#who knows what went through Pete's head when he watched Vegas | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

veliseraptor · 11 months

Text

probably this is ill-advised for several reasons and I do feel like I just did it but you know what I feel like it. 150 words meme. usual rules apply: fics under the cut, send me up to three numbers and I'll write 150 words in the/each project you chose. twelve fics five fandoms aaand go

1. And then there was Vegas.

It was like a switch flipped. One day he’d had a baby cousin who might be a brat sometimes but Kinn still loved him, not as much as Khun or Kim but more than his uncle for sure. Sometimes he seemed like more friend than family.

The next he had a bristling tiger watching him simultaneously hungry and wary. (Tilted Axis)

2. “I asked you then, didn’t I?” Wei Wuxian said. Xue Yang did remember that. At the time it’d just been a question from the shameless young master with the interesting talismans. If it weren’t for what’d come later he would barely even have registered. He’d been busy watching Xiao Xingchen instead.

“Seems like it must’ve been another boring question if I didn’t answer it,” Xue Yang said.

“One you don’t want to answer, anyway,” Wei Wuxian said. “I have to say when you do that it makes me even more curious.You’ll admit to killing all those people without hesitating, but you don’t want to tell me anything else about it.”

Xue Yang scoffed. “Obviously I’m going to take credit for my work, Wei-qianbei.”

Wei Wuxian hummed. “Wouldn’t be obvious to everyone,” he said. “I know you know something you’re not sharing about Chifeng-zun’s murder,” he went on, “and I can think of a lot of reasons you’re not talking about that.”

Xue Yang widened his eyes in an expression of perfect innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Wei-qianbei. What would this humble one know about the affairs of such an important person?” (demonic cultivator team up)

3. It was dark.

No, not just dark; it was nothing. There was nothing, he was adrift in a void, cold and empty. It was so cold, and he had never been so profoundly alone. But above all was the despair, the misery so thick he could choke on it. He’d done something awful. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to exist, even this much, couldn’t bear it. He wanted to rip himself apart like a piece of paper; he already had and it wasn’t enough.

Xiao Xingchen woke up crying with Xue Yang shaking him. “Xingchen,” he said. “Xingchen, hey, wake up–”

For a moment Xiao Xingchen hung in limbo, bewildered and confused, somehow two places at once. Then reality and the weight of the nightmare came crashing down on him at once and he threw himself at Xue Yang without thinking, smashing his face into his shoulder, limbs slithering around him. (Redux)

4. He turned around and walked out. Half expecting to feel the keenly remembered pain of a bullet tearing through flesh. Or maybe he wouldn’t, if they went for the head. Nobody fired, though, and then Pete was behind him, between him and the guns again. He wasn’t supposed to do that and Vegas was going to have to try to make him understand that his life wasn’t worth any less than Vegas’s now. But he couldn’t really think about that, not when he had to focus all his energy on keeping moving, head up, stride steady, don’t scream, don’t scream, not here, don’t let them see how weak you are.

Thankfully, Pete stayed quiet. Vegas was pretty sure if he tried to open his own mouth to say anything he wouldn’t be able to control what came out.

He made it to the car. He got in the car. Pete said a few words to the driver that Vegas didn’t hear and got in on the other side, scooting over to be next to him even if it meant his legs were a little cramped.

“Are you okay,” Pete said, voice level and calm, so fucking calm. This car was too small to hold everything inside him right now. He felt like a bomb about to go off. Three fatalities, no survivors, he thought wildly. “Vegas,” Pete said. “Can you look at me?”

“Not now,” Vegas said, somehow managing to talk without the threads holding him together snapping. (post canon vegaspete long(er) fic)

5. Tuor said nothing. Idril turned away, dashing a hand across her face.

“I don’t want to grieve for him,” she said, a mixture of anguish and anger. Tuor felt an odd pang in his chest and looked back over his shoulder. He thought of the hollowness he’d seen these past months. He’d tried again to make overtures, pity stirring his heart, but if Maeglin no longer seemed to hate him it was only because he no longer seemed to feel anything at all.

It was doubtful Maeglin would thank him. But Idril didn’t want to grieve, and despite what he’d done Tuor’s pity was a stubborn thing.

“Go,” he said. “I’ll be right behind you.” (time for all the works and days of hands)

6. You’re fucked up, he thought, washing his hands. You’re so fucked up. Get it together.

The thing was, Pete had started to wonder if there was a together to get, or if this was just what he was like, now. No going back, no fixing it. Vegas had ruined him for good.

Pete wondered if he knew that. Or maybe if, with Pete not right in front of him, he’d already forgotten about all of it, and it was just Pete who couldn’t stop circling around and around, trapped like an animal in a cage.

A hedgehog, maybe, he thought in the shower, and started laughing until his stomach hurt. (jiggety-jig)

7. Discussing a night hunt with Xue Yang was…strange. There was the unsurprising part: the continual need to remind him to consider the safety of other people.

(“Why?” he asked bluntly. “There’s no such thing as harmless innocents anyway, and these people are playing with something bloody and nasty.”

“We don’t know that all of them are involved or even aware,” Song Lan said. “Until proven otherwise, I will consider them all potentially in need of my protection.” Something ugly flashed briefly in Xue Yang’s eyes, but it was swiftly masked behind an edged grin.

“Seems stupid to me,” Xue Yang said, “but fine.”) (Walking Far From Home)

8. Song Lan gritted his teeth and forced out, *he’s not well.* What are you thinking, screamed his common sense again. Are you really going to make some kind of bargain with this creature, this demon, this dead thing–

He could almost hear in Xue Yang’s voice: dead things shouldn’t throw stones, Zichen. He could see Xue Yang breathing hard. He didn’t breathe now, or didn’t need to except by habit and the comfort of others.

“What the fuck’s that mean,” Xue Yang said, but at least now he sounded more wary than furious.

*I mean he’s–* Song Lan reined in his frustration. *He’s not well. He’s unhappy. He barely eats, he barely sleeps.*

Xue Yang stared at him in silence for long enough that Song Lan almost asked if he’d heard him. Then he said, “how the fuck did you mess this up again?”

Song Lan jerked. Before he could object (can you object? You have failed him), Xue Yang ws speaking again. “I set up everything for you, Song-daozhang, I made sure he was alive again and I gave him back the stupid brat too, and you, made sure he’d see the important stuff fixed when he woke up. You just had to step up and be the fucking friend he thought you were, I figured maybe you’d’ve learned from your mistakes but I guess not!”

*This isn’t my fault!* Song Lan said, anger rising at the sheer monstrous unfairness of that accusation. *You’re the one who wounded him so badly that he–*

“Shut up!” Xue Yang said, his voice rising to a scream. “Shut the fuck up, you don’t know anything, you don’t–”

Wei Wuxian whistled two sharp notes and Xue Yang’s voice cut off like his vocal cords had been severed. (Life After Death)

9. But right now Sha Hualing was where she wasn’t supposed to be, deep in Cang Qiong Peak territory where Junshang…strongly discouraged demons from going. It wasn’t her fault that this was the only place she knew of this side of the Endless Abyss where you could find the Silver-Spinning Spider-Beetle, which happened to be an essential ingredient in a poison she was making to – it didn’t matter, it was important. Liu Mingyan seemed surprised, which suggested that she hadn’t actually been looking for her. Unfortunately, Sha Hualing was rapidly losing the advantage of that surprise by standing staring back at her like an idiot.

“Saintess?” Liu Mingyan said, like she didn’t quite believe her eyes. Sha Hualing smiled.

“Look who it is,” she said. “Mingyan-niangzi. What an honor.”

Liu Mingyan’s eyes narrowed and she drew herself up to her full height – unfortunately a head and some over Sha Hualing’s own. She set her hand to the hilt of her sword. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Sha Hualing batted her eyelashes, still smiling. “Why would you say that?” she said. “I’m just taking a walk in this beautiful place, enjoying the fresh air. Is that so wrong?” Her eyes darted around, scanning for what she could use if Liu Mingyan decided to attack her. And she would wait for Liu Mingyan to do it first, because then she could tell Junshang honestly that she’d just been defending herself, so maybe he should talk to his sect siblings about their behavior, how about that.

(Junshang’s relationship with Cang Qiong was peculiar and incomprehensible but he had been clear about the consequences of causing its members unprovoked harm.) (under pressure)

10. Wherever he was, it was dark, no light filtering through the black hood over his head. The cuffs holding his hands behind his back would be pickable if he had anything to do it with, but even if he could get out of those there was the hobbling on his ankles he’d have to deal with. The ground under him – no chair, that felt rude too – felt like concrete, which told him nothing.

They’d taken his shoes, which for some reason was bothering him more than anything else right now.

Fuck. Pete was probably losing his mind.

He thought about calling out, but whoever was playing games was probably trying to get to him by leaving him on his own, isolated and disoriented. Sitting up was hard but felt worth the effort and the pain rather than being curled in a heap on the floor.

If he was lucky, this was a dumb attempt at getting a ransom out of his family. Vegas doubted his uncle or Kinn would spend one baht coin on bringing him back; Kinn would probably at least be tempted to pay Vegas’s kidnappers to get rid of him. Or maybe they’d see it as an opportunity – let these people kill him and then take the excuse as a chance to cut down a potential threat. (All's Fair)

11. For the next couple days almost all of Vegas’s attention went to Pete. He knew he was fussing and he also couldn’t help it. Pete was mostly out of it enough not to get fidgety. Macau’s teasing was half-hearted, which said more than Vegas liked about how shaken up he was.

Porsche came around to visit. Of course Porsche came around to visit. Vegas thought he was going to crack a molar when he opened the door.

“Still mad, huh,” Porsche said, sounding more rueful than anything else.

“Yes,” Vegas said. “You could say that. What do you want?”

“Just checking on my friend,” Porsche said. “See how he’s doing, say hi–”

“He’s fine,” Vegas said. “Resting. You can go.” (Undercut)

12. World reduced to four featureless walls and a door as formidable a barrier as the Theodosian Walls, Francis Crawford of Lymond sat, seemingly poised in still and focused contemplation, the impression spoiled only by the sheen of sweat on the back of his neck. Otherwise he showed no sign of weakness or faltering; when he eventually slept it was lightly.

It might have been morning or afternoon - there was little light to tell by - when the gate opened.

“Archangel Gabriel,” Lymond said. “Forgive me if I don’t rise at your coming.”

“Pain makes you snide,” Gabriel said. “But I would rather you not strain yourself anyways, my dear.” There was a towel over his arm and he carried a bowl and a pitcher of water. “Are you hungry?” (et ipsi sunt jacula)

#150 words meme #fic excerpt

20 notes · View notes

bitacrytic · 2 years

Text

Overheat [18]

Read Previous Chapter Here

---

On Monday, Porsche watched TV with Pete the whole day. On Tuesday, they read lines, practicing for the play, regardless of the absence of a director. On Wednesday, he went to sleep in Kinn’s bed, pulling the covers over his head and knowing that even though Kinn liked to begin the night on the far end of the bed, that Porsche would wake up with Kinn’s hands wrapped around his body.

---

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

"Come with us," Porsche said.

"Go," Vegas replied.

Kun wasn't a fool. He would know that Vegas had called Kinn and Vegas would suffer for it. If Vegas had taken the risk, either way, then he was preparing himself for his father's wrath. Porsche hated that for him. Hated that Vegas wasn't even looking at him when Porsche was talking to him.

Kneeling on the floor, looking like his life was over, Vegas hadn't moved till they left. Porsche wanted to stay and ask why but the minor house was about to be flooded with the tension of Kun's fury. Pete couldn't be present. Pete had to be far away before anything else happened and Kinn wouldn't leave this premises if Porsche was not in the car.

"Where the fuck do you think you're going?"

Their entourage of Kinn, Pete, eight bodyguards and Porsche slowed down as Kun accosted them, three doors from the entrance. Kinn stepped around the men carrying Pete, to reach his uncle.

"Are you aware that Pete is my artist?"

"Are you aware," Kun asked back. "That your artist put his hands on me?"

"Uncle-"

"What message are you sending if you let him go?"

"Look at him. He's been punished enough."

"Not in my book," Kun said, walking up to Kinn.

Kun was a spiteful man, wicked to his sons, on a good day. But if there was one person he hated more than Vegas and Macau, it was Kinn. The fact that Kinn had stormed in to release Pete who was essentially Kun's prisoner, was a recipe for disaster.

"I will forgive this disrespect, Kinn. But you will leave him and go."

Porsche was standing way back, having left the dungeon last. But from behind, he could see Kinn's back straighten as he stood before Kun, rising to his full height.

"Will you attack me, Uncle?"

"You came into my home and took something from me. I imagine your father won't take kindly to that."

When Kinn took a step toward Kun, Porsche ran to them, noting Kun's shift of eyes. The moment he saw Porsche, he frowned and looked back at Kinn. Porsche placed a gentle hand on Kinn’s back as he looked at Kun.

"Pete will apologize the moment he has recovered, Uncle Kun," Porsche said. "I will make sure of it."

Kun's face twitched, looking between Porsche and Kinn like he'd been itching for a fight. Kinn had entered his domain with armed guards. If he fought back, he would be well within his rights. And Kinn hadn't even come with enough people to actually cause the minor family harm. If anything, Kun would succeed in thrashing Kinn and his guards, if he had the guts to follow through. And then when he was done, he could send Kinn back to his father, bruised and ashamed but very alive.

Kinn hadn't come for a fight. He'd been hoping a show of force would back Kun down. But, from the way Kun was poised, he was ready for that fight.

"Please," Porsche said, stepping between them.

Kun scowled, rolling his eyes and looking away as he stepped out of Kinn's path. Immediately, Kinn rushed through, taking his men and Pete with him, while Porsche remained behind, to make sure they all made it out without qualms.

As soon as the last man passed and Porsche was about to go, Kun blocked Porsche's path.

"Does your mother know this is what you're doing in your free time?"

"I was just-"

"You're not a kid anymore."

"Pete was in trouble."

"Be careful of your actions, Porsche," Kun said. "Next time, I won't back down. Whether or not you're present."

Dropping his hand, he allowed Porsche to pass. Even as he made his way out the door at a light jog, Porsche didn't breathe until the moment he was safely in the car, and they were driving out of the minor family’s compound.

***

Pete wasn't safe. Not totally.

Kun was a man scorned with an ego the size of Asia. He was going to find a way to get at Pete. Directly or indirectly. Kinn remained at Pete's side, letting no one but Porsche or Pete's doctors see him. Which was okay. Porsche didn't mind spending the remainder of the weekend with Pete. Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, he stayed by Pete. When Pete gained consciousness, Porsche was right by him.

Pete was a sturdy mother fucker. He woke up from two days in a coma, looking around the place like he was merely inspecting the room. As soon as he saw Porsche, he'd relaxed back into his pillow. But that was it. He didn't freak out, didn't try to explain himself, didn't behave like someone who'd just been in a dungeon, getting beaten while naked.

It was all good.

Till Kinn came back into the room, on Sunday night.

"I spoke to the director," he said to Pete. "He knows you're not coming in for the week. They'll be working with understudies."

Pete nodded. He was still in bandages and when he tried to move around the room, he moved with a limp. He needed the rest. A week was perfect.

"You too, Porsche," Kinn said, sitting down on the empty side of the bed, beside Pete.

"What do you mean?" Porsche asked.

"I told the director not to expect you."

"I'm fine, Kinn. I can go to work."

"I don't want you going in alone."

Porsche pursed his lips, looking at Pete, who was looking at him funny. He remembered his last conversation with Pete at rehearsal. How Pete had tried to talk Porsche into standing up for himself. Which was sweet and all, but Pete didn't understand everything, and having this conversation in front of Pete was already triggering a response from Pete. Porsche could see where this would lead, so he got up.

"Can I talk to you outside?" he said. "Please."

As he walked out of the room, Kinn followed.

"I'm not sick. I'm not injured-"

"You're not going."

Porsche looked at the floor, struggling to hold back. He knew what this was. Kinn wouldn't stop testing him, pushing him, just so that Porsche could snap back and Kinn would be justified to claim that Porsche didn't really want him. Which was a lie. Porsche wanted to be with him. He wanted Kinn to be comfortable enough to let go of this phase. But he couldn't push him. Normally, Porsche wouldn't mind. But this was his fucking job.

"I have a rally on Thursday."

"Skip it."

"Kinn!"

"I said," Kinn said, getting into Porsche's face, making him back up till he hit the wall. "Skip it."

Kinn wasn't backing down. He remained in place, eyes never leaving Porsche's, as if willing Porsche to submit again. Usually, Porsche would.

"Earlier this year, you were glad that I'd be speaking at this rally."

"Are you resisting?"

"Omega kids will be there, Kinn."

"I said no."

"Why?"

Kinn smiled sardonically, removing a tiny, square card from his back pocket. He pressed it into Porsche's chest as it fell and Porsche caught it. It was the kind of card that accompanied flowers. When Porsche opened it, it read: Hope you're having a wonderful day. T.S.

Tod Setely.

"Where did you get this?"

"He's courting you."

"It's just a fucking card."

"He's sent one every single day since that night, Porsche. No matter where you are, the flowers find you. At the hotel, here, in the mansion?”

“I never got them.”

“Because I got them for you,” Kinn snapped. “He seems to know where you are, all the time. I can’t imagine that he won’t know you’ll be at that rally on Thursday.”

“I have to work.”

“You’re not the only celebrity going. I’m sure they’ll survive.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Let me make this clear to you, Porsche. Go to that rally, and we’re done.”

Stepping away, Kinn opened the door to Pete’s room.

“When is this going to stop?” Porsche asked. “When are you going to stop treating me like this?”

Kinn paused, frowning at the handle of the door like he was giving it some thought.

“I’ll stop when I stop hating myself for loving you.”

And that, right there, was the beauty of adult conversation. Because they could have gone on for weeks, months even, without understanding what they wanted from each other. Porsche could have wallowed in ignorance, assuming that things were what he thought when he misunderstood the entire situation. He could have been mistaken and woken up one morning to find that he’d been so wrong.

But, with the benefit of a simple question, Porsche was able to learn that, one: Kinn was in love with him, and two: this dance between them would never end.

He should have never let it get this far. He should have listened when Vegas told him to stop. He shouldn’t have put Kinn in this position. He could tell himself that he’d never meant for any of this to happen, but he would always know that he’d thought about it. He’d hidden his presentation for a reason. He’d laid there and enjoyed the fruits of Kinn’s affection, regardless of what harm would come to Kinn if things broke loose.

And maybe Kinn was trying to look past it, in his own way. Porsche could tell. Intimacy between them wasn’t as easy as it used to be. Kinn didn’t let loose with Porsche, in or out of the bedroom. Try as they might, a cloud of tension followed them wherever they went. Because Porsche had fucked up. Because Kinn was fucked. Because Porsche had, on multiple occasions, witnessed Kinn crying in his sleep. Because Porsche had to pretend that he didn’t wake up to other unpleasant surprises that had never existed before Kinn found out Porsche was an alpha.

He’d underestimated the effect it would have on Kinn and that was all on Porsche. No one else. He knew that.

One of the benefits of a mature conversation was knowing that this beautiful man could love him, while also knowing that what they had was definitely not for Porsche. Not the way it was. Not with the amount of tension that existed. Porsche was going to burn out, longing for the Kinn that didn’t know Porsche was an alpha. And Kinn was going to break, trying to make Porsche an omega.

On Thursday, when he woke up, Porsche showered and ate a few slices of bread.

Before he got dressed and headed to the omega rally.

#porsche POV #kinnporsche #vegaspete #omegaverse #actor au

19 notes · View notes

chalkrevelations · 2 years

Note

I know the "do you see this ring" moment is a powerful one and I find it hard to take me eyes off kinn and vegas myself but when I do... Did you notice anything unusual about pete in this scene? I keep looking at him and I don't understand what I see. Who is he pointing his gun at?

Hey there,

As soon as I went back and looked at this scene, I could see what you mean, but I had to re-watch a couple of times to unwind what I think is going on. Pete puts his gun up late, and the only thing in the camera frame for the first part of the scene is the nose of his gun - we can't see him at all. From there, I went through at .75 speed, and at first, it actually looks like he's got his gun on Porsche. Then he moves to cover Vegas along with Kinn, which takes him entirely out of camera frame again. Then, as Vegas storms out, Pete's turned back again, and it looks this time like he's got his gun pointed at Arm, although it could be Porsche again. And that all seems WEIRD.

Occam's Razor tells me this is a case of bad blocking and bad camera angles, and while it seems unlikely on a production that spent the time and energy they did micro-adjusting every breath and finger twitch that Bible and Build made in the "consume you" trailer, this is also the ep with that interminable and practically slapstick fight scene at the casino, so I guess it's also possible that Build could have fucked up his blocking and nobody noticed. If that's the case, I'd guess what's supposed be going on is that the two guys in the background in lighter colored shirts are Minor Family bodyguards - whether they were standing near the bathroom to guard Vegas or followed in Kinn's rampaging wake - covering Kinn, Arm, and Pete during the faceoff, and Arm, who's stage right (viewer's left) is supposed to be covering the goon who's stage left, while Pete, who's stage left (viewer's right) is maybe supposed to be covering the goon who's stage right. That's interesting all on its own, as it leaves Kinn covering Vegas by himself, until Pete shifts to back him up, which says something about the split-second calculations the Bodyguard Farm is making re: how well Kinn can protect himself in a high-noon standoff, or how cowed Vegas will be at the idea of actually shooting the Heir and the intrafamily politics it would trigger, or both. The fact that Pete shifts to cover Vegas along with Kinn may suggest that at some point, Pete revises his own calculations on this, maybe based on how overwrought Kinn is and how personal this all seems to be. Pete actually may not trust Kinn to be able to protect himself the way he usually would, or he may expect Vegas to be more volatile than usual, or both. It's also possible that Pete's made this calculation from the very beginning of the situation and he's not focused on Porsche at first, rather he's trying to split his attention between Goon # 2 on his right and Vegas on his left, to be in a position to respond to either of them (possibly watching them both in the mirror, as it gives him a better view of both at the same time?) Then, as Vegas storms out, Pete's turned back again looking like he's pointing the gun at Arm, but he's possibly supposed to be back to covering Goon #2 again, with the added bonus of being able to put Vegas back in his sights quickly and easily if it becomes necessary while Vegas is behind Kinn.

If that's the scenario that's supposed to be going on, and there's not a meta-textual camera angle issue or a blocking fuckup, then Big Daddy Chan needs to take somebody to the woodshed, because Pete's gun handling is for shit, and he's going to end up taking off Arm's head, if not Kinn's. Pete seems to love his guns a lot, if the pictures all over the walls of his quarters are any testament, so if he is being sloppy handling this one, I have to wonder what's rattled him enough to throw him off - particularly when he's spent the entire episode being cool, calm and collected around Vegas while getting his violence on. Hmmm.

Alternately, you could probably make an argument for him actually pointing his gun at Porsche in the first part of the scene - and maybe even in the later part. Given the spin Pete put on the Vegas/Porsche interaction when he was reporting it to Kinn, and the fact that he, like Kinn, is coming into the bathroom at them from the wrong direction to see how very much Porsche does not want this, maybe he could see Porsche as a suddenly unknown variable and a potential threat. If Kinn has gone storming in and interrupted something consensual between Vegas and Porsche, has Porsche thrown in with Vegas, at this point? Is he a danger to Kinn? They don't know. Frankly, they still don't know when Kinn chases them all out, but I guess at that point, nobody wants Kinn up in their face. At any rate, Pete's loyalty, at this point, is to the Major Family, however tight he's gotten with his loveable fuckup of a bestie, and I guess this could be a way of showing us which way he'd fall if it came down to a question of Porsche or Kinn.

ANYWAY, I would be more convinced that it's just a fuckup in one way or another if they hadn't, apparently deliberately, snuck the nose of that gun in right at the edge of the frame at the beginning. It seems suspiciously unobtrusive yet present. Like, either commit to having Pete in the shot or not, you know? Nothing may come of it, but it's also the sort of thing that could end up being significant later, at which point, we'd all go back and nod sagely at the team's skill in laying down some breadcrumbs.

All of which is a lot of words to say, this is a fantastic catch, but I don't have anything that I think is a definitive answer for you - I mean, I guess I do, because lbr, he's actually pointing that gun at Porsche, but the question then becomes, is he supposed to be?

#pete phongsakorn #vegaspete #(kind of)#kinnporsche

46 notes · View notes

venusmelody · 1 year

Text

kinnporsche s1 impressions (with spoilers)

Ok, so, I was told to watch for hot boys, but I was finally convinced to watch by the amazing Runs in the Family video. Why didn't everyone recommend this for the TERRIBLE MESSY FAMILY?? Messy families = my catnip. The only thing it was missing was terrible mothers to match the terrible fathers, ambiguously terrible mothers being one of my favourite tropes in fiction. Holy cow the Theerapanyakun bros loving each other deep down while being estranged, resentful, strained, in a cycle of families being pitted against each other, was perfect. Add in the entire minor family drama and Gun and Korn being terrible fathers in different veins was just amazing. It could have made the entire series to me, such that the sex felt like a distraction away from it.

CONSEQUENTLY, and it's embarrassing to say, but Kim remains my secret favourite, alongside Vegas. Two psychotic serial killers, who, by virtue of position in their respective families, ended up in such different positions in the mafia hierarchy! (I've always been a card-carrying member of the fictional serial killers fan club, so no surprises there). Kim, nominally escaped from mafia life; Vegas who probably couldn't even perceive of it. I don't even understand it when Kim has, probably, the most obscure characterization of the main characters who aren't Chay, and yet!

And all of them are so terrible at relationships!! (Kinn included, for sure). It's fascinating to me that Kinn, for all his apparent warm openness towards Porsche, still keeps him at arm's length about his worries, while stomping beyond Porsche's boundaries; same with Kim and Chay, in a much more SFW way. They're both cute with underlying tension, but I think that Kim and Chay, amazingly, actually do hit the nail on the head about the issues in their relationship, whereas Kinn and Porsche have sidestepped it a LOT. Vegas's entire thing with Pete, OTOH, is that he's gone so far beyond boundaries that it's not even a question. Vegas and Porsche, OTOH, are supremely attractive for at least mutually manipulating each other while still having this theme and kinship they don't really have with others, that could probably have been the healthiest relationship in the show if things had been different.

And Vegas somehow having ended up as Pete's poor little meow meow???? His "he's terrible and yet I love him???" Man, I can't believe how into this ship I am! Second favourite part of the show aside from Theerapanyakun + Kittisawasd family woes. Vegas fights for the boundaries he has, because he doesn't have a choice about so much when it comes to his life, but to see is to be seen, to know is to be known, to cross Pete's boundaries, for him, was to have his own walls come down. He crossed Pete's boundaries so far that it became an actual existential threat to both their own self-images and sense of self, and then he and Pete both face building themselves up again. Pete's tattoo about honesty ends up being what saves the relationship, because it's the only one in the show that starts off in such a dark place, and by 25% of the way through has become about raw honesty without manipulation, and that hurts but heals. The on the nose symbolism. I kind of like that it went so fast, because what better way to portray the intensity that kind of relationship demands, but I could also have used another 10 episodes of their safehouse demands.

The theme of cycles of abusive; the sharp swerve at the end where we're never exactly sure what happened between Gun, Korn, and Namphueng, but the despair that breaking away ended up getting Namphueng trapped for longer than she knew her sons; the implications of this going back to their grandparents' or beyond; Kinn and Kim and Porchay all being sucked in at the end into this spiral; totally glorious.

I'm sad there won't be an S2, but it was also beyond perfect where it ended.

Now someone show me where that Vegas/Pete bath scenes was supposed to happen, because I never saw that scene!

#kinnporsche #reaction post

10 notes · View notes

pastelcheckereddreams · 1 year

Note

HELLO fren I am asking once again for a scrap, a shred, a morsel of fighter!Porsche au because your tags reminded me how deliciously angsty that was🙏🥺

Just the whole idea of Porsche being addicted to the adrenaline rush and the dull static of pain that he keeps flinging himself into the fight, and Kinn breaking a little more every time he watches Porsche purposely lose a fight just to get that rush and having to put Porsche together again over and over, it lives in my head rent free

HEY FRENDD! Gosh I've just been reading back through the fic notes and damn does it hurt so good.

I- may have been thinking about Chan. About Big tattling to Chan re: Porsche sneaking out to fight. About Chan literally figuratively taking Porsche by the scruff of his neck and shaking him when he sees Porsche's bruised knuckles and split lip.

And then after Chan leaves him verbally eviscerated and fearing for his job (and also halfway to a drop - because daddy Chan is mean when he wants to be and right now Porsche isn't worth the effort to reel it in), Porsche finds himself gravitating to-

Pete. To Tankhun. To Arm and Pol and the soft, safe space of Tankhun's suite.

Not Kinn.

Because this is what Vegas was trying to tell him. Kinn hasn't proven to Porsche that he can be that soft place, that calm in the middle of the storm, because Porsche hasn't let him in yet damnit he hasn't proven to Porsche that he can handle whatever this is that Porsche is feeling.

And then - a lot of growth needs to happen, tbh. Porsche needs to be gently scolded for shutting Kinn out again and again, because it's a two-way street Porsche!! And Kinn needs to be given a clue and shoved in the right direction. Plus, Big needs to apologise for setting Chan on Porsche when he can see how brittle Porsche feels, and wanting to punish Porsche (in whose weaknesses he sees his own) rather than help him. (ChanBig side pairing hello.)

I feel like Kim needs to step in.

Kim needs to tell his brother to stop being scared of reaching out to Porsche. (It’s hypocritical of him, yes, He’s Aware. But he’s also had Chay giving him free therapy about it. And where does Chay’s experience stem from? Dealing with Porsche’s need to be seen as strong and independant. So this is Kim giving Kinn insight from the person who knows Porsche best: his little brother! You’re welcome. Or something. Not like Kim actually cares.)

And while Kim is feeling generous with Chay’s advice, he also needs to tell Porsche to stop scaring Porchay who hasn't heard from him in a literal month, P'Porsche, seriously.

And the world must be ending because Vegas and Kim agree on this?? Because as soon as Vegas hears that Porsche hasn't spoken to checked on his little brother recently, oh boy are they having words. Meanwhile Vegas likewise understands that Kinn needs validation from Porsche in this dynamic as much as Porsche needs it from Kinn because he's been there with Pete, and Pete with him.

Meanwhile Pete's just off to the side breathing easier because everyone's finally got a clue and he can stop trying to be the therapist everyone needs. He and Chay should start a club.

ANYWAY.

For ppl who have no idea what we're talking about this sure went from 0-100 real fast, huh 😂 I better update the fic doc.

#nikkianswers #crystallinemoonlight #nikkiwrites #fighter porsche au #kp fic #kinnporsche #porsche pachara #kinn theerapanyakul #vegaspete #kp chan #kp big #kp arm #kp pol #tankhun theerapanyakul #vegas theerpanyakul #pete saengtham #kp pete

12 notes · View notes

berestweys · 2 years

Text

Kinnporsche Rewatch - Episode 4

Summary: Youtuber fascinates high school student with his excellent penmanship. Two dudes discover the joys of exhibitionism.

Favorite Line: “Everyone here knows. I thought you knew!” “No I don’t! I don’t know a damn thing!”

Porsche’s Wacky Antics: Wakes up cuddled with Pete and making kissy faces at each other. Tells Kinn he should get Botox. Passes out from sauna heat and face plants in Kinn’s lap. Snoops around Kinn’s bedroom and gets caught hiding behind the curtains by Kinn and his boytoy. Lectures Big about “the modern world.”

Why is Chay crying? No tears, but this kid is immediately twitterpated when Kim writes on him with an expo marker.

Woe is Big: Porsche went to the spa with Kinn instead of watching TV with Tankhun??? And has the nerve to throw it in Big’s face. Big was just sent on an errand to buy condoms and lube for Kinn because life is endless suffering without reprieve. Then Porsche accuses him of homophobia. The gall of this asshole! Poor Big.

Tankhun Highlight: Brains Vegas with a lunch tray, orders him to leave with a sneer, and then moves to whack him with the tray again as Vegas walks away. Sadly, Pete grabs Tankhun before he can reach his target a second time. More’s the pity.

A Woman Speaks: Spa Auntie tells Arm, Pol, and Porsche to go wait in the sauna until she’s done massaging Tankhun. One of Chay’s classmates answers a trivia question.

What’s Pete eating, and who prepared it for him? Ramen with cheese in the family compound’s restaurant. Though I’m not sure how much he actually gets to eat in the midst of scrambling to give Vegas his seat, and chasing after Tankhun.

Vegas Report: HE’S HERE, & he’s draped in black silk. He offers Porsche a light, which we know is his only move. Porsche is almost a full head taller than him; I am delighted. He taunts Kinn, disrupts a nice lunch, gets smacked on the head, goes to the trouble to drug Porsche just so he can give him a hickey and drive Kinn crazy. Spends a long moment staring at himself naked while caressing the split lip Porsche gives him for his efforts. He’s insane. I’m going to eat him.

Shipping Activities

KinnPorsche: Angst! Kinn’s feelings are hurt because Porsche doesn’t remember their dock kiss. Porsche’s feelings are hurt because Kinn tells him he’s just like every other bodyguard not special at all to Kinn not even a little. Kinn says, “If you were a girl, would you like me?” Again, Kinn says this out loud. To another person. He orders Porsche to take his shirt off… to assess how his arm is healing. They consummate their relationship in front of all of Bangkok.

VegasPete: Vegas interrupts lunch and grabs Pete’s shoulder when he leaps up to bow to him. Pete has his most deferential, deepest dimpled, least comfortable smile on when he gives Vegas his seat. At the diamond party Vegas is dressed head to toe in white, while Pete is in all black, including the slutty turtleneck everyone in fandom is obsessed with. Curious, since the other bodyguards are dressed in their usual white shirts and dark jackets. 👀

Do I care about KimChay yet? No. But Chay has serious moxie, asking Kim to be his tutor in lieu of an autograph. Kim’s response? Defaces Chay’s school uniform.

# of KimChay scenes in this episode: 1.5

# of KimChay scenes I watched without skipping through: 1.5 I’m off on a roll.

Kisses: For some reason Kinn thinks the best course of action when he finds Porsche drugged out of his mind is to get them both stripped and into the bathroom. Logically, kissing ensues. These two can KISS, hot damn. Then there’s fucking and the little voice in the back of my mind screaming “HEY HE’S DRUGGED THIS IS BAD” is squashed ruthlessly by the rest of me, who’s determined to be here and have a good time, morals be damned. We’re in the mafia now; morals do not matter. Only naked window sex matters.

Tits Out: Porsche & Kinn sweating in the sauna, and ravishing each other up against the floor to ceiling bathroom window.

What’s Gun wearing? No data available.

Serious Observations of Various Sorts: Kinn and Vegas do a lot of dick measuring in this episode, culminating in Kinn spending an obscene amount of money on a diamond worth a pittance. Pete is so cute with his waggling eyebrows and lessons to Porsche on only kissing people you like. We’re introduced to Kim’s detective board, cleverly camouflaged by a giant-ass portrait of himself. One of the photos pinned on it is of the Black Dahlia, so apparently Kim is working overtime to solve many different crimes in many different countries and from many different centuries.

Have I calmed down? No. No!

Episode 1/ Episode 2/ Episode 3/ Episode 5

#kinnporsche rewatch #kinnporsche #spoilers

11 notes · View notes

grigori77 · 3 years

Text

Summer 2021′s Movies - My Top Ten Favourite Films (Part 2)

The Top Ten:

10. WEREWOLVES WITHIN – definitely one of the year’s biggest cinematic surprises so far, this darkly comic supernatural murder mystery from indie horror director Josh Ruben (Scare Me) is based on a video game, but you’d never know it – this bears so little resemblance to the original Ubisoft title that it’s a wonder anyone even bothered to make the connection, but even so, this is now notable for officially being the highest rated video game adaptation in Rotten Tomatoes history, with a Certified Fresh rating of 86%. Certainly it deserves that distinction, but there’s so much more to the film – this is an absolute blood-splattered joy, the title telling you everything you need to know about the story but belying the film’s pure, quirky genius. Veep’s Sam Richardson is forest ranger Finn Wheeler, a gentle and socially awkward soul who arrives at his new post in the remote small town of Beaverton to discover the few, uniformly weird residents are divided over the oil pipeline proposition of forceful and abrasive businessman Sam Parker (The Hunt’s Wayne Duvall). As he tries to fit in and find his feet, investigating the disappearance of a local dog while bonding with local mail carrier Cecily Moore (Other Space and This Is Us’ Milana Vayntrub), the discovery of a horribly mutilated human body leads to a standoff between the townsfolk and an enforced lockdown in the town’s ramshackle hotel as they try to work out who amongst them is the “werewolf” they suspect is responsible. This is frequently hilarious, the offbeat script from appropriately named Mishna Wolff (I’m Down) dropping some absolutely zingers and crafting some enjoyably weird encounters and unexpected twists, while the uniformly excellent cast do much of the heavy-lifting to bring their rich, thoroughly oddball characters to vivid life – Richardson is thoroughly cuddly throughout, while Duvall is pleasingly loathsome, Casual’s Michaela Watkins is pleasingly grating as Trisha, flaky housewife to unrepentant local horn-dog Pete Anderton (Orange is the New Black’s Michael Chernus), and Cheyenne Jackson (American Horror Story) and Harry Guillen (best known, OF COURSE, as Guillermo in the TV version of What We Do In the Shadows) make an enjoyably spiky double-act as liberal gay couple Devon and Joaquim Wolfson; in the end, though, the film is roundly stolen by Vayntrub, who invests Cecily with a bubbly sweetness and snarky sass that makes it absolutely impossible to not fall completely in love with her (gods know I did). This is a deeply funny film, packed with proper belly-laughs from start to finish, but like all the best horror comedies it takes its horror elements seriously, delivering some enjoyably effective scares and juicy gore, while the werewolf itself, when finally revealed, is realised through some top-notch prosthetics. Altogether this was a most welcome under-the-radar surprise for the summer, and SO MUCH MORE than just an unusually great video game adaptation …

9. THE TOMORROW WAR – although cinemas finally reopened in the UK in early summer, the bite of the COVID lockdown backlog was still very much in effect this blockbuster season, with several studios preferring to hedge their bets and wait for later release dates. Others turned to streaming services, including Paramount, who happily lined up a few heavyweight titles to open on major platforms in lieu of the big screen. One of the biggest was this intended sci-fi action horror tentpole, meant to give Chris Pratt another potential franchise on top of Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World, which instead dropped in early July on Amazon Prime. So, was it worth staying in on a Saturday night instead of heading out for something on the BIG screen? Mostly yes, although it’s mainly a trashy, guilty pleasure big budget B-picture charm that makes this such a worthwhile experience – the film’s biggest influences are clearly Independence Day and Starship Troopers, two admirably clunky blockbusters that DEFINED prioritising big spectacle and overblown theatrics over intelligent writing and realistic storytelling. It doesn’t help that the premise is pure bunk – in 2022, a wormhole opens from thirty years in the future, and a plea for help is sent back with a bunch of very young future soldiers. Seems Earth will become overrun by an unstoppable swarm of nasty alien critters called Whitespikes in 25 years, and the desperate human counteroffensive have no choice but to bring soldiers from our present into the future to help them fight back and save the humanity from imminent extinction. Less than a year later, the world’s standing armies have been decimated and a worldwide draft has been implemented, with normal everyday adults being sent through for a seven day tour from which very few return. Pratt plays biology teacher and former Green Beret Dan Forrester, one of the latest batch of draftees to be sent into the future along with a selection of chefs, soccer moms and other average joes – his own training and experience serves him better than most when the shit hits the fan, but it soon becomes clear that he’s just as out of his depth as everyone else as the sheer enormity of the threat is revealed. But when he becomes entangled with a desperate research outfit led by Muri (Chuck’s Yvonne Strahovski) who seem to be on the verge of a potential world-changing scientific breakthrough, Dan realises there just might be a slender hope for humanity after all … this is every bit as over-the-top gung-ho bonkers as it sounds, and just as much fun. Director Chris McKay may still be pretty fresh (with only The Lego Batman Movie under his belt to date), but he shows a lot of talent and potential for big budget blockbuster filmmaking here, delivering with guts and bravado on some major action sequences (a fraught ticking-clock SAR operation through a war-torn Miami is the film’s undeniable highlight, but a desperate battle to escape a blazing oil rig also really impresses), as well as handling some impressively complex visual effects work and wrangling some quality performances from his cast (altogether it bodes well for his future, which includes Nightwing and Johnny Quest as future projects). Chris Pratt can do this kind of stuff in his sleep – Dan is his classic fallible and self-deprecating but ultimately solid and kind-hearted action hero fare, effortlessly likeable and easy to root for – and his supporting cast are equally solid, Strahovsky going toe-to-toe with him in the action sequences while also creating a rewardingly complex smart-woman/badass combo in Muri, while the other real standouts include Sam Richardson (Veep, Werewolves Within) and Edwin Hodge (The Purge movies) as fellow draftees Charlie and Dorian, the former a scared-out-of-his-mind tech geek while the latter is a seriously hardcore veteran serving his THIRD TOUR, and the ever brilliant J.K. Simmonds as Dan’s emotionally scarred estranged Vietnam-vet father, Jim. Sure, it’s derivative as hell and thoroughly predictable (with more than one big twist you can see coming a mile away), but the pace is brisk, the atmosphere pregnant with a palpable doomed urgency, and the creatures themselves are a genuinely convincing world-ending threat, the design team and visual effects wizards creating genuine nightmare fuel in the feral and unrelenting Whitespikes. Altogether this WAS an ideal way to spend a comfy Saturday night in, but I think it could have been JUST AS GOOD for a Saturday night OUT at the Pictures …

8. ARMY OF THE DEAD – another high profile release that went straight to streaming was this genuine monster hit for Netflix from one of this century’s undeniable heavyweight action cinema masters, the indomitable Zack Snyder, who kicked off his career with an audience-dividing (but, as far as I’m concerned, ultimately MASSIVELY successful) remake of George Romero’s immortal Dawn of the Dead, and has finally returned to zombie horror after close to two decades away. The end result is, undeniably, the biggest cinematic guilty pleasure of the entire summer, a bona fide outbreak horror EPIC in spite of its tightly focused story – Dave Bautista plays mercenary Scott Ward, leader a badass squad of soldiers of fortune who were among the few to escape a deadly outbreak of a zombie virus in the city of Las Vegas, enlisted to break into the vault of one of the Strip’s casinos by owner Bly Tanaka (a fantastically game turn from Hiroyuki Sanada) and rescue $200 million still locked away inside. So what’s the catch? Vegas remains ground zero for the outbreak, walled off from the outside world but still heavily infested within, and in less than three days the US military intends to sterilise the site with a tactical nuke. Simple premise, down and dirty, trashy flick, right? Wrong – Snyder has never believed in doing things small, having brought us unapologetically BIG cinema with the likes of 300, Watchmen, Man of Steel and, most notably, his version of Justice League, so this is another MASSIVE undertaking, every scene shot for maximum thrills or emotional impact, each set-piece executed with his characteristic militaristic precision and explosive predilection (a harrowing fight for survival against a freshly-awakened zombie horde in tightly packed casino corridors is the film’s undeniable highlight), and the gauzy, dreamlike cinematography gives even simple scenes an intriguing and evocative edge that really does make you feel like you’re watching something BIG. The characters all feel larger-than-life too – Bautista can seem somewhat cartoonish at times, and this role definitely plays that as a strength, making Scott a rock-hard alpha male in the classic Hollywood mould, but he’s such a great actor that of course he’s able to invest the character with real rewarding complexity beneath the surface; Ana de la Reguera (Eastbound & Down) and Nora Arnezeder (Zoo, Mozart in the Jungle), meanwhile, both bring a healthy dose of oestrogen-fuelled badassery to proceedings as, respectively, Scott’s regular second-in-command, Maria Cruz, and Lilly the Coyote, Power’s Omari Hardwick and Matthias Schweighofer (You Are Wanted) make for a fun odd-couple double act as circular-saw-wielding merc Vanderohe and Dieter, the nervous, nerdy German safecracker brought in to crack the vault, and Fear the Walking Dead’s Garrett Dillahunt channels spectacular scumbag energy as Tanaka’s sleazy former casino boss Martin, while latecomer Tig Notaro (Star Trek Discovery) effortlessly rises above her last-minute-casting controversy to deliver brilliantly as sassy and acerbic chopper pilot Peters. I think it goes without saying that Snyder can do this in his sleep, but he definitely wasn’t napping here – he pulled out all the stops on this one, delivering a thrilling, darkly comic and endearingly CRACKERS zombie flick that not only compares favourably to his own Dawn but is, undeniably, his best film for AGES. Netflix certainly seem to be pleased with the results – a spinoff prequel, Army of Thieves, starring Dieter in another heist thriller, is set to drop in October, with an animated series following in the Spring, and there’s already rumours of a sequel in development. I’m certainly up for more …

7. BLACK WIDOW – no major blockbuster property was hit harder by COVID than the MCU, which saw its ENTIRE SLATE for 2020 delayed for over a year in the face of Marvel Studios bowing to the inevitability of the Pandemic and unwilling to sacrifice those all-important box-office receipts by just sending their films straight to streaming. The most frustrating part for hardcore fans of the series was the delay of a standalone film that was already criminally overdue – the solo headlining vehicle of founding Avenger and bona fide female superhero ICON Natasha Romanoff, aka the Black Widow. Equally frustratingly, then, this film seems set to be overshadowed by real life controversy as star and producer Scarlett Johansson goes head-to-head with Disney in civil court over their breach-of-contract after they hedged their bets by releasing the film simultaneously in cinemas and on their own streaming platform, which has led to poor box office as many of the film’s potential audience chose to watch it at home instead of risk movie theatres with the virus still very much remaining a threat (and Disney have clearly reacted AGAIN, now backtracking on their release policy by instigating a new 45-day cinematic exclusivity window on all their big releases for the immediate future). But what of the film itself? Well Black Widow is an interesting piece of work, director Cate Shortland (Berlin Syndrome) and screenwriter Eric Pearson (Thor: Ragnarok) delivering a decidedly stripped-back, lean and intellectual beast that bears greater resemblance to the more cerebral work of the Russo Brothers on their Captain America films than the more classically bombastic likes of Iron Man, Thor or the Avengers flicks, concentrating on story and characters over action and spectacle as we wind back the clock to before the events of Infinity War and Endgame, when Romanoff was on the run after Civil War, hunted by the government-appointed forces of US Secretary of State “Thunderbolt” Ross (William Hurt) after violating the Sokovia Accords. Then a mysterious delivery throws her back into the fray as she finds herself targeted by a mysterious assassin, forcing her to team up with her estranged “sister” Yelena Belova (Midsommar’s Florence Pugh), another Black Widow who’s just gone rogue from the same Red Room Natasha escaped years ago, armed with a McGuffin capable of foiling a dastardly plot for world domination. The reluctant duo need help in this endeavour though, enlisting the aid of their former “parents”, veteran Widow and scientist Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) and Alexie Shostakov (Stranger Things’ David Harbour), aka the Red Guardian, a Russian super-soldier intended to be their counterpart to Captain America, who’s been languishing in a Siberian gulag for the last twenty years. After the Earth-shaking, universe-changing events of recent MCU events, this film certainly feels like a much more self-contained, modest affair, playing for much smaller stakes, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less worthy of our attention – this is as precision-crafted as anything we’ve seen from Marvel so far, but it also feels like a refreshing change of pace after all those enormous cosmic shenanigans, while the script is as tight as a drum, propelling a taut, suspense-filled thriller that certainly doesn’t scrimp on the action front. Sure, the set-pieces are very much in service of the story here, but they’re still the pre-requisite MCU rollercoaster rides, a selection of breathless chases and bone-crunching fights that really do play to the strengths of one of our favourite Avengers, but this is definitely one of those films where the real fireworks come when the film focuses on the characters – Johansson is so comfortable with her character she’s basically BECOME Natasha Romanoff, kickass and ruthless and complex and sassy and still just desperate for a family (though she hides it well throughout the film), while Weisz delivers one of her best performances in years as a peerless professional who keeps her emotions tightly reigned in but slowly comes to realise that she was never more happy than when she was pretending to be a simple mother, and Ray Winstone does a genuinely fantastic job of taking a character who could have been one of the MCU’s most disappointingly bland villains, General Dreykov, master of the Red Room, and investing him with enough oily charisma and intense presence to craft something truly memorable (frustratingly, the same cannot be said for the film’s supposed main physical threat, Taskmaster, who performs well in their frustratingly brief appearances but ultimately gets Darth Maul levels of short service). The true scene-stealers in the film, however, are Alexie and Yelena – Harbour’s clearly having the time of his life hamming it up as a self-important, puffed-up peacock of a superhero who never got his shot and is clearly (rightly) decidedly bitter about it, preferring to relive the life he SHOULD have had instead of remembering the good in the one he got; Pugh, meanwhile, is THE BEST THING IN THE WHOLE MOVIE, easily matching Johanssen scene-for-scene in the action stakes but frequently out-performing her when it comes to acting, investing Yelena with a sweet naivety and innocence and a certain amount of quirky geekiness that makes for one of the year’s most endearing female protagonists (certainly one who, if the character goes the way I think she will, is thoroughly capable of carrying the torch for the foreseeable future). In the end this is definitely one of the LEAST typical, by-the-numbers MCU films to date, and by delivering something a little different I think they’ve given us just the kind of leftfield swerve the series needs right now. It’s certainly one of their most fascinating and rewarding films so far, and since it seems to be Johansson’s final tour of duty as the Black Widow, it’s also a most fitting farewell indeed.

6. WRATH OF MAN – Guy Ritchie’s latest (regarded by many as a triumphant return to form, which I consider unfair since I don’t think he ever went away, especially after 2020’s spectacular The Gentlemen) is BY FAR his darkest film – let’s get this clear from the start. Anyone who knows his work knows that Ritchie consistently maintains a near flawless balance and humour and seriousness in his films that gives them a welcome quirkiness that is one of his most distinctive trademarks, so for him to suddenly deliver a film which takes itself SO SERIOUSLY is one hell of a departure. This is a film which almost REVELS in its darkness – Ritchie’s always loved bathing in man’s baser instincts, but Wrath of Man almost makes a kind of twisted VIRTUE out of wallowing in the genuine evils that men are capable of inflicting on each other. The film certainly kicks off as it means to go on – In a tour-de-force single-shot opening, we watch a daring armoured car robbery on the streets of Los Angeles that goes horrifically wrong, an event which will have devastating consequences in the future. Five months later, Fortico Security hires taciturn Brit Patrick Hill (Jason Statham) to work as a guard in one of their trucks, and on his first run he single-handedly foils another attempted robbery with genuinely uncanny combat skills. The company is thrilled, amazed by the sheer ability of their new hire, but Hill’s new colleagues are more concerned, wondering exactly what they’ve let themselves in for. After a second foiled robbery, it becomes clear that Hill’s reputation has grown, but fellow guard Haiden (Holt McCallany), aka “Bullet”, begins to suspect there might be something darker going on … Ritchie is firing on all cylinders here, delivering a PERFECT slow-burn suspense thriller which plays its cards close to its chest and cranks up its piano wire tension with artful skill as it builds to a devastating, knuckle-whitening explosive heist that acts as a cathartic release for everything that’s built up over the past hour and a half. In typical Ritchie style the narrative is non-linear, the story unfolding in four distinct parts told from clearly differentiated points of view, allowing the clues to be revealed at a trickle that effortlessly draws the viewer in as they fall deeper down the rabbit hole, leading to a harrowing but strangely poignant denouement which is perfectly in tune with everything that’s come before. It’s an immense pleasure finally getting to see Statham working with Ritchie again, and I don’t think he’s ever been better than he is here – he's always been a brilliantly understated actor, but there’s SO MUCH going on under Hill’s supposedly impenetrable calm that every little peek beneath the armour is a REVELATION; McCallany, meanwhile, has landed his best role since his short but VERY sweet supporting turn in Fight Club, seemingly likeable and fallible as the kind of easy-going co-worker anyone in the service industry would be THRILLED to have, but giving Bullet far more going on under the surface, while there are uniformly excellent performances from a top-shelf ensemble supporting cast which includes Josh Hartnett, Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice, Sicario), Andy Garcia, Laz Alonso (The Boys), Eddie Marsan, Niamh Algar (Raised By Wolves) and Darrell D’Silva (Informer, Domina), and a particularly edgy and intense turn from Scott Eastwood. This is one of THE BEST thrillers of the year, by far, a masterpiece of mood, pace and plot that ensnares the viewer from its gripping opening and hooks them right up to the close, a triumph of the genre and EASILY Guy Ritchie’s best film since Snatch. Regardless of whether or not it’s a RETURN to form, we can only hope he continues to deliver fare THIS GOOD in the future …

5. FEAR STREET (PARTS 1-3) – Netflix have gotten increasingly ambitious with their original filmmaking over the years, and some of this years’ offerings have reached new heights of epic intention. Their most exciting release of the summer was this adaptation of popular children’s horror author R.L. Stine’s popular book series, a truly gargantuan undertaking as the filmmakers set out to create an entire TRILOGY of films which were then released over three consecutive weekends. Interestingly, these films are most definitely NOT for kids – this is proper, no-holds-barred supernatural slasher horror, delivering highly calibrated shocks and precision jump scares, a pervading atmosphere of insidious dread and a series of inventively gruesome kills. The story revolves around two neighbouring small towns which have had vastly different fortunes over more than three centuries of existence – while the residents of Sunnyvale are unusually successful, living idyllic lives in peace and prosperity, luck has always been against the people of Shadyside, who languish in impoverishment, crime and misfortune, while the town has become known as the Murder Capital of the USA due to frequent spree killings. Some attribute this to the supposed curse of a local urban legend, Sarah Fier, who became known as the Fier Witch after her execution for witchcraft in 1668, but others dismiss this as simple superstition. Part 1 is set in 1994, as the latest outbreak of serial mayhem begins in Shadyside, dragging a small group of local teens – Deena Johnson (She Never Died’s Kiana Madeira) and Samantha Fraser (Olivia Scott Welch), a young lesbian couple going through a difficult breakup, Deena’s little brother Josh (The Haunted Hathaways’ Benjamin Flores Jr.), a nerdy history geek who spends most of his time playing video games or frequenting violent crime-buff online chatrooms, and their delinquent friends Simon (Eight Grade’s Fred Hechinger) and Kate (Julia Rehwald) – into the age-old ghostly conspiracy as they find themselves besieged by indestructible undead serial killers from the town’s past, reasoning that the only way they can escape with their lives is to solve the mystery and bring the Fier Witch some much needed closure. Part 2, meanwhile, flashes back to a previous outbreak in 1977, in which local sisters Ziggy (Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink) and Cindy Berman (Emily Rudd), together with future Sunnyvale sheriff Nick Goode (Ted Sutherland) were among the kids hunted by said killers during a summer camp “colour war”. As for Part 3, that goes all the way back to 1668 to tell the story of what REALLY happened to Sarah Fier, before wrapping up events in 1994, culminating in a terrifying, adrenaline-fuelled showdown in the Shadyside Mall. Throughout, the youthful cast are EXCEPTIONAL, Madeira, Welch, Flores Jr., Sink and Rudd particularly impressing, while there are equally strong turns from Ashley Zuckerman (The Code, Designated Survivor) and Community’s Gillian Jacobs as the grown-up versions of two key ’77 kids, and a fun cameo from Maya Hawke in Part 1. This is most definitely retro horror in the Stranger Things mould, perfectly executed period detail bringing fun nostalgic flavour to all three of the timelines while the peerless direction from Leigh Janiak (Honeymoon) and wire-tight, sharp-witted screenplays from Janiak, Kyle Killen (Lone Star, The Beaver), Phil Graziadel, Zak Olkewicz and Kate Trefry strike a perfect balance between knowing dark humour and knife-edged terror, as well as weaving an intriguingly complex narrative web that pulls the viewer in but never loses them to overcomplication. The design, meanwhile, is evocative, the cinematography (from Stanger Things’ Caleb Heymann) is daring and magnificently moody, and the killers and other supernatural elements of the film are handled with skill through largely physical effects. This is definitely not a standard, by-the-numbers slasher property, paying strong homage to the sub-genre’s rules but frequently subverting them with expert skill, and it’s as much fun as it is frightening. Give us some more like this please, Netflix!

4. THE SPARKS BROTHERS – those who’ve been following my reviews for a while will known that while I do sometimes shout about documentary films, they tend to show up in my runners-up lists – it’s a great rarity for one to land in one of my top tens. This lovingly crafted deep-dive homage to cult band Sparks, from self-confessed rabid fanboy Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim), is something VERY SPECIAL INDEED, then … there’s a vague possibility some of you may have heard the name before, and many of you will know at least one or two of their biggest hits without knowing it was them (their greatest hit of all time, This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us, immediately springs to mind), but unless you’re REALLY serious about music it’s quite likely you have no idea who they are, namely two brothers from California, Russell and Ronald Mael, who formed a very sophisticated pop-rock band in the late 60s and then never really went away, having moments of fame but mostly working away in the background and influencing some of the greatest bands and musical artists that followed them, even if many never even knew where that influence originally came from. Wright’s film is an engrossing joy from start to finish (despite clocking in at two hours and twenty minutes), following their eclectic career from obscure inception as Halfnelson, through their first real big break with third album Kimono My Place, subsequent success and then fall from popularity in the mid-70s, through several subsequent revitalisations, all the way up to the present day with their long-awaited cinematic breakthrough, revolutionary musical feature Annette – throughout Wright keeps the tone light and the pace breezy, allowing a strong and endearing sense of irreverence to rule the day as fans, friends and the brothers themselves offer up fun anecdotes and wax lyrical about what is frequently a larger-than-life tragicomic soap opera, utilising fun, crappy animation and idiosyncratic stock footage inserts alongside talking-head interviews that were made with a decidedly tongue-in-cheek style – Mike Myers good-naturedly rants about how we can see his “damned mole” while 80s New Romantic icons Nick Rhodes and John Taylor, while shot together, are each individually labelled as “Duran”. Ron and Russ themselves, meanwhile, are clearly having huge fun, gently ribbing each other and dropping some fun deadpan zingers throughout proceedings, easily playing to the band’s strong, idiosyncratic sense of hyper-intelligent humour, while the aforementioned celebrity talking-heads are just three amongst a whole wealth of famous faces that may surprise you – there’s even an appearance by Neil Gaiman, guys! Altogether this is 2+ hours of bright and breezy fun chock full of great music and fascinating information, and even hardcore Sparks fans are likely to learn more than a little over the course of the film, while for those who have never heard of Sparks before it’s a FANTASTIC introduction to one of the greatest ever bands that you’ve never heard of. With luck there might even be more than a few new fans before the year is out …

3. GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE – Netflix’ BEST offering of the summer was this surprise hit from Israeli writer-director Navot Papushado (Rabies, Big Bad Wolves), a heavily stylised black comedy action thriller that passes the Bechdel Test with FLYING COLOURS. Playing like a female-centric John Wick, it follows ice-cold, on-top-of-her-game assassin Sam (Karen Gillan) as her latest assignment has some unfortunate side effects, leading her to take on a reparation job to retrieve some missing cash for the local branch of the Irish Mob. The only catch is that a group of thugs have kidnapped the original thief’s little girl, 12 year-old Emily (My Spy’s Chloe Coleman), and Sam, in an uncharacteristic moment of sympathy, decides to intervene, only for the money to be accidentally destroyed in the process. Now she’s got the Mob and her own employers coming after her, and she not only has to save her own skin but also Emily’s, leading her to seek help from the one person she thought she might never see again – her mother, Scarlet (Lena Headey), a master assassin in her own right who’s been hiding from the Mob herself for years. The plot may be simple but at times also a little over-the-top, but the film is never anything less than a pure, unadulterated pleasure, populated with fascinating, living and breathing characters of real complexity and nuance, while the script (co-written by relative newcomer Ehud Lavski) is tightly-reined and bursting with zingers. Most importantly, though, Papushado really delivers on the action front – these are some of the best set-pieces I’ve seen this year, Gillan, her co-stars and the various stunt-performers acquitting themselves admirably in a series of spectacular fights, gun battles and a particularly imaginative car chase that would be the envy of many larger, more expensive productions. Gillan and Coleman have a sweet, awkward chemistry, the MCU star particularly impressing in a subtly nuanced performance that also plays beautifully against Headey’s own tightly controlled turn, while there is awesome support from Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh and Carla Gugino as Sam’s adoptive aunts Anna May, Florence and Madeleine, a trio of “librarians” who run a fine side-line in illicit weaponry and are capable of unleashing some spectacular violence of their own; the film’s antagonists, on the other hand, are exclusively masculine – the mighty Ralph Inneson is quietly ruthless as Irish boss Jim McAlester, while The Terror’s Adam Nagaitis is considerably more mercurial as his mad dog nephew Virgil, and Paul Giamatti is the stately calm at the centre of the storm as Sam’s employer Nathan, the closest thing she has to a father. There’s so much to enjoy in this movie, not just the wonderful characters and amazing action but also the singularly engrossing and idiosyncratic style, deeply affecting themes of the bonds of found family and the healing power of forgiveness, and a rewarding through-line of strong women triumphing against the brutalities of toxic masculinity. I love this film, and I invite you to try it out, cuz I’m sure you will too.

2. THE SUICIDE SQUAD – the most fun I’ve had at the cinema so far this year is the long-awaited (thanks a bunch, COVID) redress of another frustrating imbalance from the decidedly hit and miss DCEU superhero franchise, in which Guardians of the Galaxy writer-director James Gunn has finally delivered a PROPER Suicide Squad movie after David Ayer’s painfully compromised first stab at the property back in 2016. That movie was enjoyable enough and had some great moments, but ultimately it was a clunky mess, and while some of the characters were done (quite) well, others were painfully botched, even ruined entirely. Thankfully Warner Bros. clearly learned their lesson, giving Gunn free reign to do whatever he wanted, and the end result is about as close to perfect as the DCEU has come to date. Once again the peerless Viola Davis plays US government official Amanda Waller, head of ARGUS and the undisputable most evil bitch in all the DC Universe, who presides over the metahuman prisoners of the notorious supermax Belle Reve Prison, cherry-picking inmates for her pet project Taskforce X, the titular Suicide Squad sent out to handle the kind of jobs nobody else wants, in exchange for years off their sentences but controlled by explosive implants injected into the base of their skulls. Their latest mission sees another motley crew of D-bags dispatched to the fictional South African island nation of Corto Maltese to infiltrate Jotunheim, a former Nazi facility in which a dangerous extra-terrestrial entity that’s being developed into a fearful bioweapon, with orders to destroy the project in order to keep it out of the hands of a hostile anti-American regime which has taken control of the island through a violent coup. Where the first Squad felt like a clumsily-arranged selection of stereotypes with a few genuinely promising characters unsuccessfully moulded into a decidedly forced found family, this new batch are convincingly organic – they may be dysfunctional and they’re all almost universally definitely BAD GUYS, but they WORK, the relationship dynamics that form between them feeling genuinely earned. Gunn has already proven himself a master of putting a bunch of A-holes together and forging them into band of “heroes”, and he’s certainly pulled the job off again here, dredging the bottom of the DC Rogues Gallery for its most ridiculous Z-listers and somehow managing to make them compelling. Sure, returning Squad-member Harley Quinn (the incomparable Margot Robbie, magnificent as ever) has already become a fully-realised character thanks to Birds of Prey, so there wasn’t much heavy-lifting to be done here, but Gunn genuinely seems to GET the character, so our favourite pixie-esque Agent of Chaos is an unbridled and thoroughly unpredictable joy here, while fellow veteran Colonel Rick Flagg (a particularly muscular and thoroughly game Joel Kinnaman) has this time received a much needed makeover, Gunn promoting him from being the first film’s sketchily-drawn “Captain Exposition” and turning him into a fully-ledged, well-thought-out human being with all the requisite baggage, including a newfound sense of humour; the newcomers, meanwhile, are a thoroughly fascinating bunch – reluctant “leader” Bloodsport/Robert DuBois (a typically robust and playful Idris Elba), unapologetic douchebag Peacemaker/Christopher Smith (probably the best performance I’ve EVER seen John Cena deliver), and socially awkward and seriously hard-done-by nerd (and by far the most idiotic DC villain of all time) the Polka-Dot Man/Abner Krill (a genuinely heart-breaking hangdog performance from Ant-Man’s David Dastmalchian); meanwhile there’s a fine trio of villainous turns from the film’s resident Big Bads, with Juan Diego Botta (Good Behaviour) and Joaquin Cosio (Quantum of Solace, Narcos: Mexico) making strong impressions as newly-installed dictator Silvio Luna and his corrupt right hand-man General Suarez, although both are EASILY eclipsed by the typically brilliant Peter Capaldi as louche and quietly deranged supervillain The Thinker/Gaius Greives (although the film’s ULTIMATE threat turns out to be something a whole lot bigger and more exotic). The film is ROUNDLY STOLEN, however, by a truly adorable double act (or TRIPLE act, if you want to get technical) – Daniella Melchior makes her breakthrough here in fine style as sweet, principled and kind-hearted narcoleptic second-generation supervillain Ratcatcher II/Cleo Cazo, who has the weird ability to control rats (and who has a pet rat named Sebastian who frequently steals scenes all on his own), while a particular fan-favourite B-lister makes his big screen debut here in the form of King Shark/Nanaue, a barely sentient anthropomorphic Great White “shark god” with an insatiable appetite for flesh and a naturally quizzical nature who was brilliantly mo-capped by Steve Agee (The Sarah Silverman Project, who also plays Waller’s hyperactive assistant John Economos) but then artfully completed with an ingenious vocal turn from Sylvester Stallone. James Gunn has crafted an absolute MASTERPIECE here, EASILY the best film he’s made to date, a riotous cavalcade of exquisitely observed and perfectly delivered dark humour and expertly wrangled narrative chaos that has great fun playing with the narrative flow, injects countless spot-on in-jokes and irreverent but utterly essential throwaway sight-gags, and totally endears us to this glorious gang of utter morons right from the start (in which Gunn delivers what has to be one of the most skilful deep-fakes in cinematic history). Sure, there’s also plenty of action, and it’s executed with the kind of consummate skill we’ve now come to expect from Gunn (the absolute highlight is a wonderfully bonkers sequence in which Harley expertly rescues herself from captivity), but like everything else it’s predominantly played for laughs, and there’s no getting away from the fact that this film is an absolute RIOT. By far the funniest thing I’ve seen so far this year, and if I’m honest this is the best of the DCEU offerings to date, too (for me, only the exceptional Birds of Prey can compare) – if Warner Bros. have any sense they’ll give Gunn more to do VERY SOON …

1. A QUIET PLACE, PART II – while UK cinemas finally reopened in early May, I was determined that my first trip back to the Big Screen for 2021 was gonna be something SPECIAL, and indeed I already knew what that was going to be. Thankfully I was not disappointed by my choice – 2018’s A Quiet Place was MY VERY FAVOURITE horror movie of the 2010s, an undeniable masterclass in suspense and sustained screen terror wrapped around a refreshingly original killer concept, and I was among the many fans hoping we’d see more in the future, especially after the film’s teasingly open ending. Against the odds (or perhaps not), writer-director/co-star John Krasinski has pulled off the seemingly impossible task of not only following up that high-wire act, but genuinely EQUALLING it in levels of quality – picking up RIGHT where the first film left off (at least after an AMAZING scene-setting opening in which we’re treated to the events of Day 1 of the downfall of humanity), rejoining the remnants of the Abbott family as they’re forced by circumstances to up-sticks from their idyllic farmhouse home and strike out into the outside world once more, painfully aware at all times that they must maintain perfect silence to avoid the ravenous attentions of the lethal blind alien beasties that now sit at the top of the food chain. Circumstances quickly become dire, however, and embattled mother Evelyn (Emily Blunt) is forced to ally herself with estranged family friend Emmett (Cillian Murphy), now a haunted, desperate vagrant eking out a perilous existence in an abandoned factory, in order to safeguard the future of her children Regan (Millicent Simmonds), Marcus (Noah Jupe) and their newborn baby brother. Regan, however, discovers evidence of more survivors, and with her newfound weapon against the aliens she recklessly decides to set off on her own in the hopes of aiding them before it’s too late … it may only be his second major blockbuster as a director, but Krasinski has once again proven he’s a true heavyweight talent, effortlessly carving out fresh ground in this already magnificently well-realised dystopian universe while also playing magnificently to the established strengths of what came before, delivering another peerless thrill-ride of unbearable tension and knuckle-whitening terror. The central principle of utilising sound at a very strict premium is once again strictly adhered to here, available sources of dialogue once again exploited with consummate skill while sound design and score (another moody triumph from Marco Beltrami) again become THE MOST IMPORTANT aspects of the whole production. The ruined world is once again realised beautifully throughout, most notably in the nightmarish environment of a wrecked commuter train, and Krasinski cranks up the tension before unleashing it in merciless explosions in a selection of harrowing encounters which guaranteed to leave viewers in a puddle of sweat. The director mostly stays behind the camera this time round, but he does (obviously) put in an appearance in the opening flashback as the late Lee Abbott, making a potent impression which leaves a haunting absence that’s keenly felt throughout the remainder of the film, while Blunt continues to display mother lion ferocity as she fights to keep her children safe and Jupe plays crippling fear magnificently but is now starting to show a hidden spine of steel as Marcus finally starts to find his courage; the film once again belongs, however, to Simmonds, the young deaf actress once and for all proving she’s a genuine star in the making as she invests Regan with fierce wilfulness and stubborn determination that remains unshakeable even in the face of unspeakable horrors, and the relationship she develops with Emmett, reluctant as it may be, provides a strong new emotional focus for the story, Murphy bringing an attractive wounded humanity to his role as a man who’s lost anything and is being forced to learn to care for something again. This is another triumph of the genre AND the artform in general, a masterpiece of atmosphere, performance and storytelling which builds magnificently on the skilful foundations laid by the first film, as well as setting things up perfectly for a third instalment which is all but certain to follow. I definitely can’t wait.

#movies 2021 #werewolves within #werewolves within movie #the tomorrow war #army of the dead #Black Widow #black widow movie #black widow mcu #wrath of man #fear street #fear street trilogy #fear street movies #The Sparks Brothers #gunpowder milkshake #the suicide squad #a quiet place part ii #a quiet place part 2 #awesome sauce

14 notes · View notes

aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

Scarface’s Tony Montana vs. Michael Corleone: Which Al Pacino is the Boss of Bosses

https://ift.tt/3haJ9K7

Scarface hadn’t been made when Pete Townshend’s 1974 song “The Punk and the Godfather” came out, but The Godfather certainly had. The Who’s anthem was a musical allegory about the rock scene, but the lyrics might as well be interpreted as a conversation between Michael Corleone and Tony Montana. Possibly right before they rumble.

Al Pacino played both men in both movies, and in each film, he begins the story as a punk. But in The Godfather, at least, he grows into the establishment. Michael becomes don. Tony was a shooting star on the other hand, one on a collision course with an unyielding atmosphere. Both roles are smorgasbords of possibilities to an actor, especially one who chased Richard III to every imaginable outcome. Each are also master criminals. But which is more masterful?

The obvious answer would seem to be Michael Corleone because he turned a criminal empire into a multi-billion-dollar international business, and lived to a ripe old age to regret it. Cent’anni, Michael. Tony Montana doesn’t live to see the fruits of his labor, but his career in crime is littered with the successes of excess.

Montana is a hungry, young, loose cannon, just like real-life’s “Crazy” Joe Gallo, who went up against the Profaci family in the street fight which Mario Puzo and Francis Ford Coppola used as inspiration on The Godfather. Gallo stand-in Virgil “The Turk” Sollozzo (Al Lettieri) did a lot of damage while he was trying to muscle in on Don Vito Corleone’s territory, selling white powder. Montana leaves a larger body count in the wake of his cocaine empire career.

Scarface is Pacino’s film. The whole movie is about Tony Montana and his meteoric rise through money, power and women. The Godfather is a mob movie, crowded with top rate talent in an ensemble case, but it belongs to Marlon Brando. While Michael inherits the position by The Godfather, Part II, he shares Godfather roles with Robert De Niro there, and people come away feeling a little sorry for Fredo. Michael isn’t the focus of an entire film until The Godfather, Part III, and by then folks were only distracted by his daughter. Tony Montana owns the screen from the moment it opens until his last splash in the fountain under the “World Is Yours” sign. The picture was his.

Making Your Bones on First Kills

Pacino brings little of the wisdom of his Godfather role to Scarface’s title character. This is by design. Every crime boss has to make his bones. In mafia organizations, real and cinematic, the button men on the street are called soldiers. And every soldier has to go through basic training before they’re ready to earn their button. Michael gets assassination training from his father’s most trusted capo, Pete Clemenza (Richard S. Castellano) before he goes out to enjoy the veal.

Scarface doesn’t give us many details of the crimes Tony was involved in while still in Cuba, so he makes his cinematic bones executing General Emilio Rebenga in the American detention camp for Cuban refugees. The two scenes are polar opposites in all ways but suspense.

When Michael is sitting at the dinner table with Sollozzo and Police Captain McCluskey (Sterling Hayden), he lets Sollozzo do all the talking, easing him into comfort before pulling the trigger. Tony barely lets Rebenga get a whimper in during his first onscreen hit, which plays closer to an execution. Tony covers the sounds of his own attack with a chant he himself begins. It is a brilliant overplay, especially when compared to another scene that resembles The Godfather, with Tony killing a mid-level gangster and a crooked cop towards the end of Scarface.

A major difference between the two roles is best summed up in a line Tony says in Scarface. He learned to speak English by watching James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart. Montana comes from the Cagney tradition of broad gangster characterizations. In The Godfather, Kay Adams (Diane Keaton) asks Michael if he’d prefer Ingrid Bergman. The young soldier has to think about it. This is because Pacino is miles removed here from Bogart, who played Bergman’s lover in Casablanca. Pacino’s two gangster icons approached their criminality differently, and Pacino gets to play in both yards.

Pacino remains on an even keel in the Godfather films, but gives a tour de force of violent expression in Scarface, which burns like white heat.

The Handling of Enemies and Vices

In Scarface, Pacino gets to be almost as over the top as he is in Dick Tracy. His accent would never make it past the modern culture board at The Simpsons, but he pulls it off in 1983 because he says so. Pacino bullies the audience into believing it. It’s that exact arrogance which makes us root for Tony Montana. We don’t want to be on his bad side. But the chilled reptilian stare of Michael Corleone is a visual representation of why Sicilians prefer their revenge served cold.

Michael is diabetic, and is usually seen drinking water in The Godfather films. Sure, he has an occasional glass or red wine, and possibly some Sambuca with his espresso, but Michael always keeps a clear head. Tony, not so much. He makes drunken scenes at his favorite nightclubs, and not only gets high on his own supply, but gets so nose deep in it he develops godlike delusions of superheroic grandeur.

Montana is impulsive, instinctive, and decisive. Tony kills his best friend Manny Ribera (Steven Bauer) immediately upon finding him with his little sister Gina (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). Michael waits until his sister Connie (Talia Shire) is on a plane to Tahoe before he has her husband killed in a hit years in the planning. Later Michael hangs his head silently as the shotgun blast which kills his brother, Fredo (John Cazale), echoes in the distance.

Tony, meanwhile, continues yelling at Sosa’s right-hand man long after his brains are all over the automobile’s interior.

Clothes Make the Man

Tony is written to be charismatic. Even coked out of his mind, he’d be a better fit in Vegas with Fredo’s crowd than with wet blanket Michael in Tahoe. Tony sports white suits, satin shirts, and designer sunglasses. Michael accessorizes three-piece ensembles with an ascot. This isn’t to say Michael had any issues with getting somebody’s brains splattered all over his Ivy League suit.

Designed by Theadora Van Runkle, Michael preferred dupioni silk. That’s smart. The dark navy wool chalk-stripe suit Tony wears in his death scene was designed by Tommy Velasco and carries the class of a tuxedo. It was after 6pm. What do you think he is, a farmer?

“I’m the guy in the sky, flying high, flashing eyes. No surprise I told lies, I’m the punk from the gutter,” Roger Daltrey belts out on “The Punk and The Godfather.” This is exactly against the no-flash advice Frank Lopez (Robert Loggia) tries to impart on his young protégé in Scarface. Tony was raised not to take any advice other than his own. He also ignores his consigliere’s advice on several occasions. When Manny reminds Tony the pair of them were in a cage a year ago, the rebel gangster says he’s trying to forget that, he’s going after the boss’ girl.

“I come from the gutter,” Montana proudly contends. “I know that. I got no education but that’s okay. I know the street, and I’m making all the right connections.”

By contrast, Michael attended Dartmouth College and then dropped out to join the Marines after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Michael is both intelligent and well-connected, loosely modeled on Joseph Bonanno and Vito Genovese. He also accepts the wisdom of his father, who most closely resembled “The Prime Minister” of New York’s Five Families in the 1950s, mafia boss Frank Costello.

The Better Family Man

Pacino’s Don Michael Corleone has access to all his family’s connections, stretching back to the old world. He learns to expertly pull the strings of powerful men, like his father did, but as he grew, he bent. Michael is friends with senators, meets with the President of Cuba, has money in the Vatican, and confesses his sins to a Pope. Michael was insulated throughout his childhood and criminal career. If Tony gets in trouble, he has to get out of it himself, or with the help of a handful of low-level operatives.

Michael is the family rebel, risking his life and getting medals for strangers. He also gets to be both the prodigal son and the dutiful son. He gets the fatted calf and pays the piper. He even tips the baker’s helper for the effort. Michael comes back to both of his families, crime and birth, with a vengeance. He is there for his father the moment he is needed. Michael is the better family man. Tony’s mother is ashamed of him, and he completely ruins his sister’s wedding. Michael’s family means everything to him, and while he still manages to lose them, he actually maneuvers his two families well over rough waters for a very long run.

Tony Montana is the rebel’s rebel. Even before he tosses off his bandana at the dishwasher job to make a quick score, we knew. He was born bad, in the cinematically good way. This also makes Montana a natural at crime. In The Godfather, Michael has it in his blood as a Corleone, but has his heart set on college, a straight career, and a shot to bring his whole family into the American Dream, which for Montana only exists as a wet dream.

Tony never gets past the hormonal teenage phase of his love of America. He wants to love his new country to death. He is turned on by the dream. He wants to take it. Not earn it. No foreplay necessary, as he claims his latest victim’s wife as his own.

Managerial Skills

Michael is pretty good with his underlings, when he’s not having them garroted on the way to an airport or advising them to slit their wrists in a bath. He promises Clemenza he can have his own family once the Corleones relocate to Las Vegas. He lets Joe Zaza (Joe Mantegna) get away with murder as the guy he sets up to run his old territory in The Godfather, Part III. Michael doesn’t keep turncoats like his trusted caporegime Tessio (Abe Vigoda) around for old times’ sake, and he doesn’t suffer fools at all. It may seem he cuts Tom Hayden (Robert Duvall) loose a little fast, and without warning or due cause. But if he was a wartime consigliere, he would have seen it coming.

While Tony Montana may have a competitive and fast-tracked entry program for new workers (“hey, you got a job”), he’s also the guy who shoots his right-hand man Manny for marrying his sister. Tony exacts a brutal and dangerous revenge for the death of his friend Angel Fernandez in the Miami chainsaw massacre, but doesn’t lift a finger when his cohort Omar Suarez (F. Murray Abraham) is hanged to death from a helicopter by drug lord Alejandro Sosa (Paul Shenar). Michael does have a tendency to have his soldato kiss his ring, but he’s not entirely a .95 caliber pezzonovante.

Movies

Scarface: Where Tony Montana Went Wrong

By Tony Sokol

Movies

The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone Proves a Little Less is Infinitely More

By Tony Sokol

One of the most important skills a boss must exhibit is how to delegate, and Corleone is a minor Machiavellian master at his delegation. He whispers orders from behind closed doors. Tony is more hands-on. The only reason he tells Manny to “kill that piece of shit” Frank is because he’s already humiliated his former boss into a shell of a real man.

Montana is in the trenches with his soldiers and sets standards by example. He shoots a guy on a crowded Miami street in broad daylight. Montana is a born triggerman and only reluctantly delegates the duty. He has 10 bodyguards when Sosa men raid his mansion fortress. He takes the invading force with one little friend, an M16A1 rifle with a customized grenade launcher. But it sure doesn’t help the employees getting murdered outside.

A Handle on Finances

We don’t know what kinds of criminal activities the Corleone family were involved in between 1958 and 1979. Still, Michael had proven himself a traditionalist and a bit of a prude, so he spends most of his career shaving his take from harmless vices and avoiding drugs, which he sees as a dirty business. But through whatever means, by The Godfather, Part III, Michael has earned enough capital to buy himself out of crime.

Michael gambles successfully on Wall Street, keeps the Genco olive oil company going, and invests in hotels, casinos, and movie studios. He’s got to be pulling in a billion dollars a year in legitimate business. He makes enough to pad the coffers of the Vatican, and his share of Immobiliare stocks pulls in another $1 billion.

Tony looks like he’s earning about $15 million a month. But it doesn’t look like he puts much stock in his future. He makes no investments, only purchases. His only visible holding is the salon his sister works in. But we also have to take into account that he built his empire from scratch. Michael inherited his. And while the head of the Corleone family can blackmail a U.S. senator with a tragic sex scandal, Montana fares no better than Al Capone with tax evasion.

Who Would Win in a Mob War?

Scarface is as violent as the 1932 Howard Hawk original. Blood is a big expense, and 42 people are killed in the 1985 film. It came out amid other over-the-top action blockbusters like First Blood and the contemporary reality of the South American drug trade. So, it would seem, the film has far more violence. But they are easily matched.

The Godfather has a horse’s head, Scarface has a chainsaw. Michael’s brother Sonny (James Caan) gets machine gunned to smithereens at the toll booth, Tony blows the lower limbs off his would-be assassins at a nightclub. Omar is lynched in a chopper, the upper echelon of the mob is taken out by helicopter fire in The Godfather, Part III. Tony and Michael each get to kill a cop.

Both mob figures survive assassination attempts. Michael loses his wife Apollonia in Sicily in a car bombing meant for him. He also avoids the trap Tessio sets at the meeting with Emilio Barzini (Richard Conte), on his turf, where Michael “will be safe.” Tony lives through his initial professionally ordered hit, as well as being saved by Manny from certain death by chainsaw.

While Michael Corleone is able to take care of Barzini, Victor Stracci, Carmine Cuneo, and Phillip Tattaglia – the leadership of the five families – at the end of The Godfather, Tony Montana can only put up a good fight. The Corleone family would win in a protracted war against Montana’s cartel, but there is a possibility Tony would have outlived Michael while the battles raged. Expert swordsmen aren’t afraid to duel the best in the field, but they’re scared of the worst.

As far as crime tactics and strategic villainy, Michael Corleone plays a game of chess. Tony Montana plays hopscotch. He wins by skipping cracks in the street, but he only rises as far as the pavement.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The post Scarface’s Tony Montana vs. Michael Corleone: Which Al Pacino is the Boss of Bosses appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3o0W2Ie

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

10 notes · View notes

youllfloattoomotherfucker · 5 years

Text

Part 2

The second day was easier. They started off with a fairly good-tasting breakfast at the motel, at which they were both pretty quiet.

At least they shared the opinion that mornings should be lazy and quiet, totally not a time for small talk.

When Peter arrived at the car, Tony had already loaded their suitcases in the trunk and he was waiting for Peter while holding his door open for him.

Peter got in and cutely thanked him, surprised by the chivalry. Tony nodded a small nod and started walking towards the driver’s seat.

The rest of the day went by pretty okay. They talked, Peter opened up a bit more. And so did Tony, the boy noticed.

They listened to the radio together and sang along out of tune.

They stopped and bought some snacks and a soda for Peter.

They laughed. They felt happy. Peter felt happy. He couldn’t feel more happy, actually.

He’d been so afraid ever since he was fifteen to get close to his dad. To be around him for this long at a time without a break.

But the reality was, it felt wonderful. The man made him laugh, snort, blush, smile and think. He was smart and handsome too, and Peter got less and less careful about his own thoughts.

They joked around, tried to impress each other and held smart-offs.

Peter could finally let go. Let go of his worries that Tony would judge him, let go off his own fears, let go of the imagined judgment he received.

When Tony reminded Peter of how close they used to be, Peter jokingly suggested they should sleep in the same bed again, then. Tony didn’t say much of it but later at the reception of yet another motel, he ordered a double bed this time.

Peter was surprised but pleased. He didn’t have the courage to cuddle up to the man yet, but he was in bliss knowing he would feel Tony’s warmth next to him, smell his scent and possibly feel his breath on Peter’s cheek when they would talk with the lights off.

Except, it was literal hell. Peter’s hormones went crazy at seeing Tony in nothing but his boxers, leaving very little to the imagination.

He hadn’t written in his diary all day, and he certainly wasn’t going to with Tony right next to him. Result: bottled up, hormonal feelings.

Peter tried to push them away while Tony ruffled his hair and wished him good night, flicking off the light.

The third day was harder on Peter, as he started to realise just how much this man could do to his body without even thinking about it. He was horny, grumpy and standoffish.

Tony did not like this change and said so, making Peter even more frustrated. It wasn’t even his fault that his stupid body reacted to his fucking dad! What the hell did he have to do with it, anyway? So yeah, he liked Tony, but that didn’t have to mean anything, right?

“Peter, for God’s sake! Just tell me what’s wrong!”

Tony frustratingly tightened his grip on the wheel, accelerating without realising it.

Peter groaned loudly and put his hands in his hair.

“Why can’t I just be moody? Why do you have to know everything? It’s not like you can do anything about it!”

“Because you’ve been moody all day and I wanna know if I said something wrong!”

“Why do you always think everything’s always about you? I never said you did anything wrong, why do you think that?”

“Maybe because you’re yelling at me!”

Tony yelled back, aware of the hypocrisy.

Peter stilled, eyes wide with realisation. He let his hands fall in his lap and deflated back in his seat.

“Oh.”

Tony sighed deeply and tried to calm down. This was their first big argument, at least where they were yelling at each other. He hated it. He couldn’t let his own frustrations get to Peter, especially not work them out on his son.

“Look, did you not sleep well last night? Maybe we should get separate beds again if that’ll -”

“No!” Peter yelled in his desperation. He composed himself quickly and then continued in a much smaller voice.

“No, please. I like sleeping in the same bed as you.”

He avoided Tony’s gaze at all times, staring out the window and wishing he could just die of embarrassment.

“All right, then we sleep together. That’s fine.”

Tony tried to make his voice as soft as possible, and it had an effect on Peter. Peter was even more ashamed of his behavior, now that Tony used such a gentle tone with him after being yelled at.

He started to pull at his thumb’s skin, trying to tear it off. As a reflex he brought the digit to his mouth as started biting.

Tony saw this and put a hand on Peter’s, trying to make him stop.

“Don’t bite your thumb, Pete. You’ll regret it later.”

Peter’s face was so red by now, he was pretty sure another one of his stupid blushes wouldn’t even be noticeable.

“‘M sorry, dad. You did nothing wrong. It’s just… It’s me. I’m just stupid.”

Peter’s voice was small and Tony had to strain to understand it all, but after the last word he immediately protested.

“Hey! Don’t say that about yourself, it’s not true! And, it’s okay. We all make mistakes. Really, Pete, don’t wo - “

Tony’s lecture was accompanied by loving and forgiving glances sideways, ruffling of hair and most importantly: that soft voice.

Peter could listen to it for hours, making him both calm and energized at the same time, like it was sparking a desire deep in Peter’s body that he hadn’t discovered yet.

When Tony was done talking, they both decided internally to not speak of it again, and so the rest of the day went on, although the tension was still there. Peter was scared to say something wrong and so was Tony, making their interactions much less spontaneous than before.

Even though Tony talked less now, Peter was still lusting after him in his head. Images and scenarios of all the things he’d normally write down floated around, making him hard and frustrated and just angry at himself.

He really shouldn’t be thinking all that with Tony sitting right next to him.

When they finally arrived at another motel for the night, Peter rushed to the bathroom.

“Mornin’ , Pete.” Tony mused against the pillow. With one hand he touched Peter’s face, who giggled at the situation.

“Morning, dad.”

“How’d you sleep?”

Peter opened his eyes to two dark brown ones, lazily looking at him.

Ugh that face!

The boy almost regretted the fact that the real Tony looked even better than the one in his dreams. How could he survive another three days or more with him?

He answered in a slur and so their day began.

After breakfast they strolled around in the small town, Tony pointing out things he liked about the scenery to Peter, Peter happily following.

Around one they drove out of the town, onto the highway again.

It was sunny and Peter enjoyed the warmth in the car, smiling down at this notebook on his lap. He’d made Tony promise not to try and read it actively, since he had to pay attention to the road anyway.

With his pen between his teeth, the boy hummed along with the song on the radio. His thoughts raced with things he wanted to report. Luckily for him, it were more innocent thoughts like I slept in the same bed as dad! and He touched my face and hair or he smiled at me and it made me all fuzzy inside.

“Say, Edgar Allan Poe, mind taking the map out of the glove compartment?”

“Sure thing!” Peter looked to his dad and smiled so cutely that it made Tony grin as well.

“Thanks. You’re a good kid, you know that?”

New praise kink discovered! Shh, shut the fuck up. And don’t sound so whiny!

Peter tried to hide his flustered look by acting normal and gave his dad a small smile.

“I guess…”

Tony ordered him to look up Las Vegas and the boy told him which road to follow.

After another three hours of driving Tony stopped at a gas station, filling his tank. Peter was allowed to saunter through the little shop and stretch his legs.

Amusingly, he let his eyes wander over the different tastes of lube they sold in the soap section.

Banana, chocolate, strawberry, cherry, lemon, vanilla…

Peter couldn’t help but imagine Tony teasingly stroking himself, lubing his cock up with a chocolate taste while Peter impatiently waited. Once the older man, his dad, was done he would lay on his back and let Peter lick his abs, stomach and eventually - Oh fuck!

Peter almost came in his pants at the thought of him sucking Tony off, the dark-haired man lovingly stroking the boy’s face with his thumb, pushing it between Peter’s lips when he looked up from under his lashes.

A hard thump hit his shoulder and the boy jumped up, startled and scared.

“Hiya Pete, time to go. See anything you like?”

Yeah you!

“N-no, not really.”

He murmured, leaning back against Tony’s hand. How he craved his closeness!

Peter praised himself lucky to sleep in the same bed for a few days. But he knew, once they get back home, everything will be different. He will go hide in his bedroom as usual and Tony will probably be at work all day. In the evening they’d eat together, making small talk. Maybe watch a movie and that’ll be it. After that, Peter would have to go lay in his own bed, not Tony’s.

Fuck my fucking life! Why am I so sick in the head? Why can’t I be fucking normal and have crushes on girl like Ned!

Peter shyly followed Tony back to the car, who gave him a genuine smile to encourage him.

“Dad, I swear it’s that way!”

“No it’s not. Look at the map again.”

“I already looked five times!”

“Peter!”

The tension had been building up for a while, and now they were arguing over which road to take. They weren’t loudly yelling yet, but both of them did the occasional eye-roll and became frustrated at the other.

“See, it’s clearly my way, I promise you.”

Peter tried to convince Tony, who was driving a lonely open road and flashed a quick look at the map.

“That’s not what I saw earlier. This one leads to the backside of Vegas, it’ll be a detour. This is the right one.”

Jabbing fingers touched the map Peter was clumsily holding. It was a big paper to hold and very fragile, he was scared to rip it. Because then Tony would get mad. Like now.

Peter was already nervous because of his constant unsatisfiable libido and the fact that he could smell Tony more thoroughly with every passing hour. Now his bullheaded dad didn’t want to listen to him and was getting frustrated and grumpy because:

He can’t admit that he’s wrong and Peter’s right and

he’s a man that refuses to ask directions from anybody.

And he started to work it out on Peter, too.

“Dad, why do you always have to be right about everything?” Peter yelled at last, not knowing what else to say.

“Because I’m Tony Fucking Stark and that’s why.”

He sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair;

“Of course, you already know that, don’t you. Because - I looked at the map earlier and the road I wanna take leads us to our destination.”

“Then why’d you ask me to check again?”

“Pete, don’t be like that!”

“Be like what?”

Peter spat out, facing the man right on. He didn’t care if he was driving, Peter was gonna get his answer.

Tony sighed again, looked at his right window and then gathered his courage to look at his son.

Peter’s eyes were on fire, passion and anger and something that screams he’s the son of Tony burning brightly.

“Like - like I don’t know. Sometimes. Sometimes you’re just - a little. Fuck, how do I say this without hurting you? Sometimes you’re acting like your mom, Pete. And not in the good way.”

Peter rose his finger, accusingly pointing at Tony.

“Don’t bring mom into the argument! And how do I act, then? I wanna know!”

Tony slowed down the car and parked behind a big sign, dust flying up when he turned in the sand.

He turned the key of the car and breathed out strongly, angling his chest towards Peter.

“Like. Like you are telling the truth like it’s your life depending on it, you almost scream Believe me! in your eyes. It’s - it’s a bit much, okay? I just wanted a fun road trip and now I’m arguing with my son, who, apparently, became the ruler of justice.”

Brown, serious eyes reached Peter’s, who were still full of fire. But then something changed in them, like Tony had broken something inside Peter’s heart.

Peter averted his eyes, afraid to let his dad know he’d cry at any moment.

“I’m sorry, okay! I know that I’m an annoying, grumpy, locked in teenager but I’m trying, dad, I really am.”

Shaking his head in disbelief, Tony put a hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“I know you are, kid. And you’re not - okay, maybe you’re a little grumpy but what teen isn’t?”

A soft squeeze was all that was needed to get Peter going, to break his final wall he’d set up between him and Tony for Tony’s own good.

Tears started streaming down his face and he started sobbing, so much that Tony didn’t know wether to hug him or give him mouth-to-mouth.

“Hey, Peter, hey, look at me! That’s a good boy, you’re doing great. Please breathe! Come ‘ere.”

Peter latched himself onto Tony, hiding his face in his neck and shoulders. He grabbed Tony as hard as he could, squeezed him so tight it seemed like he’d never let go.

Tony tried to soothe Peter by rubbing his back.

“Shh, you’re a good kid, ‘s okay.”

“‘M - ‘orrible! Sorry ‘ad!” Peter sobbed, trying to apologize for every dirty or wrong thought he’d ever had, for all the times he’d jerked off to him.

“No, you’re not, Peter. You’re not.”

“You d - on’t - understand!” Peter hiccupped.

“Dad I’m so - so fucking sorry I’m sorry sorry I’m fucking sorry!”

Tony freezed at the string of apologies, realizing Peter was about to have an anxiety attack.

He pushed the boy off him to look at his face. Peter was breathing fast and hard and his face looked red and wet and puffy. On top of that, he just continued to apologize no matter what Tony said.

“Pete, hey, listen to me! You’re not the worst son ever, you’re the best one, you hear me? Hey hey shhh, it’s all right. Breathe! With me, okay? And in. Good, very good, now out. C’mon Peter, breathe out. That’s it.”

Tony stroked the hairs out of Peter’s face all the while, trying to give Peter as much space as possible to breathe.

“Dad I’m not - not worthy to be your son, please believe me dad, I’m sorry I’m so sorry I’ll never do it again I swear! Sorry!”

Tony didn’t know what to do as he saw Peter freak out even more. All he wanted for him was to feel better, to be able to breathe. And his face was so close too, his beautiful brown eyes filled with tears. He couldn’t take it. He just couldn’t anymore.

First, he almost gets a burn-out from his shitjob, then his son distancing himself and now his baby boy, his only light couldn’t even breathe properly!

He couldn’t deal.

“Peter, please breathe alright?”

Peter tried, sobbing but it still didn’t seem like he could get any air, he sounded so terrified and guilty and oh good God Tony really had to read up on anxiety.

He just -

The sobbing stopped at once, replaced by a high pitched noise of surprise. And a bit of a moan? Tony must’ve imagined it.

He had kissed Peter, was still kissing Peter with his two hands on his son’s soft cheeks and his lips all up against his moving in soft touches. He couldn’t get enough. Peter tasted so great, better than he’d ever imagined and Oh my God I’m kissing my son I’m kissing my own goddamn heterosexual son what the fuck is wrong with me?

Tony abruptly broke apart, another small whimper escaping the other’s lips.

They both stilled, staring at one another with wide eyes.

At last, Tony put his hand in front of his mouth, surprise and disgust rising.

“Oh my God, Peter! Please forgive me! I’m sorry I wasn’t thinking I just - I just wanted you to calm down! Oh God, please don’t be scared I never -”

“You kissed me?”

Peter’s voice broke, high and glaringly.

Tony, with his hand still in front of his face, nodded quickly.

“And I’m fucking sorry I swear please Peter, please forgive me.”

And then, the boy just started smiling. Tony was confused and Why isn’t he running away from me?

“Peter?”

“It’s okay, dad. It’s alright, really. You clearly panicked too, right?”

Tony nodded again, wanting to hug Peter but didn’t, because he didn’t want his son to think he was a perverted phedophile.

Peter smiled through his tears, the last few rolling over his cheeks. His breathing became normal again and he wiped his eyes with his sleeves.

Tony was still freaking out internally. He almost didn’t dare to look his son in the eyes, embarrassed and tense.

Why did I like it so much? At least it worked, Pete seems to breathe normally again. Why did I do that? Did I unconsciously want to? What the fuck is wrong with me!

“Dad?”

Peter’s voice barely broke through Tony’s loud thoughts. He composed himself and calmly placed his hands in his own lap.

“Yes, Pete?”

Peter didn’t look shocked at all, or scared. If anything, he looked happy.

“Can I hug you now?”

Tony stilled, eyes fixating on Peter’s nose so he didn’t have to look at the brown eyes, his eyes.

The man hesitated, opening and closing his mouth a few times before speaking.

“You don’t have to.”

“I know but I want to.”

“Are you sure? I understand if you want to take a walk or something.”

The boy’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Do you not want to?”

Tony shrugged, still not sure what the appropriate socially acceptable answer would be.

“Of course I want to. Hug you! Nothing else I mean. I just. Isn’t it gonna be weird after -”

The air was pushed out of Tony’s longues as Peter dropped his full body weight on the man. They fell to the back of the couch but Peter never lost his grip.

After five seconds Tony murmured fuck it and started to stroke Peter’s hair.

It was a nice feeling and Peter enjoyed being this close, especially with Tony’s taste still in his mouth and his scent in his nose and his hands in his hair.

Oh, how he wanted Tony to just tug at it roughly, arching back his neck and then the man would kiss him deeply, with tongue.

That would be even nicer.

#Starker #Starkercest #Tony stark #Peter parker

75 notes · View notes

little-bit-of-cinnamon · 5 years

Text

Cafe Helado con Leche - Sonny x Pete

Would you please write a fanfic about them? Maybe that cliche Pete comes in and buys the same coffee order every day so /of course/ Sonny memorized it and... cliche occurs. Would you please write a fanfic about them? Maybe that cliche Pete comes in and buys the same coffee order every day so /of course/ Sonny memorized it and... cliche occurs.

Following Pete and his coffee from ages 8-18

2.1k words

Mentioned minor character death but nothing heavy

Disclaimer!! All the spanish used is my own, correct me if I’m wrong!! I’m conversationally fluent but I’m not by any means claiming that all spanish used is correct or perfect

Some had said that Pete was too young to be drinking coffee, but he didn’t mind. The coffee at the de la Vega’s bodega was cheap and it was something he could rely on, a daily routine. So, ever since he was hardly taller than the counter, he went in every day. Saved quarters and dimes from couch cushions and sidewalks to be able to pay for a medium iced coffee with milk. It was among the few consistent things in his life.

The person behind the counter changed with the years but the taste of the not-too-bitter and sometimes-too-cold coffee stayed the same. When he first started coming to the bodega he was met with Señora de la Vega and a heavily accented “Aren’t you too small for this caffeine, hijo?” but she gave it to him nonetheless with a polite “Thank you, ma’am,” he was on his way.

Drinking coffee made him feel grown up. With no family consistently supporting him Pete was forced to grow up fast. If he had to walk himself to school and make himself dinner like an adult then he at least deserved to drink coffee like one, even if he was only eight. His routine remained constant for two years before anything drastic happened. He would walk to the bodega after school and order his drink, politely chatting with either Señor or Señora de la Vega as it brewed. In the fall when he was ten the bodega would be closed some days. Pete didn’t think much of it. He ignored the headaches that the lack of caffeine caused and waited for the next day when he would stop by again. On the days the store was open the owners seemed tired, less chatty so Pete quietly waited for his drink, not wanting to bother them with unnecessary conversation. Throughout all this, the “Thank you, ma’am” or “Thank you, sir” and the “De nada, hijo,” stayed the same.

Around Christmas time the bodega was closed for weeks. Pete didn’t dare go anywhere else for his coffee. It wouldn’t be the same. He used the dollar he saved each day to buy art supplies and he began to fall in love with painting. He started to spend more time with the kids in high school and learned how to use spray paint. His art on abandoned buildings was like a physical representation of any emotions he hadn’t learned how to express.

He was walking home with his paints in his beat-up backpack when he noticed a light on in the bodega across the street. Hastily looking for cars Pete ran across and stepped inside, the familiar sound of the bells jingling as he opened the door. Behind the counter was not the owners he had gotten used to over the past couple years but a boy, hardly sixteen, looking exhausted and reading a textbook. He didn’t even seem to notice Pete walking in.

“Hey man,” Pete said when he approached the counter “can I get a medium iced coffee with milk?”

“Café helado con leche? Are you the same guy my parents used to talk about?” The boy smiled, wrinkling the edges of his tired eyes. “They used to talk about a little guy with that same order coming in every day”

“Yeah, that sounds like me,” Pete said. “Your folks own this place?”

“They did. They, uh, actually passed a couple weeks ago.” The boy’s smile faded as he placed Pete’s order on the counter. “That’s gonna be a dollar.”

Pete put his folded dollar bill on the counter, too embarrassed to make eye contact. “I’m sorry about your parents.”

“Not your fault,” the boy said, opening his textbook and pulling a notebook from under the counter. “Have a good one.”

As time went on and Pete continued painting he began to earn a reputation around the barrio. People began to think of him as delinquent, a teenager with no respect for authority or the community. It didn’t bother Pete much because he knew they were wrong. He wasn’t trying to harm anyone. He was trying to express himself in the only way he knew how. Pete was thirteen one day when he entered the bodega. He opened his backpack to fish out the dollar for his coffee, his spray cans knocking together and making a soft metallic sound.

“Aren’t you too small to be tagging buildings?” The resemblance between Usnavi and his mother had never been so obvious.

He continued to see Usnavi every day and eventually stopped trying to convince him that he wasn't actually so rebellious or criminal. Pete got his coffee and Usnavi got paid.

Besides, Pete wasn’t too worried about what his local bodega owner thought of him. He had a good group of friends who would hang out with him so he had something to do instead of going home. Pete had a solid group that he could go out for dollar slices with and who would walk anywhere but home with him, ignoring their curfews. The high school kids who taught Pete to paint had since graduated, leaving him to make friends in his own classes and in the neighborhood.

That was how Pete met Sonny. Pete was alone that day, his friends busy with work or family or whatever reasons they provided that they couldn’t hang out. But loneliness was an issue that a greasy slice of pizza from the parlor down the block could easily solve.

He got his slice and sat at the bar seating at the window. People watching was one of Pete’s favorite ways to pass the time.

“Yo,” Pete turned in his seat and say a boy, maybe a little younger than him with a green baseball cap and the gap of a missing tooth. “Can I sit here? You look lonely.” Before Pete answered the boy was already climbing into the seat next to him. “Go for it, man. I’m Pete by the way.”

“Sonny,” the boy, or Sonny, replied through a mouth full of pizza.

Pete and Sonny talked and talked until they were forced to order more food or leave. Two slices later they parted ways, but not before making plans to meet there the following day. Pete could tell that they would soon have a unique friendship as he already felt that he had known Sonny for years. Pete learned that Sonny was, in fact, younger than him, twelve to Pete’s fourteen. He learned that Sonny’s parents stayed in DR and he lives with his cousin. He told Sonny about his absent parents and his love for art. It was easier for Pete to talk to Sonny than anyone else, even though they had just met.

Pete and Sonny transitioned from getting pizza together to walking around the barrio together to Sonny watching Pete paint and so on. Soon, whenever they had a free moment they were together.

That summer they were walking down the block, talking about nothing and everything. The sun was pounding down on Pete’s back, enhancing his mixed skin tone. “Damn, it’s hot out.” Pete wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Wanna pop into my cousin’s bodega and grab some ice cream? It’s three blocks that way.” Sonny offered, pointing down the street.

“Hell yeah, Sonny. I knew being friends with you would have benefits.”

They turned down an all too familiar street. “No fucking way,” said Pete, shaking his head as he stepped inside the bodega.

“What?” said Sonny “Something wrong?”

Before Pete could answer Usnavi stepped out from the back, wiping his hands with a towel.

“Sonny, is this the friend you’ve been hanging around with?” Usnavi spoke to Sonny but stared directly at Pete.

“Yeah, Usnavi this is my friend Pete. Pete, this is my cousin Usnavi.” Sonny walked to the freezers for something to cool off with.

“We’ve met,” said Pete. “What’s up Usnavi?” Pete gave Usnavi a small wave and followed Sonny to the ice cream.

“No no no, Sonny you can’t be hanging around with him anymore.”

“What do you mean? Pete’s my best friend.” Sonny headed to the counter, confused.

Pete said nothing, frozen in his tracks.

“Sonny, do you know how hard your tios and I have worked to give you the best life possible? Pete is bad news. I will not let you throw away the life we have worked for so you can hang out with some punk. I just won’t.” Usnavi kept his voice calm and level and it somehow hurt Pete even more.

“He’s not a punk, he’s my best friend. Usnavi, I thought you trusted me.” Sonny looked as hurt as Pete felt.

“I trusted you to make good choices and look who you ended up with. If I can’t trust you to make good choices in your free time you won't have any at all. You’re working here this summer. Pete, you should go.”

Pete knew that Sonny was calling out to him but he was too hurt to actually hear what he was saying. He went outside and walked straight home.

Fortunately, Usnavi’s plan backfired. Having Sonny working at the bodega allowed Usnavi to do paperwork and tasks that he would typically leave until after closing during the day. When it was slow Usnavi would go into the office in the back and work. This allowed for Pete and Sonny to spend more time together than ever.

“Hey, Sonny. I’ll take a medium iced coffee with milk.”

“You got it.” Sonny turned to start making Pete’s drink. “Man, it blows that I have to work here now. I can’t believe Usnavi got so mad. Aren’t there some kinda labor laws or whatever?”

“I guess it’s not that bad. He can’t make you work forever and he’s gotta pay you. Now you can like buy me pizza and stuff.” Pete pushed himself onto the counter, swinging his legs.

“Is my pizza buying ability the only reason you hang out with me?” Sonny handed Pete his coffee.

“Not the only reason.” Pete took a sip. “You also make me coffee.”

Despite Usnavi’s complaints, Pete and Sonny never grew apart. As Sonny got older he gained more independence and Usnavi realized he can’t dictate who he spends time with anymore. Pete continued to hang around the bodega after school and on weekends and Sonny began to willingly work the register, now having actual uses for his paychecks.

“Hey, Sonny.” Pete walked into the bodega and threw his backpack down behind the counter. “I’ll take a-”

“Medium iced coffee with milk. Damn, Pete do you really think I wouldn’t remember after like two years?” Sonny began filling the cup with ice.

“You know me so well it’s scary.”

“No,” Sonny poured the coffee. “I’m just smart enough to notice a pattern when you get the same thing literally every day.”

“Fair enough.”

As time passed Sonny and Pete transitioned from Sonny sitting on the counter eating grape nerds and complaining about homework to Sonny sitting on the counter with Pete standing facing him, stealing quick kisses and resting his forehead on his boyfriend’s. They had it good.

The transition from best friends to boyfriends was easy. They already spent so much time together, creating a nice domestic routine. They’d known each other for so long and cared about each other so deeply that not much changed about their relationship. It was hard for them to not fall in love. It was natural, necessary.

As Pete grew as an artist he was able to make money on painting commissioned murals and artwork for buildings and organizations. He was currently working on painting a brick wall of a rec center. As soon as his shift for the day ended he headed for the bodega, where he knew Sonny was working.

“Hey, Sonshine. It’s hot out there can I get a-”

“Café helado con leche?” Sonny finished for him. “Right here.” Sonny pulled Pete’s already made coffee from the fridge under the counter.

“You really are the perfect boyfriend, huh?” Pete took a sip, “When’d you make this?”

“Um, ten minutes ago?” Sonny glanced at the clock. “Soon as I knew you’d be done working.”

“Yep, definitely perfect.” Pete leaned over the counter, intending to give Sonny a chaste peck but Sonny took hold of Pete’s jaw, pressing further into the kiss. The counter made things a little bit awkward but it was nothing they hadn’t done before. They were lost within each other, too distracted to hear the office door open and close.

“Ay, carajo. No kissing on the clock.”

#in the heights #sonny de la vega #Graffiti Pete #graffiti pete x sonny #ith #twist writes

29 notes · View notes

bitacrytic · 2 years

Text

...but red is mine [10]

Read Previous Chapter Here

___

"So what are you going to do now?"

***

There was only one answer to that question. Vegas wasn't a child anymore. He knew what the stakes were. Kinn was distracted without Porsche, Korn was in the hospital, Tankhun wasn't even a fair opponent and Kim hadn't been a part of the equation for years.

It was time to strike.

If Vegas wanted to survive, he had to join his dad. After all, the main family was out to get Vegas' blood, anyway.

"You should know," Porsche said, as Vegas revved the engine. "That Pete is trying to seal his mate mark."

Vegas stalled, kicking the bike stand back into place.

"What? Why?"

There was no need pretending. Porsche knew. Porsche had practically admitted that he knew Pete was with Vegas. And even if he didn't... there was no way Porsche didn't know about the safehouse.

But the soulmate part of it, that was new.

"I took him to see a doctor."

Vegas didn't know what to say.

"I'm assuming that if you could do those things to him without feeling it yourself,” Porsche frowned. “If you could do that to him, then your own mark is sealed. Am I right?"

Vegas nodded, stiffly.

"If he doesn't want you-"

"I'm never doing anything he doesn't want me to do again, Porsche."

Porsche watched him, the picture of a man too broken to even argue with Vegas. He looked like he wanted to say a lot, wanted to give Vegas a shovel talk of some sort. But there was nothing left in Porsche anymore. He didn't even look like he'd be any good in a fight.

"Just take care of him," Porsche said, in the end.

But that wasn't something Vegas needed to be told. Pete was precious. Pete was important. Vegas had no idea what the outcome of the day would be, but he'd be damned if anyone from his side so much as touched a hair on Pete's head.

***

"You will be well advised to turn around and go home."

***

Yeah, like that was going to happen.

Papa fired the first shot, and all hell broke loose. Not that Vegas hadn't been expecting that. They'd come to kill and/or die. Someone was bound to go first. And if Chan didn't mean business, he shouldn't have raised his gun in the first place.

His men were hindered from firing clear shots and the few times Vegas could have hit Kinn, Pete was in the fucking way. A moment's pause nearly cost Vegas his life as a shot went right past his ear. He ducked out of the way. But as he did so, he saw Pete dragging one of the bodyguards away.

Vegas charged into the mansion, firing at will. His target was Kinn, but it was incredibly unfortunate that Kinn was guarded by Pete.

Pol, was it?

He'd been hit and Pete was dragging him to safety. Which was awesome because that meant Kinn was alone, pinned down, ripe for the taking. Vegas stood, reloading his gun as he aimed, moving closer to where Kinn was. This was it. The moment his entire life had been gearing towards. Because, now, Papa would see. He would know that Vegas had caught Kinn. He'd beaten Kinn. He'd done what even Papa himself couldn't do.

He heard the shot from behind him go off. Wondering what his men could possibly be shooting at since they couldn't even see Kinn yet, Vegas turned around. There, Porsche was, geared up, firing at Vegas' men who had been facing the other direction. In a few steps, Porsche had taken out nearly half the men in the area, cutting right through to where Kinn.

"Fucking Porsche," Vegas hissed under his breath, taking cover again.

He'd asked Porsche to pick a side. They'd worked together. Porsche knew he couldn't trust the main family. Vegas had at least hoped that Porsche would stay out of it.

If Porsche was showing up to protect Kinn, Vegas didn't care anymore. Porsche had picked a side. And the side he'd picked was about to get demolished because Vegas had come to rain down living hell.

***

"Don't."

***

Toy cars?

Fucking toy cars?

On the cusp of victory, Vegas had stood for a few minutes. Damn near seconds, because he had Kinn by the balls. The utter defeat in his eyes when Vegas pointed the gun at Porsche was enough to clear every doubt of Vegas' superiority to Kinn. Because Kinn wore his heart on his sleeve. Without meaning to, without caring, he'd announced to the entire world that Porsche was his everything.

Porsche deserved what was coming.

If Vegas put a bullet in Porsche's head, Kinn would die. Who cared if they'd been allies less than twenty-four hours ago? Porsche betrayed Vegas first. He knew what it meant to go against the minor family and he'd chosen to do so. He'd put himself in the unique position to be wielded as a weapon against the head of the major family.

Except, what ended up coming was a fucking toy car.

The funny thing was that if Porsche hadn't pushed Vegas to get out of the way, Vegas would be suffering from much more than a couple of ringing ears, right now. Fuck! Rolling over, Vegas swayed as he used the wall to stand. All his men were down. At least the ones in the garage. He could still hear gun fire, so somewhere around, somewhere far, his people were still fighting.

But Kinn and Porsche? They were nowhere to be found.

Groaning, he leaned on the wall, then pushed away, heading in the direction he'd seen Porsche run. He could still do this. He could still win. It wasn't over till one of them was dead.

But then, Pete was there.

He could have very well been a figment of Vegas' imagination. Even if he was real, Vegas wasn't going to actually shoot him. Pete wouldn't shoot him either. They'd done this dance before. Pete couldn't hurt Vegas anymore than Vegas could hurt him.

BANG!

Vegas cried as the bullet went through his arm.

"Fuck!"

"Follow Khun Kinn," Pete ordered the guards. "I'll handle this."

Vegas looked at Pete. He could see the anger there. He couldn't blame him. But surely, Pete understood that Vegas was sorry for how things had turned out. He would never have hurt Pete if he knew who Pete was. He was about to apologize, when Pete punched him in the face. Whatever strength Vegas had left, evaporated as he succumbed to the floor, staring up at the garage.

Utterly defeated.

But Vegas had hurt him.

Pete was crying when he crouched over Vegas, but each time Vegas reached up to him, Pete responded with a punch to the face. It hurt. It stung. Physically, it felt like hell. In his heart though, yeah, Vegas was soaring. Because Pete looked like he was hurting. He didn't want to hit Vegas.

Vegas could understand loving someone and wanting to cause them unimaginable pain. He felt that way about his father all the time, so he could recognize it in Pete. Hitting Vegas didn't give Pete the satisfaction that he wanted. But he couldn't stop. Not unless someone stopped him.

Using everything in him, Vegas grunted and shoved Pete over, climbing onto him.

"I'm sorry for everything," Vegas said.

That didn't seem like the right thing to say because Pete cried even more.

"Sorry?" he asked.

He shoved Vegas back down. This time, when he hit Vegas, it was quick, harder and with clear intention. Pete meant to cause Vegas pain, now. When Pete slowed down, crying again, Vegas reached up to him. This was his chance to make it right. Because he knew what the outcome was.

Vegas was going to lose.

As long as Pete was on the other side, Vegas would never win.

"If I die today," Vegas said. "Could it be you who kills me?"

Pete frowned at him, confused.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

Vegas smiled. Pete, so foolish. So ignorant. The fact that Pete couldn't see where this was all going was so funny to Vegas. So endearing, that this man who was surrounded by all this violence and intensity, this man who felt things a hundred times more than everyone else, couldn't understand the simple fact that Vegas would never come out of this alive.

"I love you, Pete."

Having stunned Pete in place, Vegas pulled him down and kissed him. One last time. If he died now, Vegas would die knowing that his soulmate knew how he felt. Without waiting for Pete to recover, Vegas pushed him aside and ran. His legs could barely carry him, but Vegas had to go. He couldn't lose Kinn. If Vegas was going to die, Kinn was coming along with him.

***

“Would you stop saying you’ve got nothing left?”

***

Macau was all that was left.

Vegas was a coward. The easy way out was just so inviting. He didn’t have to bow to Korn. He didn’t want to. But if he shot Korn, Macau would pay the price. It would not be enough to kill Vegas. Macau would kneel. Macau would bend. Macau would fall beneath Kinn’s boot. And it would all be Vegas’ fault.

But Vegas couldn't take it. If he died, Macau would rise. Right? He had to believe that because Vegas was too much of a coward to take anything else. He was so tired. One bullet was all he had left. One bullet would do the trick.

Vegas screamed because, what the fuck, Pete? What was he even doing here? What did he think Vegas could do for him? Papa was dead. Korn was a fucking liar. Very recently, Vegas had tried to kill Porsche. Again. Vegas was infected with failure and Pete?

“Vegas, don’t.”

Fucking Pete.

“Don’t turn your back on me?” he cried. “I’m hungry.”

“If you’re hungry, let someone else take you to eat.”

Pete got up and really, at this point, Vegas should have just walked away. But there was literally nothing left in him. If he had any energy, he was reserving it for this bullet. Because where the fuck was he supposed to go? What was he to do now? Add Pete to the short list of people the major family could hold over his head and use to control Vegas?

At least Macau knew not to trust Korn. Pete? Pete would be an anchor around Vegas’ neck that not only supported but protected any bullshit Korn was planning to feed them all.

“You dare push me away?” Pete asked. “Why did you tell me you wanted to be with me?”

“Why didn’t you seal your mark?” Vegas asked, refusing to turn around. Because if he did, he wouldn’t be able to stop himself.

“You’re my…” Pete’s voice broke. “You’re soulmate.”

“You shouldn’t hesitate, Pete. Seal it. I have nothing to offer you anymore.”

“I’m your pet, aren’t I?”

Now, that wasn’t fair.

Pete had left because of this exact thing. He’d bashed Vegas against the head, unlocked himself and left because he hated how Vegas was treating him. And yet, he was saying this now. Why? Did he mean it? Did he want it?

Or was he just saying anything because he wanted Vegas to look at him?

“I want my owner.”

His father was gone. There was no protection above Vegas. No one to tell him where to go or what to do. Vegas had never been so powerless in his life, even though this was the first time there wasn’t someone above him.

Why did that sound so untrue? Vegas was trying to function here and Pete was fucking with his plans. He couldn’t invade the major family properly because he was worried about Pete getting hurt. He was compromising and breaking down his life to avoid being a burden to Pete and Pete honestly thought that Vegas was worthy of being anyone’s owner? He really thought that Vegas wasn’t losing his mind because Vegas was ownerless, himself.

Did Pete think Vegas was worthy to own anybody? Let alone Pete, who was boundless as the waves, crazy as the wind? Pete who rebelled at everything and resisted Vegas’ need to own and compel him. That Pete wanted Vegas to be his owner?

“Could you please turn around and see me?”

A simple request.

Like a fool, Vegas turned around.

How could he resist, now that Pete was coming out from behind the pet persona? Pete was calling to Vegas. How could he say no?

To his surprise, Pete wasn’t crying. He was smiling. Like the goofy, foolish child that he was. Vegas couldn’t even pretend that seeing Pete happy wasn’t the best thing. Maybe he’d been too rash. He had nothing to give Pete. Only burdens. Only disdain from the major family.

Vegas felt the first bullet slice through him, before he heard the shot. He wasn’t even sure what was happening. All he knew was that Pete’s face went from unbridled glee to shock. Then another bullet. And another. And another.

Vegas was fated to die today.

Shit, Vegas thought, falling to the ground. Because the outcome was still the same. Whether Pete did it, or Vegas did it himself, or some random major family guard.

#kinnporsche #vegaspete #Vegas POV #soul mate au #canon-compliant

40 notes · View notes

rabidwrestlingfan · 5 years

Text

25 Tales Of Christmas

Author's note: I wanted to do something special for you guys. 💙 This year was rocky af but even when I disappeared you guys were still here! There's a few writing debuts here and a few favorites. I really just wanted to do something big that also gave you guys choices. So why not a whole bunch of Christmas and Christmas related blurbs? 💙 My whole goal was to not think too hard which is why some are shorter and some end abruptly. Sorry for that, but it's really the only reason this got done. I hope you guys enjoy and have/ had a wonderful day. I love you all!

1. Chris Brookes

Chris Brookes smiled when he seen her face appear on his phone. Though his friend beside him rolled his eyes. "So I take it that you made it home safely and your plane didn't crash?" He asked as soon as he answered the phone. He was greeted with a scoff before she started to laugh. Only he would start a conversation so bluntly. "I'm in the backseat of the car right now. Not at the bottom of the ocean." Skylar answered after a few seconds. She'd promised to call as soon as she landed, but the airport was packed to the gills. So she'd decided to do it on her way home. "I'm glad you got what you wanted for Christmas this year." The sincerity in his voice made her heart fuzzy. Last year she'd been unable to make it home for Christmas for the first time in her life. He'd made sure she had a good day, but he could still see the sadness in his friend's eyes. So this year he'd helped her make sure it didn't happen again. "Thank you, Chris. Truly." She whispered. The woman didn't miss her mom's smile in the side mirror. She would definitely get interrogated later. After a few seconds she took a deep breath. "It's getting late over there..." Her words trailed off but she caught the meaning. "Have a good time, Skylar. I can't wait to hear all about it." They both said goodbye before a hand smacked the back of his head. "Tell the girl you love her already. I'm tired of you two pining for each other." The younger man grumbled before unpausing the game.

2. Kenny Omega

"Merry Christmas, Wren." Kenny mumbled when he watched the clock flip to midnight. The woman curled into his side couldn't help but smile. "Merry Christmas, Kenny." She replied simply. She had nowhere to go for the holidays besides friend's in the states. He hadn't been able to go home for the holidays. They decided that they'd celebrate together at the apartment. Next week she'd go and make a round around the states to see her friends. For now she was just fine with being in his arms watching Elf. The gifts that sat under their tree just made her smile bigger. Maybe things weren't perfect, and they never would be, but this was good. No matter what happened she had this and that's what mattered to her. It was at that moment that Kenny kissed her head with a small chuckle. "Good thing Santa came early this year. Because I'd be pissed if I had to move right now." He joked. He could see the look in her grey eyes. Holidays were hard for her after her aunt passed. "You could take him." She answered without missing a beat. Their laughter quieted as they shared a few short kisses. Maybe she could live with Christmas just like this.

4. Sami Zayn

"Did Santa remember to eat the cookies?" Veronica asked quietly when he entered the room again. Sami had just finished putting the last of their gifts under the tree. He'd even managed to sneak the adult's gifts down without them noticing it. "Santa got beat to it by your sister's not boyfriend." He joked as he slipped under the covers next to the woman. Veronica only rolled her eyes. "I can't wait until they break down and see what we've all seen since the start." She told her boyfriend with a sigh. "Hey... She seen us coming a long time before we did. So, we've gotta give them time. Like two more weeks before we just follow them around screaming." The red head joked. If her daughter wouldn't have been asleep she would have cackled. Instead she settled for hushed giggles. "All I can see is Magnolia just chasing Rose screaming at her to marry Dean." She told him between laughs. He couldn't help but laugh with her. It was something her daughter would definitely do. "Wait until she sees the dollhouse." He whispered once it went quiet. She loved that he still kept such a sense of wonder about Christmas. His happiness transferred to her even when she was stressed to the max. "Definitely going to earn some brownie points." Veronica said with a knowing smile. The girl had been asking for it all year, and he'd actually bought it the first time she mentioned it. Yet he was keen on Santa giving it to her. So he'd kept it hidden for months on end in anticipation for Christmas. Now that it was finally here she could see the anxious energy building up. "Go to sleep, Sami Zayn. She'll be in here in no time." Veronica told him before gently pressing her lips to his.

5. Dean Ambrose

A Hallmark Christmas was something that Dean had never been part of before meeting Rose Wilming. He'd always brushed off people's invitations as nothing but pity and moved on. Yet suddenly here was someone who absolutely wouldn't take no for an answer. He was content to just getting drunk and watching whatever was on tv for Christmas. It was the closest thing to a tradition he had. But the white haired woman wasn't having it. And what Rose wanted, she got. He'd never admit how much he enjoyed the first Christmas. So here he was for a second year, watching as the family opened their gifts. That's when the woman grabbed a stocking and held it towards him. "Silly uncle Dean forgot to get his stocking!" She joked with a big smile. Rose knew that he was still in disbelief that they all got him gifts, let alone a stocking. She'd hear all about it when they went back to work in a few days. "I'm still waking up. I stayed up real late trying to catch the him." Dean covered with a chuckle. He could get used to this. Especially if it was always with Rose.

6. Jimmy Havoc

Jimmy fidgeted when Isolde grabbed the smallest gift. He knew she didn't really wear a lot of jewelry, but when he seen the dragon he had to get it. It was so perfectly her that it surprised even him. He just hoped she would like it as much as he thought she would. The purple haired woman laughed quietly as she ripped off his messy wrapping paper. She was almost positive he was at least half drunk when he remembered that he had to wrap his gifts. That or the man had the skills of small child. When she seen that it was a necklace box she immediately looked at him. His eyes avoided her and instead went to the black tree beside them. She knew it had to be good. With a small smile she popped the lid open. The purple and black dragon made her giggle gleefully. "It's perfect!" She yelled before she lunged forward and hugged him. Laughter was intermingled with kisses before he pulled back just slightly. "Merry Christmas, Isolde."

7. Trent Seven

Trent peaked over to make sure that his fiance was still asleep. He'd had her gifts sent to her mother's in anticipation of traveling. Yet he hadn't found free time to wrap them. So now he was doing so as quietly as he possibily could while she slept soundly. Even drooling with messy black hair everywhere she looked like a goddess to him. "I love that you can sleep through the world ending." He told her nonchalantly, taping down the the folded corner of wrapping paper. He inspected the box before setting it in the growing pile of finished presents. He was getting through it much faster than he expected. With a sip of now lukewarm cocoa he grabbed another gift and got to work. He didn't know that the woman had been awake for a solid ten minutes. She hadn't opened her eyes, just listened. It was getting harder and harder to hide the fact that she was conscious. Especially when he started to do the one thing that woke her up: sing a few carols. Luckily before she cracked he got up to rush a handful of gifts under the tree, and put a few in her stocking. Tabbitha took that time resituate herself and try to fall back to sleep so he could finish his last minute wrapping. The last thing she remembered before falling back asleep was him kissing her temple.

8. Pete Dunne

Pete didn't know why he agreed to any of this. Okay, that was a lie. He knew exactly why he agreed to this. He hated being an ocean and half a country away from Leena. On top of that he had peaked the "special" garments that she had packed. But the longer he stood there the more he questioned if it was really worth it. Of course he loved her more than he thought was possible, but the Christmas party was dragging on. There were so many people in the Ickers' house, and he could only really stand five of them. The rest were too stuck up for his taste. It was in that moment that he felt a pair of hands snake around his front and up his chest. "The kids are calling you Grinch." His girlfriend told him with a chuckle. He could understand it. He was standing in the entryway simply staring ahead, a barely touched drink in his hand. He had already been doing his best not to sneer at their friend's family. "Melody says that we can go as soon gifts are handled. Think you can last another hour?" She asked before leaning her head between his shoulder blades. "Fuck that." He muttered before taking a long drink. "Trent and Tabby are by the buffet table. Just stick with them for a few while I grab Mel. The faster we get gifts passed out the faster we can leave. And the faster I can give you an early present." The way she drug out present made him look over his shoulder at the her for the first time. "Just a bit longer, big guy." With that she kissed his cheek and walked off. With a sigh he headed towards their friends. Yeah. He knew exactly why he'd done it.

9. Tyle Bate

Tyler's phone went off at almost five pm on the dot. A quick calculation told him it was just after nine in the morning in Vegas. Melody always did love Christmas. He picked up the video call with a large smile. It was time for her to open his gift. They were doing a bit better than when they broke up. They could be in the same room for extended periods of time without fighting. That didn't mean that it hurt any less. "Merry Christmas!" The red head greeted as soon as she seen his face. He couldn't help but chuckle. She was in her pajamas and makeup free with her hair thrown up haphazardly. "Merry Christmas, Melody!" He replied with equal enthusiasm. It was Trent who talked him into letting them take the present to the States. She'd be in the UK just after the new year and he figured she could open it then. But the more he thought about it, and the more they asked, he knew that was the wrong decision. So he'd sent the present with them with the instructions of her calling him when she opened it. He couldn't help but notice that she had snuck off to her room to open it. He could only imagine what her parents thought about the whole thing. The woman placed the phone just right so that he could see her and her hands were free. It was then she held up the box wrapped in red and green shiny paper. He was probably a little too proud of how well he wrapped it. Melody shook it a few times with a growing smile. "Oh just open it, silly!" He joked with a laugh. Without a second thought she ripped the paper off and pulled the tape off to finally get a look inside.

10. Mark Andrews

Grace woke up with kisses being placed all over her face. She couldn't help but laugh at the blonde man. "Good morning, handsome." She said before she yawned. "Merry Christmas, love." Mark replied. She pecked his lips a few times before he wrapped her in his arms. "Chloe's calling us as soon as she wakes up. And I got a message in all capitals telling me you aren't opening any of her gifts until then." His words made her laugh. Her little sister knew how she was about Christmas. "But we can still open ours?" Grace asked with a smile. With a matching smile he let her go and stood up. "C'mon, my lady. I hear Santa thinks your an angel." Mark told her, holding his hand out. "I love you so much. Even when you're cheesier than a bag if Cheetos."

11. Sami Callihan

Taya couldn't help but laugh as she watched Sami cut at the zip tie covered box. It was a dick move, but it was a tradition. Every year they took turns trying to beat the fastest time. Sami knew he was getting close to the seven minute fifty three second record and was starting to panic a bit. Someone wouldn't be getting the last piece of pie this year. He was ripping into the paper when her phone's timer went off. "Ha! I win again!" She cheered. When her boyfriend started to pout she simply leaned forward and kissed him. "I'm getting you next year." He muttered before kissing her again. When they finally pulled apart she only rolled her eyes. "That's what you said last year.... But I can't wait to watch you try. Now finish opening your gift."

12. Jake Crist

For a brief moment worry filled every part of him when she shook him awake. Was everything okay? But then he could register the glee in her voice as she said his name. Suddenly he snapped out of his more than half asleep state and opened his eyes. "Jake! Merry Christmas!" Nova cheered when she seen him smile. "Merry Christmas, sunshine." He told her, rolling on to his back. She looked so bright and happy that he never wanted to forget it. He knew that this was the first real Christmas she'd had in years, and to see her like this made him happy to his soul. This is exactly what he wanted for Christmas. Just to see his girl looking like a ray of sunshine that would never be dimmed. After a few minutes he sat up and stretched. She seen the small smile on his face before he spoke. " Last one to the tree has to clean up!"

13. Dave Crist

Krystal was more than a little surprised when she got out of the shower and heard Dave in the bedroom. Last she'd seen him he'd been wrapping some gifts in the living room. There was no way he had gotten all that done in the time it took her to shower. By the time she exited the bathroom he was gone once more. However there was a wad of wrapping paper in the middle of the floor. She could only imagine what he'd gotten stuck on. She didn't know what he got anyone. Almost as if on cue she could hear him calling her. Dave was sat on the living room staring at the stack of stuffed slasher movie characters when she found him. "How the fuck am I supposed to wrap these without Nova knowing what they are?" He asked tiredly.

14. Matt Riddle

"You sure you don't want to open one?" Matt asked again. Josie's eyes had drifted to the tree repeatedly over the course of the day. He knew the big box would get her attention. She'd been staring at it off and on since she woke up. It was one reason he made sure to put it by the tree before he went to bed the night prior. But Josie was a stickler for Christmas traditions, and she never opened gifts before Christmas morning. "Positive." She answered before looking back up at him. The man kissed her temple before he looked back at the tv. "I'm gonna get you one year. I swear on it." He told her with a dramatic sigh. The woman laughed before leaning her head back to look up at him. "Babe, you could tell me that world peace was in that box and I still wouldn't open it before Christmas morning."

15. Finn Balor

Flora looked at the Lego Disney castle with a sigh. She hated to admit how much she missed her friend. He'd offered to take her with him, but she politely declined. It was a holiday about family. She'd talked to hers and thanked them for the gifts. Yet now all she wanted was Finn. She wanted to listen to him laugh and help him build Legos with Christmas movies playing in the background. The thought made her shake her head. She was being absolutely ridiculous. That was no way to be thinking. He wasn't hers. He probably never would be. She wasn't making a fool of herself by telling him of her little crush. It was then that her phone rang. Seeing his name made her brow furrow. Was everything okay? "Hello?" She answered worriedly. Suddenly there was a group of voices singing Jingle Bells, her best friend's voice the loudest. Her mood was immediately lifted. Maybe her crush wasn't as small as she thought.

16. Corey Graves

Corey laughed when he came out of the bedroom and seen her all set up. "Thought these were just casual photos, Lily?" He asked knowingly. He knew there really was no such thing for the photographer. She had a keen eye, and things had to be perfect. "The lighting was weird in my first test shot. One light wasn't enough so I had to bring out both of them. Then later we can do one with the Christmas lights instead. Those should be real good." The woman told him before looking up at him. "You are the most stunning man I've ever laid eyes on." The woman complimented with a smile. "Easy, tiger. I think you wanted to take some Christmas pictures. After that I'm all yours." His words made her blush but she nodded nonetheless. "Sit down, Graves."

17. Jeff Hardy

Addison looked over the bed carefully. She would not fail at keeping her annual Nerf fight winning streak. This would be her third win. In that instant she narrowly escaped a foam bullet to the face. "Looks like you've pinned yourself down, darling." Jeff said from their bedroom doorway. He sounded so smug. "You sure about that?" She asked innocently. The tone only made him more suspicious. "You're either losing because you try to crawl under the bed, or because you jump out of a second story window. Either way I'll get you before you get too far." The words made her snort. "You would shoot me as I flung myself out of the window?" She asked with a laugh. She couldn't see him but she knew that he had shrugged. Addie took his silence as her sign to put her plan in place. While he was leaning down to get her from under the bed, she jumped up and shot him in the back. "I win!"

18. Joe Hendry

Daisy looked over when she heard the door open. "Hello, beauty." Joe greeted as he entered their flat. He took a moment to put away the groceries before he laid down beside on the ground. "Why are we on the floor today?" He asked with a smile. He knew she only did this when she'd done something really ridiculous. "I wrapped everyone's gifts... Without stopping to write down who's was what." She answered before covering her face with his hands. It took everything in him not to burst out laughing right there. She was obviously embarrassed, and he didn't want to make it worse, but it was hilarious. In fact he gave it a week before she was telling everyone about it. "I'll go unwrap it all for you. I'll even wrap them all over again. All you have to do is write out the tag." The Scottish man offered. He seen her nod minutely before he stood up. He knew she'd hidden his gifts weeks before. "Come on, love. We'll have it all sorted in no time."

19. Baron Corbin (takes place around NXT era)

Abigail always loved Christmas night. The stress of the morning was gone, and it gave way to comfort. She was curled up on the couch with Baron, Friday the 13th playing on the tv. Absently one hand was scratching his scalp while the other held one of his. It was definitely a unique Christmas, but she loved it. There was no place she'd rather be then in his arms on their couch. Feeling his eyes on her made her look up, smile on her face. "I love you, Abby." Baron said quietly. "I love you too. More than you know." She replied easily. She knew that this was it for her. She was fine with that. She untangled her hand from his hair and kissed his cheek. "Nowhere else for me in the world but right here." The woman told him before turning her attention back to the tv.

20. Marty Scurll

"You fucking numpty!" Marty heard Luna yell as soon as he opened the door. His eyes widened as he sat down the bags in his hand. Had his hell trip to the mall not been long enough? He moved to leave when she appeared in the living room. "Not you. Don't even think about walking back out of that door." Luna told him pointedly before grabbing one of the spare tape rolls. "'Wrap them together so she doesn't know what it is, Luna.' God, what a fucking dumbass." She mocked herself before she went back into their bedroom. Without being told he picked the bags back up and followed her. She was stubborn, but he could tell that she needed help whether she liked it or not. What was on the bed could only be described as a wrapping nightmare. Though the three small boxes were covered, the paper was wrinkled and there was enough tape to make another box. "Hey there, love. Need some help with that?" He asked quietly. She'd either give in or stabbing him with the scissors sitting next to her. Her eyes went between him and the present a few times. "Is it that bad?" She asked in defeat. When he didn't immediately answer she pushed it towards him. "Be my guest, Marty. Be my guest." She told him before flopping onto her pillow.

21. Matt Jackson (I don't have a name for his OC yet. 🤦🤷😂)

Her eyes shined as she looked at the tree. It was her favorite holiday, and it was the first one she was having with him. Matt kissed her temple before he gently turned her around. "You are the epitome of beauty and Christmas cheer, but if you look at the tree anymore you're going to go blind. That or the tree's catching on fire. Now, I don't know about you but to me those sound like horrible ways to spend the rest of Christmas Eve. So I'll make us some hot chocolate and you can pick what movie we watch." His offer made her laugh. "You're going to regret that, but I'll take you up on that offer." She told him before kissing his cheek and sitting on the couch. "Babe, the only regrets I have are some of the stupid things I've done in the ring. I'm pretty sure that whatever you choose won't be as bad as jumping off a ladder." He seen her think it over before she nodded. "If you say so. Hurry up so I can surprise you. I have the perfect movie in mind." Matt playfully rolled his eyes before he went to the kitchen.

22. Jack Gallagher

Genevieve sat back as she looked at the gifts. She'd chosen to spend Christmas with Jack instead of fighting to get cross country. Judging by the way she was feeling it was the right choice. She didn't understand why he'd been so nervous the night prior. He'd gotten her everything she wanted. Even things that were cute and practical like the travel fridge that would keep her energy drinks cold at work. Most people seen the title makeup artist and just shrugged it off and got her cosmetics. But he knew how picky she was. He knew that she didn't want to think about work while she was relaxing. "Thank you, Jack. It's perfect. All of it is perfect." She whispered. When she looked up she seen him smiling so wide that it looked painful. "I'm glad that you like it all." He told her with a quiet laugh. Maybe he was being silly and maybe he had overdone it. He just wanted a way to tell her thanks. They'd become closer since she moved in. Maybe they weren't together, but he knew now more than ever that he loved her. She'd become his confidant. He didn't have time to finish thinking before her lips were on his.

23. Zack Sabre Jr

Lyla texted her sister and Marty before she snuck out of bed. Zack was still out cold, and she was okay with that for the time being. It gave her a chance to make a quick breakfast before they opened gifts and went on with the Christmas festivities. It didn't take long for her boyfriend to wake up once he smelled the food. "Merry Christmas, babe." He called as he exited their room. "Merry Christmas, Zack. I see Santa decided that even the naughty one got gifts this year." The woman joked as she turned off the stove. "You can't say much. I watched you break a bat on somebody." Before she could correct him his lips were on hers. She rolled her eyes when they parted but still let it slide. "Keep that up and I'm taking some back." Lyla chided before she sat down on the floor with her plate. "You wouldn't dare."

24. Adam Cole (Set in the If You Were Smart/ If You Cared universe! (Look y'all idk what the fuck is going on there but the idea wouldn't leave))

She didn't know what made her do it. Yet when Adam sent her flight info and a plane ticket she couldn't find it in her to say no. Things had been tense, to say the very least. She'd barely actually spoken to him since he said he wanted to be there. They texted sporadically, but were still basically strangers. He promised her she just had to stop by and then she could leave. No strings attached. He just wanted to give her a gift. That's how she found herself nervously knocking on an apartment door. Almost immediately he pulled the door open and greeted her with a bright smile. Clad in a tee shirt and jeans with his hair tossed into a bun she was able to appreciate how handsome he was. Not just in the roguish way she seen him the night their lives changed, but overall. That damned smirk was replaced with a real smile. It took her a second to snap out of it. "Hi." She said quietly, blush rising up her neck. She felt stupid. She watched his eyes scan her midsection before he cocked his head. With a roll of her eyes she pulled her hoodie and shirt up just past her stomach. "Still small and barely noticeable." The woman deadpanned. The few people who knew all had the same reaction. She acted annoyed, but in reality it warmed her heart. They wanted to know about her little one. Without thinking one of Adam's hands were on the small bulge. "Noticeable to the people who look." He whispered quietly. As if he was snapping out of a daydream he pulled his hand away. "Sorry. Come in, princess." He told her after clearing his throat. She only nodded as she passes by him. It was one of the few moments he actually let himself show his feelings on the situation. He played it cool but she could see the awe in his eyes. The man was starting to warm up to the idea of being a dad. "I can't offer you a drink... So... Do you want something to eat?" He asked with a small laugh once the door was shut.

25. Joey Ryan (He was the first one that popped up when I opened Instagram 🤷😂)

Joey took a deep breath before he approached her. It was now or never. Christmas was just around the corner. They weren't extremely close but he considered a friend. They worked at plenty of shows over the last two years. "What's up, Joey?" The woman asked when the man approached her. She knew by the look on his face that he had a plan. "Nobody should be alone on Christmas. Come to my place and hang out." His forwardness took her by surprise. "Excuse me?" She finally sputtered out after a few seconds. "Nothing like that, kid! I just... I don't know. I figured you didn't want to be alone. You've already said you aren't doing anything. Just swing by and we'll watch TV or something. It's totally up to you. You don't even have to get me anything." The man tried to explain with a shrug. After a few seconds she nodded her head. "Thank you, Joey. I'll be there."

#i write stuff #wwe imagines #wrestling imagines #i originally had this idea around Thanksgiving... but i was in no place to get it done #sorry for the copout of 25... BUT 25 IS A LOT OF FUCKING WRASSLERS WHEN YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED ANYTHING LATELY #And i was trying not to repeat too many scenarios

8 notes · View notes

purplesurveys · 5 years

Text

409

A little F•R•I•E•N•D•S survey just because.

Characters Favourite character? I relate to Monica the most but my favorite has got to be Chandler. Favourite male character? Chandler by a long shot. Favourite female character? Monica. Man, three questions in and I’ve already got my biases established ha. Favourite non-main character? Probably Jack Geller. Least favourite character (main)? Joey. I was always too impatient for his dumb ass. He’s adorable though.

Least favourite character (not main)? EMILY for days. They wasted so many episodes and storylines dragging her ass through them. I also kinda hated Amy. Funniest? Chandler, and this is going to be unpopular: Ross. He’s funny when he’s not being a jackass. Sweetest? ...Chandler. That episode where Monica ‘freaked’ him out by pretending to book a wedding venue when it turned out Chandler loved the place and ended up proposing to her was the sweetest. Best looking? Rachel. Girl’s style was always on point. Most mature? Phoebe trumps them all so hard. She lived through the Civil War, World War I, lost her mom, lived on the streets, and did so many shady things before landing in that apartment of theirs – she’s a kook but she’s a hella smart kook. Most immature? Has to be a mix of Joey and Rachel. And Ross.

Most annoying? Joey had his annoying moments especially the episode where he tries to speak French!!!!!!!!! but I love all of them just the same. Relationships Favourite couple? CHANDLER AND MONICA Least favourite couple? Joey and Rachel when they got together. I liked the slow burn that preceded the whole thing, but when the writers mashed them together, the execution was just ughhhh. I hated Ross/Julie, Monica/Pete, and Ross/Emily too. Favourite couple that wasn’t a main couple? Oh oof, I guess I’ve listed them all there. ^ Couple you wish would’ve happened? Chandler and Rachel. Their cheesecake episode was awesome.

Best friendship? Monica/Chandler and Joey/Chandler. The two that had the worst friendship? Phoebe and Ross were the two that just clicked the least lmao. Ross was too serious and too nerdy and Phoebe was more liberal and very eccentric. They had that debate on evolution once which I found hard to watch lmao, and not to mention that Ross is the biggest baby in the group whereas Phoebe had to grow up earlier than all of them because of her awful childhood. Couple you’re surprised happened? Rachel and Joey, obviously. Overrated couple? Ross and Rachel. They’re so hyped up when in reality, they were on and off for ten deadass seasons??? It was stretched for so long that it’s very easy to lose interest in it. Most underrated friendship? Phoebe and Ross, I guess. They weren’t very close, but I remember how Ross got Phoebe a bike when he found out she never had her own. That gets overshadowed a lot but I found that episode very sweet. Phoebe/Joey is also pretty underrated. You and them Which character would you be? I’m already Monica. Which character would you wanna be bffs with? Rachel hahaha. Monica’s too high-strung, Phoebe’s crazy, I’d get annoyed with Ross’ bitchfests, Joey is a little immature for my liking, and I feel like I’ll eventually get offended by Chandler’s sarcasm, so I’d go with Rachel. Who would you date? Chandler. Who would get on your nerves? Joey or Ross. Who can you relate to the most? Monica AF. Organized, obsessed with weddings, obsessed with kids, loves spreadsheets, makes everything a competition, loves food, the mom of the group...all of this is me. Which character pulls on your heartstrings the most (gives you feels)? Chandler aaaahhhhhhhhh. Who would you makeout with? Monica. Show Funniest moment or episode? There’s a lot of em, so let me keep a list:

The episode with the quiz

Joey putting the pieces together about Chandler and Monica

“Ross hasn’t worked in the museum for a year” “Monica and Chandler aRE LIVING TOGETHER” “Ross married Rachel in Vegas anD GOT DIVORCED, /AGAIN/” “I love Jacques Costeau” “I wasn’t supposed to put beef in the trifle” “I wanna GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO”

Ross spelling out F-I-N-E

They don’t know that we know they know they now

Saddest moment or episode? Monica finding out they can’t have kids, Phoebe having to part with the triplets, Erica almost giving up on Chandler and Monica because they lied, and the final goshdarn episode. Moment or episode that melted your heart? When Monica made Thanksgiving dinner, only for Joey to ruin it because Monica had to answer the phone, then when Chandler told on Joey, she was like “I don’t care, the adoption agency called and we’re having a baby” :’( Best episode/moment? I can think of so many depending on what kind of episode you’re asking for, but the first ones I can think of off the top of my head are the quiz, Thanksgiving, and New Year’s resolutions episodes, and the one where Chandler and Phoebe pretend to be into each other to see who breaks first. Cringiest moment? A lot of Season 10 stuff was cringey just cos everything felt forced by that point. I also didn’t like the scene where Chandler was checking out their home-sitter’s bra because Monica was convinced she was stealing from her wardrobe lmao. Oh and the one with Ross’ list about Rachel. OH and Joey failing so bad at French. They def had their cringey moments lmao. Worst moment/episode? The one where Pete decides to be a UFC star(????) was so fucking random. There’s also an episode that shows their alternative lives - Monica was still chubby, Phoebe was a bitchy executive...I forget the rest because I’ve only seen it once cos the whole thing was pretty pointless. Best season? The ones in the middle. Best quote? “It’s an electric drill. You get me, YOU KILL ME” or “Gum would be perfection.” Joey Best trait? He’s adorably clumsy and he’s also pretty confident. Worst trait? He has his creepy tendencies, he doesn’t share food, and he’s too stupid for my humor to appreciate him. Who should he have ended up with? Definitely Phoebe. Was he just a player or a sweetheart? Meh. He was a player. If Matt LeBlanc couldn’t play him, who should’ve? Chandler His best season? I’m not familiar which season it is but it has to be the one where he decided he was going to marry Monica. Chandler was always the most insecure out of the six who had a lot of childhood issues and as a result, was perpetually afraid of committing and being serious and actually being an adult. Deciding that he knew he wanted to marry Monica is such an underrated pivotal moment for him. Funny or annoying? FUNNY. Why did he have trouble with girls? Because he’s so awkward. If Matthew Perry couldn’t play him who should’ve? Best trait? He really cares.

Worst trait? He hates himself and uses humor to mask everything lol. Ross Best trait? He’s a sweetheart and looks after the girls the most. Worst trait? Immature and cocky as fuck and loves to kiss his own ass. Which of his gfs/wives do you like best? Rachel. Funny or annoying? I’m split. Everyone hates Ross but he’s actually pretty funny to me lmao, but only when he’s not being sexist or trash. If David couldn’t play him who should’ve? Smart or dumb? Academically smart, pretty dumb in life. Phoebe Best trait? She’s highkey the most mature of all of the friends. Worst trait? She can be a liar. Weird or awesome? She can be both!!! Best song? Either the Santa song (”Rachel and Chandler, hshsshhshsh handler!”) or the shower song (”And tegrin spelled backwards is nirget”). Both slap. Best relationship? That guy from Minsk, David. That highkey should’ve happened. Did she have a better friendship with Monica or Rachel? Tbh Rachel. Monica’s very...analytic and Phoebe doesn’t care. Total opposites. Did she really wanna get with Joey or was it all a joke? It’s all a joke, but I wouldn’t be surprised or offended if they ended up together in some alternative universe. Did she really hate Ross? Probably aspects of Ross, but not fully. Rachel Was she secretly a bitch? She was openly a bitch lmao. Best relationship besides Ross? I hated all of her boyfriends. Probably Joey. YEA I SAID IT Best trait? She grew up so much in the show and I’m so proud of her <3 She went from fully dependent on her dad’s credit cards to getting her dream jobs and being a really good mother and ugh, I just feel for her. Worst trait? She was still the biggest baby in the show. Monica Best trait? She’s the mom of the group. Nothing better than that. Worst trait? She was overly competitive sometimes. Put together & organized or a stressed mess? Definitely put together and organized. She was also stressed, but she was never a mess. Would you find it hard to live with her cause of her cleaning issues? No, we’d be the same more or less. Was Richard too old for her? Yes. Richard knew her since she was little, which makes it worse. Short or long hair? Long. Do you think the fat jokes are funny or mean? Mean, but then again they were jokes of their time so idk why people today are being SO LOUD crying foul over it. More questions Were they on a break? Yes they were. I will defend this to my death. They were on a break after that very bad phone call and Rachel immediately invited his dude-friend over without thinking of Ross. Ross had every reason to be with a girl. Was Gunther weird or kinda cool? He was cool. I loved that they kept him as a recurring character.

Should it have ended sooner, later or when it did? They ended it perfectly. Some elements of season 10 already felt inorganic and unnecessary, but if we didn’t get the last season then we never would’ve seen Chandler and Monica’s twins and Rachel getting off the plane. I’m fine with the way they ultimately paced the show. Based off looks, who of the six would’ve looked best together? Chandler and Monica.

#survey #surveys

1 note · View note