#oscar for the most ridiculous conversation goes to…

[adventuringblind]

Defensive Maneuvers

Max Verstappen x Leclerc!reader

Genre: fluffy with a pinch of angst

Request: yes! I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Requests are open for Max, Charles, Oscar, and lando. Don't hesitate to send me ideas!

Summary: The normally soft-spoken leclerc sister becomes the out spoken girl her family knows. What triggers this change? Max Verstappen and his ridiculous father.

Warnings: Jos being Jos, mentions of verbal abuse, mention of physical abuse if you squint, *best Daniel Riccardo voice* nooooot prooooofreaaaad

Notes: written in third person . I am neither the youngest nor have brothers, so I tried my best to get an accurate relationship depiction. Ironically, I'm the oldest with sisters.

Masterlist

The Leclerc sister is known by her brothers as the baby of the family. Even Arthur, who is only older by mere minutes, holds it over her head that she is the youngest.

The constant teasing from her siblings made her learn how to use her quick wit. Verbal comebacks becoming her specialty at a young age. Because of her ability to be polite in public, no one suspects what she is truly capable of.

Her brothers tease her regardless but she lets them. Her sharp tongue making them regret not holding theirs.

Pierre had made this mistake once. Mainly under the influence of Charles convincing him to say something at her expense. The verbal lashing he received in response had him apologizing profusely. Charles doubling over in laughter as her practically lectured his friend. Needless to say, Pierre has yet to make this mistake again.

Charles was by far her favorite sibling. Lorenzo had a habit of bossing her around and Arthur shared a room with her. She loved all her brothers, but felt the most connected to Charles. She followed him around like a lost puppy some days. Ready to cheer him on at every Karting race.

This was where she first encountered Max.

After the race, she went to go congratulate Charles for a race well done. He was third but all the Leclerc’s were proud nonetheless. On the way over to him, she saw Max. He was at majority of the races Charles was at. The two had never talked formally, but they were aware of the others existence.

Something about the situation she was witnessing didn’t felt right. Max was standing with his dad, his knuckles turning white from gripping his second place trophy so tightly.

As she walked by, she almost fell over at hearing how his father was treating him. The slander leaving his mouth over his son placing second almost made her tear up. She was only nine at the time, but even she knew whatever was happening was wrong.

So she steeled herself, took a deep breath, and entered into the conversation. She walked up and tapped Max’s shoulder. He jumped at the feeling, not having seen you coming.

“Hello Max, Charles is busy with family but wanted to congratulate you.” She smiled warmly at the Dutch boy. Obviously taken off guard.

Jos turned to her, also not knowing how to handle this. “Not much to congratulate,” he sneered. The young Leclerc narrows her eyes at him. Not realizing how brash the older man is.

“What do you mean, Mr. Verstappen? There is plenty to congratulate.” She questions back, her tone mildly snarky. Obviously having no intention of backing down. The older man didn’t even bothering responding to her. He turns on his heels and walks away. Yelling back to Max “I’ll be in the car.”

Max looks between the girl who he’d never spoken too and his father. Unsure of what he should do in this situation. Thankfully the girl notices this. “Sorry for stepping in. He sounded unreasonably upset.” She apologized with a huff.

“Thanks actually- for what you did.” Max stutters out. No one had ever taken the time to defend him.it was an unusual feeling. He knows he can’t stay long though. “I should go. I’ll see you around- I guess.” Then he runs off. Waving as he goes.

She had told her mother about it. The older woman explaining what was probably happening at home. It made her sad for the Dutch boy. Having to hear that it happens more often then just races.

This was only the first encounter with Max. The Leclerc sister made it a point to find Max after every race and praise for a job well done. Much to his fathers dismay. She knew she couldn’t stop what was happening, but maybe her words would help ease some of the hurt.

The girls mother occasionally helped out with her quest. Walking with her daughter to find the Dutch and congratulate him.

It became a routine. One that Max was starting to enjoy. The seeking out now being reciprocated. The two even finding time to converse about things aside from racing.

Max’s father had started to become increasingly more annoyed at this fact. Pulling Max away from you. Spitting vulgar words at a child that wasn’t even his own.

Pascals had made a note that if she was directly insulting to Mr. Verstappen, it might make things harder for Max. She still made her snarky remarks and threw insults at the older man, but only loud enough to make Max chuckle.

Her brothers eventually caught on. Charles and Arthur saying nice things to Max in passing. Charles was more strained, but was trying nonetheless.

The brothers began teasing her relentlessly as they grew up. Her fondness for Max only growing. Her quick tongue seemed to falter when they brought up Max. She held a soft spot for him, as he did for her.

When Max and Charles were in formula 2, she was incredibly proud of both of them. She divided her time equally between the two boys. Still always making sure to sing Max’s praises loud enough for everyone to hear.

Originally she though Max’s father would cool down and maybe start to see how talented he is, but she was mistaken. The older man somehow seemed to get more competitive.

It was increasingly easier to talk to each other now since the two both have phones. She comforted over video calls as he ranted about something stupid his father said to him. He listens to her talk about her fathers battle with illness. The two became inseparable. Being the reason for each others smiles on most occasions.

Then formula 1 came. Charles driving for Ferrari and Max for Redbull. The youngest Leclerc baskets in both boy finally making it. Years of hard work paying off.

Max no longer lived at home. Having moved to an apartment in Monaco. This meaning the two could spend more time together. The, now young woman, takes pride in that fact she convinced him to move closer to her.

She’d become more outspoken recently. Opening defending both her brothers and Max. Most people knew not to say anything if she was within earshot.

The year is now 2021 and Max and Lewis are both fighting hard for the championship title. Max was visible upset at the end the race. Second place wasn’t enough if Lewis is going to keep winning.

The young woman immediately trying to find him after the podium celebration. She had seen the look in his fathers eyes and is now frantically trying to beat him to Max. Charles and Arthur found her in a frenzy. Confused because she is usually calm, her sarcastic remarks and opinions given so level that you’d think it was rehearsed.

“I need to find Max.” She explained, panting from running around the paddock. They decided three sets of eyes would be better then one and split off in different direction.

She was so caught up in her search for Max that she hadn’t noticed her phone buzzing in her pocket.

A text from Charles reading: In the back of the Redbull garage. It doesn’t look good.

She took off running spotting snarled waiting for her outside. She could hear the commotion from Jos.

“I was going to try and break it up but they won’t let me in.” Charles gestures to the wall of Redbull engineers. She however, wasn’t going to let them stop her from getting to Max. She shoved her way through with determination and surprising strength. Immediately settling herself between the two Dutch men.

Jos had turned his anger towards her now. His finger getting dangerously close to her face. “You are part of the problem.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “The only problem currently is you.”

“My son has been distracted because of you. His hopes for a title this year not getting any better because of you.” He spits. She can feel his breath on her face.

“Personally, I think Max is a good racer because he wants to be. Not because of you or me helping or distracting.” She lets a smirk form on her lips. “Your just angry because your finally running out of things to berate him about. Hard to be angry when Max is better then you.”

Jos’ face had turned red. She could feel Max’s anxiety increasing from behind her.

Then everything happened in slow motion. She hadn’t noticed Jos’ hand raised above her. Charles moved faster then anyone. Shoving Jos to the side, his hand not getting to connect with anything but the nearest wall.

He was raging now. Thrashing like a child who didn’t get their way. Pierre and Charles who had somehow managed their way inside kept a firm grip on him as Christian ran to get security.

The Youngest Leclerc. The one who spent her days defending Max in secret, keeping the haters at bay never letting Max go a day without know he is loved. Finally she turned around and stared deeply into his eyes. Blue irises glasses over from tears he’d been holding back.

She embraces him warmly. His face buried into the crook of her neck. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.” She apologized softly.

Max pulled away and gives her a confused look. “On the contrary, I think you were right on time.”

Security had come and grabbed Jos to escort him out of the paddock. Charles and Pierre now finding then tension between the two heating up. The two boys giggling. “I swear if you two don’t kiss or something I will no play nice with Max.” Charles laughed.

She didn’t care about the teasing. Just taking time to comfort Max. The two still conjoined in a loose hold.

Max leans his forehead against hers. “You know I’ve loved you for awhile right?” He smiles.

“You would be stupid to not.” She remarks. Max shaking his head at the remark. “But I have to agree with Charles on this one.”

Max doesn’t hesitate any longer. Placing his lips on hers. Pulling her as close to him as he can. He then pulls away, his lips still close to hers and voice barely a whisper.

“Thank you, for protecting me all these years.”

#x reader #fanficion #f1 fic #formula one #max verstappen #super max #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen x y/n #max verstappen x you #maxy #orange army #jos verstappen #max verstappen fanfic #max verstappen f1 #charles leclerc x reader #pascale leclerc #Leclerc sister reader #angst #i would protect him with my life #redbull #redbull racing #red bull f1 #pierre gasly #racing #karting #arthur leclerc #protective #snarky #sarcastic #reader insert

[speedykiwi814]

Fairytale Ending.

Pairing: Lando Norris x Oscar Piastri

Part: 1/1 (maybe)

Tags: fluff, basically a love letter to oscar, angst, lando's massive celebrity crush, this was gonna be a cute get-together fic but ended up sad

Requested: yes/no

The thing about Lando is that he never seems to stop talking.

He goes on and on until someone stops him or he stops himself.

They often stop him with a joking remark or look at him blankly until he realises.

And it's embarrassing every time. All Lando wants to do is jump into the nearest car and run it off the edge of a cliff.

People always laugh and tell him it's fine while others politely act like they don't notice.

The ones who end up being used to it always tell him they'll listen if he ever wants to rant.

They never mean it though.

The thing about people saying they'll listen to you is that they really mean that they'll sit there and nod while thinking about something else.

Lando likes to say that it doesn't bother him whenever he jokingly talks about it, but in truth, it stings to see them looking unfocused.

Like they don't care.

Oscar's different though.

He listens.

He really, truly listens.

He listens and he smiles- fuck, that smile and he cares and engages in conversation.

No matter how long Lando can talk for, Oscar's always there to share his thoughts.

It doesn't matter what time of day it is. Oscar always seems to have time for Lando.

Even when he calls him at 3 am in a panic about an upcoming race.

It's just one of the many reasons why Lando loves Oscar.

In fact, he carries a little brown notebook wherever he goes so he can write down the little endearing things Oscar does.

It's so ridiculous that he sometimes laughs openly whenever he thinks about it.

It feels like it's something straight out of a cheesy romcom, but he loves it anyway.

Some of his favourite ones (but let's be real, they're all his favourites) include;

-Always having time for him no matter what

-The little grin he always gives Lando whenever they lock eyes, a secretive smile, just for them.

-His concentration face every time he does something because he always tries at everything he does, and it's ridiculous how much he cares.

Oscar isn't aware of any of this or of the photo album in Lando's phone with saved edits from tiktok and more fan art than he's willing to admit.

And all the pictures he's taken whenever he wasn't looking.

The pictures are just for him, to admire and to miss when he's all alone in a club trying to squash down his feelings.

It feels an awful lot like having a celebrity crush.

Lando always gets so giddy every time he sees him in person and finds himself stalking Oscar's social media's and looking at posts that mention him.

He's even thought about asking for his autograph as a 'joke' and hanging it on his wall.

It's an obsession.

And like most celebrity crushes, he'll never have a chance.

The most obvious reason why is because they're teammates.

It's so conflicting, and whenever they have to get together to do something for the media, he has to physically restrain himself from blurting out everything he wants to say about Oscar's too perfect hair.

The second reason is that Oscar is definitely straight.

He's pretty much the definition of 'just some guy'.

And really, Lando could have anyone, but his heart chose the person who is the literal standing guy emoji?

It's quite an interesting choice.

They have these moments late at night when they're both tired after a long day of posing for the camera or trying their best but still not being the best in a race.

It's these moments where they curl up on a bed together in one of their hotel rooms, and Oscar lets Lando talk about anything and everything while he listens and rubs comforting circles on Lando's back.

He would never admit it to anyone, but he's cried a few times like this, head buried in Oscar's shoulder while he frets about his performance on the track and whether or not he's good enough.

No matter how many tear stains he leaves in Oscar's annoying papaya colored shirts and boring plain white shirts, Oscar always lets him cry.

When Lando is willing, he'll even offer some supporting words and help him through it.

Lando really couldn't ask for a better teammate.

Because that's all they'll ever be, just team mates.

Sometimes, when he's all alone in his empty hotel room, he lets himself wonder if the only reason he's still on the grid is because he's young and popular.

If the only reason why anybody wants him is because of his personality and if he didn't have that, wouldn't he have nothing?

Wouldn't he be nothing?

He's expressed these thoughts to Oscar, who immediately shot them down with an offended look as if it was about him and not about Lando.

"Why would you even think like that?"

He'd whispered one night, holding Lando's hand in his and for one stupid, blinding second Lando felt like his feelings might actually be reciprocated.

He really thought that just maybe, maybe he wouldn't be alone in the confusing and conflicting feelings he felt.

Feelings that made him feel like he was doing something wrong.

But it would've been so easy, to just lean in and kiss him.

People don't understand Lando.

They say that they do, but they don't.

Oscar's the one who changes that.

With his understanding smile and sparkly eyes he's the one that Lando would pick out of a crowd in a heartbeat.

He may seem boring or uninteresting to other people, but to Lando, he's something way more than that.

Oscar listens and doesn't make fun of Lando in the way others do.

Don't get him wrong, he's fine with people laughing at him, and Oscar laughs too, but it's just.. different.

Different in a refreshing way that makes Lando want more.

When they got their first podium together at Suzuka, Lando glanced over at Oscar and really felt like he could just grab him right then and show how much he loved him in front of the whole world.

But he would never dare to.

He was standing with a blinding smile, basking in the cheering, and he looked straight out of a fairytale.

And Lando wished so badly that he could get a fairytale ending with this stupidly endearing boy.

A happy ending is all that he could ever want.

#lando norris #oscar piastri #landoscar #f1 fic #formula 1 #f1 #oscar x lando #f1 fanfic #f1 oneshot #speedykiwi814

[itsclydebitches]

Not sure how I feel about anon bringing Yang not showing Salem empathy in that moment as a bad thing. Like if an immortal witch was trying to murder/kill all of my friends my reaction probably wouldn't be "how do you feel though"

That's been my response too, anon, though I understand where the previous anon is coming from. Though Salem started out as a generic Big Bad with no redeemable qualities, Volume 6 showed us a captive woman who was later tortured by the gods and sought death, only to find herself changed instead, thereby raising the question for the audience, "How much of the Big Bad's action is Salem and how much of it is the evil grimm magic acting upon her?" Just as important, Volume 8 gave us Cinder's backstory and a scene of her crying on the rooftop, alongside the forgiveness of Emerald and Hazel. I could go on another rant about how this sympathy didn't extent to Ironwood and, in a different way, didn't extend to Ozpin either, but outside of that there's been a very strong message of, "Abuse victims and people who have just generally suffered - lost a sister, lived on the streets - should be shown compassion and given a second chance," which becomes a problem when we consider that the most prominent villain with an abusive backstory since Volume 6 has not been extended that compassion. Gender dynamics aside, it's the same problem fans have with Adam's ending considering that his brand was revealed right before he died. The go-to explanations of, "But Adam was his own abuser who stalked Blake" and "Salem is literally trying to destroy the world" fall a little flat when pit against "But it's okay for Emerald to manipulate Pyrrha into killing Penny?" and "Hazel has also knowingly helped Salem try to take over the world. And also murdered countless huntsmen. And also was torturing a kid." It's not so easy to go, "The story shouldn't show them compassion because they're The Worst" when the story is already showing compassion to people who... are also The Worst. I say all this not as a way to excuse any one character's actions - I'm not in the business of going, "[insert horrific choice here] is fine actually!" - but rather to acknowledge that RWBY lacks a clear divide between what actions are forgivable and what actions are not. Fans aren't wrong to go, "If you expect me to feel for Cinder after everything she's done since Episode 1 and you expect me to laugh along with the cast after everything Emerald has done, why isn't Salem Adam Ironwood Ozpin getting that same sort of work?" Given the "trust love" message and the strong push to sympathize with/outright redeem heinous characters, a lot of fans are wondering why our cast hasn't even mentioned all the shit Salem went through. It's been months now since they watched Jinn's vision and they're accepting former villains into their ranks now because Life is Hard and they deserve that chance, but no one cares to even mention everything Salem went through and debate her own responsibility. Surely if they can forgive Emerald for willingly working with her, there's at least some room to discuss the question of Salem's morality in the context of two Gods' manipulations and a magical pool having some kind of impact on her. There's a disconnect here. The story can't go, "These heinous people are Good deep down, actually" without extending that to all our villains, Salem included.

(All of which, btw, is tied up in the frustration that the group hasn't discussed the vision at all. The question of Salem's morality is tied up in the question of her defeat. For example, if they decide they're not comfortable with killing her, that might lead to theories on how to contain her instead...)

So ALL OF THAT is churning in the back of fans' minds. I agree 100% that the group's capture was not the time to extend any sympathy for Salem and I've got posts out there saying the exact same as you, anon: "You really expect Yang to be compassionate after Salem was torturing Oscar, captured them, was planning to kill them, is attacking the city, and just reminded her of her dead mom? C'mon." The problem lies in the fact that we haven't gotten this kind of work anywhere else, the cast has barely mentioned Salem anywhere else - outside of freaking out over her arrival - so when a member of our main group is suddenly right next to her and they're discussing the concept of loss, some fans are like, "AHHHH TALK ABOUT WHAT SALEM HAS LOST TOO GODDAMMIT." It's putting an unfair expectation on Yang and the scene because, again, I don't think that was the time or place for discussing the nuances of morality in a fantasy setting, but because everything else around Salem has been so badly written, and Yang's scene was the closest we've ever gotten to scratching that itch... fans get frustrated that it didn't happen, no matter how unfair or ridiculous that frustration might seem. Really, I don't think fans, in a general sense, actually want Yang to sympathize with Salem then and there. That would be a whole other, messy can of worms given the context. But they want something and at this point "something" has become accepting even really bad versions of what they're looking for. Since no one discussed the vision at the farm, or at Argus, or any time in Atlas, fans are metaphorically throwing up their hands with a, "Well, if we have to delve into Salem's character only when she's doing the most damage in the entire series then fine! You didn't do it earlier when you should have, so this is just what we're left with! Better then nothing! I'm sick of watching Cinder cry and Emerald make quips and Hazel go out in a blaze of heroics and we still haven't even mentioned that our primary antagonist went through more shit than the three of them combined. Am I supposed to be compassionate towards the bad guys or not? Make up your mind, RWBY."

RWBY is a hot mess and the mistakes the story has made, sadly, are not easily separated from one another. Frustration over Yang's scene is prioritizing one problem over another. Namely, the problem of Salem's characterization over the problem of having your hero go "How do you feel though?" while the bad guy is about to kill her. RWBY has backed itself into a corner, both problems exist, but we can only easily discuss one at a time. Similarly, if someone goes, "Ugh they really need to work on Emerald's redemption in Volume 9" people are correct to go, "But if they do that then Volume 8 will look even worse since they've already forgiven her" or "But that's going to be so messy if they're flip-flopping between Vacuo and the island world. Should they even redeem her without the main girls around?" And it's like yes! Exactly! None of these are good options. RWBY has written a situation where ANY choice is going to be a problem on some level because none of this story has been well thought out. So it comes down to which problem an individual fan considers to be, well, more of a problem. In Yang's case it's going, "I will gladly sacrifice the integrity of this scene to get some acknowledgement of a theme that has existed for Salem since early Volume 6 and is now being heavily pushed on other characters in Volume 8. If a stupid moment where Yang is kind to Salem while she's captured is what it takes to start this conversation then fine. I'll take it. Especially when Oscar was kind to Hazel while captured and tortured. You already gave us the stupid scene - just do it again and actually get something out of it this time!"

It is, as said, a twisting, turning mess.

#rwby #rwde #mymetas

[nexyra]

What is your take on rwby chara's mbti types? I think

Weiss - xSTJ, thought that she was ESTJ at first but ISTJ makes a lot of sense too.

Winter - ESTJ

Pyrrha - ESFJ

Emerald - ISFJ (I've seen some ppl type her as INFJ but I don't see how she is a Ni dom?)

Whitley - ENTJ? I'm honestly not sure abt that..

Adam - fucked up xNFJ, probably INFJ (seen him typed as xNTJ but his delusional thinking process imo screams unhealthy Ti and I think his manipulation of Blake and the WF is more Fe than Te

Qrow - was thinking ISTP but with the more recent volumes I'm really not sure..

Penny - ENFP

Ozpin - Uuuuuh INTP maybe?? But I've seen some people type him as INFJ. INFJ 5w6 would make sense as to why he might appear as an INTP but idk..

Bartholomew- ENTP

Jaune - no fucking idea honestly

Ironwood - ENTJ

Sun - Seen ppl type him as ENFP but I don't see any Ne at all..,,ESFP?

Yang - ESxP, maybe ESTP

Cinder - INTJ

Mercury - ISTP

Oscar - ISFJ

Ren - ISTx?

Hello anon ! I see my love for typology hasn't gone unnoticed 😂 Thank you so much for the ask !

I prefer enneagram over MBTI because I find it easier to type; so fair warning that I'm not an authority on MBTI-typing. But I do have have an ongoing RWBY typing that includes MBTI sooo... here goes !

(I'm putting my ennea typings along with it, but not explaining them on this post)

➸ RWBYJNPR

Ruby • xNFP 6w7 9w1 2w3?

I just can't decide between the two fors Ruby because... it kind of goes both way ??? Like Ruby definitely feels as INFP for the first half of the series; she's got a clear Fi > Ne preference... But then when she develops her Tert in V6 it's just... Te ? And she really doesn't show much Si actually she fits more the Si inf vibe in the form of forgetting about bad memories and her mom until people dig it up and she's like "nooo !" ?? So it looks like Te > Si but also Fi > Ne; conclusion idfk

Weiss • ISTJ 1w2 6w5 3w4 sp/so

Clear Fi tert rearing its head along with the 1 so I'm going with ISTJ; I also never really saw any Ne. Her type isn't too disagreed upon so tell me if you want a lenghtier explanation.

Blake • ISFP 6w5 9w8 4w3 (in some order)

Wooh this might get the anger of some (i have experience with the INFJ typers) but Blake goddamn REEKS of Fi. Less so recently but for the first seasons oh my god. She straights up catch you by the shirt and tells you "I'm doing the right thing"; and said right thing is so heavily dependant on her own subjectives values, which is why Blake can't reconcile with the current White Fang; because she doesn't have a strong Je vision of "what objectively works in the end", she only sees actions in terms of immediate right and wrong, and this b&w dichotomy stems from herself. What the WF is doing is wrong and the circumstances don't matter for judging the morality of their actions (of course I'm not talking about murder here bc that's pretty wrong ALL THE TIME but for example the stealing occuring in V1 bc of the WF is a better example)

Yang • ESXP 7w8 8w7 2w3

I'm sorry about that but I can't help you on that aspect anon, I still can't make up my mind about whether Yang has Fi or Ti. I have seen arguments for both, and i'm not the best at picking up on Ti so it's hard for me to tell.

Jaune • ESFJ 6w7 3w2 9w1

No strong opinions on his MBTI, it's kinda just based on vibes

Nora • ENFP 6w7 9w8 3w2

Textbook ENFP, not much to say here x))

Pyrrha • XXFJ 2w1 1w2 6?

In my list Pyrrha is currently written down as ISFJ but that's mostly based on the general consensus and me wanting to get rid of the XX. I don't actually have any convincing arguments to decide on Ni or Si, so I could go either way if someone else makes their case well. I feel like she's Fe aux more than dom, but even about that I could change my mind. Pyrrha didn't have that much screentime in the end :((

Ren • ISTJ? 9w1 5w4 4w5

Ironically I'm not sure about his type, kind of like you. I've mentionned I'm not very good at picking up on Ti right ? And Ren was a background character before V4 really. I had him written down as ISTP for a while but I've seen some convincing arguments for ISTJ so I might lean toward that actually but who knows. The thing I'm very confident about is his 5 fix = )

➸ Faunus bonus

Sun • ESFP 7w6 2w3 9w1 so/sx

I don't see any Ne at all either so I don't understand the ENFP typings...?? Maybe the 7 stereotypes ? Imo Sun is just a very good boy; certified ESFP 7 himbo; triple positive sunshine !

Ilia • Ti-Fe axis ?

Again, not enough screentime for me to make an educated guess. My only certainty is : not high Fi. It's the source of their conflicts. Blake confidence in absolute right & wrong, tracing lines in the sand between acceptable & unacceptable. Whereas Ilia can only shake her head and say "Because it works", or cry out "I don't know what else to do !"

Adam • 3w4 8w7 6w5

I honestly don't really have much of an opinion about Adam's MBTI, i'm sorry anon ;; I don't know enough about how he thinks

➸ Oz-related things and his circle

Ozpin • INFJ 5w4 2w1 1w9

I would personally call him an INFJ. I... never really got INTP vibes from him ? I don't see the Fe inf work out with his interactions : he's always rather at ease, he knows how to navigate around people... His focus inherently lies on doing what's best for the "group", the people, humanity. Fx functions are both concerned with ethics, in different ways, and I think Oz reflects that well. He IS concerned with the moral weight of his actions, but it's a more adaptable and unpersonnal concern than Fi people. He regards Ironwood's soul machines as something wrong, but can still agree to use it if the situations demand it for example. So... if the INFJ + 5 makes sense to you, well that's what I'm typing him personally. I also feel like Ni fits him more than Ne. Ozpin has a very linear way of planning, he does use his fair share of symbolism in every day conversation... Even when taking decisions, he... kind of cares about the meaning of things a lot ? It's hard to explain but like; the way he highlights the difference between an army and a guardian, and the emotionnal response it brings. I don't know it feels like there's some Ni vibes in there x)

Oscar • ISFJ 9w8 6w7 3w2

Oscar's type honestly isn't the one I would have the easiest time explaining in lenght but yea. It's mostly vibes; also just like Ozpin he doesn't seem to have a particularly Fi reasonning. And he feels more grounded, I don't really remember any Ni so... yay ?

Ironwood • ENFJ 6w5 1w2 3w4 (pre-Vol8); ENTJ (post-Vol8)

Might be weird if you think he was a dictator from the start, but I kind of entertained the idea of Ironwood being Fe dom ? From his very first interaction it was very clear that he was a Je dom to me; he's all about objective results; he doesn't give off the "internal framework" or "personnal values" vibe AT ALL; so it was more a matter of picking Te or Fe. He LOOKS super Te don't get me wrong; but he also has an enneagram tritype that is very common amongst XXTJs (and TJs stereotypes thus derive from it). And just like Oz, his focus at all time seemed to be the greater good and doing what's best for the people still. So I was like... Eh, a "harsh" ENFJ I think that's interesting ? Plus Fe ethics actually derive from their environment, kinda like "everyone agrees that Y is wrong", and if you consider that James is from Atlas... Well his way of thinking and ethics align pretty well with the military.

His character took a turn for the worse in V8 (whether too quick or not depends on who you ask) and past that point he's a clear ENTJ; but I feel like it was more debatable before that. Idk though I might be overthinking this in the hope of making more interesting combinations xD

Qrow • ISTP 4w3 6w7? 1w9? sp/sx

I don't really see anything else than ISTP for Qrow... But he's not a character I would want to find Ti arguments for either.

Raven • ENTJ Cp6w5 8w9 3w4

Most villains get called ENTJ at the first occasions tbh zlqfznhqzkf but I think it fits Raven for the most part actually...

➸ Atlas

Winter • ESTJ 1w9 3w4 6w5

The whole Schnee family has the same enneagram tritype in different order/different wings, it's ridiculous I think she has a higher Te than Weiss, and Fi inf fits her more. She struggles more to reconcile with her emotions and the idea of a personal right/wrong than her little sis.

Penny • ENFP 4w3 6w7 9w1 sx/so

Perfect example of a healthy 4, she's a great friend a cutie pie. ... Sorry we were talking about MBTI x) Well again, textbook ENFP. Not much to debate here.

Whitley • 3w4 1w9 6w5?

Not enough material for me to guess a MBTI type correctly either, sorry... I could see some kind of xNTJ yea but it's really just vibes and not enough concrete.

➸ Antagonists and Extras

Cinder • 8w7 3w4 6w5

Never cared to guess her MBTI type. I hereby type her as insufferable qkfqskfq. More seriously, I don't really know sorry Anon :/

Emerald • 2w3 ?w? ?w?

I never got Fe vibes from her tbh, I just think she's a 2. And Fe as a function is very infused with 2 stereotypes. So yea. Like, she isn't even that worried about the morality of her actions or anything more than the other villains. She just cares more about her personal relationships and being loved, so she automatically looks much nicer, especially with 2 mechanisms of trying to make herself useful and needed. Also because she's surrounded by 8-ish people xD

Mercury • 8w9 7w8 ?w?

ISTP doesn't sound too farfeteched, but I never MBTI-typed him either, sorry.

+

Bartholomew Oobleck • xSxJ 5w4

The only vibe he gave me is Si somewhere because of all his talks about learning from the past and everything repeats itself and it's a mine of informations at Mountain Glen... That's really the only time I tried to put down anything for him, and it was Si + 5. He could be some kind of xNTP nerd too for sure, but that's more vibe and I couldn't make an actual argument for it.

#rwby #rwby thoughts #mbti #cognitive functions #enneagram #tritype #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #jaune arc #nora valkyrie #pyrrha nikos #lie ren #sun wukong #ilia amitola #adam taurus #ozpin #oscar pine #james ironwood #qrow branwen #raven branwen #winter schnee #penny polendina #whitley schnee #cinder fall #emerald sustrai #mercury black #bartholomew oobleck

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

BTS at Golden Disc Awards 2021

by Admin 1

On the 9th and 10th of January 2021 BTS attended the Golden Disc Awards, and performed on the second day as well. Being there they won the Digital Bonsang for Dynamite on the 9th and the Bonsang, as well as the Album Daesang for Map of the Soul : 7, on the 10th. Amazing achievements which I sincerely congratulate them on.

When it comes to the performance, it was, most certainly, another amazing collection of stages bringing something new once more, even if they presented songs we’ve already seen at previous award shows this season. The opening came in form of Black Swan, though they didn’t sing any of it. It was more an intro showcasing the entrance of the members and highlighted Yoongi’s return to the stage, at least partially. 

The stage featured big metal winds, low lighting, and the members clad in black and white clothing including leather elbow length gloves for Namjoon and Yoongi, and pretty chockers for Taehyung and Jimin. The highlight though was Jungkook’s hair which isn’t dark anymore, but instead has been bleached and dyed a pretty blond. Personally I think it suits him pretty well. 

More below the cut since this is shaping up to be pretty long:

Next up was ON, which was powerful and fierce, though still missing Yoongi, which is all too understandable. Even though he can stand on stage again and hold his mic in his left hand (his surgery was on the left shoulder), it will still be a while until he’ll be able to dance with the members. ON has certainly grown a lot on me and I enjoy their performances of it immensely, and it was much the case this time as well.

The transition from ON to Life Goes On came in form of the stage being made to look like their individual rooms from BE which appeared on the digital walls around them. Their clothes were mostly comfy, though Jimin’s resembled their outfits from all the way back during I NEED U/RUN era. The transition/VCR like moment ended with the instrumental to We Are Bulletproof : The Eternal and the stage looking much the way the MV did with the whale swimming around them in an ocean of shades of purple, blue and pink.

For Life Goes On they had miniature versions of some of their most iconic MV sets on pedestals. It was a really cute idea and I enjoyed the execution a lot. The members seemed relaxed and enjoying themselves, Jimin and Taehyung even having their little moment of looking at each other twice, these moments certainly having become something I always kind of look forward to when it comes to LGO stages. 

Another tiny Jimin and Taehyung detail was Jimin sending a brief, barely noticeable (by the viewer) finger heart which I hadn’t even noticed until my fourth rewatch. It definitely fits with all these other small gestures we’ve seen from these two in recent months, like the finger hearts and kissy faces during their Lotte Family Concert performance of Boy with Luv or hugging each other on day 1 and doing a fun handshake and dance on day 2 during Dionysus at the MOTS ON:E concert visible only on one of the side cameras, not the main one.

The grand finale was the Slow Jam remix of Dynamite which worked perfectly with the chill out lounge/bar atmosphere created on stage fitting with the Great Gatsby theme. The members wore mostly suits in white, blue in Namjoon’s case, and a bright yellow when it comes to Taehyung, as well as Hoseok who had a white button down which Tae did not. While a normal person would look ridiculous in it, Taehyung looked absolutely stunning and made it more than work. After so many energetic performances of Dynamite since its release, seeing such a calm version was really nice and refreshing, showing how versatile BTS and their music are, how they can captivate an audience with fast songs made for big choreographies and stage productions, but also these slow, more chill types of tracks. A marvelous idea, truly.

There was also an encore stage where they sang ON again but this time along with Yoongi on stage which had some hilarious moments, especially Namjoon and Seokjin being silly waving their arms around while kneeling opposite each other on stage during Jungkook’s bridge. Cute.

Afterward the members were at something like a red carpet after interview where they took pictures with their awards (Jungkook and Taehyung even making their Bonsang and Daesang awards kiss much the way film director Bong Joon Ho made his two Oscars kiss last year) and were asked to do a relay of saying something to each other. 

All translations of their words are taken from Vernal_Bom on twitter.

J-hope to Jimin 

“I didn’t feel lonely in 2020 thanks to Jimin. Thank you for making me laugh. Give me happiness and laugh in 2021 as well.”  Jimin (turning to Namjoon): “It seems he can never live without me” 

Honestly the bond between Jimin and Hoseok is so cute and wonderful and you can see, and hear in their words, how important they are to each other, and how grateful Hobi is. We know the members were having a really hard time in 2020 so it doesn’t surprise me that Hobi would highlight the other members, or in this case Jimin, as one of the main reasons why he made it through it. After all we also know that those two made a song together which unfortunately didn’t make it onto BE. Hopefully we might get it one day at least as SoundCloud release, or perhaps on the next album instead.

Jimin to RM 

It was you who made us pull ourselves together to go through 2020. I am always grateful, and it’d be nice if you share you height a little with me in 2021, be healthy and happy. RM: Okay thank you

I love how Jimin used this (public) opportunity to tell/remind Namjoon of how important he was for them especially in 2020, as leader and surely also as friend, yet still also made a little joke to still keep the atmosphere light. After he was done speaking Jimin also hugged Namjoon, which showed once more how tiny he is in comparison.

RM to JK 

It’s finally today, Jungkook-si, in 10 years! You are Golden Maknae! The day that you will prove your nickname! You are proving it right now with your hair color, but in 2021, I hope the year will be filled with gold, like your nickname. Stay healthy. Let’s ‘Jje-kkit-up’ together this year too! (check it up.. the usual Namjoon saying lol)

It’s quite something to think about and realize, isn’t it, this year 10 years pass since Jungkook became a BigHit trainee and moved into their first dorm with Namjoon, Hoseok, Yoongi and Seokjin. I’m curious if Bangtan, as well as BigHit, have some kind of plan for JK specifically for this year that Namjoon chose to highlight his Golden Maknae nickname in such a way, or if it was more of a reminder to JK, that he’s so worthy despite how he doubts himself, and despite how he himself said he’s been going through tough times in 2020.

JK to V 

V hyung, when we were trainees we were getting along so well, (V: We are not now???) No!!! i didn’t mean it. You are becoming so much of an stand-up (reliable, I assume in this context) guy. Thank you for doing all the schedules with us.  jhope: who’s hyung here?

The bond these two share might just be one of the biggest mysteries and causes for conflicts and fights within the fandom, or particular parts of it. After their conversation In The SOOP, I’d like to believe they’ve figured out whatever issue might've arisen between them in the past, found a way to solve and move past it slowly, and rekindled their friendship once more. Seeing at how well they’ve been getting along (on camera) these past few months, I think it might've been so. It’s curious to me though that JK chose to say this instead of something more akin to what Jimin said to Namjoon, or Hoseok to Jimin.

V to Jin 

V: (turns to Jin)  Jin: This is too close V: I listened to Abyss and that makes my heart ache too... Jin: Thank you V: hyung, your song is so good. Make more songs in 2021, let Army and us listen to your song more. Jin: Okayokay  V: and I play game with you to relieve stress.... sorry for talking in ban-mal (informal form). —(also speaking in informal way) Jin: No no it was so fun V: I love you Jin: I love you too

I absolutely adore the bond these two share and I love that Tae chose to say what he did. We know Seokjin has been going through a hard time in 2020, that he dealt with something I’d call imposter syndrome, so I’m glad we got to know even more about how Tae was there for him, something we otherwise would’ve never known. Certain people try to portray Tae as the one member that is almost estranged from his other members, who barely has anything to do with the group outside of schedules, and yet it’s moments like this--as well as Seokjin telling us in his birthday vlive that Tae organized for everyone including his non-BTS friends to send Seokjin birthday wishes in video form to show him how loved and appreciated he is--are the proof that those people are wrong. Tae is very close with his members, and he’s the ambassador of OT7 or nothing, the members his closest friends and brothers, his found and chosen family.

Jin to Suga 

Jin: Yoongi ya, do it well. Suga: Okay.... Jin: Do well on your rehab, and...uh... let’s do well going forward. Suga: Okay.. I will...

These two are so close yet due to their introverted nature their interactions such as this one are just so hilarious and adorable at the same time. Their dynamic is wonderful and this just seems like peak Yoongi-Jin behavior.

Suga to j-hope 

SG: (unable to look into hobi’s eyes) Our hobi JH: Suga! SG: You did work hard in 2020 (evading eye contact) JH: hahhahahah and? SG: Let’s not fall sick in 2021, and hwaiting...  JH: “Hwaiting hyung, and take good care of your health!”

The saga of Yoongi being unable to look Hoseok in the eye continues and it’s just as precious as ever. They stood so close, and while Yoongi wasn’t able to look into Hoseok’s eyes, it’s funny how he was the one who initiated the whole “them standing so close together” thing. I love the difference between how Seokjin didn’t even try to make eye-contact while Hoseok playfully challenged Yoongi and tried to coax him into it anyway knowing it’ll make Yoongi laugh and smile. It’s such a Yoongi-Hoseok thing, I love it.

And with that, the award was over and now also my post. I hope you enjoyed reading it! :3

#bts #bangtan seonyandan #golden disk awards #golden disc awards 2021 #jimin #taehyung #jungkook #namjoon #seokjin #yoongi #hoseok #vmin #namjin #life goes on #performance commentary #Vmin cute moments #Namjin being silly together #Yoongi is back! #bts gif

[thefactsofthematter]

spravey office romance but like... they're not cops and theyre nice to each other

ask and you shall recieve!! (two months after you asked... oops)

here is some good ol spavey, vaguely inspired by the office, where they are in fact nice to each other!!! its like 2.8k, modern au, and fuck it disabled!spot rights he’s in a wheelchair because i said so. here you go anon!!

-

"David... Davey. My office, now. Get in here."

Davey can't roll his eyes quite hard enough to express just how annoyed he is in this moment. Race shoots him a sympathetic look from across the office.

"Coming, Mr. Wiesel!" He's thankful his desk faces away from his boss's office, so he has time to school his expression into something happier before he turns around. "Can I help you with something?"

Now... Mr. Wiesel isn't the worst boss in the world. He really isn't. But he most certainly isn't the best either, despite what his favourite mug (that he probably bought for himself) might tell you. He's nice enough most of the time, and he seems to try his best... but god is he ever incompetent.

Like right now, he's probably going to task Davey with something that could've been handled by literally anyone else. Davey has actual work to do— he's not sure what Wiesel even does all day in that office of his, because he seems to delegate everything off to his unfortunate employees. He's a regional manager, in charge of sales and finances for the Manhattan branch of a major New York City newspaper, and yet he seems to have the brain of an actual goldfish.

"Secret meeting," Wiesel says, as Davey walks in. "Close the door behind you and sit down."

"It's not exactly a secret, sir," Davey replies, though he does as he's told anyways, settling into a chair once the door is closed. "You yelled across the office to tell me about it."

Also, he's immediately going to disclose every detail of the meeting to Race and Jack as soon as they're done in here, but Wiesel doesn't need to know that.

"Details, shmetails," scoffs Wiesel. "I have an important job for you."

This can't possibly be good.

"I have a lot of other work to do," Davey sighs. He truly does— he's the head of accounting for their office, and they're in the middle of a company audit. "Jack didn't look that busy, I'm sure you could give him something to entertain himself with."

Jack works in sales— which basically just means he has to convince distributors that newspapers totally aren't a dying medium, and they should definitely keep buying their copies to sell. He's remarkably good at selling newspapers, but he's also easily distracted and seems to have far too much time to plan stupid office pranks.

"I don't trust Jack. Salesmen... they're too charming. You never know what they're up to."

Okay, so Wiesel is batshit fucking insane. This is, unfortunately, par for the course that is trying to hold any kind of conversation with him.

"What is it you need me to do, sir?" Davey is beyond exasperated. Why he of all people had to become Wiesel's favourite employee, he'll never understand. "Again, I'm already very busy."

"It won't take long, don't worry." Wiesel smiles wide. "I want you to be our official welcoming committee. We're getting a new employee."

Davey can't physically stop his eyebrows from shooting up, practically to his hairline. What?

"Look, boss, the audit isn't finished yet, but I can tell you that it makes absolutely no financial sense to hire someone new right now." He knows he's talking to a stubborn brick wall, but he continues anyways. "We're barely turning a profit, and some of our numbers don't make any sense. Why do we have two janitors?"

"I wanted to give my nephews a head start in the industry!"

"The... custodian industry?"

"Morris and Oscar are smart boys, they'll make something out of it." Wiesel shakes his head. "Anyways, we're just getting a transfer from the Brooklyn office. He won't even be on our payroll. Corporate is sending him in because they think our office is... unproductive."

It's like it physically pains him to say that last word, though Davey knows it to be true. He wouldn't be surprised if they get downsized in the near future.

"Okay..." Davey sighs. "You just want me to say hi to him, then?"

"More than that, David. Show him around. Give him the good ol' World Welcome."

"Is that a thing? Am I hazing him?"

"Oh my god, yeah—"

"No." Davey cuts him off before that idea can escalate, regretting that he even brought it up. "Okay, I'm going back to work. I'll say hi to him when he gets here."

-

Rather than go back to his own corner of the office, Davey makes a beeline for Race's desk.

"Did you know we're getting a new guy?"

Race, being the receptionist and all, generally keeps track of anyone who comes and goes from the office. However, he's either hungover or high a good fifty percent of the time, so he's not the most reliable source.

"I think I was probably supposed to know that," Race says, frowning at his computer. "I skip the emails that don't look important. Lemme go check."

"A new guy, huh?" Jack asks, sauntering over from his desk, which is only like ten feet away. "I need to start planning a welcome prank."

"No, you absolutely do not."

Before Jack can go off on some prank-related tangent, Race interrupts.

"Found it! Weasel emailed me this morning. He said: New guy is called Sean Conlon. Transferring in from Brooklyn for a week. I heard a rumour that he doesn't have legs."

The three of them share a moment of confused silence.

"Maybe he'll get along with Crutchie," Jack offers. "You know... since he only has one leg, and this guy has no legs. They could, like, bond."

Davey chokes on a laugh— he definitely feels like he shouldn't be laughing, but he can never help it when Jack says shit like that.

"Okay, I'm glad you got that out now. You know how badly Weasel handles sensitivity training, so let's avoid it if we can."

Their last round of sensitivity training was due to Wiesel's running gag of only speaking to Jack in broken Spanish. Jack is originally from New Mexico, he's Navajo, and he doesn't even speak Spanish. Jack thought it was hilarious (while ridiculously offensive), but it was making the entire office uncomfortable, so someone must have anonymously called it in to corporate.

"You mean we can spend a whole day listening to Weasel tell us he's not racist again? Sounds like a party." Jack laughs. "But yeah, I'm not stupid. I'm not gonna make fun of a guy with no legs."

"We don't even know that he doesn't have legs," Race interjects. "At this point I don't believe anything Weasel says, especially if he's willing to admit it's a rumour. Where did he even hear that?"

Davey shrugs.

"Who knows. Legs or not, we're gonna be nice to the new guy. Weasel made me the designated welcoming committee, so I'm officially adding you two to my team."

"Extra work?" asks Race. "Not happening."

"You've been playing the Sims all morning. You haven't been doing any work," Jack points out. "Can we go on a donut run at lunch and have a staff party for him?"

Davey can do nothing more than sigh. There's no reasoning with Jack when it comes to his obsession with throwing pointless staff parties.

"Sure. Whatever. No balloons, though."

And that's that— they head back to their own desks and wait for the new guy to show up.

-

The elevator dings about twenty minutes later.

The guy does, in fact, have legs— though he's using a wheelchair, so they must not work very well. That's probably where Wiesel got the rumour from. He's got a grumpy look on his face, like he's not particularly thrilled to be here, and a messenger bag on his lap. Above all, Davey notices, the new guy is really fucking hot.

He makes his way over to Race's desk to check in, and Davey decides to wait a moment before going over to introduce himself, so as to seem like he hasn't been obsessively watching the elevator for his arrival. He needs to compose himself— his tie is feeling a little too tight. Holy shit, that man is so beautiful.

Race, ever the professional, pulls out one AirPod to greet the new guy, and they have a short conversation that Davey can't quite overhear. It ends with Race shouting Davey, come here! because apparently no one in this office knows how to use the paging system built into the phones on everyone's desks.

"You called?" Davey sighs, as he approaches the reception desk. "I don't sit that far away, you really don't need to yell."

"Yelling gets things done," says Race with a shrug. He gestures to the new guy. "This is Sean, he's the assistant manager from the Brooklyn branch. Sean, this is Davey. He's the manager's assistant at our branch."

"I'm not Weasel's assistant," hisses Davey, glaring at Race. "I'm just bad at saying no to him." He turns to Sean and extends a hand to shake. "David Jacobs, head of accounting. Sorry about Anthony— I swear we're not all like this."

Race scoffs.

"Please, I'm hilarious and everyone loves me."

Davey and Sean both pointedly ignore him.

"It's nice to meet you," Sean says, with a handshake so firm that Davey nearly goes weak in the knees. "I'm looking forward to getting to know this location."

God, he's a sucker for a professional. This is either going to be the best or the worst week ever, and Davey has no clue which way it'll go.

-

He shows Sean to his desk, manages to stop Jack and Crutchie from setting off a party popper behind his head as a welcome prank, and then finally tries to get back to what's he's actually supposed to be doing.

It doesn't last long— he gets a text from Race just a few minutes after sitting down.

Racer: new guy is fiiiiine as hell ain't he Racer: i mean just look at that smoulder while he works

Davey: he's too old for you, don't even think about it.

Racer: heyyy i'm 19 now >:(

Davey: and he's gotta be at least 25 Davey: not happening, kiddo

Racer: look at me

Davey looks up from his phone, only to see Race flipping him off. Okay then.

Race somehow got hired here straight out of high school, while everyone else in the office has at least some college education— making him the baby of the bunch. While hilariously incompetent at his job, he is fun to be around, so Wiesel has kept him on. He's become Davey and Jack's pseudo-little-brother, much to his annoyance.

Anyways... back to the audit. Davey can hardly focus. Sean is sitting right across from him, and he feels like a stupid teenager with a crush on someone in his class because he just can't draw his eyes away. The morning goes smoothly, though, apart from Davey's heart fluttering a little every time he looks at Sean. In fact, it almost feels too good to be true... until Wiesel finally emerges from his office.

"A wheelchair!" is the first thing he shouts, which makes Davey want to smash his head through his computer screen and then throw himself out the window. So much for his hopes of avoiding sensitivity training. "Isn't that neat! You must be our new friend from Brooklyn."

Sean looks almost stunned, which is the most emotion he's shown since he got here.

"Sean Conlon," he says, slowly and confused, definitely offended, but still sticking out a hand to shake. "Um... I take it you're the branch manager. Is the wheelchair going to be a problem?"

"Oh, god no!" Wiesel replies, shaking Sean's hand far too enthusiastically. "We love disabled people here. I mean, hell, David over here is gay!"

Davey very nearly spontaneously combusts with the heat that immediately rises to his cheeks. He ducks his head a little to hide the blush and avoid eye contact with anyone. He's certainly not the only queer in the office, but he's somehow the only one Wiesel has picked up on, and he loves to make stupid comments about it. Davey is simply far too awkward to stand up for himself when it happens.

"That's... not a disability." When Davey looks up, Sean is staring Wiesel down with a look that screams you're getting fired if there's anything I can do about it. "Frankly, that's incredibly rude to both David and myself. Is this the standard of conduct you set for your employees?"

"Woah," Wiesel immediately starts to backpedal. "Calm down Mr. Professional! It's just a joke between friends."

Sean's expression doesn't change.

"Jokes are supposed to be funny."

From a few desks away, Jack and Crutchie burst into silent, muffled laughter, while Davey shoots them a desperate look. What the fuck does he say? The entire office has gone quiet, watching the standoff go down.

"Davey!" Wiesel says, frantically. "You thought it was funny, right?"

Davey swallows nervously.

"Actually, it's really hurtful when you say stuff like that." He's shaking a little— standing up for himself is not something he typically does. "My identity isn't a joke. It's part of who I am."

Wiesel doesn't seem to know what to say, and Davey can do nothing but wait for some kind of response. His face is burning and his palms are sweaty— it's humiliating.

"Period! You tell him, Davey!" Jack shouts, from his desk, which instantly breaks some of the tension. "Get his ass!"

"I think I'll be taking this up with HR," Sean says, once Wiesel has been quiet a little too long. He's so smooth with it that Davey's heart flutters a little. "I'm getting a sense that this is a running issue— I'd like them to have a look into your position here at the company. It was nice to meet you, though."

And then he turns back to his computer to work on whatever he was doing. Holy shit. There's a general rustling of papers and clicking of mouses around the room as everyone follows his lead, and Davey has to bite back a smile. It felt kind of good to stick it to Weasel.

-

The work day is pretty much over, Davey is packing up, and he really wants to figure out a way to make conversation with Sean.

He's so cool. He's so damn cool, and he's hot, and he's well-spoken and professional... Davey is desperate to at least be his friend. It's a Monday, not typically a night he'd go out for happy hour after work, but he's considering making plans anyways. He is the welcoming committee after all.

He shoots off a group text to Race, Jack and Crutchie, suggesting a little welcoming party at their usual bar down the block, and everyone drops a like on it within moments. Perfect.

"Hey," he leans over the little gap between their desks and can't stop himself from smiling. "A few of us are gonna go for drinks once we clock out, and you're more than welcome to join us."

Sean finally cracks a real smile, and Davey nearly passes out. He's gorgeous.

"Really?" He looks so happy just to be included. "That sounds fun, I'd love to."

-

"I'm really sorry about earlier."

Davey and Sean sit at a table, while Jack and Race play pool, and Crutchie tries his best to make a move on the bartender that he's been crushing on for ages. It never quite goes his way, but his commitment to the cause is admirable.

"What?" Davey asks. "Why? It was so nice of you to stick up for me!"

"I just feel bad that you got dragged into it," Sean sighs. "I mean, um... I'm gay too. So I kinda know how it feels when people say stuff like that, and sometimes it really is easier to brush it off. I didn't mean for you to get put on the spot like that."

Davey shrugs, trying to play off the way his heart has begun to flutter with the knowledge that he might have a chance— Sean is gay! This is too good to be true.

"It felt good to finally say something," Davey chuckles. "It was about time someone put him in his place. He's old and out-of-touch."

"And an asshole."

Davey laughs, loud and abruptly.

"Yeah, you're right. He's an asshole." He pauses, unable to stop smiling. "I'm gonna go grab another beer, can I buy you one?"

Sean, once again, looks surprised that Davey is being so nice to him, and his face breaks into that incredible grin from before.

"Sure, yeah! That'd be nice! Thank you so much."

And if the evening ends with a folded up napkin with a messily scribbled phone number and a note about the stupid nickname all my friends usually call me being casually slipped into Davey's back pocket... well, that's no one's business but Davey and Spot's.

#spavey #davey jacobs #spot conlon #racetrack higgins #jack kelly #newsies #newsies fic #my writing #my tag list hasn’t been updated in a very long time so i’m gonna scrap it and make a new one if there’s interest #let me know if you wanna be tagged in the future

[theonceoverthinker]

Wow...100 Fair Game HC’s...how do you PROPOSE we celebrate something like that?

Yup...it’s time, Fair Game Buddies.

You’ve waited patiently for it (By not knowing you were waiting for it, granted, but still, cookies for all of you), and now, here it is!

...

No, you’re not getting a Fair Game proposal.

Don’t be ridiculous!

...

...You’re getting two…

Surprise...

YES!

Look, there are many interpretations about how the Fair Game Proposal would work, and for good reason! There’s a crazy amount of variables concerning who would propose, what hijinks regarding their semblances would ensue, and who might be there to see it unfold!Basically, there’s a LOT to work with with these two and the art of proposing!

And for my 100th HC, it felt appropriate to give the limelight to both Qrow and Clover, since whoever was going to propose was inevitably going to get most of the focus in the HC, and I wanted a bit more balance. So I figured I’d give you a “choose your own proposal” surprise!!!

Okay! On with the show! Let’s get to it!

Everything is going under the cut because this is LONG! But hey -- your HC’s only turn 100 once, so go big or go home!!!

Clover’s Proposal

For Clover, the moment when he knew he wanted to propose to Qrow and the moment he realized he was in love with Qrow were one and the same. But part of being in love is knowing your partner, and while Clover was probably ready to marry Qrow from as far back as the moment they left Atlas together, he knows Qrow needs more time to parse out these kinds of feelings. It’s only when he gets a strong sense that Qrow’s ready for that big step does Clover start to prepare for it.

But that presents its own challenges.

Planning big events for Qrow is tough. Clover likes making a big show of things -- he wants to show the world that the things and people in his life give him pride and make him so happy. But Qrow has always been more introverted in that respect, and Clover’s always done his best to work with that. 

But this is his proposal -- one of those few once-in-a-lifetime events, and Clover can’t help but want to make a spectacle of things.

He goes to Ruby, Yang, and Tai on a solo trip in search of their blessing and after getting it (A topic for one of these for another day, perhaps), asks for their opinions on the best way to pop the question. During their conversation, Clover gets an idea, but it’s not from anything they say (GOD, is it not that -- “Ruby, I don’t think filling a pool with chocolate is a good idea”) -- but instead, it’s from them just being themselves.

Finally, he knows what will make this proposal special for both of them.

About a week later, Tai invites Qrow and Clover for a dinner party. It’s a regular occurrence in their lives, but it’s normally a small affair. Qrow doesn’t find out until they get there that more than just team RWBY, Zwei and Tai are in attendance as well as he and Clover are. No, it’s also team JNR, Oscar, Maria, Pietro (If he’s still alive), the Ace Ops (If they and Clover are still on good terms), Robyn, the Happy Huntresses, and Penny!

Clover looks to Qrow -- after all, he’s well aware that Qrow and big groups can be pretty hit-or-miss at times -- and asks if he’s okay with the unexpected crowd. 

But Qrow, looking about as relaxed as he ever has in his life, smiles back.

“Yeah, it’s family.”

Clover can tell that proposal or not, he’s a part of that population. 

He nearly drops on his knees to pop the question right there and then.

It’s only a sheer dedication to showmanship that keeps him on his feet as they enter. 

Dinner goes nicely as always, and afterwards, they all gather into the living room for a relaxing time. It’s so packed with people that Qrow and Clover share a cushion on the couch, utterly pressed into each other’s sides.

Suddenly, Ruby calls over Qrow’s attention.

“Catch!” she says, tossing a green coin bag into the air. 

Qrow and his nieces do that all the time -- tossing things casually to each other, and catching them just as casually. It’s pretty impressive how in sync they are with that -- though it’s pretty scary for Clover when he’s close to the hurled object.

But unlike all of the other times they’ve done this, Ruby’s throw doesn’t reach Qrow. Instead, it lands on Jaune’s lap, who is across the room from them.

Just out of Qrow’s line of sight, Clover smirks. 

The plan’s now underway.

“Your aim’s getting worse, kid,” Qrow teases, looking at his niece with all the cockiness in the world. “Looks like it’s all downhill from here for you.”

“That’s not funny, Uncle Qrow!” Ruby shouts at him.

Jaune then throws the bag to Qrow, but it goes just a bit over his head and lands in Blake’s hand instead. Blake then attempts to throw it over to Qrow, but it tumbles out of her hand just before she can throw it and lands in Maria’s hand. And from person to person, the bag makes its way to just about everyone in the room EXCEPT for Qrow. 

Clover can see Qrow looking at everyone, stupefied -- frustrated at first, but after the first six or so throws, only partially. By the time it’s passed ten people’s hands, Clover can tell his frustration has melted into curiosity.

Finally, Penny collects the bag and gives it a throw that makes it seem like it will land in Qrow’s grasp for sure, but just before it can, Clover hand gets in the way of Qrow’s own and grabs the bag for himself. 

“You too, Clover?”

Clover merely shrugs at him, and looks in the bag for himself. 

“Very nice,” he comments, innocently smiling. 

“What the hell is in there?” Qrow asks, more to anyone who will give him an answer rather than just Clover.

A smile -- one Clover himself can tell is probably not without the tiniest pinch of worry -- crosses his face, and finally, Clover slowly opens the bag, revealing the green velvet box hiding inside, and pops it open.

Qrow goes silent as he looks at the ring, and it’s at this moment that Clover knows he grabbed a real winner.

He looks back to Clover, and Clover can feel himself growing a little bit more worried and a lot more excited. Without taking his eyes off of Qrow, Clover pulls himself off the couch and lands on the floor on one knee.

“I was thinking about the best way to do this,” Clover explains. “We’re both so different, and I know you like more intimate moments, but I wanted this to make this as memorable as I can, and-”

Qrow chuckles, interrupting him. “Never thought I’d see the day where you started nervously rambling.”

Clover laughs. “Shut up!” he chastises, smiling and chuckling even as he says it. “Anyway, I realized that the best way to do that would be to have everyone close to us -- friends and family alike -- here to witness this. It felt like a good compromise between big, and intimate.”

“Clover, you’ve always been corny, but that is without a doubt THE corniest thing you’ve ever said.” 

With a smirk and a wink, Clover nudges Qrow’s knee. “Well, what can I say? You make me feel a little corny, so this is really your fault.”

Qrow mirrors Clover’s prior actions and nudges Clover’s arm. “Not a good idea to blame someone for something when you’re trying to get them to marry you.”

“Fair point,” Clover concedes.

“Can we get back to the proposal?!” Ruby calls out, causing everyone in the room -- Qrow and Clover included -- to laugh. 

Clover takes Qrow’s hand, holding it even more dearly than even the ring in his other.

“So what do you say, Qrow? Will you marry me?”

Qrow looks utterly speechless. Bits of tears well up in the corners of his eyes, though they don’t fall.

He takes a deep breath, and with a smile, finally speaks.

“Yes,” Qrow murmurs, passion seeping through the relative quietness of his words. Clover feels a weight in his chest he didn’t dare acknowledge before life above the wave of relief that hits him. Qrow pulls him up and onto his lap, catching him in a tight hug while everyone cheers.

As they exchange looks, words, hugs, and kisses of endearment, Clover knows without a doubt that this is an amazing start to what will absolutely be an amazing life together.

Qrow’s Proposal

Qrow has never been a sappy guy, but Clover has a way of birthing some sappiness in him. Nowhere is this more apparent in the moment that makes Qrow want to propose. When Clover surprises him with a night in watching movies and snuggling with takeout on Valentine’s Day after an afternoon spent fighting some of the most vicious Grimm he’s ever come across, Qrow knows that this life they share is all he wants for the rest of his stay on this mortal coil, and he can’t wait to let Clover know that, too.

He starts planning out his proposal immediately. Research is done about times of the year that historically have the best weather. Meaningful locales of their lives together are compiled and narrowed down until one remains. If there are living people in Clover’s life to ask for blessings, he does so (And in the most awkwardly adorable way possible, may I add). Secret day trips are taken to various locations to scope out their various qualities.

A ring is purchased.

And finally, Qrow comes up with exactly how he’s going to propose, and if it goes as planned, it’s going to make for one hell of a memorable experience.

It’s not rare for Qrow and Clover to visit Mantle these days. Robyn invites them out there from time to time to get together and for double dates with her and Fiona. Clover has other people he knows there as well, and also likes visiting Atlas to check on its post-war progress and leadership -- and that’s not even getting into all that Mantle’s rather diverse culinary scene has to offer. Because of that, it’s not out of left field for Qrow to suggest they visit Mantle together to go to some restaurant they’ve previously talked about trying -- after all, there are quite a few of those that they still haven’t gone to, and even without the company of their local friends, they can still enjoy a night out together. Naturally, Clover agrees, and a few days later, they’re walking Mantle’s streets to grab a bite to eat. 

Dinner is nice as always, and afterwards, Qrow suggests they go for a walk around the town. It’s late enough that most people have settled in for the evening, leaving the roads and sidewalks nice and empty, but not too late that Qrow needs to worry about Clover wanting to turn in ahead of schedule. So with shoulders leaning on each other, Qrow and Clover stroll Mantle’s quiet and comfortable streets.

There’s a lot of reminiscing done, and as usual, it’s mostly done by Clover. He always seems to have two or three new stories pop up in his memories about his life in Solitas every time they visit, and they’re always the right blend of entertaining, seemingly impossible, and totally plausible only for Clover Ebi. 

However, when they walk past Pietro’s laboratory, it’s Qrow who finally gets the chance to do some reminiscing. 

“Do you know where we are now?” Qrow asks, confident that Clover knows.

And as to not disappoint for even a second, Clover smiles at him, with the same knowing look in his eyes he’s had all night.

“This is where we met,” he says, answering a question he likely knows needs no answering in the first place.

Qrow separates from him and walks into the empty streets.

“Who’d have thought all that time ago that this is where we’d end up? After all, it wasn’t exactly love at first sight that first night.”

Clover approaches him, mock hurt all over his face, up to and including a hand to his mouth.

Drama king.

“Are you saying you didn’t fall for me the moment you saw me stand above your bound-up body?”

Qrow smirks. “What I’m saying is that that smirk of yours is an...acquired taste, to say the least.” He then snorts, backing up just a little bit more. 

“To be fair, it didn’t take THAT long afterwards for you to acquire it.” Clover winks. A wink like that when they first met would’ve turned Qrow into a blushing mess, but now, Qrow can not only take them, but give them back just as easily.

And so he does.

“You’re not wrong,” he says right afterwards. “But maybe I just needed to look at it from the right angle. In Mantle at night, you don’t always get the best lighting, especially when you have to stare up at him from the ground. It can make even the most handsome of guys look a little weird.” Qrow’s smirk deepens. He’s not sure of Clover’s realized this yet, but as he pulls his first surprise of the evening out of his pockets, he knows it doesn’t even matter. “But don’t take my word as gospel. You tell me.”

Clover has no time to prepare as the bolas hidden until  just now move from Qrow’s pocket to his hand and hurdle towards Clover’s ankles. Disbelief takes over Clover’s features, and gracelessly, he falls to the floor.

Despite the oddness of it all, everything is going exactly according to plan.

“So tell me, how do you like the view from down there?” Qrow asks.

From memory, Qrow recreates the moment their lives collided for the first time, stepping in just the same way that Clover did so long ago. Clover, clearly more than a little freaked out, looks up at him, just as he anticipated.

He smirks as he sees Clover try to piece together just what he’s doing, but remains calm with the knowledge that all will be revealed in just a few moments.

And finally, as to truly recreate the scene, in the place of the horseshoe Clover fiddled with during their original encounter, Qrow spins the loop of a small, red velvet coin bag casually around his finger. 

Well, he spins it until the bag falls OFF his finger and hits Clover square in the eye, that is.

“Ow!” Clover shouts!” Clover shouts, completely thrown off, as his hands rush to soothe his now pulsing eye. Qrow can’t exactly blame him, because now, so is he.

“I-I,” Qrow stammers, attempting to explain himself, but unable to come up with the words to do so. 

Why can’t his semblance just restrain itself for one night?

“Qrow, what the hell’s going on?” One of Clover’s hands pushes the bag that hit his eye out of the way, and just as it tumbles off of his face, the loosened bag releases its singular content -- a velvet red box. While the contents of that box remain hidden, it’s completely obvious to anyone with a brain.

And Clover Ebi definitely has a brain.

Well, it looks like the secret is out.

Both Qrow and Clover are suddenly bereft of speech for a moment as Qrow takes in the fact that his plan has all but collapsed in a matter of ten seconds, and Clover takes in the box’s mere existence. Clover looks from Qrow to the box, and back again.

“Qrow,” Clover says, apparently so frozen by shock that he can’t find it in himself to move, “is that-?”

“Yeah,” Qrow says, quickly and now very nervously. He sighs, massaging his eyelids with his fingers as that very sigh morphs into a groan. “God, these things can never just happen normally, can they?”

And then, Qrow hears the sound that takes all of his anxiety away -- Clover laughing. Qrow opens his eyes to confirm what his ears tell him. Clover, now smiling, shakes his head. “No, they can’t, but it would be boring if they did, wouldn’t it?”

Qrow allows a smile that’s bursting on his lips to bloom fully. 

“Well, we’re definitely not boring,” he concedes. Another awkward pause, albeit less so than moments ago, takes place. They both smile at each other and after a few beats, Clover -- still on the ground -- gestures with his eyes towards the ring.

“So, you gonna continue?” he asks excitedly.

“Y-yeah.” Qrow grabs the box from in front of Clover and gets down on one knee. “Clover, I-” He stops and takes a deep breath. “I think you know by now that my days are never normal. They never have been either, for better or worse. And for the longest time, I wished they would be. To be honest, don’t think I’ll ever know the definition of a normal day.” Qrow sighs once more, his smile deepening, as he opens the box to reveal his ring. “But I wouldn’t trade a chaotic day with you for all the normal days in the world without you. Clover-”

“Yes,” Clover responds, with not an ounce of fear in him.

Qrow smirks. “You gonna let me finish?”

Clover raises a hand to his mouth. “Sorry!” he squeaks. “Go on!”

“Clover, will you-”

“Yes,” Clover interrupts. 

“Clover!” Qrow shouts.

“Sorry!”

While Qrow loves Clover’s enthusiasm, he doesn’t allow that to happen a third time.

“Clover, will you marry me?” he rushes out of his mouth, breathing as if he’d just run a marathon when he’s finally finished.

And of course, only now does Clover pause for a second.

“Yes,” he says when that second is over, warmly and with so much meaning packed into the tiny word.

Qrow takes Clover into his arms, lifting him up so they can kiss. When the kiss finally breaks, Clover tries to get up, but both he and Qrow are reminded of the bolas Qrow threw on him earlier. With the biggest grin he swear he’s ever sported, Qrow frees Clover out of them and pulls Clover close as he at last rises.

Life will never be normal for Qrow -- Qrow knows that well after the years he’s already spent in this world -- but as long as he has Clover by his side, he knows that the chaos life throws at him will be worth living with.

And now with his ring on Clover’s finger, he can hardly wait to make that future a reality.

Guys, thank you so much for following me across these 100 HC’s! It has been nothing short of a pleasure to take this trip alongside you all, and I hope you’ll stay with me for as long as I make these!!!

Tagging @homokinetic @skybird13 @whipped4qrow @mooksie01 @luck-of-the-caw @xwildangel @solitude-of-stars @magneto-is-neato @o0nashipear0o @unfairgamey @doctorrwby @clover-and-co @megan-atthedisco @wash-my-brain @bisexualdisasterqrow @baelonthebrave @doubledexterity @rwby-things-i-guess @atlas-heartthrob @the-answer-was-bi-klance @compoterie @thuskindlyiboop @oceansquid @transdemion @deltastream21 @mimiori @xya-hunter @delta-altair @genderfluidturtle @roman-torchtwink @subatomictealeaves @drbtinglecannon

Want to be tagged in future Fair Game HC’s? Of course, you do! So send me a reply, PM, or ask to be added, and I’ll grant your greatest wish! XD

#fair game #qrow branwen #clover ebi #rwby #lucky charms #qrover #luckbirds #luck birds #fair game hcs #100

[365days365movies]

April 10, 2021: The Graduate (1967) (Recap: Part One)

Some Like it Hot got Oscar-stiffed. So did this film!

This film got seven nominations at the 1968 Oscars, and took home Best Director and NOTHING else. It was nominated for Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay, and Cinematography, and got NONE of them. Hot damn! That surprises me, because this film is RIDICULOUSLY iconic.

I mean, hell, The Simpsons has homaged it at least twice, which I know from the above GIF and the following GIF. And in that one, the teacher in the background is Dustin Hoffman, HOMAGING HIMSELF

There’s been a stage adaptation, AFI called it the 17th best movie of all time in 2007, while also putting it on 5 other lists, and but it on the Movie Quotes list TWICE! Leonard Maltin’s seen it before he dies, the Library of Congress has it in their collection, and it launched Dustin Hoffman’s career into the goddamn atmosphere!  And that’s not even mentioning the one thing I’m looking forward to the most:

The music.

Look, I’m not exactly a big music nerd, by ANY means. I’ve heard songs, but can rarely identify the band or person playing them. I was in an acapella group, a steel band, and chamber orchestra, so I’m no foreigner to music. I’m just...not a big music nerd. But I DO know Simon and Garfunkel, and the more I hear of them, the more I like them.

Scarborough Fair/Canticle, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Mrs. Robinson, Cecilia, I Am a Rock, ALL of them are good classic folk rock songs that are easy to remember. AND I KNOW IT’S LAME TO LIKE FOLK ROCK I DO NOT CARE SUE ME IF YOU MUST. Oh, and I didn’t even mention the most famous of their songs, whose fame was aided by this film’s success. But, uh...I’ll hold onto it for now.

In fact, for now, let’s just jump into the film in and of itself! The Graduate is a classic, and it’s been on my list for a while. It’s more of a romantic comedy, but it’s primarily a comedy (from my understanding), so it’s fitting that I throw it in here. Let’s go!

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

We start on a plane as it lands, joining Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), as he leaves the plane and walks through the airport. We also start right away with a BANGER, and the most iconic song on this film’s soundtrack: The Sound of Silence.

Classic. CLASSIC! One of their best! Not my favorite, but one of their best for sure! But OK, after that, we get to know Benjamin a bit more. He’s a recent college graduate and in a state of melancholy, not quite knowing what to do or how to feel about his new situation. This is to the confusion of his father, Mr. Braddock (William Daniels) and his mother, Mrs. Braddock (Elizabeth Wilson).

Urged to attend the party in his honor, he reluctantly goes downstairs, where he’s absolutely accosted (nearly assaulted) by all of his parents’ friends. One of these friends, Mr. Maguire (Walter Brooke), somewhat awkwardly pulls him to the side, and brings him out side. He wants to say one word to him. Just one word.

After that...interaction, Ben takes the opportunity to escape, as all of his accomplishments are being read out loud to the throngs. And I have to say, you can feel just how overwhelming all of this is for him. It’s a palpable anxiety. He goes back to his room to get away from everybody and just look at his fish tank. Just a celebration of the introvert’s experience right here, and I can dig it.

But this private reverie is interrupted by the barging in of one Mrs. Robinson (Katharine Ross), who pretends to have mistaken his room for the bathroom, but sits down and smokes anyway, despite his protests. She asks what making him upset, and notes that’s it’s more of a general feeling than a specific one. She understands and readies herself to leave, but not before asking him to give her a ride home. He reluctantly accepts, and takes her home. She invites him in through some subtle manipulation and...well, you know where this is headed.

An absolutely classic line and classic exchange, and I’m kind of surprised that it happens this soon into the movie, to be honest! She denies the accusation...kind of, and he asks her apology. But she brushes it off, and asks if he’d like to see the portrait of her daughter Elaine, which he’s quite enthusiastic about. But while there, in her room, things continue to get awkward as she basically undresses in front of him.

Mrs. Robinson continues to deny that she’s trying to seduce him, but it’s all basically gaslighting to get him to admit that he wants to be seduced. Damn, Mrs. Robinson, what the fuck? And it’s actually made WAY FUCKING WORSE when she tricks him into getting into a sealed room, where she traps him and tells him that she’s interested in sleeping with him, whenever he wants to. Ben is OBVIOUSLY frazzled as fuck, especially considering the basically near-rape situation he’s currently in.

Thankfully (maybe), the sound of Mr. Robinson’s car pulling up allows enough distraction (and adrenaline rush) for Ben to GET THE FUCK OUT of there, and he runs into Mr. Robinson (Murray Hamilton) in the process. Noticing how frazzled he seems to be, Mr. Robinson tells Ben to relax in his youth, and having a few flings with the ladies while he can. He brushes off all of this, and gets out as soon as he can.

Soon after, summer begins, and not really in Ben’s favor. He’s used again as a prop for his parents and their friends, as his father got him a SCUBA suit that he demonstrates in their pool, despite his protests and wish to be heard. And people...people don’t listen to Ben, huh? I genuinely feel bad for the kid, because it really does seem like nobody attempts to listen to what he wants for how he feels, his parents included. But he seems to get the solitude he’s been seeking as he sits beneath the pool. But that’s overlaid with the realization that Ben actually WAS seduced by Mrs. Robinson, and he gives her a call to meet soon afterwards.

They meet at the Taft Hotel, where Ben is his typical nervous and awkward self, and goes to get a room for the two of them. And it’s now that I should mention that this dude is EXTREMELY twitchy, like goddamn. I know they were saying that he’s “the kind of guy who was to fight them off”, but I DO NOT see it, not gonna lie. 

After a bit more awkwardness, they meet in a room at the hotel, where the clearly still quite nervous Ben struggles with the whole affair (pun intended), including the fact that she is one of his parent’s friends, and that this is a fast start to their relationship. But, Mrs. Robinson being Mrs. Robinson, she once again manipulates him into just getting on with it...and it works.

Once again, The Sound of Silence plays, as summer passes on and he lazes about the pool during the days, then goes to sleep with Mrs. Robinson in the nights. But he doesn’t seem to enjoy any of it, as the two halves of his life are so separate, and he separates them in his mind. And that’s done by some very clever camera work and production design, honestly.

This transitions into a version of the folk rock duo that I hadn’t heard before: April Come She Will, as the affair continues forth. This is interrupted by the frustrations of Ben’s father, who asks what he’s going to do after his collegiate career, tired of his lazing about and doing nothing for...a few weeks. Really? JESUS, DAD, LET ME RELAX!

His time with Mrs. Robinson is also a bit awkward, as he’s craving some sort of relationship outside of specifically sex, and she’s entirely uninterested in that kind of relationship with him. As he tries to start any form of conversation, she reluctantly enters one, which reveals some parts of her relationship with her husband. Specifically, they don’t really love each other, and were forced to marry because she became pregnant with Elaine. It also reveals that Mrs. Robinson is a somewhat broken woman, emotionally.

It’s also revealed during this conversation that Mrs. Robinson DOES FUCKING NOT want him to take Elaine out on a date, but won’t explain her reasons for that. After prying, she says that she doesn’t believe he’s good enough for her (although I don’t quite believe that, personally). This makes him upset, and leads to an argument that almost causes him to leave. But still, she forbids him to go out with Elaine.

That’s made even MORE complicated by the fact that Benjamin’s parents force him to ask her out on a date, and he does so reluctantly, which makes Mrs. Robinson VERY upset. And I gotta say...I don’t think I like anybody in this movie. Like...at all. I only kind of like Ben, although I really only feel bad for him because he has no agency in his life. Not a big fan of Mrs. Robinson, who’s upset by a situation she’s entirely responsible for, and is cheating on her husband. Ben’s parents are annoying, and Mr. Robinson...I dunno, sort of puts off these sleazy vibes, but that’s just a feeling I’m getting.

Elaine seems nice, though, as the two go on a date together. But in order to please Mrs. Robinson, Ben does his absolute damndest to sabotage the date. Starts off with reckless driving, then transitions into ignoring her almost entirely, and then takes her out to a strip club for the date. Which is all understandably extremely upsetting; again, it’s not exactly endearing me to Ben, and it’s not working on Elaine either, who’s convinced that Ben is doing this to punish her specifically, and I don’t fucking blame her!

She runs off crying, and he goes after her, realizing that he’s been a dick and that he really doesn’t want to be. They go get food at the A&W, which is making me both hungry AND nostalgic now...fuck, I really want some food from A&W. But with that, they actually have a good time when he opens up to her about how he’s felt since college ended, and she does something nobody else has: she listens to him.

OK, I’mma get some food, but this is a good place to pause for now! See you later for Part Two!

#the graduate #the graduate 1967 #mike nichols #charles webb #anne bancroft #dustin hoffman #katharine ross #william daniels #murray hamilton #elizabeth wilson #comedy april #user365 #365days365movies #365 movie challenge #365 movies 365 days #365 Days 365 Movies #365 movies a year

[revisionaryhistory]

Three Days ~ 65

~*~Sebastian~*~

I turned back toward the others. Sam was looking at me, "You're hopeless."

I looked around, hoping she was looking at someone else, "What? Why?"

"Three weeks ago with the good luck kisses and Reese Cups you were ridiculous. This week... hopeless. You're a big soft squishy marshmallow of a boyfriend. I expected more."

I went for a confused look, "Do we know each other well enough for you to ride my ass like this?"

She smiled, "Apparently."

I held up a finger in Scott's direction before he could say anything. Everyone laughed.

We talked, laughed, and drank until the ref blew the whistle. Like earlier I was between Sam and Mallory. Sam leaned closer, "Too far?"

I knew she was referring to her teasing after Emma left. "Oh hell no, perfect." I sat back enough to include Mallory. "Thank you. I'm much more comfortable in front of five hundred people than in a small group. Expectations are different. You fucking with me lets new people know I’m just a guy here to watch his girlfriend play volleyball."

Sam looked at Mallory, "See, hopeless."

Mallory smiled, "Yeah, but cute as hell."

“Am I imagining the southern accent? It comes and goes.” I looked between the two of them and they indicated I wasn’t imagining. “Southern accents are trouble.” I shook my head, took a drink of my beer, and watched them win the first set.

Emma ran over, "Hungry. Would you order me something, please?"

I gave her a thumbs up and I had plates of appetizers ready when they got to the table. After losing. I slid off the stool, giving it to Emma, standing behind and to the side. I reached around her to eat while my other hand kept in contact with her. Touching her back. A slide across her shoulders. Anything for the contact. When Emma was finished eating, she leaned back, using me as a backrest. I leaned in and kissed her temple, my hidden hand on her hip.

I can't explain my want for contact. Before we met, before I saw her, before I heard her voice, I knew the feel of her touch. Her hand on my arm. Since that first touch, I've always wanted it. Maybe it's because touch was the first thing I knew. Like if the first thing you're attracted to is someone's smile you always remember the first one and want to see it again. I've never been touch hungry like this. I don't mind, kind of like it actually, and I'm not all in trying to overthink the why. It's just different. Hopefully, the relationship outcome will be different too.

Mallory's voice saying, "Barbie Bitches at ten o'clock," drew me out of my thoughts.

Emma said, "They're really not that bad."

Mallory snorted, "Yes, yes, they are."

There was a group of five heading our way. Three women and two men. I'm going to go ahead and guess the bleached blondes are the Barbie Bitches. There is a natural blonde in the group, so I could be wrong. The men were lagging a little behind. The one with short black hair had a full beard and the other had shoulder-length brown hair with a couple of days growth of beard. I don't feel jealous or insecure, but I am aware these are men she knows. Possessive. Protective. Proud. Definitely wanting to mark my territory, I guess her using me as a pillow does that. If she sits up I may have to kiss her. Tragic.

One of the guys recognized me first. He elbowed the other and nodded. I went on talking with Nick about the best flavors for chicken wings. I’m partial to teriyaki. Hot sauces aren't for me. I like flavor over burning the shit out of my mouth.

The five reached the table, hugs and handshakes for those nearby. Emma leaned forward and the hand I had on her hip magically moved to her shoulder when other eyes locked on me. Beside me, I heard Sam mumble, "Hopeless."

I looked at Sam and laughed, giving her a silent thank you. I realize someone in my line of work not liking to be the center of attention seems strange. Work and personal are different. Meeting her friends is personal, but the first minutes when they're recognizing work me is uncomfortable. I wish it wasn't. I don't like it.

Emma did the introductions, "This is my boyfriend Sebastian." I do like how she gives me a title. It feels like a diversion, setting an expectation. There's no question who I am. I'm not Sebastian with a dangling "the actor."  I’m Sebastian "the boyfriend." That makes me uncomfortable too but in a much more fun way. She pointed as she gave names. "Justin, Caleb, Rose, Tammy, and Toni."

There was no way in hell Toni and Tammy weren't the Barbie Bitches. I was right about the hair too. I waved, "Hi, nice to meet you. Everybody work with Emma? Teachers?"

They told me what they taught. Toni and Tammy are English, Rose is Physics, Caleb is History, and Justin teaches programming and robotics. I looked at Rose, "I got a zero on my physics final." They laughed and I shrugged. "In my defense, of the eight seniors, the highest grade was a fifteen."

"You had a shitty teacher."

I widened my eyes and nodded in agreement, “Yeah, he gave us shit about the scores. I told him they said more about him than us. Finals were over, I didn't care."

Everyone started sharing stories from being a student or things students had done. Turned into a competition between the high school and elementary teachers for the most inappropriate comments and behaviors. High school was funny because they knew what they were doing, elementary because they didn't. I felt embarrassed for the mom who got the call her vibrator had made it to show and tell.

The game going on behind us was in the last set. Emma took off for the bathroom. When she came back, she went to the middle of the high school teachers, thanking them for coming. She was a good hostess.

Toni glanced at me before turning to Emma, "Are we really supposed to pretend he's not Sebastian Stan?"

Several things happened all at once. On one side of me, Samantha said, "Yes." On the other side, Mallory groaned. In front of me to the right, Tammy nodded her agreement with Toni. A little to the left, Emma said, "No."

Guess who I want to hear more from?

"You don't have to pretend you don't know who he is. But first and foremost, he's a person, so we're not going to talk about him like he's not right there." Emma looked at me with a smile. I was uncomfortable again. However, her protectiveness is hot.

Tami grimaced, "Sorry."

Emma hugged her to soothe the rebuke, "He scrambles my brain sometimes too."

I want to scramble more than her brains right now.

Tami looked at me as Emma headed around the table. "I'm sorry, Sebastian."

I waved away the apology, "You can ask me anything you want about work when they're warming up. The rest of the time I'm here to watch my girlfriend play."

It was Justin who did the fist pump, "Yes!"

I laughed.

Caleb faked a cough, "Fanboy."

"And not ashamed."

I had a fan. Sweet.

I'd taken Emma's seat when she left. When I started to get up she shook her head. She stood right up on me, laying her hand on my thigh. I lifted my arm over her, my hand landing on her ass, and my fingers going under the leg of her shorts to run my fingertips along the curve of her ass. My other hand, which was already under the table, moved her hand from my thigh to my crotch. I never stopped talking with Dawn. Beside me, Sam turned her back to me and leaned against the table, blocking anyone else from seeing. She’s definitely my favorite.

I was torn when the other game was over. I would miss our under the table fun, but the sooner the game was over the sooner we could go home.

Jeff walked around the table, heading toward the court. He pointed at me, "Your last good luck kiss sucked. Do better."

I jumped off the stool, grabbed Emma, dipped her low, and kissed her slow and deep. It felt very good. Reluctantly, I set her back on her feet. I looked at Jeff with my eyebrows raised.

Jeff grabbed Emma's arm and pulled her toward the court. "Much better. Thank you."

I turned back to the table to find all eyes on me. I shrugged with my hands up, "Taking one for the team." I took my spot back on the stool.

Justin leaned onto the table, "I have questions about stunts and drone shots." That conversation went on for a while. I could talk all day about that shit because it’s not directly me.

Toni wanted to know about Evans. Nia asked about gossip sites.

"I don't go there. Anybody can pretend to know anything and people will believe it if they want to. Even random guesses are going to be right sometimes. A friend had something real show up. It's best to ignore it. It'll go away with the next scandal. A lawsuit confirms and calls more attention." I could tell Rose had a question, "Go ahead."

She smiled, "Fanfiction."

I returned the smile, "What about it?"

"Love it? Hate it? Any favorites?"

I finished the last of my beer, considering how honest to be. I went all in. "I'm human. I got curious. For about a week. It doesn’t bother me. If a character I brought to life feeds someone's creativity I’m flattered. There are good stories and good writers out there. One of those could write a script, hell, for all we know someone who won an Oscar used to write fanfic."

"Real person stuff?"

I bobbed my head back and forth while looking at Dawn. "Still fiction and no more me than Bucky is. The imagination and amount of time spent on me is still flattering. All that's a step away. Now, the thirst tweets. Those are the things I wonder if people realize I see that. Fanfic is about an imagined version of me. Tweets and comments on Instagram are directed to me."

Caleb jumped in, "I bet you get the same things live at photo ops and shit though."

I nodded, "Some people lack boundaries."

Cindy said, "You looked uncomfortable reading those thirst tweets."

"Sort of." I laughed, "I wasn't embarrassed by content, just reading them out loud."

There were a few more questions before the whistle blew for the start of the game. I said, "Boyfriend time" and turned around.

It was another nail biter of a game. They lost the second set. All of us were screaming and clapping. It was a lot of fun. I liked this, being the spectator while hanging with her friends. I’ve always liked going to things and being the support person for friends. Fuck knows I’ve asked that from them enough. What I didn’t like was that this place didn't have Reese cups and the deck was too high for a between set kiss. Piece of shit dive bar.

They won the final set with a rejected spike by Becky and Nick. The team jumped in the air and hugged. So did Sam, Mallory, Scott, and I. I moved out of the middle to get to her first. In my head, I could hear Sam calling me hopeless.

I walked toward the opening to the court and met them, handing out words of praise. Emma stepped onto the deck and crossed the short distance into my arms. I kissed her head, "You did good."

"Thank you." She left my arms, kissed me, and took my hand. "It was a fun game. And I didn’t hurt myself."

We headed back to the table talking about plays and laughing. Emma sat down and pulled a beer from the bucket. I leaned my elbows on the counter behind me between Emma and Mallory, stretching out my back to reverse the hunching over during the game. I watched her profile as she talked with her friends. I could stand here looking at her all night. It didn't take long before I saw her energy drain away. Her smile shrank and her eyes lost their sparkle. I stood up, tucked a piece of hair that had escaped her ponytail, behind her ear, and waited until she turned her head like I knew she would. "You're tired." Not a question. She nodded. I turned to Mallory, "You ready?"

"Anytime."

I put Emma's bag on my shoulder. Emma stood up, "We're heading out."

Several other people said they were too. It wasn't late, but it was a weeknight.

I waited while they hugged their goodbyes. Mallory was back to me first. I slung my arm around her shoulder, "She's like a hostess saying good night to her guests."

Emma heard me and smiled. She joined us and I put my arm around her too. "Nice to meet everybody. I’m sure we'll do this again. Have a good night."

The three of us walked around the building to the CRV. I put in the code, opening the passenger and rear door, closing it behind them. I could see Mallory put a hand on Emma's arm and while I could tell they were talking I couldn't hear them. I walked a little slower around to the driver's side.

They didn't stop when I got in. Mallory was telling Emma about the questions during warm-up. When I turned to back out, Emma looked at me, "I'm sorry you were uncomfortable."

I smiled, "It was fine."

Emma's hand went to the back of neck, "I don't like you being uncomfortable. My friends making you feel that way."

"I don't enjoy it either, but it's part of being with you. You get my fans and a lot of other bullshit. I get your friends. I got less uncomfortable as they got used to me." I took her hand from my neck, kissing it before laying our joined hands on my leg. "I did like you going protective. You handled it well."

Emma barked a short laugh, "I wasn't ok with them objectifying you."

Mallory added, "I call them Barbie Bitches for a reason."

I laughed, “I’ve survived worse.”  Emma leaned over and kissed my cheek. “See, all worth it.”

“Emma, you know they’ve sent out shit. Your room is going to be Grand Central tomorrow.”

Emma sighed. I thought to say something but wanted to hear from her first. I wasn’t surprised by her response. “You can stay at home if you want.”

“Without you?”

“Yeah, I have to get packed up but you don’t have to go.”

“Nope.” It was never an option. “What sort of an asshole would I be if I’m not willing to deal with your co-workers dropping by your classroom. I promise you what you’re going to have to deal with will be much worse.”

“I get that, but to be fair, there’s not been much fall out from your fans.”

From the back seat I heard, “There will be. Probably is, but you don’t have an online presence to know.”

I nodded backward, “What she said.”

“I don’t know how your fans react to girlfriends, but I was a huge One Direction fan. Fans were brutal to their girlfriends. One released a cookbook and they left shitty reviews bringing her rating down on Amazon. Death threats to one if they broke his heart. They went all the way back in their social media and dug up shit. Hopefully, your fans are older.”

“Not always.” I guess this is when we’re going to talk about this. Maybe having a friend who’d been a fan would be helpful. “I won’t say fans cause breakups, but they don’t help. It’s complicated. There’s more nice than ugly, but a lot of time the ugly is really ugly.  Like you said, trashing her career, her cookbook because of who she’s dating. Girlfriends don’t always react well. Friends don’t always react well. The men, me, don’t always react well. I’m good at hiding when I don’t want to be seen, but I don’t understand people who can hide whole relationships for years. Hell, we’ve already been spotted having lunch. Two weeks in. I don’t know what the right answer is, because I haven’t found it.”

Emma jumped in,  "On the plane home I went looking around. There is a blog with all your relationships. Chronologically."

I'm sure I looked horrified. Because I was. "I don't want to know that. I don't want you to know that."

Emma grimaced and shook her head. "I didn't read any relationship stuff. I'd have to give you my high school and college diaries to equalize the invasiveness." She faked a shudder and Mallory laughed. Emma continued, "I was looking for fan reaction. There were links to Instagram posts, Twitter threads, and other blog posts. They have lots of opinions."

"Yeah, I know."

"You can't win." She pointed at herself, "Neither can I."

She’s not telling me anything I don’t already know. "And you're still here. Are you crazy?" This was a legitimate question.

Emma reached over to play in my hair again, "Only about you. I'm going to focus on what I can do something about. You and I. I'm too curious to not look, and I can't promise it won't get to me, but at the end of the day I get you." She leaned across the console and I met her for a kiss. "Also going to keep my shit on private."

Mallory spoke again, “I know it’s totally none of my business.”

I interjected, “Wouldn’t be discussing in front of you if we weren’t ok with your opinion. Sometimes outside opinions see things better. Especially if you watched a fan meltdown before. Thank fuck I’m not in One Direction.”

“Can you sing?”

“Not in a way anyone wants to pay to hear. Maybe a charity karaoke or something.” I liked injecting laughter into a not funny conversation. I worried about this. I worried about Emma get drug through shit.

“I think you have to find a balance. You can’t do something because of fans, but you can’t avoid things either. Fans don’t react well to being kept in the dark, but they are quick to be pissed by baiting or what they think is rubbing their face in something.” She put her hand on her chest, “For me, and remember I was seventeen, I didn’t care about casual dates or whatever, but if it was serious and they were being spotted everywhere it was different. Then it becomes fans creating their own stories if they don’t have the real thing. Some fans got pissed when they could see what was going on, but being told nothing was going on. Felt like they were being lied to or treated like crazy fans. Again, with balance. How much are you ok with revealing versus how much fiction is tolerable. Emma’s right. You can’t win.”

I waited until we got to a stoplight and turned to look at Mallory, “Now, you’ve given me things to think about.”

Mallory shrugged, “I think you play to the sane stable fans. The others are going to create chaos no matter what.”

“Ummm.” I was full of thoughts.

Emma chuckled, “Will you be filling me in on these thoughts.”

“When I’m done overthinking and sorting through them.”

They went back to talking and I tried to leave all the thoughts behind. They needed to simmer. I’d look at them later. When we reached Mallory’s place I jumped out and ran around to the other side of the car. I pulled Mallory into a hug. Initially, she tensed and I was afraid I’d entered unwanted affection territory, but she quickly relaxed and hugged me back. I’d just surprised her. “Thank you for everything. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Emma was smirking when I got back in, “What?”

“I think you get comfortable with people before they’ve totally adapted to you.”

I knew what she meant. “I hug too quick.”

“No, no, no. Not too quick. It’s just fun to watch the reaction because getting used to talking to you is very different than being in your arms. You up close is better looking than you a few feet away. Your blue eyes. And your arms and chest feel . . . mmm.” She shimmied in the seat, “So good.”

“That may be just you.”

She started laughing. Hard. “I don’t think you believe that.”

She was right. I started laughing with her, “I do know I can cause a reaction. Not gonna lie, it’s fun.”

“I can’t wait to see you with a group of fans..”

“It’s a mind fuck. Prepare to deflate my ego. I can get a little out of hand after events.”

“Really?”

I nodded, “Part of why I take friends with me when I can. Hours of screaming, crying, and shaking fans. Being told your gorgeous and they love you. The stories about what something I’ve done has meant to them. It’s all pretty heady shit.”

“Plus all the hugs and inappropriate comments from beautiful women.”

Well, I walked myself into this. Luckily, I could tell she was teasing me and not taking it seriously. “You know how visual I am.”

“You just bring all that pent-up sexual energy home to me and we’ll work it off.” She patted my thigh. “And if you’re getting too cocky we’ll go to a Pearl Jam concert and you can feel the love rolling off fifty thousand plus people all at once.”

Comparatively, I ain’t shit.

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan fanfiction #fanfiction #sebastian stan X ofc #marvel actor fanfiction

[fictionalrambles]

Shadowhunters Fandom Story - Part Twelve

Submitted by notquiteascrazy

Five Favourite Stories

 The Stars Aligned series by @lecrit​

WHY I LOVE THIS FIC:  The only thing I knew for certain coming into this “picking faves process” was that there had to be something by Lecrit on this list. The way Lu writes Magnus & Alec enraptures me every single damn time and to narrow it down to just one was so hard. So I cheated & picked a series ;) It was one of the first Malec fics I read and just the whole AU is perfect.

I re-read it when Oscar Nominations are announced and on the day of the ceremony (I don’t even care about the Oscars). And probably 5 or 6 times throughout the year on top of that. The mutual pining is so strong to begin with, there’s some very light angst with some classic “bad guy” action by Camille and when they finally get their shit together, well, it’s just beautiful. Jace being an idiot, Izzy being the most supportive ever, nerd Simon… It’s got the works. If you haven’t already read it, why the hell not? Go. Now.

FAVORITE QUOTE: “I know we usually don’t thank our agents in these things,” he says, still scanning the room, “but my agent is also my PA and one of my best friends, and I just won an Oscar so I think I can do whatever I want tonight and he won’t hold it against me.” The audience laughs, as much in amusement as it is in surprise but Magnus doesn’t really notice, finally giving up. “Okay,” he exclaims in the mic, “I can’t find him. Has anyone seen Alec? Tall, dark, handsome and probably glued to his phone right now?” [Trying to cut this entire speech down into the best bit? Impossible but I decided to go with the start]

*

 2C by Oumy

WHY I LOVE THIS FIC:  I love the antagonism between Alec & Magnus to begin with and while the source of this is revealed in an additional fic later on, while reading 2C you can entirely predict what started it all. And within the main work itself, it doesn’t need saying because the way the characters are written subtly folds in all these personality traits that we know & love. Even before they finally get it together, they’re pushing each other & challenging each other to be the best versions of themselves. The way it builds from rivalry to romance is just *chefs kiss*

Plus, the mental image of Alec & Magnus as incredibly skilled musicians is Hot. We’ll ignore the slight “Magnus can’t play the charango and it’s awful every time he tries going near an instrument” thing… In this universe, they’re musical maestros!

FAVORITE QUOTE: Alec moved from the door, his long legs already eating up the distance to the entrance, and the competitive side of Magnus, the one that reluctantly thrived on their rivalry, refused to let him have the last word, so he blurted out at the retreating figure “Bite me, Lightwood” Alec turned around, walking backwards and spread his free hand, that perpetual half smile still etched on his face “Only if you ask nicely”

*

 Between the Lines by @msalexiscriss​

WHY I LOVE THIS FIC:  The plot is fantastic. The entire concept that Magnus is a criminal didn’t necessarily sit well with me at first but then as the story progresses and you realise why, it all starts to come together. And so much of their characteristics & traits are woven into it in a really fun way, e.g. Magnus’ love of glitter. From the very beginning the chemistry between them is so well written considering they’ve barely interacted in person. The way Magnus taunts Alec, the way they play this cat & mouse game. About halfway through I had this sudden fear that I would not enjoy the ending. I just couldn’t see a satisfying conclusion where no-one’s morals were compromised and they still got their happy ending but it really came together and did all the characters justice!

FAVORITE SCENE: The entire “first date” on the rooftop. The way Alec ends up there, the way Magnus has it all planned out. The conversation & the teasing from Magnus. The prying for information from Alec. The way they both dance around each other while enjoying the company & getting to know one another. 

  *

 Deeper Than the Truth by insieme

WHY I LOVE THIS FIC:  Can you really compile a list of favourite fics without including at least one coffee shop AU?! And this one is so much more than just a coffee shop AU. I love how Magnus’ unbridled passion & enthusiasm jumpstarts Alec. I love the slow burn that builds up between them & how their relationship develops. I love the quiet moments of their relationship that are interwoven with the bigger moments. I love the balance between Alec hating the lies he’s telling and knowing that he could hurt Magnus and the inner turmoil he goes through. I love that the reveal is realistically handled and not just swept under a rug but they actually talk about the communication issues. I just love it all.

FAVORITE QUOTE: “Well Alexander, I would love to continue this conversation at the present except I have a whole room of ladies with sharp sewing needles who are not going to be too pleased with me if I keep them waiting any longer. Perhaps if you’re here tomorrow, around the same time, we could bump into each other again, and you could tell me your ridiculous dislike for Mr. Archer over a cup of coffee?” Magnus looked at Alec confidently, like he had no reservations whatsoever that Alec wouldn’t accept his offer. He was right. “Tomorrow. Yeah, okay. I’ll be here.” Alec said, unable to stop the smile that crept onto his face. Magnus was already on his way out the store when Alec realized what Magnus had said. He called out after him, “My name is Alec!” Magnus just waved over his shoulder, calling out “See you tomorrow, Alexander!” He was so screwed. [What I have learnt about myself going through this exercise is the early moment of relationships in fics are my favourites. They set the tone of what’s to come & build the chemistry from there!]

  *

 Choose your weapon by @steakandvodka​

WHY I LOVE THIS FIC:  Clalec BROTP ftw. Honestly, this is just cute and shows such lovely character growth & their relationship develops so beautifully. Alec is shown as supportive & a good leader and very typically Alec in response to Clary. But it also shows a softer side & how him & Fray become friends.

Meanwhile, we see a struggle from Clary that isn’t shown in the show about how not being brought up in the shadow world means working harder to get up to scratch & her insecurities around it.

FAVORITE QUOTE: “Look, I know better than anyone how much pressure it can be to be perfect all the time. Especially when you have people doubting you — the drive to prove them wrong can overshadow every other responsibility in your life. But hard work isn’t always a good thing, not if you don’t go about it in a healthy way. It can set you back, and more importantly, you can get hurt” [Alec Lightwood finally embracing healthy work-life balance <3]

*

 Author Story

At first I felt a little bit like a fraud trying to write this. I’d hardly consider myself an author - I’ve barely really written anything (politely ignoring my terrible contributions to the HP fandom well over a decade ago)

I’d never really considered myself particularly creative, much happier to just absorb the fruits of other people’s creativity and be glad that there are so many talented people in the world writing stories and making art. Shadowhunters changed that for me. The characters have resonated with me and I found myself inspired on a couple of occasions to actually put pen to paper (Well, fingers to keyboard)

I still consider myself very creatively challenged but I’m enjoying exploring the little bursts of inspiration, even if I find myself wishing I’d paid more attention in English class! Reading has always been my escape from reality, writing is now giving me that opportunity to create my own escapes. So if there’s anyone else who’s new to this and nervous about trying to write/sharing their writing, I feel you! But if you have a story you want to tell - go for it! You might surprise yourself :)

#shadowhunters #shadowhunters fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfiction blog

[adventuringblind]

Make Me Yours

Oscar Piastri x Reader

Genre: chaotic smut (I'm a slut for this man)

Summary: Daniel mentions something to Oscar and he takes a shot in the dark.

Warnings: KNIFE PLAY, blood, intensive aftercare, Max and Daniel being big brothers, Oscar is a dork and we love him for it, enemies to lovers if you squint, soft dom Oscar, Reader is a mess for Oscar and he loves it.

Notes: This was an anonymous request! I hope you like it!! Please remember to communicate and take care of yourselves if you engage in a kink like this!! Reader is a Redbull rookie which I know is ridiculous but it's fiction.

Masterlist // Request Form // My Website // buy me a Ko-Fi

She wouldn't say her sex life is vanilla. Definitely the opposite, actually. Most people would look at Oscar and assume he is the most boring human on the planet.

They are all wrong.

Most the drivers, including herself, teased him about how he knows two positions maximum. He'd gotten fed up with it and showed her exactly why everyone is wrong.

Turns out pent up tension from being rivals from F3 and F2 leads to these situations. The situation being mind-blowing sex with the one guy who you didn't want to admit feelings for.

Formula 1 is an unforgiving world. She didn't need feelings getting in the way. Until Oscar came along and ruined it all.

Until that night, at least. Now they are stuck together like glue. It drives Max and Daniel insane with how much he's around the Redbul garage.

She tried to use the 'best friends' excuse until Daniel caught them in her driver's room.

"It's always the rookies."

That being said, her problem isn't the sex, or Oscar, or her relationship at all. The problem is how to bring up something she would like to try.

Both of them like trying new things and have been very clear on boundaries and keep open communication about the subject. He's never judged her for anything she's brought up. So why can't she just ask him?

"Something on your mind?" Daniel appears from thin air, and she slams her phone down out of view. She prays he didn't see the pictures of the silver blades and thinks she a psycho.

"Nope," she squeaks. A terrible recovery on her end.

"Watching porn? Looking at Mr. Piartri's nudes? Come one, you can tell me!"

Max pokes his head out from around the corner. "Are we talking about sex?" Here she thought the secluded space would be far away enough for them to come bother her. Then again, Daniel could help her out. He's good at talking to people.

"Pretty sure you and Charles talked about it last night." She quips without looking at him.

She's blushing and embarrassed. Her brain is yelling at her to run as far away as possible before she does something stupid-

"Hey Daniel, you know about sex stuff right?" Wow, that doesn't sound awkward at all.

"Yes?" He quirks his eyebrow at her. "But if you're looking for a threesome I'm going to have to decline. For now, at least," he winks.

She chokes at the notion. She's going to explode at this rate. Time to bail out. "Never mind, it's not that, but it's dumb."

Max appears fully in her line of sight. "You can't leave us hanging now! Oscar not performing well anymore?" His expression suddenly goes dark. "Or if he hurt you, I won't hesitate to send him into the barriers."

"No! no, it's not him it's me. I don't know how to ask him about something."

Both the males soften. It eases the anxiety a tiny bit, but she'd still rather not be here.

"Hmm, can I ask what it is?"

"A kink," she whispers away from him.

Daniel hears it anyway. "Yours or his?"

"Mine."

Daniel, now seeing he's not going to get anywhere like this, tries a new approach. "Look, this is a no judgment zone, right? Max talks about Charles and their sex life any chance he gets. I am an open book. No laughing or cringing, okay?"

It still feels weird having this conversation. But Daniel isn't going to let it sit now. Curse her impulsive mouth. "Knives. I want him to use a knife on me."

~~~~~

Oscar is sitting in wait around the Redbull motorhome. His girlfriend had said she'd meet him out here and he hasn't seen her all day, so he came early.

Media days are usually difficult for her. The journalists manage to find some new sexist thing to point out every race weekend. It drives all the drivers insane. They can't just let it go and move on to something new.

"Hiya mate!" Daniel appears around the corner and Oscar manages (just barely) to not jump out of his skin. "You waiting for your girl?"

"Yeah, I'm early though. Do I need to go?"

"Nah, you're fine." Daniel throws him a grin. "I'm curious how you keep the marks on her hidden. Been wondering for a while now."

Oscar blinks. His brain is trying to process the last Statement. "You mean... like a hickey?"

"No! The scars." Daniel looks like he's just said the most obvious thing. Oscar is still trying to remain neutral in what is definitely an odd conversation.

Scars? What scars is he talking about? "I-"

"Don't tell me you don't see it! That girl totally has some kind of knife kink."

Knife kink?! Where is this coming from? He tries to think back to any hint of it on her end. It's not like he's opposed to trying new things and he wouldn't be shocked if she felt weird about bringing it up.

"I'd ask her about it mate." Daniel winks and disappears into the crowd of people.

Oscar tries not to think too hard on it. It's just a weird comment made by Daniel in passing.

At least, that's what it started as.

Oscar then finds himself doing research on it. A deep rabbit hole that now occupies far too much space in his brain.

The idea of her permanently some kind of mark he puts there drives him wild. Which is odd, because it hasn't before. A visible hickey every now and then does the trick. Satisfies him when they go out places.

After the first 'I don't see your boyfriend,' he started putting one on her collar bone. Not visible unless she deems it so amd fresh enough to ward off any suspicious characters.

Curse Daniel for giving him this stupid idea. Something more permanent than a hickey sounds appealing.

If it were up to him, he'd keep her in his pocket. It's funny, really, how she thought he didn't know about her feelings. Oscar had played the game for two years. Then he couldn't take it anymore and he snapped.

Yes, she's snarky and moody, and as picky as Lando, until you get past the hard exterior and see she's all soft and squishy. Most of the time, anyway.

He asks her about it after Silverstone. He's coming down off his high and drunk on the adrenaline paired with a shot of success. The confidence boost is really what he needs to put the idea out there. As outrageous as it seems, Daniel might have a point.

"I was thinking about something." He starts off with. She flops onto her bed. Not his since Lando manages to get into his room at the worst times.

"Something good I hope?"

"Depends." Oscar adjusts their position so he can cradle her. The way she snuggles into him like an affectionate cat makes him melt. "It's kinky."

"The best kind of thoughts to have!" She taps his nose with her index finger to accentuate each word.

Oscar steels himself for the possible outcomes. "What if we tried knives."

There is an unmatched look of pure shock on her face. Oscar is prepared to reassure that she doesn't have to, until he notices the glint.

"Yes! I mean - yeah, we should give it a try."

Huh, so Daniel was right. Oscar will have to thank him later for the tip. "We need to talk about it first. I'm thinking either talk now and do it or we save it for a later date."

"How about we talk now, then see?"

"Sounds lovely."

~~~~~

The more Oscar talks, the more she wants it. It's ridiculous what he does to her with merely his voice. Or maybe it's the constant regard for her wants, needs, and safety.

Yeah, it's true what they say: consent really is sexy.

"Love? Did you hear what I was saying?" His voice has they soft mellowness about it that calms the raging see of her emotions.

"No..."

"Stay with me, yeah? I'll put this off if you aren't coherent enough to truly consent to anything." Yep, sexy. No doubt about it.

"I'm here, promise! Just got distracting... thinking."

"About?"

She waits a beat to see if he's willing g to drop it. He makes no indication he'll be moving on, however, making her forced to answer. "Your voice..."

She is going to combust at this rate. It's embarrassing how wrecked she is already. Oscar hasn't even touched her, but the sight of him with the glinting silver blade in his hands has her going feral. The crazy eyed, drooling kind that makes her seem like she should be locked up.

The fact Oscar spent over two hours in discussion and has research to back up every point her makes drivers her wild. She would happily spend the rest of her life with him even after a measly two years together.

He's ruined her. Oscar has made it so she will never be able to leave. So what if she's dramatic? Can you really blame her when she has Oscar Piastri standing in front of her looking ready to devour her?

Oscar takes his time. It's slow and gentle kisses, nimble fingers finding their way around the canvas he knows so well. "Fucking hell you're gorgeous."

She takes a mental note of the way she's in no clothes and he's got all his own. It's unfair and she tugs at his sleeve to signal she wants it off. Oscar complies and pulls the fabric off.

He goes back to licking his way around the inside of her mouth. Her hands relax around his body, taking comfort in the warmth and closeness of the skin-on-skin contact.

His fingers slip through her folds and like muscle memory locate her clit. It's pathetic the sounds he's getting her to make. Specifically, while holding the pocketknife, unopened, in his free hand.

"So pretty for me love. I would cut you up and put you in my pocket if I could. Carry your cute ass around with me like a good luck charm."

She's so far down the rabbit hole of her favorite headspace. Oscar's words are just swimming around her, until the sound of the black clicking open pulls her back into reality.

He presses the flat part of the blade against her arm. The cold of the metal sends a shiver running down her spine.

Oscar is looking deep in the eyes, mapping out every emotion and physical reaction she's having to the sensation. "Color?"

"Green, very green, the brightest of greens-" Oscar shuts her up with a kiss to her temple. It's gentle and meaningful. Enough to turn her right into a blushing mess.

Oscar checks in frequently every time the blade moves. The masochist is jumping for joy when the tip barely rests against her shoulder blade. "Are you ready? Want me to mark you? Shall I make you bleed for me?"

"Please," She whines.

"Keep your eyes on me yeah? You say red and I stop."

She signals that she understands and would like to continue. Oscar traces the line he wants to make.

She hisses when the knife presses downwards. Oscar panics, but he watches her eyes roll back and knows to continue. "Eyes on me, love. I want to see how pretty you look."

The cold stinging sensation makes her whimper in pain and moan in ecstasy all at the same time. He's still talking to her. Voice still calm and gentle. He's watching her intently, tracking every shift until he's done.

He keeps a hand on her to let her know he's still present as he tucks the, now closed knife, safely onto the bedside table. Despite looking so composed to everyone else, she notices the small thing about Oscar's shift in demeanor. Like how his pupils are staring at her, just the slightest bit tinged with the desire tor take her in the next ten seconds.

He resists and makes sure she is ready for that first. "Color?"

She slurs through an ungodly number of praises and words resembling 'green'. Oscar basks in it. He sits and caresses her skin as he watches the cut to make sure he really did go light enough.

Small beads of red appear at the surface, but not enough that he's concerned with first aid at the Moment. He breathes a sigh of relief.

"Osc? Are you still green?"

Oscar softens again. "Yeah, I'm green, just taking in the sight and - happy I didn't stab you." He's breathless and panting. His jeans straining and her hands aching to get her hands on him.

There is so much love and kindness leading up to him finally getting inside of her. The towel underneath her shoulder catches the run-off red. It falls away with every thrust of his hips and rock of her body.

They hit the edge to quickly. Falling over it in white hot pleasure and moans of joy.

"You're such a good girl for me. You did such a good job." Oscar whispers in her ear as he wipes the cut with disinfectant.

Oscar carries her blissed out body to the bathroom and lets her look at the wound before bandaging it. A perfect heart now rests on the peak of her shoulder. Not massive, but enough to be seen without looking to close.

"I love it."

"Yeah? You ready to bandage it?"

"Do we have to?"

She doesn't get her way. Oscar bandages the heart and gets them cleaned up. Then it's water and snacks in bed.

"I never thought you'd be into it."

"I wasn't until Daniel brought it up."

Her entire being stills. Maybe even goes pale and Oscar looks at her in confused worry.

"I might have asked him for advice on how to ask you... about this."

Once again, his face softens. "You know you never have to be afraid of asking me." A gentle smile appears on his face. "I do think we'll have to thank him for this later."

"You're just going to inflate his ego."

"Maybe it's worth it if he keeps giving me advice." Oscar winks at her and smirks.

Yeah, maybe Daniel's pestering isn't to bad.

~~~~~

Oscar stands waiting for the drivers parade the next race weekend with all the other drivers. He's waiting patiently for his favorite rookie to come and join him.

Instead, he is once again jumping out of his skin because Danile is grabbing his shoulders from out of nowhere. "Could you not, like, scare me? Please?"

"But this is more fun! Certainly not as much fun as you had, I'm sure. I saw the scar." Daniel wiggles his eyebrows.

Oscar is blushing, he can feel it in his face. The words he wants to say are not coming out like he intends. "yep, I - um... thanks."

"Let me know if you need any other advice." Daniel smirks and claps him on the shoulder, Leaving Oscar a mess.

This is why I get teased; he thinks.

#x reader #f1 fic #formula 1 #f1 fanfic #max verstappen #daniel ricciardo #oscar piastri f1 #oscar piastri #oscar piastri x reader #oscar piastri x you #oscar piastri imagine #oscar piastri fanfic #op81 imagine #op81 x reader #op81 #mclaren formula 1 #mclaren racing #mclaren #redbull racing #redbull #redbull daniel #dr3 #mv1 #mv33 #f1 #f1 imagine #f1 x reader

[letterboxd]

The Package.

As the bonkers genre thrill-ride Shadow in the Cloud blasts into the new year, writer and director Roseanne Liang unpacks her love of Terminator 2, watching Chloë Grace Moretz’s face for hours, and the life lesson she learned from Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s Cheng Pei-Pei.

Roseanne Liang’s TIFF Midnight Madness winner Shadow in the Cloud landed with a blast of fresh genre energy on VOD platforms on New Year’s Day. It’s A-class action in a B-grade body, cramming plenty into its taut 83 minutes, including: a top-secret package, a freakish gremlin, a hostile bunch of Air Force dudes, outrageous stunts, dogfights and a fake wartime PSA that feels remarkably real.

Throughout, the camera is focused mostly on one face—Chloë Grace Moretz’s, playing British flight officer Maude Garrett—as she tackles all of the above from a claustrophobic ball turret hanging under a B-17 Flying Fortress, on a classified mission over the Pacific Ocean during World War II.

While the film’s tonal swings are confusing to some, schlock enthusiasts and genre lovers on Letterboxd have embraced the film’s intentionally outlandish sensibility, which “makes excellent use of its genre mash to create an unpredictable, guilty pleasure,” says Mirza. Fajar writes that “it felt like the people involved in this project knew how ridiculous it is and gave a hundred and ten percent to make it work. Someday, it will become a cult classic.” Mawbey agrees: “It really goes off the rails in all the best ways during the final third, and the last couple of shots are just perfect.”

Chloë Grace Moretz and her top-secret package in ‘Shadow in the Cloud’.

To most of the world, Liang is a so-called “emerging” director, when in fact, the mother-of-two, born in New Zealand to Chinese parents, has been at this game for the past two decades. She has helmed a documentary and a romantic drama, both based on her own marriage; a 2008 short called Take 3, which preceded Hollywood’s current conversation about representation and harassment; and Do No Harm, the splatter-tastic 2017 short in which her technical chops and fluid feel for action were on full display, and, as recorded in multiple Letterboxd reviews, established her as one to watch.

Do No Harm scored Liang valuable Hollywood representation, whereupon producer Brian Kavanaugh-Jones brought Shadow in the Cloud to her, thinking she might connect with the material. “It did connect with me on a level that is very personal,” Liang tells me. “As a woman of color, as a mother who juggles a lot.” She says Kavanaugh-Jones then went through the process of removing original writer Max Landis from the project. “He felt that Max was not a good fit for this project, or for how we like to run things. We like to be respectful and courteous and kind to each other…”

In several interviews, Liang has said she’s comfortable with film lovers choosing not to watch Shadow in the Cloud based on Landis’s early involvement. What she’s not comfortable with is her own contribution—and that of her cast and crew—being erased. While WGA rules have his name attached firmly to the project, the credit belies the reality: his thin script, reportedly stretched out to 70 pages by using a larger-than-usual font, was expanded and deepened by Liang and her collaborators.

Writer-director Roseanne Liang. / Photo by Dean O’Gorman

That team includes editor Tom Eagles, Oscar nominated for Jojo Rabbit, actor Nick Robinson (the titular Simon in Love, Simon) and Beulah Koale, a star of the Hawaii Five-Oh series. The opening newsreel was created by award-winning New Zealand animation studio Mukpuddy, after a small test audience got weirded out by the sight of a gremlin in a war film, despite well-documented WWI and WWII gremlin mythology. It’s an unnecessary but happy addition. The cartoon style was inspired by Private Snafu, a series of WWII educational cartoons scripted by none other than Dr. Seuss and directed by Looney Tunes legend Chuck Jones.

But the film ultimately hangs on Chloë Grace Moretz, who overcame cabin fever to drive home an adrenaline rush of screen craft, in which the very limits of what’s humanly possible in mid-air are tested (in ways, it must be said, that wouldn’t be questioned if it were Tom Cruise in the role). Liang would often send directions to Moretz’s ball turret via text, while her cast members delivered live dialogue from an off-set shipping container rigged with microphones. “I just never got sick of Chloë’s face and I’ve watched her hundreds, if not thousands of times. You feel her, you are her, she just engages you in a way that a huge fighting scene might not, if it’s not designed well. Giant empty spectacle is less interesting than one person in one spot, sometimes.”

Ambitious and nerdy about film in equal measure, it’s clear there’s much more to come from Liang, and I’m interested in what her most valuable lesson has been so far. Turns out, it’s a great story involving Chinese veteran Cheng Pei-Pei (Come Drink With Me’s Golden Swallow, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s Jade Fox), whose film training includes a tradition of remaining on set throughout filming.

Roseanne Liang on the set of ‘Shadow in the Cloud’.

That meant that, during filming of Liang’s My Wedding and Other Secrets, Cheng would stay on set when she wasn’t required. “In New Zealand, trailers are a luxury,” Liang explains. “I said ‘Don’t you want to go to the trailer that we arranged for you?’ ‘No, I just want to sit and watch.’ ‘Why do you want to watch it, you’ve seen it hundreds of times!’ And she said ‘I learn something new every time’. To Pei-Pei, the secret of life is constant education and curiosity and learning. Movies are her work and her craft and her life, and she never gets bored. If I can be like her, that’s the life, right?”

Speaking of which, it’s time we put Liang through our Life in Film interrogation.

What’s the film that made you want to become a filmmaker? Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the movie that is at the top of the mountain that I’m climbing. To me it’s the perfect blend of spectacle, action design, smarts and heart. It poses the theory that if a robot can learn the value of humanity then maybe there’s hope for the ships that are us. That’s perennial, and possibly even more pertinent today. It holds a very special place in my heart, along with Aliens, Mad Max: Fury Road, Die Hard, La Femme Nikita and Léon: The Professional.

What’s your earliest memory of watching a film? I have a cassette tape that my dad made for my grandma in 1981 (he’d send tapes back to his mother in Hong Kong). I was three years old and he had just taken us to see The Empire Strikes Back in the cinema. And he can’t talk to my grandma because I’m just going on and on about R2-D2. I will not shut up about R2-D2 and he’s like, “Yes, yes I’m trying to talk to your grandmother,” and I’m like, “But Dad! Dad! R2-D2!” So it’s actually an archive, but it’s become my memory.

What’s the most romantic film you’ve ever seen? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s not the sexiest, but it’s the most romantic. That last scene, those last words where she goes “But you’re gonna be like this forever and I’m gonna be like this forever…” and he just goes “okay”. That to me is one of the most romantic scenes I’ve ever seen. It is a perfect movie.

And the scariest? If it’s a horror movie, the most scared I’ve been is The Ring. I was watching it on a VHS and I was lying on a beanbag on the floor and I was paralyzed with fear. I couldn’t move, because I felt that if I moved she’d see me! Also, American Psycho just came to me this year. I caught the twentieth anniversary of that movie, which is a terrifying film, and again, possibly more relevant now than when it was made. The scariest film that’s not a horror is Joker. It scared me how much I liked it. When I came out of the movie, I was like, “I’m scared because I kind of love it, but it’s horrible. It’s so irresponsible. I don’t wanna like this movie but goddamn, I feel it.” Like, I wanted to go on the streets and rage. In a way we’re all the Joker, we’re all the Batman. That duality, that yin and yang, is inside everyone of us. It’s universal.

What is the film that slays you every time, leaving you in a heap of tears? This is a classic one, the opening sequence of Up. The first ten minutes of Up just destroy me every time. I also saw Soul a couple of days ago and I was with the whole family and I, just, if I wasn’t with the whole family I would have been ugly-sobbing. I had a real ache in my throat after the movie because I was trying to stop [myself] from sobbing.

Tell me your favorite coming-of-age film, the film that first gave you ‘teenage feelings’? Pump Up the Volume. Christian Slater! Off the back of Pump Up the Volume, I fancied myself as a prophet and wrote a theater piece called Lemmings. Obviously the main character was a person who could see through the façade, and everyone else was following norms. “No one understands me, I’m a prophet!” So clearly I have this shitty, Joker-style megalomaniac inside of me. It was the worst play, and I don’t know why my teachers agreed for us to do a staging of it!

Christian Slater and Samantha Mathis in ‘Pump Up the Volume’ (1990).

Is there a film that you and your family love to rewatch? We’ve tried to impose our taste on our children, but they’re too young. We showed them The Princess Bride—they didn’t get it. We literally showed our babies Star Wars in their cribs. That’s how obsessive Star Wars fans we were.

Name a director and/or writer that you deeply admire for their use of the artform. I have a slightly weird answer for this. Can I just give love to Every Frame a Painting by Tony Zhou and Taylor Ramos? They are my film school. I was thinking of my love of Edgar Wright, but then I thought of their video essay on Edgar Wright and how to film comedy, and his essay on Jackie Chan and the rhythm of action and then their essay on the Coen Brothers and Shot Reverse Shot. I must have watched that 30 times ahead of the TV show that I’m making now. I started out in editorial and Tony Zhou is an editor and he talks about when to make the cut: it’s an instinct, it’s a feeling, it’s a rhythm. I realized the one thing in common that I could mention about all the films I’ve loved is Every Frame a Painting. It’s their love of movies that comes bubbling out of every single essay that they made that I just wanna shout out at this part of my career.

Were there any crucial films that you turned to in your development for Shadow in the Cloud? Indiana Jones was something that Chloë brought up—she likes the spiffiness and the humor of Indiana Jones. Sarah Connor was our touchstone for the female character. For one-person-in-one-space type stories, I watched Locke quite a lot, to figure out how they shaped tension and story and [kept] us on the edge of our seats when it’s only one person in one space. In terms of superheroes, I came back to Aliens. Not Alien. Aliens. You know, there are two types of people in this world—people who prefer Alien over Aliens, and people who prefer Aliens over Alien. But actually I think I vacillate for different reasons.

Can there be a third type of person, who thinks they’re both great, but Alien³, just, no? Maybe that’s the best group to be in. We don’t need to fight about this, we can love both of them! I was having an argument with James Wan’s company about this, because there’s a rift inside the company of people who prefer Alien over Aliens.

Okay, program a triple feature with your film as one of the three. I don’t know. Ask Ant Timpson!

I’ll ask Ant Timpson. [We did, and he replied: “Well, one has to be the Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner: Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. And then either Life (2017) or Altitude (2010).”]

Thank you Ant! I used to go to his all-nighters as a university student. He is the king of programming things.

Jake Gyllenhaal in ‘Life’ (2017).

It’s strange that we never met at one of his events! Ant would make me dress up in strange outfits and do weird skits between films. (For those who don’t know, Timpson ran the Incredibly Strange Film Festival for many years—now part of the New Zealand International Film Festival—and still runs an annual 24-Hour Movie Marathon.) So what’s a film from those events that sticks in your head as the perfect genre experience with a crowd? It was a movie about a man protecting a woman who was the girlfriend of a mafia boss: A Bittersweet Life. Not only does it have one of the sexiest Korean actors, sorry, not to objectify, but also I actually screenshot a lot of that film for pitch documents. And, do you remember a crazy Japanese movie where someone’s sitting on the floor with a clear umbrella and a woman is lactating milk? Visitor Q by Takashi Miike. I remember just how fucking crazy that was.

Finally, what was the best film you saw in 2020? I haven’t seen Nomadland yet, so keep in mind that I haven’t seen all the films this year. I have three: The Invisible Man, which I thought was just amazing. I thought [writer-director] Leigh Whannell did such a great job. The Half of It by Alice Wu, a quiet movie that I simply just adored. And then the last movie I saw at the cinema was Promising Young Woman. The hype is real.

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‘Shadow in the Cloud’ is available in select theaters and on video on demand now.

#life in film #letterboxd life in film #female director #directed by women #52 films by women #action film #action genre #chloe grace moretz #wwii film #ww2 film #terminator 2 #chinese new zealander #cheng pei-pei #tom eagles #jojo rabbit #female action hero #letterboxd

[captainhandsomes]

How about (fanon?) Endgame steve realizing just how much Steve's words had affected tony, just how MUCH tony had NEEDED him and just how much he had failed to fulfill his promise of 'together' TONY RIPPED HIS HEART OUT, GRABBED STEVE'S HAND AND PLACED IT INTO HIS WARM PALM Sorry, I just have a lot of emotions

oh, there’s nothing fanon about that. that’s all canon, pal. i hope you were aiming for a full-on analysis because that’s what you’re about to get. put y’all seatbelts on!

right off the bat you can see the hesitation on steve’s face. sure, they had spoken when tony first landed – and everything had seemed fine and dandy then – but in that moment, it had been literally a life or death situation. it had been about being glad the other was still alive. now, though, it’s time for a real conversation and steve knows things are most likely about to get ugly. he’s trying to thread through this as carefully as possible.

you can see steve’s uneasiness in the way it takes him just a second longer than usual to meet tony’s eyes. you can argue that he’s being mindful because of what tony had just been through, but i believe it’s both. as much as i love cap, i think we call all agree that he’s not the most tactful person. the mission always comes first.

tony goes on a rant about how thanos wiped his face with a planet and we can see exactly that, steve worried about the mission. he’s clearly, gradually losing his patience. 

(i just realized this is gonna feature way too many gifs and i’m sorry, but i really wanted to include tony’s [fart noise] scene because he’s so beyond caring. it’s hilarious (and by that i mean heartbreaking)).

i don’t think steve doesn’t care about what happened on titan. he cares, but there’s nothing he can do about that now. what he can do, however, is find out everything he can about the fucker and kill him – which would be so much easier if tony would just, yk, focus and give him the information he needs. so that’s what steve does. he asks tony to focus. and that’s when the scene does a complete 180º.

tony answers steve’s request with a flying kick to the face.

and steve is reminded of why he should be threading through this carefully.

(again, including this just so we can all appreciate RDJ’s oscar-worthy performance)

i wish i could include the sound of steve’s voice here, because he sounds wrecked. he’s grasping at straws here. yes, ultron had been a disaster, no one can argue that, but that’s not the point tony is making and steve is well aware of that.

i don’t need to say anything about this. just watch steve swallowing that hard pill (and his jaw doing the Thing™️)

steve is so taken aback by tony’s aggressiveness (believe me, i know how ridiculous this sounds when he was the one that literally rammed his shield into tony’s arc reactor).

anyways, so that’s the face a man makes when he feels the weight of all his mistakes finally setting upon his shoulders.

thank you for coming to my TED talk!

#stony #stevetony #stonyedit #stevetonyedit #answered #anonymous #this got... a bit out of hand i'm sorry friend #BUT THERE'S A FUCKING LOT TO UNPACK HERE YK #long post #LONG ASS post i'm sorry #this is why it took me 2 days to answer anon i hope u dont mind fjdksf

[aion-rsa]

Cobra Kai and the Debate Around Cultural Appropriation

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This article contains Cobra Kai spoilers.

Why aren’t there more Asians in Cobra Kai? 

Since Cobra Kai first premiered on YouTube, The Los Angeles Times, Vanity Fair, and other publications have called out the series for its lack of Asianness. The series also scored poorly on UCLA’s 2020 Hollywood Diversity Report. Miguel (Xolo Maridueña) and Carmen (Vanessa Rubio) are the only non-white main characters. This was exacerbated when the recently-released season 3 excluded Aisha (Nichole Brown), a major character of color who was a fan favorite. 

Granted, Cobra Kai does have a few non-white actors in reccurring roles. They just aren’t leads. Nate Oh plays Nathaniel, but he is a minor character with minimal development. Kyler (Joe Seo) was the first bully to appear in Cobra Kai constantly harassing Miguel. To their credit, the writers made him a wrestler instead of a stereotypical martial artist, just because he’s Asian. Cobra Kai has revealed character backstories for nearly all the show’s bullies, including Kreese (Martin Kove), but not Kyler. He remains a secondary character, but has potential to emerge as a major villain next season. 

Season 3 also enjoyed some added Asian representation during Daniel’s trip to Okinawa with heartfelt cameos from Tamlyn Tomita (Kumiko) and Yuji Okumoto (Chozen) from The Karate Kid Part II. While both characters figure largely in the canon, their Cobra Kai appearance was too limited to be as Asian inclusions to the main cast. Perhaps they’ll return in season 4. Maybe Johnny (William Zabka) needs to learn Chozen’s pressure point technique too. (I would love to see Johnny in Okinawa.)

This is all to say that Cobra Kai is not as diverse or Asian-centric as one might expect a property about martial arts to be. But that just makes it the latest in a long line of Karate Kid properties that has had to grapple with the reality of how karate operates in a globalized world. 

In some ways, The Karate Kid was groundbreaking for Asian representation when it premiered in 1984. Daniel’s (Ralph Macchio) crane kick inevitably degraded into a mocking anti-Asian gesture. The pose is iconic, but mostly as ridicule. Even Will Smith took a poke at it when Morita made a guest appearance on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. And yet, Mr. Miyagi’s (Pat Morita) remarkable backstory in the film brought attention to the plight of Japanese Americans like never before.

In Miyagi’s poignant drunken scene, we discover that he was a veteran of the 100th/442nd Infantry Battalion (a.k.a. the ‘Purple Heart’ Battalion) and his wife died during childbirth in a WWII internment camp. The scene was almost cut because the filmmakers felt the tangent interrupted the momentum of the action. In retrospect, it was likely that this very scene sealed Morita’s Oscar nomination. Manned completely by Japanese Americans, the 100th/442nd was the most decorated unit for its size and service in U.S. history. 

Japan was the enemy, so the Battalion was constantly confronted by racism from surrounding ranks. The Army didn’t quite know what to do with them. They were sent on suicide missions in Europe, but they prevailed and kept coming back for more. They were awarded 18,143 individual decorations including 52 Distinguished Crosses and 21 Congressional Medals of Honor. The Medal of Honor is America’s highest award for combat valor. Miyagi has one. Recognizing the Purple Heart Battalion gave The Karate Kid a lot of soul, but Miyagi’s medal was historically awkward. The real story exposes deeper racial discrimination. 

The Next Karate Kid begins with Miyagi attending a 442nd commendation. In a respectful cameo, appearing as the Senator at that event was Daniel Inouye, an actual veteran of the 442nd who lost his arm in combat. He was the first Japanese American to serve in the House and Senate, and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor. However, The Next Karate Kid came out in 1994, six years before he received it. Twenty of the Medals of Honor that 100th/442nd vets received were upgrades awarded in 2000 after Congress rectified the oversight. The only one prior to that was given to Pfc. Sadao Munemori posthumously. He gave his life jumping on a grenade to save his comrades. When Daniel met Miyagi, no living Asian vets had a Medal of Honor.

On a personal note, my grandfather was Captain Taro Suzuki of the 100th Battalion. Like so many of his comrades, he was wounded in action. His right hand was permanently crippled, and he still had so much shrapnel in his body that he couldn’t pass through a metal detector. I inherited his Purple Heart which I cherish like the LaRussos treasure Miyagi’s medal. I heard his war stories growing up. The Karate Kid was the first time I saw his battalion represented in a movie. Miyagi’s drunken scene is still intensely moving and personal for me. 

Morita died in 2005 so Miyagi only appears in Cobra Kai flashbacks culled from the original movies. Although the series goes to great lengths to honor him, the lack of any Asian leads does give credence to those accusations of cultural appropriation and whitewashing. The thing is, much of the martial arts scene in the Western world has already been, for lack of a better term, whitewashed. And one character’s journey (and the real life figure he’s based on), helps illustrate martial arts’ approach to worldwide growth.

In Cobra Kai season 3, Young Kreese’s journey mirrors the real-life experience of the action choreographer of the original films, Master Pat E. Johnson. Kreese learned martial arts from his Caucasian commander, Captain Turner (Terry Serpico), who learned it while serving in Korea from Master Kim Sun-Yung. It was actually Korean Tang Soo Do, not Karate. Johnson learned Tang Soo Do from Master Kang Lo Hee while stationed as a U.S. Army chaplain in Korea. This is how Tang Soo Do spread westward. Many of the leading American martial arts proponents are not Asian. 

Today, martial arts belong to the world. For generations, Asian traditional martial arts have striven to propagate themselves globally. Judo and Taekwondo have become Olympic events and Karate was going to be added in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It’s still on track when the games are rescheduled this summer. International organizations are found in every major martial arts style now and they are continuing to spread. So, it’s not entirely fair to begrudge the diaspora’s non-inclusivity. 

While The Karate Kid brought martial arts to the San Fernando Valley, other films and shows have spread the martial diaspora globally. The Blaxploitation genre glorified martial arts with its own unique take on the culture. Netflix’s Seis Manos is a Kung Fu based adult animated series set in Mexico. Although it does have a leading Asian role in Chiu (Vic Chao), is this cultural appropriation? Indian movie stars like Tiger Shroff and Akshay Kumar have brought martial arts to Bollywood in force with films like Commando, Baaghi, and Khiladi. That’s not Asian cultural appropriation, even though India is a different region of Asia where we don’t typically associate martial arts. 

Nevertheless, the international spread of Asian martial arts does not give filmmakers carte blanche to deny whitewashing and cultural appropriation. We must not go back to the days of Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins where Joel Grey played Chuin with slant eye makeup. 

Whether Cobra Kai culturally appropriates Asian culture or not, it can certainly increase its diversity. The setting, West Valley High School, is attended by students from Encino and Reseda. While Encino is over 80% white, Reseda is over 50% Hispanic and over 11% Asian. Statistically, the inclusion of Miguel and Carmen isn’t enough. The Karate Kid franchise was pivotal for representation. Conversations about appropriation and whitewashing aside, Cobra Kai can at least honor the franchise’s tradition and increase its diversity next season. 

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Cobra Kai season 3 is available to stream on Netflix now.

The post Cobra Kai and the Debate Around Cultural Appropriation appeared first on Den of Geek.

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Otaku Reader’s Corner: One Piece, Cutie Shikimori, and a Detestable Demon Falls in Love

Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie, Vol. 1

Shikimori seems like the perfect girlfriend—cute, sweet, bashful. But Izumi knows that’s only half her personality. Like some moe Jekyll and Hyde, in moments where her boyfriend needs her most, she becomes a super cool and dashing young woman, and it’s especially that part of her personality that Izumi loves so much. Volume one of this fun series doesn’t just play around with this unique personality switching, it also introduces a really fun dynamic. Izumi is lovable but clumsy accident prone, and the sudden transformation of Shikimori into a suave, athletic girlfriend who comes to his rescue time and time and time again swaps traditional gender roles, with Izumi playing the “girl role” and Shikimori the “boy one.” While it’s a source of laughs, there’s a lot of sweetness there, making for a compelling and cute read. Just as importantly, the art style of mangaka Keigo Maki really stand outs, especially in how he places his characters within their surroundings. I found it far more artistic than the usual manga romance. All told, I’m excited to continue with the read, as it hits all the pleasantness of Komi Can’t Communicate, to which Kodansha is comparing it, while featuring a little more depth and greater creativity than that super popular like-minded series. ~ Twwk

Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie, Vol. 1 is available through Kodansha.

Why Shouldn’t a Detestable Demon Lord Fall in Love?! Vol. 1

Anima is the most powerful entity in the world, feared by commoners and demons alike—all flee before his mighty power, which presents a little problem since all he really wants is a wife and family! So how does one solve such a conundrum? How about a kind-hearted and beautiful maiden summoning him by her side to her own world! Sol Press’ release oozes lovey-doveyness even beyond what you’d expect from the above summary. When Anima arrives in a new land, he immediately falls head over heals for the lovely Luina and takes on the mantle of caregiver and “daddy” for his newfound family. It’s a bit heavy-handed, and I don’t mean the saccharine sweet tone, which is just fine—the conversations, however, are often inane and repetitive. Worse, Anima loses his personality after the first handful of pages and becomes quite a boring character. However, there is hope for the series. Despite how OP Anima is, there are hints of dread on the horizon, and though this sweet series may never go totally dark, there’s opportunity here for the author to earn the love he’s created between his leads through the deeds of the story’s villain and the mechanics of summoning and magic. The best parts of volume one involve foreshadowing and world-building, so here’s hoping those strong elements continue to develop in future volumes. ~ Twwk

Why Shouldn’t a Destestable Demon Lord Fall in Love?! Vol. 1 is available through Sol Press.

Unnamed Memory, Volume 1

Billing itself as “an epic fairy tale,” this new light novel from Yen Press surprised me. It felt unexpectedly reminiscent of western fantasy (as opposed to the sorts of fantasy stories more common to anime and light novels). I can’t quite put my finger on why I get this vibe, but it’s there, and I enjoyed it. Perhaps the capriciousness and danger of the story’s fantastical elements evoke western fairy tales. As the story opens, Prince Oscar, cursed by a witch to be unable to continue the royal line, seeks a boon from the world’s strongest witch, Tinasha. When she can’t break the curse, Oscar sets his sights on marrying her, which would effectively circumvent the curse. I’m tempted to call this a fantasy-romance-mystery story, since secrets and intrigue abound. There seem to be multiple, separate antagonists or factions at work, and there are also indications that time travel is involved. Besides hinting at various mysteries, this volume serves to introduce the the romantic leads, Oscar and Tinasha. The two are quite stubborn and have some good rapport…but they also might totally kill each other. I look forward to the next volume. ~ Jeskai Angel

Unnamed Memory is available through Yen Press.

One Piece, Vol. 1

So, recently I decided to do something ridiculous. I told my Twitter followers that if I was able to get my follower count back above 3,000 I would start reading the One Piece manga. It’s a huge fandom and one of the biggest manga series in the world. It took my followers less than 3 hours to get me back above that threshold. So, true to my word – I started reading it. So, at the time I wrote this I am finishing up the first volume’s worth of chapters. My thoughts so far? I’m really enjoying it. The story kicks off with kid Luffy and introduces you very quickly into the entire world setting Oda has created. From the widespread piracy to the corrupt government to the magic fruit that gives Luffy his stretchy powers, it’s all explained in those first few chapters. I’ve read a lot of short lived manga series that gave us an oversized first chapter that tried aggressively to shove the reader into the plot and world setting too quickly. One Piece brings us into the world masterfully without any of it feeling forced. Instead, I felt immersed in the new characters as they were introduced and enamored by Luffy. I think I’m going to like this series, so feel free to follow me on my journey. ~ MDMRN

One Piece can be read at Shonen Jump or purchased through Viz.

Harem Royale ~When the game ends~, Volume 1

From the creator of Higurashi and Umineko comes a manga with quite the twisted concept. Asunaro is a high school boy who fantasizes about having a harem but has no desire to try to get a girlfriend in reality. When he releases a demon from a sealed bottle, though, said demon decides to “grant his wish for a harem life”… by dragging the girls he fantasizes about into a deadly game of seduction. A number of girls must compete in various tasks to appeal to Asunaro, with the goal to be the one girl he chooses at the end, and any girl that fails will be subjected to being repeatedly killed in Hell. It’s an absolutely vile setup designed specifically for grief and suffering, which is why I’m glad the story at least focuses more on the efforts of four girls not to try to destroy each other or indulge in the whole “harem” romancing thing, but instead how they can try to work around the rules of the game so all of them can survive, while watching out for outside forces trying to sabotage them. As such, it reads less like a sleazy harem story and more like a thriller with mind games and strategizing. With Asunaro himself out of the loop that this death game is happening, though, it does mean that he has no real characterization worth speaking of, and the girls also don’t have much characterization beyond how they are trying to survive the game. Overall, it’s not my type of story so I probably won’t read any more of it, but if “harem death game” with a focus on mutual survival sounds good to you, this should serve fine. (Content warning: there’s a few depictions of detailed upper-body nudity.)  ~ stardf29

Harem Royale, Vol. 1 is available from Sol Press.

Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village, Volume 1

The latest reincarnation isekai light novel centered around using modern knowledge to improve lives, Fushi no Kami is a solid entry for those who like that kind of story. The premise might be very familiar, but the execution works well on many fronts. For example, the protagonist Ash not only has to learn how to read the language of the world he’s now in, but also gets to put some linguistic knowledge to use in order to try to decipher ancient languages. Likewise, the story goes fairly in-depth with what sorts of developments are needed to improve life and how to actually execute said developments. However, it is with the characters themselves where the story particularly shines; the narration not only gets into Ash’s head and his thoughts about everything but also switches viewpoints frequently to those of other characters, which helps with understanding and developing all of them as they start to grow to accommodate Ash’s newfound passions. The only downside is that, for as bright as Ash can be with improving the quality of life, he’s rather dense when it comes to romance. Overall, this is a nice, more down-to-earth isekai story that I certainly would like to read more of. ~ stardf29

Fushi no Kami, Vol. 1 is available from J-Novel Club.

Shirahime-Syo

Shirahime-Syo is a single volume series from CLAMP filled with tales of romance and loss in the winter. Interconnected through each of the stories is that the winter itself is living component of the story as the Snow Goddess. Each of the 5 chapters of this single volume set is in ancient Japan during blistering wintery conditions and tell about different tales of love. Some of the stories are tragic, while others are more bittersweet. CLAMP’s art style in this set of folktale style stories were completed with a brush and ink. This gave the art a more traditional flair than more modern pen inking. This was, apparently, done as a cost and time cutting measure; however, the choice to complete the art with a brush and ink helped fit into the setting very well. It entirely felt like you were being told some traditional folktales and I really enjoyed it.  ~ MDMRN

Shirahime-Syo is available through Viz.

Keito Koume Illustrations Spice & Wolf: The Tenth Year Calvados

One of the attractions of both manga and light novels is the illustrations—even in the age of video, still images can remain compelling, especially when masterfully drawn. Keito Koume is certainly a master, and has been the mangaka for the Spice & Wolf manga adaptation for the last 10+ years. To celebrate the decade of his work, a lovely artbook featuring many of the manga’s illustrations, as well original pieces and those from other materials, has been released. The work also has a lovely monochrome illustrations section, a new short comic, and a thumbnail gallery of all the illustrations, including references and Koume’s own commentary. The Tenth Year Calvados is a must-have collector’s item for fans of this classic franchise, and worth checking out even for those who aren’t. Though a bit of warning: Just as with the other platforms, this artbook features heavy doses of a mostly and occasionally fully nude wise wolf. ~ Twwk

Keito Koume Illustrations Spice & Wolf: The Tenth Year Calvados is available through Yen Press. Watch our video review of this artbook on YouTube.

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Thank you to Kodansha, Sol Press, and Yen Press for providing review copies for some of the materials reviewed above. 

#Manga #Light Novels #Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie #Why Shouldn’t a Detestable Demon Lord Fall in Love #Unnamed Memory #One Piece #Harem Royale ~When the game ends~ #Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village #Keito Koume Illustrations Spice & Wolf: The Tenth Year Calvados #Kawaii dake ja Nai Shikimori san #Kiraware Maou ga Botsuraku Reijou to Koi ni Ochite Nani ga Warui! #Renai Harem Game Shuuryou no Oshirase ga Kuru Koro ni #Fushi no Kami: Henkyou kara Hajimeru Bunmei Saiseiki #Shirahimeshou #Keito Koume Illustrations Ookami to Koushinryou: The Tenth Year Calvados #Otaku Reader's Corner #Articles #Author: TWWK #Author: Jeskai Angel #Author: MDMRN #Author: stardf29

[allie1804-fan]

Please Assist Me (Chapter 6)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5

She Said

That hug at Christmas and the fumbled goodbye kiss the kids had insisted we have when we left started a whole new phase of our relationship, at least for me. The feelings those moments stirred in me reminded me of my torn feelings when he was dating Anja and it all made separating Keanu the friend from Keanu the boss ever harder. I had to admit to myself that it wasn’t just him that seemed lighter in spirits since he moved on but also me.

In January, he was in San Francisco training and eventually starting the filming for Matrix 4 so we were back to e mails and instant messages for the most part as his schedule could change at a moment’s notice. With him out of town, work wise things were quieter for me  though I did have the installation of a new BBQ on his patio to supervise which meant being at his house more. I’d find myself daydreaming about that day at Christmas when he and Miguel were sitting at either end of the corridor whizzing Duke Caboom up and down cackling when they managed a direct hit on each other or Duke fell over. He was really good at playing with both of the kids; it warmed my heart but I scolded myself knowing that my affection was taking me in a direction that surely he would never want.

The focus on these irrational feelings became more intense when in mid January I met up for coffee with Karina. Keanu had let her know that he would be back in town for the Oscars weekend in early February and he wanted to arrange a family dinner the night before.

Once we’d agreed on a venue which I would book later, our conversation turned to her brother’s mental well-being.

“So how is he doing do you think?”

“Well, he’s fine I think, we haven’t talked often, just e mails mainly about admin and the barbecue, you know but he was very excited to be working with Lana, Carrie-Anne and Tiger again.”

“He finished with Anja right, before Christmas?”

I nodded

“Don’t you think he’s seemed more himself since then, he seemed, you know, like a weight was off his shoulders”

I just nodded again, feeling a little awkward about the whole conversation, mainly because he had opened up a little to me and I knew I’d thought about how both he and I had seemed lighter in spirits since the break up!

“So why did he end it?”

My eyebrows shot up.

“oh come on,  you two talk, I know you do! You can tell me!”

I sighed

“He …. He just said it wasn’t going anywhere and  he knew he was going to be away a lot this year so I guess he didn’t want to string her along, you know ….. for “ I took a gulp of my coffee not wanting to say more

“you mean for the sex!”

This made me blush beet red and nearly spit my coffee all over her!

“you like him don’t you?”

“Of course I like him, he’s a great boss” I spluttered, blushing even more.

“Yeah! A great boss who helps you when your kid is sick, who goes to see “Frozen 2” with you all who buys you a spa day at one of the top locations in LA and is taking your kids on a private tour of Disney studios”

“How do you know all that?”

“Because he talks to me too sometimes you know and when he does, he mentions you all the time. Sophia, I think he likes you too and I think that you’re the reason he didn’t see things going anywhere with Anja!” Karina declared emphatically.

“Come on” I protested, I’m just his PA so of course he mentions me and you know the gifts are great but that’s just how he is, he’s renowned for  his generosity you know with charities and being kind to his fans and co-workers from the lowliest of workers to giving up his salary for Pacino and Hackman.”

Karina guffawed at that

“Oh my god you are such a fan girl! You are totally not fooling me, YOU (she pointed me in the chest with her finger) like my BROTHER! And, like I said, it’s plain as day to me that he likes you. And Alex agrees with me. I ran into him last week and he brought it up spontaneously!”

“What?”

“Yes, he said ever since you started to work for him, some complement or other about you is never far away in his conversation”

I shook my head as I couldn’t really believe what she was saying. What if? Even though it was his sister, who knew him well and one of his oldest friends backing her up, it seemed like an outlandish hope and one that could only end up with me being disappointed. I finally admitted to myself that I did have feelings for him and my eyes filled with tears because I was so sure she must be wrong about him feeling something too.

Karina was quick to notice the change in my demeaner

“Hey, I didn’t mean to upset you ……… what’s up?”

I let out a long sigh and little chuckle at my foolishness.

“I guess you’ve finally made me admit how I feel but I still feel like, like I don’t know what to do about it and I don’t really believe he feels the way you say he does and me and the kids are just going to get hurt if I don’t reign it in. I mean, I really need this job and I love it too. He’s such a great boss”

“He’s a great guy too Sophia …….. great big brother, great son, great godfather.”

“I know, I see all that but, what good can come from saying anything? First, he’s my boss and 2nd, even if I did muster the courage  to say something, I’m probably not going to see him in the flesh for months as he’s shooting through to, I dunno, the summer I think and then he said he was going to go on a bike tour in Europe after the Matrix wraps.”  

“Won’t you see him when he’s back for the Oscars?”

“Well, we did say we would, he has a bunch of birthday cards to sign in case I can’t catch him before Berlin”

“Well then, if you say something then and I’m right, you could be with him on that bike tour of Europe”

“What!” I rolled my eyes, “me and my two kids!”

“Oh yeah, well you have parents still around don’t you who would be glad to help out”

“Look, stop, just stop.  I need to think clearly and not start daydreaming about some ridiculous fantasy life”

“Ok, OK I’ll stop. But I’ll say this one last time, I’m his sister, Alex is his oldest friend and we both thing he likes you, OK?”

“OK”

 He Said

Life got busy for me in the new year and I didn’t see Sophia again until the weekend of the Oscars. I had come home on the Saturday and she’d booked a table for me, Karina, her husband and my Mom at The Ivy for a family dinner that evening. The Sunday would be spent largely in being dressed for the ceremony and the ceremony itself so a coffee on my patio in the afternoon was all we could fit in. She brought be  one of her famous brownies  - and some to take back and enjoy in San Francisco.

“Oh my god, amazing as usual” I praised “It’s great to see you, I missed our chats with coffee and your brownies!”

“Me too” she agreed smiling though she looked, I don’t know exactly, a little wistful.

“You OK?”

“Yeah, yes I’m fine”

She really didn’t seem it. She was smiling but it didn’t reach her eyes and she seemed guarded.  It was completely true that I had missed her and I’d been contemplating saying something about my feelings or trying to see if I could get any clue if she could even think of me as more than a friendly boss but I felt kind of ridiculous and I had no clue how to subtly approach the subject. And very soon, I was going to be away for months. I told myself it wasn’t worth rocking the boat and we moved onto getting the details of my  travel to Berlin in March agreed and she had several birthday cards and gift tags for me to sign for gifts she would sort out in my long absence. We might not see each other in person before Berlin.

Later that evening, Karina surprised me by asking if I’d seen Sophia.

“Yeah, why”

“Oh, nothing she just mentioned she’d be seeing you when we last met”

I tilted my head and noticed my mother was watching us intently.

“and why were you two talking about me?”

“Oh, you know, she’s my insider link to your secret life”

“I don’t have a secret life” I protested making air quotes as I said ‘secret life’

“Well she was the one who confirmed that you and Anja had split before  Christmas when you never said a word”

“Oh! And since when have you and Sophia been such firm friends?”

“Oh probably since you started dumping so many of your family responsibilities on her, I guess!” Karina jibed.

“Anyway, she’s a lovely person……… and gorgeous ………… wouldn’t you agree?”

I could feel the blush rise on my face immediately and Mom’s gaze seemed to intensify.

“Yes, she is”

“She is what?”

“Lovely” I said

“and?”

“And gorgeous” I admitted, punching Karina’s arm.

“I knew it!” Karina exclaimed “didn’t I tell you Mom?”

“Oh my god, you’re so ganging up on me” I whined.

“So are you going to ask her out?”

“Karina, no I am not. I’m her boss, it would be inappropriate and besides I’m going back to San Fran on Monday and then there’s the Germany shoot and I’d planned that road trip after the shoot. And, I mean I have no idea if she could even think of me like that and I’m old man, what is it 17 years older and there’s the kids”

By then Karina had started to laugh as had my mother.

“So you’ve thought about it a lot huh?”

I had started laughing along with them by then, realising how dumb I probably sounded.

“Ok,OK,OK, I admit it, I like her, a lot. But I’m not going to do anything about it now because, well probably because I’m chicken, but also I will be away so I just decided not to rock the boat for now, OK?”

“OK son, probably wise knowing how wrapped up you get in your work” my mother agreed with me for once.

“So, do you think eventually, I could ask her out?” I said directing the question at Karina who immediately spat out some of her drink.

“What?!”

“Jeez, you really are so dumb sometimes, YES, you stand a chance of her being agreeable to that”

“Oh right, right, well good”

I smiled to myself and met my mother’s eye - she was smiling too.

 She Said

I next saw Keanu the day before the Oscars. We caught up at his house over coffee and brownies that I’d baked for him. After I’d first given him one, it had become part of our routine when we needed to go through admin. He was as appreciative as ever and said he’d missed our catch ups. My heart flipped but I checked myself. It was preposterous to think he meant anything more than missing me in a friendly way  - and my baking!

I felt myself closing down a little. He even asked if I was OK. I didn’t want to give the game away about my feelings so I assured him I was fine and we got down to business.  

I watched him on the Oscars show and messaged him that he had done a great job presenting with Diane who was a little less smooth I thought. He sent back a smiley emoji.I didn’t say how absolutely gorgeous I thought he looked or how sweet he was with his mother on the red carpet.

Then he was back in San Fran and shooting the Matrix 4. I kept up with his goings on online – his Publicist liked me to keep a watch over some of the fan sites.  I followed Keanu Planet on Instagram, one of the friendlier sites. Some of the others seemed too obsessed and were wildly negative about any woman he was ever seen with.  Looking at those sites gave me a bad taste in the mouth so I let Cheryl follow them.

With all the night shoots, hanging on wires between sky-scrapers and helicopter antics, I was worried as well as excited to see how it turned out. I’d always ask him to stay safe in any messages I sent to him about other matters.

I thought I wouldn’t see him again until the end of the summer but he managed to come home for a few days in March between wrapping in San Francisco and heading to Berlin.

I took the kids over as it was a Saturday. They had made him a good luck card which Eva proudly gave him.

“Do you have enough books to pass the downtime with? Have you read ‘Normal People’ yet?”

He shook his head guiltily.

“Well be sure to read it - you could do it on the flight I bet”

When we left, he gave the kids a big hug, getting down on his knees to wrap his arms around them both.

And I got one too. He held onto me for what seemed like an awfully long time – though of course it wasn’t awful at all to be in his arms!

“Stay safe OK?” The news of the pandemic had started to ramp up by this point so he had a point. I guessed maybe that was why he’d hugged me for so long.

“you too”

He kissed me on the cheek, right cheeks together with no near misses this time and the kids and I headed home.

A couple of days later I got a message from him.

“Arrived safely, “Normal People” done. Needed an R rating warning – quite uncomfortable reading that on a flight!” This was followed by a wink emoji.

I blushed reading the message - was he flirting with me? It kind of seemed like it and I wondered how to reply.

I just opted for a shocked emoji and asked how he felt  about Marianne and Connell’s ridiculous inability to articulate their feelings for much of the book! As I wrote that, I thought of my own reticence to confess my feelings. Was I almost as bad as the Irish teenagers of the story?

Since I wasn’t going to be doing anything about it now for months, I pushed the problem away once again and tried to focus on the kids and running Keanu’s home whilst he was away.  It wasn’t easy to put my feelings in a box though. Either he would message me about a book recommendation or just to see we were all still OK or I’d be at his house and remember that hug or our Christmas togetherness or his face would pop up on the TV. One night, The Lake House was on and seeing that could only revive my fantasies about holding him and kissing him!

@fortheloveoffanfic @kindainlovewithkeanu @omg-imagine @iworshipkeanureeves @fics-not-tragedies @ficsnroses @keanureevesisbae @penwieldingdreamer @witty-wallflower @paperplanesandwallflowers @bitchyslut99 @ladyreapermc @toomanystoriessolittletime @fanficsrusz @keanuficfiles

#keanu reeves fanfic #keanu reeves fanfiction #keanu reeves #keanu #romance with boss