#and the screen fades and shows a pretty illustration for just a few lines of dialogue

[blueskrugs]

Jump Then Fall | Jack Hughes

I am eternally soft for this kid, okay. this is not the original birthweek fic I had planned for him, but it is a bonus Swift Fic because I couldn't help myself. enjoy while I work on getting my shit together for the summer!

tagging: @marcoscandellas @stlbluesbrat21 @dembenchboys @poltoncarayko @robthomissed @letmeplaytheblues @troubatrain @ayohockeycheck @blackwidowrising @aria253264 @antoineroussel @starswin @glassdanse @ch-ristiane @majdoline @nazdaddy @hockey-more-like

length: 2k words

High school relationships never worked out. That’s what they always told you, at least, when you and Jack were young and in love. And they were right, sort of. You’d broken up not long after you’d both graduated, with Jack off to be drafted and you off to college. Except you’d stayed close, texting and talking on the phone often once Jack had headed off to New Jersey. He was one of your best friends, and you were thankful he was still in your life, but you weren’t sure you’d ever stop loving him, not really.

I like the way you sound in the morning We're on the phone and without a warning I realize your laugh is the best sound I have ever heard

Saturday mornings always meant long phone calls with Jack. You’d both wake up early and make coffee before spending most of the morning on the phone, talking about everything and nothing. Sometimes you wished more than anything that you could see his face, but you weren’t sure what would come spilling out of your mouth when you saw him.

One cold morning in December, you were pretty sure Jack had still been asleep when you called. His voice was slow and rough when he spoke, but you could still hear the smile in his voice.

When you heard him yawn, big enough his jaw cracked, you laughed. “Am I keeping you awake?” you asked.

Jack rushed to answer, “No, never.”

“Jack,” you warned.

Jack laughed. “We got in late last night, I’m just a little tired, I’m fine,” he told you.

“I can let you go back to sleep,” you said.

You heard Jack sit up on the other end of the line. “No way, absolutely not,” he said.

“We’re not even talking about anything important.” You’d mostly been stressing about the end of the semester.

“So? I like talking to you,” Jack argued.

You sighed. “You’re an idiot,” but it came out more fond than annoyed.

Somehow, that phone call lasted almost two more hours. Later, you wouldn’t remember what dumb thing you’d quipped that had made Jack burst out laughing, but you’d always remember the sound of that laugh. You’d wished you’d been able to record it, to have it to listen to on rough days, on days you missed Jack a little extra.

I hear the words but all I can think is We should be together

Jack was telling some story about his teammates. You were only half-listening, paying more attention to his face as he talked. It was late, and Quinn and Jack were home for Christmas. You and the three Hughes boys had taken over the basement for the night. Quinn and Luke were sprawled out on the couch opposite you, and you were buried under several blankets with your feet in Jack’s lap. He was using one hand to help illustrate his story, but the other was resting on your ankle, warm despite the chill outside, his thumb absently rubbing against your bare skin.

Quinn threw a balled up napkin at you, jolting you back to reality. “What’re you thinking about over there?” he asked.

“What?” You threw the napkin back at Quinn.

Luke chimed in, “Yeah, Jack’s not that funny, there’s no way you’re smiling at him.”

“Hey!” Jack protested. You dug your heel into his thigh, and he turned to grin at you.

You hadn’t even realized you were smiling. You always seemed to be smiling when you were around Jack, you couldn’t help it.

“Just missed you guys,” you said, grinning back at Jack.

Jack squeezed your ankle and went back to telling his story. You still weren’t listening.

Well, I like the way your hair falls in your face You got the keys to me I love each freckle on your face, oh

When Jack first started growing his hair out, you hated it.

“No, why,” you said the first time you saw him that summer. Luke laughed from somewhere behind you.

Jack ran a hand through his hair and smirked at you. “What do you mean?” he asked. “You love my hair.”

You tilted your head, pretending to consider. “I’ve changed my mind,” you said.

Jack squawked, outraged and offended. He slung an arm around your shoulder and pulled you in close as you giggled and tried to get away. “You’ll pay for that,” he told you. You dug your elbow into his ribs until he let go of you.

Later that night found the two of you left alone near the bonfire as the sun went down.

“Hey,” Jack said. You locked your phone and tilted your head back to look up at him upside down. “Do you really not like the hair?” he asked.

You snorted. “Would you cut it if I said I didn’t?” Jack shrugged, not quite meeting your eyes. You sat up and twisted to look at Jack properly. “You wouldn’t, oh my God.” It was hard to tell, but he might’ve been blushing in the fading light,

“Just tell me the truth,” he said.

You looked at Jack, really looked at him. He was tan, a new burst of freckles dusted across his nose. He’d shoved a hat on since you’d first seen him earlier in the day, but you could still see how his hair was just beginning to curl at the ends past the nape of his neck. Jack stared back at you, blue eyes dark.

“I guess I could get used to it,” you said.

Honestly, you were so gone for him, you were pretty sure you’d end up still liking him no matter what he looked like.

When people say things that bring you to your knees I'll catch you

Sometimes you didn’t know how Jack put up with it all. From losing streaks to being called a draft bust to people questioning whether he was capable of being a leader, there wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t have to deal with some bullshit. You knew it wasn’t easy, but he rarely let it get to him. Rarely, but not never.

It didn’t surprise you when your phone rang after a rough game. You answered the FaceTime call without thinking about it, smiling softly when Jack’s face filled your screen. He looked tired, dark bags under his eyes and his hair hanging limply in his face.

“Hi, bud,” you said.

Jack closed his eyes and sighed, long and loud, scrubbing his free hand across his face. You’d been able to watch the game, had watched the blowout happen in real time, just another loss in this skid, in a season that had started out promising for once.

“I’m tired,” Jack whined.

“You look like shit,” you told him. Jack stuck his tongue out at you. “Do I need to get Ty to delete Twitter off your phone again?” you asked. Jack rolled his eyes, but you weren’t joking.

“No, I just-” Jack rubbed his eyes again. “Did you see what my plus-minus was tonight?”

It was your turn to roll your eyes. “Oh my God, no, we’re not doing this,” you said. Sometimes Jack wanted to forget everything about a shitty game, but other nights he got frustrated and wanted to pick apart every mistake he’d made on the ice. You dragged your laptop closer to you. “C’mon, open your Netflix, we’re watching a movie.”

There was some scuffling on the other end, with Jack accidentally pointing his phone at the ceiling. “Fine, but I get to pick,” he said.

You argued half-heartedly with him for a while, but he won in the end, and you settled on some movie you’d both seen a dozen times. It was quiet while you watched, a comfortable silence, heavy with familiarity.

“Hey,” Jack said lowly as the end credits rolled later. You’d been half-sure Jack had fallen asleep on you. “Thanks.”

You smiled tiredly at him. It was late, and dark in his room, and you could barely make out his blurry form on your phone. “Anytime, Jacky,” you said, but you meant, “I love you.”

You can jump then fall, jump then fall Jump then fall into me, into me, yeah

Your doorbell rang one morning in early May. When you pulled open the front door, there was Jack, hands shoved deep in his hoodie pocket, standing on your parent’s front porch.

“I thought you weren’t coming home for a few weeks still,” you said, leaning against the door frame. The Devils season was over, but Jack had told you he was planning on sticking around for a while or traveling some before coming home for the summer.

Jack took one of his hands out of his pocket and ran it nervously through his hair. “I’ve been thinking,” he said, instead of responding to your non-question.

You raised an eyebrow at him. You’d known Jack for years, and you could probably count on one hand the number of times you’d seen him be nervous. “Well, don’t hurt yourself with that, bud,” you told him.

He made a face at you, but it also got him to smile. “Will you just let me-” he started, but he didn’t finish his sentence.

“Hey, c’mon, let’s go inside,” you said, stepping back to let Jack follow you into the house.

In the living room, the TV show you had been watching was still paused, but you both ignored it. You sat back on the couch, but Jack stayed standing, awkwardly shifting his weight from foot to foot.

“You’re freaking me out a little, Jacky,” you said.

Jack sighed and sat on the floor in front of you, leaning back on his hands with his legs stretched out in front of him. “I miss you,” he said.

“Jack, we talk every day,” you told him. “I’m right here,” you added softly.

Jack huffed and ran his hands through his hair again. He laid back for a moment, staring silently up at the ceiling fan as it slowly turned above you.

“Have you ever thought about getting back together?” he asked when he sat back up.

You thought about it a lot, actually, but you just said, “Yeah.”

“Do you think we could do it?” Jack asked next.

You hesitated on that one. You’d thought that, maybe, you could’ve made it back when you were in high school, but things were so different now. You’d listened to the opinions of others so much back then, had broken up in part because you thought that it was inevitable anyway. Could you make it through all that again? You still had a few years until you graduated, and New Jersey wasn’t exactly close.

Then again, you two were as close as ever. Jack had only missed a handful of your Saturday morning phone calls, and it was always just because of hockey. He was still sitting on the floor in front of you, looking nervous as he chewed on his bottom lip.

“I don’t know,” you said honestly.

Jack’s face fell a little. “Do you think we could try?”

“Yeah, I think so,” you said, just as honestly. You’d never been good at saying no to Jack, anyway.

Jack beamed, and you knew exactly why you still loved him after all this time. Jack leaned forward and tugged at your foot. “Hey, come down here,” he whined. “Wanna kiss you.”

“Or you could come up here?” Jack tugged harder. “Oh my God, you’re so fucking needy,” you laughed, but you slid off the couch and let Jack pull you into his lap.

His hands went to your waist, sliding under your T-shirt, and he smiled smugly up at you. “Hi.”

You pressed a kiss to his nose. “Hi,” you said back.

“Uh-uh, you can do better than that.” A kiss to his cheek. Jack rolled his eyes and put one of his hands on your cheek to drag you in for a real kiss. “That’s better,” he whispered, but you were already leaning in for another kiss.

#cait writes things #jack hughes #jack hughes fic #jack hughes imagine #nhl fic #nhl imagine

[eccentricpony]

Hello dear! I kind of did a spin on this request, and the story starts around the time of their first meeting and shows the progression into a romantic relationship. Mildly inspired by Tenma’s home screen quote to practice a kissing scene.

I think it’s a good blend of angsty, spicy, funny, and fluffy, but you be the judge! I am quite fond of this piece, and I hope you are, too!  <3

Bad First Impressions

Despite your best efforts to suppress it, a dramatic sigh rumbles past your lips. And to think that you had actually looked forward to working with Tenma Sumeragi. You had watched his performances in a few teen dramas and found his ability to be quite impressive, and he was highly lauded among other actors in your professional circle for being the consummate professional and perfectionist. More like pretentious and pompous.

“…and you there-“ the haughty redhead pointed towards a mousy looking boy sitting at a diner table on set.

“Uhh, B- Bill?” the mousy boy responded meekly.

“Yeah, sure – no one just stares at the person across from them without saying anything at all. It’s creepy and weird. That goes for you, too, guy with the glasses.” He moved an accusatory finger towards Bill’s dining companion. “Haven’t you guys ever heard of “peas and carrots”? I mean, this is amateur hour stuff that you don’t even need any skill to execute…”

“Can you just close your mouth and do some work, Sumeragi?”

You could hear a pin drop in the spacious sound studio. The cantankerous teen star whipped his head towards you with a pointed glare. You were an up-and-coming actress in the teen drama scene, and although you were a year older than he was, his acting resume was at least three times the length of yours. Sure, you were pretty, and you seemed passably talented, but you had a long way to go before you could even reach the echelon of his level of expertise. And you had the audacity to criticize his judgment??

“Excuse me?!” His eyes raked up and down your form, sizing you up in an attempt to appear intimidating. The manner in which you nonchalantly rested your hand upon your hip, head-cocked and eyes rolled; it was utterly disrespectful to him, a major authority in the industry, not to mention disrespectful to your fellow actors, to the very sacred space of-

“And to think that I had heard you were a competent leader…” you continued in a jaded tone. There was a visible flare in Tenma’s cheeks, the fury sizzling behind his eyes red hot.

To his credit, he certainly had a high level of talent, but that gave him no authority to degrade his teammates, whether they be fellow actors or the key grip. You weren’t normally this abrasive, but charming teen cutie Tenma was a self-important bully who was surrounded by “yes” men. This suave schoolboy star needed a wakeup call. The scandalized celebrity opened his mouth to commence a tirade when the director stepped in.

“Now, now, please folks. Let’s be civil…” Pinching the bridge of his nose, he glanced between you both with a pleading look.

With a final sour stare in your direction, Tenma transformed back into TV’s favorite high school hottie with a heart of gold.

“Yes, of course,” he replied, and you also nodded in consent. Everyone placated Tenma, endured his toxic attitude because he brought them money. But one thing was for sure, you had no intention to relinquish control to tyrannical Tenma.

Japan’s Newest Sweetheart

Tenma rushed down the street, tipping the brim of his hat further down his forehead, his alarming speed drawing attention from passersby. But he couldn’t slow down now; it was only a matter of time before Igawa caught up to him and asked where he was going, and why he was going by himself, and what was he looking for after all, and a number of other questions whose answers he would very much prefer not to explain.

With the convenience store in sight, he quickened his pace until he reached the threshold, throwing open the door with a tenacity that startled the cashier. Returning upright from where he hunched over his newspaper, the shopkeep threw a cautious eye to the young man at the doorway, wearing a suspicious amount of accessories and panting like he was running from the law.

The ginger on a mission performed a quick visual sweep of the displays until he located the object he desired. Bounding forward, he approached the magazine rack and flipped open the arts & entertainment periodical to the index. …page 31…

Rifling through the flimsy pages of the gossip rag, he at last reached the article which he had sought. There looking up at him was a page-wide spread of you, armed with an impossibly charming smile and a sparkle of mischief in your eyes. The page opposite of your come-hither headshot bore the headline “Japan’s Newest Sweetheart.”

It was infuriating. You were a nobody – barely any experience at all, and certainly not in anything particularly noteworthy – yet you were the one pushed to the forefront of advertising. His eyes flicked back to your picture once, twice… I mean, it was a good photo.

Ignoring the manner in which his throat seized when met with your 2-dimensional gaze, he directed his attention to the article. His eyes tripped along the words, “captivating new series… “ “character growth and development…” – aha! He spotted his name among the text and focused on the containing paragraph.

“blah, blah… he’s a true veteran in the industry…” Tenma puffed up like a rooster at this remark. Damn right, I am. He continued to read your commentary, mouth silently forming the shape of the words, scouring each sentence for more well-deserved praise. You went on to describe the characters, their struggles and how the cast related to their roles… One line in particular raised his brow. Tenacious young man?? Young man, what? She’s like, one year older than I am! He rose his head, appalled that you would speak of him like a child. He turned back to the print, reviewing the sentence a second time. She’s not even a whole year older, we’re practically the same age. He bent his brow in concentration. He counted back from your birthday. Yeah, totally not even a year old. Tch. He chose to ignore the fact that he recalled your birthday so quickly and glowered down at you while you beamed right back up at him.

It was undeniable that he was pissed off due of all the attention you were receiving when he was the lead. Possibly because… well, maybe you did deserve it. He had come to respect your acting ability over the past few months, in particular your impressive ability to become truly immersed in a role.

But maybe also because…. well, you looked good in this spread. Like, really good. Your smile was intoxicating; why didn’t you smile at him like that?  On second thought, maybe it was for the best that you hadn’t. His hardened exterior would likely dissolve, and he’d be a stuttering, fumbling mess. Scanning your features, he noticed that they airbrushed away a tiny birthmark on your face. Or maybe it was a freckle?  And they did something to your eyebrows, they just looked off. Why would they even do that? They were perfectly fine eyebrows…

“Hey, buddy, are you going to buy that or not? This ain’t a library.”

Tenma’s head shot upright, dazed for a few moments before he comprehended the words spoken to him. His tense fists gripped the wrinkled magazine tightly, fragile pages strained and starting to tear. Loosening his hold, he spared a final glimpse at your face before neatly closing the pages and smoothing out the bent cover.

“Uhh, yeah. I am.”  

Sliding his shades further up his nose with his pointer, he coolly ambled to the checkout area and lay the gentleman’s digest upon its surface. The material refused to remain flat after its recent abuse, leaving your shirt and neck visible beneath the dog-eared pages. The employee recognized the article right away.

“That new actress is really something, huh? They say she’s going to be the next big thing.”

Tenma scoffed but offered no discourse, handing over the required yen.

“Pretty cute, too,” the young worker added as he slipped the purchased item into a plastic bag.

“Yeah, whatever,” Tenma huffed heatedly, snatching the illustrated booklet containing your first big media premiere and returning to the sidewalk to await Igawa.

Salty to Sweet

“Don’t they teach you how to stay on task in Middle School? Or are you in High School?  Your lack of common sense is misleading…”

“Funny,” Tenma retorted caustically, though more annoyed at himself than you. He had been finding it challenging to focus as of late since he bought that magazine and he kept screwing up on the same damn lines. His short fuse was growing ever shorter with every butchered word.

You could see that Tenma was downward spiraling; the spark he always carried behind those big, vibrant eyes was fading fast.

“Look, why don’t you try something else…” you started, preparing for opposition.

“What?” the taller boy began, with no small amount of skepticism. Ignoring his sour attitude, you stood opposite him and continued in a calm tone.

“Try talking to me about something you really like while staying in character.”

“Talk about something I like?” Tenma replied incredulously. “What am I, six?”

“Sometimes I wonder, with the way you hide your vegetables under your mashed potatoes during lunch, so no one notices you throwing them away.”  You smirk knowingly, pleased with the look of surprise on your fellow actor’s face.

“You saw me do that?”  Tenma stared at you with a look of both wonder and bewilderment. He was certain no one could see him do that, and you sat at another table entirely! How on earth could you have been paying close enough attention to him to spot that, unless…

“Everyone knows that,” you deflected quickly, the rosy tint on your cheeks belying your innocence in the matter. “So what are you going to talk about?” Your bitter scene partner rolled his eyes. As a veteran in the industry, he felt pretty foolish having you talk him through basic acting exercises. Yet….  There was no question that he was struggling with the script, and no better ideas came to mind. With a sigh of defeat, Tenma offered the one outlet that came to mind.

“Bonsai…” he mumbled in a barely audible tone.

“What was that?” you ask, leaning it. Your close proximity fuels a steadily growing warmth along the back of his neck. He takes a sudden step backward and repeats himself louder.

“Bonsai! Are you deaf?”

“Bonsai, huh?” You smile with amusement. “Well, that’s something you don’t read in all your magazine interviews.”

“Reading my interviews, are you?” he responds dryly, but his stomach does a flip. He thinks back on the magazine he has featuring you, kept privately stashed away in a box under his bed. The thought that maybe you had a magazine featuring him tucked away somewhere in your bedroom causes chills that ran down his broad arms and shoulders.

“Nevermind that,” you grumble, brushing a stray hair out of your face. “Well, bonsai it is, then. Whenever you’re ready.”

You spend the next few minutes listening to Tenma ramble on about bonsai pruning, the proper tools to use, and even the proper light, pH and moisture levels to ensure optimal bonsai health.  Despite the fact that you now know more about bonsai trees than you would have ever cared to know, it seems that engaging, dynamic Tenma has returned. He comes to a full stop after finishing a discourse on bonsai diseases; his head now feeling clear, he’s convinced that he can recite his lines without hesitation.

“That was really good,” you commend him honestly, mirroring the pleased look on his face.

“Naturally,” he boasts in a cocky tone, feeling confident following his flawlessly delivered bonsai monologue. “It’s amazing how pleasant you can be when you’re not yelling at me,” he jibes, looking rather pleased with himself. You raise a brow at his renewed brashness, but you’ve always been quick on the trigger.

“It’s amazing how handsome you can be when you’re not scowling,” you reply with a smug expression, reveling in the crimson darkening his cheeks.

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” he mumbles with an air of mild embarrassment irritation, rubbing the back of his neck which is now damp with sweat.

“Who says I want to go anywhere with you?” you shoot back with a patronizing smirk before turning your attention back to the script. “SO, where were we?” you inquire loudly before he can get a word in edgewise. Thumbing through the marked-up pages, you see in your periphery that he is doing the same.

“Scenes 12 and 14 we did, 17 we did… no need to go over scene 28…”

“Why are we not practicing scene 28?” Tenma inquired in a cheeky tone. He knew exactly which scene 28 was: the kissing scene. You hadn’t gone over it yet, in read-throughs or on set. After you had just bested him in a mini battle of wits, this would be a great opportunity to even the playing field.

He had performed at least a dozen kiss scenes; it was old hat for him by now, and he knew for sure (not that he had googled your TV and film credits or anything) that you had never performed one. He was certain you’d flounder in search of a clever comeback, then, admitting defeat, blush profusely and outright refuse to do it.

“Fine, let’s do it.” You were no fool, and Tenma Sumeragi couldn’t bluff to save his life.

If Tenma wasn’t youthful and in great health, he might fear he were having a heart attack. Words seized up in his throat, and he could only manage a curt nod. He walked in a small circle, shaking his limbs as he often did while getting into character. He could do this, this was nothing. He had kissed, like, at least 12 girls before. 12! That was more girls than most men kissed in their entire lifetime! Wasn’t it? He couldn’t really think straight. With a long breath in, and out, he reformed his strategy.

He would perform a star-worthy kiss, absolutely knock-your-socks-off amazing, and then swagger out of the room while you were still swooning and dazed. His ego swelled a bit at the thought of leaving you desperate for another kiss, but his blood ran fast and furious at the thought of… well, actually having the kiss.

“I’ve seen the way you look at me,” you started in the tone of your character’s persona, the sudden smoldering look in your eye plucking at his every last nerve.

“At lunch, in the hall… even waiting for the bus.” Slowly, you crossed the floor towards Tenma’s frozen form. “You’ve given me flirty smiles, you’ve given me teasing winks, but there’s one thing you have yet to give me...” His pulse pounded in his ears as you leaned in closer, far closer than you had ever been before. His eyes flicker anxiously to your mouth, his breath held tightly in his throat.

“A kiss” you purr, biting your lip with the thrill of anticipation. Your lip bite just about crushes any dignity that remains in Tenma; tracing the lines on your lips with a wanton stare, it takes him a few seconds of feeble gaping before he remembers he has a line.

“Come and get it,” he whimpered, his line in a tone more befitting the token band geek than a smooth high school hunk. And get it, you did.

His script is lost to the floor as you press your lips onto his, his body rendered both limp and tight all at once. He did not expect this kind of kiss from you. Or maybe it was because he was used to a stage kiss, with twenty people watching and instructions from several individuals on how to hold his mouth at just the right angle for the camera. This… this was a kiss kiss. Your soft mouth was moving fluidly against his with such hypnotic, sweet caresses that he was convinced that he had never truly kissed someone before now. It was humbling but delicious; he had no control, and he couldn’t care less.

He couldn’t contain the small whimper of disappointment you drew from his throat when at last you pulled away, slyly wiping your reddened lips with the back of your hand. Tenma watched you with a mixed look of shock and awe, as though you had just miraculously materialized from thin air. Practice was over.

“Don’t lose that script,” you called over your shoulder cheerfully as you exited the practice space. “I think you could use another review of that scene.”

The Premiere

The Interview

You: …and it’s been bittersweet, but we’re both ready to move onto new projects. Isn’t that right, Tenten?

Interviewer: Tenten? That’s adorable, is that your nickname for Tenma?

You: Yeah, I call him Tenten because to me, he’s a ten out of ten. [You place an overly-dramatic kiss on his cheek]

Tenma: [Feigns a gagging sound while seated beside you, but reciprocates the kiss] That is a heinous lie, by the way, on both counts. [Tenma’s ability to poke fun at himself is refreshing, his overall manner humble and gracious, demonstrating his tremendous growth from child star to the consummate professional actor.]

Tenma: Actually, one of my fellow trou- uh, one of my friends at the Mankai Company, Kazunari, gave me that nickname.

Interviewer: The Mankai Company, that’s right! You’re putting on a production soon, aren’t you?

Tenten: We are! I’d love to give you the details of our production if you could publish them alongside this article.

Interviewer:  Absolutely. [Turning to you] And do you usually attend Tenma’s performances? I know both of your schedules are rather hectic these days, with all the job offers you’ve both received following the highly successful final season of your most recent television drama.

You: Yes, absolutely; I attend every one.

Tenma: In the front row, every performance. [He links his arm in yours, speaking with a tangible sense of pride]

Interviewer: I’ve noticed you have at least a half dozen bonsai trees in your apartment. Is that a mutual hobby?

You: Well, it’s our thing. I mean, it’s his thing really, but it’s kind of both our thing now. [You smile at Tenma with affection]

Interviewer: And, I’ve been meaning to ask - that framed script on the wall there, is that a keepsake? Or a valuable script from one of your favorite films perhaps? [The interviewer gestures to the worn script hanging above the mantle, protected and held in place by a thick pane of glass, bearing a large penned “SCENE 28”]

Tenma: Yeah, it has a…  special meaning. [Your boyfriend contributes, glancing into your eyes with a knowing smile that only you two could understand]

#a3! #a3! actor training game #a3! imagines #a3! headcanons #a3 x reader #tenma x reader #a3 tenma #a3! tenma #a3! tenma sumeragi #tenma sumeragi #a3 imagines #a3 headcanons #a3 actor training game #a3 act addict actors

[celestialvoid-fanfiction]

The Romance We Wrote

Stiles and Derek work for the same publishing company—Derek as an author of children’s books and Stiles a contract illustrator. They’re paired up to work on a lot of projects together but have never met. When one of their works becomes a bestseller, they finally get the chance to meet.

Commission for @loveyprophet 

His desk was covered in stacks of paper and folders, drafted stories held together by the colourful paperclips his sister had bought him as a joke, various notebooks and scraps of paper with reminders or ideas written on them, published copies of his books, colourful sticky notes, his laptop, and a coffee mug that had left a ring scorched into the wooden table top over time.

Derek sorted through the files, pulling out the pale blue folder of his latest project.

It was another collaboration with Stiles Stilinski, a contact illustrator. He and Derek had worked together on several projects now and Derek loved working with him. They had never actually met in person, but they had spent months sending emails back and forth and every draft or manuscript that they passed back and forth had fun little notes written in the margins.

Derek had memorised Stiles’ handwriting at this point, and every time he saw one of his illustrations he was mesmerised. It didn’t matter what it was, he knew the art style—slightly sketchy linework and soft colouring, not bold colour and blocked out shapes.

Stiles had a way of making his art look enchanting and inviting. And every illustration made Derek’s stories come to life.

Derek’s laptop chimed, a notification lighting up the screen of his phone beside him. He picked up his phone, reading his sister’s name before setting the phone aside again and turning back to his work.

He rifled through the collected pages of the drafted story and the sketches Stiles had made up for him—character designs and quickly drawn backgrounds that he wanted Derek’s feedback on. The manuscript pages were filled with scrawls of colourful pen.

Stiles had explained it once: red was unsolved—things that needed clarity, yellow was ‘to be confirmed’—typos and corrections or suggestions, green was solved, and blue was ‘just pretty’.

Most of the pages were full of blue—messages to Derek or little doodles in the corner of the page that always made him smile.

There was a quiet knock at the door.

“Come in,” he said, glancing up from his work to see Lydia step into his office, her long strawberry-blonde hair pulled back from her face.

“Laura just called,” she told him. “She says to tell you to look at your emails.”

“I will,” Derek replied.

“Now,” Lydia said with finality.

Derek let out a measured breath and pulled his laptop forward, opening up his emails to find several unread messages. He found the email from Laura and opened it.

Congratulations—your story, ‘What’s Mine is Yours’, is on the bestsellers list for the second month running.

Because of this, the company has set up a deal with a few local bookstores and libraries for you and Stiles to do meet-and-greets, reading sessions, and book signings—this is not optional, Derek.

I’ve attached a schedule of the dates and places as well as airline tickets for the few signings that are out-of-state.

Dress code is casual and don’t scare the little kids.

Love,

Laura.

Derek typed out a quick reply to let his sister know he’d read the email and downloaded the attachments before turning back to his work.

He picked up the piece of paper and froze, a wave of realisation washing over him.

He was finally going to meet Stiles.

Stiles span around on his chair, turning from his desk to the lightbox he had set up nearby, he grabbed a pencil and began to sketch out an illustration.

His desk was a mess of paper—sketches, pieces of paper, drafted stories he had to draw illustrations for. Scattered among the mess were coloured pens, pencils and markers, and a tablet that was connected to his computer.

He had stacks of sketchbooks full of illustrations, doodles and drafts—he liked to sketch things out on paper before transferring them to digital copies and refining the illustrations before putting them into the manuscript drafts or emailing them to Derek.

The rest of his office was full of cardboard boxes—packed full of sketchbooks, reference books, and folders of old projects. Their office was being renovated, which meant they had to move all their filing cabinets and storage boxes.

Pages of drafted stories and notes lay around him or pinned up on the wall, covered in Derek’s neat cursive writing—the writing that always gave him butterflies in his stomach and made him smile whenever he saw it.

His computer screen lit up, catching his attention. An email notification showed up in the bottom corner of his screen. He clicked on it and opened the email.

Hi Stiles,

Congratulations—your story, ‘What’s Mine is Yours’, is on the bestsellers list for the second month running.

Because of this, the company has set up a deal with a few local bookstores and libraries for you and Derek to do meet-and-greets, reading sessions, and book signings.

I’ve attached a schedule of the dates and places as well as airline tickets for the few signings that are out-of-state.

Dress code is casual.

Best wishes,

Laura Hale.

Stiles smiled slightly, a feeling of triumph settling in his chest.

What’s Mine is Yours was one of the first books he worked on with Derek—the story about two dragons – Plush and Snug – and their hoards, one of pillows and the other of blankets, learning to share.

It was also one of his favourite stories.

Derek had a way with words, a way of making everything seem so magical. He could take a story—a world of magic and adventure—and refine it into a couple-hundred words for children to read.

He opened the attachments, printing them and pinning them to his wall before pulling out his planner and writing down the dates and times—flagging them with colourful tabs.

He sent back a reply and sat back in his chair.

His delight gave way to panic as reality set in and he realised he was finally going to meet Derek.

The first meet-and-greet came around faster than Derek thought.

He’d spent the morning pacing back and forth in his apartment, fussing with his clothes and changing several times. He eventually settled on a faded grey Henley and dark jeans.

The event was at a local library—not too far from his apartment—so he decided to walk there to try and calm his nerves.

When he arrived, he stepped over to the front desk. He offered the young librarian a friendly smile when she looked up at him and opened his mouth to introduce himself when a familiar voice rang out across the library.

“There you are.”

Derek looked at the librarian apologetically before turning to look at his sister. “Hi, Laura. Nice to see you too.”

“Come on, we’re setting you up in the children’s corner,” Laura said, making her way through the rows of bookshelves and over to the corner of the library where the children’s section was.

There were two rows of low shelves with children’s book lined up on them and another shelf running along the wall. The space was open—a few plush benches were pushed up against the walls for the adults or the children to sit on while they read.

The clear floorspace by the window had been filled with a bunch of blankets, pillows and cushions for the children to sit on. There were beanbags and stools for the parents and two stools in the corner for Stiles and Derek.

They’d set it up with a table for when they signed the books, copies of the book stacked up on the table with a few on display while boxes of stock were hidden beneath the table.

A young man stood by the window, dressed in a blue-and-grey hooded sweatshirt and jeans. His dark brown eye caught the golden sunlight that streamed through the wall of windows, swirling like pools of golden liquor. His chestnut-brown hair was a tousled mess and he was covered in moles that charted constellations across his skin, a sweet smile lighting up his face as he met Derek’s gaze.

Stiles.

Derek was starstruck as he stared at the young man. He was more beautiful than Derek could have ever imagined.

“Hi,” Stiles said, smiling sweetly at Derek.

“Hi,” Derek replied, breathless. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

A soft, rosy-pink blush coloured Stiles’ cheeks. “You too.”

“The reading circle starts in about half an hour,” Laura told them. “Lydia’s going to be here in a minute to help with book sales. You just have to read the story, say hi to the kids, and sign the books. I’ve got to run, but I’ll be back in an hour or two. If you’re good, I’ll even bring you coffee.”

She took a step to leave before turning back.

“And, Derek?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t scare the little kids.”

Derek screwed up his face at her.

Laura laughed before turning to walk away.

The reading went well.

Stiles sat nearby as Derek read the story, listening to his deep, soothing voice.

He watched as the crowd of children—who were sitting on the cushions or with blankets draped around the shoulders—watched on, mesmerised.

Once they were done, they made their way over to the table where Lydia was selling copies of the book.

There was two seats behind the table, but Derek took one glance at a little girl who was too small to look over the table and shook his head. He sat down on the floor in front of the table, greeting the kids, signing the books, getting hugs and taking photos.

Stiles joined him, sitting down beside him.

The kids lined up, looking shy or smiling broadly as they handed over their copies of the book to be signed.

Stiles and Derek opened each of the books to the first page and wrote messages inside for the children before signing them. Stiles left the occasional doodle at the bottom of a page, watching as the kids’ faces lit up with joy when they saw them.

After a while, things started to quiet down. A lot of the children had left, but one boy—who looked to be barely five years old—lingered in the corner of the room with his big sister, clutching a toy to his chest.

His sister talked quietly to him before taking his hand and walking him over to Stiles and Derek.

“Hi there,” Derek said softly. “What’s your name?”

“Corey,” the boy muttered quietly.

“Hi, Corey. I’m Derek.”

The boy bowed his head bashfully, tightening his hold around his toy.

“What have you got there?” Derek asked.

“Plush,” Corey answered, loosening his hold slightly to show Stiles and Derek his toy dragon—the same dragon from their book, the one who hoarded pillows.

“Wow,” Derek whispered, a bright smile lighting up his face.

Stiles watched in amazement as the quiet boy slowly opened up to the man.

“It’s my favourite book,” Corey said quietly. “My brother reads it to me before bed every night. And for my birthday, my sister made me Plush.”

Derek looked up at Corey’s sister.

“You made him?” he asked.

The girl nodded.

He watched as Derek’s pale aventurine eyes glimmered in the daylight, full of surprise and amazement.

“That’s incredible,” Derek said.

A sad look settled on Corey’s face as he bowed his head.

“What’s wrong?” Derek asked, craning his neck to look the boy in the eye.

“I left my book at home,” Corey admitted.

Derek looked around—there was no one else there, only them.

“Don’t tell anyone,” Derek whispered as he reached under the table and pulled a copy of the book out from one of the boxes.

“We don’t have any money on us,” Corey’s sister object.

“This one’s for free, but you can’t tell anyone that,” Derek said, winking at the boy. He opened the book to the first page and signed it before offering it to Stiles.

Stiles smiled as he took it from Derek, looking down at the familiar cursive of Derek’s writing as he read over the message Derek had written.

Down the bottom of the page, he wrote his own message and drew a quick sketch of Plush before offering the book to Corey.

The boy’s eye flew open wide.

“Really?” he whispered.

A soft smile turned up the corners of Derek’s lips. “Really.”

“Thank you so much,” Corey said, trying to juggle Plush and the book. He paused for a moment. “Can I… Can I have a hug?”

“Of course,” Derek said.

Corey passed the book to his sister before rushing into Derek’s arms and hugging him tight. He muttered quietly as tears welled in his eyes. He pulled back from Derek and hugged Stiles, his tears falling down his pale cheeks.

“Come on, Corey,” his sister said softly. “We’ve got to get going.”

Corey pulled back, steadying himself on his feet before taking his sister’s hand.

She began to lead him away but he stopped, turning back.

“Thank you,” he said one last time.

“You’re very welcome,” Stiles and Derek said in unison.

Stiles waited until Corey and his sister were gone before turning to Derek. “Isn’t your sister going to notice there’s a lack of profit?”

“What lack of profit?” Derek asked, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and handing the money over to Lydia.

She put the cash in the small box they were using as a till, a sweet smile turning up the corners of her lips as she looked at Stiles and Derek.

Stiles felt a rush of warmth settle in his chest, a soft smile playing across his lips. If he wasn’t in love with Derek before, he sure was now.

He’d fallen—hard—and there was no going back.

Stiles sat on the hotel bed, resting his sketchbook against his knees as he leant back against the headboard. He had a pencil in his hand, the tip scratching at the paper.

They were days into the book tour and had flown across the country to continue the readings. They had been put up in a hotel room with double beds.

It was a large room with light grey walls. A table and two chairs sat in the far corner of the room by the large glass door that led out onto a small balcony and there was a small bathroom by the door. The beds had small tables beside them and a plush grey headboard that ran the length of the wall the beds were pushed against. Behind the plush headboard was a small shelf with a strip of lighting that lit the room.

Across from the beds was a large television, the screen lit up with light and colour. The volume was turned down and neither of them were watching—it was just background noise to break the silence between them.

Derek sat on the other bed, reading over a manuscript and making small notations and edits. Usually other sounds in the room would drive him mad, but there was something about Stiles’ presence—something about the rhythmic scratching of the pencil against his sketchpad—that seemed to calm him.

Eventually his curiosity won him over.

Derek set down his pen, looking over at Stiles.

“Do you draw every night?” he asked.

Stiles looked up, slightly alarmed. “If I’m annoying you, I can stop.”

“No, you’re not annoying me,” Derek said softly. “Quite the opposite actually.”

Stiles looked down at his sketchbook. “Kind of. I try to draw every day. A lot of the time I don’t, but I figured we’ve got a lot of downtime right now so I should probably get some practice in.”

“What are you drawing?”

Stiles’ face flushed bright red.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Derek said reassuringly. “I was just curious.”

“It’s a little embarrassing,” Stiles admitted.

“I’m not one to judge.”

“It’s you,” Stiles admitted.

“Me?”

“I need more practice drawing people and you have a really nice face—and I can’t believe I just said that out loud,” Stiles rambled.

Derek let out a low chuckle.

“Can I see it?” he asked.

Stiles let out a measured breath and turned his sketchbook around to show Derek.

Derek’s face fell, his amused expression giving way to shock and awe as he looked at the sketched portrait.

It was like looking in a mirror—although slightly distorted by Stiles’ sketchy art style, the art style that Derek loved. It was a perfect likeness—thick dark hair, a soft beard that cast a shadow across his jaw, and wide-set eyes were pale—shaded a little with his green pencil and so lifelike. It was as if they caught the light, the shade of his eyes shifting from hazel to green – clear, bright and focused. The hint of a smile turned up the corners of his mouth, softening his stern featured.

“That’s amazing,” Derek muttered, shocked.

A rosy-pink blush coloured Stiles’ cheeks as he turned the sketchbook back around, looking down at the drawing.

He paused for a moment, then with one quick movement, he tore the page out of the book.

“What are you doing?” Derek asked, alarmed.

Stiles quickly signed the bottom of the page before holding it out for Derek to take. “Here.”

Derek blinked in surprise, taking the page and looking down at the sketch. He felt a strange warmth settle in his chest, a small smile lifting the corners of his mouth.

He looked up at Stiles.

“Really?” he asked.

“Really,” Stiles said.

“Thank you.”

Derek looked down at it one more time before carefully sliding the drawing into a folder where it wouldn’t get damaged.

“You seem distracted today,” Stiles said as the two of them returned to their hotel room. “What’s on your mind?”

“It’s nothing,” Derek said quietly.

Two weeks of meet-and-greets and book signings passed faster than Derek would have liked.

Tomorrow was their last reading. After that they’d fly back home and return to their jobs, only ever talking through emails or the notes in the margins of their drafts.

The thought made Derek’s chest ache.

He’d gotten so used to being with Stiles the past two weeks that he couldn’t imagine what it would be like to not see his face—he didn’t want to imagine it.

“It’s clearly something,” Stiles argued, sitting down on the edge of his bed. “You said you didn’t judge me, and I’m not going to judge you. So if you want someone to talk to, I’m all ears.”

"When you're in the room, I find it so hard to focus on anything else," Derek blurted out.

Stiles was taken aback. His lips quivered as they moved around unspoken words. After a moment, he sheepishly said. "I’m sorry. I don't mean to be a bother."

"No, I didn't mean it like that." Derek paused for a moment, letting out a measured breath before saying, "I like you."

Stiles blinked in surprise.

"I know it sounds stupid since. I mean, we never even met before this book tour, but it..." His voice faltered and his words trailed off, shaky as he lost confidence. He dropped his gaze, looking down at his feet. "Never mind. Just forget I ever said anything."

"But it feels like we've known each other forever," Stiles finished.

Derek looked up, meeting Stiles’ dark eyes.

“I feel the same way,” Stiles continued, his voice quiet, shy. He fell silent for a second, swallowing hard as he looked from Derek to his hands in his lap. “I like you too… I really like you—and I… I’d never be able to live with myself if I didn’t tell you how I feel. But if you want to just go back home tomorrow and just go back to work and pretend like this never happened, then I can do that… I can try…”

“And what if I don’t want to?” Derek asked.

Stiles looked up at him. His shock gave way to a soft smile.

Derek took a step forward, stepping over to Stiles’ side. He gently cupped Stiles’ face in one hand, his tender touch sending shivers down Stiles’ spine. He leant forward, closing the space between them and bringing their mouths together.

Stiles let his breath fall from his lungs. His eyes fluttered shut as he leant into the kiss.

Derek’s lips were soft and warm, the kiss tender, slow and sweet.

Derek drew back, licking his lips as he savoured the kiss. He grinned at Stiles’ euphoric expression.

Stiles tilted his chin upwards, chasing his Derek’s lips. He felt Derek chuckle against his mouth as he brought them back together again. He looped his arms around Derek’s neck as he brought his lips back to Derek’s.

He fell back against the mattress, pulling Derek down on top of him.

Derek smiled against his lips, his body pressed against Stiles’ as they lay on the bed. He kissed him lightly—lovingly—slowly drawing back and resting his forehead against Stiles’.

A soft smile played across his lips.

“I’ve been meaning to ask…” Stiles started slowly, slightly out of breath. “Do you want to go out for coffee sometime?”

Derek burst out in laughter, his eyes sparkling as he met Stiles’ gaze.

“I’d love to,” Derek whispered, leaning forward to kiss Stiles again.

[AO3]

#sterek #sterek au #sterek fanfiction #sterek fanfic #check tags on ao3 #writer derek #writer!derek #writer derek hale #writer!derek hale #sterek writer au #artist stiles #artist!stiles #artist stiles stilinski #artist!stiles stilinski #sterek pining #pining #mutual pining #sterek first kiss #sterek fluff #love confessions #sterek love confession #slow burn #slow build #sterek slow burn #sterek slow build #stiles stilinski #derek hale #laura hale #corey bryant #lydia martin

[fyrapartnersearch]

❖ Attention mes chers mesdames et messieurs ❖

Did I manage to catch your attention? Yes? 

If so, great!

Then I would like to welcome you to my humble request! :) 
It has been a while since I posted my ad here on FYRA. After I received so many positive responses and still maintain a very strong relationship with a current partner of mine to this day, I am more than eager to return and try my luck a second time. As I am super busy with school and work most of the time, I haven’t been able to tend to one of my greatest passions, which is writing. 



I hail from Europe, and no I am not French, though it is a beautiful language much like the country. I may plan on traveling there though… who knows what the future may bring.



But enough of my digression and scatterbrained ramblings!


I’d rather be curt and not go into detail about my personal life or include any fancy infos about myself. I’d rather keep that open for a possible friendship once we get into chatting outside of the roleplay.


You may call me Aylo. I am in my twenties, and a female writer who also enjoys other creative outlets like drawing and illustrating. I am a full-time student with a job on the side, which means that I am usually fairly occupied. But now since the holidays are at our doorstep, my constricting schedule has loosened up a bit - in other words - loads of free time to play with! Now I have a wish, or dare I say, a certain craving for something new and fresh. And I am willing to experiment a little this time to see how things go. After a severe case of writer’s block, my creative juices were dried up until - I began watching a certain show called ‘The Boys’. Thinking that I was more or less done with superheroes, this show somehow sparked something within me. It had a very interesting take on the whole superhero world dynamic and showed how human and flawed these people actually were. And with that it sparked my muse and plenty of ideas began filling my head. So what is it that I would love to get my fingers on you wonder? 
Well my cravings are the following: 


The Boys

The X-Men (comic-verse also perfectly acceptable)

An original, somewhat mature story involving superhuman characters and their daily struggle to cope with their powers / how they choose to use these said powers

The list may be scarce but trust me, we can make the most of it. Especially when you consider how vast the X-Men and The Boys universe actually is. But if that doesn’t suit your fancy at all, I am absolutely down for creating something entirely original that involves sci-fi, fantasy and superhuman elements.


I’ve plenty of ideas in that department that I am more than willing to share. If you message me, we can certainly come to an agreement on what would be best suited for the both of us. Now onto the qualities of what my roleplaying partner should have. If you do not meet these requirements or simply have a different view / style when it comes to writing and content, then feel free to skip my ad.



What it all entails:


☞ The Partnership: I strongly encourage for an active roleplayer to take part and share 50% of ideas, plotting, length, detail and passion. Can’t do the thinking for two. A bird cannot fly with only one wing. ☞ The Limits: There are certain topics I tend to avoid which is pedophilia, bestiality, necrophilia, vore, scat, furries and the list goes on. ☞ The Way of Writing: No one-liners. No text-talk. No half-assed replies. And certainly no ‘quality over quantity’ when you can have both. I don’t expect anyone to write a novel, absolutely not. I don’t either, but if I get the feeling of my partner wavering in their effort and not investing as much as I do, I have to give them the chop, unfortunately. Too often have I encountered partners who showed strong enthusiasm at first, but after a while… they slacked and eventually only put the adequate effort into their side of things whilst completely disregarding my characters. I hope to avoid this in the future. ☞ Communication: As I love making new friends and discuss plotting as we go on, communication is the bedrock of the roleplay. It strengthens the compatibility between us. If there is anything that bothers you, or if you think you are left out in some way (be it a mistake on my part or if we’re both at fault here), tell me. Really, it won’t hold a grudge against you since I know that we all slip up every now and then. We’re human after all. It is also completely sufficient if you only type out a few messages per week. I am very lax about it. It doesn’t bother me re-writing scenes to fit the narrative more. If there are mistakes, they can be corrected - just to get that out there. We can always exchange opinions and see what would benefit the story most. I will also voice my opinion should something bother me along the way.

And now to myself and how I write:

☞ My writing: Third person perspective usually, although I have made some exceptions in my experience. My style is wide-ranging and flexible, which means that frequently, word count will go up 1000+ per reply - though it highly depends on the given situation and partner. Quality over quantity but I say both. I love detail in description, and I am actively seeking someone of the same infamy. My partner should have a basic grasp on grammar, punctuation and somewhat of an interest in knowledgeable writing. Usually I double in a roleplay but I can also make an exception. 
☞ Rating: Alright, so you are writing with some of mature age. I have 12 years of writing experience when it comes to this particular genre. This will be a fair warning to any of those who are not really comfortable with adult themes. There will be violence, swearing, gore, intimacy, uncomfortable subjects, drama, conflict and other dark themes included within the story. I have few limits but I will respect the boundaries of my partner. And lastly, I won’t fade to black or skip out on the nitty gritty, unless it doesn’t serve a particular purpose in forwarding the story. ☞ Interests: My line of interests vary when it comes to genres. I love conceiving my own lore inside a story, be it an original or a pre-existing universe. I am not opposed to tapping into some science fiction, action, romance, crime, action or thriller genres, in fact I encourage it. ☞ Characters: I write canon as well as OC characters. Faceclaims, GIFs, drawings, mood boards or just a plain physical description is absolutely sufficient. Characters should be written as opulent, flawed, unique, talented, heroic, villainous, spiteful, angry, and everything in-between. In other words, don’t be scared of making them ‘human’ who sometimes tend to f*ck up. ☞ Romance: Openly play and accept characters of both genders, preferable m x f pairings, but I am open to m x m and f x f relationships as well. I have more experience with m x f relationships, so I might be more adept in that category. If the chemistry of two characters compel me, I am on board with it! When it comes to sexual scenarios and intimacy (intercourse, foreplay, all that funny business). I encourage erotism, but in a tasteful, sensual manner (that goes for romance as well). The passion must be felt through the screen, even if it’s just a mere description of someone’s deep train of thought. ☞ Content: Drama, violence, sex, metamorphosis, symbolism, action, romance, pretty much everything is a-okay. I am not very bothered by certain subjects that may be uncomfortable for the general public. Roleplays are fictional stories and we best keep viewing them as such. If there are things you are uncomfortable with, name them and I shall respect those boundaries. But don’t be surprised when suddenly one of our characters bites the dust, or gets tortured. It may be difficult to write and read, but it is all part of the story and furthering the plot. My roleplays imply and involve brutality, mayhem, psychological and physical damaging among other things. But I also greatly endorse beauty, serenity and placid moments, scenes or characters. I love it when it comes full circle… everyone- and everything has a beautiful and hideous side. Again, this is mature and I am not here to coddle, I am here for a challenge.

Should there be a hiatus, I will tell you as soon as possible. I understand when you are busy as well, though I highly appreciate if you notify me before disappearing into the ether. At least give me a heads up on what’s going on so I can adjust and put the roleplay on hold if needed! 
Mediums I always roleplay on are email and google-docs. I also have Discord in case for plotting and chatting outside of the RP. 

I prefer my partner to message me first on email, giving me a brief description of themselves, their cravings as well as ideas, perhaps even a little writing sample to see if we’re compatible and if it bears any potential. 



Message me here: EMAIL: [email protected] Can’t wait to hear from you lovely people!




☆ Au revoir

#indie rp #indie roleplay #independent roleplay #oc rp #multiple paragraph #para #long term #email #tumblr #aou rp #submission

[buzzdixonwriter]

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood [SPOILERICIOUS]

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is now my favorite Quentin Tarantino movie even though I think a few of his others are better made films.[1] 

But, man, does it ever capture the era and the vibe.  In that sense it's like La Dolce Vita (and in another, like Singin' In The Rain).

I know this era, and I know Los Angeles of the time -- from the Summer of Love in ’67 through the year of unraveling in 1968 to the end of the era in ’69.

And while Hunter S. Thompson’s brilliant Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas marked the official death notice of the Swingin’ Sixties in 1971 (with a few die-hards like the Symbianese Liberation Army literally dying hard in 1974), the truth is 1969 was when it all came to an end.

Nixon won, thanks to his own now well documented treason behavior and to a few million white bigots voting for George Wallace instead of Hubert Humphrey, and (as Thompson himself noted two years later) “with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark -- that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”

Now some of you are saying, “But wait -- how can little Buzzy boy -- a mere lad of 13 summers in 1967 and not yet fully 16 when he finally actually visited Los Angeles for the first time in 1970 – how can he know what Los Angeles was like in that era?”

Ah, for that, my friends, we can thank television.

. . .

For those of you too damn impatient to get into the meat of my review of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, just skip this block and go to the next one.

I’m gonna pull a Tarantino here and seemingly meander in order to set up what comes next.

Even though I lived in the rural South (Appalachia mostly but with a few years in the Piedmont of North Carolina), we had this invention called television, and on this invention were these shows.

I’m not talking about Shindig! or Hullabaloo or even The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (though the latter interestingly paralleled in real time the rise and fall of what we now call “The Sixties”).

I’m not even talking about that perennial American Bandstand which started in 1952 and ran a staggering 37 seasons, grinding to a halt only in 1989 at the tail end of the Reagan Era, a pop culture show that lasted long enough for the grandchildren of its initial audience to be watching it when they finally pulled the plug.

No, I’m talking about cheap-ass, under-the-radar syndication efforts like Where The Action Is (itself a spinoff of American Bandstand) and The Lloyd Thaxton Show a Bandstand imitation that relied more on whacky humor, proto-music videos, and local-to-LA pop culture icons.

We’d see these shows (briefly back-to-back during Where The Action Is’ short run) not as cheap entertainment for teens and tweens but rather as a glorious portal into that land of myth and magic:  Southern California.

In particular, Los Angeles.

(It’s not as if nobody ever did this before.  In all its variations from the mid-1950s through Walt’s death in 1966, Walt Disney’s Wonderful World Of Color seemed to make every 4thshow either about Disney Studios or Disneyland itself, thus by extension priming the national pump for interest in Southern California.)

Where The Action Is and The Lloyd Thaxton Show needed to squeeze the most out of their bare minimum budgets, and the cheapest way to fill screen time was to convince some local SoCal / LA attraction to let you shoot footage of young kids (with disposable incomes, one might add) having a good -- no, great time at said attraction while listening / dancing to top forty tunes lip-synched by an astonishing roster of talent.

Look, this was back when TV was big but before it became H*U*G*E.  Successful show biz folks made money but they didn’t make that much money, and popping down for an afternoon to lip-synch your latest release for Lloyd or Dick Clark was a sure way to guarantee a few thousand more sales across the country, a few more paid gigs in the hinterlands, so whyda hell not?

The Monkees tried covering the same territory on prime time, but as popular as that show was (and it stands up well to this day albeit more as an artifact of its time), it felt just too slick, too packaged, too ersatz compared to the scruffiness of Where The Action Is and The Lloyd Thaxton Show.[2]

Add to this almost weekly illustrated news and culture stories of SoCal / LA and the youth movement delivered to even the most remote rural homes via Life, Look, Time, Newsweek, and The Saturday Evening Post, and it was pretty much hard not to be aware of -- and influenced by -- Los Angeles culture in the 1960s.

And if like little Buzzy boy you were interested / intrigued / enthralled by that culture, there was a virtual tsunami of sights and sounds to wallow in, even if you lived 2,467 miles away.

On my first visit to Los Angeles in the summer of 1970, when I had just stepped off the airliner, when I was no further into the city than the gate of the airline terminal, I looked around, took a deep breath, and realized:  I’m home.

. . .

So here’s the plot of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood:  

Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), a fading TV star, frets over his career.  

Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), his stunt double buddy, tries to boost his spirits.  

Rick lives next door to Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), a vivacious young actress married to a world famous director.  

Cliff the stunt man bumps into members of a crazy criminal cult.  

Weirdness ensues, but everything ends happily (except for three of the cultists).

A conventional movie would have put points 1, 2, & 3 in Act One, made point 4 part of Act Two but then stretched that act out with a big pointless chase and a few small fights, and finished with point 5 as Act Three.

20 pages / 80 pages / 20 pages

Not our lad Quentin.

A screenwriting guru once observed It's A Wonderful Life has a traditional 3 act structure only it's constructed so act 1 occupies 80% of the picture. Likewise Casino opens with virtually a 45 minute documentary on the casino business so they won't have to stop and explain things as they go along with the main story. 

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is like that: Two hours to build up to a literal life-or-death moment in order to show that for all their sins and short comings, Rick and Cliff would not merely survive but be worthy of survival.

(Most "assemble the squad" movies have a similar structure only they disguise it by indulging in hijinks along the way viz The Dirty Dozen spending most of their movie just training.)

Points 1, 2, 3, and 4 above are Tarantino’s Act One, and based on the 161 minute running time, I’m guessing it occupies the first 130 pages of the script.

Point 5 is his Act Three, and I’d say 20 pages sounds about right there.

But what about Act Two?

That’s the beauty of this story.

Act Two is about ten minutes long and is told mostly with narration (provided by Kurt Russell, who may or may not be speaking in character as Randy, the stunt director).

The crisis point in Rick and Cliff’s story is not that they’ve intersected with the Manson family, it’s that Rick decides their friendship must end. 

Now, ostensibly this is because Rick’s new Italian wife, Francesca (Lorenza Izzo), wants to cut expenses and move out of his home in Benedict Canyon and into a condo in the San Fernando Valley, a move that we know from Rick’s earlier statements that he would find shameful and a mark of his slide in status , but the unspoken reason may be that the volatile Francesca learned of Cliff’s own troublesome past (see below) and wants nothing to do with him.

So Act One tells us who these two guys are, explains their relationship in part, hints at an elephant neither wants to acknowledge, and carries us to a point where they can no longer continue as once they had.

Act Two consists of the final decisions the two make as part of this friendship, not really wanting to break it off, Cliff clearly hurt by Rick’s abrupt dismissal, yet trying to have one last good time together before parting, ostensibly not forever but…yeah, forever.

Their respective decisions impair their ability to respond to the dangers posed by the trio of killers in Act Three.

. . .

Let’s talk about Rick Dalton for a moment.

Leonardo DiCaprio proves himself to be one of the gutsiest actors of all time, playing a whiny, petulant, rude, brusque, self-involved, over-anxious crybaby of a man…

…and getting us to admire him because despite his myriad character flaws, the sonuvabitch has two things going for him and the first is a fierce dedication to his craft.

A conventional movie would cut the scenes of Rick practicing his Lancer dialog all by himself.

Tarantino realizes the audience needs to experience that in full, because otherwise they won’t appreciate his frustration at blowing his lines during filming the next day.

And when he blows his lines, Rick erupts in a epic full-bore meltdown rage aimed at himself and himself alone.

And this points to the second thing Rick has going for him:  Rick knows when and how to accept help, and is thankful for it.

Without the lengthy scene of him practicing at home (and drinking too much in the process), audiences would dismiss Rick blowing his lines as par for the course.

We need to see Rick make a conscientious effort to prepare for his role, see him screwing up by getting hungover, see him blow his lines, then see him correctly shouldering the blame and taking positive steps to overcome his error and deliver an outstanding performance.

The help that Rick accepts in this scene comes from “Maribella Lancer” a.k.a. Trudi Fraiser (Julia Butters), a child method actress who refuses to break character between takes. (This is one of the most delightful scenes in the film and well worth the price of admission alone.)

Despite a rather awkward-bordering-irritating meeting, “Maribella” / Trudi feels empathy for Rick as he inadvertently confesses his own career anxiety by talking about a pulp Western he’s reading.

That he can accept this empathy from a child stands well in Rick’s favor.  It shows he actually listens to others and accepts their feedback and input.

And it pays off for both of them when Rick not only comes back from his lunch break meltdown all fired up and determined to give an outstanding performance (which he does), but also when we learn he suggested a bit of business for “Maribella” / Trudi that delights both her and the director (Sam Wannamaker, a real life actor and TV director of the era, played in this film by Nicholas Hammond).

And when “Maribella” / Trudi tells Rick that his acting was some of the best she’s ever seen, he’s genuinely moved to tears.

We may shake our heads at some of the stuff he does, but we like this guy.

. . .

Part of the headshaking is due to his relationship with Cliff, his stunt double / majordomo / best friend.

Rick often seems like an arrogant prick with Cliff, seemingly bossing him around, acting like Cliff is at his constant beck and call.

We’re about two thirds of the way into the film when we learn that without Rick to champion him, Cliff would pretty much be persona non grata in Hollywood.

Cliff is known throughout the town (and Hollywood ain’t that big, folks) as a wife killer.

While some (such as Rick) argue he was absolved of any criminal intent, there’s no doubt he deliberately and personally caused the death of his wife, he didn’t merely have an accident that left her dead.

He’s a wife killer.

Most of the people in town assume he got away with murder.

Francesca, despite being an Italian starlet, may have heard the stories from other Americans working in Italy and that is the real reason she laid her foot down re Rick selling his house and abandoning Cliff as his friend.

Hell, even nearly blind old George Spahn (Bruce Dern) holds him in contempt.

Cliff can’t get hired in town unless Rick asks for him to be employed as his stunt double.

Even then he runs into strong pushback, viz Randy the stunt director who is reluctant simply because he doesn’t like the vibe Cliff gives off, and is especially reluctant because his wife, fellow stunt coordinator Janet (Zoë Bell), nurtures an enormous hate-on for Cliff based on the presumption he did indeed murder his wife and get away with it.

Cliff blows his chance of working his way back into Hollywood’s good graces by getting in a fight on the set of The Green Hornet with Bruce Lee (Mike Moh) that caves in the side of Janet’s car.

But what’s crucial in that scene is Lee explaining his refusal to fight: “My hands are registered as lethal weapons. We get into a fight, I accidentally kill you. I go to jail.”

“Anybody accidentally kills anybody in a fight, they go to jail,” says Cliff.  “It’s called manslaughter.”

Sounds like Cliff may know what he’s talking about from personal experience.

When Lee learns Cliff is a wife killer, his reluctance to fight him disappears.

Nobody in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood disputes Cliff killed his wife, they dispute if he got away with murder or not.  In view of his comment on manslaughter to Bruce Lee, the coroner’s verdict may not have been murder or accident but justifiable homicide

We don't know what happened on the boat in the flashback scene with him and his wife (Rebecca Gayheart). 

If she attacked him with a weapon (the spear gun they carried onboard or a knife or a wrench or whatever) and he defended himself from her attack but unintentionally inflicted a lethal injury on her, then both a charge of manslaughter and verdicts of "not proven" or "justifiable self-defense" are possible.

We don't know, and that ambiguity is what makes Once Upon A Time In Hollywood such a morally and ethically complex film.

(When I next see the film, two things I'm keeping tabs on the contents of Rick's store room and when Cliff's various scars appear.)

. . .

And Sharon Tate, the third leg of this triad?

She is depicted in this movie by Margot Robbie as light and as airy and as harmless as dandelion pollen blown on the breeze.  She is a perfect wish fulfillment character, not merely because so many men desire her, but because she appears to live a blissfully stress free, rewarding, and happy life.

This is where real life collides with “reel life” and if you haven’t guessed by now, we’re up to our necks in spoiler territory.

You have been warned.

For audiences half my age, Charles Manson (Damon Herriman) is vaguely known in a Jack the Ripper-ish sort of way (i.e., a really, really bad guy who did some really, really terrible things but just what they don't fully know) while Tate is unjustly forgotten.

The glory of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is that for however briefly, for however artificially, it lets Sharon Tate come alive again and enjoy the happy ending she deserved.

What is that happy ending?

To be honest, we don’t know.

At the end of the film she meets Rick, recognizes him from his TV shows, and the implication hangs in the air that she’ll introduce him to her husband, Roman Polanski (Rafał Zawierucha) who in real life at this stage of his career had not yet descended to drugging and raping 13 year old girls.

I hope in “reel life” that never happens, just as I would hope that Polanski’s criminal moral failing would never have materialized in the real world had Tate and her unborn child lived.

We just don’t know.

We assume Rick will meet Polanski, and from that meeting his career would shift to A-list motion pictures, and his dreams of success and security would come true.

We just don’t know.

Would Tate herself have gone on to bigger and better roles?

The odds are not in her favor.

As the writer David Gerrold said:  “Hollywood uses up young women as if they're disposable.  It is one of the worst things about the industry.”

Very few female actors of that era enjoyed a sustained shot at A-films, especially if they were regarded primarily as eye candy.

By the time of her murder in real life, Tate had a good role in a minor but good movie nobody saw (Eye Of The Devil), a good role in a major bad movie everybody saw (Valley Of The Dolls), and provided eye candy in three mediocre movies (including The Wrecking Crew, part of the gawdawful Dean Martin “Matt Helm” series[3]).

Her career might well have stalled out as so many other promising young starlets’ careers stalled out.

We’ll never know.

But even a stalled career would be preferable to what really happened to her.

. . .

A lot of people get second chances at the end: The four[4] at the Tate house, for sure, but also Rick (who finally gets to move into Polanski's circle) and Cliff (who has atoned for killing his wife either by accident or a well staged murder).

But y'know who else gets a second chance?

Charles Manson.

Cliff sees Manson at the Tate house but never learns his name. When he visits Spahn Ranch, he hears constant references to "Charlie" but never meets him since Manson has taken the family's children on an outing to Santa Barbara.

He recognizes Tex (Austin Butler) and Susan Atkins (Mikey Madison) and Patricia Krenwinkel (Madisen Beaty; many people mistake her character in this scene for Squeaky Frome, played by Dakota Fanning in an earlier scene) from his visit to the Spahn Ranch, but for all he knows they've come after him for revenge after he beat up Clem (James Landry Hébert) at the ranch. 

Since Cliff was out of the country for 6 months stunt doubling for Rick in Italy, the lapse in time is accounted for: They waited until he returned.

When the hit team doesn't come back and there's no news reports of a mass murder, Manson knows his plan failed and has an opportunity to flee the LA area, either by himself, with a small group of followers, or the entire Family.

If the police do trace Tex and the women back to Spahn Ranch and they do confront Manson on this, Manson can feign innocence.  If they bring up Cliff's visit and fistfight, Manson can say he knew the three were angry over the incident but he never knew they plotted revenge.

With the three would-be killers dead and Linda Kasabian (Maya Hawke) presumably fleeing LA to escape the Family there's no link between Manson and the attack on Rick's house.

Manson is in the clear.  The police consider the matter closed (movie star kills three drug crazed hippies; why look further?) and Manson gets a breather to ponder his next move.

Maybe he realizes how close a call it was.  Maybe he realizes he's got a nice little scam going with the Family.  Maybe he focuses on that and becomes a garden variety cult guru who, with viral marketing, becomes a prominent New Age personality.

Stranger things have happened...

. . .

To be honest, I approached Once Upon A Time In Hollywood with some trepidation when I heard the ending would not synch up with reality.

Tarantino most notably did this before with Inglorious Basterds, but most of his movies occur in the Red Apple universe, so named after a popular brand of tobacco that appears in those films (I can’t remember if Red Apple products appear in Jackie Brown and have not seen either Kill Bill movie).

The Red Apple universe almost-but-not-quite synchs up with ours.

The biggest and most obvious deviations from the norm is Inglorious Basterds, where Tarantino wipes out Hitler and the Nazi high command in a fiery climax later echoed in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, but Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction suggest a world far more immersed in its own pop culture than we are.

The Hateful 8 is another Red Apple universe film (again specifically referenced in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood) that strongly implies Abraham Lincoln survived the assassination attempt against him and negotiated a post-Civil War peace that saw the Confederate states reunited with the rest of the country much sooner than actually happened but in return saw them agree to full emancipation and equality under the law of all formerly enslaved people.  There's still a lot of racial tension in era of The Hateful 8 but there is also an explicit acknowledgment of equality under the law.

As such, race relations in Tarantino’s films Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood do not synch up with the reality of our own era.

. . . 

On the one hand, there’s not as much carnage in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood as there is in most Tarantino movies.

On the other, there’s just as much only we don’t recognize it for violence because it’s presented in the form of  “play acting”.

It’s not real.

It’s all a movie (or a TV show).

Or so we think.

Even Manson’s own killers debate this point, one of them arguing that all American TV shows “except for I Love Lucy” glorify in murder and violence, so why not visit murder and violence on those promoting it?

Really, what separates the violence of bounty hunter Jake Cahill (a name that’s an amalgam of two John Wayne Westerns:  Big Jake and Cahill, US Marshal) from Rick Dalton playing Jake Cahill from Leonardo DiCaprio playing Rick Dalton playing Jake Cahill from the violence of Leonardo DiCaprio playing Rick Dalton at the “reel life” climax?

And what do we make of Brad Pitt playing Cliff Booth who doubles for Rick Dalton (as played by Leonardo DiCaprio) playing Jake Cahill, especially in the end when Cliff’s under the influence of LSD and isn’t sure if what he’s experiencing is real?

You tell me.

. . .

Tarantino’s flamethrower beats Chekov’s gun

By this I mean if you need a flamethrower in act three, you set it up and pay it off in an entirely different context in act one or two, but you also establish however obliquely that it’s not impossible for it to be present though uncommented on in act three. 

We see Rick Dalton use a flamethrower in a film; we see a flashback and hear him say he practiced long and hard to master the weapon. 

This fits in nicely with Rick’s character, both poking fun at him for not being the tough guy he portrays onscreen yet establish his willingness to learn a dangerous skill if it enhances his performance.

After all, he could always request Cliff, his stunt double, handle the flamethrower in that scene.

Dalton is also established as a person who collects memorabilia about himself, reinforced repeatedly though not always blatantly thru the film (viz Cliff bringing in a huge framed poster of one of Rick’s Italian movies just prior to the climax). 

So when Rick pops out with a fully functional flamethrower at the end, our suspension of disbelief goes, “Yeah, he’d still have that”.  (When I next see the film, I’m paying close attention to the contents of the storage room prior to Cliff fixing the antenna; if we don’t see the flamethrower stored there, Tarantino missed a bet.)

Part of the genius of this film extends to the trailer.  

There is a big honking clue to at least part of the climax when Rick is shown using the flamethrower and the images freeze frames while a title announcing it as Quentin Tarantino’s 9th film is superimposed.  That’s brilliant marketing as it preps audiences for what would otherwise be a deus ex machina before they've even seen the movie.

. . .

re the flamethrower and Cliff’s scars: This is a film that will endure multiple repeat viewings just to catch all the details. There's a shot of Cliff driving down the 134 Freeway that if you aren't a Los Angelino you won't recognize he's driving past Forest Lawn, thus prefiguring the ominous background of the film. 

When Pitt goes to see the elderly George Spahn at the infamous Spahn Ranch, he passes by two photos of Zorro and the Lone Ranger -- both with masks over their eyes -- as Squeaky tells him "He's blind."

The background is filled with posters and billboards and books and magazines and memorabilia, some real, some ersatz.

That being said, I do not think it will age well.

To the degree it skillfully recreates an era, that will be studied.  

But as time puts more and more distance to the actual events, the impact of the film will lessen.

Casablanca loses some impact when we aren’t aware of how vicious the real life Nazis were, but in the context of the story they’re big enough bastards for us to understand why it’s important to stand up to them.

After The Fox is a delightful comedic romp that is hilarious even if you don’t know anything about Italian neo-realism, but if you do know anything about Italian neo-realism It.  Gets.  Even.  FUNNIER!

But you really need to know what happened on August 9, 1969 at 10050 Cielo Drive to fully appreciate what Tarantino hath wrought.

Like 2001:  A Space Odyssey, future generations of viewers will appreciate the skill and artistry employed, but they just won’t get why it makes such an impact today on many viewers.

 Gordon Dickson wrote a classic sci-fi story back in 1962 called “Three Part Puzzle”.  Without spoiling it, it’s safe to say a big hunk of the story’s appeal lays in the efforts of aliens to comprehend why human children are delighted by the old fairy tale of The Three Billy-Goats Gruff.

To the aliens, the story contains a simple, straight forward message:  Wait until your strongest team member arrives before engaging an enemy.

What they don’t understand is the morality behind the story.

To the aliens, goats and trolls are all equal, there is no reason to take delight in the victory of one over another.

But to humans…ah, to humans there’s a far deeper, much more important message than a mere tactical stratagem.

This is the risk Once Upon A Time In Hollywood will face in the future, that audiences as yet unborn will come to see it as a big, goofy buddy action movie in which two friends (and the wife of one and the dog of another) take on a trio of killers, dispatching them in spectacular fashion.

The catharsis may be lost, and in losing that, so will be lost the heart and soul of the film.

Enjoy it now while you can.

  © Buzz Dixon

 [1]  I rank Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, and The Hateful 8 above it in terms of cinematic quality.

[2]  In real life, for reasons too involved to go into here, Charles Manson actually got a courtesy audition for The Monkees; he was never seriously considered for a role and if I remember correctly, the show had already been cast by that point but the formal announcement had not been made. Nonetheless, if the quantum physics hypothesis of alternate timelines is correct, somewhere there’s a universe where Charlie Manson is a beloved 1960s pop culture icon and people still talk about the infamous Peter Tork murder cult.

[3]  Do yourselves a favor and track down the original Matt Helm novels by Donald Hamilton.  They’re far superior to the crappy movies.

[4]  There were actually five victims that night but Steven Parent, who had been visiting the property's caretaker William Garretson at the property's guest house, was shot in his car as he prepared to drive away. Garretson, apparently under the influence of drugs and / or alcohol, first claimed to have slept through the horrendous attack and was a prime suspect until forensics cleared him.  (Years later he admitted to witnessing part of the attack and doing nothing for reasons he never made clear.)  Tarantino left Parent and Garretson's presence out of the film presumably because it would have been too much of a diversion to explain them if they weren't going to be victims.

#Quentin Tarantino #Leonardo DiCaprio #Brad Pitt #Manson #Manson Family #Los Angeles #Hollywood #1960s #Sharon Tate #Roman Polanski #TV Westerns #film making #morals #ethics #history #catharsis #Once Upon A Time In Hollywood #Red Apple

[disposedserenity]

BTS in Singapore #LoveYourselfSG

I don’t know who would even wanna read about a concert that happened A MONTH AGO. But if you are still keen, hey ho.

*I’m gonna recount the entire day in great detail, so please feel free to skip any details if you don’t care about it.*

disclaimer: all pics & videos are not mine unless stated, credit goes to bts/bighit/fansites/fans

For reference, I was at yellow 1 (left side of the extended stage)

On the night before the concert, it still felt unreal. I was surprisingly calm and I was even watching 聲林之王 with glenn (who stayed over) 😂 I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep but I ended up falling asleep at around 3 am.

19 January, 6.00am: My eyes opened and I was sooooo effing tired LOL. I swear I was in a daze all the way till the actual concert. We got ready and proceeded to leave the house at 8 am. Once I arrived at the stadium, there were fans everywhere. The group of us (carol, mingyou, glenn and I) decided to grab a cup of tea/coffee to wake ourselves up and I don’t know how, but it was already past 9 am by the time we bought our drinks. Glenn and I went to collect the various fansupport items (a cool thing about kpop concerts is the amount of free stuff given out by fans) and we went to find glenn’s roommate who had been queuing for merch since 6am.

At 10.30 am, glenn and I went to register for soundcheck. The place we were at (outdoor area outside astons) had various dance cover groups, which was actually a pretty good form of entertainment to pass the time. After we were done with registration, glenn had to pick up an item she had ordered from a fansite, which we had a hell of a difficult time trying to find because the stadium is so freaking big. We had to speed walk to queue for soundcheck right after, as we were already late (queueing started at 12.30pm and it was almost 1pm)

SOUNDCHECK:

That was basically my reaction when BTS walked out.

Even though they were in casual clothes and had no makeup on, (Jhope even tweeted about it!!!), in my mind they looked like this as they were walking over to us HAHAHA:

They performed three songs in total: mic drop, dna and run. I went in assuming they would each be rehearsing their solos, so I wasn’t expecting those three songs to be chosen. But, it makes total sense because these are the more hype songs. My memory is slowly fading so I’ll let drake illustrate how I felt during the soundcheck.

When they all stood in one line right in front of me:

When I heard the opening note of mic drop:

KIM NAMJOON, KIM SEOKJIN, MIN YOONGI, JUNG HOSEOK, PARK JIMIN, KIM TAEHYUNG, JEON JUNGKOOK, BTS!!!!!!!

**when I heard the whistling in DNA**

*run plays* me: YAAAAAAAAS BICTH

me realising midway that bts is real and I’m actually seeing them like wtaf-

armys after the soundcheck:

I don’t know how I ever got so lucky winning soundcheck passes, but I wanna thank all the lords and the universe for awarding BOTH glenn and I this opportunity. Soundcheck is truly such an intimate experience because you get to experience bts in all their natural glory. Even though this was just a rehearsal, it felt like a mini concert and I even told glenn that I’d be fine if I didn’t go for their concert and I can die happy lmaoooo.

Brief soundcheck tidbits (you can read the rest here):

1) Jin looks THE best without makeup, he has such good skin and I swear this man is really really handsome in person. I’ll admit I never bought into the worldwide handsome hype before, but I’m a convert now.

2) Jin kept looking at glenn and I several times and he was FULL ON staring. It wasn’t even a brief glance, it was as if I owed him money and he was waiting for me to return it to him (yes jin i owe u my money and life). I kept wondering if I was delusional (aren’t we all, tbh). To be fair, I think jin was also looking at the barricades behind us and/or staring into space, but this man definitely looked me straight in the eye. How did I survive? I didn’t, I’m typing from my grave

3) hobi glows in person, and he’s really not called the sun for nothing. He was the first one to walk out on stage and he had the biggest smile plastered on his face the entire time. Sunshine radiates from this man with every move he makes. Alongside joon, he was the one speaking the most and leading the members.

Ok, so storytime. There were supposed to be 1000 soundcheck winners but when we entered, there was NO way that there were 1000 of us. Our area had probably around 100 - 150 people max and the same goes for the other side. During the concert ment time,  jungkook mentioned that there were only 200++ fans at soundcheck. The moment he said that, glenn and I turned to each other and went “HUH?” and we clowned him because we thought he couldn’t math... (sorry jk bro for doubting you oops). As it turns out, about 800 soundcheck passes were cancelled because they were obtained through special means and connections. AND, the reason they looked really tired/sad at soundcheck was because they were expecting 1000 fans and they probably thought they couldn’t even fill up that amount. :( fuck you scalpers, fuck you snakes staff, but I’m glad bighit decided to cancel all those tickets because those fools dont deserve it and also more space for us soundcheck winners muahahaha.

Before I delve into the concert experience, I need to vent about my stupidity and anger at myself. **CAUTION: RANT AHEAD** So, the standing ticket holders were let in to the venue from 4 pm onwards, and we happily found a spot to settle in and chill. (it was definitely NOT chill in our pit, but that’s another story) At around 6.30pm, everyone decided to stand up officially. Fast forward 15 minutes, I went into full panic mode because I needed to pee. Usually, I’ll just hold it in but my stomach was feeling quite queasy (I’ve been having a lot of stomach issues since november). I also didn’t wanna watch the entire concert with the constant urge to pee because that’s so fun, right? It just SO happened that mingyou and carol were talking about going to the back to watch the concert so I said fuck it, I’ll just go to the toilet and stand at the back too. Went to the toilet to pee and ta-da, ONLY TWO FREAKING DROPS OF PEE CAME OUT. I was so pissed at myself (my body really) because it made me leave my front spot for nothing. But, what’s done was done. I told myself that hey, at least you can finally breathe now (while internally cursing). **RANT OVER**

CONCERT:

Even though I’ve watched so many fancams from their concert, NOTHING will ever beat the experience of watching it in person. I got GOOSEBUMPS when the first note of idol played and they all rose from the platform. Till this day, I STILL get goosebumps rewatching any idol fancams because of that exact moment.

me watching the IDOL opening stage for the 94919994th time:

I was watching IDOL from the back with carol and mingyou, and I was truly thankful that I had the space to dance and go wild. But, that feeling lasted briefly because I realised I was so damn far from the stage. BTS was performing most of their choreographed songs at the purple main stage so even if I was at my original spot, I still wouldn’t be able to see them. The huge led screens existed for that very reason, but my stubborn ass was adamant on watching them on the stage instead of seeing them through a screen.

me deciding to squeeze my way back in again:

After IDOL, it was time for their intro ment (introducing themselves, saying a few comments the usual stuff). Immediately after, they performed save me/I’m fine. I don’t know why my idiotic ass thought this was a good time to squeeze my way in when I should have been FOCUSED on my boys. I was basically half watching them, half saying sorry excuse me to strangers. *bows head deeply and slaps self*

Ok moving on.... I really freaking love how they created the transition from save me to I’m fine. The part where tae gets up into a bridge position was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. For some reason, he looked particularly breathtaking doing this move at this very concert. The beauty of live performances, indeed.

Personally, tae stood out in save me/I’m fine the most.

Magic Shop was next, which surprised me because I forgot that it was so early in the setlist. Hence, I was NOT ready for the incoming wave of emotions.

“so show me, I’ll show you” will forever remain one of the most iconic lines in the fandom 😭😭😭 I think I would have cried if this song was played towards the end of the concert. 

As per tradition, a subunit vcr is played before each members solos. So the order goes hopekook, minjoon, tae and yoonjin (yoonjin was too!! much!! to handle because it was 2 separate screens and I didn’t know where to look at???)

Jungkook: Euphoria

(aiyooo look at them cheeks *pinch*)

I love how this has now become our official fanchant (for context). Euphoria is one of my fave intros after seesaw and my ears were in for a treat that night. (It was also at this point I decided to just stay in my current spot instead of trying to find glenn). Jungkook sounds amazing live and this made me realise that wow, he really deserves the main vocalist title.

As most fans would have known, Jungkook was so exhausted at the seoul music awards, which was a mere few days before the concert. Naturally, I was worried that kook would push himself too much in sg. I could tell he was definitely a little worn out, but he still gave it his all (bcos its jungkook) and delivered an impressive performance. I’m truly happy I’ve witnessed euphoria live 😍

J-Hope: Just Dance

JUNG HO SEOK, YOU GOOD??? J-hope showed me what the term bias wrecker really meant that night. I think EVERYONE left the stadium that night rethinking their bias list (if you didn’t, you’re lying). His stage presence and charisma is out of this world. Everyone knows he’s a good dancer, but seeing him executing those moves in person is REALLY something else. 

my face during the entire performance

when he walked over to the extended stage, I was like

WHO IS HE? HE’S J-HOOOOOOOOPE! LOUDER!

I Need U + Run

I honestly don’t remember much from this except for THE vmon moment because they were kinda all over the place. They started at the main stage, then came over to the extended stage and were just dancing their hearts out freely. The members were all splashing water (Idk how they do it so nicely, I’ll probably just hit someone’s head with the bottle) and there was a water cannon. The water cannon was SOOOO strong, I and the people around me were caught off guard (rip my hair & makeup). Bighit probably knew mosh pit fans were sweaty as hell so they wanted us to take a bath. How nice of them.

I loooooveee the outfits they wore here. I’m not a fan of all white ensembles but on bts, I’ll make an exception. They look like ethereal angels who've descended down to earth for one day to grace us with their presence. I’M HERE FOR IT.

look at all da sparkles (and jimin’s messy hair uwu)

Jimin: Serendipity

Till this day, jimin remains my favourite performer in bts. Whenever I watch a bts performance, my eyes automatically go straight to jimin. As a contemp dancer trained in ballet, you can see how that has shaped his performances. Fluidity is the term I would use to describe his style, because he moves like he’s gliding through water. I often find myself rewatching his fancams the most because he has so much adaptibility, its crazy. He knows when to go hard and when to reel it back in. Jimin has such pretty dance lines as well. He stands out because he really pays attention to the little details (the turn of a foot, the hand placement, arch of a back)

Out of all the solos, serendipity is really the prettiest. The combination of jimin’s glitter shirt + pastel hair + bubbles really was a feast for the eyes 😍

See what I mean? Jimin looks so picturesque even in motion.

Trivia: Love

As glenn pointed out, Joon looks so much softer in person (he’s a real life koya 😭). In person, his features are much softer and ‘rounder’. While he may have soft features (how many times can I use the word soft), his stage presence is a huge contrast. I’ve often noticed that out of everyone, joon is the most focused member during performances. While the others will interact with fans/try to incorporate some kind of fan service, rm concentrates solely on carrying out what he’s supposed to do. I can respect that.

Ugh!!! This man!!! Honestly, I was a little worried joon wouldn’t get the hype and cheers he rightfully deserves but Singapore impressed me. Well done, my fellow countrymen (and foreign fans). There was a girl beside me who screamed super loud and kept yelling “KIM NAMJOON!!!!!” so I was like HELLLL YEAH OKAY FINALLY SOMEONE AS HYPED AS ME LEGGO. Jungkook making a heart at the end with namjoon was so cute uwu. Everyone collectively lost their shit when joon slid his jacket off over one shoulder. King of giving the people what they want, I see you.

**another thing to note is how he always looks SOOO happy performing love. You can see the genuine happiness radiating off this man. It makes me happy too 🤗

DNA

The main talking point of this performance was that jimin fell. I actually missed it, because I could only see their side view and jimin was blocked from my pov. By the time I looked at the screen, jimin was already on the floor (still smiling bcos he’s jimin) and I was like oh nooooooo. Apparently after that, they coordinated among themselves mid song to tell each other not to do the ending choreo. A PLUS TEAMWORK, RIGHT THERE! tae even went to wipe the floor after the performance, bless his precious soul.

sidenote: I love love their dna outfits, especially the jackets!! They had different ones for the america and europe concerts, but I do love the asia tour ones just a little more.

Medley

The other highlight of the concert happened here because I was reunited with glenn!!!!!!! I found her just when they launched into fire and we were like OOOOOMMMMGGGG YAS. I actually gave up on ever finding her, but I suddenly saw her blouse from the corner of my eye (THANK YOU GLENN FOR WEARING A PINK DAISY TOP). During the medley, everyone kept following wherever the boys went because the boys were on the moving stage. I felt like I was at a wave pool getting pushed without even moving. They were right at the back at the small diamond stage, so I couldn’t really see much. I had no choice but to watch from the screen. 

funny moments: tae doing pubg dances LOOOL , rm’s legendary hip thrust (you’re welcome)

Airplane Pt. 2

I.. actually forgot that this song was on the setlist. It felt really anti climatic and I wish they would have arranged this to be after DNA or something. 

*airplane pt 2 comes on me:

Jokes aside, I do love this song. It was even one of my top songs in 2018 according to spotify.

V: Singularity

For the first and only time during the concert, this made me speechless. Normally, I’d be cheering and singing along to all of the songs. BUT man oh man, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from tae. While jimin is my favourite performer to watch, I believe that tae is the most expressive performer in bts. Whenever I watch him, I realise that wow that’s really a celebrity right there. Its easy to dress up and put on a show, but not everyone can really perform. What separates a regular person from a star is the x factor, and taehyung is the perfect embodiment of that.

Look

at

that

duality

Fake Love

First off, how did I not notice jhope was wearing leather gloves???? Fake love is still that bitch, no matter what anyone says. It gave us goth bangtan and that’s all I could ever ask for.

I wasn’t expecting them to perform the rock version, and I LOVE IT. I’ve probably watched all of their fake love performances, but seeing it live just solidified it as my fave title track from the love yourself series. Funny anecdote: jungkook didn’t lift his shirt up like he usually does and I swear the people around me were disappointed. They didn’t outrightly say anything, but I could feel the sadness 😂

Suga: Seesaw

ALRIGHT, SHE DROPPED THE CHEESECAKE TIME. Seesaw is my fave solo so you bet your sweet ass this bitch was excited AF!

Singapore did good for the seesaw fanchants, I’m so proud of us *wipes away tear* yoongi definitely noticed our efforts and smiled so freaking wide when he heard us (he absolutely has THE cutest gummy smile).

I remember the entire fandom (me included) got shookt to the core when yoongi first debuted the seesaw performance. We were like ‘suga dancing??’ Seesaw as a song itself was already a pretty unconventional fit for yoongi. We were all used to his hard hitting rap songs (agust d says hi) so we were really surprised. But, you can see how much fun yoongi always has whenever he’s performing seesaw and I’m thankful that he reversed our expectations with this song.

Jin: Epiphany

THIS MAN, yes I am suing. His name is Kim Seok Jin. How dare he make me feel all of the feels when I specifically told him not to? Hearing 50,000 people singing “I’m the one I should love in this world” together was truly a historical moment (just hear how it sounds from OUTSIDE the stadium). Seeing Jin channel all of his emotions into this song was heartbreaking, yet cathartic at the same itme. I would have full on ugly cried but all the screaming probably killed the mood.

the gaze of a man who knows the power he holds, ugh I stan

Epiphany is such a perfect song, 10/10. I don’t know what else to say because nothing I ever say will compare to the experience of actually watching it live. I love you, jin (no hetero)

The Truth Untold

v, jimin, jungkook, jin are the nation’s vocalists thank you for coming to my ted talk

I could barely hear tae at the start because of his mic, which was a shame :( Aside from that, everyone sounded really great. TTU is a song that can strain your voice if not done properly. There were definitely some concerts where some of them struggled to reach the high notes or the correct key. One thing’s for sure though - Jin has CONSISTENTLY been singing in perfect pitch and ALWAYS delivers a fantastic performance. Jin’s singing is so stable, it deserves more recognition. I love tae’s ad lib here and how he made everyone lose their marbles after.

Outro: Tear

HANDS DOWN, FAVE PERFORMANCE OF THE NIGHT!!!!! I walked out of the concert still thinking about tear, because it was THAT powerful. I’m glad glenn was beside me for this because she’s the only other tear enthusiast I know (TEAM SENN ✊🏼). BTS individually have amazing stage charisma, but put the three rappers together and you get AN UNDENIABLE FORCE. I’ll always stan rap line till the day I die. The three of them have such different rapping styles, yet nothing sounds out of place when they work together.

yoongi in headbands is so hot, no one fight me on this

Mic Drop

Second fave performance of the night! (okay I might be slightly biased, since it was right after tear) Even though this was nearing the end of the concert, I was actually way more energetic than I was at the start. It was like I was saving all my energy stores for this very moment. When joon mentioned it was their last song, I was like NOOOOOOOOO WAIT WHAT YOU CAN’T LEAVE YET. Then, I remembered that there was an encore segment and the world was all right again.

I see you stylists with the second white ensemble of the night, and I raise you one. Mic drop is the song that can get anyone hyped up anywhere. I feel like this is the song that you can play at clubs / festivals and it wont feel out of place. Fun story: the dj at dpr live’s show played mic drop and everyone was lowkey jamming to it (also shout out to all the armys there)

Please watch jhope’s fancam!!! I’ve always felt that mic drop is one of the few songs that allows him to really shine as a dancer. As a hip hop dancer, he doesn’t get many opportunities to showcase it because he has to ‘tone down’ for bts choreos. If you have the time, do check out all of his hopeonthestreet videos to really see dancer hoseok in his element!

mandatory iconic yoongi mic drop

Encore Stage (So What & Anpanman)

All of the cutest and funniest interactions took place right here!!! Before the concert, I was going back and forth between getting purple or yellow tickets but I definitely do NOT regret getting yellow tickets! The extended stage is where you can see their goofy selves come out to play.

joon + jimin’s cheeks: an untold love story

p.s. joon was casually applying lip balm before this moment, lol

me whenever minjoon minjoons

this is peak joon at his final form

jimin got to start anpanman this time!!

cosmo and wanda (I mean vmin) being the absolute cutest

chaotic duo taejin back at it again

vmon was being very very cute during anpanman & so what!! There were so many vmon moments throughout the concert, THANK YOU UNIVERSE for blessing me with the most underrated ship.

noteworthy moments during the encore stage:

-sope freaking looked at glenn and I, and we almost combusted right there. Both of them came over to our side at one point, and stepped down onto this black box platform just below (no wonder they felt so close). Almost everyone else were on their phones, so naturally they noticed us because we were the only two crazy bitches cheering by ourselves. I MADE EYE CONTACT AND THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS. suga smiled so hard when he saw us going all out, and that’s when I knew: I was yoongi’s bitch for life. jhope was looking at us with a sort of approval *stands at attention* YES SIR ARMY REPORTING FOR DUTY

-jungkook came over to our side of the stage and was just in right front of me. I took this time to really look at his face (HAHA) because I felt like I didn’t see him enough during the concert. He was doing body rolls (looked a little something like this) and everyone around me was busy trying to get his attention. Upon closer ‘inspection’ of jungkook, I have concluded that he is a 5 year old trapped in a 20 year old ripped body. His body proportions are reeeealllyy crazily good - with his tiny waist and long legs (and veiny arms). I can see why people lose their mind over him, but he’ll always remain an adorable bunny to me.

-I got blessed by yoongi’s holy water during so what. I didn’t think I was gonna be close enough to get the water but I GUESS NOT! I’ve never been happier getting splashed with water in my life. I swear, yoongi was so cute bouncing around and just smiling the whole time (I can’t stop talking about yoongi, SO SUE ME)

this is what jungkook looks like in person, can you believe? Fansite pictures are always heavily edited (especially jungkook’s for some reason) so sometimes they can come across as quite ‘fake looking’ when you look at images. Lemme tell you, they look a thousand times better in person. The melanin, the glow, the messy hair, their natural skin - can we get a hallelujah

Final Ment

Their final ment before we parted ways :((( I do enjoy hearing them speak even if its in korean, because you get to listen to their thoughts and feelings. I also really appreciate their attempt in speaking english, because it shows that they care. They might have memorised what to say, but effort goes a long way!

- tae saying we are part of his story, memory and scenery 😭😭😭 who knew it would be a teaser for his song! that sly kid. give it a listen over here, you won’t regret it.

- jungkook saying that the fans at soundcheck (*raises hands* YES IT ME) cheered crazily good. yasss thank you kook for acknowledging us and trust me, you could have just ten armys and we’ll still cheer like 10,000 people!

yoongi was being so freaking cute and for what?? that little pout before he launched into his speech.... HERE TAKE MY HEART

the best part was yoongi correcting the translator (not good night, GREAT night) man’s fluent in english but never shows it off, I approve of this slytherin move. yoongi even mentioned that he thought there was a day 2 concert. live nation, what are you doing??? I was so looking forward to a day 2 concert too. Is minstradamus predicting a 2 day concert in Singapore in the future??  👀

jin is a sagittarius in every sense of the word. the way he waited for his close up before slowly removing his shades.....I’m honestly not surprised anymore. I’m too used to having so many sagittarius in my life LOL. he even attempted to speak singlish not once, but twice. I sincerely applaud the effort, though my greedy self wished every member tried too (I’m still waiting for jimin to say ‘ zuo mo ni jiang bad de’)

speaking of jimin, he sang promise!! for the first time!! live!! singapore was truly blessed :)))))

thank you God for spending a little more time on this fine specimen, jung hoseok. hoseok is fine, but with his forehead exposed? FINE FINE. *cue me singing I’m fine* everyone was chanting “J Hope! J Hope! J Hope!’ even before he spoke and he was like oooooh, me? while pointing at himself like pls hobi ITS ALL FOR YOU BBY.

yes, you have stolen my heart jung hoseok

I can’t believe this man even bothered to count the days and meals for his speech..... (I like how bts pretends music bank didnt exist LMAO) this man can honestly sell you a trash bag with how eloquent he is. english is his second/third language yet he can construct better sentences in english than I ever will. in Jeon Jungkook’s words “Kim Namjoon, you dangerous man”

Answer: Love Myself (aka THE END CRIES)

At last, the final song dawned upon us. This is it, the moment reality hits you. That we’re all gonna return to our sad little lives after the concert. I was expecting myself to cry, but I actually felt... at peace? Hearing them sing “I should love myself” also served as a final reminder that that is also the title of their world tour, and the key message to take away from the love yourself series. At the end of the day, bts are also 7 young men in their 20s struggling alongside the rest of us. They have their own battles to fight too, but at least we’re all in this together. BTS may be there to provide us with happiness and love, but we must never forget to look inward first. 💜

Welcome, first time experiencing singapore’s humidity?

Singapore air’s just that powerful huh

I got chills, they’re multiplying!

Ngl, Singapore really impressed me. Every member’s solo got the same deserving amount of screams and we even got seesaw’s part down! (yoongi was really happy huhu) I don’t think they nor us fans expected such an enthusiastic response, but I hope this lifted their spirits up. Touring non stop for months is no easy feat, and I hope our passion made them less weary for one night. I still feel extremely blessed that I got to see them so quickly after I became a full-fledged fan. Hope to see you boys real soon! 😁😁😁

p.s. I recommend reading glenn’s experience here, because it is MUCH more detailed and well articulated

p.p.s link to jimin fancams, link to j-hope fancams, link to rm tear fancam

To end off, here are some random/cute pics for your enjoyment ~

me shaking off all the sweat, filth and water out of my hair after the concert

grandpa over flowers

hello glenn, this is for you

LOOK at jungkook’s forearms.... he can literally kill us all

The cameraman was WHIPPED for tae that night, it kept focusing on tae for a good chunk of time (I can’t blame him/her, we were all in awe too)

Singapore is officially J-hope land now. Can he run for president next?

Thank you for giving me a night I will never forget 190119 will forever be etched in my memory 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

[whateverisbeautiful]

Reveling in Richonne

#109: The Determination (8x09)

Since day one, season one, episode one, Rick has been determined to be there for his son. And plenty of times in this series, Rick illustrated how a father’s determination can be an unmatched force to be reckoned with.

So it makes sense that the same determination he’s always had for Carl is on full display in the last few moments of Carl’s life. 

After agreeing to get Carl out of the sewer, we see the scene that we got a glimpse of when photos for 8B were released. Rick and Michonne have to carry a fading Carl through their burning community. And seeing it live is even more devastating than the photos. 😥 

It’s an intense visual and it’s tough seeing this place go down in flames cuz ASZ is where they were able to find a sense of stability. And it’s where the world was able to stop screaming at them long enough for Rick and Michonne to realize their soul mate has been right in front of them all this time. 

But because of a senseless, entitled, immature guy the place they call home is burning down in the same way that the kid who kept them going is slipping away too. It’s a lot of loss going on. 😔 

Seeing the determination of Rick to get Carl somewhere comfortable and comforting is heartbreaking cuz you see a dad who wants to protect and provide for his son for as long as he possibly can. 

Michonne is the first to notice how much this movement is starting to wear and tear on Carl and Carl starts trying to speak to let his dad know it’s okay if they don’t get him to another destination. But Rick is set on it, as the reality of the situation seems to be kicking in for him and shaking him up. 

Michonne is able to step in and let Rick know they’re going to have to adjust. She looks and sees a place in the distance and points for them to go over there. Matriarch leading the way, y’all. 👏🏽👸🏾

So they go and end up having their final moments with Carl in the hauntingly beautiful lighting of the burned down chapel. 

They lay Carl down and he says, “Thanks for getting me here.”

Rick then says, “I’m sorry, I just didn’t want you out there.” The fact that he apologizes just hits me. 😥   

But then Carl lets Rick know his statement goes deeper than just this current moment when he says, “No. For getting me here. For making it so I could be who I wound up.” 

Up until this point in the episode Rick and Carl had dialogue but they had yet to have their heart to heart the way Carl and Michonne had a couple times in the episode. 

But this following exchange right here was Carl and Rick’s moment. 👌🏽

And I love that he thanks his dad for getting him here cuz truly it was Rick’s relentless fight to be a good father and protector that got Carl to where he was and that made him a fighter in his own right.

I especially love this cuz, throughout the seasons, Rick has heard a lot of people express doubt that he could help Carl survive, so it’s meaningful to have Carl thank Rick for defying those odds and those doubts to get Carl as far as he got.

Carl then brings up the prison and that moment when they were attacked. That was one of the times when Carl’s wildn side was at it’s all time high cuz he killed a surrendering kid on the opposing side. 

(Side note: I love that we get a shot that shows Carl holding Michonne’s hand as he speaks. ☺️ You can just feel the strength and comfort he gets from her.) 

Carl says he thinks about that moment even now and “how easy it was to just kill him.” 

One thing I always love and note about Rick and Michonne’s relationship is how they constantly level with each other through vulnerability, and we see Carl do that same thing in this moment. 

In order to communicate to his dad his vision for change, he shares about a moment that has stuck with him and the way in which he personally needed to change and how, with his dad’s help, he was able to. 

Now y’all, so I’m locked into this scene right? Like here’s Carl, the engine of this show since season 1 considering he was everything that motivated Rick from the very beginning, having his heart to heart with Rick, his father and the lead character...but then this episode wants to cut away from this to show Morgan going after Gavin. 😑  

How in the Sway did they think that cutting away from Carl and Rick was a good idea? 🤔 That decision really had me looking at the screen like...

I was not feeling that at all lol. I get they were trying to make a correlation between Carl realizing killing isn’t the way to Morgan and Henry not abiding by that, but nothing could be so important that it could take away from this Carl & Rick moment. They’re the foundation of this show. 

When they do cut back, Rick says through tears, “Carl, no. No. What happened, what you lost (low key glad he didn’t say “what we lost” lol just being honest), all those things you had to do, you were just a boy.” 

It’s really true. Carl was just a boy and he went through a whole lot; like even before the apocalypse Carl was exposed to some tough experiences with stuff like his dad getting shot on the job putting him in a coma. Which is why it’s impressive that he did manage to be the kid he became with such a good heart.

Carl tells Rick, “And you saw it. What it did. How easy it got.” it’s cool to see just how aware Carl was of his father’s decisions in season four and how he now has a final opportunity to express the respect he has for his dad with his decision to stop fighting and focus on growing, pretty specifically for the sake of Carl not losing his humanity back then. 

Carl reminds Rick that he brought those people from Woodbury in and how they were able to live together with people who were once enemies. (Granted, the people at Woodbury never lined Rick’s group up to senselessly bat two of their members heads in…but I get the gist of Carl’s point lol.)

As Chandler said, this episode would be about Carl trying to show his dad the way to a better future and we see that through Carl reminding Rick “You put away your gun. You did it so I could change. So I could be who I am now.” Carl tells him the way Rick stopped fighting was the right approach and he feels “It still is.”

He also tells his dad, “It can be like that again. You can still be like that again.” Now, while I think Farmer Rick might have been too far on the “no fighting” spectrum, I think what Carl really wants is for Rick and everyone to find this balance and to take the peaceful route whenever they can cuz otherwise you can start to instigate more trouble than you should, like he did with the Woodbury kid in season 4. 

And Rick is silent cuz I think it’s hard for him to fully see how exactly he can return to the space he was in at the beginning of season 4, especially considering their currently in the middle of a war.  

And while imo, at that point the fight with Negan was in too deep to just completely put differences aside, the positive of Carl’s words is that it does force Rick to eventually reconsider being consumed with the wrath he might now have towards those who aren’t on their side.

(Side note: I’m here for the silhouetted shots of Rick, Michonne, and Carl in this scene btw. 👏🏽😋)

When they cut back to them, Rick tells Carl, “I can’t be who I was. It’s different now.” And this part felt significant to me because I feel like this is Rick talking to Carl as not just his father but as a person with his own battles, which is nice because it makes them more like equals.

And his statement is especially true because it will be very different now that he’s lost his son. So returning to any form of who he was really isn’t an option. Of course he can keep elements of himself, and it’s Michonne who will be instrumental to helping him hold onto what’s good in him, but losing Carl automatically changes him deeply. 

Carl tells him, “You can’t just kill all of them, dad. There’s gotta be something after. For you. And for them. There’s gotta be something after.”

I’ve come to like this emphasis from Carl on how there’s gotta be something after because it’s him being adamant that they hold onto hope of a brighter future. That they don’t just live life surviving, but working towards making this world better cuz that’s what’s most important and that’s what lasts. 

They then cut to Henry and that’s when I was like; TWD look, I know the thoughtfulness of execution has gone down in this show, but to try and spotlight Henry in Carl’s final moments of his final episode, as if to suggest that he will be Carl’s replacement is a whole new level of misguided.🙄😒 

But back to Carl, I feel like it’s also significant for him to be stressing the need for there to be something after to Rick and Michonne because in 7x08, Michonne expressed something similar to Rick. 

And when Michonne gave her motivating speech to Rick part of her reasoning to take a stand was for Carl and Judith, and now here Carl is saying that he too wants them to keep standing, even if it won’t be for or with him anymore.

Because just like his dad has always been determined for him, Carl is determined for them as well. 😭👌🏽

#richonne #richonne fandom #richonne family #michonne #rick grimes #carl grimes #twd #the walking dead #8.09 #s8 #notmygifs

[junker-town]

‘Little Giants’ deserved a sequel. So we made one

Warner Brothers production / Illustration by Tyson Whiting

What would a sequel to the 1994 “Little Giants” movie have looked like? SB Nation’s Sam Eggleston thinks he knows.

Let’s rewind our VHS tapes to October 1995, when Little Giants first hit the big screen. It wasn’t particularly well-reviewed, nor was it a blockbuster hit. What it was, and what it became, was a cult classic.

In today’s entertainment climate, that would have nearly guaranteed a sequel would be born from the $19.3M it made at the box office ($32.5M in today’s dollars).

But what would the sequel be?

At the end of the first film, the Little Giants win their head-to-head single game and become the lone pee-wee team in Urbania, Ohio, with players from both teams comprising the roster and former rival coaches Kevin and Danny O’Shea splitting duties at the helm of the program. The town’s water tower is changed to reflect the contributions of both O’Shea brothers.

We fade to black and the credits begin to roll.

In the sequel, dubbed Little Giants Go For 2, we open up with the Giants having just defeated another opponent from a nearby town. The team, in a show of sportsmanship, is shaking hands with the other team at the 50-yard line, the scoreboard lit up in the background to show a 20-point win.

“Why do you have to be such a Neanderthal all the time?”

Kevin and Danny are cheering with the kids in the locker room afterward, well-placed endorsement items like Gatorade and Doritos here and there.

”We’re going to the state playoffs and our first game is a week from today,” Kevin says. “There are three games ahead of us before the state championship game, and we’ve got our work cut out for us. We’re going to have to lay some wood and crack some heads if we’re going to get through Port Clinton in the first round.”

”And we’re going to have to have fun, too,” Danny pipes in. Kevin rolls his eyes. Right then, the commissioner of the pee-wee league comes into the locker room, holding the regional trophy the team just won. The kids cheer and rush the poor man, who is taken to the ground when Marcus trips and tumbles into him. The trophy flies into the air and gasps abound until Hot Hands Hanon leaps up and snags it.

”Spike thinks that was a great catch,” says the former villain as he takes the trophy. He claps Hanon on the back, sending him sprawling to the ground.

”Ugh,” Becky O’Shea says from behind Spike. “Why do you have to be such a Neanderthal all the time?”

Spike scrunches up his face, clearly trying to avoid an outburst.

”Spike … is … not … A NEANDERTHAL!” he screams out. “Besides, Spike would rather be that than a stupid girl!”

”This stupid girl has kicked your butt before and can do it again!”

Junior Floyd steps between them.

”Stop it!” he says. “We just won a game because the two of you are the best football players in Ohio. We’re better when we’re a team and not trying to fight each other.”

Becky glares at Spike for a moment and then puts her hand out for a shake.

”Fine,” she says. “I’m sorry for calling you a Neanderthal.”

Spike stares at her hand for a moment and then turns and walks away without a word.

Warner Brothers production / Illustration by Tyson Whiting

We return to Urbania where we see Danny working at the service station. He is talking to the town’s mayor as he pumps gas. The discussion is about the upcoming game against Port Clinton, a game the mayor has heard the Little Giants will probably win hands down.

As the mayor pulls away, another car comes into the station lot, the bell ringing as it pulls up to the pumps. It’s Danny’s love interest, Patty. She is all smiles as she gets out of the car, a lunchbox in her hand.

”You forgot this,” she said as Danny approaches.

”Did I?” he teases. “Maybe I just left it so I’d get to see you a little extra today.”

The two are about to share a kiss when a full-size Hummer H1 comes roaring into the station, surprising them. The Hummer is a gaudy green and gold with a hood ornament in the shape of a wedge of cheese.

Danny steps up to the tinted driver’s window, which rolls down slowly. Inside is a man wearing Tommy Hilfiger with a pair of Oakley sunglasses.

”You O’Shea?” the man asks, chewing a wad of gum. Next to him in the passenger’s seat is basically a miniature clone of him.

”I am,” Danny responds, looking more than a bit confused. “And you are?”

”Freddy Hayes,” he says, cracking a jerk-type smile. “Coach Freddy Hayes.”

Danny looks at the boy in the passenger’s seat. He, too, is wearing Oakleys and chewing gum.

”That’s great,” Danny says, polite as always. “Any relation to Woody?”

”Yeah,” the guy says. “Well, probably. Like distant cousins on my dad’s side. Maybe.”

Danny glances back at Patty, who just shrugs. The question clearly irritates Hayes, who reaches out and pokes Danny in the chest with his index finger.

”I know you’re the coach of those stupid Little Giants,” he says, scoffing. “Well, I coach the Packers over at Port Clinton. And you know what? I’m going to make sure you and your brother get the beating you deserve.

”Boo-yah!”

Without giving Danny a chance to respond, Hayes slams on the gas and tears out into the street, forcing a car to swerve to avoid hitting him. Tires squeal as the big Hummer tears away.

”What the hell was that?” Danny wonders aloud.

There is commotion inside O’Shea Chevrolet.

”Freddy Hayes?!?” Kevin O’Shea yells from inside the dealership. The scene jumps inside as Danny nods his head.

”Yeah. Do you know him?”

”Know him?” Kevin repeats, pacing around his office. “You could say that. The year I won the Heisman, I pretty much punched the ticket with four touchdowns in the Alamo Bowl. On the last play of the game, we were down by four, and Coach called a wheel route off the play-action. As I turn up field, our quarterback Beau Rondeau hit me with a beaut of a pass. I secure the ball, start sprinting down the sideline and here comes the defense’s best player, Freddy Hayes.

”Well, Freight Train Freddy makes the mistake of going for my knees. As soon as I saw his shoulder drop, I jumped and hurdled right over him.” Kevin mimes the move energetically.

Danny’s eyes grow wide.

”I remember that,” he says. “He flew right off the field and slammed into those poor cheerleaders. And you scored, untouched.”

”And they replayed it on SportsCenter over and over,” Kevin says, a smile on his face. “Dan Patrick must have played that clip 10 times in a row.”

The O’Shea brothers look at each other and in perfect sync quote Patrick.

”The WHIFFFFFFF!”

Danny sits down in the chair across from Kevin’s desk. “So what the heck does he want with you now?”

Kevin stands up, rotating the wedding ring on his finger as he looks out the window into the car lot.

”I think it’s obvious,” he says. “Don’t you?”

Danny remains silent.

”He wants revenge, Danny. He wants to embarrass us like we embarrassed him.”

”Wait — ‘we’ didn’t embarrass anyone. You did!”

Kevin chuckles as he walks up to his little brother. He pats him on the shoulder.

”There’s no ‘you’ in team, Danny. He wants all the Little Giants to suffer.”

The Little Giants are all sitting in an old garage, pizza and soda and other goodies scattered around. Junior Floyd is sitting on a beat-up couch with Becky “Icebox” O’Shea. They are holding hands. Nearby, there are a few of the old Cowboys players chatting with Rudy Zolteck and the rest of the Little Giants are scattered around.

Spike is lifting weights while little Jake Berman watches in amazement. “His arms are the size of my head!” Berman announces before wiping his nose.

”That’s because Spike never misses his weight training,” Spike says. “That’s because Spike knows the value of a good diet and a strong workout.”

Zolteck turns to look at Spike. He’s holding a bag of Reese’s Pieces.

”Do you like seafood?” He asks Spike.

”Yeah, it’s a great source of protein,” Spike says.

”Here’s some see food for you!” Zolteck says, opening his mouth to reveal the chewed up and colorful oranges and yellows mixed with peanut butter brown in his mouth.

”Ugh!” Spike says, dropping the weights to the ground with a thud. “Why do they even let you in here?”

Zolteck shrugs his shoulders and throws more candy into his mouth. At the same time, the door to the garage opens and Kevin and Danny enter.

”All right, take a seat and shut your mouths,” Kevin says as he walks up to a television and VCR. He pops a tape in and the static on the screen turns to a football game.

”Whoa,” says Junior. “Those guys are big.”

”Really, really big,” says Tad Simpson.

”Bigger than Spike,” Johnny Vennaro says.

Spike growls as he stares at the television under a furrowed brow.

The scene on the film shows play after play of a team wearing green and gold crushing their opponents. Offensive lines look like wet paper bags and defenders tear through them, sacking the quarterback and picking up tackles for losses. Interceptions abound. On offense, they cruise through their opponents like they are running past tackling dummies.

”Who are they?” Vennaro asks, his eyes wide with fear.

”That, kids, is the team from Port Clinton,” Kevin says. “The Packers.”

Three Little Giants players are walking down the driveway, away from the garage.

”Where are you going?” Danny calls out after them.

”To update my life insurance!” Zolteck answers over his shoulder.

”Yeah, I need to call my grammy,” Tad says.

”I’m just getting the heck out of here!” Berman cries out, speeding up his walk.

Danny steps out of the garage and jogs after them. He catches them before they are out of the driveway.

”C’mon, guys,” he says. “They’re just pee-wee football players. Just like you.”

”Like us?’ Zolteck says in disbelief. “They’re all bigger than anyone on our team! I think some of them had beards! And tattoos!”

“They’re all bigger than anyone on our team! I think some of them had beards! And tattoos!”

Danny corrals the boys and turns them back towards the garage. The boys look reluctant, but they fall into step and allow themselves to be escorted back inside where the other players are waiting.

Kevin is at a chalkboard with Nubie standing next to him, his playbook in hand.

”We ready?” Kevin asks, looking slightly annoyed.

Danny nods as the three absconding players find places to sit next to their teammates.

Kevin begins drawing on the chalkboard, glancing down at Nubie’s playbook.

”The best way to defeat size,” he says as the Xs and Os develop on the slate, “is with speed.”

Warner Brothers production / Illustration by Tyson Whiting

It’s game day, and we get a view of a beautiful football field surrounded on both sides by bleachers. Fans are packed into them, each side waving signs and wearing the colors of their team.

As the Little Giants come onto the field and tear through a paper sign, one side of the stadium erupts in cheers.

”Nice turnout,” says Danny to Kevin as they come out behind their team.

”People can’t resist a good football game, Danny,” Kevin says. “Let’s give them a game to remember.”

On the other side of the field, a golf cart pulling a trailer drives up in front of the entrance of the home team. On the trailer is a brick wall with “Packers” spray painted on it in green and gold. All the Little Giants are standing there, eyes locked on the strange display across the field.

Suddenly, the wall shakes. And then again. And again. And again. And then it topples and crumbles to the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust into the air. Fans on the Little Giants’ side of the field gasp as figures begin to emerge from the dust.

A trio of Packers players, including the younger Hayes, steps into view. They are holding sledgehammers. Without a word, Hayes lifts his hammer and points it straight at the Little Giants. He holds it there for a few moments before letting it drop onto the green grass turf.

”Packers! Packers! Packers! Packers!” the crowd on that side of the field begins to chant. The players come marching over the rubble of the fallen bricks, three abreast, and flow onto the field.

Fans in the Little Giants’ stands look at one another nervously and remain silent.

Danny and Kevin glance back at the stunned crowd, then to their players, and then call them to the sidelines.

”Blood and guts. If they hit us hard enough, they’ll get to see both.”

”We can’t let their size intimidate us,” Danny says. “You’ve beaten teams with bigger players than you before. And with some of these plays that Nubie has designed, you’re going to have the element of surprise.”

”Yeah, I’d be surprised if we don’t die during the kickoff,” groans Tommy Moore.

Danny frowns and then gestures onto the field.

”Get out there and show them what you’re made of,” he says.

”Blood and guts,” Zolteck says. “If they hit us hard enough, they’ll get to see both.”

The Little Giants trudge onto the field, and things instantly start to go bad. The Packers take the opening kickoff all the way back for a touchdown, and then kick an onside and recover it.

Kevin looks across the field to where Freddy Hayes is standing with his arms crossed, his attention locked on the O’Shea brothers and not at all on the game. Kevin looks away just in time to see a deep pass from the younger Hayes, who is the Packers quarterback, to a receiver who easily leaps over Hot Hands to make the catch and jaunt into the end zone after shedding a tackle. The scoreboard reads 14-0 with just 30 seconds off the clock.

The Little Giants recover the ensuing onside kick and Junior jogs onto the field with Icebox and Spike already waiting in the huddle.

”Power-I 32 Fullback Lead,” he says. “On two.”

The team lines up with Icebox at fullback and Spike at tailback. As Junior calls “Down!” all the Giants linemen go into three-point stances.

”Set!” Junior barks, beginning his cadence. “Hit!”

The entire Packers defensive line fires forward, slamming into the Little Giants. Players fly backwards, slamming into the ground. The center, one of the former Cowboys, is thrown into Junior, who stumbles backwards into Icebox and the duo then crash into Spike, knocking them all to the ground.

Yellow flags fly all over the field and the referee turns towards the pressbox and signals an offsides on the Packers.

”That’s all you’re going to call?” Kevin yells out. “How about unnecessary roughness? That was nothing but a bunch of cheap shots!”

The referee ignores the O’Shea brothers as the Little Giants once again approach the line of scrimmage.

Zolteck puts his hand down in his three-point and looks across the line at the massive defensive tackle he is tasked with blocking.

”Can we just agree that football is a game about sportsmanship and caring for your fellow player?” he asks.

”Can we just agree that football is a game about sportsmanship and caring for your fellow player?”

”I’m going to knock you into next week, and then I’m going to sack your quarterback,” the Packers defender growls. “And then I’m going to steal all your candy.”

As the ball is snapped, Zolteck is run over. Junior turns to hand the ball to Spike, but Becky’s lead block is blown up and she is knocked aside. Spike and Junior are tackled at the same time by the Packer.

”Spike wants to know where you learned to block!” Spike screams at Becky as they all get off the ground.

”The same place you learned to use pronouns!” Icebox barks back.

The chaos continues and we get towards the end of the second quarter and the Giants are forced to punt and then go on defense. There, on the first play, Spike misses a tackle and inadvertently trips Becky in the process. The two get facemask-to-facemask and growl at each other as the horn sounds to end the first half.

As the Little Giants tramp into the locker room, the scoreboard behind them reads 24-3.

As Danny comes in, the scene is one of battered and bruised players. Zolteck is laying under a table, a bag of ice on his face. Spike is taping up bloody knuckles. Junior is helping Marcus fix a pair of broken shoulderpads.

”Things are looking tough out there,” Danny says. “Our backs are against the wall. But we’ve got two quarters left, and that’s a lot of football.”

”That’s a lot of football,” Berman repeats, but in a groan of despair.

Kevin is making his way towards the locker room when Coach Hayes steps out in front of him.

”There’s Mr. Heisman,” Hayes says, pointing. “Oh, man, this is so exciting! Can I get your autograph.”

”Hello, Freddy,” Kevin says, tensing up. “What do you want?”

Hayes takes off his Oakley sunglasses and walks right up to Kevin.

”What do I want?” Hayes says, chewing his gum harder and harder with each passing second. “Well, for starters, I want you to admit that you’re not worthy of the Heisman Trophy.”

”For starters …,” Kevin repeats, slowly.

”That’s right,” Hayes snarls. “Because when you’re done with that, I want you to dress in a clown costume and go out to midfield and do a funny dance.”

Kevin looks confused. He opens his mouth to say something, then changes his mind and closes it again. He can’t help himself but to open his mouth again, a question clearly at the tip of his tongue. He sighs and closes his mouth again.

”You know, because you’re a clown,” Hayes says, a sneer forming across his lips.

”Oddly enough, I did get what you were trying to say,” Kevin says. “Listen, I’ve got a team to coach, so I’m going to go do that.”

Hayes throws his head back and laughs.

”A team?” he says. “You don’t have a team. I heard all about it. Your stupid little brother beat you and you lost your team. If it weren’t for that loser, you wouldn’t even be coaching right now.”

Kevin nods his head, clearly agitated. He looks down the hall and through a crack in the door he can see his brother passionately trying to rally the troops.

”You know what? You’re right,” Kevin says. He steps up right into Hayes. “I wouldn’t be a coach if it weren’t for my loser little brother. I wouldn’t even have a job right now if it weren’t for him.

”And I’ll tell you something else. Not only did my little brother beat me, he’s going to beat you, too. Get ready for one big WHIFFFFFF, Hayes.

”And you know what? You should probably stop with the excessive gum chewing. You’re not Mike Ditka.”

“You don’t have a team. I heard all about it. Your stupid little brother beat you and you lost your team. If it weren’t for that loser, you wouldn’t even be coaching right now.”

Kevin pushes past Hayes, who is practically stammering. Without looking back, Kevin steps into the locker room and looks at Becky and Spike, who’ve been snapping at each other all day. Danny quiets down, sensing his brother has something to say to the team.

”Becky, you’re my niece and I love you,” Kevin says. “And Spike, you’re probably the best football player I’ve ever seen at your age. You two are amazing at this sport. You’re the leaders of this team. But right now, you’re tearing it apart because you just can’t get past one little moment in one football game.

”Football is a game. It’s not something that should control your life. It’s supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be played with friends. My brother taught me that. Unless the two of you can get past that one play and that one game, you’re never going to be able to lead this team to victory.”

Icebox looks angry at first. She glances over and sees Spike, his knuckles bloody from trying so hard. She looks down at her leg and the scrape across her shin. She takes a deep breath and then stands up, offering her hand to Spike.

”You wanna win a football game?” she asks.

Spike looks at her for several long and silent moments. He smiles and grabs her hand.

”Let’s do this.”

A smug Coach Hayes stands across the field from the O’Shea brothers as his team lines up for the kickoff to open the second half. With a 24-3 lead, he’s confident his team is on their way to a rout.

Kevin is glaring back at first, and then hears Danny clapping and cheering in support of the Little Giants as they trot onto the field for the return. Kevin looks at his brother, out at the kids, and then starts clapping too.

”Let’s play some football, Giants!” he yells out.

Hot Hands lines up to receive the kick with Spike and Icebox ahead of him. The Packers boot the ball deep, nearly into the end zone, and Hot Hands makes the catch at the 2-yard line and sprints forward. A group of Packers break through the initial line of blocks and are sprinting toward the kick returner when suddenly Becky and Spike converge in front of him, shoulder to shoulder, and lead block right into the Packers. Bodies tumble away as the duo opens up a lane and Hot Hands leans into his sprint, pulling away from any would-be tacklers and into the open field for a long score to cut into the lead, 24-10.

The entire stadium erupts in cheers and jeers. The Little Giants rally around their teammate, celebrating the 98-yard touchdown.

”We need to get that ball back,” says Junior to Marcus. “Can you onside it?”

”I can barely kick it straight,” Marcus says.

The Little Giants look worried, but then Nubie steps into the group. “Actually,” he says, “kicking straight is exactly what we need.”

Warner Brothers production / Illustration by Tyson Whiting

We cut to the two teams lining up for the kickoff, with Coach Hayes livid on the sidelines. He’s yelling at his Packers players, accusing them of being soft.

”You better start playing like men, or you’re going to run tomorrow at practice from sunup until sundown!”

The Packers players look upset and begin to glare at the Little Giants across from them.

”Get your hands up and be ready to dive on that football!” Hayes screams out again. His own son is at the front of the pack of players, his hands ready and his eye fixed securely on the ball as Marcus begins his approach for the kick.

The ball fires off the tee like a bullet, straight at the young Hayes. His first instinct, to come forward expecting an onside dribbling across the open field, is the wrong one as the line drive hits him in the shoulder and bounces back towards the rushing Little Giants. Players from both teams dive for it and end up in a dogpile. The refs start pulling players off here and there until we get to the bottom — and Spike has it.

As the Little Giants go to the huddle, Coach Hayes is screaming at his son on the field. The Packers are looking at him as he throws a clipboard.

”Is that how I taught you to play football?” he screams. “Is that how you’re going to represent me on this field?”

Kevin and Danny are frowning on the opposite sideline.

”C’mon, man, it’s just a game!” Danny yells across at the other coach.

”Shut up, loser!” Hayes screams back. There are murmurs from the crowd.

”You better start playing like men, or you’re going to run tomorrow at practice from sunup until sundown!”

The Little Giants break the huddle and come up to the line of scrimmage in a shotgun formation with Spike and Becky as split backs. Junior stomps his foot on the ground and Johnny goes into motion and heads toward the trio in the backfield.

”Hit!”

The snap hits Junior in the hands and he spins around as Spike and Becky converge on him just as Johnny reaches them. The four players then burst apart, heading in different directions, all holding their arms as though they have the ball.

A Packers player hits Junior and brings him to the ground and another grabs Johnny around the hips and tackles him. Neither have the ball.

As Icebox scoots around the end, ball wrapped in her arms, a Packers linebacker meets her, gets hit and misses the tackle. She cuts in front of a defensive back, spins off another tackle and then is brought down 20 yards later.

Hayes reaches down and takes Becky’s hand, pulling her to her feet.

”Nice run,” the Packer says.

”Thanks. Plan on a few more coming,” she says and then jogs back to the huddle.

On the next play, the Little Giants move the ball within five yards of the goal before coming out in a Power-I formation.

”SHIFT!” Junior calls out and suddenly everyone seems to be in motion. Linemen break away and start jogging toward the sideline to their left, joined by Spike and Johnny. Hot Hands splits out to the right. The only players left in their original positions are the center, the quarterback, and the fullback. The Packers look utterly confused.

”Swinging gate! Swinging gate!” Coach Hayes begins screaming from the end of the coaches’ box. “Shift with them!”

Packers players begin scrambling and nearly all of them bolt towards the largest concentration of players near the sideline.

In the confusion, the Little Giants get set and Junior calls out.

”Hit!”

On the snap, Hot Hands races into the end zone, drawing his corner with him. The center drives forward, pushing a defensive lineman backward while Becky sprints ahead of Junior and plows into the linebacker. Junior jukes another linebacker and walks in for the score.

”Are you kidding me?” the Packers coach is screaming. “Are. You. Kidding. Me?!?!”

With the extra point sailing through the uprights, the Little Giants now trail the Packers, 24-17.

”But I want you to know that however this game ends, I’m proud of you Little Giants. And I hope you’ve been having fun.”

The game rages on through the remainder of the third quarter and into the fourth when the Packers are facing fourth-and-3 with just over two minutes remaining.

On the snap, Hayes turns and hands the ball to a running back, who sprints towards the right side tackle. Suddenly Icebox breaks through the line, filling the hole and coming in for the tackle. The Packers runner plants his foot in the ground and reverses field, but as he does, he’s met by Spike blitzing from the opposite side and is crushed with a huge hit.

As the referee signals a first down for the Little Giants, Becky helps Spike off the ground.

”Nice hit,” she says.

”Thanks for pushing him back towards Spike,” he responds.

From the sidelines, Kevin calls a timeout and gathers up the players.

”We’ve got to get down the field and score, and we have less than two minutes to do it,” he says. “That’s a lot to ask against a team like this.

”But I want you to know that however this game ends, I’m proud of you Little Giants. And I hope you’ve been having fun. I know Danny and I have.”

The team is then greeted by Nubie as he steps into the huddle. He looks around at the players and then opens up his playbook.

”It’s time,” he says, “for the Siege of Stirling Castle.”

The Little Giants are lined up on the field in a spread formation. Junior is in the shotgun with Johnny by his side. To his left out wide stands Hot Hands, while Icebox and Spike are out to his right.

”Down!” Junior calls out, and the offensive line drops their hands to the ground in unison. “Set!”

Junior stomps his foot and Johnny goes into motion to his right, towards the sidelines.

”Hit!”

Junior takes the snap and steps back, then looks to his left as Hot Hands slants towards the middle of the field. Suddenly Hayes bursts through the line on a blitz and Junior scrambles to escape. He is looking downfield for an open receiver when he sees Becky break toward the sidelines on an out route, and he fires the ball just as he’s hit by Hayes.

The throw looks to be off target and heads out of bounds, but Becky leaps for it anyway. She snags the ball in the air and before she lands, she flings it back onto the field to Spike, who had delayed his route so he would be at full speed behind her when she caught the ball.

The Packers players, stunned, are completely unprepared as he sprints past them, breaking away from the defense and into the end zone for the score.

Cheers erupt throughout both sides of the stands and the Little Giants are all celebrating. Both Junior and Becky run up to Spike.

”That was amazing!” Junior screams. “I can’t believe that worked!”

”Just like Nubie drew it up!” Becky says.

The trio turn and look at the scoreboard, which reads 24-23.

”Should we kick it and tie it, or go for two?” Danny asks, looking at his brother. Kevin is looking across the field at Coach Hayes, who is screaming at his players. Packers heads are hanging, and the verbal berating isn’t helping matters.

Kevin takes a deep breath and then looks at his brother.

”I think we go for the win,” he says. “It’s risky, but it’s football.”

The Little Giants line up in the Power-I as the Packers stack the line. Junior looks over the top of the center at Hayes, who is creeping up, his eyes locked on the quarterback.

”Icebox, right?” Hayes asks.

Junior just looks at him and smiles.

”Down. Set.”

The atmosphere is tense. Fans on both sides are standing. There is a silence hanging over everything.

”Hit!”

The center snaps the ball back, through Junior’s legs and directly to Spike, who charges forward. Junior and Becky run a fake dive to the right, drawing Hayes and another linebacker with them. By the time they realize it’s Spike with the ball, it’s too late as he leaps up and into the fray, stretching the ball out over the line for the score.

”AND IT’S GOOOOOOD! Giants win! Giants win!” The announcer’s voice echoes in the stadium but is immediately overtaken by the roar from the crowd. The Little Giants are celebrating when the younger Hayes walks up to them.

”That was one heck of a football game,” he says, shaking the hands of Junior, Icebox, and Spike. “I can’t wait for the rematch next season.”

”We’ll be there,” Becky says. “You can count on it.”

”AND IT’S GOOOOOOD! Giants win! Giants win!”

At midfield, Kevin and Freddy Hayes meet. Kevin holds out his hand.

”Nice game, Freddy,” he says.

Hayes looks at the outstretched hand and then back at Kevin.

”It’s time to forget the past,” Kevin says, looking down the field at Hayes’ son, “and start to think about the future.

”You’ve got a special boy there, and he’s a solid football player. Give him the love of the game, just like you and I had when we played. There are far more great moments than bad ones.”

Hayes watches his son shake hands with the Little Giants. He takes a deep breath, reaches up and pulls off his Oakleys, and then looks Kevin right in the eyes.

”You got lucky when you hurdled me,” he says.

Kevin smiles.

”I did.”

Hayes looks down the field again as the Packers begin to gather together in the end zone. The Little Giants are gathering with Danny on the opposite end of the field.

”Great game, Coach,” Hayes says, taking Kevin’s hand and shaking it. “See you next year.”

As Kevin approaches his team, some of the players rush over and grab him, dragging him next to Danny as the rest of the team surrounds them both. Smiles all around.

”This one was for you two,” Becky says, hugging her dad and then her uncle. “Thank you for being our coaches.”

As she steps back, Junior lifts his helmet in the air, followed by the rest of the players.

”Little Giants on three!” he yells.

Kevin and Danny look at one another and then shake hands as the players scream out the count down.

”One! Two! Three!

”LITTLE GIANTS!”

We fade to black, and the credits begin to roll.

[t-baba]

12 Best CSS Animations on CodeCanyon

In the past few years, browsers have come a long way when it comes to supporting newer CSS properties that allow developers to create nice effects and animations using just pure CSS.

There is a lot of browser support for using different transitions and keyframe animations in your projects now. You no longer have to rely on JavaScript libraries to add basic animations.

Animating different elements on a webpage is now easier than ever. However, it can still be very confusing or daunting for absolute beginners. In this post, we will cover some of the best CSS animation libraries on CodeCanyon that you can use to add fancy CSS animation to your webpages today.

CSS Animations and Effects on CodeCanyon

If you head over to the CSS Animations and Effects section on CodeCanyon, you will see that there are currently over 140 different libraries related to CSS animations.

New libraries are added periodically to the collection and you can select one from the best sellers or apply your own filters to fine tune the results.

There are libraries to animate all kinds of elements or apply different kinds of effects to elements like buttons.

12 Best CSS Animations Libraries (on CodeCanyon for 2020)

CSS3 Image Hover Effects

The first one on our list is CSS3 Image Hover Effects. You can use it to add around 17 different kinds of image hover animations.

This includes basic effects like fading and sliding overlays as well as more advanced animations like splitting overlays and joining overlays. Other interesting effects include image levitation on their shadow as well as image stacks.

Visit the description page to know more about the library. The included video on the description page shows all the animations in action.

SolidEffects—CSS3 Image Hover Effects

The SolidEffects CSS3 animation library is perfect for people who want to add truly unique image hover animations to their websites.

There are over 150 pure CSS based animation effects that look fantastic. They will definitely help you grab the attention of your visitors.

The image hover effects generally fall under following categories:

image integration effects (horizontal and vertical)

image dispersion effects

venetian blinds effects

slide and sweep effects

fold effects

zoom effects

blur, saturate and mosaic effects 

Each of these animation categories include multiple animation effects that animate the overlay with different speeds in directions.

The customization is really easy because the downloaded product include LESS files to quickly change different aspects of the animation like the overlay color.

CSS3 Image—Text Hover Effects

The CSS3 Image—Text Hover Effects library is ideal for people who want to use a combination of image hover effects with some text effects.

There are 8 standard background animations that you can use with 14 different text effects. You can also combine multiple animation effects to show them on a single hover.

There is an option to choose between light and dark overlays for images to blend with your website theme.

Images can be displayed in 8 different types of boxes. This includes full-width images as well as image thumbnails.

Make sure you check out the live preview on the description page to see all the nice animations in action.

CSS3 Mega Tooltip Animation Pack

This CSS3 Mega Tooltip Animation Pack offers a great solution for people who want to integrate nice animations with different tooltips on their website.

The animation pack comes with 10 different tooltip animations. There are 8 different predefined color options. However, you can change the CSS files to add your own unique colors.

There is support for all major browsers. You can even support browsers as old as IE8 with a fix included in the download files after purchase.

The download files also contain detailed documentation and HTML samples that illustrate how to use the animation pack effectively.

tFigure—Image Captions

The tFigure—Image Captions library offers five different hover animations to display image captions.

You can use them to show nicely animated captions for different images. The overlays for each animation are available in four different colors.

The animations themselves are pretty simple. However, the way in which the captions are laid out on the overlays makes them very attractive.

These animations are framework independent so you can install them on any website you want. They are also easily customizable so you can make sure that the color scheme of the overlay matches the theme of your website.

Check out the animation's live preview page to see the awesome image caption animation in action.

Animated Loaders Kit

There are a lot of times where users might have to wait a while for a process to complete. This might be a very large image that has to load or some other computation process that needs to complete.

If the process takes a couple of seconds, it is a good practice to let users know that you are working on it. A good way to do that is with simple animated loaders.

The Animated Loaders Kit is perfect for this situation. It comes with 10 CSS-only animated loaders.

There are many advantages of using these pure CSS based animated loaders. They are easy to customize. It will change only a couple of minutes to change the color, font and size of the loaders. You can also change the animation speed. They have a very small file size compared to using GIF files.

The best way to appreciate how nice they are is to see the live preview on from the description page.

Image Hover Effects Collection

This Image Hover Effects Collection kit was added fairly recently to CodeCanyon and comes with 20 different animation styles.

They follow a responsive design philosophy and support all major browsers. So you can be rest assured that any effects you use on your website will look good on all devices and all screen sizes.

The animations are also fully customizable and you can easily change the overlay and text colors for all animations to better align them with the overall theme of your own website.

The code is well documented so it would be easier to make changes whenever necessary. You should definitely check out the live preview to see how good these hover animations are.

Dex Preloader Kit

This Dex Preloader Kit also contains over 30 different preloaders that you can easily integrate in your projects.

They are completely different in style from the Animated Loaders kit we covered above. For instance, these ones are created using a single background color. You can easily change this preloader color to the dominant color on your website.

The animations are also different and the preloaders use a variety of shapes like circles, squares and lines to create the animation.

You can also add a little bit of text under each preloader to let users know what is going on in the background.

This kit was also added fairly recently to CodeCanyon and has a lot of offer for a very low price.

Free CSS Animation Libraries for 2020

Generally, you can expect these paid CSS animation libraries to have a lot of variety in the animations compared to free alternatives. They also come with free support for six months and lifetime updates.

Many times, these premium libraries also support old browsers. However, this might not be the case with free animation libraries.

It might be easier for anyone who is just starting out to simply use these paid libraries. However, if you don't have the budget to purchase these paid plugins, we have also listed some free alternatives below.

Here are four free CSS animation libraries that you can use in your projects:

image hover.css

This library gives you the option to add simple image hover animations from different directions. It comes with 40 different hover animations.

SlipHover

This is also a free image hover animation library. However, it only comes with basic sliding animations.

The unique features of this library is that the hover animations are aware of the cursor direction. So, the overlay will appear to move in from the left side if the user hovers over the image from the left side.

animate.css

This animation library is not aimed at a specific use case like image hover animations or tooltips.

It is simply a general purpose library that you can use to animate different elements on a webpage. There are a bunch of classes that you can add to different elements to control the speed and delay of the animation.

loaders.css

This library consists of pure CSS based loading animations. You can use them in your project if you are looking for some nice preloader animations.

Additional Resources

It can be hard to figure out where to start for an absolute beginner. We are listing some tutorials here which will make it easier for you to understand how CSS animations work and how you can start using them in your own projects.

You should start by reading this tutorial that provides a beginner level introduction to CSS animation. After that, you should consider learning how to use CSS variables for animation.

Using different pre-built CSS animation libraries is not hard at all. However, having a basic understanding of the concepts will go a long way when it comes to making changes to these animations on trying to create something of your own in future.

You should also consider reading these two tutorials that teach you how to create your own CSS based animations for scratch. The first tutorial is for basic hover effects while the second one is a quick tip for page loading animations.

A Beginner’s Introduction to CSS Animation

In this tutorial I am going to introduce you to CSS animations; a highly performant way of animating on the web which is becoming more and more popular as...

Catalin Miron

03 Jun 2014

CSS Animation

How to Use CSS Variables for Animation

Not only are CSS variables a real and tangible option for developers, they can also be used in animation scenarios. Still skeptical? Follow along to find out...

Dennis Gaebel

22 May 2017

Animation

How to Create 7 Different CSS Hover Effects From Scratch

In today’s tutorial, we’re going to create 7 different CSS hover effects. We’ll learn loads along the way, including how to animate font icons, borders, and...

George Martsoukos

14 Nov 2019

CSS

Enhance the Way a Web Page Loads With CSS Animations

In a previous tutorial we created a full-screen responsive page with flexbox. Today, we’ll make this page more attractive by adding a few CSS animations to it.

George Martsoukos

11 Dec 2018

CSS Animation

Final Thoughts

Using a bit of animation for different elements on your website can make the content more interesting and engaging.

Coming up with our own unique animations from scratch can take some time. So, we listed some of the best free and premium CSS based animation libraries that will help you get started in no time.

New animations and effects are added all the time to CodeCanyon—you can choose from from one of the best sellers or try something fresh and new.

by Eric Dye via Envato Tuts+ Code https://ift.tt/38Y7POB

#CSS3 #HTML5 Branding #HTML5 Weekly #HTMLl5 demos #Javascript #Javascript Branding #Javascript Weekly

[banalitywars]

Seamless Loading In BWC

I'd like to take a moment to explain how I achieved the single most significant effect in Banality Wars Carridin. I'm of course talking about the instant loading. The effect where you tap on a map and the camera seamlessly zooms in. As I write this I'm realizing this comes off as bragging but I am really proud of this.

Not to say it's actually that amazing. It really puts into context how much work goes into achieving certain transitions in movies because they likely employ similar techniques. This is probably child's play to them. "Oh, you did the cool transition once? We did it like 36 times in this 2 hour motion picture. Only ours were done in the real world where we couldn't control every pixel on the screen and we had to juggle various visual and practical effects."

Well... Well... It's impressive to me!

The Thinking

The main menu didn't always have instant loading. I don't have any earlier images but it originally worked a bit like the Advance Wars Days of Ruin map loading (pictured above), as that's what this game is based on. So you have this 2D grid of map icons and you select one, it fades to black, and you enter into the map.

Now this is all fine and dandy. Except if you're the developer. I think when you're the developer of a game the small problems are magnified like 100x. You may see a perfectly acceptable loading screen. After all, all games have loading screens. And as a developer I'm like, "Why is this transition 5 seconds!?! Wholly unacceptable." So, yeah, the loading screens really bothered me.

Also Unity is really bad at loading new scenes for some reason. There is always a stutter. You might have seen loading screens that are animated. They'll play like a little animation while the next level loads. Yeah, not possible in Unity. There will always be a very noticable stutter which was driving me even crazier.

The Idea

So Banality Wars Carridin was through and through a mobile game. So I took some queues from Android. Android had recently gotten a new WebOS-inspired multitasking menu joining a long line of devices to rip off WebOS multitasking including iOS and Blackberry's QNX.

I actually think the old multitasking method in Android with the cards is superior. Anyways that's not the point. I was using this multitasking menu and I was like, "Hey, I could do that. Just tap on a map and instead of loading it would just zoom right in."

And then I was immediately like, "No I couldn't, it's too complicated. I could never load in data that fast. Just the spawning of gameobjects alone would take forever."

Enter ECS

ECS stands for Entity Component System. It means different things to different people. Some may use ECS as a way of structuring data so that it is 'cache friendly'. Some may use ECS to organize data so it is easier to add to without making spaghetti code. And still others, like me, use ECS to instantly load content.

Here's the video I saw that pitched me on the idea:

The creation of a new object (like a player or a tile or an obstacle or whatever) is called instantiation. And as this video shows it takes quite some time to instantiate objects with the old system. Around 0.07ms per object according to the video. Which is fine if you're just spawning one or two. But the instant load system would require thousands to be spawned very quickly.

Looking back on it maybe I could have gotten away with the old system. Just hide all the loading behind an initial loading screen that's a few seconds longer than it had to be.

Anyways, I did some experimenting. It seemed the cost of spawning a new item is the same as creating a new Matrix4x4 (a block of 16 numbers). That is to say, basically instant. And the more I thought this instant loading thing was a really bad idea, the more I started to think maybe it could actually work.

Saving

So I had the basic framework of the system. In the editor (that is the Unity program that actually makes the game) I have to press the play button. Upon doing so the system will save a copy of the map (using a tool called Easy Save) to the Resources folder. This is the folder that is accessible after building.

Once this is done I could load the map from anywhere in the game. Of course this would require me to overhaul my system to support saving. Every object would have to be saved. Well, not every object. Just the important ones. I always intended to do this eventually, but I didn't expect to have to do it so soon.

Saving is actually surprisingly difficult. Unity uses C#, an Object Oriented Language. And one of the benefits of an Object Oriented Language is that you get to do inheritance. Basically a trick that allows you to share code between objects like units. But you can't use inheritance when doing saving so I had to rewrite a lot of stuff and 'flatten the inheritance hierarchy' as the kids say.

But this also helped in another way. Now I could use this same code to save a game in progress. Which is pretty useful. This also allows the game to display not the map we saved earlier in Resources but display the map in progress. Pretty trivially to. All we have to do is tell the game to 'load the map from our local folder, not resources'.

This is how the map appears from resources:

This is how the map appears when not loading from resources:

The Actual Hand-Off

I considered getting a more zoomed in shot but this is good enough to illustrate the point. This is being recorded from Unity's Scene View. Basically a second camera you can use to view things the player won't be able to see.

The first thing you can see is things not in the view frustum (basically the area the player can see) appears as generic black boxes (it's a bit hard to see). This is an optimization step. It's called culling. It should be handled by the GPU but for whatever reason it's not. Maybe it's a problem with ECS. Oh well.

Anyways so let's break it down.

Tap on the map

Zoom in while dragging UI components away from the visible area (this is because if we didn't do this they'd suddenly disappear on the final frame which looks weird)

Load the rest of the fucking map

Sorry. Couldn't resist. But the process to load the map is quite complex. Well, actually no, it's not that complex. Just spawn all the tiles, the buildings, the roads, the units, and then use some trigonometry to figure out where the camera should be.

And unloading the map is done similarly. Just in reverse. The only real hard part is to find the initial camera position. This actually has to be saved to a file otherwise we must use a crude approximation of the location.

The Results

So as you can see the final result is quite impressive.

Too impressive maybe.

The Future

To be honest I'm not exactly happy with how it turned out. "Why?" you ask. Well, it's all about performance. I'm not convinced that this ECS system is very performant. Oh, here's a secret: on Android the sprites are rendered using GPU instancing while on iOS they are not because iOS apparently doesn't support this. So on iOS the ECS sprite rendering method is actually slower than the traditional method. Android should be faster but I'm not 100% sure as having this many sprites has resulted in some workarounds like the culling technique earlier.

I'm always super jealous of those games that can run on a potato while my monstrosity barely hits 60 FPS on a modern mid-range device. I don't know, maybe the grass is always greener on the other side.

Also there is the aliasing problem. Aliasing is when there's super small details that appear to flicker. You can see a lot of aliasing in the map previews.

To fix this I should probably use lower resolution versions of the tiles. But then I might as well just load the maps normally. Which I could do. Also the campaign maps will sometimes have intro dialog. I could just do it like WarGroove and have a little window that pops up with the dialog.

Well, one things for sure: I have a lot of work ahead of me.

If you want to see how it works currently you can download the latest build on my Patreon.

#banalitywars #gamedev #wip wednesday

[emilybrown-design]

Blog Post Creative Research

Sailor Moon 

1.) Flowers, Ribbons, Friendship, Romance, The Past

2.) Although there are versions of the poster where the background varies between white, gradient, and a night skyline, the foreground is always the same, featuring the main character Sailor Moon, with the other four sailor guardians behind her, as well as the small Chibi-Usa, clutching her toy Luna-P. In the very back are side view profiles of Tuxedo Mask, Sailor Moon’s prince, and Fiore, an alien from outer space who made a promise to Tuxedo Mask as children to bring him flowers. Above Sailor Moon’s hand floats the Silver Crystal, her source of power. In the very front at the bottom is stationed the Japanese logo for “Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R The Movie.”

3.) The movie starts off with the introduction of Usagi Tsukino, aka Sailor Moon, the main character. She proceeds to tell you her name, and that she can transform into her alter ego, Sailor Moon, who “fights evil in the name of love and justice.” Then she goes on to introduce her friends, the inner sailor guardians. After giving a small detail of each of her friends personalities, a spotlight lands on the transformed guardians one by one, each light and background corresponding to each girls theme color. Then, the whole stage is lit up with the girls in a row. Then in a group, they claim they’ll protect the planet, before fading out.

After that, a rose appears and then fades out into the rest of the intro. Lots of images of different types of flowers appear before a cut out of the movie logo appears on top, with a space background. Then a bright light flashes and the background has changed to one of flowers, and the color of the logo fills in the space. From here, starts the actual credits, accompanied by the theme song.  

It starts with a skyline of Tokyo which fades in on a bus. Inside, the girls are all doing their own thing, chatting, playing, or just enjoying the ride. After they arrive to their destination and file out, the screen changes to show that Usagi’s boyfriend Mamoru was waiting for them.

A field of roses at a botanical garden appears next, with the group in the background. Next is several shots that show the flowers, as well as the girls enjoying their visit. Finally, it shows Usagi and Mamoru in a green house admiring a potted Forget-me-not. Then it fades to black.

4.) The color palette for this movie comprises of a lot of blues and pinks, per the usual for this series. Pink and Blue are even in the amount of use. You see a lot of blue and pink in the transformation sequences, as well as the pink flower aliens and their blue hair. A fair amount of green is present as well, with all the plants in the movie. White is also used a good bit, due to all the feathers, sparkles, and streams of light.

Labyrinth

1.) Owls, Mazes, Magic, Friendship, and Water.

2.) For Labyrinth, there are 3 variations of the movie poster. One of them is realistic looking while the other two are illustrations. All of them feature the same typeface for the credits and the Movie logo, as well as the tagline.

a.) The realistic poster features a blue sky background, with David Bowie’s character, The Goblin King, taking up most of the middle-ground space. On his shoulders are two of the puppet goblins from the movie. Extending toward the viewer is an orb in Bowie’s hand, with the main character Sarah, trapped inside the labyrinth.

b.) The second version is a white background, with an orange maze behind a profile of David Bowie, again holding the orb. Extending from the orb is the illusion of the Goblin King’s castle, and Sarah in the dress she wore at the ball. All around them, are images of the goblins and creatures from the movie.

c.) This poster is an illustration of the view above the labyrinth and the ascending goblin castle during sunrise for the background. Floating above it is an image of the goblin king with the repeating orb. In the foreground is Sarah, the main character, with the friends she travels with in the duration of the movie. The group appears to be rounding over a hill.

3.) The intro starts with an orb floating over the labyrinth, and then proceeds with a few owls flying in and out of line of sight while the actors names appear, before a ripple effect reveals the title of the movie. After this, more owls are shown beside the credits. Another ripple of water, and more owls. Then finally the owl flies into the frame and lands. Thus begins the movie.

4.) The color palette is very light colors, like white. There’s also a fair amount of orange and yellow and brown.

—

5.) Doug Grimmett has received the AIGA Fellow award, for his contributions to the design community. He has a lot of skills under his belt, including Graphic Design but also followed by Animation, Broadcasting, Publishing, and Directing. 

Kristy Breneman is the new Programming Director to the Atlanta Film Festival. She covers the submissions as well as scheduling and programming for the festival. She’s also a board member at a nonprofits organization that supports diversity.

Dan Kuhlken and Nathan Goldman run DKNG, a graphic design studio that works in Print and Poster Designing, Identity Branding, Illustration, and other forms of design. Their different skill sets are what makes them a great company.