrated and people just brush it off as some random fantasy show but it’s so much more than that! 1000/10

flower of evil - who doesn’t want to see lee joon gi being the son of a serial killer, living with the name of a man who is in a coma, and hiding his real identity from his wife who is a detective? this show constantly had me at the edge of my seat on a weekly basis so the emotions i went through while watching this are unparalleled! the writers also did such a good job on writing a coherent story that made sense and tied up all the plot points in the end. just a really satisfying show to watch! 10/10

where your eyes linger - i literally bought a $8 viki pass to watch this show so it should tell you everything you need to know about how i feel ahsjsj the episodes were 10 minutes long but we got a good story with well written characters who got character development in a total of 80 minutes it’s insane! honestly it’s still hard to believe this show had rookie actors because they were just so emotive that you could feel all the happiness, sadness, yearning and pining! probably one of my fave kdramas this year because of the acting that i always constantly rewatch! would recommend 10/10

crash landing on you - okay so this drama was actually released on my birthday last year and it was a time in my life when i was going through a lot so maybe it’s the comfort this show provided me through that time this is why i have such a soft spot for it? like the romance was good, it was funny, there was found family, the nk soldiers were all softies, there were strong female leads, soft male leads!!! ahh!! no other show on this list made me think about the unification of south korea and north korea irl because i wanted se ri and jeong hyeok to be together 4ever! but the only issue i had with this show was the ending they gave seung jun if they didn’t do that i’d give this show a 10/10 but just for that they get a 9/10

psycho but it’s okay - this was one of those shows where you’re literally like ‘wow everyone here needs therapy’ but this show was amazing i loved the story telling and how each episode related to children’s book/fairytales! the writers also did a good job with how carefully they talked about mental health in depth without villainising their characters but actually tried to make the audience understand why they were this way which included all the side characters too who had a well thought out story in each episode! also the dynamic between moon young, kang tae and sang tae was everything to me the actors all did an amazing job portraying their characters, it truly was a healing drama. the only thing i didn’t like about this show was the whole plastic surgery plot with the mother like that was very far fetched but it provided drama so i’ll let it slide because the rest was amazing. this show is a solid 8.5/10

18 again - another underrated gem! who would’ve thought a remake of that zac efron movie could be this good!! lee do hyun stole this show for sure the way he portrayed his character and gave heart eyes to his kids (when he’s only 25 irl was the best thing i saw this year ahsjs) i loved the family dynamics in this show, i loved how it talked about what it’s like to be young parents and how society still think it’s taboo to be divorced! it’s a show that makes you laugh and cry at the same time and that’s why everyone should watch it! however, the biggest clown thing this show did to me though was that i got sls for the first time while watching a kdrama... hwang in yeop if u’re reading this i love u and u deserved better 🤡 that aside this show was a 8/10

itaewon class - i actually didn’t watch this drama as it was airing because i thought i wouldn’t enjoy the plot but when i watched it i binged the whole thing in 2 days and my biggest regret is i didn’t watch it sooner! everyone knows i have a soft spot for park seo joon since he’s my favourite actor i’ve literally watched all his dramas like he could star in the trashiest drama out there and i’d still watch it and be like wow (looking at she was pretty 👀) this show aside from the acting had one of the best revenge plots in a kdrama! just watching a character realistically hustle his way to reach the top while fighting the corrupt man whose son killed his father was so so satisfying to watch! however, the love triangle in this show was questionable idk what they were trying to do with that but it personally annoyed me! but still i’ll give this show a 7.5/10 because i enjoyed it a lot!

do you like brahms? - kim min jae and park eun bin.. that’s all you need to know about why this is a good kdrama! i’m usually not a big fan of melodramas and everyone knows i prefer rom coms but this show was just so perfectly melo that i loved all the angst and pain we got!! also just watching two introverted people awkwardly fall in love was amazing! the characters story arcs were also handled pretty well with song ah finally learning to speak up for herself and joon young learning to express how he truly feels! but... the love square? was probably the most annoying thing the rest in my opinion was nicely done! i know people had mixed feelings about the ending but i loved that after all the pain joon young and song ah went through they got a happy ending together! 7/10

find me in your memory - okay this show started off very slow and it was confusing at the start but as it progressed everything in the plot started to fall into place! i mean this show really took opposites attract to a new level where the male lead could remember every single detail from his life but the female lead had to forget some of her traumatic memories to help her cope with her life! they were also tied together through a mutual character who was a big part of their lives in a different way! just an interesting melodrama with interesting characters i liked it! and moon ga young... i love you queen!!! 7/10

THE MEDIOCRE KDRAMAS -

more than friends - was the storytelling in this show groundbreaking? no. was the acting decent? yes. also probably the main reason i stuck with this show until the end! i think we can all agree lee soo had the best character development on this show he started off as a bad boy who wore one ear stud to actually becoming a well liked character... who else did it like him? no one. also the chemistry between the mains was 🔥 but the second male lead was so annoying is there a opposite word for second lead syndrome because i had that for sure! i think the best part about this show was the people i watched it with on here... shoutout to the five of us ahsjsj also this show introduced me to a talented actor/singer like ong seong wu (y’all know my kpop knowledge is nonexistent so no i didn’t know he was in a band called wanna one) all in all a predictable show but i had fun watching it so 6.5/10

tale of the nine tailed - i didn’t actually watch this show i watched it through gifs and instagram posts ahsjsjs so am i qualified to talk about my opinion definitely no... will I talk about it anyways yes lmao. lee rang deserved better that’s all goodbye and take care. 5.5/10

start up - probably one of the most awaited opinions. y’all thought this would be in the worst kdramas section but i decided to give this show some rights. the show started off strong, lost it’s way after episode 6 and then the last episode gave me what i wanted so i have mixed feelings. the writing was not the best i think we can all agree, love triangle as a plot device? wow so groundbreaking 🤡 the characters on the other hand... i loved every single one of them i mean ship wars? i don’t know her. the show had a lot of potential that was wasted but we also got some cute moments between the characters so there was really no winning or losing with this show? but in all honesty you can’t put a talented cast together like this and then just decide to give the audience a mediocre plot but the writers did exactly that! i think i can redirect y’all to my ‘crimes this show committed’ post for a in-depth analysis. lastly nam do san was a GOOD and REFRESHING male lead and ji pyeong was also a GOOD and FUN second male lead!!! this show gave me the ugliest ship war ever that i was transported back to my high school tvd days so thank you for that!! but the cast was loveable and all had a lot of chemistry together so here’s a 5/10 maybe that's too generous but... i think the reason why i didn't enjoy watching this show as much was definitely because of the tag on here lmao

THE WORST KDRAMAS -

the king eternal monarch - i miss clowning this show so much. the amount of braincells i lost while trying to understand this plot... i should be compensated by the writers. however, woo do hwan was a treat to look at on a weekly basis... however the writers kept decreasing his screen time even though he had a dual role... make it make sense? and i cannot comment on the plot of this show because i still don’t understand anything? also in my opinion tae eul and lee gon were the most bland couple of 2020, there was no chemistry between them and there was just a random kiss in episode 5 and they randomly said i love you... where was the development? also lee gon was soooo boring and such a one dimensional male lead! literally all the side characters were so much more interesting and the cast was good... but this plot. 2/10

do do sol sol la la sol - i wanna fight the writer who decided that the plot twist on the show would be that jun is a minor? i had no expectations from this show but it looked cute and nonsensical but that plot twist made me run the other way so fast that i never looked back! just because jun is a boy they really thought this would be excused like lmao we all have critical thinking skills???? the clown behaviour. a solid 1/10

record of youth - i hate this show so much. imagine not utilising park so dam who just starred in the biggest oscar winning movie to her full potential. imagine just making her a love interest to park bo gum’s character in the year 2020. i watched it up until episode 6 and i kept waiting for her character to get development... but it never happened so i dropped this show. also this show featured the MOST useless love triangle i have ever seen in my life like what was the point? also park bo gum’s characters family was straight up annoying (minus the grandpa) but they got so much screen time like that should’ve been given to park so dam... also villainising a gay side character for no reason at all in the year 2020? this show was a waste of my time i want the 6 hours i spent watching this back. -100/10 

backstreet rookie - i watched one episode of this and literally wanted to rip my eyeballs out of my head. idk what ji chang wook was thinking when he signed this drama i think he lost his ability to read because that's the only reasonable explanation for why he chose to star in such a dumpster fire show! this show had a racist character... had a high schooler kiss an adult... sexist jokes... just the worst things you can think of in a drama... this show had it. i still can’t believe so many people watched this show to the point where it had better ratings than pbio... really made me question everyone’s taste? but sorry can’t relate my taste is excellent so here’s the rating this show actually deserves -1000/10

if you made it this far... thank you for reading. let’s continue to love some kdramas together and get clowned by others in 2021! looking forward to it 😅

#kdrama #mystic pop up bar #flower of evil #where your eyes linger #crash landing on you #psycho but it's okay #eighteen again #itaewon class #do you like brahms? #find me in your memory #more than friends #tale of the nine tailed #start up #the king eternal monarch #ddsslls #record of youth #backstreet rookie #komal talks #i actually did it ashdjsj #just read about your fave shows or most hated shows and enjoy #don't have to read the whole thing i'm just documenting this for myself #also every show that airs from december onwards is a 2021 show now #feel free to discuss with me further... i can be contacted via messages LMAO #my posts #* #kdrama review

[elvencantation]

yin yang master liveblog

feat. @thursdayplaid​

what

blue

omg the magic is so pretty

also why is it always Chinese dramas will have someone, if they need blood, bite their finger?

also the gold spirit is very cute i like

i love a young countenance but an older soul

i also want them to take off their hats 😂

wait he ain’t dead he’s just sitting there?

or he’s dying i guess

Thursday

This movie is pretty throughout, aesthetic on point 

Sharp teeth?

We simp gold spirit

Too true, amazing combo XD 

He's dying

Please don't let me disturb your liveblogging. It brings be much joy

blue

oh hot demon boy!

love that he’s fighting with a fan

Thursday

Who will win? Uptight fighting bro vs gentle fan uncle

blue

gentle fan uncle is an amazing title

Thursday

@^_^@

blue

i love how he’s just like ‘bet u wouldnt stab a precious instrument’

Thursday

XD I love how playful he is during the whole fight too

blue

it’s adorable

dude rly loves his transportation talismans

WAIT I THOUGHT DEMON BOY HAD TATTOOS NOT CUTS

Thursday

He does. If it ain't broke, don't fix it I guess. And it's a good way to redirect violence without doing harm

Demon boy has had a Rough Time

blue

i wanna give him a hug

i don’t think he’d appreciate that but still 😂

Thursday

He's just sad and misses his girl friend

blue

why his reincarnated shufu look evil tho

Thursday

Who can say~~~

I love how Boya was just repeatedly defeated by Qingming and is like: you won't fight me because you're scared.

blue

what’s a himbo but not nice 😂

hey! they put my boys hat on crooked. rude.

Thursday

Give that boy a straight hat.

He's just such an Angy Boy

blue

he rly is 😂

ah i love the lady master she’s so pretty

Thursday

She's amazing and I love her.

blue

awww boya defended him

Thursday

He's so angry, but this fan man flirts with him

blue

ofc they all spying on each other 😂

Thursday

Saved by your opponent's gay discovery

blue

omg yes

Thursday

Spying required

blue

aw he looks nice with his hair down!

drink tea with him angy boy!

Thursday

He just wants you to chill out before you deviate. Sit and look at his amazing long hair. It'll be good for you

blue

HAHAHA

honey bug!!!! i love her!!!!!!!

Thursday

Also the ability for the fan man's actor to go from calm to worried to angry to calm again

Honey bug is good and important and I love her

blue

thank u for the recommendation yes

i love them

Thursday

The intrinsic eroticism of a man who's having his racist beliefs totally shaken by a hot guy who's hotter and smarter than him while holding a sword to his throat and looking like he wants to cry while saying cool lines.

They are such a great pair

blue

angy boy is angy like how dare fan man make him have feelings

Thursday

How very dare he make a good point about morals and ethics!

Also with that hair drinking tea in the morning

Angy boy with clenched teeth: I'm Not Yearning. I'm Just Like This When I See A Fan.

Angy boy with clenched fists: Complex Feelings? Disgusting.

blue

HAHAH OMG HES JUST HANGING OUT WITH A BUNCH OF LADIES LIKE HELLO YES ANGY BOY COME HAVE TEA WITH US ITS NOT WHAT U THINK

OMG THIS TIME ITS BOYS

ITS LIKE UR TRYING TO GIVE ANGY BOY AN ANEURISM

Thursday

Clenched fist intensifies

blue

I CANNOT

maybe he just wants to hang out with cute people

i get that

Thursday

He's just a friendly guy

blue

if i could summon pretty spirit friends to hang with me i so would

ok so maybe he’s not evil. but i’m still suspicious

NOW ANGY BOY IS HAIR DOWN WITHOUT HAT OMG YES

Thursday

I do get the vibe off him he's not the sort of guy who would put his spirit friends in sexual situations. But also I get the vibe he's a very lonely guy at his core and he enjoys the feeling of physical and emotional closeness.

blue

mood ™

Thursday

Let's be honest, the hat is a bit cute, but that hair though. Respect for the makeup department

blue

HAHAHAH

Thursday

Angy boy, you're just walking to being teased now. At this point its a hand written invitation with gold leaf.

blue

oh i love this moment with the water

it’s so intense

JUST DO IT ANGY BOY

U KNOW U CARE ABOUT HIM

“you’re too obedient” 😂

Thursday

The priest is in the range of gentle or teasing and hovers there. Seeing an actual intense situation is great

blue

ikr????

ah that is exactly what i love

that situation

Thursday

Me too! It's great when characters hover in a range and then swing over sharply

I really makes both extremes more dynamic

blue

HAVE SOME WINE WITH HIM DO IT

U KNOW U WANNA

Thursday

Go For It Angy Boy! He'll be gentle!

blue

😏

Thursday

XD I mean he will continue to ruffle his feathers, but for fun, not for mean

Also, I really love the depiction of a fox demon that isn't sexed up.

Qingming is a trickster, a tease, a bit of a flirt, and enjoys the pleasures of life, but he isn't the stereotypical half naked sexpot fox demon that seem to pop up everywhere

blue

OH NO HE HAD TO KILL HIS SHUFU???

Thursday

The only person he had in the world but he didn't want him to suffer and be corrupted

blue

also I hate that my two associations with someone being turned into ash is firstly the avengers and secondly that stupid fucking scene in the last harry potter movie

god this movie is so beautiful and lovely

Thursday

That set is outstandingly gorgeous

Everything is so beautiful. I want to live in this world!

Sometimes I just see a kind and lonely character trying to live their best life and just vibe with them. Also the wigs on this movie 😭 So beautiful!

blue

DONT HURT MY GIRL

Thursday

Run girl! Move!

She's so smart and brave!

blue

oh the DRAMA

Thursday

The Drama is right, I love this movie!

blue

HE WILL SAVE U BOYA

Thursday

HE'S COMING FOR YOU FRIEND

blue

omg the drama of his hand slackening

Thursday

That slackening hand though...

blue

why it didn’t work until then tho???

Thursday

For the drama mostly XD

blue

HUGGGG

is she giving birth to the serpent? 🤢

Thursday

She is giving birth to the serpent

blue

hey it’s better to be possessed by the literal incarnation of evil in snake form than be dead am I right?

Thursday

I mean is we're making a choice...

blue

OMG IS IT FINALLY SPIRIT TIME?

thursday

It is ~spirit time~!

blue

HOT DEMON BOY IS BACK UPGRADED

SO PROUD

Thursday

He is back and he is Fancy!

They're looking good they're doing poses

blue

omg the painters face painting is so pretty

Thursday

I love the painter ;-; so noble

blue

the music when he summons spirits just makes me think of like pro wrestling intro music for some reason 😂

Thursday 

And now from the WWE, some hot chinese spirits

blue

oh no ice boy!

Thursday

Poor ice boy, he's just getting beat up

blue

don’t u dare touch my other demon boy

Thursday

He just signed up for this adventure and now a snake is beating him up

blue

OMG HE NOW HAS SOMEONE HE WOULD PROTECT WITH HIS LIFE DOESNT HE

Thursday

He Do!

blue

WAIT WHAT NO BOYA

Thursday

Boya is just having a rough time right now, he's a good good boy

blue

and now the painter???

Thursday

I almost cried about the painter and he was only there for like five minutes

blue

PLS DONT HURT MY DEMON BOY

Thursday

Demon Boy goes yeet

blue

oh my god the drama of the dripping blood i can’t

Thursday

This movie has so much drama It did

blue

not my demon boy 😭

FINALLY IT WORKED

wait shit spirit boya is super hot

THE BLACK WINGS?!????

the tattoos??? the hair?!?!!! the messy goth skirt??!

Thursday

Spirit Boya is Choice, I'm looking respectfully 👀

Goth spirit aesthetic is on point

blue

where the other guardians tho?

yes this is a very touching little last reunion but where my boya at

omg yes give him a glowing sword

the avenging angel look is 💯 on him

Thursday

The sword on fire look is Really Working For Him

blue

tell me boya’s spirit form has no influence on his actual body. no he said he trusted qingming to protect his body it’s ok

OMG YES I KNEW THE PROTECTION SPELL MOMENT WOULD BE BACK

Thursday

It's back and it's shiny!

blue

ok but u still have a hole in ur torso my dude

oh ok apparently that’s not a thing anymore but i can’t be mad cause boya’s outfit 😍

Thursday

I guess he used his cultivation or his demon powers or something IDK, It would have been nice to have two extra minutes of Boya being worried about him

Boya wears some excellent clothes

blue

love a good romantic flute moment 😭🥰

Thursday

I have to say Boya's like let me play you this song about promising to fall in love in the next life for fun and me time

blue

omg i thought he was gonna kiss the arrow

Thursday

I mean emotionally did he not kiss the arrow?

blue

omg i cant

Thursday

I know right? How many censors did they have to pay off

blue

WAIT IS MY GIRL OK????

Thursday

I Chose To Believe She's fine and is now living happily on a farm or something

yeah i do love being worried for each other

but i guess they didnt have enouhg time and they already had that moment at the beginning of the movie 😂

Thursday

Two people? Respecting, worrying, and caring about each other? 👍 There's never enough caring for each other!

blue 

exactly

Thursday

Also, this is one of the best examples of be careful how you word your spells that I've ever seen.

The old master was like care and protect her forever and his spirit guardian was just like: 👍👌💯

blue

heheh

yeahhh

AND U MADE ME EMOTIONAL AGAIN

#yin yang master #the yin yang master #dream of eternity #onmyoji #blue watches #yin yang master liveblog #this was fun!!! #thank you for the rec! #i liveblog at those who recommend me media #content #qing ya ji

[astro-pioneer]

Anyway thoughts about Dain and others. I'm gonna separate this into different parts since it's probably gonna get confusing. Might do a second part for certain parts of this.

So to get as accurate as possible I did search for more information about The Abyss and Khaenri'ah

OK so I'll give a little back story before diving into my thoughts: Khaenri'ah is an underground unreleased section where, in Dain's words, "the gods' gaze does not fall". It is the origin of Khemia, a type of alchemy heavily focused on the creation of life that ultimately destroyed it. Also, for the Sword Cemetery, that is a result of a war between Mondstadt and Khaenri'ah.

Khemia

Anyway thought time - so since Knaenri'ah has very little fauna and plants they have to find a way to survive and get food and whatnot - hence the creation of Khemia. Now, since there's no information on the aftermath of using Khemia on let's say a human, we're going to make assumptions.

So obviously altering with human life is bound to have it's backlashes, right? My three main bully victims are going to be Kaeya, Albedo, and Dain. Kaeya first: he was sent to Mondstadt as a last hope for his original homeland (I got too lazy to type it continuously) so I'm gonna assume that, before he was dropped off at Dawn Winery, he went through some alterations.

Kaeya

And you guys are gonna get mad but I'm gonna talk about his eye patch. Now, my assumption with the backlash is that it does something physical to the person undergoing Khemia. And yes, while Noelle does say she prepares Kaeya's eye patch, that doesn't necessarily mean that she puts it on him and has seen him without it.

Seeing as though Khemia isn't well-known by the common folk and is concerning to the gods (at least to Venti - thoughts on this later) it's best to hide any evidence of it when around people. That might be Kaeya's case with his eye patch, especially with the issue with Diluc and his father.

Albedo

Listen I hate myself for even starting this but I'm too far deep to give up so we gotta talk about his sexy ass. Now, his diamond. If that's a birthmark then holy hell that's one gorgeous mark. BUT I don't think it is. Since he's the one who practices Khemia, he probably knows how to manipulate the placement to be somewhere hidden or so small you can't see it.

Lmao that kinda contradicted my diamond topic but my thought behind that is that he got that from his teacher (I REFUSE to type that long ass name ok) before he knew the art himself. Him knowing the practice and Venti's wariness of it makes more sense now - will be explained soon.

Dain

THIS BITCH- Ok I need more content of him so I can understand him more but I hate him so muuuuuch. So since he admits that he saw Old Mondstadt before Dvalin resided in it, I immediately thought to the battle at Sword Cemetery even though it doesn't fit with the geography (be honest though nothing matches the geography since the "Wolf of the North" is in the wEST) and you can't see it even from atop the logs (before anyone says anything, yes, I did check with the tallest character I have and yes, I did blind myself at one in the morning just for that.)

Anyway we're getting off topic what I wanted to talk about is the galaxy thing right over his heart. This is going to be short since there's not a lot about him but it's very obvious that it's not natural (well duh) and it reminds me of the particles that erupt from Paimon and that appears out of Aether's hand for an idle animation (I, personally, chose Aether for the MC so I will be using him most of the the time). However, there's noy a lot on him and his attire so this is all I really have.

Venti and Khemia

So a little while ago someone found out that in front of Venti's statue in front of the cathedral it says "Gate to Celestia" backwards. And I do love the theories from many others about how the game might end right where it started, aka Mondstadt. Khaenri'ah dislikes the gods and is not under rule of the Seven and, with Kaeya as a "last hope" so to speak, I feel like (if he doesn't get too attached to everyone) Kaeya and possibly Albedo as well, is going to lead the hilichurls and possibly the Abyss to Mondstadt to open the gate to destroy Celestia.

This is probably why Venti is wary of anyone who knows Khemia or is a known member of Khaenri'ah. This is far fetched but what if he knows of a possible ending without the traveller that is Mondstadt and possibly Teyvat as a whole being destroyed? It's obvious that history and stories are told through songs and, as Venti said in the archon quest, he knows songs "from the past, present, and future."

The Abyss ft. Khaenri'ah & Dain (again)

This is probably going to be the biggest since there's a lot of parts to it. So it's been confirmed that the hilichurls, the people of Khaenri'ah, are being controlled by the Abyss. My thought process was that the Abyss was once a part of Khaenri'ah but there was so much Khemia practice on them that they became less and less human. On a similar note, Instagram user natrya_art made her own theory based off of the Abyss and the chambers just off of the opening screen itself (also one about Dain, Durin, and Alberich (Kaeya's last name) that's still on her story :D).

You guys are probably like "Astro where are you going with this" so I'll stop adding random information and get on with it. Dain specifically only mentions Lumine with "her" and "she" along with "is" and similar present tenses, meaning that she is still alive during whatever time he comes from (as he will decide fate himself if "Albedo were to make a single wrong move using Khemia" (possibly opening the gate) and that's the only time he'll interfere). It's obvious he knows Aether, as he's very easy to talk once he mentions being a traveller. Now, when have you ever heard anyone in genshin mention traveller that is not about Aether/Lumine? Exactly, barely ever if at all.

I mention this since Dain's interest isn't peaked when Aether introduces himself as an adventurer but only after he says he's a traveller looking for his sibling. I, personally, think that Dain was a travel buddy for Lumine since, branching off of Natrya's theory about the Abyss, she was probably brought to the Abyss when they were fighting on one of the paths in Celestia in the beginning.

Since Lumine is trying to redirect Aether from finding out anything about her plans, it shows that she does not want him to either catch her trying to destroy the world or get caught in the crossfire and die. In the time where Dain comes from, though, that's probably what happened and the Abyss wins in the end. So Dain, already knowing where Lumine and the Abyss went, brings Aether to every location that he can remember.

During the old timeline, let's call it that since it's obviously going to change with Aether having help from Dain and Friends™, Lumine most likely talked about Aether and what happened to them. Maybe Dain was just trying to see if he was the real Aether during the tavern scene? No one knows right now honestly (other than the voice actors and creators honestly but they can't say anything.)

It's also obvious that he knows how far Aether is on his journey, as he mentions the Contract to End All Contracts but not why it was made or what the Tsaritsa did with them all while knowing about Venti being Barbatos and the Stormterror battle. This could just be blamed on his failing memory but that's not the case, as he says that he doesn't lack time and will wait to talk about Rex Lapis. However, it's obvious he only knows one side of it, as Aether and the player know of Zhongli being a player in the Rite of Descension but Dain doesn't, as he questions his attitude towards it.

Prophecy

This is copied from Dain's profile on the genshin wiki: The confluence between the past and future. The original calamity had been overturned, yet the island in the sky set the earth to burn. Chalk pursues gold, in this time inopportune, the eclipse is swallowed by the crimson moon. The future must atone for bygone mistakes, as the bond familiar falters and breaks— of the same blood, elders and the youth... Such is the cycle of the world, in truth. Dain, what is that strand of blonde hair to you? Someone you must kill? Or the object of your penitence? - Self-proclaimed prophet

I changed the colour of the parts I want to talk about. The first line is obviously referring to Dain and his connection with going back in time to change the future he came from. "The island in the sky" is Celestia, and the line about setting earth alit could be talking about the gate opening or the gods thinking it'll be best to destroy earth to save themselves.

"Chalk pursues gold." THIS LINE. This one line is what I want to talk about a lot. Gold is not referring to the alchemist who destroyed Khaenri'ah, as it's not uppercased as all names should be. Instead, it's referring to Aether. (Note: the game is actually supposed to take place as you playing as Aether, which is why he's always in the trailers as the protagonist and is more expressive). Aether has multiple gold or gold coloured parts to him, including his hair, parts of his outfit, and it can even be argued that his eyes can be included too. Chalk is, obviously, Albedo, which connects to the quest about him where he's called the Chalk Prince when Dragonspine was introduced. Speaking of Dragonspine, Durin (the dragon that died there) actually came out of Khaenri'ah. Weird how Albedo is almost always in Dragonspine right? The pursuing part can go two ways: his ending line about how if he [Albedo] destroys Mondstadt, will Aether be there to stop him OR to make sure Aether is there to watch him destroy it. A third side is that Albedo pursues Lumine to help with her plan of Destroying Mindstadt/Teyvat.

Crimson moon is obviously about one of the trailers, where I think Lumine is seen walking on the path where her and Aether fought the god in Celestia with a red moon and sky in the background.

"Bond familiar falters and breaks - of the same blood, elders and youth" Aether and Lumine. I feel as though one of them (Aether most likely) will feel the most betrayed and he will lose all trust and love in Lumine and what's she's doing/done. Elders and youth is interesting. It can be nodding at the gods and the people of Teyvat or the gap between Lumine and how she's grown old while Aether died when he was young.

"That strand of blolde hair." English classes and teachers do not teach this enough!!! So I'll say it: blond, with no 'e' is masculine and is used to describe males. Blonde WITH an 'e' is feminine and for females. The use of blonde instead of blond eliminates Aether, Albedo, and Dain. The only blond we really encountered? Lumine. And I can already see the "well what if they didn't know the difference between e and no e" but we're talking about a game where a god dressed as a bard speaks in rhymes and riddles while Dain speaks like hes a poet. They know what they did. This might hint to him being the former travel companion of Lumine and any possible feelings he had that might get in the way of stopping him from helping everyone to stop her.

The Three Questions

When talking to Dain he asks three questions in order to see how similar your thought process is to Lumine. "Who do you think was the key to stopping the Stormterror incident" or something along the lines is the first question. Your answers are Barbatos, yourself, or the people. I will try to go off of memory with my answers, as his quest has yet to be added to the completed quests, as it's in chapter four which hasn't been released yet. I answered Barbatos for this question.

The next one is about Liyue and who will take care of it since Rex Lapis is no longer there to protect it. I said the people of the harbour, which was the third question. The last one is about Visions and who are more important in the eyes of the gods. The three answers are people with visions, without visions, or neither. I answered neither, giving me the dialogue of Aether's answers being similar to Lumine's.

Vision Question

The one about Visions struck me as odd. Visions are given by gods to people that they have acknowledged, yeah? Khaenri'ah isn't acknowledged by the gods and isn't run by any of the Seven. So that means that no one who resided in Khaenri'ah were never helped or were given visions. So why would Dain ask about them? I think it's due to Aether and most likely Lumine being able to weild the elements without a vision. There's also two certain dialogue options that are in the form of thoughts (I do not remember what quests they're from however) and the first one is like "(I'm getting back to my original strength)" I think it was in regards to getting geo too or something while the other one is "(I wish to get the powers of the gods)" or something.

When I first got them I paused for a second. Original strength and the powers of the gods... This obviously means the fact that with one touch of a statue we can switch to that element and can be "blessed" so to speak without actually being blessed. Also I've been meaning to talk about this ever since I leveled up Venti's statue but so far both Mondstadt and Liyue have an extra oculus. This is probably going to be for every region. I found that interesting, since you usually almost always interact with the statues with specific oculi, making it more powerful and giving you more stamina in the process. I think we have to use the extra one to fully harness the powers of that god in order to beat the final boss (probably Lumine.) They are also under the "Precious Items" tab in your inventory which is somewhat significant as well.

I'm gonna end this theory here for now since it got extremely long lmao. A part two might be coming though!

#ೄ sage #genshin thoughts #genshin theory #genshin impact theory #genshin impact thoughts #genshin #genshin impact

[child-of-peace]

So I was watching Fitzsimmons clips on YouTube, and noticed a scene I had quite forgotten existed (given that I watched the first season in one day with my friends, it’s no surprise I didn’t remember this part) but I wanted to talk a bit about 1x20. (This will be an in-depth Fitz-centric analysis of that scene, just to let you know.)

I’d like to make clear from the outset, this is completely my own opinion based on my own experiences. Other people may read the scene differently and that is completely their own opinion and I respect that.

I’m autistic myself and I headcanon that both Jemma and Fitz are autistic too (though really it should be canon with all the signs they’ve given us throughout the show). The clip I saw was of Fitz very clearly having a meltdown, but because the video I was watching was only about Fitzsimmons + every time they say each other’s names, the clip only showed a couple of seconds of it. So I found the episode in question and looked for the scene.

For anyone who plans to watch the show and has not already seen this episode or heard any spoilers for it (though how you’ve managed to avoid spoilers, I have no clue!), I’m about to reveal one of the biggest spoilers for Season 1, so maybe just scroll past this post.

Anyway, so in the scene we see Fitz, Coulson and Trip standing by whilst Jemma is doing an autopsy on the dude who, as this scene later reveals was killed by Ward. Fitz clearly saw Ward as a big brother kind of figure and as we all know, was unwilling to believe Ward was capable of this.

Throughout the early parts of the scene, Fitz is displaying some of the “signs of distress” (as noted by the National Autistic Society) which can be seen as a precursor to a meltdown: pacing, repetitive questioning and even, as Jemma is giving her report, going completely still. Also, when he talks to Trip and Trip puts his hand on Fitz’s shoulder (terrible decision), Fitz pushes him away saying “Don’t touch me.” (This likely would’ve made Fitz more overwhelmed because contact can be Bad especially from a near stranger when you’re close to/having a meltdown.)

The meltdown itself doesn’t hit until Jemma says “Ward did this.” You can see beforehand, she is hesitant to say anything, partially because she can tell Fitz is getting overwhelmed, but she has a job to do. The next moment, Fitz flings something metal across the room and pushes everything off the nearby surface, because this information is too much, because it’s bad, bad, bad and he’s overwhelmed.

Jemma knows what’s going on. Of course she does. They’ve been best friends for eight years by this point, this is certainly not the first meltdown either of them have had in front of each other. Each autistic person has their own rules about what works for them and what doesn’t when they’re having a meltdown. So Fitzsimmons probably have a routine, little things they do to calm each other down, such as the hand-on-shoulder thing which they do all the time to comfort one another. The hand-on-shoulder thing in and of itself is important because it’s a somewhat safe place to touch and familiar for them and if the comforted party needs more, they can go for a hug, if that’s enough, they can put their hand on the comforter’s and if it’s too much, they can easily move away. This shows they have their rituals.

Whilst Coulson and Trip are shocked at Fitz’s “sudden” outburst, Jemma gasps at the noise, but then immediately steps towards him. She knows what she’s doing. She calls out his name, and when he starts hitting the wall (which is something that will cause him pain), she reaches for him (this is a bad idea unless you are sure the other person is comfortable with it) and she tries to stop him from hurting himself by moving him away from the wall.

Here’s where it goes wrong. Now to be clear, I don’t think that’s through any fault of the writers or the actors here, but rather, the reaction from a neurotypical (or at the very least allistic) character is very real and true to what can happen in real life, and therein lies the problem. Coulson gets involved.

Coulson clearly views this as a fit of rage or something to that effect, and therefore, his reaction is to treat Fitz as a younger colleague who has lost control of his emotions due to anger and is now acting out, rather than recognising what Jemma does: that Fitz is not okay. When Fitz leans over the table, Jemma puts her hand on his shoulder; familiar, safe. But then Coulson is there, by his side, saying, “We need to hold it together, listen” as though this is something that Fitz can control, like all he needs to do is put a lid on his “temper”; bad, bad, bad.

To hear this as a response to a meltdown will not help you to calm down. It’ll only make you more stressed. This is shown when Fitz, after Coulson says this, hits out, knocking something else off the table. Jemma’s crying. She doesn’t know how to help Fitz because this is their boss stood in front of them, and what can she say in front of him. She can’t tell him to back off and give Fitz space. She can’t tell him that he’s not helping. All she can do is watch as her best friend struggles. The only support she can offer is her hand on his shoulder.

“All that anger, all that pain, you need to hold it in and focus on Skye.” Pain, yes. Anger, no. He’s not angry. He’s overwhelmed. Holding it in won’t help and is certainly not healthy at all for him. And as for focusing, it is so hard to focus on something else when your brain is still struggling to process one piece of information. And Coulson doesn’t stop talking, doesn’t stop trying to “motivate” Fitz into redirecting his “anger”. And when Fitz doesn’t respond, because he’s trying to calm himself down so that he doesn’t feel like he’s a hindrance to his team like his father probably led him to believe, Coulson grabs his shoulder (not roughly) and pulls him up so that Fitz will look at him. Fitz lets him, because what else can he do, this is his superior and his father most likely drilled some bullshit into his mind before he was ten, but he doesn’t look at Coulson’s face.

Fitz, in his overwhelmed state, cannot stand to make eye contact or even attempt to pretend to make eye contact. Instead, he averts his gaze, keeping it low, as Coulson tells him what he needs from him. Then Fitz meets Coulson’s eyes when Coulson says “can you do that?” To a neurotypical, maybe this sounds like an “I need you to do this for me, cool?” (I wouldn’t know) but from an autistic perspective, this sounds like “are you capable of doing that?”. This, therefore, to Fitz sounds like Coulson is saying “your autism is getting in the way of your work and your inability to maintain the standards a neurotypical would be able to maintain makes me question whether or not you are suitable for this job”. Of course, that isn’t what Coulson is trying to say, but for Fitz? Fitz, whose father called him stupid and incapable when he was young. Fitz, whose peers mocked and isolated him. Fitz, who struggles to open up and forces himself into being someone else around NTs because, in his experience, they don’t understand him and many won’t even try. Fitz takes this as a reprimand.

So he nods, because he can’t speak right now, but he’ll be the person they need right now. Because if he isn’t, will they give up on him? Fitz leaves the room, head hung low, Jemma just behind him.

There is no follow-up to this scene, but I imagine that, when it was just him and Jemma, his meltdown struck properly. And, as far as I can remember (which apparently isn’t very far), he doesn’t have a meltdown like this in front of his team again (with the exception of Jemma’s disappearance, when he lost the one person who understood him/the love of his life, but even then, with witnesses, his meltdowns seem contained), most likely a result of this and the trauma he still carries from his childhood.

You can find the scene in question on YouTube here.

TL;DR: In my opinion, Jemma’s interaction with Fitz during his meltdown in this scene was based on years of friendship and trust and actually listening to what he needs. Coulson’s interactions with Fitz, while well-meaning, were probably more damaging than helpful. If you have an autistic friend/family member, find out what their specific needs are when they have a meltdown, and try to keep a calm voice and don’t overwhelm them.

I’d like to make clear here, that I love Coulson as a character, I just think he reacted badly in this scene because he didn’t recognise what was happening. Plus, Coulson is completely justified in wanting to help Daisy (Skye), but he’d have better luck if he let Fitz calm down and sort his thoughts out first!

#MAOS #Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD #Leo Fitz #Jemma Simmons #Fitzsimmons #Phil Coulson #Antoine Triplett #1x20 #Actually Autistic #Meltdowns #I wrote more on this than I’ve ever written in an English essay... #This may not be the most coherent thing I've ever written #But I hope you still like it

[msindrad]

Tuco appreciation post

Putting Eli Wallach’s legendary performance aside, Tuco is a great character on and in himself. So, let’s talk about that.

I’ve seen quite a few misconceptions about him in some fics that I’ve read, and I don’t want to correct anybody or something, as if I could, lol, but I guess I’d like to remind everybody who’s interested in it of some cool things about Tuco that make him a really complex and psychologized person, not just an entertaining, ill-tempered rogue and loser, mind you.

Tuco is very smart. He wouldn’t be able to survive otherwise, especially with how unlucky he tends to be. Not to mention the fact that, according to him, he had to provide for his family from a very young age – approximately after Pablo had left their family – which, again, definitely wasn’t an easy task to do, much less do it in an honest, lawful way, but Tuco survived and helped both his parents, who died at old age, to do the same. 

And to recruit a band of bandits while planning to sacrifice all of them to distract Blondie from the very beginning – that’s some serious strategic thinking and a testament to Tuco’s communicative abilities as well as interpersonal skills. He also casually builds himself his own revolver – which is technically not possible but still – from the different parts he finds in a gun store; he is able to track Blondie down on his own; he is at least as good of a gunslinger as Blondie if not better than him (pulling off that shooting in the backyard of the gun store while being both exhausted and drunk? That’s impressive). 

He is able to trick the Confederate general into thinking that he is one of the soldiers to get the directions to his brother’s monastery, he is able to escape Sentenza’s people on that train and free himself, he is cautious enough to bathe with his gun (also technically impossible but still). 

Sure, he is bad at reading (also he still can read and, let’s not forget, he might be bad at reading in English), but honestly Tuco didn’t have the time/means to educate himself, and it absolutely makes sense that in his life he would prefer learning to aim better than to read quicker.

Tuco has a very sharp tongue. The way he threatens Blondie after he refuses to increase Tuco’s share? That’s some on point rhetoric. “But if you miss, you had better miss very well. Whoever double-crosses me and leaves me alive... He understands nothing about Tuco.” The first time I heard the phrase I knew that, despite his ninny appearances, Tuco was gonna give Blondie a very hard time.

Tuco wears his heart on his sleeve (does he always, though?), but he isn‘t really overwhelmed by his emotions. Their plasticity enables him to be a very convincing actor putting such a vivid performance when Blondie hands him over to a sheriff at the very beginning of their scamming partnership. He is very vocal when Blondie leaves him, but wouldn’t you be vocal if your partner left you behind in the middle of nowhere, tied and cheated out of money right after he almost failed to timely save your life (and casually redirected attention from his fault and inaccuracy to how you’re just not worth any efforts in the future)? 

And even the way he tries to make Blondie return and at the very least untie him – he is just trying to appeal to his emotions. First, intimidating him, then entreating him. It’s not an irrational reaction for somebody desperate, and again, it shows Tuco’s high emotional intelligence, as he’s trying to push different buttons of Blondie who, alas, just can’t be influenced that way. But it could’ve worked with somebody else, just like that speech in the monastery at Blondie’s side (but again, Blondie is too much of a heartless bastard, and I think that deep inside Tuco appreciates that he doesn’t fall for his tricks, otherwise he wouldn’t be an equal partner, being boring instead).

Tuco means business. When he gets his revenge – or is about to get it – with Blondie, he savors it, teaching Blondie a lesson he, honestly, kinda deserves; Tuco doesn’t talk about his intentions like a proverbial Bond villain, he is dead-set on a compensation and only plot armor saves Blondie’s skinny ass from dangling in the air. (So, when Tuco knows he can’t influence people Tuco is a very serious, threatening figure. And I think it’s apparent that he has a soft spot for Blondie because he could have killed him very swiftly if he had really wanted to. But it would make the world a duller place – not to have Blondie in his life, right?) 

Then, there’s the power of Leone’s directing. We often see Tuco with his ass in the air, which is culturally perceived as inherently comical, unless somebody is in pain or tries to be sexually provoking. We have at least three shots of Eli Wallach from that angle throughout the film, so it’s very, very deliberate. 

(СENSORED, just remember the scene in the bathroom)

Plus, Blondie provides a stark contrast to his expressivity. 

Despite all of it, Tuco actully has a dignified way of carrying himself – that is, if he isn’t threatened by somebody or something, which most of the time he kinda is.

It doesn’t mean that Tuco isn’t petty about the opportunity to spit on Blondie or isn’t vain enough to not be momentarily pleased that his picture used for the wanted poster turned out very flattering. 

But what Tuco isn’t is excessively violent*. Remember when he mockingly puts that “closed” sign into the gun store’s owner mouth? He could’ve killed him, but not only he doesn’t, he leaves him his bottle, and when he puts his sign into the owner’s mouth I honestly think it’s his way of expressing sympathy. Given Tuco’s turbulent biography and the fact that he has taught himself to see every human interaction as an opportunity to gain something or avoid losing something to somebody, it’s not surprising at all that he is very restrained and almost shy when it comes to expressing his sincere positive emotions.

But this is a topic for another post. 

 *And I don’t believe that Tuco has committed even a third of his alleged crimes, especially heavy ones, which the sheriff reads out the second time we see the attempt to hang Tuco. First, the reward for him was relatively small in the first place (remember Indio’s reward? Or Baby Cavanagh? Or Wild from FAFDM?), and second, obviously he and Blondie were trying to boost his price as much as they could.

#the dollars trilogy #dollars trilogy #the good the bad and the ugly #the gbu #gbu #eli wallach #tuco #blondie #clint eastwood #the man with no name #sergio leone #the spirit of the west

[derireo]

catching the stars ↦ izumi

standing proudly on stage, izumi can finally say “look at me now.” to the people who told her she wouldn’t make it as an actress.

warnings & note: stageplay gun violence, mild gore, implied abuse. you can choose any troupe she’s working with, but choose a male lead actor who is 18+, thank you!

「 Read here on AO3 」 「 4.9k words 」

Her heart was racing. She could hear the murmur of the audience even from the dressing room and it made her anxious.

Along with the troupe, she was putting on the necessary makeup to accentuate her features more as a staff member told them how much time they had left to get ready. They had around ten minutes left, and her body was getting number by the second.

Staring at herself through the mirror, Izumi's hand paused in the middle of darkening the artificial dark circles beneath her eyes. Her lips were parted as she looked on in wonder, mind racing with questions of why she was here and how.

It was almost like a dream, seeing herself now. She was in her first costume, first as in she had more to change out of and in to later. Just the mere thought of costume changes reminded Izumi of how real this was, and how significant of a character she was going to be.

Her hand resumed its ministrations with the brush pinched between her fingers, and before she knew it, she was already being whisked away by one of the troupe members to lead her towards the side stage, a kind hand warm on her lower back.

The lights were dim where they stood, but the stage was glowing with light as the audience continued to talk amongst themselves. Her attention was redirected when she was brought into the circle the troupe made, their hands on top of one another's as all the members looked at her, anticipating.

They wanted her to cheer for them.

Each pair of eyes looked upon her with warmth and admiration as she slapped her hand on top with a bashful smile, slowly gathering the courage in her body by taking in a slow and deep breath.

"Ikuzo!" She shouted with a large exhale, so loud that the audience heard it, and they quieted down just fast enough to hear the rest of the troupe follow suit with a shout of their own, everyone's hands lifting up in the air. Her shoulders nearly shook with excitement when her eyes darted amongst the men that surrounded her figure, their toothy grins showing her how proud they were of how far she's come already.

With that, the lights shut off, and each member took their place on stage, feet silently padding along the old wood.

Slowly, the curtain began to lift, the spotlight on her and one of the other members, both of them looking into each other's eyes as their costumes resembled that of what young children would wear. She was holding his hands as they bounced and laughed together on stage, her hair slightly whipping around as their characters talked to each other about their dreams.

With the makeup beneath her eyes, the audience was able to tell that even though she was a young child, she was tired. Despite the bright smile that she wore, it didn't hide the fact that there was something that was keeping her up at night, leaving her with such dark circles. The audience stayed quiet as they watched Izumi grin even wider when her friend joined her in staring at the 'flowers' that swayed in the wind, and she turned her head towards him while they both crouched down.

"I want to help the world be a better place. She's been so nice to me." Izumi spoke softly, reaching out to brush her fingers along the petals of the flowers that sat in front of them. The boy beside her tilted his head at the curious choice of words, his own finger poking at the bandage that stuck to his knee while a leaf seemed to be stuck in his hair. The gaze that was on him made his own head turn, and when he saw the bright eyes that stared at him, he couldn't help the smile that made its way onto his face.

She's doing great already, he thought.

"I don't know how you're gonna do that." He said childishly, suddenly toppling himself onto her so that the both of them would fall onto the grass in a heap, their giggles heartwarming as Izumi shrieked and pushed at him. "But I wanna do that too."

Suddenly, the boy procures a handful of grass from somewhere and throws it at Izumi's face as he makes a move to get up and run away, causing the audience to laugh in amusement as the lights go out when Izumi's character complains.

There's the footsteps of someone running across the stage and something rolling on the wooden planks, the soft, but mature laugh of a young woman and man heard as it sounded like they were bouncing again, just like when they were kids. Their whispers were nearly inaudible as the audience was left to wonder.

The lights flashed on again, and the scene changed. Izumi and the actor lay breathless on a pale yellow bed, still full of laughter as they look up at the ceiling with their arms folded beneath their heads.

"You've seriously gotta stop getting us into trouble." She admonished the man, her hand reaching out to slap him in the chest. The thud was loud, the sputter escaping her friend's mouth making her laugh again as he rubbed over the spot she hit. She flipped onto her side with a kind smile, her tired eyes staring down at him as he pouted. "We'll get caught by the cops one day, ya know."

The man sighed out loud, sitting up in the bed and shoving himself against the headboard to look down at Izumi, the girl craning her neck to keep him in her sights as their smiles slowly turned into frowns.

"Better staying a night in jail than here." He murmured, reaching out his hand for her to take. She didn't hesitate, her fingers intertwining with his as she made a move to scoot up to the headboard as well, the sheets below her bunching up as they moved to accommodate each other on the small mattress. "Please. Come live with me. I'm sure I can convince your parents." He begged gently. He brought their conjoined hands to his lap as she sat on her knees beside him, smile sad as she shook her head.

"You know I can't do that. Just because we've been friends for so long doesn't mean you get an automatic pass." She laughed, quieter this time. The circles beneath her eyes were darker, and the man that sat with her showed his concern for it by holding her cheek in his hand, thumb dragging along the tired skin.

"I'm gonna get you out of here soon, okay?" He chuckled reassuringly, his fingers affectionate as they brushed themselves against her cheek and her jaw. Her protest was weak beneath the loving touch of a friend, and the hearts of the audience were beating at the scene playing out before them, bodies going numb with how intimate this relationship seemed to be.

Then there were gasps when the man leaned in when Izumi's eyes fluttered shut in exhaustion, but were left feeling disappointed when his lips made contact with her forehead. The kiss was audible from the microphone that was taped to his hairline, and it made a few of the girls in the seats clutch at their chests desperately.

A pair of hands quickly pushed the man away and Izumi's eyes were wide open.

The kiss wasn't in the script.

The shocked look at being pushed away was evident on the man's face as Izumi stared at him with a lost expression, but she quickly recovered, already trying to push the actor even further off the bed with a panicked breath.

"It's already late. My pa's gonna wonder why you're still here if you don't go now." She said frantically, her feet slipping into the fuzzy slippers that sat at the side of the bed. Her fellow actor laughed at her hastiness to get him out and away, but he played along easily enough as to not confuse the other troupe members and the audience, the stumble of his feet comedic as they walked out her bedroom door.

"I'll see you tomorrow." He promised with a quick wave, his wink causing a short uproar to happen in the audience. He was out of the scene when an annoyed Izumi gave him one last push on the back, showing that he had finally left through the front door.

The girl sighed in relief as he pretended to watch him go down her lane and closed the door as quietly as possible, begging that she would be able to turn the lock without rousing anybody from their sleep. She was murmuring to herself about what they were going to do tomorrow, her back now pressed against the door as she rested on it. Her thoughts were taking up so much space in her mind that she didn't notice the figure that stood at the top of the stage's stairs, and was startled by the single footstep of her father coming down.

She automatically picked herself up and straightened her back when her father cleared his throat to make his presence known, and she gulped as she watched how his arms went to cross over his chest.

"Brought that kid over again, huh?" He chuckled, eyes blank as he stared down at his daughter with an empty smile. "Seein' him again tomorrow? That's what I heard, right?"

Izumi grimaced to herself, parting away from the door to slowly start inching towards the direction of her bedroom, her steps cautious as she watched her father finish going down the stairs. "No, Sir." She murmured quietly. Slowly, she made her way to the door that lead towards her room, her fingers gripping onto the edge of the door frame as she avoided her father's gaze.

"Don't lie to me." He mumbled lowly. His eyes pierced her, the spotlight causing them to glint as he looked around the stage for no particular reason. "Go back to your room. Be quiet."

Then the lights went dark again after the sound of a door shutting was heard.

There was shuffling, but the rolling sound didn't come. By the time the audience knew it, the lights were on again, and the young man was halfway through a window, his smile bright as he held onto the windowsill with a surprised Izumi sitting up in her bed. With hurried movements she crawled out from under her sheets to run to the spot where the man was crouching, her hands gripping onto the front of his jacket to make sure he wouldn't fall out.

"What are you doing here?" She hissed angrily. She was on the second floor of the house while her parents slept on the third floor, but they'd be able to hear the both of them if they weren't quiet enough.

"I was hoping to see you before I left." He whispered to her, eyes grinning as he let one hand go from the windowsill to bury a hand in her hair, bringing the young woman close to him so that he'd be able to kiss her forehead. "I don't know how long I'll be gone for, you know? Plus your parents still don't like me all that much." He chuckled, amused at how Izumi punched him in the chest before scrambling to wrap her arms around his waist before he could lose his grip and fall.

"Yeah, 'cause you're always pulling off dumb stunts like this." Izumi scoffed, eyebrows furrowing into a wince when his lips met a tender spot on her face. Her flinch didn't go unnoticed by the man who was half hanging out her window, and he frowned, carefully nudging the girl backwards until he had enough space to slip into her room.

He approached her, but she only stepped back when he got close. They played a brief game of cat and mouse until the young man had her cornered against the other side of the wall, a hand resting beside her head as the other had its fingers cradling her chin. His gaze immediately found the blackened skin that stained her when the light found her face and he inhaled, awfully slow.

"I'm gonna get 'im." He whispered, gentle. The raging emotion was clear on his face, but the storm brewing behind his eyes caused Izumi to shrink. The audience murmured and gasped to each other as the large bruise surrounding her eye was visible when Izumi shook her head no, and she desperately grasping at the man's arms to prevent him from going anywhere.

"No. I won't let you." Izumi begged desperately, using all of her strength to make sure the man wouldn't leave her room. "Stop it. You're gonna ruin your dream."

"Well, he's ruining yours." He bit back. His voice held a calm anger, but he stopped resisting the hands that dragged down his arms. Instead, he lifted his own hands to cup the woman's face in his palms and dipped his head down until their foreheads touched.

The two young adults stared into each other's eyes, causing people to hold their breath as the silence between the two characters stretched, Izumi's grip on the man's arms loosening as another weak cry escaped her.

"I'll manage. I'll get out of here soon." She promised him with a faint sniffle, her eyes shining as fat tears rolled down her soft cheeks. The lights were dim as the silence returned, the water that leaked out of her eyes dripping down the length of the man's hands and wrists as they wouldn't stop dripping.

She looked.. vulnerable. The actor's breath was nearly taken away at how much Izumi had grown since he had last seen her act. The sight of her gorgeous eyes twinkling in the low spotlight causing his heart to clench. With bated breath, he leaned over just a bit more to whisper in her ear, making sure that their microphones wouldn't catch what he was going to say.

"Can I kiss you?" He asked faintly, the brush of his lips against her skin causing her body to tingle. Her breath stuttered awkwardly and she couldn't respond, but the slight nod of her head gave him her permission, and the man smiled sadly. He had gone back into character.

"I trust you." The actor sighed, already resigning his efforts in finding her father. By the time he uttered that line, Izumi was already bracing herself with her eyes fluttered shut, leaving the man smiling. He knew he was going to get a lot of slaps on the back after the play, but when his lips met hers in a gentle farewell kiss, it was the furthest thing from his mind.

The audience nearly caused a commotion at the brief display, and the other actors that were currently on the sidelines were grinning menacingly to themselves.

With her hands now on his chest, Izumi pushed him away with a gasp and wiped at her mouth with the back of her fist, eyes clear of tears as she put some distance between the both of them.

"We'll meet again, soon. Okay?" His smile was warm, but it was also pained as Izumi's character shrunk in on herself, hands held up to hide the bruised part of her face. She watched as the man left through her window again, the stage lights slowly dimming until the whole theatre went dark.

Hurried footfalls gently pattered against the stage as the actors and a few stagehands worked to remove the bed from the area, the scrape of props quiet as they changed scenes and the actors switched into another set of costumes.

The sound of marching filled the theatre then, and when the lights flashed on, there was Izumi, standing in the centre with a few other actors and ensemble cast standing behind her. She was facing another group that was clad in protective gear and in their hands held weapons while her group held flowers.

At this point, Izumi was feeling lightheaded and nauseous when her gaze met the actor's eyes. Her emotions were welling up inside her as she wondered how her character would truly feel in this situation. In the script it said that she was supposed to cry tears of anguish, but Izumi felt that that wasn't right.

Her character deserved so much more. She didn't deserve to be perceived as someone who could only cry at the unfortunate events that were brought upon her, so Izumi straightened her shoulders with a subtle look of determination taking place in the twitch of her eyebrows and the frown on her face.

The actor before her looked on with uneasiness. His character didn't know what to do, facing his childhood friend like this.

"We'll meet again soon.." The words echoed throughout the building.

And on two opposing sides did they meet again.

Standing in front of each other, the actor's character was left in shock as Izumi's figure entered his field of vision through the riot helmet he wore on his head. She looked healthy. Even though the shadow under her eyes was still there, she was practically glowing despite the situation they both found themselves in and it left him speechless.

He was speechless because she did manage to escape. To escape and grow into the person she wanted to be.

His character willed himself not to say anything. He wasn't allowed to speak to her, but he knew that she recognised him. The shield he held in front of his body didn't do much to hide the shame that was written on his face and he was able to feel the blank stare she was sending him. Her fingers angrily clutched onto the stem of the flower she held onto, but she didn't say anything as the people beside her kept their silence as well.

Here she was, right in front of him, trying to make her dream become a reality while he was right there in the gear that prepared him to destroy it.

She didn't want to say anything. Izumi bit at her lips as she contemplated what to do, but the little thorns in the flower she held pricked at her skin and told her to hurry. Set aside the differences between them and lay the pretty thing at his feet.

She took a cautious step forward, making sure the actor's eyes were on her as she stared right back, slowly crouching down low enough to put the flower at his feet while the cast behind her did the same to the other officers. The frown on her face seemed to be permanent as she stood back up to her full height, but she didn't move.

She continued to stand in front of the man that she used to call her childhood friend and opened up her mouth to speak.

"This is how you wanted to achieve your dream?"

A nod. No words. Izumi smiled due to the disbelief that was slowly coursing through her veins.

"Why? Tell me."

"Stay back. Don't come any closer." He said harshly when she inched just the slightest bit closer to get in his face. The audience could see the way the young woman clenched her fists in anger, but she kept it cool. They watched as she stood, toe to shield, chin tipped up with her shoulders squared as she squinted up at the man who commanded her to keep her distance.

"You hated the men who wore these uniforms." She whispered. Her voice was as quiet as the wind that blew between them, but it held so much power. So much that it actually caused the man in front of her to flinch. "You're gone for half a decade and I see you again like this?"

"You never contacted me. Never replied. There were so many instances where I called you and you never picked up." She spat angrily. Her voice grow louder in volume as she talked, and her peers tried to pull her away from the line of officers to ensure her safety, but she broke away from them with a furious roar, the thin veins in her neck popping out.

There were loud murmurs heard amongst the audience as the crowd on stage began to get rowdy when the officers in their gear started to hold their shields up more firmly in their grip. She was but a single person in a sea of others who was getting aggressive, but it was enough to have everyone in front of her put themselves on guard. The only person who didn't lift up their shield was her childhood friend, and she could see the hesitancy that fluttered behind his dull eyes.

Her body shook with anger as she recalled the lonely nights she had went through without her friend by her side. The times when she had to hole herself up in her room and hide beneath the covers as fear took over her. The tears she shed on the days she'd try to call him, only to be sent to his automated voicemail.

She wondered where he had gone all those years ago, and now here he was, standing right in front of her as the person they used to hate.

"This is what you meant when you said you wanted to make the world a better place?" The venom behind her voice made Izumi lightheaded once more, and the emotions of her character made her feel like throwing up. They were practically nose to nose at this point, but her friends were desperately trying to pull her away again.

"Get back!" The actor shouted furiously, suddenly hoisting his shield up as a fire lit up in his eyes.

Push comes to shove, the cold material of his protective gear pressing into her scarred skin as the officers behind him began to get restless themselves. Izumi is left stumbling back into her friends, only to return with more purpose in her steps, the sound of the crowd roaring gradually escalating into something more as the sound of gunshots wail into the air, screams of shock and flinching people filling in the unsettling silence.

"Stand down!" The actor shouted from the top of his lungs and dropped his shield with a heavy thud. "Who fired those shots!?"

"We need to get her help." One of the other troupe members said with a tremble in his voice as he picked up Izumi in a bridal carry, another member putting pressure onto the wounds that continued to spill blood.

In his arms lay a lifeless Izumi, and the audience was reduced to shock at how the events played out. Her arm, limp as a select few actors carried her off stage in a rush, left a trail of blood on the varnished stage.

The man in the riot gear couldn't react fast enough by the time he was done barking orders, already witnessing how the bullets split her skin into wounds up close and how fast her friends had carried her away.

Even when he took a step forward to follow after them, to make sure she got to the medical tent safely, one of his colleagues pulled him back by the shoulder while shaking his head.

The shakiness in his breath washed over the theatre as he deliberately threw his helmet to the ground and gripped his hair in his fingers.

He was trained to not react to these types of things, but the gorey image of his childhood friend bleeding from places where she shouldn't be was so freshly ingrained into his mind.

He dropped to his knees and let out a hoarse gasp, and the trembling in his voice as he apologised with a mantra of murmurs trailed off into silence as the lights went dim for the last time.

What's done is done. There will be no forgiveness.

The silence lasted for a few more seconds until the theatre erupted into an ear-deafening applause, effectively startling all of the actors who left the stage.

"Curtain call!" One of the actors beside Izumi shouted above the clapping as his hand found hers. Everyone who took part in the play simultaneously shouted in acknowledgement, and suddenly the newly debuted actress was being pulled towards centre stage.

Her heart was in her throat when she made eye contact with her male lead as she met him in the middle, and the proud look on his face as he took her other hand in his made her body feel like it was floating.

Slowly, the reality began to sink in.

Her misty eyes gazed into the number of people who were standing in the audience, clapping and shouting as the line of the cast finished gathering.

Her gaze darted amongst the sea of people until they landed on the faces of those she knew too well. They were moving down the rows to make it to the stage as well, and she noticed something reflect in their hands.

Unable to identify what they were holding due to being dragged down into a bow with her make lead, Izumi let out an incredulous laugh at the thought of a successful opening night. With her as the female lead.

Her vision was blackening around the edges while her breathing began to show an irregular pattern, and she couldn't help it when the tears began to drip from her eyes. Her heart felt like it was racing a thousand miles per second when the troupe members in the audience joined everyone else on stage with flower bouquets in their hands, and the familiar voice of Matsukawa boomed from the speakers.

"And please give it up for Mankai Company's director and newly debuted actress— Izumi Tachibana!"

The spotlight drew upon her, the heat of the beam causing her skin to warm up as the applause in the theatre grew louder, the blush on her skin growing heavier when her cast members and the other troupes began to cheer just as loud.

Suddenly, her arms were laden with flowers as the Mankai members began to approach her with a proud adoration in their eyes. Her hands shook as she greeted them with an elated breath of air, lips trembling as she did her best to show everyone her ecstatic smile.

"We still have a few more nights to go!" The male lead shouted over the never ceasing applause, his bright eyes catching Izumi's attention as he bent down to her height to hand her one more flower, a single congratulatory rose.

Her affirmative nod made something small flutter in the man's chest, and without him realising, he was leaning in even closer to her to press a kiss to her cheek— up until a few hands grabbed his shoulders and arms, and nearly threw him to the side to get him away from their beloved director.

"Thank you, guys, I— Whoa!" Izumi squealed in surprise when she felt her body floating, the strongest and tallest members of the company moving to catapult her up in the air as she clutched onto her flower bouquets.

Her initial surprise was overtaken by the laughter that bubbled from deep within her, the happiness of finally being able to do something so exciting on stage causing her to feel like a feather as everyone continued to exclaim their joys.

It was way too early in the week for them to be celebrating like this, she thought to herself. The sweat on her forehead from the spotlight cooled down as they threw her up one more time, cushioning her last fall with their strong arms before setting her back down on her wobbly legs.

"Thank you everybody for a great night!" She said one last time with a 90 degree bow towards the audience.

When she snapped back to her original height, the exhaustion instantly caught up with her, having her nearly collapse into the crowd excitedly bouncing behind her.

"Oops. Careful." One of the troupe members laughed as he let her fall into his arms, already making the moves to hold her up in a bridal carry so that she wouldn't strain herself any longer.

Her embarrassment was obvious as the blush painted across her cheeks warmed into a darker shade, but the adrenaline in Izumi's body was way too much for her to handle.

Holding up her flower bouquets above her head, she let out a clear, refreshing shout from the top of her lungs to express her joy, resulting in the whole company following suit as she was carried off stage.

Their giggles were cheerful as the troupe member who held her began to run towards her dressing room, and Izumi just couldn't believe she was going to have to perform for four more nights.

Izumi Tachibana, the girl who used to be blacklisted for being a terrible actress, has now become one.

She didn't need anybody's validation but her own. She didn't need somebody to tell her if she was 'good enough'.

She just needed friends who understood her and gave her the time she needed to overcome her weaknesses and make them into her greatest strength.

Her ears began to hear white noise as she let her head fall back onto the shoulder of the man who carried her, relief finally washing over her body as it felt like the world was finally lifted from her back.

Closing her eyes as she was brought into her dressing room, the tears of happiness flowed down once more.

#a3! #a3! act! addict! actors! #act! addict! actors! #A3! Actor Training Game #izumi tachibana #tachibana izumi #izumi tachibana fanclub #a3! imagines #a3! scenarios

[meta-squash]

Upon rewatching for fic purposes, I think the thing I’m most disappointed with regard season 10 is the way they changed Mickey’s characterization.

Characters will inevitably change over the course of a show, partly because they grow up and have new experiences, and partly because the writers usually change. I’m okay with that. Usually the actors know their character well enough to figure out how to incorporate new characteristics into their portrayal or to manipulate lines until they sound right.

It genuinely baffles me that the writing of Mickey was so weird this season that even Noel couldn’t totally hide it.

Mickey is socially awkward, but he’s not stupid. Throughout the show he’s definitely kinda struggled to connect with or know how to act around people, especially people he doesn’t already know. He’s either stand-offish or actively hostile. He doesn’t understand people who don’t come right out and say what they mean, because that’s generally his mode of communication and people who beat around the bush just aren’t his type. Throughout the show, there are definitely quite a few moments where Ian has to kind of jump in and save the social situation because Mickey’s awkward and doesn’t really know how to act, or he just sits back and lets Mickey be his usual shithead self because he likes it.

Either way, Mickey is definitely not stupid. In fact, he’s really quite observant. He managed to run many scams, he’s fairly chameleon-like when he actually wants to fool people into trusting him. He’s great with math, he managed to run a business and then continue to run it even after getting raided by the cops more than once. He’s not always the most clever when it comes to comebacks or insults, but he’s quick with them at least.

I feel like season 10 just straight up made Mickey stupid. He acts hostile, but in a way that’s much more blunt and less sharp-eyed than before. Hostile Mickey in previous seasons is hostile because he’s alert and wary. Mickey in season 10 just sounds like an aggressive thug. I liked the “there’s a fucking verb for that” line re: Paula being thrown out a window because that sounds like old Mickey. Something a little goofy that he finds entertaining but it’s still intelligent. But a lot of the other lines (like the we know that we know etc etc line) just seemed so clunky and dumb, even coming from Noel. His interactions with prison people that aren’t Ian, the shit regarding the wedding, just so many lines felt and sounded like Mickey wasn’t being written as smart and sharp as he is.

Also I cannot believe Mickey would go back to the Milkovich house and ask Terry for help. Not in a million years. Mickey has shown zero positive connection with his father. Nothing but fear or hatred. And especially with things regarding Ian, I don’t think he would go to Terry. Maybe his brothers or his cousins or Sandy or Mandy or something like that. But I cannot imagine Mickey ever wanting to even think about mixing the subject of Ian and the subject of his father ever again.

And while I think Mickey’s fixation on the wedding being perfect could have been a great way to examine his trauma regarding Terry and the wedding as a redirecting of that fear and hurt, I know that’s not what the writers were doing. Mickey’s a dramatic little shit, but he’s not dramatic in that way. He’s not a freaking out about chairs and flowers kind of dramatic. He’s not an “everything needs to be perfect” dramatic. His drama is simultaneously a lot bigger and a lot smaller than that. Mickey’s dramatic gestures are either things that seem small to others but are huge to him: the kiss in the van, his freakouts at various people outside the club, his entire first response to Ian’s diagnosis, his apology in the prison with the phone and stuff; or things that are huge but also fully south side-style dramatic: his entire fucking coming out, breaking out of prison to find Ian, beating up the club owner, going to prison for Ian.

Mickey’s drama for himself is generally pretty small; his drama for others (Ian) is usually much bigger. Mickey freaking out over little wedding details felt to me like a weird sort of “this character isn’t gay enough, lets have him freak out in a stereotypically gay way about stereotypically gay things like wedding planning but he has to stay in character.” If they had used this whole wedding thing to explore Mickey’s fear of things being ruined by his father or Ian’s frankly shitty commitment track record (much as I love the guy, he just fucks up so much) or the cartel or whatever, that would have been a good way to do that. But they didn’t.

I dunno, I’m just frustrated with how childish and goofy and stupid Mickey’s lines and characterization seem to be this season. I mean, we do get some gems. Noel’s acting in the courtroom in 10x08 is fucking incredible and he needs more scenes like that holy hell. But just all the dialogue surrounding the wedding planning sounds SO out of character and non-Mickey. And a lot of the dialogue with Paula or around the Paula plotline sounds ridiculous, too. And it’s obvious that Noel is trying his best with it, trying to fit Mickey’s personality and way of speaking and body language around these lines but it’s just not fitting.

#don't get me started on the gallavich milagher bullshit #mickey milkovich #shameless #shameless meta #gallavich

[thepixelelf]

Theatre Au - Yang Jeongin

Lead Actor - In the context of a play or musical, an individual who plays the role of a main character. This is applicable to both protagonists and antagonists. (Yang Jeongin is not ready for this.) 

Stage Manager - An individual who has overall responsibility for the technical and artistic execution of a theatrical production. (You have been ready for this since day one.)

Where the stage manager has helped the actor all year, and the actor is starting to feel side effects.

Jeongin / Minho / Seungmin / Chan / Hyunjin / Jisung / Changbin / Felix / Glossary

Jeongin actually didn’t mean to get a lead role

He only auditioned in the first place because his friend was part of the production as the costumes head

They told him to try out, even though he’s only ever sung trot during karaoke and hasn’t acted since his elementary school forced him to in third grade

But,,, his friend is right when they say he’s got PIPES

And maybe in some ways he kind of likes show tunes

So he signs up for auditions

His friend told him how it worked, that he’d walk in, introduce himself to the director and Seungmin (who somehow snagged the role of assistant director), then sing his song and take some redirects from both of them.

Jeongin really doesn’t know what redirects are, but his friend tells him to just go with it

So he walks in, clutching his audition papers, just slightly (according to him) nervous

But at least he knows what’s coming

He steps up to the middle of the room, finally looking up at the front table to see the director, Seungmin, and… you

His friend never warned him about another person???

You have your head down, pen in your hand as you read other people’s audition papers

Suddenly Jeongin can admit he’s nervous

Something about you not even looking at him while Seungmin and the director are both smiling politely throws Jeongin off

He only snaps out of it when the director speaks

“If you could just give the pianist your sheet music, stand on the X taped out on the floor, give us your name and your audition song, then we’ll introduce ourselves and begin.”

He gives the pianist his sheet music and hands his audition papers to the director, taking note of the many rings she has decorating her fingers

“Welcome,” she chirps, “I’m Audrey Kessler, Department Head and drama teacher here at this school, but you can call me Kessler. I’m the director of the show.”

“I’m Seungmin, the assistant director.”

Seungmin has to tap your elbow for you to finally stop reading

“Oh, uh, hi,” you give him your name, “I’m the stage manager.”

For some reason, the fact that you’re now reading his papers makes him feel intimidated, and you’ve barely even said anything yet

Maybe it’s because he has no idea what a stage manager does

Disregarding that, he goes on with his audition

You barely look at him the entire time, which he can’t tell is good or bad

At least he learns what redirects are

(Weird. They’re weird)

At the end of the week is dance auditions, the one part Jeongin was least confident about, but the dance captain is super bubbly and helps him relax and just have fun with it

“Thank you for coming to auditions, everyone!” Kessler says at the end of the day to a dance studio full of sweaty teens. “Tonight our stage manager will be calling folks for callbacks, so keep your phones on and your ears open! Goodnight!”

Jeongin definitely does not expect a call, but he gets one

Meanwhile, you also don’t expect to call Jeongin again a week later

You have to admit that his audition wasn’t bad

He sang well and took the redirects better than most

And his callbacks (you didn’t pay much attention since you were working on the props list) according to Seungmin were quite good

But your main concern is the fact that he had zero theatre experience before this

Zero

Nada

Zilch

Okay, you’re being a little dramatic, but still

Since you don’t know Jeongin personally, you’re scared he might get an ultra-inflated ego after being cast as a lead first try

(Because, and trust this is true, that’s happened more than once)

But you have no say in casting as the stage manager and you don’t really want to anyways, so you call him

“Hello?”

“Hi! Is this Jeongin?”

He’d just been working on homework

Just kidding, he’d been napping on his biology textbook when his phone woke him up, but don’t tell anybody

His voice is a bit rumbly when he answers, “Yes?”

He’s only the second person you called to cast that day, but you wrote down exactly what you needed to say (phone calls aren’t easy, alright!)

“Hey Jeongin, I’m calling to let you know that you’ve been cast for the role of Will Bloom, congratulations.”

There’s such a long pause that you pull your phone away from your ear to check if it died

When you bring it back, you hear a faint

“…Actually?”

You laugh a bit, it’s sort of cute how inexperienced he is

“Yes, Jeongin, actually. Congratulations! Now, our first read-through of the script is on Monday, October twenty-first. You have to be there otherwise you will be cut, trust me, Kessler is very strict about attendance. Oh, and scripts will be handed out then too.”

You’re reading the information off a little cue card on your desk

1. Tell them which role they’re cast as

2. Tell them when first read-through is (Oct. 21)

3. Tell them attendance is mandatory

4. Tell them about the scripts

5. Congrats and goodnight

“Congrats again, have a good night!”

But before you can hang up, you hear Jeongin frantically yell into the receiver

“Wait!!”

“Yes?”

Another pause, and you think maybe you’re having connection problems

“You’re…” he starts, “the stage manager, right?”

“Yep, that’s me.”

“What do you, like, do? I mean—! I don’t mean that in an offensive way! I just meant that… oh no I’m rambling again. I just wanted to ask—”

“What a stage manager does?”

You hear him sigh in relief on the other end of the line. “Yeah.”

People ask you about this all the time, but it’s usually your dentist or your family who have no idea how theatre works

Actors don’t usually need to ask

It’s sort of refreshing, though

“Well, as a stage manager I make sure the show stays afloat. Every rehearsal I’ll be taking attendance and making sure everyone stays safe, but the majority of my job is on the technical side. You know, lights and sound and special effects and everything else that isn’t acting, singing, or dancing? That’s done by our technical crew, which is communicated with through the directors and me. Does that make sense?”

“…Yeah?”

You laugh again. “You don’t sound very sure of yourself. Let me put it this way: if the show is the train, then tech is the train tracks, and I’m the guy stuck in the Trolley Problem when things go sideways.”

That doesn’t make any more sense to Jeongin, but he figures he’ll learn with time

“I think I get it now,” he lies. “So… you’re at every rehearsal?”

“Yup,” you answer cheerfully. “Now I hate to cut this short, but I do have fifty-six more calls to make tonight, so I kind of have to. If you have anymore questions, I’m happy to answer them, so just shoot me a text at this number. Congratulations, have a good night, Jeongin.”

He tries to say goodnight back, but the hang-up tone already played in his ear

It’s a bit embarrassing, but he definitely stares dumbfounded at his phone for like five minutes

He… got the part?

A… main part?

He honestly thinks he’s dreaming, still drifting off on top of his unfinished bio homework

Quick reality check attempt:

i just got a call and the scary stage manager said i’m gonna be will bloom???????

[drama 🤢 kid 🤢] Lmaoo I knew kessler was gonna pick you

[drama 🤢 kid 🤢] You can’t call me a drama kid anymore since you’re the real drama kid now

[drama 🤢 kid 🤢] Also I know the sm has a bit of a resting bitch face but they’re not scary??

dont tell me what i can and cannot be scared of

[drama 🤢 kid 🤢] Will bloom tho? Ensembles way easier for beginners

[drama 🤢 kid 🤢] Ha, good luck with those lines sucker!

Hold up…

LINES?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?

Why Jeongin didn’t think he’d have any lines is a total mystery

When he gets his script and flips through all the pages, his eyes nearly bug out of his head at all the lines he has

He even starts the show!!

During the first read-through of the script, he’s too busy frantically whispering to his friend about the sheer amount of lines he’s going to have to memorize to hear you start with

“Act One, Scene One. Lights rise up on a river to reveal Edward at the river’s edge. He’s dressed in a suit, tie loosened. He skips a stone across the water. Will enters stage right. He’s dressed in a jacket and tie.”

When there’s a second of silence, everyone looks up from their scripts to see Jeongin with his mouth open like a fish

“Oh,” he gulps and quickly flips back to the first page, “Uh, ‘Dad? Mom’s looking for you.’“

Immediately, the lead (Jeongin kind of remembers his name is Bang Chan) jumps into his character, his fake Alabaman accent and fervor turning everyone’s attention to him as he reads, “’I don’t know why we need rehearsal dinners…’”

While Chan says his line, Jeongin unconsciously looks up at you, the only person not staring at Chan

You flash him a smile and an “okay” sign with your hand before pointing at your script and letting him know it is going to be his line again in a second

He appreciates that

(Definitely not because you smiling made him forget what he was doing)

Anyways

He has an entire solo song, which he complains to his friend about, but they only tell him that people would kill for a solo

Needless to say, he’s a bit overwhelmed

After the first rehearsal, it takes a lot of convincing from his friend to even stay in the production at all

Which he does

(Because his friend said you’ll everyone will be in a pinch if he quits)

Rehearsals go on and on, way more than he ever expected

And he actually does well — better than he ever thought he would

Well… except for memorizing lines

It’s really embarrassing how often he has to call out “line”

And why do you have to be the one prompting, huh???

Can’t he live in peace without humiliating himself in front of you 24/7???

“Um, line?”

“Yes.”

“…?”

“The line is “Yes,” Jeongin.”

God, these lines are gonna be the death of him

One day Kessler tells him he needs to get himself off book, and while she says it with a smile, Jeongin thinks he might die of mysterious circumstances if he doesn’t sort it out

And two hours later:

[stage manager (not scary)] Hey Jeongin, I saw that Kessler sort of chewed you out today. Sorry about that. Would you like to meet up outside of rehearsals to practice lines? I can also ask Chan if he can help out, if you prefer him, but keep in mind he’s got his swim team schedules as well

Let’s just say Jeongin’s eyes would have popped out of his head if it weren’t for human anatomy

that would be great! can—

No, too enthusiastic

you don’t have to its okay—

No, he really does need the help

choral room after rehearsal?

That’s way too informal!!! But he can’t take it back now!!!

Jeongin flails around in bed for a solid minute before his phone goes off

[stage manager (not scary)] Cool, I’ll see you then

So from then on you and Jeongin practice lines for about half an hour after every rehearsal

You read everyone else’s lines and Jeongin just reads his own (because why would he read other characters’ lines?)

It’s actually quite helpful because you force him to focus on memorizing instead of goofing off with his friends like he usually does

At first you’re pretty monotone with the delivery, but soon enough you have to keep scolding Jeongin for laughing at your funny voices and fake Alabama accent

“Jeongin! Stop laughing, you’re breaking character!”

“I can’t help it, you sound like an idiot!!”

“I’m playing your mother!!!”

choral room?

[stage manager (not scary)] Yep yep

choral room?

[stage manager (not scary)] Give me five minutes

choral rooms full how about room 119?

[stage manager (not scary)] I’ll be there

Jeongin gets really used to hanging out (disguised as practicing) with you

So much so that one day he walks into the choral room and Chan’s there and he just goes ????????

Chan smiles and holds up his script

“Hey man, they’ve got a big exam tomorrow so they asked me to help you out with lines,” he says. “You’ve gotten really good though, you barely ever ask for lines during rehearsal anymore.”

Jeongin literally pouts

Not that he dislikes Chan or anything, he just realizes how much he looks forward to spending one-on-one time with you

He still practices with Chan that day because he does actually need to, but he definitely wishes you’re there

Chan notices

And he talks to you the next day

“That Jeongin kid really seems to like you.”

“I mean I’d be concerned if anyone in the cast didn’t like me.”

“No, I mean, like, like you like you.”

“Dude, how many times do I have to tell you: I don’t understand you better just because you say the words twice with more emphasis!”

During tech week, you get super busy

Like, insanely busy

You’re in charge of everything stage-management-wise and props-wise because there aren’t enough kids in the tech program

Plus one of your very small running crew quit a few days before

Which is fine because it was his own choice but my god

You have a lot on your plate

So Jeongin doesn’t really get to see you, and that puts a bit of a damper on his mood because

Well

Because he realized a little bit ago that he kinda maybe likes you

And since you’ve been at the theatre, it’s been the assistant stage manager at rehearsals instead

Which he doesn’t mind, really — they’re a very nice person and Jeongin has his lines all memorized

He just misses you

(Even though it’s only been like four days)

And honestly, you kinda miss him too

Practicing lines with him after school was always a nice refresher after a hard day of school and tech

Plus Jeongin’s super nice and funny

And cute

Wait

Tech week goes by, not in a flash but in a frenzy

But you get your shit together by the end and everything is prepared and ready

It’s opening night and everyone’s a bit on edge

(Well who wouldn’t be?)

But right before you have to go up to your station, you ask for Jeongin to meet you on the staircase leading up to the tech booths

He’s a bit nervous because a) he’s about to perform his very first show, and b) it’s you

“Hey, you asked for me?”

“I did,” you say with a cheeky smile, hands hidden behind your back, “thanks for coming.”

“Did you, um… need something?”

Your smile deepens, and you pull out a hand from behind you to reveal a single red rose

“Congratulations on opening, Mr. Lead Actor.”

(And you maybe kiss him on the cheek)

((And maybe he kisses you on the cheek back))

(((And maybe Chan gets mad at you for not giving him any flowers)))

#this one might be way longer than the others rip #I got carried away #stray kids imagines #stray kids scenarios #stray kids x reader #yang jeongin x reader #i.n. x reader #yang jeongin imagines #yang jeongin scenarios #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #.100

[forgotten-daydreamer]

"The Last Airbender" honest commentary by me

-> I remember I watched this once, when I was something like 12, and I think my mind FORCED me to forget about it, and now that I'm 20 I feel the urge to watch it again. I saw clips on YouTube so it's not like I know nothing at all, but very very little. I'm honestly scared. I'll point out the things that I like too, if I find something like it. So... bring it on.

---

What is that gibberish in the background even supposed to mean? As someone who studies Japanese I am deeply disappointed. "But A:TLA's words are in Chinese!!" yes. But, for those who don't know, Japanese imported them as kanji so I can recognize them even if I don't speak Chinese, for these characters are written in the same way, even if pronounced differently. Or, well, I could recognize them if this gibberish meant anything. But it doesn't.

Not a fan of the prologue written onscreen as Katara reads it aloud (I suppose it's her?) to be honest. Especially when it's in... English. At this point why not changing that ugly gibberish into the English translation of the words? It would've made more sense, even if it doesn't.

Katara and Sokka sure are very... huh... White. Watching the racism and whitewashing jump out is too painful. Damn, I'm already upset with this movie and I'm only 2:35 minutes in.

A:TLA Sokka would never raise a finger on his sister- never in a million years. This dude straight up grabbed her arm! Not. Cool. Dude.

"I thought about Mom, isn't that strange..?" no Katara, it really isn't. She's your dead mother, it's not strange to think about her. That sentence just seems forced, it's got nothing to do with what's happening.

Okay, Sokka following his father's teachings is actually accurate, nice one.

I take it back. Sokka, what the actual fuck- why would you break the ice right under your feet?? A:TLA Hakoda would be very disappointed.

Oh, look, Aang's white too. How surprising.

Katara, the kid just woke up from a coma, stop asking him a thousand questions, cut Aang some slack!

Acting skills sooo not on point. Maybe the actors are actually good, and maybe it's just the dialogues that are... off. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and see how it goes.

I apprecciate the effort of trying to make Aang's tattoos look "cool" but next time, please don't.

This camera work is giving me a headache. The angles keep changing rapidly with no reason, and sometimes the camera's too close to the actors... Who did this?

Are Katara and Sokka the only white people in their village? I'm... confused.

"I am Prince Zuko." uh???? Where's your scar? Come on, that is literally one of the main points around which his story revolves, you can't just not put it there. I'm so upset.

Oh... that's the scar? Dude, I have a worse scar on my knee, I'm not even joking.

Of course Katara and Sokka's grandma is white, makes sense. So there's three white people in this village while everyone else is Asian, from what I saw. So it's okay to cast Asians as extras but not as the main characters? Holy shit, this movie is so problematic already.

Zuko, for fuck's sake, stop yelling. Aang's right in front of you, you two are, like, three inches apart. Stop screaming!

Firebenders need firepits to draw fire from..? Just bring a flamethrower with you next time, it'd be more efficient than your attacks anyway...

I'm not even 11min in and I want to stop already. I can't endure another 1:30h of this. I'm not strong enough.

"[Our mom] would have fought!" she didn't, that's the whole point. She surrendered to protect you, Katara, and the others. I get that the producers changed the story a little, it's normal, but- you can't change these things.

These dialogues... I want to rip my ears off. So little logic, so little pathos, such a poor timing- I want to cry.

Okay, this Iroh seems pretty similar to A:TLA's, thank goodness they didn't mess him up too much.

That is NOT how you pronounce Iroh!! I was a fool to think that there was one character that hadn't been completely ruined in this movie.

Nice nod to Hama, not bad.

Grandma casually has a map next to her when she needs it... Okay, I guess.

The scene on the ship- I'm speechless. Negatively speechless. I want to wash my eyes with bleach.

I love how Zuko just watches Aang fly away, like- "oh, there he goes". A:TLA Zuko would've jumped into the freezing ocean and swam toward him if he had to.

I can't get over their pronunciation of Aang. Ahng? Ohng? What is the reason behind this- why did they change it? He's literally the main character, you just don't do that.

With all due respect, the CGI is bad. I get that this movie is kinda old, but... No. There are older movies with better special effects. Low budget, maybe? I don't know.

"Souuka and I-" it's Sokka. Not Souuka. Sokka.

Zhao is hateful and annoying, which is accurate. I miss the ugly sideburns though.

Iroh calmly sipping tea while Zuko kicks ass- spot on, I can't deny that.

I hate Sokka so much. He's completely out of character, too annoying, uncharacteristically angsty and so boring. How can someone completely mess up a cool character like him?

"There is earth right beneath your feet"... oh my God, for real? Wow, how did they not notice that sooner...

"It's time for you to stop doing this!" reminds me of that one vine with the kid that yells "whEn wiLL yOu LeArN tHAt yoUR aCTioNs hAve ConSeqUEnceS!?", I don't know why.

Katara pushes a Firebender. She pushes him. He could burn her to a crisp and she- okay, you know what, I'm just going to ignore it.

Again with the firepits, I can't even-

It takes six Earthbenders to lift the rock the size of a chair..? And they also have to make a little dance to do that..?

The extras in the background don't even move- guys, at least pretend to dodge or be afraid, or cower backwards, don't just observe while you stand still looking as if you were glancing at the horizon.

Literally everyone in this movie is portrayed by Asian and Middle Eastern actors except for the main characters... Who allowed this, who said that this was okay? Seriously, who. Please, fire this person.

If Aang can't bend the other elements, what was that on Zuko's ship? Were the fire, the rock and the water acting up because Aang was there? It makes no sense.

"Avatars can't have a family." are you sure? 'Cause Roku did, even Wan (and Korra, after Aang) in a way, and many other Avatars too, I'm sure. That's not why he ran away, not at all.

Again with the fake Chinese characters... I mean, I think they were trying to imitate Chinese cursive writing, but... The lines are so straight, so stiff, so clean- there is no way that authentic cursive looks like that. Have you ever seen Japanese cursive? The characters are unrecognizable, but the lines are fluid and curved, not like that.

The scene with Katara and Aang practicing by the river confuses me because- I don't see any water being bent. Is it just me? I'm serious, maybe I just didn't see it..?

Ozai asking about Zuko and acting mildly concerned and almost caring is off-character. It makes it look like he feels guilty, when A:TLA Ozai does not. Also, let's say that this Ozai feels guilty, why doesn't he just welcome his son back, then? But he doesn't, 'cause he indirectly says so, so it makes no sense.

More gibberish. Please, stop. Don't do that again. I beg you.

"-sentenced to Agni KEE." goddamn it. Agni KAI. Not KEE. KAI! Why is that so hard for these people to say things right?

I still don't see any Waterbending. Are they just moving randomly? Are the practicing without actually bending the water..?

Oh, alright, now there's water moving, that's better. Still, so many movements for a little stream of water being lifted in the air- almost like that dance the Earthbenders did earlier. Seems excessive.

Is that monstrosity supposed to be Appa? Why is his face so- human? Oh Spirits, forgive them!

Again with this "I can have no family." thing- did the producers even watch the whole show or just read the summary of Wikipedia?

You know what, the Blue Spirit mask is accurate, in a way. Old masks used to have wigs attached sometimes, so it's not as bad as it seems. His stance though- that's a big no.

Zuko's swords don't actually hit anything most of the times he swings them around- just saying.

"What is this?". Ugh, Zhao, Aang's an AIRbender. Get it? AIR. So he is moving the AIR. I mean, you know he's an airbender, why are you acting surprised that he can redirect the wind?

Yue's white too... I checked online, and I discovered that the actress has Mexican origins: this has nothing to do with Asia and the Middle East so I personally consider this as a desperate attempt to include diversity- as if there were no actual Asian and Middle Eastern actors out there, but fine, I guess. What was I expecting at this point? Oh, I also know that this actress is Asami's V.A. which doesn't change much but since I like Asami I'll pretend to like this Yue too, a bit.

Extra™ moves to create a 10ft tall tornado... Okay, Aang, you're the boss.

Pakku is white too, hm? I don't know what to say anymore. Should I just stop pointing out this cast is so, so wrong? Probably. Will I? No.

Sokka's face when Yue tells him her hair's white because she was stillborn- that is the only realistic face he's done so far. Also, Yue's acting is not that off, and I actually like it! She's better than others.

More waterbending without water. Budget cuts.

I take that back, Yue is basically smiling when Sokka tells her that the Fire Nation is there, like, come on! Yue, I believed in you...

The dialogues are so fake, nobody talks like that! I'm sure that this is among the reasons why the actors seem incapable of doing their job- I'm sorry for these people, maybe the poor performance is not entirely their fault.

I'm trying to figure out what's up with Zuko's hair, and I'm not talking about the fact that it doesn't grow where the scar is, that's normal. What bothers me are those spikes he has on the front and on the back- or whatever they are. I am confused. Better than ponytail!Zuko, worse than all the other haircuts he had in A:TLA.

Zuko's actor is the best one in this movie so far, in my opinion. He's believable. He yelled a lot in the beginning, but now (1:12h in) he's not that odd.

How to understand when a scene has been not thought through: when characters don't do something that normal people would do. Zuko throws fire at Aang when he tries to escape, and then he just stands less than ten feet apart as Aang hides- he watches him, he stands there like "okay, I can't attack you now because the script says I'm not supposed to". Then do not include him in the shot! Or, at least make him say something- no, he just stands there and watches as his enemy is literally three seconds away from him. He could reach him with a little leap, without even running!

They showed Azula for a split second in the Agni Kai scene and then Zuko mentioned her once. Is that all? I hope to see her more, even a little something. Not including her would be a huge waste.

I don't ever want to see Appa again. So ugly he's scary. Who is the person that created the CGI for our amazing flying bison that we fell in love with? This isn't Appa, it's... Something else, something terrible.

The scene where Yue passes out when Zhao kills the Spirit- the secondhand embarrassment is real there. I had to look away, it's so bad.

This Zhao is maybe the most out of character person in this movie, and it's hard to beat Aang and Sokka so that sure is something...

If they say "Souuka" one more time I'll cry. I'm serious. I'll do it.

Alright, alright, the scene where Aang saves the day is pretty cool, I liked it, despite the questionable CGI.

Why do Katara and Sokka keep Aang upright by gripping his upper arms so tightly? That hurts! There are different ways to do that, less painful and more efficient.

Ozai looks like he has no idea of what he's talking about, he looks like me when I read maths.

There she is, Azula!! Wait- are we seeing her again?

...okay, we're not.

---

What can I say... Disastrous. No cabbage man, literally only five seconds of Azula, everyone is out of character, bad casting, bad pronunciation, gibberish wannabe Chinese characters, odd CGI... Everything is wrong.

#took me almost 2.30h to watch a 1.45h long movie. painful. #i'm crying. this was literal torture. #atla #a:tla #avatar the last airbender #avatar #the last airbender #movie #long post #aang #sokka #katara #zuko #gaang #iroh #uncle iroh #firelord ozai #ozai #commander zhao #appa #momo #yue #princess yue #avatar aang #prince zuko

[florrickandassociates]

TGF Thoughts: 4x04-- The Gang is Satirized and Doesn’t Like It

The gang doesn’t like being satirized and I don’t like this episode.

No episode needs to be 57 minutes long. Is it possible that seeing the runtime put me in a bad mood before watching this episode? Absolutely.

Bianca is still trying to get Lucca to take a week off and come play on the beach. This is weird, right?

She’s using a drone to take a selfie which… yikes. Bianca asks what Lucca has in Chicago to match the beach. Lucca takes a look out the window and instead of seeing FakeChicago, she sees a window washer’s ass crack. Lucca protests that she has work in Chicago and can’t leave (are we going to mention her baby?). Before Bianca can ask more questions, David Lee calls Lucca into a meeting.

A former client who says he’s been “bouncing from one [firm] to the other” (which sort of explains why David Lee and Lucca would both have experience with this client who was at RBL a year ago?) is angry because he’s being defamed by a new play. He says his divorce is in the play and wants to sue.

Lucca ChumHums the playwright and recognizes him as a former associate. She brings the case to Adrian’s attention. Before Adrian understands that confidential info made it into the play, he talks about how you shouldn’t give satire oxygen because it will just go away. Easier said than done, huh, Adrian? 

They DID actually fire Alan North for drug use last year. We never saw the actor but his firing was referenced as precedent for firing Maia. Thanks Alan, I guess? 

(Right, I used to spend most of these recaps complaining about Maia! It is very nice not to be doing that anymore.)

Adrian jumps into the case to prevent the client from suing RBL.

We have to see the scene that ended the last episode again. That’s a little clumsy. Maybe trim the stuff we’ve already seen in an episode that’s this long? 

How does Jay POSSIBLY know that one specific dude up at STRL is blocking Diane from searching “What is Memo 618” on Bar-Swarm? I have questions.

Diane immediately heads upstairs to ask this dude about Memo 618. Jay wonders if that’s smart and Diane doesn’t care. As I said to an anon earlier, I feel like now is the time to get a journalist on the case.

Even though Diane storms upstairs uninvited, she’s told “they’re waiting for you.” Creepy.

Diane meets a lot of people, including Bryan Kneef (of internet blocking fame) and a dude who won’t stop hiccuping. 

Oh GOD are we going to have to hear one of these stupid stories from Mr. Firth in every single episode? No fucking wonder this episode is so long. 

Bryan is mad at Diane for poaching his clients. Diane has no idea what he’s talking about. Diane seems to know that her investigator is checking his clients to figure out why he’s blocking her internet. Does Diane actually know Jay is investigating his clients? Or is she just assuming that’s how he found out who was doing the blocking? Because literally as soon as Diane heard Kneef’s name she ran upstairs; there would be no time for her or Jay to begin looking into his clients. 

Mr. Firth asks for Diane not to steal Kneef’s clients and Kneef not to block Diane’s internet access. They agree, but it’s clear neither of them are going to stop doing what they were doing. 

Jay discovers that one of Kneef’s cases disappeared… when he was losing.

Oh, Caleb’s last name is Garlin, not Garland. Noted. Also, I think I mistakenly said STRL was British a few weeks ago. It doesn’t appear to be. 

Marissa bothers Caleb again and asks him to tell her a joke. He does, but she’s unimpressed. 

Caleb has a photographic memory. I like Caleb so far. I feel like he’s kind of what they wanted Finn to be-- a charming good guy. But we’ll see; it’s early yet. 

Caleb gives Diane the number of a legal code the judge needed to review. In a sequence that goes on 30 seconds too long, Diane discovers this code redirects to another code, which redirects right back endlessly. Fun! 

When Diane goes to check a physical book, she discovers all the legal books are fake. Sounds about right. 

Ah, this terrible attorney who hits on young women is back because of reasons related to the other case that disappeared. Marissa is now helping Diane with her 618 quest, maybe because she’s met this creep before?

Diane offers to represent him (he’s being sued for doing a shitty job on disappearing case).

Meanwhile, Adrian and Charlotte go to see “Cocksucker in Chains”, which turns out to be about an African American firm populated by characters who are clearly supposed to be the RBL partners. Julius narrates the play, Adrian likes to be dominated by the Diane character while roleplaying a slave to Diane’s dominatrix (yikes), etc. Adrian is named “Aiden” and Diane is “Dana”. This seems like a good time to remind you all of the original TGW character names from the Pilot outline: Alicia Follick, David Follick (and David Follick Jr.!!!), Dawna Lockhart, and Will Garvin.

The first time through, I was appreciative (and shocked) we got so few scenes from the play. Usually if the Kings have a device like this, we tend to get… more of the device than is necessary. Y’all know how this one turns out. 

This play, from what we see of it, looks kind of terrible. That said, I think it’s SUPER realistic, and interesting, that a low-level black associate would see all the white people coming into the firm as “dominating” a black man who gets off on being submissive. I don’t think that’s an accurate characterization of Adrian’s actions but if you don’t know his reasoning or how things played out, it absolutely could seem like Diane has all the power. And I imagine that young, idealistic lawyers who signed on to work at a firm that was proudly all-black would not have been thrilled by Diane’s sudden appearance and all of the changes that followed. Remember how in season one RBL had things it stood for and then Barbara left and then all it stood for was money?

Relatedly, remember that little throwaway line about how Barbara donated MORE money to HRC than Diane Lockhart did? Heh.

Adrian, as the episode title indicates, DOES NOT LIKE BEING SATIRIZED and tells Lucca they need to shut the play down. That escalated quickly.

Please explain to me how I accidentally memorized the name of the actor playing Kovac but didn’t memorize the character’s name. 

Diane tells Liz and Adrian about her latest Memo 618 adventure and Adrian keeps asking why this matters. “I’m not asking for your permission; I’m just filling you in,” Diane notes. “Maybe you should be asking for our permission,” Adrian counters because he does not want to be dominated by Diane. “Maybe. But I’m not,” she responds.

Liz thinks that Adrian acted weirdly. Adrian explains he doesn’t like how Diane insinuates she can overrule them. Liz has no idea what Adrian is talking about. So he explains the play. Liz still doesn’t think it’s a big deal and asks to take it over.

She then gets Caleb involved-- I guess Lucca is just done working now? Okay? It was nice to have Lucca scenes in this episode while it lasted!!! 

Liz and Caleb go to see the play and now we get to see the scenes where Liz is satirized. Fake Liz sings, because of COURSE they are going to have the FAKE version of her sing. Her song is about how her daddy is a sexual predator. It’s quite upsetting.

Liz and Caleb stay for a Q&A in which the playwright says the client in the play was “based on” (not “inspired by”). (Actually this happens after my second bullet but meh)

Then there’s a white woman who goes on a rant that feels too ridiculous to be true but apparently it’s lifted almost verbatim from an actual incident that happened at a Slave Play Q&A (I am not New York enough to have gotten the reference without the internet’s help). 

Monica is back! Yay Monica! Nikki just needs to show up on Evil next season and she’ll have been on every Kings show. 

Blah blah 618 blah blah. I don’t dislike this arc but I don’t have much to say about it. Like, I get it, corporations are powerful and the law is fake and this is a way of commenting on the insanity of the world while backing away from the politics. But other than saying that and enjoying the twists and turns… I don’t have anything to add.

Man, I miss character based drama. That’s not a criticism of the show, but this recap format is way less interesting (to write, and probably to read) when I don’t have anything to sink my teeth into.

Adrian doesn’t want to settle because now Adrian is mad. The client gets what he wants and Adrian insists they keep going. I mean, if the episode stopped now it would be a reasonable, even short, episode, and we’ve got fifty seven whole minutes to fill..

Liz is also on board to prolong the case. Lucca, who actually has perspective, tells Adrian he’s not acting in the client’s best interest. Adrian denies it. LOL, sure. 

At this exact moment Lucca receives (and looks at) a text from Bianca, who is still pursuing her. Tempting.

Liz asks Marissa if she’s heard of Cocksucker in Chains. She has, and she is getting a “gang” together to go see it, because of course she is.

David Lee enjoys the play. Diane and Kurt, less so. Julius and his wife do not like it at all. Also apparently we HAD seen Julius’s wife before and I somehow FORGOT?????

Play!Julius monologuing about justice makes Real!Julius reevaluate his decisions. 

Then we get into this weird Diane and Kurt sex plot that is kind of about the idea of problematic kinks (like getting off on watching a fake version of your white wife whip a black man) but is mostly just an excuse for fanservice in the form of Christine Baranski in sexy get-ups. She’s got an amazing figure, but does that alone justify this subplot? (I say no.)

(Also I’d be way more invested in a plotline about McHart’s sex life if it didn’t begin and conclude in the back half of a single episode. It’s sparked by the play-- not any ongoing issues-- and concludes in a cute way so to me it is… nothing.)

Marissa goes undercover as a playwright. Everyone in the group dislikes the writer of Cocksucker in Chains… a lot. They hand over the drafts easily.

Liz and Caleb spend a late night reading smut said by fake Liz in an early draft script to each other. Over it already. I was never a fan of boss/employee plots, and in this era, with this character who has SO MUCH potential but never really gets plotlines of her own, I have zero patience for this bullshit. Liz deserves better.

What really confuses me is that somehow Liz/Caleb is supposed to be about… investigating what interracial relationships are like???? If they’re so insistent on showing this can’t they… do something other than this? Random stranger at a bar?

I do not like this thing that is happening to Liz where whenever she gets a plot of her own it’s about fucking someone she shouldn’t be fucking. I haven’t forgotten what the writers did to Geneva Pine in late season seven for LITERALLY NO REASON. 

Liz would not flirt with an employee. Like, just stop. Liz has spent the last year coming to terms with her father being a serial assailant and we are going to deal with that by… having her make eyes at Caleb? That is not interesting or complicated.

And, tbh, it’s especially insulting to Liz when none of this feels motivated in character and ALL of it feels motivated in “we need a sexy forbidden romance so we can explore themes.” Get this plot away from Liz. 

This episode is too long, in case I haven’t already said that enough times.

And now the scene in which Bryan Kneef, the latest Rebel Dude Lawyer, says the word “ass” many times. I repeat: this episode is too long. 

Mr. Firth talks to Diane about pursuing 618. I don’t understand Mr. Firth’s deal. Why does he let Diane continue? Is he just a person who happens to be powerful who is actually trying to do a fair job and be understanding? This show just doesn’t have characters like that so you see why I am skeptical.

Again with the window washers. Of all the symbols of the problems with office life, this one?! (It plays especially poorly right now-- I wish that my biggest problem with my workspace was that there are people cleaning the windows to make my view nicer and not, you know, that my current workspace is my bedroom.) 

Firth goes to see Lucca next. Lucca says she doesn’t like her new standing desk. Wait. They got desks that are standing ONLY without consulting the employees? 

This scene is succeeding in making me miss the standing desk that I’ve only ever used as a standing desk, like, twice. 

No one on this show has a monitor at their desk. I wonder if that’s true to life for law firms. 

Now Bianca has found a way to make it part of Lucca’s JOB to come hang out at the beach and this is making me uncomfortable. Firth tells Lucca to go, even though Lucca shares her concern that Bianca just wants a friend. Firth somehow has a similar story to share and tells Lucca “the rich are not like us.” K. Sure. Maybe we can get away with calling Lucca well-off instead of rich but Firth? Rich. Maybe not ultra wealthy but dude is rich. 

SERIOUSLY what is with the window washers?

Enjoy this scene of Diane the dominatrix, fans. It’s here for you. 

(I don’t mean that snarkily against fans. I mean that snarkily against the show.)

The stock footage clip with the moon over Chicago is one of the more interesting stock footage clips I’ve seen the show use (plus it actually looks like the neighborhood Diane would live in!)

Oh I am just so thrilled that at the 44 minute mark, we are starting to do a series of unnecessary scenes in which the characters converse with their actor counterparts. What a good use of time.

And the sad thing is that I should like this device… but I don’t. None of this is actually building up the characters for me? How invested can I be in Diane and Kurt’s sex life problems when I’ve known about them for less than half of the episode? How interested can I be in deconstructing 

And I don’t need a scene of Julius debating if he should be honest or not, because the scene of him watching the play was enough to make me understand he’s having doubts about complying with 618.

And you know what I REALLY, TRULY, DO NOT NEED? ALL OF THIS ATROCIOUS LIZ/CALEB PLOT. 

Why is Play Liz so horny? What about Real Liz made the playwright write Liz to be like this? And if it’s not accurate, why is it getting under Liz’s skin like this? I get the Diane one because it was a turn-on and it makes Diane wonder about dominating (outside of the bedroom, too). I get the Adrian one because I mean holy shit that’s a big claim to make. And I get the Julius one because Julius loves to be the voice of reason/hear his own voice and feels like a hypocrite. But Liz? What the fuck is this nonsense?

Liz saying “I’m his boss” and talking about HR does not excuse the fact that we are pretending a boss/employee romance is a good plotline in 2020. And I’m so confused about why THIS is the way they are choosing to explore an interracial relationship.

I have watched TV shows before so obviously as soon as I saw Liz get on the elevator, I knew from the fact that we were watching her leave… she wasn’t going to leave. She was going to go and fuck her employee. Great writing guys. 

This also managed to remind me of all my anger at the Red Team Blue Team Willicia kiss (they previewed it as a sneak peak and I was excited that it it didn’t end with them kissing because that’s so cliche… then I watched the episode and I’m still furious about it in season four of the spinoff.) so thanks for that too, writers. 

Why is Fake Liz’s stupid song so goddamn long? 

“Oh God help me,” Liz says as she knowingly goes to make an incredibly stupid decision I have NOT A SINGLE REASON to believe she would make. But this is The Good Fight, and on The Good Fight we care about plot more than characters. 

(Oh. I am in a bad mood.) 

The client wants out of the suit because… I mean, duh? He got what he wanted and this should have stopped at like the 20 minute mark?

If I never had to see another one of these “boss and employee awkwardly talk in the office about how it’s nbd they fucked last night” scenes again I would be OVER THE MOON. I watched all of Willicia and I will rewatch all of Willicia, is that not enough?! 

I do like Caleb so far, but man, that just makes this worse! I like Caleb and I like Liz and maybe I could even like them together but I am so furious they’re doing the boss/employee thing it just makes me sad to see this happen to characters I like. 

Diane is now circling the word “ass” in transcripts of the deposition, but the suit’s been dropped because the suit was settled for 1.8 million. (I am sure that’s a lot to the victim and absolutely nothing to the corporation.) 

Also Kovac brings Diane a bird because WE LOVE WACKINESS ON THE GOOD FIGHT. 

And now for a scene in which a mysterious visitor gives Kurt a warning to stop Diane from pursuing something dangerous. I thought we were done with this. This shit is what I hated about the Book Club arc in season three: the stakes got too high for me to take it seriously. They run the risk of doing the same with Memo 618. Keep it small scale. 

Kurt tells Diane about his visitor, and Kurt and Diane both recognize that this is similar to what happened last year, so at least there’s continuity. 

Diane says this isn’t about politics. I mean. Not overtly. But that’s the point. This whole arc is a thinly veiled way of exploring how the legal system breaks down when there’s no enforcement, and lack of enforcement is tied to politics, so… is this really as apolitical as Diane wants it to seem? Certainly it’s less political than Book Club but I don’t think a radical group should be the benchmark.

Diane promises she’ll drop 618, then gets an idea to spice up her sex life by modifying her dominatrix costume into a sexy cowgirl costume. (Diane is not going to drop 618. This is episode 4.)

Did Diane just grab a gun from the bathroom? Why are there guns in the bathroom? I guess it makes sense if she was planning this.

Oh and that’s the end of the episode!!! I DID IT!!!! I MADE IT THROUGH HIS EPISODE A SECOND TIME!

#the good fight #tgfthoughts

[justjessame]

One Night Standards

Based on the song “One Night Standards” by Ashley McBryde

Sitting at a dingy bar, sipping my drink, savoring every burning swallow, I glanced around at the other people partaking in their own forms of self medication.  Be it the beer drinkers or those who preferred hard liquor this wasn’t the type of place to think of getting a fruity mixed drink with more sweet than alcohol. This dark and quiet place was for those who wanted nothing more than to drown their day, their week, or their life.  

I was simply one of the ones that was feeling particularly down since every single thing that could go wrong had this week, month, life.  And, finishing the drink in my glass, I gestured to the bartender for another. I felt someone sit down beside me, but I could have given less of a shit only if they lowered the shit bar.   

A deep voice asked for a beer, his leg accidentally brushing my bare knee.  I didn’t even bother glancing at him as he muttered his apology. Like it mattered.  A small nod was the only answer he’d be getting from me tonight. I heard the bartender sit the beer bottle down in front of him, and smiled when my own drink was delivered.  The purpose was, for me at least, to become comfortably numb.

Music, faint even in the quiet of the bar, wasn’t enough to make me forget my troubles.  Definitely not enough to give anyone the urge to dance. I studied the lights from the bar through the clear fluid of my drink, wondering what could possibly make me feel better about- well anything.  

“You look like you’ve had a rough-” the deep voice beside me started, but I snorted cutting him off. 

I barely turned my head, side-eyeing him to which of the options he was going to finish with.  “Day? Week?” Month?” I felt the smirk that was my constant companion twitch at the side of my mouth.  “Try life.” I took another sip of my drink.  

“Is it really that bad?” He asked, and he sounded interested.  That was fucking dangerous.  

Swallowing another sip, I felt the urge to groan build.  “Of course not. Would ‘really bad’ bring me to such-” I gestured around our surroundings.  “Elegant places?”  

His chuckle was so deep and low that I would swear I could feel it through the soles of my shoes hooked on the bars of the stool I was seated on.  I heard him take a drink of his beer. “When you put it that way-”

Silence settled again, and I sighed internally.  I knew that my limit was one more drink, after the one in front of me, and I settled in to savor this one, then that one when it came.  The stranger beside me, who clearly wasn’t as strange as he could have been, seemed of a similar mind. He drank his beer with the same short sips, his gaze focused on the mirror behind the bar.  The thousand yard stare that I shared.

We sat together, not touching, not really talking.  Drinking our drinks, occasionally those far off stares would meet in the mirror, and a smile here and smirk there.  I could feel the heat from his body, bar stools were situated pretty close after all, and I was still wearing the light dress I’d put on when the sun was barely peeking over the horizon this morning.  It looked like he was dressed far more appropriately for the establishment. Jeans, v-neck t-shirt, mussed hair, scruffy face, a uniform for men who knew they didn’t have to work hard to get attention.

I nearly scoffed at the unfairness of that.  Men could sport day old scruff (or more), their hair could look like they’d slid their fingers through it all day while driving with the windows down, and an outfit that made it difficult to decipher whether they worked blue collar jobs or bought and sold blue collar businesses without more than a passing thought.  

Women?  Well, if I judged by my own experiences, heels were deemed a necessary evil if I was expected to be treated with any type of attention.  And highlight femininity. And smile for shit’s sake, no one wants to see a frown on a woman’s face. Not even if she’s telling someone that the world is ending.  Say that with a huge, perfect smile, darling. It makes it easier to take.  

The man seated next to me, I knew for a fact, wasn’t the blue collar worker he was taking fashion cues from.  Hell, if ANY of the other patrons had taken a look away from their drinks and diversions, I was fairly certain I’d be run over for them to get to him.  An actor, and not just ANY actor. A cult favorite. Someone who was known by, if not his own name, then at least by his most famous character’s.  

I may not feel like the world had much to offer in my current snit, but I wasn’t dead.  Seeing him, here, beside me, was ALMOST enough to make me consider reconsidering my mood.  Almost. Not quite there.  

“Let me buy your next one,” he offered, breaking through my thoughts.  

I shrugged, sitting down my now empty tumbler.  What the hell, it wasn’t like he couldn’t afford it.  A question tugged at the back of my mind, but I was keeping it at bay.  It didn’t matter. I didn’t care.  

My drink came, and so did his.  “Thank you.” I offered, trying and failing to offer more than my near constant smirk.  

“Anytime.” He replied.  Our eyes met in the mirror again, and I saw his smile grow.  He looked down at the bar and I redirected my attention to my own glass.  “You gonna tell me your name?” He asked, directing the question at the wood beneath his bottle.  

“Not sure she’s going to answer,” I said, smirk growing a little.  “She’s made of wood, you know?”  

That got a laugh out of him.  “Yes, she sure as hell is.” He turned to face my profile.  “What about you?”

I tilted my head, pretending to think about it.  “Yeah, I’m not made of wood.” I took a sip of the drink he’d be paying for and licked the excess moisture from my bottom lip.  

His smile was almost blinding.  Glad I could amuse at least someone.  “I did not expect that.” I raised my eyebrow and cocked my head to the side.  “You’re a little bit-”

“Sassy?”  I offered.  “Smart ass?”  

Another laugh and I gave in and turned to face him.   “Why does my name matter?” I asked, truly curious. I would eventually leave this bar.  I would walk away and I would never see him again. Not here, not anywhere, except perhaps if he graced the screen of my television or I sat down in a movie theater and he happened to flash before me.  

He studied me, taking another drink from his bottle, clearly trying to find a reason it did.  Quiet blanketed us and I waited. His smile, ever present and overwhelmingly charming, twitched as he gave me an answer.  “Guess so I could put a name to your face.” He shrugged and won points for not throwing me some cheesy pick up line.  

I give my first name to him, like a gift, and focus on my glass.  Last drink of the night I tried to hide from reality. I glanced up at the mirror behind the bar, and saw he was doing the same.  And another question built in my brain, an insane inappropriate proposition that I had no intention of sharing.  

“Never asked mine,” his voice was low, and I realized that we’d both kept our conversation, scarce though it was, quiet.  

“Didn’t need to.” Another sip, taking the time to let the liquid swirl in my mouth, enjoying the flavor, the cold, the bite.  Swallowing it, I noticed that I’d be leaving soon. Another sip or two, and I’d be finished. Off to the real world, no matter how disappointing it might be at the moment.  

He took another drink, he had to be nearing the bottom of his own bottle.  I watched as his eyes closed, enjoying the flavor of his own, as I had. “I’m staying at a place down the road.”  He said, eyes opening, staring into mine in the mirror before us. I felt a flutter in my stomach. “It’s not where anyone cares who I am.”

Or who you’re with, I inserted for him.  His hands were bare of jewelry. No ring in sight, no proof of whether he was taken or not.  I knew. He knew. But there wasn’t a sign to stop either one of us from considering what he was saying.  I took another drink, noncommittal. A no-tell motel. Him. Me. Could I? Should I? I came into this bar looking for a distraction from my world.  Here it was on a platter.  

The motel wasn’t something anyone would connect to him.  Or anyone in his profession for that matter. It still had keys, metal keys, in fact.  We hadn’t touched when leaving the bar. We hadn’t spoken. What was there to say?

He opened the door and stood back for me to step in first.  I walked in, taking in the sparseness of the room. A double bed, nightstand, TV.  Nothing to write home about, but we weren’t tourists, and this wasn’t a vacation from anything but our real lives.  In this dank room, suitable for one thing only, we’d find it.

I felt his hands slide down my arms, bare and take my hands in his.  His chest pressed against my back, his face coming down to inhale the scent of my neck.  His lips kissed a spot just under my earlobe, finding one of my sweet spots like he’d picked up a map on the way to the motel.  Our clothes fell, and if either of us had any inhibitions they were tossed on top of the pile of fabric.  

We spent hours getting lost in one another.  Taking our time, savoring the other’s body as we had our drinks at that hole in the wall bar.  Coming together and rushing full steam through pleasure as though it were our job. And it was, for the night.  When we parted, exhausted from the trials of forgetting, he rolled onto his back and before he could pull me to him, before I could be tempted to pretend this was something it wasn’t, I stood and dressed.  Slipping out of the room before a word could be shared. It was enough. It was a better form of self medicating. And it was finished.  

#Insert celebrity male of choice #song fic