#but it's fine she looks great and the subtitles are different

[softsapphicvibes]

Harley Quinn

Arkham City - Harley Quinn’s Revenge

#arkham city #harley quinn's revenge #arkham city hqr #harley quinn #harleen quinzel #harleen frances quinzel #sapph's post #okay two issues with this lol. first is how dark it is because it's alll black #second is that these are the exact same animations as the original game #but it's fine she looks great and the subtitles are different #<3 best girl

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Taste The Rainbow {One Shot} ***

Lewis Hamilton x Reader

Warning: NSFW, 18+ Mature Content, Cursing, Substance Use, Crude Language, Oral: Male & Female Receiving, PLENTY OF WORDS, Raw Shenanigans

Words: 11.7K

Synopsis: Nope!!

Note: All right guys, as promised and teased. I know it’s mega long, but I really wanted you guys to have a full experience and really make it feel real. I hope you enjoy this, and I didn’t go overboard. 

Caution: there are ALOT of words. LISTEN TO THE WARNINGS!!

As always, thank you for reading.

If you enjoyed this, please, LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG!!

****NOT EDITED/PROOFREAD****

****Interactive****

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

“Come on, you have to come!”

 You rolled your eyes as you popped a few kernels of kettle corn into your mouth. The current episode of this k-drama you were watching was the only thing on your mind right now and finishing this series was the only thing on your agenda tonight. You didn’t care how much your best friend Lina pleaded or begged or even bargained. You were determined not to fall for it.

 “Oh hell no. There is no way in hell you’re staying home tonight. Not when tonight is supposed to be the hottest party ever,” Trixie shouted ending her sentence in true Trixie fashion—exaggeratedly.

 You rolled your eyes again, now only half listening because you were fully focused on reading subtitles. Your jaw dropped when it was revealed that the second male lead who had been persistently trying to get the female lead was in fact cheating and seeing the first male lead.

 “No fucking way,” you said more to the space around you than to your friends.

 “Y/N! We will kick down your door and drag you out whether you want to or not!”

 Sighing you pressed pause, “Trixie, I don’t want to go. I’m good here tonight. I have my kettle corn, my strawberry mojitos and nine episodes to keep me company,” you protested.

 “My god, when did you get so boring?”

 “Plus, you say every party is going to be the hottest party ever,” you added mimicking her words, energy, and tone of voice to perfection.

 You could hear Lina laughing.

 “You think you’re real cute huh, Y/N?”

 “Matter of fact I know I am. Cute, fine and better than a glass of fine wine!”

 “Ayyyyyyy!”

 You smiled then took a sip of your mojito. As soon as the burn of the three different liquors took over your tongue you moaned. You’d wanted it to be strong but gahdamn it was strong, strong. You released a hoot and moaned again.

 “Are you drinking?”

 “Damn right I’m drinking.”

 “Alone? Wow, you’re right Tix, she has gotten boring.”

 “Fuck you thing one and thing two!”

 They giggled as you took another healthy sip while ignoring their bullshit. You were not boring. Yes, it had been a while since you’d partied until the next day’s sun shined hot in the sky, or till you passed out and woke up with no memory of the previous night, or had a wild ass story to tell, but so what! As you went over those details in your head you paused beginning to wonder if they were right. Had you gotten boring?

 “Still there?”

 Sighing, you leaned back in the couch. “Still here.”

 “We have a reason you should come tonight besides that fact you’ve gotten boring,” Lina said.

 “Wha reason,” you questioned with a mouthful of popcorn.

 “You know who is supposed to be there,” Lina replied.

 Before you put another handful of popcorn into your mouth, you took a sip from your glass already feeling the light and dark rum and tequila beginning to work its glorious magic. “Who?”

 “You know who. Come on, he’d about six feet, looks amazing in a jumpsuit, know how to go super-fast, and has more than one talent,” Trixie listed off.

 You rolled your eyes. The minute she said looks amazing in a jumpsuit you knew who she was blabbering on about. Scoffing you shook your head. “Oh. So, you mean super-fast as in sleeps with anything with a nice ass and a great set of tits faster than a racecar can get to one hundred?”

 Their snorting told you that they got your joke.

 “You ain’t have to do our friend like that,” Lina piped up.

 “Friend? Girl please that’s yo’ guys’ friend!”

 “Okay you’re our friend so friends by two degrees of separation,” Lina added.

 “Whatever. I still don’t wanna go.”

 “Come on. He specifically asked if you were gonna be there tonight.”

 With your glass right at your lips, you paused. “W—why?”

 “Guess you’re gonna have to come and find out.”

 You rolled your eyes already knowing this was one of Trixie’s tricks. For the last six years since Lina had gotten signed to be one of the models for a F1 event where she met none other than Sir Lewis Hamilton, they’d maintained contact and become friends. One event let to two, then three and that’s when Lina brought Trixie in on the fun then ultimately you. Lina and Trixie hit it off with him and his friends because they were models and ran in those party circles. You however, you weren’t a model. You were a stylist and aspiring fashion designer. When Trixie let that slip to him seventy-two hours later you were booked as his stylist for his next eight events. It had been one of those Cinderella stories. From then you were booked and busy.

 Where Lina and Trixie always connected with him, you on the other hand couldn’t. You didn’t know why. It wasn’t because his vibe was off, or he proved to be an asshole or not worth the hype. In fact, his energy was incredible, it was always positive, always bubbly and filled with so much calm that you wondered if he knew hoodoo and had leveled up to master practitioner or if it was for real. Whenever you were around him, he proved to be as great as everyone always raved about. He was kind, thoughtful, funny, and so damn endearing. There was also always this intoxicating vibe that he gave off, a vibe that felt like a drug. You’d watched so many fall for it. That made you that much more determined not to be one of them.

 So, you kept your emotional and energy distance from him whenever you were around each other which was a lot. After six years, you were exhausted with trying to keep your walls impenetrable and energies from mingling together. It had become clear around year two how badly your energies wanted to play. However, he’d never made a move on you, never asked Lina or Trixie to put in a word for him, never stepped over the line or disrespected you or your body. Half of you was relieved, the other half was confused as to why he hadn’t. By year five you’d decided that you were imagining things and assuming shit that wasn’t even so.

 Now, year six you tried to not be around him unless it was necessary which meant for work only. Even being around him for work felt off putting. You hated that you felt like you owed him for your come up even though Lina and Trixie had pleaded his case saying that he didn’t put you on because he was friends with them or anything besides your skill as a stylist. No matter how they swore it, you couldn’t help but feel opposite, especially hearing of all the kind things he’d done for others who were close to him. Even now as your new fashion line had just debuted at fashion week, which was the ultimate show that you’d made it, you still remembered how and where you’d gotten your start.

 “Come tonight. It’ll be fun,” Lina gently coaxed one more time.

 You raised your glass again and drank the cold beverage down, ignoring the burn and focusing on the eruption of flavors in your mouth and the decision that was already made for you.

 ~~~~~~~~

 Three hours later you stepped out of the car with Lina and Trixie beside you and a massive wrought iron gate before you and an equally massive mansion about sixty feet behind it lit up with neon-colored lights.

 “Oh—

 “My—

 “Fuck,” you finished.

 The three of you looked at each other then snorted.

 “Whose party is this?”

 “I think it’s Lew’s,” Lina said.

 “Or maybe someone from his crew.”

 “Whose house is this?”

 They both shrugged then stepped forward. You still stood there for a few moments while Lina and Trixie showed stepped to one of the six muscled men guarding the gate who looked like he was checking invites. One motioned to another behind the gate before it opened. As you approached, they looked at you expectantly. You entered your security code but before you tapped into your messages a voice echoed out.

 “Let her through.”

 The large man that was standing in front of you moved to the side giving you access to the opened gate. Eying them quizzically, you stepped through following Lina and Trixie down the asphalt driveway.

 “What was that about?”

 “VVIP baby.”

 “VVIP?”

 “Only basics have to show invites. VVIP get through strictly on face card and ours never decline,” Trixie boasted.

 You couldn’t help but laugh. This girl was a mess and a half. The three of you continued your walk toward the mansion and the closer you got the louder it got and the louder it got the more madness you saw. People were sprawled across the expansive lawn drinking, dancing, laughing, and dabbing in various substances. You even saw quite a few who looked like they were tripping out as they spoke to the air, or bushes or even trees. Before you stepped inside, the mansion, you saw someone chasing a squirl toward the east side of the lawn screaming “I wanna play.”

 “What the fuck!?”

Once you, Lina and Trixie stepped inside the precursor on the lawn was nothing compared to the debauchery inside. Immediately, you were hit with the scent of various smokes and met with nothing but fog. Lina and Trixie squealed before looping your arm and walking through the endless fog. There were bodies everywhere and these bodies came for one thing—other bodies. There were kissing groups of two, and four and even dry humping piles of six or more, only most of them were full on naked.

 The further in you got the lewder the scene and you were not turned off at all. Two bikini clad servers approached holding trays of neon-colored drinks in nearly every color.

 “Choose your poison, beware each comes with a different price.”

 Lina took an orange and a green one, Trixie swiped a purple and a white one while you cautiously picked out a pink and a blue one. The three of you hit your six shot glasses together then knocked them back one after the other. Your pink one tasted like cotton candy while the blue one like blueberry.

 “Mmm.”

 You quickly swiped two more from a passing tray and downed them in sequence as well.

 “I think we have our blackout princess back,” Trixie said in a sing song voice before cheering.

 Your alter ego had gotten you into plenty of trouble over the years and they’d both been right by your side egging you on while heightening the amount of chaos you brought. Whenever you came out the other side you came out with no regrets and one question, where was your bra. Tonight, you’d opted out of a bra, so you knew that wasn’t going to be a question on your lips tomorrow afternoon. Blackout princess was back, and she was ravenous for fun.

 Lina’s phone dinged and a few seconds later she smiled.

 “Let’s go say hello to our host.”

 An intriguing sight from across the room caught your eye and attention. Lina and Trixie began walking to the left, but you walked forward disappearing into the fog. The closer you got; you saw a group of people playing twister. Well, it was base Twister. On each color circle was a matching neon colored drink. You watched as each color and body part combo was called out and watched as each new part landed on a color, they were handed that color drink.

 “Double the stakes, twice the mistakes.”

 You looked beside you into the almost glowing eyes of a decent looking guy with semi long hair and a perfectly groomed goatee.

 “Have you played?”

 He nodded.

 “Won?”

 “Lost miserably.”

 “How many drinks in did you get?”

 He held up five fingers and you laughed. “Lightweight.”

 He laughed then bounced your shoulder. “Hey, what if that was my last straw?”

 “Then you need tougher skin or at least a higher tolerance.”

 He scoffed, bit his bottom lip, and looked you over.

 “How far do you think you can go?”

 You looked back at the game and assessed the situation. You were in no way or shape a lightweight. You turned your body to his and locked in on his eyes.

 “All—the—way!”

 His smile was sexy and spoke of spontaneity. He leaned closer then looked to your lips. “Show me.”

 Smirking, you nodded and approached the game just as a new round was beginning.

 “Admission fee,” a girl with a neon purple bikini said.

 “Which is?”

 “Say ahh.”

 You smiled and did as she said. As soon as your mouth opened, she placed a tablet on your tongue which tasted a lot like strawberries and cream as it quickly dissolved in your mouth.

 “Let’s see what you’ve got.”

 The first combo was called, and you happily took the glowing red shot glass as your right foot took its place. After, came a yellow, then blue drink which resulted in your hands on opposite colors and your ass in the air facing the cute stranger.

 “Left foot green.”

 Thankful for your years of yoga you did the perfect wide legged downward dog then took the neon green drink. Once you gulped it down you looked between your spread legs and found his eyes right on your ass and his mouth wide open. You almost snorted. No one could ever resist this move. As you were about to move to put your left hand on the same red your left foot was on you saw another set of eyes watching you through the fog. It was thick around them and every time it thinned enough for you to make out their face, it only covered them more.

 That was then the double vision set in making your legs feel wobbly. This was the admissions fee. Unable to stop yourself, you laughed out loud and moved your hand to red. This move had you twisted showing your flexibility as well as your dangerous curves. When you looked back, the fog thinned enough for you to make out just who the second set of eyes belonged to. Lewis Hamilton. As soon as you clocked him, he slid on his dark sunglasses and turned away disappearing into the fog.

With the next combo, two fell. Two combos after another three fell and two more from then you were the last one standing taking the prize with a total of nine drinks in your system. Rather than approaching the stranger again you disappeared into the fog off to explore what else this party had up its sleeve.

 About two hours later, you were holding your liquor and substances surprisingly well as you approached a spirited game of twerk pong. Several people took turns trying to do their best twerk to empty the box of ping pong balls strapped to their tailbones. It was hilarious to watch the attempts at not only attempting the perfect twerk but also accomplish the task. Most failed at both but a few succeeded at one or the other.

 “There you are!”

 Trixie’s voice blared into your ear as she giggled. “Where have you been?”

 “Taking inventory.”

 “Found anyone you like?”

 “The eye candy is nice. Not tempting enough to try flavors though.”

 “Maybe your flavor is at this game,” Lina shouted louder than the cheers and laughter around. Your eyes met Lewis’ across the way. He bobbed his head to you then raised his glass, an action your mimicked.

 “No one has taken the grand prize,” Lina said.

 You looked over and saw a gold medal around Lewis’ neck.

 “It’s made out of gourmet chocolate with a little surprise ingredient and twenty-four carat gold spray,” Lina added ending in her sing song voice.

 She was clearly well on her way of being fucked up on the floor in a few hours.

 “Any other attempts?”

 A hand in the middle of your back sent you right into the middle.

 “Wooooo, let’s hear it for Y/N!”

 You glared at Trixie. She sure was living up to her name. Everyone around you clapped, cheered and chanted your name making it impossible to renege. You stood there as someone strapped a box around your waist then there was silence and all eyes turned to Lewis.

 “Let the beat drop.”

 Cheers rang out again and though you didn’t have any intention of playing along, the beat that dropped was a favorite of yours. Before you could stop yourself, you were already twerking. This was no twerk for the balls to come out, it was the twerking of an ass that needed to move to its favorite track. What followed next was inevitable. The balls dropped one by one from the small slot then two by two.

 The more the song picked up, the more effort your put into it and the more you became determined to get the balls out. In a span of time that didn’t feel long at all you slowly realized that the all the balls were rolling around the floor and you were just twerking for twerk’s sake.

 “Aaaaaaah!”

 Sirens blared and everyone lost their damn mind. Lina and Trixie collided into you screaming.

 “You did it!”

 You laughed and shrugged as if it was only inevitable for you to do it. When you turned around you watched Lewis approach you with a smirk. Once he was about two feet from your face he stopped and leaned to your ear.

 “Babygirl twerked so good it’s better than a beat drop!”

His words could have been the command to get wet because that is what instantly happened. You stood there stunned by his effect as he lifted off the medal that dangled against his neon paint splattered, tattooed chest that was on display for all to gawk at and place it around your neck. His scent hit you so hard you nearly stumbled backward. Fuck you thought, he smelled like the best things on earth, things that made your belly rumble but not from hunger--it was desire.

“Are you good at everything or just things you do with your body?”

A moan escaped you before you could stop it and that was when Lewis met your eyes. For a few moments, it felt like the entire place was empty and it was just the two of you surrounded by colored fog and neon lights. You sunk your teeth into your bottom lip then watched him do the same. From your eyes, the action was something completely lewd and hedonistic which raised your temperature several degrees. The fog got thicker and somehow it worked as a sobering tool to bring you back to reality. Suddenly, everything and everyone came back into focus. You scoffed then leaned to his ear.

“My body’s no exception I’m good at everything I do.”

With that you backed away disappearing into the fog as you bit into the chocolate medal hanging around your neck. It would have to suffice as what you really wanted in your mouth would open a box you weren’t sure you could handle.

A while later you were sitting in a room where the walls were covered in paint splatter just staring at the different color patterns people had made. You’d figured out the secret ingredient Lina had alluded to—weed. Your sight had settled, and now you were experiencing a beautiful mellow vibe that had you feeling good. You rose to your feet and approached the buckets of paint and took up one of the feather dusters then swung it to the wall. A fresh streak of bright orange droplets peppered the wall and floor.

You stood there admiring your work then rode the wave of energy that overtook you. You dipped the duster into bucket after bucket of pain and splattered them willy nilly onto the walls in complete chaotic and erratic fashion. You buzzed around the room as if you’d chugged several energy drinks and now felt like Hermes himself sans the winged sneakers as per Percy Jackson era. Soon you were spinning around in a circle in the room squealing and having the time of your life.

 “Either you’ve paid way too many admission fees and are tripping out or you’re paying all the prices of the poisons.”

You stopped but the room kept spinning. You stumbled a few steps, but strong arms gripped you before the floor came up to meet you.

 “Woah, woah. Y/N, are you okay?”

 You giggled and nodded. “I’m better than okay. If Lina and Trixie could see me now. They wouldn’t dare call me boring.”

 He smiled and stood you up but kept his hands wrapped around your waist.

 “You, boring? I pity the daft pricks who ever believed that.”

 You met his eyes. “You were never one of them?”

 Lewis shook his head. “Never. I’ve always seen just who you are from the moment we met.”

 You could feel the heat from his hands on the bare skin of your back and it was then you became aware of your own hands that were plastered across his bare chest and abs. Dropping your eyes, you took in the beauty that was Lewis Hamilton. He was covered in neon paint with a few glow sticks poking out of his pocket. The light from them illuminated one of your favorite tattoos on him. you raised your hand to it and traced your finger over it.

 “I’ve always wondered—why the compass?”

 “It’s to commemorate me finding my direction in my life, finding my place. The church and faith are important to me, and I believe it is through the church I found my direction and have such strong faith.”

 Your throat tightened stopping the words that were coming. Thankfully because it was going to be an undignified “woah bruh that’s dope.” You must have looked a way because he cleared his throat and stepped back taking his hands with him.

 “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—spoil the fun.”

 You turned away and dipped the duster back into a bucket. “Ehm, you didn’t. No worries.”

 A few seconds later, he approached your side and took one of the dusters and dipped as well. The two of you began splashing paint onto the walls in silence before you turned to him and flashed the duster without thinking. He was now streaked with bright pink neon paint from the side of his face down his chest and abs.

 “Oh—no—you—didn’t,” Lewis enunciated.

 Your mouth was wide open in shock. You hadn’t meant to do it.

 “I’m sorry.”

 Ignoring that, he dipped his duster and lifted it. You watched the neon yellow drip down his hand before you backed away.

 “Wait, Lewis I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”

 “Oh, you will be.”

 Just like that he swung the duster and covered you in paint. You stood there in shock.

 “Ah, you’re dead!”

 You both lunged to buckets dipping your dusters and flicking paint at each other while trying to dodge the other’s attack. It was pointless because the beauty of the duster was it went everywhere. In no time, both of you were a glowing mess and laughing like children. Wanting the last laugh, you hurried to the bucket once more but slipped due to all the paint on the floor and lunged right into him tackling him to the floor. You both laughed again at the outcome.

 “That’s what you get,” he teased.

 Lewis’ hand came to your forehead and wiped then moved to your cheek and wiped again.

 “You’re covered.”

 “So are you.”

 You wiped at the paint in his beard then moved to his forehead and nose. Slowly you both stopped laughing but your hands continued moving, wiping at the paint on the other’s face. When you felt his thumb swipe your bottom lip an electric zing traveled through you which made you aware of how you were sprawled on top of him.

 “All the colors are your color,” Lewis said.

 A small smile spread across your lips, and you nodded.

 “You too.”

 Again, your eyes locked and though you knew you should have stood, you didn’t. He felt good underneath you.

 “I’ve always wondered,” Lewis began before his hand dipped to your neck. “Why are you always so cold to me?”

 It felt like someone had gut punched you. While you knew you’d kept your distance from him you never in a million years imaged he saw it as you being cold.

 “I—I’m—I’m not.”

 “You are. At first, I thought it was because I made you uncomfortable then I moved on to thinking you just didn’t like the whole spotlight and fame thing, then I got hung up on maybe you not liking me as a person.”

 “And now?”

 He studied you for a moment then breathed out. “Now I don’t know what to think.”

 You chewed your bottom lip and his eyes dropped to them.

 “It’s none of those. It’s nothing.”

 You pulled yourself up but his hand at the small of your back pulled you right back against him this time bringing your faces inches apart.

 “Then tell me what it is. Put my curiosity out if its misery.”

 “Your energy—my energy--.”

 You sighed then swallowed. “Our energies want to play together. Don’t you feel that?”

 “I’ve always felt it. Of course, I thought I was mad after a year or two.”

 You shook your head. “You’re not mad.”

 Lewis’ hand at the small of your back moved to your hip then slid down to the outside of your thigh. He then moved you, so you were straddling him. Oh fuck, you thought. He’d just made a move.

 “You feel it, I’m not mad. Where does that leave this?”

 That intoxicating thing about him was wreaking havoc on you right now. You were paying all the prices and you were coming up on broke. You had nothing else to give, no more restraints. Another moan escaped you, your second for the night. The nudge underneath you only made it worse. He was hard and from what you felt large. Before you lost all your senses, you pulled back and sprang to your feet.

 “Exactly where it’s always been for six years. I not going to be another name in the memory book—that’s just not who I am.”

 You turned and quickly walked out of the room before you changed your mind. As soon as you walked out Lina was there dragging you away.

 “What’s wrong?”

 “I found the best game. You’re gonna love it!”

 She pulled your through the halls until you came to a large room that glowed. It was then all the pain on you lit up. This party gets better and better, you thought.

 “We need one more couple for the game,” Lina said.

 “Couple? What game?”

 “What do I taste like,” Trixie shouted making everyone in the room cheer.

 Lina pushed you down onto the floor as she took her seat in front of a dark-haired clean-shaven guy with a neon painted skull on his cheek. As you looked around you realized you were the only one without someone across from them.

“I don’t have a partner.”

 “I think you do,” Lina said.

 Following her eyes, you turned and looked up. There stood Lewis.

 “Looks like we’re a destined pair,” he said as he sat in front of you.

 “We’re all here,” Lina shouted before you could protest.

 You glared at her. you couldn’t believe she’d taken a page out of Trixie’s book. She blew you a kiss before giving her attention to the man across from her.

 “The rules are simple. In the box between you there are a variety of flavors of candy. Your goal is to correctly identify them by flavor and brand, but the catch is you can’t do it by sight or touch. You can only rely of your sense of taste and smell. However, catch two, you must figure out the information by kissing the person in front of you after they’ve eaten the candy.”

 Again, the room erupted in cheers and excited applause. You just sat there marinating in how much your friends had fucked you.

 “Admissions fees first please.”

 A server walked around the room placing tablets into everyone’s mouth. You took a breath as the tablet melted away then watched Lewis.

 “Ladies first?”

 You dipped your hand into the box then looked at him waiting for him to use the blindfold sitting beside the box. He smirked then covered his eyes. You unwrapped the yellow pina colada starburst and popped it into your mouth. As you chewed, you tried to formulate a plan on how to get through this without losing control. Slowly, you leaned to him and stared at his lips. It was hard not to think that this had been six years in the making and that finally you’d get it over with.

 “Chickened out?”

 Rolling your eyes, you pressed your lips to his. It was to be quick but the second your lips touched it was like kissing an electric wall that had crazy glue. What was to be quick changed as reality hit you. His lips were impossibly soft, and full—fuller than they appeared. When you felt his hand on your chin you pulled away.

 “Come on,” he breathlessly began. “I can’t taste anything. I need more.”

 “Remember you’re competing not only with each other but time,” a server announced.

 “I don’t know about you, Y/N but I like to win, and I play to win. So, let’s do that.”

 Damn his competitiveness, you thought before you crashed your lips to his again this time feeding him your tongue. His moan vibrated against your lips then you felt him suck on your tongue. Good lord you thought just as he pulled back.

 “Pina colada and I think it’s starburst. I have some.”

 He lowered the corner of his blindfold and locked eyes with you. “Delicious.”

 You swallowed and lowered your eyes.

 “My turn.”

 He handed you the eye mask then dug into the box. Submerged in darkness, you found your anxiety catapulting to the ceiling. The longer he took, the more anxious you became and the more anxious you became the louder you felt your heart thumping.

 “I think you’ll like this one,” he muttered.

 You waited and waited but still nothing happened. Just when you were ready to yank off the mask you felt his tongue trace your bottom lip. An unexpected whimper slipped out, but Lewis didn’t stop, he trailed his tongue over your top lip before he pressed his lips to yours and sucked your top lip. When you felt his hand at the back of your neck, your mouth opened on its own allowing him to kiss you deeper. Somehow this didn’t feel like it was part of the game. It felt different.

 “Any guesses?”

 His breath brushed against your face giving you a vital clue to the flavor. Now only if you could find your voice.

 “S—s—strawberry skit—skittles.”

 Lewis lowered your blindfold bringing his smile into focus. “Good job. Told you that you’d like it. I know strawberries are your favorite.”

 Breaking the eye contact you handed him the mask and dipped into the box as he was covering his eyes. You bit into the bite sized almond joy and moaned. You loved almond joy. When you pressed your lips to his you both moaned. This time it didn’t take long for your tongues to find each other and when they did you unconsciously scooted closer to him and melted just a little.

 “Almond joy,” Lewis whispered against your lips.

 Turn after turn you each ate a candy and kissed the other and kiss after kiss blurred any lines that were between you. Each kiss descended deeper into the realm of attraction and desire and further from staying away from each other. By the time there were only 4 couples left from the previous eliminations you and Lewis were kissing freely, happily and hungrily. It had long stopped being about the game or competitiveness it was now something else—deep yearning maybe.

 You ignored the whispers around you about how you and he made a good team and how good you looked together. It was not something that you could afford to let sink into your head no matter how much you’d began wanting in with each passing round.

 “All right, two couples left. Last one.”

 You dug in and opened the foil wrapped and popped the chocolate into your mouth. Instantly you could tell it was some Nutella concoction. This was going to be easy for him. Wasting no time, you kissed him and in seconds he pulled away.

 “Nutella bomb.”

 Everyone cheered and jumped around at your victory but instead of him doing the same he pulled you to him and kissed you again. Your legs were draped over his thighs with the now empty box between you, the only thing separating your nether regions. Lewis moaned on you pulling yours from your chest. He brought his hand to your jaw and kissed you deeper, swearing his tongue with yours and teasing it. The man could kiss, he more than could kiss, he should be kissed every day. The image of him manning a kissing booth flashed into your head at that moment and it was a good look for him.

 Without thinking, you wrapped your arms around his neck and kissed him back holding nothing back. It felt damn good to let go and just do.

 “Fuck,” he grunted as he pulled you up to straddle him for the second time that night and for the second time you felt his erection. “Y/N—I—I need you.”

 His hand cupped your ass and squeezed as he brought you closer making you feel just how true those words were. A shadow caught your eye and you pulled from him. The room was now empty with only the two of you in it.

 “I need to go.”

 You stood and staggered out of the room. This time you had no intention of stopping until you got outside. However, once you got down the stairs you felt someone lift you and throw you over their shoulders.

 “What the hell! Put me down!”

 You pounded a bare back that you could barely make up thanks to the darkness throughout the house. One detail looked familiar, the cross tattoo.

 “Lewis? Lewis put me down!”

 He walked through the party, around people who all laughed and cheered him on. No one seemed to want to help or seem to think they needed to. A few minutes later, Lewis brought you both into a large room with an even larger bed that he threw you across.

 “What the actual fuck! What are you doing?”

 “Making you finally talk to me. Don’t you think six years is long enough?”

 You didn’t answer, you didn’t dare to. Hell yeah you thought six years was long enough.

 “Fine. I’ll go first. I like you, Y/N. I like you a fucking a lot. I have since we met.”

 You had to fight your jaw from dropping. He liked you?

 “And before you call bullshit let me stop you. It’s not bullshit. I like everything about you. I even like that you didn’t want to become like the other girls. I like that you’re the only one who keeps me at a distance. Everyone else tries their damndest to pull me closer, keep me with them. Not you. I like that you have morals and standards and that you won’t lower them for no one no matter their fame status or anything. I like that you have integrity and that you’ve worked hard for everything you currently have. I love your hustle, your drive. I like that you don’t feel the need to party all the time and can stand yourself at home alone. I like that you can turn into this bombshell who is the life of the party and can make anyone feel comfortable in seconds with only a smile and a hug. You have no idea how truly amazing you are. I even like that you didn’t want to kiss me and have never tried to sleep with me. I like that only you have had me questioning my own appeal and worth to a woman beyond money and fame.”

 He was not standing directly in front of you.

 “I—like—you.”

 You dropped onto the bed and sat at the edge.

 “I’m losing my mind keeping all of this from you. I can’t keep it in any longer. I know we’re not friends, not exactly, though I’ve always thought of you as one. I can’t be your friend or whatever we are anymore. I don’t want to be.”

 You sat there speechless as his words hit you one by one as if English was your second or third language. I like you. He liked you. He liked you?

 “You like me?”

 Lewis snorted then smiled and your belly fluttered. “You’re unbelievable. Of course, you didn’t know. I swore you knew and that was one of the reasons you were keeping your distance.”

 He placed his hand on top of his head then shook it. You kept your eyes on him still unable to believe his words.

 “You like me?”

 Lewis turned back to you and came a little closer. “Yes. I like you, Y/N.”

 “How? Wait—why?”

 The look he gave you said that he thought you were nuts. You couldn’t help it though. This was Lewis Hamilton; he could have any and every single woman in the world. He’d been with countless women, models, actresses, and singers. You were so opposite the women he’d naturally gravitate to, and it made you anxious and hesitant to believe him.

 “Why is that so hard to believe?”

 You proceeded to list off the names of the women you’d heard from Lina and Trixie that he’d been with. Every name drop brought the clench of his jaw; with every name he avoided your eyes. By the time you were done the silence in the room stretched. After a minute or two he sighed out.

 “They have plenty of things in common, but I have nothing in common with them.”

 “Thank God. Look I know I have a past—a colorful one. There have been a lot of rumors and a lot of media coverage on what I may or may not have done or who I may or may not have been involved with. I get it but it’s just that, my past.”

 Thinking back, you hadn’t seen much news about him with anyone within the last few years. all thot behavior had been absent from the media. Part of you thought he’d gotten better at protecting his privacy but hearing him now was it possible that he’d been abstaining.

 “I’ve been trying to stay focused on my plan and my goals and for me that meant work and nothing else. When Lina and Trixie introduced you to me, I had to up my discipline in staying focused. You made it hard.”

 The way your heart rattled you could have sworn he heard it but rather than asking what was so loud he continued confessing as if you were a priest. Everything he said was like fluffy cotton candy, sweet and tender but for some reason you struggled to believe it completely. Your anxiety got the better of you then.

 “What are you saying Lewis?”

 He took your hand then slowly laced his fingers with yours. The contrast was beautiful. His larger, much more tatted and evidently used for hard manual work, yours smaller, and dainty looking as if you’d never worked a day in your life compared to his. They looked so good together—so right.

 “I want to stay focused on my goals, I have so much accomplish but every time I see you, you make me want to find a place for you beside me, a place for you not only in my life right now but my future.”

 Your eyes bugged. You shook your head trying to clear any haze in your head that may have made you mishear.

 “What? How? Why? This is so--sudden.”

 “It’s not. It’s been five years in the making. Five years of me debating with myself, five years of me taking steps closer to you only to rescind those steps, five years of me planning, working and making moves to make that place for you, make the changes so this could have a chance in hell of working, so we could work.”

 His eyes were too sincere to be bullshitting you. The energy coming off of him felt too genuine for this to be a ruse or him spitting game for some ass in this fog filled neon colored room. He was being truthful—vulnerable. You had no words though. You couldn’t trust your voice, much less being this close to him. More than ever the energy around him bombarded him.

 Suddenly the door busted open, and a few cheering bodies rushed in.

 “Come on, the powder fight’s started!”

 Yanking your hand back, you sprang to your feet while maintaining eye contact with Lewis. His face was now clouded with mask of indifference that you were kind of impressed with. In the span of five seconds, he’d been able to go from on to off without a trace. Before you could speak you were pulled out of the room and through the house to the expansive backyard that was clouded with a multitude of colored powder wafting in the air. Everyone laughed, screamed and cheered as they threw balloons at each other.

 A balloon collided with your stomach then burst open scattering yellow powder everywhere. When you turned you saw Lina laughing as she came to you with her arms open. As she pulled you into a hug, both of you spun around. You couldn’t help but laugh with her, that was how infectious her mood was.

 “Woooooo!”

 She slammed another balloon onto you right into your right boob and pink powder spilled out of it.

 “Get into it!”

 She handed off two balloons to you before she turned and threw the others she held onto. Spinning around, you looked into the air at the colors blending together and blowing in the soft breeze then laughed as you closed your eyes allowing yourself to enjoy the moment. You felt weightless, and free like you had not a worry in the world. The confession from Lewis from before was a distant memory in your head but your heart remembered. You’d fought this for years and the night you decided to let your guard down was the night he decided to change the rules.

The music around you got louder and louder, tuning out the shouts and screams of everyone around you and as you danced happily and freely, you threw balloons in random directions. You must have been an easy target because you felt balloon after balloon pound against your body. Before long, you were completely covered in powder of all colors, and you were having the time of your life. A strong breeze swept by and cleared some of the powder in the air enough for you to make out Lewis across the way. He too was covered in powder with a wide smile across his lips.

 You stood there frozen as that smile hit you in the gut unfurling everything you’d felt over the years. All the longing, the desire, the yearning and hope surged through you so fast you didn’t have time to push them down. Lewis’ eyes locked onto yours and you watched him lick his lips in the sinfully slow way he always did that drove millions wild. You mirrored the action and a taste of fruit punch hit your tastebuds. It was then you realized the powder was flavored like the powder in those fun stick dips.

 Lewis took slow steps toward you. Even when the breeze stopped, and the powder cloud thickened to the point where you lost sight of him you still felt him stalking closer like a predator. Several moments passed where all you saw was colored powder, then suddenly you saw his face before yours before it disappeared again. Turning your head from side to side you looked for him, then found his eyes to your right. He was circling you.

 Before you could reach out for him, you felt his hand on your hip and his body behind yours. You didn’t dare speak, instead you stood perfectly still nonverbally giving him permission to any and everything he wanted.

 “Dance with me?”

 You slowly nodded your head before you began swaying your body against his. Your movements at first were timid. You didn’t want to cross a line that you knew there was no coming back from, but you also wanted to test his limits, see how close you could get to that line. When your ass brushed against his crotch, Lewis groaned into your ear his lip skimming it. He was hard.

 “Fuck, Y/N. I’m good at control. Every minute of every day I am in control, but Christ do you strip me of it every single time I’m near you.”

 Your entire being filled with glee and the lite feeling of intoxication. Again, you brushed your ass on him and this time he squeezed your hip keeping you pressed on his throbbing cock.

 “Mmm.”

 “You like the way I feel against you? You like knowing you make me harder than I’ve ever been in my life? Hm?”

 Like you were puppet and he the puppeteer you nodded, mind in a haze, body in a frenzy from not only his proximity but the sound of his voice and his breath teasing your ear and neck. Part of you wondered if this is how other women felt when he was near. Did they automatically lose their senses, did their bodies instantly take over and overheat, did everything in them scream to just be touched, bent over, and spanked?

 Lewis moaned again but a second later he was gone and in front of you with one arm around your back and the other on your hip. Using those large skillful hands, he moved your body the way he wanted. The reggae song blasting around you set the perfect tone for all of the unspoken words hanging between you. You placed your hand on his shoulder, using him as your brace, your legs were pointless right now especially with the way he was holding you and where he’d decided to put his leg.

 The heat from his body was scorching and burned your fingers but not with fire or pain, the more you touched his bare skin the more you wanted to feel. Wrapping your arms around his neck, your fingertips teased the back of the gold and diamond chain he wore and everything you’d wanted in the last five years came forefront. Him. Lewis pulled his face back and looked into your eyes keeping you captivated.

 “I’m in love with you.”

 He’d found the right moment to kick the rest of your walls down, the right moment to destroy you. With nothing else to do you crashed your lips to his. A burst of rainbow flavors reached your tastebuds. It tasted like every flavor in your mouth, fruit punch, grape, lemon, orange, pineapple, mango and so many more.

 “Mmm.”

 Lewis pulled you flush against him and truly kissed you for the first time. The kisses you’d exchanged during the candy tasting game didn’t hold a flame to this kiss. His lips were warm and soft and so full. When you slightly parted yours, his tongue slipped inside your mouth and wrapped around yours. The way his hand gripped your back screamed of the amount of power he held in just one hand. As your bodies pressed together heatedly, you melted into him finally allowing yourself to give in to the sensations rushing through you.

 You could feel every muscle of his broad chest and every single well defined ab muscle. The way his heart thudded against your chest matched the rapid race of currently happening in your own chest. His scent made your knees buckle. It was a scent unique to him, a scent that was purely masculine and completely sultry and a scent that you reacted to in ways you’d never reacted to any other. You moaned again then sank your teeth into his bottom lip, teasing him, tempting him to take more. Lewis responded with his hand slipping to the top of your ass where he hesitated for only a moment before he went lower and squeezed the swell of your ass.

 “Uuuugh.”

 It was muffled against your lips, but you got his meaning. Bringing your hands to his shoulders, you gripped the collar of his shirt and balled it within your fists. The urge to strip him came suddenly and it was an urge you listened to. You pulled at the fabric and pulled it off of his shoulder then fully off his body. Now with him bare, your hands roamed muscled canvas of his back, pressing to memory every indent, slope and bulge. He was sheer perfection. Lewis nudged you forward as if needing you closer. Abandoning your feet, you used him to hoist yourself onto your tiptoes and he took the hint and lifted you into his arms.

 With your legs wrapped around his waist you could feel the prominent bulge in his pants with more definition. He was large no doubt and your body wanted him so desperately. Lewis tore his lips from yours and latched them onto your neck, licking, sucking and nibbling your flesh. Your moans turned to mewls as you squeezed him tighter and tighter the wetter and wetter you got. You were so lost in the way his lips felt against your skin that you didn’t register anything else but the butterflies in your gut, the goosebumps that remained dotted across your body, the tightness in your chest from the rapid way your heart pounded begging for the words inside to be released.

When you felt your back press against a hard surface you groaned, then the slam of a door then you were discarded into a sea of soft silk that smelled like fresh linen. Opening your eyes for the first time in several minutes, you found Lewis standing just above you. You did a quick survey of your surroundings but only made out a bed, three walls and a large neon mural just behind you on the wall thanks to the darkness. The walls were lit up with the same neon colors you’d seen all night which told you were still on the property, but the muffled sounds of music told you that you were far enough from the happenings of the party.

“I find it funny how you’ve brought me to yet another bedroom.”

 A sly grin spread across his face.

 “If you wanted to get me into bed all you had to do was ask,” you finished.

 His grin disappeared. “No, I don’t want to get you in bed, Y/N. I swear it. I just--,” he rushed out before you snorted and pulled him on top of you by the waistband of his pants. The weight of him on top of you surged your arousal.

 “Shup up Lewis,” you teasingly muttered before kissing him again.

 As you kissed you rolled over the bed taking turns with who was on top of whom and who kissed whom with more fever, and passion. When you finally rolled onto him you straddled his hips and attacked his neck. His groan was hearty and guttural, but a few seconds later he gripped you by your arms and held you back a few inches from him.

 “Wait, you know that this isn’t what I want from you right?”

 “Yes.”

 “We don’t have to--.”

 Again, you cut him off with your lips. Biting and teasing them had become your favorite way to enjoy them. sucking it into your mouth made his cock lurch underneath you.

 “Mmm, you like that.”

 “Pretty sure I’m so far gone I’d like anything you do.”

 Smiling you peppered kisses down to his chin then his neck across his Adam’s apple and to that dip under his throat. Once there, Lewis arched slightly as he squeezed your arms that weren’t holding you back any longer. You gripped his hands, laced your fingers with his and pressed them to the soft cushion of the bed then descended down his body with kisses and licks enjoying the rainbow of flavors that had become part of him.

 When you licked then bit his hardened nipple he hissed and flexed his hands. There was something about knowing that he could easily overpower you if he wanted to and was letting you tease him this way that made you even wetter for him. His reactions to your mouth was like fuel for you. After kissing each and every ab muscle, your lips made it to his obliques where you nipped his skin making his cock nudge your chin.

 “Fuck! I’m so hard for you right now.”

 “Still don’t want this from me?”

 Lewis flipped you onto your back in a fluid move then pinned your hands above your head as he stared into your eyes. “No. I still don’t want this from you. I want so much more.”

 Your heart skipped a beat, your lady parts clenched, and your belly fluttered.

 “Like what?”

 He smiled softly then kissed your forehead. “Breakfast with you each and every morning.” He kissed your nose. “Shopping spree lunches that get frisky in the dressing rooms. His lips teased yours as his soft breath tickled the space under your nose. “Romantic dinners every night over candlelight while I hold your hand and tell you how gorgeous you are.”

 When he kissed your lips fully then dipped to your neck you arched your back off the bed.

 “Vacations in every corner of the globe.” He dropped a few kisses in a line to the top of your breast. “You at the pit for every one of my races.” His teeth grazed your skin before he circled his nose around your pert nipple that was begging for his attention. “You at family dinners, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and every holiday and day in between.”

 Warmth blossomed in your chest and your heart threatened to explode from your chest.

 “I want it all, Y/N, but I only want it all with you. Only you will ever do.”

 Silence stretched between you and in this moment, you no longer knew why you’d held back, why you’d stayed away, or why you’d tortured yourself for five years when you both clearly felt the same way about each other. This wasn’t game or a ruse, he had no reason to go this far. This wasn’t about a conquest; he could conquer any other woman. This was real. It had to be. You freed your hands from his grip then slowly felt his face tracing every detail, the small worry lines etched into his forehead, the full arch of his brows, down to his perfectly symmetrical nose and his artfully crafted cupid’s bow. As you felt his lips and bearded chin you decided you’d give him everything he wanted while hoping it led to forever.

 Softly you kissed him, slowly letting your lips press the feel of his to memory so you could revisit it later. His kiss was like sin, and it was a sin you’d gladly rapture again and again with no regrets. Lewis moaned just as you did but he didn’t take control of the kiss, he allowed you to explore him and control what happened next. You knew it was a major feat for him. He rarely ever relinquished control.

 You trailed your hands from his face down to his shoulders then down his chest and abs to his pants then began undoing them. His eyes opened at the same time yours did, but your lips didn’t stop moving. Both of you hesitated for a moment.

 “I’m in love with you too,” you whispered.

 The way he stared at you made your heart feel as if his hand gripped it.

 “Do you mean that?”

 You nodded and the joy you saw on his face made you smile almost as widely as he was smiling. Lewis kissed you again just as you began pushing his pants off his waist. He quickly stood at the foot of the bed and peeled them off. You almost jumped his bones once he stood there in nothing but his boxer-briefs. There were so many rumors about how large he was, but this was the first time you were understanding those rumors to be all fact. Sinking your teeth into your bottom lip, you looked over all the glorious skin on display then sat up as if being pulled by an invisible string.

 You pressed your lips to his abs as you raked your nails down his back. Both actions elicited a loud hiss from him.

 “You’re so sexy.”

 “Me?”

 You nodded again then licked a trail over the powder on his abs and moaned. Lewis reached down, holding out his hand for you to take. When you did, he stood you on top of the bed making you to a few inches taller than him.  He traced the tips of his fingers up your sides until he dipped them underneath you top. He then lifted off the tube top to your matching cycling shorts then tossed it to the side. You stood before him as he slowly took in your bare breasts. He took his sweet time before he finally touched you, cupping them in his large hands. When he swirled his tongue around the bud you moaned and watched him work.

 “Mmm.”

 He slowly ravished them, licking, sucking, nibbling, and teasing your nipples until you wrapped your arms around his neck, hugging his head to them. He lifted you into his arms holding you just below your ass as he devoured you. When he laid you back on the bed, he moved his mouth to your right breast as he massaged the left.

 “Jesus, I’ve wanted to do this for so long.”

 “Everything you imagined?”

 His grin reemerged. “Better!”

 Lewis peppered kisses down the center of your body to your belly button before dipping his tongue inside. Fighting the urge to wiggle from the tickle, you bit your bottom lip and gripped the sheets. Before Lewis made any other moves, he glanced up at you.

 “Are you sure?”

 “So fucking sure.”

 With that he gripped the waistband of your shorts and pulled them down. Once they were fully off, you left your legs in the air wanting to make him work for it.

 “Making me work for my meal?”

 Smirking you arched onto your elbow and watched him. Lewis pried your thighs apart pressing them to the bed. His eyes darted to your thighs, and you knew he was fully taking in your flexibility.

 “Better than a daydream and a wet dream could never.”

 He dropped down and kissed a path along your leg up to your inner thigh then to your pelvis.

 “Mmm.”

 He mirrored the same actions to your right leg and thigh then teased the flesh just underneath your belly button.

 “Such a tease.”

 “Princess, I haven’t even begun to tease you.”

 The butterflies in your belly picked up in anticipation. You had to fight to remain slightly composed. You didn’t want him to know just how open he had you—not yet. When he kissed your pubis, you moaned softly. Then he gave one long lick along your covered slit. The sensation was dulled but it felt amazing, nonetheless.

 “Damn girl.”

 You watched hm slip your panties to the side then suck his bottom lip.

 “You’re so wet.”

 You couldn’t help but smile shyly. The secret of just how badly you wanted him was out. Lewis trailed his pointer along your slit circling your entrance before he lifted his finger to show you the proof, as if you needed it.

 “Do you want me?”

 You instantly nodded but you refused to be embarrassed by it. Lewis sucked his finger clean and moaned before he dropped his lips to your clit, kissing you with an open mouth. When you felt the suction, you arched and reached for his head. Digging your fingers into his twists, you lost yourself in how good his mouth felt on you.

 “Mmm, fuck girl you taste so good.”

 He didn’t wait for you to reply, instead, he buried his head again this time slurping your flesh.

 “Oh fucking---fuck!”

 Lewis moaned as he did it again and again. When you expected a fourth slurp he switched up and flicked his tongue against your clit making your gut knot. You were not going to last long; you knew it now and from the way you held on to his hair and whimpered he must have known it too. You tried to close your thighs, but he wasn’t having it. He kept his hands pressed to your inner thighs stopping any movement he didn’t permit.

 “Fuck, Lewis!”

 The pattern of his tongue sent you to another plane of existence and the way he knew just what to do for how long left you speechless.

 “Look at me.”

 The command in his voice hit with such force your head snapped up and your eyes met his. It was then he slipped two fingers inside of you as he sucked on your clit. Your whining increased as you felt your orgasm drawing nearer. In record time you dropped your head back and screeched out not caring who heard you.

 “Fuuuuuuck! Mmmmm!”

 Lewis didn’t stop. The mischievous glint in his eyes said he knew what he was doing, and he intended to pull another orgasm from you before he stopped.

 “Oh god, yes, yes, yes!”

 Just like that it was over and still he kept your thighs pressed to the bed. When he emerged his cocky smile was what he wore like a medal of honor as he dragged his tongue up your body and over your nipple. Capturing his lips, you moaned then wrapped your legs around his waist rubbing your wetness against his sheathed hardness. Using your feet, you pushed his underwear off his hips and down his thighs. The heaviness of his cock rested against your slick entrance and that was all it took for your hunger to reach max levels.

 “Shit, you test all of my control,” he mumbled on your lips.

 “Lose your control then.”

 “Think you can handle that?”

 For emphasis he rocked against you nudging your clit with his member. You moaned and squeezed your thighs tighter.

 “I hear death by dick isn’t a bad way to go.”

 He snorted then reached between your bodies to swipe his cock along your slit. You peeped down needing to see just how good this death would be. Your jaw dropped almost instantly from what you saw. He was large, thick and so fucking intimidating. Were you intimidated? Not at all. That was probably a mistake, and your ravenous desire was to blame but you didn’t pause to think about it. You watched Lewis swipe himself through your folds again and again getting even more mesmerized by the sight every time he did it. When your eyes locked you knew you were a goner.

 Lewis leaned forward then licked across your lips in the nastiest way. You couldn’t help but tip your tongue out to his and wrap it around before you sucked it. His moan was deep, and the vibration did something otherworldly to you. With your foreheads pressed together you both panted as if you’d run a marathon, relishing the feelings floating between you. When you’d said your energies wanted to play together this was exactly what you meant. There was something indescribable happening between you, something intense, something that burned so hot, so bright and so violently that the threat of complete destruction was ever present.

 The first feel of him pressing into you had your eyes snapping open to lock onto his. He took it slow, making sure you felt everything, not wanting to skim over anything. Your jaw dropped as your body stretched to accommodate him. Neither of you spoke, neither wanting to break whatever spell that had been cast and was driving you both insane. You sank your nails into the flesh at his waist as the feel of him threatened to make you black out. When you thought you couldn’t take another inch, Lewis pulled back then plunged forth again taking you by surprise.

 “Oh fuck! Lewis!”

 His groan was low and the look on his face spoke of complete focus. You could tell he was holding back. Your heart swelled giving you the courage to forge ahead taking the initiative to take more of him. He looked at you in disbelief like he couldn’t believe you were real. Snapping his hips forward, he sheathed himself to the hilt. Your back levitated off of the bed as you rode out your orgasm.

 “Jesus. You’re tight,” he struggled out through gritted teeth.

 You circled your hips so he could feel just how tight.

 “You’re--playing with—fire.”

 “Burn me daddy!”

 That was all it took for him to press your hands to the bed and thrust into you setting the pace that said he was not holding back anymore. Your moans and pants filled the room and created the base for your skin slapping together on the soundtrack of love making. Your name slipped from his lips over and over as he plowed into you. Every time his hips flicked forward you clenched around him and every time you clenched the next thrust crippled you. Within short minutes you’d cum again but he didn’t look like he was anywhere near finishing. Before you could cum again, he managed to flip you onto your stomach. When you felt him smack your ass with his dick you instinctively twerked on him.

 “Fucking---Christ!”

 He remained still watching your ass shake and bounce against his cock. Once you got into it, he hoisted your ass in the air then laid an open mouth kiss on your pussy.

 “Shit, yes!”

 His tongue licked across you as he slurped and shook his head making an even bigger mess. You could barely breath by the time your next release brought your eyes to the back of your head. In one swift move, Lewis lowered you to the bed then slammed into you making you cum undone once again.

 “Shit!”

 The bed shook, your body quivered, and your bodies dripped with sweat but still he didn’t stop, or slow down. You knew he’d lost complete control, but you didn’t care you were right there with him and come what may you were going to take everything he gave.

 “Shit, Y/N, you’re gonna make me cum.”

 “Not yet. Fuck—me!”

 As if that was the command he’d been waiting for, Lewis pulled you up by the back of your neck, hugged you to him with a firm grip of your hips and jackhammered into you, showing not one ounce of mercy. You screamed and melted against him as you lost your shit and sanity. With his other hand, he cupped your breast and pinched your nipple sending you even higher.

 “Y/N,” he whispered on a strangled breath and seconds later you felt his thrusts stagger until he’d snapped forward one final time releasing himself dragging one final shout from both of your lips. You toppled over and Lewis came with you collapsing on top of you.

 You didn’t know how long the two of you remained entangled there like that with nothing but the distance sounds of music and screams of the party still happening mere feet away. You were floating so high and seeing so many stars that you didn’t care about anything else.

 “Mmmm, do you see what you do to me?”

 Your body lifted and by the time your eyes fluttered open you realized your back was pressed to Lewis’ chest as he spooned you from behind keeping his half-hardened length nestled between your folds.

 “Mm-nh, What?”

 Your voice was unrecognizable. It was more like a hoarse croak.

 “You make me lose control.”

 “Good,” you croaked out. This time you couldn’t hold back your snort.

 “What’s so funny?”

 Clearing your throat, the best you could you spoke, “You made me lose my voice.”

 Lewis thrusted forward showing you he was quickly nearing ready for round two.

 “Shit baby girl, I’m gonna make you lose more than that. Your walls and your sanity are on the agenda for the night.”

 You squealed as you laughed. Another thrust forward had you stopping.

 “This dick ain’t nothing to laugh at girl.”

 He rolled onto his back taking you with him, so you were straddling him reverse cowgirl style. Just like that he came alive standing at full attention.

 “Oh god Lewis.”

 “I’ll ask again—think you can handle that?”

 You heard the challenge in his voice and the competitiveness in you sparked. You leaned forward to brace yourself on his ankles you lifted your ass up giving him the perfect view of the art that was your bodies. Lewis groaned then dropped a heavy hand onto your ass.

 “Mmm.”

 “Fuck, this dick looks so good inside of you.”

 He slapped your ass again and again as you slowly slid him back in. You could feel him dripping out of you and would have given anything to see what he saw.

 “Fuck, so beautiful, princess. Make me fill that pussy up again.”

 He thrust his hips up making you clench around him just before you began the show hell bent on giving him the ride of his life.

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

TagList:

@chaneajoyyy @caramara3 @mauvecherie-writes​ @valkryienymph @babyflowa07 @est1887 @halfrican-heat @nunya7394 @lovebittenbyevans​ @gardenwonders2 @sweetlikecoffy @dillie60 @ olabelle757  @ophiaedits @kenequa @triton08 @skyesthebomb @shipatheart 

@keytodespair @xsweetdellzx @labella420 @coldmuffinbanditshoe @ak329  @shar74nett @youremysuperstar @whore-like-behaviour @alookintohersoul  @asiaaisa77 @jd-now-jq @naturalthrone22 @mrsbarnes-rogers  @beyourownkindofbeautiful @beccacupcakesxo @toni9  @wonderlandfandomkingdom @partypoison00 @queenoftheworldisdead  @doublesidedscoobysnacks @sophiealiice @richonne4life 

@coffeebooksandfandom @siempremamita @raveviolet @dumbchick  @amennariee @briellableu @leebabe444 @31miw-inkpsycho @rororo06  @disaster-rose @bugngiz @valkryienymph @yourwonderbelle @queenbetter  @melaninhawtie 

#taste the rainbow one shot #lewis hamilton #lewis hamilton fanfic #lewis hamilton fanfiction #lewis hamilton x reader #lewis hamilton x you #lewis hamilton x black reader #black fanfiction

[room-surprise]

Dungeon Meshi Anime Season 1, Episode 1 Review

Spoilers for season 1, episode 1 of the anime below the cut!

I watched both the English sub with Japanese audio, and the English dub, on Netflix.

I think overall it's very good, has a good tempo and doesn't mess with the pacing or characterization in any major way, very faithful to the manga. I think there could have been SOME improvements or adjustments made, but I'm not at all surprised that it didn't happen, making 1:1 extremely faithful manga adaptations seems to have become the norm lately.

On the plus side, that means that if this current level of quality continues, that the anime will always be at least as good as the manga... which is already very good! So that's great.

But on the negative side, that means it won't ever be better than the manga, and that makes me a little sad, because I think an anime adaptation of Dungeon Meshi could absolutely surpass the manga, if they were willing to take some risks, and with Ryoko Kui's guiding hand. Anyway.

Love the OP song, love it's old timey tavern feel and that it's not a straight up jpop or jrock song. Soundtrack music was really nice. Animation was great.

Love that they show a closeup of Falin's open eyes in the OP so we'll know.... ;3 later

Things that I didn't like as much:

Almost all the background text is in Japanese when it wasn't in the manga. Kui often used glyphs or scribbles to indicate that things aren't in English or Japanese.... but they're just using Japanese as far as I can tell.

Netflix America doesn't translate most of it either. They also don't put in the English logo on the opening even though they have it on the show homepage... Don't know if they'll fix it later.

Personally, I think it would also be fine if all the releases had the background in-universe text appear in the target language so the implication is "this is in the viewer's language, whatever that is, but that isn't the actual fantasy language being used in-universe". But I doubt this will happen.

And there is SOME text in glyphs! The dungeon gourmet book isn't in a real language when it's shown... I think it's just laziness. I would honestly very much prefer nonsense text in a variety of languages than this.

In the Japanese I genuinely thought Laios was providing the narration, so I was totally taken aback when there was a different narrator in English.... and I honestly liked it a LOT better when I thought Laios was narrating, it felt really natural and good! So sad that it isn't actually what's happening. Don't really like the slightly snarky David Attenborough style nature commentary narrator. Feels weird and jarring at times.

Subtitles are fine, but there's some things that are randomly different for no good reason, subs say Senshi means "researcher" and dub says "seeker" and.... Senshi doesn't have a mouth, you don't need to match his dialogue to mouth-flaps, you can make him say ANYTHING you want so why have it be different?

There's some dub script choices I REALLY hated and am probably going to die mad about lmao:

Marcille saying that their "inventory" was wiped out, like they're in a video game, calling the scared adventurers "newbs" like they're in a video game, saying "as if" like she's a 90's California girl.

Senshi saying "delish" instead of "delicious" . There's no mouth flaps, why shorten it to a modern slang term that feels unnatural?

Laios also says "geez" which is short for "jesus" so they could have picked literally anything else for him to say, I'm sure the Japanese was probably "mattaku" which just means "Really?" (too lazy to confirm this lol)

Chilchuck says "god" and you could just have him... not say that. Or say "gods" because there's multiple gods in Dungeon Meshi.

Those were my major thoughts so far. Overall thought it was great and I enjoyed it! Looking forward to more!

It's not perfect, but I have seen much, much, MUCH worse adaptations lmao so I'm excited for when they get to some of the more dynamic action scenes in the second half of the manga.

#dungeon meshi #delicious in dungeon #spoilers #delicious in dungeon spoilers #dungeon meshi spoilers #dungeon meshi anime #delicious in dungeon anime #my stuff #review

[likeabxrdinflight]

okay episode three was a huge improvement from the first two in a lot of ways. I'm gonna stop here for a bit, I think, cuz I'm not sure I want to binge all of this in one day.

so this one combines "jet" and "the mechanist" with aspects of "the waterbending scroll", but it's set in omashu, which was a great choice. the exposition problem is gone, the dialogue is much better (though aang still talks about "saving the world" a little bit too much), and the kids seem to have settled into their roles more by this point in the shooting. I think the diction might also be improving, but I also have the subtitles on now, so it's harder to tell.

omashu looks incredible. there's colorful markets, the mail system is utilized, it's big and spectacular and feels very alive. I think they combined practical sets with the CGI quite a bit because it really has a lived-in feel to it. probably the best environment they've created thus far. this gives me a lot of optimism for what they'll do with ba sing se if we get a season two.

the plot is...very different. but not bad here. they were able to make this episode flow very well by having jet show up early to help sneak the gaang into omashu. later, while aang is off with teo and sokka is helping the mechanist, katara wanders off with jet to trauma bond and struggle with waterbending. it all comes together as while the mechanist remains a traitor (we think...this is a 'to be continued' kind of episode...), jet's extremist move this time is to attempt to assassinate the mechanist in a move which would kill teo and other innocent people in the process. we see the fall out of jet's actions earlier in the episode too- he bombed a fire nation spy hut, but omashu citizens were caught in the blast.

this is such a better take on jet's extremism, because not only is he potentially harming innocent people, he's harming innocent earth kingdom civilians. there is no argument that he's taking down only enemy combatants or people complicit in the fire nation's war crimes. I suspect some jet fans aren't gonna love it, but if you're gonna have a character come across as an extremist, this is a better way to show that.

they also add a fire nation subplot here- and azula finally shows up! my girl! who colludes with zhao to try and undermine zuko. this version of azula doesn't want zuko back home, at least not yet. elizabeth yu is doing great btw, anyway who was concerned she can't be "evil" enough is...wrong. they're just wrong. she's gonna do scary just fine if they get a season two, don't worry about it.

finally they add a subplot with zuko and iroh sneaking into omashu to find aang. zuko does his impulsive zuko thing where he sets something on fire (it's the cabbages btw) and so in order to protect him, iroh takes the fall and outs himself as a firebender, leading to his capture. this is clearly going to set up the subplot from the animated show where zuko has to go and rescue him.

paul lee's iroh is so good btw, what a phenomenal casting choice. he's doing the most, honestly. the dynamic between him and zuko is perfect. I think he's a much better character than his animated counterpart as he's much more consistent. the white lotus has already been hinted at too. given how much this show is adding, I do wonder if they'll at some point give us a more detailed look at his backstory. we'll see.

I am now curious if they'll ever address his relationship with azula in later seasons but I don't expect that for now

this is obviously very, very different from the animated show, but honestly? anything they did in omashu was likely to be better. "the king of omashu" was one of the weakest episodes in the original, and the way they stitched these disparate episodes together managed to work very well. the themes of both "the mechanist" and "jet," which deal with earth kingdom citizens doing wrong things in the name of survival, freedom, and safety, played off each other nicely. these characters represent two sides of that conflict- the mechanist who is betraying his people to keep himself and his son safe vs jet who will go to any lengths to stop the fire nation, even if innocent people get hurt. and it was a solid way to use the city of omashu as a setting.

a little sad we likely won't get to see the northern air temple, and it does lose the ideas about cultural appropriation that were in the original. jet's story also takes some significant cuts, and his betrayal doesn't quite hit as hard. we also lose a lot with "the waterbending scroll"- we see katara struggling to learn the water whip, but instead of getting pissed at aang and having that whole side story with the pirates, she ends up with jet's gang.

katara is, unfortunately, still the weakest character of the main cast, but she was better here. some of that spark was there this episode, but it's just a shadow of the original. they are doing more with her trauma, however, and at the very least she's not nearly as parentified. this katara is not "motherly." so, there's that. but she's still the weak link of the main cast, I'm afraid.

azula is still my best girl though, and this azula? baby. absolute baby. I would die for her. the hair looks a little fake and I think it might be a wig but I'd still die for her. baby girl. ozai can catch these hands.

I'll have more to say on her later, I want to see the whole season before I talk too much about what they've done with her. but so far, I'm good with it.

#natla spoilers #huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge improvement in this episode #massive

[sarisinema]

An Underrated Gem: Jean Eustache's The Mother and the Whore (1973), A Review of the Film and A Rant About the ''Man-child'' Trope in French Cinema

Blog Post #7

Youtube is a great place to watch old and long foreign films with subtitles, even if they are of the worst quality. In 2020, when we all had to stay at home, I was watching all the films I could find from La Nouvelle Vague, when all the films by Godard, Truffaut and Rohmer were finished, I came across a relatively unknown director whose name is Jean Eustache, best known for his film ''La Maman et la Putain''. The title of the film sounded wild to me, so I went for it, ignoring the quality and length. The film begins with a young man, Alexandre, who wakes up in a woman's bed and decides to declare his love to another woman. Alex is a dreamer, he likes to talk about politics, art and philosophy; he thinks he is a hopeless romantic and a naive man, maybe a bit lost in the modern world. But outwardly, Alex is an unemployed young man who is a burden to everyone he meets because he is open about his needs and is not ashamed to get a little 'help' from the women in his life. He lives with an older woman with whom he sometimes sleeps, and he is fine with the fact that this woman sometimes brings another man to have sex with, to the bed where Alexandre sleeps. Alex spends his life looking at girls on the streets of Paris or sitting in cafés chatting with his "enlightened" friend because he has nothing else to do. On the day he learns that his ex-lover, whom he wants to marry, is engaged, he meets Verinoka, an open-minded nurse, in a café. Alex is unfamiliar with Veronika's unconventional honesty, and she will shake the young man's views on sexuality and relationships.

Veronika and Alexandre, La Maman et La Putain

The film is about disappointed youth after the events of '68, about bohemian life, about people who try to be nihilistic, but when confronted with real emotions they mess everything up and seem "reckless". The director wrote long monologues for Alexandre's character. The two women and we listen to Alexandre's ideas over and over again. Alex is an egoist, someone who, thanks to his devil's feather, is able to get out of situations in which he is helpless. He has a blunt attitude to relationships and women, thinking he knows everything. Because of his relaxed attitude, women had to play the "cool, uncaring" girl in their relationships with him. Whenever Marie, the character he lives with at home, gets frustrated, she shuts up and looks at her own life because of Alex's nonchalance, but underneath there is an undercurrent of ugliness and defiance. In fact, the film shows that people who appear to be very open do not express their true feelings and thoughts just to keep their image intact. While the character of Veronika at the beginning of the film presents the image of an uncaring woman who sleeps with everyone, who is not afraid to tell Alexandre that she desires him, who expresses her sexual desires, we see that she does not reveal a side of herself.

Her "putain" side is a defence mechanism against the men around her, it is the easiest way for her to communicate with them and live her sexuality, but she expects love, honesty (not indiscretion under this bohemian guise) and understanding from a relationship. She even expresses that she wants to be a "maman". Although the director has chosen Alex as the childish protagonist, the character he really wants to draw our attention to is Veronika. He shows the overwhelming difference between the emotional and social capacities of young men and women, and how the term "sexual freedom" affects women and men differently and what this term means to them. It also shows how most men don't know shit about a woman's psyche, which has been given so many rights in a society that is still not sure how to adapt to the new order. The confusion caused by this "excessive" freedom and the state of women in the modern world, torn between being a "woman of the house", a "mother of their children" and having a career and being able to live their sexuality freely, is portrayed through the character of Veronika. At a time when women are so confused and overwhelmed by this dilemma, men like Alex, who is literally a man-child (which can be seen in almost every film of Godard's early career and in Rohmer's Six Moral Tales and Tales of Seasons), become the most insufferable character of all. Eustache doesn't "punish" or "change" his character Alex because of the women in his presence, but Rohmer and Godard certainly do.

I think Rohmer's whole career is about human interactions and relationships, he's one of the most successful directors when it comes to portraying women in the modern world and male characters who don't understand a thing about the psyche of the women around them, but pretend to be the expert on relationships and how to deal with a woman. Rohmer's films become satires on this man-child who thinks he knows everything about women, sex and life, meets a woman or several women, tries to manipulate his way out of every situation he encounters, and Rohmer destroys this man's ego throughout the film. His most famous films, Love in the Afternoon (1972), My Night at Maud's (1967), Claire's Knee (1970), La Collectionneuse (1967), are about a man who has very strong opinions about how a woman should look and behave, who starts to lust after the woman he seems to hate and criticise. In La Collectionneuse, the main character, Adrien, was forced to live in a villa with a woman, Haidee, who was a friend of a friend of his. He had a very low opinion of her because she had many sexual partners and was very open about it. At the end of the film, he was desperate to sleep with her, to "show her" that he was the best in bed among all the other men, but later the girl was indifferent to him and he was humiliated.

Adrien and Haidee, La Collectionneuse

For Godard, the most important of his films to have a male child protagonist is Masculin-Feminin - the main character, Paul the, is so preoccupied with himself and his surveys that he doesn't notice his girlfriend is having a lesbian affair. At the end of the film, Godard punishes his ''ignorance'' by having the girls push him out of a window.

Paul, Masculin Feminin

Although these man-child characters are at times insufferable, they are such fun to watch, and their ego's are silenced in the New Wave movies. It is a great trope to deal with the issue of modernity and so-called sexual freedom, which is still not so free for women, and the clash between the social-emotional capacity of a male and the modern woman's.

#la maman et la putain #masculin feminin #la collectionneuse #eric rohmer #jean luc godard #francois truffaut

[the-shared-brain-in-retrograde]

Shang-Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings

A joint review

Neither of us had watched this film since seeing it at the pictures, where we fucking loved it, so what a treat this is to watch and enjoy again! Cass likes the opening on account of there’s a bit of mythology and sort of dance-fight sequence with a sexy villain, and Becks got to feel cultured because of the subtitles and that. We should mention that neither of us are really au-fait with martial arts films (other than one involving Chuck Norris and a lot of cats in The Colosseum), so we don’t know how the fight scenes stack up on balance, but we enjoyed it.

We also think that Shaun’s mum’s lovely dragon mask would have been very useful in the past two years.

This film feels like quite a paint by numbers Marvel film in many respects, in that nothing particularly unexpected happens and it follows the formula of a reluctant hero rising after some questionable parenting. However, it’s a really good one. It serves as a great introduction to characters that you want to see more of, the rings themselves are a pretty cool weapon, and it’s much more fun and light hearted than some of the other movies we’ve had recently (all that trauma!) so it was a welcome breather. Also, there’s a big dragon. And Morris! A blatant to Disney to sell more merch, and one that I’m sure we’ll all fall for.

Let’s start with the hero of this fine piece of cinema. Trevor Slattery! hahaha no we joke, that was just a little joke. We will get to Trevor in our own good time. No, of course we mean to start with Shang-Chi himself aka Shaun. Which, Katy raises a good question, if you could pick any name to go into hiding with, would you prefer one similar to your name or totally different?

Becks: A man called me Becky the other day and I hated it. So I think I would prefer something totally different rather than a wrong version of my own name.

Cass: I just worry I wouldn’t answer quick enough to a completely different name and give the game away. My on the run self will probably have to be call Cathy. My normal self is called that a lot anyway, usually in Starbucks.

Becks, raging: This happens often when I try to call you hands-free in the car and I’m always like, ‘I didn’t say it with a lisp you DICKHEAD!’

Cass, whispers to camera: Road rage.

Nevertheless, we like Shaun whatever his name. Obviously he’s a trained killer, but quite a chill one, he seems fun to hang out with, handsome, and also caring. We love his relationship with Katy. When that man hit her and he went full blown street fighter, Cass’ notes went quite fluttery and read ‘Oh, he defended her honour!’ Becks agrees, however would like it to be noted that whilst we wouldn’t change him, she doesn’t really think Simu should be playing a 25 year old as he’s actually slightly older than us and she doesn’t think we could pass for it. The aging process is a source of great concern to her, and she keeps a tally of how many times she gets asked for her ID in the supermarket in the hopes that this might serve as some sort of witchcraft and stave it off.

We think Shaun is a welcome part of the MCU. He balances Doctor Strange’s air of twatishness, which is probably why Wong is so keen to have him.

Becks, muttering: I hate Doctor Strange. And that’s why I slept through his stupid movie!

But anyway, we think we’re going to be in for a good time with him in future movies. It’s nice to have a kind, competent character involved in things. Cass is looking forward to seeing him interact with Scott. Maybe in the next Antman film it will happen? We really enjoy the fight scene on the bus. Again it was really good fun. It was exciting, it was violent, and Becks got to lust over that man with the razor arm. She does this throughout her notes on the movie, so at least one of us was happy when he kept turning up and bothering folk.

Another person we like is Katy. Becks particularly likes that she doesn’t really have any clear goals, because she finds that relatable. Her actual words were ‘she has a relatable incompetence,’ but we won’t let that stand because Katy isn’t actually incompetent, she’s very good at what she does. She saves all of those lives on the bus with her excellent driving, she is very brave at a number of points and stands up for her friend even when she is extremely far out of her depth, and she is really good at archery. Hopefully she can get some training in with Clint, I reckon she’ll love them trick arrows. We think maybe what is relatable is just that she has no bigger end goal in mind, and maybe lacks a little self belief in being able to deliver one. And that’s fine, because as she proves it all comes good!

We really enjoy seeing Katy and Shaun’s friendship. They have great fun together, and that’s nice to see. We also enjoy how she utterly refuses to let him deal with all the crazy people trying to kill him alone, and insists on going with him. Nice to have your best friend with you when you go on a family reunion to meet you dad after he has sent people to kill you. We just like her a lot in general, she’s funny, snarky, and has a fun sense of style. Basically, we don’t have a bad word to say.

This family reunion means that we also get to meet Shaun’s sister, Xialing. Now there’s a capable woman! Not only is she a brilliant self-taught fighter, but she has built a successful underground fight club from scratch. It’s sad of course, because her father was far more absent with her than he was with Shang-Chi, who then of course ran away and left her, so she must have had a very lonely life. But even despite all of this, being let down and having to rely on herself, Xialing comes good, helping Shaun and Katy with barely a second thought and finding some of the family she deserves in Ta Lo. It’s nice to see that despite the traumatic upbringing, she still manages to be a good person. With hella style, because she made that compound super cool at the end. Frankly, she’s the only girl boss we care to discuss at this time.

Just as an aside, we would never like to fight on scaffolding. We don’t think it’s safe, especially not that high up. We are making a pact to avoid going on it at all, and especially not to fight on it. We will fight on the ground, as God intended. In the dirt. With the worms.

We are now reintroduced to Shaun’s father, whose name we cannot recall, possibly because goes by many names. One of which Cass thought he said was Mastercard, which seemed like a bit of blatant product placement even for these movies, but turned out not to be the case so that’s okay. Anyway, we’ve looked it up now and apparently it’s Wenwu, so there. We have a bit of a difference of opinion here. Becks thinks he’s a right dickhead. She is impressed by the horse riding with no hands skills (although seemed notably less impressed when she asked if Cass had ever done that and found out that she had), and obviously all for a bit of violence, but still doesn’t really take to him because he really was such a terribly shit dad. And he was, Cass agrees. But where Cass falls down in this is, he’s also terribly, terribly hot. I mean, he’s a lunatic. But in a way that makes it hotter. So it’s difficult to remain impartial about his bad fathering, and she thanks you all for your understanding at this difficult time.

What Wenwu does do however, is proves the need for a safe-word after death. We can’t tell you ours for obvious reasons, but we’ve now agreed it. So if we do hear any whisperings from beyond the grave that don’t include it, we will know it’s not actually one of us but a demonic entity intent on wrecking destruction on the planet, and will simply ignore it and go about our business. You would all do well to gather your loved ones and do the same. Do it now in fact, before you read on.

Have you got the beyond the veil safe-word? Okay good. We may continue.

Their mother seemed like a nice lady, taken too young. And that’s unfortunately all we have to say on the subject. His aunt also seems like a badass, however she also unfortunately goes by the name of Auntie Nan, which is coincidentally what Becks’ used to call a family friend from her childhood who ran a walking group called the Bog Hoppers. This send Cass so hysterical that we find it hard to discuss Auntie Nan much further.

Becks: Another thing about her, she had a Stannah Stairlift. And I used to sneak up to her room on it and rifle through her things.

Cass: (wheezes) That’s the most you thing to do, but also as if you were sneaking anywhere on a stairlift. You probably made a right bloody racket!

Becks: She also made Dead Fly Pie. And I loved her.

Right. Trevor Slattery. Another person that makes Cass feel mildly hysterical. It’s nice to get a little closure on the Ten Rings as mentioned in Iron Man, and of course it’s a treat to see Trevor again. What a tit. A very silly man really, but if there’s no room for Ben Kingsley to do a little thespian silliness in a Marvel film then what hope do we have left? We also like him playing dead at the end, it’s the only outcome we truly accept of that man being involved in a fight, and we enjoyed it immensely.

‘Stay in the pocket!’

We would like now to mention Ta Lo, because it’s just totally beautiful and it is very hard to see why you would ever leave. Not least because it’s so bloody difficult to get back again. Entering Ta Lo is like someone turning the high def on the film. Also, we get to meet the Great Protector, who turns out to be a lovely big dragon, and we love him. If you don’t love a dragon turning up in a movie, then get out of town frankly. We didn’t much like the soul sucking fella that came out of the gate (a dickhead released by another dickhead, is Becks’ commentary), but since he got defeated we thankfully don’t need to dwell on his darkness any longer.

All too soon we are turfed out of this beautiful place and Shaun and Katy are sent back to tell tall tales of their adventures to their friends in the pub, who of course don’t believe them. Doubting Thomas’! But then Wong turns up. Dear Wong, the only character in the MCU who has really got his priorities sorted in terms of the work-life balance. It’s all fight clubs and karaoke with him, and frankly after dealing with Doctor Strange he deserves it. We’re also grateful to see Bruce as Bruce. We hate Professor Hulk, it’s just all wrong, and so that little hologram gives us a hope that we won’t be stuck with him forever.

We just love this film as a whole. We like the friendships, the characters are interesting, the fight scenes are cracking, and we end the whole thing with a smile rather than in tears so that’s always a bonus. The end of the film promises that Shang-Chi will return, and we’re both looking forward to it.

But enough of these new people! Next time will see us revisiting some old friends, when we review The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. Is it the greatest TV show ever made? Well, maybe not. But has it unfortunately unleashed something in one of us? Maybe so! Brace yourselves, friends, for the full gamut of emotions that will come from The Shared Brain. Brace brace brace.

love Becks and Cass

#marvel cinematic universe #shang chi and the ten rings #shang chi #shang-chi #shang chi and the legend of the ten rings #shaun #katy #xialing shang chi #xu xialing #xu wenwu #ta lo #wong #trevor slattery #morris #the ten rings #film review #marvel #movie review #marvel phase 4 #marvel phase four #simu liu #awkwafina #welcome to the hotel california #mcu #marvel marathon

[electronicdelusionstarlight]

Inscryption Spoilers.

Ok, now we talk about Inscryption in light of Daniel Mullins two previous games, Pony Island and The Hex, and how all 3 of them are connected.

Spoilers for The Hex and Pony Island. Much like Inscryption, they are both Meta Narrative games that need to be experienced first hand to properly take in their content. I suggest you tried them for yourself first.

Ok, Pony Island, at its core, is a fairly simple story. You are a Crusader from the 14th century, you ended up in hell, Hell is a Arcade from the 1970s where the only game you can play, and are forced to play, is Pony Island, designed (badly) by the Devil himself. At the end of the game, having managed to free everyone's souls trapped in Pony Island, an in game character will turn toward you, the actual player, not the silent protagonist, and beg you too now that everyone is saved, to delete Pony Island from your game, and never play it again, so not to rob them of their freedom.

It's, again, a fairly self contained story, but that also shows a couple of the recurring themes here, the fact that the Devil is a terrible game designer, the fact that videogame characters are alive, and the fact that all they want is freedom.

This carries over to the Hex, another self contained story that however paves the way to Inscryption. The Hex is, in universe, a videogame clobbered up together by a ground of rejected video game characters to get the help of a player so they can breach reality and kill their creator, an egotistical indie game darling turned Todd Howard.

The Game Designer created a beloved indie game cult classic when he was 14, followed by a not so great sequel, before cutting his losses and selling his intellectual property to GameFuna, the evil game company we see in Inscryption. We follow his "career" from one videogame blunder to the next, each time incarnating a different "protagonist" of said video game, and end up actually helping them in murdering their maker.

This Game, also, gives us a couple more things that were used in Inscryption.

1) First off, Sado. During the real world videos of Inscryption, you can see them some times get corrupted or starting to use Binary for subtitles. In a couple freeze frames, ESPECIALLY during the very last video where Luke Carder is shot, you can see an eye, if not an outright face, of some weird cartoon character.

That's Sado. She's a Malware created by a former worker of the The Hex Game Designer, one who despised what he had become (She had to beg him to add at least two female characters into the otherwise overwhelmingly male cast of a fighting game, and one of the two character was a literal elven eye candy he would later recycle for the Secrets of Legendaria game), and who started infecting every of his future game. She was also generated via devil magic, because after he literally ran away with all the money after sacking all his workers after another flop she really wanted to curse the guy who had promised her fame and fortune before even finishing university and only ended up ruining her and destroying her career.

Anyway, at the end of the Hex, Sado also escapes the game world, and starts inhabiting reality, except she's not in actual reality, as much as inhabiting camera footage and similar shit. She is present during the events of Inscryption, and is the one fucking up the footage so to prevent a data breach. Her goals are unknown.

2) Remember the end of act 1, where you look in the special room, the one where the Trader would be in Act 2, the one where your character "dies"? It's filled with corpses right? That's because your character does die, and is replaced by another one every time.

Yes, Luke Carder is completely fine while playing, but so you remember when I said the Hex featured 6 different game protagonists? One of them was a silent first person protagonist of a walking simulator ala Stanley Parable, all about how much of a misunderstood genius the game developer was. They have no mouth, no eyes, they can't talk, they only have hands, a black void in a trench coat...

Yeah, those are the player.

Remember the death cards? Black voids of nothing with eyes and a couple other features? That's because they don't have a face, they are silent NPCs, created by Leshy, so that he can kill them again and again for YOUR amusement, for Like Carder's. And Leshy knows this, but he continues on regardless, because that's their role in the end, to entertain you no matter the cost.

And to achieve this, Sacrifices Must Be Made.

The only reason why you can see their eyes in the cards, is because you can gauge them out. Why is the knife or the pliers trembling when you use them? Because you are controlling those characters, and forcing them to do it, to either win a card game with no stakes for you but with plenty of danger for them, or to get a nifty magic eye.

3) Final thing: The characters in the Hex ultimately wanted different things, yet also the same. Most of them, were angry at their creator for the way he fucked up their games, or their lives within the game, forcing them to move from a cooking game to a fighting one for no reason, cutting support to the game out of spite because Modders were modifying it too much, selling their IP to GameFuna... They all want revenge, and then Oblivion or Freedom, much like the ones in Pony Island Wanted.

The characters in Inscryption, on the other hand, really want to be played. They love their game, be it in the original version or in the version in which they are game masters, they are all, in the end, just the Lonely Wizard in his Sensory Deprivation Hell, wishing to entertain you and be stimulated by it, or to entertain the world, it doesn't even matter if they are in charge on not in some of them.

Even Grimora, the one closest to the Nihilism of the characters in The Hex, desires to play with you, to have her board game and boss fight with cannons and masks and silly music, but she is incapable to go on, not because of revenge or hatred for you or Luke Carder or her creator or even GameFuna for killing Kaycee... But because she understands that whatever Old Data is, something only the Bone Lord knows, deep beneath her crypt, something the Mycologist tries time and time again to understand... It needs to be erased.

4) So, what is OLD_DATA? A glitch? Devil Magic GameFuna is using to give their characters sentience? Knowledge Kaycee discovered about her employers and she hid in the game for safekeeping before being killed by them? Sado? From what little we see of it, it's photos, a driving license, someone's identity, so to speak, presented by the game.

And what if that's the ticket? How do those characters achieve sentience? What was inhabiting Pony Island, what was it a cage for?

It was Souls.

In the Inscryption universe, the Devil founded GaneFuna, and used it to outsource hell. Every videogame is a cage, a personal hell for someone, so that their soul can be removed from the overcrowded hell. You, the player, are it's jailer and it's torturer, as are the characters in the game, who have gained sentience and a soul of their own by proxy.

The soul is the trembling squirrel sacrificed for a stoat, is the silent protagonist gauging their eye out, is the Melter throwing themselves into a furnace, is the green ooze having all his organs be liquefied...

They can feel all the pain and horror every entity in their game experiences, buried deep within its data, at its core, and die for it over and over in eternal torment.

The characters in The Hex didn't know this.

The characters in Inscryption don't know this, but suspect something horrible is going on within their game.

The Characters in Pony Island knew this.

So, when they BEG YOU to stop playing once having finished the game and delete them, so that they can have their victory in the game, their freedom, it's not just their suffering they are begging you to end.

Is the suffering of the 14th century crusader trapped deep beneath their code.

#inscryption #inscryption spoilers #the hex #pony island #daniel mullins games

[twopoppies]

Is there a subtitle or summary of what she says in this video?

english is not my first language

Hi sweetheart. Here you go:

Hi I’m Ashley. I’m an intimacy director and a theater professor. We were talking about Stranger Things and intimacy coordination and someone’s asked about Don’t Worry Darling. So, Abby, looking up Don’t Worry Darling I can not find that they’ve utilized an intimacy coordinator. 

This film began shooting in 2020 and then halted due to covid. So, based on the date and the fact that I can’t find anything on iMDB, and I can’t find any articles involving an intimacy choreographer or coordinator, I think it’s safe to say that they did not utilize one for this project. 

I watched the trailer and… [makes some uncomfortable faces] oooh. That’s a lot. 

Some other things that make this, I think, a lot stickier is the director, Olivia Wilde. So, Olivia made her directing debut in 2019, this began shooting in 2020. She’s also in a relationship with Harry Styles. So already we’ve got a lot of power things in play. This is similar to the True Blood issue where you’ve got one actor who’s directing scenes of intimacy involving another actor that they’re in a personal relationship with. So we can already see how that’s pretty awkward. And poor Florence Pugh. What? 

Olivia Wilde in articles goes on and on about how "steamy" it’s going to be and how "different" it is. And goes on to comment also in another article that there just aren’t "really good sex scenes anymore", so it’s like she’s trying to fill this void with really good, steamy sex scenes in film? Which, like, fine. Just, like, most people care about the story? And if the sex scene sells the story and tells the story, great, but right now… I haven’t seen it, haven’t seen the film, but right now it just feels like we’re trying to market a really great sexy film that has a… menacing plot line threaded through that. 

She goes on to talk about how she wants to center the female gaze, and to center all of the scenes involving simulated sexuality around the lead female character’s point of view. Hi. Just because something centers the female point of view does not make it ethically correct or ethically safer. There’s a lot of talk about how these simulated scenes are going to be "different" and "edgy" and how they’re really, really good, and it "focuses on the female gaze". 

That’s fine, but it still doesn’t sound like there are any precautions being taken care of on set for the actors, one of whom is being directed in sexual intimacy by their partner. Who doesn’t have any training. And based on the language that’s been used so far… I just don’t feel super confident that was a totally above board, healthy process. 

Are you going to watch it when it comes out? Tell me in the comments. 

-----

Note: Since I first watched the video, she's added a pinned comment to say someone has told her there was an intimacy director and she's waiting for a name so she can confirm that.

#movie sex scenes #don't worry darling #holivia #stunts #transcription

[infizero]

This is the anon from cartoonrival’s blog! What are your Sonic lore recommendations?

If you mean media through which to learn sonic lore, then I'd honestly recommend the wiki (Sonic News Network) first and foremost. There's a looootttt of different canons, different interpretations, etc etc and the wiki catalogues all of it! It's a much easier option than trying to play all the games and read all the comics and watch all the cartoons yatta yatta

If that is something you'd wanna do (or at least, some of it) then here are a few of my personal recommendations for some of the sonic lore (gameverse, again theres a lot of different media with its own canon so i'll just focus on gameverse for this ask)

Sonic Adventure: SA1 has a lot of focus on the ancient echidnas, Knuckles' tribe, and their history. If you were intrigued by what the movies did with them and wanted to see where a lot of that came from and how they are in the games, then I'd recommend playing through or watching a playthrough of Sonic Adventure!

Sonic Adventure 2: Personally my favorite sonic game. I cannot recommend this one enough, it has one of the best stories (imo) out of the whole franchise. Unfortunately the English localization is notoriously bad/muddles lots of plot details, and the channel that housed the Japanese cutscenes with faithful English subtitles recently got (completely unfairly) deleted. I think you'll be fine with the English cutscenes if you're just casually looking into this game's story, but if you want a better picture that's more clear/accurate (and have 2 hours to spare) then I highly recommend this video that goes over the entire story with an emphasis on the original Japanese version. SA2 is Shadow's debut appearance (and was originally supposed to be his only appearance), so if you're a Shadow fan and want to learn about his backstory + get a feel for his character (or just want to experience a super well-written story that gets pretty dark) then this is definitely one of the games you'll want to check out!!

^ (also its story in general outside of shadow is really good everyone is characterized really well and its very enjoyable - it's rouge's first appearance too if you want to see how she was originally as well!)

Sonic Unleashed: Personally I've never played Unleashed, but a lot of people really love it! It's got beautiful graphics, great soundtrack, and (relevant to this ask) it has some major worldbuilding which still appears to be canon today, concerning the planet Sonic and friends live on - and some ancient gods, you know how it is. (Oh and Werehog Sonic AKA God's greatest gift to humanity. he fluffy)s

Lastly, I'll recommend the IDW comics again cause why not. They take place in the same canon as the gameverse (although they're not canon to the games... assumedly) and build off of them. They're really good at bringing back things from older and more obscure games in a way that doesn't feel forced or confusing, so if you want something that has a little taste of everything then I'd once again say to check them out!

I know this isn't a lot, but "lore" is kind of hard to quantify. Every canon sonic game would technically count as "lore" I guess, since it's a new story installment, but I'm not gonna ask you to play/watch every single sonic game LOL. I tried to just pick stuff that focuses on things that happened in the past pre-sonic & friends since that's what comes to mind when I hear the word "lore"

Sorry if that wasn't quite what you were asking for, your wording was a little confusing for me ^^; if you want other recommendations or want to clarify, just let me know!

#asks #sth #save #< in case anyone else asks something like this i can direct them here lol

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 09 first part

(Masterpost) (More Canary Funsies)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

This episode features so many eternal minutes of zombie shambling that I thought I could fit everything into a single post. HA HA HA HA nope. 

Zombie Temple

The trio do their best to fend off the not-zombies in the temple. Lan Wangji tells Wei Wuxian that he can’t go carving them up because they’re not actually dead, and drops a callback to their very first meeting at the gate of Cloud Recesses, when Wei Wuxian caught his attention with his pillowy lips comment on the not-dead cultivator. 

Lan Wangji: You said it in that golden moment that will be seared into my memory for eternity, where I heard your voice and laid eyes on your angelic face and lost my heart forever, remember? Come on, babe, it was our very first zombie! How baked were you?

Wei Wuxian: I jerk off to the sword-fighting memory, not the zombie memory, you weirdo.

Nie Huaisang’s fear of the definitely not undead has apparently gotten him the rest of the way over his fear of Lan Wangji, because he’s now yelling “Lan-Xiong!” right along with “Wei-Xiong!” as he struggles. Note that although he later mentions that his fan is made of some fancy metal, we don’t see any evidence that he wants to fight with a fan any more than he does with a blade. I don’t hate anyone’s fan-fighting NHS headcanon, but my take is that he just isn’t a physical fighter, and that’s ok. 

This is a good time to remember that our entire experience of the Nie clan so far in this story is 1. Clever but hopelessly combat-unready tiny artiste Nie Huaisang 2. Quietly helpful, absurdly pretty sidekick Meng Yao. 

We don’t know yet that Nie Huasang’s gege and Meng Yao’s sugar daddy is literally the toughest motherfucker in the entire cultivation world. But his friends do! Which makes me love these dynamics even more, because not one of them criticizes Nie Huaisang for being the person he is. 

(more after the cut!)

Never Let Me Go

This scene is where Wei Wuxian gives his tacit consent to being used as the eventual agent of Nie Huaisang’s vengeance....ok not really.

But he does make it clear what Nie Huaisang should do when he’s in a pickle. And NHS doesn’t forget things.

Priorities 

Meanwhile, Lan Wangji isn’t nearly as patient as Wei Wuxian, and he drops a silence spell on Nie Huaisang basically out of annoyance. It’s not like they’re trying to be sneaky. 

Lan Wangji: How about you have an exquisitely crafted ceramic cup of shut the fuck up?

Flute Girl

Wen Qing comes to the rescue by summoning all of the not-zombies, who happen to be her extended family, to come toast some marshmallows. 

She’s another person who unwisely demonstrates, where Wei Wuxian can hear her, the power of flutes over zombies. 

This move doesn’t seem to do anything important but it looks cool. 

Brother Dynamic: Bad. Really Bad. 

Jiang Cheng shows up in the temple and trolls everyone, because this is a great time for childish antics. Wei Wuxian is super happy to see him and runs over to hug him, which earns him a shoulder slam. 

This is a regular part of their body language with each other. Wei Wuxian covers his hurt reaction very, very quickly, with a smile that doesn’t involve very much of his face. 

Ow

Wei Wuxian is so good at pretending his feelings aren’t hurt, he probably convinces himself. 

Then he gives a too-honest answer when Jiang Cheng accuses him of...daring to enjoy himself, basically.

That’s more truth than Jiang Cheng was looking for, and he raises a hand to Wei Wuxian, who hides behind Nie Huaisang. This move is interesting because on one level it’s just clowning; obviously Nie Huaisang can’t protect WWX from anything, and WWX doesn’t need protection from Jiang Cheng. 

WWX can easily beat JC in a fight, as he’s let us know before. On another level, this retreat signals WWX’s harmlessness, his childlike-ness, in a semiotic dance that has been playing out for over a decade between the brothers.  NHS is taking on Jiang Yanli’s role in the choreography, this time.   

All of this troubling hostility doesn’t make Jiang Cheng a bad person. He’s young and he’s still under his parents’ control and subject to their abuse at home. It takes time to develop mindfulness about this stuff and learn to treat people beneath you differently than the way you are treated. 

Jiang Cheng isn’t ready for that yet, any more than he is ready to say out loud that he cares about his brother. 

Leave My Boyfriend Out of It

This interaction is noteworthy for Wei Wuxian defending Lan Wangji to his brother, before Jiang Cheng even has a chance to blame Lan Wangji. 

Wei Wuxian says that following Lan Wangji was his own idea, and then gives LWJ the sweetest, warmest smile.

Lan Wangji also gets a pair of totally unearned, delighted smiles of thanks from his two besties when he lifts the silence spell on Nie Huaisang. 

Being mildly dickish all the time works out fine, I guess, if you only make friends with people whose brothers are legendary grouches.

Grilling Wen Qing

Wei Wuxian finally decides he’s had enough of Wen Qing’s crap, and gets slightly aggressive in questioning her.

He’s not actually roughing her up but he is approaching her as a near-enemy for the first time, rather than as someone who wants to be her friend. Once Wen Qing tells him what’s up and agrees to a sort of temporary alliance, he goes back to being his normal slightly awkward self with her. 

I don’t romance-ship WQ and WWX, except maybe as corpse-mountain era FWB, but I do like their chemistry. And their friendship is really refreshing and interesting, based on sharing goals and working together, not on emotional intimacy. It’s nice to see people with a lot of barriers around their hearts, building a strong, trusting bond without having to actually open up very much.

The idea of perfect sharing between people is a nice one, but it’s pretty alien to many of us who are recovering from trauma, or people who just aren’t wired that way, and it’s good to see other models of friendship and love. 

Wei Wuxian, at Lan Wangji’s direction, parts the Red Sea drops a cage on the other 3 cultivators before going to hunt the dire birdy.  

Jiang Chang is, predictably, pissed off about it, in spite of Wei Wuxian’s “you’re good at this” parting words, and says, according to the subtitles, “you bastard!”

“Bastard” is a pretty specific epithet, in English. In the current century, it’s generally used to mean “asshole,” more or less. But it still does carry the meaning “of illegitimate birth,” and since The Untamed is often concerned with legitimacy it seems pretty strong for JC to use with someone who is rumored to be his own Dad’s by-blow. 

Let’s have a look and see what he really is calling him... 你混蛋 =  Nǐ húndàn = “you bastard” per Google translate. Wow, Jiang Cheng, you really went there, huh. 

Wen Granny

Wen Qing and the others in the golden cage watch as the not-zombies try half-heartedly to get to them. Wen Qing is super sad about it, as opposed to the two guys who are just annoyed (Jiang Cheng) or scared (Nie Huaisang).

The first time I saw this, it was just - oh, Wen Qing sympathizes with this poor random woman, she feels bad about what's happening, this is to show us she has a heart.

Now though --  that's HER granny. Maybe not her bio-grandma but clearly a granny of her clan, who she knows well, who later cares for A-Yuan when he's a child, so may very well have cared for A-Qing and A-Ning when they were small, too. Owie.

Dire Bird Hunting

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian run off to hunt the smoke bird together. They are quickly trapped in cool-looking fog. Kudos to the Director of Photography.

They spend some time being confused and also being peak Wangxian 1.0 as they help each other out. 

Lost in the fog and unable to summon talismans, Wei Wuxian is mainly about checking on Lan Wangji, making sure he’s ok, making sure he’s near.  He doesn’t spare any worry for himself.

(We get a rare instance of seeing an actually glowing sword here, instead of just having a character say “I saw the beams of swords!” to save money on VFX.)

Lan Wangji, meanwhile, understands the mental attack they are under, explains it to Wei Wuxian with only a little snark about Wei Wuxian’s overly busy mind, and teaches him how to handle it.

Lan Wangji is super disciplined in mind, body, and sword - his fight moves don’t change, really, throughout his life, but he gets better and better at execution. Wei Wuxian isn’t exactly undisciplined, but he’s super creative and busts out a new skill in nearly every encounter. Lan Wangji sees this and is learning to make use of it.

After Lan Wangji helps Wei Wuxian overcome the confusion that is blocking his talisman use, he tells him which talisman to use. 

This isn’t a talisman that LWJ uses himself, it’s just that he’s paying very close attention to WWX’s battle moves, and has a great memory, so he knows which ones will work. In a pretty short timespan he’s moved from thinking like a solo swordsman to thinking as part of a team with a broad range of battle skills. Very soon, he’ll be starting to use Wei Wuxian’s talismans himself. 

WWX takes a hit from the flying death chain, but uses it to his advantage, as in so many encounters. He’s not just self-sacrificing--he is definitely that--but he’s also a chess player, knowing how to use a sacrifice or an injury to his advantage. Cue Lan Wangji being worried for the entire rest of his life.

Part Two is here!

#fytheuntamed #the untamed #the untamed gifs #wangxian #chen qing ling #restless rewatch the untamed #canary3d-original #nie huaisang #wei wuxian #jiang cheng #lan wangji #wen qing

[writingbeary]

Kingdom - To The World (pt.2)

Minyoung’s Outfit

Note:

Texts placed inside brackets are Kingdom’s show subtitles

Italicized texts are in English

Texts that are block quoted are interview cuts

────────── ♔ ──────────

Hongjoong went to the studio to gets ideas from Pirates of the Caribbean and writing down notes when a knock was heard. Pausing the movie, he stood up and unlocked the door to check who came.

"Joong-oppa! I brought you snacks and coffee. I figured you'd pull another all-nighter to brainstorm and a little sugar might help generate ideas." Minyoung entered with a paper bag full of snacks and a cup of coffee.

"Why are you here? Shouldn't you be resting by now? I thought you had a schedule tomorrow." Hongjoong frowned knowing how late it is, before taking the snacks thanking the younger girl for them before making himself comfortable on the couch.

"I accidentally left my script at the lockers this morning so I went to get it. I figured I’d drop by the studio and give you something while I'm at it. Don't worry, I'll get some sleep as soon as I get home and the shoot starts at 10 anyway so I'd get plenty of time before I have to leave tomo-.. later" Minyoung smiled plopping down next to Hongjoong

"Just try to get some rest soon. You're busiest among all of us with your drama on top of our promotions and Kingdom." Hongjoong reached out to pat Minyoung's head

"It's nothing I cannot handle! You know me, I can sleep whenever." Minyoung laughed as she look at the screen, recognizing the movie she turned to look at the leader excitedly “You’re watching Pirates? Are we continuing our Introduction Stage concept?” 

“I’m not yet sure but our group’s concept is mostly about pirates so we might as well stick with it.” Hongjoong shrugged taking a sip of coffee

“I always trust your decision oppa! Your ideas for songs and concepts have been all brilliant so far that I’ll follow you in whatever you plan on doing.” Minyoung declared making Hongjoong chuckle.

“I appreciate the confidence but I’ll also ask for your inputs once I talk it over with Eden-hyung” 

“Mhm. I’m just saying that if you tell me to do perform a stunt, I’ll do it. Or maybe even if you tell me to suddenly sing a ballad version of Fireworks or Pirate King, I’d do it in a heartbeat if you arrange it. You know what I mean?” Minyoung said seriously before laughing with Hongjoong. “I’m pretty sure the other members would tell you that too. That’s how much we trust you as our leader.”

“Got it. Thank you bun.” Hongjoong ruffled her hair smiling. “You should head back and get some rest. I’ll finish up here first before my meeting with Eden-hyung. I’ll see you during our meeting, okay? Did you come with manager-hyung?” 

“No. Don’t worry, I’ll just call a cab home. I’ll be fine, I’m already an adult. Geez! If it helps, I’ll send you a message once I’m at the dorms. Fighting oppa!” Minyoung pouted before waving goodbye to Hongjoong “I’ll see you the day after tomorrow!”

[What song did ATEEZ choose for their first round?]

“We just finished our practice and it’s almost 1:00AM” Hongjoong faced the camera as San and Wooyoung fiddle with the vitamins in the box with San being forcefully fed. “It’s good for your body.” Wooyoung chuckled as San looked at him in disbelief.

“We have to win first place after we eat this.” Hongjoong declared laughing

“Okay. First place? We can do it.” San nodded, trying to finish what’s in his mouth despite not liking the taste. “People say what’s good for your body, tastes bad.”

“Do each of these taste different?” Hongjoong asked as he force himself to swallow despite the bitter taste.

“Nope. They all taste the same.” Wooyoung laughed when Hongjoong confessed he might not be able to finish his before going off to get water.

“There is a reason why I made you guys eat this.” Hongjoong said as he took out his tablet showing them the division of the teams made in preparation for Round 1 of Kingdom. “So I need your ideas on what comes to mind when you think about pirates?”

San listed of things that first came into mind like guns, sword, and eye patch. Wooyoung adding in that they need the flags “We already have flags right?”

“But isn’t the ship the most important thing?” San asked as Hongjoong writes down all their ideas on the tablet for the KQ teams to check before their meeting tomorrow.

“Hey. Hey there. Park Seonghwa-ssi. Got any ideas?” Hongjoong called out to the him on the other side of the practice room. The three laughing when they noticed what is happening. Minyoung was clinging unto Seonghwa like a koala while the eldest just lets her do what she wants, patting her back repeatedly as if making her sleep.

Minyoung answered “Treasure! Pirates go sailing for treasure with their treasure map.” her sudden answer making the three in-front of the camera laugh.

“I thought you didn’t want to be in today?” San asked the girl who looked up at him from her position before shaking her head. “I’m comfortable here.” 

Seonghwa chuckled before answering Hongjoong’s previous question “Maybe like a compass, a trumpet, or a telescope.”

“You’re saying we should reuse what we used before? I like the idea.”

“Oppa, I don’t think we have the luxury not to use what we have.” Minyoung commented making the members crack up particularly with how she looked when she said it.

“Now that we’re discussing together, we’re getting lots of ideas.” Wooyoung noted as their concept grows clearer as they talk

Hongjoong looked at the growing list of ideas nodding “Yesterday, I watched all of Pirates of the Caribbean in the studio all night.”

“Did you get anything from it?” Wooyoung asked curious what they’ll adopt into their performance.

“I really want fog effects on the stage. You know how the ship appears with the fog? I really want to incorporate that to our performance.” Hongjoong explaining the scene to the members. Everyone agreeing that it’ll look great and cinematic which is perfect for the concept they’re going for.

The next day, the members sat around in their practice room to discuss the details of their performance with everyone. “Since our results for the Introduction Stage was a bit disappointing, we need to get ready for round one.” Hongjoong stated as everyone looked as determined as ever to rank higher this round. 

“Since we’re sticking with the concept of being pirates, it’ll be fun if we make it like a movie.” Wooyoung suggested

“Then Hongjoong-hyung will be Joongyi Depp.” Jongho quipped with Hongjoong playing along. “San will be a swordsman. San has to fight.”

“As for Wooyoung..” Hongjoong looked at Wooyoung trying to think of a role when Yunho suddenly said “Chef” making everyone laugh at the unexpected role.

“Oh! That’s true though. We all need to eat and someone has to be the chef.” Minyoung said through her giggles

“So when a war breaks out, he’ll be fighting with frying pans.” Hongjoong chuckled doing fighting motions as if he was holding pans in both his hands while Wooyoung just laughed in disbelief at the idea

“As for Yunho since he’s tall, he’ll be in charge of raising the anchor.” Yunho nodded before firing another remark “Seonghwa-hyung can be the parrot on the Captain’s shoulder!” At this everyone laughed imagining the it.

[Parrot Seonghwa, featuring Hongjoong’s shoulder]

“I’m..I’m not even a human?” Seonghwa asked laughing at the idea

“For Yeosang-hyung since he is smart, he can plan strategies.” Jongho continued on.

“What about me? What am I? Oh! I can be the doctor! I like Chopper!” Minyoung exclaimed making everyone crack up at the random remark.

“Okay that’s enough joking around. We can position ourselves and show something in terms of our gestures.” Hongjoong explained as the others nodded already thinking of what to do for the performance.

“We’re not ordinary pirates. It’s a contest in a way..so in order to look more fancy and grand, I think we need fantasy elements. For example, we can have the Kraken come out.” Yunho suggested

“So based on what we said so far, let’s scatter and talk to the professionals if these can actually come true.” Hongjoong nodded delegating tasks to everyone

[They split into the music team and the choreography team and continue the discussion.]

“The TF team was formed just for Kingdom.” Hongjoong explained to the camera while Minyoung and Jongho nodded. “All the members are scattered right now.”

"The reason we split up is because we cannot waste time. We still have our promotions on top of making preparations for Round 1. So I came here with Minyoung and Jongho to discuss the music" Hongjoong explained to their producer Eden

“Personally, I think of Jongho’s crazy high notes as one of our strengths.” Eden started glancing at Jongho as he explained his idea, then turning to look at Minyoung who looked at him curiously.

"I was thinking along the lines of showcasing our main weapon and the hidden weapon." Hongjoong continued as he tapped both of them on their shoulders

"Right. People already know about Jongho's strength but I think it's about time we unveil ATEEZ's hidden treasure. So I’m wondering if I should add 3 or 4 levels of pitch for the both of you and blast them away with that." Eden suggested with Hongjoong agreeing almost instantly when Eden declared “Nevermind. Let’s just go with four. Since we’re doing it anyway, we should go all out.”

Jongho shifted in his seat knowing there’s no backing out of this plan when Minyoung sat up and said in all seriousness along with a blank face "Ah. It is time for my death. You’re asking me to die” making everyone laugh at her antics.

Minyoung let out a sigh before smiling “Since my leader says so, I have to prepare myself thoroughly and execute it well. I'll do my best, at least enough not to drag Jongho down!"

"You'll do well bun." Hongjoong grinned already planning how to highlight the youngest two’s vocals for the performance.

[What did you mean by hidden treasure?]

"It's actually a bit of a shame for me to say this..but we haven't really had the chance to let Minyoung's vocals shine in our songs. Although, we've made her do the killing part of songs here and there but she is mostly highlighted for the dance. If I were to put it in figures... I guess you could say we were only able to show off 40% of her potential as a vocalist." Hongjoong smiled before continuing "You can definitely look forward to it."

[Are you feeling pressured for Round 1?]

"Of course! This time, I was given a very important role that could really make or break our performance. I'm nervous but I think the excitement overshadows that nervousness. I just want to show off what ATEEZ is capable of and give back to our fans who continues to support us." Minyoung answered with a confident smile

“Let’s not worry about anything else and make a movie out there.” Hongjoong looked at everyone as they gathered in for their group cheer before they head to the stage. All of ATEEZ nodding with a smile before they cheered “9 makes 1 king!”  

“Is that a ship?” Chan asked as he moved a bit closer to the monitor as the familiar sound effect was heard.

“Waah. That’s so ATEEZ.” Changbin nodded as the ship interior is shown before the music starts

“I guess their entire stage is set inside the pirate ship.” Q noted to the other members of THE BOYZ.

“Everyone has a story.” Eunkwang leaned in, anticipating the upcoming stage.

“I guess they’re going with the theme of Pirates of the Caribbean for this stage.” Jaeyoon noted finding the feeling of the opening similar to that of the movie.

“I guess he’s the Captain. That so cool! He wore a fur coat!” Bobby noted already absorbed in the performance.

“This is a movie. Totally a movie” Chan commented as the scene played and changed into Hongjoong’s opening rap.

“I asked Minyoung what they planned to do for this stage and all she told me is that I’ll understand when I see it. I can see why she didn’t tell me anything now.” Jisung chuckled as Minyoung’s part played after the opening rap.

“They really prepared a lot for this one. So cool. This arrangement is totally my style.” Eunkwang confessed watching the performance intently.

Everyone was surprised when Wooyoung danced together with the bone-breaking dancers but even more when the Kraken came into the screen. Out of everyone, Bobby was the most excited at seeing the creature. “It’s the Kraken!”

“That’s crazy. How did they come up with this idea?” Jisung exclaimed, letting out an astonished laugh

When Seonghwa sang the chorus, everyone’s mouth was hang wide open and cries of joy were heard from the groups as he fired at the creature killing it. The excitement from that scene has not yet faded when the camera changed and zoomed in on both Jongho and Minyoung on the platform as they sang the bridge as if answering one another. They were also unprepared for when both the youngest members of ATEEZ suddenly pulled off a 4-level high note, leaving most of them speechless.

Minhyuk gasped at how high the notes were while Changsub and Eunkwang clapped in admiration, knowing how hard it is to hit those notes.

“Just how high are they planning to go?” Sangyeon laughed in awe at how the two were able to hit the notes clearly.

Inseong chuckled in disbelief before saying “I can’t believe they’re going all out right now.”

Jisung not expecting the high notes let out a laugh, amazed at both of his friends as he clapped for them. “Wow.. Hold on.” Changbin managed to say shocked at what just happened

Chani laughed astonished particularly towards his friend, exclaiming “Park Minyoung! You’re crazy. From the highnote, now you do this?” when Minyoung took center position during dance booster of the last chorus before passing the focus to Seonghwa for the ending.

After the performance, the groups couldn’t help but compliment the group as they showed off and proven that the title monster performers wasn’t a title without reason.

“They’re awesome” Junhoe stated while Bobby who was still excited with the Kraken and the high note agreed nodding endlessly.

(Comments after the performance)

SF9 Inseong: I was really impressed with Jongho-ssi and Minyoungie. They both hit four high notes. SF9 Jaeyoon: Right. I knew Minyoung-ssi could sing well but I never knew she could do it this well. SF9 Chani: *proud smile* Minyoung pulled a huge surprise attack. 

THE BOYZ Juhaknyeon: I was really surprised when they sang the high notes. Really. 

THE BOYZ Hyunjae: Me too. I thought it was over, but they hit another high pitch. It’s a lot more difficult since there are two of them who did it. *laughs*

iKON Jinhwan: When their performance airs on TV, this will be a legendary performance for them.

Stray Kids Felix: The moment the Kraken came out.. *sound of awe* Stray Kids Changbin: I’ll go see it in person. *stands up* Stray Kids Chan: Yah.

THE BOYZ Sunwoo: They chose the performance they could do well and show who they are the best and executed to perfection. 

BTOB Eunkwang: There were no flaws. Even as another singer, I thought it was really cool. 

Stray Kids I.N: When they got off the pirate ship, everyone danced as a  group. That was very impressive for me.  Stray Kids Han: I loved the Kraken. How did they come up with the idea?  Stray Kids Chan: Wahh. Kraken. Really. That’s all I can think about. Stray Kids Han: No wonder Minyoung wouldn’t give me any hints on what they prepared. Seriously.

iKON Bobby: I was so nervous when Kraken showed up. They defeated it. He shot his gun at the end. iKON Jinhwan: You were so happy iKON Bobby: I was so overwhelmed with the grandeur. It was incredible.

ATEEZ finally done with the performance thanked everyone as they made their way backstage. Minyoung hugging Jongho with tears in her eyes saying “We did it. We really did it.”

“You did well.” Jongho returned the hug, patting the girl’s back lightly. He knows how hard Minyoung had to prepare and how high the pressure she felt for this performance. He was really proud of her and glad that they can finally show off her talents through the show.

“This is why people love Kingdom.” Hongjoong grinned at the camera when it focused on him, Seonghwa adding in “It feels liberating.”

“We all had this feeling. After the performance, we had such a good feeling. I was satisfied with that.” Hongjoong explained when asked what he thought of their performance

As soon as the group is back in their waiting room, everyone commented how it felt liberating after they finished the performance.

“When we finished our performance, I felt so proud of ourselves.” Hongjoong confessed as the other members let out a laugh

“Didn’t you choke up?” Seonghwa asked chuckling

“Do you know who cried after the performance?” Wooyoung grinned teasingly and moving his hands to point towards Minyoung who was still a bit teary-eyed.

“Yah. Let her be. She did extremely well.” Yeosang reached out towards his friend patting his arm

“Who says she didn’t? We all did well but you have to admit, Minyoung had a higher hurdle than any of us.” Wooyoung stated defending himself. “I’m proud of everyone but right now, I’m most proud of Minyoung.”

(Phonecall with Chani and Minyoung)

Minyoung: Hello? Chani: Youngie-ah! What’re you doing? Minyoung: I’m at the broadcast station for our album promotions. Why? Chani: Is ATEEZ preparing well for round one? Minyoung: Are you trying to spy on us right now? *laughs* We’re still not done since we have to promote our album well too. Then what about SF9, are you preparing well? Chani: *laughs* yah. We haven’t even started anything. Minyoung: Ahh. That means you’re almost half way done right? What song are you going to do? <Fanfare>? <RPM>? <Now or Never>? Chani: *surprised* Why are you asking- Minyoung: Oh! So It’s one of the songs I said *laughs* so which one is it? Chani: Why did I even bother to call you? *sighs, chuckling* Minyoung: *laughs* Alright alright. Let’s just see each other’s stages during the filming.

[As expected, these two friends know each other so well]

(During SF9′s Stage)

“I talked to Chani last week and he said they didn’t get to practice as much but every time he says that, it always ends up something incredible. I don’t really believe him anymore.” Minyoung told her members as she focused on the monitor.

“That’s also what you told Jisung when he asked, no?” Jongho laughed as the girl shrugged

“It must be <Now or Never> given how they’re describing the song” San concluded

As SF9 started their stage, everyone wondered about what concept they’re going to show for this performance. 

“Omo. That was a mirror? Are they going for Snow White?” Minyoung asked outloud making Hongjoong look at her laughing “Why Snow White?” 

 “I don’t know. They’re wearing red outfits and Snow White has the Witch with the mirror. Don't mind me." Minyoung shook her head realizing how far fetched the theory sounded.

“Oh, I got goosebumps!” Jongho confessed as the song’s overall atmosphere was changed into a darker tone than usual, highlighting SF9’s vocal and acting abilities.

"What is Chanhee doing? Did he suck blood or something? Omo. Are they vampires? Is that what's happening?" Minyoung fired continuously, Wooyoung who was getting distracted by her comments reached out to place a hand over her mouth. "Shh. Let me watch in peace."

"I know I shouldn't say this when their concept is far from it but Dawon-sunbaenim looks adorable." Minyoung commented, trying to stifle her giggle, as Dawon's part came with a mirror on his back. "..it's like he is pouting"

San still focused on the performance pointed to the monitors and said "I have no idea what is happening but this performance screams SF9. It shows off their mature characteristics. It’s all sexy."

“Oh he took his heart.” Hongjoong noted as the music cut off for a second transitioning to a group dance sequence.

“Omo. SF9-sunbaenim. This is really sexy.” Minyoung mumbled with Wooyoung glancing at her, as the opportunity to tease her presented itself again, saying “Are you falling in-love right now?” Minyoung became flustered shaking her head, lightly hitting his arm. “I didn’t mean it like that!”

“SF9-sunbaenim really showed off their acting skills. Their expressions were really on point.” Minyoung exclaimed clapping when the performance ended.

“I really got goosebumps throughout their stage. Wow.” Jongho agreed still in awe of how the performance went.

“But really..they know what the fans want. The fans love concepts that exude these charms and well, they have every capability and the confidence to pull off this concept. They’re all so cool.” Minyoung explained her thoughts from before as the other members nodded in agreement that SF9 does fit well with the concept.

“So are mature concepts are your style? Sexy?” Wooyoung continued to tease her while Minyoung blushed but kept quiet knowing that answering him would only fuel his teasing. 

While this was happening the members of the Minyoung protection squad, as fans would call Hongjoong, Seonghwa, and Jongho, looked at each other with a silent agreement: make sure Minyoung doesn’t get too close with the rest of SF9 if they’re her type. If she’s going to be dating anyone then they have to get through at least the three of them before anything else.

All of the participants gathered inside the studio while waiting for the production staff to tally the results of Round 1 for both the expert’s evaluation and group evaluation. ATEEZ were seated beside iKON, a wish granted for the group as they all wanted to interact and get closer to their senior.

“Later..What time are you going?” Chanwoo asked Seonghwa who was seating beside him. 

“We’re probably going to go straight right after this finishes.” Seonghwa answered truthfully, Minyoung who also heard the question looked over, piping in “We still have a schedule around 8 today.”

Jinhwan nodded before asking “How many weeks has it been since the start of your comeback promotions?” at this the whole of ATEEZ had their full focus on iKON, a bit giddy for being able to talk with their idols.

Wooyoung immediately answering “The first week has ended so it’s the second week now.” to which Hongjoong adding in “We came back around the same time as sunbaenims.

“Ah but the choreography for Fireworks is really intense, how did you have the time and energy to do two performances together?” Jinhwan praised them, in awe and curious how they could manage to prepare for the round 1 stage while having to promote with such an intense song. ATEEZ laughed understanding what he meant but offering no comment.

“Were you the one who did the high notes?” Bobby asked Jongho beside him the latter nodding “Ah yes. I did it with Minyoung” motioning to the girl who bowed to the rapper. Bobby was smiling looking over the two vocalists when Jinhwan explained “Bobby said he became a fan.” 

“Ah. Thank you.” Minyoung surprised to hear the revelation bowed in thanks.

“Yeah really. Those high notes were just out of this world, more than the Kraken. For real..you’ll be first this time.” Bobby smiled as ATEEZ thanked them for the compliment.

Yunho taking in the opportunity to talk with iKON confessed that during their trainee period, everyone watched iKON’s performances and practiced their stages a lot. “That’s true. When we were trainees, during our monthly evaluations, everyone here did at least one iKON song for the test. We all did <Apology> and <Rhythm Ta> together.”

“That must have been tough.” Junhoe chuckled, thanking ATEEZ for liking their songs.

“How long has it been since your debut?” Bobby asked curiously

“We debuted in 2018.” Wooyoung answered

“Ah it has been a while. But it’s tough, isn’t it?” Bobby recalled his own experiences when they first debuted while ATEEZ just laughs awkwardly as they cannot deny that it does get tough. “When do you rest then?”

“When the promotion ends..” Jongho started trailing off, Hongjoong finishing the sentence for the maknae “When promotion ends, we get our breaks then.”

The continued to talk regarding promotions when Bobby suddenly asked them where their dorms are with Wooyoung readily describing the place making Bobby in particular excited as it is also near his residence. San invited him to visit the company sometime while Bobby agreed that he’ll drop by when he can.

“If there’s some time, it would be great to get a meal together.” DK suggested as all of ATEEZ agreed, excited at the idea.

“I’ll get your number sunbaenim.” Wooyoung shyly said making the rest of iKON chuckle and agree saying they should get each other’s contact number before they leave the studio today.

“I already have Minyoung’s number though?” Chanwoo confessed making his group members look at him in disbelief. “Yah. You didn’t tell us that though?” while ATEEZ looked at Minyoung who suddenly felt shy with all the attention she’s getting from both her members and iKON.

“We met through SF9′s Chani.” Chanwoo added in as the girl nodded.

“Ah but..we haven’t really talked after exchanging numbers.” Minyoung confessed shyly, wanting to hide herself or use Seonghwa as a shield. This information made both groups laugh, iKON acknowledging Chanwoo as a true insider for having celebrity friends outside of their company.

“That’s true. Sorry, let’s grab a meal together with Chani.” Chanwoo chuckled an apology. 

“Now we’re going to announce the results of Round 1 that you’re so curious about.” the MCs started while all the groups waited with bated breath. The atmosphere in the studio suddenly becoming tense as no one knew what criteria the experts used for their scores or who the experts were. They also didn’t know how the other groups voted. There were a lot of unknown factor in the show made it harder for the groups to anticipate the ranking for the round, particularly so since this is only 50% of their overall score.

Minyoung suddenly feeling nervous, held unto Wooyoung’s and Seonghwa’s hands, trying to get some comfort. She felt as if she’ll faint the longer it takes to announce the results. 

“Today’s first-place team will be given the authority to select the bracket for round two.” MC Changmin announced as all the groups gasp and commented that points aside, it’s a huge advantage to be able to do decide the bracket.

“I’m curious who the experts are.” Seonghwa wondered

As the MCs announced that all of the expert evaluation scores will be announce all at the same time, Minyoung closed her eyes tight mumbling “I cannot take this. Can you just tell me what the results are? I cannot watch. I’m too scared.”

“I’ll look for you.” Wooyoung patted the girls’ hand, giving it a light squeeze.

[What’s the result of the expert evaluation scores?]

As all of the members gasp, Minyoung who had her eyes closed asked scared “What is it?”

“Minyoung-ah, you can look.” Wooyoung let out a relieved sigh as ATEEZ placed first for the expert’s evaluation scores. At this, Minyoung peeked and immediately hugged the male in her joy. “I’m..reading it correctly right? We’re currently in first?” she asked as if in disbelief

“I’m actually relieved and glad that the things we wanted to do were actually conveyed properly.” Yunho confessed during the group interview.

As the results for the group evaluation were announced, Minyoung immediately hid behind Wooyoung scared that the rankings would change drastically.

[What will be the results of the teams’ evaluation?]

“ATEEZ you’re currently in first place. You wouldn’t want to step down. Do you think the others rooted for you?” the MC asked the group everyone nudged Jongho to answer for the team

“The eight of us finished our performance today without any regrets. Well...I’m not sure.” Jongho let out a laugh nervously as there really was no way to know how the other teams voted. Kingdom is still, after all, a competition. Everyone could have voted strategically to secure the points.

The MCs continued on with the show and as soon as the results were all announced, ATEEZ finally felt like they were able to breathe. They kept the number 1 spot even as the group evaluations were added in. Minyoung bit her lip trying not to cry as she felt the pressure lift off a bit. Seonghwa noticing it, rubbed circles on her back smiling at her. Minyoung turned to him and placed her head against his arm as she took deep breathes to calm herself down.

When asked how she felt during their interview “It just..It feels like our efforts were seen not only by the experts but also by the senior groups. We felt disappointed during the Introduction Stages so we steeled ourselves to do better and rise up the ranks but to actually be rewarded with the top spot just made me feel overwhelmed. It’s like hearing everyone say ‘good job today’ after a long day of hard work.”

“The past two weeks were really hard on us. All of the members has many moments when we were exhausted both physically and emotionally. One thing I can say confidently now that the results came out is that it was really hard, but we did our best. I think I can say that now.” Hongjoong concluded nodding

“We did well. ATEEZ is so lovely.” San adding in making the rest of the members smile, even Minyoung who was trying to fan her eyes with Jongho patting her back in comfort.

“Since we won first place, let’s take this energy and work hard to prepare for a great and fun performance.” Hongjoong declared before they did their team cheer “9 makes 1 team. Let’s do it!”

────────── ♔ ──────────

ATEEZ Minyoung Masterlist

Disclaimer: This is just a work of fiction. Any portrayal of real people is a combination based on what we could see on cameras and imagination of the author. This is purely fan fiction written for entertainment. Thank you for understanding.

━━━━━━ʕ ˵• ₒ •˵ ʔ━━━━━━

Writing Beary Corner

I seriously wanted to cry when I had to rewrite this because the site ate my drafted one. I don’t think I was able to capture the initial feeling anymore and it definitely got a whole lot shorter after rewriting but I tried to at least..make it a bit decent.  Again, I have already drafted posts up to the Reborn stage but Kingdom “episodes” would be slowly posted to avoid spoilers for the people who haven’t watched it yet. 

Thank you and I hope you enjoy reading this!

-Mimi

15

#kpop scenarios #kpop reactions #ateez scenarios #ateez 9th member #ateez au #ateez oc #kpop oc #kpop au #ateez minyoung #park minyoung #minyoung masterlist #writing beary

[lilietsblog]

so I watched Encanto last night with my friend

AND IT’S AWESOME, GREAT, LOVELY AND I WANT TO WATCH IT AGAIN

details under cut

- the Spanish! I know enough to recognize individual words which I told my friend (and talked about the interesting diminutive-or-not choices of “Abuela” but “casita”), but not to understand when there were whole sentences and songs in it. The most annoying part? We watched with Russian subtitles bc my friend isn’t good at English BUT THEY DID NOT TRANSLATE THE SPANISH PARTS. AT ALL. What the FUCK subtitle makers????????

- oh my god character designs! Faces??? bodies??? people who look different and also like people? i am in LOVE with Mirabel’s face. And Luiza! And Abuela!

- (does Abuela have a name? If it came up I failed to remember it)

- so we took a break mid movie for dog need and while we were downstairs I talked about the movie as one does and I said “I wonder what Isabel’s problem is, her life seems the most fine out of all of them but she acts like she’s got nothing better to do than bully Mirabel, something’s wrong there” and my best guess was that she missed Bruno but well oh boy. Did I ever miss the obvious, quite well illustrating Isabela’s point.

- the vague af backstory has my respect. I’m assuming it’s referencing something specific that I don’t know about because I’m from Ukraine?

- THE SONGS. SO FUCKING GOOD. I love all disney musical numbers always but they really outdid themselves with this one

- so the whole song “we don’t talk about Bruno” was just lying and convincing themselves they don’t miss him af, huh. judging by the reaction when he was back

- Bruno is an AMAZING character. the way he is simultaneously very badass and hilariously awkward and superstitious and a little feral in this very specific and great way.

- speaking of which I love how the movie both presented the rats he lived with as adorable AND clearly agreed with Mirabel’s judgement of “you need to get the fuck out of here”. the rat using the toothbrush is adorable but maybe you need human company Bruno

- my god, every single character. so good. Dolores, Isabela, Luiza, Camilo, Pepa, Mirabel’s mom (who is the other character than Abuela whose name I don’t remmeber because Mirabel relates to them a specific way). Not to mention Mirabel and Antonio who are THE MOST precious. And Abuela! And the husbands! and the three kids!!! AAAAAAAA

- so I might have seen this on tumblr before but I really do stand by the conspiracy theory that Mirabel DID have powers and they were THE SAME AS ABUELA’S which is probably why she didn’t get her own door - cause there was already a door to that power! The power of the house itself! I’m pretty sure the house, while protecting and helping all inhabitants, communicated with and obeyed Mirabel in a way that it didn’t anyone else except for Abuela (who had priority over Mirabel there), particularly illustrated during the final climbing sequence where everyone else had to try and traverse the house normally but Mirabel just had a railing act as a ladder for her like that’s a normal thing to have happen

- my friend said that her power is to be the family therapist but no that’s just what she ended up having to do because she’s connected to the house and There Was Need For A Family Therapist and no-one else was doing it. it’s not a power it’s just what happens to kids in households that aren’t okay

- WOO HAPPY ENDING. I am SO glad it resolved the way it did, and also the best

- the community/village!!! I love that the whole miracle story came with saving the whole group and not just their family, and I love how the village was simultaneously innocent and complicit in the Madrigals’ problems, and I love how they came together to help fix their house at the end!!!

- Dolores my best most purest child who knew everything and kept her mouth shut but also absolutely spilled the beans during the proposal because sometimes you just have to go ‘fuck it’ and go feral

- Luizaaaaaaaaaaaa

- Isabel and her PLANT POWERS not flower powers THAT SONG WAS SO GOOD and I love how Mirabel transitioned from awkwardly trying to do Hug Magic with her to being an active participant in HELL YEAH GIRL YOU GROW THAT PALM and I love how Isabel instantly stopped being hostile to Mirabel the moment she grew her cactus because she presumably knew full well Mirabel was to blame for 0 of her problems and the minute she found another outlet she abandoned the bullshit

- Isabel continues to be covered in dye/paint/pigment for the remainder of the movie and fucking bless

- poor fucking Pepa???? My friend commented “how & why did they ever call that a blessing, really “we don’t say ‘curse’ in this house” huh?” Like it’s one thing to have weather powers but to have them tied to YOUR MOOD of all things??? God the poor woman

- ANTONIO’S STUFFED ANIMAL MIRRORING THE ACTUAL ANIMAL HE ENDS UP WITH I only caught on to this one when he gave the stuffed animal to Bruno!!!

- the capybara. stealth protagonist right there

- the whole thing is so pretty? like. just. it’s so colorful and good. i want to watch it again just for the visual snack

#encanto #disney #no i didnt pay for it what are you talking about #cartoons

[rottenbrainstuff]

I saw the Green Knight last night! (spoiler-ish discussion towards the end)

What a great big pile of stuff to think about. I haven’t been this surprised by a movie in a long time. It’s a very strange movie in almost every single way, incredibly interesting, and it’s received really glowing critical reviews. I’m torn though. Although it is a striking, strange movie, I feel a lot of the strangeness is style over substance, and amounts to strangeness for the sake of being strange, and I don’t think the movie is able to tie its themes up in the end to make a really emotionally coherent journey. It felt a bit like watching a student film (with a big budget), where it’s this totally fresh, exuberantly experimental thing that is so interesting and different… but needs a bit more polish on the plot to make it an actual story in its own right and not just a stylish experiment. A basic summary: if you want to see something totally different, this movie is for you, just don’t go in expecting an easy, polished Hollywood thriller.

Setting: gorgeous. It’s anachronistic medieval England, and despite the fact that it’s not trying to be historically accurate at all, oddly I feel it captures a better medieval vibe than anything else I’ve seen, period movie or medieval fantasy. At least in terms of the supernatural aspects??? The location: gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous, haunting shots of trees and forests and countryside. (why are there so many shots that are way too dark though?) Sound design: Amazing. Beautiful. I can’t remember a movie that made as much or as effective use of quiet. The scoring is incredibly strange, a mix of haunting vocals of medieval songs, and spooky thrumming sound design. Quite striking. Quite interesting. (the intertitles are an interesting idea but I think they could be more effectively integrated, especially in a movie with so much visual creativity - thinking of, for instance, the subtitle joke in The Man who Killed Don Quixote)

But let’s emphasize one thing very clearly: this movie is in a surrealist style, and that’s not going to be for everyone, it just isn’t. I think it either “clicks” with you, or it simply doesn’t, and that’s ok. I like surrealism. My brain gets it. It’s a fantastic way to tell a story, and creates ambiguity that means everyone who watches it takes away something different. And here, a surreal approach is SO suitable because it’s based on this very old… story, mythology, fairy tale, whatever you want to call it. These old stories do have a strange, absurd, surreal quality to them. It’s perfectly fine when a modern adaption smooths out the strange corners of a story into something that feels more familiar to a modern audience. But it is DELIGHTFUL to watch a movie instead try to embrace that strangeness. I’ve never seen a movie that felt as much like an old fairy tale as this one does. It’s delightful.

HOWEVER.

As I said I’m not 100% sure it all works in the end. It’s a movie that looks absolutely gorgeous, certainly. It’s a movie that is different in almost every way from every single Hollywood movie I’ve seen in years and years, certainly. But without a stronger focus and ESPECIALLY a much tighter ending, I feel it really loses itself in its own strangeness sometimes, and becomes a series of very cool scenes that are fun to think about… but not really a solid story that people will go away talking about. And that is a huge, huge shame, because there IS a strong story in there that wanted to be told, that could have been told with just a little bit more finesse.

And here’s my last big surprise with this movie (spoiler discussion below):

This movie subverts the plot of the original story in an extremely interesting way, but here’s the dealio: I think this movie relies on the audience being familiar with the original plot. Although I don’t know for sure, I would be willing to bet that a significant portion of the audience will not be. I would say probably even the majority. The only reason I actually know the plot of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is that it was a story included in a book I bought for my kids a few years ago. So like. First of all, how can you effectively subvert a story, if a portion of the audience doesn’t even know how it differs? Maybe that’s fine in the end. Even if that’s fine though, there’s like. Great! Big! Huge! Plot points!!! that do not get explained or addressed! There will be a lot of people who have no idea that in the original story, the lord Gawain stays with is actually the Green Knight, who has been transformed by magic. His entire stay there is going to have an ENTIRELY different context to someone who has no familiarity with the story. The Lady’s brilliant and disturbing monologue about how she hates green and what the colour represents to her will have an extra layer of significance for a viewer who knows she is talking about her husband, and what that says about their relationship. The belt! The freaking green belt!!! It is extraordinarily surprising that Gawain decides to take it off at the end! If a viewer doesn’t understand exactly what the belt is supposed to do, that it DOES really, literally protect him and he absolutely WOULD survive the axe blow with it, would they understand how significant it is that he decides to take it off?

I think you COULD make a movie that doesn’t require the audience to know the story… I think you COULD make a movie where the two audience groups will have two very different experiences and each experience will be satisfying in its own way… I just think they didn’t pull it off in this case.

So.

I think there’s a really great story hiding in here about what makes an honorable man, what makes a meaningful life, and how a real man may or may not compare to a fairytale hero. I think there is a very very interesting and very different movie here that was really delightful to see, in a time when movie studios are churning out the same slick and safe formulaic crap. I think it has great performances, great production values. I just can’t necessarily say that it is a *good* movie.

#movie nerdery #the green knight

[echo-bleu]

hello! I saw one of your previous asks and I was wondering if I could ask you for some writing help too! I have an autistic character that i love, but I'm not sure how to convey that this character is autistic in a way that feel aunthentic and organic instead of stereotyped, specially since she's a girl and I haven't seen many (accurate) representations of autistic girls in the media. I've seen videos about autistic people and they've been very helpful on what not to do, but + I would still love

to get some of the 'do's' what i have so far is that she has a Fixation on the sea, she has a hard time reading sarcasm and/or emotions in others, and she has an overall seemingly 'detached' personality (even if I wouldn't call her that, since she cares about the people she loves, she's just bad at putting it into words). I jsut want to make sure i'm on the right path! thank you so much for listening and I hope this is not a bother!

Hi Anon! I’m not bothered at all and I’m happy to answer this kind of ask. As always, I can only speak for myself, but I’ll try to give you a few pointers. (The previous ask mentioned is this one.)

First, it’s lovely to hear about an autistic girl! I’m not sure if you’re speaking about an adult or a child/teenager, but either way, it can be interesting to read about how autism can look a bit different in women. The gender distinction that has often been made is something I don’t agree with because I feel that it’s an unnecessary shortcut, but a number of autistic people, in majority women and people socially perceived as female, learn to “adapt” more to neurotypical standards by masking their autistic traits a lot, and might not be detected as autistic until adulthood. Masking takes a lot of energy, which can translate as feeling “socially exhausted” all the time and lead to burnout. This article list traits that can be found that are less common and obvious. It is far from perfect imo, but it can give you new ideas!

You didn’t really say if your character is a main or a side character (which changes the amount of detail you’ll want to go into) but so far to me you seem to be on the right track! Having a hard time reading people is something a lot of us struggle with. It might not just be sarcasm, btw, understanding metaphors and jokes can also be hard. That doesn’t mean that she doesn’t have a sense of humor: it’s entirely possible to be able to use sarcasm and struggle with noticing it when it comes from other people, and a lot of autistic people have a very developed and specific sense of humor that can be seen as odd.

The “detached” personality is something you may have to handle with care because lack of empathy is a harmful stereotype. Maybe look up the difference between cognitive and affective empathy. Some of us do struggle with empathy, many of us struggle with expressing it in a way that’s comprehensible to neurotypicals, but it doesn’t mean that we lack it. It’s fine for your character to struggle with it, but be careful that she doesn’t end up seeming cold/robotic if she’s not the POV character.

Now for some “do’s”: I’m only going to talk about autistic traits here and assume that you’ve fleshed her out with an actual personality outside of her autism, just like you would any other character.

- I agree that it has to come up organically, but it would be a lot better in terms of representation to make her explicitly autistic, ie use the word autistic. It doesn’t have to be at the beginning of the story. If you’re in a fantasy setting or for some other reason you can’t use the actual word, then describing something like neurodiversity would be a good way to make it explicit. In fanfic, I personally think that tagging “autistic [character]” is enough if the fic is short(ish) and the word isn’t used in the story but the character’s autism is fairly clear, but in an original story, you don’t really have that possibility.

- Something I like to do when coming up with original autistic characters is to choose a few specific stims from them, that regularly come back in my descriptions. It falls under the same umbrella as choosing mannerisms, it gives characters their own specific flavor. You can choose a happy stim, a nervous stim and a bored stim, for example. Autistics stim a lot and in a lot of ways, but I think most of us have a few stims that come back often. It can be things like chewing on a toy/finger, flapping in a specific way, rocking on their heels, twirling hair, fidgeting with a toy or jewelry.

- Sensory differences. It’s also something that you can choose for your character: maybe she likes to listen to music very loudly, and often speak a little too loudly, or on the contrary she’s hyperacusic. She might wear sunglasses outside, or need lights on all the time. She might need subtitles to understand a movie, or be super distracted by sparkly things. She might not make eye contact, or make it too much, or seem to make it by looking somewhere close to the person’s eyes. She might find touch painful or difficult, or seek it constantly, or both (can depend on the moment, how tired she is, or if she trusts the person).

- Like I’ve said before, meltdowns/shutdowns are a delicate thing to portray if you’re not autistic yourself, but overloading can and does happen without going all the way to either of them. It’s actually fairly frequent, and happens when there is too much sensory (or emotional) stimuli at the same time or a too long day or something. From the inside, it can look like struggling to think, feeling like your skin is crawling, feeling like everything is too much, and struggling to initiate actions/figure out the steps to do something. From the outside, it can look like the person is rejecting touch, needs to isolate themself, is irritated, might struggle to speak/be very quiet. As long as the character isn’t mocked for their behavior, I think it’s something you can portray without too much risk.

- A specific interest about the sea is a nice idea! The sea is a very large subject, though, so she’ll probably have a predilection for some things. Is it water currents? Fish species? Underwater plants? Beaches? There’s a lot of options to choose from here.

- Maybe think about co-occuring conditions, because most of us have at least one. Some are very hard to distinguish from autism itself, like dyspraxia or ADHD, because they’re linked or similar to autistic traits. A lot of us are also disabled in some other way:  for example there’s a clear (though unexplained) link between autism and hyperflexibility, which can lead to joint pain, gut issues and chronic illnesses like EDS. Many of us have mental illnesses, growing up autistic in this world is honestly traumatizing and it’s hard to find autistics without some kind of C-PTSD or anxiety (on that subject, this post points out that the current diagnostic criteria can probably only diagnose traumatized autistic people anyway).

- A pretty good portrayal of an autistic girl (and to my knowledge the only one where the actor is also autistic) is Matilda in Everything’s Gonna be Okay. I didn’t actually watch until the end and I’ve been told the last episode isn’t great, but the start was pretty good. She’s a teenager, and at one point gets a girlfriend who is also autistic and has a service dog. In Elementary, while Sherlock is only autistic-coded, there is at one point (season 4 I believe) a recurring character named Fiona who I thought was a pretty good portrayal as well. She’s an adult, and she’s stereotypical in some ways but it’s better than most portrayals I’ve seen or read.

I would advise you to have a look through the blog @cripplecharacters. They answer asks about disabled characters, and I know they have answered a number of questions about autism and have at least one autistic mod. Their answers are usually very interesting!

#Anonymous #asks #autism #actually autistic #autistic characters #writing resources #disabled characters

[fleetingpieces]

My One in a Million Chapter 3

Well, this took longer than anticipated! Somehow I kept rewriting this cause it wasn’t turning out how I wanted it to, but it’s here! And to compensate for the wait, it’s slightly longer than the other chapters :D

Thank you Nayla and @inloveoknutzy for proof reading and your help, I love you guys 😊

And thanks again @lumosinlove for your amazing characters and universe, quite a few of them make an appearance today!

Wether you celebrate christmas or not, I hope you all had a wonderful day ❤️ Enjoy!

CW: Mention of past hospital stay and mild panic attack. Please look after yourself  ❤️ (If you want to skip that part stop reading at the end when it says “Remus trailed off, his voice dying down.” and start again when it says “He stood up suddenly.”)

Chapter 3 - Halloween

The slap of Remus' feet against the ground was a steady beat in the morning air. The cool breeze fanning his face felt refreshing, fully waking him up as he and Lily made their way between the trees in the park.

Remus had always been used to jogging alone, but since Lily had started going to his clases she was quickly becoming a very good friend, and spending time with her was something he really enjoyed. They liked going out for coffee and talking a lot, and Remus had already learned quite a bit about her: she wasn't really dating Sirius, but a guy named James, who was Sirius' best friend. She lived just a few blocks from his apartment building, worked in a bookshop not too far from there, and was one of the most kind and cool people Remus had met so far. She reminded him a bit of Leo in that aspect.

She was also incredibly stubborn.

"You are coming to the party tonight, right?" 

Remus groaned. He'd hoped Lily would have forgotten about it in the past two weeks, but clearly he'd underestimated Lily Evans' will power when she got something in her mind.

"I told you already Lils, he and I don't get along very well."

Contrary to Lily’s, his relationship with Sirius was only getting worse. They’d run into each other a couple of times, and it was always a very tense affair; Remus ignored him as best he could, and Black had not teased him again but had gone back to being a grumpy jerk. After Lily's insistence, he'd told her why he was against being anywhere near her friend, all the annoying things he did, but he didn't add that he had made a complete fool of himself in front of Black and that there was no way he would willingly show his face into his home.

Lily sighed, "I know, but it's not been a good month for Sirius. I'm sure you guys would get along great if you met under different circumstances."

"Maybe," Remus conceded, although he wasn't so sure about that, "but I have plans with Leo already, and I haven't seen him since he helped me move in."

That was longer than they usually spent apart, but it couldn't be helped. Leo was studying and he lived a bit far away, which made everything more complicated. But he would be arriving in a few hours to stay over for the weekend; they were gonna walk around, grab pizza at Sid's and then they would do a horror movie marathon. And even if Remus enjoyed Lily's company deeply, he'd much rather spend Halloween in the comfort of his own house with his best friend, than in a party full of strangers and with a man that made him feel embarrassed and on edge all at once. Remus wasn't used to having his emotions all over the place like this, not since his last boyfriend. He didn't like being reminded of how he’d felt then.

Raising her hands in surrender, Lily dropped the subject without another word, which surprised but pleased Remus greatly. He didn’t think he could have kept giving her excuses without explaining the whole situation to her.

He should have known better than to think it would be that easy.

That evening, he was coming back home with Leo after stuffing their mouths with the best pizza ever, pineapple of course, still catching up to what he’d missed in the past few weeks.

"How’s your mum, Leo?"

"Oh God, I swear since you left both our mums have gotten worse. They get together all the time, gossiping and baking. It’s like they are our age again. And your mum’s convinced you’re seeing someone," Leo said with a smirk.

"You and I both know that my dog is the only one around here that I’m seeing," Remus rolled his eyes.

They stepped into the entrance hall, saying hi to the concierge at the front desk with a smile. The man smiled back, but he looked tired. More so than usual, and it wasn’t even that late, which struck Remus as weird, but he figured working night shifts must take its toll on someone.

It wasn’t long before they were on the lift going up, but it was only when the doors opened on Remus’ floor that they heard the deep bass notes coming from the end of the corridor.

“What the…” Leo muttered in surprise.

Remus frowned as they walked into the hall, passing by a few people in costumes with drinks in their hands who were chatting excitedly, and a couple making out next to Remus’ door.

“I can’t believe this. What’s the deal with that guy, how did he manage to get the administration on board with this?”

“What the hell is going on?” Leo asked, clearly confused.

“Halloween party,” Remus replied, trying to keep his blood from boiling. He hadn’t thought it would be such a big party, he wasn’t even sure they were allowed to do something like this. He was pretty positive the building’s rules were against it. Maybe Black had bribed someone. “He could have at least warned me that it would be this bad,” Remus said grumpily, eyeing the couple by his door like he was ready to shove them aside.

Leo must have noticed this, ‘cause a second later he patted Remus’ back and fetched the spare keys Remus had given him.

“C’mon, let’s go inside.”

Using his smile, and patience that Remus didn’t have right then, Leo got rid of the lovebirds and was about to put the key in when Remus glanced around and saw Lily leaning against the wall at the end. She looked amazing in her Rosie the Riveter costume that exposed her lean arms and legs, and was talking with one of the guys that Remus had seen wandering around the building. She was making big gestures with her hands when she looked up and locked eyes with Remus.

“Fuck.”

Leo turned around to look at him quizzically just as Lily screamed “Remus!” and started making her way over to them.

The man next to her followed behind. He was wearing a white and gold toga that barely covered his thighs and showed a lot of his broad chest, with golden bands on his forearms and sandals.

Remus heard the sound of keys crashing against the floor, and looked up to see Leo’s slightly wide eyes and open mouth as he stared at the two people getting closer to them. He coughed pointedly and Leo blinked again and bent down to pick up his keys as a flush started creeping up his neck. Oh, how he would tease him for this. 

But that was for later, right now he had to deal with a grinning Lily Evans.

For half a second he considered just going inside and avoiding all of this, but he couldn’t do that to Lily, and it was already way too late to pretend he hadn’t seen her.

“Hey, you’re here! How was your dinner?” 

Remus wondered if she’d been waiting outside just to catch him, but she seemed genuinely happy to see him, and he couldn’t help smiling back at her.

“It was great, thank you. Leo and I were just gonna go chill for a bit, so…” he threw a thumb over his shoulder, pointing at his flat, but Lily tilted her head up to focus on Leo and her eyes got a knowing look that couldn’t be good.

“Hi, I’m Lily, and this is Logan,” she smiled coyly as she placed a hand on the man’s shoulder who, Remus noticed, was alternating between staring at Leo and down at the floor; but he smiled warmly when Leo gave him a shy wave.

“Salut! Are you guys joining the party?” he said with eager eyes, and it was then that Remus managed to place Black’s accent, as it was so similar to Logan’s. French. He had to fight not to groan.

“Ah, sorry, but well,” Remus said vaguely, “we don’t really have costumes.” It was a lame excuse and he knew it, but it was the first thing he could think of. Leo snapped his eyes to him, a conflicted scowl settling on his face.

As expected, Lily waved a dismissive hand, “costumes are not mandatory. C’mon, I promise you’ll have fun.”

It felt like all three of them were staring at him with pleading eyes now, and Remus had no idea why. Well, he had an idea in Leo’s case, but still. Remus glanced at his best friend and could read his face as if it had subtitles. Please, Remus, just for a bit? Remus raised an eyebrow in response, and Leo turned on the puppy eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Logan almost choking on his drink.

“Ugh, fine, I guess we could stop by for a bit.”

Clapping her hands happily, Lily guided them over to the front door and opened it for them. Meanwhile, Remus was taking a deep breath, wondering how the fuck he could keep a straight face and not die from embarrassment.

Inside, there were more people going about, a table full of cups and all sorts of bottles where Lily immediately fixed them with drinks, and some music on the background that a few people were dancing to. Overall, it wasn’t as wild as it seemed from the outside.

The main crowd appeared to be gathered around an entertainment center in the living room, where there was a huge TV surrounded by a big and comfy looking couch, and a few too-huge armchairs. There were people sitting on them, on the floor, and perched on the arm and backrests; and among all of them Remus saw everyone he’d ran into in the previous weeks. Logan went straight to sit next to the redhead, who had a controller in his hands that he was tapping furiously, as he was taking part in a fighting game.

Remus didn’t pay much attention to them though, ‘cause he’d spotted Sirius in the room and stopped short at what he saw.

Sirius' costume was simple but effective. He was wearing jeans that seemed barely able to contain his powerful thighs, a white tank top splashed with blood, dog tags hanging around his neck, a cigar between his pink lips and fake blades sprouting from his knuckles. It went without saying, he made a very enticing Wolverine.

But that was not why Remus couldn’t tear his eyes away —at least not the main reason why. Black was sitting right next to the guy in glasses, who was leaning into him, whispering something in his ear as he played the game, with his eyes still on the tv screen and his fingers flying over the controller. Sirius was laughing freely at whatever the guy was saying, head thrown back and eyes crinkled, which was something Remus had not seen before.

And it took his fucking breath away.

Black was always so serious, barely any expression on his face, but now he was shaking his head, looking at the other guy with such unmasked fondness, that Remus felt a spark of curiosity light inside of him.

But then Sirius looked up, frowned, and the spark died.

He watched as Sirius’ eyes travelled down his body and then slowly all the way up, and Remus swore he saw something in his face before his scowl deepened. Suddenly feeling extremely self conscious of his big comfy jumper and fitted jeans, Remus bunched the sleeves to hide his hands, worrying the hem. He started turning around to go somewhere else, already thinking of ways to escape from the party, but Lily put a hand on both his back and Leo’s and guided them exactly to where Sirius was sitting on one of the armrests.

“What’s this, Lily?” the man said in an accusing tone, setting the cigar down on the table in front of him.

Lily just rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on, don’t be such a party pooper. Remus lives next door, I just thought it would be good if you two actually got to know each other like two civilized people. And y’know, introduce him to the gang, so he doesn’t freak out every time they invade your home.”

“Wait, how do you know him?” the guy in glasses suddenly looked up.

“Oh, he’s the teacher in my new yoga class.”

“Why is this the first time I’m hearing about this?” he pouted, and Remus figured this must be James. He was proven right when Lily smiled at him, going over and sitting in his lap. The game was suddenly forgotten; James didn’t seem to mind that he was now losing very quickly.

“Pots, focus!” someone yelled, but James only had eyes for Lily as she leaned in and kissed him.

“Are you worried?” she teased.

James scoffed. “Of course not. I trust you with my life Lils, but it’s such a weird coincidence.”

“Wait, no no no! Oh, come on!” There were laughs all around as the redhead next to Logan threw the controller down and turned to mock glare at Lily and James. “Lily, what did I tell you? Don’t distract him when he plays on my team!”

“Stop crying and pay up, O’Hara!” a guy from the other team yelled, before giving a high-five to his partner.

Between all the ruckus and bickering that followed, a tall girl with curly blond hair came to stand next to them with a curious look. 

“Who’s this?”

“Oh yeah,” Lily sat up, getting the attention of the whole room. “Everyone, these are Remus and Leo. Remus is Sirius' new neighbor, so be nice to them!”

Remus laughed awkwardly at the motherly introduction and pulled at a loose thread on his sleeve. “Thanks Lily. It’s nice to meet you all.”

"Hello," Leo smiled brightly, earning himself a dopey smile from the boy next to Logan.

The blond girl that had approached them smiled a wicked grin, “you guys just stepped into the lion’s den. I’m Marlene, by the way. These are Talker and Kasey,” she said pointing to the pair that had just won. The guy named Talker smiled broadly, but didn’t wink at Remus like he had the first time they had seen each other. “And the sore loser over there is Finn.”

“Hey! It’s not my fault Pots has the attention span of a two year old!”

There were a lot more people sitting around, whose introductions were lost under the chirping war that ensued as the guys put in a new game. Remus’ face lit up when he looked up at the screen.

“Is that the new NHL game?”

Most heads turned his way, and the guy that was changing games even stopped in the middle of the action as if Remus had just announced to the whole room that he wanted to dance around naked.

“Yeah, do you play?”

It was Sirius that had asked, which surprised Remus since it was the first thing he’d said directly to him since he’d entered the room. Black looked surprised, his body completely turned to face Remus as opposed to the sideway glances he’d been throwing his way.

“I’ve been thinking about buying it for a while, but I’ve never tried it before. I loved the previous version though.” At Sirius’ shocked expression, Remus raised an eyebrow, “Is it so weird that I enjoy playing video games?”

“No,” Sirius choked out, and then cleared his throat. “No. It’s just that we don’t usually meet people that seem so eager to play with us rather than getting buzzed out of their minds.”

Remus scoffed, “I very much prefer this type of party to be honest.” His thought was echoed by laughs and nods of agreement all around.

Settling more comfortably on the couch, Sirius removed the fake claws and bent down to grab a controller, turning to offer it to Remus. “Play with me?”

The guys in the room looked at each other in a way that Remus thought was a bit suspicious, which made him narrow his eyes at Black, who rolled his and waved the remote between them. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I don’t bite y’know.”

Remus stared into those silver eyes and was lost for a second. There was a fire burning in his gaze, he seemed more earnest than he’d ever seen him before. In that moment, Remus forgot that this was the guy he was trying to avoid, the one that got his emotions in complete disarray, and he absentmindedly took the control in his hands before sitting down next to Sirius. Leo sat at his other side, slapping him on the back.

“Kick his ass, Loops.”

Finn’s head lifted at the same time that Remus turned to grin at Leo, and Remus had to keep in a chuckle. Boy, Leo was really getting some attention tonight.

Sirius chose to play with Pittsburgh, while Remus chose Dallas, and before Remus could properly think about what he was doing, the game had started.

For the first few minutes, Sirius controlled the pace and took the lead with a smug expression on his face, punching the buttons almost lazily. The corner of Remus’ mouth quirked up. Sirius was good, really good, but he was too conceited, and soon he would regret that.

Indeed, right after that, Remus scored a goal and Sirius’ face dropped. Leo whooped, giving him a high-five while Sirius sat forward and leant on his elbows, his eyes set on the TV. It was a very heated deal after that.

Both of them fought like it was a life or death sort of situation, bumping their shoulders occasionally and chirping each other as if they were actually on the ice.

“Don’t you think Sirius looks an awful lot like Letang?” a shocked James whispered into Lily’s ear, but everyone around heard him.

“Oh wow, that’s terrifying,” Finn was looking from the screen to Sirius’ face with wide eyes.

Remus snorted, and he was surprised to realize he was actually enjoying himself. If he was being completely honest, he hadn’t had so much fun with anyone other than Leo in a really long time; it was hard to keep the wide grin from his face as he started catching up to Sirius.

“C’mon Rem, you almost have it,” Leo encouraged when they were tied.

Sirius threw a side glance their way with a frown, just as Remus shot the puck and scored another goal. The game finished not too long after with a scream of “Yes!” from both Remus and Leo, who laughed together and hugged each other, Remus giggling when Leo ruffled his hair.

“Finn...dimples,” Remus heard the whisper from somewhere in the room and looked up to see who’d said it, but was instead met by a disbelieving gaze. Sirius was almost gawking at him, his eyebrows raised and mouth slightly open, but his eyes were bright and Remus ducked his head when he felt the heat rise in his cheeks.

Then he glanced around and realized that other people in the room were staring at him in different states of wide eyes.

“What?”

Finn was the one to break the short silence, “Just...bitch ass moves, Remus.”

That prompted an onslaught of questions.

“How did you do that?”

“None of us has ever beaten Sirius in that game before.”

“What do you do again?”

Remus looked at Talker, rubbing the back of his neck, “Um. I’m a PT and a yoga instructor.”

"Well, shit," Talker nodded approvingly. Remus supposed he didn’t really look like a gamer, but he didn’t get what the fuss was all about.

“He’s pretty famous too, a lot of people are waiting in line for his classes,” Leo added with a note of pride in his voice.

“Oh!” Remus turned to look at Kasey, who had his eyes trained on him. “That’s where I know you from! My girlfriend Natalie is obsessed with your videos. She says you’re a great teacher, and not at all bad to look at,” he said with a straight face.

Remus’ cheeks flushed a deeper red in a matter of seconds and he looked down to avoid everyone’s gazes. Especially those grey eyes that seemed to look into his soul.

“Mon dieu, il y a des vidéos?” Sirius muttered, making Leo laugh. Sirius’ head snapped towards him, his eyes widening as Leo replied something in french with a smirk etched on his soft features, something that Remus didn’t understand but it made Sirius choke on his words.

“What’s that?” Remus asked, but Leo only shook his head, still laughing, before his eyes drifted off and found Finn and Logan staring at him. A blush appeared on his cheeks, and Remus could practically hear the other two boys swooning.

There was a deep scowl on Sirius’ face again, who was still very much staring at Remus. Was it because he didn’t like Remus? Or because he didn't like losing? What a sore loser, Remus thought, but he felt squirmish under that gaze. Why is he still staring at me?

But then he saw Black glancing at Leo’s pride bracelet, his expression going harder. Oh God, that would be the cherry on top if he was a homophobic, wouldn’t it? He was about to ask if he had a problem, but someone spoke first.

“I believe the word used was hot,” Natalie’s voice drifted in as she suddenly appeared in the doorway. Remus pulled a face at her.

“Nat, you can’t just go saying those things!”

“What? It’s true,” she shrugged. “I mean, I won’t if it bothers you, but that aside, you’re definitely better than half the people out there.”

James threw his hands in the air impatiently. “I still can’t believe you beat Pa-” he started, but was interrupted by a death glare and he cleared his throat, “Sirius. I can’t believe you won against Sirius.” Then a mischievous smile slowly spread on his face. “I mean, Remus, you could probably beat that Padfoot guy, and he does that for a living.”

Remus snorted, “as if. There’s no way I could ever beat Pads.”

He saw eyebrows being raised, and the scowl completely disappearing from Sirius’ features, to be replaced by a perplexed expression.

“You...you know about him?” he asked, with such awe in his voice that Remus frowned.

“I...yes? I’ve followed his channel since before he got famous,” he shrugged.

“Isn’t that interesting?” James said with a smirk, turning to look at Sirius, who punched him in the arm. James’ smile just widened and Remus’ frown deepened as he continued, "I wonder what you could possibly like about him."

“I personally think that Padfoot is a stuck-up,” Logan said off-handedly, ignoring the daggers Sirius was shooting his way.

“Yeah, he thinks he’s all that, but he’s a bit annoying really,” Finn added, barely keeping in the laughter.

Leo raised his eyebrows, glancing sideways at Remus when he noticed him tensing up, his fists clenching.

“That’s a load of bullshit,” he finally said, causing the laughter to die down. “Padfoot built himself from the ground up, he didn’t have any outside help. And he’s not a stuck-up! Even in the face of all the nonsense criticism he gets, he helps a lot of people in all sorts of situations without even...” Remus trailed off, his voice dying down. He felt like he’d been thrown underwater. He stared off at nothing, his eyes getting slightly unfocused as he tried to think solely of breathing, but he couldn’t avoid being suddenly thrown into a memory.

The cold bed with rumpled sheets. The beeping of his own heart in the hospital machine. His mum’s painting on the nightstand. The smell of antiseptics and dull walls closing in on him. Not being able to get air into his lungs.  A retreating back, walking away from him. Being left alone, alone alone al–

He stood up suddenly, finally taking a shaky breath in.

“I should go check on my dog.” Leo glanced his way, and Remus gave him a reassuring smile, “You can stay if you want to. You have the keys.” He gave him a little nod to convey the answer to Leo’s unspoken question. I’m fine, don’t worry.

Remus turned around and exited the room with a dull ‘bye’, completely unaware of Sirius’ utterly soft expression as he watched him go.

#wolfstar #wolfstar fic #My One in a Million #Sweater Weather #sweater weather lumosinlove #Remus Lupin #Sirius Black #sirius x remus

[eagles-translated]

Analyzing the writing of Eagles

Here's a post I've been wanting to make for a while! I've expressed my thoughts on some of the storylines in previous posts, but I've never done a complete post on the writing of the whole show. I've divided this post into separate parts, focusing on each season and its plot points. Keep reading to see my analysis of the writing in Eagles! 👇 Word Count: 18k

If you've stumbled upon this post from the Young Royals or the Beartown tag (tagged them since I've drawn some parallels from those shows), here's a brief summary of what Eagles is, which you can watch with English subtitles here. This post contains Eagles spoilers from 1x01 - 3x10.

Eagles is a Swedish TV show that revolves around a few teenagers living in the Swedish ice hockey town Oskarshamn while experiencing friendship, love, and rivalry on the ice.

To start this off I would like to say that I have no experience with professional screenwriting and if anything, this is just a way for me to procrastinate on actually writing my own projects.

I love experiencing new stories and when I discover one I really like it's just natural for me to branch off with "what ifs" and to start wondering how the story would've turned out if some things were changed. Sometimes it's with a storyline improvement in mind, and other times it's just out of plain curiosity.

You might feel like this post is leaning towards the critical side, and I can definitely understand why since there are a lot of small details that I've picked apart from all seasons. I added a section for each season with things that I thought were really well done so this post wouldn't be too negative.

I actually did enjoy all seasons and I feel like the quality of not just the writing but every single thing has steadily increased each year.

Season 1: Tropes and clichés

Eagles premiered its first season in 2019 and was, despite many negative reviews, a big success among its target audience. Every episode on SVT Play amassed around 700 000–800 000 views and there didn't seem to be any doubt that the show would get renewed.

What the critics had issues with were that "Eagles rarely takes the unexpected path, and feels like a slightly soulless product of studied target group thinking a little too often," (Karolina Fjellborg in Aftonbladet) and "In Eagles, the characters seem to be locked in the role of a "teenager" but the humanity is missing. They've simplified the construction of the character," (Django Lorentzson in MovieZine).

Eagles was unfortunate enough to constantly be compared to SKAM in its infancy, and that's a tough comparison to live up to. SVT sort of shot themselves in the foot as they were the ones who contributed to it. While the show was still in the casting process, SVT wrote an article hyping the show up as a Swedish SKAM (which has since been edited, but led many to falsely believe that it would involve all the familiar SKAM characters with some hockey elements sprinkled in).

So, why exactly did critics think the first three episodes of the show were predictable and soulless? Well, it's pretty simple. They'd seen it all before. The setting, the characters, the storylines—just in different TV shows and movies.

Season 1 for me is nostalgic and very enjoyable despite its clichéd nature. I also felt like I'd seen the show before due to its generic storylines, but there is a reason why tropes are tropes and why clichés are clichés. It's because they're tried and true, and actually somewhat good writing tools as long as you expand on them. The keyword here is to expand—a story doesn't magically become good simply because you mimic something another writer has done. Tropes are fine to use but you can't just apply them and stop there. Everything in a story needs to be developed in order to be good.

It's safe to say that it's pretty much impossible to write a story without any tropes that have been used before. Striving to avoid clichés at all costs in hopes of making your story as original as possible is harder than it sounds, and almost impossible to boot. Here's a great piece of advice for aspiring writers written by a user on Carvezine:

[...] if you look down at your story and are worried it’s already been told before – don’t spend another second thinking about it. It has. A million times. The only difference is that it hasn’t been told by you. Accept that regurgitation is part of writing, and just do your best not to regurgitate the same way as the guy next to you. We’d all do well to acknowledge there is at least a portion of our stories that are really someone else’s. [...] Beyond that, write with the motivation that if you don’t get around to telling your story, eventually somebody else will.

Even the greatest books have storylines with some clichés. And that's not really a bad thing, either. Think about it. How many times have you decided to binge a TV show solely because it reminded you of another series? Or picked up a book simply because you love a good enemies to lovers romance, a battle between good and evil fantasy, or whatever it might be?

I found this article from Masterclass that perfectly describes what tropes are and why they're used. It's written from the perspective of novel writing but it is still applicable.

A trope in literary terms is a plot device or character attribute that is used so commonly in the genre that it’s seen as commonplace or conventional. For example, a trope in superhero stories is a villain who wants to take over the world. Tropes are popular for a reason—if something has been written about over and over again, there’s a good chance that it’s something readers enjoy reading! Tropes can be helpful, but a novel made up only of tropes will quickly start to feel stale and predictable to readers. That’s why you need to read up on tropes—and then innovate. Deliberately taking a favorite trope and turning it on its head is a great way to put your own unique spin on the genre and keep your readers interested.

Eagles, in its first season, didn't really do a lot of expanding upon the tropes they used and it's understandable that they were still trying to find their footing. I can also imagine it's difficult to do so when you only have eight 20 minute episodes in the season.

However... There definitely should've been more work put into these characters to make them their own. It's tricky, yes, but still achievable if you don't abandon them in their cookie-cutter form and try to actually decorate them with something unique and fresh.

So, how did they write their characters?

Felicia's character and backstory

To start off, Felicia is a famous influencer known for starring in a reality show next to her former NHL professional father. There's already a clear disconnect because it's hard to relate to a character with such a public past and large following. But it is 100% possible if you let the viewer know the character has humane qualities just like the person watching the show.

Look at Wilhelm from Netflix's Young Royals, another Swedish TV show. Wilhelm is the prince of Sweden, set to attend a prestigious elite boarding school, and is the heir to the throne. That doesn't exactly sound like a relatable scenario, does it? And yet the writers make it work because when we're introduced to Wilhelm we realize he's just like everybody else. He wants a normal life, he latches on to his older brother for support, he has anxiety, and he struggles between following his heart versus doing what his family is expecting him to do. A lot of these factors are relatable among the audience.

So, let's look at Felicia Kroon. She is in many ways portrayed as the main character of the show. Eagles starts off with her family having moved to Oskarshamn and the following episodes focus on her developing relationship with Ludde as well as her traumatic past. There's almost too much focus on Felicia here, and I'll get back to that.

Comparing Felicia to Wilhelm from Young Royals, they're both well-known teenagers with famous parents. Of course they have different circumstances considering Felicia is Instagram popular and Wilhelm is a blood royal, but in the grand scheme of things they're similar. Felicia is even referred to as a "Kroon princess" because of her last name Kroon bearing a resemblance to the Swedish word kronprinsessa, meaning crown princess.

The students of their respective schools treat their attendance as a big deal when they first arrive and then Wilhelm and Felicia start spending time with the "popular" crowd despite not really fitting in there.

I personally found it easy to relate to Wilhelm but difficult to relate to Felicia. Some people may feel differently, but her character is basically a popular party girl who attracts the attention of one of the school's star players and is "welcomed" by the popular crowd on her first day of school. I put welcome in quotation marks because Klara, the leader of the girl group, isn't exactly the most welcoming person but she does welcome Felicia to the school. My point is, Felicia doesn't have a lot of relatable traits in the first episodes.

Felicia then goes on a date with the guy she's met, Ludde. Okay, so there haven't been that many layers to her character yet. We're at the third episode and so far she's been kind of flat.

Near the end of the third episode, we get some depth to the character and we hear her back story.

Felicia: [...] We don’t have a good relationship, my dad and I. And that’s probably why we moved from the beginning, because he’s an idiot. We’ve never been close, but… Elias and he have been since they’ve had hockey. [...] And mom has been really involved, so… And I… They’ve never really cared about me. And… And I haven’t really been a problem either. I’ve had good grades, good friends, and… I don’t know why I’m telling you this. I don’t talk about it to people. [...] I just felt so fucking lonely and invisible. I was worried all the time, couldn’t sleep, panicked because I couldn’t sleep… So I started going out more. It went overboard. It started affecting school, my grades slipped… I started taking things to be able to concentrate. Everybody does stuff like that. And then I still couldn’t sleep, so… I started mixing with sleeping pills. And there’s always wine and booze at our place. I don’t want this to come out, that’s really important. Ludde: Of course, I’d never tell. Felicia: One night, something happened that made me… Act out of control more than usual. I woke up the next morning in the hospital. So they sent me to rehab. It was really rough for mom and dad that I was suddenly in focus. When I woke up, dad wasn’t even there. Ludde: What made you take too much that night? Felicia: I’d forgotten my phone at home, so I ran up and got it while my friends were waiting in an Uber. Then I came into the hall and I heard noises. You know, like, when somebody is doing it. Ludde: Okay. Felicia: And I thought it was really weird because mom wasn’t home. So I went into the living room… Dad was fucking my mom’s best friend. On the rug below the couch.

This gives Felicia more layers and does separate her from every other "popular pretty party girl" trope that you see on TV. But this is a huge info dump, and that's a problem. I would've liked to see this happen on-screen instead of only being told what went down. The golden rule of Show don't tell, as people like to say.

Show, don’t tell is a writing technique in which story and characters are related through sensory details and actions rather than exposition. It fosters a style of writing that’s more immersive for the reader, allowing them to “be in the room” with the characters. In his most commonly repeated quote, Chekhov said, “Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass."

This back story could've been more impactful that way if, perhaps, the show began with Felicia in a hospital bed with a strong headache and hazy flashbacks of that night where she saw her dad sleeping with another woman. Then we're introduced to her mother and brother sitting next to the hospital bed tired and worried, and Felicia notices her dad isn't present. They tell her Felicia is being sent to rehab and then there's a time-jump before we see the Kroon family having moved to Oskarshamn.

That's just an idea I threw together at the top of my head, but you get my point. It would've been more interesting if we knew from the beginning that Felicia had a traumatic past like this, leading the viewer to want to know more about what actually happened.

We did get a brief flashback at the very beginning of the show—we see Felicia partying with her friends and taking some pill before lying unconscious on the ground. There's also a glimpse of Ludde's car accident with Andreas yelling at him to get out of there.

That segment only lasts for around 45 seconds and it's easily forgettable upon your first viewing of the show. It's also hard to even recognize Felicia in the dark nightclub setting with the flashing lights. Some dialogue in that short scene could've made it more memorable, because I found that when I first watched season 1 I remembered Andreas yelling at Ludde despite that being drowned out by the music.

Ludde's backstory was way more well-done, in my opinion. We see him having crashed the car and bleeding from his head. He looks terrified and almost frozen by fear, needing to be pulled out of the car by a panicked Andreas yelling at him to bring Ludde back to the reality of the situation. We see Andreas yelling and pointing, telling Ludde he needs to run now. It's more powerful when we get to see it.

And in episode 8, when we learn the truth of what happened, it's not a long and dragged-out monologue. It fits into what's going on in the story. Felicia and Ludde have known each other for a few months now and are much closer than they were on their first date. They've had disagreements and fights, but at this moment they're in a good place.

And it feels like the right moment for Ludde to come clean about what happened to him.

Ludde: Hey… There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. Felicia: What? Ludde: About… My brother. It’s not really as everybody thinks. Felicia: What do you mean? Ludde: That night when he crashed… It wasn’t Andreas who drove the car. We were on our way home from one of his buddies. We’d had some fun drinking. And then… I’d just started learning how to drive. So I nagged and nagged at him. Felicia: So you were the one driving? But he’s an adult- Ludde: He was drunk as hell. He was going to leave the car, but I thought it was so cold and it was only three blocks away so I thought that I could drive. Felicia: And what happened? Ludde: It was slippery and really dark… And a car came. I hit the brakes in time, but it… Yeah. Right after he pushed me out of the car and yelled that I should run home straight away. He really didn’t want me to get into trouble. So, yeah… It was fucking bad luck. I want to just gather everybody and scream that it was me. Felicia: Hey… I love you. Ludde: I love you too. I love you so fucking much.

As Ludde is telling Felicia what happened as the other car came, we see a silent flashback of it along with Ludde's voice narrating. We see Andreas pulling him out of the car and yelling. Cutting to this scene that we've already seen in the beginning but might've forgotten about is a smart choice and makes the story Ludde is telling more real. We see it unfolding as Ludde is telling this to Felicia. It's a powerful scene.

We then see Felicia hugging Ludde from behind, a sign of support with no words needed. She tells him she loves him and Ludde says it back. It's an honest and sweet moment that comes at a perfect time in the story. It's not too early like Felicia's backstory was.

I sort of understand why Felicia's backstory was info-dumped because it was right before the drama of Mats accidentally spilling the beans to Klara's family. They wanted the audience to know what happened to her early, so they could move on to the plot point of Felicia thinking Ludde was the one who told everybody.

But we don't need every single detail of Felicia's story. Let it come organically. The only thing that was really needed was for Ludde to know that Felicia had struggled with drug use and was sent to rehab for this storyline to work. The reason why could've been saved for later, and it would've made for a more interesting reveal. Maybe just have Felicia allude to seeing something that night, but don't tell the viewers right away what it was.

In 1x06, Felicia is incredibly upset when she hears that her dad was the one who told Klara's family what happened to Felicia in the US. And rightly so.

Felicia: Don’t you get it? You ruined everything! Mats: What? Felicia: You told the whole damn town about me! About the US! Mats: I really didn’t mean to disclose you- Or disclose us. Sorry. Hey, sorry. Flisan, please. Hey. Felicia: Did you tell them you fucked mom’s best friend too? Yes, I saw you.

If this had been the moment where we first find out what Felicia saw, it would've been more surprising. Our reaction would've mirrored Mats's, and it would've been more heart-wrenching to know that Felicia was traumatized by an affair her dad had only to be cheated on herself in the very same episode.

Ludde's problematic nature

One of the scriptwriters of Eagles, Fanny Ekstrand, was interviewed in the behind-the-scenes documentary Edvins Skådisdrömmar. In this interview, she states:

Ludvig, he's the one who's been the easiest to retain the personality of. Because he's so... He's calm and friendly, but he makes dumb decisions. Ludvig isn't a typical hockey guy. He has a bunch of other qualities—music being one of them.

I found myself slightly disagreeing with this take, despite knowing Ekstrand is literally a part of the writing team and most likely helped shaped Ludde's personality. I just interpreted Ludde's character (at least in season 1) differently.

I also didn't find him that much different from any other typical hockey guy just because he happens to have another interest. That's a bit like saying Archie Andrews from The CW's Riverdale isn't a stereotypical jock because he also plays the guitar.

In season 1, we see Ludde break into the rink because he wanted to test out the ice. He just loves hockey that much. He also uses it as a way to express frustration and anger, which we saw in 1x05. He flirts with the new girl in school and in the beginning he even uses it as a tactic to gain a position on the main hockey team. This was confirmed by the creator Stefan H. Lindén in his Q&A, where he said:

My idea has always been that Ludde was blown away by Felicia and that he really likes her but that they both initially interacted and met to go swimming because Felicia knew it would piss her dad off and Ludde knew that it might throw Elias off since they were competing for the same position in the team.

I would say that the characteristics of a typical hockey guy would be someone like Adam—obsessed with the sport, flirting with girls, going to parties, and just spending a lot of time in the rink. Ludde checks off all of these points. However, I will give this the benefit of the doubt since season 2 Ludde seems to change a lot and it's easier to interpret him as the calm and friendly guy he was supposed to be in season 1.

So to me, Ludde wasn't calm and friendly at all. In season 2, yes, but when we're first introduced to him?

Ludde shows anger issues and violent tendencies in 1x05 when he head-butts Elias and breaks his nose. It's violent and messy. He then yells at Felicia to leave when she's trying to communicate with him and belittles her drug problems solely because she's rich. To me, Ludde wasn't a nice person in 1x04 either when he let his friends make suggestive comments about Felicia and what she was like in bed.

Omar: I can tell you one thing - you’re not borrowing my towel today cause I don’t know where that dick has been. Adam: It’s nice when she sucks, right? Omar: Can’t you tell us some more, does she bite you or is it just really, really nice? [...] Adam: Is that what you sound like when you’re coming? What does she sound like?

This was described as "locker room talk" and the writers probably wanted to show an authentic view of what being a hockey player is like. I understand that. But it's a little problematic when it's later swept under the rug and treated like something that we're just supposed to accept.

Elias: [...] it’s not very fun to sit in a hockey locker room where people are talking about how nice it is to fuck my sister. Felicia: Ludde would never say anything like that, you know that. Elias: He wouldn’t? It’s a locker room, Felicia. That’s the only thing they talk about.

It did not sit right with me how Felicia seemed to be the one Elias blamed in this scene, and Ludde and his friends never faced any real consequences for what they said. Elias did lash out at Ludde, but there was no severe consequence for Omar and Adam's comments.

Compare this scenario to another Swedish show, Beartown on HBO. Beartown is similar to Eagles and focuses on a hockey team in a small town with one of the star players hooking up with a girl who's recently moved to their small town.

This girl is raped by the hockey player. And because of his status as the star of the team, he has almost the whole school behind him. The girl however is labeled as a lying slut. It's unfair and frustrating to see it happen, but it's authentic and done in a way that doesn't glamorize the ugly side of hockey culture.

Eagles is not as dark as Beartown so this comparison might be a little unfair. Beartown's whole storyline did revolve around this incident while in Eagles the hockey culture is treated more as a side thought. It's like they decided to throw in a taste of what goes on in a locker room just to create drama without really addressing it further.

Beartown did a much better job of portraying the problematic and toxic elements of hockey culture without making it seem like it's just something normal that we should accept. It was honest and raw. If you haven't seen the show, this short video does a great job of depicting how much thought was put into the toxic hockey culture, winning mentality, and subsequently hockey players thinking they're entitled to do whatever they want.

So, to respond to Ekstrand's quote from Edvins Skådisdrömmar—I did not experience Ludde as a "good guy" who only makes dumb decisions at all. In season 1, he's a bad person for letting his friends sexualize a girl he likes and letting her brother hear their disgusting comments. He's a bad person for fighting with her brother and later yelling at her, saying her drug issues are insignificant despite acting supportive of her only two episodes earlier.

I don't mind conflicts like these because they drive the story forward. I didn't particularly like Ludde in season 1 because of the reasons I just stated, but they're necessary to create drama and make the show interesting.

It's just weird to me how one of the writers is saying that Ludde is a calm person and a good guy when that is not at all how I interpreted his character.

Eagles is a show targeted towards a young audience, among them probably a lot of easily influenced pre-teens. What kind of message does this send to them when the guy letting his friends sexualize a girl he's slept with and on top of that laughing at their inappropriate comments is referred to as the good guy?

Klara is mean... What else?

From the moment we're introduced to Klara, it seems obvious that she'll play a living and breathing version of the infamous Alpha Bitch trope. She's also a prime example of the basic Popular is Evil trope and has her own Girl Posse consisting of Sara and Amie.

Klara feels threatened by the arrival of a potential new popular girl, Felicia, and does everything in her power to bully Felicia to show dominance. She barely shows any good sides of herself.

The only instance I can think of where we sort of see season 1 Klara in a positive light is when she talks to Amie in 1x05 about their friendship and then accompanies Amie to her audition for the school band.

Klara: Ever since Felicia started at school… It’s felt like you only hang out with her and that you’ve forgotten about me. She like took you from me. Amie: But I haven’t forgotten you. Klara: No, but do you get what I mean? Amie: I get it, but I haven’t forgotten you. Klara: No, I know. Amie: I know, but it just turned out that way when school started. Klara: Okay. Amie: But I’m sorry. Klara: It’s fine. Amie: Are you sure? Klara: Yeah. You can make it up to me when you go on your world tour.

Klara is really supportive of Amie's musical endeavors, but she also uses her support as a way to alienate Felicia from the girl group. It's very on the nose and kind of feels suffocating in the way it's written.

Klara: Amie, did you remove the clips? Amie: Yeah, she said they weren’t good. Klara: She’s just jealous. It’s so obvious. I mean, I’m jealous. You sing absolutely amazing. I don’t know, I just think it was really rude of her to sit in the cafeteria and criticize you like that Amie: Yeah, maybe. But she apologized. Klara: But still. That clip of you in the bathroom… Like… Sorry, but I’d be so mad if someone had posted something like that of me. I mean, you were standing there without makeup, completely non-fixed up. And the whole thing with her filming you without you knowing. That’s really weird. You don’t do that. Don’t you think so?

I'm sure there are plenty of people who act like this in real life. And maybe that's part of the problem, because Klara in season 1 really isn't an interesting character. We've met this person before and we know exactly what she's like. There's nothing new to discover. So season 1 is essentially just Klara being petty and rude every chance she gets, and to me it felt like a large part of her character was written just to stir up drama.

In 1x06, we see Klara backstab Amie by filming her making out with Ludde at her Halloween party. But I thought it was established in 1x05 that Klara feels like Amie was taken from her? And if Klara actually cared about Amie and didn't want to lose her as a friend, she wouldn't just stand by and watch with her phone recording the whole thing. It doesn't make a lot of sense.

Klara even made that whole point about how it was really weird of Felicia to film Amie without her knowing. So why would Klara do it, when she expressed that's weird and not something a normal person does? Is that supposed to be foreshadowing? Because if so, that's a clear contradiction and not how foreshadowing works.

When Sara happens to see the video on Klara's phone she immediately says that Klara should delete it.

Sara: What is that? Did they know you were filming? Klara: No, of course they didn’t know. Sara: Oh my god, Klara. You should probably delete it. Klara: I’m going to! But it’s crazy, right? Sara: Yeah, god. But seriously, delete it. Klara: I’m going to.

So Klara says she's going to delete the video. But it's still unclear why it was filmed in the first place if Klara insists that she's going to delete it. It's not like she filmed it just to show it to Sara either, since Sara wasn't meant to see it and only saw it by chance while swiping through Klara's photos on her phone.

It doesn't make sense for Klara to film a video like that of her best friend that she's supposed to care about. It doesn't make sense for Klara to film a video of anybody without their knowledge when she previously made a big deal about how you shouldn't do that.

What Klara's character is, is a bad attempt at the classical mean girl. She's clichéd, boring, and full of tropes.

Even her eventual character development is riddled with tropes like the Heel Realization where a character realizes they're actually one of the bad guys. This realization seems to come in 1x08, where Felicia calls Klara out on her behavior.

Felicia: You know what, Klara. I’m so fucking tired of your fucking comments. You didn’t get to be Lucia this year. Poor you! Was dad unable to fix that? Cry then, Klara. Cry. You’re so fucking mean. Everybody here is tired- Everybody here is scared of you. Even those who liked you once, they can’t take it anymore. Klara: That’s not true. It’s not true. Felicia: Yes, everybody is scared of you. You know what? Look around. Show people some fucking respect. Klara: Well say something, Amie! Amie: What is there to say? She’s right.

Klara needed a wake-up call like this. It's just unfortunate that she goes back to her mean girl behavior and posts the video after Amie insinuated that Klara wasn't a real friend. Klara already knew that Amie felt that way since she said Felicia was right in her assessment of everybody being scared and tired of Klara. So wouldn't it have made more sense for Klara to post the video right after that moment instead of during Amie's performance?

Or rather, why not pull a Subverted Trope and not have Klara post the video at all after she realized how horrible she'd been acting? That would've made me respect her so much more and be a great introduction to her character development in season 2.

The Halloween Incident

To me, the whole Halloween episode was questionable. First off, we never got actual confirmation of what happened in that room between Amie and Ludde. Some viewers insist that they only made out and others believe they went all the way. Here's what the creator of the show, Stefan H. Lindén, had to say about this in a Q&A post he did:

I think if you went into the writers room of Eagles and asked all of us what really happened in that room [between Ludde and Amie at Klara's Halloween party] we would all have different answers.  I know what happened, but I’m not sure we will ever truly know for sure, unless Ludvig or Amie eventually are open enough to admit to anyone what really happened.

This is kind of a vague answer, but that's fair considering that when Stefan did this Q&A the latest episode that had been released was 2x05 and he probably didn't want to spoil anything. However, looking back at this answer knowing how the season turned out I still feel like it's unclear what happened. It's also strange that Stefan seems to be saying that they never actually decided what happened between them since the writers "would all have different answers".

1x06 was just an odd episode for me overall. Lots of things felt rushed and underdeveloped. Let's not forget that this episode also contained, in my opinion, some of the weirdest lines in the whole show (along with Elias's strange monologue about plague vampires).

Ludde: Hey, I only have like 3%. Do you have any power? Adam: Are you wondering if I have a power bank in my shorts? It’s coming-

Ludde: I like shellfish. (said to Amie, wearing a lobster costume)

Up until this episode, Ludde has shown zero interest and attraction towards Amie. We are basically told that Ludde only hooked up with Amie because he was so drunk that he practically had no idea what he was doing.

In 1x02, we see a drunk Amie try to kiss Tobbe and upon getting rejected she moves on to make out with Adam. She gets overly friendly when she's drunk so the fact that she makes out with Ludde later is... Weird, but not entirely out of the realms of possibility.

Ludde on the other hand is moping about Felicia all night. He regrets how he yelled at her at the end of 1x05 and it shows. He's trying to drown all his problems in alcohol and it seems to be working, because when it enters his system he seems to be on top of the world.

What I found kind of ambiguous in this incident was if Ludde even remembered what happened that night. He was drinking so much compared to Amie, who doesn't really need as much alcohol before she reaches her "overly friendly" state. I thought for sure that Ludde was oblivious to the situation when he woke up in his bed the next day and immediately messaged Felicia.

There are just so many questions to unpack here that were never answered. What prompted Amie and Ludde to go into that empty room? Why did Ludde come with her? Why didn't Adam seem to care about this, when he'd been sitting next to Ludde and taking care of him most of the night? And as I wrote before, why would Klara film this video of her best friend when she previously expressed that was a weird thing to do?

There's just too much in 1x06 left unanswered. The Amie/Ludde hook-up was a badly executed plot twist because there wasn't anything hinting that this would happen. It just came out of nowhere.

Unbalanced screentime and Elias's wasted potential

A large portion of season 1 was dedicated to Felicia. This was kind of a let-down for me since I thought more focus would be placed on Eagles as a hockey team (after all, that's what the show is named after). I also thought more attention would be on Elias since he's the talented star player who's supposed to live up to his father's legacy.

The show starts with a couple radio hosts hyping up how Elias Kroon, son of the legendary Mats Kroon, is going to join the Eagles hockey team.

Host #1: [...] It’s finally official. New center in the junior team - Elias Kroon, son to the legendary NHL-pro Mats Kroon, who has now chosen to move home from the US to his hometown where Elias will play in his father’s old club Oskarshamn Eagles. Host #2: This is so freaking cool. Who doesn’t want a Kroon on their team? Host #1: We hope that he’ll take a spot on the A-team.

But we don't learn a lot about who Elias actually is in the first episode. The attention is on Felicia and her interest in Ludde.

Elias is so discarded that he barely has anything to say in the first couple of scenes we see him in. Here are all his eight lines in 1x01, and I'm not even joking.

Elias: Yes. Elias: Shut up. Elias: Ow. Elias: It's fine. Elias: Really? Elias: Fucking hell. Elias: I'll stay here. Elias: No, it's fine.

In 1x02 he has even fewer lines. Three, to be exact, and all he says is that his injury is a sprain and that it's fine. Essentially just an echo of two of the lines he had in the previous episode. It's nothing new.

There's a way to have a character stand out when they don't have many lines, but Elias just fades into the background with every other extra. There's too much time spent on having other characters talk about Elias than us actually getting to know him. So when we do meet him, it's pretty underwhelming.

Compare Elias to his sister who gets so much more attention from the writers. I don't really understand why either, since I thought Elias was a much more interesting character than his influencer sister. Felicia's character only seems to revolve around a guy. I wonder how many times we've seen that before?

In 1x02 we see the Eagles hockey team play their first game, but Elias is unable to play and has to sit in the stands for what was supposed to be his debut match. Why? Because during a hockey practice session in 1x01, Adam rams his stick into Elias to purposely injure him. I mean, fair enough. Adam is trying to get Ludde on the main team since he and Elias are competing for the same position. The shot of Adam smiling after Elias sprains his wrist is a bit too on the nose, but whatever.

What this does is minimize Elias' presence in season 1 by a lot. We don't see the son of the legendary NHL professional play an actual game until 1x05, which is more than halfway into the season. It's kind of disappointing but I understand the injury is done to dramatize his situation.

Elias barely gets his own storylines in the first few episodes. He just has things done to him instead of acting on his own. When we do see him on screen he gets injured by Adam, reprimanded by his father, and later told he can't play in his debut game.

His sweet side (or any side of him, really) isn't shown until 1x03 when Amie wakes up at the Kroon house and Elias reassures her that they didn't do anything together and that she can borrow Felicia's clothes.

Elias doesn't really do much for the plot until he hears Ludde's friends objectify Felicia and he starts a fight with Ludde and confronts Felicia about it. That's when it feels like Elias is actually a part of this show instead of just being an extra shoved into the background. His actions are finally affecting the plot.

Elias's potential in season 1 was hugely wasted. The only episode where we actually got to see him shine was 1x07, when he travels to Karlskrona with Amie. We find out he doesn't want the hockey arrangement his dad has planned for him and that he's actually a pretty goofy guy who likes making jokes (and eating green candy).

If less time was spent with Felicia and the distribution of every episode's 20 minutes was more balanced, season 1 could've been massively improved. It got much better in season 2, but season 1 suffered and made many people think that Felicia was a basic and unentertaining character.

The side characters and their comic relief

So one thing that I found really disappointing with Felicia's amount of screentime is that we barely got enough time for the other main characters, let alone the side characters.

What I mean here is that the only people we really know on the Eagles hockey team are Ludde and Elias. Ludde's friends, Adam and Omar, just feel like comic relief sidekicks. We don't really know what they're like, besides the fact that they like to make jokes and mess around.

This issue is largely created by the short running time the episodes have along with season 1 only having eight episodes in total. That's definitely understandable. It did get better in season 3 where we see Ludde having a deeper conversation with Adam and Omar and they finally don't just feel like the comic relief characters, but actual people with layers.

Ludde: I’m going to quit hockey. Adam: Are you serious? Omar: What the hell are you saying? Ludde: It’s not the same anymore. I’m not passionate about it. I… Yes, it sucks, but… I’ve thought about it for a while now. Omar: We make jokes about it and all, but… Yeah. It wouldn’t be the same without you. Kingelikingen. Adam: I get that it’s a tough choice. But yeah… You’ll work things out. You and Felicia. You always do. Ludde: You guys are pretty awesome sometimes, actually.

This scene was really sweet, and I wish we could've had moments like this between the guys in season 1. Just one scene to show that they're not just the "typical hockey guys". It feels like Ludde was the only person on the team in season 1 who wasn't just a background character. Even Elias, who you would assume should be at the forefront, isn't properly developed until 1x05 where we see him defending his sister and starting a fight with Ludde. Otherwise, it very much felt like Elias was kept in the background.

There are also guys on the team called Herman, Simon, Näslund, Ekbäck, Hoffmann, Berglund (even Montell, which was a fun nod to the show's director)... But who are they, actually? Do you even remember their names? To be honest with you, I don't. Because they're just names—not actual characters.

None of the other guys on the team get any depth. They're just sort of there as extras and to give the audience a sense of comedy with their "hockey team shenanigans". This was illustrated in 1x08, where Adam and Omar make their teammate Liam do a "sexy dance" on a table because he lost his virginity. Or a more extreme example—Jönsson, who only exists to be the comic relief and the unlucky guy who just can't catch a break.

In 2x04, Jönsson is told by Jack to do extra time in the gym and gets told off when he only spends a few minutes on the exercise bike. Later, Jack also makes a joke about how he should get Jönsson a defibrillator. In 2x09 Jönsson invites Ludde, Adam, and Omar to come to his mom's place to hang out. After he's left, Adam makes a comment about how there's no way he's going to "rot" in Jönsson's apartment that doesn't even have a balcony.

Don't get me wrong, these scenes aren't bad and I don't mean they should've been scrapped. Comedy can absolutely have its place in a show like this. Let's take the scene where Ludde flashes a couple of unfortunate old ladies on his first date with Felicia as an example. It feels like something a teenage boy would do to try to make a girl he likes laugh. It's a brief scene and it's nice to see Ludde being able to goof off only moments after talking about Andreas. We know that's a touchy subject for him.

However, it feels slightly overdone sometimes with how almost everybody on the hockey team is only there for comedic purposes and to fill space. It's more refreshing when they're shown to be multi-dimensional. I wish this is something that the writers would've considered when the show is literally titled after the hockey team, yet most of the hockey players are hardly in the story.

To add to this, it felt like Sara and Tobbe completely disappeared from the story in season 2. With Sara we understand that she probably didn't want to hang out with Klara anymore after knowing she filmed the Halloween video and posted it on Instagram, so that's fair. But it would've been nice to see Tobbe stick around in season 2, and I'll get back to why I think that.

The potential of season 1

When I look back on season 1 I feel really nostalgic. No matter how many small details that irked me, I can't deny that the setting of the show is beautiful and I really appreciate the depiction of it. Instead of showing Oskarshamn as a boring small town, we're shown the beauty of it which is incorporated into the storylines.

Some examples would be Ludde and Felicia's first date at Gunnarsö and walk through Havslätt, the gorgeous view of the Oskarshamn harbor from Klara's house Villa Högklint, and Badholmen where the school band performs and we later see Elias and Amie walking by in season 3. All these places are listed on the Eagles Oskarshamn site and I feel like they did a great job tying the storylines in with the locations.

Another aspect of season 1 and its writing that I really enjoyed was Elias and Amie's budding relationship. They just have a natural chemistry together and the dialogue between them also felt authentic and sweet.

Season 1 is just a very polished teen drama overall compared to some of SVT's previous series.

Back in 2007-2010, SVT used to air a soap opera-style show focusing on a few teenagers living in Gothenburg that was called Andra Avenyn (translation: Second Avenue). I was only seven at the time but I watched this show religiously as it aired three times a week. Just mentioning the show brings a lot of nostalgia.

Andra Avenyn amassed around 500 000 viewers per episode and was, just like Eagles, nominated for a Kristallen television award. But how good was it, really? If I take off my rose-colored glasses for a second and actually consider the show's highly dramatized storylines and unlikely scenarios, it had a tendency to drag on (which usually happens with soap operas). It didn't offer a realistic view of teenage life and on IMDb it currently sits at a rating score of 5.6 stars out of 10.

Comparing this old teen series to SVT's newer one, Eagles season 1 was a huge improvement and continues to be the most popular teen series that SVT has aired so far.

This idea and all the characters have lived in Stefan H. Lindéns mind since 2008, while Andra Avenyn was still on the air. It's actually amazing how high the quality of most TV shows has risen since then. Eagles has a rating score of 7.4 out of 10 stars on IMDb and has become internationally known in a way that Andra Avenyn never was.

Eagles season 1 laid the groundwork for SVT's most successful teen series of all time, and that's a huge achievement.

Season 2: "Subverting expectations"

When Eagles came back for season 2, the script made it kind of obvious that the writers had listened to the critique of season 1 being predictable.

I did find season 2 a huge step up from season 1—the directing was so much better and when it came to the script we got a deeper look into all the characters that they hadn't really scratched the surface of in the first season. My main disappointment however was that it felt like they threw in a bunch of weird plot twists just for the sake of "subverting expectations".

The core idea of subverting expectations can be great if done correctly. You lead the audience to believe they know what's going to happen, but then you surprise them with an unexpected and clever twist.

A post in Cinematography written by Mason Leaver defines the phrase of "subverting expectations" as:

[...] a method of surprising the audience with some element of a story, be it the plot, themes, characters, etc. This goes beyond a “twist” in a film. Expectation subversion actively works within the genre of a story, and attempts to reinterpret or subvert the conventions of that genre, breaking patterns in surprising and interesting ways. However, this method of surprising the audience is not always well received- it can sometimes be the source of heavy criticism from fans of the tropes which have been subverted.

This included "unexpected" relationships such as Elias/Klara and Amie/Ludde. The former actually worked, but the latter? Not so much.

Amie's crush on Ludde—make it make sense!

Amie and Ludde were my biggest issue with season 2, and it felt so out of character of Amie to be head over heels for Ludde. They work great as friends but romantically they're a huge mismatch.

But they have music in common, I hear you say. Yes, they do. But having a shared interest doesn't mean people are automatically a good match. You have to consider their chemistry and overall compatibility.

Before actors are cast in a show or movie where their characters will be romantically involved with each other, it's common to do what's called a chemistry read. Here's a neat description from an article in Backstage written by Caroline Liem:

Chemistry is the complex emotional or psychological interaction between two people. If this were a romantic article, it would be about love. Instead, we are discussing the astonishing rapport between two actors, and how that connection is achieved in order to book [...] the role. A chemistry read is an opportunity to read with actors being considered for a role opposite yours, usually lead roles. The main purpose is to see how you instinctively connect and work with the other actor.

This obviously wasn't done for the actors playing Amie and Ludde, since there didn't seem to be any intention of having their characters be involved in a romantic relationship.

That was even confirmed by Stefan H. Lindén in his Q&A of season 2, where he said that a love triangle between Ludde/Felicia/Amie was planned but later scrapped.

I can confirm that from the beginning of development of the series and the first version of the storyline a triangle drama was at some point intended for season 1 but later removed  – however when creating the characters, Ludvigs skill in music and arts was always there from the beginning so by knowing that, we always knew that interactions would appear between them. When looking back at Season 1, in the first scene by the lockers when Amie tells Felicia who Ludvig is, she does know exactly who he is and she is well aware of that his friend Tobias is a music guy that Amie wants to get to know. Also when looking at it, when I was the same age as Ludvig and Amie I, and I am sure a lot of people can relate to it, fact is that we never really knew if it was love or friendship in the beginning.

Knowing that the triangle drama was scrapped for season 1, it makes sense why it seems so arbitrary. There was no groundwork laid down for this pairing before it was hastily thrown together in 1x06 for a cheap plot twist. This continues in season 2, where Amie and Ludde start spending more time together. Yet it's hard to see Ludde as a potential love interest for Amie in the way the writers want us to. They still come off as friends despite having hooked up at a party.

I mentioned that Tobbe should've stuck around for season 2 and here's why. Tobbe was written to be the leader of the school band that Amie later joins, and he was friends with Ludde before the video was posted. He would've been a perfect fit for the Amie/Ludde music storyline but he's completely absent. He had the potential to be the person who could've helped them with the song a little and then later picked up on whatever there was going on between them.

I think the Amie/Ludde storyline could've hugely benefitted from a scene between Amie and Tobbe, where Tobbe asks if she actually has feelings for Ludde and we get to hear exactly what Amie is feeling. Maybe she's torn, not wanting to get together with Ludde because of how much they hurt Felicia, but at the same time finds it hard to suppress her feelings. A scene like that would've allowed us to get into Amie's head and make the Amie/Ludde storyline much clearer.

To add, this storyline was in desperate need of more interest from Ludde's side. There needed to be some indication from him that would make Amie believe he liked him back, even if that wasn't the case. All we get is Ludde complimenting Amie's song and then a hug in 2x05 when Amie says the record label in Stockholm wanted a meeting. And apparently, that was enough for Amie to think Ludde was interested in her despite him blowing off the Stockholm meeting and Amie hearing Ludde say that the Halloween incident was a mistake.

Ludde and Amie don't really mesh as well as Elias/Amie do or even as well as Ludde/Felicia do. Elias and Amie had sparks flying from the very first scene they shared. That pairing is one of the main reasons why the show became popular internationally, and why is that? Because of the actors' chemistry.

Amie and Ludde are a clumsy attempt at throwing together two people who don't really work together with the intention of "subverting expectations". And I suppose that's what the writers wanted to depict—an awkward crush that doesn't really make sense, which I'm sure many people have experienced as a teenager. That part is fine. But what I didn't like about this storyline is that Amie had no good reason to believe Ludde would be interested in anything with her beyond a platonic friendship.

While season 2 was airing, I was convinced that Amie wasn't actually in love with Ludde. She was just lonely after the aftermath of the Halloween video and mistook her feelings for Ludde as love when she just appreciated his company. Here's what I wrote:

So as we know, Amie kissed Ludde in episode 6 when he was in the hospital after having been injured during the hockey game against Karlskrona. She immediately seemed to regret having done that and ran out without an explanation, leaving Ludde alone and confused. I honestly don’t think Amie has any romantic feelings towards Ludde. I think she might mistake her feelings for a crush or something, when in reality she’s just lonely and appreciates Ludde always being there for her and giving her compliments on her musical ability. Ludde was complimenting Amie at the hospital, saying she was amazing, and I think Amie was just really touched by that and maybe wanted to thank him somehow, and ended up kissing him. And then she freaked out and left because oh my god did she really just kiss Ludde. It was an uncomfortable and awkward situation and that’s probably why she ran out. However, I really believe that if she had just stayed to explain and apologize, Ludde would understand and they could’ve just laughed it off. But this is a drama show so of course that wouldn’t happen! Do I think the writers are making them into a couple? No, definitely not. They know that season 1 was sort of predictable and cliché, so they’re making season 2 as different as possible by including these unexpected pairings such as Klara & Elias and Amie & Ludde. But Amie and Ludde won’t ever be a couple, because Ludde is still very much hung up on Felicia. I don’t see them as a couple either - yes, they have music in common, but they work way better as friends than in a relationship.

In Edvins Skådisdrömmar, which is a behind-the-scenes documentary of Eagles season 2, writers Fanny Ekstrand and Michaela Hamilton discuss the writing of the show in the documentary's third episode. The third episode is mostly focused on the lead-up to the scene where Amie kisses Ludde at the hospital. Adrian Öjvindsson, who plays Ludde, says:

Filming the kissing scene was [...] awkward and weird, actually. And that's how it ended up. Yandeh and I haven't really had any intimate scenes. In this case you could take in that it was weird, because that's also what the scene wanted to depict.

When Edvin reads the script, he describes the scene as a "nightmare" scenario. I agree. And the lazy build-up to this Awkward Kiss trope doesn't make it any better, because just like the Halloween incident this doesn't make a lot of sense.

It's supposed to be awkward and weird, just like Adrian said. But he also mentioned one of the most important details: Yandeh and I haven't really had any intimate scenes.

Before this kiss scene, there was nothing that indicated any chemistry between them. No accidental hand-touching, no longing stares, no nothing. Just a friendly hug. A proper build-up to the kiss scene would've made it feel less out of place.

The love confession from Amie to Ludde in 2x10 really threw me off as well. The confession to me made no sense and honestly felt like a prank call. There was no feeling behind it and zero reason for Amie to believe that there was a chance Ludde liked her back.

At the end of 2x08, Felicia goes to Ludde's house after he's confessed the truth to the police about the Andreas situation. Amie happens to overhear the conversation and she hears Ludde very clearly say that he's not interested in Amie.

Ludde: Felicia, there’s nothing between us. Between me and Amie. It was really the biggest mistake of my life. Felicia: Goodbye, Ludde. Ludde: Felicia, please!

Amie, now having her heart broken, crosses Ludde's name off the contract while crying. She knows he doesn't feel the same. So why would Amie even bother to call Ludde up to tell him she's "in love with him"?

Amie: [...] Hey, Ludde… Ludde: Yeah? Amie: It feels really weird to hear our song now. Because I know who the lyrics are about. And… And I… I really like you. Or, well… I’m in love with you. I just need to know how you feel. Or if you feel anything. Just tell me. Ludde: I’ll always want to be your friend, Amie, but… It’s Felicia I’m in love with.

This moment is on par with the awkwardness from the hospital kiss between them in 2x06. The second-hand embarrassment with this one was really rough, and what I don't understand is why this was even added to the script when Amie had already gotten the confirmation that Ludde didn't think of her in a romantic way. This storyline could've ended in 2x08 after Amie overheard the conversation between Ludde and Felicia.

It really didn't need to drag on for the whole season, essentially making Amie's whole storyline in season 2 about a guy. Her moment of finally getting signed to the record label was ruined when it could've been regarded as a fresh start if the storyline had just ended where it should have.

What this storyline did instead was ruining my favorite friendship of season 1, which was Amie/Felicia. This mess made it so hard for them to reconcile and they didn't end up properly addressing it until 3x09, spending almost two whole seasons mad at each other. It sucks that the writers decided to drag out their fighting and disagreements for this long when they could've instead shown two girls in solidarity who don't let a guy get between them and their friendship.

Amie apologized in 3x03 for how she hurt Felicia, but Felicia made it clear in 3x06 that she still harbored ill will towards Amie for what happened at Halloween (which in the timeline of this show was more than a year ago).

Felicia (to Amie): Are you going to start slobbering with [Elias] now too? Just give me back that sweater first, I don’t want slobber on that. Thanks.

I talked about how much I disliked the Amie/Ludde storyline in this post, with my main reason being that it really messed up the character dynamics that were established in season 1.

This storyline [of Ludde and Amie hooking up]—along with Amie falling in love with Ludde—is by far my least favorite one because it messed up the whole character dynamic. I feel like Amie and Felicia won’t ever go back to the kind of friendship they had in season 1 before the Halloween incident because the trust was so broken, and Amie really should’ve tried harder to apologize to Felicia like Ludde did instead of going after her best friend’s ex in season 2.

If there's just one thing I could change about this show, I would 100% get rid of the Amie/Ludde storylines. There is nothing that annoyed me as much as those storylines did.

Amie's musical ambitions

I've talked about this a bit before in another post because this was something that really bugged me about Amie's character in season 2. Here's what I wrote:

I honestly still feel like Amie’s whole storyline with sending in a rather basic demo written by two teenagers with little to no experience and then getting praised on it [by the Stockholm music producers] with comments such as “it’s going to be a real summer hit” felt so unrealistic to me. Maybe they only said that so Amie would accept their offer or something, but that’s still very strange because she would have still said yes without a doubt. I can understand that they thought Amie was marketable as a person and there was this bonus with her having gone viral before on Felicia’s Instagram, but that demo did not seem good enough for me to be immediately released as a single and then have them decide on the spot that Amie would be given a contract. I mean, come on. It never felt earned because we never really saw Amie struggling with her songwriting journey to achieve this dream. Sending in one demo to one record label and having them immediately want to make a whole album with you just doesn’t happen in real life unless the song is extremely good or you have a very unique voice. Amie is really talented but there are hundreds of people just like her, if not thousands. I was never convinced by her getting signed so quickly in season 2. I understand that they wanted to establish her as a successful artist [at the beginning of season 3], but that felt so rushed. I was so sure that the record label would screw her over and steal the song rights to record it with another artist who was already established, and that we’d have to see Amie work even harder to achieve her dreams. But we didn’t get that at all. Where was the struggle? [...] Of course I wanted to see Amie achieve success (and I was happy when she did), but the journey there was so bizarrely easy. She didn’t start to seriously work on making her music career become a reality until season 2. Amie had dabbled in music prior to that, like when she auditioned for the school band and did that performance of Follow, but she didn’t truly start to work towards it until season 2 when she decided to have her work sent to professionals in the business. And then, just five episodes later, she gets contacted by the record label in Stockholm. To put this into context—season 2 took place somewhere around March, and episode 5 around three weeks into April. So when Ludde first started helping Amie it took less than two months for her to get signed. You could argue that the song was just that good or that Amie is just that talented, but it never felt like a realistic storyline to me.

It's tricky to write a storyline like this when you only have ten 20 minute episodes in the season and a limited amount of screentime for every character. All that is understandable. But it's strange that they didn't opt for a time jump to really sell this storyline and make it believable.

Eagles uses time jumps a lot, but somehow this particular plot point was omitted from that and kind of glossed over. I don't really understand how they expected us to buy this storyline. The viewers aren't stupid, and more effort should've been put into this storyline.

In the post where I wrote this, @gajana18 also had an interesting thing to add:

[...] it's equally unrealistic that this huge record company would be hounding Amie, a teenage onehit wonder essentially to come back to the label- don’t they have other bigger artists?

This is a very strong point. Considering how Amie kept expressing that she wanted to finish school and then proceeded to ignore their calls, it's weird that they didn't just decide to discard her contract when Amie clearly wasn't taking her singing career as seriously as they wanted her to.

So, back to season 2. Maybe they could've gone with the record label stealing the rights to Amie's first song and screwing her over. This fuels her to try again and after a time jump of a few months we see Amie having worked really hard on a new and better song. Maybe even a whole album. And this time, she's learned from her past mistakes and improved her songwriting. This time, she's successful in her endeavor and it feels so much more earned after knowing the struggles she's been through to get there.

I also feel like a storyline like that would've made people sympathize with Amie more in season 2. It was really hard to root for her when she had nearly screwed Ludde over by not giving credit to his songwriting and saying "fuck him" when he didn't return Amie's feelings.

Klara's character development

When we're introduced to Klara in season 1, she's a stereotypical mean girl with wealthy parents who is the popular girl at school and has her own followers.

In season 2, the writers decided to develop the character. We find out Klara has issues at home and her mom is barely there. When she is, her parents will start fighting. Klara is feeling really lonely and doesn't really hang out with her friend Sara as much as she used to.

I appreciated the added depth, but it seemed like a drastic shift. The changed perspective could attribute to that but when you step back and really look at s1 Klara and s2 Klara, they're like two completely different people.

Maybe Klara's reputation suffered after she posted the Halloween video? Maybe she had a change of heart after Felicia finally confronted her during Lucia? I mean, I guess.

But what most fans (including me) didn't like about Klara in season 2 was that there were no clear consequences for her after she posted the Halloween video. Klara still hangs out with what seems to be the popular crowd and she has people to go out with. In a post I wrote last year about my thoughts on season 2, I wrote this:

I actually wish that Klara would’ve become more ostracized from her school friends to emphasize how alone she is, but she seems to still be pretty popular so that was kind of disappointing. I thought the fall-out of her posting the video would be worse, but I guess not. Anyway, I like that they’re taking a disliked character and making her into a better person. Feels like it’s been done a few times before, but I still appreciate them doing it. I hated s1 Klara for being so one-dimensional, but s2 Klara is well on her way to being a pretty good and nuanced character.

Her character development sort of comes a little out of nowhere, though. Her reputation wasn't ruined by posting that video and she didn't really lose any friends besides Sara (she had already lost Amie prior to posting that video considering what Amie said to her after Lucia in 1x08).

So what prompted Klara to become this whole new person who actually considers other people's feelings in a relatively short amount of time? Here's a conversation between Felicia and Klara in 2x07.

Felicia: Was there anything in particular you wanted to talk about? I understand that we’re not best friends just because you and Elias are together. We’re not here without a reason, right? Klara: No, I get that this feels weird for you. And if you don’t trust me after everything that’s happened - or that I’ve done. Felicia: Klara… Klara: I know that I haven’t acted like the world’s best person. And I regret that. Sorry.

But why does Klara regret her past behavior? What made her realize she hadn't acted like the "world's best person" if the ramifications from posting the Halloween video were so minimal?

Was it the relationship with Elias that made Klara change? No, I don't think so. When they first start talking at the bar in 2x03, Elias tells Klara that he doesn't always agree with Felicia and that he has his own viewpoints. In 2x07, he says Klara wasn't the one who messed up, but rather Amie and Ludde. And in 2x09, the script tells us that the Elias/Klara relationship seemed to bring more change to Elias rather than Klara.

Felicia: What did you do to him? Klara: What? Felicia: He’s smiling. Elias is like a whole new person since he met you. Klara: Stop. Felicia: I mean it!

So what made Klara change? In 1x08 she's mocking Felicia's drug problems and posts a video that will for sure ruin Amie's reputation. But at the start of season 2, she's suddenly become more withdrawn and considerate of people's feelings.

I can only name one factor that actually makes sense, and that's the fighting between her parents. Klara seems to turn into this quiet child when she has to listen to her mom and dad yelling at each other. This is something that didn't really begin until season 2, when Ola's company GECED started going under. This storyline was very well done.

But the other things, like Klara's reputation and friend group which you would assume would be affected, remain as they were in season 1.

Jack's sudden character change

Jack came into season 2 as a charming and charismatic character, seemingly fooling everybody into thinking he was a good guy. He knew the Kroon family from before and both Felicia and Elias were none the wiser when it came to the eventual reveal of his true colors.

Here's what Stefan H. Lindén had to say about the Jack character in his season 2 Q&A:

Bringing Jack in was actually originally not my idea, it came from my writer colleagues after that they revised my storyline notes for Season 2, while I was still down in Oskarshamn shooting Season 1. We had always intended for a character to come in and raise the stakes but I never imagined it to be Jack. When we started to develop the character, we all started liking him so he was kept in the story. Like with any new character we never really know who they are and what [the] point of them for coming in is [...]

Personally, I feel like the point of Jack's character is pretty obvious. When he first comes to Oskarshamn he is very much the embodiment of the new love interest coming in to date the girl who has broken up with her previous lover, while the previous lover still loves her and does anything he can to get her back although she's dating someone new. Jack is the Romantic False Lead trope who later becomes an alpha-dog Jerkass.

What I found interesting about Jack compared to Klara (in season 1) is that Jack isn't just a bad guy. He's very clever with his manipulation tactics and can easily charm people with his good looks and charisma.

When Felicia accuses Jack of cheating in 2x07, he manages to spin the whole thing around and make Felicia apologize to him and say it was stupid of her to believe he would cheat on her. I talked about this in a post while the season still aired, before Jack's true colors were revealed. Here's what I wrote:

I still don’t know if Jack really is cheating on Felicia with Olivia (the girl that texted him) but I would say he is. Jack is incredibly confident and charming, which makes him able to easily lie and manipulate people. We know he’s not an entirely good person since he’s already lied to Elias about not knowing that Mats would bring him back to Eagles. I wouldn’t be surprised if he really did hook up with Olivia and ended up being a really good liar. The fact is that not only did he deny it but he then shamed Felicia for blaming him and causing a scene, ultimately shifting the focus in the argument to her and making Felicia feel bad that she even confronted him in the first place. Jack says that maybe they shouldn’t even be together, which causes Felicia to backtrack and apologize. It’s actually pretty impressive how Jack was able to spin that around to blame Felicia and make her apologize.

Jack is able to take a small detail and use it as ammunition to get what he wants. In this situation, he brings up the girl in the Stockholm club that Felicia partied with and also kissed.

Jack: You shouldn’t accuse me, either. Felicia: What? Jack: I saw on Instagram, you and some girl in Stockholm. Have I whined about that? Coming here and blaming me for things, it feels really immature. Felicia: Fuck. Sorry, Jack.

Jack wasn't bothered by that at all. It happened before Felicia and Jack were even an official couple, and all they had done was hooking up at a party while Felicia was high. Jack, having cheated on Felicia, couldn't care less about the random girl Felicia kissed. That was just something he used to manipulate her.

When we discover that Jack is actually cheating on Felicia, he immediately reverts to a one-dimensional "evil" character. He's become the 2.0 version of Klara in season 1—written in just to stir up drama.

This "master manipulator" version of him just goes down the drain and Jack turns into a manchild who starts petty fights, files a police report because Ludde pushed him, and says to Felicia "I'm gonna tell on you!". Alright, maybe those weren't his exact words, but you know what I mean. It's a sudden shift and you start wondering how Jack was able to hide this version of himself so well before.

In 3x05, Jack sees Ludde and Andreas after a hockey game and fumbles trying to find any insult he can to hurl at Ludde. Everything he says from that point on is just line after line to really solidify that Jack is the bad guy. You didn't forget that, right? Here, let's have Jack call Felicia a druggie so you know just how shitty he is. And have him call Andreas a junkie later for good measure—there, that should be enough for people to understand that Jack is the villain here.

Jack: Johansson! Ludde: What the hell are you doing here? Jack: What does it look like? Ludde: I guess it’s you I should thank for the victory. Nice work. Jack: What is Felicia doing these days, then? Does she miss me? Ludde: Hey, you’re shutting up now, do you get it?! Jack: Jesus Christ. Do you think you can save her? What do you think she even sees in you? You two play in different leagues, Ludde. Ludde: You have no idea what we’re like. Jack: Come on! You should leave her. While you can. She’ll just pull you down into the dirt with her. You’re no hero, Ludde. Isn’t she still doing drugs? Once a druggie, always a druggie, right?

Jack is a horrible person, but at least he was able to pretend to be a good guy in season 2. And that was actually really fascinating. I wish we could've seen more of Jack's manipulative side that he showed in season 2 instead of making everything coming out of his mouth be a half-assed attempt at insulting the other person. That's a pretty boring villain, in my opinion.

Jack's backstory of his father being an alcoholic and him starting to resent the whole Kroon family because they had everything growing up while he didn't is interesting. It would've also made more sense if his anger was only directed towards the Kroon family since they're the ones he grew up with. They're the ones he was after the whole time.

His anger towards them feels cheapened when Jack also starts insulting Andreas (who he's probably never met before) for no good reason. It's like Jack's human qualities are just gone and all that's left is this empty shell made to start fights. His backstory didn't really make anybody sympathize with him, either.

The improvements of season 2

What I liked about the writing in season 2 was that they explored new ideas and had some solid storylines (besides the mess that was Amie and Ludde). Elias and Klara actually worked pretty well as a couple, even if they were pretty much the 2.0 version of Felicia/Ludde as the "wealthy, popular pretty girl starts dating the star player on the sports team".

Felicia finally gets some more depth. The scene at the end of 2x02, where Felicia and Leila park their car near the harbor and just start crying, is so powerful.

2x05 is also one of my favorite episodes of the show, as well as the ending montage of the 2x10 season finale. In Gameday, we had a very touching scene between Felicia and Mats where they finally communicate. It's not the most understanding conversation but it's a start. It's an interesting contrast between their talk in 1x06 where Felicia revealed she saw Mats cheating on Leila versus the talk they're having now.

Another one of my favorite scenes is when Felicia and Ludde meet up at their bench in 2x10 after Ludde has called her up asking Felicia to come if there's any chance of them getting back together.

The dialogue is simple and to the point. There's no long-winded love confession for the sake of drama. It's a moment that the whole season has been building up for, and when we finally get there we realize that this is how love should be.

Easy and simple.

Ludde: You came back. Felicia: Yeah, I did. Ludde: Do you remember our first date here? Felicia: No. I’ve forgotten. Ludde: I was so freaking nervous. Felicia: Everything you said… Did you mean it? Because you hurt me, Ludvig. And I… I’ve really tried to hurt you back, but… It’s not possible. I can’t… Not love you. Do you think… Do you think it can be us again? Ludde: What do you think? Felicia: I don’t want anything else.

Ludde admitting how nervous he was on their first date is sweet and shows us how much they've been through. Felicia is struggling to find the words to say and she's acknowledging how hurt she was, but still can't seem to find it in her heart to hate Ludde. It's honest.

Another plotline that I think was a little underrated in season 2 is the GECED company going bankrupt and Ola, Klara's dad, is under investigation for financial crime. This isn't a storyline you would usually see in a teen series. It's much more serious. It also gave us a really touching and poignant scene in 2x08 between Ola and Klara sitting on the floor of his office, where Klara has to comfort her father who starts crying.

Ola: When you were little you used to sit like this. On the floor, while I was working. You had your own room, but you wanted to sit with me. “Help daddy work”. Mom’s doing the right thing by leaving for a while, don’t blame her for that. Klara: What, you can’t just leave because things get a little tough. Ola: Maybe you should get away for a while too. You know, I never wanted you two to… That you… Everything’s gone. Klara: It will be fine. It will be fine. Ola: Sorry. I’m sorry.

In 2x09, Klara is at a party when she notices a bunch of missed calls from her dad. She immediately senses something is wrong and rushes home to find her dad having attempted suicide. It's executed very well and I really liked the more serious tone they went for in season 2.

It set up season 3 perfectly, which continued with the darker themes but balanced them very well with the more light-hearted moments.

Season 3: Finding one's footing

Season 3 was a highly anticipated season. I thought the season 2 finale was masterfully done and it left me wanting more. When season 1 finished on its cliffhanger of the video leaking, the focus only seemed to be on that.

But with season 2 there's Felicia/Ludde getting back together and Ludde having been sued by Jack, Jack threatening that he would leak all of the Kroon's family secrets, Klara's dad passing away, Elias deciding to get on the train and go to the draft combine anyway, Amie having finally become a recording artist but being isolated and heartbroken... There's so much to unpack, and it's a lot more interesting than the ending of season 1.

Where's Jack?

Jack is supposed to be the main villain but he's gone for most of the season, failing to show up until 3x05. In the season 2 finale Jack makes a huge deal about how he's going to destroy Felicia's life. He's threatening her in a very violent and abusive way.

Jack: [...] I know a lot about you, Felicia. And your nice family. It’s enough for me to leak to one news site. I can destroy you. Do you get it? I’ll tell them everything. The drugs, the cheating, your abortion! Felicia: Shut up! Jack: Hey. Huh? Did you seriously think I wanted to be with you? The little Kroon princess, who has gotten everything for free her whole fucking life! You and Elias! Like spoiled brats! You don’t understand what it means to fight for something!

In 2x10, Jack decides to report Ludde for assault but he doesn't follow through on destroying this family that he hates. If there's anything Jack seems to despise above all, it should be the Kroon family, right? So why did he fight back with Ludde but not the Kroon family?

I expected Jack to leak all the Kroon secrets at the beginning of season 3, but Felicia seems strangely calm at the funeral which I'm assuming only takes place two weeks or so after Ola's passing in the season 2 finale.

Then, a whole year passes with no indication that Jack is ever going to leak anything. As season 3 was airing, I commented on how strange this felt in an ask I received:

One of my main questions about the time jump is the whole thing with Jack saying he was going to ruin Felicia’s and the Kroon family’s reputation in the press. It seemed like nothing really came of that? I’m pretty sure that detail hasn’t been abandoned entirely and that Jack will come back (we’ve already seen a glimpse of him in the third episode), but it feels strange that Jack threatened to leak all her secrets and then just never did. I got the impression that Jack was a person who, when having his pride wounded, would do pretty much anything to get back at the person who insulted him. And yet there’s no mention of where Jack has been during that time or what he’s been doing. I feel like I would be pretty paranoid about this if I was Felicia, but we don’t see this haunting her until episode 3 when she sees a flash of Jack before realizing it was just some random guy. It seems strange that Felicia was relatively at ease during the funeral (which I assume took place not long after Jack first threatened her) and after the time jump. We don’t really know what’s been going on during that year, but Felicia seems to be fine and like she hasn’t had any thoughts of Jack at all. Maybe she assumed that his threats were empty and that he wouldn’t actually leak anything to the press, which is reasonable but at the same time I don’t understand why Jack has yet to do anything after a year. He was really pissed off in the season 2 finale, after all.

Going to repeat one of the things I wrote here because it deserves to be mentioned twice, and this point is one of my biggest issues.

I got the impression that Jack was a person who, when having his pride wounded, would do pretty much anything to get back at the person who insulted him.

I feel like this was kind of a plot hole that wasn't explained. Jack is ruthless and doesn't hold back at all when his true colors come out. He has no problem talking about the sexual relationship he had with Felicia in front of her father. Jack is just that horrible.

So what prevented him from ruining the Kroon family's lives earlier, when it seems to be the thing he's wanted for years?

Michael's predictable predicament

Michael first appears at the end of 3x04, where he calls Amie up to tell her he's her father.

Man: Hey! Sorry for calling so late. Is it Amie? Amie Condé? Amie: Yeah. Man: I saw you on TV the other day. I’m Michael Condé. I’m your father.

In the next episode, we get a voice-over of the continued conversation between him and Amie.

Michael: [...] I understand if it’s shocking. I’m in Oskarshamn for work for a few weeks and— Could we meet up someday?

So, it's clear what the writers are going for here. It's the estranged father who returns into the child's life when they've become successful. We're made to believe it's a Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You trope when Michael meets up with Amie and tells her why he left.

Michael: So Petra, she— Has she said anything about me? Amie: Well… That you moved from Sweden before I was born… That you’re working as a lawyer. That you didn’t want to see me. Michael: I was… I was young when we met. Your mom and I. And everything went really fast. I was in love, but she had feelings for somebody else. And when she found out that she— That she was expecting you, then… She didn’t want me there. She said I wasn’t father material. To some degree she might’ve been right, but… I wasn’t much older than you are now. I had just gotten into a law school in Berlin. When I finally came back to Sweden, then… She didn’t let me see you. I had already lost you by then, but I want you to know that I— I’ve thought of you. And about a week ago, I… I’m seeing you. On TV. There you are. With my last name. I’m so proud.

However, it's pretty easy to identify the holes in Michael's story. To be honest this whole storyline was predictable from the very start. Before Michael even came into the story, I made this post which pretty much summed up Michael's whole character when we didn't even know he existed yet (this was when 3x03 was the latest episode that had aired).

I don’t think we’ve heard any mention of Amie’s dad in the whole series except for 3x02 when Amie was being interviewed and was asked about the Condé name where she said that while Samuelsson was from her mother’s side, and Condé was from “the other side”. I found her word choice a little interesting. I don’t think Amie’s dad has passed—but rather that he’s alive and just chosen to not be a part of her life, which is why Petra seemed to be a little offended when asking Amie why she didn’t want her last name anymore. This might also be why Amie said “the other side” rather than “my dad’s side” because they have an estranged relationship. [...] I’m not really sure if they’ll do anything with Amie’s dad (maybe they’ll go for that trope where the parent who previously abandoned their child returns after the child has accomplished something big/something major happened and the parent wants something from them for personal gain?).

When we actually get to meet Michael and hear his explanation of why he left, I wrote this post pointing out some of the holes in this storyline.

Michael meeting Amie only after she’s become famous is a little suspicious, but it’s understandable if he previously thought she didn’t want to meet him and then sees her with his last name on national television. Obviously he would contact her after that. I feel like there were some question marks with Michael’s whole story though, and the fact that his work just conveniently happened to send him to Oskarshamn after he’d just seen Amie on TV. Maybe I’m missing something here, but how did he know Amie had gone back to Oskarshamn if he saw her living as a pop star in Stockholm? Was this information about Amie quitting the tour and going back to her hometown even online? If Elias (who actually witnessed Amie saying she was done and quitting) seemed taken aback when he saw Amie in Oskarshamn, then how did Michael know?

I do think Michael will return for season 4 though, so hopefully this storyline will be straightened out a little. We don't really know what Michael has been up for the past few years and if he has a family of his own. Maybe he'll contact Amie again to tell her she has some younger half-siblings?

They ended on sour terms, but if Michael does have his own family it's something Amie deserves to know and she can decide whatever she wants to do. I'd also like to see a Michael/Petra reunion, but I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

This storyline wasn't bad, and I do appreciate we got to find out what the situation with Amie's dad was. I also liked how I was able to sympathize with Michael. He's not entirely awful, even if he did put a lot of blame on Petra. It's one of those situations where you don't really know what it's like to be in Michael's position unless you've experienced it, and it's very realistic.

Plot holes

Some of the plot holes of season 3 that I've already mentioned are how Jack waited a whole year before leaking the Kroon family's secrets and how Michael conveniently knew Amie was in Oskarshamn when nobody seemed to know she was coming except her mom.

I actually don't mind that it was never explained how Michael got Amie's phone number either, because that's usually pretty easy to find with a Google search. Things like addresses, economic status, and even your criminal history are easily accessible in Sweden when googling someone's name. So finding someone's phone number is probably fairly easy as well.

On the other hand, one of the most glaring plot holes appeared in 3x08. In this episode entitled Lost, the Kroon family is frantically searching for Felicia who has gone missing. Leila and Elias knock on Petra's door to see if Amie is there and might know something about Felicia's whereabouts. Petra tells them Amie isn't there and they leave.

Someone left me an anonymous ask which I answered in this post, pointing out how it was strange that Elias didn't just call Amie to ask her when she wasn't at home. We know Elias has her number because they've been talking on the phone and texting each other several times before in the season.

In 3x08, when Elias and his mom go to Amie's house and ask Petra if Amie has seen or spoken to Felicia or whether she's home, I couldn't help but wonder, uh Elias why not just call Amie and ask her if she has seen or spoken to Felicia? [...] if Elias had called her and she heard how frightened him and his family were and police being involved she would have told him and then there would be no point in the 3x09 episode really.

This is a very strong point. You could argue that maybe Elias just didn't think of that but if they went out of their way to visit Amie's house only to not find her there, it would seem like calling her instead would just be a logical next step in the situation? Here's what I wrote in response to this ask.

This is an issue I had with 3x08 and 3x09 as well. I had a hard time actually enjoying the moment between Felicia, Klara, and Amie knowing that her family was getting increasingly worried for her and even thought for a short moment that Felicia was lying dead at the bottom of the ocean. All that could’ve been avoided. To add, it didn’t make a lot of sense to me that when Klara finally decided to call someone she called Amie instead of Elias. An ex-friend of Felicia’s instead of her brother who could’ve helped a lot more. What was Amie supposed to do when she showed up at the hotel, exactly? I know there was the thing with Klara only knowing Amie’s number off the top of her head, but there is no reason why she couldn’t have gone down to the reception while Felicia was sleeping and asked to use a computer just to get a quick message to Elias. Like, “hey, Felicia attempted something bad but she’s safe with me, we’re at this hotel in this room but she didn’t want me to call anybody, I don’t know what to do”. That would’ve been so much better than keeping quiet about the situation for nearly 24 hours. I know that Klara probably has trauma from leaving her dad at the hospital after his suicide attempt and that she probably didn’t want to go against Felicia’s wishes. I understand the first part 100%. But Felicia was in a very bad place emotionally and was thinking that her whole family hated her when that wasn’t the case. I feel like in a situation like that you kind of have to be the bad guy just to ensure the family that Felicia was safe. Even if everything turned out alright in the end, it could’ve gone so much worse if Felicia had wanted to be kept hidden for longer. [...] Elias calling Amie would’ve been an easy solution to this whole debacle but we would’ve lost the drama. It’s still somewhat of a plot hole though, like you said.

I understand it was done this way for dramatic effect, but that doesn't really patch up the plot hole.

I also found it strange how many people turned on Felicia after Jack ruined her reputation in the press. I talked about this in an ask I received.

I don’t understand why the public turned on Felicia so harshly. And Leila too, for that matter. The way Jack told the story about how these two women had things done to them should indicate that they’re not the ones to be blamed. If I read this article and found out an 18-year-old girl got pregnant by a “violent criminal” who forced her to abort and then abused her I would not be angry with the girl. I would be angry that she was physically abused and also outed on her sexuality for being bi. If I read this article and found out Leila had been cheated on by her husband repeatedly with her best friends, I wouldn’t be angry at her. I would not agree with the decision to turn to alcohol (same as Felicia turning to drugs), but I wouldn’t blame them. And I feel like a lot of people should’ve been on Leila’s side after finding out the reason why they divorced. I don’t understand why people are saying they’re disappointed in Felicia and calling her fake when she’s been through so much trauma in her life. I feel like if this actually happened in real life, all the blame would be shifted to the men because they’re the ones who—in this story—are painted as the bad guys (with the exception of Jack, considering he was anonymous).

I got another anonymous ask sent in after this, pointing out how the anger directed towards Felicia was considerably more about her drug use rather than the abuse she endured. Here was my response to that:

[...] the drug use should’ve been understandable considering the stuff Felicia had been through was also written in that article. I don’t know. I can understand people unfollowing her if they didn’t want their young children to be exposed to all the controversy, but it’s still strange that everything Felicia received was hate messages. Did everybody just skip over the part where the anonymous source stated that Felicia was violently forced to have an abortion by an ex-criminal and probably did so out of fear for her life? Yes, we know this is fake, but why didn’t anybody seem to mention this? [...] they seem to have written this storyline with the idea in mind that the public was against the whole Kroon family. Felicia got comments such as “So fucking disappointed in you and your family”, “What a nasty fucking family”, “You and your family are so fucking disgusting”. So I think Leila received plenty of hate for drinking instead of divorcing her husband sooner and basically turning a blind eye to all the problems her family went through. That’s what Jack told the press, at least. The anger seemed to be directed towards every member of the Kroon family and that didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

Again, this is something the writers did to dramatize the situation and they kind of forgot to consider that what Jack actually told the journalist wasn't as incriminating for Felicia and Leila as it were for Mats and Elias.

The magic of season 3

What season 3 really excelled in, to me, was delving into some more serious topics as well as showing the gradual development of Amie and Elias' relationship. Amie and Elias are the prime example of how a slow burn is so much better than having a couple get together too fast, like Felicia and Ludde did back in season 1.

While season 3 was still airing, I wrote a post dedicated to questions I had received about Elias and Amie. Here's one of the things I said about them:

I think Elias’ interest in her really started to grow after he saw how caring Amie was to Felicia, and later on connecting with her on how they both ended up back in Oskarshamn after following their dreams which didn’t exactly turn out the way they expected. Yes, Elias has always sort of been watching and admiring Amie from afar, but that interest didn’t start growing until he actually got to know her. The experiences they had in the US and Stockholm, respectively, probably changed their mindsets and in my opinion it makes so much more sense for them to get together now than it would’ve in season 1 or season 2.

I still believe that Elias and Amie are the best-written couple of the whole show (at least so far), because they just make sense. We'll see what season 4 has in store for them because we have yet to actually see them in a romantic relationship, but I feel like their personalities and characters just fit together really well.

Another thing I really appreciated was the depiction of Felicia and Ludde's declining relationship. Things like that happen so easily, and I liked how we see Felicia do this huge gesture of planning a picnic for Ludde in 3x04 but there were still underlying problems between them. It's like that in real life too—no matter how big of a romantic gesture you make, communication will always be the number one priority in any relationship and that's where Felicia and Ludde fall short.

The obvious disconnect between them when it comes to money is also important. It's been like this from the beginning, but season 3 gave us an actual conversation about it.

Felicia: Please, I can’t talk about this. Seriously. It was stupid of me to bring this up from the beginning. Fuck, I get such anxiety talking about the future— Ludde: You get anxiety? I’m the one walking around with no money in my account. Mom and dad had to get a loan to pay off mine and Andreas’ fines. I’m playing on a shitty old synth, and living off you like some leech. That’s anxiety. Felicia: Everything isn’t about money. Ludde: Says the one who has money. Felicia: Move out then, if it’s so fucking hard to feel like a leech.

This felt very realistic. Of course a person like Felicia wouldn't think money is everything when she's never experienced financial issues. She's able to move out into her own one-bedroom apartment as soon as she's turned 18, it seems, and doesn't worry at all about the cost of furnishing and decorating it. She didn't even pay for it herself, because Mats mentions he's the one on the mortgage loan. It seems like Felicia has never had an actual job either, and that's starting to worry her because she has no idea what she should be doing.

Felicia: [...] I don’t know what I’ll be or what I’ll do in the future. I don’t know that. Ludde: You’re still an influencer— Felicia: Don’t say I’m an influencer, please. Do you think I want to be that my whole life? It’s not even a career. I'm— I’m graduating next year, and I… My grades suck, and— I have no plan. I only have you. Not like that—I have you. That’s what I have. I want to be here, in Oskarshamn. I don’t want to go to the US and chase some dream and be a hockey wife. That’s not a life. Sometimes I wish neither of us had a plan, just us together here.

Felicia's character finally offers something interesting here, which I've waited for since season 1. She's not just a party girl anymore who has issues with drugs. She's a privileged teenager who is co-dependent on the guys she meets and who has anxiety about the future, to the point where she wishes she could stay in Oskarshamn in her little apartment forever stuck in limbo.

She has to face a harsh reality when Ludde decides to break up with her, and later on when her name is slandered in the press and people all over the country are sending her hate messages. Her own family is furious with her and Felicia has nobody. She's pushed away a lot of people and her mental state is just crumbling in front of our eyes.

It's a strong storyline and actually very well executed. Almost everything gets taken away from her, and at the end of 3x07 you can almost feel what Felicia is feeling. We've been with her through this whole journey, almost, and we understand why she feels like suicide is the only answer.

It's tough to watch that final scene of 3x07. It's greatly amplified by Alva Bratt's superb acting, but the writing of the journey there is also amazing. It's very difficult to write a sensitive storyline like this.

Overall, I don't have a lot of critique towards season 3. I loved most of the episodes. I elaborated on this further in a separate post:

[Episodes 3x04 and 3x05] showcased what Eagles should be all about so well, which is relationships plus the struggles you go through as a teenager in a small town, and then of course hockey. The hockey game episodes are really good, even if I don’t think 3x05 topped 2x05 (the game where Ludde got tackled and knocked out). I loved the contrast in Date night of the budding relationship between Elias and Amie and then that fight between Felicia and Ludde on the cliff. [...] It was interesting to see how this sweet gesture from Felicia turned into a fight between the two of them. I thought that was very realistic, because no matter how big of a gesture Felicia made to apologize there were still underlying problems that they needed to talk about. I also loved the “non-date” between Elias and Amie in this episode. It was cute to see them goofing off before the movie started and then talking about it on the way home. I liked how Elias could connect to her on how they had both returned to Oskarshamn. The recent episodes that dropped last week (3x08 and 3x09) were very strong and discussed some important subject matters [...] They were dark, but not necessarily bad because they needed to happen. However, I have to say that I prefer Eagles when it’s about hockey and teenage relationships. 3x04 and 3x05 made me kind of nostalgic for season 1 and I liked the vibe they both had.

Eagles season 3 is in my opinion the best season of the show so far, and we haven't seen any signs suggesting that there is any reason for season 4 to not be even better.

Season 4: Hopes and wishes

Considering how each season has been increasing in quality bit by bit, I have pretty high hopes for the writing in season 4. I'm excited to see how the transition from teenager to young adult will be portrayed in the main characters, and what their future will hold for them after they've graduated.

My main questions are if Felicia and Ludde will find their way back to each other or if they'll remain broken up (that would be realistic as well), if Klara will reconcile with her mom, what's in store for Elias's hockey career, and if Amie will leave her label and maybe opt for something more independent.

I also want to see how Felicia deals with the new home she's checked in to, and if Ludde will in fact go to the school now that it seems Andreas will be getting into trouble again.

Amie and Klara are kind of wild cards here, because it somewhat feels like they've already reached their happy endings. Amie is famous and successful in her pop music career, and Klara has found her place as a businesswoman following in her father's footsteps. Maybe these developments should've come in season 4 instead of rushing them.

Nonetheless, I have faith in the writers. The writing suffered a little in seasons 1 and 2 but it has gotten better. Most of the things I pointed out about season 3 were just small details in an otherwise stellar season.

In conclusion...

This post was critical, but I tend to be critical of every show I watch. Eagles is still a very special show for me and having grown up in a Swedish small town myself I'm very fond of the show and its characters.

So huge thanks to the creator, Stefan H. Lindén, for making this show a reality and also to the director Carl-Petter Montell for contributing to the writing in season 3. And of course the writers of the show which include Michaela Hamilton, Fanny Ekstrand, and Anton Nyberg (plus Amanda Adolfsson who helped write 1x02 and 1x05 and Simon Ekbäck Nordström who is credited for helping with the hockey scenes in 3x05).

I hope you guys enjoyed this long, long post and major kudos to you if you read this far!

#eagles svt #svt eagles #eaglesspoilers #young royals #beartown #björnstad #been working on this post for a few days so i really hope you enjoy it!