#of course i spent the half the time feeling nostalgic not for the movie itself but for the old lego star wars games

[youarenotthewalrus]

Watched A New Hope for the first time in forever and wow, it turns out that Star Wars would actually be so good if it was good. Like, if you watch this movie, and you just set aside all the stupid lore and silly retcons and bad creative decisions and terrible movies made after it, if you just take it as a movie on its own terms, this thing rules. No wonder people keep coming back to this franchise, despite it all.

#it's so refreshing to return to the roots of this thing and be reminded of why i liked it in the first place #of course i spent the half the time feeling nostalgic not for the movie itself but for the old lego star wars games #god those were good. i should figure out how to replay them sometime and see if they hold up as well as i remember #walrus consumes media #star wars

[blatantlyright]

Strictly Business / pt 3

Part One - Part Two

Tw: Angst. Fluff. Kissing. Alcohol. Weed. Teasing. Slow burn.

You could taste the beer and weed on your tongue. Breathing was hard. “Yeah, I have some food. Go check out the kitchen while I dry these clothes,” you said. Your load from the washer was done, so you placed his damp clothes in the dryer with your clean ones. Your brain tried to wrap itself around that kiss. Why was he acting like it didn’t happen, or it wasn’t a big deal? It was a huge deal to you. It took guts (and some weed) to finally do that.

“I put a pizza in the oven. I’m exhausted. Will you hate me if I ask to crash on the couch for a couple hours? I just don’t want to go out in the rain right now. It looks even worse than it did when you picked me up. I completely understand if not. I just figured since we’re being brave tonight I’d ask.” Eddie grins down at you through his hair. “That’s fine,” you stutter. He nods, staring at your face, desperately searching for how you’re feeling.

The hall closet is stuffed full of blankets and quilts crafted by your grandmothers. They each spent hours preparing you for life on your own. You were hesitant to hand them off to Eddie, knowing his clumsy and careless tendencies. You opted for a quilt covered in different shades of blue clouds. It had a matching pillow, which you also sat out on the couch.

“Can we watch a movie while we wait for the pizza?”, Eddie asked, twiddling with his rings. His eyes were still hazy from the weed. “Of course,” you responded as you sat down in front of the TV to gaze through your VHS collection. The warmth of his legs surprised you as he crouched behind you. “How about I choose? You just go sit down and relax,” he hummed as he brushed some hairs from your face. Everything in you wanted to turn around and kiss him again. How was he acting like you hadn’t just crossed a new like in your… friendship?

As you folded into the couch, you realized Eddie had never put on that crop top. Was he trying to be half naked around you? Why were you so turned on by the sight of his happy trail? “Oh man! You have my favorite!” He slid the tape into the VCR and practically galloped over to plop down beside you on the couch. He had the smile of a kid, excited and nostalgic. “What is it, The Hobbit?”, you asked. Eddie shook his head, still beaming. You recognized it almost immediately: Pete’s Dragon.

“This is your favorite?”, you giggled. His lips formed a straight line, ego tarnished by your mocking. “Indeed,” he nodded. His eyes lit back up as the cartoon dragon shot across the screen. “This is the last movie I watched with my mom before she passed away,” he whispered with his eyes still locked on the screen. Your heart broke for him. The timer in the kitchen went off. The movie held Eddie in a trance, so you got up and pulled the pizza out of the oven. He had arranged the pepperonis into a smiley face. It warmed your chest.

Silence filled your apartment, save Eddie’s soft foot steps. “Sorry if it’s a little cheesy,” he elbowed you at the pun. “It’s cute,” you smiled. You got a plate for each of you, and Eddie grabbed you each a Mountain Dew from the fridge. You sat in the middle of the couch with your plate to your left. Eddie pressed play, then sat down between your legs, his wild hair brushing softly against your thighs. He put his can of pop on the floor and rested his plate on his legs, which were crossed.

“So why did you do it?”, Eddie asked with a mouth full of food. “Do what?”, you asked. This was it. Eddie was going to make fun of you for kissing him. Never in your wildest dreams could he ever not be weirded out by what you did. He brushed his full lips against your inner thigh. “You kissed me.” His eyes focused back on the TV as you clammed up. The two of you sat wordless throughout the rest of the film. The only sounds were the TV and the smack of your lips as you ate the pizza.

The clock on the wall said it was well past time to go to sleep. Eddie was still between your legs, seemingly half asleep, resting his face on your right knee. “So I’ll make sure I don’t hang around too long in the morning. I’m sorry about all this,” he mumbled against your skin, “but it was nice to hang out. Almost felt like old times. Incredibly awkward, but nice.” His hand grazed your calf. You hesitated as your nerve endings encouraged you to grind against the back of his head. Anything for some friction. “I can take you back to the van in the morning. We can stop and get gas first,” you say, fingers running through his hair.

You heard his breath hitch in his throat as your fingernails brushed against his scalp. He let out a soft growl, his eyes rolling back in his head. “You can’t keep doing that to me,” he breathed. You quickly removed your fingers from his crazy dark curls. He let out a deep sigh. “Unless you want me to fall asleep between your legs.” His cheeks grew rosy at the things that could be implied he meant.

Eddie stood, brushed himself off, and sat next to you on the couch. “Well, I hope you sleep well, and you can wake me up whenever you’re ready to go. Thank you, honestly, you saved me today.” He pressed his lips to your forehead, cupping your cheeks in his rough palms. You smiled, staring into his eyes. “No problem,” you whispered, “good night Eddie.”

Part Four

#eddie x reader #eddie stranger things #fan fic #Eddie ff #Eddie munson fic #eddie munson fem!reader #eddie munson slow burn #eddie munson friends to lovers #eddie x you #Eddie munson #friends to lovers #ff #angst fanfic

[nickjunesource]

Full article below.

Max Minghella is sitting in his backyard in the LA sunshine, his t-shirt an homage to the French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve, his adopted shepherd mix, Rhye, excited by the approach of a package courier.

“You okay, sweetheart?” he asks — the dog, not me — tenderly.

Minghella, who at 35 has dozens of screen credits to his name, is best known as The Handmaid’s Tale’s cunning chauffeur Nick Blaine, a character who it’s difficult to imagine saying sweetheart. In airless Gilead, of course, a cautious hand graze with Elisabeth Moss’ June can pass for a big romantic gesture. In a Season 1 episode featuring child separation and hospital infant abduction, Nick’s major contribution is to trade stolen glances with a sex slave while “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” pumps discordantly along. I ask Minghella about playing the series’ closest approximation to a dreamy male lead against the show’s dark narrative of female subjugation.

“I know this is not the answer you want to hear,” Minghella says with none of Nick’s hesitation. “But I like that stuff, right? In the pilot, I think Nick only had a handful of lines. It wasn't clear that this is what the character would turn into. And it's quite fortunate for me personally, because I'm not a massively sort of intellectual person in my real life. I love Fifty Shades of Grey. That's like my Star Wars. It suits me to play a character like him.”

Minghella surmises that this enduring romanticism is an outcome of nurture. His father, the late British director Anthony Minghella, made grand romantic dramas like Cold Mountain and The English Patient. And there was the young, cinema-mad Max sitting on the living room sofa, absorbing everything. “It’s taken me a long time to understand this,” he says of his prolonged childhood exposure to love stories. “My dad made The English Patient when I was 10. So it was two years of watching the dailies to that movie and then watching 50 cuts of it. And then [The Talented Mr.] Ripley he made when I was 13, and it was the same thing.” These were an adolescent Max Minghella’s alternative to reruns. “I think they did shape my perspective on the world in a lot of ways, specifically The English Patient. That was a complicated love story, and I wonder sometimes how much it's affected my psychology.”

Some sons rebel; others resemble. Minghella’s co-star O-T Fagbenle, who plays June’s other lover from before the time of Gilead, got his first job acting in Anthony Minghella’s romantic crime film Breaking and Entering. “Anthony is one the kindest, most beautiful men that I've ever had the privilege of working with before,” Fagbenle says. “And Max has his gorgeous, sensitive, open-minded soul.”

Though Minghella spent his childhood on the set of The Talented Mr. Ripley, playing an uncredited Confederate soldier role in Cold Mountain, and tooling around with a Super-8 camera Matt Damon gave him, he insists his upbringing was normal. He grew up in South Hill Park overlooking Hampstead Heath in London with his father and mother, the choreographer Carolyn Choa. (Minghella also has a half-sister, Hannah Minghella, who is now a film executive.) Yes, technically, it was London, but that’s not how it seemed. “I feel like I grew up in a very small town. Every school I went to was in Hampstead. I was born in Hampstead,” Minghella says of the small map dot of his life before university. “When I went to New York, I felt I was going to the big city.”

Despite his illustrious surname, movie-watching was far from restricted to the classics. “Beverly Hills Cop is definitely the movie I remember having an unhealthy obsession with. I think I saw it when I was 5 for the first time, and I'd watch it just two or three times a day for years. I'm just obsessed with it.”

Plenty of actors can trace their love of movies back to a love of stories, but for Minghella the relationship seems to flow in reverse. When he left for Columbia University, Minghella opted to study history for its connection, through storytelling, to film. It was during the summers between his years of college that he started taking acting more seriously. Before his graduation, he’d already appeared in Syriana, starring Damon and George Clooney. Soon, he’d make a splash as Divya Narendra in The Social Network in 2010 and be cast in Clooney’s Ides of March. As all young actors eventually must, Minghella moved to Los Angeles.

It’s been over a decade since he last lived on the Heath, but, perhaps unusually for a person who’s chosen his profession, Minghella is adamantly not a “shapeshifter,” in his words. Home for Christmas this year, he started sifting through old journals stored at his mother’s house, “just like scraps of writing from when I was extremely young up through my teenage years,” before coming to America. “It was hilarious to me,” Minghella says of staring at his childhood reflection. “My review of a movie at 7 years old is pretty much what my review of a movie at 35 will be. My taste hasn't changed much. And when I sort of love something, I do tend to continue to love it.”

Which brings us back to his enduring love of romance, born of his bloodline, which is all over Minghella’s own 2018 directorial debut. Teen Spirit is a hazily lit film about a teenage girl from the Isle of Wight — the remote British island where Max’s father Anthony was born — who enters a local X-Factor-style singing competition. (It stars Minghella’s rumored girlfriend of several years, Elle Fanning.) The story is small, but its crescendos are epic.

Minghella calls the movie — an ode to the power of the pop anthem — “embarrassingly Max.” Max loves a good music-driven movie trailer — he’s watched the one for Top Gun: Maverick “many” times. And Max loves the rhythmic beats of sports movies like Friday Night Lights. Max loves movies with excesses of female energy, like Spring Breakers. He likens Teen Spirit to an experiment, his answer to the question, “Can I take all these things that I love and find a structure that can hold them?” The result is a touching “hodgepodge” of Minghella’s fascinations, inspired by the songs from another thing he loves: Robyn’s 2010 album Body Talk (itself a dance-pop meditation on love).

Minghella hasn’t directed any films since, but he sees now how making movies fits his personality — organized, impatient — more organically than starring in them does. Directing also helped him to appreciate that acting is “much harder than I was giving it credit for,” which, in turn, has made him like it more. Besides The Handmaid’s Tale currently airing on Hulu, Minghella appears in Spiral, the ninth installment in the Saw horror franchise and, from where I’m sitting, at least, a departure.

“I do like horror movies, but the thing that was really kind of magical is that I was feeling so nostalgic, right? We talked about Beverly Hills Cop earlier. I was just missing a certain kind of movie,” Minghella explains of his new role as Chris Rock’s detective partner. He was yearning for simple story-telling, like in the buddy cop movies of his youth, especially 48 Hours. It almost goes without saying that a buddy cop movie is another kind of love story. “And then I read the script and it was very much in that vein.” He clarifies: “I mean, it's also extremely Saw. It's very much a horror movie.”

His renewed excitement for acting translated onto The Handmaid’s Tale set, too. Veteran Hollywood producer Warren Littlefield describes casting Minghella in the role of Nick as an effortless choice: “Sometimes you agonize over things. [Casting Minghella] was instantly clear to me, and everyone agreed.” Now in its fourth season, the tone of the Hulu hit is graver than ever. Gilead is more desperate to maintain its rule, and so more audacious in its violence. Perhaps it’s fitting that the show’s romantic gestures finally match that scale.

In one particularly soaring moment, Elisabeth Moss’ June and Minghella’s Nick meet at the center of a bridge and crush into a long kiss. It’s been two seasons since they held their newborn daughter together, and it’s hard to see how this isn’t their last goodbye. Littlefield, like Minghella, is here for the romance among the rubble. “It's spectacular when they come together. In the middle of all of the trauma is this epic love story,” he says. “Max is just magnificent in the role.”

For Minghella, the satisfaction is more personal. He works with good people, he likes his scenes, and he thinks Nick is a complex character. Minghella read The Handmaid’s Tale for the first time in college in 2005. Like all the things Minghella has ever liked, he still likes it. He’s as proud of this most recent season as he is the show’s first. And he watched Nick and June race recklessly back to each other across the expanse of the screen exactly how you might expect. “I watched it like a fan girl.”

#max minghella #the handmaids tale #the handmaid's tale #nick blaine #nick x june #june x nick #osblaine #*

[warmau]

☆ [nostalgic] summer romance!au haechan happy birthday haechan!! |  find others here: johnny 

jaemin’s hand is waving in front of your face for a good minute before you come to the realization that he’s even there

you’ve been zoning out - thinking about how this is about to be the start to a very, very, very awkward summer

“our plane leaves in like thirty minutes so we gotta make these goodbyes quick!”

he repeats and you nod, throwing your arms around him a big hug, when you let go - you do the same to jeno and chenle and jisung and renjun

who are all leaving for the summer, going backpacking in some faraway country

you would have gone - but you’re the only one in your friend group who has a summer commitment (working at the boat rental store your parents friends run)

and haechan would have gone too - but he had said something about not handling wilderness all too well, even though other people had the sneaking suspicion he stayed behind on purpose

something about spending this time with you, but you aren’t sure if you believe that

you and haechan, along with the rest of the boys, have been best friends since you can remember

you had become an official member of their little inner circle when you beat them during the middle school sports festival

coming in first in a race and making them all too embarrassed to face each other

since then you’ve all been inseparable and so the idea that haechan would sacrifice a summer of fun with five of your other friends just for you well -

that narrative makes something in your stomach twist, and you don’t know if you like the feeling or not. or maybe, you’re scared of liking it 

either way, you and haechan are left outside the airport, watching your best friends disappear into the crowd of people

you zone out again, thinking about these feelings in your gut - thinking about you and haechan, how is it different from you and renjun? or you and jaemin?

you spook a little when haechan puts a hand on your shoulder and asks if you want him to drive back

the first week is better than you expect, but only because you throw yourself into your summer job at the boat rental

its not busy, but you make work for yourself - walking up and down the pier, talking to the owners, washing the windows, anything so that when haechan comes around

all golden, all handsome, all everything he’s ever been - leaning across the counter, playing with the boat brochure, asking if you want to hang out later

you can say, “sorry, ive got to do this other thing and ill be so tired that i just wont be that fun to be around.”

it works twice, three times and then suddenly haechan goes

“i dont care if it’ll be fun, i just want to spend time with you.”

the way he says it is so straightforward. like it is a fact - the way he always speaks.

you find yourself agreeing to meet him out on the dock after your shift before your mind can even convince you otherwise

you get out at around seven, when it is still light out but the shadow of night is slowly and surely creeping in 

haechan is leaned against one of the benches, half sitting on it, half still standing

he’s wearing a yellow shirt with a pocket, in the pocket are some wild flowers it looks like he plucked from someone garden or maybe even the side of the road

his hair is in waves, a pretty color like dark cedar that has been speckled with streaks of yellow sunlight

he plays with something on his phone, eyes narrowed in concentration

and you are standing a little bit away, he hasn’t noticed you yet, and the whole reality of the situation hits you like a truck

you’re nervous to be alone with him

so, so very nervous

and those questions that have been waltzing about your head about why you feel this way - what is so different about haechan to you

is the fact that you like him 

and not as the best friend who suffered through growing pains with you, who ran home through the rain with you, who spent hours spread out on the carpet of your living room with the sound of video games blasting from the tv and happy laughter from your other friends

you like him as a - as a - 

haechan rises when he catches view of you from the corner of his eye. 

he slips his phone in his back pocket and comes over to you with a wave and no care in the world

he’s so calm about this because he doesn’t feel the same way. this isn’t as nerve wrenchingly terrorizing to him as it is for me. im going to have to bury these feelings away for this whole summer-

he sees your eyes, wide and contemplating, and stops

in a flash of horror you think he’s read your mind. you’ve been friends for so long that he probably knows how to.

but instead, his hands reach out and take a hold of yours

he tugs you forward and you feel like a baby deer wobbling into his arms

“im going to do something i couldnt have done with all the other guys around.”

he starts

you think you feel a part of your heart rupture

“and if you don’t like it, im giving you full authority to punch me in my face.”

you want to say something, ask him what the hell he’s going on about

when he leans in and kisses you 

his body blocks out the view of sun that’s waving its goodbye on the shore of the pier, but in your eyes - which flutter to a close as you kiss him back - you swear you see stars

he’s good at this, is your first thought, which makes the rupture in your heart piece itself back together

and then proceed to fall back apart when you feel him bring your hand up into his hair

when you two break away from each other, it is a little darker and the lights on the pier have flickered on

haechan looks down at you and grins

“your technique could use a little work, but we have all summer to practice.”

he says and you pinch his arm as he feigns a loud ouch! 

of course, of all things to say, he says that

but he’s right, that summer you feel like you have all the time in the world.

you start eagerly awaiting the end of work, just to meet up with haechan outside the shop and go walking down the pier or making the ten minute drive to the ice-cream shop that’s plopped in the middle of nowhere on the nearby highway

on your days off you and haechan go to the lake, he splashes water at you and the two of you race through the calm water - just like you do when all your friends are there

but now, once you’re back on land with wet hair and curious hands - you find yourself practically glued to him

kissing on the one towel you brought - getting cooed at by other groups of local teenagers who pass by

haechan starts working for some of the boatmen on the pier, cleaning decks and helping carry equipment

he says he’s doing it just to be closer to you - but it’s also because he wants to shower you in gifts

even if they are mostly paying for fast-food dates, drive-in movies, and gas

although at one point he drops something in your hands when he comes to stop by for lunch

he’s too shy to stick around and see you open it, so he makes an excuse about needing to head back home

and when you open it, you see that it’s a simple silver necklace with a sunflower charm

you put it on and refuse to take it off, even when your mother points out that it might tarnish when you go swimming with it

you do the same for haechan though, you give him all the affection you can manage because even when he’s being all grumpy about it - the reality is his love language is touch

and even when he says he doesnt wanna kiss right now, you find him melting into it five seconds later

you use some of your work money to rent out some fishing equipment and you guys spend some time at the pier trying to reel in food

the local people who know you from your job start asking how things are going with your very handsome boyfriend

and it makes you flush, hand playing nervously with the necklace around your neck

it all seems like a dream, until summer comes dwindling down to a close and you and haechan are in his backyard

your head rested on his arm, his face turned toward you

you’re busy counting his birthmarks, you do it when you’re in this comfortable silence when you remember

sitting up 

“what’s wrong?”

“the guys - they’re coming back tomorrow. what are we going to do?”

haechan joins you, pull himself up and throwing an arm around you

you let out a small yelp when he falls back to the grass and you end up with your hands on his chest - his eyes lost in yours

“we’re just going to tell them.”

“but what if they’ll be ma-”

“i don’t care. i love you.”

it’s the first time he’s ever said that - even through these months - he’s never said that

and so you freeze, the summer night air blows a gust of wind that makes you shiver and reminds you both that fall is coming

“i - i love you too.”

he leans up to kiss you and grins a little when he pulls back, hocking his finger around the chain of the necklace

“plus, the look on jaemin’s face is going to be priceless.”

just as expected, it is priceless - even before you and haechan say a word

the five of them come running toward you outside the airport, each with something to say about the trip when chenle points to you and haechan’s hands

“WHAT?”

jaemin exclaims and you try to talk him down, explain what is going on, but he just shakes his head

“WE LEAVE AND SUDDENLY YOU TWO ARE DATING? WHAT ELSE DID I MISS? ALIEN ABDUCTION?”

jeno flicks him, a smile on his face as he turns back to you and haechan with a congratulations 

when you look back on that moment years later, you can still remember haechans fingers squeezing yours - your free hand toying with the sunflower charm

but you also remember the sound of jisung and chenle arguing, jaemin prodding about the relationship and jeno trying to fish out souvenirs from his bag

even though everything had changed that summer

somethings had stayed the same

#happy birthday i know its late but our sunflower prince <3333333333 #haechan scenarios #haechan imagines #haechan au #member: haechan #nct sceenarios #nct imagines #nct au #nct dream scenarios #nct 127 scenarios #haechan #sfw #lee donghyuck #donghyuck imagines #donghyuck au

[thedanceronthestreets]

PEDRO PASCAL GQ GERMANY - OCTOBER 2020

Original text by Esma Annemon Dil

Fotos by Doug Inglish

Styling by Simon Robins

Translated by @thedanceronthestreets

Intro: A broken tooth could almost have been the reason for our meeting with Pedro Pascal to be cancelled - and with that our conversation about roots, his new movie and times of change. 

Interview: It is almost eery how empty the streets of Los Angeles are under the gleaming sun. While Europe is finding its "new normal", people in L. A. are cutting their own hair even without being neurotics. Many of them have not seen their friends in half a year. The pandemic is out of control. So are the reactions to the situation. Inviting someone to a "distance drink" in the backyard can lead to the same consternation as proposing a relationship partner exchange. 

All the more of a surprise was Pedro Pascal's immediate confirmation. To the drink, not the partner exchange. He is one of the winners this year - and if Corona had not forced the movie industry to go on a holiday, he probably would not have had the time for this drink. After "Game of Thrones", the series in which his head was squished, followed 2015 the leading role in "Narcos" as a DEA agent on the hunt for Pablo Escobar, and now the leap onto the big Hollywood screen. As of 1. October the Chilean will appear in the blockbuster "Wonder Woman 1984". Furthermore, the second season of the "Star Wars" series "The Mandalorian" will start in October with him as the main character - unfortunately underneath the helmet. But we all seem to be under the same helmet in 2020. It is this man we want to meet, who worked as a waiter in New York a couple of years ago. Whose parents are political refugees that settled in Texas, and one day their son decided to walk into a drama club in high school. 

And then the cancellation. While we were preparing the house and garden for Pedro's drink and fashion shoot, which isn't an easy task under L. A.'s restrictions, his management called in with terrible news: Pedro has - no, not Corona - had to receive emergency surgery due to a sore tooth and is now lying in bed with a swollen cheek, making talking or shooting impossible. The sun shines onto empty streets. And our empty garden. 

A few days later, he stands in front of the door anyway, no huge bulge in his face, but stitches in his gum. No limousine service that dropped him off, he arrived in his own car and picked up his makeup artist on the way. He helps her to carry in all the equipment and states first and foremost: "I've got time today!" What a star! It does not seem like we are about to ask him how he managed to become a Hollywood sensation, but rather him asking us that question. Pedro Pascal! So, what kind of star is he then? 

Pedro Pascal: Sorry for ruining your plans. The operation was a total emergency. 

GQ: Really? We were wondering whether the swelling was the result of a secret trip to the plastic surgeon. Apparently, because of the quarantine in Hollywood, their schedules are packed. 

Sorry to disappoint you. A few days before our appointment I raced to the hospital with a tooth fracture and the worst pain I've ever felt - a hospital where the severe Corona cases are treated. I was unable to contact any dentists! Right before I parked, a specialist called back. I'll spare you the details of the surgery, gruesome. The pain was excruciating despite the 10 anaesthetic shots. The doctor said I wasn't the only one going through this, a lot of people grind their teeth at night thanks to stress. 

What are you most afraid of at the moment? 

The way the government is handling the pandemic scares me more than the virus itself. The lack of intelligent crisis management is a moral disgrace. The leadership crisis makes orphans out of all of us - we're left to fend for ourselves. 

How have you spent the last few months? 

With frozen pizza in jogging trousers in Venice Beach. I live in a rear building that's in the garden belonging to a family. In reality there are enough good takeout restaurants around that area, but for some reason I like salami pizza from the supermarket. 

That doesn't exactly sound like the movie star lifestyle. What does it feel like to be forced from top speed to zero? 

Considering the things happening in this world, my own state really isn't the top priority. But I would have to lie, if I said I wasn't disappointed. The entire cast and crew of "Wonder Woman 1984" put so much heart and soul into the production. We had so much fun on set. I had hoped to carry this feeling of exuberance around the globe to the openings of this movie. 

You are part of a political, socialist family that fled the Pinochet regime in Chile. What do you remember from back then? 

My sister and I were born in Chile, but I was only nine months old when we claimed asylum in Denmark. From there, we moved to San Antonio in Texas, where my dad worked as a doctor in a hospital. 

Texas isn't exactly considered to be socialist utopia. How well did you settle in? 

San Antonio isn't a cowboy city but rather very diverse with large Asian, Afro-American and Latino communities. In my memory it's a romantic place, culturally inclusive. The cultural shock only hit when we moved to Orange County in California later. Suddenly, the environment was white, preppy and conservative. 

How were you welcomed in California? 

To this day I'm ashamed when I think about how I let my classmates call me Peter without correcting them. I'm Pedro. Even without growing up in Chile, the country and language are part of me. I was quite unhappy in that place. At least I was able to switch schools and visit one in Long Beach, where I felt more comfortable. With its theatre programme, I found my path. 

Could you visit your family's homeland as a child? 

Yes, after my parents ended up on a list of expats that were permitted to re-enter the country. First, there was a big family gathering, then me and my sister were parked at some relatives' place for a few months while my parents returned to Texas. They probably needed a break from us. They'd had us at a very young age, had a vibrant social life, and my mother was doing her doctorate in psychology. 

Was your mother a typical young psychologist that tested her knowledge at home? 

You mean whether I was her lab rat? Absolutely. I can remember weird sessions camouflaged as games, where someone would watch my reactions to different toys. Even though I couldn't have been older than 6, I knew what was happening. My favourite thing was to be asked about my dreams. That was always a great opportunity to make up fantastic stories. 

Was that your first performance? 

Definitely! My strong imagination alarmed my mother, because I'd rather live in my fantasy world than in real life. I didn't like school. I ended up in the "problematic kid" category. At some point the subjects got more interesting and my grades improved. So many children are unnecessarily diagnosed with learning disabilities without considering that school can be daunting. Why is it acceptable to be bored out of your mind in class, when there are more stimulating ways to convey knowledge?

With everything happening in the world this summer: Do you believe that social hierarchy structures are genuinely being reconsidered? 

Hopefully. After the lockdown my first contact with people was at the Black Lives Matter protest. The atmosphere was peaceful and hopeful until the police got involved and provoked violence. At least during these times we can't avoid problems or distract ourselves from them as easily as we usually do. It seems that the pandemic provided us with a new sense of clarity: we don't want to go on like this. 

The trailer of "Wonder Woman 1984" represents the optimism of the 80s. That almost makes one feel nostalgic nowadays. 

That holds true. It's two hours of happiness. Patty Jenkins, the director, managed to make a movie full of positive messages. We shot in Washington, D. C., then in London and Spain - which now sounds like a different time. 

Do you miss travelling? 

I've only now realised what a privilege it is to just pack up your things and fly anywhere. With an American passport you can travel freely. And that's why the small radius we live in now is kind of absurd. Over the last few years I often retreated in between takes, because I was always on the road and overstimulated. Friends complained about how comfortable I had become. We all took social interactions for granted and realise now how reliant we are on human connection. Now, I wistfully think about all the party and dinner invitations I declined in the past. 

In L. A., people spend more time indoors or in nature than in other metropolises. Could this city become your safe haven after New York City? 

My true home is my friends. Ever since I was young I've lived the life of a nomad and haven't set roots anywhere. Until recently, my physical home was a place for arriving and leaving and hence I didn't want to overcomplicate living by owning lots of things. The opposite actually: Without having read Marie Kondo's book, I got rid of all the stuff that was unnecessary and lived a very minimalistic lifestyle. 

Is there something you collect or could never say goodbye to? 

Books! I still own the literature I read during my teen and university years. Recently I found a box of old theatre scripts and materials back from my uni days at NYU. I can't separate from art either, same as lamps or old pictures. Furniture and clothes are no problem though, they can be chucked. 

Do you remember any roles that were defined by their costumes? 

Yes, "Game of Thrones" comes to mind immediately. During that time I first understood what it means, as an actor, to be supported by a look. I owe that to costume designer Michele Clapton. She developed these very feminine robes and brocade cloaks for my role that looked very masculine when I wore them. I felt sexy in them. And very important were of course Lindy Hemming's power suits and Jan Sewell's blond hair for the tycoon villain Maxwell Lord in "Wonder Woman 1984". Relating to the style, I couldn't really see myself in the role since the shapes and colours of the 80s don't really fit my body. My type is the 70s.

Do you adopt such inspirations into your private closet? 

At this point in time, I'll choose any comfortable outfit over a cool look. Sometimes I mourn the days when I defined myself with fashion. It's a bit mad when I think about how, in the 90s as a teenager, I would go to raves; a proper club kid with crazy outfits: overalls, chute trousers, soccer shirts and a top hat like in "The cat in the hat knows a lot about that!" by Dr Seuss. Later in NYC I was part of a group that placed immense value on wearing a certain style. The fact that I only walk around in joggers nowadays is actually unacceptable! 

Normally, actors who work on comic screen adaptations become bodybuilders and eat ten boiled chicken breasts per day. You don't? 

My body wouldn't be able to handle that. I find it difficult enough to maintain a minimum level of fitness. As of your mid 40s, you suddenly need a lot more discipline. Until the tooth incident happened, I worked out a couple of times a week with a trainer to keep the quarantine body in shape. 

What would annoy you the most, if you were your own roommate? 

I can be very bossy. I have to gather all my goodwill not to force my movie choice on to everyone else. When I want something, I'm not passive aggressive about it, I attack head on. Also, I can get caught up in tunnel vision: When i feel down, I can't imagine that I'm ever going to feel better again. I have difficulty with seeing the bigger picture when experiencing problems or emotions. Method acting really wouldn't be my thing. That's why I try to only work on projects that feel good and where people encourage and lift each other up. 

While you were trying on the outfits you pointed out a lack of self-esteem. How does that coincide with your career? 

Isn't it interesting how traits and circumstances go hand in hand? Self-esteem comes from the inside, but it's also influenced by what society believes. We use critical stares from the outside against ourselves. I lived in New York for 20 years, I studied there and worked as a waiter up until my mid 30s, because I couldn't live off acting. It was always so close. The disappointment of always just barely missing a perfect part or opportunity is exhausting. When is the right time to stop trying and what's plan b? That's not just a question actors ask themselves, but anybody who struggles to earn a livelihood - unrelated to how much potential they have or how close their dream may seem. We are beginning to see now how our narrow definition of success is destroying our communities. At the same time, it's becoming obvious that, until this day, your family background and skin colour determine your chances of living a dignified existence. 

What are the positives of becoming a leading man later in life? 

I have the feeling that I've got control over my life - without the pressure of having to accept projects or be a social media personality. That surely also has to do with the fact that I'm a man. Women are surely pressured to appear quirky at any age. 

Life is always a management of risks - especially at this time. For what would you risk losing something? 

Usually, if you don't play the game you're not going to win anything. That applies to friendship, love, work, creativity. Anything that really means something to me, is worth the risk. 

Wonder woman 1984 will appear in cinemas 01.10. The 800 million dollar earning DC comic franchise is moving into the New York 80s with its sequel. It looks spectacular - only Pedro Pascal with blond hair in a three piece Wall Street suit looks better.

#pedro pascal #gq germany #Gq

[zeldasayer]

I transcribed and translated Pedro’s interview from GQ Germany for all of us. I tried translating as good as possible but bear with me, English is not my mother tongue. By @sixties-loser

Pedro Pascal, the star from “Game of Thrones”, “Wonder Woman” and “The Mandalorian” talks about becoming an adult, film, fashion, corona – and a painful surgery in the exclusive GQ interview.

It seems almost eerie how empty the streets of LA are in the sunshine. Meanwhile a new normality seems to be coming to Europe, most people in L.A. are still cutting their own hair. Many have not seen their friends for half a year. The pandemic is out of control. The reaction towards it too. Inviting someone into their garden for a “distance drink” can cause the same distress as suggesting to switch spouses.

Therefore, it was particularly surprising that Pedro Pascal immediately accepted. He accepted the drink, not to switch spouses. He is one of the rising stars and newcomers this year – if it wasn’t for corona sending the whole film industry into a forced vacation, there would most likely not have been time for said drink. After having his skull crushed in “Game of Thrones” followed the lead role as a DEA agent hunting Pablo Escobar in “Narcos” in 2015 and now he is stepping towards big Hollywood films. From the 1st of October onwards the Chilean-born actor will be starring in the blockbuster “Wonder Woman 1984”. Moreover, the second season of the “Star Wars”-series “The Mandalorian” on Disney+ starring him as the lead is going to air in October this year – but he will be underneath a helmet. Well, we all are under a helmet in 2020 in one way or another. We want to meet the man who a few years ago still worked as a waiter in New York, whose parents were political refugees who found asylum in Denmark and settled in Texas and whose son one day signed up for a theatre group in High School.

Then, the cancellation! While we were in the middle of fixing up the house and the garden for the drink with Pedro and organizing the fashion shoot, which was not easy considering the safety measures in L.A., his management called with an unfortunate message: Pedro – no, not sick with corona – had to get emergency surgery because of a damaged tooth and was lying in bed with a swollen face that was hindering him from speaking and taking pictures. The sun is shining onto empty streets. And our empty garden.

A few days later he nonetheless arrived at our front door without a swollen face but still with threads in his mouth. He was not chauffeured by a limo-service but he came with his own car – he even picked up his make-up artist. He is helping her carrying all of her utensils into the house and declares: “I’ve got time today!”. What a celebrity! It seemed like we did not want to ask him how he made it to the A-List of Hollywood but he wanted to ask us how we made it to the A-list. Pedro Pascal! Yes, what kind of a celebrity?

Pedro Pascal: Sorry for messing with your plans. The surgery was an emergency.

GQ: Really? We were wondering whether the swelling wasn’t the product of a secret visit to the plastic-surgeon. Apparently, they are drowning in work because of the quarantine in Hollywood.

PP: I have to disappoint you. A few days before our appointment I was rushing to the hospital with a fractured tooth and the worst pain in my entire life – a hospital in which treats people with severe cases of corona. I was unable to reach any dentist! Right in front of the parking lot a specialist called me back. The pain was hell despite the ten injections I got. The doctor said I was not an exception because a lot of people are grinding their teeth because of all the stress.

GQ: What are you most afraid of at the moment?

PP: How the government is handling the pandemic is worrying me more than the virus itself. This shortage of intelligent management of the crisis is a moral shame. The leadership crisis in this country is turning us all into orphans – destitute and abandoned.

GQ: How did you spend your time over the last few months?

PP: I spent it with frozen pizza and sweatpants in Venice Beach. I live in a rear house that’s in a family’s garden. Actually, there are a lot of good takeout places nearby but for some reason I just love pepperoni pizza from the supermarket.

GQ: That does not really sound like movie star-lifestyle. What does it feel like being suddenly stopped from top speed to zero?

PP: Regarding what is going on around the world one should hold back one’s own mental turmoil. I would be lying if I was saying that I am not disappointed. The whole team put a lot of heart and work into the production of “Wonder Woman 1984”. We had a lot of fun on set. I wished to travel around the world and introduce the film with the same lively energy.

GQ: You come from a politically engaged, socialist family that fled from the Pinochet-regime in Chile. What do you remember from that time?

PP: My sister and I were born in Chile but I was only nine months old when we first found asylum in Denmark. From there we quickly came to San Antonio in Texas where my dad started working as a doctor at the university clinic.

GQ: Texas is not known as a socialist utopia. How did you assimilate?

PP: San Antonio is not a Cowboy-town but very diverse with big Asian, black and Latino communities. I remember it as a romantic place, culturally open. The culture shock only came as we later moved to range county in California. There the atmosphere was suddenly white, preppy and conservative.

GQ: How were you received in California?

PP: I’m still ashamed of the fact that I did not correct my classmates when they kept on calling me Peter. I am Pedro. Even if I didn’t grow up in Chile the country and the language are still a part of me. I was very unhappy in that environment. However, I was fortunately able to go to another school close to Long Beach where I felt more comfortable. Through the theater group at that school I found my way.

GQ: Were you able to visit Chile as a child?

PP: Yes, when my parents made it to the list of expatriates that were able to travel to Chile without consequences. First, there was a big family reunion and then my sister and I stayed there for a few months with relatives while my parents went back to Texas. They likely needed a break from us. They got us when they were very young, had a buzzing social life and my mother was obtaining a PhD in psychology.

GQ: Was your mother a typical young psychologist who wanted to apply her theoretical knowledge at home?

PP: You mean, whether I was her guinea pig? For sure! I remember strange tests and sittings that were disguised as games where someone was watching me react to different toys. I cannot have been older than six but I was already aware of the dynamic. My favourite thing was being questioned about my dreams. That was a wonderful opportunity to come up with fantastic stories.

GQ: Was that your first performance?

PP: Of course! My mother worried about my strong imagination because I was living in my own fantasy world rather than reality. I hated going to school. I was always categorized as the troublemaker. At one point, the topics at school became more interesting and my grades also went up. There are so many kids that are unnecessarily diagnosed with learning disabilities without considering that school can be abhorrent. Why is it so accepted to be bored in class when there are so many stimulating ways to convey knowledge?

GQ: Considering al that has happened this summer around the world: Do you believe that we can seriously demand social change now?

PP: I Hope so. After lockdown, the first time I went out was to protest for “Black Lives Matter” on the streets. The energy was peaceful and hopeful until the police provoked severe conflicts. Nevertheless, we cannot run from problems like we used to this time and we cannot distract ourselves from them either. It seems like the pressure of the pandemic led to a new clarity: We cannot go on this way.

GQ: The “Wonder Woman 1984” Trailer revives the optimism of the 1980’s. From today’s point of view, it seems almost nostalgic.

PP: That’s right. You really are happy for two hours. The director Patty Jenkins created a film full of positive messages. We shot in Washington D.C., then in London and Spain – this sounds like I am talking of a past time.

GQ: Do you miss traveling?

PP: I’m just now realizing the privilege of just packing up one’s stuff and being able to fly anywhere. An American passport used to guarantee unlimited travel. And that’s why it the small radius of our lives is actually unimaginable. Over the last years I often retreated for a break after shootings because I was constantly on the move and overstimulated. My friends were already complaining I had become too comfortable. We all took social contact for granted and are only realizing now how dependent we actually are on human contact. Over the last weeks I often longingly thought about all the parties and dinner invitations I declined.

GQ: In L.A. people spend more time at home or nature than in other metropolises that are more geared towards public life. Could this city become your second home after New York?

PP: My Real Home are my friends. I have been a nomad since I was little and I do not have a place where I have put down roots. Up until not long ago my physical home was a place in between departure and arrival. Therefore, it was something I did not want to complicate through the accumulation of stuff. On the contrary: Without having read Marie Kondo’s book I have freed myself from excess baggage over the last few years and I lived relatively minimally.

GQ: Is there nothing you collect or something you just can’t throw away?

PP: Books! I even still have the literature I read when I was a teenager and when I was in college. Recently, I stumbled upon a box full of old theatre manuscripts and materials from my time at the New York University. I also cannot part from art easily, just like I cannot part from lamps or old photos. On the other hand, I can easily get rid of furniture and clothes.

GQ: Do you remember roles that were really only completely defined through the costume?

PP: Yes, I am particularly thinking about “Game of Thrones”. At that time I understood for the first time what it meant to be supported by a look. This is thanks to the costume designer Michele Clapton. She created very feminine robes and brocade coats for my character that nevertheless looked masculine when worn and I felt very sexy in them. Of course, Lindy Hemmings power-suits and Jan Swells bleached hairstyle for the tycoon-villain in “Wonder Woman 1984” were very important as well. At first I did not really see myself in the role because the cuts and colors of the 80s do not really fit my body. I’m more the 70s type.

GQ: Do you incorporate those inspirations into your personal wardrobe?

PP: In my free time I choose comfort over a cool look these days. Sometimes I miss the times when I expressed myself through a certain style. It is hard to imagine that I went to Raves as a teenage in the 90s; I was a real club kid with ridiculous outfits: overalls, balloon pants, football shirts and a top hat, like in Dr.Seuss’s “Cat in a Hat”. Later in New York I was hanging out with a group of people that felt it was very important to have a certain style. The fact that I am basically only wearing sweatpants everyday is actually tragic.

GQ: whoever plays roles in comic book adaptations becomes a bodybuilder and eats ten chicken breasts a day. You don’t?

PP:My body would not agree with that. It is hard enough to stay in shape normally. When you’re in your mid-forties you have to live with a lot more discipline. Up until before my tooth-incident I worked out with a trainer in my garden multiple times a week to keep the quarantine body in check.

GQ: Apart from the personal trainer, are you in a steady relationship?

PP: I am not ready for that yet. Maybe at some point I will be but until then I’ll let it be. I can’t even offer you absurd corona dating stories.

GQ: What would annoy you the most if you were your own roommate?

PP: I can be quite controlling. I have to conjure all my humanity to prevent myself from going through my entire film collection. When I don’t want something I cannot keep it to myself or be passive-aggressive, I always have to take it to the frontlines. Other than that, I tend to have tunnel view: when I am not feeling well I cannot imagine to ever feel better again. I have trouble relativizing my emotions or to wave off problems. Method-acting would really not be for me. This is why I try to only work on projects that feel good, where there is mutual support and encouragement.

GQ: When we were trying on the clothes earlier you spoke of a lack of self-confidence. How does that get along with a career like yours?

PP: Isn’t it interesting how these characteristics and circumstamces relate? Self-worth comes from inside but it is also influenced by what society values because we often internalise the public gaze. I have lived in New York for 20 years, I studied there and made a living by working as a waiter until my mid-thirties because the theatre and film jobs I got did not pay the bills. There were so many times I was almost there. The disappointment of having missed the perfect role or opportunity by a hair’s width can be crushing. When should you give up and what is plan B? That is a question that is not only on many actors‘s minds but also on many others minds who struggle for a living – no matter how much potential they have or how close they seem to be to the top. We are seeing now how our narrow definition of success destroys society. At the same time, we are realizing that where we come from and the color of our skin still decide whether we can exist with dignity.

GQ: What are the positive aspects of a relatively late success as leading-man?

PP: I feel like I can decide over my own life without the pressure of having to accept projects or to have to present a certain identity on social media. This is for sure also because I am a man. Regardless of age, Women have to try harder to stand out.

GQ: Life always consists of risk management – now more than usual. For what would you risk losing something?

PP: Generally, when you never risk something you might never get ahead. That is for friendship, love, work and creativity. I have to be ready to take risks for the things that really matter to you.

#pedro pascal #THANK YOU MY LOVE! #submission

[dramaticsnakes]

The Revived - Chapter 13: An Interview

This is chapter 13 of the Dream SMP multichapter fic @rainbowbutterfrosting​ and I wrote together! I hope you’ll enjoy!

AO3

Read in order (on Tumblr)

Characters in this chapter: Wilbur, Ghostbur, Tubbo

Word count: 3436

Cw: stress, crying, discussions of limbo, lying, tension between characters

Fic summary: Wilbur was alive, and it was such a magnificent feeling, that made his mind spark with anticipation. It didn’t take long, however, for Wilbur to realize that this new breath of life, was not just his own. An echo-y voice hides in the back of his mind, and before he knows it, the transparent version of him he saw at the endless train station, is a lot more ingrained than he’d expected him to be.

And Wilbur really shouldn’t care. Because he’d be damned, if he spent the life he’d awaited for so long, babysitting a lost cause of a ghost, stuck in the very same limbo Wilbur spent so long in. It was an even exchange, and one Wilbur wasn’t going to mess with. Why exactly he ends up setting out to get the ghost out of his mind, in order to save the both of them, however, is beyond him. And perhaps Wilbur’s past isn’t as easy to leave behind, as he’d hoped it would be.

The walk to the portal seemed longer than normal, perhaps due to the wails in the back of his mind. Every now and then they would quiet down, only for them to get worse again. He sighed quietly, “‘m going to Pogtopia.” 

Ghostbur tried to compose himself with little luck. Still, through his cries, he said, “Going where?” The words shook like a leaf in the wind but remained understandable. 

“Tubbo.” Although the words weren’t sharp, the meaning of them felt like it. He would’ve apologized, but he frankly didn’t have the energy to care.

Ghostbur sniffled, “Anything bad gonna happen?”

Wilbur shook his head before realizing Ghostbur couldn’t hear him, “Nope.” He barely thought of the response as he stepped onto the path made out of oak slabs.

The walk was quiet. Ghostbur seemed calmer with the promise of Tubbo, and Wilbur wasn’t in a chatty mood. The sound of footsteps filled his walk there.

The road to Pogtopia was ingrained in Wilbur’s muscle memory. While memories were muddled, the times he hid underground planning to take back L’Manberg seemed to remain stuck there. The buttons, calmly lining the walls more and more each day. The way they had appeared to taunt him, every single time he had a look.

It didn’t take long for Wilbur to make it there. The entrance to the ruins wasn’t too obvious to find, but Wilbur vaguely remembered that most people knew about it by now. As he entered and looked at the walls, he felt as if he’d wandered into an old movie that scared you as a child. Something from a past life. The ceiling that went up high, but still wasn’t enough. The remains of glory, and the times he’d wanted to shout at nothing until he finally told himself that it was fine. Wilbur was a genius and a powerful commander, and he wasn’t going to let everything get whisked away. He would get it all back, or no one else would have it.

His L’Manberg waiting for Wilbur to decide its final fate, despite the protests of its remaining people.

Now, Wilbur looked at the dusty paths that looked almost unused now, safe for a few visible footsteps, as if the place was used as nothing but a place to merely pass through once a month. The buttons that every inch of Wilbur’s fingers were tempted to touch, just to feel the way they clicked under his command. He breathed the old air into his lungs, and while it had been ages, it still reached his heart and trapped it in a familiar cage momentarily. It all appeared much smaller now or perhaps haunted by the words, the promises, and the betrayals. Haunted by the time, all of Wilbur’s suspicions had been confirmed, because loyalty was thin, and everyone was only looking out for their own self-interest. He was reminded of Tommy’s anger as they confronted Techno after the festival. Exactly as he predicted, and now everyone had to see it as well. His own laughter from long ago rang through his mind. 

“Hey there, big man!” Tubbo’s voice cut Wilbur out of the undesired nostalgic trance.

Ghostbur gasped, “Tubbo! Is Michael with him?” Wilbur turned and saw the boy standing there, looking at Wilbur expectantly. “Oh, there you are. I’m guessing Michael’s at home with Ranboo.” Wilbur said. Ghostbur’s passive acknowledgment echoed through his mind. He chuckled, “This place has really let itself go, huh?”

“Ah, a bit.” Tubbo said with a shrug, his tone remaining friendly as ever, “People don’t use it for much anymore, but some people stop by or keep some things here I think.”

Wilbur hummed, “You know, I almost didn’t expect it to still be standing at all.”

Tubbo laughed, “Yeah, that’s pretty impressive.”

Wilbur took another look at the path ahead of them and then turned to Tubbo again. “What did you want me for again?”

“Oh, right!” Tubbo said with a quick nod. He gestured towards the paths, “Follow me.” he said, and started walking.

Wilbur resisted the urge to laugh, though the cage only allowed a huff, “That’s a little suspicious, Tubster.” he added the next words in an overexaggerated tone, “Just follow me into this abandoned place! Come alone!”

Tubbo laughed, “To be fair, I didn’t necessarily ask you to come alone.” He bit his lip, and looked as if he pondered something, “I just… Uhm, I wanted to show you something I’ve been working on.”

Curiosity filled Wilbur’s mind. Had Tubbo really been planning to fix up Pogtopia? To make a new nation now that his leader was back? The thought put a smile on his face, “Ooo, do tell.”

Tubbo seemed slightly tense after Wilbur’s intrigue, “I mean, it’s not really anything too great. More like a side project.

“You really have to stop being so humble!” Wilbur put an arm around Tubbo’s shoulders, ignoring the way Tubbo jumped at the action, moving him slightly closer. “You’ve always been doing great things since the day I met you.”

Tubbo slightly untensed at the praise, but his words still seemed stiff, “No no, it’s really nothing. I don’t want you to get hyped then be disappointed.” They made a turn to the right, going to where Tubbo’s previous bunker was. They crossed over the brief patch of dark oak wood on the floor as they both walked into the room.

“You’ve got too high expectations of yourself, I’m sure it’s great.” Tubbo narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips slightly, but didn’t make any other comment. They walked up the stairs and while the room was mostly the same, there were certainly new renovations. Two chairs, a table, and a large bookshelf that seemed half-full. “What are the books about?”

Confusion came across Tubbo’s face before he realized what Wilbur was talking about, “Oh! So the thing is, I’ve been writing some history books. Figured they would be helpful to anyone new coming here.”

Wilbur exclaimed, “That’s great! People will get to know how great L’Manberg was and the valiant wars we fought. Tubbo, this whole thing is a great idea.”

Apprehension clouded Tubbo’s eyes, causing Wilbur’s grin to drop slightly. Neither of them said anything about it though. Instead, Tubbo spoke hesitantly, “Okay, so the main thing I wanted your help with is… See, I need some recounts to write some books about history, and what we know about things. The whole revival stuff is pretty new to most of us so… I was just wondering if I could ask you a few questions about it?”

Wilbur swallowed something in his throat, and let out a breath. “Oh.” he said, hesitating, “Of course. Sure! Why not.”

“Great!” Tubbo said, almost looking a little surprised at the answer, “You can sit there.” He pointed to one of the chairs Wilbur noticed earlier. He sat down as Tubbo riffled through a barrel. Moments passed before Tubbo came back with a book and quill. 

“Alright, let’s start at the beginning. What do you remember from being revived?” Tubbo sat down in the other chair, opening the book to the first page.

“Wow. That’s a big question.” Wilbur thought for a moment, “I was in limbo and I saw this train coming.”

Tubbo stopped him, “What does limbo look like?”

Wilbur thought it was obvious what limbo looked like, but he spent thirteen and a half years in that place, and the boy in front of him probably never thought about that horrible place. “Well, to me, it’s this train platform. Hm- it was somewhat of a subway station, but trains pulled in, not subways.” Tubbo nodded as he wrote the information down.

“No matter where I looked, no matter where I went. Just concrete walls all around. And a tube with a track running straight along. But- it didn’t matter what I did. I could claw at the walls, bash on the doors, scream for help.” Wilbur let out a melancholic chuckle as his eyes watered, “I screamed ‘till my lungs were sore and my voice was hoarse.”

Wilbur momentarily wiped the tears out of his eyes, glad Tubbo was looking at his book and not him. “Nothing ever changes, nothing ever comes, nothing ever helps you, Tubbo.” Wilbur took a shaky breath as he ran a hand through his hair.

Tubbo nodded, his voice remaining neutral and focused, “You said trains pull in? Did you ever try to get on them?”

Wilbur nodded vaguely, “Only three trains came in. The first pulled away before I even realized it was there, but Tommy was on it! And it was great! But then- he got on a train and left. I couldn’t even move when I saw it, I felt paralyzed. Somehow I knew the train was Tommy’s even though I deserved to get on there.” Bitterness took the end of Wilbur’s voice, but Tubbo didn’t say anything about it. 

Instead, he hummed in acknowledgment, “What did the train look like? Was there anything unusual about it?”

Wilbur tilted the chair back slightly, looking at the ceiling, “I don’t think so? I couldn’t see it very well, I got too euphoric about the idea that I didn’t pay attention. The inside of the train was made out of dark oak. The seats were a dark green- sort of like a forest green.”

“And you got on the third train or a different one?”

“The third one, it’s the only one I could get on. When I saw the train pulling in, I was so thrilled. I could barely even feel my legs as I ran there. There was this weird guy though. When the train stopped, he was thrown on the ground. I saw two people including the weird one on that train. The weird one was a desaturated me. Just rolling into my town! Just browsing in by my limbo.”

Wilbur exhaled, the feeling of being alive coursing through him once again, “It’s weird, his face was steaming with tears. T-They looked like they were burning him?” 

Although he didn’t mean to ask the question, Ghostbur responded with quietness in his voice, “Yeah. I don’t like them very much.”

Wilbur sniffled, “But you know who else was on that train? The one conducting the train, the one who let me out, Tubbo.”

Tubbo momentarily looked up from his book, “Who?”

“Dream.” Although everyone said the masked man was horrible and deserved to rot in an obsidian prison for the rest of his life, a grin slipped on his face when he said his name. “It was Dream. My hero, my fucking hero Dream, saved me!” Ghostbur’s breath hitched and Tubbo tensed. While Wilbur felt like he won the lottery of life. His chest heaved as he continued, “Oh my that decade of waiting, I thought I wanted to die. I thought I wanted to die all those years ago, but now I’ve seen what hell is! Now I’ve seen the other side. I’ve been given a new lease on life! There’s so many things I’m going to do, there’s so many great things, I can’t even begin to describe them.” While Wilbur’s face was beaming with happiness, Tubbo’s showed a worry that gently shook in the silence between them. 

Words were escaping Wilbur almost on instinct, and perhaps he shouldn’t have said as much as he said, but if Tubbo wanted knowledge, knowledge should be shared. And in a sense, saying it all out loud served as a reminder. That perhaps Wilbur’s fragile connections didn’t matter much in the end, because the euphoria of being alive still lingered in his chest.

Tubbo looked back down at his book, scribbling some things for a few moments, flipping the page. “Are there- alright- sorry, one second.” Tubbo took a shaky breath, putting down the quill for a moment. He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hands over his eyes. After a few seconds passed, Tubbo sat normally. Wilbur slightly wilted at the beginnings of tears in Tubbo’s eyes, but he didn’t bother to say anything about it. Especially when he only momentarily met Wilbur’s gaze, focusing right back onto the book. 

Tubbo inhaled slowly as he fiddled with the page, “Are there any side effects to you coming back? Like- does anything feel different?” He looked towards the book with unsure eyes, but Wilbur shrugged it off. 

“Hm.” There was a fucking ghost in his head, that was a start. Not that he was going to say that. Perhaps an implication, but he wasn’t going to explain it fully. “I’m not really sure. I mean sometimes I think that Ghostbur, the desaturated me… is there with me in spirit if that makes sense?”

Tubbo furrowed his brow, but he remained focused on the book, “Elaborate please.”

“Well, I feel like he’s in my head a little bit. Like as if we’re sharing the same experiences, and he knows what I’m going through.”

Tubbo nodded bluntly stating, “So you’re experiencing a divide in identity. As if your body isn’t your own?”

Wilbur frantically shook his head, “No no, I still control my body. I still have my thoughts to myself. I just feel like Ghostbur’s still here in a way.” His shoulders untensed as he let out a breath. He wasn’t sure what he was trying to say or explain. The words had likely been far too risky in the first place. He’d gotten carried away. “It’s probably just because people talk about him sometimes, you know?”

Tubbo looked up from his book, skepticism filling his eyes, “Oh I gotcha.” He wrote something else down, but Wilbur felt like the boy didn’t understand what he was saying at all.

There was a confused sound in Wilbur’s mind. “But… I’m with you! Aren’t I?” the words came out with a strained melancholy, but Wilbur didn’t respond. 

“On the subject of Ghostbur, do you have any of his memories?” Tubbo asked, “He had some of yours after all.”

Wilbur inhaled through his nose. “Some,” he said shortly, thinking of the vague sensations, and the memories that felt as if he was trapped inside someone else. Trapped inside a cage, unable to do what he wanted. Yet, he didn’t have many. The most detailed ones weren't memories at all, but rather Ghostbur’s own words, provoking images that might’ve been real. “It’s all a bit vague still, but I do remember it. Almost like watching in the third person, or watching as your body moves without you.” As he said the words, he felt quick images flash by in his mind. Anger he couldn’t feel, and words that seemed far off. Watching the people he knew suffer, though he wasn’t sure who or why, and perhaps it didn’t matter. 

“Any specific events?” Tubbo asked.

While the memories were right at the tip of his tongue, there was very little he could recall directly. Though Ghostbur had filled him in at least a little bit, so he should account for that. “They’re not that specific but I feel as if some of them are coming back.” Wilbur said, “I remember the sheep thing. Who was it, Friend?” he let out a quick laugh.

Tubbo nodded and wrote something down again. “I see.” 

There was silence for a bit before Wilbur broke in. “Have you asked Tommy about this whole revival business? He went through it as well after all, and didn’t spend quite as long as I did in limbo.”

Tubbo tensed up. “Ah, a bit.” his professional tone wavered, “He uh… He’s not too fond of talking about it as of now. So, he prefers it when people don’t ask.” he smiled hesitantly, though the boy clearly looked troubled.

“Oh,” Wilbur said quietly. For a brief moment, he recalled the fearful anger in Tommy’s eyes from earlier, but he quickly let the thought dissolve.

“How long did you spend in limbo, again?” Tubbo asked.

“Thirteen and a half years.” Wilbur answered without any hesitation, “I counted the days,”

“How exactly did you do that? Could you see the sun?”

“There was a clock.” Wilbur responded briefly, “I couldn’t see what day it was but I could see the hours. I could feel it. And there was a faint light somewhere in the distance I could never quite reach.” He remembered it clearly, as he watched hours pass. Days upon days, months upon months.

“Okay.” Tubbo said with a nod, “Tommy said two months in limbo were two days here. I’m not sure if it’s still accurate for yours since I can’t really do the math right now, but it could vaguely be a limbo month equals a real day here.”

Wilbur almost pointed out that limbo was real and it was realer than anything Tubbo had ever experienced, but he only squinted as he tried to think. “I think that’s true.” he said, “Tommy mentioned his limbo was just a black void, but I did let him know much time had passed.”

It would be beneficial for Wilbur to know exactly how time passed differently. Perhaps it would help him when he communicated with Ghostbur, or when he tried to find a way to separate them. Then again, the thought of the passage of time, and the lengthy silence Ghostbur experienced, made Wilbur yearn to think of something else, whenever the thought passed his mind. “If you somehow learn anything else I…” he paused, “Tell me. I’m curious,” he said, his mouth curving up. Information. He needed more information, to fix all of it.

Tubbo looked at Wilbur for a little while, before nodding. “Of course.” he said, “Anything else you want to add?”

“Nope, I think that covers all of it,” Wilbur said, unsure what else there was to say.

“I’m here! We can talk and everything. That might be relevant!”

Tubbo wrote a few more lines in the book, “Great! Thanks, big man.” He closed it, putting it in a chest nearby. Wilbur got up and skimmed the bookshelf sleeves. There were quite a decent amount of books. They seemed to be chronological as well. Well- as chronological as they could be. Some of the books on the bottom shelf all seemed to be about science rather than history with titles like, “Hybrids” and “The End”. Wilbur heard ages ago it was some sort of other dimension that was similar to the Nether but had a dragon and creatures that made you float if they hit you. It was probably less scientific than the other books, filled with legended fables and short stories since as far as he knew, the End was only a fairytale world Phil told him about as a kid to help him sleep. 

The shelf above had the names of all the wars they’d been through, with some of them being long enough for two books. Now that he looked at it, all the books seemed to be around four hundred pages. Wilbur let out a surprised noise, causing Tubbo to look over.

He walked to where Wilbur was standing, “Everything alright?”

Wilbur nodded, “I was just looking at all the books you’ve got. Are all of them full?”

Tubbo looked bashfully, despite the proud look in his eyes, “I mean, some more than others, but in general, I just write any information I can find. A lot of the originals were destroyed a while back, so they’re a bit incomplete. Interviews fill up most of it.”

Wilbur’s eyes focused on a book that stood at the end of the middle shelf, titled, ‘The Destruction of L’Manberg’. Wilbur pointed to the book that grabbed most of his attention. He caught a smile across his own face  “Can I read a bit?” He asked, glancing at Tubbo, “I know it’s a bit macabre but… You know that morbid fascination with what people would say about you after you’re dead? I just wanna know what people thought after everything I did.”

Tubbo seemed hesitant but nodded anyway. “I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” He walked downstairs, and as soon as Wilbur couldn’t see him anymore, he felt an odd sense of relief. Information was an old comfort to him. The side that won the war always had more information. Knowing what the other side had for breakfast was almost just as important as finalizing your battle plans. And in truth, the idea of obituaries or requiems from his enemies was something that made him want to laugh.

And now, with so much knowledge in front of him, he grabbed the book that lingered in his mind.

#dream smp #dsmp #c!wilbur #wilbur soot #ghostbur #revivedbur #c!tubbo #tubbo #fic #The Revived

[jjuzoir]

Match Maker | s. banri

request: “Hello! I personally really love your writing and your whole aesthetic is my dream lol 👉👈 Can I request a scenario where reader and Banri are best friends since childhood? You can turn it into best friends to lovers kind of thing if you feel like it. I’m personally a huge fan of best friends to lovers aus, they just,,, melt my heart 🥺 Thank you so much, please don’t feel like you have to rush it and take your time! 💞” from anon

a/n: i accidentally deleted your anon but i managed to save the request itself sooryy^^ i am so sorry it’s taken me so long omg 🥺 i love you sooo much anonie 💕✨ i love f2l so much too it’s so cute just seeing people who love each other being able to be with each other is !!! ahhh ✨💕 i really enjoyed working on it and i’m really happy with it hhhh thank you sm for requesting ilysm ahhh

word count: 2973

There were many perks to being friends with Banri, he was funny and nice when he wanted to be— he’d help you out with homework and never let you down; if there was one thing you could always count on Banri to be it was determined and loyal. But there were downsides to it too like the looks you’d get for hanging out with a guy with such a shitty reputation, the way he’d always get into fights, or seeing him waste his life away due to lack of interest. There were the multiple fights you had to endure, patching him after he got his ass beaten to a pulp the first few times.

But you wouldn’t trade him for the world. You had stuck with him through so many things, so many phases and bruises, beginnings and ends, you knew him like the back of your hand and you knew how hard it was for him to live such an “easy” life. He liked a challenge, something to work hard towards, something worth fighting for— so he could relish in the satisfaction, but that something never came. When everything comes easy you can never really bask in satisfaction; the afterglow after a succeeding.

Maybe at first, you guessed, Banri did enjoy it but he soon grew tired; everything was easy, too easy. How could he enjoy a life with no challenges when what he liked the most was a challenge?

That’s why when he joined the Mankai company you were ecstatic, finally a non-destructive hobby after years of fights and punches. It was why you didn’t mind distancing yourself from him, to let Settsu enjoy himself and get to know theater— you guessed you just didn’t know how far was enough, leading you to grow farther away than either of you expected; than either of you needed.

Looking back, Banri was somewhat grateful; he knew had you stuck around he wouldn’t have been able to concentrate with the growing feelings he had blooming in his chest.

He realized his feelings for you weren’t the same when texting you wasn’t enough, when meeting you at school wasn’t enough; when he realized that he wanted more. He never took into account how often you two would be together, it felt so natural, there was never a second thought or a minute to imagine what would happen if your routine were to change. After school and during breaks, you’d always be together chatting away; to not have you there by his side as often was weird. It wasn’t as if he never saw you but whenever you left he felt a bitter feeling in his mouth, it left him feeling unsatisfied. What was once a friendship that lasted 24 hours a day soon shortened into a relationship that would last as long as school breaks would allow.

He hoped that once he quit the troupe— after making his point known to Juza, he’d be able to go back to his routine with you, perhaps confess or just let it go, he just wanted to ditch acting and see where you two would go. But he never really quit and so the distance between you two became bigger.

You never grew estranged, neither of you would’ve been able to live without the other by this point— 14 years of friendship, of familiarity and comfort, can’t go down the drain like that. To you Banri was the need for a future, for excitement and adventure, and to him, you were home, nostalgic and known. But going from hanging around each other everyday to almost once in a blue moon, it hit hard and it hit roughly.

By the third performance, you and him could barely meet in person— you had joined clubs while he practiced, your classes weren’t the same and your part time job started demanding more attention; so all you could do was text. He hated texting, you could never really express your tone and feelings properly, but your relationship— or what remained of it, now hung on a thin thread of texts. It was weird, heart breaking almost, to see the shell that remained of your friendship.

It was around that time Banri realized he needed to act on his feelings for you, it was when he realized he could lose you.

He didn’t know how to confront you about it— the boy you had been hanging out around, he’d seen you two, heard the rumors of a possible romance, but he never confronted you. Blue eyes could only watch in confusion as the situation unfolded itself; you two were 17, not kids anymore, it’d be weird for him to pop in one day and demand for you to explain yourself to him. Banri wasn’t delusional, he knew you didn’t owe him an explanation.

Izumi noticed the uncertainty and hesitation in him, how something or someone was bothering him. It was soon after that his discomfort was known to the rest of the company and they grew confused and concerned— some more worried than others. It was her who ended up confronting Banri, she had to convince the dyed blond to not threaten the young boy with behavior and discipline.

Even through his short answers and cold stare it didn’t take the brunette long to understand what was bothering him.

“So, you like your best friend?” Izumi’s pink eyes were tinted with understanding and pity as she looked at the young boy.

However, Banri was too prideful to answer, instead opting to roll his eyes in acknowledgment.

“Well, why don’t you say something about it?”

“[Name] doesn’t owe me an explanation,” he muttered, he had thought about it but really— he was also afraid; if you were dating that boy then it meant his feelings were one sided and he could ruin your trust, make you feel like you had a babysitter or a possessive friend, and accidentally reveal the feelings he had only recently begun to acknowledge.

“I guess you’re right, but you owe yourself closure,” Izumi states straight into his eyes, “Just try talking to them about it.”

“Hmph…”

He stared at your contact name for a while before pressing it that night, he spent at least 14 minutes typing and re-typing what he wanted to send, never before had he been so self conscious when talking to you.

As he laid buried within his covers, only the soft light of his phone shining, he realized how important you were to him; he couldn’t fuck up.

‘Hey, our next performance is next week wanna come??????’

Once he had settled for a text and was ready to press send he heard a deep, and extremely annoying, voice coming from beside him.

“Delete some question marks, it makes you look desperate.”

“Fuckin’- were you reading my texts?” Banri barked at the golden eyed boy, what was that creep doing getting into his conversation with you?

“Kinda hard not to when you’ve got your ringer on, this isn’t a coming of age movie turn that shit off, iss’ annoying.” Juza grumbled before shoving his head between his pillows and Banri swore the small wooden panel separating both of their beds was suddenly asking to be used as a murder weapon.

“Fuck off, Hyodo.”

‘Hey, our next performance is next week wanna come over??’

“You are gonna give them their tickets, right?”

“Of course I am, I ain’t some sort of asshole!” Settsu could swear every time Juza opened his mouth he lost 10 years of his lifespan.

“Ya’ sure about that?”

“Say it to my fuckin’ face, eh?”

‘Hey, I got some tickets for our next performance if you wanna come??’

“Is that better, dick head?” Banri shoved his phone at the purple haired boy causing him to swat his hand away.

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Whatever-? You know what, choke on my dick.”

“Come on, I’ve sucked candy bigger than your dick, Settsu, I ain’t chokin’ on a pickle.”

He was surprised that you answered so quickly a short and simple ”Oh my god!!! Yes!!” that had sent his heart into super sonic speed. He guessed that, if Izumi was right and he did like you, that it made sense- and if he had to be honest, really had to be, you could say he didn’t mind the way his heart fluttered around his chest.

‘Come over early and I’ll give them to you’

“And they say chivalry is dead.” Juza grumbled into his pillow, earning a smack from Banri.

A week later and you were standing in front of the Mankai dorm waiting for him, you had to admit that- although sudden, the invite did make you quite happy, even if you both didn’t talk as often you still cared deeply about him.

While you stood outside waiting, however, inside the dorm Banri was getting one final pep talk from Izumi before he asked you out- or tried to at least.

“I get it! Izumi, stop nagging already,” blue eyes rolled as the older woman went over the plan.

“I am not nagging, Settsu! I am simply making sure you don’t screw up!” She shrieked, she was this close to setting you up with Juza out of spite.

“Look, I’m fine,” he assured her, “I’ll just tell ‘em how I feel and if they say yes then good and if they say no then whatever- it’s not like we won’t talk if I’m rejected.” Right?

“Hey, Neo delinquent, you shouldn’t leave your date waiting,” Yuki grumbled as he nodded over to the door, “Poor thing’s been there for half an hour, let it in already.”

“Yuki! Don’t talk about [Name] like they’re a dog!” Izumi scolds the middle schooler.

“Whatever, just worried they’re gonna catch a cold.” He shrugs before leaving the room, if you ended up sick you’d only have those two to blame.

“Okay, now go- go!” Izumi pushed the tall boy before running off to hide behind the wall, just in case.

Banri takes note of his sweaty hands and scolds himself; keep it together. He shakes his head and opens the door to find you waiting for him.

In the second it took you to process the opened door, Banri felt himself fall in love with you. After not seeing each other in person since the start of the new semester, it dawned on him how much he yearned to be with you.

“Banri, I missed you!” You throw your arms around your friend, you were excited— it had been weeks since you’d last seen him and you missed him, even if you two didn’t talk as much there was never a day you didn’t think of him in some way.

“[Name],” he ruffled your hair, his eyes softening as he looked at you, “I missed you too.”

“I’m so excited,” you pulled away from him, looking him straight in the eyes, “I was so worried I wouldn’t get tickets, I really wanted to see you act again!”

“Tch, ain’t you a fan?” He teases you, making way for you to come inside the dorms and you gladly do. It had been months since you last came, but it still looked and felt the same; he felt and looked the same, he looked smarter though, more mature and put together.

“You’re talking as if I wouldn’t come see my best friend.” You smile up at him and he feels his heart clench in his chest at your words.

As he leads you to the living room he wonders if he should actually tell you— unlike most things in his life, you were always there, no matter what he was doing you’d always stuck around him. Ever since you were young, Banri can’t remember a time where you weren’t there and, honestly, he didn’t want to.

His silence catches your attention and you decide to speak up; “So, how have things been?”

“Ah, good, they’ve been good,” he coughs, he felt stupid getting nervous over this- he should just get it out as fast as possible, “and you?”

“Things ‘ve been well, kinda weird without you around.” You admit awkwardly as you sit down on the couch.

He nods, a smile gracing his lips as he thinks about how to lead the conversation where he needs it to be. He remembers Izumi’s words and advice, he deserved closure and, maybe it was selfish of him but, he wanted a relationship with you too. He really, really wanted a relationship with you.

“[Name]?” He speaks out, his voice wavering slightly and if he could he’d beat himself up for it. Hearing the uncertainty behind his words you almost shoot up from your seat in worry.

“Yeah?”

“I- I know it’s sudden and,” he takes a deep breath, “it’s gonna sound weird but I, uh- realized somethin’.”

You nod confused, you were listening to him and you wanted him to continue; that’s the moment he realized he’d need to fold whatever pride he had left and throw it in the air if he wanted to know the truth.

“It’s very weird and if it makes you uncomfortable it’s okay! It’s just, I've heard about you goin’ out with someone and I wanted to know if-?”

“Oh! You mean Rin, right? No, don’t worry, he’s dating someone; we’re just friends!” You laugh as you explain.

“Oh, good.” Even with his, albeit limited compared to other members, acting experience he couldn’t quite hide the relief that washed over his face and body at the revelation.

“Why do you wanna know? Worried you’re gonna lose me?” You tease but the words he uttered next made you do a double take his way.

“Yeah, actually- funny you’d say that.” He sighs before looking around the room, “I didn’t invite you just for the tickets, [Name], I-I wanted to tell you something… I like you.”

You feel the blood rushing to your ears and spread through your cheeks, you were sure you were practically heating up the room just from your blushing alone.

“You like me?” You ask him, you were extremely flattered and the thought that a guy like Banri liked you was nice. You liked him, you’ve liked him for a pretty long time but were too afraid to say anything so for him to, after so many years, tell you he liked you was straight out of a shojo manga.

“Yeah, it’s okay if you feel weird, I just wanted to say it, ya’ know?” He avoids your eyes and you quickly piece together the rest. He’d been acting weird, all shy and nervous, his texts were kinda dry, and even when you did meet in the hallway he had been acting off… was it all because he liked you?

“Banri, I- wow, me too,” you stutter, fidgeting with your fingers slightly at his confused face, “I kinda like you too.”

“Ya’ do?” It was his turn to jump from his seat at your words, his heart knocking against his chest as if it were about to explode from the override of emotions he was feeling at your words.

“Yeah, it’s embarrassing,” you laugh, “but I’ve liked you for some time now, I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”

His signature cocky smile is back on his face as soon as you say it and you wish you could take it back so he wouldn’t tease you, but would it really be Banri if he didn’t make fun of you even just a little bit.

“Shoulda’ known, no one can resist me.” He plopped himself next to you and you shove him slightly.

“Yeah, no one can resist you and your bowl cut.”

“You said it looked good!” He glares at you but you know he isn’t angry at all.

“Yeah when we were like 10?” You ruffle his hair, the soft strands gliding through your fingers and Banri is sure that if he had a tail it’d be wagging.

“Ya? Well why d’ya like me if I got a stupid bowl cut?” He grabs your hand and levels himself to look you in the eyes.

“Because you’re smart,” you lean closer and peck his lips, “and cute, even with that shitty hair.”

“You can’t insult me and compliment me like that! You're gonna give me whiplash, geez.” His eyes widen at your actions and he blushes a deep pink, and you do your best to memorize that look knowing it was rare.

“Ew, the NEO delinquent is flirting on our couch,” you both hear a whine from behind you two and you jump startled, “Now we’ve gotta clean it up.”

“We’d appreciate it if you kept the PDA minimal with the kids here, Settsu.” Sakyo glares at the young man, you could almost miss the soft smile as he watched his leader finally look like himself again.

“So, [Name], you two dating or what?” Izumi pokes her head out of her hiding spot, going straight to the point.

“Please, he probably didn’t even give ‘em the tickets.” Juza makes his way through the small crowd and into the kitchen area.

“Yes I did-“

“No you did not.” You correct him, causing the actor to blush even redder at your words.

“Told ya’.”

“Cut it off you guys!” The director scolded everyone in the room, too excited at the newly formed couple to care about much else, “Are you two dating?”

“I think we are.” You look at Banri who looked back at you, his scowling face softening until a smile broke out.

“We are.” He confirms, giving you a kiss on the cheeks with a smile and you feel light on your feet with excitement.

“I should start a match-making agency or something.” Izumi giggles at her comment, proud to finally have helped the young boy.

“With your dating life? Please.” Sakyo laughs at the younger woman.

#—🎀 a3! #a3! #a3 #act addict actors #a3 x reader #a3 banri #banri #a3 banri x reader #banri settsu #banri settsu x reader #banri x reader #—✒️ sora’s scripts #—📨 request #—💌 mysterious messenger!

[felicia-cat-hardy]

Max Minghella On 'The Handmaid's Tale,' His Dad, Romance, &amp; 'Spiral'

Max Minghella is sitting in his backyard in the LA sunshine, his t-shirt an homage to the French filmmaker Mia Hansen-Løve, his adopted shepherd mix, Rhye, excited by the approach of a package courier.

“You okay, sweetheart?” he asks — the dog, not me — tenderly.

Minghella, who at 35 has dozens of screen credits to his name, is best known as The Handmaid’s Tale’s cunning chauffeur Nick Blaine, a character who it’s difficult to imagine saying sweetheart. In airless Gilead, of course, a cautious hand graze with Elisabeth Moss’ June can pass for a big romantic gesture. In a Season 1 episode featuring child separation and hospital infant abduction, Nick’s major contribution is to trade stolen glances with a sex slave while “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” pumps discordantly along. I ask Minghella about playing the series’ closest approximation to a dreamy male lead against the show’s dark narrative of female subjugation.

“I know this is not the answer you want to hear,” Minghella says with none of Nick’s hesitation. “But I like that stuff, right? In the pilot, I think Nick only had a handful of lines. It wasn't clear that this is what the character would turn into. And it's quite fortunate for me personally, because I'm not a massively sort of intellectual person in my real life. I love Fifty Shades of Grey. That's like my Star Wars. It suits me to play a character like him.”

Minghella surmises that this enduring romanticism is an outcome of nurture. His father, the late British director Anthony Minghella, made grand romantic dramas like Cold Mountain and The English Patient. And there was the young, cinema-mad Max sitting on the living room sofa, absorbing everything. “It’s taken me a long time to understand this,” he says of his prolonged childhood exposure to love stories. “My dad made The English Patient when I was 10. So it was two years of watching the dailies to that movie and then watching 50 cuts of it. And then [The Talented Mr.] Ripley he made when I was 13, and it was the same thing.” These were an adolescent Max Minghella’s alternative to reruns. “I think they did shape my perspective on the world in a lot of ways, specifically The English Patient. That was a complicated love story, and I wonder sometimes how much it's affected my psychology.”

Some sons rebel; others resemble. Minghella’s co-star O-T Fagbenle, who plays June’s other lover from before the time of Gilead, got his first job acting in Anthony Minghella’s romantic crime film Breaking and Entering. “Anthony is one the kindest, most beautiful men that I've ever had the privilege of working with before,” Fagbenle says. “And Max has his gorgeous, sensitive, open-minded soul.”

Though Minghella spent his childhood on the set of The Talented Mr. Ripley, playing an uncredited Confederate soldier role in Cold Mountain, and tooling around with a Super-8 camera Matt Damon gave him, he insists his upbringing was normal. He grew up in South Hill Park overlooking Hampstead Heath in London with his father and mother, the choreographer Carolyn Choa. (Minghella also has a half-sister, Hannah Minghella, who is now a film executive.) Yes, technically, it was London, but that’s not how it seemed. “I feel like I grew up in a very small town. Every school I went to was in Hampstead. I was born in Hampstead,” Minghella says of the small map dot of his life before university. “When I went to New York, I felt I was going to the big city.”

Despite his illustrious surname, movie-watching was far from restricted to the classics. “Beverly Hills Cop is definitely the movie I remember having an unhealthy obsession with. I think I saw it when I was 5 for the first time, and I'd watch it just two or three times a day for years. I'm just obsessed with it.”

Plenty of actors can trace their love of movies back to a love of stories, but for Minghella the relationship seems to flow in reverse. When he left for Columbia University, Minghella opted to study history for its connection, through storytelling, to film. It was during the summers between his years of college that he started taking acting more seriously. Before his graduation, he’d already appeared in Syriana, starring Damon and George Clooney. Soon, he’d make a splash as Divya Narendra in The Social Network in 2010 and be cast in Clooney’s Ides of March. As all young actors eventually must, Minghella moved to Los Angeles.

It’s been over a decade since he last lived on the Heath, but, perhaps unusually for a person who’s chosen his profession, Minghella is adamantly not a “shapeshifter,” in his words. Home for Christmas this year, he started sifting through old journals stored at his mother’s house, “just like scraps of writing from when I was extremely young up through my teenage years,” before coming to America. “It was hilarious to me,” Minghella says of staring at his childhood reflection. “My review of a movie at 7 years old is pretty much what my review of a movie at 35 will be. My taste hasn't changed much. And when I sort of love something, I do tend to continue to love it.”

Which brings us back to his enduring love of romance, born of his bloodline, which is all over Minghella’s own 2018 directorial debut. Teen Spirit is a hazily lit film about a teenage girl from the Isle of Wight — the remote British island where Max’s father Anthony was born — who enters a local X-Factor-style singing competition. (It stars Minghella’s rumored girlfriend of several years, Elle Fanning.) The story is small, but its crescendos are epic.

Minghella calls the movie — an ode to the power of the pop anthem — “embarrassingly Max.” Max loves a good music-driven movie trailer — he’s watched the one for Top Gun: Maverick “many” times. And Max loves the rhythmic beats of sports movies like Friday Night Lights. Max loves movies with excesses of female energy, like Spring Breakers. He likens Teen Spirit to an experiment, his answer to the question, “Can I take all these things that I love and find a structure that can hold them?” The result is a touching “hodgepodge” of Minghella’s fascinations, inspired by the songs from another thing he loves: Robyn’s 2010 album Body Talk (itself a dance-pop meditation on love).

Minghella hasn’t directed any films since, but he sees now how making movies fits his personality — organized, impatient — more organically than starring in them does. Directing also helped him to appreciate that acting is “much harder than I was giving it credit for,” which, in turn, has made him like it more. Besides The Handmaid’s Tale currently airing on Hulu, Minghella appears in Spiral, the ninth installment in the Saw horror franchise and, from where I’m sitting, at least, a departure.

“I do like horror movies, but the thing that was really kind of magical is that I was feeling so nostalgic, right? We talked about Beverly Hills Cop earlier. I was just missing a certain kind of movie,” Minghella explains of his new role as Chris Rock’s detective partner. He was yearning for simple story-telling, like in the buddy cop movies of his youth, especially 48 Hours. It almost goes without saying that a buddy cop movie is another kind of love story. “And then I read the script and it was very much in that vein.” He clarifies: “I mean, it's also extremely Saw. It's very much a horror movie.”

His renewed excitement for acting translated onto The Handmaid’s Tale set, too. Veteran Hollywood producer Warren Littlefield describes casting Minghella in the role of Nick as an effortless choice: “Sometimes you agonize over things. [Casting Minghella] was instantly clear to me, and everyone agreed.” Now in its fourth season, the tone of the Hulu hit is graver than ever. Gilead is more desperate to maintain its rule, and so more audacious in its violence. Perhaps it’s fitting that the show’s romantic gestures finally match that scale.

In one particularly soaring moment, Elisabeth Moss’ June and Minghella’s Nick meet at the center of a bridge and crush into a long kiss. It’s been two seasons since they held their newborn daughter together, and it’s hard to see how this isn’t their last goodbye. Littlefield, like Minghella, is here for the romance among the rubble. “It's spectacular when they come together. In the middle of all of the trauma is this epic love story,” he says. “Max is just magnificent in the role.”

For Minghella, the satisfaction is more personal. He works with good people, he likes his scenes, and he thinks Nick is a complex character. Minghella read The Handmaid’s Tale for the first time in college in 2005. Like all the things Minghella has ever liked, he still likes it. He’s as proud of this most recent season as he is the show’s first. And he watched Nick and June race recklessly back to each other across the expanse of the screen exactly how you might expect. “I watched it like a fan girl.”

Get Relationship Advice Here

[kanene-yaaay]

It started when...

Kanene’s note: Aaaa, okay! This little guy here give me some trouble and I had to re-write it some times but I really liked the ideia, so my butter heart didn’t let me to dig it in some deep archive of my computer, soooo…

Here he is!! Is a boy fluff! xDD

Well, at first it was suppose to be a OC fanfic, but then I felt some urge to made a Logan liking tickling and I think I didn't captured his personality very well xD. However, I really loved the result! Hope you enjoy this as well!!!

Warnings, fun facts, random things and stuff:

* This characters don’t belongs to me! They all belongs to Thomas Sanders! Yaaay!

* This is a SFW Tickle-fic, so, if you don’t appreciate this kind of content, please, look for another arts. There are a lot of wonderful arts in this site!!  ^w^)b

* Something around 4000 words. -w-)b.

* Sorry for any spelling, pontuation and grammar mistakes! Any and every advice is very very welcome! \(-w-)/

* This idea, like most of the good ideas came from NOWHERE! It’s pretty funny to write, tho. Hope you all enjoy it!

* Portuguese Version coming soon!! Thankys for reading, my lollipops! Have a incredible week!  Byeioo!~

                      [~*~]

‘If you could create your own Tickle World. How it that would be?’

(~.~)

For Roman it started when Logan stopped going to his room to talk about new video ideas and their developments. Not that it was an obligation of the said (in truth, sometimes it was very frustrating and tiring), but it had become part of the creative guardian routine, almost a bonding moment between both.

Most of time it was good and the royal side found himself waiting for this weekly moments that for some unknown reason  simply ceased from existion. They diminished little by little until  became so sporadic that Roman took the responsibility into his own hands and now made a point of visit the other when he missed these meetings or just had a random idea and felt the necessity to share it, even if it was undeveloped.

He never addressed this fact to Logan, simply for the lack of some subject that connected or lead to that or for being too distracted debating the good and improving points in the script, where they could be changed and the trails that it would be leading. Because of this he just remembered to bring up the conversation when he already was out of the other’s room, don’t find much motivation to return and broke the pleasant conversation they both had, for the most of time at least, for a subject of which Roman didn’t even knew to what territory it would lead.

For that reason, the subject on matter was left aside.

For Patton, the things initiated a little earlier, perhaps at the very beginning of everything. Just at that period when the one who wears tie moved his balcony chair for a point further away and hidden from the front window.

Those moments when the evening reading in the living room were shifted to the went to his bedroom from where he didn’t came back so early, and, when he did it was only for a short amount of time or somewhere a little farther from the couch itself. Patton lost the count on so many times Virgil had to hiss, like an adorable and cute dark kitty- Okay, focus! Focus!!- until Logan transfers himself to other place or furniture.

The guardian of morality couldn’t help himself in feeling… a bit worried with the behavior change, however, every time he thought in mention it he noticed the extremely rare and calm smile opened so naturally in Logan’s face as he stared something in his phone.

For this reason, for him, the subject on matter was half left aside.

For Virgil, realizing the change on the routine and natural order of the house was absolutely common, small changes happened with small new activities, and the curious aspect definitely was someone who always sought to explore the newest types of knowledge and, due this, for him the things just really began when this change on the routine became… well… routine.

The brain of one on hoodie didn’t waited too much before starting to have the most miscellaneous theories as answers to the not-so-sudden but equally strange change. The hypothesis varied according to his humor, going from it all being Deceit faking being Logan (refuted since both already had been seemed together fighting for the last cup of coffee) to everything being his fault because of his adaptation by the Light Sides, which was the favorite one of that voice in the deep of his mind.

Nevertheless, between all of them, just one hypothesis proved itself as the truth. It was proven on a cold day, the reason why everyone was locked in their room enjoying the warmth from their own beds.

Everyone but Virgil, who already had an almost natural protection (he already accepted the hoodie as part of his own body, it doesn’t matter what the society says.) and calmly headed for the television looking forward to re-watch some movies seeking the references that the last conspiracy theory video he saw said to exist, when his gaze met the shape layed on the couch dropping bubbling giggles.

Logan. Bubbling giggles.

These was for sure two things which didn’t seemed nestable at all, but wow, formed a pretty picture.

So that was it. Logan has an obscure secret. An obscure secret that made him lightly, happily giggle.

(Blackmail, maybe?)

The anxiety’s representation cursed the logic side for being always so respectful about his personal space, his thoughts opinions, desires and almost everything that involved Virgil feeling comfortable, supported and calm around them; because this fact just pushed away any and every evil will to sneaky behind Logan and finally cease once and for all his curiosity.

Consciousness. For that reason, he had to leave the subject on matter aside. But not completely, oh no, never completely.

(~.~)

Logan felt restless. He tapped the fabric of his pants lightly and observed all the landscape, trying to focus on its details and analyze them, seeking for distract his brain off the story he had read the last night, however his mind was always an indomitable spirit when it was referring to this subject. He spent the entire morning thinking, visualizing it, and before he could have a minute for researching about the stars and finally focusing in something else Roman called everyone to discuss in his room about the new scenario that would be used for the special video, which it showed as a proposal practically irrefutable to Logan, who put his obligations above almost every other thing.

- I let the room as a white canvas for we paint it at our desire! - The nomination maybe have been a little too literal, although it didn’t captured the whole essence of the albino forest surrounding the quarter. -   Sure I will be the first who- PANDA COSPLAY, IF YOU PUT ‘WELCOME TO THE BLACK PARADE’ ONE MORE TIME, I SWEAR FOR THE HOLY SWOR-

Logan rolled his eyes for the duo fight, and when his glaze dropped all his body froze, electric goose bumps ran down every inch of his skin, his eyes slightly widening, tense muscles.

The grass around him was beginning to transform, to color itself. From where his feet touched green spirals started to very calmly unfold, as if unaware about its surrounding, including the fright of its ‘creator’.

But, since nothing in life is easy, of course it was not only in color that the grass was being transfigured, but also in shape. The centimeters around his shoes were no longer grass, and yes small green, and as it seemed, extremely soft feathers.

Logan felt blush, nevertheless, more than blush he felt scared… No, ‘scared.’ wasn’t the correct word.

Apprehensive. He felt apprehensive

The rationality’s representation glanced at the others, who fortunately wasn’t paying any attention to him.

He stepped back. The color and feathers followed him, each footprint leaving the place more modificated and colorful. Logan felt his mouth dry. That was a bad idea. An awful idea. He wasn’t supposed to feel that way, wasn’t supposed to have this kind of thoughts. He was the logic, rational, serious, trustworthy, fact-based, not shaken up by feelings side.

Apprehensive. Anxious.

Virgil turned around, letting Roman and Patton chat a little about the scenario to discuss a few option with Logan, since he probably would already have some analysis about the place and more tangibles ideas whic-

His eyes widen.

“Coming here was a mistake. I need to do something. I should…. I should….”

- Logan. Logan. Hey, hey, hey. - He lifted up his glare, allowing himself to look as vulnerable as he felt. Virgil moved closer, their eyes met. - It’s alright. Everything is alright. - His voice was in a slowly, velvety, paused tune. Logan’s muscles slightly relaxed. - There are no problem, ok? It’s alright. We are here. It is we, and we are here at your side.

The one who wears a tie nodded, closing his eyes for a moment and bringing up Thomas’ memories from when he was anxious. He taken a deep breath, always a deep breath.

Breathe in. Hold it for seven seconds.

One…

- Everything is alright.

Yes. It was. It was they and everything was alright.

Virgil finally looked down, seeing what was source of concern for the rational side. The green color began to grow more vivid, more palpable as the spirals increased and expanded, getting bigger and bigger until the divisores lines mingled and they form a only one greenish circle.

Two…

Keep your eyes closed. It is more easier to control myself when my eyes are closed. Focus on the breathing. Focus on the dark. There is nothing to be afraid of.

The movements were bold, precise and calculated. Almost mesmerizing. Now little white particles loosened from the circle that resembled the grass. These particles fluttered in the air for a few moments before starting to stretch and took… a softer, fluffier, delicate shape.

Three…

There is nothing to be afraid of.

Wait. Is those feathers?

Four…

It is they. It is they. It is they. There is no problem because it is they.

A pleasant cold wind became, as if it brought distant news of a coming rain. It was so nostalgic that automatically all the muscles off his body loosen and the sound of small raindrops hitting the treetops became present, even if there was no visible cloud.

Five…

They are family. And respect me, so it is alright. Everything is under my control.

The wind made all the feathers move faster and faster, spiraling around Logan and his concentrated countenance. It was like a little private swirl.

And it spined, it spined, it spined and spined spined spined spined.

Six…

And he could be the aspect responsible for the rationality, knowledge and logic for certain, however it didn’t prevented him to be something more, or to appreciate what he appreciated. It was ok.

It always was.

Patton and Roman’s voices stopped to echo across the room, their gazes finally meeting the peculiar scene unfolding in front of their eyes. They both turned, the attention completely captured.

Seven.

- Logan?

The logic side opened his eyes.

Breathe out.

The swirl exploded consuming everything in a matter of few seconds. Nobody could hear nothing and even less utter some other word. They assumed a defensive pose, arms in front of their eyes and legs tensed ready to run away from any danger; until they realized that wasn’t any real danger. The feather didn’t even touched much their skin, feeling more as a stroke than any other thing.

The sensation ceased. The weather seemed different, colder, lighter, cozier.

And, when they were sure that everything really stopped, that there would be no further transformation, everyone opened his eyes, their breath catching for an instant, as if afraid to spoil the art-  no! Even better… the world around them.

Through all the space white feathers graciously floated to the ground, as little drops of paint in a emerald green that covered the whole grass, which stirred with the calm breeze that hitted it and and lead to green feathers also been released from the said and fly for few seconds before coming back to their original places. Not that it was always possible, since some usually  ended up trapping themselves in the greyish trunks of leafy trees painted in colors that went from pastel to vivids, flashy shades. Small vines decayed from the branches.

Roman stepped forward, curiously touching a pastel one, which wrapped around his wrist, soft as a blanked, each touch leading to electric shivers that made an involuntary smile groom in his face.

The trees were neither too tall nor too high, fact that allowed the cloudy sky been easy seem, not as an anticipation for a storm, but as if it was predicting an pleasant weather either to go out for a wandering or to stay home under the covers catching up on your favorite series. Virgil heard something else, however, he didn’t needed to focus too much before listen the velvety voices came audibles, as if they were brought by the pleasant-scented breeze.

“You are wonderful.”

“Does it tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle?~”

“I’m so proud of you.”

“Oh, it seems like someone is a bit ticklish.~”

“Thank you for all your effort.”

“I didn’t even did nothing and already became a blushy mess! Coothie coothie coo!”

“You did a good job.”

“The tickle monster is gonna getcha, getcha, getcha!”

- No! - Logan’s protests snapped everyone out of their trance, causing their eyes quickly find him, who had tripped and now attempted to get away from two floating gloves that mischievously wiggled their fingers in his direction. The huge smile on his face was almost as noticeable in his tune, whose its owner didn’t had any really warm on trying to escape. - Don’t  you dare to approach an infinitesimal cent-ack!! Nohohohohohohohohohohoho!

All the words went in vain, transfiguration  themselves in laugh when the two gloves ignored his warnings and attacked his ribs. Logan let himself lay on the grass, little snorts flying from his mouth as the said struggled to hold back his laughter, but nothing compared to the volume of the squeal that came from Patton’s lips as he processed the scene unfolded. He excitedly bitted his knuckles, don’t waiting a half second before running to the other.

- Logan!! I can’t belive you like tickling!!!

- Ohohohohohohohohohoho nahahahahahHAHAHAHAAHAaha!! - Their fingers started to focus in his hips, reason why the loud squeaks and more uncontrollable giggles leaved his mouth, but the logic aspect used all his willpower to cover his face with his hands, rolling to the opposite side in order to not being able to see the expression which the cat lover gives to him. Part of him relieved for don’t need to hide nothing anymore and part still very apprehensive with what all of this would result.

- Uh huh, sir! - Patton playfully complained, a grin spreading across his face as he sat at Logan’s side, his hands quickly, and very skillfully, meeting his armpits. Logan shrieked before get lost in a laughing sea, removing his hands from his face in a attempt to stop the new pair which tickled him. His face was completely red, the smile almost brighten the room for its light for being so big, his nose wrinkled and little dimples starting to been present. Patton felt his gaze shine, also laughing. - No hiding that wonderfully cute face of yours, mister! I can’t believe that you didn’t told us sooner, Lo-lo! 

- We can all agreed that this is… how would you say it…? - Virgil showed up, discovering to be an impossible mission not smile at the scene. The melodious giggles, yelps and squealing from both sides filled the air. - undeniably adorable.

Unable to explain why, Logan’s laugh increased, his legs squirming when the dad’s quarter got bored from his armpits and now went for his tummy, scratching, poking, squeezing and making his fingers dance through all its extension, which would surely made the mind’s representation curl in a defensive ball, if it wouldn’t the gloves changing its tickles to his thighs, each knead leading to a different squeal.

A thought crossed the one on hoodie’s brain. His smile faded.

- Hey, Patton. - His voice was more serious, a little fearful. - Wait, wait, wait! - He holded his shoulder, slightly pulling him back and making the paternal one reluctantly stop his ‘attack’, staring Virgil with that ‘lost puppy’ eyes, with a Logan behind thanking silently, or as quietly as possible when laughter and snorts unintentionally kept escaping from his lips due two fingers that teasingly scratch the underside of his knees, taking a few sips of air.

- Kiddo, I know you also wanna have some fun, but you need to be patient and wait your turn! -Virgil felt his entire face on fire, especially as Logan turned, apparently interested in the conversation.

- That isn’t it! - Patton couldn’t help but grin with the defensive tune the other used. Virgil frowned and rolled his eyes, his hands gesticulating all over the room. - This situation… It’s too much to show at once. Logan can be feeling vulnerable, maybe even uncomfortable to being exposed like this.

Both turned to the said, worried, alarmed looks. Logan opened his lips, only for a little squeak jump when the gloves started to squeeze and knead his kneecaps, his wobbly arms tried to remove them, but in vain.

- He need a little break… Roman! - The guardian of anxiety drew the other’s attention, who had to break free of some vines before joining the group, his hair a little messed up and with a breathless smile.

- Oh, why do you call , stormACK!! - The prince’s phrase was interrupted when the purple lover grabbed the gloves and tossed them on him, who even tried to fight against the saids, however ended subdued by skills when they found way to his feet. - VIRHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIGIL!! NOhohohohohohOHOHOHOHO!

- Sorrey, dude. - Virgil smirked receiving a sharp, but without any anger in it, glare from the aspect of creativity. It was pretty hard take him serious when the said was squirming and happily laughing, tough.

- Uhuhu. You are evil. - Patton also excitedly smiled, before the duo remembered the previous topic of conversation and turned round to the logic side.

Logan was already sitting, adjusting his glasses and tie, his face still had remnants of the blush so as the smile. Everything got quite quiet, apart from Roman, who still laughing with the tickles. Maybe it was that laugh that gave Logan a bit more bravery to lift his gaze, clean his throat and stare the two side who observed him full of cautelous.

- A-about the previous question, Virgil. - For a moment he wished that the voices stopped their teasing, being promptly answered. Thank you. - I appreciate your concern and the free of judgment reaction of everyone, nevertheless. - “The vulnerability, no, the intimacy doesn’t bother me for the only main fact that it is you all, and I know that I’m more protect in your hands than any other on this vast universe.” - N-no hassle. - At least he could remind and utter something from his lift cards, since his brain didn’t seemed to much helpful on this moment. His face was gonna to melt, he was sure of it. - The sensation of vulnerability just would bother me if the fear of rejection was still present or our intimacy wasn’t yet strong. - Looked away. - The latter situation clearly isn’t the case and the first one… There is no reason to be afraid of. - And shut himself.

- Oh, Lo-lo, you are so silly… - Patton knelt down in front of him, staring in such a tender and affectionate way that for a moment Logan really realized how his fear was irrational. - There is no problem in like tickling. - The smile of the paternal figure increased when notice Logan squirm and lightly blush as heard the word.

- We would never criticize you for something like that. - Virgil didn’t knelt down, but the meaning on between his lines already demonstrate enough. -  Liking is liking. If it’s nothing hurting anyone… - Then shrugged.

- In fact is making good! Now we know what to do to hear your fabulous laugh! - The representation of morality evil smirked, wiggling his fingers, which made Logan instinctively stepped away, seeking help on Virgil, who seemed a bit surprise by his action, but he grinned, grabbing one of the flying feathers and twirling this between his fingers.

Logan stepped some more centimeters away as precaution, little giggles beginning to form between his lips.

- Without to mention that he seems to having so much fun! - Patton pointed to Roman, everyone turning to observe the scene where the aspect of hope and dreams still laughing with the gloves’ attack, which apparently found themselves in the mission of create the most bubbling and snorts almost at the same time by scribbling white feathers on his neck.

- Don’t we should help him?

- Do not worry. - Logan adjusted his glasses, voice stuffed with a slightly playfulness. - I programed the gloves to feel when you want more tickles or not. As long Roman don’t wish anymore tickle there wouldn’t be any of it. All of this ‘world’ works as this.

- I have to admit I’m a bit jealous. - Patton absently commented, taking one of the feather falling in circle moviments to the ground. The creator felt his eyes gloom, an absurd urge to smile taking over his body.

- Is that so, Patton? Well, allow me to help you with this impasse. - and before anything could be answered Logan hugged him from behind, digging his fingers on his tummy and leading belly laughter to explode from the cat lover, who started to squirm almost instantality. 

- THAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAT WanS’T WHAHAHahahahahAHAHAT I meAN! LOHOHOHOHohohohohohohohohohohoHOHOHOHO! - His laughter were totally filled with high pitched squeals and screams almost as adorable as his personality.

- Oh, but after your attack I believe that is my right to seek revenge. - His whispered words tickled the shell of the other’s ear, who immediately attempted to hide the ticklish spot in his shoulder, receiving a raspberry in the vulnerable side of his neck. - How kind of you to show that delicate point of yours so I can tickles, tickles, tickles, Patton. Very considerate of you.

- NahahahahahahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHahahahahaha!!! - He stopped to struggle, just lightly squirming and letting himself to be carried away on this moment of playfulness and affection from the other, the teasing painting a strong blush on his cheeks and small droplets started to accumulate in the corner of his eyes. Virgil snorted.

- Don’t think that I forgot you, Virgil. - Logan only glanced the one on hoodie, but that alone was already enough to release cold shivers down his spine, smile starting to rise in his face. Even when the logic side came back to give attention on the victim on his claws his Fight or Flight instincts didn’t stopped to kick in.

Something velvety wrapped around his waist.

- NO! Wait!!! - Virgil tried to dislodge the vine that involved him, turning around on time to see other in light colors happily coming towards him. - I didn’t even did nothing! Let me g-

- Precisely, dear Virgil. You have allowed me to be attacked without lifting a single finger, and I believe that  judicially, this can be termed ‘complicity’. - The soft vines began to curl up around all his body, vibrating as they purred. Virgil closed his eyes and pursed his lips tightly, putting effort for any giggle came out of his mouth. Logan’s expression softened a little. - Do not worry, the pastel ones are responsible for light tickles. - When one found its way to that sweet spot beneath his shoulder blades and camped there the barrier broke, a flow of giggles, snorts, and low yelps flyed from his mouth. Virgil’s legs failed in keep him up and for that reason he ended up being carried, having the sensation that he floated in pure light, soft and unbearable tickles. The smile on his face wasn’t huge, but seemed able to light all the space with its cuteness.

And, for Logan, it was in this exact moment, when the carefree laughter walked and danced through all the room that he spent hours and hours imaginating, that everything started…

… to get really interesting.

#Sanders Sides #I'll tag everything later aaa #Now is later so... #Tickle #Tickle world #Lee!Logan #a bit of #Ler!Patton #Lee!Patton #Lee!Virgil #Lee!Roman #but not very much #Fluff #Aaaaa I need this world xD #Roman got a little envy with Logan's creation but he ended up forgetting about that when started to explore it. #Logan is a little bit anxious cinnamon roll because human are complicated to deal #Patton's heart melted in some point xD #Poor Virgil just was enjoying the show and now he is a part of it :D! #<3 #KaneneArt #KaneneFic #English #Sanders Sides Tickle #Tickle fic

[ajoy3fanfics]

Missing PT XIII

‘You need to let him go’

That’s what Sango had told her; If she had been honest with any of her other friends, she was sure that would have been their advice too. What on Earth was she doing, hanging around an ex, the very one who shattered her heart and didn’t think twice? When he left her, he didn’t call, didn’t try to rectify his wrongs. He moved on, never looking back at the damage.

But then there he was, showing up at her doorstep, begging for a moment of her time. Just when she thought she could move on from him, he came bursting into her life, shining his attention on her and making her feel starved without it.

She shouldn’t feel that way! They were over! O-V-E-R. She had to keep reminding herself of that; He was sick, his love was sick, and all of it was just temporary.

It became a mantra; ‘he doesn’t love me, he doesn’t love me, he doesn’t love me’. Somehow, Kagome thought that if she kept repeating it, it would make it feel less real. Yet no matter how many times she mulled it over in her head, it was hard to turn away from the man she loved.

Loves?

Loved.

Her phoned vibrated and she thanked God for the distraction. Any more time spent thinking on the hanyou would lead her down a rabbit hole she didn’t dare to follow.

‘Up for a movie?’ Koga, of course. Kind and sweeter than she deserved.

She should reply quickly; it wasn’t good to leave him on read. She didn’t feel much like going out, or seeing even him for that matter. Before, she looked forward to their dates, to getting out of the house and spending time with him. Their last meeting left a heavyweight in the pit of her stomach that took days to shake. Not that he had done anything wrong- the complete opposite, really. He wanted more, wanted her and she didn’t exactly know how she felt. They were not exclusive, although she knew the wolf demon was not seeing anyone else; it put a pressure on her she wasn’t sure she was ready for. No, she and Koga were just casually dating, or at least that’s what they had agreed to; So why did it feel so much like cheating every time she thought of Inuyasha?

When she was with him, she felt like she was sneaking behind Koga’s back, and when she was with Inuyasha…

All her thoughts were on him. He was always present, her mind never cast off in a million directions. Her attention was always on him, on the way he looked, the sound of his laugh, how good he smelled or the way one corner of his mouth turned up more than the other when he smiled.

It wasn’t good to be like this, to let these feelings fester. How long was she going to let the hanyou control her? She should focus on Koga, focus on her future. She should ask Inuyasha if he ever went to his doctor's appointment.

Damn it!

She should choose Koga, chose a new path, someone who wouldn’t take her feelings for granted and run off when their relationship became rocky. Koga wasn’t like that; but then again, she didn’t think Inuyasha was either.

It was so out of character, so strange how it happened. It was as if his personality did a complete 180. Sure, his temper could be short at times, but he was never cruel. How could someone go from such a loving man to someone who turned their back so easily? By the end of their relationship, she felt like she didn’t recognize him anymore.

She was shocked to learn he was calling for her at the hospital; The desperation in his voice, the way he clung to her… she had never seen him afraid. If he lost his memory, he was working off his feelings from back then. He must have loved her, must have truly cared at some point. How could it all have gone so wrong?

It didn’t matter.

And yet it did, and it was driving her nuts!

She couldn’t just continue on like this, stuck in limbo, waiting for Inuyasha to fall out of love with her, waiting for some closure that would probably not happen.

Kagome knew what she needed to do.

She had made up her mind.

~.~

The phone buzzed, immediately catching his attention, making him put down his pencil and halt his work on the clients blue print; it seemed that no matter what he was doing, he was never too busy to respond to her texts. She did that a lot now- texting him. When they first started talking it was minimal communication; awkward and brief, only relaying the basic message that needed to be sent.  Now, she was opening up, talking about her day, her frustrations, the good parts and boring. It reminded Inuyasha of how they were, before; He dared enough to take it as a good sign.

Especially when she texted late at night. That itself was something that had him fantasizing in a million different ways. Was she lonely? Did she miss him? If she thought of him in the early hours, it must mean that she was alone and Koga wasn’t warming her bed, and that was fucking brilliant.

It drove him crazy to know that that damn wolf was still sniffing around her; He had found out that they weren’t official, but they were dating, and that alone was enough to make him rip Miroku’s couch to shreds, which, by the way, was getting fucking old. He needed to find a place and soon, but apartment hunting took so much damn time.

‘You’re going to the doctors today, right?’

Boring. He wished she would talk about anything else- what she had for lunch, the color of her panties, when he could see her next. Really, anything else; But no, his ex-fiancé was in full-on nag mode. He knew that when she was like this, there was little that could stop her.

‘Not today. Too busy. I’ll go on Friday.’ He responded, rolling his eyes as he tossed the phone on his desk. Miroku, his mom, hell, even Sesshomaru had been on him about going to get a check-up; he had meant to, but he just kept missing the appointments. How could he get to the doctors when there was so much work to do? It buzzed again, and even though he knew it would be grating, he was still thrilled to receive something, anything, from her.

‘You better to go, Inuyahsa. I mean it!’

She was concerned, that had to be a good sign, right? Kagome was worried enough about his well-being enough to argue with him about it. That had to be good, right?

‘Yeah, yeah. Thanks mom.’ He sent back, biting on the corner of his lip. He knew that it would get under her skin, but he said it anyway.

‘You better. Don’t make me get your mother involved.’

Ouch, a real fucking threat. She’d do it too, if history was any indication. Not that Kagome called his mom over petty arguments, no she wasn’t that type. His mom just fucking loved Kagome, a lot, and they always seemed to team up and back him into a corner when they were on the same page.

‘You should. She misses you.’ He sent it on impulse and regretted it immediately; he tried to keep it light, did his best to stay in the friend zone and not bring up their relationship. Yes, it was the giant elephant in the room, but he was a coward and he’d rather dance around the issue and be with her than to confront it head on. There would always be time for that some other day.

‘Yeah, I miss her too.’

He didn’t know what to say next, how to move the conversation along from there. Should he change the subject? What the hell could he talk about? His mind was racing as he panicked, his claws tapping on his wooden desk as he searched for an answer, Kagome supplying one before he could.

‘Are you busy tonight? Can we meet up?’

It felt like a mistake and an opportunity all at once.

‘Of course.’

What else could he say?

~.~

The ride back to her apartment seemed too short, at least in Inuyasha’s opinion. They had gone out for coffee, she walking and he driving to meet her. While they sat sipping it suddenly began to pour, the rain heavy on the concrete sidewalk, and Inuyasha was more than thrilled to give Kagome a lift home. It was nice to have her in the passenger seat again, to have her by his side.

He pulled up, parking in his old spot, the feeling more nostalgic than he would have thought. A simple gesture, but one that threw him back, took for granted back then. As he cut the engine, he turned to look at her, his breath-stopping, all thoughts lost.

The air felt heavy, hot. She was looking at him half-lidded and if he didn’t know better, he would have thought she wanted him. He had seen that look on her often enough, fuck it was ingrained in his mind, but she hadn’t looked at him that way, been so close to her like this in a long time, and fuck if it didn’t make him nervous. He felt like a bumbling idiot, too afraid and jittery to make a move. “L-let me grab my jacket.” He stuttered. “I-I can walk you to the door.” Kagome bit her lip and nodded and Inuyasha just about died.

Shutting his door behind him with a loud bang, he whipped around to Kagome’s door, holding his jacket high overhead to protect her from the rain. She stepped out, squeaked a bit from the weather and the two of them ran to the front steps of her apartment, the small awning making them huddle in together as they said their goodbyes.

“I should go.” He said, silver hair damp with rain, sticking against his forehead. Kagome smiled, reaching up to push away the stray locks, tucking one behind his ear, the hanyou doing his best to control his blush. Her hand rested on his cheek, cupping it tenderly as she searched his amber eyes, looking for hesitation, looking for recognition, for truth or love- she wasn’t sure anymore.

“Kagome,” he breathed out, covering her petite hand with his own. “I-“

She cut him off, unwilling to let him finish lest she lose her nerve. The kiss was slow and tentative at first, an underlying hunger they were too afraid to indulge in. When they broke away, quickly, much too quickly, Inuyasha knew he was panting and he didn’t care; Kagome’s hands had traveled down, grasping his muscular arms like they were her lifeline. Had her eyes looked this blue before? Had her lips been so full, so plump? Her scent so spicy and alluring? Everything about her in this moment set his senses in overdrive, leaving him feeling both drugged and charged for more.

“Don’t go.” She pleaded, her tone hinting that she was worried. As if he could turn away.

“Are you sure?” He asked, the words sounding foreign to his own ears. This had to be a dream. And to his utter surprise, she nodded, clutching him harder, her eyes never leaving his.

She didn’t have to ask him twice.  

~.~

A/N: Hey guys! I am super happy about getting to this point, and even more excited for the next chapter! Thanks for sticking with the story and reading! I hope everyone had a great holiday and has a happy new year!

#missing #inuyasha #kagome #inukag #inufanfic #fanfiction #ajoy3 #hope you like it

[that-shamrock-vibe]

Disney+ What To Watch: My Top 10 Favourite Disney Live-Action Remakes

So we’ve covered the main Walt Disney Studios animated movies, and I am trying to find categories that I can slot other Disney animated movies into, but for now we are going to follow Disney’s latest trend and jump into the live-action field with my personal favourite top 10 live-action Disney remakes.

Now of course Snow White and the Huntsman will not be on this list primarily because it is not a movie released by Walt Disney Studios and also because it took me three attempts just to get through it. But I will also not be including sequels as they are not reworking animated movies but continuing the stories of the remade live-action movies, so 102 Dalmatians, Alice Through the Looking Glass and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil are also not in contention.

Also remakes of live-action movies, even if those live-action movie are in some form animation hybrids, also will not count, largely because I am only counting those under the official Walt Disney Animated Studios banner but also because there’s no real point.

As always please remember that these rankings and opinions are purely my own, I am not saying these movies are factually worse than others or better than others I am merely saying this is how I view them.

#10. The Lion King

The reasoning for this movie being at #10 despite how well it has done compared to other live-action remakes is purely because I had to check and make sure the title gif I am using for this entry was the one from the live-action remake and not the 1994 animated movie...I should not have to do that!

The problem this movie has, as many critics and fans have pointed out and I believe as I did in my review, is that this is effectively a shot-for-shot remake of said original animated movie. That doesn’t mean it’s not good because the original was a phenominal piece of cinema for the genre and the studio, but it does leave a question as to the relevance of bothering to remake something practically identical with the only USP being that this movie is completely CGI in an attempt to give it the “live-action” treatment.

That being said, I was somewhat entertained by this movie, but by different parts than how I was in the original. For instance, in the original Rafiki was my favourite character in terms of comedy and just as personal preference, here he barely gets anything to do and instead the likes of Sarabi and the Hyenas are more fleshed out.

I did enjoy how the Hyenas showed more of a pecking order in this version, with Shenzi this time being depicted more as the clan leader who is somewhat of a left-hand to Scar in the same way that Faora was to Zod in Man of Steel.

Also Sarabi, who is somewhat forgettable in the animated movie as she’s barely in it until really the end to the point where me saying she was Simba’s mother is the only real jolt some fans may have to remembering her, and the other lionesses had that one really tense scene with Nala trying to escape Pride Rock without being detected by the Hyenas and Scar in order to find help. I can imagine that being a very hard level on the game-version of this movie because I always hated stealth levels like this particularly in the earlier Harry Potter games.

Timon and Pumbaa come in and kind of steal the show half-way through and notably there is a bit more of them raising SImba even as an adult and both Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen do respectable jobs in their respective roles, in fact some have argued they are the best part of the movie because they bring some level of excitement to an otherwise bland remake.

To be fair, one of my favourite parts is when Timon begins to sing “Be Our Guest” as a way of distracting the Hyenas as live bait along with Pumbaa, this of course is reworked from the original when it was them performing a hula-inspired performance which I still love to this day, but this reworking did make me laugh.

Outside of that though, everyone really fills their roles as they did in the original, and it comes across as simply a pale imitation in comparison. It’s not like the other remakes where there was something new enough and exciting enough to differentiate the two. Yet this movie is longer than the original because the stuff that either is new or extended from the original feels like it has just been either shoehorned in because maybe the writers or Favreau himself believed they were lacking in originality or maybe they believed what they actually had was exciting.

The biggest misstep of this type is the almost three minutes spent following a piece of Simba’s mane on its journey from falling off Simba to reaching Rafiki and thus him discovering Simba is in fact alive. In the original, this wasn’t even a 30 second segment and they played up Rafiki’s shamanism a lot more to deduce this fact, but here the hair goes from river, to birds nest, to a giraffe’s digestive system, to a ball of dung, to an ant line until finally reaching him...all the while only promoting the admittedly impressive CGI.

Another example of this is at the beginning of the movie where there is more focus on the field mouse that Scar toys with before losing the opportunity to make it lunch, we spend a good 30 seconds to a minute more than the original as the mouse makes its way up to Scar’s den rather than simply starting off there. I don’t feel this is as big an offence as I do the hair scene but the time could easily be spent elsewhere.

There’s also, I feel, a disadvantage with trying to make these animals as realistic as they did. 2019 struggled with “realistic” CGI animals from The Lion King to Cats and Sonic the Hedgehog, and while Sonic fixed itself by having the titular protagonist’s design changed to a more accurate look, it is a shame that The Lion King did not also have the same idea because giving these lions more animated features may have helped show the emotional hot points of the movie, particularly Mufasa’s death and the emotion on Simba’s face.

It’s also a shame that the voice actors are underwhelming outside of Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen. I do appreciate that they cast regionally-appropriate actors for the most part, even bringing back James Earl Jones for one of his two most famous roles, but there in lies the problem, he simply performed an almost line-for-line redo of what he originally did in the animated version. It’s great hearing him again but I could have just watched the original again to hear him not do anything different.

You also have Beyoncé who fails at both scene-stealing acting and singing performances with her new original song which is hardly in the movie. However, while Beyoncé still delivers on star quality, she also outshines the movie’s main lead Donald Glover who feels like an acting school work experience placement compared to Beyoncé.

Finally the music, forget the rolling turn of mane, this movie butchers and wastes one of the best Disney Villain songs in history by having Chiwetel Ejiofor talk his way through one chorus line of “Be Prepared”...next to that having a lackluster shot-for-shot remake of “Circle of Life” didn’t seem so bad.

Overall, this live-action remake simply felt more like fan-service or even like Jon Favreau was too scared to touch what had come before and so just decided that simply having a fully CGI version of an animated classic was enough...but aside from simply looking at it, there is nothing really wondrous about this movie.

I can see why people like the movie, but I can’t really understand why people defend the movie even from a nostalgic point of view, I mean seriously just watch the original version you’ll get the same feeling out of it.

So what do you guys think? Post your comments and check out more Disney+ What to Watch Top 10s as well as more Top 10 Lists and other posts.

#the lion king #the lion king 2019 #disney #disney+ #disney plus #disney+ what to watch top 10s #disney+ what to watch #my top 10 favourite disney live-action remakes #disney live-action #disney live-action remakes

[bluebellhairpin]

La Vie En Rose

Kili X Reader

A/N: I’ve been so lazy lately, sorry this has taken so long T-T. Set in an AU where everyone is still happy and ALIVE after BotFA. That’s how we all would of preferred the movies to end anyway. - Nemo

Request: For the dialogue prompt request c: Please and thank you! 49. "I spent the last year learning Ukulele so I could play you that." — With Kili and can the song be la vie en rose? I have a really good cover I can link you too. Super sweet and wholesome. - @dicksoutformtl 

Prompt: 49 - “I spent the last year learning Ukulele so I could play you that.”

Song: ‘La Vie En Rose’ by Reneé Dominique (Ukulele Cover) 

Summary: You had met Kili many years before he left to go retake the mountain with his brother and Uncle. When you got word of how injured he was after the battle to take back the mountain, both you and Dis set off right away to see him (along with his brother and uncle). A few more years passed and the dwarves had all settled back into their old home. Kili, however, still has one last thing he needs to make the mountain his home again.

Masterlist  

Quand il me prend dans ses bras

Il me parle tout bas

Je vois la vie en rose

You’d heard about your friends soon-to-be-under-way journey. They’d decided to take back their home.

Your home.

You wanted to help, but Kili, the nephew of your king and best friend, had told you no; that it was too dangerous and he didn’t want you getting hurt.

You had more of a problem about him getting hurt considering how reckless he was. That worry proved to be a valid one when you and his mother, Dis, got word of the Battle.

They’d spiraled into a battle of five different armies, and although the Mountain, your home, had been taken back, Kili, his Uncle, King Thorin and older Brother, Fili, had all gotten hurt. Thorin was worst off, having gotten injured to the state that it was life-threatening and he might not make it to next week. Kili was also rather bad, but news said he’d pull through. Fili’s injuries were all fixable by healers and a couple handfuls of stitches.

No matter the news, now it was safer and the Mountain was re-claimed, you and Dis both set off to get to the boys before it might be too late.

You and Dis made it to Lonely Mountain in half the time the Company did.

Il me dit des mots d'amour

Des mots de tous les jours

Et ça me fait quelque chose

By the time Lonely Mountain was in sight your little duo were met by royal guardsmen. Having no news of whether Thorin had survived or how the brothers were was the first thing on Dis’ tongue.

Turns out Thorin was okay, still a little tender, but alive.

Fili had greatly taken up the mantle of a fill-in ruler, looking after restoration of the Mountain and housing other dwarfs like the King he was growing to become.

Kili was helping his brother as much as he could, abhit sometimes more of a liability then asset, but Fili was still grateful for the extra pair of hands and a fourth opinion (Dwalin and Balin were helping an awful lot too, per Thorin’s request).

You and Dis soon after reached the Mountains doors. You’d not realized how big they were, nor how beautifully made. You were going to have a wonderful time exploring if the rest of the Mountain was like that.

Il est entré dans mon cœur

Une part de bonheur

Dont je connais la cause

Thorin and Fili met you at the entrance, both of them pulling Dis into a tight embrace. You stood back to give them space, family reunions always made you too nostalgic to even watch at times.

“(y/n), thank you for coming with mother. I’m glad she had company while she traveled.” Fili said, catching your attention from the giant carved hallways.

“Wasn’t like I didn’t want to come. I need to tell Kili off myself for scaring both Dis and I, once I find him.” You smiled, letting Fili pull you into a short but meaningful hug.

“Maybe I should make myself scarce then.” Kili’s voice called out, “If you’re planning to give me an earful of how I should be acting that is.” he joked, jumping away with a laugh as you went to slap him behind the head.

“Don’t sass me, or I’ll get your mother onto you.” You looked over at Dis, who was smiling widely at the interaction between you and her son. She opened her arms to him and he stepped right on in. He was a mamma's boy after all.

C'est lui pour moi, moi pour lui dans la vie

Il me l'a dit, l'a juré pour la vie

A few days passed and you found yourself gaining a routine. Dis already had one, and found herself getting into the swing of things within a couple hours. You had to have some help; living in a village was much different from a palace-like Mountain.

There were changes in the clothes you wore, the food you ate, how you were expected to act, even how you spoke. Luckily Kili was more then happy, just about eager, to help, so was Dis and Fili. Thorin was a bit testy, but quietly pointed out whether you were using the right fork so you wouldn’t get caught off.

You found out you enjoyed getting dressed up for dinners, made you feel like a royal too. Some even though you were one, or at least married to one from how you interacted with Kili.

When situations like that came up a blush tinted both your cheeks, and you both made quiet and unenthusiastic attempts to deny the statements.

Honestly, it was almost physically painful for those who knew you both well, like Fili, Dis, and Balin to watch and hear. Once they got so close to having enough that they heavily toyed with locking you both in the smallest broom closet on hand just so it’d be official.

Thorin stopped them. His almost-fatherly instincts kicked in and he didn’t want his youngest nephew being married so soon. Not that he’d tell anyone that.

Et dès que je l'aperçois

Alors je sens en moi

Mon cœur qui bat

Unbeknownst to them all and you, Kili was planning a little wooing of his own. In fact he’d been doing so since they went passed Rivendell.

Because he missed you.

He found himself missing you so much he wanted nothing more than you to be with him for as long as you lived. But he didn’t just want to ask you. He felt that was too boring and that you deserve something more special.

He had everything so well planned, he didn’t even need anyone else’s help.

What he didn’t plan for was you walking in on him when he was practicing.

Hold me close and hold me fast

The magic spell you cast

This is La Vie En Rose

“What… What are you doing Kili?” You asked him, a questioning look on your face. He was caught half-strum, fingers still on the cords, mouth frozen as he turned to face you, awkward smile slowly reaching his lips.

“Hi (y/n), what brings you here?” he asked, standing and trying to ‘casually’ hide the ukulele behind the bed. His smile was turning less nervous and more devious as if trying to make you follow where he was try to change the subject to.

“I heard music. It was coming from your room. I didn’t know why, quite frankly I still don’t.” You said, changing the subject back to what he was doing. His smile fell, swapping it out to bite his lip.

“I, um… I was playing and practicing.”

“What for?” You asked, but he stayed silent, shuffling his feet on the floor for a while. You sighed. “Doesn’t matter. But you- do you think you could play for me anyway? I liked the sound of it.” You said quietly. He looked up at you abruptly, a small smile tugging on his lips.

“Really?” he asked, the small smile now a hopeful and wide one. You nodded with a laugh.

“Yes Kili.”

When you kiss me heaven sighs

And though I close my eyes

I see La Vie En Rose

Kili had soon finished playing. You’d moved to sit closer, which was a stool right opposite him. He looked up to see you still staring at him with a light smile.

“That was beautiful Kili, when did you learn how to do that?” You asked, leaning forwards awaiting his answer.

“I spent the last year learning Ukulele so I could play you that.” he admitted shyly, looking down to twang the ukulele strings a couple times before looking up into your eyes. “I’d planned to play it to you in a much nicer place. Candles and all that, it’d even be on one of the balconies facing west so we’d get the last of the sunset as the stars came up.” he added softly.

You smiled wider and took one of his hands in yours.

“Why though? You still haven’t told me why.” You said with a soft giggle, red rose to his cheeks and he mumbled something that you had to ask to be repeated.

“I think you’re my one. I want to marry you.” he repeated, “If you want to, that is.”

“Of course I do. I’d want nothing more in the whole world.”

When you press me to your heart

I'm in a world apart

A world where roses bloom

News of your wedding spread quickly, at least it did after you told Dis. Thorin was good at keeping secrets, and you had to go to him first to ask for a blessing. He gave it to you and Kili almost screamed in happiness.

Fili was next, and was ready to yell from the rooftops that his little brother was getting married as soon as you gave the OK for him to do so.

After Fili was Balin and Dwalin, then the rest of the company.

Dis was told last, and for good reason since she went around telling everyone about it, from the high-council chamber members to the kitchen staff.

You’re wedding itself went without a hitch. Everything ran smoothly, and despite the elven king being invited, Thorin kept his brooding and overall angsty-ness to a minimum.

The dinner and dancing was your favourite part, everyone was so cheerful and filled with ale that the dancing was done horribly, meaning it was all extremely heartfelt and showed how well or badly some close to you did dance. Fili is a horrible dancer.

Kili, however, is a extremely good one.

And when you speak angels sing from above

Everyday words seem to turn into love songs

Kili’s favourite part was the kiss. He’d wanted to kiss you since forever, and now he finally got to, and it felt exactly as he thought it would. His other favorite part was the dinner, he got to watch you as you danced around, cheeks tinted pink, and he realised (again) how much he loves you.

Marrying you, his one, was the best thing he ever did.

Give your heart and soul to me

And life will always be

La Vie En Rose

#kili x reader #kili #kili imagine #kili one shot #lotr x reader #the hobbit x reader

[thesinglesjukebox]

IDINA MENZEL & AURORA - INTO THE UNKNOWN

[5.83]

[Knock, knock, knock-knock, knock] Do you want to build a sequel?

Jessica Doyle: Given Disney's current reputation for nostalgic repetition, I was pleasantly surprised to find Frozen II full of ideas -- in fact so full of ideas that almost none of them actually get developed with any coherence. (Whose voice was it again? And why is Olaf suddenly obsessed with aging? And how was a troop of Arendellian soldiers going missing without a trace for three decades not an issue? Et cetera.) "Into the Unknown" is as good a preview of the incoherence as any, as the song makes no sense narratively, psychologically (having spent all but the last six months of her life being taught decorum and self-distrust to the point of pathology, Elsa is ready to flee Arendelle because she... hears a voice?), or musically: the build-up to the chorus is repeatedly off-puttingly paced, most clearly in the "How... do I... follow... YOUUUUU" climactic line. But then again, I can say all this with authority because my older daughter, who was well finished with the first movie, is insisting on playing the soundtrack on the way to school. Maybe stuffing your sequels full of ideas and not worrying too much about the implications is more profitable than Bob Iger is willing to admit. [4]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: It's impossible to discuss "Into the Unknown" without discussing the massive success of "Let It Go." "Let it Go" was the rare type of cultural touchstone whose power was almost universal: it sold 11 million copies the year after the movie came out, won an Academy Award and Grammy, reached top five on the Billboard Hot 100, was translated into 44 different languages, and arguably paved the way for Disney to release a second movie and Broadway musical. Winter 2013-2014 when the movie came out, I remember singing this song in French during French class; in 2020, I'm putting on a musical production of Frozen with my students in China and every one of them -- inexplicably, even the ones who really don't speak English -- knows the words to the chorus. This is all to say: expectations for the second Frozen soundtrack were sky-high, and thus, "Into the Unknown" has been sold as the new "Let It Go" almost since before the movie was even released. (I'd argue that "Show Yourself" is a better thematic follow-up, but never mind me.) So does "Into the Unknown" live up to the hype? Not exactly; but to no fault of its own. The song works perfectly well as a way to advance the character development of Elsa and is gorgeously sung. Idina Menzel sells trepidation, fear, and excitement convincingly, and harmonizes with Aurora beautifully. It pays tribute to its listeners too; if "Let it Go" is a child's anthem about becoming the person you have always been despite what others think, "Into the Unknown" is the adult version of that, a song about escaping the comfortable life you've built in hopes of finding something new about the world and yourself. The song is doomed to live in the shadow of its predecessor, but is still excellent in its own right. [8]

Jonathan Bradley: "Let It Go" was, for all its power, an introspective ballad that turned on the first Frozen's theme of the liberating wonder of self-discovery. Its successor, "Into the Unknown," is tasked with maneuvering great wedges of plot into position, meaning it has to be the film's showstopper as well as taking on narrative weight that "Love is an Open Door" and "Do You Want to Build a Snowman" bore first time around. (The piano flurries that form the intro deliberately invoke the latter.) Aurora's four-note motif, the sinuous call that leads Idina Menzel's Elsa out of a resolved story and the security of her home of Arendelle, is appropriately otherworldly, but the song needs far too much to be overwhelming to allow that delicate melody the space it needs to be as entrancing as it is supposed to be. But "Into the Unknown" does eventually manage to be more than stage-setting; "Are you someone out there who's a little bit like me/Who knows deep down I'm not where I'm meant to be" is a couplet that speaks to that deep-seated sense of strangeness Elsa sees within herself and which has made her movies more than a toddler-sized-blue-dress dissemination mechanism. Something else helps: Menzel's horizon-shattering wail when she hits "unknown." The voice that defied gravity on "Defying Gravity" has the heft to move these big wedges of plot to where they need to go. [7]

Katie Gill: Whereas "Let it Go" was "Defying Gravity" reskinned, "Into the Unknown" is every musical theater "I want" song reskinned. Elsa wants to see how far she'll go, she's gotta find her corner of the sky, and for once it might be grand to have someone understand. As such, it's something we've heard before. A decent re-interpretation of something we've heard before with downright beautiful harmonies near the end, but something we've heard before nonetheless. "Into the Unknown" also fails in the job it's supposed to do: be inoffensive and singable enough that five year olds or my drunk ass can sing it through all the way without disaster happening. That last "into the unKNOOO-OOOOO-OOO-OOOOOWN" is very nice and very powerful and is comprised of notes that six-year-old girls and my exceedingly alto range cannot hit. But, like "Let it Go" before it, this is a song that Disney has carefully crafted and reverse-engineered and is putting so much pressure to be an actual hit. Of course it's going to be decent. Not as amazing as "Let it Go," which is easily a [9] on a good day and a [10] when I'm drunk, but a solid song nonetheless and one that I won't mind hearing when Idina inevitably performs it at the Oscars or when my five-year-old second cousin starts happily talking to me about Frozen at the next family reunion. [7]

Jackie Powell: Although Elsa doesn't build an ice castle at the conclusion of this power ballad, "Into The Unknown" doesn't need to be accompanied by gigantic visuals for it to be a much more complex and fascinating song than its predecessor. This track soars and it uses a potent string section, predictable but equally fun percussive cymbal crashes and Aurora's eerie dies irae gregorian chant as a counter melody. There's a certainty in "Let It Go" and that must be one of the reasons why it caught on as much as it did. But the difference in "Into the Unknown" is its obvious ambiguity in subject matter and tone. It's not sure of itself, but I don't think that detracts from its quality. That's why I don't think it's really all that comparable to "Let It Go." Its goals and motives are different. It's more mature in lyrical plot and composition. "Into the Unknown" takes leaps and breaths just as Elsa does when she's contemplating her next move. That's the beauty of the track, which composers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez have addressed. Each line in each chorus is symbolic. In every "Into the Unknown" within the refrain, Idina Menzel takes a leap sonically. First, she travels an octave higher, which is a relatively safe interval, but then that is followed by the much more difficult intervals as the chorus ends. Menzel's voice goes up a ninth followed by an eleventh. Vocally she's out of her comfort zone, which pushes Elsa to do the same. The melody is clearly a bit choppier. It also bounces especially on the couplet of alliterations: " I'm sorry, secret siren, but I'm blocking out your calls." Its dynamics are much more defined and that's credit to Menzel, who wanted to sell the track as more than a "Let It Go" B-side. The extended queer metaphor that Elsa represents is able to flourish under "Unknown." Although it really shows itself much more later in the soundtrack. [7]

Edward Okulicz: Yeah, look, Frozen II: Heterosexuality Reclaims the Throne of Arendelle gave me plenty of feels too, but I always preferred "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" to "Let It Go," so this wasn't one of the Primary Feels Sources. The use of Aurora's four note call as a leitmotif is pretty clever melodically, but forcing this song and its narrative pivot kicking and screaming into being an "I Want" song (subclassification: "I Must," which if it doesn't already exist, it, well... should) is unbecoming. The asides ("which I don't") feel unnatural away from the cinema, and while Menzel surely blasts with those notes I don't feel moved when I replay. [6]

Brad Shoup: It's quenching when, in the second half of the second verse, Menzel dips into some jump-blues phrasing. There was no way this thing was going to stay an Arctic tone poem, so I'm grateful for moments like that. Toss out the movie and have Menzel reel in the asides, and you'd have a fantastically mysterious piece of piano-pop. [7]

Thomas Inskeep: I've never seen either of the Frozen films, but I recall how annoying I found "Let It Go," from the first film. This is better (though still, of course, a big Broadway-style ballad); I appreciate how this song will likely speak to theatre kids who feel like the weirdos in their schools -- songwriters Kristin Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, obviously, have a knack for this kind of thing. Having Broadway queen Idina Menzel sing it helps, as does the clever move of having Norwegian singer Aurora sing the part of the siren. Judged for what it is, rather than as a basic pop record, this is solid. [6]

Ashley Bardhan: As a recuperating former theater kid, I hoped this strange collaboration would be everything I wanted but couldn't admit. Unfortunately, it turned out to be nothing I wanted, which I feel comfortable admitting. I'm not sure what Aurora is meant to do on this track other than supply wordless, ghostly ooo-ing, which opens you to a sense of mysterious possibility that goes absolutely nowhere. Idina Menzel is a powerhouse and typically good at convincing us that we are in her character's world, but even she sounds bored at the incongruously triumphant swelling of orchestra during the chorus. She calls out from the overblown composition, "Into the unknown! Isn't it cool that I'm hitting this E-flat in chest voice?!" Yes, it is very cool, but less so that the last 40 seconds of this song is essentially musical theatre sacrilege. A money-maker high-note chorus into a painfully loud bridge that conveys absolutely no mood other than "me and Aurora are both singing right now," only to end with a very embarrassing, ham-fisted belted note? And they had the audacity to let Idina put a slide in there? No, no. No, no, no. No. [3]

Alfred Soto: No, no, I mean -- let me go. [3]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Even more than the first installment, Frozen II was lacking in songs that were memorable in and of themselves. "Lost in the Woods," for example, is really only notable for the animation that accompanied it: a montage riffing on '80s music videos that proved unexpectedly entertaining. "Into the Unknown" is the film's best song, but the music doesn't quite match what the lyrics are trying to convey: Why is the first chorus so bombastic when Elsa's not yet convinced to follow this siren's song? At least "Let It Go" knew how to accomplish a sensible narrative arc with its use of dynamic range. "Unknown" doesn't come together as neatly as "Let It Go" either, which found a lot of meaning in the evolving delivery of "the cold never bothered me anyway." The complaints could go on but at the end of the day, I can't really hate something that finds Aurora using kulning -- Scandinavian herding calls -- as a narrative tool. [5]

Tobi Tella: I was 13 when the first Frozen came out, and despite the fact that I probably should've been too old for Disney princess movies by the unspoken middle school social construct standards, I dragged my dad to see it in theaters. That probably should've been his first inkling that I was gay, and as clear as Disney's attempts to play on my emotions were as a shy insecure gay kid, the introverted, uncomfortable princess Elsa was the most accurate representation I had really found of myself in a kids movie. "Let It Go" was not only a cultural moment but a formative one and even though looking back as an adult I know that Frozen has flaws, I can't help but be empowered by it now. This song was set up to fail by its positioning it as "Let It Go II," and the seams of this one are far more clear; the chorus is literally just one phrase repeated and the lyrics are prime "leave nothing to the imagination or subtext and explain all your feelings." But I still feel an intense connection to this; maybe it's Menzel's strong and evocative vocal performance, maybe it's nostalgia, and maybe it's the feeling that even as a 19 year old my experience with my identity is not even close to over, the fact that there will always be unknowns which are horrifying yet intriguing (hello adult gay dating!). I'm not sure if this is a great song, or even a good one, but for a sequel with impossibly huge expectations it managed to evoke the same intense reaction that "Let It Go" did, so I guess Disney and their manipulations win this round. [7]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

#Idina Menzel #Aurora #Frozen II #Disney #pop #music #music review #movie

[amandajoyce118]

Avengers: Endgame Easter Eggs And References

Okay, Avengers: Endgame has been out for over a week now, so I’m actually getting my Easter eggs up on time this time around instead of waiting nearly a month. That being said, if you haven’t seen the movie, there are spoilers here. So. Many. Spoilers. Do not read this if you haven’t seen the movie.

Got it? Good.

I did not include general pop culture references or, “hey, we last saw this character in this movie,” moments. Easter eggs, comic book references, and things you might have missed are what you’ll find below.

Again, SPOILERS!

The Opening Credits

When MCU movies roll their opening Marvel logo, they’ve slowly been adding the characters they’ve added to the franchise. You see images of Black Panther, Doctor Strange, and Captain Marvel in the last few flips, for example. This one devotes most of the images to the core six of the Infinity Saga. Most of the images you see belong to Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk, Iron Man Captain America, and Thor.

Tony And Nebula

A lot of people like the opening dynamic between Tony and Nebula because it’s something different for us to watch, but there are a couple of callbacks there. While Nebula getting to win a game of “football” is cute, it’s also important because, growing up, Thanos always pit Nebula and Gamora against one another. He made them compete for everything, and despite all of her “enhancements,” Nebula always lost. In fact, those “enhancements” are a result of each time she lost at a competition, prompting Thanos to find a way to “improve” her. Also, the last of the food they have? Tony tries to share it with Nebula, but she lets him have it. Tony sharing his food is a THING in the MCU. In the first Avengers movie, Robert Downey Jr. would actually tuck bags of candy, chips, nuts, etc. into drawers on set so that he could eat between takes. Eventually, Tony just started eating snacks on camera as well. This scene is a callback to him offering food to Chris Evans on camera and it staying in the movie as Tony offering Steve a snack.

The Garden

The planet where Thanos decides to retire is called 0259-S, but Nebula calls it The Garden. That alpha numeric sequence doesn’t appear as a designation in the comics, but The Garden does exist. In the comics, a Celestial known only as The Gardener lives in the blue area of the moon where he literally tends The Garden. That’s what he’s chosen to do with his life. The power of the Time Gem is what keeps his garden thriving while he’s meant to care for it. Thanos, of course, is the one to take it from him in the Infinity Gauntlet storyline. The name for the movie is likely a nod to that aspect of the comic book story, while him “retiring” to a farm is also right out of the comics. So is the scarecrow made from his armor.

“I went for the head.��

Thor says this as a nod to Thanos telling him what he should have done when he didn’t defeat him in Infinity War. There’s also another callback to their fight later in the movie. During the huge battle sequence at the end of the movie, Thanos presses Stormbreaker into Thor’s chest just as Thor did to him in Infinity War.

Creator Cameos

During the sequence for Cap leading the support group (a nod to a piece of advice Falcon gave him in Captain America: The Winter Soldier), there are a couple of cameos. Joe Russo, one of the writers and directors, appears as the member of the group talking about his date. The man who asks him about it? That’s comic book heavyweight Jim Starlin. Starlin also gets a special thank you in the credits at the end of the film. He’s the man who created Thanos. (Sidenote: Joe Russo’s kids all have roles in the film as well. His daughter Ava even plays Hawkeye’s daughter Lila.)

5 Years Later

Not an Easter egg, but some timeline clarification here. With the five year time jump, the big confrontation takes place in 2023 as the start of the movie is very close to the events of Avengers: Infinity War, which started in 2018.

An Underwater Earthquake

When Natasha has her conference call with Rocket, Rhoadey, Carol, and Okoye, they briefly discuss an underwater earthquake near Wakanda. Okoye brushes it off, but there is an underwater nation that doesn’t particularly get along with Wakanda in the comics. Atlantis. Their leader, Namor, is not T’Challa’s biggest fan. I like to think this is a hint that he’s coming. (When Steve visits following this scene, you can also spot Natasha’s ballet slippers on a chair. Looks like she was feeling nostalgic in more ways than one.)

New Hair

Steve and Tony go back to their trimmed looks for this movie, but someone else gets a new haircut. After the five year time jump, Carol’s haircut is closer to her modern comic book look than what we’ve seen in the movies before.

616

The storage unit where all of Scott Lang’s belongings are, including the van and the rat that helps him escape the Quantum Realm, is marked as unit 616. That’s a nod to the 616 universe in the comics, the one that features the main continuity.

“...Only to make conversation.”

So, when Scott asks Steve and Natasha is they known anything about physics, Natasha gives this response, which on first blush, might sound like her being a smartass. It’s not. As a spy, she literally learned enough about subjects to sound like she understood them when meeting a target. The first target she took on in the comics? Iron Man, whom she needed a working knowledge of physics to banter with.

“...regular size man.”

Rhoadey calls Scott this as a reference to the last time they saw each other in Captain America: Civil War. Rhoadey was the one to proclaim, “tiny man is giant now.” It’s a nice call back

The Necklace

If you look closely at Natasha’s neck when they start recruiting Avengers for the time travel idea, you’ll notice she’s wearing a familiar necklace. It’s the same arrow she wore in Captain America: The Winter Soldier as a nod to Hawkeye.

Howard Stark

Tony gets to see his father in the flesh during the time travel segment of the movie, but we get a teaser for him earlier in the movie. When Tony picks up the photo of himself and Peter in his kitchen? There’s a photo of his father on the shelf as well. (Side note: when Tony asks how far along Howard’s wife is in the 70s? It’s because he’s born in May and they arrive in April.)

Morgan

Looks like Tony went ahead and named his kid Morgan just like the dream he had in Infinity War. Morgan was also Tony’s cousin in the comics. (Also, how great is Morgan playing with what becomes Pepper’s helmet? Pepper’s armor, though it isn’t named, is a recreation of her Rescue look from the comics.)

Ronin

Though the name isn’t used in the movies, the name Hawkeye goes by in the comics when he decides to start cutting down all the bad guys in his path, is Ronin. The name comes from the word to describe a samurai without a master. It literally means “wandering man,” and is portrayed in artwork by the bones of a warrior inside their samurai gear. That depiction is exactly what you’ll find in Hawkeye’s tattoo sleeve, and it’s why Black Widow finally tracks him down in Japan. It’s also fitting that his sword doesn’t look like a traditional samurai sword to me. It looks more like a bow fashioned into a sword.

Akihiko

The guy that Clint fights in Japan is based on a comic book character of the same name. In the comics, he worked for a SHIELD rival that was also a branch of the Yakuza.

Recruiting Thor

Thor only comes out once a month for supplies? Sounds like Aquaman only coming in on the King Tide to provide for the people, but I’m hoping that’s just a coincidence and not them poking fun at one of DC’s good on screen characters. The whole thing with Thor yelling at the mean kid Korg is gaming with though? Did that feel like them shouting at the guy’s living in their mom’s basement who claim to be comic book purists to anyone else? Just me?

Also, I appreciate that New Asgard is supposed to be in a Scandinavian country. I do. Tonsberg is supposedly where Odin led his people to war against the Frost Giants thousands of years ago. And it’s where the Red Skull found the Tesseract. However, this is clearly the part of the movie filmed in Scotland. Why? There’s a half empty bottle of Irn Bru (Scotland’s national soft drink, and my personal favorite) sitting on a table behind Thor through most of that sequence. I’m glad someone on set has good taste in soda.

New Asgard also existed in the comics, but as a merging of New York and Asgard when realities collided, and also as Asgard floating above Oklahoma when it fell from the sky.

Ben And Jerry’s

Does anyone remember Dr. Strange and Wong discussing the Avengers ice cream flavors in Infinity War? Looks like Bruce finally got to try some as he’s eating a Hulk-sized container of Ben and Jerry’s during the brainstorming sessions.

Budapest

Just what was the mission in Budapest? Will we ever know? It clearly made an impression on Natasha and Clint since it’s been referenced by them twice before. We also know Fury spent time there thanks to his listing of the B countries in Captain Marvel.

“That’s America’s ass.”

Someone on set knows the internet has an appreciation for Chris Evans’ ass. Who? Who knows? But someone has clearly seen the gif sets.

The Elevator

When we see Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, and Ant-Man return to 2012, not only do we get to see another point of view for The Avengers, but we get some nice callbacks. Cap in the elevator with a bunch of menacing SHIELD agents (hey, Sitwell and Rumlow who are off to give the scepter to Liszt, the same guy that got Wanda her powers!) who are actually Hydra evoked that amazing fight scene in Captain America: Winter Soldier. This time, he doesn’t knock them all out though. Instead, he gives a “hail hydra” to avoid the fight. That in itself also evokes the recent comic book storyline that featured a rewritten reality where Captain America was hydra all along.

“Lunch, then Asgard.”

Back in 2012, Thor tells Secretary Pierce they’re going to lunch before he goes home.That lunch is the Avengers shawarma post credit scene.

“I can do this all day.”

As the most iconic Captain America line at this point, I don’t have to tell you how often he’s said it. I’m sure there’s a gif set on tumblr for it.

Stan Lee

Stan gets a posthumous cameo driving a muscle car with a license plate that includes the numbers 420 while he spouts on about making love, not war. He’s clearly a hippie, and it’s not a subtle cameo. You’d only miss it if you left the theater to run to the bathroom here. You might have missed his “Nuff said” bumper sticker, which was a phrase he often used in his responses to letters to the editor.

Community Cameos

The Russo brothers like to feature actors from their other projects. In the MCU, they’ve included at least one actor from Community in all of the movies they’ve been involved in. This time, there’s two. Ken Jeong plays a security guard at the storage facility while Yvette Nicole Brown plays a SHIELD agent in the 70s.

The Terminal Beach

When Ken Jeong’s security guard pops up early in the movie, he’s reading a book instead of watching the cameras. The book he’s reading is The Terminal Beach. It’s a collection of short stories. One of those in the book had a familiar title. It’s called “End-Game.” It’s not about superheroes, but instead about a man waiting his execution.

The 70s Eggs

Speaking of the 70s, let’s get a few of the Easter eggs and references in this sequence out of the way. The military base is the same one where Steve initially trained and was chosen for the super soldier program. The name on Steve’s uniform? That’s Roscoe for Roscoe Simons, a man who took over for him in the comics, and then was promptly defeated by the Red Skull. When Steve calls Hank about a package? We see the original Ant-Man helmet on his table. It’s pretty impossible to miss. The photo of Steve on Peggy’s desk is one of the images used for the first Captain America movie, and I believe one from the file she had in Agent Carter, if I’m not mistaken. When Tony encounters his father, he’s looking for Arnim Zola, the man who programs his mind into the computers at that same military base and appears in Captain America: The Winter Soldier there. When Howard leaves, that’s James D’Arcy still playing Jarvis and acting as his driver. Jarvis appearing in the movie is the first time a character originated on an MCU TV show to cross over to the movies. It’s a small step, but one in the right direction that might mean characters from Agents of SHIELD, Runaways, or Cloak And Dagger could eventually do the same.

“Get the rabbit.”

The Asgardian guards share Thor’s belief that Rocket is a rabbit because they say this while following him when he gets the aether.

“Daughter of Ivan, son of Edith”

Edith was in fact Hawkeye’s mother in the comics. She died when he was young, leaving Clint and his brother as orphans. Ivan, on the other hand, was not exactly Natasha’s father in the comics. Instead, one story sees Ivan Petrovich as a benevolent stranger who raises Natasha as his own when a woman gives him baby Natalia Romanova from a burning building. Retconning sees that as a fabrication as Ivan was actually a soldier and agent of the Red Room who got Natasha into the program. Still another sees him as her “uncle Ivan” whom she cared for so much that she gave up her freedom, joined the Red Room, and got them both the super soldier serum to save his life. Just how that will play into the MCU remains to be seen in the upcoming Black Widow movie.

The Big Three

When Thanos lets his weapons loose on the Avengers compound, the three that go out to meet him while everyone else is scrambling are Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. These are the three tentpole franchises of the MCU. While Hulk had a solo movie, it was distributed though Universal and starred another actor. It’s a nice full circle moment for the MCU.

Captain America Is Worthy

When it seems like Thor is headed for certain doom, his hammer finds a new target - and a new person to wield it. Cap is one of the many heroes who wielded it in the comics, but the moment he catches Mjolnir is a callback to Avengers: Age of Ultron. In the movie, the Avengers take turns trying to lift the hammer, but only Cap seems to shift it, though he’s still unable to pick it up. The implication, of course, is that by the time this movie rolled around, the things he’d been through made him worthy.

Also? That shot of him all alone, ready to take on everyone? That’s an homage to the Avengers taking on Thanos in the comics. At one point, everyone else was down and out, and Cap was the only one left standing.

Captain America’s Shield

As Thanos shatters Cap’s shield during the fight, it echoes Tony’s talk of his vision earlier in the movie. There’s talk about how Tony wanted to build a suit of armor around the world, and that wish was a result of the vision Scarlet Witch put in his head in Age of Ultron. That same vision showed Cap’s shield broken in the same way it ends up broken here.

“On your left.”

We all know that this is one of the first things Sam said to Steve in The Winter Soldier, right? It’s a cute callback.

“Is that everyone?” “You wanted more?”

Dr. Strange and Wong have this exchange as the wizards stop opening portals all over the battlefield. Not only is this a nod to the sheer number of characters in the battle sequence, but likely a nod to their being more heroes out there that aren’t in the scene. After all, none of the TV heroes are visibly present.

“Avengers, assemble!”

Is this the first time Steve actually gets to say this on the big screen? He’s been cut off while saying it in the past, so I think it is, even if he gets to say it all the time in comic books.

Pegasus

Where exactly did Valkyrie get her flying horse? We saw it in the story of her past in Thor: Ragnarok, but we’ve not seen one used in the MCU lately, so while it’s a nice callback to her past, it’s an odd one.

“We’re on it, Cap.”

Wasp gets this line when Steve needs a new quantum tunnel up and running. After, she and Ant-Man share a look because he once told her only Steve’s friends call him Cap.

Instant Kill Mode

When Peter learned his suit had this in Spider-Man: Homecoming, it freaked him out, but here? Not so much. He uses it when he gets desperate.

The Ladies Of Marvel

There is a moment during the fight with Thanos where all of the female heroes on the ground manage to congregate around Peter Parker and Captain Marvel. Their aim? Protect Carol from Thanos’ army. Some cynics have called it pandering, but it makes sense. The woman, half of whom have the power to fly, have been following the glove around the field, trying to keep it out of Thanos’ hands. While the guys are still fighting, they form a team. It looks an awful lot like an A-Force team up in the comics, but it also echoes a moment in Infinity War. When Wanda is told she’s going to die alone in battle, Natasha and Okoye step up to protect her, with Natasha saying, “but she’s not alone.” At this point in the movie, Natasha is gone, but Wanda is still following her lead, protecting the other women on their team.

“If I tell you what happens, it won’t happen.”

The first time I saw the movie, I saw this as the opposite of a self fulfilling prophecy. But seeing it again, I actually think Dr. Strange was unsure if Tony would do what needed to be done if he told him the truth about their one shot. He knew to end the Thanos problem, Tony would have to snap his fingers. It makes me think Dr. Strange underestimated Tony’s commitment to saving the planet.

“I am Iron Man.”

This is Tony’s big response to Thanos, but it’s also the most iconic movie from the first Iron Man film. Why? It wasn’t even scripted. The original script had Tony keeping his Iron Man identity under wraps. During filming, Robert Downey Jr. ad libbed the admission that he was Iron Man and it stayed, changing the route of the films.

Also, Tony wielding the gauntlet he made is a nice homage to the comics, where he was actually the first human to successfully create and use one.

Captain America’s Suits

So, we see Steve wear his first Avengers suit. But, at the beginning of the movie, he’s also wearing his Winter Soldier suit. Later, he gets a brand new suit, probably courtesy of Tony. That one combines the look of his Civil War and Winter Soldier suits. But, it also adds the chain mail look that’s prevalent in the comics. So, he gets the chance to be pretty much every version of Cap we’ve seen on screen in this movie.

Harley Keener

The Avengers, their family, and Tony’s family are all present at his memorial, but so is someone else who wasn’t in the movie. The tall teenager at the back? That’s Harley from Iron Man 3, and he’s still played by Ty Simpkins. The kid had a real growth spurt that fits the timeline.

Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart

We all remember this was a gift set on display for the Iron Man movies, yes?

Morgan Wants A Cheeseburger

Like father, like daughter. When Tony got away from the Ten Rings, he had Happy stop at Burger King on the way to his press conference because he wanted “American cheeseburgers.”

Asgardians Of The Galaxy

I know this is just Thor being Thor, but… there is a comic book team called the Asgardians of the Galaxy. Like the guardians, they travel around in a spaceship and do good deeds, but they’re all from Asgard.

“You’re taking all the stupid with you.”

In the first Captain America movie, Bucky Barnes went to war without his best friend. He told Steve not to do anything stupid until he got back. The above line was Steve’s response. Their roles (and lines) are reversed when Steve travels through time to return some Infinity Stones and Mjolnir to their rightful points in history.

Captain Sam

When the elder Steve Rogers returns to his departure point in the timeline, he does it with a new shield, and passes it on to Sam Wilson. In the comics, an older Captain America who had the super soldier serum removed from his blood did the same thing. Sam even had his own Captain America comic series for a while. (Other heroes who have been Captain America in the comics include Bucky Barnes, Sharon Carter, and Peggy Carter, in case you’re wondering.)

“It’s been a long, long time.”

Could the song title be more fitting for Steve and Peggy? And yes, this is a branched timeline. And yes, the song has been used in the MCU before, in The Winter Soldier.

The Clang

Post credit scenes are an MCU tradition, but this movie doesn’t have one. Instead, it has a clang. That noise is the sound of hammer hitting metal. Specifically, the sound of Tony’s hammer hitting metal when he created his very first Iron Man suit in the 2008 film, signalling the end of an era here instead of the beginning of one.

That’s it. That’s all I’ve got! Tell me if I managed to miss anything.

#avengers endgame #endgame spoilers #endgame easter eggs #marvel easter eggs #mcu

[bananonymity]

Based on this au

-

“So,” said Ludwig, “you’d like to drop Music Theory.”

Student Advisor Ludwig Beilschmidt’s office was orderly, clean, and devoid of distraction. It was a wonder how it hadn’t driven anyone mad yet. Emil found it calming to a point; it made him somewhat nostalgic for his comfort zone of Icelandic minimalism, except for the lack of spacious windows.

Emil nodded.

“Not your liking?” said Ludwig.

“It wasn’t bad,” Emil said. He had no real complaint against the course. The first day of class, Professor Edelstein spent the entire hour and fifteen minutes teaching the students how to find the cheapest textbooks on Amazon. “But I already know music theory.”

“So you’d like to challenge yourself,” Ludwig said.

“I guess,” Emil said.

Ludwig nodded with approval, missing or ignoring the glum note to Emil’s tone. The real reason that he wanted to drop out was in fact the very opposite; the moment he stepped into the music building, he felt such oppressive intimidation that he actually texted his older brother for comfort, which went something like this:

LUKAS: How are you liking your classes?

EMIL: [thumbs down emoji]

It was a risky move, because goodness knew if this amount of unprecedented emotional vulnerability would worry Lukas. Emil regretted the raw honesty immediately afterward, but by then it was too late.

“That’s one of the great things about university,” said Ludwig. “It gives you avenues to study subjects you wouldn’t have thought of before. Now, dropping this course would mean you need to take up another course to fulfill the minimum amount of credits to be a full time student in this semester. Have you thought of what you would like to add?”

“Not exactly,” Emil said, staring at the corner of Ludwig’s screen where about seven new email notifications from frantic students at the edge of add-drop period scrambled to change their majors.

“Well, I can tell you that you still have some gen eds that you would have to fulfill,” said Ludwig. “One social studies and one art course. That would be good to take care of while you are still a first year.”

“Mm,” Emil said.

“And if you’re up for a challenge, or have interest in specific topics, there are certainly some classes in the one thousand level that have extra space.”

“Mm.”

“Or since you’re already quite ahead in your credits, you can explore a topic for your own enrichment.”

“Mm.”

Ludwig gave Emil a look of pleading exasperation. Emil fixed his gaze stubbornly on the window.

“What is your preference?” Ludwig said.

Emil pursed his lips. He knew that it was harder on Ludwig than on him to deal with his unhelpful indecision, but it did not give him any clearer opinion on what he ought to do. Maybe he should have bitten the bullet and stayed in Professor Roderich’s class. Maybe he should have thought of this before the semester started. Maybe he should have never applied to a university so far from home. Maybe he should have never graduated high school, in general.

“I guess finish my gen ed courses,” Emil said.

Ludwig nodded with enthusiasm for the both of them.

“So, an art course and a social studies course,” said Ludwig. “We have several art courses that are available for you here. Let’s see…”

Ludwig pulled up all the available courses for the semester that would fulfill an art credit. The array of choices made Emil’s eyes blur.

“How about Intro to Film?” said Ludwig. “That would cover your art credit, and also give you an extra English credit if you’re looking into pursuing a certificate.”

“A certificate?” Emil said. “What for?”

“Certification for Digital Media, if that interests you,” Ludwig said.

Emil sputtered.

“I don’t even know what my major is!” he said. “What’s a certificate going to do for me?”

“You don’t have to take it for a certificate,” Ludwig said quickly as Emil buried his face in his hands. “I just meant that it was a nice way to kill two birds with one stone if--”

“But I don’t want to kill birds,” Emil said. “I don’t even know what birds to kill. What kind of person am I if I went around killing random birds just because society tells me that’s how to get a job?”

He slumped back into his seat, letting out a huff of distress. He supposed that he needn’t yell about it, but he had to affirm himself that he made a solid point. Ludwig, in the meantime, only rubbed his brow wearily.

“No certification then,” said Ludwig. “But if we just look at art credits, would that interest you?”

“What is the class like?” Emil said.

“Well...”

“Class, I want you to write this down. Soviet cinema banks on violently killing off every character that has a face on screen. You can quote me on that, I have a doctorate.”

Leon Wang, Emil’s roommate, scribbled this down on his notebook, if only because he knew it would make a solid tweet later on. Professor Alfred F. Jones paced about the front of the room, whizzing through his PowerPoint presentation faster than any of the students could actually take notes.

“Battleship Potemkin? Dead,” said Alfred. “Strike? Dead. A five-second example of the Kuleshov effect? Dead baby. Basically, if you want to make a Soviet montage, kill a bunch of farmers from different camera angles.”

“Professor Jones?” One student raised their hand in the back.

“Call me Alfred,” Alfred said, flashing a dazzling grin. “What’s up?”

“Can you go back to the last slide with all the notes?” they said.

“Fine, but you all gotta catch up faster than that,” Alfred said.

He backspaced on the PowerPoint, skipping through the past fifteen or so slides that he had flew through in half a minute until he reached the slide of haphazard bullet points.

“So, to recap,” said Alfred. “Soviet montage wasn’t necessarily trying to break the rules of cinema. Leave that to the French in the sixties, God help them. But Eisenstein and Kuleshov in particular wanted to use editing differently, to create a synergetic meaning through editing shots together that, by itself, wouldn’t communicate that. Sort of like how on Instagram, you can either build a collage or just have multiple photos in a post, and the effect of it is different depending on how you arrange it, right?”

“What?” said Leon.

“So there you go,” Alfred said. Leon sighed and wrote Instagram = Soviet montage (?) in his notebooks, and hoped that Alfred upload the slides onto Blackboard later today.

“But here’s the wild thing,” said Alfred. “Soviet montage outlived the USSR. Stalin is dead! But even in the play-it-safe boon of Hollywood, we still use those seemingly weird and non-linear montage editing for our movies. Take Arrival. Has anyone here not seen Arrival?”

Several hands went up in the air. Alfred threw a dry erase board marker on the floor.

“Too bad! Spoilers alert,” he said. “The reason why you go into the movie thinking that it is being told in a linear manner, and that Amy Adams’ daughter dies in the beginning of the story, is through the Kuleshov effect. You see her in the beginning of the movie watching her daughter die, and then the scene cuts to her going to work. And you--the audience, you think she looks so sad and distant and uninterested in the news about these octopus aliens because of the recent death of her daughter. But actually you only think that because the two scenes are put back to back. Her face was really just neutral, but because of editing you think they are related, when it is actually a flash forward--or flashback. Dead baby!”

Leon nodded fervently, writing with a little more vigor in his notebook. Maybe Alfred actually did know what he was talking about. He made sense, which was more than he could ask for in a college course. This course made him feel excitable, to relish the honor and merit of his favorite medium, handing back to it the dignity it deserved.

“Or like in this one episode of Lizzie McGuire,” said Alfred.

Leon blanked immediately.

“There is this one scene I remember,” Alfred said, his eyes widening with nostalgia. “I don’t remember the characters’ names at all, or the plot, or if this was even an episode of Lizzie McGuire, but I’m kind of certain that it was on the TV when I was about ten years old. Anyway, there was a scene where this boy, no idea who he was, maybe he was like, Hilary Duff’s little brother or something? Anyway, he had a dirty nose and his mom was like, you got a dirty nose and when and licked a napkin or something to clean it off, and then it would suddenly cut to an unrelated, non-narrative shot of a lion licking her cub’s face, and then cut back to the mom wiping the dirt off her kid’s face. The lion has nothing to do with the story, but it was edited in there to make a more symbolic comparison, to emphasize the overbearing nature of the mother. Disney Channel was flexing its Soviet montage, baby!”

Alfred sped through several tens other PowerPoint slides that looked like they held vital information. Leon leaned over to the student sitting next to him.

“What the hell is Lizzie McGuire?” he whispered.

“All right, fifteen minute break commences now,” Alfred said, closing his laptop while students desperately scribbled the last of the bullet points with their aching hands. “Second half of class, we’ll get right into the film. Unfortunately, if you graduate from this school with a film degree and not know what the Odessa steps are, you aren’t going to make it out alive in Hollywood or wherever the hell you guys want to go. So we’re going to have to watch some Eisenstein. I’m so sorry, everyone.”

While other students went to use the restroom, or checked their text messages on their phones, Leon flipped through the syllabus for this course once more. He was hopeful that they would watch a John Woo film in this course, which did not seem like a far cry from what Alfred would assign. Apparently, one of their midterms would include writing a paper applying an advanced film theory to Die Hard.

“Come on, kids!” Alfred said. “You’ve got fifteen minutes to stretch your legs. This is a four-hour course, you’ve got all the time to sit around. Don’t you know that sitting is the new smoking?”

He promptly took a bite from a box of Chick-Fil-A strips waiting for him on the podium.

(tbc?)

#hetalia #hetalia au #university au #aph america #aph germany #aph iceland #aph hong kong