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harringtonstilinski · 2 years

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You Better Pt.3 - Joel Dawson

Author: @stilinskiparker Characters: Joel Dawson x Olivia Davis (OC) eventually Word Count: 3,664 Warnings: hell idk.. comedy??, monster stuff, italics are my (jess) inner thoughts, A/N: Hi, friends! Here’s part three! So... I haven’t posted on this series since Nov 2020... We moved shortly after I posted Pt2, and I just haven’t thought about this series until about 5/14/22... which at the time of typing this up was two days ago. BUT! If you like this part, please do not hesitate to reblog and give some feedback, whether it be in the reblogs, comments, or my inbox. As always, read at your own risk and enjoy 😊

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dylan o’brien + characters masterlist

joel dawson masterlist

~~~

TODAY PT3 CONTINUED…

As Clyde was looking over the cliff we stopped near to look for monsters, Minnow painted a target on a cactus to help teach me how to aim a little better… because we all know by now that my aim sucks.

So, while they were both doing that, Lady and I were slowly making our way towards them. I was so bad out of shape from all the spaghetti I’d made in the bunker.. Damn carbs. While I was huffing and puffing, I almost lost my footing. “Shit.”

“Language,” Minnow said.

“How the– you know what? Nevermind.” I caught my breath for a second before saying, “That’s a good, uh, that’s a good little workout there, Clyde.” I sat down then fell to my back, hunching all weird ‘cause of my backpack.

“A boy, huh?” Clyde asked.

“Yup,” I answered as Minnow took my crossbow out of my backpack. “My best friend. We got separated into different colonies when the monsters destroyed our town. Ow.”

“So, you left a nice, safe colony to travel to another colony to pick up this friend then head to the ocean so he hasn’t seen since he was, what, 17?” Clyde asked.

“Now, I know what you’re thinking,” I said. “I know it sounds crazy. I don’t know. If you knew our connection, or rather his connection to hers, you’d probably feel differently. We just got back in touch with each other over the radio a few weeks ago.” I looked down. “I don’t know. I feel like our connection is still there, ya’know. Hopefully, it’s a pick up where we left off type of thing. Feels like it, anyway..”

Minnow handed me my crossbow back while Clyde asked, “You ever hear of the term a fool’s errand?”

“Yes,” I said, standing up. “So, what? I’m a fool for wanting to see my best friend?”

“No. You’re a fool because you’re out here alone, not knowing a thing about survival…”

I aimed my crossbow as he was talking, pulling the trigger with the arrow not going very far. I looked at Minnow, who had a look of disappointment on her face as I said, “It– it was the– the wind.”

“You shoot for shit,” Clyde continued. “Yet you have an attitude like you’re some kind of noble warrior floating on the wings of love. Doesn’t work like that, kid.”

“Okay,” I said. “But who the hell said anything about love?” Minnow handed me the crossbow again after reloading it for me… again.

She pointed to the target before I fiddled with it for a moment. Holding it up how I was supposed to, I looked through the little scope I attached to it. I pulled the trigger again… only for the arrow to shoot up instead of straight. Tossing my head back, I said, “Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.”

“You cuss one more time, I’m gonna start punching you,” Minnow sassed. “Besides, you’re braining out.”

“Huh?” I looked at her. “What does that mean?”

“Braining out. You’re thinking too much. I always clear my mind and say to myself, a needle through water.”

“A needle through water?”

“Liv, trust me. My dad was the best archer in my colony.”

“Oh, he was? Okay. Then why isn’t he out here giving me lessons?” I looked at Clyde, who looked back at me.

“Because I’m not her dad,” he said.

“My dad got killed,” Minnow said. “Back when we lived in the subway station… along with Elliot.”

“Oh, that’s terrible. I’m so sorry,” I said. “Wh-who’s Elliot?”

“My son,” Clyde said, putting his bag back on his back.

I hung my head. “ I’m sorry.”

“No need to be sorry. We all have stories like that, don’t we?”

After Minnow handed me my crossbow back, I started to aim it while saying to myself, “Needle through water. Needle through water.” I pulled the trigger and shot the arrow… into the cactus next to it. “Hey, that was pretty close!” “It was better,” Minnow said.

“It was really good, right? Right?”

Minnow didn’t say anything, just slowly turned a little to the left.

“Ya’know, kid. You gonna hang with us, you need to know some stuff,” Clyde said.

Putting my crossbow on my shoulder, I said, “Yeah. Okay.” I was trying to look all cool and shit, but I don’t think I was getting that point across.

“First lesson.”

“Hit me.”

“Always survey from high ground when possible.”

Quickly putting down my crossbow, I put my backpack down, grabbing my notebook and writing down all the points he was going to tell me.

“Always,” Minnow said.

“Got it,” I said. “Always.”

“Helps you spot the big ones in advance,” Clyde said.

Writing down what he just said, I responded, “This is good. Keep going. It’s also nice to know that that thing’s not following us anymore.”

As I packed my notebook back up, Clyde said, “No, no, it’s definitely still following us. I just saw it. Yeah.”

“Wait, what?” I picked my bag up, putting it back on my back.

Clyde looked over at Minnow and said, “Chumbler,” to which she responded with, “I knew it!”

“Big son of bitch, too,” Clyde commented.

“Big sumanabitch,” Minnow said.

I heard Lady groan a little before Clyde said, “Got your scent, too. Gonna be hard to shake.”

“Then what the hell are we still here for?” I said.

“Relax,” Minnow said. “Chumbler’s aren’t fast. We gotta keep moving.”

Clyde hummed in agreement. “Should’ve already been gone.”

With fear lacing my voice as Clyde and Minnow started walking, I said, “It’s not my scent.” I looked down at Lady and repeated it, more fear laced.

“Oh, yeah, it does.”

I ran over to the edge of the cliff and looked down, seeing the monster frog, now known as the Chumbler, moving through the trees. I turned around and ran to Minnow and Clyde. Once we got into the woods, I asked, “Where are you guys headed anyway.”

“North.”

“To the mountains,” Minnow said.

“What’s up there?” I wondered.

“A place called Snow Mountain Wilderness,” Clyde said. “Supposed to be some kind of colony up there full of survivors. The cold and elevation help to keep the monsters away.”

Turning to face me for a second, Minnow said, “You should definitely come with us!”

“I would, but ya’know–”

“You gotta go find your boyfriend,” she said, getting onto higher ground.

“One, Joel isn’t my boyfriend,” I said. “And two, if you knew him, you’d really like him.”

“Like how you love him?”

Flabbergasted, I didn’t know what to say. “Minnow!”

“He’s not gonna love you back ‘cause you can’t even get out of a Sandgobbler’s nest, and honestly, I just like you ‘cause you have a really cute dog.”

“Hurts right in the gut.”

“You’re so useless.”

“Uh–” I turned to look at Clyde, who reassured, “It just means she likes you. Don’t let it get to you. She’s been through a lot.”

I looked at Minnow, who was messing with some grass, while saying, “So annoying.” Looking back at Clyde, I noticed his whole demeanor changed before he said. “Liv?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t. Move.”

“Oh, my gosh.”

“Gimme your shirt.”

“My shirt?”

“I know you have a tank under your shirt. Gimme your shirt.”

I heard rumbling behind me as I whispered, “What do you mean?”

“Your shirt. Gimme your shirt.”

I mean honestly. How many times can he say “gimme your shirt”?

“Okay,” I whispered, not wanting to move.

“Get– Hurr– Gimme your shirt,” Clyde whispered.

“Give him your shirt, Liv,” Minnow whispered.

“Gimme your shirt.”

Very slowly with shaky hands and arms, I reached for the strap and the top of my jacket on my shoulder, tears starting to lace my eyes. “Shut up, I’m trying.” I finally got everything off my shoulders as Clyde said, “Take it easy. That’s it, that’s it.”

“Is it a Chumbler?” I asked.

“No,” he said, going to help take my shirt off.

“What is it called?

“Take it easy. Lean over,” he said.

“If I don’t make it–”

Shushing me, Clyde bent me over more, taking the back of my shirt and pulling it over my head and down my arms. As I stood back up slowly, he came up my right side, hand on shoulder, saying, “Just stay very still.”

Very, very quietly and shakily, I replied, “Okay.”

I turned around, seeing a giant snail looking thing as Clyde started addressing the monster behind me, it growling at some points. “Ooooookay, buddy. Shh, shh, shh, shh. Easy does it. It’s okay.” Putting my shirt in the snail's rocks, Clyde continued, “You’re okay. It’s okay. You’re alright. Alright. Okay, now. On your way.”

The snail roared at Clyde before turning away and going on his journey… with my shirt.

“All good. On your way, now. On your way. Good boy, good boy.”

I’m guessing I had a look of terror on my face because Minnow said, “What’chu so scared for? Boulder Snails are nice.”

“There can be nice ones?” I asked, voice cracking at the end.

Pointing to her eyes, she said, “You can always tell in their eyes. Just look at their eyes.”

This one probably just saved our lives, too,” Clyde said.

“Saved our lives,” I whispered.

“Gonna spread your scent all over this hillside. Shoot. That ol’ Chumbler ain’t gonna know which way to go.”

Feeling high as shit because I’m still terrified, I said, “So the Chumbler’s gonna follow my shirt?”

After a small roar from the Snail, Minnow and Clyde said, “Thank you, Mr. Boulder Snail!”

Getting a little cold from being scared, I wrapped my arms around my body, slurring, “Thank you.”

“They’re very sensitive, you know,” Clyde said. “But they’ll crush your ass… in a second.”

Still slurring, I said, “What a way to go.”

~~~

Night finally came, and I was calmed from our little adventure with Mr. Boulder Snail, sitting by a fire, hearing all sorts of noises from different monsters as I drew and wrote in my book. Even started writing Joel another letter.

Dear Joel, I don’t really know what to say other than I’m sitting by a fire with two people I just met; an older gentleman named Clyde, and a young girl about 10 or 12 named Minnow. They’re awesome.

I encountered a couple of new monsters today. One called a Sandgobbler and it almost ate my skin off my bones, and another called a Boulder Snail; he was nicer.

Did you know that you can tell if a monster is nice just by looking at their eyes? Yeah. Minnow told me!

I’ve been trying to write while on my journey to see you, which hopefully I’ll be able to bust out two more of them for you.

I really fucking miss you, Joel. Like, bad.

“What’cha doing?”

Jumping about ten feet out of my skin, I looked at who scared me; Clyde. “You just scared the hell out of me.” After getting my heart back in my chest, I said, “A letter. To Joel. I’ve been writing him letters. I started after we got separated, but stopped after a little while. I just picked it back up again. It’s a good way for me to get my thoughts out on paper, and I normally talked to him about all my thoughts, but…”

As Clyde made his way back over to where he was sitting before, I continued, “I also write about all the monsters we’ve encountered. I’m not the best artist or else I would draw them. That’s more Joel’s speed. From what I can remember, he’s terrible.” I chuckled, remembering all the drawings he’d shown me. “It’s nothing special. I’ll just write about all the monsters' strengths and weaknesses… shit like that. Felt like I was helping, ya’know.”

“You’re a pretty good writer,” Clyde said. I turned a couple pages, coming to one in particular that caught his eye. “I seen this one. Ugly bastard. Doesn’t like loud noises, also doesn’t like shotgun blasts to the head. Might wanna add that.”

I took my pencil and wrote down shotgun to the face. “Got it.”

“Do you mind if I–?”

“Oh, sure,” I said. “Go ahead.” I handed him my notebook, letting him look through it.

“Very pretty handwriting,” he commented. “Spent a lot of time perfecting all the different fonts?”

I nodded my head. “Yup. I needed something to do while down in the bunker, so I found this calligraphy book and just started practicing. Wasn’t anything special and it sure as shit didn’t help the colony out any.”

He flipped to a page about Agatha 6-1-6. “I was 16 when it hit.”

“Yeah, they sent everything up at once to take her down,” Clyde commented. “They had the balls to call us the lucky ones just ‘cause of whatever the hell was in those things didn’t affect us. Ain’t nothing lucky about getting kicked off the top of the food chain.”

“Yeah, my parent’s and Joel’s parents thought if we could just.. make it out Fairfield, then we might’ve had a shot,” I said, looking down as sadness laced my voice.

“Wait, wait, wait. You’re from Fairfield?”

“Yeah, why?” I asked, looking back up at Clyde.

“I’ve never met anyone who made it out of Fairfield. That place was basically ground zero. Shit, I’ve only heard horror stories.”

I nodded my head, saying, “Yeah, it was pretty bad.”

“Your parents, uhh…”

“No, no. It’s just me…”

“And this Joel kid?”

“Yup. Just me and Joel. We couldn’t save our parents.”

“You putting that on yourself?” he asked, to which I hummed at. He sighed and said, “You’re from Fairfield. You shouldn’t even be here. Right? You’re more of a survivor than I thought.”

“Gee, thanks.” I thought about his words for a moment. “That’s actually the coolest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

Handing me my notebook back, Clyde said, “It’s a good start. Keep it up. Book like this could save someone’s life out here.”

“Thanks, Clyde.” “You, uhm… you’re sure this boy is worth it? Coming all this way?”

“Yeah,. He is.”

A few seconds of silence went by as Clyde messed with logs in the fire before Minnow said, “Don’t settle, Liv.”

“She’s right,” Clyde said. “You don’t have to. Not even at the end of the world.” He rustled my hair some before I tried to get in a comfortable position to sleep, but that was short lived when Clyde clapped really loud and said, “Okay! Time to break camp! Let’s go!”

“Wait, what?” I asked, completely baffled.

“Lesson 2,” he said, standing and putting his bag on his back. “You get a hot meal or a good night’s sleep. Not both.”

“Not both,” Minnow said.

I sat up, opening my notebook to the page I titled Lessons from Clyde and Minnow before I packed it up and stood, shouldering my bag straps. “Are you being serious?”

“Something will have smelled our food and be all over this camp within the hour,” Clyde said.

“Why wouldn’t you tell me that, though? I didn’t do either!”

“We can’t tell you everything. Keep up.” Clyde poured water on the fire and we headed off!

All night we walked, and well into the morning. I was tired, I was starving. We stopped off at a little spot, where Minnow painted a face with a target in the middle for shooting practice.

“Rwar! I’m gonna kill you, Liv Davis! I’m gonna eat you like broccoli!” Minnow said, growling at the end. “I’m Liv, and I can’t protect my boyfriend and I’m useless and insecure and an awkward little teenager. But I need you to save me! I thought you loved me! But I can’t because–” She started making shrieking noises.

I looked down at her from my crossbow, asking, “What?”

“That’s your boyfriend dying,” she said.

“One; we’ve been over this, he’s not my boyfriend,” I said. “And two; what?”

“A needle through water.”

I sighed, looking back through my bow’s scope, muttering, “A needle through water. Needle through water,” before I pulled the trigger and landed the arrow right between the “eyes” of this tree.

Minnow cheered for me as I looked shocked. “See? Bull’s Eye!” She rammed straight into my side, causing me to groan before shrieking as we both went down the ground.

“Got yourself a little sister there, huh?” Clyde asked. “Hey, we gotta get going.”

“Okay,” I groaned. “Minnow get up. We gotta go.” I went to get up, but couldn’t because Minnow wouldn’t get up. “Minnow? What are you doing?” We eventually got up and continued our journey before making a quick stop again, giving me the perfect opportunity to write another letter to Joel.

Dear Joel, I made some friends! Human friends! You already know about them; Clyde and Minnow. I don’t know why I’m telling you that again. But they’re teaching me everything they know. Like in lesson three; don’t take shortcuts! Lesson eight; target practice everyday! I’m getting pretty damn good with my crossbow, if I do say so myself. Lesson ten is a good one; keep your socks dry.

I’m really struggling with lesson two; not both. Meaning I can’t have a hot meal and a good night’s sleep. I’m super tired, and we both know how I get when I’m super tired.

After getting to a certain point in our journey, Clyde ever so kindly informed me, “Alright, there’s a lot of things out here that you shouldn’t touch or eat. Ferns like these have an antivemon. Good in pinch for snakes, slugs. Great entry for your book.”

I was trying to write and walk at the same time, which wasn’t working out great, but I’d be able to sit and rewrite all this later. “Yup. Got it.”

“The insect looking ones got no peripheral vision. Lizard looking ones can’t climb for shit. Amphibian looking ones like to hide, lure ya in, eat’cha whole. Then there’s the Sandgobblers, the badasses.”

“Badasses,” Minnow said.

“Yup,” I said. “Fell in their hole. That’s how we met, remember?”

“But what you saw were worker bees,” Clyde said. “What you wanna avoid under all circumstances is the queen.”

“How do I know if I’ve come in contact with the queen?” I asked.

“Well, your first clue would be a giant fin slicing through the Earth, following every single sound and vibration you make. You howling in pain as you’re being ripped in half will be your second.”

“Copy that. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“We’re getting close to where our paths diverge. You’re gonna want to go West to Jenner, the beaches. Or you can be sensible and come with us to the mountains.”

“Yeah, I’ve been sensible all my life and it’s literally gotten me nowhere,” I said.

“Come with us,” Clyde said. “Strength in numbers, ya’know? Besides, we’d make a great team.”

“Yeah, I think so, it’s just–” I trailed off. “This is something I’ve gotta do.”

“It’s not fair,” Minnow said.

I turned around and locked eyes with her, seeing sadness all over her face. “Minnow.” I walked over to her, crouching down. “What’s going on, bub?” “Why do you gotta go?” she said, voice breaking.

“Because this boy,” I said. “He really means a lot to me. Come on, you know I gotta do this. We talked about it.” Thinking about my next move, I decided to give her something . “Hey, you know what? I got something for ya.” Reaching into my bag, I got the baseball that I was saving for Joel out, handing it to her.

“A baseball?” she asked, excitedly. She took it from my hands as I said, “Yeah,” before she hugged me tightly, grateful for this gift.

She stood back up, as she had to bend a little to hug me. “I take back what I said before. Joel’s gonna love you back.”

Not wanting to argue with her about the topic anymore because… well, because she’s right, I smiled and said, “Thanks, Minnow. Oop. You got some snot.” I stood and wiped her nose with the bottom of my jacket, both of us chuckling. “Come on.”

I turned around and walked towards Clyde, who was standing at the edge of woods near a clearing.

“Final lesson,” he said. “Listen to your instincts out here. They’ll keep you alive.” He turned to look at me.

“What if I have the worst instincts?” I asked.

“You’ll die,” he said, almost nonchalantly while almost happy at the same time.

“Okay.” “Listen, love. Good instincts are earned by making mistakes. If you’re lucky enough to survive a few mistakes, you’re gonna be okay out here.” He held up a grenade, saying, “This might come in handy, too.”

Taking it from him, I said, “Wow. That’s awesome. Do you have any more that I could have?” “You get one,” he said. “Pull the pin, count to five. Not four, not six.”

I repeated the number five while looking at the explosive in my hands as Clyde put his hand on my shoulder and said, “You’re gonna be okay. Minnow? Let’s go, kid.” They started walking off as he said, “Hey, Liv! You made it all this way from Fairfield. What’s another 30 miles?”

“30 miles?” I said to myself. I started walking towards them when I asked, “You mean we passed Joel’s colony?!”

“Be safe out here!”

I stopped walking as Lady continued her journey towards Clyde and Minnow, as Clyde said, “Here she comes!” Lady gave them some love before heading back in my direction.

We all raised our hands in goodbye before they continued on their journey.

At Lady’s whine, I said, “Yeah, I’m gonna miss them, too.” I turned around and started walking back to the woods we emerged from, Lady staying where she was. “Come on, Lady.” I turned my back to see if she started following or not, and to my somewhat surprise, she did.

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

A/N 2: And that’s where we’re gonna end it for now. I know, I know, cliffhanger. But the series will continue a little while after YABMH && WLCFL ends.

~~~

Forever / Everything Taglist: @stiles-o-dylan24 @stixnstripesworld @fandom-princess-forevermore @quanticobae @mischiefandi @kellysashcroft @lauren-novak

If you’re tagged and didn’t want to be, please let me know.

~~~

*Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my consent. The author of this work will always and forever be @stilinskiparker.

All characters, story lines, and plot aside from Olivia and her storyline & plot, are all of the work of the creators of Love and Monsters. Our home slice Olivia was made up all by me.

*These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Posted on May 17, 2022

#joel dawson x olivia davis #joel x olivia #joel dawson #olivia davis #joel dawson x oc #joel dawson imagine #love and monsters #love and monsters x oc #dylan o'brien x oc #dylan o'brien imagine

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jazwritesalot · 1 year

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Shaken, Not Stirred - Chapter 4: Hot Toddy

Pairing: Shinsou Hitoshi/Kaminari Denki, ShinKami Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia, My Hero Academia Rating: Teen & Up Audiences Total Word Count: 22,634 Tags: Aged Up Characters, AU - College/University, AU - No Quirks, AU - Coffee Shops & Cafes, Barista/Electrician/DJ Kaminari, Waiter/Bartender/Psych Student Shinsou, Bakusquad Shenanigans, brief one-sided KamiJirou, side KiriBaku, background EraserMic, background CamieJirou, comedy, alcohol consumption, drinking, house parties, bar scene, implications of depression, cat cafes

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Written for the ShinKami Big Bang 2020

The first thought that crossed Denki’s mind as he slowly stirred to life was that he was full of regrets—he regretted drinking as much as he did last night, he regretted falling asleep in his jeans, and most of all, he regretted not closing his curtains; the sun was peeking through the window where he was missing sections of blinds and hit him directly in his eyes. Faint tendrils of a killer headache were creeping up his head and he squeezed his eyes shut to try and alleviate some of the pressure. Hissing out a groan, he rolled over to avoid the traitorous light and collided with something warm and firm. His eyes flew open and he quickly sat up—another regret to add to his list as nausea swept through him—and came face to face with Hitoshi stretched out languidly on his bed, Fenrir curled up on his chest purring softly as she snoozed.

“Shin-Hitoshi, I, wha-” he sputtered out intelligently as Shinsou blinked up sleepily at him, running a hand down Fenrir’s back, earning him a happy chirp in response. Panic immediately flooded him as he noticed that he was shirtless, not to mention that he couldn’t remember a single thing after Hitoshi showed up in the basement. He must have noticed the change in Denki; he sat up and adjusted himself against the wall, much to the displeasure of Fenrir, who meowed loudly in protest.

“Relax, Denki. Nothing happened. Just breathe,” he assured him, guiding him to sit flush with him, offering his shoulder as a place for Denki to rest his head, which he gratefully accepted. He reached over to pet Fenrir and received a warning swipe in return.

“You little traitor! I can’t believe my own child would choose you over me,” he grumbled, rubbing his hand. Thankfully she didn’t break skin, but her little claws were still painful.

“Well, I do handle cats every day. Who’s to blame her, really?” he snickered. Denki stuck his tongue out at him petulantly before settling back down.

“Wait a second. You said nothing happened. Did you mean that?” he asked hesitantly. The night was pretty blurry to him, but he was almost certain he remembered them kissing. If that was just a dream, then damn was it a vivid one.

“Well, if you call telling me that I am ‘the most beautiful man you had ever laid eyes on, which is a feat since I live with a very famous and gorgeous actor’ then kissing me senseless in the midst of a mosh pit nothing, then yes, nothing happened.” Hitoshi was wearing a shit-eating grin at Denki’s stunned face. He was mortified—he actually did that? And he didn't even remember it? Oh god, the floor could just open up and swallow him whole right now and he wouldn’t be content.

“Oh fuck,” he groaned, leaning forward to hide his face in the palms of his hands. “I’m almost scared to ask what else happened last night if that’s your definition of ‘nothing.’”

“Wait—you don’t really remember anything from last night?” Hitoshi asked, incredulous.

“I can remember bits and pieces. I most definitely remember kissing you, but I had no idea I said all that embarrassing shit before I did. Everything after that is a major blur,” he moaned, slinking down until his head was resting on Hitoshi’s thigh. Fenrir chirped in irritation and jumped off the bed.

“Just how much did you drink?” he laughed, reaching down to run his fingers through Denki’s tangled hair. “Anyway, Cellophane performed next. The guy’s got some amazing vocals, that’s for sure. Then there was a break and we went upstairs to get some more drinks. The redhead suggested doing some shots and you were more than eager for that. The tall one with the black hair and kickass tattoos decided to join in too. You then took off with the two of them which left me with the pissed off blond and the drummer of the first band, who kept screaming something about us all getting head.” Denki snorted and Hitoshi looked down at him in amusement.

“It’s actually HED, H-E-D, not head, h-e-a-d,” he laughed. “Stands for Hanta, Eijirou, and Denki. The ‘getting head’ thing was a joke that we came up with when we formed the band. But hot damn, I wish I could remember that. Last time we played was on Kirishima and Tetsu’s birthdays, but Ei was all down in the dumps because he missed out on seeing Bakugou.”

“The short goth girl made her girlfriend record it, don’t worry. It was definitely an experience. Sero, I think you’ve said his name was, apparently got drunk enough in the short amount of time we did the shots to the point that at the beginning of the set he stripped down to nothing but his underwear.”

“Oh my god—was it the checkered pair that said ‘spank me’ in lime green on the ass?” Denki cackled and then immediately groaned after as a sharp pain shot through his head.

“Those would definitely be the pair he was wearing. You guys are something else. But you guys did two songs together—fantastic rendition of 'Renegades of Funk,' by the way—then they joined the crowd while you finished out your performance. After the show ended and the house cleared out you brought me up here. We made out a bit, but I did put a stop to it because you were pretty drunk. After that you showed me some of your other music, both yours and HED’s. Then we talked until we fell asleep.” Denki hummed as he looked at Shinsou. He could see a trace of sadness in his smile, so he was pretty sure he knew what they talked about.

“Let me guess, we talked about my family, didn’t we?” he sighed, covering his eyes with the crook of his arm.

“Only a little. I didn’t want to pry too much, but I could tell that some of those songs were more than just lyrics you came up with. But it’s okay. I have no room to judge, not that I would, but I also come from a pretty fucked up family myself.”

“Oh yeah? But Yamada and Aizawa seem to be very loving parents,” Denki stated, disbelief seeping into his voice.

“Well yeah, they are. But my sister and I are both adopted.” Denki moved his arm and blinked up at Hitoshi, feeling very much like an asshole for assuming. “Don’t give me that look. We’re both in a much better place now. Much like you are—you have roommates and friends who really love and care about you, and that’s what matters. Who needs a blood family anyway?”

“You’re right. Fuck ‘em,” he grumbled and Hitoshi laughed, the sound sending butterflies racing through Denki.

“Speaking of family, Dad and Pops are probably wondering where I went. I kinda ran out last night without letting them know I would be gone all night. And then my phone died. They’re probably not too pleased with me,” he groaned.

“Look at you, being all Mr. Rebellious,” Denki teased and rolled off of him, stretching the minute his feet hit the floor. He squeaked as arms snaked around his waist, pulling him back into Hitoshi’s chest.

“By the way, I’m glad that we got to level three of friendship—I absolutely love the lightning bolts. They’re so you,” he purred into Denki’s ear before leaving a searing kiss on his neck that made Denki flush and curse simultaneously.

“You’re going to be the death of me, I swear to god,” he complained, turning around to give him a proper kiss. It was short and sweet but just enough to make Denki weak in the knees as they broke apart. The niggling thought of ‘are we dating now?’ was dancing around in the back of his mind, but he shrugged it off—that was something that could be established later. Right now the focus was seeing Hitoshi off and getting something for the pounding in his head.

“Where in the world did my shirt end up?” Hitoshi grumbled, sifting through the blankets to find it.

“You mean that one?” Denki asked, trying to stifle giggles as he pointed over to Fenrir, who was sleeping in the corner of the room, the black and purple plaid print nestled underneath her.

“Well, I guess I’m not getting that back any time soon. At least I still have my tank,” he snorted, running a hand through his hair, which had come loose in the night and was now framing his face.

“Speaking of that shirt, I gotta ask. Which band is it for? I’ve been trying to figure it out since I first saw you wear it, but I got nothing.”

“Oh this? Actually, my sister has been practicing her English lettering. It’s supposed to say ‘Hitoshi & Eri’, but she went a bit heavy-handed on the paint.”

“Are you kidding me?” Denki laughed, which startled Fenrir awake. “This whole time I’ve been thinking it was some sort of local act that I have never heard of. That’s just too precious though.”

“What can I say? It’s hard to resist her sometimes. But it is a very nice shirt. Hope it will keep me warm enough though,” he frowned, peeking out the window. There was a thin layer of snow still out on the ground.

“Like I’m gonna let you go out in just a tank. I think I have an older oversized hoodie out in the living room you can borrow. Do you have to leave immediately? I should probably offer you something to eat, since you stayed and dealt with my drunk ass all night.”

“I should be able to stay to eat. Do you have a charger I can borrow? That way I can at least get my phone charged up enough to let Pops know where I’m at before he sends a search party out for me.” They both shared a laugh and Denki handed a charger to him as he bent down to feed Fen, who was glaring at him and refusing to release the shirt.

“Maybe if we’re lucky Ei and Hanta will still be in their rooms. I really don’t want to see a grumpy Bakugou this early in the morning,” Denki laughed as they left his room and headed across the hall to the kitchen.

“Just for that, you ain’t getting any of this food,” Bakugou grumbled from the stove where he was frying up some eggs and bacon, which smelled heavenly.

“I take it back. Blasty is the best. Please feed us,” Denki begged, throwing himself at the kitchen table.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever Dunce Face. Morning, Eyebags,” he nodded at Hitoshi.

“Mornin’, Pissed off Pomeranian,” he snarked back as he took a seat next to Denki, ignoring the expletives and threats that Bakugou threw his way before wincing loudly.

“Babe, you’re being too loud,” Kirishima whined from his place at the table, face pressed into the cool wood. Sero wasn’t faring any better—he was a mess of groans lying across the couch on the adjacent wall, his arm slung over his face.

“It’s Sparky’s fault. Shouldn’t immediately wake up and piss me off,” Bakugou barked back as he took the kettle of water off the stove and poured out five glasses of water, mixing small amounts of honey, lemon juice, and whiskey into them.

“I don’t care who started it, just knock it off. Y’all motherfuckers are loud,” Sero griped. “Please tell me that that glass has the magic hangover cure in it.”

“No such thing. But it should help a little. So quit yer bitchin’” he grumbled, shoving a glass in Sero’s hands and bringing the rest of them to the table.

“A Hot Toddy?” Hitoshi asked with a raised eyebrow as he sipped at it. “Damn, this is really good.”

“Of course it is, I made it. But yeah, the hag swears by these for hangovers. So drink up and eat up.” He placed the plates of eggs and bacon on the table and they all dug in, eating as much as their queasy stomachs would allow them to—save for Hitoshi, who didn’t have nearly as much to drink as the other four did.

“So Denks, got any hot news to share with the group?” Kirishima teased, waggling his eyebrows.

“Yeah, what was that about him being the, what was it, hottest man you’ve ever laid eyes on?” Sero chimed in from the couch with a laugh as Denki’s face flamed.

“Doesn’t look like you really have much room to talk, what with those hickies on your neck,” Hitoshi quipped back and both Bakugou and Kirishima choked on their food, which made Sero laugh even louder from his hangover cocoon.

“Babe! You said there wasn’t anything on my neck!” Kirishima whined as he reached over to shove at Bakugou. “PR is gonna be a freakin’ nightmare now.”

“Whoops, my bad,” he grinned, not looking sorry at all. Denki was thankful that Hitoshi was able to change the subject so flawlessly, since they hadn’t even had the ‘are we partners now?’ talk yet.

“You guys know I don’t kiss and tell,” Denki pouted, crossing his arms and jutted his chin out.

“Dude, we all saw you sucking face with him last night. Nice try,” Sero guwaffed.

“Anyway, nice try with the deflecting. Now, are you gonna treat our Spark Plug right, Drowzee?” Bakugou asked with a stern look on his face.

“Aww Blasty! I didn’t know you cared so much about me!” Denki sniffled, shooting out of the chair to tackle him in a bear hug, ignoring his protests and shoves to dislodge him.

“To answer your question, yes, I will take good care of him. He is my partner, after all. At least, if he wants to be,” Hitoshi murmured sheepishly, looking down at the table instead of meeting Denki’s incredulous gaze.

“Hell yes I wanna be your partner!” he cried out, pushing away from Bakugou to wrap his arms around Hitoshi and pull him in for a kiss. He could hear the sounds of fake gagging coming from Bakugou, and snickers from the other two, but Denki could care less. He was so immeasurably happy.

“I’m glad you’re enthusiastic about this,” Hitoshi chuckled as they parted.

“Anyone who wouldn’t be overjoyed to be dating you is an idiot. Or blind. You know what? Both. Both is good,” he decided and Hitoshi buried his face in the crook of Denki’s shoulder to hide his blush.

“Oh great. The mushy-gushy crap is here now too,” Bakugou groaned.

“Dude, let them be. They both deserve this,” Sero vouched from his perch.

“I agree with Hanta. Now we just need to work on getting him a partner and then we can go on a triple date!”

“To take a line from Denki’s book, I don’t kiss and tell,” Sero winked before standing up and stretching.

“Dude??? You’re seeing someone and you haven’t told us? What type of betrayal is this?” Denki exclaimed, standing and slapping his hands down on the table as he glared at Sero, who just shrugged at him.

“It never came up and it’s not a sure thing either. Besides, we’re keeping things pretty hush hush. His dad is kinda an asshole. We’re just waiting for the right moment to happen to come out with it if we go any farther.”

“And we will respect that decision, won’t we?” Bakugou glared at Denki and Kirishima nodded, backing him up.

“Fine. You right. But the moment you decide to spread the news, you better tell your favorite bro all about it.”

“As much fun as this has been,” Hitoshi said, interrupting the conversation, “I really do need to get going. Thank you for the meal.” He stood, nodding at Bakugou and Denki followed suit.

“See ya later, Lover Boy,” Sero snickered.

“It was nice partying with ya, man! Hope to see you around more!” Kirishima smiled and Bakugou merely grunted. Denki led him to the entrance of the house, making a quick pit stop at the coat rack to find the aforementioned hoodie he promised Hitoshi. He handed it over to a snorting Hitoshi, who pulled the Snorlax-themed garment on, making sure to leave the hood up. It was slightly snug on him, since Denki was decently smaller than him, but still, it worked.

“You know, I figured that if you had a Pokemon hoodie, that it would be of Pikachu,” Hitoshi teased as he typed out a quick message to his parents.

“Of course I have a Pikachu one! But there is no way that it would fit you since it’s snug even on me. I do have to say, you make a very handsome Snorlax though.”

“Thanks. I think it’s the eyebags. They really bring life to the character.” The level of snark in his reply caused Denki to double over in laughter. He wasn’t sure how he got so lucky to have this man both in his life and his home, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to question it. “Anyway, I do need to get going. But I wanted to thank you for such a fun night. And for, well, you know,” he stumbled, face flushing. Seeing Hitoshi get so flustered made butterflies dance in his stomach.

“Yeah, I think I do know,” Denki grinned with a wink, leaning forward to press a soft kiss against Hitoshi’s lips. “Thank you as well. For taking a chance on me. Now, better get going before your dad comes after me. I could hold my own against Pops, but definitely not against him.” They shared a laugh and with a promise to let him know when he got home safely, Hitoshi left. As Denki watched his retreating back walking down the sidewalk with the faint chaos that was Bakugou, Kirishima, and Sero in the kitchen echoing into the living room, he realized that, for the first time in what felt like forever, he was happy. And not the type of happiness that happened when he got a mix right on the first time; or the happiness when it’s Ei, Hanta, and him chilling at home; or the happiness that he got when Blasty got riled up from his shenanigans. No, this was an unadulterated joy that made him feel invincible. As Hitoshi disappeared from his line of sight and he turned to head back to the kitchen, he was forever thankful that he answered Hizashi’s call that day. It was most definitely too soon to call it love, but he was undoubtedly extremely smitten with one Shinsou Hitoshi. And, to be honest? He wouldn’t have it any other way.

#jaz writes #shinsou hitoshi #kaminari denki #shinkami #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #long fic #chapter 4 #shaken not stirred #On the Rocks #also on ao3 and twitter #shinkami big bang 2020

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rimdowidar · 1 year

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After #32-Days-of-No-Contact

Writing is my tool to heal my overwhelming thoughts, and it helps me to get all of my ideas so I can track myself whenever I'm repeating the same feelings and thoughts.

So, what do we have here now? Just documenting my healing journey. and why am I making this public? because why not.. also who would really check this blog anyway!

So, someone entered my life in June 2018, and after about a year of knowing each other, we were in a relationship. it was a bit on and off because how I was always fighting over his lifestyle, and how he used to be cold sometimes, but overall he was being nice to me and treated me well.

In September 2020, I started college it was my first time getting out of a very bad place in my life, and it was my first time to actually start what I really love and make an effort for (Filmmaking), at that time we were fighting a lot and I started to question "what if?" and started to be unsure of being in a committed relationship. so, we broke up.

In February 2023, on my birthday.. we met again. and after almost 10 days we got back together, after 42 days we broke up because I was super ready to settle down and have him for life, and he was not ready for that, I freaked him out lol and he said that "I don't want to be in a relationship right now."

It's been now 32 days since our last day together, and looking back at the beginning of it.. yeah I am doing much much better!

In the beginning, I received the most mixed signals I ever received in my life, it was like sometimes it's someone who is ADORING you and wanna marry you and sometimes he is someone who is sure of nothing and wants to explore more and can't stand being next to you, tbh? that gave me a hard time and lots lots of crying but unexpectedly after 30 days of grieving, crying, anger, and jealousy... all become better, I think I am doing better now and accepting the idea of him not being in my life.

What made me really move on?

1- Writingwritingwritingwriting!

It starts with an open note on my phone with the title: "To My Ex... Messages are not meant to be sent" - but it got sent hahaha. I wrote in from April 3rd to April 7th, not too many days right? well, I wrote 22 pages :) ... it got everything, missing him, wanting him back, jealousy, asking him back, a prestigious way of begging him to come back haha, talking about old messages, talking about us before me going to the college, Quotes (YES), Sad Song Lyrics (YES)... I wrote literally everything in those few days, then it felt like oh it's actually kind of hard work you gotta send it to him so I did and asked him not to reply to anything in it and he didn't thankfully, now I look back to that relationship and I feel super happy and super proud of saying everything, every little thing was on my mind to him, and I tried everything to make it work... SO I AM GOOD!

2- Modern Family

Yes, that show helped me a lot going through a hard time, I'm right now in the seventh season of it, and totally worth it.. stick always to that simple rule: If you are sad, go watch comedy.

3- Ali El Haggar

He is my favorite singer, and he is the one I love the most, and he was my first live concert to go to, and that artist got some really GREAT SONGS, my favorite at that time was: في قلب الليل

4- I got the closure I wanted

After him telling me that he doesn't want a relationship, we met after that a few times maybe four times or something, and I talked about it all, I was super expressive (thanks to my therapy sessions) I told him that he could be an avoidant and that he just fears the closeness and I suggested therapy, I suggested to make the relationship different to suit him more blah blah, and listened to him more and more till his words made sense to me.

5- Nagui

my 3-month-old kitten, Nagui was born on February 7 that's making us twins! I've always wanted a pet and my mother would keep refusing, when she knew we broke up she agreed that I can finally get a pet. I remember not leaving the house because of him, he is my baby and will always be.

6- Therapy

Well, If I am talking about therapy a couple of months ago I'd just say how it completely changed my whole life, but in this journey... welllllll it didn't do much, all it did was resist texting him back knowing that i have a session by the end of the week that would make me realize how bad this is, and would calm me down.

7- Friends

Well, my closest friend ironically let me down, he wasn't there for me through this journey which was really painful, it was a real loss, I lost someone I deeply love since 2019, someone I shared with him a lot that I couldn't imagine myself sharing that with anyone else, and I believe that loss could feel like death... it is serious and it is painful!

but another friend of mine came out of nowhere, and she did help me go through this.. so yeah life is unexpecting all the time.

It is getting better, and no matter how devasting this is, know and make sure that it will pass, and if didn't you will survive.

I might never lose the love for him, I might not find love again. but I am okay and I am doing better day by day.

I look at myself in this picture after daying of consistently crying, and I can see that I am doing better, and I never imagined that I would actually be better in just 30 days. miracles happen!

Later On...

#breakup #heartbroken #no contact #healing #healing journey #journaling #nocontact

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stephsu · 3 years

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inspired by this post

#*#useralex #userrobin #usersameera #usercandy #john mulaney #this is a day late because i suck #anyways his comedy is one of the things that got me through 2020 #and im so thankful for that #rooting for you john!#2020 calendar #2020 #chewieblog #optional

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wellfine · 3 years

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✨ One Piece Timeskip Redesigns! ✨

My last art of 2020 went off with a bang! I’ve been working on these for a while and they’re finally ready to share. I thought it might be fun to concept designs for the crew with more influence from the islands they were sent to! They ended up a lil costume-y, but I like that too.

Read below for flavour text/design notes or just enjoy the art!

LUFFY: I wanted him to have “King of the Pirates” vibes! His hooded cape/mantle is inspired by the coats Shanks and Roger wore, but less cumbersome, mixed with the Kuja’s capes. The design on the back is Ace’s comedy/tragedy drama masks in the shape of Sabo’s goggles, inside angel wings. He can store things inside the sash. The golden snakes around his ankles can expand with him (the tail comes out of the mouth, like a bangle). The Kuja women made his clothes for him!

ZORO: Not a whole lot to say here except he forgot how normal people dressed while he was on Kuraigana LOL. His design is a mix of European and East Asian vampire lore and he just keeps... losin limbs lmao. With all his prominent scars he really does look undead!! This was the first design I came up with and it’s what made me want to do all the others!

NAMI: She’s a Weather Witch! The old men on Weatheria were scandalised by her short hair and tattoos so she... got shorter hair, and another tattoo. Her second tattoo is a four-pointed star inside a ship’s wheel/compass, to represent where she’s going, because her old tattoo represents where she came from. Her hair is also obviously inspired by Bellemere! Her suit is a swimsuit so she’s ready for any weather, and her hood opens up into a giant witch/rain hat. The moons on her shoes are skate-model wavers and can retract up around her ankles when she’s not using them. Combined with her (canon) “milky road” abilities, she can use them with her Clima-Tact to “fly” across clouds!

USOPP: He basically leveled-up in running away, so he kinda fights parkour-style now. His gloves and shoes are made by dipping his hands/feet in natural tree rubber sap so they give him excellent grip. He has little bands between his index & middle fingers he can use as slingshots in a pinch. He KEPT HIS ORIGINAL GOGGLES BECAUSE WHY WOULD HE ABANDON THEM, ODA?? even though he ahd to repair them a few times. The multiple watches keep track of the island’s time cycles and vibrate to alert him rather than make any sound. His coat of leaves provides camouflage, and he can also inflate it along with a birdcall whistle to look like a giant owl and scare off predators!

SANJI: What if Sanji went to Gender Island and realised all masculinity is performative so he came back a drag king I wanted to lean harder into his “waiter > chef” pre-TS design elements. His vest is backless and has more heart shapes at the back lmao. He leaves heart-shaped stamps on people when he kicks them

CHOPPER: Chopper was hard because I think his post-TS design is perfect already BUT! He got the little capelet and the feather from the people/birds of Torino kingdom. The swirls are from Hiluluk’s coat lapels! His doctor bag is actually a little backpack.

ROBIN: ............... ma’am She’s a fantasy/video-game-archeologist mixed with a sleek, modern super spy. She uses the harnesses to lift/hoist herself around by her own hands, using her devil fruit power instead of ropes, Mission Impossible style. She uses throwing knives even though her accuracy isn’t that great because she’s basically just gonna pick them up with one of her flower hands and stab the target close-range anyway.

FRANKY: I actually like that he’s a big messed up robo post-TS LMAO I just think he would love Vegapunk’s chimera designs. He’s sort of a griffon/manticore fusion with obvious inspiration from the Sunny, which he can probably mecha-fuse with somehow now. The paw pads can pop out of the gloves and act like smaller hands for more delicate stuff, just like his canon design. Robin is a big fan of squishing them. Gas from his cola chamber fuels powerful hydraulic attacks! (He can still do the nipple beam :/)

BROOK: Brook was hardest because I couldn’t change that much about his original design, but I lke the result! His skull cracked all the way through (probably excited groupies) so he welded it back together with gold (kintsugi). It can actually swing open like a purse, though, so he can store stuff in it, and his two gold teeth act as the clasp. His collar is an inverted violin, and his outfit is themed around ghost ships. The soles of his shoes are sabaody technology that make his foosteps silent. His cane-sword is now also a mic!

THAT’S IT! PHEW! If you have any questions I’d be happy to try and answer, but in the meantime, thank you for reading/looking! ♥

I can’t tag because Tumblr hates any links, even within Tumblr, but I was inspired to make these redesigns by Bridget’s lovely redesigns which you can find on her Tumblr elekilokal!

#One Piece #Roronoa Zoro #Usopp #Soul King Brook #Nico Robin #Luffy #Nami #Sanji #Tony Tony Chopper #Franky #long post

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bluewinnerangel · 2 years

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do you have any theories or know any theories for TBSL? because the line “Do you think it's easy being of the jealous kind?” always reminds me of fetus larry :(

Hi! SoooOoooo this has been in my drafts for like a year? I just reread it and I'm just gonna post is as it is.. whatever 2021 me didn't like about it can cringe in a corner I want this out of my drafts asfsddsf I mean with As It Was coming soon it won't be leaving it after so here it is, everything To Be So Lonely:

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Diving into TBSL because needs a The Notebook rewatch and now I did and bawled my eyes out thanks anon.

My theory about TBSL is pretty much like FTDT and Brokeback Mountain, and that it's not autobiographical in its core, but he took massive inspiration from The Notebook. But to get back to the mentioned line anon, yeah I do think the being of the jealous kind fits his character, fits what we think is the true him, how we've seen him behave indeed especially in early years. Plus lyrics, especially Harry's, are layered af and can both be about fictional characters as well as his personal life and whatever else all at once easily. So that I think it's not autobiographical doesn't mean it can't be applied to him personally, if I'm making any sense here. Anyway this is what makes me think it's about The Notebook more than just that one line:

!THIS POST IS ONE BIG THE NOTEBOOK SPOILER!

So if you haven't watched the movie but want to, maybe save this analysis for after. K warned you. For one, he's obsessed with that movie. He's mentioned it in interviews a bunch of times over the years, not gonna find em all right now but maybe the most detailed conversation about this was during HS1 promo with Nick:

youtube

With the segment starting around 8 mins in. I like how Nick is just dropping that Harry just knows all the lines like that "And you do that things where you repeat... you say all the lines.. as if you're Ryan Gosling" and then Harry goes "nooo noo that's not true. I play Rachel McAdams" (and we've seen a lot of examples of him indeed knowing all the lines through the years, even recently yelling TRASH TRASH TRASH on tour, and the soundtrack was part of on his 2020 playlists) The talk with Nick is in reference to watching it a lot while writing HS1 but I obviously think that extends to his later work. It's funny, Woman starts off with "should we just search for romantic comedies on netflix and see what we find?" and that's pretty in line with the point I'm trying to make here, that you might just find the sentiment of a whole bunch of Harry's songs if you do exactly that. You might just stumble upon another piece of work (movie in this case) and be like oh shit that one Harry song actually fits perfectly in here, matches up with this character's POV that well you gotta wonder whether that's... actually where that song came from in the first place. That some mermaid's just been busy being a hopeless romantic sappy lil shit binging his comfort movies and getting lost in them to the point where they turn into songs. And Nick is kidding about this too: "It's actually what the album's about". To which Harry goes "Yeah", Nick: "Yeah.", which, yeah, joke, OOORRR IISSS ITTTT :") Harry: "And a lot of that... ehm.... always circles back to The Notebook.."

So that's exactly what I'm gonna do here, we're gonna be always circling back to The Notebook with this theory, maybe to an extreme, because we can:

Harry Styles - To Be So Lonely lyric analysis (in relation to The Notebook) under the cut:

Don't blame me for falling

I was just a little boy

Ok two non-notebook big points: 1) Keyword: Falling when we got the song Falling on the same album (in which there's no-one to blame)? Clever shit. 2) Just a little boy? Ok sure kick the Hamille narrative in the butt I guess. Clever shit.

Of course, "don't blame me for falling I was just a little boy", that falling refers to falling in love, but with the way he reuses words so cleverly here I wanna call it definitely deliberate. That weaving his own (and sometimes others') songs together with these little nods/links I absolutely adore.

But this is very easy to relate to The Notebook. They first meet and fall in love when they're young, I don't think Noah's age is mentioned but Allie is 17, and they have a summer romance. And it's emphasized a lot as well, that they were just kids:

Allie: It was real, wasn't it? You and me. Such a long time ago, we were just a couple of kids. But we really loved each other, didn't we?

Harry: Don't blame me for falling I was just a little boy. Spot the difference.

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Quick big spoiler recap on the plot of The Notebook: Noah and Allie fall in love at 17 over the summer, he's poor, she's rich, Allie's parents think he's not good enough for her. He promises to build her a home, she gives details of what she wants in it, all that. When the summer ends, she moved away (involuntarily) and he starts writing her. He writes a letter every day for 365 days but her mother never gave her the letters. Many years pass and eventually he buys that home and he builds it including the stuff she mentioned... he built them a home, basically, without every knowing if she'd come back. Then they find each other again, she sees the home all that, she gets the letters from her mom all that, but she's engaged to someone else and they scream and fight and yell in the name of love and all that and she's gotta choose and with some romantic movie trope difficulties she ends up choosing him. Throughout all that their story is being told from an elderly man to an elderly woman with dementia, SPOILER is them, they already had that life together, and he's sticking by her in their last moments, and she's there sometimes recalling what he's teling her, sometimes heartwrenchingly not at all, not sure if this does the movie justice but that's that.

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Don't blame the drunk calling

Wasn't ready for it all

I don't think I can turn this into a convincing Notebook reference. I mean, I can try, they call each other bad names when they fight, if that's the calling here, and seeing they let each other go for many years while they're crazy about each other... so I guess you could say they weren't ready for it all, they weren't ready to own up to it and just say fuck it I want you all of you forever I want this life it's gonna be hard but I want that and let's do it, I'm ready, because, maybe they weren't.

(sorry I'm just gonna rambley use too many words to explain this ok just let it happen) But I think, Fine Line is giving us a story, a beautiful narrative. I think the writers, Harry, really tried to grab all these individual songs and just create an amazing whole (and amazingly successfully i must add), and with these lines I just see a great nod to Falling and Cherry really. (as I do with most of these lines in TBSL) And maybe a bit of HS1 as well. And I'm not saying Falling, TBSL, and Cherry are all the same thing and should be viewed as all stunt or real or fake or whatever, I think they all originate from different places, one perhaps more raw true feels than the other, one perhaps more... eh... giving the fans what they want... than the other, etc. I just think they were eventually placed into the context of one another deliberately, slightly reshaped to all fit together.

For instance, we know Mitch played that never-ending phone ringing guitar coolness realness that became TBSL which just ties in all too well with the sadness of Cherry and Falling and that being alone and drunk after a break up and everything on like.. casual listeners take home message level, you know? I don't know what's the order of events here, but I can imagine those amazing little guitar rif sounds inspiring drunk calling lyrics.

"don't blame the drunk calling, wasn't ready for it all" I feel reflects on Falling, the song, paired with the first line, "don't blame me for Falling"... IT JUST ALL FITS AS A PERFECT LITTLE BLUE AND PINK PUZZLE OK. He's shaping this whole scene... I kinda tried to make this clear by highlighting matchy matchy lines across Cherry, Falling, and TBSL, in that order:

(this really just is rambling:) and in my view you can't really make them make sense because it's fiction as a coherent whole unless you just headcanon plomp a whole chronological storyline on top of it, which I can definitely do: It looks like him changing his mind/growing all that in between writing these songs. Basically, Cherry is the fresh breakup wound, the pure pettiness, kinda the anger stage, and gets followed up by depression with Falling. (again, I don't think this is what Falling is about, I think it's just placed conveniently so the conclusion you draw from Falling casually listening to his album is... this feeling being a result of a breakup) the fuck, you really don't need me ever again do you this really is over isn't it, and then 3rd in this triptych we got TBSL, which is some mirroring mash of both. At first he just didn't want her to call a new guy baby, then he did a bunch of sad depressed drunk calling and introspection, some time passed, realised more of his own flaws, says sorry for his own behavior there too, and doesn't really want those new dynamics of not being together anymore but still having her in his life, still calling him baby somewhat casually I guess, still trying to be friends, because it looks like he ruined what they had, and she seems to be at her best, seems to be fine, seems to move on and can be casual around him while he... writes TBSL. And the similar wording of it all helps this along as well.

You can't blame me, darling

Not even a little bit

I was away

Notebook thoughts here that even when TBSL is actually about The Notebook then still it's probably not meaning the following but we're going everywhere with this: there is a moment near the end where Allie, suffering from dementia, remembers their story, and then doesn't. In the time she does, Noah calls her darling a bunch of times, and as soon as she gets lost, goes away again, she says "why did you call me darling? I don't know you." ... Don't you call me darling. Anyway.

The Still Making Everything About The Notebook but more sensible link is that they missed out on being/staying together. They go away, they both go away, for years, and through miscommunication / misfortune they don't find their way back to each other until many years later, but neither of them is to blame. If you view the I was away as a I wasn't there because I didn't know I could have been there all this time kinda thing, Allie cannot blame Noah, not even a little bit, for not having done everything he could to be with and stay with her from the start, because he didn't know she loved him and wanted to be with him as much as he wanted her. I'm having a hard time choosing the best quotes, because it's a longass talk (and more), but we can keep it simple lol:

"you're going away! You're leaving. And I'm staying here."

and them talking about it when they're older in retrospect:

"Gone.

Well, she must have been devastated.

She was. He was only trying to do the right thing.

Yeah. But what he really should have done is just told those parents to go to hell."

Allie also throughout the whole movie just keeps going away, there's a pretty not sure if intentional parallel throughout the movie between young Noah and Allie and old Noah and Allie where Noah just... stays rooted in place and Allie just comes flying in and out, first when they're young she just goes "I have to go" a bunch of times and leaves, while when they're older she does as well, but, due to dementia.

This whole falling hard in love romance to losing each other for years to getting back together and building a strong foundation and being in it for life despite it being hard af... I mean you could use the tracklist of Fine Line in its entirety as the soundtrack for even.

Okay but now Notebook-free interpretations... I can just accept he was an arrogant son of a bitch who was away, perhaps simply avoidant and emotionally unavailable, that he just drops that little bit of info and then dips I mean sure fine why not, but also I don't think it fits the rest of the album? Maybe I'm missing something, but he's pretty consistently the most uninterrupted clingy little koala otherwise. I don't really feel like it fits the overal sentiment?

Next if we're going by Harry being a genius with keywords and concepts and saying the same/opposite thing across works we can look at where else people are away within his songwriting, and that might help:

We haven't spoke since you went away - FTDT

It's interesting to my FTDT+TBSL-aren't-biographical-ass that these are the only two songs blatantly saying that someone went away, while none of his other songs are really implying people left other people. FTDT and TBSL aren't so different. Actually, you can look at Cherry+TBSL+Falling as some ripped apart FTDT:

It's... a lot. Really just. Take your time to see the similarities. This almost looks like it's still the same story (again LOL @ His public narrative being him going through a relationship start to finish that leads him to feel and use the near exact same sentiment and details as he was already putting into a song years prior to that relationship blooming and dying I mean same goes for Sunflower vol 6, it's kinda funny): I'm alone now, someone went away, there's a piece of each others clothing, there's getting drunk, there's a lot of calling, that sad, lonely, depressed, somewhat spiteful, definitely pathetic person that is FTDT threw its where are you and why are you doing well right now into Cherry, its never felt less cool into Falling, and its lonely man I keep being this shit person and drunk calling you into TBSL there.

Again, is this because this is his life and it makes sense for him to write and keep writing in a similar way about his life and he just wasn't over whatever fueled FTDT to a point he had to turn it to 3 whole songs on his next album, or there's a lack of creativity (nope), or he's still searching for romantic comedies on netflix and seeing what he'll find and we just keep looking at songs based on hopeless romantics in movies, his weakness.

And I'm just an arrogant son of a bitch

This is just, literally, from The Notebook. Here's the whole transcript of that scene:

Noah: I see you got my letters. Finally. What are you gonna do Al?

Allie: I don't know

Noah: Are we back to that? Are we back there? What about the past couple of days? they happened, you know?

Allie: I know that they happened and they were wonderful, but they were also very irresponsible. I have a fiancé waiting for me at a hotel, who's going to be crushed when he finds out.

Noah: so you make love to me and then you go back to your husband? Was that your plan? was that a test that I didn't pass?

Allie: no! I made a promise to a man, he gave me a ring and I gave him my word

Noah: and your word is shut to hell now, don't you think?

Allie: I don't... I don't know, I'll find out when I talk to him

Noah: this is not about keeping your promise, and it's not about following your heart. It's about security

Allie: what is that supposed to mean?

Noah: MONEY!

Allie: what did you..

Noah: HE'S GOT A LOT OF MONEY!

Allie: now I hate you, you smug bastard!

Noah: and I hate you. If you leave here I hate you.

Allie: haven't you been paying attention to anything that's happening?

Noah: I guess not. I think I must have misread all of those signals

Allie: I guess you did.

Noah: you're bored! you're bored and you know it. You wouldn't be here if there wasn't something missing.

Allie: you arrogant son of a bitch!

Noah: would you just stay with me?

Allie: Stay with you? what for? look at us, we're already fighting.

Noah: well, that's what we do. We fight. You tell me when I'm being an arrogant son of a bitch and I tell you when you're being a pain in the ass. Which you are, 99% of the time. I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings. They have like a two second rebound rate and you're back doing the next pain in the ass thing.

Allie: So what?

Noah: so it's not gonna be easy. It's gonna be really hard. And we're gonna have to work at this every day but I wan to do that, because I want you. I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day.

Noah: would you do something for me, please. Just picture your life for me. 30 years from now, 40 years from now, what does it look like? If it's with that guy go, go! I lost you once, I think I can do it again, if I thought it's what you really wanted. But don't you take the easy way out.

Allie: what easy way? There is no easy way. No matter what I do, somebody gets hurt!

Noah: would you stop thinking about what everyone wants! stop thinking about what i want, what he wants, what your parent want. What do you want? What do you want?

Allie: it's not that simple

Noah: what do you want? damn it, what do you want?

Allie: I have to go

May I also note here the "does he take you walking round his parents gallery" pettiness of Cherry fitting really well with Noah's behavior towards Allie's engagement to someone with money that her parents approve of rather than himself.

Who can't admit when he's sorry

Here again it could be anything if referring to something specific, in the Notebook they just fight a lot, and absolutely do not admit they're the one in the wrong, untill they do... as does Harry here at the end of the song, where he flops to "this is it, so I'm sorry".

If we're gonna do the keyword thing again and look elsewhere, we find FTDT again:

Maybe one day you'll call me and tell me that you're sorry, too. - FTDT

So in FTDT there's.. the one that's not being the first one to break, the one that's not admitting he's sorry as well, we're going in circles.

And Lights Up that just goes "I'm sorry by the way" whatever that's for.

Don't call me baby again

flip flop keyword drop from Cherry:

Don't you call him baby, don't you call him what you used to call me. - Cherry

Which one came first hmm.

I'm also still stuck on that breaking my heart into pieces old Noah and Allie scene at the end of the movie, where Noah continuing to call Allie pet names such as darling, sweetheart, and baby, is causing her to freak out more and more once she stops remembering who he is. Doesn't make much sense with the whole sentiment and the context tho, but it's just there, and I hate it.

You got your reasons

I know that you're tryna be friends

I know you mean it

Okay so this is again saying Notebook rights here, as Allie does try to be friends and Noah knows she doesn't have a bad bone in her body there, he knows she's got her reasons for choosing to go down the path she seems to be choosing.

Here, where they meet up again after all these years, she's engaged, they're being all adult about it:

Well, your parents must love him.

He's a really good man, Noah. You'd really like him.

You love him?

Yeah, I do. I love him very much.

Well, that's that. You marry Lon and we can be friends... right? Right.

Also a lot of assumptions can be made between Cherry and TBSL (and FTDT), in Cherry he wonders if she still knows that he talks to her friends, and he misses them. Then ~assumed time passes~ and they try to be friends, they try to hang out both love and hate it here.

It's hard for me to go home

Be so lonely

HOME HOME HOME BABABLALA HOME THIS HOME THAT.

Notebook interpretation: they're so fking lonely without each other. Especially Noah. And he built her a home??? He. Built. Her. A. HOME. Old Noah and Allie version: he doesn't wanna come home. His kids ask him to come home and not stay with Allie in the nursing home, but he wants to be with Allie instead.

This is bad guy what's coming up it's bad, but yeah this seems to be Harry's favorite movie, and this is really right in there:

Noah's kids: come home. Mama doesn't know us. She doesn't recognize you. She'll never understand. We miss you. This is crazy, you living here. Yeah, you know we'll all help with Mom. We can take shifts visiting.

Noah: Look, guys, that's my sweetheart in there. I'm not leaving her. This is my home now. Your mother is my home.

Can I scream???

I just hope you see me in a little better light

I think this is a reference to The Notebooks themesong I'll Be Seeing You by Billie Holiday, that goes:

Let the light be happily gay too for that matter

Easy. Easy Easy easy. As mentioned above, yeah Noah was being jealous af and yeah he did this whole speech about DO YOU THINK ITS GONNA BE EASY NO.

Do you think it's easy being of the jealous kind?

You'll win, it's just a trick

'Cause I miss the shape of your lips

And this is it, so I'm sorry

This could be a lot of things, there isn't some yo Allie I specifically love the shape of your lips moment in the movie if you were wondering, and to be really honest I'm not sure how to interpret these. I keep having old Noah and Allie in the back of my mind and how (having a loved one with) dementia plays tricks on you and how that's just it then and blugh.

But also from Harry to listeners this is interesting, like I always felt like this song was a trick? Like he's saying this is it, I did it I wrote a song that is not what you think it is, it's just a trick I'm sorry 🤷🏻‍♀️

I hope that was a fun read it was meant to be just an entertaining the thought kinda thing.

See more interpretations over at @larrylyrics

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lol-jackles · 2 years

Note

The first live edition of the Oscars after the pandemic had its moment: comments on the incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock?

Anybody seen the How I Met Your Mother episode called "Slap Bet"? No? Just me? Anyways, a few things (I'll try to keep this short).

First, Americans who knew none of the backstories leading up to The Slap were polled and generally found that young, working class, Trump-voting women side with Will Smith, while Biden voters were more likely to support Chris Rock. Basically, Americans tend to analyze the event through a more traditional set of mores: if you insult a man’s wife, expect to be slapped.

Second, it's never okay to go up on stage and hit a dude because you don’t like the joke. It’s not ok at concert halls, comedy clubs, and award shows. None of you liked it when Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift's award acceptance at MTV, and he didn't hit anybody. Standing up for one’s wife does not need to include assault. The only place for physical violence being used as a defense oneself or another from physical violence.

Third, Chris Rock said that he had no idea that Jada had alopecia. You can't make fun of a condition if you don't know anything about it. And even if Chris knew about her condition, his joke was about buzzing her hair for a movie role, that's where the GI Jane joke came from. It wasn't about her condition.

With that out of the way, I know what you really want to hear from me. Gossip!

First, my relatives were first in line to get my opinions on The Slap. Funny thing is whenever I've said (most) celebrity feuds and prank stories are scripted/fake, they refuse to believe me, especially the Dwayne Johnson vs Vin Diesel "feud" ahead of the release of their Fast & Furious movie. Now that I'm saying The Slap wasn't scripted, they don't want to believe me. Why? Because then Will will be in the wrong if The Slap wasn't a publicity stunt.

Second, Will’s anger, in my opinion, is actually aimed at his wife, who has repeatedly made a fool of him with her extramarital affairs and her obsession with dead boyfriend Tupac. In my opinion Chris's joke was a very mild joke but was the straw that broke the camel's back since earlier Regina Hall had joked about the Smith's open marriage. Will and Jada have been a laughing stock ever since the “entanglement” conversation in 2020 (google Jada entanglement). But Will is either too much of a "nice guy" or too much in love to break up with Jada, so he takes his anger out on a more socially acceptable target for assault: another man. And he gets to show Jada, "look, I still love you, and I have your back regardless of what happened". (It's the kind of shit I would have pulled to impress my crush when I was 13)

Will Smith has about a ton of unprocessed trauma.

Third, remember when Will and Jada boycotted the Oscar during the #OscarsSoWhite debacle? Well, Will and the protestors got what they wanted - opportunity. A Black man won Best Actor for the first time in 16 years, but no one cares because the same man's action overshadowed what would have been an extraordinary night for him and millions of others, including the cast of CODA, a little film that broke flew of Oscar records (I haven't seen it yet) and featured deaf actors. But now all people talk about isn’t Smith winning a much-deserved Oscar, but him losing his temper. Keep your cool, people. Don’t rain on your own parade.

But at least Will Smith bought the Oscar telecast at least another year on life support, amiright?

Btw, King Richard is a very well done movie. It's much more than a sports movie or biography of the Williams sisters. It’s a story about family and, more importantly, fatherhood. I enjoyed it very much.

Finally, there’s only one person who can walk away from this with his head held high, and that’s Chris Rock. Chris was a thorough professional, he kept his composure the best he could and continued to do his job. If he had chosen to, he could have eviscerated Smith; he’s a comedian who was holding the mike. But Chris took the high road; one of the few people in that room who had the grace to do so.

On the other hand, Will just gave Chris a treasure map to mine for his stand-up routine.

#Oscar #Will Smith #Chris Rock

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mostlymovieswithmax · 3 years

Text

Movies I watched in July

Once again I’m doing my monthly round-up of movies I’ve watched. This was a good month for the cinema getting back on track and seeing new releases including the new M. Night movie, Old and James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. Pretty sure Marvel put out a new movie also. I’m hoping that this list can help in guiding a decision about what to watch (or what to avoid) and introduce people to movies they may otherwise not have heard of or bothered to see. These short reviews are my own subjective opinions on each individual movie and maybe a more informal approach to movie criticism can help include others who are just passing through. Here is every film I watched from the 1st to the 31st of July.

Bridesmaids (2011) - 4/10

Off to a good start. I won’t say Bridesmaids is a terrible movie but I don’t think I’m exactly the target audience. As far as I know, this is a beloved comedy but I just can’t get on board with all the boring, juvenile humour; with Maya Rudolph shitting in the street, with Rose Byrne and Kristen Wiig trying to one-up each other at a toast that went on forever, with Melissa McCarthy shitting in a sink… the conflict is so done to death and makes the movie feel unspecial. I do understand the appeal of the film, especially for women in that before this movie the likelihood of seeing something like this, where women play up the more crass and gross side of comedy, was probably few and far between. But the story is very tired and while I did appreciate some moments, namely a couple of decent jokes and some of the more intimate scenes, for the most part it felt like they wanted to corner a more quiet type of line delivery in a way that was supposed to be understated but very funny so as to not rely on over the top body language or musical cues, and it ended up being super dull.

Spectre (2015) - 7/10

As far as I can tell, a lot of people don’t like this instalment of the James Bond franchise… but I really enjoyed it! I’ve really taken a shine to these Daniel Craig-era Bond movies and while I can’t say any of them are the most amazing thing, I have a lot of fun with them. The biggest problem I have with Spectre is the villain being utterly pointless and uninteresting in basically every way. The idea of every villain Bond has fought before being tied to this one organisation controlled by this one guy is ridiculous, and what makes it worse is that the villain is barely in it! There’s so much that doesn’t come together in this but as it goes, I still had a really good time. Daniel Craig holds the whole thing together; he is excellent as 007 and the main reason I’m up for each of these movies is because of him. Sam Mendes directs again after the previous instalment and for what it’s worth I do think he does a good job with some of the action set pieces and the locations. I’m so ready for No Time To Die.

Shazam (2019) - 7/10

Shazam is a genuinely fun superhero movie that doesn’t take itself seriously at all. I was having a great time throughout and while it could conform to some of the same tropes we’re used to with these kinds of movies, it still remained playful and used the character of Shazam to his fullest potential in a way that showed an understanding of just how silly the idea of a kid who can turn into an adult and shoot lightning out of his hands is.

High School Musical (2006) - 6/10

So as you may or may not know, I co-host a podcast: The Sunday Movie Marathon. It’s a film podcast and every week I get together with my other co-hosts and watch movies. For episode 38, we watched the High School Musical trilogy. This first movie blew me away. I was really surprised with just how much fun I had, and if you want to hear more of my thoughts on the film, please listen to episode 38 of the podcast.

High School Musical 2 (2007) - 4/10

We then jumped into the second and while it’s certainly not as good as its predecessor, there are still some brilliant songs that manage to top the last movie. Again, more of what I have to say can be heard on episode 38 of the podcast.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008) - 3/10

Senior Year was pretty hard to get through. I don’t remember it being as bad as it was, but then I didn’t really remember it anyway. It did however have one redeeming quality, which you can discover on episode 38 of the podcast.

The Piano Teacher (2001) - 9/10

What the fuuuckkkk. The Piano Teacher is horrendously affecting and I was so upset when it ended, maybe not because it’s not what I wanted but because it’s just so fucking dour and unrelenting. This is the second Haneke movie I’ve seen (after the original Funny Games) and I’m so impressed with how well executed it is. Following a woman who teaches piano, we get a glimpse into the life she lives, how sheltered she is from living with her mother at an age where you’d reasonably expect a person to be living alone or with a partner or friends (even going so far as to be sleeping in the same bed as her), and how repressed she is sexually. It’s clear she’s never experienced any kind of sexual interaction or romantic love with another person, so she goes out of her way to take control and make that happen. The upsetting nature of it comes from just what she does in pursuit of it or as a result of her repression, and what is done to her. It is by no means a movie to recommend to your parents but The Piano Teacher offers so much in terms of the ideas it presents (and I’ll admit there seems to be a lot more going on than I think I picked up on a first go round) about women in modern society, and about the portrayal of sex and expectations of people when it comes to how that is represented in a person’s character depending on their gender. I really enjoyed this movie but it is not for the faint of heart.

Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure (2011) - 1/10

My podcast co-hosts decided it’d be a right laugh to add Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure to this episode and that might have been a fun idea for them because they got to watch it together, but I was just watching it alone. Just a 24-year-old man watching Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure alone and having a miserable time, I might add. But for a short and sweet ramble on what we all thought, please listen to episode 38 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast.

Dr. No (1962) - 6/10

A lot of very iffy parts of this movie. A lot of discomfort arising from how black people are portrayed that really didn’t sit right with me. As far as a Bond movie goes, this first instalment in the series is one I’ve seen before and it’s not wholly engaging but it plants the seeds for the rest, with Sean Connery breathing life into the role and making an otherwise lacklustre plot bearable.

Black Widow (2021) - 6/10

I think probably the best part about Black Widow is the experience I had while watching it. It was great being back in the cinema with a couple of friends in a packed theatre. The energy was high and I’m sure for a lot of people, this is the first time they’d been to the cinema since Endgame. For what it’s worth, I did have a lot of fun with Black Widow and I’ve explained more of what I thought about the movie in episode 39 of the podcast.

The Climb (2020) - 10/10

The Climb was added to Now TV recently and I already knew I loved it, having seen it in an empty cinema theatre last year, which I had an absolute blast with. The Climb details the years of a rocky friendship told over scenes filmed as one-shots. Not only is the presentation something to gawk at, but the performances by the two leads playing these friends with a terrifically dysfunctional dynamic is truly captivating. They’re both trying to figure out their own lives and where one can come across as being rather selfish, the opposite is true in his counterpart, whom everyone loves. This is a truly funny and heartwarming movie with a lot to say about how we choose to live our lives and who we choose to be with. It’s a shame the distributors of The Climb didn’t do a very good job because if not for it being available on Now TV, it would be near impossible to watch without forking out more money than is necessary to purchase a film.

From Russia With Love (1963) - 5/10

The second Bond movie. I thought perhaps I’d change my mind on it with another watch, having seen it for the first time maybe a year ago. But no, it’s still largely boring and it treats women like absolute garbage. From Russia With Love is one of those movies I forget as I watch it, and I was trying very hard (in the middle of the day!) not to fall asleep.

The Good, The Bart, and The Loki (2021) - 1/10

I don't usually talk about the short films I watch but for this I'll make an exception. As we all should know, Disney owns The Simpsons now, through their acquisition of Fox, so, coupled with another of their properties, that being Marvel, they decided to make a six-minute animated film wherein Marvel’s Loki is stranded in Springfield. This felt as though it was a minute long due to the horrendously jarring pacing; it is a movie that feels adamant that it needs to exist, while trying as hard as it can to be over as soon as possible. It serves only to stare the audience directly in the face and say “look, characters from The Simpsons are dressed as Avengers”, shit out three credit scenes, then end before you’ve even processed the atrocity you just bore witness to.

Russian Ark (2002) - 8/10

For this next episode of the podcast, we watched a few Russian movies, starting with Russian Ark, a film shot completely in one take as the camera moves about a luxurious museum in a first-person perspective as this main character watches what is happening around him, seeing people moving about the place but unable to interact with them, guided only by another man who seems to be just slightly out of his own perception of reality. This is a tremendous feat in filmmaking and more can be heard about what I have to say in episode 39 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast.

Ivan’s Childhood (1962) - 7/10

For my own pick of Russian movies to discuss on the podcast, I chose the debut feature from one of my favourite directors, Andrei Tarkovsky. It’s amazing that while this is not his best film by far, Ivan’s Childhood is still such a stellar debut, jumping around in its timeline as it details a child’s experience in the second world war. Again, I do go into more depth in episode 39 of the podcast, so be sure to check that out.

Outlaw (2019) - 1/10

The third movie chosen for this marathon is apparently the fourth Russian LGBTQ+ movie ever made. I’m unsure of the ultimate goal of this movie but what seems to be clear is that it hates the LGBTQ+ community. This is perhaps the worst film we’ve discussed on the podcast to date, so listen to episode 39 to understand exactly why it’s such trash.

Almost Famous (2000) - 7/10

I too love heavy music and also studied journalism so it stands to reason that a movie about a teenager who makes his way onto a band tour, following them through America and interviewing them as they hang out and play shows is going to be a premise that resonates with me. This certainly did. I enjoyed Almost Famous a lot; this kid is living the dream and I was so along for the ride, seeing a lot of myself in what was being portrayed. That said, the story itself is at times a bit by the numbers and I really would’ve been more on board if the visual component was more interesting. For what it is, technically it’s fine enough but nothing in that department ever jumped out at me.

Minari (2021) - 8/10

It’s crazy that this didn’t get a theatrical run where I live in the UK. It feels as though I complain about film distribution all the time but I really don’t understand the process by which a movie gets no cinematic release and yet, months later will pop up on the front shelf of hmv, taking pride of place. But of course I got the blu-ray straight away. Minari has a lot to say about the immigrant experience, specifically in America as a family comes over from Korea and tries to start a business and make something of themselves. You get to see a lot of what you might not think twice about when you think about immigration: the hardship of coming from a place where you know everyone to somewhere rural and sparsely populated, having to make friends with locals and integrate within the community; the strain it can put on a family and on a marriage where this idea is presented about the importance of making it on your own in order to live and not just survive, while also taking into account why you’re doing it in the first place and the value you place on being part of a family that you decided to make because that was more important than money, than economy, than proving you were good enough to make it in a place that gave you very little advantage from the offset. This concept of the promised land, of the American dream is a construct. There are times when it’s not pretty, when you have no running water, or you’re in debt, or a family member is dying and it just feels like you’ve been dealt as bad a hand as you can get. But it is better to know you’re not facing all that alone.

Roma (2018) - 10/10

This was my recommendation for the podcast episode on Alfonso Cuarón movies. Roma is as beautiful as it is heart-wrenching and I would recommend listening to episode 40 of the podcast to find out more about my thoughts.

An American Werewolf In London (1981) - 8/10

In all fairness, London is enough to make anyone a little crazy at the best of times. An American Werewolf in London showcases some fantastically grotesque effects, akin to something like Carpenter’s The Thing, in showing the dead brought back to life and a horrifically gory transformation scene. Although the film is from the perspective of an American protagonist, directed also by an American, the depiction of British culture and climate is something I’ve not seen many films pull off quite so well, and I was pleasantly surprised at the more comedic tone the film has overall, which is something that works more in its favour than straight horror would.

The Party’s Just Beginning (2018) - 6/10

Karen Gillan’s directorial debut is… pretty good! There are a lot of ideas I like in this movie: a woman living life and through convenient circumstances, is confronted with death in many ways. Gillan obviously knows her homeland as well as she can, imbuing the whole thing with an intensely Scottish vibe (though maybe not in the same vein as something like Trainspotting) that makes it a bit more unique than a more run of the mill movie of this ilk, backed up in no small part by her own main performance. The plot itself is no great diversion from the kind of story I’m used to with these smaller movies and for something that’s trying to include messaging about transgender issues and suicide, it probably could have been handled better or done in a different way.

Solaris (1972) - 9/10

Another Tarkovsky joint, one I thought I’d revisit to see if there was indeed more to get out of it a second time. Well, it’s no surprise that yes, there was certainly more to get out of it. Solaris is a crazy trip of a movie and I would liken it to Kubrick’s 2001 in terms of how grand the scale of it feels. Yet this is a film that comes across as deeply personal, choosing to focus on a specific character as he goes to a space station to help those on board who are experiencing some kind of emotional crises, only to feel the effects of the planet, Solaris invading his own mind as it has the crew. To many, I can see this lengthy Russian sci-fi being a tad slow but my personal experience is one of deep engagement. Solaris pulls its viewer in a lot of different directions and it is always doing something unexpected in terms of where its narrative goes. There’s a lot to think about with the movie and thankfully it’s no chore to watch again.

Y Tu Mamá También (2001) - 9/10

Another recommendation for the podcast episode on Alfonso Cuarón movies. This is a very relaxed experience, following three young people as they go on a road trip, visit different places and have sex. Listen to episode 40 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast for more of my thoughts.

Children of Men (2006) - 10/10

My favourite Cuarón movie, one that never stops being tense as its characters are constantly moving towards the end goal. Set in a future where humans are infertile, the oldest living person is 18, and London is the last city in the world that’s still keeping it together, somewhat. This is masterclass filmmaking. Listen to episode 40 of the podcast for more insights.

Minority Report (2002) - 5/10

I’m really not the biggest fan of Spielberg… Minority Report is an interesting movie in terms of its concept of stopping crimes before they happen by way of prediction, but I just didn’t connect with the heart of it. The colouring is way too overexposed in a way that’s supposed to be eliciting a futuristic vibe but instead feels so early-2000’s in the worst way. My biggest problem with Minority Report is just how long it is, clocking in at two hours and twenty-five minutes which allows for a lot of meandering, all while never quite developing characters enough for you to care about.

Caché (2005) - 9/10

Oh god! Another Michael Haneke movie! Here we see a couple periodically sent video tapes featuring hours of footage of the outside of their house. The anxiety ratchets up and the mystery gets deeper with every minute. There’s always at least one moment in any of his films that have so far made me realise just how out of my depth I am. Caché is no exception, and I won’t spoil anything here because I think it’s better just to watch the movie and see for yourself. He is a director that wants the audience to know something and that something is never what is explicitly shown at face value; it is pressed into the fabric of the film - plainly evident, yet hidden. Caché is so stupidly clever in displaying its themes and messaging - making reference to the Siene Massacre of 1961 as well as a deeper study of colonialism - and there’s no way to change a single detail of it without risking the Jenga tower crumbling to the ground. It all works in tandem. It is passion and fury and haunting.

Coco (2017) - 7/10

Pixar had a string of around seven forgettable movies before this point so thankfully Coco emerged to show the company still had something good in them. Coco deals a lot with themes of death and legacy, remembering those who are gone in order to preserve them and while its plotting is quite basic and there are certainly moments that either drag or cannot escape the same Pixar formula, most of what the movie has to offer is a lot of fun, with creative, colourful animation and emotional beats that resonate the way they’re supposed to.

Incredibles 2 (2018) - 5/10

Oh, they almost had it! There's a lot here that could have been explored in far more interesting ways. Setting Incredibles 2 directly after the events of the first movie was not a good idea. If it had taken place five or ten years after, the characters could have been in different places in life and it would feel as though they'd actually changed and developed. But instead of trying to be a film that actually cares about its characters and the journeys they go on, a lot of the film is wrestling with the idea that Bob isn't supportive of his wife and Jack-Jack has to fight a raccoon… They have to shoehorn in a villain that in no way compares to the genius of the original. The ending of the original introduces another antagonist that gets wrapped up within this film's first ten minutes, except they don't catch him and he's never mentioned again. It's a real shame because the animation is fantastic and the acting is superb and there are great ideas sprinkled throughout. It just doesn't come together.

Toy Story 4 (2019) - 6/10

I was rather reluctant to watch Toy Story 4 because from the get-go I’m not really here for sequels being made just for the sake of it. Everyone loves Toy Story and making another one is a sure fire way to make money. This is the first time I’ve seen Toy Story 4 and for what it’s worth, I did enjoy it. The animation is immaculate and that alone feels like a huge flex from Pixar who tend to step up the game when it comes to animation in film, despite not having the best track record for films generally at this point. While it was nice to see these characters again, I found a lot of them to be side-lined (namely Buzz) in favour of a story that focuses mainly or entirely on Woody, who I just don’t like as much as in the previous movies. Generally the movie is good and decent enough but there’s no real antagonist and the plot is quite loose… it doesn’t feel as though it needed to be made from a story point of view.

Onward (2020) - 6/10

And with that I have seen every Pixar movie. And Onward is a fine one to go out on. While I don’t think it compares to the likes of earlier Pixar it’s still pretty fun. Or maybe I’m just a sucker for a medieval setting filled with bright colours and magic! Speaking of which, the animation was super and the medieval quest element is something that hooked me with the film. Again, plot-wise it does feel very familiar and I don’t know, maybe I’m past the point now of expecting Pixar to mix it up where their formula for story-telling is concerned but the movie is quite predictable. Nonetheless, while I’m not rushing back to see Onward I would hardly turn it off or refuse if someone wanted to watch it.

Old (2021) - 3/10

Oh boy! New M. Night movie dropped and my word, was it fun! For more of my thoughts on this… masterpiece (?) of a movie, please direct your attention to episode 41 of The Sunday Movie Marathon podcast.

T2 Trainspotting (2017) - 5/10

Trainspotting is perhaps one of my favourite movies and I had never bothered with the sequel, 20 years on, because the ending of that first movie is so conclusive. T2 felt more an excuse for these guys to get together again and in that, I probably would have preferred a couple of pictures on Twitter of the main cast and director, Danny Boyle having dinner or something. This is a fine movie - very arty in its presentation but meandering and dull in its story that doesn’t offer much in the way of proof that it had to exist.

Taste of Cherry (1997) - 9/10

What makes life worth living? This is a central question and theme of Taste of Cherry, and one that leaves such interpretation not only up to its central character but to the viewer as well. This film got me thinking about times in my life when I truly have had no answer to hard questions. Because it’s hard to convince people of things they are so adamantly against and harder still to rationalise what you believe if you’re not even entirely sure why you believe it in the first place. We are all of us alive and in recognising that, does that make it precious? And if indeed living is not a happy thing, why then should we fight so hard to preserve it? I felt upset as I watched this movie because I’ve been asked these kinds of questions before and it makes me feel stupid when I’m unable to answer. But the only real answer I can give is, everything. And if you can’t see the point then you’re not looking hard enough. Taste of Cherry is beautiful in its exploration of these topics and in its overall presentation, offering some of the best visuals in any movie I’ve seen - fitting for a feature with so much to say about the beauty of life - and an ending that as much pulls the rug out from under you as it does pull you out of the dark and make you realise just how lonely you’ve felt.

Bones (2001) - 2/10

Snoop Dogg is Jimmy Bones! This film is super funny but I’m not sure it’s trying to be and I really didn’t love it overall. But I do talk more in depth about it in episode 41 of the podcast.

The Duchess (2008) - 5/10

Another recommendation for the podcast. The Duchess was pretty much exactly what I thought it was going to be and there’s a lot to like about it but generally it’s a bit sparse. For more chat on the movie, listen to episode 41 of the podcast.

The Man With One Red Shoe (1985) - 1/10

This was another one for the podcast and man, was it awful. We had to watch it at 1.5x speed towards the end because it just wasn’t getting finished otherwise. To find out more, make sure to listen to episode 41 of the podcast.

The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) - 7/10

Pull the lever, Kronk! Haha! Slays me. I do quite miss this era of Disney, where the animation was hand-drawn and the stories were actually compelling and funny. The Emperor’s New Groove is vibrant, it’s got great characters and memorable moments that will forever be ingrained in the memory of culture. All in all, it’s just a solid flick that doesn’t waste time, developing the standard fall from glory type of arc but smoothly and in an entertaining way.

The Suicide Squad (2021) - 8/10

Oh, bloody hell! They actually made a good one! The Suicide Squad is not only better than the ‘Suicide Squad’ of 2016 in every way, it’s a genuinely great film! This time, James Gunn (director of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movies) is at the helm and it seems clear that Warner Bros. basically let him do what he wanted with the movie, as it doesn’t seem to bog itself down with the restrictions of a more family-friendly rating. The result of this is a far cleaner, colourful film with a clearer vision that takes from early Vietnam movies and uses that style to craft a superhero/villain movie that differentiates itself among the copious amount of existing films of the genre. The Suicide Squad wastes very little time, introducing fun, crazy characters we’ve not seen on the big screen before and isn’t worried about killing a whole bunch of them, with standouts being Elba’s Bloodsport, Melchior’s Ratcatcher 2, Stallone’s King Shark (expertly rendered with fantastic visual effects), and Robbie’s returning interpretation of Harley Quinn. A lot of Gunn’s trademark sense of humour is laced throughout and more often than not, it hits. The audience at the cinema were truly loving this movie and I’ll admit, I was right there with them. This mix of the gritty, gory and absurd is not something that should work as well as it does but the basic premise of the film is already so silly (and boy, do they know it) that it just works! Certainly one of the best DC movies since The Dark Knight and one I’d be more than happy to watch again. This is what the modern comic book movie should be: just balls to the wall fun!

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ggukkieland · 4 years

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📕CURRENT READS (2020 October)

🌹 Fics I’ve enjoyed reading this October, with some few unread ones (still have 4 to 5 days to finish!). Waah I have read a lot 😲 I can’t believe I’m almost complete with this list 🥳. Usually when I post and organize the list, half of it are still on #toread status. I thought of curating Halloween-themed fics 🎃 but I ended up reading any genre anyway😁.

Again, credit goes to these awesome writers! Sending them lots of love and virtual hugs 🥰🤗💜🥰🤗💜🥰🤗 .

✅ - done reading | S (smut) F (fluff) A (angst)

🥕[Ongoing Series - to check weekly]

Still reading the ongoing series from last month’s reading list, whenever there is an update 😊

I Feel You in my Heart by @purpletaecup - MYG | exes au, second chances, some chapters have smau elements | A, S, F (really good story development 😭)

[7/?] nearly 2 months after their divorce, yoongi and y/n wade through the aftermath of the fallout by themselves. yoongi is moving on with someone else while y/n finds herself stuck in waves of anxiety and depression. soon enough, they are brought together again by an unfortunate accident

If it Harms None, Do What You Will by purpletaecup - JJK | smau, comedy, supernatural au, fantasy au, witch!reader, demon!jungkook | F, S 🎃

[6/?] it’s the beginning of October and green witch y/n has been preparing for all of the spooky activities she needs to do for all hallow’s eve. one of her older friends gives her a ritual candle for protection. a couple of drops of blood and a wonky magic circle later, there is a high level demon sitting on the floor of her living room.

We Live with a Ghost by @smaubts - JJK | smau, comedy, ghost au, roommates au | F 🎃

[6/13] when jungkook convinces his roommate, y/n, that their house is haunted by an evil ghost, they decide their best option is to contact with it and make it leave but end up summoning an actual ghost by accident.

Swan Black by CharWrites [AO3] - JJK | fantasy, supernatural, enemies to lovers, dark fantasy, apocalypse, Fae!Jungkook, Fae!Yoongi, Fae!Taehyung, LOTR/Mortal Instruments/Labyrinth vibes | A, S (I love this! It’s like watching LOTR 😍) 🎃

[10/?] So's twin brother, Jimin, has been kissed by darkness: an evil that has spread across the land and has claimed many souls. They only have weeks until the darkness consumes him. Once consumed, he will be governed by the unsullied: a powerful race of Dark Fae that has overtaken the world.

So seeks out a rogue Fae Prince, Kook, who is her only hope, if she can survive his deadly charms and irresistible lure especially when he is much more interested in possessing her, mind body and soul.

Third Wheeling by @taetaewonderland - MYG | strangers to lovers au, ceo!yoongi | A, F, S 🥰

[1/?] Min Yoongi is a strict man. Time is money to the CEO of Kisung Connected. He isn’t interested in conventional things or wastes of time. He’s an asshole. But, you didn’t realize until it was too late. Until you met him at the club and it changed your life forever.

Bad Friends by @hollyxqx- MYG | friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, neighbor au, college au, fwb au | A, S, F (what a good angst 😥)

[1/3] hooking up with your childhood best friend was never your plan, but neither was falling in love with him either. he’s troubled but his heart is gold. when you move away for college, things start to take a turn.

House of Lilies by @suqakoo�� - JJK | mafia au, arranged marriage au | A, F, S

[3/?] Jeon Jungkook is the only heir to Dal Gurimja. He is the poster child for mafia bosses. He’s a feared hit-man among the underground world, and a successful CEO among the socialites of Seoul. Pair him with a castaway girl who’s been out of society for twelve years, and… what do you get?

Your Eyes Tell by @njkbangtan - JJK | soulmate au, enemies to lovers au, roommates au, sugar baby (but not really), slow burn | A, F

[5/?] You live in a world where people see in black and white. The solution to finally see the colors? It’s simple. You need to meet your soulmate and look at him in the eyes, but what if the person bound to you is already contented with the monochromatic world? What if…Jeongguk, your soulmate, is already in love with someone else?

I hate u, I love u by @bbangpanmen - JJK | fwb au, friends to lovers au, smau | A

[17/23] he uses you to forget her; you let him because you love him.

Puzzle by @kimvvantae - JJK | fwb au, friends to lovers au, college au | A, S, F (I’ve read this before, around 2018-19 and I thought it was discontinued. Glad there’s an update ^_^)

[7/?] the line between friendship and something more has never been crossed - but that changes after a break up and a drunken night, when you not-so-accidentally cross this line to something much more. what happens when after this accident your non-matching puzzle pieces seem to match in a way you’ve never imagined?

The Lesson/Min Boy by @adventuresinwonderlust - MYG | bad boy!yoongi, dom-sub elements, enemies to lovers, brat!reader | S, A, F

[6/8] No summary provided but it’s the twisted story between bad boy Yoongi with angsty backstory and this brat/rich kid. I really liked how it was written though. I made a mistake of reading part 4: Two Months Too Long, which should’ve been the 6th story to read if you follow the author’s sequence.

Popular-ish by @hansolmates - JJK | popular!jungkook, college au, fwb to lovers, shy!oc | F, S, A

[9/?] drabble series: you are way out of jungkook’s league. Or is it the other way around?

Date Me by @latetaektalk - JJK | enemies to lovers, fake dating au, rich kid au | A, F,

[prologue + 1/?] when obnoxiously rich and spoiled frat boy jeon jungkook comes up to you one day and asks you to fake date him for money, you definitely should have said no. because before you knew it, you were going on insta dates with him and having lunch with his equally obnoxiously rich and spoiled friends.

All Over You by @zibermuda - JJK | enemies to lovers, nerd!jk, fuckgirl!reader | S, F

[2/?] you don’t usually go for the quiet, nerdy type, but Jungkook’s by far the best looking guy in your year. You just can’t help yourself. You have to have him. Small hiccup; he hates you

Effortlessly by @gyukult - JJK | friends to lovers, neighbors au,

[8/?] “Reciprocate feelings?” Jungkook crosses his arms before he continues, “They should know that you’re the only girl in my life.“ Jungkook has been your best friend and neighbor since you could remember, but what you can’t recall is when your feelings began develop for him.

HEI$T: A JJK Fic by lucidly [AO3] - JJK | heist au, action, bangtan are thieves, vigilante au | A, S

[3/?] Six years after being thrown into the world of forgery, espionage, and heists, Mona and her team face competition like never before: The Bulletproof Boy Scouts, a fabled Korean gang of thieves that everybody seems to know, but no one has seen. When she comes face to face with all 7 of them, Mona knows: they're real, and this job won't be like the others. For years she has followed the money, but could it be time that she follow her heart instead?

🥕[Completed AUs/Series- to read]

✅ - done reading (also there seems to be a lot of JJK fics)

Creep @xjoonchildx - MYG | S, pwp, yandere ✅

Guilty @xjoonchildx - KNJ | A, S, mafia au, second part of Guarded AU (an awesome JHS series)

Chapter One: How Odd Chapter Two: Incheon Mall Tube Tops Final Chapter: Is Something Burning? Epilogue: Better Than Okay

Paddle with Me @yoongs-jeontae - JJK | A, S, enemies to lovers, camp counselor au, pwp ✅

Hate Me @themfchase - JJK | S, collegel!au, enemies to lovers au, fuckboy!jk, pwp ✅

Devil in a Blue Suit @yeojaa - JJK | F, S, idiots to lovers, established au, good boy!jungkook

main story ✅ + drabbles ✅

Sweetest Crush @minjoonalist - JHS | F, S, brother’s best friend au

Fake Love @aquaminwrites - JHS | F, S, A, fake dating au, enemies to lovers ✅

Faded Love @jamaisjoons - PJM | A, S, marriage au, infidelity ✅

Brown-Eyed Baby @vinterjeon - JJK | A, S, F, exes to lovers, single dad!jk

01 02 ✅

Why We Got Married @ktheist - KTH | F, S, arranged marriage au, slow burn ✅

Lonely Hearts Club @dovechim - JJK | S, F, enemies to lovers, wedding au ✅

Come to Me @jeonsweetpea - JJK | S, A, F ,friends to lovers, college au ✅

Satan on the Strip @noir0neko - JJK | S, A, demon!jungkook ✅ 🎃

No Face @seokoloqy - MYG | A, S, F, demon au, supernatural au ✅ 🎃

Take a Chance @crystaljins - JJK | A, Hanahaki au, co-workers, very angsty but Seokjin provides comic relief

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 ✅

The Lottery Offering @skswriting - JJK | A, F, S, werewolf au, sort-of arranged marriage au ✅

A Beautiful Epiphany @onherwings - JJK | A, S, F, friends to lovers, unrequited love, artist!jungkook ✅

Au Naturel (sequel) - drabble, established au ✅

Broken Dreams @ddaenysus - JJK | A, soulmate au, unrequited ✅

And Mended Hearts (sequel) - A, S, soulmate au, college au ✅

Coin Toss @yoondoze - JJK | A, mafia au, detective au, exes au, plot twist 👀 ✅

I Knew It Was You @hoseokmylovesworld - JJK | S, F, werewolf au, college au ✅ 🎃

Little Blue @pars-ley - JJK | F, S, friends to lovers, college au, with TW ✅

Little Blue Pill @dreamescapeswriting - JJK | S, pwp, friends to lovers ✅

Smitten @megahwn - JJK | F, S, arranged marriage au, strangers to lovers au ✅

Hit Me with Your Best Shot @namfine - JJK | S, pwp, martial arts, friends to lovers ✅

Slow and Steady @yoonia - JJK | S, A, artist!jungkook, infidelity, established au ✅

Cockblocked @mercurygguk - JJK | A, S, F, friends to lovers, roommates au ✅

everything I ever wanted (drabble) - morning after ✅

What are you Afraid Of? @cupofteaguk - JJK | F, avatar the last bender au

Part 2 (prompt: if you keep looking at me like that we won’t make it to a bed) - avatar au, F, S

demon-etized @jungkxook - KNJ | S, youtube au, ghost hunter au 🎃

Spellbound @jeonseok - JJK | F, slight S, demon au, crack, romcom ✅ 🎃

Raising Demons (sequel) - fluffy, smut, established au, crack ✅ 🎃

What’s in a Name? @minsimagines - JJK | A, F, demon au, soul selling scenario, romance

01 02 03 ✅ 🎃

The Big Yellow School Bus [15k] fringesofsanity [AO3] - JJK | S, A, F, noona, fwb au ✅

once bitten, twice shy [5.6k] obiwrites [AO3] - JJK | A, F, implied S, exes au, parents au ✅

Lose Somebody [26k] @kooala - JJK | A, F, slight S, exes au, camping au ✅

Oh What a World [100k] @taestybae - PJM | A, S, F, fake marriage au, fallen idol au (been wanting to read this since July (!), will finally get to reading this 🥰)

series masterlist [18 chapters + epilogue]

🥕[Drabbles]

okay I just realized they’re all JJK drabbles 😅

Incandesce @eunoiabliss - 544 words | JJK | fantasy au, fluff ✅

Forgetful Confession @suhdays - 991 words | JJK | fluff, slight angst, college au, friends to ??? ✅

Club @taleasnewastime - 2k | JJK | fluff, bestfriends ✅

JJK Reincarnation drabble @ktheist - 571 words | JJK | F, reincarnation (?) | love love this 🥰 ✅

Pup @whipped-for-kpop-fics - 1.5k | JJK | F, humour, werewolf au, established au | this is cute and funny 🤣 ✅

A Line Crossed @underthejoon - 723 words | JJK | A, bodyguard au ✅

Rousing Rendezvous @rookiegukie - 1.5k | JJK | smut, frenemies with benefits, modern royalty au ✅

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tellthemeerkatsitsfine · 5 months

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Hey everyone, guess what’s on the internet? It’s the Daniel Kitson archive 2.0!

This first appeared on the internet a few months ago, and by "appeared", I mean I did a small amount of work and someone who isn't me did a large amount of work, and that put it online. My contributions were mainly listening to too many hours of radio files so I could work out what each one was, digging through things like old message board threads to match dates and radio stations and other metadata to those files, and cutting up some of the older ones to make song-free versions but saving titles and artists of those songs to make tracklists. Most of the files where I did the editing were from the older years when Kitson was not so diligent about back announcing and on some occasions told us that even he didn't know what the song was, so this involved a fair bit of Googling lyrics to indie music. That was my main contribution, really. I Googled a lot of lyrics to indie music. Those were my contributions, unless Daniel Kitson ever breaks his promise that he doesn't Google himself anymore and finds that website, in which case, my contributions were nothing and I have never heard of Daniel Kitson.

Seriously, though, someone else who has been amazingly helpful to me for the past year did all of the actual work of designing and creating the website, amassing the collection of audio files over many years, and quite a lot of the editing too, and I am very grateful for that, and all other comedy fans should be as well, and everyone should check out this beautiful bit of archiving.

A few updates have been made to the site since I first posted it months ago, and this weekend, a whole bunch more updates were made, which is how I justify the 2.0 designation. I re-listened to Kitson’s 2019 run last week to complete the last few tracklists that we were missing – so now every file that has songs also has a text-based tracklist as well as a music-free version. And for the 2019 run specifically, may I recommend the music-free version? Going back over that one really reminded me of how bad the music was in that year specifically – I didn’t love it in 2018/2020/2023 either, but I think 2019 was the worst. Anyway. Daniel Kitson has put some great music on his radio shows over the years and has introduced me to lots of music I now really like. But most of that is stuff he played before he got really into LCD SoundSystem in 2012.

Anyway. There are other significant updates, as compared to when it was first posted, in the misc. radio section. A bunch of files that I haven’t seen floating around anywhere else, and I have looked quite hard. The BBC Loose Ends clip from 2003 that he famously told a long story about in one of his early shows, and it is fascinating to get to hear the actual episode and compare it to the story (he is, of course, spot on). Just this weekend, a radio interview from 2002 was added that was fantastic Classic Kitson. And a bunch of guest spots on Australian radio from various years between 2006 and now. It’s good stuff.

The biggest update is that there’s now a whole new tab for writing. We avoided including reviews of specific Kitson shows, but it includes all kinds of other stuff, like interviews with him and profiles about him and even a few things written by Kitson. It’s heavy on stuff from early in his career, before he stopped agreeing to do interviews or be profiled. But there’s some recent stuff, from people who have profiled him whether he wants them to or not. A lot of those PDFs back up my theory that there are like five people in the world who are capable of sounding like a normal person while talking or writing about Daniel Kitson, and none of those people work for any major arts-reviewing publications (to be fair, none of them write this blog either).

I highly recommend going through this thing, even if you're not hugely into Daniel Kitson, because this is a great way to start. For specifics of what's contained in each section of the archive, I'll just link to the post I made when it first went up in May, since the information is basically the same now as it was then. But there's more of it now. A whole bunch more and it's all enormous fun.

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merry-kuroo · 3 years

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Top 10 2020 Anime

Hello everyone! Its the last day of 2020, and like with every year, here is my top 10 anime list. This list covers anime that aired this year only :) Hopefully you can use this list as a recommendation for something to watch. But tbh this list is for me to remember which wonderful anime made my year a little brighter :D I apologize for any typos lol.

1.) Tower of God

AHHH! I love Tower of God so much!! So, I almost dropped it at episode 1 because I was really confused. But I stuck with it and I’m glad I did. Tower of God gave me HxH vibes, but it was still different enough where I didn’t need to compare the two. The opening and ending by Stray Kids was amazing too.

Because I loved Tower of God so much, I made a Webtoon account and ever since then I’ve been hooked on Webtoons. I’m really glad they partnered with Crunchyroll to bring us this anime!

I read the TOG Webtoon and it explained things a lot better. I highly recommend going to read it after watching the anime!

I hope there is a season 2, but I won’t get my hopes up :( I’m sure this anime was just advertisement for the comic.

So, yeah, go check out Tower of God <3

2.) Great Pretender

WIT Studio has done it again. First with Attack on Titan, then Seraph of the End. They keep bringing me my favorite animes.

I love animes that feature a found family, and cons. Great Pretender brought all of that and more. Great characters, jokes, missions, and music. The music in Great Pretender is fantastic (I mean the ending song is a Queen song!)

I still stand by my opinion that Part 1 was better. I wasn’t a huge fan of season 2 and the ending as well. I think they dropped the ball. But I still won’t let that stop me from recommending it to you! It was still fun to watch :D

I’m going to miss Team Confidence <3

3.) Weathering With You

So, I have been a fan of Makoto Shinkai’s movies for a long time (5 Centimeters Per Second will always have a special place in my heart). So, when I saw that Weathering With You was coming to the movie theater, I immediately purchased a ticket. It was such a surreal experience watching in the theaters.

This was the last movie I saw in theaters before...you know >.> I’m glad this movie was my last too. It makes it even more special.

Everyone, please go see this movie. It’s beautiful. It will make you laugh and cry. I left the theater with tears in my eyes. It was such a amazing experience. I’m patiently waiting for his next movie!

4.) Kaguya Sama: Love is War Season 2

My favorite rom-com returned with a season 2. The opening is still stuck in my head. It always will be lol.

Anyway, this season was not only hilarious, but there was development between Kaguya and Miyuki <3

Miko IIno was also a interesting character. She is so different from everyone else, so I’m excited to see how being on the student council will change her. Maybe she and Ishigami will start to get long lol.

Another thing that made this season special was Ishigami’s backstory, and how Miyuki saved him. I just really love their bromance, okay?

Please go check out Kaguya Sama: Love is War if you haven’t! It’s funny and heart warming <3

5.) Jujutsu Kaisen

I’ve been hyped for this anime for like a year! When it was announced last November, I was like AFJAIOFJAOGLJMAPOGJ

I love the manga, and the adaption is doing a fantastic job so far. I definitely ended up loving Sukuna more due to the anime adaption though lmaooo.

Not a lot to say here except, go watch Jujutsu Kaisen <3 and read the manga!

6.) Moriarty the Patriot

I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this anime or not. I only started watching it because people said Sebastian Moran was Daddy! Kuroo lmaooo

But I have to say...I do like that Albert was like “Oh yes lets bring William and Albert into our home” then William was like “Haha hey Albert do you hate the upper class and nobility too? You wanna murder your brother and parents, burn down the house, and reform society?” And Albert is like “DON’T MIND IF I DO!” (The Moriarty brothers are wild af, my God.)

I liked each individual case, and it got even more intense when Sherlock and John were introduced. Super excited for season 2!

The opening and ending songs are also fantastic. Go give them a listen!

7.) Digimon Adventure 2020/Digimon Adventure Tri/Last Evolution Kizuna

Tfw you go to buy tickets Digimon Last Evolution Kizuna, but all the movie theaters shut down :(

ANYWAY

I was super hyped when Last Evolution Kizuna was announced, and then the reboot of the 1999 anime. I finished up Digimon Adventure Tri...which could’ve been better tbh. I only liked the first three movies, so at least I got some good content out of them lol.

I like the new spin on the new Digimon anime, and I’m excited to see what they’ll do next. I kinda want a reboot of 02 Digimon...and Digimon Tamers and Frontier, but that may be pushing it lmao.

Last Evolution Kizuna was absolutely phenomenal. It was the perfect 20th anniversary movie :)

8.) Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun

Another show I started at the beginning of the year! I read the manga in 2019, and I was happy to hear it was getting a anime adaption! I enjoyed this series a lot, and I really want there to be a second season. I feel like some stuff was left out. But the anime might have been created just to promote the manga.

The opening song, the different wonders of the school, and the art style quickly made this one of my favorites!

9.) Idolish7 Second Beat

Idolish7 is vastly underrated. It’s more than just pretty guys singing and dancing. Every character in the show has gone through their own hardships, and all the characters are fleshed out well.

The second season did not disappoint. It still served me with a good dose of angst, drama, and comedy.

And season 3 was announced!!! I wasn’t expecting that, so that surprise made me really happy <3.

I was really sad when Idolish7 stopped airing back in the spring, but I’m glad they were able to finish up the season this year :D

10.) Haikyuu!! To the Top

Alright, so my excitement deflated when Part 1 aired back in January. I hated the new art style and while Part 1 did have some good character development moments, I was really bored :/

The OVAs were really good though >.> I love Nekoma and Fukrodani so those were fun to watch.

Part 2 was a 100 times better. I accepted the fact that the art style wasn’t going to change and we wouldn’t have those cute breaks where the volleyball players would serve the ball and hit the water bottle. Once I got over that, I found myself enjoying part 2.

The two Nekoma episodes,the episodes focusing on the Miya Twins and Kita were my personal favorites. But overall, Karasuno vs. Inarizaki was fantastic and I enjoyed it a lot!

I need season 5 to be announced already!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!

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insomniac-dot-ink · 4 years

Text

Books I’ve Read in 2020

AHello! I’m trying to read as many books as I can during the quarantine, here’s what I’ve finished so far:

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (literary fiction): a son writes a letter about his life to his illiterate mother. Breathtakingly beautiful with it’s way with words this book is lovely and real in the hardest and sweetest ways. The author’s combination of prose and poetry is dazzling and intricate, this book has stuck with me for days afterward. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (fantasy): a money-lender gets in trouble after bragging she can turn silver into gold and is kidnapped and ordered to do so by a fey creature. It may be that I am the perfect audience for this type of book, but it’s my favorite thing I’ve read all year. It’s a book that equally takes on the fantastical and real-world with compelling female characters at the center of the whole thing. A wonderful fantasy journey inspired by eastern-European Jewish folklore. 5 out of 5 stars.

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (horror graphic novel): a series of short horror comics. Absolutely bone-chilling! This was a really fun type of scary story, especially the last one which made my skin absolutely crawl. Deliciously eerie, this was treat to read if not a little too short. 4 out of 5 stars.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (magical realism): a young girl can taste other people’s emotions in their cooking and begins to understand her family in new ways. This was a weird book, but it has everything you’ve got to love about that combination of the surreal and mundane. It’s sense of character was electrifying and I had fun engaging with this type of off-kilter real world. I was a little frustrated in parts bc of some characters choices, but that too was true to life. 4 out of 5 stars.

Crier’s War by Nina Varela (steampunk fantasy wlw): about a Made automaton heir to a throne and her human hand-maiden that is trying to kill her. This was an easy read with a lot of tension between the two main characters that I liked, but the writing itself was very weak. There was waaay too much exposition in parts and the dialogue had some really hockey lines. I enjoyed the twists and turns in the middle of the book, but the beginning and end didn’t have much movement. 2.5 stars out of 5.

The Huntress by Kate Quinn (historical fiction): honestly, I’m a little disappointed. This book just did not hit my sweet spots, it wasn’t fast-paced enough for me to get immersed in the plot, and the characters weren’t real enough to be wholly invested in them. That said I adored Nina Markova and the Night Witches, so that did help. 3 starts out of 5.

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White (horror sci-fi retelling): HAND IN UNLOVABLE HAND. A retelling of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein from the perspective of Victor Frankenstein’s wife and my God! The characters! The plot was well-enough, but the characters took the whole show for being complex and compelling. The main character was breathtakingly layered and I was wholly invested in Elizabeth and her story and the triumph at the end of this story was tangible. 4 out of 5 stars!

Uprooted by Naomi Novik (fantasy): A story of a young woman who lives in a valley where a girl must go live with a wizard for 10 years. She is certain she won’t be chosen, but ends up having to be “uprooted” herself. I enjoyed most of this book! However, I think I liked “Spinning Silver” a lot more just because the ending of this one somehow lost me. The characters were good and plot compelling, but (SPOILERS) the big battle at the end seemed to drag and didn’t interest me somehow. 3.8 out of 5 stars.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (fantasy): excellent read! A story of a young woman in Jazz Age Mexico who goes on an adventure with a Mayan death God who is trying to regain his throne. A romp across the country absolutely brimming with likable characters and fairy tale twists. My only complaint would be that most of it felt a little predictable due to the fact we knew where we were going throughout the whole story, However, it was still greatly enjoyable for the heroine herself, Casiopea. 4 out of 5 stars!

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng (literary): a story of two families in a progressive “planned” community, how their lives intertwine, their secrets, and a central question surrounding motherhood. Deeply empathetic to its characters and introspective, this is an every-day story of people in suburbia that reads like a thriller. I could barely put it down and felt deeply for its characters and situations, 5 out of 5 stars!

Wilder Girls by Rory Power (YA sci-fi suspense): a story of a group of girls at a boarding school on an island affected by the “tox” which alters their bodies in strange ways like giving them scales or an extra spine. This was an eerie, interesting read with a wlw romance! Watch out for the body horror in this one, but it was very gripping and held my interest. Some of the pacing was off in places (like the romance), but had a very creepy atmosphere that did it for me. 3.8 out of 5 stars!

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio (thriller-mystery): A thriller about a group of Shakespeare actors in their last year of college and one of their classmates who turns up dead. I enjoyed the murder mystery part of this novel more than I expected despite the fact I had guessed who had “done it” pretty early on. I really enjoyed the James-Oliver dynamic with its growing homoeroticism, but I didn’t like how the character of Meredith was handled at all. She felt like a one-note aside. I might have given this book four stars, but the ending was EXTREMELY frustrating for me and I did not like the “open-ended” conclusion. 3 out of 5 stars.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (literary humor): a weird character-driven comedy about an old grumpy man and a new family that moves in next to him. Warning for themes of suicide. Anyway, I don’t normally indulge in cliches like “I laughed, I cried, I loved one Cat Annoyance.” However, that’s exactly what I did. I laughed out loud, I cried my eyes out (THE CAT’S HEAD WAS IN HIS PALM), I loved this book. It was sweet and compelling and thoroughly immersive. 5 out of 5 stars!

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (historical fantasy): set in the early 1900s comes a story of a young girl and her experience with “Doors” that lead to different worlds. This book had a lot of great character development and really interesting descriptions, however, I didn’t like it as much as I wanted to. I found it hard to get myself to sit down a read it. There was just something missing with the push to “page-turn,” but it was still a really good book. 3.7 out of 5 stars!

Gideon the 9th by Tamsyn Muir (high fantasy, kinda gay): I AM FILLED WITH EMOTIONS. This was book was definitely a page-turner. I was very confused with it at the beginning, but the characters and their interactions were, forgive the expression, the life blood of the story and kept me wholly invested. The ending has CRUSHED my heart, but damn did I have a good time reading it. 4.5 out of 5 stars!

Harrow the 9th by Tamsyn Muir (sequel to Gideon the 9th): I really enjoyed this book. It was just as strange and twisting as the first book, though I think I enjoyed the first one a bit more since I love Gideon. It was fun ride overall, though the ending was kind of really confusing. So 4 out of 5 stars.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (historical fiction): Overall, I really enjoyed this book! The writing style was personable and grounded in reality. I found myself really liking the main characters and the exploration of the life of a bi main character was really well done I thought. A solid book with drama and glamor to boot. 4.6 out of 5 stars!

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (historical fiction): A story of two sisters during WWII and their resistance to Nazi occupation. To be honest, this book wasn’t my cup of tea. It was compelling, but also wholly depressing and I felt like gloried in the pain of the two main characters too much. The history was wonderful and realistic, but it didn’t make me feel anything good afterward. It was just dark. 3 out of 5 stars.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (mlm romance): I finally finished this after the heaviness of The Nightingale. This is a story of the First Son of the USA falling for the prince of England. And it turned out to be a very fun and light hearted read! Some of it was kinda generic and too political, and it coulda been shorter, but I thought the romance itself made up for it. It just made me feel so sweet and lovely inside. 4 out of 5 stars!

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (literary humor): I’m searching out heartfelt books and this one ticked off all the marks on my “sweet” list. A lovely book that made me cry more times than I would like to admit. Compassionate beyond belief, funny and heartfelt. I think I enjoyed A Man Called Ove slightly more, but this book was also dear to me and something I hope to reread in the future. 4.2 out of 5 stars!

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel (sci-fi): A post-apocalyptical story about a group of traveling Shakespeare actors and a symphony. Overall, an excellent read that somehow pictures a more realistic or even softer version of the apocalypse. At first, I wasn't happy with the jumping around of the story, but as I progressed I grew fonder and fonder of the interwoven characters and their journey. A very fascinating read about a world that hits a little too close to home. The appreciation of the arts and preserving humanity was somehow very hopeful and I was fully engaged with this story. 5 out of 5 Stars!

Up next: The Hidden Life of Trees by by Peter Wohlleben (nonfiction science), The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin (urban fantasy), The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (fantasy)

#I'll keep this list updated!#am reading #bookblr #IA talks #I've mostly read books I've really liked this year!#then again I rarely finish books I don't like

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dagss · 2 years

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Hey there I'm trying to improve my French this year. Are there any less know films and TV shows you could recommend that are great to listen to everyday french vocabulary ? Recently I've been rewatching Antoinette dans les Cévennes a lot, because 1) I love Laure Calamy ever since I saw her as Noemie in Dix Pour Cent and 2) it's been great to just learn all the many things one can shout to French Fuckboys.

oh my, that's so cool of you!!! i have yet to see antoinette dans les cévennes but i can relate to loving laure calamy because she's great!! she's also in une femme du monde which is currently in theaters idk if it made it outside of france? but i'm dying to see it, it's about a prostitute who tries to get money for her son to get into cooking school and apparently it's great because it portrays sex workers positively instead of criminalizing/victimizing them ; it sounds dope af!

anyway i'm not that familiar with french cinema despite being french, i'm mostly into well-known comedies, which i feel aren't ideal to learn the language because there's a lot of screaming and mumbling and outdated slang words for comedic purposes; but i'm gonna try to recommend some lesser-known movies! (hope you can manage to find them... unfortunately, lesser known also means less chances of it being available or having subtitles 🙄). i might have more to say avout tv shows however!

movies

adieu les cons / bye bye morons (2020) dir. albert dupontel (tw illness, suicide)

a woman discovers she has an incurable disease and decides to find the child she was forced to abandon when she was an teenager.

it's pretty recent and got the césar for best movie in 2021 so it might be well known, but in case you haven't seen it already i think it'd be great for learning because the actors tend to really enunciate while also using a bit of slang. that's everyday french that's easy to understand! not to mention albert dupontel is basically a genius director, the movie is so colorful, heartbreaking, poetic. i'd recommend all of his filmography, maybe give 9 mois ferme / 9 month stretch (2013) a shot since laure calamy has a tiny bit of screentime in it ahah

grave / raw (2016) dir. julia ducournau (tw: horror, blood, cannibalism)

a vegetarian college student enters veterinarian school to follow in the footsteps of her family of vegetarian veterinarians, but she ends up having to eat raw meat for the first time and discovers a family secret and her true self.

pretty well known too, but on the off chance you might have never heard of it i'm including it..... it's directed by the woman who made titane this year, it's a horror that a bit less disturbing than titane and i actually prefer it, bit more bloody tho. it might be interesting language-wise because the characters are college students so they speak everyday modern french with slang.

le château des singes / a monkey's tale (1999) dir. jean-françois laguionie

a young monkey lives on top of the trees with his community, but doesn't follow the teachings of the elders, including the most important one: the world at the bottom of the trees is scary and inhabited by demons, and you must never fall down there.

this one is so obscure i'm sorry in advance because i'm not sure you'll be able to find it easily... but it was one of my fav movies as a child and it still is. i personally find it easier to start with "kid's stuff" while learning languages, and this one is actually so suitable for adults as well, i'm really in love with it. it might have terrified me as a child tho because the imagery is pretty dark?

le hérisson / the hedgehog (2009) dir. mona achache (tw depression, suicide)

a kid is deeply bored with life and decides she will commit suicide on her 12th birthday. in the meantime, she observes and documents her surroundings, discovering the pretty enigmatic people living in her building.

this one seems really heavy but it's actually pretty cute and philosophical, since it's seen through a child's lens the language isn't complicated or gets explained, i think it's ideal! it's adapted from a book that you could read once you're comfy with french,,, anyway, it stars josiane balasko who is iconic and my favorite bisexual ever. which brings me to my next point:

gazon maudit / french twist (1995) dir. josiane balasko (tw sex)

after learning of her husband's infidelities, a housewife invites an itinerant lesbian to stay at their place.

i do not resist putting a cult french comedy in there... because! the lesbianism!! of it all!!! everyone is so hot (victoria abril is soooooo, alain chabat is sooooooooooo, josiane balasko is just soooooooo), and i'm confident the language is accessible, although there might be some play on words and stuff, but i feel like it's worth the trouble. i think it was one of the first (if not the first) depiction of lesbians in french cinema. ♥

la prophétie des grenouilles / raining cats and frogs (2003) dir. jacques-rémy girerd

a flood hits the earth, but the frogs predicted it and warned a couple of kids who do their best to save the animals of the nearby zoo and end up in a floating barn with a couple of each animals and a huge stock of potatoes.

apparently it's a generational trauma for a lot of french people but i've always loved it so idk what they're on about 💀 i find it pretty cute and funny, the art is stunning and again, i feel like animation targeted towards kids has accessible laid-back language. there's a lot of other traumatizing animated stuff i'm deeply attached to that i could recommend, like princes and princesses (2000) by michel ocelot, but i think 6 movies is enough for now so i'll move on to series!

series

zone blanche / black spot (2017-?) created by Mathieu Missoffe (2 seasons)

in a town where neither cellphones nor internet reaches, major Laurène Weiss manages the police station and investigates disappearances.

i'm so in love with this show and no one talks about it i'm very mad!! i don't know why they translated the title to 'black spot' since it's literally about the white spot the town is located in, but anyway it's genius! it seems like a simple thriller/cop show (we get those a lot on french television ngl, and i'm generally not fond of those) but the atmosphere is insanely chilling! it dabbles a bit into folk horror and celtic mythology. language-wise i think it's more elaborated than the last movies i recommended but it's still accessible since the actors enunciate well. hoping for a season 3,,,,

cheyenne & lola (2020) created by Virginie Brac (1 season)

two women find each other as they involuntarily get involved with the local mob, and end up eternally linked through a murder.

this one i'm sure has english subs and is available, as i watched it on flixtor myself, so enjoy!! it's pretty recent and i haven't even heard a lot of french people talk about it, the language is very modern, a bit agressive & slangy but the subs are accurate and the realism of the actresses performances is incredible.

les engagés / woke (2017-?) created by Sullivan Le Postec (3 seasons)

hicham, a young gay man, runs away from his family and goes to lyon to find the only gay man he knows, thibault, who is a lgbtqia+ activist. as time goes by, hicham learns about himself as well as the activism community.

this one is a webseries that entirely available on youtube with both french and english subs, i think you'd find it interesting since you're also part of the lgbtqia+ community! created & acted by young french people so the language is pretty close to how we talk everyday, might have some words that are specific to the lgbt+ community too, it's really pretty cool! i have yet to watch the third season but the first two really broke me.

+bonus

i'd also recommend other web contents, some youtube channels like golden moustache or frenchball are focused on making short movies and sketches, a lot of which have english & french subtitles. starting out with funny 5 mins sketches might be entertaining for you! my personal favs are the superheroes hangover (2013) dir. raphaël descraques and julien josselin, & le fantôme de merde / shitty ghost (2014) dir. raphaël descraques. those channels are collectives so there's so much content on them, from various genres (some aren't comedies at all), so they'll definitely have something for you ahah

so there you go!

sorry for the delay i actually had to spend a bit of time deciding what to advise and describing all of it, i hope it's not completely off the mark and that you'll find what you were looking for; if not, don't hesitate to hit me up again, i'll try to find other interesting things :>

#asks #long post #amy passion films

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nikrangdan · 3 years

Text

cafeworker!ni-ki

pairing: cafeworker!ni-ki x female reader

genre: fluff, comedy

description: the cashier at the new coffee shop was so adorable you just couldn’t resist visiting just for him

**did not proofread

————

contrary to popular belief, you were NOT a social person

whenever you were around friends and family, you were always the loudest person there

like SHUT UP Y/N!!!!!!

anyways although you were loud, people still enjoyed being around you because you had such a sweet soul and interesting humor

everyone close to you knew that you hated talking to people you didnt know

but to all the strangers? no

they would think you were an outgoing ready-to-meet-new-people extrovert

which was so, so wrong

but ALAS, you had to talk strangers almost everyday living in 2020

(well lets pretend we arent in the middle of a pandemic right now)

moving on......

so you were in high school at the downfall of your existence

you used to have so many friends when you were younger ..now you only have like 3

and those three were always busy (busy making up excuses thats for sure) so you never really hung out with them outside of school

and on one fine evening after school you decided to visit the new cafe 5 minutes from your house

u were really excited because all the cafes were 15 minutes from your house so now u could just walk to this one if u wanted to !!!

but yeah it was in the middle of a small plaza that had cute buildings

you pulled up to the parking lot and was just about to get out the car when u remembered..

u have to talk to the cashier :/

who’s a stranger! even more ://

it was always so weird to you.. whenever you went out you always had someone else order for you because you just hated talking to strangers

you just felt uncomfortable and you couldnt help it

its not like you have never ordered for yourself but you would always prefer not to

and now that you think about it

this is the first time you have gone out by yourself

you did text one of your friends beforehand but they said they “had homework to do”

LIES!!!!

but you really wanted to try the coffee so you just ran with it

time to face your fears!

you opened the glass door to reveal a cute looking cafe, like the ones you’d see in movies

you loved it already

glancing to the cashier you’d have to be talking to—

hold on

you had to do a double take because WOAH.....

the cashier...

he....

wow..

you have never seen a boy like that in your life

you stood there for like 3 seconds before coming to your senses and standing infront of the menu

that was infrONT OF HIM

“hi, what can i get for you?”

HIS VOICE OH MY GOD..!?!?!

“oh um.. can i get a second to .. look..?”

“yeah of course,” he gestured to the menu on the wall above him

hes so nice u almost cried

your eyes shakily traveled up to the chalkboard menu and u began to ‘read’ the options

its like u could feel his eyes on u WTF!!!!

um um um *internally keyboard smashes*

you couldnt even think

the words on the menu were like gibberish

the ONE time u go out by yourself

this had to happen.. of course! someone had it out for you, you were sure of it >:(

picking a random drink you gave him your order

“uh can i have an iced caramel macchiato?”

ITS LIKE YOU CANT SAY A SENTENCE WITHOUT UH OR UM

u cant help but think hes judging you

he looks like that while u are standing there in old sweatpants your dads tshirt

“sure, what size?” he looks into your eyes after putting your order into the machine

god you felt your heart stop

his Eyes..... theyre so beautiful

“oh um regular” you attempted to give a small smile

hopefully it looked like one

“okay that’ll be $5.12.”

you dug out some cash from your bag and handed it to him

he gave u your change and gave u a small smile

“your drink will be out in a minute”

AAAAA

he went :)

he is so CUTE.....?!?!

he looked around your age too

sigh... you knew he was way out of your league though

you were gushing over him but he probably thought you were just another boring customer

while waiting u sat at one of the 2 person tables on your phone

and u IMMEDIATELY went to text your groupchat

‘GUYS’

‘AT THE CAFE NEAR MY HOUSE’

‘CUTEST BOY IVE EVER SEEN EVER IN MY ENTIRE LIFE’

‘WTF IM GONNA CRY HOW DOES HE EXIST’

‘WAIT BRB HE S COMIBBG’

you tried to quickly put your phone down without looking suspicious when you saw him walking towards you with a drink in his hand

“here you go, enjoy” he said before swiftly making his way back to the counter and talking to the other worker there

wow... hes so mesmerizing

you’d steal glances at him every now and then while taking sips of your drink

you were sitting there for like 20 minutes before you noticed you finished your drink

you totally forgot you came here to see how good their coffee was

it was good by the way

sadly it was your time to leave

taking one last glance at him, you threw away your empty cup and walked out the door

wow

u cant believe you got to witness the most beautiful human being ever

in your small town?? crazy

you were sitting in your car just thinking

WAIT

U DIDNT EVEN KNOW HIS NAME!

you mentally punched yourself but then you started laughing

what does knowing his name even matter, its not like u were ever going to talk to him anyway

LOL

*sad emoji*

but the coffee was good so you definitely planned to go back

and not just because of the cute boy

...unless....

*time skip*

the next day you went there was a week later at the same time in hopes that he was working the same shift

AND HE WAS!!!!

score! 1 for y/n, 0 for umm... any other person who had a crush on him too i guess

the cafe didnt have too many people since it was fairly new and also in a small part of the city

so when you went in, you were the only one there along with the two workers

“welcome, what would you like to order?”

NOT THIS AGAIN

he looked even cuter today

his messy blond hair almost covered his eyes

you shouldve forced your friend to come with you this time

you ordered the same thing as last time but this time he asked for your name

hmmm

“um y/n” you answered

your heart was always beating 2 times as fast whenever you had to talk to him

he wrote it down on the cup and after you paid, you went to sit down at the same spot as last time

looking at him is literally the highlight of your day

the same thing happened as last time, he came over and gave you your drink without giving u a second glance

>:((((

boooo look at me cute boy

nonetheless u continued going to the cafe at the same time as much as u could which was like three times a week

literally over a month later and u dont think anythings going to happen

u punch yourself for thinking the boy would somehow find interest in you

hes still indifferent to you which isn’t surprising since you’ve never made any kind of move

ever

but

he should know u by now

hopefully..

*time skip again*

it was a saturday

at this point you’ve basically given up on having a crush on him and now since its become a routine u just say you go for the coffee

not really paying attention to your surroundings you dont notice that the boy at the cash register isnt the normal one you see almost everyday

“hey, what would you like to order?”

woah WHAT

you look up from your bag to notice a boy that was definitely not the one that normally stood infront of it at this time

and you also noticed something on this new cashier

a name tag

how come your old little crush didnt have one????

this new boys name was ‘jay’ and he was fairly cute too

looking around the corner at the other worker u noticed he has a name tag too

you recognized him because he was always working when the cute boy was at the cash register

his name was ‘heeseung’

after taking in these new additions you answered to jay

“oh um.. can i ge-,”

“she gets an iced caramel macchiato. her name is y/n”

??!<_|#%[>~€\£~

you whipped your head around so fast to see who said that behind you

was it who you thought it was ??!??!

YES IT WAS!!!!

OH MYGOD

ITS HIM

you widened your eyes at the boy who wasnt wearing his normal black and white uniform

instead he was wearing black ripped jeans and a gray hoodie

wow....... and u thought he couldnt look any better

BUT OMG?? HE REMEMBERS U

“oh wow ni-ki, you know her?” the boy named jay asked him

“uh yeah.. shes a regular” he said before walking to stand next to you

NI-KI

HIS NAME IS NI-KI OHMHGOD

u thought his name fit him perfectly its so CUTE

“are you gonna get something too?”

this whole time you were silent because.. what is going on

your heart was being SO fast you thought that everyone could hear it

“yup, can i get the same thing? also im paying for both of us”

WHAT??/):)/$;##\%|

ur eyes widened even more it looked like they were gonna pop out of its sockets

u unconsciously leaned towards the boy next you and kind of put your hands up

“w-what?? oh um no, you dont have to do that” you nervously said to him as he looked down at you

he kind of had a smile on his face

“i want to.”

there is no way this is happening

“oiiii ni-ki” jay chuckled while punching in numbers on the cash register

“ill have both of your drinks out soon, you two kids have fun!” jay said before turning around to face heeseung

WHAT??!!??!

your jaw almost dropped from shock

millions of thoughts ran through your brain and you couldnt even process anything

u cant believe this was happening

it was like a wattpad story or something.. is this how u meet ur soulmate

your thoughts were interrupted by a hand on your back momentarily and u look to see ni-ki shyly grinning and gesturing u towards a table

no way...

you awkwardly follow him to a 2 person table next to wall and sit down

you literally could not hear anything except for the pounding of your heart

“uh sorry about that...” he rubbed his neck and sheepishly smiled

“im ni-ki by the way”

“y/n...” u felt so awkward u wanted to cry

“agh, im really sorry if that was weird.. i just didnt know how to ask you out.....” he trailed off

*passes out*

IM JOKING

Ok but u felt ur heart stop bc NO WAY

“wait what??” u ask, ur eyes bigger than the moon

“um yeah... haha i took the day off today to try to talk to you.. sorry if that was weird..”

HE WAS SO AWKWARD JUST LIKE YOU IT WAS THE CUTEST THING EVER

“no its okay!! im glad actually...”

“really? so is it okay if we hang out?” he asked excitedly

u did not think u could handle HOW CUTE THIS BOY WAS O M G...

“of course! sorry if im kind of awkward though” you gave a small smile

“its okay, i think i am too”

you two began talking about the cafe and where you went to school

turns out even though you two lived in the same town (literally 5 minutes away from eachother) u went to different schools for some reason

u talked for like 2 minutes before jay walked up with your drinks

“hows it going guys?”

“its doing good bro, now go away..” ni-ki lightly shoved jay and laughed

you giggled at the sight

jay looked offended and came right back

“that is not how you talk to your elders ni-ki! y/n do you see this?!” he scoffed

ni-ki just rolled his eyes and turned back to you

“do not ignore me young man!” jay joked

“oh y/n, ive heard all about you from ni-ki over here by the way.”

ni-ki’s eyes got so big you almost got worried

he turned around so fast and gave jay one of those ‘i swear if you say anything ur dead meat’ looks

jay obviously did not care

“hes always like ‘y/n this y/n that’ blah blah im glad he finally got the balls to ask you out because im honestly sick of hearing it!” jay laughed

u were blushing so hard

NI-KI LIKED U????

this felt like a dream

ni-ki pushed jay away so hard and turned back with red cheeks

awe

but yeah that was the beginning of the cutest relationship ever

u and ni-ki were so cute together <333

you’d always visit him during ur free time

it took like 2 months before u two made it official tho

and he was the sweetest boyfriend ever

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invisibleicewands · 3 years

Link

Q&A with David Tennant and Michael Sheen

What can you tell us about the new series of Staged?

Michael: David and I are still being ridiculous with and about each other - that’s still very much the tone of it. We have a lot of amazing surprise appearances which I hope people will enjoy as much as David and I enjoyed doing the scenes with them.

David: It’s the same set up as before. Michael Sheen and I talking rubbish to each other over the internet from our respective homes, with Georgia and Anna, our other halves, keeping us from becoming too self-indulgent, not always successfully. But there is a bit of a twist to it all, which I’m not going to reveal here...

In the show you play exaggerated versions of yourselves, are you anything like these characters in real life?

David: I imagine not at all, but probably... quite a lot.

Michael: I think David would say that he's not at all like his character in the first series. Whereas I would say, I probably am quite like that. But I think between the two series, there's a slightly more representative version of ourselves emerging, or at least that's what I would say anyway.

Why do you think the first series was so popular?

Michael: We didn't take ourselves too seriously and made fun of ourselves - I think people enjoyed that. I'm using the sort of format and medium that everyone is using. Having to do calls on Zoom and all that kind of stuff - so we've been able to tap into what's funny and absurd about that as well. Also, having lovely surprises like Judi Dench and Samuel L. Jackson, we have lots more of those surprises in this new series.

David: People seemed to recognise what the characters were going through. Not the specifics of being an actor in lockdown as such, but the sense of helplessness, the frustrations and occasional joys of being stuck at home while the world trundled on. That and the fact that Simon wrote a really funny script - I mean without that we’d have been stuffed.

Did you think you’d be back for another series?

David: If you had told me a year ago that I’d end up making a series for BBC One from inside our house, without a crew, wearing my own clothes and being entirely responsible for turning the camera on and off I would have found it wholly implausible, so the idea that we would do it twice is just one of the many unpredictable eventualities that this weird, weird year has presented.

Michael: I certainly thought that if it went down quite well then there was no reason why we couldn't do more, because it was such an innovative way to make a series - filming in my kitchen with just the laptop and a smartphone. It was very nice to come back and do more of it.

What was it like working with your partners?

David: The scenes between Georgia and myself had to be fitted in around school drop-offs, baby naps and unloading the dishwasher, so there is a certain urgency to getting them done but we have really enjoyed making Staged together and we do laugh a lot - perhaps it’s the sleep deprivation.

Michael: I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was great. The difficulty for Anna and I was that one of us had to go and look after the baby, so that presented a bit of a challenge and limited how much we could do together. But the positive side of this was that it meant Anna could do more scenes with other people. So, there's more scenes between Anna and Georgia, Lucy and Simon as well. It was lovely not taking ourselves too seriously and to play around with it.

Will any of your children be making an appearance in the new series?

Michael: There’s that fantastic moment in the first series where you see David and Georgia's daughter in the background coming down the stairs and then going back up the stairs - that's very funny. I'm sure you can hear Lyra in the background of some scenes; you’ll have to be eagle-eyed and eagle-eared for that.

David: No, I think they find it slightly risible that mum and dad are making a TV show from the house and are mostly just annoyed when we tell them to be quiet for a take.

What can you tell us about working with the guest stars?

David: Well I think it’s out there that we have Ben Schwartz joining us this series, playing the assistant to Michael and my US agent. I’ve known Ben for a few years now, we both play the voices of ducks on Disney’s Duck Tales. Ben is very very funny and is a master at comic improvisation. Michael and I both had to sprint to keep up with him once he started going off script. Recording those scenes was a particular joy. But beyond that I’m saying nothing - that would spoil some nice surprises.

Michael: In the first series one of the most enjoyable things was being able to do a scene with Dame Judi and with Samuel L. Jackson. In this series we have plenty more where that came from and it was an absolute joy - a real thrill! We have some special guests this series who David and I both enjoy the work of. I hope the audience enjoy it half as much as we did and also see that it's not just us who have difficulty with the technical stuff!

Q&A with Georgia Tennant and Anna Lundberg

What can you tell us about the new series of Staged?

Georgia: We are all still in lockdown but things are starting to open up a little and everyone is trying to feel their way through their new normal. David’s hair is longer and my wine cellar (metaphorically speaking. We don't actually have a wine cellar) is emptier.

How did you come up with the idea for the new series?

Georgia: We always said we would just do one and hope people didn't hate it. Much to our amazement people really didn’t hate it and of course it's much more tempting to visit something again if the reception has been good! When we filmed the first series I think we felt like it was a small window of time where the world had shifted and before long we’d all be back to normal and Staged would end up being this nice little time capsule. Simon Evans and Phin Glynn then came up with a brilliant little seed of a premise and we all took it from there.

In the show you play exaggerated versions of yourselves, are you anything like these characters in real life?

Anna: Well we’re all slightly different from the first season. I certainly don’t bring Michael charcuterie boards like I did in the first season, hah! I think in this season I have lost most of my patience with Michael and although that isn't true in real life, it seems closer to how we would behave with each other if we were living through those exact circumstances. I'd tease him for being so serious and a bit of an arse but at the end of the day we got each other's back. I've also gotten to know Georgia and Lucy a bit more since the first season, so those scenes seemed a bit closer to real life this time. Although I don't think there's a world that exists where I'd actually offer David Tennant advice on using Viking methods with an axe to deal with a conflict.

Georgia: This series ‘Georgia’ is slightly less tired and has gotten her fight back a little. The kids are back at school and she’s trying to get everyone else back to some sort of normality. She’s even less indulgent of ‘David’.

Why do you think the show was so popular?

Georgia: I think for the first time in probably ever the whole world was doing the same thing - sitting in their homes. To be able to watch a show where the actors are doing exactly as you and much less elegantly was probably the secret to its charm. To be able to laugh during this time has also certainly saved my sanity and having a comedy escape, albeit for 15 minutes, was probably very needed.

Anna: I think a lot of people around that time were happy to see something light and a bit silly as opposed to another heavy drama about what everyone was already going through, but without ignoring what was going on at the same time.

What was it like working with your partners?

Georgia: That was the best bit for me. He is my favourite person, actor and makes me laugh like no one else. I think I may struggle working with anyone else now!

Anna: The biggest challenge of filming with Michael is figuring out what to do with the baby when we do. Once we've managed to work that out around naps it’s great! He’s very encouraging and patient with me. Serious about the work though and likes to be in charge of all the technical stuff, even though I helped him to set it up in the first place. But I let him.

Will any of your children be making an appearance in the new series?

Anna: There’s always a chance you’ll hear Lyra’s voice in the background. She likes to get in on the action and has a great ability to project and be heard like her father. But no, not in vision.

Georgia: No. I cannot tell you how little they care about what we do. We were just annoying them by asking them to keep the noise down for takes.

#Michael Sheen #David Tennant #Staged #Staged 2 #Georgia Tennant #Staged2 #SwedishFishAL

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