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#but the story needs a king and I don’t like making up new characters for stories with pre-existing characters yknow? just feels weird
yanderecrazysie · 2 months
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Twisted Zoo (Prologue)
Summary: You’re a brand new zookeeper at The Halfling Zoo- a place where half-animals live in captivity. Your job is simple- feed them and study them. Your main worry is that one of the more dangerous halflings might kill you. 
Unfortunately, that may become the least of your worries.
WARNINGS: none for now
Note: This is based on the stories of a keeper reader with the octotrio by @ashensgrotto and @merakiui except I decided to take it a step further and include all the dorms. I know that a lot of these animals don’t fit them perfectly, but I did the best I could. I left out Ortho because he has no age and he looks really young so… no.
All characters are aged up, since there will be mature themes in future parts.
Also, I can’t promise I’ll finish this. I suck at finishing stories.
Chapter One here
—----------------------
“Pleased to meet you Mr. Crowley.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Ms. (Y/n)!”
You smiled up at your new boss, taking in his eccentric appearance- everything from his crow feather-lined cape, to his sparkling suit, to his top hat, and to the black bird mask that covered half his face. 
That name suits him.
“Now, you’re mainly a researcher, but you will also be assisting with some of the general chores, such as feeding the animals,” Mr. Crowley explained what you already knew.
“That’s alright,” you said, smiling brightly, “That will allow me to observe even more of their behaviors.”
You were fresh out of college and ready to face The Halfling Zoo. There was plenty of debate whether it was okay to treat half-humans as animals and keep them in a zoo, but it was convenient for you. You didn’t have to travel the world to attempt to study animals from afar through a camera lens.
“You will be supervising the lion and hyena exhibit, the wolf exhibit, the panther and tiger exhibit, the bird exhibits, the reptile house, and the aquarium,” Mr. Crowley explained.
“Wait, did you mean to say the lions and hyenas are together? And the panthers and tigers? Or did I misunderstand?” you asked, confused.
“They are bonded groups, so it would be wrong to separate them,” Crowley explained, “Halflings don’t always act like their animal counterparts.”
You nodded, cursing yourself internally. You had learned that on your first day at college! How could I be so stupid to forget about the bonds different Halfling species make?
“Follow me,” Mr. Crowley’s voice broke through your thoughts, “I’ll show you around.”
The two of you left the cramped office in the main staff building and headed out onto the guests’ paths. You could see a few families walking by- less than usual, since it was nearing closing time. It felt as though the sky was growing darker by the minute as the sun made its way down the horizon, beautiful orange and pink clouds lighting its path.
You almost immediately arrived at the lion and hyena exhibit. It was a huge enclosure, the terrain so detailed that you felt as though you had stepped straight into an African savannah. In fact, you could even feel the heat emanating from the ground itself.
“We keep it as hot as their home naturally is,” Mr. Crowley explained, reading your thoughts, “They’re happy here- it’s home with no need to hunt to survive.”
You nodded, but inside you wondered if that was really true or not. Were they really happier in a giant cage on display for humans than they were in Africa? You couldn’t imagine feeling that way.
Mr. Crowley pointed out a big rock where a pride of lions had gathered, “On top of that rock is the top dog- er, cat, I mean. The king of the jungle.”
Upon closer inspection, and a lot more eye strain, you could make out a figure lying on the top of the large rock. It was a Lion Halfling, with tan skin and thick, dark mane of brown hair that fell to his shoulders, except for the braids in front of his face, which were even longer. You could just make out the lion’s ears on top of his head and the lion’s tail draped over the rock’s side.
“And those are the hyenas,” Mr. Crowley supplied, pointing to the edge of the enclosure, “They’re used to aggressive females, so the males might be a little jumpy around you.”
You remembered reading about that in school, but it was amazing to see all the Halflings in person. You couldn’t help but feel excited to study them up close. Imagine if you made a big discovery that no one else had ever discovered about Halflings! After all, there were a lot of unknowns about them.
“Onto the wolf exhibit!” Mr. Crowley said in a sing-song voice.
The enclosure was right across the way from the lions and hyenas, but it had a completely different feel. The air was cooler when you walked up to the giant forest. Through the trees, it was difficult to actually see any wolf halflings. You thought you saw a flash of white, but it was too quick to tell.
“Yes, well, this exhibit is pretty quiet during the day,” the zoo director said awkwardly, “They’ll be out tonight, howling at the moon and whatnot.”
“Wolves don’t actually howl at the moon,” you helpfully supplied, “They howl to communicate with other wolves.”
Mr. Crowley stared at you for a moment and you wondered if you had annoyed him, until he grinned widely, “Such a knowledgeable new researcher!”
You smiled at the compliment, a little embarrassed as the two of you headed for the panther and tiger exhibit. You were surprised to see it alive with Halflings, all of them staring back at the two of you with narrowed eyes.
“There’s two black panthers,” Mr. Crowley pointed them out, “and two albino tigers. The four of them are as thick as thieves.”
You cautiously waved at them, but they merely turned away and disappeared into the jungle enclosure. You wondered if they were somehow curious to see you, or if they always did this to guests.
“Next, the bird exhibits!” Mr. Crowley led the way to the aviary. He pointed out Halflings left and right in the closely-packed enclosures, “A parrot, three albino peacocks, two flamingos, an owl, and a raven. You’ll get to know them well, since they’re mostly all very friendly. Except the peacocks are a little cocky.”
You giggled a little and waved to all the birds. It was a futile effort, because, save for the owl halfling, they were all fast asleep. The owl halfling stayed on his perch, wings tucked around his body, his bespectacled face scrutinizing you. Not in a rude way, just sort of deciding what you were.
You followed Mr. Crowley into a heated building with a glass wall on one side. You peered through the glass wall and immediately spotted the Boa Constrictor Halfling lying against the wall. Human until the torso, which then winded into a snake tail.
“Don’t be fooled!” Mr. Crowley said, “There is more than one snake in that exhibit. See if you can spot it.”
You looked at every angle, struggling to spot anything different. Then, a part of the sand moved and two gray eyes glared back at you.
“A Viper Halfling, right?” you said in awe, “Aren’t those venomous?”
“Ah, yes, well,” Mr. Crowley stuttered a little, “Don’t get bitten.”
You stared at him for a moment before it sunk in. All of these animals, except the birds, were extremely dangerous! And you were going to go into their enclosures to study and feed them? Were you insane?
You pushed down the panic and took a deep breath. This is what you signed up for. You probably already waived all your rights away anyway. You hadn’t looked at the fine print of your contracts, of course.
You noticed another tank on the other side of the room and walked up to it. You couldn’t see anything inside this one, but Mr. Crowley was quick to explain, “There’s a salamander in this one. A beautiful electric blue, but extremely shy.”
You peered inside, trying to catch a glance of blue, but you couldn’t see a thing.
“Lastly, the aquarium,” Mr. Crowley clapped his hands together, as though to bring you back to reality. 
The aquarium was a huge glass tank where visitors could go down the stairs and see inside. The two of you walked by it, and saw very little signs of life. 
“You’ll probably see the eel twins a bit. They’re a little shy at first, but Floyd is pretty playful. The octopus, on the other hand, rarely leaves his cave. He’ll venture out to eat, but that’s about it. We should have made that damn thing see-through, but it’s too late now.”
You were glad it was a normal cave, and not transparent like the glass. The Octopus Halfling probably felt safe inside it. It wouldn’t be fair to rob him of that simple pleasure.
“That’s the end of your tour, young lady,” Mr. Crowley said cheerfully, “You start bright and early tomorrow, have a long lunch break, then leave late at night. Are you sure you’re ready to do this?”
He looked down at you with a hint of nervousness, as though he expected you to say “no”. But you were determined and excited to explore what your classes had trained you for. Real life application.
“I’m ready!”
Note: So, some of the animals are obvious, but I’m wondering what you all think the others are?
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rggie · 2 years
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twst first-years as your roommate!
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characters: sebek, jack, ace, jack, epel ortho. [ ortho’s is strictly platonic! ]
cw: gn!reader, crack & fluff, pining, sfw, unedited.
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sebek zigvolt
“malleus, oh malleus! you are truly illustrious, and above all benevolent! i pledge my life to you! I KNEEL BEFORE YOU MY KING!!”
new drinking game. take a shot every time sebek says malleus
you wake up every morning to sebek chanting to his malleus portrait like he’s truly standing with you in your room. you don’t need an alarm clock when you have him bellowing at 5AM. you press your pillow against your ears but to no avail. you can still hear him, he’s that loud!!
he literally kneels down to the painting as if he’s getting a knighthood (he’s practicing for the future, okay?)
tells you that you should also join him and prostrate yourself before his lord… if you tell him to shut up he will look at you with an incredulous expression as though you’re the crazy one. are you silencing him, and in association, lord malleus? your insolence besmirches you!
if it gets too much for you he starts whispering aggressively instead, offended: “FINE.. ( •̀ - •́ )”
sebek spends a long time getting ready. so if you’re running late in the morning, you’ll want to beat him to the bathroom.
it’s because of his hair... he’s styling that thing with an abundance of gel. your bathroom cupboards have so many products for his hair there’s literally nowhere for you to put your things.
it’s crazy because he would look so much better with his hair down. when you tell him that he refuses to believe it, stating that all the elderly in briar valley love his current hairstyle.
he wastes 10 minutes alone hyping himself up in front of the mirror. flexing his muscles, practicing his smile, dimpling his cheek with his fangs. he rehearses saying “salutations, lord malleus!” or “hello, dear human!” but if you catch him in the act he’ll deny deny deny as pink bursts across his cheeks and the tips of his ears.
he’s a bookworm, and that’s probably when he’s the quietest. yes, he’s quieter with his nose in a book than he is sleeping because he’s a sleep talker.
⇈ if you’re interested, sebek will recommend you some good pieces of literature!! he’s also really helpful if you need help with similar things in class. he annotates his books neatly with sticky-notes and highlighters, so if you ask nicely he might be gracious enough to let you skim over his hard work.
in return, if you’re good at subjects like maths, please assist him. numbers and him are like oil and water—they just don’t mix. he’ll be so grateful, he might humbly tell you a story of malleus’ childhood
you have to save sebek from lilia’s antics. he once told sebek balancing books on his head whilst sleeping standing up would help him become more resilient, so at night he would just be standing in the corner of your room… menacingly... it was honestly frightening.
you thought he’d fall over and crash onto his desk, having to physically drag him to his bed and tuck him gently each time he tried. he never once made it through the night. yes, he tried several times.
pretends the whole situation never happened. it was his lowest point.
sebek always makes sure you’re eating well, since he’s a big eater himself. when he’s feeling particularly chivalrous, he’ll get himself extra food just to lend you some, a coy smirk playing against his lips when you thank him.
ace trappola
ace has a basketball hoop on his side of the room. he likes to practice his trickshots often, so he’s probably hit you several times with it when he misses. which is often.
imagine you’re just walking into your room after a long day and—thwack!—you’re getting knocked out. he will laugh at you before pulling you up and making sure you’re actually okay. i’d be worried he has a vendetta against you or something.
⇈ says “it’s your fault for standing there”, pressing a hand against the point of impact tenderly.
standing where??? in your own room??? where it���s supposed to be SAFE???
makes a mess all the time in the bathroom. probably leaves toothpaste in the sink and water on the floor. he’s going to make you have wet socks and then he’ll roll his eyes when you complain.
you have to push him to clean it as he feigns innocence. “maybe it was you and you’re just blaming me!” “just clean the toothpaste, ace!”
he flicks tap water in your face.
when it comes to doing laundry he makes you play card games with him. whoever wins has to deal with it. he is a cheater and proud! he’s doing whatever he can to win and grinning like the chesire cat the whole time as if you’re not already aware of what he’s up to.
you have to force him to do his homework. he just so happens to always forget. but wait! you’re here! you’re instantly now his study buddy regardless of whether you wanted to or not. it doesn’t matter how smart you are, he’s always trying to copy your answers.
when it’s late at night and he can’t sleep, he’s texting: ‘u up?’ to check if you’re the same. if you don’t reply he literally pads up to your bed and looms over you. he puts his face inches close to your yours and whispers your name because he never believes that you’re truly sleeping.
brace yourself for a lot of late-night kitchen runs. he’s grabbing your hand and racing with you down the halls, telling you to hush and pressing a finger to his lips when he’s the one stomping and giggling outside riddle’s room.
don’t worry, he doesn’t eat anything he knows is his housewarden’s. he doesn’t try to get collared, you know. then he practically steals someone else’s lunch (the ‘someone else’ in question being deuce) and then shares it with you.
you get caught every time, ace’s stomping waking riddle up. he doesn’t even attempt to protect you, claiming it’s not stealing because it’s going to a good cause—your ‘date’.
he’s only ever joking about the date thing. he just likes seeing your reaction.
…but if he wasn’t joking, hypothetically… would you agree it’s a date?
deuce spade
he’s trying so hard to be a good roommate to you. he really is!
at first, he tries to impress you with his full bookshelf. in an attempt to turn over a new leaf, he borrowed a ton of magic related books from the library but he’s only read one
every time you walked into the room he frantically grabbed a book from his shelf and opened it, placing a finger on his chin to suggest that he was deep in thought.
“what’s gotten you so interested, deuce?” “oh it’s nothing. just a book about…psychology and stuff. really emotional. yeah.”
intrigued, you approached his side only to find out he’s reading a children’s picture book. upside down.
each time he thinks back to that moment he is filled with so much shame. whenever you bring it up he slaps a hand to your mouth with a shout, overly flustered. he’s always been honest about himself after that.
he’s another messy guy. overall? he’s clean—but when he eats he leaves a lot of crumbs behind on his bed and himself. you have the urge to wipe them from his cheeks all the time. this could be reiterated for all the first-years except ortho, though.
deuce excitedly shows you pictures of the latest blastcylces (he has posters all over his side of the room) and tells you all about his bleached hair days. he even lets you try on his blastcycle helmet and jersey. has a picture of you in it and treasures it as ‘a reminder to not go rouge again’
you study together but the pair of you always get distracted by having silly little side conversations. one second you’re talking about pythagoras; the next, it’s a passionate discussion about what animal you’d be if you were reincarnated in another life.
he moves around in his sleep a lot. he goes to sleep spread out like a starfish and ends up on the floor, bedsheets half-on him and the worst bed-head ever.
you have to fix his hair in the mornings for him. he’ll barely be awake, sleep still in his eyes as you’re patting his head to keep the stray hairs at bay. he’ll lean into your touch but he won’t remember doing it till halfway through the day.
⇈ he’ll just be in the middle of flight class, randomly think about the proximity of your faces, then almost falls off his broom. ace laughs till he cries.
when he comes to your room wounded he appreciates how you ask him if he’s okay before asking what happened. when it’s the other way around, he always rechecks your state even though the school doctor patched you up fine and deemed you well enough.
he calls his mother often to make sure she’s okay, and you’ve gotten more than acquainted with her.
she loves you and thinks you’re a great influence for deuce. she’s even happier that he’s made some friends!! she’s always gushing about how she’s proud of him, or asking you to come over with in the holidays.
“deuce, when you come home bring your lovely friend okay? i like them.”
he agrees without hesitation, because he can’t deny her wishes—and he likes you, too.
jack howl
your room either smells like sweat and the mens body spray he uses or caramel scented candles that he swears his younger brother and sister bought for him.
it’s mostly the second option, because jack is good when it comes to personal hygiene and also doesn’t want to make things uncomfortable for you. (his side of the room is very clean, and he takes pride in that, so if yours isn’t he’ll tell you to fix up very bluntly.)
he’s very perceptive and values personal space, so he’s thoroughly checking to make sure you’re comfortable. will give you space and alone time if you need it.
he’s got ‘motivational workout quotes’ framed and hung up on his side of the room
gives you a similar one for your birthday, in order to give you motivation for the rest of the school year. he’s given one to all the first years, even ortho, so you’re not special or anything.
yours is just slightly bigger.
from far away it looks aesthetically pleasing, contrasting nicely with all the greenery from the plants he’s raising (he’s a plant mom)
then you get closer and read: “Train The Quit Out Of You.” “Single Taken At The Gym.” “In This House, Only Hard Work Matters.”
he goes on morning runs, so he’s out before you can even open your eyes. sometimes, he leaves you notes behind wishing you a good day, since he’s not much of a texter even though you’ve exchanged numbers. sometimes you’ll find notes around the house just saying some words of encouragement.
if you’re awake, he might ask you to join him. but it ends up being him running out of earshot so fast you lose sight of him. he’ll be running back as you’re still on the first stretch, out of breath. he’ll try his best to wait for you to catch up, though…
⇈ you might not enjoy it as much as he is but he’ll be really thankful that you came along anyway. you don’t even have to run if you don’t want to, just sitting and watching him somehow gives him a newfound burst of energy.
as a reward for sticking with him, he’ll make sure you’re well fed. not that he doesn’t do that already; jack sits next to you, the two of you sharing a plate of breakfast together as the other first-years just share a look like (·•᷄‎ࡇ•᷅ )?
you often find him talking to his cacti. his tone is so soft it’s endearing, conversing as though they’d speak back before watering them. in fact, you find out more from him speaking to the succulents than you do when he’s actually talking to you.
it’s not that he doesn’t talk to you. he does!! but the conversations are always short because he’s too busy trying to hide the wag of his tail and twitch of of his ears.
you speak to his cacti, because if jack truly believes it will benefit them you also want to help. he’s so fond of them. when he finds out you’ve been doing so, he tells you that he’s sure they’re standing stronger and looking healthier because of you <3
he lets you name them
Congratulations. you are both now Plant Parents.
it might take a lot of convincing but if you can get him to cuddle with you in his wolf form you will get the best sleep ever. he’s super fluffy, which makes him really cosy to lean on and snuggle up to.
⇈ but you both tend to oversleep and end up late for classes whenever you do it. jack scolds you for it because he doesn’t want to be a troublesome student, but he won’t deny you when you ask again.
everyone’s convinced you’re dating.
epel felmier
why are there apples everywhere
the saying ‘an apple a day keeps the doctor away’ doesn’t apply to you! an apple a day is bringing you closer to the doctor. (epel has boxes of apples for his carvings. they’re overflowing, causing apples to spill out onto your floor creating a trip hazard.)
he seriously doesn’t mean to make mess but the apples just keep on coming! at this point you both have enough apples to keep you going for at least a good few months—but you’re not allowed to eat them.
okay, fine, you can have one… or two..
pomefiore’s bedtime is 10pm, so both of you share the struggle of hiding that you’re awake. you’re both chuckling under your own bedcovers, messaging each other on your phones with your brightness at the lowest setting: ‘is he gone yet? u check’
vil will be standing in the doorway, hands on his hips waiting for you to peek your heads up. he knows what you’re doing.
you keep doing it anyway until vil threatens to split you up.
the two of you will try to stay up till early hours of the morning doing anything and everything. on one occasion you tried to juggle with apples, ending up hitting yourselves in the faces. it left marks.
plenty of times you’ll send epel a funny video of something or the other and he’ll double over in laughter, wheezing so loudly you’re sure everyone can hear you. your phones get confiscated for a week.
he’s on his best behaviour now, he swears! and you are too—you know vil only sets specific guidelines for you to follow because it will benefit you both in the long run.
if you’re injured, epel will tend to your wounds skilfully. he’s been in more than a few accidents being a wild child, and also knows a lot about medicinal herbs and magic pharmacy. arguably does a better job than school staff.
when he’s injured, he’s rushing back to show them off to you like battle scars. look at the the one on his knee, quick! he stood his ground and won, isn’t he cool? (it’s absolutely tiny and will definitely fade away. he wants to be leona so bad)
he always lets you see the process of his apple carving and even gives you lessons. he’s delighted that he gets to teach someone something he learned back in his hometown—it’s not much of a big deal, but whenever someone shows interest in it, his chest puffs with pride.
and when it’s you specifically complimenting him and harveston, he’s super smitten.
ortho shroud
ortho is only just finding out about himself, exploring his tastes and developing his own opinion. (he’s really glad he can share these self-discoveries with you!)
idia is Not Happy that his brother is being stolen off him, but wishes ortho well nonetheless.
you will never be late to class from now on because he will wake you up on time. and don’t think about skipping or faking illness, because ortho can see right through you.
asks how your day has been after school because he genuinely cares. he wants to know everything! school is just so fun to him. he’s so happy about going to class that you start to feel guilty for dreading them. he’ll tell you about his day too, very elaborately. you might be sitting and listening for a while because ortho does not miss a single detail.
⇈ you somehow end up finding out what scarabia resident B did last summer with his family, though you’re sure it had no relevance to ortho’s magic history class at all?
asks you to take pictures of him around your room, literally even if it’s a mundane activity. half of your camera roll is just images of ortho studying. he also wants to take lots of pictures with you, so he can keep the memories he spent his first real roommate fresh in his mind forever, so say cheese!
you make a bucket list together so he can check things off along the course of his life. you take him out to places he wants to go, and he helps you in return. need questions answered? he’s got the best results at the fastest speeds. hungry? he’s flying off to sam’s store. your preferences are already stored in his memory system, so expect something yummy when he returns!
he gets very attached to you very quickly, and perhaps even a little protective. if you’re ever going to do anything reckless ortho is sitting you down and telling you the pros and cons, success to failure ratio and extra precautions you should take.
as he’s only ever lived with his brother and never really had friends for himself, ortho is still used to idia’s social recluse/anxious ways. you could be ordering over the phone and if the person on the other end of the line mishears you ortho is suddenly speaking up for you very angrily.
ortho: excuse me they asked for NO. PICKLES. 😡😡
introverts love him. fast food branch owners fear him. the ice cream machines won’t be ‘broken’ on ortho’s watch.
if someone’s bothering you, just tell him. he won’t hesitate to dox a bully or two online. he learned from the best. NOT afraid to resort to physical attacks. has a high-intensity laser beam ready to fire whenever you need it.
ortho is not rainbows and sunshine all the time. he’s a nrc student, after all.
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worldofheroes · 4 months
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A New Approach
tom cruise x girlfriend!reader
summary: during filming, you want to try something that ends up making the cut and becomes the most talked about scene.
warnings: fluff, hint of angst in the beginning if you squint
wc: 680
a/n: based on this request by @rveyjules ! ❤️ hope you enjoy!! My fluffy fics are always so short, hope y’all aren’t too mad! I also couldn’t find a pic/gif I liked so here we are 🫣
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Tom and McQ were always in their own world when filming. It was difficult for anyone to break through their thoughts and bring them back to reality.
You were missing your boyfriend. You knew there was work to do, but everything had been so serious for the past week of filming. You were tired of it.
You’d go home at night and Tom was occupied with thoughts of how to film something differently or where the story should go. Most nights, you slept alone in your shared king-sized bed as Tom spent all hours in his office working.
You desperately wanted his attention, and you knew just how to do that.
The upcoming scene between you and Tom was emotional and ended in a tight hug between the two characters. Maybe, just maybe, you could convince Tom and McQ to let you do something different with the scene.
“I wanna try something else for this scene,” you tell Tom and McQ after a take.
“What’s that, sweetheart?” Tom asks you, half paying attention to you.
“I just… wanna try something, okay? If you don’t like it, fine,” you say.
Tom looks at you, mind coming back to the present.
“You wanna try something?”
McQ looks over at Tom.
“If you don’t like it, fine. I just want to do one take, that’s all,” you tell them.
“Let’s do one take,” Tom says.
“Okay,” you beam at the two men.
McQ calls action, and you and Tom go through your dialogue.
When it’s time for the hug, you practically leap at Tom, causing him to stumble backwards a couple steps.
Tom instinctively wraps his arms tighter around you as he recovers from the sudden move.
“Cut!” McQ calls out, holding back laughter.
“That might’ve been a little too much, y/n,” Tom chuckles.
You finally have your boyfriend back, even if it’s just for a moment.
“Sorry,” you giggle. “Just wanted to try something new.”
Tom smiles and kisses the top of your head.
A few months later, you are curled up on the couch flipping through the tv channels as Tom works on post-production for the movie.
You hear the door to your condo open.
“Hey sweetheart,” Tom calls out.
“Baby,” you say, getting off the couch immediately to greet him.
Tom wraps you in a hug. “I’ve missed you.”
“I missed you too,” you mumble into his chest.
“Remember that take we did where you jumped at me?” Tom asks you.
You laugh. “Yeah, I do.”
“We decided to keep it in the film.”
“What?”
“We just loved that take the most, so we kept it.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not,” Tom smiles, kissing you.
“I just did that for fun, nothing serious.”
“The scene needed something like that. It’s gonna go over well with the audience, I promise you.”
You study Tom’s face. “I guess you’ve been producing films longer than I have…”
“You haven’t produced even one,” Tom teases.
“Hey!” you laugh, smacking his chest.
“Just wait, I promise it’ll take well.”
Months after that conversation with Tom, the movie finally released and you were doing a press tour with the cast.
One night in your hotel room, you’re scrolling through social media as Tom finishes getting ready for bed.
As you scroll through the movie’s hashtag, you see the same clip popping up all over the place - the clip of you lunging at Tom.
Every post is saying “if this isn’t how you hug me every day, I don’t want it”.
“Tom,” you say.
“Yes?” he replies.
“People are going crazy over that hug.”
“What did I tell you?”
You smile, setting your phone down and scooting across the bed to watch Tom in the bathroom.
“I know,” you say.
Tom walks out of the bathroom to you. He kisses the top of your head, and taps your legs, wanting you to move.
You scurry into a seated position next to Tom, resting your head on his shoulder.
“I love you,” he tells you.
“I love you too,” you reply, reaching up to give him a kiss.
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aluhnim · 4 months
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Hello!! When you start a comic, how do you go about deciding your panelling layouts?? If this is too big of an ask for covid brain, how about your favorite song of the moment / a song that really inspires you?? I hope you feel better soon!
I was searching around for an old write up I did for some Original Character Tournament folks who were interested in my thoughts on panels and layouts. To try and answer your question, I go off of vibe now that I’ve made a LOT of comics. However, as much as it doesn’t seem like it at times, I do typically stay as “conventional” as possible to make sure my readers are still following the plot. I make a lot of adjustments along the way. Smarter layouts allow me to draw less, and drawing less is better for me in the long run! It’ll allow me to put more time in other places of the comic.
Anyway, here’s my write up back in the day that’ll hopefully answer some comic drafting questions!
More conventional paneling is a necessary stepping stone because you know your reader won’t get lost and the structure will have you more focused on flow and pacing. It seems remarkably easy to do comics with more “static” or traditional panel layouts but they work for a reason. There’s no real need to break out of something that works, unless you want to! Breaking out of the structure can really add some OOMPH to your important pages.
Some tips, note that these have been my preferences and some definitions don’t quite match their descriptors.
Bleed
I consider open panels or panels that stretch out beyond the edge of the page to be considered bleeds. They’re simple ways to make you feel like your not just sticking within your margins and making your page feel less static without much extra effort. Manga does this quite often, and Western American comics, especially during action packed moments or large splashes.
Some examples of things bleeds can do:
- They can also be used as transitions between pages (first panel bleeding in, last panel bleeding out).
- They can be used to interrupt or add a beat to a moment. Although the example below is mostly bleeds, you can see the one full panel at the bottom stands out because it’s not like the others. A subtle beat.
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- They can also just be used to extend a panel to make it bigger. That seems obvious, but larger panels do make people spend a bit more time on them, regardless if there is text or not. Though, “more time” means probably several milliseconds or even a few seconds more than usual.
- Collaging with a bleed is a really great way to think beyond panels and open the space. You will be spending more time thinking of how much you can cram in along with the flow of how your text is going to lead through a series of images.
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- Removing panel borders can really open a space and allow for more room without having to go above and beyond the ideas of comics and panels. (sorry, gale galligan is just good)
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Gutters
The space between panels is almost just as important as the panel itself. That’s where readers and inferring actions and time. You can only control so much of what the reader is doing between their eye shifting between panels, which is why composition within panels and clarity are so important.
Gutters can also be played with! A simple example is changing your gutters from white to all black. It can be a subtle shift in time, a transition to a new space.
Even the amount of space between panels leaves an idea of time! I think webtoons/manhwa really work well with the gutter space, leaving you to physically scroll and feel the effects of time passing with the amount of empty space you encounter.
It’s important to understand that the gutter has a lot more to do with reader imagination, and your goal is to have them understand that the next panel is somehow plausible.
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THIS SCENE EMFIELDS DID IS VERY FUCKING GOOD. TIME, SPACE, GO OOOOOOFFFF KING
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Panels themselves can be a part story!
This one is a difficult thing to write for, since I feel like there isn’t many examples out there. There are very structural examples of panels out there, like Watchman. While the 9 panel grid was intentional, it also was likely the only way to deal with Alan Moore’s script effectively without missing details. The panels themselves don’t ENHANCE the story, but a means to an end.
But it’s also an incredibly good example of how conventional comics paneling can still be effective, especially when you start breaking that mold just a little bit.
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But then you have comics like M. Dean’s “Baby fat”. Where the comic paneling itself never strays from its original structure, but is indicative of the story itself, representing tiles, mirrors, patterns.
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Or Robert Hunter’s “The New Ghost” which he uses circular motifs and has circular panels representing the telescopes sight line.
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Predicting Reader Navigation
These are my rules of thumb when doing general sight reading panel by panel.
1. Text is what people gravitate to first. It’s the context needed to approach the next panel.
2. Faces are next, this provides context to what the subject is feeling.
3. Familiar people/animals/objects and SFX.
4. Everything else!
This is an example of sight reading notes I gave to my friend Holocene when we were collaborating.
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em-dash-press · 1 year
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Is Exposition Ever Good? 4 Pros and Cons of Catching Your Readers Up to Speed
People often mention exposition as a bad thing. Can it ever work in a story? Here are a few things you need to know about writing exposition so you can use it purposefully or avoid it in your upcoming work.
What Is Exposition?
Exposition is any dialogue or part of a story that catches the reader up on what already happened. It’s received a bad reputation in the writing community, but it can serve a few purposes if done well.
Basically, imagine starting a chapter with the summary on the book’s jacket. Except sometimes that summary fits in other parts of the story.
Pros and Cons of Exposition
Pro: Readers Get a Recap
When you’re six books deep in a 10-book series, a little recap in the first chapter is very much needed. It’s even good when you’re starting a sequel. Readers aren’t going to remember every plot detail, rivalry, and moment of character development.
You’ll likely read it in the first chapter something like this:
Chapter One I couldn’t believe I made it off that mountain, even weeks after scaring residents in the valley village of Straw Hollow. The blackened chunks of my face I nearly lost to frostbite would have been scary enough, but they also had to rush me to their physician with a bear trap around my ankle. It was all worth it though. I’d left my hometown six months prior to find my sister on the top of that mountain. I’d rescued her and pulled her back with me on a makeshift sled of pine branches. She was alive. That was all that mattered. Until I woke up in the physician’s cabin and saw a poster hanging across the room. It had my face on it, along with a bounty of $5 million.
That summary doesn’t include every detail from the first book, but it includes the major points so readers remember why the protagonist left on their quest, what matters most to them (aka, their motivation), and what they’re up against now.
Con: They Don’t Always Need It
Sometimes writers include exposition that summarizes something from a previous chapter. Readers don’t always need that! Unless your last chapter was longer than ~10 pages, they may read your exposition and feel as though you’re talking down to them. The storytelling starts to baby the reader instead of entertaining them.
Even in the case of starting a new book in a series, lengthy exposition might not be necessary. A few quick sentences could summarize your first book and get the reader back in your world if the first book was a mega-hit that people can’t stop talking about.
Pro: Exposition Can Set the Scene
If you’re writing a fast-paced, high-stakes story right from the start, it’s important to set the scene quickly. Your exposition could look like the example above and lead into a fight scene. As soon as the protagonist sees the bounty poster, the physician walks into the room held at knifepoint. The attacker fights the protagonist, who wins—but barely.
It wouldn’t make sense to weave your exposition throughout the first chapter because your reader would quickly get left behind. They wouldn’t enjoy the action or fast pace because they don’t remember what’s at stake for the protagonist or why they’re doing what they’re doing.
Con: It Can Feel Like Page Filler Content
Imagine the first chapter from the example. The writing is exactly the same, but after the protagonist successfully escapes the attacker in the physician’s cabin, they find their sister and hide in a nearby forest. As they’re crouching in the shadows, they start whispering to each other.
“What happened in there?” my sister asked.  "I just woke up in that physician's cabin," I replied. "I remembered walking into the village and even checked for the bear trap. My ankle is in this hard cast now, so it's okay. But then I saw a poster with a bounty of $5 million. Whoever turns me in to the king gets the money. So an assassin held the doctor at knifepoint and I had to fight them off. They landed a few punches, but I think I'm all right. " “A bounty?” she hissed. We waited for villagers with torches to pass by us before she spoke again. “For $5 million?” “Yeah,” I confirmed. “I’m really glad you found me at the top of that mountain and brought me back down on a sled of pine branches, but this is dangerous.” “I’d do anything for you.” “And it looks like those villagers would do anything for $5 million.”
That part of the chapter repeats everything the reader just read. The specific bounty price is even mentioned a few times as if the reader's going to forget how much it is between paragraphs. They know all of this information already, so this example of expository dialogue slows the pacing. Even more critically, it bores the reader.
You can also accidentally bore the reader if you’re repeating information that isn’t vital to the story. The next part of that chapter could describe how the sisters wander through the forest. The protagonist watches the stars pass by through the tree branches above and recalls a memory of watching stars with their mother in great detail.
The sister asks what the protagonist is thinking, who describes the memory a second time in exactly the same level of detail.
These situations often create the books we read where we go, “I liked it, but it could have been 100 pages shorter.” That’s likely because there was expository information scattered throughout, either in dialogue, internal monologue, or the storytelling itself.
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Don’t be afraid to use exposition when it’s to your reader’s advantage, but remember that it can be easily overdone. Beta readers are a great resource for catching those moments. You can also read the story out loud to hear what you’re repeating.
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yubnubforhire · 8 months
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I’ve seen a lot of people decry criticism of the rwrb movie as simply either homophobic or anti-cringe, with the statement ‘let queer people have our cringe rom-coms’ a common defense. This idea is flawed for many reasons, not least of which being that this movie is like… barely queer. Sure it’s about a queer couple, but that’s about where it stops.
First off there’s the blatant bi erasure, with no discussion of Nora’s sexuality, no June/Nora/Pez, the word bisexual only being used once or twice in the whole movie, etc. Second off is the complete lack of queer education or community: where is Alex learning about the gay lib movement and feeling like he understands something new, deep within himself? Where is Henry talking about his role amongst the erased queer figures of the past? Where are the crowds supporting both of them, in the US and the UK? (the scene at buckingham where you don’t even see the crowd felt so cheap) Where was Amy’s role as queer elder and protector? Where was Luna, and Alex’s realization as to why he looked up to him so much and why his betrayal hurt so bad? Where was Alex realizing he and Liam had actually ‘had a thing’ when they were younger, and reconnecting with him as someone who can fully be himself? Where was all the support when they got outed? Where the fuck was Catherine? Where were Bea and Catherine fighting for them during the confrontation at buckingham? Movie!firstprince feel so isolated and without community, which is just SO not the world CMQ created in the book.
More broadly, the movie just felt so shallow. I completely understand the need for adaptation and translation to a new medium, but so many of the things they changed either lower the stakes or remove them entirely. Bea is a non-character, with no depth or backstory. Nora only exists to tell Alex to fuck Henry. Pez gets all of one line in the entire movie. June does not exist, which should completely change things because Alex does not act like the only/eldest child of the POTUS. We never really see the emails and a lot of them are adapted to onscreen dialogue, so what exactly was leaked? Why are they called the Waterloo letters? No one watching the movie alone will know. Who leaked them? I figure the movie implies it was Miguel, but then why have Richards be a character at all? CMQ was making a point with the Richards/Luna story, and the movie having a new side character as the “villain” is just… so disappointing. We don’t see any of the scenes of Henry acknowledging how fucked up the monarchy is (other than a few throwaway jokes), the comparison to the Empire, any of the Bea storyline, or him trying to avoid military service and renounce his royal inheritance, so the one line towards the end when movie!Henry has an outburst about the monarchy being antiquated is just completely unearned and comes out of nowhere.
They kept the line where Oscar tells Alex that ‘sometimes you just have to jump and hope it’s not a cliff’ but it’s now completely devoid of the context— that line is about Oscar telling Alex he doesn’t regret getting together with Ellen, no matter how it ended. It doesn’t work the same if Oscar and Ellen are still happily married! (Justice for Leo also tbh)
In the confrontation at Buckingham, the king (don’t get me started on the things they changed to avoid comparisons to queen liz) still suggests to Henry that they should claim the leaks are deepfakes and deny it, but Alex already gave the live televised speech in the movie timeline! It’s out already! The entire scene with the king honestly just does not work if Alex has already made the speech. Also side note, there’s absolutely no way in turbohell that Alex would make that speech without talking to Henry first.
There’s so much more I could talk about, from more script shenanigans to the Pip of it all, but this is honestly already way too long. All I want to say now is that it’s obviously everyone’s prerogative to like a movie or not, and nothing anyone else says should change the way you personally feel about a piece of art. That does not mean, however, that any criticism of said art is incorrect or unwarranted. You can like something and still acknowledge its flaws. And no, cringiness is not this movie’s main flaw.
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mayvaava · 1 year
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The more I think about it, the more I think the ending The Collector got was the best they’d get. I mean, it’s very easy and very true to say, “he’s a child!! He needs someone to watch over him”, but it’s also important to note that he’s a god. A straight up, insanely powerful, immortal, god.
Yes they are changing, and yes they worked hard to help fix the damage Belos and them did. But, like, he wouldn’t be safe on the isles. Yes our main characters seem to largely forgive him, because they understand that he didn’t really get what he was doing, and clearly feels bad and wants to help. But there’s an entire populace they victimized and who will inevitably hold trauma and hostility towards this kid. They don’t need that, especially in the beginning of their development.
What The Collector needs is to explore new life, new mortals, learn from them on a fresh slate, grow to understand themselves and the world around them. They aren’t alone, they can visit any time, hell, they’ve been asked to visit, and they have François with them to keep them company while they’re away.
When you consider his, presumably, slow aging process, how long he’s been alive already, and how that factors into his life and how he processes it, he really isn’t gone long at all. When king said “The Collector was in the area”, he says it with a familiarity that makes it seem like this isn’t a super rare occurrence.
It kinda feels like a kid playing outside all day and coming home to eat and sleep, only to to it again the next day, because they like playing and learning and exploring outside, and they don’t want to accidentally make a mess in the house. If that makes sense?
My point is that, yes he is a child, and that’s incredibly important to note, but he is also a god, and that is equally important to note, and is integral to understanding them and their story.
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THE BEST OF DANIEL BRÜHL
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It’s dumb, honestly.
You get this seemingly brilliant idea of turning to foreign films so you’re forced to read subtitles and focus—a problem you’ve been noticing of late—but in doing so, you end up with a more destructive distraction.
“Who’s that guy, again? The one in all those international productions?” That’s how I found myself on my Daniel Brühl marathon-turned-obsession.
It was his role as the cute Nazi in Inglorious Basterds that first put him on my radar. Over the years, I would see him in The Fifth Estate, Burnt, Woman in Gold, The Zookeeper’s Wife, and The King’s Man. Midway through All Quiet on the Western Front, I was like, “All this needs is that German actor…” and I had to chuckle when he later appeared on screen. I also checked out the first season of The Alienist because I was intrigued by what he and Dakota Fanning as leads would do with such a spooky-looking show.
Adorable as he was in his breakout role in Good Bye, Lenin!, it was his performance in the critically-acclaimed Rush that caused me to spiral. Similar to when Benedict Cumberbatch took on the modern version of Sherlock, it was like seeing Brühl with new eyes. His playful take on Helmut Zemo in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier was the final nail in the coffin. I don’t imagine it’s all too different from what Tom Hiddleston did to fans of Marvel as Loki.
I’m actually at the tail-end of this obsession now that I’ve seen everything I can get a hold of—around 39 films, two TV shows, a documentary, a music video, countless interviews, a bunch of ads, and a handful of fan cuts—but he has a lot of works worth recommending so I thought I would share them on here. This will mostly be a subjective list with priority on projects I found most interesting which showcase his range best. Like, I enjoyed The Bourne Ultimatum but he was on screen for a total of 2 minutes so I wouldn’t include that here.
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RUSH (2013) This biographical sports film written by Peter Morgan—the man behind The Crown—centers on the rivalry between Formula One drivers James Hunt and Niki Lauda in the 70s. Not a fan of F1 or sports in general. I have nothing against either, just zero interest. But this character-driven film, much like Ford vs Ferrari, had me at the edge of my seat the entire ride. And it surprisingly has one of the best meet-cutes—and accidental wingmen—I’ve seen yet.
Brühl delivers an Oscar-worthy performance in this role. For someone who needed a lot of convincing he could do the character justice, he truly went above and beyond. For one, he befriended and studied Lauda, the iconic F1 figure he was portraying. No easy feat considering Lauda being, well… Lauda. In interviews, Brühl recounts the story of the memorable invite he got from Lauda to meet in Vienna. This would be their first meeting and Lauda told Brühl outright that he should only bring hand luggage so he can piss off if they don’t like each other.
He would end up staying a few days and buying additional clothes.
He also spent a month in Vienna to nail the accent, making sure to capture the arrogance and irony innate to it. And although he got driver training for the role, he also considered the tiniest details like which went on first: helmet or gloves? There was also the tricky business of looking graceful entering a tiny F1 car—a bigger challenge for Chris Hemsworth who plays Hunt—but an obstacle all the same.
All the hard work paid off. It was well-received by audiences, critics, and the F1 world. The first time Lauda saw the film he went, “Holy shit, that’s really me”. Lauda’s friends thought he did voiceover work for it. Director Ron Howard was so pleased with Brühl’s performance that he went out of his way to show an unfinished cut of the movie to the producers of The Fifth Estate (2013). This gracious act would land Brühl the co-lead role opposite Benedict Cumberbatch.
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GOOD BYE, LENIN! (2003) Can't tell if it's just because the two films have the same composer and were created around the same time, but this tragicomedy set in East Germany reminded me so much of my beloved Amélie. This is definitely more dramatic and political but it has that same mix of whimsy, heart, and charm. With its budget, it was meant to be an indie film, but the story of a son who would recreate a faux-socialist world to keep his mother alive captured the heartstrings of audiences, not just in Germany but also worldwide. Brühl plays the son and his success with this film was a double-edged sword: although it would open doors for him internationally, he would also be typecast as the “nice guy” in his home country.
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INGLORIOUS BASTERDS (2009) This has one of the best, most intense opening sequences in all of cinema… and one of the greatest villains. In this wild alternate universe from Quentin Tarantino, he rewrites the ending of World War II. It’s the right balance of dark, hilarious, and entertaining—my favorite from the auteur’s works. Here Brühl plays a cute and charming Nazi, which is very confusing to the senses.
Aside from Brühl, it was also my first introduction to Christoph Waltz, Michael Fassbender, and Melanie Laurent—all fantastic European actors who’ve crossed over to Hollywood after the success of this movie. “Crossing over” seems ubiquitous now but, at that time, giving most of the lead roles to then relatively unknown actors must have been a risk. But for this, it was necessary. Language plays a huge part in this trilingual film and casting native speakers grounded it in authenticity. Tarantino originally had Leonardo di Caprio in mind to play Hans Landa. Whether he meant for him to learn German or to speak English with a German accent, who knows. Either way, it’s safe to say that would have been a different film.
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THE EDUKATORS / DIE FETTEN JAHRE SIND VORBEI (2004) This anti-capitalist film, which has become a cult classic, captures the spirit, idealism, recklessness, and angst of young revolutionaries who just want a better world. Where one stands on the measures taken, or even their sentiment, can be considered a litmus test. With or without reference to this quote from the movie—“Under 30 and not liberal, no heart. Over 30 and still liberal, no brain.”—is up to the viewer.
There needs to be a suspension of disbelief for the series of events that takes place but the setting is necessary for the clash of worlds to happen. It’s not a perfect movie but the issues they debate about in length… they’re still discussions we’re having nearly 20 years later.
p.s. this has my favorite behind-the-scenes of all of Brühl’s projects. Though he hasn’t lost his sense of humor, he seems to have become more reserved as he got older. HERE, at this period in his life, he’s a total goofball bordering on loose cannon.
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THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER (2021) Though I’ve enjoyed quite a few MCU movies, I’m not invested in the universe at all, so watching this wasn’t a priority. In fact, I was ready to settle on YouTube compilations made by devoted fans of all the scenes Brühl was in. Upon seeing clips, however, I got intrigued by his character so I still ended up watching the miniseries and also Captain America: Civil War (2016).
Both were better than I expected. Civil War is more serious, while TFATWS is more playful, but both face relevant issues along with formidable foes. Brühl’s villain in Helmut Zemo is fascinating because he tears the mighty Avengers apart with mere patience, fury, and intelligence… and his motivations are understandable. He lets his character loose in TFATWS—at one point, on the dance floor—and it’s magnificent. His mission is still the same, but this time he does it with a lot of charm, humor, and fabulous Sokovian style. A Turkish delight, personified.
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ME AND KAMINSKI / ICH UND KAMINSKI (2015) Brühl’s Sebastian Zöllner is a repulsive and sleazy journalist who has greasy hair and wears too much cologne but I can’t get enough of his chaotic energy. His magnum opus is hitched on a legendary artist dying and his fantasy is to turn the orphaned daughter into a sugar mommy. It’s all kinds of messed up but he plays the hell out of the smarmy dirtbag so it’s a lot of fun. This is Brühl’s second collaboration with Wolfgang Becker, who directed Good Bye, Lenin! Daniel Kehlmann, the writer whose eponymous book this film was based on, would later write Brühl’s directorial debut, Nebenan.
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NO REGRETS / NICHTS BEUREUEN (2001) This is reminiscent of the slightly problematic but highly enjoyable teen comedies and coming-of-age films of the 90s. It’s like an edgier Can’t Hardly Wait: boy goes through cringe-worthy measures to get the girl he’s long been pining for, his two closest pals have nothing but dumb advice to offer, yet he still ends up on the path to self-discovery. It’s awkward, chaotic, frustrating, and beautiful—but such is adolescence.
Brühl and his co-star Jessica Schwarz fall in love on the set of this film. And although they would break up years later, the tenderness between their scenes together is palpable and there’s something rather bittersweet about seeing that captured in perpetuity.
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For a more straightforward rom-com, he has Lila, Lila (2009). It’s about a guy who passes off a manuscript as his own to impress a girl and the hilarity that follows. It’s on YouTube for those who need a fun and light watch.
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THE ALIENIST (2018 – 2020) Based on the novel of the same name, this moody psychological thriller set in late 19th century New York follows a psychiatrist—then called an Alienist—who investigates a series of grisly murders with methods still considered new and controversial at that time, such as psychology and fingerprinting. He gets by with a little help from his friends, John Moore, an illustrator for the New York Times, and Sara Howard, a society woman who works in the NYPD.
In the lead role of Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, Brühl plays the dark, complex, and mysterious Alienist whose study of mental pathologies and deviant behaviors reveals much of himself and his past.
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LESSONS OF A DREAM / DER GANZ GROßE TRAUM (2011) This film is loosely based on Konrad Koch, an educator and pioneer who brought football to Germany in the late 19th century. In the movie, the sport is used as a means to pique students’ interest in the English language and culture—both considered barbaric by the Germans at that time. A heartwarming tale of a teacher who overcomes insurmountable odds and inspires students along the way, it’s the German equivalent of Dead Poet’s Society.
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ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (2022) This story, the third adaptation of the 1929 novel, “Im Westen nichts Neues”, conveys the futility of war like no other. There aren't as many films on World War I as there are on World War II, fewer ones that tell it from a German perspective, so this is doubly unique in that regard. Powerful watch but 10/10 not like to relive it again. Apart from producing it with his company, Amusement Park, Brühl plays Matthias Erzberger, the German State Secretary who pushes for armistice talks with the Allied forces.
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An ideal companion watch to this would be Joyeux Noël / Merry Christmas (2005), another WWI movie Brühl stars in, which depicts the unbelievable Christmas truce between French, German, and Scottish soldiers in 1914. His linguistic ability shines here as he shifts between German, French, and English effortlessly. (Half German, half Spanish, Brühl speaks a total of five languages: those three plus Spanish and Catalan.)
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The Zookeeper’s Wife (2017) and Alone in Berlin (2016) also recognize the bravery of defiance at the height of tyrannical regimes. Although between the two, I would skip the latter.
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JOHN RABE (2009) This biographical film set in China tells the incredible true story of a German businessman who uses his Nazi Party membership to create an International Safety Zone in Nanking. This was in the late 1930s, during the Rape of Nanjing. In this six-week carnage by the Imperial Japanese Army—which includes sexual assault, mutilations, and killing contests—upwards of 200,000 Chinese are brutally murdered. The protective zone manages to save around the same number of civilians.
Brühl doesn’t play the titular Rabe, but his character, Dr. Georg Rosen, is one of few Westerners who decides to remain and protect Nanking even as conflict escalates. Dr. Rosen was a German Diplomat instrumental in the creation of the safety zone.
p.s. with all these heroic roles in his catalog, I’m convinced Brühl would be a frontrunner to play President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, should a movie be made about him and Ukraine’s conflict with Russia. You heard it here first.
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NEXT DOOR / NEBENAN (2021) This is Brühl’s directorial debut. Here he plays a darker, fictionalized version of himself. Definitely not for everyone but quite enjoyable if you’re familiar with his major works and public persona, appreciate the ingenuity of one-location movies, and delight in British-style meta humor.
Pre-requisite viewing for maximum enjoyment: Good Bye, Lenin!, Captain America: Civil War, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
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asomaton · 2 months
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In light of the news that Nimona got an Oscars nomination I feel I need to talk about the original Graphic Novel, which I love dearly. It started as a webcomic in 2012 and got published in 2015.
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Now the GN got picked up by a Fox animation studio Blue Sky in 2015 but Fox was bought up by Disney who later tore down that studio. Perhaps the story of an estranged knight turned to villain because of image branding and dark ambitions of the empire didn’t sit well? At least the story with overt trans and queer-issues didn’t. I WAS surprised when I heard that Disney picked it up and for a time they did work on it. It was 3/4 part done when they shut it down in 2021.
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Now that’s a lot of animation work. In comes Netflix (some good animations there) and Annapurna Studios (some good films, GREAT video games) and saves the day. I was happy but cautious. Didn’t like the trailer or the style, but hey it’s happening right?
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Now don’t get me wrong. Nimona is not a bad film. It’s quite good and the way it handles gender and HBTQ issues is refreshing but the movie isn’t you know, amazing. (For everyone who thinks it is, good for you but hear me out).
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The graphic novel is about two villains, not two misunderstood pure-hearted persons against the world. Blackheart (Boldheart in the movie 😐) is bitter and cold, Nimona is ferral and violent and people who get in their way DIE. They are hunted by the institute, a faceless dictatorship who does inhumane experiments. The King is never seen, a mere media puppet for the institute. It’s the best villain story I’ve read (and yes, I have read Worm)
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The character Nimona is the unacceptable other. An anomaly that must be tamed or destroyed. While not as obvious as in the movie Nimona in the GN is of course a symbol for transgenderism. They transform their looks and form all through the book and at times sees themselves as a monster.
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Am I sure of this? Well, the author Nate Diana Steveson went from nonbinary to transmasc/bigender and produced She-Ra so my guess is as good as yours.
Now, reading Nimona makes the movie look VERY tame. Was it the rewrite or the short stay at Disney that changed it? How did Stevenson react to it?
Either way, hurray for movie Nimona. Now, please go read the graphic novel Nimona by ND Stevenson.
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valeskafics · 4 months
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"Dance Of The Dragons" Chapter Nine: I'd Do Anything - Modern!Aemond Targaryen x Reader (Rocker AU) - FINALE
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a/n: thank you so much for all your love and support for this story, my loves!! i'm so glad to have finally been able to finish it - aegon will be getting his own little oneshot soon so worry not!! 🥰🩷
Catch Up On This Series HERE.
Summary: Your tour with the Direwolves is coming to an end, so this might be Aemond's one last chance to make you understand his feelings.
TW: profanity, innuendo, afab reader, she/her pronouns, slight angst, semi public sex, p in v sex
Word Count: 1,300 words
Rating: 18+, MDNI
SPOTIFY PLAYLIST HERE 💕
Songs Used In This Chapter: "Boom" (originally by Simple Plan, here written by Reader), "I'd Do Anything (originally by Simple Plan, here written by Aemond)
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the House of The Dragon/Fire & Blood characters nor do I claim to own them. I do not own any of the images used nor do I claim to own them. I do not own any of the songs listed in this chapter nor do I claim to own them.
Comments, likes, and reblogs are never required but are immensely appreciated 🩷
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It’s been two years since you and the girls won the Battle of the Bands. And for the last two years, you’ve been touring with the Direwolves and Dance of the Dragons. It’s been amazing, getting people all over the world to listen to your music, from YiTi to Asshai to Essos to back home in King’s Landing. The Doom of Old Valyria has quickly become one of the biggest names on the punk rock scene, all the dreams you ever had for your beloved band coming true in front of your very eyes.
Helaena and Cregan have been together for nearly a year now, Jace and Sara getting back together a few months after that. Baela has had two boy toys on call, the Cargyll brothers, while Rhaena remains single, though she and Aegon have seemed to have a vibe going recently. Love definitely seems to be in the air when it comes to the three most popular bands in the world.
But, one thing everyone is left wondering about is what the hell is going on between you and Aemond. You still haven’t defined whatever the hell it is between the two of you and he hasn’t forced you to, a fact you’re grateful for. But then, on the other hand, you wonder if that means he prefers not being in a relationship, to keep things casual. Though you two agreed to only hook up with each other, part of you wonders if he wants more. To be your boyfriend. To be with you. Or is this romance just going to last until the tour ends in just a few short hours?
Yeah, the most exciting thing that has ever happened to you is drawing to a close. It’s a bittersweet feeling, knowing that you’ve accomplished everything you and the girls ever wanted, everything you told Cerelle you dreamed of. But the tour ending also means not being with Aemond every day. No more sneaking preshow kisses in the green room, no more finding the weirdest museums in every country you visit and going to them together, no more secret dinner dates in the big cities you get to see together.
The idea of not seeing him anymore hurts, but you refuse to admit it. Today, the last day of the tour, he approached you, asking if the two of you could talk. You completely avoided him, rambling some excuse about needing to buy some new guitar strings. The rest of your bandmates - and his - looked at you with suspicion as you darted off toward your tour bus.
And now, here you are, laying in your bunk, trying to stop yourself from crying as you think about the fact that after tonight, all of this is over. You go up first tonight, then the guys, and finally the Direwolves last set of their sensational worldwide tour, one that they say has laid the foundation for the modern pop punk scene.
Time passes by far too quickly, and soon? You’re called for sound check.
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You get up on stage, facing the crowd, getting ready to perform your final song of the night. You don’t want to admit it to anyone, but this song is a bit more raw and personal. And it’s for him. You refuse to admit it though, even though you can feel his gaze trained on you from the side of the stage. You start singing, smiling to yourself, though you can feel tears pricking at your eyes from how overwhelming all of this is.
“In a world full of heartache, seems like everyone's burning out. You and me we did it our way,” you glance over at him, seeing him watching you intently, “And this love ain't running out. We got that fire, that glow and I just need you to know!”
The chorus kicks in and you laugh as the boys run on stage, doing the wave behind you and the girls, Aemond of course taking a spot right next to you as you strum on your guitar, singing directly to him.
“You're my favorite song. My sing-along. You shine bright like lighters in the dark and you're my clarity, the best part of me. You still make my crazy little heart go boom.”
You and the girls take a bow, exiting the stage to watch as the boys begin their set. It must have been so obvious to Aemond when you were looking at him that the song was about him. Gods, you hope he didn’t realize it, though. If you’ve fallen for him and the feeling isn’t mutual… You don’t know if you can take another heartbreak. Losing Cerelle, Robin cheating, and the whole thing with Alys.
You’ve always put on a tough front, but you feel more than a bit fragile right now. You’re taken by surprise when, during the middle of the boys’ set, they call you onto the stage to sing “Shallow” with Aemond, the fans going crazy at the chemistry between you as you belt to each other, gazing into each other’s eyes. It seems like everyone wants the same thing as you.
For Aemond to be in love with you.
Before you can leave the stage after the crowd cheers, Aemond speaks up, grabbing your hand.
“This next song goes out to you, my sweet songbird. And I hope you understand what I’m trying to tell you.”
You stare at him in surprise, watching as Aegon begins strumming a riff that you don’t recognize and Aemond begins singing.
“Another day is going by. I'm thinking about you all the time. But you're out there and I'm here waiting. And I wrote this letter in my head ‘cause so many things were left unsaid. But now you're gone and I can't think straight.”
He sings with Aegon and Jace on the prechorus, your lips forming a smile as you realize that maybe, just maybe, Aemond wants the same thing as you.
“This could be the one last chance to make you understand, yeah.”
And with the chorus? You know exactly what it is that he’s trying to tell you.
“I'd do anything just to hold you in my arms. To try to make you laugh. Somehow I can't put you in the past. I'd do anything just to fall asleep with you. Will you remember me? 'Cause I know I won't forget you.”
You cover your face with your hands, tears falling from your eyes as Aemond continues singing to you, the bridge making your heart pound in your chest.
“I close my eyes and all I see is you. I close my eyes. I try to sleep, I can't forget you. And I'd do anything for you.”
After the song ends, Aemond says them. Those three words that you’ve been dying to hear, that you’ve been so afraid of for so long.
“I love you.”
You smile, choking back a sob as you whisper, “I love you too.”
You throw your arms around him, kissing him passionately, listening as the crowd cheers your names.
Lost in him.
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After the show, you and Aemond stay behind in the green room, going out onto the stage together after everyone has already left the venue, no security, no staff, nothing. Just you and him. Aemond takes you into his arms, resting his forehead against yours as he holds your face in his hands.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Aemond.”
Several hours later, you lay beside him on that empty stage, his hips moving against yours, your lips pressed to his as you lose yourself in each other. It’s possibly one of the craziest things either of you has ever done, but you can’t bring yourself to care, nor can he.
Not when you’re so lost in each other.
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annymation · 3 months
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Reimagining the Characters in Wish
(Part 4- The 7 teens)
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Yup, you read that right, I’m rewriting AAAAALL these fellas, or rather, just giving more substance to them because as they were in the movie we barely got CHARACTERS, just a 7 dwarfs reference, heck, I doubt y’all remember their names.
If you’re new here, hi, I’m rewriting all the characters in Wish before I start sharing my rewrite, here’s part 1, part 2 and part 3.
Now you may wonder, why am I even keeping the concept of the 7 teens in my rewrite, when just scrapping them all together would make my life so much easier instead of writing lines of dialogue and character motives to all of them?
Well the answer is that I like to make myself suffer I think they actually have a lot of potential, and I really like their designs.
Sooo lets meet the gang.
Who are the 7 teens?
So in my rewrite, the 7 teens will be a little bit more than just Asha’s best friends. Because each one of them will be the sons and daughters of some members of the royal staff.
I’ll be specifying in this blog the following things about each one of them:
- Their personality.
- Who their parents are.
- How they met Asha.
- What purpose will they serve in the story.
So buckle up because this blog might get a lil bit long hahaha I regret this already.
Dahlia 🍪
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- Dahlia is a 17 year old girl, she has mobility issues, so she has to use a crutch to walk.
- She’s very organized and proactive, always doing her best to get things done. She’s often the one who takes the lead when planning things for her friends such as surprise birthday parties or deciding where to hang out (or whatever teenagers did back then aside from dying from the plague).
- She has an habit of making lists with the step by step of everything she has planned, which her friends find pretty amusing. Her ideas always turn out to be a lot of fun, although she really needs to learn how to let go of this need of control and just let things play out naturally.
(She’s kinda like Twilight Sparkle… this will not be the last time I’ll mention a My Little Pony character in this blog)
- Sometimes when things don’t go according to plan or she gets anxious she starts stuttering and replacing words
(much like how Doc from Snow White did constantly, I’m shocked they didn’t reference that once in the movie, it’s such an awkward teenager thing to do)
“Asha! We shook— I mean LOOKED everywhere for you la-last night! Why would you fun- I MEAN RUN away from the hackle like that??”
“… I think you mean castle-“
“YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT”
- But overall she’s a very kind and supportive friend to Asha, something they both have in common is that they enjoy working hard to achieve their goals, even though Dahlia still wants to give her wish for the king.
- I might’ve made her come off as a bit of a control freak but really she’s very easygoing and kind. Even when things don’t go according to plan she knows anything with her friends will be fun and work out in the end.
Even if what doesn’t go according to plan is a heist mission to infiltrate the castle?
She’s the daughter of the royal cooks
- Her mother is the royal baker and her father is the royal lead chef.
- They both work in the castle, and Dahlia sometimes goes with them to lend a hand when they’re short staffed or to learn the family business.
- Dahlia has witnessed first hand how the royal couple can be not so sweet when they’re away from the public eyes:
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King Magnifico: Diner yesterday was absolutely dreadful, what happened? Have I granted your wish to be the greatest chef in the land for nothing?
Dahlia’s father: m-my deepest apologies sire, you see, the queen took all the salt from our storage yesterday to make her potions so-
King Magnifico: Blaming my wife for your incompetence now, I see
Dahlia’s father: n-no! I’d neve-
King Magnifico: If you got no salt, find a work around, I’ll not be accepting any less than the finest meals from you, was I clear? Dismissed.
Dahlia: … Dad, that wasn’t your fault, you can’t let him talk to you like that.
Dahlia’s father: He’s the king, Dahlia, he’s always right. Besides, it’s thanks to him granting my wish that I know how to cook at all, the least I can do is not disappoint him.
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- Because she got to see this behavior, it’s easier for her to believe when Asha tells her the king and queen’s true colors.
- She’s expected to follow her parent’s foot steps, and become a great cook, but all she really knows how to bake is cookies.
- She sees cooking a lot more as a past time than something she’ll be doing for the rest of her life, but she doesn’t want to let her parents down, she keeps trying to develop some interest in cooking, so she can wish to be a great cook once she turns 18
(Just wishing for it without having truly the interest in cooking wouldn’t work, because a wish has to be something that you really want and comes from the bottom of your heart)
She was the first one that met Asha
- Dahlia was helping her mom sell her baking goods to the neighborhood, so she went all by herself with a little cart carrying a bunch of sweets (like a Girl Scout)
- She knocked on Asha’s house and was greeted by lil 6 year old Asha with her grandpa, they bought some sweets, but as she was walking away Asha noticed she was having some trouble carrying the cart while walking with her crutch.
- Asha looked at her grandfather who gave her a reassuring nod.
- Asha offered to help Dahlia carry the cart.
- They talked while they walked door to door for a while, and after there were no more sweets in the cart they went to play together, and that’s how they became best friends.
She will be the leader
- I mentioned briefly in my blog about reimagining Asha that after her grandfather passed away she started living with Dahlia, so they’re basically sisters, and as such, Dahlia is very protective of Asha and becomes increasingly worried when Asha starts acting weird after her meeting with the king and queen, like she’s hiding something… and why the heck she has a friend that dresses up like a prince now?
- There will be a point in the middle of the story where Asha and Aster run away from the kingdom
(for reasons that I really should explain soon because the whole middle chunk of this rewrite is yet to be shared on Tumblr, I’m so sorry, I’ll get to writing it here soon)
- And Asha is seen now as a traitor, so, the 7 teens are conflicted.
- Should they believe their king, who says that Star guy is dangerous and Asha was plotting to betray them? Or should they trust their best friend?
- Dahlia is the first one who rises up saying they should go after Asha and help her, pack their stuff, tell their parents they’re going to make a sleepover or something, and just go to the middle of the woods.
- Everyone is a little unsure at first (specially Gabo and Simon) but after she gives them a little speech and reminds everyone of all the things Asha did for them, they’re convinced to go.
- Once they do find Asha and Aster, she helps a lot when they have to make a plan on how to defeat the royal couple.
Simon 💤
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- Simon is a 21 year old young man, the oldest of the group, and since the day he gave way his wish he hasn’t been the same.
- Simon used to be very energetic and hard working, now, he’s in a constant feel of exhaustion that doesn’t go away, no matter how much he sleeps, he doesn’t feel motivated to do anything.
- His friends are very understanding tho and every time they hang out they always bring a pillow in case he needs a nap (which he always does need).
- They assume Simon has been so exhausted since he turned 18 because after that his father has been more demanding of him and his training, we’ll talk more about that later.
- Even tho he’s overwhelmed with sleepiness, Simon is still very protective and caring with his friends, he always tries his best to stay awake when they’re having fun together, he doesn’t want to miss a moment with them.
- He was even more protective before he turned 18 of course, he was like the older brother of the group, but since now he’s way too sleepy to be the voice of reason, that role is now Asha’s, the second oldest.
He’s the son of the captain of the royal guard
- The training I mentioned before was sword fighting, horse walking, navigation, tactics and a bunch of other exhausting things.
- But for whaaaateveeer reason Simon has lost all interest in learning about them since the day he gave away his wish, gosh I wonder what that wish wa— It’s the same that it was in the movie.
- Simon wished to become the next captain of the royal guard, just like his dad, so he can make him proud and protect his friends.
(Omg Simon is Papyrus Undertale confirmed)
- Magnifico is waiting for Simon’s dad to pass away so he can grant Simon’s wish, can’t have 2 captains of the royal guard at the same time, now can he?
- The tragic irony of it all is that a wish that Simon made to make his family proud just made him become an embarrassment to his father, who now doesn’t even try to teach him anything, knowing his son is just gonna fall asleep during his lessons.
- Simon is very distressed by all this, deep down he knows that he might feel this way because, for whatever reason, the king hasn’t granted his wish yet
- Whenever he tries to explain that to his father tho, he just angrily cuts him off for even daring to question or blame the king for his own failures, saying he must always be loyal and thankful to the king… Always.
(His father is mean like that because he wished to be the king’s most trusted and loyal knight so he literally is incapable of questioning Magnifico, even if that means he hurts his son in the process)
- After getting these speeches from his father so many times Simon just accepted that the problem was him, and it definitely wasn’t the king’s fault
- However, Asha did suspect that Simon’s wish wasn’t granted, just like how her grandfather’s wish wasn’t either, she recognized how Simon shared a lot of behavior patterns with her grandfather.
“You know Simon… Maybe you should ask the king if your wish was granted at all, don’t you think? You haven't been acting like yourself for 3 years now”
“What? Oh no no no I… I shouldn’t bother him with something so silly, I mean, of course he granted my wish… And if he didn’t then he must have his reasons and I just gotta wait haha but it doesn’t matter either way, after all I’m totally fine… I’m fine…”
Simon is the only one in the group who has absolutely no criticism about the king.
He was the second one that met Asha
- Simon was 10 when he started training sword fighting on his backyard, he’d use some scare crows as his opponents, and he made some wood swords by himself.
- Asha and Dahlia were hanging out when they saw Simon training, Asha thought it seemed fun so she asked if she could play too.
- Simon really could use some more lively opponents so yeah, why not?
- They played sword fighting the whole afternoon while Dahlia cheered for Asha and joined in the fun too.
- Since then they were very close friends and Simon taught Asha how to properly sword fight during their preteen years… they haven’t done that in a while now.
He’ll be the traitor
- Yup, oh sweet sleepy lil Simon betrays them in my version too, but don’t worry, it’s not just because he wants to get his wish granted like it was in the movie
(because that was a jerk move that made Simon feel very unlikable, like I get it he’s constantly exhausted and depressed and wants it to go away but bruh couldn’t even look guilty when doing it)
- So, like I mentioned, they all go after Asha and Aster in the forest. Simon at first is very resistant and the others even say it’s okay if wants to stay.
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Dahlia: It’s okay Simon, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.
Gabo: OH SURE! I’m a jerk for calling this a suicide mission, but the strongest and oldest of the group not wanting to go is completely understandable, I see how it is.
Simon: …hmm
Dahlia: Simon’s case is different Gabo, if his dad realizes he’s missing then we might have even more guards on our tail.
Safi: Besides, Simon might be a liability.
Simon:… what’s that supposed to mean?
Safi: Ah… shoot- eh you know like… it’s getting pretty late and you didn’t get a nap this afternoon so—
Gabo: He means we can’t carry you through the woods like a sleeping beauty waiting for a kiss, Simon.
Simon:…
Hal: Wow Gabo, very classy (sarcastic)
Gabo: Hey, just saying what we’re all thinking-
Simon: I’m going.
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- Simon decides he has to go because someone has to be there to protect his friends, not just from the woods, but most importantly from that star guy the king warned everyone about
- May seem contradictory that Simon believes both in the king and Asha, but truth is that he’s holding up hope that this is all some big misunderstanding and Asha just misunderstood something the king said, or she’s being brainwashed by that star, or anything else.
- He just can’t accept that the king is truly evil.
- So, when they’re packing up their things to go, Simon grabs a little something from his father’s room.
- A magic mirror, used only by the king’s most trusted knights, that gives direct contact to the king's study.
- He planed to just use it in case that they needed help if they found out the star was really harming Asha.
- However, once they did find Asha and Aster, it became undeniably clear that the star wasn’t harmful at all, which left Simon very confused.
“Maybe the book the king read about wishing stars was wrong, I should just explain to him that he made a mistake!”
(Oh poor naive boy)
- After planning how they’d defeat the king and save the wishes, Simon just lied saying he was gonna take a nap behind a tree, and thus, he entered in contact with the king and queen
- Magnifico at first dismisses Simon like he’s just messing with his father’s stuff until Simon mentions he knows where Asha and the star are, that peaks his interest, but he and Amaya disguise their enthusiasm perfectly by pretending to be worried for his safety.
“Oh my, are you alright? Has it done anything to you? Where are you? We can send help immediately”
- He says they’re fine, and tries to explain that maybe the king was wrong about star, and there has been some misunderstanding that lead to Asha thinking they were bad people, if they just talked things out everything would go back to normal.
- Like I mentioned in part 2, one of Magnifico’s abilities is hypnosis through eye contact, so he’s able to make Simon see things his way.
- He manipulates Simon into thinking that the star is tricking all of them to get to the wishes, and the only way for Simon to save them is doing EXACTLY what Magnifico says.
- He asks Simon to tell him what their plans are, so he can stop them from… doing anything they might regret.
- Simon, even under the influence of Magnifico’s power, is still conflicted and asks if his friends will be in trouble after this is all over.
“Trouble? Oh heaves no, dear boy, I wouldn’t dream on letting any harm come to them, trust me, your friends will be perfectly safe… If you do as I say.”
“… “if”?…”
“Enough chit chat, now, what are they plotting exactly? Don’t leave any details”
- Of course, Magnifico also offers to grant Simon's wish if everything goes according to plan, Simon is fully convinced.
- Simon agrees to lock his friends in a room during their invasion to the castle, the king convinced him that's the best way to keep them “safe” (Asha will be locked in a different room tho, for… reasons)
- But once he does lock them up, he hears his friends screaming and arguing with him through the door, eventually he has a change of heart and lets them go, so they can stop the king and queen together.
- Simon first betrayed his friends, but then he betrayed the king, and as he’ll find out in a very painful way… Magnifico really doesn’t like being betrayed.
(See what I did there? That’s a line Magnifico says in the Wish movie hehe… okay moving on)
Gabo 😡
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- Gabo is a 17 year old teen, he’s also a little person.
- He’s a menace to society the brutally honest of the group, always with a sarcastic remark on the tip of his tongue, sometimes they’re funny, sometimes they’re way too harsh, but he often apologizes if he goes too far, he doesn’t mean to hurt people, being blunt is just how he expresses himself.
- You may wonder why his friends even hang out with him if he’s so… grumpy all the time, well, his friends understand that he has a lot of pent-up anger inside because of personal stuff, so they try to help him through it.
- He also has a more soft side to him, he can be very wise for his age when his friends need some advice, and he’s always loyal, even when they disagree, he’d go anywhere they go.
- He’s specially loyal and supportive to Asha and most of the time refrains from throwing shade at her, actually he’s mostly just blunt when talking to the guys, he’s a lot more respectful to the girls.
(Ironic considering Grumpy hated Snow White at first just because she was a girl lmao)
He’s the son of a soldier
- His father is just a random soldier, nothing special really.
- However, once when Gabo was a kid, he was visiting the castle with his father and he wanted to explore, so he sneakily grabbed his father’s keys to the dungeons and went to see how was it like, ya know, boys will be boys.
- He got in, and at first there wasn’t nothing out of the ordinary, just your average scary dark and gloomy dungeon… except that by the end of a hall, full of empty jail cells, there was a door.
- And he could hear someone screaming from behind that door, like they were pleading, and he saw light coming from the key hole… It looked like the king’s magic, except it was green instead of blue.
- He tried to use the keys to open it, but none of them worked.
“Ugh why don’t any of these keys work??”
“Because this area is forbidden, little one”
- He turned around quickly to see who was behind him, and there she was, the queen was smiling down at him, a sweet and tender smile, like she wasn’t hearing the sounds of desperate cries coming from behind the door.
“I- sorry your majesty but umm… it sounds like someone is in trouble in there, shouldn't we help?”
- Then he heard the distinct sound of something made of glass breaking, and suddenly… silence, no more crying, no more screaming, and no more light coming from the door.
“I don’t hear anything my sapling, poor thing, you must be imagining things. Now, why don’t you just hurry along back to your father? He’s looking for you… And remember, this is our little secret~”
- And Gabo never told this to anyone, he knows no one would believe him.
(If you’re wondering what was going on behind that door… let’s just say there’s STILL more evil stuff Magnifico does that I couldn’t fit in my blog about the villains, what’s that you ask? *maniacal laugh* I’ll let you guess)
- Gabo always had the feeling that there was something WRONG with Rosas, but he couldn't quite pin point what, and that experience in the dungeon made him start questioning if the smiles he saw plastered on the king and queen's faces everyday were real or fake.
- This feeling that there was something wrong but there was nothing he could do about it made him, for a lack of a better word, grumpy a lot of the time.
- Needles to say, when Asha explained that the king and queen were actually evil, Gabo believed in a heartbeat.
- Because he’s a little person, Gabo is not expected to follow his father’s foot steps, and that makes him furious, because he wishes he could be seen as strong like he sees himself, but he’s constantly underestimated and treated like a kid.
He was the third one to met Asha
- During a kite festival in the kingdom, Dahlia, Simon and Asha were flying their kite when they noticed a boy sitting down on the grass, next to a broken kite.
- The boy looked very grumpy, so Asha tried offering him a hug, Gabo quickly pushed her away, saying he wanted to be left alone.
- Simon and Dahlia suggested they should just leave him be, but Asha insisted they should just give him some time to calm down.
- They sat a little bit far away from Gabo and started to just talk. Gabo appreciated that even though Asha didn’t even know him she was willing to wait for him to get some alone time and try to reach out for him later, most people just walked away when he had his anger episodes.
- After a few minutes, he got up and asked if he could play with them.
He will be the comedy relief, and the straightforward voice of reason
- Comedy relief is also an important role in a story, to alleviate the the tension and just be that one character that gives more contradictory remarks, otherwise everyone just agrees with each other and really where’s the fun in that?
- Also, after they figure out Simon betrayed them, he’d be the one who snaps Simon out of the idea that the king is a good person, throwing some facts to his face and like, not sugarcoating it, just straight up calling Simon out for being a dirty traitor, an awful friend and an absolute idiot, which may seem harsh but was exactly what Simon needed to hear to realize he was making a mistake.
- Like, Simon just opens the door apologizing in the verge of tears while Gabo keeps kicking his leg to let out his anger while everyone else is staring at Simon very disappointedly, comedy gold.
Bazeema 🥰
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- Bazeema is 17 years old, who’s very shy.
-In this rewrite she is pretty much the same except for a little design and background change, you see, I found this piece of concept art
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- Do you see it? Bazeema seems to be wearing a hijab, I like that, we don’t get enough Muslim representation, so there, Bazeema is Muslim and she wears a hijab now, her religion won’t affect anything in the narrative tho but I just wish they kept this detail in her design.
- Also I’m keeping that gimmick that sometimes she appears out of no where and scared the hell out of Gabo, because yeah I think it has comedic potential.
- She’s a very sweet and gentle girl, very soft spoken and likes to have some alone time once in a while “us introverts need sanctuary” as she said.
(She’s kinda like Fluttershy, see? I told you I’d mention more my little pony characters)
She’s the daughter of the royal gardeners
- Nothing much to it, Bazeema just saw the queen being rude to her mother once because the flowers were red instead of white. So again, when Asha sas the royal couple is evil she believes her just fine.
- Also she knows about a secret passage inside the palace’s garden, in the center of a hedge maze, that leads to inside the castle.
- Specifically to an underground storage room where her parents keep some gardening tools, but, if they can get in there, they might find a way to get inside the castle through the underground.
- She doesn’t mind following her parents footsteps at all, in fact, she loves the idea of just talking to flowers all day.
She’s the fourth one who Asha meets
- When Asha was 10, she and her friends went to watch a kids play telling the story of Rosas, Bazeema was playing the queen.
- But Bazeema got stage fright, and ran to the back of the stage, embarrassed that she forgot her lines
- Asha followed the sound of her crying and reassured her that it was alright and she could take as long as she needed to feel ready, and complemented that she looked beautiful in her Queen’s dress.
- Bazeema really appreciated that, and she went back on stage, although, she tried keeping her eyes closed to not see the crowd.
She’ll give important info on how to get inside the castle
- Like I mentioned before, Bazeema has info on how to get inside the castle through the garden, so she’ll just assist on that part of their plan.
- Also comedic relief, with her gimmick of disappearing then showing up out of nowhere.
Dario 💎
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- Dario is 17 years old, and in this rewrite, he’s mute, not deaf tho, just mute, so he communicates through sign language. That’s to reference how Dopey, the dwarf he pays homage to, was also mute.
- I wouldn’t say Dario is dumb in my rewrite, he’s just really easily distracted, sometimes when his friends are talking he’ll just doze off and look at some flowers he finds along the way or collect rocks, and they don’t really mind.
- Dario is very emotionally intelligent tho, and among all the 7 teens, he’s one of the quickest to believe that Asha is innocent (Right after Dahlia)
He’s the son of the royal announcers
- Ya know those people with the big trumpets that give announcements to the kingdom? Yeah that’s what his parents do.
- Due to his disability Dario can’t really become an announcer, at least not a verbal one, he doesn’t really mind tho.
He’s the fifth one that Asha meets
- Asha was 11 when she and her friends met Dario, he was new in their class because he and his parents just moved to Rosas.
- Since he was mute, he had a really hard time making friends, so, Asha and her friends went to the library and found a book teaching about sign language
(I’m not gonna pretend you can actually learn ALL about sign language with just a book, I should know, I had ASL class in college, with a deaf teacher, and even then I don’t know even half of what there is to know, but this is a fantasy, so let’s pretend these kids learned the whole language, because it’s wholesome)
- So they make this effort to communicate with him and that makes Dario really happy, and he quickly joins the group.
He’ll be the silent comedic relief and also help creating a distraction for the king
- Most scenes when everyone is talking and focusing on more serious things, Dario is easily distracted and can be on the background doing the most random things, it’s not that he doesn’t care tho, he’s listening, and sometimes he comes up with creative ideas of his own.
- Also, as the son of the royal announcers, he goes tell them he has seen the star on the north side of the forest, his parents obviously believe him, and announce to the guards and the king, thus they can get inside while Aster distracts Magnifico.
Safi 🤧
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- Safi is the youngest in the group, he’s 16 years old, and he has a tendency to sometimes not thinking before he speaks, so he kinda blurts out things that might come off as indelicate, but he never means to be rude. Also he’s allergic to EVERYTHING under the sun, so, of course, he sneezes a lot.
- I gave him this characteristic of blurting out things that he’s not supposed to say because it kinda reminds me of a sneeze, uncontrollable and sometimes inconvenient, but this way it gives him more character.
- Also if it was only Gabo saying inconvenient stuff and everyone else were saints this would be no realistic group of teenagers, teens are relentless when it comes to saying dumb stuff with each other y’all, they just don’t care.
- Safi is also a germophobic, always avoiding situations that might get him sick, like flowers, animals, dust, humidity, flour, the rain-
- And even though he’s terrified of everything that might give him a sneezing fit, his friends are always there to help him get through it.
He’s the son of two members of the cleaning staff
- So, as you can imagine, Safi really doesn’t want to follow his parents career path, with a job that is all about cleaning dust.
- One day, he was asked to help them clean the castle so he could at least try to learn something.
- While he was helping, the king showed up and started complaining with his parents that his study wasn’t clean enough
- While he was busy talking with them, he left something very important lying around.
- Safi saw the king’s magic staff leaning on the wall.
- Safi wanted to get a closer look, so while the king was distracted he approached the staff, but then, he felt it, a sneeze was coming up.
- He tried to hold it in but it was too late, Safi sneeze was so strong the staff got out of balance, and when it was about to hit the ground Magnifico managed to grab it just in time.
- Safi looked relieved and even chuckled to himself thinking the king would do the same. But the expression the king had was something he never seen from him before… Safi saw pure rage.
“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU ALMOST DID? YOU WRETCHED BRAT! YOU COULD’VE ENDED ALL THE MAGIC IN ROSAS! I COULD’VE BEEN RUINED”
- Safi was pressed against a wall apologizing frantically and so were his parents.
- The king took a few deep breaths, and as if nothing happened his expression went back to his usual charismatic smile
“Maybe cleaning duty just isn’t your calling, lad. You’re dismissed from assisting for today, or any other day for that matter.”
- So Safi is not allowed inside the castle anymore.
He was the sixth that Asha met
- Safi was terrified during the festivals celebrating the foundation of Rosas, because the kingdom was decorated completely with, well, roses.
- There were roses everywhere, and he couldn’t stop sneezing with all the pollen in the air.
- Asha and her friends noticed him distressed, and decided to help him by taking Safi away from the kingdom.
- Safi was sad he couldn’t join in the party, but Asha and her friends said they could bring the party to him, so they danced and played instruments all day long.
This boy whose only personality trait was SNEEZING is literally the one who provides the info they need to defeat the villains, no, I’m not joking
- Like I mentioned before, Safi had a interaction with the king where he heard the king say “You could’ve ended all magic in Rosas” but he never understood what Magnifico meant by that.
- It’s not like all the king’s magic is stored in that one staff right?… but what if it is.
- When they’re coming up with a plan to defeat the king, Safi brings up this information, and there you have it, now they know what’s his weakness.
Hal 😄
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- Hal is 17 year old, and judging by her earrings that resemble the “Jaaro dibbei” earrings from the Fulani tribe, so with that in mind, in this rewrite she came from Africa but moved to Rosas with her family as a kid.
- Hal is a very extroverted and joyful person, it’s rare to not see her smile, unless the situation really gets serious.
- Shes contagiously optimistic.
- Is often practicing her jokes with her friends, or just throwing some quick witted quips to lighten the mood.
(She’s a lot like Pinkie Pie… All the girls are My Little Pony references)
She’s the daughter of the royal entertainers
- Hal used to practice a lot of juggling and try acrobatics when she was little, but she quickly realized that kind of act wasn’t her calling
- She much prefers telling jokes and funny stories to the king and queen wherever her parents bring her with them to perform
- Hal noticed how the laughs and smiles the king and queen made during her acts always felt kinda forced, like they didn’t mean it.
- However the king would often burst with laughter whenever a performance from her parents went wrong, that always rubbed her the wrong way.
She was the last to met Asha
- When Asha was 13, she and her friends saw Hal practicing juggling near the forest, and she was really struggling with it.
- She told them she was really nervous because she had to be ready to perform for the royal couple in a few days.
- Asha suggested she should try a different kind of act, so she and her friends helped Hal come up with stories to narrate to the king.
- Hal discovered a new passion for story telling, and that became her new act.
She's the one who encourages Aster to confess his feelings
- Our Star Boy wasn’t actually that confident with confessing how he really felt about Asha, after all Aster knew that after granting her wish they would never see each other again, so what was the point in confessing?
- Hal encourages him with her optimism and explains that if he doesn’t tell her he’ll just regret it forever.
- That leads to the “At All Cost” scene
- So thank Hal for playing cupid
- Oh and Bazeema will help encourage Aster too
Final Thoughts
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Welp this was a doozy one, but I’m pretty satisfied with how they turned out, everyone now feels like they got something to do and some actual backstories.
The way I’m planning to actually introduce in the story how they all met Asha is through a musical flashback that we see Asha going from a little kid to a teenager, think of it like the UP intro or “Do You Want To Build a Snowman”.
Like the movie would have in the beginning Asha’s grandpa reading to her the story of Rosas and we get a sweet scene of them interacting, then it cuts to this musical sequence (probably with no lyrics like in UP) where we see how Asha met each one of her friends, and also show how as time went on her grandfather grew more and more senile and dependent on her.
The sequence would end with Asha’s grandfather’s passing, and her friends being there to support her. Just like that in a flashback sequence with no dialogue we understand who are Asha’s friends, who was her grandfather, how Asha cares about all of them dearly, and with all that established the story begins.
Like can you imagine that? Introducing why we should care about Asha’s friends by showing to us who they are instead of just telling us and throwing them in the story with no explanation? What a concept, I’m sure glad a certain multibillion company didn’t just waste them…
Anyway, I’ll start actually sharing the chapters of my rewrite here pretty soon, I’m already confident enough to do it!
I was gonna first share a blog about how I’d reimagine Valentino buuuuuut I think it’s gonna be a pretty short blog that I can write later, and I can tell some people really want me to just tell the story already, and I want to start doing it too so let’s gooo!
Thank you so much for reading!
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inklessletter · 11 months
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I don’t know if this makes any sense to you, but I’ve been having thoughts about Steve and Eddie, as characters, (I mean who am I kidding, they live rent free in my mind now) and I’ve noticed a conceptual parallel between both of them that I can’t unsee now.
I’ve read several analyses and opinions about how Eddie was created and inserted in the story as some sort of substitute for Steve because they needed his death for Dustin’s arch, but they didn’t really want to kill Steve because he’s one of the series’ icons now. This has been used in the show several times now, with Barb’s death, and Bob’s, and Billy’s, so I buy it (if I think that it’s a lazy resource to make your characters evolve or if it’s lacking originality when you do it four times now, is something I won’t approach here, ahem). It fucked me up because I rewatched the last season a couple times now and I see it. I can’t not see it anymore. I can see the conceptual similarities (the age, the fact that he’s some sort of outsider to the group, the reputation, Dustin’s undeniable affection and respect…) but there is a particular feature that I noticed recently that has broken me, because it’s so fucking meta.
Speaking in general terms of course, most people I know that have watched the show like Steve, but they didn’t like him in S1, which, understandable; the writing in S1 didn’t make it easy for the audience to stand by him. Steve’s got several characters against him (Barb is the sweet victim, Mike is a clear protagonist, Jonathan is the direct rival as a love interest for Nancy), and if those characters, that are written and shown to be reliable, you instantly believe them, that he’s King Steve, that he’s a jerk. He goes with Carol and Tommy that are straight up bullies, he makes questionable decisions about how to face certain situations (such as breaking Jonathan’s camera [that I know it’s controversial, but personally, I totally, totally get why he did it], the slut thing in the cinema board, the fist fight…) so yeah, it’s easy that you go along with the thinking that he’s sort of not worth it. But here’s the thing, Steve spends the whole season trying to make up for his mistakes, trying to fix what he broke. He buys Jonathan a brand new camera, he confronts and ditches his so-called friends and actually goes to apologize to Jonathan, and then to Nancy. So what we have here is what it is said about Steve vs. what Steve really does. Even at last, when he had the chance to run for his life, he came back to the house to do the right thing. Steve is a great guy, but he’s written for the audience not to think so.
They changed their minds in S2, apparently, when the writers made him more layered, more likable, and the audience lost their minds. He was absolutely loved now, a favorite. A sweetheart. A romantic tragedy. And they kept all those features in S3, but giving him tons of lines and screen time, and an iconic outfit, and making him the biggest ally in the whole show, and now you’re trapped because you love him.
But you see, loving him was a journey. The audience went from finding him kind of annoying, or straight not liking him to fall head over heels for Steve.
And the writers, bless their souls/fuck all of them, mimicked that affection journey in S4 with Eddie Munson, using Steve Harrington as a catalyst.
You see, Eddie has this very same dichotomy of what people think of him vs what he really does, the only difference here, the major one, is that the people who speak ill of him are not protected by the writing. So you, as a member of an audience, embrace the fact that what the whole town says about him is not true, and that he’s a good guy. They fast forward the whole process by setting Mike and Dustin by their side, that the whole Eddie tragedy is a simple wrong time, wrong place. I mean, there’s no way you can go wrong about judging Eddie’s character.
And here’s where it gets interesting.
Steve rejects the blind trust. 
Steve doesn’t like him. 
Steve listens to the rumors. 
Steve calls him the freak. 
But the season goes on and bless his soul he starts paying attention to what Eddie does, to who Eddie is, and ends up pretty easily rejecting what the whole town feels towards him. Because he sees him now. 
Because he’s been there.
It is such a wholesome phenomenon when you realize that Steve, who at first was reluctant to find him, gets protective of him, out of mere empathy. He never gets angry at him, or mistreats him in any way; if so, he brings him beer and cigarettes, he worries about him leaving Skull Rock since all Hawkins is after his ass now. 
He cares.
And god, he even thanks him at the Upside Down woods. He doesn’t thank Nancy, or Robin. He thanks Eddie, because he knew that back in the boat, Eddie didn’t have to jump into the water for him, the same way he didn’t have to go back to the Byers’ house once he saw the Christmas lights violently flickering, because in any way that was his business.
So he thanks Eddie, probably because Steve thinks that it would have been nice that someone actually thanked him to save Nancy and Jonathan’s asses instead of getting a relationship out of pity that ended up with him dumped a year later and a bunch of issues.
The season goes on and they talk it out, they both admit having believed what people said of them, but now that they know each other, they can actually see how wrong they were. They make a fresh start, and the story seems to get to the right point, the way it should have been between them if it weren’t for the absurd jealousy pretext. 
Now they both align with how the audience is feeling.
So, you see the parallelism here. Steve’s behavior towards Eddie was a straight up reflection of the emotional journey the audience had towards Steve. 
And this probably wasn’t intentional, since the writers didn’t know for sure how much love and admiration Eddie was gonna get before s4 was released, but the fun part here is that it is quite difficult to find someone who loves Eddie Munson that hasn’t loved Steve Harrington before. The process of falling for those two is exactly the same, and most fans probably are not aware that they have gone through the same emotional journey twice. And it makes sense, because it is familiar. But whether or not you are aware of this, after they enter the Upside Down, Eddie and Steve are linked together, and that you know, even if you really don’t know why. They are impossible to untangle.
So yeah, absolutely, beyond the screen time together and the undeniably flirty behaviors, their chemistry, their journey and their young history, steddie makes sense.
So, when they make Steve a vulnerable mess, expressing that his only wish as a character is to love and be loved in return, and have a future, they go and kill Eddie. And it’s heartbreaking, because he’s a character with orphan needs and desires, and he didn’t even get the chance to fight for himself, and no, I don’t mean the demobats. 
And in a deep part of our brains we fear for Steve, because they’re in an unfinished war, and Eddie’s fate could easily be Steve’s in s5.
But you see, what is absolutely mindblowing about this fandom is the fact that here is where they picked up and made something incredible. For months we have been rewriting, consuming and creating thousands of universes in which Eddie gets what he deserves, that is, a happy ending, not only that he lives, but that he ends up being happy.
If this is too much of a projection about the fear of Steve getting killed in s5, that I don’t know; what I know is that I’m not at all worried.
I know we can make it better.
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Snow White Yuu: the story line is the same but what if when they were running to the house of the seven dwarfs they ended up finding the portal to the world of twisted wonderland and their stepmother is not the evil queen
I know it’s supposed to be Snow White!Yuu but I couldn't really specifically think of Yuu being in Snow White's shoes. So instead, this is all I could think of. I’ve always wanted to write this ever since I learnt of Twisted Wonderland.
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Descendents of the Great Seven
As it says on the title, Yuu is the descendent of one of the Great 7 (kind of). In another world, the Great 7’s actions created Twisted Wonderland but because of the butterfly effect, something quite different happened in Yuu’s world. Featuring a much more kinder (?) Great Seven.
Queen of Hearts - In here, the Cheshire Cat didn’t or couldn’t antagonize the Queen of Hearts successfully for reasons, thus not making the Queen of Hearts get angry and put Alice in trial. Since the Queen is actually kind of a decent person as long as her temper doesn't go off, Alice stayed for a lot longer in her castle and experienced new and different things. She learned to appreciate Wonderland’s madness but at the same time she never lost her own sense of reality and logic. Instead, she just made the two work together in a more balanced way. Perhaps cohabiting in the castle also made the Queen of Hearts soften up and realize that maybe ‘her way’ isn’t just the only way. She became less childish, still short-tempered though, but overall has a character development. Years later, Alice became the heir to Wonderland and eventually the next Queen of Hearts.
Scar - Honestly? Haven’t seen Lion King ever. But, for the sake of the butterfly effect, Scar intended to kill Mufasa and Simba to rule over Pride Rock but he stopped himself and instead thought it was better to guide Simba and make his nephew dependent on him. Of course, just like how I like my tropes, Scar becomes fond of Simba in a tsun-tsun way and thinks ‘his father is stupid, might as well teach him stuff so he doesn’t end up like his father and end up killing himself’. Simba soon takes over as a great leader, looking to Scar for advice whenever needed but ultimately an independent and sharp thinker just as Scar taught him to be.
Ursula - Instead of trying to trick Ariel using the loopholes in the contract, she went for a wait-and-see attitude to let Ariel see that the human prince she fell in love with at first sight isn’t as nice as he seemed to be and let the mermaid break the contract out of her violation. Of course misunderstandings and that stuff was soon bound to happen since Ariel couldn’t talk properly with the prince so she went to Ursula and decided in the heat of the moment to become a Sea Witch and help other merfolk like her. Ursula, thinking that molding and using Triton’s daughter was much better and was more a secure way to get back at Triton, accepted Ariel as her apprentice. But gradually, she learned to care for Ariel like her own daughter and strived to actually fix her reputation in the Seven Seas as a Sea Witch.
Jafar - Also another movie I haven’t seen. But for the sake of the butterfly effect again, let’s say he wanted power so he would be respected. Let’s also ignore and pretend the trying to marry Jasmine, who’s 16 years old mind you, thing never happened for our sake. He desired power and to be respected so when he saw that Jasmine was besotted with Aladdin, he thought, ‘Why don’t I use this street urchin who knows nothing of palace politics to become my puppet once he inevitably becomes the married to the princess’ because obviously Aladdin’s words are going to have weight since he’d be known as the princess’ husband. Of course, as I would like to have it, he began to care for both Aladdin and Jasmine as time went on and the two began to respect all the work that Jafar had to do. He would also even become the godfather of their future children. Both he and Genie would even fight for the title of the best godfather.
Evil Queen - Instead of trying to kill Snow White to become the fairest in the land, the Evil Queen thought that it would be advantageous if the people saw her as ‘benevolent’ and ‘kind’. That way, people wouldn’t only call her beautiful in looks but also beautiful in heart, thus spreading her name out more to distant lands. Initially, she just thought of Snow White as a charity case, with her losing both her father and mother but grew to care for her as time went on. Inevitably, she also realized that although Snow White was considered fairest of all, the citizens still called her beautiful for her heart which made her realize that she shouldn’t need to be the most beautiful in looks to be the most beautiful in people’s eyes. She also taught Snow White a lot of things ranging from sorceries and witchcraft and to keep on striving to be the most beautiful of all, both outside and inside.
Hades - Eh, what was his dastardly evil goal again? He wanted to take over Olympus, right? But that could only be possible if Hercules didn’t fight him. So what does he do? Does he go and attempt to kill baby Hercules? Of course… not! Not unless who wants to die, damn, the baby has strength. He instead decides to raise Hercules himself since the Fates said that he’d be successful in taking over Olympus after 18 years so why not just keep Hercules close to prevent him from gaining power and indebted the boy to him? It worked, for the most part anyway. He became a father figure to Hercules, obviously. Sure, Hercules felt slightly betrayed when he found out Hades wasn’t actually his father and he got kidnapped as a baby but then went all, ‘Eh, the underworld’s gloomy and the other gods never visit Fath–Hades. Might as well rule Olympus and invite Hades over to get him out of this place and get some fresh air.’ Hades may have not specifically ruled over Olympus but Hercules, whom he considered as a son as time went on, did so it was kind of basically the same.
Maleficent - Here, Aurora’s parents considered leaving Maleficent in the invitation but changed their mind at the last second because, hello? Maleficent? You really want to exclude the strongest sorcerer? Lmao, if this was politics, you’d automatically be dead the moment you stepped into the battlefield for trying to antagonize a powerful person. Make her your ally, get on her good side, and that’s what Aurora’s parents actually did in this timeline. They invited her and although the other fairies were wary of Maleficient, all of them were civil. Turns out, Maleficient was a chill person as long as no one antagonized her. In the end, Maleficent became a somewhat decent godmother to Aurora. She’s kind of like that dramatic aunt that appears every now and then but Aurora’s vibing with it and always looked forward to Maleficent's visits and witnessing her magic.
Although Yuu isn’t really related to the Great Seven, their parents did (kind of) get adopted so that still counts as being the Great Seven’s descendant, especially when it was the Great Seven themselves who were acting as their godmother/godfather and teaching them all kinds of stuff. Now that I think about it, Yuu’s technically the main character’s descendant rather than the villains but eh, let’s ignore that.
So anyway, basically with the single flap of a butterfly’s wings, it drastically changed history and Yuu grew up as the descendent of one of the Great Sevens. And then they get yeeted to Twisted Wonderland.
Imagine Yuu, looking at the statue of their ancestor and becoming haughty and proud because of  course their ‘meemaw/peepaw’ is great! It’s only right to celebrate them!
Not to mention pitting Yuu against the overblot boys.
Any sign of disrespect given to Yuu, the heir of the Queen of Hearts, is immediately dealt with by Yuu themselves. Their mood shifts as quick as they are to get angry, much like Queen of Hearts. Imagine Riddle trying to ‘Off With Your Head!’ Yuu, only for Yuu to counter back with an even angrier ‘Off With YOUR Head!’
Vil meets Yuu, heir of Snow White’s Kingdom, and he’s immediately threatened because this person gives him Neige vibes! What’s worse was, they seemed interested in watching them make poison so Yuu almost constantly never leave them alone and people are starting to compare the two of them!
Then there’s Azul who tries to rope Yuu, heir of the Seven Seas, in with a contract only to be dealt with an Uno Reverse card and have Yuu attempt to rope HIM in with a contract.
Of course, Yuu doesn’t tell the inhabitants of Twisted Wonderland that the Great Seven they look up to so much were their godparents back in their own world. They were smart enough not to get themselves mobbed by people. They wouldn’t be a very good heir to their kingdoms now would they if they didn’t know how to keep people in line, no?
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tessa-liam · 2 months
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Marabelle Series
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Choices – The Royal Romance, AU 
Series Premise – An American teenager from New York City is introduced to the world of a small European country and its society of royalty, nobility, and commoners. How will her life story be transformed? Will this new adventure bring her happiness...or regret? 
Marabelle Series Masterlist 
Main Pairing – Prince Liam Rys x F!OC Lady Sophia (Sophie) Taylor 
Other Pairings – Maxwell Beaumont x M!OC Daniel (from NYC), Drake Walker x F!OC Melanie Smithson 
Most characters belong to Pixelberry Studios 
Series Rating – M*🔞Warnings: this series will have NSFW material, crude language & innuendo. 
Not Beta’d - Please excuse all errors. 
Category – Alternate universe/on-going series/angst/fluff 
Words: 2389
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The Awakening, Chapter 9 
Chapter Summary – The Duke of Ramsford, Barthelemy Beaumont returns to House Beaumont. Liam prepares for the polo match charity fundraiser in support of disaster relief in Portavira. Sophie attends classes at the University of Cordonia. King Constantine reveals his illness. 
Music Inspiration: The Crown Prince, Waylon Jennings 
A/N1: Bethany Beaumont, Maxwell’s mother, is originally from the U.S. and is Barthelemy Beaumont’s second wife. Annabelle Beaumont (deceased) is Bertrand’s mother. 
A/N2: ‘Social Season’ in this AU series refers to a traditional period in the spring/summer for royalty and members of the court to take part in Balls, dinner parties and charity events. 
A/N3: My submission for Choices Flashfics @choicesflashfics, Week #68, prompt 1 - “Don’t start something you can’t finish.” 
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 Personal Care Home, Vallenheim 
Standing in the waiting room, staring out of the window at the parking lot outside of the personal care home, the gray-haired man appeared aloof and unapproachable to anyone passing by. That was, until he spotted his wife and eldest son step out of the town car. The corners of his mouth upturned as he saw his auburn-haired wife gracefully step onto the curb and walk toward the building. His son, Bertrand, followed behind her, his back straight, his expression stoic. 
As the two approached the door, the man straightened his posture and smoothed his salt and pepper hair. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for the reunion he had been anxiously expecting after the years apart. 
The door swung open, and his wife entered, her dark eyes lighting up as they landed on him. "Barthelemy," she breathed, a smile spreading across her face. 
"Bethany," he replied, stepping toward her and taking her hands in his. "It is so good to see you." 
"And you," she said, squeezing his hands in return. 
Their moment was interrupted by their son, who cleared his throat. "Father," he said, inclining his head respectfully. 
"Bertrand," the man replied. "I trust you've been taking proper care of your mother." 
"Of course," Bertrand replied, a hint of defensiveness in his tone. "I wouldn't dream of doing otherwise." 
Bethany chuckled. "He's done a fine job, Barthelemy, along with Maxwell," she assured him. "I couldn't have asked for better sons." 
Barthelemy nodded, satisfied. "Good." 
He then turned his attention to the doctor, who had been watching the exchange silently. "Is everything in order, Doctor? I'd like to get home to Cordonia as soon as possible." 
"Yes, Your Grace," the doctor replied, handing him a thick folder. "Here are all the instructions and prescriptions you'll need. The nurse will be along shortly with the medication you need to take during your trip home. Just be sure to follow the dosage schedule carefully." 
"Of course," Barthelemy replied, a hint of irritation in his voice. He loathed being told what to do, even by medical professionals. Unbeknownst to Bethany and Bertrand, he was playing, along with the doctor and nurse, the role of a lifetime: The miraculously awakened coma patient. 
The doctor smiled apologetically. "Forgive me, Your Grace. I just want to make sure you have all the information you need."  
"I understand, Doctor. And I appreciate your thoroughness." 
The nurse entered the room with a wheelchair, which Barthelemy at once objected to. 
"Surely, that's not necessary," he protested. 
"It's just protocol, Your Grace," the nurse explained. "It's clinic policy.” 
"Very well," Barthelemy sighed, reluctantly settling into the chair. 
Bethany and Bertrand flanked him, each taking the handle of the wheelchair. 
"Are you ready, Father?" Bertrand asked. 
"As ready as I'll ever be," Barthelemy replied. 
The Cordonian Royal Polo Club 
"Hey, Liam, I thought I'd find you out here," Drake called out as he approached the stable, his boots crunching on the gravel. 
"Oh, hey Drake," Liam answered. "I didn't think you were coming until later." 
"Yeah, well, I finished my rounds early, and I thought I'd come by and see how you're doing. How was the New Year's Ball?"  
"It was excellent," Liam smiled, his mind flashing back to his romantic interlude with Lady Sophie. "We had a lot of fun." 
"I'll bet you did," Drake smirked, knowing that his 'smitten' best friend personally asked Sophie to attend.  
"It's not like that," Liam protested, though his ears turned slightly pink. 
"Mmm hmm.” 
"It's not ..." Liam started. 
"Whatever you say, Liam." Drake chuckled, shaking his head knowingly. 
"Anyway," Liam said, changing the subject, "I'm just getting started on the polo drills."
"Mind if I watch?" 
"Of course not." 
Drake sat on a bench while Liam mounted his horse. His crisp white polo shirt accentuated his tanned muscular physique with his riding breeches and boots. 
"All right, boy, let’s see what you can do," Liam calmly spoke, gently kicking the horse's flanks. 
The horse took off like a shot, galloping across the field at top speed. 
Liam leaned forward, urging the horse on. 
Drake watched, transfixed, as Liam and the horse moved as one, their bodies in perfect sync. 
"That was impressive! Excellent!" Drake called out, as Liam brought the horse to a halt in front of him. 
"Thanks," Liam replied, breathing heavily. "He's a dependable and efficient steed," giving the horse a pat on the neck. 
Liam dismounted and accepted a bottle of water and towel from an attendant. As Liam and Drake walked toward the clubhouse, the ranch hands steered the thoroughbred back to the barn. 
“That reminds me, Drake. Are you still available to join my polo team for the fund-raising event in Portavira next week?” 
 “Yes, Mel and I are looking forward to kicking noble ass." Drake grinned knowing that Neville was on the opposing team.
"I still need to find one more player since Rashad had to cancel."
“What about Sophie? Melanie tells me she played polo in New York.” 
“She mentioned she studied dressage back in the U.S. and was thrilled to learn that Marabelle was quite proficient. That skill could come in handy for the team.” Liam pondered aloud. 
“Sophie is a skilled rider, and she would be a terrific addition to the team, Li.” 
“I can't wait to see her ride again," Liam responded, smiling,
"Uh huh, I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun," Drake smirked. 
Liam sighed, shaking his head. "Not everything has to be a double entendre, Drake." 
"I know, but it's so much more fun that way," he cheekily responded.
University of Cordonia, Capital 
"I can't believe it's been a week since the New Year's Ball," Sophie exclaimed, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Time seems to be flying by." 
"I know," Maxwell replied, stirring his salad. "I feel like I need to plan the next Beaumont Bash already!" 
Sophie laughed. "Do you ever stop thinking about these events?" 
"Not when there's so much work to do to organize," Maxwell grinned. "But that's what makes me so good at it." 
"You certainly are, but Max, this is your last semester...don't start something you can't finish." 
“I don’t have to worry about my grades; I have already met the requirement to graduate with honors.” 
"I've been thinking," Maxwell said, a mischievous glint in his eye, "about a different theme for the next Beaumont Bash after my graduation." 
"And what theme were you thinking about having?" Sophie asked, knowing exactly what was coming. 
"I'm going to make it a costume ball!" 
"I knew it! That sounds like so much fun," Sophie grinned. 
"It will be, and you'll be celebrating your first-year anniversary as a Cordonian.” 
"Of course, I'll be there.” 
"So, how are things with Liam going?" Maxwell asked, his eyes twinkling. 
"Good," Sophie blushed. "We had a great time at the New Year's Ball." 
"Did you have a good time, or 'a good time'?" Maxwell waggled his eyebrows. 
"Maxwell!" 
"Okay, okay. I will not push."
"What did I miss?" Daniel asked, as he grabbed a chair to sit down. 
"Sophie was just telling me about her New Year's kiss with Liam," Maxwell winked. 
"Ooh, do tell." 
"There's nothing to tell," Sophie laughed, her cheeks burning. 
"Come on, Soph, give us all the deets," Daniel prodded. 
"Fine. We kissed. It was amazing." 
"I knew it!" Maxwell exclaimed. 
"So, when's the wedding?" Daniel joked. 
"Shut up," Sophie retorted, laughing. 
"Seriously, I'm happy for you. It's been a long time since I've seen you this happy, Squirrel." 
"Thanks, Daniel." 
"So, how are you doing with your Dad coming back tomorrow, Max?" Daniel inquired. 
"I'm okay. I mean, I am glad he is better. But I do not know if I am ready to face him yet.” 
"It's still so weird to me that you and Sophie are related." 
"Yeah, it's a small world," Maxwell chuckled. 
"No kidding. So, what is the deal with your Dad, anyway? What was he doing all that time?" 
"He was in a coma," Maxwell replied, his voice soft. 
"Oh, shit. I am so sorry, Max." 
"It's okay. It's just..." Maxwell paused, looking uncomfortably at his hands. 
"What?" 
"It's hard to know what to believe, you know? After everything he put us through." 
"I get that. But don't forget, he's still your Dad."
"He was a shit one, though," Maxwell pointed out. 
Sophie put her hand on Daniel’s arm, “Let’s change the conversation, Dan.” 
"It’s all right. I always knew that I would have to deal with it eventually. But right now, I just want to focus on graduating and figuring out my next steps." 
"That sounds like a good plan," Daniel agreed. 
"Yeah. It'll all work out in the end." 
"That's the spirit"  
Daniel slid his binder under his arm, "... see you guys later. Oh, and Max, just remember, you've got this." 
"Thanks, man." 
Maxwell watched his friend leave, feeling grateful for the support. 
"He's right, you know," Sophie began. 
"About what?" Maxwell looked at Sophie 
"You've got this. No matter what happens with your father, you will be okay. You're stronger than you realize." 
Maxwell sighed. "I know you are right. I am also grateful that Mom will be there as a buffer for you." 
Sophie wrapped her arm around him. 
"It will be fine. 
Now, let's get to class before we're late." 
Sophie and Maxwell walked together out of the dining hall to their next classes, feeling bolstered by each other's support. 
Cordonian Royal Palace 
King Constantine sat in his study, staring out the window.   
After hearing the devastating prognosis about his health from his personal physician, he directed his queen to track down and summon Leo as soon as possible. Regina, to her credit, tried to assuage her stepson’s concerns as to Constantine's urgency when she found him in the palace gymnasium.
However, Leo knew that his father would not have requested his presence so suddenly unless the news was dire. 
Constantine stood up as Leo and Regina walked into his office, his posture stiff, his face grim. 
Leo looked at his father and at once sensed the seriousness of the situation. 
"Father, you wanted to see me?" 
"Yes, son," Constantine said, his voice low. "I'm afraid I have received some rather unpleasant news." 
"What is it?" Leo asked, his concern piqued. 
"I've just come from a meeting with the royal doctors, and they've given me a prognosis." 
"Prognosis?" 
"Yes," Constantine said, his expression darkening. "They've determined that my health has deteriorated to the point where I can no longer carry out my duties as king." 
Leo's blood ran cold. He knew what was coming next.
"W-what are you saying?" 
"I'm saying that my time as king is over. And yours has begun." 
"What?" Leo swallowed loudly. 
"You're going to be crowned king, Leo. And you will ascend the throne immediately." 
"I have advised the Prime Minister to make the formal announcement tomorrow morning to the country." 
"I have begun preparations for your Royal wedding to Madeleine as well." Regina added. 
"What? No!" Leo shouted. 
"Calm yourself, Leo," Constantine admonished. 
"How can you ask me to calm down?" Leo demanded, his hands shaking. "You're asking me to give up my life, my freedom. My future." 
"As the Crown Prince, you know your duty to your country is paramount. It is what you have been preparing for since birth." 
"No. I won't do it." Shaking his head from this unexpected shock. 
"Don't be so dramatic, Leo," Regina said, her tone exasperated. "This is your birthright.” 
"It's not drama," Leo insisted. "I will not marry Madeleine. I don't love her. And she doesn't love me." 
"Love has nothing to do with it. You are betrothed to her noble house," Constantine stated. "This is about duty and honor." 
"And I won't be bound by either," Leo declared, his eyes blazing. "If I have to marry her, I'll abdicate. You can't make me be king." 
Constantine's jaw clenched, and he stared at Leo with a mixture of anger and disappointment. 
Leo turned and stormed out of the room, leaving his father and stepmother behind him, fuming. 
Constantine sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He'll come around, Regina." 
‘It’s hard to be the crowned prince 
When it all hits home 
You can’t hide behind the wall 
Around the throne’ 
💕Thanks for reading
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mythartist21 · 3 months
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Redesigning the villains for my Wish rewrite and I thought of something cool
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Why does Amaya cover her ears?? In the concept art it’s nowhere to be found or that’s what I think
Spoilers for my rewrite, she becomes the plot twist villain who betrays asha, Aster, and her friends to stop King Magnifico 
I’m curious what’s more scarier, a wife losing her husband or her husband losing his wife? (Please reply I’m curious)
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I’m gonna write as short and simple as much possible cause I don’t like writing very complex stories (easily gets distracted and lost). I don’t have names for some characters, so get for a bunch of nicknames
King Magnifico
So for King Magnifico, it’ll be a mix of Scar and Tai Long
What’s upon a time, there was a long line of rulers of Rosas
A King Alcohol and Queen Morte, has two sons, prince Magnifico and Prince Naïve who was just barely born, when Queen Morte died of childbirth. King alcohol became an alcoholic sad and depressed about Queens passing.
Prince Magnifico became greatly skilled with magic and leadership thanks to their Royal Wizard while Prince Naïve grew fair and kind, but he is not as strong as Magnifico is.
King Alcohol dying wish was for the youngest son to be the next king. Magnifico questions about this, King Alcohol said that their royal wizard said in context “you’re going to become evil if you don’t fix your bad habit, so it’s best for prince naïve to be king.”(which not true and what the royal wizard was warning about King Alcohol wish and if he doesn’t fix his bad attitude and habit, prince magnifico will become evil, he got fired for his poor guy)
And so Prince magnifico made a plan to destroy the kingdom his father and brother and with his power, he can fix it all as a “hero“. Until, he heard that Prince naïve is going to be wed with princess Amaya from a neighboring kingdom….
Queen Amaya
Once upon a time there was a prince and an peasant woman who is an alchemist was so deeply in love with each other. That prince’s daddy did not like this, because he was a sexist, believing that smart women are witches.
So the prince’s daddy send, the poor alchemist to the dungeons so that the alchemist doesn’t “hurt or kill the prince”
The prince asked his daddy about his girlfriend’s whereabouts, and the daddy said “that witch dumped you because she is dangerous and wanted to hurt you, you cannot trust them witches”
And the prince is so gullible that he believed this, and he has set to marrying a princess from a neighboring kingdom
One year later, Miss alchemist escape from her prisonment and goes “ yay I’m free what’s today’s news?” She later finds out the king jerk dumped her for another girl, and is having a party for their newborn baby girl named Amaya, and everyone was invited
And, of course, Miss alchemist did not like this furious she came to the party, uninvited and cursed their daughter to be a dragon and unfertile
King jerk:“it’s broken by true love, right?”
Miss alchemist: “ha ha, no”
King jerk fears this and ask his royal advisors what to do. The Royal advisors lied to the king of a made up story,that there was a similar scenario, where a witch curse a princess is to be ugly forever until she was married to someone by true love, and then that’s when she became the most beautiful woman in that land. And, of course, King jerk as gullible as he can be believes this,
The royal advisors did find a magical crystal that could harness princess Amaya‘s dragon curse, and use it as a necklace. but as shown in the sketches below, that it kind of works and has to cover up her dragon features
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How they met
When Prince magnifico heard about this, he thought part of his evil plan to make princess Amaya fall in love with him and make her his queen. But when that happened Amaya and magnifico actually fell in love in first sigh, no love spell or potion needed.
They did hang out for a little bit before princess Amaya‘s marriage and prince magnifico ask her to be part of his plan.
Princess Amaya wants nothing of this and prince magnifico warns her about the peoples opinion when they find out who she really
princess Amaya shock thinking how the heck does this man knew about this and why he not disgusted or scared at all? Magnifico later on explains that he recognized the jemthat princess Amaya was wearing that it could hold curses
Amaya reveals what her curse to magnifico and he doesn’t care at all, because he’s that in love with her. Princess Amaya refuse to be part of the evil plan, and marries to prince naïve, until when she realized that the curse was not broken. She decides “you know what I like magnifico and he likes me why not”
And so, when magnifico steals a star from the sky, to make him powerful, he created plagues around the kingdom feminine, darkness, and he dragged destroying their land, which is Amaya that causes the death of Prince naïve and king alcohol. magnifico and Amaya became the next rulers after “saving roses” with magnifico power of wishes
I’m still working on my Wish rewrite I hope you guys like it
Mythical out!🩵✨
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cozykdramakat · 1 month
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Completed Dramas, Ranked
Masterlist of all the dramas I have finished and my rankings from 1-10. Keep in mind I don't usually finish dramas that I don't like, so most of these reviews will be 6+ ratings.
Recently added: Captivating the King, Hot Stove League, So I Married the Anti-fan, My Dearest
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Twenty Five Twenty One - 10/10 Finished 2023-08 I will never recover from this drama. I cried and laughed and fell so in love with the entire cast. The friendship between the two female leads is beautiful. Nam Joo-hyuk the actor that you are. That ending will be permanently etched on my heart. Another incredible display of how talented female writers are in kdramas.
Favourite line: “It’s love. I love you, Hee-do. I don’t need a rainbow.” Tags: melodrama, sports, friends to lovers
Doom At Your Service - 10/10 Finished 2023-07 Cried my eyes out. Park Bo Young is too cute. The whole premise is so good and they do such a good job pacing it and throwing in twists to keep it interesting. Also has made me a huge Seo In Guk stan, the man is crazy talented at playing a villain with a heart of gold.
Favourite line: "Love me to the point that you will want to destroy the world for me." Tags: fantasy, melodrama, enemies to lovers
Reborn Rich - 10/10 Finished 2023-09 There has never been a better revenge drama. Succession meets time travel fantasy meets enemies to lovers romcom meets 90s period piece. Song Joong Ki absolutely nails it once again.
Favourite line: "There are 24 hours in a day and 365 days in a year. They say time is fair to everyone. However, time isn’t fair. Just like everything else in this world." Tags: revenge, enemies to lovers, time travel, 90s
My Name - 10/10 Finished 2023-07 Despite being traumatized by the ending, this is still one of my fave dramas. The acting. The fight choreography. The romance. 10000/10. Pil-do might be one of my favourite male leads ever. I love me a soft boy who would do anything to protect his strong, independent woman.
Favourite line: "Is life supposed to be fun?" Tags: revenge, action, enemies to lovers, gangs vs cops
Romance Is a Bonus Book - 10/10 Finished 2023 -07 So rewatchable. Truly the coziest kdrama out there. A great start into noona romances too. Also the line where she talks about how it was so nice to be called by her name, instead of “mom”, “honey”, “you” really stays in my heart. Also started my obsession with Jong-Suk.
Favourite line: "Instead of 'I love you,' soseki natsume said, 'the moon is beautiful." Tags: friends to lovers, noona romance, workplace romance, romcom, love triangle
Extraordinary Attorney Woo - 10/10 Finished 2023-08 Absolute perfection. Jun Ho is the new standard. Deals with autism in a surprisingly modern way. Some interesting episodes on feminism in the workplace too.
Favourite line: "All my thoughts tend to center around me, so I make people close to me lonely. I don’t know when or why I do that. And I don’t know what I can do to stop it." Tags: legal drama, autism, workplace romance
Captivating the King - 10/10
Finished 2024-03-03
Incredible directing. Best acting performance of the year surely from Jo Jung Suk. Perfect if you liked Kings Affection. So much tension, little bit gay in a great way, and the palace politics are actually so interesting. All the characters are very morally grey and make for such interesting stories.
Favourite quote: “I love to win but I cannot put up with boredom.”
Tags: FL disguised as man, historical drama, enemies to lovers
Nevertheless - 10/10 Finished 2023-06 Female gaze times a million. And the supporting cast is one of my faves (except for the TAs, they were boring as all hell). It’s also one of the few kdramas that tackle a relationship that’s kind of “friends with benefits” and you can very much tell it was written by a woman.
I get why some people really don’t like this one, but I’m a big believer in not needing the main characters to be good people for it to be a good piece of art. Everyone is very flawed in this (nearing on toxic), but it tells a lot of important stories that I really connected with.
Favourite line: "I know it will cause me pain again. Nevertheless..." Tags: friends with benefits, college drama, red flag ml, love triangle
Hot Stove League - 10/10
Finished 2024-03
Baseball is life. Definitely the best sports drama out there, although it’s a close race with Love All Play. This drama has no romance, so I was really surprised that it hooked me so much. But the drama is amazing. The villains are so good. And mostly I just love this goddamn sport man. Even if you don’t like sport, I think you’ll enjoy the twists and turns and found family dynamics of this one. Also Park Eun Bin never misses.
Tags: sport drama, found family, no romance
It's Okay Not to be Okay - 10/10 Finished 2023-07 This was a slow start for me because I found the main female lead so annoying at first. But trust me she grows on you. Literally one of my fave dramas now. The emotions are SO real, I was crying constantly. Very attached to this little trio now. And the parallels of the beginning and ending are soooo good. All the characters have so much character growth, some of the best writing I’ve seen in a kdrama.
Favourite line: "Your body is honest. When you're in physical pain, you cry. But the heart is a liar. It stays quiet even when it's hurting." Tags: enemies to lovers, autism, mental health
Alchemy of Souls - 10/10 Finished 2023-10 Absolutely binged this. Such a fun watch. The lore is really cool too. My only thing is I LOVED the female lead from S1 and it felt weird not to have her in the second season. Also second season felt a bit rushed on the ending. Otherwise perfection.
Favourite line: "If you stabe me, then I wil die as the one who released the assassin. If you withdraw your sword, I will make you another promise." Tags: fantasy, enemies to allies to lovers, magic, love triangle
Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo - 9.5/10 Finished 2023-08 Too cute for it’s own good. Male lead is adorable. Only docking points for some of the weird mentions of the female lead’s weight and her being ‘ugly’. Otherwise the perfect drama. Great for a light watch as there isn’t much drama between the couple really, they communicate well and most of the tension is in their family and career.
Favourite line: "You fool, I like you. Not as a friend, but as a woman. If I don't see you, I get curious. If you're depressed, I get upset. If you smile, it makes me happy. If you're sick, I get worried. It's driving me crazy. It means I like you, doesn't it?" Tags: friends to lovers, childhood friends, sports drama, college drama, romcom
Descendants of the Sun - 9.5/10 Finished 2023-09 Beautiful. So sad. Chemistry is insane between the main leads. I cried so much. Also the friendships between all the characters are really great. The plot too is amazing. Only docking it a half point because some of the military propaganda is a bit much for me, otherwise perfect.
Favourite line: "Regarding the kiss, what should I do? Should I apologize for that? Should I confess my feeling to you?" Tags: exes to lovers, military drama, melodrama
Vincenzo - 9/10 Very addicting, plot is crazy fun. Leads have so much chemistry. Some episodes ran on a bit though. Tags: revenge, legal drama, workplace romance
The King's Affection - 9/10 Love the premise. Essentially a gayer Mulan plotline. Rowoon is cute AND badass. Also can’t believe this is the same Park Eun Bin as Attorney Woo?? The range!!! Tags: fl disguised as a man, historical drama, kinda gay
Love All Play - 9/10 Only docking a point because Taejun’s whole family deserved the shit beat out of them instead of a stupid redemption arc. Otherwise the perfect romance angst. Taejun is THE green flag. Tags: sports drama, college drama, partners to lovers
Soundrack #1 - 9/10 Beautiful. Short. Simple. Some of my favourite leads. Great winter watch if you’re feeling like some cozy, friends to lovers vibes. Tags: friends to lovers, winter, music
Mr Queen - 9/10 Really good, really funny. Just wish the ending was more gay. Tags: body swap, time travel, historical drama, comedy
Start-up - 9/10 I can’t believe how underrated this one is. First love triangle story that actually had me questioning who I wanted to be endgame. The male leads are written so beautifully and they are both so complex and interesting. And the female lead has you rooting for her so much. I also really loved how they wrote such an insecure male lead, the character development was amazing to watch and Nam Joo Hyuk crushed it as per usual. Tags: workplace romance, paid to date you, love triangle
Happiness - 9/10 Really really good. I always thought it would be interesting to get a zombie story post pandemic. I just think some of the directing wasn’t great near the end. Some of the scenes just needed to hit a bit harder for me, considering I know how good this cast is in other dramas. Tags: zombies, friends to lovers, fake married, cohabitation
Dr Romantic 2 & 3 - 9/10 If you like Grey's Anatomy for the crazy end of season events, this is the show for you. Wil ride, amazing chemistry with the leads, loveable found family. Tags: medical drama, found family, rivals to lovers
Hospital Playlist - 9/10 If you like Grey's Anatomy for the relationships and friendship however, this is the show for you. Medical stuff is sometimes boring in this one, but the found family and ships 100% make up for it. Also there's like 100 episodes of behind the scenes to watch and the cast is too cute. Tags: friends to lovers, slow burn romance, medical drama, found family, ensemble cast, music
Castaway Diva - 8/10 Loved the first 10 episodes. But felt it didn't wrap up great, especially with the romance. Tags: stranded on a desert island, music, childhood friends, finding your first love
Marry My Husband - 8/10 It's good, but kind of burnt out on revenge dramas with time travel. Villains were great though and Na In Woo is adorable. Tags: time travel, revenge, ml falls first
My Dearest - 8/10
The tension between these leads is unmatched. Also just a gorgeous show. Little too dramatic for me. Like after the tenth time they just missed each other, I wanted to pull my hair out. Also desperate for a little epilogue in the last episode.
Tags: romance drama, historical, fated love
Oh My Ghost - 8/10 I love Jo Jung Suk, and with Park Bo Young??? Match made in heaven. I’m desperate for them to get on screen together again. Fun fantasy elements. Both characters have so many flaws but they develop so well. Tags: enemies to lovers (ish), ghost possession, restaurant drama
Welcome to Samdal-ri - 8/10 For the Hometown Cha Cha Cha fans for sure. Definitely under utilized Ji Chang Wook (where are the epic kisses pls), but overall the leads had incredible chemistry. 2nd ML was annoying as hell though. Give all the awards to the little girl. Tags: friends to lovers, exes to lovers, love triangle, middle-aged drama
Suspicious Partner - 8/10 Super cute. SO much chemistry. Bit too melodramatic for me and the second female lead is a bit one-dimensional. Really funny though and a decent legal drama. Tags: legal drama, enemies to lovers, workplace romance, cohabitation
Melting Me Softly - 8/10 Really great premise and the chemistry of the leads is unmatched. Don’t be fooled by the branding, this is very much more of a rom com than a melodrama. Really liked the directing too, beautiful show. Tags: time travel, shared fate, workplace romance
Revenge of Others - 8/10 You know I love a good revenge thriller. Very good series, incredibly gritty for a high school drama. Twist at the end was kind of meh though. And also wish there was more romance as the leads were so cute. Tags: little to no romance, high school drama, revenge
While You Were Sleeping - 8/10 Really great premise. The main trio are all so good. I just think some of the romance drama near the end was a bit annoying. Shoulda been like 3 episodes shorter, just got a bit tiresome. Tags: shared fate, fantasy (ish), legal drama
Fight For My Way - 8/10 Very cute friends to lovers. Great chemistry between the leads. Very similar vibe to Weighlifting Kim Bok Joo, just wish the last episode was a bit more impactful. Tags: friends to lovers, sports, college friends
King the Land - 8/10 Very cute and fluffy. Love both leads. Liked how there was no unnecessary drama between them. Really healthy relationship. Just not my favourite plot of all time, hasn’t hooked me like other shows. Tags: workplace romance, chaebol ml, hotel management
Crash Landing on You - 8/10 Definitely hooks you. Starts to drag in the last 5 episodes with too much melodrama. But I loved how they switched it up mid-way through. Really engaging. Also the chemistry with the leads is unreal, makes sense that they’re married in real life now. Tags: found family, north korea, enemies to lovers, melodrama
Moon in the Day - 8/10 Very solid fantasy romance. Found it a bit boring though in the middle. Kim Young Dae is defs underrated though. Hopefully this will kickstart him as a lead now. Tags: fantasy, loved each other in a past life, revenge, enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers again
Sh**ting Stars - 8/10 Like 90% fluff. Also cool to see the behind the scenes of k actor management. Lee Song Kyung literally plays enemies to friends to lovers perfectly. Nearly same love story as Dr Romantic and Bok Joo, love to see it. Tags: enemies to friends to lovers, college friends, acting drama
Business Proposal - 8/10 It’s pretty good, but very trope-y. If you like a chaebol romance or workplace romance you’ll love it. It just didn’t surprise me that much, so very middle of the road. One of the few times that I actually was more obsessed with the secondary love story than the main. Tags: workplace romance, fl pretending to be someone else
Let's Talk About Chu - 8/10 Kind of ridiculous but surprisingly deep and heartwarming. Loved the chemistry of all the couples. Tags: sex positive, queer secondary couple, friends with benefits, taiwanese
Destined with You - 7/10 Another drama where the chemistry of the leads really carry the show. Also Rowoon is so talented. I like the premise, but the execution was kinda messy and the first few episodes kinda drag until they let Rowoon being a goofy boi. Must watch though if you love fluff and soft bois. Tags: enemies to lovers, love potion, fantasy, past life, betrayal
W: Two Worlds - 7/10 Despite wanting to rewatch this show constantly, it is kind of a hot mess. Really fun though, just the plot is like a yo-yo. Insane chemistry with the leads. Tags: fantasy, love across universes (webtoon comes to life)
Lovestruck in the City - 7/10 Great show and then the last episode is just like really a bummer. The main couple are super cute though and I like the jumping back to the beach town. Good summer watch! Not sure I really like the mockumentary style, but it’s quite cute. Tags: mockumentary, short episodes, summer romance, exes to lovers
So I Married the Anti-Fan - 7/10
The beginning and middle are really good and cute. Ending is just kind of rushed and feels a bit disjointed from the plot. Overall fun rom com though!
Tags: rom com, enemies to lovers, kpop idol
Strong Woman Do Bong Soon - 7/10 It’s very cute, but just way too fluffy for me, especially near the end. It’s a good light watch if you’re looking for something like that. Highly recommend watching the behind the scenes of this series too, because Park Hung Sik is just so in love with Park Bo Young and it’s adorable. Tags: workplace romance, superpowers, comedy
Hometown Cha Cha Cha - 7/10 This was my very first drama so I really need to rewatch it as I don’t know if my review is just because it’s aged in my brain. But it’s very cute, very wholesome. Supporting cast is incredible. My only real issue with it is I don’t love the female lead as much as I like other leads, just didn’t root for her as much as I would have liked. Tags: small town, enemies to lovers, found family
Forecasting Love and Weather - 7/10 Bit boring, but the chemistry is unreal between the leads. Really good twist near the beginning that still sticks with me. Also love seeing Song Kang as little puppy dog heart of gold boi. Tags: noona romance, workplace romance
See You in My 19th Life - 7/10 Love the premise and the leads are amazing. Female lead in particular nails the role. Just a bit too melodramatic for me. Another one where the side characters really make the show, especially her sister. Tags: past lives, childhood friends, murder mystery
My Holo Love - 5/10 Kinda just meh. Like it was cute and fun but nothing special. Female lead was really good though. Also I do like the plot around face blindness, just not super memorable as a show in general. Tags: mystery, ml shut in
Love Alarm - 3/10 Too cringe and immature for me I think. Interesting premise though. Song Kang is really good in it (although he plays a massive red flag again lol), I just really didn’t like the other male lead to be honest. Tags: love triangle, fated love, fantasy (ish), red flag ml
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